Today's Drop reveals details of AI spending and its impact on various sectors; an open-source alternative to Perplexity offers local language models and different search modes; and a resource for Apple Silicon Mac users wanting to do (mostly) frustration-free "AI" on Apple Silico … | Continue reading
We return to the standard edition today, one of the longest ever as it has grown significantly because many topics have accumulated. But I hope you like it :) | Continue reading
In recent years, many organizations have realized that the journey towards real allyship and lasting societal change is not as simple as hosting one employee celebration and posting about it on social media. It’s a long and complex path, requiring a concerted and sustained effort … | Continue reading
Last week, we covered the latest improvements to Java 22 around pattern matching and records. They enable explicit business logic modelling… | Continue reading
Meet the new iPad Pro: the thinnest product we’ve ever created, the most advanced display we’ve ever produced, with the incredible power of the M4 chip. Just imagine all the things it’ll be used to create. pic.twitter.com/6PeGXNoKgG — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) May 7, 2024 The comments … | Continue reading
While new solar and wind projects are being built at an increasing rate, both of those energy sources have limitations in terms of being able to provide continuous sources of power. New battery plant near major city will be among the largest in the world: 'Will help stabilize the … | Continue reading
The sector grew slower than digital overall. Plus, iHeart's new financials show they're still growing. Sponsored by Supporting Cast. Don't lock your members into one platform! 🔓 With Supporting Cast, YOU own your podcast subscription and control the subscriber relationshi … | Continue reading
Terence Eden took my idea for a completely plain text blog, ran with it, and just kept running. Now it's a WordPress theme! | Continue reading
Illuminate has crossed the funding threshold it needed to actually kick off the project of bringing the Bay Lights back to San Francisco, as Heather Knight writes for the New York Times. The upgraded lights will be visible not just from San Francisco but also in Oakland, Treasure … | Continue reading
This is my 5,000th blog post on this blog. Wow, that's a lot! Let's look at some milestones along the way. | Continue reading
This is a silly idea. But it works. I saw Dan Q wondering about plaintext WordPress themes - so I made one. This is what this blog looks like using it: The Code You only need two files. An index.php and a style.css. The CSS file can be empty, but it needs to exist - […] | Continue reading
Cool and increasingly cloudy as the sun clears the treetops—a bright spot in the gray. A rose-breasted grosbeak sings. Chipmunk metronomes go in and out of sync. | Continue reading
Paul Cézanne led the way in Aix-en-Provence, followed rapidly by Renoir, Signac, Cross, Luce, van Rysselberghe, and Pierre Bonnard. | Continue reading
"The Tesla Semi experience has been impressive since day one." Tesla impresses another new company using its Semi trucks: 'We've been able to push these tractors well beyond expectations' first appeared on The Cool Down. | Continue reading
[Introduction, transcription and translation follow on the next page] Latin Salutatory | Harvard Commencement 2022 | Orator: Benjamin Porteous [The following material is courtesy of Benjamin Porteous] The Latin oration is an exciting part of the commencement that allows for solem … | Continue reading
The MSM is starting to catch up (with Jeph Jacques, and the movement discussed in "Yay Newfriend", 3/20/2024, and "Yay Newfriend again", 3/.22/2024). Kevin Roose, "Meet my A.I. friends", NYT 5/9/2024: What if the tech companies are all wrong, and the way artificial intelligence i … | Continue reading
This is my favourite snack to eat at the moment. You need: frozen blueberries cottage cheese peanut butter The amount of each doesn't matter. I probably go overboard on the blueberries because I love them. Put cottage cheese in a bowl Put a spoon of peanut butter on the cottage c … | Continue reading
Das CongressCentrum Pforzheim ist nicht umgezogen und dennoch hat es eine neue Adresse. Am 21. April wurde der Platz vor dem CCP in Bertha-Benz-Platz umbenannt. | Continue reading
Photo credits: astropix / BigStock EIT Health Scandinavia has launched a new online hub to ease access to European biobanks and health data registries for researchers, and to share expertise on how to exploit these resources. After adopting plans for the European Health Data Spac … | Continue reading
Updates from NPR, Boeing, and Columbia. The Roast of Tom Brady. Lonely Hearts, and much more. | Continue reading
A study showed that if these vehicles accounted for 11% of transportation, pollution would fall by 7%. Study shows an unexpected option is slashing oil demand by a massive 1% worldwide, and experts hope it catches on in the US: 'It's possible' first appeared on The Cool Down. | Continue reading
My leprechaun can’t find his gold. My imaginary friend got kidnapped. The voices in my head won’t talk to me. And my dragon flew away. Oh my, I’m going sane. | Continue reading
The IKEA blue bag is one of, if not the most, iconic items sold at IKEA. It’s been touted as indestructible, the most versatile bag in the world, and an all-time favorite for hacks. It’s not unexpected that a doctoral researcher in South Korea honed in on hacking the blue bag for … | Continue reading
Photo credits: NiroDesign / BigStock Presidents of national academies of science in all EU member states signed a joint statement on Monday, urging the incoming cohort of MEPs to secure EU’s global leadership in science and innovation and to promote open science. This is the firs … | Continue reading
"I hope our findings will help consumers make healthier and more sustainable food choices." Study shows replacing single food from your diet with alternative could increase your life expectancy: 'Considerable benefits for health' first appeared on The Cool Down. | Continue reading
Dragoș Tudorache, Romanian MEP and chair of the European Parliament’s committee on AI. Photo: European Parliament Without easier access to capital, European AI companies will forever rely on the vast computing resources of entrenched US tech giants, the outgoing MEP responsible f … | Continue reading
Nicole Grobert (left), chair of the group of chief scientific advisers to the European Commission and professor of nanomaterials at Oxford University, Maarja Kruusmaa (center), member of the group and professor of biorobotics at Tallinn University of Technology, and Alberto Mello … | Continue reading
Latvia wants the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) to be scrapped in FP10, the EU’s next framework programme for research and innovation, according to a government position paper published today. The Latvian government said funding instruments in FP10 should be … | Continue reading
We left Beetley just after 10am yesterday to make the 70 mile drive to visit friends in Suffolk. Some other friends who live on the Isle of Wight were over too, so it was a chance for us to all meet up. Fortunately, the weather was very nice, and after cups of tea and catching … … | Continue reading
In 1885, Karl Benz built what’s now considered the first modern automobile. According to the Mercedes Benz website, the car featured a “compact high-speed single-cylinder four-stroke engine installed horizontally at the rear, a tubular steel frame … and three wire-spoked wheels. … | Continue reading
"I could use chemicals as a last resort, but obviously I don't want to." Homeowner seeks advice on low-effort solution to control overgrown grass: 'How would you take care of that?' first appeared on The Cool Down. | Continue reading
This week, I am joined by microbiologist Dr. Sarkis Mazmanian, the Luis B. and Nelly Soux Professor at Caltech, to discuss the microbiome's connection to human health—especially the gut-brain axis. Dr. Mazmanian discusses his research evolution from infectious diseases to the mic … | Continue reading
by Sergio Hernandez ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. In the s … | Continue reading
Today's links AI is a WMD: Advon is a force-multiplier for enshittification. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, … | Continue reading
"I wish I could tell you we had all the answers and we were geniuses, and we were going to avoid what happened to the sugar mill." Closing of Texas' last sugar mill may prelude concerning pattern for US farmers: 'We are in serious trouble' first appeared on The Cool Down. | Continue reading
Pen and paper ready please! | Continue reading
NOrdic CryOSphere Digital Twin (NOCOS DT) develops computational sea ice modelling tools that contribute to Destination Earth's Climate Change Adaptation Digital Twin. Destination Earth is a flagship initiative of the European Commission to develop a highly-accurate digital model … | Continue reading
ECMWF, ESA and EUMETSAT implement the Destination Earth initiative under the leadership of DG Connect and in collaboration with over 100 institutions throughout Europe. Visualizations created in Destination Earth allow us to look at our planet in ways we never thought before, as … | Continue reading
In January 2024, the European Commission published a White Paper on options for enhancing support for research and development involving technologies with dual-use potential. In response to the Commission’s public consultation on the White Paper, the European University Associati … | Continue reading
Stephen Wolfram gets into modeling biological evolution: Why does biological evolution work? And, for that matter, why does machine learning work? Both are examples of adaptive processes that surpr… | Continue reading
"Our results show the contrary." Scientists make interesting discovery about 'living skin' protecting Great Wall of China: 'They thought this kind of vegetation was destroying the Great Wall' first appeared on The Cool Down. | Continue reading
Note that this is a copy of the announcement on GitHub. [!NOTE] TL;DR: Maintenance of oapi-codegen is largely done for free, on the maintainers' personal time. We'd like to move to a more sustainable model by getting companies who use us to sponsor us. At this time, Jamie, one of … | Continue reading
Note that this is a copy of the announcement on GitHub. [!IMPORTANT] TL;DR: We're moving oapi-codegen to a new GitHub organisation. Nothing is changing as part of this move, aside from our module import path. The goal is to find a long term home for oapi-codegen because Deepmap n … | Continue reading
Notwithstanding Estonia’s success in the ICT sector, policies are needed that boost digitalisation, innovation, and skills across firms, including through enhancing cooperation between the public and private sector to raise investment in innovation. The Estonian economy had been … | Continue reading
By my count I've had 18 different phones since 2002. In my mind, there are three distinct eras in terms of the type of phones and where I was in my life. Sadly, I don't have any of these any more. Sounds like a fun project to track them all down though. The Hand-Me-Down Era I got … | Continue reading
California spent the last decade building up a massive fleet of batteries to help clean up its electrical grid. This spring, those storage plants passed a major threshold, and now are visibly reshaping the state’s power grid — just as clean energy advocates said they would. Gover … | Continue reading
Addressing climate change means getting fossil fuels out of about 115 million U.S. homes — ASAP. But right now, that shift is happening at a snail’s pace; by one expert’s estimate , it would take about 200 years to electrify all homes at the current rate. Entrepreneur Grant Gunni … | Continue reading
The technology is about to be put to use for the first time in a commercial setting, at one of the largest cement plants in the western United States. Startup develops technology to produce cleaner cement at commercial scale — here's how it could revolutionize construction indust … | Continue reading