If we continue not acting against the real cause of the climate crisis—the capitalist mode of production and the capitalist worldview—they will take it as a social license to carry on with collapse. This past week’s flurry of announcements over “ambitious action” by governments during the COP26 in Glasgow has been justly received with scepticism by … Continue reading Drill, Baby, Drill: Capitalism’s Only Plan for Climate Is Collapse→
Cause and Effect of Convenience We have all experienced how, in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be very challenging to break away from convenience. When it comes to products and services, many large companies utilize fast, cheap, and easily disposable single-use containers made from plastic. Sodas bottles are plastic, baristas serve coffee … Continue reading How to Implement small yet Meaningful Changes towards Zero Waste→
“Oil and gas executives have lied to the American people for decades about their industry’s role in causing climate change. It’s time they were held accountable.” Democratic leaders on the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee sent letters Thursday inviting the heads of key fossil fuel companies and lobbying groups to testify before the panel about … Continue reading Dems Call Fossil Fuel CEOs, Lobbyists to Testify About Climate Disinformation→
The new report has “a stark, scientific message for climate change negotiators at COP 26,” said the head of the World Meteorological Organization. Carbon dioxide concentrations reached a new record high in 2020, with comparable levels not seen for roughly 3 million years, the United Nations weather agency said Monday. “There is no time to lose.” … Continue reading Humanity ‘Way Off Track’: WMO Says Atmospheric Carbon at Level Unseen in 3 Million Years→
If you can grub up the cash you will want these insanely great machines
Better sell some Crypto, perhaps all your Shiba and Dogecoin, cause the beasts are loose, beefy and pricy.
In the scheduled “unleashed” event today, broadcast virtually from Cupertino, Tim, Craig and the gang managed to surprise, not with the fully expected hardware items unveiled, but with the specs and otherworldly power of what they so aptly dubbed the Beasts.
The event was billed as being about music and creativity, and yes there were new AirPods and HomePod Minis, but without any doubt it was the incredible mac upgrades, in the form of 14” and 16” MacBook Pros that stole the show.
The format was no different than previous recent virtual events, but the details that exposed the extent and depth of the technological leap forward blew the format off it’s own hinges.
Although every spec was touted, from the screen upgrades, to endless new ports, to upgraded battery life, still the focus and excitement returned, again and again, to the Beasts: the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips and the system architecture built for them.
The animal analogy is no flight of zoological fantasy, with, at the high end, the M1 Max having 6x the speed and power of the current M1 – which already blew away reviewers and users with it’s own shocking ability to best what came before.
photo credit / apple
The party is on, but without a doubt, it is also exclusive
There are only two “downside” caveats, both kind of interrelated reverse compliments: There was no Mac Mini announcement, which is extremely sad for the great unwashed (like me!) and the prices are almost more beastly than the machines themselves.
A fully Maxxed out 16” MacBook Pro comes in at a hefty $6099, though that is with 8TB of SSD storage and 64GB of unified memory). Even a more modest configuration, dropping the SSD storage down to 4TB, while retaining the exalted 64GB unified, the toll is still $4299.
These are no everyday machines, but truly in the realm of Pro, in both specs and financial exclusivity.
And, hey, Apple has been here before, so an M1 Max based Mac Mini is likely to be delayed, if for no other reason, than to make sure that as many Pro users drop in for the whole mobile package – rather than building a budget system with money saved on 3rd party monitors and other practical cost cutting tricks.
All in all there’s an excitement in Today’s unleashing that slams into the core of any creative professional’s very being. Beastly power is tantalizingly within reach, all for a mere four to six thousand dollars… Or 1/10th of a BitCoin.
“This is a landmark day.” New Zealand officials on Thursday heralded passage of a groundbreaking law requiring financial institutions to disclose climate-related risks. “This is a landmark day,” Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark said in a speech to Parliament. At issue is the Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Bill, which had its third reading Thursday. … Continue reading In World First, New Zealand Law Will Force Banks to Disclose Climate Impacts of Investments→
Crypto converts are obsessed with price – Pi is not yet released but has a more important goal before an initial value is set: 100 million users / miners
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain are here to stay.
But does the world need yet another cryptocurrency?
Can a stable, safe currency be created that is more than just another speculative playground?
What if a coin could be mined by millions, even billions on their cell phones?
What if the mining proceeds were shared equitably by all?
What if transactions and trading could be administered and verified by the same billion users that are also the holders, traders and miners?
And what if the Pioneers would be able to use the Pi network to communicate and trade and brainstorm with each other?
Would that be a utopian fantasy?
The future is uncertain but Pi addresses many of the shortcomings of the current system
There are now so many crypto coins that just the names or the underlying concepts are difficult to list, let alone understand. With over 6,000 as of August 2021, it is not likely that very many will survive in the long term.
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain and the origins and technical backdrop that led to the current explosion of interest in buying, trading, owning and mining is maddeningly complex for beginners. For that reason please follow links from this page or see some of our previous articles for more information and background.
It’s natural that most of the attention by the media is focused on the top 10, even the top 2 cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and Ethereum / Ether. Both are well established, and Bitcoin having a market cap (total of all outstanding coins multiplied by the current price in fiat dollars) of over 800 billion, is highly likely to survive
One issue for all crypto, however, is the way that they are mined, and how the blockchain ledger is maintained. The proof of work system for Bitcoin has pros and cons that have people debating if it can ultimately remain the standard.
Ethereum is undergoing a complex transition away from a similar system to a new variant, and this is touted by many as likely to lead to its ultimate superiority while others don’t see that as a given.
Above: Photo credit Pi / 1998 Artisan Entertainment
Price wars are getting all the attention but an alternative is quietly amassing millions of adherents
Meanwhile Pi (π), a little known alternative coin with a radical underlying concept, created by it’s core team based at Stanford, has a few very unique features. These deviations from the norm make for a new direction in how cryptocurrency can function. And the launch via a proprietary 3 phase plan is also unique and worthy of note.
While many alt-coins are fly-by-night fast buck scams, launched in weeks or even days, little more than an exercise in crypto-branding as an end in itself (Jake Paul has an NFT game coin launching September 1st, nuff said) Pi (π) is conceived with the polar opposite of this “wild west-fly-by-night” ethos.
Simply put, Pi (π) is a new cryptocurrency. Its claim to fame is that it was designed from the ground up to be “mined” by its users on their cell phones. It was also designed to be the most egalitarian and evenly distributed coin in terms of ownership.
Above: Photo credit Lynxotic / Adobe Stock
The founders, a group of P.H.D.s out of Stanford, wanted to design a next generation cryptocurrency that would solve some of the problems of the first generation, notably Bitcoin.
Perhaps due to the frenzy and mania surrounding the price increase, measured against the dollar, for Bitcoin and others, there has been precious little in the media taking the idea of wealth distribution among crypto coin holders (hodlers in the jargon of alt coins) and almost nothing about using millions (and eventually billions) cell phones to mine and what benefits could potentially be derived from doing exactly that.
One obvious benefit, which seems to solve the issue of massive amounts of electricity, particularly “dirty” electricity as opposed to sustainable power from solar, etc., currently used for Bitcoin mining.
A second related issue is the massive expensive machinery needed to mine even a single Bitcoin (currently around $50,000 in value) and the natural concentration of those mining proceeds going into the hands of a tiny number of huge companies.
Further, there is the problem of transaction difficulty and speed (slow) due to the system and the computer power required to maintain the blockchain ledger.
And with the massive and vast run up in price, that phenomenon that everyone’s so excited about, has put billions in USD$ value into the hands of early adopters and very few others, which is not desirable if you are one of the billions of people on earth who do not own any Bitcoin.
In phase 3 the potential of Pi will begin to be realized
The live launch of Pi (π) will come in stage three and until then the coin can not be bought or traded. The status of the project is currently in phase 2, known as Testnet, with over 23 million “pioneers” who mine and hold Pi on their cellphones.
A deeper level of the eventual expansion of the project, with a goal of 100 million users set, with an eventual billion user base not out of the question, is the fact that this base would automatically represent a “private” and separate internet of sorts.
There are plans in the works for trading, bartering and interacting much in the way social media and the web work today but without any intermediaries such a Zuckerberg, and no restrictions on interaction and transactions, other than the security built in to the system.
If this, or a similar system with the same goals and objectives, were to take off and take hold the level of potential impact on the world and especially existing the financial structures and even internet and social media communication would be mind boggling, to say the least.
Phase 3, known in Pi world as “Mainnet” is when the cryptocurrency will officially launch and be ascribed an initial value.
Here is an edited description for Phase 3 from the Pi official website:
When the community feels the software is ready for production, and it has been thoroughly tested on the testnet, the official mainnet of the Pi network will be launched. After this point, the faucet and Pi network emulator of Phase 1 will be shut down and the system will continue on its own forever.
Future updates to the protocol will be contributed by the Pi developer community and Pi’s core team, and will be proposed by the committee. Their implementation and deployment will depend on nodes updating the mining software just like any other blockchains.
No central authority will be controlling the currency and it will be fully decentralized. Balances of fake users or duplicate users will be discarded. This is the phase when Pi can be connected to exchanges and be exchanged for other currencies.
In development for over 2 years, the white paper was initially published on March 1st 2019, by the aforementioned team of Standford PhDs behind Pi.
Above: Photo credit Lynxotic / Adobe Stock
Pi is built on a unique concept from a legitimate source, looking to solve important problems
Currently there are 7,916 (as per CoinGecko) and if you want to dig deeper into why that number is not undisputed, and how the realm is still expanding at a very rapid pace, this is a good article to look into that.
However, the only question that matters for this article is why Pi is different than the rest and why the world might need it, even with so many contenders and pretenders already in the queue.
Pi is being developed at Stanford by a team headed by Dr. Nicolas Kokkalis, Head of Technology. A Stanford PhD and instructor of Stanford’s first decentralized applications class; combining distributed systems and human computer interaction to bring cryptocurrency to everyday people.
The primary and first raison d’être for Pi is built into its definition according to the Pi Network web site:
”Pi is a new cryptocurrency for and by everyday people that you can “mine” (or earn) from your phone”
Simple enough, but groundbreaking in consequence when seen from the perspective of the challenges and solutions that are being developed and promoted among the many others in the crypto space.
”Mining crypto is hard. Investing in crypto is risky. Too many of us are left out of the cryptocurrency revolution.”
— Pi Network
One big issue that has been on the radar relating to the future of crypto is how various mining (proof of work), ( proof of stake) or farming (proof of space & time)
Bitcoin is the top crypto currency and uses proof of work mining, Cardano is a coin that is based on proof of stake, as are also lesser known alt coins, including Polygon, Tezos, Polkadot and EOS. These proof of stake coins could all be overtaken in importance, however, by the project called Ethereum 2.0, which would take the second largest cryptocurrency which would be an alternative version of Ethereum that is based on proof of stake, rather than proof of work, as is currently the case for Ethereum (1).
Finally Chia is the most prominent example of farming using hard drive space and processing to maintain proof of space and time.
The current state of cryptocurrency conceptual frameworks and how Pi is different
Rather than going into a complex and contentious discussion of the various methods and coins listed above, suffice it to say that proof of work, which was built for Bitcoin and is the most established and recognized method for a blockchain solution to maintaining the security and privacy of the a cryptocurrency.
One of the reasons that these alternatives are cropping up, beyond the speculative frenzy and profit motives that accompanied the price peak in crypto earlier this year (2021), is the somewhat overblown outcry regarding the energy intensive process of proof of work mining as it is currently the norm for bitcoin mining.
This is a concern, and added to it is the fact that the most profitable method for mining bit coin is have an extremely large ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) farm which has reduced the goal of decentralization (DeFi) to a very large extent.
For these reasons and more, Pi is being developed to be the first truly decentralized crypto coin that is mined via cell phone and that does not therefore require special, extremely expensive, gear or huge amount of electricity.
“Johnson’s failure to act has left us with petrol queues, energy companies going bust, offshore workers unemployed for months on end, and a deepening climate crisis.” The Metropolitan Police arrested at least seven Greenpeace activists in London on Monday for disrupting traffic outside Downing Street by locking themselves to barrels and a 12-foot oil-splattered statue of U.K. Prime … Continue reading Ahead of UK-Hosted Climate Summit, Oil Critics Arrested for Blockade Outside Downing Street→
“What do we do when we destroy the planet?” asked one demonstrator. “We have nothing else.”
Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Brussels on Sunday to demand Belgium’s elected leaders and others from around the world finally dispense with proclamations, broken promises, and half-measures and instead “act” on the climate emergency.
“We need a Belgian Green New Deal and we propose more than 100 concrete solutions to make it happen.”
With U.N. climate conference (COP26) set for next month in Glasgow, the estimated 70,000 or more people who took part in the march offered a dramatic show of force for the nation’s climate movement.
Zanna Vanrenterghem of Greenpeace Belgium toldThe Brussels Times on Sunday that her government’s climate pledges so far “are not ambitious enough,” but that words are no longer enough. “It is one thing to talk about climate,” she said, “and another to take concrete action.”
Ahead of the march, Vanrenterghem said the message from the Klimaatcoalitie (Climate Coalition), which she co-chairs and that organized the march, was a simple one: “We demand ambitious, solidarity-based and coherent measures. We need a Belgian Green New Deal and we propose more than 100 concrete solutions to make it happen.”
Up to 70 000 people took on the streets of #Brussels today for the #climate strike.
The first mobilization since the pandemic exceeded all expectations and sent a strong message to leaders ahead of #COP26 🌍
Thousands of people and 80 organizations took part in the protest, aiming for the biggest such event in the European Union’s capital since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which stopped the climate movement’s weekly marches in its tracks.
Cyclists, families with children and white-haired demonstrators filled city streets, chanting slogans demanding climate justice and waving banners in English, French and Dutch. One carried a stuffed polar bear on her head, and others were dressed as animals endangered by human-caused climate change.
The crowds was large—with the march often stretching further than the eye could see—and participants each sharing their various reasons for attending. Signs and banners said things like “Destroy the System/Not the Planet”; “Walk the Talk”; and “Protect What You Love.”
Lucien Dewanaga, a marcher who spoke with AP, asked the question: “What do we do when we destroy the planet? We have nothing else. Human beings have to live in this world. And there is only one world.”
According to Vanrenterghem, extreme weather within Belgium and elsewhere in the world over the past year have offered only more reasons for leaders to turn lofty rhetoric into the concrete policies that scientists say are necessary to stave off the worst impacts.
“The tough climate actions of the past few years have put the climate crisis high on the political agenda,” she said. “Now is the time for politicians to turn their promises into concrete action.”
Originally published on Common Dreams by COMMON DREAMS STAFF and republished under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
“When scientists across the U.S. are imploring the president to get the country off fossil fuels, it’s time to listen.” With an open letter expressing “the utmost alarm about the state of our climate system,” over 330 scientists on Thursday urged President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency and swiftly put an end to a … Continue reading To Avert ‘Uncontrollable Climate Chaos,’ Scientists Tell Biden to Stop Backing Fossil Fuels→
At least 40 climate activists were arrested Friday at the New York City offices of JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and Bank of America, organizers said, as campaigners across the United States demanded financial institutions stop supporting the destruction of the planet. “People are in denial about the mess we’re in,” said Kerith Creo of Extinction Rebellion (XR) NYC. “We’re sending … Continue reading 40+ NYC Activists Arrested for Protests Against Banks Fueling Climate Emergency→
Preview of the Trailer Titillates Sci-fi Fans & Apple Acolytes Alike
Of all the announcement’s at this year’s Apple Worldwide Development Conference, perhaps the most enticing came from Apple TV+, the company’s young streaming service and first go in the entertainment world. Launched last November, Apple TV+ has not yet found the same success as Disney+ or Netflix; however, it has done well enough in its first few months, garnering around 34 million users and some award buzz for its breakout series, “The Morning Show.” The platform also endorses a unique strategy compared to its competition, focusing exclusively on original shows rather acquiring old content.
The “Foundation” books were written by legendary sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov. He started the series in the 1950s with a trilogy centered around a futuristic Galactic Empire and a protagonist named Hari Seldon, who sees into the future to witness the universe’s end. The original three books earned Asimov several Hugo Awards, including a one-time-only “Best All Time Series” award in 1966. He went on to write two sequels and two prequels to the trilogy in the late 80s and early 90s.
Surprisingly, there has never been an on-screen adaptation of the series until now. The film rights were tossed around for decades, both New Line Cinema and Columbia Pictures investing in movie ideas at different points before selling the rights to HBO in 2014. The project conceptually started to materialize as a series under HBO, but it fell into Apple’s hands during 2018 and the company ran with it.
First Look at WWDC is an Early Peek at Entirely New Direction for ATV+
Click to see “Foundation” and help Lynxotic and independent bookstores. Also available on Amazon.
What Apple debuted at the WWDC on June 22nd was the audiences first look at “Foundation” come to life. At under two minutes, the marketing snippet is more of a teaser than a full-fledged trailer, but it offers fans stunning glimpses of the impressive set designs and special effects, as well as a general feel for the show’s tech-noir, space-epic tone. It seems reminiscent of Disney+’s “The Mandalorian,” CBSAllAccess’ “Star Trek: Picard” and HBO’s “Game Of Thrones.” Such comparisons are good, as the series is doubtlessly Apple’s attempt at breaking into the sci-fi/fantasy craze that modern TV audiences strongly embrace.
David S. Goyer serves as head writer and executive producer of the series. He is well versed in the intersections of science-fiction, fantasy and action, having written alongside Christopher Nolan for “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” as well as other movies like “Man Of Steel,” “Godzilla,” “Terminator: Dark Fate,” and the Star Wars VR experience, “Vader Immortal.” Joining Goyer in the writers room are Leigh Dana Jackson (“24: Legacy”), Victoria Morror (“Weeds”), Josh Friedman (“Snowpiercer”) and others. David Ellison of “Star Trek: Beyond,” “Annihilation,” and “Gemini Man” will also serve as a producer.
Now, Apple TV+ is about to embark on perhaps its boldest undertaking yet, adapting a beloved science fiction book series into a show— “Foundation.”
In front of the camera, “Foundation” stars Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, Leah Harvey as Salvor, Lou Llolbell as Gaal, and Cassian Bilton, Terrence Mann, and Lee Pace as Brother Dawn, Brother Dusk, and Brother Day respectively. The casting seems on point, and it happily embraces diversity as well as a variety of familiar and new-coming talent.
Despite how impressive the teaser was, though, it still feels somewhat strange to see a trailer drop at an Apple conference. For all of Apple’s existence, it has just been a tech company and its conferences have been focused on new devices and Operating Systems. Trailers were better left to pop-culture fandom events like Comic-Con.
In 2020, though, there is no Comic-Con, and Apple—like many other companies—is stretching beyond its comfort zone, trying to incorporate creative media into its conglomerate identity. Recently, Apple TV+ acquired the rights to Tom Hanks’ “Greyhound” and were in rumors conversation with Martin Scorsese for producing his next project, “Killers Of The Flower Moon.” Clearly, they are open to big ideas when it comes to film and television going forward
Adapting “Foundation” is an ambitious task, but the trailer looks impressive, and if Apple pulls it off, it could establish the company as a bona fide entertainment studio in the ongoing streaming wars.
The show will be live on Thursday, September 23rd, 2021 at 6PM PT and 9PM ET.
International survey reveals ‘shocking’ rise of eco-anxiety and hopelessness. “If this isn’t a wake up call for world leaders, what is?” Amidst a sharp increase in deadly wildfires and flooding, increasingly violent storms, and extreme heat, new research published Tuesday found that refusal by governments to act on the climate emergency is causing a widespread sense of … Continue reading Climate Inaction Has Left Majority of Young People Believing Humanity Is ‘Doomed’→
New Orleans, Lake Tahoe, NYC – that’s just this week and just in the US… and a drought in the west that is a serious growing threat The warnings are coming hard and heavy after multiple previous and eerily similar catastrophes, only they just keep getting more severe. Each one is a unique event and … Continue reading These Extreme Weather Events are a preview of the Coming Climate Disasters→
Experts say the privacy promise—ubiquitous in online services and apps—obscures the truth about how companies use personal data You’ve likely run into this claim from tech giants before: “We do not sell your personal data.” Companies from Facebook to Google to Twitter repeat versions of this statement in their privacy policies, public statements, and congressional … Continue reading What Does It Actually Mean When a Company Says, “We Do Not Sell Your Data”?→
Extreme Weather Accelerates in Frequency and Destructive Power Ida hit Louisiana with extreme force, causing damage and mayhem, and leaving hundreds of thousands without power earlier this week. The remnants of that destruction have now moved Northeast. Next, Hurricane Larry is expected to become a major storm by Friday according to the National Hurricane Center. Effects … Continue reading Ida Wreaks Havoc on the East Coast while Hurricane Larry Looms on Horizon→
The Caldor Fire had burned 204,390 acres and 20%-contained
The raging Caldor Fire that has already forced thousands of people to evacuate, is now becoming a critical threat to the popular tourist location, South Lake Tahoe. Reports of more than 34,000 structures are at risk.
There are approximately 4,000 firefighters and 1,000 California National Guard members that are helping to fight off the growing fires.
A spokesperson for California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services told CNN that over 53,000 people have been placed under evacuation orders.
The fire has already burned more than 300 square miles and destroyed hundred of residential structures. The city is facing wind gusts blowing at 35 miles per hour and stronger which continues to help the fire spread further down into the Tahoe basin.
Devastating Wildfires – continued reminders of the Climate Crisis
Greta Thunberg, the vocal climate crisis activist retweeted the below the video of the fires in California. There is so much confusion over the question of exactly which of the many, many “extreme weather events” as they are now called, are directly attributable to climate change, global warming and Co2 in the atmosphere.
This is, for Greta Thunberg and anyone reading this with an ounce of sense, a moot point. The larger overarching point is that the threat of total world destruction as a result of buying fossil fuel and other human impacts on the environment has been long settled as a very dangerous and rapidly worsening reality.
Splitting hairs by constantly questioning alternative origins for extreme events, that clearly are increasing in their number and severity, is a kind of “climate denial-lite” that is as ridiculous as it is dangerous. Ultimately it is the perspective of those like Greta, that must be adopted and understood by the millions (billions), before it is too late. Only then, when the threat is faced head on, is there a chance we might prevent a rapid slide into oblivion.
Thunberg tweeted this week “Wildfires, floods, droughts, heatwaves and other (un)natural disasters rage all over the world. Many now ask “What will it take for people in power to act?”. Well, it will many things, but above all it will take: massive pressure from media and massive pressure from the public.”
One of the country’s most important sources of fresh water is in peril, the latest victim of the accelerating climate crisis. On a 110-degree day several years ago, surrounded by piles of sand and rock in the desert outside of Las Vegas, I stepped into a yellow cage large enough to fit three standing adults … Continue reading 40 Million People Rely on the Colorado River. It’s Drying Up Fast.→
“You had a future, and so should we.” That’s the first line of an open letter released Tuesday by 71 young professionals and students in the advertising and public relations industry calling for an end to contracts with fossil fuel companies, given their significant contributions to the climate emergency. “The biggest threat to our future is climate … Continue reading Young PR and Ad Professionals Demand Industry Ditch Fossil Fuel Clients→
Unexpected and Explosive Rumors Emerge as September Launch Dates Loom Several new stories, based on rumors but from credible sources, indicated that both short and longer term some unexpected twists could be coming out at Apple. The first was reported in 9to5 Mac where they quoted renown source Ming-Chi Kuo saying that the iPhone 13 … Continue reading iPhone 13 Bombshell Rumor: New feature links to Apple Car, Starlink, and iOT→
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