The unimportant news thread

[amw]

Of the stories that you've heard, are most of them buying homes or renting?

The latter. It's been a long time since being a musician paid enough to be able to afford to buy a home. (Of course I don't know that many longterm orchestra musicians, & those I do know often ended up losing their jobs in e.g. the Minnesota Orchestra lockouts, the Met Opera layoffs, etc.)

[SimonNZ]

BBC:

Clown shortage: Appeal for new recruits in Northern Ireland

Originally saw the story in Wonkette as this:

Why Is Lin Wood Talking 9/11 Conspiracies In US While There's A Clown Shortage In Northern Ireland?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The latter. It's been a long time since being a musician paid enough to be able to afford to buy a home. (Of course I don't know that many longterm orchestra musicians, & those I do know often ended up losing their jobs in e.g. the Minnesota Orchestra lockouts, the Met Opera layoffs, etc.)

"Pandora Papers:  Secret wealth and dealings of world leaders exposed"  I wonder how accurate this information is?  It's intriguing though!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-58780465

PD

[MusicTurner]

BREAKING:
Facebook has been down now for several hours for quite a lot of users.

Maybe they could do this say for one day every week?

[mahler10th]

The media has always had a problem with accurate reporting on science news.  They go for sensationalism, don't understand how science works, describe things inaccurately with overly flowery prose, and are unable to correctly interpret the significance of what they read.  Journalists badly need a good dose of scientific literacy.

+1

[Pohjolas Daughter]

BREAKING:
Facebook has been down now for several hours for quite a lot of users.

Maybe they could do this say for one day every week?

Amazing!  Think of all of the time people are now saving?! 

PD

[MusicTurner]

Amazing!  Think of all of the time people are now saving?! 

PD

Yes, society might benefit quite a lot from this ... 

[mahler10th]

Yes, society might benefit quite a lot from this ... 

I can't stand FB.  I hope it crashes for good.   

[Spotted Horses]

Amazing!  Think of all of the time people are now saving?! 

PD

Saving time? They're incessantly clicking, "is it up yet, is it up yet, is it up yet?"

[MusicTurner]

Saving time? They're incessantly clicking, "is it up yet, is it up yet, is it up yet?"

Just give them time ...

[Karl Henning]

Saving time? They're incessantly clicking, "is it up yet, is it up yet, is it up yet?"

(* chortle *)

For those who do, it's an opportunity to reflect, if they are yet capable of reflection.

[MusicTurner]

The explanation will be interesting, since one would think that FB is using tons of money for service reliability.

An expert here says that it's probably not a hacking event, but an error in the company that provides IP addresses for all web users, a company that is external in relation to FB.

But we'll see.

[Karl Henning]

Facebook Is Not the Town Square

[DavidW]

Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 Announced

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Saving time? They're incessantly clicking, "is it up yet, is it up yet, is it up yet?"

Well, in any event, it's back.

PD

[Spotted Horses]

Well, in any event, it's back.

PD

Brings to mind the Simpson episode: cable TV goes out in c and (to the accompaniment of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony) residents of Springfield are taking walks in the forest, picking flowers, writing poetry, etc. Life is blissful, until the TV comes back on and everyone is grimly glued to their TV sets again...

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Brings to mind the Simpson episode: cable TV goes out in c and (to the accompaniment of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony) residents of Springfield are taking walks in the forest, picking flowers, writing poetry, etc. Life is blissful, until the TV comes back on and everyone is grimly glued to their TV sets again...

And guess what's on the news now?  The Facebook whistleblower is testifying in front of Congress.

PD

p.s.  And regarding your Simpsons comments:  yes, a good reminder to unplug!

[T. D.]

This is really weird. But it does have to do with music.
Paywall likely, but you may be able to get around it by googling.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-10-08/the-handpan-s-creators-want-to-keep-their-invention-pure-it-may-not-survive

They Invented the Must-Have Instrument for the Burning Man Set. Now They Want to Kill It Off
Two reclusive Swiss artists created the handpan, which has been played by everyone from Björk to Dave Matthews. Copycats proliferated, and now they think capitalism has ruined it—and they're fighting back.

By Ellen Huet
October 8, 2021, 10:00 AM EDT

[Pohjolas Daughter]

This is really weird. But it does have to do with music.
Paywall likely, but you may be able to get around it by googling.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-10-08/the-handpan-s-creators-want-to-keep-their-invention-pure-it-may-not-survive

They Invented the Must-Have Instrument for the Burning Man Set. Now They Want to Kill It Off
Two reclusive Swiss artists created the handpan, which has been played by everyone from Björk to Dave Matthews. Copycats proliferated, and now they think capitalism has ruined it—and they're fighting back.

By Ellen Huet
October 8, 2021, 10:00 AM EDT

Only able to find a bit more about it in Wiki, but I did find this site which includes a nice (and short) video about the instrument:  https://silvernailapartments.com/qa/who-invented-handpan.html

Strangely enough, I was shown an ad for what I now know to be a knock off.  This was presented to me when I was watching a youtube video (probably about music) a few days ago.  Neat instrument!  And it sounds like years of research went into it too to achieve certain sounds and scales too.  Are people still buying their (much more expensive) versions or are just going for the cheaper knockoffs.  Think that the one that I saw was plastic on the outside?

PD

[Todd]

International community strikes a ground-breaking tax deal for the digital age


Let's see if we can find a path to loopholes:

The global minimum tax agreement does not seek to eliminate tax competition, but puts multilaterally agreed limitations on it

Um, yep.