Feed aggregator
Thankful, Really
Happy Thanksgiving! I wouldn’t say this has been the best year ever, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still many things to be thankful for. I started keeping a text file of good things, and here’s what I have at the moment. Thank you for reading, whether you are new or old, as it is certainly one of the things I am grateful for.
Mornings when I can wake up without an alarm clock,
Hot showers on a cold day,
All showers, really.
Drinking coffee in the morning in the backyard, listening to the world wake up.
Cold drinks on a hot day, especially iced coffee.
Not having a job where you dread going to work,
Feeling externally appreciated for the work you do,
Feeling an internal purpose for the work you do.
Being able to pick up the kids after school and listen to them unwind a bit with a snack and no other expectations in the backyard before they have to start homework, sports, etc.
The eternal good attitude of dogs.
The feeling after a long run (without injury).
Moments when the kids are playing together harmoniously, laughing.
All laughter, really. (Baby laughs are the absolute best.)
Cooking a dinner that makes the house smell good,
Eating dinner each night as a family and sharing stories about our day,
Any food with friends and family, really.
Goodnight hugs when they don’t want to go to bed just yet and will put up with extra questions and longer hugs and deeper discussions.
All hugs, really.
Categories: Finance
Face Transplants Promised Hope. Patients Were Put Through the Unthinkable
Twenty years after surgeons in France performed the world's first face transplant, the experimental field that procedure launched is now confronting a troubling record of patient deaths, buried negative data and a healthcare system that leaves recipients financially devastated and medically vulnerable.
About 50 face transplants have been performed globally since Isabelle Dinoire received her partial face graft at University Hospital CHU Amiens-Picardie in November 2005. A 2024 JAMA Surgery study reported five-year graft survival of 85% and 10-year survival of 74%, concluding that the procedure is "an effective reconstructive option for patients with severe facial defects." The study did not track psychological wellbeing, financial outcomes, employment status or quality of life. Roughly 20% of face transplant patients have died from rejection, kidney failure, or heart failure.
The anti-rejection medications that keep transplanted faces alive can destroy kidneys and weaken immune systems to the point where routine infections become life-threatening. In the United States, the Department of Defense has funded most operations, treating them as a frontier for wounded veterans, because private insurers refuse to cover the costs. Patients who survive the surgery often find themselves unable to afford medications, transportation to follow-up appointments or basic caregiving. The field's long-term grants cover surgical innovation but not the lifelong needs of the people who receive these transplants.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Windows vs macOS vs Linux: the time to switch is now | by Kostas Farkonas | Turn On | Press Play | Nov, 2025 - Medium
Categories: Linux
Valve just fixed several broken games on Linux with a Proton Experimental update - How-To Geek
Categories: Linux
UK To Tax Electric Cars by the Mile Starting 2028
The UK government will levy a pay-per-mile tax on electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles starting April 2028, UK's finance minister Rachel Reeves announced, a measure designed to offset some of the fuel duty revenue that will disappear as drivers shift away from petrol and diesel cars. Electric vehicles will be charged 3 pence per mile and plug-in hybrids 1.5 pence per mile, payable annually alongside car tax. An average driver covering 8,000 miles a year would pay around $320, roughly half what a petrol or diesel driver pays in fuel duty.
The Office for Budget Responsibility expects the tax to generate $1.45 billion in its first year and $2.51 billion by 2030-31, offsetting about a quarter of the revenue losses projected from the EV transition by 2050. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders warned the new charge would "suppress demand" and make sales targets harder to achieve. New Zealand and Iceland have already introduced road pricing for EVs; demand dropped in the former but held steady in the latter.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Intel Battlemage Graphics Enjoyed Nice GPU Compute Performance Gains In 2025 - Phoronix
Categories: Linux
Silicon Synchronicity: How Qualcomm’s Day-Zero Linux Support for Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Rewrites the Rules of Hardware Adoption - WebProNews
Categories: Linux
Silicon Synchronicity: How Qualcomm’s Day-Zero Linux Support for Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Rewrites the Rules of Hardware Adoption - WebProNews
Categories: Linux
Silicon Synchronicity: How Qualcomm’s Day-Zero Linux Support for Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Rewrites the Rules of Hardware Adoption - WebProNews
Categories: Linux
Silicon Synchronicity: How Qualcomm’s Day-Zero Linux Support for Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Rewrites the Rules of Hardware Adoption - WebProNews
Categories: Linux
Android's New Dual-Band Hotspot Mode Pairs 6 GHz Speed With 2.4 GHz Compatibility
Google is testing a new Wi-Fi hotspot configuration in the latest Android Canary build that pairs the 6 GHz band's superior throughput with the 2.4 GHz band's broad device compatibility, eliminating the trade-off users previously faced when choosing between speed and legacy support. Android's default hotspot setting uses 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies, omitting 6 GHz because most devices lack support for the newer standard and because U.S. regulations previously prohibited smartphones from creating 6 GHz hotspots. Recent regulatory changes and a Pixel update unlocked standalone 6 GHz hotspots, but that option cuts off older devices entirely. The new "2.4 and 6 GHz" dual-band mode, spotted in Android Canary, is expected to arrive in an upcoming Android 16 QPR3 beta.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Defense Contractors Lobby To Kill Military Right-to-Repair, Push Pay-Per-Use Data Model
A bipartisan right-to-repair provision that would let the U.S. military fix its own equipment faces a serious threat from defense industry lobbyists who want to replace it with a pay-per-use model for accessing repair information. A source familiar with negotiations told The Verge that there are significant concerns that the language in the National Defense Authorization Act will be swapped out for a "data-as-a-service" alternative that would require the Department of Defense to pay contractors for access to technical repair data.
The provision, introduced by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tim Sheehy (R-MT) in their Warrior Right to Repair Act, passed the Senate in October and has support from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Army and the Navy. The National Defense Industrial Association published a white paper backing the data-as-a-service model, arguing it would protect contractors' intellectual property. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Adam Smith (D-WA), who lead the House Armed Services Committee, outlined similar language in their SPEED Act. Rogers received more than $535,000 from the defense industry in 2024; Smith received over $310,550. The final NDAA is expected early next week.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
NASA Reduces Flights on Boeing's Starliner After Botched Astronaut Mission
An anonymous reader shares a report: NASA has slashed the number of astronaut missions on Boeing's Starliner contract and said the spacecraft's next mission to the International Space Station will fly without a crew, reducing the scope of a program hobbled by engineering woes and outpaced by SpaceX. The most recent mishap occurred during Starliner's first crewed test flight in 2024, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Several thrusters on Starliner's propulsion system shut down during its approach to the ISS.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
