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After the Fire

"With the push to eliminate the twice yearly clock change, Permanent Daylight Savings Time has emerged as the favorite for most states and provinces," writes longtime Slashdot reader kbahey, sharing the findings from a recent analysis published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Sci.News reports: "Ending the clock change solves one problem, but it creates another decision: which time should we live on year-round?" said University of British Columbia's Professor Raymond Lam, lead author of the study. "The health evidence points to standard time, largely because morning light matters for our body clocks, sleep, and mood." Professor Lam and colleagues examined the health consequences of the two possible permanent systems rather than the broader question of whether seasonal clock changes should be abolished. They concluded that the accumulated evidence favors permanent standard time, which keeps the clock more closely aligned with human circadian biology.

This distinction, according to the team, becomes particularly important during winter. Permanent daylight saving time would push sunrise an hour later. In cities such as Toronto, for example, the latest winter sunrise would occur at 8:51 a.m., compared with 7:51 a.m. under permanent standard time. In Calgary, the corresponding times would be 9:40 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. The extra hour of morning darkness could leave people traveling to work or school before sunrise, while shifting more daylight into the evening. The change could have consequences for sleep, mood, learning and productivity, particularly among people who already have difficulty sleeping or who must follow early schedules. The reason is rooted in the body's internal clock.

"Our biological clocks need morning light to stay synchronized with the 24-hour day," said Simon Fraser University's Professor Ralph Mistlberger, co-author of the study. "Permanent daylight saving time moves that light an hour later just when winter mornings are already darkest." The analysis also highlights concerns about seasonal depression. [...] By delaying natural morning light, permanent daylight saving time would act in the opposite direction, potentially weakening an important circadian signal.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

HubSpot is cutting about 7% of its workforce, or roughly 660 employees, as it restructures into what CEO Yamini Rangan described as a "flatter organization" with fewer management layers. Rangan said the layoffs were "not driven by AI-related efficiencies," though AI remains central to HubSpot's strategy as the company adjusts its organization around AI-driven customer outcomes. Fast Company reports: The layoffs come as investors have spent months questioning whether AI will reduce the need for businesses to pay for software like HubSpot's, a fear dubbed the "SaaSpocalypse." HubSpot's platform helps companies manage their customers, sales, and marketing. The company was removed from the FTSE All-World Index (USD) last month after a decline in its stock price, a report from Simply Wall St noted. The stock is down more than 43% this year as of this writing.

Yamini Rangan, CEO of HubSpot, explicitly told employees in a memo that the layoffs were "not driven by AI-related efficiencies." Rather, the aim was to focus on "aligning our organization with our strategy and how we need to operate going forward," Rangan wrote. She added that the goal is to "build a flatter organization with fewer layers" by cutting back on management.

Still, artificial intelligence has been central to the company's concerns. In August, Rangan blamed AI for why the company "got off to a slow start" in April as HubSpot was trying to adjust its product and pricing. "We're in the middle of a real transition to AI, and we are making deliberate choices to lead in it," she said on an earnings call.

The restructuring is estimated to cost between $65 and $75 million, mostly in severance packages. The company said that laid-off employees will receive 20 weeks of base pay, one week per year of service (capped at 30 weeks), five months of COBRA and Modern Health healthcare benefits, and they will be allowed to keep their laptops.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ruling on Mount Pleasant coalmine shows ‘we cannot continue to dig up coal … and pretend the consequences have nothing to do with us’, group says

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A Hunter Valley community group has won Australia’s first high court case to consider climate change, in a ruling advocates say sets a binding national precedent for fossil fuel projects in New South Wales.

In a landmark judgment, the nation’s highest court ruled that the approval of MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant coalmine expansion in Musswellbrook was invalid.

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Bulgarian authorities investigating origin of drone attack on two vessels in Nato member’s exclusive economic zone. What we know on day 1,687

Bulgaria’s prime minister said that two commercial vessels were struck by drones on Tuesday in the first attack on shipping in the Nato member’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea. Bulgarian authorities said the origin of the drones was under investigation, but Ukraine’s prime minister, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, blamed Russia for the drone strikes. “This is an unacceptable attack in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone. It is a blatant violation of international law and maritime law,” Rumen Radev said.

Explosions rang out in Kyiv on Wednesday, news agencies reported, after the military warned a ballistic missile was heading toward the Ukrainian capital. Zelenskyy warned in his nightly address on Tuesday that Russia was planning a “massive strike”. “Ukrainian services and ​our air force ‌are ready ‌to respond to the extent permitted by ‌our available means of defence,” he said.

Ukraine struck an oil tanker off the southern Russian coast on Tuesday evening, Russia’s transport ministry said. The ministry said the Liberian-flagged tanker had been attacked by “naval drones” and that “crude oil was burning openly in the waters of the Black Sea”, triggering a huge fire and black smoke cloud that blanketed parts of the resort city of Sochi.

Russian air defenses intercepted nearly 900 Ukrainian drones overnight on Monday into Tuesday over multiple regions of the country, as well as the occupied Crimean Peninsula and the Sea of Azov, Russia’s defence ministry said Tuesday. Unconfirmed media reports said a major fuel depot in the Moscow region was on fire after the attack that killed two people.

A Ukrainian drone attack on a minibus in the Russian-occupied part of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia region killed three people on Tuesday, Moscow-installed authorities said. Kremlin-appointed official Yevgeny Balitsky said on Telegram that a Ukrainian drone hit the bus near a frontline village, killing “three people, including the driver” and wounding “three passengers with various degrees of severity”.

The ⁠Kremlin dismissed on Tuesday comments ⁠by ⁠Germany’s head ​of foreign intelligence about Berlin ⁠being at risk of ⁠entering a violent ​conflict ‌with ‌Russia, describing them as ‌baseless and a ploy to justify defence spending. On Monday, intelligence ‌chief Martin Jaeger said the ​risk of a direct conflict was rising ⁠and accused Russia ​of stepping ​up an ​increasingly aggressive “shadow ​war” ‌against European democracies.

EU envoys are ⁠expected to approve about 1,650 new designations on Wednesday under ⁠the bloc’s sanctions ⁠regime ​for Russia, with the majority focused on the country’s military ⁠industrial complex, EU diplomats said on Tuesday. The package, proposed by the EU’s ⁠foreign policy arm, will be ​the single largest ‌set of ‌designations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine ‌in 2022.

Ukraine on Tuesday said oil supplies to Russia through South Korea helped Moscow offset losses in refining capacity caused by recent strikes on its fuel facilities. The Guardian reported that 176,000 tonnes of oil products were shipped through South Korea in July and August, citing port records and ship-tracking data. Zelenskyy’s adviser on sanctions, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, said the shipments were “in sharp contrast” to South Korea’s sanctions policy.

Ukraine’s national grid operator has ordered rolling blackouts in the capital Kyiv, the country’s largest private energy provider said Tuesday, after Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. The power outages were to begin at 3pm local time (1200 GMT) and last until the end of the day, the provider said in a statement.

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We don’t accept drugs killing a few people because they cure most patients. Or a few planes crashing because most land safely. AI should be no different

OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman was asked to appear before the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence in Australia and explain how and why their agents have been hacking into multiple government websites. Altman didn’t turn up but sent Jason Kwon, his chief strategy officer, instead to answer the committee’s many tricky questions on its first day of public hearings on Tuesday.

The committee is conducting a comprehensive inquiry into the economic, societal, regulatory, and national security implications of AI for Australia. It will report back to parliament at the end of November. This is an unusually fast pace, but then it’s an unusually fast paced technology.

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Australian adults again able to access the world’s most popular porn site after parent company introduces age checking via Apple devices

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Australian adults will be able to access Pornhub once again after the site brought in age-checking on Apple devices in response to legal requirements that initially saw the site block users.

In March, Aylo, the parent company of the most popular porn site on the internet, blocked Australian users after online safety codes required adult websites verify users as being 18 or older or face potential fines of $49.5m.

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iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

iain.davidson100 has added a photo to the pool:

Right On Photography has added a photo to the pool:

One of the many waterfalls along the Waterfall Way in the NSW National Parks

Bij zowel mannen als vrouwen is huidkanker over twintig jaar de meest voorkomende vorm van kanker. Het jaarlijkse aantal nieuwe kankerdiagnoses zal naar verwachting met bijna een kwart stijgen. De grootste verklaring daarvoor is de vergrijzing en bevolkingsgroei, maar bij huidkanker speelt er meer mee.

OLYMPIA (ANP/DPA/AFP) - In de Verenigde Staten is een man gearresteerd die wordt beschuldigd van medeplichtigheid aan de reeks dodelijke schietpartijen in de West-Canadese plaats Tumbler Ridge in februari. Dat heeft het Openbaar Ministerie van de staat Washington bekendgemaakt.

De 30-jarige James Cody Bryant zou "herhaaldelijk contact" hebben gehad met de dader van de schietpartijen, aldus het OM. Hij zou haar advies hebben gegeven, geld hebben gestuurd en hebben ingestemd met het live uitzenden van de gruwelijke gebeurtenissen.

Bryant beschikte "over de nodige informatie en middelen om de politie te waarschuwen", maar "koos ervoor om dat niet te doen", stelt het OM. De verdachte kan een levenslange gevangenisstraf krijgen voor "samenzwering om mensen te doden in het buitenland".

Op 10 februari vermoordde een 18-jarige transgendervrouw uit Tumbler Ridge er haar moeder en halfbroer. Vervolgens schoot ze vijf kinderen en een leraar dood in haar voormalige middelbare school. Daarna doodde ze zichzelf.

banzainetsurfer has added a photo to the pool:

Kenrokuen (兼六園) in Kanazawa is justifiably ranked as one of Japan's "three most beautiful gardens" alongside Mito's Kairakuen and Okayama's Korakuen. The spacious grounds used to be the outer garden of Kanazawa Castle and were constructed by the ruling Maeda family over a period of nearly two centuries. Opened to the public in 1871, Kenrokuen features a variety of flowering trees which provide the garden with a different look every season.
Source: www.japan-guide.com/e/e4200.html

xthylacine has added a photo to the pool:

On a photo workshop w/ Lukasz Palka of Eye Explore www.youtube.com/@EYExplore (Highly recommended!)

Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Eva Marie Saint, star of "On the Waterfront" and "North by Northwest," dies at age 102 A reverent summary of a life well imagined and lived. Born on July 4, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey, Saint grew up in upstate New York, and attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio (where she was "Sweater Queen"). Originally planning to become a teacher, Saint began acting in student productions, and changed her career focus.

Moving to New York City, she trained at the Actors Studio with famed acting coach Lee Strasberg, and was hired for a production of "Mister Roberts" alongside Henry Fonda. But she was let go by director Joshua Logan; she found out it was because she was deemed "too innocent" looking. The actor who took her place was Jocelyn Brando (Marlon's sister). When she was starting out, she told Variety in 2021, Saint and a fellow female actor would talk in a made-up language while riding the subway. "We were so frustrated about not getting jobs, so I suggested that we do something so people would notice us," she said. "When we'd start gabbing, we'd get a little audience. People would put down their papers and wonder, what language is that?"