Its Technical

[Toonces]

Billionaire Jeff Yass May Be The Donor Behind Trump’s TikTok FlipFlop: Here’s What To Know

Republican mega donor and billionaire TikTok investor Jeff Yass is speculated to be be the person behind a sudden change of heart that saw Donald Trump oppose banning the Chinese-owned video app despite having tried to do it himself while in office.

Trump, who cited national security concerns when he issued a 2020 executive order demanding parent company ByteDance sell TikTok within 45 days or face a ban, last week spoke against the latest push in Congress to ban the app, saying it would only help Facebook, which he considers “an enemy of the people.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroelof ... 029c717d6c

He's also being linked to buying Donald's Truth Social for a high value for something that has continued to teeter on the bring of being MySpace. It may well be legal, but far from being ethical. He's buying a president. TikTok being an example of what he gets for his money

[Motor City]

GM getting kickbacks for insurance customer shakedown schemes

GM cuts ties with 2 data firms amid heated lawsuit over driver data

.....General Motors said Friday it is severing ties with two data brokers following a lawsuit that connected the automaker to sharing driver data that resulted in higher auto insurance rates for that plaintiff.

In a lawsuit filed March 13, Romeo Chicco of Florida claims GM, its connected-services subsidiary OnStar and data and analytics company LexisNexis Risk Solutions violated privacy and consumer protection laws.

Chicco alleges GM captured and shared his driving data — which included information about his speeding, braking and acceleration — with LexisNexis, which then shared it with insurers. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida, seeks class-action status.....

.....On Friday, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly declined to comment on the lawsuit, but he sent the Detroit Free Press the following statement: "As of March 20th, OnStar Smart Driver customer data is no longer being shared with LexisNexis or Verisk. Customer trust is a priority for us, and we are actively evaluating our privacy processes and policies."

Kelly declined to provide any further information as to how long GM has done business with LexisNexis and Verisk, which is also a data analytics firm that collects and shares data to help businesses manage risk, or why GM severed ties at this time.....

[ap215]

House Democrats demand improvements to CBP One app for asylum-seekers

A group of House Democrats is pushing the Biden administration to make improvements to CBP One, the mobile app available to migrants through U.S. Customs and Border Protection [CBP] to secure appointments to legally enter the United States to claim asylum.

In a letter led by Democratic Reps. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), Jesús “Chuy” García (Ill.) and Joaquin Castro (Texas), the lawmakers listed a series of flaws in the app they say worsen conditions at the border.

https://thehill.com/latino/4547195-hous ... m-seekers/

[ap215]

High Court orders temporary suspension of Telegram's services in Spain

MADRID, March 23 (Reuters) - Spain's High Court has ordered the suspension of messaging app Telegram's services in the country after media companies complained it was allowing users to upload their content without permission, according to a court source.

The use of Telegram in Spain will be temporarily suspended from Monday after a request by media firms including Atresmedia (A3M.MC), EGEDA, Mediaset (GETVF.PK), and Telefonica (TEF.MC).

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hi ... 024-03-23/

[ap215]

Let's Go!

EU probes Apple, Google, Meta under new digital law

US tech giants Apple, Google and Meta were targeted by European Union regulators on Monday, as the bloc opened its first investigations into "non-compliance" with its new Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The sweeping DMA legislation was passed into law earlier this month.

https://www.dw.com/en/eu-probes-apple-g ... a-68660777

[ap215]

Meta dinged as appeals court rules against delaying FTC reexamination of Facebook privacy terms after $5 billion penalty

Meta Platforms Inc. failed to convince a federal appeals court to postpone the US Federal Trade Commission’s reexamination of alleged privacy breaches within its Facebook arm.

The US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday that Meta “has not satisfied the stringent requirements” for an injunction pending appeal for any of its five constitutional challenges. “None has a likelihood of success,” the court ruled.

https://fortune.com/2024/03/30/meta-fac ... als-court/

[ZoWie]

All these companies are running a scam behind our backs. They say they protect their users, but the code that their systems run suggests otherwise. It's a classic corporate con job, absolutely classic. They make their money off the back end, giving advertisers evidence that their money is well spent buying ads with them. It's all about what percentage of target demographics they can prove that they deliver, just like in commercial entertainment media. Hell, that's what it really is. A slightly dressed up version of a snake oil show.

[ap215]

Google Agrees to Delete Users’ ‘Incognito’ Browsing Data in Lawsuit Settlement

Google said it would delete millions of records of users’ browsing activities as part of a settlement of a class-action lawsuit that alleged it tracked people without their knowledge.

The case, filed in 2020, alleged the Alphabet Inc. unit surreptitiously collected data from people using its popular Chrome web browser in a private “incognito” browsing mode. While that function lets users turn off data collection when using the Chrome browser, other Google tools used by websites, such as advertising technology, scoop up their data anyway, according to the suit.

https://time.com/6962521/google-incogni ... ettlement/

[ap215]

Data From 73 Million AT&T Accounts Stolen: How You Can Protect Yourself

AT&T said hackers have stolen the personal information of 73 million current and former customers. The data, including Social Security numbers, appears to be from 2019 or earlier, AT&T said in a statement Saturday, and includes account information for approximately 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former customers.

The leak first came to light in 2021, when hackers claimed they'd stolen customer data from AT&T and would put the information up for sale. Fast-forward to March 2024, the stolen personal information was discovered on the dark web, according to Troy Hunt, creator of Have I Been Pwned.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/data-f ... -yourself/

[ap215]

Musk faces Brazilian inquiry after vowing to defy X court order

A Brazil Supreme Court judge is investigating Elon Musk for alleged obstruction of justice after the billionaire vowed to defy a court order in Latin America's largest nation blocking certain accounts on his platform, per multiple reports.

The big picture: Brazilian officials have been cracking down on social media accounts that spread misinformation and hate speech and X at first followed the order, though noted in a Saturday post that Brazilians, "regardless of their political beliefs, are entitled to freedom of speech."

https://www.axios.com/2024/04/08/elon-m ... ge-inquiry

[ap215]

CBS News Rebrands Streaming Network

CBS News is rebranding its national streaming network, which becomes CBS News 24/7 instead of CBS News Streaming Network. Live coverage will expand as of April 22, and flagship program CBS News 24/7 debuts as a one-hour block in June.

CBS News promised to eventually double the amount of live hours of coverage on the streaming network.

https://www.nexttv.com/news/cbs-news-re ... ng-network

[ap215]

Net neutrality is back as FCC votes to regulate internet providers

Washington (CNN) — The US government on Thursday banned internet service providers (ISPs) from meddling in the speeds their customers receive when browsing the web and downloading files, restoring tough rules rescinded during the Trump administration and setting the stage for a major legal battle with the broadband industry.

The net neutrality regulations adopted Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission prohibit providers such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from selectively speeding up, slowing down or blocking users’ internet traffic. They largely reflect rules passed by a prior FCC in 2015 and unwound in 2017.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/25/tech/net ... index.html

[ap215]

FCC fines US wireless carriers over illegal location data sharing

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission on Monday fined the largest U.S. wireless carriers nearly $200 million for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information.

The FCC is finalizing fines first proposed in February 2020, including $80 million for T-Mobile (TMUS.O), opens new tab; $12 million for Sprint, which T-Mobile has since acquired; $57 million for AT&T (T.N), opens new tab, and nearly $47 million for Verizon Communications (VZ.N), opens new tab.

https://www.reuters.com/business/media- ... 024-04-29/

[ap215]

Michigan AG executes search warrants on Google and X in ongoing 2020 fake electors probe

(CNN) — Google and X, formerly Twitter, recently provided hundreds of files to Michigan prosecutors for their 2020 election subversion probe, complying with search warrants that investigators obtained after CNN revealed secret social media accounts belonging to pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who played a major role in the fake electors plot.

The previously unreported warrants gave prosecutors access to new Chesebro emails and his private direct messages on Twitter. The warrants make clear that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is still gathering new information in her probe, nine months after she charged the state’s fake electors with forgery and other crimes for signing certificates falsely claiming Donald Trump won the state in 2020.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/29/politics ... index.html

[ZoWie]

FCC fines US wireless carriers over illegal location data sharing

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission on Monday fined the largest U.S. wireless carriers nearly $200 million for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information.

The FCC is finalizing fines first proposed in February 2020, including $80 million for T-Mobile (TMUS.O), opens new tab; $12 million for Sprint, which T-Mobile has since acquired; $57 million for AT&T (T.N), opens new tab, and nearly $47 million for Verizon Communications (VZ.N), opens new tab.

https://www.reuters.com/business/media- ... 024-04-29/

No wonder half the ads I get are for VPNs. I already use one, though.

[ap215]

Court documents reveal Google's payments to Apple increased to an eye-watering $20 billion

The price to be the default search engine on iPhones, iPads, and Macs has apparently gone up.

Newly disclosed court documents from the Department of Justice's antitrust case against Google said the tech giant paid over $20 billion in 2022 to secure itself as the default search engine on Apple's Safari browser.

https://www.businessinsider.com/google- ... 022-2024-5

[ap215]

Democratic officials criticize Meta ad policy, saying it amplifies lies about 2020 election

ATLANTA (AP) — Several Democrats serving as their state’s top election officials have sent a letter to the parent company of Facebook, asking it to stop allowing ads that claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

In the letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the secretaries of state from Colorado, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Vermont said allowing such ads will further erode trust in elections and fuel threats of political violence against election workers, which already has led some to leave the profession. Also signing the letter was Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, who does not oversee elections.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/0 ... y-00156149

[ap215]

I'm from Brooklyn I took computer class back in the 80's some of my classmates who i knew at the time were African American they understood the course & were well educated this is unfortunate.

NY governor slammed for saying black children don't know what computers are

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is facing backlash for saying that black children in the Bronx don't know the word "computer".

"Right now, we have young black kids growing up in the Bronx who don't even know what the word 'computer' is," she said. "They don't know these things."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68971655

[ZoWie]

This is bullshit all right. I took computer classes when it became obvious that it was the future of graphic and cinematic arts, and there were plenty of ethnic minority and female students.

Bad phrasing, but still, any politician that can't find a speech writer or briefing staff that is sensitive to buzzwords isn't very good at it.

[Glennfs]

I'm from Brooklyn I took computer class back in the 80's some of my classmates who i knew at the time were African American they understood the course & were well educated this is unfortunate.

NY governor slammed for saying black children don't know what computers are

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is facing backlash for saying that black children in the Bronx don't know the word "computer".

"Right now, we have young black kids growing up in the Bronx who don't even know what the word 'computer' is," she said. "They don't know these things."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68971655

Had a republican said that it would have a thread of its own and people would be outraged. While claiming it was the opinion of all Republicans

[gounion]

Had a republican said that it would have a thread of its own and people would be outraged. While claiming it was the opinion of all Republicans

Your side would just make gorilla noises at them and Congressmen would make posts championing them, and you wouldn’t say a word about them yourself. You’d just ignore it.

[Glennfs]

Your side would just make gorilla noises at them and Congressmen would make posts championing them, and you wouldn’t say a word about them yourself. You’d just ignore it.

Yes a college student being racist is exactly the same as a Congressman attending a fund raiser with anti Semitic bigots who hate Jewish people and believe Israel doesn't have the right to exist.

Your whataboutery game needs work

[gounion]

Yes a college student being racist is exactly the same as a Congressman attending a fund raiser with anti Semitic bigots who hate Jewish people and believe Israel doesn't have the right to exist.

Your whataboutery game needs work

And GOP Congressmen champion them.

[gounion]

Antisemitic GOP congressman trots out Great Replacement Theory, and you won’t say a word, will you Glenn? https://www.rawstory.com/scott-perry-wh ... nt-theory/

The House Oversight and Reform Committee held a Tuesday briefing discussing the increase in antisemitic attacks on Americans on college campuses — and Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) used it as the moment to promote the fringe conspiracy of the "Great Replacement Theory."

According to an excerpt of the transcript posted by The Forward's political reporter, Jacob N. Kornbluh, the meeting was held behind closed doors.

"When [Jamie] Raskin, when my colleague from Maryland talks about 'White Replacement Theory' — 'Replacement Theory' is real," complained Perry.

"They added 'white' to it to stop everybody from talking about it," Perry continued, without elaborating on who he was referring to.

"But bringing people into the country — I think most people on the right are happy to accept people that are here legally, including me, as my ancestors immigrated legally to become Americans," he said.

"But what's happening now is we're importing people into the country that want to be in America, be in America, but have no interest in being Americans, and that's very different. And to disparage the comments is to chill the conversation so that we can continue to bring in more people ... that are un-American," Perry also said.

So-called "Replacement Theory" is a conspiracy that claims the white race is under threat of extinction at the hands of Jews and other minority groups, the American Jewish Committee posts on its website.

[JoeMemphis]

I'm from Brooklyn I took computer class back in the 80's some of my classmates who i knew at the time were African American they understood the course & were well educated this is unfortunate.

NY governor slammed for saying black children don't know what computers are

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is facing backlash for saying that black children in the Bronx don't know the word "computer".

"Right now, we have young black kids growing up in the Bronx who don't even know what the word 'computer' is," she said. "They don't know these things."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68971655

Poor choice of words on her part. I do think what she is saying is that poor kids often are trapped in shitty schools and don’t have access to the same tools as other kids. Many of these kids are minorities. Although poor white kids often don’t have access either and are also trapped in shitty schools. If that’s what she is trying to say then I would agree. Thats the sad part. It’s a cycle of poverty and ignorance that we can seem to break.

Race has nothing to do with the capacity to learn. Poverty is much more of a factor.