New, by me: Aisuru Botnet Shifts from DDoS to Residential Proxies Aisuru, the botnet responsible for a series of record-smashing distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks this year, recently was overhauled to support a more low-key, lucrative and […] [Original post on infosec.exchange]

Useful chart listing the most invasive apps. Meta products are the worst offenders by far. Full story here: https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/these-20-apps-are-watching-you. (Even worse: AI-powered browsers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/10/22/chatgpt-atlas-browser/)

“Mr. Sanborn acknowledged that keeping the secret could be a strain: His computer has been hacked repeatedly over the years, he said, and obsessive fans of the work have threatened him. ‘I sleep with a shotgun,’ he said.” #GiftLink #cryptography #art […]

"curl ascii.live/list" lists available terminal animations example: "curl ascii.live/earth" (no association, just a fan)

If someone had said “if Trump gets elected, he’ll literally bulldoze the White House” just a year ago, everyone - right, left, and center - would have told them to shut up and stop exaggerating.

Key findings: 45% of all AI answers had at least one significant issue. 31% of responses showed serious sourcing problems – missing, misleading, or incorrect attributions. 20% contained major accuracy issues, including hallucinated details and outdated information. Gemini performed worst with […]

The White House is asking people not to share pictures of the East Wing because it’s even worse today.

@django I forgot to pass you the moderation baton yesterday! It's been pretty quiet, and I hope it remains so for you.

@SteveBellovin Also Lamport's definition of a distributed system: one in which a computer you've never heard of can render your own computer unusable.

Before you buy Girl Scout cookies you should know they support trans people and reject donations from anti-trans organizations, and then buy a couple more boxes!

Today I cropped an image at the command line with `magick` and got it right on the first try.

running docker on a raspberry pi

Academic researchers discover that about half of geostationary satellite signals, many carrying sensitive consumer, corporate and government communications, have been left entirely vulnerable to eavesdropping […]

A cartoon from my new book, 'Physics for Cats'. Out next week: www.tomgauld.com

👀 The Intercept: The Atlanta narcotics unit’s deadly raid on 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston. "...In 2006, a 92-year-old Atlanta woman was gunned down in her own home by police during a drug raid. The police initially claimed the woman was a marijuana dealer who fired a gun at them. The story […]

Actual scene in my house today: 6yo: But I don’t WANT to listen to Selected Ambient Works! Mom: sorry dear you’re not the DJ. 6yo: I want to listen to UNDERWORLD! Mom: we can listen to that after. Me: [mumbles some lore about Richard D. James] … and I guarantee you we listened to this album […]

WTF Apple Quietly Made ICE Agents a Protected Class. Internal emails show tech giant used anti-hate-speech rules meant for minorities to block an app documenting immigration enforcement. https://migrantinsider.com/p/scoop-apple-quietly-made-ice-agents

WaPo - Dozens of Bob Ross paintings will be auctioned to help American public television stations following sweeping cuts to federal funding. https://wapo.st/3L18abq

The goal of the raid was (also) to evict the residents on behalf of Wells Fargo: https://southsideweekly.com/federal-agents-storm-south-shore-building-detaining-families-and-children/ "On October 1, the day after the raid, a judge reviewed an emergency motion from Wells Fargo seeking to […]

"We believe that these kinds of user-generated, curated collections could help people to find their tribe more quickly when they join the Fediverse. At the same time, envisioning a similar feature that prioritises user consent, and works across a constellation of independent servers, is no […]

Is #fediforum only for geeks? Not at all! Users have come. Moderators. Artists. Public policy people. Media people. Creators. And many more, because the Open Social Web matters to all of them, and to all of us, around the world. So join us online in just a bit! https://fediforum.org

my university email webapp's automatic correction makes a cowsay blush

Just the other day I was replying to someone on here who was pointing out that the activity on Mastodon has been slowing down. I mentioned that the same seems to be happening on Bluesky (links coming up in replies), and today I came across this […]

This should not need spelling out, but because we are in the worst timeline, it absolutely does: standing with the people of Palestine against genocide and illegal occupation of lands, does not mean denying Israel's right to also exist. Supporting Palestinians does not mean supporting […]

The administration's "illegal immigration" crackdown has little to do with illegality or even immigration. It's about harassing and making unwelcome anyone who speaks the wrong language or looks to be the wrong ethnicity - whether born here or not. The systematic humiliation outlined in this […]

Feeling Octoberish https://youtu.be/wPIm1NnmVCc

“We're under invasion from within,” President Trump, at Quantico, tells US military leaders. “No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don't wear uniforms. At least when they're wearing a uniform you can take them out."

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-housing-reforms-aid-hud-immigration-homelessness “It’s going to cause people to become homeless, kids to be pulled out of their schools, people to lose their jobs” #uspolitics #hud #housing #homelessness #education

Can local/state law enforcement do anything about criminal feds? At least one blue state is going to try, it seems. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/feds-fire-pepper-ball-at-cbs-chicago-reporters-truck/

Achievement unlocked: I have ridden a bicycle with square wheels. This is from earlier this week at our department's "block party" for our majors and interested students. I'm proud (and a bit intimidated TBH) to work in the same department as Stan Wagon, the […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

> Microsoft last reported AI revenue in January. It’s October this week. Why did it stop reporting this number, you think? Is it because the numbers are so good it couldn’t possibly let people know? https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-against-generative-ai

Handing off the moderator baton to our newest #socialcoop CWG ops member, @3wordchant. Welcome aboard!

Found a secret door in the back of my washing machine. Behind it a tiny room with rows of mice fast asleep in odd-sock sleeping bags.

Wow, this CALFIRE captain now has a side business running 1,000 goats for brush clearance. https://www.kclu.org/local-news/2025-09-25/central-coast-firefighter-finds-a-second-way-to-fight-fires-he-enlists-the-aid-of-sheep-and-goats #goats #wildfires

Hello, we're upgrading the social.coop server, we may experience a brief moment of downtime.

🚈 🏆 “The setup for the WORLD TRAMDRIVER CHAMPIONSHIPS is as follows: - Two parallel tram tracks - One tram on each - Eight different driving tasks set up along those tracks - 25 teams, representing different cities from around the world (but mostly Europe) - Two drivers for each team — usually […]

[Autism Teacher Observations] I've been teaching for a long time and I'm pretty good at it, not to brag or anything. Over my career I have watched autism and learning disabilities (which aren't the same thing) become more discussed, in some cases better addressed and in other cases become more […]

Alaa Abd El-Fattah is free. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/egypts-president-sisi-pardons-high-profile-egyptian-british-activist-alaa-abd-el-2025-09-22/

OLIVER: “In Russia, when Putin rose to power, TV satirists were among his first targets… Putin was driven to madness by how he was mocked on a puppet show… the lesson is it’s not safe to let one show slide because there are currently others.”

Did you know that when government officials use ChatGPT, the chat logs are considered public records? https://www.knkx.org/government/2025-08-26/washington-city-officials-chatgpt-write-government-documents-artificial-intelligence via @muckrock #news #foia #chatgpt

What “fascism” means Full: www.instagram.com/reel/DO6EvDz...

Now that Namecheap is largely owned by private equity, what’s a good domain registrar to move my internet stuff? Porkbun seems the most competitive on price. Pair is similarly affordable but doesn’t support some of my gTLD domains.

Me: it’s Björk. Her: she looks like Zoey! Me: Zoey? Is she in your class? Her: nooo Zoey from Kpop Demon Hunters! Me: 💀

Reminder while cancelling subscriptions: Library card probably gives you Hoopla and Kanopy TV/Movies/Courses PBS donation can give you Passport, which includes their news, show catalogue, and the wonderful Masterpiece theater and Walter Presents collections

Two more emails and then I think I'm done.

It would be disturbing enough if Kimmel's show had been pulled (at the FCC's behest, no less) for speaking ill of Charlie Kirk. But the monologue wasn't even about Kirk. It was about the hypocrisy and opportunism of those using Kirk's murder to advance a right-wing narrative. Comedy can be a […]

Tip from @BartVerheggen Tracking the atmospheric CO2 concentration throughout the last 800,000 years. (Video downloaded from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UatUDnFmNTY) #climatechange #co2 #greenhouse #climatescience #earthscience

Why use a URL shortener when you can use a phishy URL extender? https://phishyurl.com/ Keep your security people alert and awake, generate phishing-looking redirecting link #infosec

My union, ProPublica Guild, is 2+ years into bargaining our first contract. Supporting our journalism means supporting the workers in our newsroom. Please consider signing onto our petition to tell management we need a fair contract now! […]

Danish Minister of Justice says no one has the right to communicate in a way that cannot be overheard, recorded, and understood by the police (and other snoops): https://www-ft-dk.translate.goog/samling/20231/almdel/REU/spm/1426/index.htm?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=ja&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp (via […]