September 11, 2020

Dozens of scientific journals have vanished from the internet, and no one preserved them

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/dozens-scientific-journals-have-vanished-internet-and-no-one-preserved-them

By Jeffrey BrainardSep. 8, 2020 , 4:10 PM

Eighty-four online-only, open-access (OA) journals in the sciences, and nearly 100 more in the social sciences and humanities, have disappeared from the internet over the past 2 decades as publishers stopped maintaining them, potentially depriving scholars of useful research findings, a study has found.

An additional 900 journals published only online also may be at risk of vanishing because they are inactive, says a preprint posted on 3 September on the arXiv server. The number of OA journals tripled from 2009 to 2019, and on average the vanished titles operated for nearly 10 years before going dark, which “might imply that a large number … is yet to vanish,” the authors write. [snip]

September 9, 2020

Cross-posted

https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=14048562

September 9, 2020

Anybody follow this WSJ offering?

https://www.wsj.com/news/risk-compliance-journal


I ask because I noticed this story there surfin' around: https://www.wsj.com/articles/treasury-and-delaware-sign-pact-to-boost-sanctions-enforcement-11599476400

I know it's Joe's home state...and TPTB associated with the WH (referring directly re: Cabinet Sec. Mnuchin) are 50% into sanctions enforcement but also 50% into hiding the sunlight of their own treacheries, past and present, and saying one thing; doing another without sunscreen...so could the Fed still really be digging a certain "white rabbit hole" deeper??? or the State of Delaware really be trying a tightened general atmosphere?

I've also read an old "white paper" (2016-seems the most recent?) from an international financial group of "watchers?, evaluators? of world economies headquartered in Paris, France, that summaries the US efforts as pretty good, but does recommend tightening individual State's regulatory compliance, especially one like Delaware known for favorable business climate, for more timely paper trails.

https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/reports/mer4/MER-United-States-2016-Executive-Summary.pdf

September 6, 2020

Help - My bookmarks are a true mess...

Can I use some extension or other tool to alphabetize or catagorize my browser bookmarks?-

September 5, 2020

Introducing "The Breadbot" -

See the video at link.

https://www.krem.com/article/tech/breadbot-makes-debut-in-north-idaho/293-2daa6789-620f-4b76-adea-21b1c552fe03?fbclid=IwAR39qVyt5XnQRkSq_mNT5vjvTMwKxyZhaESHogrft8rZE8jEvpNBct5VKxY

snip...The devices, which measure ten feet by four-and-a-half feet, were designed specifically for grocery stores, according to the company. Wilkinson said that the Breadbot gives customers a fresher alternative to most brands of pre-sliced bread found on supermarket shelves.

"People can actually take bread home that is just out of the oven," he explained.

A description on the company's website states that the Breadbot "allows customers to know exactly where, when, and how, their bread was made."

The Breadbot is currently capable of producing 10 loaves an hour. Wilkinson said that the company is currently making two types of bread with more varieties in the works.

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LOL!

August 25, 2020

Play with photobooth here:

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

Scroll down mid page

I don't have any you-know-who photos saved, but YOU know what to do!

Give it your best shot and post it here, hehehe!

August 21, 2020

Cliff collapses in Grand Canyon revealing 313 million-year-old footprints, park says

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cliff-collapses-grand-canyon-revealing-170013155.html

Maddie Capron
Miami Herald•August 20, 2020

A geology professor hiking in the Grand Canyon made a “surprising discovery” — the oldest recorded tracks of their kind.

After a cliff collapsed in Grand Canyon National Park, a boulder with fossilized tracks was revealed, park officials said in a Thursday news release. The fossil footprints are about 313 million years old, according to researchers.

“These are by far the oldest vertebrate tracks in Grand Canyon, which is known for its abundant fossil tracks” Stephen Rowland, a paleontologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said in the news release. “More significantly, they are among the oldest tracks on Earth of shelled-egg-laying animals, such as reptiles, and the earliest evidence of vertebrate animals walking in sand dunes.”

The tracks were in plain view for many hikers, but weren’t discovered until Allan Krill, a Norwegian geology professor, was hiking with students and saw a boulder containing “conspicuous fossil footprints,” park officials said....snip

August 20, 2020

Banks start to buy home loans at below-market prices - Bloomberg

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3607489-banks-start-to-buy-home-loans-below-market-prices-bloomberg?utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&mail_subject=usb-banks-start-to-buy-home-loans-at-below-market-prices-bloomberg&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-3

The halt on foreclosures of homes financed by government-backed mortgages implemented in March has an unintended consequence.

It's allowing banks and other lenders to buy mortgages out of bonds for less than their current market value, and, in the process, burn investors, Bloomberg reports.

Wells Fargo (WFC -1.6%) and U.S. Bancorp (USB -1.3%) have started buying, leading bond holders to eat the losses.

At the center of the transactions is Ginnie Mae, a government-owned corporation that guarantees the payment of principal and interest on bonds containing mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, and other government agencies.

Under Ginnie rules, banks and other lenders can buy loans out of mortgage...snip

In light of this snip from: https://www.barrons.com/articles/federal-reserve-tells-big-banks-how-much-a-capital-buffer-they-must-have-51597080906:

Big Banks Are Told How Much a Capital Buffer They Must Have. What It Means for Investors.

"The banks have until Oct. 1 to meet the requirement if they have not already done so. The Fed says it supports banks using their capital buffers to lend to businesses and households in a “safe and sound manner.” More at link.

August 17, 2020

Reading/watching too much sci-fi?

Apparently, another type of over-population is on its way...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8615541/Number-digital-bits-overtake-number-atoms-Earth-2170.html

The number of digital bits will overtake the number of atoms on Earth within 150 years, according to a new study that warns of an impending 'information catastrophe'.

By 2170, the world will be 'mostly computer simulated and dominated by digital bits and computer code', the study claims.

There will be 133 quindecillion (133 followed by 48 zeroes) bits in existence – the same as the estimated number of atoms on the planet.

However, the power needed to support information transfer will equal all the power currently produced on Earth, leading to ethical and environmental concerns.
snip
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Do we need to make plans NOW for a literally "out-of-this-world" expandable/retrievable library/achive/depository?

August 16, 2020

Well, maybe it's the time of the year, or, maybe, it's the time of man...

https://www.astrology.com/astrology-101/planets/uranus

URANUS: THE PLANET OF REBELLION
Uranus wasn’t discovered until 1781. As one of the outermost planets, it moves rather slowly through the zodiac. The result is that its effect is felt more generationally than individually.

snip

It takes Uranus 84 years to complete its trip around the zodiac. It is an androgynous energy and rules Aquarius and the Eleventh House. Uranus is considered to be the higher octave of Mercury and the first of the transcendental planets.


https://www.astrology.com/article/uranus-retrograde-in-2020/

Uranus will station retrograde on August 15, 2020 at 10°41? Taurus, and will station direct on January 14, 2021 at 6°43? Taurus.

Uranus is an electrifying planet in transit that correlates with rapid innovation, unexpected change, and liberation from restrictive circumstances. While its impact by transit is unpredictable, Uranus consistently incites us to live authentically and embrace whatever makes us inspired. Uranus spends five months in retrograde motion, backtracking over the same zodiacal degrees that it activated during the previous seven months and intensifying our desire to deepen more fully into processes of change underway.

snip

(Generally) URANUS RETROGRADE EFFECTS
Most intense for Taurus
Uranus retrograde will be most intense for Taurus (especially for those with placements in the first 15 degrees of Taurus), as volatile Uranus will reshape the fixed earth of a sign that can stubbornly resist change.

Most challenging for Scorpio, Leo, and Aquarius
Uranus retrograde will be most challenging for Scorpio, since it will form an opposition, and will also be challenging for Leo and Aquarius due to forming a square aspect with them.

Most beneficial for Capricorn and Virgo
Uranus retrograde will be most beneficial for Capricorn and Virgo, as it will form a flowing trine aspect that can aid in making substantial innovations.

HOROSCOPES FOR URANUS RETROGRADE 2020

snip( Check your sign or the signs of others here)

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Any other thoughts or prospectives?