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Submission + - After 9 years of waiting - Will Tesla roadster live up to the hype? (wsj.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: The new Roadster, a sequel to Tesla’s first car, was first unveiled in November 2017. Tesla has accepted reservations for the sports car off and on since, with hopeful owners paying at least $50,000, and sometimes much more, to get on the wait list.

Tesla originally said production would begin in 2020. That didn’t happen.

Tesla is now moving forward with what is likely to be its most expensive model in company history even as its core auto business has taken a back seat. Musk has said that the new Roadster will be the final human-driven vehicle that Tesla ever produces because the company’s future lies in autonomy, artificial intelligence and robotics. The automaker didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Bringing an ultracostly, niche vehicle to market could improve the company’s cash flow while longer-term bets, like humanoid robotics, might take a while to pay off, said Jon McNeill, a former Tesla president.

“I think Ferrari proves the point that you can make a lot of money in the automotive business at low volumes, at a high price point,” McNeill said.

Musk in 2017 said the car would be able to go from zero to 60 miles an hour in 1.9 seconds, top 250 miles an hour and drive up to 620 miles on a full charge. He upped the ante in 2024 by saying that the Roadster would hit 60 mph from zero in less than one second. “And that is the least interesting part,” he said.

Submission + - Canadian Analysis: Permanent Daylight Saving Harms Sleep and Mental Health

Submitted by kbahey
kbahey writes: With the push to eliminate the twice yearly clock change, Permanent Daylight Savings Time has emerged as the favourite for most states/provinces.

An analysis published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal

Key points: From the summary:
  • Permanent DST preserves later evening light that may facilitate commuting, recreation, social participation, and some economic activity, but it also prolongs darkness on winter mornings, with potential adverse effects on circadian alignment, sleep, mood, education, and productivity.
  • Permanent ST is more closely aligned with circadian biology, although earlier dusk may limit some evening activities.
  • Choosing pST is supported by accumulated evidence related to health and the recommendations of major sleep and chronobiology societies; if Canadian jurisdictions choose to adopt pDST, implementation should include anticipatory mitigation, protection for disproportionately affected groups, and transparent surveillance of population health impacts.

Sci.News also has a good overview.

Submission + - Publishers are losing Google traffic as AI answers replace links (axios.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Google has basically stopped sending people to websites (including our site) for answers and information. Instead, it's using AI to answer them on its platform, in its words.

Chartbeat data shared with Axios shows Google Search traffic to publishers fell 34% over the past year.

That pain is regressive. Over the past two years, small publishers lost 60% of referrals from search overall, medium publishers 47%, large publishers 22%.

Submission + - FBI gets voter's IP address in new fraud probe tactic (axios.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: The Trump administration has a new tactic for trying to isolate cases of alleged voter fraud â" digging into the IP addresses of those who went online to register to vote.

The FBI recently obtained the IP address of someone who registered online in South Carolina, according to documents first shared with Axios.

Submission + - How a chorus of synchronized frequencies helps you digest your food (phys.org)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: It is known in the scientific community that if you have a self-sustained oscillation, such as an arteriole, and you add an external stimulus at a similar but not identical frequency, you can lock the two, meaning you can shift the frequency of the oscillator to that of the external stimulus. In fact, it has been shown that if you connect two clocks, they will eventually synchronize their ticking.

Distinguished Professor of Physics and Neurobiology David Kleinfeld found that if he applied an external stimulus to a neuron, the entire vasculature would lock at the same frequency. However, if he stimulated two sets of neurons at two different frequencies, something unexpected happened: some arterioles would lock at one frequency and others would lock at another frequency, forming a staircase effect.

Submission + - Google launches "Learn Your Way" (x.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: This is going to revolutionize education

Google just launched "Learn Your Way" that basically takes whatever boring chapter you're supposed to read and rebuilds it around stuff you actually give a damn about.

Like if you're into basketball and have to learn Newton's laws, suddenly all the examples are about dribbling and shooting. Art kid studying economics? Now it's all gallery auctions and art markets.

Here's what got me though. They didn't just find-and-replace examples like most "personalized" learning crap does. The AI actually generates different ways to consume the same information:

- Mind maps if you think visually
- Audio lessons with these weird simulated teacher conversations
- Timelines you can click around
- Quizzes that change based on what you're screwing up

They tested this on 60 high schoolers. Random assignment, proper study design. Kids using their system absolutely destroyed the regular textbook group on both immediate testing and when they came back three days later.

Every single one said it made them more confident.

The part that surprised me? They actually solved the accuracy problem. Most ed-tech either dumbs everything down to nothing or gets basic facts wrong.

Comment Is it really? (Score 3, Interesting) 128

by bbsguru (#65621350) Attached to: Reading For Fun Is Plummeting In the US, and Experts Are Concerned
I'm considering all the time Abraham Lincoln spent reading in his youth (one of the more documented examples of his time). That was offset by splitting fence rails, tending livestock. and generally getting done all the things that pre-industrial life required on a daily basis. Even as one famous for his bookishness, Abe spent very little of his day consuming media, for fun or otherwise.

Compare that to the amount of time spent on media consumption today. Seriously?!?

I think the main complaint here is that "books" are not being read, ignoring all other forms of media. That's fine, I prefer reading to watching myself. I read hundreds of actual books a year, and have for decades. Almost all are for fun, and the form nowadays is almost always an ebook.

While I do agree with Mark Twain ("A person who does not read has no advantage over one who cannot read"), I would substitute "learn". Whether learning from a well-researched and written book (fiction or non), or from an artfully-crafted entertainment video or documentary, learning should be the result.

Yes, most "content" is garbage. We get what we ask for, after all. If you doubt that, create a new online persona that inquires only about classical literature, and see what kind of suggestions populate your news feeds.

Reading for Fun? Absolutely my preference. But then, I never got hooked on TikTok. Crack either, for that matter, as though there were a difference.

Submission + - Trump and RFK Jr. to Ban COVID-19 Vaccine 'Within Months' 4

Submitted by ukoda
ukoda writes: The Daily Beast has this worrying article:

The Trump administration will move to pull the COVID vaccine off the U.S. market “within months,” one of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s closest associates has told the Daily Beast.

Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist who has repeatedly claimed in the face of scientific consensus that the vaccines are more dangerous than the virus, told the Daily Beast that Kennedy’s stance is shared by “influential” members of President Donald Trump’s family. Like Kennedy himself, no Trumps hold any scientific qualifications.

Malhotra is a leading adviser to the controversial lobby group Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Action, which is seen as an external arm of Kennedy’s agenda as Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary.

He told the Beast that many of those closest to RFK Jr. have told him they “cannot understand” why the vaccine continues to be prescribed, and that a decision to remove the vaccine from the U.S. market pending further research will come “within months,” even if it is likely to cause “fear of chaos” and bring with it major legal ramifications.

Just glad I live in a country where the Covid vaccine is free and encouraged.

Comment I the shoe fits, you may be a clown... (Score 1) 84

So all the passengers in the US Administration Clown Car are now required to cancel previous footwear contracts.

New shoes will be single-sourced from "a great American Company.".

In other news, the Trump Family Foundation has announced a major investment in the Hey Dude shoe company.

Comment US Fed parallels? Not really (Score 3, Informative) 20

by bbsguru (#65577354) Attached to: UK Courts Service 'Covered Up' IT Bug That Lost Evidence
With 20+ years in US Federal Court IT, I can confirm that there were a couple of times when serious 'data loss' did occur. However, in no case did it take more than a few days to be restored and back in service. At the same time, I know there have been multiple cases of unrecoverable data loss in local courts, as well as the (unconfirmed by me) rumor of a serious incident in one state court system.

In the past, each federal court district was entirely self-contained data wise, with nationally managed backup systems. Over the past decade, it has become just another cloud-based service-by-contractor, with the best security and resilience promises can buy.

Given the constant budget cuts and increasing federal fondness for outsourcing and contractor reliance, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before headlines are made. With the entire federal court system now in a single (replicated) basket, the risk of data loss or exposure is greatly magnified. While a previous problem might have affected only the Northern District of North Dakota, for example, it's now all or nothing.

Submission + - US Montly Jobs Report firing: lies, damn lies, and statistics (bls.gov)

Submitted by cosmicl
cosmicl writes: The Bureau of Labor and statistics reported that the US added 73,000 jobs in July. Apparently President Trump did not like this number because he thought it was much too low. Solution? Fire Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "whom he accused, without evidence, of manipulating the monthly jobs reports for “political purposes.” " The report is detailed at the BLS website, Along with plenty of charts and other data.

Looks like commissioner McEntarfer (senate approval 86-8 Jan 2024) and team are following a methodology that the BLS repeats every month. As part of the process there is a revision for each month. Weather or not you like the method, it appears to be relatively transparent and repeated for each month. Hard to see how this firing is going to improve the situation beyond stroking the ego of the Dear Leader.

 

Submission + - Russia: Commercial satellite providing help to the Ukraine are now targets (behindtheblack.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Russia this week informed regulators at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that it now considers all European and American private satellite constellations "legitimate targets to be destroyed" if they provide any help to the Ukraine.

Russia tells ITU that GPS/Galileo/GNSS nav commercial broadcast sats helping Ukraine militarily should expect interference. Same for EutelsatGroup, OneWeb, Starlink constellations, which Russia has said are 'legitimate targets to be destroyed.

There is more at the full article, but that is behind a subscription paywall.

Russia's announcement here is probably in response to Trump's more bellicose statements recently about Putin and Russia.

I suspect Russia will begin by trying to jam these constellations. Let us hope it does not go farther than that.

Comment But it's not just the DOD! (Score 1) 63

Microsoft is also providing these same sensitive data management 'services' to 100% of the Federal Judiciary, and many of the Executive branch departments.

Yes, including the department of Commerce. Nothing to see here, pay no attention to the helpful manager.

All your base are belong to us.

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