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erronis
erronis's Journal
erronis's Journal
May 8, 2024
This is cringeworthy but quite satisfying.
There was a video of him putting his finger in and not getting hurt. Some viewers questioned whether he raised his hand a bit to trigger the safety system so he decides to repeat the test holding his hand down flat.
Next time I suggest he try another dangling appendage.
Tesla devotee tests Cybertruck safety with his own finger - and fails
https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/08/tesla_cybertruck_finger_crush/This is cringeworthy but quite satisfying.
We know that Tesla Cybertruck owners are very special, and their mothers love them very much, but perhaps the most special of all is the one who "broke" his finger attempting to demonstrate the safety of the "frunk" closing mechanism.
The frunk is powered and shouldn't be closed manually, according to the owner's manual, because it could cause damage. This is operated either through the mobile app or a button on the frunk itself.
The documentation repeatedly warns owners to "ensure that all hands and other objects are free of the powered frunk before closing it" due to the risk of "damage or serious injury."
The frunk is powered and shouldn't be closed manually, according to the owner's manual, because it could cause damage. This is operated either through the mobile app or a button on the frunk itself.
The documentation repeatedly warns owners to "ensure that all hands and other objects are free of the powered frunk before closing it" due to the risk of "damage or serious injury."
There was a video of him putting his finger in and not getting hurt. Some viewers questioned whether he raised his hand a bit to trigger the safety system so he decides to repeat the test holding his hand down flat.
He then takes a twig and tests the frunk's effect, which, as you might expect, effortlessly chops the stick in two. At this point, we have to marvel at Fay's extreme bravery. I don't know about you, dear reader, but I would be seriously questioning the wisdom of what I was about to do.
"Hopefully, my finger doesn't break like that, but let's find out." Yes, let's.
Undeterred, Fay lays his finger flat on the body as the frunk door descends. A sharp intake of breath is followed by a long series of howls, yowls, and yelps – music to the ears of those who delight in watching natural selection in action.
"OK, oh my God, owwwww. OK, I can't even move my finger right now, I might have actually broken it," he groans once freed from the "stainless" steel maw. "Look at how bad that puncture is."
"Hopefully, my finger doesn't break like that, but let's find out." Yes, let's.
Undeterred, Fay lays his finger flat on the body as the frunk door descends. A sharp intake of breath is followed by a long series of howls, yowls, and yelps – music to the ears of those who delight in watching natural selection in action.
"OK, oh my God, owwwww. OK, I can't even move my finger right now, I might have actually broken it," he groans once freed from the "stainless" steel maw. "Look at how bad that puncture is."
Next time I suggest he try another dangling appendage.
May 7, 2024
Hat tip to Rhiannon12866 (is that your prison #?)
https://democraticunderground.com/132221838
Could you get by on a measly $43,000 a month? It seems Rudy Giuliani can't
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/07/could-you-get-by-measly-43000-a-month-rudy-giuliani-cantTrump’s disgraced former attorney somehow frittered away almost $120,000 in January. As a cash-strapped millennial, I’m delighted to share some money-saving tips
Bankruptcy” is a surprisingly amorphous term. For poor people, it means not having any money. For corporations and the super-wealthy it means a nifty legal strategy that can shield their riches from lawsuits. And for Rudy Giuliani, the disgraced former mayor of New York City and personal attorney of Donald Trump, it means being forced to try to subsist on a measly $43,000 (£34,200) a month.
Half a million dollars in spending money a year might seem a princely sum to the common man, but “Sir” Rudy (recipient of an honorary knighthood) is anything but. We’re talking about a gentleman with elevated tastes here: a bon vivant who, during a legal battle with his estranged third wife, was accused of spending $7,000 on fountain pens and $12,000 on cigars over a five-month period. In that same timeframe, his ex-wife’s lawyer claimed he spent $286,000 on his alleged lover, $165,000 on personal travel and $447,938 “for his own enjoyment”. That’s a lot of enjoyment.
Giuliani’s spendthrift ways are now facing legal roadblocks. In December, a judge ordered the 79-year-old to pay $148m in damages to two election workers he had baselessly accused of rigging votes in the 2020 US election. Almost immediately, Giuliani – who owes creditors $152m in total – filed for bankruptcy. Because he is a responsible citizen, Giuliani prepared a strict budget and told a federal bankruptcy court in January that he would spend no more than $43,000 a month. This was supposed to cover necessities and not include frivolities such as entertainment.
Alas, budgeting doesn’t seem to come naturally to Giuliani, who ended up frittering away almost $120,000 in January alone (more than double the median US annual salary). It is not entirely clear where all this money went but, according to the New York Times, the information Giuliani provided to creditors’ lawyers listed “60 transactions on Amazon, multiple entertainment subscriptions, various Apple services… Uber rides and payment of some of his business partner’s personal credit card bill”. He hasn’t submitted detailed information about his finances since, so it’s unclear if this level of spending has continued. Still, someone needs to change that man’s Amazon password, stat.
Half a million dollars in spending money a year might seem a princely sum to the common man, but “Sir” Rudy (recipient of an honorary knighthood) is anything but. We’re talking about a gentleman with elevated tastes here: a bon vivant who, during a legal battle with his estranged third wife, was accused of spending $7,000 on fountain pens and $12,000 on cigars over a five-month period. In that same timeframe, his ex-wife’s lawyer claimed he spent $286,000 on his alleged lover, $165,000 on personal travel and $447,938 “for his own enjoyment”. That’s a lot of enjoyment.
Giuliani’s spendthrift ways are now facing legal roadblocks. In December, a judge ordered the 79-year-old to pay $148m in damages to two election workers he had baselessly accused of rigging votes in the 2020 US election. Almost immediately, Giuliani – who owes creditors $152m in total – filed for bankruptcy. Because he is a responsible citizen, Giuliani prepared a strict budget and told a federal bankruptcy court in January that he would spend no more than $43,000 a month. This was supposed to cover necessities and not include frivolities such as entertainment.
Alas, budgeting doesn’t seem to come naturally to Giuliani, who ended up frittering away almost $120,000 in January alone (more than double the median US annual salary). It is not entirely clear where all this money went but, according to the New York Times, the information Giuliani provided to creditors’ lawyers listed “60 transactions on Amazon, multiple entertainment subscriptions, various Apple services… Uber rides and payment of some of his business partner’s personal credit card bill”. He hasn’t submitted detailed information about his finances since, so it’s unclear if this level of spending has continued. Still, someone needs to change that man’s Amazon password, stat.
Hat tip to Rhiannon12866 (is that your prison #?)
https://democraticunderground.com/132221838
May 6, 2024
Police let violent mobs attack UCLA students. This is what lawlessness looks like - The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/article/2024/may/06/ucla-protester-mob-attackUCLA watched the chaos unfold in the middle of the night and did nothing until it was far too late
Police begin clearing pro-Palestine protest encampment at UCLA
‘Something else is sliding past popular attention … vigilantes staged an assault on unarmed civilians and the state let it happen.’ Photograph: Allison Dinner/EPA
Things had been tense at the University of California, Los Angeles, with some ugly jibes and the occasional shove exchanged between students who support Israel’s war on Gaza and those who have set up encampments to call for a permanent ceasefire and the university’s divestment from companies that arm and otherwise profit from Israel’s occupation and military incursions in the Palestinian territories.
But what happened in the middle of the night last Tuesday was no scuffle. It was not even one more of the outsized, excessively brutal raids that college administrations have invited the police to inflict on their students.
Since the previous Thursday, groups of ever-more aggressive counter-protesters had beset the Palestine solidarity tent village on UCLA’s Dickson Plaza. Then, just before 11pm on 30 April, at least a 100 masked young men stormed the camp. They announced their presence by blasting the sounds of screaming babies from loudspeakers. They shined strobe lights, sprayed irritant gases and launched firecrackers at the encampment. One landed in the middle of the tents, eliciting screams from the occupants. The besieged protesters called for help – at least five people were already injured – but none came.
The mob breached the metal barricades around the camp, kicked in its plywood walls, and began stomping and beating the campers with fists and poles. At this point, a two-sided melee began. The Daily Bruin, the student paper, reported that some blasts of gas appeared to come from inside the camp. A text from the UC Divest Coalition sent around 1140pm, however, said that the encampment members do not possess teargas and were using “community defense” and wearing goggles to protect themselves.
But what happened in the middle of the night last Tuesday was no scuffle. It was not even one more of the outsized, excessively brutal raids that college administrations have invited the police to inflict on their students.
Since the previous Thursday, groups of ever-more aggressive counter-protesters had beset the Palestine solidarity tent village on UCLA’s Dickson Plaza. Then, just before 11pm on 30 April, at least a 100 masked young men stormed the camp. They announced their presence by blasting the sounds of screaming babies from loudspeakers. They shined strobe lights, sprayed irritant gases and launched firecrackers at the encampment. One landed in the middle of the tents, eliciting screams from the occupants. The besieged protesters called for help – at least five people were already injured – but none came.
The mob breached the metal barricades around the camp, kicked in its plywood walls, and began stomping and beating the campers with fists and poles. At this point, a two-sided melee began. The Daily Bruin, the student paper, reported that some blasts of gas appeared to come from inside the camp. A text from the UC Divest Coalition sent around 1140pm, however, said that the encampment members do not possess teargas and were using “community defense” and wearing goggles to protect themselves.
May 6, 2024
Absolutely wonderful news!
ProPublica Wins Pulitzer Prize for Supreme Court Coverage
Source: ProPublica
ProPublica won the prestigious public service Pulitzer Prize for what the judges described as “groundbreaking and ambitious reporting that pierced the thick wall of secrecy surrounding the Supreme Court to reveal how a small group of politically influential billionaires wooed justices with lavish gifts and travel, pushing the Court to adopt its first code of conduct.” The prize is given to the staff of a news organization that performed “meritorious public service.” It is the seventh Pulitzer Prize for ProPublica.
The Pulitzer Board also recognized a collaboration between The Texas Tribune, ProPublica and FRONTLINE as a finalist in the explanatory reporting category. The investigation provided a detailed analysis of the deeply flawed law enforcement response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The designation is ProPublica’s 17th Pulitzer finalist in 16 years.
ProPublica’s “Friends of the Court” series uncovered the biggest ethics scandal to hit the Supreme Court in the modern era. Reporters Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, Alex Mierjeski, Brett Murphy and Kirsten Berg pierced decades of judicial secrecy and uncovered major gifts to justices from a small set of politically influential donors.
The series began a national conversation about ethics and judicial reform of the Supreme Court. In response to ProPublica’s reporting, the court announced in November that it had unanimously adopted the first ethics code in its 234-year history. Justice Clarence Thomas for the first time acknowledged that he should have reported selling real estate to billionaire Harlan Crow in 2014, writing in his annual financial disclosure form that he “inadvertently failed to realize” that the deal needed to be disclosed. Thomas also disclosed receiving three private jet trips from Crow, two of which ProPublica had already reported. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to authorize subpoenas of Crow and conservative legal activist Leonard Leo as part of its ongoing effort to investigate ethics lapses by justices.
Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/pulitzer-prize-announcement-propublica-supreme-court
Absolutely wonderful news!
May 5, 2024
Once again, The Guardian is doing excellent reporting and analysis. I support them and have dropped the NYT and WaPo.
What happens if a US presidential candidate dies? - The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/05/what-happens-presidential-candidate-trump-biden-diesOnce again, The Guardian is doing excellent reporting and analysis. I support them and have dropped the NYT and WaPo.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump are the two oldest candidates in US history. If either needs to be replaced, what next?
Americans are bracing for a rare presidential rematch between the two oldest candidates in US history: the 81-year-old president Joe Biden and the 77-year-old former president Donald Trump.
Concerns about their age, mental fitness and the possibility that Trump could be convicted of a felony and sentenced to jail time have raised questions about what would happen in the extraordinary event one of them dies, becomes incapacitated or abruptly withdraws.
If Biden, as the sitting president, were suddenly unable to serve, either through incapacity or death, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, would immediately assume the powers of the presidency under the 25th amendment. But replacing Biden or Trump as their party’s presumptive nominees for president – a prospect that is entirely hypothetical – is more complicated. In the event of an unforeseen vacancy, party rules, state and federal election laws and the US constitution would guide what would undoubtedly be a messy process.
Concerns about their age, mental fitness and the possibility that Trump could be convicted of a felony and sentenced to jail time have raised questions about what would happen in the extraordinary event one of them dies, becomes incapacitated or abruptly withdraws.
If Biden, as the sitting president, were suddenly unable to serve, either through incapacity or death, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, would immediately assume the powers of the presidency under the 25th amendment. But replacing Biden or Trump as their party’s presumptive nominees for president – a prospect that is entirely hypothetical – is more complicated. In the event of an unforeseen vacancy, party rules, state and federal election laws and the US constitution would guide what would undoubtedly be a messy process.
May 5, 2024
Shared: https://wapo.st/4bgDI5m
From the comments:
Thank you for this review, Mr. Burr, and for the recommendation that "The Sixth" should be seen by all. The advice was taken (as a $19.99 streaming buy on Amazon) by this Post subscriber, and the documentary was one of my most searing, sobering experiences in seven decades as a moviegoer.
For a viewer, the wrenching emotions are relentless, and among the many inescapable conclusions was that the violently insurrectionist MAGAts who stormed our Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and inflicted not only major injuries, trauma and damage, but even several deaths, were (and are) nothing short of filth. Moreover, be it this year or any other year, we must not let such filth overthrow our democracy and install their fascist demagogue as a dictator.
"The Sixth"permanently reminds us of how they almost did only 3 years ago.
As many commented, this should be freely available and as a teaching tool going forward.
A searing replay of insurrection, 'The Sixth' should be seen by all
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2024/05/03/sixth-documentary-movie-review/Shared: https://wapo.st/4bgDI5m
The chilling documentary immerses us in the sensations and shock of Jan. 6, 2021. Civics lessons rarely come this disturbing or this convincing.
From the comments:
Thank you for this review, Mr. Burr, and for the recommendation that "The Sixth" should be seen by all. The advice was taken (as a $19.99 streaming buy on Amazon) by this Post subscriber, and the documentary was one of my most searing, sobering experiences in seven decades as a moviegoer.
For a viewer, the wrenching emotions are relentless, and among the many inescapable conclusions was that the violently insurrectionist MAGAts who stormed our Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and inflicted not only major injuries, trauma and damage, but even several deaths, were (and are) nothing short of filth. Moreover, be it this year or any other year, we must not let such filth overthrow our democracy and install their fascist demagogue as a dictator.
"The Sixth"permanently reminds us of how they almost did only 3 years ago.
As many commented, this should be freely available and as a teaching tool going forward.
May 1, 2024
I'm liking Cory Doctorow's rather spirited and opinionated blog.
Pluralistic: Boeing's deliberately defective fleet of flying sky-wreckage (01 May 2024)
https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/01/boeing-boeing/I'm liking Cory Doctorow's rather spirited and opinionated blog.
Boeing's 787 "Dreamliner" is manufactured far from the company's Seattle facility, in a non-union shop in Charleston, South Carolina. At that shop, there is a cage full of defective parts that have been pulled from production because they are not airworthy.
Hundreds of parts from that Material Review Segregation Area (MRSA) were secretly pulled from that cage and installed on aircraft that are currently plying the world's skies. Among them, sections 47/48 of a 787 – the last four rows of the plane, along with its galley and rear toilets. As Moe Tkacik writes in her excellent piece on Boeing's lethally corrupt culture of financialization and whistleblower intimidation, this is a big ass chunk of an airplane, and there's no way it could go missing from the MRSA cage without a lot of people knowing about it:
More: MRSA parts are prominently emblazoned with red marks denoting them as defective and unsafe. For a plane to escape Boeing's production line and find its way to a civilian airport near you with these defective parts installed, many people will have to see and ignore this literal red flag.
The MRSA cage was a special concern of John "Swampy" Barnett, the Boeing whistleblower who is alleged to have killed himself in March. Tkacik's earlier profile of Swampy paints a picture of a fearless, stubborn engineer who refused to go along to get along, refused to allow himself to become inured to Boeing's growing culture of profits over safety:
Hundreds of parts from that Material Review Segregation Area (MRSA) were secretly pulled from that cage and installed on aircraft that are currently plying the world's skies. Among them, sections 47/48 of a 787 – the last four rows of the plane, along with its galley and rear toilets. As Moe Tkacik writes in her excellent piece on Boeing's lethally corrupt culture of financialization and whistleblower intimidation, this is a big ass chunk of an airplane, and there's no way it could go missing from the MRSA cage without a lot of people knowing about it:
More: MRSA parts are prominently emblazoned with red marks denoting them as defective and unsafe. For a plane to escape Boeing's production line and find its way to a civilian airport near you with these defective parts installed, many people will have to see and ignore this literal red flag.
The MRSA cage was a special concern of John "Swampy" Barnett, the Boeing whistleblower who is alleged to have killed himself in March. Tkacik's earlier profile of Swampy paints a picture of a fearless, stubborn engineer who refused to go along to get along, refused to allow himself to become inured to Boeing's growing culture of profits over safety:
April 24, 2024
Trump to receive bonus worth $1.2bn for Trump Media stock performance
Absolutely amazing - everything is rigged.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/24/trump-media-bonue
A price floor means ex-president gets bonus even though Trump Media & Technology Group’s stock value has plummeted
Former president Donald Trump qualified for a bonus worth $1.2bn after shares in his social media company remained above a certain value despite falling sharply.
Trump is poised to receive 36m additional shares in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), owner of his Truth Social platform, under an “earn-out” windfall which boosts the paper value of his stake in the business to about $3.7bn.
He was able to receive the bonus if TMTG’s stock traded above $17.50 a share for 20 days out of any 30-day period within the first three years of the firm’s stock market debut – a milestone it reached after closing at $32.57 on Tuesday.
Trump’s shares in his social media company have offered him a financial lifeline as he faces about $500m in legal penalties after being found liable in civil fraud, defamation and sexual abuse cases. While he cannot sell his stock until September due to the terms of a lockup agreement, the shares’ fluctuating value have at times made him one of the world’s wealthiest people on paper.
Former president Donald Trump qualified for a bonus worth $1.2bn after shares in his social media company remained above a certain value despite falling sharply.
Trump is poised to receive 36m additional shares in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), owner of his Truth Social platform, under an “earn-out” windfall which boosts the paper value of his stake in the business to about $3.7bn.
He was able to receive the bonus if TMTG’s stock traded above $17.50 a share for 20 days out of any 30-day period within the first three years of the firm’s stock market debut – a milestone it reached after closing at $32.57 on Tuesday.
Trump’s shares in his social media company have offered him a financial lifeline as he faces about $500m in legal penalties after being found liable in civil fraud, defamation and sexual abuse cases. While he cannot sell his stock until September due to the terms of a lockup agreement, the shares’ fluctuating value have at times made him one of the world’s wealthiest people on paper.
April 24, 2024
Posted yesterday: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143230134
"FTC Announces Rule Banning Noncompetes"
Didn't take long!
US Chamber of Commerce to sue FTC for banning noncompetes in most jobs
Source: The Register
The US Chamber of Commerce is saying it will sue the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for officially banning noncompete clauses in employment contracts across Amercia.
A noncompete agreement typically blocks the employee who signed it from going to work for a rival or starting up a competing business of their own.
The Chamber of Commerce labeled the FTC's publication of its final rule yesterday as an "unlawful power grab." The feds claim the move will help usher in 8,500 extra new businesses and 17,000-29,000 more patents each year.
It all kicked off last year when America's federal employment regulator said it was worried about the unequal bargaining power between employers and workers, claiming that noncompete clauses were limiting employees' ability to practice their trade. It asked for Americans' opinions – and received more than 25,000 comments out of 26,000 that were in support of the ban.
Read more: https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/24/noncompetes_ban_ftc/
Posted yesterday: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143230134
"FTC Announces Rule Banning Noncompetes"
Didn't take long!
April 22, 2024
What a triumph of great engineering and perseverance.
Also great to see how some of us "more mature" people are still accomplishing great things!
NASA's Voyager 1 resumes sending engineering updates to Earth
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-nasa-voyager-resumes-earth.htmlWhat a triumph of great engineering and perseverance.
For the first time since November, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is returning usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems. The next step is to enable the spacecraft to begin returning science data again. The probe and its twin, Voyager 2, are the only spacecraft to ever fly in interstellar space (the space between stars).
Voyager 1 stopped sending readable science and engineering data back to Earth on Nov. 14, 2023, even though mission controllers could tell the spacecraft was still receiving their commands and otherwise operating normally. In March, the Voyager engineering team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California confirmed that the issue was tied to one of the spacecraft's three onboard computers, called the flight data subsystem (FDS). The FDS is responsible for packaging the science and engineering data before it's sent to Earth.
The team discovered that a single chip responsible for storing a portion of the FDS memory—including some of the FDS computer's software code—isn't working. The loss of that code rendered the science and engineering data unusable. Unable to repair the chip, the team decided to place the affected code elsewhere in the FDS memory. But no single location is large enough to hold the section of code in its entirety.
So they devised a plan to divide affected the code into sections and store those sections in different places in the FDS. To make this plan work, they also needed to adjust those code sections to ensure, for example, that they all still function as a whole. Any references to the location of that code in other parts of the FDS memory needed to be updated as well.
Voyager 1 stopped sending readable science and engineering data back to Earth on Nov. 14, 2023, even though mission controllers could tell the spacecraft was still receiving their commands and otherwise operating normally. In March, the Voyager engineering team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California confirmed that the issue was tied to one of the spacecraft's three onboard computers, called the flight data subsystem (FDS). The FDS is responsible for packaging the science and engineering data before it's sent to Earth.
The team discovered that a single chip responsible for storing a portion of the FDS memory—including some of the FDS computer's software code—isn't working. The loss of that code rendered the science and engineering data unusable. Unable to repair the chip, the team decided to place the affected code elsewhere in the FDS memory. But no single location is large enough to hold the section of code in its entirety.
So they devised a plan to divide affected the code into sections and store those sections in different places in the FDS. To make this plan work, they also needed to adjust those code sections to ensure, for example, that they all still function as a whole. Any references to the location of that code in other parts of the FDS memory needed to be updated as well.
Also great to see how some of us "more mature" people are still accomplishing great things!
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