Once again I face a serious dilemma. Since I have no social media accounts to share with New York, will the state assume that I have no character? Should I create a social media page specifically to demonstrate how stable I am?

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/gun-applicants-new-york-will-hand-social-accounts-rcna37251

Gun applicants in New York will have to hand over social accounts

Some of the local officials who will be tasked with reviewing the social media content are asking whether they’ll have enough resources and whether the law is even constitutional.

As missed warning signs pile up in investigations of mass killings, New York state is rolling out a novel strategy to screen applicants for gun permits. People seeking to carry concealed handguns will be required to hand over their social media accounts for a review of their “character and conduct.”

It’s an approach applauded by many Democrats and national gun control advocacy groups, but some experts have raised questions about how the law will be enforced and address free speech concerns.

… Sheriffs haven’t received additional money or staffing to handle a new application process, said Peter Kehoe, the executive director of the New York Sheriffs’ Association. The law, he asserted, infringes on Second Amendment rights, and while applicants must list their social media accounts, he doesn’t think local officials will necessarily look at them.

“I don’t think we would do that,” Kehoe said. “I think it would be a constitutional invasion of privacy.”

The new requirement, which takes effect in September, was included in a law passed last week that sought to preserve some limits on firearms after the Supreme Court ruled that most people have a right to carry a handgun for personal protection. It was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, who noted shooters sometimes telegraph their intent to hurt others.

Must we wait for an AI to answer these questions?

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/privileges-personhood

Privileges of Personhood

The possibility of sentient AI raises new questions.

… First, what is sentience? Sentience is a malleable term derived from the word “sense,” meaning to perceive, to think, to feel. But who defines what it means to do these things? Any good definition of sentience would have to include many animal species, as noted above, including some that are regularly raised to be slaughtered as food. If sentience necessarily connotes personhood and its attendant rights, then we should be treating animals far differently than we do. Furthermore, if sentience does not connote personhood, then it may not really matter if an AI is sentient. Maybe we’re asking the wrong question.

Open source intelligence: available to anyone with an Internet connection and curiosity.

https://www.space.com/russia-anti-satellite-laser-facility-satellite-photos

Satellites spot construction of Russian anti-satellite laser facility: report

Anti-satellite technologies are on the rise as space becomes an increasingly vital domain for military activities.

Recent Google Earth images reveal construction at what appears to be a sophisticated laser system at a Russian space facility designed to blind adversary satellites.

The construction is taking place at the Russian Ministry of Defense's Krona space facility near Zelenchukskaya in Russia's far southwest, home of the massive RATAN-600 radio telescope. The existence of this new complex was brought to light in an in-depth open source investigation

(opens in new tab)

published by The Space Review that analyzed public satellite imagery, solicitation documents from Russian industrial contractors and Russian financial documents.

All of these sources lay out the construction of a project named Kalina, described in the financial documentation obtained by The Space Review as a laser system designed for "electro-optical warfare" that can permanently blind adversarial satellites by shining laser pulses so bright they can damage optical sensors. (This is distinctly different from other lasers known as "dazzlers," which are aimed at only temporarily blinding optics systems.)