WWUA- IS MY NEW ACRONYM FOR what we’re up against- to denote troublesome articles, similar to a thumbs down.
For example, those from other countries may not realize that the Daily Mail.com is a British tabloid. This article about a supposed study in New Zealand is making the rounds: Watching TV or gaming just before bed makes no difference to children's sleep, shock new study shows with no link to the study - the article hyperlinks, similar to wikipedia’s are useless. I have not included it in the news summaries, but following yesterday’s proclamations that cell phones don’t cause brain tumors, we can see what we are up against, and the need for increased digital literacy.
WWUA; This also includes the promotion of teachers wearing an alarm to address school shootings - see below under shootings.
FEATURED
THE POWER COUPLE: Who were the luddites? Implications for our Post-Industrial Age of AI 34 MINUTES Who were the luddites? (substack.com)
THE POWER COUPLE: From stone to digital tablets: our history of communication On this episode, we discuss:
How are teens being manipulated into communicating on their phone?
Evolution and history of communication over the last 200 years
Our innate human communication technology that we all possess
Where are we headed as a species? Meta-glasses or eyes wide open? 35 MINUTES
NEWS AND NOTES
AI: OpenAI prepares for massive AI infrastructure buildout in the United States OpenAI, led by CEO Sam Altman, is intensifying its efforts to develop the necessary infrastructure to support the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. The company has depicted a massive expansion plan across several U.S. states, which is expected to gulp tens of billions of dollars in investment. [] According to a Bloomberg report, some of the planned projects are the development of data centers, energy capacity upgrades, and increases in semiconductor production. [] the cross-border nature of these investments has created concerns over the national security of the United States. []In response to these issues, OpenAI has held talks with the US National Security Council, stating that the proposed investments would strengthen America’s geopolitical position. These talks come as the US Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute recently announced a partnership with OpenAI. According to the MoU signed with OpenAI, the government agency will investigate, compare, and assess the AI models provided by the two companies. This is also in line with the Biden administration’s bid to strengthen the US technology and semiconductor production capabilities. The Chips and Science Act, which provides $39 billion in grants for semiconductor manufacturing, also supports OpenAI’s goal of developing essential infrastructure. In his recent Washington Post column, Altman highlighted the need for American infrastructure to maintain a competitive advantage over authoritarian governments. MSN
AI BRIAN MERCHANT: Surprise, the most influential people in AI are those getting the richest A look at TIME's AI 100 list, checking in on California's disastrous gig work law, and a victory for voice actors fighting AI SUBSTACK BLOOK IN THE MACHINE
AI: How much is AI hurting the planet? Big tech won't tell us. Imagine you're buying a new laptop. You come across a model that can do some pretty nifty stuff, but uses many times more electricity than your current laptop. (Ten times? Thirty times? No salesman can give you the exact number, because it's a company secret.)Oh yeah, and this laptop comes with a funnel on top; every time you ask it for a joke, or a fun image you just thought up, the PC needs a water refill (again, it won't tell you how much). What do you think, worth the upgrade? For those of us who care about an ever-warmer, ever-thirstier Earth, probably not. Yet that laptop, or something like it, is the net result of our current AI gold rush. In short: climate-conscious, AI-hungry companies like Google and Microsoft have become a little compartmentalized. They can tell you exactly how many kilograms of carbon your next plane flight is going to emit, but won't offer the same when it comes to your next AI-written term paper or AI-painted Pope in a puffy jacket. Perhaps with good reason: if we knew the environmental cost of AI products, we'd start shaming each other for our flagrant usage of it. AI makes us all dirtier Since tech firms also still care about being seen as good environmental citizens, we do have a sense of the scale of the problem. In its 86-page 2024 sustainability report, Google revealed that its total greenhouse gas emissions shot up by 48 percent between 2019 and 2023, with the bulk of that rise coming since 2022. [] Both companies point the finger at third parties, specifically the ones building data centers for them. They also point out that these data centers do a lot more than just answer AI prompts, which is true and a big part of why the energy cost of AI is so nebulous. But neither can the AI-proud companies fully deny what's driving this sudden burst of construction: data centers that are "designed and optimized to support AI workloads," in Microsoft's words. []Where should we point the finger for this rise? As Google's report puts it in this doozy of a passive-voice sentence: "Reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute." To be fair to the owners of power-hungry AI models, their energy usage is probably still dwarfed by other power-hog data center technologies such as cryptocurrency, streaming apps, and online games. But don't make that comparison to Luccioni. "That always pisses me off," she says, "because AI is not a vertical. It's a horizontal — a tool that gets used across many different verticals. Google Maps uses AI, and so do all the ads we see online, and so does precision agriculture, and so do military drones. How do you calculate what part AI plays?" [] AI is incredibly thirsty Another way to see the scale of the problem: tell-tale spikes in water usage. When OpenAI was in the final month of training its latest model, GPT-4, at a group of Microsoft data centers in West Des Moines Iowa, the company had to pump in 11.5 million gallons — or 6 percent of all the water in the whole district. West Des Moines told Microsoft not to add more data centers unless it could reduce its water usage, echoing a similar problem in Arizona and a 2021 water fight in Oregon over Google data centers. [] it's impossible to tell whether your AI query is going to a data center in green energy-friendly Europe, coal-friendly India or oil-friendly Saudi Arabia. Even Europe isn't greening its grid fast enough to keep pace with Silicon Valley's AI obsession. [] Tech companies are trying to plug that gap with carbon credits, which as a recent Bloomberg investigation points out, isn't the same as taking emissions out of the atmosphere. Microsoft and Amazon rely on credits for more than 50 percent of its so-called renewable energy, the report said. [] Can AI help us be more green? Even if AI-focused data centers were 100 percent powered by wind, solar, hydro and nuclear, that still means they're calling dibs on green power that belongs to all of us. MSN
AUTOMOBILES: FORD AUTO REPOSSSESSION PATENT 20230055958 (uspto.gov) - Can lock you out of your car for non-payment
BROADBAND: ‘People need to see it': How politics hung up a $42 billion Biden internet buildout The 2021 infrastructure law contained tens of billions of dollars intended to help rural parts of the country like southwest Virginia — but mounting political snags will mean the administration will have virtually nothing to show for it by Election Day. In his speech last month at the Democratic National Convention, Biden trumpeted his broadband program in historic terms, calling it a national build-out “not unlike what Roosevelt did with electricity.” Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris helped create and promote the program as vice president, and on the campaign trail it could offer a way to show how the White House has delivered for rural Americans. But as Harris makes her case, the delays have turned what could have been a victory lap for the Biden-Harris administration into a focal point for industry frustration, local partisan finger-pointing and anti-Washington complaints from all corners. [] Musk’s Starlink service offers satellite internet to rural Americans, and his SpaceX officials have expressed interest in receiving some of these broadband subsidies in certain states. House Republicans have already launched an investigation into whether the Biden administration’s affordability requirements were violating the infrastructure law itself, which includes a prohibition on rate regulation. POLITICO
CELLPHONES: Yes, it sounds like a conspiracy theory. But maybe our phones really are listening to us GUARDIAN COURTESY TOM
CELLPHONES SCHOOLS: PHONE FREE SCHOOLS MOVEMENT
CENSORSHIP BIG TECH: Pavel Durov and Elon Musk are not free speech champions The actions against Telegram and Twitter/X are about sovereignty, not speech Digital rights activism served the global ambitions of the tech monopolies forming in Silicon Valley and Greater Seattle by positioning attempts at restricting platforms and making companies abide by local rules and norms appear as overbearing government intrusions on people’s rights. In the cyberlibertarian framing, government — not corporations — are the enemy, and that was reflected in the way many activists long approached tech policy. It certainly doesn’t seem like a coincidence that it also served US commercial and geopolitical ambitions. Where countries previously placed ownership restrictions on its media and telecommunications sectors and invested in public broadcasters, that was all out the window with the internet. Foreign governments were expected to accept the dominance of US firms, or else be accused of breaching their citizens’ rights. [] The internet is not just about speech Pavel Durov and Elon Musk are not paragons of free speech that deserve any of us to come to their defense. Durov created a platform designed to enable criminal activity and refused to take effective action against it, while Musk has intentionally altered Twitter/X to turn it into a playground for the extreme right he vocally aligns himself with. Tech billionaires now claim to be defenders of free speech, reframing a concept that’s been so central to understanding the internet to further defend their own power. As the era of US dominance of the internet wanes, more countries will take firmer action to rein in the harms that dominant tech platforms have created and to make the internet in their jurisdictions better align with their laws and social norms. In many cases, those measures will have little to do with restricting speech, but about asserting sovereignty over a sector and set of executives that have far too long felt themselves above the law. The enforcement is long overdue, and if done properly, could be the path to a better internet. But understanding and properly responding these developments will require looking beyond speech to see the broader economic and political implications. PARIS MARX DISCONNECT
CHILDREN/INSPIRATION/ANALOGUE FAMILY: What Is the Point of Having Kids? It's about the pursuit of expansiveness.
CHILDREN SCHOOLS MA4SAFETECH Back to School -- With High Wireless Radiation Emissions? WITH VIDEO OF RF READINGS IN SCHOOL
CHILDREN SCREENS SWEDEN: Sweden joins countries seeking to end screen time for children under 2 Sweden says children under the age of 2 should not be exposed to any digital screens. The recommendations, issued by the Scandinavian country’s public health agency earlier this month as a new school year begins, are the latest in a worldwide effort to limit screen time for young children. [] Sweden suggests that toddlers should not have any exposure to digital screens, including television. The recommendations ease slightly as the children age: From 2 to 5 years old, they should have a maximum of one hour a day in front of a screen, while for youngsters aged 6 to 12 it's two hours. Teenagers should have no more than three hours of screen time a day. Sweden's suggestions came after research found that children reported negative effects like poorer sleep, depression and limited physical activity with high use of digital devices. [] France has the strictest suggestions so far, saying children under 3 should not have any time in front of screens. The recommendation comes from a report published in April that was commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron. Ireland and the U.S. say babies and toddlers can engage in video calls with family and friends — though Canada, Australia and Sweden do not make such distinctions. [] Now Sweden's public health agency has called for tech companies to change their algorithms so children do not get stuck doom-scrolling for hours or watching harmful content. MSN
CLIMATE (in case you missed it yesterday): Geoengineering: Political Games and Toxic Encounters Sean Carney
Every breath we take There is without question an international political-industrial desire to enhance the atmosphere (and environment) with highly conductive, aerosolised particulate matter that evidently promotes electromagnetic transmission. At the same time, carbon is “vilified” as our biggest “climate problem” and is being removed from the atmosphere and environment. A highly conspicuous fact, in the context of all of this, is that Carbon is not considered a good electromagnetic conductor. We find it is being removed (often buried) in rapid “climate change action”. This is part of a geoengineering process which helps to produce an anthropogenically modified atmosphere favouring an emerging wireless, sensing environment. Such changes to the quality of our atmosphere will also inevitably alter our bodies, and impact our health (especially our respiratory health). All of this hastened “modification” is integral to fully achieving the IoT – a goal of the UN and various corporate stakeholders who are rapidly rolling out smart technologies, and nano-technologies, supported by Industry 4.0 (a.k.a. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, as coined by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF)). See the NEW UPDATED VERSION WITH AN ADDED VIDEO AND IMAGES, and into regarding the UN's "new" cloud classifications at the SAFE TECH INTERNATIONAL BLOG.
See also the IEEE article here: Is This Climate Tech Start-Up Going Rogue? Make Sunsets' sulfur dioxide strategy has academics and NGOs fuming Make Sunsets is a tiny start-up headquartered in South Dakota that is using balloons to release small quantities of sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere, in the hope of reflecting some of the Sun’s energy away from the earth. Each gram of SO2, says Andrew Song, one of Make Sunsets’ founders, offsets the warming from one metric ton of carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels. Not everyone is convinced by Make Sunsets’ methods, however—and many researchers and environmentalists worry the startup’s unregulated operations are disrupting more responsible research into geoengineering, including a prominent effort at Harvard. Make Sunsets’ name is a reference to the dramatic sunsets that high-altitude SO2 particles can produce, as seen following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991. That eruption briefly depressed global temperatures by about 0.2 °C for a year, until the particles slowly returned to Earth. “A couple of rogue tech bros taking action completely outside the scope of government authority or any public engagement are really embodying the nightmare of what folks think this could be.” [] SilverLining has submitted a comment to the Federal Trade Commission about Make Sunset’s business, which she describes as false marketing. “We’re at an inflection point because the climate system is getting worse, and people are getting worried,” she says. “Regulators, policy makers, and the general public all have a sense that we don’t know very much about these things. Seeing people selling cooling credits raises more concerns than it helps.” ORGANIC CONSUMERS
DATA CENTERS: Datacenters to emit 3x more carbon dioxide because of generative AI THE REGISTER ON MSN
ENERGY NUCLEAR: Lawmakers celebrate monumental signing of new energy bill with lasting impacts: 'That long-sought breakthrough is closer than it's ever been' lawmakers recently celebrated the signing of a bipartisan piece of legislation called the Fusion Energy Act, which will promote the development of fusion technology. The legislation was included in the text of S. 870 along with the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act. The laws were passed with bipartisan support by both chambers of Congress. Aiding progress toward the use of fusion energy in the power grid, the Fusion Energy Act will improve regulatory certainty for fusion research firms that develop the new technology. The law also codifies the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's previous choice to create "a regulatory framework for fusion machines under its byproduct materials framework," detailed FCNP. MSN
ENERGY: See how much you could save on electric appliance upgrades There are many savings programs for energy-efficient appliances and upgrades. Enter your household info to see the programs you’re eligible for. HERE
FCC: FCC to Vote on Opening up 17 GHZ for Satellite Broadband The agency is set to vote on September 26 BROADBAND BREAKFAST
FCC: Texas Couple Challenges FCC’s Wi-Fi Hotspots Order in Fifth Circuit The Molaks also have a petition for reconsideration pending before the FCC. [] They argued the FCC does not have the authority to fund connectivity outside the physical bounds of a library or classroom. It’s an argument they used in challenging an order expanding E-Rate to school bus Wi-Fi before the same court in a case still pending. BROADBAND BREAKFAST
5G; FCC Launches 5G Fund On August 29, the FCC released a Second Report and Order that officially kicked off the process of launching the 5G Fund for Rural America. The FCC says in the order that there are 14 million Americans without access to 5G, and they are going to provide a $9 billion subsidy fund to bring better rural cellular coverage. Today’s blog will look at the key aspects of the order. The funding will be awarded using a reverse auction that is only open to cellular carriers. The 5G Fund can be awarded to areas of the country that don’t have at least one carrier with a 5G mobile wireless speed of at least 7/1 Mbps, is not in an urban area, and contains at least one home or business and some portion of a road. In practical terms, that means funding for rural areas that have no 5G today (just 4G LTE) or that have 5G claimed to be slower than 7/1 Mbps. Areas that don't have any 5G today will get extra weighting in the reverse auction. POTS AND PANS
5G INDUSTRY: Community Action for the 5G Plan The FCC announced the 5G Fund to improve cellular broadband in rural areas - and this second blog talks about several actions communities might want to consider immediately if your area needs better cellular coverage. The FCC announced it will move forward with the 5G Plan for Rural America. This new subsidy will provide $9 billion to improve rural cellular coverage. I know in working throughout rural America that poor cellular coverage is often a worse problem that broadband coverage. The FCC is convinced that the current cellular coverage maps are adequate to define the areas that deserve the new subsidy. In the counties I’ve been working in this does not seem to be the case, and the FCC cellular maps often seem to be overstating speed, similar to broadband speed claims. This was bolstered by a recent letter to the FCC from the Rural Wireless Association that claims that the FCC cellular maps are poor. Since the FCC seems determined to move forward with the current maps and seems to be on a fast track to initiate the 5G plan, there should be a sense of urgency in any County that thinks it needs better cellular coverage. The following steps should be considered immediately because it is possible that the FCC could launch the new 5G Fund by the end of the year. []The 5G Fund subsidy will only be awarded to areas where the FCC map shows that no carrier is offering 5G with speeds of at least 7/1 Mbps. If even only one carrier meets that criteria, the area will not get funding. []if the FCC maps overstate cellular coverage in your area you need to get folks out taking cellular speed tests using the FCC app in the areas where you think coverage is poor. To be of any use for the 5G Fund the speed tests probably need to be done this month. Speed tests can only be done using the FCC’s own speed test app. The app is available at the Google Play Store or Apple App store. Speed tests only count if they area taken outside or in a moving vehicle – indoor tests or tests on a WiFi network don’t county. For the 5G Fund, you want to take speed tests from a stationary point, which means pulling over on the side of the road. Tests must be taken between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM. POTS AND PANS
5G: Concerns with the 5G Fund Are the Maps Accurate?, No Specific Public Map Challenge, I don’t want to sound too critical of this plan because poor rural cellular coverage is a huge issue. This has been needed for a long time. But after having taken four years to get to this announcement, wouldn’t it make sense to take six more months to allow local governments to prove that cellular coverage is poor or that the FCC maps are inaccurate? The FCC does not want to repeat the dreadful problem it had with RDOF based on faulty maps. If the FCC rushes this through without the chance for a map challenge, it will feel like the agency is rushing to grab headlines. Doing this right is vital because communities that get missed by this upgrade are likely going to be stuck with poor cellular coverage for a decade or more. POTS AND PANS
6G: Wireless Industry Checks in With NTIA on 6G Even as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moves forward with its long-delayed 5G Fund program to expand advanced wireless services in rural areas, the government and wireless industry are staking out the parameters of sixth-generation (6G) wireless. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently accepted industry comments from about 60 companies and associations on how government and industry should shape 6G, which some estimate could be deployed by 2030. Among the questions NTIA seeks to answer is how 6G enhancements could improve wireless network resiliency and recovery from natural disasters. BENTON
HAVANA: NSA document reveals Russians had microwave weapon suspected in attacks Inside the Ring: NSA document reveals Russians had microwave weapon suspected in attacks - Washington Times
HEALTH: The mechanosensitivity of our "second brain" revealed To regulate digestion, the neurons in the intestine sense the mechanical pressures caused by the passage of food.A team from the Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes and Flinders University (Australia) has shown that the mechanisms for detecting forces differ significantly from those usually involved in transmitting neuronal electrical signals. Published in the Journal of Experimental Physiology, this work highlights a new particularity of the enteric nervous system. The only organ in our body with an intrinsic innervation, the intestine has one hundred million neurons connected to the central nervous system by only two thousand axons. This enteric nervous system detects the mechanical pressure exerted by the food bolus to command the muscles of the intestine for the next digestive actions: transport, mixing, or rejection []While tetrodotoxin has long been known to completely halt action potentials and neuronal function, the mechanosensitive response was not affected at all. The remarkable resistance of this response to a whole battery of ion channel inhibitors, beyond just sodium channels, suggests that it could largely be an intracellular phenomenon, relying on the disruption of calcium reservoirs inside the cell during mechanical stimulation. However, the authors are not yet certain this explains the entire phenomenon and plan to continue their investigations. They also found that calcium channels play a very important role in generating spontaneous electrical signals in intestinal neurons. According to well-established practice, researchers studying the enteric nervous system often use calcium channel inhibitors, which block the natural contractions of the intestine and thus facilitate imaging. This work suggests that this common practice might actually distort observations by inhibiting more functions than expected. TECHNOSCIENCE
HEALTH: Acetylcholine ("Vagus Substance") Helps Dopamine Transmission, but Adrenaline (Stress) Inhibits Acetylcholine Another Way by Which Stress Results in "Low Dopamine" We have said before that considering imbalances of a single neurotransmitter in isolation, e.g. low dopamine, is overly simplistic and unlikely to yield results, because, in reality, all the different neurotransmitters work together, interact and interplay. A case in point recently came up when a therapist asked me what is the main neurotransmitter associated with the all important vagus nerve. Recall, the vagus nerve, together with a few of the other parasympathetic cranial nerves, is responsible for anti-inflammation and detoxification of the body. Answering this question led me down a path to discovering some important and very interesting nuggets of knowledge, which, when connected, have a profound implication. GARY SHARPE SUBSTACK
HEALTH; Research identifies nerve endings that shed light on gut-brain communication MEDICAL EXPRESS
HEALTH MENTAL HEALTH: From doomscrolling to drinking too much, this 3-step process could help you break bad habits "It's an emotion regulation problem," says Nir Eyal, behavioral design expert and best-selling author of "Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life." The average American spends 4 hours and 37 minutes a day looking at their phone screens, according to Harmony Healthcare IT. This figure is even higher in parts of Asia. In Indonesia, the average daily screen time spent on a mobile phone was a whopping 6.05 hours in 2023, according to Statista. The average in Thailand was 5.64 hours of screen time, and 4.77 hours in India, according to the same dataset. "We do time studies on why people check their phones, and only 10% of time is it because of a ping, ding or ring," Eyal told CNBC Make It. "So 90% of the time, it's for some other reason — a feeling, which is actually the root cause of everything we do — it's about the desire to escape discomfort Ultimately, in order to cut out bad habits associated with distraction, people need to learn how to regulate their emotions and master their internal triggers. Here are some ways to achieve this, according to Eyal. 3-step process to break bad habits Take control, don't blame external factors, Identify the internal trigger, Create a plan of attack for when the trigger shows up The first step is to realize that you have control over your actions instead of blaming outside factors, Eyal said. "People who have an internal locus of control realize that they control what they do — we know that [they] are wealthier, they're happier, they have more friends [and] they contribute more to the community," he said. Secondly, identify the preceding emotion or the root "pain" that triggers the bad habit craving, according to Eyal. "Time management is pain management, money management is pain management, weight management is pain management. It's all pain management," Eyal said. "Identify the internal trigger and have a plan for what you will do when you feel that discomfort," and the key is to do this ahead of time, said Eyal. Fighting off bad habits
Here are two methods he uses to fight off bad habits and distraction:
1. The 10-minute rule When a trigger for a bad habit comes up, Eyal tells himself: "It's fine to give in, but not right now. I have to wait just 10 minutes." Following this rule can help people do what's called "surfing the urge. Eyal said in his book that it means: "Noticing the sensations and riding them like a wave — neither pushing them away nor acting on them." Whether it is a craving for a cigarette or a craving to check social media, this can help people cope until the sensation subsides, according to Eyal.
2. Create a mantra "This is what it feels like to get better." That's the mantra Eyal repeats to himself whenever he feels an internal trigger.
Rather than immediately giving in and getting distracted or indulging in the bad habit, he allows himself to sit in the feeling, recognize that it's hard, and realize that the discomfort is actually a sign of growth. MSN
INSPIRATION: Curious George and the case of the unconscious culture Modern life is draining of consciousness Once made explicit, consciousness drainage appears everywhere. Go under any viral social media post to find replies written in the bland uncanny valley of the inhuman. Have you tried to talk to anyone on the phone at a major company in a while? It’s nigh impossible. All of us listening to Muzak as we wait to reach some tiny scrap of remaining human consciousness within some great machine that is plodding along by itself, often in ways that ape conscious behavior but are really just statistical approximations, and so go pear-shaped, throw oddities, surface up spindles of weirdness jutting into our everyday reality. If I picture the last three hundred years as a montage it blinks by on fast-forward: first individual artisans sitting in their houses, their deft fingers flowing, and then an assembly line with many hands, hands young and old and missing fingers, and then later only adult intact hands as the machines get larger, safer, more efficient, with more blinking buttons and lights, and then the machines themselves join the line, at first primitive in their movements, but still the number of hands decreases further, until eventually there are no more hands and it is just a whirring robotic factory of appendages and shapes; and yet even here, if zoomed out, there is still a spark of human consciousness lingering as a bright bulb in the dark, for the office of the overseer is the only room kept lit. Then, one day, there’s no overseer at all. It all takes place in the dark. And the entire thing proceeds like Leibniz’s mill, without mind in sight. We might cheer at the lack of missing fingers, but at what point does the removal of consciousness drain the world not just of meaning, but of sense? For consciousness drainage is happening all the time, everywhere, in every process, ever accelerating. Another example: I eventually had to stop using my Chase credit card because it continually declined transactions for no reason. A recurrent problem, I called the company many times to tell them to stop putting holds on my accounts for obviously valid purchases, like groceries in the zip code where I live. Each time I was told it would never happen again. Each time it did. Eventually it became clear they had no control over it. Fraud decisions were made by an AI, you see, and AIs are mathematical black boxes. Inexplicable. Chase’s financial fraud AI, some internal kami-like spirit, had decided it didn’t like my card. And there was no way they could fix it because no one at the company had the power to reach in (digitally) and re-wire the damn thing. Probably not even the people who trained it. So now I only use a debit card, because that’s what you’re forced to do in a culture where not just “technical debt” accumulates but “unconscious debt” does as well. Did you know, across all the books, Curious George never speaks? He can’t, you see. He’s a monkey. George has no language, no higher cognitive abilities. He displays no continuity, and cannot learn from his mistakes. And so the whole modern world—his museum trips, his visit to the candy factory, his fire engine adventures—is forever an exercise in high strangeness to him. And now, I guess, it is for us too. We’ve all become Curious George, primates living amidst alien machinery far from our homelands. SUBSTACK INTRINSIC PERSPECTIVE “If you feel like diving in deeper, here are some of the top posts from The Intrinsic Perspective:
Why we stopped making Einsteins: Explaining the decline of genius
The gossip trap: How civilization came to be and how social media is ending it
Futurists have their heads in the clouds: On making good predictions for 2050
AI-art isn't art: DALL-E and other AI artists offer only the imitation of art”
LANDLINES: Here's Why You Might Still Need a Home Landline Phone, Even in 2024 AT&T also assured people that the outage was not the result of a cyberattack and blamed "the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network." But for many customers, the outage was a reminder of the perils of relying only on mobile phones. And it may have made some people rethink the place of a home device that used to be standard issue, but is now nearly obsolete: the landline telephone. [] A 2022 survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that only about 29% of US adults lived in a house with a landline phone, down from more than 90% in 2004. The crossover happened around 2015, which was also when smartphone sales entered a boom period that reshaped the tech industry and helped turn iPhone maker Apple into one of the world's most highly valued companies. What makes landlines more reliable? Landline phones operate on a separate infrastructure, built from copper phone lines that are inexpensive to build and rather reliable. They also don't have the drawbacks of cellular networks, like dropped calls, poor and distorted quality or weak reception. A key reason people keep landlines around is that they tend to work even during power outages, which is a big plus for folks whose work involves emergency services, business or health care. Analog fax machines are also built around landline phone systems, which means most hospitals and doctor's offices, as well as policy and law offices, need to keep a landline connection running. [] The US Federal Communications Commission is phasing out requirements for phone companies to provide landline services (called Plain Old Telephone Service) across the country. As a result, more homes and business offices are being built with ethernet jacks rather than phone jacks. Landline phone connections aren't cheap, either. CNET corporate cousin AllConnect notes that AT&T's traditional home phone plan starts at $48 per month, and you have to use the company for internet too. CenturyLink is cheaper, starting at $30 per month, and Spectrum will charge as little as $20 per month. And not all landlines use copper phone lines. Increasingly, companies are piggybacking their phone systems on their internet connections, a service called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP. AllConnect currently tracks only three service providers offering old-style landlines: CenturyLink, Comcast Xfinity and Cox. MSN
POLITICS (SECURITY): Kamala Harris Doesn't Use Bluetooth Headphones. Here's Why That's Smart — And What You Should Do With Yours. On Monday, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was photographed using wired headphones connected to a phone as she boarded Air Force Two. This is not the first time Harris has been photographed using wired headphones. In her famous “We did it, Joe” call to President Joe Biden about their 2020 victory over Donald Trump, Harris is seen holding a pair of wired headphones in one hand. In fact, she has done several television interviews and official videos wearing wired headphones. [] In 2021, Politico offered some insight into Harris’ headphones preference, reporting that she “has long felt that Bluetooth headphones are a security risk” and “insists on using wired headphones” as a result, according to three anonymous former campaign aides. (HuffPost reached out to Harris’ office about her wired headphone use but has not received a response.) Now, we might not know exactly why Harris relies on wired headphones. But if it’s because of security risks, she is right to be distrustful of Bluetooth devices, according to cybersecurity experts.MSN
WWUA: SCHOOL SHOOTING TECHNOLOGY: What is Centegix? The safety solution panic button used to notify police of Georgia school shooter Teachers at Apalachee High School in Georgia used Centegix technology to alert officers of school shooter Authorities were first notified of an active incident when Apalachee High School faculty and staff deployed Centegix CrisisAlert ID technology, equipped with an unobtrusive panic button, to alert officials by pressing down on the badge. "All of our teachers are armed with a form of an ID called Centegix," Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told reporters during a Wednesday evening press conference. "Centegix alarms us and alerts the law enforcement office after buttons are pressed on an ID, and it alerts us that there is an active situation at the school for whatever reason." Centegix, a cloud-based wearable safety technology company, enables rapid notification of emergency situations and response by local law enforcement. The safety solutions company, "was founded on the idea that technology can create safer, more secure environments. Our safety solution uses market-defining technology that delivers the functionality, connectivity, and accessibility needed to stand up to real-world emergencies," according to the brand's website. FOX
SPACE: Verizon explains its switcheroo in the satellite space wars HERE
SPACE: Whoopsie, SpaceX Blew Up Two Rockets and Punched a Massive Hole in One of Earth's Layers In mid-November 2023, a disastrous SpaceX launch, which saw the explosion of not one but two rockets, offered a rare opportunity to study the effects of such phenomena on the ionosphere.
A study by Russian scientists revealed how this explosion temporarily blew open a hole in the ionosphere stretching from the Yucatan to the southeastern U.S.
Although far from the first rocket-induced disturbance in the ionosphere, this is one of the first explosive events in the ionosphere to be extensively studied.
Lying at the edge of the planet’s atmosphere and outer space some 50 to 400 miles above the surface, the ionosphere is a sea of electrically charged particles vital to global radio and GPS technologies as well as protecting us from harmful solar rays. Because of its important role in the everyday function of modern society, scientists are eager to understand how disturbances in the ionosphere can impact life on Earth, and that’s why team of researchers from institutes and universities in Russia and France analyzed the explosion of the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built. The results were published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. []The ionosphere is regularly impacted by external natural phenomena. Volcanic eruptions, geomagnetic storms, and solar flares regularly crash against the ionosphere and create a dazzling display of colors known as the Aurora Borealis and Australis, which typically propagate close to the planet’s poles (though not always). However, there’s also a well-documented history of human-made rockets ripping open holes in this electrically-charged protective layer. In July 2023, Spaceweather.com reported a “bleeding” aurora that persisted for 20 minutes following a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch, and a rocket carrying a U.S. Space Force satellite similarly punched a hole through the ionosphere, though it, too, quickly recovered. []Both of these events were caused by ionospheric interactions with rocket fuel, but the November mishap was a full-blown explosion. This new study confirms that the ionosphere experienced a “large-amplitude total electron content depletion,” likely reinforced by a fuel exhaust impact of the Falcon Heavy rocket, which also exploded a little more than a minute earlier at lower altitude once it separated from the Starship. The research team collected this data from 2,500 ground stations scattered across North America and the Caribbean and found that the hole extended largely from Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula and the southeastern U.S., though the exact size of the hole is unknown. Luckily for us, these atmospheric holes aren’t nearly as dire as the ozone hole that rattled the world in the 1990s (and will slowly heal itself by mid-century), as the scientists report that this Starship-induced ion hole caused by “catastrophic phenomena” closed up after 30 or 40 minutes. But these kinds of interactions are still poorly understood, and that’s concerning considering how central the ionosphere is to global technologies—not to mention human health. MSN
WARFARE DRONES: Ukrainian drones now spray 2,500° C thermite streams right into Russian trenches Mechanical dragons deliver fire on command. This drone type is allegedly called "Dragon" and is said to feature thermite, a mixture of metal powder (usually aluminum) and metal oxide (in this case, said to be iron). When a thermite mixture is ignited, it undergoes a redox reaction that releases an enormous amount of heat energy and can burn anywhere. It can get really, really hot. [] Whether such weapons make any difference on the battlefield remains unclear, but the devices are a reminder of how much industrial and chemical engineering talent in Ukraine is currently being directed into new methods of destruction. MSN
EVENTS
9/6 The National Call EMS Committee Meeting, Friday Sept 6, 2024, 3:30-5pm ET Link to register for the EMS Committee Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpf--qrzIvG9ybrLKPubmiPMYSS4p-dQZG After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Our discussion will focus on the EMS Guidelines.
9/9 DR. VICTORIA DUNCKLEY FREE TALK: Screen-time worsens attention and impulse control [my talk for ADHD Summit] Hi Patricia, In just two decades, the average attention span has plummeted from 12 seconds to a mere 8 seconds. This means we now have shorter attention spans than goldfish (which is 9 seconds). And here’s the real kicker… Excessive screen time is creating a perfect storm for ADHD-like symptoms in children across the board. With children spending more time on their screens, their attention is becoming more fragmented, they have less interest in real-life activities, and their motivation for schoolwork is plummeting. Reading scores are dropping, especially in boys. Screen time also makes kids more impulsive and emotionally dysregulated. These pressing challenges are the main reason why I’m teaming up with 26 other world-renowned experts in the field of ADHD. At the FREE online ADHD Parenting Summit, we’ll be sharing our insights on navigating the following ADHD-related parenting issues:
How to manage children’s emotions, hyperactivity and outbursts (without ADHD medication);
Navigating school challenges, such as fragmented attention, span, motivation, organization, and routines;
Handling screen time (which can be particularly harmful for kids with ADHD) and enhancing their online safety.
I’d love for you to join us here. My talk is on Day 1 (Sept 9th) It’s a free online event, packed with science, wisdom and practical tips. StrategicParenting ADHD
10/5 Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space Save the date:
Keep Space for Peace Week October 5-12 Each October the Global Network organizes Keep Space for Peace Week to bring attention to the need to stop the ever advancing militarization and nuclearization of space. In 1989 Apollo astronaut (and moon walker) Edgar Mitchell spoke at one of our protests at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and said, 'One war in space will be the one and only. So much space debris would be created that we would not be able to get a rocket off the planet Earth. We'd be entombed to the planet forever. It would be like a mine field not allowing any rocket to get thru the debris field just over our heads'.
Today all war on Earth is directed from orbiting military satellites. For many years China and Russia have gone to the United Nations seeking to create a new treaty to ban all weapons in space. (Close the door to the barn before the horse gets out.) But the US and Israel have been blocking such treaty negotiations for more than 25 years. The US has long maintained, 'There is no problem, there are no weapons in space.' It was obvious that the US intended to develop 'control and domination' of space and didn't want any treaty limitations. Help us during October 5-12 to illuminate this issue for the public who are now massively paying for the militarization of space - what the aerospace industry brags is the 'largest industrial project in human history'. Check our web site for articles, videos, T-shirts and past events during Keep Space for Peace Week. Click this link