Tootfinder

A federal appeals court rejects T-Mobile's bid to overturn a $92M fine for illegally sharing customer location data without consent, per a 2024 FCC ruling (Jon Brodkin/Ars Technica)
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

T-Mobile claimed selling location data without consent is legal—judges disagree
T-Mobile can’t overturn $92 million fine; AT&T and Verizon verdicts still to come.

Low-income Americans slash spending, in a worrying sign for the economy
Consumers of all income levels scale back and hold out for discounts, leaving the economy on shaky ground.
But this shift is most pronounced among lower-income consumers,
who are disproportionately vulnerable to rising prices and other economic pressures eroding their purchasing power

“U.S. consumer spending is not just softening overall, it’s doing so in a fragmented way …
and that’s a re…

Low-income Americans slash spending, a bad sign for the economy
The U.S. economy faces challenges as consumer spending weakens, with lower-income Americans hit hardest by rising prices and economic pressures.

Consumer Autonomy or Illusion? Rethinking Consumer Agency in the Age of Algorithms
Pegah Nokhiz, Aravinda Kanchana Ruwanpathirana
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.13440 https://

Consumer Autonomy or Illusion? Rethinking Consumer Agency in the Age of Algorithms
Consumer agency in the digital age is increasingly constrained by systemic barriers and algorithmic manipulation, raising concerns about the authenticity of consumption choices. Nowadays, financial decisions are shaped by external pressures like obligatory consumption, algorithmic persuasion, and unstable work schedules that erode financial autonomy. Obligatory consumption (like hidden fees) is intensified by digital ecosystems. Algorithmic tactics like personalized recommendations lead to impu…

Bengals-Commanders 2025 NFL preseason, Week 2: What We Learned from Cincinnati's 31-17 win https://www.nfl.com/news/bengals-commanders-2025-nfl-preseason-week-2-what-we-learned-from-cincinnati-s-win

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Six hacker wallets sold ETH during the crypto crash on October 10, locking in heavy losses and rebuying at higher prices.
Hackers Lost $13M in ETH After Panic Selling and Rebuying at Higher Prices
https://coincentral.com/hackers-lost-1

Hackers Lost $13M in ETH After Panic Selling and Rebuying
Hackers lost $13.4M in ETH by selling low and buying high during the Oct. 10 crypto market crash, blockchain data reveals.

Research on Conversational Recommender System Considering Consumer Types
Yaying Luo, Hui Fang, Zhu Sun
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.13209 https://arxiv.org/p…

Research on Conversational Recommender System Considering Consumer Types
Conversational Recommender Systems (CRS) provide personalized services through multi-turn interactions, yet most existing methods overlook users' heterogeneous decision-making styles and knowledge levels, which constrains both accuracy and efficiency. To address this gap, we propose CT-CRS (Consumer Type-Enhanced Conversational Recommender System), a framework that integrates consumer type modeling into dialogue recommendation. Based on consumer type theory, we define four user categories--depe…

Changing fashions

Ukrainian war masters: repair units and the “Flamingo” missile changing the course of the war: https://benborges.xyz/2025/08/19/ukrainian-war-masters-repair-units.html

“Items that I have bought regularly have gone up in price steadily
From hair dye to baby formula,
our grocery list has gotten smaller while our budget has had to increase.
Meats like steak are a no-go for our household.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news…

Niamh Sweeney, Facebook's former head of public policy in Ireland, is appointed as Ireland's new Data Protection Commissioner, starting October 13 (Peter Flanagan/The Irish Times)
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/09/17/ex-t…

Ex-tech lobbyist named as Ireland’s new Data Protection Commissioner
Niamh Sweeney to take up role in October