Daily Tech News 19 December 2023

• Possibly the most Icelandish story ever. (New York Times) (archive site)

  A volcano in southwestern Iceland began erupting Monday with lava fountains reaching up to 330 feet and the glow visible miles away in the center of the capital, Reykjavik.
  
  The location of the fissure poses a risk to the nearby Svartsengi geothermal power plant and to the town of Grindavík, which was evacuated last month because of heightened seismic activity.
  
  "We are looking at a worst-case scenario," said Thorvaldur Thordarson, a volcanologist in Iceland. "The eruption appears big, and only about two kilometers from major infrastructure."

  Have they tried smashing it with a hammer?
  
  

• The writer of an unauthorised sequel to The Lord of the Rings had the bright idea of suing both Amazon and the Tolkien estate for infringing his copyright. (The Guardian)
  
  Bold strategy, let's see - oh he already lost and has to pay $134,000 in legal fees.
  
  And all copies - physical and digital - of his book have been ordered destroyed. That part about destroying digital copies concerns me, but let's face it, this thing averaged one star on Barnes and Noble, solely because you can't give zero stars in a review.
  
  At least The Eye of Argon was an original work, and Jim Theis never tried to sue anyone.
  
  
  
• Maybe we don't need UUIDv7. (lu.sagebl.eu)
  
  Oh wait, yes we do.
  
  
  
• Adobe has given up on its attempt to burn $20 billion acquiring Figma, thanks to incessant regulatory blockages. (Tech Crunch)
  
  The company will now need to cough up a mere $1 billion in compensation for the failed merger.
  
  
  

posted by Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

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