In a sign of the times, Firefox's New Tab page could soon include a crossword puzzle from AI-powered news platform Particle. The blog OMG Ubuntu reports:

The mini crossword game is updated daily, with puzzles based around recent content Particle's AI has ingested and summarised that day. [After solving the crossword, links appear to related news articles...] If you just want to try the crossword, you access it in any browser via a direct link.

While it may look like Mozilla is trying to capitalise on the Wordle craze several years too late, it's part of its strategy to make the Firefox new tab page a discover destination in itself, not just a springboard for new searches. The 'Daily Grind' crossword widget (name subject to change) is just one of several widgets Firefox has (or will get). You'll also find a to-do list, timer, stock checker, world clock, picture of the day, privacy report and new-look weather widget (bigger than the existing one). During the World Cup 2026, Firefox offered real-time match scores and fixture information too...

[T]hey aren't mandatory. You can disable the ones you don't want to use, or, if you don't want any at all, turn them all off to hide the widget area itself. A button to 'show fewer widgets' frees up room to allow other distractions (sponsored stories) on the new tab page to show... [Presumably you can also still open new tabs to a blank page...]

They're rolling out to users in certain region and locales already. Plus, Mozilla routinely tests new features with a small set of users before they hit stable builds (i.e., the "Allow Firefox to run feature studies" setting). If you don't have widgets in your Firefox build, but you want them, you can manually enable them in Firefox 153 and later from the about:config page. Search for the following master switch and set it to true to enable the widget area:

browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.widgets.system.enabled
Then, enable the widgets you want to use by searching:

activity-stream.widgets.*.enabled

However, the usual caveats about "trying things not enabled by default" still apply. Mozilla hasn't set a firm rollout date, though the feature is already documented on its support site. With fortnightly Firefox releases about to start, and a big Nova redesign, chances are we'll all be puzzling over these widgets sooner rather than later.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Politico reports that in the Virginia area alone there's dozens of data center projects "that altogether need 70 gigawatts of power — equivalent to 70 nuclear plants" — currently seeking connection to their grid. But there's also concerns about a Virginia data center powered with natural gas and backup diesel generators:


When Virginia's top environmental regulator received an analysis warning of data center pollution, it took him less than five minutes to forward it to seven people on his staff... Internal emails obtained by POLITICO through a public records request paint a portrait of an agency that moved quickly to defend the only data center in Virginia that is powering itself — in what former officials and environmental health advocates described as an unusual effort to shape the debate around an industry whose global epicenter is in the state. The agency's pushback focused on the report's findings that the facility in Loudoun County could release harmful amounts of air pollution through eight bus-sized natural gas turbines — as allowed by permits granted by the Department of Environmental Quality [DEQ] itself... The request comes as data centers are devising new ways to produce their own power as a way to temper growing public discord over rising electricity prices amid the AI construction boom.

Virginia has more than 600 data centers. The report [commissioned by Virginia's 54-year-old environmental nonprofit Piedmont Environmental Council] raised concerns that the data center's on-site power system, which also includes dozens of backup diesel generators, could cause tens of millions of dollars in health damages to people living around the facility, owned by Vantage Data Centers... [The analysis also argued the pollution could lead to 3.4 to 6.5 premature deaths annually.] People living near the Vantage facility in Sterling say its natural gas turbines produce constant noise and air pollution. The permits for Vantage issued by DEQ in 2023 allow cumulative emissions of seven different pollutants, including 95 tons per year of nitrogen oxides and more than 56 tons of soot. Both contribute to asthma and heart attacks.

Those figures are in line with other state permits for minor sources of pollution, but DEQ's permits for Vantage have sparked local concerns because of the facility's location in a residential area... [Viriginia environmental quality officials] raised questions about whether the report wrongly described the facility's potential air pollution as dangerous, when soot levels in Loudoun County are deemed acceptable by America's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Health experts, including former EPA air quality official Michael Korber, told POLITICO that soot pollution can negatively affect human health even at EPA-approved levels. The World Health Organization's standard for ambient soot pollution is nearly half of what EPA suggests is safe.

Some current and former staffers on Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality believe it's inappropriate for the agency to issue aggressive statements on the healthfulness of the data centers, with one former department leader saying Virginia's DEQ "is not the health department."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

DanÅke Carlsson has added a photo to the pool:

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TRUE 2 DEATH has added a photo to the pool:

Most people know Hirosaki for its cherry blossoms. I love it just as much after midnight.
The last train has come and gone, the shops have closed, and the city finally exhales. Standing here completely alone, it didn't feel empty—it felt peaceful. Like Hirosaki was quietly sharing a side of itself that only the night gets to see.

Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan
June 2026

TRUE 2 DEATH has added a photo to the pool:

I've lost count of how many times I've stepped off a train in Hirosaki. Visiting Hirosaki through every season. Snow-covered platforms, cherry blossom crowds, quiet summer evenings, and colorful autumn afternoons.
But there's something special about midnight, when the station falls silent and the trains wait patiently for another day to begin.

Hirosaki Station, Aomori, Japan
June 2026

Fat Burns ☮ has added a photo to the pool:

Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.

Red-backed Kingfisher
Scientific Name: Todiramphus pyrrhopygius
Description: Measuring 20â22.5 cm (9 in), the red-backed kingfish
Distribution and habitat: The red-backed kingfisher is native to most of Australia. It is a summer visitor to the southeast of the country; elsewhere it is resident all year round. It inhabits dry forests, mulga and mallee country, to savannah. It avoids denser forests. During breeding season, birds will move to river courses to make use of the earthy banks to dig nesting burrows.
Breeding: Breeding season is October to December in Australia with one brood raised, although birds may not breed in times of drought. The nest is a burrow 0.5â1.25 m (18â50 in) into the top third section of a steep sloping or vertical bank overlooking a dry riverbed or one not overlooking water. They may vacate the site if the riverbed becomes inundated. Occasionally nests may be situated in termite mounds in the north of the country. Three to six white shiny eggs are laid, measuring 25 mm x 22 mm.
(Source: Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-backed_kingfisher))
__________________________________________

© Chris Burns 2026

All rights reserved.

This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.

Fat Burns ☮ has added a photo to the pool:

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Little Corella
Scientific Name: Cacatua sanguinea
Description: Little Corellas are mostly white, with a fleshy blue eye-ring and a pale rose-pink patch between the eye and bill. In flight, a bright sulphur-yellow wash can be seen on the underwing and under tail. The sexes are similar in plumage, and young birds look like the adults, but are slightly smaller.
Similar species: In Australia there are two other species of corella. Both are similar in plumage to the Little Corella, but are larger. The Long-billed Corella,C. tenuirostris, measures 38 cm - 41 cm. It also differs by having an orange-scarlet band across the throat, and the upper part of the bill being longer than the lower part. The Western Corella, C. pastinator, measures 38 cm - 42 cm. It too has a longer upper bill (slightly smaller than that of the Long-billed Corella), but also has a larger white crest. One other large white species of cockatoo in Australia is the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, C. galerita. This species is larger than the Corellas, measuring 45 cm - 50 cm and it has a sulphur-yellow crest. The scientific name for Little Corella, Cacatua sanguinea, means 'Blood-stained Cockatoo' and refers to the dark pink markings between the eye and the bill.
Distribution: Little Corellas are widespread throughout Australia, although large gaps separate some populations. The Little Corella is the most widely distributed of the three corella species found in Australia. The Western Corella is confined the extreme south-west of Western Australia, and the Long-billed Corella is found in the south-east.
Habitat: Little Corellas often form large flocks, especially along watercourses and where seeding grasses are found.
Feeding: Little Corellas feed in large noisy flocks. The birds feed mainly on the ground, and have to drink on a daily basis. The most common foods are grains and grass seeds. Some bulbs and fruits may also be eaten.
Breeding: Little Corellas are thought to pair for life and will start breeding at the start of a long period of rain. The nest site is a suitable tree hollow, lined with shavings of wood. This is normally used for several years in row. Both sexes incubate the eggs and both care for the young chicks. The chicks hatch naked and totally dependent on their parents. Breeding pairs nest in large colonies, and several nests may be found in the same tree. Where their ranges overlap, different corella species may nest together, but they are not thought to breed with each other.
Minimum Size: 35cm
Maximum Size: 42cm
Average size: 38cm
Average weight: 462g
Breeding season: Any time of the year when conditions are suitable.
Clutch Size: 2 to 4
Incubation: 25 days
(Source: www.birdsinbackyards.net)

© Chris Burns 2026
__________________________________________

All rights reserved.
This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.

KINSHASA (ANP/RTR) - De ebola-uitbraak in de Democratische Republiek Congo heeft 1354 levens geëist. Dat maakte de regering zaterdag bekend.

3075 mensen zijn besmet geraakt.

Het virus verspreidt zich sneller dan bij andere ebola-uitbraken, ook omdat er nog geen goedgekeurd vaccin voor de bundibugyovariant is. Het ontwikkelen van het vaccin zou nog maanden duren.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

In 1985, at the age of eleven, I bought my first comic book: The Transformers #9. From there, I went on to collect nearly a thousand comics over my teenage years, mostly in the Marvel universe like Spider-Man and X-men. Lots of Groo the Wanderer (which my mom always enjoyed) and then into stuff like Watchmen and The Sandman. Bill Sienkiewicz was one of my favourite artists with his work on The New Mutants, Stray Toasters, The Shadow, and Dazzler.

About a decade ago, I got into whisky. What started with a few bottles of Balvenie slowly grew into a 200+ bottle collection. Then over the pandemic, I got into cocktails and my cupboards burgeoned with amari and liqueurs.

I’ve noticed this pattern where I feel the need to “collect them all”. It’s by no means limited to physical things, either. Pokemon Go was addictive for a hot minute, I tell yah. At one point, I had collected everything in The Simpsons: Tapped Out. And then they’d release more things. I spent every day going into the app to complete all the daily tasks. Until one day I tapped out. I deleted the app and never went back in.

Same thing happened in Pokemon Go. A raid was happening nearby and I considered getting in my car to participate. That’s when it hit me that it was time to stop. Boom. App gone. Never went back in.

I always hit a point where I stop. I got rid of all my comics. I stopped playing Pokemon Go. I stopped buying whisky. I reach a stage where I realize that the collecting is unsustainable.

Last year, I considered getting into vinyl. The idea of popping a record onto the player and chilling in my lounge chair had plenty of appeal until I considered the logistics. Knowing myself, I didn’t want to suddenly have boxes and boxes of records on my shelves. No record player was purchased that day. Or since. I can sit in my lounge chair and listen to a streaming service just as easily.

(I recognize that there is a perfectly reasonable middle ground where I only purchase a handful of records and play those on repeat, instead of building a huge collection. There were other reasons I talked myself out of a record player.)

That’s not to say that I don’t have that completionist streak still in me. Nor that I’m not willing to spend lots of money on the various quests to complete things. My restaurant adventures are a testament to that. It is handy, for me at least, to be able to know when a goal is no longer serving its purpose and to be okay with moving on to new things.

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So there's a Neuromancer trailer out and it's exactly the necrophiliac snore you'd expect it to be. I already watched this show when it was called Altered Carbon, and it sucked. Nobody listens to me, but the only way to make this work was to have gone full Lisa Frankenstein.

How is Jared Leto not in this? It has that Leto Stink on it.

We could have had a second season of The Peripheral instead of this.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

• Liverpool defeat Sunderland 4-2 in friendly in Nashville

• When Gomez went down, central defence formed by two teenagers

The Andoni Iraola era at Liverpool opened with a victory over Sunderland in Nashville – and a deepening of concerns over the defensive options at his disposal. The sight of Joe Gomez hobbling off after 10 minutes of the new head coach’s first game and two teenagers forming a raw central defence partnership in his absence intensified the spotlight on a department in need of work.

Liverpool had few issues at the other end of the pitch against Regis Le Bris’s side, resplendent in pink in Tennessee, where second half finishes from Dominik Szoboszlai, Federico Chiesa and Lewis Koumas delivered an ultimately comfortable win.

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