1. Israel's West Bank settlers hope Trump's return will pave the way for major settlement expansion  ABC News
2. Ex-Trump aides warn Israeli ministers not to assume he’ll back annexation in 2nd term  The Times of Israel
3. This Is How Netanyahu Will Annex the West Bank  Haaretz
4. Eyeing Trump support, Israeli minister pushes for West Bank settlement annexation  CNN

1. IDF: ‘New Hezbollah targets’ reached in expanded south Lebanon ground operation  The Times of Israel
2. A new deterrence for Lebanon is needed to avoid a long war with Israel  Al Jazeera English
3. Lebanon awaits truce proposals after US envoy expresses hope  Reuters
4. Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: 'No cease-fire' in Lebanon, defense minister says  ABC News
5. While Israel Seeks Deal in Lebanon, IDF and Hezbollah Escalate Their Attacks  Haaretz

1. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigns in abuse fallout: All to know  Al Jazeera English
2. Archbishop of Canterbury Resigns Over U.K. Church Abuse Scandal  The New York Times
3. Why did Justin Welby fall so tragically short? Because he was preoccupied with efficiency, not listening  The Guardian
4. Church of England Leaders Kept Evangelical Beatings Secret  ChristianityToday.com
5. UK Priest Who Married Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Steps Down Over Child Abuse Scandal  NDTV

1. Republicans inch closer to US House majority, full control of Congress  Reuters
2. Republicans 2 seats away from House majority, giving Trump leeway to implement agenda  Fox News
3. State of Congress: Republicans near formal House majority  POLITICO

1. Who is Mike Huckabee, the evangelical, pro-settlement envoy to Israel?  Al Jazeera English
2. Mike Huckabee once said that ‘there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian’  CNN
3. Trump nominates Mike Huckabee for US ambassador to Israel  Fox News
4. Trump Picks Mike Huckabee, Former Arkansas Governor, for Ambassador to Israel  The New York Times

1. US defense contractor to pay former Iraqi detainees $42 million for its role in torture at notorious Abu Ghraib prison  CNN
2. Abu Ghraib torture survivors win US civil case, $42m damages  Al Jazeera English
3. US jury awards $42m to ex-detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib  BBC.com
4. How a Troy lawyer convinced U.S. jury to award $42 million to 3 Iraqi prisoners  Detroit Free Press
5. U.S. Jury Awards $42 Million to Iraqi Men Abused at Abu Ghraib  The New York Times

1. How will Donald Trump’s plans for education affect Chicago Public Schools?  Chicago Tribune
2. Trump pledged to close the Education Department. What would that mean?  The Washington Post
3. Could Donald Trump eliminate the Department of Education?  WCNC.com
4. So You Want To Abolish The Department Of Education? Here’s What You Need To Know.  Forbes

1. Special Counsel Jack Smith plans to resign, file report before Trump can fire him: report  Fox News
2. Jack Smith expected to resign ahead of Trump inauguration  WAVY.com
3. Special counsel Jack Smith plans to retire before Trump takes office: report  New York Post

1. 'Taking revenge on society': Deadly Zhuhai car attack sparks questions in China  BBC.com
2. Man Upset About Divorce Allegedly Rams Car into Crowd, Killing 35: Reports  PEOPLE
3. Video: 35 killed in mass hit-and-run in Zhuhai, China  CNN
4. Driver rams his car into crowd in China, killing 35. Police say he was upset about his divorce  The Associated Press
5. Zhuhai car attack: China clears memorial as government scrambles to respond  Reuters

1. Biden and Trump to Meet at the White House: Live Updates  The New York Times
2. Biden, Trump Set For White House Meeting After Harris Election Loss  NDTV
3. Biden-Trump White House meeting revives presidential tradition skipped 4 years ago  Fox News
4. Trump and Biden to meet at White House as Senate GOP holds leadership election  CNN

1. Trump names Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defence secretary pick  BBC.com
2. Trump's defense choice stuns the Pentagon and raises questions about the Fox News host's experience  The Associated Press
3. Trump Puts Allies on Alert by Handing Pentagon to Fox News Host Hegseth  Bloomberg
4. How Pete Hegseth went from Fox News host to Trump’s Defense Secretary pick  CNN

1. Why is Elon Musk becoming Donald Trump's efficiency adviser?  BBC.com
2. Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead Trump's Department of Government Efficiency  Fox News

If you’ve ever had blackheads on your face, then you’ve probably noticed holes on your skin after they’re removed. These are just enlarged pores, and they should heal on their own. However, if this is taking too long, then you might have a scar or loose pores. This sounds bad, but don’t worry! These are common problems and they’re nothing to be ashamed of. Acne damage is tricky, so you might not be able to heal it completely on your own, but you can definitely take some steps to make your skin clearer. If home treatments don't work, then see a dermatologist for more help.

It’s easy to wish you looked like or acted like someone else, or had the cushy job or great boyfriend that someone else has. No matter who you are, you can learn to be happy and fulfilled with your life. Take time to appreciate your talents and characteristics while forming a healthy body image and self-esteem. Focus on the positive aspects of your job, hobbies, and lifestyle. Fostering strong and close relationships can help you feel more satisfied and confident in your lifestyle.

If you've caught an adorable ladybug and you want to keep it for a while as a pet, they're easy to care for! In this article, we'll tell you how to set up a ladybug habitat and feed it so your ladybug is happy and healthy. Just remember to release your ladybug after a few days since they tend to thrive best in their natural habitat.

You already take diligent notes, but now you’re wondering how to up your note-taking game and start taking notes that are better and more useful for you. There are actually all kinds of note-taking methods and strategies you can use to make your notes as effective and clutter-free as possible, and we’ll show you how! We’ve also included some tips on the best ways to review your notes so you get the most out of them. Check out the steps below to get started.

Weird Al Yankovic, Alicia Keys, and Jodi Foster. What do all of these celebrities have in common? They were all valedictorians of their class. Though being valedictorian won't make you a supermodel or singer, it can set you on an impressive path that can lead you to succeed in your college career and in the world at large. All you need is to have mental toughness, endurance, and an unbeatable work ethic. So how do you do it? Just follow these steps.

Believe it or not, Spanish is the second-most spoken language on the planet. Developing your Spanish-speaking skills is a great way to meet new people, communicate with Spanish speakers, and immerse yourself in a new way of thinking. If you want to speak Spanish, start by learning the common phrases and vocabulary terms. Once you feel a little more comfortable with the language, you can learn a lot more by immersing yourself in the language, taking classes, and practicing to develop fluency in the language.

Data gathered from several consulting firms by HT Digital indicated that Bengaluru has maintained its position as the top option for non-resident Indians wishing to invest in India’s residential real estate market, particularly those seeking affordable and mid-segment homes.  The … Continue reading →

The primary demand generators for Bengaluru’s office market are anticipated to be the technology, engineering, manufacturing, and BFSI sectors.  The Confederation of Indian Industry and CBRE report projects that Bengaluru, the country’s IT hub, will maintain its dominant position in … Continue reading →

Bengaluru’s rental housing market saw an average price correction of 5-10% during the April-June quarter of the current calendar year, according to local brokers who spoke with HT.com. This news should cheer up tenants in the city. The primary reasons … Continue reading →

Due to severe downturns in the global economy in 2023, the commercial real estate market saw a 66% annual decline in investments. Significant markets such as the US and Europe saw a 25% decline in leasing activity. The global commercial … Continue reading →

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present Budget 2024 today, and the real estate industry anticipates that the government will prioritize affordable and middle-class housing in the plan. To increase affordability, it has advocated for an enlargement of the … Continue reading →

This year’s budget, which sets up the housing sector, will not only help the one crore urban poor and middle-class families who lack a place to reside.  It will also boost the real estate market and open new doors for … Continue reading →

The real estate industry in Mumbai has suffered the most as a result of the heavy rains and the numerous cases of waterlogging that have been reported. Real estate experts claim that between July and August, during the monsoon, walk-ins … Continue reading →

Mumbai’s wealthy citizens, who seek forward-thinking and upward-looking homes, prefer a novel idea of ultra-luxury living. In Mumbai, duplex and triplex apartments redefined the definition of living in luxury. Duplex and triplex apartments are becoming increasingly popular in Mumbai’s ultra-luxury … Continue reading →

The real estate industry warned that eliminating indexation benefits for long-term capital gains would stunt its expansion, negatively affecting property owners and potentially increasing taxes. While experts thought low returns could still be a problem, authorities disagreed, citing high real … Continue reading →

This budget’s extensive measures demonstrate the government’s dedication to the real estate industry’s overall growth, which makes it a major driver of the country’s economic expansion.  The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, unveiled the 2024 Union Budget, which includes some ground-breaking … Continue reading →

Approximately 32 kilometers from the Goa International Airport in Dabolim, the opulent project will have 62 villas atop Reis Mago, a hill in Goa.  In the second half of the 2024-2025 fiscal year, 62 ultra-luxury villas in Goa, priced between … Continue reading →

Property in India’s Tier 2 cities has a bright future, presenting residents and investors with unmatched opportunities.  The global real estate market is changing dramatically, and new trends are changing the way cities expand and change. Greater infrastructure, faster urbanization, … Continue reading →

According to officials, the Noida Authority projects that in the fiscal year 2024-2025, it will sell group housing plots for a maximum of Rs 1,080 crore and commercial land parcels for Rs 1,010 crore.  According to people who know the … Continue reading →

Are you trying to find a cozy haven with a view of the city skyline? The desire for luxurious living is growing, and renowned builders like Nitara Projects are fostering this desire by offering strong, innovative, and tastefully designed premium … Continue reading →

The Delhi-Alwar Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is currently under construction and will link Delhi with the outlying satellite towns of Manesar, Rewari, and Alwwar. It will also link Delhi Metro’s four lines. Ten kilometers of the route are currently … Continue reading →

Hi there! As we light up our homes and hearts to welcome the joyous festival of Diwali, we want to extend our heartfelt wishes to you and your family for a season filled with health, happiness, and prosperity. ????✨ In … Continue reading →

The Beats Solo 4 features enhanced sound quality, up to 40 hours of battery life, and seamless Apple device integration. These on-ear headphones combine style with premium audio performance in a striking Cloud Pink finish. Reasons to Buy What Makes It Stand Out The Solo 4 improves upon its predecessor with enhanced audio quality and stronger build […]

The Samsung EVO Select 1TB microSD features ultra-fast 160MB/s transfer speeds, comprehensive device compatibility, and Samsung’s 6-proof protection system. This high-capacity card provides reliable storage for mobile devices, gaming consoles, and cameras. Reasons to Buy What Makes It Stand Out The EVO Select combines massive storage with Samsung’s reliability. The included full-size SD adapter extends compatibility to […]

The Sony XG300 Portable Speaker features IP67 waterproofing, powerful X-Balanced speakers, and up to 25 hours of battery life. This premium speaker combines durability with Sony’s signature sound quality. Reasons to Buy What Makes It Stand Out The XG300 delivers exceptional sound through Sony’s X-Balanced speaker units and dual passive radiators. The combination of MEGA BASS, ClearAudio+, […]

Doors are usually mundane, but these 16 different doors all hide terrible secrets behind them. Or do they?

Trump's flying car initiative gains momentum as UFO expert Dr. Michael Salla signals potential involvement, bringing advanced aerospace expertise to ambitious urban development plan.

The E-Government Act of 2002 calls for the U.S. Federal Government to enhance interoperability by adopting a common search standard. The Categorization of Government Information Workgroup has just finished the second version of their Statement of Requirements for Search Interoperability...

Curious as to the success (or failure) of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act? School Results is a public-private collaboration to provide data from the first rounds of NCLB initiatives and standardized testing. The project is funded by the...

The Electronic Records Policy Working Group is inviting interested persons to provide their written views on issues relating to implementing section 207(e)(1)(A) of the E-Government Act of 2002. That section calls for ``the adoption by agencies of policies and procedures...

A federal judge in Washington yesterday ordered the Interior Department to shut down most of its employees' Internet access and some of its public Web sites after concluding that the agency has failed to fix computer security problems that threaten...

Reporters Without Borders reports today that Chinese authorities have stepped up Internet censorship to include blogging, closing two sites hosting blogs, Blogbus.com and and Blogcn.com.

Summary: The overhead of performing even simple tasks online is getting larger and larger. I question the security of almost all these supposedly "secure" messaging systems. And I'm tired of the 'Utopia of Rules' mindset pervasive in every organization. It's exhausting how they expect customers to constantly adapt to their needs.

I don't know if you recall the game Kerplunk. It's a classic children's game that has been around for decades. I remember playing it with my sister. The basic setup involves a transparent plastic tube, a number of sticks, and marbles. The sticks are threaded through the tube to form a web or nest at the bottom on which the marbles rest. We'd take turns removing a stick at a time, trying not to let any marbles fall through the web and out of the tube. At some point, the remaining sticks can't hold the marbles and everything falls down.

The modern web reminds me more and more of a big Kerplunk game and I think the marbles are about to fall. What started out as an easier way to do things like shop, bank, and get health care information has become increasingly complex over time. More and more of the email I receive seems to be simply directing me to log into some bespoke system to retrieve a message or engage in some workflow. And even with a password manager, the act of logging in is often a chore with different user interfaces, custom MFA requirements, and weird rules for passwords. Once you're on the system, session time-outs induce their own form of anxiety since stepping away for a few minutes to attend to something else might require going through the whole Kafkaesque process all over again. The modern web has turned into a dystopian theater of the absurd where even reading a simple appointment reminder from your doctor requires several minutes of stress-inducing interaction with baroque systems and processes.

And it's not just doctors, of course, banks, government agencies, hospitals, ecommerce sites, and customer service systems all adopt these special purpose messaging systems. If you ask these organizations why they use bespoke messaging systems, they'll list things like "timely and improved communication," "convenience," and "privacy and security." But the real reason is that it's more convenient for them because these systems are integrated with their backends and make their processes more manageable. There's certainly nothing about them that's more convenient, timely, or better than email for their customers¹.

I also question the privacy and security premise. Email can be insecure. And your email provider can see the contents of your emails. But the messaging system run by your doctor or bank is likely less secure than the email systems run by Apple, Google, and the others. And achieving privacy by making everything incompatible so that you have to use a different system for each correspondent is like chopping off your finger to prevent hangnails.

How did we get here? Bureaucracy. Not just government bureaucracy, but bureaucracy of all kinds. In Utopia of Rules², David Graeber talks about how power imbalances force the less powerful group to perform what he calls interpretive labor, the work of understanding and implementing what's better or more convenient for the more powerful partner. People are not equal participants in online interactions. We don't have the tools to be fully embodied online³. Because of this we are forced to play by the rules organizations online who are digitally embodied with servers, identity systems, customer management systems, and so on. And part of that is being forced to use their inconvenient and anemic messaging systems.

What's the answer? People need tools. I think digital wallets (a bad name for an important tool), autonomic (peer) identifiers with strong cryptography, and verifiable credentials are a huge step forward. These tools provide the means for people to be peers online rather that mere ghosts in someone else's machine. That's why I insist on using the term self-sovereign rather than decentralized to describe these systems. Cogito Ergo Sum.

Notes

1. For a deeper dive into why one-off messaging systems are never as good as email, see Rich Sharing and Personal Channels. Email and other useful messaging systems exhibit a property called rich sharing that makes them much more robust that the simple idea of "sharing a message" would bring to mind.
2. If you're interested in power imbalances and how they come about, I can't recommend Graeber's book highly enough. He had such a keen understanding of this problem and wrote about it in a way that's both informative and entertaining.
3. I talk about this in more detail in Chapter 17 of Learning Digital Identity when I discuss authentic digital relationships.

Photo Credit: Playing Kerplunk from DALL-E (public domain) Prompt: Draw a picture of a boy and girl playing kerplunk that's 1200x500 pixels

Tags: web identity authentication authorization verifiable+credentials

신세계라이브쇼핑 모델이 7일 자체 패션 브랜드 ‘블루핏’ 상품을 소개하고 있다. 블루핏은 신세계라이브쇼핑이 지난해 선보인 컨템퍼러리 캐주얼 브랜드로 데님 팬츠, 무스탕 등 트렌디한 아이템으로 구성됐다. 신세계그룹이 10일까지 진행하는 ‘대한민국 쓱데이 2024’ 행사 기간 중 구매할 경우 고객 할인 등의 혜택이 주어진다.

BNK부산은행은 전날 한국생산성본부(KPC)에서 발표한 ‘2024년도 국가고객만족도 조사(NCSI)’ 지방은행 서비스업 부문에서 1위 기업으로 선정됐다고 13일 밝혔다. ‘NCSI’는 기업·산업·국가의 품질경쟁력 향상과 국민의 삶의 질 향상을 목적으로 한국생산성본부가 미국 미시간대학과 공동 개발한 고객만족도 측정 지표다. 국내외에서 생산돼 국내 최종소비

Kyra Wilson, Aylin Caliskan, Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society, Nov 13, 2024

The topic of AI-based recruitment and hiring has been discussed here before and research continues apace. This item (13 page PDF), despite the characterization in GeekWire, is a fairly narrow study. It looks at three text-embedding models based on Mistral-7B-v0.1, and tests for gender and racial bias on applications containing name and position only, and name and position and some content (the paper discusses removing the name but does do it). The interesting bit is that intersectional bias (ie., combining gender and race) is not merely a combination of the separate biases; while separate biases exaggerated the discrimination, "intersectional results, on the other hand, do correspond more strongly to real-world discrimination in resume screening." Via Lisa Marie Blaschke, who in turn credits Audrey Watters.