Short Takes – 4-4-23

House GOP’s Biden investigations sputter out of the gate. Politico.com article. High expectations but investigations take time. Pull quote: “According to interviews with more than a dozen House Republicans, a sizable chunk of the conference is focused on preventing a banking crisis and a looming debt fight instead of on Biden family oversight or a politicized government panel. At the same time, the party base is chafing at the lack of big bombshells and concrete steps against administration officials to back up all of lawmakers’ talk.”

Manchin fumes as court blocks pipeline permit. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “Bipartisan talks on speeding up energy projects have been ongoing, but it’s not clear whether they will amount to a compromise or whether the Mountain Valley Pipeline would be included.”

Notice of 2023 Out-of-Cycle Public Interface Control Working Group for Navstar GPS Public Documents. Federal Register AF meeting notice. Summary: “This notice informs the public that the Space Systems Command, Military Communications & Positioning, Navigation, Timing Directorate will host an out-of-cycle 2023 Public Interface Control Working Group on June 7, 2023. The working group will review proposed changes to NAVSTAR GPS public document ICD–GPS–870 (Control Segment (OCX) to User Support Interface), as well as familiarize GPS users with new GPS (XML based) data products and a conversion tool associated with the upcoming fielding of the Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX). Additional details can be found below.” Public meeting June 7th, 2023.

Request for Information-Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI). Federal Register DOE comment extension notice. New comment deadline April 18^th, 2023.

SpaceX sends Starship to the launch pad and prepares for a historic launch on 10 April. GaGadget.com article. Pull quote: “Officially, the Starship launch date has not yet been made public. However, Ars Technica's sources say that the huge spacecraft with its Super Heavy rocket booster, which together have 39 Raptor engines, will make its first orbital flight on April 10, 2023.”

Chemicals banned from air conditioners and refrigerators are making a comeback — and scientists don’t know why. TheVerge.com article. Pull quote: “The new research suggests that a loophole in the Montreal Protocol has allowed certain kinds of CFCs to proliferate. While CFCs are supposed to be virtually nonexistent in products that used to contain them, companies are technically still allowed to use CFCs in the process of manufacturing alternatives. In other words, CFCs can be used as feedstock, or ingredients used to make a new chemical.”

How Russia killed its tech industry. TechnologyReview.com article. Pull quote: “But cracks in Russia’s tech industry started appearing well before the war. For more than a decade, the government has attempted to put Russia’s internet and its most powerful tech companies in a tight grip, threatening an industry that once promised to bring the country into the future. Experts MIT Technology Review spoke with say Russia’s war against Ukraine only accelerated the damage that was already being done, further pushing the country’s biggest tech companies into isolation and chaos and corralling its citizens into its tightly controlled domestic internet, where news comes from official government sources and free speech is severely curtailed.”

A Tiny Blog Took on Big Surveillance in China—and Won. Wired.com article. Interesting article about John Honovich and IPVM. I had a fair amount of contact with John during the early days of this blog. He was very helpful with information about video surveillance tech for facility security purposes.