One of the few non-browser things Mozilla did that I liked was their advocacy for an open web and industry standards, fighting back against Google and Microsoft and Apple wanting to turn the web into their own little ecosystem designed for their devices. It's sad to learn that the Mozilla foundation reckons advocacy and global programs are "no longer a part of our structure" and shitcanned the teams, adding salt to the wound by saying "advocacy is still a central tenet of Mozilla Foundation's work and will be embedded in all the other functional areas". This is the shit that happens when you turn into an ad-tech company.
A deal worth billions with Lockheed Martin to build "Australia's first sovereign-controlled satellite communication system over the Indo-Pacific ocean region" with "between three to five geostationary satellites, supported by multiple ground stations, an integrated satellite communications management system, and two new satellite communications operations centres" has been abandoned because "we've seen technologies develop which can literally shoot satellites out of the sky", according to the defence minister. The defence personnel minister instead wants a "mesh type arrangement of satellites, which provides greater resilience" - i.e: like Starlink.
Lovely video from the BBC about a Scottish hospital charity that's "introduced a gamer in residence for young patients in Glasgow". Steven Mair's job "involves visiting children to play video games with them, preventing boredom and providing some light relief". He said that "playing Mario Kart has improved the mobility of a patient's hand and that it was also a useful tool in distracting the children during medical procedures". What an excellent idea!
From the 6 March 1971 edition of New Idea (HappySwordsman / Internet Archive)
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