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I Hate My Friend: The chatbot-enabled Friend necklace eavesdrops on your life and provides a running commentary that’s snarky and unhelpful. Worse, it can also make the people around you uneasy.


archive.is link

The AI-powered Friend pendant is now out in the world. If you live in the US or Canada, you can buy one for $129.

The smooth plastic disc is just under 2 inches in diameter; it looks and feels a little like a beefy Apple AirTag. Inside are some LEDs and a Bluetooth radio that connects you (through your iPhone) to a chatbot in the cloud that’s powered by Google’s Gemini 2.5 model. You can tap on the disc to ask your Friend questions as it dangles around your neck, and it responds to your voice prompts by sending you text messages through the companion app. You can reply to these messages with your voice or via text to keep the conversation going.

It also listens to whatever you’re doing as you move through the world, no tap required, and offers a running commentary on the interactions you have throughout your day. To perform that trick, the device has microphones that are always activated.

If the idea of a microphone-packed wearable that’s always listening to your conversations raises privacy concerns for you, just know that you’re not alone. If your experience is anything like ours, wearing the Friend will likely earn you the ire of everyone around you. Curiously, you might even end up being bullied by the chatbot itself.

https://www.wired.com/story/i-hate-my-ai-friend/



Firefox launches ‘shake to summarize’ on iPhones


cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37149554


If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or later with iOS 26+, the summary is created on your device using Apple Intelligence. On other devices with earlier iOS versions, the page text is sent securely to Mozilla cloud-based AI, which creates the summary and sends it back.

Source.



Firefox launches ‘shake to summarize’ on iPhones



If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or later with iOS 26+, the summary is created on your device using Apple Intelligence. On other devices with earlier iOS versions, the page text is sent securely to Mozilla cloud-based AI, which creates the summary and sends it back.


Source.




Firefox launches ‘shake to summarize’ on iPhones


cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37149554


If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or later with iOS 26+, the summary is created on your device using Apple Intelligence. On other devices with earlier iOS versions, the page text is sent securely to Mozilla cloud-based AI, which creates the summary and sends it back.

Source.



Firefox launches ‘shake to summarize’ on iPhones



If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or later with iOS 26+, the summary is created on your device using Apple Intelligence. On other devices with earlier iOS versions, the page text is sent securely to Mozilla cloud-based AI, which creates the summary and sends it back.


Source.




Firefox launches ‘shake to summarize’ on iPhones


cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37149554


If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or later with iOS 26+, the summary is created on your device using Apple Intelligence. On other devices with earlier iOS versions, the page text is sent securely to Mozilla cloud-based AI, which creates the summary and sends it back.

Source.



Firefox launches ‘shake to summarize’ on iPhones



If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or later with iOS 26+, the summary is created on your device using Apple Intelligence. On other devices with earlier iOS versions, the page text is sent securely to Mozilla cloud-based AI, which creates the summary and sends it back.


Source.




Just had a hospital group employee tell me to simply email medical information


WTF lady? Is this what they are telling people to do now? I said, "email is insecure by design" and she responded, "Well SIR we use a secure server."

"OK, thanks for your time, bye"



Google’s Veo 3 can now generate vertical AI videos


AI slop, now optimized for mobile platforms.



Snapchat hit with Dutch probe over online sale of vapes to minors


The Dutch regulator said it is in contact with the European Commission about the investigation into Snapchat, one of the 25 largest online platforms in Europe.
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Microsoft mandates a return to office


Microsoft wants employees back in the office

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[Announcement] Content Creator Boss Rush Event Recap


Last weekend, community streamers Zizaran, Ghazzy and DarthMicrotransaction participated in a 4v4 boss rush event with Doublelift, AnnieFuchsia, Guzutv, Xaryu and Sunglitters.

If you missed the event, check out this highlight video created by Zizaran and his team to find out who won!

Video: This TEAM BOSS RUSH RACE was so much fun!!




HMD announces made in Europe smartphone (for governments)? with secure element


The specs are wild, this is likely going to be very expensive

It has a secure element so it could run Graphene no? The only problem is that it's not a mainstream device so I don't think it's going to be supported.


A similar device that's currently released is Nokia XR21, but the only pro is that it's manufactured in Hungary


Don't bother with HMD's candybar dumbphones if you wanna escape Android, mine calls 999 (ambulance) if I put it in the backpack and it did it two times on its own (HMD 110 4G 2024), flip phones shouldn't have this problem though.

Questa voce è stata modificata (3 giorni fa)


Michigan 'fake electors' will not face criminal trial, judge rules


"These cases will not be bound over to the circuit court," Simmons, a state district court judge, said. "Each case will be dismissed."

Simmons said the Michigan Republicans involved in the effort were trying to seek redress after Trump’s loss and attempted to perform their civic duties.

"The prosecution would like the court to believe that these named defendants were savvy or sophisticated enough to understand fully the electoral process, which the court does disagree because the document that was presented doesn't even align with the level of sophistication that they want me to believe," she said before announcing her decision.


in reply to Nemeski

To decode that a little, he’s accusing humans of starting to sound like LLMs, even though LLMs — spearheaded by OpenAI — were literally invented to mimic human communication, right down to the em dash. And OpenAI’s models definitely trained on Reddit, where Altman was a board member through 2022, and was disclosed as a large shareholder during the company’s IPO last year.


He's a moron.



Catch me on Fireside Fedi in half an hour!


[url=https://social.firesidefedi.live/@firesidefedi]@firesidefedi@social.firesidefedi.live[/url] kindly invited me onto their show to chat. Looking forward to it! Episodes are uploaded to their Peertube and you can [url=https://stream.firesidefedi.live/]

firesidefedi@social.firesidefedi.live kindly invited me onto their show to chat. Looking forward to it!

Episodes are uploaded to their Peertube and you can catch the stream online here

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Graphite, the Israeli spyware acquired by ICE


cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/35656129


Alternativa FOSS a google lens: offline translator


Questa app è una piccola bomba:
- traduzione completamente offline con il motore recentemente implementato in Firefox
- riconoscimento da immagini con tesseract
- overlay del testo tradotto sull'immagine originale

E' ancora un'app giovane ma funziona piuttosto bene. Inoltre mi sembra un passo fondamentale verso la de-googlizzazione

Codice sorgente: github.com/DavidVentura/firefo…

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in reply to lgsp@feddit.it

provata velocemente e non sembra niente male! Ottima idea.


Firefox launches ‘shake to summarize’ on iPhones



If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or later with iOS 26+, the summary is created on your device using Apple Intelligence. On other devices with earlier iOS versions, the page text is sent securely to Mozilla cloud-based AI, which creates the summary and sends it back.


Source.

Technology Channel reshared this.




US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China


cross-posted from: sh.itjust.works/post/45704477

“Every move in my own home is monitored,” Yang said, sitting behind black curtains that block him from the glare of police lights trained straight at his house. “Their surveillance makes me feel unsafe all the time, everywhere.”

Across China, tens of thousands of people tagged as troublemakers like the Yangs are trapped in a digital cage, barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest digital surveillance apparatus. Most of this technology came from companies in a country that has long claimed to support freedoms worldwide: the United States.

Over the past quarter century, American tech companies to a large degree designed and built China’s surveillance state, playing a far greater role in enabling human rights abuses than previously known, an Associated Press investigation found. They sold billions of dollars of technology to the Chinese police, government and surveillance companies, despite repeated warnings from the U.S. Congress and in the media that such tools were being used to quash dissent, persecute religious sects and target minorities.

Critically, American surveillance technologies allowed a brutal mass detention campaign in the far west region of Xinjiang — targeting, tracking and grading virtually the entire native Uyghur population to forcibly assimilate and subdue them.


https://apnews.com/article/chinese-surveillance-silicon-valley-uyghurs-tech-xinjiang-8e000601dadb6aea230f18170ed54e88



Trump’s Takeover of DC: Traffic Stops Turn Into Immigration Arrests for Delivery Riders and Workers


Four masked men in police tactical vests surround a young scooter rider, cuffing his hands behind his back. One person, whose face is fully obscured with a cap, sunglasses and a balaclava, is heard on eyewitness video telling the scooter rider: “You came into this country as a J1, as an exchange student. You didn’t show up … You lied, ok?”

“Yeah, he’s illegal, either way,” another person is heard saying, before they lead him to an unmarked car.

Screengrab from a video showing a man being arrested by federal agents along Florida Avenue Northwest, Washington DC on Tuesday, Sept. 2. Source: Instagram/@will.allendupraw

Nearby, two Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) cars are seen blocking part of the lane. Uniformed MPD officers stand around the area, neither intervening nor appearing to participate directly in the arrest.

MPD vehicles seen blocking part of a lane where federal officers are arresting a man on a scooter along Florida Avenue Northwest, Washington DC on Tuesday, Sept. 2. Source: Instagram/@will.allendupraw

The video was posted by Will Allen-DuPraw, whose profile says that he is a photographer and videographer based in DC, on Sept. 2. Allen-DuPraw wrote in the post that bystanders reported that authorities were stopping Latino men on scooters along Florida Avenue Northwest, a major road in Washington DC, and had arrested two.

An urgent alert sent out on the morning of the same day by Stop ICE Alerts, a community-driven alert network for those affected by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, reported similar information. The alert said that ICE, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – a branch of ICE focused on investigating transnational crime – and MPD were “stopping Latinos on scooters” and had arrested one or two people along Florida Avenue Northwest.

A Metropolitan Police officer directs traffic at a checkpoint on New York Avenue after US President Donald Trump deployed US National Guard troops to Washington and ordered an increase in the presence of federal law enforcement to assist in crime prevention, in Washington, DC. Source: Reuters/Al Drago

With US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration, scenes of federal agents detaining people while accusing them of immigration offences have been cropping up all over social media from around the country. An analysis of ICE arrest data by DC-based think tank Cato Institute found that in June and July alone, ICE conducted almost 9,000 street arrests nationwide of immigrants who had no criminal convictions, charges, or removal orders. About 90 percent of these were immigrants from Latin America.

The incident on Florida Avenue Northwest was one of 42 that Bellingcat and our partner Evident Media geolocated and verified using videos and photos from social media and news reports. These showed federal agent encounters in the capital, in the month or so since Trump’s federal takeover of DC on August 11. The full dataset can be downloaded here.

In the three weeks after DC was placed under federal control, Trump’s administration said more than 300 people without legal immigration status were arrested in the District.

Like previous immigration raids that we documented in Los Angeles, the federal agents involved in the DC cases were often masked and in military wear. Some wore generic “Police” vests, while others had attire indicating specific government entities such as ICE and HSI. The vehicles they used were usually unmarked, with plates from a variety of US states.

Car plates from a variety of US states that federal agents in DC were filmed using in Washington DC. Source: Evident Media

There is one key difference, however. In LA, a state law prohibits local law enforcement from using its resources for immigration enforcement in most cases. But in DC, where no such law applies, MPD has frequently been seen working with federal officers since the federal takeover last month.

In half of the incidents in our dataset, local DC law enforcement could be seen working alongside federal agents. Most of the DC local police were from MPD, though some were from the Metro Transit Police Department. Aside from ICE and HSI, agents from federal agencies including the US Park Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were also seen in the videos.

Agents from US Park Police, FBI, DEA and ATF were seen in the videos. Source: Evident Media

“We are definitely seeing MPD cooperate at a level we’ve never seen before, and it is resulting in people getting arrested and sent to detention,” Michael Lukens, who runs immigrant rights centre Amica, told Evident Media.

MPD has not replied to Evident Media’s queries about their cooperation with federal law enforcement agencies as of publication.

Of the cases we analysed, 22 involved the arrest of delivery drivers or tradespeople, such as workers in an air conditioning and heating truck.

In two widely shared videos, DC resident Tyler DeSue claimed agents pulled over his Uber Eats driver for having “incorrect tags” on his bike, then checked his registration and insurance and saw it was valid. DeSue said they then asked for his immigration status and detained him.

Police officers, one in an HSI vest, seen questioning a man in a video posted by Tyler DeSue on Aug. 17. Source: TikTok/@td13__

The videos DeSue posted did not show the initial encounter between the agents and the driver, but did show the arrest. DeSue can be heard in one video telling agents that the man they were questioning did not understand what they were saying, and they should use Google Translate. Another witness is heard calling the arrest “ridiculous” and questioning if the agents have “better things to do than to harass Uber Eats drivers”.

In a second video, also posted by DeSue, agents are seen wrapping the man in chains before putting him in an unmarked car.

A second video posted by DeSue on Aug. 17 show agents wrapping the man in chains before putting him into an unmarked car. Source: TikTok/@td13__

Another video posted by NPR reporter Chiara Eisner on Aug. 21 shows an agent in a “Police” tactical vest handcuffing a man in front of a truck, with US Park Police nearby. When Eisner asks what is happening, a Park Police officer says this is a traffic enforcement because the man was driving a commercial vehicle on park roads.

US Park Police stand by as a man is arrested by an agent in a “Police” tactical vest, after what they said was a traffic enforcement for driving a commercial vehicle on park roads. Source: TikTok/@chiaraeisner

Evident Media asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about videos of these two specific incidents, as well as whether federal agents were using race or language as factors in their stops and arrests. In response, a DHS spokesperson said:

“What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the US – NOT their skin colour, race or ethnicity. America’s brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists – truly the worst of the worst from our communities.”

The spokesperson also claimed that the men detained in these two incidents were undocumented immigrants who entered the country illegally. They did not mention any other criminal record for the men or comment on why the men were stopped by local police in the first place.

Lukens told Evident Media that ICE agents had been seen in areas with larger immigrant populations, such as Columbia Heights and Adams Morgan, which he described as “high-level racial profiling”.

Constitutionally, the Fourth Amendment protects anyone in the US, regardless of immigration status, from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.

“If you are an ICE officer and the only thing that you have to fall on or to fall back on in justifying arrest is a person’s racial makeup and what vehicle they are driving, then you have conducted an illegal stop and an illegal arrest,” Lukens said.

Melissa Zhu, Eoghan Macguire, Pooja Chaudhuri, Kolina Koltai, Vladimir Zaha, Fraser Crichton and Bonny Albo contributed research to this piece.

From Evident Media, Jennifer Smart, Kevin Clancy and Zach Toombs contributed to research and production for the video report.

Bellingcat is a non-profit and the ability to carry out our work is dependent on the kind support of individual donors. If you would like to support our work, you can do so here*. You can also subscribe to our Patreon channel* here*. Subscribe to our* Newsletter and follow us on Bluesky here and Mastodon here.



Commissioner: Ohio schools would need doubled sales tax to replace property tax


A Mahoning County Commissioner contends that Ohio’s sales tax would need to more than double to replace property tax revenue used to fund schools.

Commissioner Geno DiFabio stated on Monday in a social media post that the state’s current tax structure would not support a full repeal of property taxes without a significant increase in other taxes.

DiFabio said the state's property tax system generates about $15 billion for schools annually. He contrasted this with the state's portion of sales tax, which is 5.75% and yields about $14 billion a year.

His analysis suggests that to cover the current school funding, the sales tax would need to increase. In Mahoning County, the current sales tax rate is 7.5%, while neighboring Trumbull County has a rate of 6.75%, and Columbiana County's is 7.25%.

https://www.wfmj.com/story/53067961/commissioner-ohio-schools-would-need-doubled-sales-tax-to-replace-property-tax




UK toughens Online Safety Act with ban on self-harm content


cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37143047

The government has today (8 September) announced urgent action to toughen the Online Safety Act by putting stricter legal requirements on tech companies to hunt down and remove material that encourages or assists serious self-harm, before it can destroy lives and tear families apart.

While platforms already have to take specific steps to protect children from this dangerous self-harm content, the government recognises that adults battling mental health challenges are equally at risk from exposure to material that could trigger a mental health crisis or worse.

The new regulations mean that content encouraging or assisting serious self-harm will be treated as a priority offence for all users.




UK toughens Online Safety Act with ban on self-harm content


The government has today (8 September) announced urgent action to toughen the Online Safety Act by putting stricter legal requirements on tech companies to hunt down and remove material that encourages or assists serious self-harm, before it can destroy lives and tear families apart.

While platforms already have to take specific steps to protect children from this dangerous self-harm content, the government recognises that adults battling mental health challenges are equally at risk from exposure to material that could trigger a mental health crisis or worse.

The new regulations mean that content encouraging or assisting serious self-harm will be treated as a priority offence for all users.







Latin American musicians say AI is stealing their streams


  • Latin America’s diverse music scenes — from bachata to reggaeton — are under threat as AI-made tracks overwhelm streaming platforms.
  • Musicians say AI-generated songs are flooding Spotify, Deezer, and YouTube Music, drowning out human artists and shrinking their royalties.
  • Even global stars like Bad Bunny have faced AI clones, underscoring how deeply the technology is impacting the region’s music industry.


In eigener Sache: „Unterschiedlich schnell verderbliche Ware!“

Öffentlich-rechtliche Mediatheken, als auch kapitalistische Streamer unterscheiden sich eigentlich nur in Nuancen, wenn es darum geht, ihre Ware an ihr Publikum zu bringen. Da gibt es Sortierungen nach Geschmacksrichtungen, Label wie: „Gefühlvoll“, „Spannend“ oder Genrebezeichnungen, von denen einige auch dringend darauf warten neu erfunden zu werden. Der heißeste Scheiß, sind dabei Empfehlungsalgorithmen, die genau das versuchen, was Social-Media zu einem Höllenloch gemacht hat: Die Kund:innen immer länger bei der Stange zu halten, als diese eigentlich wollen – oder sollten… „Wir wissen besser was sie wollen, als Sie selbst. Also suchen Sie sich gefälligst was aus, was andere auch ausgesucht haben.“ (Blog)

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UK toughens Online Safety Act with ban on self-harm content


The government has today (8 September) announced urgent action to toughen the Online Safety Act by putting stricter legal requirements on tech companies to hunt down and remove material that encourages or assists serious self-harm, before it can destroy lives and tear families apart.

While platforms already have to take specific steps to protect children from this dangerous self-harm content, the government recognises that adults battling mental health challenges are equally at risk from exposure to material that could trigger a mental health crisis or worse.

The new regulations mean that content encouraging or assisting serious self-harm will be treated as a priority offence for all users.

Questa voce è stata modificata (3 giorni fa)

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Flipper Zero, Car Thieves, and a Brewing Security Crisis: What’s Really Going On?


Underground developers are selling Flipper Zero “car unlock” packages for hundreds of dollars, complete with a PDF listing targeted makes and models and whether the hack enables only door unlocks or full start/drive.


No adblocker detected.


::: spoiler Comments
- Hacker News.
:::

Internet ads are horrible: They waste your time, and the advertising industry makes the internet a worse place. Payouts are so small that the only way to survive is to turn your site into an ad filled hellhole with no real substance.
Questa voce è stata modificata (3 giorni fa)

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Pakistan: Mass surveillance and censorship machine is fueled by Chinese, European, Emirati and North American companies


cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37138319

Full Report: “Shadows of Control”.

::: spoiler Investigation Partners
- Paper Trail Media;
- DER STANDARD;
- Follow the Money;
- The Globe and Mail;
- Justice For Myanmar;
- InterSecLab;
- The Tor Project.
:::

The investigation exposes how Pakistani authorities have obtained technology from foreign companies, through a covert global supply chain of sophisticated surveillance and censorship tools, particularly the new firewall (the Web Monitoring System [WMS 2.0]) and a Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS). The report documents how the WMS firewall has evolved over time, initially using technology supplied by Canadian company Sandvine (now AppLogic Networks). Following Sandvine’s divestment in 2023, new technology from China-based Geedge Networks, utilising hardware and software components supplied by Niagara Networks from the U.S. and Thales from France, were used to create a new version of the firewall. The Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) uses technology from the German company, Utimaco, through an Emirati company called Datafusion.




Pakistan: Mass surveillance and censorship machine is fueled by Chinese, European, Emirati and North American companies


Full Report: “Shadows of Control”.

::: spoiler Investigation Partners
- Paper Trail Media;
- DER STANDARD;
- Follow the Money;
- The Globe and Mail;
- Justice For Myanmar;
- InterSecLab;
- The Tor Project.
:::

The investigation exposes how Pakistani authorities have obtained technology from foreign companies, through a covert global supply chain of sophisticated surveillance and censorship tools, particularly the new firewall (the Web Monitoring System [WMS 2.0]) and a Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS). The report documents how the WMS firewall has evolved over time, initially using technology supplied by Canadian company Sandvine (now AppLogic Networks). Following Sandvine’s divestment in 2023, new technology from China-based Geedge Networks, utilising hardware and software components supplied by Niagara Networks from the U.S. and Thales from France, were used to create a new version of the firewall. The Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) uses technology from the German company, Utimaco, through an Emirati company called Datafusion.