Thursday, May 9
The Airscooter Flying Machine
This incredible personal flying machine is designed to offer an alternative to cars. And it can zip through the air at speeds of up to 62 miles per hour. Imagine a cute little egg-shaped cockpit, where anyone – with just a little training – can take control and soar up to heights of 9,800 feet.
This amazing flying car is one of a kind, and it’s practical too. A trip that would normally take two hours by car during rush hour can be completed in just 10 minutes with the Airscooter. But it’s not all fun and games; this flying machine also helps the environment.
Although it does use a bit of fuel, its carbon footprint is like that of a car. The Airscooter is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, meaning it doesn’t need much space to take off. READ MORE...
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Disney shares drop nearly 10% despite news that streaming platform Disney+ brought in its first-ever quarterly profit (More)
> Ian Gelder, "Game of Thrones" actor, dies of cancer at age 74 (More) | Susan Buckner, actress known for role in "Grease," dies at age 72 (More)
> Borussia Dortmund tops Paris Saint-Germain to advance to UEFA Champions League final (More) | Real Madrid takes on Bayern Munich today (3 pm ET, Paramount+) in other semifinal matchup (More)
Science & Technology
In partnership with EnergyX
> OpenAI debuts tool to detect images generated by its text-to-image DALL-E 3 platform; detection worked with 98% accuracy, but accuracy rate dropped if images were modified after being generated (More) | Watch 1440's new explainer on how generative AI works (More)
> Engineers develop millimeter-thick fabric capable of suppressing sounds in large rooms or spaces; the electrically active material acts as a "sound mirror," can reduce ambient noise by up to 75% (More)
> NASA's Roman mission to search for primordial black holes; theorized but never observed, the low-mass objects formed shortly after the Big Bang and may be as small as Earth (More) | How black holes form (More, w/video)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.1%, Dow +0.1%, Nasdaq -0.1%) as investors wait on news of Federal Reserve interest rate cut timing (More) | Reddit shares jump over 14% in after-hours trading on news first-quarter revenue rose 48% from 2023; marks first quarterly earnings report since March initial public offering (More)
> TikTok sues US government over law forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest or face a US ban; argues video platform should be allowed to operate under First Amendment free speech protections (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> London-based self-driving car company Wayve raises $1.1B in Series C funding led by SoftBank (More) | Federal investigators question Tesla over uptick in crashes despite rollout of autopilot software updates (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Israel takes control of Gaza's side of Rafah crossing with Egypt as the UN warns of potential for collapse of aid flow to the territory; Israel-Hamas cease-fire discussions continue (More) | See updates on war (More)
> Ukrainian officials say they have foiled an assassination plot against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, arrest two colonels accused of acting as Russian spies (More) | See updates on war (More)
> At least one person died and more than 30,000 people left without power following tornadoes in Oklahoma; parts of central and eastern US under tornado and thunderstorm watches (More)
SOURCE: 1440 News
Lessons Learned
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At SEVENTY-SIX (76) years of age and after a FOURTY-FIVE (45) year career, these are some of the lessons I have learned, many of which were learned the HARD WAY. The hard way is always AFTER THE FACT, NEVER BEFORE.
What does that mean?
If someone told me not to spit into the wind, I would have to spit into the wind in order to find out why.
1. Follow the TEN COMMANDMENTS whether you are religious or not because they make sense.
2. Don't worry about learning that much in high school outside of English because you will always need to communicate properly no matter what you do - both oral and written.
3. Consider the Air Force as a career - low risk of being killed.
4. Consider going to a Community College for your first two years and as a junior you can pretty much attend any college you want.
5. Find the right balance between work and home. It is different for everyone, not just because everyone is different, but spouses are different as well.
6. In college, don't worry about the grade - worry about how much knowledge you can retain to use in your career.
7. Manage your debt properly (no debt is best) and manage your stress. The word manage connects these two concepts together.
8. Start saving money as early as possible. Maybe stop smoking and save the money you would have spent on cigarettes. Or, whatever else you gave up.
9. Don't challenge the boss at work but don't kiss their asses either. Learn what you can from that company and move on to another one. Never burn your bridges.
10. You will be lucky if you have 3-5 REAL FRIENDS during your lifetime. You will like some people you work with, but they are not necessarily friends. Friends are special and it make take 20 years before you realize someone is your friend.
11. Don't let power and greed cloud your judgement... that is to say, having one or both of them is not always the right kind of goal to have. Simplicity oftentimes outweighs complexity.
12. And to thine own self be true. Know who you are and live your life that way regardless of what others might say. Integrity is an important value that people often lose sight of.
I am sure that there are other concepts but those are the ones that pop into my mind. I have never let greed and power influence too much of my life and when I did follow of path of greed, there was always a tradeoff that I later regretted making.
HOWEVER, I would not change a thing about my life because who I am today is a result of who I was and all those experiences I encountered. I like who I am now.
The Entropy of Quantum Entanglement
Bartosz Regula from the RIKEN Center for Quantum Computing and Ludovico Lami from the University of Amsterdam have shown, through probabilistic calculations, that there is indeed, as had been hypothesized, a rule of entropy for the phenomenon of quantum entanglement.
This finding could help drive a better understanding of quantum entanglement, which is a key resource that underlies much of the power of future quantum computers. Little is currently understood about the optimal ways to make effective use of it, despite it being the focus of research in quantum information science for decades.
The second law of thermodynamics, which says that a system can never move to a state with lower entropy, or order, is one of the most fundamental laws of nature, and lies at the very heart of physics. It is what creates the "arrow of time," and tells us the remarkable fact that the dynamics of general physical systems, even extremely complex ones such as gases or black holes, are encapsulated by a single function, its entropy. READ MORE...
Wednesday, May 8
Google Lays Off Hundreds of Employees
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc., during Stanford’s 2024 Business, Government, and Society forum in Stanford, California, US, on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Just ahead of its blowout first-quarter earnings report on April 25, Google laid off at least 200 employees from its “Core” teams, in a reorganization that will include moving some roles to India and Mexico, CNBC has learned.
The Core unit is responsible for building the technical foundation behind the company’s flagship products and for protecting users’ online safety, according to Google’s website. Core teams include key technical units from information technology, its Python developer team, technical infrastructure, security foundation, app platforms, core developers, and various engineering roles.
At least 50 of the positions eliminated were in engineering at the company’s offices in Sunnyvale, California, filings show. Many Core teams will hire corresponding roles in Mexico and India, according to internal documents viewed by CNBC. READ MORE...
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
In partnership with Quince
> Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt relinquishes crown, citing her mental health; Miss USA organization to name a successor soon (More)
> Statues of civil rights leader Daisy Bates and musician Johnny Cash to replace existing 100-year-old statues representing Arkansas at the US Capitol (More)
> San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama becomes NBA's sixth-ever unanimous Rookie of the Year (More) | NBA postseason continues; see latest playoff bracket (More)
Science & Technology
> Groundbreaking Alzheimer's study links some cases of the disease with duplicate copies of the APOE4 gene; marks the most conclusive evidence of genetic causes for Alzheimer's, may represent 15% to 20% of cases (More) | Alzheimer's explained (More, w/video)
> New ultrasound imaging technique allows high-resolution of microscopic blood vessels in the heart, may lead to better diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (More)
> Boeing delays first crewed launch of Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station due to issue with an oxygen valve; a new launch date hasn't been announced as of this writing (More) | See previous write-up (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.0%, Dow +0.5%, Nasdaq +1.2%), with investors fueled by a greater chance of interest rate cuts this year (More)
> Free stock trading giant Robinhood announces it has received an enforcement action notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged violations of securities laws related to its cryptocurrency unit (More)
> Boeing faces new probe from the Federal Aviation Administration over 787 Dreamliner model; investigation comes after the jet maker revealed its employees may have skipped some inspections and falsified records (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to run for fourth term; Sanders, 82, is second-oldest US senator behind 90-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley (R, IA) (More) | Former President Donald Trump fined additional $1K for violating gag order in hush money trial, was previously fined $9K; trial judge warns of jail time for future violations (More)
> Russia detains American soldier on charges of theft, US officials say; soldier, whose identity hasn't been revealed, traveled to Russia on his own while between deployments (More) | Russia announces nuclear weapons drills (More)
> Great Plains, central US brace for supercell thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes, hail, and damaging winds (More) | Supercell thunderstorms 101 (More)
> Boeing faces new probe from the Federal Aviation Administration over 787 Dreamliner model; investigation comes after the jet maker revealed its employees may have skipped some inspections and falsified records (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to run for fourth term; Sanders, 82, is second-oldest US senator behind 90-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley (R, IA) (More) | Former President Donald Trump fined additional $1K for violating gag order in hush money trial, was previously fined $9K; trial judge warns of jail time for future violations (More)
> Russia detains American soldier on charges of theft, US officials say; soldier, whose identity hasn't been revealed, traveled to Russia on his own while between deployments (More) | Russia announces nuclear weapons drills (More)
> Great Plains, central US brace for supercell thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes, hail, and damaging winds (More) | Supercell thunderstorms 101 (More)
SOURCE: 1440 News
Retirement Goals
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After high school, you have several directions you can take:
- College
- Community College, then college
- Military
- Trade School
- Just start working somewhere
Each one of those directions has consequences but since you have a good fifty years to work, you could look at that time as TWO TWENTY-FIVE YEAR CAREERS... that way, if you don't like one direction, you can move into another direction.
Each of these directions is going to require different amounts of money - some may require no money at all, like the military.
BUT REGARDLESS OF THE DIRECTION, at the end of your career is RETIREMENT and your retirement income will no doubt be substantially less than your working income.
What kinds of things should you be thinking about?
- Will you get married?
- How many children?
- Will you pay for their education?
- How many homes will you own?
- How many cars will you own?
- How much debt are you willing to live with?
- At what age would you like to be debt free?
- Are you willing to relocate to different cities?
- Are you willing to relocate to different states?
- How much money would you like to save each year?
- How will you invest your extra money?
- What type of quality of life do you want?
- What is your current lifestyle? Will it change?
- How healthy do you want to be?
- Do you smoke cigarettes?
- Do you use recreational drugs?
- How much alcohol do you drink?
- Are you willing to bag your lunch?
- Do you have to purchase a new car?
- What level of income do you need for retirement?
The answers to many of the questions, if not all of these questions will change as you get older. Therefore, if you are thoughtful enough to answer these questions at age 18 or 20, hold onto your work because it will change at ages: 30-40-50-60 and you will not have to start from scratch.
What I am suggesting is a retirement plan - one that is fluid and changes as you change, as you needs change. A plan is not something that you have to follow perfectly - it is a suggestion, a guide, perhaps even a goal to reach. Just don't push that goal out so far it is impossible to reach.
BUT FIRST,
You must know yourself. Who are you and what do you want? In what do you believe? Is there something that you would like to be the best at? If so, are you willing to sacrifice doing other things in order to reach that goal?
You will need to know yourself before you can develop a plan but once you do, your plan will be a natural extension of who you are? Or, who you want to be?
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