June 9, 2021
"That moment when you see it in the sky -- HOPE!"
Original rainbow flag returns home to San Francisco after being lost for more than 40 years [ABC] This happened just this year! Article includes background on the flag from its creator, Gilbert Baker.
Sticky Fingers
'This Should Be the Biggest Scandal in Sports.' Rampant illegal pitch-doctoring--with "sticky stuff" like Spider Tack and Pelican Grip--is Major League Baseball's latest cheating scandal. Most recently, a former Angels clubhouse manager named a long list of pitchers he's helped use sticky stuff, and, when asked point-blank whether he was cheating, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole refused to answer. In response, MLB plans stricter enforcement of existing rules against foreign substances.
But in the [surrogate] end[point], it doesn't even matter
FDA approves Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm (sl arstechnica). The approval is controversial because the FDA admits the drug has not been shown to be effective against Alzheimer's and carries a 40% risk of brain swelling. The approval is based instead on efficacy in reducing plaque and the reasoning that this is likely to have some positive effect. [more inside]
I once caught a fish that was thiiiis small
[cw: photos of hooked fish.] Microfishing is a growing category of sportfishing in which anglers attempt to land the smallest fish they can. Microfishing has devoted fans, some of which travel the world in an attempt to catch all of the fish on their lifelist. (Note: Hakai Magazine offers an audio version of the first link here.) [more inside]
Michelin the Sailor Man
According to Michelin, the wing sail transforms wind into forward momentum to decrease overall vessel fuel consumption by 10 to 20 percent. [more inside]
be loud, be real loud!
“One member suggested car alarms. We researched the township’s noise ordinance laws and found out that a car alarm can go off for 15 minutes before the owner of the vehicle would be cited for a disturbance. On our breaks—every single break—we turned on our car alarms for 14 minutes and 59 seconds.”How one local union managed to win their best contract in years.
Now Hear This
Ear Trumpets work better than modern digital hearing aids. "...Ear trumpets and speaking tubes not only yielded a sound amplification of 10 to 25 decibels, they also suppressed sounds that came from other directions, further improving their workings. The speaking tube also reduced the noise between speaker and listener."
You Have Not Been Pwned
Various outlets are currently shouting about RockYou2021, a 'jaw-dropping' leak that allegedly contains 8.2 billion passwords.
Troy Hunt of HaveIBeenPwned.com calmly explains what RockYou2021 actually is, and why we should not panic this time.
Some women just know they want an abortion
Ms. Magazine interviews Dr. Jamie Phifer, founder of Abortion on Demand: Abortion on Demand Offers Telemedicine Abortion in 20+ States and Counting: “I Didn’t Know I Could Do This!”
Russian data access laws and Fastmail
Email provider Fastmail has announced that, due to losing their court case against the Russian government, "Fastmail subscriptions will no longer be available for purchase in Russia." Fastmail "concluded that it would not be possible for us to comply from a technical, business, or financial perspective" to comply with the Russian data laws, partly "because subjecting any of our customers to their data access laws could create unacceptable privacy risks". Russia's government has increased its control over local internet access and usage in recent years; Fastmail noted, "Many email and digital companies worldwide have had to deal with this situation over the past few years, with similar impacts and outcomes, such as NordVPN, ProtonMail, Tutanota, Mailfence, and StartMail."
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