Below are posts associated with the “link” type.
🔗 linkblog: Facial Recognition Company Clearview Attempted to Buy Social Security Numbers and Mugshots for its Database
Surveillance sucks, and here’s the latest example.
🔗 linkblog: The future of search isn’t Google — and it’s $10 a month
I have been meaning for months to embrace Kagi, and this is pushing me further over that edge.
🔗 linkblog: Pluralistic: You can’t save an institution by betraying its mission (19 Mar 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Some good things to think about right here.
🔗 linkblog: Rather than lower rates, Arkansas jail simply cancels all inmate phone calls
Cory Doctorow’s The Bezzle continues to play out in real life.
🔗 linkblog: “Awful”: Roku tests autoplaying ads loading before the home screen
This weekend, I visited family and complained to myself that their Amazon Fire sticks were emphasizing ad delivery over being a TV. I guess that’s the future for my Roku stick, too? What a sucky future we live in.
🔗 linkblog: AI Slop Is a Brute Force Attack on the Algorithms That Control Reality
The “brute force” metaphor is helpful here, and the article also draws attention to the vulnerability of algorithmic media to generative AI brute forcing.
🔗 linkblog: Pluralistic: Amazon annihilates Alexa privacy settings, turns on continuous, nonconsensual audio uploading (15 Mar 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow'
I’ve been trying to figure out how angry to be about this move from Amazon, and Doctorow’s thinking is helpful: Very angry. (I don’t own and would never own an Echo, but it still makes me mad).
🔗 linkblog: They look like Nazi salutes. Here's why some people think they're a joke'
Acknowledging the ambiguity in Musk’s salute is important: not to let him off the hook, but to recognize how much more dangerous things are when they’re ambiguous than when they’re straightforward.
🔗 linkblog: OpenAI declares AI race “over” if training on copyrighted works isn’t fair use'
I believe that scraping the internet to profit off of generative AI is ethically problematic BUT I concede that it should be fair use BUT this is still a soulless and terrible argument.
🔗 linkblog: NASA, Yale, and Stanford Scientists Consider 'Scientific Exile,' French University Says'
I mean, I’ve always wanted to live and work in France, but I’ve never wanted to feel like I would have to.
🔗 linkblog: War heroes and military firsts are among 26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon's DEI purge'
If I don’t bookmark this article, I will quickly forget how dumb this whole thing has been (not to mention petty and mean).
🔗 linkblog: Mozilla is already revising its new Firefox terms to clarify how it handles user data'
Posting this in the interest of fairness, but I’m still not happy with Mozilla right now.
🔗 linkblog: Changes Our University Is Making to Pre-Comply with Possible Future Regulations'
Laugh to keep from crying.
🔗 linkblog: Bluesky Deletes AI Protest Video of Trump Sucking Musk's Toes, Calls It 'Non-Consensual Explicit Material''
Honestly, I get the original call, but I’m glad Bluesky backtracked. Content moderation is hard.
🔗 linkblog: Exclusive: US could cut Ukraine's access to Starlink internet services over minerals, say sources'
I have qualms about the U.S. providing military support to any cause, but if there is such a thing as good U.S. military support, Ukraine is a clear example of it, and either way, this is an embarassment.
🔗 linkblog: SCOOP: Ashley St. Clair sues Elon Musk for custody of new son'
Some bonkers details in here.
🔗 linkblog: While Democracy Burns, Democrats Prioritize… Demolishing Section 230?'
I soured on Section 230 for a bit, but I came back and largely because of arguments like this one.
🔗 linkblog: Bannon’s Salute at CPAC Sparks Outcry, Even on French Right'
If Jordan Bardella thinks it was a Nazi salute… gift link
🔗 linkblog: DOGE Puts $1 Spending Limit on Government Employee Credit Cards'
DOGE continues to insist on the dumbest way to carry out its dumb goals.