California climate measure fails after “green” governor opposed it

Enlarge (credit: Education Images/Getty)

The only statewide climate measure on California’s ballot Tuesday failed, even though it would have raised billions to help meet the state’s ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets by subsidizing electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, among other things. Its downfall resulted largely from the high-profile opposition of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has arguably worked harder than any other governor to position himself as a climate leader.

Official ballot materials said Proposition 30 would provide funding for programs to reduce air pollution and prevent wildfires by increasing tax on personal income over $2 million. The roughly 35,000 Californians who make more than $2 million would have been required to pay an additional 1.75 percent on income above that amount.

The tax on these high-income earners—0.08 percent of Californians—would raise about $3.5 billion to $5 billion annually, according to the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Read 42 remaining paragraphs | Comments

For $8, Twitter Blue users create a wave of checkmarked imposter accounts

Enlarge / Don't let the blue check mark fool you; "Nintendoofus" is not an official account...

Twitter has begun rolling out its $8-a-month Twitter Blue subscriptions, complete with "verified" checkmarks for paid users. But the social network is also fighting to suspend a wave of accounts that are exploiting confusion over those checkmarks, imitating major brands and celebrities to spread authentic-looking fake information.

In the video game sphere, fraudulent "checkmarked" accounts appearing Wednesday night included Nintendo of America supposedly showing Mario flipping the bird, Valve supposedly announcing Ricochet: Neon Prime, and Rockstar Games supposedly announcing a new trailer date for Grand Theft Auto VI. In the world of sports, a fake Lebron James claimed he was requesting a trade, a fake Aroldis Chapman said he had re-signed with the Yankees, and a fake version of ESPN's Adam Schefter "reported" on the supposed departure of Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels.

Following sports transactions and news could become a total mess with the new verification system

Already fake LeBron and Aroldis Chapman tweets going around pic.twitter.com/vQgMqws1W0

— Joon Lee (@joonlee) November 9, 2022

Checkmarked accounts also gleefully imitated political figures, from Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani to former British MP Tony Blair and former US President George Bush. One bold checkmarked scammer even imitated Twitter itself, advertising a fake "free" Twitter Blue deal for crypto/NFT owners who "authenticate their wallet assets."

Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

The best wireless mechanical keyboards

Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

It's no secret that mechanical keyboards provide some of the best tactile typing experiences available. It's also not a secret that wireless keyboards can be a productivity boon, reducing workspace clutter and easily connecting with numerous device types. Thankfully, wireless mechanical keyboard selection has grown so much in recent years that you can find options with feature sets on par with the priciest wired keyboards.

When exploring today's selection of cable-free mechanical keyboards, there's plenty to consider beyond switch type. For example, how many devices do you want the keyboard to be able to toggle across? Should any of those wireless connections use a USB receiver? Battery life is also paramount (all the options here are rechargeable) and, just as with any other premium keyboard, features like programmability, onboard memory, and quality keycaps are important.

With those qualifications in mind, we sought out the best wireless mechanical keyboards for power users.

Read 50 remaining paragraphs | Comments

NASA leaves its Artemis I rocket exposed to winds above design limits

Enlarge / The upper part of the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft likely faced the strongest wind gusts on Thursday morning. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann)

Early on Thursday morning, Hurricane Nicole made landfall near Vero Beach, on Florida's eastern coast. Because Nicole had a very large eye, nearly 60 miles in diameter, its strongest winds were located well to the north of this landfalling position.

As a result of this, Kennedy Space Center took some of the most intense wind gusts from Nicole late on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. While such winds from a Category 1 hurricane are unlikely to damage facilities, they are of concern because the space agency left its Artemis I mission—consisting of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft—exposed on a pad at Launch Complex-39B. The pad is a stone's throw from the Atlantic Ocean.

How intense were the winds? The National Weather Service hosts data from NASA sensors attached to this launch pad's three lighting towers on a public website. It can be a little difficult to interpret the readings because there are sensors at altitudes varying from 132 feet to 457 feet. Most of the publicly available data appears to come from an altitude of about 230 feet, however, which would represent the area of the Space Launch System rocket where the core stage is attached to the upper stage. The entire stack reaches a height of about 370 feet above the ground.

Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments

FTX on brink of collapse after Binance abandons rescue

Enlarge (credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

FTX is on the brink of collapse as chief Sam Bankman-Fried races to secure billions of dollars to salvage his empire after Binance ditched an eleventh-hour rescue of one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges.

Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital said it would mark down its $214 million investment in FTX to zero after a run on the exchange in recent days blew a massive hole in its balance sheet and cast serious doubts over its survival.

“In recent days, a liquidity crunch has created solvency risk for FTX,” Sequoia said in a note on Wednesday to investors in its fund.

Read 14 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Nurse who called 911 on her ER talks chaos, fear amid understaffing crisis

Enlarge / Emergency department staff members work at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California, on November 1. Orange County's health officer has declared a local health emergency in response to increases in respiratory illnesses and an onslaught of the quickly spreading RSV, a respiratory virus that is most dangerous in young children. (credit: Getty | Orange County Register)

The charge nurse who called 911 last month when her emergency department became overwhelmed with patients is speaking candidly about the chaos, fear, and unsafe conditions that continue to plague her hospital and others around the country.

Kelsay Irby, the ER charge nurse at St. Michael’s Medical Center in the greater Seattle area, penned an eye-opening essay for Nurse.org Tuesday, offering context, commentary, and more details around the infamous night of October 8.

That evening, the hospital's emergency department was "even more short-staffed than normal, operating at less than 50 percent of our ideal staffing grid," Irby said, and there were around 50 people in the waiting room. The nurses were becoming increasingly nervous that some of the people stuck waiting in the lobby had cardiac and respiratory problems, and there were also children with very high fevers. With only one nurse available to keep an eye on people waiting, they could be "unmonitored for extended periods of time."

Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

EU’s “in-depth investigation” could spell trouble for Microsoft/Activision deal

Enlarge / Taking a close look... (credit: Aurich Lawson / Ars Technica)

The European Commission today said its preliminary investigation of Microsoft's proposed $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard "may significantly reduce competition on the markets for the distribution of console and PC video games." As such, the government group is now opening what it calls an "in-depth investigation" of the proposed merger, which it says will be completed by March 23, 2023.

"We must ensure that opportunities remain for future and existing distributors of PC and console video games, as well as for rival suppliers of PC operating systems," European Union Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. "The point is to ensure that the gaming ecosystem remains vibrant to the benefit of users in a sector that is evolving at a fast pace. Our in-depth investigation will assess how the deal affects the gaming supply chain."

Specific concerns

In announcing the new investigation, the Commission says that it is worried "in particular" that the merger will "foreclose access" to "high-profile and highly successful games... such as Call of Duty" on non-Microsoft platforms. In response to such concerns, Microsoft recently promised that it would ensure Call of Duty remained on PlayStation platforms "as long as there is a PlayStation."

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments