Daily Tech News 19 December 2021

• Still dithering over what hardware to buy to build out my software lab - so far I have two laptops and two monitors, which is a good starting point. I'll have the money just before Christmas but I have six different possible configurations and I can't afford them all.
  
  So I got a virtualised dedicated server with an Aussie hosting company I've used for a while. I just have a couple of cheap cloud servers with them - about $20 a month combined - but they've been rock sold. And they bill hourly in arrears so if it turned out not to be what I wanted the cost would be negligible.
  
  Turns out it's great. I had it up and running with Ubuntu 20.04 in 30 seconds. I wanted to configure it with 75% of the disk space in ZFS to run LXD, and they have a control panel that lets you do exactly that, without needing a reinstall or manual configuration. Resize, reboot, configure ZFS, done.
  
  Disk is 800GB of mirrored NVMe storage and gets about 1.6GB per second on writes in an actual test, which is just fine.
  
  It's more expensive than US-based options but it's an 8ms ping from my house compared to a 180ms ping even to Los Angeles. It's great.
  
  If I keep it for more than six months and I don't end up using it for any public or shared stuff I might as well have bought a NUC or something like that, but the ease of getting it up and running is hard to beat.
  
  So now I'm getting started on the software side of the software lab and maybe I'll wait for the sales after Christmas before ordering any more hardware.

• A well-known tech blogger got caught in that Princeton research project that involved thinly-veiled legal threats from fake email accounts to random websites. (Christine.website)
  
  I'd be happy to see this asshole getting sued.
  

  How do websites implement the data access rights provided by European Union & California privacy law? I’m running a study to find out. Thanks to the many websites that have responded, and if you’d like more information or have any questions, please see: https://t.co/EngUdGkKkk

  — Ross Teixeira (@RossTeixeira) December 15, 2021

  
  The problem is, you'd have to be able to prove actual damages.
  

  As an unintentional data point in your study I can tell you that our clients have spent around $10k aggregate trying to understand what these requests related to, and whether this was a coordinated mass phishing attempt. Where should we direct them to submit their invoice?

  — Fred D. Taisce (@FDTaisce) December 17, 2021

  
  Oh. Well then. Gentlemen (and Christine), call your lawyers.
  
  
  
• This isn't tech news but it has to be seen to be believed. The German army, facing fierce criticism for organising a march of soldiers wearing 20th century uniforms and carrying burning torches, played the Don't Mention the War card.
  

  Debatte ist notwendig und wichtig. Vergleiche mit dem dunkelsten Kapitel Deutschlands enttäuschen uns.
  
  Die Bundeswehr ist Parlamentsarmee. Als diese hat sie ihren Platz inmitten der Gesellschaft - bei besonderen Anlässen auch vor dem Reichstagsgebäude: pic.twitter.com/JMpAkXNPN8

  — Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) October 14, 2021

  
  You started it!
  No we didn't!
  Yes you did! You invaded Poland!
  
  
  
• Kolmogorov Complicity. (Slate Star Codex)
  
  Kolmogorov - a Soviet mathematician perhaps best known for his mathematically precise definition of complexity - walked a fine line with Stalin's thugs, mouthing Party platitudes while continuing his research and trying to protect others. He survived the purges by keeping his mouth shut most of the time, though he did publish a paper that indirectly denounced Lysenko.
  
  This 2017 article links to pieces by Scott Aronson and Paul Graham from 2017 and 2004 respectively. Given who was occupying the White House in those particular years I expected the comments to be a dumpster fire, but for the most part, no. Though some of them have proven in retrospect to be hopelessly naive.
  
  
  
• Log4j 2.17 is out fixing the but in 2.16 that fixed the bug in 2.15 that set the world on fire last week. (Bleeping Computer)
  
  Fucking yay.
  
  This one is relatively minor; all it does is kick of an infinite recursion that kills your server.
  
  
  
• Putting a lampshade on the new MacBook's idiotic screen notch. (IconFactory)
  
  The Dell Inspiron 16 Plus delivers 92% of the CPU performance of the M1 Max MacBook Pro (and 150% of the GPU performance) for half the price, weighs the same, and does not have an idiotic screen notch.
  
  
  
• Wikipedia has booted a team Chinese editors working to push genocide apologetics. (Wikimedia)
  
  They took it a little too far when they physically assaulted other Wikipedia editors. Just posting communist propaganda apparently didn't raise any red flags.
  
  So to speak.
  
  
  
• Scripps Memorial Hospital automatically marks everything up by 675%. (MSN)
  
  Something needs to be done about that bullshit. I can go to my eyecare specialist here locally, get a basic test for "free" (we have a specific extra income tax allocated to healthcare, so while it's not free at all, it is at least visible), and pay out of pocket for a retinal exam that isn't covered by the government plan.
  
  Last time I was there they recommended it since I'm past a certain age, but stressed that it was an additional expense. Of 60 bucks.
  
  Lady, you charged me $600 for a new pair of glasses with the high refractive index glass I need for my prescription. I'm not going to quibble about 60 bucks for a test every couple of years that could save my eyesight.
  
  ...
  
  I did however get my next pair of glasses from an online store.
  
  
  
• Intel is planning to shower top engineers with $1 billion in cash and $1.4 billion in shares next year. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  They already pay pretty well, but it's a fiercely competitive market.
  
  

posted by Pixy Misa at 02:09 AM

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