Little Bits: Issue #22 for February 2025
Exciting times are ahead, a motivational message and loads of new curated bits found in February 2025 while surfing the Internet for you to enjoy.
tech
Sometimes I get frustrated with my open source choice. Some days I'm like "yeah let's make X work" and others I'm like "I just want to do X and not make X work". I'm sure I'm not alone, but man sometimes... yeesh.
I loved working on this article:
The technology in your cell phone has a hidden connection to the stars. Modern computer chips are made using ultraviolet light from vaporized balls of tin--and those balls closely mirror the physics of supernova explosions!
https://spectrum.ieee.org/euv-light-source #science #tech #space
Here it is: The first clear image of an eclipse of the Sun by the Earth, taken from the surface of the Moon.
This is what last night's lunar eclipse looked like from the Blue Ghost lander's perspective on the Moon. Amazing!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fireflyspace/54386246629/in/dateposted/ #space #science #art #tech
I am hesitant to post this because I respect this #mastadon and the #fediverse
It's a good bunch and I love everyone here.
However I am working on multiple projects that I think are truly #meaningfulwork and I am trying to do what I can.
I am limited by #tech and funds. An ancient laptop. A basic #oneplus Nord and a pair of #marshall headphones is all that I have.
So a funny #video cuz I'm trying to EARN #fedihelp or you could just #FediHire me too.
https://clapperapp.com/video/no0NvrdG6YezBPVO?is_invite=1&r=DJq9G2GpJa&c=sh&m=co
Custom Keyboard Company WASD Keyboards Goes Defunct?
Can keyboard enthusiasts find answers to the questions we all have been wondering, has WASD Keyboards company gone out of business or was it acquired?
President Trump said he would sign another executive order to delay enforcement of a law that effectively bans TikTok as a deal to sell the widely popular platform remains a work in progress. Read more at @CBSNews. #TikTok #SocialMedia #Trump #ByteDance #Tech #Technology https://flip.it/KZpCw6
AMERICAN PANOPTICON
The #Trump admin is pooling #data on Americans. Experts fear what comes next.
by Ian Bogost & Charlie Warzel
If you were tasked with building a #panopticon, your design might look a lot like the #information stores of the US federal govt—a collection of large, complex agencies, each making use of enormous volumes of data provided by or collected from #citizens.
#law #privacy #InfoSec #AmericanAutocracy #tech #DOGE #Musk #surveillance
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/04/american-panopticon/682616/?gift=guxsrl_dAdXUP9zqbQPWxc3WqSyzCi3gasJ-au_BC9g&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Edited 203d ago
#TakeItDown Act has passed the #House 409-2 giving #Trump & the #FTC power to #censor the #internet.
The bill seems good at first glance. It requires online platforms to remove nonconsensual intimate imagery aka“revenge porn.”
However, it will also enable the FTC to demand #content be removed from websites.
🚨In fact, Trump said he will use the bill ON HIS OWN BEHALF, presumably to remove criticism of him from the web.
#law #tech #regulations #FreeSpeech #Constitution
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/28/congress-moving-forward-on-unconstitutional-take-it-down-act/
Mike Masnick compares how the Free Press covered the (misleading-to-false) story of the #Biden admin’s "censorship" of #SocialMedia [actually trying to combat harmful #disinformation like #election & #COVID #lies & #ConspiracyTheories or #HateSpeech like #WhiteSupremacy], to how they handled the very real #censorship attack on #Wikipedia by #Trump’s DC #USAttorney #EdMartin.
Spoiler: there are differences.
#law #tech #moderation #dictatorship #FourthEstate #journalism
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/28/government-actually-threatens-wikipedias-editorial-freedom-self-proclaimed-free-speech-warriors-suddenly-have-other-plans/
Edited 201d ago
Vox Media has sold @polygon, its gaming and entertainment site, to Valnet, owner of ScreenRant, GameRant and Android Police, @theverge reports. Some staffers will stay with the publication while others have been laid off. At the second link, find a story from @TheWrap about Valnet's questionable treatment of writers. “Everyone is underpaid, overworked and really pretty — extremely — exploited,” a former Collider contributor said.
https://flip.it/XJ6gP7
https://flip.it/U0fKh9
#Media #MediaIndustry #Journalism #GamesJournalism #Gaming #Tech #Technology #VoxMedia #Valnet
Edited 198d ago
I read this with interest…
"Billionaires think that they're the smartest people who've ever lived, because they're the wealthiest people who've ever lived. If they were wrong about anything, then why would they have been so financially successful? […] They believe that everything can be quantified, like a person's IQ, and that money is a good measure of how much someone is worth."
#tech #technology #BigTech #billionaires #TaxTheRich #capitalism #AI #LLM #LLMs #ML
Spotify announced earlier this month that it would publicly display how many plays podcasts had, and podcasters were not happy. Now the streaming company has rescinded the feature. Kind of. Read more at @theverge. #Spotify #Podcast #Streaming #Tech #Technology https://flip.it/eRwQQE
For the first time, researchers have imaged individual "itinerant" (free-floating) atoms and observed the way they interact.
How these sodium & lithium atoms behave depends on their spin state: We can directly witness the effects of quantum spin here. Amazing!
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v18/89 #science #physics #quantum #tech
Any company or government with a relationship to a USA vendor needs to rethink this relationship NOW.
"𝙿𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔."
─ 𝘕𝘦𝘪𝘭 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯
#quote #quotes #thoughts #philosophy #wisdom #writer #tech #technology #BigTech #people #love #oppression
Edited 183d ago
“Lord of the Flies” but for AI? @Futurism explains:
Improve MPV Player with an Interactive File Browser
Obtain the benefits to a simple no-dependency interactive on-screen display file browser in MPV media player with the use of this complete guide.
Resolve Libvirt Error Unable to Find EFI Firmware
A step by step guide on how to fix the Libvirt Error Unable to Find EFI Firmware by updating the paths in the virtual machine’s configuration.
https://www.adamsdesk.com/posts/resolve-libvirt-error-unable-find-efi-firmware/
From the Creator of ‘#Succession,’ a Satire of #Tech’s #FarRight
…“Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong…new movie, “#Mountainhead,” …He wrote the script, about grandiose, nihilistic tech #oligarchs holed up in a mountain mansion in Utah, in Jan & Feb, as a very similar set of oligarchs was coalescing behind #Trump’s inauguration. Then he shot the film, his first, over 5 wks this spring. It premieres on Sat on #HBO.
#broligarchy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/26/opinion/succession-mountainhead-tech.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=F1B636B4-CB53-4955-B261-4829BC8C52DD
The Catholic Church has a new Pope, and he explicitly cited the threats AI presents for workers as a reason for choosing the name Leo XIV.
With the tech industry doing all it can to defend its power, could the Pope be an ally against the AI onslaught?
https://www.disconnect.blog/p/will-pope-leo-xiv-be-an-ally-against
#tech #pope #popeleo #ai #artificialintelligence #catholicchurch #vatican
My doctor’s office just asked me if I consented to an AI scribe taking session notes. (Obviously I said absolutely not and over my dead body).
I am physically incapable of minding my own business so I asked for details. They confirmed that means the rooms are capable of recording now, but assured me that it is “completely deleted” in a “timely fashion”.
I’m with One Medical. So that means the steward of that data is AMAZON.
I am utterly horrified.
📢 Wir haben Neuigkeiten! Flipboard erweitert die Föderation in Deutschland: 21 neue Publisher sind jetzt im Fediverse.
Diesen Publishern kannst du ab sofort direkt folgen:
AZMuenchen, @AZMuenchen
BASICthinking, @BASICthinking
Business Punk, @BusinessPunk
BUNTE, @BUNTE_DE
CURVED, @curved
DER SPIEGEL, @DerSpiegel
DerStandard, @DERSTANDARD
Filmstarts, @Filmstarts
FitForFun, @FitForFun
Futurezone, @Futurezone_de
GIGA, @Gigade
Gruenderszene, @Gruenderszene
Harvard Business Manager, @harvardbusiness
Kino.de, @kinode
Men’s Health, @MensHealth_de
Metal Hammer, @metalhammer_de
n-tv, @ntv2019
Photografix, @Photografix
Premium Quarterly, @PremiumQuarter
SZ, @SZ_de
Ze.tt, @Zett
Mehr dazu in unserem Blog: https://flip.it/cxfY1U
#Fediverse #Flipboard #Publisher #ActivityPub #Federation #Föderation #SocialMedia #Nachrichten #Politik #Unterhaltung #Journalismus #Digital #Tech #Wissenschaft #Wirtschaft #Klima #Musik
They may share a suffix (and a protocol), but Blacksky isn’t hitching its wagon to the Bluesky app or team. Founder and CEO @rudyfraser.com is creating a new, fiercely independent playbook for communities — one made possible because of the flexibility of the open web. We're excited for you to hear the latest episode of @mike's Dot Social podcast:
https://about.flipboard.com/fediverse/blacksky-rudy-fraser/
#DotSocial #Podcast #SocialMedia #SocialNetwork #Federation #OpenSocial #OpenSocialWeb #Blacksky #BlackMastodon @blackmastodon #RudyFraser #Technology #Tech #Bluesky
Edited 179d ago
"There’s no opting out of being tracked: if you drive, you should simply assume that these cameras are logging your movements.
A Texas police officer used Flock to perform a nationwide search of more than 83,000 ALPR cameras while looking for a woman who had had an abortion."
But who cares?
The only danger to women are trans women in bathroom and sports! /s
#feminism #texas #abortion #civilright #womensrights #health #science #tech #privacy #news #media #women