Blog/September 2019/Sep 6th
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There’s a whole lot of crazy going around! I encountered some things which make me want to leave this world. First, radical vegans are separating roosters from hens so they don’t rape them. Then, “non-binary lesbians” feel marginalized. The NBLs all appear to be women, physically, so it’s even more confusing to me (I assume you’re as confused as I am, but perhaps you’re more “woke” than I. That wouldn’t be difficult). And sadly, a teen went partially blind after eating only junk food for years. Where were his parents all this time, at the pub?
We were busy as usual this week. Esther was doing accounting stuff (I don’t ask for details, she doesn’t volunteer them). I was working on adding OpenGL support to 8th; I’m still working on making it operate properly and nicely. Also, we’ve been running a sale on 8th, with decent results; we’re pleased!
Apple has made a pretty strong case and an even stronger marketing play, over the years, by stating that their devices are much more immune to hacking and that Apple places a premium on security. Well: a glut of iOS exploits (e.g. “hacks”) has made them cheaper to purchase than Android exploits. Among other casualties, a massive iPhone hack by the Chinese government has targeted the Uighur population.
Inspired by the direct approach of the Chinese, Silicon Valley is building a Chinese-style “social credit” system. Reference the “credit card” link in the “odds and ends” section below for more similarly disturbing information. Likewise, the EFF is telling people to avoid Google’s privacy sandbox.
The US Department of Justice wants to have access to encrypted consumer devices. They promise they won’t infiltrate business products or critical infrastructure. Of course the problem is that there is no longer any such thing as a distinction between “consumer”, “business”, and “military” encryption. With the exception of extraordinarily highly classified systems, everyone’s using the same crypto algorithms and the same devices. More to the point, everyone uses the same mobile phones. Break one, break ‘em all. Don’t let the gov’t peek into your personal devices, it’s not going to end well.
More odds and ends:
- Vegetarians (and vegans) may have a higher risk of stroke than meat-eaters. Pescetarians don’t have that elevated risk of stroke.
- According to a Vox article, “hate-speech algorithms” are biased against black people. I’d guess that means “American blacks” rather than, say, Nigerians or Israeli Ethiopians.
- What happens when a Muslim Arab woman enters a Jewish town?
- A female engineer opines on an Australian school lowering entrance requirements for female engineering students
- Are we “getting gayer”?. Apparently social pressure is a more important factor than genetics in “sexual preference”, which is contrary to received wisdom.
- The NYPD finally wakes up to the appalling surge in anti-Semitic crimes in NY.
- Credit card privacy: the spy in your wallet
- Human speech appears to have roughly the same information transmission rate regardless of language. TL;DR – the rate is 39 BPS of information. Your internet connection might be 100 million BPS, by comparison. Ain’t nobody talk that fast!
The weather is cooling off, and we’re looking forward to a very pleasant weekend!
This shabbat the three of us will savor:
homemade pitot (Esther approves my pita-making skillz),
meatballs,
rice,
roasted yams,
shawarma,
various salatim,
and watermelon.
Until next time,
shabbat shalom!
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