Do What's Right.

Day: 15 June 2023 (Page 1 of 2)

Alphabet is selling it’s Google Domains assets to Squarespace

So, that’s not great news. I have lost count the number of Google and Alphabet products I have used, purchased, and relied on that have been shuttered or sold off.

Bloomberg | 9to5Google

Another added to the KilledByGoogle list.

Updated » Here I am complaining of having to move some domains I own, when a millions are displaced by war and famine, and at least 15 people died in a horrific vehicle crash today in my own country. Apologies. I lost sight of what is important.

Last Updated on July 2, 2023

Carbon monoxide from wildfires in Canada

Using data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission, the image shows the average concentration of carbon monoxide for 1 May to 13 June. The extremely high concentrations, which are depicted in deep tones of orange, can be linked to active fires during the time. The image also shows how this air pollutant was carried as far as New York in the USA and over the Atlantic.

ESA » Using data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission, the image shows the average concentration of carbon monoxide for 1 May to 13 June. The extremely high concentrations, which are depicted in deep tones of orange, can be linked to active fires during the time. The image also shows how this air pollutant was carried as far as New York in the USA and over the Atlantic.

The Economist » As of June 14th, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, a not-for-profit, estimated that a total area of 5.4m hectares had been set alight—roughly the size of Costa Rica. This makes 2023 so far the worst year for wildfire damage since 1995, when it was 7.5m hectares. The weather is partly to blame. May was the hottest since 1940. It was also seventh-driest. Such conditions desiccate vegetation and help fires start and spread. Although the absolute number of fires has been only slightly higher than normal, each fire has grown far larger than it usually would. The area ablaze in Quebec is 217 times greater, for example.

The cost of basic groceries in each of the U.S. states

According to CashNetUSA, Alaska and Hawaii see their high prices offset by relatively high local incomes.

Meanwhile, Alabama and Tennessee suffer the double whammy of being among the six states with the highest Walmart price hikes while also having some of the lowest average incomes in the U.S.

Key Findings »

  • Groceries in Hawaii cost 26.18% more than the national average — the highest disparity in the U.S.
  • West Virginia has the cheapest regular groceries, at 7.70% under the national average.
  • The cheapest vegan groceries are in New Mexico, where they cost 5.03% below the national average.
  • It takes two hours and two minutes of work to afford the average basket of regular groceries in Alabama — the worst local affordability of any state.

More at CashNetUSA »

Republicans don’t or can’t appreciate the potential gravity of the situation or even understand the basic details

Washington Post »

Multiple polls focused on the Trump classified documents case suggest that many, if not most, Republicans don’t particularly appreciate the potential gravity of the situation or its details. And it can’t simply be explained by mere partisanship.

One of the inescapable facts of the situation is that Trump got himself in trouble not because he took the documents in the first place, but because he declined to return them. The indictment only charges conduct after the government subpoenaed Trump’s documents in May 2022. After that subpoena, Trump only returned some of his remaining classified documents before the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago turned up more. The Washington Post recapped how Trump’s fateful decision not to return the documents resulted from rejecting his lawyers’ advice.

But despite it being readily apparent that Trump didn’t do what the government asked, a new YouGov poll shows Republicans, by and large, maintain that he did. It shows 53 percent say Trump “cooperated in returning documents,” with just 15 percent saying he didn’t.

200+ Things Fox has labeled “woke”

Media Matters »

Fox personalities struggle to define “woke” because they have attributed the term to nearly everything under the sun, stripping it of any meaningful definition and surrendering it to right-wing dog whistles.

Media Matters put together a list of over 200 things Fox personalities, guests, and writers have called “woke.” Here are a few »

  • President Joe Biden
  • UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
  • Women’s History Month
  • NY Times
  • The Olympics
  • Navy SEALs
  • M&M’s
  • My Little Pony
  • Muppets Babies
  • Ben & Jerry’s
  • Teachers and Teachers unions
  • Medical school
  • The Salvation Army
  • Notre Dame Cathedral
  • Justice Department
  • Victoria’s Secret
  • NASCAR
  • Valentine’s Day
  • Real estate websites
  • Kindergarten

Sadly, Downshift.ca hasn’t made the list, yet.

Download the pdf list here.

Google advises employees not to enter confidential material when using chatbots – you might also want to safeguard your personal information

Reuters »

Alphabet Inc is cautioning employees about how they use chatbots, including its own Bard, at the same time as it markets the program around the world, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Google parent has advised employees not to enter its confidential materials into AI chatbots, the people said and the company confirmed, citing long-standing policy on safeguarding information.

 

The Instant Pot didn’t fail because it was too good, Cornell Capital failed the IP because they were greedy

The Atlantic »

It’s a classic labor-saver, promising to turn ingredients into family meals while you clean up, tend to your kids, and do all of the other things you could be doing instead of keeping an eye on the stove. Once you get the hang of the electric pressure cooker, it seems to basically deliver on that promise, chugging along gamely through years’ worth of weeknight dinners of pork green chili or chicken tikka masala. Since its debut in 2010, the Instant Pot has sold millions of machines and spent years as a must-have kitchen sensation.

Sure enough, in 2019, when the private-equity firm Cornell Capital bought the gadget’s maker, Instant Brands, and merged it with another kitchenware maker, the combined company was reportedly valued at more than $2 billion.

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