Thursday morning news drop
‘It is a gold mine:’ Builders warned of rising lumber thefts across Canada The skyrocketing cost of lumber is fuelling a trend that has authorities across the country warning builders to keep their guard up. Canadian authorities have been warning about the rise in lumber thefts, which has some people quipping on social media that wood has become as desirable as gold. (On Site)
Jump in U.S. inflation may signal that history is repeating itself Economist who witnessed inflation come out of nowhere in 1960s sees similarities (CBC)
Inflation is Here. But is it Here to Stay? The bad news is prices are rising. The good news is we can explain why. The largest price increases are happening in areas that were directly impacted by the pandemic. This table from Michael McDonough breaks it down. Used cars and trucks, which climbed 10%, were the biggest contributor to the 0.9% rise in core CPI.(Irrelevant Investor)
Where Covid’s Car-Free Streets Boosted Business Yelp data shows greater consumer interest at restaurants on pedestrian-friendly “slow streets” that limited vehicle traffic during the pandemic. (Bloomberg)
A Closer Look at the DarkSide Ransomware Gang The FBI confirmed this week that a relatively new ransomware group known as DarkSide is responsible for an attack that caused Colonial Pipeline to shut down 5,550 miles of pipe, stranding countless barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel on the Gulf Coast. (Krebs on Security)
The Ransomware Superhero of Normal, Illinois: Thanks to Michael Gillespie, an obscure programmer at a Nerds on Call repair store, hundreds of thousands of ransomware victims have recovered their files for free. (ProPublica)
With Hugs and Haircuts, U.S. Epidemiologists Start Returning (Carefully!) to Everyday Life Vaccinations mean the pandemic is moving to a phase when behavior will depend on people’s individual tolerance for risk. (New York Times)
Inequality’s deadly toll A century of research has demonstrated how poverty and discrimination drive disease. Can COVID push science to finally address the issue? (Nature)
Bitcoin’s Climate Problem As companies and investors increasingly say they are focused on climate and sustainability, the cryptocurrency’s huge carbon footprint could become a red flag. Cryptocurrency mining is "difficult by design to ensure that blocks are found at a certain rate, and money is created at a certain rate. If you designed a new chip that was twice as efficient, the puzzles would simply become twice as hard and there would be no benefit. One Bitcoin transaction is the “equivalent to the carbon footprint of 735,121 Visa transactions or 55,280 hours of watching YouTube,” (New York Times)