Dave’s Musings
The Conversation has an interesting op-ed type of report called "How Florida's home insurance market became so dysfunctional, so fast."
TL;DR it has everything to do with climate change and how its impacting Florida's rather long coast line (second in the nation to Alaska, first in the lower 48 at more than 1,300 miles). And how the reinsurance market has become a problem unto itself, primarily because of the risks of climate change.
So if you want to see an example of how changing climates impact our everyday lives, look to the insurance market in Florida, California, and other states that are seeing more impacts and rising insurance costs.
https://theconversation.com/how-floridas-home-insurance-market-became-so-dysfunctional-so-fast-217055
| The Voyager I spacecraft (which was launched over 45 years ago!) was expected to end its useful life some years ago. Yet, it kept sending back data for a few more years.
That is, until it suddenly started sending back gibberish which the team thought meant that it had finally reached its end of life.
But a few intrepid scientists stayed with it, and they think they have figured out what's causing the gibberish and (more importantly) how to fix it.
Because of the distance, communication takes a long time - and it will be many months before they will know if it works. Still, its intriguing that there's still the potential for useful information to come back.
https://gizmodo.com/nasa-voyager-1-reconnects-data-glitch-1851334565 |
| An educator at the University of Alberta has come up with an ingenious, low-cost alternative for a wireless light switch that doesn't require power or a battery to operate.
Instead, it translates RF power from a base station into the electrical energy needed to operate.
How futuristic!
"By enabling the wireless control of each section of homes. our solution prevents unnecessary use of energy, which in turn lowers energy bills and reduces carbon emissions." https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/wireless-light-switch-batteryless-home/ |
| Here's a story about an heiress who announced she is giving away her fortune. But its more than that. She wants to have a greater purpose and realizes that one person may make a decision that may not be as well thought out.
As an example, we saw what happened with Mackenzie Scott (Jeff Bezos's ex-wife) and how there was an amount of mansplaining that followed her decision to donate to charities.
And so Marlene Englehorn announced that "Extreme wealth as power must be regulated" and "that the process must be more democratic" - and thus solicited 50 people who represent average Austrians to help her to figure out what to do with the money.
They have met, and will continue to meet in order to decide what the best use of the money will be.
“I’m not so fixated on the result. The most important
thing to me is the public discussion of wealth and equality.”
https://fortune.com/europe/2024/03/15/austrian-heiress-basf-gives-away-27-million-basf-no-taxes/ |
One Little Spark …
| This a really good, long-form article about retail theft. CNBC reporters embedded with police forces around the country to see how they were dealing with rises in retail theft.
I'll leave you to read it, but a couple of key takeaways that I noted: much of the large-scale retail is a form of well-organized crime, and the extent of the "rise of retail theft" is greatly overstated by retailers looking to make noise, or pad their bottom lines.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/12/inside-organized-crime-rings-targeting-retailers-ulta-tjx-walgreens.html |
Dave’s Musings
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