Lotta agli abusi, la Chiesa deve camminare con le vittime
Il 3 ottobre si è conclusa a Cracovia, in Polonia, l’assemblea plenaria autunnale 2025 della Pontificia Commissione per la Tutela dei Minori. Si tratta della prima volta che una sessione plenaria dell’organismo pontificio si svolge al di fuori di Roma dalla sua istituzione nel 2014. Allo stesso tempo, rappresenta un ritorno in Polonia per la Commissione, che quattro anni fa, in collaborazione con l’episcopato polacco, aveva organizzato a Varsavia un’importante conferenza internazionale dedicata alla salvaguardia dei minori e degli adulti vulnerabili nelle Chiese dell’Europa centro-orientale.
La scelta della Polonia è stata dettata dalla volontà di proseguire il cammino sinodale di protezione avviato insieme alla Chiesa polacca nel 2021. I lavori si sono aperti in un luogo dal forte valore simbolico per l’intera nazione: il Santuario di Łagiewniki. L’assemblea, iniziata il 29 settembre, ha riunito esperti internazionali nel campo della tutela e rappresentanti regionali, incaricati di portare avanti il mandato della Commissione, in conformità con l’articolo 78 della Costituzione apostolica Praedicate Evangelium. Hanno preso parte all’incontro tutti i membri della Pontificia Commissione per la Tutela dei Minori; tra loro, oltre a esperti – religiosi e laici – erano presenti anche alcune persone che in passato hanno subito abusi.
Nel suo primo discorso come presidente della Commissione, l’arcivescovo Thibault Verny ha sollecitato un rinnovato e prioritario impegno verso la tutela come espressione imprescindibile dell’identità e della missione della Chiesa. La sua visione si articola su quattro obiettivi strategici: la promozione di una cultura universale della tutela e di un linguaggio comune nelle Linee Guida Universali (Ugf); il potenziamento delle reti regionali, attraverso il Rapporto Annuale sulle Politiche e le Procedure della Chiesa per la Tutela e il rafforzamento del dialogo con le istituzioni civili. Pur riconoscendo i progressi, Verny ha insistito sulla necessità di ascoltare le vittime, di promuovere la trasparenza e di realizzare sistemi di responsabilità. «Non dobbiamo dare per scontato il fatto di essere al sicuro dal rischio di ulteriori abusi – ha affermato l’arcivescovo Thibault Verny – solo perché abbiamo pubblicato delle linee di azione e creato degli uffici».
Il quadro delle Linee Guida Universali ha ricevuto notevole attenzione grazie alle presentazioni dei risultati dei progetti pilota in Zimbabwe, Tonga, Polonia e Costa Rica, oltre a un significativo processo di ascolto sinodale. L’assemblea ha esaminato la bozza finale delle linee guida, integrando riflessioni teologiche e canoniche.
Il secondo Rapporto Annuale sulle Politiche e le Procedure della Chiesa per la Tutela, riferito al 2024, è stato pubblicato oggi, 16 ottobre, in cinque lingue. Il Rapporto continua la sua esplorazione della giustizia riparativa e della guarigione che deriva dall’imperativo teologico della conversione, radicato nei concetti di verità, giustizia, riparazione e riforma istituzionale.
Leggi anche:
The post Lotta agli abusi, la Chiesa deve camminare con le vittime first appeared on La Civiltà Cattolica.
Public records expert: ‘We can do better’
If fewer newspapers exist to request public records, does the government become less transparent? That’s the question at the heart of “Dark Deserts,” a new research paper by David Cuillier of the Freedom of Information Project at the Brechner Center for Advancement of the First Amendment and law student Brett Posner-Ferdman.
Cuillier, who’s taught more than 10,000 journalists, students, and citizens how to wrest public records from government agencies, told us about what he and Posner-Ferdman found and what it means for the public’s right to know.
Let’s start with the big finding of “Dark Deserts”: States with fewer local papers and weaker press associations are more likely to break public records laws. Why does that matter for everyday people?
This is incredibly important for all of us because we are reaching the transparency tipping point — where we will lose any effective ability to see what our governments are up to.
We know from research that public record laws directly lead to less corruption, cleaner drinking water, and safer restaurants. According to Stanford economist James Hamilton’s research, for every dollar spent on public records journalism, society benefits $287 in saved lives and more efficient government. Freedom of information ensures concrete benefits for all of us.
Yet, we are losing it very quickly. According to the Department of Justice’s own statistics, if you asked for a record in 2011, you would get it about 38% of the time. Now it’s down to 12%. We see the same downward trends in the states. What happens when it gets to 0%?
The death of transparency will affect all of us in the pocketbook, in the quality of government services we receive, and in the loss of liberties we hold sacred as Americans.
The death of transparency will affect all of us in the pocketbook, in the quality of government services we receive, and in the loss of liberties we hold sacred as Americans.
David Cuillier
Surprisingly, you found that having more digital-only media outlets doesn’t result in better public records request compliance. Why do you think that is, and what advice would you give to digital outlets trying to hold government accountable?
It is difficult to know for sure. For one, there aren’t as many data points to effectively measure their effects as well as we would like. For example, the Institute for Nonprofit News membership stands at about 500 so far and there are 3,143 counties in the country. A strong, local, independent digital outlet might have an effect on local compliance with public record laws, but there probably aren’t enough to have an impact on state agencies.
Also, while many are doing great work, I suspect they have less influence at a statewide level than newspapers. A lot of digital-only outlets don’t have the funds to sue for public records. Also, my sense is that government officials don’t take digital-only media outlets as seriously, and that politicians are essentially blowing them off and not considering them “real” journalism. That is too bad, because many are doing better journalism than legacy media.
Digital-only outlets will need to double down on public records. And support organizations like Freedom of the Press Foundation, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, MuckRock, state FOI coalitions, and others can help.
Beyond subscribing to their community’s newspaper or supporting funding for journalism, what can people who care about press freedom and transparency do to encourage state governments to take their public record laws seriously?
Of course, write to your local city council, legislator, governor, and congressional representatives. They listen if enough people speak up. But everyone says that, right? And how many people actually act?
The solutions will take much more work than strongly worded letters. It’s time for other institutions to fill the gap. Nonprofits with an agenda are probably our last hope — American Oversight, Heritage Foundation, Judicial Watch, ACLU, League of Women Voters, etc. A new citizen-driven nonprofit in Jacksonville, “Nassau County DOGE,” has been pushing for public records. Environmental groups and those seeking police reform and rights for transgender Americans are pushing for records. Whatever your passion is, join an organization that will fight for your right to know.
The solutions will take much more work than strongly worded letters. It’s time for other institutions to fill the gap.
David Cuillier
Then, we need strong coordinating bodies, such as state freedom of information coalitions, to help direct these energies toward real legislative reform and litigation. One thing I’ve noticed is that all it takes is one or two passionate people in a state to make a huge difference in freedom of information. It really is doable!
What states have the strongest public records law, and what sets them apart? If you had the power to rewrite public records laws, what’s the one thing you’d add or fix right away?
No state is perfect. But most of the studies indicate that the states with the best compliance overall with public record laws tend to be Washington, Idaho, Connecticut, and some others. The most effective changes to public records laws rely on four things.
First, we need mandatory attorney fee-shifting in every state, where agencies are required to cover the attorney fees of people who sue for public records and prevail. In the third of the states that have this, there are attorneys happy to sue on behalf of journalists and others, with the hope they will get paid.
Second, strong financial penalties for noncompliance are critically important. Washington is probably the most transparent state overall, because if an agency breaks the law, is sued, and loses, it can be forced to pay up to $100 per record per day that it dinged the requester around. That can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Third, elimination of search and redaction fees, which are abused terribly. There are some countries where no fees are charged at all, and it works very well. In reality, fees collect very little of the actual cost of administering public record laws — less than 1%-3% according to most studies. Yet, they are wielded by agencies to make people go away, particularly journalists.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, we need alternative enforcement mechanisms in addition to court. Not everyone can afford to hire an attorney and sue. We need independent information commissions in every state to enforce the law and punish bad agencies, as they have in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and in more than 51 nations across the planet.
You’re also a member of the federal Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee. What’s something you’d fix in the federal FOIA?
So many fixes, so little time.
The FOIA Advisory Committee, since its inception in 2014, has provided 67 recommendations to improve the law and process, yet the most substantive suggestions have mostly been ignored. Amendments every decade or so tweak the law but are insufficient in keeping up with increasing secrecy.
I’ve noticed that in Washington, D.C., there tends to be a culture of exceptionalism, that we are the king of democracy in the world and have the best law on the books. In reality, FOIA’s strength on paper is rated in the bottom half of the 140 nations that have public record laws — 78th, to be exact. That is embarrassing. So many improvements could be made if we swallow our pride and look to other countries for guidance.
FOIA’s strength on paper is rated in the bottom half of the 140 nations that have public record laws — 78th, to be exact. That is embarrassing.
David Cuillier
For example, we need an independent agency with the power to enforce the law on behalf of citizens, like we see in dozens of other countries. We need stiff penalties — even firing and jail time — for intentional noncompliance of FOIA, as they have in Ghana, Barbuda, and Finland. We need direct funding of FOIA offices by Congress to carry out the FOIA mission, particularly now as agencies are gutting staff. We need better technology to search for records and redact. We need FOIA to be applied to all branches of government, and to private corporations that conduct taxpayer-funded business on behalf of the government, as in South Africa, Armenia, and Colombia.
A lot of people consider these ideas extreme, yet they are common in other countries. We can do better.
EDRi-gram, 16 October 2025
What has the EDRi network been up to over the summer? Find out the latest digital rights news in our bi-weekly newsletter. In this edition: Digital protection at stakes – and how we are fighting back.
The post EDRi-gram, 16 October 2025 appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).
Judge in the Bits of Freedom vs. Meta lawsuit: Meta must respect users’ choice
On 2 October 2025, the Dutch court made clear that users should be in control of content they see on Meta’s apps. In a landmark victory for digital rights, the judge sided with Bits of Freedom against Meta, ruling that the company is violating the law and it has to adjust its app to respect users’ choices.
The post Judge in the Bits of Freedom vs. Meta lawsuit: Meta must respect users’ choice appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).
The Commission must uphold the AI Act and fundamental freedoms in Hungary
ECNL, Liberties and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union called on the EU to protect Pecs Pride participants from AI surveillance.
The post The Commission must uphold the AI Act and fundamental freedoms in Hungary appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).
The DMA is a success, it should be strengthened and expanded
Despite its somewhat disappointing enforcement so far, the EU’s Digital Market Act has become a global role model for modern antitrust policy. While Europe figures out its implementation, we should already work on expanding the law’s scope and strengthen its provisions. Here is how to make the DMA even better.
The post The DMA is a success, it should be strengthened and expanded appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).
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PCOfficina - Obsolescenza Programmata: tinte nerd alla festa di Altreconomia
pcofficina.org/obsolescenza-pr…
Segnalato da Linux Italia e pubblicato sulla comunità Lemmy @GNU/Linux Italia
Sabato 18 Ottobre, alle ore 15:30, presso CIAO MI, via Adriatico 8, PCOfficina terrà un intervento dal
EtherHiding: la conferma di Google sull’evoluzione DPRK nel nascondere malware su blockchain
@Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁)
Era solo questione di tempo. Pochi giorni fa iniziai ad osservare le prime tracce di payload malevoli ospitati non più su server tradizionali, ma direttamente all’interno di transazioni blockchain, molti si chiesero se si trattasse
How bad can a $0.60 Knockoff ADS1115 ADC be?
Although the saying of caveat emptor rings loudly in the mind of any purveyor of electronic components, the lure of Very Cheap Stuff is almost impossible to resist. Sure, that $0.60 ADC on LCSC that swears it’s a Ti ADS1115 may be a knock-off since the same part on Digikey is $4 a pop, and that’s when you buy a pack of 1,000. Yet what if it’s a really good knockoff that provides similar performance for a fraction of the price? Cue [James Bowman] letting curiosity getting the better of him and ordering a stash of four boards presumably equipped with said cheapo knockoff part, mostly on account of getting all boards for a mere $2.97.
The goal was of course to subject these four purported ADS1115s to some testing and comparison with the listed performance in the Ti datasheet. Telling was that each of the ADCs on the boards showed different characteristics, noticeably with the Data Rate. This is supposed to be ±10% of the nominal, so 7.2 – 8.8 times per second in 8 samples per second mode, but three boards lagged at 6.5 – 7 SPS and the fourth did an astounding 300 SPS, which would give you pretty noisy results.
Using a calibrated 2.5 voltage source the accuracy of the measurements were also validated, which showed them to be too low by 12 mV. The good news was that a linear correction on the MCU can correct for this, but it shows that despite these parts being ADS1115 compatible and having features like the PGA working, you’re definitely getting dinged on performance and accuracy.
[James] said that he’s going to run the same tests on an ADS1115 board obtained from Adafruit, which likely will have the genuine part. Either way, if you are eyeing this ADC for your own projects, it pays to consider whether the compromises and potential broken-ness of the knockoffs are worth it over coughing up a bit more cash. As they say, caveat emptor.
Could This be the Year of Algol?
Ok, you caught us. It certainly isn’t going to be the year of Algol. When you think of “old” programming languages, you usually think of FORTRAN and COBOL. You should also think of LISP. But only a few people will come up with Algol. While not a household name, it was highly influential, and now, GCC is on the verge of supporting it just like it supports other languages besides C and C++ these days.
Why bring an old language up to the forefront? We don’t know, but we still find it interesting. We doubt there’s a bunch of Algol code waiting to be ported, but you never know.
Algol first appeared in 1958 and was the lingua franca of academic computer discussions for decades. It was made to “fix” the problems with Fortran, and its influence is still felt today.
For example, Algol was the origin of “blocks of code,” which Algol set between begin/end pairs. The second version of Algol was where Backus-Naur form, or BNF, originated, something still of interest to language designers today.
Interestingly, the new compiler will do Algol 68, which was the final and not terribly popular version. It was sort of the “New Coke” of early computer languages, with many people asserting that Algol 60 was the last “real Algol.” Algol was known for sometimes using funny characters like ≡ and ⊂, but, like APL, had to adapt to more conventional character sets. Most of the Algol specifications didn’t define I/O, either, so it wasn’t enough to know Algol. You had to know which Algol so you could understand how the I/O worked.
If you want to learn Algol, there’s a tutorial on GitHub (use the compiler online, if you like). While [Niklaus Wirth] didn’t create Algol, he was a major player in some of its later development.
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Attack Turns Mouse into Microphone
As computer hardware gets better and better, most of the benefits are readily apparent to users. Faster processors, less power consumption, and lower cost are the general themes here. But sometimes increased performance comes with some unusual downsides. A research group at the University of California, Irvine found that high-performance mice have such good resolution that they can be used to spy on a user’s speech or other sounds around them.
The mice involved in this theoretical attack need to be in the neighborhood of 20,000 dpi, as well as having a relatively high sampling rate. With this combination it’s possible to sense detail fine enough to resolve speech from the vibrations of the mouse pad. Not only that, but the researchers noted that this also enables motion tracking of people in the immediate vicinity as the vibrations caused by walking can also be decoded. The attack does require a piece of malware to be installed somewhere on the computer, but the group also theorize that this could easily be done since most security suites don’t think of mouse input data as particularly valuable or vulnerable.
Even with the data from the mouse, an attacker needs a sophisticated software suite to be able to decode and filter the data to extract sounds, and the research team could only extract around 60% of the audio under the best conditions. The full paper is available here as well. That being said, mice will only get better from here so this is certainly something to keep an eye on. Mice aren’t the only peripherials that have roundabout attacks like this, either.
Thanks to [Stephen] for the tip!
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Printing an Air-Powered Integrated Circuit for Squishy Robots
There’s no rule that says that logic circuits must always use electrically conductive materials, which is why you can use water, air or even purely mechanical means to implement logic circuits. When it comes to [soiboi soft]’s squishy robots, it thus makes sense to turn the typical semiconductor control circuitry into an air-powered version as much as possible.
We previously featured the soft and squishy salamander robot that [soiboi] created using pneumatic muscles. While rather agile, it still has to drag a whole umbilical of pneumatic tubes along, with one tube per function. Most of the research is on microfluidics, but fortunately air is just a fluid that’s heavily challenged in the density department, allowing the designs to be adapted to create structures like gates and resistors.
Logically, a voltage potential or a pressure differential isn’t so different, and can be used in a similar way. A transistor for example is akin to the vacuum tube, which in British English is called a valve for good reason. Through creative use of a flexible silicone membrane and rigid channels, pulling a vacuum in the ‘gate’ channel allows flow through the other two channels.
Similarly, a ‘resistor’ is simply a narrowing of a channel, thus resisting flow. The main difference compared to the microfluidics versions is everything is a much larger scale. This does make it printable on a standard FDM printer, which is a major benefit.
Quantifying these pneumatic resistors took a bit of work, using a pressure sensor to determine their impact, but after that the first pneumatic logic circuits could be designed. The resistors are useful here as pull-downs, to ensure that any charge (air) is removed, while not impeding activation.
The design, as shown in the top image, is a 5-stage ring oscillator that provides locomotion to a set of five pneumatic muscles. As demonstrated at the end of video, this design allows for the entire walking motion to be powered using a single input of compressed air, not unlike the semiconductor equivalent running off a battery.
While the somewhat bulky nature of pneumatic logic prevents it from implementing very complex logic, using it for implementing something as predictable as a walking pattern as demonstrated seems like an ideal use case. When it comes to making these squishy robots stand-alone, it likely can reduce the overall bulk of the package, not to mention the power usage. We are looking forward to how [soiboi]’s squishy robots develop and integrate these pneumatic circuits.
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‘The proposed transaction poses a number of significant foreign influence and national security risks.’#News
Senators Warn Saudi Arabia’s Acquisition of EA Will Be Used for ‘Foreign Influence’
Democratic U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren sent letters to the Department of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson, raising concerns about the $55 billion acquisition of the giant American video game company in part by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).Specifically, the Senators worry that EA, which just released Battlefield 6 last week and also publishes The Sims, Madden, and EA Sports FC, “would cease exercising editorial and operational independence under the control of Saudi Arabia’s private majority ownership.”
“The proposed transaction poses a number of significant foreign influence and national security risks, beginning with the PIF’s reputation as a strategic arm of the Saudi government,” the Senators wrote in their letter. “As Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the PIF has made dozens of strategic investments in sports (including a bid for the U.S. PGA Tour), video games (including a $3.3 billion investment in Activision Blizzard), and other cultural institutionsthat ‘are more than just about financial returns; they are about influence.’ Leveraging long term shifts in public opinion, through the PIF’s investments, ‘Saudi Arabia is seeking to normalize its global image, expand its cultural reach, and gain leverage in spaces that shape how billions of people connect and interact.’ Saudi Arabia’s desire to buy influence through the acquisition of EA is apparent on the face of the transaction—the investors propose to pay more than $10 billion above EA’s trading value for a company whose stock has ‘stagnated for half a decade’ in an unpredictably volatile industry.”
As the Senators' letter notes, Saudi Arabia has made several notable investments in the video game industry in recent years. In addition to its investment in Activision Blizzard and Nintendo, the PIF recently acquired Evo, the biggest video game fighting tournament in the world (one of its many investments in esports), was reportedly a “mystery partner” in a failed $2 billion deal with video game publisher Embracer, and recently acquired Pokémon Go via its subsidiary, Scopely.
“The deal’s potential to expand and strengthen Saudi foreign influence in the United States is compounded by the national security risks raised by the Saudi government’s access to and unchecked influence over the sensitive personal information collected from EA’s millions of users, its development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, and the company’s product design and direction,” the Senators wrote.
The acquisition, which is the largest leveraged buyout transaction in history, includes two other investment firms: Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, the latter of which was formed by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Senators letter says that Kushner’s involvement “raises troubling questions about whether Mr. Kushner is involved in the transaction solely to ensure the federal government’s approval of the transaction.”
These investments in the video game industry are just one part of Saudi Arabia’s broader “Vision 2030” to diversify its economy as the world transitions away from the fossil fuels that enriched the Saudi royal family. The PIF has made massive investments in aerospace and defense industries, technology, sports, and other forms of entertainment. For example, Blumenthal and other Senators have expressed similar concerns about the PIF’s investment in the professional golf organization PGA Tour.
The Senators don’t specify what this “foreign influence” might look like in practice, but recent events can give us an idea. The comedy world, for example, has been embroiled in controversy for the last few weeks over the Saudi hosted and funded Riyadh Comedy Festival, which included many of the biggest stand-up comedians in the world. Those who participated in the festival, despite the Saudi government's policies and 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, defended it as an opportunity for cultural exchange and freedom of expression in a country where it has not been historically tolerated. However, some comedians who declined to join the festival revealed that participants had to agree to certain “content restrictions,” which forbade them from criticizing Saudi Arabia, the royal family, or religion.
Human Rights Watch Refuses Aziz Ansari Riyadh Comedy Festival Donation
Human Rights Watch says it 'cannot accept' donations from Aziz Ansari and other comedians who performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.Ethan Shanfeld (Variety)
Strade sbagliate
E in questo, non c’è niente di più umano. E di più potente.
quando dico che mi pare di essere passata a universo distopico, molti potrebbero non capire. c'è una teoria della meccanica quantistica secondo cui la realtà è composta da un cosiddetto "multiverso". in pratica ogni volta che viene fatta una scelta, si crea c'è un universo on cui viene fatta quella scelta, e un altro in cui viene fatta quella opposta. non posso sapere ovviamente se tutte o quali scelte sono "così influenti" da splittare la realtà in 2 universi distinti. tutto questo è per lo più fantascienza, e infatti è proprio nella fantascienza che appare questo multiverso. è così che, ad esempio, i tedeschi vincono la seconda guerra mondiale, ma trame un modo/luogo di fragilità del tessuto dell'universo, cercano di invadere anche le realtà dove sono stato sconfitti.
tutto questo pippone per dire che nella testa di una persona con l'idea, creata dalla fantascienza, del multiverso, questo diventa quasi credibile. e così se l'universo proprio appare "normale". quelli "alternativi hanno spesso regole assurde e incredibili, e sono spesso quegli universi che io chiamo "distopici".
ora... non che il nostro universo o la nostra realtà fosse idilliaca anche 20 anni fa... tanto che pure sul cazzone che ha fatto l'universo avrei da dirne un po' se lo vedo, prima o poi, gliene dico 4, ma con trump e da un 4-5 anni pare davvero che le regole siano cambiare radicalmente e siano diventare incredibili e assurde.
Crosetto lancia l’esercito cyber, 1.500 unità per la sicurezza digitale italiana
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Il governo prepara una nuova struttura militare interamente dedicata alla difesa informatica. Il ministro della Difesa Guido Crosetto ha annunciato la nascita di un “esercito cyber” composto da 1.500 unità, destinato a operare nel campo della sicurezza digitale
Bruxelles presenta la roadmap per la difesa fino al 2030, ma gli Stati frenano. I dettagli
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
A sette mesi dalla pubblicazione del piano ReArm Eu – poi ribattezzato Readiness 2030 – e dopo settimane di attacchi ibridi verso il continente, la Commissione europea ha presentato la roadmap che, nei prossimi anni, dovrebbe rappresentare la bussola comune degli Stati
MADAGASCAR. Deposto Rajoelina, al potere i militari
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Dopo due settimane di proteste popolari e di crescente dissenso all’interno delle forze armate, il capo dello stato è stato ufficialmente deposto da un intervento del Capsat
L'articolo MADAGASCAR. Deposto pagineesteri.it/2025/10/16/map…
In an example of egregious planned obsolescence, as many as 400 million computers will soon hit the waste stream.#RighttoRepair #Windows10
The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
Wednesday’s end of free Windows 10 support is an environmental disaster in the making, with as many as 400 million computers that cannot be upgraded to Windows 11 set to be cut off from receiving free security updates. The move is an egregious example of planned obsolescence that will inevitably result in the early deaths of millions of computers that would have otherwise had years of life left, and it is set to affect as many as 42 percent of all Windows computers worldwide.“There’s 400 million computers that are going to enter the waste stream. That’s a disaster, just in terms of the sheer volume,” Nathan Proctor, director of consumer rights group PIRG’s right to repair campaign, said on the 404 Media Podcast. “And then you have people who are going to ignore the warnings and use a computer that’s insecure, so there’s going to [eventually] be some widespread security problems with these older, unsupported, no longer getting security updates computers.”
Microsoft has said it “will no longer provide free software updates from Windows Update, technical assistance, or security fixes for Windows 10. Your PC will still work, but we recommend moving to Windows 11.” The problem with this is that millions of computers don’t have the technical specs to move to Windows 11, and some large, unknown number of Windows 10 devices are owned and operated by businesses, governments, and large organizations like schools and nonprofits whose procurement rules do not allow them to operate devices that are no longer getting security updates. This means that these organizations will necessarily have to buy new devices, which has become a big topic of conversation on the r/sysadmin subreddit, a community of IT professionals who manage big fleets of computers.
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This inevitably means that many of those devices are going to end up in landfills and e-waste facilities, and that people are going to have to buy new computers, one of the more egregious examples of planned obsolescence in recent memory. Experts have repeatedly made clear that extending the use of any given device, either through repair, software updates, or just keeping a device for longer, is extremely important, because it delays all the carbon emissions associated with mining the raw materials needed to produce a new device and the energy and emissions associated with manufacturing and shipping that new device.Notably, Microsoft is going to continue offering security updates to customers who pay for them, meaning that it would be trivial for the company to continue to offer critical security updates for free. This is notable because we have seen unpatched Windows computers and devices turned into ransomware and botnets, most notably the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack, in which repurposed, leaked NSA hacking tools attacked computers running Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. WannaCry was one of the most devastating widespread cyberattacks in history.
Microsoft’s decision to sunset Windows 10 support is particularly concerning considering that more than 42 percent of all Windows users are currently using Windows 10. When Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 8, just 3.7 percent of computers were using it, and just 2.2 percent of Windows users were using Windows 8.1 when Microsoft stopped supporting that operating system.
“More than 40 percent of Windows users still use it,” Proctor said. “So to cut support for something that is legitimately a flagship product is bizarre. No one expects Microsoft to do software updates forever, but when 43 percent of your customers are using it, it’s not obsolete.”
Proctor and PIRG have launched a campaign pressuring Microsoft to extend support. Petitions and open letters of this sort aren’t known for being terribly effective, but when it comes to shaming companies into extending support for environmental and security reasons, there is one very big, very important precedent. In 2023, after widespread outrage from right to repair advocates, consumer rights groups, school districts, and enterprise buyers, Google agreed to extend automatic updates for Chromebooks to 10 years. The move saved millions of devices from going into landfills and ewaste facilities.
“What happened with Google and Chromebooks is an example that gives me hope that we can win,” Proctor said. “During the pandemic, schools bought massive quantities of Chromebooks, then it turns out that Chromebooks have this thing called the AUE [automatic update] date, which is a preset end of support date, which in some cases was just a couple years after the computers were brought brand new. There were photos from the Oakland Unified School District in California of thousands of working Chromebooks that were headed to the recycler because the AUE date had passed and they weren’t getting security updates, which meant they were ineligible to get some of the enterprise software they needed.”
“And so they were getting replaced by the thousands, and we organized a bunch of these school districts and institutional purchasers of Chromebooks,” he added. “Google initially resisted what we were doing, but then after a couple of months, they just flipped and said, ‘OK, we’re going to have 10 years minimum support timeline for all Chromebooks from here on out.’”
You can listen to and watch 404 Media’s full interview with Nathan Proctor here.
Chromebooks will get 10 years of automatic updates
Chromebooks are getting 10 years of automatic updates, plus new features to help devices last longer.Prajakta Gudadhe (Google)
Meta tells its metaverse workers to push harder with AI; the massive Discord breach; and what happened when AI came for craft beer.#Podcast
Podcast: Meta Tells Workers to ‘Go 5x Faster’ with AI
We start this week with Jason’s article about an internal Meta message telling workers to increase their output by 5x with AI. That’s five times, not five percent. After the break, Joseph and Sam tell us all about the catastrophic Discord breach. In the subscribers-only section, Joseph explains what happened when AI came for craft beer (nothing is sacred).
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Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or YouTube. Become a paid subscriber for access to this episode's bonus content and to power our journalism. If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! You can also add that subscribers feed to your podcast app of choice and never miss an episode that way. The email should also contain the subscribers-only unlisted YouTube link for the extended video version too. It will also be in the show notes in your podcast player.
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- 0:51 Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America
- 3:57 Meta Tells Workers Building Metaverse to Use AI to ‘Go 5x Faster’
- 19:44 The Discord Hack is Every User’s Worst Nightmare
- Subscribers: What Happened When AI Came for Craft Beer
The 404 Media Podcast
Tech News Podcast · Updated Weekly · Welcome to the podcast from 404 Media where Joseph, Sam, Emanuel, and Jason catch you up on the stories we published this week. 404 Media is a journalist-owned digital media company exploring the way …Apple Podcasts
Roccella sui viaggi della Memoria: un ODG a Reggio Emilia
Abbiamo avuto modo di ascoltare le parole della Ministra Roccella sui Viaggi della Memoria, ridotti nella sua narrazione a semplici “Gite ad Auschwitz”. Evidentemente la Ministra non ha mai partecipato ad uno di essi, perché altrimenti saprebbe che le società storiche, che si occupano della formazione degli studenti e delle studentesse prima del viaggio, si soffermano sempre sulla storia dell’antisemitismo in Europa e di come si sia arrivati a considerarlo un pilastro fondante in alcune ideologie politiche. Esattamente Ministra, perché per il Nazismo prima, e per il Fascismo poi, adeguandosi alla volontà dell’alleato, l’antisemitismo era una base importante per mantenere il potere.
Al contempo, forse, la Ministra nasconde dietro l’accusa di odio religioso (antisemitismo) la volontà di censurare la critica all’agire politico di uno Stato nazionalista (antisionismo) come previsto dal DDL 1627, un’equiparazione e una pulizia della coscienza inaccettabile. Già, perché a firmare le Leggi Razziali, vorremmo ricordare, non furono Pertini o Gramsci, ma personaggi come Almirante il quale scriveva: “Il razzismo ha da essere cibo di tutti e per tutti, se veramente vogliamo che in Italia ci sia, e sia viva in tutti, la coscienza della razza”. Nello stesso articolo, uscito nel 1942, parlava degli ebrei come persone che simulavano l’essere italiani e che andavano ricercati perché avevano avuto l’ardire di mischiarsi, come i meticci, con il sangue italiano. I Viaggi della Memoria servono a questo, a capire la Storia, a non ripeterla, ad ammettere che in Italia l’odio razziale verso gli ebrei è esistito soprattutto sotto il fascismo che lo vedeva come un’estensione della lotta al comunismo militante, seguendo così le teorie naziste.
Proprio per questo, nella giornata di ieri, il gruppo “Verdi e Possibile” ha presentato un OdG urgente a firma del nostro consigliere Alessandro Miglioli in cui si chiedeva di prendere le distanze dalle affermazioni della Ministra. La Storia è una materia delicata che va capita e non abusata per lanciare la palla da una parte all’altra del campo politico o per ripulire la propria memoria storica fondata sulla violenza e sull’odio.
L'articolo Roccella sui viaggi della Memoria: un ODG a Reggio Emilia proviene da Possibile.
Ministero dell'Istruzione
📣Il 16 e 17 ottobre il #MIM sarà al #SalonedelloStudente di Milano, presso il Parco Esposizioni Novegro, con uno spazio istituzionale dedicato a studenti, famiglie, al mondo della scuola e all’innovazione didattica.Telegram
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@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
All’Annual meeting dell’association of the United States army (Ausa), a Washington, il messaggio è stato chiaro. L’Esercito americano sta cambiando. La principale fiera della difesa terrestre, vetrina delle innovazioni e punto d’incontro tra industria e
Lug Bolzano - LINUXDAY 2025 – 25.10.2025 – everywhere and in BZ – come and see!
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Segnalato da Linux Italia e pubblicato sulla comunità Lemmy @GNU/Linux Italia
Dove in Italia ? – Wo in Italien? BZ: Ma anche a Bolzano ! Auch in Bozen! PASSA PAROLA – SAG’s
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@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
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Apple prende a bordo il colosso cinese dell’auto Byd
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GAZA. Infantino (Fifa) ha ignorato i massacri, ora parla di ricostruzione
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La presenza a Sharm El Sheikh su invito di Trump del presidente della Federazione Calcio non è legata alla ricostruzione degli stadi, ma a molteplici interessi politici ed economici. Infantino negli ultimi anni ha impedito l'esclusione del calcio israeliano dalle