motd - 09/##/2024 ----------------- 09/27/2024 NIST's new recommendation on passwords: https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html#passwordver "1. Verifiers and CSPs SHALL require passwords to be a minimum of eight characters in length and SHOULD require passwords to be a minimum of 15 characters in length. 2. Verifiers and CSPs SHOULD permit a maximum password length of at least 64 characters. 3. Verifiers and CSPs SHOULD accept all printing ASCII [RFC20] characters and the space character in passwords. 4. Verifiers and CSPs SHOULD accept Unicode [ISO/ISC 10646] characters in passwords. Each Unicode code point SHALL be counted as a single character when evaluating password length. 5. Verifiers and CSPs SHALL NOT impose other composition rules (e.g., requiring mixtures of different character types) for passwords. 6. Verifiers and CSPs SHALL NOT require users to change passwords periodically. However, verifiers SHALL force a change if there is evidence of compromise of the authenticator. 7. Verifiers and CSPs SHALL NOT permit the subscriber to store a hint that is accessible to an unauthenticated claimant. 8. Verifiers and CSPs SHALL NOT prompt subscribers to use knowledge-based authentication (KBA) (e.g., "What was the name of your first pet?") or security questions when choosing passwords. 9. Verifiers SHALL verify the entire submitted password (i.e., not truncate it)." 09/27/2024 Mobino: https://www.core77.com/posts/133749/This-Beautiful-Espresso-Cup-Made-by-Combining-Digital-Fabrication-with-Handwork "[The] Mobino [espresso cup] takes the shape of a Mobius strip - a single twisted surface that symbolizes infinity." Reminds me of Cliff Stoll's Acme Klein Bottles: https://www.kleinbottle.com/ 09/26/2024 Why the US can't build icebreakers: https://www.construction-physics.com/p/why-the-us-cant-build-icebreaking 09/26/2024 HP Perfect Output: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/in-rare-move-from-printing-industry-hp-actually-has-a-decent-idea/ 09/26/2024 RCE in CUPS: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-CVSS-9.9-Rating https://www.evilsocket.net/2024/09/26/Attacking-UNIX-systems-via-CUPS-Part-I/ Mitigation on Redhat is to disable cups-browsed: https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/red-hat-response-openprinting-cups-vulnerabilities $ sudo systemctl stop cups-browsed $ sudo systemctl disable cups-browsed Mitigation on Debian should be similar. Good post about the impact of this vulnerability: https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/CUPSAttackVariesBySize 09/26/2024 Picard's tea cups: https://trekmovie.com/2024/09/26/bodum-bringing-back-clasic-picard-tea-cups-from-star-trek-the-next-generation/ Personally, I prefer the Voyager stainless steel mugs (unbreakable - I have one). I suppose Sisko's Raktajino mug is okay, but it was probably also glass or ceramic and more breakable. 09/26/2024 Estimating the size of a olive oil molecule: https://www.atomsonly.news/p/franklin-oil "Rayleigh carefully measured a tiny volume of olive oil - 0.81 milligrams, to be exact - and placed it onto a known area of water. The oil quickly spread out and covered an area, which Rayleigh precisely measured. And then he ... divided the volume of the oil by the area it covered, thus estimating the thickness of the oil film. Assuming that the oil formed a single layer of molecules - a monolayer - then the thickness of the oil film is the same thing as the length of one oil molecule." 09/26/2024 OpenAI agrees to make its training data available on an AEO basis: https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/26/openai_training_data_author_copyright_case/ Stipulation (local copy): https://srirangav.github.io/motd/2024/09/gov.uscourts.cand.414822.182.0.pdf "3. Training Data shall be made available for inspection in electronic format at OpenAI's offices in San Francisco CA, or at a secure location determined by OpenAI within 25 miles of San Francisco, CA; or at another mutually agreed location. ... 5. Training Data shall be designated 'HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY' pursuant to the Stipulated Protective Order ... and [an] Inspecting Party may disclose Training Data only to those authorized to view 'HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS['] EYES ONLY' information." In re OpenAI ChatGPT Litigation, No. 3:23-cv-03223-AMO, Training Data Inspection Protocol, D.N. 182 at 2 (Sept. 24, 2024). 09/26/2024 eVinci nuclear microreactor: https://newatlas.com/energy/evinci-nuclear-microreactor/ "[Westinghouse's] eVinci microreactor, [] is less than 10 ft (3 m) in diameter and generates up to 5 megawatt electrical (MWe) with a 15 megawatt thermal (MWth) core design. ... [I]t has no moving parts once in normal operation and requires no water or other coolant circulation. It uses highly robust TRISO (TRi-structural ISOtropic) fuel, which consists of uranium enriched to 19.75%, sealed into pellets the size of millet seeds made of uranium, carbon, and ceramic. These pellets are combined into small spheres that are then packed into rods and inserted into the core. The result is a fuel assembly that is extremely durable, resistant to heat and corrosion, and produces a self-limiting nuclear reaction that cannot go out of control. ... Instead of circulating water, air, helium, or molten salts, the reactor uses a solid-steel monolith to house the core and absorb heat. From there, alkali heat pipes passively conduct the heat away using phase changes in the alkali metal to cool the reactor and convert the heat into electricity. The result is a compact, inherently safe design." 09/26/2024 Ecofactor v. Google will be heard en-banc by the Fed Ciruit: https://cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions-orders/23-1101.ORDER.9-25-2024_2390752.pdf The en banc ruling looks like it will be limited to the comparable license / per-unit royalty determination made by Ecofactor's damages expert: "The parties are requested to file new briefs, which shall be limited to addressing the district court's adherence to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), in its allowance of testimony from EcoFactor's damages expert assigning a per-unit royalty rate to the three licenses in evidence in this case." Ecofactor, Inc. v. Google LLC, No. 2023-1101, Slip Op. (D.N. 76) at 2-3 (Sept. 25, 2024). Panel opinion: https://cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions-orders/23-1101.OPINION.6-3-2024_2327090.pdf 09/26/2024 Video of the 1st performance of Ganz kleine Nachtmusik (K. 648): https://www.openculture.com/2024/09/watch-the-performance-of-a-mozart-composition-that-had-been-lost-for-centuries.html 09/26/2024 Vertical farming: https://www.core77.com/posts/133736/A-Space-Saving-Year-Round-Farm-Plentys-Vertical-Solution 09/26/2024 Two rights: Q: If two wrongs don't make a right, what did two rights make? A: The first airplane. Saw this joke somewhere on the web, but I lost the URL. 09/26/2024 Use vi(1): https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2024/09/23/ghost-in-the-shell-part-8-use-vi-editor/ 09/26/2024 Audi's UFO brakes: https://www.thedrive.com/news/audis-ufo-brakes-were-ahead-of-their-time-but-people-hated-them 09/26/2024 The ultimate guide to pen refills: https://www.jetpens.com/blog/The-Ultimate-Guide-to-Pen-Refills/pt/231 09/26/2024 Spaceships inspired by everyday objects: https://www.core77.com/posts/133688/Product-Based-Inspiration-for-Spaceship-Designs-by-Eric-Geusz 09/26/2024 C until it isn't: https://aartaka.me/c-not-c Reminds me of "Better C" and Bournegol: https://thedailywtf.com/articles/The_Secret_to_Better_C https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/programming/BourneGol 09/26/2024 OverSight v.2.4.0: https://github.com/objective-see/OverSight/releases/tag/v2.4.0 09/26/2024 Freya Castle: https://science.nasa.gov/blog/a-striped-surprise/ "The [Perseverance] science team thinks that this [black and white striped] rock [which they have named 'Freya Castle'] has a texture unlike any seen in Jezero Crater before, and perhaps all of Mars. [Their] knowledge of its chemical composition is limited, but early interpretations are that igneous and/or metamorphic processes could have created its stripes. Since Freya Castle is a loose stone that is clearly different from the underlying bedrock, it [] likely arrived [] from someplace else, perhaps having rolled downhill from a source higher up. This possibility has [the science team] excited, and [they] hope that as [they] continue to drive uphill, Perseverance will encounter an outcrop of this new rock type so that more detailed measurements can be acquired." See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jezero_(crater) 09/24/2024 Star Trek coffee: https://trekmovie.com/2024/09/24/star-trek-coffees-adds-janeway-and-borg-themed-blends-along-with-line-of-collectible-mugs/ 09/24/2024 Ubuntu 24.10 ARM will support Thinkpad X13s: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-24-10-arm64-iso-now-supports-thinkpad-x13s OpenBSD supports them too: https://www.openbsd.org/arm64.html 09/24/2024 High C Compiler language extensions: https://duriansoftware.com/joe/the-lost-language-extensions-of-metaware's-high-c-compiler Underscores in numeric literals (1_000 for 1,000) and ranges in case statements seem like nice extensions. 09/24/2024 AI finds previously unknown Nazca lines: https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/ai-discovers-new-nazca-lines-0021477 "[An] AI system was used to scrutinized imagery collected by drones that ranged far and wide across the entire Nazca desert region[.] ... According to [] researchers, the newly discovered lines depict a wide variety of figures, including abstract human-like creatures, decapitated human heads, domesticated animals, non-domesticated animals like fish and birds, [and] humans and animals interacting[.]" Research paper: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2407652121 09/24/2024 ~/.digrc: https://www.ncartron.org/using-digrc-to-simplify-your-dns-troubleshooting.html 09/24/2024 Working with CD-ROMs: https://www.mistys-internet.website/blog/blog/2024/09/13/the-working-archivists-guide-to-enthusiast-cd-rom-archiving-tools/ 09/24/2024 Enable/disable SMT on Debian: https://www.servethehome.com/a-guide-to-quickly-enable-and-disable-smt-and-hyper-threading-on-ubuntu-and-debian/ Enable SMT: $ echo on | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/smt/control Disable SMT: $ echo off | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/smt/control Check the status of SMT: $ cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/smt/active 09/22/2024 Ganz kleine Nachtmusik (K. 648): https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/sep/19/previously-unknown-mozart-music-discovered-in-german-library "A previously unknown piece of music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when he was probably in his early teens has been uncovered at a library in Germany. The piece dates to the mid to late 1760s and consists of seven miniature movements for a string trio lasting about 12 minutes[.]" Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganz_kleine_Nachtmusik 09/18/2024 Fast blue optical transient: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_blue_optical_transient "[A]n explosive transient event similar to supernovae and gamma-ray bursts with high optical luminosity, rapid evolution, and predominantly blue emission.[] The origins of such explosions are currently unclear ... [and is] largely defined by the observational properties rather than the underlying mechanisms/objects." 09/18/2024 Disable Sequoia's monthly screen recording permission prompt: https://tinyapps.org/blog/202409180700_disable_sequoia_nag.html 1. Open the app that needs screen recording permissions 2. Quit the app 3. Set the system date far into the future (say April 5, 2063) 4. Open the app and trigger the prompt 5. Click "Allow for One Month" 6. Restore the correct date See also: https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/2024/8/10.html 1. To stop the prompts set the date to far in the future for a particular app: $ defaults write ~/Library/Group\ Containers/group.com.apple.replayd/ScreenCaptureApprovals.plist "[Application Full Path]" -date "3024-09-21 12:40:36 +0000" 2. Logout and login again so replayd recognizes the new setting. 09/18/2024 CMS confirms prior measurements of the W boson's mass: https://home.cern/news/press-release/physics/cms-experiment-cern-weighs-w-boson-mass 1. The Standard Model predicts that the W boson's mass is "80353 million electronvolts (MeV) within an uncertainty of 6 MeV" 2. In 2022, the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) measured the W boson's mass as "80433.5 MeV with an uncertainty of 9.4 MeV, [which] differed significantly from the Standard Model prediction and from [] other experimental results" 3. In 2023, CERN's ATLAS Collaboration measured the W boson's mass as "80366.5 MeV with an uncertainty of 15.9 MeV, [which] lined up with all previous measurements except the CDF measurement" 4. CERN's CMS experiment has now measured the W boson's mass as "80360.2 [MeV] with an uncertainty of 9.9 MeV, [with] a precision comparable to that of the CDF measurement and [] in line with all previous measurements" SM continues to hold. 09/18/2024 Comic Mono: https://dtinth.github.io/comic-mono-font/ 09/18/2024 Proposed experiment to confirm QED photon scattering: https://physics.aps.org/articles/v17/s109 "A long-standing prediction of quantum electrodynamics is that high-energy photons can scatter off each other. However, this process has yet to be observed because dedicated experiments have an extremely low signal-to-noise ratio. Now [researchers] ... have designed an experiment that could achieve a high-enough signal-to-noise ratio to measure the phenomenon[. ... [The researchers] propose colliding three laser beams: an x-ray beam and two high-power optical beams. The two optical beams provide the photons that scatter off each other, and the x-ray beam imparts a momentum kick to the scattered photons. This kick alters the trajectory of the photons and spatially separates them from much of the experimental background ... [increasing] the signal-to-noise ratio." 09/17/2024 Please state the nature of the medical emergency: https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/west-cancer-center-proto-hologram/ 09/17/2024 Not so grim reaper: https://wronghands1.com/2024/09/17/grim-reaper/ 09/17/2024 Basic Apple Guy's Strokes wallpapers: https://basicappleguy.com/basicappleblog/strokes 09/17/2024 Decreased smartphone usage might make people happier: https://phys.org/news/2024-09-smartphone-satisfaction.html "[T]he researchers assigned the [study's] participants, who all came from different professional sectors, to four groups of roughly equal size. The smartphone group reduced their private smartphone use by one hour a day for one week. The sport group increased their daily physical activity by 30 minutes. The combination group did both, and the control group didn't change their routine at all. ... In the smartphone group and the combination group, the researchers found that work satisfaction and motivation, work-life balance and mental health had improved significantly. What's more, the feeling of work overload and symptoms of problematic smartphone use were significantly reduced. All interventions led to a reduction in depressive symptoms and they increased the participants' sense of control." Full paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000169182400372X 09/17/2024 Raymond Chandler and Google: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2024/09/16/hot-sf/ "In 1953 Chandler sent a letter to a friend which included a jargon-filled passage parodying science fiction writing. ... The final sentence of Chandler's passage included the word 'Google': ... 'I had exactly four seconds to hot up the disintegrator and Google had told me it wasn't enough. He was right.'" 09/17/2024 Vacuum decay may occur sooner than previously expected: https://hackaday.com/2024/09/16/the-universe-as-we-know-it-may-end-sooner-than-expected/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/vacuum-of-space-to-decay-sooner-than-expected-but-still-not-soon-20240722/ "According to [prior] estimates, a cubic gigaparsec of space will see vacuum decay once every 10^794 years ...[;] [o]nly 10^10 years have passed so far since the Big Bang. ... Recently, a group of physicists in Slovenia claim[] to have found a small error in the calculation, one that quickens the end of the universe as we know it to 10^790 years, instead of 10^794 [years]." 09/16/2024 The Ars Technica MacOS Sequoia review: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/macos-15-sequoia-the-ars-technica-review/ Overall sounds like a worthwhile upgrade once 15.1 is out, especially Chess.app :-), FSKit, rotating random MAC addresses: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/macos-15-sequoia-the-ars-technica-review/13/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/macos-15-sequoia-the-ars-technica-review/16/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/macos-15-sequoia-the-ars-technica-review/18/ But, running non-notarized software looks like it will be an annoying two step process instead of the existing right-click/control-click method: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/macos-15-sequoia-the-ars-technica-review/17/ 1. "[T]ry to launch the app and dismiss the dialog box telling you that it can't be opened." 2. "[O]pen Settings, go to the Privacy & Security screen, scroll all the way to the bottom to get to the Security section, and click the Open Anyway button that appears for the last unsigned app you tried to run." 09/15/2024 Two Supermassive black holes heading for a merger: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-022 "The Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory looked in the heart of a pair of colliding galaxies and uncovered twin supermassive black holes waltzing around each other. ... They are approximately 300 light-years apart - the closest AGN [Active Galactic Nucleus] pair seen in visible-light and X-ray wavelengths. ... The two supermassive black holes were once at the core of their respective host galaxies. A merger between the galaxies brought the black holes into close proximity. They will continue to spiral closer together until they eventually merge - in perhaps 100 million years - rattling the fabric of space and time as gravitational waves." 09/15/2024 BlockBlock 2.2.4: https://github.com/objective-see/BlockBlock/releases/tag/v2.2.4 09/15/2024 Miles Edward O'Brien might be getting a statute in Killarney: https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/star-trek-chief-obrien-statue 09/12/2024 Bose glass: https://phys.org/news/2024-09-discovery-phase-2d-defies-statistical.html "Physicists from the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge have created the first two-dimensional version of the Bose glass, a novel phase of matter that ... has some glassy properties and within it all particles are localized. This means that each particle in the system sticks to itself, not mixing with its neighbors. ... To create this new phase of matter, the group overlapped several laser beams to create a quasiperiodic pattern, a pattern that is long-range ordered like a conventional crystal, but not periodic, meaning that, like a Penrose tiling, it never repeats. When filling the resulting structure with ultracold atoms, cooled to nanokelvin temperatures ... close to absolute zero, the atoms formed the Bose glass." 09/02/2024 Incase is bringing back the Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard: https://www.incase.com/pages/incase-designed-by-microsoft The Sculpt has been my favorite keyboard for years. I've used it without problems on MacOS, Debian, and OpenBSD. 09/02/2024 Fragments of two lost Euripides plays have been found: https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2024/08/01/uncovered-euripides-fragments-are-kind-big-deal 09/02/2024 Converting miles to km: https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2024/09/01/miles-to-kilometers/ 09/02/2024 A brief history of dc: https://howdytx.technology/unix-history-the-dc-calculator/ 09/01/2024 Picking up a Quicksilver G4: https://rubenerd.com/picking-up-a-powermac-g4-quicksilver/ I had a 400MHz Graphite, a dual 1GHz Quicksilver and a dual 2GHz G5. Of these, the Quicksilver was my favorite because it was reasonably fast, easy to work on, and easy to carry. I've also thought about picking up one of these, but a 2005 2.3GHz G5 probably would be more practical since it can run both OSX (10.4 and 10.5), OS9 (in Classic), and FreeBSD 13 (with ZFS!). 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