• My poem is done.  I abandoned the sonnet and went for five stanzas in the common meter - 8-6-8-6 with an abab rhyme scheme.
  
  That solved the problem of finding another rhyme for "baby", but means it can be sung to the tune of the Pokemon theme - which is hilariously (in)appropriate.
  
  
  
• Neopets' database has been hacked and their user and password information is out there.  (Bleeping Computer)
  
  Worth noting that their password field appears to be VARCHAR(20) - which means if it's stored as a hexadecimal hash, it's just 80 bits, which means that every single password has likely been cracked already.

• Ford is planning to fund it's expansion into electric vehicles by...  Oh.  (Car and Driver)
  
  They're going to fire 8000 people.
  
  
  
• Is the FiiO K9 Pro ESS Desktop DAC / Amplifier a solid product or audiophile nonsense?  (Tech Powerup)
  
  It costs $850 from AliExpress, so I'm not inclined to find out.
  
  
  
• If you're looking to build a fast fast server, the ASRock WRX80D8-2T might be the just the motherboard you need.  (Tom's Hardware)
  
  It's built around the Threadripper Pro rather than Epyc, but it's a server board with remote management and tons of I/O.  
  
  While the upcoming 4th generation "Genoa" Epyc chips will have 96 cores, up from 64, the 96 core models we've seen detailed so far max out at just 2.15GHz.  The Threadripper Pro 5995WX has 64 cores and a top clock speed of 4.5GHz, so depending on the workload it could well be faster.
  
  
  
• Minecraft says blocks and blockchains don't mix.  (WCCFTech)
  
  Mojang (now owned by Microsoft, like most things) said no to integrating NFTs with the game client, the server, or using Minecraft IP with NFTs in any way.
  
  
  
• NASA has scheduled the launch of the Artemis I Moon program mission for August 29.  (ZDNet)
  
  This is an unmanned test run for a program that will ultimately bring us very, very expensive virtue signaling:

  Artemis I is the first of three missions that will culminate with NASA landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.

  Astronaut: You picked me because I have the right stuff, yeah?
  NASA Program Director: What?  Oh, yeah, sure.
  
  
  
• Should you not buy the inadequate base model of the M2 MacBook Air?  (9to5Mac)

  Waddya asking me for?  Do I look like a nerd to you?  I'm a journalist.  I don't know shit.

  Think I'm exaggerating?  Here's a literal quote sans Pixy Filter:

  I’ve used the base model M1 MacBook Air for work since it came out in 2020. Now I’m on the base model M2 MacBook Air. This is my short review:

  • SSD: I can’t tell that the base model storage is slower
  • Performance: I can’t tell if the M2 chip throttles
  • Speed: I can’t tell if the M2 chip is faster

  Thanks Zac.  I can see why they pay you the big bucks.
  
  
  

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