SOME THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT UNSAID: Ring asks police not to tell public how its law enforcement backend works.

THIS DOESN’T SURPRISE ME: The Truth About Faster Internet: It’s Not Worth It.

The Wall Street Journal studied the internet use of 53 of our journalists across the country, over a period of months, in coordination with researchers at Princeton University and the University of Chicago.

Our panelists used only a fraction of their available bandwidth to watch streaming services including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube, even simultaneously. Quality didn’t improve much with higher speeds. Picture clarity was about the same. Videos didn’t launch quicker.

Broadband providers such as Comcast Corp., Charter Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. are marketing speeds in the range of 250, 500 or even 1,000 megabits a second, often promising that streaming-video bingers will benefit. “Fast speeds for all of your shows,” declares one online ad from Comcast.

But for a typical household, the benefits of paying for more than 100 megabits a second are marginal at best, according to the researchers. That means many households are paying a premium for services they don’t need.

What follows is our evidence that you’re being oversold.

We upgraded our speed when we ditched cable, figuring why not, because the overall bill was lower. But except for being able to complete large downloads in less time — which I hardly ever do — I haven’t noticed any real-world difference.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Spicey’s Dancing With the Stars on Liberal Feelings. “Democrats all across the land are having yet another foot-stomping, snot-bubbling, toddler-esque meltdown, this time because a Republican guy they don’t like is going to be on a television show they’ve never watched.”

SKYNET FROWNS: Google DeepMind Co-Founder Placed on Leave From AI Lab.

IF PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, WE’LL FEEL LESS BAD ABOUT BLOWING THEM UP: Russia develops unmanned T-72s Main Battle Tanks.

JON CALDERA: I want to give away one of my guns to a first timer.

I’ll say it for the millionth time — politics is the lagging indicator of culture. And the anti-gun left knows how to influence culture through government-run education, Hollywood and the media.

There was a time when schools had shooting clubs. Now they are not just gun-free zones, but political tools for gun control. Just ask my high-school-aged daughter after being bullied to tears for her pro-gun stance.

We could be just a generation away from losing our guns.
…
I have an idea and I hope you will follow my lead. I want to see it turn into a movement.

If you weren’t raised with guns, getting into your first gun can be very intimidating. We need to make it easy and enjoyable. We gunnies all know that one friend, co-worker or family member that should be a gun owner, but yet isn’t.

Let’s give, yes give, that person one of our guns. Let’s help them learn to shoot it properly. Help them go through the process I went through.

I love this idea.

CART ON A HOT TIN ROOF: All Fired Up: Walmart Sues Tesla.

No, Walmart was not using fleets of pricey electric vehicles to get 56-cents-a-pound bananas to budget-conscious shoppers; rather, the chain had outfitted a slew of its stores with rooftop solar panels assembled and managed by Tesla subsidiary SolarCity.

Now Walmart’s feeling burned. Literally.

Following rooftop blazes at at least seven stores and a recent investigation, the shopping giant filed a lawsuit against Tesla on Tuesday, alleging the company “engaged in widespread, systemic negligence and had failed to abide by prudent industry practices in installing, operating, and maintaining its solar systems.”

Walmart’s relationship with SolarCity goes back a number of years; a trio of earlier fires in 2012, 2016, and 2017 were brushed off as random flukes. Then the fires began occurring with greater frequency.

That’s not good.

UH-HUH: Facebook Pulls Trump Campaign Ads Over Alleged Policy Violations.

NEWS YOU CAN USE? Every Noise at Once.

Every Noise at Once is an ongoing attempt at an algorithmically-generated, readability-adjusted scatter-plot of the musical genre-space, based on data tracked and analyzed for 3,330 genre-shaped distinctions by Spotify as of 2019-08-21. The calibration is fuzzy, but in general down is more organic, up is more mechanical and electric; left is denser and more atmospheric, right is spikier and bouncier.

Click anything to hear an example of what it sounds like.

Click the » on a genre to see a map of its artists.

This is maybe the biggest and best soundboard ever, and easy to get lost in.

YOUTUBE IS RUN BY IDIOTS: YouTube Removes Robot Fighting Videos After Declaring Them ‘Cruelty to Animals.’

RE-RE-ENTER THE MATRIX: Keanu and Carrie-Anne Are Back for Four.

Can they turn it around after the twin disasters which were “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions?” Hell, I don’t even know what Moss is doing back for a fourth installment, after her prolonged death scene in the third movie.

True story. Trinity’s death was so drawn out, so over-the-top, and so speechified by both Moss and Reeves, that when I went to see it theaters in 2003, someone shouted at the screen, “JUST DIE ALREADY!” And then the entire theater erupted in cheers and applause for the shouter.

No, it wasn’t me.

But I still kind of regret that it wasn’t me.

BUT THE JUST-ESTABLISHED NARRATIVE! US existing-home sales spike to a 5-month high, bucking signs of an impending recession.

“BUDGET.” YOU KEEP USING THAT WORD. I DO NOT THINK IT MEANS WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS: Trump-Pelosi budget deal sends deficit soaring.

VIDEO: Lindsey Graham to Meet with Attorney General Barr this Week to Discuss Rollout of SpyGate Docs.

TELL, DON’T ASK: Facebook to stop stalking you off-site – but only if asked.

THEY’LL NEVER INVITE HIM BACK ON CNBC: Bank of America’s CEO has one simple reason why he doesn’t see a recession looming.

THIS IS BY DESIGN: Governors Are Losing the Space to Govern. “As the bulk of state spending shifts toward mandatory programs, experimentation is grinding to a halt in the laboratories of democracy.”

TYLER O’NEIL CONTINUES HIS EXCELLENT COVERAGE OF THE SPLC: 5 Reasons the SPLC Is Profoundly Wrong About Two Notorious Christian ‘Hate Groups.’

THE THRILL IS GONE? Dems Seem Bored with Their Presidential Candidates.

WELL, CNN: Medical Exam Disputes CNN Report, Shows Detained Immigrant Was Not Lactating, ICE Says.

OH: Jail guards threatening former Epstein cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Trump Triggers the Israel Haters. “He is at his absolute best when he is saying things that other Republicans won’t say, even though they desperately need to be said.”

Yes.

SOD OFF, SWAMPY: Set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher in the summer, federal agency recommends.

WE’RE FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND WE’RE HERE TO HELP: $700K for an apartment? The cost to solve the homeless crisis is soaring in Los Angeles. “Projected per-unit cost of apartments for homeless ($700K) is greater than the county’s median sales price for a home ($618K).”

LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: ‘Failed state’: Venezuelan displacement and starvation multiply. “Less than a decade after major strides addressed malnourishment, Caracas now faces massive refugee and hunger crises.”