Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

“This is absolutely being framed as a tool of abuse,” EFF’s @evacide told @404mediaco. “Anything where the justification is ‘catch your partner cheating’ or ‘get peace of mind about your partner’ is enabling coercive control.” https://www.404media.co/tiktok-shop-sells-viral-gps-trackers-marketed-to-stalkers/

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- LAPD lies about attack on reporters
- Israel murders journalists in Gaza to silence reporting
- Two years since ‘a massive failure’ of the justice system in Kansas
- Plus, what we're reading...

https://freedom.press/issues/lapd-lies-about-attack-on-reporters/

“There’s a lack of imagination for the worst case scenario,” EFF’s Beryl Lipton told Government Technology News. The only way to definitively keep this data from those who aren't supposed to have it is by not collecting and storing it in the first place. https://www.govtech.com/public-safety/d-c-takeover-shows-how-cities-can-lose-control-of-surveillance

What fresh hell is this `share.google` domain I'm suddenly seeing all over the place? Are we doing a throwback to the days when people thought URL shorteners were a good idea?

Lufthansa is now Air COVID 😱

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/08/boycott-lufthansa-removed-passenger-from-flight-for-wearing-a-medical-mask.html

PM's own Ramsey Kanaan was interviewed: “They’re replicating digitally the model of public libraries,” said Kanaan, who values the “intellectual commons” over “corporations big and small doing their best to monetize everything.”
Read the full article here: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/98310-library-startup-briet-wants-to-revolutionize-e-book-sales-not-licensing.html

Affordability, Not Volatility: #Renewables’ Cost Advantage Grows - https://rmi.org/affordability-not-volatility-renewables-cost-advantage-grows/ "In 2024, more than 90 percent of new global renewable energy capacity was cheaper." #murica getting left behind thanks to #trump energy madness (v @azeemazhar)

Oh look, here they are being totally in touch and not at all psychopathic.

DNC Leadership Pressured Gen Z Member to Kill Resolution on Banning Arms to Israel

https://theintercept.com/2025/08/15/dnc-chair-israel-arms-weapons-gaza/?

Gotta love it when the Democrat leadership shows it's true colors. I actually had to listen to this to confirm - yup, she's praising Trump for his foreign policy. I can't comprehend the level of cognitive dissonance it must take for liberals to maintain the thought that these people are somehow going to save them from anything or anyone. If Hilary thought the Rs would elect her, she'd be one of them in a heartbeat.

Remember that this article is shrieking about a 17% decline in European tourists visiting the USA … back in *March*, only two months into the Trump administration and six months ago.

The endless litany of news about abusive ICE behaviour since then means tourism is probably down significantly further by now.

(I know I for one cancelled all US visit plans after last November 7th. Otherwise right now I'd be in Seattle.)
https://mastodonapp.uk/@marqle/115044978561690299

One more reason NOT to buy a car from Volkswagen: escalating enshittification that makes customers pay a monthly fee to "unlock" features already built into the car.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62weyp4qqgo

"There Is (Still) No Ethical Use of AI" by my brilliant colleague @melikhovo

https://matthewcheney.net/blog/there-is-still-no-ethical-use-of-ai/

#AI #HigherEd

I used to think that phishing tests and training were pretty pointless (like this study says), but I recently changed my mind.

Most people use tests as a (misguided) way to train employees. Instead, the value in tests is finding out how often phishing doesn't work, and how quickly employees will detect and report a non-targeted phishing attempt. This aids risk analysis and scoring, when phishing is the initial attack vector.

#infosec #phishing

https://www.scworld.com/news/phishing-training-is-pretty-pointless-researchers-find

I use old laptops as my primary home server instead of mini PCs because they come with a built-in multi-hour UPS and a crash cart.

Using old phones offers similar advantages, in particular if your alternative was a Raspberry Pi.

https://hackaday.com/2025/08/16/from-smartphone-to-a-home-server/

When Australian artificial intelligence expert Dr Kobi Leins declined a medical specialist’s request to use AI transcription software during her child’s upcoming appointment, the practice told her [she] was "welcome to seek an alternative" provider.

[...]

It was a system whose privacy and security capabilities Leins had previously reviewed as part of her work in AI governance — and one she said she would not want her child’s data “anywhere near”.

https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2025/kobi-refused-a-doctors-ai-she-was-told-to-go-elsewhere.html

Is It Still ‘#Trump Derangement Syndrome’ If All The Predictions Were Accurate? - https://www.techdirt.com/2025/08/12/is-it-still-trump-derangement-syndrome-if-all-the-predictions-were-accurate/ same happened with #brexit: we warned, they mocked, we were right, they were wrong

#Trump Confesses He Will Bankrupt the Country Unless #SCOTUS Lets Him Break the Law - https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/13/trump-confesses-he-will-bankrupt-the-country-unless-scotus-lets-him-break-the-law/ "the Roberts Court won’t dare uphold the law, for fear of being held accountable for the financial ruin Trump is rushing us towards." just insane stuff

Everything I Know about Self-Publishing - https://kk.org/thetechnium/everything-i-know-about-self-publishing/ kevin kelly's wisdom based on many years' experience; worth reading for insights

Horrifying transformation turns ordinary rabbits into nightmare creatures as virus spreads through Colorado - https://boingboing.net/2025/08/13/horrifying-transformation-turns-ordinary-rabbits-into-nightmare-creatures-as-virus-spreads-through-colorado.html yikes

The Online Safety Act: How not to do internet regulation - https://www.technollama.co.uk/the-online-safety-act-how-not-to-do-internet-regulation "could inadvertently push UK citizens towards less regulated platforms or encourage the development of parallel digital ecosystems that operate entirely outside British oversight." yup #osa