2026-01-20 01:05:23
Ukraine's SBU captures Russian soldier suspected of executing 9 Ukrainian POWs in 2024: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/20/ukraines-sbu-captures-russian-soldier.html
Ukraine's SBU captures Russian soldier suspected of executing 9 Ukrainian POWs in 2024: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/20/ukraines-sbu-captures-russian-soldier.html
Amnesty research: a government customer of spyware maker Intellexa hacked the iPhone of journalist Teixeira Cândido in Angola in 2024 via Predator spyware (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/17/inte
Source: Benchmark's 2020 fund is now worth 10x and 2024 fund is 3x what investors put in, based on cash distributions and the paper value of its investments (Natasha Mascarenhas/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20
Another controversial land deal in Suriname threatens the Amazon Rainforest https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/another-controversial-land-deal-in-suriname-threatens-the-amazon-rainforest/
POL-DH: --- Diepholz - Graffiti Verursacher ermittelt --- Diepholz (ots) - Die Polizei hat drei Heranwachsende als Verursacher von rund 30 Graffiti in Diepholz und Umgebung ermittelt. Im Laufe der letzten zwei Jahre (2024 und 2025) wurden in der Stadt Diepholz und der weiteren Umgebung (Barnstorf und ... https://www.pres…
Dear #Business. Here's a reminder to you who rely on #OpenSource in your software and services.
Your digital infrastructure is cheap because you CAN get it for almost no cost.
How cheap?
Look at the Harvard Business Review study from 2024: The ROI of Open Source is 2000 ×.
…
I'm shocked, shocked, that waiving the transfer tax on downtown office to residential conversions did not result in a single such conversion happening.
Well, not that shocked. (The real point of March 2024 Prop C was the sneaky provision letting the SFBOS reduce the transfer tax altogether without an election. Not to produce housing but to cut downtown landlords' taxes.)
Perplexity says it has no plans to further pursue advertising, which it introduced in 2024, phasing out ads late last year over fears it would erode user trust (Cristina Criddle/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/6eec07a5-34a8-4f78-a9ed-93ab4263d43c
Spanne der Bruttospeicherleistung von #Batteriespeichern pro Inbetriebnahmejahr von Privatpersonen in Deutschland mit Stand vom 07.02.2026.
393 Datensätze ohne #Batteriespeichertechnologie herausgefiltert.
Der Datenbestand enthält unplausible Datensätze.
Sources: Grafana Labs, which makes cloud and AI monitoring tools, is in talks to raise at a $9B valuation, up from $6.6B in 2024; its ARR hit $400M in Sept. (The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/grafana-labs-talk-raise-9-billion-valuati…
RE: https://techhub.social/@Techmeme/116029119008444453
I wrote a lot about these rules in 2024 and 2025
Found an old power bill while cleaning up. In the end of 2018 I was paying 9.05 c/kWh for the first 600 kWh and 10.94 above.
Now it's 15.1 and 17.0.
The rate of increase was very much nonlinear though: from October 2018 to October 2024 (six years) the tier 1 rate only climbed by 27%.
It went up 10.5% in 2024 and 20.7% in 2025 alone.
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #VarietyMix
Eddie Palmieri:
🎵 Bajo con tumbao
#EddiePalmieri
https://eddiepalmieri.bandcamp.com/track/bajo-con-tumbao-remastered-2024
https://open.spotify.com/track/0PkaklBwK3aSMGj6am8C3F
2024-25 COVID vaccine 80% effective against death, CDC estimates:
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/2024-25-covid-vaccine-80-effective-against-death-cdc-estimates
With record-tying 10 openings, NFL hires zero Black head coaches https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7014495/2026/02/01/nfl-head-coaching-hires-black-coaches/
Zugebaute #Batteriespeicherkapazität pro Monat in #Deutschland mit Stand vom 07.02.2026.
393 Datensätze ohne #Batteriespeichertechnologie herausgefil…
Roku reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to $1.39B, vs. $1.35B est., and an $80.5M net income, vs. a $35.5M loss in Q4 2024; ROKU jumps 9% after hours (Lucas Manfredi/The Wrap)
https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/roku-earnings-q4-2025/
The EU approves UMG's $775M acquisition of Downtown Music, a deal UMG expects to complete in the coming weeks after announcing it in December 2024 (Edith Hancock/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/business/m…
Precedented, but not the same:
If ICE and CBP are basically the reincarnation of the KKK, it’s the KKK with a budget the size of Russia’s entire military.
Literally. In the literal sense of “literally.” The incoming ICE CBP budget is ~$140 billion.[1] Russia’s military budget is ~$145 billion.[2]
(If I’m misreading these numbers, please correct me.)
[1] https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy26_homeland_security_conference_bill_summary.pdf
[2] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-hikes-national-defence-spending-by-23-2025-2024-09-30/
12/
To people who didn’t vote for Trump, his sweaty panic over the Epstein files is perplexing.
The president’s enthusiasm for sexual violence is no secret.
It’s been nine years since the release of the “Access Hollywood” video, in which he bragged about how he liked to “grab them by” the genitals.
In 2023 and 2024, two civil juries found that journalist E. Jean Carroll told the truth when she said Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s.
The president has also made …
Stumbled across this great new d-beat band from Brisbane, EXIT-PLOOM. They just started in 2023, they rip, and their loud, noisy, rough tape 'Duck and Cover' from 2024 is here, to hear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmdj0BBjX_k
and here, to buy:
Coinbase reports Q4 revenue down 22% YoY to $1.78B, vs. $1.84B est., transaction revenue down 37% to $983M, a net loss of $667M, vs. a $1.3B profit in Q4 2024 (André Beganski/Decrypt)
https://decrypt.co/357925/coinbase-q4-miss-667-million-loss-bitcoin-retreat
I do have to question whether all people's of the Nisga’a Nation are fully aware of and/or still supportive of being in co-ownership with a fascist Republican owned gas pipeline in NWBC.
“In 2024, the project was sold to the Nisga’a Nation in northwestern B.C. and the Texas-based Western LNG. Among the biggest of the project’s investors is Blackstone Inc., led by CEO and chairman Steve Schwarzman, a friend and advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, and one of the Republican Party’s top 10 donors.”
#ClimateAction #ClimateChange #ExtinctionRebellion #BCPoli
https://albernivalleynews.com/2026/02/10/proposed-pipeline-draws-crimson-draped-protesters-to-victoria/
🛌 Wissen fürs Kopfkissen: 📖
Retröt: Mit #Steckersolaranlagen kannst Du selbst auf Deinem #Balkon Teil der #Energiewende werden, Deine
The US NLRB abandons its 2024 case accusing SpaceX of illegally firing eight engineers and signals it will steer clear of future cases against the company (Josh Eidelson/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-09/us-nlrb-…
Comeback Player of the Year? How Christian McCaffrey bounced back in most impressive year yet https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47769168/san-francisco-49ers-christian-mccaffrey-comeback-player-year-candidate-2025…
Häufigkeitsverteilung der Bruttoleistung von #Balkonkraftwerken in #Deutschland mit Stand vom 08.01.2026.
Unplausible Inbetriebnahmedaten ersetzt, Sonderregelungen nach #Solarpaket…
#htmly CMS ist really nice & easy for little blogging projects. Just worked this evening joyfull on https://www.honorardozentenblues.de
🌈 Cadolzburg für Vielfalt und Demokratie am Samstag, 24. Januar 2026 vor dem Rathaus um 11 bis 13 Uhr.🎉
:BoostOK: Wiederholung am Samstag, 31. Januar.
✊💜 Eine Menschenkette soll ein Zeichen für #Vielfalt und #Demokratie setzen!
Jährlicher Zubau und Rückbau von #Balkonsolarleistung in Deutschland mit Stand vom 08.01.2026.
Unplausible Inbetriebnahmedaten von 1900 bis 2017 wurden durch das Registrierungsdatum der #Steckersolaranlage ersetzt.
👉 Zusatzlesestoff:
Hybe K-pop subsidiary Ador ends the contract of one member of NewJeans and sues her and Ador's former CEO after the group tried to leave the label in 2024 (Jon Blistein/Rolling Stone)
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ne…
Anzahl der Inbetriebnahmen von Balkonkraftwerken pro Jahr in #Deutschland mit Stand vom 08.01.2026.
Unplausible Inbetriebnahmedaten von 1900 bis 2017 wurden durch das Registrierungsdatum der #Steckersolaranlage ersetzt.
👉 Zusatzlesestoff:
#tbt: About this time in 2024, my wife and I spent 4 days seeing sights and thrifting at Goodwill stores in wonderful #Waco #Texas. Got some nice pictures too. ☺️ 🖼️
#throwback #throwbackThursday #Thursday #travel #photography #amateur
2025 was third-warmest year on record, research shows https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/2025-was-third-warmest-year-on-record-research-shows/
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #BBC6Music's #RileyAndCoe
New Starts:
🎵 Little Stone In My Heart (6 Music Session, 14 Aug 2024)
#NewStarts
Kumulativer Zubau von #Balkonsolarleistung in #Deutschland mit Stand vom 08.01.2026.
Die summierte Leistung aller offiziell registrierten #Steckersolaranlagen beträgt b…
Brazil’s Farmed Animals “Meat Machine” Exposed in Photo Report https://veganfta.com/articles/2025/12/25/brazils-farmed-animals-meat-machine-exposed-in-photo-report/?utm_source=Mastodon
🛌 Wissen fürs Kopfkissen: 📖
Retröt: Mit #Steckersolaranlagen kannst Du selbst auf Deinem #Balkon Teil der #Energiewende werden, Deine
Chainalysis and TRM Labs estimate that $2.7B was stolen in crypto in 2025 in total, up from $2.2B in 2024; the biggest hack was the $1.4B breach at Bybit (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/23/hackers-stole-…
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #KEXP's #VarietyMix
Cardi B feat. Bad Bunny & J Balvin:
🎵 I Like It
#CardiB #BadBunny #JBalvin
https://sbubeats.bandcamp.com/track/cardi-b-bad-bunny-j-balvin-i-like-it-2024-mix-mixed-by-sbu-beats
Sources: Spotify plans to raise US subscription prices in Q1 2026, its first US price rise since July 2024, after increasing prices in other countries this year (Anna Nicolaou/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/fb490480-5d9a-495f-8c23-f34149bbcadb
Spanne der Bruttospeicherleistung von #Batteriespeichern pro Inbetriebnahmejahr von Unternehmen in Deutschland mit Stand vom 29.11.2025.
373 Datensätze ohne #Batteriespeichertechnologie herausgefiltert.
Der Datenbestand enthält unplausible Datensätze.
…
Spanne der Bruttospeicherleistung von #Batteriespeichern pro Inbetriebnahmejahr von Privatpersonen in Deutschland mit Stand vom 29.11.2025.
373 Datensätze ohne #Batteriespeichertechnologie herausgefiltert.
Der Datenbestand enthält unplausible Datensätze.
Spanne der Bruttospeicherleistung von #Batteriespeichern pro Inbetriebnahmejahr von Unternehmen in Deutschland mit Stand vom 22.12.2025.
378 Datensätze ohne #Batteriespeichertechnologie herausgefiltert.
Der Datenbestand enthält unplausible Datensätze.
…
Now #TheAmericanFascist has appointed an 'envoy' to help convince Greenlanders to ditch Denmark and join the USA. Denmark is shocked and angered, as they should be. Greenlanders are wholly opposed.
There is poetic irony of a Louisiana politician being tapped to lead a "Greenland Purchase" by America. I very much doubt the result will be the same. But there are some interesting parallels.
Lousisiana Purchase (1808)
a) Made possible by squabbles and warring in Europe.
b) involved purchase of 2.14 million km2 of North America for $380 Million in 2024 dollars. Greenland is 2.17 million km2.
It's difficult to fathom just how undervalued the Louisana Purchase was...nevermind the whole — selling Indigenous Lands without Treaty — issue. But hey... that would be another parallel with today's Inuit and Greenland Peoples.
Back in the modern context, America's Fascists just want to do Fascist things like take over sovereign countries and oppress nations, not unlike Hitler, the Kaiser's Germany, the Napoleans, Imperial Britain, Conquistador-ist Spain, and Tsarist-Stalinist-Putinist Russia.
This all needs to be kept -- forefully if need be -- in the past. We cannot allow these regressive dictators to come back.
He must be stopped.
United States of America!
Americans!
Stop prancing around with Christmas presents as if nothing is happening and DEPOSE YOUR PRESIDENT ffs! This is ON YOU first and foremost!!
#USAPoli #Denmark #Canada #Imperialism #TheWorld #UN #NATO #Russia #Ukraine #RussiaUkraineWar #Louisiana #LouisianaPurchase #Greenland
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgmd132ge4o