Categories
Australia

Destructive winds, thunderstorms forecast as cold front bears down on Victoria

SES generic

Strong winds and thunderstorms bringing heavy rainfall to Victoria have prompted multiple weather warnings as a cold front bears down on the state.

The front is forecast to enter the state’s west later this evening and continue traveling east through Wednesday, bringing showers, thunderstorms and powerful north-westerly winds.

The State Emergency Service (SES) said the weather system “could be the most significant cold front of the winter” and urged residents to prepare early and remain wary of the risk falling trees posed.

Watch and Act alerts warning residents to prepare and take shelter indoors have been issued for areas including Central Highlands, Dandenong and the Great Dividing Range, as well as the Grampians in the state’s west.

Severe weather warnings of destructive winds have been issued for the Central, South West and North Central districts, and for parts of the East Gippsland, North East, West, South Gippsland and Wimmera districts.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast winds averaging 65 kilometers per hour, with likes of up to 100 kph in some elevated areas.

Winds described as “locally destructive” reaching up to 130 kph are predicted over Alpine peaks from early Wednesday morning.

Possible flooding in state’s north-east

Senior meteorologist Kevin Parkin said the wind was of most concern.

“When we talk about wind likes 90 to 100 kph, that’s capable of breaking branches off trees and also capable of pushing over weakened trees as well,” he said.

He said the peak of the tastes was expected to move through Melbourne between midnight and 4am.

“For many people through central parts, when you wake up on Wednesday morning, be wary of widespread vegetation that may have been stripped from trees across roads,” Mr Parkin said.

“From sunrise onwards, the risk really is in the eastern part of the state and it will continue there for much of the day.”

There are concerns heavy rain could cause flooding in some north-east Victorian catchments.

Mr Parkin said it was going to be a “windy week” and severe weather warnings would likely continue cropping up until a change forecast to move into the state from the south this weekend.

SES chief officer of operations, Tim Wiebusch, urged Victorians to tune into messages from emergency services over the next 24 hours to 48 hours.

He said motorists on the road tonight should be extra vigilant about the risk of debris such as fallen trees, branches and powerlines.

“We can’t stress enough that if you do come across floodwaters, do not attempt to drive through floodwaters,” he said.

“It may be the last decision you make.”

Mr Wiebusch said people should prepare for localized power and internet outages and secure loose items around their homes, such as outdoor furniture and trampolines.

Meanwhile WorkSafe issued a reminder for managers to ensure workplaces are prepared for the wild weather.

“Strong winds can turn unsecured objects into dangerous projectiles, including partly completed structures, roof sheets, scaffold plans, temporary fencing, and unsecured tools,” health and safety executive director Narelle Beer said.

“Loose objects must be removed or suitably secured so that they don’t blow away and become a danger to workers and the general public.”

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Categories
US

More rain, more bodies in flooded Kentucky mountain towns

More rain, more bodies in flooded Kentucky mountain towns

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Another round of rainstorms hit flooded Kentucky mountain communities Monday as more bodies emerged from the sodden landscape, and the governor warned that high winds could bring another threat — falling trees and utility poles.

Gov. Andy Beshear said the death toll rose to 37 while hundreds of people remained unaccounted for five days after one of the nation’s poorest regions was swamped by nearly a foot of rain. The water poured down hillsides and into valleys and hollows, engulfing entire towns. Mudslides marooned some people on steep slopes.

Beshear suggested many of the unaccounted for would be located when cellphone service resumes.

“When cell service gets back up, we do see a whole lot of people finding people they love and care about, so looking forward to those stories,” he said.

Radar indicated that up to 4 more inches (10.2 centimeters) of rain fell Sunday, and the National Weather Service warned that slow-moving showers and thunderstorms could provoke more flash flooding through Tuesday morning.

“If things weren’t hard enough on the people of this region, they’re getting rain right now,” Beshear said Monday at the Capitol in Frankfort. “Just as concerning is high winds — think about how saturated the ground has been.” The wind “could knock over poles, it could knock over trees. So people need to be careful.”

An approaching heat wave means “it’s even going to get tougher when the rain stops,” the governor said. “We need to make sure people are ultimately stable by that point.”

Chris Campbell, president of Letcher Funeral Home in Whitesburg, said he’s begun handling burial arrangements for people who died.

“These people, we know most of them. We’re a small community,” he said of the town about 110 miles (177 kilometers) southeast of Lexington. “It affects everyone.”

His funeral home recently buried a 67-year-old woman who had a heart attack while trying to escape her home as the water rose. Campbell knew her boyfriend of her well, he said.

On Monday, he met with the family of a husband and wife in their 70s, people he also knew personally. He said it’s hard to explain the magnitude of the loss.

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“I don’t know how to explain it or what to say, to be completely honest,” he said. “I just can’t imagine what they’re going through. I don’t think there really are words for it.”

Campbell said his 90-year-old grandmother lost the entire home where she’s lived since 1958. She managed to escape to a neighbor’s house with only some photos. Everything else is gone, he said.

More than 12,000 utility customers remained without power. At least 300 people were staying in shelters.

The floods were unleashed last week when 8 to 10 1/2 inches (20 to 27 centimeters) of rain fell in just 48 hours in parts of eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia and western Virginia.

The disaster was the latest in a string of catastrophic deluges that have pounded parts of the US this summer, including St. Louis. Scientists warn that climate change is making such events more common.

Meanwhile, nighttime curfews were declared in response to reports of looting in two of the devastated communities — Breathitt County and the nearby city of Hindman in Knott County.

Breathitt County declared a countywide curfew from 10 pm to 6 am The only exceptions were for emergency vehicles, first responders, and people traveling for work.

“I hate to have to impose a curfew, but looting will absolutely not be tolerated. Our friends and neighbors have lost so much. We cannot stand by and allow them to lose what they have left,” County Attorney Brendon Miller said in a Facebook post.

Breathitt County Sheriff John Hollan said the curfew decision came after 18 reports of looting. He said people were stealing from private property where homes were damaged. No arrest have been made.

Hindman Mayor Tracy Neice also announced a sunset-to-sunrise curfew because of looting, television station WYMT reported. Both curfews will remain in place until further notice, officials said.

Last week’s flooding extended to parts of West Virginia and Virginia. President Joe Biden declared a federal disaster to direct relief money to flooded counties, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency was helping. Another relief effort came from the University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball team, which planned an open practice Tuesday at Rupp Arena and a charity telethon.

Coach John Calipari said players approached him about the idea.

“The team and I are looking forward to doing what we can,” Calipari said.

___

Associated Press writers Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky; Gary B. Graves in Lexington, Kentucky; Mike Pesoli airborne with the National Guard; Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia; and Julie Walker in New York City contributed to this report.

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Categories
Technology

NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti to Be as Fast as the RTX 3090 Ti with 7,680 Cores, 48MB L2 Cache, and 12GB GDDR6X Memory [Report]

NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti to Be as Fast as the RTX 3090 Ti with 7,680 Cores, 48MB L2 Cache, and 12GB GDDR6X Memory [Report]

NVIDIA will be offering some serious gaming firepower with its upcoming RTX 40 series graphics cards. Codenamed Ada Lovelace, these GPUs will be the first to crack the 100 TFLOPs barrier, thanks to a brand new microarchitecture and process node. The top end AD102 die is set to feature a core count of 18,432 alongside 96MB of L2 cache and a 384-bit bus. The memory buffer will vary from 24GB to 48GB depending on the SKU. The TGP may exceed 600W+ when fully enabled (RTX 4090/4090 Ti).

GPU GA102 AD102 RTX 4090 AD103 RTX4080 AD104 RTX4070
Arch Ampere Ada Lovelace Ada Lovelace Ada Lovelace
Process Sam 8nm LPP TSMC 5nm TSMC 5nm TSMC 5nm
CPG 7 12 eleven 7 7 5 5
TPC 42 72 64 42 40 30 28
SMS 84 144 128 84 80 60 56
shaders 10,752 18,432 16,384 10,752 10,240 7,680 7,168
PT 37.6 ~100 TFLOPs? 90 TFLOPs? ~50 TFLOPs 47 TFLOPs? ~35 TFLOPs 33 TFLOPs?
Memory 24GB GDDR6X 24GB GDDR6X 16GB GDDR6X 10GB GDDR6
L2 Cache 6MB 96MB 72MB 64MB 48MB
Bus Width 384-bit 384-bit 256-bit 160-bit
TGP 350W 600W 450W 450W 420W 300W 300W
Launch Sep 2020 September 22? September 22? September 22?

Moving down the stack, we have the AD103 and AD104 which will power the RTX 4080 and 4070/4070 Ti, respectively. The former will feature 10,240 shaders alongside 16GB of GDDR6X memory across a 256-bit bus and ~60MB of L2 cache. It will have a TGP of 400W+. It should have a single-precision performance rating of 50-60 TFLOPs, roughly half as much as the RTX 4090.

Finally, we have the AD104 core which will form the backbone of the more mainstream RTX 4070 and 4070 Ti. The former will leverage a partially disabled die with 7,169 cores and a 160-bit bus paired with 10GB of GDDR6 memory and 40-44MB of L2 cache. The Ti will feature the fully enabled implementation of the AD103 die with 7,680 shaders, 48MB of L2 cache, and 12GB of GDDR6X memory.

According to Kopite7kimi, the RTX 4070 Ti will be as fast as the RTX 3090 Ti, the fastest GPU on the planet right now. It’ll have a TGP of 400W and enable top-notch 4K gaming, maybe even with ray-tracing enabled. It’s worth remembering that the RTX 4090/4090 Ti will be twice as fast as (if not more) the RTX 3090/3090 Ti with several-fold higher ray-tracing performance. The RTX 4080 should be ahead of the RTX 3080 by at least 60-70%.

the RTX 4090 is set to launch next month with the RTX 4080/4070 landing either during the holiday season or in the first quarter of 2023.

Categories
Sports

finals predictions, Carlton Blues fixture, run home, loss to Adelaide Crows was insipid says Mark Robinsion

finals predictions, Carlton Blues fixture, run home, loss to Adelaide Crows was insipid says Mark Robinsion

Carlton’s “insidious” display against Adelaide on the weekend suggested it had “pop-up problems everywhere”, according to AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson, ahead of a fight to remain in the top eight.

But Brownlow Medalist Gerard Healy believes there’s been an overreaction to the loss, claiming some Blues fans “want to death-march their team to ninth spot on the ladder”.

Carlton suffered a shock 29-point loss to the Crows on Saturday night, leaving Michael Voss’ side vulnerable inside the top eight with three tricky home and away matches left. The Blues need one more win to guarantee them a finals spot, but games against top-four sides Brisbane, Melbourne and Collingwood will make it no easy task.

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“It was really insipid. Most Carlton people would say that,” Robinson told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 when analyzing the Blues’ performance against Adelaide

“Adelaide, fantastic performance… But this mob (the Blues) let themselves down badly and they let themselves down in a couple of areas.

“They’ve got pop-up problems everywhere. I describe it like a water park where the water keeps on popping up … it’s like Vossy’s saying: ‘We’ve got a problem there, problem there, problem there.’

Crows surprise Blues at Adelaide Oval | 01:31

“They had problems on the weekend in defence, they had problems turning it over, they’ve got two players getting 40 (disposals) and only one having impact, the forward line’s struggling – Harry (McKay) is not marking the ball, the smalls aren’t kicking goals – and now we’re saying Jack Silvagni didn’t play and it had a psychological impact on the club. Well if it did, how fragile is the team if Jack’s not playing? That’s just crap.

“They had their chance and they blew it badly.”

Co-host Gerard Whateley said it was “a significant misstep” by the Blues.

“If you missed the eight from 8-3, it would be bitterly disappointing for all the work that’s gone into it,” Whateley told AFL 360.

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“I think we accept they’re a futures stock who there might’ve been a moment for now and that’s going to play a major role in thwarting the capacity to do that. But don’t be missing your spot from here.

“I don’t know whether they can take care of their business before then, but you have a sneaking glance at Carlton and Collingwood on that last Sunday of home and away football and if the Blues are scratching for it at that stage to book themselves a place … maybe they’re good enough to do it before then, but they’ll have an angry Lions to deal with (this weekend).”

Robinson added: “Part of building your future is playing a final at the MCG in front of 80,000. Even if you get beaten, it’s getting out there and building up and running out there and the expectation’s rally high and the pressure is hot – that’s part of the building. You can’t do that sitting on your ass after Round (23) when you were 8-3 at the half.”

Harry McKay of the Blues. Picture: Sarah ReedSource: Getty Images

Speaking on 3AW’s sports day on Monday night, Healy said he’d noticed a lot of negative feedback from Blues fans after the loss – feedback that didn’t truly reflect where the Blues were at.

“Yes, it was a horrible loss on the weekend, but the negative reaction to it for mine at this stage has been over the top,” he said on Sportsday.

“It seems Blues fans, or many of them, want to death-march their team to ninth spot on the ladder, despite being so good for most of the year and doing so with a lot of injuries.

“I reckon the team is entitled to a mulligan – and they got it on the weekend – and a bit more belief from those who have already written them off.

“It’s been a tough journey over the last 10 years for the Blues fans and they’re getting used to disappointment too much. But I wouldn’t be writing them off just at the present time.”

Healy said Carlton’s best footy was still at the top-end of the competition. He said the returns of George Hewett and Jack Silvagni, as well as a form lift from Harry McKay, should help turn things around.

“So much to think about for Michael Voss, but at this stage it’s still glass three-quarters full for me for the Blues, not the totally empty schooner or pot that too many Carlton fans appear to be drinking from this weekend,” Healy said .

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Categories
Australia

Interest rates: RBA raises cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.85 per cent

Interest rates: RBA raises cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.85 per cent

For the fourth consecutive month the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has hiked interest rates as inflation runs rampant.

At 2.30pm during the RBA’s monthly meeting, it increased Australia’s interest rate by 50 basis points, or by 0.5 per cent.

The decision brought the cash rate from 1.35 per cent to 1.85 per cent, largely in line with economist’s predictions.

This marks the first time the RBA has lifted the rates for four months in a row since the introduction of the two to three per cent inflation target in 1990.

This follows last week’s increase in annual inflation, which hit 6.1 per cent, which was its highest level in 21 years since 2001.

Tuesday’s rate rise means those paying off the average home loan of $500,000 will need to cough up an extra $140 a month.

And the August hike isn’t expected to be the last, with economists forecasting that interest rates could peak up to two per cent by the end of the year.

As soon as news of the interest rate rise broke, Treasurer Jim Chalmers weighed in and acknowledged it was a tough time for Australian borrowers, saying the announcement would “sting”.

“It’s another difficult day for Australian homeowners with a mortgage,” he said.

“The independent ReserveBank has just announced its decision to increase interest rates by another 0.5 per cent, bringing the cash rate to 1.85 per cent.

“Australians knew this was coming, but it won’t make it any easier for them to handle.

This cycle of interest rate rises began before the election in response to inflationary pressures that began accelerating at the beginning of this year.

“Average homeowners with a $330,000 outstanding balance will have to find about $90 a month more for repayments as a consequence of this decision today, on top of around $220 extra in repayments since early May.

“For Australians with a $500,000 mortgage, it’s about an extra $140 a month, in addition to the extra $335 they’ve had to find since early May.

“As I said, Mr Speaker, this decision doesn’t come as a surprise. It’s not a shock to anybody, but it will still sting.

“Families will now have to make more hard decisions about how to balance the household budget in the face of other pressures like higher grocery prices and higher power prices and the costs of other essentials.”

‘Misleading’: Calls for bank boss to resign

Ahead of the interest rate rise, there were growing calls for the RBA’s board and its governor, Philip Lowe, to resign after a series of missteps.

Chief among them was the promise that interest rates wouldn’t rise until 2024 which one top economist said was “misleading” for borrowers.

Critics also pointed out that the rapid rate rises could inadvertently lead to a recession while at the same time inflation is running rampant.

Warren Hogan, chief economist at both ANZ and Credit Suisse, told The Daily Telegraph that the RBA was guilty of some “pretty bad errors” in recent months.

The RBA lowered the cash rate to 0.1 per cent at the end of 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic – the lowest it had ever been – and throughout the pandemic said they didn’t plan on raising the cash rates until 2024.

When it lifted the cash rate for the first time in May and then every month since, Mr Hogan said it was “misleading people, basically”.

He also said Australia’s central bank had taken on risky strategies including spending lots on insurance and sinking funds into a bonds program which had not paid off.

Mr Hogan, who was also the former principal adviser to federal treasury, said: “It’s unforgivable. I think they should resign – the whole board.”

Mr Lowe “should have the character to stand down,” Mr Hogan added.

RELATED: Find out how much the rate rise will cost you

Mr Lowe said the cash rate would remain at its record low of 0.1 per cent until at least 2024, but the rapid rise in inflation this year – caused in part by Russia’s war in Ukraine and supply chain issues on home soil – prompted the monthly hikes .

It comes as Australia’s cost of living crisis is worsening, making borrowers even more cash-strapped than usual.

In the last quarter, transport costs rose 13.1 per cent as the price of fuel rose to record levels for the fourth quarter in a row.

Meanwhile, grocery shopping is also causing hip pocket pain, with Australians outraged to find lettuce heads selling for $10 a pop and capsicums marked at $15 for a kilo.

Interest rates in Australia reached an all time high of 17.5 per cent in January 1990. Since then, they have averaged 3.93 per cent.

Before this year, the last time the RBA hiked up rates was in 2010. It has only been going down ever since.

As a result, more than one million home borrowers have never experienced an increase in mortgage rates, because they bought a home after 2010.

The official cash rate has been at a record low of 0.1 per cent since November 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic until May 2022.

– with NCA NewsWire

Read related topics:Reserve Bank

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Categories
US

Evacuations ordered for Elmo Fire

Evacuations ordered for Elmo Fire

UPDATE 9:55 pm August 1, 2022

“The fire has turned and is running hard.”

That’s what Lake County Sheriff Don Bell told MTN News Monday afternoon after the Elmo Fire took off near Dayton.

The fire, which started Friday evening and has burned thousands of acres north of Highway 28 between Elmo and Hot Springs, forced dozens more to evacuate Monday, destroyed one structure, and shut down a portion of Highway 93.

The evacuation notices include the Lake Mary Ronan corridor and Chief Cliff Estates near Black Lake Road. That area was in the most danger, according to Bell.

“The houses in the fire line, where the fire is running, those folks are all evacuated,” he said.

Emergency shelters for evacuations have been established at Polson High School and Somers Middle School. You can call 800-272-6668 to request their services.

But it’s not just evacuations. The smoke from the fast-moving Elmo Fire forced officials to close the section of Highway 93 between Elmo and Dayton. Bell was urging drivers to use Highway 35 on the eastern side of Flathead Lake instead.

With winds driving the fire, Northern Rockies Team 7 public information officer, Sara Rouse, says conditions changed rapidly Monday.

“This afternoon we had some winds come out of the west pushing the fire east and northeast from what we saw yesterday, and along with those winds we were unable to have our aircraft up at that time so it just sort of created this perfect culmination for some pretty active fire.”

Fire crews are attacking the fire’s edge, Rouse said, utilizing aircraft as the number of personnel working the fire continues to grow.

“Yesterday evening we had 293 people,” she said. “Again, there are more resources rolling in throughout the day so that number will climb up tomorrow morning.”

On Monday night, a lightning holdover in the Mission Mountains started a new fire.

CT Camel with CSKT Division of Fire told MTN the Red Horn Fire is high in the Missions. While the fire is visible from St. Ignatius, it’s about an acre in size and not threatening any structures.

Camel, however, had a message for the public.

“We want people to be safe out there and make sure they’re safe with their outdoors and recreating,” he said. “We’re in very high fire danger. Very close to extreme. We’d like people to be careful.”

UPDATE 6:13 pm August 1, 2022

The Montana Department of Transportation reports Highway 93 is closed from Elmo to Dayton due to fire activity in the area.

It’s unknown how long the road closure will be in place.

Sheriff Don Bell tells MTN News contributor Maritsa Georgiou the fire is within 200 feet of Highway 93.

The Red Cross set up a shelter at Polson High School, 1712 2nd St. West.

Services are free.

People also can request Red Cross services by calling 800-272-6668.

——————————————————————————————————————————

UPDATE: 4:52 pm – August 1, 2022
At approximately 2 PM, Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 7 recommended the evacuation of the Lake Mary Ronan corridor to Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

The Team is working with the Montana Department of Transportation on the use of pilot cars on Highway 93 between Elmo to Rollins due to poor visibility.

The fire has turned and is running hard, according to Lake County Sheriff Don Bell.

Elmo Fire Monday

Sean Wells

fire elmo

The new evacuations Monday afternoon include the Lake Mary Ronan area – about 30 to 40 homes.

Sheriff Bell tells MTN News Chief Cliff Estates is the most in danger – about eight homes in the area have been evacuated.

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UPDATE: 4:45 pm – August 1, 2022

Lake County Sheriff Don Bell confirms they have Lake Mary Ronan Road closed and are doing more evacuation to the NE of the fire.

Residents in this area are strongly encouraged to evacuate.

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UPDATE: 4:15 pm – August 1, 2022

Lake County Sheriff Don Bell tells MTN News contributor Maritsa Georgiou that he is currently going door to door evacuating in Chief Cliff Estates.

He says the Elmo fire switched direction and is now burning very fast to the east.

The Montana Department of Transportation reports travelers can expect intermittent blockage until further notice between mile marker 77 and mile marker 81 on US Highway 93 near Dayton.

fire elmo

Rodney Sharkey

fire elmo

MDT says no parking is allowed along the highway for fire viewing. The roadway needs to remain open for emergency vehicles.

Stay with KPAX for updates on this developing story.
—————————————————————————————————————————-

ELMO- Evacuations have been ordered for areas near the Elmo wildfire Monday afternoon.

Evacuations have been ordered for Black Lake Road to US Highway 93.

The Elmo fire blew up Monday afternoon moving to the east.

The Elmo Fire has grown to nearly 13,000 acres as it burns in the Elmo area. It sparked late Friday night.

Officials say the cause of the fire is under investigation.

This is a developing story. Stay with KPAX for updates.

Categories
Business

Canstar research shows banks offering discounts on mortgages for low-risk borrowers

Canstar research shows banks offering discounts on mortgages for low-risk borrowers

Borrowers with big deposits or equity in their homes can shave more than $50 a month off their mortgage repayments as banks ramp up efforts to win low-risk customers.

Research by financial comparison site, Canstar, shows up to half of all lenders are now offering discounts to borrowers with a sizeable deposit or home equity.

Canstar group executive of financial services, Steve Mickenbecker, said banks were seeking to counter the risk posed by falling house prices on the east coast.

Canstar group executive of financial services Steve Mickenbecker.
Camera IconCanstar’s Steve Mickenbecker says customers need to ask to get the discounts. Credit: METHOD

He said the discounts were being offered by many lenders in WA even though local property prices had not failed.

But Mr Mickenbecker said it was up to borrowers to request the discount from their bank, with lenders highly unlikely to volunteer the potential saving.

The new research shows that 49 per cent of banks are offering customers with a 40 per cent deposit – or equity in their home worth the same amount – a discount on their interest rate worth an average 0.21 per cent.

Do not wait for a bank to tell you because it rarely happens

Its research states that a $470,000 loan with these banks would normally be subject to an average variable rate of 3.69 per cent interest, if the borrower had an 80 per cent loan-to-value (LVR) ratio on a mortgage for a $587,000 house.

However, these same lenders would discount the rate to 3.48 per cent for the same sized loan for customers with a 60 per cent LVR, which is worth a saving of $56 per month in interest.

”When it comes to the discount, you have to take the initiative – do not wait for a bank to tell you because it rarely happens,” Mr Mickenbecker said.

“And a 0.21 per cent discount is a decent saving.”

The research shows a smaller interest rate discount – worth 0.13 per cent – is being offered by almost a third of lenders to customers with a 30 per cent deposit, or the same sized equity in their home.

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Categories
Technology

Spotify wants users to pay for separate ‘Play’ and ‘Shuffle’ buttons

Spotify wants users to pay for separate 'Play' and 'Shuffle' buttons

Spotify is updating its app to address a long-standing user complaint with music playback — but it’s asking customers to pay for the fix. The company announced today it will introduce, at last, a separate Play Button and a Shuffle Button at the top of albums playlists to make it easier to play the music the way you like. This will replace the combined button available before, which had been inconsistent across platforms and frustrating to use. However, streamers may be disappointed to find out that what should be an app update in favor of better usability is oddly being sold to them as a reason to upgrade to Spotify’s paid tier — the company says the new button is only being offered to Spotify Premium subscribers.

This seems a bizarre choice given that customer complaints had correctly identified an issue with the overall design of the Spotify app’s interface and its user experience. As one review posted last year to Spotify’s Community forums had noted, the button offered was even different across Spotify’s apps. On mobile, playlists had the combined Shuffle/Play button, but on the desktop, the button was just a regular Play Button. This was confusing for users who switched between platforms, the post pointed out. The user suggested Spotify simply offer two separate buttons so people could choose how they wanted to stream music, instead of having to tap into Now Playing screen to enable or disable Shuffle mode.

The post received 647 upvotes and pages of comments from others who agreed. It was not the only complaint of this nature on the forum site. Others posted similar requests for separate Play and Shuffle buttons or even different solutions to the same problem. For example, one person asked Spotify to allow users to configure which button appeared in the app to make it a user’s choice.

Spotify has been working on this problem for awhile. It first introduced the Shuffle/Play icon in 2020 to reduce streaming to just a click, it said, and last year made Play Button the default button on all albums for Spotify Premium users (at Adele’s request, as you may recall). With this upgrade, the Play Button will remain the default, and Shuffle will be a separate option across the mobile Spotify experience.

While arguably a minor change to the app — it’s literally just a button — it’s clearly a feature that was in need of a fix in users’ minds not a premium offering. Other major music streaming apps, like Apple Music and Amazon Music, already include separate Play and Shuffle buttons, for instance.

It’s uncommon for app makers to charge for something like a different button, especially when the reason for the change is because users were unhappy with the app’s functionality and design. One somewhat related example could be Twitter’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, which allows users to customize the bottom bar of the app with buttons of their choosing. But in that case, the option is more about personal preference and quick access to favorite features — not usability. Even without paying, Twitter’s features are still easy to get to in the main navigation on the left side of the app.

Spotify tells us the idea to charge for the button has to do with how it perceives the benefits associated with a Premium Subscription. At its core, Premium users are paying for the option to listen to any song they want, on-demand. The button is somewhat of an extension of that, as it’s allowing users to choose to listen on-demand in any way they want.

Categories
Sports

Kyle Chalmers wins 100m gold medal

Australian swimming champion Kyle Chalmers has bagged another gold, in the 100m freestyle at the Commonwealth Games, but cast doubt on his future in the sport.

In an emotional week, the swimmer led the field at the turn and powered home to win in emphatic fashion in 47.51 seconds from England’s Tom Dean and Scotland’s Duncan Scott.

Aussie William Yang finished sixth and Zac Incerti came eighth.

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An emotional Chalmers says even a gold medal is tough to celebrate after the week he’s been through.

“It’s special, special to win. But unfortunately, I think it’s hard to enjoy the moment when all that’s happened has gone on,” he said.

“It makes it a very, very challenging time. I’m grateful that I was able to block it out enough to stand up and win tonight.

“But I just hope that no one — I hope this is a learning point for everyone. And, you know, where no one else has to go through what I’ve had to go through the last couple of days. It’s been very challenging .”

Chalmers said he knew his soldier brother was watching the race, saying his “best mate” was the last thought to run through his head before jumping off the blocks.

He brought a finger to his lips after the race as swimming legend and commentator Ian Thorpe described the swim as a performance designed to “silence his critics”.

The swimmer said he thought about not going on but decided that he would just let “the media win”.

An emotionally exhausted Chalmers was asked about his future aspirations, but the Aussie said he could not guarantee he’ll compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The swim star revealed he almost burst into tears when speaking to his coach before the race, with the intense media speculation set to cloud his future from him if it continues.

“I definitely want to. That’s been my dream to win in Paris,” he said. “But if I have to keep going through a similar thing I won’t last until Paris, I know that. It’s too challenging and not something I swim for.

“I know I stand here bravely, but this has really set me back a lot. I really don’t know what’s next for me. Right now I’m on a high of racing, but I’m sure tomorrow when I wake up or at the end of the week when I get my flight home there’ll be plenty of different emotions that go through my head, but if it is the pool I think I’ll go back (to the same training set-up). “

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Australia

Peter Dutton readies to fight to keep $2.9b fuel excise cut going

Peter Dutton readies to fight to keep $2.9b fuel excise cut going

The Coalition has challenged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to extend the $2.9 billion temporary cut to fuel excise in a move to exploit discontent over the cost of living when petrol prices have exceeded $2 per liter in some cities.

Liberal and Nationals MPs are preparing to back the extension despite the fact they voted only months ago to pass a law that ensured the temporary budget measure would end on September 28.

The move sets up another fight over a budget deadline after Albanese shifted position two weeks ago and agreed to extend the $750 paid pandemic disaster payment for workers with COVID-19 who had to go into isolation.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton interrogates the Prime Minister about the fuel excise and cost of living.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton interrogates the Prime Minister about the fuel excise and cost of living. Credit:alex ellinghausen

While the original COVID-19 payment ended on June 30, the Prime Minister agreed to reinstate it until September 30 after calls from the states and the federal Coalition.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton cleared the way for the fight over fuel by asking Albanese in parliament on Monday about what the government would do to help Australians deal with rising costs including on fuel.

“Households are facing rising power bills and your plan to address this is in disarray,” Dutton said in question time.

“Will your government compound the pressure on household budgets by not extending the fuel excise relief? Why is Labor making a bad situation worse?”

Albanese did not rule out an extension to the fuel excise cut but expressed surprise at the question and reminded parliament that Dutton was one of the federal cabinet ministers who decided on the excise cut and its September 28 expiry date.

“I point to the fact that he was in the cabinet that put together the budget, it had the end date for the measure he talks about,” the Prime Minister said.