Yo ho me hearties,

I was reading through Servarr wiki's VPN Guide and saw this callout:

For most users, secure DNS is sufficient instead of VPNs and fixes indexer connectivity issues without the complexity and problems of VPN setups

Are VPNs no longer the recommended practice? I was under the impression a VPN was pretty much required for sharing stuff in a copyright-sensitive country. I'd be delighted if I could simplify my app stack.

The United Kingdom shamelessly prostrated itself at the feet of Donald Trump on Wednesday, throwing a lavish welcoming party for his state visit to Windsor that resembled less diplomacy and more fealty.

In doing so, the U.K. has revealed something deeply unflattering about itself—in the scramble to keep America close, it will debase itself and its values completely.

It will silence dissent, empty out its traditions, and rent out its monarch like a sex worker, deployed to flatter the ego of a man who has spent much of his political life suggesting he should be treated like one, a monarch, not a sex worker, that is.

As stage props go, the monarchy is unbeatable. But if this is what the “special relationship” between the U.S and the U.K. now means, it looks to many in Britain less like a partnership and more like groveling, feudal servitude.

*archive article: archive.is/DxOAv*

Britain Indulges ‘King Trump’ Fantasy With Made-Up Ceremony

Trump wants to be king. Britain is indulging that fantasy for him like an over-eager courtesan.

^{Tom Sykes (The Daily Beast)}

Imagine paying top dollar for a brand-new high-end refrigerator only to be greeted with ads on the door display. Sounds like a nightmare? Unfortunately, this nightmare is coming true for Samsung refrigerator owners with the latest update rolling out to their fridges.

Now ads are coming to your Samsung refrigerator

Samsung's latest update allegedly adds unwanted ads to its smart refrigerator display screens, turning a premium appliance into a billboard.

^{Aamir Siddiqui (Android Authority)}

After the launch ChatGPT sparked the generative AI boom in Silicon Valley in late 2022, it was mere months before OpenAI turned to selling the software as an automation product for businesses. (It was first called Team, then Enterprise.) And it wasn’t long after that before it became clear that the jobs managers were likeliest to automate successfully weren’t the dull, dirty, and dangerous ones that futurists might have hoped: It was, largely, creative work that companies set their sights on. After all, enterprise clients soon realized that the output of most AI systems was too unreliable and too frequently incorrect to be counted on for jobs that demand accuracy. But creative work was another story.

As a result, some of the workers that have been most impacted by clients and bosses embracing AI have been in creative fields like art, graphic design, and illustration. Since the LLMs trained and sold by Silicon Valley companies have ingested countless illustrations, photos, and works of art (without the artists’ permission), AI products offered by Midjourney, OpenAI, and Anthropic can recreate images and designs tailored to a clients’ needs—at rates much cheaper than hiring a human artist. The work will necessarily not be original, and as of now it’s not legal to copyright AI-generated art, but in many contexts, a corporate client will deem it passable—especially for its non-public-facing needs.

This is why you’ll hear artists talk about the “good enough” principle. Creative workers aren’t typically worried that AI systems are so good they’ll be rendered obsolete as artists, or that AI-generated work will be better than theirs, but that clients, managers, and even consumers will deem AI art “good enough” as the companies that produce it push down their wages and corrode their ability to earn a living. (There is a clear parallel to the Luddites here, who were skilled technicians and clothmakers who weren’t worried about technology surpassing them, but the way factory owners used it to make cheaper, lower-quality goods that drove down prices.)

Sadly, this seems to be exactly what’s been happening, at least according to the available anecdata. I’ve received so many stories from artists about declining work offers, disappearing clients, and gigs drying up altogether, that it’s clear a change is afoot—and that many artists, illustrators, and graphic designers have seen their livelihoods impacted for the worse. And it’s not just wages. Corporate AI products are inflicting an assault on visual arts workers’ sense of identity and self-worth, as well as their material stability.

Not just that, but as with translators, the subject of the last installment of AI Killed My Job, there’s a widespread sense that AI companies are undermining a crucial pillar of what makes us human; our capacity to create and share art. Some of these stories, I will warn you, are very hard to read—to the extent that this is a content warning for descriptions of suicidal ideation—while others are absurd and darkly funny. All, I think, help us better understand how AI is impacting the arts and the visual arts industry. A sincere thanks to everyone who wrote in and shared their stories.

“I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing,” as the from SF author Joanna Maciejewska memorably put it, “not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes.” These stories show what happens when it’s the other way around.

Artists are losing work, wages, and hope as bosses and clients embrace AI

Visual artists, illustrators and graphic designers share their stories about how AI is being used to lower wages, degrade work and even replace it altogether, in this installment of AI Killed My Job.

^{Brian Merchant (Blood in the Machine)}

I know thingiverse and cults3D offer some free files, but all the nicer prints are locked behind paywalls.

Is there something listed in the MegaThread that I might have missed?

If not, then where would be a good place to look?

People gather before marching in memory of Charlie Kirk in Peoria, Ariz., on Sept. 13, 2025. Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

It would be easy to believe America is tipping into an era of rampant political bloodshed.

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, voices from across the spectrum sounded alarms that the shooting was just the latest flashpoint in a rising tide of violence.

Progressive commentator Hasan Piker, shaken after watching video of Kirk’s murder, warned his audience of “people looking for decentralized forms of violence.” A Reuters analysis was even more blunt, declaring Kirk’s killing “a watershed moment in a surge of U.S. political violence.” Even Utah’s Republican governor mused whether this marked “the beginning of a darker chapter in our history.”

These aren’t the first calls for open strife. When Donald Trump himself was shot last year, some right-wing figures rushed to declare it the opening salvo of a new civil war.

Are we on the brink of another 1960s-style season of political assassinations and unrest?

A funny thing is happening beneath the apocalyptic headlines: Rather than surging, key indicators of political violence and extremism in the U.S. have actually been trending downward in recent months. New findings from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, show that protest and extremist activity has dropped significantly nationwide.

In August, the number of public demonstrations in the U.S. plummeted by nearly 40 percent compared to the month before. A much-hyped progressive day of action called “Rage Against the Regime” fizzled with only modest turnouts, contributing to the sharp decline in protests.

And, perhaps most tellingly, organized extremist incidents — rallies, hate marches, militant group meet-ups — fell off a cliff. ACLED reports that extremist group activity dropped by over one-third in August, hitting its lowest level in more than five years. It’s part of a steady decline in far-right mobilization that dates back to 2023.

In other words, according to ACLED, by the time commentators were warning that Kirk’s murder heralded a new wave of violence, extremist activism on the ground was at a multiyear low.

Five-Year Low

The contrast between the panic-stricken narrative and ACLED’s hard numbers is striking. Yes, politically motivated attacks still occur and can be horrific. Yet the broader trend in extremist mobilization suggests less organized violence, not more.

ACLED’s data-driven analysis notes multiple factors behind the slump. There are possibly more clandestine tactics by groups. Leadership failures could account for a lack of organization. And a big one: There is a loss of “urgency” among extremist followers because they see their views reflected in mainstream politics.

It turns out that when your side is already winning, you don’t need to storm the barricades.

Even Princeton’s Bridging Divides Initiative, which closely monitors political violence across the country, acknowledges that incidents remained relatively low in 2024. Their analysis, grounded in real-time event tracking, confirms that, while we’ve seen marked upticks in threats recently, the overall trend in political violence has declined since the peak years around 2020.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, observed the same phenomenon in its latest Year in Hate and Extremism report. The SPLC counted 1,371 active hate and extremist groups in 2024, down from 1,430 in 2023. The group concluded the slight drop “does not signify declining influence” at all. Rather, it’s because many on the far right “feel their beliefs have become normalized in government and mainstream society,” according to the report.

In plain English: Why organize a fringe militia when your agenda is being adopted on Capitol Hill and made into policy by the White House?

This dynamic helps explain why the immediate wake of Kirk’s assassination hasn’t unleashed the spate of tit-for-tat violence some feared.

Why organize a fringe militia when your agenda is being adopted on Capitol Hill?

The far-right ecosystem, which in years past might have exploded with vengeful rallies or vigilante reprisals, has been relatively muted in terms of on-the-ground action. To be sure, there was plenty of online fury and calls for crackdowns. Offline, organized extremist events, though, remain in a lull.

The shock and outrage did not translate into a Proud Boys revival or a new wave of militias taking to the streets.

Energy on the left, meanwhile, is already flagging. Its protest movements have been quieter than expected during Trump’s second term.

Progressives pulled off several “days of action” earlier in the year, but by late summer the protests were losing steam. The energy that fueled huge anti-Trump demonstrations in 2024 ebbed, reflected in the 40 percent drop in protest activity.

At least for now, both sides of the spectrum are mobilizing less in the streets — albeit for very different reasons.

An Advancing Agenda

All of this leads to an ironic possibility: Political violence may be declining largely because the would-be perpetrators feel they don’t need it anymore.

The American far right, once relegated to the fringe, now sees its formerly “extremist” ideas being enacted through mainstream institutions.

As the SPLC report noted, positions that might have once only been pushed via hate rallies — anti-LGBTQ+ hostility, attacks on “woke” education, dismantling diversity programs — have seeped into legislation and school board policies.

In 2024, militant groups harassed diversity and inclusion efforts, and soon after, Republican lawmakers, egged on by Trump, moved to ban discussion of race and gender in classrooms.

After Kirk’s killing, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller went on Kirk’s podcast to vow revenge on left-wing groups. Vice President JD Vance, for his part, announced his intent to attack two of the top liberal foundations and a historic magazine of the left.

Guns and intimidation aren’t necessary.

The decline in violent extremism is welcome, but the apparent reasons behind it should give us pause. What does it say about the state of the country when extremists stand down not because they’ve been defeated, but because they think they’ve won? It suggests that the battleground has shifted. The fights that once took place at the margins — in backwoods compounds or tense street protests — are now unfolding in courtrooms, statehouses, and school boards.

Liberals know it too: The relative quiet on the left could well be a sign of resignation, as if even the opposition recognizes that the hard right’s agenda has the upper hand.

America may be “a very, very dangerous spot” as one expert told Reuters, but not for the reasons cable news would have us believe. The danger isn’t an impending civil war in the streets; it’s a creeping normalization of hard-line political goals that no longer require mob violence to be realized.

The assassins and agitators are stepping back, confident that the system now carries their torch for them.

The danger isn’t an impending civil war in the streets; it’s a creeping normalization of hard-line political goals.

Still, Kirk’s assassination cannot be brushed aside. For all the evidence that political violence has ebbed, singular events can act as catalysts, jolting extremists out of dormancy. This killing could become a ramp toward a new future of violence.

If history is any guide, however, it won’t be in the form of clashes. The capacity, and appetite, for that kind of confrontation seems to have dwindled.

Today’s great danger likely isn’t open war in the streets, but the quiet march of an extremist agenda already advancing through institutions. That may bring with it an even greater violence.

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37592419

Pro

2025-09-17 13:38:29

Android launcher Lawnchair 15 beta adds drawer folders, dock upgrades, and expanded search

Lawnchair 15 Beta 1 is here! | Lawnchair Blogs

Lawnchair 15 Beta 1 is here! This foundational release brings App Drawer Folders, an Android 15 rebase, and much more.

^{lawnchair.app}

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37592724

::: spoiler Comments
- Lobsters.
:::

Pro

2025-09-17 13:44:14

Why is the name of the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000 hard-coded into the Bluetooth drivers?

::: spoiler Comments
- Lobsters.
:::

Why is the name of the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000 hard-coded into the Bluetooth drivers? - The Old New Thing

Is it some sort of favoritism?

^{Raymond Chen (The Old New Thing)}

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37593374

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

Pro

2025-09-17 13:52:28

Apple Photos App Corrupts Images

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

Apple Photos app Corrupts Images

The Apple Photos app sometimes corrupts images when importing from my camera. I just wanted to make a blog post about it in case anyone else runs into the problem.

^{Tenderlove Making}

cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37577921

Pro

2025-09-17 07:22:27

Founder of One of World’s Largest Hacker Forums(BreachForums) Resentenced to Three Years in Prison

Founder of One of World’s Largest Hacker Forums Resentenced to Three Years in Prison

Earlier today, a New York man was resentenced to three years in prison for his creation and operation of BreachForums, a marketplace for cybercriminals to buy, sell, and trade hacked or stolen data and other contraband, and for possessing child sexua…

^{www.justice.gov}

cross-posted from: mander.xyz/post/38140084

::: spoiler Comments
Hacker News.
:::

Pro

2025-09-17 08:34:25

Introducing Stargate UK

::: spoiler Comments
Hacker News.
:::

Introducing Stargate UK | Hacker News

^{news.ycombinator.com}

They know who you are, where you live, how much money you make and where you spent your last vacation.

They’re watching what websites you visit, tracking your mouse movements while you’re there and what you’ve left behind in virtual shopping carts. Mac or PC? iPhone or Android? Your preferences have been gathered and logged.

And they’ve got the toolkit, powered by artificial intelligence software, to assemble all this information to zero in on exactly how much you’re likely willing to pay for any product or service that might strike your fancy.

The “they” is a combination of retailers and service providers, social media operators, app developers, big data brokers and a host of other entities with whom you have voluntarily and involuntarily shared personal and behavioral information. And they’ve even come up with new labels to make you feel better about the systems that are using your personal data to set a custom price.

Dynamic pricing. Personalized pricing. Even “discount pricing.”

How AI-driven pricing systems determine what you’re willing to pay

What is surveillance pricing? Do companies use AI to track your personal data? Do companies mine consumer data to set prices? FTC investigating

^{Art Raymond (Deseret News)}

Volume 1.

Digital technology is omnipresent in young people's lives (social media, apps, video games, etc.) and comic books play an important role in developing reading habits among teenagers (source: 2023 Junior City and the French Publishers Association study). It's therefore natural for the CNIL to choose this engaging format to raise awareness among 11-15 year-olds about the issues and risks related to their digital use.

Combining intrigue, humor and education, this first volume entitled The Shadow Network follows the adventures of two investigators from The Privacy Agency, Inaya and Isidore. They try to understand why the names of three high school students—victims of online mishaps and marginalized by their class—appear on a list found in a deliberately burnt down building...

To produce this book, the CNIL drew on the combined talents of Faouzi Boughida, video game scriptwriter, and Grelin, illustrator and comic book author.

It addresses concrete topics: hacking and identity theft, cyberbullying, e-reputation, and cybersecurity. All through a suspenseful story, dynamic artwork and engaging characters.

Source: Cnil Press Release.

https://www.techspot.com/news/109496-looking-glass-debuts-high-resolution-3d-holographic-displays.html