The video in the article has some good footage too. The "why is there bright light when I am nocturnal?!" face is a mood I felt on a deeply personal level.
Photo is a bettong that has been caught by researchers. The good news is their population has maybe tripled over the last few years in Australia's largest nature preserve that is free of introduced predators - it has 45km (28mi) of 1.8m (just under 6') tall fencing to keep it that way. Just 3 years ago they were reintroduced to the area after 60 years of local extinction.
Burrowing bettongs have little underground communities. Their cousins, the brushtail bettong have a prehensile tail they use to collect nesting material. The researcher thinks the burrowers are cuter, but the prehensile tail is adorable in its own right, I think.
All the time. If it's a company I dislike and I see them advertising on Google, I know I'm costing them money. Google uses an auction house system for ads, so common words can have a lot of competition. You could be making that company pay a dollar or more for that click, and at the same time contribute to a headache for their marketers who are keeping a close eye on their cost per click and customer acquisition costs.
Yeah, google wins in this scenario too, but there's not much I can do about that.
Lol. I've seen hot dogs sell here for US$13 (after conversion). The US doesn't understand how cheap their food is, even with inflation. The minimum wage for adults is USD$15.40 though (again converted) and we don't have "but it's OK they get tips so we don't have to pay them more than $2" shenanigans.
Fuck that paywall, but again the problem is largely how underpaid and exploited people are, not how much hot dogs have increased in price.
Good news, everybody! Turning your cremation ashes into diamonds is pretty close to being mineralized? https://www.lonite.com/cremation-diamonds-from-ashes they claim close to 99.99% ash carbon, but who knows.
For sure, I just get antsy when peer review doesn't come from from external sources
1 patient, T2 since mid-30s and now 59, had kidney transplant 2017 after end-stage diabetic nephropathy and fucked glucose control since 2019. The successful cells were endoderm stem cells from him cultivated by mice they injected with his PBMCs that they then made diabetic. So not from cadavers (except mouse cadaver i guess), which is the actual new part here. Intrahepatic implant, and cells from unrelated donor failed that were embedded at the same time. His personalised mouse-donor cells worked well enough to take him off insulin 3 months later.
It's good news, but you're entirely correct that the article missed the point entirely. Thanks for the crash course in islet cell therapy!
Hm, 5 year old journal, with the editor board, funding and half of the authors all from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but significant hospital contribution. I remain skeptical of the headline but hopeful of the science.
Looming? Sudan is past the looming stage. When do known verified atrocities reach "current reality" status?
I once looked at a job listing for something with very specialist technical knowledge in specific programming areas, for a Japanese company based in Tokyo (pre-covid so remote wasn't really a thing yet). Pretty niche stuff and needed at least basic Japanese language skills too, so I assumed it would pay ok - even if it wasn't good or great in comparison with jobs where i was.
After conversion it worked out to be around USD$40k a year, which is probably just over 1/3 of what it would pay at minimum elsewhere. More like 1/4 or less for Silicon Valley type locations, but the rent for a tiny Tokyo shoebox is about the same price even if food is a cheaper. There was no way I was applying for that.
It isn't just about a weak yen, it's much more about hugely underpaying people.
Yes, unfortunately i think you've missed a few things.
- Anyone can be sued for anything, whether the suit is successful depends on validity and damages
- It would be difficult to prove damages in this case, but you don't need to sue anyone anyway
- Only businesses and organisations serving the public are required to follow the ADA
- The government, if it received enough
valid complaints and received a negative reply from a place which needs to follow the ADA might consider bringing legal action or enforcing penalties - Common practise does not exclude the possibility that something discriminates against people, which is why these rules were written
I think that about covers it
Sadly, the ‘G’ in WCAG is ‘guidelines.’ It doesn’t have teeth; there is no legislation around WCAG.
Used to be true. More and more government agencies are referencing the WCAG as the standard, and The Revised 508 Standards which sets the rules for government bodies directly pins it to WCAG v2.0. WCAG compliance has also been specifically ruled in various Title 3 cases, which sets the precedent.
There is still lots of legal ambiguity around accessibility, but the ADA definitely looks at web accessibility and WCAG when something significant is brought to its attention
Ok! You have the right to do that.
But the US Department of Justice has the right to investigate and fine you up to $75k the first time, if it is determined that you are running a business or organisation in the US that provides public accommodations and you are discriminating against people who have disabilities and you could afford to fix it.
Lots of rights for everyone! It's so nice.
Correct and nicely sourced!
Current w3c guidance says loading animations are ok if interaction isn't possible or not indicating progress could confuse users or cause them to think that content was frozen or broken.
Scrolling chatmay have slightly different additional requirement around allowing control of update frequency
Sounds great for daily driving. But you're still free to open another browser at any point to test!
No problem! I really appreciate you making any effort to include all of your audience.
Yes! Prefers-reduced-motion is nice but was not developed for this reason and it is not enough to be following the rule but this hasn't specifically been tested in court yet.
It was made for people who get sick from things like parallax animations where big things move around, even with interaction. In the future that will have its own rule and prefers reduced motion will help pass that, but it does not help with this one.
Edit: to be clear, you could use it to help, but it's not enough on its own
It's time to know your rights!
If you have ADHD, and you come across a website or app that is playing an animation (video or gif, or any other type), and you live in the US (you don't need citizenship), you can complain to your government that someone is breaking the law and violating your rights.
Yes, you could just use ad-blockers, but you can easily help solve the problem too for everyone just by filling in a form online.
The people you complain about might only get nasty legal letters that annoy their lawyers and cost them time and money to defend or fix, but for like 10 mins of effort on your part, that's a pretty good deal. There could also be fines for them, especially if people have complained before about them. You can even complain anonymously!
How?
To be considered a valid complaint, the animation must:
- start without you triggering it (so on page load, not clicking on something)
- last for longer than 5 seconds (yes, looping counts as lasting forever)
- be alongside other content (like videos in articles, not like a video as the main thing on a page)
- not allow you to pause, stop or hide it with your mouse and/or keyboard and/or touch (or whatever else you use to get around).
For your complaint to be most effective:
- both you and the site should be in the same general location. (US located people complaining to the US Government about a US company is always more helpful than trying to do international stuff.)
- you should probably mention that you have a medical condition that makes it difficult to focus when there are distractions
- you could mention they are not following this rule: "WCAG Pause, Stop, Hide (SC 2.2.2)"
- screen recordings are helpful evidence, but don't let this stop you, you can't upload them to the form and they might not request them anyway
Complaining about any organisation that gets government money is bonus points, they have even less room to wiggle out of it. Anyone from big business to small police department or anything in between has to follow this rule. They might also give some extra weight to complaints from US veterans?
If you think you tick all of those boxes you can fill out the online form on the Civil Rights Division site, but you should read first this ADA info about what happens when you complaint.
So if you find yourself getting annoyed by yet another distraction when you're just trying to get shit done in the US online, you now know you have an option to channel that frustration.
EU residents will be better able to channel their frustration June 2025. Some countries do have options now
A little extra info for the intrigued:
- The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines aren't guidelines anymore, they're pretty embedded in a lot of law. It's the list of things websites must do for people with disabilities. It's a bit difficult to navigate if you're new to it though.
- if you want to know more about this particular rule and why it exists here's an explanation of WCAG SC 2.2.2: Pause, Stop, Hide
- The WCAG is a requirement for places which accept government money under the Americans with Disabilities Act Title 2 Regulations while private companies are under Americans with Disabilities Act Title 3 Regulations. Same rule applies to both, so you don't even need to know this.
- a disability is defined as "a person with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment." Using the internet is a major life activity for many of us, and you don't need to identify as being disabled to fill in the form. The US Department of Labor's own website, the Job Accomodations Network lists ADHD as a disability and details employment accommodations though, so, it's not like you have to prove your life experience or anything
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, feel free to verify or refute this info with your own hyperfixation
Anyone got any recommendations or warnings about specific hdd / ssd / storage brands or models at the moment? Thinking about buying another drive instead of being smart and cleaning up my files. I've been pretty happy with Samsung but I've heard they had a clunker of a drive with high failure rates lately. HDD, SSD and I think I have an extra spare M2 nvme slot on my motherboard, so all recommendations are welcome. Price isn't a huge concern, but I don't feel the need to drop a thousand dollars on a single 22TB drive, anything 5TB and above will do fine for now.
My feed is filled with bad news, which is my fault for using the fediverse as a news feed, but it made me wonder: Which organisations, groups or individual people in the world are doing the most good for our world? I'm particularly interested in those who manage to do good on a larger impact scale (quantity or quality), but if the unknown person on your street who fosters kittens is a great example, I'd love to hear about them too.
Mr. Rogers told me to look for the helpers in times of trouble. Tell me about your favorite helpers!
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a new pact with the low-lying island country of Tuvalu, allowing residents facing displacement from climate change the ability resettle in Australia.
> > > Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a new pact with the low-lying island country of Tuvalu, allowing residents facing displacement from climate change the ability resettle in Australia. > > > > ### Key points: ### > > > > * The deal is the first time Australia has offered residence or citizenship rights due to the threat posed by climate change > * The US and New Zealand have similar agreements with other Pacific countries > * Mr Albanese described it as the most significant agreement between Australia and a Pacific island nation ever > >
I think it's also worth noting that in return they're handing over their foreign policy / security decision autonomy, so colonialism once again manages to mar an otherwise humane decision. The IMF is getting their own policy pound of flesh too, they love a good bit of disaster capitalism.
Urine samples collected from wild chimpanzees in Uganda over decades have revealed older female chimps undergo hormonal changes much like those in menopausal humans.
Urine samples collected from wild chimpanzees in Uganda over decades have revealed older female chimps undergo hormonal changes much like those in menopausal humans.
One of the things that gets me about this is how long we've been using the familiar arch gravestone shape, in so many cultures, for nearly 5000 years since.
Dimensions: Height: 143 cm / \~4'8" ; Width: 65.5cm / \~2'2" ; Thickness: 25 cm / \~10"; Weight: 700 kg / \~1543 lb
Medium: limestone, protruding bas relief
Text content:
𓅃𓆓𓊁 Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Serekh Name (royal crest, basically) of the Pharoah Djet, represented by the falcon form of the god Horus standing on top of a rectangle with a snake at the top, and the palace façade/doorway architecture on the bottom.
This was like writing out the royal name in a fancy way, eg. "His Majesty, The Serpent Of Horus - The Living Incarnation Of The God Of Kingship, Healing, Protection, And The Sky". The cobra is the hieroglyphic syllable "Dj" as in English "adjacent", but we're not sure if people called him "Djet". The falcon is the bird-form of the god Horus, everything else is just to indicate the royal title.
Provenance: Purchased from archaeologist at a public sale in 1904. Now owned by France and in the Louvre Museum, Department of Egyptian Antiquities
After an inquiry lasting four and a half years, the royal commission makes 222 recommendations for change.
Title changed from original for better internationalisation, because the ABC hates assuming you see their articles outside of their specific site categories.
Original linked article title:
> > > "Pride, but also grief': Government to start taskforce following disability royal commission final report > >
Linked article lead paragraph:
> > > After an inquiry lasting four and a half years, the royal commission makes 222 recommendations for change. > >
Some numbers from the Inquiry itself:
- 222 recommendations (mostly for federal government)
- 32 public hearings
- 7,944 submissions from the public received
- 17,824 Phone enquiries
- 1,785 Private sessions held
Some of the findings:
- There are around 4.4 million people with disability in Australia, or 18% of the total population. Reflecting that disability increases with age, the number of people with disability falls to 2.4 million when we look at people aged under 65 years. This is 12% of this age category.
- Around 35% of First Nations people under 65 had disability in 2018–19, nearly three times higher than the general population. Children accounted for 24% of all First Nations people with disability.
- As at 31 December 2022, there were 573,342 participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
- Across all age groups, people with disability experience considerably higher rates of violence than people without disability. People with disability also experience violence more frequently. This is unacceptable.
- Rates of violence are particularly high for: Women with psychological or intellectual disability, First Nations women with disability, young women with disability.
- Neglect of people with disability occurs in multiple forms and across different stages of their lives. We heard of many instances of people being deprived of necessities of life and assistance with daily activities. We also heard of systemic failures to provide an environment for each person to maximise their potential.
- The data on exploitation of people with disability is limited. However, people with disability shared with us experiences of both sexual and financial exploitation by other individuals.
Some of the recommendations (my summary):
- A new Australian Disability Rights Act
- Intersectionality, especially with First Nations peoples
- Legal obligation to prove 'unjustifiable hardship' as reason for not making accommodations for a person with disability
- Alter the migration act to prevent systemic disability discrimination, (amongst many other laws)
- Requiring the government to provide interpreters, both spoken language and sign language
- Transitioning to non-segregated education settings
- Transitioning to removal of 'group homes'
- Creating a National Disability Commission as an independent statutory body to monitor outcomes, with a majority leadership by people with disabilities
- Legal obligations for guardians to show they're attempting to act in the best interests of their guardee
- An extra $36 million in funding for disablity advocacy and insurance programs
- Making a number of restraint techniques and solitary confinement illegal in health, justice and education settings
- laws to prevent non-therapeutic permanent non-consensual sterilisation of people with disability
- Increased housing protections for tenants with disability
- teacher, police and healthcare worker training and requirements, especially around cognitive disabilities
- a registration system for disability support workers that defines their roles and requirements and gives them benefits like sick leave and retirement savings
- lots more data and reporting being published by the government
- way better complaints processes and investigations
- targets for disability employment at all levels of public service, including executives
- so many more,
read the article or inquiry links if you're keen.
Edited to add: A better breakdown of recommendations by category instead of my casual list
After an inquiry lasting four and a half years, the royal commission makes 222 recommendations for change.
Title changed from original for better internationalisation, because the ABC hates assuming you see their articles outside of their specific site categories.
Original linked article title:
> > > "Pride, but also grief': Government to start taskforce following disability royal commission final report > >
Linked article lead paragraph:
> > > After an inquiry lasting four and a half years, the royal commission makes 222 recommendations for change. > >
Some numbers from the Inquiry itself:
- 222 recommendations (mostly for federal government)
- 32 public hearings
- 7,944 submissions from the public received
- 17,824 Phone enquiries
- 1,785 Private sessions held
Some of the findings:
- There are around 4.4 million people with disability in Australia, or 18% of the total population. Reflecting that disability increases with age, the number of people with disability falls to 2.4 million when we look at people aged under 65 years. This is 12% of this age category.
- Around 35% of First Nations people under 65 had disability in 2018–19, nearly three times higher than the general population. Children accounted for 24% of all First Nations people with disability.
- As at 31 December 2022, there were 573,342 participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
- Across all age groups, people with disability experience considerably higher rates of violence than people without disability. People with disability also experience violence more frequently. This is unacceptable.
- Rates of violence are particularly high for: Women with psychological or intellectual disability, First Nations women with disability, young women with disability.
- Neglect of people with disability occurs in multiple forms and across different stages of their lives. We heard of many instances of people being deprived of necessities of life and assistance with daily activities. We also heard of systemic failures to provide an environment for each person to maximise their potential.
- The data on exploitation of people with disability is limited. However, people with disability shared with us experiences of both sexual and financial exploitation by other individuals.
Some of the recommendations (my summary):
- A new Australian Disability Rights Act
- Intersectionality, especially with First Nations peoples
- Legal obligation to prove 'unjustifiable hardship' as reason for not making accommodations for a person with disability
- Alter the migration act to prevent systemic disability discrimination, (amongst many other laws)
- Requiring the government to provide interpreters, both spoken language and sign language
- Transitioning to non-segregated education settings
- Transitioning to removal of 'group homes'
- Creating a National Disability Commission as an independent statutory body to monitor outcomes, with a majority leadership by people with disabilities
- Legal obligations for guardians to show they're attempting to act in the best interests of their guardee
- An extra $36 million in funding for disablity advocacy and insurance programs
- Making a number of restraint techniques and solitary confinement illegal in health, justice and education settings
- laws to prevent non-therapeutic permanent non-consensual sterilisation of people with disability
- Increased housing protections for tenants with disability
- teacher, police and healthcare worker training and requirements, especially around cognitive disabilities
- a registration system for disability support workers that defines their roles and requirements and gives them benefits like sick leave and retirement savings
- lots more data and reporting being published by the government
- way better complaints processes and investigations
- targets for disability employment at all levels of public service, including executives
- so many more.
Edited to add: A better breakdown of recommendations by category instead of my casual list
I had never heard or seen anything like this before, it was mesmerisingly weird. Dutch gabber hard-core that made it huge in Australia for weeks as a one-hit wonder.
The Data Local team uses AI technology to generate stories on weather, fuel prices and traffic reports for hyperlocal mastheads
> > > The Data Local team uses AI technology to generate stories on weather, fuel prices and traffic reports for hyperlocal mastheads. > >
australia@aussie.zone discussion thread
Knowing how AI frequently relies on having a large dataset to work from, and breaking news frequently not having any confirmed information, this seems ripe for abuse and errors. I would love to see details on their implementation and datasets. Especially because News Corp are known to take very political positions on topics.
Liberal Leader Libby Mettam says a 33 per cent swing against Labor on primary votes in the Rockingham by-election puts Roger Cook "on notice" in the lead up to the state election, as the result delivers gender parity in WA's halls of power.
Post title changed from article title for better internationalisation. Original title:
> > > Magenta Marshall's victory in Rockingham by-election delivers gender parity in WA Parliament's lower house > ---------- > >
Article lead paragraph and summary:
> > > Western Australia's lower house of parliament now has equal representation between men and women for the first time in its history, following the election of Labor's Magenta Marshall in the Rockingham by-election. > > > > ### Key points: ### > > > > * There are 59 seats in the lower house of WA's parliament > * Magenta Marshall's election increases the tally of seats held by women to 29 > * Both parties are claiming the by-election result as a positive > >
“This 14th century door at Exeter Cathedral, UK, is thought to be the oldest existing cat flap A cat was paid a penny each week, to keep down the rats and mice in the north tower, and a cat flap was cut into the door below the astronomical clock to allow the cat to carry out its duties. Records of p...
“This 14th century door at Exeter Cathedral, UK, is thought to be the oldest existing cat flap A cat was paid a penny each week, to keep down the rats and mice in the north tower, and a cat flap was cut into the door below the astronomical clock to allow the cat to carry out its duties. Records of payments were entered in the Cathedral archives from 1305 to 1467, the penny a week being enough to buy food to supplement a heavy diet of rodents.”
"It's no longer plentiful, it's no longer cheap and it's also a fossil fuel." Why the Victorian government is pushing people to ditch gas.
"It's no longer plentiful, it's no longer cheap and it's also a fossil fuel." Why the Victorian government is pushing people to ditch gas.
Location: China, Yunnan, Dali Kingdom (937-1253), 10th century
Materials: Bronze, traces of gilding
Dimensions: H:35.0 x W:36.0 x D:14.5 cm
Museum description: This figure, cast in bronze sits in virasana, with main hands in prayer and adoration (namaskara mudra). He wears a clinging skirt-wrap and a robe folded and draped over both shoulders. The high tiara has nine images of Buddhas in niches, with the Buddha Amitabha at the centre. The 34 hands (38 originally) bear attributes including a rosary (mala), lotus (padma), sword (Khadga), skull cap (kapala), bell (ghantra), cakra (wheel), temple (caitya), book (pustaka), wood-apple (bilvafala), begging bowl (patra), shield (khetaka), vase with elixir of immortality (kalasa), skull, lasso (pasa), moon (candra), and an image of Buddha Amitabha. It is a rare tantric form of Avalokiteshvara, Bodisattva of Compassion. He is usually depicted as a standing figure with two arms known as Acuoyue Guanyin or Ajaya Avolokiteshvara ('All Victorious Guanyin'). Legend has it that he was originally an Indian monk who visited Yunnan around the 7th century as an incarnation of Guanyin. The Dali Kingdom became a centre for tantric Buddhism during the 10th to 13th centuries.
Gallery description: This sculpture portrays Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. The present bronze portrays the figure seated in virasana, which is rare given that the majority of surviving Avalokiteshvara portraits made in Yunnan are depicted standing. The 34 remaining slender arms (there were 38 originally) radiate around Buddha's head, adding to its high-powered and almost primitive energy. This extraordinary bodhisattva is executed with great artistic freedom and makes a true masterpiece of tantric Buddhist art.
Provenance: Sold to the George Ortiz collection. Now in the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore
Accession No.: 2011-01482
Item collection link: https://www.roots.gov.sg/Collection-Landing/listing/1026174
More general information on Avalokiteshvara with some other depictions here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara
About George Ortiz: In 1961 he was accused of having stolen property in his collection. This was resolved 15 years later when he was given a short suspended sentence. He campaigned against the 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT conventions restricting the export of cultural objects.