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CENTCOM schreef 3 uur geleden het volgende: "Op 12 juli voerde CENTCOM een nieuwe reeks offensieve aanvallen uit op Iran. Hierbij werden met precisiewapens tientallen doelen op meerdere locaties geraakt, met als doel het vermogen van Iran te ondermijnen om aanvallen te blijven uitvoeren op de internationale scheepvaart in de Straat van Hormuz. Strijdkrachten van CENTCOM vielen Iraanse militaire luchtverdedigingssystemen, kustradarinstallaties, raket- en dronecapaciteiten en kleine vaartuigen aan. Hierbij werden Amerikaanse gevechtsvliegtuigen, marineschepen, lucht-zelfmoorddrones  en – voor het eerst – zee-zelfmoorddrones ingezet."

Opmerkelijk, CENTCOM spreekt hier opnieuw van "offensieve aanvallen". Dat deed het op 8 juli voor het eerst, daarvoor werd er (op 11 juni voor het laatst) steeds gesproken van "defensieve aanvallen". Kortom, sinds Trump het nieuwe Iraanse leiderschap weer "SCUM" vindt, is de taal aanvallend. 

De IRGC claimt ondertussen dat het aanvallen heeft uitgevoerd op "de Prince Hassan-vliegbasis in Jordanië, een Amerikaans militair commandocentrum voor drones in Bahrein en vliegbases waaronder Ali Al Salem in Koeweit." Jordanië zegt dat het vier Iraanse raketten neergeschoten heeft en ook Koeweit zegt dat de luchtverdediging actief is, al noemen zij geen cijfers.

Afijn, een schermutseling ter ere van de gisteren plotseling overleden Lindsey Graham, die overigens onmiddellijk reïncarneert als het vijfde kind van Ben Shapiro. Wij gaan weer eens live.

Welkom terug Lindsey Graham

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Houdt onze inlichtenvloot in de lucht!

Doneer hier

John from Brisbane has added a photo to the pool:

From Brisbane's south side suburb of Wynnum, you can gaze out to the beautiful Marine Park of Moreton Bay in South East Queensland. Despite the rugged shore here, a bit of muddy sand because of proximity to the mouth of the Brisbane River and mangrove fringed tidal "beaches", there is also a smattering of red volcanic rocks which typify some edges of the bay both sides of the river. This results in the suburb of Redcliffe in the north and Redland Bay in the south. At this point, Wynnum Creek enters into the bay carrying nutrients that support plant and fish life and therefore pelicans that love this spot. In the middle distance is the former penal island of St Helena to which one can cruise and take a tour. It was an offshore "jail" but not a transported convict institution like some early settlements of Australia. The cruise down the river and out into the Bay is a very pleasant trip indeed. In the distance is Moreton Island, one of the large fringing sand islands of Moreton Bay with its magic beauty of Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort (until the early 1970's a whaling station), beautiful western facing sandy beaches, the largest vegetated sand dunes in the world and a colony of sunken small ships forming a superlative dive site.

Keith Midson has added a photo to the pool:

Taroona, Tasmania.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Long-time Slashdot reader necro81 writes: There are several companies, such as Tesla, trying to make semi trucks fully electric. The capital cost for such a truck, and the MW-scale infrastructure to recharge it, may be a hard sell for some operators. [IEEE Spectrum notes that's a charging infrastructure "that most freight corridors do not yet reliably provide."] But some companies are instead adding batteries and an electric motor to the semi-trailers that trucks haul behind them.

"The Nivalis Powered Trailer Kit centers on an electric axle [rated at 50 kilowatts-peak]... capable of both propulsion assistance and regenerative braking. It draws on a 60-kilowatt-hour, 400-volt lithium-ion battery pack charged from three sources: the axle itself during braking and deceleration, a full-rooftop array of photovoltaic panels generating up to 3.7 kilowatts-peak, and a 32-amp, three-phase AC grid connection available during parking stops."


This approach is more akin to a plug-in hybrid: the truck may still be diesel-powered, but the electric assist from the trailer allows the truck to run more efficiently. Replacing diesel with kWh can save operators money while also reducing emissions. This incremental approach may be more accessible and less capital-intensive than replacing the truck itself.
From the article:

The driver's only window into the system is a small display readable from the cab's side mirror that shows the system status and battery charge level. Nothing about the trailer's handling or licensing requirements changes. The partners project savings of up to 7,000 liters of diesel per trailer per year, which is enough to keep about 19 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the air...

Trailer Dynamics, an Aachen-based company, has conducted field tests with BMW Logistics, DB Schenker, Duvenbeck, and Volkswagen Konzernlogistik, reporting average fuel savings of around 40% for diesel tractor combinations, substantially higher than the up to 18% reduction implied by the Nivalis projection... Trailer Dynamics prices its system between €145,000 and €195,000 and targets a payback period of no more than five years. Nivalis targets five to six years at current costs.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Klarna biedt de mogelijkheid om aankopen te doen en die binnen drie maanden te betalen – een betaalmethode waarvoor een consument niet doorgelicht hoeft te worden op kredietwaardigheid. Een claimstichting meent dat Klarna al die tijd wel die checks had moeten uitvoeren – en claimt daarom 500 miljoen euro.

Het is de favoriete oneliner van armoedeorganisaties en beleidsmakers: armoede discrimineert niet en kan iedereen treffen. Dat klinkt sympathiek, maar dit ‘pechframe’ verhult een keiharde klassensamenleving.

Sommige dingen moet je zelf doen, hoe onhandig en tijdrovend ze ook zijn. Een machine kan niet voor je scheppen, niet voor je begrijpen, niet voor je leven. Mens zijn kost tijd, dus lees die verdomde nieuwsbrief gewoon zelf.

Meta has withdrawn the first image generation product created by its Superintelligence Labs fewer than 72 hours after launch. The product was called “Muse Image” and Meta launched it on July 8, billing it as “the first AI image generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs.” That lab is Zuck’s latest big bet and aims to create a “personal superintelligence that knows us deeply, understands our goals, and can help us achieve them.” In the case of Muse AI, that help came in the form of applying one of 30 new filters that “uniquely understand Instagram videos and photos and can interpret your photo's scene — the lighting, composition, and subject — to make nuanced edits that feel natural and true to you.” Instagram users could use those effects to “transform your photos with a single tap,” the social networking company promised. Users could also apply the filters to content posted by third parties. “Meta is also launching the ability to @mention friends’ public Instagram accounts in Meta AI and generate creative AI images featuring them, such as personalized birthday cards, group trip memes, or playful edits between friends. It's an upgrade to what people can create with AI features at Meta, making it more personal, fun, and social,” the company said. Meta almost certainly leads the world in three things: The number of people signed up to its social networks; experience of people behaving horribly online, and; dealing with community backlashes after privacy abuses. Yet somehow it didn’t imagine that enabling this feature by default might be controversial, or that allowing users to alter images with AI might be abused. Backlash was therefore swift and widespread. Actors’ union SAG-AFTRA condemned the product. “Anything other than a clear and conspicuous OPT-IN for these types of uses of Instagram users’ images is unacceptable, and an utter miscalculation of public sentiment regarding the obvious dangers and harms inherent in such use,” it posted on Instagram. Within three days of release, Meta realized the error of its ways and pulled the product. “Earlier this week, we announced that one way for people to generate images in Meta AI is by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts that they want to reference,” the company wrote. “Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way. We've heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it's no longer available.” Interestingly, Meta says several of the effects it offered were “designed by Instagram creators, who used Meta AI to amplify their creativity and bring their ideas to life.” Zuck believes users of his social networks mostly want to see content made by creators – Meta-speak for prominent accounts who post a lot – rather than content produced by media outlets or others. Involving creators in Meta’s own creative processes has now backfired. ®