This morning I learned that there is a "Select all Tabs" option on the right-click context menu in Firefox. This is super useful for me as part of my workflow with Firefox is that I have a handful of folders of bookmarks which are "Startup" folders - if I'm going into a project or something, or for my personal browsing, or for work, etc.
So, for example, I can open a window in Firefox and launch my personal startup folder which includes: Gmail, my Calendar, this blog, my RSS reader, and my Wallabag of articles to read.
And with the select all functionality, it is now a snap to pin these tabs to that window as they are the core ones I need and it takes me from 2 clicks per tab to 4 clicks for any number of tabs in the window.
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"How not to solve the climate change problem"
When politicians talk about reaching “net zero” emissions, they’re often counting on trees or technology that can pull carbon dioxide out of the air. What they don’t mention is just how much these proposals or geoengineering would cost to allow the world to continue burning fossil fuels.
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Studies show that the most effective way to address the climate change problem is to decarbonize the economies of the world’s nations. This means sharply increasing use of renewable energy – solar and wind cost less than new fossil fuel plants in much of the world today – and the use of electric vehicles.
In Europe's move away from Russian gas, Africa is poised to be the big winner
This article highlights that African countries are using this leverage (rightly so) to demand a better bit of terms from global lenders to enable them to continue to build up their energy infrastructures if they are now going to be providing more to the European market.
As Europe scrambles for energy supplies, observers and Africans themselves are denouncing what they see as energy hypocrisy, considering that most African countries live under regular power shortages and are severely impacted by climate change. African governments have sought to develop new fossil fuel projects to meet local needs, but Western governments have demanded that multilateral lenders such as the World Bank stop funding those projects to reduce global carbon emissions.
“Our countries cannot achieve an energy transition and abandon the polluting patterns of the industrialized countries without a viable, fair, and equitable alternative,” Senegalese President Macky Sall said in a defiant speech at last year’s meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. “Stopping funding for the gas sector … would be a major obstacle.”
The growing professional bridemaid industry in China
Xie Yuke has attended over 40 weddings in the past two years and is now making a living from it.
The 22-year-old has flown more than 140,000 kilometers and traveled around China working as a professional bridesmaid.
It’s a fast-growing industry in China and is “expected to grow by 25% to 30% a year,” Cao Zhonghua, an expert at the Chinese Traditional Culture Promotion Council, told state broadcaster CCTV Wednesday.
Marines name Michael E. Langley as first black 4-star general
He is not confirmed yet, but Michael E. Langley is poised to break that barrier for the Marines.
Unrelated, but also notable, the Blue Angels named Lt. Amanda Lee as their first female demonstration pilot this week as well.
Quadball, not Quidditch
I love me some off-kilter sports. And quadball is definitely one of the sillier ones.
"The Archivists Who Rediscovered 700 Years of Irish History"
I am continually saddened when I hear about groups of people losing sizable portions of their history. When, in 2018, Brazil suffered a massive fire in one of their museums etc. Or when I think about the lost history of ancient civilizations such as the Mayans and others. So, this story showing how they have been able to recover and find information thought to be lost is wonderful.
"Google Calendar’s ‘known senders’ filter should help stamp out spam invites"
I am eager to see this added to my calendar options. I still, from time to time, find an invite has snuck in from some spammer. It has gotten markedly better in the last few months, but I eagerly welcome this added level of control.
I was listening to Alfred Hitchcock's interview on Dick Cavett back in the 70s and I was struck by how funny he was. I had known this before, but to be honest Hitchcock is not an individual I think about very often. I recall watching his TV show with my mother, reruns on Nickelodeon or AMC or somewhere like that. The show was suspenseful but didn't leave me scared, plus I enjoyed it as something I could do with my mother.
In any case, as I was thinking about his humor it made me think about Jordan Peele's current run of great horror films after cutting his chops in comedy. I would love to pick his brain about Hitchcock, comedy, and horror.
I'm available for bookings to do this interview if anyone is interested.
Having grown up in Orlando, I agree with the title of 'Sweatiest City in America'
The ranking considers factors such as the number of days above 90 degrees, population density, availability of air conditioning and bodies of water to cool down.
According to this survey, factors working in favor of Orlando sweat include an average summer temperature of 83.5 degrees Fahrenheit, a relative humidity in July of 78 percent and 97 days in a year that reach above 90 degrees. In addition, the exercise rate of the City Beautiful population is 50.6 percent and our population density is more than 2,600 people per square mile.
Interestingly, the above article is credited (at least via the Seattle Times RSS) to a staff writer. However, the body of the article utilizes "our population density" suggesting the author is in Orlando. Not sure if this is a wire article they bought or what, but either way I thought that was interesting.
"USPS doubles its electric delivery vehicle purchase"
The USPS is in the midst of a multiyear process to turn over its fleet of aging and fire-prone delivery vehicles. Its initial order of 50,000 next generation delivery vehicles from Oshkosh Defense included just 10,019 EVs, with the rest being gas-powered. But the agency told Reuters that it would be boosting its total EV purchase to 25,000 delivery vehicles. Overall, at least 40% of USPS's 84,500 vehicles purchased in the coming years will be EVs, by the agency's estimate.
Magnus Carlsen will not defend his World Champion Title
Big news in the world of chess, though not altogether unsuprising. He's still going to be competing, he just doesn't care about the title itself. He still expects to be the highest rated player in the world.
I do wonder if we might see Chess move away from the title coming from a tournament, and instead it's about "prolonged top FIDE ranking" or something similar. Or maybe we've just moved past having a singular world champion of chess, with every match recorded and rankings always up to date, it might simply be better to move to a historic view of the rankings.