Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to Jeffrey Epstein
Melania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has threatened to sue if he does not.
Biden, the son of the former president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that Epstein introduced the first lady to Donald Trump.
The statements were false, defamatory and “extremely salacious,” Melania Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, said in a letter to Biden. Biden’s remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady “to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,” he added.
Biden made the Epstein comments during a sprawling interview with the British journalist Andrew Callaghan in which he lashed out at “elites” and others in the Democratic party who he said undermined his father before he dropped out of last year’s presidential campaign.
Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to Jeffrey Epstein
First lady threatens to sue Joe Biden’s son after he said the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Donald TrumpGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
Can’t pay, won’t pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy
A decade and a half on from the Pirate Bay trial, the winds have begun to shift. On an unusually warm summer’s day, I sit with fellow film critics by the old city harbour, once a haven for merchants and, rumour has it, smugglers. Cold bigstrongs in hand (that’s what they call pints up here), they start venting about the “enshittification” of streaming – enshittification being the process by which platforms degrade their services and ultimately die in the pursuit of profit. Netflix now costs upwards of 199 SEK (£15), and you need more and more subscriptions to watch the same shows you used to find in one place. Most platforms now offer plans that, despite the fee, force advertisements on subscribers. Regional restrictions often compel users to use VPNs to access the full selection of available content. The average European household now spends close to €700 (£600) a year on three or more VOD subscriptions. People pay more and get less.
According to London‑based piracy monitoring and content‑protection firm MUSO, unlicensed streaming is the predominant source of TV and film piracy, accounting for 96% in 2023. Piracy reached a low in 2020, with 130bn website visits. But by 2024 that number had risen to 216bn. In Sweden, 25% of people surveyed reported pirating in 2024, a trend mostly driven by those aged 15 to 24. Piracy is back, just sailing under a different flag.
Can’t pay, won’t pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy
As subscription costs rise and choice diminishes on legal sites, film and TV fans are turning to VPNs and illicit streamers, with Sweden – home of both Spotify and The Pirate Bay – leading the wayGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
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YouTube’s AI Tracks Everything You Watch — Stop This Now
Who is impacted?Millions of YouTube users—especially teens and adults—will soon be affected by a new AI-based age detection system launching August 13th. This system analyzes your entire watch history and behavior to estimate your age, overriding the age you've set on your account. If the system thinks you're underage, you'll be locked out of content unless you upload your government-issued ID—putting your personal information at serious risk.
What is at stake?
This isn’t just about age restriction—it’s about mass surveillance and data control. Similar measures are spreading fast: the UK’s Online Safety Act has already led to censorship and demands for ID. In Australia, YouTube is being restricted for those under 16. Spotify is now requiring ID in some regions. Games are being banned from Steam and itch.io. This pattern—justified as “protecting kids”—is being used to normalize invasive tracking and limit freedom online.
Why is now the time to act?
This policy goes into effect on August 13th, and we cannot allow YouTube to quietly implement AI surveillance that violates privacy and autonomy. Once these systems are normalized, they rarely go away—they expand. If we don't speak up now, we risk losing our ability to browse, create, and enjoy content freely. This is about more than YouTube. This is about digital freedom.
I don't know about you, but I don't want AI and companies tracking everything I do, with all my personal information going who knows where. This is an attempt to acquire user data, and blatant censorship hidden behind a thin veil of ''protect the kids!'' We cannot allow this to escalate further.
‘Censorship’: over 115 scholars condemn cancellation of Harvard journal issue on Palestine
More than 120 education scholars have condemned the cancellation of an entire issue of an academic journal dedicated to Palestine by a Harvard University publisher as “censorship”.
In an open letter published on Thursday, the scholars denounced the abrupt scrapping of a special issue of the Harvard Educational Review – which was first revealed by the Guardian in July – as an “attempt to silence the academic examination of the genocide, starvation and dehumanisation of Palestinian people by the state of Israel and its allies.”
The writers note that the issue’s censorship is also an example of “anti-Palestinian discrimination, obstructing the dissemination of knowledge on Palestine at the height of the genocide in Gaza”.
‘Censorship’: over 115 scholars condemn cancellation of Harvard journal issue on Palestine
In an open letter, writers denounced abrupt scrapping of a Harvard Educational Review issue dedicated to PalestineAlice Speri (The Guardian)
This would be even more powerful with sources provided, but for now I will assume it is correct on face value; I am appalled by the handling of all this by our leaders. Only when a fraction of the people of Palestine are still alive, have politicians began to speak up, all at once, as if they were given a green light from somewhere(one). The whole situation stinks like hell on earth.
Apologies will not suffice to amend what our leaders have permitted to happen these days. Darkest times, I truly wish and lightly hope, that those primarily responsible will be held to account. Those who supported it, but did not actively participate, re-educated on the simple fact: Why it is NEVER, EVER, OK to kill another, for difference of belief.
The Patten report actually debunked Hamas rape as a weapon of war ,and stated that at most random rapes could have happened. It called for an investigation into that which Israel blocked.
Here's a great article debunking the Israeli written Dinah report which the UN is somehow using as official material:
Rape hoax redux: Debunking the latest relaunch of a genocidal atrocity propaganda lie
Rape hoax redux: Debunking the latest relaunch of a genocidal atrocity propaganda lie
Today the Israeli death and rape-cult that has actually been engaged in systematic pedophilic gang-rape of Palestinian children, girls, boys, women and men is going to desperately try to re-launch the genocidal atrocity propaganda rape hoax.Zei Squirrel (Squirrel Notes)
Hundreds of Former Israeli Spies Are Working in Big Tech, Database Shows
In late July, the U.S. cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks (PANW) announced that it had acquired the Israeli identity management and information security firm CyberArk, paying a staggering $25 billion dollars worth of cash and stock to purchase the firm.
Palo Alto is one of the world’s largest cybersecurity firms, and provides infrastructure protection, firewalls, and cloud security services to tens of thousands of companies internationally.
Udi Mokady, CyberArk’s founder and executive chairman, is an alum of Unit 8200, the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate’s elite signals intelligence division. So are the four co-founders of Wiz: the Israeli cloud computing firm recently bought by Google for $32 billion. So, too, is Palo Alto’s Founder and Chief Technology Officer Nir Zuk.
“These acquisitions are a way to take people from Unit 8200 in Israel, and bring them into influential positions in the U.S. tech industry,” said Paul Biggar, founder of the tech startups CircleCI and Darklang and head of the activist group Tech for Palestine. “These companies handle their customers' customer data. If you are a bank, and you are using Palo Alto Networks, the data about all your customers, and their transactions, are passing through servers that are controlled by spies, or former spies.”
Hundreds of Former Israeli Spies Are Working in Big Tech, Database Shows
A $25 billion deal is the latest acquisition to strengthen the link between the U.S. tech sector and Israeli intelligence.Murtaza Hussain (Drop Site News)
Stripe apologizes for customer service agents claiming LGBTQ products were banned
“The information given by our support team was totally wrong.”
'We Are Being Cooked Alive': Wildfires Driven by Climate Crisis Ravage Europe
As wildfires rage across southern Europe, claiming lives and displacing thousands, leaders are pointing to the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/commondreams…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
'We Are Being Cooked Alive': Wildfires Driven by Climate Crisis Ravage Europe
Fire-related deaths were reported in Turkey, Spain, Montenegro, and Albania.jessica-corbett (Common Dreams)
Tesla’s graphics are about to get Unreal
Tesla’s in-car graphics could be getting an upgrade thanks to Unreal Engine.
Sad news: Kaisen Linux distro is shutting down
Another specialized Linux distro has announced its shutdown, joining the growing graveyard of discontinued distributions.
https://www.neowin.net/news/sad-news-another-linux-distro-is-shutting-down/
Intel's CEO survives baptism of fire, will his company do the same?
Lip-Bu Tan has received Trump's approval. Still, Intel needs more than a PR boost: it may be slimming down too much to perform.
New York sues Zelle: "Users Lost More Than $1 Billion While Zelle Operator Controlled by Major Banks Knew the Platform Was Vulnerable to Scammers"
Attorney General James Sues Company Behind Zelle for Enabling Widespread Fraud
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today sued Early Warning Services, LLC (EWS), a company owned and controlled by a group of the largest banksNew York State Attorney General
Stripe Says Support Team Reps Were 'Totally Wrong' About LGBTQ Content Ban
Stripe Says Support Team Reps Were 'Totally Wrong' About LGBTQ Content Ban - Aftermath
Stripe has told Aftermath that support team reps were mistaken when they suggested to callers that LGBTQ+ content, adult or not, was banned.aftermath.site
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LinkedIn Joins Meta and YouTube in Abandoning Policies Designed to Counter Anti-Trans Hate
LinkedIn removes hate speech protections for transgender individuals
On July 29, 2025, LinkedIn removed “misgendering or deadnaming” from examples of prohibited content in its policy on hateful and derogatory content.opentermsarchive.org
How to Train Your Own ChatGPT: A Step-by-Step Resource Guide to Custom GPTs
How to Train Your Own ChatGPT: A Step-by-Step Resource Guide to Custom GPTs
If you have ever wished ChatGPT could just understand your style without you repeating yourself every time, a Custom GPT is exactly what you need.OpenGrowth (OpenGrowth Weekly Newsletter)
Foreign interference can be hidden in plain sight. Here’s how countries use ‘sharp power’ in Australia.
Op-ed by Ihsan Yilmaz, Research Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Deakin University - Ana-Maria Bliuc, Associate Professor in Social Psychology, University of Dundee - John Betts, Senior Lecturer, Monash University - Nicholas Morieson, Research fellow, Deakin University.
Last week, Australian authorities arrested a woman for foreign interference. The Chinese citizen and Canberra resident is just the third person ever charged under our foreign interference laws.
According to the Australian Federal Police, she was allegedly gathering information on, and may be involved in efforts to infiltrate, the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist association. The group is banned in China.
[...]
The story might seem unimportant. After all, it doesn’t involve defence secrets or political leaders, but a small, relatively obscure community.
But this is exactly why it matters. The case shows the Chinese Communist Party is deeply interested in Australia’s Chinese diaspora communities. It’s willing to disregard Australian law to police and manipulate them in ways that serve Beijing’s interests.
It also shows how authoritarian regimes use “sharp power”, or covert, manipulative influence, to do more than just spy. They also surveil, intimidate and control communities far beyond their borders.
[...]
Sharp power is different [from soft power and hard power in that] it manipulates and distorts the information people receive, quietly shaping how they see the world and the choices they think they have. It’s the use of covert, manipulative and often emotional tactics to shape how other countries think, decide and act, often without them realising it’s happening.
[...]
When China’s state news agency, Xinhua, operates openly in other countries, it is playing the soft power game. But when China Radio International secretly funds 33 radio stations in 14 countries, or when Turkey spreads anti-Western conspiracy theories and disinformation, it crosses into sharp power.
[...]
Sharp power in Australia
The Canberra spy case shows how Beijing can shape opinions by infiltrating local Chinese organisations. It can also control information and mobilise people in ways that serve its own political interests. It reveals how some authoritarian governments regard co-ethnic, co-religious, or culturally linked diasporas in the West as part of their national community and seek to influence them accordingly.
Australia’s universities have also been targets of China’s sharp power. Scholars critical of Beijing’s oppression of Tibetans, Uighur Muslims, and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have faced pressure from student groups aligned with Chinese state interests.
The Chinese language media in Australia has also become deeply influenced by Beijing’s narratives. Many once independent outlets now republish state controlled content, narrowing the diversity of views available to Chinese-speaking Australians. This also encourages them to remain loyal and connected to China.
[...]
For a multicultural society such as Australia, the challenge is to respond firmly to authoritarian sharp power attacks without undermining the openness and diversity that are among our greatest democratic strengths.
[...]
Foreign interference can be hidden in plain sight. Here’s how countries use ‘sharp power’ in Australia
Authoritarian nations are using new tactics, from emotional manipulation to digital surveillance, to sway diaspora attitudes in their favour.The Conversation
Chinese firm to be banned for stealing Samsung's OLED tech
Samsung fires another legal torpedo against its main Chinese rival
BOE is one of China's biggest display manufacturers and it's also fast becoming a serious competitor to Samsung Display globally. Even Apple has been buying OLED panels from BOE, most recently for its new iPhone SE.Asif Iqbal Shaik (SamMobile)
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SemanticWebBrowser - A browser for the semantic web with a controlled natural language as the primary interface
(which is not possible when starting from a ChatGPT-like app); and to capture this new paradigm in a new type of browser that has natural language as its primary interface, here called a semantic web-first browser.
Il colosso d'acciaio rimorchiato nell'Atlantico per mantenere operative le navi di Sua Maestà - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
Il colosso d'acciaio rimorchiato nell'Atlantico per mantenere operative le navi di Sua Maestà - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
Un migliaio di chilometri d’Oceano dal continente più vicino ed appena 53 totali d’estensione: in un luogo dove si è tentato di sfruttare fino all’ultimo angolo di terra emersa, per non parlare dei preziosi punti d’approdo, può sembrare strano che un…Jacopo (Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri)
Ideas coming down the track
Ideas coming down the track
Transport: New train technologies are less visible and spread less quickly than improvements to cars or planes. But there is still plenty of innovation going on, and ideas are steadily making their way out onto the railsThe Economist
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GitHub - todotxt/todo.txt: ‼️ A complete primer on the whys and hows of todo.txt.
‼️ A complete primer on the whys and hows of todo.txt. - todotxt/todo.txtGitHub
LOL GitHub [2018]
jwz: LOL Github
So MICROS~1 bought Github and everybody's freaking out right now trying to re-host their projects on someone else's service. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STORE YOUR DATA IN THE CLOWN.www.jwz.org
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Samsung → iPhone: Need Your De-Google Tips
cross-posted from: sopuli.xyz/post/31024070
Making the jump from Samsung to iPhone soon, mainly for privacy reasons.
Want to cut Google out as much as possible while I'm at it.What I'm planning so far:
- Mailbox.org instead of Gmail
- DuckDuckGo for search, would prefer something even better
- Safari with all the privacy stuff turned on
Where I'm stuck:
- What about YouTube? Just use the web version?
- Google Drive alternatives that actually work well?
- Best way to store photos that aren't big greedy corps?
Questions:
- Any must-have privacy apps once I get the iPhone?
- Settings I should change immediately out of the box?
- Services I'm forgetting that are probably feeding Google my data?
Samsung → iPhone: Need Your De-Google Tips
Note: I prefer Apple over Google and I’m not ready to go full privacy-hardened, I want to find a balance between convenience and privacy protection.So I'm moving from Samsung to iPhone soon, mainly because I despise Google.
Want to cut Google out as much as possible while I'm at it.What I'm planning so far:
- Mailbox.org instead of Gmail
- DuckDuckGo for search, would prefer something even better
- Safari with all the privacy stuff turned on
Where I'm stuck:
- What about YouTube? Just use the web version?
- Google Drive alternatives that actually work well?
- Best way to store photos that aren't big greedy corps?
Questions:
- Any must-have privacy apps once I get the iPhone?
- Settings I should change immediately out of the box?
- Services I'm forgetting that are probably feeding Google my data?
UK police treated to 10 new LFR vans in fresh expansion
A fresh expansion of UK crimefighters' access to live facial recognition (LFR) technology is being described by officials as "an excellent opportunity for policing." Privacy campaigners disagree.
The Home Office said today that more police forces across England will gain LFR capabilities thanks to ten new "cutting edge" vans being wheeled out, adding to those already in use by London's Metropolitan Police and forces in South Wales.
Seven forces will gain access to LFR vans as part of the latest expansion. These are: Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey and Sussex (jointly), and Thames Valley and Hampshire (jointly).
UK expands police facial recognition rollout with 10 new vans heading to a town near you
: Seven additional regions across England will now have access to the controversial techConnor Jones (The Register)
New De-Google and De-Amazon challenges
Thanks to everyone who participated in the first 5-Week De-Google Challenge on Signal!
I'm about to start another de-Google challenge AND a de-Amazon challenge on Monday.
Here is info on the de-Amazon group. (Signal group and PDF plan)
The de-Google Signal group is here.
And for the de-Google challenge we'll be using this checklist
I hope you'll join (and share) one...or both!.
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New De-Google and De-Amazon challenges
Thanks to everyone who participated in the first 5-Week De-Google Challenge on Signal!
I'm about to start another de-Google challenge AND a de-Amazon challenge on Monday.
Here is info on the de-Amazon group. (Signal group and PDF plan)
The de-Google Signal group is here.
And for the de-Google challenge we'll be using this checklist
I hope you'll join (and share) one...or both!.
New De-Google and De-Amazon challenges
Thanks to everyone who participated in the first 5-Week De-Google Challenge on Signal!
I'm about to start another de-Google challenge AND a de-Amazon challenge on Monday.
Here is info on the de-Amazon group. (Signal group and PDF plan)
The de-Google Signal group is here.
And for the de-Google challenge we'll be using [this checklist](punchinguppress.com/post/shake…
I hope you'll join (and share) one...or both!).
Russia clamps down on WhatsApp and Telegram over data sharing
Russia clamps down on WhatsApp and Telegram over data sharing
Calls via foreign-owned platforms curbed as critics say Kremlin is pushing for greater control over Russia’s internetGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
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presente pignanza con aggiornamenti stellari ci porta al futuro sempre più conifero (aggiornamenti Pignio)
Nonostante il corrente clima della mia terra ormai sia talmente tanto seccante da portare quasi difficoltà a respirare, figurarsi esistere (…nonostante sia un clima umido, che assurdo paradosso), stranamente in questo agosto non sto scadendo troppo nel rotting… e, infatti, piano piano il Pignio (che, manco a farlo apposta, sotto sotto in questo periodo dell’anno […]
octospacc.altervista.org/2025/…
presente pignanza con aggiornamenti stellari ci porta al futuro sempre più conifero (aggiornamenti Pignio)
Nonostante il corrente clima della mia terra ormai sia talmente tanto seccante da portare quasi difficoltà a respirare, figurarsi esistere (…nonostante sia un clima umido, che assurdo paradosso), stranamente in questo agosto non sto scadendo troppo nel rotting… e, infatti, piano piano il Pignio (che, manco a farlo apposta, sotto sotto in questo periodo dell’anno ci sta benissimo, ricordando le pinete a mare insomma) sta ancora crescendo, e ad ora credo sia tipo in quello stato perfettamente a metà tra la goduria infinita data dall’idea passata del primo rilascio, e la cristallizzazione definitiva come prevista da una versione finale più futura che inglobi tutto quello che deve essere necessario per godere non solo infinitamente, ma sul serio… 😤Quindi eh eh… ehh boh. Nonostante io non abbia ancora completamente sistemato le robe di multi-utente, e in generale mancano ancora diverse cose relative ad un uso più da social network (per copiare Pinterest proprio per benino, insomma), le funzioni generali sono già di livello pazzo: feed Atom (in uscita) messo a punto, OCR automatico per le immagini tramite Tesseract (…nonostante faccia assolutamente schifo su foto con font strani o colori merdosi, purtroppo, ed è tutto dire che sia comunque la libreria open-source di OCR che funziona meglio al mondo), il salvataggio dei video che ora funziona bene… wow… (Ci sono poi anche miglioramenti generali sull’interfaccia, tipo che ho migliorato ancora un po’ le pagine di gestione e visualizzazione, oltre ad aver aggiunto la localizzazione in italiano oltre che in inglese… ma queste cose puntualmente quando ci sono non vengono apprezzate, e quando mancano invece arrivano i reclami, di utenti per giunta mai paganti…) 😻
Però, il pezzo proprio grosso ora sono i nuovi tipi di elementi supportati, perché con questi si passa davvero da “ma che è, Pinterest senza glitch?” a “wow, o’ Pign!!!“… perché per foto e video sono bravi tutti, ma i file audio molti se li dimenticano, i post di puro testo ma con immagini di sfondo non esistono da nessuna parte (…se non su Facebook, dal quale ancora non ho finito di copiare cose), i documenti (PDF) nessuno sa come visualizzarli, e i modelli 3D sono praticamente inconcepibili… e invece il Pignio ha già tutto ciò, ora!!! (E le faville arriveranno a breve.) Non ho finito finito, c’è ancora lavoro da fare per perfezionare queste categorie, ma intanto io delivero (…e solo per stavolta risparmio il mondo dal raccontare l’irreale trafila dell’orrore che renderizzare testo potenzialmente non-ASCII sotto forma di immagini lato server implica, ma il README ne fa indirettamente accenno). 💣
Ecco però, a proposito di cose fatte a metà… Per questi nuovi elementi, che potrebbero in alcuni casi non avere proprio una miniatura visiva (come molti file audio), o per cui comunque non ho ancora potuto aggiungere una generazione automatica, ho aggiunto semplici emoji come icone segnaposto nell’interfaccia, che comunque è basata su queste liste a griglia e su elementi che hanno una certa presenza fisica visuale… e il fatto tremendo è che ho accidentalmente scatenato delle vibe che mi sembrano irrealmente buffe. Non tanto il foglio di carta per indicare i documenti, che non è nulla di strano, e nemmeno le scatole per indicare modelli 3D, che non è troppo una forzatura nonostante faccia ridere pensare che quella è una scatola che contiene l’oggetto 3D, che quindi si apre cliccandoci, rivelando l’oggetto… quanto le note musicali per i file audio, e qui ormai capisco che sono completamente da buttare. 🤧
Io giuro che, per qualche motivo evidentemente inspiegabile, pure a distanza di 2 giorni, ancora mi viene assolutamente da ridere a guardare (ma anche solo ad immaginare, poverannuj!!!) questa schermata. Semplicemente i controlli di riproduzione sotto, e l’emoji della nota musicale sopra che funge da icona… non c’è una ceppa di buffo, non c’è un cazzo da ridere, eppure il mio cervello non ne vuole sapere! E non è nemmeno il brano del caso che magari è meme o che; è proprio che la pura idea di questo fatto mi fa pisciare. Boh, o sarà il pacchetto emoji di Windows 10 che è particolarmente buffo a vedersi, o altrimenti ormai è ufficiale che anche il mio senso dell’umorismo, così come altri tratti della mia personalità, si è corrotto… ma ormai l’unica cosa importante è che non si corrompa l’archivio del mio Pignio!!! (E pure se succede, di quello ho frequenti backup.) 🤗
How to disable Firefox's battery-draining AI features
browser.ml.chat.enabled = false
browser.ml.chat.shortcuts = false
browser.ml.chat.shortcuts.custom = false
browser.ml.chat.sidebar = false
browser.ml.enable = false
browser.tabs.groups.smart.enabled = false
Ecosia teaches how to activate ads for Ublock, but not for Ublock Origin.
Karate or Tae Kwon Do for kids?
Which one do you think could fit better for her age and also considering she likes it which is better in the long term?
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Is it possible to run qbittorrent and protonvpn in a VM?
Does anyone know how to run qbittorrent and protonvpn in a VM? When I try to run the qbittorrent setup app I get this message (image below) and I don't see anything mentioning a VM in the qbittorrent [dot] org forum.
I am new to torrenting, so I don't really know what to do. I figured/assumed that torrenting/seeding in a VM might be safer as it is another layer deep, and that it may help keep traffic separate (inside the VM: I'd be using a vpn and torrenting, and outside the VM: I'd not be using a vpn and just regular internet surfing). Is this possible?
Thank you.
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Don't run your torrent client in a VM, that doesn't actually provide you with any additional security.
Use a Docker container instead. Binhex has torrent+vpn containers that will fetch the random open port number from Proton and pipe it into qBittorrent for you, as well as make sure the port is updated if the VPN drops. The container also acts as a killswitch.
Using a docker container provides you with the exact amount of extra protection as using a VM: zilch.
Only advantage is you can use other people's config easily.
- signed, someone happily using their own VM-based setup
Study: Social media probably can’t be fixed
It's no secret that much of social media has become profoundly dysfunctional. Rather than bringing us together into one utopian public square and fostering a healthy exchange of ideas, these platforms too often create filter bubbles or echo chambers. A small number of high-profile users garner the lion's share of attention and influence, and the algorithms designed to maximize engagement end up merely amplifying outrage and conflict, ensuring the dominance of the loudest and most extreme users—thereby increasing polarization even more.Numerous platform-level intervention strategies have been proposed to combat these issues, but according to a preprint posted to the physics arXiv, none of them are likely to be effective. And it's not the fault of much-hated algorithms, non-chronological feeds, or our human proclivity for seeking out negativity. Rather, the dynamics that give rise to all those negative outcomes are structurally embedded in the very architecture of social media. So we're probably doomed to endless toxic feedback loops unless someone hits upon a brilliant fundamental redesign that manages to change those dynamics.
Co-authors Petter Törnberg and Maik Larooij of the University of Amsterdam wanted to learn more about the mechanisms that give rise to the worst aspects of social media: the partisan echo chambers, the concentration of influence among a small group of elite users (attention inequality), and the amplification of the most extreme divisive voices. So they combined standard agent-based modeling with large language models (LLMs), essentially creating little AI personas to simulate online social media behavior. "What we found is that we didn't need to put any algorithms in, we didn't need to massage the model," Törnberg told Ars. "It just came out of the baseline model, all of these dynamics."
Study: Social media probably can’t be fixed
“The [structural] mechanism producing these problematic outcomes is really robust and hard to resolve.”…Jennifer Ouellette (Ars Technica)
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Uso da Inteligência Artificial na Administração Pública de SC em pauta na ALESC
Está em pauta hoje (13/8), na ALESC – Assembleia Legislativa de Santa Catarina, um Projeto de Lei de autoria do deputado Mário Motta que dispõe sobre “os princípios e diretrizes para o uso da Inteligência Artificial no âmbito da Administração Pública Estadual“, e estabelece outras providências. O texto do PL pode ser acessado aqui (arquivo PDF).
O PL estabelece critérios importantes, como “não discriminação”, “transparência” e “auditabilidade”, mas conta com o seguinte texto no Art. 7°: “O Poder Público facilitará a adoção de sistemas de inteligência artificial na Administração Pública e na prestação de serviços públicos, visando à eficiência e à redução dos custos”. Como seria essa facilitação? Como comentou o amigo e engenheiro de dados Cudo, essa “redução de custos” também é outro ponto que precisa de mais atenção, pois pode até gerar mais custos, além de questões como a necessidade de capacitação dos servidores.
Mas o que mais me chamou a atenção é a necessidade de priorizar (ou até condicionar) o uso de IAs desenvolvidas no Brasil e, de preferência, em código aberto, que é auditável de fato e transparente, já que se trata da utilização de informações estatais. Em tempos de debate sobre a soberania digital, seria um ponto fundamental.
O ideal mesmo seria realizar uma audiência pública com pesquisadores, representantes da academia e organizações do terceiro setor dedicadas ao assunto.
Início - Soberania Digital
Rede para debates, trocas de informações e organização de ações pela Soberania Digital. Sua participação é fundamental para construirmos um futuro digital!Diego (Soberania.digital)
reshared this
I started losing my digital privacy in 1974, aged 11
We already live in a world where pretty much every public act - online or in the real world - leaves a mark in a database somewhere. But how far back does that record extend? I recently learned that record goes back further than I'd seriously imagined.On my recent tour of the United States (making it through immigration checks in record time, thanks to facial recognition), I caught that bug, the same one that brought the world to a halt half a decade ago. But I caught it early, so I knew that I could probably get some treatment.
That led to a quick trip to an 'Urgent Care' - the frontline medical center for most Americans. At the check-in counter, the check-in nurse asked to see some ID, so I handed over my Australian driver's license. The nurse looked at the license and typed some of the info on it into a computer, then they looked up at me and asked: "Are you the same Mark Pesce who lived at...?" and then proceeded to recite an address that I resided at more than half a century ago.
Dumbstruck, I said, "Yes...? And how did you know that? I haven't lived there in nearly 50 years. I've never been in here before - I've barely ever been in this town before. Where did that come from?"
"Oh," they replied. "We share our patient data records with Massachusetts General Hospital. It's probably from them?"
I remembered having a bit of minor surgery as an 11 year old, conducted at that facility. 51 years ago. That's the only time I'd ever been a patient at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Good thing we're paying for all these data centers!
I started losing my digital privacy in 1974, aged 11
Column: An encounter with the healthcare system reveals sickening decisions about dataMark Pesce (The Register)
[Episode] Turkey! Time to Strike • Turkey! - Episode 6 discussion
Turkey!, episode 6
::: spoiler Alternative Names
ターキー!
:::
::: spoiler Additional Links
- Info - AniList
- Info - Kitsu
- Info - MyAnimeList
- Info - Official Site (Japanese)
- Social - Twitter (Japanese)
- Streaming - Crunchyroll
:::
All discussions
| Episode | Link |
|---|---|
| 1 | Link |
| 2 | Link |
| 3 | Link |
| 4 | Link |
| 5 | Link |
| 6 | Link |
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Turkey!
At the bowling club of Ikkokukan High School in Nagano Prefecture, Mai, the club captain, prioritizes everyone's enjoyment over winning. However, her passionate junior, Rina, declares, "I want to win.MyAnimeList.net
adenfinanceljk
in reply to geneva_convenience • • •We are looking for an investor who can loan our holding company 237,000 US dollars.
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Your profit:
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Your earnings will be great. When 22.03.2026 comes, you will get your money back as 953.00 US dollars.
You will lend 237,000 US dollars to our holding company and when 22.03.2026 comes, you will receive your money back as 953,000 US dollars.
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My WhatsApp phone number:
+44 7842 572711
My telegram username:
@adenholding
FromPieces
in reply to adenfinanceljk • • •Tenderizer78
in reply to geneva_convenience • • •matey
in reply to Tenderizer78 • • •That was partially our plan as well - rotate across streaming services - but the convenience of not having to do that definitely overtook that plan in under a year.
Yarr.
Tenderizer78
in reply to matey • • •eldavi
in reply to Tenderizer78 • • •Tenderizer78
in reply to eldavi • • •IHave69XiBucks
in reply to geneva_convenience • • •LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins [none/use name]
in reply to IHave69XiBucks • • •Kindness is Punk
in reply to geneva_convenience • • •blindsight
in reply to Kindness is Punk • • •Eh, for most things, sure. I'm right with you for most media, but there's a lot to be said for confining content when it's part of the cultural zeitgeist. Ain't nobody talking about Game of Thrones now, and it's only 6 years old, not even a decade.
With any sort of piracy setup, almost all mainstream media is incredibly easy to get within a few hours of release, and most "Long Tail" content can be found pretty easily, too. If it's so obscure that you still can't find it, then that's likely a good indication that you're solidly pushing into indie content that hardly earns any income, so they could really benefit from us paying for their content.
We do try to make sure indie content creators get paid, though. For example, Kindle Unlimited is pretty amazing for us. My wife and I share an account, and we read so voraciously that authors get paid out about 10× what we pay for the service. Maths out roughly like this: ~30 books/month, on average, at ~1¢/page (actual pages, not Kindle standardized e-reader pages, which are only half a page), at ~250-300 pages/book is $75-90/mo, and we pay for 2 years in advance at I think $7ish/mo.
But I'm totally with you on games. I spend lots on videogames, but almost entirely for indie game bundles at $1-2/game, typically. I have literally thousands of games I'd love to play going back decades, so I don't need the latest releases unless it's a game I'm super excited for.
Cherry
in reply to Kindness is Punk • • •ShortN0te
in reply to geneva_convenience • • •Vegafjord eo
in reply to geneva_convenience • • •