Daily Shaarli
February 25, 2023
I then asked if it was fine or if I was going to find corruption when I tried to read it, and they suggested I do db.repairDatabase() to rebuild everything. No sooner said than done, I ran the command and left it for a few hours to run. At some point I lost my SSH connection to the server but thought that it would probably keep running or, at least, leave the database in some half-consistent state so I could rerun the query. That’s exactly what it did, but it also deleted 90% of my data, which I couldn’t recover.
In summary, I would not let MongoDB near my children, let alone run it on a production environment (or even a testing one). It’s a great piece of software when it works, but that’s not very often. A database that doesn’t really store data is very, very dangerous.
App privacy policies openly contradict the far more visible "nutrition labels." //
Mozilla rates a few Google apps like Gmail as "needs improvement," but that's missing the forest for the trees. The report doesn't dive into this, but for Android, Google likes to do privacy sleight-of-hand and center the discussion around the idea of "app privacy," when "OS privacy"—privacy from Google—should probably be more of a concern. Google and your device manufacturer both have system-level access to the OS that exists outside the app security model, so they can basically do whatever they want on your phone, including collecting all your data. //
The same "privileged permissions" model also applies to preinstalled apps, which is part of the reason Facebook works so hard to be preinstalled on most Android phones—more permissions means better spying. It would be nice if the Play Store labels were accurate, too, but nobody wants to talk about the entire OS.
"Google consciously failed to preserve relevant evidence. The daily destruction of relevant evidence was inevitable when Google set a company-wide default to delete history-off chat messages every 24 hours, and then elected to maintain that auto-delete setting for custodians subject to a litigation hold," US Department of Justice antitrust lawyers wrote in a memorandum supporting the motion.
Google "had a duty to preserve employee chat messages" starting in 2019 due to the litigation, the US motion said. //
"Amazingly, Google's daily spoliation continued until this week," the US alleged. "When the United States indicated that it would file this motion—following months of conferral—Google finally committed to 'permanently set to history on' and thus preserve its employees' chat messages." //
A similar motion for sanctions was filed by 21 states that are also involved in the litigation against Google. The motions came in a lawsuit filed in October 2020 in which the US and states allege that Google illegally maintains monopolies in search and search advertising through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices." //
All this time, Google falsely told the United States that Google had "put a legal hold in place" that "suspends auto-deletion." Indeed, during the United States' investigation and the discovery phase of this litigation, Google repeatedly misrepresented its document preservation policies, which conveyed the false impression that the company was preserving all custodial chats. Not only did Google unequivocally assert during the investigation that its legal hold suspended auto-deletion, but Google continually failed to disclose—both to the United States and to the Court—its 24-hour auto-deletion policy. Instead, at every turn, Google reaffirmed that it was preserving and searching all potentially relevant written communications.
The dispute is similar to an earlier one in the same lawsuit that involved Google's alleged practice of routinely CCing lawyers on emails even when no legal advice is being sought. In March 2022, the US and states asked the federal court to sanction Google for misusing attorney-client privilege to hide emails from litigation.
Q: Can thorium end the energy crisis?
Asked 11 years, 8 months ago
It seems that, as of lately thorium is steadily increasing in popularity, as an alternative to traditional nuclear fuels. Here's Mr. Kirk Sorensen in a TED video advocating the use of thorium. Thorium even has a nice, green website, among other resources expounding on how awesome it is.
The general picture projected by thorium advocates is that it is very much like a silver bullet for the energy crisis. This sounds wonderful, but also too good to be true. If it's as good as they say, how come thorium reactors are not common ? Surely it has disadvantages as well ?
A:
A short summary of what I understand are the key points in Kirk Sorenson's presentations. He is very good at providing sources for all his claims, so I won't repeat most of them here.
Nuclear power is essential for reducing pollution, including atmospheric CO2. This is based on its energy density (up to 6 orders of magnitude).[1]
Thorium is far more plentiful than uranium[2], and does not need to be enriched to be used as a nuclear fuel. Thorium is not fissile like Uranium-235, but it is fertile: if it is exposed to neutrons it becomes fissile in the form of U-233.
A Molten Salt Reactor, like the one demonstrated at Oak Ridge in the late 1960s, is inherently safe, and more efficient than Pressurized Water Reactors.
With a source of cheap and plentiful electricity, we could synthesize fuel usable in conventional vehicles at reasonable cost (comparable to or cheaper than present prices). These fuels would be nearly carbon-neutral because they would be synthesized using atmospheric CO2. Dimethyl ether is one suggestion as a direct substitute for diesel fuel.
Based on those points, Thorium is a very good candidate to end the "artificial energy crisis". [3]
Suggested resources:
- http://www.thoriumenergycheaperthancoal.com/
- http://www.daretothink.org/how-big-is-that-thorium-ball/
- http://www.daretothink.org/numbers-not-adjectives/lets-produce-a-gwye/
[3] http://www.daretothink.org/shortest-intro-to-molten-salt-the-thorium-reactor/
On Tuesday, the US Copyright Office declared that images created using the AI-powered Midjourney image generator for the comic book Zarya of the Dawn should not have been granted copyright protection, and the images' copyright protection will be revoked.
In a letter addressed to the attorney of author Kris Kashtanova obtained by Ars Technica, the office cites "incomplete information" in the original copyright registration as the reason it plans to cancel the original registration and issue a new one excluding protection for the AI-generated images. Instead, the new registration will cover only the text of the work and the arrangement of images and text. Originally, Kashtanova did not disclose that the images were created by an AI model. //
Based on the record before it, the Office concludes that the images generated by Midjourney contained within the Work are not original works of authorship protected by copyright. See COMPENDIUM (THIRD ) § 313.2 (explaining that “the Office will not register works produced by a machine or mere mechanical process that operates randomly or automatically without any creative input or intervention from a human author”). Though she claims to have “guided” the structure and content of each image, the process described in the Kashtanova Letter makes clear that it was Midjourney—not Kashtanova—that originated the “traditional elements of authorship” in the images. //
Despite precedents for earlier algorithmically generated artwork receiving copyright protection, this ruling means that AI-generated imagery, without human-authored elements, cannot currently be copyrighted in the United States. The Copyright Office's ruling on the matter will likely hold unless it's challenged in court, revised by law, or re-examined in the future.
https://twitter.com/Dorialexander/status/1566489664961347589?s=20&t=C-1gw5GAR6GWccj9h9z_Fg //
IncorrigibleTroll Ars Praefectus
6y
3,626
Subscriptor
Somebody should let ChatGPT know. I was asking it about copyright recently, and it was quite insistent that it is a mere tool and copyright of its output would be automatically assigned to the operator. I asked it if this was its conjectured interpretation or settled case law, and it got offended that I might doubt it.
NWS Los Angeles @NWSLosAngeles
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Due to the potential for strong winds and heavy snow, a BLIZZARD WARNING was issued for the #LACounty and #VenturaCounty mountains from 4 am Friday to 4 pm Saturday. Snow accumulations up to 5 feet and wind gusts in excess of 55 mph are expected. #CAsnow #CAwx
4:44 AM · Feb 22, 2023 //
“I have to be totally honest with you guys,” a California meteorologist said this week. “I’ve actually never seen a blizzard warning.” //
Although it’s fun to conjecture about the streets of Hollywood covered in snow, it’s still unlikely, although white powder could hit the surrounding mountains and hills and more could land on the Hollywood sign, which sits at about 1,600 feet.