Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

Every time I think my impression of Microsoft has hit rock-bottom, I find myself having to dig a new sub-basement. If I already have neither respect nor admiration for a group of people (that's what a corporation is), where to from there?

Surprise? https://developers.slashdot.org/story/24/09/18/0210233 Now Microsoft has received a patent for something people have been doing, routinely, for many years. It just goes to show how a) completely broken the patent process is, and b) how assholic Microsoft is. His involvement with Microsoft does nothing to enhance von Rossum's reputation. Hope the money's good. I guess.

What is the difference between what companies are calling "AI" today and the Bayesian filter we've used for spam detection since 1996?

It's not a joke, I'm genuinely asking.

This is quite the sentence from the AP:

"The second wave also deepens concern over the potentially indiscriminate casualties caused in the attacks, in which hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the pager happened to be — in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes, often with family or bystanders nearby."

That's some chutzpah, using the word "potentially" right before describing exactly why the attacks were indiscriminate by definition. That takes some real mental flexibility.

More info on GtkInspector in #gnome's developer documentation: https://developer.gnome.org/documentation/tools/inspector.html and here's how to use it in a nested phosh session: https://phosh.mobi/posts/phosh-dev-part-0/

Revealed: Far higher #pesticide residues allowed on food since #Brexit | #Pesticides | The Guardian

Brexit: the grift that keeps on poisoning

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/19/revealed-far-higher-pesticide-residues-allowed-on-food-since-brexit

#UK #Agriculture #Farming #Neonicotinoids #Wildlife #Environment #Politics

Good news everyone! My magnum opus on Scrum just dropped, clocking in at almost 9K words! Prepare a drink, strap yourselves in, and enter the Torment Nexus.

https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/tossed-salads-and-scrumbled-eggs/

Oh look, Starlink is continuing to screw up the sky in every way possible.

"Second-Generation Starlink Satellites Leak 30 Times More Radio Interference, Threatening Astronomical Observations"

https://www.astron.nl/starlink-satellites/

It's going to be "hilarious" when Starlink messes up the radio sky so badly that radio astronomers can't even use quasars to calibrate GPS anymore. There are so many consequences from all these stupid, cheaply built, disposable satellites. https://www.universetoday.com/105160/navigating-the-cosmos-by-quasar/

"At this very minute, Copilot is ingesting free software on Microsoft's proprietary platform, GitHub, with little respect for each program's license." Read more: https://u.fsf.org/44h

Hardware kill switches. Open source OS. No data collection. That's the Purism difference.
https://puri.sm/posts/smartphones-leaking-data/
#PrivacyMatters #DataSecurity #MadeInUSA #OpenSource #LibertyPhone #Purism #DigitalPrivacy #SecureComputing #NoDataLeaks #TechEthics #HardwareKillSwitch #PureOS #PrivacyByDesign #SecureSmartphone #TechFreedom

GNOME 47 is here! After months of hard work from contributors worldwide, this release brings many exciting updates and improvements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgcVp5RHy4Q

Find more details about what's new in #GNOME47 in the release notes: https://release.gnome.org/47/

#GNOME #ReleaseDay

If you haven't written to Congress about this, use our action center to do it today! https://act.eff.org/action/tell-congress-we-can-t-afford-more-bad-patents

The U.S. Senate is on the verge of giving a huge gift to patent trolls. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/09/senate-vote-tomorrow-could-give-helping-hand-patent-trolls

A children's book for understanding elections, which are never-ending. https://brianmcfadden.org/2024/09/13/meet-the-election-animals/

Couple of new @pmpress titles today! Taking the State out of the Body by Eliana Rubin, and Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1960–1990, edited by Andrew Nette and Samm Deighan: https://weightlessbooks.com/category/publisher/pm-press/?orderby=date&order=DESC&submit=Submit+Query

For those keeping track, How Comics Were Made corrections were sent to the printer today, and proofs were returned! I just dropped off the last borrowed art, too.

The book is still on track for shipping starting in mid-October! (I know, a Kickstarter that, knock wood, could be on time?)

You can pre-order a copy at https://howcomicsweremade.ink/order and find out more about the book at https://howcomicsweremade.ink/ – an overview, preview of pages (including an index page), and a full table of contents.

KOSA could block youth access to life-saving sexual and reproductive health resources. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/09/kosas-online-censorship-threatens-abortion-access

The discussions about whether to use AI helpers for creative work remind me of musician's unions attempting to ban synthesizers and drum machines in the early eighties [1], which sound funny today. In the meantime, musicians have learnt to combine these tools with their own skills in fantastic ways, covering the full range from "all electronics" to "no electronics" for our enjoyment.

We've come a long way, and it has taken time. #music #ai

[1] https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-union-passed-a-motion-to-ban-the-use-of-synths-drum-machines-and-any-electronic-devices-the-day-the-loony-musicians-union-tried-to-kill-the-synthesizer-which-also-happened-to-be-bob-moogs-birthday