Links 04/01/2025: Social Control Media Deemed Very Unhealthy, Nick Clegg Leaves Zuckerberg's Influence Operations
Contents
- Leftovers
- Applications
- Science
- Career/Education
- Hardware
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
- Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Security
- Defence/Aggression
- Transparency/Investigative Reporting
- Environment
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
- Censorship/Free Speech
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
- Civil Rights/Policing
- Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
- Digital Restrictions (DRM) Monopolies/Monopsonies
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Leftovers
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Chris O'Donnnell ☛ Revisiting my Music Collection
There are 293 top level folders in my Music folder on my desktop PC. That represents 293 different artists. Many of them have not been played in years. Over the course of however many months this takes, or until I get distracted and completely forget about this exercise (the more likely outcome), I'm going to revisit these lost gems to determine if they should be getting more love from my MP3 player, or if they are being ignored for good reason.
One issue I'm not sure about is how to organize this effort. I do not want to do one artist per post, as that'll create too many individual posts. I could just edit this post and change the date, which I think will put it back in the RSS feed as new. Would that be annoying?
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John J Hoare ☛ While We Have Still Got Some Insanity Left
Website stats are funny old things. For a start, it’s become deeply unfashionable to actually care about them. “Write for yourself, not for others”, people cry, myself included. This is, on the face of it, an entirely reasonable attitude… but I have to admit that these days, I really want people to read my stuff. So much of my writing relies on other people helping me with my research, and the more people who read my work, the better and more widespread that research gets.
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Tracy Durnell ☛ Questioning collections: the emotional weight of uncollecting (Part 2)
In America we have a love-hate relationship with our stuff. We covet new stuff even as we discard the old. I’ve recognized this year just how much cruft I’ve accumulated in the past decade in this house. There’s an inertia to ownership — getting rid of stuff can be a lot of emotional and physical labor (even giving stuff away!). I want to learn how to let go of possessions better, but the emotional attachment can be hard to break.
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The Scotsman ☛ Donald Trump to be sentenced in hush money case next week
Judge Juan M Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial, signalled in a written decision that he would sentence the former and future president to what is known as a conditional discharge, in which a case gets dismissed if a defendant avoids re-arrest.
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Rolling Stone ☛ Neil Young Reverses Himself, Agrees to Headline Glastonbury
“Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival,” Young wrote on the Neil Young Archives, “which I have always loved. Happily, the festival is back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see there there!”
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The Independent UK ☛ Neil Young to play Glastonbury 2025 after singer backtracks on festival criticism
Young, 79, had accused Glastonbury of being under the “corporate control” of the broadcaster – but has now said in a statement: “Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury Festival, which I always have loved. Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!”
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The Guardian UK ☛ Neil Young confirms he will headline Glastonbury after ‘error in information’ prompted him to pull out
Neil Young has confirmed that he will headline this year’s Glastonbury festival, clarifying on his blog that he had received “an error in information” that had initially prompted him to pull out.
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Variety ☛ Neil Young Will Play Glastonbury, Blames 'Error in Information'
Neil Young has walked back his decision to boycott this year’s Glastonbury Festival.
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The Scotsman ☛ Neil Young turns down Glastonbury Festival due to BBC's 'corporate control'
The Canadian-born singer-songwriter, 79, who headlined the festival in 2009, said he and his band were told to "do a lot of things" they were not interested in, in a post to his website.
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Applications
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Hackaday ☛ The Ultimate Distraction Free Writing Environment
The art of writing has become a cluttered one to follow, typically these days through a graphical word processor. There may be a virtual page in front of you, but it’s encumbered by much UI annoyance. To combat this a variety of distraction free software and appliances have been created over the years.
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Science
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Science Alert ☛ Scientists Trace Fast Radio Burst to Surprise Source For First Time
Mind blowing.
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Science Alert ☛ US Is Dealing With Troubling Surge in Norovirus Cases, CDC Reports
Here's how to protect yourself from 'stomach flu'.
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Science Alert ☛ Hundreds of Dinosaur Footprints Unearthed in Record UK Discovery
Surreal.
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Science Alert ☛ Massive Space Debris Crash-Lands in Kenyan Village
Weighing over 1,000 pounds.
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Science Alert ☛ Massive 'Grand Design' Spiral Galaxy Found Just a Billion Years After Big Bang
It's truly incredible.
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Science Alert ☛ Microplastics Suspected to Cause Fertility, Gut, And Lung Issues, Warns New Review
We need clinical studies.
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Science Alert ☛ An Expert Explains Why Some People's Hair And Nails Grow Faster
Not everything you hear is true.
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Science Alert ☛ New Theory Solves Paradox of Schrödinger's Cat by Claiming We're in a Multiverse
Not so confusing after all?
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Omicron Limited ☛ First medieval female burial with weapons discovered in Hungary
Certain physical activities, if repeated on a daily basis, may lead to changes in bone morphology. This includes practicing with weapons or horse riding. Additionally, warriors are often likely to experience physical trauma due to warfare or other conflict. However, it is important to consider these changes may also result from a non-warrior lifestyle.
Therefore, it is prudent not to jump to conclusions simply because one finds weapons within a burial. Multiple lines of evidence are needed to substantiate these claims.
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[Old] Claude Heiland-Allen ☛ Deep zoom theory and practice :: mathr
The complex beauty of the world's most famous fractal, the Mandelbrot set, emerges from the repeated iteration of a simple formula:
\[z \to z^2 + c\]
Zooming into the intricate boundary of the shape reveals ever more detail, but one needs higher precision numbers and higher iteration counts as you go deeper. The computational cost rises quickly with the classical rendering algorithms which use high precision numbers for each pixel.
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Wired ☛ How to Watch the Spectacular Quadrantids Meteor Shower Tonight
The first shower of the year is the Quadrantids, which peaks overnight on January 2–3 but will be visible until mid-January. The Quadrantids is just one of nine major meteor showers that will grace skies in 2025, and details of when they will appear in the northern hemisphere are listed below—so mark your calendar for these.
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Wired ☛ Transforming the Moon Into Humanity’s First Space Hub
Supporting Artemis’ mission is the Lunar Gateway, a space station that will orbit the moon and serve as a key logistics hub for missions to the lunar surface. In 2025, Nasa will make significant progress on the Gateway by launching and assembling its first modules, including those that will provide power, propulsion, and living quarters for astronauts. The Gateway will be crucial for making long-term lunar exploration possible.
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Career/Education
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Stephen Kell ☛ Rambles around computer science
I've found myself using “serious” as a mental shorthand for what I recognise as “things done right” in an academic department, which in my case means computer science (CS) departments. I thought it would be interesting to make a list of these things, so here it is. They are somewhat subjective. Also, they are a function not only of organisational maturity and wisdom, but also of wealth and privilege.
My current and past departments' achievement of them has been patchy. Failing at some selection of the below is not a terrible indictment of a department. But failing at many or most would be a bad sign, to my mind.
There is pretty wide variation in seriousness from one department to another. Of the various departments in which I've worked, the Computer Laboratory in Cambridge (and I use that version of its name deliberately) is the most serious. I could, perhaps validly, be accused of over-fitting my ideals to it. However, it definitely doesn't manage all of the following.
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Ness Labs ☛ A Year of Curiosity - Ness Labs
Recent research shows that curiosity does more than help us learn – it makes us better at solving problems, connecting with others, and adapting to change. It suggests that nurturing your curiosity might be one of the most effective investments you can make in yourself.
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CS Monitor ☛ Why does Trump want to dismantle the Department of Education?
The Title I grant program, which helps schools serve children from low-income households, is one of the most recognizable examples. Schools use that money to bridge achievement gaps through initiatives such as extended school days, tutoring programs, and mental health support services. “Those extra dollars are crucial for districts of every political stripe – red or blue or purple,” Mr. Kim says. “It can’t be stressed enough how it’s really a backstop against the effects of poverty and other types of disadvantage.”
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Hardware
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Hackaday ☛ 555 Timers Bring Christmas Charm To Miniature Village
The miniature Christmas village is a tradition in many families — a tiny idyllic world filled happy people, shops, and of course, snow. It’s common to see various miniature buildings for sale around the holidays just for this purpose, and since LEDs are small and cheap, they’ll almost always have some switch on the bottom to light up the windows.
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Hackaday ☛ Dress Up Your 3D Prints With Toner-Transfer Labels
We’ve always found the various methods for adding text and graphics to 3D prints somewhat underwhelming. Embossed or debossed characters are fuzzy, at best, and multi-color printers always seem to bleed one color into the next. Still, the need for labels and logos is common enough that it’s worth exploring other methods, such as this easy toner transfer trick.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-23 [Older] Allulose: A natural sweetener that lowers glucose levels?
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-12-26 [Older] Cats Can Get Sick With Bird Flu. Here's How to Protect Them
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The Hill ☛ Judge orders Trump sentenced on Jan. 10, signals no punishment for conviction
Judge Juan Merchan signaled he is inclined to impose no punishment for Trump’s 34-count felony conviction, given concerns about his immunity from criminal prosecution upon taking the oath of office.
Merchan said an unconditional discharge “appears to be the most viable solution” and he would allow Trump to appear virtually.
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Rlang ☛ Revisiting depression incidence by county and vote for Trump by @ellis2013nz
Just before Christmas I blogged about the positive correlation between depression incidence in US counties and their vote for Trump in the 2024 presidential election. In addition to my casual interest in the topic, I used it as a case study in multilevel modelling while adjusting for spatial correlation. I explicitly said that I didn’t think it likely that the depression-vote relationship was a causal link; I suspected that most likely, some underlying variable that caused depression was also related to voting behaviour.
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The Age AU ☛ Jet-skis are still a danger at Melbourne’s beaches
The current marine laws in the bay dictate that jet-skis must operate at least 200 metres out from the shoreline, and while travelling through the 200-metre zone they must slow to five knots. Jet-skis can be 300 horsepower and reach speeds of 100km/h.
But as the weather heats up, hair-raising videos are circulating on social media of recent close encounters between swimmers and jet-ski users close to shore.
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The Guardian UK ☛ As a child psychiatrist, I see what smartphones are doing to kids’ mental health – and it’s terrifying
Children’s self-esteem and self-image is also at an all-time low, and levels of depression and suicidal thoughts have never been higher. It is no secret among mental health professionals that there is a direct link between smartphone use and real-world harms.
The average UK 12-year-old now spends 29 hours a week – equivalent to a part-time job – on their smartphone. To have access to the amount of information they do at such a young age is having a profound impact on their neurological development. Where in the past we might have received a handful of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) referrals each week, we are now inundated. Parents can’t get their children to sleep or sit still. They struggle to concentrate in school and education has taken an all-time hit. As adults, we see how our attention span has been affected in the years since our lives have gone online. I can’t remember the last time I saw someone watch a film without scrolling through their phone or checking their messages. Our brains are changing – and children are not immune to this.
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The Atlantic ☛ Parents, Put Down Your Phone Cameras
Today, though, the tech we have constantly at hand has convinced many of us that we must chronicle every moment—that perhaps we would be fools not to. Yet the more I see parents reflexively reaching for their phones, the more I come to believe that when we turn our kids into the subjects of our personal documentaries, we risk muting the richness of the very thing we’re trying to record. We also risk forfeiting an opportunity to really connect with our children.
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The Local DK ☛ What do Danish experts advise parents on kids’ use of screens?
One of Denmark's leading child welfare charities, Børns Vilkår, recommended just over a year ago that no child be exposed to the screens of digital devices until they are at least two years old.
For older children, use of screens in schools is slowly being reined in, with social media blocked at schools in Copenhagen and recommendations calling for restricted use of the Internet during upper secondary school lessons.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Cloudbooklet ☛ 2025 Is Here, Proprietary Chaffbot Company Opt-Out Tool Delay Angers Users!
The Proprietary Chaffbot Company Opt-Out Tool Delay continues to anger users in 2025, raising questions about intellectual property rights and Hey Hi (AI) training.
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The First Gaming Layoffs Of 2025 Have Happened
Netmarble F&C is a subsidiary of the mobile games company Netmarble. The studio is currently working on its new game Demis Reborn, which is scheduled to release sometime in 2025. According to YNA, the game’s “art style and overall atmosphere were significantly revised” in order to better suite adult taste.
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Pivot to AI ☛ Shock as OpenAI’s Media Manager opt-out tool turns out to be vaporware
After an avalanche of lawsuits over scraping everyone’s copyrighted works for their LLMs to regurgitate, OpenAI promised in May 2024 to develop a “Media Manager” tool to let creators opt their works out of training. OpenAI said this would be in place “by 2025.”
You’ll be utterly unsurprised to hear that Media Manager is not in place as of 2025. You might even think this was all a PR stunt they had no intention of delivering on.
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Lou Plummer ☛ My Computer Had Nice Things to Say About Me Today
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Michael Tsai ☛ Autodesk Deletes Old Forum Posts
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International Business Times ☛ TikTok's Parent Company Sues Ex-Intern For £860K, Demands Public Apology Over 'AI Project Sabotage'
The lawsuit against Tian Keyu highlights ByteDance's determination to protect its intellectual [sic] property [sic] and operational integrity. Simultaneously, the company's battles over TikTok's operations in the US underscore the challenges of maintaining trust and compliance in a global tech landscape. ByteDance's ability to balance innovation with accountability will play a crucial role in shaping its future trajectory.
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404 Media ☛ Meta's AI Profiles Are Indistinguishable From Terrible Spam That Took Over Facebook
But the Meta controlled, AI-generated Instagram and Facebook profiles going viral right now have been on the platform for well over a year and all of them stopped posting 10 months ago after users almost universally ignored them. Many of the AI-generated profiles that Meta created and announced have been fully deleted; the ones that remain have not posted new content since April 2024, though their chat functionality continues to work.
Peoples’ understandable aversion to the idea of Meta-controlled AI bots taking up space on Facebook and Instagram has led them to believe that these existing bots are the new ones “announced” by Hayes to the Financial Times. In Hayes’ quote, he says that Meta ultimately envisions releasing tools that allow users to create these characters and profiles, and for those AI profiles to live alongside normal profiles. So Meta has not actually released anything new, but the news cycle has led people to go find Meta’s already existing AI-generated profiles and to realize how utterly terrible they are.
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Silicon Angle ☛ Meta deletes its AI-powered Facebook and Instagram profiles following criticism
Alongside Meta AI, the company rolled out 28 AI-powered Facebook and Instagram profiles. Most were inspired by celebrities with whom Meta partnered on the project. The celebrity-inspired profiles were quietly scrapped last August as a result of lackluster user interest, while about a dozen AI-powered accounts remained online. Those remaining accounts are the focus of this week’s controversy.
The profiles in question displayed a label that read “AI managed by Meta.” They featured a mix of machine-generated and human-created posts, as well as a tool that allowed users to chat with the AI. Users didn’t have a way to block content from the accounts.
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Techdirt ☛ Food Tracking App To Delete Users’ Previously Recorded Meals After Being Sued By Food Data Company
It is possible, as some suggested to me on Bluesky, that there was a contractual agreement between Cronometer and ESHA to delete any data if the contract concluded. If such an agreement exists, it should be limited to the database itself, not people recording such data into their personal journals. Because it’s not “the database” that is being copied into people’s tracking journals, but merely the factual data about particular foods. In addition, the users are not bound to whatever terms Cronometer has in its contracts with others.
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Rolling Stone ☛ Instagram and Facebook Delete Experimental AI Accounts
Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, whose platforms are already flooded with AI-generated content, recently floated an idea to make the problem even worse: letting users create bot characters in their AI Studio that would then become functional “users” of these sites themselves, appearing to have their own accounts that engage with other profiles and pages.
Reactions were decidedly negative, with some citing “Dead Internet Theory,” the idea that the direction of all digital culture is now determined by automation and algorithm rather than actual humans. But things got worse for Meta when people turned up a few of their “test” AI characters on Friday.
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Wired ☛ Editors at Science Journal Resign En Masse Over Bad Use of AI, High Fees
“This has been an exceptionally painful decision for each of us,” the board members wrote in their statement. “The editors who have stewarded the journal over the past 38 years have invested immense time and energy in making JHE the leading journal in paleoanthropological research and have remained loyal and committed to the journal and our authors long after their terms ended. The [associate editors] have been equally loyal and committed. We all care deeply about the journal, our discipline, and our academic community; however, we find we can no longer work with Elsevier in good conscience.”
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New Statesman ☛ Mark Zuckerberg’s fake [Internet] empire
On a rational planet this might have led a large majority of social media users to withhold their data and creativity from Zuckerberg until he agreed to pay them for it, but they didn’t. This emboldened technology companies to help themselves in an ever-more blatant fashion, siphoning off the world’s intellectual property into the large language models from which they now expect to draw their future revenue. Our political class has done less than nothing to prevent this; the Starmer government’s proposal is that businesses should have to “opt out” of their intellectual property being stolen to further enrich the world’s wealthiest people. No one should have to opt out of being burgled.
Who is all this for? Within a couple of years, AI infrastructure is expected to use more energy than the Netherlands and more clean water than Portugal. What are these huge resources being spent on? If the answer is advertising, it’s hard to see what an [Internet] of bots offers to brands. In the long run, how many companies will pay to reach an audience of software that has no money or interests of its own? How many users will be happy for their pet “AI” to hawk cat litter or crypto on their behalf? Perhaps the answer is that Meta believes the [Internet] can be made even more unnaturally compelling, that everything on it can be made even more obviously fake, but that consumers will be kept hanging around in an increasingly weird and coercive relationship.
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Nick Heer ☛ Meta Envisages Social Media Filled With A.I.-Generated Users – Pixel Envy
A big problem for Meta is that it is institutionally very dumb. I do not want to oversell this too much, but I truly believe this is the case. There are lots of smart people working there and its leadership clearly understands something about how people use social media.
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Security
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Games
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Tom's Hardware ☛ New Captcha requires defeating three enemies or you're Doomed to repeat it
You have to make beat three monsters at Nightmare level in this DOOM captcha to prove you're human.
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Privacy/Surveillance
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Myanmar enacts cybersecurity law that aims to restrict use of VPNs
The law also states that Myanmar citizens abroad are liable to punishment.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Iran lifts ban on WhatsApp and Google Play
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Bridge Michigan ☛ Police use of license plate readers raising privacy concerns in Michigan
As license plate-reading cameras to fight crime become more common on Michigan roads, their use is raising concerns about personal privacy.
These devices record plate numbers of passing vehicles and are different from cameras used to track traffic conditions.
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Silicon Angle ☛ Digital identity verification startup Ver.ID raises €2M to help Euro firms adhere to eIDAS 2.0
Ver.ID is the creator of what it says is “advanced digital identity verification technology”, and says its product has applications in areas such as cross-border payments, global commerce and liquidity management. Significantly, its platform supports the EU’s new Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services 2.0 framework, which came into law last year and sets new standards for digital identification services in EU member states.
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The Register UK ☛ Apple opts everyone into having their Photos analyzed by AI
The feature, known as Enhanced Visual Search, was called out last week by software developer Jeff Johnson, who expressed concern in two write-ups about Apple's failure to explain the technology, which is believed to have arrived with iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 on October 28, 2024.
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The Local DK ☛ Why Denmark hasn't had a bank robbery in three years
Many people no longer take a wallet with them when they go out, he said.
Neighbouring Norway and Sweden have jettisoned cash to a greater degree than Denmark, however, with around 40 percent in those two countries no longer using physical currency.
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Macworld ☛ If you owned an Apple device in the past decade, a check is headed your way
If you’ve always suspected that Siri is listening to you even though you haven’t called upon it, a new class-action lawsuit may give you some peace of mind. Apple has agreed to pay our nearly $100 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit over Siri’s ability to “listen to, record, and share their conversations” without consent.
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Michael Tsai ☛ Apple Settles Siri Spying Lawsuit
I had thought this controversy was about contractors hearing the audio. The advertising angle is new to me. If Apple actually did that, it would be one of the biggest Apple news stories ever. I think it’s much more likely that a third-party app was listening to the microphone or that the ads were not based on audio at all. That said, given that privacy is so important to Apple’s brand, and that it seems so unlikely that Apple’s actually guilty of this, it’s a bit of a mystery why it would want to settle. I would think that proving its innocence would be well worth the legal fees, unless it fears the exposure of other information that would become public in discovery.
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Deccan Chronicle ☛ Apple to pay $95 million to settle lawsuit accusing Siri of snoopy eavesdropping
The proposed settlement filed Tuesday in an Oakland, California, federal court would resolve a 5-year-old lawsuit revolving around allegations that Apple surreptitiously activated Siri to record conversations through iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for more than a decade.
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India Times ☛ Apple to pay $95 million to settle lawsuit accusing Siri of snoopy eavesdropping
The alleged recordings occurred even when people didn't seek to activate the virtual assistant with the trigger words, "Hey, Siri." Some of the recorded conversations were then shared with advertisers in an attempt to sell their products to consumers more likely to be interested in the goods and services, the lawsuit asserted.
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The Record ☛ [Attackers] target dozens of VPN and AI extensions for Google Chrome to compromise data
As of Wednesday, a total of 36 Chrome extensions injected with data-stealing code have been detected, mostly related to artificial intelligence (AI) tools and virtual private networks (VPNs), according to a report by ExtensionTotal, a platform that analyzes extensions listed on various marketplaces and public registries.
These extensions, collectively used by roughly 2.6 million people, include third-party tools such as ChatGPT for Google Meet, Bard AI Chat, YesCaptcha Assistant, VPNCity and Internxt VPN. Some of the affected companies have already addressed the issue by removing the compromised extensions from the store or updating them, according to ExtensionTotal's analysis.
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The Washington Post ☛ Apple agrees to $95 million settlement in Siri privacy lawsuit
The company, one of the most valuable in the world, signed off on the payment to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming its virtual assistant Siri can be accidentally activated, and subsequently record parts of people’s conversations without their consent. Apple then violated its users’ privacy, plaintiffs alleged, by sending those recordings to third parties.
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RTL ☛ Not so private conversations: Apple agrees to $95 mn deal to settle Siri eavesdropping suit
Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that its Siri digital assistant improperly recorded private conversations, while maintaining that it denies any wrongdoing.
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Defence/Aggression
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TMZ ☛ Donald Trump Will Be Sentenced Next Week in Hush Money Case, Days Before Inauguration
As you know, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments prosecutors say he made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump could face a potential prison sentence of up to 4 years, but again, it sounds like the judge won't go that route ... considering January 20, Inauguration Day, is looming.
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VOA News ☛ Cameroon officials say country's military seized weapons from terrorists re-arming Boko Haram
Cameroon government officials say long-barreled firearms, military uniforms, over 400 packets of tear gas and more than 100 gallons of oxidizing agents were seized from suspected Boko Haram members this week in Maroua, a northern town near the central African country’s border with Nigeria and Chad.
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The Hill ☛ Donald Trump: 'Why would I want to get rid of TikTok?'
President-elect Trump doubled down on his support for TikTok on Friday, as the popular social media app prepares to argue against an impending ban before the Supreme Court next week.
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New York Times ☛ TikTok and Government Clash in Last Round of Supreme Court Briefs
The court’s ruling, which could come this month, will decide the fate of a powerful and pervasive cultural phenomenon that uses a sophisticated algorithm to feed a personalized array of short videos to users. TikTok has become, particularly for younger generations, a leading source of information [sic] and entertainment.
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India Times ☛ TikTok and government clash in last round of Supreme Court briefs
Their briefs were part of a high-stakes showdown over the government's insistence that ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, sell the app's operations in the United States or shut it down. The Supreme Court, in an effort to resolve the case before the law's Jan. 19 deadline, will hear arguments at a special session next Friday.
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The Independent UK ☛ Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s former commanding officer speaks out about New Orleans’ attacker’s radicalization
Jabbar’s high school friend Chris Pousson told NBC that he had posted several times on Facebook about his Islamic faith [...]
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El País ☛ New Orleans attack highlights the power of the ISIS brand to spread terror in the West
Although defeated in Syria more than five years ago, the Islamic State group remains the standard-bearer of jihadist terrorism, maintaining a powerful online propaganda presence and expanding its influence through growing branches in Africa and Asia
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Bridge Michigan ☛ Billionaires, dark money dominate record-setting Michigan election spending
The billionaire DeVos family, longtime Michigan GO power players, again topped the list of largest individual donors
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Los Angeles Times ☛ Islamic State: A weakened force, but not a spent one
It started out as a rebranded faction of Al Qaeda, under the leadership of Abu Bakr Baghdadi, an Iraqi militant cleric and insurgent leader turned self-styled caliph. Those living under its rule in a wide arc of Iraq and Syria — particularly members of other religions, or of other sects of Islam — faced horrifying punishments: decapitations, crucifixion, torture. During that same era, the group also took Western hostages, killing several, including U.S. journalist James Foley, who was beheaded in 2014, and Arizona aid worker Kayla Mueller, confirmed dead in 2015.
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India Times ☛ Bomb-making materials, an open Quran, and children's toys: Inside New Orleans terror attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar's home
The video posted by the New York Post showed a workbench in Jabbar’s bedroom set up for assembling explosives. Nearby, his Quran stood prominently atop a bookshelf, opened to Verse 9:111, which reads: “They fight in Allah’s cause, and slay and are slain; a promise binding…” The verse, widely interpreted as a call to violence by extremist ideologies, cast a haunting shadow over his already sinister acts.
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The Zambian Observer ☛ ‘He loved Trump!’ Cybertruck bomber’s uncle bemused by ‘super soldier’s’ attack - The Zambian Observer
“Matt was a very skilled warrior, and he would be able to make — if it was him, and if he did this — he would’ve been able to make a more sophisticated explosive than using propane tanks and camping fuel. He was what you might call a ‘super soldier.’ If you ever read about the things he was awarded, and the experience he had, some of it doesn’t make sense, when he had the skills and ability to make something more, let’s say, ‘efficient.’ His skills were enormous from what he had been taught in the military.”
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YLE ☛ Serious safety flaws uncovered in past inspection of Eagle S vessel
When a vessel is detained, authorities prohibit it from leaving port until serious safety flaws have been rectified.
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RFERL ☛ Finland Seeks Seizure Of Oil Tanker Suspected Of Damaging Undersea Cable
Finland's national power grid operator (Fingrid) is seeking the formal seizure of the oil tanker suspected of damaging an electric power cable in the Baltic Sea last month.
Fingrid said in a statement it had filed an application with the Helsinki District Court to seize the Eagle S to help secure its financial claim for damages related to the breakdown of the undersea Estlink 2 electricity interconnector.
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YLE ☛ Defence Committee on cable damage: "We have been naive"
According to Savola, Finland still does not face a direct military threat. He said that [NATO] membership has strengthened both defence and deterrence and that Finland is preparing for various hybrid threats.
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Semafor Inc ☛ Europe ‘will not fund Islamist rule,’ Germany tells Syria’s new leaders
Europe “will not fund new Islamist structures,” AFP reported the German foreign minister as warning after the meeting with Syria’s de factor leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, while French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said chemical weapons belonging to the Assad regime must be destroyed.
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Reuters ☛ Kurds, women must be included in Syria's transition, European ministers say
In talks also attended by her French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot, Germany's top diplomat Annalena Baerbock said she had stressed the need to include all ethnic groups in the transition to democracy while ensuring that potential European funds did not fall into the hands of "new Islamist structures". "We discussed this in a very detailed and very clear manner," Baerbock told reporters after meeting Sharaa in the People's Palace in Damascus.
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Deseret Media ☛ Utah accuses TikTok of knowing about risks to children in unredacted legal filing
Utah has alleged TikTok knew minors were being sexually exploited on its social media application and had ineffective age restrictions in place, in a partially unredacted legal filing on Friday.
The lawsuit alleges internal TikTok investigations found risks with the platform's live streaming feature and hundreds of thousands of children ages 13 to 15 managed to get around the age restrictions on the app.
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Silicon Angle ☛ Nick Clegg steps down as Meta’s global policy chief, replaced with Trump-friendly Joel Kaplan
[...]
It’s no surprise that with the incoming Donald Trump as U.S. president, this new appointment has been made. Meta’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t always had a smooth relationship with Trump, becoming one of the social media companies to stir his ire with a ban after the chaos on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6. But lately there have been plenty of signs that Zuckerberg and Trump have become friendly. The two met at Mar-a-Lago recently, following a $1 million donation to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund.
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New Statesman ☛ Has Facebook fallen in behind Trump?
The clue lies in who is replacing Clegg. Joel Kaplan, Clegg’s current deputy, was George W Bush’s White House deputy chief of staff and is respected by conservatives for resisting restrictions on free speech from within the company, which he first joined in 2011. He attended his friend Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing to be a US Supreme Court justice in 2018 even as Kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault. And in 2016 his team persuaded conservatives such as Tucker Carlson and Glenn Beck to visit the headquarters of Facebook (as Meta was then known) to meet with Zuckerberg.
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India Times ☛ Nick Clegg leaves Meta global policy team after six years
Clegg ceding his job to Kaplan, who served as deputy chief of staff for policy under then-president George W. Bush from 2006-2009, comes as Republican Donald Trump is set to return to the White House.
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The Register UK ☛ Nick Clegg steps down as Meta's top flack
The Right Honourable Sir Nick Clegg (to give him his full title) has stepped down from his job as Meta's president of global affairs.
Clegg announced he was joining Meta, then Facebook, in October 2018 – around 18 months after he had been voted out of office in the UK's parliament. He became the public feel-good face of Meta during difficult times but, as the US lurches to the right, it seems to all concerned that this job should now go to Joel Kaplan, the former deputy chief of staff for George W Bush.
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Semafor Inc ☛ Meta will appoint Republican Joel Kaplan to lead global policy team, as Nick Clegg steps down
The shift, three weeks before Donald Trump’s inauguration, comes as US companies are embracing the president-elect, courting his inner circle, and backing away from progressive stances many had embraced in recent years. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — whom Trump previously threatened to jail — dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November and congratulated the president-elect on his win, one of many big tech executives to do so.
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Axios ☛ Meta's Nick Clegg to step down, replaced by Republican Joel Kaplan
Why it matters: The move comes shortly after CEO Mark Zuckerberg dined with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-lago and as Republicans will soon control all three branches of federal government. Meta also recently donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration.
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India Times ☛ Nick Clegg, who set up Meta's oversight board, exits company ahead of Trump return
Clegg, a former deputy prime minister of Britain, had handled policy and regulatory issues globally for Meta since 2018. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, thanked Clegg for making an "important impact advancing Meta's voice and values around the world."
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The Straits Times ☛ A pawn of the US? Manila’s plan to buy missile system draws flak from Beijing
The weapon could serve a role in US defence plans should China take military action over Taiwan, say analysts.
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France24 ☛ Over 100 shops destroyed in a fire at the market in Accra
In tonight's edition, the popular Kantomanto market in Accra loses over a hundred shops to fire in an early morning blaze.
Also, we hear from some of the Chadian voters who still worry that a homegrown national solution to a deepening security crisis is still a way away.
And an 8-year-old boy in Zimbabwe somehow keeps himself alive for 5 days wandering in the wilderness amidst big cats and other dangers.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Muslims in India struggle for access to mental health care
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] New York City: Man charged for burning woman to death
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Nigeria: Deadly stampedes highlight deepening crises
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] How German Chancellor Olaf Scholz became so unpopular
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] How Magdeburg attack mobilizes Germany's extreme right
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Christmas updates: Bethlehem hosts subdued celebrations
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Christmas updates: Pope appeals for peace in world conflicts
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Dutch court convicts 5 for violence against Israeli fans
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Atlantic Council ☛ Experts react: What the New Orleans attack tells us about terrorism in 2025
The attack on New Year’s Day by a man who claimed to have joined ISIS raises important questions about safety and security.
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The Straits Times ☛ Philippines recovers suspected Chinese submarine drone
The police warned of "potential national security implications".
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Women at the forefront of South Korea's martial law protests
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JURIST ☛ South Korean presidential security impedes arrest of ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol—developing story
Members of South Korea’s Presidential Security Service are impeding an attempt to arrest former president Yoon Suk Yeol, according to national media outlet Yonhap.
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France24 ☛ South Korean investigators seek to arrest impeached President Yoon
Nikkei Asia correspondent Steven Borowiec speaks to France 24 on the unfolding situation in South Korea, as investigators began executing an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday over his failed attempt to declare martial law in early December. Investigators and police were seen moving past pro-Yoon protesters surrounding Yoon's compound, but appeared to have been stopped by the President's Security Service, which still protects the suspended head of state.
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The Straits Times ☛ Live: S. Korean authorities suspend attempt to arrest President Yoon amid dramatic stand-off
They were blocked by military unit inside presidential residence after being let through heavy security barricades.
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The Straits Times ☛ South Korean authorities fail to arrest impeached President Yoon due to security stand-off
He is under criminal investigation for his short-lived martial law attempt on Dec 3.
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JURIST ☛ South Korean presidential security prevents arrest of ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol
South Korea’s public prosecution ended their attempt to arrest former president Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday after being impeded by the Presidential Security Service, according to national media outlet Yonhap, with the ex-president’s security service announcing that it would not allow the arrest to proceed.
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New York Times ☛ Could Better Security Have Stopped the New Orleans Terror Attack?
City officials were warned in 2019 that the bollards designed to block vehicles did “not appear to work.” They were being fixed when a truck rammed through Bourbon Street on Wednesday.
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RFERL ☛ Montenegrins Express Disbelief In Wake Of Mass Shooting
Residents of Cetinje, Montenegro, said they were shocked over the fatal shooting of 12 people in the community on New Year's Day. The suspected shooter, Aco Martinovic, fired upon people in separate incidents before committing suicide, according to police. The Balkan nation declared three days of mourning in the wake of the killings, in which at least four others were seriously wounded. Cetinje also witnessed the fatal shootings of 10 people by a local man in 2022.
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France24 ☛ Elite soldier shot himself before Cybertruck blast in Las Vegas, officials say
An elite soldier identified as Matthew Alan Livelsberger committed suicide before the Cybertruck he was sitting in exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, authorities said on Thursday. The motive for his actions is still unknown.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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Insight Hungary ☛ Zelensky: I know the Hungarian people are on the side of the Ukrainie and of the truth
"Ukraine stands firmly on its feet, does not bow its head, looks ahead, and believes in its future and victory over all the evil that Russia has brought us. Ukraine is capable of achieving just peace – having a shield and a sword. Defending its people, its colors, its Independence," Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in his New Year's Greetings. "Thank you for 2024. Our people endure all difficulties with dignity. People for whom being citizens of Ukraine is a source of pride. And for me, it is a pride to be the President of such people – Ukrainians who prove that no cruise missile can defeat a nation that has wings."
He mentioned that President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office in a few weeks. Zelensky does not doubt his willingness and ability to make peace. "This is not a street fight where you have to calm down both sides. This is the full-scale aggression of a mad state against a civilized one. And I believe that we, together with the United States, are capable of exerting that force. Of compelling Russia into a just peace. "
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Meduza ☛ A Russian travel agent accused of organizing LGBTQ tours died in a Moscow jail. Officials say it was suicide, but advocates aren’t convinced. — Meduza
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Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Mark Rutte’s March to War
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Transparency/Investigative Reporting
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Sightline Media Group ☛ US soldier arrested for allegedly trying to sell Trump phone records
A U.S. Army soldier was arrested for allegedly attempting to sell the stolen call logs of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Krebs on Security, an online publication run by former Washington Post reporter Brian Krebs.
Federal authorities indicted Cameron John Wagenius, 20, last month on two counts of unlawful transfer of confidential phone records information, court documents show.
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Common Dreams ☛ Americans 4 Security appears to be a political group in disguise. The FEC and IRS must investigate.
Americans 4 Security Inc.’s contributions to two super PACs accounted for as much as 90% of its total spending in 2020, its first year of existence. Since then, Americans 4 Security Inc. has continued to primarily dedicate its resources to political activity and in 2024, contributed more than $3 million to federal super PACs, the majority of which supported now-House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) in his primary election. Given the organization’s history of significant spending on political activities, it is likely that Americans 4 Security Inc.’s outsized political spending in 2024 will again account for a majority of its expenses.
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Environment
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-12-28 [Older] The Heat of Violence: Climate Change and Gender-Based Abuse
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-12-27 [Older] Climate-Friendly Electricity Sees Big Battery Projects Soar Again for 2024
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-12-26 [Older] Climate Diplomacy: Fostering Unity or Deepening Global Divides
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-12-26 [Older] Humanity’s Journey of Climate Change Awareness
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-26 [Older] How close are we to positive climate tipping points?
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-12-26 [Older] New York to Charge Fossil Fuel Companies for Damage From Climate Change
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-12-25 [Older] India Calls Out Rich Nations Over Climate Inaction at ICJ
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Vox ☛ 2024-12-23 [Older] Climate change is pushing some governments to the breaking point
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Vox ☛ 2024-12-23 [Older] Are we living through the end of wildlife migrations?
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The Register UK ☛ Microsoft pauses datacenter construction in Wisconsin
Whether the Wisconsin delays are tied to the closed-loop design, or some other element of datacenter design, is unknown. Microsoft didn't answer questions to that end.
Redmond did tell us that it still plans to invest $3.3 billion in the project by the end of 2026. It also expects to complete one hyperscale data center in Mount Pleasant as originally planned, which it tells us will be one of its five largest in the world.
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The Telegraph UK ☛ Iraqi marshland drought: Climate change pushes existence to the edge of extinction
In the early 1990s Iraq’s marshes still covered some 20,000 square kilometres but they have since shrunk to around 4,000 by the latest estimates.
Now a brutal, years-long drought linked to climate change and massive irrigation projects in neighbouring Turkey threatens to wipe them – and the semi-nomadic people who have lived there for thousands of years – out for good.
There are even fears that tensions over the supply of water could lead to a new conflict in the Middle East.
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Energy/Transportation
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Silicon Angle ☛ Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE reportedly considering cryptocurrency trading amid regulatory shift [Ed: Pyramid schemes]
Multinational investment bank and financial services company Morgan Stanley is reportedly considering plans to launch cryptocurrency trading services through its E*TRADE arm amid an expected more favorable regulatory environment under the incoming second Trump administration. The news was first reported by The Information, which claims that the plans are still in the exploratory phase.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] US: American Airlines flights return to air after tech issue [Ed: It's 2025 and making planes that work is still hard? Or airline systems that work?]
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Swiss Air flight makes emergency landing over smoke on board [Ed: Because making planes that work is hard]
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CBC ☛ 2024-12-25 [Older] How agrivoltaics is marrying food production with green energy in Alberta
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US News And World Report ☛ 2024-12-25 [Older] Japan to Maximize Nuclear Power in Clean-Energy Push as Electricity Demand Grows
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Technology breakthroughs are unlocking geothermal energy’s vast potential
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Cause and Effect: Economic Transition and Implications for the Energy Mix
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Dan Langille ☛ Complete network shutdown – wtf?
It was difficult to get the UPS back online. This is what the screen looked like when I got it back online. When I was trying to get the UPS to power off, that battery was empty. 0%.
When I pressed the power button for 10 seconds, the shutdown would start, then stop and bring me back to this screen.
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The Drone Girl ☛ Intelligent Flight Batteries vs. the 'Plus' upgrade: which is better?
Both are smart batteries with advanced features, but they differ in flight times, weight, and price. This guide will break down the pros and cons of each to help you decide which is the best fit for your flying style. And for some use cases, the former (merely Intelligent Flight Batteries) can be better than the more expensive Intelligent Flight Batteries Plus.
Here’s your guide to choosing between DJI Intelligent Flight Batteries versus DJI Intelligent Flight Batteries Plus: [...]
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The Register UK ☛ US government goes atomic as datacenter power crisis looms
Constellation Energy has won contracts worth more than $1 billion from the US government to supply nuclear power to over 13 federal agencies, validating efforts by datacenter operators to secure their own atomic sources.
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EcoWatch ☛ UK Electricity Reached a Record 58% From Low-Carbon Sources in 2024
Electricity in the United Kingdom was the cleanest ever in 2024, with solar and wind generating all-time highs, a new analysis by Carbon Brief said.
The report found that per unit carbon dioxide emissions have fallen by over two-thirds in a decade. The analysis attributed this to the phasing out of coal in the UK, which now generates less than half the amount of electricity from fossil fuels than it did a decade ago. Meanwhile, the generation of power from renewable sources has more than doubled.
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Wildlife/Nature
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The Revelator ☛ Salmon, Wolves, Whales and Bears: The Wildlife MVPs of 2024
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The Hindu ☛ Two wild elephants seen wandering in Ramanagara
Two wild elephants were spotted near Rangarayanadoddi lake in Ramanagara on Friday morning taking morning walkers by surprise.
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US News And World Report ☛ It's Christmas for the Elephants as Unsold Trees Are Fed to the Animals at Berlin Zoo
Trees that didn't find a home this festive season were given to some of the animals on Friday in what has become an annual event. Elephants tore off branches with their trunks, lobbing them around their enclosure or eating the greenery.
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The Independent UK ☛ It's Christmas for the elephants as unsold trees are fed to the animals at Berlin Zoo
The zoo takes only fresh, unsold trees from select vendors. It doesn’t accept trees from the public, which could contain chemicals or leftover decorations.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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JURIST ☛ Texas Supreme Court rejects effort to discipline AG deputy over 2020 election lawsuit
The Supreme Court of Texas on Tuesday dismissed a disciplinary action brought by the State Bar of Texas against First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster over his role in a controversial lawsuit challenging the 2020 presidential election results.
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JURIST ☛ New US gun laws take effect January 1
Gun laws across the US states are undergoing changes in 2025 with many states strengthening gun safety laws while others have expanded the rights of firearm owners, reflecting the polarization on the issue of gun control in the country.
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Digital Music News ☛ Federal Judge Approves Jay-Z Request to File Dismissal Motion in Intensifying Jane Doe Rape Lawsuit
On the heels of several twists and turns, the court has approved Jay-Z’s request to seek the dismissal of a rape lawsuit filed against him by a Jane Doe plaintiff.
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FAIR ☛ Why Didn’t NYT Tell Us What Ben Smith Stood to Gain From His Media Reporting?
In a time of downsizing and consolidation, Ben Smith has had a journalistic career many would envy. He became famous as the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, and is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, a rising media giant that raised $19 million last year. (This “replac[ed] the money it had received from the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried,” the New York Times reported—5/24/23).
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FAIR ☛ ‘There’s No Public Evidence of the Kind of Manipulation TikTok Is Accused Of’: CounterSpin interview with Yanni Chen on TikTok ruling [Ed: There is LOTS of evidence of manipulation, FAIR is now spreading Chinese propaganda and lies. iophk: The manipulation has been documented in Germany, Romania, and Finland, to name only three of many. The US has also been affected but the 'media' has decided to throw in with the CCP and fight against freedom of speech while claiming to do the opposite and while distracting from the manipulation and influence operations.]
Janine Jackson interviewed Free Press’s Yanni Chen about the appellate court TikTok ruling for the December 20, 2024, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.
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Marcy Wheeler ☛ Artificial Frameworks about Elon: On Adrian Dittmann and Tommy Robinson
But where Elon was likely most valuable in the November election was in deploying both his own proprietary social media disinformation and that of others to depress Harris voters and mobilize the low turnout voters who consume no news who made the difference for Trump. We know, for example, that Musk was a big funder of a front group that sought to exacerbate negativity around Gaza (though I’ve seen no one assess the import of it to depress Democratic turnout anywhere but Michigan’s heavily Arab cities). I’ve seen no one revisit the observations that Elon shifted the entire algorithm of Xitter on the day he endorsed Trump to boost his own and other Republican content supporting Trump. (Of course, Elon deliberately made such analysis prohibitively expensive to do.) We’ve spent two months fighting about what Dems could do better but, as far as I’m aware, have never assessed the import of Elon’s technical contribution.
It’s the $44 billion donation, as much as the $250 million one.
In other words, Elon’s value to AfD may lie more in the viral and microtargeted promotion he can offer than simply his famous name normalizing Nazism or even cash dollars.
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Scoop News Group ☛ Top acquisition agencies want cyber workforce changes in federal contracting rules
The NICE framework, spelled out in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Special Publication 800-181, details workforce knowledge and skill requirements to be used in federal IT and cybersecurity support contracts. The document essentially creates a “common language” for cyber work roles that align with a 2019 Trump administration executive order on America’s cybersecurity workforce.
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India Times ☛ Microsoft expects to spend $80 billion on AI this fiscal year [Ed: Lies and fake claims from a company deep in debt and still trying to look big]
Microsoft president Brad Smith on Friday said the company is on track to pump about $80 billion into artificial intelligence (AI) this fiscal year.
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Nick Heer ☛ Tim Cook Becomes the Newest Big Donor to the Trump Inaugural Fund
In the United States, donations to the extravagant presidential inauguration ceremony by U.S. citizens and corporations are unlimited. As a result, it is the perfect vehicle with which to get comfortable with the incoming administration. It is not a bribe, though. Money or goods given to holders of public office with the implication of favours is almost never bribery. If you call it a bribe, everyone involved seems to get mad. So do not call it a bribe.
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Axios ☛ Apple CEO Tim Cook donates $1 million to Trump inauguration
Cook, with a consistent presence in Washington, has made it clear over the years that he believes in participation, not sitting on the sidelines, and engaging with policymakers from both sides of the aisle.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Fact check: The strangest fakes of 2024
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VOA News ☛ AI-generated deepfakes of Trump aimed at misleading Kenyans, Nigerians
On Dec. 28, a content creator with about 20,000 TikTok followers shared phony footage of Trump threatening to withhold U.S. aid from Kenya if the alleged abductions continued. The clip went viral with 357,000 views as of the time of this writing.
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ The Global Crisis of Bullshit Culture and Media Manipulation
Although, Europe has taken significant steps to deal with misinformation, yet this bullshit culture continues to spread its curses into different landscapes. The United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum in 2016 was manipulated by false claims such as £350 million figure on campaign buses. This later aided in swaying public opinion. Across Europe, far-right parties have effectively weaponized bullshit to spread xenophobia and the list doesn’t stop here.
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Security Week ☛ US Imposes Sanctions on Russian and Iranian Groups Over Disinformation Targeting American Voters
Treasury officials announced the sanctions Tuesday, alleging that the two organizations sought to stoke divisions among Americans before November’s vote. US intelligence has accused both governments of spreading disinformation, including fake videos, news stories and social media posts, designed to manipulate voters and undermine trust in U.S. elections.
“The governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns,” Bradley T. Smith, Treasury’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.
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US Treasury ☛ Treasury Sanctions Entities in Iran and Russia That Attempted to Interfere in the U.S. 2024 Election | U.S. Department of the Treasury
“The Governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith. “The United States will remain vigilant against adversaries who would undermine our democracy.”
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Censorship/Free Speech
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Cloudbooklet ☛ US States Blocked Pornhub in 20 States Due to Age Verification Laws
US States Blocked Pornhub as part of the new age verification laws. Find out how this decision impacts users
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Variety ☛ Mohammad Rasoulof Attending 2025 Göteborg Film Festival
Banned in Rasoulof’s home country, the film has already garnered international recognition for its poignant narrative and exploration of political themes. Rasoulof, who currently lives in exile in Germany after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging by the Iranian regime as he wrapped “Sacred Fig,” continues to create work that critiques the country’s oppressive government.
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El País ☛ The Chicano mural that overcame censorship to shine in the heart of Los Angeles
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is bringing back Barbara Carrasco’s ‘L.A. History: A Mexican Perspective,’ a 1981 masterpiece that spent decades in storage
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Techdirt ☛ Federal Judge Strikes Down Unconstitutional Arkansas Book Ban Law
However, it if couldn’t demonstrate this, the association of librarians and libraries would be free to continue running their libraries without government interference — something they had done for years before Donald Trump took office in 2016 and ushered in an extremely ugly era of so-called “conservatism.” Since then, book challenges and book bans have become a day-to-day occurrence in the Land of the Free. And all at the hands of the party that swears it’s here to beat back censorship.
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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France24 ☛ Italy summons Iran envoy over detention of journalist Cecilia Sala
Italy's foreign minister on Thursday summoned Iran's ambassador to discuss the arrest of journalist Cecilia Sala who was detained two weeks ago for "violating" Iran's laws after entering the country on a journalist visa.
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Press Gazette ☛ How publishers can avoid affiliate marketing pitfalls and find new revenue [Ed: Fancy terms for a form of spam]
PA Media lifestyle editor Prudence Wade on affiliate marketing content for publishers.
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Press Gazette ☛ Byline Times seeks £200,000 for marketing by selling shares to readers [Ed: Sounds a bit like a pyramid scheme]
The monthly newspaper said in an investor prospectus that it passed £1m in annual revenue last year.
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FAIR ☛ Sonali Kolhatkar & Laura Flanders on Independent Media and the Year Ahead
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Allen Downey ☛ Confidence In the Press
Chapter 16 is a template for exploring relationships between political alignment (liberal or conservative) and other beliefs and attitudes. In this example, we’ll use that template to look at the ways confidence in the press has changed over the last 50 years in the U.S.
The dataset we’ll use is an excerpt of data from the General Social Survey. It contains three resamplings of the original data. We’ll start with the first.
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The Hindu ☛ Bastar journalist found dead in septic tank, murder suspected
The body of a journalist, who is known for his ground reporting of the Maoist conflict in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region, was found in a septic tank on the premises of a construction contractor in Bijapur. The journalist’s family has alleged that he was facing threats for exposing a scam in a road project through his reports.
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CBC ☛ Google sends $100M in funds to journalism collective in exchange for Online News Act exemption
Google has sent the $100 million it agreed to pay Canadian news outlets in exchange for an exemption from the Online News Act to a journalism organization designed to disperse the funds.
The U.S. tech company confirmed it has transferred the money to the Canadian Journalism Collective, a federally incorporated non-profit organization led by independent publishers and broadcasters.
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VOA News ☛ Italy meets with Iran ambassador to demand release of Italian journalist
Sala is being held in Iran's Evin prison following her arrest in the capital, Tehran, on Dec. 19. The journalist was on assignment in Iran and had a valid journalist visa.
Iran accuses Sala of "violating the laws of the Islamic Republic." But others believe her arrest is a retaliatory move after Italy detained a Swiss-Iranian businessman at the request of the U.S.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Incels: How they are Radicalized, and How to Deradicalize Them
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Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-12-24 [Older] Morocco moves to reform underage marriage
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Federal News Network ☛ Prepare for the return-to-office era. It’s an age thing
In truth, the unlimited combinations of individuals and work requirements make generalizations impossible. Besides, telework established itself in the federal government by practice and statute well before the pandemic. Maybe the new administration can approach its telework policy simply. Roll practice back to what was in place February 2020, the month before the pandemic. That would give a rational point to rethink telework, if necessary.
I spoke the other day to a senior executive at a cabinet department. He’s awaiting his new politically-appointed boss. He said that, relative to 2017, the Trump so-called landing teams seem more organized and thorough. Trump himself has pledged to fire employees who don’t return to work full time at their federal offices.
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Hamilton Nolan ☛ From Walmart to Amazon to Walmart - by Hamilton Nolan
Walmart is, and has long been, the biggest private sector employer in America. It has more than two million employees. A couple of decades ago, Walmart was, in the public mind, what Amazon is today: the big, bad symbol of a McJob, the gargantuan employer of last resort that was swallowing up the American workplace. Amazon’s internet roots and its ability to drive the entire retail sector towards online shopping has allowed it to replace Walmart as the dystopian image of The Future of Work. But Amazon still has 600,000 fewer employees. Walmart has never gone away—it just managed to clean up its reputation.
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The Register UK ☛ Amazon worker shot in New Orleans terror attack denied leave
It's believed Scott-Windham requested the wrong type of leave, leading to it being turned down, or so people familiar with the matter have claimed.
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Lusaka ZM ☛ Zambia : Zambia Pays Tribute to Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter
“We remember President Carter’s remarkable legacy, marked by his unwavering commitment to peace, democracy, good governance, human rights, justice, and equality,” President Hichilema stated.
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Vox ☛ Is the doctor overcharging me? How to avoid huge medical bills and lower existing ones.
These bargaining tactics require a significant amount of time and energy, and are made considerably more difficult when you’re not feeling well or English isn’t your first language. Under the Affordable Care Act, patients who speak limited English are entitled to a free qualified interpreter and translated medical documents. Health care providers must inform patients that they offer interpreting services. When booking an appointment, tell the scheduler you will need an interpreter during your visit.
For non-emergency procedures and appointments at in-network physicians, here are some financial questions to ask before you leave the office. How much will this cost?
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The Independent UK ☛ Bernie Sanders accuses Musk of seeking cheaper, not brainier, immigrant labor with H-1B visas
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders weighed in on the H-1B visa controversy Thursday, accusing Elon Musk of defending the program because the labor is “cheaper,” not brainier, than the American labor force, as the tech billionaire has argued.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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Silicon Angle ☛ Appeals court ruling kills off efforts to restore FCC net neutrality rules
A U.S. appeals court today ruled the Federal Communications Commission does not have the legal authority to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules first implemented by former President Barack Obama. The ruling ends a decade-plus-long effort by Democrats to gain more oversight over the internet. /blockquote>
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Digital Music News ☛ US Appeals Court Slaps Down Biden-Backed Net Neutrality Laws
A US Appeals Court has ruled the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did not have legal authority to reinstate net neutrality rules backed by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden signed the executive order in 2021 encouraging the FCC to reinstate the rules initially implemented in 2015.
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Public Knowledge ☛ Sixth Circuit Ruling on FCC Authority Threatens Consumer Protections and Open Internet
Sixth Circuit decision rejects the FCC's authority to classify broadband as a telecommunications service.
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Scoop News Group ☛ Exit interview: FCC’s Jessica Rosenworcel discusses her legacy on cybersecurity, AI and regulation
In a wide-ranging interview with CyberScoop, Rosenworcel discussed how the FCC has evolved to address the challenges posed by newer technologies, ongoing efforts to investigate and respond to Chinese intrusions into U.S. telecommunications networks, regulating AI in political ads and other topics.
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South Africa ☛ Frogfoot's New Years Internet Outage
Frogfoot, a local fibre network operator owned by Vox Telecom, had a 57 hour outage starting on New Years Eve, leaving all their Western Cape customers without a usable [Internet] connection. The problem ended up being diagnosed on a public forum before the company's own staff managed to figure it out themselves.
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Common Dreams ☛ Net Neutrality Ruling an Ominous Giveaway to Big Telecom
On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down Net Neutrality rules that prevented internet service providers from degrading or blocking service to certain websites. The rules—which were originally enacted under the Obama administration, then repealed under the first Trump administration and then reinstated by the Biden administration—were fiercely opposed by Big Telecom giants like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. For years, Demand Progress has been a leader in the fight for an open internet, including just this last year helping lead grassroots efforts that have driven more than 100,000 people to take action.
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Common Dreams ☛ 6th Circuit Wrongly Rejects Federal Jurisdiction Over Essential Broadband Internet Access Services
In September, Free Press filed a brief in the case supporting the FCC's April ruling. The brief — filed jointly with the Benton Institute, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge — focused on the legal precedent and economic analysis supporting the Commission’s decision, showing the wisdom of and the need for the FCC’s jurisdiction over the essential telecommunications platform of our time.
The 6th Circuit ruled nevertheless that broadband [Internet] access service should be classified as a Title I “information service” under the Communications Act. The court rejected the Biden FCC’s argument that broadband should be classified as a “telecommunications service,” subject to the FCC’s mandates and authority in Title II of the Act to ensure service on an equitable and nondiscriminatory basis.
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Techdirt ☛ Trumplican 6th Circuit Just Killed Net Neutrality (And Whatever Was Left Of Pathetic U.S. Broadband Consumer Protection)
To be clear, the FCC’s net neutrality rules were actually very modest by international standards. They had ample loopholes for ISPs to stumble through. They were never actually enforced with any consistency by a broadly feckless and captured FCC. And they saw massive popularity across a bipartisan majority of Americans. Right out of the gate calling the rules “heavy-handed” is telling.
As a refresher, the “net neutrality debate” is about more than just “net neutrality.” It’s about whether we want our consumer protection officials to protect broadband consumers from a monopolized and broken industry filled with extremely unpopular, predatory corporations that routinely raise the bar on shitty service, price gouging, and bad behavior.
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NPR ☛ Net neutrality is struck, ending a long battle to regulate ISPs like public utilities
Then, last year, the FCC effectively reinstated net neutrality when it voted to reclassify broadband as a public utility, such as water and electricity, to regulate access to the [Internet]. Under the Communications Act of 1934, such public utility services are subject to government regulation.
In doing so, the FCC aimed to make ISPs accountable for outages, require more robust network security, protect fast speeds, and require greater protections for consumer data.
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RTL ☛ Internet service providers: US court blocks Biden-era net neutrality rules
Net Neutrality rules prohibit [Internet] service providers from blocking, slowing down, or charging extra for the [Internet] content and applications their broadband customers choose, according to [Internet] rights group Free Press.
Internet service giants have fought against being regulated, arguing they should be left to run their businesses as they see fit.
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Axios ☛ Biden's net neutrality rules struck down by appeals court
Why it matters: The all-Republican panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit handed a blow to the Biden administration, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats who've pushed for fair and open [Internet] measures.
Zoom in: Judge Richard Allen Griffin said in the ruling in Cincinnati, Ohio, that broadband [Internet] is an "information service" instead of a "telecommunications service," meaning the FCC lacked authority to impose rules under Title II.
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Digital Restrictions (DRM)
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Digital Music News ☛ LG Launches LG Radio+ for Smart TVs—Will It Catch On?
The ad-supported audio streaming service is a partnership with the Radioline platform, which will make live radio stations and podcasts available to LG Radio+ users. “This new service allows users to effortlessly access a diverse selection of podcasts and radio programs,” says LG.
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Jacobin Magazine ☛ Digital Ownership and the End of Physical Media
But the cost of the decline of physical media is higher than one might think. Transitioning from tangible items to intangible digital copies housed in the cloud has robbed consumers of whatever ownership they might once have claimed over media. The change might seem subtle, even irrelevant, to most of us, at least on first glance. However, its implications are anything but trivial.
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The Nation ☛ Can Fairness Fix the US Economy?
Few people have heard of the Robinson-Patman Act, a New Deal–era law that bans price discrimination, which occurs when manufacturers sell the same product to retailers at different prices—often under pressure from retail behemoths. But the FTC’s decision to stop enforcing it decades ago triggered a seismic shift in America. It gave massive chains like Walmart free rein to squeeze suppliers for unfair discounts. Walmart’s expansion went unchecked; manufacturers consolidated and shuttered factories; jobs vanished; and thousands of small businesses folded, leaving hollowed-out Main Streets and food deserts in their wake. Outside of the collapse of US manufacturing, few economic forces have done as much damage to the American landscape in the past 50 years.
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Patents
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Supreme Court Preview: Will “Skinny Labels” Get a Weight Check?
The Supreme Court will soon be asked to weigh in on the the skinny-label debate -- particularly the question of how much a generic drug manufacturers can say about their products without inducing patent monopoly infringement? The case is Hikma v. Amarin.
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2024-12-22 [Older] Judge Newman Files Appeal with D.C. Circuit [Ed: Patent maximalists hedge their bet on a senile for patent maximalism]
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2024-12-23 [Older] Enough is (Apparently) Enough - Part I [Ed: The patent maximalists have clearly lost touch with reality and now rely on fossils who don't keep up with the harms of patents to actual scientific progress]
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Kangaroo Courts
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JUVE ☛ The court that never sleeps [Ed: This "Court" is illegal and unconstitutional. This publisher is well aware of it, but it was bribed by numerous parties to lobby for this fake kangaroo 'court'. This is corruption in the EU and the media. Some publishers profit from participating in the corruption or covering it up.]
It was only a matter of time before Panasonic formally ended its global patent monopoly dispute with Xiaomi and Oppo. The patent monopoly holder and the two Chinese implementers had already reached an agreement in principle in October.
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Copyrights
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Torrent Freak ☛ Manga Publisher Shueisha Wants X to Expose 'One Piece' Pirates
In a continued effort to combat online piracy, Japanese publishing giant Shueisha has requested a DMCA subpoena to compel X to expose two 'pirate accounts'. This is the latest move to identify the operators of major manga pirate portals through U.S. federal courts. If the operators of Spoilerplus and Mangaraw are identified, they could potentially be sued in Japan.
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Michael Tsai ☛ OpenAI Failed to Deliver Opt-out Tool
This was promised by 2025. I’m not holding my breath, but I’m guessing that it happens before Apple’s OCSP preference because there’s a decent chance a court will order it.
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TechCrunch ☛ OpenAI failed to deliver the opt-out tool it promised by 2025 | TechCrunch
But people familiar tell TechCrunch that the tool was rarely viewed as an important launch internally. “I don’t think it was a priority,” one former OpenAI employee said. “To be honest, I don’t remember anyone working on it.”
A non-employee who coordinates work with the company told TechCrunch in December that they had discussed the tool with OpenAI in the past, but that there haven’t been any recent updates. (These people declined to be publicly identified discussing confidential business matters.)
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.