vxbush 11/4/2025 5:29:49 AM

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vxbush 11/4/2025 5:32:01 AM

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There are no elections in Illinois, so I have little reason to follow the day closely--but clearly folks aren't as likely to go vote today, which is sad. We need a lot of people to make their voices known and not to let elections be stolen. 

With that said, I have heard nothing about any Republican monitors in the various election sites, which you would think they would have prepositioned given all the news coming out about illegals voting. 

vxbush 11/4/2025 5:34:43 AM

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vxbush 11/4/2025 5:44:46 AM

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I'm not sure where OpenAI is going to get the money for this--they're making millions, not billions: OpenAI signs massive AI compute deal with Amazon

On Monday, OpenAI announced it has signed a seven-year, $38 billion deal to buy cloud services from Amazon Web Services to power products like ChatGPT and Sora. It’s the company’s first big computing deal after a fundamental restructuring last week that gave OpenAI more operational and financial freedom from Microsoft.

The agreement gives OpenAI access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia graphics processors to train and run its AI models. “Scaling frontier AI requires massive, reliable compute,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement. “Our partnership with AWS strengthens the broad compute ecosystem that will power this next era and bring advanced AI to everyone.”

Seriously--who is going to be able to afford these electric bills, and are they going to take the electricity from everyone else? 

JCM 11/4/2025 6:01:44 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 1:

Gluten Free!

JCM 11/4/2025 6:10:46 AM

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JCM 11/4/2025 6:18:34 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 4:

I don't understand the AI business model. I get licensing to business to help internal the business process, where I'm at I could use a good AI to comb through a dozen legacy systems with bits and pieces of critical information. I get fee for service. But the scalability? Not sure yet.

Between electric cars and data centers the electric load will be huge. Three Mile Island looks to be restarted for Microsoft and Amazon is looking to build a nuclear plant. Containerized reactors are looking to start production. Also a revision of the risk model is underway int the early stages. The science used to set exposure limits proves to have been wrong. We just need regulation to catch up. For a good explanation of that, this video.
Big Nuclear’s Big Mistake - Linear No-Threshold

Kosh's Shadow 11/4/2025 7:36:47 AM

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No elections in my town today. Town meeting later this month.

If you want to see democracy in action, go to a New England town meeting.

But I will post a redacted picture of the ballot box that was still in use when we moved to this town. Now they use an electronic reader that counts filled-in ovals.

vxbush 11/4/2025 7:53:29 AM

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In #5 JCM said: Gluten Free!

Can I just say, God Bless America! 

JCM 11/4/2025 8:02:11 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 9:

Gluten Free for later!

JCM 11/4/2025 8:15:46 AM

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$112B Crime Wave Wipes Out 60 Kroger Stores in Retail Bloodbath – 9,000 Jobs Lost

While retail crime contributed to closures at six Fred Meyer and QFC stores in Washington, most closures are driven by broader market challenges. 

Incorrect assessment. The stores are closing solely on the cost of crime. The "leakage" the retail term for theft, wipes out the margins for these store. There is addition cost for hiring security, all these stores have off duty uniformed police, armed and unarmed, uniformed and plain clothes security and additional corporate loss prevention. Add high insurance costs. Drop in customer base.

The Mayors' of Seattle and Everett blame the greedy corporation.

vxbush 11/4/2025 8:41:25 AM

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Kosh's Shadow 11/4/2025 10:54:27 AM

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How do you say "stupid idiots" in French?

The Louvre’s video security password was reportedly ‘Louvre’

vxbush 11/4/2025 10:57:35 AM

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In #10 JCM said: Gluten Free for later!

Two in a single day???? I'm so blessed!

JCM 11/4/2025 11:02:31 AM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 13:

I simply cannot comprehend that level of incompetence.

Especially at a large org, responsible for billions in assets.

Well maybe not WA State lost billions in covid relief. Hired a former Microsoft Security exec. who completely botched the security on the system.

Kosh's Shadow 11/4/2025 11:33:26 AM

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In #15 JCM said: former Microsoft Security exec

There's your problem right there. Even worse that it was an executive.

I read an article on how Oauth2, a standard Internet security protocol, allows connecting devices with minimal input, so you can't use a username and password. It is designed for "smart" devices, including TVs where you might want to watch Youtube or similar. Part of this is a device ID.

Basically, a hacker can request a connection code using a publicly available web API, which sends a legitimate request with a valid link to a real security site, and if you approve and log in, the hacker can access whatever services that device code allows.

For google, it restricts access to a few things, with limited functionality, like connecting to a Youtube account.

Microsoft publishes a list of device codes, including several that give various levels of control over an Azure account, including complete control.

Create a fake request for that, what the user sees looks real, and if used, gives the hacker access.

Microsoft and security do not go together.

Although I will say there is one feature of Microsoft's Authenticator app (Android) that I like; have to use fingerprint or PIN to open the authenticator. Not google's - if the phone is unlocked, so is the authenticator.

Kosh's Shadow 11/4/2025 12:01:17 PM

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In #13 Kosh's Shadow said: How do you say "stupid idiots" in French? The Louvre’s video security password was reportedly ‘Louvre’

Here's a picture of the Louvre's security person

/////////

buzzsawmonkey 11/4/2025 3:11:45 PM

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At the New York polls today, there was not one single judicial candidate on the ballot that was not endorsed by Democrats and Republicans both.

The Republicans also did not bother to field a candidate against the jihadist that the Democrats ran for city council re-election in my district.

Mamdani is only the most-obvious signpost of a much-worse problem.

JCM 11/4/2025 3:36:59 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 18:

The (R)s in WA threw in the towel 25 years ago and don't bother here either.