Trump Is Helping Elon Musk’s Starlink Get Billions In Taxpayer Dollars With No Oversight
#BEAD
Has anyone here completed the beaded fish tutorial by 'Mind of Julia'?
I'm struggling with it. I've watched various videos on peyote stitch and the zipping method, but I'm still struggling. I feel like the bead counts per row might be out?
I'm wondering if the square stitch method would work better for me?
Made this one today with some new beads I got :D I'm entering it into a beading contest. I have zero expectation to win, but hey, zero chance if you don't try :P Had loads of fun making this one 😊
#crafting #beads #art #mastoartist #bead #keychain #winterart
Weekly output: LocalSend, Mark Vena podcast, AST SpaceMobile launch
I hope you all are enjoying the liminal time between Christmas and New Year’s–or, as I’ve come to think of it over the last 25-plus years, my last moments of occupational tranquility before work returns with force in the form of CES.
(I’ve used some of that semi-idle time to write an extra post for Patreon readers about the free trips that I didn’t take in the last quarter of this year.)
12/22/2025: This Free App Makes Transferring Files Between Devices Ridiculously Easy, PCMag
Quizzing LocalSend’s developer via e-mail taught me a lesson in how namespaces and nations can mix. As in: He goes by Tien Do Nam, in Vietnam last names come first, he lives in Berlin, so I thought to ask for his surname. He replied that the correct full name is Do Nam Tien, while his German documents list him as Tien Do Nam.
12/24/2025: Ep 117 SmartTechCheck Podcast — Trump’s impact on tech, AI data centers and energy, FCC and Google, Mark Vena
As the token Washingtonian on this podcast, I took up the first item on the agenda. My take on President Trump’s tech policy wasn’t all bad–it looks like the government is in line to save tens of billions of dollars in broadband-buildout costs, assuming that Amazon Leo satellite broadband comes online on schedule–but I can’t call it anything close to good overall.
12/24/2025: AST SpaceMobile Launches Its Most Powerful Direct-to-Cell Satellite Yet, PCMag
Was I going to use this post as an opportunity to remind PCMag readers about India’s impressive spaceflight ambitions? Absolutely.
#AirDrop #ASTSpaceMobile #BEAD #BlueBird #broadbandBuildout #D2D #directToDevice #directToCell #IndiaSpaceProgram #LocalSend #lowEarthOrbitBroadband #LVM3 #MarkVena #QuickShare #satelliteBroadband #Starlink #TienDoNam
Elon Musk’s Taxpayer-Subsidized Starlink Yanks Cheaper $40 Plan Because Network Couldn’t Handle The Load
Trump Pretends To Block State AI Laws; Media Pretends That’s Legal
More internet, more problems?
Broadband expansion is once again getting underway. But $21 billion in funds primarily used for education around the expansion are still in limbo.
#ArtAdventCalendar 09 All began with an exhibition on the increasingly rare #craft of #bead #embroidery. How could young people be inspired?
The answer is simple: instead of showing amateurs how they fail at difficult techniques, give them something simple that rewards them with success. That's how this #pendant came about (more in the alt text). You can make such pendants with every precious #braid you find! Fixed on a jeans scrap. At the end glued on cardboard for being stiff. 1/2
Final proposals leave SpaceX and Amazon with 4% of $20 billion rural broadband subsidies
Я пока разгребаю своё барахло и забросила шарики. Поэтому вот вам штука, которую я сплела для мамы ещё летом, потому что, какое-то время назад она внезапно увлеклась корабликами и захотела украшать ими дачу.
Даже не знаю как это назвать. Бисерное полотно? Гобелен из бисера?
#ship #корабль #бисер #ручнаяработа #handmade #bead
Trump Stalls AI Preemption Order After MAGA Revolt, Pivots to ‘Genesis Mission’
#AI #DonaldTrump #Politics #BigTech #AIRegulation #ExecutiveOrders #USGovernment #TechPolicy #RonDeSantis #JoshHawley #GenesisMission #BEAD #Broadband
#bead : a little perforated ball, to be strung on a thread, and worn for ornament
- French: compte
- German: die Perle
- Italian: conto
- Portuguese: missanga
- Spanish: cuenta
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Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
Trump Admin Blocking Billions In Already Awarded Broadband Grants To States That Enforce Net Neutrality Or Engage In Telecom Oversight
Today's bakes.
#food #cooking #baking #bead #shourdough 🍞 🍽️ 🍜 🧑🍳
State announces trimmed-down fiber internet expansion
As of June of this year, Louisiana was one of three states that had already awarded grants for deployment of BEAD, the federal government’s broadband internet deployment program.
Known in the state as GUMBO 2.0, the federal grants were the state’s second wave of fiber internet deployment, set to connect the parts of the state missed by the first round of GUMBO program funding.
However, after months of waiting, the federal government declared all states had to re-award the programs, starting a new 60-day consideration process, in which the state would consider cheaper satellite offers along with fiber cables, including from Starlink, a division of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Published:June 169:52 am Trump admin halts fiber internet expansion in LouisianaLouisiana was the first state in the nation to have its plans for fiber expansion approved by the feds as part of a Biden era grant program. Now, that approval has been revoked by Trump’s secretary of commerce.
Now that the process is nearly wrapped, the new program is looking to spend nearly $500 million on internet deployment, which is $250 million less than the previous iteration, with more than $7.5 million now awarded to SpaceX.
While the original GUMBO 2.0 was set to cover 140,000 locations, including many of the state’s most remote areas, the newly drafted proposal is set to cover 13,000 fewer locations, with others still to receive coverage, but from less reliable satellite internet.
The majority of the new internet deployments now mapped at Connect LA are scheduled for completion by 2030 and over three-fourths were awarded to providers headquartered within the state.
Also, #LightPollution from #StarlinkSatellites and #SpacePollution when they become obsolete!
#SpaceX Pushes States To Scrap #Fiber Plans And Redirect All #Broadband Grants To Starlink
By The Droid Guy
August 19, 2025
"The fight over America’s broadband future is heating up again, and this time SpaceX is taking direct aim at state governments. In a filing with #Louisiana’s Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity, the company argued that the state’s decision to dedicate more than 90 percent of its federal broadband grants to fiber is 'wasteful and unnecessary taxpayer spending.' Instead, SpaceX insists, the money should go to its Starlink satellite network.
SpaceX vs. Fiber: Two Competing Visions
"At the heart of the dispute lies the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (#BEAD) program, a federal initiative meant to expand high-speed internet access. Under the Trump administration, rules were rewritten to favor a 'tech-neutral' approach, allowing satellite providers like SpaceX to compete more directly with traditional wired services. Louisiana’s final proposal, however, still leans heavily on fiber infrastructure.
"Louisiana intends to spend about $499 million to connect roughly 128,000 homes and businesses, the majority through a consortium of fiber providers. Starlink, in contrast, was awarded just $7.75 million to serve 10,327 locations. SpaceX argues it could have covered nearly all households for under $100 million, claiming the state ignored the new federal rules that emphasize cost efficiency.
The Case For Fiber
"State officials remain cautious about going all-in on satellites. Fiber, though more expensive to deploy, is widely considered 'future-proof' because capacity can scale dramatically as technology improves. A single fiber line can eventually deliver multi-gigabit speeds without replacing the underlying infrastructure. It’s also immune to congestion issues that plague wireless systems.
"Louisiana’s broadband office has noted concerns about Starlink’s long-term viability, pointing out challenges such as limited spectrum, susceptibility to weather, interference from trees, and capacity strain in densely populated areas. Simply put, fiber can handle the demand of tomorrow, while satellites may hit performance ceilings."
Lücken in der Infrastruktur 🌐 In ländlichen und indigenen Gebieten fehlt teils bis zu 27,7 % der Bevölkerung schneller #Internetzugang, was viele bei veralteten Diensten hält.
Programme für besseren Zugang 🚀 Förderinitiativen wie das #AffordableConnectivityProgram und #BEAD sollen #Breitband flächendeckend ausbauen und erschwinglich machen.
👉 https://eicker.TV ▹ #Technik #Medien #Politik #Wirtschaft ⏻ https://eicker.BE/ratung von Gerrit Eicker aus Münster (2/2)
Looks good, a study of the making of #Nassarius #shell #bead headbands among the Mek, in the Highlands of West New Guinea.
This is the shell genus found in the oldest beads made by humanity -- in N Africa (Morocco, Algeria) and South Africa -- up to 140,000 years ago.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19442890.2025.2523635
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