Papering the record for appeal.
¶Climeworks says its Generation 3 DAC plants can bring the cost of capturing CO2 down to $250–350 per ton by 2030, although there are additional costs for permanently sequestering the CO2 underground or under the sea so that it doesn’t escape back into the atmosphere. Across the industry, the goal is generally to get down to around $100 per ton to make the technology affordable enough to deploy widely.
¶Baby steps.
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(espn.com)
¶The potential ban of Marcano comes in the wake of the NBA handing down a ban to Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter for disclosing confidential information to bettors, limiting his participation in at least one game and betting on NBA games while playing in the G League.
¶Lifetime Ban.
¶It was only a matter of time, in this current environment where in-game announcers report on current odds for games, until we heard those words again.
¶Lifetime Ban for betting on baseball.
¶This story is both shocking and unsurprising.
¶It will be important to keep track of this and other stories relating to athletes gambling on their sports because I think MLB and the sports media industry will do everything in their power to downplay them. Indeed, ESPN kind of checked its swing in its reporting, so far, on the story about Tucupita Marcano – the linked article doesn’t link to the original report from the Wall Street Journal about Marcano and, perhaps more interestingly, links to the ESPN team page for the Toronto Raptors in the text above about the NBA ban for Jontay Porter instead of linking to an ESPN story about that ban. At least it doesn’t link to a page showing the current odds on Thursday’s opening game in the NBA Finals.
¶Despite their efforts to downplay it, fans – and gamblers – can’t ignore it.
¶I think we can at least rely on ESPN to announce the presence of sports betting every time it takes the field. Completely ignoring a story like this would destory any bit of news credibility the network has left. It still fashions itself as a news outlet on some level. Make no mistake, though, ESPN will not give us detailed, in-depth reporting as individual gambling stories appear in the coming years. That would be actual journalism, something the entertainment network abandoned a long time ago.
¶And if there’s any doubt about that, consider this – SportsCenter ran a segment on the Marcano story below the fold this morning. Think about that. SportsCenter, the flagship current news program on the leading sports media network made a programming decision to push a report on a potential lifetime ban in Major League Baseball, something that hasn’t been an issue in decades, to the back half of the show the day after the story broke. And this when the NBA and NHL playoffs, the two major sports events in the United States right now, are paused for a few days before the respective finals get underway later this week. There’s literally nothing happening in either playoffs right now.
¶Journalists would pursue the Marcano story vigorously and give it the proper spotlight on the front page and as a lead story on SportsCenter. ESPN, of course, views it differently. After all, it operates ESPN Bet, its “official sportsbook.” The network clearly stands to benefit from starving this story, and any story about problems arising from sports gambling, of oxygen. The problem for us, as news-hungry sports fans, is that the network, as the 800-pound gorilla of sports news, has its hand tightly gripped on the valve controlling flow.
¶Maybe we’ll get a 30 for 30 documentary on the whole thing in a few years.
¶Surely that will save face.
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¶A successful investigation of the pandemic’s root cause would have the power to break a decades-long scientific impasse on pathogen research safety, determining how governments will spend billions of dollars to prevent future pandemics. A credible investigation would also deter future acts of negligence and deceit by demonstrating that it is indeed possible to be held accountable for causing a viral pandemic. Last but not least, people of all nations need to see their leaders — and especially, their scientists — heading the charge to find out what caused this world-shaking event. Restoring public trust in science and government leadership requires it.
¶We definitely need a full and thorough investigation. The success of any investigation, though, probably hinges on the ability and willingness of the investigators to depoliticize the issue. I’m not sure we’re there yet and likely won’t be until the next election cycle is in the rearview mirror.
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¶“We don’t have a problem with anyone taking inspiration from Ansel’s photography,” said the Adams estate. “But we strenuously object to the unauthorized use of his name to sell products of any kind, including digital products, and this includes AI-generated output — regardless of whether his name has been used on the input side, or whether a given model has been trained on his work.”
¶Don’t forget, there’s a trademark side to the sale of AI-generated images. The estate of Ansel Adams hasn’t forgotten this, and they recently reminded Adobe about it, too. Adobe’s “we have systems…” response sounds just like every other tech company on such issues. I’m sure they’ll tout the “challenges of scale” at some point.
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¶I love seeing the stickers reminding people that a car’s electrical system is negative grounded. British cars were positive ground until the late 1960’s (I think the conversion happened in 1968 but I’m not entirely sure). They must have been required by law to put these “reminder” stickers under the hood for some time afterward. Sort of funny.
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¶I forget the make and model of this car (it’s obviously not a Spitfire), but the I love the feel of the black and white treatment on this photo.
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¶I guilted Renee into going to the show, but I think she was glad she did. She loves the Triumphs, too, and had a great time with Denny.
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¶Denny had a lot of fun checking everything out with Jake and his friend Caleb. This was probably my favorite Triumph at the show - I think it’s a Spitfire Mark IV, probably mid-1970s. The black exterior and tan interior looked great.
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¶The Lake Erie British Car Club held its annual car show at Fort Meigs today. Looking at the forecast over the last few days, we were worried rain would delay or even cancel the show. It was cloudy and a bit cool, but that didn’t seem to impact the show. They had a decent number of cars (probably less than the record but still a fair amount to look at) and what appeared to be great attendance.
¶There weren’t many Spitfires, but they did have plenty of other Triumphs and several MGs.
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¶Renee planted our garden today. Looking forward to the annual crop of cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, and herbs!
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¶This just came to me as I sat on the back patio resting between cutting the front and back yards — Beautiful Loser by Bob Seger is the perfect song for today, as a tribute to the Kaiser Darrin. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and, to me, the Darrin is a beautiful car. And it’s a loser.
¶Seger’s Detroit roots don’t hurt, either.
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¶I researched Kaiser-Frazer and the Kaiser Darrin a bit this morning, still jazzed a bit after seeing a Darrin at the Perrysburg car show last night. I figured it would be featured in this book I have about the history of industrial design in Toledo.
¶Nope! It’s not even mentioned in a footnote. Hard to believe, considering the unique appearance and features of the car, and its history and tight connection to other key aspects of Toledo history (Willys, Jeep, etc.).
¶I guess the bottom line is the Darrin was a failure (an epic one, apparently). I guess the phrase “history is written by the victors” applies to more than just war. That’s a shame, of course, because, as the Darrin shows us, there’s fascinating history in the tales of those who lost.
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¶A Saturday with nice weather…which means I’m cutting grass and working on the pool all day.
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¶First Perrysburg car show of the year. Jake took the Spitfire, and Renee, Jonathan, and I met him and his friends down there. They of course had a great turnout with many of the regulars, but also some cars I’ve never seen before.
¶This 1954 Kaiser Darrin was a highlight for me. Look at those lines! The headlight forms in the hood and the dip on the side remind me of the Spitfire lines. I wonder if the Darrin was a source of inspiration for the Triumph.
¶Denny, of course, had some great info on the Kaiser Company and its history in Toledo. It’s fascinating, and he was spot on. Sounds like the Darrin was an early attempt to launch an American sports car to compete with the British cars coming into the country (which would include ancestors of the Spitfire). In its genesis, it was neck and neck with the Corvette.
¶Needless to say, the Darrin, and Kaiser, didn’t survive. The Corvette, meanwhile, is thriving and, perhaps ironically, looking more like a European sports car lately.
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¶Paul Kanareck, the newspaper’s chair, told staff on Wednesday morning: “The substantial losses accruing from the current operations are not sustainable. Therefore, we plan to consult with our staff and external stakeholders to reshape the business, return to profitability and secure the long-term future of the number one news brand in London.”
¶This is truly sad, but also obvious and inevitable. Will be interesting to see what they do to “reshape the business” and “return to profitability.” I’m not sure a weekly print edition is a solution to that challenge.
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¶In all, Meta’s researchers uncovered 510 Facebook accounts, 11 pages, 32 Instagram accounts and one group that were tied to the effort, including fake and previously hacked accounts. The accounts posed as “Jewish students, African Americans and ‘concerned’ citizens” and shared posts that praised Israel’s military actions and criticized the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and college protests. They also shared Islamaophobic comments in Canada, saying that “radical Islam poses a threat to liberal values in Canada.”
¶Or maybe I’m just getting older.
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(bbc.com)
¶Pandas have been housed at the Washington DC zoo for over five decades and are a draw for millions of visitors as well as fans from around the world who watch the bears online on the zoo’s panda cam. The animals have long symbolised warm relations with China, which first gifted a pair of giant pandas to the US after Richard Nixon’s historic 1972 trip to Beijing.
¶It’s nice to see that panda diplomacy is alive and well.
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(espn.com)
¶“The condensed 60-game season for the 2020 calendar year for the National League and American League prompted us to think that maybe the shortened Negro League seasons could come under the MLB umbrella, after all,” Thorn said.
¶More good that came from the pandemic. This had to be an incredibly complex and fascinating research effort. Nice work, MLB!
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¶An Ohio real-estate magnate is planning to take his own two-person submersible down to Titanic wreckage-level depths to show the journey can actually be done safely following the deadly implosion of the OceanGate Titan submersible in June of 2023.
¶I’m happy money is being spent on exploring the ocean, but I’d probably search for treasure from above if I were a billionaire.
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¶There are some exclusions, like game consoles (due to lobbying from game console manufacturers over piracy concerns), medical devices, ATVs, and motor vehicles, which are also typical for repair rules introduced in other states like California and New York.
¶OK, I get the medical device exemption, but ATVs? Game consoles? Come on....
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¶I had one of those “wow, life is bizarre and amazing” moments on the way into work this morning. I was listening to Box of Rain by the Grateful Dead (my personal tribute to great and unique Bill Walton, who passed yesterday while also tracking Jake’s flight (he had a 6:30 AM flight slot this morning!), all on my iPhone. A tiny computer in my hand gave me instantaneous access to the song I wanted to hear in the moment and also allowed me to keep an eye on Jake as he flew. Bizarre and amazing at the same time.
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¶We walked a lot last week, but not in our regular workout routine. We returned to that this morning, with a two mile walk at 5:30 AM. Feels good! And Teddy was certainly happy about it.
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¶At this point, I don’t know how any fan of sport is not watching the NHL playoffs. Every game is fantastic. Playoff hockey is simply unmatched.
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¶That earlier post has my gears turning, not just about the photos but also about how to enable reflections on Daystream. This is interesting.
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¶I took more than 600 photos during the week of Jonathan’s graduation (it literally lasted all week). This one and this one, which were taken one second apart, are my favorites by far.
¶Why? Two reasons.
¶The first I realized right away and in the moment. Just compare the photos. Renee and I were standing by one of the paths entering Harvard Yard, waiting for Jonathan to enter with his house. I was scanning the grads through the viewfinder as they walked by, nervously searching for him, worried that I would miss the shot and, more importantly, miss seeing him as he walked by. I had almost given up when I finally saw him through a gap between students that was opening and closing as they walked toward us.
¶The first photo is one of first I captured after finding him. Renee is standing off to my right, taking video, and Jonathan hasn’t noticed either of us yet. He’s focused and hopefully soaking in the moment. I remember feeling relieved that I found him but nervous about nailing focus on his eyes. I was kind of out of the moment for a moment. I was photographing the moment but not experiencing it.
¶Then I captured the second photo literally a second later. Jonathan had noticed Renee and me during that second and started to smile. I’ll never forget seeing that smile appear on his face as he noticed us in the crowd, and the feeling of the smile appear on my face as I watched his develop. These two photos capture one second of time and our connected smiles that developed over that second, his captured in the second photo and mine captured in my memory. In all the photos I’ve ever taken I don’t think I have captured something like that before. I love that.
¶It took me a bit longer to realize the second reason these two photos are my favorites. Last week was a bit crazy - Jonathan wanted to do all the things and we were thrilled about that. Doing all the things is not really his thing, so Renee and I loved doing all the things. And there were a lot of things! Graduation was like a weeklong fair of sorts. It was amazing, and it was non-stop. We were up early every morning and going all day long. I really wasn’t able to think about it all until driving home on Saturday. Fourteen hours in the car gives you plenty of time to think about things.
¶Somewhere in New York I realized that the one second in time captured in those two photos was really a bigger thing for me.
¶Harvard holds Commencement in the full Yard, which is kind of compartmentalized into Old Yard and New Yard. Nearly all of it – Old and New – is covered in folding chairs for Commencement. Getting a seat is not particularly challenging, but figuring out where to sit to see your graduate enter the Yard is a different story. It’s a bit of a guessing game because you’re not sure which gate they’ll enter through and it’s all balanced by the pressure of time and the need to find a group of seats together.
¶We had found a few seats alongside the library, in the New Yard where the stage is set and the grads sit. We couldn’t actually see the stage from these seats, but video boards really made that a non-issue. I was happy to be in that area of the Yard and had accepted the low likelihood that we would see Jonathan’s house enter. We were near one of the gates, but would it be the gate? No idea. And I had decided the possibility of finding a better spot was outweighed by the pressure of time. I was happy to have decent seats for Renee, Jake, and me and I think I said something like “these will be fine.”
¶Renee, however, had not yet resigned herself to “these will be fine.” I think she said something like “stay here and save these, I’ll go find a better spot.”
¶So we did. Jake and I held the fort while she pressed on. I ate a quick breakfast (a bar that Renee had thoughtfully packed and of which I was blissfully unaware until we sat in our fine seats). Renee found a security guard and asked if he knew which gate Leverett House would enter through. He did, and she then looked for a place along the path from that gate for us to stand. She eventually called me and told me she had the perfect spot. She had just watched Jonathan’s girlfriend march into the Yard (she’s in the band and was leading another house in the procession) and Leverett was coming next.
¶I know exactly what she said on that call – “Get over here!”
¶So I did. I got to the spot just as the band members leading Leverett into the Yard appeared. I readied the camera and started scanning the crowd as they approached, finally finding Jonathan and snapping these two photos and experiencing that one second in time that I’ll never forget.
¶And it’s all because of Renee. I’ll forever be grateful for that.
¶So, yeah, there are two reasons these photos are my favorites from his graduation.
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