Funky Weird Blog Spot: 2025

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Excerpt: ″Verify anyone's email address thanks to our free email checker tool.″

Source: mailmeteor.com

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Substantial chance that rocket debris will fall into busy flight path, researchers say | The Independent

https://www.independent.co.uk/space/rocket-launch-spacex-planes-danger-debris-b2692856.html

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

We do not want an American-style healthcare system the UK

We do not want an American-style healthcare system in the UK. It would be catastrophic for millions:

Excerpt: ″“Americans spend more money on health care on a per capita basis than people in any other developed nation, yet almost half say they've struggled recently to pay for medical treatment or prescription drugs, according to a new study from Gallup and West Health … About 45% of those polled by the organizations said they'd recently had to skip treatment or medicine either because of cost or lack of easy access.”″

Source: jujuliagrace.substack.com

As Trump Attacks Diversity, a Racist Undercurrent Surfaces - The New York Times

"His attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion aren't about a particular program or some acronym — they're just a sanitized substitute for the racist comments that can no longer be spoken openly," Margaret Huang, the Southern Poverty Law Center's president and chief executive"

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/us/politics/trump-diversity-racism.html

Sunday, February 2, 2025

Celebrities get new right to fight against AI piracy

Celebrities get new right to fight against AI piracy:

Excerpt: ″Senior figures in the creative sector are scathing about the government’s plans, accusing the technology secretary Peter Kyle of having drunk “big tech’s Kool-Aid” and selling out an industry that is worth £126 billion to the economy″

Source: thetimes.com

BPI says AI proposals risk 'destroying the UK's status as a creative superpower' | Labels | Music Week

BPI says AI proposals risk 'destroying the UK's status as a creative superpower' | Labels | Music Week:

Excerpt: ″While there is much to welcome in the ambitions of the AI Action Plan to improve public services and ways of working, this publication does nothing to explain why upending our gold standard copyright system is required to achieve these goals,” said BPI (British Phonographic Industry) CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE.″

Source: musicweek.com

Saturday, February 1, 2025

Celebrities get new right to fight against AI piracy

Celebrities get new right to fight against AI piracy: Excerpt: ″Musicians, artists and authors would be given the right to opt out from allowing companies to train AI models on their material under a system to be called “rights reservation”.″

Source: thetimes.com

Big cars are going global. I hope other countries don't make these mistakes.

Big cars are going global. I hope other countries don't make these mistakes.: Excerpt: ″Like a disease, car bloat is spreading. The United States is patient zero: 4 out of 5 new cars in the U.S. are now SUVs or pickups, a sharp increase from a few decades ago. Now, oversized cars are becoming almost as common in Berlin and Beijing as they are in Baltimore. SUVs alone comprised nearly half of car sales worldwide in 2023, up from 20 percent 15 years ago. The global ascent of giant cars is an ominous trend for climate change, as well as for road safety in the rich and developing worlds alike.″

Source: slate.com

‘Mainlined into UK’s veins’: Labour announces huge public rollout of AI

‘Mainlined into UK’s veins’: Labour announces huge public rollout of AI | Politics | The Guardian: Excerpt: ″Susie Alegre, a barrister specialising in technology and human rights, cited the Post Office scandal “as a reminder of the dangers of putting too much faith in technology without the resources for effective accountability”. She said: “Any plan for Britain’s future with AI needs to look at real-world consequences for people and the planet and cannot afford to look away from uncomfortable truths.”″

Source: theguardian.com

A Woman With a Rare Gene Mutation Fights to Avoid Her Mother’s Fate

A Woman With a Rare Gene Mutation Fights to Avoid Her Mother’s Fate - The New York Times: Excerpt: ″Will Linde receive a useful treatment before her mind begins to slip away? Of the 10 tau experts interviewed for this article, nine said they were optimistic that it would happen, whether with a drug like Biogen’s that suppresses tau or, in the longer term, a gene-editing cure.″

Source: nytimes.com

Teams Solve Problems Faster When They’re More Cognitively Diverse

Teams Solve Problems Faster When They’re More Cognitively Diverse: Excerpt: ″Functional bias is a problem for teams facing new uncertain and complex situations because, with little cognitive diversity, the team will have limited ability to see things differently, engage in different ways (e.g., experiment versus analyzing), or create new options. Similarly, when organizations initiate change programs, they often seek out and identify advocates or change agents to support activities. Those selected often have a similar approach to change. This lack of cognitive diversity has two impacts. First, it reduces the opportunity to strengthen the proposition with input from people who think differently. Second, it fails to represent the cognitive diversity of the employee population, reducing the impact of the initiatives.″

Source: hbr.org

Friday, January 31, 2025

How a Mole Infiltrated the Highest Ranks of American Militias — ProPublica

Check out: https://www.propublica.org/article/ap3-oath-keepers-militia-mole

Dr. Strangelove - Wikipedia

Dr. Strangelove - Wikipedia: Excerpt: ″The film is considered one of the best comedy films and one of the greatest films of all time. In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it 26th in its list of the best American films (in the 2007 edition, the film ranked 39th), and in 2000, it was listed as number three on its list of the funniest American films. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress included Dr. Strangelove as one of the first 25 films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[7][8]″

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Gods in the machine? The rise of artificial intelligence may result in new religions

Gods in the machine? The rise of artificial intelligence may result in new religions: Excerpt: ″We are about to witness the birth of a new kind of religion. In the next few years, or perhaps even months, we will see the emergence of sects devoted to the worship of artificial intelligence (AI).″

Source: Gods in the machine? The rise of artificial intelligence may result in new religions

New research explores hidden health risks of hereditary hemochromatosis

New research explores hidden health risks of hereditary hemochromatosis: Excerpt: ″To summarize, the study reported that individuals who were homozygous for the C282Y mutation in the HFE genes had a higher risk of diabetes and liver disease, even if their iron levels were normal. Furthermore, the mutation was found to significantly increase the mortality risk among individuals with diabetes, emphasizing the need for broader diagnostic criteria and targeted management.″

Source: news-medical.net

Activate Windows - Microsoft Support

Activate Windows - Microsoft Support: Excerpt: ″You'll first want to find out if your Windows 11 is activated and linked to your Microsoft account.″

Source: Activate Windows - Microsoft Support

What Is The National Device Bank | Reusing Devices For Digital Inclusion | Good Things Foundation

Excerpt: ″The National Device Bank is powered by Good Things Foundation. It provides refurbished laptops, mobile phones and tablets to individuals who may not have access to a device. ″

Source: What Is The National Device Bank | Reusing Devices For Digital Inclusion | Good Things Foundation

Meditation Diminishes Bias Toward Negative Information - Neuroscience News

Excerpt: ″A new study reveals that daily mindfulness meditation can help reduce individuals’ tendency to avoid negative information. The practice of regular mindfulness meditation allows people to better process uncomfortable emotions, thus enabling them to handle negative information more objectively.″

Source: Meditation Diminishes Bias Toward Negative Information - Neuroscience News

2023 Landscape - AI Now Institute

Excerpt: ″This report highlights a set of approaches that, in concert, will collectively enable us to confront tech power. Some of these are bold policy reforms that underscore the need for bright-line rules and structural curbs. ″

Source: 2023 Landscape - AI Now Institute

Cybersecurity is a public health crisis, so why don’t we treat it that way? | Infosec

Excerpt: ″The past year of dealing with the Coronavirus has made one thing clear: Institutions have a variety of processes and tools that use data to measure and inform public health across the globe. Cybersecurity, like public health, has a similar worldwide scope, so why is our cyber public health so lacking in guidance?″

Source: Cybersecurity is a public health crisis, so why don’t we treat it that way? | Infosec

From Small Scheme to Pilot Scheme

Excerpt: ″Coventry based charity, Carers Trust Heart of England are celebrating their historic 50th anniversary this October with a celebratory ball at the Windmill Village Hotel in Coventry.″

From Small Scheme to Pilot Scheme

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Can computers think? No. They can’t actually do anything | Aeon Essays

Can computers think? No. They can’t actually do anything | Aeon Essays: ″the tendency of some scientists to take for granted what can only be described as a wildly simplistic picture of human and animal cognitive life. They rely unchecked on one-sided, indeed, milquetoast conceptions of human activity, skill and cognitive accomplishment. The surreptitious substitution (to use a phrase of Edmund Husserl’s) of this thin gruel version of the mind at work – a substitution that I hope to convince you traces back to Alan Turing and the very origins of AI – is the decisive move in the conjuring trick.″

Travellers denied entry to UK as new eVisa system falters

Travellers denied entry to UK as new eVisa system falters: ″Biometric residence permits held by foreign nationals to prove their immigration status have expired but the electronic visas that replaced them are not working″

What is limitarianism? Professor Ingrid Robeyns explains - In the media - Utrecht University

What is limitarianism? Professor Ingrid Robeyns explains - In the media - Utrecht University: ″It is absurd to have people sitting on millions and billions that only serve to further accumulate more and more. All the money that people don't need for their own well-being we could use to drive the climate transition.″

A Day in the Life of a Prolific Voice Phishing Crew – Krebs on Security

A Day in the Life of a Prolific Voice Phishing Crew – Krebs on Security: ″new details about the internal operations of a prolific voice phishing gang show the group routinely abuses legitimate services at Apple and Google to force a variety of outbound communications to their users, including emails, automated phone calls and system-level messages sent to all signed-in devices.″

What Happens When US Hospitals Binge on Nurse Practitioners - Bloomberg

What Happens When US Hospitals Binge on Nurse Practitioners - Bloomberg: ″Faster to train and cheaper to employ than doctors, NPs help American health-care companies’ bottom line—but can risk patient safety.″

The world’s next big environmental problem could come from space

The world’s next big environmental problem could come from space | MIT Technology Review: ″The amount of space debris vaporizing in Earth’s atmosphere has more than doubled in the past few years, says Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who has built a second career as a leading space debris tracker..″

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Sam Altman's World now wants to link AI agents to your digital identity | TechCrunch

Sam Altman's World now wants to link AI agents to your digital identity | TechCrunch: ″Instead, online businesses now seem to be preparing for a future in which some of their user interactions will be facilitated by AI agents. “If an agent comes in with a blue check mark and says, ‘Yes, I’m a bot. Don’t worry, don’t freak out. I’m actually here to buy a hot dog for Tiago,’ then those businesses can let that [agent] in,” said Sada. The problem with letting in every AI agent, or every bot on the internet, is that it could open your website up to DDOS attacks, scams, or other bad actors. By only allowing in a couple AI agents per person, Sada says, businesses can access new users through these agents without risking the integrity of their site.″

Diagnosis - FND Hope International

Diagnosis - FND Hope International: ″In my experience the commonest scenario at the onset of FND is the combination of a “typical” physical event (illness, injury) and a period prior to this of hard work a degree of fatigue caused by this and “normal” chronic life stressors that affect many people. The physical triggering event is usually something that would be expected to get better, for example a flu that would be expected to go after a few days rest, but instead symptoms continue and functional symptoms emerge. Sometimes this process can be very quick and dramatic or sometimes much slower.″

Hyperparathyroidism: What It Is, Symptoms & Treatment

Hyperparathyroidism: What It Is, Symptoms & Treatment: ″Symptoms of hyperparathyroidism, especially in people with high calcium levels, include:
Joint or bone pain.
Muscle weakness.
Tiredness (fatigue).
Depression.
Trouble concentrating.
Loss of appetite.
Nausea and vomiting.
Confusion or forgetfulness.
Increased thirst and frequent need to pee.
Constipation.″

Pheochromocytoma - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

Pheochromocytoma - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic: ″A pheochromocytoma (fee-o-kroe-moe-sy-TOE-muh) is a rare tumor that grows in an adrenal gland. Most often, the tumor is not cancer. When a tumor isn't cancer, it's called benign.″

The Serenity Barn Yoga & Pilates Studio

The Serenity Barn Yoga & Pilates Studio | Amy Bell | Leamington Spa: Nestled in the heart of the Warwickshire countryside, just one mile away from Southam, The Serenity Barn is a stunning wellbeing studio.

Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: Symptoms & Treatment

Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: Symptoms & Treatment: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is increased pressure in your skull. It occurs because of cerebrospinal fluid buildup around your brain. The cause is unknown. It can affect your vision and cause headaches, nausea or ringing in your ears. Treatments are available.

Also, the symptoms:

Changes in eyesight, such as blurry vision or double vision
Vision loss, especially in the peripheral vision
Feeling dizzy or nauseated
Vomiting
Neck stiffness
Trouble walking
Frequent headaches, often along with nausea or vomiting
Persistent ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
Forgetfulness
Depression

You may find that certain symptoms increase when you're exerting yourself. Exercise tends to raise the pressure in the skull.

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Myth of spare capacity in private health care sector straining to help the NHS – Keep Our NHS Public

Myth of spare capacity in private health care sector straining to help the NHS – Keep Our NHS Public: The total number of NHS hospital beds in England has more than halved over the past 30 years, from around 299,000 in 1987/88 to 141,000 in 2019/20.However, the private sector remains much smaller with 8,900 beds, and relies almost entirely on senior doctors who already work for the NHS.

Did Elon Musk’s ‘Salute’ Cripple The Tesla Robotaxi?

Did Elon Musk’s ‘Salute’ Cripple The Tesla Robotaxi?: The world has been abuzz over the salute done by Elon Musk at the inauguration. Was it a Nazi salute? Was it deliberate or inadvertent? Real or misinterpreted? A troll? Musk has said little that’s concrete. In the end though, when it comes to his brand—which is all about image—it doesn’t matter what he meant, only what people think it means.

How Right-Wing Christians Brought Us the Tech Bro Dystopia

How Right-Wing Christians Brought Us the Tech Bro Dystopia: Crypto and AI, the new fads, are functionally just new means of continuing the macroeconomic trend in place since the Reagan years—funneling more and more of America’s wealth to a tiny sliver of people at the top.

How Right-Wing Christians Brought Us the Tech Bro Dystopia

How Right-Wing Christians Brought Us the Tech Bro Dystopia: Crypto%20and%20AI%2C%20the%20new%20fads%2C%20are%20functionally%20just%20new%20means%20of%20continuing%20the%20macroeconomic%20trend%20in%20place%20since%20the%20Reagan%20years%u2014funneling%20more%20and%20more%20of%20America%u2019s%20wealth%20to%20a%20tiny%20sliver%20of%20people%20at%20the%20top.

Monday, January 27, 2025

Cybersecurity is a public health crisis, so why don’t we treat it that way? | Infosec

Cybersecurity is a public health crisis, so why don’t we treat it that way? | Infosec: Cybersecurity, like public health, has a similar worldwide scope, so why is our cyber public health so lacking in guidance?

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Big cars are going global. I hope other countries don't make these mistakes.

Big cars are going global. I hope other countries don't make these mistakes.: The United States is patient zero: 4 out of 5 new cars in the U.S. are now SUVs or pickups, a sharp increase from a few decades ago. Now, oversized cars are becoming almost as common in Berlin and Beijing as they are in Baltimore. SUVs alone comprised nearly half of car sales worldwide in 2023, up from 20 percent 15 years ago. The global ascent of giant cars is an ominous trend for climate change, as well as for road safety in the rich and developing worlds alike.

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Never Forgive Them

Never Forgive Them: The people running the majority of internet services have used a combination of monopolies and a cartel-like commitment to growth-at-all-costs thinking to make war with the user, turning the customer into something between a lab rat and an unpaid intern, with the goal to juice as much value from the interaction as possible.

How%20AI%20could%20take%20over%20elections%20%u2013%20and%20undermine%20democracy

How%20AI%20could%20take%20over%20elections%20%u2013%20and%20undermine%20democracy: Political scientists and pundits would have much to say about why one or the other AI prevailed, but likely no one would really know. The president will have been elected not because his or her policy proposals or political ideas persuaded more Americans, but because he or she had the more effective AI.

Inside the culture clash dominating the AI debate - POLITICO

Inside the culture clash dominating the AI debate - POLITICO: The most ardent advocates of effective altruism, or EA, believe researchers are only months or years away from building an AI superintelligence able to outsmart the world’s collective efforts to control it. Through either its own volition or via terrorists seeking to develop deadly bioweapons, such an AI could wipe out humanity, they say. And some, including noted EA thinker Eliezer Yudkowsky, believe even a nuclear holocaust would be preferable to an unchecked AI future.

The Canaries

The Canaries: Today, the average person in the South-East of England is �195,400 wealthier than their counterpart in the North of England; this gap is projected to increase to �229,000 by 2029. Today, 30% of children live in relative poverty; this is projected to increase to 33% by 2028

Private care is not the answer to the NHS crisis

Private care is not the answer to the NHS crisis: But%20NHS%20waiting%20lists%20have%20grown%20to%20unprecedented%20levels.%20In%20March%202023%2C%20there%20were%207.3%20million%20people%20waiting%20for%20%u201Cnon-urgent%u201D%20elective%20care%2C%20such%20as%20knee%20replacements%20and%20cataract%20surgery%2C%20almost%20double%20the%20amount%20in%20May%202020.

Myth%20of%20spare%20capacity%20in%20private%20health%20care%20sector%20straining%20to%20help%20the%20NHS%20%u2013%20Keep%20Our%20NHS%20Public

Myth%20of%20spare%20capacity%20in%20private%20health%20care%20sector%20straining%20to%20help%20the%20NHS%20%u2013%20Keep%20Our%20NHS%20Public: The total number of NHS hospital beds in England has more than halved over the past 30 years, from around 299,000 in 1987/88 to 141,000 in 2019/20.However, the private sector remains much smaller with 8,900 beds, and relies almost entirely on senior doctors who already work for the NHS.

Friday, January 24, 2025

New Digital Skills Poll: Gaps Widen as Get Online Week Approaches

New Digital Skills Poll: Gaps Widen as Get Online Week Approaches
https://mailchi.mp/goodthingsfoundation.org/get-online-week-special?e=cf56c751be

Fears for UK boomer radicalisation on Facebook after Meta drops factcheckers | Facebook | The Guardian

Fears for UK boomer radicalisation on Facebook after Meta drops factcheckers | Facebook | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/12/fears-for-uk-boomer-radicalisation-on-facebook-after-meta-drops-factcheckers

Monday, January 20, 2025

How AI could take over elections – and undermine democracy

How AI could take over elections – and undermine democracy: Could organizations use artificial intelligence language models such as ChatGPT to induce voters to behave in specific ways?