[ truter.org ] Let's stay in touch!

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Today's quotable quote: Dave Barry: You should never pick up a newspaper when you're feeling good, because every newspaper has a special department, called the Bummer Desk, which is responsible for digging up depressing front-page stories with headlines like DOORBELL USE LINKED TO LEUKEMIA and OZONE LAYER COMPLETELY GONE DIRECTLY OVER YOUR HOUSe.

This day in history: 01 May 2024: Founding of the Illuminati (1776). The Illuminati were members of a rationalistic society founded in Germany by Adam Weishaupt. Having close affinities with the Freemasons and seemingly organized on a Masonic plan, the group was briefly very popular among German rationalists but had limited influence. The Roman Catholic Church, which Weishaupt left in his youth and rejoined before his death, condemned the Illuminati. In 1785, the Bavarian government dissolved the organization.

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I Love Warships

These weren't just "oaks" - they were planted between larch and spruce so that they would grow tall and straight, which means the navy oak forests are rather unusual., 23 March 2024

These weren't just "oaks" - they were planted between larch and spruce so that they would grow tall and straight, which means the navy oak forests are rather unusual.

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The Script Lab

The struggle of sci-fi dialogue. This is hilarious. No idea what it means. Still gotta give it your all. Credit: Mielr #carriefisher #starwars #dialogue #screenwriting #acting #filmmaking #cinema #scifi #motivation, 13 March 2024

The struggle of sci-fi dialogue. This is hilarious. No idea what it means. Still gotta give it your all. Credit: Mielr #carriefisher #starwars #dialogue #screenwriting #acting #filmmaking #cinema #scifi #motivation

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History Unleashed

#AncientRome #Colosseum, 08 February 2024

#AncientRome #Colosseum

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Beautiful Places

Sagrada Família, Barcelona <3, 07 February 2024

Sagrada Família, Barcelona <3

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SA’s famous icebreaker gets second life ferrying tourists to Antarctica

timeslive.co.za, 04 February 2024

South Africa’s polar research vessel SA Agulhas 1 will soon host tourists hoping for a glimpse of Antarctica.

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UNILAD

It took him just 38 minutes to do what people have been trying for decades 🤯, 04 January 2024

It took him just 38 minutes to do what people have been trying for decades 🤯

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Gariepdam loop oor

graaffreinetadvertiser.com, 31 December 2023

OOS-KAAP NUUS EN VIDEO - Die Gariepdam het...

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Hendrik van der Bijl - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org, 21 December 2023

Hendrik Johannes van der Bijl FRS[1] (23 November 1887 – 2 December 1948) was a South African electrical engineer and industrialist and is regarded as one of the greatest South Africans for his contribution to the country's development.[2] He was the driving force behind the establishment of the S...

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Researchers Made an IQ Test for AI, Found They're All Pretty Stupid

gizmodo.com, 05 December 2023

Artificial intelligence programs still struggle with basic problem-solving skills that people excel at, new research claims.

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Daily Mail

This is one of those rare moments most humans never get to see 🥹, 24 November 2023

This is one of those rare moments most humans never get to see 🥹

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World Beauties and Wonders

Fort Bourtange in the Netherlands. Built in 1593 during the 80 years war., 24 November 2023

Fort Bourtange in the Netherlands. Built in 1593 during the 80 years war.

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The Music Man

During a sold out Taylor Swift concert in Los Angeles the audience had no idea that they were about to be treated to a very rare, and also very random, performance. Taylor said, "this singer, she's only ever played in coffee houses before" much to the confusion of the audience, but it all became clear when she introduced, "Miss Phoebe Buffay" (Lisa Kudrow). Lisa walked on stage in character as Phoebe and performed "Smelly Cat" alongside Taylor and much to the delight of Friends fans, Phoebe stopped the superstar singer halfway through and explained how you sing "Smelly Cat" properly. Watch video in comments below 👇, 23 November 2023

During a sold out Taylor Swift concert in Los Angeles the audience had no idea that they were about to be treated to a very rare, and also very random, performance. Taylor said, "this singer, she's only ever played in coffee houses before" much to the confusion of the audience, but it all became clear when she introduced, "Miss Phoebe Buffay" (Lisa Kudrow). Lisa walked on stage in character as Phoebe and performed "Smelly Cat" alongside Taylor and much to the delight of Friends fans, Phoebe stopped the superstar singer halfway through and explained how you sing "Smelly Cat" properly. Watch video in comments below 👇

Contact details

In the news

Ivory-scanning lasers used to illuminate the illegal elephant in the room: Although wooly mammoths are long gone, their recovered ivory lives on as a legal alternative to banned elephant ivory. Posted on 30 April 2024.

AI voice analysis gives suicide hotline workers an emotional dashboard: Screening callers of crisis or suicide helplines for their current level of suicide risk is crucial to detecting and preventing suicide. Posted on 01 May 2024.

The REPORT Act: Enhancing Online Child Safety Without the Usual Congressional Nonsense: For years and years, Congress has been pushing a parade of horrible “protect the children online” bills that seem to somehow get progressively worse each time. Posted on 01 May 2024.

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Cape Town weather

News (continued)

LimeWire AI Studio Review 2023: Details, Pricing & Features:  In the rapidly advancing landscape of AI technology and innovation, LimeWire emerges as a unique platform in the realm of generative AI tools. Posted on 12 December 2023.

Construction on schedule for new Cornell Bowers CIS building: Dozens of stakeholders responsible for the new building for the Cornell Ann S. Posted on 30 April 2024.

Space, The Boring Frontier: Suppose you randomly go 1 million miles somewhere away from our Sun. Posted on 28 December 2021.

Amazon sales soar with boost from artificial intelligence and advertising: Revenue at Amazon Web Services increases to $25bn as retail giant releases earnings report surpassing Wall Street expectationsAmazon profits soared once again in the first quarter of 2024, the company announced on Tuesday – the latest in a series of robust earnings reports for the retail giant. Posted on 02 May 2024.

Astronauts could run round ‘Wall of Death’ to keep fit on moon, say scientists: Researchers suggest cylinder to prevent astronauts losing muscle mass in low gravity environmentAs humans prepare to return to the moon after an absence of more than half a century, researchers have hit on a radical approach to keeping astronauts fit as they potter around the ball of rock. Posted on 02 May 2024.

The best Samsung phones of 2024: Expert tested and reviewed: I've tested all the latest Samsung Galaxy phones on the market, and these select few are worth your money and consideration. Posted on 02 May 2024.

Face of 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman revealed: Scientists build a 3D model of one of our evolutionary cousins from the pieces of a shattered skull. Posted on 01 May 2024.

How Sidechat Fanned the Flames of University Campus Protests: Amid tensions about free speech on university campuses and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, anonymous social media app Sidechat has become a hotbed of vile rhetoric. Posted on 01 May 2024.

The people behind online scams may be scam victims themselves: The people behind the online scams you see might be the victim of a scam themselves. Posted on 01 May 2024.

Recreating the face of a 75,000-year-old female from a cave where Neanderthals buried their dead: A new Netflix documentary has recreated the face of a 75,000-year-old female Neanderthal whose flattened skull was discovered and rebuilt from hundreds of bone fragments by a team of archaeologists and conservators led by the University of Cambridge. Posted on 01 May 2024.

Meta and Google Are Betting on AI Voice Assistants. Will They Take Off?: Meta, Google and others are driving a renaissance for voice assistants, but people have found the technology uncool for more than a decade. Posted on 01 May 2024.

South Korea's April core CPI shows slowest year on year increase since December 2021: . Posted on 02 May 2024.

What Makes a Society More Resilient? Frequent Hardship.: Comparing 30,000 years of human history, researchers found that surviving famine, war or climate change helps groups recover more quickly from future shocks. Posted on 01 May 2024.

For birds, siblinghood can be a matter of life or death: Some birds kill their siblings soon after hatching. Posted on 01 May 2024.

gold: . Posted on 02 May 2024.

Congress Lets Broadband Funding Run Out, Ending $30 Low-Income Discounts: An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Federal Communications Commission chair today made a final plea to Congress, asking for money to continue a broadband-affordability program that gave out its last round of $30 discounts to people with low incomes in April. Posted on 02 May 2024.

Georgia leads toward a nuclear future with its first operating reactor: Georgia Power Co. announced one of its two new reactors reached self-sustaining nuclear fission on Monday. Posted on 07 March 2023.

Rare 'Excalibur' sword from Spain dates to Islamic period 1,000 years ago: The sword is the first weapon from the Islamic period to be found in the Spanish city of Valencia. Posted on 01 May 2024.

Meet the scientist at the center of the covid lab leak controversy: On a foggy morning in early February last year, dozens of journalists from around the world gathered outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Posted on 09 February 2022.

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Some of the tech in my workday

Best programming language?

The PYPL PopularitY of Programming Language Index is created by analyzing how often language tutorials are searched on Google.

The TIOBE Programming Community index measures popularity based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses, third party vendors and search engine activity.

w3techs analyses page content to determine the technology used, and also uses publicly available information from sources such as Alexa, Google, Microsoft and ipinfo.io.

While Java and Python top the popularity charts, more than 80% of all websites run on PHP.

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Longer term weather forecast