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The king SoC of ARM single board computers approaches.

Rockchip RK3588 datasheet available, SBCs coming soon

We had most Rockchip RK3588 specifications so far for the long-awaited Cortex-A76/Cortex-A55 processor, but at today’s Rockchip Developer Conference 2021, more information surfaces with impressive CPU and GPU benchmarks, and the Rockchip RK3588 datasheet has just dropped from the sky directly into my laptop, as such document usually does. At least two single board computers are expected to soon follow from Radxa and Pine64.

[...] I’m quite surprised they could use a Mali-G610 “sub-premium premium” GPU as it was announced together with Cortex-A510, Cortex-A710, Cortex-X2 Armv9 cores, but it also works in SoCs with older Armv8 cores so that’s good, and that’s why GPU performance is truly a big step, up to over 10 times faster, compared to Rockchip RK3399.

Rock5 Model B layout

Pine64 December update: a year in review

Lastly, Rockchip will finally be introducing the RK3588 on December 16th (which means I can’t write about it on the day the update goes live – sorry), which will most certainly be of interest to us. What I will say is that it will bring entry-level desktop-class Arm CPU performance and plenty of IO options; keep a lookout for press coverage of Rockchip’s event.

While the prospect of a high-end computational device is certainly exciting, it also isn’t at the top of our to-do list.

It's sad that this thing can be delayed by a couple of years and still look good in comparison to everything else on the market.

The only competitor (limiting "competition" to ARM SBCs) might be the Amlogic S908X, which has also been scarce.

I had to find my own way out. But how, when I knew that I could not trust the things I heard, saw, thought or felt?
      --Michael David Crawford

And my response to him probably would have been something like: "You're a man, Frank. You're a man. Betty knows it."

My second quote:
I can slice, dice, julienne and puree. --Michael David Crawford

Middle school teachers observe that the following sentence is ambiguous having multiple meanings.

I saw a man with binoculars.

Middle school teachers say there are two possible meanings for that sentence. (they are wrong)

They become upset if I observe that there are four possible meanings. Each possible meaning can be deduced by asking the following questions:

1. What kind of binoculars did you use to observe the man?

2. What kind of binoculars did the man have when you observed him?

Stupid observations like this do not happen by accident and are not the result of random chants.

Cannabis bill approved in parliament, in first for Europe

Parliament on Tuesday approved a cannabis law that will allow users to carry, buy and grow amounts of the drug, making Malta the first European country to introduce laws to regulate recreational cannabis use.

MPs backed the Responsible Use of Cannabis bill by 36 votes to 27. All Labour MPs voted in favour of the bill while the opposition voted against it.

The reform must be signed into law by President George Vella - a process that usually happens within days of parliamentary votes.

Vella, a doctor by profession, has faced calls from NGOs and lobby groups that oppose the reform plans to refuse to sign the bill into law.

Malta to become first country in Europe to legalize cannabis for recreational use

In October, Luxembourg announced it would legalize cannabis, however parliament has yet to approve the measure.

Italy will likely decide whether or not to decriminalize cannabis in a referendum next year, after campaign groups managed to gather the required 500,000 signatures required to force a vote.

And Germany's incoming coalition government also included plans to legalize cannabis in its vision for the country, which was published last month.

The U.S. budget deficit totaled $356.4 billion in the first two months of the budget year, down 17% from the same period a year ago thanks to a sharp jump in government revenues that offset a smaller increase in spending.

In its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said Friday that the government’s deficit in October and November was $72.9 billion below the deficit in the same two months last year. The government’s budget year starts on Oct. 1.

The improvement was due to government revenues rising at a faster pace than spending over the past two months.

U.S. government deficit down 17 percent from same period a year ago

You know who you are...

Eh, whatever, short answer, no...

In other news:

This may or may not be a good thing, but it's still chum for the republicans

Watch the fun

Someone is killing Republicans and Trump voters

To say that someone is killing Republicans and Trump supporters in this country sounds like a conspiracy theory gone crazy. It is the kind of conspiracy theory that should be banned by Facebook and Twitter.

But the evidence is overwhelming.

People in counties that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 are dying at much higher rates from COVID-19 than people who live in counties that voted for Joe Biden, according to a study by National Public Radio.

“Since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden,” NPR wrote in its report.

“People living in counties that went 60% or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.7 times the death rates of those that went for Biden. Counties with an even higher share of the vote for Trump saw higher COVID-19 mortality rates.”

See Also: Anti Vax may be a self correcting problem, sadly

Also, I have posted two journal entries with independent polls from reputable pollsters showing that POLITICS is the biggest single predictor of not being vaccinated. More than age, sex or race. And now this article. But it will just be cheerfully hand-waved away to maintain the narrative.

Being anti vax is not about science, medicine or any other feigned pretend concern. It is about politics. Pure and simple. The numbers don't lie.

It is truly the unvaccinated who march like lemmings over the cliff. They "think for themselves", (yeah, right) just as lemmings are known to do. Yet the vaccinated who feel more liberated having been vaccinated are the ones who supposedly are "afraid".

Many Bothans died to bring us this news.

AGENDA : 7-9 December 2021
ISS World Europe is the world's largest gathering of Regional Law Enforcement, Intelligence and Homeland Security Analysts, Telecoms as well as Financial Crime Investigators responsible for Cyber Crime Investigation, Electronic Surveillance and Intelligence Gathering.

ISS World Programs present the methodologies and tools for Law Enforcement, Public Safety, Government and Private Sector Intelligence Communities in the fight against drug trafficking, cyber money laundering, human trafficking, terrorism and other criminal activities conducted over today's telecommunications network, the Internet and Social Media.

Track 1: Lawful Interception and Criminal Investigation Training
Track 2: LEA, Defense and Intelligence Analyst Product Demonstrations
Track 3: Social Network Monitoring, Artificial Intelligence and Analytics Product Training
Track 4: Threat Intelligence Gathering and Cyber Security Product Training
Track 5: Investigating DarkWeb, Bitcoin, Altcoin and Blockchain Transaction
Track 6: Mobile Signal Intercept Training and Product Demonstrations
Track 7: Electronic Surveillance Training and Product Demonstrations
Track 8: 5G Lawful Intercept, Tracking and Forensics Product Training

Plus Special Training Seminars lead by Law Enforcement Officers and Ph.D. Scientists

https://www.issworldtraining.com/ISS_EUROPE/

So, if you are looking for some evil guys who hacked you (PEGASUS etc.) lately, they are sitting just here...

From ArsTechnica:

Willfully unvaccinated should pay 100% of COVID hospital bills, lawmaker says

Rep. Carroll calls the legislation a starting point to hold unvaccinated responsible.

People who choose to remain unvaccinated and subsequently become severely ill with COVID-19 should be responsible for paying the entirety of their hospital bills out of pocket, according to Illinois Representative Jonathan Carroll.

The Democrat from the Chicago suburb of Northbrook introduced legislation Monday that would amend the state's insurance code so that accident and health insurance policies in 2023 would no longer cover COVID-19 hospital bills for people who choose to remain unvaccinated. Carroll said the rule would not apply to those with medical conditions that prevent vaccination.

[....] the proposed legislation is just a "starting point" to hold people who choose to go unvaccinated responsible for their decisions. He added that the legislation represents the frustration felt by those who are "following the science" and trying to do "the right thing" toward people “choosing not to get vaccinated, who are able to, for whatever [reason] they choose.”

“I think it’s time that we say, ‘You choose not to get vaccinated, then you’re also going to assume the risk that if you do catch COVID and you get sick, the responsibility is on you,’” Carroll told the Sun-Times.

Here is the real issue:

Carroll pointed to nationwide data showing that unvaccinated people account for the vast majority of people hospitalized with COVID-19.

People who willfully choose to be unvaccinated for no good medical reason are the very people taking up all the ICU beds. And imposing huge costs that were not necessary.

Furthermore, when no ICU beds are available, what happens to people who were in a car accident or suffered a heart attack that was not a result of being stupid and proud of it.

If you don't want to get vaccinated, that's your choice. But please (1) don't make everyone else pay for it, (2) don't take away ICU beds from others who weren't doing stupid things, and (3) don't go out in public and spread covid when we are in a pandemic.

See Also:

Singapore to end free Covid treatment for unvaccinated

Biden told Putin that 'things we did not do in 2014, we are prepared to do now' if Russia escalates in Ukraine, top adviser says

The White House says President Joe Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that the United States is prepared to launch strong economic measures should Russia invade Ukraine -- signaling that these new measures would pack a bigger punch than the sanctions issued in 2014 that failed to stop Russia from occupying Crimea.

"I will look you in the eye and tell you, as President Biden looked Putin in the eye and told him today, that things we did not do in 2014 we are prepared to do now," national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday afternoon after Biden's call with Putin.

Biden administration considering options for possibly evacuating US citizens from Ukraine if Russia invades

The Biden administration is exploring options for a potential evacuation of US citizens from Ukraine if Russia were to invade the country and create a dire security situation, half a dozen sources tell CNN.

The contingency planning is being led by the Pentagon, the sources said, and comes as the administration briefs Congress on how the US is preparing. In a "gloomy" briefing to senators by senior State Department official Victoria Nuland on Monday night, Nuland outlined the tough sanctions package being prepared by the administration in response to a potential Russian attack, but acknowledged that the US' options to deter an invasion are fairly limited, a person familiar with the briefing said.

It is still unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade, US officials stressed. But he has amassed enough forces, equipment and supplies near Ukraine's borders that he could move to attack on very short notice.