ZoWie wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 12:20 pm
I can't find a link now, but I saw a story from a reliable source to the effect that cell phone security is practically nonexistent over major US service providers due to a Chinese hack that was not described in any detail. Someone recommended that we use encryption, but didn't suggest what kind or how to implement it. I don't know work-arounds yet, but perhaps it's time to use one of those foreign VPN providers. I already pay for Nord VPN, though I admit to not using it as often as I probably should.
More when I find it.
I used a VPN and generally connected to a US server. I often forget and wonder why I'm having trouble with some Canadian websites. I should probably change that.
Get ready for Big Tech Right Wing hell to blow over Social Media & The Internet.
Trump’s pick for FTC chair promises to go after ‘censorship’ from tech companies
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Andrew Ferguson to be the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission. Ferguson will take over for Lina Khan, who has earned praise from Vice President-elect J.D. Vance for her efforts to fight big tech.
“Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump says in a post on Truth Social.
Trump's pick to replace Lina Khan as FTC chair pledges to take on 'Big Tech' and 'wokeness'
President-elect Donald Trump has picked Commissioner Andrew Ferguson to take over for Lina Khan as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission, in a blow to major technology firms.
The nomination is a big promotion for Ferguson, a former law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and former advisor to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. He was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as one of the FTC’s Republican commissioners in July 2023 and was confirmed by the full Senate in March.
Spectrum internet is extremely slow today. I've run tests using Speedtest.net and Spectrum's speed test. Results:
Speedtest.net:
Download - 5.79mbps
Upload - 11.39mbps
Spectrum:
Download - 2mbbps
Upload - 9mbps
Normal speeds should be 100 - 200 mbps for Download and 10 - 15 mbps for Upload. I Googled the problem and it seems Spectrum has a nationwide problem today. I'll see what it's like tomorrow.
Mark Cuban Says This Is The 'Holy Grail' That Makes Bluesky Better Than Musk's X Platform
Entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban has been an outspoken critic of Elon Musk and the X social media platform. In a recent interview, Cuban shares what sets Bluesky apart from X and why he's spending more time there.
Why Cuban Loves Bluesky: Alternate platforms to X, formerly known as Twitter, such as Bluesky and Meta Platforms Inc.
META-owned Threads have seen a rise in user growth after the 2024 presidential election.
The next thing is to get all the local officials hip, so that they start posting what's up when you suddenly hear helicopters and sirens outside. That's all that twitter was good for anymore, and that's not enough to keep me exposing myself to go there.
In LA and NYC, most are Democrats, so it seems logical for them to keep up with reality.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
ZoWie wrote: ↑Thu Dec 19, 2024 12:21 pm
The next thing is to get all the local officials hip, so that they start posting what's up when you suddenly hear helicopters and sirens outside. That's all that twitter was good for anymore, and that's not enough to keep me exposing myself to go there.
In LA and NYC, most are Democrats, so it seems logical for them to keep up with reality.
The problem is most local officials don't know what's going on outside their jobs. Unless it's a high profile person involved they wouldn't know why a helicopter is flying over an area or why your hearing a siren.
I can see where it would be useful if it were an emergency (wildfire, tsunami, tornado, etc.) or something they had warnings about like a road/highway will be shut down for repairs.
For the most part, local officials are as clueless as to why something is happening as we are.
I don't mean like the mayor and council. LAFD had a twitter account and if something big happened it was posted there. They also have a press site which usually has at least the big stuff, but at least that has a URL that's not on twitter.
The cops are, of course, the cops. They won't say anything unless their press department does.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
Because The GOP loves anything that's Big & would love to do anything to wreck things.
Why Big Tech is funding Trump’s inauguration
Hefty donations from tech companies and leaders to President-elect Trump’s inaugural fund are a sign of Silicon Valley’s shifting relationship with the incoming leader after past tensions.
While inaugural donations by companies are nothing new, observers suggest the cash, coupled with meetings at Mar-a-Lago, signal several leading technology businesses are trying to improve their standing with the president-elect.
Big tech is the new Gilded Age. They pick the president now, with help from their oligarch friends in electronic media. None of this should be a surprise.
The only remaining uncertainty in any of this analysis is what we're going to do about it. We can do what we're doing now, which is to keep being slaves, or we can finally wise up.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
US appeals court blocks Biden administration effort to restore net-neutrality rules
WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday the Federal Communications Commission did not have legal authority to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules.
The decision is a blow to the outgoing Biden administration that had made restoring the open internet rules a priority. President Joe Biden signed a 2021 executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate the rules.
Meta is abandoning the use of independent fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram, replacing them with X-style "community notes" where commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users.
In a video posted alongside a blog post by the company on Tuesday, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said third-party moderators were "too politically biased" and it was "time to get back to our roots around free expression".
[...]
However, campaigners against hate speech online have reacted with dismay - and suggested the change is really motivated by getting on the right side of Donald Trump.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed an ambitious executive order on artificial intelligence that seeks to ensure the infrastructure needed for advanced AI operations, such as large-scale data centers and new clean power facilities, can be built quickly and at scale in the United States.
The executive order directs federal agencies to accelerate large-scale AI infrastructure development at government sites, while imposing requirements and safeguards on the developers building on those locations. It also directs certain agencies to make federal sites available for AI data centers and new clean power facilities. Those agencies will help facilitate the infrastructure’s interconnection to the electric grid and help speed up the permitting process. In a statement, Biden said AI will have “profound implications for national security......
....Under the new rules, the departments of Defense and Energy will each identify at least three sites where the private sector can build AI data centers. The agencies will run “competitive solicitations” from private companies to build AI data centers on those federal sites, senior administration officials said......
11 Men Freed After 20+ Years of "Extreme Deprivation." Will Biden Close Guantánamo for Good?
.....“By around 2028, we expect that leading AI developers will be seeking to operate data centers with as much as five gigawatts of capacity for training AI models.”
Deploying AI systems at scale also requires a broader network of data centers across different parts of the country, he said.
“From a national security standpoint, it’s really critical to find a pathway for building the data centers and power infrastructure to support frontier AI operations here in the United States,” he said, adding that building data centers in the U.S. will prevent “adversaries from accessing these powerful systems to the detriment of our military and our national security.”......
New York's $15 Broadband Law Goes Into Effect This Week
Some good news for certain residents of the Empire State. Beginning Wednesday, internet service providers in the state of New York must offer low-income residents access to monthly broadband rates of $15 for 25Mbps or $20 for 200Mbps, under the new Affordable Broadband Act. The new law requires ISPs in the state to offer these rates despite resistance from a coalition of broadband companies who asked the US Supreme Court to block the mandate. The Supreme Court declined to hear that case in mid-December.
As of the end of 2024, the average cost that Americans pay for high-speed internet service is $63 a month across all speeds and with discounts applied, not including the cost some pay to rent equipment, which brings the average up to $78 per month. Studies have found that low-income families have struggled to pay monthly internet fees, a problem that was underscored during the COVID-19 pandemic, when families needed home internet service to virtually attend school and work.
Responding to the Supreme Court’s decision upholding a US government’s decision to ban TikTok on national security grounds due to alleged ties between its parent company, ByteDance, and the Chinese government, Lauren Armistead, Deputy Director at Amnesty Tech, said:
“Banning TikTok does nothing to address the endemic human rights risks and harms associated with the surveillance-based business models of Tik Tok and other major tech companies such as Google and Meta.
But it's not what everyone assumes it means Trump is keeping it around so that ByteDance could sell the platform to a Billionaire investor & they control the algorithm here in the U.S. Jeff Yass has stock in TikTok but he's the one who said TikTok should've been banned years ago.
TikTok begins restoring service for U.S. users after Trump comments
TikTok said Sunday that it would be restoring service to U.S. users after blocking it the evening before.
In a statement, TikTok said its video platform was coming back online after President-elect Donald Trump provided the necessary assurances to the company’s service providers.
Reddit won’t interfere with users revolting against X with subreddit bans
Reddit is staying out of the current revolt against social media website X and, to a lesser degree, Meta, on its platform.
Since Tuesday, hundreds of subreddits have discussed and/or implemented bans against the site formerly called Twitter, as reported by 404 Media. Dozens of subreddits have already agreed to disallow the sharing of any links to X, with moderators (volunteer Reddit users) agreeing to enforce the bans.
Why some Instagram users are suddenly following Trump, Vance
Meta on Wednesday pushed back against claims its platforms were automatically forcing users to follow the Instagram accounts of President Trump and Vice President Vance following Inauguration Day.
Shortly after Trump and Vance were sworn in to office, some users posted online claiming their Instagram or Facebook accounts followed Trump and Vance automatically. Some insisted they never followed the accounts and called on Meta to explain what happened.
Think again if you think Social Media & the apps are safe & free under Trump & The GOP.
Am I being censored? Some US TikTok users say app feels different after ban lifted
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. TikTok users who once saw the app as a haven for free speech say they see signs of censorship after the platform, which is owned by China's ByteDance, was revived by an executive order from President Donald Trump.
TikTok users are noting a difference in the short-video app following its revival after going dark on Saturday under a new law -- enacted over national security concerns during the Biden administration with bipartisan support -- that requires it to be sold to a U.S. buyer. Trump has vowed to find a solution to the ban, with several bidders in the mix, including people with close relationships to the new Republican president.
The relevant question is whether they were following Biden and Harris. The potus and vpotus accounts belong to the offices, not to the people in them, and they would change automatically. You have to unfollow them manually.
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
Big Tech wants to plug data centers right into power plants. Utilities say it’s not fair
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Looking for a quick fix for their fast-growing electricity diets, tech giants are increasingly looking to strike deals with power plant owners to plug in directly, avoiding a potentially longer and more expensive process of hooking into a fraying electric grid that serves everyone else.
It’s raising questions over whether diverting power to higher-paying customers will leave enough for others and whether it’s fair to excuse big power users from paying for the grid. Federal regulators are trying to figure out what to do about it, and quickly.
Social media are too good a scam to cut off. It's like the way the movies were in the 1930s. The public was demoralized and ready for something, and movies were it. A ragtag semi-industry of fugitives from New York/New Jersey patent laws came west and defined a culture for the next 80 years.
That got us a faux aristocracy. Tacky, but it got us through the next 70 years. It built Los Angeles, so the brain dead kids smoking weed in the woods could burn it down. That's a cycle too... a natural one... we missed the chance to save the place because no one cared. That's what happens when no one cares. Suddenly in a month's time the world is completely changed.
Who will cause the next one?
"We must remember that we cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation." --Liz Cheney, Republican, 7/21/22
