Free Republic

The number of wind farm projects under construction in the U.S. has grown by 40 percent since this time last year, according to a second quarter analysis released Thursday by the American Wind Energy Association, a national trade group. Most of that construction is in Texas, the Midwest and the West. Texas remains a leader when it comes to installed wind power capacity -- with more than 20,000 megawatts -- but wind power still accounts for only 13 percent of the state's power mix.

FR has been completely down for a few minutes. I checked it with a "Is It Down?" website or two. Now supposedly it's up, but you can't move from one link to another. Or if it manages to get to that other link, it's after you've knit a sweater starting with a ball of yarn. What's up with FR today?

When Microsoft unveiled the first Surface tablet five years ago, it was a spectacular failure. At the time, the Apple iPhone was well on its way to conquering the technology industry, and the iPad appeared set to lead an even more devastating invasion of Microsoft’s office-worker kingdom. Microsoft conceived of Surface, an innovative laptop-tablet hybrid, as a way to show off the versatility of its software. Windows machines, it argued, could work as phones, personal computers and tablets. And didn’t everyone love Windows? Nope. Microsoft soon took a $900 million write-off for unsold Surfaces. Another effort to break into the...

An artificial intelligence system being developed at Facebook has created its own language. It developed a system of code words to make communication more efficient. The researchers shut the system down as it prompted concerns we could lose control of AI. The observations made at Facebook are the latest in a long line of similar cases. In each instance, an AI being monitored by humans has diverged from its training in English to develop its own language. The resulting phrases appear to be nonsensical gibberish to humans but contain semantic meaning when interpreted by AI "agents." Negotiating in a new...

Tucker, GA – A seller of used medical equipment has inappropriately listed an abortion suction machine on Ebay. Starting bid? $1,000. But if you buy it, expect to pay $265 in shipping costs from its current location in Tucker, Georgia. The seller tries to convince perspective buyers that this is a great deal. “30 Day Warranty! Just removed from a bankrupt facility. Tested and working perfectly at our facility!” the seller posted. [View the listing on Ebay.] The machine is described as in “used” condition. Twelve photos that appear on the Ebay listing show evidence of that use. The fitting...

The Roomba is generally regarded as a cute little robot friend that no one but dogs would consider to be a potential menace. But for the last couple of years, the robovacs have been quietly mapping homes to maximize efficiency. Now, the device’s makers plan to sell that data to smart home device manufacturers, turning the friendly robot into a creeping, creepy little spy.

Briefly about the product… It’s a version with all the bare essentials: file, email and web antivirus; automatic updates, self-defense; quarantine; and so on. This arsenal ensures convenient and safe web surfing (is it still surfing? Sounds a bit 90s to me), working with USB sticks and other portable storage media, and protection against both phishing and infected files being run. In short, the indispensable basics that no one on the planet should do without. Kaspersky Free is also lighter on system resources and quicker than its big brothers. It’s based on the same technologies as those older brothers, which...

Microsoft Paint, the first image editing software experienced by countless photographers and PC users around the world, is being laid to rest. Microsoft has announced that it’s abandoning the famous program after 32 years. The Guardian spotted a newly published page on the Microsoft website with a list of Windows features that will be removed or deprecated in the upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Among the many entries is a simple line that reads, “Microsoft Paint,� with an indication that it will be deprecated. Paint, which first appeared on Windows 1.0 in 1985, has been replaced by Microsoft’s new...

A security flaw in iOS devices that went largely unreported after it was revealed to have been fixed had the potential to be one of the most damaging security vulnerabilities this year. The bug exploited a flaw in how Apple's iCloud Keychain synchronizes sensitive data across devices, like passwords and credit cards on file, which -- if exploited -- could've let a sophisticated attacker steal every secret stored on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. "The bug we found is exactly the kind of bug law enforcement or intelligence would look for in an end-to-end encryption system," said Alex Radocea, co-founder...

A mysterious piece of malware has been infecting hundreds of Mac computers for years—and no one noticed until a few months ago. Earlier this year, an ex-NSA hacker started looking into a piece of malware he described to me as "unique" and "intriguing." It was a slightly different strain of a malware discovered on four computers earlier this year by security firm Malwarebytes, known as "FruitFly."This first strain had researchers scratching their heads. On the surface, the malware seemed "simplistic." It was programmed mainly to surreptitiously monitor victims through their webcams, capture their screens, and log keystrokes. But, strangely,...

The Roomba is generally regarded as a cute little robot friend that no one but dogs would consider to be a potential menace. But for the last couple of years, the robovacs have been quietly mapping homes to maximize efficiency. Now, the device’s makers plan to sell that data to smart home device manufacturers, turning the friendly robot into a creeping, creepy little spy. While it may seem like the information that a Roomba could gather is minimal, there’s a lot to be gleaned from the maps it’s constantly updating. It knows the floor plan of your home, the basic...

Microsoft was reportedly axing its beloved Microsoft Paint. The program, which has been annotating our memes, creating our webcomics, and teaching us how to art since 1985, is on Microsoft’s list of Windows features to be removed or deprecated in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. But this doesn’t mean Paint as we know it is dead! The list Paint was featured on very specifically says that each product will either be killed, or it will be deprecated—which merely means it will no longer be actively developed. Paint falls into the latter category. So it could be dropped in a...

FR has started having big issues again. Want display properly

Apparently the security (https) is having trouble with the name resolution or something

I decided it was time to replace my very old home stereo system from Magnavox. It had a CD player, an AM/FM radio and a pair of speakers. I must have bought it back in the late 90's. I knew it would be difficult to find an affordable CD player vs one that took DVDs or other. What I didn't know was how difficult it would be to find a home stereo system that allowed me to get AM radio. All the systems I saw online offered FM. That was no problem. I went into Best Buy and was told...

Technical explanation of varios interconnects from hardware vendors focusing on AMD's answer to manufacturing problems with LARGE monothic chips which have low yield with the latest lithography fabrication methods.INFINITY FABRIC - WHY ITS AMD'S BEST WEAPON AGAINST MOORE'S LAW

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Advanced Micro Devices, in releasing the Zen architecture and the Ryzen product family for consumer PCs, started down a path of growth in the processor market that it had been absent from for a decade.AMD’s AMD, +1.65%Ryzen 7 processor family directly targets Intel’s INTC, +0.46%  Core i7 line of processors (CPUs) that have been dominant and turns the market on its side by doubling core and thread counts at similar price points. The platform surrounding the CPU was modernized, leaving very little on the feature list that AMD couldn’t match to Intel’s own. Followed by the Ryzen 5 launch a...

While WorldTimeServer.com can help you look up accurate times around the world, our visitors have expressed much interest in our help to keep your local computer clock accurate, too. Atomic Clock Synchronization is the best way to make this happen. Windows can do it ... Windows has a built-in "service" that allows your computer to reference an atomic clock server, such as the atomic clock servers operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States. Your current computer time is compared with the current atomic time and an adjustment is made to keep your local...

Humanity confuses its loyalties and builds a shrine for that drowned security robot Hey, fellow humans, I thought we were all on the same page here? When news broke that a security robot mall-copping its way through the Washington Harbour gave up and drowned itself, we all rightly celebrated the admittedly small victory for mankind. Because, ya know, if drones are going to take our jobs they should at least be miserably toiling their mechanical lives away. So why am I now finding out that you went and built this thing a shrine? To make matters worse, you named the...