Featured Links - May 27, 2024

Links to things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

Flower basket

• The Dawn of the Hypercane. "Category 6 hurricanes are here and more are coming."
• Indian Voters Are Being Bombarded With Millions of Deepfakes. Political Candidates Approve. "India’s elections are a glimpse of the AI-driven future of democracy. Politicians are using audio and video deepfakes of themselves to reach voters—who may have no idea they’ve been talking to a clone."
• New study provides the "definitive answer on masks." They work. "In case you still have the patience to try to convince a mask skeptic—or even a rabid anti-masker—that masks *do* actually work, here's a great, brand-new, peer-reviewed study to share with them. The paper, which is based on a narrative review and meta-analysis research project, was written by an international team of 13 researchers from universities including University of Oxford (UK), University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), University of Toronto (Canada), University of Otago (Wellington, New Zealand), and University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada)." Nancy and I are still masking in most public indoor situations and we are still COVID-free. 
• Government report warns of dire disruptions coming in the next decade. "The report details things like ecosystem collapse and AI running wild, and even the possibility of world war."
• In Hamilton, film photography is having a comeback. "New film drop box at a Hamilton shop is filling an analogue need in a digital world." I don't think I would be interested in trying film again unless I could get a used medium-format camera (like the Pentax 6x7) cheap.