Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

I raised a red flag about this a year or so ago, when I first heard of these a-holes. Here's Yves Smith breaking down why Private Equity all of a sudden getting on board with "employee ownership" is not, in fact, a good thing. When the devil offers you something, be assured it's not for your benefit.

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/05/private-equity-seeks-to-foist-companies-it-cant-sell-on-employees.html

Is there a consensus among #AI experts about whether #LLM models can reliably *summarize* specific text without introducing weird extraneous information?

My working assumption has been that the models can't really do this, and I can't imagine any way that they would be able to reliably avoid omitting important details, but I'm not sure I've seen much discussion of this aspect of what they can and can't do.

(boosts welcome)

Some might suggest that Microsoft's early history of dirty dealing and technical ineptitude is irrelevant to what it is today, but I'd call BS on that - it's core to the culture that the corporation (staff and shareholders!) have exhibited throughout its existence. There's nothing admirable there.

New Book Reveals How The U.S. Stole $600B From Black Americans Through Unfair Taxes Post-Slavery https://www.blackenterprise.com/new-book-600b-stolen-black-americans/

Bold, popular, and GREAT NEWS:

62% of US voters support legal action against oil and gas companies for "their contributions to climate change," including 84% of Democrats and 40% of Republicans.

49% support the filing of criminal charges.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/prosecute-big-oil?utm_source=Common+Dreams&utm_campaign=dd4b2c3d8e-Top+News%3A+Tues.+5%2F28%2F24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-3b949b3e19-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D
#Crime = #FossilFuels vs #Climate

Via the wonderful Just Seeds website! #Unions #CreativeCommons #Graphics
https://justseeds.org/graphic/you-dont-have-to-hate-your-job-to-want-a-union/

The General Public License (GPL) is unfortunately not suited for electronic devices and silicon chips in particular. We would like therefore to develop a GPL-compatible hardware licence.

Are you interested to submit a tender? Then do so by July 3:

https://wiki.f-si.org/index.php?title=Tender_for_GPL-compatible_hardware_licence_development

#GPL #GoIT

Just in case you need a reminder, the Taxpayers' Union and the Free Speech Union are not real unions, but Fuck-You-nions.
#nzpol

Sorry to say, archive.org is under a ddos attack. The data is not affected, but most services are unavailable.

We are working on it & will post updates in comments.

"Proprietary software like Windows is fundamentally insecure not because of Microsoft's privacy policies but because its code is hidden from the very users whose interests it is supposed to secure. A lock on your own house to which you do not have the master key is not a security system, it is a jail." John Sullivan https://u.fsf.org/py

Big food is using tobacco industry strategies to fight the emerging consensus that ultra processed food is a key cause of obesity and malnutrition. https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/05/deny-denounce-delay-the-battle-over-the-risk-of-ultra-processed-foods/

"The industry has responded with a ferocious campaign against regulation. In part it has used the same lobbying playbook as its fight against labeling and taxation of “junk food” high in calories: big spending to influence policymakers."

I'm really surprised that these two articles haven't been publicised far more widely... (oh wait, I forgot who most tech magazines depend on for most of their advertising revenue): https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-poses-threat-to-germanys-digital-sovereignty-warns-study/

And remember Munich? The Bavarian city that switched to Linux more than a decade back? And then famously - with much more fanfare (again, wonder why) - switched back to Windows? Well... they've gone back to #libre again... The full saga: https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-not-windows-why-munich-is-shifting-back-from-microsoft-to-open-source-again/ #DigitalSovereignty

The UK races toward police state status, assisted by a technology industry that has pure contempt for privacy and ethics. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-69055945

HP Support: We can enable that feature for $17 per month or $2.99 per document (up to 10 pages).

Wow. A microbiology lab at Texas A&M accepted purchased raw milk samples from NPR for H5N1 testing, then contacted the milk producers to seek permission. When the producers said, "don't test our milk," the lab not only declined to carry out the tests but also refused to send the samples on to another lab.

‘A great sadness’: Venezuela is first Andean country to lose of all its glaciers https://www.byteseu.com/137259/ #BreakingNews #GlobalNews #LatestNews #News #World #WorldNews

Burnout in the FOSS community is real, and I'm glad that it's something that is being talked about more in blogs and conferences. There is a different flavor of burnout and emotional toll when you are sacrificing for a cause you believe in (especially in FOSS where people are often working for free or at below market rate). Working for a cause you believe in brings the highest highs when things are going well, but the lowest lows when they go badly.

#FOSS #burnout

If I followed my heart, I would be dedicating my free time to building more resilient food systems, or working to actively grow our neighborhood mutual aid system, or fighting for various important changes in my city and state. But all of that takes energy. My supply of energy is limited. And meanwhile, we've lost federal protections for reproductive freedom, trans people are unable to get the health care they need, and voting rights are being degraded.