Lou Katz @lou@entropyservice.com

Here’s @mmasnick saying something I also keep repeating:

Big companies often •love• regulatory burden, because it keeps small entrants out of the market.
https://www.techdirt.com/2024/06/13/meta-wont-fight-online-kid-safety-regulations-because-it-sees-them-as-a-competitive-moat/

A mask ban will ban me completely from indoor public life.

I’ve already been pushed most of the way out of society. I cannot believe people are legislating pushing people like me all the way out. Oh, wait, yes I can. This is what the last 2.8 years have been like. Watching everyone around me deciding one by one they would rather banish me from society than be even the slightest bit inconvenienced. Letting me know their feelings are far more important than my life.

https://med-mastodon.com/@luckytran/112611073769629423

***** Why Microsoft, Google, and others screw up *****

Part of the reason -- and a big part -- of why you see public relations disasters like #Microsoft Recall and #Google AI Overviews is that these firms typically refuse to have employees on these teams who bring skill sets that include real world experiences that go beyond the technical.

It should have been obvious to execs at Microsoft and Google (and other firms) that trying to ram projects like these (and others, like poorly designed passkey implementations) down consumers' throats would trigger major blowback and embarrassment. But either they just couldn't see the forest for the trees, or simply ignored the warning signs, treating the user community like a giant fungible planet of guinea pigs.

Either way, it's bad for them, and it's very, very bad for us.

Companies shipping AI treat “the open Web” the same way white settlers treated “the open range” — theirs by self-assigned divine right, to freely exploit as they see fit, the people already there either annoyances to disregard or obstacles to eliminate.

In just the last few days, Senate Republicans have KILLED:

- protection for IVF
- protection for contraceptives
- an ethics code for the Supreme Court

Ye shall know them by their fruits.

Deception justified to expose Justice Alito's unfiltered opinions: ethicist https://www.rawstory.com/supreme-court-justice-samuel-alito-2668522400/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?" And I said, "Being the President's son." And they all moved away from me on the bench there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I said, "And lying on form 4473." And they all came back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the bench, talkin' about crime, mother stabbing, father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the bench.

San Francisco's David Sacks -- champion of the Drug War, opponent of Harm Reduction, supporter of Trump and ... an investor in a massive online pill mill that just got busted for $100 million fraud and is responsible for multiple overdose deaths. https://sfstandard.com/2024/06/13/telemedicine-adderall-vyvanse-ritalin-done-global-brody-he/

Adam Schiff is spot on.

It's bring your felon to work day.

The Osborne and Kaypro are why I always check the pile of sewing machines at any thrift store or the like.

EFF and Jacques the Encryptid believe companies shouldn't control how you can connect, fix, or play with the tech that you own. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/05/m-jackalope

I’m no longer using the term “Republican Party” as it suggests that organization is a legitimate participant in U.S. constitutional democracy. I shall be referring to it as the Republican crime syndicate, as it is an organization wedded to giving a convicted felon dictatorial power.

New Audio: #Alito Bashes #ProPublica for Reporting on #SupremeCourt #Ethics
In a new, secret recording, the Supreme Court justice suggests partisan funding is to blame for coverage of justices’ undisclosed luxury gifts [Yeh @propublica - thank you for consistently bringing corruption to light] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/samuel-alito-supreme-court-recording-propublica-windsor-1235037796/

Announcement is out. Good on Microsoft for finally reaching a sane conclusion.

- Recall won’t ship as a feature at launch on Copilot+ PCs any more.

- Won’t be available in Insider preview channel at launch, as it was pulled.

When it does appear in preview channels, privacy and security researchers need to keep a close eye on what Microsoft are doing with the feature.

Microsoft tried developing this feature in secret in a way which tried to avoid scrutiny. Thank you to everyone who stood up.

What's the difference between #Google Search AI Overview answers and obnoxious banner ads?

Occasionally obnoxious banner ads are actually useful.

Those of us who are ancient as the Pyramids might remember when TV stations would sign off at midnight, usually after playing the Star Spangled Banner.

One year at the end of one of the Interop shows we all gathered in the network operations center (NOC), sang the Star Spangled Banner, and then turned off the power to our rather large bank of routers and switches.

It was kinda fun.

Thanks to new records spotted by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, we now know more about the current generation of cell-site simulators being used by law enforcement. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/next-generation-cell-site-simulators-here-heres-what-we-know

Denmark Recalls Popular Korean Instant Noodles Because They Are Too Spicy https://time.com/6988005/denmark-recalls-samyang-spicy-ramen-noodles/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

BREAKING: New reports show that CIA agents were killed, captured, or compromised because Hunter Biden sold their names to our enemies. — Now that I got Republicans’ attention: That was actually Donald Trump.