As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
It’s silly, singular and occasionally tearjerking: this tale of a mechanical companion to an elderly widow is shot through with love and care
The home, warns Jamaican nurse Brianna (Michelle Greenidge), can be a “lethal” environment for elderly people. “You lucky like plucky you never smash your head on the corner of the coffee table, or land teeth first on the iron doorstep!” she says, fatalistically, as Sue (Sue Johnston) tries in vain to explain that she didn’t “have a fall”, but fainted due to low blood pressure. In any case, Sue – widowed two years ago – has wound up in hospital with a sprained wrist and is discharged with her arm in a sling.
At least she has her son, Michael (Paul Ready), to rely on. Except that Michael – gutless, whiny and covered in red blotches from a drug trial he’s joined for quick cash (“if it was dangerous”, he says, “do you really think drug companies would do it?!”) – is moving back in with his cheating ex. His solution? A robot carer, preloved and purchased on a 24-month contract. Cocking snooks at an era where everything is on subscription and at the general direction of late-capitalist travel, the preloved Ann Droid robot is useless without an internet connection, and is delivered by overburdened delivery driver Cass (Sarah Kendall), who we later discover has completed a PhD on Chaucer. Sue is appalled.
Continue reading...US Central Command says attacks designed to ‘continue degrading Iranian military capabilities’
The US military said it had launched a seventh consecutive night of strikes on Iran on Friday night as fighting escalated over the strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command, in a post on X, said the strikes, which began at 7pm GMT, were designed to “continue degrading Iranian military capabilities”.
Continue reading...Sister of the South Carolina senator who died last Saturday has not previously held any elected office
Donald Trump on Friday said he had encouraged Darline Graham to run for a full six-year term representing South Carolina in the US Senate, after she was sworn in to office earlier this week following the sudden death of her brother, Lindsey Graham.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he spoken to Darline Graham at the White House. “I asked Darline, for the Good of our Nation, to run for the U.S. Senate in the Special Republican Primary,” he wrote.
Continue reading...109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US
Tens of millions of Americans are enduring another day of smoky skies, irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.
The pungent wildfire blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air quality index reached a “hazardous” 361, according to the government website AirNow.
Continue reading...The little maestro has hitherto lived in the shadow of Maradona who has for so long coloured the soul and defined the passion of football in Argentina
It is time to consign Diego Maradona’s Hand of God to a museum piece. For 40 years that moment and Maradona’s unforgettable “goal of the century” coloured the soul and passion of Argentinian football. Today things are very different, and the main reason is Lionel Messi. By asserting himself over the memory of Maradona, Messi is establishing a new Argentina.
An impressive 2–1 semi-final victory over England showcased a revitalised Argentina who go into Sunday’s final against Spain relying on a simple, powerful weapon: excellent football.
Continue reading...Wildfires, transport issues and the appearance of the president could overshadow the final for a city that has embraced the tournament
The thick smoke that has engulfed New York and much of the eastern seaboard over the last few days has drawn wry smiles in Dallas and Los Angeles, where locals will watch on with a sense of schadenfreude when the World Cup final takes place in the New York New Jersey Stadium (usually known as the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey) tomorrow.
The Dallas and Los Angeles stadiums, which were passed over when Fifa awarded the final in February 2024, are more impressive venues without the same climatic risks as New York, which was chosen because of its global appeal and favourable timezone for European television audiences.
Continue reading...️Updates from the second round at Royal Birkdale
️Official leaderboard | Mail David with your thoughts
An opening birdie for the 2011 champion Darren Clarke. He’s +2. Apropos of nothing, and just because I happen to have the stat to hand, so may as well share it, Clarke is joint holder of the record for most appearances by an Open champion before his first victory. That’s 19, after his 2011 win, and he shares the number with Phil Mickelson (2013). Nick Price (1994) is next on the list.
Birdie for Jackson Suber at 2, and the leader stretches his advantage at the top! He tugged his drive into the rough down the left, but got a decent lie, and was able to wedge over the flag from 90 yards to 12 feet. One fairly straight roll later, and he moves to -6. Meanwhile Laurie Canter nearly aces the 4th. His tee shot lands just past the bunker guarding the front left and serenely glides to kick-in distance, though it was never threatening to drop, always on a route below the hole. The 36-year-old Englishman is -2.
Continue reading...
The FBI arrested a Florida man accused of uploading fake Steam games containing malware that stole passwords, data, and cryptocurrency wallet credentials from victims. Prosecutors say the scheme infected about 8,000 people, compromised roughly 80 crypto wallets, and stole at least $220,000 through games that appeared legitimate but secretly carried malware. TechCrunch reports: On Tuesday, the FBI arrested Zyaire Wilkins, a 21-year-old Florida resident and student. On Wednesday, prosecutors accused him and a number of unnamed co-conspirators of hacking crimes. Over the past two years, Wilkins and his partners allegedly published several malware-laden video games on Steam, including BlockBlasters, Dashverse, Lampy, Lunara, and PirateFi. Using that malware, says the FBI, Wilkins and his accomplices infected around 8,000 victims, and then hacked around 80 cryptocurrency wallets to steal at least $220,000 worth of crypto. Wilkins and the others marketed their malicious video games on Discord, LinkedIn, and Telegram, according to the authorities.
[...] After the FBI identified another person involved in the crimes, according to the complaint, federal agents interviewed them. The unnamed person said they worked with other people to raise money to launch and market the malicious games in return for sharing some of the stolen cryptocurrency. The FBI identified a specific crypto account involved in the scheme, and then traced cryptocurrency payments made with that account to buy several gift cards, including for UberEats. After subpoenaing Uber, the feds were able to see that the gift cards were linked to an account that made deliveries to Wilkins, who went by the nickname Sibel.eth online, according to the complaint. The feds then got a search warrant for Wilkins' residence, where they seized his MacBook laptop, cellphones, other devices, and digital wallets. According to the complaint, he refused to speak or answer any questions.
[...] After the FBI identified another person involved in the crimes, according to the complaint, federal agents interviewed them. The unnamed person said they worked with other people to raise money to launch and market the malicious games in return for sharing some of the stolen cryptocurrency. The FBI identified a specific crypto account involved in the scheme, and then traced cryptocurrency payments made with that account to buy several gift cards, including for UberEats. After subpoenaing Uber, the feds were able to see that the gift cards were linked to an account that made deliveries to Wilkins, who went by the nickname Sibel.eth online, according to the complaint. The feds then got a search warrant for Wilkins' residence, where they seized his MacBook laptop, cellphones, other devices, and digital wallets. According to the complaint, he refused to speak or answer any questions.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
NEW YORK (ANP) - De aandelenbeurzen in New York zijn vrijdag met verliezen het weekend ingegaan. De verkoopgolf onder chipfabrikanten werd vrijdag heviger. Beleggers maken zich steeds meer zorgen dat de enorme uitgaven aan kunstmatige intelligentie (AI) van techbedrijven steeds moeilijker te rechtvaardigen zijn.
Een nieuw AI-model van de Chinese AI-startup Moonshot drukte verder op de stemming. Moonshot onthulde vrijdag Kimi K3, dat volgens het bedrijf even goed presteert als sommige modellen van OpenAI en Anthropic. De onthulling versterkte de bezorgdheid onder beleggers over de vraag of de forse AI-investeringen van de grote spelers daadwerkelijk tastbare resultaten zullen opleveren.
De Dow-Jonesindex zakte 0,8 procent tot 52.146,42 punten. De brede S&P 500-index daalde 1 procent naar 7457,69 punten. Techgraadmeter Nasdaq verloor 1,4 procent op 25.520,25 punten. Donderdag waren nog minnen tot 1,5 procent te zien.
SpaceX
SpaceX daalde 5,4 procent. The Wall Street Journal meldde op basis van ingewijden dat het ruimtevaart-, satelliet- en AI-bedrijf van Elon Musk met het Amerikaanse ministerie van Defensie spreekt over het verlenen van toegang tot datacentercapaciteit voor het draaien van AI-modellen. De deal zou mogelijk miljarden dollars waard zijn.
Nvidia zakte 2,2 procent. De grootste verkoper van AI-chips ter wereld werd vrijdag ingehaald door Apple als waardevolste bedrijf ter wereld. Later heroverde Nvidia zijn toppositie weer.
Apple
Apple klom 0,1 procent. Volgens ingewijden tegen persbureau Bloomberg spreekt het techbedrijf met het Amerikaanse ministerie van Justitie over het schikken van een rechtszaak uit 2024 waarin het techbedrijf wordt beschuldigd van het overtreden van de mededingingswetgeving.
Meta Platforms daalde 2,8 procent. Ingewijden zeiden tegen The New York Times dat het bedrijf achter Facebook en Instagram prille gesprekken voert om rekenkracht uit zijn datacenters te verhuren aan Anthropic. Een mogelijke overeenkomst met het bedrijf achter chatbot Claude zou over twee jaar 10 miljard dollar waard kunnen zijn.
Netflix
Netflix verloor 7,3 procent. De streamingdienst zag de omzet en winst afgelopen kwartaal stijgen. Maar de omzetgroei is vertraagd en ook voor dit kwartaal rekent Netflix op een afnemende omzetgroei.
Boeing zakte 0,1 procent. De vliegtuigbouwer heeft de bevoegdheid teruggekregen van de Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) om luchtwaardigheidscertificaten af te geven voor zijn 737 Max- en 787 Dreamliner-vliegtuigen voordat ze worden afgeleverd.
SOUTHPORT (ANP) - Golfer Nevill Ruiter is bij zijn debuut op het Brits Open na de tweede ronde uitgeschakeld. De 25-jarige Nederlander ging op de Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport rond in 68 slagen, twee slagen onder par. Dat was niet voldoende om de 'cut' te halen. Ruiter had donderdag voor zijn openingsronde 77 slagen nodig en zijn totaal van 145 slagen is te veel om het toernooi zaterdag te mogen vervolgen.
Ruiter was de enige Nederlandse deelnemer en mocht meedoen omdat hij via een kwalificatietoernooi een startbewijs bemachtigde.
De Australiër Lucas Herbert leidt met 132 slagen, voor de Amerikaan Bryson DeChambeau met 133 slagen.
AMSTERDAM (ANP) - Aan de Radioweg in Amsterdam-Oost is vrijdagavond brand uitgebroken. Volgens een woordvoerster van de veiligheidsregio is de brand ontstaan in een container en overgeslagen naar een loods op een sportpark.
Op beelden die gedeeld worden op sociale media is te zien dat een grote rookwolk boven Oost hangt. Volgens de woordvoerster is de rook rond 21.45 uur "aanzienlijk minder". De veiligheidsregio raadt omwonenden nog steeds aan om ramen en deuren te sluiten en de mechanische ventilatie uit te zetten.
Getuigen zeggen tegen stadszender AT5 dat er aan de brand een explosie voorafging. De woordvoerster van de veiligheidsregio zegt dat die melding ook daar is binnengekomen, "maar we weten het niet 100 procent zeker".
Bij het blussen maakt de brandweer onder meer gebruik van een robot.
The Fermi Paradox, Percolation, and Inbreeding What do cheetahs and genetic bottlenecks have to do with interstellar colonization?
Credit for the title goes to Reactor commenter ChristopherLBennett.
Credit for the title goes to Reactor commenter ChristopherLBennett.
Over muziek gesproken:
Van het concert des levens heeft niemand een program
Het waarheidsgehalte van in Delfts blauw geschilderde wandtegeltjeswijsheden is dermate groot dat een enorm breed publiek zich in die clichés kan vinden. En dus heeft menig artiest wel een of meerdere popi-filosofi liedjes op het repertoire staan.
Fraai voorbeeld is A Satisfied Mind, een 50-er jaren countrysong, opgenomen door Porter Wagoner. Ontelbare keren gecoverd. Ook door de grootsten onder folk- (Joan Baez, Bob Dylan zelfs 2x) en gospelvertolkers (Mahalia Jackson, Blind Boys of Alabama). En zij zongen:
Geld kan je jeugd niet terugkopen als je oud bent,
noch een vriend als je eenzaam bent, of een liefde die is bekoeld.
De rijkste is soms een arme sloeber
vergeleken met de man met een tevreden geest
Dat clichés welig tieren in country-, folk- en gospelmuziek, mag bekend verondersteld worden. Maar ook jazz-, soul- en bluesartiesten gaan het niet uit de weg. Luistert u naar Bobby Hebb.
Onderwijl kunt u ons vertellen wat u de fraaiste muzikale wandtegeltjeswijsheid vindt.
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Earth is absorbing a lot more sunshine.
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