August 2024

There were 5 posts published in August 2024 (this is page 1 of 1).

Why hurricane season is suddenly quiet — and what could be next – The Washington Post

Atlantic hurricane activity is usually nearing its peak at this time of year, and it seemed as if this August would be no exception. Tropical waters are extraordinarily warm, and two hurricanes have already pounded U.S. shores.

So why — despite predictions that this year’s hurricane season would be historically active — are the tropics suddenly so quiet?

There is a combination of factors demonstrating how even the most confident long-term forecasts are subject to unpredictable short-term influences.

Source: Why hurricane season is suddenly quiet — and what could be next – The Washington Post

Tinian airfield: US Air Force to reclaim Pacific base that launched atomic bombings as it looks to counter China | CNN

The US Air Force plans to bring the Pacific island airfield that launched the atomic bombings of Japan back into commission as it tries to broaden its basing options in the event of any hostilities with China, the service’s top officer in the Pacific says.

Source: Tinian airfield: US Air Force to reclaim Pacific base that launched atomic bombings as it looks to counter China | CNN

Moscow’s Spies Were Stealing US Tech — Until the FBI Started a Sabotage Campaign – POLITICO

One day at the dawn of the 1980s, an FBI agent in his 30s named Rick Smith walked into the Balboa Café, an ornate, historic watering hole in San Francisco’s leafy Cow Hollow neighborhood. Smith, who was single at the time, lived nearby and regularly frequented the spot.

As he approached the oak wood bar to order a drink he suddenly spotted a familiar face — someone Smith had met about a year before, after the man had walked into the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco. He was Austrian by birth, but a denizen of Silicon Valley, an entrepreneur who operated as a middleman between American tech companies and European countries hungry for the latest hi-tech goods.

The Austrian had visited the consulate to drum up business behind the Iron Curtain. The tech entrepreneur may not have put much thought into how closely the building was being watched by FBI spy hunters. And why should he? At the time, there wasn’t necessarily anything suspicious about trying to conduct commerce with the Soviets. In 1979, for instance, there was $4.5 billion in legal trade between the U.S. and Soviet Union; about $200 million of that was in high-tech goods. But bureau counterintelligence routinely blanketed the consulate with surveillance. And their interest was piqued. After the FBI clocked the Austrian’s visit to the consulate, Smith had reached out.

International businesspeople could be important sources for the FBI. They had access to people who would never knowingly speak to a U.S. government official, and to all sorts of information of interest to U.S. intelligence. Some could even become secret agents of the U.S. spy services.?

Source: Moscow’s Spies Were Stealing US Tech — Until the FBI Started a Sabotage Campaign – POLITICO

Children returned to Russia had no idea parents were spies, Kremlin says – The Washington Post

You know why these Russian “illegals” spies can be here for a decade or more without getting arrested? Because they’re useless. It takes them that long to do something worth arresting them.

On the other hand, if they pull FBI resources away from the real spies, then it might be worth Moscow’s trouble.

I feel for these poor kids, though. I couldn’t stand lying to my kids for any reason but turning their whole world upside-down? Everything they thought they knew is a lie? These fake parents deserve prison time just for doing this to their kids.

Putting your country before your kids does not make you a hero. It makes you a monster.

It seemed straight out of an episode of “The Americans.”

The children — Sofia, 11, and Daniel, 8 — had no idea their parents were deep-undercover Russian spies pretending to be Argentine expats in Slovenia, according to the Kremlin, much like the characters on the television show that was based on similar Russian spies known as “illegals.”

Life as Sofia and Daniel knew it ended Thursday when they stepped on a plane destined, they would later discover, for Moscow, as part of a landmark prisoner swap. When President Vladimir Putin greeted them at Vnukovo Airport a few hours later, he did so in Spanish: “Buenas noches.”

The daughter and son of Anna and Artem Dultsev have always believed they are Argentines, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday. Their mother shed tears as Putin handed her and Sofia large bouquets of flowers.

Source: Children returned to Russia had no idea parents were spies, Kremlin says – The Washington Post

Broken CPUs, workforce cuts, cancelled dividends and a decade of borked silicon—how has it all gone so wrong for Intel? | PC Gamer

Let’s begin with a brief recap of the current state of play at Intel. For starters, despite bold promises to regain technology leadership, it remains miles behind TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited) in chip manufacturing and indeed is increasingly relying on TSMC to manufacture its latest and future CPUs, such as Meteor lake, Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake.

Meanwhile, it’s losing market share to AMD in server CPUs, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Arm-based chips are a real threat in Intel’s largest consumer market, laptops, Intel’s Arc graphics effort has been a bit of a flop so far, and now its last two generations of desktop CPUs are badly broken.

Most recently, Intel announced some very poor financial results and decided it needed to fire another 15,000 employees after already trimming 5% of its workforce last year, a move that CEO Pat Gelsinger branded “some of the most consequential changes in our company’s history.”

Source: Broken CPUs, workforce cuts, cancelled dividends and a decade of borked silicon—how has it all gone so wrong for Intel? | PC Gamer