Tootfinder

Noch ein paar der zuletzt hier besonders häufig geteilten #News:
Bluesky-Ausfall: DDoS-Angriff angeblich von iranischer Gruppe „313 Team“

Scott Myers, the head of Snap's AR glasses subsidiary Specs, leaves after six years; sources say Myers left after a "blow-up" with Evan Spiegel over strategy (Alex Heath/Sources)
https://sources.news/p/figmas-answer-to-the-ai-software

Figma's answer to the AI software sell-off
My chat with CEO Dylan Field ahead of today's earnings call. Also: Snap loses its head of Specs right before the big launch, and OpenAI poaches another key Meta exec.

Is It From the Birds? Stephen Sondheim Asked the Right Question About Music and Then Preferred Not to Hear the Answer
In November of 1997, Stephen Sondheim sat in his Manhattan townhouse with Mark Eden Horowitz, a senior music specialist from the Library of Congress, and said something extraordinary. Not extraordinary in the way that most Sondheim quotes are extraordinary, which is to say technically precise and laced with a craftsman's impatience for imprecision.…

Is It From the Birds? Stephen Sondheim Asked the Right Question About Music and Then Preferred Not to Hear the Answer | David Boles, Blogs
In November of 1997, Stephen Sondheim sat in his Manhattan townhouse with Mark Eden Horowitz, a senior music specialist from the Library of Congress, and said something extraordinary. Not extraordi…

I've seen a bunch of "the CA age verification law is the best way to do a bad thing and so we shouldn't oppose compliance" takes, which others are rightly pointing out is a bad stance because it's blindingly obvious that compliance now sets the stage for compliance later and the clearly set up later is mandatory verification of age data. Even if you think that, for example, California's current "progressive" government won't go there, we're all currently seeing just how easy it is for a new government to pick up the oppressive tools the "good" government was using "restraint" with and put them to worse ends.
On the other hand, I'll freely admit that distros *do* need a way to shield themselves from liability right now. The clear (to me; IANAL) correct solution is to say on your website "don't download this OS if you're in a jurisdiction where it's not legal for us to provide it."). Assuming this does put you in the clear liability-wise, it has several positive effects:
- Stops zero people from downloading it.
- Makes it clear that your project will not collaborate with fascists/oppressive regime enjoyers.
- Means that when the next law makes verifying user ages mandatory (and/or explicitly requires using Palantir-adjacent services to do so) you've already got a strategy in place and there's no need for a "debate" in your "community" about compliance.
- Gets users more practice with "the law is malicious/needlessly bureaucratic/oppressive; let's ignore it" which to be honest people in general clearly desperately need at this point.
- Is the most effective political move if you want to resist the way things are going. Forcing the other side to explain why "California bans Linux" is good rhetorical strategy. Make *them* try to explain "well it's actually not so harmful since we let users set it themselves" and answer your follow-up "but what if next year the requirements change; I just refuse to go along with this slippery slope stuff and I'm not bothered if that means you want to *ban* me."
#AgeVerification

Angriff auf Weltmarkt: EU-Regierungschefs für globale Champions „made in Europe“
Mit einer neuen Strategie will der Europäische Rat heimische Tech-Konzerne nebst Mobilfunkern international wettbewerbsfähig machen und den Binnenmarkt stärken.

Many Americans with student debt are again facing future upheaval
after a federal appeals court recently ordered the end of a Biden-era student loan repayment program,
known as the Saving on a Value Education (Save) Plan,
-- a move that coincided with another grim revelation:
🔥new education department data shows that by the end of 2025, 7.7 million borrowers had defaulted on $181bn in federal student loans.

Beispiellose Malware-Angriffe auf iPhones: Apple mahnt zum Update
Angreifer setzten komplexe Exploits ein, um iPhones bei Aufruf einer Webseite zu knacken. Apple-Patches liegen vor, Nutzer sollten sie dringend installieren.

heise | Geknackte Verschlüsselung: Was hinter dem Angriff auf TeleGuard steckt
Der Schweizer Messenger verspricht „weltbeste Verschlüsselung“. Sicherheitsforscher haben dennoch eine Lücke ausgenutzt. Aber TeleGuard wiegelt die Kritik ab.

Microsoft acknowledges complaints about Windows 11, promising a reduction of "unnecessary" Copilot integrations, more control over updates, and more (Ed Bott/ZDNET)
https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-users-are-angry-and-mi…

Microsoft announces sweeping Windows changes - but no apologies
Microsoft's Windows boss just sent out a long non-apology to frustrated Windows 11 users, promising big changes. Here's a translation of what you can really expect.

TeleGuard: Sicherheitsexperten entschlüsseln Messenger-Nachrichten
Der Schweizer Messenger TeleGuard verspricht „weltbeste Verschlüsselung“, Sicherheitsforschern gelang dennoch ein MITM-Angriff. Entwickler Swisscows wiegelt ab.
…