Thankful Thursday
May. 7th, 2026 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mdlbearToday I am thankful for...
- Stories.
- Pain meds.
- My families.
- Support groups.
- Comforting fantasies.
mdlbear
dentist: crown
May. 6th, 2026 06:30 pmredbirdI went to the dentist this afternoon, and they did some uncomfortable things as part of creating a new/replacement crown for one of my teeth (which had cavities under the old crown). I currently have a temporary crown, and will be getting the permanent replacement in three weeks; it will be ready sooner, but that's the next available appointment.
I was pleased to see that my Lyft driver, the dentist, and the dental assistant were all masked when I first saw them. I told the driver it was nice to see other people masking, and I tipped extra because of it.
When I checked in, the receptionist told me there would be a $750 copay. I told her that I had been told that the crown was fully covered, and asked her to check. A few minutes later, she confirmed that I wouldn't have to pay anything. I do not understand dental insurance, including this dental insurance, which is an add-on to my Medicare Advantage plan; I would have paid the $750 if I had to, but I'm glad I don't.
I'd been planning to stop and visit some lilac bushes on the way home, but it was raining, which made that less appealing, so I didn't. I did stop at Lizzy's on the way home, and now have a total of five unlabeled pints of ice cream: three today, because a broken freezer meant I had to get the clerk to hand-scoop the ice cream, plus the two from Tosci's. However, I have blank sticky adhesive labels, which should make this easy.
I was pleased to see that my Lyft driver, the dentist, and the dental assistant were all masked when I first saw them. I told the driver it was nice to see other people masking, and I tipped extra because of it.
When I checked in, the receptionist told me there would be a $750 copay. I told her that I had been told that the crown was fully covered, and asked her to check. A few minutes later, she confirmed that I wouldn't have to pay anything. I do not understand dental insurance, including this dental insurance, which is an add-on to my Medicare Advantage plan; I would have paid the $750 if I had to, but I'm glad I don't.
I'd been planning to stop and visit some lilac bushes on the way home, but it was raining, which made that less appealing, so I didn't. I did stop at Lizzy's on the way home, and now have a total of five unlabeled pints of ice cream: three today, because a broken freezer meant I had to get the clerk to hand-scoop the ice cream, plus the two from Tosci's. However, I have blank sticky adhesive labels, which should make this easy.
ludicrous question of the day
May. 6th, 2026 05:15 pmjulianMy mom, who is now 86, has vascular dementia, as noted previously.
She's more "there" in the mornings, and is sometimes able to connect up and have actual conversations, though I admit, this is not often. Then once she starts getting tireder, she is just not rooted in reality, meanders verbally, and has some kind of rich inner life to which I am not privy, and which, when she's asked about, she is unable to explain. (Which is more curious to me because she was just in 2026 in the morning, you know? But it is what it is.) This does often lead to problems because she meanders off, physically, to obey the mysterious dictates of her soul, and can't/won't explain what she wants to do, and does *not* take well to re-direction. (Or, in the words of the medical establishment, is combative.)
She's also miserable and seems to have developed actual aphasia at this point -- that is, she has something specific she wants to say but says the wrong words. Which, sometimes is commentary on 2026, but is also sometimes commentary from her inner life, so even if we could understand it, it wouldn't make sense, but the frustration is the same either way, so sympathy is at least called for.
She does recognize me pretty consistently, which is good both for her sake and mine (because the first time I actually knew she didn't know it was me was Not Entertaining), but she also firmly has the idea her parents are still alive and she wants to visit them (in Lancaster, PA), which is... not so good. My dad is very bad at dealing with the latter, and keeps going, in essence, "No, they're dead," which is. Nowhere near the response you want, there.
Also, she has no sense of time, so she's like, "Let's go!" three minutes after we start a thing. Which is one thing if it's at home, but it's more of a problem if she's at, say, her 5 year old niece's birthday party. My brother and I did decode that it's also her telling us she's done with our visits and we should go away, though, so that was good.
And, she is still doing the "taking a walk and then getting lost and getting the police called on her," thing, which frankly by this point is infuriating because why the fuck won't my dad get inside locks for the house, or at least notice that she's leaving. ?!?!??? <-- my internal state.
Anyway, the reason I'm making this post is that she's getting a lot more unstable on her feet, and has fallen a few times lately, though has not, thankfully, broken anything, but she can't get back up again when she does fall. My dad has now, despite their previously having promised each other they would Never Leave Their House, made the decision that he's open to looking into assisted living/memory care facilities, hosanna. (They've had in-house helpers for a bit, but my mom keeps taking against them because they tell her what to do and she hates that, see above re: combative.)
He called me up (I having had warning from my brother) and was like, "Can we get her into an ambulance and have her taken somewhere this afternoon?" and I barely managed not to laugh at him. No, is the answer, no we can't. I said something about it not being feasible. (I mean, if she broke something it would be, but that is To Be Avoided because it would lead to the downslope, and while she is not exactly happy in her life, the "broken bone to pneumonia" pipeline is not the most efficient way of dying, pardon my distancing humor.)
But! I have now scheduled two tours, one for my brother (on Friday) and one for me on Monday, at two different local-to-my-parents places, and we'll go from there.
She's more "there" in the mornings, and is sometimes able to connect up and have actual conversations, though I admit, this is not often. Then once she starts getting tireder, she is just not rooted in reality, meanders verbally, and has some kind of rich inner life to which I am not privy, and which, when she's asked about, she is unable to explain. (Which is more curious to me because she was just in 2026 in the morning, you know? But it is what it is.) This does often lead to problems because she meanders off, physically, to obey the mysterious dictates of her soul, and can't/won't explain what she wants to do, and does *not* take well to re-direction. (Or, in the words of the medical establishment, is combative.)
She's also miserable and seems to have developed actual aphasia at this point -- that is, she has something specific she wants to say but says the wrong words. Which, sometimes is commentary on 2026, but is also sometimes commentary from her inner life, so even if we could understand it, it wouldn't make sense, but the frustration is the same either way, so sympathy is at least called for.
She does recognize me pretty consistently, which is good both for her sake and mine (because the first time I actually knew she didn't know it was me was Not Entertaining), but she also firmly has the idea her parents are still alive and she wants to visit them (in Lancaster, PA), which is... not so good. My dad is very bad at dealing with the latter, and keeps going, in essence, "No, they're dead," which is. Nowhere near the response you want, there.
Also, she has no sense of time, so she's like, "Let's go!" three minutes after we start a thing. Which is one thing if it's at home, but it's more of a problem if she's at, say, her 5 year old niece's birthday party. My brother and I did decode that it's also her telling us she's done with our visits and we should go away, though, so that was good.
And, she is still doing the "taking a walk and then getting lost and getting the police called on her," thing, which frankly by this point is infuriating because why the fuck won't my dad get inside locks for the house, or at least notice that she's leaving. ?!?!??? <-- my internal state.
Anyway, the reason I'm making this post is that she's getting a lot more unstable on her feet, and has fallen a few times lately, though has not, thankfully, broken anything, but she can't get back up again when she does fall. My dad has now, despite their previously having promised each other they would Never Leave Their House, made the decision that he's open to looking into assisted living/memory care facilities, hosanna. (They've had in-house helpers for a bit, but my mom keeps taking against them because they tell her what to do and she hates that, see above re: combative.)
He called me up (I having had warning from my brother) and was like, "Can we get her into an ambulance and have her taken somewhere this afternoon?" and I barely managed not to laugh at him. No, is the answer, no we can't. I said something about it not being feasible. (I mean, if she broke something it would be, but that is To Be Avoided because it would lead to the downslope, and while she is not exactly happy in her life, the "broken bone to pneumonia" pipeline is not the most efficient way of dying, pardon my distancing humor.)
But! I have now scheduled two tours, one for my brother (on Friday) and one for me on Monday, at two different local-to-my-parents places, and we'll go from there.
(no subject)
May. 6th, 2026 02:06 pmcupcake_gothDay two of horrible migraine, now with the exciting new symptom of sensitivity to noise. Whee?
This comes with a side of anxiety, because I don’t trust HR or upper management anymore. My manager is great, but she’s not the one with ultimate power over things. If I’m okay tomorrow, I’m going to have to work late to hit some deadlines.
—-
In happier news, the Florence + the Machine concert is next week! Which means it’s time to figure out an outfit! Right now I have no idea, but it’s something to think about while I’m languishing on the couch.
Fannish Appreciation
May. 6th, 2026 01:11 pmlydamorehouse I truly love fandom.
I've been in Bleach fandom since at least 2012 (a date easily checked because that's when I started my AO3 account.) And, you do not need to immediately comment that you've never read Bleach. I honestly wouldn't recommend it to most people. I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anime or manga fans, either! For whatever reason, Bleach just happened to be the thing for me that hit me in the right place at the right time. I felt 15 years old again, absolutely caught up in something that I felt desperate to share with other people. That feeling is probably familiar to you, my nerdy friends. So, as I talk, just imagine Your Thing anytime I say Bleach.
I've been really lucky that, over the years, I've had other Bleach fans gift me things. People have written stories for me, people have drawn amazing art for me, andopalsong even podcast one of my fics ("Hey, Opalsong, if you like Free! you should read my Bleach x Free! crossover," I say for the nineteenth time before I remember that YOU PODCASTED it.) There are so many things people have offered me as part of this fandom that I will cherish forever, but until recently no one has ever offered to share a amateur bound book of my work with me.
Behold!
Image: a fan-drawn manga of a fan work of Bleach.
The crazy thing about this, of course, is that in the past year or so there's been a scammer who has targetted me twice attempting to suggest that they will draw a comic book/manga-style work from my story. (It's usually kind of obvious it's a scam because they'll pick a story where I'm like, "three people have read this. Why?") I always answer this with, "if you found my AO3 profile, you know I've given blanket permission for you to do this. Have at it!" and then they always come back with, "Yes, but for a commission," and I have to say, "Friend, I write fan fic for free. If you want to do fan art for the love of it, go for it. I am not paying you to make fan art of my fan work." Especially since this book I got? I paid nothing. The book artist wouldn't even let me pay for shipping.
Anyway, fandom is the best.
I've been in Bleach fandom since at least 2012 (a date easily checked because that's when I started my AO3 account.) And, you do not need to immediately comment that you've never read Bleach. I honestly wouldn't recommend it to most people. I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anime or manga fans, either! For whatever reason, Bleach just happened to be the thing for me that hit me in the right place at the right time. I felt 15 years old again, absolutely caught up in something that I felt desperate to share with other people. That feeling is probably familiar to you, my nerdy friends. So, as I talk, just imagine Your Thing anytime I say Bleach.
I've been really lucky that, over the years, I've had other Bleach fans gift me things. People have written stories for me, people have drawn amazing art for me, and
opalsong even podcast one of my fics ("Hey, Opalsong, if you like Free! you should read my Bleach x Free! crossover," I say for the nineteenth time before I remember that YOU PODCASTED it.) There are so many things people have offered me as part of this fandom that I will cherish forever, but until recently no one has ever offered to share a amateur bound book of my work with me.Behold!
Image: a fan bound book with the title "Academy Blues" by TSP Bindery. (https://www.tiktok.com/@tsp.bindery).
This volume actually contains two of my multi-chapter fics. First,"Forever With You Never Sounded So Stupid"and "Academy Blues." Not than most of you care, but both of these fics are part of my emotional process of recovering after the absolutely stupid, rushed ending of the official Bleach manga. I will not get into it (in part because if I start ranting, I will not stop), but suffice to say this is a fix-it that, in my own personal head, is now canon. I literally note which panel to stop reading, because my story perfectly fits canon up to that point. I also actually include a lot of the information gleaned from the official light novels that Shounen Jump commissioned to also try to actually fix the mess Kubo Tite left behind.
Anyway, the cover isn't all that exciting, honestly. But wait until you see the interior....
Interior chapter start, this one featuring Renji from Bleach....
And a second one,
Image: featuring a bone tree from a part of the Bleach universe known as Hueco Mundo, the Hollow World
Also scatterred throughout are some bits of a manga-style comicbook that aysmiro drew and shared with me, while I was writing this particular set of fics. As I was telling a friend, the pieces of this fan manga are so important to me that I've desperately been saving it on various digital back-ups for years. Now, thanks to this fan project, I have high quality printouts forever.
Image: a fan-drawn manga of a fan work of Bleach.
The crazy thing about this, of course, is that in the past year or so there's been a scammer who has targetted me twice attempting to suggest that they will draw a comic book/manga-style work from my story. (It's usually kind of obvious it's a scam because they'll pick a story where I'm like, "three people have read this. Why?") I always answer this with, "if you found my AO3 profile, you know I've given blanket permission for you to do this. Have at it!" and then they always come back with, "Yes, but for a commission," and I have to say, "Friend, I write fan fic for free. If you want to do fan art for the love of it, go for it. I am not paying you to make fan art of my fan work." Especially since this book I got? I paid nothing. The book artist wouldn't even let me pay for shipping.
Anyway, fandom is the best.
2026.05.06
May. 6th, 2026 11:01 amlsandersonGas prices pique interest in EVs
by Brian Martucci
https://www.minnpost.com/newsletter/rising-gas-prices-pique-interest-in-evs/
Sunny hopes mixed with warning signs in Frey’s State of the City
And yes, of course he mentioned the Timberwolves.
by Trevor Mitchell
https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/05/frey-state-of-the-city-sunny-hopes-mixed-with-warning-signs/ ( Read more... )
by Brian Martucci
https://www.minnpost.com/newsletter/rising-gas-prices-pique-interest-in-evs/
Sunny hopes mixed with warning signs in Frey’s State of the City
And yes, of course he mentioned the Timberwolves.
by Trevor Mitchell
https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/05/frey-state-of-the-city-sunny-hopes-mixed-with-warning-signs/ ( Read more... )
Colbert on writing a new LOTR movie: “every moment has been a joy so far”
May. 6th, 2026 02:32 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
the_one_ring_net_feed
As his show gets cancelled by Paramount, Stephen Colbert has a lot to say about the future of his career.
The Hollywood Reporter has a big "exit interview" with Stephen Colbert who is leaving CBS late night TV this month. While he touches on many subjects, we of course want to know more about his Middle-earth movie first announced back in March.
First off, Colbert reveals his youngest son is graduating college this month right before The Late Show goes off the air. That is not the same person co-writing "Shadows of the Past" as that would be his second son, Peter McGee, who has worked on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, The Righteous Gemstones, Blue Bloods, Outer Banks. From THR:
You’ve announced your next act: a Lord of the Rings film. Naturally, there’s a contingent of the LOTR fan community that’s miffed: “Why does Stephen get to write this? Just because he’s famous and a superfan?” Tell them why they should trust you.
I mean, there’s no reason to. And there’s no value in me addressing that because all you can do as — I’ll use a loaded term here — an artist is follow your heart and the craft that you have learned to try to turn this into something that is not fandom but drama. And luckily, I don’t have to do this alone. I have a great Sherpa in [co-writer and LOTR veteran] Philippa Boyens, who cares about it in the same way I do. And I will just say that every moment has been a joy so far.
Writers Reveal
Read the whole interview with Stephen Colbert over at THR and chat about it with other fans on our discord.
I think that about covers it
May. 6th, 2026 07:03 ammrissaHello, friends. I've got something to show you
It's a book cover! In fact it is my book cover! Because...you can preorder my novella, A Dubious Clamor, directly from the publisher or from an assortment of bookstores of your choice! In ebook or hardcover editions! Isn't it pretty? Isn't it appropriate for the book?
Okay, so you can't know whether it's appropriate for the book yet. But you can trust Naomi Kritzer, friend and multi-award winner, who describes this book as, "No war but class war; also, harpies!" (She also says it's "delightful, unique, and frequently hilarious," in case you were wondering.) Some other awesome people describe it as things too! Wonderful people like authors Ruthanna Emrys and Davinia Evans and critic Paul Weimer! Do you want to know what those things are? You can see them on the pre-order page!
But wait! there's more. (You did the right voice in your head for that, right?) If you preorder, you can not only get this lovely novella (ooooh! aaaaah!), you can also get a really cool sticker of a skeptical sword! You can put this on your laptop, phone, water bottle, small child, or other sticker-bearing device! Be the envy of your friends and neighbors, or at least those of your friends and neighbors who are cool enough to like sword stickers. (As for the other kind, who cares what they think? You are a discerning individual who knows the value of sword stickers, and that's what matters.)
Don't go yet! There's still more. Sadly we currently live in the timeline that has class war but no harpies. (I have improved on this in the novella! Which you can read on September 15 if you preorder it now!) But do you know what our timeline does have? It has harpy eagles. Harpy eagles are so cool. And the lovely people at the World Wildlife Fund allow you to donate to support their habitat. Every person who preorders will be entered into a drawing (subject to sweepstakes laws in your jurisdiction) to win a harpy eagle plushie that also supports harpy eagles in real life! For each hundred pre-orders, we will add another harpy eagle plushie (and its attendant habitat support) to the drawing, so your odds of winning an awesome harpy eagle plushie to be your new cuddly pal and mascot will never be less than 1 in 100. Or you can pass it on to be the cuddly pal and mascot of someone else you know, that part is up to you. Similarly you can also preorder copies of the novella and not read them, if for some reason you're opposed to opinionated weaponry, fictional operetta, and cake in your reading life. I will warn you, there is much cake.
So here it is! Pre-order today! or also other days, that's fine too!
Rowhammer Attack Against NVIDIA Chips
May. 6th, 2026 10:36 ambruce_schneier_feedA new rowhammer attack gives complete control of NVIDIA CPUs.
On Thursday, two research teams, working independently of each other, demonstrated attacks against two cards from Nvidia’s Ampere generation that take GPU rowhammering into new—and potentially much more consequential—territory: GDDR bitflips that give adversaries full control of CPU memory, resulting in full system compromise of the host machine. For the attack to work, IOMMU memory management must be disabled, as is the default in BIOS settings.
“Our work shows that Rowhammer, which is well-studied on CPUs, is a serious threat on GPUs as well,” said Andrew Kwong, co-author of one of the papers. “GDDRHammer: Greatly Disturbing DRAM RowsCross-Component Rowhammer Attacks from Modern GPUs.” “With our work, we… show how an attacker can induce bit flips on the GPU to gain arbitrary read/write access to all of the CPU’s memory, resulting in complete compromise of the machine.”
Update Friday, April 3: On Friday, researchers unveiled a third Rowhammer attack that also demonstrates Rowhammer attacks on the RTX A6000 that achieves privilege escalation to a root shell. Unlike the previous two, the researchers said, it works even when IOMMU is enabled.
The second paper is GeForge: Hammering GDDR Memory to Forge GPU Page Tables for Fun and Profit:
…does largely the same thing, except that instead of exploiting the last-level page table, as GDDRHammer does, it manipulates the last-level page directory. It was able to induce 1,171 bitflips against the RTX 3060 and 202 bitflips against the RTX 6000.
GeForge, too, uses novel hammering patterns and memory massaging to corrupt GPU page table mappings in GDDR6 memory to acquire read and write access to the GPU memory space. From there, it acquires the same privileges over host CPU memory. The GeForge proof-of-concept exploit against the RTX 3060 concludes by opening a root shell window that allows the attacker to issue commands that run unfettered privileges on the host machine. The researchers said that both GDDRHammer and GeForge could do the same thing against the RTC 6000.
participatory government, in which I participated
May. 5th, 2026 12:11 pmjulianPepperell has an open Town Meeting, which is to say, Pepperell has the New England tradition of Town Meeting, in which The Populace decides what the town is going to spend and do over the course of the next year. This often amounts to rubberstamping the votes of the Select Board and the School Committee on the budgets, but they do also result in actual questions and actual decisions on some topics, like zoning stuff, so it does involve actual democracy, too.
In some towns, it involves elected representatives being Town Meeting Members (my mom was a Town Meeting Member for literal decades), which is called Representative Town Meeting. Pepperell, as noted, has Open Town Meeting, in which all residents (or in some cases, all registered voters in the town) can deliberate, so I went, rather gleefully, and I was in full Anthropology mode. (I am, yes, registered already. Because.)
I covered Town Meetings for my newspaper, of course, so I went to Every One, and Could Not Vote, had to pay attention to Everything and Be Neutral and Make Sure I Stayed Til The End, so the best thing about last night was I got to leave early.
Aherm.
But I also got to vote! So that was fun. And I identified the people who ask good questions and people sigh in relief when they stand up, and the ones who ask incessant ones forever, about whom other people sigh and mutter about to their neighbors, and I enjoyed the Town Moderator, who isn't as good, Roberts-Rules-wise, as Dedham's long-time one who just retired, but is funny, which is a boon.
They do have Info Sessions the week beforehand (what we called Mini Town Meeting in Dedham), which I did not manage to find out about this time, so I Now Know for future use.
I ran into my neighbor, who works in the Town Clerk's office -- she's one of the people who checks people in, so we nodded to each other in the hallway and I got swept off to the main auditorium. (As is tradition, it was in a school auditorium.) They asked, at the beginning, if anyone was new, and a youngish guy and I waved, and people nodded at us, and the couple next to me said they'd lived in Pepperell 40 years and always came, and I said I was used to Town Meetings because of the newspaper, and it turned out the wife had been in newspapers, too, so that was nice. (Not that I remember their names, but, you know, I can nod to them in future.)
There were a lot of presentations and the thing I was trying to stick around for didn't happen by 9:45, so. I went home. (They have to deal with PFAS contamination in their municipal water supply, and had gotten money for it, but things have changed slightly so they need more money, and I figured it'd be controversial. I don't have to care about the contamination because I have a well, but I do want to Make Sure They Spend Their Money Right.) Alas, I have an early client on Tuesdays, so, as I said, I got to Leave! Yay!
Anyway. Am glad. Like Participating.
In some towns, it involves elected representatives being Town Meeting Members (my mom was a Town Meeting Member for literal decades), which is called Representative Town Meeting. Pepperell, as noted, has Open Town Meeting, in which all residents (or in some cases, all registered voters in the town) can deliberate, so I went, rather gleefully, and I was in full Anthropology mode. (I am, yes, registered already. Because.)
I covered Town Meetings for my newspaper, of course, so I went to Every One, and Could Not Vote, had to pay attention to Everything and Be Neutral and Make Sure I Stayed Til The End, so the best thing about last night was I got to leave early.
Aherm.
But I also got to vote! So that was fun. And I identified the people who ask good questions and people sigh in relief when they stand up, and the ones who ask incessant ones forever, about whom other people sigh and mutter about to their neighbors, and I enjoyed the Town Moderator, who isn't as good, Roberts-Rules-wise, as Dedham's long-time one who just retired, but is funny, which is a boon.
They do have Info Sessions the week beforehand (what we called Mini Town Meeting in Dedham), which I did not manage to find out about this time, so I Now Know for future use.
I ran into my neighbor, who works in the Town Clerk's office -- she's one of the people who checks people in, so we nodded to each other in the hallway and I got swept off to the main auditorium. (As is tradition, it was in a school auditorium.) They asked, at the beginning, if anyone was new, and a youngish guy and I waved, and people nodded at us, and the couple next to me said they'd lived in Pepperell 40 years and always came, and I said I was used to Town Meetings because of the newspaper, and it turned out the wife had been in newspapers, too, so that was nice. (Not that I remember their names, but, you know, I can nod to them in future.)
There were a lot of presentations and the thing I was trying to stick around for didn't happen by 9:45, so. I went home. (They have to deal with PFAS contamination in their municipal water supply, and had gotten money for it, but things have changed slightly so they need more money, and I figured it'd be controversial. I don't have to care about the contamination because I have a well, but I do want to Make Sure They Spend Their Money Right.) Alas, I have an early client on Tuesdays, so, as I said, I got to Leave! Yay!
Anyway. Am glad. Like Participating.
In which I am an unobservant idiot
May. 5th, 2026 01:32 pmcupcake_gothWe went out to dinner last night at an upscale steakhouse that has an Argentinian theme. My steak was delicious, but I misread the menu and thought the steak came with fancy mashed potatoes. No, that was an option, but the standard is polenta. And because I haven’t had polenta in YEARS, I didn’t realize what it was until I’d eaten about a third of it.
I immediately took an interrupt med, which helped keep the migraine down to a mid-range level. I took all the preventative things when I went to bed; when I woke up at 5-ish to go to the bathroom I felt okay. Then the alarm went off and everything was awful. So I have tapped out from work and filed my intermittent leave claim.
God, the polenta was delicious. :: weeps ::
2026.05.05
May. 5th, 2026 12:00 pmlsandersonWhile all eyes are on the Boundary Waters, a different mining project nears a regulatory yardstick
Tribal and environmental groups have lined up against the Tamarack mine west of Duluth ahead of a summer public comment period.
by Brian Arola
https://www.minnpost.com/environment/2026/05/while-all-eyes-are-on-the-boundary-waters-a-different-mining-project-nears-a-regulatory-yardstick/
Want more electricians? Build better career opportunities
Young people will be drawn to careers in the trades if they can see a clear career path. Policymakers — and business — can do more to address workforce gaps.
by Matt Bergmann
https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2026/05/want-more-electricians-build-better-career-opportunities-trades/ ( Read more... )
Tribal and environmental groups have lined up against the Tamarack mine west of Duluth ahead of a summer public comment period.
by Brian Arola
https://www.minnpost.com/environment/2026/05/while-all-eyes-are-on-the-boundary-waters-a-different-mining-project-nears-a-regulatory-yardstick/
Want more electricians? Build better career opportunities
Young people will be drawn to careers in the trades if they can see a clear career path. Policymakers — and business — can do more to address workforce gaps.
by Matt Bergmann
https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2026/05/want-more-electricians-build-better-career-opportunities-trades/ ( Read more... )
feministdailynews_feedOn April 29, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to decimate protections under the Voting Rights Act, one of the nation’s most important civil rights laws. The case, Louisiana v. Callais, centers on how states consider race when drawing legislative districts to comply with voting rights protections. In its ruling, the Court concluded that race […]
The post Feminist Leaders Speak Out Against the Supreme Court’s Devastating Blow to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 appeared first on Feminist Majority Foundation.
DarkSword Malware
May. 5th, 2026 10:42 ambruce_schneier_feedDarkSword is a sophisticated piece of malware—probably government designed—that targets iOS.
Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has identified a new iOS full-chain exploit that leveraged multiple zero-day vulnerabilities to fully compromise devices. Based on toolmarks in recovered payloads, we believe the exploit chain to be called DarkSword. Since at least November 2025, GTIG has observed multiple commercial surveillance vendors and suspected state-sponsored actors utilizing DarkSword in distinct campaigns. These threat actors have deployed the exploit chain against targets in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Malaysia, and Ukraine.
DarkSword supports iOS versions 18.4 through 18.7 and utilizes six different vulnerabilities to deploy final-stage payloads. GTIG has identified three distinct malware families deployed following a successful DarkSword compromise: GHOSTBLADE, GHOSTKNIFE, and GHOSTSABER. The proliferation of this single exploit chain across disparate threat actors mirrors the previously discovered Coruna iOS exploit kit. Notably, UNC6353, a suspected Russian espionage group previously observed using Coruna, has recently incorporated DarkSword into their watering hole campaigns.
A week after it was identified, a version of it leaked onto the internet, where it is being used more broadly.
This news is a month old. Your devices are safe, assuming you patch regularly.
Three Good Things
May. 4th, 2026 10:05 pmdreaming1) still working on chapter 32, but it's going good!
2) I took my cotton plant outside and hosed off the whitefly honeydew and pruned it up and sprayed it down with organic pest spray. It's looking great! there are already 6 nice fat bolls from where I've been hand pollinating them. I just wantt o get the whiteflies under control before it gets warm and they take over, lol.
3) made rice to portion out today. I've got a lot of roast pork in the freezer, but I used my last container of rice yesterday. I've also got a bowl of dry beans to sort and soak and cook and portion as I have time.
writing this story is taking over my brain. lol.
2) I took my cotton plant outside and hosed off the whitefly honeydew and pruned it up and sprayed it down with organic pest spray. It's looking great! there are already 6 nice fat bolls from where I've been hand pollinating them. I just wantt o get the whiteflies under control before it gets warm and they take over, lol.
3) made rice to portion out today. I've got a lot of roast pork in the freezer, but I used my last container of rice yesterday. I've also got a bowl of dry beans to sort and soak and cook and portion as I have time.
writing this story is taking over my brain. lol.
another pointless medical test
May. 4th, 2026 06:53 pmredbirdI saw Carmen (my PCP) this afternoon, in person. I couldn't remember why we'd scheduled this in person, but assumed we had a reason at the time, but when I asked, Carmen didn't know either.
She wrote the next Ritalin prescription; listened to my heart and lungs as long as I was there; and had me provide a urine sample for a once-a-year toxicology screening. In theory, that screening is to make sure that the patient is actually taking rather than selling their Schedule II drugs. The thing is, the standard/required test panel is for about a dozen things, not including Ritalin. There is a test for that, which she didn't order because the sample would have to go to a different lab, and she trusts that I'm taking the medication as prescribed.
I'm also supposed to schedule a mammogram.
It's a nice day, so I went to Tosci's afterwards, and now have a pint each of sweet cream and lime vanilla ice cream.
She wrote the next Ritalin prescription; listened to my heart and lungs as long as I was there; and had me provide a urine sample for a once-a-year toxicology screening. In theory, that screening is to make sure that the patient is actually taking rather than selling their Schedule II drugs. The thing is, the standard/required test panel is for about a dozen things, not including Ritalin. There is a test for that, which she didn't order because the sample would have to go to a different lab, and she trusts that I'm taking the medication as prescribed.
I'm also supposed to schedule a mammogram.
It's a nice day, so I went to Tosci's afterwards, and now have a pint each of sweet cream and lime vanilla ice cream.
When We Were Real, by Daryl Gregory
May. 4th, 2026 12:06 pmrachelmanija
One day everyone in the world woke up with these words in front of their eyes, somehow inscribed in their inner eye: YOU ARE LIVING IN A SIMULATION. Simultaneously, a number of impossible things appeared on Earth, apparently to prove it: a frozen tornado, windows between continents, etc.
It's now seven years later. Those words still appear before everyone's eyes periodically. And tours have sprung up to take people to see the Impossibles, or at least as many as can be seen on a seven-day bus trip.
This extremely high-concept premise resembles that of The Measure in some ways: a world-spanning event, clearly real and equally clearly done by a more-than-human power, with immense existential implications, and with no one having any idea why it happened or why it happened now. But this is Daryl Gregory and he's very good with bizarre high-concept premises, and this book is excellent.
The other genre of When We Were Real is "set of random people thrown together" story. A number of the characters are, at least on the surface, straight out of a 1930s train story or a 1970s airplane story: two nuns, a rabbi, a pregnant woman, an elderly woman in a wheelchair and her devoted daughter, a set of elderly tourists, a person who's secretly dying, a person with a secret identity, a fugitive from the law. The only stock character it's missing is the cute child.
The many characters are very human and likable, with even the most frustrating of them having reasons for being the way they are; the annoying pregnant influencer's reason for being an annoying influencer turns out to be both sympathetic and heartbreaking. (Yes, it's partly to provide for her upcoming baby, but the real question is "Why an influencer rather than some other job?")
( Read more... )
The Impossibles themselves are excellent. My favorite was the time tunnel, where you can stay an infinite amount of subjective time (you get a home pulled out of your own history or desires, plus fresh-baked bread every morning) and emerge several hundred miles away, only a second having passed outside. But the flock of non-real sheep was pretty great too.
There's serious themes - existentialism, mortality, meaning, God, ethics, love - but delivered with a light touch. It's more plotty than I expected, given the quest/picaresque structure, and the story is very satisfying. You don't get answers to all the questions, but you do get a general outline as to what's going on and why. It's a very human and humane novel, of the moment but in a good way.
Content notes: Cancer. Plans for suicide due to terminal illness. Pregnancy and birthing issues. Violence.
2026.05.04
May. 4th, 2026 11:38 amlsandersonDNA Just Exposed The Drug Berserkers Drank Before Battle — And Their Genes Still Walk Modern Norway
Origin Decoder
https://youtu.be/vWKnK1HCuoU?si=Ci0V3lzv4uL2y4Cs
8 things you should know about Trump’s effort to “take over” the midterm elections
From dismantling guardrails that upheld the integrity of past elections to gutting federal agencies and installing allies who supported Trump’s claim that the 2020 vote was stolen, here are the key takeaways from our recent investigation.
By ProPublica
https://www.minnpost.com/national/washington/2026/05/trumps-effort-to-take-over-the-midterm-elections/ ( Read more... )
Origin Decoder
https://youtu.be/vWKnK1HCuoU?si=Ci0V3lzv4uL2y4Cs
8 things you should know about Trump’s effort to “take over” the midterm elections
From dismantling guardrails that upheld the integrity of past elections to gutting federal agencies and installing allies who supported Trump’s claim that the 2020 vote was stolen, here are the key takeaways from our recent investigation.
By ProPublica
https://www.minnpost.com/national/washington/2026/05/trumps-effort-to-take-over-the-midterm-elections/ ( Read more... )
Hacking Polymarket
May. 4th, 2026 09:46 ambruce_schneier_feedPolymarket is a platform where people can bet on real-world events, political and otherwise. Leaving the ethical considerations of this aside (for one, it facilitates assassination), one of the issues with making this work is the verification of these real-world events. Polymarket gamblers have threatened a journalist because his story was being used to verify an event. And now, gamblers are taking hair dryers to weather sensors to rig weather bets.
There’s also insider trading: a lot of it.
Books for April
May. 4th, 2026 10:48 amkiwiriaHeartless Hunter - Kristen Ciccarelli, 4/5, Audiobook ~12hrs
Definitely one of the better fantasy books I've read recently. Good use of world-building, and the main characters were nicely fleshed out. However, it ends on a huge cliff-hanger, meaning it's more half of one book, than a book in its own right.
Fortunately I knew that going into it, so made sure to have the next book readily available as well.
I didn't always fully understand the friendship between Alex and Rune ... or rather, his motivations for helping her, but the relationship between Gideon and Rune totally worked for me. I'm very interested to see how that's explored further in the next book.
But that ending! Gah!
Bad Blood - Jennifer Lynn Barnes, 3/5, 509 pages
I mostly liked it, but man, it jumped the shark around the half-way point.
One thing I've enjoyed about this series is that it was believable within its own universe. Sure, IRL teenagers would never be allowed to play agents, but they were kept at a distance, and in the first few books at least, the crimes were realistic.
In this one? Not so much :-P So I definitely had to suspend my disbelief a lot more than I had had for the earlier books in the series.
It was still well-written and easily read, but I think I'm ready to leave the series behind by now.
Home - Penny Parkes, 4/5, 464 pages
Slow to start, and in the beginning I didn't care much for the flash backs, but once I got into it (and figured out what Penny Parkes was trying to do with the flashbacks), I fell completely in love. Sweet and poignant. I ended up absolutely adoring it.
I loved Kate and how her friendship with Anna was depicted - LOVED that the entire family took her in. I have a friend like that, and they are just amazing. I adored Callie, and was happy that she found somebody who could understand her.
I was somewhat annoyed that we didn't get a resolution regarding Andrew, but guess it was unfortunately all too realistic that we wouldn't.
The ending was perhaps a bit too tidy, and thus not quite as satisfying as I had hoped, but that's a minor nitpick. A bit too prickly to be called a comfort read, but all in all, a very heartwarming book.
The Name Game - Beth O'Leary, 2.5/5, 384 pages
This is definitely not one of Beth O'Leary's better books.
I liked the beginning - love reading about small communities, and Ormer was just perfect in that regard. I also loved the idea of Charlie and Jones having to compete for the role of manager ... even if they did accept the idea of co-managing a bit too quickly. I didn't even mind that there didn't seem to be much of a plot at all. Character-driven plots can be super cozy, and this one was shaping up to be just that.
But the hostility of the committee annoyed me, and the constant secrecy got to me ... especially when those secrets led to miscommunications. At that point I started recalling the ridiculous twist at the end of "Swept Away" and started to worry ...
And unfortunately I was right to do so. The twist here came very late and was a lot more unrealistic and contrived than could be handwaved away by suspension of disbelief. The only thing the ending really did have going for it, was that there was no third act breakup to complicate matters even further.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky*, 4/5, 228 pages
Had to downgrade my rating a bit. I still enjoyed it, but it took me much longer to get attached to the characters than I had expected.
The Physician - Noah Gordon*, 5/5, 720 pages
I still absolutely love this book and picked it up at every chance I got. I do think there are some parts of it that are unnecessary for the telling of the main storyline (the trek to India for one), but it never felt drawn out or dull, so I enjoyed it all the same.
This time around I did wonder if Cole could ever be content with his life in Scotland though. Must seem rather drab after the splendor and excitement of Persia.
Pope Joan - Donna W. Cross, 4.5/5, Audiobook ~19hrs
Still find the story fascinating, but it grated a bit how two-dimensional many of the characters were. If they were evil, there were absolutely no redeeming qualities about them. Joan's father is a perfect example.
A captivating book all the same, and I'm curious about how historically accurate it is - when push comes to shove.
Half Moon Investigations - Eoin Colfer, 4/5, 311 pages
A childrens' book that's fun for adults too :-D
Imagine "Bugsy Malone" as a book. The writing style is noir ... and the detective is a 12-year-old kid. Absolutely brilliant and really well executed.
The plot is pretty much what you'd expect from a childrens' whodunnit, but Eoin Colfer has a way with words and made this a very entertaining and enjoyable read.
The Consumption of Magic - T.J. Klune*, 4/5, Audiobook ~18hrs
A Wish Upon the Stars - TJ. Klune*, 5/5, Audiobook ~18hrs
Finishing off my re-read of this series once again. I love these books!!!!
Books Read: 44
Pages Read: 8,945
Hours Listened To: 196
Book of the Month: Heartless Hunter, will definitely pick up the next book ASAP.
Biggest Disappointment: The Name Game. A shame, since I know Beth O'Leary can do SO much better.
Definitely one of the better fantasy books I've read recently. Good use of world-building, and the main characters were nicely fleshed out. However, it ends on a huge cliff-hanger, meaning it's more half of one book, than a book in its own right.
Fortunately I knew that going into it, so made sure to have the next book readily available as well.
I didn't always fully understand the friendship between Alex and Rune ... or rather, his motivations for helping her, but the relationship between Gideon and Rune totally worked for me. I'm very interested to see how that's explored further in the next book.
But that ending! Gah!
Bad Blood - Jennifer Lynn Barnes, 3/5, 509 pages
I mostly liked it, but man, it jumped the shark around the half-way point.
One thing I've enjoyed about this series is that it was believable within its own universe. Sure, IRL teenagers would never be allowed to play agents, but they were kept at a distance, and in the first few books at least, the crimes were realistic.
In this one? Not so much :-P So I definitely had to suspend my disbelief a lot more than I had had for the earlier books in the series.
It was still well-written and easily read, but I think I'm ready to leave the series behind by now.
Home - Penny Parkes, 4/5, 464 pages
Slow to start, and in the beginning I didn't care much for the flash backs, but once I got into it (and figured out what Penny Parkes was trying to do with the flashbacks), I fell completely in love. Sweet and poignant. I ended up absolutely adoring it.
I loved Kate and how her friendship with Anna was depicted - LOVED that the entire family took her in. I have a friend like that, and they are just amazing. I adored Callie, and was happy that she found somebody who could understand her.
I was somewhat annoyed that we didn't get a resolution regarding Andrew, but guess it was unfortunately all too realistic that we wouldn't.
The ending was perhaps a bit too tidy, and thus not quite as satisfying as I had hoped, but that's a minor nitpick. A bit too prickly to be called a comfort read, but all in all, a very heartwarming book.
The Name Game - Beth O'Leary, 2.5/5, 384 pages
This is definitely not one of Beth O'Leary's better books.
I liked the beginning - love reading about small communities, and Ormer was just perfect in that regard. I also loved the idea of Charlie and Jones having to compete for the role of manager ... even if they did accept the idea of co-managing a bit too quickly. I didn't even mind that there didn't seem to be much of a plot at all. Character-driven plots can be super cozy, and this one was shaping up to be just that.
But the hostility of the committee annoyed me, and the constant secrecy got to me ... especially when those secrets led to miscommunications. At that point I started recalling the ridiculous twist at the end of "Swept Away" and started to worry ...
And unfortunately I was right to do so. The twist here came very late and was a lot more unrealistic and contrived than could be handwaved away by suspension of disbelief. The only thing the ending really did have going for it, was that there was no third act breakup to complicate matters even further.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky*, 4/5, 228 pages
Had to downgrade my rating a bit. I still enjoyed it, but it took me much longer to get attached to the characters than I had expected.
The Physician - Noah Gordon*, 5/5, 720 pages
I still absolutely love this book and picked it up at every chance I got. I do think there are some parts of it that are unnecessary for the telling of the main storyline (the trek to India for one), but it never felt drawn out or dull, so I enjoyed it all the same.
This time around I did wonder if Cole could ever be content with his life in Scotland though. Must seem rather drab after the splendor and excitement of Persia.
Pope Joan - Donna W. Cross, 4.5/5, Audiobook ~19hrs
Still find the story fascinating, but it grated a bit how two-dimensional many of the characters were. If they were evil, there were absolutely no redeeming qualities about them. Joan's father is a perfect example.
A captivating book all the same, and I'm curious about how historically accurate it is - when push comes to shove.
Half Moon Investigations - Eoin Colfer, 4/5, 311 pages
A childrens' book that's fun for adults too :-D
Imagine "Bugsy Malone" as a book. The writing style is noir ... and the detective is a 12-year-old kid. Absolutely brilliant and really well executed.
The plot is pretty much what you'd expect from a childrens' whodunnit, but Eoin Colfer has a way with words and made this a very entertaining and enjoyable read.
The Consumption of Magic - T.J. Klune*, 4/5, Audiobook ~18hrs
A Wish Upon the Stars - TJ. Klune*, 5/5, Audiobook ~18hrs
Finishing off my re-read of this series once again. I love these books!!!!
Books Read: 44
Pages Read: 8,945
Hours Listened To: 196
Book of the Month: Heartless Hunter, will definitely pick up the next book ASAP.
Biggest Disappointment: The Name Game. A shame, since I know Beth O'Leary can do SO much better.