Sky's Piracy=Malware Campaign Aims For 'Holy Grail' of Behavioral Change
::: spoiler Comments
- Reddit.
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Since September 2023, a national campaign run by Sky and entertainment partners has attempted to convince illegal stream consumers to dump them in favor of platforms operating on the right side of the law. To encourage that important step, the BeStreamWise campaign focuses on the dangers of piracy; malware, credit card fraud, the risk of 'letting criminals in'. Through use of a particular model, the campaign hopes to achieve "the Holy Grail of behavioral change."
Sky's Piracy=Malware Campaign Aims For 'Holy Grail' of Behavioral Change * TorrentFreak
Focused on piracy dangers including malware, Sky's BeStreamWise campaign hopes to achieve "the Holy Grail of behavioral change."Andy Maxwell (TF Publishing)
Sunday, August 17, 2025
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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]
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Russia’s war against Ukraine
Ukrainian firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a Russian shelling hit a house, when a Russian FPV drone attack damaged their fire truck during the operation, in Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, on August 16, 2025. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russia’s refusal to declare ceasefire casts doubt on peace process, Zelensky says ahead of White House talks. “If they do not have the will to implement a simple order to stop the attacks, it may take a great deal of effort to get Russia to implement something much more significant, namely peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades to come.”
Sensitive details about Trump-Putin summit revealed in discarded government documents, NPR reports. The documents disclose the exact locations and meeting times of the summit and phone numbers of U.S. government staff. They also reveal other sensitive details, such as a menu for a luncheon in honor of “His Excellency Vladimir Putin.”
Putin offers Trump frozen battle lines, written promise not to invade again if Kyiv surrenders Donbas, NYT reports. Trump appeared to endorse Russia’s plan as the fastest way to a peace deal, abandoning the demand for a ceasefire and threats of sanctions against Moscow, officials told the NYT.
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Trump, Zelensky to meet in Washington next week after US-Russia summit ends without agreement. Zelensky said he supports Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia, noting that the three leaders can cover the “key issues.”
Trump says he and Putin ‘largely agreed’ on land swaps, security guarantees for Ukraine. “I think we’re pretty close to a deal,” Trump told Fox News, adding: “Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they’ll say no.”
Russia declares isolation over after Putin’s red-carpet welcome in Alaska. The summit restored a “full-fledged mechanism for meetings” between the two presidents, without “ultimatums and threats,” Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel on Aug. 16.
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Ukrainians fear Trump will shift responsibility for ending war onto Kyiv after failed talks with Putin.
In the wake of the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska, Ukrainian lawmakers, experts, and soldiers expressed their reservations, fears, expectations for future peace negotiations.
Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
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Everything we know about the fallout of Trump’s meeting with Putin.
Following his meeting with Putin in Alaska, U.S. President Donald Trump has dropped demands for a ceasefire in favor of a comprehensive peace deal that would include giving up unoccupied Ukrainian territories to Russia.
Photo: Drew Angerer / AFP via Getty Images
From Crimea to Donbas, Russia’s “peace” has always meant more war. We’re here in Ukraine to give the world a reality check. Support independent journalism in this critical moment.
Human cost of Russia’s war
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,069,050 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The number includes 1,010 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Russia captures two more villages in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine’s military says. President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged on that the situation in Donetsk remains “extremely difficult” but said Ukrainian forces have achieved some gains.
International response
Slovakia’s Fico praises Putin-Trump summit, repeats Kremlin propaganda. In an Aug. 16 video, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico praised the recent Putin-Trump summit in Alaska and repeated Kremlin propaganda about the “root causes” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘Putin cannot be trusted’ — Nordic, Baltic countries issue joint statement supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty. The Nordic-Baltic Eight nations on Aug. 16 issued a joint statement in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty and a just end to Russia’s full-scale war.
European leaders back Trump’s peace effort but say Ukraine must decide its territory. The joint statement by several European leaders was published on Aug. 16, shortly after their phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In other news
Melania Trump wrote letter to Putin about kidnapped Ukrainian children, Reuters reports. Trump handed the letter to Putin during their nearly three-hour meeting on Aug. 15, two White House officials told Reuters.
Kremlin brags about US jets escorting Putin’s plane after Alaska summit. Russian officials bragged about U.S. fighter jets escorting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plane from Alaska on Aug. 16, following his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ukrainian troops advance in Sumy oblast, General Staff says. Ukraine’s military has reportedly advanced about two kilometers in Sumy oblast, just a day after Putin and Trump discussed a deal that would give Ukrainian territories to Russia.
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Ukrainian troops advance in Sumy oblast, General Staff says
Ukraine's military has reportedly advanced about two kilometers in Sumy oblast, just a day after Putin and Trump discussed a deal that would give unoccupied Ukrainian territories to Russia.Lucy Pakhnyuk (The Kyiv Independent)
China debuts first e-beam lithography tool for commercial use in chip milestone
China debuts first e-beam lithography machine for commercial use in chipmaking milestone
Beijing’s efforts to build its own chipmaking tools may be paying off as global competition in the sector heats up.Alice Li (South China Morning Post)
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CALL FOR URGENT ACTION to stop Chat Control legislation in EU
CALL FOR URGENT ACTION to stop Chat Control legislation in EU
Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?We the citizens Europe (Change.org)
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Sure, that is your reality,and I respect that you are sure that's the case (and in many cases it is), but I happen to believe that there are shades of gray from the whitest white to the darkest black. So you do you, I'll follow my own reality.
I think we can easily be in agreement that following a man or woman because of religion is, not only detrimental, but also dangerous. Whatwe will certainly disagree on is that, for me, Jesus is God, and for you, believing that makes me n irrational sheep. And that's cool, I don't think that should be a reason for one of us to hate the other, or even simply be angry (or anything similar, my English vocabulary is not too extensive).
I brought up religion because it was brought up. So, yeah, I'm not one of those that goes around pushing my believes on others, but the moment I see Jesus attacked, I will defend Him the same way He died for me on that cross.
Allie, an AI chess bot, learns to play like humans from 91 million Lichess games
Meet Allie, the AI-Powered Chess Bot Trained on Data From 91 Million Games
LTI Ph.D. student Yiming Zhang developed Allie, an AI-powered chess bot trained on data from games played by humans.Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science
if you love it, download it
this post started out as a rant about the current state of media preservation on the modern internet... but ranting and complaining rarely helps anything.so instead, i have written a few short guides and notes about ways you can help contribute to media preservation by doing it your damn self. most of the guides lean very technical, but i try to give appropriate explanations and links to the tools and documentation where i can.
Repeated exposure to an image—even if fake or AI-generated—can increase its perceived credibility
Seeing Is Believing?
A TAU-led study finds that seeing an image more than once, real or AI-generated, makes us more likely to believe it’s real.Tel Aviv University
Deepfake Whales Could Be Key Conservation Tool: AI-generated images of rare species could improve efforts to understand, monitor and protect them.
Scrolling through social media, you may have dallied on reels of Leonardo DiCaprio dancing or Tom Cruise crooning, only to realize they’re spoofs created with artificial intelligence. Hyper-realistic videos and images like these — also called deepfakes — are notorious for celebrity pranking. But the technology has serious scientific applications, too. In the field of ecology, for example, AI doppelgängers of rare species could improve efforts to understand, monitor and protect them.Specifically, wildlife deepfakes could help train AI models to detect wildlife in footage from satellites, planes and drones. Ecologists increasingly rely on such birds-eye imagery to study species behavior and population trends.
“We are truly in the age of big data when it comes to remote sensing in ecology and conservation,” says Dave Johnston, director of the Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing Lab at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. “Over the past two decades, our ability to collect high-resolution remote-sensing imagery has grown exponentially, largely due to advances in drone technology and increased satellite capabilities.”
Deepfake Whales Could Be Key Conservation Tool
AI-generated images of rare species could improve efforts to understand, monitor and protect them.Nicholas School of the Environment
Court Blocks Expedited Subpoenas to Identify Digital Pirates, Dealing Blow to Copyright Holders
Court Blocks Studios From Using Fast Subpoenas to Identify Piracy
The 9th Circuit ruled that copyright holders cannot obtain expedited subpoenas to identify internet users suspected of piracy.Gene Maddaus (Variety)
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I'm just saying the percentage of those who may have been willing to pay is small enough to be irrelevant in the for-profit release perspective.
Netflix (when it first started streaming) and Steam (when sales included good older stuff for wildly cheap) showed that piracy is more of a service problem than anything else. A recent article called out the content problems (partial content, a few seasons behind a separate paywall, ads in the middle of playback, etc) a are directly related to an increase in piracy.
So my opinions on copyright aside - a clear model to a happy consumer is an affordable price without all the enshittification going on. People also dont like "buying" content that later disappears because of licensing changes.
So I'd put it squarely in the "their own damn fault" territory, and I'm glad when judges say "no" to them. I'll take whatever positives I can get.
100% correct. I agree with everything you wrote. I will only add: if buying isn't owning, then pirating isn't stealing.
Edit: fixed mistype
How we can improve online political debates
With a few adjustments, the quality of online political debates can be significantly improved, according to new research. However, a better tone of debate does not necessarily change people's attitudes, the researchers behind the study point out.
L'eroe genovese senza volto Giovanni Giustiniani Longo contro Maometto II
L'eroe genovese senza volto
Giovanni Giustiniani Longo contro Maometto II
Il 29 Maggio 1453, Costantinopoli (Bisanzio prima) si avviava a cadere sotto i colpi di artiglieria ottomana e a diventare l'odierna Istanbul. Il basileus Costantino XI, per difendere la città, aveva chiesto rinforzi, anche alle due repubbliche marinare di Venezia e Genova. Il Doge genovese, Pietro Fregoso, decise di mandare "solo" due galee con a bordo 700 uomini, guidati da un valente condottiero: Giovanni Giustiniani Longo (1418-1453).
Longo ed i suoi uomini respinsero più volte con estremo valore gli assalti ottomani ...
Leggi tutto qui
app.snaphistory.io/articles/pu…
Autore:
Marco Locatelli, laureando in Scienze Storiche presso UniMI
Every stock you take, AI could be watching you
Research pick: Every stock you take, AI be watching you - "Discrete-time EOQ with lost sales, binomial demand, and geometric lead time: inventory level distribution and performance analysis"
Researchers have developed a new way to model how inventory behaves when both customer demand and supplier deliveries are unpredictable, and...inderscience.blogspot.com
Recycle, resell, reboot
Recycle, resell, reboot
As laptops, notebook computers, become outdated as operating systems and software advance, and the hardware needed to support their myriad f...inderscience.blogspot.com
Recycle, resell, reboot
Recycle, resell, reboot
As laptops, notebook computers, become outdated as operating systems and software advance, and the hardware needed to support their myriad f...inderscience.blogspot.com
Citizen Lab director warns cyber industry about US authoritarian descent
Citizen Lab director warns cyber industry about US authoritarian descent | TechCrunch
Ron Deibert, the head of the prominent digital human rights groups Citizen Lab, sounds the alarm at the Black Hat security conference about the "dramatic descent into authoritarianism," but one that the cyber community can help to defend against.Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai (TechCrunch)
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How is technology transforming modern education?
TrueSides - Where Tech Makes Sense
Technology isn’t just about gadgets, algorithms, or innovations. At Truesides, we believe that staying ahead isn’t just about knowing what’s new, but understanding what truly matters.Tech (TrueSides)
Pakistan will not restrict mountaineering expeditions despite the recent deaths of climbers
A Pakistani official says there are no warnings or restrictions for mountaineering expeditions in the north
Archived version: archive.is/newest/independent.…
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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Scientists "break impossible Century-Old Physics Barrier" with this new research
Scientists have managed to "break a theoretically impossible century-old barrier" about a fundamental physics property.
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Disclaimer
- Source: xkcd #3126
- Explain xkcd.
![[A Cueball profile picture is shown next to five paragraphs of illegible text, which contains varied punctuation marks and two square-bracketed citations. The last paragraph in the essay is separated from the other paragraphs by a line with three dashes. Its single sentence is highlighted, and lines connect that illegible sentence to a box with an enlarged, legible version of the sentence.]
Enlarged text: Not ChatGPT output—I’m just like this.
[Caption below the panel:]
I've had to start adding this disclaimer to my messages.](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/56316285 "[A Cueball profile picture is shown next to five paragraphs of illegible text, which contains varied punctuation marks and two square-bracketed citations. The last paragraph in the essay is separated from the other paragraphs by a line with three dashes. Its single sentence is highlighted, and lines connect that illegible sentence to a box with an enlarged, legible version of the sentence.]
Enlarged text: Not ChatGPT output—I’m just like this.
[Caption below the panel:]
I've had to start adding this disclaimer to my messages.")
3126: Disclaimer - explain xkcd
explain xkcd is a wiki dedicated to explaining the webcomic xkcd. Go figure.www.explainxkcd.com
In sudden shift, American emissions rise as China’s falls
America swapped places with China as coal sees a minirevival in the U.S. In China, renewable energy is surging.
Archived version: archive.is/20250816113249/eene…
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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US | Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport To Close 1 Priority Runway For Safety Improvements
The south parallel runway will be closed until September 26, 2025.
France ‘strongly condemns’ Israel’s controversial E1 settlement plan in occupied West Bank
France on Saturday “strongly condemned” the Israeli plan to build thousands of new homes in the occupied West Bank, labeling the E1 settlement plan “a serious violation of international law,” Anadolu reports.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/middleeastmo…
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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New report accuses France of 'continuously' delivering military equipment to Israel
A new report has accused France of "regularly and continuously" delivering military equipment to Israel since the start of its war on Gaza.Elodie Farge (Middle East Eye)
At least 31 killed as artillery strike hits Darfur displacement camp in western Sudan
At least 31 people, including seven children and a pregnant woman, were killed and 13 others wounded when artillery shelling struck Abu Shouk displacement camp in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur in western Sudan, a local medical group said Saturday, Anadolu reports.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/middleeastmo…
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.
Air Canada to resume flights after government ends flight attendant strike
Canada’s labour board has ordered Air Canada to resume operations after a nationwide flight attendant strike grounded over 700 flights. The directive, issued following a request from Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu, marks the end of the airline’s first flight attendant walkout since 1985,
Archived version: archive.is/newest/france24.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.
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Canada | Carney voices support for Trump’s peace efforts — and encourages US security guarantees
The Canadian leader’s message comes after several U.S. partners in Europe showed support for Trump’s trilateral proposal on Friday.
Archived version: archive.is/20250817023403/poli…
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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Canadian government moves to end Air Canada strike, seeks binding arbitration
The Canadian government on Saturday moved to end a strike by Air Canada's cabin crews and require binding arbitration to break their contract impasse, an action that the country's largest carrier had sought but unionized flight attendants fiercely opposed.
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Druze demand self determination in largest protest held since deadly clashes in Syria
Hundreds of people have demonstrated in Syria’s southern city of Sweida in the largest protests since last month’s deadly clashes in the area.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/apnews.com/a…
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.
Trump says Xi told him China will not invade Taiwan while he is US president
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office.
Archived version: archive.is/newest/edition.cnn.…
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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Serbia ruling party offices set on fire in fifth night of protests
Russia throws support behind the beleaguered president, saying it won't "remain unresponsive" to unrest.
Archived version: archive.is/20250817045815/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.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Ted Hui reportedly granted asylum in Australia
Exiled former lawmaker with $200,000 bounty for his arrest, who now works as a solicitor in Adelaide, says he and his family granted protection visas
Archived version: archive.is/newest/theguardian.…
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.
Trump reportedly to back ceding of Ukrainian territory to Russia as part of peace deal
Details of post-summit call were leaked in which US president supports plan for Kyiv to give up Donbas region
Archived version: archive.is/20250816193923/theg…
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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