https://web.archive.org/web/20240229043417/https://www.techdirt.com/2024/02/27/italys-piracy-shield-creating-real-problems-as-vpns-start-turning-away-italian-users/

Yup. https://www.reuters.com/technology/intel-get-32-billion-government-grant-new-25-billion-israel-chip-plant-2023-12-26/

DuckDuckGo browser is available for android

In the fall, Jezebel reported how a bipartisan bill ostensibly meant to protect children from harmful content online could be weaponized by Republican politicians to censor everything from LGBTQ+ content to sex ed info to abortion resources—and for all internet users, not just children.

This is so dystopian

I think the tech companies believe they’ll get good PR for a bill that purports to be about child safety. In actuality, the bill will allow them to censor anything they want on their platforms while sidestepping criticism about curtailing free speech because they can say “we’re just trying not to get sued; if you have a problem, take it up with Washington”

Editor’s summary of original article published in Science:

When intact, the Amazonian forest is dense and difficult to penetrate, both on foot and with scanning technologies. Over the past several years, however, improved light detection and ranging scans have begun to penetrate the forest canopy, revealing previously unknown evidence of past Amazonian cultures. Rostain et al. describe evidence of such an agrarian Amazonian culture that began more than 2000 years ago. They describe more than 6000 earthen platforms distributed in a geometic pattern connected by roads and intertwined with agricultural landscapes and river drainages in the Upano Valley. Previous efforts have described mounds and large monuments in Amazonia, but the complexity and extent of this development far surpasses these previous sites. —Sacha Vignieri

With Over 10,000 infants and children killed in Israel’s Gaza genocide, hundreds of whom are trapped beneath debris, this is so dystopian

I also find AI taking other people’s jobs depressing. Whenever I purchase something or need customer service, I’d always rather interact with a human than AI

I’m sorry if you felt attacked; that was not my intent.

A lot of the Internet runs on the premise that a convenience is provided to you, and in return your data are harvested and sold to other parties without your awareness. AFAIK, none of that data harvesting and the targeted marketing that goes with it does any good for society - it just makes the wealthy wealthier and the confused more confused. We didn’t vote on this, big tech just took over. And how many people make informed decisions about how their data are harvested today? If you only know half of what you’re authorizing, are you really choosing to do it? Does choice in the digital era exist? Updates and user agreements are forced upon us. Maybe one chooses to use meta or xitter. Once downloaded, the apps choose for them. Every image you upload to BeReal is probably being used for dozens of different data harvesting projects, like training face recognition.

I’m in my 30s. I remember pre cell phones. People younger than me, who grew up with ‘smartphones,’ seem oblivious and unconcerned about how little privacy and control of their information they have. In fact, some of them seem to have contempt for others who express concerns about social media, etc.

I don’t think any individual who chooses to use this platform is creepy. I think the lack of recognition of privacy concerns with such apps - never mind when their use is mandated - is the creepy part. It’s a society thing, not an individual thing

IMO, there’s a lot of creepiness even if the app is not recording from your camera when you’re not using the app, but I respect your opinion if you disagree.

That’s creepy af