I created a 5-week degoogling plan PDF based on the steps in my book DISENGAGE: Escape the Leash of Big Tech, Scams and Surveillance—Everyday Resistance for the Digital Underdog.

Before I finalize and post it to my site, I'd love some feedback from people who have degoogled or are in the process of doing so.

The final package will be a single PDF, and I've pasted images of the pages below. The final infographic has a link for each product. Please don't worry about formatting issues, I'll get those fixed. But in general, I'm wondering.

• Does this seem motivational/doable?
• Are the tips clear?
• Is there anything that is now incorrect? I wrote the book originally two years ago and updated it in February, so some of my suggestions may already be out of date.
• At the bottom I mention that full instructions for each step are available in DISENGAGE, which is a free book. Is that enough? Or should I instead either note which chapter/page to look at for each step, or directly include links to instructions/tools online?
• The infographic at the end...is it weird to be sideways? I created it a while ago and don't want to have to redo it to fit the orientation. I could offer that separately, OR I could redo the whole PDF to be landscape instead of portrait (which I don't love).
• I'm thinking of turning this into a group challenge (also no cost). If there's enough interest, it could be the checklist, the book, and a Signal group (maybe with a weekly call). I don't know nearly everything about the topic, but I did degoogle myself, and everyone in the group/on the call can share questions and suggestions. What do you think of this idea?

Thanks!

By targeting design rather than content, lawmakers hope to regulate social media without constitutional roadblocks. Here’s why that’s a problem.

https://notesfrompoland.com/2025/06/16/leaked-surveillance-of-tusk-phone-call-published-by-opposition-linked-polish-media/

For occasional torrent creation, qBittorrent has Tools > Torrent Creator, but suppose one has hundreds of folders from which to create individual torrents. A quick internet search yields forum posts from more than ten years ago mentioning dead projects. For example, this Reddit post from 2013 mentions qMakeTorrent, which is no longer maintained.

How are people doing this in 2025? I reckon one could write a bash or python script for this, but are there any user friendly tools out there that are built for this purpose and still actively maintained?

GitHub - kz26/qMakeTorrent: an advanced torrent file creator with batch functionality, powered by libtorrent-rasterbar

an advanced torrent file creator with batch functionality, powered by libtorrent-rasterbar - kz26/qMakeTorrent

^GitHub

cross-posted from: midwest.social/post/29979054

can't understand why they keep needing more power. like trying to smash through a wall or something.

Apple Researchers Just Released a Damning Paper That Pours Cold Water on the Entire AI Industry

Researchers at Apple have released a damning paper that throws cold water on the "reasoning" capabilities of modern AIs.

^{Victor Tangermann (Futurism)}

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/06/16/mass-protests-across-europe-demand-just-peace-for-palestine/

By targeting design rather than content, lawmakers hope to regulate social media without constitutional roadblocks. Here’s why that’s a problem.

The website failed, went to an error page, and then charged my credit card the wrong amount of $64.70. I received a confirmation email saying I’ll receive a confirmation when my order has been shipped, but I haven’t provided a shipping address or paid the full $499 price tag. It is the worst experience I’ve ever faced buying a consumer electronic product and I have no idea whether or how I’ll receive the phone.

I look forward to learning more about how terrible these phones turn out.

I Tried Pre-Ordering the Trump Phone. The Page Failed and It Charged My Credit Card the Wrong Amount

I got a confirmation email saying I'll get another confirmation when it's shipped. But I haven't provided a shipping address.

^{Joseph Cox (404 Media)}

The Johnsons claim that the RNC sent Samantha 17 messages from 16 different phone numbers, nine of the messages after she demanded the messages stop 12 times. Cari received 27 messages from 25 numbers, they claim, and she sent 20 stop requests.

I know my phone gets blasted to hell every election season.

RNC Sued Over WinRed's Constant 'ALL HELL JUST BROKE LOOSE!' Fundraising Texts

The RNC and other Republican groups are violating Utah telecommunications law by continuing to text people incessantly after they've asked them to stop, a new complaint alleges.

^{Samantha Cole (404 Media)}

The Medford Police Department is building a network of mass surveillance through controversial collaborations with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and law enforcement agencies across Southern Oregon, according to new documents we obtained. Major components of the surveillance network include the use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology, and monitoring of social media through “sock puppet” accounts. Meanwhile, Jackson County is using a third-party lease to make its publicly owned building available to ICE for its Southern Oregon field office, creating another “backdoor” for local government resources to be utilized by ICE despite Oregon’s status as a “sanctuary state.”

Our latest trove of public records total 313 pages. Below is an overview of the records, which were obtained through public records requests to the city of Medford, the city of Grants Pass, and Jackson County. We provide a downloadable copy of the records at the bottom of this blog post.

The Medford Police Department is building a network of mass surveillance through controversial collaborations with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and law enforcement agencies across Southern Oregon, according to new documents we obtained. Major components of the surveillance network include the use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology, and monitoring of social media through “sock puppet” accounts. Meanwhile, Jackson County is using a third-party lease to make its publicly owned building available to ICE for its Southern Oregon field office, creating another “backdoor” for local government resources to be utilized by ICE despite Oregon’s status as a “sanctuary state.”

Our latest trove of public records total 313 pages. Below is an overview of the records, which were obtained through public records requests to the city of Medford, the city of Grants Pass, and Jackson County. We provide a downloadable copy of the records at the bottom of this blog post.

Hi,

i want to explore the various way we can highlight content.

Currently, on the threadiverse, we use vote to show our approval, discontent...and we can couple it with a bot for moderation. Or hide post below a certain score...

Some instance completly removed downvote as Beehaw. Piefed is experimenting private vote. On other fediverse software, mastodon, iceshrimp, there is no downvote and we use emojis to express our feelings.

You also have website as slashdot.org/ where you can tell that comment was insightfull or a troll, or funny...

There is also also website that compare software or video as tournesol.app/

• Do you think vote sould be private ? Public ? And why ?
• Are you sastified with the current voting system ? And why ?
• What other interesting software/website that tried something different do you know ?
• What way do you imagine to highlight content and improve search, discoverability ?

Tournesol

Compare online content and contribute to the development of responsible content recommendations.

^Tournesol

Whistleblower Disclosure.

Today, Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, Acting Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella requesting information and documents in Microsoft’s possession regarding reports that individuals associated with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) attempted to remove sensitive information from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), raising serious concerns of technology-related misconduct.

“According to recent reporting by the National Public Radio (NPR) and whistleblower disclosures obtained by Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, individuals associated with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have attempted to use high-level systems access to remove sensitive information—quite possibly including corporate secrets and details of union activities. The whistleblower has also explained how the responsible individuals have attempted to conceal their activities, obstruct oversight, and shield themselves from accountability, including by deleting system logs and opening back doors into the NLRB case management system to send massive amounts of data outside of the agency. Potentially in connection with these efforts, a DOGE engineer reportedly wrote bespoke code that appears designed to remove data from NLRB and saved that code to a repository on Microsoft’s GitHub platform. Given Microsoft’s ownership of GitHub, I request information and documents in Microsoft’s possession regarding this incident,” wrote Acting Ranking Member Lynch.

Recent reporting by NPR disclosed how a DOGE engineer saved code to a GitHub repository titled “NxGenBdoorExtract,” suggesting that the code could have created a backdoor used to extract files from the NLRB’s internal case management system.

The exfiltration of large swaths of sensitive information through backdoor channels raises significant concerns about the legality of DOGE’s actions and its threat to independent federal agencies, as well as Elon Musk’s personal conflicts of interest with this case.

“Notably, the now-former de facto leader of DOGE, Elon Musk, owns and operates companies that have frequently run afoul of NLRB rules. For example, NLRB has taken action against Mr. Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla for its attempts to discourage unionizing efforts, part of Mr. Musk’s ongoing anti-union actions. Mr. Musk’s social media company, X, also faced a complaint from NLRB after an employee was terminated for posting a tweet challenging the company’s return-to-office mandate. These cases raise concerns about Mr. Musk or anyone associated with DOGE having access to NLRB data, as any such access poses a serious conflict of interest,” concluded Rep. Lynch.

Following Whistleblower Reports, Acting Ranking Member Lynch Demands Microsoft Hand Over Information on DOGE’s Misconduct at NLRB

Washington, D.C. (June 16, 2025)—Today, Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, Acting Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella requesting information and documents in Microso…

^{The Committee on Oversight and Accountability Democrats}

“From Trump: ALL HELL JUST BROKE LOOSE! I WAS CONVICTED IN A RIGGED TRIAL!” one example text message in the complaint says. “I need you to read this NOW” followed by a link to a donation page.

RNC Sued Over WinRed's Constant 'ALL HELL JUST BROKE LOOSE!' Fundraising Texts

^{Court Watch}

“From Trump: ALL HELL JUST BROKE LOOSE! I WAS CONVICTED IN A RIGGED TRIAL!” one example text message in the complaint says. “I need you to read this NOW” followed by a link to a donation page.

RNC Sued Over WinRed's Constant 'ALL HELL JUST BROKE LOOSE!' Fundraising Texts

^{Court Watch}

https://www.patreon.com/posts/were-increasing-130695366

A return to vernacular buildings, which maintain interiors at a comfortable temperature through architectural design rather than energy-intensive technical installations, could significantly reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling. However, it’s not a short-term solution: it would require a large amount of time, money, and energy to replace the existing building stock.

Fortunately, history offers an alternative solution that can be deployed more quickly and with fewer resources: textiles. Before the Industrial Revolution, people added a temporary layer of textile insulation to either the interior or the exterior of a building, depending on the climate and the season. In cold weather, walls, floors, roofs, windows, doors, and furniture were insulated with drapery and carpetry. In hot weather, windows, doors, facades, roofs, courtyards, and streets were shaded by awnings and toldos.

Removable insulation can achieve significant energy savings with much more flexibility than permanently enclosed insulation materials. Because modern insulation methods require construction permits and structural interventions to a building, they are expensive, time-consuming, and only accessible to home owners. Furthermore, modern insulation methods are ill-suited for older buildings, in which case they are often not financially and energetically sustainable.

How to Dress and Undress your Home

Before the large-scale use of fossil fuels, removable textile layers kept homes warm in winter and cool in summer.

^{LOW←TECH MAGAZINE}