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.