Bag of words, have mercy on us
Bag of words, have mercy on us
OR: Claude will you go to prom with me?Adam Mastroianni (Experimental History)
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The thing I see LLMs more useful for is searching.
Imagine asking a robot where a book with certain contents is. I wish for that instead of a robot that does my homework, because I suck a little with searching.
I also saw them useful for science: putting all selected, finetuned scientific articles and papers into an LLM to see what it can do on a specific scientific field. So imagine my surprise seeing this is only doable for private associations, since there is nothing "good" on the public web.
The Supreme Court weighs Trump's bid to fire independent agency board members
The Trump administration’s push to expand control over independent federal agencies comes before a sympathetic Supreme Court that could overturn a 90-year-old decision limiting when presidents can fire board members.
Lawyers for the administration are defending President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter without cause and calling on the court to jettison the unanimous 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor.
Arguments are taking place Monday.
The court’s six conservative justices already have signaled strong support for the administration’s position, over the objection of their three liberal colleagues, by allowing Slaughter and the board members of other agencies to be removed from their jobs even as their legal challenges continue.
Monday, December 8, 2025
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The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]
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Russia’s war against Ukraine
Aftermath of the destruction of a residential building following a Russian attack with FAB-250 and drones in the city of Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on Dec. 7, 2025. One person was killed and a 15-year-old boy was injured in the attacks. (Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Locals report explosions near Engels airfield, oil depot in Russia’s Saratov Oblast amid overnight drone attacks. Locals reported explosions near the Engels airfield and an oil depot amid overnight drone attacks in Russia’s Saratov and Rostov oblasts.
Kellogg claims Ukraine peace deal close, with Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant key sticking points. Trump envoy Keith Kellogg says a Ukraine peace deal is in its “final stretch” as talks focus on territorial concessions and security guarantees.
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Ukraine reports frontline gain in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast as Russia advances in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Amid an ongoing Russian offensive, Ukraine has liberated a village in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the Ukrainian open-source mapping project DeepState and Ukraine’s military reported.
Ukraine braces for ‘critical damage’ after Russian strike on Kharkiv Oblast dam threatens water supply. Russia attacked the Pechenihy dam on Dec. 7, threatening the reservoir that supplies water to Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Read our exclusives
Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones score ‘successful hit’ on Russia’s Ryazan Oil Refinery, General Staff says
Ukrainian forces conducted another strike on Russia’s Ryazan Oil Refinery — one of the country’s largest — during the night of Dec. 5-6, the General Staff reported, marking the ninth attack on the facility this year.
Photo: Wikipedia
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Looking for the 10 best Ukraine-related books of 2025? We’ve got you
The Kyiv Independent has selected 10 of the best Ukraine-related books published in 2025. Curious readers should use this list as a guide on the path to discovering even more books from this and previous years, with the anticipation of what is to come in 2026 as well.
Photo: The Kyiv Independent
Independent journalism is never easy, and it’s even harder in wartime
Yet we can do it without paywalls, billionaires, or compromise — because of our community.
Human costs of war
At least 2 killed, 19 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over past day. Russia launched five ballistic missiles and 241 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force reported.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,180,870 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The number includes 1,080 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Trump’s peace plan hits a wall | Ukraine This Week
International response
Czech president says Europe may need to shoot down Russian aircraft, drones violating NATO airspace. Czech President Petr Pavel warned that repeated Russian airspace violations may eventually force Europe to shoot down Russian aircraft and drones, and said European countries must be ready to fight and win a war on their own if the U.S. is tied up elsewhere.
Russia, China hold joint anti-missile drills on Russian territory. China says recent joint anti-missile drills with Russia on Russian territory were routine and not aimed at any third party.
Son of president who shut down US corruption watchdogs slams Ukraine for corruption. Donald Trump Jr. warned on Dec. 7 that his father may walk away from Ukraine, parroting Kremlin propaganda about corruption in Kyiv driving Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
In other news
Russia’s Africa Corps committing war crimes in Mali, AP reports. The AP spoke to 34 refugees who reported kidnappings, sexual assault, and civilian killings at the hands of the Africa Corps, a paramilitary group controlled by the Russian Defense Ministry.
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Ilhan Omar says Trump's anti-Somali tirade ' completely disgusting
Ilhan Omar says Trump’s anti-Somali tirade ‘completely disgusting’
Minnesota congresswoman says ‘hateful rhetoric’ can lead to ‘dangerous actions by people who listen to the president’José Olivares (The Guardian)
New Air Force Chief Boosts Nuclear Buildup, Moving Away From Deterrence, Experts Warn
In his first major guidance to the Air Force, the newly appointed Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach emphasized a need for the “recapitalization” of nuclear weapons — an apparent departure from decades of Air Force teaching that the United States maintains nuclear weapons solely for deterrence.
“We will advocate relentlessly for programs like the F-47, Collaborative Combat Aircraft as well as nuclear force recapitalization through the Sentinel program and the B-21,” Wilsbach wrote in a memo dated November 3, referring to planned upgrades to nuclear missiles and stealth bombers.
“This memo of unity and warfighting spirit reflects current Department of War and Pete Hegseth language, but that language is also inadequate because it assumes U.S. military capability is the best in the world and getting better, a dangerous and flawed assumption,” said Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and former Pentagon analyst who exposed the politicization of intelligence before the Iraq War.
New Air Force Chief Boosts Nuclear Buildup, Moving Away From Deterrence, Experts Warn
Gen. Ken Wilsbach promotes nuclear “recapitalization,” fueling fear of a radical shift away from nukes acting solely as deterrence.Austin Campbell (The Intercept)
New Air Force Chief Boosts Nuclear Buildup, Moving Away From Deterrence, Experts Warn
In his first major guidance to the Air Force, the newly appointed Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach emphasized a need for the “recapitalization” of nuclear weapons — an apparent departure from decades of Air Force teaching that the United States maintains nuclear weapons solely for deterrence.
“We will advocate relentlessly for programs like the F-47, Collaborative Combat Aircraft as well as nuclear force recapitalization through the Sentinel program and the B-21,” Wilsbach wrote in a memo dated November 3, referring to planned upgrades to nuclear missiles and stealth bombers.
“This memo of unity and warfighting spirit reflects current Department of War and Pete Hegseth language, but that language is also inadequate because it assumes U.S. military capability is the best in the world and getting better, a dangerous and flawed assumption,” said Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and former Pentagon analyst who exposed the politicization of intelligence before the Iraq War.
New Air Force Chief Boosts Nuclear Buildup, Moving Away From Deterrence, Experts Warn
Gen. Ken Wilsbach promotes nuclear “recapitalization,” fueling fear of a radical shift away from nukes acting solely as deterrence.Austin Campbell (The Intercept)
Meta planning massive cuts to Reality Labs metaverse division
Report: Meta planning massive cuts to Reality Labs metaverse division
The money it is saving is to be shifted over to its AI wearables businessAlex Forbes-Calvin (GamesIndustry.biz)
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Arizona Attorney General sues Temu(Online Shopping Platform) over malware, data exfiltration activities and more
Attorney General Mayes Sues Online Shopping Platform Temu for Stealing Arizonans’ Data and Misleading Consumers | Attorney General's Office
PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes today announced the filing of a lawsuit against Temu, the Chinese online shopping platform, for violations of the Arizona Cwww.azag.gov
How Snapchat manipulates its users through notifications
Our recent research into Snapchat shows that its uses misleading notification. This is not legally allowed. Namely, the European Digital Services Act prohibits misleading and manipulative design on online platforms. The research serves as input for possible enforcement actions by the Dutch Authority for Consumer and Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt) and supports our advice to include the regulation of attention-grabbing notifications in the Digital Fairness Act.
How Snapchat manipulates its users through notifications
Bits of Freedom komt op voor internetvrijheid door de online grondrechten op communicatievrijheid en privacy te beschermen.Bits of Freedom
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The Moment Carter Opens The Shrine, 1924, Egypt
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RIP Windows: Linux GPU Gaming Benchmarks on Bazzite
We're finally benchmarking GPU performance in Linux, first using the Bazzite OS following thousands of community requests specifically for this operating system.
RIP Windows: Linux GPU Gaming Benchmarks on Bazzite | GamersNexus
GPUs RIP Windows: Linux GPU Gaming Benchmarks on Bazzite December 5, 2025 Last Updated: 2025-12-05 We're finally benchmarking GPU performance in Linux, first using the Bazzite OS following thousands of community requests specifically for this operati…gamersnexus.net
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Lazarus Group’s IT Workers Scheme Hacker Group Caught Live On Camera
Lazarus Group’s IT Workers Scheme Hacker Group Caught Live On Camera
Lazarus Group’s Famous Chollima unit has been caught “live on camera” running its remote IT worker scheme, after researchers funneled its operatives into fake laptops that were actually long‑running sandbox environments under full surveillance.Guru Baran (CybersecurityNews)
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Two cities in Oregon have ended their contract with Flock thanks to citizen pressure.
Cities: Eugene and Springfield, OR
cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/39835035
Privacy is worth fighting for.
Eugene, Springfield announce end of Flock cameras
In a press release sent late Friday evening, the Eugene Police Department announced it has terminated its contract with Flock Safety.Jaime Adame (Lookout Eugene-Springfield)
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Pentagon Sharpens Tech Focus to Six Key Priorities
Pentagon Sharpens Tech Focus to Six Key Priorities
The Pentagon has narrowed its technology priorities to six critical areas aimed at rapidly strengthening U.S. military capabilities and maintaining strategic dominance.Popsmokemedia
Scores of UK parliamentarians join call to regulate most powerful AI systems
Exclusive: Campaign urges PM to show independence from US and push to rein in development of superintelligence
Digital ID debate: Privacy group warns of 'unprecedented tracking' and 'surveillance'
The Open Rights Group warns the government's digital ID plan is a "surveillance infrastructure" leading to "unprecedented tracking." They point to the faulty eVisa scheme.
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Advent Calendar 8
Advent Calendar
Zen Mischief Photographs
This year for our Advent Calendar we have a selection of my photographs from recent years. They may not be technically the best, or the most recent, but they’re ones which, for various reasons, I rather like.Pine tree, Oxford Botanic Garden
© Keith C Marshall, 2018
Click the image for a larger view
Heartless Bastards - Restless Ones (2015)
Il quinto album degli Heartless Bastards è uno splendido esempio di gruppo che gradualmente giunge a una completa maturità artistica. A differenza di band il cui talento emerge da subito in maniera più cristallina gli Heartless Bastards hanno dovuto fare parecchia strada per trovare la loro dimensione ideale dopo aver oscillato tra post-punk e country... Leggi e ascolta...
How I block all online ads
How I block all online ads
A couple of years ago, I decided I'd had enough of ads. Not just the occasional banner or a quick pre-roll video — I mean all of them. They have to go.troubled.engineer
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Below you'll find some other useful things, although they aren't exactly related to ad-blocking:
- Browser extensions against annoyances:
- Cookie popups: Consent-O-Matic
- Captchas: Buster
- I'd also suggest SponsorBlock — it has saved me so much time. There's also an option for TVs and streaming devices.
- If you're on iOS, consider turning off Background App Refresh. Only a few apps use Background App Refresh as Apple designed it, the majority are simply abusing it to get more data about you. If you don't have always-on VPN, you risk exposing your real IP.
- Patched apps are also a thing, and it's also possible to patch mobile apps yourself via ReVanced. While it's a decent option, it's also a security risk — I'm careful with it and don't use it with sensitive accounts.
TIL
GitHub - cavi-au/Consent-O-Matic: Browser extension that automatically fills out cookie popups based on your preferences
Browser extension that automatically fills out cookie popups based on your preferences - cavi-au/Consent-O-MaticGitHub
Vibe Coding: Empowering and Imprisoning - Anil Dash
Vibe Coding: Empowering and Imprisoning - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.Anil Dash
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This is a good read and makes a lot of great points. I think everyone in tech needs to understand the arguments here. The biggest thing for me is that LLMs are incredibly useful tools, but not in the way they are advertised. They are great for learning how existing code works, but shit at writing anything novel or innovative. From the article:
The past is a prison when you’re inventing the future.
In my opinion, if you're using LLMs to do anything but help you learn from the past, you're doing it wrong. LLMs cannot move you forward, and I think that may be the point.
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I've always said LLMs are fantastic rubber ducks. But taking said rubber duck and telling it to build something end to end or hitting tab without verifying anything is going to lead you to a world of hurt. the person doing it won't know the world of hurt is coming because they simply don't know any better. the company won't know the world of hurt is being built around them because like the vibe coder they dont' know any better.
then suddenly it's finished, pushed to production, and there's your world of hurt.
but hey I get paid to fix said world for them so keep on trucking I guess. at this rate I'll be retiring by the end of the next year.
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Israel’s biggest defence company suspended by NATO amid corruption probe
Israel’s largest defence company, Elbit Systems, has been suspended by NATO’s procurement agency amid a major corruption probe, Follow the Money and its media partners La Lettre, Le Soir, and Knack can reveal.
The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is at the centre of a wide-ranging graft scandal, with current and former staff under investigation for bribery. Several suspects were arrested in May in police raids across seven nations, including Belgium and the U.S.
FTM has also learned that a key figure associated with Elbit – an Italian citizen identified as Eliau E. – is wanted internationally for his alleged role in bribing NSPA staff.
Elbit is Israel’s biggest arms manufacturer, with a turnover of almost 7 billion dollars in 2024. The Haifa-based company – which makes drones, tanks and ammunition, among other military equipment – ranks 25th on the list of the world’s 100 largest defence companies compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
https://www.ftm.eu/articles/israel-defence-elbit-systems-suspended-nato-corruption-investigation
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RRF Caserta. Rassegna Stampa 08 12 25 USA e Russia contro Europa. Sport F1 Calcio
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau make their relationship Instagram official
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau make their relationship Instagram official
The singer posted a photo of the pair smiling cheek to cheek and a video of them eating sushi together while in JapanJessica O'Bryan (The Guardian)
Record 70% of Germans Dissatisfied With Government's Performance - Survey
Record 70% of Germans Dissatisfied With Government's Performance - Survey
A record 70% of Germans are dissatisfied with the work of the country's government, according to a new survey conducted by the INSA pollster for German newspaper Bild.Sputnik International
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Germany is a dictaorship of the bourgeoisie, spin it anyway you like, voting for progressive reformists will only get you one step forward, and two steps back
you don't vote your way to communism, communists participating in bourgeois elections only do so to draw attention to the farce, and as you said, it's literally illegal in germany
Stupidity and disinformation by conservative media, so same as everywhere else with that problem.
The people saw that it is shit after 16 years of stagnancy (Merkel), the new government had a opposition party directly in the government (don't ask how that makes sense, only good thing is that the FDP lost a lot of voters for this bullshit) and then voters immediately decided that conservative again is the right way to vote.
No it doesn't make sense to me either
Accidental Duplicate sorry
Record 70% of Germans Dissatisfied With Government's Performance - Survey
A record 70% of Germans are dissatisfied with the work of the country's government, according to a new survey conducted by the INSA pollster for German newspaper Bild.Sputnik International
Operation in Huliaipole: Russian Forces Clear Ukrainian Positions and Reach the Haichur River (Videos)
Operation in Huliaipole: Russian Forces Clear Ukrainian Positions and Reach the Haichur River (Videos)
Russian assault groups are advancing in Vilcha in the direction of Kharkiv. Russian units have taken control of more than half of Siversk, setting the stage for a full encirclement of the area.Anonymous834 (South Front)
La riposte pathétique d’Elon Musk face à l’Europe
C’est un spectacle fascinant, presque shakespearien s’il n’était pas joué par des clowns numériques, qui se déroule actuellement entre la commission européenne et ce qu’il reste de Twitter. Vendredi dernier, l’Union Européenne a frappé fort avec une amende de 120 millions d’euros pour violation du Digital Services Act. La raison ? Des pratiques trompeuses, un manque de transparence crasse et, surtout, ce fameux système de certification payant qui permet à n’importe quel escroc d’acheter une crédibilité autrefois réservée aux comptes vérifiés.
Mais au lieu de faire profil bas, d’analyser ses erreurs ou même de prétendre s’améliorer, X a décidé de réagir avec la maturité d’un adolescent privé de sa console de jeu. La plateforme a contre-attaqué en bannissant le compte publicitaire de la commission européenne. Le motif invoqué ? Une supposée tromperie. L’ironie est telle qu’elle en deviendrait presque étouffante.
Une vengeance aussi mesquine qu’inutile
Commençons par le cœur de cette blague cosmique. Samedi, Nikita Bier, le responsable produit chez X (un poste qui doit nécessiter une consommation industrielle d’aspirine), a annoncé triomphalement avoir banni le compte publicitaire de la commission. Selon lui, l’institution aurait violé les règles de la plateforme.
Le problème ? Cette dernière ne dépense plus un centime en publicité sur X depuis 2023. C’est là toute la beauté de la stratégie d’Elon Musk. Pour punir une entité qui vient de vous coller une amende de 120 millions d’euros, vous décidez de lui interdire d’acheter des publicités… qu’elle n’achetait déjà plus.
Un porte-parole de la commission a d’ailleurs confirmé l’absurdité de la situation, rappelant que leur politique de non-publicité sur la plateforme est en place depuis plus d’un an, en raison précisément des inquiétudes liées à la désinformation. La suspension imposée par X est donc aussi effrayante qu’un pistolet à eau face à un incendie de forêt.
L’accusation de la faille imaginaire
Pour justifier cette décision grotesque, X a dû inventer une narration où la victime devient le bourreau. Nikita Bier accuse la commission d’avoir utilisé un « exploit » (une faille) dans l’outil de composition publicitaire de X. Selon lui, l’UE s’est connectée à un compte publicitaire dormant pour poster un lien déguisé en vidéo afin d’augmenter artificiellement sa portée.
En d’autres termes, X reproche à ses utilisateurs d’utiliser son interface telle qu’elle a été codée par ses ingénieurs. Si le compositeur de posts permet de créer des liens qui ressemblent à des vidéos, ce n’est pas un piratage de haut vol. C’est simplement la preuve que l’interface utilisateur du réseau social est une usine à gaz mal conçue.
L’hôpital qui se moque de la charité numérique
L’hypocrisie atteint ici des sommets stratosphériques. Rappelons le contexte, X vient d’être condamné pour tromperie. Pourquoi ? Parce que son système de coches bleues, autrefois gage d’authenticité, est devenu un simple reçu de paiement. L’UE a jugé que cela trompait les utilisateurs en leur faisant croire à la légitimité de comptes qui ne sont pas vérifiés. Et quelle est la défense de la plateforme ? Accuser l’UE à son tour de tromperie parce qu’un bouton de lecture vidéo fonctionne bizarrement sur mobile.
C’est exact, sur la version bureau, le bouton « play » du post de la commission lance la vidéo. Sur mobile, il semble rediriger vers le communiqué de presse annonçant l’amende. X appelle cela une manipulation malveillante. Le reste du monde appelle cela un bug d’interface sur une plateforme en déclin technique. Ce comportement erratique des vidéos est d’ailleurs monnaie courante sur X. Mais quand il s’agit de l’UE, soudainement, c’est un complot machiavélique.
Musk – La diplomatie du « Bullshit »
Pendant que ses lieutenants s’activaient à inventer des excuses techniques, le grand patron, Elon Musk, a brillé par son éloquence habituelle. Sa réponse à l’amende historique et aux critiques détaillées de l’Union Européenne ? Un tweet lapidaire: « Bullshit ». Suivi d’une question rhétorique tout aussi nuancée: « Combien de temps avant que l’UE ne disparaisse ? #AbolishTheEU ». C’est la réaction d’un homme qui n’a plus d’arguments. Face à un cadre législatif rigoureux comme le DSA, les mèmes et les insultes ne suffisent pas. L’UE demande des comptes sur la transparence, la protection des données et la véracité de l’information. Le milliardaire répond par des slogans populistes et des représailles techniques inefficaces.
twitter.com/elonmusk/status/19…
La réalité va frapper fort
Cette petite guéguerre sur l’interdiction du compte publicitaire ne changera strictement rien à la réalité financière et juridique qui attend X. L’entreprise a 60 jours pour répondre aux préoccupations concernant les coches bleues et 90 jours pour régler ses problèmes de transparence publicitaire. Si elle échoue, les pénalités pourraient s’aggraver. La plateforme peut bien bannir tous les comptes administratifs qu’elle souhaite, cela n’effacera pas l’ardoise. Prétendre que la commission a piraté l’algorithme en utilisant les outils officiels est une défense qui fera rire n’importe quel tribunal.
En fin de compte, cet épisode illustre parfaitement l’état actuel de X, une plateforme techniquement défaillante, dirigée par l’impulsivité, qui préfère accuser ses régulateurs de tricherie plutôt que de réparer son propre code ou de respecter la loi. L’UE a demandé de la clarté et de l’honnêteté. En réponse, elle a eu droit à une crise de colère. Si c’était ça leur stratégie de défense pour prouver qu’ils sont une entreprise sérieuse et non trompeuse, c’est un échec spectaculaire. Mais au moins, c’est divertissant.
Bruxelles frappe fort - X écope d'une amende historique de 120 millions d'euros pour ses pratiques trompeuses
L'UE inflige une amende de 120 millions d'euros à X d'Elon Musk, saluant une victoire pour la régulation numérique et la transparence.GIGAWATTS
Who is Sam Mraiche? Inside Alberta’s health care controversy
The Globe and Mail's Tom Cardoso, Carrie Tait, Mark Mackinnon, and Stephanie Chambers have the deep dive on Sam Mraiche. I'll include some highlights, but this deserves a good read because it provides an overview with additional information about some of the relationships between Sam Mraiche, Danielle Smith, Jitendra Prasad, and Mickey Amery.
Her former chief of staff, Marshall Smith, hired multiple relatives of Mr. Mraiche at the same time as he was living in a home owned by one of Mr. Mraiche’s sisters.
...
“All of my family is in Canada now,” said Jamil Omairi, a pharmacist in the nearby town of Lala, another springboard for people destined for Alberta. Mr. Omairi is related to Mickey Amery, Alberta’s justice minister, himself a long-time friend and relative of Mr. Mraiche.“All the young people here, people between 16 and 20, they have two ways to go,” he said. “If they find work, they stay. If there’s no work, they travel, and Brazil and Canada are the first destinations.”
...
Mraiche may be a capable import/exporter, but his world view could be mercenary. An exchange between Mraiche and BTNX, a supplier of COVID rapid tests, highlights this view.
The following week, Mr. Mraiche proposed a solution: He did “a lot of business” in Turkey, he explained, and suggested the BTNX executive use those contacts to obtain additional tests.Mr. Mraiche also returned to the idea of diverting tests, this time from the federal government. “They’re really going to notice that a million is missing?” he asked.
“They will, yes,” responded Mr. Sunderani.
As deliveries fell further and further behind, Mr. Mraiche, who told Mr. Sunderani he was under intense pressure from Mr. Prasad, became increasingly frustrated.
“Do you know what you’re doing to me, Iqbal?” Mr. Mraiche said in an early February call. “I don’t only sell rapid test kits. I’m one of the biggest constructors here, too. Do you know what you’ve done to me? I’ve had so much mud thrown on my face, it’s not even funny.”
“You better hope there’s another wave that needs rapid tests,” he continued later in the call.
“Sam, that’s – that’s a bad thing to hope for,” Mr. Sunderani said.
“Is it? Me and you are in the business.”
“Sam, you know what? At the end of the day I don’t know about you, but I’ve made enough money. I don’t want to wish –”
“Has Jeff Bezos made enough money yet?”
“I don’t care who Jeff Bezos is,” Mr. Sunderani replied. “He has – I mean, I don’t want to wish –”
“No one’s wishing anything. It’s just going with the flow,” Mr. Mraiche said.
A month after that call, BTNX sued MHCare for $7.5-million, alleging Mr. Mraiche’s business failed to pay for more than 200,000 test kits and refused to pay for a truckload it received in error. MHCare countersued for $62.5-million, alleging BTNX overcharged, caused the company to lose money and tarnished its reputation. The two companies remain locked in litigation, and neither party’s allegations have been proven in court.
...
By the spring of 2022, the government’s response to the pandemic left Premier Jason Kenney battered. A scant majority of United Conservative Party members supported him in a leadership review in May, 2022, and he agreed to step down after the party selected a replacement.Danielle Smith, then a party leadership hopeful, campaigned on COVID-19 grievances, railing against mask mandates and vaccine passports. Within a few months, she’d established herself as a front-runner.
A copy of Ms. Smith’s private calendar obtained by The Globe shows she took meetings during the campaign with everyone from physicians to executives – including Sam Mraiche.
In August, 2022, she was scheduled to dine at his north Edmonton home, the calendar shows.
Five days later, she was booked for a 30-minute Zoom call with Mr. Mraiche and Mr. Prasad, who retired from Alberta Health Services in the spring but stayed on as a consultant.
Ms. Smith, Mr. Prasad and Mr. Mraiche did not respond to questions about the meetings.
Who is Sam Mraiche? Inside Alberta’s health care controversy
A Globe investigation into the provincial health agency’s dealings with a company whose contracts have come under scrutinyTom Cardoso (The Globe and Mail)
Google's AI Deletes User's Entire Hard Drive, Issues Groveling Apology: "I Cannot Express How Sorry I Am"
Google’s AI Deletes User’s Entire Hard Drive, Issues Groveling Apology: “I Cannot Express How Sorry I Am”
The Google Antigravity AI agentic screwed up big-time — but was very contrite about its blunder nonetheless.Frank Landymore (Futurism)
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Why even care what the ai had to say? It’s not conscious.
The user is looking to deflect blame for giving a very fallible outside agent the ability to delete important information.
That’s on you my guy.
[Answered] Video players that look like IINA, or can?
Edit: I'm now enlightened and use mpv, I really like the ModernZ OSC (on-screen controls), and uses config files.
IINA is only on macOS. I looked up linux alternatives but none of them seem to have similar looking UIs, at least out of the box. I want the player UI to float on top of the video + with a blurred background, it as shown in the image; or at least the ability to theme it like so.
GitHub - Samillion/ModernZ: A sleek and modern OSC for mpv designed to enhance functionality by adding more features, all while preserving the core standards of mpv's OSC.
A sleek and modern OSC for mpv designed to enhance functionality by adding more features, all while preserving the core standards of mpv's OSC. - Samillion/ModernZGitHub
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I somehow keep running across videos that won't load in Clapper, Showtime, mpv, VLC, or Handbrake, and Nautilus won't show thumbnails for them. It's very frustrating. Supposedly I've already installed all the available codecs from RPMFusion, but still get the "codec missing" error on a bunch of videos.
Jellyfin on the other hand, it plays everything I've ever thrown at it. I don't know what the hell it's doing differently from the other video players on my system, but it works great.
GitHub - Rafostar/clapper: Level up your video experience with a modern and user-friendly media player.
Level up your video experience with a modern and user-friendly media player. - Rafostar/clapperGitHub
Israel's Love for Capitalism
Israel's Love for Capitalism
The colonial leader and commander-in-chief behind Gaza’s annihilation, Netanyahu, wants to convince you that capitalism is great actually! If you’re still on the fence on the ultimate question—soci...TankieTube
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I guess you've already done updates on your packages in termux?
Updating:pkg upgradeani-cli -U
I see that ani-cli prefer to use yt-dlp to ffmpeg if it's available so you could try installing that too.
Too many laws passing without 'proper scrutiny', Geoffrey Palmer says
A former Labour Prime Minister says Parliament is passing too many laws without proper scrutiny.
Sir Geoffrey Palmer told Nine to Noon the government was increasingly pushing through legislation under urgency, which allowed it to skip stages such as public consultation and select committees.
But Leader of the House Chris Bishop said just nine Bills have been passed in that way, and there were good reasons for all of them.
Palmer said the normal checks and balances were stripped out when laws were made at pace.
"Urgency has become the default mechanism for dealing with Parliamentary legislation and the standing orders are not followed and you also have extended sittings - and both of those mean the Government's agenda is completely at the will of the Government," he said.
Palmer said the Fast-Track Approvals Act 2024 - and its amendment - was a classic example of a trend that "ministers know best" and was "ministerial dictatorship".
"It was criticised by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment then, Simon Upton, the amendment bill puts the process that was enacted in 2024 on steroids.
"It gets faster and faster. It will be a fast-track to environmental degradation, [more] than it already is."
Bishop was approached for further comment.
The legislation, which passed under urgency at the end of last year, is back before Parliament with an amendment that the government intended to push through by the end of 2025.
It said the amendment to the Act would increase competition in the supermarket sector.
Despite being open for just over 10 days, it received 2158 submissions, with about 95 percent opposed.
Palmer said legislative checks and balances - which he already considered lacking - were further reduced when legislation was made at pace.
"What is the hurry? Legislation is law-making. You want to get it right. You have to analyse it, you have to do proper research, you don't bang it through because a minister has an idea.
"It needs to be properly drafted by Parliamentary council. We have had a degradation of our legislative system in New Zealand in recent years."
Bishop said the government had a big legislative agenda and limited hours in ordinary house time to get it done.
Regarding the use of urgency, he said: "I am reluctant to use urgency to avoid select committees outside of the standard Budget urgency process, and it is only done so when there are good reasons."
Too many laws passing without 'proper scrutiny', Geoffrey Palmer says
Sir Geoffrey Palmer says the government is increasingly pushing through legislation under urgency and skipping consultation.Ninetonoon (RNZ)
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Ripping Blu Rays is way deeper than I expected
I didn't think I'd spend hours reading about this today, but some things surprised me:
- Just using a Playstation sounds like it won't work or will be a huge time sink.
- Blu ray optical drives are way more expensive than I thought
- The copy protections on Blu rays are exceptionally annoying, to the extent where there is really only one closed source software -- MakeMKV -- that can work around them.
This post goes into some interesting details. - Finding a drive that is known to work with MakeMKV is a pain. There's a brand called Pioneer that seems promising but they have stopped producing bluray drives ~~went out of business last year~~. I have no idea which model works, and it's common that secondhand sellers will swap enclosures and pass it off as a different model.
- Sometimes you need to flash the firmware on the drive to make it work with 4K UHD discs.
I was going to try ripping a Blu-ray that I bought recently, since I couldn't find a quality rip anywhere, but I'm pretty turned off from the whole prospect at this point.
Anyway I'm not really asking for a specific reply, I just thought this topic was interesting and I'm curious what people think about Blu rays and optical media in general. Does the future seem bleak? Are we going to be stuck with shitty WebDLs for most new content? Or is physical media here to stay?
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I ripped a ton of my stuff back in the day, guess I've been lucky, every generic BD drive i've used just worked.
But once you get past the "works" hurdle, the real struggle begins.
It's slow, like really slow. Assuming you can find the right titles and convince makemkv extract them, it's a start the process and go brew a cup of coffee slow. But hey, I've got time and you don't need to watch it ... mostly.
Depending on the disk, it's still either crap quality or it takes up an ungodly amount of space. Even a decent sized drive buckles sooner or later if you're generating 20GB images.
Unless you're up on your network game, your streaming sticks/tv's can hardly handle the throughput to stream the video.
So you encode the video. HEVC (which is getting dicey starting january as the royalties go up and processors stop support hardware decoding) or hopefully AV1, which still has spotty support in places. and the re-encode? The easy software isn't free, the free software isn't easy, but FFMPEG isn't that hard to work with.
OR, you find an ISO provider and download it.
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I guess I lucked out when I bought my BD-R drive before I was aware that MakeMKV needed extra stuff like firmware. But my LG WH16NS60 is one that took the flash (never had to mess with firmware on an optical drive and was worried I would brick it). But the process was pretty easy and getting into ripping BR after so long meant that the easy option was around to handle the steps. Kind of considering getting a back-up drive to have around if/when the one I have dies (especially since big brands are dropping out or may do so in the coming years).
While not as easy as just using torrents or other P2P. I have found it kind of fun to get back into ripping CD/DVD/BD and learn/re-learn how things work these days. Also nice to have all the options I can to be able to have access to media in the event any of them are down. The only super frustrating thing is that so much of modern releases don't get physical (or even purchasable digital) releases. And in some cases where a physical release is an option, they are DVD and not even a 720p BD. Digital options are even worse in a lot of random cases where a store might have just part of a show (or even episodes in a season not part of it).
Currently the only real issue that I have is that I really really need to build a new main PC and finally turn my current PC into only being for ripping and hosting what I have. And to get large HDDs to replace the 2TB and 4TB SSDs I currently have for it all of course. I really would like to have good copies of 4K stuff without having to worry about going with bad encodes that look worse than many 1080p releases that my TV upscales.
TragicNotCute
in reply to cRazi_man • • •cRazi_man
in reply to TragicNotCute • • •WTF does it mean? Are we doing the project or not??
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Sc00ter
in reply to cRazi_man • • •wizardbeard
in reply to cRazi_man • • •Roughly translated from management speak: We'll need to come back to this specific aspect of the discussion on its pwn later, so we can more directly focus on this one part.
Could be blowing smoke to get someone stuck on something to let go so the meeting can move on, or a legitimate "this part deserves its own dedicated discussion".
There's a decent bit of good "steering" of groups and discussions that comes out of management speak, but the word choice and phrasing makes it needlessly opaque, and very "fellow kids".
Sometimes the opaqueness can be intentional too, to avoid making someone feel like their idea has been dismissed, or to slow down somebody while they parse what was just said so they can't keep rapid fire talking and dominating the conversation.
arcterus
in reply to TragicNotCute • • •slazer2au
in reply to cRazi_man • • •wizardbeard
in reply to slazer2au • • •flandish
in reply to cRazi_man • • •Toneswirly
in reply to cRazi_man • • •TriangleSpecialist
in reply to cRazi_man • • •I am often torn a bit on this one, depending on the cases.
Don't get me wrong, management lingo is undeniably bullshit, trying to hide how simple what you're saying actually is, and giving yourself stature and legitimacy.
But I would argue that there are fields were the emergence of complex concepts (and lingo, and notations to define them) is a necessary evil. For sure even there, there are people who abuse it to big themselves up, but I also think a lot of the time, either the thing you're speaking of is genuinely complicated, or it's just not well understood enough. Sometimes I really wish I could say things in a simpler way, both in concepts and expression, but I can't find a way to make it so. Not by malice, not to appear to know more, but genuinely because I don't understand it enough yet either and that's the best I've got.
Having experienced it first-hand, I am more forgiving to this (depending on the attitude of the person spouting the jargon) and don't automatically assume all technical-sounding terms are automatically bullshit. They often are, but not always.
But management lingo is. 100%.
masterspace
in reply to TriangleSpecialist • • •You're literally just describing this meme.
When you don't know shit you think it should be simpler, when you slightly understand it then you end up using technical terms because you know those terms apply and aren't confident enough to replace them, and then once you know enough you get confident just describing everything as bags within bags.
TriangleSpecialist
in reply to masterspace • • •My point being that for some stuff, you just can't describe things as bags within bags, irrelevant of where you are on the scale, at least not without being quite intellectually dishonest and oversimplifying.
I am not saying I am on top of the scale, I am saying I've met and worked with people on top of the scale (and couldn't keep up), and they don't explain things with bags within bags.
EDIT: for clarity, there are things that are too complicated for everyone right now. One day we may understand them well enough that someone can explain it in layman's term without loss of precision, but to get to that point, we must accept that we need to work with complex notations and lingo. Example: in the past, only Newton and Leibniz and a handful of others understood calculus. Now it's taught in high school. Newton and Leibniz were not in the middle of the bell curve, nor did they overcomplicate their theory to make it sound fancy.
masterspace
in reply to TriangleSpecialist • • •Eh I don't really agree, depending on how simple you're talking. Bags within bags, or dumbing things down to a grade school level, then sure, there are topics that can't be described succinctly.
But if you're talking about simplifying things down to the point that anyone who took a bit of undergrad math/science can understand, then pretty much everything can be described in simple and easy to understand ways.
Don't get me wrong, I've seen many people at the top who can't, but in every case, it's not because of the topics' inherent complexity, but either because they don't actually understand the topics as well as they may seem, or because they lack the social skills (or time / effort / setting) to properly analogize and adjust for the listener.
TriangleSpecialist
in reply to masterspace • • •Anyone who took undergrad maths/science is not layman's term.
I also disagree with this for the record but that's besides the point.
masterspace
in reply to TriangleSpecialist • • •TriangleSpecialist
in reply to masterspace • • •"amongst the people who understand the jargon and notations, jargon and notations are layman's term"
Sure, I guess that's true if you limit your sample, this is not what I took the meme to mean but ok.
masterspace
in reply to TriangleSpecialist • • •TriangleSpecialist
in reply to masterspace • • •And I am talking about the fact that believing that nothing is complicated and that complexity is always made up can be a dangerous, anti-intellectual and anti-academic argument.
Of course, if you're talking with people who don't need to actually do the job and only understand enough of it, and you still speak like to a specialist, you're not only in the middle, but also potentially (but not necessarily) kind of a dick.
But reading this and your example, and the fact we seem to be miscommunicating somewhat, I do wonder this: English is not my first language, what do you include in "technical science job"? Is it a specific job or group of jobs? I took it to mean any job with tech or science workers.
EDIT: further explanation of what went through in my head, which may clarify interpretation and intent. Having the management lingo example made me interpret that curve as a: all this jargon is just bullshit and you could do better without it. Definitely true imo with management lingo.
But what I was trying to say, maybe poorly, is that some technical jargon, in some areas, is meaningful. Explaining in layman's term is dumbing down. Nothing wrong with that when it fits the purpose, but you still sacrifice something in the process.
masterspace
in reply to TriangleSpecialist • • •TriangleSpecialist
in reply to masterspace • • •FishFace
in reply to masterspace • • •TriangleSpecialist
in reply to FishFace • • •cRazi_man
in reply to FishFace • • •I've progressed quite far in the technical science part of my job. I'm at the top end of the graph and encouraging my junior staff to simplify their language and message. Some things absolutely need technical terms, but they don't need to use overly complicated words to say "this has moved up" or "this thing is bad". More often meaning gets lost in using euphemisms instead of being clear about the message.
I've moved up the management role as well and really can't bring myself to move from the bottom end of the meme graph. Management really has its own language so they can say lots of words in meetings with very little meaning. We're in the business of doing shit......are we going to do shit or not?
FishFace
in reply to cRazi_man • • •masterspace
in reply to FishFace • • •FishFace
in reply to masterspace • • •masterspace
in reply to FishFace • • •If you're communicating with another scientist about the actual work you're doing then sure there are times when you need to be specific.
If you're publishing official documentation on something or writing contracts, then yes, you also need to be extremely speciific.
But if you're just providing a description of your work to a non-specialist then no, there's always a way of simplifying it for the appropriate context. Same thing goes for most of specialist to specialist communication. There are specific sentences and times you use the precision to distinguish between two different things, but if you insist on always speaking in maximum precision and accuracy then it is simply poor communication skills where you are over providing unnecessary detail that detracts from the actual point you're trying to convey.
Sc00ter
in reply to TriangleSpecialist • • •idiomaddict
in reply to Sc00ter • • •Good management is just good people skills. If you don’t have them, intentionally defanging your speech/correspondence helps prevent blowups. Unfortunately for people working under managers with bad people skills, this doesn’t actually make up for and mostly just highlights their managers’ deficits.
Tl;dr: management speak is intentionally harmless in and of itself, but is an obvious symptom of bad management.
alternategait
in reply to TriangleSpecialist • • •Your comment reminds me of this satirical article "Ortho Writes Perfect SOAP Note". The meat of it
Ortho Writes Perfect SOAP Note, First No-Worder This Year | GomerBlog
Dr. 99 (GomerBlog)ZombiFrancis
in reply to cRazi_man • • •fort_burp
in reply to cRazi_man • • •BeeegScaaawyCripple
in reply to cRazi_man • • •Johanno
in reply to cRazi_man • • •