Streetsblog.org – You Can’t Solve Congestion by Widening Roads

Dec 102021
 

On Monday the Chicago Tribune looked at the plight of local drivers stuck in some of the nation’s worst commute traffic, based on the latest congestion study by the transportation analytics firm Inrix.
Streetsblog USA has noted in the past that these annual Inrix traffic reports have been marred by multiple flaws. Issue have included an unrealistic definition of congestion that implies that roads aren’t functioning properly unless its easy for motorists to drive at illegal speeds; exaggerated estimates of the “cost” of congestion to travelers; and a bias against against compact cities with short average travel distances.
But there’s no question that Chicagoland has nightmarish traffic, and choosing to drive to work here when you don’t have…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://chi.streetsblog.org/2021/12/09/reality-check-you-cant-solve-congestion-by-widening-roads-invest-in-transit-instead/

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Boing Boing – New Zealand will ban smoking for entire next generation and beyond

Dec 102021
 

Anyone who is 14 or younger today will never be able to purchase cigarettes legally in in New Zealand, according to new legislation expected to pass. The aim is to annually increase the legal smoking age by one year and make tobacco smoking illegal by 2025. — Read the rest

External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2021/12/09/new-zealand-will-ban-smoking-for-entire-next-generation-and-beyond.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-zealand-will-ban-smoking-for-entire-next-generation-and-beyond

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LWN.net – Haas: Surviving Without A Superuser – Part One

Dec 102021
 

PostgreSQL developer Robert Haas has begun
a blog series on what would be needed to allow database administrators
to safely delegate superuser powers.

Consider, for example, the case of a service provider who would like to support a database with multiple customers as tenants. The customers will naturally want to feel as if they have the powers of a true superuser, with the ability to do things like create new roles, drop old ones, change permissions on objects that they don’t own, and generally enjoy the freedom to bypass permission checks at the SQL level which superusers enjoy. The service provider, who is the true superuser, also wants this, but does not want the customers to be able…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://lwn.net/Articles/878206/rss

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Motherboard – People Are Spamming Kellogg’s Job Applications in Solidarity with Striking Workers 

Dec 102021
 

Kellogg is seeking people to work in its factories to replace union workers who are striking for better wages and working conditions—and people on the antiwork subreddit are flooding the company’s job portal website with fake applications in solidarity with those workers.  In October, Kellogg’s workers shut down factories in cereal production facilities in Battle Creek, MI, Lancaster, PA, Memphis, TN and Omaha, NE. The striking workers are members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union; they’ve been in negotiations with the company since September, after Kellogg’s proposed pay and benefits cuts while forcing workers to work severe overtime as long as 16-hour-days for seven days a week. Some workers stayed on…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v7dvy9/spamming-kelloggs-job-applications-strike

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Techdirt. – Yet Another Study Shows Mainstream Media Is A Key Vector In Spreading Misinformation

Dec 102021
 

The common “accepted knowledge” these days among many is that the rise of disinformation and conspiracy theories must be driven by social media, and Facebook in particular (with Twitter and YouTube right behind). This theory has always seemed a bit bonkers, and we’ve pointed to multiple detailed, data-driven studies that showed that cable news was a much bigger driver of misinformation than social media. Specifically, it found that conspiracy theories and misinformation and the like didn’t actually “go viral” until after it appeared on cable news.

So, it’s good (but not at all surprising) to find yet another study pointing out the same thing. This one, first highlighted by MediaPost, involved a big survey exploring the spread…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20211206/12065948063/yet-another-study-shows-mainstream-media-is-key-vector-spreading-misinformation.shtml

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Deeplinks – Chrome Users Beware: Manifest V3 is Deceitful and Threatening

Dec 102021
 

Manifest V3, Google Chrome’s soon-to-be definitive basket of changes to the world of web browser extensions, has been framed by its authors as “a step in the direction of privacy, security, and performance.” But we think these changes are a raw deal for users.  We’ve said that since Manifest V3 was announced, and continue to say so as its implementation is now imminent. Like FLoC and Privacy Sandbox before it, Manifest V3 is another example of the inherent conflict of interest that comes from Google controlling both the dominant web browser and one of the largest internet advertising networks.
Manifest V3, or Mv3 for short, is outright harmful to privacy efforts. It will restrict the capabilities of…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12/chrome-users-beware-manifest-v3-deceitful-and-threatening

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Streetsblog.org – Reality check: You can’t solve congestion by widening roads – invest in transit instead

Dec 102021
 

On Monday the Chicago Tribune looked at the plight of local drivers stuck in some of the nation’s worst commute traffic, based on the latest congestion study by the transportation analytics firm Inrix.
Streetsblog USA has noted in the past that these annual Inrix traffic reports have been marred by multiple flaws. Issue have included an unrealistic definition of congestion that implies that roads aren’t functioning properly unless its easy for motorists to drive at illegal speeds; exaggerated estimates of the “cost” of congestion to travelers; and a bias against against compact cities with short average travel distances.
But there’s no question that Chicagoland has nightmarish traffic, and choosing to drive to work here when you don’t have…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://chi.streetsblog.org/2021/12/09/reality-check-you-cant-solve-congestion-by-widening-roads-invest-in-transit-instead/

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