All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

L.A. fires: Most serious warning issued for a battered, weary region – Los Angeles Times

“Do NOT do anything that could spark a fire,” the weather service said. The particularly dangerous situation warning was set to go into effect at 4 a.m. Tuesday and continue through noon Wednesday…

…This week’s fire weather is not expected to be as severe as last week’s historic windstorms that fueled the Palisades and Eaton fires, Schoenfeld said. The area covered by the particularly dangerous situation warning affects a relatively smaller area — primarily the northern San Fernando Valley, including Porter Ranch and San Fernando; the western Santa Monica Mountains and the Malibu area; wide swaths of Ventura County, including the cities of Ventura, Simi Valley and Fillmore; and the Grapevine section of Interstate 5.

Sustained winds are forecast on the coast and in valleys from 25 mph to 40 mph, with gusts of 30 mph to 50 mph. In the mountains and foothills, sustained winds of 30 mph to 45 mph are possible, with peak gusts of 50 mph to 70 mph.

While downtown L.A. and Long Beach should be expecting peak gusts of 15 mph, gusts could hit 40 mph in Canoga Park and Lancaster, 43 mph in Oxnard, 47 mph in Santa Clarita, 53 mph in Fillmore, 55 mph at Pyramid Lake and 69 mph in Acton.

Wind gusts

There will be a higher risk of downed trees and power lines than with a typical red flag fire weather warning, Schoenfeld said. Public safety power shutoffs are more likely in the area of the particularly dangerous situation.

The area covered by this warning does not include the footprint of the Palisades and Eaton fires but is close by. It does include the Hurst fire area in Sylmar.

This wind event will be a more conventional Santa Ana wind, with winds coming out of the east and spreading fires to the west. Last week’s windstorms were worsened by a “mountain wave wind,” which occurs when gusts rapidly drop down mountain slopes, then gain strength upon hitting a flat landscape. The phenomenon caused short bursts of strong, dangerous winds, with gusts of up to 100 mph reported near Altadena. Winds from that event came primarily from the north.

Source: L.A. fires: Most serious warning issued for a battered, weary region – Los Angeles Times

‘Just the start’: X’s new AI software driving online racist abuse, experts warn | X | The Guardian

A rise in online racism driven by fake images is “just the start of a coming problem” after the latest release of X’s AI software, online abuse experts have warned.

Concerns were raised after computer-generated images created using Grok, X’s generative artificial intelligence chatbot, flooded the social media site in December last year.

Signify, an organisation that works with prominent groups and clubs in sports to track and report online hate, said it has seen an increase in reports of abuse since Grok’s latest update, and believes the introduction of photorealistic AI will make it far more prevalent.

“It is a problem now, but it’s really just the start of a coming problem. It is going to get so much worse and we’re just at the start, I expect over the next 12 months it will become incredibly serious.”

Source: ‘Just the start’: X’s new AI software driving online racist abuse, experts warn | X | The Guardian

New alert system can track changes in grasslands, farms, temperate forests

A new global data set makes it possible to track near-real-time changes in several types of vegetation across different ecosystems, including grasslands, savannas, shrublands, croplands, temperate forests and boreal forests.

Called DIST-ALERT, the new product can be visualized on the Global Forest Watch platform of the World Resource Institute (WRI).

GFW has long offered the ability to track near-real-time changes within tropical forests through its integrated deforestation alerts. However, in 2024, researchers at the University of Maryland, U.S., and NASA’s OPERA project developed a monitoring system that can map changes to tree and vegetation cover across different ecosystems at a resolution of 30 meters (100 feet). The alerts acquire satellite data for each pixel every two to four days, as long as the ground isn’t obscured by cloud cover or snow.

Source: New alert system can track changes in grasslands, farms, temperate forests

Bridge of Humility – Kaushal Kishore

 

To scale a mountain, one must bow,

For the humble path will upward grow…

In life’s ascent too, this truth remains,

Through humility, lasting glory gains…

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The sky above also extend its grace,

Dipping low to the horizon’s embrace…

A lesson profound, both vast and deep-

Humility’s bridge lets earth and sky meet…

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—Kaushal Kishore 

Source: Bridge of Humility – Kaushal Kishore

Sitting in Sunshine – Site Title Radha kripa

Sitting to-day in the sunshine
That touched me with fingers of love,
I thought of the manifold blessings
God scatters on earth, from above;
And they seemed, as I numbered them over,
Far more than we merit, or need,
And all that we lack is the angels
To make earth a heaven indeed.

The winter brings long, pleasant evenings,
The spring brings a promise of flowers
That summer breathes into fruition;
And autumn brings glad, golden hours.
The woodlands re-echo with music,
The moonbeams ensilver the sea;
There is sunlight and beauty about us,
And the world is as fair as can be.

But mortals are always complaining!
Each one thinks his own a sad lot,
And forgetting the good things about him,
Goes mourning for those he has not.
Instead of the star-spangled heavens,
We look on the dust at our feet;
We drain out the cup that is bitter,
Forgetting the one that is sweet.

We mourn o’er the thorn in the flower,
Forgetting its odor and bloom;
We pass by a garden of blossoms,
To weep o’er the dust of the tomb.
There are blessings unnumbered about us–
Like the leaves of the forest they grow;
And the fault is our own–not the Giver’s–
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Keep smiling 😊

Source: Sitting in Sunshine – Site Title Radha kripa