The Death of the Mind

Adam Charles Weeks, the Legal Marijuana Now Party nominee for U.S. House in Minnesota’s 2nd district, died recently. Under a unique Minnesota law passed in 2013, the death of the nominee of a qualified party in a partisan race closer than 79 days before an election means the seat can’t be filled until the following February. See this story. Although voters will see the race on their November ballots, the votes in that race will…

External feed Read More at the Source: http://ballot-access.org/2020/09/24/legal-marijuana-now-party-nominee-for-u-s-house-dies-so-minnesota-cant-fill-that-seat-until-february-9-2021/

The New York Times has published a long article about the Green Party. The theme is that the Republican Party in the past and currently has helped in a few states to get the Green Party on the ballot. The story is myopic. The authors take it for granted that it is difficult for a party like the Green Party to get on the ballot. The authors should ask the big question: why should be…

External feed Read More at the Source: http://ballot-access.org/2020/09/22/new-york-times-article-on-green-party/

*Meet the doomers: why some young US voters have given up hope on climate.* I agree with their estimation of our future. But they are wrong to give up the fight because of the situation. They are right that avoiding disaster calls for big national efforts which current governments refuse to do. (I call them “planet roasters” because of that refusal.) And it is too late to fully avoid the disaster. But it is not…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#22_September_2020_%28Meet_the_doomers%29

What happens when a major city allows the coronavirus to rage unchecked? If the Brazilian city of Manaus is any answer, it means about two-thirds of the population could get infected and one person in 500 could die before the epidemic winds down. During May, as the virus spread rapidly in Manaus, the equatorial capital of the state of Amazonas, dire reports described overwhelmed hospitals and freshly dug graves. Demand for coffins ran at four…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/22/1008709/brazil-manaus-covid-coronavirus-herd-immunity-pandemic/

“This is the most useless thing I have ever made”, writes Teenenggr, the creator of this Arduino-powered typewriter carriage for computer keyboards. The carriage uses solenoids to create the physical sensation of typing on a typewriter, and is extremely loud. There is even a bell. The code and parts list is here. We make Arduino/Raspberry…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/21/arduino-powered-solenoid-carriage-for-computer-typists-who-want-to-feel-alive-again.html

Andrew “bunnie” Huang has announced a new project called “Precursor”; it is meant to be a platform for makers to create interesting new devices. “Precursor is unique in the open source electronics space in that it’s designed from the ground-up to be carried around in your pocket. It’s not just a naked circuit board with connectors hanging off at random locations: it comes fully integrated—with a rechargeable battery, a display, and a keyboard—in a sleek,…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://lwn.net/Articles/831983/rss