ProPublica: You Can Make Millions Selling Masks to the Government in Three Easy Steps. “Jason Cardiff didn’t want his new business to end up like his last one, an alleged pyramid scheme involving robocalling and selling unwitting customers bogus remedies to lose weight or quit smoking. One of his ventures, Prolongz, falsely claimed to offer men ‘increased ejaculation control.’ ‘I am not going to lose another company,’ Cardiff told his lawyer in an April 5 email, just before detailing a fantasy list of people he wanted to place on the board of his new venture, VPL Medical Inc.”
WFLA: Hillsborough Co. crossing guards get new electronic whistles amid coronavirus pandemic
WFLA: Hillsborough Co. crossing guards get new electronic whistles amid coronavirus pandemic. “With new school year set to start in some form or fashion, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is preparing for a new normal by introducing technology to help crossing guards. On Thursday, crossing guards in Hillsborough County tested out new electronic whistles. They are able to sound off to alert drivers that kids are crossing without the crossing guards having to actually remove their masks.” Or blow possibly-contaminated spit through the air.
Reuters: Exploring the misdeeds of judges across America
Reuters: Exploring the misdeeds of judges across America. “In the first comprehensive accounting of judicial misconduct nationally, Reuters identified and reviewed 1,509 cases from the last dozen years – 2008 through 2019 – in which state or local judges resigned, retired or were publicly disciplined following accusations of misconduct.” And now they’re in a database you can search.
Summit Daily (Colorado): Polis announces interactive COVID-19 model
Summit Daily (Colorado): Polis announces interactive COVID-19 model. “The website… lets people play epidemiologist by changing various scenarios to see how the state would be able to handle the virus. On the website, people can drag sliders with various metrics, including the number of people under 65 social distancing, the proportion of the population that wears a mask and how quickly contacts are successfully traced after a case report. The website then shows the viewer a graph detailing the number of estimated non-ICU hospitalizations, critical care hospitalization and deaths.”
Richard Rose: Ohio Man Dies of COVID-19 After Saying Masks Were Hype (Heavy)
Heavy: Richard Rose: Ohio Man Dies of COVID-19 After Saying Masks Were Hype. “Richard Rose passed away on July 4 from complications of COVID-19, just a few days after he tested positive for the coronavirus. Now posts are going viral online that show him saying he didn’t believe in wearing masks back in April. Heavy has confirmed that those posts are indeed authentic.”
Exclusive: Google can ward off EU antitrust probe into Fitbit deal with data pledge – sources (Reuters)
Reuters: Exclusive: Google can ward off EU antitrust probe into Fitbit deal with data pledge – sources. “Google may be able to stave off a full-scale EU antitrust investigation into its planned $2.1 billion bid for fitness tracker maker Fitbit (FIT.N) by pledging not to use Fitbit’s health data for its ads, people familiar with the matter said.”
ABC News: Google selects Mississippi site for 1st US operations center
ABC News: Google selects Mississippi site for 1st US operations center. “Google’s first U.S. operations center is coming to northwest Mississippi. The company announced Thursday it will lease a new 60,000-square-foot (5,574 square-meter) facility in Southaven, Mississippi, near Memphis, Tennessee.”
Neowin: Google Chrome’s new feature tests promise up to 28% battery usage improvements
Neowin: Google Chrome’s new feature tests promise up to 28% battery usage improvements. “Google is testing a change to its Chrome browser that will let it consume anywhere between 13% to 28% less battery on devices. The update relates to tweaking the JavaScript timer wake up frequency for the tabs that have been hidden or inactive for five minutes or more, resulting in lesser power consumption.”
CNET: The NBA is coming back: Dates, locations, who’s sitting out and how to watch basketball’s 2020 return
CNET: The NBA is coming back: Dates, locations, who’s sitting out and how to watch basketball’s 2020 return. “After the coronavirus shut down the NBA season along with everything else, basketball is finally set to return on July 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, inside Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Negotiations between the league and the NBA Players Association resulted in a new deal that will allow play to resume after a hiatus of nearly five months, but the final pro basketball games of 2020 will be unlike any previous year.”
Washington Post: MLS loses second team from its restart as Nashville SC withdraws because of virus
Washington Post: MLS loses second team from its restart as Nashville SC withdraws because of virus. “Nashville SC withdrew from MLS’s season-reopening tournament Thursday, becoming the second team to exit because of a coronavirus outbreak and raising anew questions about sports resuming competition during a pandemic. The club reported nine players — about a third of the roster — had tested positive for the novel coronavirus since they arrived at a Disney resort, where all 26 teams are staying in a so-called bubble for several weeks.”
Vice: The U.S. Army Twitch Channel Is Banning People for Asking About War Crimes
Vice: The U.S. Army Twitch Channel Is Banning People for Asking About War Crimes. “The American military is getting big into esports. The U.S. Army has launched its own Twitch channel where members of its team stream Call of Duty: Warzone and interact with users on the site. The channel has videos going back two months, but things got spicy in the chat on Wednesday night when viewers started asking questions about U.S. war crimes.”
Eater London: New Recipe Collection to Support BAME Covid-19 Victims Raises £10,000 in First Day
Eater London: New Recipe Collection to Support BAME Covid-19 Victims Raises £10,000 in First Day. BAME stands for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic. “The author, activist, and Eater London contributor Riaz Phillips has launched a new digital recipe collection, with entries from over 100 cooks and writers from diasporic communities across the country. Community Comfort, which is available to download now for a minimum donation of £10, will donate all proceeds to the Majonzi COVID-19 Bereavement Fund in collaboration with the Ubele Initiative, which was set up by social commentator, Windrush campaigner, and cultural historian Patrick Vernon to support the communities disproportionately affected by the coronavirus crisis. Since the collection was made available for purchase yesterday, 9 July, it has been downloaded over 600 times, generating nearly £10,000 in under 24 hours.”
CNET: Microsoft sues over trademark to stop COVID-19 hacking campaign
CNET: Microsoft sues over trademark to stop COVID-19 hacking campaign. “Microsoft said Tuesday that it’s taken legal action to stop a widespread COVID-19-related hacking campaign. The lawsuit, unsealed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, allowed the tech giant to take control of domains that hackers were using to trick their victims.”
Phys .org: Socio-economic, environmental impacts of COVID-19 quantified
Phys .org: Socio-economic, environmental impacts of COVID-19 quantified. “The first comprehensive study of the pandemic shows consumption losses amount to more than US$3.8 trillion, triggering full-time equivalent job losses of 147 million and the biggest-ever drop in greenhouse gas emissions.”
Bleeping Computer: Persuasive Office 365 phishing uses fake Zoom suspension alerts
Bleeping Computer: Persuasive Office 365 phishing uses fake Zoom suspension alerts. “Microsoft Office 365 users are targeted by a new phishing campaign using fake Zoom notifications to warn those who work in corporate environments that their Zoom accounts have been suspended, with the end goal of stealing Office 365 logins.”
