Ecco perché dall’Artico arrivano le nuove sfide della competizione globale
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
La prima Conferenza nazionale sull’Artico, promossa dal sottosegretario di Stato alla Difesa, Isabella Rauti, ha raccolto al Centro alti studi per la Difesa (Casd) esponenti delle istituzioni, delle Forze armate, del mondo diplomatico e scientifico. L’obiettivo, riconoscere
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“The shameless use of covert recording technology at massage parlours to gain likes, attention, and online notoriety is both disgusting and dangerous.”#News #ballotinitiatives #1201
Meta's Ray-Ban Glasses Users Film and Harass Massage Parlor Workers
A number of Instagram accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views have uploaded videos filmed with Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses show men entering massage parlors across the country and soliciting the workers there for “tuggy” massages, or sex work. In some cases, the women laugh at the men, dismiss them, or don’t understand what they’re talking about, but in a few cases they discuss specific sex acts and what they would cost.It doesn’t appear that the women in the videos know they are being filmed and that the videos are being shared online, where they’re viewed by millions of people. In some cases, the exact location of the massage parlor is easy to find because the videos show its sign upon entering. This is extremely dangerous to the women in the videos who can be targeted by both law enforcement and racist, sexist extremists. In 2021, a man who shot and killed eight people at massage parlors told police he targeted them because he had a “sexual addiction."
The videos show how Meta has built an entire supply chain for dangerous, privacy violating content on the internet. It sells glasses that allow people to surreptitiously film others in public and operates a social network where inflammatory, outrageous content is rewarded and monetized, and where Instagram often only moderates violating content after journalists reach out for comment.
The most popular of these accounts, which had more than 600,000 followers and multiple videos with around 2 million views, was served to me while scrolling Reels. Many of the videos are tagged on Instagram as “Ray-Ban Meta glasses,” which indicate what device the video was made with. In one video, the person wearing the glasses briefly shows himself in a mirror as he enters a massage parlor.
After reaching out to Meta for comment, the company asked me for examples of the videos, indicating that it wasn’t able to find them itself. Meta then removed the account I flagged, as well as other accounts by the same creator, who apparently set up multiple accounts in preparation for moderation.
"People are responsible for following the law, whether or not they're wearing Ray-Ban Metas,” a Meta spokesperson told me in an email. “Unlike smartphones, our glasses have an LED light that activates whenever someone captures content, so it’s clear the device is recording. The content and associated accounts have been removed for multiple policy violations.”
As 404 Media reported last week, people can pay $60 for a modification to Meta’s Ray-Bans to disable that privacy-protecting LED. Amazon and other online retailers also sell various stickers that cover the recording light, but Meta has also updated the Ray-Bans software so it will stop recording if it’s covered. Circumventing or hiding the LED recording light is a common subject on Reddit and a top search result for the product. In the massage parlor video, it’s not clear that the people who are being filmed know they are being filmed, even if the LED light is on.
Meta also told me its terms of service state that users are responsible for complying with all applicable laws and for using Ray-Ban Meta glasses in a safe, respectful manner. It said people shouldn't use them to engage in harmful activities like harassment or capturing sensitive information.
The people behind the accounts attempt to monetize them by selling access to full videos which they claim capture their sexual encounters at the massage parlor. They link out to an adult pay-per-view service called No Fans, which allows users to buy and view adult content without creating an account. One video on Instagram that’s pitched as a “Latina House Call” sends viewers to No Fans to buy the full video. On No Fans, users can buy the “Latina Tuggy Bundle” for $28.49.
This gives them access to four videos, but the locations and people in those videos look nothing like anything that’s been posted to Instagram. It’s not clear if the people who are making the Instagram videos ever actually go through with the sex work they talk about. Several of the Instagram videos end with them saying they’re going to go get more cash from an ATM and exit the massage parlor.
Angela Wu, executive director of SWAN Vancouver, an organization that promotes rights and safety of migrant and immigrant women engaged in sex work, told me that the organization is aware of these accounts and that workers who face privacy concerns at massage parlors mey choose to move to more hidden locations, where they face greater risk of assault, robbery, and exploitation.
"Earlier this year, SWAN Vancouver became aware of disturbing social media videos showing individuals wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses to enter massage parlours across North America and record interactions with workers. Many of these workers are immigrant and newcomer women who may or may not engage in sex work, but experience stigma nonetheless,” Wu told me in an email. “The shameless use of covert recording technology at massage parlours to gain likes, attention, and online notoriety is both disgusting and dangerous. Due to criminalization and stigma, sex workers face disproportionate levels of violence and harassment. Violations of privacy can lead to arrest, immigration consequences, and lasting harm.”
“SWAN’s community made extensive efforts to report these videos, and we are deeply disappointed that social media platforms allowed them to remain online,” Wu added. “To warn the im/migrant women we support, SWAN used our Abuser Alert system to notify workers about the use of Ray-Ban Meta glasses and the videos circulating online. We also received reports from community members about clients entering massage parlours wearing the glasses and recording women without their knowledge."
Some of the exact same videos were also posted to TikTok. These TikTok accounts also attempt to monetize the videos by linking to full pornographic videos sold through Patreon.
Another TikTok account, separate from the people also posting to Instagram, also posts first person videos of entering massage parlors and asking for sex work. The person posting this account said that their previous account was banned for violating TikTok community guidelines. That person also shared a video of themselves saying that they’ll stop posting “tuggy” videos because someone stole their Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
After I reached out for comment, TikTok removed the accounts I asked the company about. “On the question about people being filmed without their knowledge, you may want to reach out to Meta to ask if there are features/ safeguards they've built into the Ray Bans to prevent this,” a TikTok spokesperson told me in an email. “For example, I have a pair and I know there's a little LED light - perhaps this is being disabled or there's some way around this.”
One of the massage parlor Instagram accounts shows that the people behind it tried recording other forms of harassment with Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses before finding the massage parlor niche. Before the massage parlor videos, this person entered various businesses and bothered employees. In one video the person filming the video enters a Best Buy and yells until security asks him to stop.
Conditions de service de Meta
Les Conditions générales de Meta régissent mon utilisation de Facebook, Messenger ainsi que des autres produits, fonctionnalités, applications, services, technologies et logiciels que nous offrons.www.facebook.com
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The Internet of Agents based on Large Language Models
Le notizie dal Centro Nexa su Internet & Società del Politecnico di Torino su @Etica Digitale (Feddit)
A TIM-financed project which aims to address the technological, economic, political and social impacts of the widespread diffusion and use of agentic AI tools.
The post The Internet of Agents based on Large Language Models appeared
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Why Grokipedia won't beat Wikipedia; the Windows 10 update; and a16z's plan for a wholly AI-generated internet.
Why Grokipedia wonx27;t beat Wikipedia; the Windows 10 update; and a16zx27;s plan for a wholly AI-generated internet.#Podcast
Podcast: Grokipedia is Cringe
We start this week with Jason’s explanation of what Grokipedia is, and how it compares to the very much human-made Wikipedia. After the break, we talk all about the hell of updating Windows PCs and what that means specifically for Windows 10 users. In the subscribers-only section, Emanuel explains what a16z is doing with a ‘speedrun’ to a wholly AI-generated world.
playlist.megaphone.fm?e=TBIEA8…
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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- Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever
- First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens
- Grokipedia Is the Antithesis of Everything That Makes Wikipedia Good, Useful, and Human
- Elon Musk's Grokipedia Pushes Far-Right Talking Points
- The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
- Nathan Proctor interview
- a16z-Backed Startup Sells Thousands of ‘Synthetic Influencers’ to Manipulate Social Media as a Service
- a16z Is Funding a 'Speedrun' to AI-Generated Hell on Earth
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
Il prezzo del rame in Ecuador: la lotta per la sopravvivenza del popolo shuar arutam
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Indice La versione originale di questo articolo è stata pubblicata su Arcc foundation, in lingua inglese. La traduzione è a cura dell’autore. «Noi, gli shuar, siamo un popolo guerriero. Da migliaia di anni, viviamo nella foresta che scende dalle
Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo reshared this.
Cybersecurity. Quattro bandi UE da 50 milioni di euro, anche per cavi sottomarini
@Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁)
I nuovi bandi europei sulla cybersecurity La Commissione europea lancia quattro nuovi bandi dedicati alla cybersecurity, con un investimento complessivo di oltre 50 milioni di euro nell’ambito del Programma Europa Digitale (Digital Europe
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fnsi.it/giornalisti-minacciati…
FREE ASSANGE Italia
FNSI - Giornalisti minacciati, nel 2025 casi aumentati del 78% https://www.fnsi.it/giornalisti-minacciati-nel-2025-casi-aumentati-del-78Telegram
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Looking beyond the AI hype
THIS IS A BONUS EDITION OF DIGITAL POLITICS. I'm Mark Scott, and I'm breaking my rule of not discussing my day job in this newsletter. I'm in New York to present this report about the current gaps in social media data access and the public-private funding opportunities to meet those challenges.
The project is part of my underlying thesis that much, if not all, of digital policymaking is done in a vacuum without quantifiable evidence.
When it comes to the effects of social media on society and the potential need for lawmakers to intervene, we are maddeningly blind to how these platforms operate; what impact they have on people's online-offline habits; and what interventions, if any, are required to make social media more transparent and accountability to all of us.
The report is a call-to-arms for practical steps required to move beyond educated guesses in digital policymaking to evidence-based oversight.
It's a cross-post from Tech Policy Press.
Let's get started:
THE CASE FOR SUPPORTING SOCIAL MEDIA DATA ACCESS
IN THE HIERARCHY OF DIGITAL POLICYMAKING PRIORITIES, it’s artificial intelligence, not platform governance, that is now the cause célèbre.
From the United States’ public aim to dominate the era of AI to the rise of so-called AI slop created by apps such as OpenAI’s Sora, the emerging technology has seemingly become the sole priority across governments, tech companies, philanthropic organizations and civil society groups.
This fixation on AI is a mistake.
It’s a mistake because it relegates equally pressing areas of digital rulemaking — especially those related to social media’s impact on the wider world — down the pecking order at a time when these global platforms have a greater say on people’s online, and increasingly offline, habits than ever before.
Current regulatory efforts, primarily in Europe, to rein in potential abuses linked to platforms controlled by Meta, Alphabet and TikTok have so far been more bark than bite. Social media giants remain black boxes to outsiders seeking to shine a light on how the companies’ content algorithms determine what people see in their daily feeds.
On Oct 24, the European Commission announced a preliminary finding under the European Union's Digital Services Act that Meta and TikTok had failed under their obligations to make it easier for researchers to access public data on their platforms.
These companies’ ability to decide how their users consume content on everything from the Israel-Hamas conflict to elections from Germany to Argentina is now equally interwoven into Washington’s attempts to roll back international online safety legislation in the presumed defense of US citizens’ First Amendment rights.
Confronted with this cavalcade of ongoing social media-enabled problems, the collective digital policymaking shift to focus almost exclusively on artificial intelligence is the epitome of the distracted boyfriend meme.
While governments, industry and civil society compete to outdo themselves on AI policymaking, the current ills associated with social media are being left behind — a waning after-thought in the global AI hype that has transfixed the public, set off a gold rush between industrial rivals and consumed governments in search of economic growth.
But where to focus?
In a report published via Columbia World Projects at Columbia University and the Hertie School’s Centre for Digital Governance on Oct 23, my co-authors and I lay out practical first steps in what can often seem like a labyrinthine web of problems associated with social media.
Our starting point is simple: the world currently has limited understanding about what happens within these global platforms despite companies’ stated commitments, through their terms of service, to uphold basic standards around accountability and transparency.
It’s impossible to diagnose the problem without first identifying the symptoms. And in the world of platform governance, that requires improved access to publicly-available and private social media data — in the form of engagement statistics and details on how so-called content recommender systems function.
Thankfully, the EU and, soon, the United Kingdom have passed the world’s first regulated regimes that mandate social media giants provide such information to outsiders, as long as they meet certain requirements like being associated with an academic institution or civil society organizations.
Elsewhere, particularly in the US, researchers are often reliant on voluntary commitments from companies growing increasingly adversarial in their interactions with outsiders whose work may shine unwanted attention on problematic areas within these global platforms.
Our report outlines the current gaps in how social media data access works. It builds on a year of workshops during which more than 120 experts from regulatory agencies, academia, civil society groups and data infrastructure providers identified the existing data access limitations and outlined recommendations for public-private funding to address those failings.
All told, it represents a comprehensive review of current global researcher data access efforts, based on inputs from those actively engaged in the policy area worldwide.
At a time when the US government has pulled back significantly from funding digital policymaking and many philanthropies are shifting gears from social media to artificial intelligence, it can feel like a hard sell to urge both public and private funders to open up their wallets to support a digital policymaking area fraught with political uncertainty.
But our recommendations are framed as practical attempts to fill current shortfalls that, with just a little support, could have an exponential impact on improving the transparency and accountability pledges that all of the world’s largest social media companies say they remain committed to.
Some of the ideas will require more of a collective effort than others.
Participants in the workshops highlighted the need for widely-accessible data access infrastructure — akin to what was offered via Meta’s CrowdTangle data analytics tool before the tech giant shut it down in 2024 — as a starting point, even though such projects, collectively, will likely cost in the tens of millions of dollars each year.
But many of the opportunities are more short-term than long-term.
That was by design. The workshops underpinning the report made clear the independent research community needed technical and capacity-building support more than it needed moonshot projects which may fail to deliver on the dual focus on increased transparency and accountability for social media.
The recommendations include expanded funding support to ensure academics and civil society groups are trained in world-class data protection and security protocols — preferably standardized across the whole research community — so that data about people’s social media habits are kept safe and not misused like what happened in the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018.
It also includes programs to allow new researchers to gain access to social media data access regimes that often remain accessible to only a handful of organizations, as well as attempts to create international standards across different countries’ regulated regimes so that jurisdictions can align, as much as they can, on approach to social media data access.
Such day-to-day digital policymaking does not have the bells and whistles associated with the current AI hype. It's borne out of the realities of independent researchers and regulators seeking to address near-and-present harms tied to social media, and not in the alarmism that artificial intelligence may, some day, represent an existential threat to humanity.
That, too, was by design. Often, digital policymaking, especially on AI, can become overly-complex — lost in technical jargon and misconceptions of what technology can, and can not, do.
By outlining where public and private funders can meet immediate needs on society-wide problems tied to social media, my co-authors and I are clear where digital policymaking priorities should lie: in the need to improve people’s understanding of how these global platforms increasingly shape the world around us.
Recreating a Homebrew Game System from 1987
We often take for granted how easy it is to get information in today’s modern, Internet-connected world. Especially around electronics projects, datasheets are generally a few clicks away, as are instructions for building almost anything. Not so in the late 80s where ordering physical catalogs of chips and their datasheets was generally required.
Mastering this landscape took a different skillset and far more determination than today, which is what makes the fact that a Japanese electronics hobbyist built a complete homebrew video game system from scratch in 1987 all the more impressive.[Alex] recently discovered this project and produced a replica of it with a few modern touches.
There are around 26 games for this platform developed mostly by the original creator of the console and another developer named [Inufuto] who also developed a multi-platform compiler for the system. [Alex]’s version adds PCBs to the overall design making assembly much easier. He’s also added a cartridge port for the various games and included controller ports for Genesis or Master System controllers.
Even outside the context of the 80s the console is an impressive build, encouraging development of homebrew games that continues to this day. The original creator maintains a site about the console as well (Google Translate from Japanese). There are a number of development tools still available for this platform that allow modern gamers and enthusiasts to interact with it, and all of [Alex]’s schematics and other information are available on his website as well.
For a more modern take on a homebrew system, take a look at this one based on a PIC32 that can not only run homebrew games, but original Game Boy ROMs as well.
Microsoft acquisisce il 27% di OpenAI per 135 miliardi di dollari
Dopo quasi un anno di trattative con il suo storico sostenitore Microsoft, OpenAI ha concesso a quest’ultima una quota del 27%. Questa mossa elimina una significativa incertezza per entrambe le aziende e apre la strada alla trasformazione dello sviluppatore di ChatGPT in un’impresa a scopo di lucro.
In una dichiarazione rilasciata martedì, entrambe le società hanno affermato che, in base all’accordo rivisto, Microsoft acquisirà circa 135 miliardi di dollari di azioni di OpenAI. Inoltre, Microsoft avrà accesso alla tecnologia della startup di intelligenza artificiale (IA) fino al 2032, compresi i modelli che hanno già raggiunto il benchmark per l’intelligenza artificiale generale (AGI).
OpenAI ha trascorso gran parte di quest’anno spingendo per la ristrutturazione, trasformandosi in un’azienda più tradizionale a scopo di lucro; Microsoft, che ha investito circa 13,75 miliardi di dollari, è stata il più grande ostacolo tra gli investitori di OpenAI.
“OpenAI ha completato una ristrutturazione del capitale e semplificato la sua struttura aziendale”, ha dichiarato il presidente di OpenAI, Bret Taylor, in una nota. “L’organizzazione no-profit controlla ancora l’entità a scopo di lucro, garantendole accesso diretto alle risorse critiche prima dell’arrivo di AGI”.
Nell’ambito della ristrutturazione, l’ente no-profit di OpenAI, la OpenAI Foundation, riceverà anche un capitale di circa 130 miliardi di dollari. La fondazione prevede di concentrarsi inizialmente sul finanziamento di progetti come “l’accelerazione delle innovazioni in campo sanitario”.
OpenAI ha dichiarato che il suo co-fondatore e CEO, Sam Altman, non riceverà alcuna partecipazione azionaria nella società recentemente ristrutturata.
Martedì, le azioni Microsoft sono salite fino al 4,2%, raggiungendo i 553,72 dollari. Molti analisti di Wall Street ritengono che il cambiamento del rapporto con OpenAI abbia rappresentato in passato una fonte importante di incertezza per l’azienda produttrice di software.
L’analista di ricerca di settore Anurag Rana ha affermato che il mantenimento da parte di Microsoft dei diritti di proprietà intellettuale sui prodotti e sui modelli OpenAI fino al 2032 è “il punto più importante” dell’accordo rivisto. “Microsoft sta sviluppando i propri modelli, utilizzando al contempo i modelli OpenAI o Anthropic nel suo prodotto Copilot”.
Un punto cruciale nei negoziati durati mesi tra Microsoft e OpenAI è stato cosa sarebbe successo dopo che OpenAI avesse raggiunto l’AGI (Intelligenza Artificiale Generale), ovvero un’intelligenza artificiale che supera le capacità umane nella maggior parte dei compiti. In base al nuovo accordo, questa soglia deve essere verificata da un “gruppo indipendente di esperti” e, una volta raggiunta, Microsoft non riceverà più alcuna quota dei ricavi di OpenAI.
Azure è stato a lungo il fornitore esclusivo di OpenAI, ma in seguito Microsoft gli ha consentito di acquistare servizi da altri fornitori come Oracle, pur mantenendo il diritto di prelazione di Microsoft . OpenAI investirà altri 250 miliardi di dollari in Azure.
Entrambe le parti hanno dichiarato che i diritti di Microsoft sull’utilizzo della tecnologia OpenAI non includeranno l’hardware consumer. OpenAI avrà anche la possibilità di “sviluppare congiuntamente alcuni prodotti con terze parti”.
L'articolo Microsoft acquisisce il 27% di OpenAI per 135 miliardi di dollari proviene da Red Hot Cyber.
EDRi-gram, 29 October 2025
What has the EDRi network been up to over the past few weeks? Find out the latest digital rights news in our bi-weekly newsletter. In this edition: we're pondering digital fairness, budget cuts for the Austrian DPA and more.
The post EDRi-gram, 29 October 2025 appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).
Tutte le mosse di Nvidia con Nokia, Stellantis e Uber
L'articolo proviene da #StartMag e viene ricondiviso sulla comunità Lemmy @Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁)
Nvidia investirà 1 miliardo di dollari in Nokia, diventandone la seconda maggiore azionista e collaborandovi per lo sviluppo del 6G. Inoltre, la società di semiconduttori e piattaforme software svilupperà auto a guida autonoma con Stellantis e Uber.
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Massacri e pulizia etnica in Darfur, le Rsf conquistano El-Fasher con il sangue
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Dopo 550 giorni di assedio, le RSF conquistano El-Fasher: civili massacrati, ospedali saccheggiati e la popolazione intrappolata tra fame e terrore
L'articolo Massacri e pulizia etnica in Darfur, le Rsf conquistano El-Fasher con il sangue proviene da
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Della Loggia, Zanon, Cangini. Ecco chi dice “si” alla riforma della giustizia
@Politica interna, europea e internazionale
L'articolo Della Loggia, Zanon, Cangini. Ecco chi dice “si” alla riforma della giustizia proviene da Fondazione Luigi Einaudi.
Politica interna, europea e internazionale reshared this.
I “potenti attacchi” su Gaza ordinati da Netanyahu hanno ucciso 100 palestinesi
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Lo riferiscono fonti degli ospedali di Gaza. Tra i morti 24 bambini e ragazzi. Decine di feriti. Ucciso un riservista israeliano
L'articolo I “potenti attacchi” su Gaza ordinati da Netanyahu hanno ucciso 100 palestinesi proviene da Pagine Esteri.
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Truffa bancomat, un nuovo trucco mette a rischio i conti di tutta Italia: attenzione agli scontrini lasciati in giro - macitynet.it
Un'altra frode che utilizza questi dispositivi è molto pericolosa, cosa si deve sapere per riuscire a proteggersiFrancesca Testa (Casa Editrice Macity Publishing srl)
Usa: contanti e shutdown: la spesa negata ai meno abbienti - Diogene Notizie
diogenenotizie.com/usa-contant…
Shutdown USA e casse «solo carta»: se sussidi si fermano e il contante sparisce, il supermercato diventa un confine
I droni stanno trasformando la medicina di guerra
@Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁)
In Ucraina, i sistemi aerei senza pilota hanno trasformato non solo il modo di combattere, ma anche quello di curare: la medicina tattica evolve e si adatta ai pericoli di un campo di battaglia ormai privo di retrovie, e in cui gli attacchi possono giungere dall’alto in qualunque momento.
L'articolo I droni stanno
reshared this
La Puglia verso le regionali: le politiche anti-Xylella sono davvero la soluzione?
@Politica interna, europea e internazionale
Mentre in Puglia andava in scena il solito valzer politico — tra veti incrociati e candidature di Nichi Vendola, Michele Emiliano e Antonio De Caro — la regione bruciava. Dall’inizio di giugno a metà agosto sono andati in cenere quasi 10.000 ettari di vegetazione,
Politica interna, europea e internazionale reshared this.
Studenti manganellati, giornalisti intimiditi, giudici attaccati: il fascismo è tornato? (di R. Parodi)
@Politica interna, europea e internazionale
Ingenui? Distratti? Complici più o meno coscienti? In malafede? Non so davvero come definire i tanti, troppi intellettuali, giornalisti, politici – che si ostinano a dire che il fascismo non c’è più. Purtroppo il fascismo è tornato di prepotenza fra
Politica interna, europea e internazionale reshared this.
freezonemagazine.com/rubriche/…
La famiglia è, senza ombra di dubbio, uno dei film emblematici della capacità, che abbiamo già incontrato, del cinema italiano della sua epoca d’oro (diciamo tra la fine degli anni ’40 e fino alle migliori proposte degli anni ’80), ma con alcune successive propaggini eccellenti, di saper ricostruire con grande pertinenza, sotto il velo della […]
L'articolo La famiglia proviene da FREE ZONE MAGAZI
La famiglia è, senza ombra di
Trentennio
@Politica interna, europea e internazionale
Da garantista che sa di non avere nessuna alternativa al credere nella giustizia, avrei una supplica da rivolgere al sindacato dei magistrati, la loro Associazione nazionale: evitate quel che avvicina al profilo del politicante televisivo, bisognoso di parlare più velocemente di quel che serve a pensare. Si possono sostenere tesi diverse, senza per questo far […]
L'articolo
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Czech police forced to turn off facial recognition cameras at the Prague airport thanks to the AI Act
The shutdown of the facial recognition cameras at the Václav Havel Airport in Prague came after years of criticism from EDRi member IuRe. The legitimacy of the criticism was confirmed by the Czech Office for Personal Data Protection. However, the Czech police continue to systematically violate the law in further processing of biometric data.
The post Czech police forced to turn off facial recognition cameras at the Prague airport thanks to the AI Act appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).
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Budget cuts incapacitate Austrian DPA: NGOs complaint to the EU Commission
Despite its growing responsibilities, the Austrian Data Protection Authority continues to be impaired by budget cuts. epicenter.works and noyb are filing a complaint with the European Commission about Austria not fulfilling its obligations of sufficiently funding its data protection authority and leaving millions of Austrians to deal with consequences of limited access to the fundamental right to data protection.
The post Budget cuts incapacitate Austrian DPA: NGOs complaint to the EU Commission appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).
A Privacy Nightmarе: Understanding Spyware, a new book by SHARE Foundation
SHARE Foundation’s new book ‘A Privacy Nightmare: Understanding Spyware’ examines spyware through technical, legal, and practical lenses, offering a systemic understanding of its threats and reinforcing the call for a global ban.
The post A Privacy Nightmarе: Understanding Spyware, a new book by SHARE Foundation appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).
Gegen Regulierung: Big Tech steckt so viel Geld in EU-Lobbyarbeit wie noch nie
netzpolitik.org/2025/gegen-reg…
Oggi al #MIM si svolge la Presentazione del Programma Nazionale FAI per la #scuola 2025/2026.
Partecipa all’evento il Ministro Giuseppe Valditara.
Qui potete seguire la diretta dalle ore 11 ➡ youtube.com/live/RXDqX_fZ1Zo
Ministero dell'Istruzione
Oggi al #MIM si svolge la Presentazione del Programma Nazionale FAI per la #scuola 2025/2026. Partecipa all’evento il Ministro Giuseppe Valditara. Qui potete seguire la diretta dalle ore 11 ➡ https://www.youtube.com/live/RXDqX_fZ1ZoTelegram
Fiano, o delle distinzioni di comodo.
noblogo.org/transit/fiano-o-de…
Fiano, o delle distinzioni di comodo.
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Brevi e probabilmente banali considerazioni dopo l'ascolto di Emanuele Fiano oggi sui fatti accaduti a “Cà Foscari”.
Per chi segue il dibattito social, la posizione di Emanuele Fiano e “Sinistra per Israele” tende a sostenere che l’ #antisionismo sia una forma di #antisemitismo, cioè che l’opposizione al movimento sionista o alle politiche di Israele coincida sempre con l’odio verso gli ebrei. Questa visione semplifica e confonde due piani profondamente diversi.
L’antisemitismo è ostilità verso gli ebrei in quanto persone, religione o popolo: pogrom, discriminazioni, teorie del complotto e “Shoah” ne sono espressioni drammatiche. L’antisionismo invece è la critica dell’ideologia sionista e delle politiche dello Stato di Israele: non nasce per definizione come discorso d’odio, ma come posizione politica, spesso alimentata da ragioni storiche, etiche o di difesa dei diritti dei palestinesi.
Ci sono sempre stati ebrei antisionisti: gruppi religiosi o laici che non si riconoscono nello Stato di #Israele o ne criticano l’esistenza, a prescindere da ogni odio antiebraico. Anzi, la discussione critica tra ebrei su sionismo e Israele fa parte della storia stessa dell’ebraismo moderno. Equiparare ogni antisionismo all’antisemitismo cancella questa pluralità e nega il diritto a dissentire, dentro e fuori dalla comunità ebraica.
Una critica anche aspra al governo israeliano, alla sua politica verso i palestinesi o al progetto sionista in sé non implica odio per gli ebrei. Così come criticare la Russia di Putin, la Cina di Xi o l’America di Biden non significa odiare russi, cinesi o americani. Dire il contrario è una forma di propaganda che soffoca il dibattito, bolla ogni dissenso come intolleranza e serve spesso a zittire movimenti per i diritti umani o campagne di solidarietà internazionale.
Chi sostiene che antisionismo e antisemitismo siano la stessa cosa rischia di banalizzare davvero l’antisemitismo: se tutto è odio antiebraico, niente lo è più davvero. E si finisce per colpire chi magari lotta contro razzismi e colonalismi ma è a favore dei diritti di palestinesi, israeliani ed ebrei. Banalizzazione che fanno, alla luce del sole, Fiano e i componenti di “Sinistra per Israele.” Antisionismo e antisemitismo sono cose diverse e confonderle fa male sia alla lotta contro le discriminazioni, sia alla libertà di dibattito politico.
Non ho scritto cose nuove, me ne rendo conto, ma continuare a “tenere il punto”, in giorni disperanti come questi, mi aiuta a considerare le cose per come dovrebbero essere, non per come vogliamo che siano.
#Blog #Antisemitismo #Antisionismo #Opinioni #Italia #Politics #Politica
Mastodon: @alda7069@mastodon.unoTelegram: t.me/transitblogFriendica: @danmatt@poliverso.orgBio Site (tutto in un posto solo, diamine): bio.site/danielemattioli
Gli scritti sono tutelati da “Creative Commons” (qui)
Tutte le opinioni qui riportate sono da considerarsi personali. Per eventuali problemi riscontrati con i testi, si prega di scrivere a: corubomatt@gmail.com
Nessuno è perfetto, neppure il Garante della privacy
@Giornalismo e disordine informativo
articolo21.org/2025/10/nessuno…
L’Autorità garante dei dati personali (GDPR) ha perso la sua innocenza. La vicenda della salatissima multa comminata dal Garante della privacy alla Rai per la puntata di Report in cui si dava conto della telefonata tra
Giornalismo e disordine informativo reshared this.
ma quando qualcuno avrà davvero il coraggio di dire no a israele e che fanno schifo? ma proprio questo schifo di trump doveva capitarci? un novello carter no?
lo lo so che secondo qualcuno i presidenti usa hanno sempre fatto la stessa cosa, e magari è anche vero che nessuno ha rappresentato un elemento di rottura come vorremmo, per politiche che non apprezziamo, ma solo l'ignoranza porta a pensare che sia sempre tutto uguale. delle differenze, anche significative, esistono sempre. e non vederle è solo un limite di chi guarda.
un piano di pace come lo intende trump... e vorrebbe pure il nobel... il nostro principe della giustizia.
praticamente secondo trump i palestinesi dovrebbero fare tutti i bagnini se ho capito bene...
A Gaza la “linea gialla” sta diventando un confine fisso
L'esercito israeliano si è ritirato dietro quel limite dopo il cessate il fuoco e tiene lontani i palestinesi sparando contro chiunque si avviciniIl Post
Grokipedia di Musk copia Wikipedia, l'ironia è totale
Elon Musk lancia Grokipedia come alternativa a Wikipedia, ma molte pagine sono una copia perfetta dei contenuti dall'enciclopedia originale.Punto Informatico
I “potenti attacchi” su Gaza ordinati da Netanyahu hanno ucciso oltre 60 palestinesi
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Lo riferiscono fonti degli ospedali di Gaza. Tra i morti 24 bambini e ragazzi. Decine di feriti. Ucciso un riservista israeliano
L'articolo I “potenti attacchi” su Gaza ordinati da Netanyahu hanno ucciso oltre 60 palestinesi proviene da
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La cooperazione internazionale nella lotta alla corruzione
La Convenzione delle Nazioni Unite contro la corruzione (UNCAC) è l'unico strumento anticorruzione universalmente vincolante. Adottata dall'Assemblea Generale delle Nazioni Unite il 31 ottobre 2003, a seguito dei negoziati di Vienna, in Austria, rappresenta un impegno storico da parte dei Paesi nella lotta alla corruzione. Il suo punto di forza unico risiede nel suo approccio globale, che pone l'accento sulla prevenzione, l'applicazione della legge, la cooperazione internazionale e il recupero dei beni.
L' #UNCAC è stata fondamentale nel promuovere importanti riforme nazionali #anticorruzione, nel rafforzare i quadri giuridici e istituzionali e nel migliorare la collaborazione transfrontaliera. Svolge inoltre un ruolo fondamentale nel promuovere l'Agenda 2030 e gli Obiettivi di Sviluppo Sostenibile, affrontando gli impatti di vasta portata della corruzione sui principi e sui valori delle #NazioniUnite.
Poiché i casi di #corruzione sono spesso complessi e transnazionali, un'efficace cooperazione internazionale è fondamentale per indagare e perseguire con successo tali reati. La cooperazione internazionale promuove un approccio globale coordinato e unificato per combattere questo reato, consentendo la condivisione di informazioni, prove e altre forme significative di assistenza legale tra le autorità competenti di diversi Paesi.
Riconoscendo la natura complessa e transfrontaliera dei casi di corruzione, la Convenzione dedica un intero capitolo alla cooperazione internazionale (Capitolo IV). Questo capitolo fornisce un solido quadro normativo per gli Stati che desiderano impegnarsi nella cooperazione internazionale sia a livello formale che informale. A tal fine, gli Stati si impegnano a garantire l'esistenza di autorità anticorruzione indipendenti e specializzate per fornire la più ampia assistenza legale reciproca possibile, nonché uno scambio informale diretto e sicuro di informazioni sui casi di corruzione in corso. La Convenzione copre anche ulteriori forme di cooperazione internazionale in materia penale, come l'estradizione, il trasferimento di persone condannate, la cooperazione diretta tra le forze dell'ordine, le indagini congiunte e le tecniche investigative speciali. Incoraggia inoltre gli Stati a prendere in considerazione la possibilità di fornire assistenza reciproca nelle indagini e nei procedimenti in materia civile e amministrativa.
L'Agenda 2030 per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile individua la corruzione come un ostacolo fondamentale allo sviluppo sostenibile e invita gli Stati membri a "ridurre sostanzialmente la corruzione e le tangenti in tutte le loro forme" (Obiettivo 16.5). Per monitorare i progressi verso l'Obiettivo 16.5 vengono utilizzati due indicatori. In primo luogo, la prevalenza della corruzione tra la popolazione (indicatore SDG 16.5.1) e in secondo luogo, la prevalenza della corruzione tra le imprese (indicatore SDG 16.5.2). Entrambi gli indicatori richiedono la conduzione di indagini campionarie basate sull'esperienza.
Le indagini basate sull'esperienza possono evitare le insidie sia dei dati amministrativi sulla corruzione (in particolare la pervasiva sottostima dei casi non rilevati e non segnalati) sia delle carenze degli studi sulla corruzione basati sulla percezione, che per definizione catturano solo le opinioni piuttosto che il fenomeno reale. Se ben progettate e implementate secondo gli standard internazionali, le indagini basate sull'esperienza sulla corruzione possono misurare sia i livelli che le tendenze della corruzione e di altre forme di corruzione. Possono anche aiutare a identificare istituzioni, aziende e gruppi di popolazione specifici maggiormente esposti alla corruzione. Di conseguenza, queste indagini hanno implicazioni politiche dirette: possono orientare le autorità nazionali su dove concentrare i loro sforzi anticorruzione. Tuttavia, è anche importante notare che le indagini sulla corruzione basate sull'esperienza non possono rilevare casi di "grande corruzione" tra le élite politiche e imprenditoriali. Invece, catturano le esperienze quotidiane di cittadini e imprese comuni quando accedono ai servizi pubblici.
A livello globale, 142 paesi e territori dispongono di dati sulla prevalenza della corruzione nella popolazione per il 2024 o per l'ultimo anno disponibile dal 2010. Questi dati indicano che la prevalenza della corruzione varia significativamente tra le regioni. Ad esempio, nei paesi con dati disponibili in Asia centrale e meridionale e nell'Africa subsahariana, la prevalenza media della corruzione nella popolazione è del 24,0%. Al contrario, questa percentuale scende al 15,7% in Asia orientale e sudorientale e al 9,0% in Europa e Nord America.
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RAM CRUCIAL BALLISTIX SPORT DDR4 32GB 2400HZ - Questo è un post automatico da FediMercatino.it
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Sentenza definitiva!
Montaruli, la paladina del “carcere per uno spinello”, condannata dalla Cassazione.
Augusta Montaruli, colei che in Parlamento chiedeva cinque anni di carcere per chi fuma uno spinello, è stata condannata in via definitiva dalla Cassazione a 1 anno e 6 mesi per peculato.
Ha sottratto soldi pubblici, ma non sconterà nemmeno un giorno, protetta dall’immunità parlamentare e dalla copertura dei suoi alleati.
Rimane in Parlamento, pagata da noi, e continua a dare lezioni di morale. Cinque anni per uno spinello, zero per chi ruba denaro pubblico.
È l’ipocrisia incarnata e la vergogna di un Paese che premia i colpevoli e punisce i liberi. Ma noi non dimentichiamo.
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"The White House just marked the end of the console wars; DHS is posting deep fried Halo memes. We are somewhere else entirely."#News
Trump Admin’s Racist Halo Memes Are ‘A New Level of Dehumanization of Immigrants’
On Monday morning, the Trump administration used a picture of Halo’s Master Chief to call for the destruction of immigrants. This administration is no stranger to appropriating pop culture for its propaganda, but something about seeing the stalwart hero of a beloved video game twisted into an anti-immigrant super soldier hit people pretty hard.Over the weekend, the Trump administration shared AI-generated Halo memes across its social media accounts. This culminated in the official Department of Homeland Security accounts sharing an image of dudes in Spartan armor riding a Warthog under the words “DESTROY THE FLOOD JOIN.ICE.GOV.” It was this image, in particular, that got in people’s heads.
In the fiction of Halo, the Flood is a parasitic creature that infects sentient life and turns them into monsters whose only desire is to spread the parasite. They’re depicted as a brainless and fast moving wave of flesh that could not be reasoned with.
Finishing this fight. pic.twitter.com/6Ezq9NUqMq
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 27, 2025
Michael Senters—a PhD candidate at Virginia Tech who studies the political consequences of online culture—sent me a DM out of the blue after he saw the Warthog meme. “The Halo tweets and the reactions on Twitter are actually driving me insane,” Senters told me. This is a man who regularly subjects himself to the depths of 4chan so he can study its effect on politics. He’s a veteran of the worst online spaces the internet has to offer, but the Halo meme got to him.Trump’s propagandists have used the aesthetics of Star Wars and Studio Ghibli to push their message. They’ve set the Pokémon theme song to footage of ICE raids under the title “Gotta Catch Em All.” They’ve layered fash-wave variations of the MGMT song “Little Dark Age” over footage pulled from arrests. We’ve seen this administration do similar things in the past, so why did the Halo meme feel worse to Senters?
“What makes this debacle with the Halo memes different from other invocations of fandom culture is twofold in my opinion. First is the fact that Microsoft has declined to push back on the use of its biggest IP,” he said. “Combined with Microsoft donating to the White House ballroom project it gives the impression that Microsoft tacitly supports this.”
Microsoft declined to comment on this story.
Other IP holders have fought the administration over memes and won. The DHS video using the Pokémon theme song is still up, Pokémon Company International said it hadn’t given the administration permission to use its song. The band MGMT got DHS to pull the video that used its song.Little Dark Age. Even comedian Theo Von was able to force DHS to take down a video that featured him without his permission. As of this writing, the Halo memes are all still up across the Trump administration’s accounts. A video posted on DHS social media accounts Tuesday played music from the Halo soundtrack over footage of a Border Patrol raid.
“Second, and far worse in my opinion is this reaches a new level of dehumanization of immigrants by referring to them as the Flood, a parasitic alien lifeform in Halo who exist solely to eradicate all other forms of life and are controlled by the Gravemind, a monstrous intelligence that lurks in the shadows,” Senters said. “Immigrants stand in for the Flood while the Gravemind stands in for the Jews, creating a perfect metaphor for the far-right that allows them to target to of their traditional enemies with exterminationist rhetoric and it's not hyperbolic to say it's exterminationist because in Halo the only way to defeat the Flood is to wipe them out entirely, otherwise they will continue to reproduce.”
The Trump administration has long invoked racist imagery, much of it pulled from America’s past, to sell its agenda. But overtly equating immigrants to a ravening horde of monsters from a video game has its closest analogue in Nazi propaganda.
“What is especially surreal is seeing niche memes pressed into the service of the most controversial and violent aspects of President Trump's agenda. A few months ago, it was the ‘Ghiblification’ of the kidnapping and detention of American residents. Now it is a picture of Master Chief and a recruitment pitch to join ICE and ‘Destroy the Flood,’ Emerson T Brooking, the director of strategy at the Digital Forensic Research Lab, told 404 Media.
“In many ways, Trump administration officials are trying to use these online motifs to smuggle concepts that would otherwise be too extreme for the American people. Most Americans do not want to ‘destroy’ legal asylum seekers. And referring to this group of people as a ‘flood’ is the sort of thing that was once the domain of white-nationalist manifestos. But tie these things together with an image of Master Chief and a Halo Warthog, and the inconceivable becomes a casual joke,” Brooking said.
Trump’s propagandists are extremely online and tuned to what’s trending on social media. The reason Halo is being used to push violence against immigrants is that Microsoft announced a remake of the original game last week. The bigger news was that, for the first time, the Master Chief would appear on Playstation. In a joke post on X, Gamestop declared this the official end of the console war, a term that refers to the decades long feud between fans of different video game consoles.
The official White House X account retweeted the joke post with an image of Trump as Master Chief. Another White House aligned social media gave Trump credit for ending the console war. Angry Joe, a popular gaming YouTuber, riled up other gamers online by posting “FUCK ICE! And FUCK DONALD TRUMP!” in response to the "Destroy the Flood” meme. The composer of the original games, Marty O’Donnell, reminded everyone that he’s running for Congress and promised to “destroy the flood” if elected. Other people from the original development team told Game File that seeing Master Chief used this way sickened them.
Independent journalist Alyssa Mercante managed to get a response from the White House press team about the Halo memes. “Yet another war ended under President Trump's watch—only one leader is fully committed to giving power to the players, and that leader is Donald J. Trump. That’s why he’s hugely popular with the American people and American Gamers,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai told Mercante in an email.
“It is really not enough to describe the comms teams of the second Trump administration as ‘terminally online.’ The White House just marked the end of the console wars; DHS is posting deep fried Halo memes. We are somewhere else entirely,” Brooking said.
Halo co-creator says ICE’s Halo-themed recruitment ad “makes me sick”
Another Halo maker says ad "ought to offend every Halo fan, regardless of political orientation." ALSO: A developer whose game just launched on Xbox slams Microsoft’s silenceStephen Totilo (Game File)
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The Milwaukee School of Engineering is largely powerless to kick ICE out of a building it wanted to turn into a new academic center, according to audio of a meeting obtained by 404 Media.#ICE
ICE Is Using a University Building as a Deportation Office and the University Says It Can't Do Anything About It
A university in Milwaukee is stuck with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as its tenant after the agency refused to leave a building the university intended to renovate into an architectural and civil engineering classroom building. Instead, the building is being used as an office for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, the main part of ICE performing Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.The situation has created a nightmare for administrators at the Milwaukee School of Engineering and a morally untenable situation for many students. ICE is quite literally running deportation operations out of a university-owned building, and, according to the university, it can’t do anything about it. 404 Media obtained a recording of a meeting between students and university administrators which discussed ICE’s ongoing use of the building.
In 2023, an alum of the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) sold a building at 310 E. Knapp St. to the school for a massive discount, with the intention of the building being renovated and turned into an academic facility. At the time, ICE was a tenant of the building but was in the process of building a new office elsewhere in Milwaukee. Its lease was set to expire in April, but ICE, through the General Services Administration (GSA) which handles real estate for the federal government, unilaterally extended the lease through April of next year and has the option to remain in the building through 2028, the university says. The university says there is nothing it can legally do to evict ICE. Concerned students say the situation is untenable and immoral—the university is now collecting rent directly from the government, and ICE is processing undocumented immigrants from the office.
“Can you see how it might look like MSOE is helping facilitate their mass deportation effort?” a student asked university administrators at a meeting about the building last week, according to audio obtained by 404 Media. “It feels like the federal government’s goals and objectives of mass deportation right now outweigh the academic use of that building for MSOE,” another said.
“We inherited those tenants, we didn’t invite them to be in that building, we inherited that building, their lease, and their timing of their new building being built out,” Seandra Mitchell, MSOE’s VP of Student Affairs and Campus Inclusion said in the audio. “They’re still building that building, so that’s why they’re still there.”
The situation highlights an extreme example of a phenomenon playing out all over the country: While much of the federal government contracts (and is at the moment shut down altogether), ICE is rapidly expanding. This means it is building our new offices and facilities and keeping old ones longer than was originally planned. ICE is seeking significant office space not just in Milwaukee but in more than a dozen other cities.
Kip Kussman, associate vice president of student affairs at MSOE, told students that “the issue on 310 Knapp St. is complex. It’s also tied to a lease, which we have very little information on as a confidential document. I don’t know if we’re going to get you answers that are going to make you satisfied. And I regret that, I wish I could change that. We have minimal control of a complex governmental system and we’re doing our absolute best.”
Last week, the school put out a statement saying that when it acquired the building in 2023, the federal government told it that it intended to vacate the building within several months. “Based on that understanding, MSOE’s long-term plan was to renovate the facility for academic use following the termination of GSA’s tenancy,” the school said in the statement. “However, after the acquisition, the GSA elected to continue its occupancy beyond the original lease term while federal agencies determine their next steps. Under the terms of the inherited lease and federal authority allowing the government to require continued occupancy, MSOE is obligated to accommodate the tenant during this period.”
It added that “Federal law allows the government to continue occupancy in the premises past the current lease term,” and said it has no authority over who is in the building and what it is used for.
ICE’s website lists 310 E. Knapp Street as part of its “Chicago Field Office” and part of its Enforcement and Removal Operations team. The facility has holding cells for people that ICE detains but is not supposed to hold people overnight. An analysis by the Vera Institute of Justice found that on one day in June, 22 people were being held in the Knapp Street office. Also in June, ICE changed its rules about how long people can be held in facilities like the Knapp St. office to extend their possible detention time in these facilities for up to 72 hours (up from 12). A spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union Wisconsin told 404 Media that “It's unclear if they're going to stay there for the rest of their lease until April 2026 because ICE is also converting a building on Milwaukee’s Northwest side to be the new field office,” and that ICE is seeking a large amount of additional office space across the city, including for “law enforcement operations”. “We still don't exactly know what ICE plans to do with that amount of additional office space in these cities on top of their detention and field office spaces,” the spokesperson said.
GSA declined to comment. ICE did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for MSOE told 404 Media that “Under the terms of the inherited lease and federal authority allowing the government to require continued occupancy, MSOE is obligated to accommodate the tenant during this period.”
In 2023, Kendall Bruenig, the MSOE alum who sold the building to the university at a steep discount, said he was looking forward to the building being turned into a place of leaning: “I owe my current success to my degree from MSOE, so I am honored to support the university and help other MSOE grads to start successful careers,” he said.
ICE is expanding its footprint in Milwaukee. Beyond that, details are hard to come by.
The expansion comes as ICE begins to make use of an unprecedented infusion of funds from Congress., Journal Sentinel (Journal Sentinel)
Do you want ‘AI-powered social orbits,’ ‘autonomous recruiting firms,’ and an ‘AI-powered credit card?’ Too bad, you’re getting them anyway.#News #a16z
a16z Is Funding a 'Speedrun' to AI-Generated Hell on Earth
What if your coworkers were AI? What if AI agents, not humans, monitored security camera feeds? What if you had an AI tech recruiter to find motivated candidates, or an entirely autonomous recruiting firm? What if UPS, but AI, or finance, but DeepMind?Does that sound like absolute hell on Earth? Well, too bad, because the giant Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is giving companies up to $1 million each to develop every single one of these ideas as part of its Speedrun program.
Speedrun is an accelerator program startups can apply to in order to receive funding from a16z as well as a “fast‐paced, 12-week startup program that guides founders through every critical stage of their growth,” according to Speedrun’s site. “It kicks off with an orientation to introduce the cohort, then dives into rapid product development—helping founders think through MVP while addressing key topics like customer acquisition and design partnerships.”
The program covers brand building, customer acquisition and launch, fundraising, team building, and more. The selected startups and founders meet each other, and receive the curriculum via workshops and keynote sections from “luminary speakers” such as Zynga founder Mark Pincus, Figma co-founder Dylan Field, a16z’s namesakes Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and others.
Silicon Valley incubators and accelerators are common, but I’ve rarely seen such an unappetizing buffet of bad ideas as Speedrun’s AI-centric 2025 cohort.
Last week, I wrote about Doublespeed, essentially a click farm that sells “synthetic influencers” to astroturf whatever product or service you want across social media, despite it being a clear violation of every social media platform's policy on inauthentic behavior. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
a16z’s Speedrun is also backing:
- Creed: An AI company “rooted in Christian Values” which produces Lenny, a “Bible-based AI buddy who's always got your back with wise words, scripture-inspired guidance, and a listening ear whenever you need it.”
- Zingroll: The “world’s largest Netflix-quality AI streaming platform,” which is another way of saying it’s a Netflix populated exclusively with AI Slop.
- Vega: which is building “AI-powered social orbits.” What does that mean? Not entirely clear, but the company has produced one of the most beautiful Mad Libs paragraphs I’ve ever seen: “We’re building the largest textual data moat on human relationships by gamifying the way people leave notes for each other. For the first time, LLMs can analyze millions of raw, human-written notes at scale and turn them into structured meaning, powering the most annotated social graph ever created.”
- Moona Health: an AI-powered Sleep care app the company says is covered by insurance. “Our AI-powered platform automates insurance claims and scheduling and analyzes sleep data – providing personalized session guidelines to therapists,” Moona says.
- Jooba: “The world’s first autonomous recruiting firm.”
- Margin: “The World’s first AI powered credit card.” Margin says “Customers earn points, with dynamic rewards that adapt to their preferences in real time.”
- First Voyage: A wellness app that gives you AI “mythological pets that turn wellness into play.”
- Axon Capital: billed as “DeepMind for Finance,” Axon says it has “pioneered brain-inspired, low-latency AI for financial markets.”
Part of the strategy for these types of accelerators and Silicon Valley venture capital firms more broadly is to place a lot of bets on a lot of startups with the knowledge that most of them are not going to make it. A million dollars is not a lot of money to a16z, especially when it only needs one of these companies to 100x its investment in order to make the whole endeavor profitable. What makes this Speedrun and the current moment we’re in with generative AI different is that a lot of AI implementations are going to be shoved down our throats before investors realize what AI is and isn’t good for.
Are Doublespeed’s AI-generated social media accounts actually going to convince people to use whatever products they’re promoting? The accounts I’ve seen lead me to believe that the answer is no, but until then, they will continue to flood social media with garbage. Is Jooba going to entirely replace HR professionals and recruiters? I don’t know, but a whole bunch of people who are trying to get a job to pay rent are going to get caught up in a dehumanizing process until we find out.
So the next time you find yourself asking why you're being inundated with AI wherever you go, remember that the answer is that someone with millions of dollars to spare paid for it on the off chance that it will yield a nice return.
Watch an AI-Generated Recruiter Make a Job Interview Even Worse
“Vertical bar pilates."Samantha Cole (404 Media)
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Ministero dell'Istruzione
La riforma della #Maturità diventa legge. Un cambiamento profondo non solo per l’Esame conclusivo del secondo ciclo, ma per l’intero sistema scolastico.Telegram