Вышли предварительные данные по китайской демографии. Очередное падение рождаемости на 1,4 млн рождений и рост смертности на 0,13 млн. Прирост населения сократился до 480 тысяч человек. С ежегодной эмиграцией из Китая в 350 тысяч человек. Нынешний прирост упал до микрозначения в 130 000 тысяч человек.
Лично я ожидал отрицательного прироста населения в этом году, прогнозируя число рождений в 10 млн. Увы, падение составило не 2 млн рождений, а всего 1,4 млн. Конспирологическая теория выглядит чуть по другому. Вместо падения рождаемости на 1,4 млн рождений и роста смертности на 0,13 млн. Есть рост смертности на 1,4 млн от Ковида и падение рождаемости на 0,13. Но в целях поддержания имиджа успешного государства цифры меняют местами. А если не меняют ,то почему в таком успешном государстве, всего за 2 года рождаемость упала на 4 млн или на 30%, не объясняется.
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The airline industry claims a “catastrophic” event could unfold on Wednesday when AT&T and Verizon activate their new C-Band 5G networks. In a letter obtained by Reuters, the CEOs of several prominent passenger and cargo airlines, including Delta, United and Southwest, warn interference from 5G cell towers could affect the sensitive safety equipment on their planes.
"Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded," they state in the letter, which was sent to the heads of the White House Economic Council, Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission, as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Immediate intervention is needed to avoid significant operational disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chain and delivery of needed medical supplies."
The airlines have asked that AT&T and Verizon not offer 5G service within 2 miles of some of the country’s busiest and most vital airports. They’re also urging the federal government to ensure “5G is deployed except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can determine how that can be safely accomplished without catastrophic disruption." The agency established 5G buffer zones at 50 airports on January 7th.
The letter is the latest development in the ongoing back and forth between the airline and wireless industries. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon spent nearly $80 billion at the start of 2021 to secure the repurposed C-Band spectrum the FCC had put up for auction. In November, AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay their C-Band rollouts to January 5th to help the FAA address any interference concerns. They later proposed limiting the power output of cell towers close to airports and agreed to a further two-week delay on January 4th.
Though Marie Antoinette would be hard-pressed to care, the French Revolution of 1789 set its sights on more than simply toppling the monarchy. Revolutionaries sought to break the nation free from its past, specifically from the clutches of the Catholic church, and point France towards a more glorious and prosperous future. They did so, in part, by radically transforming their measurements of the passage of time.
Throughout the 18th century, most French folks were Catholic as that was the only religion allowed to be openly practiced in the country, and had been since the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. As such, the nation had traditionally adhered to the 12-month Gregorian calendar — itself based on even older, sexagesimal (6-unit) divisible systems adapted from the Babylonians and Egyptians — while French clocks cycled every 60 minutes and seconds.
But if there was little reason to continue using the established chronology system aside from tradition, the revolutionaries figured, why not transmute it into a more rational, scientifically-backed method, just as the revolution itself sought to bring stability and new order to French society as a whole? And what better system to interpose than that of the decimal, which already governed the nation’s weights and measures. So, while it wasn’t busy abolishing the privileges of the First and Second Estate, eliminating the church’s power to levy taxes or just drowning nonjuring Catholic priests en masse, France’s neophyte post-revolution government set about reforming the realm’s calendars and clocks.
The concept of decimal time, wherein a day is broken down into multiples of 10, was first suggested more than thirty years prior when French mathematician, Jean le Rond d'Alembert, argued in 1754, “It would be very desirable that all divisions, for example of the livre, the sou, the toise, the day, the hour, etc. would be from tens into tens. This division would result in much easier and more convenient calculations and would be very preferable to the arbitrary division of the livre into twenty sous, of the sou into twelve deniers, of the day into twenty-four hours, the hour into sixty minutes, etc.”
By the eve of the Revolution, the idea had evolved into a year split into 12 months of 30 days apiece, their names inspired by crops and the prevailing weather in Paris during their occurrences. That there are 365 days in a year is an immutable fact dictated by the movement of the Earth around our local star. So, 12 months of 30 days apiece resulted in 5 days (6 in a leap year!) left over. These, the revolutionaries reserved for national holidays.
Each week was divided into 10 days, every day was split into 10 equal hours, those were split into 100 minutes, with each minute divided into 100 seconds (roughly 1.5 times longer than conventional minutes) and each second into 1000 “tierces.” Individual tierces could also be divided into 1000 even tinier units, called “quatierces.” The implementation of tierces would also lead to the creation of a new unit of length, called the “half-handbreadth,” which is the distance the twilight zone travels along the equator over the course of one tierce, and equal to one billionth of the planet’s circumference — around 4 centimeters.
Decimal time was formally adopted by National Convention decree in 1793, “The day, from midnight to midnight, is divided into ten parts, each part into ten others, and so forth until the smallest measurable portion of duration.” As such, midnight would be denoted as 00:00 while noon would be 5:00.
Public Domain
At midnight of the autumn equinox on September 22nd of that year, France’s Gregorian calendar ushered in 1st Vendémiaire Year II of the French Republican calendar. From there on, every new year would begin at midnight of the Autumn equinox, as observed by the Paris Observatory.
“The new calendar was based on two principles,” a 2017 exhibition at the International Museum of Watches, Looking for Noon at Five O’Clock, noted. “That the Republican year should coincide with the movement of the planets, and that it should measure time more accurately and more symmetrically by applying the decimal system wherever possible. Non-religious, it advocated a rational approach and honored the seasons and work in the fields.”
The main advantage of a decimal time system is that, since the base used to divide the time is the same as the one used to represent it, the whole time representation can be handled as a single string.
On one hand, this system offered the clear advantage that both the numerical base used to define the time and the numerical base used to divide it are the same number. For example, quick, how many seconds are there in three hours? The answer, most people will Google, is 10,800 — 60 seconds/minute x 60 minutes/hour x 3 hours. In decimal time, you simply get 30,000 — 3 hours x 10,000 seconds/hour.
However, due to an oversight in its otherwise logical design on account of gaps in astronomical knowledge, the Republican calendar struggled to properly accommodate leap years. “The four-year period, after which the addition of a day is usually necessary, is called the Franciade in memory of the revolution which, after four years of effort, led France to republican government, National Convention decreed. “The fourth year of the Franciade is called Sextile.”
Problem is that leap years, if we’re counting new years by midnights on the autumnal equinox in Paris, don’t consistently happen every four years. By equinox measure, the first leap year of the Republican calendar would actually have to occur in year III while the leaps in years XV and XX would happen half a decade apart.
There were also more practical issues with swapping the nation’s chronology over to an entirely new system, like the fact that people already had perfectly good clocks which they’d have to replace, were decimal time to remain in effect. It was also wildly unpopular with the working class who would only receive one day of rest out of 10 using the Republican calendar (plus a half day on the fifth), rather than the existing Gregorian one-day-in-seven, not to mention that the ten-day week played havoc with traditional Sunday religious services, seeing as how Sunday would cease to exist.
Overall, the idea simply failed to capture public support — despite edicts demanding the creation of decimal-based clocks — and was officially suspended on April 7th, 1795. The French then took a quick crack at metric time, which similarly measured time’s passage in factors of ten but based its progression in conventional seconds (aka 1/86400th of a day). Of course all of these efforts were rendered moot when Napoleon declared himself emperor in 1804, made peace with the Vatican and reinstituted the Gregorian calendar, thereby relegating both the Republican calendar and decimal time to the dustbin of history. The lesson here being, unless you’ve TNG’d yourself into a temporal loop, don’t try to fix what isn’t already broken, especially when it might earn you a trip to the guillotine.
It’s 2022. It’s time you rediscovered the lost art of the phone call
The CEO and founding partner of Human Ventures points out that a simple call allows you to understand the tone and intention behind another’s words, so you are immediately becoming a better communicator and collaborator.
We are more connected than ever yet we very rarely pick up the phone and have a real, human-driven conversation. The more sophisticated technology gets, the more we seem to stop speaking to each other. We’ve seen this happen with the rise of texting throughout the 2000s, and now we’re seeing it at work, as video calls have become the go-to source for all hybrid and virtual work meetings.
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The phone call is a lost art, especially in the workplace. But with the loss of the phone call, comes the loss of so much more. Phone calls are important. They drive more meaningful conversations, avoid bias, and sometimes are the much more efficient means for getting things done. We all assume that we have the capability to hop on a quick Zoom, but in a world where the lines between at-home and at work are blurred, the phone call gives us a balance to step away from screens, handle matters, and have an actual conversation.
With a pandemic that taught us how human connection is everything, why are we not relying on what could be considered the best form of connection? What are some of the key elements of human existence that we’ve been missing out on with the death of the phone call? And why should we start dialing again?
Human connection and substantial conversation
A 2018 study by Ofcom found that over 80% of calls were shorter than five minutes, and the majority were under 90 seconds. What little phone calls we are having are anything but substantial. Look at your call log right now and tell me, how long are your recent calls? Probably not very.
Texts, emails, voice notes—none of them matches up to the true connection that we receive from a good ‘ol phone call. Think back to the last time you had a real, substantive phone call with someone. Think about what was discussed, how your conversation probably covered a dozen different topics, how you made the person on the other end laugh, or how they captivated you with their great storytelling ability. Think about how it made you feel. That is what we are missing.
A study by the University of Texas at Austin found that people feel significantly more connected through voice-based media like phone calls, yet they opt for text-based media out of fear. In one instance, researchers asked 200 people what they think it would be like to reconnect with an old friend over email or phone. And then, they actually had them do it. More participants stated that a phone call would probably make them feel more connected, but preferred to email out of a fear of being too awkward.
Our screens give us something to hide behind. On one hand, we can put on a facade of bravado and avoid the real-life feeling of cringe. But is feeling awkward really all that bad? Is it not better to embrace our real emotions, and learn how to cope with them or grow past them? How are we supposed to develop as individuals, as people, without the growing pains that come with it? By avoiding uncomfortable situations by hiding behind a screen and text-based media, we’re hindering our growth and our ability to connect better.
And this proved to be true according to the study—researchers found that, despite any apprehension that a phone call would be awkward, the phone calls on average went remarkably better than the emails. The human element, the connection, was there.
Tonal context and presence
Something that we’ve been losing with the art of the phone call is tone, intention, and annunciation. All of these things are more apparent over a phone call than say, an email or text message. Without it, it’s easier to experience workplace mishaps—whether that’s a harmless joke not landing, the importance of a particular task not being understood, or a person’s reaction to proposed ideas not being accurately interpreted.
How are you supposed to do your job to the best of your ability, and work with coworkers/clients/etc. effectively, when you are missing that vital element of connection? The short answer is: you can’t. At least, not to your fullest extent.
This much-needed context that phone calls have also made it easier for people to be more present during conversations. It stops you from skimming through an email too quickly or drowning out the monotonous sound of a voice-over zoom. By having a direct conversation with someone over the phone, by understanding the tone and intention behind their words, you are immediately becoming a better communicator and collaborator.
Intentional time
One of the most important things we are losing with the art of the phone call is, in my opinion, our intention with time. When your daily discussions and communications are based around a more personable and connection-based form of media, you will find yourself being more intentional with what time you have.
Many of us fall victim to spending far too much time pondering the things that don’t really matter all that much. When you are more intentional with your time, you’re putting more thought into how you spend it. You’ll find yourself working more efficiently, and prioritizing the right things above all else.
This is especially important for someone like a founder who has a million and one things on their to-do list at all times. Shooting a text might be the easier option, but the phone call is the better one and is the choice that will ultimately lead to a longer and better work relationship.
Knowing all of this now, I challenge you to open your phone and make a connection that you otherwise would’ve done over email or text. Don’t think too much into the potential awkwardness, or what seems like a lack of convenience. Make more phone calls and build better relationships—you just might surprise yourself.
Heather Hartnett is the CEO and founding partner of Human Ventures.
Пути узловой железнодорожной станции в Лос-Анджелесе (США) усеяны упаковкой от вещей и продуктов, брошенными предметами, украденными из проходящих товарных поездов.
Взято отсюда
The company is implementing new policies as COVID-19 cases rise across the US. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Google will require anyone going to one of its US offices or facilities to have received a negative molecular test for COVID-19, the company informed employees Thursday in a memo obtained by CNBC. Workers going to the office regularly will have to get tested weekly, chief health officer Karen DeSalvo said in the memo, and employees have been asked to report their vaccination statusand wear surgical-grade masks indoors.
Google spokesperson Lora Lee Erickson confirmed to The Verge that a new temporary COVID-19 policy is now being implemented, one where “anyone accessing our sites in the US are expected to obtain a recent negative COVID-19 molecular test before coming onsite” and that it’s offering various kinds of tests at no cost.
Google offers free at-home testing to full-time employees and contract workers through BioIQ’s PCR-based nasal swab tests, Erickson said, but Bloomberg reported this week that full-time employees also have access to molecular tests from Cue Health that can give results in just a few minutes. Contractors, on the other hand, are specifically being offered the mail-in BioIQ tests, according to a tweet from the Alphabet Workers Union, which means they must wait longer for a result. Erickson tells us that some Google contractors at the company’s datacenters have access to rapid on-site testing using the Cue machines, though.
The changes arrive as COVID-19 cases have surged across the country and as the omicron variant spreads. These new policies add to Google’s directive from December requiring employees to get vaccinated or risk being forced to take leave and eventually be fired. The company delayed its mandatory return to the office to some point this year in August.
This week, Meta also upped its health policies for employees, requiring anyone returning to its offices when they open at the end of March to have received a booster dose of a vaccine.
Белухи во время охоты на стайную рыбу подо льдом Амурского залива у Токаревского маяка. В ноябре 2019 года несколько белух были выпущены из «китовой тюрьмы» под Находкой, они поселились у берегов Приморья в Амурском заливе.
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Известная русская максима гласит, что новые песни пишут те, у кого старые плохие. Так-то оно так, но ведь все равно какие-то новые песни надо писать. Ну, чтобы хотя бы был повод в очередной раз старые спеть.
А те, у кого нет старых песен в это время вынуждены писать хорошие новые. Вот, скажем, французские разработчики заявили о том, что им удалось создать технологию обнаружения исполнения вредоносного кода на процессоре по, внимание, его электромагнитному излучению. Звучит как фантастика, но статья опубликована в рецензируемом научном журнале. Оказывается, вирус генерирует электромагнитные паттерны, которые можно распознать с помощью нейросети. Примерно так же, как сейчас работают антивирусные программы, которые сравнивают сигнатуры вирусов со своей базой данных. Только тут вообще без проводов. В общем, технология довольно революционная.
А чем же в это время заняты гиганты IT-индустрии, которые все свои лучшие песни уже написали?
А вот вот чем — новости всего за два дня.
Социальная сеть Twitter собирается добавить функцию, которая позволит вам выстраивать собственные твиты в той последовательности, в которой вы сами хотите. Ну то есть функциональность LiveJournal двадцатилетней давности. И на том, как говорится, спасибо.
Еще смелее ведет себя компания Google. Они объявили о том, что их умные часы вот-вот смогут поддерживать ношение на, внимание, левой руке. Ну то есть научатся переворачивать свой интерфейс, как это делают абсолютно все умные часы в мире с самого момента своего появления. И для чего в программе, которая этот самый интерфейс обеспечивает, надо просто поменять начало координат.
Но все это, конечно, в некотором смысле неофиты по сравнению с компанией Microsoft. Великой, недосягаемой и настолько мощной, что страшно себе даже представить. Больше ста тысяч сотрудников по всему миру, больше двух триллионов капитализации. Еще совсем недавно они заявили о том, что их новая операционная система сможет размещать два окна на экране одновременно — ну, как самая первая версия Windows, вышедшая почти 40 лет назад.
И вот — новое, поистине революционное достижение. Объявлено, что Windows 11 после 10 лет экспериментов получит новый, современный индикатор громкости. И знаете, в чем его новость и современность? Раньше он был вертикальный. А теперь он будет горизонтальный.
Не знаю, как вы, а я лично я умываю руки. Конкурировать с таким уровнем инновационности невозможно. Мир должен сдаться и отказаться от любых попыток перебить достижения.
Мы беспомощны перед этой поступью научно-технического прогресса.
She ran a program that used iPods to teach reading and math to underprivileged Native American schoolkids living on tribal land. Now, 46-year-old Kristy Stock of New Mexico is getting 18 months in prison for stealing 3,000 of them, which she resold for a personal gain of over $800,000 between 2013 and 2018.
That’s according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland (via Engadget), and Stock isn’t the first who’s been sentenced as part of this scheme — it all seems to center around around 36-year-old Colorado resident Saurabh Chawla, who bought up stolen electronics and other goods and resold them on eBay and Amazon. Law enforcement raided him in 2019, according to an earlier press release, and he bought stolen iPads from another New Mexico school district as well.
Perhaps even more significantly, Chawla worked with a FedEx distribution center manager from Delaware named Joseph Kukta to steal packages before they made it to customers like Walmart, with Chawla paying him $1.5 million according to court documents. Those thefts included shipments of Nike sneakers and devices from Apple, Epson, Kenwood, and Magellan, among other merchandise.
“Kukta selected specific packages which he believed, based on the shippers of the packages, contained high-end electronics or other merchandise of value that could be easily resold,” reads a portion of yet another press release, which continues:
In 2018, Kukta began to also steal packages from FedEx trailers that were loaded for delivery to a retail Store in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Kukta went to the FedEx facility on Sundays, holidays, or other times when employees were not at the facility, and removed the packages he previously identified from the FedEx trailers. Kukta attempted to avoid detection by turning off the lights at the facility and blocking certain surveillance cameras with cardboard boxes and other objects. Kukta loaded the stolen packages into his truck or into vehicles operated by FedEx contractors and parked at the facility, then drove the vehicles to his rented storage unit in Seaford, where he unloaded and stored the items.
It’s not clear if Stock, the school district employee, took iPods away from Native American schoolkids who needed them, or simply ones that went unused. One court document states that the iPods were purchased in bulk with federal grant money, and the school district stored unused ones.
In November 2018, Stock allegedly told Chawla that she would check “the school’s iPod inventory and let you know what I can get headed your way” for “Black Friday,” but was apparently only able to steal 30 that time, saying that she had “to keep some on hand through year end for the students.” I suppose that’s nice of her?
Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge
Chawla was sentenced to 66 months in prison; Kukta got 42 months; James Bender of Maryland, who let Chawla use his eBay and PayPal accounts to sell the stolen goods, was sentenced to a year and a day. Chawla also agreed to forfeit at least $3.5 million worth of assets, with the court seizing seven bank accounts, a 2013 Tesla Model S, and forcing him to sell a two-story, five-bedroom home in Aurora, Colorado that he purchased with fraud money. Kukta will pay $1.1 million and forfeit an additional $1.88 million in assets, according to the DA’s office.
Исследование Фармацевтического колледжа и Института Линуса Полинга в США показало, что соединения конопли могут блокировать проникновение вируса SARS-CoV-2 в клетки человека. Таким образом человек может не заразиться COVID-19.
Об этом сообщает РБК-Украина со ссылкой на MedicalXpress.
Ученые обнаружили, что пара каннабиноидных кислот связывается с шиповидным белком SARS-CoV-2, блокируя критический этап в процессе, который вирус использует для заражения людей.
По данным исследования, каннабигеролиновая кислота CBGA, и каннабидиолиновая кислота CBDA, соединяются со спайк-белоком. Именно против него направлены все существующие вакцины и терапия антителами.
"Эти каннабиноидные кислоты в большом количестве содержится в конопле и во многих экстрактах конопли. Это не наркотические вещества и они не содержат психоактивных ингредиентов марихуаны, поэтому безопасны для людей. И наше исследование показало, что они были одинаково эффективны против всех вариантов SARS-CoV-2, включая варианты „Дельта" и „Омикрон", - отметили ученые.
Напомним, в Министерстве здравоохранения разработало проект закона об обороте медицинской марихуаны. В Раду он будет внесен в ближайшие месяцы.
НУР-СУЛТАН, 13 января. /ТАСС/. Сенат (верхняя палата) парламента Казахстана на заседании в четверг принял закон о ратификации соглашения с США, которое устанавливает правовую базу для выполнения прямых регулярных авиарейсов между двумя странами. Трансляция заседания ведется на сайте законодательного органа.
Соглашение между властями Казахстана и США о воздушном сообщении заключено в Нур-Султане 30 декабря 2019 года. Документ является первым для республики, который предусматривает принципы "открытого неба", согласно нему стороны смогут выполнять полеты без ограничений по количеству перевозчиков, пунктов назначения и частот.
Предполагается, что соглашение будет способствовать повышению внешней транспортной доступности и расширению географии международных авиамаршрутов, а также позволит укрепить торгово-экономическое и культурное сотрудничество между странами.
После принятия парламентом закон о ратификации документа поступит на подпись президенту Казахстана.
Nikkei analyzed the current situation of the Lumix business. Panasonic shares on the Japanese market dropped down to 8%. Nikkei believes that the smaller MFT sensor format may be the limiting factor here. And Panasonic should focus on video centric cameras because in that segment the MFTs ensor size actually makes a lot of sense.…
Взято отсюда
В США за истекшие сутки выявили около 1,4 млн заражений коронавирусом COVID–19, что является рекордным показателем за всю пандемию. Об этом свидетельствуют данные американского университета Джонса Хопкинса.
Также за сутки зарегистрировали около 1,9 тыс. летальных исходов среди инфицированных. Общее число смертей, таким образом, составило 839,5 тыс.
Слушайте, ну я не пойму, правда, кроме шуток. Это что за хуйня? Шел третий год эпидемии, а как же вакцина? Бустер, вот это все. Это не антипрививочный пост, я не против и не за прививки, я так понимаю, что они просто, мягко говоря, не особо помогают. Где снижение смертности?? Это же более легкий Омикрон, как бы.
Я считаю, есть и хорошая новость, если количество заболевших достигнет шестизначных чисел в день, эпидемия быстро закончится, или нет? Науке это пока не известно.
При этом либерал–национализм будет формировать понятие нации не только для казахов, а для всего населения. Встанет задача не обособления этнических групп, а их интеграция и консолидация с доминирующим этносом казахами. Инструменты для этого известны: создание отличных от метрополии авторитетов, собственная история как субэтноса, различия диалекта и дальнейший уход от языкового единства и др. Но главное это вовлечение русскоязычных активистов в либерал–национальное движение. Почему бы не культивировать в наших русских школах образ русских солдат из освободительной армии последнего казахского хана Кенесары, которые погибли, сражаясь против царской армии! А известные с рассказов Маркова «чала–казаки», бывшие крепостные, принявшие казахский быт и сопротивлявшиеся Российской империи?
Magdalena Andersson, the Prime Minister of Sweden, has got herself into trouble after a cleaner at her home was detained after being previously awarded a deportation order.
Swedish police were called to Andersson’s house after the burglar alarm was accidentally set off at her home. Upon arrival, police found that a cleaner in her property had previously been awarded a deportation order and worked there illegally.
In response, Andersson claimed that she had ended all contracts with the cleaning company. She was allegedly assured by the cleaning company that all of her employees were working legally.
Speaking to the Swedish newspaper, Expressen, Andersson explains, “Even those of us who want to do the right thing can fall foul of dodgy operators.”
The house, which is located in the municipality of Nacka within the greater Stockholm area, is Andersson’s family home. Andersson, who is the leader of the Social Democratic Party, has made reducing the illegal economy a focal point of her leadership.
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Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge
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