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lauren

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org

< Tech Systems & Policy Analysis: Internet, Privacy, plus his other sundry topics >
Los Angeles - lauren.vortex.com

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lauren, to random
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A race to the bottom for generative AI. Just as predicted. DISGUSTING.

OpenAI considers allowing users to create AI-generated pornography, slurs, extreme gore, and unsolicited profanity.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/09/openai-considers-allowing-users-to-create-ai-generated-pornography

lauren,
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@LordCaramac Let's stick to their statement. That's what is at issue here.

lauren,
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@Kempton Talk about self-destructive behavior when the entire AI industry is under such a glaring legislative focus!

lauren, to random
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Bizarre Chromebook problem: One of my Chromebooks suddenly is unable to use sudo to go root in the Linux container. Any attempt to use sudo just hangs and eventually there is an "out of ptys no space" error.

I figured out why. A script apparently had a confused path and created a bash file in /usr/local/bin called "su" that calls "sudo". So apparently it's looping. The cure would be to delete that bash file -- but it would take root to do it.

I don't know of a way to start a Crostini Linux container on a Chromebook directly to root. I want to avoid deleting this container and starting again since there are considerable modifications, and the last backup would be missing some very recent important changes.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

lauren,
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@CaptManiac Remember, this is a Chromebook VM container. I don't know offhand how to get at it.

lauren,
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

@marcel I tried modifying the PATH without success, and I don't know the exact call sequence. HOWEVER! >>> sudo -s worked! Got root and fixed the problem. I didn't anticipate that -s would be in scope for this. Many hours of work saved. I thank you very much and Leela thanks you very much!

lauren, to random
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One of the more bizarre categories of (mostly) older films are the so-called "sword and sandal" movies, that were produced in enormous numbers from the late 1950s especially through the 60s and even later. Mainly made in Italy and usually poorly dubbed in English by the time they hit U.S. markets, the genre is usually traced to three films - "Cabiria" (1914), "Fabiola" (1949), and perhaps especially Steve Reeves in "Hercules" (1958). These films were virtually always set in the Roman Imperial era or earlier.

During the 1960s these films often seemed to fill the weekend afternoon schedules of local TV stations here in L.A., often as part of a syndication package called "Sons of Hercules" (though the films themselves, despite an added voice over claiming otherwise, actually were usually not directly related to Hercules at all). The package had a really catchy theme song, however.

The "technical" name for this category of films is "peplum", coined by film critics from the style of clothing usually worn by men in these films (e.g., short ruffled skirts and little else).

The free to view Tubi streaming service appears to be loaded with peplum films, if your taste happens to run in that direction. In any case, it's a noteworthy film subculture unto itself.

lauren,
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@socprof Orders of magnitude more of the latter than the former!

lauren, to random
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

Questions for presidential candidates and VP hopefuls:

  1. Have you ever shot a puppy?
  2. Have you ever had sex with a porn star behind your wife's back?
  3. Have you ever had worms in your brain?
lauren, to random
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The multiverse means never having to say you're sorry.

lauren, to random
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BREAKING: Kristi Noem calls off her book tour. Maybe too busy shooting dogs and meeting with North Korean leaders?

lauren, to random
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Got a USB-C hub with something like 14 ports on it. PD power delivery, 2x4KHDMI, VGA, USB-A 3.0, USB-C, several USB-A 2.0, Gig Ethernet, SDcard readers, audio I/O jack, etc. Aluminum case. Solid build. Works like a charm. Under $14. Ridiculous.

lauren,
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@mttaggart @sebastianhahn I avoid using Amazon, but I needed this pretty fast. Looks like it's now a bit (less than a dollar) cheaper than I got it a few days ago, and only a few left:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLDPQXGY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

lauren,
@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org avatar

@hunkyscotsman @mttaggart @sebastianhahn I'm not familiar with their dock. Note, however, that not all USB-C devices are capable of -- for example -- HDMI output via USB-C. I have both a Samsung Tablet and Lenovo tablet that will not, though I have a Samsung phone that will. So this you'd need to confirm. I'm currently using this hub with a Chromebook, providing two external HDMI screens (plus the laptop screen itself). I haven't tested to see if the Chromebook could do a simultaneous VGA screen as well, since I don't need that now.

lauren,
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I'll add that the audio jack on the hub showed up on the Chromebook as speaker and mic selections, so apparently that works too.

lauren,
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@jmorris Yeah, me too. The quoted specs are good -- the PD input claims 20v@100watts. I'm powering in through the PD port with the Chromebook PS (max 20v@45w). The hub gets fairly warm but I'd expect that and it's dissipating well through the metal case.

As a test I disconnected the PS and the hub ran off the power coming from the Chromebook battery. The hub dropped one of the HDMI displays but that's reasonable since there probably wasn't enough juice at that point for everything.

lauren,
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@jmorris Yeah, everything else seemed to keep working, though I don't have all that much else plugged in (the Chromebook itself, one USB-A line running to keyboard mouse hub, Ethernet).

lauren,
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@stark I'm running a pair of FHD displays not 4K, so I'm not pushing it to the max, for whatever that's worth.

lauren,
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@Kempton Yeah, a few years ago I paid something around US$30 I think for a 7-in-one I use on something else. I found this new one when I went looking specifically for a hub with 2xHDMI.

lauren, to random
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Well, I went ahead and deleted my presidential preference poll, because everybody seemed to be concentrating on the "brain eaten by worm" aspect. There's a "Wrath of Khan" connection here but I'm not going for it.

lauren, (edited ) to random
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deleted_by_author

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    lauren,
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    @cam Can't ever prove a negative.

    lauren, to random
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    [Not a joke] RFK Jr. says doctors found dead worm in his partially eaten brain

    I could comment. I really could. But I won't. -L

    https://boingboing.net/2024/05/08/rfk-jr-says-doctors-found-dead-worm-in-his-partially-eaten-brain.html

    lauren,
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    @peterainbow Valid news story. I don't do CWs. Feel free to unfollow if you wish.

    lauren, to random
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    VPN vulnerabilities scare related to DHCP

    https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/05/why-your-vpn-may-not-be-as-secure-as-it-claims/

    https://www.leviathansecurity.com/blog/tunnelvision
    (Very light, hard to read font. WHY DO THIS?)

    lauren, to Youtube
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    One of the most celebrated horror films of all times, a true ancestor of the entire film and TV horror genres, is 1932's "The Mummy" starring Boris Karloff in the performance that effectively launched his career. I will freely admit that when I first saw this movie on television as a child, I found it to be very disturbing indeed. And even watching it now, approaching a century since it was made, it's easy to see why.

    This masterpiece has just appeared on Movies & TV, free in the U.S. I recommend it very highly. But this protip: As characters in many other films learned over the years, and which first became apparent in this film, reading a cursed incantation out loud can be hazardous to your health and sanity. You have been warned.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9_0MIjISZA

    lauren,
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    And I must add, see how amazingly well a film can work with almost no musical score at all -- mainly just some orchestration between scenes and during a few particularly dramatic sequences. It's stunning.

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