gedaliyah

There are a large number of unanswered questions about the Fediverse. I don't just mean questions that users may have, but questions for which no suitable answer exists yet. Some are extremely abstract and existential like "will the Fediverse survive the next decade?" Other questions are very concrete like, "What is the copyright status of a federated post?" or "What are the moral implications of federating content that may be harmful or recording a crime?"

I wonder, for those of you who stay up nights thinking about the Fediverse, which question is the most important to you?

According to GIMPS, this is the first time a prime number was not found by an ordinary PC, but rather a “‘cloud supercomputer’ spanning 17 countries” that utilized an Nvidia A100 GPU chip to make the initial diagnosis. The primary architect of this find is Luke Durant, who worked at Nvidia as a software engineer for 11 years

Fighting erupted early Sunday between M23 rebels and government-allied militia, leaving more than a dozen civilians wounded.

M23 then claimed they had seized the town of Kalembe.

The fighting marks the end to an Angola-mediated ceasefire deal between the Congolese army and the M23, a group allegedly supported by Rwanda, that was agreed in August.

“Noting that more than a thousand cultural sites had been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war, the Congress underlined that the targeting and looting of cultural sites appeared to reflect a systematic policy aimed at erasing Ukraine’s historical and cultural identity, consistent with a genocidal intent,” the Council said.

It’s not the first time Russia's war in Ukraine has been designated a genocide by international authorities. Multiple European national parliaments have already done so with the Council of Europe deeming Russia’s forced transfer of children as an act of genocide in 2023.

If you're in the USA, then this is a great resource for coming. Vote411.org is a website Created by the non-profit, non-partisan, League of Women Voters. You can enter your location and it will show you everything that's on your local ballot. They provide useful information like basic description of the candidates and issues, as well as their finances.

Early voting has already started in a lot of places, so find out the information about where to vote and what to vote for.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20985097

A fire alarm system wasn't installed in the building because experts did not consider it necessary.

A new fire station in Germany that was destroyed in a fire, causing millions of euros in damage, did not have a fire alarm system.

The fire broke out early Wednesday morning at the Stadtallendorf fire station in Hesse and destroyed the equipment hall and almost a dozen emergency vehicles, according to local media.

Initial estimates put the damage at between €20 million and €24 million. No one was injured.

Local officials told the German news agency dpa that no fire alarm system was installed in the building because experts had considered it not necessary — much to the astonishment of many observers now that the station has burned down.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine made an urgent plea in Brussels, though it’s unclear to what extent the officials gathered there will go along with it.

The policy, first introduced during the 2020 election, is meant to prevent misinformation about voting, including candidates prematurely claiming victory before a race is called.

Google is implementing the policy "out of an abundance of caution and to limit the potential for confusion, given the likelihood that votes will continue to be counted after Election Day," per a spokesperson.

In the House of Mirrors, political captives were pushed to the brink of insanity and death. Some are telling their stories now that the woman who put them there, Sheikh Hasina, is gone.

His death, which has not yet been confirmed, would be a significant moment in Israel's yearlong offensive against the militant group and could complicate efforts to release dozens of hostages held in Gaza.

In Gaza, no figure loomed larger in determining the war’s trajectory than the 61-year-old Hamas leader. Obsessive, disciplined and dictatorial, he was a rarely seen veteran militant who learned Hebrew over years spent in Israeli prisons and who carefully studied his enemy.

In 2008, Sinwar survived an aggressive form of brain cancer after treatment at a Tel Aviv hospital.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released him in 2011 along with about 1,000 other prisoners in exchange for Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid. Netanyahu was harshly criticized for releasing dozens of prisoners held for involvement in deadly attacks.

Back in Gaza, Sinwar closely coordinated between Hamas’ political leadership and its military wing, the Qassam Brigades. He also cultivated a reputation for ruthlessness. He is widely believed to be behind the unprecedented 2016 killing of another top Hamas commander, Mahmoud Ishtewi, in an internal power struggle.