Always strive to learn something useful. --Sophocles

It was a heck of a game! Spain's offense absolutely dominated for most of the game, but Argentina's goalie was an absolute wall. He was incredible and deserves recognition for it. I would definitely say he was better than Spain's goalie, but Spain's defense was a little better and Argentina had problems getting shots on goal. Poor Messie did not have a good game, I don't know if he was tired or was holding back some to let the rest of his team shine.

Regardless, Spain was undoubtedly the superior team and scored in the 106th minute! There were two other goals by Spain - none by Argentina - but there were fouls with both of them and they did not count. I'm not clear what happened the first time, the second was an off-sides.

The only downside to the event was at the end when a buffoon with bad hair, an ill-fitting suit, and a scowl participated in handing out the medals to the two teams. He even tried to photo-bomb the winners at the end and had to be lead off by whom I presume was the head of FIFA. I imagine the players, being professionals, are used to the occasional downsides of problems with the venues where they play.

I understand this particular clown was a big supporter of Argentina and gave their country an awful lot of money in the not distant past. Bummer day, dude!

I didn't get to watch any other games, but this one was scheduled in a time slot that was very convenient for me to catch, so I did.

ETA:I forgot one very nice thing - Spain is simultaneously holding the World Champoin title in both men's and women's football! That is incredibly cool!

Oh, and the guy with the bad hair got massively booed when his face was shown on the Jumbotron during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner!

Oops! Once again, MS fails to correctly implement a documented in plain sight security standard. Not the first time, certainly won't be the last.

I'm going to let the article speak for itself, then do some add'l commenting:
"According to a Fedora community blog post, upgrading to Fedora 43 and the newer Dovecot 2.4 mail server unexpectedly exposed what could be an ancient Microsoft Outlook security problem involving unencrypted POP3 connections. If true, some Outlook users may have believed their email sessions were protected by SSL/TLS while the client silently continued using insecure plaintext connections instead.

That is not a small allegation.

The issue reportedly surfaced after Fedora 43 administrators upgraded Dovecot and discovered that newer versions no longer allow plaintext password authentication over non secure connections by default. Suddenly, support calls started flooding in from Outlook users who could no longer connect to their mailboxes.

What made the discovery especially strange was that affected users allegedly had SSL/TLS enabled in Outlook. Yet many of those same accounts were still connecting over port 110, the old unencrypted POP3 port, rather than port 995, which is typically used for encrypted POP3 traffic.

According to the report, Outlook appeared to ignore the SSL/TLS selection entirely in certain configurations and continued sending authentication traffic over insecure connections without properly warning users."

SO. New distribution of Fedora Linux and a newer version of their Dovecot mail server, and Linux tries to make sure that everyone sticks to published standards to that they play well with all other software that sticks to published standards.

And Outlook installations suddenly start barfing. Presumably on networks using Window PC clients and Linux backend servers. The Outlook clients appear to be configured correctly and show their little padlock symbol, which we're all trained to believe that all the encryption is up and running properly. Yet internally, things are not well in Outlook Land. People were running older Outlook configurations, not realizing that standards had changed or just not bothering to update old clients or servers. The Dovecot servers got updated to new standards, which barred badly configured clients from connecting, such as old and incorrect Outlook servers/clients, and BOOM.

The bigger problem is that POP3 is a very old standard and not really useful for our multi-device world. The newer and much better standard is IMAP. Under POP3, the first device to access an email message pulls it off the server. I have two laptops, two PCs, a phone and a tablet - all of which read my email. Now, in Ye Olde Days, back in the '80s perhaps, you probably only had one computer. If you had a work PC, you may not have accessed your personal email on it because you usually had special software to call up your ISP for mail. IMAP is designed for multiple devices to access your mail: it leaves it on the server until deleted, remembers whether it is read or unread, and remembers what folder you've moved it to if you did that.

Yet we still frequently have to configure that POP3 information when we set up an email client!

Makes me glad that I almost exclusively use web-based email.

https://nerds.xyz/2026/06/fedora-43-outlook-security-bug/

China has been very aggressive in their space program for several years now, and have their own private space station in orbit. I don't think it's very big, but it is up there. They send crews back and forth on a regular basis. They've been working on a reusable first stage, just like SpaceX, and last Friday, July 10, successfully recovered one intact. A nice improvement on their program. Of course, recovering one is more of a proof of concept than 'We've nailed this and all future recoveries will work perfectly.' You can just look at the Oopsie! SpaceX videos on YouTube for a good laugh to see how long and how much hardware they used to get a good grip on that tech.

China is planning to recertify and re-fly this stage by the end of the year. Also, this launch flew a live payload successfully into orbit!

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/making-history-china-lands-rocket-during-an-orbital-launch-for-1st-time-ever

https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/07/10/1840220/china-lands-rocket-during-an-orbital-launch-for-first-time


Japan is taking a different approach in developing a reusable rocket stage, and the two photos accompanying this article are worth a look. On Saturday, they had their first success.

Their technique is not a full launch. They made a small rocket, it took off to about 36', then hovering it moved horizontally before setting down. And while I say small, it was not remotely tiny. The movement was very controlled, and the fact that it was controlled is an excellent step in upscaling to larger rockets. It rose and did the lateral translation very smoothly, exactly what you'd want to see in a rocket. It was interesting seeing it venting from the top of the rocket and the side before it launched, though.

The entire launch was less than one minute long.



From the AP article: "JAXA [Japanese Space Agency] and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have been co-developing the RV-X, which is 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) in diameter and 7.3 meters (23.9 feet) long and equipped with an engine with enhanced durability and four shock-absorption landing gear.

The “hardworking” engine has so far withstood 165 combustion tests, Ito said.

JAXA, which is jointly developing reusable rockets with France and Germany, plans to send the RV-X rocket to a higher altitude of about 100 meters (218 feet) in future test flights."

I look forward to seeing further developments from Japan as this is much cooler than the SpaceX/China methodologies!

https://apnews.com/article/japan-reusable-rocket-h3-test-space-china-eb83b8385641a094b4cd69c3ee48090a

https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/07/13/0522200/japans-space-agency-conducts-first-test-flight-for-experimental-reusable-rocket

On September 1, UK users of Sony's PlayStation online store will lose access to 551 titles from StudioCanal's library when the current licensing agreement expires. It is possible that the agreement may yet be renewed, preserving people's "purchased" programming.

Yet another reminder that "purchases" are not purchases, they're long-term rentals that may vanish at any time and with no remuneration for your dollars spent.

This same garbage happened in 2023 when Sony's licensing agreement with Discovery was in danger of expiring and 1,300 programs were in jeopardy, in that case a new license was negotiated pretty much at the last minute. But in 2022, users in Germany and Austria lost access to StudioCanal material, and in 2021 Funimation libraries were lost when a merger with Crunchyroll happened.

To avoid this:
BUY PHYSICAL MEDIA.
Rip it to a media server like Jellyfin.
Store said physical media in a safe place.
Never worry about it being taken away again.

Unfortunately because of the AI bubble, hard drives have mostly doubled in price, so the cost of setting up a Jellyfin or Plex server has become kinda ridiculous.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/sony-erases-digital-content-from-libraries-were-reminded-we-dont-own-what-we-buy/

"He's fat, has piles, he's in the Epstein files!"

Apparently his handlers in the White House are having second thoughts about him attending World Cup games lest his delicate ears are offended by such things.

FDA ADVISORS APPROVED MODERNA'S mRNA FLU VACCINE!

This is the one that the White House tried to block from even being reviewed. It shows extreme efficacy, but of course runs afowl of Robert Fucking Kennedy Juniormint's agenda and attempt to destroy the vaccine industry to his personal profit.

From the article: "Data from a Phase 3 trial including over 40,000 adults age 50 and older found the mRNA vaccine was around 27 percent more effective against seasonal flu than a standard flu shot. A smaller Phase 3 trial, involving data from nearly 3,000 people age 65 years and older, showed the shot produces stronger immune responses than a high-dose flu vaccine, which is recommended for this age group. The safety profile of the vaccine was also generally good."

Nice! A more effective vaccine, that's always good! I turn 65 at the end of the year, and I was a little concerned about the concept of a higher-dose flu shot as I have a bit of a negative reaction to vaccinations. It's nothing more than being a little under the weather over the weekend with a mild fever, but if I can avoid it with a regular dose vaccine, all the better for me! And with the added bonus that the vaccine uses the same framework as their mRNA Covid vaccine, it is easy for them to reprogram it, giving them manufacturing flexibility to respond rapidly to changes in the flu virus.

This decision follows some drama from February, detailed from the article: "The outcome today is in stark contrast to a few months ago, when Trump official Vinay Prasad was overseeing vaccines at the FDA. In a shocking decision in February, Prasad rejected Moderna’s filing, refusing to even review the vaccine. Prasad claimed that the large vaccine trial was not “adequate and well-controlled” because it did not compare efficacy to a high-dose vaccine in people 65 and older. Instead, Moderna used the smaller trial to compare immune responses of mRNA-1010 to a high-dose vaccine—which was a plan the FDA had previously agreed would be acceptable.

Moderna was blindsided by the refusal, which Prasad issued over the objections of FDA scientists and career officials. Amid widespread outcry, the FDA reversed the decision the next week, agreeing to review the vaccine. Around the same time, Prasad was also behind the rejection of a closely watched gene therapy for Huntington’s disease made by UniQure, which was widely criticized and called “truly evil” by a former FDA official.

Prasad was pushed out of FDA at the end of April amid a string of decried decisions and controversies. Prasad’s decision on UniQure’s gene therapy was reversed on Wednesday."

This was a review panel decision which is not final FDA approval. However, with a unanimous panel approval, and the blow-back of the initial refusal to even consider the application by Prasad, it would be difficult for the FDA to not approve it when it comes up for final approval, a deadline has been set for August 5.

There is one additional step beyond that, and it is problematic: it must be reviewed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). And that committee currently does not exist.. A judge issued an injunction declaring all of the appointees to that committee by RFK had been appointed improperly. Approval by that committee is what gets insurance approval for vaccines. Once it's approved by the FDA and ACIP, Moderna says they can get their new flu vaccine out to market before the end of the year!

Now we wait....

https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/06/fda-advisors-unanimously-vote-to-approve-modernas-mrna-after-agency-drama/

First we got the algae bloom and the Park Service is dumping gallons upon gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the pool to try to control it, apparently to no avail.

Now the new liner is coming apart, pieces of it - some of them kind of large - are floating to the surface. Tourists are grabbing them as souvenirs. So the $4 million repair - which cost over $14 million - has become a complete and utter failure and will have to be redone. The repair lasted less than a month after the pool was refilled.

It also needs to be pointed out that this was done under a no-bid contract and just handed to a donor to President TACO.

The liner failure is being attributed to several factors. When the pool was drained before repainting, the surface may not have been adequately prepared: it may not have been completely cleaned and dry. The massive amounts of peroxide being added to the water may be degrading the bond between the coating and the concrete. The contractor should have used a special epoxy designed to cure completely underwater: if this wasn't used, then the project may have been doomed from the get-go. And once the algae blooms started, workers began aggressively scraping the bottom of the pool, damaging the fresh surface, exacerbating any additional problems that may already have been happening from any of the conditions mentioned above.

Regardless, looks to me like they're going to have to drain it and redo the entire job again. Hopefully with a better contractor who has a lot more experience with algae blooms.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/06/18/lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-paint-peeling-off-see-photos/90614066007/

Wow. An "investment" that is not based on anything is losing value? Whouldathunkit. Now, if you'd generated a few hundred Bitcoins at the beginning when it was possible and sold them when they were worth $100,000+, that would have been quite awesome. But it still wouldn't have been an investment: it would have been speculative trading to other speculators. Because there's nothing behind it. Still, the only value in Bitcoin is other people buying it and it being used for illegal activity such as to traffic in drugs and paying ransomware demands.

This is an excellent quote from the CNBC article: "Bitcoin differs from stocks, bonds and real estate because it doesn’t generate earnings, interest payments or rental income that investors can use to estimate its value, says Robert Johnson, a finance professor at Creighton University. Instead, its price is largely determined solely by investor demand.

“You cannot invest in Bitcoin, you can only speculate,” he says."

A comment in the Slashdot story notes that prominent FORMER promotors of Bitcoin, Marc Andreesen and Peter Thiel are no longer singing the praises of Bitcoin, they're now telling people to invest in AI. Apparently they made their money in BC and got out.

By the way, unless you're really good at timing markets, don't invest in AI.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/12/bitcoins-price-drop-is-forcing-investors-to-revisit-why-they-own-it.html

https://slashdot.org/story/26/06/14/0817238/bitcoin-has-lost-nearly-half-its-value-in-11-months

Ah, what a lovely article! Sometimes standards get upheld!

As you may have heard, SpaceX has filed to do an IPO (initial public offering [of stock shares]) and go on the stock market. Lots and lots of people are salivating, perhaps Leon Muskbrat most of all. They also filed with the New York Stock Exchange for a quick listing on the Standard & Poor 500 stock market index.

And they were rejected to get listed on that index.

HAD they been accepted, their valuation would have skyrocketed, no pun intended. Lots of institutional investors buy funds directly based on the S&P rather than or in addition to buying individual stocks, so that mix would have contained SpaceX immediately.

What squelched the deal?

A basic problem that Musk-lead companies have long had: profitability.

In order to be included in the S&P 500, the company has to be currently profitable, and must have been profitable in the four preceding quarters. SpaceX is not currently posting a profit, and never has. There is also a rule that they must release at least 10% of their shares to be publicly traded, SpaceX is going to release 3%. After a month-long consultation to decide whether to allow the rules to be waved to allow SpaceX into the club, the decision was made to not open the door.

This may hamper Muskbrat's quest to become the world's first trillionaire. Now, will he alter the IPO to let loose more shares to meet the 10% threshold, and will he alter operations to make it more profitable? I expect that among the things dragging it down is he's making SpaceX buy almost all of the Tesla Cybertruck production to keep Tesla's sales chugging along. Apparently SpaceX's debt load is $29 BILLION dollars US because of its AI debt load. That's a big load on profitability, having to service that amount of debt.

The AI company Anthropic has also filed for an IPO. It's sealed, so details are not much available, like what percentage of shares will be let loose. But like all AI companies, it is not profitable.

However, Leon did get some good news with the Nasdaq folks, who decided"... to allow SpaceX to enter the Nasdaq-100 Index within 15 trading days as opposed to the usual three months. Similarly, the FTSE Russell index provider decided to give SpaceX and other follow-on companies accelerated entry to the Russell Top 500 Index after the close of the fifth trading day following an IPO."

But there was even more bad news for SpaceX: "...Morningstar analysts described SpaceX as having been “significantly overvalued” in the lead-up to its IPO. The investment research firm valued SpaceX at $780 billion—less than half of SpaceX’s $1.75 trillion IPO goal—primarily based on the strengths of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service and rocket launch business."

OUCH! A Muskbrat-led business overvalued? Say it isn't so!

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/sp-500-blocks-fast-spacex-entry-wont-waive-rule-for-unprofitable-ai-firms/

Well, the odds weren't good that it would see the light of day. I had just heard they were in development earlier this year. I was really looking forward to this, we enjoyed the original and the SG-1 series.

I still cringe whenever I'm in a theater and I see the MGM logo and Amazon with it. It just makes me sad. Perhaps it's better than MGM dying entirely, but not by much.

https://screenrant.com/stargate-amazon-new-series-canceled/