Category Archives: Hot-Lynx

Hot-Lynx

Breaking: U.S. strikes Islamic State in Afghanistan after deadly Kabul attack

Above: Image by David Mark from Pixabay 

Reuters reported tonight that a drone strike has been confirmed in retaliation for the suicide bombings yesterday that killed 13 American service personal. The military confirmed that a strike was carried out against an “Islamic State attack planner in eastern Afghanistan”.

The strike follows the vow from President Joe Biden that was made on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the attack, and that the Pentagon had been tasked to come up with plans to strike back at the perpetrators of the deadly bombings.

The location of the drone strike was Nangahar province, east of Kabul, but no connection was, as of yet, confirmed regarding any direct involvement of the targeted in the airport attack.

“Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties,” a U.S. military statement said.

Read at:

Reuters

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Hot-Lynx, Politics

The Day Music Dies could be Looming in Afghanistan, under the Taliban

Above: Photo ISIS / Courtesy of Twitter

Young students, teacher and faculty are staying home and currently are closing its doors of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) located in Kabul. 

The school has accomplished great successes in the realm of culture and arts in Afhanistan, including the all-female Zohra orchestra. Founder and Director of ANIM Ahmad Sarmast said “armed people entered school property” and have attempted to steal cars and have destroyed musical instruments.

Making music can have deadly consequences

According to the NPR report, under the Taliban rule in the 1990’s performing, selling or listening to music was strictly forbidden and could get you in serious trouble if caught. 

Yet the art of making music has always been a risky one in Afghanistan.  In the past there have been numerous musicians that have been threatened, kidnapped or even killed.

With recent explosions it is unclear whether Taliban will allow for such organizations like the institute of music to continue to exist. 

Read at:

NPR

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Hot-Lynx

Developing story: Explosions at Kabul with at least 4 Marines Reported among casualties

Above: Photo / Mohammad Rahmani / UnSplash

Thousands crowded near the only way out of Afghanistan ahead of U.S. August 31 deadline

It has been reported that at least two explosions and gunfire occurred just outside Kabul airport. The blast happened around one of the entry gates of the Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday August 26, 2021.

Based on an AMN report and Pentagon statements, the blast may have been the result of a suicide attack. There have been casualties and injuries, including U.S. service members among Afghan citizens, however no additional details have been confirmed.

This is an emerging, breaking story and various outlets, including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and others have reported multiple, sometimes conflicting totals regarding the dead and wounded.

Fox News reported 10 Marines were killed, up from four, according to U.S. officials

“We can confirm that the explosion at the Abbey Gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties. We can also confirm at least one other explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate. We will continue to update,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby tweeted.

The following bullet points were published in the Fox News article cited above:

  • A suicide bombing outside the Abbey Gate at Kabul’s airport in Afghanistan Thursday has killed at least 10 U.S. Marines and soldiers, U.S. officials tell Fox News.
  • A U.S. official indicated that the attack set off a firefight at Abbey Gate, where last night, there were 5,000 Afghans and potentially some Americans seeking access to the airport.
  • A second explosion happened outside the Baron Hotel, sources say.

Read at:

American Military News

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Hot-Lynx

Starlink @ 100K and Elon Musk is Tweeting the Milestone

Above: Photo Credit / Starlink

Starlink is way out ahead of the pack, which simultaneously grows in its shadow

The SpaceX’s Starklink satellite internet service has hit a milestone and Elon Musk took to Twitter to share the news. He confirmed that 100,000 terminals have been shipped out. According to an article from Slash Gear there are also more than half a million people on the waitlist globally.

This is all happening at a time when SpaceX is under siege from Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin and potential rivals are launching their own satellites to try and catch up. Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is going public and hopes to launch satellites for iOT connectivity, while OneWeb recently launched 34 internet satellites into space, while Amazon’s “kuiper” system is still planning its launches to proceed.

100K is huge considering the satellite launches only began back in November 2019 and the initial beta program was only available for select customers a year later.

Starlink’s main goal, also mentioned in Musk’s tweet is for the company to go global and serve the whole world. Currently, service is available for 14 countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Austria, Netherlands, India, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Portugal, Australia and New Zealand.

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Hot-Lynx

Article from 1912 linked Coal to Climate Change

Above: Photo Collage / Lynxotic

We were given a warning about fossil fuels. Now we’re living it…

An image from an old newspaper was shared on social media from the account “Historical Photos” and titled “Coal Consumption Affecting Climate”.

The image of the clipping went viral very likely because of the amazing date it was published on, August 14th, 1912. The image has since been seen by over 17k people on Twitter and over 6k on Facebook.

Understandably there were many people that questioned whether the article was actually authentic or merely fabricated. The implication is a big one, that scientists have known for over a century the negative impacts coal consumption has on the climate (and haven’t done much to change it).

https://twitter.com/Iearnhistory/status/1425673866609762306?s=20

As per USA Today, the article is, in fact, real and has been authenticated by Snopes. The text originated from a March 1912 report in the Popular Mechanics magazine titled “Remarkable Weather of 1911: The Effect of the Combustion of Coal on the Climate – What Scientists Predict for the Future.” Similar phrasing was used in the New Zealand newspaper published on August 14, 1912 which is from the viral image.

Read at:

USA Today

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Hot-Lynx, Tech

Rumor has it: Multiple Apple Events in the works for September

Above: Photo / Apple

According to MacRumors who spoke with DigiTimes, Apple has plans to have a series of events in the month of September. This would clearly deviate from how the company approached the launches of its newest products last year.

In an unusual twist at the time, the launches were spread out into three separate product events that landed during the fall months of September, October and November.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, last year’s event was live-streamed versus in-person, which may have allowed Apple to better adapt its product rollouts in digital form.

There are many new products rumored to be released that include the iPhone 13, Apple Watch Series 7, next generation AirPods, a new baseline iPad, an updated iPad mini, as well as the much anticipated 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pro laptops.

Read at:

Macrumors

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Hot-Lynx, Observation, Politics

Facebook Resorted to Illegal Buy-or-Bury Scheme: FTC

photo collage by Lynxotic

Chair of the Federal Trade Commission Lina Khan posted on her Twitter the official press release of its position against Facebook.

Pulling no punches the language of the filing leaves no doubt as to the direction of the FTC going forward in this case. Illegal, Bribery, “Buy-or-Bury Scheme” these are characterizations that go to the heart of anticompetitive and monopolistic behavior of the giant. FTC Bureau of Competition Acting Director, Holly Vedova, said ““This conduct is no less anticompetitive than if Facebook had bribed emerging app competitors not to compete. The antitrust laws were enacted to prevent precisely this type of illegal activity by monopolists.”

While The Federal Trade Commission’s mandate has traditionally been “to promote competition and protect and educate consumers” the attempt by big tech to appear “helpful” to consumers with hidden costs and deflated pricing is finally at issue with Kahn in the chair. Khan’s famous 2017 article; “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox“ helped to re-define a new direction for antitrust law for the digital age, which appears to be in the early stages of fulfillment at the agency under her leadership.

As described in the amended case, upon Facebook starting out as an open space for third party developers, the company quickly reversed (pulling a bait-and-switch) by requiring developers to terms that would have prevented successful applications from emerging as competitive threats to the company.

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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

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Hot-Lynx

Musk is developing a Humanoid Tesla Bot with a Screen-face

Photo Credit / Tesla

At the end of Tesla’s AI Day presentation, Musk revealed an unexpected new product, the Tesla Bot.

The humanoid robot would be 5’8″ tall and its main purpose, according to Musk, would be to eliminate dangerous, repetitive, and boring tasks. The prototype is expected to be available some time next year.

The CEO also made a typically bold statement about the future and AI, saying “Essentially, in the future, physical work will be a choice. If you want to do it, you can, but you won’t need to do it.”

Elon finished with an invitation for engineers to join the Tesla team to build the robot.

Read at:

TECHCRUNCH

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Hot-Lynx

FTC refiles its Antitrust case against Facebook

Above: Photo Collage / Lynxotic

As reported from Reuters, in the 80 page new complaint, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accuses Facebook of illegally monopolizing power. The refiled case includes additional evidence which is intended to support FTC’s case that Facebook dominates the U.S. personal social networking market.

In the headline of its press release, FTC alleges the company resorted to “illegal buy-or-bury- scheme to crush competition after string of failed attempts to innovate”.

“Despite causing significant customer dissatisfaction, Facebook has enjoyed enormous profits for an extended period of time suggesting both that it has monopoly power and that its personal social networking rivals are not able to overcome entry barriers and challenge its dominance,”

AMENDED complaint – federal trade COMMISSION

The FTC voted 3-2 to file the amended lawsuit. They also denied Facebook’s request that Lina Khan be recused, Khan participated in the filing of the new complaint.

Read at:

REUTERS

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Hot-Lynx

T-Mobile Data Breach affects over 47 Million people

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

Data stolen include names, dob, SSN, and much more!

The investigation of the ongoing T-Mobile data breach has revealed some staggering information regarding the number of customers affected. As per a new article from Engadget, T-Mobile has confirmed roughly 47.8 million current and former customers have been affected by the cyberattack.

The company issued a press statement regarding the data breach and below are some of the immediate steps they are taking:

  • As a result of this finding, we are taking immediate steps to help protect all of the individuals who may be at risk from this cyberattack. Communications will be issued shortly to customers outlining that T-Mobile is:
    • Immediately offering 2 years of free identity protection services with McAfee’s ID Theft Protection Service.
    • Recommending all T-Mobile postpaid customers proactively change their PIN by going online into their T-Mobile account or calling our Customer Care team by dialing 611 on your phone. This precaution is despite the fact that we have no knowledge that any postpaid account PINs were compromised.
    • Offering an extra step to protect your mobile account with our Account Takeover Protection capabilities for postpaid customers, which makes it harder for customer accounts to be fraudulently ported out and stolen.
    • Publishing a unique web page later on Wednesday for one stop information and solutions to help customers take steps to further protect themselves.

As a T-Mobile customer myself, this is quite worrisome. The data stolen includes personal information like names (first and last), date of birth, social security numbers and driver license numbers. It is unclear at the moment if the stolen files have information that would contain financial account numbers or passwords.

Read at:

ENGADGET

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Hot-Lynx

AP Reports: Taliban allows ‘safe passage’ from Kabul in U.S. airlift

Photo by Vishu on Unsplash

Evacuations resume with green light from Afghanistan’s new rulers

Although no concrete timetable for the evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies has been solidified with Taliban, according to AP, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan reports that the Taliban has agreed to allow U.S. directed “safe passage” from Afghanistan.

Despite some civilians encountering resistance and even violence as they attempted to reach Kabul international airport, “very large numbers” were reaching destinations. After interruptions (due to Afghans rushing onto tarmac) , per Pentagon officials, the airlift is back on track and schedule being accelerated.

“I cautioned them against interference in our evacuation, and made it clear to them that any attack would be met with overwhelming force in the defense of our forces”

-Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command 

A total of more than 6,000 U.S. troops are expected to be involved in securing the airport. The White House reports 13 flights on Tuesday airlifted 1,100 U.S. citizens. President Biden wants the evaluation to be completed by the end of the month, August 31, 2021.

Read at:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Hot-Lynx

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for Covid after banning masks

Photo Collage / Lynxotic

Greg Abbott, the Republican Governor for Texas tested positive for Covid-19. The news comes in the middle of the legal battles over banning vaccination and mask mandates in the state, despite opposition from both local officials and school districts. 

According to NBC News, Abbott is fully vaccinated, there are reports he also received a 3rd booster shot and is currently receiving Regeneron’s antibody treatment (usually exclusive to those with compromised immune systems). Per his communication’s director, he is “in good health, and currently experiencing no symptoms.”

“Governor Abbott is in constant communication with his staff, agency heads, and government officials to ensure that state government continues to operate smoothly and efficiently”

-Mark Miner, the governor’s communications director

Perhaps a “bit” hyprocritcal?  Abbott has access and benefits from any and all possible medical services necessary. Unfortunately the same privilege is not available to most ordinary Texans, where currently the state is experiencing a surge of new cases and hospitalizations

Read at:

NBC News

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Hot-Lynx

‘They should be worried’: will Lina Khan & the FTC take down big tech giants?

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash



There’s a storm brewing and tech mega-monsters like Amazon, Google & Facebook know it

Practically since the day that Lina M. Kahn was appointed chair of the FTC, big tech giants have shown that they are worried. Both Amazon and Facebook filed suits asking that she recuse herself almost immediately.

Khan’s famous 2017 article; “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox“, published in the Yale Law Journal was both the obvious initial catalyst to her becoming chair of the FTC and also Amazon being unhappy that she would be at the helm of the FTC while antitrust actions are being brought against them.

The idea of removing her would have obvious appeal for those that fear her dedication to a new antitrust stance at the FTC, one that no longer allows digital behemoths to skate, monopolize and grow unchecked. But there is likely little chance that they can get her off their metaphorical backs that easily.

As per the Guardian: “Khan does not have any conflicts of interest under federal ethics laws, which typically apply to financial investments or employment history, and the requests [for her recusal] are not likely to go far.”

Read at:

The Guardian

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Hot-Lynx

WaPo: Biden administration scrambled as its orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan unraveled

Photo by Sohaib Ghyasi on Unsplash

The speed and seeming ease of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban this week shocked the world. First cities around the country fell, one after another, and then, just days later, the nation’s capitol Kabul was ready to go.

“The urgency bordering on panic laid bare how the president’s strategy for ending the 20-year U.S. military effort — leaving Afghan forces to hold off the Taliban for months as negotiators redoubled efforts to hammer out a peace deal — has undergone a rapid dismantling.”

Washington Post

The Kabul airport became virtually the last US controlled zone as scenes reminiscent of the fall of Saigon were broadcast over the weekend, showing the desperate scramble to evacuate remaining personnel.

Read at:

The Washington Post

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Hot-Lynx

Elon Musk Reacts to Jeff Bezos’ Nonstop Fight to Win Over NASA Moon Lander Contract

Above: Photo Collage by Lyxotic

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have both recently held the title of the world’s richest person. Currently the two were also in a competition with each other over a contract to design the Human-Landing vehicle for NASA’s up coming moon missions.

NASA had selected SpaceX as the sole contractor for the program, however, Bezos as a way to try to get the contract, offered in an open letter to forgo $2 billion in future payments.

A Tweet by Musk reacting to the news, including what appears to be a deflated prototype by Blue Origin, was also included in the new article by the Observer.

Read it at the Observer

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Hot-Lynx

According to NOAA, July was the hottest month ever recorded

Above: Photo Credit / NOAA.gov

The new NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) report comes on the heels of the U.N. climate report, released last week, which warned of the “extreme” impacts of climate change, already and continuing to be felt around the globe. The increasing temperatures have been linked to not-so-welcome heatwaves, obviously, but also to the more intense weather systems like hurricanes and droughts.

In a statement to CBS News, NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad commented on the latest alarming record; “July is typically the world’s warmest month of the year, but July 2021 outdid itself as the hottest July and month ever recorded. This new record adds to the disturbing and disruptive path that climate change has set for the globe.” 

Read it at NOAA

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Hot-Lynx

Esquire Reports: Kevin Hart interview moment isn’t What it Seems

Above: Photo / Peacock

A clip from the new talk show with Kevin Hart on Peacock called “Hart to Heart” went viral on Twitter, and to say the clip makes you feel uncomfortable to watch, is an understatement.

Hart had on his show actor Don Cheadle and mid conversation while Cheadle made a comment while divulging his age, Hart, very loudly, responded “DAMN!”. The exchange was awkward and Hart clearly attempted to back-peddle, obviously concerned how the one word response could be interpreted.

An article by Esquire breaks down the Twitter reactions, and the viral post has since been shared 25.6K with nearly 100K likes, as well as Cheadle reactions after-the-fact:

Read it at Esquire

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