Rants about Linux, technology, data, and science
We’ve had 2 multi-day blackouts covering large areas of Michigan over the last few months due to power lines being downed during relatively mild storm activity. It begs the question why the power infrastructure is proving so fragile during relatively common weather conditions? Moreover, why are the outages extended over 3-5 days, instead of hours, Read More …
Hundreds of U.S. dentist office systems were simultaneous hit with the REvil (Sodinokibi) ransomware. This was only possible because hundreds of dental practices use CLOUD BASED infrastructure to manage their patient records. Successfully attack the cloud infrastructure serving any business community (dental, medical, legal, etc) and the potential payoffs are HUGE – nothing less than Read More …
No medicine, inadequate medicinal bioactivity, poisonous contaminants, you name it. China has wrecked havoc on our nation’s pharmaceutical supplies, and consumers have essentially no protection, and no recourse. “China doesn’t have anything like the consumer protection laws and product liability laws like the United States does,” said Rosemary Gibson, a health care expert at the Read More …
A rare photograph of how the popular former President is spending his free time. Looks like Mr. Obama has found a way to do really well for himself. I wonder if Michelle helps with the cooking? Los Pollos Hermanos, baby!
The LA Times is reporting that in a test of a proposed facial recognition system designed to help law enforcement identify criminal suspects, 1-5 California lawmakers were erroneously identified as being part of a criminal photo database set. OK, I can hear the jokes – I mean they ARE lawyers and politicians, so was the Read More …
I have a mid-2015 Macbook Pro that was, until recently, the best laptop I’ve ever owned. I noticed a few months ago that the battery was getting scary hot. Then finally, just this month, I received an email from Apple saying my Macbook was being recalled for a faulty battery that can overheat, and even Read More …
Update: So allegedly, Crusius has admitted to not liking Latinos very much and did claim to target them in the Walmart shooting. Police are still saying they “think” he wrote the manifesto, but that hasn’t yet been confirmed (though his ideas do seem consistent). If he did write the manifesto, all I can say is Read More …
In another example of why you shouldn’t trust mega-tech “cloud” companies with your home security, Vice News and GovTech have reported that Amazon is now coaching police how to obtain users’ Ring camera footage without a warrant. If that fails, the cops go directly to Amazon, and the company is more than likely to cooperate. Read More …
The study found that, “During the last hundred years the temperature is increased about 0.1°C because of carbon dioxide. The human contribution was about 0.01°C.” Kauppinen and Malmi conclude that global temperatures are controlled primarily by cloud cover and that “only a small part” of the increased carbon dioxide concentration is anthropogenic. KAUPPINEN, J and Read More …
The concentration along the 401 in Ontario is particularly striking – this is the primary zone of population and commerce and Canada’s “arterial” connection to the U.S. economy. Pete Zeihan (I think correctly) characterizes Vancouver as a “City State”, and the Maritimes as “another planet”. Sorry Canada, I love ya but you can’t get rid Read More …