The news thread

[QuantumSync]

[Psy-Fi]

13 prisoners escape after drunk detective opened cells and told inmates they were free to go, Zambia police say

[QuantumSync]

CNET
Dec 12, 202


Android XR, coming in 2025, is arriving along with a Samsung mixed reality headset and glasses after that. I tried a ton of demos, and the always-on AI that can see what I'm seeing is amazing and full of unanswered questions.


0:00 Intro
0:30 Android XR
1:18 Project Moohan (Samsung's Mixed Reality Headset)
2:29 Immersive Google Maps App
2:56 Google Gemini AR Assistant
3:15 Auto converting 2D photos and video to 3D
3:51 Android XR Smart Glasses
5:34 Final Thoughts

[SGR]

Trudeau to resign as prime minister after Liberal leadership race

[Psy-Fi]

Trudeau to resign as prime minister after Liberal leadership race

[QuantumSync]

Hak5
Jan 8, 2025



0:00 0 - Intro
10 - All The AI Fails
9 - NVD Went AFK
8 - So Many Supply Chain Attacks
7 - Kaspersky Banned
6 - ShinyHunters and The Ticketmaster Fallout
5 - Welcome Back Net Neutrality
4 - Salt Typhoon Owns the US TelCos
3 - XZ-Utils Backdoor
2 - Progressions of the Internet Archive
1 - CrowdStrike
0 - Outro

[SGR]

DVD shop owner vows to be 'last man standing'

[QuantumSync]

[Buck_Mulligan]

NPR is reporting...

More than 100,000 have evacuated, at least 5 have died in LA's fires
The Eaton fire, which has killed at least five people, has grown rapidly to 10,600 acres, while the Palisades fire has surpassed 15,000 acres. More than 100,000 people have evacuated in Los Angeles County and another 100,000 were warned they need to be ready to evacuate.

Los Angeles County has a population of 10 million.

[QuantumSync]

https://x.com/nbcsnl/status/1877807697396986054

[Lisnaholic]

The Los Angeles fires are devastating on a huge scale, and it's sad to watch the heartbroken survivors being interviewed next to the ashes of their homes. To lose your home and all your possessions at a stoke is a tough setback to bear, and I'm afraid that "building back" will be a slow and painful process too.

I struggle to visualise stats like "20,000 acres" and if you are the same, this graphic may help you:
 


The "good" news is that, of the pink splodge of fire, less than a quarter of it was over built-up areas, most of it was forest, I think.

Every news report mentions the Santa Ana winds, and if you want a more in-depth idea of what they are, what they represent to the people of LA, then you might like to read this 2-page extract from Joan Didion's book, Slouching Towards Bethlehem. She wrote it in 1969, but it's worth revisiting to add some perspective to today's news reports:-

 https://www.murrieta.k12.ca.us/cms/lib5/CA01000508/Centricity/Domain/1538/The%20Santa%20Anas.pdf

TIL (again) what a wonderful writer Joan Didion could be - and that you have to go back to 1957 to find a similar combination of today's acreage lost and 100 mph winds.
(I also learned the fabulous power of the internet: that in less than a minute I could call up the precise extract I wanted from a book I read 55 years ago!) 

[Psy-Fi]

Hero Meteorologist Saved Hundreds with His Early Fire Warnings. Here's What He's Worried About Next

Last week, in Altadena, Calif., local climate scientist Edgar McGregor, who posts hyper-local weather updates on the Facebook page Altadena Weather and Climate, was sounding the alarm about the wildfires before the deadly blazes in the Los Angeles area even began.

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, McGregor warned residents not to go to sleep, be hyper-vigilant and prepare to evacuate. So many locals listened and left that the 24-year-old is now being credited with saving hundreds of lives and being hailed as a local hero.

All good and well but if arson is suspected as the cause, he'd be the first person I'd consider as a suspect.

[QuantumSync]

https://x.com/nbcsnl/status/1879721233467810227

[DJChameleon]

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was fatally shot Monday on a highway in northern Vermont south of the Canadian border, authorities said.

The death was confirmed by the FBI and Benjamine Huffman, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in Washington.

In a statement, the FBI said that in addition to the agent, a suspect in the shooting was killed and a second suspect was wounded and taken into custody during the encounter on Interstate 91 in Coventry, about 20 miles from the Canadian border.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/border-patrol-agent-shot-dead-vermont-highway-near-canadian-border/

[QuantumSync]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/border-patrol-agent-shot-dead-vermont-highway-near-canadian-border/