Israel throws Palestinian children from rooftops during torture interrogation
Omar was seeking aid at an aid distribution site when Israeli soldiers encircled him and other aid-seekers, after opening fire on the crowd.
Omar was then interrogated and ordered to provide details of his family and relatives. Dissatisfied with Omar’s responses, the interrogator subjected Omar to torture.
Omar was brought to the roof of the building and tied to a rope, where he was left hanging upside down for an extended period. Later, the interrogator released the rope, causing Omar to plummet to the ground, dropping the height of roughly five floors before the rope became taut again, stopping his fall about half a meter (20 inches) above the ground, where he was left suspended for approximately 20 minutes.
The torture caused Omar to urinate, as he was left struggling to breathe and suffocating. “It felt as though I was teetering on the brink of death,” recalled Omar.
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OpenAI will not disclose GPT-5’s energy use. It could be higher than past models
OpenAI will not disclose GPT-5’s energy use. It could be higher than past models
Experts working to benchmark resource use of AI models say new version’s enhanced capabilities come at a steep costGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
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Vegan Crunchy Wrap - Old Wild West 🌯🍟
L'ho appena ordinato tramite #Deliveroo e me lo stanno portando in #bicicletta (così è 100% ecologica la consegna) e ho usato un buono da 5€ + la consegna gratuita così pagando solo per il menù 7.59€ :grin: :call_me_hand:
L'avevo già provato l'anno scorso ma non ricordo come fosse, voi l'avete provato?
Di solito mangiate vegan da queste catene di fast food?
Qui la foto: 
#vegan #OldWildWest #veganfood #bici #wrap #govegan #Rome #Roma
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 17th August 2025
Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.
Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.
If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.
The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.
Stubsack: Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 10th August 2025
Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.
If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.
The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.
(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this.)
Since when does infomaniak's swisstransfer.com require an email adress for download links and what are the alternatives?
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Arkane Devs Call For Microsoft To Stop Working With Israel
Developers at Arkane Studios in France have called on their parent company, Microsoft, to stop supporting Israel during its ongoing war in Gaza, which a UN Special Committee said was "consistent with the characteristics of genocide."
The open letter published online (via Game Developer) is addressed to the "heads of Zenimax, Microsoft Gaming and the overall Microsoft group." It says that the ongoing situation in Gaza and Microsoft's work with Israel could "affect our reputation and work" and asks Microsoft to take the "appropriate measure" to resolve it.
It joins the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement, which has set Microsoft as a priority target of its boycott. BDS specifically mentions Microsoft's gaming division and Game Pass among its boycott targets.
Arkane Devs Call For Microsoft To Stop Working With Israel
An open letter from union members directed at company leadership says Microsoft has "no place being accomplice of a genocide."Steve Watts (GameSpot)
Meta appoints anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck as AI bias advisor
Meta appoints notorious anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck as AI bias advisor
Meta has appointed right-wing, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-DEI conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck to advise them on preventing political bias in AI.Sophie Perry (PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news)
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Holocaust survivor Gabor Maté: Gaza genocide 'the worst thing I've seen in my whole life.'
Holocaust survivor Gabor Maté: Gaza genocide ‘the worst thing I’ve seen in my whole life.’
“It's a bit of an obscenity that I'm asked so much to speak on this subject because I happen to be Jewish and because I happened, as an infant, to have survived the Holocaust…Why aren't we listening to the Palestinians?”Marc Steiner (The Real News Network)
Why BBC editors must one day stand trial for colluding in Israel's genocide
Why BBC editors must one day stand trial for colluding in Israel's genocide
In a confrontation with BBC news chief Richard Burgess, journalist Peter Oborne sets out six ways the state broadcaster has wilfully misled audiences on Israel's destruction of GazaJonathan Cook
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Landmark complaint issued against UK Lawyers for Israel
Landmark complaint issued against UK Lawyers for Israel
Exclusive: UK Lawyers for Israel has waged a campaign against solidarity with Palestine. The group is now being referred to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.JOHN McEVOY (Declassified Media ltd)
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.
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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![Corduroy_Pillows_Making_Headlines [she/her]](images/person-80.jpg)
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!).
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
BlueMonday1984
in reply to David Gerard • • •AI slop and the destruction of knowledge
Iris van Rooijmirrorwitch
in reply to BlueMonday1984 • • •choice quote from Elsevier's response:
consent, everyone!