Links 10/11/2023: China Consumer Prices Fall, Guppy Protocol Gets New Homepage
Contents
Leftovers
Science
Science Alert ☛ Ketamine Can Ease Depression And PTSD Within 1 Day, Study Finds
University of Michigan ☛ Putting a microscope to science journalism
On Jan. 28, 1986, the U.S. Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger exploded 46,000 feet above the ground 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven people inside. The causes of the disaster were fiercely contended, so much so that a government commission was chartered to investigate them.
Science Alert ☛ Blood Tests Can Reveal Crohn's Disease 8 Years Before Diagnosis
"This has huge implications for prevention."
Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong distributes bedbug warning leaflets at airport amid outbreaks in South Korea, France and the UK
Hong Kong authorities have begun giving arriving airport passengers warning leaflets about bedbug transmission and prevention after infestations were reported in South Korea, France and the UK.
Latvia ☛ Cancer patients raise alarm over long chemotherapy lines
Oncology patients requiring chemotherapy are raising alarm over long queues for chemotherapy. Waiting times last for months.
Federal News Network ☛ HHS launches its promised health innovation network
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health has proceeded with its promised network of health innovation sites. Anchoring the network are three regional hubs also planned at the inception of ARPA-H. For what they hope for the network, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with the Director of the agency's Project Accelerator Transition Innovation office, Craig Gravitz.
New York Times ☛ F.D.A. Approves New Obesity Drug Tirzepatide That Will Compete With Wegovy
Zepbound, which is already sold by Eli Lilly as the diabetes treatment Mounjaro, was shown to reduce patients’ weight by as much as one-fifth in drug trials.
Science Alert ☛ 7.3 Months Without Alcohol Lets Brains Repair Damage From Heavy Drinking, Study Finds
There is hope.
Defence/Aggression
Environment
Science Alert ☛ New Island Emerges Off Japan After Powerful Underwater Volcano Eruption
Science Alert ☛ October Shatters Global Heat Record: 2023 Near Certain to Be Hottest Year in History
"The sense of urgency... has never been higher."
Energy/Transportation
Finance
New York Times ☛ China Consumer Prices Fall, Renewing Fears of Deflation
Consumer prices declined for the second time in four months, while prices charged by factories and other large producers have now been tumbling for over a year.
Music Business Worldwide ☛ Amazon’s music streaming division hit with round of layoffs
Tech Times ☛ Amazon Music Lays Off Employees Across Continents
Amazon Music, as per Reuters, has notified employees from Latin America, North America, and Europe that their jobs have been eliminated, according to "people familiar with the matter."
This was later confirmed by an Amazon spokesperson stating that the company will continue to invest in Amazon Music and that the company has "been closely monitoring [their] organizational needs and prioritizing what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses.
AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
Atlantic Council ☛ In a fractured world, does Biden’s trade policy measure up?
The Biden administration has championed the new era in trade, seeing it as a moment to reinvest in US manufacturing and better counter China’s economic clout. However, there has been blowback.
RFA ☛ Time for some kung fu, panda
RFA ☛ Baby boom for Hongkongers who fled crackdown to live in Britain
As Hong Kong struggles to boost birth rates, nearly 2,000 babies are born to Hong Kong parents in England, Wales.
New York Times ☛ As Pandas Leave National Zoo, Is Panda Diplomacy Over?
The giant pandas have left Washington. Some fans find it unbearable.
The Straits Times ☛ Japan PM Kishida considering holding talks with China's Pooh-tin around Nov 16: NHK
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering holding talks with Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping on the sideline of APEC summit in San Francisco around November 16, public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday, citing government sources.
teleSUR ☛ China Calls for Immediate Cessation of Hostilities in Gaza
Israel must return to the right track of the two-state solution as soon as possible, Ambassador Geng said.
The Straits Times ☛ ST Picks: Significance of Australian PM’s T-shirt diplomacy in China
The Straits Times ☛ Ex-Malaysian minister Syed Saddiq sentenced to 7 years’ jail, $2.9m fine and caning for corruption
A total of 30 prosecution witnesses had testified in the trial which started on June 21, 2022.
RFA ☛ For the first time since 1948, North Koreans given a choice in an election
Two women compete in primary for a seat in provincial assembly, puzzling residents used to one-candidate elections.
TruthOut ☛ Exonerated Central Park Five Member Wins Seat on New York City Council
TruthOut ☛ Victory in Ohio Represents Seventh Straight Electoral Win for Abortion Rights
TechCrunch ☛ Tumblr to run on skeleton crew as parent company Automattic absorbs staff | TechCrunch
According to a leaked memo, Tumblr's longterm financial woes have reached a breaking point. Aside from a skeleton crew of essential workers in departments...
Epic Games sues Google as both spend on antitrust lobbying • OpenSecrets
Google faces off with Epic Games in federal court this week, the latest antitrust cases brought against the tech giant.
Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
The Guardian UK ☛ Jezebel to shut down after 16 years as parent company lays off staff | Media | The Guardian
Chief executive of parent company G/O Media Jim Spanfeller says in staff memo ‘our business model … did not align with Jezebel’s’
Gemini* and Gopher
Personal/Opinions
the plaster cast of life
I recently feel as if a layer of plaster, like a sturdier cocoon, has been forming around me, still wet. That probably happens when we become complacent with a lot of things in our lives and get locked in. The job, the living situation, the city, the hobbies, the friends, the food. It becomes so normal, we can't see ourselves as something else anymore.
Dexterity Games, Pub Games, Tabletop Games, Oh My!
If I do an acceptable job of describing them you will probably know just the type of games I'm talking about. Fun, usually multiplayer skill-based games that often involve some sort of real-time element. Some examples of the kinds of games I'm talking about: shuffleboard, ring hook game, crokinole, carrom, many others.
Politics and World Events
Socialism
“Socialism” can mean a couple of different things, thanks to the life-changing magic of semantics.
In one meaning, it is about different ways workers can control the means of production (for example, through cooperatives) instead of being hired by an owner class. Opinion differs on where to draw the line between personal property vs private property, the former being defined as like the sweater on your body or the pillow under your head, the latter as factories or fields where people are working. The idea is to bring about economic democracy, having a say in how your workplace is run and how to distribute its gains. This type of socialism is to address capitalism’s exploitation problem.
Science
The disillusioned, enlightened climated delayists
We’re all in it together. It’s 1🌏1♥. No getting around that. When I hurt other people I’m hurting the same humanity that I’m supposed to be a part of.
I think the conclusion, the jump to the second point, is wack.
If someone is really that utterly enlightened and non-attached to the dust of the world that they’re living off scraps naked in a cardboard box 24/7, they’re like “I don’t need jeans because the world’s an illusion”, “I don’t need to tie my shoes because the world’s an illusion”, that’s awesome, but even Diogenes wanted sleep and food.
Technology and Free Software
NeoVim vs Helix
Like NeoVim, Helix is a modal editor with some IDE like features. Unlike NeoVim, Helix uses the Kakuone editor as inspiration for it's keybindings. The other major difference is that while NeoVim relies on Lua or VimScript plugins to extend it's functionality, Helix has a focus on integrating advanced features right into the codebase. This was the entire reason I wanted to try it. Rather than relying on plugins which may or may not retain a stable interface over time, which is definitely a problem I've encountered using NeoVim. Those features should also behave the same on all of the platforms which Helix supports. This is kind of major to me as well. I switch back and forth between two laptops, one with Void Linux and one with FreeBSD. Once upon a time I used kickstart.nvim as the basis for my init.lua. Then they changed it to use a different plugin manager which only supported Linux. Sure, it had the benefit that it would automatically find and install any binaries for things like language servers off the internet. But I have two major problems with that. First, I don't want it to do that. I'll handle what binaries are on my system, thank you. And second, not having FreeBSD support is a non-starter.
Starting a blog...
For a while I have always wanted to start writing a blog or atleast have some sort of personal homepage. I have made several attempts to do this. First with github pages, then gitlab pages and now codeberg. I always started the pages got some simple stuff up and then never got to writing anything (due to being distracted with other things). It was a always a blank page in a style that I didn't entirely like. Now I have decided to change that. I am going to spend the next few days and write up some good css styling in style that is truly mine. I have even started some basic articles which are under construction. Here is the site if anyone is wondering: => https://257m.codeberg.page/. Feel free to critic it and give suggestions in how I can style it. I am trying to make minimalistic and functional while having it also be pleasant to the eye. Maybe I should use a lighter font color?
Re: Small Operating Systems?
I have been using Un*x type operating systems since at least 1990. Privately I have always been using some sort of GNU/Linux system, Debian for the most part. But I have gotten a growing, albeit faint feeling, that Linux (both the kernel and the distribution ecosystem) is increasingly facing the risk to drown due to its own weight.
Internet/Gemini
Programming and Languages
Thoughts on Python PEP 668
PEP 668 is a change that breaks pip by allowing setting an "externally managed environment" option that prevents pip from being used by the user.
Thoughts on learning languages
Of the several topics I like to read about and study, the study of languages stands out as the sort of warp that ties seemingly disparate subjects together. No matter what it is that absorbs my interest, it's ties with certain language or languages will always be influential in my studies. Indeed, while my interests may be subjected to the whims of my ever changing mental state, languages remain as the constant focus of my efforts, and their study as the main application of discipline.
* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.