Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

Debtors Prison for superrich deadbeats: an idea whose time has come. https://wandering.shop/@cstross/112070923274019917

On the latest episode of #ThisIsAmerica, we roundup the news and direct action across the US, from #StopCopCity to rent strikes to blockades in solidarity with #Palestine.

We then speak to antifascist Jermey White, about the ongoing case of several antifascists in #SanDiego who face felonies for protesting a group of violent Proud Boys and American Guard members.

We also speak to two people in #Austin about the upcoming 'Smash By Smash West' counter-summit and @franklinlopez speaks on his brand new book for kids and the need for more space for parents and kids within autonomous movements.

https://itsgoingdown.org/this-is-america-194

Big Tech likes to push the trope that things are moving and changing too quickly and there's no way that regulators could really keep up --- better (on their view) to just let the innovators innovate. This is false: many of the issues stay stable over quite some time. Case in point: Here's me **5 years ago** pointing out that large language models shouldn't be used as sources of information about the world, and that doing so poses risks to the information ecosystem:

https://x.com/emilymbender/status/1766634514946945414?s=20

Hey everyone! I'm making a thing again, and I'd love if some knowledgeable people threw in some submissions in the form of resources, stories, suggestions, or questions!

It's a project about tech-enabled abuse.

https://codeberg.org/alicewatson/on-tech-enabled-abuse

Latest comic: Floored

#inequality #unhoused #homeless #cartoon #comic #travel

Microsoft says Kremlin-backed hackers accessed its source and internal systems

"Midnight Blizzard is now using stolen secrets in follow-on attacks against customers."
https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/microsoft-says-kremlin-backed-hackers-accessed-its-source-and-internal-systems/

If critiquing the incumbent president is a threat to democracy, then we're already not in one. https://brianmcfadden.org/2024/03/01/pleas-from-the-president/

Lucy Parsons, Black anarchist and worker's rights activist (described by the Chicago PD as "more dangerous than a thousand rioters") died on March 7th, 1942.

Lucy fought tirelessly for the rights of the poor in the face of an increasingly oppressive industrial economic system.

The PRESS Act is nonpartisan because press freedom is nonpartisan.

It's time to pass this bill and protect all journalists, regardless of politics or mainstream credentials, from government spying.

https://nypost.com/2024/03/07/us-news/bill-shielding-press-from-feds-could-reach-bidens-desk-this-year-schumer-says/

BBC says a British judge ordered Trump to "pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called “shocking and scandalous" false claims that harmed his reputation."

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/trump-ordered-pay-legal-fees-after-failed-lawsuit-107891658

What the BBC didn't say is that Trump, based on his record of stiffing people, will never, ever pay this judgment.

The safeguards ElevenLabs put in to prevent people from cloning politician voices ahead of the election can be bypassed in 2 seconds, which we did accidentally and then were able to repeat over and over

https://www.404media.co/elevenlabs-block-on-cloning-bidens-voice-easily-bypassed/

So, I’ve had two good pieces of news for the ActivityPub book from O’Reilly Media. The first one is that I finished the 6th of 7 chapters this week (on using and creating ActivityPub extensions). It was a gruelling chapter that I had to reorganise a couple of times to clarify, but I’m so happy that it’s in the can.

The second big piece of news is that the first two chapters of the ActivityPub book are up for early access review on O’Reilly Media’s Learning Platform. This is a big deal for me — people have started reading and interacting with the book in the real world. Mind blown!

If you are interested in ActivityPub, and you have access to the O’Reilly Media Learning Platform, I would take it as a big favour if you would read what’s available now (Introduction, ActivityPub API) and give me your feedback.

Two more chapters should be available soon — Activity Stream 2.0, and the federation protocol — I’ll post here when I’ve got more news.

Thanks to everyone who’s been helpful or supportive in this process. I’m looking forward to the full availability of this book in the coming months.

https://evanp.me/2024/03/07/early-access-to-oreilly-media-activitypub-book/

Seems to me that the only likely purpose of the gov't's cuts to the public service is to soften up services for 'PPP's (Public Private Partnerships) with the eventual aim of making all public property privately owned (by the very few very wealthy people who funded all 3 parties' campaigns).

Purism Announces First Public Offering on StartEngine.

Off to a fast start, we are excited to announce that we are north of $250K invested, and rising quickly, we thank those of you who have invested in tech freedom, privacy, and security!

If you want an alternative choice regarding private, secure, and safe smartphones, tablet PCs, operating systems, apps, and PCs, now is the time for you to invest in Purism.

Invest here: https://www.startengine.com/offering/purism

It's the off-season for #cycling , so I did some measurements for a hub #dynamo and published them on my #blog.

No one on the 'net seems to show how voltage changes depending on load, so I measured that.

Results:
- a dynamo is not a actually well modeled as a current source
- voltage spikes will fry your #electronics , but you can prevent it

https://dorotac.eu/posts/dynamo/

#hacking #BikeTooter #cycling

Greek Orthodox church calls for excommunication of MPs after same-sex marriage vote - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/07/greek-orthodox-church-calls-for-excommunication-of-mps-after-same-sex-marriage-vote "Ecclesiastical outrage grows after legislation passes, with authorities on Corfu banning two MPs from religious rites" gotta love the christian love and compassion to all... #cant #bigotry #greece

Daniel Hale is right. If presidents who act out of carelessness get the benefit of the doubt under the Espionage Act, so should whistleblowers who act out of conscience.

They shouldn’t be treated like spies for trying to help, not hurt, their country. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/3/5/joe-biden-the-espionage-act-and-me

There's a certain segment of people that seems to believe that voters can fail the Democratic party, but the Democratic party can never fail voters. The GOP has followed its base into fascism, but the Democratic party is to the right of its base and consistently derides any efforts to excite the base as unrealistic.

The release of KDE 3 was what convinced me to switch from OS/2 to Linux. it didn't have the advanced UI features of the Warp desktop shell, but it was a complete enough UI that I felt it would give me th eablative shielding I needed to start using Linux on a daily basis, learning as I went. I found useful tools (Inkscape, StarOffice) to ease the pain of transition.

Just as I got KDE 3 to the point where I thought "hey, my desktop is pretty solid now" they released KDE 4.

This graphic from the #BBC is telling. It shows the percentage that various income groups in the #UK pay in #tax. What can’t be overlooked is how much the #poorest end up paying as a percentage of their #income. So while the richest can boast how much they are contributing in absolute terms to government services, the poor are paying nearly as much as a percentage of their already meagre spending power.

#Economics #Politics #Tories #Poverty