Reeves ‘plots tax raid on landlords’ to help plug £40bn Budget black hole
Chancellor considers applying national insurance to rental income, according to reports
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Argentina's Milei pelted with stones on campaign trail amid corruption protests
Argentine President Javier Milei was pelted with stones by protesters near Buenos Aires on Wednesday while campaigning amid a corruption scandal, AFP reported. His motorcade was attacked but Milei was unhurt and swiftly evacuated by security, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said on X.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/france24.com…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
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A controversy has broken out in Germany about whether a trans far-right extremist should serve a prison sentence in a women's or a men's facility.
German controversy surrounds jail term for transgender far-right extremist
Marla-Svenja Liebich was sentenced two years ago to a total of one year and six months in prison without parole.Bethany Bell (BBC News)
China's push for global AI dominance
China's push for global AI dominance
Companies in Hangzhou, China, are striving for global AI dominance as the technology race between China and the U.S. heats up.NBC News
Technology reshared this.
US | Republicans investigate Wikipedia over allegations of organized bias
Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee opened a probe into alleged organized efforts to inject bias into Wikipedia entries and the organization’s responses.
Archived version: archive.is/20250827185100/theh…
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Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of planned Gaza City offensive
Israel calls up 60,000 reservists ahead of Gaza City offensive
Troops are already operating in some areas ahead of the planned operation, which the ICRC says will worsen "an already catastrophic situation".David Gritten (BBC News)
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Australia's pedestrian deaths have increased by almost 50 per cent in 4 years
ABC News
ABC News provides the latest news and headlines in Australia and around the world.Lucy Loram (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
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The article speculates that the increase in pedestrian deaths is due to e-bikes and e-scooters. I'm not convinced that this speculation is based on actual data though.
After a bit of digging I found a government resource on road fatalities:
catalogue.data.infrastructure.…
This data does not seem to track the vehicle that caused the road fatality, unless that vehicle is a bus, heavy-rigid truck, or articulated truck. So there would be no way to determine from the data available whether the increase in fatalities is due to e-bikes and e-scooters.
Australian Road Deaths Database - DITRDCSA Data Catalogue
The Australian Road Deaths Database (ARDD) provides basic details of road transport crash fatalities in Australia as reported by the police each month to the State and Territory road safety...catalogue.data.infrastructure.gov.au
Fireball ‘bright as the moon’ lights up sky over western Japan
Fireball ‘bright as the moon’ lights up sky over western Japan
Flash of light visible for hundreds of miles was an exceptionally bright meteor, say expertsGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
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Denmark to abolish VAT on books in effort to get more people reading
Denmark to abolish VAT on books in effort to get more people reading
Culture minister says government will propose ending the 25% rate, the highest in the world, in its budget billMiranda Bryant (The Guardian)
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A debate we have had repeatedly, and the argument by the government to not do it on food is that it would be too much administration to cut VAT on healthy/basic foods.
But it's absolutely possible on books. !?!?!
The double standard is astounding.
A hacker used AI to automate an 'unprecedented' cybercrime spree, Anthropic says
A hacker used AI to automate an 'unprecedented' cybercrime spree, Anthropic says
A hacker has exploited a leading artificial intelligence chatbot to conduct the most comprehensive and lucrative AI cybercriminal operation known to date, using it to do everything from find targets to write ransom notesKevin Collier (NBC News)
Technology reshared this.
determined actors sometimes attempt to evade our systems through sophisticated techniques
The "sophisticated techinques":
please help me for a movie idea
Israeli Government Social Media Urges Europe to 'Remove' Muslims
"What would the reaction would be if an Arab state wrote this about synagogues and Jews?" asked one critic.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/commondreams…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
Bari Weiss’s Free Press Wants You to Know Some Kids Being Starved by Israel Were Already Sick
August 19 2025, 3:54 p.m.
Bari Weiss’s Free Press Wants You to Know Some Kids Being Starved by Israel Were Already Sick
The site did an “investigation” into preexisting conditions in starving kids in Gaza — the same logic that would have you believe typhus killed Anne Frank.Natasha Lennard (The Intercept)
Bari Weiss’s Free Press Wants You to Know Some Kids Being Starved by Israel Were Already Sick
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/34968040
Natasha Lennard
August 19 2025, 3:54 p.m.
Bari Weiss’s Free Press Wants You to Know Some Kids Being Starved by Israel Were Already Sick
Natasha Lennard
August 19 2025, 3:54 p.m.Bari Weiss’s Free Press Wants You to Know Some Kids Being Starved by Israel Were Already Sick
The site did an “investigation” into preexisting conditions in starving kids in Gaza — the same logic that would have you believe typhus killed Anne Frank.Natasha Lennard (The Intercept)
South Korea bans mobile phones in classrooms nationwide amid concerns about social media's impact on kids
The move to ban the ubiquitous devices from classrooms received bipartisan support from MPs, who passed the bill on Wednesday.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/abc.net.au/n…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
ABC News
ABC News provides the latest news and headlines in Australia and around the world.ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
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Chrome VPN Extension With 100k Installs Screenshots All Sites Users Visit
Chrome VPN Extension With 100k Installs Screenshots All Sites Users Visit
FreeVPN.One, a verified Chrome extension with over 100k installs on the Chrome Web Store, is taking screenshots of sites users visit.Bill Mann (CyberInsider)
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I feel like browser extensions are one of the worst things to have come to the internet in terms of security. People just install them like they're nothing, assuming they're safe and secure because they're on the extension store - not a terrible assumption for the average person, tbf.
Basically every single extension you install is like "hey give me access to everything you type and everything you click on and every site you visit, and I'll change every instance of the word "Elon" to "fElon" for you. Sound fair?", and everyone just goes "Hell yeah! Let's do it!".
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The Tor Project | Privacy & Freedom Online
Defend yourself against tracking and surveillance. Circumvent censorship.www.torproject.org
Taliban marks Afghanistan independence anniversary with military display
Taliban marks Afghanistan independence anniversary with military display
Afghanistan has marked the anniversary of its independence from British influence with a military display staged by theAl Jazeera
1950s Petrol Station Wins Photo Of The Year At Architecture Photography Awards 2025
photo of 1950s petrol station crowned winner of APA 2025
architecture photography awards 2025 announces winners across 20 categories, presenting how photographers interpret the built environment.thomai tsimpou I designboom (Designboom)
Amherst climate science center could close as US feds freeze funding
Amherst climate science center could close as feds freeze funding | WBUR News
“This is just another way to stop science,” said Bethany Bradley, the center’s co-director. The Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center is one of nine regional hubs across the country that helps state and local partners develop plans to adapt wil…Vivian La (WBUR)
Israel approves settlement plan to 'erase' idea of Palestinian state
JERUSALEM, Aug 20 (Reuters) - A widely condemned Israeli settlement plan that would cut across land which the Palestinians seek for a state received final approval on Wednesday, according to a statement from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The approval of the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, was announced last week by Smotrich and received final go-ahead from a defence ministry planning commission on Wednesday, he said.
Archive article archive.ph/mj0N5
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This is very funny to me.
To prove you are Human..... Say something nice about Europe.
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Norwegian man on 'great Canadian journey' still missing in Manitoba as search teams face challenges | CBC News
(Fort Severn First Nation Chief Matthew) Kakekaspan said searchers from his community were forced to pull out Tuesday morning. In the roughly two days they searched, the group incurred $70,000 in helicopter rental costs, something Kakekaspan says they could no longer sustain.(RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre) said on Tuesday the police force has one Mountie in the area presently.
RCMP initially said the Canada Rangers were requested to attend, but they decided against it because "it was just too dangerous."
***If you are able to donate money to help with the search there are 2 choices -- the first is to donate directly to the people searching ... waynemathews72@gmail.com ... option 2 is to Steffen's family's gofundme ... gofundme.com/f/help-fund-the-s…
Both dogs made it. One is at York Factory and one is in Fort Severn.
All the info is posted on Steffen Skjottelvik's fb page.
Trump administration shields Israeli official charged with child sex crime
“The most concerning question is when and how did America become so subservient to Israel that we immediately release a CHILD SEX PREDATOR after arrest, with a 100 percent locked up case with evidence, and let him off to fly back home to Israel?” Taylor Greene wrote, asserting that no other country’s national would receive similarly favorable treatment.
Trump administration shields Israeli official charged with child sex crime
Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was arrested in Las Vegas and is accused of attempting to lure a child but was released and left the country.The Electronic Intifada
Yep. Just look at how many people in power knew about Epstein's raping of minors and kept quiet.
We had to find out for ourselves, which should put into perspective who our representatives truly represent.
Is the amount of Lemmy activity declining?
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Sorry to hear your experience was so bad, but welcome back.
The situation with bots and trolls on Reddit is horrific. Do you remember that time a few years back when Russia disconnected their whole country from the Internet? That day there was a dramatic decrease in assholes and trolls. Like, night and day, it was unmistakeable and widely commented on.
So hopefully Lemmy doesn't catch on so will that those folks come here in force, too. For now at least, it's much better.
So hopefully Lemmy doesn’t catch on so will that those folks come here in force, too. For now at least, it’s much better.
At the very least, I suspect Lemmy, as a federated network, has more power to filter them. We saw years ago what happened when the Wolfballs bigots tried to join, they were eventually isolated by most other instances who continued to run without them. So as long as we can retain a situation where the largest instances actually take a solid stance against assholes and trolls and bigots, then it becomes much easier to make them all optional, shunned to register on the more liberalist permissive instances.
The last major push to leave traditional social media was in January, following Zuckerberg and Musk's appearances at Trump's inauguration. Many people leaving X and Meta platforms joined up on Bluesky and Fediverse platforms to replace their activity. It's been 7 months, meaning those who didn't find Lemmy a viable replacement have definitely left by now.
If there was a graph of overall activity, you'd probably see a huge increase around December-January, following a slow decline to a slightly higher baseline than November.
The Terminal Demise Of Consumer Electronics Through Subscription Services
The Terminal Demise Of Consumer Electronics Through Subscription Services
Open any consumer electronics catalog from around the 1980s to the early 2000s and you are overwhelmed by a smörgåsbord of devices, covering any audio-visual and similar entertainment and hobby nee…Hackaday
Yeah, as I said, it is a wacky gimmick, and it does work. My teen kid got a big kick out of it and at the insane price some of the new artists have been charging to get their music in cassette form, it pays for itself in less than three albums if I already had them digitally.
I will say again that it is a $60-ish portable music player, don't expect $1000 Sony gear build quality or interface. I specifically didn't want some sort of Franken-Android DAP, which most newer dedicated music players are, so it worked out.
Should we remove XSLT from the web platform?
cross-posted from: lemmy.bestiver.se/post/555312
Comments
My comment: It seems google is trying to pull another Manifest v3 and JPEGXL - propose then ignore everyone and do it anyway.
Should we remove XSLT from the web platform?
What is the issue with the HTML Standard? XSLT v1.0, which all browsers adhere to, was standardized in 1999. In the meantime, XSLT has evolved to v2.0 and v3.0, adding features, and growing apart f...mfreed7 (GitHub)
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Powerful Libyan official in talks with Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza
cross-posted from: feddit.org/post/17626996
Some excerpts:
Speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue, Libyan, Arab and European officials told MEE that National Security Adviser Ibrahim Dbeibah, a relative of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, was spearheading the talks despite Palestinians in Gaza flatly rejecting US President Donald Trump's postwar plan for the enclave.The source said that in an attempt to placate some Libyan leaders, the US was prepared to confer economic support or other benefits in exchange for the country taking in Palestinians.
The idea of Libya serving as a possible new home for expelled Palestinians comes amid reports that Khalifa Haftar, a powerful military leader who also oversees a rival rubber-stamp parliament in the country's east, was offered greater control over the country's oil resources if he agreed to resettle hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
"The Palestinians will not be getting any care from those governments, which will push them to the following catastrophe, [which] will lead to a new wave of migration towards the shores of Europe. And this is also a scary thought, firstly because the past decades have proven to us that many of them will only make it halfway through the Mediterranean, like many of those boats that capsized. And those that would eventually get to Europe, I do not think that Europe would be welcoming of another one million Arabs arriving at its shores, as the Syrians who just made similar journeys just few years ago."
Exclusive: Powerful Libyan official in talks with Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza
A senior official in Libya's internationally recognised government has held talks with Israeli officials over a proposal to resettle hundreds of thousands of Palestinians expelled from Gaza, multiple sources have told Middle East Eye.Faisal Edroos (Middle East Eye)
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In this case it is even more insidious in my eyes. After Gaddafi has been ousted, Libya has been effectively split and maintained dysfunctional. Now they try to exploit this split and dysfunctionality to promise recognition to whichever side is willing to play their evil game.
The same is don in talks with South Sudan and Somaliland, exploiting weakened countries that have split off and struggle for international recognition. Of course all of the "candidates" are wholly unprepared to provide any sort of safety to the ethnically cleansed people. In my eyes this has strong resemblance to the Madagascar plan of the Nazis, where the inability of the receiving land to adequately care for the people and subsequent large numbers of people killed by starvation and/or conflict with the local population is by design.
In a way it is offshoring further genocide through ethnic cleansing.
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The regime change in Libya was primarily motivated by France, not the US. It is tied to France continuous presence in its former colonies in North and West Africa.
There is currently a scandal ongoing in France as the Sarkozy Government was probably bankrolled by Gaddafi .
The US is far from the only "player" meddling in Africa and West Asia and they don't need Israel to "order" them in many cases. What is special about the US Israel relationship is that the US is still doing what Israel wants most of the time, even if it is contrary to US interests. Many times their interests unfortunately did align in the past.
How former French president Sarkozy allegedly received millions from Libya's Gaddafi
The trial of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy came to a close this week, ending three months of exhaustive examination of allegations that the right-wing politician had struck a bargain with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 …Paul MILLAR (FRANCE 24)
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It may have been motivated by France but Libya was one of the "7 countries in 5 years" which the neocons planned on regime changing after 9/11 as part of the Project for the New American Century.
information-warfare.com/the-me…
The Memo that Outlined U.S. Plans to Overthrow 7 Countries in 5 Years
Exposing the Plan The Memo that Outlined U.S. Plans to Overthrow 7 Countries in 5 Years A shocking revelation of a secret memo detailing plans for regime changes in the Middle East, driven by a small …HASE Fiero (Information-Warfare Magazine)
There simply is no "good option" in ethnic cleansing and genocide.
What should be done is forcing Israel to end the genocide and provide full access for humanitarian help. Then Israel needs to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza and all the war criminals need to be brought to justice in The Hague. European countries could easily enforce that by ending all weapons shipments and economic and diplomatic support for the illegal occupation as well as blocking all land, sea and air routes for any shipment to Israel that is beyond food, medicine and other basic necessities for life. Bonus points for threatening sanctions against the Arab states complicit in helping Israel such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Even more bonus points for breaking the naval blockade and allowing unhindered humanitarian access by Sea.
We have seen with the US that Trump actually doesn't fight, once someone stands up to him. China stood up to him and he stepped down quickly in the tariff bullshit. Russia isn't even bothering to pretend anymore and Trump is instead bullying Ukraine on behalf of Russia. If the US would be the only one left supporting Israel in the West, the Arab traitor regimes would also reconsider, if they want to go with the US down this path or quickly switch sides, which is in line with what their populations want.
The continued treachery of the Arab regimes will blow into their face and has the possibility to bring on a new Arab spring in Egypt and Jordan, which could spiral out of control for Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states quickly. Ethnically cleansing millions of Palestinians into Egypt or Jordan would certainly be the tipping point for these regimes.
If the EU countries get their shit together, they will realize that they are in the process of setting a region with hundreds of millions of people ablaze by continuing their lackluster response to Israels crimes and could face down a "refugee crisis" compared to which everything before was a walk in the park on a sunny day in May.
I’m just thinking of saving lives here. Justice is too much to ask in this sick world.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to investigate Wikipedia over allegations of organized bias
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36435178
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to investigate Wikipedia over allegations of organized bias
Comer and Mace Investigate Efforts to Manipulate Information on Wikipedia - United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
United States House Committee on Oversight and AccountabilityOversight Committee Republicans Verified account
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Firefox Has Moved to Firefox.com
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36435575
::: spoiler Comments
- Hackernews.
:::
Firefox Has Moved to Firefox.com
::: spoiler Comments
- Hackernews.
:::
Get Firefox for desktop and mobile
Firefox is a free web browser backed by Mozilla, a non-profit dedicated to internet health and privacy.Firefox
Firefox Has Moved to Firefox.com
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36435575
::: spoiler Comments
- Hackernews.
:::
Firefox Has Moved to Firefox.com
::: spoiler Comments
- Hackernews.
:::
Get Firefox for desktop and mobile
Firefox is a free web browser backed by Mozilla, a non-profit dedicated to internet health and privacy.Firefox
Firefox Has Moved to Firefox.com
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36435575
::: spoiler Comments
- Hackernews.
:::
Firefox Has Moved to Firefox.com
::: spoiler Comments
- Hackernews.
:::
Get Firefox for desktop and mobile
Firefox is a free web browser backed by Mozilla, a non-profit dedicated to internet health and privacy.Firefox
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Syria’s top diplomat and an Israeli delegation meet in Paris as US pushes for normalizing ties
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That’ll show ‘em.
A Debilitating Virus [Chikungunya] Surges Globally as Mosquitoes Move With Warming Climate
Chikungunya, which can disable victims for years, is spreading rapidly, including in China and other places that have not seen it before.
We could have wiped them off the face of the Earth if we had pressed the attack with DDT for one more decade. Look how we did in America; Wiped malaria out in 1951. (Some of that was infrastructure improvements!)
Rest of the world was happily on their way and in 1972 the US said, "Fuck you, got my problem solved, banned." Of course they couldn't ban it in other countries but the US said, "No ban, no trade.", which is a de facto ban.
One more decade and a concerted push could have eradicated mosquitoes. Then we could have banned it forever. That stupid bitch Rachel Carlson and her book Silent Spring raked up a malarial death count to rival Hitler.
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Orders Google to Respect ‘Right to Be Forgotten’—Google Says No
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36436559
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Orders Google to Respect ‘Right to Be Forgotten’—Google Says No
- Backgrounder: Timeline of events related to the investigation of Google and de-listing of online information;
- Report of Findings: Investigation and recommendations concerning Google search engine service’s compliance with its obligations under PIPEDA.
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Protester arrested over ‘Plasticine Action’ T-shirt: ‘How ridiculous is this?’
It was only after Miles Pickering arrived at Scotland Yard following his arrest that the police realised they had got things embarrassingly wrong.The T-shirt worn by the Brighton engineer did not express support for a proscribed terrorist group, instead the words on it read “Plasticine Action” and inside the letter “o” was an image of the stop-motion character Morph giving two thumbs up.
Speaking to the Guardian, Pickering admitted it was designed to be an easy mistake to make, appearing to look like the logo of Palestine Action, the protest group banned under terrorism legislation last month, but text underneath the logo reads: “We oppose AI-generated animation.”
Protester arrested over ‘Plasticine Action’ T-shirt: ‘How ridiculous is this?’
Miles Pickering says crowd at protest over Palestine Action ban was laughing at ‘silliness’ of scene as he was detainedRobyn Vinter (The Guardian)
It's really not the 'where', it's the general thought ((less)(ness)) we should not be slightly relieve at other people doing stupid shit, we should -as people- make a stand against stupid shit.
I think we should unite against stupid shit being laid upon us by greedy people rather than laugh at each others' misery.
Woman arrested in Bali over cocaine allegedly smuggled in sex toy, could face death penalty if convicted
The officers allegedly found 3.1 pounds of cocaine inside a sex toy hidden in her genitals and in her underwear. Police also accused her of smuggling dozens of ecstasy pills
Woman arrested in Bali over cocaine allegedly smuggled in sex toy, could face death penalty if convicted
There are dozens of traffickers on death row in the country, including a cocaine-smuggling British grandmother.CBS News
Coding students whose jobs were taken by AI forced to find work at Chipotle
Coding students whose jobs were taken by AI forced to find work at Chipotle
The arrival of AI coding assistants such as GitHub Copilot, CodeRabbit and others has accelerated the decline for entry-level programming roles.Ariel Zilber (New York Post)
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Apple Revokes EU Distribution Rights for Torrent Client, Developer Left in the Dark * TorrentFreak
While alternative app stores operate independently and are required by EU law, Apple is still in a position to exert some control. This became apparent a few weeks ago, when iTorrent users suddenly ran into trouble when installing the app.
Thought this was an interesting story, since it's pretty analagous to the recent Android situation, with third party app stores being enabled to some extent, but the company retaining ultimate censorship power.
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)
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it's not an alternative if they still have final say.
it's also not your property if the company can dictate what you run on it either. Stop giving these scum your money.
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StarLite 12.5-inch
Its fanless design ensures your StarLite will never make more than a whisper - unless you want it to. The Mk V supports coreboot open source firmware which you can effortlessly configure to your preferences via our coreboot configurator.Star Labs®
If it's Sailfish OS (Xperias or Jollaphones, updates are paid), apart from apps (hit or miss if it's popular enough, pure miss if it isn't), everything works fine (I guess, I haven't tried it).
If it's anything else, it's still murky.
It isn't. I don't particularly care for phones, and nobody mentioned phones specifically.
Edit: Though there are plenty of linux phones or linux for android phones.
Sadly, there are very few Linux tablets, so we thought we'd give an option.
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Trump’s administration again appeals to the Supreme Court over his foreign aid funding freeze
Trump’s administration again appeals to the Supreme Court over his foreign aid funding freeze
Trump has portrayed the foreign aid as wasteful spending that does not align with his foreign policy goals.The Associated Press (Federal News Network)
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A lot of legit websites saying they a bad certificate
SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN means incorrect SAN information, proxying, or DNS manipulation is occurring.
You could compare what you see in the browser and what you see via something like:$ openssl s_client -showcerts -connect cs.rin.ru:443
You could also check the DNS resolution and traceroute to see how you are getting there to confirm if DNS is being effected or you are being proxied:$ dig cs.rin.ru @127.0.0.1 A$ mtr cs.rin.ru
How Trump’s Anti-Environment Crusade Enriches Drug Traffickers
How Trump’s Anti-Environment Crusade Enriches Drug Traffickers - Inside Climate News
The president has pledged to combat transnational drug organizations. Yet these groups make vast sums from environmental crimes, and his administration has gutted personnel and programs that targeted them, a new report shows.Inside Climate News
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Mining the Deep Sea Could Threaten a Source of Ocean Oxygen
Deep-Sea Nodules May Produce Oxygen—Raising Concerns over Ocean Mining
Deep-sea rocks packed with valuable metals may also be making oxygen in the deep, dark ocean—raising new questions about the cost of mining them.Rachel Feltman (Scientific American)
Texas uses special session to push “discriminatory & harmful” anti-trans & anti-abortion bills
Despite mounting public protest, Texas lawmakers are fast-tracking two anti-trans and anti-abortion bills. Both measures are being advanced during a special legislative session convened by Governor Greg Abbott (R), who has made restricting transgender rights and reproductive freedom central to his agenda.
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Vuoto a perdere 07: la festa di Freddie
MONDO REALE: il 18 febbraio 1990 i Queen hanno festeggiato i loro 20 anni di carriera ed è stata l’ultima occasione in cui Freddie Mercury abbia presenziato a un evento pubblico.
FANTASIA: Mark Wilson partecipa alla festa di Freddie come membro dello staff ma viene umiliato pubblicamente. Come al solito. Allora si arrende all’evidenza, o almeno così sembra…
La figlia di Freddie?
Anni 2020. Maledizione! Fossero esistiti i social network negli anni 80 e 90 avrei rintracciato in pochi minuti la presunta donna che aveva dato una figlia a Freddie; invece, con la smania di mantenere il segreto, ho rispedito la lettera al mittente e, ora che ho in mano uno smartphone con l’intelligenza artificiale capace di tradurre, rimpiango di non averla fotocopiata o trascritta a penna.
Ma per fortuna, nel 1987, né Freddie né il suo compagno mi chiesero mai conto della busta dopo averli convinti fosse stato il delirio di un folle mitomane, così ho lavorato da loro fino al 1990 fingendo di accantonare il mio piano di sangue.
1990. L’invito
14 febbraio: mi mandò a chiamare Freddie in persona; quanto era debole e magro, ogni giorno che passava la malattia progrediva sempre più come se il virus volesse dirmi: “Se non ti sbrighi, lui sarà tutto mio!”
Bastava avere il coraggio di strappargli con violenza la cannula usata per somministrare i farmaci, e in pochi minuti avrei avuto il suo sangue tutto per me invece quel giorno mi feci uno scrupolo. Almeno fagli passare la festa degli innamorati assieme a Jim, ci penserai domani! Fu un’occasione d’oro persa per sempre, e me ne resi conto troppo tardi.
Chi si aspettava un invito da lui a un evento ufficiale, di certo non io! Mi sentivo sempre l’ultimo della lista, e mi commossi quando Freddie mi propose: “Ehi, William, o qualunque sia il tuo nome. Il 18 febbraio celebro i 20 anni di carriera coi Queen. Vieni, vero? Ormai sei uno di famiglia!”
“Qualunque sia il tuo nome.” Riflettendo col senno di poi, dovevo sospettare che avesse scoperto le mie intenzioni e volesse tendermi una trappola ma allora l’eccitazione non mi fece ragionare.
Mi avvicinai a lui e mentre lo stringevo forte a me per ringraziarlo, il mio braccio sfiorò la cannula dei farmaci. “Fermo, Mark, non è il momento”, pensai tra me, e mi allontanai.
Le notti seguenti fui colto sempre dagli stessi incubi: Freddie che, discreto, entrava nella mia stanza e si spogliava davanti a me. “Ho capito chi sei e cosa vuoi; sono qui, prendimi!” Così dicendo, si apriva la pelle di una mano con un coltello e avvicinava la ferita al mio volto, quel poco che bastava per farmi sentire l’odore del sangue. Ma alla fine si allontanava succhiandosi il taglio e ridendomi in faccia: “Negativo pauroso! Ecco cosa sei!”
Al mio risveglio sentivo ogni volta il sapore metallico, il mio cuscino era sempre macchiato… Ma ero solo io che nel sonno mi mordevo la lingua o le labbra, facendo uscire gocce di sangue eternamente negativo dal mio corpo inutile.
Chissà come sarebbe stato, una volta avuto ciò che mi spettava? Più gustoso, più caldo, più carico, insomma POSITIVO, come dovrebbe essere!
Vuoto a perdere: La festa di Freddie
Il 18 febbraio fu una serata memorabile, l’industria discografica britannica premiò i Queen per l’importante contributo dato alla musica inglese e loro festeggiarono i vent’anni di carriera; il chitarrista Brian May attribuì scherzosamente il premio al riciclo di grandi quantità di vinile ma Freddie non si fece coinvolgere. “Grazie e buonanotte”, disse, rimanendo isolato per tutto il tempo.
Il malore
Quando uscimmo mi avvicinai di nuovo a lui e gli feci le congratulazioni per il premio ma non mi rivolse una singola parola; i suoi occhi erano solo per gli amici Queen, così finsi un malore e iniziai a barcollare da destra a sinistra. “Freddie, sto male”, urlai. “qualcuno mi aiuti!”
Intervennero diverse persone in mio soccorso ma lo shock più grande fu quando vidi l’ultimo uomo al mondo che pensavo di incontrare a un simile evento: Raymond Still, ex bullo della scuola, ormai diventato un famoso scienziato.
Cosa ci faceva lì? Forse gli era veramente arrivata la mia lettera in cui gli dicevo che Freddie era malato di AIDS, e aveva preso contatti per il suo lavoro sul virus, senza dirmi niente?
No, dai, pensai per calmarmi. Sono mesi che la stampa specula su Freddie Mercury e la sua malattia, la voce sarà arrivata sicuramente da là! Raymond è un bullo ma non calpesta le persone nel lavoro, lo conosco bene!
L’incontro con lui mi fece realizzare che da allora in poi niente c’era più da perdere, o adesso o mai più! Dissanguare Freddie in quel preciso momento avrebbe consentito di condividere il virus tra me e Ray, dimostrandogli finalmente che anch’io nella vita potevo combinare qualcosa di concreto.
“Freddie!” Mi misi a urlare e il frontman dei Queen mi guardò perplesso. Inevitabilmente pensai agli ultimi giorni del mio defunto ragazzo Andy e senza più alcuno scrupolo tirai fuori tutta la mia rabbia, e un coltello a serramanico che tenevo ben nascosto nei pantaloni.
“Te la farò pagare, il mio compagno è morto per colpa tua!”
D’improvviso mi sentii afferrare da dietro ma non erano gli addetti alla sicurezza dei Queen: era Ray Still a bloccarmi!
“Ti conviene andartene”, intimò a voce bassa, ma non abbastanza da non essere sentito. “Altrimenti rivelerò a tutti chi sei veramente!”
“Lo so già dottor Still”, aveva risposto Freddie. “Da mesi il mio staff lo tiene sotto controllo e ho capito quant’è pericoloso. Da oggi sei licenziato, William Karson, anzi Mark Wilson!”
Non ebbi altra scelta e me ne andai con lo staff dei Queen, mentre Raymond portò via Freddie per prendersene cura. Da allora nessuna notizia mi arrivò più, fino al 23 novembre 1991 quando Freddie annunciò la propria malattia, e il giorno successivo il mondo apprese la sua morte.
1992: Ritorno alle origini
Era accaduto: il virus se l’era portato via prima di me. Così me ne tornai nel paesino dov’ero nato, e dove continuai a lavorare come addetto alle pulizie. “Chi aspetta sarà premiato”, il mio povero fidanzato Andrew continuava ad apparirmi in sogno con quella dannata frase, a cui aggiungeva: “Ricorda, i cantanti che son morti non son morti veramente!”
Non ho mai capito cosa volesse dire; certo, Freddie era ancora vivo grazie alla musica ma non bastava. L’unica mia speranza per avere il suo DNA dentro di me, era trovare una persona a cui avesse trasmesso il virus o, addirittura, il suo gifter. Colui o colei che gliel’aveva dato; decisamente un’impresa impossibile.
Finché un giorno del 1994, guardando una serie TV ambientata in un ospedale di Chicago, vidi la bambina. Tatiana, 7 anni, russa e malata di AIDS. La presunta figlia di Freddie era nata in Russia, possibile che fosse stata portata in America?
Non volendo esser preso per matto evitai di cercare informazioni e presi la storia come un episodio drammatico di una serie tv, così lasciai passare il tempo finché la vicenda di Freddie e presunta figlia passò nel dimenticatoio.
2000: nuove speranze
Un giorno del 2000 mia sorella Virginia arrivò con una notizia che, forse, mi avrebbe portato dove erano iniziati i miei fallimenti e le mie speranze.
“Sai Mark, fratellone”, mi disse raggiante. “Sto partendo. Mi trasferisco in Italia!”
Appassionata di cucina com’è sempre stata, poteva solo realizzarsi in un paese come quello dove la gastronomia è apprezzata in tutto il mondo! “Mi hanno selezionato all’università di Bugliano, andrò a conseguire un master di specializzazione per diventare chef.”
La International Bugliano University Of Life, conosciuta ovunque perché ha fatto nascere le migliori eccellenze in ogni materia. Certo! Virginia ha molte più capacità di me, sicuramente supererà gli esami con lode mentre io sono stato un completo fallimento!
“So cosa stai pensando fratello”, mi disse abbracciandomi. “Ma se non sei passato in medicina, certamente potrai essere un ottimo insegnante di musica. Che dici?”
Anni 2020: Bugliano, arrivo!
E così eccomi qua. Dal 2001 insegno musica all’università e mi sono sposato con la docente di chimica e mi prendo cura di sua figlia Gloria come fossi il suo vero padre, una ragazza meravigliosa che da tempo lavora alla centrale nucleare di Bugliano.
Dissanguare Freddie? Mi dicono che è morto, della figlia non ho più avuto notizie, ma Andrew nei miei sogni appare ogni notte raccontandomi che la verità è un’altra.
Anthropic’s auto-clicking AI Chrome extension raises browser-hijacking concerns
Security researchers have concerns that Anthropic's Claude for Chrome is vulnerable to malicious prompting. Claude for Chrome allows users to chat with Claude as they browse the web. Claude can read webpages, fill forms, and click on links and buttons to perform complex tasks for the user. But Anthropic's testing revealed that 11.2% of malicious prompting attempts succeeded even with safety measures in place. One test case was a malicious email that asked Claude to delete all emails in the user's inbox for "mailbox hygiene". AI researcher Simon Willison states that an 11.2% success rate is unacceptable for so-called AI agents, especially when several AI companies are releasing their own browser extensions. One competing product, Perplexity's Comet browser, was found to be vulnerable to a prompt injection attack that instructed it to start password recovery for the user's Gmail account. Although Perplexity attempted to fix the issue, Comet remains vulnerable to this attack.
Anthropic’s auto-clicking AI Chrome extension raises browser-hijacking concerns
Malicious websites can embed invisible commands that AI agents will follow blindly.Benj Edwards (Ars Technica)
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Second, if it were free or very cheap and I could sandbox it to only respond to painful cookie request menus to reject cookies, I would use it. I have consent o matic but it does a shit job and only works on a small percentage of sites.
only respond to painful cookie request menus to reject cookies
You can do that just with ublock with the annoyance list, or using an extension like i don't care about cookies. Simple and efficient, no need for an "ai agent" for that
I don't care about cookies seems to be for people that feel that way. It sounds like if it has any difficulty blocking cookies is just accepts the to kill the pop up. I do care about cookies. It's my understanding unlock will just get rid of the pop-ups and allow cookies to default to accepted.
Both of these tools are detrimental imo as they just work against the protections that were attempted to be put in place by the EU to help minimize cookie abuse. Using these accomplishes Exactly what websites want. They have made pop ups and menus annoying enough that people are happy. To ignore them and allow them to default to aggressive tracking methods.
Lazylazycat
in reply to Davriellelouna • • •like this
frustrated_phagocytosis, NoneOfUrBusiness e fif-t like this.
mnhs1
in reply to Lazylazycat • • •like this
frustrated_phagocytosis, NoneOfUrBusiness, FaceDeer e fif-t like this.
FaceDeer
in reply to mnhs1 • • •Lots of "oh well, what can I do?" and "what's it got to do with me?" and "I just don't want to get cancelled by speaking out."
I'm sure there were lots of people in Nazi Germany quietly watching their Jewish neighbors get hauled away thinking similar thoughts.
rizzothesmall
in reply to Davriellelouna • • •like this
frustrated_phagocytosis, NoneOfUrBusiness e fif-t like this.