jwz: Sep 2021

Welp, Let's Encrypt screwed the pooch again

Can anyone tell me in small words how to fix this?

postfix/smtpd: warning: TLS library problem: 6374:error:14094415:SSL routines:ssl3_read_bytes:sslv3 alert certificate expired:s3_pkt.c:1493:SSL alert number 45:

Re-running "certbot renew" does nothing.

Running "openssl x509 -enddate -noout -in" on every .crt file I can find shows expiration dates in the future, including /etc/letsencrypt/live/dnalounge.com/fullchain.pem (smtpd_tls_cert_file) and /etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt (smtpd_tls_CAfile).

CentOS 7.9, certbot 1.11.0 which appears to be the latest.

Rather than actually providing instructions for how to fix whatever they fucked up, they just refer you to the "support" "forum", both words of which are highly aspirational.

bai0:

@letsencrypt Nothing brightens my day like users asking me why something stopped working right as I'm wrapping up for the day, only to find a service I'm forced to rely on has changed something, and the first response in the forum thread they link to tells me I'm incompetent and don't care

Update: Great news, everybody! When you run "openssl x509 -enddate -noout -in" on a file that has a thousand certs in it, it only reports on the first one! Because obviously that's exactly what you'd want and expect. So it looks like /etc/pki/tls/cert.pem had one expired cert in the middle, which maybe is the problem? This suggested that "yum update ca-certificates" might fix it, but I'm not sure if that helped yet. Maybe?

Previously, previously, previously.

20 Comments

Tags: computers, dnalounge, firstperson, lazyweb, linux, mail, security

Animatronics That Didn't Make It Into The Thing Remake

1 year ago

Many people were frustrated with the special effects being largely CG on the final cut. What a lot of people don't know is that practical versions for almost all the effects were made and many even shot first! However, many were replaced entirely by CG for the release.

Previously, previously, previously.

3 Comments

Tags: blobs, movies, mpegs, mutants, parts, perversions, teeth

Like content moderators, but with guns.

1 year ago

When are podunk sheriffs going to start knocking on the doors of Facebook data centers, though?

Judge Sides with Teen Threatened by Sheriff Over COVID Social Media Post: 'The First Amendment Is Not a Game Setting for the Government to Toggle Off and On'

The teen posted about her illness on Instagram three times, saying she would be out of school for a while due to "having the COVID-19." After her symptoms worsened and she returned to the hospital she posted another photo showing her in a hospital bed with the caption "Winning the fight with Covid-19."
Several days later, Sgt. Klump went to the Cohoon residence and told Cohoon's parents that his office had received a complaint from the school's superintendent about Amyiah's posts, demanding she delete the pictures.
"Sergeant Klump stated that he had direct orders from Sheriff Konrath to demand that Amyiah delete this post, and, if she did not, to cite Amyiah and/or her parents for disorderly conduct and to 'start taking people to jail,'" the complaint stated.

Previously, previously, previously.

5 Comments

Tags: big brother, conspiracies, firstperson, plague, security

Mandate Season

1 year ago

Shockingly, loudmouth antivaxxer idiots don't have the strength of their convictions. We talked to some ignorant rubes in a local diner to find out more.

It's mandate season; we're finding out that rumors about people who said they'd quit before getting vaccinated were greatly overstated. But it also means that every outlet on the planet is writing about the (few) idiots getting fired or quitting, with some outlets and reporters blatantly misrepresenting reports.
Early surveys showed that "half of unvaccinated workers [said] they will leave their jobs if they're forced to get the Covid-19 shot," but most reports this week show that 96-99% of US workers facing the mandate have complied.
CNBC blared that nearly 600 United Airlines employees are getting fired for noncompliance, noting down the line that this number means 96% of the 67,000 workforce is fully vaccinated.
Washington Post headlined that "North Carolina hospital system Novant Health fires 175 unvaccinated employees refusing covid shot" while burying deep in its article that this is less than 1% of the system's employees: "More than 99 percent of the system's roughly 35,000 employees have followed the mandatory vaccination program."
Bizarrely, San Francisco has the (so far) highest rate of holdouts; around 10% of employees at police departments, hospitals and school districts.

The Nonsensical Loophole in Biden's Vaccine Mandate:

As written into the mandate, tests are still being cast in an understudy role that they were never meant to play. "It's an unacceptable alternative," Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told me. Tests can't be swapped in for vaccines for the same reasons a smoke detector can't sub in for fireproofing, a car speedometer can't replace a seat belt, and a weather report can't take the place of an umbrella. Noticing the problem isn't the same as blocking it. (The White House did not respond to repeated requests for comment.)

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

1 Comment

Tags: big brother, doomed, plague, security

To Infect and Serve

1 year ago

Nearly 200 members of SFPD have applied for a religious exemption from the city's employee vaccine mandate, the highest number of waiver requests from any city department, by far.

In the 2,835-member police force, 366 employees are unvaccinated. Of the unvaccinated, 193 want religious exemptions and eight have requested medical exemptions. [...] The Department of Human Resources said 157 exemptions have been tentatively approved, but officials are still reviewing the requests. [...]
In total, the Department of Human Resources has received 296 religious exemption requests and 21 medical exemption requests from city employees. That includes 34 religious exemption requests from the Sheriff's Department, 16 from the Fire Department, six from the Department of Public Health, and one from Mayor London Breed's office. [...]
According to the Department of Human Resources, "those with a sincerely held religious belief that prohibits them from receiving a vaccine" may also request an exemption, although it did not specify which religions qualify.
The city's policy states that employees must fill out a form and "answer all relevant questions regarding the religious belief, practice or observance that prevents them from getting the COVID-19 vaccination." They may also be required to submit additional information such as letters from a religious leader, articles from religious scholars or excerpts from religious or sacred texts.
The department said it would review requests for accommodation on a case-by-case basis.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

16 Comments

Tags: big brother, conspiracies, doomed, plague, religion, sf, stormtroopers

Dumb Future

1 year ago

TeenageStepdad:

The Future Used To Be Cool. We Live In A Bad World.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

8 Comments

Tags: corporations, doomed, space

HermanCainAward

1 year ago

The Unbelievable Grimness of HermanCainAward, the Subreddit That Catalogs Anti-Vaxxer COVID Deaths

As the forum has grown, entries have started following a fairly standard format: The first few screenshots typically feature the individual in question deploying a remarkably consistent set (there are 30 or so) of memes. Some vilify Dr. Anthony Fauci or champion the right to be unvaccinated. Others warn people they're experimental rats or offer scripts that will properly punish wait staff for daring to inquire about vaccination status. Some deride masked liberals as "sheep" and the unvaccinated as proud free lions or refer to immigrants as vectors of disease or compare vaccination requirements to the Holocaust. Most of them treat the pandemic as a joke and frame ignoring it as brave or clever or both. The final few screenshots typically announce the disease, its progress, and the eventual death announcement, frequently followed by a GoFundMe for the family. [...]
What this massive record of human suffering really illustrates (in all its startling, repetitive sameness) is how seamlessly anti-vax communities reconcile themselves to the deaths their convictions will perpetuate. The posts about individual liberty and self-sufficiency devolve into abjectly dependent appeals: A call to "prayer warriors" is almost a required feature at this point. When someone dies, the grief is gentle and generic: He was a good guy, he got his angel wings today, it was his time, God called him home. Their families frequently express gratitude to the medical staff who cared for their loved ones. It is resignation, and deeply sad. And yet: Chilled though I've been by how this subreddit can rejoice at a death, I'm somehow no less chilled by how easily the bereaved normalize their losses. A 35-year-old man with three young children and a free vaccine available should not be dead! There is astonishingly little recognition of this. [...]
If these individual stories seem to change nothing, what about a cumulative record? Does anything besides schadenfreude happen when Americans see one after another after another after another of these stories? I'm not sure, but a new category has recently been gathering steam in the subreddit: the IPA (Immunized to Prevent Award). People post photos of their new vaccination cards, saying that reading the r/HermanCainAward finally convinced them they didn't want to "win." They get enthusiastically cheered on by commenters. "I'm not anti-Vax," one such comment reads, "I was just afraid and confused by all the misinformation out there. Genuinely frightened and confused. Taking a quick 5 minute look at this Sub-reddit brought me back down to earth. I'll be getting my first round of the Pfizer Vaccine early next week. Thank you for existing." There are more of these than you might expect; who knows if these stories are true, but if even some of them are, maybe these stories can, in the aggregate, persuade people who wouldn't be especially moved by specific cases.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

58 Comments

Tags: conspiracies, doomed, grim meathook future, plague

Current Music: Cabaret Voltaire -- Partially Submerged 1 ♬

Lunar escape velocity

1 year ago

Panicked staff chase after giant moon as it escapes from festival

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

3 Comments

Tags: balls, blobs, mad science, mpegs, space

Big Music Needs to Be Broken Up to Save the Industry

1 year ago

A year without live music has been a disaster. So has corporate power in streaming, recording, and ticketing. Antitrust may be the only solution.

Three major record labels produce two-thirds of all music consumed in America. They are the most powerful buyer of music and talent, and they use that power to prioritize a handful of mega-stars and pop hits. They pitch music into massive radio conglomerates and streaming platforms that control how music is consumed, and they collect an ever-growing share of industry revenue.
Concerts, a crucial space where independent venues and artists have largely sidestepped corporate gatekeepers, are increasingly threatened by Covid shutdowns and the prospect that Live Nation and other Wall Street-backed giants will either buy them out or put them out of business. [...]
The broad middle class of independent artists, record labels, venues, and other small businesses must now rely on -- and increasingly pay -- monopolists for access to bands and fans. For some, the pandemic made a difficult situation impossible. [...]
Van Arman offered a simple litmus test for whether music is "independent," a shapeshifting term applied to everything from punk bands playing basement gigs to the cash-flush "indie" subsidiaries of major labels. "You are independent if you are pro-competitive," he said. [...] If you're independent, you're "not looking to reduce competition by acquiring rivals" or for other unfair advantages that tilt the industry toward corporate dominance.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

10 Comments

Tags: corporations, dnalounge, doomed, music