(moving) APODSupermoon Beyond the Temple of Poseidon
Image Credit: Alexandros Maragos
Juliet
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- 52 Following
- 76 Posts
George Takei 
🏳️🌈🖖🏽
Per AxbomWater required by data centers is increasing considerably with the advent of generative AI. Large language models trained on vast amounts of data need substantial cooling.
While some may argue that water can be reused, it is often pulled from water supplies in times of significant heatwaves, when residents are in need of it as well, and supplies diminsh faster.
In July of 2022, Microsoft pumped in about 11.5 million gallons of water to its cluster of Iowa data centers, according to the West Des Moines Water Works. That’s around 6% of all the water used in the district, which also supplies drinking water to residents.
Meanwhile, the energy required is of course not recycled – and it’s to be expected that energy use is growing as well. The companies behind the tools are just not disclosing how much their AI investments are costing us when it comes to their carbon footprint.
”In its latest environmental report, Microsoft disclosed that its global water consumption spiked 34% from 2021 to 2022 (to nearly 1.7 billion gallons, or more than 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools), a sharp increase compared to previous years that outside researchers tie to its AI research.”
https://fortune.com/2023/09/09/ai-chatgpt-usage-fuels-spike-in-microsoft-water-consumption/
While some may argue that water can be reused, it is often pulled from water supplies in times of significant heatwaves, when residents are in need of it as well, and supplies diminsh faster.
In July of 2022, Microsoft pumped in about 11.5 million gallons of water to its cluster of Iowa data centers, according to the West Des Moines Water Works. That’s around 6% of all the water used in the district, which also supplies drinking water to residents.
Meanwhile, the energy required is of course not recycled – and it’s to be expected that energy use is growing as well. The companies behind the tools are just not disclosing how much their AI investments are costing us when it comes to their carbon footprint.
”In its latest environmental report, Microsoft disclosed that its global water consumption spiked 34% from 2021 to 2022 (to nearly 1.7 billion gallons, or more than 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools), a sharp increase compared to previous years that outside researchers tie to its AI research.”
https://fortune.com/2023/09/09/ai-chatgpt-usage-fuels-spike-in-microsoft-water-consumption/
Robert ReichThanks to the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling this May, the EPA was forced to remove protections from most of America's wetlands this week.
Harlan Crow's firm lobbied for the rollback while he secretly plied Justice Thomas with gifts.
Anyone see a problem here?
racheltobac 
Here’s how I used AI to clone a 60 Minutes correspondent’s voice to trick a colleague into handing over Sharyn's passport number. I cloned Sharyn’s voice then manipulated the caller ID to show Sharyn’s name on the caller ID with a spoofing tool.
The hack took 5 minutes total for me to steal the sensitive information.
So, how do we protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our organizations?
1. Make sure the people around you know that caller ID is easily faked (spoofed) and that voices can also be easily impersonated.
2. If they receive a dire call from “you”, verify it’s really you with another method of communication (text, DM, FT, call, etc) before taking an action (like sending money). Kind of like human MFA.
Some suggest setting up a secret “verification word” with their folks ones so that if someone impersonates & demands money/access etc you can ask for the verification word to see if it’s a real crisis. This won’t work for all people but could work for some. If it’s a match, use it.
In general, I recommend keeping advice simple: if premise of call is dire use a 2nd method of communication to confirm a person is in trouble before taking action (like wiring money or sensitive data). Rapid text, email, DM, have others message repeatedly — before wiring money.
Bottom line is:
Scammers use urgency & fear to convince victims to take actions (like sending money, data, etc).
If premise of a call, text, email, or DM is too dire (or too good to be true), that’s a likely scam.
Use a 2nd method of communication to check it’s real before taking action!
Digital theft demonstration: Ethical hacker scams 60 Minutes employee
Anybody can be hacked, even those who are tech-savvy. An ethical hacker targeted a 60 Minutes employee to show how easy it is to scam people.
Vagina MuseumNormally when we post patents, they're late 19th/early 20th century objects for interfacing with vaginas.
This is neither, but we're going to tell you about it anyway.
This is the Apparatus For Facilitating The Birth Of A Child By Centrifugal Force, patented in 1965.
Ars TechnicaDon’t use pregnancy tests linked to illegal California lab, FDA warns
Universal Meditech was behind an illegal lab discovered in Reedley, California.
Erin KissaneThe White House allocating $5B from HHS for R&D on new covid vaccines and therapeutics is one of those pieces of good news that makes me feel briefly lightheaded with relief.
The funding fight on this has been a disaster for months and months and while this is not as much as I'd like to see, and it should have been new funding—that was blocked by the GOP—it's still a real thing and gives me some fresh hope.
https://wapo.st/43o8HsI (gift link)
(via @erictopol)
Charles GabaExactly which no-cost services did hack judge O'Connor strike down yesterday? It's complicated.
https://acasignups.net/23/03/31/exactly-which-no-cost-services-did-hack-judge-oconnor-strike-down-yesterday-its-complicated
https://acasignups.net/23/03/31/exactly-which-no-cost-services-did-hack-judge-oconnor-strike-down-yesterday-its-complicated
Exactly which no-cost services did hack judge O'Connor strike down yesterday? It's complicated.
My ongoing Braidwood v. Becerra post has grown so long and has had so many updates that it was becoming unwieldy, so I started a new post. Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Cynthia Cox posted a thread on Twitter yesterday which gives an brief overview of which of the preventative services required to be covered at no cost to the enrollee by the Affordable Care Act are actually threatened by yesterday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor. Before I get to that, it's important to clarify where the list of services comes from. Again, via the Kaiser Family Foundation: Under Section 2713 of the ACA, private health plans must provide coverage for a range of recommended preventive services and may not impose cost-sharing (such as copayments, deductibles, or co-insurance) on patients receiving these services.1 These requirements apply to all private plans—fully insured and self-insured plans in the individual, small group, and large group markets, except those that maintain “grandfathered” status. In 2019, 13% of workers covered in employer sponsored plans were still in grandfathered plans. The requirements also apply to the Medicaid expansion eligibility pathway.
DAME MagazineIt's the guns. It's always the guns.
https://www.damemagazine.com/2022/10/24/clever-marketing-is-the-gun-industrys-most-lethal-weapon/
https://www.damemagazine.com/2022/10/24/clever-marketing-is-the-gun-industrys-most-lethal-weapon/
