Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 14/04/2023: More Twitter Losses and H-1B Exploitation



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • OMG! LinuxFirst RISC-V Tablet is For Hardcore Enthusiasts Only

        Fresh from giving us affordable entry to the exciting world of RISC-V with their new single-board computers, Pine64 has announced the PineTab-V, a tablet powered by the FOSS-friendly RISC-V architecture.

        The PineTab-V was announced on April 1 in a post on the Pine64 blog that featured a lot of wordplay and unicorn references (!). Thus some folks (myself included) assumed the whole thing was an April fools’ prank.

        But it’s not.

        The PineTab-V is real and it’s available to order right now.

    • Server

      • OpenSource.com5 reasons virtual machines still matter

        Virtualization used to be a big deal. For a while, it was the primary way to run services in a "sandbox" environment. IT departments used virtual machines by the hundreds. And then containers happened, doing much of what a virtual machine could do with a fraction of the resources required. While container technology made virtual machines seem cumbersome, it didn't make them entirely redundant. In fact, virtualization is as useful today as ever, and here are five reasons why.

        While container technology made virtual machines seem cumbersome, it didn't make them entirely redundant. In fact, virtualization is as useful today as ever. Whether you're…

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Network WorldUsing ncdu to view your disk usage while grasping those TiB, GiB, MiB and KiB file sizes

        The ncdu command provides a very convenient way to review your files and the disk space you're using on your Linux system, but the file sizes may appear a little strange at first.

        The ncdu command provides a fast and very easy-to-use way to see how you are using disk space on your Linux system. It allows you to navigate through your directories and files and review what file content is using up the most disk space.

      • Make Use OfHow to Create a Wireless Hotspot on Linux Using linux-wifi-hotspot

        Wireless hotspots allow you to share your Wi-Fi connection with others without revealing your password. Here's how to create a Wi-Fi hotspot on Linux.

      • Make Use OfHow to Install Krita on Linux

        Want to get started with 2D designing and raster drawing on Linux? Install Krita, a cross-platform and open-source drawing software for Linux.

      • Terence EdenBuilding a new Microserver

        Back in 2011, I bought an HP Proliant Microserver G6 for €£250. Last week I upgraded to... A Proliant G8 for €£270. Nice! Hurrah for Moore's Law!

        Of course, setting it up is a bit of a mare. So here's a tangled mess of notes to hopefully remind me what to do...

      • University of TorontoThe chain of landing web pages that I saw for a phish spam today

        The email was a 'X has shared a file with you' email with a link to a page on what claimed to be a travel company's Sharepoint aka OneNote site (under '<...>-my.sharepoint.com', which you probably aren't going to be able to block). Based on the URL, this may have been a page created by and for a particular user, instead of a corporate page, meaning that just this user had their Sharepoint access compromised. This page said: [...]

      • John GoerzenEasily Accessing All Your Stuff with a Zero-Trust Mesh VPN

        Probably everyone is familiar with a regular VPN. The traditional use case is to connect to a corporate or home network from a remote location, and access services as if you were there.

        But these days, the notion of “corporate network” and “home network” are less based around physical location. For instance, a company may have no particular office at all, may have a number of offices plus a number of people working remotely, and so forth. A home network might have, say, a PVR and file server, while highly portable devices such as laptops, tablets, and phones may want to talk to each other regardless of location. For instance, a family member might be traveling with a laptop, another at a coffee shop, and those two devices might want to communicate, in addition to talking to the devices at home.

    • Games

      • ChrisUpdate On the Sidescrolling Flight Simulator

        A few weeks ago I reached a point on the sidescrolling flight simulator where I can now realistically call it “a game”, even if it’s not as polished as I would have liked it to be. For more information as well as a link to play it, go to https://xkqr.org/flightle

      • GamingOnLinuxThe latest Steam Survey had a huge surge of Simplified Chinese

        After waiting a while to see if Valve issued any corrections, it seems that the latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey for March 2023 is staying as it is, with a huge surge of Simplified Chinese. The last time we saw such a thing, it was an error in the Steam Survey, as it was over-counting cyber cafe customers. This time, maybe not then.

      • GamingOnLinuxLandnama gives a non-violent exploration city-builder roguelike

        Blending features from city builders and dungeon crawling roguelikes, Landnama sounds pretty unusual, especially with the non-violent theme too.

      • DedoimedoSteam, Proton, ArmA 3 works superbly

        I am aiming at weaning myself off Windows by 2025. This is when Windows 10 goes EOL, and I'm not in the mood to use Windows 11, fight ads, use an online account, or any of that nonsense. So Linux is vital for this future plan, but more importantly, I need to be able to play all of my sweet games there! Among the more critical titles is ArmA 3, so as soon as I had my new Slimbook Titan laptop configured, I set about testing.

      • GamingOnLinuxGrounded from Obsidian adds Steam Deck support in v1.2.0

        The survival game Grounded from Obsidian Entertainment and Xbox Game Studios is gearing up to launch version 1.2.0 that's now available to test. With it comes Steam Deck support.

      • GamingOnLinuxMicrosoft experiments with a handheld Windows 11 mode for Steam Deck

        Update 13/04/23, 17:11 UTC: the developer involved is playing it down noting it didn't go anywhere and it's not a recent thing...

      • GamingOnLinuxGE-Proton 7-55 released with an essential fix for Easy Anti-Cheat issues

        GE-Proton version 7-55 was released a few days ago, and it's an essential update for those of you preferring it to the official Valve Proton on Steam Deck and Linux desktop.

      • GamingOnLinuxLIVE A LIVE from Square Enix is Steam Deck Verified ahead of release

        LIVE A LIVE originally released in the 90s for the Super Famicom, and now it's being revived with the same style as OCTOPATH TRAVELER and it's already Steam Deck Verified.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • DebugPointKDE Unveils Arianna, a Modern and Sleek ePub/e-Book Management App

          The renowned international free software community KDE is developing a new ePub reader application, Arianna. The app is built on top of Qt and Kirigami, providing a sleek and modern user interface.

          Arianna serves as both an ePub viewer and a library management app. The application utilizes Baloo, KDE's file indexing and search framework, to find and categorize existing ePub files on the user's device.

          Here are all the details.

        • Niccolò VenerandiKDE Plasma is NOT a Desktop Environment

          What happened at the very early start of Plasma - if I understood it correctly, I wasn’t there - was the idea that Plasma had to be flexible to adapt to different form factors and devices. Even before Plasma Mobile there was a project called Plasma Active, with a very similar goal. So everything in Plasma was thought not as a Desktop Enviroment, but as a way of doing shells for different devices.

          Or, as Aleix Pol said it during his above-mentioned Akademy talk, “Plasma is a UX for a number of devices, designed by us”.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Make Use OfThe 10 Best Linux Distros for Developers

      While Linux might not be the favored operating system for casual users, it’s the go-to choice for most developers and programmers. Linux is a more practical OS explicitly designed with programming and developers in mind.

      There are over 600 Linux distros, so even experienced users may seldom struggle to find their current project's ideal flavor. Linux distributions can vary hugely from one another, even though they are based on the same source.

      If you want to learn more about programming-focused Linux distros, here's a list of the 10 best Linux distros for developers.

    • BSD

      • TalospaceFreeBSD 13.2

        [...] FreeBSD has a longer track record on OpenPOWER and in my cursory estimates is the most commonly installed BSD on modern Power ISA. [...]

    • Red Hat / IBM

      • Red Hat OfficialDISA releases the first Ansible STIG

        As IT environments become more complex, especially as cloud-native technologies, cloud services and traditional hardware all interact to meet evolving business demands, automation remains a key organizational strategy. Automation helps manage and maintain operations at a greater scale, speed and agility. Greater IT complexity also dovetails with requirements for enhanced cybersecurity postures, with threats and vulnerabilities changing on a near daily basis. Automation and IT security are not mutually exclusive, but a guidebook to effective configurations that help keep operations moving smoothly without compromising IT security needs.

        For nearly two decades, Red Hat has been helping both public and private entities adapt to changing IT security requirements and concerns. Red Hat achieves a wide range of cybersecurity validations for our products in global markets and by providing actionable information for organizations to improve their system security footprint.

      • Red Hat OfficialThe next evolution of Red Hat’s Developer options

        Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has a storied history, standing at the intersection of our customers, communities and partners, helping each achieve their goals while answering key end user needs, from enterprise-grade development practices and system security enhancements to a stronger software supply chain and end-to-end support backed by Red Hat’s unique expertise..

        In 2021 we announced no-cost RHEL options for developers, in certain use cases, which include our proactive analytic capability, Red Hat Insights. Since then, we have listened to and learned from individuals and organizations and have evolved our offerings to meet a broader set of needs.

      • Red Hat’s Adam Clater on taking advantage of cloud FinOps

        Adam Clater, chief architect at Red Hat, explores how cloud services are helping agencies retire their legacy IT systems. “Legacy IT systems can be difficult because they’re deeply entrenched in the infrastructure and hard to move out,” he says; however, he explains how some agencies are taking advantage of cloud FinOps to drive financial accountability and accelerate business value.

      • Red Hat OfficialLearn about Confidential Containers [Ed: "Confidential" means outsourced and spied on. The word is being abused to justify the "clown computing" mindset.]
      • OpenSource.comRun Git on a mainframe

        One of the fascinating things I keep encountering in my journey to learn everything I can about the mainframe world is how my expertise in Linux distributed systems and open source tooling carries over into this realm. I recently discovered zigi, an independently developed open source (GPLv3+) Git interface for IBM z/OS ISPF (Interactive System Productivity Facility).

        I had been aware of zigi for some time, but it wasn't until I joined a recent z/OS Open Tools guild call that I could soak in the demo that zigi contributor Lionel B. Dyck gave. That led me to a call with zigi founder Henri Kuiper, who explained that zigi was an answer to a specific pain point of his. That sounds familiar! I could definitely appreciate the story of an open source project born from frustration.

        I need to explain ISPF for you to have a good understanding of what zigi provides.

      • TechTargetIBM's rack mount Z16 mainframe targets edge computing

        IBM's new rack mount Z16 mainframe gives edge locations the ability to process workloads locally, taking the burden off systems running workloads in larger data centers.

      • SJVNCentOS 7's end of life is in sight. Are you ready?

        The clock is ticking for CentOS 7 Linux. While it will get maintenance fixes through June 2024, some sysadmin vendors, such as cPanel, are getting ready to drop support for it.

    • Canonical/Ubuntu Family

      • SJVNCanonical Unveils Landscape 23.03: Streamlining Ubuntu Linux Management

        Like any old, grizzled Unix/Linux administrator, I used to do everything with shell scripts. But, when you're dealing with multiple servers or workstations, you need more. That's where programs such as Red Hat Satellite and Canonical Landscape come in. Now, Landscape 23.03, offers broader CPU architecture compatibility and improved Ubuntu Linux management and monitoring capabilities.

        Landscape 23.03 manages all Ubuntu versions and derivatives from Ubuntu 16.04 Long Term Support (LTS) onwards, as well as Debian Bullseye. The latest version simplifies the launch and configuration of Landscape, with out-of-the-box support now included in Ubuntu Pro, Canonical's comprehensive security and compliance subscription.

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • Jeff GeerlingI built a special PCIe card to test GPUs on the Pi

        Last year I floated the idea of a custom PCB to 'plug a computer into a graphics card' to Mirek. He didn't immediately say 'no', so I started pursuing the idea, coming up with this quite basic post-it note illustration: [...]

        Miraculously, through a series of emails, we refined that concept into a working PCB design. Mirek had it printed by JLCPCB, soldered on a bunch of SMD components, and shipped the PCBs (along with some metal brackets he had his friend Adam fabricate) by February.

      • ArduinoEasily create your own robotic camera operator

        Because this pans and tilts, it needs two motors. Those are stepper motors controlled by an Arduino Nano Every board through two TMC2208 stepper motor driver modules. A joystick on the remote lets the user pan or tilt, while an LCD provides information. The remote connects to the main unit via an Ethernet cable. The enclosures and most of the mechanical parts are 3D-printable, but this project does require some hardware like pulleys, bearings, and aluminum tube.

      • Aigars MahinovsSmart Shelly with Home Assistant

        So I've been searching for a holy grail: combination of smart (or smartified) light switches on the walls and smart light bulbs (with colors and dimming) that works with automations when Home Assistant is online and also just works directly to power lights on and off when Home Assistant is offline.

        And I think I have found a solution that will be acceptable for me. The solution involves taking a normal dumb light installation, putting in smart light bulbs (any that Home Assistant can manage) and then wiring in a Shelly next to an existing dumb wall switch. For design consistency sake it would be good if the wall switch is of impulse type (so only connecting the connectors when the button is being pressed, like a doorbell button), but the setup should also work for normal toggle wall switches with minimal changes. Some settings on the Shelly and a custom Shelly script will take care of offline functionality. Note: Gen1 Shelly devices do not have scripting capabilities, you need a Gen2 device to do this, like the linked Shelly Plus.

      • David RosenthalCompute In Storage

        Tobias Mann's Los Alamos Taps Seagate To Put Compute On Spinning Rust describes progress in the concept of computational storage. I first discussed this in my 2010 JCDL keynote, based on 2009's FAWN, the Fast Array of Wimpy Nodes by David Anderson et al from Carnegie-Mellon. Their work started from the observation that moving data from storage to memory for processing by a CPU takes time and energy, and the faster you do it the more energy it takes. So the less of it you do, the better. Below the fold I start from FAWN and end up with the work under way at Los Alamos.

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Terence EdenNextCloud Client Command Line

      I have a headless server - one without a GUI - which I use as a NextCloud client. My laptop, phone, tablet, and server all sync with a cloud-based NextCloud instance.

    • University of TorontoOpenSSH's (signed) certificates are not TLS X.509 certificates

      Recently I wrote about learning about the extra hazards of mutual TLS in web server programs, where the extra hazard is that your Apache or other web server program must now parse TLS X.509 certificates and understand ASN.1 encoding and so on, which is a lot of code that it probably doesn't currently run. When writing that entry, it occurred to me to wonder if (Open)SSH had the same problem, since OpenSSH supports user authentication through signed certificates (instead of personal keypairs). It turns out that the answer is no.

    • EarthlyCustomizing the Django Admin

      This tutorial will focus on customizing the Django Admin site. You will create a simple SocialApp to work with. The SocialApp app will have two models, the Author model, and the Post model. The Author model will have a first and last name field, as well as an image field. The Post model will include the author, the content posted, and the date it was created.

    • Events

      • OpenSUSEopenSUSE.Asia Summit 2023: Call for Host

        Last offline opensuse Asia Summit is 2019 held at Information Technology Department, Faculty of Engineering, Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia, 3 years ago.

    • Web Browsers/Web Servers

      • Mozilla

        • MozillaA human rights activist on finding joy on the internet

          Here at Mozilla, we are the first to admit the internet isn’t perfect, but we are also quick to point out that the internet is pretty darn magical. The internet opens up doors and opportunities, allows for people to connect with others, and lets everyone find where they belong — their corners of the internet. We all have an internet story worth sharing. In My Corner Of The Internet, we talk with people about the online spaces they can’t get enough of, what we should save in Pocket to read later, and what sites and forums shaped them.

    • Education

      • Sumana HarihareswaraYour First PyCon, But Not Your First Convention

        Trey Hunner's guide on going to your first PyCon is from 2018, and has a lot of good advice! Many items in it are more helpful if this will also be your first time going to an industry conference at all. So here's some PyCon US-specific and 2023-specific stuff that assumes you have other cons to compare it to: [...]

      • Raspberry PiHow anthropomorphism hinders AI education

        Our approach to describing AI and machine learning in AI education resources for young people.

    • Programming/Development

      • RlangWhy should I use R: The Excel R plotting comparison: Part 2

        Why create plots in R and not Excel? To a programmer this may seem like a very obvious question, but it is still a common question asked by Excel users — If you have a data set, could you select it, hit a couple of buttons and generate plots? This is one of the trickiest questions to answer, especially if you have limited Excel experience as many new age data scientists do. Hopefully, some of the reasons below will encourage you to make the switch from Excel to R.

      • Brad TauntLaunching Sublime Text with dmenu on Alpine Linux

        Everyone seems to be running some version of VSCode as their main editor these days. But not me. I find VSCode to be too bloated for my needs - not to mention being built on top of electron instead of native code. I prefer running programs that don't try to devour all of my machine's available memory or spike my CPU.

      • Shell/Bash/Zsh/Ksh

        • [Old] Reilly WoodWhy Nushell?

          I work on a command-line shell called Nushell (Nu for short) with some internet friends, and I think it’s pretty cool. To convince you that it’s cool (or at least worth a try), here’s a whirlwind tour.

  • Leftovers

    • Science

      • RlangrOpenSci Champions Program Teams: Meet Pao Corrales and Adam Sparks

        We designed the rOpenSci Champions Program with a mentorship aspect. Mentoring plays a significant role in the growth and development of both mentors and mentees alike. In our program, each Champion has a mentor who accompanies them during their training and development of their project.

        In this series of blog posts, we introduce you to the ten teams of this first cohort and what they will be working on in the program.

        First, meet Paola Corrales from Argentina and Adam Sparks from Australia!

      • Arjen WiersmaStarting my Master Thesis

        To create a visualization of source code in the form of a diagram, a domain-specific language (DSL) is required to describe the visualization. A DSL is a programming language designed to solve problems in a specific domain or context. In this case, a DSL would be used to describe the structure and layout of the visualization of the source code.

        Currently, there is no existing DSL that can be used to describe the visualization of source code. Therefore, as part of the master’s thesis, the focus will be on creating a context-free grammar (CFG) capable of generating the DSL required for the visualization. The CFG will define the syntax and structure of the language, including the rules and patterns used to create the visual representation of the code.

        Once the CFG is created, the DSL can be generated and used to create the visualization of the source code in the form of a diagram. This visualization will enable users to reason about their code in a high-level manner, helping to identify and understand complex code structures and relationships.

    • Education

      • The NationChicago’s Rich Organizing Tradition Paid Off, Delivering Victory for Brandon Johnson

        Brandon Johnson’s victory in the Chicago mayoral race last week is a major victory for the education justice movement, the 21st-century Black freedom movement, and the left in general. Johnson is a former teacher and Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) leader, a protégé of a legendary union president, the late Karen Lewis. One of 10 children from a Black working-class family that struggled to make ends meet, Johnson comes out of social movements more than from the Democratic Party. And he brought movement organizing, movement demands, and trusted movement allies into his mayoral race with him.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • Democracy NowThe Long Haul: Millions with COVID Face Chronic Illness as Biden Declares End to National Emergency

        President Biden has declared an end to the COVID-19 national emergency, but people living with long COVID say the pandemic is far from over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found nearly one in five people infected with COVID-19 go on to experience symptoms of long COVID. We speak to science writer Ryan Prior about the movement to expand research and resources for those with long COVID, and his own experience living with the chronic illness. Prior is the author of The Long Haul and writes the “Patient Revolution” for Psychology Today.

    • Proprietary

      • India TimesTech firms continue to exploit H-1B visa programme amid layoffs: Study

        A lot of tech and outsourcing companies are exploiting the highly-skilled H-1B visa program by hiring individuals who were laid off by bigger giants like Meta, Amazon, Microsoft etc.

        13 of the top 30 H-1B visa employers were outsourcing firms that underpay migrant workers and offshore US jobs to countries where labor costs are much lower. "Most employers hire H-1B workers because they can be underpaid and are de facto indentured to the employer," the EPI research said.

      • What is Discord, the chatting app tied to classified leaks?

        The chatting app Discord, which is one of the most popular ways gamers communicate online, finds itself at the center of an investigation into the leak of classified documents about the war in Ukraine.

        The investigation is unfolding as Discord makes an ambitious push to recruit more users and expand the way they use the versatile app.

        Discord said it is cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation of the leak, which is believed to have started on the site. A Massachusetts Air National Guard member reportedly posted on Discord for years about guns, games, favorite memes and, according to some who chatted with him, closely guarded U.S. secrets.

      • BloombergPBS Joins NPR in Quitting Twitter Over State-Backed Label

        The Public Broadcasting Service has followed National Public Radio in quitting Twitter after the social media network labeled both organizations as government-backed media.

        “PBS stopped tweeting from our account when we learned of the change and we have no plans to resume at this time,” PBS spokesman Jason Phelps said in an email. “We are continuing to monitor the ever-changing situation closely.”

      • ScheerpostUS Media Denounce Twitter’s ‘State Media’ Label—When It Affects NPR

        Though it’s right to impugn the whims of Elon Musk, the outrage against Twitter’s labeling policy is highly selective.

      • David RevoyGoodbye Blue Bird.

        It's also because I had a couple days ago a hard time to reread my words on this article I published last year: "How proprietary social-medias are shaping the future of Pepper&Carrot". I write on this blog-post my efforts to adapt and comply to this system, trying to get my piece of the cake by guessing the secrets rules of an algorythm that deboost or boost contents. Changing my format, my art style, anything to get the grace of a bit of attention of an algorythm...

        It's never have been in my nature to conform into such a submissive position and it hurts me to read it. It feels like I was ask to sit up and beg to get my sugar, and I was in the process. I rebelled stronger against situations for fewer reasons in the past. That's why I'm not painting with proprietary software, that's why I'm not on proprietary operating system, that's why I don't sign usual contract with my publishers, that's why I'm using the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license... etc...

    • Security

      • TechTargetMicrosoft mends Windows zero-day on April Patch Tuesday [Ed: The latest bug doors are ready to be installed on 'your' machine, even against your will]

        What's old is new again as multiple security updates from the past made a comeback this month to push the total number of vulnerabilities addressed to 102.

      • TechTargetHow to use the John the Ripper password cracker

        Red teams and blue teams use password cracking to gain access to systems and to detect weak user passwords or test defenses during red team-blue team exercises.

        Password crackers can be online or offline. Online password crackers, such as Hydra, are used when brute-forcing online network protocols and HTML forms. Situations where online brute forcing might be impractical include a remote system that limits the rate of sign-in attempts or a system that locks users out indefinitely after a predefined number of invalid login attempts.

      • What Is an Application Level Gateway? Guide to Proxy Firewalls

        Application-level gateways, also known as proxy firewalls, are a type of network security solution that takes action on behalf of the apps and programs they’re set to monitor in a network. They’re primarily responsible for filtering messages and exchanging data flow at the application layer.

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Environment

      • Energy/Transportation

        • DeSmogWorld’s Biggest Banks Poured $673 Billion Into Fossil Fuels Last Year

          While the window for avoiding the most catastrophic consequences of climate change narrows, the global banking sector continues to funnel huge sums each year into fossil fuels, finds a new report. Last year alone, the 60 largest banks financed fossil fuels to the tune of $673 billion.

          That’s according to a new analysis released today by Rainforest Action Network and partner organizations. The latest Banking on Climate Chaos report, which annually examines global fossil fuel financing from major commercial and investor banks, reveals the extent to which banks are backing various categories of fossil fuels and their expansion.€ 

        • DeSmog‘Bombshell’ 1989 Shell Memo Features in New Court Filing Alleging Climate Deception

          In October 1989, Shell researchers wrote a confidential report warning that climate-fuelled migration could swamp borders in the United States, Soviet Union, Europe, and Australia. “Conflict would abound,” the document said. “Civilisation could prove a fragile thing.”€ 

        • The NationThe First Great Action Movie About Climate Justice?

          Few recent books on the climate movement have so flustered audiences like Andreas Malm’s How to Blow Up a Pipeline. Since its publication in 2021, the left commentariat has spilled much ink weighing the potential benefits and costs of Malm’s call to sabotage fossil-fuel infrastructure because—to echo the IPCC’s bleak annual reports on climate change—we’re running out of time. But in other corners of opinion, a familiar blend of fascination and disdain emerged. “The problem with violence,” The New York Times noted in its initial review, “is that ultimately it’s impossible to control.” David Remnick of The New Yorker fretted that the property damage might “backfire and damage the movement.” Later, on her SiriusXM talk show, Megyn Kelly smirked at the book’s title and said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”1

        • Common DreamsOver 500 Creative Agencies Have Now Pledged Not to Work for Fossil Fuel Industry

          Clean Creatives, the campaign for public relations and advertising professionals who want to stop fueling the climate crisis, on Thursday announced a major milestone: 500 agencies worldwide have "committed to refusing work with fossil fuel polluters."

      • Overpopulation

    • Finance

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

    • Censorship/Free Speech

      • Michael GeistGovernment Departments Pressure Social Media Sites to Censor News Links, Mean Tweets

        The risks associated with the government’s online harms (or online safety) plans is not limited to Canadian Heritage’s credibility gap, which as I’ve recounted has included omitting key information in its public reports on consultations and shocking efforts to exclude contrary voices altogether. A new report, based on the government’s response to a Parliamentary Written Question from Conservative MP Dean Allison (Sessional Paper No. 8555-441-1219) raises new concerns about efforts to censor social media. The written question asked the government for “requests made by the government to social media companies to take down, edit, ban or change in any other way social media content, posts or accounts since January 1, 2020.”

        The resulting report is stunning as government departments have in fact pressured the social media companies to remove news links and a range of lawful content including tweets that are said to contain “offensive language” or an “offensive reply.” The use of government power to censor social media posts or news links is exceptionally dangerous and crystallizes the fears of regulatory powers without the necessary due process and oversight that could lead to censorship of lawful content online.

      • ScheerpostLee Fang: MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan Gets Basic Facts Wrong on DHS Content Moderation Partnership

        Exclusive Twitter Files emails and publicly available documents show Mehdi Hasan's accusation is false.

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

      • The NationThe Brief Death and Miraculous Resurrection of the Texas Observer

        I first learned how to be a radical, muckraking truth-teller as an intern at The Nation more years ago than I want to admit. Publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel and former Executive Editor Richard Kim nurtured my passion to become the journalist I am today, and I’ll always be grateful.

      • Craig MurrayBearing Witness for Julian

        I was standing on the street in the rain, speaking to a few dozen people, without a sound system. Remarkably this is captured brilliantly just on an inexpensive phone camera, and my words have already reached several thousand.

      • ScheerpostPoliticians Around the World Demand US Drop Charges Against Assange

        Elected politicians in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and the United Kingdom signed on to letters to United States Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding that the Justice Department drop the charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. A letter of opposition signed by four members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including […]

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • Patrick BreyerEU Parliament’s Research Service confirms: Chat control violates fundamental rights

        I think negotiators understand that if we give in to the impulse and best intentions to do everything possible, but fail to respect the legal limits imposed by fundamental rights, detection provisions will be struck down by the Court of Justice altogether, and we’ll be left with nothing, and fail to achieve anything to better protect children and victims. This disaster must be avoided at all cost. No one is helping children with a regulation that will inevitably fail before the European Court of Justice.

        What we really need instead of untargeted chat control and identification obligations for age verification is obliging law enforcement agencies to have known exploitation material removed from the internet, as well as Europe-wide standards for effective prevention measures, victim support and counselling, and for effective criminal investigations.”

      • Site36Activists post police portraits on the internet, Los Angeles now wants them back

        Camacho is known as a journalist and filmmaker critical of the police and has already uncovered several police scandals. His work is based, among other things, on portrait photos obtained from previous applications under the Public Records Act.

      • Common DreamsTrump-Appointed Appeals Court Judges Allow Abortion Pill Limits to Take Effect

        Two Trump appointees on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision late Wednesday allowing parts of a Texas judge's widely denounced abortion pill ruling to take effect, a move that will restrict access to mifepristone as the case proceeds.

    • Monopolies

      • Common DreamsKoch Network Spending Big to Torpedo Big Tech Anti-Trust Reforms

        In the past couple of months, Americans have suffered disastrous consequences from deregulation initiated during the Trump administration: in transit, the East Palestine derailment threatening the lives and livelihoods of thousands; in banking, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank that are still roiling financial markets.

      • Trademarks

      • Copyrights

        • Soylent NewsBad News: Copyright Industry Attacks on the Internet’s Plumbing are Increasing – and Succeeding

          Now an Italian court has confirmed a previous ruling that Cloudflare must block certain online sites accused of making available unauthorised copies of material. That's unfortunate, since taken with the German court rulings it is likely to encourage the copyright industry to widen its attack on the Internet's plumbing, regardless of the wider harm this is likely to cause.

        • Torrent FreakCopyright Claims Board Dismisses 'Piracy' Case Against Cloudflare

          The Copyright Claims Board has dismissed a complaint filed by popular reading app AnyStories against Cloudflare. The app's Singaporean parent company condemned the American CDN provider for sharing inaccurate contact information regarding an alleged pirate site. While this may be true, it's not a proper copyright infringement claim, the board concludes.

        • Torrent FreakAnti-Piracy "Mega-Firewall" Could Render Italian ISPs Liable For Over-Blocking

          Italy's plan to introduce an anti-piracy "mega-firewall" is causing alarm among ISPs. Alongside concerns that the system introduces a single "point of failure" that could undermine the security of national networks, ISPs believe they could be held liable when over-blocking enters the equation. More generally, consumers could end up paying for blocking, rather than the rightsholders set to benefit from it.

        • HackadayPrison TV Gets Simple Speaker Mod

          American prisons are strict about television use. Typically they’re only to be used with headphones, and their enclosures need to be transparent so they can’t be used to smuggle goods. ClearTech makes TVs that meet these specifications, and when [Steve Pietras] got his hands on just such a unit, he set about modding it for use in the free world.

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Technical

      • Programming/Servers

        • Bypassing Indonesia's Internet Censorship

          Short post. I've traveled to Indonesia for a few weeks and I've found sites like Reddit is blocked. Although I come prepared with my own WireGuard VPN to bypass it. It's still annoyning. Mostly because the added latency.

        • Logout goes LEET

          Amazing. I reboot on a regular basis and never hit those kinds of uptimes.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



Recent Techrights' Posts

'Dark Patterns' or a Trap at the European Patent Office (EPO)
insincere if not malicious E-mail from the EPO's dictators
There's an Abundance of Articles About the New Release of Kali Linux, But This One is a Fake
It can add nothing except casual misinformation (fed back into the model to reinforce lies)
 
Links 20/12/2024: Security Patches, Openwashing by Open Source Initiative, Prison Sentence for Bitcoin Charlatan and Fraud
Links for the day
Another Terrible Month for Microsoft in Web Servers
Consistent downward curve
LLM Slop Disguised as Journalism: The Latest Threat to the Web
A lot of it is to do with proprietary GitHub, i.e. Microsoft
Gemini Links 20/12/2024: Regulation and Implementing Graphics
Links for the day
Links 20/12/2024: Windows Breaks Itself, Mass Layoffs Coming to Google Again (Big Wave)
Links for the day
Microsoft: "Upgrade" to Vista 11 Today, We'll Brick Your Audio and You Cannot Prevent This
Windows Update is obligatory, so...
The Unspeakable National Security Threat: Plasticwares as the New Industrial Standard
Made to last or made to be as cheap as possible? Meritocracy or industrial rat races are everywhere now.
Microsoft's All-Time Lows in Macao and Hong Kong
Microsoft is having a hard time in China, not only for political reasons
[Meme] "It Was Like a Nuclear Winter"
This won't happen again, will it?
If You Know That Hey Hi (AI) is Hype, Then Stop Participating in It
bogus narrative of "Hey Hi (AI) arms race" and "era/age of Hey Hi" and "Hey Hi Revolution"
Bangladesh (Population Close to 200 Million) Sees Highest GNU/Linux Adoption Levels Ever
Microsoft barely has a grip on this country. It used to.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, December 19, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, December 19, 2024
Gemini Links 19/12/2024: Fast Year Passes and Advent of Code Ongoing
Links for the day
Twitter is Going to Fall Out of Top 100 Domains as Clownflare (DNS MitM) Sees It
evidence of Twitter's (X's) collapse
[Meme] Making Choices at the EPO
Decisions, decisions...
Large and Significant Error Correction in South America?
Windows now has less than half what Android achieved in terms of "market share"
IBM's Leadership Ruining Lives of People Who Thought Working for IBM Would be OK
Nobody gets fire-lined for buying IBM?
The United States' Authorities Ought to Become Enforcers of the General Public License (GPL) for National Security's Sake
US federal agencies ought to pursue availability of code and GPL compliance (copyleft), not bans
The Problem of Microsoft Security Problems is Microsoft (the Solution is to Quit Microsoft) and "Salt Typhoon" Coverage Must Name CALEA Back Doors
Name the holes, not those who exploit them.
A "Year of Efficiency"
No, we don't mean layoffs
Links 19/12/2024: Astronaut Record and Observer Absorbed
Links for the day
Links 19/12/2024: Seven Dirty Words and Isle Release v0.0.3 (Alpha)
Links for the day
Links 19/12/2024: Nurses Besieged by "Apps", More Harms of Social Control Media Illuminated
Links for the day
15 Countries Where Yandex is Already Seen to be Bigger Than Microsoft (in Search)
Georgia, Syrian Arab Republic, Cyprus, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Belarus, Turkey, and Russia
Links 19/12/2024: Magnitude 7.3 Earthquake and Privacy Camp
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/12/2024: Port Of Miami Explosion, TurboQOA, Gnus
Links for the day
Fake Articles About 'Linux'
Dated yesterday
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, December 18, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, December 18, 2024
FSF Has Made It Halfway to Its Target (Funding Goal) a Week Before Christmas Day
$400,000 definitely seems reachable now, especially if they extend the "deadline"
[Meme] The Master Churnalist
Speaking of press releases being passed off as "journalism"
Spamnil's TFiR: Still Pretending Press Releases Are 'Articles' (TFiR 'Originals' as Plagiarism or Fluff)
Same as last year
Links 18/12/2024: Zakir Hussain Dies, TuneIn Layoffs
Links for the day
Links 18/12/2024: Karate Love and Advent of Code
Links for the day
Windows (or Microsoft) Has Become the "One Percent" (Market Share) in Chad
How long before it falls below 1%?
Arvind Krishna, IBM's CEO, Will Eventually Suck Up to Donald Trump Like His Predecessor Did or the Watson Family Did With Adolf Hitler
Literally Hitler
Being a Geek Need Not Mean Being Sedentary
"In the past 18 months," Berkholz writes, "I’ve lost 75 pounds and gone from completely sedentary to fit, while minimizing the effort to do so (but needing a whole lot of persistence and grit)."
GAFAM Kissing the Ring of the Mafia Don
"resistance" to dictatorship and defenders of democracy?
Slop Spaghetti From the Chef, Second Time Today
Fresh slop ready out the oven!
IBM - Like Microsoft - Lies About the Number of People It's Laying Off (Several Tens of Thousands, Not Counting R.T.O. "Silent" Layoffs and Contractors/Perma-Temps)
How many waves of silent layoffs have we seen so far at IBM this year?
Links 18/12/2024: EU Launches Probe Into TikTok (At Last!)
Links for the day
Links 18/12/2024: Doha/Qatar Trafficking, Bloat Comfort Zone, and Advent of Code 2024
Links for the day
Saving What's Left of Decent and Independent Journalism on the Web
We increasingly (over time) try to make local copies (hosted on our server) of important documents; it's hard to rely on third parties
[Meme] Microsoft's Latest Marketing Pitch
"Stop Being Poor; buy a new PC with TPMs"
In South Africa, a Very Large Nation, Web Developers Can Already Ignore Microsoft Browsers (Edge Measured Below 3% in 55 Nations)
The dumb assumption you must naively test with Microsoft browsers is no longer applicable in a lot of places
Open Source Initiative (OSI) is the Voice of Bill Gates and Satya Nadella
Not hard to see what they've done with the money
Microsoft Boasts That Its (Microsoft-Sponsored) "Open Source AI" Propaganda Got Cited in Media (That's Just What the Money Did)
This is a grotesque openwashing campaign
In Many Places Around the World, Perhaps as Expected, Yandex is Nearly Bigger Than Microsoft (Like in Several African Countries)
Microsoft may soon fall to "third place" in search
Keeping Productive This Christmas
We've (pre)paid for hosting till almost January 2026 and fully back on the saddle
IBM and Canonical Leave Money on the Table Because Microsoft Pays Them Not to Compete and Instead Market Windows, WSL, Microsoft 'Clown Computing', and TPMs
Where are the regulators?
Other Editors Who Agree "Hey Hi" (AI) is Just Hype But Won't Say So Publicly as It Might Upset Key Sponsors
Some media would gladly participate in a scam to make money
Brian Fagioli's Latest "Linux" Article Appears to be Fake
Another form of plagiarism/ripoff using bots?
IBM (and Red Hat) is a Patent Troll, Still Leveraging Software Patents to Extract Money Out of Other Companies by Suing Them
Basically, when it comes to patents, IBM is demonstrably part of the problem, not the solution
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 17, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 17, 2024