Tootfinder

Roblox's AI-powered age verification system, which expanded globally last week using tech from a company called Persona, faces criticism for misidentifying ages (David Gilbert/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/robloxs-ai-powered-age-verification-is-a-…

Roblox’s AI-Powered Age Verification Is a Complete Mess
Kids are being identified as adults—and vice versa—on Roblox, while age-verified accounts are already being sold online.

This is quite a good interview with Prof Carl Bergstrom (from my alma mater, University of Washington) on 'AI' https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2019023013/professor-carl-bergstrom-living-with-ai

Battery tech people: do Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA batteries contain any kind of internal protection / fusing mechanism like good 18650s do? Or do they ever fail short or something?
Just pulled four out of a device. Three tested good at 1.5V and the fourth measured absolutely zero. Not like low, no voltage at all.

Metaverse-Abgesang trifft auch Spielestudios
Das namensgebende Metaverse ist doch nicht die Zukunft Meta Platforms’. Jetzt sollen KI und Wearables die Aktie antreiben. Spielestudios schließen.
https://www.

I have at least two more converts to The Story Graph in the last couple days, yanking them away from Amazon’s Good Reads.
I use it:
https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/aardrian
Not perfect but definitely *not* Amazon. Just sayin’.

Uff 8h work and as a (self chosen) "bonus":
1.5h work related webinar
I'm done for today

The way all "AI" CEOs and evangelists keep talking about how we all need to be more positive and believe more and talk less about the material issues ... that is how an actual innovation, a paradigm shift even, looks like, yes?

i do this https://www.tumblr.com/defokoalbum/786288337579376640/get-ready-with-defoko-and-teto-art-by-salami

Post by @defokoalbum · 5 images
💬 4  🔁 192  ❤️ 462 · get ready with defoko and teto ✦ Art by Salami ✦

«WSIS 20» - UNO-Entscheid ausstehend: Wer bestimmt die Regeln des Internets?
Vor 20 Jahren haben die UNO-Staaten entschieden, das Internet gemeinsam mit Forschung, Firmen und Zivilgesellschaft zu verwalten. Nun ist das Mandat ausgelaufen. Wird es in der aktuellen Form erneuert werden?
🔊

«WSIS+20»: Die UNO bestimmt, wie es mit dem Internet weiter geht.
Seit 20 Jahren wird das Internet von allen Anspruchsgruppen gemeinsam verwaltet. Dieses Modell muss nun erneuert werden.

Arctic sea ice extent is still at a record low for this time of the year, around a million km² below the average in the 2010s.
From zacklabe.com, by @…

Excellent. They received my rider.

Support Indigenous Land Defender Marcos Aguilar’s Family
(original: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSFUcy_jKU7 by zapatistasolidaritynetwork)
On November 26, 2025, Indigenous land defender Marcos Aguilar Rojas was assassinated for protecting his anc

Zapatista Solidarity Network! on Instagram: "📢‼️URGENT On November 26, 2025, Indigenous land defender Marcos Aguilar Rojas was assassinated for protecting his ancestral territory in San Lorenzo de Azqueltán, Jalisco, Mexico. He leaves behind five young children — including two babies — and elderly parents who depended on him. Marcos was a devoted father, a loving son, and a guardian of Mother Earth. He refused to abandon his community despite threats and violence. This was a planned political attack from those trying to steal Indigenous ancestral territory. ✨ That’s why we are asking for your solidarity: @semillas_collective is collecting donations that will go directly to Marcos’s family and Indigenous community to support: • His children’s wellbeing (food, housing, education) • Care for his parents • Community protection against further attacks • Legal justice for his assassination 🔗Link in our bio to the fundraiser and the communiqué from the Autonomous Indigenous Community or San Lorenzo de Azqueltán (adherents of the National Indigenous Congress [CNI]) 📣Please donate if you are able. If you cannot, share and help us break the silence. Marcos lives in the land, in his children, and in our struggle. Marcos vive — la lucha sigue. ✊🏽💚🌱 #JusticeForMarcos #Semillas #IndigenousSolidarity #Azqueltán #LandBack #ProtectLandDefenders #NoMoreImpunity #MarcosVive #LaLuchaSigue"
99 likes, 0 comments - zapatistasolidaritynetwork on December 10, 2025: "📢‼️URGENT On November 26, 2025, Indigenous land defender Marcos Aguilar Rojas was assassinated for protecting his ancestral territory in San Lorenzo de Azqueltán, Jalisco, Mexico. He leaves behind five young children — including two babies — and elderly parents who depended on him. Marcos was a devoted father, a loving son, and a guardian of Mother Earth. He refused to abandon his community despite threats a…

Das sieht schon sehr gut aus, aber es fehlen noch 20.000 bis zum Jahresende. Langsam ist es Zeit, die Spenden zu spenden, damit sie dieses Jahr noch zählen!
Für eine linke Tageszeitung:
https://genossenschaft.nd-aktuell.de/spenden
Oder gleich ein Abo, das gibt's schon …

@… Oh, I imagine you understand. Canada and the US are not so deeply culturally divergent in many ways.
You witness the fuckery we're doing and suffering.

Morgen. #Prüf-Demos.
Ihr wisst was zu tun ist, ne?
#fightfascism

Peter Capaldi's doctor!
#DoctorWho #TOTP

The Russian army is acting as if it HAS NO INTENTION of ending the war, says Zelenskyy #shorts: https://benborges.xyz/2026/01/13/the-russian-army-is-acting.html

Donald John Tantrum
bot by @…
No laws were broken in the making of this bot: tell the black helicopters to return to base.
#satire #potus45

Eyewitnesses say Iranian government forces have begun opening fire,
apparently with automatic weapons and at times seemingly indiscriminately,
on unarmed protesters.
Hospital workers say protesters had been coming in with pellet injuries but now arrive with gunshot wounds and skull fractures.
One doctor called it a “mass-casualty situation.”
Despite the communications blockade, a recurring image has made its way out of Iran:
rows and rows of body bags.

As Iran’s Government Tries to Quell Protests, Accounts of Brutal Crackdown Emerge
As many as 3,000 feared dead as witnesses describe government forces firing on unarmed protesters.

Oha, es gibt eine "originale Landkarte" von #Palästina aus dem Jahr 1828. Das Land war damals schon so modern, dass sie Karten mit KI erzeugen konnten … 😉

In a world with kings, our only agency is to beg “please, sir, be kind.”
#apple #BigTech

20 Years of Digital Life, Gone in an Instant, thanks to Apple
Summary: A major brick-and-mortar store sold an Apple Gift Card that Apple seemingly took offence to, and locked out my entire Apple ID, effectively bricking my devices and my iCloud Account, Apple Developer ID, and everything associated with it, and I have no recourse. Can you help? Email paris AT paris.id.au (and read on for the details). ❤️ Here’s how Apple “Permanently” locked my Apple ID. I am writing this as a desperate measure.

Natural transformations between braiding functors in the Fukaya category
Yujin Tong
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.10462 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.10462 https://arxiv.org/html/2511.10462
arXiv:2511.10462v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: We study the space of $A_\infty$-natural transformations between braiding functors acting on the Fukaya category associated to the Coulomb branch $\mathcal{M}(\bullet,1)$ of the $\mathfrak{sl}_2$ quiver gauge theory. We compute all cohomologically distinct $A_\infty$-natural transformations $\mathrm{Nat}(\mathrm{id}, \mathrm{id})$ and $\mathrm{Nat}(\mathrm{id}, \beta_i^-)$, where $\beta_i^-$ denotes the negative braiding functor. Our computation is carried out in a diagrammatic framework compatible with the established embedding of the KLRW category into this Fukaya category. We then compute the Hochschild cohomology of the Fukaya category using an explicit projective resolution of the diagonal bimodule obtained via the Chouhy-Solotar reduction system, and use this to classify all cohomologically distinct natural transformations. These results determine the higher $A_\infty$-data encoded in the braiding functors and their natural transformations, and provide the first step toward a categorical formulation of braid cobordism actions on Fukaya categories.
toXiv_bot_toot

(An overdue) super chill Friday night #Music4Coding night... Next up Scottish artist Petrichor with my fave track from their Cloud Chamber EP (2017), just all-round beautiful and very fitting to what "petrichor" describes... the smell/feeling after a summer rain...
Koh-Rah

Google handed over a trove of personal data about a student and journalist to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to a subpoena that had not been approved by a judge, according to a report by The Intercept.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/10/goo…

Google sent personal and financial information of student journalist to ICE | TechCrunch
The tech giant handed over the personal information of a journalist and student who attended a pro-Palestinian protest in 2024. This is the latest example of ICE using its controversial subpoena powers to target people critical of the Trump administration.

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@patrickcmiller/116064906208545171
Occasionally, making a fuss does work.
Still dump Ring and don't go back. They did it once, they'll do it again.

From Press Progress
A Year of Government Interference in Collective Bargaining
More often than not, governments across Canada sided with corporations instead of workers.
#canpoli #cdnpoli

A Year of Government Interference in Collective Bargaining
More often than not, governments across Canada sided with corporations instead of workers.

I regularly use Claude Code, but I'm struggling to see much of use yet for Claude Cowork. (I've installed it just in case I think of a use, but other than giving me a quick keystroke to access Claude itself, not much has come to mind.) What are your interesting use-cases?

heard a great firsthand terence mckennaism last night: "things seemed to be going along just fine. the stones came out with satanic majesties & the prospects for real psychedelic rock seemed limitless. and then the Band released music from big pink & everything seemed to go into reverse all at once." on one hand, lol. i dig big pink most days. but also kind of a mostly defensible position, especially taking into account the nonmusical backdrop of 1967-1968.

Moin. #Morgengetröte

Whimpering here. I am going through a large envelope of negatives with a few prints. From what I see they go back to the early 60s. Almost no information about when, where or who. For some of them I can make an educated guess based on clothing styles and cars.
A few rants (and a lot of whimpering)
- NEVER CUT NEGATIVES INTO INDIVIDUAL IMAGES
- don't dump multiple rolls of negatives into one sleeve.
- when there is writing they used pen and that fades over the d…

"Following the discovery, we immediately began work to secure our systems"
Does that imply that before the incident, there was no work done to secure the systems?
h/t @…
#Interrail

Mutter und Tochter Zélia und Sophia Chueke aus Brasilien sind auf Tour in Europa und geben ein Solo-Konzert mit Klavierbegleitung in der Bartholomäuskirche. Zur Aufführung kommen Werke u.a. von Poulenc, Debussy, Mozart, Wolfgang Rihm, Johannes Brahms.
Morgen Sonntag 18 Uhr in der #Bartholomäuskirche

Braved the crowds in #Manchester.

Wisconsin Officials File Felony Murder Charges for Corey Stingley’s Death Following Dad’s Quest for Justice — ProPublica
https://www.propublica.org/article/wisconsin-corey-stingley-death-charges-milwaukee-prosecutor

art by Daniel Warren Johnson
#FuckICE

#Nextwind sichert sich 1,8 Milliarden Euro zur #Finanzierung des Repowerings von #Windparks.
Über ein Dutzend internationale Banken investieren in die Modernisierung bestehender Anlagen. Z…

Rekordfinanzierung: Nextwind erhält 1,8 Milliarden Euro für Wind-Repowering
Der Windenergie-Repowering-Experte Nextwind hat den Abschluss einer Finanzierung in Höhe von insgesamt 1,8 Milliarden Euro bekannt gegeben.

The Economist: Geothermal energy’s massive leap forward
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JeTAeF3Ft6E
From video's description: "Could geothermal soon overtake nuclear power? Vijay Vaitheeswaran, our Global energy & climate innovation editor and winner of the Energy Write…

Installing Visual Studio 2026 to see what all the buzz is about. Planning to migrate my project data web api from .NET 9 to 10, along with the new ide.
#programming #visualstudio #dotnet <…

Trump doesn't want ASL interpreters at his speeches.
The gagging, eye-rolling and obscene hand gestures were getting to him.

My brilliant (almost) 13-year-old is learning about verbal nouns and adjectives in his language studies class
This morning I discovered that he pronounces "gerund" with the stress pattern of "Gerard"* not "Jared"
And now I'm doubting *my own* pronunciation of that word
* His choice is almost certainly influenced by his current favorite rocker Gerard Way

Yeah for wind farms! We need as many as possible as soon as possible.
#climateChange

GOP unveils plan to cut deficit by $1 trillion with second 'big, beautiful bill' (Elizabeth Elkind/Fox News)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-unveils-plan-cut-deficit-1-trillion-second-big-beautiful-bill
http://www.memeorandum.com/260113/p104#a260113p104

We reached mid-week; get the Java Geek Weekly, your weekly slice of geeky not-only-Java content.
https://blog.frankel.ch/java-geek-weekly/119/

"Numbers of Rare Butterfly Eggs are Best on Record After Hedges are Allowed to Grow Wild"
#Butterflies #Insects #Animals

Numbers of Rare Butterfly Eggs are Best on Record After Hedges are Allowed to Grow Wild
Numbers of rare butterfly eggs have skyrocketed in Wales after landowners let their hedgerows grow wild to help the Brown Hairstreak survive.

HBO Max nears a complete Europe rollout after launching in eight countries, including Germany and Italy; the streamer is now available in 100 territories (Jesse Whittock/Deadline)
https://deadline.com/2026/01/hbo-max-europe-launches-prime-video-deal-1236680…

HBO Max Nears Complete Euro Rollout With Prime Video Deal In Place For Germany, Italy & Austria
HBO Max just went live in eight more countries, and unveiled a distribution pact with Prime Video in Germany, Italy and Austria.

MacBook Pro ist 20: Ein Blick zurück
Am Wochenende hat Apples Profi-Notebook-Linie ein Jubiläum gefeiert. Seit dem Beginn hat sich einiges verändert – von Intel zu Apple Silicon.
https://www.heise.de/news…

Cowboys predicted to retain breakout star to $20 million contract https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/dallas-cowboys/news/cowboys-predicted-retain-breakout-star-20-million-contract/ee0a16515f746216a37a63e2<…

From: wag5@quads.uchicago.edu (John Wagner)
|~
|/ w
/ ( (| \
/( (/ |) |\
____ ( (/ (| | ) ,
|----\ (/ | /| |'\ /^;
\---*---Y-- ----- --- --/(
\------*---*--*---*--/
'~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Has Shocked Pete Carroll About the Raiders' Season https://www.si.com/nfl/raiders/onsi/las-vegas-what-has-shocked-pete-carroll

The US Senate passes the Defiance Act that would allow victims to sue over nonconsensual, sexually explicit AI-generated images, amid furor over Grok images (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-13/us-sen…

heise | Der Wärmepumpen-Inverter: Darum regelt er selten unter 20 Prozent herunter
Der Inverter regelt die Kompressor-Drehzahl, um die Wärmeproduktion an den Bedarf anzupassen. Doch wie funktioniert das und warum kann er nicht auf 0 regeln?

»Medizinische Falschaussagen — KI-Modelle vertrauen Ärzten mehr als Social Media:
Forscher testeten 20 KI-Modelle mit über 3 Millionen Anfragen auf ihre Anfälligkeit für medizinische Fehlinformationen.«
Egal welcher Job, auf seinem Fachbereich sollte mensch sich schon auskennen und vor allem wo nachzusehen ist und nicht blind den sonstigen Medien glauben.
🧑‍🎨

Medizinische Falschaussagen: KI-Modelle vertrauen Ärzten mehr als Social Media
Forscher testeten 20 KI-Modelle mit über 3 Millionen Anfragen auf ihre Anfälligkeit für medizinische Fehlinformationen.

@… Yes, "what should not happen, can" seems to be the phrase of this time.

Do I need to know anything about NZ SailGP? Really? https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/586844/new-zealand-sailgp-what-you-need-to-know

“Live Region Support”
https://adrianroselli.com/2026/01/live-region-support.html
Just about to publish, Chrome updated, I re-tested, and my results for dynamic descriptions went sideways. So, I dunno, QA that for me?
Won’t it feel good to correct me? You know…

Live Region Support
This post does not discuss whether live regions are good, nor is it a post about the best way to use them. This post only covers how they are exposed to the audience who experiences them — screen reader users. Written by a non-screen-reader user. If you’re here because your…

Wall Street decries the government putting its thumb on the scale
— except when the thumb belongs to Trump
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/trump-attacks-free-markets-wall-street-1235498727/<…

Wall Street Is Dancing While Trump Assaults Free Markets. It Won’t End Well
Donald Trump has been attacking free markets, including by going after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. It won't end well.

And then your news feed suddenly goes so dark, that Shadowrun and the World of Darkness comparably look like fluffy utopias.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3epygq5272o.amp

Tweety Amin
bot by @…
This is a joke, not a threat: please don't extraordinarily rendition me to a black site.
#satire #potus45

Is the old "handkerchief code" still a thing in gay culture?
If so, I have a new entry to add: two folded trash bags dangling from the left back pocket means "I'm probably more ADHD than gay. Please don't hit on me, but gently remind me to finish taking out the garbage because something probably distracted me before finishing"

Hoe zeven studenten de Russische 'dronemoederschepen' ontdekten
Terwijl Europese inlichtingendiensten worstelden met bureaucratie, vulden zeven studenten het gat in de defensie op.
https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/hoe-zeven-studenten-de-russisch…

Hoe zeven studenten de Russische 'dronemoederschepen' ontdekten
Terwijl Europese inlichtingendiensten worstelden met bureaucratie, vulden zeven studenten het gat in de defensie op.

🤔 Man if I could just add cycling to my commute.
https://video.canadiancivil.com/w/jen67qwS7ryWBYxhoHpBSx

The US FCC waives a rule that forced Verizon to unlock phones 60 days after activation, which could make it harder for people to switch from Verizon (Jon Brodkin/Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01…

Verizon to stop automatic unlocking of phones as FCC ends 60-day unlock rule
FCC waives rule that forced Verizon to unlock phones 60 days after activation.

STOP TOUCHING THE AUDIENCE EDMONDS FFS
#totp

Hero Auto Worker Gives Trump Respect He's Earned (By Calling Him A Pedo Protector)
https://www.wonkette.com/p/hero-auto-worker-gives-trump-respect

Zohran Mamdani's Father Calls Columbia's Anti-Semitism Task Force a 'Prosecutorial Agency' That Acts Like British Imperial Colonizers (Jessica Schwalb/The Washington Free Beacon)
https://freebeacon.com/campus/zohran-mamdanis-father-calls-columbias-anti-semitism-task-force-a-prosecutorial-agency-that-acts-like-british-imperial-colonizers/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260113/p105#a260113p105

Time for one last gloating before long.
I got the #Sessionize most active speaker badge for the 4th time in a row.
https://sessionize.com/nicolas-frankel/#speaker

Chip Kelly takes blame for Brock Bowers lack of targets in loss to Broncos https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/raiders/2025/11/14/raiders-oc-chip-kelly-takes-blame-…

Taiwan issues an arrest warrant for OnePlus CEO Pete Lau for allegedly illegally recruiting 70 Taiwanese engineers, amid a crackdown on Chinese talent raids (Li Liu/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01…

Immigration agents have put civilians’ lives at risk using more than their guns.
An agent in Houston put a teenage citizen into a chokehold,
wrapping his arm around the boy’s neck, choking him so hard that his neck had red welts hours later.
A black-masked agent in Los Angeles pressed his knee into a woman’s neck while she was handcuffed;
she then appeared to pass out.
An agent in Massachusetts jabbed his finger and thumb into the neck and arteries of a young f…

We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing
Civilians have had apparent seizures. One had his eyes roll back. Another had ribs broken. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die,” said a 16-year-old citizen put in a chokehold. The government won’t say if any agents have been punished.

Oh #thicktrunkTuesday might be a good day for this photo that I took on a recent hike.
It's one of my usual hikes but clouds or fog always make it so special as the usual background is gone and I see the motives in a complete different way.
And believe it or not - I went this path over 10 times but I've never seen that tree the way like at that day.

RE: https://chaos.social/@fuzzyleapfrog/115872987792851036
Dem möchte ich mich anschließen.
Pro:
- Direkter Download ohne DRM-Geraffel
- Unterstütze eine physische Buchhandlung deiner Wahl
- Abgesehen vom bezahlbaren Abo lohnt sich…

Over 12,000 feared dead after Iran protests, as video shows bodies lined up at morgue (Tucker Reals/CBS News)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-protest-death-toll-over-12000-feared-higher-video-bodies-at-morgue/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260113/p103#a260113p103

DOJ Flames Judiciary Over Impertinent Demand For Competent US Attorneys - Above the Law
https://abovethelaw.com/2026/02/doj-flames-judiciary-over-impertinent-demand-for-competent-us-attorneys/

Flip, which offers an Alexa-like voice AI experience for businesses, raised a $20M Series A, bringing its total funding to $31M (Mary Ann Azevedo/Crunchbase News)
https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/vertical-ai-based-customer-service-flip-raise/<…

Flip Raises $20M Series A For Its Verticalized Approach To AI-Based Customer Service
Flip, a startup that claims to offer an Amazon Alexa-like voice AI experience for businesses, has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round, it tells Crunchbase News exclusively.

As Trump threatens Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, Greenland and more,
renowned historian Alfred McCoy says the United States is
“an empire in decline,”
following a predictable pattern
of militarism abroad and political instability at home
as it loses power and influence on the world stage.
“American politics become increasingly contorted and irrational,”
says McCoy.
“I think the thing to do is to realize that we are an empire in decline, …
…

“Empire in Decline”: Historian Alfred McCoy on U.S. Aggression in Venezuela, Iran & Beyond
As President Trump threatens Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, Greenland and more, renowned historian Alfred McCoy says the United States is “an empire in decline,” following a predictable pattern of militarism abroad and political instability at home as it loses power and influence on the world stage. “American politics become increasingly contorted and irrational,” says McCoy. “I think the thing to do is to realize that we are an empire in decline, … and it will continue for another decade…

Deepfake porn bill allowing victims to sue passes Senate (John Hewitt Jones/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/01/13/congress/deepfake-porn-bill-allowing-victims-to-sue-passes-senate-00725817
http://www.memeorandum.com/260113/p102#a260113p102

More lurid revelations coming on Epstein: House Dem - Raw Story
https://www.rawstory.com/epstein-2674396057/

Days of demonstrations against immigration agents left Minnesota tense on Tuesday,
a day after federal authorities used #tear #gas to break up crowds of whistle-blowing activists
and state and local leaders #sued to fight the enforce…

Tensions flare in Minnesota as federal agents and protesters square off
Days of demonstrations against immigration agents and a new lawsuit have left Minnesota tense. Federal officers sprayed eye irritant and dropped tear gas at a swarm of activists Tuesday in Minneapolis. Students, meanwhile, walked out of a suburban school, part of the ongoing tension over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement sweeps. Minnesota and its two largest cities are suing the government to try to halt or limit the enforcement surge that led to the fatal shooting of a woman…

Apple says 74% of iPhones launched in the last four years and 66% of all iPhones are running iOS 26; 68% of iPhones were running iOS 18 as of Jan. 21, 2025 (Joe Rossignol/MacRumors)
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/02/13/apple-shares-ios-26-adoption-stats/

Apple Reveals How Many iPhones Are Running iOS 26
Apple has shared updated iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 adoption figures, revealing how many iPhones and iPads are running those software versions. These...

U.S. Forces Attacked in Syria, Syria State Media Says (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/world/middleeast/us-forces-attacked-syria.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8U8.xvRl.w5xuFBhdGTpN&smid=url-share
http://www.memeorandum.com/251213/p45#a251213p45

Trump says ‘help is on its way’
as he urges Iranians to
‘keep protesting’ and ‘take over’ their institutions
US president cancels meetings with Iranian officials ‘until senseless killing of protesters stops’
Trump says countries doing business with Iran face 25% tariff on US trade
China threatens to retaliate over Trump’s 25% tariff on countries trading with Iran

Mercedes pauses the rollout of Drive Pilot, a Level 3 "eyes off" driving feature available in Europe and the US, citing low demand and high production costs (Andrew J. Hawkins/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/transportation/860935/mercedes-dr…

Mercedes temporarily scraps its Level 3 ‘eyes-off’ driving feature
Mercedes pauses the rollout of its Level 3 Drive Pilot system that allowed eyes-off driving in certain conditions.

Cuba denounces US seizure of oil tanker off Venezuela's coast as 'piracy' (Edward Helmore/The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/13/cuba-denounces-us-seizure-oil-tanker-off-venezuela-coast
http://www.memeorandum.com/251213/p44#a251213p44

A look at Confer, an open-source AI assistant project from Signal creator Moxie Marlinspike that is designed to provide end-to-end encryption for AI chats (Dan Goodin/Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/0…

Signal creator Moxie Marlinspike wants to do for AI what he did for messaging
Introducing Confer, an end-to-end AI assistant that just works.

Over the past two months the U.S. has blown up at least 20 boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
“80 people have been killed in what are extrajudicial executions under international law,” says Juan Pappier, Americas deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
The Pentagon claims the boats were carrying drugs but officials have acknowledged they don’t know who has been killed.
The U.S.now has 15,000 military personnel in the region.

“Gunboat Diplomacy”: U.S. War in Latin America Feared as Hegseth Launches “Operation Southern Spear”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced the launch of Operation Southern Spear to target suspected drug traffickers in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The U.S. now has 15,000 military personnel in the region. Over the past two months the U.S. has blown up at least 20 boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. “80 people have been killed in what are extrajudicial executions under international law,” says Juan Pappier, Americas deputy director at Human Rights Watch. Th…

The AI boom is delaying US municipal projects, as ~$4T in AI infra spending through 2030 shifts skilled construction workers to AI data centers (Brooke Sutherland/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/202…

As Cyber Threats Escalate, the National Vulnerability Database Is Falling Behind
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is struggling.
It faces a growing backlog to process data in its vulnerability repository, which publicly shares information assessing and detailing mitigation solutions against new cyber exploits.
With nearly 1,800 new reported vulnerabilities sitting in a queue for analysis this year, delays in processing leave the United States increa…

What would you do if the federal government wanted you in jail and Jamie Dimon was paying your legal bills?
Here’s what Charlie Javice did:
She spent money on luxury hotel upgrades, extravagant meals and cellulite butter, a personal care product that some people use to treat their skin, as a lawyer for the bank said in a hearing on Friday.
Then, she sent the receipts to the bank.
All told, Ms. Javice has spent more than $60 million — and counting — on her defense, acco…

JPMorgan Had to Pay for Charlie Javice’s Legal Fees — and Her Restaurant Bills
When prosecutors accused Charlie Javice of fraud, JPMorgan was forced to pay for her defense. The bank is not happy about her “shocking” spending.

The Liberty Justice Center
is the litigation arm of the
right-wing Illinois Policy Institute.
It has aggressively backed legal attacks on labor unions
(including the landmark Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court case),
attacked gun safety measures,
and promoted policies that undermine public schools, such as taxpayer-funded vouchers.

The Liberty Justice Center received $1 million in 2021 from the Marcus Foundation,
a charitable giving nonprofit run b…

Liberty Justice Center | Supreme Transparency
The Liberty Justice Center is the litigation arm of the right-wing Illinois Policy Institute. It has aggressively backed legal attacks on labor unions (including the landmark Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court case), attacked gun safety measures, and promoted policies that undermine public schools, such as taxpayer-funded vouchers.

A US court sentences Ramil Ventura Palafox, CEO of Praetorian Group, to 20 years in prison for operating a $200M bitcoin Ponzi scheme that defrauded 90K people (Danny Park/The Block)
https://www.theblock.co/post/389760/bitcoin-ponzi-20-years

When neither major party delivers for the working class, people turn to alternatives
-- and more power to them
https://bsky.app/profile/anthonyderibas.bsky.social/post/3m3uljdsll22w

Anthony DeRibas for FL-16 (@anthonyderibas.bsky.social)
This is what real representation looks like — Florida CD-14, CD-15 & CD-16 standing together. Class of ’27 | 120th Congress ✊💚 #ClassOf27 #120thCongress #VotesNotBoats #DeRibasForCongress #WorkingClassVoices

PJM trims summer 2027 peak demand forecast to ~160 GW from ~164 GW because some projects, including data centers, lack firm service or construction commitments (Naureen S Malik/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

Microsoft signs a deal with a legal advocacy group to resolve claims it denied discounts to conservative religious nonprofits; OpenAI and Asana also made deals (Jeff Green/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20