No longer my computer

I don't know what the answer is to keep local journalism going but it probably isn't web pages so choked with ads they stutter in my browser even WITH ad blocking turned on

What a great headline

Bluesky has nearly 40 million left-leaning users. Since many Democratic leaders & candidates are slow to build reach and engagement on Bluesky, my goal is to have 25k Iowa-focused followers by the end of '25 so I can amplify Democrats in 2026. Everyone in #Iowa, please follow and share. #VoteBlue

I know that switching to paying cash for physical media isn't a realistic solution for everything, but consumers should start considering workarounds and solutions, because corporations do not and will not make things better. Airgaps & flashdrives.

#OpEd: The Tea app claims to make dating safer for straight women, but a copycat app for men shows the danger of allowing digital surveillance to stand in for "safety." Screenshots from TeaOnHer—already the second-most popular app in the Apple store—show it being used for misogyny and racism.

The CDC’s Publications on Demand office is closing, but you can order free materials until Friday, August 15. Informational, fact-based materials are available here: wwwn.cdc.gov/pubs/

Activating a national surveillance network to share with the police amidst a mass deportation push is comic book villainy.

Have just realized that the silly “Bezos wants to buy Vogue as a lavish wedding gift for his bride” story that’s been circulating is inaccurate - Bezos wants to buy Condé Nast which owns The New Yorker,Teen Vogue, Wired & Arts Technica because he is an oligarch who wants to crush all dissent.

So… how can you protect yourself? Customs and Border Protection has broad authority to search travelers’ devices when they cross into the United States. Here’s what you can do to protect your digital life while at the US border.

There are options other than using Spotify. If for some reason you really want to pay to stream music, I guess there's Tidal and others. Older article but still true. inthesetimes.com/article/spot...

Kevin Techau is suspending his campaign for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, citing insufficient fundraising. His exit leaves Democrats without a challenger to GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson, who has won three straight terms in the northeastern Iowa district.

I feel like young David Cronenberg opened a drawer and was surprised by a very old potato at a formative age.

I love the thing where a mystery/suspense show will have a theme song called "the midnight dance of the creepy dolls" and it is basically a minor key version of the Leave It To Beaver theme

The Minnesota shooter apparently used data broker websites to find the home addresses of the people he shot and murdered. Congress has had years to do something about data brokers and they've sided with the tech lobby over and over again. Their inaction is deadly.

Don't be shy. Grab yourself a heapin' helpin' of free software. 🍴 Today's list of free software from OlderGeeks.com Please share. No ads - no crapware - no b.s. since 2008! #computer #computers #tech

We talk about scientists in the US leaving the country. Many will leave science altogether, and many more will never become scientists. This is an old post I made about how grad school sucks.

tired: people AI-generating rando images of themselves as anime WIRED: AI’s energy use already represents as much as 20 percent of global data-center power demand, new analysis has found

pitching my comic idea to DC: aquaman's new archnemesis is called Man Ray. no, not a half human half manta ray monster. Man Ray, the surrealist painter and photographer. he just challenges aquaman's preconceptions about formalism

Microsoft's Recall feature is now part of Windows 11. It does a screenshot every 3 seconds and feeds it into AI. They made it opt-in...for now. Please place your bets now for which update will switch it to opt-out! Or get Steam or Mint or something, I don't know, I'm not your mom.

Time for another digital security PSA with guitar … here’s “All the Small Things” but it’s about scrubbing metadata from your photos before you post them 🤘

Quick reminder that Google bought Fitbit a few years back, and was subject to a DOJ investigation as a result. At the time they said they would protect user privacy, but now they are forcing users to migrate from the Fitbit website to a Google account.

chatgpt has fully broken-through to every facet of the corporate environment. I'm spending a not-insignificant amount of my time every week now explaining to people that just because chatgpt told you that something was possible doesn't mean that it a) is or b) even exists

Corey Doctorow: "Even by Amazon standards, this is extraordinarily sleazy: starting March 28, each Amazon Echo device will cease processing audio on-device and instead upload all the audio it captures to Amazon's cloud for processing, even if you have previously opted out of cloud-based processing"

Alright doomscroll friends, here's a thread to 📌 on safeguarding yourself. First, a guide to protecting yourself from government surveillance as Donald Trump vows to go after his enemies and exploit America’s digital surveillance machine to do so.

(Corporations didn’t actually invent space and planets, despite the patents the company had tried to file.)

Pinterest updated their terms of use and they're going to use all of the content you saved to train their AI. Go to options > your privacy rights > disable GenAI Please do it 🫠

As someone who has worked in ad tech, I can tell @chrislhayes.bsky.social‘s book The Sirens’ Call may be one of the most important books of the year. It’s vital reading for everyone who worries about the monetization of their every waking moment, and wonders who benefits from your anger and fear.

My friend met some baseball hall of famers but I wasn't reading carefully

I think one of the things that bothers me about my work is the people asking me to justify my positions and cynicism against the big AI companies. For some reason the billion dollar companies are treated as if they're always acting in good faith and with good intentions.

You can also register your interest to be on local nominated (rather than elected) city/county commissions. I was on the city’s Tree Conservation Commission because I emailed and had a professional background that was a good fit, so they put me forward. So that’s another option too!

Amazon's changing the way the Kindle works on Tuesday, so if you want to download and de-DRM your books, you have until the 26th to get it done. I wrote a quick how-to, for anyone who is interested: next.content.town/p/kindle-drm...

They're rushing this bill because they know most Iowans will oppose it. We don't want criminal penalties for librarians. We don't want the government deciding which books are in our public libraries. bookriot.com/iowa-rushes-...

I feel like I'm going insane every time I see a media story about DOGE that doesn't also mention the fact that the Government Accountability Office exists and performs the exact function that DOGE pretends to, only in a credibly constitutional, non-partisan, and conflict-of-interest-free manner

I think I'm most surprised by how wrong The X-Files was about how the federal government works, while somehow Stargate: SG1 really nailed it.

Duckduckgo is your new search engine. Stop using meta. Invest in a VPN. Be aware of the cop📱 in your pocket. Wear a mask. Get your vaccines. Stop drinking raw fucking milk.

Thank you for shouting about safety. Please never stop.

Hello, here’s a useful resource for archiving things from the internet you want to save before they go away. If we all archive a bit, it makes a big difference. zinebakery.com/homemade-zin...