ProPublica: “On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Justice released a 123-page report on the 1921 racial massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which claimed several hundred lives and left the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in smoldering ruins. The department’s investigation determined that the attack was “so systematic and coordinated that it transcended mere mob violence.”… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Internet
Trumpworld’s War on Words
Vanity Fair [unpaywalled] – “The administration’s attack on the AP, along with efforts to rewrite history and reframe reality, only reaffirms the maxim that language is power. The right-wing war on all things “woke” has relied on a critical weapon: language. Trumpworld’s culture-war arsenal may contain many things—a flurry of social media posts and videos,… Continue Reading
Trump Orders US to Cancels Critical News Subscriptions for Diplomats Worldwide
RegTech Times via MSN: “The U.S. State Department has issued a directive to cancel all news subscriptions deemed “non-mission critical” across embassies and consulates worldwide. The move is part of a broader cost-cutting initiative, aligning with efforts to reduce government spending on media contracts. Sweeping Cancellation of News Subscriptions – Internal emails revealed that diplomatic… Continue Reading
Google’s new policy tracks all your devices with no opt-out
digitaltrends: “Google has begun enforcing new tracking rules across connected devices, such as smartphones, consoles, and smart TVs, as BBC reports. The tech giant once called the fingerprint tracking technique “wrong” in 2019, but has since reintroduced it.Google has commented that other companies broadly use the data, and it started using it on February 16,… Continue Reading
The Generative AI Con
Wheres’ Your Ed At, Edward Zitron: “It’s been just over two years and two months since ChatGPT launched, and in that time we’ve seen Large Language Models (LLMs) blossom from a novel concept into one of the most craven cons of the 21st century — a cynical bubble inflated by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman built… Continue Reading
Back Up Everything. Even if Elon Musk Isn’t Looking at It.
The New York Times [unpaywalled] – “In recent weeks, Elon Musk and his aides have gained access to many federal agencies’ systems and unknown amounts of data. Many readers have written in to share their fears that the agencies — and the personal data they possess on hundreds of millions of taxpayers — are now… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 15, 2025
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 15, 2025 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the… Continue Reading
Amazon removing the ability to download your purchased books
The Verge: “Starting on February 26th, 2025, Amazon is removing a feature from its website allowing you to download purchased books to a computer and then copy them manually to a Kindle over USB. It’s a feature that a lot of Kindle users are probably not aware of, given books can be more easily sent… Continue Reading
How to Prepare for Your Digital Afterlife
The New York Times/unpaywalled: “How do you want your social media pages, smartphone photos and computer files handled after you die? While property and money distribution are usually at the top of the estate-planning list, don’t forget to leave instructions regarding your digital accounts and assets — so your survivors are left with more than… Continue Reading
Data Rescue Project
Data Rescue Project – There are many individuals, organizations, and community-based resources that document and assist with rescuing efforts. Below is the list of tools, data sources, library guides, and articles we are aware of and their associated scopes. This list was developed from the original Data Rescue Google Doc. Please email suggestions to [email protected].… Continue Reading
The Best AI-Free, Encrypted Alternatives to Google Docs
Lifehacker: “Face it: with the competition spending hundreds of millions of dollars on it, Google’s recent foray into AI isn’t going to stop anytime soon. While you can hide Google Workspace’s Gemini buttons and prompts for now, you can’t actually stop the company from continuing to build its apps around a technology that revolves around… Continue Reading
The Venn Diagram of Trump’s Authoritarian Actions
Kottke.org: Professor Christina Pagel of University College London has mapped the actions of the Trump administration’s first few weeks into a Venn diagram (above) with “five broad domains that correspond to features of proto-authoritarian states”: Undermining Democratic Institutions & Rule of Law; Dismantling federal government Dismantling Social Protections & Rights; Enrichment & Corruption Suppressing Dissent… Continue Reading
