Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

The company behind Snapchat is laying off 1,000 workers (16% of its workforce) citing rapid advancements in AI which will save the company $500M per year.

Jack Dorsey’s layoffs at Block were a new triggering event for tech layoffs similar to Elon’s at Twitter in 2022.

https://www.businessinsider.com/snap-layoffs-ai-read-memo-snapchat-2026-4

400bce - 1930
Patient: I got ghosts
Doctor: And how! Ur gonna die lol

1930 - 2005
Patient: I got ghosts
Doctor: U got the flu and ur gonna die

2005 - 2024
Patient: I got the flu
Doctor: lol right did Google tell u that idiot ur fine

2024 - 2026
Patient: My chatbot says I got bixonimania
Doctor: Ya mine does too sorry but ur gonna die

Last month, the EU Council wanted to push through voluntary scanning. But they failed! 🎉

However, the trilogue discussions on Chat Control 2.0 start this Thursday. But #ChatControl is a Trojan Horse for citizens and businesses in Europe. Interestingly, not everyone should be monitored:

❌ Government

❌ Military

✅ YOU

Make sure your country opposes Chat Control! Learn why: 👉 https://tuta.com/blog/chat-control-criticism

"We can't take care of daycare. We're a big country. We're fighting wars. It's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these things" - President Donald Trump on April 1, 2026

Here is my open letter to fellow parents. If you're not a parent, I still invite you to read.

In this open letter I discuss matters of privacy and cybersecurity involving children and parenting, and the systemic forces which are having an outsized impact.

https://manchicken.com/2026/04/15/open-letter-to-fellow-parents/

#Stalking victim sues #OpenAI, claims #ChatGPT fueled her abuser’s delusions and ignored her warnings

https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/10/stalking-victim-sues-openai-claims-chatgpt-fueled-her-abusers-delusions-and-ignored-her-warnings/

#AI #privacy

#Trump Invites More Criminal Acts By Promising Pardons To Everyone Who Works For Him - https://www.techdirt.com/2026/04/14/trump-invites-more-criminal-acts-by-promising-pardons-to-everyone-who-works-for-him/ "If you’re not corrupt, you generally don’t have to say certain things. "

Recently I read a post by some jackhole techbro who wants a default automatic feed algorithm here just like Big Social™.

Opening the door for AI bullshit is not even the worst part of this idea.

Folks, all of us here ARE the algorithm. Personal curation is a feature, not a bug.

We make Mastodon awesome by following people and boosting what we find meaningful, significant or just cool. That's how it works.

Let's keep making friends. Let's keep sharing. Let's keep Mastodon alive. Together. 💖

A short essay by Lewis Campbell:

Saying Goodbye to Agile
RIP Agile, we hardly knew ye.

And I mean that literally - because no one was ever clear on what it was.

Agile washed over our industry like a tsunami. But whenever it was questioned, a voice (perhaps emanating from a gap in the clouds?) would invariably tell us "ah, but that is not True Agile - The Manifesto sayeth naught of Daily Standups, nor Agile Coaches". Yet if one read the Agile Manifesto (2001), this wellspring of our enlightened New Era of Software, one inevitably found it didn't actually tell us much at all. At best it was a sequence of vague platitudes ("Customer collaboration over contract negotiation"), and at worst it was commercially unworkable ("Welcome changing requirements, even late in development").

So if the Agile Industry was not doing Agile Properly, and the manifesto itself was near devoid of meaning, then what exactly was it?

"A spectre is haunting Software, the spectre of Waterfall"
Agile was always defined primarily in terms of what it wasn't - and what it wasn't was Waterfall. If you were not doing Agile, you are doing Waterfall, and Waterfall Did Not Work.

Except we'd known Waterfall did not work since 1970; and Winston W. Royce laid out exactly why, recommending we instead:

Start with a program design.
Make a prototype of the software to gather information to refine requirements.
Involve the customer ("the involvement should be formal, in depth, and continuing").
All of these things were later claimed as Agile innovations. In reality, they were written the year after the moon landing.1

...
https://lewiscampbell.tech/blog/260414.html

RE: https://universeodon.com/@georgetakei/116405895790951350

If you ever see me depicted either as Jesus or a doctor, or anybody but myself, let me know. I wouldn't be OK with it. You won't find it on my feed.

One of the most disheartening aspects of today's political journalism is the total normalization of Trump's lying. Even when they note that it's bullshit, they feel obliged to quote Trump/apparatchik excuses/denials. Here's one TV commentator who's fed up.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/apr/14/jon-stewart-trump-jesus-photo

Top story: What would’ve been school-choice proponents’ triumphant publicity tour was instead consumed by catty finger-pointing over who’s to blame for the seemingly botched attempt to religiously discriminate against some program participants. https://www.texasobserver.org/school-vouchers-discrimination-brouhaha-abbott/

#Texas #politics #USpol #news #vouchers #education #schools #news #TXlege #racism

This is gut-wrenching. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/592410/devastating-scenes-as-wildlife-lay-dead-on-dry-lakebed-in-manawatu Our water allocation and farming practices are not sustainable, and it's a horrible tragedy for all of the life that's destroyed as a result of our hubris and obliviousness.

404 Media - Reuters’ parent company, which also owns and operates the investigative CLEAR database, fired a longstanding employee who spoke out about the company selling data products to ICE, according to a lawsuit filed today. https://www.404media.co/thomson-reuters-fired-worker-for-speaking-out-about-ice-former-employee-says/

Since releasing my oil video I've had so many people claiming that renewables will never work and we need nuclear power instead.

What's odd is that almost all of the messages mention that nuclear power is the only solution for the "base load".

I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and I took several nuclear science electives. I like nuclear energy. But I received so much "base load" gaslighting that I started to doubt my own understanding of the situation.

The USB-C port on my @nitrokey pro 3 just fell off completely after just over one year of use.

Looking at the soldering that doesn't look surprising. Can someone recommend a more sturdy replacement to hold GPG keys?

Have you seen this news?

#Mastodon just got funding to add end to end encryption into their software.

So, some time next year, you’ll be able to send truly private messages to the vast majority of the #Fediverse

Im so excited about this.

Because it’s an open spec, this opens the doors for every Fediverse app to join the party.

Yesterday, this project was a proof of concept. Today, Mastodon has turned it into a stampede.

#E2EE

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/04/sovereign-tech-agency-funding/

🔵 This week's Tom the Dancing Bug!!
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🧠 DEMENTIA DONNIE IS BACK, and he's using genius strategies in his war against his roommate!
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Brought to you by the Inner Hive, including long-time member Blondie and new member Theodore F.
Join us at patreon.com/rubenbolling/membership!
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READ IT RIGHT HERE👇

I want to share easy, attractive worker co-op educational materials with my co-workers to help people prepare to write bylaws. I just looked at Start.coop and LA Co-op Lab. Both are good, the former uses a "canvas" model to guide people through the relevant questions. The latter offers beautifully designed guides that you can see online. But I am hesitant to use either because I think they make assumptions (e.g. a board/member structure) where they should just ask questions. That's why I was so excited by How to Create a Solidarity Enterprise by @luisrazeto. Having used that text, I can say that the approach works and creates real cooperators. The challenge is to make it pithy and pretty, without sacrificing depth...

What's next? From May, I'm looking for roles at the intersection of European digital policy, ethical open platforms, and developer/community engagement. I’m optimistic about these spaces, and keen to help shape what comes next. I care about a future that values human connection and shared power, not extractive platforms.

If you’re working in these areas - or know someone who is - I’d welcome a conversation. andypiper-at-omg.lol (yes, really) or check my website #GetFediHired /end (4/4)