This looks like a bizarre irregular galaxy, but it's actually two galaxies separated by billions of light-years, imaged by JWST. The foreground elliptical galaxy is part of a closer galaxy cluster called SMACS J0028.2-7537. And then the orange galaxy wrapped around it is actually a spiral galaxy that has been lensed by the gravity of the galaxy cluster into an Einstein ring. This is just one example in a comprehensive Webb survey of 182 galaxy clusters.
NASA to put Starliner’s thrusters through an extensive workout before next launch "We’ll continue to work through certification toward the end of this year." arstechnica.com/space/2025/03/…
"More than half a year after an empty Starliner spacecraft safely landed in a New Mexico desert, NASA and Boeing still have not decided whether the vehicle's next flight will carry any astronauts."
WTF??!?
"It is becoming clear that Starliner will only ever fly a handful of missions to the space station, if that, before the orbiting laboratory is retired."
My (not quite) boyfriend just stopped by while I'm on quarantine to drop off a pair of earrings he made for me! They match my longboard, and they're so dope—I absolutely love them!
He handed them to me in a tiny white takeout box with a little metal wire handle. I put them on, and then we both just stood there on my front porch blushing at each other like highschool kids (kids still blush these days, right?) for like 20 minutes.
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupYou Are Too Beautiful · John Coltrane · Johnny HartmanJohn Coltrane And Johnny Hartman℗ 1963 The Verve Music Grou...
ICYMI: The #TeslaTakedown movement is gaining momentum, and The Big Picture got the inside scoop. Find out how you can get involved in an event near you during tomorrow's national day of action. thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p…
These are good. Dr. King showed the way with nonviolent protest. It would be a good idea to also hold protests (or at least informational picketing) outside the hometown offices of GOP US senators and reps. They have offices in their home districts and states in addition to ones in DC. This is a way of reminding locals that the people they elected to serve them are actually screwing them by failing to halt extremist policies by Trump and Musk. #USSenate #USHouseOfRepresentatives
it's too bad this movement got marred by dingalings blowing up cars and keying Teslas owned by regular libs. It kind of puts a bad light on things. I miss the anti-war days we used to represent.
Elon Musk's quest to colonize Mars could upend international cooperation and the establishment of space as a commons—it's a risk to Earthlings everywhere.
When we think of 8-bit computers, it’s natural to start with home computers. That’s where they live on in the collective memory. But a Z80, a 6502, or similar was more likely to be foun…
Enshittification is what you get when tech companies, run by the common-or-garden mediocre sociopaths who end up at the top of most businesses, are unshackled from any consequence for indulging their worst, greediest impulses:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) refused to back down in his dispute with author Stephen King, while also doubling down on his call to abolish the state income tax, the Bangor Daily News reported.
My last nationally bestselling novel was "The Bezzle," an ice-cold revenge story of high-tech finance crime starring the forensic accountant Martin Hench.
New York Times bestseller Cory Doctorow's The Bezzle is a high stakes thriller where the lives of the hundreds of thousands of inmates in California’s pris...
My ebooks and audiobooks (from Tor Books, Head of Zeus, McSweeneys, Beacon, Verso and others) are for sale all over the net, but I sell 'em too, and when you buy 'em from me, I earn twice as much and you get books with no DRM and no license "agreements."
Critics argue that Elon Musk’s rise to power in the United States is emblematic of the expanding power of Big Tech and could pose a threat to democracy.With ...
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ooh, that Barnes & Noble in PDX is easy bike distance from my house!
Guess I'll have to pick up a paper copy of Picks & Shovels after already scarfing it down on my e-reader - which I've apparently done with every installment in the Martin Hench series so far 😅
Twice in one month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says his company is 'out of GPUs' that are 'melting' from high demand. Can its infrastructure keep up with the pace of development? pcmag.com/news/recent-openai-l…
Twice in one month, CEO Sam Altman says his company is 'out of GPUs' that are 'melting' from high demand. Can its infrastructure keep up with the pace of development?
Well, somebody has to do the work when Trump has thrown out all the immigrants. You still want your burger, don't you? And when the kids are working, they can't do weird stuff like finishing school or writing leftist articles on social media. Win-Win.
I'm old enough to remember when such terms would be considered slavery.
Be sure to post names, so we can boycott every place that takes advantage of these changes. That includes the entire McDonald's chain if they do it (and we just know they probably will...)
Watch as the works of Charles Dickens end up being simultaneously praised as works of classic western (AKA white) literature to be proud of and banned from schools for being too woke for being anti child labour.
Well if you need to replace the cheap immigrant workforce to make the lazy old retired folks in Florida comfortable, why not take the rights of the young and vulnerable underpaid workers away ??
If passsed, marginalized communities will be hit the hardest, exploiting children who are poor. It’s hard to keep up with these people. It’s easier to just think of the shittiest thing that can be done, and assume that they’ll do it.
💡 Are you a creative and detail-oriented marketer with a passion for open source? Do you love crafting engaging content, managing social media, and bringing communities together?
The FreeBSD Foundation is looking for a Marketing Coordinator who can help amplify our message, engage our global community, and support growth.
Are you a creative and detail-oriented marketer with a passion for open source? Do you love crafting engaging content, managing social media, and bringing communities together? If you thrive in a dynamic, remote environment and enjoy working on proje…
Enshittification is what you get when tech companies, run by the common-or-garden mediocre sociopaths who end up at the top of most businesses, are unshackled from any consequence for indulging their worst, greediest impulses:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
The reason Facebook was once a nice place to hang out and talk with your friends and isn't anymore is that Mark Zuckerberg is no longer disciplined by competitors like Instagram (which he bought) nor by regulators (whom he captured), nor by interoperable tech like ad-blockers and alternative clients (which he uses IP law to destroy) nor by his own workforce (who have become disposable thanks to workforce supply catching up with demand).
It used to be that Mark Zuckerberg couldn't really move the enshittification lever in the Facebook C-suite because these disciplining forces gummed it up. He had to worry about losing users, or about users installing alternative technology, or about regulators hitting him hard enough to hurt, or about workplace revolts.
Now, he doesn't have to worry about these things, so he's indulging the impulses that he's had since the earliest days in his Harvard dorm, when he was a mere larval incel cooking up an online service to help him rate the fuckability of his female classmates.
When we had defenses, Mark Zuckerberg had to respect them. Now that we're defenseless, he's shameless. He's insatiable. He will devour us to the marrow.
When I'm explaining enshittification to normies, I often make comparisons to other places where you can't escape like airports and sports stadiums: "Facebook can afford to abuse you once they have you locked for the same reason that water costs $7/bottle on the other side of the airport TSA checkpoint."
It's an extremely apt comparison, as you can verify for yourself by reading "Shakedown at the Snack Counter: The Case for Street Pricing," a new report from the Groundwork Collective:
If this seems counterintuitive, try Mariana Mazzucato's *Entrepreneurial State*, which lists all the ways in which the tech revolution represents a privatization of publicly funded research, as with the iPhone, whose semiconductors, internet connection, voice assistant technology, touchscreen and other components all count the public as a key investor:
Government support for research and development is responsible for much of the innovation that drives GDP, argues Mariana Mazzucato. Photo courtesy of Stephen Yang/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
As with airports and stadiums, the proprietors of the iPhone reap this gigantic public subsidy without taking on any public duties. Regulators that *could* impose some kind of public service obligations as quid pro quo for using public funds are AWOL, or worse, captured and complicit in the ongoing, publicly financed ripoff:
Thus the scorching prices of stadium and airport food, and the 30% transaction fees imposed by Apple and Google on app revenues (this is 1,000% higher than the average fees charged by the rest of the payment processing industry!), the 51% fees extracted by Google/Meta from advertisers and publishers (compare with the historical average of 15%), and the 45-51% that Amazon takes out of every dollar earned by its platform sellers.
Once you're locked in, they can turn the screws, either by gouging buyers directly, or by gouging sellers, who pass those additional costs onto buyers.
Groundwork has a proposal to address this in physical settings: regulation. Specifically, a "street pricing" regulation that keeps the charges for food and drinks within these walled gardens to prices comparable to those on the outside.
They note that these regulations enjoy wide, bipartisan support. 76% of Republicans support a regulation that can only be described as "price controls," two words that normally trigger head-explosions in the right.
How is it that such a commanding majority of Republicans can get behind government price controls?
Simple: it's *obvious* that when a company no longer faces market discipline - when they're the only game in town (or on the other side of the TSA checkpoint) - that government discipline has to fill the vacuum, and if it doesn't, you will get mercilessly screwed.
This is where enshittification - a form of monopolistic decay unique to the tech sector - departs from everyday monopoly abuse in other sectors, like aviation and league sports.
Tech has an in-built flexibility, the inescapable property of "interoperability" that comes standard with every digital system thanks to the universal nature of computers themselves.
Interoperable technologies let you hack Instagram to restore it to the state of privacy- and attention-respecting glory that made it a success in the first place:
Interoperability creates a unique, easily administered source of discipline over tech bosses that just isn't available as a means of countering the ripoffs we see elsewhere, including in sports stadiums and airports.
That means that, far from being *harder* to fix than other disgusting scams in our society, tech is *easier* to fix. All that stands in the way is the IP laws that criminalize the kind of reverse-engineering work that allow the users of technology to have the final say over how the devices and services they rely on work:
You’ve probably heard of “open source software.” If you pay attention to the politics of this stuff, you might have heard of “free software” and even know a little ab…
Those IP laws were spread around the world by the US Trade Representative, who insisted that every country that wanted to export its products to the US without punitive tariffs *must* pass laws protecting the rent-extracting scams of US tech giants. With those tariff promises now in tatters, there's never been a better time for the rest of the world to jettison those Big Tech-protecting laws:
Vivaldi is right now the most popular mobile app in Norway as people seek alternatives to Big Tech. I hope you give us a try as well, if you have not already!
Right-click, do not left-click, but right-click the VPN Button and click REMOVE.
2) How to REMOVE Proton VPN if installed.
Click on the Vivaldi logo, click on tools, click on extensions. This will list ALL your installed browser extensions, and you can click on REMOVE for Proton VPN.
3) How to PREVENT Vivaldi from doing this in the future (see screenshots, alt text included).
Dear Vivaldi,
I like your web browser, and have been very vocal concerning the support and adaption of Vivaldi Browser. But for a company, whose browser starts up claiming "Made with Love in Europe", you picked a company (Proton) that falls under Us Jurisdiction, whose CEO supports Donald Trump and his fellow, Nazis. I am greatly disappointed.
Your company can start in another country, but if you expand into the United States, it falls under Us Jurisdiction. Our laws are very predatorial and assiduous.
There are 200 or so independent countries, territories, and states world-wide. But as you know, corporations do not include terms and conditions for all 200 or so geographical jurisdictions. Businesses only include and worry about the jurisdictions that apply to them.
That said, I would much rather let their own legal documentation speak for itself. Here are their terms concerning Proton. It has whole sections concerning US Customers and US Laws. proton.me/wallet/terms A company outside Us Law would not care about American laws, anymore than you would likely care about the law in North Korea, for example.
Proton would like to argue, likely from a public relations standing point, that these terms only apply to Proton Wallet. But that is not how our laws work in the United States. You do not get to pick and choose which department is subject to US Law, anymore than you get to pick which Us Laws you want to follow.
These Terms of Use ("Terms") constitute an agreement between the customer ("you" or "user") and Proton Financial AG, a company limited by share incorporated in Switzerland with company number CHE-279.911.
That is not completely correct, because the app use would fall upon the user, and not the company.
Think about it. Why not include terms and conditions, for the other 200 or so, other sovereignty jurisdictions? Answer: Because they do not apply to them, yet their app is still very much available well beyond the USA and Switzerland.
The truth is, you can sell a digital product and service, to the world-wide web of the Internet, available to everyone, but you do not need to include terms for all 200 or so, sovereignty jurisdictions. You would only need to worry about the ones that apply to you, the same way Proton only worries about the ones that apply to them. - Proton include the United States of America for a reason.
Logic and their own documentation would disprove your belief.
Even if it were only a "shell company" (registered in the United States, but with no actual physical offices), Proton is still subject to Us Jurisdiction.
Historically, we (the USA) have extradited both people and equipment, who have never once visited the United States, never wishes the USA or it's people harm, who have only done business in the USA remotely, in name only.
Putting that all aside, how or why, Proton falls under Us Jurisdiction is irrelevant, and the only thing that matters is that it does.
They're under Us Jurisdictions, else they would not feel the need to cite Us Laws and have whole sections dedicated to the United States. After all, there are 200 or so, other independent nations, but you don't include all 200 or so countries in your documentation, you only worry about the countries that directly apply to you. -- This reply is part of a thread on the subject.
I do not expect you to easily find an office or data center, or even a registered business with an office, or shell company. Many corporations are not painfully transparent with all their business dealings in a manner that would make it painfully obvious for the average random individual to discover everything. The only transparent aspect would be their Terms of Services (TOS) outlining the fact that they're subject to Us Jurisdiction.
Furthermore, a corporation can hold an office or shell company for various reasons (tax purposes, for example), under a different name, for example. Making it even harder for the public to easily identify the company and their reasoning.
Again, the only transparent aspect would be their Terms of Services (TOS) outlining the fact that they're subject to Us Jurisdiction. And for a business like Proton, for example, or any other similar corporation, they may not see it in their best interest to advertise the fact. Yet, they still cannot completely escape the publication, since such would be included in their TOS.
From a public relatio
... show more
I do not expect you to easily find an office or data center, or even a registered business with an office, or shell company. Many corporations are not painfully transparent with all their business dealings in a manner that would make it painfully obvious for the average random individual to discover everything. The only transparent aspect would be their Terms of Services (TOS) outlining the fact that they're subject to Us Jurisdiction.
Furthermore, a corporation can hold an office or shell company for various reasons (tax purposes, for example), under a different name, for example. Making it even harder for the public to easily identify the company and their reasoning.
Again, the only transparent aspect would be their Terms of Services (TOS) outlining the fact that they're subject to Us Jurisdiction. And for a business like Proton, for example, or any other similar corporation, they may not see it in their best interest to advertise the fact. Yet, they still cannot completely escape the publication, since such would be included in their TOS.
From a public relations standing point, their confidence would lay with the fact that most people do not read TOS, and even fewer who skim through them, could understand the legalese found within. And as long as that fact is written somewhere, they have technically disclosed the information, and their Public Relations and Marketing Department can spin it however they wish.
But I once again, digress, and suffice to say, you do not list 200 or so, independent jurisdiction for each country on the planet in your TOS (Terms of Services). Instead, you would only need to focus on the countries that directly apply to you. Proton, list the United States, because they're subject to Us Jurisdiction. I am not interested in why or how, just that if they are or not, which we have established, they are.
Hi, for what is worth I asked Proton for explanation, here is the answer.
"We're not under US jurisdiction but consumers' laws of foreign states may have an extra-territorial scope. Our section on US law is a civil class action waiver, which typically is not a concept that exists in most jurisdictions.
If you have any additional questions or need assistance from our side, please let us know. We would be happy to help."
Again, their public relations department can spin it how they like, but there are many nations with foreign states that would claim they have an extra-territroral scope, and that their laws supersede all others. Most sovereign nations want you to prefer and recognize the terrors and jurisdictions above everybody else. But despite that fact, you need only worry about those apply to you, the same way any business would need worry about the ones that apply to them. 200 or so sovereign states worldwide, and you don't include all of them, because they do not all apply to you.
You could sell a digital product or service on the world wide web of the internet, available to everyone who placed an order, but not need worry about all 200 sovereign nations. They include the United States, became they are subject to US Jurisdiction.
I would prefer to say, whoever you're speaking with is misinformed and is giving the answer they may believe is true, but is not necessarily accurate. Like with any corporations, an hourly employee likely does not know every inner workings of their company and the legality surrounding every detail.
On the surface, it makes sense when you truly think about it - Their main office is located elsewhere and likely so is the hourly employee whose job is only to answer basic questions. They answered in good faith and to the best of their ability.
Proton made their comments on the Fediverse, and the mass media isn't as interested what happens here (on the Fedi). But there are still some news sources (see URLs) that covered their nonsense, plus Proton has left the Fediverse since it blew up on them
@Linux woah, I hadn't heard about any of this so I really appreciate you sharing the links to learn more about what happened. I've been watching Proton for a while now but haven't signed up. Now I'm glad I waited.
I have been making a list of digital providers outside Us Jurisdiction. Part of that includes privacy focused email providers. codeberg.org/Linux-Is-Best/Out…
The image is a meme divided into two parts, each depicting a scene from a movie. The top part shows a man in a red tunic with gold embroidery and a woman in a blue gown holding hands. The man looks concerned, and the woman appears to be reassuring him. The text "YOU" is overlaid on this image. The bottom part shows a man in a black tunic with red embroidery and a woman in a red dress. The man looks worried, and the woman seems to be comforting him. The text "VS THE GUY SHE TELLS YOU NOT TO WORRY ABOUT" is overlaid on this image. The background of the top part is a medieval-style room with wooden walls and a stone archway, while the bottom part is set in a forest with trees and a dimly lit atmosphere.
Provided by @altbot, generated privately and locally using Ovis2-8B
I learned that many items that are labelled “compostable” are actually “industrially compostable”, which usually means you have to send them somewhere that expends energy to accelerate the composting process.
All the cups, plates, and utensils at the office are “compostable” but if you leave them in your home compost bin they’ll take a thousand years to decompose. They have to be sent to an industrial composter.
After really enjoying using the traveler's notebook I built for #solorpg use recently*, I've just now built a smaller version for regular note taking. While I'm a huge fan of @obsidian, not everything needs to be digital and I want to try some analog brainstorming and possibly journaling again.
Currently learning how to play #Starforged and as I apparently enjoy the journaling part of it I just built myself a traveler's notebook 😊 Apart from two notebook inserts, this also has an insert for holding my character sheet and my assets, plus a move cheat sheet.
@jimp I never got rid of the Lami Safari fountain pens that carried me through all of school and university, and even got myself a Wacom version of one, but I have to admit that these days I prefer gel pens 😅
@lfisk I really like the Kuru-toga pencils I have. I have 2-3 different styles and they're all good. I don't think I have the same one you have there, though. Does that tip fully retract? Also a fan of the GraphGear 1000.
I don't think I could fit all of my current pens and pencils into a single photo if I tried.
@jimp @lfisk The metal part stays out, it's the full metal version of the Kuru Toga.
Those definitely aren't all of them, those are only those on quick rotation ^^ I got basically a full copy of these in a big pen holder on my desk, plus various Sharpies/Sharpie-alikes and also some blades and such.
That roll up there lives on my couch table for quick access and gaming reasons.
@lfisk I'm sort of the same way. I have a set of pencils and pens near my couch, plus my work desk (and a whole pen rack), and a desk in the den. Then more in cases and drawers around.
One of the kuru-togas I have is an "advance elite" (I think) and it does have a retractable tip, but the grip section is a lot larger around than the one you have.
@jimp @lfisk I bought that one ages ago 😅 I might have to look at the current range 😬
I kinda enjoy collecting stationary...
Just went through another phase of ordering various gel pens and testing if I like something better than my current one, and that actually had me switch from the Uniball Signo 307 (sic) to the Pentel Energel line, as they are slightly smoother (and one of my biggest pet peeves is scratching pens, which is also why I can't stand Frixion or Pilot in general).
@lfisk Smoothness is one reason I really like some fountain pens, barely takes any pressure to write and they glide across the page. There are some with some feedback/scratch which isn't bad for me, but it depends on the pen a lot.
There are tons of kuru-toga pencils out there. I like the ones I have but haven't found my "ideal" one yet, which would basically be a Pentel GraphGear 1000 form factor (with its fully retractable tip) but with the kuru-toga mechanism.
That looks like the passport size of the Traveler's notebook. I have one of those, but I should build a bigger version like yours. I'm not fond of the B5 format they have, but A5 would be perfect.
Did You Work on a Terminated NIH Grant? ProPublica Wants to Hear From You. —
The National Institutes of Health is canceling grants that are seen as conflicting with the Trump administration’s priorities. We want to hear from researchers who have been affected.
Fight your local tech dystopia today. Connect with a local grassroots group (or start your own) with resources from the Electronic Frontier Alliance. eff.org/fight
The Electronic Frontier Alliance (EFA) is a grassroots network made up of independent community organizations. Allies across the United States work to support digital rights and empower their local communities.
This article is an interview with Micah Lee, the creator of Cyd and OnionShare, founder of Lockdown Systems, and author of Hacks, Leaks, and Revelations: The Art of Analyzing Hacked and Leaked Data.
28 March 1939 | Dutch Jewish girl, Yvonne Suskind, was born in Bergen op Zoom.
In September 1944 she was imprisoned in #Theresienstadt ghetto and on 23 October 1944 she was deported to #Auschwitz. She was murdered in a gas chamber after arrival selection.
Google will launch its more affordable Pixel phone in the US and Canada on April 10 after fixing a component issue in a small number of units. pcmag.com/news/after-delay-ove…
After I figured out that you need to run gpib_config for some reason I was able to run the findlisteners example. Listener at pad 0 (board) Listener at pad 5 findlisteners: 1 device found.
This Acer Nitro V 15 configuration is no chart-topper, but it's an affordable 1080p gaming laptop with plenty of ports, long battery life, and capable components—if you don't mind dialing down some visual settings. Here's our review: pcmag.com/reviews/acer-nitro-v…
This Acer Nitro V 15 configuration is no chart-topper but an affordable 1080p gaming laptop with plenty of ports, long battery life, and capable components—if you don't mind dialing down some visual settings.
"'I was born in Chicago, Illinois, and am a United States citizen,' Noriega said in his statement, adding that on Jan. 31, after buying pizza in Berwyn he was surrounded by ICE agents and arrested. Officers took away his wallet, which had his ID and Social Security card. 'They then handcuffed me and pushed me into a white van where other people were handcuffed as well.'"
Chicago attorneys were in federal court Thursday accusing federal agents of violating immigration law and the constitutional rights of at least 22 people since January.
Years ago, back in 2016, we featured a 1950 Superman poster that urged students to defend the American way and fight discrimination everywhere. Today, we present another chapter from Superman's little-known history as a Civil Rights defender.
Today I realized I had this recording in the vault (guess I'm starting to develop a vault, yay). It was previously only available one #BandcampFriday back in 2020. Well it's here forever now! Please enjoy my favorite love song of the 90s, courtesy of The Magnetic Fields. You know it, you love it: The Book of Love.
T2R
in reply to Ars Technica • • •Winchell Chung ⚛🚀
in reply to Ars Technica • • •"More than half a year after an empty Starliner spacecraft safely landed in a New Mexico desert, NASA and Boeing still have not decided whether the vehicle's next flight will carry any astronauts."
WTF??!?
"It is becoming clear that Starliner will only ever fly a handful of missions to the space station, if that, before the orbiting laboratory is retired."
{ facepalm }
jack 💥
in reply to Ars Technica • • •