They contribute more to the public good if they believe that others contribute as well. For this reason, #pessimism about others’ contributions is harmful. It can constitute a critical obstacle for climate action.
#future #society #politics #earth #environment #finance #news #activism #emissions #costs #change
The algorithm was able to track how much Amazon’s power in the e-commerce field would get competitors to move their prices, and in instances in which competitors didn’t move their prices, the algorithm would return Amazon’s prices back down, according to the Journal.
(I don't link to the original source the "Wall Street Journal" because of the paywall.)
Amazon is #neoliberalism in its final stage. It is no longer about manufacturing #costs and fair prices, but only about how to eliminate the #competition with low prices or how high you can rip off your own customers.
#economy #fail #customer #price #online #marketplace #internet #scam #crime #ftc #news #technology #business
The boat needs to be constantly air-conditioned in order to keep the hardwood floors and leather interior pristine which ensures #Antigua receives top #dollar when — if — it ever sells. That means its diesel generators must constantly be running, burning through $2,000 in fuel every day.
#environment #nature #emissions #climate #yacht #oil #fail #news
Or.....you can make it a step by step DIY System building up a bit at at time instead of eating the whole elephant at once...if you have the know-how (or friends that do). This is my current approach and my small system is supplying 1/5 - 1/4 of my current electrical needs
Best Way to Buy Solar Panels: Monthly Financing vs. Cash Savings
Heh... Another smile amid the more consequential news: Poor baby... #DavidBrooks takes on airport liquor
I guess people do follow him on X, and he's devoted to 'tweeting' the minutiae of percieved offenses agains the entitled.
Mixed reaction. I was all with Stephanie Ruhl's complaint about automated airport order-takers giving themselves big tips, but this... Sorry, David... You can afford the $18 burger platter, as expensive as airport food/drink are, but the drink tab is what has you crying.
Some heartening news; the mayor of #London Sadiq Khan is trying to expand #ULEZ (ultra-low emission zone) from the current area of central London to the whole of Greater London. The population of Greater London by 2018 stats was 8.9 million. Four councils have said that they will not sign the agreement for the expansion, the councils are Bromley, Hillingdon, Harrow and Bexley.
Central London is mostly shops, businesses and very expensive housing that only the rich can afford but Greater London includes the housing of the not so rich, many of whom commute into the capital. I guess that they will not welcome the curtailing of their daily travelling routine and the #extra #costs that ULEZ will bring to already stretched household budgets.
https://invidious.namazso.eu/watch?v=I43uC1mfHKc
https://therealnews.com/richard-wolff-the-feds-response-to-inflation-is-another-upward-transfer-of-wealth
' #Capitalist #profiteering is the real driver of the #inflation #crisis, and #raising #interest-rates only passes the #costs onto #workers already overwhelmed by #personal #debt and #stagnant #wages.'
#europe #energy #fed #federal-reserve #us #capitalism #politics #economics #economy #stagflation #declining #wages #germany #history
August 15, 2022
Now globalized perfection is breaking down and costs rise. Price cutting is being replaced with price gouging, a substitution that consumers recognize as inflation.
Deglobalization is not a quick or painless process. The ride down will be bumpy and cost increases have many sources. Profits will become harder to come by and scarcities will knock down global rows of dominoes in unexpected ways. External costs that piled up for the past 30 years have come due and must be paid.
Inflation isn't transitory or within the control of central banks. The forces at work are far beyond the reach of central bankers. Cost of credit matters, but so does the real world.
https://www.oftwominds.com/blogaug22/globalization-inflationary8-22.html
English at top, german follows:
tl;dr: a year ago i was diagnosed with bladder cancer, got operated - twice - and as of now, all is clear and nice.. I just have to get regular examinations in form of a cystoscopy... A rather uncool experience overall.
Well, on top of being uncool as is, due to #corona happening in the meantime, there are some changes in hygienical laws around the health care system in germany.
Now, you're no longer allowed to have your (flexible) endoscope inmersed in desinfection fluid to clean it up for a new patient, it needs to be in a autoclave for some amount of time (for hot steam sterilisation), which doesn't work with the modern flexible (rubber) endoscopes at all..
Instead, they could either use the "old" fixed-rod style endoscopes .. or use a protective condom over their precious flexible endoscope .. which would cost me about 47,-€ (Abut 49,635387USD) right now, in private money....
Uhm.... mkay, so i'm fscked..... I agreed to try it out with the non-flexible endoscope... It was about 3 days ago.... And i can tell you.... i don't like it... i srsly hate it... it was painful and even my doctor didn't "enjoy" it and even expressed that he felt his sight was limitied due to the circumstances.... Afterwards i even had some blood in my urine .. so it was really a not just uncool but a really shitty experience.
So whats next? I called my healt care insurance. Luckily, over here in germany, we have a at least broadly useful system of mandatory health care (insurance). so at least i had a starting point where to go..
I called them and told them where i was: because of fricking changing laws there where additional cost, avoiding these brought me unnessessary pain and bleeding.. So i'm in need for a better solution..
To my very luck, the first response on the phone was, "in this particular case, if you can get a letter from your doctor detailling the necessity for not using the wrong instrument, we can possibly do a one-case decision and get these additional costs covered for you"!
So yeah .... here i am .... asking this doctor for some paper (i'm even willing to pay for it) ... to get it to my health insurance ... to lower my pain .... in frickin germany.. europe....
the "top of the world" health fuckup country...
---- Deutsche übersetzung: ;)
tl;dr: vor einem Jahr wurde bei mir Blasenkrebs diagnostiziert, ich wurde operiert - zweimal - und ab jetzt ist alles klar und schön... Ich muss nur regelmäßig Untersuchungen in Form einer Blasenspiegelung machen lassen... Insgesamt eine eher uncoole Erfahrung.
Naja, abgesehen davon, dass es ohnehin schon uncool ist, gibt es aufgrund von #corona inzwischen auch einige Änderungen in den Hygienegesetzen rund um das Gesundheitssystem in Deutschland.
Jetzt darf man das (flexible) Endoskop nicht mehr in Desinfektionsflüssigkeit eintauchen, um es für einen neuen Patienten zu reinigen, sondern muss es für eine gewisse Zeit in einen Autoklaven legen (zur Heißdampfsterilisation), was mit den modernen flexiblen (Gummi-)Endoskopen überhaupt nicht funktioniert.
Stattdessen kann mensch entweder die "alten" Endoskope mit festem Stab verwenden ... oder ein Schutzkondom über das kostbare flexible Endoskop stülpen ... was mich jetzt etwa 47,-€ (ca. 49,635387USD) kosten würde, in privatem Geld....
Uhm.... mkay, so i'm fscked..... Ich habe zugestimmt, es mit dem starren Endoskop auszuprobieren... Vor ungefähr 3 Tagen.... Und ich kann euch sagen.... ich mag es nicht... ich hasse es wirklich... es war schmerzhaft und sogar mein Arzt fand es scheiße und sagte dass er das Gefühl hatte, dass seine Sicht aufgrund der Umstände eingeschränkt war.... Danach hatte ich sogar etwas Blut im Urin ... es war also nicht nur uncool, sondern eine wirklich beschissene Erfahrung.
Und was nun? Ich habe meine Krankenkasse angerufen. Zum Glück haben wir hier in Deutschland ein zumindest im Großen und Ganzen brauchbares System der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung, so dass ich wenigstens einen Ansatzpunkt hatte, wo ich hingehen konnte.
Ich rief an und sagte ihnen, wo ich war: wegen der verdammten Gesetzesänderungen gibt es zusätzliche Kosten, deren Vermeidung mir unnötige Schmerzen und Blutungen bescherte. Also suche ich nach einer besseren Lösung.
Zu meinem großen Glück lautete die erste Antwort am Telefon: "Wenn Sie in diesem speziellen Fall ein Schreiben Ihres Arztes vorlegen können, in dem die Notwendigkeit der Nichtverwendung des falschen Instruments ausführlich dargelegt wird, können wir möglicherweise eine Einzelfallentscheidung treffen und die zusätzlichen Kosten für Sie übernehmen"!
So yeah .... hier bin ich .... und bitte diesen arzt um ein papier (ich bin sogar bereit, dafür zu bezahlen) ... um es meiner krankenkasse zukommen zu lassen ... um meine schmerzen zu lindern .... in frickin germany.. europe....
dem "besten" Land der Welt, was die Gesundheit angeht...
Übersetzt mit (hilfe von) www.DeepL.com/Translator (kostenlose Version) (lol) ;)
#cw #gesundheit #krebs #nachsorge #kosten #health #cancer #aftercare #costs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erfaekBxauw
#richardwolff #wolff #democracy-at-work #rich #poor #us #capitalism #child #benefits #covid #divisions #china #inequality #economics #cruises #uber #sexualassaults #nda #outsized #healthcare #costs
Shipping costs have increased substantially since COVID-19, with knock-on impacts on the solar industry as modules prices rise lockstep with higher logistical costs. Even though demand for freight has recovered since the early days of the pandemic, supply has failed, or is unwilling to, catch up. Shipping companies have learnt to manage supply, are enjoying record profits and have no incentive to return to the low prices of 18 months ago, with exorbitant shipping rates likely here to stay, industry insiders told PV Tech.
https://www.pv-tech.org/dont-expect-shipping-pressures-to-ease-anytime-soon-say-industry-analysts/
#demand, #freight, #shipping, #shipments, #module, #costs, #news, #ports, #maersk
There are threats which emerge when a viability and/or cost threshold is crossed and realised. The recent set of high-profile cybersecurity and ransomware attacks[1] being a case in point.
There's a historical analogue to these.
For cities, recurring plauges began occurring during Roman times and limited maximum city populations to about 1 million until the advent of modern sanitation, hygiene, public health, waste removal, and food quality. (Actual medical care and treatment had little to do with this, though vaccines and antibiotics helped.) Soberingly, plagues and disease co-evolved with their host populations and civilisations.[2]
Industrial pollution lagged industrial development by about 50--100 years, with air and water quality and material contamination (heavy metals, asbestos, organic solvents, synthetic hormone disruptors and other bio-active contaminants, etc.) playing major roles in this. Global-level contamination, as with CO~2~ and CFC emissions, resulting in global warming and ozone depletion respectively, also lagged by about 50--100 years from substantial usage.
Increases in travel, transport, and communications almost always directly facilitate fraud. The Greek/Roman gods Hermes/Mercury represented communication, messages, travel, transportation, commerce, trickery, and theives. The term "Confidence Man" arose from Herman Melville's novel of the same name, set on the first great highway of the United States, the steamboat-plied Mississippi.
Mail begat mail fraud. Telegraph and telephones begat wire fraud. Cheap broadcast radio and television, payola and game-show fraus. Email begat spam and phishing.
Some of these have been somewhat contained, all remain actively practiced. Falling costs mean that attacks are now launched from far further afield than previously. Ironically, it's postal mail with its high costs and low speed which has proved most resistant to rampant abuses.
The 1990s and 2000s computerised business practices employed computers with abysmal security, but those systems were spared even worse negative consequences by the general lack of networking, the relatively small size of global computer networks, limited disk storage, limited network bandwidth, and the effectual air-gapping of paper-driven steps in processing. Billing might be submitted or computed electronically, but a paper check still had to be cut and signed. Draining accounts or data simply wasn't possibly without running up against the inherent limitations of computer infrastructure at the time even had a payment mechanism similar to today's cryptocurrencies been available. The poor security of the 1990s and 2000s largely resulted in highly localised tragedies, not wide-ranging ones. There were some exceptions, they were rare, typically occuring well apart from one another and not as part of a connected series of attacks or vulnerabilities.
If my assessment is correct, we'll be seeing much more of the types of attacks notable in the past year.
Attackers have low costs. Victims have highly-interconnected, but poorly-defended systems, comprised of multiple components, each complex on its own, and lacking any effective overall security accountability. End-to-end automation exists, facilitating both productive work and effective attacks. A viable and tracking-resistant payment mechanism exists. Regions from which attacks can be made with impunity exist, and are well-connected to global data networks.
Backups alsone are not an effective defence as these protect against data loss but not data disclosure. Full defence will require radically different thinking, protection, risk assessment, and law-enforcement capabilities.
Until then, get used to more of this, at both large and small scales.
There are some potential bright lights.
Notes:
Note that ransomware is only one of a class of current cyberthreats. Others include information disclosure, service disruption (both as a side effect and as a direct objective), surveillance, leveraged further attacks, manipulation and computational propaganda, and the like.
The notion that disease co-evolves with the host population is a long-standing one. The association with historical plauges is a major element of Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome, which looks at this co-evolution as a major contributor to the ultimate fall of the Roman Empire.
#cybercrime #ransomware #infosec #costs #JevonsParadox #thresholds #emergentPhenomena
Reading an early 1970s account of television news practices and history, Edward J. Epstein's News from Nowhere, I was struck by a passage discussing Fred Friendly's ultimately disasterous (to his career) attempts to provide expanded coverage of Congressional hearings.
Broadcast and print are, as is hopefully obvious, two different media, with two different affordances.
In particular, broadcast offers a cheaply expanded audience, whilst print offers cheaply expanded content.
In broadcast, time is expensive --- there are only 24 hours in a day, and normal news coverage is typically a small fraction of that. On the other hand, interest parties can tune in to a broadcast without creating additional load, and a signature of breaking news (or other high-interest events, with sport being the canonical example), audience reach is effectively free to the broadcaster, at least within a given coverage region.
(Extended networks, cable, and more recently, online distribution, change this dynamic somewhat, but not markedly.)
In print, content depth can be expanded reasonbly cheaply, though additional readership scales only directly with the size of a print run. Where that can be predicted, additional distribution is possible. Since advertising space increases with pages printed, it's possible to extend ads coverage with special sections, most espeically for predictable events (e.g., ritual, scheduled games or celebrations, etc.). But as a general basis, print can be extended if needed, and even without additional advertising, a few additional pages of text are a reasonably cheap mode of providing detailed additional depth-of-coverage.
As such, print and broadcast are somewhat complementary. This becomes more apparent in the online world, which has an option of multimedia (audio or A/V content), and links to more detailed text descriptions (often published reports, in digial-consumable formats, whether HTML, PDF, ePub, Kindle .mobi, Kobo, or the like).
Fred Friendly was, to an extent, fighting the affordances of his system in trying to run additional coverage, though other options (say, a less-expensive, audio-only radio adjunct which could run hearing testimony, or some sort of audio-record distribution, difficult in a period of physical recording media) would have been options.
This is probably bog-obvious to media studies / media professional types, but seems to me at least a not-conspicuously-addressed element of the domain.
Summarizing, for print and broadcast:
Print:
Broadcast:
Digital seems to share aspects of each, though the ultimate story is ... more complex.
#media #print #broadcast #audio #video #costs #affordances #audience #detail
