Odd Stuff (Part 1)

Uber trials fixed-price hourly rentals for visits to the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker

Uber has started a pilot of pre-paid hourly rentals.
The service is called “Hourly Driver” and is currently being offered in half a dozen large Australian cities.

This kind of news coverage fits right in with covering elections like sporting events. Generate controversy where there is none, turn points of fact into matters of opinion.

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As Brit cyber-spies drop ‘whitelist’ and ‘blacklist’, tech boss says: If you’re thinking about getting in touch saying this is political correctness gone mad, don’t bother

The NCSC noted the policy change was only a small gesture in a much larger effort to drive prejudice from technology and cyber-security industries, but noted that every small step helps.
“You may not see why this matters. If you’re not adversely affected by racial stereotyping yourself, then please count yourself lucky,” Emma said. “For some of your colleagues (and potential future colleagues), this really is a change worth making.”

The centre also shared an additional statement from technical director Ian Levy and the board of directors in anticipation of a knee-jerk internet backlash:
“If you’re thinking about getting in touch saying this is political correctness gone mad, don’t bother.”

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Oh great.

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Unusual weather forecast for Chicago. What kind of front?

Seems it’s a real thing, not a typo

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Oh yeah, when those temperature drops happen, it’s really really freaky. And potentially dangerous, for people who don’t have layers on and can’t get inside quickly.

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Humanimals

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Down and Out in the Pandemic.

He needs to practice his How Not to Be Seen skills.

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Facebook’s mega-chatbot has ‘a persona, discusses nearly any topic, shows empathy.’ Perfect for CEO version 2

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What does £55 get you in the noise-cancelling headphones world? Something like the Taotronics SoundSurge 85


Apparently not bad for the money.

Latvian drone wrests control from human overlords and shuts down entire nation’s skies

Latvia’s skies have been closed to long distance flights because a military-grade drone is “uncontrolled and lost” somewhere above the eastern European nation – and nobody knows where it has gone.
Local news website Apollo reported over the weekend that a test flight went disastrously wrong when a Latvian drone firm lost control of one of their remote-controlled aircraft.

Fuel for 90 hours.

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How to Build a Functional Mandalorian Tracking Fob to Find Your Smartphone Instead of Baby Yodas