The unimportant news thread

[DavidW]

I might decide to go with the x90l. which is a FALD LED with not many zones. It has surprised reviewers with how well it fares despite this.

This is an example of Sony's magic.  I have the x900h in my den (lg c2 oled in my living room) and despite the limited number of zones I never see haloing.  It is shocking how Sony does better with fewer zones than anyone else.

[Todd]

UN Security Council approves sending a Kenya-led force to Haiti to fight violent gangs

This time things will all get sorted.

[Todd]

Directly from the UK government: Government to introduce historic new law to protect future generations of young people from the harms of smoking.

Prohibition is usually a good idea.

[DavidW]

Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to quantum dots!
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nobel-prize-in-chemistry-2023-quantum-dots/

It was actually leaked early and an investigation will occur.

[Todd]

It was actually leaked early and an investigation will occur.

Exposing the leaker could dynamite his career.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to quantum dots!
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nobel-prize-in-chemistry-2023-quantum-dots/

It was actually leaked early and an investigation will occur.

Sounds like a cool discovery (the quantum dots)!  Sorry that the surprise got out early though.

PD

[geralmar]

Grizzly bear kills two in Canada national park:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/02/canada-deadly-bear-attack-banff-national-park?trk=public_post_comment-text

Coincidentally I'm watching Cocaine Bear (2023), which treats bear attacks and maulings as comedy.

[T. D.]

Latest installment in the Rudy freak show:

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/04/former-trump-lawyer-rudy-giuliani-sues-biden-for-defamation.html

This is profoundly hilarious, because the gassy dye-dripper's personal defense in many of his pending cases has been the MAGA favorite of "FREE SPEECH!!!". 

I swear one couldn't make this 💩 up. Only in the MAGAverse!

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Cannibalism was a common funeral ritual in Europe 15,000 years ago, study finds.


https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/05/europe/cannibalism-funeral-ritual-intl-scli-scn/index.html

[drogulus]

     This recession keeps getting worse and worser.

    U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 336,000 jobs in September in a sign of economic resilience

     Oh the humanity?

[Todd]

From ICN:

Apple Goes a Step Too Far in Claiming a Carbon Neutral Product, a New Report Concludes

The maker of the iPhone is a leader in efforts to reduce the climate impact of its products, but a recent claim about its new line of Apple Watches may be "climate-wash," a Chinese environmental research organization says.

So, like, the research comes from a Chinese source, which, as everyone knows, means it ain't no good, like a proper Western source.  Carry on and consume.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Nobel Prize winner Katalin Karikó was demoted 4 times.


https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/06/nobel-prize-winner-katalin-karik-on-being-demoted-perseverance-.html

[Iota]

Nobel Prize winner Katalin Karikó was demoted 4 times.


https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/06/nobel-prize-winner-katalin-karik-on-being-demoted-perseverance-.html

What an inspired and inspiring person. Lucky we had someone like her out there batting for the rest of us.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Nobel Prize winner Katalin Karikó was demoted 4 times.


https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/06/nobel-prize-winner-katalin-karik-on-being-demoted-perseverance-.html

Interesting story!  Sad to read about one of her bosses trying to get her into trouble with immigration though.

PD

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Interesting story!  Sad to read about one of her bosses trying to get her into trouble with immigration though.

PD

Tons of similar stories in (the US) academics.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

FTX thief cashes out millions during Bankman-Fried trial

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67090501

I'm surprised that the cryptocoin is still worth anything considering the charges against him.

PD

[Spotted Horses]

FTX thief cashes out millions during Bankman-Fried trial

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67090501

I'm surprised that the cryptocoin is still worth anything considering the charges against him.

PD

Cryptocurrencies are bigger than FTX.

In the end, it was a prosaic case of embezzlement.

FTX was supposed to be like a brokerage. You deposited your funds, you could trade for various crypto currencies, then you could withdraw your funds. They were supposed to make money on fees, commissions, mining, maybe some secure investments. But Bankman-Fried was also involved in a hedge fund, Alameda Research, in which Bankman-Fried and his genius friends were supposed to profit. But they turned out not to be geniuses, and they lost a huge amount of money. Rather than declare bankruptcy, they transferred customer funds from FTX to cover the losses. I have no doubt they thought that, being geniuses, they would make it all back and reimburse FTX before anyone noticed. But they turned out to be non-geniuses and lost even more money.

What makes it a crime is that the funds were transferred covertly. Apparently investigators found a bit of code in FTX's accounting software where transfers to Alameda were hard-coded and not reflected on FTX's balance sheet. The chickens came home to roost when they had transferred so much money from FTX to Alameda that FTX couldn't cover customer withdrawals.

This, by the way, is the individual who lost $8 billion.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Cryptocurrencies are bigger than FTX.

In the end, it was a prosaic case of embezzlement.

FTX was supposed to be like a brokerage. You deposited your funds, you could trade for various crypto currencies, then you could withdraw your funds. They were supposed to make money on fees, commissions, mining, maybe some secure investments. But Bankman-Fried was also involved in a hedge fund, Alameda Research, in which Bankman-Fried and his genius friends were supposed to profit. But they turned out not to be geniuses, and they lost a huge amount of money. Rather than declare bankruptcy, they transferred customer funds from FTX to cover the losses. I have no doubt they thought that, being geniuses, they would make it all back and reimburse FTX before anyone noticed. But they turned out to be non-geniuses and lost even more money.

What makes it a crime is that the funds were transferred covertly. Apparently investigators found a bit of code in FTX's accounting software where transfers to Alameda were hard-coded and not reflected on FTX's balance sheet. The chickens came home to roost when they had transferred so much money from FTX to Alameda that FTX couldn't cover customer withdrawals.

This, by the way, is the individual who lost $8 billion.

Yes, his supposedly on-again-off-again girlfriend who was running Alameda.   And I suspect (highly) that she was in cahoots with her boyfriend.  She's testifying against him in exchange for leniency/shorter sentence from what I recall.

Are there many "brokerage firms" for cryptocurrencies?

According to the article that I had linked to, they believe that at least part of the *stolen monies out of the wallets is going to Russia...perhaps how they are managing to buy more weapons?  No idea.  I found it interesting to read that there are basically money laundering organization(s?) for crypto and it's hard to follow the electronic trail.

*20 million dollars worth being sold a day now apparently.

PD

[Spotted Horses]

Yes, his supposedly on-again-off-again girlfriend who was running Alameda.   And I suspect (highly) that she was in cahoots with her boyfriend.  She's testifying against him in exchange for leniency/shorter sentence from what I recall.

Are there many "brokerage firms" for cryptocurrencies?

According to the article that I had linked to, they believe that at least part of the *stolen monies out of the wallets is going to Russia...perhaps how they are managing to buy more weapons?  No idea.  I found it interesting to read that there are basically money laundering organization(s?) for crypto and it's hard to follow the electronic trail.

*20 million dollars worth being sold a day now apparently.

PD

The irony is that, as I understand it, there is a publicly available ledger of every bitcoin transaction ever made, so the ownership of every bitcoin ever minted is recorded, along with every transaction every made with every bitcoin. You just don't know who owns the accounts that bitcoin is assigned to, and perhaps those ledgers are so big that searching them is computationally expensive.

There are lots of exchanges, and FTX wasn't the biggest. But they were supposed to be one of the most trustworthy.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The irony is that, as I understand it, there is a publicly available ledger of every bitcoin transaction ever made, so the ownership of every bitcoin ever minted is recorded, along with every transaction every made with every bitcoin. You just don't know who owns the accounts that bitcoin is assigned to, and perhaps those ledgers are so big that searching them is computationally expensive.

There are lots of exchanges, and FTX wasn't the biggest. But they were supposed to be one of the most trustworthy.  Was he ever given access to the dump?

Interesting thoughts and info.  So if you use bitcoin to buy something, there's an account of it?  As in like a credit card?

Some time ago, I remember reading an account of someone (a male in maybe his thirties...maybe American?) having lost the passcode to his wallet (think that it went into a landfill?)..ah, found it.  James Howells offering a reward to recover his hard drive.  From the UK.  https://www.businessinsider.com/james-howells-threw-away-bitcoin-dump-masterplan-get-back-2022-7?op=1

PD