@adriansdigitalbasement.com thought you'd appreciate this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNQt...

So-called "smart" devices are pushed heavily for the holidays, but be mindful of what you're opting that gift recipient into. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

1. People are freeing themselves from the myth that only big corporations can make and do things. Here's a story about 19 small towns that built their own high-speed fiber networks. They pay less than most Americans & can get a service rep on the phone no problem. ilsr.org/article/comm...

the cycle usually goes like this: 1. Dems refuse to seriously challenge corporate power 2. The electorate gets frustrated, votes Republican, believes populist lies 3. Dems point out things are shitty, get re-elected, lack the backbone to challenge corporate power 4. rinse, wash, repeat

Don't let democracy be undermined by tools of surveillance and control. Donate to EFF this week and you'll get an automatic match. eff.org/power-up

🚨 Webinar alert! 🚨 Join us Nov 20 @ 12 noon ET for “Building Smarter Cities and the Cost of Doing Nothing” — a free, 60-minute live discussion on why smart fiber infrastructure matters and what cities lose if they sit still Story w/registration link here ⬇️ communitynetworks.org/content/webi...

Publishers need to learn that when they don't work with researchers to do the right thing, scholars find their own solutions—legal or otherwise. #OAWeek www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

A fire at a metal shredding plant in Vancouver WA is sending a plume of noxious smoke over NE and SE Portland since before 10pm.

The Portland Linux/Unix Group is constantly on the lookout for speakers for their General Monthly Meeting, first Thursday of the month at Portland State University's Engineering Building on SW 4th Avenue. If you are excited about something vaguely nerdy and want to share, get in touch! pdxlinux.org

What would internet access look like if it wasn't controlled by megacorps, but by YOU. Publicly-owned infrastructure isn't new and it doesn't have to stay a dream in Portland. Come out and chat with other people fed up with the status quo: cbbpdx.civicrm.org/civicrm/even...

TIL that the City of Portland has ONE computer lab, at the Charles Jordan Community Center. I kind of want to go check that out. I've been advocating for such things for a while. It *ought* to be open 24 hours. Not sure I'm so crazy about the $5 daily use fee.

This is apparently real now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAdG...

Congratulations to Superior, Wisconsin, which recently activated the state’s first city-owned broadband network! 🎉 “It is the only network of its kind in the state of Wisconsin. It is the fastest network in the Twin Ports.” Read more about ConnectSuperior: www.wpr.org/news/superio...

"If police are going to be using drones, we need much stronger limits on how they do that, including treating the flying of the drone as a search that requires a warrant,” EFF’s Adam Schwartz told @Dispatch.com. www.dispatch.com/story/news/...

shamelessly made a bluesky account so I could plug my first first-author paper (!) on postfire erosion in steep rocky catchments -- go check her out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Comcast and Centurylink tried to sabotage the city-owned open access network project in Bountiful, Utah They lost and now city residents finally have choice and competition - with 14 different ISPs to choose from Community Broadband with another win! 💪🌐💻⬇️ communitynetworks.org/content/boun...

Loveland, CO didn’t wait around for better broadband, it built it. Pulse Fiber is now one of the nation’s best ISPs, with 10Gb service, a 42% take rate, and PCMag’s #1 spot. Community broadband works, and it’s spreading. 🌐 Read our full spotlight: www.aapb.us/post/meet-pu...

Community broadband continues to make strides! Our story here comes out of Syracuse NY where the city has expanded its municipally-owned network Surge Link to 9,200 low-income households, offering $15/month service for qualified households 👏👏👏 🌐💻⬇️ communitynetworks.org/content/syra...

Incredible flash flood in Tyrnyauz (1300m asl, Caucasus, RU) yesterday...! 😲😱 This is the main town of the Baksan valley (35 km east of Elbruz, 5642m) which was already hit on July 18, 2000, by a deadly mudflow (8 fatalities, 40 missing, 930 resettled from damaged houses!) 🎥 via Kirill Bakanov

Guest opinion: "Three years after the Normandale Park shooting, I have the uneasy feeling that my city has moved on, failing to absorb important lessons about its most expensive bureau."

Comcast says new users can avoid caps on some plans if they use the Comcast home gateway/router (allowing them to more fully monetize your network traffic) They claim existing customers can sign up for these cap-free plans as well, but you'd need to be very dim to take Comcast's word on anything

July 3, 7 p.m. calagator.org/events/12504...

Worth a watch: Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.

www.opb.org/article/2025... @opb.org looked to me on Friday afternoon like it might have started next to the railroad tracks. Interested in what's ultimately determined to be the cause, curious why people aren't saying what they know.

Season 2025, Episode 2 of the Portland Linux/Unix Group Monthly Clinic is this Sunday, June 15th, from 1 to 5pm at the Ecotrust (Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center), in Willamette University's space (thanks @willametteu.bsky.social!). Bring your Linux Questions and/or your Linux Answers to share!

Hey, so I'm filling out my ballot for the PPS School Bond. The lit says "your tax rate will stay about the same", but it doesn't (afaict) answer the question "yeah, but for how long?". Right now, I'm inclined to say "no, smaller bites please".

What is wrong with this picture?

If you’re in DC on May 14/15 pull up on us I’ll be in the mix with @sportshotchris.bsky.social to chop it up on an increasingly popular way to solve the digital divide - centering community broadband

@alexzee.bsky.social I heard you say on TOL today that property tax revenue in Portland "had plummeted" ... can you substantiate that? Property taxes are typically pretty stable vs business cycle. Particularly since Market Values are often much higher than the growth-limited Assessed Value.

I'm loving this Community Broadband Action Network conference in Ames. Well done presenters... Especially open access Internet access panel run by Kim McKinley right now. Has been great catching up with people building great networks... Public and private, fiber and wireless in the region.

I gave some money to the Portland State Aerospace Society, launching rockets and orbiting cubesats, you can too: www.givecampus.com/mbjyun

I'm a domestic joke producer, protected by tarrifs from cheap foreign jokes. My kid just returned from two weeks in Japan. They had to declare all their jokes at customs and pay duty on any he made up while overseas.

At EFF, we believe you should be able to fix the stuff that you own! Here's what's been happening with your right to repair:

In early 2006, Mark Klein walked into EFF’s office asking “Do you folks care about privacy?” We do. The documents he provided helped inform our class-action suit, known as Hepting v. AT&T, which made national news.

In Colorado's Front Range, Longmont's NextLight municipal fiber network just keeps growing in popularity. It broke ground 10 years ago, but I still think of it as one the "new" ones. 2 out of 3 households now trust it with their Internet access and it will pay off debt in 2029. What a success!

www.oregonlive.com/politics/202... "Meek added that he was nonplussed by what he described as a lack of transparency coming out of the auditor’s office." (an office fundamentally dedicated to transparency)

@opb.bsky.social hey, I'd bump my sustaining "membership" if "membership" had some role in OPB governance, which it doesn't have now with its self-perpetuating board. #MembershipShouldMeanSomething

The Oregon Legislature allowed self-service gasoline with conditions: olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/D... which are being flagrantly violated by a station near me. Reported to the Oregon State Fire Marshal each time (since June 2024). No effective enforcement has been employed.

Wadsworth, Ohio, built a municipal coax network back in 1997 and are now upgrading it to fiber... retaining remarkable low-cost price points without fine print gotchas. Ohio continues to allow cities to make smart investments, resisting Charter Spectrum's effort to stop cities.

Build a brighter digital future! Every supporter helps EFF fight censorship, defend encryption, and stand against surveillance. And you'll help unlock bonus grants when you donate before 2025. eff.org/yec

The number of states with barriers or prohibitions against municipal broadband networks has now fallen to 16! Minnesota removed their barriers this year and my colleague Sean updated our post explaining what remains blocked.

@pfrazee.com Any plans for 2FA via TOTP or security keys? Not super urgent, but I always try to avoid 2FA via email or SMS.

Point: "Portland’s ranked-choice debut causes voter engagement to crater."—The Oregonian Counterpoint: "Ummmm... bullshit."—Wm. Steven Humphrey