Skip Navigation
InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)GE
geosoco @kbin.social
Posts 793
Comments 321
thehill.com Russia, China, Iran state media see boost on X after removal of ‘state-affiliated’ labels

The accounts of several Russian, Chinese and Iranian state media outlets saw a 70 percent increase in engagement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after it removed labels identifying th…

Russia, China, Iran state media see boost on X after removal of ‘state-affiliated’ labels

The accounts of several Russian, Chinese and Iranian state media outlets saw a 70 percent increase in engagement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after it removed labels identifying them as “state-affiliated,” according to a new report released Tuesday.

The recent analysis from NewsGuard, which analyzes media trends and disinformation, found that 12 state media accounts from the three countries saw the number of likes and reposts on their content jump from 2.93 million in the 90 days before X removed the “state-affiliated” labels to 4.98 million in the 90-day period afterward.

Russia’s RT, which was already receiving substantially more engagement than the other state media outlets before the label’s removal, saw interactions with its posts nearly double in the three months after the change, jumping from 1.3 million to 2.5 million.

Iran’s PressTV similarly saw its engagement increase by about 97 percent, rising from 215,000 to 425,000 interactions after X’s removal of the “state-affiliated” label, according to NewsGuard.

Russia’s TASS also saw a 63 percent increase in engagement, receiving 493,000 interactions in the three months after the change, while engagement with posts from China’s Global Times rose by 26 percent to 314,000 interactions.

36
thehill.com Russia, China, Iran state media see boost on X after removal of ‘state-affiliated’ labels

The accounts of several Russian, Chinese and Iranian state media outlets saw a 70 percent increase in engagement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after it removed labels identifying th…

Russia, China, Iran state media see boost on X after removal of ‘state-affiliated’ labels

The accounts of several Russian, Chinese and Iranian state media outlets saw a 70 percent increase in engagement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after it removed labels identifying them as “state-affiliated,” according to a new report released Tuesday.

The recent analysis from NewsGuard, which analyzes media trends and disinformation, found that 12 state media accounts from the three countries saw the number of likes and reposts on their content jump from 2.93 million in the 90 days before X removed the “state-affiliated” labels to 4.98 million in the 90-day period afterward.

Russia’s RT, which was already receiving substantially more engagement than the other state media outlets before the label’s removal, saw interactions with its posts nearly double in the three months after the change, jumping from 1.3 million to 2.5 million.

Iran’s PressTV similarly saw its engagement increase by about 97 percent, rising from 215,000 to 425,000 interactions after X’s removal of the “state-affiliated” label, according to NewsGuard.

Russia’s TASS also saw a 63 percent increase in engagement, receiving 493,000 interactions in the three months after the change, while engagement with posts from China’s Global Times rose by 26 percent to 314,000 interactions.

3
GPUs from all major suppliers are vulnerable to new pixel-stealing attack
  • Many sites have had to enable reveal passwords for people with complicated passwords not using password managers.

    It's low risk, but their numbers are also coming from fairly dated hardware and is just proof of concept. It can almost certainly be speed up significantly.

  • GPUs from all major suppliers are vulnerable to new pixel-stealing attack
  • The problem is that so many browsers leverage hardware acceleration and offer access to the GPUs. So yes, the browsers could fix the issue, but the underlying cause is the way GPUs handle data that the attack is leveraging. Fixing it would likely involve not using hardware acceleration.

    As these patterns are processed by the iGPU, their varying degrees of redundancy cause the lossless compression output to depend on the secret pixel. The data-dependent compression output directly translates to data-dependent DRAM traffic and data-dependent cache occupancy. Consequently, we show that, even under the most passive threat model—where an attacker can only observe coarse-grained redundancy information of a pattern using a coarse-grained timer in the browser and lacks the ability to adaptively select input—individual pixels can be leaked. Our proof-of-concept attack succeeds on a range of devices (including computers, phones) from a variety of hardware vendors with distinct GPU architectures (Intel, AMD, Apple, Nvidia). Surprisingly, our attack also succeeds on discrete GPUs, and we have preliminary results indicating the presence of software-transparent compression on those architectures as well.

    It sounds distantly similar to some of the canvas issues where the acceleration creates different artifacts which makes it possible to identify GPUs and fingerprint the browsers.

  • arstechnica.com GPUs from all major suppliers are vulnerable to new pixel-stealing attack

    A previously unknown compression side channel in GPUs can expose images thought to be private.

    GPUs from all major suppliers are vulnerable to new pixel-stealing attack

    GPUs from all six of the major suppliers are vulnerable to a newly discovered attack that allows malicious websites to read the usernames, passwords, and other sensitive visual data displayed by other websites, researchers have demonstrated in a paper published Tuesday.

    The cross-origin attack allows a malicious website from one domain—say, example.com—to effectively read the pixels displayed by a website from example.org, or another different domain. Attackers can then reconstruct them in a way that allows them to view the words or images displayed by the latter site. This leakage violates a critical security principle that forms one of the most fundamental security boundaries safeguarding the Internet. Known as the same origin policy, it mandates that content hosted on one website domain be isolated from all other website domains.

    ...

    The security threats that can result when HTML is embedded in iframes on malicious websites have been well-known for more than a decade. Most websites restrict the cross-origin embedding of pages displaying user names, passwords, or other sensitive content through X-Frame-Options or Content-Security-Policy headers. Not all, however, do. One example is Wikipedia, which shows the usernames of people who log in to their accounts. A person who wants to remain anonymous while visiting a site they don’t trust could be outed if it contained an iframe containing a link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main\_Page.

    Pixel stealing PoC for deanonymizing a user, run with other tabs open playing video. “Ground Truth” is the victim iframe (Wikipedia logged in as “Yingchenw”). “AMD” is the attack result on a Ryzen 7 4800U after 30 minutes, with 97 percent accuracy. “Intel” is the attack result for an i7-8700 after 215 minutes with 98 percent accuracy.

    The researchers showed how GPU.zip allows a malicious website they created for their PoC to steal pixels one by one for a user’s Wikipedia username. The attack works on GPUs provided by Apple, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Arm, and Nvidia. On AMD’s Ryzen 7 4800U, GPU.zip took about 30 minutes to render the targeted pixels with 97 percent accuracy. The attack required 215 minutes to reconstruct the pixels when displayed on a system running an Intel i7-8700.

    ...

    47
    thehill.com Charges dropped against Philadelphia officer who fatally shot Eddie Irizarry at traffic stop

    A judge dismissed all charges Tuesday against a Philadelphia police officer who fatally shot a driver last month.  Mark Dial shot 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry through the rolled-up driver’s side wind…

    Charges dropped against Philadelphia officer who fatally shot Eddie Irizarry at traffic stop

    A judge dismissed all charges Tuesday against a Philadelphia police officer who fatally shot a driver last month.

    Mark Dial shot 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry through the rolled-up driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan during a traffic stop on Aug. 14.

    Dial and his partner, Officer Michael Morris, say they had been pursuing Irizarry for driving erratically and turning the wrong way down a one-way street. Morris testified that Irizarry had a knife in his hand and had started to raise it as the officers approached.

    During a hearing, Dial’s lawyers argued he acted in self-defense because he believed the knife Irizarry had was a gun. Brian McMonagle, one of his lawyers, said his client was justified in shooting as he was trying to take cover and had feared for his life during the incident.

    “Every tragedy is not a crime,” McMonagle said.

    Initial statements from the police department said Dial shot the driver outside the vehicle after he “lunged at” police with a knife, but the department later walked back these statements.

    Still, McMonagle said the charges, which included manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts, never should have been filed given the evidence.

    “I agree with you 100 percent,” Judge Wendy Pew responded before tossing all charges Tuesday, per the Associated Press.

    55
    Initial Two Years of Oral Contraceptive Use Could Heighten Depression Risk
  • Take this article with a grain of salt.

    1. the site that hosts it is a garbage clickbait health site.
    2. It links to an article in the NIH database, but it's from last year and as the bright yellow box says, there are some concerns about the article. ( concern and the reply )
    3. It has been corrected
    4. They also note in the article "all oral contraceptive pills may cause mood changes, but the newer oral contraceptive pills containing estradiol or estradiol valerate may be less likely to cause mood changes."
  • wccftech.com Apple Releases macOS Sonoma With Interactive Widgets, Game Mode, and More For all Compatible Macs - Download Available

    Apple has released macOS Sonoma with major enhancmeents throughout for all compatible Macs, download and install it right now.

    Apple Releases macOS Sonoma With Interactive Widgets, Game Mode, and More For all Compatible Macs - Download Available

    macOS Sonoma will bring significant improvements to Safari where you can create separate profiles and a personal account that will track your preferences and activities with all of your saved passwords for websites, and much more. Widgets are also part of the final release, allowing you to gain access to information at a glance. Using Continuity, your iPhone's widgets can also be displayed on your Mac. Since Apple has released macOS Sonoma on all compatible devices, you can download and install right now,

    The latest macOS Sonoma beta can be installed on your Mac through the Software Update mechanism in System Settings. macOS Sonoma also brings Apple TV-like screen savers to the mix. There is also a new Game Mode for users as Apple plans to introduce new titles to its library. If you are unfamiliar, check out if your Mac is compatible with Apple's latest macOS Sonoma update.

    1
    wccftech.com Apple Releases macOS Sonoma With Interactive Widgets, Game Mode, and More For all Compatible Macs - Download Available

    Apple has released macOS Sonoma with major enhancmeents throughout for all compatible Macs, download and install it right now.

    Apple Releases macOS Sonoma With Interactive Widgets, Game Mode, and More For all Compatible Macs - Download Available

    macOS Sonoma will bring significant improvements to Safari where you can create separate profiles and a personal account that will track your preferences and activities with all of your saved passwords for websites, and much more. Widgets are also part of the final release, allowing you to gain access to information at a glance. Using Continuity, your iPhone's widgets can also be displayed on your Mac. Since Apple has released macOS Sonoma on all compatible devices, you can download and install right now,

    The latest macOS Sonoma beta can be installed on your Mac through the Software Update mechanism in System Settings. macOS Sonoma also brings Apple TV-like screen savers to the mix. There is also a new Game Mode for users as Apple plans to introduce new titles to its library. If you are unfamiliar, check out if your Mac is compatible with Apple's latest macOS Sonoma update.

    0
    www.ign.com Todd Howard Says Planet Exploration in Starfield Was Brutal Before Being 'Nerfed' - IGN

    In a recent interview, Todd Howard explains how planet exploration in Starfield would have been a lot more punishing before the team decided to nerf "the hell out of it".

    Todd Howard Says Planet Exploration in Starfield Was Brutal Before Being 'Nerfed' - IGN

    In a recent interview, Todd Howard explains how planet exploration in Starfield would have been a lot more punishing before the team decided to nerf "the hell out of it".

    ...

    "So the way the environmental damage works in the game, on planets, and your suit, you have resistances to certain types of atmosphere effects, whether that's radiation or thermal, etc., and that was a pretty complex system - actually, it was very punitive," Howard said on the podcast. "... And what we did at the end of the day, and it was a complicated system for players to understand, is we just nerfed the hell out of it. It matters only a little bit. It matters more in flavor. The affliction you get is more annoying knowing you have it."

    ...

    Howard's comment that Bethesda may address it "going forward" implies Starfield may receive a Hardcore or Survival mode-type difficulty level in the game. It would not be the first time Bethesda added a difficulty mode to one of its games post-release, as Fallout 4 received a Survival Mode a few months after launch. This added a set of features not found in the other difficulty levels, such as eliminating the option to autosave or save manually from the pause menu or stronger enemies spawning more frequently. Should such a mode be added to Starfield, the team could bring back the more punitive system for planet exploration.

    9

    Unravel The Talos Principle 2's Mysteries In November (2nd)

    www.gameinformer.com Unravel The Talos Principle 2's Mysteries In November

    Get ready for another profound and perplexing experience.

    Unravel The Talos Principle 2's Mysteries In November

    The Talo Principle II has a new trailer that includes a release date of November 2. The follow-up to the acclaimed 2014 puzzle game was first announced during the PlayStation Showcase in May.

    Set in the distant future after the events of the first game, The Talos Principle II unfolds in a world ruled by robots after humanity has gone extinct. These machines preserve human culture in their day-to-day lives, and the story centers on a unraveling the truth behind a megastructure hiding a great mystery and immense power. The story-driven game takes players across several futuristic locations and includes multiple endings. Gameplay features familiar mechanics and new twists, including challenges centering on mind transference and gravity manipulation.

    Release Date Trailer

    3
    www.gameinformer.com Don't Nod's Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden Delayed To February

    The team is aiming for a "less saturated" period of video game releases for Banishers.

    Don't Nod's Banishers: Ghosts Of New Eden Delayed To February

    Don't Nod Entertainment, the studio behind Life is Strange, revealed its action RPG, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, during The Game Awards last year. Earlier this year, in June, Don't Nod announced Banishers will be released in November but today, the studio delayed its release to next year. More specifically, Banishers will now hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on February 13, 2024.

    As for why, Don't Nod CEO Oskar Guilbert says the team is aiming for a "less saturated period" of video game releases, alluding to the swath of games releasing in the coming weeks, including next month's Assassin's Creed Mirage, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2, and more (and that's just some of what's releasing in October, which then leads right into November).

    Gameplay preview trailer

    1

    Final Fantasy 14’s 6.5 patch arrives next week (Oct 3rd) with a new dungeon, trial, alliance raid and more

    www.rockpapershotgun.com Final Fantasy 14’s 6.5 patch arrives next week with a new dungeon, trial, alliance raid and more

    New Main Scenario quests to arrive in two parts ahead of next year’s Dawntrail.

    Final Fantasy 14’s 6.5 patch arrives next week with a new dungeon, trial, alliance raid and more

    Growing Light was first teased during the Letter from the Producer Live event at Fan Fest Las Vegas in July, confirming that Growing Light will be split across two major updates. The first will land in FF14’s patch 6.5 on October 3rd, ahead of the second part in patch 6.55 next January.

    As detailed during producer Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida’s latest stream, patch 6.5 will add a host of new content to XIV, the headline additions being the next set of Main Scenario quests - referred to as Part 1 - that will lead up to Dawntrail and continue to advance the MMO in its post-Hydaelyn-Zodiark story arc following the finale of 2021 expansion Endwalker.

    ...

    Trailer

    1
    www.rockpapershotgun.com CD Projekt apologise for Cyberpunk 2077 Ukrainian script's potentially "offensive" references to Russians

    CD Projekt have formally commented on the presence of references to the Russia-Ukraine war in Cyberpunk 2077's recently…

    CD Projekt apologise for Cyberpunk 2077 Ukrainian script's potentially "offensive" references to Russians

    CD Projekt have formally commented on the presence of references to the Russia-Ukraine war in Cyberpunk 2077's recently added Ukrainian localisation, apologising for dialogue lines "that can be considered offensive by Russian gamers", while reiterating their support for Ukraine.

    In case you missed it, the Ukrainian script and menu localisation currently includes a number of antagonistic references to Russians and to the on-going Russian invasion of Ukraine. One dialogue line refers to a particular bandit group as "rusnia", and there's photo mode menu text for a squatting character that translates as "like a Russian". There's also lore text that apparently riffs on Ukrainian government rhetoric during the war, and a piece of in-game wallart that alludes to the dispute between Ukraine and Russia over Crimea.

    10
    wccftech.com Free Starfield Copy When Purchasing an Xbox Series X at Select Retailers

    Those buying an Xbox Series X can get a free Starfield copy at various retailers, including Verizon and Target.

    Free Starfield Copy When Purchasing an Xbox Series X at Select Retailers

    Those buying an Xbox Series X can get a free Starfield copy at select retailers, including Verizon and Target.

    Starfield is a popular game, with the title reaching over 10 million players since its global launch this month. Of course, aside from being available digitally and at retailers, Bethesda's sci-fi RPG is also available on Game Pass. Those who haven't bought the game just yet or aren't subscribed to Microsoft's game subscription service can now get a free copy of the game when purchasing an Xbox Series X. Both Target and Verizon are bundling the game for free with Microsoft's Series X console for 'only' $499.99. Interestingly enough, Target's offer isn't limited to Starfield, but it also works with various Xbox Series X titles, including Madden NFL 24, the new Mortal Kombat 1, Hogwarts Legacy, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, and more.

    As said, Verizon is currently offering a special limited-time Xbox Series X bundle with a free copy of Starfield for $499.99 (normally $569.98). This item is only available online, and those purchasing the bundle need to be at least 17 years old.

    1
    wccftech.com PlayStation 5 Store Gets Long-Anticipated User Rating System

    A long-anticipated user rating system is currently being rolled out for the PlayStation 5 digital store, allowing users to rate games they own

    PlayStation 5 Store Gets Long-Anticipated User Rating System

    The PlayStation Network store leaves a lot to be desired in terms of features available on other digital storefronts, but from today, a highly requested feature started rolling out to provide users with more information regarding games available for purchase on PlayStation 5.

    As reported by multiple users, a user rating system started rolling out today, allowing users to rate games they purchased and added to their personal library. While the system still isn't perfect, as it lets users rate games even without playing them, it is still a nice addition that goes a long way to improve the PlayStation Network user experience, which hasn't seen much improvement for years.

    2
    wccftech.com PS Plus Essential October Titles Include The Callisto Protocol and More According to Leaks

    October is almost upon us and some of next month's PS Plus Essential titles have leaked yet again! Find out what we're getting.

    PS Plus Essential October Titles Include The Callisto Protocol and More According to Leaks

    October is almost upon us, which means PS Plus Essential tier subscribers will have a new short-list of free games to try out, and as usual, some of the games have leaked ahead of time. These leaks come courtesy of Billbil-kun writing on Dealabs, who has a pretty much perfect record when it comes to revealing PS Plus titles. In October players can look forward sci-fi horror game The Callisto Protocol and the oddly-popular Farming Simulator 22. There should also be a third title, but our leaker has not revealed that, and it’s likely The Callisto Protocol is October’s highest-profile PS Plus Essential title.

    1

    Star Wars' Ahsoka Tano is now a part of Epic Games' battle royale, Fortnite. She joined Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 4: Last Resort this morning and includes a battle pass, her white Jedi Training Lightsaber weapon, Force abilities, and more. Epic says Ahsoka, her lightsaber, and Force abilities will remain in Fortnite until the v26.30 update.

    0
    www.gameinformer.com Endless Dungeon's Lera Lynn On Music For Games, Her 'True Detective' Work, Writing During A Pandemic, And More

    We interview singer-songwriter Lera Lynn about her musical contributions in Endless Dungeon, her performance in HBO's second season of "True Detective," and more.

    Endless Dungeon's Lera Lynn On Music For Games, Her 'True Detective' Work, Writing During A Pandemic, And More

    Sega's Endless Dungeon hits PlayStation, Xbox, and PC next month, and ahead of its release, we spoke with singer-songwriter Lera Lynn, who wrote new original songs that play during the game. Lynn is a musician who has also appeared in things like HBO's True Detective series, where she played an in-universe musician at a dive bar in the show's second season. She has experience working on music for TV, film, and now, thanks to Endless Dungeon, games.

    We spoke with Lynn about the processes for creating music for these mediums, differences and similarities, the songs that appear in Endless Dungeon, and more. Enjoy our interview below!

    ...

    Lynn: That's an interesting question. When you're in the thick of making it, you're like, "Yeah, this is so good." And then a couple of months go by, you're working on it, and you’re analyzing every single detail, and you reach a point where you're like, "Ahhh, I f\\\*ing hate this." You put it to bed for a while, and you don't listen to it, and then come back maybe six months, or, you know, a year later, in this case, and I'm like, "This is actually pretty cool. I really do like this, I am proud of this work." But that is the cycle for me with all music. I think there's always hindsight. You always can hear areas where you would have done things differently because you're growing and learning and getting better at what you do, hopefully, so that's always in there. But I definitely feel like I'm very proud of this music and really excited for people to hear it.

    ...

    YouTube Endless Dungeon - Free again YouTube Endless Dungeon - The Garden - live

    1
    www.gameinformer.com Ubisoft Bordeaux On Its Nostalgic AC1 Filter In Assassin's Creed Mirage

    We spoke with Mirage's artistic director about the decision to include this "nostalgic visual filter."

    Ubisoft Bordeaux On Its Nostalgic AC1 Filter In Assassin's Creed Mirage

    We spoke with Mirage's artistic director about the decision to include this "nostalgic visual filter."

    Assassin's Creed Mirage brings players to Baghdad in 861, during its Golden Age when it was the cultural and technological epicenter of the region. The city feels alive with merchants, townsfolk, guards, palaces, and more. It's vibrant, lively, and, well, looks and sounds like a city. It's painted with hues of desert orange and "Arabian Nights" blue skies, something intentional, according to artistic director Jean-Luc Sala.

    Having lived in the region, Sala says he and his visual team infused many sights he remembers near the Tigris River to bring Baghdad to life. The result is beautiful, if my two hours of hands-on time is any indication. With Mirage meant to serve as an homage to the first Assassin's Creed that started the series in 2007, Sala and the rest of the team at Ubisoft Bordeaux added an option to make Baghdad look more like the Jerusalem Altair explored.

    ...

    "We know how excited our community is [and] we also have a nice surprise for our long-timers," Sala says in the video. "We implemented a nostalgic visual filter as an option for those who wish to explore the game with the desaturated blue-gray color palette from the very first Assassin's Creed game."

    ...

    0
    www.eurogamer.net SAG-AFTRA members overwhelmingly vote in favour of authorising video game strike

    Members of the major SAG-AFTRA acting union have overwhelmingly voted in favour of authorising a potential video game s…

    SAG-AFTRA members overwhelmingly vote in favour of authorising video game strike

    Members of the major SAG-AFTRA acting union have overwhelmingly voted in favour of authorising a potential video game strike.

    Ballots were cast by 34,687 members, with 98.32 percent in favour of strike authorisation on the Interactive Media Agreement that covers union members' work on video games.

    While this does not guarantee the union will call a strike, the next bargaining session is this week, and this ratchets up the pressure. The leverage of this authorisation could compel movement on either side.

    9
    www.eurogamer.net Here's how Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth players will catch chocobo in the wild

    Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will task players with catching chocobo in real-time out in the wild. Of course, catching choco…

    Here's how Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth players will catch chocobo in the wild

    Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will task players with catching chocobo in real-time out in the wild.

    Of course, catching chocobo is nothing new for the series, but a new social post on X (formerly Twitter) from the game's official account shows how it'll work in Rebirth for the first time, with a video of Cloud catching one of the iconic yellow birds.

    ...

    In the original game players encountered chocobo during battles, where they needed to distract them while fighting enemies. With the open world of Rebirth, we now know it'll work a little differently.

    Tweet link

    1
    www.eurogamer.net 15 years later, more Beyond Good & Evil 2 footage surfaces

    While we wait (and wait) for Ubisoft to show more of Beyond Good & Evil 2, early footage from the project has surfa…

    15 years later, more Beyond Good & Evil 2 footage surfaces

    While we wait (and wait) for Ubisoft to show more of Beyond Good & Evil 2, early footage from the project has surfaced from back in 2008.

    Yes, 2008. We've really been waiting a while.

    This is the version of Beyond Good & Evil we've seen in other clips released or leaked over the years, and which Ubisoft released an early trailer for (showing main character Jade and Uncle Pey'j in a car out in the desert).

    Video

    4
    Trump-appointed judge rips Texas law setting up book-ban regime for state's schools (UPDATE: it's going into effect. see blurb)
  • The intent is to ban books about topics they don't like racism, queers, trans folks, abortion, etc as part of the "war on wokeness". They pretend that they're sexually graphic or things kids shouldn't learn about, but it's incredibly unlikely schools ever had books beyond a few classics.

    Obviously, these are everyday topics so it's going to ban a lot of neighboring content, probably including the bible. Regardless, because it's at a state-run institution, it's unconstitutional.

    The kids will hear about all of these topics in much greater detail on fox news every day anyway, so this is entirely for show and to cause chaos.

  • Trump-appointed judge rips Texas law setting up book-ban regime for state's schools (UPDATE: it's going into effect. see blurb)
  • Great summary! a teensy nitpick. I wouldn't say the most recent court said it was "fine" per se since they didn't give any reasoning. It is at least possible, that there is a technical issue with earlier rulings. It could be minor technicality, and they let the law take effect pending the next court date?

    I think your implication is likely correct, and this is probably political, but we really don't know the reason, and I think not giving one is surprising.

  • How El Nino will affect the US this winter
  • Some highlights if you don't want to click:

    Temperatures are forecast to be warmer than normal for all of the northern U.S., from northern California, Oregon and Washington to Pennsylvania, New York and into New England.

    NOAA says that temperatures will stay closer to the 30-year average for the South.

    For the precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, etc.), the northern states could see below-normal snowfall, especially in the northern Rockies and the Great Lakes.

    Across most of the South, wetter than normal conditions are expected, especially in the Southeast from Louisiana to Florida and into the Carolinas.

    For the Northeast, there is a chance that this will be a wetter than normal winter from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, to New York City and into southern New England.

    super important detail

    One other thing to note, this is all a probability forecast. The atmosphere is very fluid and dynamic, and forecasts could change.

  • Trump-appointed judge rips Texas law setting up book-ban regime for state's schools (UPDATE: it's going into effect. see blurb)
  • OP NOTE: This is actually a week old, today 3 judge panel allowed the ban to go into effect. Here's the author's mastodon post about it. though there are few other details and I can't find a new story about it.

    BREAKING: A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit (Elrod, Haynes, Douglas) allows Texas’s book-ban law to go into effect, issuing an administrative stay of the district court ruling enjoining enforcement of the law.
    The court gave no reasoning for its order, which is remarkable given that the law has never been allowed to go into effect, so the order — although posed as merely “administrative” — is a ruling, at least temporarily, changing the status of state law.

  • The End of Privacy is a Taylor Swift Fan TikTok Account Armed with Facial Recognition Tech
  • You should 100% lie when you can. You can give every site a different email address, name, birthday, gender, and location and just note all of that in your password manager.

    However, there's a lot you just can't control, like other people catching you in their pictures.

  • The End of Privacy is a Taylor Swift Fan TikTok Account Armed with Facial Recognition Tech
  • This only sorta works for today and if your friends never share images or videos online. The ever-increasing amount of people taking pictures and filming and posting them online means the day is quickly approaching where you could be identified and tracked through other people's content, security & surveillance cameras, etc.

    If stores start adopting the tracking used at Walmart and the Amazon biometric data, social media will be the last of your worries.

  • Announcing ‘Be My AI,’ Soon Available for Hundreds of Thousands of Be My Eyes Users
  • I have no idea what their business model is, but this would be a great way to collect more data for training various forms of AI. Arguably without harvesting people's personal data or their creative works.

    I also suspect that because it's an assistive tool, it can probably get a fair bit of grant money.

  • Gen Z can’t work alongside people with different views because they ‘haven’t got the skills to disagree’ says British TV boss
  • Boss clearly isn't online much to see their content.

    I've worked with Gen-Zers and have never seen this specific issue. Sounds like another example of a boss so removed from workers that their "insights" aren't based on experiences, but rather on that deadly combo of the tendency of older generations to negatively see generational changes, and that corporate group think where they try to justify not paying their workers their value.

    It also sounds like a touch of the corporate group think where they forgot how much their employers had to teach them on the job, and how much they don't want to continue doing that.