Lauren Weinstein

https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/@lauren

< Tech Systems & Policy Analysis: Internet, Privacy, plus his other sundry topics >
Los Angeles - lauren.vortex.com

Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com

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Last Notes

2024-09-02 15:51:04

As a foundational security measure, I almost never scan QR codes, and NEVER scan QR codes in public or from sources with which I do not already have a trust relationship. And even then I avoid scanning them.

2024-09-01 23:40:32

In the original novel ("Monkey Planet") by Pierre Boulle, from which the entire "Planet of the Apes" franchise sprung, an astronaut near the end escapes the technologically reasonably advanced planet of apes and returns to Earth, where he finds apes similarly in charge after the very long stretch of time.
For the first film, they simplified both the apes' cultural level and the overall situation, by inexplicably having them land back on Earth in the first place, instead of a planet around a distant star.
This created a logical problem, since astronauts would be certain to recognize Earth's moon in the sky. So they basically just ignored the issue, and had an astronaut mumble something about there not being any moon. Uh huh.
Interestingly, in an episode of the TV series "Space: 1999", the main characters realize they are on Earth (albeit centuries in the past) rather than another planet, when they do recognize the moon.

2024-08-22 22:04:44

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It's just an online form and no big deal. I ran through it myself sometime back. You can get up to five tokens that are used to pull the continuing updates (tagged as esm support I believe).

2024-08-22 21:59:25

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Not sure offhand of that level of detail, but I'm pretty sure the magic number is 5. I suspect it's per organization, which would make the most sense.

2024-08-22 20:07:45

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It doesn't matter how many users there are. If you've been supporting your product and intend to stop supporting it, YOU WARN USERS IN ADVANCE and keep your relevant documentation pages about this up to date. THERE IS NO VALID EXCUSE!

2024-08-22 19:29:55

In a slap in the face to users, #Google says it will not fix Chrome for older Linux systems. For backstory see:
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/@lauren/113005994244041783
This despite their own support page noting that they are supported. They also say this was not an accident and that they did this intentionally despite total lack of warning to users.
MORE:
Showing a level of disdain for users that is remarkable even for Google, Google now says they will NOT fix Chrome that has suddenly been broken without warning (Chrome Stable 128) for older Linux systems, despite their own support page saying those systems are supported, with no mention of current or future deprecation, as of this morning.
It is also worth noting that arguments suggesting one should expect Chrome to stop working when an OS goes End Of Life (absent extended support) are invalidated by Google's own actions. For example, they kept updating Chrome for Windows 7 -- LONG end of life -- until relatively quite recently, and warned of the upcoming end of support for Chrome on Win7 long in advance of that date.
This situation is absolutely shameful.
L

2024-08-20 18:00:27

Experiencing the amazing tech of Bambu Labs' A1 3D printer, I found myself thinking of another Chinese firm, DJI, who is similarly so far ahead in terms of technology, support, and overall ecosystem related to drones for consumers, public safety, agriculture, and other industries.
TIL that the CEO and co-founder of Bambu Labs, Dr. Ye Tao (aka "Dr. Turbo"), was an astrophysicist who spent years studying in Germany, and who also worked at DJI before founding Bambu.
Sometimes things actually make sense.

2024-08-18 17:14:28

Lindsey Graham is now saying that if Trump doesn't shape up he could lose the election. Ya' think?

2024-08-18 15:32:43

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Yep.

2024-08-18 15:27:54

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I've been saying the Apple privacy stance is really a self-serving profit center for ages. Too many Apple fanboys haven't figured it out yet.
I know the internals of Google vastly better than Apple, since I have worked inside Google and know/knew many great people there. I emphasize "knew" because the flow of Googlers I know who left the company is increasing rapidly, as the best people see the writing on the walls or have just gotten fed up with Sundar's vision.
My real Google hero is Matt Cutts. He's a great guy and it was always fun to have an opportunity to sit and chat with him. He got out of Google years ago. I haven't talked to him lately but I can imagine what he'd think of today's Google.

2024-08-18 04:11:50

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Not so much knowingly. But there are common situations where it can get used accidentally (either real data, or ghost data).

2024-08-18 02:59:06

The 1983 film "Trading Places" has surfaced on #YouTube Movies & TV. Oddly though, it is labeled as "TV Version". This is extremely unusual for feature films that cycle into that YT channel.

2024-08-18 02:35:36

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But perhaps Sundar feels being discredited is worth it in the long run for his plans. Certainly he has shown little concern for Google's more positive traditional sensibilities.

2024-08-18 02:25:51

I find it impossible to view #Google's refusal to permit their Gemini AI to even provide simple biographical information about persons such as Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, or even Donald Trump, to be nothing short of abject cowardice. Disgraceful.

2024-08-15 21:36:08

Eric Schmidt has attempted to recant the most controversial statements in the interview video that Stanford is now suppressing. But he said what he said. Among the more controversial statements (not exactly his words, but a summary):
He opined that #Google had fallen behind in AI and had to rush to catch up because the firm cared too much about its employees' work/life balance, rather than just working them as hard as possible and going for the AI jugular early on.
He discussed how AI firms can just grab whatever content they want and then use lawyers after the fact to try clean up the mess.
As I said earlier, he made quite a few very insightful comments, but the awful ones are indeed pretty awful.

2024-08-15 21:27:15

Stanford keeps pulling down embarrassing Eric Schmidt video, new copies keep popping up on YouTube.
I can see why Eric wanted it deep-sixed. He says a lot of insightful things, and a number of quite horrid things.

2024-07-20 18:17:20

Thought Experiment: Imagine the CrowdStrike scenario in a world of robocars.

2024-07-19 16:58:50

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I voted for him too. Every time I could. I love the guy. But he'll lose in a landslide. And that's unacceptable to our country.

2024-07-19 16:48:53

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Trump is a known quantity in every respect. What Biden is going to do, especially with his obviously rapidly declining health, is an actual unknown. That's the "new" in news.

2024-07-15 22:07:44

Tonight on my usual Monday evening national network radio tech segment, I'll be discussing the latest AT&T breach, and suggesting that perhaps we should consider prison time for large firms' execs when negligence results in breaches that could have easily been prevented. Nothing else seems to get their attention when millions of their customers are hurt.

2024-07-12 17:14:28

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Biden's "I'm the best one to do it" given his condition, is only one notch beneath Trump's "Only I can do it." And the way Biden has been lashing out at "elites" (who are the ones who helped get him elected in the first place) is similar in effect to Trump's backstabbing modus operandi.

2024-07-11 01:47:42

Reports are that Biden campaign fundraising has collapsed, despite some small donor bumps that were significant. Party sources are bracing for total 50% or lower than would otherwise have been expected. Various donor gatherings have been cancelled or are at risk of being cancelled.

2024-07-08 22:10:52

At a contentious press conference today, White House continued to assert that Biden does not have Parkinson's, but refused to discuss the presence in White House logs of eight visits by a Parkinson expert over eight months, refusing to name him even though his name is already known publicly from the logs. The White House needs to be 100% transparent or this controversy will continue to grow and suck the oxygen out of all other issues.

2024-07-07 17:20:55

The chorus of people trying to blame the messenger -- the media -- for calls for Biden to bow out of the race cannot dispel what we all can see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears when Biden is in any public situation without a teleprompter now. And many of us have seen the same situation, heartbreakingly so, among older members of our own families, who have lived stellar lives and keep insisting that -- for example -- they can still drive just fine, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

2024-07-06 17:05:06

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Humidity is generally quite low. I think it averaged below 15% yesterday. There are often brief periods (a few days or so) of monsoon conditions that can hit at the start and end of the summer (or if the rare tropical storm happens nearby). That can drive the humidity uncomfortably up briefly, though not the levels of Boston, Houston, Atlanta, or other places with routine humidity heat. So overall, very dry. Dangerously so.

2024-07-06 01:54:08

111F

2024-07-06 01:17:00

Excerpts of Biden's interview today for ABC are now showing up. I'll emphasize that these are excerpts, so they are selections, not the entirety yet. But what I'm seeing is making me very sad. For example, he appeared to be unable to definitively state that he'd even watched his own debate performance yet. Such a nice guy. He's done so much good. But I don't believe this interview has helped at all. Watch for yourself and decide.

2024-07-05 18:29:01

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The main issue from a security standpoint isn't what's in there (the big power pulls tend to be things like refrigerators and air conditioning and such) but determining patterns of usage over the 24 hour cycle.
But the real issue is that consumers are given the impression the systems are secure "nobody can see your data but you!" when the protocols are not. 2G has been shut down widely and soon will be totally extinct.

2024-07-05 18:07:43

I was asked recently if utility company claims that the telemetry/usage data from gas/water/power meters that transmit their data rather than being read manually is safe from snooping are actually true.
I can't speak for all meters in this category, but the reality is that for a great many of them the data transmissions are openly available unencrypted (in the U.S., typically in the 900Mhz band), can be received with a cheap RTLSDR dongle, and the software to decode the signals is all over the Net.

2024-07-05 17:48:36

Time to poll for a third time. Will Biden be the Democratic nominee?

2024-07-04 20:33:40

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It is also election day in the UK. Another important day when traditionally non-urgent releases are held back. But hey, yeah, who cares if it's not Germany, huh? Or maybe they didn't even think about the ramifications for German holidays.
This is really basic security stuff. I mean, first day orientation for security teams in the real world.

2024-07-04 20:15:42

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Again, it is standard practice among security professionals to avoid production releases involving significant security concerns on key holidays (or weekends) in major regions of use at least, unless there is active exploitation of the bugs in question. As soon as the release is made, the exploit becomes known.
I'm getting very tired of hearing excuses from people who apparently have never dealt with large scale security issues on a professional level. If the Gods of Mastodon want to keep treating the platform as a toy for amateurs, then I don't want to see any more bitching about why its use for serious applications is so limited.

2024-07-04 18:08:15

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Blah blah blah. At least you can skip the major holidays themselves unless there is active exploitation. Your "extended weekend" excuse is nonsense. Just skip the day when most people will be out having picnics and watching events. This isn't goddamned rocket science.

2024-07-04 17:58:00

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Like I said, it's being treated as a toy, not a would-be global communication network. A sign of being a pro in security is being aware and caring about impacts BEYOND your own locale.

2024-07-04 17:32:57

The Gods of Mastodon went ahead and released a major security update to #Mastodon today, July 4, Independence Day -- one of the most major U.S. holidays, when families are out and about and administrators are unlikely to be around to apply the upgrade quickly as the scope of the issues becomes widely known.
They did this despite calls from security professionals not to do major security releases on major holidays unless there was significant active exploitation of the bugs, which does not appear to be the case for this release -- at least up to the time today that they released the code showing the exploits!
You can find the release info here:
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/releases/tag/v4.2.10
THIS is one of the reasons why Mastodon will never be a major player, because it is being handled like an amateur toy, not a professional system for people to rely on for anything of any importance at all.
I could never in good faith recommend Mastodon/Fediverse as anything other than a plaything. So much potential being flushed down the sewer unnecessarily.

2024-07-03 18:48:48

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If you're going to use the "all polls are wrong irrespective of the methodologies" defense there isn't much further to go with the conversation. And by the way, legit polls virtually never block their CNID.

2024-07-03 18:00:38

Biden is giving a "no holds barred" interview to ABC News on Friday. If he blows that, it's game over.

2024-07-03 17:52:31

Greece has just moved in the opposite direction of various other countries, and enacted a 48 hour, six-day work week.
Fun fact: The USSR at one point abolished weekends in favor of a seven day work week (with workers getting days off on different days of the week). It did not end well.

2024-07-03 17:48:38

It's so nice to have the #Google Search page-by-page SERPs again, rather than that nasty continuous scroll. Now we need a way to disable AI Overviews officially in user settings.

2024-07-03 02:02:24

This is one of my favorite videos on #YouTube. It shows how the famous Fred Astaire "dancing on the walls and ceiling" sequence was filmed for 1951's "Royal Wedding". VERY cool. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNSHjZmvZTM

2024-07-02 20:24:24

So #YouTube has this new feature (probably Premium only right now) where you can use their super duper AI to jump directly to where the super duper AI thinks the important part of the video is, so you don't have to bother watching anything else we lucky humans. Now of course it seems to me that a side-effect of this could be drastically reduced watched times for videos, and so lower payoffs from #Google to the creators. Working as intended, indeed.

2024-07-02 17:49:34

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Yeah, Linus doesn't have "brand recognition" the way Musk does. Everybody on the planet (more or less) knows who Musk is. Almost nobody outside the techie community knows Linus other than as a character in the Peanuts strips. If that.

2024-07-02 17:43:30

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It's really amazing how much they got right -- and wrong -- in those predictions.

2024-07-02 17:39:35

Back in the 1960's Disney had a number of shows on their TV "World of Color"/"World of Disney" series devoted to "Man Into Space" discussions, regarding the current state of affairs and forward looking. These were generally quite excellent and very much worth watching (Disney has them on their service).
Some of these were hosted by Wernher von Braun himself, who proved an effective host (it's easy to see how he could be convincing to government official to get appropriations).
What's interesting watching them -- and this would have been even more the case back when they originally aired -- is how carefully the shows, when discussing von Braun's background, tip toe around the fact that his work on the V1 and V2 were responsible for vast numbers of deaths in England and elsewhere. While it has been argued that he only joined the Nazi party defensively to protect himself, it is also clear that he wanted to continue working on rockets at all costs.
And, yes, I've already quoted the Tom Lehrer lyrics today, so no need for them here.

2024-07-02 17:28:02

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Well, to be frank about it, the entire U.S. space program in the 60s was led by a, uh, former Nazi. Just pointing this out for historical completeness. "Once the rockets go up who cares where they come down?"

2024-07-02 17:07:38

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Whenever I warn about the dangers of depending on SpaceX for anything, supporters rant about its great CEO who knows what she's doing. Problem is Musk could have an upset stomach some morning and just fire her. Or worse.

2024-07-02 17:05:47

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Exactly. Comparing a diesel controversy with a would be fascist dictator supporter is a bit over the top.

2024-07-02 17:00:39

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No.

2024-07-02 16:27:56

Article in the NYTimes today discussing how customers most interested in EVs (left-leaning) are most turned off by Musk, and how this is negatively impacting sales. The "driving around in a giant MAGA hat" effect appears to be very real.

2024-07-01 16:24:41

BREAKING: Supreme Court rejects Florida and Texas laws that would dictate social media content, for now at least.

2024-06-29 03:40:02

Renowned character actor Martin Mull dies at 80. Peace.

2024-06-29 01:40:08

Respected survey finds 46% of U.S. EV owners "likely" to switch back to internal combustion vehicles.
https://www.autobodynews.com/news/survey-46-of-u-s-ev-owners-likely-to-switch-back-to-fuel-powered-vehicle
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/696/884/768/480/940/original/bf74f3318fc79c76.png

2024-06-28 20:31:34

Was just pointed at a #Google AI Overview answer that gives exactly the OPPOSITE of the correct advice, reversing the meaning of a referenced link. Not life and death in this case, but could cause its victims considerable pain. Not ready for prime time Google, especially when you refuse to take responsibility for these answers. Laws will have to change so you are responsible for your AI's mistakes.

2024-06-28 18:51:32

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But that's still state level vote. When you have to appeal to the entire country, the dynamic is very different.

2024-06-28 18:49:41

Many people reading this are probably too young to have seen a Democratic political convention in the U.S. where the winner of the nomination wasn't completely determined in advance. It's been decades, but it certainly has happened. The Party makes its own rules, and can change their own rules at any time. I've seen mention of a compressed timeline due to a virtual vote that is scheduled to happen for Ohio earlier than the actual convention, but that no longer is actually necessary since Ohio changed the relevant law.
Basically it amounts to this. If Biden releases his delegates, they can vote for whomever they choose. The rest is in the details, but that's the bottom line.

2024-06-28 18:42:53

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There are always exceptions, though when you move to the federal level, given the nature of the "United States of America", that's much less likely given the dynamics in play.

2024-06-28 18:39:42

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Politics is and always has been about the "less awful". That's because we're dealing with human beings.

2024-06-28 16:56:50

Supreme Court rules obstruction charges against Jan 6 rioters must prove they intended to block arrival of certificates and certification, not just entered the building. This suggests various of the cases will be reopened (usually this was not the only charge) and that prosecution of Trump for this charge would proceed. Jackson joined with the conservatives on this one (6-3), while Barrett joined with the liberals in dissent.

2024-06-28 16:47:31

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I disagree. There have been open conventions late in the cycle that picked candidates previously not considered, who ended up winning.

2024-06-28 15:08:15

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I think he's been a good president. I also think he will lose this election absent some difficult to foresee circumstances. These are not mutually exclusive, and your seeming attempt to suggest that they are, is not appreciated.

2024-06-28 06:04:41

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I'm not even sure that fact checking helps in these situations. He lies, they say he's lying, he says no -- they're idiots -- they don't know the truth ... and they move on to the next question.

2024-06-28 05:44:23

Had to block some people getting nasty because I've said that the best chance of keeping Trump from being president again is for Biden to step aside. I don't want a repeat of the Ginsberg fiasco. That's how I feel, and if you disagree that's OK, but if you can't keep it civil, go elsewhere for your feeds.

2024-06-28 05:12:39

As much as I like Joe, he needs to step aside. I'm not recommending a specific replacement. But his continued presence as the presumptive nominee could do to the presidency what Ginsburg's refusal to resign did to the Supreme Court. It pains me mightily to put this in such stark terms, but I call them as I see them, otherwise there's no point to posting here at all.

2024-06-26 04:01:15

I asked #Google Search where a particular product was made. I already knew the answer: China. But the Google AI Overview at the top just now confidently told me it was made in the USA!
How come? Because Google AI doesn't really understand anything. It just does LLM calculations and takes a guess. In this case, I looked at the (pastel, hard to see) reference link under the answer.
Going to that page, the situation was instantly clear. At the top of the page, the seller proudly stated that all of its flagship products are made in the USA! But the product I asked about is NOT one of their flagship products, and a human would have instantly understood that.
But Google AI has no "I" -- it is artificial, yes, but has NO intelligence. And the same can be said for the other LLM AI systems as well.
The hype of the century.

2024-06-24 00:09:32

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I like Inoreader. I use it all day long and I follow a LOT of RSS. It does everything I need and more. Far more capable than Google Reader ever was. Even at its peak Reader was slow to update and frequently missed things. No comparison. @npub1mzy…esw0

2024-06-24 00:04:15

YouTube's new screensaver on TV is infuriating and you can't even turn it off!
I mentioned this recently myself. It's awful and incredibly anti-user of #Google. I pay for #YouTube Premium and I don't need this garbage pushed at me without any way to disable it! -L
https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-tv-screensaver-infuriating-3447834/
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/668/196/404/962/480/original/e360c7b70ce4c6c2.png

2024-06-23 20:35:30

"Doctor Who" is falling apart before our eyes (I stopped watching regularly years ago -- as far as I'm concerned Tom Baker was the only true Doctor Who), but I'll admit it's cool that they brought back the original voice actor -- Gabriel Wolf -- to re-voice the uber-evil Sutekh as he did in one of the best Baker plots -- "The Pyramids of Mars" back in 1975 -- for the current comeback of Sutekh. He's now 91 and still nailing it!

2024-06-23 20:07:57

Most people who have ever heard of "The Fediverse" think it's from some obscure Italian sci-fi movie on Tubi TV.

2024-06-23 18:12:08

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I suspect that telepathy might provide some insight into consciousness. Machine-based telepathy (mostly read-only) seems to be moving along alarmingly fast, but probably is not of the sort that would be useful in this context.

2024-06-23 18:06:49

ProTip: In the real world hardly anyone has heard of #Mastodon. But compared to the number of people who have ever heard of Fediverse, Mastodon is extremely well known. So stick to saying Mastodon.

2024-06-23 17:55:15

The alien ship, obviously the product of a civilization far in advance of our own, lands on Earth. The vaguely humanoid beings emerge and say in perfect English: "Just here until your sun sets. You can ask us three questions before we go."
The questions are asked:
Where are you from?
How fast did you travel?
What is the motive force of your ship?
The tallest of the aliens answers:
We're from Zddzzzgdddd. [It points to the southeast sky.] About there ...
We traveled at 25 most of the way. Got up to 32 for a while. But I like to stay below 26 when possible.
We use a GGskskeoagksas-19. The 18s had some issues, but the model 19s are great. Highly recommended.
The aliens then reentered their ship and the port closed. At dusk the ship silently lifted and vanished into the sky. They were never heard from again.

2024-06-23 17:38:28

My favorite thought experiment about consciousness is the old neuron replacement game. One by one, you replace neurons in the brain with exact artificial duplicates that behave and interact with other neurons (or replaced neurons) in EXACTLY the same manner as the originals. Bit by bit more and more of the brain is replaced, until it is entirely made up of replaced artificial neurons. To the outer world, the brain behaves exactly as it did before. But what of the consciousness? If there ever was a consciousness. Is the original introspective entity gone? Were they a physical manifestation in the first place, a set of processes running on the hardware of the neurons? Both? Neither?
Observant readers will note that this is pretty much the same question as comes up with teleportation, when you create an exact copy of the original and then destroy the original.
Say goodnight, Spock.

2024-06-22 17:55:13

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Of course there were other ways to handle it. But it was also obvious how they WOULD handle it. And that's what they've done.

2024-06-22 17:48:17

I don't know why anyone is surprised that government-mandated pay increases for fast food workers and delivery app drivers has resulted in depressed customer activity in both sectors. It was inevitable that these firms would pass along those increases as higher food prices and delivery fees, and this is a pretty clear demonstration that to a large extent these sectors are, as we say in economics, very elastic. For most people, they are not necessities, and beyond certain price points they just stop buying.

2024-06-21 18:08:30

BREAKING: Supreme Court rules 8-1 that domestic abusers can't own guns, only Thomas dissents.

2024-06-21 04:51:57

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Depends on the price of copper at the time. Seriously.

2024-06-21 04:04:43

***** AT&T is attempting to bypass the CPUC and abandon their landline obligations, via Assembly Bill AB 2797 in California *****
Despite the CPUC voting unanimously today to reject the AT&T proposal to abandon its carrier of last resort obligations, they are still pushing California Assembly Bill AB 2797 that would effectively bypass the CPUC and screw California subscribers in very much the same way.
The California State Association of Counties, Rural County
Representatives of California, and Urban Counties of California a week ago said that they oppose the bill.
Any politicians in California who would support this AT&T-pushed attempt to bypass the safeguards of the CPUC are doing so at their own political peril, given the spectacular public outcry and failure of AT&T's other plot to hurt subscribers that the CPUC just today voted down. -L

2024-06-21 03:10:02

There's still lots of great stuff on #YouTube -- IF you know how to find it. But increasingly it's largely buried under a Mt. Everest of putrid, mediocre "cut and paste" and/or AI-generated sequences of generic clips on every possible topic, with AI-generated narrations, churned out like sausage on the assembly line. Creativity level 0. Annoyance level 100. Ugh.

2024-06-21 02:38:51

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U-verse is what they've used (if anything) in areas where they refuse to put fiber to the premises. It's fiber to the terminal (DSLAM), and then copper pairs from there to premises. At the 50Mb downstream rate they'd typically use two bonded pairs.

2024-06-21 02:32:48

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That sounds like standard U-verse, which is generally operable, at least for the moment while the copper is still around.

2024-06-20 23:48:42

***** California PUC officially rejects AT&T proposal to be relieved of landline responsibilities *****
With their vote today, 4-0 with one recusal, the CPUC today officially rejected AT&T's proposal to be relieved of carrier of last resort responsibilities in a long running proceeding. While this does not prevent AT&T from modernizing their equipment to other technologies, this is widely viewed as a pushback to AT&T's efforts to pretty immediately kill landlines in the state and relieve itself of responsibilities to provide universal telephone service in all of their traditional service areas. Public interest in this proceeding was enormous with a massive number of public comments (their site stopped counting at 5000), overwhelmingly negative to AT&T's proposal.
The Commission also voted to begin a proceeding to study if and how the last resort responsibilities should be updated to take account of technological changes. So this will definitely be a continuing story.
As you probably know, I was firmly opposed to AT&T's proposal, and I want to thank everyone who let the CPUC know how they felt about this situation.
L

2024-06-20 20:39:11

Report: Biden admin about to ban sale of Kaspersky software in U.S.
Has there actually been a case of this software being used by the Russian government in an insidious way? Or is this more "speculation"? Seriously, anyone know?
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/20/24182531/kaspersky-lab-antivirus-software-banned-us-biden-russia
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/650/403/113/185/743/original/20347342ae318d11.png

2024-06-20 20:08:54

Renowned actor Donald Sutherland dies at 88. Peace.

2024-06-20 18:53:58

So apparently it's considered desirable to be on the right side of the debate stage as viewed by the audience (for various reasons). So that may be why Biden's team chose this rather than the last closing argument. They also may be calculating that after 90 minutes Trump's closing argument will be so raving and incoherent that it leaves crucial viewers disgusted. I dunno.

2024-06-20 18:36:25

Trump gets the final word at CNN debate after coin flip -- even though Biden won the toss
So apparently Biden's team won the toss and could choose either whether they wanted to make the last closing statement or the podium position. They chose the podium position. Go figure.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/20/politics/cnn-debate-closing-statements-podiums/index.html
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/649/920/058/501/363/original/a0d15fd4263a59c3.png

2024-06-20 18:13:52

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I do allow this. The point is until now I rarely saw Mastodon results, so G may have bumped up the spidering of Mastodon sites. This isn't a bad thing if it gives searchers more visibility of Mastodon.

2024-06-20 18:04:51

For what it's worth, I'm seeing a lot of #Mastodon postings including my own coming up in #Google Search results. And presumably being sucked into their AI vacuum chamber as well.

2024-06-20 18:03:17

One of the problems with sci-fi disintegration guns is figuring out exactly how much they should disintegrate (as Daffy Duck actually discovered when his disintegration pistol disintegrated itself when he fired it).
Typically, they seem to be designed to only disintegrate the "main" object they're fired at, with the disintegration field spreading to the limits of that object, be it animate or inanimate.
But how is this determined? How does the disintegration field know where to stop? It would have to be a pretty smart field to know where the desired target ends (e.g., so you don't disintegrated the ground the target is standing on -- though some sci-fi disintegration guns do actually spread too far in this respect).
Perhaps the best example is from the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951). When the robot Gort first emerged from the ship, he (we know Gort is a he, because Klaatu later refers to him that way), fires a disintegration beam that is so specific that it dissolves the rifles soldiers are holding but gives them time to drop them safely. Similarly, soldiers have time to jump out of a disintegrating tank.
But later, when Gort reacts to Klaatu being killed, his disintegration beam is dialed up much higher, disintegrating both the guarding soldiers and their guns.
Probably my favorite disintegration device was from "The Invaders" TV series (1967). Their disintegration guns just made a soft "POOF" sound when they fired a burst of stuff that would cause the target to disintegrate in very much the same way that they themselves did when killed.
You probably don't care about any of this.

2024-06-20 17:35:00

To paraphrase the opening of "Stingray" to describe the upcoming first presidential debate: "Anything can happen in the next hour and a half!"

2024-06-20 17:24:05

By the way, since Supreme Court decisions come out on Thu and Fri and may finish for the term by the end of this month, it's likely there will be crucial decisions announced the morning of the debate, possibly including the Court invalidating obstruction charges on Jan 6 defendants. A major ruling on social media is expected at any time (could even be today) regarding the Texas/Florida content moderation laws. Also, the ruling on presidential immunity is expected in this cycle likely by the end of the month.

2024-06-20 17:20:51

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I put the odds of his bailing out at ~25%. Which is quite significant.

2024-06-20 17:20:08

BREAKING: Summer officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere at 1:51 PM PDT this afternoon with the summer solstice. This will be the earliest summer solstice since 1796, when George Washington was still the first U.S. president and there were only 16 states.

2024-06-20 17:08:09

BREAKING: RFK, Jr. fails to meet requirements for first presidential debate. It's possible he could meet the second, but full requirements for that one have not been announced, and his poll numbers are currently apparently sinking significantly.

2024-06-20 01:07:11

EU chat control law proposes scanning your messages — even encrypted ones
I hope Europeans who always like to bash the USA are paying attention to what their own governments are doing! -L
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/19/24181214/eu-chat-control-law-propose-scanning-encrypted-messages-csam
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/645/793/979/682/427/original/d1ea2f11d8541131.png

2024-06-19 21:22:40

Wired: Perplexity Is a Bullsh*t Machine
https://www.wired.com/story/perplexity-is-a-bullshit-machine/
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/644/911/942/066/088/original/1f58a14dba4c16a6.png

2024-06-19 21:03:37

[Disgraceful vandalism] Climate protesters arrested after painting Stonehenge monument orange
How to get people to HATE climate change activists. -L
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/stonehenge-climate-protesters-arrested-painting-monument-rcna157911
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/644/836/317/434/760/original/d40d7a9eb59227ab.png

2024-06-19 19:59:52

Update on Leela. She still seems to be doing well on the medication for her hyperthroidism, which she gets twice a day in compounded liquid form with canned food (tuna flavored med, yum!). Clearly gained back weight, other symptoms seem subsided, lots of energy. Getting a routine blood test soon just to make sure there aren't side-effects from the med. Back to trying to participate in my weekly radio reports. I'm considering handing them entirely over to her and maybe the postings here too. I'm pretty sure you guys would vote for that.
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/system/media_attachments/files/112/644/586/257/788/314/original/6546bf266a7a9672.jpg

2024-06-19 05:49:24

Dear Sundar,
Thanks for all your great work at Google! Your services will no longer be required, but I wish you the best in your future endeavors. The gentlemen in the blue shirts who just arrived will take your badge, laptop, and escort you from the campus.
Thank you again so much!
Best,
Gemini AI

2024-06-19 05:42:07

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You questioned first responders having courage. Maybe you've never known any. I have. All would give their lives for kids in such a situation. So maybe you should move on to another topic.

2024-06-19 05:34:06

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That was clearly an outlier situation, and your comment is something of a slap in the face to the brave first responders who have acted immediately in so many other school situations.