(Social Security Administration)SSA's chief data officer files a whistleblower complaint that DOGE uploaded a database with every Social Security number ever issued to an insecure cloud server
::: spoiler Comments
- Hackernews;
- Reddit.
:::
Whistleblower Warns of Possible Risks to Americans’ Social Security Information - Government Accountability Project
August 26, 2025 Whistleblower Warns of Possible Risks to Americans’ Social Security Information WASHINGTON—Today, Government Accountability Project submitted a protected whistleblower disclosure to the Office of Special Counsel and congressional…Mary Allain (Government Accountability Project)
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TikTok, Alibaba, Temu Collect Extensive User Data in America
10 popular apps that collect extensive personal data on Americans are foreign-owned [2025] | Incogni
Both foreign and domestic tech companies collect staggering amounts of Americans’ personal data via their mobile applications. Privacy advocates have beenIncogni research (Incogni Blog)
‘Bad, Bad, Bad!’ Democrats Are As Unpopular as the Cracker Barrel Rebrand, CNN’s Data Guru Says
‘Bad, Bad, Bad!’ Democrats Are As Unpopular as the Cracker Barrel Rebrand, CNN’s Data Gu ...
Democrats are as popular as the Cracker Barrel rebrand and in "bad" shape heading into the 2026 midterms, CNN's Harry Enten explainedSean James (Mediaite)
No thumbnail URL when posting
Hey all,
I'm evaluating PieFed as a replacement for Lemmy, with a view to importing my two Lemmy communities to move them out of the failing Lemmy instance they're currently hosted on (a PieFed exclusive I understand). I've created an account and imported my Lemmy settings yesterday, and so far it's been more or less smooth sailing.
But there's one showstopper for me: when I create a post, there's no field to specify the thumbnail image URL. When PieFed guesses the image URL correctly, no problem. But here, I just posted this YouTube video, and just like on Lemmy half of the time, the thumbnail image didn't get picked up. On Lemmy, I always manually insert the thumbnail URL when I post YouTube links for that reason.
Similarly, some sites make it extra-hard for software to correctly guess the og:image - Reuters for instance - and so in those cases when it doesn't work, I manually set the correct thumbnail URL too.
Here on PieFed, there doesn't seem to be a provision to set the thumbnail URL.
Am I doing something wrong? Am I missing something obvious? I really doubt this basic functionality is missing from PieFed.
I have accepted myself I am Bisexual.
I have no one to tell IRL without getting shame so yeah.
:::
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'Most Illegal Search I've Ever Seen': Trump's DC Crackdown Results in Stream of Abuses
'Most Illegal Search I've Ever Seen': Trump's DC Crackdown Results in Stream of Abuses
"A high school student would know this was an illegal search," emphasized US Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui.brad-reed (Common Dreams)
Framework Laptop 16. Upgraded!
Framework Laptop 16 pre-orders are now open!
Framework Laptop 16 is an endlessly customizable laptop with upgradable graphics, powered by NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5070 and AMD's latest Ryzen™ AI 300 Series processors.Framework
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The Student Newspaper Suing Marco Rubio Over Targeted Deportations
President Donald Trump has has long considered both the media and higher education as his enemies — which makes college media a ripe target. The arrest of Rümeysa Öztürk over an op-ed that she co-wrote for the Tufts University campus paper proved that student journalists are at risk, especially foreign writers who dared criticize Israel’s war on Gaza.
But one student newspaper is fighting back.
The Stanford Daily — the independent publication covering Stanford University — filed a First Amendment lawsuit suing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem earlier this month over two tactics they’ve used in targeted deportation cases.
“What’s at stake in this case is whether, when you’re in the United States, you’re free to voice an opinion critical of the government without fear of retaliation,” said Conor Fitzpatrick, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, a civil liberties group representing the plaintiffs.
“It does not matter if you’re a citizen, here on a green card, or visiting Las Vegas for the weekend — you shouldn’t have to fear retaliation because the government doesn’t like what you have to say,” Fitzpatrick said.
Soon after Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by immigration agents in early March for his role in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, student journalists and editors around the country sensed a shift.
“That’s when we saw a significant uptick in calls,” said Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel at the Student Press Law Center, who manages the nonprofit’s hotline.
Over three decades helping student reporters navigate censorship and First Amendment issues, Hiestand had never fielded so many calls focused on potential immigration consequences for coverage on campus, both for the journalists and their named sources.
Öztürk’s arrest just a couple weeks later sent the legal hotline “into overdrive,” Hiestand told The Intercept. He heard from reporters, editors, and even political cartoonists worried their work about Israel, Palestine, and student protests might make them targets too.
In early April, the Student Press Law Center put out an unprecedented alert with other student journalism organizations, which advised campus publications to consider taking down or revising “certain stories that may now be targeted by immigration officials.”
“ICE has weaponized lawful speech and digital footprints and has forced us all to reconsider long-standing journalism norms,” reads the alert.
The next week, the Stanford Daily editorsran a letter about the chill its own staff was facing on campus.
“Both students and faculty have been increasingly hesitant to speak to The Daily and increasingly worried about comments that have already been made on the record,” their letter read. “Some reporters have been choosing to step away from stories in order to keep their name detached from topics that might draw unwanted attention. Even authors of dated opinion pieces have expressed fear that their words might retroactively put them in danger.”
Following the editors’ letter, FIRE approached the Stanford Daily’s editors to sue the Trump administration. It’s not the first time the publication has fought for freedom of the press in court. In 1978, a case brought by the Stanford Daily over a search warrant targeting its newsroom reached the Supreme Court, which ruled 5-3 that the warrant was valid and did not violate the First Amendment.
The student newspaper’s current suit — filed with two individual plaintiffs suing under the pseudonyms Jane Doe and John Doe — challenges two broad, arcane legal provisions that have become Rubio’s go-to tools against student activists and campus critics of Israel’s war on Gaza.
The first provision, which was added to the country’s immigration code in 1990, grants the secretary of state sweeping authority to render noncitizens deportable if they “compromise a compelling United States foreign policy interest.” The second law is even broader, allowing the secretary to revoke visas “at any time, in his discretion.”
There are relatively few cases in which either statute has been the grounds for deportation, particularly compared to the tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has rounded up and detained since Trump returned to the White House.
[
Related
The Case Against Mahmoud Khalil Hinges on Vague “Antisemitism” Claim](theintercept.com/2025/04/10/de…)
In fact, immigration scholars found that invoking the foreign policy provision as the sole grounds for deportation was “almost unprecedented,” according to a brief submitted in Khalil’s ongoing court battle by more than 150 lawyers and law professors. Based on government data, the scholars identified just 15 cases in which the foreign policy provision has ever been invoked, and just four in the past 25 years — most recently in 2018, during the first Trump administration.
“At a minimum, the government’s assertion of authority here is extraordinary — indeed, vanishingly rare,” the scholars wrote in their brief.
In Khalil’s case, the government identified only two others beside Khalil who had been targeted by Rubio under the “foreign policy” provision: although not identified by name, descriptions of the cases match Rubio’s orders against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, and Badar Khan Suri, a scholar at Georgetown University. Oddly, the government failed to mention the case of Yunseo Chung, another Columbia undergraduate with a green card, whose deportation Rubio authorized in the very same letter as for Khalil.
The State Department greenlighted Öztürk’s detention, meanwhile, under the second, broader provision, court records show. The government has not made any similar accounting of how many times Rubio and his staff have invoked his “discretion” to revoke visas over alleged antisemitism. At one point Rubio claimed to have revoked as many as 300 visas, without specifying the authority under which he did so.
“The chill is the point,” Fitzpatrick, the FIRE attorney, said. “It doesn’t take deporting thousands of noncitizens to accomplish that chill,” since no one wants to become “the next Mahmoud Khalil or Rümeysa Öztürk.”
[
Read our complete coverage
Chilling Dissent](theintercept.com/collections/c…)
In recent months, numerous courts have cast doubt on whether these two statutes can be used to target noncitizens based on their speech.
In Khalil’s case, which is currently pending in a federal appellate court, a district court judge in New Jersey ruled in June that the “foreign policy” provision is “very likely an unconstitutional statute.”
Similarly, in May a judge in Vermont ordered Öztürk’s release to “ameliorate the chilling effect that Ms. Ozturk’s arguably unconstitutional detention may have on non-citizens present in the country.” The government has also appealed that order, along with similar rulings that freed Mahdawi and Suri from detention, and another ruling that blocked the Trump administration from detaining Chung.
Now, the Stanford Daily is mounting a direct challenge to these two laws as deployed by the Trump administration. The student newspaper argues both provisions are unconstitutional under the First Amendment, at least when used to retaliate against protected speech.
“The Secretary of State and the President claim to possess unreviewable statutory authority to deport any lawfully present noncitizen for speech the government deems anti-American or anti-Israel. They are wrong,” reads their complaint, filed August 6. “The First Amendment cements America’s promise that the government may not subject a speaker to disfavored treatment because those in power do not like his or her message.”
Julia Rose Kraut, a legal historian who has written about the history of ideological deportation in the U.S., told The Intercept that Congress never meant for the foreign policy provision to be used “as a tool to suppress freedom of expression and association.”
[
Related
The Legal Argument That Could Set Mahmoud Khalil Free](theintercept.com/2025/03/13/ma…)
“Members of Congress intended for the foreign policy provision to be used in unusual circumstances, and only sparingly, carefully, and narrowly to exclude or deport specific individuals who would have a clear negative impact on United States foreign policy,” Kraut said, citing changes signed into law after the Cold War.
“What this case is seeking to establish is that political branches’ authority over immigration does not supersede the Bill of Rights,” FIRE’s Fitzpatrick said.
Briefing in the case is ongoing, and a hearing is scheduled for October 1.
“It’s gratifying to see a student newspaper upholding free speech at a time when many institutions are bending the knee,” said Shirin Sinnar, a law professor at Stanford, in an emailed statement. “Many students are afraid to protest the Trump administration’s actions not only because of the deportations, but because their own universities restricted speech and harshly disciplined protestors. I hope their courage inspires others to act.”
The post The Student Newspaper Suing Marco Rubio Over Targeted Deportations appeared first on The Intercept.
The Legal Argument That Could Set Mahmoud Khalil Free
Lawyers trying to free Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil point to a legal exception undermining the Trump administration’s argument.Jonah Valdez (The Intercept)
Trump shooting and Biden exit flipped social media from hostility to solidarity: how political crises cause a shift in the force behind viral online content ‘from outgroup hate to ingroup love’.
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36350410
The University of Cambridge’s Social Decision-Making Lab collected over 62,000 public posts from the Facebook accounts of hundreds of US politicians, commentators and media outlets before and after these events to see how they affected online behaviour.*“We wanted to understand the kinds of content that went viral among Republicans and Democrats during this period of high tension for both groups,” said Malia Marks, PhD candidate in Cambridge’s Department of Psychology and lead author of the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Negative emotions such as anger and outrage along with hostility towards opposing political groups are usually rocket fuel for social media engagement. You might expect this to go into hyperdrive during times of crisis and external threat.”
“However, we found the opposite. It appears that political crises evoke not so much outgroup hate but rather ingroup love,” said Marks.
Just after the Trump assassination attempt, Republican-aligned posts signalling unity and shared identity received 53% more engagement than those that did not – an increase of 17 percentage points compared to just before the shooting.
These included posts such as evangelist Franklin Graham thanking God that Donald Trump is alive, and Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham posting: “Bleeding and unbowed, Trump faces relentless attacks yet stands strong for America. This is why his followers remain passionately loyal.”
At the same time, engagement levels for Republican posts attacking the Democrats saw a decrease of 23 percentage points from just a few days earlier.
After Biden suspended his re-election campaign, Democrat-aligned posts expressing solidarity received 91% more engagement than those that did not – a major increase of 71 percentage points over the period shortly before his withdrawal.
Posts included former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich calling Biden “one of our most pro-worker presidents”, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posting that Biden’s “legacy of vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history.”
Biden’s withdrawal saw the continuation of a gradual rise in engagement for Democrat posts attacking Republicans – although over the 25 July days covered by the analysis almost a quarter of all conservative posts displayed “outgroup hostility” compared to just 5% of liberal posts.
Trump shooting and Biden exit flipped social media from hostility to solidarity: how political crises cause a shift in the force behind viral online content ‘from outgroup hate to ingroup love’.
The University of Cambridge’s Social Decision-Making Lab collected over 62,000 public posts from the Facebook accounts of hundreds of US politicians, commentators and media outlets before and after these events to see how they affected online behaviour.*“We wanted to understand the kinds of content that went viral among Republicans and Democrats during this period of high tension for both groups,” said Malia Marks, PhD candidate in Cambridge’s Department of Psychology and lead author of the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Negative emotions such as anger and outrage along with hostility towards opposing political groups are usually rocket fuel for social media engagement. You might expect this to go into hyperdrive during times of crisis and external threat.”
“However, we found the opposite. It appears that political crises evoke not so much outgroup hate but rather ingroup love,” said Marks.
Just after the Trump assassination attempt, Republican-aligned posts signalling unity and shared identity received 53% more engagement than those that did not – an increase of 17 percentage points compared to just before the shooting.
These included posts such as evangelist Franklin Graham thanking God that Donald Trump is alive, and Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham posting: “Bleeding and unbowed, Trump faces relentless attacks yet stands strong for America. This is why his followers remain passionately loyal.”
At the same time, engagement levels for Republican posts attacking the Democrats saw a decrease of 23 percentage points from just a few days earlier.
After Biden suspended his re-election campaign, Democrat-aligned posts expressing solidarity received 91% more engagement than those that did not – a major increase of 71 percentage points over the period shortly before his withdrawal.
Posts included former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich calling Biden “one of our most pro-worker presidents”, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posting that Biden’s “legacy of vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history.”
Biden’s withdrawal saw the continuation of a gradual rise in engagement for Democrat posts attacking Republicans – although over the 25 July days covered by the analysis almost a quarter of all conservative posts displayed “outgroup hostility” compared to just 5% of liberal posts.
Trump shooting and Biden exit flipped social media from hostility to solidarity
Research reveals how political crises cause a shift in the force behind viral online content ‘from outgroup hate to ingroup love’.University of Cambridge
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I think the trillion-dollar propaganda machine has two components.
The first part convinces people not to care.
The second part targets people who do care and convinces them not to act, because the problem is so big and the difference you can make is so small and there's no hope of changing the inevitable and so on and so forth.
And too many good-hearted people who overcome the first part fall for the second.
So for anybody who needs to hear it:
You matter. You matter because you care about the problem. And you do have the power to contribute to the solution. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
Our civilization grew faster than our primate brains. Well, most of us.
Option 1 - Figure out how to transfer our consciousness to another (more positive) reality.
neurosciencenews.com/sleep-con…
Option 2 - Lets start that orgy!
psychologyfor.com/what-is-an-o…
Neuroscience News
Neuroscience News provides research news for neuroscience, neurology, psychology, AI, brain science, mental health, robotics and cognitive sciences.Neuroscience News
acsh.org/news/2024/09/17/can-m…
Do I agree? Survey says... 💯
Can Murder Be Moral?
Murder is the unlawful, premeditated killing of one human being by another. It's also considered immoral. Sometimes, however, killing another human can be legal and moral, say during acts of self-defense.American Council on Science and Health
but without the orgies.
There are 50 upvotes from people who agree. That's an opportunity.
The air is hissing out of the overinflated AI balloon
There tend to be three AI camps. 1) AI is the greatest thing since sliced bread and will transform the world. 2) AI is the spawn of the Devil and will destroy civilization as we know it. And 3) "Write an A-Level paper on the themes in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."I propose a fourth: AI is now as good as it's going to get, and that's neither as good nor as bad as its fans and haters think, and you're still not going to get an A on your report.
You see, now that people have been using AI for everything and anything, they're beginning to realize that its results, while fast and sometimes useful, tend to be mediocre.
My take is LLMs can speed up some work, like paraphrasing, but all the time that gets saved is diverted to verifying the output.
The air is hissing out of the overinflated AI balloon
Opinion: Are tech giants getting nervous? They should beSteven J. Vaughan-Nichols (The Register)
Federal prosecutors failed three times to persuade a grand jury to indict a woman accused of assaulting an FBI agent during an immigration operation in Washington, D.C.
Three different federal grand juries declined to indict Sydney Reid for assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, prosecutors disclosed in a court filing late on Monday. Prosecutors then downgraded the offense to a misdemeanor.
U.S. prosecutors in Washington sought to bring a felony assault charge against Reid, accusing her of pushing the FBI agent’s hand against a cement wall. The July 22 confrontation happened as Reid was filming officers who were transferring two men accused of gang activity into federal immigration custody outside a Washington jail, according to court documents.
The alleged assault occurred while Reid was being pinned against the wall by federal agents. Officers sought to subdue her after she attempted to get between law enforcement and one of the suspects, according to a charging document.
How the world's biggest bank is bracing for climate catastrophe
JP Morgan chase recently published a comprehensive climate report which spelled out to its investors how they should be adapting to the coming storm and pointed out all the lucrative investment opportunities a warming planet presents (like melting sea ice & thawing permafrost opening up new trade routes and mining sites, and increasing temperatures providing an uplift to the air-conditioning market. Meanwhile the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, who are financial risk managers, published their own analysis with a very different outlook. This video compares and contrasts the two reports.
JP Morgan document / dark comedy: jpmorgan.com/content/dam/jpm/c…
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
How do banks prepare for the possible near end of our world as we know it?
By making short term business opportunities, of course!
I mean, we can all see how sick this world is and that we are the fucking infection
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I mean, yes, and yes.
I can even see the logic in it, from an individual perspective. How do you, as an individual, prepare for global climate collapse? By making as much money as possible, so when resources get scarcer and more expensive you can still afford them - and by gathering resources under your control to prepare for a time when those resources become unavailable on the market - whether your money making activity speeds up the climate collapse or not. So how do you, as a business, prepare for global climate collapse? Exactly the same.
It's the tragedy of the commons as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"No problem can be solved by the same level of consciousness that created it."
~ Some wise person who has never been in my kitchen.
Making money only makes individualist sense if you assume that there will still be a state apparatus enforcing and maintaining that ownership. All it takes is a communist revolution and your assets are no longer yours. And guess what becomes more likely as climate catastrophe looms?
The businesses themselves do not benefit from climate catastrophe either. But businesses don't decide what they do, the owners of those businesses do. And those owners are ipso facto tied to the current model of ownership.
The business doing well - expanding its holdings, making profit, insuring itself against risks, etc. - is completely secondary to the business behaving in ways that satisfy the business owners.
Tragedies of the commons are patched all the time in business. Enforcing corporate contracts would be a tragedy of the commons, yet businesses all submit themselves to corporate law. Collusion would be a tragedy of the commons, so that is made illegal and corporations are forced to treat all business partners equally. The bank bailouts of 2008 cost most businesses a lot of money through taxation and deferred social services for their employees. And when there was an algorithm glitch and the stock market acted crazy for one day in the 2010s, everybody agreed to just revert before that day.
Because at the end of the day, if climate catastrophe was a tragedy of the commons for them, they would be okay with a liberal environmentalist president. Someone who preserves rich people's privilege even as the economics are reorganized.
But they are not. They treat climate change prevention as the existential threat. They pool trillions of dollars to elect an unreliable egomaniac fascist just so they don't end up with a Democrat.
They don't care about their own wellbeing or even their privilege, they care about playing the game. They want to be rich because they optimized ruthlessly for personal profit.
There was a meme going around at some point to the tune of
I don't get why both teams don't work together in basketball - imagine how many points they could score!
It is not about the points, it's about the game that arises when you only care about points within a specific ruleset. And for capitalists, the ruleset of the game they want to play is not compatible with climate change prevention.
Tldr; the nature of capitalism is juxtaposed to any action to ease the ongoing climate emergency.
See how I cleverly used the word nature in there?
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 31st August 2025 - awful.systems
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.)
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Someone tried Adobe's new Generative Fill "feature" (just the latest development in Adobe's infatuation with AI) with the prompt "take this elf lady out of the scene", and the results were...interesting:
There's also an option to rate whatever the fill gets you, which I can absolutely see being used to sabotage the "feature".
OpenAI has stated its scanning users' conversations (as if they weren't already) and reporting conversations to the cops in response to the recent teen suicide I mentioned a couple days ago.
So, rather than let ChatGPT drive users to kill themselves, its just going to SWAT users and have the cops do the job.
(On an arguably more comedic note, the AI doomers are accusing OpenAI of betraying humankind.)
Top AI Experts Concerned That OpenAI Has Betrayed Humankind
In a scathing open letter, luminaries from the AI industry are calling on OpenAI to prove that it has not betrayed humanity.Noor Al-Sibai (Futurism)
Mark Cuban is feeling bullied by Bluesky. He will also have you know that you need to keep aware of the important achievements of your betters, as though he is currently the 5th most blocked user on there, he was indeed once the 4th most blocked user. Perhaps he is just crying out to move up the ranks once more?
It’s really all about Bluesky employees being able to afford their healthcare for Mark you see.
And of course, here’s never-Trumper Anne Applebaum running interference for him. Really an appropriate hotdog-guy-meme moment – as much as I shamelessly sneer at Cuban, I’m genuinely angered by the complete inability of the self-satisfied ‘democracy defender’ set to see their own complicity in perpetuating a permission structure for priviliged white men to feel eternally victimized.
We're All Trying To Find The Guy Who Did This
"We're All Trying To Find The Guy Who Did This" is a quote from the Netflix sketch comedy series I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.Adam B. (Know Your Meme)
argmin.net/p/the-banal-evil-of…
Once again shilling another great Ben Recht post. This time calling out the fucking insane irresponsibility of "responsible" AI providers to do the bare minimum to prevent people from having psychological beaks from reality.
"I’ve been stuck on this tragic story in the New York Times about Adam Raine, a 16-year-old who took his life after months of getting advice on suicide from ChatGPT. Our relationship with technological tools is complex. That people draw emotional connections to chatbots isn’t new (I see you, Joseph Weizenbaum). Why young people commit suicide is multifactorial. We’ll see whether a court will find OpenAI liable for wrongful death.
But I’m not a court of law. And OpenAI is not only responsible, but everyone who works there should be ashamed of themselves."
The Banal Evil of AI Safety
Chatbot companies are harmful and dishonest. How can we hold them accountable?Ben Recht (arg min)
It's a good post. A few minor quibbles:
The “nonprofit” company OpenAI was launched under the cynical message of building a “safe” artificial intelligence that would “benefit” humanity.
I think at least some of the people at launch were true believers, but strong financial incentives and some cynics present at the start meant the true believers didn't really have a chance, culminating in the board trying but failing to fire Sam Altman and him successfully leveraging the threat of taking everyone with him to Microsoft. It figures one of the rare times rationalists recognize and try to mitigate the harmful incentives of capitalism they fall vastly short. OTOH... if failing to convert to a for-profit company is a decisive moment in popping the GenAI bubble, then at least it was good for something?
These tools definitely have positive uses. I personally use them frequently for web searches, coding, and oblique strategies. I find them helpful.
I wish people didn't feel the need to add all these disclaimers, or at least put a disclaimer on their disclaimer. It is a slightly better autocomplete for coding that also introduces massive security and maintainability problems if people entirely rely on it. It is a better web search only relative to the ad-money-motivated compromises Google has made. It also breaks the implicit social contract of web searches (web sites allow themselves to be crawled so that human traffic will ultimately come to them) which could have pretty far reaching impacts.
One of the things I liked and didn't know about before
Ask Claude any basic question about biology and it will abort.
That is hilarious! Kind of overkill to be honest, I think they've really overrated how much it can help with a bioweapons attack compared to radicalizing and recruiting a few good PhD students and cracking open the textbooks. But I like the author's overall point that this shut-it-down approach could be used for a variety of topics.
One of the comments gets it:
Safety team/product team have conflicting goals
LLMs aren't actually smart enough to make delicate judgements, even with all the fine-tuning and RLHF they've thrown at them, so you're left with over-censoring everything or having the safeties overridden with just a bit of prompt-hacking (and sometimes both problems with one model)/1
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Ask Claude any basic question about biology and it will abort.
it might be that, or it may have been intended to shut off any output of medical-sounding advice. if it's the former, then it's rare rationalist W for wrong reasons
I think they’ve really overrated how much it can help with a bioweapons attack compared to radicalizing and recruiting a few good PhD students and cracking open the textbooks.
look up the story of vil mirzayanov. break out these bayfucker style salaries in eastern europe or india or number of other places and you'll find a long queue of phds willing to cook man made horrors beyond your comprehension. it might even not take six figures (in dollars or euros) after tax
LLMs aren’t actually smart enough to make delicate judgements
maybe they really made machines in their own image
Trump threatens tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against US tech
Trump threatens tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against US tech
President’s move could hit UK’s digital services tax and measures in EU states such as France, Italy and SpainMark Sweney (The Guardian)
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The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer market by a factor of 3. So it’s more accurate to say “Give me what I want or I’ll take away a sizable chunk of your customers, potentially causing you financial ruin”
You and I both know that the U.S. won’t just magically and instantly stand up its own production to replace your countries market, but in this case he just needs American companies to start importing from a different foreign country with lower tariffs. The effect this has on your country depends on how much your country’s GDP comes from exports to America, but it’s potentially very harmful.
As an American this sucks because long term, long after this dude is gone, our trading partners will have already adjusted who they’re exporting to in order to absorb a loss like this, and I doubt that’d change for decades.
European markets don't tend to send the US products, it tends to be services. There isn't anyone else, at least there isn't anyone else who doesn't already also have tariffs on them.
He went tariff mad a little while ago and decided to put tariffs on everyone, including nations who've never traded with the United States because they have a population of six people and 3,000 koalas.
Edit grammar
Plenty of EU countries export a significant portion of their extra-EU goods for export to the U.S. , many of which are around 20-25%. Ireland tops the charts with a whopping 46%.
Overall goods you’re still talking about ~10%. I’m sure that number will be shrinking substantially over the next decade.
We are aware of the problem, but don't really have a magic wand to create our own mineral and energy resources overnight, including production lines for advanced chips, defense, train a proper army all while maintaining social plans and investment into infrastructure. The time for solving the problem is long gone, and now the only thing remaining is to do the best we can under the current circumstances.
If we go to a trade war with Trump, we will also deteriorate the our economy and Trump can pull his military support leaving us with both economic downturn and extremely weakened defence capabilities. This can't possibly be better than playing along, for now.
A simple thing would be to cut a lot of social programs and finance more pressing matters, but we know how the people will react to it...
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This is not discrimination…
This is also one note point on why we need to diversify from us tech.
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I’ve got a new PC arriving tomorrow ready to be loaded with Linux, my phone runs Graphene, my cloud data is here in Canada or the EU…
I’m getting there!
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He's pointing it down his own throat though.
Do what I want or I will crash my own economy is not much of a threat.
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The online services tax. Right now foreign companies can exploit the Canadian internet users and not pay a penny in taxes for it.
They dropped it because Trump was using it as an excuse to block trade negotiations. They dropped it and the negotiations still went no where. Canada is still paying higher tariffs than Russia. Let that sink in. Canada needs to speed up their decoupling if their economy from the US and bring back that tax.
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"discriminate" is a bad faith use of vocabulary.
What Trump means is that those nation-states are expressing sovereignty.
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So far foreign companies don't appear to be eating the cost. So the impact to their competitiveness seems to not be high enough to force them. It's likely to stay that way.
It's important to understand that if you place tariffs on all imports of a certain good, you also incentivize domestic manufacturers to increase their prices to just below those of the taxed imports, at least as long as domestic supply is lower than domestic demand (so they can expect to sell all they have anyway).
Goldman Sachs doubles down on tariff research that infuriated Trump, saying average Americans will bear two-thirds of the costs
“We stand by the results of this study,” Goldman economist David Mericle told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on Wednesday.Nick Lichtenberg (Fortune)
Except if the product was available commercially in the United States they wouldn't have been importing it in the first place, and they're not going to step up factories in, how long has he been in power, 6 months, it only feels like forever.
If tariffs worked a senior president would have implemented the more subtly.
Trump threatens tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against US tech
Trump threatens tariffs on countries that ‘discriminate’ against US tech
President’s move could hit UK’s digital services tax and measures in EU states such as France, Italy and SpainMark Sweney (The Guardian)
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Google Gemini’s AI image model gets a ‘bananas’ upgrade
Google Gemini's AI image model gets a 'bananas' upgrade | TechCrunch
Google says that it's behind the anonymous AI image editor "nano-banana" that's been making waves on social media.Maxwell Zeff (TechCrunch)
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This looks very impressive.
I try to stay away from ai image models for ethics reasons, and I’ve already seen this used to generate fake before and after photos for workouts and diet pills…
The scammers are going to love this one…
“Mr. President, do not come to Chicago,” Pritzker said. “You are neither wanted here nor needed here.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker pushed back Monday on President Donald Trump’s threat to deploy the National Guard to the state.
“What President Trump is doing is unprecedented and unwarranted,” Pritzker said at a news conference. “It is illegal. It is unconstitutional. It is un-American.”
Pritzker claimed Trump is manufacturing a crisis and noted that neither he nor Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson had been contacted by the White House about working together.
Pritzker pointed out that murders, shootings, robberies and burglaries are all down year over year.
Judge rules Utah’s congressional map must be redrawn for the 2026 elections
The Utah Legislature will need to rapidly redraw the state’s congressional boundaries after a judge ruled Monday that the Republican-controlled body circumvented safeguards put in place by voters to ensure districts aren’t drawn to favor any party.
The current map, adopted in 2021, divides Salt Lake County — Utah’s population center and a Democratic stronghold — among the state’s four congressional districts, all of which have since elected Republicans by wide margins.
District Court Judge Dianna Gibson made few judgments on the content of the map but declared it unlawful because lawmakers had weakened and ignored an independent commission established by voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering.
Spontankonzert mit einem Meister auf der Gitarre und einer Loopmaschine
Die Wetteraussichten sind schön, die Musikaussichten gut.
@Donau Vista Würstel Club (inoffiziell)
kino.schuerz.at/w/dgsy3nk251ee…
Ein Haus am See am DVWC
Hach das Leben kann so schön sein...
Radfahren, Sonnenschein, kühle Luft, kühles Bier, ein Greifenburger, baden in der Alten Donau und "Ein Haus am See" aus den Boxen🤩🥰
A judge orders Kari Lake to answer questions about Voice of America under oath
At a court hearing, U.S District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth said Lake was "verging on contempt of court" for failing to comply with his repeated orders to make information available about her intentions for the future of the federally funded international broadcaster.
He said Lake and two aides had to testify by Sept. 15 and provide the court with detailed information she had, to date, withheld about Voice of America and its federal parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media. One of the aides is Frank Wuco, a political appointee who helped to investigate Voice of America journalists for perceived anti-Trump bias at the end of President Trump's first term. (A different federal judge later found that to be unconstitutional.)
Republican Commerce Department issues stop-work order for offshore wind project that is 80% complete
The order follows a Thursday announcement from the US Commerce Department that it had initiated an investigation on August 13 into “the effects on the national security of imports of wind turbines and their parts and components,” which could allow Trump to apply increased tariffs to wind turbines.
In a company announcement on Friday, Orsted said that Revolution Wind is already 80 percent complete. It is located in federal waters about 15 miles south of Port Judith, Rhode Island, halfway between Block Island, Rhode Island, and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Trump admin issues stop-work order for offshore wind project
Project was 80 percent complete and was slated to power more than 350,000 homes.Inside Climate News (Ars Technica)
Modi refused Trump's calls 4 times in recent weeks: German newspaper
Modi refused Trump's calls 4 times in recent weeks: German newspaper
US President Donald Trump tried to talk to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi four times in recent weeks amid a raging trade dispute but the Indian leader refused to talk according to German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine This demonstrates the ang…India Today News Desk (India Today)
The case against Kilmar Ábrego García is a study in sadistic absurdity
The case against Kilmar Ábrego García is a study in sadistic absurdity
In its allegations against the Maryland man, the Trump administration is claiming authority over reality itselfMoira Donegan (The Guardian)
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Google will verify Android developers distributing apps outside the Play store
Google is increasing security measures around sideloading apps by removing anonymity for Android developers who distribute outside of the Play Store. Starting in September next year, Google will require developers in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand to verify their identities in order for their apps to be installed on certified Android devices via direct downloads or third-party app stores. This requirement will then roll out globally in “2027 and beyond.”Under the new requirements, Android developers will need to provide Google with personal details like their legal name, address, email, and phone number, and may need to upload an official government ID. Identity verification is already a requirement for Google Play, so this change mostly impacts developers who solely distribute their apps outside of the Play Store.
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Inside India’s billion-dollar e-waste empire | India’s booming electronics sector has contributed to a quickly growing e-waste recycling industry worth $1.5 billion
E-waste recycling drives India’s billion-dollar electronics industry - Rest of World
India’s informal e-waste recycling economy turns millions of discarded electronics into profit while exposing workers to hazardous conditions.Kate Bubacz (Rest of World)
Where can I find "fallback emailer" and set it?
Hello everybody!
The question is written in the subject.
See screenshot attached
Can't find it anywhere and have no clues, what the issue is.
NodeBB 4.4.6 latest on-premise. and self hosted SMTP setup.
SMTP is working with no problems.
Re: Where can I find "fallback emailer" and set it?
Twissell I think the "fallback emailer" is literally just searching for a "mail" executable on the machine.
It's pretty outdated now, since emailing directly from your machine is a good way to just get your emails to land in a spam bin somewhere. We should probably just update this to ℹ️ or ⚠️ instead of an error.
Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year
Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year
Google says it’s no different than checking IDs at the airport.Ryan Whitwam (Ars Technica)
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How about letting the users decide what to sideload? What the hell?
I hope the EU is ready to also sue Google.
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The EU already forced sideloading to be officially supported on iPhones thanks to the Digital Markets Act, and that law applies to Google as well.
The US will likely apply pressure, just like they are trying to force their death machines to be legalized on European roads. Apple already tried to pressure the union and failed, but the political climate has changed a bit since then, and while EU bureaucrats can be fierce, European leadership tends to be weak as fuck.
But yeah, chances are that this change won't apply to the EU. 😀
Apple is bringing sideloading and alternate app stores to the iPhone
Apple has announced how it plans to change the rules for developers releasing iOS software in the European Union in response to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).Jon Porter (The Verge)
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Google is clearly trying to find a loophole here. Their loophole clearly sucks.
In all likelihood it'll end up in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union. And in all likelihood Google will lose again.
The Court of Justice generally seems unimpressed by American lobbyists, so the strategy of finding a dumb loophole is probably doomed to fail.
EU court upholds Italian antitrust decision against Google's Android Auto restrictions
Autonews | Google eventually fixed its problem with Enel but this court decision establishes essential framework about platform accessibility for dominant market players.Wion
Does the law demand unsigned software?
The answer is no. It's not phrased like that. But it's all about ensuring free competition in digital markets. The sole purpose of Google's move here is to hinder competition in their own digital market, and to keep control over it.
So the law does not have a paragraph stating that "unsigned software must be allowed", but it has a bunch of other paragraphs that can be used to strike down on monopolistic behaviour.
Google are aware of the law, and will try to find a loophole by designing a system that they believe technically complies with it. Then someone will sue them, it will end up in the European court, and the European court will in all likelyhood tell Google to get fucked.
It seems american tech companies think they can get away with anything because that's how it works in the US. We are repeatedly seeing that this is not how it works in Europe: the Court of Justice tends to care deeply about the intention of the law, as well as the perceived consequences of their rulings. And they don't seem to care all that much about American capitalists.
But to answer your question very simply: No, it doesn't. But thankfully that doesn't matter at all.
I feel like there should independent signing authorities that the major platforms honor. But that’s its own can of worms. Who runs them, is it the government? A non-profit? How do we prevent corruption of that entity, etc.
And yeah, the tech companies have raced ahead of comprehension. At least the comprehension that reasonable and good lawmakers have. At the same time, it’s increasingly looking like the terrible people in power know just how far ahead tech is. (Thiel)
You can't make laws for every single possible future reality. We need courts that uphold laws even when billionaires try to dodge them using shady techniques. The problem is that big tech often gets away with murder because they can afford expensive lawyers. Especially in the US laws are essentially meaningless for the rich. This is not so much the case in Europe.
I have heard some positive signals from the European Court of Justice that they are taking the challenge from big tech seriously and that they are going the extra miles to understand these issues. If you're particularly interested, many judges talk about this in the Borderlines podcast series by Berkley law. But it gets really dry really fast haha.
I don't believe in signing authorities. It's not effective - Google can't even keep malware off the play store - and it's an authoritarian move. Hell, most apps in the play store spy on their users, profiling usage to sell to advertisers along with ID codes that makes it possible to combine data between apps and build detailed profiles of individuals. The problem is not apps that are not signed - the problem is the whole economy of apps that work as Google intend them to.
Also, it's a basic question of rights. It's my phone, I bought the hardware, I own it, I install whatever the fuck I want on it.
Malware-ridden apps made it into Google's Play Store, scored 19 million downloads
: Everything's fine, the ad slinger assures usIain Thomson (The Register)
Why exactly do we need signing authorities? Software isn't zero trust like websites. You do need to trust the developer - even a legitimate one. Signing apps with verified developer keys will only hurt small independent developers, open source projects and freedom enabling stuff like user patching.
It only works to solidify monopolies and doesn't protect you against shit.
What exactly do you mean?
Sure, nothing is perfect, but EU legislation has generally been quite good, from the GDPR to the DMA.
The challenges are more related to enforcement - rules on the book are worth nothing if we don't force companies to live by them. In this respect we've seen some pretty sloppy behaviour, but also some victories. It's not a one-sided story.
Another challenge is of course to keep passing good laws, and to avoid terrible ones. Chat control needs to be stopped. Stopping it is a matter of convincing national governments it's a bad idea, as well as members of the European Parliament - everyone should be writing their representatives NOW. But that's another issue entirely. 😀
don't iphones delete your sideloaded apps against your will and along with your data, if you don't use the ibstaller tool at once every week?
if so that's useless for anybody other than developers themselves who otherwise don't even want to use their own app.
I have no idea as I don't follow apple much, but I am aware that they are constantly trying to find ways to avoid complying with EU law, and that it is often rapidly struck down.
What you're describing here is not a failure of the law, but Apple trying real hard to find creative ways not to comply with it. To me it only shows that they are desperate, and that EU law is in fact getting to them.
If they keep at it it'll eventually end up in court, the case will take a couple of years, and they'll be slammed with a fine and asked to get their shit together.
don't iphones delete your sideloaded apps against your will and along with your data, if you don't use the ibstaller tool at once every week?
No? I have an iPhone in the EU and have several sideloaded apps. All still work and have all the data even after not using them for a while.
Not unabated. They are stuck trying to find new loopholes to not comply, which are then struck down. It's a cat and mouse game, and they think they can get away with it because they have the most expensive lawyers.
Again, enforcement is the challenge, not the laws themselves.
Everything takes a long time, but things are happening. If you search for the terms "fine apple EU" or "fine apple EU" in your search engine of choice you'll see there's quite a lot going on.
I have some personal friends who are working with this stuff for the European Commission. It basically takes a long time to build a case against tech giants, and then once the Commission fines them these fines will be appealed in the EU court system, which will take even more years to process.
It's annoying that there's not a magic switch to flick to make Google and Apple comply with EU law, but that's the world we live in. If the EU just banned Google and/or Apple it would probably backlash tremendously (never mind that I doubt they have the authority to do so even if they wanted), so they have to move a bit slowly. 😀
The EU is currently deepthroating Trump so hard that it's completely out of breath and all our clothes are ruined.
With how volatile Trump is this could change literally anyday, but with the current political equilibrium all google would have to do is gift trump a shiny golden thing so he makes a threatening remark about gas exports and the EU would go "uwu yes master right away master, do you want to fuck my gaping asshole while you're at it?".
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It was always intended to be this way.
The beginning was pre-enshittification. We're going from the good ole' days to the future, and the future sure as shit aint for you unless you're in the club... and you aint, none of us are.
There's already a firm divide between the foss/self sufficiency crowd and modern tech.
If this is bad enough, you'd see every foss faithful walking around with a laptop, mp3 player and camera like they're in 2009.
I hardly believe foss faithful people would ever carry a laptop
The whole thinkpad obsession in the linux/foss community isn't visible to you?
I don’t like how tech is evolving…
Yeah, I'm not sure I like how the axe in my hand is evolving. It seems to be going for the internet fiber.
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somewhat
Yes. Only in the EU and only since 2024 when Apple was forced to do it by new laws. It's reasonable to assume Google would be subject to the same laws.
If you live outside if the EU, it's "no sideload for you!" There are computer programs that can do sideloading to iPhones, but they have limitations, like having to refresh the sideloaded apps every seven days.
Wholly incorrect. You’re allowed to sideload up to 3 apps (or 10 appIDs, whichever comes first) without being a developer, and that arbitrary restriction is removed if you pay for a dev license, regardless of which part of the world you’re in.
In the EU you’re allowed to install third party app stores (still have to be notarized by Apple) which isn’t sideloading
The limitations depend on which program you're using - there's more than one - which is why I only gave a simple example. And if you have to pay for a function that is otherwise free to many others, that's a limitation.
Side loading is installing an app from anywhere but the official store. So by definition "third party" is side loading. Whether it's another store or authorised is irrelevant.
The limitations depend on which program you’re using - there’s more than one - which is why I only gave a simple example.
No it doesn’t. It’s in all the documentation, official and otherwise
Side loading is installing an app from anywhere but the official store. So by definition “third party” is side loading. Whether it’s another store or authorised is irrelevant.
You can’t just make up a definition, believe it, and then share it like it’s true. We’re going by the legal definition as that’s the only one that matters.
Apple only allows up to 3 apps or 10 appIDs to be sideloaded, wherever you are in the world. Period.
Youre not getting it. The developers of the tools can and do impose their own additional limitations. They're still limitations of the programs which is what we were taking about.
And it doesn't matter what limitations Apple imposes in its walled garden, their phones can still be jail broken and side loaded in the more traditional way.
The concept of sideloading is a general term that applies to multiple platforms, not something Apple owns or gets to dictate. No one is making up anything here.
twingate.com/blog/glossary/sid…
Sideloading is the process of installing applications on a device from sources other than the official app stores.
dictionary.cambridge.org/dicti…
the practice of putting software on a computer or mobile phone, without using the official way of buying the software
zimperium.com/glossary/sideloa…
Sideloading is the practice of installing mobile apps on a device that are not from the official app stores
Etc.
If your argument requires cherry picking, ignoring key points, and baseless ad homenims, it's not a good point.
What Is Side-Loading? How It Works & Examples | Twingate
Discover what side-loading is, how it works, examples, its risks, and protective measures against unauthorized app installations in this comprehensive guide.www.twingate.com
I said Apple allows sideloading, you tried to correct me, and then changed your argument when you realized you were wrong. It’s just you not getting it.
Your “tools” that bypass the limitations set by apple wouldn’t even be relevant if they were real since you’re arguing with the factual statement that Apple allows you to sideload your apps, regardless of where you are in the world.
P.S. Even your links prove that you’re wrong about sideloading. Unless you’re now trying to argue there’s nothing official about governmentally mandated Apple-certified App Stores, in which case… just walk
Apple allows you to sideload your apps, regardless of where you are in the world.
No, Apple doesn't generally allow you to sideload apps outside of the EU.
perplexity.ai/search/does-appl… (Note that Perplexity cites sources)
Apple officially allows sideloading of apps on iPhones only for users based in the European Union due to the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) which mandates this starting in 2024. For users outside the EU, Apple does not officially allow sideloading.
If Apple officially allows sideloading outside of the EU, please show us the specific pages where Apple states you can sideload any app and the steps to do it? If you're right, I'll happily spin on a dime and support you and admit my mea culpa. I have no horse in this race, and I'll be happy to learn something new. People think admitting they're wrong is a weakness, when it's actually a strength.
I said Apple allows sideloading, you tried to correct me…
I didn't try to correct you because nothing you wrote was wrong. All I did was try to add information to clarify to other readers what "somewhat" actually means so they have an idea what they might be getting into if they wanted to do it. You know, provide simple helpful extra information, so people don't waste their time trying to find a feature they don't have if they live outside the EU for example. You even agreed that there are limitations, and that people would have to fork out money to overcome some of them.
But if someone correcting you seems to upset to the point where you come out swinging a baseball bat over a trivial matter, maybe the internet isn't the place for you just now.
… then changed your argument when you realized you were wrong
I have no idea what you're referring to here. So being vague again weakens your argument.
Your “tools” that bypass the limitations set by apple wouldn’t even be relevant if they were real…
You seem to be stuck on this idea of Apple setting limitations. I said from the start there were limitations.
The tools are very real:
- perplexity.ai/search/for-peopl…
- Jail breaking tools
- Sideloadly
- AltStore
- SideStore
- Etc.
Even your links prove that you’re wrong about sideloading…
Again, you didn't cite anything specific here in what I linked to. The definitions clearly supported that I wasn't making anything up as you claimed. And all you did was repeat your claim which I've already addressed. You didn't respond to my actual counterpoint or add any additional information. So again, this was vague and pointless.
Ok, this is getting ridiculous. You keep stating incorrect information, you're relying on cherry picking, you've stooped to using yet another ad hominin weakening you argument, and you're getting repetitive and vaguer with each new comment.
I've posted plenty of links to show the reality and limitations I originally mentioned, so people can read them and make up there own minds.
SideStore
An alternative app store that aims to make sideloading apps as seamless as possible.sidestore.io
If sideloading wasn’t allowed, there would be no apps on the App Store
If you read the links your AI provided you, you’d see they’re all confirming what I said. All of them.
Generally, common knowledge doesn’t need to be cited, so here:
developer.apple.com/support/co…
developer.apple.com/support/dm…
developer.apple.com/documentat…
Also, you should probably learn what Ad Homenim is before trying to use it in a sentence
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hom…
The fact is, and will always be, that Apple allows sideloading on all iphones in all regions, and their limits apply even in the EU. I’m sorry if you feel like that’s a personal attack.
And to finally, to address your attempt at changing subject (because you stopped being vague and finally admitted it), Jailbreaking is not within Apples rules (the hint is in the name). Hope this helps!
I mean, there is still UI/UX, app store policies, and general cost/options.
This definitely makes Android a lot less appealing. But it is also questionable to act like the biggest reason to use android was sideloading apps since the vast majority of users don't even know that is an option (and probably shouldn't since they have no understanding of how to vet them). Especially since Apple isn't any better (?).
So... "the ignorance of the masses" should be combatted by willful ignorance and nonsense that falls apart the moment anyone looks at it?
Get angry. I sure am. Look for alternatives. Graphene sure ain't it but I hope it will be in the next four or five years. But this is something google are willing to futz with for a reason: The vast majority of users don't care about it and even with the changes it isn't significantly worse than the competition.
Yet everywhere I see "Well, I guess I have to buy Apple now" which is just... buy it if you want to but don't pretend this shit is why.
Ui/ux is honestly worse on android compared to something like ios. The playstore is honestly stuffed with ads and seems to be actively regressing in ux (the update apps menu is hidden behind like 3 layers of dialogues). Cost wise a used iPhone is probably a better deal than a cheap new android phone.
I used android primarily because I could install apps Apple basically doesn't care about (and after the 5th time gba4ios broke).
There is a lot wrong with android, but it's super easy to transfer files over USB or just download them. I use Nextcloud personally. Then you can manipulate them with your choice of file manager.
I got a new phone recently, Samsung with Knox, the worst part about it so far compared to other Android has been how it is quick to kill background apps, and the UI is honestly disorienting compared to how I'm used to doing things. I haven't been shown ads yet, but I did go ahead and disable all the Samsung apps I could find. This includes not being able to control how quickly it kills background apps, but it's the lesser of two evils.
I'm not sure what Knox attestation is, but it sounds really unfortunate, and I want to search it now. I agree the phones of today are awful and the only reason I got this one was the price.
Whatever things made people get into Android some 20 years ago are no longer relevant to the majority of people.
The biggest benefit will remain the apps. People love apps. In that regard, their only competition is Apple. It's why no one can make a new phone OS.
The other reason is cost. If you want a cheap device, Apple has no such thing. There are hundreds of Android devices you can buy for a couple hundred dollars.
For those who buy Samsung flagships for more than an iPhone, well those people I can't explain.
For those who buy Samsung flagships for more than an iPhone, well those people I can't explain.
Well, it could be explained before: Flagship hardware without the restrictions of iOS.
Now..... After this bullshit..... yeah.......
Linux phones are moving fast but it feels like Android is moving faster on the other direction 😥
(Yes I know Android is built over Linux, I mean more traditional and open distros like postmarketos)
(I am younger than the iPhone so maybe I don't really know how it was)
Yup my first thought was “Where is your God now?”
Google ditched “Don’t be evil” a long time ago.
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Over half my apps I use would get blocked
Consider many apps are just webpages. You can go to the website directly from a browser and everything is happy.
Obviously won't solve everything, but that covers most apps right there.
My credit union site doesn't scale to mobile screens unfortunately. It is a massive pain in the ass to use the browser
Correction, looks like they finally updated it a few months ago to scale.
GrapheneOS Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to frequently asked questions about GrapheneOS.GrapheneOS
Be careful. I've read reports of at least two Pixel 6a devices bursting into flames.
My mom has a Pixel 7 we are replacing because it gets incredibly hot for no apparent reason.
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and if it will work like the play store, you will need to upload an apk* and download the signed version, so it's not even immediately obvious if they changed anything.
* not really an apk but an intermediate build product
Meanwhile, back at the ranch
Malware-ridden apps made it into Google's Play Store, scored 19 million downloads
theregister.com/2025/08/26/app…
Malware-ridden apps made it into Google's Play Store, scored 19 million downloads
: Everything's fine, the ad slinger assures usIain Thomson (The Register)
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The opensource apps like Newpipe, SmartTube, termux and many others are the "malware", not the ones with binary blobs on PlayStore that fork VLC, Newpipe and many opensource apps illegally, supposedly "verified" but don't follow opensource license like GPL, creating fake clones with ads and (real) malware.
itwire.com/business-it-news/op…
iTWire - Google ignores licence-violating clones of VLC
Cloned versions of the popular VideoLAN media player, better known as VLC, with ads embedded and in violation of the VLC licence, have been residing on the Google Play Store for a long time with the search company doing nothing about them, it is clai…Sam Varghese (iTWire)
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Real talk, are there ones like that?
Ive seen things like tindie.com/products/zitaotech/… and I REALLY want one....but they are always sold out.
HackberryPi5 with 9900 keyboard by ZitaoTech on Tindie
A Cyberdeck handheld with bb keyboard and can be installed with different operating system!Tindie
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Or we just... ignore them?
LineageOS and GrapheneOS could just be like "well, go on, then."
There's a market for everything and the FOSS and maker markets would eat up an open Android phone, even if the only apps you could install were community-created.
Dumbphone with tethering
A mini laptop/cyberdeck
A modern mp3 player
A small, modern point and click camera
hey gramps, where'd you get that gear, 2007?
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Android developer verification requirements
Use this form to submit questions or feedback about the new Android developer verification requirements announced in August 2025. You can learn more about the requirements in the Android developer verification guide. Sign up for early access here.Google Docs
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Oh hell yeah, I hope this means an exodus of people forking the latest open source software they can, or if not moving to Linux mobile altogether
Edit:
I had meant that I'd like it if people flocked from developing android to developing Linux mobile. I should have clarified that.
If we could have a solidly performing Linux mobile that has the capability of docking into a full desktop OS, that shit would be an absolute game changer for personal computers.
Ah yeah, I had meant that I'd like it if people flocked from developing android to developing Linux mobile. I should have clarified that.
If we could have a solidly performing Linux mobile that has the capability of docking into a full desktop OS, that shit would be an absolute game changer for personal computers.
Thats not how most people work.
Just because there's a problem, doesn't mean people seek a solution.
Thats why the majority of people in this country. They can each admit there is a problem. But they do nothing about it. Most don't even try to diet or exercise.
And you want them to switch to an unfinished linux phone system. They aren't going to do that over this change. The vast majority don't use more than 5 apps. What do they care? For most, the cell phone is the replacement for a pc, snd all its used for is to text, and go on tiktok and instagram.
The changes you're suggesting will work well for a certain crowd. That crowd is maybe 5% of the general population. The rest won't even notice. And if they did, they'd just put up with it.
If we could have a solidly performing Linux mobile that has the capability of docking into a full desktop OS, that shit would be an absolute game changer for personal computers.
Give me something like the OG Moto Droid, or hell make it a tablet and I have to carry a bag, I don't care.
That would be my device for everything. I just remote into everything else anyway.
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I have a domain and an email address through it, but my problem is I can't find a domain name I like enough to both keep and give out to others as a long term contact point. The one I have right now is silly, and not easy to communicate over the phone.
It's a me problem, but if I ever figure out something I'm will to keep and is available, that's the goal.
The silly one for personal or non-professional stuff like Steam
The professional one for the ones you are meeting irl.
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Then I use a catch-all so I can give out a mailbox specific to who it's for. Often that looks like YourCompany@MyName.com
That way if I get spammed I know who to blame.
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::: spoiler The ability to filter information using proprietary devices and software in the kernel of all of these garbage devices is the core issue. Trusting the owners of that code is to surrender your right to unbiased and unfiltered information. I am not at all concerned about hacking or security by small insignificant players. I am massively concerned about the extremely powerful using the leverage they have normalized and embedded to become tyrannical neo feudal lords in a fascist society. Google IS the biggest danger by orders upon orders of magnitude. Trusting them is to give up democracy entirely.
All mobile devices are proprietary. Android is a scheme to make a Linux kernel that has everything ready to deploy except the actual hardware drivers for the processor and modem. Manufacturers take this kernel and add their proprietary binaries at the last possible moment. That source code is not available anywhere. The hardware documentation is not available anywhere publicly. Every device model is just different enough that reverse engineering one does nothing transferable to any other. The level of reverse engineering is extreme and requires destroying many devices using things like fuming nitric acid and fluorine solutions just to have a small chance at reading some parts of embedded memory. These are some of the most dangerous and hazardous chemicals humans make, and you still need xray equipment, special microscopes with stepping automation to stitch images, and a ton of time.
This is moving to a tyrannical surveillance state of fascist authoritarianism. Open source software is a major front on the line of real democracy. This is a nuclear bomb released on that democracy. You fear the wrong pirates and criminals. The biggest threats always come from within. Trust as a mechanism is fundamentally antithetical to democracy. Everyone demanding trust is a traitor to democracy. Trust is the key of the fascist kingdom. Once that key is held, democracy has failed regardless of whomever is aware of the situation. Democracy requires fully informed citizens with skepticism and the liberal right to decide for themselves even when they are wrong. This is impossible without full access to information. The source of that information cannot be filtered at any level. We already have the narrowest bottleneck of available information sources in the last 1000 years of history. There are only 2 relevant web crawlers. All search queries filter through one or both of these two and the results from these are not deterministic. Two people searching for the same thing at the same time will get very different and very biased results. This is individualized regardless of any protections people imagine they have in place. Outside of the internet there is no real unbiased media. A dozen people own it all. Even the garbage claiming to comb all sources is drawing the line and dictating what is center right or left is. Anyone at the grassroots level is impossible to find because there are no organic unbiased search results. The results are all filtered junk full of agenda and bias.
This is the real big picture abstract issue in play. When the maga traitors said this was a coup, they absolutely ment that. Mobile devices are all rental garbage someone else controls. Your computer likewise has a secret operating system running in the background that you do not control. In Intel it is called the Intel Management Engines or ME. This started with Intel VPro in 2008. AMD adopted it is 2013. Arm has one too.
All that is left is to steal your right to have a digital front door by eliminating DNS filtering and all of these devices will be controlled and connected directly by someone else that is watching and listening at all times. You are already in tethers as a digital slave that can be bought and sold for exploitation and manipulation without your consent or knowledge using your digital presence. You have not effectively realized the implications of that surrendering of rights to citizenship with full autonomy. The next step is to redefine the word citizen to be functionally equivalent to slave. "You will own nothing, and you will be happy about it" because if you are not, you will be dead. This is the death of democracy. My words will echo in your head years from now. The dystopia to come is beyond anything you can presently imagine and there is no way to stop it now short of taking up arms and playing Luigi if you are able.
The consolidation of wealth is what really made Caesar. That was the death of the republic. It was not Caesar. We are all a product of our time and environment. It was the consolidation of great wealth. All that wealth did not give a shit about Rome, it went to Constantinople for better opportunities at first chance because consolidation of wealth is treasonous. It is as it was, just look at outsourcing and off shoring, or the disgusting mismanagement of banking and housing that have made the American worker completely uncompetitive with Asian counterparts at the same standard of living. No, I have no fear of the boogie man or foreign state actors. I am terrified of the criminal that normalizes domestic trust, actively manipulates and exploits me, and steals my purchased property. That is a real monster.
:::
Increasingly, I think people like yourself should be working to develop systems that don’t just use all this shit. Or systems that use the old shit that doesn’t have all of this modern baggage you speak of.
I know it seems impossible. But it also seems like no one is trying.
For sure. Especially if you want all the modern features, low energy usage profiles, speed, compactness. Etc
I can see why nerds that see what is happening in great detail go off the way they do.
I'm probably going to spam this around a bit, since most people don't seem to know about it, but a reminder that FuriLabs has a (GNU+)Linux phone with decent spec.s and the ability to run Android app.s (from what I've heard) pretty decently: furilabs.com/
Biggest drawback is it's based on Halium. Usual growing pains of a new product/company apply but apparently the company is pretty responsive and their dev.s have worked with customers to get things like calling working with the carrier and bands of their country where it hasn't worked before so improvements move pretty quickly.
Collection of different experiences I've variously seen online over the last year or so:
* clehaxze.tw/gemlog/2025/07-20-…
* news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4…
* reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1f…
* reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1j…
* theregister.com/2025/02/03/fur…
I don't own one, myself, so I can't give any personal experience but I've seen it around for a few years now but most people don't seem to even know about it. Maybe there's a reason for that? But none I've ever seen anyone say.
FuriPhone FLX1: A Debian-powered brick that puts GNOME in your back pocket
: Fun with a FOSS-focused Phosh fondleslabLiam Proven (The Register)
HOLY SHIT IS THAT A HEADPHONE JACK?!
Seriously this ticks boxes Ive given up on. I never thought Id see a phone with all three: waterproof, removable battery, headphone jack. It even has wireless charging which isnt really one of my boxes but is a little extra if you use it.
Yeah; that's totally fair. Mostly, I just want to get it more known; whenever Mobile Linux come up, people namedrop Purism, the Pinephone, maybe UBPorts and the general conclusion is that the spec.s, alone, of what's available are pretty much a non-starter.
There's definitely aspects of this phone that some people wouldn't go for but I'd rather sales be limited by not-the-right-choice than just no one knew it existed; especially when any progress can get sent upstream and improve future projects, as well.
Graphene developers seem enthusiastic to all the bullshit that Google comes up with, and on security/privacy tradeoff they seem to usually choose security. Case in point, the mandatory battery update.
CalyxOS seems to choose privacy first, but that project folded recently.
This might be an issue because f-droid re-signs apps with their own keys...
I mean depends on enforcement I guess.
Did some research and here are your options:
- use custom mod (the new restriction only applies to certified devices). You can use microG (/e/, iode, Lineage) or sandboxing (GrapheneOS) to run apps requiring Google services. Google will still try to kill it but my bet is it will still work for at least a couple of years
- Ubuntu Touch - you can buy new devices with it, it can run android apps using waydroid but you will not be able to run any apps requiring google services. It can run native Linux apps. Native UT apps are build using QML. It has a completely new system API so it's closer to Android then native Linux. It's based on Halium which uses the kernel from Android
- PostmarketOS - native Linux running native Linux apps. Can use waydroid. Few supported devices but everything works on PinePhone Pro and few others phones.
- Droidian or similiar - Debian running on Halium. Kind of half way between PostmarketOS and Ubunut Touch. Native Linux but running on Android based kernel
Personally, I will stick with GrapheneOS for now (my Pixel still has at least 6 years of support). When I'm unable to run all the apps I need on it I will switch to two phones setup: stock Android for work/car apps, some Linux phone for everything else. When my Pixel dies I will switch to iPhone.
Google has already started killing GrapheneOS by removing device trees from AOSP releases. Android 16 works fine, but for how long?
I would imagine the first thing any custom ROM would do is bypass Google's app restrictions.
I wouldn't be surprised if in 3 years I would need to pass hardware attestation to install a calculator app from the Play store.
Google Locks Pixel Device Trees, Making Custom ROMs a Nightmare for Android Devs
Google drops Pixel device trees from Android 16 AOSP, making custom ROMs nearly impossible—bad news for devs and long-term Pixel phone users.Jose Enrico (Tech Times)
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I would imagine the first thing any custom ROM would do is bypass Google’s app restrictions.
Those restrictions don't apply to custom ROMs. Yes, it's clear Google is trying to kill custom ROMs but I think we still have couple of years. Linux phones are improving fast and I think in 5 years we will end up in the same spot we were with PCs 20 years ago: you will be able do most of daily driving on a Linux phones but some apps just won't be possible to run (Authenticator apps, banking apps, Whats App, Android Auto...). Dual booting will not be possible so most probably I will end up with two phones: daily driver and work/car phone.
There are not going to be apps on Linux phones.
Definitely not banking apps.
Tbh situation looks dire as fuck.
There are not going to be apps on Linux phones.
Definitely not banking apps.
Not with that attitude!
Get either your political ass to demand that in your country banks support more than just two OSes, or your coding ass so that you can get into programming work pipeline and one day code the Flatpak for your bank. Either would benefit you and everyone else.
You really should have thought about that before buying the device. You cannot install a custom ROM on my Samsung device anymore.
You always have to look at what devices custom ROMs support BEFORE buying them.
Kinda?
More like deeply.
Hands down the best experience I have had on a phone was my z10.
Over 10 years later, and I still use BlackBerry's keyboard.
I never had a blackberry, but my HTC Desire Z was peak typing. You slide the keyboard out and have a full keyboard. I typed very fast on that thing, every phone I got after that sucked at typing.
This phone upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…
BlackBerry Classic is being revived with Android, and it can be yours for $400 - Android Authority
A Chinese company is reviving the decade-old BlackBerry Classic with new hardware and installing Android on it for a modern experience.Tushar Mehta (Android Authority)
Me too. Great hardware and basic productivity apps.
But the whole systen was even more locked down than Android.
Do any alternatives allow using banking apps or android pay or android auto?
I realize there are no substitutes for banking apps, but are there any alternatives for android auto or pay if those cannot be installed? Preferably Linux alternatives.
/e/OS works with most, according to this list.
The founder of /e/OS has a blog where he talks about alternative payment solutions, and he mentions Curve being one.
I just recently ordered the Fairphone with /e/OS, and will be looking into this myself soon enough...
Practical Payment Solutions for Murena and /e/OS Users - Gaël Duval (blog, Murena, /e/OS my data is my data, Mandrake Linux...)
We’re living in an age where every tap and every swipe can feed the data collection practices of Big Tech giants.Gaël Duval (Gaël Duval (blog, Murena, /e/OS my data is my data, Mandrake Linux...))
Curve is not available in US and has terrible reviews on Play store.
I'd switch in a heartbeat, but I can't live without a smart watch and having to pay with physical cc again would be a massive downgrade.
I have a suspicion that all the android clones will become a much worse/unusable experience once Google implements these changes.
Availability in the US might be a bit of a challenge, as the Google/Apple duopoly has solidified greatly over the years there. Europe has the entire BoycottUS movement these days, so there are a lot of attempts at developing something independent there. But as with most new solutions, they have the added difficulty of being compared to these bigger companies who've already had many years to develop and perfect their solutions.
The choice boils down to how much you value your principles over comforts, and whether downgrading to physical cards is worth it. Personally I've recently done just that.
In regards to Android clones becoming worse, I saw GrapheneOS say on Mastodon that it won't affect them in any significant way. Hopefully this is the case for most, and will remain the case.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Mobile Services and the requirements for certification aren't relevant to us. We don't follow the Android Compatibility Definition Document rules and only care about passing the subset of the Android Compatibility Test Suite and other Android test suites which make sense for us. We implement lots of disallowed features and work on making sure those don't break apps or if they do break some apps that it's easy to work around it for users.
I will pay hard cash money for some devs to bring postmarketos to quality hardware vendors.
I'm all for buying a pinephone, but man are we missing out on the full potential from some genuinely good OEM hardware stuff like razr flip.
Aside from google doing google things, android has been a bloated java pos toy OS for nearly a decade now. It completely wastes the full potential of superior hardware by running everything on a shitty JVM known as the ART that was designed for when devices had <512mb of RAM. A Nintendo 3DS can do better multi process tasking than modern android which regularly kills app threads for no reason other than to screw with you because you dared to switch to a different app for 5 seconds.
Android was supposed to be the big apple killer because of its closeness to a desktop OS with heavy emphasis on widespread features and functionality. Even technically speaking, rooting got you there if you wanted to run whatever straight on the linux environment or swap kernels.
Its nothing but a ripoff iOS clone now. Android 7/8 was probably the peak of development and usability, and even back then people were complaining it didn't have groundbreaking improvements like 6 or lollipop.
I don't think that it's the lack of quality hardware what is stopping adoption of Linux on phones. There are many resons why I don't consider someting like PostmarketOS viable as a daily driver for most.
First of all some apps are just not available on Linux. Banking apps are a prime example. Most banks are now requiring some form of app where I live and they don't even consider Linux. But that's also another problem in it self.
Secondly: driver support. Drivers aren't something one thinks about when talking about phones. But they are needed and mobile phones being what they are, most manufacturers aren't really open to do anything in that regard.
As an Android developer I'm also annoyed by the restrictive power management of Android. But it's there for a reason. On PostmarketOS my phone would be dead after sitting around all day doing noting. On Android I can maybe squeeze two to three days of use out of the same phone. And that's not even with the OEM rom.
That being said, I hope for a future were all of the current issues can be solved and we finally have a viable alternative to Apple and Google.
To be clear, I'm in no way trying to defend what Google is doing.
I honestly don't care about apps. I switched to GrapheneOS and opted to not use Google Play Services, so my app selection is very limited, especially for things like banking apps. It turns out I can just use the website for the vast majority of them, and I can fill in the gaps with FDroid apps.
The main things stopping me from using a Linux phone (eg PostmarketOS) are:
- MMS compatibility - I use this a lot with family, and getting everyone on Signal or something isn't going to happen
- battery efficiency - the best I've heard is 8 hours with light use, and there are still issues receiving notifications in standby mode
- hardware quality issues and drivers - every phone supported by PostmarketOS either has a bunch of unsupported hardware (ie no camera support), or the hardware is poor (ie the PinePhone has crappy audio)
I don't need a flagship with top tier driver support, I just need basic phone things to work. I'm even okay with poor camera quality, provided I can take pictures of things and clearly read the text later. I don't need much in terms of app support, and I'm willing to help port things I need. But my phone needs to work as a phone, and it needs to do so all day without needing to charge until night.
The only way to log into my bank on the website is to use the phone two factor authentication app, which only works with Google Play Services... 💩
I'm considering getting a dedicated login device which can sit on my desk all day doing nothing else.
That sucks.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) banks here (US) generally only support SMS 2FA and occasionally support email, and a handful use the their app (but fall back to SMS).
I actually switched to Fidelity (a brokerage) as a primary bank because they were the only one I could find that supported real MFA using the Symantec VIP app, which fortunately works fine without Google Play Services.
In Sweden, all the major banks joined together and created BankId. It is now pretty much a monopoly on id verification. Even some government agencies use it, which is problematic for multiple reasons.
Debate by former PM:
svd.se/a/y6VqmE/utredare-infor…
Edit: typos
Utredare: Inför statligt bank-id
Staten måste ta större ansvar för att garantera säkra betalningar. Därför bör en statlig e-legitimation införas, enligt utredaren Anna Kinberg Batra.Joakim Hugert Lundberg/TT (Svenska Dagbladet)
Yeah, I tried to use it as my daily driver a while back and what bugged me most was the terrible battery efficiency. Running the full desktop version of Firefox certainly didn't help. At that point the camera also didn't have any drivers. Since theres been some progress and we now have a work in progress driver for that model. Frankly it's amazing that this works at all and I'm incredibly grateful for anyone working on this.
I've actually been rather lucky and managed to convince most of my friends to join me on Signal so we barely need to rely on SMS anymore. But last time I checked there weren't any real Signal clients availabe for Linux phones. Of course, one could always use the desktop version but that still requires a phone to be linked to. Someone has managed to get the Matrix/Signal bridge working and rely on Matrix for the final delivery but that seems like too much tinkering for me 😁
Don't get me wrong, I think the work that's been done is amazing, my point is that it's still not daily driver ready. I want to help out, I just don't have the time anymore with a full-time job and kids. If it was daily drive-able, I could probably spare a few hours here and there to improve things (port apps, track down bugs, etc).
I hope it gets there before I need a new phone. Last year I switched to a Pixel 8 for GrapheneOS and cut out most of my Google Play apps, so I should be good for a few years, but I'd very much like to ditch Android entirely next time.
For now, I got my SO to use Signal, but that's it.
EU: Thank you Google for complying with the DSA.
commission.europa.eu/strategy-…
This is a a huge part of it, the whole "prevent illegal" parts.
- "easier reporting of illegal content"
- "less exposure to illegal content"
- "level-playing field against providers of illegal content"
The EU isn't going to punish them for this, they will hold this up as the golden standard.
The EU’s Digital Services Act
A common set of EU rules that helps better protect users' rights online, bring clarity to digital service providers and foster innovation for online businesses.European Commission
Where does it say that Google is blocking all side loading?
It says they are blocking the installing of unsigned apps. This is the macOS Gatekeeper being the only option on Android. You can still download and install apps that aren't in the Play Store. So the EU will still love this as 3rd party apps can still exist, but at the same time anything "illegal" can be reported to them immediately.
No, i mean when they forced apple to open their IOS system to side loading custom, unverified apps.
Here, have a read:
support.apple.com/en-gb/117767
The trusted trader scheme only applies if you want to distribute your app via the official apple iOS app store.
Installing apps through alternative app distribution in the European Union – Apple Support (UK)
If you’re based in the European Union, you can install apps from sources other than the App Store on your iPhone or iPad.Apple Support
The DSA requires people offering apps ("traders") to provide certain information. For example: address, email, and phone number must be made public. When Apple introduced that, this also caused some outrage and calls for EU regulation. Despite the fact that this was exactly the regulation called for. Hence, why I mentioned that trusted trader scheme.
Google may be legally required to do this. I'm not sure how the DSA is to be interpreted on this. It's certainly not a stretch (see Article 31). It's out of touch to believe the EU will push against this.
Okay aber schau mal. Die EU hat Apple Verklagt und gezwungen, Nicht-Registrierte, nicht gemeldete Apps und sogar Appstores auf IOS verfügbar zu machen. Für die Apps dort muss niemand irgendwas angeben, du kannst dir einfach irgendeine App von Github kopieren und auf deinem IPhone ausführen, dank dem Urteil von vor c.a. 10 Monaten.
Warum sollte dann jetzt, wenn Google das Sideloaden von Custom Apps streichen möchte, die EU plötzlich fein damit sein? Ich meine, sie haben in einem langen Prozess Apple dazu gezwungen, genau das zu ermöglichen und die Monopolstellung als einziger App-Distributor angeklagt.
Und das spannende ist ja: Diese Entscheidung wurde nach August 2023 getroffen, also nach der offiziellen Einführung und Anwendung des DSA. Heißt: Hier wurde entschieden das Sideloaden kein Bruch des DSA's darstellt.
Hast du da eine Quelle dazu? Soweit ich weiß, verlangt Apple, dass alle Apps "notarized" sein müssen. Also das, was Google jetzt auch einführt.
Für Apps im offiziellen Store ist das explizit EU-Vorschrift. Warum sollte die EU was dagegen haben, wenn das freiwillig ausgedehnt wird (falls es freiwillig ist)?
Stimmt - Du hast recht.
Laut Apple Hier müssen die Apps tatsächlich verifiziert sein, auch wenn sie über alternative Wege distributiert werden.
Das wusste ich nicht, ich habe das damals so verstanden, dass die Apps nicht zertifiziert sein müssen und installiert werden können wie bei Android.
Hm. Na super. Dann wird die EU wohl nicht dagegen vorgehen, im Gegenteil. Dachte das wäre unter dem Digital Markets Act anders... Na da freu ich mich ja schon drauf
The EU waltz.
One step forward.
One step to the left.
Two steps to the right.
Three steps back.
Repeat.
That's not exactly true. There are several FOSS mobile OSes, such as PostmarketOS, Mobian, Ubuntu Touch, and the various Android ROMs. Once it's compatible, keeping that OS updated is relatively simple.
The issues with mobile OSes are:
- many phones lock their bootloadersl, and every phone mfg seems to do things a little differently
- so many different phone models with different hardware includes, none of which has manufacturer support in Linux
- closed firmware for cell modems, which have their own little OS that needs to work with the main OS; trying to touch this runs into regulatory issues
Basically, supporting a new phone has a lot of upfront work with very little ongoing work.
Web browsers, on the other hand, need to stay updated with constantly shifting web standards, they're a huge malware target so they need to keep up on CVEs, and pages are getting more complex causing performance and rendering issues, and everyone blames the browser. Supporting a new platform is generally trivial, but the ongoing work is immense.
They're very different beasts.
Not to mention just about every "serious" app (gov't, banking, etc) check safetynet before even turning on. (Hell I've had a gov't app refuse to start because I had developer options enabled, on a completely 'clean' phone)
So emulating them isn't gonna work and websites do not always prioritize working on mobile anymore ("just install the app")
They are in the same room with all the third-party support for them, ESPECIALLY from state-built applications that are increasingly being required to do administration stuff and mandatory banking apps that are required for online payment and even opening their websites these days.
That room does not exist.
Where are all the open source phone OSes? Where are the OS agnostic capable hardware phones?
In the "waiting for funding" room.
If people don't care enough to finance projects like Fairphone, etc... while they are still in the growing pains, then those projects will never be able to last during a digital consumer war, let alone provide a product that has enough mass appeal that it makes sense to build and commercialize on auto.
There needs to be a massive project dealing with making phones platform agnostic.
My current phone, a Pixel 7a, cost me around 350€ (let's say it's roughly the same in $). There is definitely cheaper options. And most of these options will give you a decent phone.
A $200 computer will bring you to basic office stuff and playing facebook games.
Two things especially worth noting from the article.
If you have a non-Google build of Android on your phone, none of this applies.
This means that at least GrapheneOS will be unaffected for now. Other ROMs without gapps will be unaffected only as long as you don't install gapps. Since Graphene has a sandbox for them, I'm assuming it'll be fine. That is, unless Google decides to lock the bootloader entirely.
In September 2026, Google plans to launch this feature in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. The next step is still hazy, but Google is targeting 2027 to expand the verification requirements globally.
So most users worldwide still have at least 1.5 years until it's implemented. Plenty of time to get a Pixel and install Graphene on it. Or to figure out some other plan.
Don't get me wrong - this is insane, unreasonable and horrible news for everyone. We should push back as hard as physically possible against it. However, at the very least we still have some time to figure things out before the policy rolls out.
Yes. Would be a protest buy.
I would spend more money and get Chinese os to just not fund Google.
The way I see it this is the last drop in the bucket for android openness anyways.
Consider a Volla Phone with UBPorts.
UBPorts can also be installed on Fairphone.
Raspberry PiPhone: a DIY Android Smartphone
A few months ago, I made a phone with Raspberry Pi that was able to call and text. It had limited functions and overall did not look like a phone.hackaday.io
Google says it's no different than checking IDs at the airport.
Fucker, if I own the airport, own the planes in the airport, am the only person using my own planes in my own airport, then nobody is asking for my ID.
Our phone, our software choice.
There it is, haha.
Gave me a good chuckle as i'm with you here.
I have a similar sentiment when it comes to ads, my device, i pay for the internet and the device is inside my home. I'll decide if you get to show me ads.
For ads at least the argument can be made that the content you consume is not yours and as such you should not be allowed to choose how it is monetized.
Google unilaterally deciding this is like Firefox or chrome adding ads to websites. Which is like no... They're the medium through which content is consumed.
Fucker, if I own the airport, own the planes in the airport, am the only person using my own planes in my own airport, then nobody is asking for my ID.
Okay, but what if Google owns the airport, the planes, and thinks it's entitled to own the people flying on them, to boot?
Our phone, our software choice.
Read the contracts you sign when you buy your phone
Contracts? Unless I'm buying a subsidized phone where a mobile phone plan is required, I'm not sure what other contract I'd be signing. I never got one from Samsung, OnePlus, Google, any used marketplace, or Amazon.
They get paid, and I get hardware to do what I like with it. If I can't do what I want with it, then I'm renting, and I should be paying a rental fee, not a "full price".
The Android ecosystem has been feeling more like an invasive chaotic advertisement machine the past few years. The play store is a cesspool, the weather app switch was poorly executed, Google Podcasts went to the graveyard, and Google pay getting shut down meant I had to switch back to vomits Venmo.
I still have Android gaming handhelds, but why wouldn't I just get an iPhone the next time I go to replace my phone? I can't believe I'm even saying that after being so die hard Android so for years.
why wouldn’t I just get an iPhone
Jumping from the frying pan straight into the fire.
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It is a tough choice, both companies are gigantic and kind of scumbags. Funny story though, I was also in the market for a new computer recently as my 10 year old Windows 10 tower was really starting to show its age. My frustrations with Windows had also peaked.
I have been doing a more photo and video editing for fun, and I ended up taking a leap. I got an M4 Pro Mac mini. Mac OS is definitively better (IMO) for home use than Windows, and the M series processors are like wizardry. I liked it so much that shortly after I bought a used M2 Max MacBook Pro off of a coworker.
Coincidentally, a few months after I got my Macs LTT also switched over first to Snapdragon-based Windows laptops and later to Macs for a 30-day challenge and they ended up staying on the Macs.
I am an IT manager and I don't think I would ever want to deploy Macs at scale in my workplace, though it is the only computer I look forward to using now.
I feel much better knowing that Tim Apple isn't reading my texts and monitoring my bank apps so they can target me with ads.
That’s some Grade A crack you’re smoking there, my dude.
I'm sure we all have a different perception, but my current view is that Google sells you a phone that they need to push ads and harvest vast amounts of data from you in order to make money on the phone, and Apple somehow needs to do this less.
Which company do you feel takes privacy more seriously? From what I understand, Google primarily makes their money from advertising.
I've never owned an iPhone, but I 100% agree with you. The reason I choose android is because of the freedom to use my phone how i want (for the most part).
Apple is a walled garden, but their security is good, they're not an advertising company in the same way google is and don't have as much of an incentive to harvest and sell your data. If android is going to be a walled garden like iOS, I trust apple more than i do google and If in the future I can't find a phone that has all the features i want anyway, then i may as well just get an iPhone.
Agreed across all points. Android's main advantages after the changes go through with side loading will be:
1. choice of manufacturer and
2. the still-deeply-flawed-but-far-superior implementation of a work profile in Android.
I love being able to press one button and have all of my containerized work apps shut off. It is also quite nice that a remote wipe from M365 could be limited to the work app container rather than the entire phone.
androidcentral.com/apps-softwa…
They migrated people over to the wallet. What was shut down was the app called "Google Pay"
Google Wallet explained: Licenses, banks, new features, and the Google Pay shutdown
Google Wallet replaced Google Pay, which will shut down soon. Here's all the latest news and added features you need to know.Michael L Hicks (Android Central)
First they implemented chrome restrictions for adblockers with manifest v3, then restricted AOSP sources. Looks like they are pretending to be Apple now.
You might be joking but you could build the Raspberry PiPhone: a DIY Android Smartphone.
"A simple smartphone that you can build yourself! Can do everything a normal smartphone can!"
Raspberry PiPhone: a DIY Android Smartphone
A few months ago, I made a phone with Raspberry Pi that was able to call and text. It had limited functions and overall did not look like a phone.hackaday.io
The phone I have now is half way paid off... I will say it. It is a Samsung S23. I didn't want it. It is just my other phone literally died from a single drop of water! I won't get into the details. But I want grapheneOS or the most private OS I can.
Right now I have been carrying my phone less than before. I used to take it even to grocery store trips, but I am just getting sick of the endless monitoring, even if I am a terminally online person. I literally cannot leave my apartment without being on camera since my landlord has all the corridors and exits/entrances on 24/7 surveillance.
I know that a phone can be tracked even when on a private OS. And the EU's rules on wanting a copy of every single message sent out from all messaging apps (including signal) will still affect non-EU people, too. It fucking sucks.
I learned the hard way many, many, many times just what even a simple 'hello my name is (name), and I am a (job title at company)' to the wrong person that you'd think could not have had any negative consequences whatsoever ended up causing absolute hell for me. I've been robbed, lied about and had my reputation utter destroyed, been a victim of identity theft by people I knew personally, had my family stalked and harassed, and even had multiple hit and run attempts done on me by people actively stalking me. Not to mention how anything and everything I said, no matter how innocent it seemed absolutely can be twisted against you. And I mean ANYTHING.
And I did nothing wrong, nothing illegal, nothing shady. I just had people calling me antisocial and so I made conversation with them, talking about my day, my studies, what I ate for lunch... and fuck me you would not believe what people can do with simple information like that.
There is a reason some people clam up at even the simplest question posed to them by anyone. I did try to ask simple information about people above, even things as damn simple as what their (real) names were because apparently it turned out they didn't tell me their real names and they got VERY violent the moment I probed into anything. The people who claim that 'nothing to hide nothing to fear' are also the most secretive people who absolutely will not allow anyone an inkling about themselves. This is why.
BTW you want to know how simple info like what ate for lunch can be used against you? I once said that I wanted to work at little overtime because I wanted to earn back the money I paid for an unplanned lunch...
Now you might say 'how the fuck could that statement be used against you?'. Well the guy said I was acting unprofessionally and said I needed to run to the cafeteria to pay for a lunch I took without paying for it. Basically accusing me of dining and dashing.
Best part? Management believed him... they believed him despite the fact that I had WRITTEN that in a work chat and they presented the screencaps to me. I didn't say anything during the investigation because... I have no idea what to say. I had already told people I was trying to save money by not buying lunch and also working overtime. But even that was interpreted as an insult by me against them because they thought I was calling them lazy and useless with money. They just kept making accusations like that, and while initially management said 'wow that guy is an asshole' they never dismissed what the others said. So after dozens of bullshit accusations my credibility just kept dropping and theirs rising.
And all of this could have been avoided if I simply refused to talk to anyone.
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They are very different.
GrapheneOS' whole thing is security and privacy. It's big on sandboxing apps and browser sessions. Google Play and most Android features are opt-in (Google Play Services are also sandboxed). Just check their features.
LineageOS doesn't have most of the above. It's mostly just a regular barebones Android distribution without all the vendor bloat, and a great alternative if you just want more control and less BS (if you've used a Samsung device you will know what I mean - absolutely horrible distribution imo).
GrapheneOS features overview
Overview of GrapheneOS features differentiating it from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).GrapheneOS
Because of using Shelter, this will make my phone practically unusable.
This is fucking ridiculous
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Replace your phone app to FOSS😀
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Generally speaking sure but the Gmail to Tuta one is not really helpful. Tuta is a completely different provider, I am not saying you shouldn't switch but this isn't switching your app but instead your whole e-mail presence.
Maybe a better choice would be Thunderbird as mail app instead of Gmail if you don't want to switch addresses.
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It looks like if you purchase the Tuta low end premium plan (~3.50 USD / month) you can use a custom domain and that could help you out with switching around in the future, but yeah it doesn't help you today if you're on an @gmail.com address.
Gmail (as a service) is definitely one of those that is really hard to replace once you've bought in.
Also, I'm a huge Signal fan-person.
GitHub - NeoApplications/Neo-Store: An F-Droid client with modern UI and an arsenal of extra features.
An F-Droid client with modern UI and an arsenal of extra features. - NeoApplications/Neo-StoreGitHub
Another +1 for posteo!
Although, I actually use both posteo and tuta in combination with anonaddy
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I've seen a few of these lately, and it's always a nice reminder that I'm doing things right!
But can we please give immich more love!?
I'm sure ente photos is great, but more love for the self hosted options like immich, nextcloud, Standard Notes, Jellyfin etc.
disegni picrossici con miku, fuori dal telefono escono sorprese (asset rip giochino Mikulogi)
Prima (cioè, l’altro ieri, ormai si sa come va la roba qui) ho voluto estrarre gli asset da un giochino che ho sul telefono (forse il più gustoso che ho lì, a dire il vero), Hatsune Miku Logic Paint… cioè la fusione delle mie due più grandi passioni — almeno, dopo il rotting, l’avere segreti, […]
octospacc.altervista.org/2025/…
disegni picrossici con miku, fuori dal telefono escono sorprese (asset rip giochino Mikulogi)
Prima (cioè, l’altro ieri, ormai si sa come va la roba qui) ho voluto estrarre gli asset da un giochino che ho sul telefono (forse il più gustoso che ho lì, a dire il vero), Hatsune Miku Logic Paint… cioè la fusione delle mie due più grandi passioni — almeno, dopo il rotting, l’avere segreti, ed un’altra che non dirò. Difatti, il Picross con Miku è alquanto sfizioso, ma prenderne i file per altri usi lo è ancora di più, e nel farlo si scoprono svariate cose. 🤗Innanzitutto, il gioco è fatto in Unity; chi mai lo avrebbe potuto immaginare? È buono però, perché è bastato dare in pasto ad AssetRipper la cartella estratta dall’APK per ottenere tutti i bei PNG, la musica, e… tutte le griglie dei puzzle in formato TXT (con 0 per indicare caselle vuote, 1 quelle piene, e virgole per fare da padding), evviva!!! (Oltre ad altri metadati in CSV, come i nomi dei puzzle e stringhe varie.) Questi torneranno sicuramente utili per fare una cosa che per motivi octosi non voglio spoilerare (e che per motivi legali non potrei fare, ma dalle cose octose non deriva mai lucro, quindi me ne sbatto il mikuleek). 🤪
Poi, però, ho visto una cosa meno divertente… tutti, e dico tutti, gli asset grafici, proprio gli elementi UI, sono rovinati dalla compressione, almeno in qualche misura! Ci sono ovunque piccoli artefatti di compressione che, a dire il vero, giocando sul telefono non si notano, ma che sono così evidenti anche solo ficcando il naso tra i file, senza zommare chissà quanto per alcuni, che sono pronta a scommettere che giocando sul mio tablet da 10 pollici li vedrei. (Attenzione, sono pronta a scommettere ma non a provare, mi secco ampiamente.) La cosa bella è che sono tutti PNG, non JPEG o WEBP o VFFNCL, quindi… a meno che non sia AssetRipper ad averli forzati in PNG, chi ha lavorato al gioco non è proprio del mestiere. Persino in una manciata di file che nel nome hanno “Uncompressed” (come questo) trovo artefatti, anche se non di tipo JPEG classico. 😪
Insomma, lo hanno fatto un pochino sciatto questo coso… e a dire il vero forse torna tutto, vedendo le altre sviste di design che ci sono, come la musica che si ripete ad appena qualche secondo, cosa che da alquanto sui nervi, o che completando i picross si sbloccano delle immaginine dei vocaloid (con nessun tasto per condividere o boh, impostare come sfondo) anch’esse molto compresse (e per queste si, lo si nota anche dal telefono). Lato codice francamente penso sia ben fatto, perché bug non ne ho trovati e la UX è ben rifinita… anche se una svista pure lì c’è, e cioè che lo stato in corso di un livello non è salvato se non premendo indietro; in altre parole, se blocco lo schermo del telefono per qualche minuto, e quindi la MIUI di merda uccide la app, quando vado per continuare devo puntualmente ricominciare da capo, perché ho scordato di chiudere per bene. 😶Boh, veramente boh, però comunque è un giochino okei. Ha 25 puzzle 5×5, 25 10×10, 100 15×15, e 4 compositi di 25 puzzle 25×25, quindi per chi ha 2,79€ in punti premio Google da spendere (“oggi offre Alphabet“) consiglio di provarlo… altrimenti, per i pirati c’è l’APK… o, ancora altrimenti, per gli octosi c’è—NO SPOILER! (E per chi vuole semplicemente frugare tra gli asset, come si nota in foto li ho caricati su Pignio, su pignio.octt.eu.org/item/mikulo…… e si, dovrei sia aggiungere un tasto per scaricare un’intera cartella come ZIP, che in generale migliorare la vista delle cartelle supportando le sottocartelle, ma per ora godetevi il miscuglio disordinato e pace.) 👾
#assets #game #HatsuneMikuLogicPaint #MikuLogi #mobile #picross #puzzle
Memo by ██▓▒░⡷⠂𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜⠐⢾░▒▓██
AssetRipper, a tool for extracting assets from Unity serialized files and asset bundles and converting them into the native Unity engine format: + https://assetripper.github.io/AssetRipper/ + https://github.Memos
Trump shooting and Biden exit flipped social media from hostility to solidarity: how political crises cause a shift in the force behind viral online content ‘from outgroup hate to ingroup love’.
The University of Cambridge’s Social Decision-Making Lab collected over 62,000 public posts from the Facebook accounts of hundreds of US politicians, commentators and media outlets before and after these events to see how they affected online behaviour.*“We wanted to understand the kinds of content that went viral among Republicans and Democrats during this period of high tension for both groups,” said Malia Marks, PhD candidate in Cambridge’s Department of Psychology and lead author of the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Negative emotions such as anger and outrage along with hostility towards opposing political groups are usually rocket fuel for social media engagement. You might expect this to go into hyperdrive during times of crisis and external threat.”
“However, we found the opposite. It appears that political crises evoke not so much outgroup hate but rather ingroup love,” said Marks.
Just after the Trump assassination attempt, Republican-aligned posts signalling unity and shared identity received 53% more engagement than those that did not – an increase of 17 percentage points compared to just before the shooting.
These included posts such as evangelist Franklin Graham thanking God that Donald Trump is alive, and Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham posting: “Bleeding and unbowed, Trump faces relentless attacks yet stands strong for America. This is why his followers remain passionately loyal.”
At the same time, engagement levels for Republican posts attacking the Democrats saw a decrease of 23 percentage points from just a few days earlier.
After Biden suspended his re-election campaign, Democrat-aligned posts expressing solidarity received 91% more engagement than those that did not – a major increase of 71 percentage points over the period shortly before his withdrawal.
Posts included former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich calling Biden “one of our most pro-worker presidents”, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posting that Biden’s “legacy of vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history.”
Biden’s withdrawal saw the continuation of a gradual rise in engagement for Democrat posts attacking Republicans – although over the 25 July days covered by the analysis almost a quarter of all conservative posts displayed “outgroup hostility” compared to just 5% of liberal posts.
Trump shooting and Biden exit flipped social media from hostility to solidarity
Research reveals how political crises cause a shift in the force behind viral online content ‘from outgroup hate to ingroup love’.University of Cambridge
One long sentence is all it takes to make LLMs misbehave
Logit-Gap Steering: A New Frontier in Understanding and Probing LLM Safety
New research from Unit 42 on logit-gap steering reveals how internal alignment measures can be bypassed, making external AI security vital.Tony Li (Unit 42)
Google is ending sideloading on Android
Fuck this shit, Fuck Big Tech and fuck the rich.
The global elite have finally gone fully mask off.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1mzw7sc/google_wants_to_make_sideloading_android_apps/
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
Google doesn't want you to think AI uses up much energyWilliam Fitzgerald (Hard Reset)
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The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
Google doesn't want you to think AI uses up much energyWilliam Fitzgerald (Hard Reset)
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“Google says it has calculated the energy required for its Gemini AI service: Sending a single text prompt consumes as much energy as watching television for nine seconds.”
That's pretty staggering when you consider that it's no longer possible to do a Google search without generating an AI summary. Google processes something like 8 billion searches per day, so if each one of those triggers a prompt equivalent to watching 9 seconds of television, every day the total power cost is equivalent to about 2200 years of TV watching. Per day. And that's just search, for just one tech company.
likely the entire
Surface of the
earth will be
Covered with solar
panels and data
enters."
New Flagships Redefine Form and Function
Technology reshared this.
Þe user's first, and only, post. Its oþer contribution is a single emoji reply comment.
80% chance AI bot.
Sci-Hub Blocked in India, Founder Tells Plaintiffs to Expect Disappointment
Sci-Hub Blocked in India, Founder Tells Plaintiffs to Expect Disappointment * TorrentFreak
The High Court in Delhi has ordered the country's ISPs to block Sci-Hub as part of a copyright case filed in 2020 by major publishers.Andy Maxwell (TF Publishing)
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She was played. Now it's time to say "fuck it" and continue as normal. The system was rigged from the start.
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Perplexity's AI-powered Comet browser leaves users vulnerable to phishing scams and malicious code injection — Brave and Guardio's security audits call out paid AI browser
Perplexity's AI-powered Comet browser leaves users vulnerable to phishing scams and malicious code injection — Brave and Guardio's security audits call out paid AI browser
Brave and Guardio have revealed serious vulnerabilities in the AI-powered Comet browser.Nathaniel Mott (Tom's Hardware)
ASRock's $40 16-pin power cable has overheating protection designed to prevent meltdowns — company claims a 90-degree design ensures worry-free installation
ASRock's $40 16-pin power cable has overheating protection designed to prevent meltdowns — company claims a 90-degree design ensures worry-free installation
Only compatible with ASRock Taichi and Phantom Gaming power supplies, thoughZhiye Liu (Tom's Hardware)
Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen – „Dein Weg“ (2010)
Der einzige Grund für mich, diesen Film zu sehen, war die Konstellation: Martin Sheen vor der Kamera, Emilio Estevez dahinter. Vater und Sohn, die gemeinsam einen Film schaffen, so direkt und sichtbar, ist eine Seltenheit in Hollywood. Der Jakobsweg dagegen wirkte eher wie eine Zumutung. Überstrapaziert von Selbsterfahrungsberichten, überhöht von Kirchenfolklore, in Deutschland endgültig re-popularisiert durch Hape Kerkelings Bestseller. Ein Trend, der mich eher abschreckt. Zumal mir meine ziemlich katholische Kindheit ohnehin wenig Lust auf Pilgerwege hinterlassen hat. (ARD)
How the gas lobby captured the energy crisis response - Corporate Europe Observatory
[00:13:55]
This episode tells the amazing story of how the EU took the brave step of using the climate and cost of living crisis as an opportunity to move away from destructive fossil fuels all together! Obviously, this didn’t happen, but it could have.This is the forth episode of Corporate Europe Observatory's new podcast series “What's going wrong, and how to put it right?”.
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
Blaze (he/him)
in reply to ExtremeDullard • • •Hello,
Nice to see you experimenting with Piefed.
Regarding the thumbnail URL, you might be right, it might not be there at this moment. On the other hand, that feature on Lemmy itself wasn't available for quite a while IIRC.
There is an issue existing on codeberg.org/rimu/pyfedi/issue… , feel free to comment/vote on it so that it gets picked up for the next release (probably 1.3 by this point, 1.2 is almost done)
You can see the planned features for the 1.2 release: codeberg.org/rimu/pyfedi/proje…
Here are the ones for 1.3: codeberg.org/rimu/pyfedi/proje…
Adding a custom thumbnail for Link posts
Codeberg.orgExtremeDullard
in reply to Blaze (he/him) • • •In case it wasn't clear, I'm not complaining 🙂 Just trying to make PieFed work for me.
I guess that's a good excuse to create a Codeberg account. I need to move my repos out of GitHub and I was planning to evaluate Codeberg at some point.
Thanks!
Adding a custom thumbnail for Link posts
Codeberg.orgBlaze (he/him)
in reply to ExtremeDullard • • •It was clear, no worries! You will see, there are still a few features that are missing, but most of them are being worked on (see the 1.2 dashboard above), so things improve a bit every day.
wjs018
in reply to ExtremeDullard • • •Blaze (he/him)
in reply to wjs018 • • •ExtremeDullard
in reply to wjs018 • • •Rimu
in reply to ExtremeDullard • • •Blaze (he/him)
in reply to Rimu • • •Sometimes it does
piefed.zip/post/396074?sort=ne…
ExtremeDullard
in reply to Rimu • • •Sorry, I wasn't very clear in my original post.
Indeed the video shows up fine in Piefed. What I meant was the view from Lemmy is devoid of thumbnail. For instance, my Youtube post seen from Sopuli:
sopuli.xyz/post/32680798
When I said it was a dealbreaker for me, it's because I (usually) always try to make posts with a thumbnail to make them more attractive on Lemmy. Even if it's just a question, I'll upload a picture to illustrate what I want to say, and then write whatever I want to write in the body.
I find it nicer to offer a visual clue in all my posts. But when you look at my Piefed Youtube video from Lemmy, the thumbnail it's just a bleak arrow on a bleak background. Not super appealing.
So I guess what I meant was that I want to manually supply a thumbnail URL for the benefit of Lemmy viewers.
Rimu
in reply to ExtremeDullard • • •Yep, I understood but if Lemmy can't do thumbnails for youtube videos that's a Lemmy problem.
That said, we've had an open issue for this feature for a couple of months and the person who created it is a frequent contributor to PieFed so there's a very good chance it'll get coded quite soon.
ExtremeDullard
in reply to Rimu • • •Yeah clearly a Lemmy problem, even when posting directly from Lemmy.The whole manual thumbnail URL thing is clearly a workaround for when the automatic thumbnailer is deficient.
But as a mere user, my aim is to make posts that are correct and somewhat appealing. So I work with what I have 🙂