Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

Well, whattyaknow: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72183413/1/dawson-v-meta-platforms-inc/ looks like my past speculations about Meta & WhatsApp's security - though vociferously challenged by many committed WhatsApp users - might well be gratified. At the very least, folks in the US thought there's enough evidence to level a class action suit.

We can grow something better! #Fediverse Punk Month 🖤

"We invest too much of our culture in centralized, for-profit, corporate social media platforms. These platforms enrich billionaires, expand surveillance, and fund the cult of capitalist war, all while trapping us with addictive algorithms that feed us mindless content. It feels necessary to be on these platforms to "stay connected", yet paradoxically they increase our isolation. Their purpose is to extract profit, not to help us connect.

Instead of jumping between online capitalist corporate platforms, we propose a radical alternative that's actually aligned with punk values: the Fediverse, a network for open, autonomous, decentralized, not-for-profit, and DIY social media.

The Fediverse is an interconnected network of social media platforms..."

More about: @The_Counterforce
https://fedi.the-counterforce.org/

#Punk #DIY #SocialMedia #Fedi #FediHelp #NeuHier #NewHere #Punkrock #DID #DIDIt

@autonomysolidarity @The_Counterforce every month is a fediverse punk month if you're a punk enough!

Today, we’re launching Encrypt It Already, a new website pushing tech companies to deliver stronger privacy protections to their users by enabling and expanding the use of end-to-end encryption across their products or services. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/01/introducing-encrypt-it-already

Update: Radio France removed the last paragraph in the piece that claimed " @Gargron had quit his own social network [Mastodon] because he was fed up the behavior of certain users."

But this preposterous lie is still in their radio broadcast. The clip has been up for 10 HOURS now.

Maybe @Mastodon could use this as leverage to set the record straight and get some exposure with French listeners.

I'm this close to getting my LinkedIn account out of hibernation to write to Radio France about it

If the actual, real bottleneck in your development pipeline is "I can't type the code fast enough and typing the code faster makes a difference" then I will posit that the *problem* in your development pipeline isn't that you can't type code fast enough.

"A common fallacy is to assume authors of incomprehensible code will somehow be able to express themselves lucidly and clearly in comments."
– @kevlin

"... or prompts." I would like to add.

I don't even post much on here and doubt this will reach many, but whatever: I lost my job recently and am looking for new work, would appreciate any leads. I'm a certified digital accessibility specialist with lived experience as a disabled trans person, and I also have extensive web developer experience.

Please get in touch if you know of any appropriate openings ❤️

https://software.opensuse.org/ is 503ing me @opensuse

From the estimable Montana Free Press:

When Border Patrol arrested a beloved mechanic in Froid, Montana, neighbors were forced to reckon with national immigration policy

Neighbors drove hundreds of miles to show support for Roberto Orozco-Ramirez at a court hearing Wednesday. “The community responded more than I ever thought,” his son said

https://montanafreepress.org/2026/01/28/froid-montana-border-patrol-arrest-immigration/

"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop!" ~Mario Savio

I learned a new phrase today: malicious optimism. "AI will cure cancer, just give money to AI, not to actual curing cancer" and stuff.

#AI #noAI #LLM #LLMs

"It’s easy to throw stones if you think about the job displacement and ecological destruction caused by this pointless technology. But such black-and-white, not-wanting-billionaires-to-get-richer thinking is, quite frankly, cruel. You can’t just measure the value of something in terms of “whether or not it makes everything worse for everyone.” The world is much more complicated than that."

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/please-dont-say-mean-things-about-the-ai-that-i-just-invested-a-billion-dollars-in

#AskFedi

I'm writing an article about W Social and I'm mentioning how it's basically a fork of Bluesky / is using its open source code.

Are there any Bluesky / ATProto experts on here willing to help me understand something, in a "explain it like I'm 5" fashion?

Thank you! 🙏

The discussion around AI should really just be ended with stories like today’s - AI driving a tripling of global gas capacity forecast in 2026 and using 450 billion litres of water a year: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/29/gas-power-ai-climate.

We weren’t on track to meet the Paris goals as it was. The last thing anyone with the faintest grasp of science and carbon emissions should be doing is adopting and promoting LLMs.

All the other arguments seem a distraction from the fact these are planet killing tools and businesses.

#India’s electric bus push has a deadly blind spot - https://restofworld.org/2026/india-electric-bus-accidents/ "Insufficient driver training, not faulty technology, is the leading cause, according to municipal corporations and civil advocates. " #ev

Wikipedia at 25 grapples with new challenges arising from #generative #AI - https://walledculture.org/wikipedia-at-25-grapples-with-new-challenges-arising-from-generative-ai/ we need #wikipedia more than ever, just as it is most a risk

Dear Fedi friends,

A quick update about the exposé I'm writing about that "European social media platform" that had a hurried announcement last week.

The piece is coming and it is JUICY.

But I'm postponing it till after FOSDEM because I got a couple of big scoops last night that I need to develop. Every day I receive new jaw-dropping revelations.

I'm currently channeling my inner Molly White and I'll take advantage of FOSDEM to get more expert opinions. Thanks for all the tips you sent in!

#Forgejo 14.0.2 was just released!

We recommend that all installations are upgraded to the latest version.

Check out the release notes and download it at https://forgejo.org/releases/. If you experience any issues with this release, please report to https://codeberg.org/forgejo/forgejo/issues.

#forgejorelease

I know this wouldn't even be helpful - I've witnessed them ask the same question at the slo{t,p} machine over and over again.

And I'm neither going to abdicate my professional standards nor drink this poison.

Let the fucking bubble burst and the perpetrators of this mess stand trial 😡