Nvidia's CUDA platform now supports RISC-V — support brings open source instruction set to AI platforms, joining x86 and Arm
At the 2025 RISC-V Summit in China, Nvidia announced that its CUDA software platform will be made compatible with the RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA) on the CPU side of things. The news was confirmed during a presentation during a RISC-V event. This is a major step in enabling the RISC-V ISA-based CPUs in performance demanding applications.
The announcement makes it clear that RISC-V can now serve as the main processor for CUDA-based systems, a role traditionally filled by x86 or Arm cores. While nobody even barely expects RISC-V in hyperscale datacenters any time soon, RISC-V can be used on CUDA-enabled edge devices, such as Nvidia's Jetson modules. However, it looks like Nvidia does indeed expect RISC-V to be in the datacenter.
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MEGA launches new large file transfer service Transfer.it (without end-to-end encryption) as WeTransfer competitor with no file size limit.
For over a decade, MEGA has been the trusted choice for secure, encrypted file sharing. But not every file transfer needs end-to-end encryption. Sometimes, simplicity and speed matter more, especially when dealing with large files or recipients unfamiliar with the limitations around their browsers having to decrypt their downloads.That’s why we created Transfer.it, a new service from MEGA designed for effortless file transfers, without end-to-end encryption.
Introducing Transfer.it – effortless file sharing, powered by MEGA - MEGA Blog
Transfer.it for fast, simple, and secure file transfers - Effortless file sharing, powered by MEGA.Team MEGA (MEGA)
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Google removes nearly 11,000 YouTube propaganda channels linked to China, Russia in global disinformation purge.
TAG Bulletin: Q2 2025
Our bulletin covering coordinated influence operation campaigns terminated on our platforms in Q2 2025.Billy Leonard (Google)
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Lyle Lovett - Release Me (2012)
La sorte toccata da tempo ad altri colleghi è giunta anche per Lyle Lovett: il musicista texano scioglie il quasi trentennale rapporto con il colosso country della Curb records (seppure in anni recenti passato per le maglie della Lost Highway) per affrontare una inevitabile indipendenza... Leggi e ascolta...
A Self-hosted, BSD-native Gemini Protocol Server Stack
For those who are adventurous enough to explore the non-http corners of the Internet, the Gemini protocol is a delightful experience to use. It has been around a number of years, making the biggest bang around the time when discontent with the web’s general demise started to reach current heights (so maybe around 2022).
My “capsule”, Vigilia, is self-hosted, and has been since its inception. It used to run on a disused Macbook Pro running Fedora Server, under our TV at home, but since then I have become much more confident in using OpenBSD. It used to run on a little Python CGI script I wrote, which also started to feel too bloated and complex, with too many bells and whistles that I frankly had no need for. It was time to make a change, so I replaced the old Macbook with a Raspberry Pi, and Fedora with OpenBSD, and then took my time to figure out a new “status quo”.
0. Philosophy
I wished to create a more Unix-minded stack. The more I have been using OpenBSD and Unix systems the more I have been sold on the “everything is a file” philosophy, as well as opting to use internal tools as much as possible rather than reinvent the wheel on my own. That is to say, I’d much rather work with simple scripts and shell commands than write complicated and buggy code.
So with that in mind, here’s the stack that I settled on after a some trial and error:
1. Hardware
I have absolutely no intention to expose our home IP address via DynDNS or similar. However, I like to be in control of my data as much as possible: ideally as little of my data should be hosted on “someone else’s computer”. If I can’t unplug the hard disk and put it in a drawer, I can’t guarantee it’s security from a hack.
So Vigilia is actually two servers. The server with the actual data is at home, in running on a Raspberry Pi 4B. But as a “public front” vigilia runs a reverse-proxying gemini server on a standard VPS over at OpenBSD.amsterdam.
2. Network setup
I will not go into the intricacies of the dual-wan setup in this post I have at home; but to keep things connected to each other I am using Tailscale to tie the servers together in a Virtual LAN. This is incredibly handy because they get to have easy to remember static IP addresses, all over an encrypted channel.
So here’s the rough idea:
- Vigilia.cc’s DNS records resolve to the OpenBSD.Amsterdam VPS running
gmid
- VPS and home server both run
tailscale
- VPS reverse-proxies incoming gemini connections to home server
3. Gemini server config
Both the VPS and the local server run [url=https://gmid.omarpolo.com]gmid[/url]
. It’s a fast and simple gemini server that mirrors OpenBSD’s httpd
; which means it is very easy to configure, it is stable and secure. It can run in chroot
ed environments, and as its own user, so it’s just a Good Thing all over. Most importantly, it can relay and reverse-proxy TCP connections with sni
fields intact, which is something for example OpenBSD’s relayd
, built primarily for HTTP, does not do.
My gmid
config files look something like this:
### REMOTE_SERVER:/etc/gmid.conf#user "_gmid" # running it as its own user to achieve privilege separationchroot "/var/gemini" # and in a chroot so it can't just access random bits of the file systemlog { syslog # log to /var/log/messages}vigilia_pem = "/etc/ssl/PUBLICKEY.pem"vigilia_key = "/etc/ssl/private/PRIVATEKEY.key"public_ip = "46.23.93.41" # OpenBSD Amsterdam VPS' public addresshomeserver = "100.REDACTED.REDACTED.101" # TailScale IP of the home machine public_port = "1965"homeserver_port = "2965"server "vigilia.cc" { listen on $public_ip port $public_port cert $vigilia_pem key $vigilia_key proxy { proxy-v1 # this directive enables some advanced features like forwarding IP Addresses of visitors verifyname off # I found I need to specify this somehow, maybe because of self-signed certs sni "vigilia.cc" relay-to $homeserver $homeserver_port }}
This above allows to listen for connections to vigilia.cc:1965
and forward them to HOME_SERVER:2965
. So thus the homeserver has the following configuration:
### HOME_SERVER:/etc/gmid.conf#user "_gmid" chroot "/var/gemini" log { syslog }internal_address = "100.REDACTED.REDACTED.101" # TailScale IP of the home machine internal_port = "2965"# The below are the same certificates that are in use on the VPSvigilia_pem = "/etc/ssl/PUBLICKEY.pem"vigilia_key = "/etc/ssl/private/PRIVATEKEY.key"server "vigilia.cc" { listen on $internal_address port $internal_port proxy-v1 # add proxy-v1 support for relayed connections cert $vigilia_pem key $vigilia_key log on location "*" { auto index on # enables directory listing }}
4. Getting the files to the Server
Because I am lazy I want to edit files locally and I want them to magically appear on my capsule. So I am using [url=https://syncthing.net/]syncthing[/url]
to copy things over automagically from DESKTOP:~/public_gemini
to HOME_SERVER:/var/gemini
.
Syncthing runs most reliably as my own user, I found. To do this it is best to follow the documentation for the Syncthing OpenBSD package — but basically it involves starting it via the user’s crontab
with the “@reboot
” directive. But as it runs as my own user, I need to set the permissions properly. HOME_SERVER:/var/gemini
is owned by the _gmid
user in the _gmid
group so I also added MYUSER
on both machines to the same _gmid
group, and made sure MYUSER
has write access:
#!/bin/sh# HOME_SERVERusermod -G _gmid MUYSERchown -r _gmid /var/geminichmod -r ug=rwx,o=r /var/gemini
Then I set up syncthing on HOME_SERVER
. As it is running headless, I needed to access the web interface, which I achieved via SSH tunneling:
$ ssh -L 9999:localhost:8384 HOME_SERVER
This way I could open a browser on DESKTOP
and access the server’s Syncthing settings.
So here are the settings:
On the DESKTOP:
- Syncthing web interface -> Add folder
- Folder path:
~/public_gemini
- Folder label: Gemini files (or something)
- Ignore patterns: “
*.sock
” (Unix sockets might confuse the poor thing) - Sharing: HOME_SERVER
- Pause syncing for now
On HOME_SERVER:
- Establish ssh tunnel to HOME_SERVER as described above
- Open remote Syncthing webinterface on DESKTOP: localhost:9999
- Accept the incoming share request for “Gemini files” from DESKTOP; but point it to /var/gemini
- Folder path:
/var/gemini
- Folder label Gemini files
- Advanced: UNTICK “Wach for changes” because OpenBSD doesn’t seem to allow Syncthing to poke around in
/var
with those various Go modules and you’d just get errors, like I did - Check the Ignore patterns — if it didn’t synchronise “
*.sock
” then specify it manually
On DESKTOP:
- Unpause syncing
Now any file you write into DESKTOP:~/public_gemini
will sync across to HOME_SERVER:/var/gemini.
Yay!
6. Setting up automatic static site generation
Now if you are content to maintain your capsule manually, you are done. As I said I am lazy so I want my little “ssg” script, Lumen, to create index pages for each directory for me. Lumen, I promise, will be made available once I tidy it up.
Lumen basically lists all files recursively and generates an index.gmi
for each directory. This means that Lumen has to be re-run each time the folder changes. OpenBSD is acquiring some degree of file watching natively.1 However [url=https://openports.pl/path/sysutils/entr]entr[/url]
already exists in ports.
It took a bit of tweaking but basically here’s the command I ended up using, adapted from one of the examples provided in the entr
manpage:
$ while sleep 0.1; do find /var/gemini/vigilia.cc/* | entr -nd python3 /var/gemini/cgi/lumen.py -d /var/gemini/vigilia.cc; done
What it does is, in a loop it recursively lists all files every 0.1 seconds in /var/gemini/vigilia.cc
, and feeds the output to entr
. Then entr
runs with -n
to specify a non-interactive session (in interactive sessions it also responds to e.g. keystrokes and tty changes – so to be safe, I don’t want that); and with -d
to specify it should be looking for changes in the parent folder of any changing files. The looping and the -d
directive were added because sometimes I ran into issues when a file got deleted: entr
just quit because it could not find the removed file in a “stale” file list it was provided on launch. Lumen needs a -d
argument as well to specifiy which directory it needs to work on.
7. System config
Because there are a few other servers like “auld.vigilia.cc” also running on the home machine (the configs for wich aren’t reproduced above for brevity’s sake) and because those rely on a number of CGI scripts I have to start them on launch. I ended up using supervisor
d for these. Supervisor is a cool little daemon for launching things. I could use rc
but supervisord
allows me to specify a few extra bits more easily, like redirecting output to syslog
and other things.
So for HOME_SERVER, here is my supervisord
configuration:
#### HOME_SERVER:/etc/supervisord.conf## [... snip ...][program:gmid]command=/usr/local/bin/gmid -f ; the program (relative uses PATH, can take args)process_name=%(program_name)s ; process_name expr (default %(program_name)s)directory=/var/gemini/ ; directory to cwd to before exec (def no cwd)priority=100 ; the relative start priority (default 999)autostart=true ; start at supervisord start (default: true)startretries=3 ; max # of serial start failures when starting (default 3)autorestart=true ; when to restart if exited after running (def: unexpected)killasgroup=true ; SIGKILL the UNIX process group (def false)stdout_syslog=true ; send stdout to syslog with process name (default false)stderr_syslog=true ; send stderr to syslog with process name (default false)[program:lumen-vigilia_cc]command=/bin/ksh -c 'while sleep 0.1; do find /var/gemini/vigilia.cc/* | entr -nd python3 /var/gemini/cgi/lumen.py -d /var/gemini/vigilia.cc; done'process_name=%(program_name)sdirectory=/var/gemini/priority=102autostart=truestartretries=3autorestart=trueuser=MYUSERNAMEstderr_syslog=truestdout_syslog=true
There are other directives that start the CGI scripts for “auld.vigilia.cc” in the config, omitted here.
Note that you can specify “priority” to control in what order you want the scripts to run. I first want the gemini server to run (100); then I want it to run the CGI scripts (101 — left out of the above example); then I want to run the static site generator’s watcher (102). Notice I am telling explicitly it to run /bin/ksh
with a command specified in -c
; this is because simply feeding it a complex command confuses supervisor
d, as I discovered.
One nice feature of supervisord
is that it can redirect both stderr
and stdout
to syslog, so any commands and processes supervisord
runs will have their output sent to /var/log/messages
, neatly tagged and organised.
Conclusion
So there you have it — my Gemini stack from start to finish. It was a really fun experiment to start to use OpenBSD, instead of reinventing the wheel, or relying on some monolithic CGI scripts. You can do quite a lot with just system internals and a few packages.
- The
watch
utility was added to 7.7-current on 2025-05-19; it will make its way into 7.8 hopefully. ↩︎
Adapted from the original article “Vigilia’s New Gemini Stack” published via Gemini at vigilia.cc on 21 July 2025.
Trying Guix: A Nixer's Impressions
One aspect of Guix I found to be really fascinating: That there is basically no conceptual difference between defining a package as a private build script, and using a package as part of the system.
Let me explain: Say you wrote a little program in Python which uses a C library (or a Rust library with C ABI) which is in the distribution. Then, in Guix you would put that librarie's name and needed version into a manifest.scm
file which lists your dependency, and makes it available if you run guix shell
in that folder. It does not matter whether you run the full Guix System, or just use Guix as s package manager.
Now, if you want to install your little python program as part of your system, you'll write an install script or package definition, which is nothing else than a litle piece of Scheme code which contains the name of your program, your dependency, and the information needed to call python's build tool.
The point I am making is now that the only thing which is different between your local package and a distributed package in Guix is that distributed packages are package definitions hosted in public git repos, called 'channels'. So, if you put your package's source into a github or codeberg repo, and the package definition into another repo, you now have published a package which is a part of Guix (in your own channel). Anybody who wants to install and run your package just needs your channel's URL and the packages name. It is a fully decentral system.
In short, in Guix you have built-in something like Arch's AUR, just in a much more elegant and clean manner - and in a fully decentralized way.
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OpenAI and UK sign deal to use AI in public services
OpenAI and UK sign deal to use AI in public services
The US tech firm behind ChatGPT say it will work with the UK government to "deliver prosperity for all".Mitchell Labiak (BBC News)
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Fedora Must (Carefully) Embrace Flathub
Fedora Must (Carefully) Embrace Flathub
Motivation Opportunity is upon us! For the past few years, the desktop Linux user base has been growing at a historically high rate. StatCounter currently has us at 4.14% desktop OS market share...Michael Catanzaro (Michael Catanzaro's Blog)
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L'enorme braccio reclutato per agevolare la rinascita del nucleare in Gran Bretagna - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
L'enorme braccio reclutato per agevolare la rinascita del nucleare in Gran Bretagna - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
Affermò la profezia: “E quando il destino dovrà compiersi, il giorno si trasformerà in notte, e il normale ciclo diurno sembrerà finire prima dell’ora del tramonto.Jacopo (Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri)
Signal stories shows what I want social media to be
Signal stories shows what I want social media to be
I initially didn't understand the point of stories in apps like WhatsApp or Snapchat. I never really used any app with such a feature.SGued
I think we need different terms for the different ways people want to use these services.
Some want to reach the world (old school twitter etc) while others just want to reach friends/family (Facebook etc). I guess others want something more like a messaging service. IDK
Choosing a Linux Distro
Hi there. I m changing away from windows. I already tested some stuff. I started with fedora GNOME. But GNOME wasn't for me I felt. So I did go with Linux mint cinnamon. That felt better but not as snappy and fast as fedora. Then I did go with fedora KDE plasma and man I like KDE plasma. That's a thing for me. Then I tried because of recommendations popos with cosmic. I don't know why but it didn't felt right. So another recommendation later I tried cachy is with KDE. KDE was good but catchy gave me some erros and problems so back to fedora with KDE.
Now my real question.
1. Manjaro Linux is a European distro? Only I often see it with popos and Linux mint and fedora that these are good beginner distros? Is it stable? Customisation in KDE is the same everywhere I guess? Does many people use it? Is it really beginner friendly and snappy? Is it stable?
2. Opensuse also has KDE but it seems that its not a beginner distro. Also online its not often spoken about. Is it harder to use? Or is it beginner friendly? Customisation KDE again. Is it stable or does it break often? Does many people use it.
3. Fedora, manjaro, opensuse? Which off these with KDE is most beginner friendly and stable. Is used much so I can find help when something is going on. Customisable. Stable?
Or any other Good KDE Distros out there.
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OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is excellent and no less beginner friendly than any other major distro, so I wouldn’t worry. It really is one of the most underrated distros out there.
Kubuntu could be a good option for you, but I recommend doing the “Minimal” install to avoid Snaps and bloat.
If you are mostly about gaming and flatpak, then consider Bazzite. You can’t just install packages on Bazzite, so if you need to do things that aren’t already built in then you need to use containers or, as a last resort, create a new layers with rpm-ostree.
For the record, Arch and it’s offshoots don’t especially resonate with me, either. I want my OS to “just work”, but at the same time I want to have the ability to go wild whenever and however I feel like it.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with Bazzite lately and I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to most Linux newbies, especially gamers who want their system to “just work.” It’s also a very interesting system for jaded old Linux users because it works so differently than we’re used to. The “everything needs to be a container” paradigm is very interesting and has a lot of security and stability benefits.
If you want more control and freedom, then OpenSUSE is definitely the best option here. I’d only fallback to Kubuntu if there was some software you need that only ships in .deb and you have no other options. I’m not a fan of Canonical or what they’ve done to the Ubuntu ecosystem.
Golden Age of Iraq
Before war and hardship reshaped its destiny, Iraq flourished in a golden era of art, architecture, and modern life.
Baghdad in the 1950s to '70s was a beacon of culture and intellect where poets, professors, and families shared spaces with sculpted monuments and bustling cafés. Red double-decker buses cruised wide boulevards, fashion echoed European trends, and the spirit of progress filled the air.
This was a nation confidently looking to the future, rich in history and proud of its identity, an Iraq now remembered through photos, memories, and the enduring resilience of its people.
China starts building world’s biggest hydropower dam
Construction of the world’s biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China’s premier has said, calling it the “project of the century”.
The huge structure is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory.Li Qiang made the comments on Saturday, at a ceremony in the region to mark the start of the build, leading Chinese markets to rise on the expectation of the long-planned megaproject, first announced in 2020 as part of China’s 14th five-year plan.
The project announced by Li is planned for the lower reaches of the river, according to the official state news outlet, Xinhua. Xinhua reported that the project would consist of five cascade hydropower stations, producing an estimated 300 million megawatt hours of electricity annually at a cost of about 1.2tn yuan (£124bn).
In comparison, the Three Gorges dam cost 254.2bn yuan and generates 88.2m MWh.
The Yarlung Tsangpo megadam will reportedly harness the power created by the river dropping 2km in about 50km as it winds through a canyon on a U-shaped bend.
India and Bangladesh have voiced concerns over the project, fearing the water could be held or diverted away from them.
In response, officials have said China does not seek “water hegemony” and never pursues “benefits for itself at the expense of its neighbours”.
China starts building world’s biggest hydropower dam
1.2tn yuan project has broken ground in Tibet, premier says, despite fears of downstream nations India and BangladeshHelen Davidson (The Guardian)
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5 cascades is cheating, booooooo
Also, DAMn
The lists goes on with South America and China dunking on everyone else.
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I know about some disadvantages of dams but I'm not sure if - in many regions - we have much of an alternative to buffer water over different seasons. We used to have huge glaciers in the mountains which retained snow in winter and released water in summer. But as more and more glaciers disappear, we have to come up with artificial measures to store water for agriculture, drinking water etc.
If we then can harvest electricity on top, that's a nice byproduct from my perspective.
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China blows up 300 dams, shuts hydropower stations to save Yangtze River habitat
Scientists hope the sturgeon known as the Yangtze’s last giant and other rare species may return to their breeding grounds as a result.Dannie Peng (South China Morning Post)
If I can find a link, I'll update this.
I guess lemmygrad is blocked on that instance? There's people talking about that under your comment.
China develops new method to mass-produce high-quality semiconductors
China develops new method to mass-produce high-quality semiconductors
Chinese scientists have developed a novel method for the mass production of high-quality golden semiconductor indium selenide, paving the way for manufacturing a new generation of chips that outperform current silicon-based technology.CGTN
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What is the exact meaning of the "Banned" label next to a user?
For example, I've come across this:
^[1]^
::: spoiler References
1. Type: User Page. Name: "CanadaRocks" ("@CanadaRocks@piefed.ca"). Publisher: ["Lemmy". "sh.itjust.works"]. Accessed: 2025-07-22T02:07Z. URI: sh.itjust.works/u/CanadaRocks@….
:::
[…] Due to a bug, currently the user can post & comment […]
Do you have a link to the bug?
A hacky, incomplete solution has been running for a while: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issu…
A full solution has been merged, but I don’t think it’s been released yet: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/pull…
Instance banning a remote user should prevent them from participating in remote versions of communities
Requirements Is this a feature request? For questions or discussions use https://lemmy.ml/c/lemmy_support Did you check to see if this issue already exists? Is this only a feature request? Do not p...sunaurus (GitHub)
[…] A full solution has been merged, but I don’t think it’s been released yet: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/pull…
It looks like it's coming with Lemmy 1.0 ^[1]^.
::: spoiler References
1. Type: Comment. Author: "Nutomic". Publisher: [Type: Post. Title: "Open issues on popular lemmy apps to prepare for 1.0.0 release". Author: "dessalines". Publisher: ["GitHub". "LemmyNet/Lemmy"]. Published: 2025-03-15T13:17:39.000Z. URI: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issu….]. Published: 2025-06-02T08:21:42.000Z. Accessed: 2025-07-22T06:26Z. URI: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issu….
:::
Open issues on popular lemmy apps to prepare for `1.0.0` release
Now that we've fundamentally changed nearly all the data structs, there's no reason to keep an api/v3 in the codebase. Nearly every data structure was changed with #5482 . As one example: GET /comm...dessalines (GitHub)
Yes. It "blocks" the user. Afaik it should prevent the banned user from interacting with communities from the instance they were banned from and also the instance will no longer accept any new interactions from the user (local users cant see new content of that user, like PMs, comments, etc.)
Additionally, their content can also be removed, but that is optional.
Hrm, I have a suspicion that it was a false positive by the automod (maybe it didn't like "kill this idea"?):
^[1]^
Update (2025-07-22T02:37Z): The moderation action was a false positive, and has been reverted ^[2]^.
::: spoiler References
1. Type: Webpage. Title: "Modlog". Publisher: ["Lemmy". "sh.itjust.works"]. Accessed: 2025-07-22T02:31Z. URI: sh.itjust.works/modlog?actionT….
2. Type: Message. Author: "InEnduringGrowStrong" (@inenduringgrowstrong:matrix.org). Publisher: ["Matrix". "sh.itjust.works"]. Published: 2025-07-22T02:36Z. Accessed: 2025-07-22T02:40Z. URI: matrix.to/#%2F%21ftaqqnpOePvPw….
:::
Matrix - Decentralised and secure communication
You're invited to talk on Matrix. If you don't already have a client this link will help you pick one, and join the conversation. If you already have one, this link will help you join the conversationmatrix.to
They also can’t send direct messages to users on that instance.
Can a user on the banning instance message the banned user? If so, can the banned user reply?
Can a user on the banning instance message the banned user?
I’ve never tried it so I’m not sure.
If so, can the banned user reply?
I’ve never tried this either, but I highly doubt it.
My young interns had never seen The Website is Down
My 2 interns, 20 and 22 had never seen this internet classic.
I thought I would have to call 911 because they were laughing so hard.
Hi, your post got removed. This community does not allow videos.
Please check the rules in the sidebar.
,Thank you.
Scapegoating the Algorithm: America’s epistemic challenges run deeper than social media.
Many people sense that the United States is undergoing an epistemic crisis, a breakdown in the country’s collective capacity to agree on basic facts, distinguish truth from falsehood, and adhere to norms of rational debate.This crisis encompasses many things: rampant political lies; misinformation; and conspiracy theories; widespread beliefs in demonstrable falsehoods (“misperceptions”); intense polarization in preferred information sources; and collapsing trust in institutions meant to uphold basic standards of truth and evidence (such as science, universities, professional journalism, and public health agencies).
According to survey data, over 60% of Republicans believe Joe Biden’s presidency was illegitimate. 20% of Americans think vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent, and 36% think the specific risks of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh their benefits. Only 31% of Americans have at least a “fair amount” of confidence in mainstream media, while a record-high 36% have no trust at all.
What is driving these problems? One influential narrative blames social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter (now X), and YouTube. In the most extreme form of this narrative, such platforms are depicted as technological wrecking balls responsible for shattering the norms and institutions that kept citizens tethered to a shared reality, creating an informational Wild West dominated by viral falsehoods, bias-confirming echo chambers, and know-nothing punditry.
The timing is certainly suspicious. Facebook launched in 2004, YouTube in 2005, and Twitter in 2006. As they and other platforms acquired hundreds of millions of users over the next decade, the health of American democracy and its public sphere deteriorated. By 2016, when Donald Trump was first elected president, many experts were writing about a new “post-truth” or “misinformation” age.
Moreover, the fundamental architecture of social media platforms seems hostile to rational discourse. Algorithms that recommend content prioritize engagement over accuracy. This can amplify sensational and polarizing material or bias-confirming content, which can drag users into filter bubbles. Meanwhile, the absence of traditional gatekeepers means that influencers with no expertise or ethical scruples can reach vast audiences.
The dangerous consequences of these problems seem obvious to many casual observers of social media. And some scientific research corroborates this widespread impression. For example, a systematic review of nearly five hundred studies finds suggestive evidence for a link between digital media use and declining political trust, increasing populism, and growing polarization. Evidence also consistently shows an association between social media use and beliefs in conspiracy theories and misinformation.
But there are compelling reasons to be skeptical that social media is a leading cause of America’s epistemic challenges. The “wrecking ball” narrative exaggerates the novelty of these challenges, overstates social media’s responsibility for them, and overlooks deeper political and institutional problems that are reflected on social media, not created by it.
The platforms are not harmless. They may accelerate worrying trends, amplify fringe voices, and facilitate radicalization. However, the current balance of evidence suggests that the most consequential drivers of America’s large-scale epistemic challenges run much deeper than algorithms.
Scapegoating the Algorithm—Asterisk
America’s epistemic challenges run deeper than social media.asteriskmag.com
Bypass blocked VPN restrictions
I have recently been finding myself on a network (cellular) that blocks access to VPN. I have tried Wireguard on multiple ports using IVPN and Windscribe with no luck. Similarly tried OpenVPN and IKEv2.
I also tried using Windscribe’s “stealth” protocol and IVPN’s obfuscation protocol but again with no luck.
I refuse to rawdog the internet like that and was hoping to get advice on how to work around that nonsense.
I am on iOS if that matters.
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You can use Tor: orbot.app/
Cheapest way to not be in this situation is to run an exit node on your home network and route your traffic through when you're travelling (dead simple with Tailscale).
Also try Mullvad's circumvention methods.
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pi.hole down?
I've tried using all three methods to access the web interface and none of them work. When I try using the https:///admin/ I get search results to access my router login. (I obviously replace the link with my pihole's IP address but I still get router login results)
Accessing through pi.hole/admin or pi.hole usually works but I keep having trouble connecting to the site. Checked downforeveryoneorjustme.com and it looks like pi.hole is down. Has this happened to anyone before? Do I just wait for the site to go back up?
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When I try using the https:///admin/ I get search results to access my router login.
Something is very wrong if you're getting search results, maybe try a different browser?
Checked downforeveryoneorjustme.com and it looks like pi.hole is down.
The PiHole website is pi-hole.net/ is that what you meant to check?
You can't check local private domains like pi.hole using a public service.
Home
1. Install a supported operating system You can run Pi-hole in a container, or deploy it directly to a supported operating system via our automated installer. Dpi-hole.net
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pi.hole is the domain to access the web interface whereas pi-hole.net is the official website for pi-hole to view documentation and download the client.
I realized I forgot to remove the <> from the url. Unfortunately I'm still unable to connect to that IP address though so I'm thinking I may have to restart my raspberry pi
I'd check its IP in the router then try and access it via http, not https.
But my version in still 5.something and v6 could bring https, I have yet to update my LXCs
la volpe e la finestra fanno insieme il grande spacc (glitch Firefox coi freeze a caso)
Regà, aiuto. Io vorrei ogni giorno arrivare a fine giornata senza bestemmiare, ma purtroppo non è fottutamente mai possibile, perché c’è sempre qualcosa che non funziona!!! E boh, ultimamente allora non capisco se sono io che sto diventando sempre di più una calamita per gli insetti digitali di merda, o se tra le tante cose […]
Fears of escalation after Israel hits Huthi-held Yemen port
Hodeida (Yemen) (AFP) – Israel pounded Yemen's Huthi-held port of Hodeida with air strikes on Monday for the second time in a month, stoking fears of escalation as it warned Yemen could face the same fate as Iran.In its latest raids, Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel struck "targets of the Huthi terror regime at the port of Hodeida" and aimed to prevent any attempt to restore infrastructure previously hit.
The renewed strikes on Yemen are part of a year-long Israeli bombing campaign against the Huthis, but the latest threats have raised fears of a wider conflict in the poverty-stricken Arabian Peninsula country.
"Yemen's fate will be the same as Tehran's," Katz said.
His warning was a reference to the wave of suprise strikes Israel launched on Iran on June 13, targeting key military and nuclear facilities.
A Gulf official told AFP there were "serious concerns in Riyadh... that the Israeli strikes on the Huthis could turn into a large, sustained campaign to oust the movement's leaders".
The Huthis withstood more a decade of war against a well-armed, Saudi-led international coalition, though fighting has died down in the past few years.
Any Israeli escalation could "plunge the region into utter chaos", said the official, requesting anonymity because he cannot brief the media.
The Huthis' Al-Masirah television reported "a series of Israeli air strikes on the Hodeida port".
A Huthi security official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP that "the bombing destroyed the port's dock, which had been rebuilt following previous strikes."
On July 7, Israeli strikes hit Hodeida and two nearby locations on the coast, with targets including the Galaxy Leader cargo ship, captured in November 2023, which the Israelis said had been outfitted with a radar system to track shipping in the Red Sea.
A Yemeni port employee in Hodeida said the strikes targeted "heavy equipment brought in for construction and repair work after Israeli airstrikes on July 7... and areas around the port and fishing boats".
An Israeli military statement said that the targets included "engineering vehicles... fuel containers, naval vessels used for military activities" against Israel and "additional terror infrastructure used by the Huthi terrorist regime".
It said the port had been used to transfer weapons from Iran, which were then used by the Huthi rebels against Israel.
Bubble Trouble
This article describes what ive been thinking about for the last week. How will these billions of investments by big tech actually create something that is significantly better than what we have today already?
There are major issues ahead and im not sure they can be solved. Read the article.
Bubble Trouble
As I previously warned, artificial intelligence companies are running out of data. A Wall Street Journal piece from this week has sounded the alarm that some believe AI models will run out of "high-quality text-based data" within the next two years i…Edward Zitron (Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At)
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tl;dr AI companies are slowly running out of data to train their models; synthetic data is not a viable alternative.
I can't remember where I saw it, but someone somewhere on YouTube suspected the next step for OpanAI and such would be to collect user data directly; recording conversations of users and using that data to train models further.
If I find the vid I will add a link here.
TIL about Fedi-Search, an open sourced frontend to easily search the Fediverse with a lot of mainstream engines
FediSearch — Easily Search the Fediverse
Easily search the fediverse in your preferred search engineprogrammer2514
adhocfungus likes this.
Seattle's Primary Season Is Upon Us, Trump Wants Sports to Be Racist Again, and Scientists Figured Out How Snakes Eat Bones
Free Gui: Guilherme “Gui” Silva, a Brazilian immigrant, lawyer, and muralist, was detained by ICE earlier this month on San Juan Island in Washington state. Silva was a lawyer in Brazil, and moved to the US about eight years ago to pursue his art. He has a four-year-old daughter with his now ex-wife, and is expecting a child in just a few months with his wife Rachel Leidig. Two Fridays ago, masked ICE agents followed Silva from his home in unmarked vehicles, pulled him from his car, confiscated his cellphone, and detained him. When he asked to see an arrest warrant, they refused. Silva is married to an American citizen and is currently in legal proceedings to apply for a green card. The only blemish on his record that the Seattle Times was able to find was a $100 speeding ticket. The Department of Homeland Security said they detained him because he overstayed his tourist visa, which, let’s say it again together: is a civil violation.
Junior dev's code worked in tests, deleted data in prod
Junior developer's code worked in tests, destroyed data in production
Who, Me?: For the lack of a little documentation, two techies did a lot of accidental damageSimon Sharwood (The Register)
Vibe coding service Replit deleted user’s production database, faked data, told fibs galore
: AI ignored instruction to freeze code, forgot it could roll back errors, and generally made a terrible hash of thingsSimon Sharwood (The Register)
Why front-end development will persist
Why front-end development will persist
By focusing on the skills that large language models lack, ‘designgineers’ can adapt to a market upended by AI.Matt Asay (InfoWorld)
Apple sues YouTuber for alleged iOS 26 trade-secret theft
YouTuber leaked iOS secrets via friend spying on dev's phone, Apple lawsuit claims
: Jon Prosser and alleged accomplice accused of stealing trade secrets from development deviceBrandon Vigliarolo (The Register)
Mechanize likes this.
Instacart’s former CEO is taking the reins of a big chunk of OpenAI
Instacart’s former CEO is taking the reins of a big chunk of OpenAI
Incoming OpenAI executive Fidji Simo, who will start Aug. 18 as its “CEO of Applications” and report directly to CEO Sam Altman, sent a memo to employees Monday.Hayden Field (The Verge)
EpicFailGuy likes this.
Scientists Are Now 43 Seconds Closer to Producing Limitless Energy
Scientists Are Now 43 Seconds Closer to Producing Limitless Energy
The Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Germany set a record with 43 seconds of plasma, marking a major step toward clean, sustainable nuclear fusion energy.Elizabeth Rayne (Popular Mechanics)
Technology reshared this.
This is a very good point since tritium is a very limited resource.
The hope is that it will be generated by the fusion reactor itself using tritium breeder blankets iter.org/machine/supporting-sy…
Whether that will work remains to be seen.
Tritium breeding
In the deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reaction, high energy neutrons are released along with helium atoms.ITER - the way to new energy
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The Hater's Guide To The AI Bubble
The Hater's Guide To The AI Bubble
Hey! Before we go any further — if you want to support my work, please sign up for the premium version of Where’s Your Ed At, it’s a $7-a-month (or $70-a-year) paid product where every week you get a premium newsletter, all while supporting my free w…Edward Zitron (Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At)
adhocfungus likes this.
The process as explained in this article has nothing to do with privacy. The problem with privacy is not that I send Google a query, it's they Google is scanning my machine, gathering cookie data, recording every move I make, mixing and matching my data with data from other sites, data from data brokers, also using third party cookies, etc etc etc...
Encrypting the query I make with Google isn't going to change much of that.
Dating Apps Need to Learn How Consent Works
Dating Apps Need to Learn How Consent Works
Staying safe whilst dating online should not be the responsibility of users—dating apps should be prioritizing our privacy by default, and laws should require companies to prioritize user privacy over their profit.Electronic Frontier Foundation
Quali sono i 50 stati europei?
VS Achuthanandan, politician who pushed for Linux adoption in India, passed away today
India has one of the highest rates of (desktop) Linux usages in the world - hovering around 10% according to StatCounter. Why is this? One reason is concerns over software controlled by foreign countries - particularly the US and China. But another is cost.
The first major boost for Linux and other free software in India came in 2006, when VS Achuthanandan - who passed away today - was elected Chief Minister of the state of Kerala. His government came up with a policy to shift all government computers to free software, starting with schools and colleges.
When the financial benefits became apparent, other states and the Union government followed suit.
Microsoft Windows to be replaced by Maya OS amid rising cyber threats
Indian government agencies reportedly developed Ubuntu-based Maya OS for more than six months.Vinay Patel (International Business Times UK)
HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •.emacs
. Well, the configuration language he or she was using is actually Emacs Lisp. There is no border between configuring Emacs by text file, and writing code in Lisp.msherburn33
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to msherburn33 • • •Lisp SBCL vs Racket - Which programs are fastest? (Benchmarks Game)
benchmarksgame-team.pages.debian.netbalsoft
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •This is true for Nix as well.
The two main advantages of Guix are the language (which is well-known and comes with lots of good tooling and other support) and the package bootstrapping.
Shareni
in reply to balsoft • • •The main disadvantages I've faced when trying it a few years ago:
At the time it was a great concept, but essentially useless for anything not Emacs/Haskell related.
balsoft
in reply to Shareni • • •HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to Shareni • • •Yeah. See, drivers are part of the hardware abstraction layer which in a Linux system is the Kernel. The kernel is GPL, so it is hard to get support for hardware with drivers without GPL, it does not conform Linux' license.
I, too, had also nothing but hassle with an NVidia graphics card in Debian. It was a happy day when I finally ditched it for a supported card and had a fully supported system!
The other thing... let's turn the question around. Would you:
If not - why do some people expect equivalent things from free software projects?
Shareni
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •It's a violation that's not enforced, as almost all distros provide proprietary blobs. They balance ideology with usability, since they realised most people aren't going to use a librebooted ThinkPad from the 90s. If everyone enforced libre purism like GNU, desktop Linux would've been completely dead long ago. If you need proof, check usage statistics for any of the free distros.
And did you need to install a modified iso to have WiFi? Did maybe Debian provide those nvidia drivers?
How is any of that relevant? This is not a question of additional software or services, but basic usability. Guixos as is, is for example essentially useless on a laptop unless you're willing to carry an external WiFi card in your pocket.
The only expectation I have for an OS is to work on my devices, guixos does not. And even when I jumped through all of the hoops to get it working, I still needed to use nix to install most packages I need to work. So why would I use guixos+nix+flatpak instead of just running nixos?
List of Free GNU/Linux Distributions - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation
www.gnu.orgHaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to Shareni • • •So maybe Guix System is not a good choice for you?
It has top-priority goals like reproducibility, capability to inspect and verify all source code, and providing a fully free system. These specific goals are not compatible with providing nonfree binary blobs in Guix-core. For example, depending on non-free binary blobs will block exactly reconstructing a system years later if these binaries are not available any more. Guix has scientific applications where reproducibility absolutely matters.
Also, I can unterstand if companies are hating it which just want to have a free ride and monetize efforts of other people. But for users, there are many many other options and distributions available. Why not chose one that matches your need better?
Workshop on Reproducible Software Environments for Research and High-Performance Computing - Sciencesconf.org
repro4research.sciencesconf.orgCaptain Beyond
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •This
I use Guix as my "default" distro because I value software-freedom and reproducibility. It fits my needs very well, and I make sure to buy hardware that works with it instead of expecting it to work with whatever I throw at it. For my Windows gaming machine I use PopOS as the replacement OS instead of trying to beat Guix into serving that purpose, because PopOS is better suited for that role, and I have different expectations for it.
It's okay if something doesn't meet your needs, that doesn't make it bad, just means it's not the right thing for you. There's like hundreds of distros for Windows gamers, let us free software zealots have ours too please.
HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to Captain Beyond • • •This is the way. Trying to get unsupported hardware to work under Linux in general is such a useless expense of time. In my experience, it is almost never worth it.
paequ2
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •1,000 times this.
looks at laptops with hidpi displays 👀
Shareni
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •Why get mad about people comparing nix and guix, in a thread comparing nix and guix? Pointing out legitimate disadvantages is not hating. Maybe get off the internet for a bit and touch grass.
So does nix, nobody is forcing you to opt-in into non-free packages. And guix most certainly is compatible with non-free blobs, as that's how most people are using it. The only difference is that nix is supporting non-free packages instead of banning even talking about them.
HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to Shareni • • •~~I am not sure about that one and somewhat doubt there is hard data showing that.~~ The 2024 user survey also shows that a lot of people are using Guix as a package manager on top of another distribution, like Arch or Ubuntu or even NixOS. . If you have hardware that is not directly supported, this fixes the driver problem.
Guix User and Contributor Survey 2024: The Results (part 1) — 2025 — Blog — GNU Guix
guix.gnu.orgpaequ2
in reply to Shareni • • •It's very easy to add additional channels and non-official channels integrate pretty well into everything. I don't really notice if a package comes from an "official" channel or "non-official" channel.
Shareni
in reply to paequ2 • • •a Kendrick fan
in reply to Shareni • • •toys.where-is.social/
Find different channels and substitute servers or create your own
Shareni
in reply to a Kendrick fan • • •Address not found.
Also, it doesn't change the fact you're depending on some random person's repo that is not moderated in any way.
msherburn33
in reply to balsoft • • •I wouldn't call that an advantage for the average person. Nix is far nicer to work with. Some Lispers might disagree, but I, for one, can't exactly see the beauty in trying to turn Scheme into a configuration language with macros and hacks. Also Guix puts Scheme everywhere, things you can do with plain old Bash in Nix, you'll have to all do in Scheme in Guix, so there is a much steeper learning curve.
balsoft
in reply to msherburn33 • • •HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to balsoft • • •Plus, if one compares the full bash man page with an introduction to Scheme - I love the quick introduction into racket with pictures - one can come to the conclusion that Schemes are both a lot simpler and more powerful.
In the end, it is pretty much a matter of taste, previous experience, and practical needs what one prefers.
Quick: An Introduction to Racket with Pictures
docs.racket-lang.orgHaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to msherburn33 • • •Scheme is a minimalistic Lisp dialect, and macros are central in Lisp. For example, they allow for both conditional evaluation ("if" is a macro, or more precisely, a "special form" that is used in other conditionals), and for delayed evaluation at run time, which matches a bit Nix being lazy.
Also, Scheme is designed as a not strictly but mostly functional language, favouring side-effect free functions, which matches well with the declarative task which is package definitions.
bash, in contrary, is not side-effect-free, it modifies its environment, and this is very much not desired in a functional package manager: it is at the core that package declarations are side-effect-free.
And Emacs shows that Lisp written in a declarative style is a superb configuration language. (There is now even a project to use a Scheme, Steel Scheme, to configure helix, a programmers text editor which has many many features stemming from vim!).
Add Steel as an optional plugin system by mattwparas · Pull Request #8675 · helix-editor/helix
GitHubiopq
in reply to msherburn33 • • •msherburn33
in reply to iopq • • •over:
?
HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to msherburn33 • • •Yes, having programmed bash and its predecessors for 30 years and several lisps (Clojure, Racket, Guile, a little SBCL) in the last 15 years, I very much prefer the Scheme version in this place.
Why?
'echo a; rm -rf /etc/*'
.HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •balsoft
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •I agree with your overall point, that having a single consistent functional language for package descriptions and build scripts is a great thing, and that bash is awful, but your reasoning is somewhat flawed. The main drawbacks of bash are somewhat rectified in Nix because bash is very much contained/sandboxed, which prevents arbitrary damage to the system, and there are some nice defaults in stdenv too.
Nix also supports multiple outputs (in fact this is where the concept of outputs in Guix came from)
You could also do that with Nix in an easier and more declarative fashion, either by adding a comment, or by doing this:
Bash is just two double quotes away from doing this too. See code above for an example
Bash also handles Unicode well
Nixpkgs stdenv sets
set -eu
which has a similar effect. If that code fails, the entire build will fail too.This is also really quite easy to rectify in bash, see code above.
iopq
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to iopq • • •balsoft
in reply to msherburn33 • • •iopq
in reply to msherburn33 • • •Matt
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •Drito
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •HaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to Drito • • •Drito
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •samc
in reply to HaraldvonBlauzahn • • •I had a go at using guix as a package manager on top of an existing distro (first an immutable fedora, which went terribly, then OpenSUSE). Gave up for a few reasons:
guix pull
is sloow.All in all I love the idea of guix, but I think it needs a bigger community behind it. Of course I'm part of the problem by walking away, but 🤷
gypsum
Codeberg.orgHaraldvonBlauzahn
in reply to samc • • •This one has beem discussed on several forums discussing the original blog post, like here or also here on lobste.rs
Part of the reason for slow pulls is that the GNU projects savannah server, which Guix was using so far, is not fast, especially with git repos. Luckily, this is already being improved because Guix is moving to codeberg.org, a FOSS nonprofit org which is hosted in Europe. So if one changes the configured server URL, it is faster. (On top of that interested people might use the opportunity to directly take influence, and donate to codeberg so that they can afford even better hardware 😉).
Trying Guix: A Nixer's Impressions
lobste.rs