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Top European human rights official urges UK to review protest laws over Palestine Action arrests


Europe’s most senior human rights official has urged the British government to review its protest laws over the recent proscription of Palestine Action as a terror organisation.

Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, said in a letter to British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that the UK's legal framework allows authorities to "impose excessive limits on freedom of assembly and expression, and risk overpolicing".

His intervention comes after Middle East Eye revealed last month that four times as many people had been charged in the UK under Section 13 counterterrorism powers since Palestine Action was proscribed in July as during the entire "war on terror" since 2001.



Fediverse Report – #138


this week’s fediverse news: - a closer look at the Tumblr-like platform Wafrn, which connects to both activitypub and atproto. Their latest update allows people to migrate their #bluesky account to wafrn, joining the fediverse while staying connected to t

this week's fediverse news:
- a closer look at the Tumblr-like platform Wafrn, which connects to both activitypub and atproto. Their latest update allows people to migrate their #bluesky account to wafrn, joining the fediverse while staying connected to their bluesky network
- Loops is getting closer to joining the fediverse


Fediverse Report – #138

The News


WeDistribute has published an extensive overview and review of Wafrn, the Tumblr-like platform that is both on the fediverse as well as on ATProto. Wafrn is a unique platform in the open social web, and it is the first and only platform that fully integrates both protocols. The name Wafrn explains the tone of the project well: it stands for ‘We Allow Female Representing Nipples’, which is a reference to the language Tumblr used when they banned porn. Because Wafrn natively integrates both protocols, there is no bridging involved like there is with Bridgy Fed, and a Wafrn account connects with all accounts on both networks, although the ATProto features are somewhat limited and not all implemented. Wafrn also recently released a new feature to migrate your Bluesky account to a Wafrn server. This gives another option for people who are looking to move away from Bluesky and are interested in the fediverse, without having to give up their connection to the rest of the Bluesky network.


Short-form video platform Loops has announced it is joining the fediverse. In an announcement post, creator Daniel Supernault explains that Loops has now implemented support for ActivityPub. The marketing on Loops and the fediverse was always a bit fuzzy, while it was advertised as a fediverse platform, the actual fediverse integration was still in development. With this update, Loops is now using ActivityPub. However, this does not go for the main Loops server, Loops.video, just yet, as Supernault says that he is “working on an updated app build that supports the new APIs and other servers besides just the hardcoded loops.video server!” Supernault says that this will happen ‘this week’, although the project has missed deadlines before. Still, for those people who are self-hosting a Loops server, the code for federation is now indeed available.

In the update, Supernault also talks about some of the technical design choices that he’s made for federation with Loops. Loops servers use the ‘Note’ content type to send out the videos. This means that a Loops video is effectively quite similar to a microblog made on a platform like Mastodon or Misskey, which also use the ‘Note’ type. Most platforms indeed use ‘Note’, as this allows for compatibility with Mastodon. ActivityPub allows for a wide variety of content types (called Activities, which is where the protocol gets its name from), but in practice most platforms fall back to ‘Note’, even when other types (like ‘video’ for Loops) would make more sense. It indicates one of the challenges of the open-ended nature of how ActivityPub works: the protocol allows for a diverse set of Activities, but in practice it is more beneficial for most platforms to fall back to a single type, that all other platforms also use.


An excellent overview of last week’s FediForum by Richard MacManus for The New Stack. MacManus covers the keynote speech, as well as some of the products that were demoed at the event: alternative app store AltStore, how you can now move your Mastodon account to Bluesky with Bounce, as well as two platforms currently in development that are getting close to release: the privacy-focused photo sharing app Frequency, and the monetisation platform CrowdBucks.


Pandacap is a single-user artwork gallery and feed reading platform, that supports a wide range of protocols. It supports ActivityPub, ATProto, RSS. It also has the option to crosspost your image posts and text posts to attached DeviantArt, Fur Affinity, or Weasyl accounts. Pandacap does not have a timeline like most platform, instead opting for a design that centers around an inbox, similar to feed reading apps for RSS. Pandacap has been around for a bit, but I had completely missed it and don’t think I had ever covered it before.


PeerTube is now officially recognised as a Digital Public Good. A digital public good recognized by the Digital Public Goods Alliance is an open-source resource that uses approved open licenses and demonstrably supports at least one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). For PeerTube this means that it contributes to SDG 9, which aims to “significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries. PeerTube also contributes to the SDG for developing “effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels” and ensuring “responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels.”

Fedify, the ActivityPub server framework that secured two sources of funding last week, has a major new update, with security enhancements, improved DX, and expanded framework support.

An extensive interview with the creators of event planning app Mobilizon. Mobilizon got created by Framasoft, the organisation who also builds PeerTube. Framasoft saw the project as completed, and handed the further development over to Kaihuri, a small French organisation who also runs one of the most active Mobilizon instances. The Project Libres podcast interviews Alexandra, one of the two people behind Kaihuri, in French, but a transcript in English is available.

The Links


#nlnet

connectedplaces.online/reports…




Loops Joins the Fediverse


in reply to railway692

That's just how the fediverse works. Your instance only know accounts from other instances by boosting or directly searching for them. Not seeing most accounts from newly federated instances is by design.
in reply to tofu

That's fair.

I did also try directly searching for accounts from loops, i.e. @eickertv@loops.video and Rudygardea@loops.video, and neither of those popped up either.

Questa voce è stata modificata (1 settimana fa)



Man Stores AI-Generated ‘Robot Porn' on His Government Computer, Loses Access to Nuclear Secrets




Man Stores AI-Generated Robot Porn on His Government Computer, Loses Access to Nuclear Secrets


A man who works for the people overseeing America’s nuclear stockpile has lost his security clearance after he uploaded 187,000 pornographic images to a Department of Energy (DOE) network. As part of an appeals process in an attempt to get back his security clearance, the man told investigators he felt his bosses spied on him too much and that the interrogation over the porn snafu was akin to the “Spanish Inquisition."

On March 23, 2023, a DOE employee attempted to back up his personal porn collection. His goal was to use the 187,000 images collected over the past 30 years as training data for an AI-image generator. He said he had depression, something he’d struggled with since he was a kid. “During the depressive episode he felt ‘extremely isolated and lonely,’ and started ‘playing’ with tools that made generative images as a coping strategy, including ‘robot pornography,’” according to a DOE report on the incident.
playlist.megaphone.fm?p=TBIEA2…
Fueled by depression, the man meant to back up his collection and create a base for training AI to make better “robot pornography” but he uploaded it to the government computer by accident. He didn’t realize what he’d done until DOE investigators came calling six months later to ask why their servers were now filled with thousands of pornographic pictures.

“The Individual ‘thought that even though his personal drives were connected to [his employer’s], they were somehow partitioned, and his personal material would not contaminate his [government-issued computer],” a DOE report said.

According to the report, the man was using his cellphone to look at AI-generated porn images, but the screen wasn’t big enough so he moved the pictures to his government computer. “He also reported that, since the 1990s, he had maintained a ‘giant compressed file with several directories of pornographic images,’ which he moved to his personal cloud storage drive so he could use them to make generative images,” he said. “It was this directory of sexually explicit images that was ultimately uploaded to his employer’s network when he performed a back-up procedure on March 23, 2023.”

The 187,000 images represented a lifetime’s collection. “He stated that the sexually explicit images were an accumulation of ‘25–30 years worth of pornographic material’ he had collected on his personal computer,” he said. He told a DOE psychologist that he should have realized he’d backed up his personal porn collection to a DOE network but said he “was not thinking multiple steps ahead or considering the consequences at the time because he was so depressed.”

According to the DOE employee, he’s been treated for depression since he was a kid. He has ups and downs, and was in a bad headspace when he accidentally uploaded his entire porn collection. He admitted he violated HR rules, but “did not think it was very wrong,” according to the DOE ruling. He also “asserted that his employer ‘was spying on him a little too much’...and compared the interview with his employer following the discovery of his conduct to ‘the Spanish Inquisition.’”

When someone loses their security clearance with the DOE, they can appeal to get it back. In this case, the appeal led to a lengthy investigation and multiple interviews with various DOE psychologists and the man’s wife. When the DOE makes a ruling on an appeal they publish it publicly online, which is why we know about the man’s private porn stash.

He did not get his clearance back. “The DOE Psychologist opined that the individual's probability of experiencing another depressive episode in the future was ‘very high,’” according to the report.


#USA



Viaggio nel Fediverso, la soluzione al problema dei social


Sensitive content

reshared this

in reply to ilsimoneviaggiatore

Mi auguro che questo articolo possa essere diffuso il più possibile, e magari utilizzato come una piccola guida per fare capire quanto è prezioso il Fediverso a chi ancora non lo conosce o non ci è ancora entrato.


#fediday2025 Andy Piper - For Freedom and Sovereignty (EN)




#fediday2025 Andy Piper - For Freedom and Sovereignty (EN)


Andy Piper @[url=https://macaw.social/users/andypiper]Andy Piper[/url] ist bei @[url=https://mastodon.uno/users/mastodon]Mastodon.Uno Italia[/url] Head of Communications und kümmert sich um die Communities im Fediverse. Andy arbeitet seit vielen Jahren in der Technologiebranche und lebt in UK.




Nvidia breakthrough gives 4-bit pretraining technique the accuracy of FP8







in reply to LasolitaLaura

@LasolitaLaura
Boosto qualunque thread mi citi nel suo primo post.
Quando Mastodon diventerà compatibile, per essere boostato automaticamente bisognerà per forza seguirmi e avere ricevuto il follow back, dopo di che boosterò i thread in cui verrò citato, con visibilità limitata a chi mi segue.


Valve launches the Steam Next Fest right on Windows 10 EOL because they hate me, specifically (also, distro-picking).


Like, why Valve? I was so close to clearing out all the games I was partway through, now I need to add some demos to my backlog (not many, this Next Fest is kinda weak).

Probably could've made it but I haven't picked a distro. I'm planning on turning my desktop into a dedicated gaming computer and not daily driver, because of the malware risk. I wanted something not finicky, something devs would test on as a known quantity, and preferably something Arch-based like SteamOS.
- Garuda (Arch-based)
- Bazzite (Known quantity, immutable, Fedora-based, I don't trust it for some reason)
- Nobara (Proton-adjacent distro, Fedora-based)
- CachyOS (Super fast, Arch-based, presumably finicky?)
- Windows 7 (Based, unsupported by steam, insecure)

in reply to cm0002

I'm a fedora user, so I would recommend Bazzite/Nobara, but all of these are good (Except Windows 7, it's not officially supported anymore and I'm pretty sure it doesn't even get security updates). I think you can try them before installing thanks to live USB, so you can just see which one you like more.


Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs rolls out red carpet for fascist demagogue Tommy Robinson


Amichai Chikli, Diaspora Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, has invited Tommy Robinson, the fascist anti-Muslim demagogue who recently mobilized the largest far-right demonstration in British history, on an expenses paid, five-day visit to Israel.
in reply to WolfmanEightySix

This is where we are now.

Not the first openly antisemitic fascist they invited.

Questa voce è stata modificata (2 settimane fa)

in reply to General_Effort

A lawsuit for "unfair competition"? How do they figure that? .to is a ccTLD. The Kingdom of Tonga will manage it however it sees fit. Not every country in the world is obligated to subscribe to the same ideas on copyright and digital piracy
Questa voce è stata modificata (1 settimana fa)
in reply to floquant

Check out some thread on AI and copyright. That oughta tell you how copyright people "think", for lack of a better word. Not impossible to succeed with that kind of thing in Europe.
in reply to General_Effort

Idk why they think that the Czech Republic has power over the Tongolese government. .to is the internet version of tongolese soil. Czech courts don't have power over foreign flags of convenience

Also love the complaint that tongo isn't following European privacy laws

Questa voce è stata modificata (1 settimana fa)


Fifty-five healthcare workers from Gaza are listed for release from Israeli detention today, while Israel continues to hold at least 115 more captives


Fifty-five healthcare workers from Gaza are listed among the Palestinians released from Israeli detention today as part of the exchange deal. While not all releases are confirmed yet, the list includes 24 nurses, 7 doctors, and 2 paramedics. Fourty-four of the healthcare workers listed were abducted by the Israeli Occupation Forces from the hospitals where they were working and they have spent between nine and 22 months illegally imprisoned in Israeli detention and torture facilities. Dr Ahmed Mhanna, the Director of Al-Awda Hospital, was not on the list but has also been released today.

While their release is warmly welcomed, there are at least 115 more Gazan healthcare workers who are still being held in Israeli detention. These include at least 20 doctors, of whom 15 are irreplaceable senior specialists. In the past two years, the Israeli Occupation Forces have unlawfully detained over 409 Palestinian healthcare workers from both Gaza and the West Bank. Testimonies from released healthcare workers and other Palestinians describe the horrific conditions inside the detention facilities where brutality and torture are rife[1]. Five healthcare workers have been killed while in detention.



Fifty-five healthcare workers from Gaza are listed for release from Israeli detention today, while Israel continues to hold at least 115 more captives


Fifty-five healthcare workers from Gaza are listed among the Palestinians released from Israeli detention today as part of the exchange deal. While not all releases are confirmed yet, the list includes 24 nurses, 7 doctors, and 2 paramedics. Fourty-four of the healthcare workers listed were abducted by the Israeli Occupation Forces from the hospitals where they were working and they have spent between nine and 22 months illegally imprisoned in Israeli detention and torture facilities. Dr Ahmed Mhanna, the Director of Al-Awda Hospital, was not on the list but has also been released today.

While their release is warmly welcomed, there are at least 115 more Gazan healthcare workers who are still being held in Israeli detention. These include at least 20 doctors, of whom 15 are irreplaceable senior specialists. In the past two years, the Israeli Occupation Forces have unlawfully detained over 409 Palestinian healthcare workers from both Gaza and the West Bank. Testimonies from released healthcare workers and other Palestinians describe the horrific conditions inside the detention facilities where brutality and torture are rife[1]. Five healthcare workers have been killed while in detention.

in reply to technocrit

Perhaps they can work out an exchange if the healthcare workers are willing to release some of the IDF soldiers they have taken hostage.


Despite widespread interest, only 3 states passed regulating, license plate reader laws this year


But just three states — Arkansas, Idaho and Virginia — enacted laws this session that establish or amend rules for law enforcement agencies using the high-tech camera systems and the manner in which license plate data should be stored. And this month, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have restricted use of such data.

https://northdakotamonitor.com/2025/10/13/repub/despite-widespread-interest-only-3-states-passed-license-plate-reader-laws-this-year/



Ukraine War: Russian Forces Attacked UN Aid Trucks in Kherson Region, Officials Say


cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/44064875

Archived

Russian forces struck a United Nations aid convoy in the partially occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine on Tuesday, Ukrainian and UN officials said, though no one was reported injured or killed in the incident.

The United Nations said the convoy, consisting of four marked vehicles, came under attack from Russian drones and artillery while delivering humanitarian aid to the frontline town of Bilozerka.

"Such attacks are utterly unacceptable. Aid workers are protected by international humanitarian law and should never be attacked," said Matthias Schmale, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.

Two trucks operated by the World Food Program were damaged in the strike, while two others were unharmed, he said. The UN Population Fund said the convoy was carrying 800 packages containing essential items for elderly people, women and girls.

"The area has a very high proportion of older people, many of whom are unable to relocate due to drones and shelling and rely on humanitarian assistance for survival," said Jacqueline Mahon, UNFPA's representative in Ukraine.

[...]



DOJ seizes $15 billion in bitcoin from massive 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia


Prosecutors said that hundreds of people were trafficked and forced to work in the scam compounds, “often under the threat of violence.”

Zhi and a network of top executives in the Prince Group are accused of using political influence in multiple countries to protect their criminal enterprise and paid bribes to public officials to avoid actions by law enforcement authorities targeting the scheme, according to prosecutors.



DOJ seizes $15 billion in bitcoin from massive 'pig butchering' scam based in Cambodia


Prosecutors said that hundreds of people were trafficked and forced to work in the scam compounds, “often under the threat of violence.”

Zhi and a network of top executives in the Prince Group are accused of using political influence in multiple countries to protect their criminal enterprise and paid bribes to public officials to avoid actions by law enforcement authorities targeting the scheme, according to prosecutors.



Washington Post columnist proudly boasts ‘we’re now a conservative opinion page’


Marc Thiessen declared on social media that he’s no longer an ‘outlier’ at the Washington Post, as the paper’s opinion section is wholly ‘conservative’ now

Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen said the quiet part out loud this week when he bragged that the newspaper’s opinion section was now thoroughly “conservative” after Donald Trump praised his most recent op-ed.

Thiessen’s declaration comes on the heels of billionaire owner Jeff Bezos imposing an ideological realignment of the Post’s opinion page, which has resulted in an exodus of talent and the hiring of an editor who shares his vision of dedicating the section to the “support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.”

The admission from Thiessen, a Fox News contributor who served as a speechwriter for President George W. Bush, came after prominent MAGA personalities expressed shock over his Washington Post piece endorsing Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. (The president, despite his persistent lobbying for the award, lost out to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.)



Ken Paxton sues leader of group (Melanated People of Power) trying to seize control of Texas’ least populated, but very wealthy, county for political reasons


“Not too often do you see a brother that looks like me come into the county and take the entire county over,” Tanner said in a July TikTok post. “Well, I have taken the entire county over, out here in Loving County, Texas. When these elections hit in 2026, we’re going to wipe the board. Everybody that I selected will be elected.”

Although many were rejected for technical reasons, he said most of them could be easily cured. A dozen of Tanner’s followers have successfully registered, the sheriff said last week.

Targeting an entire county for political takeover might seem difficult, but Loving County represented a ripe target. With only about 70 residents, it is the least-populated county in the country. County commission seats can be won with as few as a dozen votes; county-wide positions often are gained with fewer than 50.



Fact-checking Donald Trump’s speech in Israeli parliament


Trump made several claims about the Middle East conflict and other global peace deals that were not entirely true.


(shocker!)



Why was FIFA President Infantino with Trump at Gaza peace summit in Egypt?


FIFA boss Gianni Infantino was among attendees in Egypt, continuing a string of appearances with the US president Donald Trump.
in reply to technocrit

At first I thought it said

Why was FIFA President in fellatio with Trump at Gaza peace summit in Egypt?


And it made sense.



US airports refuse to air Kristi Noem video blaming Democrats for shutdown


Airport authorities in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Charlotte and Westchester county, New York, have refused to display the footage at security checkpoints, saying the overtly political messaging potentially violates state and federal law, including the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from partisan political activity.


Eco-Libre Life-Line v2025.10 is released


We’re happy to announce the release of the Eco-Libre Life-Line version 2025.10.

Eco-Libre Life-Line v2025.10 Release Announcement


Who is Eco-Libre?


Eco-Libre is a volunteer-run project that designs libre technology for sustainable communities.

Eco-Libre's mission is to research, develop, document, teach, build, and distribute open-source technology that sustainably enfranchises communities' human rights.


We aim to provide clear documentation to build low-cost machines, tools, and infrastructure for people all over the world who wish to live in sustainable communities with others.

Contribute to Eco-Libre


If you'd like to help Eco-Libre reach our mission to enfranchise sustainable communities' human rights with libre tech, please contact us to get involved 😀

Join Us
eco-libre.org/join

Cheers,
The Eco-Libre Team
eco-libre.org/



Meth disguised as Canadian beer kills 21-year-old in New Zealand


Questa voce è stata modificata (1 settimana fa)


Un cibo che costa poco e fa molto bene


C'è un cibo "povero", nel senso che costa poco, fa bene, è salutare, è benefico per la donna incinta, per gli anziani e nella prevenzione delle malattie cardiovascolari e, appunto, non costa neanche tanto. E' gustoso, diffuso, ma non da tutti apprezzato ed è un vero peccato! Ecco la vera Regina del mare in scatola

reshared this





Google to spend $15 billion on AI data centre in biggest India investment


BENGALURU, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Google said on Tuesday it would invest $15 billion over five years to set up an artificial intelligence data centre in India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh, its biggest ever investment in the world's most populous nation.

The U.S. tech giant's plan comes amid a tense diplomatic standoff between New Delhi and Washington over tariffs and a stalled trade deal, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged a boycott of foreign goods.

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/google-invest-10-billion-data-centre-south-india-2025-10-14/



Voting Rights Act faces pivotal test at US Supreme Court


Summary

  • Case is latest US fight over racial issues in voting maps
  • Louisiana map increased Black-majority US House districts
  • Republicans could benefit if Voting Rights Act is undercut

https://reuters.com/legal/government/voting-rights-act-faces-pivotal-test-us-supreme-court-2025-10-14/





Chinese freighter halves EU delivery time on maiden Arctic voyage to UK


cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/50963139

The Istanbul Bridge's maiden voyage, originally expected to take 18 days, was delayed by two days due to a storm off the coast of Norway but the ship still reached Europe earlier than the 40 to 50 days it takes freighters going through the Suez Canal or around the Cape of Good Hope.

The new Northern Sea Route, running entirely through Arctic waters and within Russia's exclusive economic zone, can now be navigated by ships due to global warming.


https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/chinese-freighter-halves-eu-delivery-time-maiden-arctic-voyage-uk-2025-10-14/

in reply to schizoidman

Yeah, as the Clean Arctic Alliance recently said in response to China’s new containership route through the Arctic:

An increase in shipping in the Arctic will lead to
- an increase in shipping’s global climate impact due to black carbon emissions – which have a disproportionately higher impact when emitted in the Arctic,
- an increase in disturbance to wildlife and to communities dependent on marine resources due to increased ship pollution including underwater noise in a comparatively quiet ocean, and
- an increase in the risk of damaging oil spills.


As one report said, as the Arctic ice vanishes, maritime traffic boom fuels the climate crisis.



Gotta catch ’em all: Man under Customs probe for not declaring over $30k of Pokemon cards at airport


cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/50962591

The Singapore Customs is investigating a case where a man entering Singapore did not declare that he was in possession of assorted Pokemon trading cards worth more than $30,000 in total.


in reply to schizoidman

To be fair, I wouldn't have thought to declare Pokemon cards either... But OTOH, if he was carrying $30K in CASH...
in reply to schizoidman

Singapore doesn't fuck around, which my cousin found out the hard way when he had to leave Australia after a year of travelling/working and he just took the cheapest flight (pretty much the only one he could afford) out of the country, which went to Singapore. Of course he had no clue about Singapore and when he arrived without a visum, they took him into custody and interrogated him for over 12 hours. After they put him on a plane home (in Europe). In the end he rode the cheapest flight out of Australia all the way home, so that did work out for him.
in reply to Pringles

Thankfully your cousin didn't have any drugs on him. Pretty much the death penalty.
Questa voce è stata modificata (2 settimane fa)
in reply to Pringles

You need a visa just to pass through Singapore on a connecting flight?



Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data


Satellites beam data down to the Earth all around us, all the time. So you might expect that those space-based radio communications would be encrypted to prevent any snoop with a satellite dish from accessing the torrent of secret information constantly raining from the sky. You would, to a surprising and troubling degree, be wrong.

Roughly half of geostationary satellite signals, many carrying sensitive consumer, corporate, and government communications, have been left entirely vulnerable to eavesdropping, a team of researchers at UC San Diego and the University of Maryland revealed today in a study that will likely resonate across the cybersecurity industry, telecom firms, and inside military and intelligence agencies worldwide.

https://www.wired.com/story/satellites-are-leaking-the-worlds-secrets-calls-texts-military-and-corporate-data/