Thomas Patrick Connally Jr., 56, was sentenced in US District Court in Maryland to 37 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He had been arrested by authorities in West Virginia and charged last year with threats against a federal official and interstate communication containing a threat to harm.
In his plea agreement, Connally admitted to sending a series of emails threatening to harm and/or kill Fauci and his family through an encrypted email service based in Switzerland. The investigation revealed that the encrypted email account was associated with Connally, the Justice Department said.
Fauci started receiving the threatening messages to his work email at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Maryland in December 2020, the first of which came with the subject line: “Hope you get a bullet in your compromised satanic skull today,” according to the complaint.
One of seven emails that Connally sent to Fauci in a day read: “You and your entire family will be dragged into the street, beaten to death, and set on fire,” according to the complaint.
Connally also sent threatening emails to Dr. Francis Collins, the former director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health at the US Department of Health and Human Services.
He admitted he felt the threats to Fauci and Collins with the “intent to intimidate or interfere with the performance of their official duties and with the attempt to retaliate against Dr. Fauci and Dr. Collins for performing their official duties, including discussing COVID-19 and its testing and prevention,” the Justice Department said.
“Everyone has the right to disagree, but you do not have the right to threaten a federal official’s life,” US Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron said in a statement. “Threats like these will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Fauci, who is also chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, was forced to beef up security in 2020 as death threats increased amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest round of financial results have come out for publisher Square Enix, and they show some very interesting numbers. The internal conference call that concerned the financial report, however, revealed that potentially more Western studios are about to be up for sale.
The financial results detail that despite slowing growth in Square Enix’s single-player game sales, mega-popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV is not only exceeding projections but keeping the company from dipping into the red.
Square Enix recently sold off several Western studios, such as Eidos and Crystal Dynamics, for a pittance of only $432 million AUD. According to the analyst David Gibson, that was only ‘phase one’ of a two-phase plan. This series of planned sales are intended to “diversify studio capital structure,” — in layman’s terms, due to development costs skyrocketing as a result of various global events, Square Enix needs to be picky with what resources it spends.
As Square Enix is a Japanese publisher, this likely means that the company will focus on divvying up resources towards Japanese developers and games, putting Western studios on the proverbial chopping block — all in the name of maximizing capital efficiency.
This comes at a good time for other companies as well. Sony and Tencent, huge video game companies, are looking to expand their footprint. For years, fans have wondered if Square Enix would be bought out by Sony, owing to the company’s flagship series of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy history with the company. As of the writing of this article, Square Enix’s stock prices hiked up 9% as a result of the announcement, showing a good short-term outlook for the company.
Square Enix is relying heavily on Final Fantasy 14, a social and combat-oriented massively multiplayer online game, to buoy its revenue streams. The game is so popular that in-game nightclub owners rented real billboards to advertise their DJ parties. Final Fantasy is such a popular series even that older games, such as Final Fantasy X, are being granted stage show adaptations in Japan.
The Pentagon has declined Washington, DC, Major Muriel Bowser’s request for aid from the DC National Guard to help with migrants entering the city by bus, according to a US defense official.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rejected the request because the Department of Defense has “determined providing this support would negatively impact the readiness of the DCNG and have negative effects on the organization and members,” the official said.
The official said grant funding through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program is sufficient. “We understand SAMU First Response has received grant funding through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program and has indicated that sufficient EFSP funds exist at this point to provide migrant assistance.”
Bowser told reporters Friday, “I have had the opportunity to scan that letter, and what I see is we may send an amended request.”
“The Department of Defense highlighted a number of – the concern about the open-ended nature of our request, and their ability to respond to it. So I want to give them some more specific parameters to better able to respond to our request,” she continued.
CNN previously reported that according to the office of Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, more than 5,100 migrants have arrived in Washington from Texas on more than 135 buses.
The city has facilitated the help of the Federal Emergency Management Agency with a $1 million grant, the mayor said at a news conference last week.
However, city officials and non-government organizations have been increasingly concerned about the pace of arrivals over recent weeks. The mayor’s office requested to convert the DC Armory, Joint Base Bolling, Fort McNair or other “suitable federal location in the National Capital Region” into a processing center for the migrants. The regional welcome center established to aid the migrants in Montgomery County, Maryland, is at capacity, according to the request.
“I’ve asked for the deployment of the Guard as long as we need the Guard to deal with the crisis that we expect to escalate,” Bowser said last week. “The number of people crossing the border seeking asylum we expect to only go up. And we need to make sure that there is a national response, not an ad-hoc, city by city, state by state response.”
Bowser also highlighted the differences in the situation in DC compared to other states.
“We need to ask the President for the use of our National Guard, which we know can be very helpful in these logistical matters,” she said at the time.
This story has been updated with additional details.
JavaScript, the world’s most popular programming language according to most surveys, has become a barrier to progress, according to Douglas Crockford, creator of the JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) specification used everywhere for serializing data in web applications.
Crockford made this assertion in an interview last month:
“The best thing we can do today to JavaScript is to retire it. Twenty years ago, I was one of the few advocates for JavaScript. Its cobbling together of nested functions and dynamic objects was brilliant. I spent a decade trying to correct its flaws. I had minor success with ES5. But since then, there has been a strong interest in further bloating the language instead of making it better. So JavaScript, like the other dinosaur languages, has become a barrier to progress. We should be focused on the next language, which should look more like E than like JavaScript.”
JavaScript is the world’s most popular programming language according to most surveys
According to a StackOverflow survey earlier this year, JavaScript is used by over 65% of developers, way ahead of second placed Python at 48 percent (ignoring HTML, CSS and SQL which are not general purpose languages). It is an unlikely achievement considering its origins.
Brendan Eich invented the language for Netscape in 1995, apparently in just 10 days. “In May I did 10 days of hard work, I didn’t sleep much,” Eich told the dot.JS conference in 2018. In 2012 Eich told Computer’s Charles Severance that: “I went in to do … a programming language for HTML , for web designers and programmers to use, embedded directly in the web page … not like Java which was a professional’s language where you would run real code with type declarations, and you’d have to write in a way that compiled.” I have added that, “the name is a total lie. It is not so much related to Java so much as to a common ancestor, C, in syntax.”
Eich called the work “a rush job” but also said that “I knew there would be mistakes, there would be gaps, so I made it very malleable as a language. That has enabled web developers to make it be what they want it to be.”
Why has JavaScript been such a wild success?
There are multiple reasons, including Eich’s foresight, ease of learning, and tolerance of code that would be mistakes in many languages, like comparing strings to numbers and getting a common-sense result – though Eich later called this “a big regret, because that breaks an important mathematical property.”
Another big factor is that Google’s determination to make browser-based applications competitive with the desktop gave the world the V8 engine (2008), which along with Mozilla’s SpiderMonkey and Apple’s JavaScript Core gave the language amazing JIT-compiled performance. In 2009, Ryan Dahl came up with Node.js, enabling V8 to run outside the browser. Dahl had server applications in mind, but today Node.js and NPM (Node Package Manager) are also essential to the development process for most web applications.
Development process? Part of the problem referenced by Crockford is that along with increased capability JavaScript has acquired lots of complexity, and a typical application today includes a build process using WebPack, Rollup or some other bundler, a long way from Eich’s original concept.
Further, many web developers do not write JavaScript; rather, they write TypeScript, which compiles to JavaScript. TypeScript was invented by Anders Hejlsberg at Microsoft, the rationale being that JavaScript’s malleability and lack of type safety made it unsuitable for large applications. TypeScript is now the number three language in the survey mentioned above, and it is evidence that JavaScript is not altogether loved. The advent of WebAssembly, a binary format that can be targeted by languages including C, C++, C# and Rust, is another innovation that may undermine JavaScript’s dominance.
“JavaScript has exploded in popularity in just a few years and yes, the ecosystem is horribly complex. It’s a running gag even among full time JS devs how crazy it’s gotten. None of us can keep up,” confessed a developer in a recent discussion on Hacker News.
JavaScript is evolving with many new features and progress can be tracked here, though the demands of compatibility means that some flaws cannot be corrected, and at the other end feature bloat is a constant risk.
Crockford’s pick to replace JavaScript, E, is an outlier. Created by Mark Miller, Crockford and others, E is an object-oriented language designed for secure computing and in Crockford’s words, “eliminating many of the bad parts of Java.”
Crockford also notes though that JavaScript will be hard to shift, in particular because it is the language supported by every browser for DOM (Document Object Model) manipulation. Asked about what can replace it there, Crockford said: “There are two difficulties. First, we don’t have the next language yet. It needs to be a minimal capability-based actor language that is designed specifically for secure distributed programming. Nothing less should be considered.
“Second, we need all of the browser makers to adopt it and to simultaneously replace the DOM with a well designed interface. Good luck with that.”
Two of the four people who were apparently struck by lightning Thursday near the White House have died, Washington DC police said.
The two victims killed were a couple from Wisconsin, police officials told News4.
Four people were left in critical condition after a flash of light and a boom sounded in Lafayette Park in Northwest DC as severe thunderstorms struck the region, fire officials said.
DC police are expected to release more information about the conditions of the two other victims later Friday morning, as well as the identities of the people killed.
Four people have life-threatening injuries after they were apparently struck by lightning near the White House in Washington, DC, Thursday evening, fire officials said.
US Secret Service and US Park Police officers rushed to help the two women and two men when they saw the lightning strike, DC Fire and EMS Public Information Officer Vito Maggiolo previously said.
The victims were at Lafayette Square across from the White House, and they were near the center statue of former President Andrew Jackson, as well as a tree, Maggiolo said.
Medics took the women and men to area hospitals. Maggiolo said he could not elaborate on their exact injuries.
“All we know for sure is that there was a lightning strike in their vicinity, in their immediate vicinity, and all four were injured,” Maggiolo said.
A total of 444 people died in lightning strikes between 2006 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lightning strike deaths are most likely in the summer, and most often happen to people who are participating in outside recreation or work.
“I was just in a state of shock,” witness David Root said. “I just couldn’t believe it. It was surreal. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life.”
He described hearing “a horrific boom.”
He said he goes to Lafayette Square every evening with a group to show support for the people of Ukraine. When the rain started coming down, he took cover under a tree until he saw lightning strike across the park.
Without thinking, he sprang into action to save a man’s life.
“We saw several people beside a tree, and they weren’t moving, and so I ran over there to try to help,” Root said. “Several people ran over there, and I gave him chest compressions with another person. We alternated.”
“We stood there, and suddenly there was this horrible sound,” said witness Anna Mackiewicz, who is visiting from Poland. “We started to scream, and my husband said, ‘Just let’s run away.’ I saw in the corner of my eye. I saw, you know, the light.”
“I just hope and pray that these people survive,” Root said. “That’s the most important thought in my mind right now.”
Thunderstorms moved through DC and surrounding areas about 6:30 pm Severe weather drenched parts of the region after a sweltering day of temperatures in the mid-90s and heat indices over 100.
The National Weather Service says anyone should go inside if they hear thunder.
“Avoid open areas. Don’t be the tallest object in the area,” an NWS safety brochure says. “Stay away from isolated tall trees, towers or utility poles. Lightning tends to strike the taller objects in an area.”
Stay with News4 for updates to this developing story
Square Enix has reportedly revealed that its sale of studios Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal was driven by concerns their games would “cannibalise” sales of the rest of the company. Looking forward, it also looks like Square Enix may look to sell stakes in some of its studios to improve ‘capital efficiency’ all while resources shift from US and European studios to Japan.
As shared by MST Financial senior analyst David Gibson on Twitter (opens in new tab), Square Enix has delved further into the rationale of its decision to sell the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex studios during a recent conference call for investors. According to Gibson, the company felt that sales from the pair would “cannibalise” sales of the rest of the company and that selling them would allow Square Enix to improve “capital efficiency”.
That brings us to the next phase of Square Enix’s plan. The cost of creating games is only rising, so Square Enix wants to be more selective with resources and limit expansion to diversify its studio capital structure. The effects of that will reportedly be felt by European and American studies, with Japanese games benefiting from the additional resource.
As part of the initiative, Gibson also shares that Square Enix is looking to sell stakes in its studios to “improve capital efficiency”, which is notable with Sony and Tencent expanding.
Whether any possible sale comes to pass remains to be seen, though we haven’t been short of acquisitions of late. Tencent has made a habit of snapping up studios, and Sony recently grabbed headlines with its acquisition deal with Destiny 2 studio Bungie. Square Enix clearly has a good working relationship with Sony, so rumors of that acquisition are a favourite, though we’ll have to wait and see how that unfolds.
from the vault, Sony buying Bungie is about way more than games.
Aug 5 (Reuters) – Lawyers for parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting began presenting evidence on Alex Jones’s wealth as they seek punitive damages on top of $4.1 million awarded by a Texas jury for the US conspiracy theorist’s false claims that the massacre was a hoax.
Forensic economist Bernard Pettingill on Friday testified on behalf of the parents of slain 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who say they suffered years of harassment after Jones spread falsehoods about the killing of 20 children and six staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2012.
“He promulgated some hate speech and some misinformation but he made a lot of money and he monetized that,” Pettingill said, describing Jones as a “very successful man.”
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A 12-person jury on Thursday said Jones must pay the parents $4.1 million in compensatory damages for spreading conspiracy theories about the massacre. That verdict followed a two-week trial in Austin, Texas, where Jones’ radio show and webcast Infowars are based.
Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis testified that Jones’ followers harassed them for years in the false belief that the parents lied about their son’s death.
Jones sought to distance himself from the conspiracy theories during his testimony, apologizing to the parents and acknowledging that Sandy Hook was “100% real.”
Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems LLC, declared bankruptcy last week. Jones said during a Monday broadcast that the filing will help the company stay on the air while it appeals.
The bankruptcy declaration paused a similar defamation suit by Sandy Hook parents in Connecticut where, as in Texas, he has already been found liable.
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Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Howard Goller and Mark Porter
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Famitsu has published its estimated physical game software and hardware sales data for Japan for the week of July 25, 2022 to July 31, 2022.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for Switch was the top selling new release of the week, opening at 112,728 retail copies sold. Digimon Survive followed at 28,536 units sold on Switch. The PlayStation 4 version did not chart in the top 10.
On the hardware side, the Switch family sold 73,238 units, the PlayStation 5 family sold 39,336 units, the Xbox Series family sold 8,988 units, and the PlayStation 4 family sold 14 units. Next-generation consoles continue to face stock issues.
The line of track that brought Green Line service into Somerville opened in late March, 32 years after the state promised to extend the service. Customers will have access to free shuttle buses during the closure. Service will resume on Sept. 19, the MBTA said.
The opening of the Medford branch of the Green Line extension has also been beset by repeated delays. It was slated to begin carrying passengers in December, then May, then this summer. Test trains began operating on the new branch on May 14, the MBTA has said. The MBTA didn’t specify the date in late November that it expects the service to be available.
The Medford branch includes five stations: College Avenue, Ball Square, Magoun Square, Gilman Square, and East Somerville.
Since a Green Line collision in July 2021, the T has experienced a litany of troubles: An escalator malfunctioned at Back Bay Station causing a bloody pileup and injuring nine people, a commuter rail train killed a woman in her car after a crossing signal in Wilmington malfunctioned, another two Green Line trains crashed and derailed injuring four people, and a man was dragged to his death by a Red Line train at Broadway Station after his arm got caught in a subway door.
The death brought intense scrutiny from federal transit safety regulators who began a nearly unprecedented inspection of the subway system in mid-April. The Federal Transit Administration is expected to release its final report about the T this month.
In June, the FTA said it found that the MBTA didn’t have enough dispatchers to safely operate its subway, so the agency cut service on the Orange, Blue, and Red lines by more than 20 percent. Federal inspectors also said the T needed to fix and upgrade large swaths of its subway tracks.
Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report.
Google has started merging its Meet and Duo video-chat apps to create what the company calls a “single video communications service.”
Starting this week, Duo is getting an upgrade to include video calling and meeting capabilities. Once fully rolled out later this year, the app’s name and icon will also change to “Google Meet,” featuring a camera in Google’s familiar colors.
“We have been doing this carefully, first adding Google Meet features to the Duo app, and now rebranding Duo to Meet,” a company spokesperson tells PCMag. “And by the end of the year, [we’ll] have everything in one web and mobile experience under Google Meet.”
Confusingly, the existing Google Meet is sticking around for a bit—now with different-color logos to help differentiate the new “Google Meet” from “Google Meet (original),” the latter of which will one day be put out to pasture, (alongside Labs, Wave, Reader, and, soon, Hangouts).
Color schemes for Google Meet, Google Meet (original), and Google Duo
If you’re puzzled by the alterations (and, frankly, we all are a little), Google released a couple of help articles about changes to Duo and the impact this has on various app icons.
One-to-one video calling app Duo launched in August 2016 as a FaceTime alternative for iOS and Android mobile users. Based on your existing phone number, it taps into your contact list and automatically adjusts call quality to changing network conditions—switching between Wi-Fi and cellular data without dropping the conversation.
Google formally launched Meet, formerly known as Hangouts Meet, in March 2017, but the enterprise-friendly, video-conferencing service really picked up steam in April 2020, when the platform became free to everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the years, Google has bulked up the programs, introducing features like virtual effects, live captions, and noise cancellation. Now it’s combining all that (and more) into one app.
“Existing video calling features from Duo are here to stay, including the ability to make video calls to friends and family by phone number or email address, use fun filters and effects, send messages, and ask Google Assistant to call using existing devices,” according to a June blog announcement. “All conversation history, contacts, and messages will continue to be saved in the app and there will be no new app to download.”
Users can also expect enhanced functions like custom backgrounds, meeting scheduling, in-house chat, integration with other Google tools, and the ability to invite up to 100 participants.
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