marc0s @marc0s@librem.one

If passed, the Iranian Parliament's "Protection Bill" will require international tech companies to have a legal representative in Iran to comply with laws, and cooperate with the Iranian government in surveilling users and censoring online spaces. https://www.article19.org/resources/iran-parliaments-protection-bill-will-hand-over-complete-control-of-the-internet-to-authorities/

It shouldn’t have to happen to you for it to matter to you

Federated Stories are almost ready 😁 #pixelfed #stories #activitypub

Remember to take care of yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

The 2 most northerly statues of Lenin on earth, in Barentsburg and Pyramiden, respectively, both settlements in Svalbard.

The 9 Stages of Debugging:
🤔😕😫🤔🤬😲🤦🏻‍♀️😅😎

As you may have seen, #Apple is about to start scanning files on #iPhones for illegal material (not just in #iCloud but on your phone). At the same time, univ. researchers who developed a similar scanning system are warning against its use:

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/08/20/university-researchers-csam-dangerous

Tl:dr - it's way, way too easy to swap out what is being scanned for, this particular slope is far too slippery. Once you search for one thing, it's trivial to scan for pretty much anything else.

So, what's the alternative?

🧵 (1/4)

➡️ @mobian - Mobile version of Debian Linux

➡️ @postmarketOS - Mobile version of Alpine Linux

➡️ @ubports - Mobile version of Ubuntu Linux

➡️ @plasmamobile - FOSS smartphone interface developed by @kde

Probably the easiest option right now is buying a PinePhone or an /e/ degooglised phone, as they have their OSes preinstalled.

However, all these projects deserve support so that alternative phones can become as functional and as easy to use as possible.

(4/4)

If you're looking for a chance to get paid to write meaningful open source software, here's one of those rare opportunities. Fully remote.

We're hiring additional software engineers to join the SecureDrop team, an open source platform to protect journalists & whistleblowers. Our posting outlines the specific skillsets we're looking for:

https://freedom.press/jobs/sr-software-engineers-securedrop/

If this describes you, please get in touch! Happy to answer questions.

An argument that's often made is that piracy harms content creators. That music piracy impacts the revenue that artists earn through royalties, etc. The gist of the argument is "piracy hurts those who make the content you love".

Whether you believe that or not, do you know who this DOESN'T apply to?

Do you know who receive NO royalties for their published work, and in fact must PAY just to get published? Academics.

You should feel no guilt for obtaining free scientific papers. The authors are losing nothing; their research is being seen by more people than it would otherwise.

So why do they pay to get published? Reputable academic journals serve as a clearing-house. Getting your paper published in a journal is a mark of quality, indicating that your paper has been peer-reviewed and accepted as a valid contribution to science and knowledge. And I have no problem with this; people pay for certifications all the time.

What I have a problem with is that the journal, who have already been paid to publish the article, then turn around and charge the general public for access to the article. (I guess it's usually free if you're a student, but still.) Essentially the journal is taking ownership of, and restricting the dissemination of the scientific knowledge that they were paid to publish.

Publish: from the Latin publicare, "to make public". If it's behind a paywall, it's not publically available; so technically, it's not actually published.

Consider also the rise of "predatory journals", something that can only exist because of this business model. Predatory journals basically exist to scam academics into "publishing" their work in a journal that is neither peer-reviewed nor reputable. They also make money off those who want to advance an agenda; predatory journals will happily take money to publish just about any paper, including those which were outright lies or would never pass a real peer review.

The only ones who benefit financially from all of this is the journals themselves.

So, pirating academic papers may harm the journal it's published in, as they lose out on potential access fees. But the authors don't lose anything financially. And they also don't lose any value in publishing; they are paying for the legitimacy that being reviewed and published grants their work, and the journal still receives the publishing fee. And the journals will always get plenty of money flowing in from all of the universities that provide access to their students.

Who's really losing out here? Anyway, SciHub is a thing.

Terrorist watchlist exposed via misconfigured Elasticsearch cluster
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/secret-terrorist-watchlist-with-2-million-records-exposed-online/

(submitted by david_shaw)

OK. This is quite technical. But TL;DR - the neural hash system #Apple uses for their CSAM detection has been confronted with its first possible collision by some good hackers. This dog might be marked by the system as suspicious. Ouch. Issue 1 at https://github.com/AsuharietYgvar/AppleNeuralHash2ONNX

It's summertime, but we're still working hard! Version 1.3 of #Mobilizon is now available. Discover all new features on https://joinmobilizon.org/en/news#21-08-17

« After years of a push to digitise databases in the country, and introduce digital identity cards and biometrics for voting, activists warn these technologies can be used to target and attack vulnerable groups.

“We understand that the Taliban is now likely to have access to various biometric databases and equipment in #Afghanistan ,” the Human Rights First group wrote on Twitter on Monday. »

https://www.reuters.com/article/afghanistan-tech-conflict/afghans-scramble-to-delete-digital-history-evade-biometrics-idINL8N2PO1FH

A minke whale. And yes, this is my best photo of a minke whale ever. It's pretty hard to take a good shot to them.

*Against*

RT @AFP@twitter.com

#BREAKING Macron vows EU initiative to protect against migrant flows from Afghanistan

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1427332973897166849

Inside Racism HQ: How home-grown neo-Nazis are plotting a white revolution

https://www.theage.com.au/national/inside-racism-hq-how-home-grown-neo-nazis-are-plotting-a-white-revolution-20210812-p58i3x.html

RT @Miquel_R@twitter.com

Infiltrados en una red neonazi.

Periodistas y antifascistas se infiltran en los grupos neonazis australianos y revelan sus identidades y sus planes: están armados y preparados para la guerra.

La investigación publicada hoy en @theage@twitter.com:
https://www.theage.com.au/nazis-next-door

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/Miquel_R/status/1427149408412569601

Debian 11 “Bullseye” Released
https://www.debian.org/News/2021/20210814

(submitted by antanas)