Short Takes – 12-27-22

3 Washington state electric substations vandalized. ABCNews.go.com article. Quickly fixed. Pull quote: “Meanwhile, just before noon, Puget Sound Energy reported vandalism that had happened at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday caused a power outage at one of its substations. The nearly 7,700 customers who lost power had it restored by 5 a.m., Puget Sound spokesperson Andrew Padula said. The company is investigating, along with authorities, and declined to comment further, Padula said.”

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is blamed for eight-car pileup in California. TheVerge.com article. Are we going to see an article about every Musk car accident? Pull quote: “Each of these incidents seems to implicate Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), Autopilot, or the automaker’s $15,000 Full Self-Driving (FSD) software package that performs many of the same tasks as Autopilot on local and residential streets. The first reported crash to allege that FSD was in operation happened last year in a Model Y vehicle.” Note: The Verge owns a significant link nerd.

Time is running short for McCarthy to lock up Speakership. TheHill.com article. And the conversations continue for another week. Pull quote: “Meanwhile, more than 100 current and incoming House Republicans have publicly said they support McCarthy for Speaker, and many are frustrated about the opposition. The uncertainty has already caused House Republicans to put off selecting committee chairs, delaying behind-the-scenes organizing activities like hiring staff for the next Congress.”

Hazardous Materials: Editorial Corrections and Clarifications. FederalRegister.gov final rule. Summary: “This final rule corrects editorial errors and improves the clarity of certain provisions in PHMSA's program and procedural regulations and in the Hazardous Materials Regulations. The intended effect of this rulemaking is to enhance accuracy and reduce misunderstandings of the regulations. The amendments contained in this final rule are non-substantive changes and do not impose new requirements.”

Review: Bev by Black & Decker Cocktail Maker. Wired.com article. Pull quote: “As for the cocktails, they’re hit and miss. They all veer toward being too sweet—some overwhelmingly so, no matter what strength you select—though in testing a half-dozen different pods, I surprisingly found the cosmopolitan to be the most approachable, followed by the old-fashioned. The Long Island iced tea wasn’t half bad, either, but memory of course gets a bit foggy from that point on.” Can’t wait for the ‘SMART’ version (sigh).