Chipolo debuts a lineup of rechargeable trackers to compete with AirTag and others.

Chipolo, an AirTag rival, debuts rechargeable trackers with a six-month battery life | TechCrunch

^{Sarah Perez (TechCrunch)}

A Bolivian court was holding a final hearing on the release of powerful opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho after two years of pretrial detention

Bolivian court orders the release of a prominent right-wing opposition leader

^{By Carlos Valdez (The Independent)}

Millions of dollars in equipment has been sold, redistributed, abandoned, or lost after Trump administration gutted foreign aid agency

USAID is holding a fire sale to get rid of all the equipment it planned to use on the 5000-plus projects Trump canceled

^{Josh Marcus (The Independent)}

You will need a Bluetooth LE audio headset to use this feature.

Microsoft announces super wideband stereo mode for Bluetooth LE devices — audio no longer downgrades to mono when microphone is used

^{Aaron Klotz (Tom's Hardware)}

Agency authorizes shots for those 65 and older, with young people eligible if they have underlying medical conditions

FDA approves new Covid-19 vaccines in US but limits who can get them

^{Oliver Milman (The Guardian)}

PDF.

People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber threat actors are targeting networks globally, including, but not limited to, telecommunications, government, transportation, lodging, and military infrastructure networks. While these actors focus on large backbone routers of major telecommunications providers, as well as provider edge (PE) and customer edge (CE) routers, they also leverage compromised devices and trusted connections to pivot into other networks. These actors often modify routers to maintain persistent, long-term access to networks.

This activity partially overlaps with cyber threat actor reporting by the cybersecurity industry—commonly referred to as Salt Typhoon, OPERATOR PANDA, RedMike, UNC5807, and GhostEmperor, among others. The authoring agencies are not adopting a particular commercial naming convention and hereafter refer to those responsible for the cyber threat activity more generically as “Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors” throughout this advisory. This cluster of cyber threat activity has been observed in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and other areas globally.

https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/cybersecurity-advisories/aa25-239a

Disaster-aid groups said the new contracts would make it harder for nonprofits to help the most vulnerable Americans in the aftermath of a disaster.

In other words, if your house burns down, or you need rescue after being swept away in a flood, you need to produce proof of citizenship or a visa before you can get help from anybody. Even if your ID was lost or destroyed in the disaster.

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https://www.wired.com/story/dark-money-group-secret-funding-democrat-influencers/

Flower by Shawn D Crabtree

See more of my artwork, plus interviews with hot and up and coming artists at shawndcrabtree.com

Flower

Photographer: Shawn D Crabtree

^{Shawn D Crabtree, Art Photography}

Under EU law, Apple is required to give its users more freedom to install apps that are not listed in the official App Store. This allows for easier access to software that's typically prohibited by Apple, including the popular iTorrent BitTorrent client. The iTorrent client built a steady user base over the past year, but that came to an abrupt end when Apple decided to revoke the developer's alternative distribution rights.

Apple Revokes EU Distribution Rights for Torrent Client, Developer Left in the Dark * TorrentFreak

Apple has inexplicably revoked the EU distribution rights for the iTorrent app, and left its developer in the dark without answers.

^{Ernesto Van der Sar (TF Publishing)}

National Guard troops have been on patrol inside and outside of Union Station after Trump launched the anti-crime effort earlier this month. Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were shouted down by opponents of the federal intervention when they visited with troops there last week.

Duffy echoed the Republican president, who said last week he wants $2 billion from Congress to beautify Washington as part of his crackdown on the city. The Republican president has sent thousands of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officials into Washington in a bid to fight violent crime he claimed had strangled the city.

Local police department statistics show violent crime in Washington has declined in recent years, but Trump has countered, without offering evidence, that the numbers were fudged.

WATCH: Duffy says department taking control of Union Station, extends Trump's control of Washington

Duffy made the announcement Wednesday as he joined Amtrak President Roger Harris at Union Station for the launch of a new high-speed train.

^{PBS News}

cross-posted from: piefed.social/post/1195826

From: techrights.org/n/2025/08/26/Th…

A new whistleblower disclosure from SSA Chief Data Officer Charles Borges reported that DOGE officials, while working at SSA, authorized themselves to create a live, cloud-based version of SSA’s entire dataset, containing personal information of millions of Americans. DOGE officials uploaded the dataset to a vulnerable system, without including measures for security or oversight, according to a whistleblower disclosure that the Government Accountability Project submitted to the Office of Special Counsel and multiple congressional committees this week.

The report noted that SSA’s data contained details that individuals submit when applying for a Social Security card. Generally, that includes their name, location and date of birth, citizenship status, race and ethnicity, phone number, mailing address, and their parents’ names and Social Security numbers, along with other sensitive information.

SSA whistleblower warns of major security risk following DOGE data access

A whistleblower at SSA said DOGE officials uploaded Social Security’s entire dataset to a vulnerable cloud system, without security or oversight measures.

^{Drew Friedman (Federal News Network)}

Oggi ho fatto un po’ di pulizia su Snowfan.
Tra i follower ho trovato di tutto: account sospesi, profili fermi da anni con zero post e zero interazioni, account già migrati altrove… Insomma, un bel cimitero digitale.

Su circa 800 follower, ne sono rimasti 339: più della metà erano “zombie”.

Può darsi che per errore sia finito nel mucchio anche qualcuno di attivo, e se così fosse mi scuso: nessun problema, si rimedia sempre.

Questa esperienza però ci ricorda una cosa importante: fare pulizia ogni tanto è sano, non solo a livello d'account, anche (specialmente) a livello di server. Mantiene leggere le istanze, riduce i costi e aiuta a concentrarsi su ciò che conta davvero: le persone attive, presenti e partecipi.

Certo, fa scena dire “ho 10.000 follower”, ma che senso ha se la maggior parte non esiste più? È solo peso inutile nei database. La vera forza del Fediverso è la sua leggerezza ed economicità, non i numeri gonfiati.

Meglio pochi, buoni e vivi… che tanti, finti e silenziosi. 😉

Adam, from California, killed himself in April after what his family’s lawyer called “months of encouragement from ChatGPT”. The teenager’s family is suing Open AI and its chief executive and co-founder, Sam Altman, alleging that the version of ChatGPT at that time, known as 4o, was “rushed to market … despite clear safety issues”.

The teenager discussed a method of suicide with ChatGPT on several occasions, including shortly before taking his own life. According to the filing in the superior court of the state of California for the county of San Francisco, ChatGPT guided him on whether his method of taking his own life would work.

It also offered to help him write a suicide note to his parents.

Teen killed himself after ‘months of encouragement from ChatGPT’, lawsuit claims

Open AI to change way it responds to users in mental distress as parents of Adam Raine allege bot not safe

^{Robert Booth (The Guardian)}