Part 1.

The New Orleans City Council is set to vote on an ill-conceived ordinance that would facilitate the use of untargeted facial recognition surveillance by the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD). Recent reports have revealed that not only has the NOPD intentionally misled the public for years about its use of facial recognition, but it has also relied on an unauthorized partnership with a private organization to violate existing restrictions on the use of facial recognition.

The use of untargeted facial recognition by law enforcement is flawed by design, and may have already caused improper police stops, investigations, and even arrests of innocent people. But because the program has been cloaked in secrecy — with the NOPD refusing to keep records on alerts the system triggered and how officers responded — whatever harms it has caused remain hidden. By touting a small set of success stories while sweeping a potential litany of failures under the rug, proponents of this system are seeking to exploit a distorted view of untested, unvetted, and unsafe AI mass surveillance. The New Orleans City Council should not be fooled by this effort — it should reject the proposed ordinance and impose stronger restrictions on the NOPD’s use of facial recognition.

Untargeted Facial Recognition is Unvetted and Unsafe: New Orleans City Council Should Reject It - Center for Democracy and Technology

Part one of this two part series regarding New Orleans’ dragnet facial recognition program is available here.

^{Center for Democracy and Technology}

Ciao Fediverso!

Titolo1

Titolo2

Testo formattato grassetto corsivo ~~barrato~~ monospazio

> Citazione

What if there was a simple test to make sure every new internet regulation preserved the spaces and parts of the internet that you love the most?

We get it; we really do. Lawmakers across the world are rightly focused on regulating powerful, for-profit platforms to mitigate the harms ascribed to social media and other threats online. When developing such legislation, however, some draft laws can inadvertently place public interest projects like Wikipedia at risk. At the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that hosts Wikipedia and other Wikimedia platforms, we have found that when a proposed law harms Wikipedia, in many cases it likely harms other community-led websites, open resources, or digital infrastructure.

That is why we have created the Wikipedia Test: a public policy tool and a call to action to help ensure regulators consider how new laws can negatively affect online communities and platforms that provide services and information in the public interest.

The Wikipedia Test – Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikipedia Test is a public policy tool and a call to action to help ensure regulators consider how new laws can negatively affect online communities and platforms that provide services and information in the public interest.

^{Wikimedia Foundation}

What if there was a simple test to make sure every new internet regulation preserved the spaces and parts of the internet that you love the most?

We get it; we really do. Lawmakers across the world are rightly focused on regulating powerful, for-profit platforms to mitigate the harms ascribed to social media and other threats online. When developing such legislation, however, some draft laws can inadvertently place public interest projects like Wikipedia at risk. At the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that hosts Wikipedia and other Wikimedia platforms, we have found that when a proposed law harms Wikipedia, in many cases it likely harms other community-led websites, open resources, or digital infrastructure.

That is why we have created the Wikipedia Test: a public policy tool and a call to action to help ensure regulators consider how new laws can negatively affect online communities and platforms that provide services and information in the public interest.

The Wikipedia Test – Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikipedia Test is a public policy tool and a call to action to help ensure regulators consider how new laws can negatively affect online communities and platforms that provide services and information in the public interest.

^{Wikimedia Foundation}

cross-posted from: rss.ponder.cat/post/217784

Signposts on the Vancouver street bear the English name below the official Musqueam name, which is written in the North American Phonetic Alphabet.

---

From this RSS feed

Vancouver man says institutions unable to recognize new Indigenous street name

^{Amy Judd (Global News)}

https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/this-years-election-bills-focus-on-citizenship-ranked-choice-voting

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/deepseek-faces-expulsion-app-stores-germany-2025-06-27/

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/32367585

Opinion - Michelle Goldberg
June 27, 2025

"Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian politics have sparked enormous alarm among some New York Jews, but he’s also won considerable Jewish support. In a poll of likely Jewish voters done by the Honan Strategy Group in May, Andrew Cuomo came in first, with 31 percent of the vote, but Mamdani was second, with 20 percent. On Tuesday, he won most of Park Slope, a neighborhood full of progressive Jews, and held his own on the similarly Jewish Upper West Side.

“His campaign has attracted Jewish New Yorkers of all types,” wrote Jay Michaelson, a columnist at the Jewish newspaper The Forward. The rabbi who runs my son’s Hebrew school put Mamdani on his ballot, though he didn’t rank him first. And while Mamdani undoubtedly did best among left-leaning and largely secular Jews, he made a point of reaching out to others. After he gave an interview to Der Blatt, an ultra-Orthodox Yiddish newspaper, Rabbi Moishe Indig, the leader of a faction of Hasidic Jews, told The New York Times, “As mayor, we wouldn’t have a problem with him.” (Though Indig considered adding Mamdani to his endorsement slate, he ultimately decided against it.)"

archive.ph/MrZQ0

Peter Link

2025-06-28 00:04:04

Plenty of Jews Love Zohran Mamdani

Opinion - Michelle Goldberg
June 27, 2025

"Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian politics have sparked enormous alarm among some New York Jews, but he’s also won considerable Jewish support. In a poll of likely Jewish voters done by the Honan Strategy Group in May, Andrew Cuomo came in first, with 31 percent of the vote, but Mamdani was second, with 20 percent. On Tuesday, he won most of Park Slope, a neighborhood full of progressive Jews, and held his own on the similarly Jewish Upper West Side.

“His campaign has attracted Jewish New Yorkers of all types,” wrote Jay Michaelson, a columnist at the Jewish newspaper The Forward. The rabbi who runs my son’s Hebrew school put Mamdani on his ballot, though he didn’t rank him first. And while Mamdani undoubtedly did best among left-leaning and largely secular Jews, he made a point of reaching out to others. After he gave an interview to Der Blatt, an ultra-Orthodox Yiddish newspaper, Rabbi Moishe Indig, the leader of a faction of Hasidic Jews, told The New York Times, “As mayor, we wouldn’t have a problem with him.” (Though Indig considered adding Mamdani to his endorsement slate, he ultimately decided against it.)"

archive.ph/MrZQ0

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/opinion/jews-zohran-mamdani.html

Opinion - Michelle Goldberg
June 27, 2025

"Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian politics have sparked enormous alarm among some New York Jews, but he’s also won considerable Jewish support. In a poll of likely Jewish voters done by the Honan Strategy Group in May, Andrew Cuomo came in first, with 31 percent of the vote, but Mamdani was second, with 20 percent. On Tuesday, he won most of Park Slope, a neighborhood full of progressive Jews, and held his own on the similarly Jewish Upper West Side.

“His campaign has attracted Jewish New Yorkers of all types,” wrote Jay Michaelson, a columnist at the Jewish newspaper The Forward. The rabbi who runs my son’s Hebrew school put Mamdani on his ballot, though he didn’t rank him first. And while Mamdani undoubtedly did best among left-leaning and largely secular Jews, he made a point of reaching out to others. After he gave an interview to Der Blatt, an ultra-Orthodox Yiddish newspaper, Rabbi Moishe Indig, the leader of a faction of Hasidic Jews, told The New York Times, “As mayor, we wouldn’t have a problem with him.” (Though Indig considered adding Mamdani to his endorsement slate, he ultimately decided against it.)"

archive.ph/MrZQ0

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/opinion/jews-zohran-mamdani.html

Ancora non riesco a capire che cosa, ma comunque certamente una qualche cosa dai poteri eccessivi, su questo non ci sono dubbi, sta in ogni modo lavorando con gran forza contro di me, per sabotarmi in maniera sempre più definitiva… per farmi crollare oltre ogni remota possibilità di rialzo, per farmi sentire sempre più priva […]

octospacc.altervista.org/2025/…

minioctt

2025-06-28 14:16:02

confungelamento octoso, un gran pericolo per l’estate rottosica

Ancora non riesco a capire che cosa, ma comunque certamente una qualche cosa dai poteri eccessivi, su questo non ci sono dubbi, sta in ogni modo lavorando con gran forza contro di me, per sabotarmi in maniera sempre più definitiva… per farmi crollare oltre ogni remota possibilità di rialzo, per farmi sentire sempre più priva di autonomia spirituale e di controllo sulle mie specialissime e personalissime possibilità magiche. Questo vale un po’ in tutto, in ogni caso è sempre terribile, e si manifesta principalmente per mezzo di due criteri di annichilimento: nebbia mentale e stanchezza ingiustificabile. Entrambi, in momenti diversi o tranquillamente anche insieme, lavorano per impedirmi di commettere l’epicità giornaliera, e sta diventando veramente una noia a dir poco: le giornate passano, ma oramai in maniera pressoché insoddisfacente. ☠️

Per prima cosa, la nebbia. La nebbia avvolge tutto, perché si forma la notte nel mio letto, si introduce silenziosamente nel mio cervello attraverso la normale respirazione… e, senza mezzi termini, mi frega, perché la mattina poi mi sveglio con la mente che ragiona e produce persino peggio della sera prima! La nebbia contrasta attivamente lo sviluppo di idee creative epiche, bloccando la vista dell’intero scenario mentale a qualche punto sempre diverso degli stessi processi in questione, e dunque, se non ho voglia di scrivere codice, le sole cose che riesco a trasferire dall’Iperuranio al piano digitale sono questo tipo di parole qui, da blogging giornaliero; per certi versi unicamente profonde, ma allo stesso tempo terribilmente banali, e anche di ciò ne soffro. 😫

Poi certo, il fatto che mi si stiano rompendo tutte le cose peggiora la situazione, ma non è l’unico problema: anche la confusione digitale mi colpisce senza mancare mai un colpo, ed è contro di me superefficace, facendomi perdere ogni volta tra: migliaia di schede aperte nel browser (che mi servono, quindi dovrei salvare nei memos e togliere da lì, anche perché fanno laggare tutto, ma non ho voglia), fin troppe cose nel launcher del telefono (e mi servono tutte in diversi momenti, quindi non posso toglierle, e le cartelle aiutano solo fino a un certo punto), e lasciamo stare cos’altro. 😿

Poi c’è ovviamente la stanchezza in senso più stretto, che oltre ad essere assolutamente ingiustificabile è completamente incomprensibile, perché banalmente non c’è alcun elemento che la oggettivi. Non sto facendo alcuna vera fatica in questi giorni, e per quanto io comunque mi sforzi nel possibile di non rottare, comunque complessivamente non mi sto appesantendo con nulla… la mia energia vitale viene insomma prosciugata, ma in cambio non ottengo nulla. Se devo uscire dalla mia stanza per andare in qualche altra, dopo essermi alzata dalla sedia voglio spesso appoggiarmi per qualche minuto sul letto a riposare, che i 2 passi che faccio fino a metà della strada per la porta già sono troppo faticosi; e qualche ora fa, quando all’una e mezza sono dovuta scendere un attimo di casa, ci ho messo 5 minuti a fare un avanti e indietro che normalmente avrei fatto in 3, perché stavolta andavo lenta come la cacca. 🐌

Ed è davvero difficile capire come mai sono effettivamente così rovinata, nel complesso. In questi giorni non solo sto dormendo abbastanza, ma addirittura il giusto, ossia non troppo: in media tra le 8 e le 9 ore, che in teoria è top… ma in pratica non serve a una mazza, perché, ripeto, sono proprio così stanca, mi sento spaccata e non riesco nemmeno a digitare supervelocemente sulla tastiera come io in primis pretendo, per dirne solo una. Forse sarà in buona parte colpa anche del caldo — incluso da oggi o ieri questo nuovo vento africano aiutatelo-a-casa-sua, che dovrebbe essere francamente illegale in quanto esistente con nessun altro scopo se non rovinare la salute mentale e fisica della popolazione intera — però chiaramente non è l’unico fattore; altrimenti, ogni estate puntualmente dovrei crollare completamente, ma le mie cronologie raccontano ovviamente stagioni nel complesso diverse da questo scenario apocalittico. 🌌

L’unica informazione un minimo interessante — che per fortuna del pubblico posso condividere, per chiudere con un po’ di decenza questo bordello di rapporto — è che… l’unione dimensionale sta per concretizzarsi. Dimensional merge, come postulato da Chris Chan, lo sento sempre più vicino ed inevitabile, visto cosa sto percependo ultimamente. Ogni notte faccio sogni sempre più strani, dal significato nullo se non l’essere in qualche modo collegati a qualcosa di fatto o visto durante il giorno (unico dettaglio normale di tutta la situazione), con personaggi sempre più improbabili in situazioni sempre più inconcepibili, mentre invece in quei rarissimi momenti di veglia in cui la nebbia si dirada dal mio cervello mi escono da scrivere cose che sembrerebbero provenire dalle pareti, e invece mi escono da dentro. E insomma, sono certa che non ci vorrà molto altro tempo perché si passi dai sogni REM e le idee alle allucinazioni vere e proprie, e dalle allucinazioni alla materializzazione di tutte quelle cose strane nel nostro (mio) piano di realtà, appena la dimensione dell’irreale canalizzerà per l’ultimo momento di esistenza separata tutte le sue energie attraverso di me (ovviamente senza che io abbia mai acconsentito, ma figurarsi se le forze ultraterrene si curano di dettagli così umani)… e potrebbe essere da un lato la megafine più assoluta, ma dall’altro si materializzeranno waifu e altre cose, dunque si risolverà sia la solitudine nel mondo… che la fame nel mondo, chi vuol capire capisca. 🙏

#daily #feels

To quickly transform the world, it’s not enough for AI to become super smart (the “intelligence explosion”).

AI will also have to turbocharge the physical world (the “industrial explosion”). Think robot factories building more and better robot factories, which build more and better robot factories, and so on.

The dynamics of the industrial explosion has gotten remarkably little attention.

This post lays out how the industrial explosion could play out, and how quickly it might happen.

We think the industrial explosion will unfold in three stages:
- AI-directed human labour, where AI-directed human labourers drive productivity gains in physical capabilities.
1. We argue this could increase physical output by 10X within a few years.
- Fully autonomous robot factories, where AI-directed robots (and other physical actuators) replace human physical labour.
1. We argue that, with current physical technology and full automation of cognitive labour, this physical infrastructure could self-replicate about once per year.
2. 1-year robot doubling times is very fast!
- Nanotechnology, where physical actuators on a very small scale build arbitrary structures within physical limits.
1. We argue, based on experience curves and biological analogies, that we could eventually get nanobots that replicate in a few days or weeks. Again, this is very fast!

The Industrial Explosion | Forethought

Once AI can automate human labour, *physical* capabilities could grow explosively. Sufficiently advanced robotics could create a feedback loop where automated robot factories build more and better robot factories which build more and better robot fac…

^Forethought

Google’s carbon emissions have soared by 51% since 2019 as artificial intelligence hampers the tech company’s efforts to go green.

While the corporation has invested in renewable energy and carbon removal technology, it has failed to curb its scope 3 emissions, which are those further down the supply chain, and are in large part influenced by a growth in datacentre capacity required to power artificial intelligence.

The company reported a 27% increase in year-on-year electricity consumption as it struggles to decarbonise as quickly as its energy needs increase.

Datacentres play a crucial role in training and operating the models that underpin AI models such as Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s GPT-4, which powers the ChatGPT chatbot. The International Energy Agency estimates that datacentres’ total electricity consumption could double from 2022 levels to 1,000TWh (terawatt hours) in 2026, approximately Japan’s level of electricity demand. AI will result in datacentres using 4.5% of global energy generation by 2030, according to calculations by the research firm SemiAnalysis.

Google’s emissions up 51% as AI electricity demand derails efforts to go green

Increase influenced by datacentre growth, with estimated power required by 2026 equalling that of Japan’s

^{Helena Horton (The Guardian)}

Jessica Corbett
Jun 26, 2025

"Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday beat disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic NYC mayoral primary—but progressives within and beyond the city don't expect the billionaire class and party establishment that lined up against him to give up so easily. Going into the general election, those who believe in Mamdani's vision are encouraging him and his supporters to maintain the momentum of the movement they've built."

Zohran Mamdani's Battle Against the Billionaire Class and Democratic Establishment Is Just Beginning

Noting that corporations, large landlords, developers, and donors "want to keep him out of the mayor's office," India Walton urged Zohran Mamdani's campaign to "stay ahead of the messaging and stay on doors."

^{jessica-corbett (Common Dreams)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/32316533

Jessica Corbett
Jun 26, 2025

"Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday beat disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic NYC mayoral primary—but progressives within and beyond the city don't expect the billionaire class and party establishment that lined up against him to give up so easily. Going into the general election, those who believe in Mamdani's vision are encouraging him and his supporters to maintain the momentum of the movement they've built."

Peter Link

2025-06-26 23:44:28

Zohran Mamdani's Battle Against the Billionaire Class and Democratic Establishment Is Just Beginning | Common Dreams

Jessica Corbett
Jun 26, 2025

"Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday beat disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic NYC mayoral primary—but progressives within and beyond the city don't expect the billionaire class and party establishment that lined up against him to give up so easily. Going into the general election, those who believe in Mamdani's vision are encouraging him and his supporters to maintain the momentum of the movement they've built."

Zohran Mamdani's Battle Against the Billionaire Class and Democratic Establishment Is Just Beginning

Noting that corporations, large landlords, developers, and donors "want to keep him out of the mayor's office," India Walton urged Zohran Mamdani's campaign to "stay ahead of the messaging and stay on doors."

^{jessica-corbett (Common Dreams)}

Spotify, the world’s leading music streaming platform, is facing intense criticism and boycott calls following CEO Daniel Ek’s announcement of a €600m ($702m) investment in Helsing, a German defence startup specialising in AI-powered combat drones and military software.

The move, announced on 17 June, has sparked widespread outrage from musicians, activists and social media users who accuse Ek of funnelling profits from music streaming into the military industry.

Many have started calling on users to cancel their subscriptions to the service.

“Finally cancelling my Spotify subscription – why am I paying for a fuckass app that works worse than it did 10 years ago, while their CEO spends all my money on technofascist military fantasies?” said one user on X.

Spotify faces boycott calls over CEO’s investment in AI military startup

Spotify, the world’s leading music streaming platform, is facing intense criticism and boycott calls following CEO Daniel Ek’s announcement of a €600m ($702m) investment in Helsing, a German defence startup specialising in AI-powered combat drones an…

^{Reem Aouir (Middle East Eye)}

Amazon delivery stations are being outfitted with robots across the country, leading to fewer workers and speedup for the workers that remain. Workers have reacted with defiance at the delivery station where I work.

Amazon fulfillment centers, where items are packaged up, have been gradually automating, but until now, delivery stations were mostly operated by human labor. Now, entire systems are being retrofitted or entirely removed “in the name of safety” and “for the good of employees.” But automation means workers will be laid off, shifted into new positions, or forced to transfer.

I work at the New York delivery station DBK4, in Maspeth, Queens, and it’s a window into this future. Smack in the middle of New York’s largest borough, DBK4 processes 60,000 to 100,000 packages daily, depending on the season. It employs 200 to 500 people inside the warehouse, plus up to 1,000 drivers.

Amazon has recently automated 80 percent of the conveyor belts in the facility with a new type of technology called ADTA (Auto Divert to Aisle). Before automation, the job was done in two parts; a belt brought packages from the loading dock and ‘pickers’ standing along its length picked up the packages. The pickers put packages onto racks corresponding to neighborhoods. A second worker, known as a stower, often working multiple aisles, then put those packages into bags bound for specific neighborhood blocks.

Amazon Workers Defy Dictates of Automation

^{Labor Notes}

Amazon delivery stations are being outfitted with robots across the country, leading to fewer workers and speedup for the workers that remain. Workers have reacted with defiance at the delivery station where I work.

Amazon fulfillment centers, where items are packaged up, have been gradually automating, but until now, delivery stations were mostly operated by human labor. Now, entire systems are being retrofitted or entirely removed “in the name of safety” and “for the good of employees.” But automation means workers will be laid off, shifted into new positions, or forced to transfer.

I work at the New York delivery station DBK4, in Maspeth, Queens, and it’s a window into this future. Smack in the middle of New York’s largest borough, DBK4 processes 60,000 to 100,000 packages daily, depending on the season. It employs 200 to 500 people inside the warehouse, plus up to 1,000 drivers.

Amazon has recently automated 80 percent of the conveyor belts in the facility with a new type of technology called ADTA (Auto Divert to Aisle). Before automation, the job was done in two parts; a belt brought packages from the loading dock and ‘pickers’ standing along its length picked up the packages. The pickers put packages onto racks corresponding to neighborhoods. A second worker, known as a stower, often working multiple aisles, then put those packages into bags bound for specific neighborhood blocks.

Amazon Workers Defy Dictates of Automation

^{Labor Notes}

SBS Insight Invisible Illness – Statement by 4 Studio Participants​

Published: 23 June 2025​

Invisible, Misrepresented, and Harmed: ME/CFS Voices Demand Accountability from SBS​

A Joint Statement from Participants and Advocates in Response to the 20 May 2025 Episode of Insight​

This statement has been prepared by a group of individuals who participated in the recent SBS Insight episode on invisible illness. We are united in our deep concern over how the episode was produced, edited, and presented and the serious harm it caused by misrepresenting Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) and its impact on the wider chronic illness community.​

We believe this broadcast represents a clear breach of SBS’s own Code of Practice. The program:​

• Failed to uphold editorial integrity by platforming a participant with undisclosed commercial interests (Section 3.1: Editorial Independence and Integrity);
  
  • Presented medically inaccurate and misleading portrayals of ME/CFS (Section 3.2: Accuracy);
  • Minimised the diversity of lived experiences in favour of a single recovery narrative (Section 3.3: Diversity of Views and Perspectives);
  • Caused emotional harm to participants and viewers alike (Section 4.1: Harm and Offence);

  
  

As a public broadcaster, SBS has a duty to ensure ethical, accurate, and inclusive storytelling, especially when dealing with marginalised communities.​

[…]

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/google-convinces-openai-use-tpu-chips-win-nvidia

On Thursday, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that digital platforms are responsible for users’ content — a major shift in a country where millions rely on apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and YouTube every day.

The ruling, which goes into effect within weeks, mandates tech giants including Google, X, and Meta to monitor and remove content involving hate speech, racism, and incitement to violence. If the companies can show they took steps to remove such content expeditiously, they will not be held liable, the justices said.

Brazil has long clashed with Big Tech platforms. In 2017, then-congresswoman Maria do Rosário sued Google over YouTube videos that wrongly accused her of defending crimes. Google didn’t remove the clips right away, kicking off a legal debate over whether companies should only be punished if they ignore a judge.

In 2023, following violent protests largely organized online by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, authorities began pushing harder to stop what they saw as dangerous behavior spreading through social networks.

Brazil holds social media platforms responsible for user posts - Rest of World

New Brazil ruling makes Meta, X, WhatsApp and other platforms accountable for content and user safety.

^{Karla Zabludovsky (Rest of World)}

Source.

Relevant:

Facebook is now inputting your photos into Meta AI automatically by default

Seasons of Jason 🎒

2025-05-30 23:18:37

Oh hell fucking NO.

“To create ideas for you, we'll select media from your camera roll and upload it to our cloud on an ongoing basis, based on info like time, location or themes.”
#Meta #Facebook

https://www.wired.com/story/openai-five-levels-agi-paper-microsoft-negotiations/

As the supreme court upends precedent again and again, the liberal justices reveal the divisions within the legal body

On Friday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered an acidic sermon against the court’s 6-3 decision to end lower courts’ practice of issuing nationwide injunctions to block federal executive orders, reading her dissent directly from the bench in a move meant to highlight its importance.

“No right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates,” states Sotomayor’s dissent, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown-Jackson. “Today, the threat is to birthright citizenship. Tomorrow, a different administration may try to seize firearms from law abiding citizens or prevent people of certain faiths from gathering to worship.”

Liberal supreme court justices’ dissents reveal concerns that the US faces a crisis

^{George Chidi (The Guardian)}