RISKS-LIST: Risks-Forum Digest Sunday 4 September 2022 Volume 33 : Issue 43

ACM FORUM ON RISKS TO THE PUBLIC IN COMPUTERS AND RELATED SYSTEMS (comp.risks) Peter G. Neumann, founder and still moderator

***** See last item for further information, disclaimers, caveats, etc. ***** This issue is archived at <http://www.risks.org> as
<http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/33.43>
The current issue can also be found at
<http://www.csl.sri.com/users/risko/risks.txt>

Contents:
Australian aviation watchdog's report on death of American firefighters
(SMH-AU)
High Seas Deception: How Shady Ships Use GPS to Evade International Law
(NYTimes)
Amazon Solar Array Fires (Henry Baker)
U.S. Freight Rail Crisis Threatens More Supply-Chain Chaos (WiReD)
Email scammers bilked VCU out of nearly $470,000,U.S. officials say
(WashPost)
Tech tool offers police *mass surveillance on a budget* (AP News)
FBI Warns Individuals Employed in the Healthcare Industry of the Ongoing
Scam Involving the Impersonation of Law Enforcement and Government
Officials (FBI)
Electricity company controls customers' thermostat settings during a warm
day in Denver. (The Denver Channel)
Hand-counting elections riskier than computer counts? (CNN)
Voting Machine Tampering Points to Concern for Fall Election (AP)
A neighborhood's cryptocurrency mine: Never-ending noise (WashPost)
LastPass, Password Manager with Millions of Users, Is Hacked (WSJ)
Face Recognition Struggles to Recognize Us After Five Years
(Matthew Sparkes)
Quantum AI Breakthrough: Theorem Shrinks Appetite for Training Data (LANL)
Why the Twilio Breach Cuts So Deep (WiReD)
Inside a Million-Dollar Instagram Verification Scheme (ProPublica)
Facebook Misinformation Is Bad Enough. The Metaverse Will Be Worse (RAND)
The FTC may -- finally -- protect Americans from data brokers (WiReD)
Storing data on floppy disks? Japan tells bureaucracy time to stop (Nikkei) Satellites Keep the World's Clocks on Time. What if They Fail (WiReD)
Honda Clocks Are Stuck 20 Years In The Past; There Isn't A Fix
(Gabe Goldberg)
Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day hacking Russian cameras (twitter)
The Family That Mined the Pentagon's Data for Profit (WiReD)
Re: 3D gun printing operation busted in Calgary (Steve Bacher)
Re: A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler for the Doctor.
Google Flagged Him as a Criminal. (Amos Shapir)
Re: Why are Tesla fanatics putting their children in the path of moving
cars? (John Levine)
Re: The Crypto[currency] World Can't Wait for Ethereum's Merge,
(Martin Ward)
Abridged info on RISKS (comp.risks)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 20:58:33 +0000
From: John Colville <John.Colville@uts.edu.au>
Subject: Australian aviation watchdog's report on death of American
firefighters (SMH-AU)

Three American firefighters whose aircraft crashed while they were fighting
the [Australian] Black Summer bushfires were not given the appropriate information about the difficult conditions and were without aerial
supervision, a report from the aviation watchdog has found.

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/us-pilots-killed-in-plane-crash-unaware-of-terrible-fire-conditions-20220829-p5bdmj.html

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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2022 09:47:27 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: High Seas Deception: How Shady Ships Use GPS to Evade International
Law (NYTimes)

A technology enabling the transmission of fake locations to carry out murky
or even illegal business operations could have profound implications for the enforcement of international law.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/03/world/americas/high-seas-deception-how-shady-ships-use-gps-to-evade-international-law.html

[Jan Wolitsky noted that this is
Somewhat misleading, as the technology involved doesn't involve altering
any GPS signals, but rather the AIS (Automatic Identification Systems)
signal, which uses GPS to transmit position information. The "similar
satellite transponder" used by aircraft, mentioned but unnamed in the
article, is ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast).
PGN]

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2022 15:07:38 +0000
From: Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com>
Subject: Amazon Solar Array Fires

The large flat rooftops on Amazon warehouses would seem to be ideal
locations for solar panel arrays. Indeed, Amazon has installed a significant amount of PV capacity on their warehouses. However, poor design and/or poor maintenance has resulted in a number of fires in these panel arrays.

While Amazon has not disclosed details of the PV systems involved in these fires, we can hazard (!) a guess.

There are several major risks associated with solar panel arrays, mainly due
to the *direct current* (DC) coupling found in most older PV arrays.

DC-coupled PV panels are typically series-connected with voltages
up to 600V or more -- roughly the same voltage found in the "third
rail" of subway train systems, so *electrocution risk* is quite high.

DC-coupled PV panel strings run at 10 amps or more, providing a
rough equivalent to a low-grade *arc welding* system. This high
amperage, plus the high DC voltage, means that once an arc starts,
it may continue even after the conductor melts away and increases the
size of the arc gap.

Hail and other damage to PV arrays can thus later result in arcs and
fires.

Many of these risks can be reduced through the use of AC-coupled PV panels which incorporate so-called 'microinverters' which convert DC to AC within
each individual PV panel.

https://www.fluke.com/en-us/learn/blog/renewable-energy/solar-power-safety

- - - ALSO:

https://www.acsolarwarehouse.com/news/are-your-solar-systems-safe/

Amazon took all U.S. solar rooftops offline last year after flurry of fires, electrical explosions

"Between April 2020 and June 2021, solar panels atop Amazon fulfillment
centers caught fire or experienced electrical explosions at least six
different times."

"Some 220 solar panels and other equipment at the facility, known as FAT1,
were damaged by the three-alarm fire, which was caused by "an undetermined electrical event within the solar system mounted on top of the roof," Leland Wilding, Fresno's fire investigator, wrote in an incident report."

"The documents, which have never been made public, indicate that between
April 2020 and June 2021, Amazon experienced "critical fire or arc flash events" in at least six of its 47 North American sites with solar installations, affecting 12.7% of such facilities. Arc flashes are a kind of electrical explosion."

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2022 20:29:06 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: U.S. Freight Rail Crisis Threatens More Supply-Chain Chaos (WiReD)

Federal regulators and the White House have been scrambling to prevent poor service and a possible strike from jamming up a vital but often overlooked network.

US freight railroads cut staff in recent years as part of a shift toward a leaner and more profitable operating model dubbed Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR). It was invented by a Canadian railroad executive and
later replicated in the US, with the intention of simplifying a complex rail network by running fewer, longer trains, replacing single-commodity trains
with mixed freight, and slashing labor. US freight trains grew 25 percent in length between 2008 and 2017 and now sometimes reach 3 miles long. And while the profits materialized, the promised service improvements have not always followed.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2022 15:27:10 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Email scammers bilked VCU out of nearly $470,000,U.S. officials say
(WashPost)

The scammers used a fake email account to send phony billing requests to Virginia Commonwealth University, authorities allege.

Prosecutors said Egbinola controlled an email account that sent phony
billing requests to Virginia Commonwealth University on behalf of Kjellstrom and Lee, a construction company that had been doing contract work for the university in Richmond.

The emails from "Rachel Moore" in fact came from an impostor account
mimicking the construction company's real domain name, according to prosecutors. After communicating with Moore over several months, VCU
officials wired almost $470,000 in December 2018 to a bank account that
U.S. officials said was controlled by Egbinola's associates.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/11/vcu-email-scam-extradition/

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2022 09:25:53 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Tech tool offers police *mass surveillance on a budget* (AP News)

Local law enforcement agencies from suburban Southern California to rural
North Carolina have been using an obscure cellphone tracking tool, at times without search warrants, that gives them the power to follow people's
movements months back in time, according to public records and internal
emails obtained by The Associated Press.

Police have used Fog Reveal to search hundreds of billions of records from
250 million mobile devices, and harnessed the data to create location
analyses known among law enforcement as *patterns of life*, according to thousands of pages of records about the company. [...]

https://apnews.com/article/technology-police-government-surveillance-d395409ef5a8c6c3f6cdab5b1d0e27ef

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2022 15:28:46 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: FBI Warns Individuals Employed in the Healthcare Industry of the
Ongoing Scam Involving the Impersonation of Law Enforcement and Government
Officials (FBI)

BALTIMORE -- he FBI is warning individuals employed in the healthcare
industry of ongoing widespread fraud schemes in which scammers impersonate
law enforcement or government officials in attempts to extort money or steal personally identifiable information (PII).

Scammers, as part of a large criminal network, research background
information of their intended targets through a medical practice's website and/or social media and supplement this information with information found
on common social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.,
to make themselves appear legitimate.

Scammers will often spoof authentic phone numbers and names and use fake credentials of well-known government and law enforcement agencies to notify
the intended target they were subpoenaed to provide expert witness testimony
in a criminal or civil court case. The health care professional is notified since they did not appear in court, they are in violation of the subpoena,
have been held in contempt, and an arrest warrant has been issued for them.

The targeted victim is told if they pay a court fine, they will no longer be held in contempt. Scammers use an urgent and aggressive tone coupled with
scare tactics that claim the target victim is currently under surveillance
and an arrest warrant will involve an early morning police raid. The
intended victim is warned non-compliance will result in their medical
license being revoked.

Payment is demanded in various forms, with the most prevalent being prepaid cards, wire transfers, and cash, sent by mail or inserted into
cryptocurrency ATMs. Victims are asked to read prepaid card numbers over the phone or text a picture of the card. Mailed cash will be hidden or packaged
to avoid detection by normal mail scanning devices. Wire transfers are often sent overseas and at times in person cash payments or drop offs are
completed.

If victims make money payments, a new reason to send additional funds is
used, such as additional court costs for having to continue the court
hearing. Often the scammers will change tactics and impersonate law
enforcement officers stating their victim has been identified as a
participant of a scam and are currently under investigation for their part
in sending money to the criminals. They are then told another payment will exonerate them from their part of the scam.

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/baltimore/news/press-releases/fbi-warns-individuals-employed-in-the-healthcare-industry-of-the-ongoing-scam-involving-the-impersonation-of-law-enforcement-and-government-officials

Hard to believe this works.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2022 11:33:19 -0700
From: Jay Elston <jay.p.elston@gmail.com>
Subject: Electricity company controls customers' thermostat settings during
a warm day in Denver. (The Denver Channel)

According to KGMH-TV, some 22,000 customers (who voluntarily enrolled in
the AC Rewards program offered by their electricity company) had their
enrolled "Smart" (IOT enabled) AC thermostats locked at 79 F (~26C) due to
an "energy emergency" when the temperature in Denver approached 90F (32C).

This program is voluntary (for now).

KGMH-TV report: https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/contact-denver7/thousands-of-xcel-customers-locked-out-of-thermostats-during-energy-emergency

Details of Xcel Energy's AC Reward program: https://co.my.xcelenergy.com/s/residential/heating-cooling/ac-rewards

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2022 17:45:27 -0700
From: Paul Burke <box1320@gmail.com>
Subject: Hand-counting elections riskier than computer counts? (CNN)

The US is seeing a growing liberal hostility to checking election results.
CNN and ACLU say that counting votes twice, by hand and by computer, is more risky than counting just by computer. This may surprise many states which
use hand counts to check computer counts and many countries which just count
by hand. The Nevada ACLU director says the hand count "is going to give them the opportunity to tamper with an election," as if computers are immune from tampering. Election staff have always been partisan, and are constrained by bipartisan procedures and public observation, which are easy to provide for hand counts.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/08/31/election-deniers-nevada-gop-elections-ballot-counting-republicans-nye-county-lah-lead-vpx.cnn

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 12:20:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: Voting Machine Tampering Points to Concern for Fall Election (AP)

hristina A. Cassidy and Colleen Slevin, Associated Press, 25 Aug 2022,
via ACM TechNews, 29 Aug 2022

Election officials and security experts in the U.S. are concerned that conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election could
encourage interference with, or even attempts to sabotage, voting machines during this fall's elections. Such concerns were highlighted on the last day
of voting in the Pueblo County, CO, June primary, when a poll worker found
an error message on a voting machine's screen. Election officials can take measures to ensure unauthorized devices don't infect voting equipment, by
for example, configuring systems to recognize only proprietary devices. In
the Pueblo County case, the tamper-evident seal on the voting machine
appeared to be disturbed. The case remains under investigation.

https://orange.hosting.lsoft.com/trk/click?ref=znwrbbrs9_6-2f1c9x23590ax069928&

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2022 14:34:20 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: A neighborhood's cryptocurrency mine: Never-ending noise (WashPost)

Cryptocurrency mining brought constant noise to this remote part of
Appalachia

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/cryptocurrency-mine-noise-homes-nc

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 12:20:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: LastPass, Password Manager with Millions of Users, Is Hacked (WSJ)

Alyssa Lukpat, *The Wall Street Journal*, 26 Aug 2022
via ACM TechNews, 29 Aug 2022

On Aug. 25, online password manager LastPass reported the theft of some of
its source code and proprietary information, but said there is no evidence customer information from its more than 33 million users or encrypted
password vaults were accessed. LastPass' Karim Toubba said a developer
account had been breached, allowing an unauthorized party to access the company's development environment. The unusual activity was detected two
weeks ago, prompting an investigation. Toubba said the company is working
with a cybersecurity and forensics firm and has rolled out additional
security measures. LastPass stores encrypted login information that users
can access online with a master password, but they cannot see customers'
data.

https://orange.hosting.lsoft.com/trk/click?ref=znwrbbrs9_6-2f1c9x235913x069928&

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 12:20:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: Face Recognition Struggles to Recognize Us After Five Years

Matthew Sparkes, New Scientistm 24 Aug 2022,
via ACM TechNews, 29 Aug 2022

A test designed by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's
Marcel Grimmer and colleagues found that facial recognition algorithms start running into difficulty identifying people after they have aged five years.
The researchers used open-source alternatives to face recognition tools used
by police and smartphone manufacturers, as well as AI-generated images of 50,000 humans aged synthetically. Grimmer said the tools' accuracy declined continuously from the point the reference image was captured. The algorithms used to age faces synthetically from reference images also proved more effective when the target was between 20 and 40 years, compared to children
and older adults. The implication is that new photos may be needed more
often to maintain accuracy and security.

https://orange.hosting.lsoft.com/trk/click?ref=znwrbbrs9_6-2f1c9x23590cx069928&

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 12:20:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACM TechNews <technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: Quantum AI Breakthrough: Theorem Shrinks Appetite for Training Data
(LANL)

Los Alamos National Laboratory, 23 Aug 2022, via ACM TechNews, 29 Aug 2022

A proof devised by a multi-institutional team of scientists demonstrates
that quantum neural networks can train on minimal data. "The need for large datasets could have been a roadblock to quantum AI, but our work removes
this roadblock," said Patrick Coles at the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Coles said quantum AI training occurs in
a mathematical construct called a Hilbert space, and the theorem shows that navigating this space requires only as many data points as the number of parameters in a given model. The researchers could ensure that a quantum
model can be compiled in far fewer computational gates relative to the
volume of data. LANL's Marco Cerezo said, "We can compile certain very large quantum operations within minutes with very few training points -- something that was not previously possible."

https://orange.hosting.lsoft.com/trk/click?ref=znwrbbrs9_6-2f1c9x23590bx069928&

[This makes no sense at all in the real world. This proof seems to assume
(among other things) that the model is absolutely correct with respect to
even the most stringent unstated assumptions, and that the parameters are
well defined. Who is proving that those assumptions hold? I suppose the
next proof will be that Quantum Computing requires NO TRAINING WHATSOEVER
irrespective of the quantumware and the software, under ill-defined or
undefined assumptions. PGN]

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:40:58 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Why the Twilio Breach Cuts So Deep (WiReD)

The phishing attack on the SMS giant exposes the dangers of B2B companies to the entire tech ecosystem.

The communication company Twilio suffered a breach at the beginning of
August that it says impacted 163 of its customer organizations. Out of
Twilio's 270,000 clients, 0.06 percent might seem trivial, but the company's particular role in the digital ecosystem means that that fractional slice of victims had an outsized value and influence. The secure messaging app
Signal, two-factor authentication app Authy, and authentication firm Okta
are all Twilio customers that were secondary victims of the breach.

https://www.wired.com/story/twilio-breach-phishing-supply-chain-attacks

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2022 13:43:39 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Inside a Million-Dollar Instagram Verification Scheme (ProPublica)

Real Money, Fake Musicians: Inside a Million-Dollar Instagram Verification Scheme

A jeweler. A plastic surgeon. An OnlyFans Model. They and others received a blue check in likely the biggest Instagram verification scheme revealed to date. After ProPublica started asking questions, Meta removed badges from
over 300 accounts.

To his more than 150,000 followers on Instagram, Dr. Martin Jugenburg is
Real Dr. 6ix, a well-coiffed Toronto plastic surgeon posting images and
video of his work sculpting the decolletage, tucking the tummies and lifting the faces of his primarily female clientele.

Jugenburg's physician-influencer tendencies led to a six-month suspension of his Ontario medical license in 2021 after he admitted to filming patient interactions and sharing images of procedures without consent. He
apologized for the lapse and is currently facing a class-action lawsuit from female patients who say their privacy was violated.

But on Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer, and in roughly a dozen sponsored
posts scattered across the web, Jugenburg's career and controversial history was eclipsed by a new identity. On those platforms, he was DJ Dr. 6ix, a
house music producer who is celebrated for his inherent instinctual ability
for music composition assures his followers that his music is absolutely unique.

https://www.propublica.org/article/instagram-spotify-verified-fake-musicians

People being influenced by "influencers" who pay for being badged as
credible. What could go wrong?

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2022 11:54:13 -0400
From: Tom Van Vleck <thvv@multicians.org>
Subject: Facebook Misinformation Is Bad Enough. The Metaverse Will Be Worse
(RAND)

https://www.rand.org/blog/2022/08/facebook-misinformation-is-bad-enough-the-metaverse.html

[You never MetaVerse you didn't like -- until now? Was ist Werse? (Ger.)

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2022 20:31:50 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: The FTC may -- finally -- protect Americans from data brokers
(WiReD)

The agency's lawsuit against Kochava should squash the industry's core
defense -- and help keep sensitive info off the open market.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-ftc-may-finally-protect-americans-from-data-brokers

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2022 19:01:10 PDT
From: Peter Neumann <neumann@csl.sri.com>
Subject: Storing data on floppy disks? Japan tells bureaucracy time to stop
(Nikkei Asia via Dave Farber)

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Storing-data-on-floppy-disks-Japan-tells-bureaucracy-time-to-stop

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2022 20:35:46 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Satellites Keep the World's Clocks on Time. What if They Fail
(WiReD)

Standardized time is broadcast by satellite networks around the world, but their signals are vulnerable to interference --tso he UK is building a more resilient system.

https://www.wired.com/story/satellite-time-distribution

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2022 00:13:38 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: Honda Clocks Are Stuck 20 Years In The Past; There Isn't A Fix

Dated 1/6/22 -- this explains a lot... why my car's clock was wrong from
start of Daylight Savings Time to yesterday!

The Jalopnik inbox has been lit up with a number of reports about clocks and calendars in Honda cars getting stuck at a certain time in the year 2002.
The spread is impressive, impacting Honda and Acura models as old as 2004
and as new as 2012. Here's what might be happening. [...]

The issue is widespread, hitting a huge number of cars in Acura's and
Honda's lineup with navigation systems. And it's not just in the United
States, as owners in Canada and even as far as the United Kingdom have all reported similar issues.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2022 19:46:30 -0700
From: geoff goodfellow <geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day hacking Russian cameras
(twitter)

*Today, to celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day, dozens of IP cameras with speaker outputs have been hacked to play patriotic music in Russia as well
as occupied Crimea and Donbas...

https://twitter.com/ItsArtoir/status/1562440263330476032

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2022 21:00:05 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: The Family That Mined the Pentagon's Data for Profit (WiReD)

The Freedom of Information Act helps Americans learn what the government is
up to. The Poseys exploited itâand became unlikely defenders of
transparency.

The Poseys' lawsuits may have helped rein in the government's tendency to
hoard information, but the family hardly makes for a set of uncomplicated
FOIA heroes. George Posey was the first person and one of only a handful
ever to be convicted of violating the US Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act,
and [son] Mac has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and receiving stolen
government property.

https://www.wired.com/story/pentagon-data-profit-freedom-information-of-information-act

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 13:36:45 -0700
From: Steve Bacher <sebmb1@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: 3D gun printing operation busted in Calgary (RISKS-33.42)

So, I understand that printing 3D guns is illegal in Canada and probably
ought to be in other countries, but think about this, at least from a USA standpoint:

It is not illegal, in general, to manufacture guns here. In fact, it iss a profitable business for many companies. So if someone were to start a
business manufacturing guns using 3D printer technology, would that be a legitimate business? If they were manufacturing, say, gardening tools using
3D printer technology, that would certainly be unobjectionable.

I suppose it's analogous to the distinction between liquor distributors and
the folks who brew at home in their basements. But is it designed to
protect the general public or the interests of the established businesses?

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 11:30:22 +0300
From: Amos Shapir <amos083@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler for the Doctor.
Google Flagged Him as a Criminal. (RISKS-33.42)

This case shows that the power of Google over our lives has become so great that it requires some supervision, the same kind that applies (or should
apply, anyway) to electric companies:

Can an electric company disconnect a client without warning? If they employ
a protocol to report a client to the authorities, which may cause disconnection, do they also have to employ a protocol to reconnect, if authorities determine that no offense was made?

------------------------------

Date: 27 Aug 2022 22:24:24 -0400
From: "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Re: Why are Tesla fanatics putting their children in the path of
moving cars? (RISKS-33.42)

[Mark gave me the above horrible URL, but browsing on the title instead
gets me the article with the generic Guardian top-level URL! Bummer.
PGN]

Try this one:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/commentisfree/2022/aug/23/tesla-fanatics-elon-musk-children-moving-cars

Then we can resume wondering what it is about Elon Musk that makes
people do such incredibly stupid things.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2022 10:50:12 +0100
From: Martin Ward <martin@gkc.org.uk>
Subject: Re: The Crypto[currency] World Can't Wait for Ethereum's Merge,
(RISKS-33.42)

People handed over real money for something with no intrinsic value in the
hope that they would be able to persuade other people to hand over *more*
money for the thing with no intrinsic value.

How is this in any way different from a Ponzi scheme or the South Sea
Bubble?

(To stave off the inevitable complaints that "money has no intrinsic value": the value of money is backed by the power of the Government. If you think
that your Government has some power and is willing to back its currency to a certain extent, then to that extent

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2020 11:11:11 -0800
From: RISKS-request@csl.sri.com
Subject: Abridged info on RISKS (comp.risks)

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End of RISKS-FORUM Digest 33.43
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