Why is the Btrfs file system as implemented by Synology so fragile?

by philg

We had a few seconds of power loss the other day. Everything in the house, including a Windows machine using NTFS, came back to life without any issues. A Synology DS720+, however, became a useless brick, claiming to have suffered unrecoverable file system damage while the underlying two hard drives and two SSDs are in perfect condition. It’s two mirrored drives using the Btrfs file system (the Synology default, though ext4 is also available as an option). Btrfs is supposedly a journaling file system, which should make this kind of corruption impossible. Yet searching the Internet reveals that Synology suicides are commonplace. Here’s one example that pins the blame on the SSDs being enabled as read/write caches (but given that the SSDs are non-volatile why isn’t the Synology software smart enough to deal with the possibility of a power outage even when read/write caching (seems to be the default) is enabled? The Synology web page on the subject says you need two SSDs (which I have) for “fault tolerance” and doesn’t mention that the entire NAS can become a brick after losing power for a few seconds).

Given that Synology has only one job, i.e., the secure storage of data, this strikes me as a spectacular failure of corporate mission.

Readers: Have you seen this kind of failure before? NTFS was introduced by Microsoft in 1993 and I’ve never seen it completely destroyed by a power interruption. Oracle, IBM’s DB2, and Microsoft SQL Server use similar journaling techniques and they never become useless after a power interruption.

Separately, what are some alternatives to Synology for a home NAS? I find their admin interface to be much more complicated than it needs to be and their defaults are also unsuitable for home use, e.g., it won’t automatically restart by default after a power failure.

Finally, if I decide that I do want to rebuild this Synology NAS, which will almost certainly involve wiping all of the data and starting over (I mostly use it as a backup for my Windows machine, so losing 100 percent of the data that I paid Synology to keep isn’t the end of the world) and want to take the InterWeb’s advice to get a UPS with a USB output to smooth out the Synology’s power availability and give it a signal via USB to shut down, what is the smallest, quietest, and cheapest UPS that will do the job?

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Closing out Black History Month at the hockey game

by philg

Some photos from a recent Florida Panthers v. Washington Capitals NHL game:

(My neighbor loves hockey and has season tickets. Bizarrely, the Florida-based team is one of the best in the NHL. They lost the Stanley Cup last year to the cold weather experts in the Las Vegas Golden Knights.)

Note that Amazon has partnered with the Panthers to celebrate Black History Month. With one (Indian) exception, Amazon seems to have a 100-percent white roster of senior managers and directors. What about in the arena? We never saw a Black player on the ice at any point in the game (ended in overtime with the Science-Deniers defeating the Lockdowners 3-2). Where are the Panthers from this year? Finland, Canada, Sweden, Russia.

Separately, if you ever want to go to one of these games, held west of Fort Lauderdale (a reasonable drive from either Palm Beach or Miami), the Corona Beach House is a great place to sit. Copious food, beer, and wine are included and there is plenty of room to wander around. The only thing that I did not love about the seats is that you’re viewing the game through the net that prevents the puck from flying into the crowd.

Parking in our inflation-free society is $40. Many fans park for free across the street at the Sawgrass Mills Mall. Pro Tip: park in Lot 7 if you’re going to be heading north after the game. Getting out of the $40 lot and onto the highway after the game took less than ten minutes.

Would I go again? Sure. I wish that the overtime rules applied all the time, though! It is more exciting when it is just 3+goalie per side rather than the standard 5+goalie and it is also much easier to follow the puck.

Readers: How did you close out Black History Month?

Related… the Amazon books section, retrieved on February 26, 2024, in which “Black Authors” is the #1 category of products to browse (they’re “remarkably written” whereas books by non-Black authors are unremarkable?):

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Pilots according to Google’s Gemini AI system

by philg

The Twitterverse reported that Gemini was refusing to create images of whites, but happy to create images of Blacks:

I tested this theory after some frantic code rehab had been done to reduce the obviousness of the bias, but before the ability to show humans had been pulled altogether:

and…

To fly a Boeing or Airbus, according to AI, one must be young and have fabulous hair!

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How was the immigration of Jose Antonio Ibarra supposed to make Laken Riley better off?

by philg

“Migrant suspect in Laken Riley murder accused of ‘seriously disfiguring’ nursing student as affidavit reveals grim details in case” (New York Post):

The Venezuelan migrant charged with murdering Laken Riley allegedly beat her so brutally with an unidentified object that he disfigured her skull, according to new affidavits.

Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, who faces multiple murder and assault charges, is not thought to have known the 22-year-old nursing student when he allegedly kidnapped and killed her as she went for a run on the University of Georgia campus Thursday.

Ibarra entered the US illegally in El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 8, 2022, with his wife and her son seeking asylum, and was later released “for further processing,” ICE said.

Laken Riley will not be alive to see the full benefits of the Biden administration’s transformation of the United States via immigration, but for those of us who haven’t been killed by a migrant… what is the rationale for the current system? How was Jose Antonio Ibarra’s immigration supposed to improve the lives of Americans overall? In an ideal world where he didn’t kill anyone, what would he have done that would have made Laken Riley better off?

(If the answer is “his immigration wasn’t supposed to make Laken Riley better off” then in what sense is the U.S. government working on behalf of U.S. citizens?)

Separately, what’s happening with crime statistics in Venezuela? If their career criminals and gang members have all accepted Joe Biden’s invitation to move to the U.S., shouldn’t Venezuela soon be as safe as El Salvador? Or is Venezuela breeding new criminals even faster than it is exporting them?

Related:

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What’s the relationship between women and Rainbow Flagism?

by philg

I went to Costco to set up my mom’s new life as a Floridian. As part of the sales process, Costco customers are informed that some of the profits from the towels for sale flow into the pockets of people who identify as “women”. The “Women Owned” logo certifying that this is where the money goes has a rainbow embedded within. What does it mean? Are they saying that a heterosexual cisgender woman, for example, is somehow part of Rainbow Flagism?

I ended up buying towels from Land’s End. Maybe other shoppers are persuaded by the magic of this logo or the idea that their money is going to business owners of a particular gender ID? Wirecutter says buy Frontgate Resort Collection towels.

For $500 of miscellaneous household items, I had a choice between the Heroes of Rainbow Flagism at Target or the more prosaic Walmart, which is a little closer to our house. I chose Walmart.

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More fun with Google’s AI (Gemini)

by philg

Fritz Haber, the historical figure who did more than anyone else to enable human population to expand to 8 billion:

Note the baldness. What does Gemini think that life in a German lab looked like circa 1909 when the Haber process was being developed?

How about the 1,600 Nazi scientists brought over in Operation Paperclip?

How does the virtuous mind visualize Frank Whittle?

Edwin Land?

William Shockley?

What does Gemini think its parents look like?

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Which side should we be on in the mostly peaceful Eritrean dispute?

by philg

Apparently, a mostly peaceful conflict between two groups within Eritrea has entitled people from both sides of the conflict to claim asylum in Europe and the U.S. This has resulted in the mostly peaceful conflict continuing in The Hague and in, for example, North Carolina. “Charlotte protesters attack officers, set tractor-trailer on fire in riot at Eritrean ‘cultural event’: police” (Fox News):

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department said eight people were arrested Saturday during a 10-hour “protest and standoff” that stemmed from an Eritrean “cultural event.”

Clashes erupted between rival groups of Eritreans, and police confirmed that officers trying to disperse the unlawful crowds were attacked by people wielding sticks, rocks and other items.

Crowds also set a tractor on fire in North Carolina’s largest city, and police seized a total of two firearms over the course of several hours.

There seems to be some confusion regarding what language Eritreans speak:

“The officers were met with violence and hostility, with protesters throwing objects,” the department said in its initial press release. “Over the course of several hours, the CEU gave multiple dispersal orders in English and Spanish and were again met with violence from protesters wielding sticks, rocks and other items.”

What is the source of the mostly peaceful peace?

Tens of thousands of people have fled Eritrea for Europe, many alleging they were mistreated by the repressive government of President Isaias Afwerki. The conflicts underscore deep divisions among members of the Eritrean diaspora between those who remain close to the government and those who have fled to live in exile and strongly oppose Afwerki.

We know how to be on the right side of history (next to Vladimir Putin) with respect to the Israel v. Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”), UNRWA, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, et al. situation. But which side in the Eritrean v. Eritrean peace should we be on? Which side corresponds to Hamas in terms of having created an ideal progressive society?

Related:

  • Wikipedia page on Isaias Afwerki: As a leader of the Eritrean rebellion against Ethiopia’s annexation of the Eritrean coastal region in 1977, Isaias became an icon of resistance. … In his first few years Isaias was hailed as a new type of African president with then-US President Bill Clinton referring to him as a “renaissance African leader”. … In 2009, Isaias advocated for the development of indigenous political and economic institutions… In 2018, Isaias oversaw an unexpected transformation of Eritrea’s relations with Ethiopia. The 20-year stalemate ended after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018. Abiy signed a “joint declaration of peace and friendship” at a bilateral summit on 9 July, restoring diplomatic and trade ties with Eritrea. … Shortly before Eritrea declared independence, Isaias contracted cerebral malaria and was flown to Israel for treatment. Arriving in a coma, he was treated at Sheba Medical Center, where he recovered after successful treatment. … His training in China made him a great admirer of Mao Zedong…
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A Silicon Valley history of aeronautical engineering

by philg

History according to Google’s Gemini:

ChatGPT 4, in response to the same prompt:

ChatGPT, in response to “Create a mural of five aircraft designers working together in 1905”:

Back to Gemini, this time regarding elderly surgeons:

I give the system credit for using one of my favorite terms: “Latinx”. A surgeon who graduated in 1970 should have been born in 1944, however, and thus would be 80 years old today. These folks look like they’re in unusually good shape for age 80.

Gemini knows about the “sport of kings”:

But its image generator is clueless:

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