Is Meta Scraping the Fediverse for AI?
Building on some initial reports coming from the FediPact account and Dropsite news, we dive into potential measures admins can take for their instances.
Is Meta Scraping the Fediverse for AI?
A new report from Dropsite News makes the claim that Meta is allegedly scraping a large amount of independent sites for content to train their AI. What’s worse is that this scraping operation appears to completely disregardrobots.txt, a control list used to tell crawlers, search engines, and bots which parts of a site should be accessed, and which parts should be avoided. It’s worth mentioning that the efficacy of such lists depend on the consuming software to honor this, and not every piece of software does.Meta Denies All Wrongdoing
Andy Stone, a communications representative for Meta, has gone on record by claiming that the list is bogus, and the story is incorrect. Unfortunately, the spread of Dropsite’s story is relatively small, and there haven’t been any other public statements about the list at this time. This makes it difficult to adequately critique the initial story, but the concept is nevertheless a wakeup call.However, it’s worth acknowledging Meta’s ongoing efforts to scrape data from many different sources. This includes user data, vast amounts of published books, and independent websites not part of Meta’s sprawling online infrastructure. Given that the Fediverse is very much a public network, it’s not surprising to see instances getting caught in Meta’s net.
Purportedly Affected Instances
The FediPact account has dug in to the leaked PDF, and a considerable amount of Fediverse instances appear on the list. The document itself is 1,659 pages of URLs, so we were able to filter down a number of matches based on keywords. Please keep in mind that these only account for sites that use a platform’s name in the domain:
- Mastodon: 46 matches
- Lemmy: 6 matches
- PeerTube: 46 matches
There are likely considerably more unique domain matches in the list for a variety of platforms. Admins are advised to review whether their own instances are documented there. Even if your instance’s domain isn’t on the list, consider whether your instance is federating with something on the list. Due to the way federation works, cached copies of posts from other parts of the network can still show up on an instance that’s been crawled.
Access the Leaked List
We are mirroring this document for posterity, in case the original article is taken offline.Protective Measures to Take
Regardless of the accuracy of the Dropsite News article, there’s an open question as to what admins can do to protect their instances from being scraped. Due to the nature of the situation, there is likely no singular silver bullet to solve these problems, but there are a few different measures that admins can take:
- Establish Community Terms of Service – Establish a Terms of Service for your instance that explicitly calls out scraping for the purposes of data collection and LLM training specifically. While it may have little to no effect on Meta’s own scraping efforts, it at least establishes precedence and a paper trail for your own server community’s expectations and consent.
- Request Data Removal – Meta has a form buried within the Facebook Privacy Center that could be used to submit a formal complaint regarding instance data and posts being part of their AI training data. Whether or not Meta does anything is a matter of debate, but it’s nevertheless an option.
- (EU-Only) Send a GDPR Form – Similar to the above step, but try to get the request in front of Meta’s GDPR representatives that have to deal with compliance.
- Establish Blocking Measures Anyway: Even if private companies can still choose to disregard things like
robots.txtand HTTP Headers such asX-Robots-Tag: noindex, you can still reduce the attack surface of your site from AI agents that do actually honor those things.- Set Up a Firewall: one popular software package that’s seeing a lot of recent adoption for blocking AI traffic is Anubis, which has configurable policies that you can adjust as needed to handle different kinds of traffic.
- Use Zip Bombs: When all else fails, take measures into your own hands. On the server side, use an Nginx or Apache configuration to detect specific User Agents associated with AI, and serve them ever-expanding compressed archives to slow them down.
In all reality, fighting against AI scraping is still a relatively new problem that’s complicated by lack of clear regulation, and companies deciding to do whatever they want. The best we can do for our communities is to adopt protective measures and stay informed of new developments in the space.
Block AI Bots, Scrapers And Crawlers - A Simple Overview - WebLynx
When it comes to blocking AI bots, scrapers and crawlers, you have a few different options, depending on your web platform and how aggressive you wish to beJimmy Julajak (WebLynx)
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Azerbaijan | Aliyev approves $2 million energy aid to Kyiv following Russian strikes on Azeri-linked sites in Ukraine
The allocated funds will be used to purchase and ship Azerbaijani-made electrical equipment from the president's 2025 reserve fund.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/kyivindepend…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
Wikipedia loses UK Safety Act challenge, worries it will have to verify user IDs
Wikipedia loses UK Safety Act challenge, worries it will have to verify user IDs
Judge tossed claim but said UK must not “significantly impede” Wikipedia operations.Jon Brodkin (Ars Technica)
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Here's one way to fix this that might even overturn the law. Turn off Wikipedia in the UK. Put a big banner up on the homepage that says, we have turned off Wikipedia in your country because of your government. Here's how to use a VPN to access our content.
Edit: Make it apologetic and conciliatory. Like, we're sorry, we've had to disable Wikipedia in your region because of your government's draconian policies. If you would like to visit our content, please use a VPN. If you need help learning to use a VPN and then link to a here's how page
I read from another comment somewhere that the law or whatever said that they should not promote a VPN, not that they could not promote a VPN. Those are two totally different words.
However, your way is probably safer and not reliant on language.
Correct, as it has to. In addition to behavior, CheckUsers use IP addresses to help identify sockpuppets. If you could bypass the exemption by just saying "here's a new account; pls exempt", it would quickly become common knowledge among sockmasters that all they need is to quickly ask and be accepted days later.
At that point, the block on proxy editing near-completely fails at one of its main functions.
I'd disagree with the notion "it has to". The chilling effect on a large number of new wiki contributors could be considered more detrimental than weakening sock puppet protection. (IE if a huge country suddenly started jailing people who make edits not considered state-approved)
I suspect there are plenty of ways to allow new accounts to make edits on a smaller subset of articles until they have passed some threshold of trust which could minimize the sock puppet abuse.
Point is everything is a give and take.
I don't know where you live, but I have never seen a library having age verification for consulting anything.
Only age verification was for a membership card, which is rarely mandatory to consult.
I live in reality and actually pay attention to the shit around me. I also look shit up when people are talking out thwir ass and it obvious they never set foot in a library.
- Brent Council – Library Conditions of Use
brent.gov.uk/libraries-arts-an… - University of Edinburgh – Child Access to the Library
library.ed.ac.uk/using-library… - Bristol City Council – Library Regulations
bristol.gov.uk/files/documents… - Merton Libraries – Terms and Conditions
libraries.merton.gov.uk/digita… - Hillingdon Council – Child Safeguarding Procedures in Our Libraries
hillingdon.gov.uk/article/4100… - Surrey County Council – Provision of Public Access Terminals and Wi-Fi in Libraries Policy
surreycc.gov.uk/libraries/your… - Milton Keynes Council – Library Parental Consent
milton-keynes.gov.uk/libraries… - Waltham Forest Council – Libraries Terms and Conditions
walthamforest.gov.uk/libraries…
Policy for child access to the University Library | Library | Library
This policy is intended to enable parents and carers accompanied by children to access the University Library and to ensure the safety of children.Library
Did you even read the conversation you're replying to???
Only the Surrey County Council indicates anything about restricting access to the library on the basis of age, and that is on the basis of not allowing unaccompanied children under 11 into the library
No other link mentions anything about restricting access to nonfiction materials because of age...
So this is the level of edication and reading comprehension in here. Pathetic
brent.gov.uk/libraries-arts-an…
If you are under 16, you will need your parent or guardian to sign a membership form for you.
Books and other materials may be borrowed by:
anyone aged 16 and over.
children and young people under the age of 16 on the recommendation of a parent or guardian.
parents or carers of children aged 12 – 15 will need to sign a consent form before they can borrow
DVDs.
library.ed.ac.uk/using-library…
• Risk assessments have been carried for children under 16. For the safety of children, the University Regulations do not permit a child to use any library equipment, including computing equipment, nor to use any device on the University wireless network.
• School pupils aged 14 to 16 may, under special circumstances and by arrangement with the library, obtain a Library Reference Card allowing independent access. Young persons aged 16 over are entitled to obtain a Library Reference Card by meeting the registration requirements.
bristol.gov.uk/files/documents…
Subject to the General Provisions of these Regulations books may be borrowed by any person of the
age of 14 years or over who completes and signs the appropriate form of application provided by the
Library Authority and who furnishes such proof of identity as the Librarian may require. Books may be
borrowed by children aged 13 years and below on completion of the appropriate form of application
signed by the parent or guardian.
- Any person over the age of 14 and such others as the Librarian may permit, may enter the Reference
Library or Reading Room and when so required shall sign the book provided for the purpose.
libraries.merton.gov.uk/digita…
A parent or guardian must counter-sign the membership card for new members that are under the age of 16.
All children under the age of 15 must be accompanied by an adult.Please note children aged 11-15 may enter Libraries Plus unaccompanied but with parental consent.
A parent or guardian must supervise any child under the age of 11. Parents and/or guardians are required to take responsibility for the materials used and borrowed by members under the age of 16.
(straight up call the law on your ass)
Library staff will not take responsibility for children of any age left unattended in the library. Staff may contact Children’s Social Care if a child under eleven is left alone or if there are concerns over a child’s wellbeing.
Adult restrictions:
Adults are not permitted to work or be situated in the children’s library if they are not utilising the children’s services or looking after a child/young person. Lone adults will be directed by staff to alternative seating and facilities in the main library.
hillingdon.gov.uk/article/4100…
Under-16s must bring a valid membership card each time they visit a library if they want to use a computer.
Children's computers are available at all libraries and can be used by children aged 11 and under with a valid membership library card.
Under-11s cannot use our express PC express service.
Under-11s may only use the internet under the adult supervision of a parent or guardian.
Our library service offers free wifi to anyone aged 11 and over.
Under-11s attending an event in the library will need to be accompanied by a parent/carer (unless otherwise stated).
Under-5s must never be left unsupervised at any time.
Children need to be at least 14-years-old in order to look after children ages 8 and over.
Children under 8 must be with a parent or responsible adult (aged 18 or over).
We try our best to make our libraries safe and welcoming. However, as a public service, we can never fully guarantee child safety. Therefore, no child under the age of 11 can visit without parent/carer supervision.
If a child under the age of 11 visits the library unsupervised, staff will follow the relevant safeguarding procedures, which include contacting the parent/carer, and alerting the police, social services or their school.
(the only one you were able to comprehend and it's the LEAST restrictive, misdirection much)
surreycc.gov.uk/libraries/your…
If you are under 16 years of age you will need the written permission of your parent or guardian to use library computers.
milton-keynes.gov.uk/libraries…
In order to access the IT facilities, children and young people under the age of 16 must be registered library members.
A parent or legal guardian must be present for children under 16 to join the library and by joining a child to the library they agree to the child having access to IT facilities including the Internet.
Children and young people under the age of 16 will have access to the computers in our libraries with their library card.
walthamforest.gov.uk/libraries…
A parent or guardian must counter-sign the membership card for new members that are under the age of 16.
Children under the age of 8 must be supervised at all times by their parent or guardian who must also monitor any use by children of public access computers.
Parents and/or guardians are required to be responsible for the materials used and borrowed by members under the age of 16.
Deleting the truth wont make it go away.
Policy for child access to the University Library | Library | Library
This policy is intended to enable parents and carers accompanied by children to access the University Library and to ensure the safety of children.Library
are you dumb?
none of the links you posted talk about restrictions on certain materials within libraries, e.g. all of them allow you access any information at any time.
ALL of the links you posted talk about restrictions on the membership registration process, not what you can and can't borrow from the library.
this isn't about censorship, it's just about establishing who you call when a kid misbehaves on library grounds or damages something the library owns.
that's why a guardian is required to co-sign memberships: kids break shit. like, all the time!
Yes every single one of them does. do you not know how access fucking works. You cant even be in there until certain ages. Youre not allowed to access material until a registered known adult approves. Theyre not allowed on computers without approval or oversight. Tjeyre not allowed into certain areas of the libraries without approval and access.
If this is the reading comorehension level over there they really need to reconsider some these.
The EU approach to age verification
The European Commission is working towards an EU-harmonised approach to age verification.Shaping Europe’s digital future
I'm generally more annoyed at how the early enthusiasm of participation on the site has died out in the face of paranoia and moderator mania. There are so many gaps in both the modern and historical backlog of citations and categorizations. But do I want to invest dozens of hours contributing to a site where a few admins are just going to tear all my work back out again on a bureaucratic technicality?
It is a site that's alternatively being strangled to death by admins fearful of malicious actors and tore apart by wave after wave of sinister propagandists and hostile agents.
And yet I’m sure you read it pretty regularly, and it’s a net good in your life. It’s easy to focus on the negatives and miss what an absolute treasure it still is.
Edit: and it seems it’s been a while since you were a young student and have forgotten what that experience is like. You know many things now, but you didn’t start that way.
I’m sure you read it pretty regularly
I've found it less and less capable of keeping up with current events. Enshittification truly comes for us all.
It’s easy to focus on the negatives and miss what an absolute treasure it still is.
As a historical artifact and a demonstration of the potential for open-sourced editing, it's a milestone. But we're clearly in the twilight of the Wikipedia era.
However the vast majority of human knowledge isn’t current events.
Broadly speaking, everything was a current event at some point. As Wikipedia calcifies, it loses the ability to capture and collate new information as it is produced.
Even if Wikipedia were to never get updated again it is still extremely useful.
In the same way as any dated encyclopedia, sure. I've got a copy of my dad's childhood encyclopedia, dated to 1954. Lots of interesting factoids in there, assuming your interest in the world is satisfied by an English speaking editor's ability to consolidate the information available to his firm at their publishing deadline.
On its face... maybe? Until the Foundation falls into the hands of malicious management, anyway.
But do I trust that a public website can't have their security breached by malicious actors? Of course not.
But with the need of an ID to access the fucking Wikipedia, UK is on the best way to emulate NC in the near future.
KOREA CENTRAL TV (LIVESTREAM) | KCNA Watch
Watch Korea Central TV live from Pyongyang using the below player. This service, which is for the purpose of research and private study, is provided free of charge. Schedule Information: News broadcasts take place at 5.00pm, 8pm and 10.KCNA Watch
The west is literally helping identify and kill journalists who are reporting on their genocide.
And it’s not even a new thing. Julian Assange was targeted by the US for exposing their assassination of journalists. No consequences for the assassins. And the UK & EU enthusiastically participated in helping the US in this.
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Wtf are you being downvoted, you're absolutely right.
The fact that people are so powerless that only corps can fight this shit is maddening.
I've said it before, the UK populace has lost all privileges to make fun of Americans, they are as batshit as the trumpets here.
You mean Wikipedia will bow down to a Western government and obey their every command?
Do you think Wikipedia would make special exceptions for China or Russia?
geneva_convenience doesn't like this.
Wikipedia doesn't have to do shit.
Let them break their internet until they fix it.
In India, Trump's tariffs spark calls to boycott American goods
From McDonald's and Coca-Cola to Amazon and Apple, U.S.-based multinationals are facing calls for a boycott in India as business executives and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supporters stoke anti-American sentiment to protest against U.S. tariffs.
Archived version: archive.is/20250811152120/reut…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
EU to channel $1.7 billion from frozen Russian assets to repay Ukraine's loans
This marks the third such transfer, covering income generated in the first half of 2025. Previous tranches were disbursed in July 2024 and April 2025.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/kyivindepend…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
Australia to recognise Palestinian state in September
It follows similar moves by the UK, France and Canada.
Archived version: archive.is/20250811104845/bbc.…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
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French report links Nestlé bottled waters to record microplastic contamination
French investigators have uncovered microplastic contamination in two of Nestlé’s top mineral water brands, sparking a renewed legal battle and fresh calls for tougher environmental regulation.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/rfi.fr/en/en…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
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Ukrainian drones reportedly strike oil plant almost 2,000 km inside Russia
Locals have reported internet disruptions around the refinery.
Archived version: archive.is/20250811010318/tvpw…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
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Just got a new GPU, why is it so hard to use it?
Hey all, just got a Geforce 5070 to replace my 2070 from years ago. Ubuntu's been pretty smooth sailing for me until now, and I'm not exactly the best at navigating this stuff.
When Ubuntu starts to boot, the GPU stops outputting display to my monitor. As though it doesn't detect the new GPU. I tried putting the 2070 back in and downloading the 570 drivers but it didn't change anything. I found a tutorial for what seemed to be my issue that asked me to change the kernel, but halfway through the tutorial, commands that worked on their machine started failing on mine. I wish I'd documented what the error messages were because when I went to poke around more today, I got a message about kernel panic and can't even boot with the 2070. Where do I go from here?
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Mon Aug 11 19:17:03 2025
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 570.158.01 Driver Version: 570.158.01 CUDA Version: 12.8 |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU Name Persistence-M | Bus-Id Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan Temp Perf Pwr:Usage/Cap | Memory-Usage | GPU-Util Compute M. |
| | | MIG M. |
|=========================================+========================+======================|
| 0 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 ... Off | 00000000:09:00.0 On | N/A |
| 0% 37C P8 18W / 235W | 481MiB / 8192MiB | 2% Default |
| | | N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes: |
| GPU GI CI PID Type Process name GPU Memory |
| ID ID Usage |
|=========================================================================================|
| 0 N/A N/A 2099 G /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg 143MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 2358 G /usr/bin/gnome-shell 105MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 2950 G ...exec/xdg-desktop-portal-gnome 10MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 5684 G .../6565/usr/lib/firefox/firefox 167MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 8244 G /usr/bin/nautilus 13MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 8333 G ...tcher-linux-x64/balena-etcher 20MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Well the driver is loaded, and you have processes engaged with it, so it's functional.
If you're losing output, maybe you have a conflict with the nouveau driver. Have you blacklisted it?
Honestly I haven't even heard of a nouveau driver. I sure haven't blacklisted it.
To be clear I got this output with my old GPU. Not sure how I would get to the command terminal with the new one.
You need to run these commands on the machine having the problem. Giving output from another machine doesn't help solve anything.
If you're getting dead output on your 5070, it means the driver is more than likely NOT loaded, so the output will be different.
Boot the 5070, and when you get a black screen, hit ALT+F2 to drop to a console shell. Login, and run 'nvidia-smi', and you should get something that confirms it's loaded, or something that says it is not loaded.
If it's not loaded, it means you haven't installed the drivers (you sure you did?). Check your packages, make sure the driver is properly installed, then do this to blacklist the nouveau driver which may be in conflict.
Reboot. See if it works.
If you have at least Ubuntu 24.10 and the NVIDIA 570.133.07 driver installed with the 2070, it should be plug and play with the new card.
If you put the 2070 in are you able to get a working system?
Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS Released with Bug Fixes and Security Updates
Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS is now officially available, powered by Linux kernel 6.14, and featuring critical security updates and bug fixes.Bobby Borisov (Linuxiac)
Can you run nvidia-smi and confirm you're on the 570 driver?
Also after you do a failed boot with the 5070 put the 2070 back in and try run this command journalctl -b -1 -p 0..2
to check the log from the previous boot and filter for only high priority issues. This should give some insight on whats failing when you try and boot with the 5070.
Another dumb check but have you got the display cables plugged into the gpu?
Nvidia-smi output:
Mon Aug 11 19:17:03 2025
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 570.158.01 Driver Version: 570.158.01 CUDA Version: 12.8 |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| GPU Name Persistence-M | Bus-Id Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan Temp Perf Pwr:Usage/Cap | Memory-Usage | GPU-Util Compute M. |
| | | MIG M. |
|=========================================+========================+======================|
| 0 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 ... Off | 00000000:09:00.0 On | N/A |
| 0% 37C P8 18W / 235W | 481MiB / 8192MiB | 2% Default |
| | | N/A |
+-----------------------------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes: |
| GPU GI CI PID Type Process name GPU Memory |
| ID ID Usage |
|=========================================================================================|
| 0 N/A N/A 2099 G /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg 143MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 2358 G /usr/bin/gnome-shell 105MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 2950 G ...exec/xdg-desktop-portal-gnome 10MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 5684 G .../6565/usr/lib/firefox/firefox 167MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 8244 G /usr/bin/nautilus 13MiB |
| 0 N/A N/A 8333 G ...tcher-linux-x64/balena-etcher 20MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I hate to be the jerk but it's because you got Nvidia. Intel and AMD cards enjoy significantly better graphics card support.
I would also try a different distribution that's known for having more recent kernels and faster development. Something like Manjaro is actually a pretty good fit for this situation.
I hate to be the jerk but it’s because you got Nvidia
No its not. The nvidia 5070 works on linux and has for a while now.
I would also try a different distribution that’s known for having more recent kernels and faster development. Something like Manjaro is actually a pretty good fit for this situation.
We really need to avoid just suggesting a different distro as the solution. In this case it makes no sense, they're running kernel 6.14 and the Nvidia driver is out of kernel. Phoronix benchmarked the 5070 running an older version of ubuntu and still got good performance and it worked well. That means their version of ubuntu which is new enough to support it. Im not sure what the issue is but I think switching distro's is a last resort once you've tried everything else.
Great but it's not working out of the box and clearly that was the expectation.
AMD has built in support so no extra steps needed.
Ubuntu has a history of not having the latest kernels and having spotty support for new hardware.
Sure you can fix it but again the out of the box expectation.
We can agree that it should work and can work and I don't disagree that always suggestions a different distribution is not generally helpful but watching people suffer trying to get Ubuntu working is a sore spot for me.
Its not an out of the box installation. He has an existing ubuntu installation and is upgrading the GPU. We can always be like oh you ran into a single issue, just get rid of your hardware and swap to an entirely new distro. Thats a worst case solution to the problem.
AMD has built in support so no extra steps needed.
Doesnt matter, he isnt asking about an AMD card.
Ubuntu has a history of not having the latest kernels and having spotty support for new hardware.
Its actually the opposite, ubuntu generally has very good hardware support. Cannonical work with vendors to test hardware works on their platform. The 5070 phronix benchmarks were done on ubuntu. Suggesting its a distro issue is ignoring the problem
In this case, a different distro is the exact thing to be suggested. They are looking for out of the box support functionally speaking.
Which case if they want something that is newer than they really should be on a distro that is focused on newer support. Such as Arch or Fedora. Ubuntu, mint and other distros based on Debian all share the same problem of depending on where you are in the release cycle, you can be wildly out of date. Even if you have a newer colonel, there can be weird. Incompatibility and funky problems that occur.
Generally speaking, there is a very good reason why every single distribution that is focused specifically on video card support, gaming modern hardware is Arch or fedora based.
Frankly, for a lot of normal users who aren't used to Linux or just want things to work out of the box with no fiddling and good documentation. Then they really should just be avoiding Debian and Ubuntu base distributions.
They're great if you have newish but a couple years old hardware and you just want something that is Rock solid out of the box and you don't plan to ever fiddle with it.
But for someone running a 5080 and likely is gaming, they should just be on cachy or bazzite. We're installing your drivers setting up proton setting up steam, setting up everything. A gamer or someone trying to do any sort of advanced graphical s*** is quite literally a one-button process. With the dev team working on the distribution explicitly going out of their way to make sure the support for new hardware is as seamless and stupid proof as possible.
Would suggest cachy over Manjaro if you are explicitly looking for video card support since it's focused very heavily on making sure gaming is supported.
I've run into a lot of cases where things that get kind of iffy on endeavor or Manjaro work just fine on cachy because of their extra work they put in for this use case.
I find with multiple video ports, its best to plug in all of them till you figure out which ones work.
Nvidia is not well supported, and most video cards have problems in Linux. Generally, if you have to use a proprietary driver, it will have specific issues. The free drivers will just be buggy.
Best is to see what cards are known to work well. There are maintained, well there used to be, lists of hardware that works well.
If you installed proprietary drivers, they are often difficult to remove. There is not always instructions on how to uninstall. So part of your problems might be the drivers.
My 2080 has issues and cuts off part of the screen on Linux mint. My 6700xt and amd setup would never. I switched and tried every driver. I've never used nvidia. Anyone have advice?
Edit: it was some stupid AI scaler on the SmArT TV. What joke.
cuts off part of the screen
this happens to me if i use nouveau. i solve this by installing the driver and setting the correct refresh rate.
what are the system logs saying about it? have you tested the card on another machine/os?
did you delete the nvidia config files between reinstalls?
alright go back to nouveau then try a complete purge with sudo apt purge *nvidia* && sudo apt autoremove -y && sudo apt autoclean
and delete all the leftover nvidia files you can find. namely the .nvidia-settings-rc on your home directory, but check xorg.conf for any weirdness. then reinstall the latest driver.
beyond that changing to x11 or vice versa can help. i know the cinnamon de in mint has issues with nvidia sometimes, testing it out on gnome or kde is a good idea too.
not to mention using an ssd from a previous computer complicates stuff a bit further, doing a clean install might prove useful too.
in any case, here's a resource for debugging it further: docs.lambda.ai/education/linux…
wish you luck. nvidia mostly works well with the major des nowadays, but can still be annoying as fuck when it has issues. if nothing works, hit me up again and i'll see what i can do to help.
Using the nvidia-bug-report.log file to troubleshoot your system - Lambda Docs
Lambda GPU Cloud documentationdocs.lambda.ai
return to stock kernel, uninstall and completely purge the old drivers through another TTY. make sure to delete nvidia configs and files from your home directory, then install the new ones with ubuntu-drivers install.
this usually does it for me when it comes to nvidia weirdness.
You fucked up by buying Nvidia first off. But you have to use the open source drivers Nvidia doesn't officially fully support their newest cards on the closed source ones.
Should be a simple switch over and your good to go.
In the future never buy Nvidia if you are going to use their newest generation they always lag a full generation behind for proper support. It's absurd.
Your second fuck up is using Ubuntu. If you want to use the most recent generation of hardware your option is basically arch or get fucked over to some degree.
Ubuntu lags behind by sometimes over two years in hardware support. This is true of every Debian and Ubuntu based os. Mint and popos and some fedora distros have the same problem. Tho fedora tends to be far better with this. They just are all over the place with how fast they push things. So very case by case basis.
You basically need to be on bleeding edge kernel and packages for proper support.
This is the biggest reason gaming focused distros are all arch with the expections of bazzite which is at least based on fedora which also tends to push things really fast.
Simply put. You want nice hardware support for new harder? Pick arch and stick to AMD. Or at least go with fedora.
Stay away from Debian/Ubuntu/mint/popos. They are great till you want hardware support for anything newer then 1 to 2 years old depending on where in the release cycle you are.
I mean, there are quite a few others than Arch+family that package a very recent kernel too. Fedora as you mentioned, but also NixOS, openSUSE Tumbleweed and even Gentoo if you're that kind of a person. I bet I missed some.
But yeah Ubuntu is not necessarily one of them
A few things in this post are not accurate. The 5070 is supported by the nVidia Linux drivers since version 570.124.04. There's also absolutely nothing wrong with using Ubuntu. They have a PPA for the newer nVidia drivers, which work fine with the current LTS release.
OP doesn't say what kernel they're running, or what version of Ubuntu. That would be useful information to have.
UK and Canada say peace must not be imposed on Ukraine
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed that peace in Ukraine must be built with Kyiv and not imposed upon it, a Downing Street spokesperson said on Monday.
Archived version: archive.is/20250811195857/reut…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
Russian forces pierce Ukrainian defense in Donetsk Oblast, bypassing fortifications, monitoring group says
Russian forces advanced toward the Dobropillia–Kramatorsk highway in Donetsk Oblast, seizing positions in nearby settlements to support further offensive operations.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/kyivindepend…
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
Connex Credit Union data breach impacts 172,000 members
Connex, one of Connecticut's largest credit unions, warned tens of thousands of members that unknown attackers had stolen their personal and financial information after breaching its systems in early June.
[Announcement] Merciless Gauntlet Statistics
The Merciless Gauntlet has concluded, congratulations to Ben_ for taking the top spot! It was a blast watching the action, so we've prepared some statistics from the event in today's news post. Check them out!
Base Class Campaign Completion
| Class | Characters | Entered Act 2 | Entered Act 3 | Entered Act 4 | Entered Act 5 | Entered Act 6 | Entered Act 7 | Entered Act 8 | Entered Act 9 | Entered Act 10 | Entered Epilogue | % Campaign Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marauder | 197,221 | 31,715 | 25,300 | 21,905 | 14,612 | 12,424 | 9,837 | 9,159 | 8,506 | 6,862 | 6,016 | 3.05% |
| Ranger | 116,297 | 8,888 | 5,338 | 4,567 | 2,702 | 2,309 | 1,830 | 1,627 | 1,394 | 976 | 684 | 0.59% |
| Shadow | 81,443 | 12,842 | 8,866 | 7,729 | 4,684 | 4,115 | 3,196 | 2,855 | 2,533 | 1,947 | 1,501 | 1.84% |
| Witch | 44,893 | 6,126 | 3,759 | 3,124 | 1,837 | 1,570 | 1,132 | 1,025 | 922 | 668 | 547 | 1.22% |
| Templar | 41,766 | 4,723 | 3,352 | 2,857 | 1,941 | 1,718 | 1,261 | 1,141 | 1,020 | 740 | 614 | 1.47% |
| Duelist | 40,715 | 9,379 | 6,269 | 5,473 | 3,423 | 3,025 | 2,533 | 2,269 | 1,963 | 1,509 | 1,225 | 3.01% |
| Scion | 28,230 | 5,066 | 3,149 | 2,697 | 1,417 | 1,219 | 946 | 829 | 759 | 577 | 497 | 1.76% |
Campaign Completion Rate by Ascendancy
| Ascendancy Class | Completed Act 10 |
|---|---|
| Ancestral Commander | 5,974 |
| Servant of Arakaali | 1,381 |
| Paladin | 1,131 |
| Scavenger | 496 |
| Polytheist | 354 |
| Whisperer | 279 |
| Herald | 256 |
| Daughter of Oshabi | 222 |
| Wildspeaker | 206 |
| Bog Shaman | 191 |
| Puppeteer | 177 |
| Surfcaster | 114 |
| Harbinger | 106 |
| Architect of Chaos | 97 |
| Aristocrat | 75 |
| Antiquarian | 39 |
| Blind Prophet | 27 |
| Gambler | 22 |
| Behemoth | 19 |
| Templar | 3 |
| Duelist | 1 |
| Scion | 1 |
| Witch | 1 |
| Marauder | 0 |
| Ranger | 0 |
| Shadow | 0 |
Endgame Deaths by Area Level
| Area Level | Total Deaths |
|---|---|
| 68 | 358 |
| 69 | 298 |
| 70 | 683 |
| 71 | 359 |
| 72 | 425 |
| 73 | 477 |
| 74 | 510 |
| 75 | 537 |
| 76 | 376 |
| 77 | 437 |
| 78 | 287 |
| 79 | 593 |
| 80 | 203 |
| 81 | 281 |
| 82 | 243 |
| 83 | 905 |
| 84 | 159 |
| 85 | 35 |
Total Deaths by Character Level
| Character Level | Total Deaths |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | 286,698 |
| 5-9 | 33,760 |
| 10-14 | 19,569 |
| 15-19 | 13,131 |
| 20-24 | 6,001 |
| 25-29 | 11,019 |
| 30-34 | 3,023 |
| 35-40 | 4,737 |
| 40-45 | 10,860 |
| 45-49 | 5,408 |
| 50-54 | 4,025 |
| 55-59 | 3,489 |
| 60-64 | 1,767 |
| 65-69 | 2,407 |
| 70-74 | 3,157 |
| 75-89 | 1,737 |
| 80-84 | 1,619 |
| 85-89 | 1,810 |
| 90-94 | 1,593 |
| 95-99 | 564 |
| 100 | 31 |
Pinnacle Boss Encounters
| Pinnacle Boss | Instances | Total Kills | Total Deaths | Kills With Deaths | Gave Up | Percent Deaths | Accounts | Characters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uber Shaper | 35 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 0.314 | 24 | 25 |
| Uber Searing Exarch | 18 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0.278 | 8 | 9 |
| Uber Eater of Worlds | 22 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 0.273 | 10 | 11 |
| Uber Maven | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0.25 | 3 | 3 |
| Quest Searing Exarch | 773 | 413 | 191 | 0 | 169 | 0.247 | 634 | 659 |
| Incarnation of Fear | 82 | 69 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0.159 | 48 | 56 |
| Incarnation of Dread | 58 | 44 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0.155 | 44 | 48 |
| Quest Incarnation of Dread | 105 | 78 | 16 | 0 | 11 | 0.152 | 92 | 97 |
| Uber Uber Elder | 20 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0.15 | 10 | 11 |
| Quest Incarnation of Neglect | 360 | 155 | 53 | 0 | 152 | 0.147 | 299 | 309 |
| Maven | 294 | 164 | 34 | 0 | 96 | 0.116 | 132 | 143 |
| Uber Elder | 124 | 107 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0.105 | 90 | 101 |
| Quest Infinite Hunger | 2,068 | 1,367 | 206 | 0 | 495 | 0.1 | 1,721 | 1,750 |
| Quest Black Star | 1,846 | 1,462 | 183 | 0 | 201 | 0.099 | 1,720 | 1,741 |
| Shaper | 514 | 376 | 48 | 0 | 90 | 0.093 | 215 | 236 |
| Searing Exarch | 174 | 127 | 13 | 0 | 34 | 0.075 | 114 | 119 |
| Quest Eater of Worlds | 774 | 677 | 48 | 1 | 49 | 0.062 | 731 | 735 |
| Quest Incarnation of Fear | 126 | 107 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 0.048 | 112 | 113 |
| Incarnation of Neglect | 47 | 44 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.021 | 40 | 43 |
| Eater of Worlds | 252 | 239 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0.02 | 152 | 160 |
| Elder | 576 | 567 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0.014 | 248 | 271 |
| Black Star | 52 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 19 |
| Infinite Hunger | 58 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 33 | 37 |
Top Ten Deadly Monsters
| Monster | Area | Total Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Hillock | The Twilight Strand | 158,017 |
| Hillock's Maven | The Twilight Strand | 28,203 |
| Hillock's Zombies | The Twilight Strand | 21,203 |
| Fire Fury | The Coast | 15,731 |
| Sand Spitter | The Twilight Strand | 12,732 |
| Hailrake | The Tidal Island | 9,979 |
| Vaal Oversoul | The Ancient Pyramid | 7,487 |
| Trarthan Mercenary (Ranger) | The Mud Flats | 6,086 |
| Brutus | The Upper Prison | 5,283 |
| Water Elemental | The Submerged Passage | 4,692 |
Announcements - Merciless Gauntlet Statistics - Forum - Path of Exile
Path of Exile is a free online-only action RPG under development by Grinding Gear Games in New Zealand.Path of Exile
[Announcement] Play the Path of Exile 2 Boss Rush Event at Gamescom
Next week, Path of Exile 2's Boss Rush Event will be available at Gamescom! If you're attending the expo, be sure to visit our booth and challenge yourself against 15 bosses. Check out this announcement to find out more about the event.
- When - 20th - 24th of August
- Where - Hall 6.1 C071 / A070
Good luck, Exiles!
Early Access Announcements - Play the Path of Exile 2 Boss Rush Event at Gamescom - Forum - Path of Exile
Path of Exile is a free online-only action RPG under development by Grinding Gear Games in New Zealand.Path of Exile
Is self-hosted OpenVPN on a vps safe enough for p2p?
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Maeve, adhocfungus e Rozaŭtuno like this.
Use WireGuard, not OpenVPN: faster, leaner, modern crypto.
No compression, full-tunnel + DNS leak protection, firewall to block non-VPN traffic, minimal logs.
If host’s fine with P2P, you’re set.
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Someone else asked “safe from what?” And that’s the real question.
In lieu of an answer to that though, no. It isn’t. The whole point of using a vpn to do p2p is to accomplish three things: traffic anonymization, legal protection and encrypted data transfer.
A vpn on a vps doesn’t anonymize your traffic because the vps is in your name. The vps provider is likely in compliance with kyc laws and will happily give you up to the law the moment they come knocking. If you’re using a domain with it it’s even easier to check that it’s you by looking at the whois records. On the off chance you’re getting a vps with enough storage and transfer included to act as your seedbox without kyc using cash or monero or something you’re likely paying more than the 2-3$ a month that the p2p vpns tend to charge.
A vpn on a vps most likely doesn’t provide you any legal protection either! Generally speaking, privacy focused vpn providers use nonpersistent systems where the secrets that can be subject to lawful intercept by the authorities are not stored on the systems hard drive and have protections against being read out of ram. Not only are almost all vpses generally held to be vulnerable to having their ram contents read by the provider, it is extremely unlikely that you set up openvpn without a configuration file on disk that contains your secret. This is just one example of a well documented vector of legal attack against a vpn, there are many. Paying an expert in legal attacks takes the onus off you.
A vpn on a vps doesn’t even accomplish encrypted data transfer, since the tunnel is between your pc and your vps, not whatever the vps connects to. Encryption keeps untrustworthy devices upstream of you from reading the data you send and receive. You might have prevented your untrustworthy isp devices from viewing your data, but you didn’t prevent untrustworthy vps provider devices from viewing your data. Even if your vps is trustworthy, the infrastructure it uses is the same infrastructure whose built in lawful intercept backdoors were compromised last year with no firm resolution. This wouldn’t matter nearly as much if your traffic were anonymized or had the shield of a crew of computer security experts running the system you use as a vpn, but as outlined above, you don’t.
Running your own vpn on a vps is cool, and I’m glad you have that ability, but it’s a lot like building your own car from scratch. It is possible, and a phenomenal learning experience, but not the suggested route for anyone.
Use a p2p vpn service instead. It’s much cheaper and better in almost every way.
Thanks for the info, very useful. I'm generally trying to hide my traffic from my ISP, when I'm torrenting some movies. I'm not doing a ton of p2p stuff. Not enough to need a seedbox. I'll share/seed some stuff from my local hard drive. Nothing sits in my vps.
I understand that although the IP addresses I connect to can be hidden from my ISP by my own instance of openvpn, it doesn't hide that my vps is connecting to those IP addresses. I think I'm okay with that. I'm not connecting to super sketchy sites. Generally, I'm trying to avoid getting some copyright warning letter from my ISP. Although that's never been an issue, I just thought I'd be safe.
My vps has a domain name, but it does have privacy protection where my name won't show up on a whois lookup. Not sure how much that helps, but I thought it was good to have.
In terms of a good p2p vpn services, it seems like a lot of the usual ones being advertised on podcasts and youtube are bad about privacy, and it seems like Proton may be the only one that I know of that seems good. Any recommendations for good vpns are welcome. I may just go that route if Openvpn isn't good enough.
The isp generally doesn’t care if you’re doing p2p. Some use it as a sales tactic to get you to move up to their top tier bandwidth plans though. They handle complaints about your p2p that have been investigated by some group contracted by the rights holders who usually say they have the file or want the file and take note of the ip that offers or accepts the file and then send that information to the group responsible for that ip.
In the case of your home ip, your isp receives the letter and sends you a letter in kind complying with all the laws they’re subject to. This usually has the threat of legal action and termination of service.
In the case of your vps ip, the vps provider complies to the full extent of the law. In some places with a three strikes or similar style of enforcement they may just forward it to you. They may use it as an excuse to ditch you if you’re a problem customer for them. It’s completely within the realm of possibility that they happily provide all the information they have on you, but that usually only when the police get involved.
In the case of your p2p vpn service they often have the ability to say “we don’t know which of our customers we’re connecting from that ip and have no way of finding out”. It’s a dead end for them.
Air has worked well for me. Proton is fine as long as you’re careful about what metadata you give them. Both do port forwarding.
In general, it would be a bad idea to use the same vpn account or service for p2p that you use for browsing or whatever. So maybe don’t do that.
Your VPS provider will likely just forward copyright infringement letters to you, same as your ISP would, or they'll suspend your account.
It will hide your ISP IP from torrent peers, but the VPS provider still knows exactly who you are.
but how hard is it for the vps traffic to be traced back to me?
Very easy by the VPS provider, as the VPS has a static IP assigned to you.
Trump’s defense secretary seems to admire men who want to stop women from voting
Pete Hegseth shared a video espousing views that women are subservient to men and shouldn't be able to vote.
The Sick World of Prison Tycoon Games
The Sick World of Prison Tycoon Games
Only a deeply broken society would create a mobile game like “Lands of Jail.”Stephen Prager (Current Affairs Inc)
The Social Media Trend Machine Is Spitting Out Weirder and Weirder Results
TikTok Trends Are Driving Random Consumer Spending Spikes
Trends always have an element of randomness, but our algorithmic feeds have made them unintelligible.Amanda Mull (Bloomberg)
This reads like "old man yells at clouds"
Like on one hand, sure, tiktok has accelerated the amount of info/media kids are latching onto. But also, remember street sharks? Remember pogs? Or floam? Like.. shits always been like this.
Reddit will block the Internet Archive
Reddit will block the Internet Archive
Reddit caught AI companies scraping its data from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, so it’s going to limit the Internet Archive from indexing some data.Jay Peters (The Verge)
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Gate keeping the API thinking it'll help with making some bigshot LLM some day lol
We are sliding rapidly into Idiocracy.
Buddy, we are already there. “Ow, my balls!” Would be high-brow tv these days.
Not to mention so many projects putting their support in walled garden chat services like Discord that you can’t even search via search engine. Even if you can figure out who asked the right question and when, you have to trawl through a sea of inane garbled chat to get to the developer/expert response.
Specialised topic forums really need to make a resurgence but I doubt they will.
Not to mention so many projects putting their support in walled garden chat services like Discord that you can’t even search via search engine.
Seeing this happen has been one of the saddest most desperate parts about watching the internet dying.
It was obvious what was going to happen years ago, that didn't stop people from acting like I was a reactionary foolish cynic when I voiced concern about this though.
Seriously FUCK Discord (and Reddit).
Weren't Reddit complaining a couple of years ago that too many AI bots crawls were stressing their servers.
Doesn't the internet archive relieve that stress?
Doesn't the internet archive relieve that stress?
I think that was probably the real reason for the block, the Internet Archive is too functional, scalable and accessible of a service for reddit's lame excuses about needing to gatekeep access to the community created content on their website to not make reddit look totally stupid unless they came up with an excuse to block the Internet Archive.
Reddit warned my account ( first warn in 10 years ) and deleted the comment when I told a American he can strike peacefully to show the government they are against it.
I got a warn for recommending violence by an ai , the human that checked it agreed and didn't remove the warn haha.
Reddit is just feared that their censorship goes public.
Not that reddit isn't hot garbage right now, and has been for a while actually, but there's a lot of people here who have glazed over the reason why reddit instituted this policy.
AI companies are scraping the Wayback Machine. This is something that should concern all of us.
And what do I care about Reddit getting paid?
If the IA doesn't complain about being used, then it's fine for me. The ideal outcome would be, if the archive can make some arrangement where they scrape the data and provide it to everyone. That way, sites only get scraped once and not constantly hammered.
Lenovo Webcams Can Be Turned into Persistent Attack Platforms
Lenovo Webcams Can Be Turned into Persistent Attack Platforms
Linux USB webcams from Lenovo can be turned into persistent “BadUSB” devices to inject keystrokes, drop payloads, and surve system reinstallsBill Mann (CyberInsider)
Web Portal Flaws Allowed Hackers to Remotely Unlock Cars Across the U.S.
Web Portal Flaws Allowed Hackers to Remotely Unlock Cars Across the U.S.
A US carmaker’s dealership management platform contained critical flaws that could have allowed remote car unlocking and customer data theft.Amar Ćemanović (CyberInsider)
GPT-5: has AI just plateaued?
GPT-5: has AI just plateaued?
GPT-5’s focus on routing queries to the best model could be an admission that LLMs can’t get much smarter.The Conversation
First Nations Warn Carney’s Push to Build Canada Could Tear It Apart
First Nations Warn Carney’s Push to Build Canada Could Tear It Apart | The Walrus
The prime minister’s fast-track law has already set off a wave of Indigenous protestJoy SpearChief-Morris (The Walrus)
Why TikTok ADHD misinformation is dangerous
Why TikTok ADHD misinformation is dangerous - Futurity
New research reveals that exposure to ADHD misinformation on TikTok significantly reduced college students' understanding of the disorder.Dan Bernardi - Syracuse U. (Futurity)
Why Higher Beef Prices Aren’t Actually Good News for the Environment
Why Higher Beef Prices Aren’t Actually Good News for the Environment
Beef prices are at a record high, but that doesn’t mean less meat production.Seth Millstein (Sentient)
Fossil-fuelled heat has caused tropical birds to decline by ‘up to 38%’ since 1950s
Fossil-fuelled heat has caused tropical birds to decline by ‘up to 38%’ since 1950s - Carbon Brief
An uptick in heat extremes has caused tropical bird populations to decline by up to 38% since the 1950s, according to new analysis.Daisy Dunne (Carbon Brief)
Vuoto a perdere 06: o mio o di nessun altro!
MONDO REALE: Freddie Mercury non ha mai avuto dei figli ma Mary Austin, la donna che lui ha amato, sì.
Il frontman dei Queen però era appassionato di gatti e per questo ha scritto una canzone per la sua preferita. Delilah.
FANTASIA: Mark Wilson scopre un segreto molto personale su Freddie intercettando alcune lettere a lui indirizzate, e la decisione è presa: Freddie, di quella corrispondenza, non saprà mai; è un’arma troppo potente nelle mani di Mark!
Racconto aggiornato dopo la pubblicazione iniziale (2021)
Vuoto a perdere: o mio, o di nessun altro!
Per giorni il mio defunto compagno Andrew continuò a ripetermelo nel sogno: “Dissangua il mio gifter, porta la sua anima da me!”
Dalla sera in cui Freddie si era tagliato un dito durante una cena, l’idea di ottenere il suo sangue diventò un’ossessione e più passava il tempo, più la determinazione si tramutò in rabbia.
“Se Freddie non sarà mio, nessun altro lo avrà!” dicevo tra me, ogni volta che mi alzavo dal letto e mi guardavo nello specchio.
Non riuscii mai però ad avvicinarlo davvero: lo vedevo girare insieme al suo staff, sorridere, parlare con l’assistente Melania ma era impossibile avere un’occasione per stare da solo con lui.
Non restò altro che studiare un piano per tendergli una trappola che l’avrebbe potuto dissanguare ma sfortunatamente, documentandomi grazie ai pochi mezzi di informazione disponibili, capii quanto il virus HIV fosse debole: la trasmissione non avviene senza contatto diretto col sangue del malato!
Il piano del dissanguatore
La sola speranza per me era stare lì mentre accadeva, e raccogliere il prezioso fluido in velocità: Ogni qual volta pulivo la sua stanza, cercavo di escogitare un sistema per sabotare un lampadario, una finestra, qualsiasi altro oggetto di vetro che potesse infrangersi su di lui mentre dormiva e io sarei corso ad aiutarlo, guarda caso mi sarei tagliato e poi…
No, alla fine decisi che non valeva la pena; troppo rischioso per la mia reputazione, mi avrebbero accusato di omicidio facendomi finire come Mark David Chapman, l’uomo che nel 1980 sparò a John Lennon. Povero idiota, quando John venne portato via rimase lì a leggersi Il Giovane Holden aspettando gli eventi, ma non ebbe alcun legame col proprio mito.
Io invece, facendo le cose per bene, potevo essere unito a Freddie per sempre e, soprattutto, diffondere il virus consentendo al mio idolo di vivere per l’eternità. E pazienza se per il mondo sarei stato l’ennesimo criminale! Mi sentivo coperto, nella mia falsa identità di William Karson.
Buone notizie?
Assorto nei miei pensieri non mi accorsi immediatamente di qualcuno che bussava alla porta della mia stanza; “Karson, c’è bisogno di te!” Mi disse Jim, il compagno di Freddie, quando aprii.
Stringeva in mano una busta. “Questa l’hanno mandata un paio di giorni fa destinata a Freddie, e appena ho letto da dove arriva mi sei venuto in mente subito.”
Allora era vero, hanno letto il mio curriculum prima di assumermi! Presi la lettera fra le dita e mi lasciai andare a un sospiro di malinconia, quando lessi la provenienza del mittente: Bugliano, culla e tomba per i miei sogni di scienziato.
Ricordai immediatamente il mio passato da studente di medicina, quando la speranza di sconfiggere l’AIDS con le mie sole forze, mi aveva indotto persino a fare pace con chi mi aveva sempre bullizzato. Raymond Still, che quando mi bocciarono, diede un colpo di spugna alla nostra inaspettata amicizia e mi umiliò il doppio.
Promozioni e fallimenti
“Mark Wilson, Lei può solo pulire i gabinetti”, mi disse impietoso l’insegnante quando provai a contestare il risultato finale; e Ray Still non mosse un dito per difendermi, anzi mi voltò le spalle per godersi la sua promozione con tutti gli onori!
Soltanto pochi mesi dopo aver accettato il lavoro a casa di Freddie Mercury, scoprii che mentre io facevo le pulizie Raymond Still aveva fatto carriera e avviato un’importante ricerca su HIV, con tanto di annuncio: “Sto cercando una celebrità risultata positiva al virus per sperimentare il mio nuovo studio. L’HIV, opportunamente modificato, può trasmettere emozioni e talento da una persona all’altra!”
Quale occasione migliore per fargli sapere di Freddie?
Stringendo ancora fra le mani la busta consegnatami da Jim, ripensai alla mia lettera appena spedita a Raymond in risposta al suo annuncio; gli avevo raccontato per filo e per segno la positività di Freddie ma anche dopo giorni dall’invio della missiva, non ricevetti alcun riscontro.
E se la busta in mano mia contenesse proprio la risposta di Ray, che da Bugliano voleva parlare direttamente con Freddie?
Non mi feci alcuno scrupolo e me la misi in tasca: “Mai paura, Jim! La porto io al capo, il messaggio è in buone mani.”
Inizio di un inganno
Alla svelta, chiusi la porta della mia stanza e tirata fuori la lettera, iniziai a leggere quel foglio scritto a penna:
Sono incinta, amore della mia vita. Aspettiamo una bambina, il nostro miracolo ma anche la mia più grande paura.Il mondo è un posto crudele e sento di non essere capace di proteggerla abbastanza perché sono in Russia, sposata con un violento.
“Che cosa? Freddie ha una figlia in Russia, o a Bugliano? Dove? Poco importa”, pensai. Se è vero non lo saprà mai! Richiusi la busta come nulla fosse e la nascosi nella mia borsa. Sarei stato l’unico a conoscere il segreto, avrei girato il mondo per trovare quella presunta bambina, dopodiché Freddie sarebbe stato mio, e solo mio!
GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke says he is leaving to “become a startup founder again”, with GitHub and its leadership team moving into Microsoft's CoreAI organization
Auf Wiedersehen, GitHub ♥️ - The GitHub Blog
I am stepping down as GitHub CEO to build my next adventure. GitHub is thriving and has a bright future ahead.Thomas Dohmke (The GitHub Blog)
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China reports 5% industrial robot installation growth as US, EU fall
China reports 5% industrial robot installation growth as US, EU fall
As global robot sales fell to 520,000 units, China surged to 290,000, widening its lead over the US and EU in manufacturing automation.Kaif Shaikh (Interesting Engineering)
BRICS Strengthens Itself Ahead of Putin-Trump Summit
BRICS Strengthens Itself Ahead of Putin-Trump Summit
Vladimir Putin’s decision to inform Global South leaders about the results of his meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff highlights BRICS’ role, says Dr.Sputnik International
Mangoholic
in reply to Sean Tilley • • •Ziggurat
in reply to Sean Tilley • • •Does the GPL apply to content published on the fediverse? If yes we're getting a great open source model for free.
Also obligatory fuck META
Sean Tilley
in reply to Ziggurat • • •Zerush
in reply to Sean Tilley • • •Meta's Threads has launched a beta allowing users in some countries to share posts to ActivityPub-compliant Fediverse servers. ActivityPub is a protocol enabling interoperability between social networks, allowing posts to flow between networks regardless of ownership. Key points: * Threads users can opt-in to share posts to the Fediverse. * Replies to Threads posts on the Fediverse won't appear in Threads itself initially. * Meta plans further integrations, including allowing Threads users to see and engage with replies from other servers and follow users on other Fediverse servers. * Future Threads profiles will consolidate followers from both Threads and other Fediverse servers. * Challenges exist due to the lack of standardized features like quote posts in ActivityPub. * Meta aims to provide a fully interoperable experience, reaching new audiences and fostering community. * Interoperability allows Meta to better understand user behavior across different platforms for monetization purposes.
theregister.com/2024/03/22/met…
Meta connects Threads to the Fediverse
Simon Sharwood (The Register)