The week Europe realised it stands alone against Russian expansionism
The week Europe realised it stands alone against Russian expansionism
Washington’s Putin-appeasing plan for peace in Ukraine has failed, but many heard death knell sounded for European reliance on US protectionPatrick Wintour (The Guardian)
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Why China Can’t Sort Out Its Property Market Mess
cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/42696039
Web archive linkOnce one of the country’s biggest growth drivers, China’s property market has been in a downward spiral for four years with no signs of abating. Real estate values continue to plummet, households in financial distress are being forced to sell properties, and apartment developers that racked up enormous debt on speculative projects are on the brink of collapse.
There was some optimism that government measures to end the crisis had been working to reinvigorate the market, but in March, government-linked developer China Vanke Co. reported a record 49.5 billion yuan ($6.8 billion) annual loss for 2024, showing just how deep the problems run. Then in August, property giant China Evergrande Group delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange — making the shares effectively worthless — marking a grim milestone for the nation’s property sector.
China is now considering further measures to revive its struggling property sector, particularly after new and resale homes recorded their steepest price declines in at least a year in October. The slump has heightened concerns that further weakening could destabilize the country’s financial system.
...
Evergrande’s downfall is by far the biggest in a crisis that dragged down China’s economic growth and led to a record number of distressed builders.
Founded in 1996 by Hui Ka Yan, Evergrande’s rapid expansion was from the outset fueled by heavy borrowing. It became the most indebted borrower among its peers, with total liabilities reaching about $360 billion at the end of 2021. For a time it was the country’s biggest developer by contracted sales and was worth more than $50 billion in 2017 at its peak. Founder and chairman Hui became Asia’s second-richest person. Over the years the company also invested in the electric vehicle industry and bought a local football club....
How did some Chinese developers get into this mess?
In 1998, China created a nationwide housing market after tightly restricting private sales for decades. Back then, only a third of its people lived in towns and cities. That’s risen to two-thirds, with the urban population expanding by 480 million. The exodus from the countryside represented a vast commercial opportunity for construction firms and developers.
Money flooded into real estate as the emerging middle class leapt upon what was one of the few safe investments available, pushing home prices up sixfold over the 15 years ending in 2022. Local and regional authorities, which rely on sales of public land for a chunk of their revenue, encouraged the development boom. At its peak, the sector directly and indirectly accounted for about a quarter of domestic output and almost 80% of household assets. Estimates vary, but counting new and existing homes, plus inventory, the sector was worth about $52 trillion in 2019 — about twice the size of the US real estate market.
The property craze was powered by debt as builders rushed to satisfy expected future demand. The boom encouraged speculative buying, with new homes pre-sold by developers who turned increasingly to foreign investors for funds. Opaque liabilities made it hard to assess credit risks. The speculation led to astronomical prices, with homes in boom cities such as Shenzhen becoming less affordable relative to local incomes than those in London or New York. In response, the government moved in 2020 to reduce the risk of a bubble and temper the inequality that unaffordable housing can create.
Anxious to rein in the industry’s debts and fearful that serial defaults could ravage China’s financial system, officials began to squeeze new financing for developers and asked banks to slow the pace of mortgage lending. The government imposed stringent rules on debt ratios and cash holdings for developers that were called the “three red lines” by state-run media. The measures sparked a cash crunch for developers that was exacerbated by the impact of aggressive measures to contain Covid-19, such as the suspension of construction sites.
Many developers were unable to adhere to the new rules as their finances were already stretched. In 2021, Evergrande defaulted on more than $300 billion, triggering the beginning of China’s property crisis. Two more property giants defaulted — Sunac China Holdings Ltd in 2022 and Country Garden Holdings Co. in 2023.
...
With household debt at a high of 145% of disposable income per capita at the end of 2023, homeowners are increasingly under financial pressure. The country’s residential mortgage delinquency ratio – which tracks overdue mortgage payments – jumped to the highest in four years as of late 2023. Some homeowners are being forced to sell their properties at a discounted rate, which is only exacerbating the problem.
...
Chinese banks’ bad debt — loans they no longer expect to recover — hit a record 3.5 trillion yuan ($492 billion) at the end of September. Fitch Ratings has warned the situation could deteriorate further in 2026 as households struggle to repay mortgages and other loans.
A prolonged property slump could also deepen deflationary pressures. Former finance minister Lou Jiwei recently warned that households’ worsening outlook — driven by falling home values — will affect consumption levels and intensify price declines.
According to economists at Morgan Stanley and Beijing-based think tank CF40, the property sector’s drag on inflation could even be greater than official data suggest. They argue that the methodology used to determine China’s official Consumer Price Index understates falling rents, and, by extension, the broader deflationary impact.
‘I didn’t even know this type of attack existed’: more than 200 women allege drugging by senior French civil servant
When Sylvie Delezenne, a marketing expert from Lille, was job-hunting in 2015, she was delighted to be contacted on LinkedIn by a human resources manager at the French culture ministry, inviting her to Paris for an interview.
But instead of finding a job, Delezenne, 45, is now one of more than 240 women at the centre of a criminal investigation into the alleged drugging of women without their knowledge in a place they never expected to be targeted: a job interview.
An investigating judge is examining allegations that, over a nine-year period, dozens of women interviewed for jobs by a senior civil servant, Christian Nègre, were offered coffees or teas by him that had been mixed with a powerful and illegal diuretic, which he knew would make them need to urinate.
Nègre often suggested continuing the interviews outside, on lengthy strolls far from toilets, the women say. Many of the women recall struggling with the need to go to the toilet and feeling increasingly ill. Some, in desperation, say they urinated in public, or didn’t reach a bathroom in time, wetting their clothes. Some felt a sense of shame and failure that has had an impact on their lives, they say.
The alleged assaults came to light in 2018, after a colleague reported Nègre allegedly attempting to photograph the legs of a senior official, prompting police to open an investigation. Officers found a computer spreadsheet titled “Experiments”, where he had allegedly noted the times of druggings and the women’s reactions.
‘I didn’t even know this type of attack existed’: more than 200 women allege drugging by senior French civil servant
In a case echoing the Pelicot trial, dozens of women allege they were given hot drinks mixed with a diuretic to make them urinate. Three of them speak out hereAngelique Chrisafis (The Guardian)
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she was led around the Tuileries gardens answering questions for a long time, with the entire interview process lasting several hours.
Even if you hadn't been drugged with a diuretic, this would be hard.
The CGT culture trade union said: “[...] there is a systemic problem, which enabled a senior civil servant to act like this for a decade.” The union said other staff had previously made allegations against him, accusing him of taking pictures of women’s legs in meetings.
It always starts small, as they see what they can get away with. They knew there was some kind of problem with him, yet they let him continue for over a decade.
women in the job interview drugging investigation said their case was taking too many years to come to trial, only increasing their trauma. “Six years later, we’re still waiting for a trial [...] For us, it feels like we’re being victimised a second time.”
And now it's been another six years for these women, waiting for any kind of justice. If I'd spent sixteen years waiting, I'd be angry too.
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La Libertaria, un esempio di anticapitalismo militante
Indice dei contenuti
Toggle
- Un piacevole incontro
- La torrefazione
- Il progetto
- Cooperativa di produzione e lavoro
- Il prefinanziamento
- Conclusioni
Un piacevole incontro
Il luogo in cui sorge la torrefazioneLa Libertaria è uno dei miei preferiti di Lecco. Sotto lo sguardo verde del Monte Barro e alla destra sud dell’Adda è un posto in cui l’architettura modernista e spesso raffazzonata dell’altra sponda della città lascia il posto a scorci più respirabili e più umani. Il ponte in ferro – con tutto l’ecocidio e il rifornimento all’industria bellica che questo minerale strappato alla terra ha rappresentato e rappresenta storicamente per la città – si interrompe qui con un muro. Un muro che non riesce a nascondere l’ipocrisia di un progresso aggressivo dal quale la società degli animali umani e non umani ha sempre più urgenza di staccarsi per recuperare il rapporto con la sua identità ancestrale e mutualistica.
La torrefazione
Una bellezza apparentemente semplice, mi accoglie all’interno della torrefazione. Inebriante profumo di caffè tostato, sacchi di juta, la macchina guardata con quel rispetto e quella cura che la elevano dall’asettico ruolo di mezzo di produzione. Quell’atmosfera sospesa — un po’ officina, un po’ laboratorio politico con meravigliose stampe alle pareti — che suggerisce che lì il lavoro è un pretesto, e che le vere materie prime sono dignità, resistenza e la coltivazione di un altro mondo; un mondo che contenga molti mondi.
Riccardo si presenta senza formalità. Toni e movimenti pacati, cosi differenti dai commerciali che promettono mondi. Nessuna ansia da prestazione. Non c’è nulla da dimostrare, nessuna impressione da fare. Sono artigiani, ma soprattutto cooperatori. Il caffè è il modo che hanno scelto per restare liberi.
Il progetto
Mentre inizia a parlare, Riccardo misura con precisione i chicchi della qualità “Sumatra” e seleziona la temperatura corretta della macchina per offrirmi una buona tazza di caffè. Dietro il bilancino noto un immagine con gli occhi di Errico Malatesta e un ammonimento fermo e gentile. Mi fa ripensare a Proudhon e al disvelamento etimologico della parola anarchia. Il progetto “La Libertaria” nasce infatti nel 2021 come evoluzione e recupero dei principi che erano già stati del “Caffè Malatesta”. Il bisogno di poter fare senza potere, senza padroni, senza quell’idea tossica che produttività significhi sacrificio umano. Anzi; esattamente il contrario.
Cooperativa di produzione e lavoro
Per questo motivo hanno scelto di associarsi in una cooperativa di produzione e lavoro nella quale gli stessi soci lavorano all’interno.
“Abbiamo scelto di organizzarci come cooperativa di produzione e lavoro, una forma che istituisce, seppur parzialmente, una proprietà collettiva indipendente dalla partecipazione dei singoli e che può garantire un equo riconoscimento del ruolo svolto da tutte le persone coinvolte nel progetto. Per evitare la formazione di dinamiche verticistiche e autoritarie, prevediamo che tutti i lavoratori si assumano pari responsabilità nella gestione della cooperativa diventando soci della stessa.” (dal sito)
Una scelta coerente con i principi ma ricca di difficoltà soprattutto per quanto riguarda l’inquadramento burocratico, come mi spiega un altro dei soci della cooperativa.
Il prefinanziamento
Le origini del caffè torrefatto presso la libertaria sono un viaggio intorno al mondo. Spiccano le collaborazioni con la Red ProZapa e la Roasters United. Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Uganda ed Etiopia. In tutti i casi si tratta di piccoli produttori e si privilegia il rapporto diretto nell’obiettivo comune di difendere i territori dal disastro climatico provocato dal sistema capitalista.
Il rapporto con i produttori fornitori è politico. Si basa infatti sulla pratica fiduciaria del prefinanziamento del caffè verde, che garantisce un anticipo sui ricavi del prodotto esportato prima del raccolto. Personamente ritengo questo principio fondamentale per far convergere l’idea con la pratica. Garantire un prezzo superiore a quello di mercato e prefinanziarlo, è l’assoluto contrario della parossistica ricerca del prezzo più basso; tipica del capitalismo. Si tratta di una pratica culturale che rappresenta un messaggio pedagogico chiaro rivolto ai consumatori. Decenni di discount e prezzi più bassi hanno solo creato un doppio ricatto che ha reso tutti più poveri, in diritti e salari reali. Prefinanziare il lavoro significa dare valore alle persone. Significa coltivare libertà, una tazzina alla volta.
Conclusioni
La libertaria è una realtà calata nel territorio e il suo esempio si innesta perfettamente nella resistenza di una città che sta prendendo sempre maggiore consapevolezza. Nonostante Lecco sia una provincia pesantemente interessata dal progresso distruttivo dell’industria bellica, c’è chi dice no e pratica proattivamente una visione altra. Movimenti culturali e pratiche di anticapitalismo militante si stanno espandendo portando un respiro e una cultura internazionalista, antispecista e transfemminista. Penso a realtà storiche come Il Galeone, l’Arrotino e ai più recenti la tassa degenere, la brigata di solidarietà Francesca Ciceri o all’assemblea permanente contro le guerre. Esempi tangibili in grado di fare rete e dimostrare che si può recuperare un mondo mutualista e giusto.
#caffe #lecco #libertaria #malatesta #mutualismo #zapatisti
La Libertaria, un esempio di anticapitalismo militante
La Libertaria, un esempio di anticapitalismo militante. Il bisogno di poter fare senza potere, senza padroni, senza produttività tossicaDaniele Fiorenza (Magozine.it)
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Keep these Stupid American Trucks out of Europe
- 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
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Palestinian Embassy in London accuses UK of failing to protect its diplomats
Photos shared by the mission show demonstrators waving 'Israeli' and UK flags outside the building over the weekend, with several seen climbing the entrance steps and posing for pictures.
The images also captured stickers plastered across the embassy façade, including slogans such as “Anti-Zionism is racism,” “I love the Israeli army,” and “We are not Jews with trembling knees.” One sticker displayed a Union Jack merged with the Star of David.
The embassy says incidents targeting the mission have intensified since 'Israel' launched its war on Gaza, with diplomats reporting smashed windows, paint attacks, and groups attempting to barricade the entrance, all while staff were inside.
Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, states are obligated to safeguard foreign missions from intrusion, damage, or disruption.
Palestinian Embassy in London accuses UK of failing to protect its diplomats
Pro-'Israeli' crowd in front of the Palestinian Embassy in the UK (Credit: @PalMissionUK via X)Roya News
Formation Activisme
Formation désobéissance civile non-violente 🔥
Au menu : discussion sur les actions non violentes, techniques de blocages, organisation de coordo d'actions, incidences juridiques (arrestation, garde à vue,...)Merci de vous inscrire, pour logistique, via ce formulaire : Formulaire - mer. 3 décembre 2025
Repas : chacun·e apporte quelque chose à manger, des couverts. Sur place : frigo, micro-onde, ... On partage
Bar sur place (Bière pression, boissons, vin, soft...).
Lieu : La Base 15 rue chaptal , Montpellier Tram L3 St Denis L4 Observatoire, L2-L1 Gare St Roch
Restez en ligne pour la confirmation de la formation, un nombre minimum de participant·e·s est requis. Prévoir des vêtements confortables (on va finir par s'assoir par terre)
Something to Think About this month
As well as everything else, each month I offer you something to think about and get the brain working. This month …
When a spider sits motionless in its web all day, what is it thinking?
#blog #logic #thoughts #zenmischief
RRF Caserta. Sport. Mondiali. F1. Napoli Juve . Sinner 06 12 25
The Sensory Biology of Plants
Sensory Biology of Plants
An edited book explaining plant communications via biochemical and molecular signaling. Plants have developed precise systems and mechanisms for sensing environmental changes, growth stimuli, counter pests and diseases and have learnt to communicate …SpringerLink
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And house plants would be chit chatting and making all kinds of noise inaudible to us, kinda like WiFi, but with sound instead of light. It's like a fantasy setting
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A blog requires a platform designed for blogging. Staying within the realm of federated software, the three natural alternatives are:
1) WordPress, which, thanks to the plugin that makes it compatible with Activitypub, has achieved a level of perfect integration with the Fediverse.
2) Ghost, which, federated a few months ago, is not only a blogging platform but is also specifically designed for creating mailing lists based on the Substack model.
3) Writefreely, which, despite being natively federated, is extremely focused on distraction-free writing and therefore has some seriously limiting features.
Friendica
As for Friendica, I'm a huge fan of that software and manage the second-most active instance in the entire Fediverse. I can assure you that I know it well and appreciate all its most important features. But don't be fooled by the fact that some call it macro-blogging software. In fact, if you visit a Friendica account's profile, it's not possible to filter the Timeline of their posts from the Timeline of the posts they've reshared. So, you could virtually create a page like this:
But you could only do that if you don't share too much other content, otherwise the result would be like this:
which would be much more confusing 😅
However, Friendica is a very powerful software that allows you to republish your blog feed, as well as automatically reshare your federated blogs. Here I've listed some very interesting Friendica features for blogging:
poliverso.org/display/0477a01e…
So, to recap, if you want to use Friendica to create your blog, you can: you can create a new account. Remember to define it as a "page account," if possible, but also remember that when you reshare content you like, it will appear on your profile page.
However, if you don't need the full suite of tools that characterize a social media platform, you're better off using WordPress.
Sharkey
We're talking about software with a very nice interface, but it's still a social networking software. Being essentially a fork of Misskey, it also has a section for creating static pages that can be easily viewed from outside the Fediverse, but these pages can't be federated with Activitypub 😭.
Ultimately, it seems even less suitable for creating a blog.
If you absolutely must use a Fediverse social media platform, then you'd be better off going with Friendica!
Hubzilla
PS: There's also a software called Hubzilla, which is compatible with Activitypub, although it has developed its own communication protocol. I'm only mentioning it because it's a feature-rich and well-designed product, but its interface is quite complex and unfriendly, so although I've chosen to mention it, I can't recommend it as an alternative.
Ho già un blog: a cosa potrebbe servirmi Friendica?
Friendica è un social molto particolare che consente di scrivere post lunghi, formattati, con immagini in linea e dotati di un vero titolo; inoltre presenta alcune primitive funzionalità di pubblicazione programmata che ricordano quelle delle piattaforme di blogging più utilizzate.
Ecco perché chi usa Friendica è spesso un utente proveniente da Mastodon, un sistema che con le sue limitazioni permette una fruizione passiva del Fediverso piuttosto completa, ma una capacità di pubblicazione attiva decisamente limitata.
Oggi cerchiamo di capire perché Friendica potrebbe essere una soluzione utile anche per chi possiede già un blog e che quindi dispone già di sistemi di pubblicazione avanzati o, addirittura, sta utilizzando piattaforme già federate, come Writefreely o come Wordpress con il fantastico plugin Activitypub for Wordpress.1) Impostare il proprio account Friendica per fare in modo che ricondivida automaticamente i post pubblicati dal proprio blog
Per attivare questa funzionalità (che funzionerà solo se il blog dispone di un feed RSS o se è federato con il Fediverso), è sufficiente inserire l'indirizzo del blog nella casella di ricerca di Friendica e premere il pulsante "Cerca". A quel punto bisognerà seguire il blog, che comparirà come un qualsiasi altro contatto, e selezionare tra le opzioni del contatto "Duplica come miei messaggi" (per i blog non federati) o "Ricondivisione nativa" (per i blog federati).
2) Sopperire alle mancanze di un blog Writefreely.
Writefreely è infatti la piattaforma di pubblicazione federata più semplice ma, nel suo obiettivo "distrazioni zero", l'utente che pubblica un post su Writefreely, in caso di risposta da parte di un qualsiasi utente del Fediverso, non solo non riceverà alcuna notifica ma addirittura non potrà vedere le risposte a meno che non disponga di un'utenza social. Per questo motivo consigliamo a tutti coloro che abbiano un'utenza social di inserire in fondo al post a mo' di firma il proprio identificativo social nella forma @nomeutente@istanza: in tal modo, chi risponderà al post Writefreely, risponderà anche a quell'indirizzo del fediverso. Purtroppo però l'utente, nella propria risposta, potrebbe anche cancellare il secondo indirizzo, per cui non ci sarebbe più alcuna possibilità di venire allertati su quella risposta! Proprio qui ci viene in aiuto Friendica: infatti, utilizzando il sistema spiegato nel punto 1), ossia la ricondivisione automatica, Friendica ci farà avere anche una notifica ogni volta che qualcuno risponde al post che il sistema ha ricondiviso! Questa limitazione di Writefreely può essere estesa a tutti i blog federati che hanno deliberatamente disattivato le risposte degli utenti: in quei casi, le risposte ci saranno lo stesso e saranno visibili dal Fediverso, solo che non verranno "viste" dal blogger.
3) Creare o usare un gruppo Friendica tematico
Un gruppo Friendica tematico (una sorta a metà tra una lista di distribuzione e un gruppo Facebook) che possa essere "menzionato" da tutti i blog Wordpress federati (il blog dovrà "seguire" il gruppo Friendica, una funzionalità prevista nei plugin di Wordpress). In tal modo, quando un post menziona il gruppo Friendica, il gruppo Friendica ricondividerà il post a favore di tutti coloro che già seguono il gruppo.
PS: approfittiamo per far sapere a tutti i nostri follower che esistono due account dedicati a chi è interessato ai blog federati
1) Il primo è @Il blogverso italiano di Wordpress dedicato a tutti i blog italiani wordpress che si sono federati attraverso il fantastico plugin sviluppato da @Matthias Pfefferle
Chiunque sia interessato a essere aggiunto tra i blog ricondivisi o a segnalare un nuovo blog Wordpress federato, può farci sapere direttamente a questo account2) Il secondo è @I blog di Writefreely dedicato ai blog italiani basati su Writefreely. L'account al momento non ricondivide i post degli account, ma rispecchia i loro feed RSS. Ah, l'account è anche un gruppo Friendica e quindi se volete segnalare nuovi blog Writefreely, potete farlo menzionando quell'account
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Broke spaghetti last night while cooking for dinner.
I also threw it against the cabinet to make sure it was done cooking.
I have a toddler so cooking "rules" go out the window for laughter.
I also threw it against the cabinet to make sure it was done cooking.
So you don't have a mouth?
Network Configuration Questions
I am rebuilding my system and I have a few questions related to network set up. I have installed a new Unifi system, set up IoT VLAN and opened port for HA. That part I THINK is right. My questions lie with setting up DuckDNS and Let's Encrypt. I plan on doing more self hosting stuff in the future. Can/Should I be doing things like Dynamic DNS and certificates via an entity outside of HA such as my router or some other container in the "system" or is it better to handle HA's requirements inside of HA itself?
Additionally, in my current config I can only reach the HA brain via the DuckDNS URL. What sort of set up is required to have the unit accessible when the internet is down? Seems with the mobile app it is the URL or nothing. What do I need to be doing for internal access when on local LAN?
I am running it on the HA Blue hardware and I plan to rebuild from scratch if that matters. I am sketchy on the network set up and making sure things are all secure. Bit paranoid lol. So if you have any good set up guides on this portion it would be appreciated. Thanks.
HA doesn't need either of these, but if you want an SSL certificate (to run over HTTPS instead of plain HTTP) it is bound to a domain name, which must be public unless you want to enter in the zone of adding our custom certification authority to each of your devices.
This name is resolved by a public DNS. You asked how to use it when internet is down, in this case a public DNS is not reachable so you need your own on the local network.
The reverse proxy is useful when you have a bunch of web services and you want to protect all of them with HTTPS. Instead of delivering the certificate to each of them, you add the HTTPS layer at your reverse proxy and it queries the servers behind in plain HTTP. The reverse proxy has also the benefit of making handling subdomains easier. So instead of distinguishing the different services because they have a different port number you can have a few ha.my.domain/ and feedreader.my.domain/
If you just have homeassistant and not care of HTTPS the easiest option is to use the local resolution: modern OSes advertise the name of the device on the network and it can be resolved on the .local domain. But, if you configured HTTPS to use name.duckdns.org/ you'll se an error when you try to use name.local/ because your browser sees a mismatch between the name in the certificate and the name that you are trying to connect to. You can always ignore this error and move on, but it mostly defeats the point of HTTPS.
Meta – Du rachat de Limitless à la conquête de l’information en temps réel
Le géant de la technologie ne cache plus ses ambitions. Dans une démarche visant à dominer l’écosystème de l’intelligence artificielle, Meta vient d’annoncer l’acquisition de la startup Limitless, créatrice d’un pendentif connecté dopé à l’IA. Mais ce rachat n’est qu’une pièce du puzzle. Parallèlement à cette expansion matérielle, la firme de Mark Zuckerberg modifie la manière dont nous consommons l’actualité via ses chatbots, soulevant de nouvelles questions sur l’avenir de l’information et de nos données personnelles.
Jusqu’à présent, la stratégie matérielle de Meta reposait essentiellement sur deux piliers, les casques de réalité virtuelle Quest et les lunettes connectées Ray-Ban. L’acquisition de Limitless montre une volonté de diversification. L’entreprise, anciennement connue sous le nom de Rewind, s’était fait connaître avec un logiciel de productivité capable d’enregistrer tout ce qui se passait sur un écran d’ordinateur pour le rendre consultable via un chatbot. Elle a ensuite pivoté vers le matériel avec le « Pendant », un clip microphone Bluetooth conçu pour enregistrer, transcrire et résumer les conversations du quotidien. Dan Siroker, son PDG, a justifié cette fusion en évoquant une vision commune avec Meta, apporter une « superintelligence personnelle » à tous. En rejoignant la division Reality Labs, l’équipe de Limitless ne continuera pas nécessairement à développer son pendentif, mais intégrera son expertise dans la conception des futurs « wearables » (technologies portables) du groupe.
Pour les utilisateurs actuels du pendentif (principalement américains), la nouvelle est en demi-teinte. Si l’entreprise promet de maintenir le support pendant au moins un an, la commercialisation du produit cesse immédiatement. En guise de compensation, les abonnements payants sont supprimés, offrant un accès gratuit aux fonctionnalités premium pour la durée restante du support. Consciente des enjeux de confidentialité, la société permet désormais aux utilisateurs d’exporter ou de supprimer totalement leurs données s’ils ne souhaitent pas suivre l’aventure chez Meta.
Au-delà des lunettes: la guerre des wearables audio
Ce rachat n’est pas anodin. Il confirme que l’industrie tech cherche le facteur de forme idéal pour l’IA, au-delà du smartphone. Les lunettes connectées ne conviennent pas à tout le monde, et le format badge ou pendentif émerge comme une alternative crédible pour l’enregistrement audio passif. L’audio est en effet le terrain de jeu où les modèles d’IA actuels excellent le plus avec la transcription précise et le résumé contextuel. En intégrant la technologie de Limitless, et en s’appuyant sur des recrutements stratégiques comme celui d’Alan Dye, ancien responsable du design chez Apple, Meta prépare le terrain pour une nouvelle gamme d’appareils.
On peut imaginer un futur où les Ray-Ban Meta seraient complétées par des accessoires plus discrets, capables de capturer le contexte sonore de notre vie pour alimenter un assistant personnel omniscient. Meta n’est pourtant pas seul sur ce créneau. Amazon a récemment acquis Bee, une autre startup spécialisée dans les wearables IA et d’autres acteurs tentent de percer, comme le pendentif « Friend ». Mais avec la puissance de frappe de Meta, la compétition devient féroce pour les petits acteurs. Comme le souligne Siroker, le monde a changé. Ce qui semblait être une idée marginale il y a cinq ans est devenu une course inévitable vers le futur.
L’IA pour s’informer – Le pacte avec les médias
Si Meta renforce ses oreilles avec Limitless, l’entreprise soigne aussi son cerveau. L’autre volet important de l’actualité récente du groupe concerne sa gestion de l’information. Après avoir longtemps entretenu des relations tumultueuses avec la presse, elle propose une nouvelle approche, délivrer les actualités de dernière minute directement via son chatbot, Meta AI. Elle a annoncé des partenariats avec plusieurs grandes organisations médiatiques, dont CNN, Fox News, Reuters, et le groupe Le Monde. L’objectif est de permettre à l’IA de fournir des résumés d’événements récents en temps réel, en puisant dans des sources plus diversifiées. La liste des partenaires inclut un spectre large, allant de publications lifestyle comme People à des médias politiquement marqués comme The Daily Caller, reflétant peut-être les affinités de la direction actuelle. Sur le papier, la promesse est séduisante, demander à son assistant IA ce qui se passe dans le monde et obtenir une réponse synthétique et sourcée. Mais l’histoire de Meta avec l’information incite à la prudence.
Le spectre du passé et les risques futurs
Il est difficile d’oublier les précédents échecs de Facebook dans le domaine de l’actualité. De la controverse du module « Trending News » en 2016, accusé de biais humains puis remplacé par un algorithme propageant la désinformation, jusqu’au désastreux pivot vers la vidéo qui a mis à genoux de nombreux éditeurs, le bilan est lourd. Les changements d’algorithmes opaques ont souvent détruit des audiences construites sur plusieurs années, laissant les médias exsangues.
Aujourd’hui, la crainte est que ce nouveau modèle basé sur l’IA ne cannibalise encore davantage le trafic des sites d’information. À l’image des « AI Overviews » de Google, si le chatbot fournit la réponse complète, l’utilisateur n’a plus besoin de cliquer sur le lien source. Pour les éditeurs, c’est le risque de voir leurs contenus ingérés par la boîte noire de l’IA sans retombées économiques directes, hormis le montant du chèque signé pour le partenariat initial.
De plus, confier la synthèse de l’actualité à une IA générative comporte des risques d’hallucinations ou de biais contextuels. Si l’outil est censé offrir quelque chose pour tout le monde, la frontière entre information factuelle et contenu partisan risque de devenir floue, surtout avec un panel de sources aussi hétéroclite.
Un écosystème fermé en construction
En mettant en perspective le rachat de Limitless et les nouveaux partenariats médiatiques, la stratégie de Meta apparaît clairement. L’objectif est de créer un écosystème fermé et autosuffisant. D’un côté, le matériel (lunettes, pendentifs) capture votre réalité immédiate et vos conversations. De l’autre, le logiciel (Meta AI) ingère l’actualité mondiale pour vous la restituer à la demande. Meta ne cherche plus seulement à connecter les gens entre eux, mais à devenir l’interface principale entre l’utilisateur et le monde, qu’il s’agisse de se souvenir d’une conversation privée ou de comprendre un événement géopolitique. Reste à savoir si les utilisateurs accepteront de confier autant de pouvoir, et autant de données, à une seule entité.
Advent Calendar 6
Advent Calendar
Zen Mischief Photographs
This year for our Advent Calendar we have a selection of my photographs from recent years. They may not be technically the best, or the most recent, but they’re ones which, for various reasons, I rather like.
© Keith C Marshall, 2013
Click the image for a larger view
Police Complaint Filed Against Israeli Eurovision Songwriter Over Sexual Misconduct
Police complaint filed against Israeli Eurovision songwriter over sexual misconduct
The accuser, an unauthorized resident, claims Israeli musician and songwriter Doron Medalie forced a sexual act on him after impairing his ability to resist.Shay Ringel (Haaretz)
Mount Eerie - Sauna (2015)
Parlare di Phil Elverum è come parlare del Papa, la sua musica è diventata talmente personale che è impossibile sbagliarsi durante l’ascolto di uno dei suoi dischi: disco dopo disco, è giunto ad essere uno dei cantautori americani più importanti della sua generazione... Leggi e ascolta...
Mount Eerie - Sauna (2015)
Parlare di Phil Elverum è come parlare del Papa, la sua musica è diventata talmente personale che è impossibile sbagliarsi durante l’ascolto di uno dei suoi dischi: disco dopo disco, è giunto ad essere uno dei cantautori americani più importanti della sua generazione. Le alte vette raggiunte con The Glow Pt.2 e Mount Eerie, quando era sotto il moniker The Microphones, sono un bel ricordo ormai cronologicamente distante. Il cambio di nome, avvenuto proprio successivamente a Mount Eerie, molto probabilmente, è stato un sintomo di rinascita artistica. Elverum doveva distaccarsi dal successo che aveva ottenuto, consapevole di non poter mai più raggiungere quei picchi... artesuono.blogspot.com/2015/02…
Ascolta il disco: album.link/s/4YvHV6TiYIVx1HDw6…
Home – Identità DigitaleSono su: Mastodon.uno - Pixelfed - Feddit
Mount Eerie - Sauna (2015)
di Gianluca Marian Parlare di Phil Elverum è come parlare del Papa, la sua musica è diventata talmente personale che è impossibile sbagl...Silvano Bottaro (Blogger)
Afghanistan says 4 killed in heavy fire exchanges with Pakistani forces
Afghanistan authorities say four civilians have been killed after an exchange of heavy fire with Pakistan’s forces along their shared border, as tensions between the South Asian neighbours escalate after peace talks in Saudi Arabia failed to produce a breakthrough.
The governor of Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak district in the Kandahar province confirmed the deaths on Saturday. Officials from both sides said the clashes broke out late on Friday night, with the two countries accusing one another of opening fire first.
In a post on X, the spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, Zabihullah Mujahid, said Pakistani forces had “launched attacks towards” the Spin Boldak district, prompting Afghan forces to respond.
Afghanistan says 4 killed in heavy fire exchanges with Pakistani forces
Relations have soured between former allies Afghanistan and Pakistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.Al Jazeera
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TIL that actor Tim Curry is on a wheelchair since 2012
Tim Curry gives emotional health update after 'paralytic stroke' left him in wheelchair
In his new memoir Vagabond, the Rocky Horror Picture Show legend reflects on the stroke that left him paralysed on one side in 2012.Kitty Chrisp (Metro)
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Feddit Un'istanza italiana Lemmy reshared this.
Do we think a VPN ban is nigh?
Kami doesn't like this.
Bash scripting question
Hello everyone,
Hoping that this is a good place to post a question about Bash scripting. My wife and I have run into a problem in PhotoPrism where it keeps tagging pictures and videos with similar names together and so the thumbnail and the video do not match. I decided that rather than try to get her iPhone to tweak its naming it's easier to just offload to a directory then rename every file to a UUID before sending to photoprism. I'm trying to write a bash script to simplify this but cannot get the internal loop to fire. The issue appears to be with the 'while IFS= read -r -d '' file; do' portion. Is anyone able to spot what the issue may be?
\#! /bin/bash
echo "This script will rename all files in this directory with unique names. Continue? (Y/N)"
read proceed
if [[ "$proceed" == "Y" ]]; then
echo "Proceed"
#use uuidgen -r to generate a random UUID.
#Currently appears to be skipping the loop entirely. the find command works so issue should be after the pipe.
# Troubleshooting
\#Seems like changing IFS to $IFS helped. Now however it's also pulling others., don't think this is correct.
\#verified that the find statement is correct, its the parsing afterwards that's wrong.
\#tried removing the $'\0' after -d as that is string null in c. went to bash friendly '' based on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57497365/what-does-the-bash-read-d-do
\#issue definitely appears to be with the while statement
find ./ -type f \( -iname \*.jpg -o -iname \*.png \) | while IFS= read -r -d '' file; do
echo "in loop"
echo "$file"
#useful post https://itsfoss.gitlab.io/post/how-to-find-and-rename-files-in-linux/
#extract the directory and filename
dir=$(dirname "$file")
base=$(basename "$file")
echo "'$dir'/'$base'"
#use UUID's to get around photoprism poor handling of matching file names and apples high collision rate
new_name="$dir/$(uuidgen -r)"
echo "Renaming ${file} to ${new_name}"
#mv "$file" "$new_name" #uncomment to actually perform the rename.
done
echo "After loop"
else
echo "Cancelling"
fi
Your find statement is not creating a variable "file" because it's missing the first part of the for loop. This:
find ./ -type f \( -iname \*.jpg -o -iname \*.png \) | while IFS= read -r -d '' file; do
should be this:
for file in "$(find ./ -type f \( -iname \*.jpg -o -iname \*.png \))"; do
However, the above command would find all files in current and subdirectories. You can just evaluate current context much more simply. I tested the below, it seems to work.
\#! /bin/bash
echo "This script will rename all files in this directory with unique names. Continue? (Y/N)"
read proceed
if [[ "$proceed" == "Y" ]]; then
echo "Proceed"
for file in *.{jpg,JPG,png,PNG}; do
echo "in loop"
echo "$file"
dir=$(dirname "$file")
base=$(basename "$file")
echo "'$dir'/'$base'"
new_name="$dir/$(uuidgen -r)"
echo "Renaming ${file} to ${new_name}"
#mv "$file" "$new_name" #uncomment to actually perform the rename.
done
echo "After loop"
else
echo "Cancelling"
fiYou could also find matching files first, evaluate if anything is found and add a condition to exit if no files are found.
Edit: who the fuck downvoted this, it literally works and the for loop was the issue.
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-print0 at the end of the find command. In the read -r -d '' you want to read NUL-separated strings, so you must tell the find command to also use NUL characters between the filenames.
Compulsory spyware app to be installed on every Indian citizen's new phone
(unverified image) The compulsory Indian spyware app indicates why governments hate secure encrypted messenger applications
Messaging like WhatsApp/Signal is outside of the scope of Android (etc) permissions, so access cannot be granted to spy on such content; messages at rest MAY be protected from surveillance by use o…Dropsafe
First NSA started snooping, but I didn't care because it did not affect me.
Then Israel started snooping, but I didn't care because I was not the target.
Then India followed in the footsteps but I didn't speak and instead tacitly supported it.
And then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.
Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch: Am I addicted to my smartwatch?
Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch: Am I addicted to my smartwatch?
Do they do what they say they do, or are they just making us more stressed?Ruth Clegg (BBC News)
Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch: Am I addicted to my smartwatch?
Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch: Am I addicted to my smartwatch?
Do they do what they say they do, or are they just making us more stressed?Ruth Clegg (BBC News)
What risk might I have accidentally exposed my computer to by viewing a pirated streaming site without AV blocking?
I recently wanted to watch something a film and went to one of the first two sites listed on the Reddit's r/Piracy mega thread under it's online streaming section. I normally use an older laptop that I don't care about and have no sensitive info on but wanted to stream to a projector and only my personal laptop had an hdmi port.
I downloaded firefox exclusively to use for piracy streaming but initially forgot to add ublock origin or another AV extension to the browser. When clicking anywhere on the site, a new tab would open that I'd need to close before I could actually engage with the website content (search, play, etc), which had been my experience in the past using online streaming sites. Once, one of the popup tabs opened and immediately started a file download without my permission. I didn't open it and deleted it immediately but have recently been noticing some performance issues on my device Mostly that web pages and their content are slower to load than before and my computer has gotten overwhelmed and frozen a few times - not extremely substantially but enough that I've noticed a difference.
For context: I have a ThinkPad with windows 10 installed and an Intel i5 CPU. My default browser has been Opera for a few months now.
I just checked and the compressed zip file is in my recycling bin (not fully off my computer) and I'm not sure if/how it can affect my device without me ever opening or running its contents. I don't have an antivirus background process on my device aside from the default Microsoft Defender Antivirus that comes with Windows 10.
Is there possibly somewhere I could upload the file to check for malware/scan the file to know what it does (titled "XVlDEOSs_Elena_Frost_IMG_223606" - searching for that title didn't match anything on google)? Is there any chance the file is benign and the performance issues I'm noticing are unrelated to this situation?
TLDR: How concerned should I be about the possibility of a virus on my device from a popup window automatically downloading a zip file I never opened?
Would reinstalling my OS be the main/only possible resolution to a potential virus/worm/malware? I'd really like to avoid that if possible but many of the articles/info I can find about it have inconsistent info about risk and steps to take for resolution.
I don't know much about what kinds of risks I might've exposed my computer to. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
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Just to be safe.
Youre working at this from the wrong angle.
You dont know how to judge if something bad has happened. You dont know what to do if something bad had happened. You dont know how to recover from something bad that may have happened.
You do know that something has happened because the computer is exhibiting different behavior now.
You cant know what happened and it’s not worth the time for you to develop the skills and tools to understand or even be able to use systems like virustotal et.al. which might provide some insight.
Stop using that computer. Turn it off.
If you don’t know where your data is saved, figure it out. If you determine that you want to save data off that computer, pull the drive and order a usb to sata or m2 adapter, whatever the drive is. Plug the drive into the adapter and attach it to a different computer, copy only what you need.
Do you have a way to reinstall windows? If not, go to massgrave.dev and figure it out then reinstall windows.
Do you have some system for backing up your computers? Go ahead and test it out now. If you don’t have a system, decide on one. It could be as simple as an external drive you plug in once a week and as elaborate as you like.
Now you have recovered from whatever happened and you have a system and toolkit for dealing with it if it happens again.
If you run Linux, you're fine, but if you did you probably already knew this
On Windows, i guess you're fine, probably, maybe, but without AV you're already at right with any normal Internet usage.
I'd just say switch to Linux and be done with the question
if anyone hasn't seen it in a while LOL
- 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
The Canningite tradition
As the world returns to 19th-century multipolarity, George Canning’s approach to British foreign policy offers timeless lessons. Great powers must protect the interests of small nations in order to hold sway.
Berlin: Police can secretly enter homes for state trojan installation
cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/54414754
In order to monitor encrypted communication, investigators will in future, according to the Senate draft and the Änderungen der Abgeordneten, not only be allowed to hack IT systems but also to secretly enter suspects' apartments.If remote installation of the spyware is technically not possible, paragraph 26 explicitly allows investigators to "secretly enter and search premises" in order to gain access to IT systems. In fact, Berlin is thus legalizing – as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania did before – state intrusion into private apartments in order to physically install Trojans, for example via USB stick.
Berlin: Police can secretly enter homes for state trojan installation
To collect data from IT systems, investigators in Berlin can secretly search suspects' rooms. This is in a Police Act amendment.Stefan Krempl (heise online)
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China’s CO2 Emissions Might Have Finally Peaked
China’s CO2 Emissions Might Have Finally Peaked
China has rapidly become the world leader in renewable energy, but continued coal use means it could take longer for its emissions to declineAndrea Thompson (Scientific American)
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most universally acceptable video file formats?
For holiday gift I was thinking of making USB/microSDs full of TV/movies. The intended recipients are not tech savvy types. They would be using windows computers, normal TVs etc.
What kind of file formats/encodings would be good to package the files in? What is safe and universally usable? And which ones are to be avoided? I'd like to guarentee they'll play without any fooling around with drivers or software.
And I want them to be as small as possible so that I can fit more stuff.
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Avc (h264) 8bits video, with AAC audio, hardcoded subtitles and .mp4 container.
That should be warrantied to work on every dumb device built this or last decade.
Israel Is Quietly Expanding Its Occupation of Gaza Under Cover of “Ceasefire”
cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6941781
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1165…
For us here in Gaza, this “ceasefire” is a fiction. The bombing has continued as Israel expands its Yellow Line.From Truthout via This RSS Feed.
Gaza gang leader and Israeli collaborator Yasser Abu Shabab has been killed, reports say
cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6941728
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1167…
Yasser Abu Shabab had become an infamous figure in Gaza over the past two years for his role in collaborating with the Israeli army, looting aid convoys destined for starving Palestinians, and sowing social strife amid the genocide.
From Mondoweiss via This RSS Feed.
Israel rampages towards catastrophe on the West Bank
cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6941853
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1166…
Trump’s peace plan in Gaza is unacceptable to the Jewish supremacists in Israel’s ruling coalition. Even though it submits Gaza to an American-led occupation, even though it gives Israel a free hand to kill as it pleases, it holds out vague hope for a Palestinian state, at least in words. Their whole programme is to destroy any prospect of a Palestinian homeland.
From In Defence of Marxism via This RSS Feed.
Israel rampages towards catastrophe on the West Bank
Trump’s peace plan in Gaza is unacceptable to the Jewish supremacists in Israel’s ruling coalition. Even though it submits Gaza to an American-led occupation, emarxist.com
As AI Data Centers Disrupt US Cities, Wisconsin Woman Violently Arrested After Speaking Out
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1191…
Public opposition to artificial intelligence data centers—and the push by corporations and officials to move forward with their construction anyway—were vividly illustrated in a viral video this week of a woman who was arrested after speaking out against a proposed data center in her community in Wisconsin.
Christine Le Jeune, a member of Great Lakes Neighbors United in Port Washington, spoke at a Common Council meeting in the town on Tuesday evening. The meeting was not focused on the recently approved $15 million "Lighthouse" data center set to be built a mile from downtown Port Washington—part of a project developed by Vantage Data Centers for OpenAI and Oracle—but the first 30 minutes were taken up by members of the public who spoke out against the project.
As CNBC reported last month, more than 1,000 people signed a petition calling on Port Washington officials to obtain voter approval before entering into the deal, but the Common Council and a review board went ahead with creating a Tax Incremental District for the project without public input. The data center still requires other approvals to officially move forward.
"We will not continue to be silenced and ignored while our beautiful and pristine city is taken away from us and handed over to a corporation intent on extracting as many resources as they can regardless of the impact on the people who live here," said Le Jeune. "Most leaders would have tabled the issue after receiving public input and providing sufficient notice. But you did nothing, and you laughed about it."
Le Jeune spoke for her allotted three minutes and went slightly over the time limit. She then chanted, "Recall, recall, recall!" at members of the Common Council as other community members applauded.
Police Chief Kevin Hingiss then approached Le Jeune while she was sitting in her seat, listening to the next speaker, and asked her to leave.
She refused, and another officer approached her before a chaotic scene broke out.
Last night, the Port Washington Police Department used excessive force to arrest a woman for speaking up against the Vantage data center.We are thankful that this local advocate is safe, and we condemn the Port Washington PD’s actions in the strongest possible terms. SHAME! pic.twitter.com/35dhEKvojL
— Our Wisconsin Revolution (@OurWisconsinRev) December 3, 2025City officials had told attendees not to speak out of order during the meeting, and Le Jeune acknowledged that she and others had spoken out of turn at times.
But she told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she had been surprised by the police officers' demand that she leave, and by the eventual violence of the incident, with officers physically removing her from her seat and dragging her and two other people across the floor.
The two other residents had approached Le Jeune to protest the officers' actions.
"I never expected something like that to happen in a meeting. It was very strange," she told the Journal Sentinel. "Suddenly this police chief showed up in front of me, and all I was thinking was: 'Wait, what is going on? Why is he interrupting her speech? ... It felt like [police] were kind of primed tonight to pounce."
State Sen. Chris Larson (D-7) said that "police should not be allowed to violently detain a person who is nonviolently exercising their free speech. This used to be something all Americans agreed on."
William Walter, executive director of Our Wisconsin Revolution, filmed the arrest and told ABC News affiliate WISN, "I've never seen a response like that in my life."
"What I did see was a lot of members of the Port Washington community who are really frustrated that they're being ignored and they're being dismissed by their elected officials," he said.
AI data centers, he added, "will impact you. They'll impact your friends, your family, your neighbors, your parents, your children. These are the kinds of things that are going to be dictating the future of Wisconsin, not just for the next couple of years but for the next decade, the next 50 years."
After Le Jeune's arrest, another resident, Dawn Stacey, denounced the Common Council members for allowing the aggressive arrest.
"We have so many people who have these concerns about this data center," said Stacey. “Are we being heard by the Common Council? No we’re not. Instead of being heard we have people being dragged out of the room.”
“For democracy to thrive, we need to have respect between public servants and the people who they serve," she added.
Vantage has distributed flyers in Port Washington, which has a population of 17,000, promising residents 330 full-time jobs after construction. But as CNBC reported, "Data centers don’t tend to create a lot of long-lasting jobs."
Another project in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin hired 3,000 construction workers and foresees 500 employees, while McKinsey said a data center it is planning would need 1,500 people for construction but only around 50 for "steady-state operations."
Residents in Port Washington have also raised concerns about the data center's impact on the environment, including through its water use, the potential for exploding utility prices for residents, and the overall purpose of advancing AI.
As Common Dreams reported Thursday, the development of data centers has caused a rapid surge in consumers' electricity bills, with costs rising more than 250% in just five years. Vantage has claimed its center will run on 70% renewable energy, but more than half of the electricity used to power data center campuses so far has come from fossil fuels, raising concerns that the expansion of the facilities will worsen the climate emergency.
A recent Morning Consult poll found that a rapidly growing number of Americans support a ban on AI data centers in their surrounding areas—41% said they would support a ban in the survey taken in late November, compared to 37% in October.
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
From Soaring Energy Prices to Climate Threat to AI Bubble, Experts Warn Against Data Center Buildout
“Tech giants are cutting backroom deals with utilities and government officials to build massive data centers at breakneck speed, while passing the costs onto working families," said the author of a new Public Citizen report.stephen-prager (Common Dreams)
Investigation Reveals How Amazon Is Fleecing Public Schools With 'Algorithm-Driven Pricing'
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1193…
A detailed investigation released Thursday reveals that the e-commerce behemoth Amazon is using its market dominance and political influence to gain a foothold in local governments' purchasing systems, locking school districts into contracts that let the corporation drive up prices for pens, sticky notes, and other basic supplies.
The new report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), titled Turning Public Money Into Amazon’s Profits: The Hidden Cost of Ceding Government Procurement to a Monopoly Gatekeeper, is based on purchasing records from nearly 130 cities representing more than 50 million Americans.
ILSR found that "cities, counties, and school districts spent $2.2 billion with Amazon in 2023—a nearly fourfold increase since 2016."
"Through its Amazon Business platform, the company has maneuvered to become the default source for office products, classroom materials, cleaning supplies, and other routine goods," the report states. "Today, it is embedded in most local governments, making inroads into state agencies, and dominating a new program designed to reshape how federal agencies buy commercial products."
Unlike the fixed pricing that's typical for government contracts, the agreements that Amazon has secured with local governments across the US entail "algorithm-driven pricing" to "covertly raise prices and inflate costs for governments."
"The result is dramatic price variation: One city bought a 12-pack of Sharpie markers for $8.99, while a nearby school district paid $28.63 for the identical pack that same day," ILSR said. "Our data contain thousands of similar examples, with some agencies paying double or even triple what others paid for the same items."
- Hard to believe, but Amazon has persuaded schools and cities across the country to abandon competitive bidding and fixed price contracts. Instead, they're signing contracts with Amazon that specify dynamic pricing. The result: Paying $37 for 12 pens or $74 for 36 markers. pic.twitter.com/afIIkPucZL
— Stacy Mitchell (@stacyfmitchell) December 5, 2025Overall, ILSR found that school districts bound to Amazon contracts spend twice as much per student as school districts without an agreement with the $2.5 trillion company.
“Public officials should be deeply concerned by what we found,” Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of ILSR, said in a statement. “Amazon is reshaping public procurement in ways that expose taxpayer dollars to waste and risk. It has persuaded cities and schools to abandon safeguards meant to ensure fair prices and accountability—while driving out independent suppliers, eroding competition, and putting Amazon in a position to dictate terms.”
Having gained sweeping access to local government purchasing processes, Amazon is increasingly inserting itself into state and federal systems. ILSR noted that "Amazon dominates the General Services Administration’s Commercial Platforms Program, a new system for agencies to make purchases below $15,000 that do not require competitive bids."
"During the first two years of the program’s pilot phase," the group found, "Amazon captured 96% of sales."
ILSR emphasized that Amazon's dominance is by no means inevitable and can, with concerted action, be rolled back.
"A handful of cities and counties have recognized the risks of relying on Amazon and taken steps to restore transparency and keep public dollars local," the report observes. "Tempe, Arizona rejected an Amazon group-purchasing contract after hearing concerns from a local business owner. Between 2017 and 2023, the city cut its Amazon spending by 84% while increasing purchases from local suppliers. Phoenix likewise prioritizes local bids and has spent almost nothing with Amazon over the last decade."
Kennedy Smith, co-author of the report, said that "when local officials put real safeguards in place and prioritize local suppliers, they save money, strengthen their economies, and restore public control over public dollars."
To keep their procurement system free of the kinds of tactics Amazon uses to line its pockets with taxpayer money, ILSR urged state and local governments to prohibit so-called "dynamic pricing" in purchasing contracts and to prioritize buying from local businesses.
"By reclaiming control of public procurement, governments can safeguard dollars, strengthen local businesses, and ensure that the goods that sustain our schools and public services are supplied through systems that are transparent, competitive, and democratic," the group said.
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
Investigation Reveals How Amazon Is Fleecing Public Schools With 'Algorithm-Driven Pricing'
"Public officials should be deeply concerned by what we found."jake-johnson (Common Dreams)
Campbell’s Executive “Revelations” Expose the Rot of Capitalist Food Production
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1195…
From knowingly unhealthy products to deadly working conditions, capitalism’s focus on profit poisons our food, our planet, and our class.The post Campbell’s Executive “Revelations” Expose the Rot of Capitalist Food Production appeared first on Left Voice.
From Left Voice via This RSS Feed.
Far-right extremists have been organizing online since before the internet – and AI is their next frontier
How can society police the global spread of online far-right extremism while still protecting free speech? That’s a question policymakers and watchdog organizations confronted as early as the 1980s and ’90s – and it hasn’t gone away.Decades before artificial intelligence, Telegram and white nationalist Nick Fuentes’ livestreams, far-right extremists embraced the early days of home computing and the internet. These new technologies offered them a bastion of free speech and a global platform. They could share propaganda, spew hatred, incite violence and gain international followers like never before.
Far-right extremists have been organizing online since before the internet – and AI is their next frontier
Neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists were early adopters of bulletin board systems, pioneering online recruiting and radicalization techniques long before the social media revolution.The Conversation
Why condoms in China are about to get more expensive
ABC News
ABC News provides the latest news and headlines in Australia and around the world.Iris Zhao (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
US Supreme Court agrees to hear case challenging birthright citizenship
US Supreme Court agrees to hear case challenging birthright citizenship
Donald Trump's controversial executive order to end birthright citizenship had been rejected by lower courts.Brandon Drenon (BBC News)
Amy Westervelt: It’s Time We Stopped Treating Corporations As People
Amy Westervelt: It’s Time We Stopped Treating Corporations As People | Atmos
Treating corporations as people and granting them First Amendment rights has warped US politics and harmed the climate. We need to overturn Citizens United.Atmos
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Trump’s White House ballroom would be bigger than the White House itself
Trump’s White House ballroom would be bigger than the White House itself
The White House will submit plans this month for Trump’s $300M, privately funded ballroom, set to be the largest addition to the mansion since the Oval Office.AP via Scripps News Group (News Channel 5 Nashville (WTVF))
Chinese Hospital Ship Visits Jamaica as US Gunboats Ply Caribbean
Chinese Hospital Ship Visits Jamaica as US Gunboats Ply Caribbean
A Chinese hospital ship quietly docked in hurricane-hit Jamaica this week, projecting soft power into the heart of the Caribbean where a US armada is conducting a controversial anti-narcotics mission targeted at Venezuela.Jim Wyss (Bloomberg)
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Whats your prederred method of keeping track of websites ?
Do you have a ton of bookmarks like me?
I find normal people just Google everything and click the top result. They've never even bookmarked a page.
But for those of us who love the real internet (not corpo-net, as id refer to web 3.0 being), html pages and webrings, theyre often not even searchable any more because of enshittification of search engines.
Are there other ways besides bookmarks ?
TheJesusaurus
in reply to Jimbel • • •Riddick3001
in reply to Jimbel • • •