Physicists blast diamonds with nitrogen beams to create groundbreaking time crystals
Wednesday, March 19
Robert Reich: More of Trump’s descent into dictatorship
I would not impose on you for a third time today unless it was particularly urgent.
This afternoon, Trump illegally fired the two Democratic commissioners on the five-member Federal Trade Commission — Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya.
Commissioner Slaughter had this to say:
“Today, the President illegally fired me from my position as a Federal Trade Commissioner, violating the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent. Why? Because I have a voice, and he is afraid of what I’ll tell the American people. …
The administration clearly fears the accountability that opposition voices would provide if the president orders Chairman Ferguson to treat the most powerful corporations and their executives – like those that flanked the President at his inauguration – with kid gloves.”
Commissioner Bedoya said this:
“I’m a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The president just illegally fired me.
The FTC is an independent agency founded 111 years ago to fight fraudsters and monopolists. Our staff is unafraid of the Martin Shkrelis and Jeff Bezos of the world. They take them to court and they win.
Now, the president wants the FTC to be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.
Together with Chair Lina Khan and Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, I spent my time at the FTC fighting for small town grocers and pharmacists and for people in Indian country going hungry because food was too expensive. I fought for workers getting screwed on pay and benefits and overtime. I fought for their right to organize. I fought tech companies who think they can track you and your kids every hour of every day so they can pocket their next billion.
Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or someone who’s so disgusted with Washington you can barely watch the news, the FTC has worked for you.
Who will Trump’s FTC work for? Will it work for the billionaires? Or will it work for you?
It was an honor to serve my country at the FTC. It was an honor to work alongside its staff.
And to everyone who is watching all of this unfold, don’t be scared. Fight back.”
At A Glance
Where the original March Madness bracket came from.
The secret beginnings of Disney World. (via YouTube)
... plus, 1440's Society & Culture newsletter launches this weekend, beginning with the history of Disney. Sign up here!
Take a virtual trip to the Galápagos Islands.
Photographers capture the lunar eclipse amid an aurora.
Mapping European locations with ridiculously long names.
The physics of popping a beer.
Screen-limiting app makes you literally touch grass.
Clickbait: Volkswagen sees record-high sausage sales.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Conan O'Brien tapped to host next year's Academy Awards; O'Brien returns after hosting this year's Oscars, which hauled in the show's highest ratings in five years (More) | Émilie Dequenne, Belgian actress best known for "Rosetta," dies at age 43 (More)
> Universal Music Group files motion to dismiss Drake's defamation lawsuit, which alleged Universal damaged Drake's reputation by promoting Kendrick Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us" (More)
> Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers kick off the MLB regular season from Tokyo this morning (6 am ET, FOX); regular season begins in earnest on Opening Day, March 27 (More)
Science & Technology
> Google's Gemini 2.0 is highly effective at removing watermarks from copyrighted images, users report (More)
> New study finds gorillas have self-awareness comparable to chimpanzees; results suggest efforts should go beyond the "mirror test"—an evaluation of whether animals can recognize themselves in the mirror (More)
> Engineers develop artificial muscles capable of flexing in multiple directions; advance has applications in soft, form-shifting robots (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close up (S&P 500 +0.6%, Dow +0.9%, Nasdaq +0.3%), posting back-to-back gains (More) | Trading platform Robinhood launches predictions market, allowing users to bet and trade on current events (More)
> HR software firm Rippling sues rival Deel, alleging the company planted a mole who rose to Rippling's executive ranks to carry out corporate espionage (More) | Pepsi acquires Poppi, maker of lower-calorie prebiotic pop, for $1.7B (More)
> Fashion retailer Forever 21 files for bankruptcy, citing continued drop in mall and brick-and-mortar shopping, will wind down its US business (More) | What is bankruptcy and how does it work? (1440 Topics)
Politics & World Affairs
> Legal showdown begins between federal judge, Trump administration over use of Alien Enemies Act to carry out deportations of nearly 300 alleged Venezuelan gang members; see timeline here (More) | Texas midwife accused of providing an abortion, the first to be charged under state's near-total ban on the procedure (More)
> President Donald Trump expected to release around 80,000 pages of previously classified documents relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy today (More) | Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) postpones book tour over Democratic backlash to passage of recent funding bill (More)
> US court orders British Prince Harry's immigration records be released by end of day today; Harry, who moved to California in 2020, is accused of lying about past drug use on visa application (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Dell Vostro 7620 Laptop
I purchased a Dell Vostro 7620 laptop three years ago this May and the following has been fixed:
- the case hinges
- keyboard/keypad 4 times
- sent to Del Advanced Recovery Center - TX
- OS been reloaded 3 times
- 20 hours spent troubleshooting with tech support online that involved their having remote access of the laptop
The Dell Technician that has come to the house five times to make the repairs (the same one) told me that he very seldom is called out to fix the Dell Lattitude.
So, do I purchase a Dell Lattitude next time or another brand?
Do I buy online from Dell again (which included online tech support) or buy from Best Buy and use the Geek Squad?
Computers need to be upgraded every three years and sometimes, if you have good ones (more expensive) they will last five years. The problem is not the hardware, but the software is expansive now that it requires:
- a larger hard drive
- a more powerful processor
- more RAM memory
It is cheaper to buy new than to upgrade those three items.
This was designed by the computer industry, I believe, to force out REPEAT BUSINESS that automatically generated more revenues consistently.
Time's Arrow
If a cup of water spills on the floor, the water can’t unspill—that is, it’s inconceivable that each water molecule would exactly reverse its course to slip back into the cup. To do so would be to turn back time—something that, as far as we know, can’t be done. The water either spills or it doesn’t, but if it does, it’ll stay that way.
In that way, time as we experience it is asymmetric. We have memories of the past rather than the future, and spilled water doesn’t flow back to its cup, just as an arrow that has been let fly doesn’t return to its bow. In our everyday lives, the “arrow of time” goes only in one direction: forward.
“We know [this] is something that’s part of our common experience,” says Andrea Rocco, a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey in England. But how exactly time’s arrow arises is less clear to physicists, in part because the math they use to describe most of the world makes no distinction between time that moves forward and time that moves backward; either direction is perfectly viable, as far as their equations are concerned.
Tuesday, March 18
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