j’espère que tu passes un bon dimanche
tags : Les jambes en l’air comme une femme athlétique (Baudelaire), madame dans sa maison, #silentsunday #photography #home
Gloomish.
#Photography #StreetPhotography #Architecture #Olympus #OMDEM5ii #MicroFourThirds #M43 #MFT #OMSystem
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"When I started this piece, I claimed that poverty occurs when the following four conditions are present:
1. The national income is distributed using payments to laborers and capital owners.
2. Capital ownership is very unevenly distributed across families.
3. A large share of the population is not working at any given time.
4. Nonworkers are unevenly distributed across families.
One could do more, but I think I have demonstrated this all pretty well using the most recent census income microdata. If this is a correct diagnosis of the problem, then the solution involves flipping one or more of these four conditions.
(...)
So what we are left with is flipping the first condition and using mechanisms other than payments to laborers and capital owners to distribute the national income. This is called the “welfare state” and it is, as a factual matter, how low-poverty countries come to be that way.
Indeed, if you look at the categories of nonworkers in the graphs above, you might notice that they map perfectly onto the populations that welfare states are designed to serve. In good welfare states:
- Children receive a monthly child benefit check, child care, pre-k, K–12 education, among other things.
- Elderly receive an old-age pension.
- Disabled receive disability benefits.
- Students receive tuition subsidies, living stipends, and subsidized loans.
- Carers receive paid leave and home care allowances.
- Unemployed receive unemployment benefits.
Even the United States has some of these benefits and they work in proportion to their coverage and generosity. We can see this in the below graph where I introduce a bar for disposable income poverty, which counts government benefits."
jacobin.com/2025/08/welfare-st…
#Poverty #Inequality #WelfareState #Capitalism
To Reduce Poverty, Expand the Welfare State
The policy solutions to poverty are simple: redistribute capital ownership and expand the welfare state.jacobin.com
voidnull.es/ping-9/
Ping #9: Actualizaciones, novedades y ranking de distros
Aquí encontrarás las distribuciones más recientes, paquetes actualizados y el ranking de las distros más descargadas. 🚀Don T3rr0rZ0n3 (_ voidNull)
techcrunch.com/2025/08/29/mast…
Mastodon says it doesn't 'have the means' to comply with age verification laws | TechCrunch
Decentralized social network Mastodon says it cannot comply with age verification laws, like in Mississippi and elsewhere, and says it's up to individual server owners to decide.Sarah Perez (TechCrunch)
≪ Schönheit am Wegesrand ≫
#photography #fotografie #foto #photo #postprocessed #myphoto #mywork #ownwork #nature #natur #umwelt
Medvedev, è una crisi senza fine: dopo otto anni coach Cervara se ne va
https://www.gazzetta.it/Tennis/atp/slam/us-open/31-08-2025/medvedev-coach-cervara-se-ne-va.shtml?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Pubblicato su Tennis @tennis-Gazzetta
Medvedev, è una crisi senza fine: dopo otto anni coach Cervara se ne va
Dopo la sceneggiata al primo turno dell'Us Open, l'addio del coach francese: "Sono sicuro che la magia tornerà"Luigi Ansaloni (La Gazzetta dello Sport)
#USpolitics #Healthcare #DoctorsLaborRights
"Doctors Deserve Better | Sen. Bernie Sanders"
by Sen. Bernie Sanders
youtube.com/watch?v=mjo5uEeoWd…
Quote by SBS:
"Aug 28, 2025
Resident doctors are being exploited.
They’re working 70 or 80 hours a week and trying to pay off student debts with totally inadequate salaries.
The good news is that they are forming unions and fighting back. I stand with them."
#AbusiveHealthcare #CapitalismIsFailingYou
#WorkersUnite #UnionStrong
#USriseUp #FascistsAreHere
#TimeToResist #FightOligarchy
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
If you ever see a job ad asking people to bring a C2 certificate for a language, and they're not looking for a language teacher or a translator, run!
They're absolutely trying to filter out foreigners by assuming that native speakers attain C2 automatically and don't need to go through the tests. But C2 includes so many skills that most native speakers don't fully attain. Most native speakers end up in B2 to C1 depending on education level (and yes that's a lil fucked up too)
FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson wrote a scathing letter to companies including Google, Meta, and Apple, telling them not to apply the DSA if it jeopardizes the freedom of Americans.
wired.com/story/big-tech-compa…
#eu #usa #dsa
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The 10 Best Great Filters That Could Explain the Fermi Paradox
From abiogenesis to AI, we rank the top Great Filter candidates and test them against the data to see which best explains the Fermi Paradox. Is the universe empty, or just dangerous? We explore ten filters—cosmic, biological, and civilizational—that could silence civilizations before they spread.
Any comments, corrections, or thoughts on the video? email Isaac.Arthur.Utube@gmail.com
Visit our Website: isaacarthur.net
Join Nebula: go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur
Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/IsaacArthur
Support us on Subscribestar: subscribestar.com/isaac-arthur
Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/1583992725…
Reddit: reddit.com/r/IsaacArthur/
Twitter: twitter.com/Isaac_A_Arthur on Twitter and RT our future content.
SFIA Discord Server: discord.gg/53GAShE
Credits:
Could We Accidentally Destroy the Universe?
Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound epidemicsound.com/creator
Isaac Arthur — The 10 Best Great Filters That Could Explain the Fermi Paradox
From abiogenesis to AI, we rank the top Great Filter candidates and test them against the data to see which best explains the Fermi Paradox. Is the universe empty, or just dangerous? We explore ten filters—cosmic, biological, and civilizational.Nebula
Andrew Pam likes this.
Andrew Pam likes this.
Got some American Oak. Is this a bullet?
It seems to be a metal, rather soft non magnetic #woodworking
It looked weird so before I put it in the planer I took the sander to it. Thought nail first but the magnet said it's not iron based
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I wouldn't be surprised.
Alas real police laboratories are not like those of the movies, or they can tell who shot it and when.
Well, here in Europe we always had wars.
In France there is a zone still "deemed too physically and environmentally damaged by conflict for human habitation" since 1918:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_rou…
Got it out. Very soft, rather heavy... Maybe?
Update: 2.8g
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rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua reshared this.
rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua reshared this.
interesting 5.5mm does seem too small. Too big for shotgun and too small for cannon grapeshot.
Maybe a smaller muzzle-loaded pistol.
rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua reshared this.
New Comic Strip found: Carpe Diem by Niklas Eriksson for Sun, 31 Aug 2025 arcamax.com/thefunnies/carpedi…
Carpe Diem for 8/31/2025
Created by Niklas Eriksson, Carpe Diem strips will feature oddball, abstract humor that became popular in the Far Side era.ArcaMax
Sensitive content
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Majestic Dragon Spitting Fire at Dragon Bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam Asia
Captured with the Sony ILCE-7M4 + Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II,
f/2.8, 1/250, 24 mm, ISO 6400
Royalty-free Image
#danang #Vietnam #photography #travel #SonyAlpha #travelphotography ##photooftheday #nightphotography #photojournalism #travelblogger #traveling #socialmedia #urban #traveltheworld #hobbyfotografie #traveladventures #travelphotographer #travelcommunity #travelblog #reisefotografie
Majestic Dragon Spitting Fire at Dragon Bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam – Iconic Landmark and Night Scene by Wilfried Strang - buy prints & digital downloads
Majestic Dragon Spitting Fire at Dragon Bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam – Iconic Landmark and Night Scene by Wilfried Strang - buy prints, or license images for editorial, commercial or advertising use.thailand-becausewecan.picfair.com
Rabid MAGAts copying the bruise on Trump's hand. Will they adopt the diapers and catheter too? I wouldn't be surprised.
#Trump #MAGA #TrumpHealth
RE
#cult as in a bruised mind
But, "watch what the hand does, not what the cult says" ⭕ #MailinVoting
Aug 30 2025 (Reuters)
"Trump said he will issue an executive order to require voter identification from every voter.
“Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military,” he added.
NOTE, many countries (Canada UK) and US States (Republican too) use Mail-in-Voting
JonChevreau reshared this.
How MAHA flipped the GOP script with business
https://www.axios.com/2025/08/31/rfk-republicans-gop-business-make-america-healthy-again-maha?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Donald Trump @donald-trump-AxiosNews
(Fait partie des 87 espèces chassables en France)
Espèce invasive originaire d’Amérique du Nord
#photographie #photography
D’autres photos ici sur mon site :
superbe-nature.fr/mammiferes/c…
ANTINOUS ENABLES YOU TO DISCOVER THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE HEART
IN ancient times, Antinous was known as a miracle worker. His worshipers prayed to him for miracles, oracles, visions and answers to proble...antinousstars.blogspot.com
"The Democrats do not have a ‘young voter problem.’ Nor do they have a ‘Latino voter problem,’ a ‘working-class voter problem,’ or a ‘male voter problem.’ The Democratic Party’s poor performances with various demographics can be traced to an underlying cause: The Democrats have a Democrat problem. With exceptions, the party is composed of officials, staffers, pundits, donors, and politicians who do not believe in politics, at least not in the literal sense of the word. While most parties try to build support by turning their constituents’ wishes into policy, the Democrats take the opposite approach. The political objective is determined by wealthy party and media insiders, who then try to convince their constituents that the elite-decreed platform is in their best interest. This was best illustrated in the concluding chapter of Abundance, which outlined a top-down political theory: the policies are decided by the donor class, and the job of Democrat-aligned media and politicians is to sell those policies to American voters."
joewrote.com/p/the-ratf-and-ck…
#USA #Trump #Politics #Democrats #DemocraticParty
A Winning Strategy? The DNC Tells Its Voters to F&#ck Off
"Why don't people like us?"Joe Wrote (JoeWrote)
¡Blog! ¡Blog!
Como parte de la celebración del Día Mundial del Blog, he enviado mi blog personal (de recetas de cocina) Blogpocket Foodie al directorio de blogs en español ¡Blog! ¡Blog! de Matizeta. Me gustaría formar parte de esa comunidad, que cuenta ya con un montón de blogs, todos súper interesantes. Te animo a visitar ¡Blog! ¡Blog! y a unirte a esta iniciativa.
31 de agosto: Día Mundial del Blog
Hablar de blogs en 2025 parece anacrónico pero no lo es. Los blogs siguen más vivos que nunca.Pero decirlo yo que llevo 25 años dedicado a los blogs, no solo en la tarea de mantener y escribir en uno sino también en las labores de divulgación y enseñanza, puede parecer capcioso.
El caso es que a propósito de la celebración del Día Mundial del Blog, y pensando cómo podría yo celebrarlo me quedé un poco en blanco. ¿Hacer una fiesta tal como está el mundo? ¿probar algo nuevo? ¿iniciar otro blog? ¿bloguear sobre ello?
Quiza lo que más me apetecía es recordar en mi pequeña comunidad de amigos y familiares lo que es un blog, ya que es allí donde se pone de manifiesto el gran desconocimiento que existe -a pesar de esos más de 25 años- sobre los blogs. Así que puse a hablar a Blogpocky y lo puse en el estado de Whatsapp.
youtu.be/J28hY8RxVjw?feature=s…
Para mis posibles seguidores nuevos (y principiantes), decirles que Blogpocket es la «blogopedia» y que encontrarán TODA la información sobre qué es un blog y cómo construir un sitio web (un blog o algo más grande). Puedes empezar aquí. Y tienes todas las publicaciones hablando en general de blogs en la etiqueta blogs.
Para mis seguidores consagrados, solo recordarles que Blogpocket sigue en pie.
Y, en definitiva, si no quieres perderte nada, tienes las siguientes formas de seguirme:
- Canal RSS. Este RSS lo tiene todo, no debes preocuparte de buscar otros canales como el del videopodcast e, incluso, incluye las publicaciones «ocultas» (como los boletines de la newsletter o los artículos de la revista RSS Magazine).
- Newsletter. Los boletines enviados a tu dirección de email todos los lunes. Pero si eres suscriptor puedes también acceder a todo el material exclusivo que se encuentra en el sitio web de Ghost. Estas publicaciones están federadas; es decir, que puedes también seguirlas desde cualquier plataforma del fediverso (Mastodon, etc.) con
@[url=https://blogpocket-week.ghost.io/.ghost/activitypub/users/index]index@blogpocket-week.ghost.io[/url]y, naturalmente, interactuar con ellas desde el interior de Ghost si eres usuario.- Fediverso. Puedes seguir el blog siguiendo el perfil
@[url=https://lanzatu.blog/author/antonio/]acambronero@lanzatu.blog[/url]desde cualquier plataforma del fediverso.Celebremos pues la herramienta más maravillosa creada por la humanidad, cómo dijo el gran Manuel M. Almeida. Celebremos que podemos escapar de las redes centralizadas (secuestradas por los multimillonarios). Y que tenemos un gran alternativa descentralizada formada por blogs, RSS y el fediverso.
Si no lo tienes, crea hoy un blog y me habrás hecho la persona más feliz del mundo.
What is World Blog Day and How Can You Celebrate?
Did you know there’s a whole day dedicated to celebrating blogs and the bloggers behind them? Since the early 2000s, August 31st has been known as World Blog Day. Naturally, we’re excited to mark t…Knock Knock WHOIS There
A Pi-based LiDAR Scanner.
Early LiDAR systems were cumbersome and expensive but as the march of time continues on, these systems have become much more accessible to the average person. So much so that you can quickly attach one to a Raspberry Pi and perform LiDAR imaging for a very reasonable cost.
#pilidar #raspberrypi #lidar #scanner #diy #engineering #artist #media #maker #tech #art #news
![[ImageSource: Dirk]
This software suite is a custom serial driver and scanning system for the Raspberry Pi, designed to work with LDRobot LiDAR modules like the LD06, LD19 and STL27L.
👾Although still in active development, it offers an impressive set of features: real-time 2D visualizations, vertex color extraction, generation of 360-degree panoramic maps using fisheye camera images, and export capabilities for integration with other tools.👾
⁉️The hardware setup includes a stepper motor for quick full-area scanning, and power options that include either a USB battery bank or a pair of 18650 lithium cells [making the system portable and self-contained during scans].⁉️](https://poliverso.org/photo/preview/640/57636135 "[ImageSource: Dirk]
This software suite is a custom serial driver and scanning system for the Raspberry Pi, designed to work with LDRobot LiDAR modules like the LD06, LD19 and STL27L.
👾Although still in active development, it offers an impressive set of features: real-time 2D visualizations, vertex color extraction, generation of 360-degree panoramic maps using fisheye camera images, and export capabilities for integration with other tools.👾
⁉️The hardware setup includes a stepper motor for quick full-area scanning, and power options that include either a USB battery bank or a pair of 18650 lithium cells [making the system portable and self-contained during scans].⁉️")
GitHub - PiLiDAR/PiLiDAR
Contribute to PiLiDAR/PiLiDAR development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
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🇨🇦 Ford government threatens to take control of real estate watchdog as realtors call for answers
#Ontario #Canada #Onpoli
#Housing #Ethics
ctvnews.ca/toronto/article/for…
Ford government threatens to take control of real estate watchdog as realtors call for answers
The Ford government is threatening to intervene and take over the province’s real estate watchdog if an audit doesn’t get to the bottom of a scandal that enveloped a large Ontario brokerage.Jon Woodward (CTVNews)
Il post di Meloni, selfie con il cappellino e 'buona domenica' - Notizie - Ansa.it
https://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/politica/2025/08/31/il-post-di-meloni-selfie-con-il-cappellino-e-buona-domenica_521c8b72-71c2-4d4e-860c-ad20477ac5ac.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Pubblicato su Politica @politica-AgenziaAnsa
Il post di Meloni, selfie con il cappellino e 'buona domenica' - Notizie - Ansa.it
"Buona domenica". È il messaggio pubblicato sui social dalla premier Giorgia Meloni, con un selfie in cui posa sorridente seduta in auto, con indosso una maglia grigia, occhiali da sole, e un cappellino con scritto 'Italia original 1861'. (ANSA).Agenzia ANSA
Cina, al via il vertice Sco: arriva Putin. Xi incontra Modi: “Pechino e India partner e non rivali”
https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2025/08/31/news/vertice_cina_sco_xi_jinping_putin_oggi-424817818/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Pubblicato su Notizie dal mondo - la Repubblica @notizie-dal-mondo-la-repubblica-repubblica
Cina, al via il vertice Sco: arriva Putin. Xi incontra Modi: “Pechino e India partner e non rivali”
Si è aperto a Tianjin il meeting dell’Organizzazione per la Cooperazione di Shanghai. Il viaggio del presidente russo culminerà mercoledì con la partecipazione…a cura della redazione Esteri (la Repubblica)
Notizie dal mondo - la Repubblica reshared this.
.... after the rain....
I'm hoping to see some red in the sky this morning.
I stayed up all night so I wouldn't miss it. ( Just kidding, wounded knee, stiff hip, mucho pain )
When/if the pain killers kick in, I may sleep through breakfast.
JonChevreau reshared this.
hey
#MutualAid for a nonbinary person on bluesky stuck in the deep south of usa
they really need help escaping somewhere north or perhaps out of USA altogether
please share and donate
Was machen wir jetzt mit dieser „KI“?
„Ich bin ein KI-Hasser,“ schreibt Anthony Moser in seinem Blog. Der unglaubliche KI-Hype überdeckt all die negativen Seiten der Technologie. Dazu einige nicht abgeschlossene Gedanken.
👉 kaffeeringe.de/2025/08/31/was-…
#AnthonyMoser #ChatGPT #CoPilot #Corona #DeepL #GartnerHypeCycle #KI #Microsoft #MicrosoftWord #SchleswigHolstein
Technologie: Was machen wir jetzt mit dieser "KI"?
"Ich bin ein KI-Hasser," schreibt Anthony Moser in seinem Blog. Der unglaubliche KI-Hype überdeckt all die negativen Seiten der Technologie. Dazu einige nicht abgeschlossene Gedanken.Steffen Voß (kaffeeringe.de)
@blog
Ich habe gesehen, das Leute MS Outlook quasi als DMS "missbraucht" haben - einfach Dateien per Drag&Drop in die Ordner ziehen. Ich wusste gar nicht, dass das geht. Ist natürlich eine schlimme Art, Dateien abzulegen 🫣
Ist vielleicht kein toller Vergleich zur KI, soll nur darstellen, was passiert, wenn man eine Software "einfach so" ausrollt und ihre Funktionen nicht durchdacht hat. Die beginnt ein Eigenleben.
Tijdens #silentsunday nog nagenieten tijdens het ontwikkelen van de foto's van m'n fotodag in #rotterdam
Zahlen: Sechs // Numbers: six #FotoVorschlag
Dresden, Germany
Aug 2009
#monochrome #blackandwhite #bnw #bolts #metal #texture #industrial #abstract #photography #six
Baltimore awarded $62 million in ghost gun lawsuit against arms dealer
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/08/31/ghost-gun-lawsuit-millions-baltimore/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Local @local-WashPost
artist: Mathew Brady Studio, active 1844 - 1894
source: National Portrait Gallery
notes: The Frederick Hill Meserve Collection comprises more than five thousand […]
#Art #Design #Museum #Gallery #MastodonArt #MastoArt #Culture #Random
npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.81.M…
...Tra l'altro in questi giorni è uscito un aggiornamento per Coromon che ha introdotto una varietà di nuove skin, portandomi a reagire come Smithers quando Malibu Stacy è uscita con un nuovo cappello.
store.steampowered.com/app/121…
Save 80% on Coromon on Steam
Coromon is a modern take on the classic monster-taming genre. Tame Coromon and explore a vast world filled with thrilling turn-based battles, brain-twisting puzzles, and a mysterious threat to the world awaiting defeat.store.steampowered.com
Federico Simonetti 🦣 reshared this.
Only RFK Jr. is in a position of power — and his family can only watch helplessly as he destroys much that they stood for.
JonChevreau reshared this.
JB Pritzker's response to Trump's threats shows how politicians who creatively resist the despotism will be seen nationally as leadership figures.
Trump’s firing of the CDC director—and effective decapitation of our public health system—provides Democrats with exactly this chance. trib.al/7QMdCqk
Trump’s Decapitation of CDC Takes Darker Turn—and Hands Dems a Weapon
Illinois’s JB Pritzker is leading a charge other Democratic governors should take up: In our America, we’ll make sure public health systems remain strong.The New Republic
Angesichts der aktuellen Debatte um den Sozialstaat, Bürgergeldkürzungen etc. pp. mal wieder an diese Geschichte vom ehrlichen Obdachlosen und dem ehrlosen Merz erinnern.
Charaktertest nicht bestanden!
taz.de/Frueherer-Obdachloser-z…
Früherer Obdachloser zu Friedrich Merz: „Macht wieder auf dicke Hose“
Enrico J. fand 2004 als Obdachloser das Notebook von Friedrich Merz mit wichtigen Daten. Als Dank erhielt er Merz' Buch. Die taz hat mit ihm gesprochen.Frederik Schindler (taz)
Questo 10% è fondamentale x #quorum referendum e x le #elezioni
Info e link ➡️ votolibeguale.it#fuorisede
Is it possible to allow sideloading and keep users safe?
Link: shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/is-it…
Discussion: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4…
Is it possible to allow sideloading *and* keep users safe?
shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/is-it…In which I attempt to be pragmatic.
Are you allowed to run whatever computer program you want on the hardware you own? This is a question where freedom, practicality, and reality all collide into a mess.
Google has recently announced that Android users will only be able to install apps which have been digitally signed by developers who have registered their name and other legal details with Google. To many people, this signals the death of "sideloading" - the ability to install apps which don't originate on the official store0.
I'm a fully paid-up member of the Cory Doctorow fanclub. Back in 2011, he gave a speech called "The Coming War on General Computation". In it, he rails against the idea that our computers could become traitorous; serving the needs of someone other than their owner. Do we want to live in a future where our computers refuse to obey our commands? No! Neither law nor technology should conspire to reduce our freedom to compute.
There are, I think, two small cracks in that argument.
The first is that a user has no right to run anyone else's code, if the code owner doesn't want to make it available to them. Consider a bank which has an app. When customers are scammed, the bank is often liable. The bank wants to reduce its liability so it says "you can't run our app on a rooted phone".
Is that fair? Probably not. Rooting allows a user to fully control and customise their device. But rooting also allows malware to intercept communications, send commands, and perform unwanted actions. I think the bank has the right to say "your machine is too risky - we don't want our code to run on it."
The same is true of video games with strong "anti-cheat" protection. It is disruptive to other players - and to the business model - if untrustworthy clients can disrupt the game. Again, it probably isn't fair to ban users who run on permissive software, but it is a rational choice by the manufacturer. And, yet again, I think software authors probably should be able to restrict things which cause them harm.
So, from their point of view it is pragmatic to insist that their software can only be loaded from a trustworthy location.
But that's not the only thing Google is proposing. Let's look at their announcement:
We’ve seen how malicious actors hide behind anonymity to harm users by impersonating developers and using their brand image to create convincing fake apps. The scale of this threat is significant: our recent analysis found over 50 times more malware from internet-sideloaded sources than on apps available through Google Play.
Back in the early days of Android, you could just install any app and it would run, no questions asked. That was a touchingly naïve approach to security - extremely easy to use but left users vulnerable.A few years later, Android changed to show user the permissions an app was requesting. Here's a genuine screenshot from an app which I tried to sideload in 2013:
No rational user would install a purported battery app with that scary list of permissions, right? Wrong!
We know that users don't read and they especially don't read security warnings.
There is no UI tweak you can do to prevent users bypassing these scary warnings. There is no amount of education you can provide to reliably make people stop and think.
Here's the story of a bank literally telling a man he was being scammed and he still proceeded to transfer funds to a fraudster.
It emerged that, in this case, Lloyds had done a really good job of not only spotting the potential fraud but alerting James to it. The bank blocked a number of transactions, it spoke to James on the phone to warn him and even called him into a branch to speak to him face-to-face.
Here's another one where a victim deliberately lied to their bank even after acknowledging that they had been told it was a scam.Android now requires you to deliberately turn on the ability to side-load. It will give you prompts and warnings, force you to take specific actions, give you pop-ups and all sorts of confirmation steps.
And people still click on.
Let's go back to Google announcement. This change isn't being rolled out worldwide immediately. They say:
This change will start in a few select countries specifically impacted by these forms of fraudulent app scams, often from repeat perpetrators.…
September 2026: These requirements go into effect in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. At this point, any app installed on a certified Android device in these regions must be registered by a verified developer.
The police in Singapore have a page warning about the prevalence of these scams. They describe how victims are tricked or coerced into turning off all their phone's security features.Similarly, there are estimates that Brazil lost US$54 billion to scams in 2024 (albeit not all through apps).
There are anecdotal reports from Indonesia which show how easily people fall for these fake apps.
Thailand is also under an ongoing onslaught of malicious apps with some apps raking in huge amounts of money.
It is absolutely rational that government, police, and civic society groups want to find ways to stop these scams.
Google is afraid that if Android's reputation is tarnished as the "Scam OS" then users will move to more secure devices.
Financial institutions might stop providing functionality to Android devices as a way to protect their customers. Which would lead to those users seeking alternate phones.
Society as a whole wants to protect vulnerable people. We all bear the cost of dealing with criminal activity like this.
Given that sideloaded Android apps are clearly a massive vector for fraud, it obviously behoves Google to find a way to secure their platform as much as possible.
And Yet…
This is quite obviously a bullshit powerplay by Google to ensnare the commons. Not content with closing down parts of the Android Open Source Project, stuffing more and more vital software behind its proprietary services, and freezing out small manufacturers - now it wants the name and shoe-size of every developer!Fuck that!
I want to use my phone to run the code that I write. I want to run my friends' code. I want to play with cool open source projects by people in far-away lands.
I remember The Day Google Deleted Me - we cannot have these lumbering monsters gatekeeping what we do on our machines.
Back in the days when I was a BlackBerry developer, we had to wait ages for RIM's code-signing server to become available. I'm pretty sure the same problem affected Symbian - if Nokia was down that day, you couldn't release any code.
Going back to their statement:
To be clear, developers will have the same freedom to distribute their apps directly to users through sideloading or to use any app store they prefer.
This is a lie. I can only distribute a sideloaded app if Google doesn't nuke my account. If I piss off someone there, or they click the wrong button, or they change the requirements so I'm no longer eligible - my content disappears.They promise that Android will still be open to student and hobbyist developers - but would you believe anything those monkey-punchers say? Oh, and what a fricking insult to call a legion of Open Source developers "hobbyists"!
I hate it.
I also don't see how this is going to help. I guess if scammers all use the same ID, then it'll be easy for Android to super-nuke all the scam apps.
Perhaps when you install a sideloaded app you'll see "This app was made by John Smith - not a company. Here's his photo. Got any complaints? Call his number."
But what's going to happen is that people will get their IDs stolen, or be induced to register as a developer and then sign some malware. They'll also be victims.
So What's The Solution?
I've tried to be pragmatic, but there's something of a dilemma here.
- Users should be free to run whatever code they like.
- Vulnerable members of society should be protected from scams.
Do we accept that a megacorporation should keep everyone safe at the expense of a few pesky nerds wanting to run some janky code?
Do we say that the right to run free software is more important than granny being protected from scammers?
Do we pour billions into educating users not to click "yes" to every prompt they see?
Do we try and build a super-secure Operating System which, somehow, gives users complete freedom without exposing them to risk?
Do we hope that Google won't suddenly start extorting developers, users, and society as a whole?
Do we chase down and punish everyone who releases a scam app?
Do we stick an AI on every phone to detect scam apps and refuse to run them if they're dodgy?
I don't know the answers to any of these questions and - if I'm honest - I don't like asking them.
1-in-3 Brazilians Targeted by Scammers in the Last 12 Months as Estimated Losses Reach US$54 Billion
The State of Scams in Brazil 2024 report, conducted by GASA in partnership with ScamAdviser and Whoscall, exposes the expanding threat of scams in Brazil.Sam Rogers (GASA)
„Die Mär vom faulen Azubi“
Während Bestseller von einer „arbeitsunfähigen Generation“ sprechen, zeigen Studien und Erfahrungen etwas anderes. Berufseinsteiger sind engagiert – doch steigende Anforderungen treffen auf ein Bildungssystem mit wachsenden Lücken.
📜 boeckler.de/de/magazin-mitbest…
Die Mär vom faulen Azubi
Berufseinsteiger sind nicht weniger engagiert als frühere Jahrgänge. Doch während die Anforderungen an sie steigen, zeigen sich im Bildungssystem zunehmend Lücken. Von Jeannette Goddarwww.boeckler.de
Harsh seaside
#photo #photography
#spring #outdoors
#sea #sand #trees
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#creativecommons #ccbysa
Erik Jonker
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