“Whoops, our AI escaped its sandbox and stole most of the world’s billionaires money and redistributed it to good causes. It also wiped your debt.”

That would be the absolute winner

it makes me sad that i grew up all my life with the core knowledge that Nazis are bad.... and that seemed to be a universally held - and upheld - truth.

But then everyone got addicted to social media platforms and now it's fine if those companies pay Nazis to post rage bait. People will just keep scrolling anyway.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-06/ragebait-how-facebook-is-paying-controversial-creators/106940696

#socialmedia #facebook #meta #morality #laziness #memory #nazi #neonazi #corporateMedia #Fascism

Sending peace

Bowknot Bend 🇺🇸, a dramatic meander of Utah's Green River, winds through an arid landscape of sandstone cliffs and rocky plateaus. 🛰️ This false-colour #CopernicusEU Sentinel-2 #ImageOfTheDay highlights the river and surrounding vegetation. 🔗 https://eu-space.europa.eu/explore-euspace/images
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https://nitter.net/CopernicusEU/status/2086146849295982737#m

The last purple martins have fledged (and are turning up in various silly places around the farm, like this guy just hanging out in the fence).

The swallows, purple martins, and crows are gathering together into larger and larger flocks, and thinking about leaving. It's always so sad when the birds leave us for the winter, and mid-August always seems awfully early. But, well, it's Saskachewan. Winter is coming.

My oldest kid has started regularly volunteering with a dog rescue group, helping out at adoption events. It's the perfect volunteer opportunity for her, she's so good with dogs. But... gosh I don't need more dogs.... even really cute sweet ones... danger danger danger!

"The Books that saw it coming"

Bookstores and librarians ❤️

#Books #bookstodon

Europlanet (Planetary science 🪐)

Europlanet is a network linking planetary scientists from across Europe. The aim of Europlanet is to promote collaboration and communication between partner institutions and to support missions to explore the Solar System. EuroPlaNet co-ordinates activities in Planetary Sciences in order to achieve a long-term integration of this discipline in Europe. In 2021, the...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europlanet

#Europlanet #PlanetaryScience #AstronomyOrganizations

“After just “10 minutes of AI-assisted problem-solving, people who lost access to the AI performed worse and gave up more frequently than those who never used it”.

An MIT study showed that test groups who used ChatGPT had the lowest brain activity and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels”. We undergo not just cognitive offloading, but cognitive surrender: we forget what was possible.”

https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/aug/08/i-hate-what-ai-is-doing-to-the-minds-and-happiness-of-the-young-katherine-rundell-on-the-view-from-the-classroom

#ai #cognitivedebt

bonjour à celui juste à côté de moi dans ce TGV qui a un sticker "antifascist fediverse" sur sa gourde

Pōneke: Wellington. Commonly held to be a phonetic Māori transliteration Port Nicholson. An alternatively suggested etymology for Pōneke is that it comes from a shortening of the phrase Pō Nekeneke, meaning 'journey into the night'

🔴 A defense contractor is now selling technology that scans every electronic device in your car as you drive past a camera. It ties everything to your license plate. You cannot opt out.

It is called SignalTrace. Made by Leonardo, an Italian military contractor with existing U.S. Special Operations Command contracts. It sweeps your phone, smartwatch, Bluetooth headphones, your dog's RFID chip, tire pressure sensors, your car's infotainment system. Anything that broadcasts.

It bundles these into what Leonardo calls your "electronic fingerprint," timestamped and geotagged. Stored in an "Enterprise Operations Center for future queries and analysis."

Those are their words. Not mine.

You did not consent. You cannot opt out. Your devices broadcast by existing. In most places, this is perfectly legal.

If this sounds like something that will be abused: it already has been. Police have used existing license plate reader networks to stalk partners, verify school residency, run background checks, and monitor protests. At least 22 officers charged or resigned for ALPR stalking.

SignalTrace does not read your messages. It does not need to. It knows who you travel with, where you go, and when.

Sources: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/06/24/surveillance-tech-company-is-pitching-an-unholy-alpr-stingray-hybrid-to-law-enforcement/ and https://www.leonardocompany-us.com/lpr/elsag-signaltrace

#surveillance #privacy #ALPR

At #defcon ? Come say hi at the front of vendor hall! We have new shirts, a custom iFixit SAO, and much more 👀

I wouldn’t say Spock and Sid are friends. Spock is much too jumpy for that. But coexistence is coming easier every few days. Spock tolerates Sid now, and is, I think, getting maybe friend-curious. Delighted they can now sometimes share dinner and a window space at least, which is much more than I thought we’d ever get. #InternationalCatDay #CatsOfMastodon #Catstodon #ProofOfCat

In honour of #InternationalCatDay this year I figured I’d reintroduce everyone to my boys.

This is Spock. He’s 13 years old. He’s been with us since he was a 13 week old kitten.

He is a ferocious and still very productive hunter. #CatsOfMastodon #Catstodon #ProofOfCat

I am a little shocked at the lack of solidarity I see between artists working in different mediums wrt genAI.

Musicians who would never use it to make music use it to make cover art

Graphic artists reach for it to make music over their videos

Writers use it to illustrate their articles

And, considering software development an art, many use it to create web sites or apps to host their art.

None of this is necessary. All of this is harmful to the other artists.

Collaborate ffs.

Stop it.

When a box isn't available, a bag will have to do!
#CatsOfMastodon #caturday

Moos de kater #katerMoos #Caturday #CatsOfMastodon #katzen #catstodon #photography

@futurebird transported them to a shed's wall (south-side) and let them bake in the sun. Every day he made a check like a gourmet cook, if they were already perfect.
I thought that I was crazily imagining that he cared so much for preparing his favourite chewing gum. But later I had other dogs doing exactly the same.

@futurebird I'm not sure but I remember having read a text about parallels of very early humans preparing meals and animals. Depends also on the definition of cooking: is it also preparing cold, fermenting? (Apes do love fermented fruits,lots of animals consume natural drugs/alcohol). Or does it need fire? Animals can use sun heat.

I once had a Husky preparing chewing treats. He collected earthworms, transported them to the only place with sand and rolled them there with the paws. Then he