At first glance, it seems like Silicon Valley executives have the perfect life, what with the unimaginable wealth and power and such. But what if they’re sad they don’t get to put on big boy pants and pretend they’re warfighters? What then, America?

Thankfully the Army has invented a way to give tech execs participation trophies—surely that is the best and most noble use of our armed forces.

A new Army initiative titled “Detachment 201: The Army’s Executive Innovation Corps” promises to “fuse cutting-edge tech expertise with military innovation.”

Just in case this conflict of interest wasn’t blatant enough, Katrina Mulligan, former chief of staff to the Army secretary, posted more big news on LinkedIn Monday, announcing that, since being rewarded its $200 million contract, OpenAI is now bringing her on to run a new initiative, “OpenAI for Government,” which will supposedly “help accelerate the U.S. government’s adoption of AI.”

Notably absent from the list of Big Special Boys with Big Special Army Jobs is Musk and any of his companies. In the halcyon days of the Trump-Musk alliance, he was getting literal billions in government contracts, awarded with no oversight and no regard for the obvious conflict of interest.

SpaceX was on track to help build the Golden Dome missile shield, a Trump fixation and boondoggle that will not work but will nonetheless cost somewhere between $119 billion and $6.4 trillion. But now there’s nary a mention of SpaceX while Golden Dome missile shield partner Palantir’s star is rapidly ascending.

Army gives shady offer to tech bros so they can play soldier

At first glance, it seems like Silicon Valley executives have the perfect life, what with the unimaginable wealth and power and such. But what if they’re sad they don’t get to put on big boy ...

^{Daily Kos}

So I jumped from Windows to Linux, endeavouros btw, and would like to know:

how you keep your system clean?
If you are infected how do you find out? What do you do about it then?

A new form of state-level internet filtering that restricts data flow is disrupting access to large portions of the global web for Russian citizens. Cloudflare, the world leader in DDoS protection and high-traffic load management, is being targeted by these new data caps, which appear designed to push users toward Russian-controlled services. Meanwhile, the move leaves Russian businesses dangerously exposed.

The 16‑kilobyte curtain. How Russia’s new data‑capping censorship is throttling Cloudflare

A new form of state-level internet filtering that restricts data flow is disrupting access to large portions of the global web for Russian citizens. Cloudflare, the world leader in...

^Mediazona

A new form of state-level internet filtering that restricts data flow is disrupting access to large portions of the global web for Russian citizens. Cloudflare, the world leader in DDoS protection and high-traffic load management, is being targeted by these new data caps, which appear designed to push users toward Russian-controlled services. Meanwhile, the move leaves Russian businesses dangerously exposed.

The 16‑kilobyte curtain. How Russia’s new data‑capping censorship is throttling Cloudflare

A new form of state-level internet filtering that restricts data flow is disrupting access to large portions of the global web for Russian citizens. Cloudflare, the world leader in...

^Mediazona

Many Democrats continue to believe that the racism of average Americans — many of whom voted for Barack Obama twice — explains why Donald Trump won. This moralism suits party elites who would rather demonize the public than address growing inequality.

Kamala Harris Didn’t Lose Because of Racism

^jacobin.com

https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/06/18/tennessee-to-become-first-state-in-south-to-protect-access-to-ivf-birth-control/

Most people either use google as their search engine, or one of the "privacy friendly ones" (ddg, qwant, brave, startpage, ...), or use self hosted or publicly available metasearch engines, like searxng, or whoogle, etc.

This websites lists out websites which have their own indexes, and which depend on big providers.

Why YSK?

It is good for your privacy to not use a big provider like google, which now prefers to serve you ai generated ssummaries, which are based on a few giant websites, and this is not good for a open web.

I am also a person who almost always uses "(insert query) reddit" to get better results, because I mostly do not want SEO spam, and reddit results used to be human generated content. Now even that is hit and miss. Also, reddit made a deal with google, so for newer results from reddit, you can only get them from google.

Then we have the "privacy friendly ones" which most of the time are wrappers for other bigger indexes, for example ddg famously uses bing, brave "suppliments" (read this suppliments as almost always) it's results from google, startpage is basically a google frontend, etc. Brave, qwant, and few others also claim to have their own indexes, but they are small and not rich as google and bing. Also, wwhen you think about it - what is their business model - how do they get money for the search apis - most either serve adds or have some form of tracking. Also, bing has "kinda" closed it's search api (not really clear about this), so many of these privacy friendly options will have to either switch to google, or only serve using their indexes.

Meta-search engines kinda seem like better options, as you can run searxng on your own machine, or use the public ones, but it still has problems. You are still bringing the big providers traffic, which makes their advertisement clients happier and prefer them over smaller search engines. If you use a public instance, then it is good for your privacy, but the public instance would now generate a lot traffic, and often get banned or rate limited, and hence you can not rely on them. If you use your personal instances (I did this for a long time), you will still be tracked as your IP is still visible. You avoid their annoying ui and popups but still are tracked.

So what should you use?

You can only decide this. I would prefer something which has a reasonable business model - if they do advertisement, that should ideally be non tracking. Ideally their client and server code should be foss (so you can verify their claims), or have paid plans or apis if you do not want ads.

For example, Kagi has only paid plans, but I do not prefer or use them, because they are expensive (5 dollars for 300 searches per month or something similar. I am from one of third world countries, and 5 dollars is a lot. plus 300 searches seem less to me) but that is subjective, and your privacy has a price, so this is not neccessarily a objectively bad thing. But their code is closed source, and they do not completely use their own indexes.

I have also used Mullvad's Leta search engine for about a month, and they are now effectively frontends for brave search or google (you can choose). Their business plan initially was that Leta was only available to their VPN clients, and VPN subscription would supplement the search cost. Now they have it available for free, so I do not really understand their business plan (maybe the number of clients they have is large enough, and number of leta users is small, that they can afford to run leta for loss, and maybe as possible advertisement for mullvad. Mullvad to me is a good privacy centric company. I am not their client, but they seem to be trust worthy. You can try them, but you would still support some big provider.

You can also try the independent search providers listed in the article. They are often small, serve bad (subjectively speaking; your taste regarding search engines is also heavily tuned to google like results because of years of exposure to it) results, but using them also supports open web (you would often find that these smaller providers do not have good indexes for big websites, and sometimes it is intentional, sometimes it is a byproduct of them being careful, or the websites banning/rate limiting then).

I have now started trying stract, and will try others too. You should also consider trying some independent search engines.

In my personal case - I have a offline setup where I have large sections of wikipedia and a few other websites (like programning language docs, or my favorite manga wiki, will be adding much of stack overflow soon) available offline, and I use my custon launcher to search through them (faster then searching them online). I bookmark a lot of sites (~ 2000) and do this to stop searching the same stuff over and over again. This has reduced at least 30-40% of all my searches. But I still need a search engine for anything I do not have currently, or stuff I do not/ can not get. I am trying stract, because it is open source, they seen to have some fine plans for business in future (non tracking, current search term related ads or subscription service ; currenlty they are running on previous funding from nlnet); search results are acceptable (not good, but servicable); and finally - it is written in RUST (I an a rust fan). I am not affiliated with the project, but just spreading a good word because I just found them, and could not find much online.

PS: I am not used to writing much, and not a good typist. Please forgive the brevity. Feel free to correct me, both on spellings and content

A look at search engines with their own indexes

A cursory review of all the non-metasearch, indexing search engines I have been able to find.

^{Seirdy’s Home}

The conservative movement has built its case against gender-affirming care on the authority of anachronistic, faulty clinical research.

The Bad Science Behind Trans Medicine Bans - Dissent Magazine

^{Dissent Magazine}

Poland has been observing GPS disruptions over the Baltic Sea, Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said, adding they were “related to the actions of the Russian Federation, including sabotage actions.”

Polish media reported cases of GPS malfunction in the north of the country on Tuesday, including private drones flying away in unknown directions or losing connection.

“This may be Russia’s answer to the Baltops exercises,” Polish Vice Admiral Krzysztof Jaworski told Reuters on Tuesday, referring to NATO’s annual exercise in the Baltic Sea, being held this month.

Jaworski said the disruptions had become more intense since the start of the NATO exercise.

On Monday, a flight from Alicante in Spain to the northern Polish city of Bydgoszcz was redirected to Poznań in the west of Poland due to navigation problems, a Bydgoszcz airport spokesperson said, without identifying the airline.

“We are observing these disruptions. They are also observed over the Baltic Sea area by our allies in NATO countries - both in the Baltic states and the Nordic countries,” Kosiniak-Kamysz told journalists when asked about such incidents at a press conference about new helicopters.

“These actions are related, according to our sources, to the actions of the Russian Federation, also to sabotage actions.”

He did not elaborate on the sources.

**Rising sabotage threats **

Countries located on the Baltic Sea have reported numerous incidents since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, including power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages, and the NATO military alliance has boosted its presence in the region.

On Tuesday, Poland and the Baltic states signed a memorandum to boost the protection of critical energy infrastructure, with a special focus on shielding vulnerable underwater assets in the Baltic Sea, where a string of suspected sabotage attacks have been reported since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Last year, Estonia and Finland blamed Moscow for jamming GPS navigation devices in the region’s airspace.

Russia has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Poland blames Russian ‘sabotage’ for GPS disruptions over Baltic Sea

GPS malfunctions were reported in northern Poland.

^{Reuter/aa (Telewizja Polska S.A)}

[Letter sent on the 06th of June and made public today]

Dear Minister,

My mandate is to foster the effective observance of human rights in all member states of the Council of Europe. An important part of my work is to engage in dialogue with the governments and parliaments
of member states, and to assist them in addressing possible shortcomings in their laws and practices.

I write in relation to measures taken by the German authorities that restrict freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly of persons protesting in the context of the conflict in Gaza.

Freedom of peaceful assembly

It is my understanding that since February 2025, the Berlin authorities have imposed restrictions on the
use of the Arabic language and cultural symbols in the context of the protests. In some cases, such as an assembly in Berlin on 15 May 2025, marches have been restricted to stationary gatherings.
Furthermore, protestors were allegedly subject to intrusive surveillance, online or in person, and arbitrary police checks.

I am also concerned by reports of excessive use of force by police against protesters, including minors, sometimes leading to injuries. The use of force by law enforcement officials including during protests must comply with the principles of non-discrimination, legality, necessity and proportionality, and precaution. Incidents of excessive use of force need to be effectively investigated, those responsible should be sanctioned in an appropriate manner and victims should be informed about possible remedies. To facilitate accountability, law enforcement officials should always display a visible and easily recognisable form of identification during assemblies, which reportedly has not always been the
case during some of the latest demonstrations.

I further have to observe that over a number of years protests on Nakba commemoration day, particularly in Berlin, have been suppressed. For instance, in 2024, protests were reportedly met with
excessive use of force by the police, resulting in arrests and injuries among participants. Peaceful protesters were reportedly arrested, and criminal law provisions were applied to expressions of support
for Palestine.

I draw your attention to the Guidelines on Peaceful Assembly prepared by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). They outline that content-based restrictions on assembly must be subject to the most serious scrutiny: freedom of peaceful assembly also protects demonstrations that may annoy or cause offence to persons opposed to the ideas or claims that it is seeking to promote. Any measures interfering with freedom of peaceful assembly and expression other than in cases of
incitement to violence or rejection of democratic principles do a disservice to democracy and may even endanger it.

Freedom of expression

Restrictions on freedom of expression have also reportedly been identified in such contexts as universities, arts and culture institutions, and schools. Furthermore, allegedly there have been attempts to deport foreign nationals in relation to their participation in protests and other forms of expression regarding the conflict in Gaza.

I understand that restrictions have been justified on the basis that events, symbols, or other forms of expression “disrupt public order” or “disturb public peace”. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights’ (the Court) establishes that freedom of expression “applies not only to ‘information’ and ‘ideas’ that are favourably received, regarded as inoffensive, or which leave one indifferent […] - it implies pluralism, tolerance and openness, without which there is no ‘democratic society’”. In assessing the necessity of the interference, member states have little scope to impose restrictions on political speech or on debate on matters of public interest, unless the views expressed comprise incitements to violence, and must always carry out such an assessment case by case.

I observe that other justifications invoked for the restrictions on rights include the prevention of antisemitism. I note with concern reports indicating that the working definition of antisemitism of the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) has been interpreted by some German authorities in ways which lead to the blanket classification of criticism of Israel as antisemitic. In that
regard, I urge you to be vigilant that the IHRA working definition is not distorted, instrumentalised or misapplied to stifle freedom of expression and legitimate criticism, including of the state of Israel.

More generally, the Court’s case law and the Council of Europe standards and guidance on freedom of expression, hate speech and hate crime (among others, Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)16 of the
Committee of Ministers to member States on combating hate speech and, ECRI General Policy Recommendation N°15 on Combatting Hate Speech), provide the necessary framework for calibrating restrictions which must respect the principles of legality, necessity, roportionality and non-discrimination.

In conclusion, I recall that member states have both an obligation to refrain from undue interference with human rights and also positive obligations to safeguard these rights by securing their effective enjoyment for everyone, at all levels of government. I therefore respectfully ask you to ensure the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly for all and to refrain from measures that discriminate against persons based on their political or other opinion, religion or belief, ethnic origin, nationality or
migration status.

I stand ready to continue our constructive dialogue on this and other human rights issues in Germany.___

https://www.coe.int/de/web/commissioner/-/the-commissioner-asks-the-german-authorities-to-uphold-freedom-of-expression-and-peaceful-assembly-in-the-context-of-the-conflict-in-gaza

After two years of litigation, X Corp. and leading music publishers are eyeing a settlement in their copyright infringement dispute. The move follows X Corp.'s recent "maximum pain" allegations against the NMPA, suggesting the lawsuit aimed to force licensing agreements. A 90-day case stay has been approved to allow both sides to amicably resolve their disagreements.

X vs. Music Publishers: Settlement Looms in Copyright Clash After "Maximum Pain" Revelation * TorrentFreak

^{Ernesto Van der Sar (TF Publishing)}

Was nerver a big social media person, never really posted or interacted with a personal account on intagram,Facebook etc. When I, a couple of years ago, began filming and documenting my creations. I made a bunch of social media accounts on basically all the platforms(because thats what you are supposed to do). Got some followers, never in the thousands or even hundreds for that matter. But I figured it's probably because I'm not trying to click-bait or follow the latest trends. I wanted to be genuine, still am. But the interactions often times felt like bots. A couple of Smiley's, a like. Someone followed then never again an interaction with a post. I did set out to make things because I love making things and learning new skills, but got lost on the way. The lower the effort my post had the more interactions. 50-minute video of a woodworking project from start to finish with voice over and explanations, 10 views. 15 second video of a toy car rolling on a track, 2500 views.

And the incessant, follow for follow trends by grifters.

Dead internet theory rang in my head.

I missed the old internet and began dreaming about setting up my on forum with no bots allowed, like in the old days(Yes I'm old enough to remember).
Then I learned that mastodon was part of the fediverse, but I had never heard of the fediverse, and mastodon I thought was like twitter for sysadmins.

I've almost completely transitioned to the fediverse now. I have yet to delete my YouTube account, but I now also have a peertube channel.

I've seen posts about It being hard to get followers on the fediverse, and mastodon. But I'd gladly post to the the ether, if that one in 50 posts is an actual human responding or liking what I do.

Thanks for reading.

This blog post is already quite long, so it will omit changes merged for Plasma 6.5 (releasing in October, to be announced in a future post).

With the Plasma 6.2 release, we moved Plasma Dialer and Spacebar to the Plasma release cycle, allowing us to have consistent releases of the two apps. This completes our year long move to having all Plasma Mobile related projects released as part of wider KDE releases, streamlining the work for distributions and taking a load off us on having to maintain a separate release cycle!

In other news, a Fedora spin for Plasma Mobile was released! It will only be targeting devices that can currently boot Fedora (i.e. not ARM phones), but is very exciting nonetheless!

The Dev Log: April 2024 - June 2025

The Plasma Mobile team is happy to announce the developments in the project over the past few months! Housekeeping This blog post was completed much later than originally planned. In the meantime, several releases have taken place:

^{The Dev Log: April 2024 - June 2025}