Ofcom (British Watchdog): Public service TV should work 'urgently' with YouTube.
Ofcom warns traditional public-service TV is endangered
Recommendation for prominence on third-party platforms part of six-point action plan
Urgent clarity needed from Government on how TV will be distributed to reach audiences in future
Broadcasters must work more together, and with global tech firms, to surviveUrgent steps must be taken to ensure that public service media content is easy to find and discover on third-party platforms, under new Ofcom recommendations to secure the system’s survival.
OpenAI signs deal with United Kingdom to find government uses for its models
OpenAI signs deal with UK to find government uses for its models
Wide-ranging agreement with artificial intelligence firm behind ChatGPT comes after similar UK deal with GoogleRobert Booth (The Guardian)
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Smoking avatars and online games: how big tobacco targets young people in the metaverse
Smoking avatars and online games: how big tobacco targets young people in the metaverse
Cigarettes and vapes are being smuggled into virtual spaces beyond the reach of regulation, creating a new battleground for health campaignersKat Lay (The Guardian)
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Technology reshared this.
Most doctors in most Gaza hospitals involved in ‘terrorist activities’ says Israel Special Envoy
Most doctors in most Gaza hospitals involved in ‘terrorist activities’ says Israel Special Envoy
We spoke to Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, who's Israel’s Special Envoy for Trade and Innovation.Channel 4 News
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British government to ban public bodies from paying ransoms to hackers
UK government to ban public bodies from paying ransoms to hackers
Measure intended to send message to international cybercriminals ‘that the UK is united in fight against ransomware’Robert Booth (The Guardian)
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Though this is a good idea it's kind of important to also work on the other side, you know, ensuring IT has enough resources to make backups and do their job so that this shit doesn't happen in the first place.
Ransomware mostly happens when your systems are badly protected
You know that they only are prepared to offer cyber security experts minimum wage.
I was literally looking at this yesterday, if they doubled what they are offering it would still be well short of an entry-level wage in the private sector. Up to a point you can get away with it and rely on "patriotism" to fill the difference but not to this extent.
Can you help me arrange these video formats from better to worst?
Tinkering with yt-dlp -F
I know av1 is even better than h.265, h.265 being better than h.264
However, I don’t know where to put vpP09, vp9 and avc1
Audio formats: what’s better? m4a or webm?
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Pirate Service 'MagisTV' Fails to Secure U.S. Trademark, Faces Malware Backlash
MagisTV, a leading pirate streaming brand in Latin America, finds itself caught between a legal storm and a mounting malware backlash. This week, the service saw its U.S. trademark application abandoned amidst growing scrutiny from authorities and rightsholders worldwide. At the same time, a barrage of local news reports warn consumers that using MagisTV's software could lead to identity theft and expose them to viruses.
Pirate Service 'MagisTV' Fails to Secure U.S. Trademark, Faces Malware Backlash * TorrentFreak
MagisTV, a leading pirate streaming brand popular in Latin America, finds itself caught between a legal storm and a mounting malware backlash.Ernesto Van der Sar (TF Publishing)
Laura Santi è morta dopo aver avuto accesso al suicidio assistito, infine
Laura Santi è morta dopo aver avuto accesso al suicidio assistito, infine
Dopo un lungo e complesso iter giudiziario, civile e penale, per vedersi riconosciuto questo diritto: è la nona persona in Italia e la prima in UmbriaIl Post
Combining TLS and MLS: An experiment
Combining TLS and MLS: An experiment
We did a thing. We combined TLS and MLS into a hybrid protocol. Of course, when things get serious, full names are in order: We combined the Transport Layer Security protocol and the Messaging Layer Security protocol.Julian Mair (Phoenix R&D)
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Nintendo can disable your Switch 2 for piracy in the U.S., but not in Europe, as confirmed by its EULA
Nintendo can disable your Switch 2 for piracy in the U.S., but not in Europe, as confirmed by its EULA
The significant legal differences between the United States and Europe cause Nintendo to punish piracy differently depending on the territory.Rubén Martínez (Meristation)
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And Nintendo JP says that “Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 cannot be remotely located, their users remotely identified nor disabled over the Internet” (tweet in Japanese warning people against accidentally losing or getting their consoles stolen over summer vacation)
But I bet it is more like “Nintendo won’t disable them remotely even if people report ones stolen to them with serial numbers and police reports”, but they’ll happily do so if they caught you using the console in an unapproved manner in their eyes.
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Twitter link with an archive link or screenshot. We don't allow direct Twitter links on our instance. Thanks.
This is by definition "we are just assholes"
Someone play for 5 minutes with a mig switch a legit dump of their own, legally purchased game, just for convenience, to have multiple games on the same cart? The console is now almost useless. You can't play any digital games that you purchased with real money, and physical games can't get any update. Game requires a 20gb day one patch to be playable? Though luck buddy, go to buy a new console!
They stole your console? Oh no! Yes, we absolutely could do the same, as it's bound to your Nintendo account and we could add a button "report as stolen and ban it from internet" in your profile. But we won't, go to buy a new console!
- 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
Nvidia's CUDA platform now supports RISC-V — support brings open source instruction set to AI platforms, joining x86 and Arm
At the 2025 RISC-V Summit in China, Nvidia announced that its CUDA software platform will be made compatible with the RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA) on the CPU side of things. The news was confirmed during a presentation during a RISC-V event. This is a major step in enabling the RISC-V ISA-based CPUs in performance demanding applications.
The announcement makes it clear that RISC-V can now serve as the main processor for CUDA-based systems, a role traditionally filled by x86 or Arm cores. While nobody even barely expects RISC-V in hyperscale datacenters any time soon, RISC-V can be used on CUDA-enabled edge devices, such as Nvidia's Jetson modules. However, it looks like Nvidia does indeed expect RISC-V to be in the datacenter.
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MEGA launches new large file transfer service Transfer.it (without end-to-end encryption) as WeTransfer competitor with no file size limit.
For over a decade, MEGA has been the trusted choice for secure, encrypted file sharing. But not every file transfer needs end-to-end encryption. Sometimes, simplicity and speed matter more, especially when dealing with large files or recipients unfamiliar with the limitations around their browsers having to decrypt their downloads.That’s why we created Transfer.it, a new service from MEGA designed for effortless file transfers, without end-to-end encryption.
Introducing Transfer.it – effortless file sharing, powered by MEGA - MEGA Blog
Transfer.it for fast, simple, and secure file transfers - Effortless file sharing, powered by MEGA.Team MEGA (MEGA)
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Google removes nearly 11,000 YouTube propaganda channels linked to China, Russia in global disinformation purge.
TAG Bulletin: Q2 2025
Our bulletin covering coordinated influence operation campaigns terminated on our platforms in Q2 2025.Billy Leonard (Google)
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Lyle Lovett - Release Me (2012)
La sorte toccata da tempo ad altri colleghi è giunta anche per Lyle Lovett: il musicista texano scioglie il quasi trentennale rapporto con il colosso country della Curb records (seppure in anni recenti passato per le maglie della Lost Highway) per affrontare una inevitabile indipendenza... Leggi e ascolta...
Lyle Lovett - Release Me (2012)
La sorte toccata da tempo ad altri colleghi è giunta anche per Lyle Lovett: il musicista texano scioglie il quasi trentennale rapporto con il colosso country della Curb records (seppure in anni recenti passato per le maglie della Lost Highway) per affrontare una inevitabile indipendenza. Questione già affrontata e d'altronde dirimente in quest'epoca: come John Hiatt, Steve Earle e altri campioni dell'Americana il ruolo di Lovett non è più quello di capofila, né evidentemente le vendite e l'appeal dell'artista possono convincere un baraccone discografico a mantenere in piedi contratti che nella loro logica non fruttano i risultati di un tempo... rootshighway.it/recensioni/lov…
Ascolta: album.link/i/507810558
Home – Identità DigitaleSono su: Mastodon.uno - Pixelfed - Feddit
Release Me by Lyle Lovett
Listen now on your favorite streaming service. Powered by Songlink/Odesli, an on-demand, customizable smart link service to help you share songs, albums, podcasts and more.Songlink/Odesli
A Self-hosted, BSD-native Gemini Protocol Server Stack
For those who are adventurous enough to explore the non-http corners of the Internet, the Gemini protocol is a delightful experience to use. It has been around a number of years, making the biggest bang around the time when discontent with the web’s general demise started to reach current heights (so maybe around 2022).
My “capsule”, Vigilia, is self-hosted, and has been since its inception. It used to run on a disused Macbook Pro running Fedora Server, under our TV at home, but since then I have become much more confident in using OpenBSD. It used to run on a little Python CGI script I wrote, which also started to feel too bloated and complex, with too many bells and whistles that I frankly had no need for. It was time to make a change, so I replaced the old Macbook with a Raspberry Pi, and Fedora with OpenBSD, and then took my time to figure out a new “status quo”.
0. Philosophy
I wished to create a more Unix-minded stack. The more I have been using OpenBSD and Unix systems the more I have been sold on the “everything is a file” philosophy, as well as opting to use internal tools as much as possible rather than reinvent the wheel on my own. That is to say, I’d much rather work with simple scripts and shell commands than write complicated and buggy code.
So with that in mind, here’s the stack that I settled on after a some trial and error:
1. Hardware
I have absolutely no intention to expose our home IP address via DynDNS or similar. However, I like to be in control of my data as much as possible: ideally as little of my data should be hosted on “someone else’s computer”. If I can’t unplug the hard disk and put it in a drawer, I can’t guarantee it’s security from a hack.
So Vigilia is actually two servers. The server with the actual data is at home, in running on a Raspberry Pi 4B. But as a “public front” vigilia runs a reverse-proxying gemini server on a standard VPS over at OpenBSD.amsterdam.
2. Network setup
I will not go into the intricacies of the dual-wan setup in this post I have at home; but to keep things connected to each other I am using Tailscale to tie the servers together in a Virtual LAN. This is incredibly handy because they get to have easy to remember static IP addresses, all over an encrypted channel.
So here’s the rough idea:
- Vigilia.cc’s DNS records resolve to the OpenBSD.Amsterdam VPS running
gmid - VPS and home server both run
tailscale - VPS reverse-proxies incoming gemini connections to home server
3. Gemini server config
Both the VPS and the local server run [url=https://gmid.omarpolo.com]gmid[/url]. It’s a fast and simple gemini server that mirrors OpenBSD’s httpd; which means it is very easy to configure, it is stable and secure. It can run in chrooted environments, and as its own user, so it’s just a Good Thing all over. Most importantly, it can relay and reverse-proxy TCP connections with sni fields intact, which is something for example OpenBSD’s relayd, built primarily for HTTP, does not do.
My gmid config files look something like this:
### REMOTE_SERVER:/etc/gmid.conf#user "_gmid" # running it as its own user to achieve privilege separationchroot "/var/gemini" # and in a chroot so it can't just access random bits of the file systemlog { syslog # log to /var/log/messages}vigilia_pem = "/etc/ssl/PUBLICKEY.pem"vigilia_key = "/etc/ssl/private/PRIVATEKEY.key"public_ip = "46.23.93.41" # OpenBSD Amsterdam VPS' public addresshomeserver = "100.REDACTED.REDACTED.101" # TailScale IP of the home machine public_port = "1965"homeserver_port = "2965"server "vigilia.cc" { listen on $public_ip port $public_port cert $vigilia_pem key $vigilia_key proxy { proxy-v1 # this directive enables some advanced features like forwarding IP Addresses of visitors verifyname off # I found I need to specify this somehow, maybe because of self-signed certs sni "vigilia.cc" relay-to $homeserver $homeserver_port }}
This above allows to listen for connections to vigilia.cc:1965 and forward them to HOME_SERVER:2965. So thus the homeserver has the following configuration:
### HOME_SERVER:/etc/gmid.conf#user "_gmid" chroot "/var/gemini" log { syslog }internal_address = "100.REDACTED.REDACTED.101" # TailScale IP of the home machine internal_port = "2965"# The below are the same certificates that are in use on the VPSvigilia_pem = "/etc/ssl/PUBLICKEY.pem"vigilia_key = "/etc/ssl/private/PRIVATEKEY.key"server "vigilia.cc" { listen on $internal_address port $internal_port proxy-v1 # add proxy-v1 support for relayed connections cert $vigilia_pem key $vigilia_key log on location "*" { auto index on # enables directory listing }}
4. Getting the files to the Server
Because I am lazy I want to edit files locally and I want them to magically appear on my capsule. So I am using [url=https://syncthing.net/]syncthing[/url] to copy things over automagically from DESKTOP:~/public_gemini to HOME_SERVER:/var/gemini.
Syncthing runs most reliably as my own user, I found. To do this it is best to follow the documentation for the Syncthing OpenBSD package — but basically it involves starting it via the user’s crontab with the “@reboot” directive. But as it runs as my own user, I need to set the permissions properly. HOME_SERVER:/var/gemini is owned by the _gmid user in the _gmid group so I also added MYUSER on both machines to the same _gmid group, and made sure MYUSER has write access:
#!/bin/sh# HOME_SERVERusermod -G _gmid MUYSERchown -r _gmid /var/geminichmod -r ug=rwx,o=r /var/gemini
Then I set up syncthing on HOME_SERVER. As it is running headless, I needed to access the web interface, which I achieved via SSH tunneling:
$ ssh -L 9999:localhost:8384 HOME_SERVER
This way I could open a browser on DESKTOP and access the server’s Syncthing settings.
So here are the settings:
On the DESKTOP:
- Syncthing web interface -> Add folder
- Folder path:
~/public_gemini - Folder label: Gemini files (or something)
- Ignore patterns: “
*.sock” (Unix sockets might confuse the poor thing) - Sharing: HOME_SERVER
- Pause syncing for now
On HOME_SERVER:
- Establish ssh tunnel to HOME_SERVER as described above
- Open remote Syncthing webinterface on DESKTOP: localhost:9999
- Accept the incoming share request for “Gemini files” from DESKTOP; but point it to /var/gemini
- Folder path:
/var/gemini - Folder label Gemini files
- Advanced: UNTICK “Wach for changes” because OpenBSD doesn’t seem to allow Syncthing to poke around in
/varwith those various Go modules and you’d just get errors, like I did - Check the Ignore patterns — if it didn’t synchronise “
*.sock” then specify it manually
On DESKTOP:
- Unpause syncing
Now any file you write into DESKTOP:~/public_gemini will sync across to HOME_SERVER:/var/gemini. Yay!
6. Setting up automatic static site generation
Now if you are content to maintain your capsule manually, you are done. As I said I am lazy so I want my little “ssg” script, Lumen, to create index pages for each directory for me. Lumen, I promise, will be made available once I tidy it up.
Lumen basically lists all files recursively and generates an index.gmi for each directory. This means that Lumen has to be re-run each time the folder changes. OpenBSD is acquiring some degree of file watching natively.1 However [url=https://openports.pl/path/sysutils/entr]entr[/url] already exists in ports.
It took a bit of tweaking but basically here’s the command I ended up using, adapted from one of the examples provided in the entr manpage:
$ while sleep 0.1; do find /var/gemini/vigilia.cc/* | entr -nd python3 /var/gemini/cgi/lumen.py -d /var/gemini/vigilia.cc; done
What it does is, in a loop it recursively lists all files every 0.1 seconds in /var/gemini/vigilia.cc, and feeds the output to entr. Then entr runs with -n to specify a non-interactive session (in interactive sessions it also responds to e.g. keystrokes and tty changes – so to be safe, I don’t want that); and with -d to specify it should be looking for changes in the parent folder of any changing files. The looping and the -d directive were added because sometimes I ran into issues when a file got deleted: entr just quit because it could not find the removed file in a “stale” file list it was provided on launch. Lumen needs a -d argument as well to specifiy which directory it needs to work on.
7. System config
Because there are a few other servers like “auld.vigilia.cc” also running on the home machine (the configs for wich aren’t reproduced above for brevity’s sake) and because those rely on a number of CGI scripts I have to start them on launch. I ended up using supervisord for these. Supervisor is a cool little daemon for launching things. I could use rc but supervisord allows me to specify a few extra bits more easily, like redirecting output to syslog and other things.
So for HOME_SERVER, here is my supervisord configuration:
#### HOME_SERVER:/etc/supervisord.conf## [... snip ...][program:gmid]command=/usr/local/bin/gmid -f ; the program (relative uses PATH, can take args)process_name=%(program_name)s ; process_name expr (default %(program_name)s)directory=/var/gemini/ ; directory to cwd to before exec (def no cwd)priority=100 ; the relative start priority (default 999)autostart=true ; start at supervisord start (default: true)startretries=3 ; max # of serial start failures when starting (default 3)autorestart=true ; when to restart if exited after running (def: unexpected)killasgroup=true ; SIGKILL the UNIX process group (def false)stdout_syslog=true ; send stdout to syslog with process name (default false)stderr_syslog=true ; send stderr to syslog with process name (default false)[program:lumen-vigilia_cc]command=/bin/ksh -c 'while sleep 0.1; do find /var/gemini/vigilia.cc/* | entr -nd python3 /var/gemini/cgi/lumen.py -d /var/gemini/vigilia.cc; done'process_name=%(program_name)sdirectory=/var/gemini/priority=102autostart=truestartretries=3autorestart=trueuser=MYUSERNAMEstderr_syslog=truestdout_syslog=true
There are other directives that start the CGI scripts for “auld.vigilia.cc” in the config, omitted here.
Note that you can specify “priority” to control in what order you want the scripts to run. I first want the gemini server to run (100); then I want it to run the CGI scripts (101 — left out of the above example); then I want to run the static site generator’s watcher (102). Notice I am telling explicitly it to run /bin/ksh with a command specified in -c; this is because simply feeding it a complex command confuses supervisord, as I discovered.
One nice feature of supervisord is that it can redirect both stderr and stdout to syslog, so any commands and processes supervisord runs will have their output sent to /var/log/messages, neatly tagged and organised.
Conclusion
So there you have it — my Gemini stack from start to finish. It was a really fun experiment to start to use OpenBSD, instead of reinventing the wheel, or relying on some monolithic CGI scripts. You can do quite a lot with just system internals and a few packages.
- The
watchutility was added to 7.7-current on 2025-05-19; it will make its way into 7.8 hopefully. ↩︎
Adapted from the original article “Vigilia’s New Gemini Stack” published via Gemini at vigilia.cc on 21 July 2025.
Trying Guix: A Nixer's Impressions
One aspect of Guix I found to be really fascinating: That there is basically no conceptual difference between defining a package as a private build script, and using a package as part of the system.
Let me explain: Say you wrote a little program in Python which uses a C library (or a Rust library with C ABI) which is in the distribution. Then, in Guix you would put that librarie's name and needed version into a manifest.scm file which lists your dependency, and makes it available if you run guix shell in that folder. It does not matter whether you run the full Guix System, or just use Guix as s package manager.
Now, if you want to install your little python program as part of your system, you'll write an install script or package definition, which is nothing else than a litle piece of Scheme code which contains the name of your program, your dependency, and the information needed to call python's build tool.
The point I am making is now that the only thing which is different between your local package and a distributed package in Guix is that distributed packages are package definitions hosted in public git repos, called 'channels'. So, if you put your package's source into a github or codeberg repo, and the package definition into another repo, you now have published a package which is a part of Guix (in your own channel). Anybody who wants to install and run your package just needs your channel's URL and the packages name. It is a fully decentral system.
In short, in Guix you have built-in something like Arch's AUR, just in a much more elegant and clean manner - and in a fully decentralized way.
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I had a go at using guix as a package manager on top of an existing distro (first an immutable fedora, which went terribly, then OpenSUSE). Gave up for a few reasons:
- As mentioned in the article,
guix pullis sloow. - Packages were very out of date, even Emacs. If I understand correctly, 30.1 was only added last month, despite having been available since February. I get that this isn't the longest wait, but for the piece of software you can expect most guix users to be running, it doesn't bode well.
- The project I was interested in trying out (Gypsum) had a completely broken manifest. Seems like it worked on the dev's machine though, which made me concerned about how well guix profiles actually isolate Dev environments. This was probably an error on the dev's part, but I'd argue such errors should be hard to make by design.
All in all I love the idea of guix, but I think it needs a bigger community behind it. Of course I'm part of the problem by walking away, but 🤷
- As mentioned in the article,
guix pullis sloow.
This one has beem discussed on several forums discussing the original blog post, like here or also here on lobste.rs
Part of the reason for slow pulls is that the GNU projects savannah server, which Guix was using so far, is not fast, especially with git repos. Luckily, this is already being improved because Guix is moving to codeberg.org, a FOSS nonprofit org which is hosted in Europe. So if one changes the configured server URL, it is faster. (On top of that interested people might use the opportunity to directly take influence, and donate to codeberg so that they can afford even better hardware 😉).
OpenAI and UK sign deal to use AI in public services
OpenAI and UK sign deal to use AI in public services
The US tech firm behind ChatGPT say it will work with the UK government to "deliver prosperity for all".Mitchell Labiak (BBC News)
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Fedora Must (Carefully) Embrace Flathub
Fedora Must (Carefully) Embrace Flathub
Motivation Opportunity is upon us! For the past few years, the desktop Linux user base has been growing at a historically high rate. StatCounter currently has us at 4.14% desktop OS market share...Michael Catanzaro (Michael Catanzaro's Blog)
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L'enorme braccio reclutato per agevolare la rinascita del nucleare in Gran Bretagna - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
L'enorme braccio reclutato per agevolare la rinascita del nucleare in Gran Bretagna - Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri
Affermò la profezia: “E quando il destino dovrà compiersi, il giorno si trasformerà in notte, e il normale ciclo diurno sembrerà finire prima dell’ora del tramonto.Jacopo (Il blog di Jacopo Ranieri)
Signal stories shows what I want social media to be
Signal stories shows what I want social media to be
I initially didn't understand the point of stories in apps like WhatsApp or Snapchat. I never really used any app with such a feature.SGued
I think we need different terms for the different ways people want to use these services.
Some want to reach the world (old school twitter etc) while others just want to reach friends/family (Facebook etc). I guess others want something more like a messaging service. IDK
Choosing a Linux Distro
Hi there. I m changing away from windows. I already tested some stuff. I started with fedora GNOME. But GNOME wasn't for me I felt. So I did go with Linux mint cinnamon. That felt better but not as snappy and fast as fedora. Then I did go with fedora KDE plasma and man I like KDE plasma. That's a thing for me. Then I tried because of recommendations popos with cosmic. I don't know why but it didn't felt right. So another recommendation later I tried cachy is with KDE. KDE was good but catchy gave me some erros and problems so back to fedora with KDE.
Now my real question.
1. Manjaro Linux is a European distro? Only I often see it with popos and Linux mint and fedora that these are good beginner distros? Is it stable? Customisation in KDE is the same everywhere I guess? Does many people use it? Is it really beginner friendly and snappy? Is it stable?
2. Opensuse also has KDE but it seems that its not a beginner distro. Also online its not often spoken about. Is it harder to use? Or is it beginner friendly? Customisation KDE again. Is it stable or does it break often? Does many people use it.
3. Fedora, manjaro, opensuse? Which off these with KDE is most beginner friendly and stable. Is used much so I can find help when something is going on. Customisable. Stable?
Or any other Good KDE Distros out there.
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OpenSUSE Tumbleweed is excellent and no less beginner friendly than any other major distro, so I wouldn’t worry. It really is one of the most underrated distros out there.
Kubuntu could be a good option for you, but I recommend doing the “Minimal” install to avoid Snaps and bloat.
If you are mostly about gaming and flatpak, then consider Bazzite. You can’t just install packages on Bazzite, so if you need to do things that aren’t already built in then you need to use containers or, as a last resort, create a new layers with rpm-ostree.
For the record, Arch and it’s offshoots don’t especially resonate with me, either. I want my OS to “just work”, but at the same time I want to have the ability to go wild whenever and however I feel like it.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with Bazzite lately and I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to most Linux newbies, especially gamers who want their system to “just work.” It’s also a very interesting system for jaded old Linux users because it works so differently than we’re used to. The “everything needs to be a container” paradigm is very interesting and has a lot of security and stability benefits.
If you want more control and freedom, then OpenSUSE is definitely the best option here. I’d only fallback to Kubuntu if there was some software you need that only ships in .deb and you have no other options. I’m not a fan of Canonical or what they’ve done to the Ubuntu ecosystem.
Golden Age of Iraq
Before war and hardship reshaped its destiny, Iraq flourished in a golden era of art, architecture, and modern life.
Baghdad in the 1950s to '70s was a beacon of culture and intellect where poets, professors, and families shared spaces with sculpted monuments and bustling cafés. Red double-decker buses cruised wide boulevards, fashion echoed European trends, and the spirit of progress filled the air.
This was a nation confidently looking to the future, rich in history and proud of its identity, an Iraq now remembered through photos, memories, and the enduring resilience of its people.
China starts building world’s biggest hydropower dam
Construction of the world’s biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China’s premier has said, calling it the “project of the century”.
The huge structure is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory.Li Qiang made the comments on Saturday, at a ceremony in the region to mark the start of the build, leading Chinese markets to rise on the expectation of the long-planned megaproject, first announced in 2020 as part of China’s 14th five-year plan.
The project announced by Li is planned for the lower reaches of the river, according to the official state news outlet, Xinhua. Xinhua reported that the project would consist of five cascade hydropower stations, producing an estimated 300 million megawatt hours of electricity annually at a cost of about 1.2tn yuan (£124bn).
In comparison, the Three Gorges dam cost 254.2bn yuan and generates 88.2m MWh.
The Yarlung Tsangpo megadam will reportedly harness the power created by the river dropping 2km in about 50km as it winds through a canyon on a U-shaped bend.
India and Bangladesh have voiced concerns over the project, fearing the water could be held or diverted away from them.
In response, officials have said China does not seek “water hegemony” and never pursues “benefits for itself at the expense of its neighbours”.
China starts building world’s biggest hydropower dam
1.2tn yuan project has broken ground in Tibet, premier says, despite fears of downstream nations India and BangladeshHelen Davidson (The Guardian)
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5 cascades is cheating, booooooo
Also, DAMn
The lists goes on with South America and China dunking on everyone else.
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I know about some disadvantages of dams but I'm not sure if - in many regions - we have much of an alternative to buffer water over different seasons. We used to have huge glaciers in the mountains which retained snow in winter and released water in summer. But as more and more glaciers disappear, we have to come up with artificial measures to store water for agriculture, drinking water etc.
If we then can harvest electricity on top, that's a nice byproduct from my perspective.
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China blows up 300 dams, shuts hydropower stations to save Yangtze River habitat
Scientists hope the sturgeon known as the Yangtze’s last giant and other rare species may return to their breeding grounds as a result.Dannie Peng (South China Morning Post)
If I can find a link, I'll update this.
I guess lemmygrad is blocked on that instance? There's people talking about that under your comment.
China is aware of this problem and they recently deconstructed 3 (I think it was 3) dams for that reason. The fact that they are aware and taking action on this awareness leads me to believe that their review process for when to build a dam is a bit more robust than what we've been doing in the West (and what the West has been imposing on its subordinates).
China develops new method to mass-produce high-quality semiconductors
China develops new method to mass-produce high-quality semiconductors
Chinese scientists have developed a novel method for the mass production of high-quality golden semiconductor indium selenide, paving the way for manufacturing a new generation of chips that outperform current silicon-based technology.CGTN
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Why China is surging ahead of Trump’s US in green energy race
Why China is surging ahead of Trump’s America in green energy race
Trump cuts are crippling US clean energy endeavours, while Beijing is building on its title as the world’s largest investor in the sector.Nora Mankel (South China Morning Post)
Technology reshared this.
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What is the exact meaning of the "Banned" label next to a user?
For example, I've come across this:
::: spoiler References
1. Type: User Page. Name: "CanadaRocks" ("@CanadaRocks@piefed.ca"). Publisher: ["Lemmy". "sh.itjust.works"]. Accessed: 2025-07-22T02:07Z. URI: sh.itjust.works/u/CanadaRocks@….
:::
[…] Due to a bug, currently the user can post & comment […]
Do you have a link to the bug?
A hacky, incomplete solution has been running for a while: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issu…
A full solution has been merged, but I don’t think it’s been released yet: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/pull…
Instance banning a remote user should prevent them from participating in remote versions of communities
Requirements Is this a feature request? For questions or discussions use https://lemmy.ml/c/lemmy_support Did you check to see if this issue already exists? Is this only a feature request? Do not p...sunaurus (GitHub)
[…] A full solution has been merged, but I don’t think it’s been released yet: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/pull…
It looks like it's coming with Lemmy 1.0 ^[1]^.
::: spoiler References
1. Type: Comment. Author: "Nutomic". Publisher: [Type: Post. Title: "Open issues on popular lemmy apps to prepare for 1.0.0 release". Author: "dessalines". Publisher: ["GitHub". "LemmyNet/Lemmy"]. Published: 2025-03-15T13:17:39.000Z. URI: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issu….]. Published: 2025-06-02T08:21:42.000Z. Accessed: 2025-07-22T06:26Z. URI: github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issu….
:::
Open issues on popular lemmy apps to prepare for `1.0.0` release
Now that we've fundamentally changed nearly all the data structs, there's no reason to keep an api/v3 in the codebase. Nearly every data structure was changed with #5482 . As one example: GET /comm...dessalines (GitHub)
Yes. It "blocks" the user. Afaik it should prevent the banned user from interacting with communities from the instance they were banned from and also the instance will no longer accept any new interactions from the user (local users cant see new content of that user, like PMs, comments, etc.)
Additionally, their content can also be removed, but that is optional.
Hrm, I have a suspicion that it was a false positive by the automod (maybe it didn't like "kill this idea"?):
Update (2025-07-22T02:37Z): The moderation action was a false positive, and has been reverted ^[2]^.
::: spoiler References
1. Type: Webpage. Title: "Modlog". Publisher: ["Lemmy". "sh.itjust.works"]. Accessed: 2025-07-22T02:31Z. URI: sh.itjust.works/modlog?actionT….
2. Type: Message. Author: "InEnduringGrowStrong" (@inenduringgrowstrong:matrix.org). Publisher: ["Matrix". "sh.itjust.works"]. Published: 2025-07-22T02:36Z. Accessed: 2025-07-22T02:40Z. URI: matrix.to/#%2F%21ftaqqnpOePvPw….
:::
Matrix - Decentralised and secure communication
You're invited to talk on Matrix. If you don't already have a client this link will help you pick one, and join the conversation. If you already have one, this link will help you join the conversationmatrix.to
They also can’t send direct messages to users on that instance.
Can a user on the banning instance message the banned user? If so, can the banned user reply?
Can a user on the banning instance message the banned user?
I’ve never tried it so I’m not sure.
If so, can the banned user reply?
I’ve never tried this either, but I highly doubt it.
U.S. manufacturers are stuck in a rut despite subsidies from Biden and protection from Trump
U.S. manufacturers are stuck in a rut despite subsidies from Biden and protection from Trump
Democrats and Republicans don’t agree on much, but they share a conviction that the government should help American manufacturers, one way or another.The Associated Press (CTVNews)
Near-collision between B-52 and SkyWest jet was caught on camera
Near-collision between B-52 and SkyWest jet was caught on camera
A concertgoer at the North Dakota State Fair recorded footage of a B-52 bomber and a SkyWest jet on a collision course, but he didn't realize he was watching a potential disaster unfolding before his very eyes.Janhvi Bhojwani (NBC News)
My young interns had never seen The Website is Down
My 2 interns, 20 and 22 had never seen this internet classic.
I thought I would have to call 911 because they were laughing so hard.
Hi, your post got removed. This community does not allow videos.
Please check the rules in the sidebar.
,Thank you.
MAGA acolyte Marjorie Taylor Greene votes alongside Tlaib and Omar to cut US funding for Israel
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/33488629
By MEE staff
Published date: 18 July 2025 20:59 BST
Hardline America Firster and staunch Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene voted alongside progressive Democrat Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to strip Israel of $500m in US funding, hours after it bombed the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza.The House of Representatives, however, rejected in a 422-6 vote on Thursday, to cut funding for the Israeli Cooperative Program - an agreement through which the US provides Israel with $500m to boost its missile programmes.
It is a separate allocation from the $3.3bn the US sends Israel as "security assistance" every year.
MAGA acolyte Marjorie Taylor Greene votes alongside Tlaib and Omar to cut US funding for Israel
By MEE staff
Published date: 18 July 2025 20:59 BSTHardline America Firster and staunch Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene voted alongside progressive Democrat Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to strip Israel of $500m in US funding, hours after it bombed the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza.The House of Representatives, however, rejected in a 422-6 vote on Thursday, to cut funding for the Israeli Cooperative Program - an agreement through which the US provides Israel with $500m to boost its missile programmes.
It is a separate allocation from the $3.3bn the US sends Israel as "security assistance" every year.
Maga acolyte Marjorie Taylor Greene votes alongside Tlaib and Omar to cut US funding for Israel
Hardline America Firster and staunch Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene voted alongside progressive Democrat Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to strip Israel of $500m in US funding, hours after it bombed the Holy Family Catholic Church …MEE staff (Middle East Eye)
like this
MAGA acolyte Marjorie Taylor Greene votes alongside Tlaib and Omar to cut US funding for Israel
By MEE staff
Published date: 18 July 2025 20:59 BST
Hardline America Firster and staunch Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene voted alongside progressive Democrat Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to strip Israel of $500m in US funding, hours after it bombed the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza.The House of Representatives, however, rejected in a 422-6 vote on Thursday, to cut funding for the Israeli Cooperative Program - an agreement through which the US provides Israel with $500m to boost its missile programmes.
It is a separate allocation from the $3.3bn the US sends Israel as "security assistance" every year.
Maga acolyte Marjorie Taylor Greene votes alongside Tlaib and Omar to cut US funding for Israel
Hardline America Firster and staunch Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene voted alongside progressive Democrat Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to strip Israel of $500m in US funding, hours after it bombed the Holy Family Catholic Church …MEE staff (Middle East Eye)
like this
Scapegoating the Algorithm: America’s epistemic challenges run deeper than social media.
Many people sense that the United States is undergoing an epistemic crisis, a breakdown in the country’s collective capacity to agree on basic facts, distinguish truth from falsehood, and adhere to norms of rational debate.This crisis encompasses many things: rampant political lies; misinformation; and conspiracy theories; widespread beliefs in demonstrable falsehoods (“misperceptions”); intense polarization in preferred information sources; and collapsing trust in institutions meant to uphold basic standards of truth and evidence (such as science, universities, professional journalism, and public health agencies).
According to survey data, over 60% of Republicans believe Joe Biden’s presidency was illegitimate. 20% of Americans think vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent, and 36% think the specific risks of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh their benefits. Only 31% of Americans have at least a “fair amount” of confidence in mainstream media, while a record-high 36% have no trust at all.
What is driving these problems? One influential narrative blames social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter (now X), and YouTube. In the most extreme form of this narrative, such platforms are depicted as technological wrecking balls responsible for shattering the norms and institutions that kept citizens tethered to a shared reality, creating an informational Wild West dominated by viral falsehoods, bias-confirming echo chambers, and know-nothing punditry.
The timing is certainly suspicious. Facebook launched in 2004, YouTube in 2005, and Twitter in 2006. As they and other platforms acquired hundreds of millions of users over the next decade, the health of American democracy and its public sphere deteriorated. By 2016, when Donald Trump was first elected president, many experts were writing about a new “post-truth” or “misinformation” age.
Moreover, the fundamental architecture of social media platforms seems hostile to rational discourse. Algorithms that recommend content prioritize engagement over accuracy. This can amplify sensational and polarizing material or bias-confirming content, which can drag users into filter bubbles. Meanwhile, the absence of traditional gatekeepers means that influencers with no expertise or ethical scruples can reach vast audiences.
The dangerous consequences of these problems seem obvious to many casual observers of social media. And some scientific research corroborates this widespread impression. For example, a systematic review of nearly five hundred studies finds suggestive evidence for a link between digital media use and declining political trust, increasing populism, and growing polarization. Evidence also consistently shows an association between social media use and beliefs in conspiracy theories and misinformation.
But there are compelling reasons to be skeptical that social media is a leading cause of America’s epistemic challenges. The “wrecking ball” narrative exaggerates the novelty of these challenges, overstates social media’s responsibility for them, and overlooks deeper political and institutional problems that are reflected on social media, not created by it.
The platforms are not harmless. They may accelerate worrying trends, amplify fringe voices, and facilitate radicalization. However, the current balance of evidence suggests that the most consequential drivers of America’s large-scale epistemic challenges run much deeper than algorithms.
Scapegoating the Algorithm—Asterisk
America’s epistemic challenges run deeper than social media.asteriskmag.com
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/33487836
By MEE staff
Published date: 21 July 2025 21:11 BSTThe New York lawmaker voted against an amendment by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene last week that sought to block $500m in Congress' annual defence spending bill for Israel's Iron Dome programme.
Fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar [as well as Democrats Al Green of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - PL] had supported Taylor Greene's amendment, which eventually lost in a 422-6 vote.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Greene's amendment did "nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza".
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel
By MEE staff
Published date: 21 July 2025 21:11 BSTThe New York lawmaker voted against an amendment by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene last week that sought to block $500m in Congress' annual defence spending bill for Israel's Iron Dome programme.
Fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar [as well as Democrats Al Green of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - PL] had supported Taylor Greene's amendment, which eventually lost in a 422-6 vote.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Greene's amendment did "nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza".
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel
US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has come under fire for defending her decision to support a bill which will see more military aid go to Israel's Iron Dome air defence system.MEE staff (Middle East Eye)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/33487836
By MEE staff
Published date: 21 July 2025 21:11 BSTThe New York lawmaker voted against an amendment by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene last week that sought to block $500m in Congress' annual defence spending bill for Israel's Iron Dome programme.
Fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar [as well as Democrats Al Green of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - PL] had supported Taylor Greene's amendment, which eventually lost in a 422-6 vote.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Greene's amendment did "nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza".
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel
By MEE staff
Published date: 21 July 2025 21:11 BSTThe New York lawmaker voted against an amendment by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene last week that sought to block $500m in Congress' annual defence spending bill for Israel's Iron Dome programme.
Fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar [as well as Democrats Al Green of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - PL] had supported Taylor Greene's amendment, which eventually lost in a 422-6 vote.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Greene's amendment did "nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza".
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel
US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has come under fire for defending her decision to support a bill which will see more military aid go to Israel's Iron Dome air defence system.MEE staff (Middle East Eye)
like this
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/33487836
By MEE staff
Published date: 21 July 2025 21:11 BSTThe New York lawmaker voted against an amendment by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene last week that sought to block $500m in Congress' annual defence spending bill for Israel's Iron Dome programme.
Fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar [as well as Democrats Al Green of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - PL] had supported Taylor Greene's amendment, which eventually lost in a 422-6 vote.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Greene's amendment did "nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza".
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel
By MEE staff
Published date: 21 July 2025 21:11 BSTThe New York lawmaker voted against an amendment by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene last week that sought to block $500m in Congress' annual defence spending bill for Israel's Iron Dome programme.
Fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar [as well as Democrats Al Green of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - PL] had supported Taylor Greene's amendment, which eventually lost in a 422-6 vote.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Greene's amendment did "nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza".
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel
US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has come under fire for defending her decision to support a bill which will see more military aid go to Israel's Iron Dome air defence system.MEE staff (Middle East Eye)
like this
Israeli special forces abduct director of hospital in Gaza
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/33488385
By Alex MacDonald
Published date: 21 July 2025 14:50 BST
The Palestinian health ministry said on Monday that Hams, who also oversees field hospitals in the Gaza Strip, was on his way to visit the ICRC facility in northern Rafah when undercover Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing one person and wounding another civilian, before capturing him.The person killed was a local journalist who had been conducting an interview with al-Hams at the time of the attack.
Israeli special forces abduct director of hospital in Gaza
By Alex MacDonald
Published date: 21 July 2025 14:50 BSTThe Palestinian health ministry said on Monday that Hams, who also oversees field hospitals in the Gaza Strip, was on his way to visit the ICRC facility in northern Rafah when undercover Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing one person and wounding another civilian, before capturing him.The person killed was a local journalist who had been conducting an interview with al-Hams at the time of the attack.
Israeli special forces abduct director of hospital in Gaza
Israeli special forces have abducted Dr Marwan al-Hams, director of Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital and spokesperson for the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza, outside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) field hospital in the souther…Alex MacDonald (Middle East Eye)
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prole
in reply to Davriellelouna • • •CosmoNova
in reply to prole • • •meco03211
in reply to Davriellelouna • • •gezginorman
in reply to Davriellelouna • • •egrets
in reply to gezginorman • • •Phoenixz
in reply to Davriellelouna • • •Echo Dot
in reply to Davriellelouna • • •If openai can find a use for the government that'll be swell.
They tend to get it under everybody's feet otherwise.