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Bermuda Power Boat Association Race Schedule

The Bermuda Power Boat Association [BPBA] has released their race schedule for 2020, with the first event to take place on April 5. Race and Event Schedule: 5th April – Ferry Reach [Points Races] 26th April – St Georges – Marine Expo [Nationals Races] 17th May – Ferry Reach [Points Races] 31st May – Ferry […]

(Click to read the full article)




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MarketPlace Offer 5% Discount For FA Recipients

[Updated] MarketPlace announced a “daily 5% discount for recipients of financial assistance for six months to support them through the challenging times ahead.” A spokesperson said, “The new daily 5% discount offering, which comes into effect from Thursday, May 7, is our way of continuing to support our community members who need it most. “The […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Auto Solutions Donates 5,000 Face Masks

Minister Wayne Caines thanked Auto Solutions after the company donated 5,000 face masks for distribution to the public. In an online post, the Bermuda Government said, “National Security Minister Wayne Caines extended his thanks to Auto Solutions’ Managing Director Glen Smith after the company donated 5,000 face masks for distribution to the public. Minister Caines: […]

(Click to read the full article)




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ZipX Donates 5,000 Face Masks To Government

ZipX Bermuda has donated 5,000 face masks to the Bermuda Government for the island’s frontline workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. A spokesperson said, “ZipX Bermuda has donated 5,000 face masks to the Bermuda Government for the island’s frontline workers. Additionally, they are supplying ZipX customers with complimentary individually-wrapped face masks with every package they deliver.” […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Kiwon Waldron Wins Two Races In Canada

Kiwon Waldron was back in action, this time at the Saint Esprit Track in Canada. Waldron continues taking the tracks in Canada by storm this summer, he picked up two wins, a second and a fourth place finish. Waldron took the checkered flag in Class One clocking 2:00.4. In Class 7, Waldron finished 4th, and […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Harness Racer Waldron Impressing In Canada

Bermudian harness racer Kiwon Waldron has been making an impressive name for himself tearing up the track in Canada in recent months. Invited to participate on the Quebec Regional Fair Circuit by Team Allard, one of the leading North America harness racing outfits in terms both of wins and earnings, the 19-year old Bermudian racked […]

(Click to read the full article)




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‘Bermudian Excellence’ Facebook Covers

Show off your Bermudian pride during Heritage Month by utilizing the ;Bermudian Excellence’ Facebook cover graphics at BermudaCovers.com, turning your Facebook profile page into an homage to your heritage! Taking place throughout the month of May, Heritage Month has seen a number of events take place, with the upcoming Bermuda Day weekend marking the highlight […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Bermuda ‘Love Wins’ Facebook Cover Graphics

June marks Pride Month, and you can show off your LGBTQ and Bermudian pride by using these themed Facebook cover graphics in order to decorate your profile. Part of the Bernews network, BermudaCovers.com offers an array of island-themed Facebook cover photos to adorn your profile, including shots of our beautiful beaches, interesting designs, covers with […]

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Bermuda Football Facebook Cover Graphics

Show off your support for Bermuda’s football team as they make their historic debut in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup by using these Facebook cover graphics in order to decorate your profile! Part of the Bernews network, BermudaCovers.com offers an array of island-themed Facebook cover photos to adorn your profile, including shots of our beautiful beaches, interesting […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Support Your Cup Match Team On Facebook

With Cup Match mere weeks away, people across the island are getting set to side with Somerset or St. George’s and show off their colours during the event. No matter which team you claim as your own, BermudaCovers.com has the graphics you need to turn your Facebook profile into a bastion of red or blue […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Bermuda Pride LBGTQI Facebook Cover Designs

With Bermuda’s first Pride Parade set to take place this Saturday [Aug 31] a new set of Facebook timeline covers is available, incorporating the ‘official’ rainbow colours and, of course, a Bermudian theme. In explaining why the Bermuda Pride logo includes extra stripes, the Bermuda Pride website notes, “In organising Bermuda’s first ever Pride we […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Bermuda Themed Christmas Facebook Covers

As the island prepares to start getting into the Christmas spirit, you can e-join in by using these Bermuda-themed Christmas Facebook and Twitter covers, as well as mobile phone wallpapers that turn your social media profile and mobile device into a showcase of both Christmas cheer and island pride! Part of the Bernews network, BermudaCovers.com […]

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Bermuda Themed New Year Facebook Covers

Celebrate the New Year with a Bermudian vibe by using these Bermuda-themed New Year’s Facebook and Twitter covers, as well as mobile phone wallpapers that turn your social media profile and mobile device into a showcase of both New Year’s celebration and island pride! Part of the Bernews network, BermudaCovers.com offers a wide array of […]

(Click to read the full article)




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‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ Facebook Covers

Decorate your Facebook profile with these cover graphics in order to remind both yourself and others that staying home can save lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. With Bermuda’s ‘Shelter in Place’ order scheduled to last until at least May 2nd, and social distancing measures expected to continue past that, these cover graphics will allow you […]

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Regiment Help Enforce “Shelter In Place” Rules

Royal Bermuda Regiment soldiers have completed their first weekend since “shelter in place” rules to combat Covid-19 were introduced. The new regime – a 24-hour lockdown except for essential trips – was enforced by RBR manned checkpoints and mobile patrols over the hours of darkness. RBR Commanding Officer Major Ben Beasley said soldiers were also […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Murder Victim’s Mother Appeals For Peace

The mother of Lyrico Steede has spoken out on the one year anniversary of his attack, thanking god for helping to sustain her over the past year and saying how blessed she was to have shared 17 years with her son. Keishaye Steede also said her “heart goes out to the families enduring the same, if not […]

(Click to read the full article)




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Police Warn About Fake MarketPlace Website

The Bermuda Police Service [BPS] is warning the public about a fake website claiming to represent The MarketPlace that is “deceiving residents with an alleged $250 gift card giveaway.” A police spokesperson said, “The Bermuda Police Service is aware of a fake website claiming to represent The MarketPlace that is deceiving residents with an alleged […]

(Click to read the full article)




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News on interfaces of the Web in 2010

Steve Jobs explains why iPad does not support Adobe Flash:At Adobe they are lazy. They have the potential to make interesting things, but they refuse to do so. Apple does not support Flash because it is too buggy. Each time a Mac crashes, most often it is because of Flash. Nobody will use Flash. The world is moving to HTML 5




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Achieving Airport-Compatible Land Uses and Minimizing Hazardous Obstructions in Navigable Airspace

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Legal Research Digest 14: Achieving Airport-Compatible Land Uses and Minimizing Hazardous Obstructions in Navigable Airspace discusses airport-compatible land-use requirements, the legal issues related to achieving airport compatible land use, and legal issues particular to eliminating hazardous obstructions to airspace. The report also includes a review of some of the major legal issues of concern in achieving airport-compatible land use.



  • http://www.trb.org/Resource.ashx?sn=coveracrplrd014copy

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‘Round The World’ Yacht Race Postponed

The organisers of the 2019–20 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race have decided to postpone the event until next year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A spokesperson said, “The 2019–20 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race will be postponed until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This decision has been in no way […]

(Click to read the full article)




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The Race For A Coronavirus Vaccine

By early May, more than 270,000 people have died around the world from the disease attributed to the new coronavirus. First identified in Wuhan, China in December, the virus has infected nearly four million worldwide, including well over a million in the U.S., which now lays claim to one in every four deaths.




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Subsurface Utility Engineering Information for Airports

TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Synthesis 34: Subsurface Utility Engineering Information for Airports examines ways in which information on subsurface utilities is collected, maintained, and used by airports, their consultants, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to help increase the effectiveness of, and enhance safety during, infrastructure development programs at airports. The report also compares the current state of technology and effective processes from other industry se...



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Facebook обновил дизайн сайта для компьютеров




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Google и Facebook разрешили сотрудникам работать из дома до конца года




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Maintenance cost savings for pavement surface treatments

Use of Surface Treatments to Extend Pavement Life: A Case Study on US 301, Sussex County, Virginia , released by the Virginia Department of Transportation




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TRB Webinar: How to Certify and Verify Pavement Surface Condition Data

Does your organization know how to measure and verify pavement surface condition data based on mapping sensor technologies? TRB will conduct a webinar on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM Eastern to discuss the challenges and solutions from experience on actual projects. In pavement management systems, accurate and precise condition data are essential for making data-driven decisions about maintenance and rehabilitation projects. Some condition data, including surface cracking and other d...




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Airport Surface Weather Observation Options for General Aviation Airports

The needs of airports may vary depending on the types of operations typically conducted at the airport, as well as the type of weather common to the airport. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Syntheis 105: Airport Surface Weather Observation Options for General Aviation Airports aims to provide the operators of general aviation (GA) airports a comprehensive source of information about airport-based weather observation options so they may make informed decisions to support the specific o...



  • http://www.trb.org/Resource.ashx?sn=cover_acrp_syn_105

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Židé žijí v Říši středu už od 8. století. Jak se ukrývali za války? Sledujte unikátní pořad na Facebooku Reflexu

Někteří badatelé tvrdí, že dějiny Židů v Číně začínají již v 6. století před naším letopočtem za dynastie Čou, k tomu však nejsou žádné archeologické či jiné materiální důkazy. Všeobecně se tak počítají počátky židovské přítomnosti až od 8. století našeho letopočtu, za vlády dynastie Tang, kdy do Říše středu dorazily první skupinky obchodníků po Hedvábné stezce a usazovali se podél ní. Dnes od 18 hodin můžete na Facebooku Reflexu sledovat premiéru speciálního hudebního pořadu Židé v říši středu. Dějiny izraleského národa a Číny jsou zajímavě propojené.




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Group Makes Face Masks from Recycled Ocean Plastic

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, face masks have been in high demand. One company decided to take an eco-friendly approach to manufacturing and supplying the public with protective masks. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) partnered with the sustainable sportswear company Rash’r to turn plastic pollution found in the ocean into face masks.

All proceeds from the masks go directly back into the manufacturing of more masks to help recycle plastics from the ocean. The masks feature a number of ocean-themed designs and include special sizes for kids. The company has received more than 15,000 mask pre-orders in just a few weeks—which has helped recycle more than 1,300 pounds (590 kg) of ocean pollution. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that people wear cloth face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in public places. The masks made by PADI offer a sustainable alternative to the N95 respirator masks being reserved for health care workers.




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panacea




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Hedge Fund 'Asshole' Destroying Local News & Firing Reporters Wants Google & Facebook To Just Hand Him More Money

Have you heard of Heath Freeman? He's a thirty-something hedge fund boss, who runs "Alden Global Capital," which owns a company misleadingly called "Digital First Media." His business has been to buy up local newspapers around the country and basically cut everything down to the bone, and just milk the assets for whatever cash they still produce, minus all the important journalism stuff. He's been called "the hedge fund asshole", "the hedge fund vampire that bleeds newspapers dry", "a small worthless footnote", the "Gordon Gecko" of newspapers and a variety of other fun things.

Reading through some of those links above, you find a standard playbook for Freeman's managing of newspapers:

These are the assholes who a few years ago bought the Denver Post, once one of the best regional newspapers in the country, and hollowed it out into a shell of its former self, then laid off some more people. Things got so bad that the Post’s own editorial board rebelled, demanding that if “Alden isn’t willing to do good journalism here, it should sell the Post to owners who will.”

And here's one of the other links from above telling a similar story:

The Denver newsroom was hardly alone in its misery. In Northern California, a combined editorial staff of 16 regional newspapers had reportedly been slashed from 1,000 to a mere 150. Farther down the coast in Orange County, there were according to industry analyst Ken Doctor, complained of rats, mildew, fallen ceilings, and filthy bathrooms. In her Washington Post column, media critic Margaret Sullivan called Alden “one of the most ruthless of the corporate strip-miners seemingly intent on destroying local journalism.”

And, yes, I think it's fair to say that many newspapers did get a bit fat and happy with their old school monopolistic hold on the news market pre-internet. And many of them failed to adapt. And so, restructuring and re-prioritizing is not a bad idea. But that's not really what's happening here. Alden appears to be taking profitable (not just struggling) newspapers, and squeezing as much money out of them directly into Freeman's pockets, rather than plowing it back into actual journalism. And Alden/DFM appears to be ridiculously profitable for Freeman, even as the journalism it produces becomes weaker and weaker. Jim Brady called it "combover journalism." Basically using skeleton staff to pretend to really be covering the news, when it's clear to everyone that it's not really doing the job.

All of that is prelude to the latest news that Freeman, who basically refuses to ever talk to the media, has sent a letter to other newspaper bosses suggesting they collude to force Google and Facebook to make him even richer.

You can see the full letter here:


Let's go through this nonsense bit by bit, because it is almost 100% nonsense.

These are immensely challenging times for all of us in the newspaper industry as we balance the two equally important goals of keeping the communities we serve fully informed, while also striving to safeguard the viability of our news organizations today and well into the future.

Let's be clear: the "viability" of your newsrooms was decimated when you fired a huge percentage of the local reporters and stuffed the profits into your pockets, rather than investing in the actual product.

Since Facebook was founded in 2004, nearly 2,000 (one in five) newspapers have closed and with them many thousands of newspaper jobs have been lost. In that same time period, Google has become the world's primary news aggregation service, Apple launched a news app with a subsription-based tier and Twitter has become a household name by serving as a distribution service for the content our staffs create.

Correlation is not causation, of course. But even if that were the case, the focus of a well-managed business would be to adapt to the changing market place to take advantage of, say, new distribution channels, new advertising and subscription products, and new ways of building a loyal community around your product. You know, the things that Google, Facebook and Twitter did... which your newspaper didn't do, perhaps because you fired a huge percentage of their staff and re-directed the money flow away from product and into your pocket.

Recent developments internationally, which will finally require online platforms to compensate the news industry are encouraging. I hope we can collaborate to move this issue forward in the United States in a fair and productive way. Just this month, April 2020, French antitrust regulators ordered Google to pay news publishers for displaying snippets of articles after years of helping itself to excerpts for its news service. As regulators in France said, "Google's practices caused a serious and immediate harm to the press sector, while the economic situation of publishers and news agencies is otherwise fragile." The Australian government also recently said that Facebook and Google would have to pay media outlets in the country for news content. The country's Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg noted "We can't deny the importance of creating a level playing field, ensuring a fair go for companies and the appropriate compensation for content."

We have, of course, written about both the plans in France as well as those in Australia (not to mention a similar push in Canada that Freeman apparently missed). Of course, what he's missing is... well, nearly everything. First, the idea that it's Google that's causing problems for the news industry is laughable on multiple fronts.

If newspapers feel that Google is causing them harm by linking to them and sending them traffic, then they can easily block Google, which respects robots.txt restrictions. I don't see Freeman's newspaper doing that. Second, in most of the world, Google does not monetize its Google News aggregation service, so the idea that it's someone making money off of "their" news, is not supported by reality. Third, the idea that "the news" is "owned" by the news organizations is not just laughable, but silly. After all, the news orgs are not making the news. If Freeman is going to claim that news orgs should be compensated for "their" news, then, uh, shouldn't his news orgs be paying the actual people who make the news that they're reporting on? Or is he saying that journalism is somehow special?

Finally, and most importantly, he says all of this as if we haven't seen how these efforts play out in practice. When Germany passed a similar law, Google ended up removing snippets only to be told they had to pay anyway. Google, correctly, said that if it had to license snippets, it would offer a price of $0, or it would stop linking to the sites -- and the news orgs agreed. In Spain, where Google was told it couldn't do this, the company shut down Google News and tons of smaller publications were harmed, not helped, but this policy.

This surely sounds familiar to all of us. It's been more than a decade since Rupert Murdoch instinctively observerd: "There are those who think they have a right to take our news content and use it for their own purposes without contributing a penny to its production... Their almost wholesale misappropriation of our stories is not fair use. To be impolite, it's theft."

First off, it's not theft. As we pointed out at the time, Rupert Murdoch, himself, at the very time he was making these claims, owned a whole bunch of news aggregators himself. The problem was never news aggregators. The problem has always been that other companies are successful on the internet and Rupert Murdoch was not. And, again, the whole "misappropriation" thing is nonsense: any news site is free to block Google's scrapers and if it's "misappropriation" to send you traffic, why do all of these news organizations employ "search engine optimizers" who work to get their sites higher in the rankings? And, yet again, are they paying the people who make the actual news? If not, then it seems like they're full of shit.

With Facebook and Google recently showing some contrition by launching token programs that provide a modest amount of funding, it's heartening to see that the tech giants are beginning to understand their moral and social responsibility to support and safeguard local journalism.

Spare me the "moral and social responsibility to support and safeguard local journalism," Heath. You're the one who cut 1,000 journalism jobs down to 150. Not Google. You're the one who took profitable newspapers that were investing in local journalism, fired a huge number of their reporters and staff, and redirected the even larger profits into your pockets instead of local journalism.

Even if someone wants to argue this fallacy, it should not be you, Heath.

Facebook created the Facebook Journalism Project in 2017 "to forge stronger ties with the news industry and work with journalists and publishers." If Facebook and the other tech behemoths are serious about wanting to "forge stronger ties with the news industry," that will start with properly remunerating the original producers of content.

Remunerating the "original producers"? So that means that Heath is now agreeing to compensate the people who create the news that his remaining reporters write up? Oh, no? He just means himself -- the middleman -- being remunerated directly into his pocket while he continues to cut jobs from his newsroom while raking in record profits? That seems... less compelling.

Facebook, Google, Twitter, Apple News and other online aggregators make billions of dollars annually from original, compelling content that our reporters, photographers and editors create day after day, hour after hour. We all know the numbers, and this one underscores the value of our intellectual property: The New York Times reported that in 2018, Google alone conservatively made $4.7 billion from the work of news publishers. Clearly, content-usage fees are an appropriate and reasonable way to help ensure newspapers exist to provide communities across the country with robust high-quality local journalism.

First of all, the $4.7 billion is likely nonsense, but even if it were accurate, Google is making that money by sending all those news sites a shit ton of traffic. Why aren't they doing anything reasonable to monetize it? And, of course, Digital First Media has bragged about its profitability, and leaked documents suggest its news business brought in close to a billion dollars in 2017 with a 17% operating margin, significantly higher than all other large newspaper chains.

This is nothing more than "Google has money, we want more money, Google needs to give us the money." There is no "clearly" here and "usage fees" are nonsense. If you don't want Google's traffic, put up robots.txt. Google will survive, but your papers might not.

One model to consider is how broadcast television stations, which provide valuable local news, successfully secured sizable retransmission fees for their programming from cable companies, satellite providers and telcos.

There are certain problems with retransmission fees in the first place (given that broadcast television was, by law, freely transmitted over the air in exchange for control over large swaths of spectrum), and the value they got was in having a large audience to advertise too. But, more importantly, retransmission involved taking an entire broadcast channel and piping it through cable and satellite to make things easier for TV watchers who didn't want to switch between an antenna and a cable (or satellite receiver). An aggregator is not -- contrary to what one might think reading Freeman's nonsense -- retransmitting anything. It's linking to your content and sending you traffic on your own site. The only things it shows are a headline and (sometimes) a snippet to attract more traffic.

There are certainly other potential options worth of our consideration -- among them whether to ask Congress about revisiting thoughtful limitations on "Fair Use" of copyrighted material, or seeking judicial review of how our trusted content is misused by others for their profit. By beginning a collective dialogue on these topics we can bring clarity around the best ways to proceed as an industry.

Ah, yes, let's throw fair use -- the very thing that news orgs regularly rely on to not get sued into the ground -- out the window in an effort to get Google to funnel extra money into Heath Freeman's pockets. That sounds smart. Or the other thing. Not smart.

And "a collective dialogue" in this sense appears to be collusion. As in an antitrust violation. Someone should have maybe mentioned that to Freeman.

Our newspaper brands and operations are the engines that power trust local news in communities across the United States.

Note that it's the brands and operations -- not journalists -- that he mentions here. That's a tell.

Fees from those who use and profit from our content can help continually optimize our product as well as ensure our newsrooms have the resources they need.

Again, Digital First Media, is perhaps the most profitable newspaper chain around. And it just keeps laying off reporters.

My hope is that we are able to work together towards the shared goal of protecting and enhancing local journalism.

You first, Heath, you first.

So, basically, Heath Freeman, who has spent decade or so buying up profitable newspapers, laying off a huge percentage of their newsrooms, leaving a shell of a husk in their place, then redirecting the continued profits (often that exist solely because of the legacy brand) into his own pockets rather than in journalism... wants the other newspapers to collude with him to force successful internet companies who send their newspapers a ton of free traffic to pay him money for the privilege of sending them traffic.

Sounds credible.




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Utah Pulls Plug On Surveillance Contractor After CEO's Past As A White Supremacist Surfaces

A couple of months ago, a records request revealed a private surveillance contractor had access to nearly every piece of surveillance equipment owned and operated by the state of Utah. Banjo was the company with its pens in all of the state's ink. Banjo's algorithm ran on top of Utah's surveillance gear: CCTV systems, 911 services, location data for government vehicles, and thousands of traffic cameras.

All of this was run through Banjo's servers, which are conveniently located in Utah government buildings. Banjo's offering is of the predictive policing variety. The CEO claims its software can "find crime" without any collateral damage to privacy. This claim is based on the "anonymization" of harvested data -- a term that is essentially meaningless once enough data is collected.

This partnership is now on the rocks, thanks to an investigation by Matt Stroud and OneZero. Banjo's CEO, Damien Patton, apparently spent a lot of his formative years hanging around with white supremacists while committing crimes.

In grand jury testimony that ultimately led to the conviction of two of his associates, Patton revealed that, as a 17-year-old, he was involved with the Dixie Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. On the evening of June 9, 1990 — a month before Patton turned 18 — Patton and a Klan leader took a semi-automatic TEC-9 pistol and drove to a synagogue in a Nashville suburb. With Patton at the wheel, the Ku Klux Klan member fired onto the synagogue, destroying a street-facing window and spraying bullets and shattered glass near the building’s administrative offices, which were next to that of the congregation’s rabbi. No one was struck or killed in the shooting. Afterward, Patton hid on the grounds of a white supremacist paramilitary training camp under construction before fleeing the state with the help of a second Klan member.

If you're wondering where the state of Utah's due diligence is in all of this, there's a partial explanation for this lapse: the feds, who brought Patton in, screwed up on their paperwork.

Because Patton’s name was misspelled in the initial affidavit of probable cause filed in Brown’s case — an FBI agent apparently spelled Damien with an “o” rather than an “e” — any search of a federal criminal court database for “Damien Patton” would not have surfaced the affidavit.

Now that his past has been exposed, the state of Utah has announced it won't be working with Banjo.

The Utah attorney general’s office will suspend use of a massive surveillance system after a news report showed that the founder of the company behind the effort was once an active participant in a white supremacist group and was involved in the shooting of a synagogue.

The AG's office can only shut down so much of Banjo's surveillance software. Other government agencies not directly controlled by the state AG are making their own judgment calls. The University of Utah is suspending its contract with Banjo, but the state's Department of Public Safety has only gone so far as to "launch a review" of its partnership with the company. City agencies and a number of police departments who have contracts with Banjo have yet to state whether they will be terminating theirs.

And the AG's reaction isn't a ban. The office appears to believe it might be able to work through this.

“While we believe Mr. Patton’s remorse is sincere and believe people can change, we feel it’s best to suspend use of Banjo technology by the Utah attorney general’s office while we implement a third-party audit and advisory committee to address issues like data privacy and possible bias,” Piatt said. “We recommend other state agencies do the same.

It's refreshing to hear a prosecutor state that it's possible for former criminals to turn their lives around and become positive additions to their communities, but one gets the feeling this sort of forgiveness is only extended to ex-cons who have something to offer law enforcement agencies. Everyone else is just their rap sheet for forever, no matter how many years it's been since their last arrest.

The other problem here is the DA's office's tacit admission it did not take data privacy or possible bias into account before granting Banjo access to the state's surveillance equipment, allowing it to set up servers in government buildings, and giving it free rein to dust everything with its unaudited AI pixie dust.

These are all steps that should have taken place before any of this was implemented, even if the state had chosen to do business with a company with a less controversial CEO. This immediate reaction is the right step to take, but a little proactivity now and then would be a welcome change.




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Naked Grace

I interviewed Lucas Kitchen today about his book Naked Grace. In this book, he tells the story of how he discovered the truth about grace, and why it is so important for you and I to learn these truths as well. If you have questions about eternal life, the message of the gospel, what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple, or how grace helps us defeat sin in our lives, listen to this interview.




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When the chips are down, thank goodness for software engineers: AI algorithms 'outpace Moore's law'

ML eggheads, devs get more bang for their buck, say OpenAI duo

Machine-learning algorithms are improving in performance at a rate faster than that of the underlying computer chips, we're told.…




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Australian contact-tracing app sent no data to contact-tracers for at least ten days after hurried launch

Doesn't play well on iPhones, but bureaucrats rushed it out rather than wait months for perfection. Meanwhile serious bug reports have emerged

Australia’s “COVIDSafe” contact-tracing app was rushed to market in the knowledge it would perform poorly on some devices and without agreements in place to let actual contact-tracers use the data it collects. As a result, no collected data has been used in at least 10 days since its launch.…




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GitHub Codespaces: VS Code was 'designed from the get-go' for this, says Microsoft architect

A compelling addition to repo house – but is the Redmond flavour too strong?

GitHub had a lot to say about its plans at its virtual Satellite event yesterday, but the most far-reaching was the advent of Codespaces, the ability to edit code online, integrated into the GitHub user interface.…




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If it feels like the software world is held together by string and a prayer, we don't blame you: Facebook SDK snafu breaks top iOS apps

Update used wrong data type, causing Tinder to Spotify to fall over

A change in the Facebook SDK backend managed to crash many popular iOS apps that integrated the code library, used for implementing various Facebook services.…




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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Spacecraft with graphene sails powered by starlight and lasers

Nice way to get to Alpha Centauri though boffin tells us: 'Such a laser system could be used as a weapon'

Coin-sized pieces of graphene can be accelerated by firing low-powered lasers at them in micro-gravity conditions, say scientists. The technology could be a stepping stone to graphene solar sails, which could propel future spacecraft using starlight or a laser array.…




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11/13/16 - Look into your face





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Microsoft будет бесплатно чинить ноутбуки Surface Laptop 3 с треснутыми экранами

Компания обещает бесплатный ремонт устройств и возмещение расходов, если ноутбук уже отремонтировали.




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Facebook наконец перешел на новый дизайн своей веб-версии: что нового

Переключиться на новую версию можно в «шапке» сайта. Потом можно вернуться к старой версии, но через время на новый дизайн переведут всех пользователей.




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Space, The Boring Frontier

Suppose you randomly go 1 million miles somewhere away from our Sun. What will you find when you get there? With extremely high probability: Nothing! Suppose you go 100 light years in a randomly chosen direction. It is exceedingly likely that once you get there you will find nothing. Space. Vacuum. Rarely any atoms. Nothing, really boring nothing. Space is a dull and boring destination. If we don't take something with us to make our visit to a space destination interesting then it will be boring. Suppose we arrive at some place that is not just space. If some location has lots of mass it begins to have a chance of not being boring. But most pieces of mass out...




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JoT #2695: FaceTime background humiliation.



It's hard to keep up with the Zoomers!




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Little known beautiful places: Johns River – Westport, WA

This isn’t in the photos, but it’s foggy and cold this morning in western Washington. It’s the weirdest summer I’ve ever experienced — foggy, frigid mornings, cool days, and then freezing nights! It’s not very pleasant for a desert creature like myself, but it’s quite nice to sit inside and write in my blog a least. I have to say, it sure is weird, though. It’s August and I wear a sweater or sweatshirt most of the time and then I’m still cold! ^^; There are a few sunny days here and there, though. I get out on those days, into the wilderness and bright blue beyond. Sometimes, I just drive and drive in my still-unnamed yellow bug, and other times I find something that not a lot of people know about. This is about one of them. ^^ I love to wander, to find all of the nooks and crannies of wherever I happen to be. Tourist sites? Well, they’re usually cool and I want to see them, but it’s the little, hidden things off the beaten trail that really get my soul revving. So, Johns River (no apostrophe, it was named back when apostrophes weren’t used on maps) was one of those things. I found out about it by googling and googling, thinking that someone, somewhere, must have written about something other than the two really traveled trails in Grays Harbor. I mean, this area is the gateway to the wild peninsula of Washington, where according to Stephanie Meyer and Patricia Briggs, vampires and werewolves run wild. I also loooooooove mountain meadows. Johns river is not in the mountains, so I suppose that it mostly qualifies as grassland surrounded by trees? It’s just a little concrete path, and it’s not even a mile (0.6 miles one way) long, but with the river on one side and a huge expanse of pasture to the other side, it took my breath away.   Just look at this. Elk supposedly graze around here a lot, and I didn’t see any since I went during midday, but I bet it’s really a sight at sunset. It’s not far, so I will definitely have to come back. Can’t you just imagine little river sprites lounging on the bank, cleaning themselves? And little fairies flitting through the air? I bet this is a really magical place at sunset.   The little shack in the distance is off the trail. It’s supposedly for hunters (YUCK) and photographers. It would make a wonderful place to watch the sprites from. This shack is at the very end of the trail, and the same thing. It’s boring inside. I didn’t see any geldings, but I saw a few mosquitoes and a spider. If you’re lucky enough to have a horse that loves to take you along on its adventures, you can continue. I was wearing shorts, so I didn’t go, because ticks! But I will come back. Yes, I will come back. :3 Road to nowhere. Ignore the buildings. They’re only there for magical curse removal. Here’s a panorama of wildness. I’m feeling really magical today, can’t you tell? I think it’s because I have Daniel Waples playing in the background, and it’s all foggy outside. That reminds me that I want a handpan so badly. I need to find a handpan that I can afford soooooo badly, because I think it’s a music that speaks to my inner essence. Does anyone know what these gorgeous purple flowers are? They’re not lavender. The River People watch over this creek. Be careful to please them. It’s me. Sometimes I wear bright colors, sometimes I wear pastels. I don’t think that a magical being has to stick to  neutrals. (That hand thing is a shaka, a very cool gesture that I learned during my time in Hawaii that means “hang loose.” I like to think that it also means that you should be yourself and follow your instincts.) I think that I’ll go research handpans again. I should write down how much they cost so that I can be sure to stock my Airstream with one when I get it. ???? Here’s to the future! Excelsior! (Is that a good “to infinity, and beyond!!” kind of quote? If not, what should I use instead? I feel like “banzai!” is overused) Oh, and I’ve been arting on my Tumblr lately. I’ve been writing a serial ficiton that is mysterious connected to my soon-to-come comic, Denkiki on my other tumblr. Go check them out!  I’m going to start using my mailing list soon, too, to keep people updated, so stay tuned and I’ll post the link soon! Or make it a popup, I’m not sure. But I want to offer something cool for when people sign up. ???? Chaoness!

(779 geeks have read this)





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Apple Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over 'Flexgate' Issue With MacBook Pro Displays

A nationwide class action lawsuit filed against Apple in Northern California court this week accuses the company of knowingly concealing a defect with a display-related flex cable on recent 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models.


As discovered by repair website iFixit last year, some MacBook Pro models released in 2016 and 2017 have experienced issues with uneven backlighting caused by a delicate flex cable that can wear out and break after repeated opening and closing of the display. Impacted notebooks can exhibit uneven lighting at the bottom of the screen, which has been described as a "stage light" effect, and the backlighting system can eventually fail entirely.

Since the issue often takes time to manifest, the affected ‌MacBook Pro‌ units can be outside of Apple's one-year warranty period when they start exhibiting symptoms, resulting in an out-of-warranty repair fee of up to $850.

"Imagine spending more than $2,500 on a laptop only for it to fail shortly after the manufacturer's warranty expires," said PARRIS Law Firm attorney R. Rex Parris. "What's even more appalling is Apple requiring customers to spend an additional $600 to $850 to replace the screen."

Apple seemingly fixed the issue by extending the length of the flex cable by 2mm in the 2018 MacBook Pro. It also launched a free repair program in May 2019, but the program only applies to 13-inch MacBook Pro models released in 2016.

iFixit found the 2018 MacBook Pro flex cable on the left to be 2mm longer

The class action lawsuit seeks restitution for all costs attributable to replacing or replacing the affected MacBook Pro units, and calls for Apple to expand its repair program to cover the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The proposed class is defined as all persons within the United States who purchased a 2016 or newer MacBook Pro.

Related Guide: "Flexgate" Display Issues Affecting 2016 MacBook Pro and Later
Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Caution)

This article, "Apple Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over 'Flexgate' Issue With MacBook Pro Displays" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Residents Oppose Cost of Berlin Police Department Move to Bigger Space

William Brighenti, who founded the Berlin Property Owners Association, argued that the town can’t afford a new police headquarters, and police should look to clear space in their current building. He thinks one way to accomplish this is to get rid of tactical gear. Continue reading




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Hillary Faces Questions About Cash Donations to Clinton Foundation

Hillary Faces Questions About Cash Donations to Clinton Foundation. Continue reading




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Bernie Sanders does not have to win the Iowa Primary to set up his race

Bernie Sanders does not have to win the Iowa primary; however, if the gets 35%, 40%, or 45% of the vote, that would set him up nicely for the New Hampshire primary, next door to his state of Vermont. Continue reading