MHLoppy

In short:

Japan has seen a decline in tourists, especially from China, with some citing a disaster prediction in a manga (Japanese comic book) that was first published in 1999.

The manga The Future I Saw details the dreams of the author, including one that some believe predicted Japan's tsunami in 2011.

What's next?

The manga's reprint in 2021 triggered rumours a catastrophic event would occur on July 5, 2025, which has sparked concerns from some superstitious tourists about travelling to Japan.

For those like me who have been investigating childcare for almost a year now, the news was horrifying but not a surprise.

In a nutshell: While modern aircraft carriers are gigantic vessels packed with amenities one might not expect to see on a warship, the UK Royal Navy's HMS Prince of Wales has something unique: a full eSports/gaming suite for the crew to compete against each other.

In February, permission was given to set up the suite on the 1,600-crew carrier as part of a partnership between the Royal Navy and the British eSports Federation.

The gaming room includes 12 high-end Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop PCs, featuring RTX 4080 graphics cards and Core i7 CPUs – the systems are capable of running far more than just low-demand eSports games. The room also has LED lights, a widescreen TV, and office chairs.

In short:

Princeton Consumer Research carried out tests for certification for at least eight sunscreens that fell short of their advertised SPF50 claims in a recent review by consumer group Choice.

Several industry experts have raised concerns about PCR's testing methodology and calculations.

Both the Cancer Council and the Therapeutic Goods Administration said it was important people continued to use sunscreen as protection against the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation.

Thirty years after they were thrown into an Adelaide prison for public nudity, legendary French street artists Ilotopie returned to the scene of the crime — as nude, and as proud, as ever.

The claim appeared in a court filing related to Elon Musk’s ongoing lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI. The Tesla and xAI owner has posted about his laptop numerous times in the past year.

[...] However, Musk has posted pictures or referred to his laptop on X several times in recent months, and public evidence suggests that he owns and appears to use at least one computer. [...]

Archived: https://archive.is/5Bg9m

A trailblazing new partnership will bring AI power to bestselling toys.

Mattel announced on Thursday that it had signed a deal with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to its "iconic" toys. The toymaker is the company behind popular items, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, UNO, and more.

"We're pleased to work with Mattel as it moves to introduce thoughtful AI-powered experiences and products into its iconic brands, while also providing its employees the benefits of ChatGPT," OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap said in a press release. [...]

"Nobody ran away. 'Brelok' took him (comrade) out and then ate him for two f*cking weeks," a speaker identified by HUR as a commander of a reconnaissance unit from Russia's 68th Motorized Rifle Division can be heard saying in the intercept.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that should the AUKUS security pact collapse, his government remains committed to reallocating the $368 billion submarine budget to something equally unaccountable and pointless such as public housing.

The announcement follows US President Don Trump questioning the future of the trilateral subamarine agreement, which was initially designed to secure peace in the Indo-Pacific by acquiring nuclear-powered submarines so we can sink Chinese warships if they put the dog up Taiwan.

Speaking from Parliament House on this morning, the Prime Minister said that while AUKUS remains a cornerstone of Australia’s defence posture, contingency planning is underway. [...]

In the time since I have disappeared from our television screens, I have spent more time back here in this valley, in the land of my ancestors.

An excerpt (not a summary):

Maybe I never respected the craft. There is something shallow, ultimately un-serious about it all. Journalists think events determine our world, yet events tell us nothing.

If we follow events we miss what the French call questions d'existence. We miss the meaning of it all.

My yearning has led me to physics, philosophy, theology, accumulating a library of books, completing a PhD, writing books of my own and all of it maybe amounts to less than a falling leaf.

Saint Thomas Aquinas after experiencing the presence of God late in life, said that all he had written was straw.

We do not derive the truth from knowledge or news, we feel it. We participate in God — what Aquinas called ipsum esse, the act of existence — in our repose, in the quiet, in nature and in our mortality, the finality of our existence.

No one reads yesterday's headlines. But we return to the poets. A line of poetry is greater than a mountain of newsprint.

A “blueprint” for defence cooperation or an “affront” to Australian sovereignty? Expert opinion is mixed on the benefits and risks of AUKUS.

Here's what to know about the feud between a popular sunscreen brand and an Australian consumer group [Choice].