BREAKING NEWS: September 2020

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Wikipedia article of the day for October 1, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for October 1, 2020 is Rwandan Civil War.
The Rwandan Civil War was a conflict between the Hutu-led Rwandan Armed Forces and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), founded by Tutsi refugees. The war began on 1 October 1990 with an RPF invasion but the army, assisted by French troops, had largely defeated the RPF by the end of the month. Paul Kagame (pictured, left) took command of the rebels and in a few months began a multi-year guerrilla war. In 1992, after a series of protests, Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana (pictured, right) began peace negotiations with the RPF and domestic opposition parties. Despite disruption by the extremist group Hutu Power and a fresh RPF offensive, the Arusha Accords were signed in August 1993. United Nations peacekeepers were installed, but Hutu Power was steadily gaining influence. After the assassination of Habyarimana in April 1994, between half a million and a million Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in the Rwandan genocide. The RPF quickly resumed the war, capturing the capital and taking control of the country by July.

False G.O.P. Ad Prompts QAnon Death Threats Against a Democratic Congressman

By BY CATIE EDMONDSON from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3n1FrTL

Palantir Shares Up in Wall Street Debut

By BY CADE METZ AND ERIN GRIFFITH from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3n6cSo4

How Facebook Entrenches Itself

By BY SHIRA OVIDE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3kVzENm

Voting by Mail Tops Election Misinformation

By Unknown Author from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2Sch1bR

How Voting by Mail Tops Election Misinformation

By BY DAVEY ALBA from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3cKRz6E

Now You Can Use Instagram to Message People on Facebook Messenger

By BY MIKE ISAAC from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3jun8V7

How Voting by Mail Tops Election Misinformation

By BY DAVEY ALBA from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2ScRGhS

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Project Veritas Video Was a ‘Coordinated Disinformation Campaign,’ Researchers Say

By BY MAGGIE ASTOR from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/33gwQES

Wikipedia article of the day for September 30, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 30, 2020 is Herbert Maryon.
Herbert Maryon (1874–1965) was an English sculptor, conservator, goldsmith, archaeologist and authority on ancient metalwork. Maryon was the first director of the Arts and Crafts–inspired Keswick School of Industrial Art, then taught at the universities of Reading and Durham until 1939. During this time he designed the University of Reading War Memorial, excavated one of the oldest gold artefacts in Britain, and authored the standard Metalwork and Enamelling. Maryon left retirement to join the British Museum, and is best known for his conservation work on the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, including restorations of the shield, the drinking horns, and the iconic Sutton Hoo helmet. In other work he restored a Roman helmet, coined the term pattern welding, and wrote a paper influencing a painting by Salvador Dalí. Maryon was appointed to the Order of the British Empire in 1956; asked by Queen Elizabeth II what he did, Maryon responded: "Well, Ma'am, I am a sort of back room boy at the British Museum."

The Facebook Pages With the Largest Share of Debate Conversation

By BY DAVEY ALBA from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3n663Tg

Right-Wing Sites Falsely Claim Biden Got Debate Questions in Advance

By BY SHEERA FRENKEL from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/36ipimU

Right-Wing Sites Falsely Claim Biden Got Debate Questions in Advance

By BY SHEERA FRENKEL from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/34azawb

The Long History of ‘Hidden Earpiece’ Conspiracy Theories

By Unknown Author from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/30hx9xh

The Long History of ‘Hidden Earpiece’ Conspiracy Theories

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/36hxCTR

One Retailer’s Pandemic Survival Plan

By BY SHIRA OVIDE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2G27IJf

Slack Slowdown Frustrates Remote Workers

By BY MARIA CRAMER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3n0XSYq

Monday, September 28, 2020

Wikipedia article of the day for September 29, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 29, 2020 is Valston Hancock.
Valston Hancock (31 May 1907 – 29 September 1998) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Hancock transferred to the RAAF in 1929 and qualified as a pilot. After fifteen years of occupying staff and training posts, he saw combat in the Aitape–Wewak campaign of the Pacific War during 1945. Flying Bristol Beaufort light bombers, he led No. 100 Squadron, and later No. 71 Wing, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, Hancock became the inaugural commandant of RAAF College, followed by a succession of senior positions, before being promoted to air marshal and serving as Chief of the Air Staff from 1961 to 1965. He was knighted in 1962. In his role as the Air Force's senior officer, Hancock continued the policy of developing a chain of forward airfields in Northern Australia. He also evaluated potential replacements for the RAAF's English Electric Canberra bomber.

Apple and Epic Games Spar Over Returning Fortnite to the App Store

By BY ERIN GRIFFITH from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/33aBN1O

How ‘Save the Children’ Is Keeping QAnon Alive

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3cE6lMp

How ‘Save the Children’ Is Keeping QAnon Alive

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3mVbWD3

Google Demands Its 30% Cut From App Developers in Play Store

By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2S8zGoN

Can Amazon Conquer the World?

By BY SHIRA OVIDE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/336yrgi

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Wikipedia article of the day for September 28, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 28, 2020 is Rigel.
Rigel is a blue supergiant star in the constellation of Orion, approximately 860 light-years (260 pc) from Earth. It is the brightest and most massive component of a star system of at least four stars that appear as a single blue-white point of light to the naked eye. A star of spectral type B8Ia, Rigel is calculated to be anywhere from 61,500 to 363,000 times as luminous as the Sun, and 18 to 24 times as massive. Its radius is over 70 times that of the Sun, and its surface temperature is 12,100 K. Rigel varies slightly in brightness, its apparent magnitude ranging from 0.05 to 0.18. It is classified as an Alpha Cygni variable. It is generally the seventh-brightest star in the night sky and is usually the brightest star in Orion, though it is occasionally outshone by Betelgeuse. With an estimated age of 7 to 9 million years, Rigel has exhausted its core hydrogen fuel, expanded and cooled to become a supergiant. It will end its life as a type II supernova.

Ransomware Attacks Take On New Urgency Ahead of Vote

By BY NICOLE PERLROTH AND DAVID E. SANGER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/335fwm3

U.S. Judge Hears Arguments on Trump’s TikTok Ban

By BY MIKE ISAAC AND DAVID MCCABE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2HCjGtl

Saturday, September 26, 2020

Wikipedia article of the day for September 27, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 27, 2020 is Margaret Macpherson Grant.
Margaret Macpherson Grant (1834–1877) was a Scottish heiress and philanthropist. Born in Aberlour parish to a local surgeon, she was educated in Hampshire and inherited a large fortune from her uncle, Alexander Grant, a planter and merchant who had become rich in Jamaica. Macpherson Grant took up residence in Aberlour House, which had been built for her uncle by William Robertson. She lived unconventionally for a woman of her time, entering into what was described as a form of marriage with a female companion, Charlotte Temple, whom she met in London in 1864. Macpherson Grant donated generously to charitable enterprises, establishing an orphanage (now the Aberlour Child Care Trust) and founding St Margaret's Episcopal Church in Aberlour. She made several wills over the course of her life that would have left her estate to Temple, but after Temple left her to marry a man, Macpherson Grant revoked her will, and the bulk of her fortune went to cousins, who were probably unknown to her.

U.S. Places Restrictions on China’s Leading Chip Maker

By BY ANA SWANSON AND RAYMOND ZHONG from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3n4sJUe

Pasta, Wine and Inflatable Pools: How Amazon Conquered Italy in the Pandemic

By BY ADAM SATARIANO AND EMMA BUBOLA from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/33Z7Ocp

Inside eBay’s Cockroach Cult: The Ghastly Story of a Stalking Scandal

By BY DAVID STREITFELD from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2EAlXnL

Friday, September 25, 2020

Wikipedia article of the day for September 26, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 26, 2020 is Banksia blechnifolia.
Banksia blechnifolia is a species of flowering plant that was first described by Victorian state botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1864. Its leaves are reminiscent of the fern genus Blechnum. B. blechnifolia is one of several closely related species that grow as prostrate shrubs, with horizontal stems and thick, leathery upright leaves. The red-brown flower spikes are up to 20 centimetres (8 in) high and appear from September to November. As the spikes age, they turn grey and develop as many as 25 woody seed pods. Insects such as bees, wasps, ants and flies pollinate the flowers. Found in sandy soils in the south coastal region of Western Australia in the vicinity of Lake King, B. blechnifolia is non-lignotuberous, regenerating by seed after bushfire. The plant adapts readily to cultivation, growing in well-drained sandy soils in sunny locations. It is suitable for rockeries and as a groundcover.

California County Enlists Social Media to Thwart a Misleading Election Photo

By BY NICK CORASANITI from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3j3huZC

What Went Viral This Week

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2RYAIDT

Facebook’s Power This Election

By BY SHIRA OVIDE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3307mv4

Alphabet Settles Shareholder Suits Over Sexual Harassment Claims

By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/343yoRw

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Without Evidence, Right-Wing Commentators Link Soros to Louisville U-Haul

By BY KEVIN ROOSE AND BEN DECKER from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3mJIP5k

Google Services Go Down in Some Parts of U.S.

By BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI AND MICHAEL LEVENSON from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3mNM7Vf

Wikipedia article of the day for September 25, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 25, 2020 is Tower Hill Memorial.
The Tower Hill Memorial is a pair of Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials in Trinity Square, on Tower Hill in London, England. The memorials, one for the First World War and one for the Second, commemorate more than 36,000 men and women of the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets who were killed as a result of enemy action and have no known grave. The dead are named on bronze panels ordered by the ships they served on. The first memorial, the Mercantile Marine War Memorial (pictured), was commissioned following the heavy losses sustained by merchant shipping in the First World War. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled by Queen Mary in 1928. The second, the Merchant Seamen's Memorial, is a semi-circular sunken garden designed by Sir Edward Maufe and unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II in November 1955. A third memorial, commemorating merchant sailors who were killed in the 1982 Falklands War, was added to the site in 2005. The memorials to the world wars are listed buildings.

The Truth About ‘The Truth About’ Memes

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3kJbHJe

The Truth About ‘The Truth About’ Memes

By BY KEVIN ROOSE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3kJbHJe

Amazon Unveils Drone That Films Inside Your Home. What Could Go Wrong?

By BY KELLEN BROWNING from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2FXDnv9

What’s the Deal With Google Now?

By BY SHIRA OVIDE from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/2G02vkR

YouTube Tries Again to Amplify Accurate Voting Information

By BY DAVEY ALBA from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/32Z41fS

To Fight Apple and Google, Smaller App Rivals Organize a Coalition

By BY ERIN GRIFFITH from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3j2P0PU

YouTube Tries Again to Amplify Accurate Voting Information

By BY DAVEY ALBA from NYT Technology https://ift.tt/3i2jOyG

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Wikipedia article of the day for September 24, 2020

The Wikipedia article of the day for September 24, 2020 is Erin Phillips.
Erin Phillips (born 1985) is an Australian rules footballer for the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition and a former professional basketball player. With the launch of the AFLW in 2017, Phillips began her football career at age 31. Despite not having played competitive football since she was 13 years old, Phillips won the AFLW best and fairest award by a wide margin twice in her first three seasons in 2017 and 2019. In both years, she also led Adelaide to the premiership and won best on ground in the AFLW Grand Final. Before her football career, Phillips played nine seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), winning her first WNBA title with the Indiana Fever in 2012 and another with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014. She also represented Australia on the women's national basketball team, winning a gold medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women and serving as a co-vice captain at the 2016 Summer Olympics.