@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng2026-10-19 06:30:03
Descent Into Oytal (October 2023)
(Epic evening light shafts illuminating the lower parts of the valley, showing the path ahead which we took underneath the stars a few hours later. The upper part of the valley is one of Germany's true dark places (Bortle scale 2), great for stargazing... The peaks on the left are two of the four summits of the Höfats, a unique mountain with some of the steepest slopes in the eastern Alps)
@cdarwin@c.im2026-09-19 15:11:52
In a first for Google, the company confirmed that
its AI model, Gemini, breached the security of three other companies in May.
The hacks occurred during a cybersecurity evaluation by AI-security firm Irregular.
Irregular, an Israel-based startup that scrutinizes the security of advanced AI systems, was also at the center of some of the recent OpenAI and Anthropic hacks of third-party entities, including OpenAI’s breach of AI software company, Hugging Face.
The circum…
@Mediagazer@mstdn.social2026-08-18 12:30:32
ABC sues the FCC, claiming the agency's investigations and regulatory actions are part of a Trump administration "retaliatory campaign" to curb its free speech (Ted Johnson/Deadline)
https://deadline.com/2026/08/abc-sues-fcc-first-amendment-lawsuit…
@jeang3nie@social.linux.pizza2026-09-20 04:46:08
One of my biggest disappointments was always not seeing Rush live while Neil Peart was alive. I almost passed on this tour, but tickets for the second Cleveland show came down in price at the last moment and I realized that I'd never forgive myself if I didn't go. So after leaving work early and braving the downtown Cleveland traffic I actually managed to find on street parking and go see one of the best concerts that I've ever been to.
I thought the first set was amazing. …
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot2026-08-17 17:30:56
I'm reading the Scottish Government's latest #Biodiversity Action Plan. A great deal of it is pure fantasy unless we also urgently tackle the #ClimateEmergency (which we are not doing) but the ambition is good.
@cdarwin@c.im2026-10-20 00:42:02
DOJ Admits List of Noncitizen Voters Is Faulty as It Begins Arrests
Eleven people with lawful permanent resident status were arrested in California Monday for alleged voter fraud.
Hours later, First Assistant Attorney for California Bill Essayli admitted that they may not have even voted.
The arrests were announced in a Department of Justice press release, which lauded the capture of California residents as part of
“Operation Protect the Vote”
—an effort to purg…
@hex@kolektiva.social2026-09-20 04:53:16
And the answer will be "fine" as long as "the military" is thought of as a block that is treated as an enemy of the left. In the Russian case, leftists intentionally joined the military to radicalize units. In the German case, conscription meant that leftists ended up in the military radicalizing people.
The US is different, intentionally. Vietnam changed a lot. While some people resisted the draft, others rolled hand grenades into their officers' tents. Fragging commanders was a huge problem. After the end of the war, the US military adapted by ending the draft.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragging
The US military works hard to brain wash recruits, yes. There are *a lot* of controls in place to minimize the probability of the type of revolt that has been part of other revolutions. One of those is "merit based" promotion. But, as we know from the Vietnam War, evrn that breaks down.
And it's easy to forget, or ignore, but the military *does* sometimes radicalize people or people radicalize themselves in response to their experiences in service. Smedley Butler is perhaps one of the more interesting examples, but there have been plenty. Aaron Bushnell should be at the top of your mind, as should Chelsea Manning (and perhaps others like Reality Winner).
Lots of people join the military for reasons other than patriotism, and some of those who join because of patriotism see what the US really is as part of their service. Support our vet comrades. Support those doing the work of trying to radicalize service members. Keep an open mind when talking to folks in the military today. Welcome comrades who are still in the military and have come to realize what's happened. And, most importantly, listen to those who have served to understand other things you can do to support service members who are in the process of rejecting their indoctrination.
@cdarwin@c.im2026-08-18 14:58:51
Apple has reportedly spent years working on camera-equipped AirPods under the code name "B798," as part of a broader AI wearables push that also encompasses smart glasses and a wearable AI pendant. That model had been on track for a 2026 release before slipping to 2027.
In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that a separate camera AirPods project, code named "B790," has been progressing alongside B798.
He noted this isn't unusual for App…
@toxi@mastodon.thi.ng2026-09-17 12:12:27
Oh my, I just bought something from eBay for the first time in 15 years — wish me luck! My last experience (selling a laptop then) was super stressful, when the buyer ended up being a fraudster and it took months to get the money...
This time I ordered a dry heat press for my silver gelatin prints, very similar (but larger) to what I had in my first darkroom 35-40 years ago... My current approach pressing fiber prints under 20kg of books takes far too long and isn't scalable (in time …
@cdarwin@c.im2026-10-17 22:10:02
Rodger Marshall is playing catch-up as he races to avoid becoming the first person to lose a Senate contest to a Democrat in Kansas in nearly a century.
He faces the most serious challenger for a Kansas senator in over a decade as his party stares down a grim environment under Donald Trump’s second term.
National Republicans are pouring millions into the state to prop him up;
national Democrats are responding in kind,
and Democrat Adam Hamilton,
a well-known …