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Topics - Brad

#1
https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/05/routine-vaccines-may-cut-dementia-risk-experts-have-startling-hypothesis-on-how/

QuoteVaccines may be training a part of our immune system long thought to be untrainable.
#2
Water Cooler / Meanwhile in New Orleans
May 11, 2026, 09:15:01 AM
'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level, study finds

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/04/new-orleans-sea-levels-relocation-climate-crisis

Quote"Even if you stopped climate change today, New Orleans's days are still numbered," he added. "It will be surrounded by open water, and you can't keep an island situated below sea level afloat. There's no amount of money that can do that."
#3
Traffic / Yahoo Slurp Crawling Again?
May 02, 2026, 09:20:18 PM
So this video mentioned Yahoo Slurp is crawling the web and providing Yahoo's search results.  News to me can anyone confirm?

Top 10 Best GOOGLE SEARCH ALTERNATIVES to Use Now! (2026)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGBBQLzzCNM
#4
Kind of old but this is first I'm hearing about it.

Exclusive: Nordics and Estonia rolling out offline card payment back-up in case internet cut

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/nordics-estonia-plan-offline-card-payment-back-up-if-internet-cut-2025-05-07/

QuoteFinland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Estonia are rolling out offline card payment systems to provide a back-up if internet connections are lost, including due to sabotage

(or conflict.)
#5
Amazon Eyes Smartphone Comeback — 'Transformer' Project Reportedly Targets AI-Driven Future

https://news.yahoo.com/news/finance/sectors/technology/articles/amazon-eyes-smartphone-comeback-transformer-173235416.html

QuoteReuters sources indicate Amazon is exploring both traditional smartphones and "dumbphones." The latter would mirror the minimalist Light Phone to counter screen addiction.
#6
Traffic / Mojeek and Metager
March 20, 2026, 08:09:57 AM
A few days ago I saw a toot from metasearch Metager on Mastodon announcing they had added Mojeek to their list of search engines.  I can't confirm because Metager requires login but it seems like a good privacy match.

Good to see Mojeek's reach growing.

Between the anti-trust lawsuits against Google and Bing's price increases several smaller metasearch engines have added Mojeek which is good.
#7
How Yahoo escaped its Verizon death spiral and became profitable again.

https://www.theverge.com/podcast/895221/yahoo-jim-lanzone-scout-ai-sports-finance-open-web

This is very long but I found it interesting.

Search stuff is about 2/3rds down.  Yahoo is 3rd as a search destination.
#8
Economics & Investing / AI and Doomsday Economic Shake-up
February 27, 2026, 11:44:17 AM
'Doomsday' report leaves experts rattled about increasing likelihood of US economy shake-up: 'The system wasn't designed for a crisis like this'

https://news.yahoo.com/news/finance/news/doomsday-report-leaves-experts-rattled-010000863.html

QuoteA scenario that began with unprecedented white-collar layoffs quickly devolved into mortgage meltdowns as capital continued to concentrate in the tech and AI sectors.

"The system wasn't designed for a crisis like this. The federal government's revenue base is essentially a tax on human time," Citrini's analysis explained. "People work, firms pay them, the government takes a cut.

"... The government needs to transfer more money to households at precisely the moment it is collecting less money from them in taxes."
#9
Water Cooler / Will Kei Cars Come to the US?
December 05, 2025, 08:08:32 AM
Probably not.

If President Trump Wants Kei Cars Built and Sold in America, It'll Be a Regulatory Nightmare

https://autos.yahoo.com/policy-and-environment/articles/president-trump-wants-kei-cars-213200482.html

No, Trump Didn't Legalize Cheap Microcars For America

https://carbuzz.com/trump-didnt-legalize-japanese-kei-cars-for-america/


Aside:


In other news, Europeans are getting worried that American style car-size bloat is creeping in there as cars in the EU are getting longer, wider, fatter, heavier.
#10
Economics & Investing / Local Retail Consolidations
November 29, 2025, 08:20:44 AM
Local News:

I'm seeing a fair amount of locally owned chains getting bought by regional chains.

Item: An 8 store, family owned for 90 years, chain of ACE Hardware's sold to a larger chain of ACE's out of Michigan.

Item: Small chain of family owned grocery stores (4 stores) sold to larger regional chain out of Illinois.

Item: 16 store local grocery chain, sold to Hy-Vee foods, out of Iowa.

I'm sure there are more but that's what I remember locally.

In addition, I see in my feeds, news of many much larger but still regional consolidations happening in different parts of the country. 

Maybe this is just normal churn or maybe this is a pattern, I'm not sure.  Is anyone else seeing similar small chain local consolidations in their area?
#11
Water Cooler / AI data centers, EV's and the Grid
September 15, 2025, 03:20:57 PM
My local utility is trying convince state regulators to let them establish a subsidiary that would supply power and connection infrastructure to AI data centers and probably regular data centers as well.  The radio news says they expect AI data centers to be using 12% of all the power in a few years.

Now combine that with charging all the expected personal and commercial EV's everyone is talking about.  We've already discussed what happens to the local grid in a subdivision if all homes get fast charging stations and most plug in at night.  Plus we've discussed truck stops offering charging for lots and lots of trucks being comparable to a large town.

There is no way the present grid can handle those loads, and nobody seems to be planning for it on a national level.  Heck some places have brownouts now when everyone runs their air conditioners, throw in EV's and AI and you'll have meltdown.
#12
Water Cooler / Covid-19 Vaccination Fall 2025
September 12, 2025, 04:07:24 PM
I got my Covid vaccination today (Moderna).  Also got the 2025 Flu shot (extra strength for 65+).

Indiana now requires a prescription from your doctor to get the Covid vaccine at any age.  So that is a new bit of friction in the process but not that difficult to overcome, just annoying.
#13
Florida is now the 2nd most financially distressed state in the US — topped only by Texas

https://news.yahoo.com/news/finance/news/florida-now-2nd-most-financially-190300951.html


Why am I not surprised?
#16
I'm sure it's been this way for a long time, but I noticed every article out of PCMag seems like:

5 Best Android Phones for 2025
6 Best Laptops for Gaming
5 Best Lenovo Laptops
...

And of course they only review products that have an affiliate link.

See on Mastodon I'm subscribed to "Tech News Bot" which combines RSS feeds from all sorts of tech magazines.  When TNB updates all the PCMag headlines are like the above one after the other so I notice it.  And they churn these out in some volume day in and day out.

So since it's right in my timeline every day, and I noticed it, I thought I'd ask.
#17
COVID-19 pandemic accelerated brain aging – even if you didn't catch the virus

https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/23/covid_brain_ageing_study/

QuoteBoffins think worry and stress during the plague years changed our wetware, and that the damage can be reversed
#19
New Grok AI model surprises experts by checking Elon Musk's views before answering

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/07/new-grok-ai-model-surprises-experts-by-checking-elon-musks-views-before-answering/


Some AI's lie, some hallucinate and now some are bat-shit crazy.
#20
Silent Invasion: COVID-19's Hidden Damage to Human Organs

https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202507.0013/v1