The Daily Valet. - 2/11/21, Thursday

✔️ New Details Emerge

Thursday, February 11th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

The less math I have to do, the better.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today's edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

The Rawness of Day 2

Previously unreleased video footage of Capitol riot shows narrow escapes

Democratic House impeachment managers on Wednesday began formally laying out their case that former President Donald Trump incited the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. They’re allowed 16 hours, spread over two days, to make their arguments and much of the first day was spent showing previously unseen videos.

According to the Associated Press, the security video illustrated just how close several lawmakers came to disaster. It showed the mob of rioters breaking into the Capitol, smashing windows and doors and searching menacingly for Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as overwhelmed police begged on their radios for help.

Senators on both sides of the aisle were visibly affected by the graphic and explicit new footage (warning: some contain strong language and violence). Of course, it’s one thing to remind viewers that bad stuff happened. But to prove incitement, you need to show Trump actually caused what happened.

Not all members of the chamber believed the footage implicates Trump. “That was horrendous ... everyone involved in that terrorist attack should go to jail for a very long time,” Sen. Ted Cruz, (R-Tex.), told NPR. Still, he described evidence linking those actions to Trump’s rhetoric as “strikingly absent.”

The link Democrats are trying to prove is that Trump didn’t just light the fire—he declined to snuff it out once it started burning. According to the Washington Post, Trump’s response during the attack was delayed (even by the accounts of GOP senators and some former White House aides). He also offered words of praise for the rioters, expressing “love” for them and later saying it would be a day for them to remember. But he did, in the same video, tell them to go home peacefully.

The impeachment article focused mostly on one event: Trump’s Jan. 6 speech. But it also referenced Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State in which he asked him to “find” enough votes to flip the state (which, as of Wednesday, is the subject of a criminal investigation), as well as mentioning Trump’s “prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of election results.”

↦ Meanwhile: Reuters reports that dozens of former Republican officials are currently in talks to form an anti-Trump third party.

Who Will Make the Apple Car?

Because there’s no way this isn’t happening, right?

This past weekend, Hyundai and Kia firmly quashed rumors on their involvement with a rebooted Apple Car project, reports Road & Track. It brought the rumor mill to a screeching halt ... at least for a few days.

Japanese automaker Nissan has now suggested it would be interested in partnering with Apple. And rumors of a potential deal with French car brand Renault just caused the company's stock to soar.

According to Bloomberg, the secret project has gained momentum in recent months, adding multiple former Tesla Inc. executives, gaining the supervision of Apple’s top artificial intelligence executive and ramping up road tests. The initiative, known as "Project Titan" inside Apple, is attracting intense interest because of its potential to upend the automotive industry and supply chains, much like the iPhone did to the smartphone market.

"I think it's important to make a distinction between when Apple works on something compared to when it sees the light of day," Gene Munster of Loup Ventures and a keen watcher of Apple and its automotive doppelgänger, Tesla told Road Show. "It's very clear Apple has ambitions to build a car. It was not clear six months ago."

↦ FYI: There hasn't been this much speculation since Apple was supposed to be making a TV set.

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Machines Are Inventing New Types of Math

Pushing the boundaries of math requires great minds. Or really smart computers ...

A machine devised by a team of researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology can create conjectures—mathematical statements that are proposed as true statements but are yet to be proven—by exploring the relationships between the fundamental mathematical constants.

The Ramanujan Machine, named after the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, who developed thousands of innovative formulas in number theory with almost no formal training. The software system has already conjectured several original and important formulas, according to work published last week in the academic journal Nature.

According to Vice, the Ramanujan Machine is imagined not to take over mathematics, so much as provide a sort of feeding line for existing mathematicians.

As the researchers explain in the paper, the entire discipline of mathematics can be broken down into two processes, crudely speaking: conjecturing things and proving things. Given more conjectures, there is more grist for the mill of the mathematical mind, more for mathematicians to prove and explain.

↦ FYI: Want to get involved? There are several perks if you join the Ramanujan Machine's community. Lend your computer's processing power, and get a conjecture named after you.

That Springsteen Jeep Ad? It’s Been Pulled.

Jeep took the keys from Bruce after DWI news became public

Just like when I got my first ticket at 16 for running a stop sign, it appears Bruce Springsteen had to give up his Jeep-driving privileges.

After news broke earlier today that Springsteen was arrested for “reckless driving, consuming alcohol in a closed area, and driving while intoxicated” in November, his Jeep Super Bowl ad is off YouTube. The ad was the first commercial of his lengthy career and one of the most talked-about spots of the night.

TMZ reports that the musician was reportedly cooperative during the arrest, and he has a court appearance scheduled at some point “in the next few weeks.” But obviously, the optics of Springsteen driving in a commercial after a DWI arrest aren't great.

A spokesperson for Jeep told InsideHook, “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate. But it's also right that we pause our Big Game commercial until the actual facts can be established. Its message of community and unity is as relevant as ever. As is the message that drinking and driving can never be condoned.”

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

A fragrant life

The sushi bake

These custom Eames Loungers

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How Do You Make the Perfect Hair Product?

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