Comment Re:Of COURSE you can't use sweetener or cream... (Score 1) 106
I drink my coffee black -- without milk or sugar as they take away from the good taste. I drink a good coffee (ground beans) not the gnat's pee that is Nescafe.
Submission + - D&D players raise millions in real-life campaign against 'corporate elite' (theguardian.com)
Alain Williams writes: Just before their election day, six Los Angeles city council candidates stood on stage at Hollywood’s Fonda Theatre. But they weren’t there for a debate or a black-tie gala. They were there to play Dungeons and Dragons.
Comedian Brennan Lee Mulligan guided the politicians through a short D&D campaign to defeat corporate villains and an evil dragon. Hundreds of enthusiastic fans in the crowd pledged additional donations up to $150 each to give the candidates what is called an “auto crit” for maximum damage to the dragon.
If this sounds like a bizarre merging of politics and play, organizers say it is not. “Most people want to be tapped and told how to help,” said Mulligan, a longtime DSA member and the dungeon master of D&D-themed hit YouTube series Critical Role and Dropout’s Dimension 20. “Then, lo and behold, there’s this new way to participate, bringing the platform I have to bear.”
The DSA-LA show raised $30,000 for the city’s primary election in June; five of the candidates onstage that night either won re-election or advanced to the general in November. The event is just one in a wider resistance movement by players of D&D and other tabletop role playing games (TTRPGs) against the current political climate – ICE raids, attacks on transgender rights and the rise of artificial intelligence. Over the past few years, groups across the country have been playing TTRPGs online and in person to raise money to develop games that express their frustration with the federal government and instruct people on how to help those most affected by its policies.
Comedian Brennan Lee Mulligan guided the politicians through a short D&D campaign to defeat corporate villains and an evil dragon. Hundreds of enthusiastic fans in the crowd pledged additional donations up to $150 each to give the candidates what is called an “auto crit” for maximum damage to the dragon.
If this sounds like a bizarre merging of politics and play, organizers say it is not. “Most people want to be tapped and told how to help,” said Mulligan, a longtime DSA member and the dungeon master of D&D-themed hit YouTube series Critical Role and Dropout’s Dimension 20. “Then, lo and behold, there’s this new way to participate, bringing the platform I have to bear.”
The DSA-LA show raised $30,000 for the city’s primary election in June; five of the candidates onstage that night either won re-election or advanced to the general in November. The event is just one in a wider resistance movement by players of D&D and other tabletop role playing games (TTRPGs) against the current political climate – ICE raids, attacks on transgender rights and the rise of artificial intelligence. Over the past few years, groups across the country have been playing TTRPGs online and in person to raise money to develop games that express their frustration with the federal government and instruct people on how to help those most affected by its policies.
Comment Re:Reversible Irreversible ? (Score 1) 54
Since there is monetary value attached to the account, yes they are.
Submission + - US police now armed with Israeli spy vans simulating mobile phone towers (cybernews.com)
schwit1 writes: If you thought Flock was bad check out Falconet.
Falconet from Israeli company Cognyte serves as a cell tower simulator that intercepts cell phone data from all devices within range. Police mount these systems in Tahoes so the vehicles can collect information while driving through areas without any direct interaction with targets.
This mobile approach generates ongoing records of phone locations and communications for everyone nearby rather than only suspects, which creates comprehensive movement profiles and bypasses traditional warrant requirements under the Fourth Amendment.
Cognyte sells the technology directly to U.S. agencies, as shown by the Texas Department of Public Safety purchase of four Tahoes where over three point eight million dollars went to the interception equipment. Adoption spreads through routine vehicle procurement with little external review of how the collected data is stored or shared.
Once active the systems permit warrantless collection of private cell phone data across entire communities during normal patrols, which enables potential misuse and leaves individuals with no effective way to discover or contest the surveillance.
https://x.com/JoshWalkos/statu...
Falconet from Israeli company Cognyte serves as a cell tower simulator that intercepts cell phone data from all devices within range. Police mount these systems in Tahoes so the vehicles can collect information while driving through areas without any direct interaction with targets.
This mobile approach generates ongoing records of phone locations and communications for everyone nearby rather than only suspects, which creates comprehensive movement profiles and bypasses traditional warrant requirements under the Fourth Amendment.
Cognyte sells the technology directly to U.S. agencies, as shown by the Texas Department of Public Safety purchase of four Tahoes where over three point eight million dollars went to the interception equipment. Adoption spreads through routine vehicle procurement with little external review of how the collected data is stored or shared.
Once active the systems permit warrantless collection of private cell phone data across entire communities during normal patrols, which enables potential misuse and leaves individuals with no effective way to discover or contest the surveillance.
https://x.com/JoshWalkos/statu...
Submission + - Garbage trucks may soon start spying on people (msn.com) 1
fjo3 writes: Garbage trucks could soon do more than collect trash—they may also help identify code violations using artificial intelligence (AI).
Officials in Cape Coral, Florida, recently considered equipping sanitation trucks with AI-powered cameras that would photograph properties as crews complete their normal collection routes.
The system would have been designed to identify potential issues such as overgrown lawns, peeling paint, and illegal dumping, and to flag violations so the city staff can review them later before taking enforcement action.
Officials in Cape Coral, Florida, recently considered equipping sanitation trucks with AI-powered cameras that would photograph properties as crews complete their normal collection routes.
The system would have been designed to identify potential issues such as overgrown lawns, peeling paint, and illegal dumping, and to flag violations so the city staff can review them later before taking enforcement action.
Comment Re:An elegant chip (Score 1) 41
Z80 was also my first assembly language. Perhaps not super important for me, but it's nice to know the Z80 will continue to exist in some recognizable form.
IIRC, LANtastic cards (another relic of the past) had a Z-80 on them. It was socketed, no less.
Comment Re:Stupid people do stupid things (Score 1) 41
I cannot understand why anyone would think that fights are entertainment - be they humans or robots.
Submission + - FOSS LibreMailCal status update, moved from pre-alpha to alpha (techtalkhawke.com)
kmleon writes: Status update on privacy/control enhancing FOSS app LibreMailCal: email, calendaring, contacts, chat, files, ERP, Notifications, Project Management, Social Media & Videos, video conferencing, all-in-one, self-hostable, cross-platform.
Comment Also, the deal involved a bribe (Score 4, Informative) 76
While Paramount claims they cancelled Colbert as a cost cutting move, that makes no sense since other late night shows on other networks with smaller audiences continue. They must make some sort of financial sense.
It is widely understood, though not provable, that the move was a bribe to Trump in order to get the merger approved. Trump has had a longstanding dislike of Colbert because of his commentary on Trump as a person and as the President.
Comment Re:The bullwhip effect on supply chains (Score 4, Insightful) 61
When is a hard question. Rationally it should never have blown up this much in the first place (some expansion would be rational, but not like we've seen). Clearly the minds driving this are not rational.
Insanity is notoriously hard to predict. That's why short selling is so risky. The market can clearly remain irrational longer than most people can remain solvent when betting against it.
Comment Re:From the article it's just browser fingerprinti (Score 2) 87
I suspect GP's point is that every malware blocker in every browser is likely to treat this kind of script as hostile, except for Chrome because Google are currently nerfing the ability for blockers to intercept hostile scripts in one of the most blatantly user-hostile changes they've ever made.
If Apple play along with Safari then every other browser and its malware blocking plugins are about to be toast in a huge retrograde step for Internet privacy. But not even Cloudflare is going to get away with blocking every iOS device if Apple continues to allow blockers to intercept this kind of script.
Did anyone mention recently that simultaneously controlling both the most popular web browser and several of the most popular ad-supported web properties might be a little anticompetitive, and that it's about time that Google was broken up? It's probably time for that drum to start beating a bit louder again.
Comment Re:Seems like a great way to end up with no conten (Score 3) 70
I have been telling friends about this sort of thing for a long time. The usual reply is "meh", or in a rare case when they listen properly "meh, how will this affect me/what can I do ?". The problem is that most people do not read T&Cs before clicking "I have read and understand them and I agree."; this is because the wording of the T&Cs is deliberately such that it sucks the will to live from most people; the interesting bits 'hidden' 2/3 of the way down usually below long paragraphs on something boring like web site copyright and it not being liable for stuff.
The so called agreements are anything but; there should be regulation on how they are written so that they are fair to both consumer/client and the provider. But that will not happen.
Comment Re:It took about... (Score 1) 59
Actually, the people who forget that seem to be in the business of marketing and press releases. QC has been the apocalypse that would turn the world on it's head breaking crypto left and right in the next 2 years for at least 10 years now. It still can't do prime factorization better or faster than a sixth grader with a pencil and paper. And the sixth grader won't charge as much.
Perhaps it will be useful one day, but not today. It may well take 100 years. Remember about 3 years ago when the size of quantum computers was going to double overnight? And how it went radio silent shortly after? The problem with QC isn't that it will never get here at all, it's the damned hype machine that promised it would be here now.
It's the same hype machine that told us we would be using crypto currency for all of our everyday transactions by now. The same hype machine that claims AI will replace everyone next year.
Comment Re:How to make an e-Ink display (Score 2) 45
That's not how this works. There are a few ways to send an image to the bare display, but HDMI isn't one of them. If you actually look up the item list from TFS you will see that.
You didn't expect them to actually explain how you could manufacture an e-ink panel starting with sand and some chemicals in your kitchen, did you?
Comment Re: Color me surprised... (Score 1) 216
But it's not just the multi-billionaires. It's the many more multi-millionaires that produce nothing but wedge themselves into every transaction.
Look at any product that can be bought from an American company or direct from China. That HUGE price difference is how much the American company is skimming off the top.
