Pirate Library Operator Arrested, Study Canceled For 330K Members
Launched in July 2023, Yubin Archive's popularity stemmed from its mission to "eliminate educational inequality" by providing copies of educational material to less well-off students in South Korea. Operating via Telegram, Yubin Archive had grown to over 330,000 members when its operator was arrested on Tuesday. The Ministry of Culture and Sport says others involved will be tracked down and given lessons in copyright law.
Pirate Library Operator Arrested, Study Canceled For 330K Members * TorrentFreak
Yubin Archive's mission to "eliminate educational inequality" in South Korea, by providing free access to expensive books, appears to be over.Andy Maxwell (TF Publishing)
An internal Meta document shows its chatbots were allowed to engage in provocative conversations; Meta removed some examples, including romantic roleplay with kids
Meta’s chatbots held ‘sensual’ chats with kids, offered false medical info: Reuters exclusive
An internal Meta Platforms document detailing policies on chatbot behaviour has permitted the company’s artificial intelligence creations to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” generate false medical information and help u…Reuters Staff (BNN Bloomberg)
Can’t pay, won’t pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy
A decade and a half on from the Pirate Bay trial, the winds have begun to shift. On an unusually warm summer’s day, I sit with fellow film critics by the old city harbour, once a haven for merchants and, rumour has it, smugglers. Cold bigstrongs in hand (that’s what they call pints up here), they start venting about the “enshittification” of streaming – enshittification being the process by which platforms degrade their services and ultimately die in the pursuit of profit. Netflix now costs upwards of 199 SEK (£15), and you need more and more subscriptions to watch the same shows you used to find in one place. Most platforms now offer plans that, despite the fee, force advertisements on subscribers. Regional restrictions often compel users to use VPNs to access the full selection of available content. The average European household now spends close to €700 (£600) a year on three or more VOD subscriptions. People pay more and get less.According to London‑based piracy monitoring and content‑protection firm MUSO, unlicensed streaming is the predominant source of TV and film piracy, accounting for 96% in 2023. Piracy reached a low in 2020, with 130bn website visits. But by 2024 that number had risen to 216bn. In Sweden, 25% of people surveyed reported pirating in 2024, a trend mostly driven by those aged 15 to 24. Piracy is back, just sailing under a different flag.
Can’t pay, won’t pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy
As subscription costs rise and choice diminishes on legal sites, film and TV fans are turning to VPNs and illicit streamers, with Sweden – home of both Spotify and The Pirate Bay – leading the wayGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
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Gaza death toll rises: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours
Israeli forces have killed at least 54 Palestinians and wounded 831 others across Gaza in 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave has said.
The dead include 22 aid seekers, the ministry said on Telegram.
During the same period, at least four people have starved to death, bringing the toll of hunger-related deaths to 239, which includes 106 children, the ministry said.
Israel has killed at least 61,776 Palestinians and wounded 154,906 others since 7 October 2023, the ministry added.
The total number of aid seekers killed since May has reached 1,881, the statement said.
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Hundreds of Former Israeli Spies Are Working in Big Tech, Database Shows
As of June 2025, over 1,400 veterans of Israeli intelligence are now working in U.S. tech—with 900 of those coming from Unit 8200 alone. That number comes from a database of people who publicly identify themselves as being both former Israeli intelligence officers and holding a job in U.S. tech on their LinkedIn profiles.
The database was assembled by an independent researcher, who is remaining anonymous for personal security and has dubbed the database the “Eagle Mission” influence network. The 1,400 people are self-identified veterans or active reserve members of Unit 8200, Israeli military intelligence, and the IDF Cyber Defense Directorate working in senior and mid-level engineering and security roles at major U.S. tech firms with offices in Israel, the U.S., and Europe. Drop Site crosschecked many of the records in the database for accuracy.
“This does not mean that every person who served in Unit 8200 is an Israeli spy looking to send classified data back to Tel Aviv,” the researcher emphasized. “But it does create a serious vulnerability. No other country has this kind of access to the American tech sector. We obsess over Chinese involvement in the tech industry and worry about corporate espionage, but Israeli penetration rarely gets mentioned.”
The global tech giant Microsoft is one of the most prominent employers of Unit 8200 alumni, employing roughly 250 veterans of the unit, alongside other major multinational companies including Nvidia, Meta, Google, Intel, and Apple, many of whom employ dozens of individuals drawn from the unit. Microsoft was recently revealed to have closely collaborated with Unit 8200 leadership on the creation of cloud services intended to store millions of private communications of Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. Microsoft declined to comment.
Microsoft storing Israeli intelligence trove used to attack Palestinians
Microsoft developed a customized version of its cloud platform for Israel’s Unit 8200, which is housing audio files of millions of calls by Palestinians.Ben Reiff (+972 Magazine)
Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and 80+ fintech and crypto CEOs urge Trump to block US banks from charging fees to access customer data
Over 80 CEOs Call on President Trump to Oppose Exorbitant Consumer Data Access Fees - Financial Technology Association
CEOs urge President Trump to take action as fees are set to impact the market in September WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Financial Technology Association (FTA) released a public letter from over 80 business leaders calling on President Donald J.Miranda Margowsky (Financial Technology Association (FTA))
Israel throws Palestinian children from rooftops during torture interrogation
Omar was seeking aid at an aid distribution site when Israeli soldiers encircled him and other aid-seekers, after opening fire on the crowd.
Omar was then interrogated and ordered to provide details of his family and relatives. Dissatisfied with Omar’s responses, the interrogator subjected Omar to torture.
Omar was brought to the roof of the building and tied to a rope, where he was left hanging upside down for an extended period. Later, the interrogator released the rope, causing Omar to plummet to the ground, dropping the height of roughly five floors before the rope became taut again, stopping his fall about half a meter (20 inches) above the ground, where he was left suspended for approximately 20 minutes.
The torture caused Omar to urinate, as he was left struggling to breathe and suffocating. “It felt as though I was teetering on the brink of death,” recalled Omar.
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Israel throws Palestinian children from rooftops during torture interrogation
Omar was seeking aid at an aid distribution site when Israeli soldiers encircled him and other aid-seekers, after opening fire on the crowd.
Omar was then interrogated and ordered to provide details of his family and relatives. Dissatisfied with Omar’s responses, the interrogator subjected Omar to torture.
Omar was brought to the roof of the building and tied to a rope, where he was left hanging upside down for an extended period. Later, the interrogator released the rope, causing Omar to plummet to the ground, dropping the height of roughly five floors before the rope became taut again, stopping his fall about half a meter (20 inches) above the ground, where he was left suspended for approximately 20 minutes.
The torture caused Omar to urinate, as he was left struggling to breathe and suffocating. “It felt as though I was teetering on the brink of death,” recalled Omar.
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OpenAI will not disclose GPT-5’s energy use. It could be higher than past models
OpenAI will not disclose GPT-5’s energy use. It could be higher than past models
Experts working to benchmark resource use of AI models say new version’s enhanced capabilities come at a steep costGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
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Vegan Crunchy Wrap - Old Wild West 🌯🍟
L'ho appena ordinato tramite #Deliveroo e me lo stanno portando in #bicicletta (così è 100% ecologica la consegna) e ho usato un buono da 5€ + la consegna gratuita così pagando solo per il menù 7.59€ :grin: :call_me_hand:
L'avevo già provato l'anno scorso ma non ricordo come fosse, voi l'avete provato?
Di solito mangiate vegan da queste catene di fast food?
Qui la foto: 
#vegan #OldWildWest #veganfood #bici #wrap #govegan #Rome #Roma
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 17th August 2025
Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.
Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.
If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.
The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.
Stubsack: Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 10th August 2025
Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.
If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.
The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.
(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this.)
AI slop and the destruction of knowledge
This week I was looking for info on what cognitive scientists mean when they speak of ‘domain-general’ cognition. I was curious, because the nuances are relevant for something I am researching at t…Iris van Rooij
choice quote from Elsevier's response:
Q. Have authors consented to these hyperlinks in their scientific articles?
Yes, it is included on the signed agreement between the author and Elsevier.Q. If I were to publish my work with Elsevier, do I risk that hyperlinks to AI summaries will be added to my papers without my consent?
Yes, because you will need to sign an agreement with Elsevier.
consent, everyone!
Since when does infomaniak's swisstransfer.com require an email adress for download links and what are the alternatives?
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Arkane Devs Call For Microsoft To Stop Working With Israel
Developers at Arkane Studios in France have called on their parent company, Microsoft, to stop supporting Israel during its ongoing war in Gaza, which a UN Special Committee said was "consistent with the characteristics of genocide."
The open letter published online (via Game Developer) is addressed to the "heads of Zenimax, Microsoft Gaming and the overall Microsoft group." It says that the ongoing situation in Gaza and Microsoft's work with Israel could "affect our reputation and work" and asks Microsoft to take the "appropriate measure" to resolve it.
It joins the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement, which has set Microsoft as a priority target of its boycott. BDS specifically mentions Microsoft's gaming division and Game Pass among its boycott targets.
Arkane Devs Call For Microsoft To Stop Working With Israel
An open letter from union members directed at company leadership says Microsoft has "no place being accomplice of a genocide."Steve Watts (GameSpot)
Meta appoints anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck as AI bias advisor
Meta appoints notorious anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck as AI bias advisor
Meta has appointed right-wing, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-DEI conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck to advise them on preventing political bias in AI.Sophie Perry (PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news)
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Holocaust survivor Gabor Maté: Gaza genocide 'the worst thing I've seen in my whole life.'
Holocaust survivor Gabor Maté: Gaza genocide ‘the worst thing I’ve seen in my whole life.’
“It's a bit of an obscenity that I'm asked so much to speak on this subject because I happen to be Jewish and because I happened, as an infant, to have survived the Holocaust…Why aren't we listening to the Palestinians?”Marc Steiner (The Real News Network)
Why BBC editors must one day stand trial for colluding in Israel's genocide
Why BBC editors must one day stand trial for colluding in Israel's genocide
In a confrontation with BBC news chief Richard Burgess, journalist Peter Oborne sets out six ways the state broadcaster has wilfully misled audiences on Israel's destruction of GazaJonathan Cook
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Landmark complaint issued against UK Lawyers for Israel
Landmark complaint issued against UK Lawyers for Israel
Exclusive: UK Lawyers for Israel has waged a campaign against solidarity with Palestine. The group is now being referred to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.JOHN McEVOY (Declassified Media ltd)
Arms lobby group urged UK and Scottish Governments to crack down on Palestine Action
Arms lobby group urged UK and Scottish Governments to crack down on Palestine Action
An arms lobby group urged the UK and Scottish Governments to crack down on Palestine Action more than a month before the group was proscribed.Karin Goodwin (The Ferret)
Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to Jeffrey Epstein
Melania Trump has demanded that Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and has threatened to sue if he does not.
Biden, the son of the former president Joe Biden, alleged in an interview this month that Epstein introduced the first lady to Donald Trump.
The statements were false, defamatory and “extremely salacious,” Melania Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, said in a letter to Biden. Biden’s remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady “to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,” he added.
Biden made the Epstein comments during a sprawling interview with the British journalist Andrew Callaghan in which he lashed out at “elites” and others in the Democratic party who he said undermined his father before he dropped out of last year’s presidential campaign.
Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to Jeffrey Epstein
First lady threatens to sue Joe Biden’s son after he said the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein introduced her to Donald TrumpGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
Can’t pay, won’t pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy
A decade and a half on from the Pirate Bay trial, the winds have begun to shift. On an unusually warm summer’s day, I sit with fellow film critics by the old city harbour, once a haven for merchants and, rumour has it, smugglers. Cold bigstrongs in hand (that’s what they call pints up here), they start venting about the “enshittification” of streaming – enshittification being the process by which platforms degrade their services and ultimately die in the pursuit of profit. Netflix now costs upwards of 199 SEK (£15), and you need more and more subscriptions to watch the same shows you used to find in one place. Most platforms now offer plans that, despite the fee, force advertisements on subscribers. Regional restrictions often compel users to use VPNs to access the full selection of available content. The average European household now spends close to €700 (£600) a year on three or more VOD subscriptions. People pay more and get less.
According to London‑based piracy monitoring and content‑protection firm MUSO, unlicensed streaming is the predominant source of TV and film piracy, accounting for 96% in 2023. Piracy reached a low in 2020, with 130bn website visits. But by 2024 that number had risen to 216bn. In Sweden, 25% of people surveyed reported pirating in 2024, a trend mostly driven by those aged 15 to 24. Piracy is back, just sailing under a different flag.
Can’t pay, won’t pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy
As subscription costs rise and choice diminishes on legal sites, film and TV fans are turning to VPNs and illicit streamers, with Sweden – home of both Spotify and The Pirate Bay – leading the wayGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
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YouTube’s AI Tracks Everything You Watch — Stop This Now
Who is impacted?Millions of YouTube users—especially teens and adults—will soon be affected by a new AI-based age detection system launching August 13th. This system analyzes your entire watch history and behavior to estimate your age, overriding the age you've set on your account. If the system thinks you're underage, you'll be locked out of content unless you upload your government-issued ID—putting your personal information at serious risk.
What is at stake?
This isn’t just about age restriction—it’s about mass surveillance and data control. Similar measures are spreading fast: the UK’s Online Safety Act has already led to censorship and demands for ID. In Australia, YouTube is being restricted for those under 16. Spotify is now requiring ID in some regions. Games are being banned from Steam and itch.io. This pattern—justified as “protecting kids”—is being used to normalize invasive tracking and limit freedom online.
Why is now the time to act?
This policy goes into effect on August 13th, and we cannot allow YouTube to quietly implement AI surveillance that violates privacy and autonomy. Once these systems are normalized, they rarely go away—they expand. If we don't speak up now, we risk losing our ability to browse, create, and enjoy content freely. This is about more than YouTube. This is about digital freedom.
I don't know about you, but I don't want AI and companies tracking everything I do, with all my personal information going who knows where. This is an attempt to acquire user data, and blatant censorship hidden behind a thin veil of ''protect the kids!'' We cannot allow this to escalate further.
‘Censorship’: over 115 scholars condemn cancellation of Harvard journal issue on Palestine
More than 120 education scholars have condemned the cancellation of an entire issue of an academic journal dedicated to Palestine by a Harvard University publisher as “censorship”.
In an open letter published on Thursday, the scholars denounced the abrupt scrapping of a special issue of the Harvard Educational Review – which was first revealed by the Guardian in July – as an “attempt to silence the academic examination of the genocide, starvation and dehumanisation of Palestinian people by the state of Israel and its allies.”
The writers note that the issue’s censorship is also an example of “anti-Palestinian discrimination, obstructing the dissemination of knowledge on Palestine at the height of the genocide in Gaza”.
‘Censorship’: over 115 scholars condemn cancellation of Harvard journal issue on Palestine
In an open letter, writers denounced abrupt scrapping of a Harvard Educational Review issue dedicated to PalestineAlice Speri (The Guardian)
This would be even more powerful with sources provided, but for now I will assume it is correct on face value; I am appalled by the handling of all this by our leaders. Only when a fraction of the people of Palestine are still alive, have politicians began to speak up, all at once, as if they were given a green light from somewhere(one). The whole situation stinks like hell on earth.
Apologies will not suffice to amend what our leaders have permitted to happen these days. Darkest times, I truly wish and lightly hope, that those primarily responsible will be held to account. Those who supported it, but did not actively participate, re-educated on the simple fact: Why it is NEVER, EVER, OK to kill another, for difference of belief.
The Patten report actually debunked Hamas rape as a weapon of war ,and stated that at most random rapes could have happened. It called for an investigation into that which Israel blocked.
Here's a great article debunking the Israeli written Dinah report which the UN is somehow using as official material:
Rape hoax redux: Debunking the latest relaunch of a genocidal atrocity propaganda lie
Rape hoax redux: Debunking the latest relaunch of a genocidal atrocity propaganda lie
Today the Israeli death and rape-cult that has actually been engaged in systematic pedophilic gang-rape of Palestinian children, girls, boys, women and men is going to desperately try to re-launch the genocidal atrocity propaganda rape hoax.Zei Squirrel (Squirrel Notes)
Hundreds of Former Israeli Spies Are Working in Big Tech, Database Shows
In late July, the U.S. cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks (PANW) announced that it had acquired the Israeli identity management and information security firm CyberArk, paying a staggering $25 billion dollars worth of cash and stock to purchase the firm.
Palo Alto is one of the world’s largest cybersecurity firms, and provides infrastructure protection, firewalls, and cloud security services to tens of thousands of companies internationally.
Udi Mokady, CyberArk’s founder and executive chairman, is an alum of Unit 8200, the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate’s elite signals intelligence division. So are the four co-founders of Wiz: the Israeli cloud computing firm recently bought by Google for $32 billion. So, too, is Palo Alto’s Founder and Chief Technology Officer Nir Zuk.
“These acquisitions are a way to take people from Unit 8200 in Israel, and bring them into influential positions in the U.S. tech industry,” said Paul Biggar, founder of the tech startups CircleCI and Darklang and head of the activist group Tech for Palestine. “These companies handle their customers' customer data. If you are a bank, and you are using Palo Alto Networks, the data about all your customers, and their transactions, are passing through servers that are controlled by spies, or former spies.”
Hundreds of Former Israeli Spies Are Working in Big Tech, Database Shows
A $25 billion deal is the latest acquisition to strengthen the link between the U.S. tech sector and Israeli intelligence.Murtaza Hussain (Drop Site News)
Stripe apologizes for customer service agents claiming LGBTQ products were banned
“The information given by our support team was totally wrong.”
'We Are Being Cooked Alive': Wildfires Driven by Climate Crisis Ravage Europe
As wildfires rage across southern Europe, claiming lives and displacing thousands, leaders are pointing to the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/commondreams…
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.
'We Are Being Cooked Alive': Wildfires Driven by Climate Crisis Ravage Europe
Fire-related deaths were reported in Turkey, Spain, Montenegro, and Albania.jessica-corbett (Common Dreams)
Tesla’s graphics are about to get Unreal
Tesla’s in-car graphics could be getting an upgrade thanks to Unreal Engine.
Sad news: Kaisen Linux distro is shutting down
Another specialized Linux distro has announced its shutdown, joining the growing graveyard of discontinued distributions.
https://www.neowin.net/news/sad-news-another-linux-distro-is-shutting-down/
Intel's CEO survives baptism of fire, will his company do the same?
Lip-Bu Tan has received Trump's approval. Still, Intel needs more than a PR boost: it may be slimming down too much to perform.
AMD's desktop PC market share hits a new high as server gains slow down — Intel now only outsells AMD 2:1, down from 9:1 a few years ago
And revenue shares continue to set records.
Netanyahu Says He’s “Very” Invested in Idea of “Greater Israel” to Conquer Large Swaths of Middle East
“Greater Israel” is an extremist ideology for Israel to conquer Palestine as well as parts of numerous other countries.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/truthout.org…
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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Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater’s Fox Hunt Won't Have Cross Play
Konami has revealed that Fox Hunt which is already arriving weeks or months after Metal Gear Solid Delta, won't have cross play either.
New York sues Zelle: "Users Lost More Than $1 Billion While Zelle Operator Controlled by Major Banks Knew the Platform Was Vulnerable to Scammers"
Attorney General James Sues Company Behind Zelle for Enabling Widespread Fraud
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today sued Early Warning Services, LLC (EWS), a company owned and controlled by a group of the largest banksNew York State Attorney General
Stripe Says Support Team Reps Were 'Totally Wrong' About LGBTQ Content Ban
Stripe Says Support Team Reps Were 'Totally Wrong' About LGBTQ Content Ban - Aftermath
Stripe has told Aftermath that support team reps were mistaken when they suggested to callers that LGBTQ+ content, adult or not, was banned.aftermath.site
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How War Became Israel’s New Normal
It is a mistake to think that Benjamin Netanyahu is solely responsible for Israel’s genocide or that removing him would bring it to an end. To win support for war, he has mobilized large swathes of Israeli society, from liberals to the far right.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/jacobin.com/…
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.
Study: Social media probably can’t be fixed
“The [structural] mechanism producing these problematic outcomes is really robust and hard to resolve.”…
Russia restricts calls via WhatsApp and Telegram, the latest step to control the internet
Russian authorities have announced partial restrictions on calls in messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp. This is part of a long-standing effort to control the internet.
(USA) Why you shouldn't get a Real ID
Please read Section 201(3)-(4) of the Real ID Act:
(3) OFFICIAL PURPOSE- The term 'official purpose' includes but is not limited to accessing Federal facilities, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft, entering nuclear power plants, and any other purposes that the Secretary shall determine.
(4) SECRETARY- The term 'Secretary' means the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Source: dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/real-i…
In other words, the Secretary of Homeland Security has unilateral authority to expand the uses of real IDs. In their 2008 rule, DHS even doubled down:
"DHS does not agree that it must seek the approval of Congress as a prerequisite to changing the definition in the future (except of course to remove one of the three statutorily-mandated official purposes) as § 201(3) of the Act gives discretion to the Secretary of Homeland Security to determine other purposes."
Source: federalregister.gov/documents/…
That could include voting, accessing medical care, etc. Do you trust Kristi Noem with this power? Do you trust every future secretary with this power?
If not, I urge you to not get a real id or real id driver's license if you don't have one, or turn in your real id for a state id or state driver's license if you do have one, and instead get a passport. The DHS cannot enforce anything if the majority of Americans refuse to get real ids. Let us not just bow down to a national id that invades our privacy and could be used to control us.
There are indeed plans to create a digital id that can be updated in real time according to AAMVA testimony: docs.house.gov/meetings/HM/HM0…
Suppose the Secretary of Homeland Security says you need a real id to vote or receive medical care. And suppose we now have digital real ids. What's gonna happen to you if you do something the government or corporations don't like? Well, your real id will be revoked in real time and you won't be able to access medical care.
We must stand up to this now. Passports will generally be safe this century from digitalization because the US would need to convince 150+ countries to accept a digital passport.
Zephorah
in reply to cm0002 • • •like this
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Bronzie
in reply to Zephorah • • •Spot on!
The moment music starts being split up between companies is the day I start pirating music again too.
My NAS and media NUC have soon paid for themselves from saving on streaming services. Adding music to it won't cost me a dime.
kbobabob
in reply to Bronzie • • •Bronzie
in reply to kbobabob • • •I'll admit never having used Lidarr, but if it's dead and no other good automated software exists, I'll just use the good old "search and click download"-hack.
Hopefully I won't ever have to do this, but time will tell
A Wild Mimic appears!
in reply to Bronzie • • •there's a pinned post on the lidarr discord server:
so it's not dead, but it might take a bit until the new metadata server is available.
@kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com
e: there are also singular reports in the last days on the lidarr subreddit from people on the development branch that it occasionally works, so might be that there is movement behind the curtain.
some_guy
in reply to cm0002 • • •eRac
in reply to some_guy • • •panda_abyss
in reply to eRac • • •I think that’s fine, but now all the rights holders want 100% of the profit so you have to subscribe to umpteen services that are mostly paid and have unskippable ads.
They had a good thing going and were getting tons of free money from their back catalogs and the customer has never been happier.
some_guy
in reply to eRac • • •Further, the studios saw how Apple cornered the market selling songs for a dollar and didn't want any one company (Netflix) to have that kind of control again. And it happened the same way: the record industry didn't take the iTunes Store as anything that could be a huge success and gave Apple a sweetheart deal that they later regretted for leaving money on the table.
The lesson they didn't learn is that it takes competitive pricing to wipe out (most of) piracy. The desire to squeeze every last drop of profit leads to its resurgence.
Good riddance to studios opening a bajillion streaming services. Sail the high seas and be merry.
metaStatic
in reply to eRac • • •yet somehow Spotify figured this shit out.
I mean they're still enshittifying for shareholders but not due to lack of content.
Blackmist
in reply to some_guy • • •It's not even that. It's the fact that each of them has so little content, any attempt to find what you want leads you skipping between like three apps, only to find that your only way to watch that 10 year old movie is to rent it from Amazon for £11.99.
And then you look up how to set up Jellyfin.
u/lukmly013 💾 (lemmy.sdf.org)
in reply to Blackmist • • •And then you check it, also on Amazon, and there it is, on DVD for £3 and BluRay (not UHD) for like £6.
Just checking an average movie I have in cart on UK Amazon (prices are in EUR because I buy them from Slovakia)
Passengers 2017 - New DVD: €3.40 ; New BluRay: €7.56 ; Used BluRay (Very Good condition): €2.08 ; YouTube High Definition: €8.99 (bruh...)
TheFogan
in reply to some_guy • • •IMO the biggest thing is in the fracturing they had the ability to do what everyone thought cable should do.
IE cable packages could have been made to work, if say they were actually split by genre or similar. But instead if you want a package for X, you pay for 500 channels you don't want.
IE if the streaming services split up by genre. Like off the top of my head discovery + was the only one that IMO did a cool thing, IE focused on purely giving a solid theme where if you like educational type programs, that's the one to get.
If there were like a sci fi focused streaming, or comedy etc... but rather than going focused, we've got 20 generalists. As a result if say you only like one type of show, you need to buy 6 streaming services, for the 6 good shows in that genre.
BakerBagel
in reply to TheFogan • • •The cable bundles made sense because there was never going to be enough interest for many of the smaller channels to stay viable, even if they had dedicated fans who loved their content. Bundling something like Logo with E! TV and ESPN meant that cable companies could offer you Logo at a loss while collecting big bucks from the industry giants. People DON'T want to pay for loads of small channels, they want to pay someone once and get everything they want.
That's why Netflix was so popular 12 years ago. They had just about everything you wanted to watch all under ine tent for a fraction of a cable package. Now the content people want is scattered across various companies so people opt out
TheFogan
in reply to BakerBagel • • •That varries a bit, yes they want to pay someone once for everything they want. But they really hate seeing their bill go up more and more each year, while getting less of what they want every year. When their bill goes up from 120 to 150, and all they see happen is adding a bunch of channels they don't want, they start feeling like the bulk of their money is going into things they don't want.
I agree, the 2 options are a fairly low price that includes EVERYTHING including what they want... or extremely low prices but at least some confirmation that what they are paying for is actually what they want.
Agreed netflix as it was when streaming picked up but before everyone and their grandmother started their own streaming channel was pretty ideal, low cost and had just about everything.
but yeah once everything was evenly distributed among Netflix, Hulu, Apple, paramount, amazon etc... those days are gone. But the concept still applies that the real pet peve for users that want to get their own, is they'd want to pay one low cost to get the shows that they want. But no matter what your tastes are... odds are what you want is perfectly evenly spaced among the competing channels, and would easily cost well over 100 a month to actually get it.
Zink
in reply to TheFogan • • •I think the YouTube model is more of the high tech future of entertainment that was promised to us. It's one subscription to a massive service that has entire channels dedicated to whatever niche subject you are after.
Unfortunately, that great idea of a project got purchased by Google a very long time ago, and it is well into the user-hostile enshittification phase.
TheFogan
in reply to Zink • • •I mean if you are talking pre-google youtube, I don't believe it had a subscription model... or any real plan to profit or pay it's creators. It was both hemorrhaging money itself, and giving it's creators nothing.
Post google youtube, I guess yeah it is, but worth noting mostly it isn't exactly a high production values system, with the exception of like mr beast etc... which make a boatload of money by still following the same traps as regular TV, catering to the lowest common denominators, microanalyzing maximum views on every aspect.
Zink
in reply to TheFogan • • •outhouseperilous
in reply to Zink • • •Hey, so, I'm old as shit and sti remember utopian scifi. Hi. No.
We were promised art without the need for patronage. Plenty. Post-scarcity. Was the dream. Was what even both sides of the fucking cold war at least had to claim, one maybe even kind of believed in¹. No subscription. No pay. And if you want to pull the 'well yes but we aren't all the way there yet' card, then explain to me how anyone can afford to eat off what YouTube or spotify pays them, then find me someone dumb enough that they still believe that's where any of this is aiming or heading.
¹while executing an unspeakably bloody purge over a bad font choice. Not, like, 'american primary school' bloody, but certainly well past the bounds of good taste.
Zink
in reply to outhouseperilous • • •My first reaction to your reply was that post-scarcity utopia is a bit broader in scope than having a decent streaming platform with existing technology.
But nah, you're right. It's the same greedy bullshit preventing something resembling a post-scarcity world that prevents tech products from staying good.
Unless they are free, of course. In both ways!
Zink
in reply to outhouseperilous • • •My first reaction to your reply was that post-scarcity utopia is a bit broader in scope than having a decent streaming platform with existing technology.
But nah, you're right. It's the same greedy bullshit preventing something resembling a post-scarcity world that prevents tech products from staying good.
Unless they are free, of course. In both ways!
EndlessNightmare
in reply to TheFogan • • •You definitely articulated the problem with the current streaming paradigm: not split in a way that is useful to consumers (e.g. by genre).
We've gone full circle. Not only with needing a bunch of packages (or separate services, as it is now) because of how things have been split up, but also ads getting pushed back in. That's going to keep getting worse too.
salacious_coaster
in reply to some_guy • • •like this
metaStatic likes this.
Zink
in reply to salacious_coaster • • •You know, now that you said that, thanks to the "if you aren't growing you're dying" business culture our business owners and executives have become more like farmers of businesses rather than stakeholders and caretakers.
Enshittification is the harvest!
The goal is not to create a good business. The goal is to force feed and fatten it up until it is right at the point where its legs will break under its own weight the next time it stands up. Then you start to harvest, consume, or sell every bit of the grotesque thing you can before you either sell it cheap to some sucker up in the mountains or watch it die at your feet.
But to be fair, I do know actual small-time livestock farmers. Cows and horses. They care way WAY way more about their animals than sociopathic MBAs care about their organizations, employees, customers, human families, and so on.
A Wild Mimic appears!
in reply to Zink • • •outhouseperilous
in reply to salacious_coaster • • •EndlessNightmare
in reply to outhouseperilous • • •tuhriel
in reply to some_guy • • •But, but think about the children....of the executives, do youbreally want that they have to work? You monster!
/s
katy ✨
in reply to cm0002 • • •won't someone pls think of the poor mega million dollar media companies
ugo
in reply to katy ✨ • • •I think in this context the impoverishment is implied to be that of content, not liquidity.
I.e. poorer (quality) streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy.
But, yes, fuck them greedy fuckers.
katy ✨
in reply to ugo • • •cecilkorik
in reply to ugo • • •salacious_coaster
in reply to katy ✨ • • •GeekFTW
in reply to cm0002 • • •I told Netflix to suck it in 2013 and never looked back lol
Edit: this is a piracy community, why do you two cunts downvote? rofl
altkey
in reply to cm0002 • • •like this
metaStatic likes this.
Stop Forgetting It
in reply to cm0002 • • •Hi, yes its me, I am a won't pay-er. Canceled Netflix the 2nd time in a year they jacked rates. Canceled Spotify the 2nd time in a year that they jacked rates. Canceling Hulu and D+ at the end of this month. I used to torrent everything before Netflix and when Hulu was free, started paying because it was cheap and easy to see all the shows I wanted. Now streaming is just as bad and cable plans used to be so I am setting up my new seedbox now and its cheaper to pay for the premium seedbox + stream from Jellyfin and I can get back to seeing all my shows that fractured off in to streaming services I didn't pay for.
Honestly I am impressed at how far seedbox services have come, they are almost totally plug and play, very little configurations needed
trillnsfw
in reply to Stop Forgetting It • • •MangioneDontMiss
in reply to cm0002 • • •metaStatic
in reply to MangioneDontMiss • • •MangioneDontMiss
in reply to metaStatic • • •metaStatic likes this.
Noxy
in reply to cm0002 • • •curbstickle
in reply to Noxy • • •Its referring to content in this case, not wealth.
As in lacking content, or only having parts of content (season 1 & 2, and then nothing until season 7).
Noxy
in reply to curbstickle • • •coyotino [he/him]
in reply to cm0002 • • •Pringles
in reply to coyotino [he/him] • • •Wugmeister
in reply to Pringles • • •Bobby Turkalino
in reply to coyotino [he/him] • • •Appoxo
in reply to Bobby Turkalino • • •metaStatic
in reply to Bobby Turkalino • • •Wugmeister
in reply to metaStatic • • •No, really. That's what most people do.
You know how most people would think you are a hacker if you started running commands in terminal/CLI? Same thing with torrenting. Torrenting is this scary program that hackers use to put malware on your computer.
My wife was raised by an IT guy and uses firefox for everything, and she is also scared by torrenting. She's more educated on it, sure, but she's still scared of it because she thinks the FBI will arrest her for downloading pirated software. She's much more comfortable going to one of those sketchy streaming sites behind the protection of a good adblocker.
Tollana1234567
in reply to Wugmeister • • •Wugmeister
in reply to coyotino [he/him] • • •WarmApplePieShrek
in reply to Wugmeister • • •Do Usenet.
tabula-rasa.pw is open for signups and I only mention this because I just posted it. This is an indexer, not a provider. You also need a provider which costs more
Chewy
in reply to coyotino [he/him] • • •That's why private torrent sites & Usenet Indexers are mostly ignored by law enforcement. There's bigger fish to catch than going after a minority who goes through the trouble of downloading first and then watching it. Not to mention the even smaller part who automates their downloading through the likes of *arr.
I'd argue torrent streaming (Streamio) is a major reason why many public torrent sites died over the last few years: Streaming and the big amount of users coming for the convenience paints a much bigger target on sites.
HSR🏴☠️
in reply to coyotino [he/him] • • •coyotino [he/him]
in reply to HSR🏴☠️ • • •orca
in reply to cm0002 • • •like this
TVA likes this.
Assian_Candor [comrade/them]
in reply to orca • • •bear
in reply to orca • • •like this
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orca
in reply to bear • • •like this
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outhouseperilous
in reply to orca • • •Almost uniformly, yes. Thats like half of what business school is for.
Also yes. That's the other half.
like this
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SaneMartigan
in reply to cm0002 • • •like this
metaStatic likes this.
rumba
in reply to SaneMartigan • • •I have Netflix, Hulu, and D+
Wife watches random stuff on them all, but I still rip the stuff we enjoy to keep a copy.
I don't mind paying the piper, but fuck off I'm gonna let them decide when to pull the rug on shit I'm watching.
like this
TVA likes this.
outhouseperilous
in reply to rumba • • •rumba
in reply to outhouseperilous • • •Nah, when they lose the license on it and let it go back It's not like they're putting it some other place where I'm going to jump ship and buy it. They've absolutely ruined the market, No money lost, I'm not chasing TV shows around the internet with my money.
I'm paying for three services and basic cable. They're not getting any more money out of me. And the artist got fucked the second they canceled the contract, that has nothing to do with me.
outhouseperilous
in reply to rumba • • •Chana [none/use name]
in reply to cm0002 • • •like this
metaStatic e TVA like this.
WarmApplePieShrek
in reply to Chana [none/use name] • • •Chana [none/use name]
in reply to WarmApplePieShrek • • •TankieTanuki [he/him]
in reply to cm0002 • • •myfunnyaccountname
in reply to cm0002 • • •Droolio
in reply to myfunnyaccountname • • •chonomaiwokurae
in reply to myfunnyaccountname • • •WarmApplePieShrek
in reply to chonomaiwokurae • • •ordnance_qf_17_pounder
in reply to cm0002 • • •like this
TVA likes this.
outhouseperilous
in reply to ordnance_qf_17_pounder • • •Okay bit, hear me out: what if we call for reform, and hit you with a stick a cpuple times to see if anything shiny like old fashioned filling or whatever comes out?
See! Ol capitalism still bad a few food tricks up iys sleeve to innovate with!
ScoffingLizard
in reply to ordnance_qf_17_pounder • • •Zink
in reply to cm0002 • • •96% from streaming? Wow, really? That's almost nothing being contributed by boring old-fashioned downloaded media from things like bittorrent and that other one that's totally not worth talking about.
You guys might as well just ignore those ancient, decrepit download services. What a total waste of your valuable resources! There are so many people out there with jailbroken Fire Sticks! It would be such a waste of your time going on a wild goose chase after imaginary evil communist nerds who buy mechanical hard drives and download "free" software that's been pre-approved by their communal repository authorities.
BudgetBandit
in reply to cm0002 • • •I just got a mal from Spotify that they increase the prices from €17 to €21 (family) I don’t want to pay 25% more for that AI-slob filled garbage.
The changes apply to existing accounts in 3 months. Then, I will rip all my hearted songs and playlists.
u/lukmly013 💾 (lemmy.sdf.org)
in reply to BudgetBandit • • •medgremlin
in reply to u/lukmly013 💾 (lemmy.sdf.org) • • •QueenHawlSera
in reply to cm0002 • • •Chais
in reply to QueenHawlSera • • •Trihilis
in reply to cm0002 • • •"The average European household now spends close to €700 (£600) a year on three or more VOD subscriptions. People pay more and get less."
Lol, not me.
daniskarma
in reply to Trihilis • • •TheObviousSolution
in reply to cm0002 • • •like this
TVA likes this.
imetators
in reply to cm0002 • • •harambe69
in reply to cm0002 • • •That Weird Vegan
in reply to cm0002 • • •MrScottyTay
in reply to That Weird Vegan • • •Bronzebeard
in reply to cm0002 • • •BarneyPiccolo
in reply to Bronzebeard • • •Too bad the Republican party is dead, replaced by the MAGA Party. They no longer follow ANY of the tenets that comprise the Republican Party - lower taxes, smaller government, family values, personal liberty, economic responsibility, national security, etc. - and so the MAGA Party is a fully separate entity.
All Conservatives are MAGAs now, and the MAGA Party supports treason, corruption, racism, misogyny, pedophilia, rape, election fraud, and evil. Conservatives support all these traits.
The Republican Party is as dead as the Whigs, and should only be referred to in an historical/ scholarly context.
Kazel
in reply to BarneyPiccolo • • •Chakravanti
in reply to Bronzebeard • • •Arcane2077
in reply to Chakravanti • • •Chakravanti
in reply to Arcane2077 • • •There is no such actual and real ability to remove any such from a person. It is a myth, used to create the delusuon of it being done. Gangs all the way up to the Military do a real, modern honest or at least candid (which is currently attempting the former from what the current change is to) rendition of what the old middle "evil" aged misunderstood original naming. More or less, an attempt to draw what ended up delusional. Current is much better and more accurate but the old end is attempting to be done again.
Money is as real as any soul leaving a person. Force can push in dimensions unseen but every soul can be stronger than every other dimension.
There's more but, meh...
"Markets" are the apex of the delusion that will destroy all life here soon.
So, I will not answer that with but the best rendition of reality I have thus far practiced to iterate well enough to build better understanding of the "matter."