Flight 666 to hel friday 13th

Amazon is updating its small and inexpensive Fire 7 tablet for the first time in three years , and it’s bringing some crowd-pleasing features: the updated tablet will feature USB-C charging, better battery life, and faster performance. Amazon is, however, raising the starting price tag a tad — from $49.99 to $59.99. Amazon says that the tablet’s quad-core processor is “30 percent faster” and that it’ll have 2GB of RAM instead of 1GB. In theory, the extra memory should make it so you can load more web pages at a time, and you won’t have to wait around for apps to start back up as often when you’re switching between them. The company also says the tablet will last about 40 percent longer between charges, estimating you’ll be able to do about 10 hours of browsing or video watching. Of course, the headlining feature is how you’ll be charging up that battery. The previous Fire 7 featured a micro-USB charging port, but the refresh replaces it with a more modern connection. Amazon also … [Read more...] about Amazon’s new Fire 7 tablet finally has a USB-C port

United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) — the second-largest local teachers union in the country — urged members not to post spring break travel photos that could undermine its position that schools should remain closed, according to screenshots published by a local news reporter. In a purported private Facebook group of union members, an activist appears to warn members not to rub pictures in the faces of frustrated parents: NEW: In a leaked post from a private Facebook group for UTLA union members only, teachers are warned not to post on social media if they go on spring break vacations because the optics would be bad for them while UTLA is refusing to return to "unsafe" in-person schooling @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/KxQc7k450T — Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) March 9, 2021 “Friendly reminder,” the alleged post, exposed by Bill Melugin of Fox LA, began, “If you are planning any trips for Spring Break, please keep that off social media. It is hard to argue that it is unsafe for … [Read more...] about Report: Teachers Union Urges Members to Not Post Spring Break Pics

A leader of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) wants kids to remain out of the classroom because schools are “unsafe,” but she made the claims in the midst of a sunny vacation in Puerto Rico. Sarah Chambers, who WGN said is on the union’s executive board and an area vice president and claimed she “led four strikes,” is opposed to schools returning to in-person learning on Monday. Chambers made several posts on Twitter this week attacking the plan. “Just a few hours earlier, Chambers posted a picture on Instagram that appears to show her pool side in Puerto Rico and talking about going to Old San Juan for seafood,” WGN reported. In a post on Instagram — on an account that has now been made private — Chambers wrote, “Spending the last day of 2020 by the poolside. We have the whole pool to ourselves. Then, we are going to old San Juan to get some yummy seafood mofongo.” On Twitter, Chambers identified herself as a “socialist.” “We have an entire private Airbnb house to … [Read more...] about Teachers Union Leader Resists Schools Reopening from Island Vacation

The Pentagon’s new task force for tracking unidentified aerial phenomena (or UAPs) has collected roughly 400 reports, an official told Congress in an open hearing on Tuesday. The comments came from Scott Bray, the deputy director of US naval intelligence, who testified today as an expert witness in a hearing about UAPs hosted by a subcommittee of the House Intelligence Committee. The hearing marked the first time Congress has held a public hearing on UAPs, also known as UFOs, in more than 50 years. Bray attributed the increase in sightings to a number of factors, including the growing popularity of quadcopters and drones, updates in sensor technologies, increasing aerial clutter like mylar balloons, and a perceived decrease in stigma surrounding reporting. While many of the sightings remain unexplained, there’s been no evidence suggesting supernatural or extraterrestrial involvement, Bray explained. “When it comes to material that we have, we have no material — we have detected … [Read more...] about The Pentagon has 400 reports of strange aerial phenomena — but nothing suggests aliens

Now is the best time to stargaze in the UK since 2011, according to the results of a new citizen science survey led by the countryside charity CPRE. Light pollution in the UK has dropped to its lowest levels since CPRE began its annual study more than a decade ago. Light pollution peaked in 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing) and then dipped last year as workplaces shuttered during the pandemic. Since then, CPRE says light pollution has continued to drop as more people continue to work from home and soaring energy prices in Europe push households to cut down on lighting costs. Each year, CPRE enlists the help of citizen scientists for a “Star Count.” This year, more than 2,500 participants counted the number of stars they saw in the night sky in their area between February 26th and March 6th. They were asked to look for stars within the Orion constellation, recognizable for the three bright stars that make up Orion’s belt. “Severe” light pollution, as CPRE … [Read more...] about Stargazing in the UK is the best it’s been in over a decade

More than two dozen groups have urged the US Supreme Court to block a Texas law that prohibits large social media companies from moderating content based on a user's "viewpoint." The Texas law, HB20 , "results in blatant violations of the First Amendment rights of platform providers," said a Supreme Court brief filed yesterday . The law taking effect means that "chaos will ensue online with disastrous and irreparable consequences," the brief said, continuing: With platforms unable to effectively moderate scammers, messages preying on vulnerable populations, including the elderly, will proliferate online. The uptick of this content will predictably result in yet more people being tricked into sending money to scammers or disclosing financial information, leading to identity theft and financial ruin. Platforms will be powerless to regulate speech praising terrorists and those who engage in murderous campaigns, with horrendous potential ramifications if even a single person … [Read more...] about Texas social media law will cause “chaos” online, Supreme Court is told

Life in the 21st century doesn't mean being able to ignore natural disasters; 150mph winds, tsunami waves, and earthquakes will still mess up one's day. But living in what used to be the future does allow us to understand such phenomena. We can even simulate it, albeit poorly. Living in 2017 also allows you experience it vicariously, at a macro scale, live and at home. For years now, people have been collecting geotagged data and building online map layers, visualizing global shipping or air corridors. Scientific agencies publish data from satellite geosensors measuring land and sea temperatures. And we can use them to watch nature remind us of our place. Take flight tracking. Yesterday, Jason Rabinowitz— @AirlineFlyer on Twitter —live-tweeted the progress of a Delta Boeing 737-900 that raced into and then out of Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Puerto Rico before Hurricane Irma made its presence known. The plane, flying JFK-SJU under the flight number DL 431, landed … [Read more...] about As Irma nears, GIS data shows Florida emptying itself of planes

4:29 pm ET update: A Google spokesperson told Ars that the company hasn't changed anything with regard to blurring out sensitive sites in Russia, so perhaps none of us were looking closely until now. Original story: On Monday, the Internet got a much better look at military facilities across Russia. Google Maps stopped obscuring the sensitive locations due to Russia's ongoing invasion of its neighbor Ukraine. The Ukrainian Armed Forces announced the end of Google's censorship of Russia's bases on Twitter . Thanks to former US President Donald Trump, we know that the 0.5 m per pixel resolution available on Google Maps' satellite view is a far cry from the images available to the US government. But it will be invaluable to the growing mass of open source intelligence analysts. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in late February, the OSINT community on Twitter has been cataloging Russian losses by geolocating images of destroyed tanks, fighting vehicles, aircraft, and … [Read more...] about Correction: Google has not changed its blurring policies in Russia