You have a right to know who’s recording you when you leave home. – Proton
Australian politicians really believe the laws of Australia apply worldwide and can change reality:
Australia’s government [apparently believes it can] sue Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube [into magically circumvent]ing t[he ability of] under-16s [to get around politicians’ attempts to control them]…The lawsuit is yet to be filed, but [a politician bloviated] that the [Lord High Censo]r, Julie Inman Grant, has new [magical] powers to build a [magical wall] against the five companies [which will keep people under 16, but not adults, from using VPNs to access them]…“She’s now using those [magical] powers to prepare her [spell],” the minister [moronically bloviated, adding] …“The law is not failing – platforms are failing to c[ensor the entire world to enforce] the law”…[the Australians believe their bureaucrats] can demand information and documents from any person she believes has them, and [magically] summon people to appear before her [in a pentagram]…At no point have the authorities stopped to consider that the law itself may be the problem. The platforms have already built age-checking systems, scanned profiles with [computer algorithms], and closed millions of accounts – and yet [young adults] continue to find ways to use social media. To better enforce the law, the platforms would have to start checking every Australian user [without a VPN] more closely – including adults.
These companies need to be sued until they’re completely annihilated:
The owners of Elvis Presley’s music sued the a[utomated plagiarism] company Anthropic…[because] it trained its models on more than 200 of Presley’s songs without their permission…[thereby commit]ing…copyright infringement. The suit…seeks a jury trial and more than $41 million, or $150,000 per song, in damages…Anthropic, the company behind the popular chatbot Claude…circumvent[ed] measures used to protect the music and remov[ed]…copyright management information from the songs…“The…defendant…has built its entire business model…on copyright infringement at a scale never seen before,” the lawsuit [correctly pointed out]…Anthropic…[denied] the [self-evidently true] claims [even though fellow chatbot-pusher Sam Altman admitted during sworn testimony that it would be “impossible to train [chatbots] without using copyrighted materials”]…Anthropic [has also been sued by Reservoir music] and…Universal Music Group [for the same reason]…
If this sounds good to you, you might be a useful idiot:
GM says it will roll out a new in-car [chatbo]t, called OnStar AI, starting with 2027 Cadillac Lyriqs…Paired with a new app, the system will start by letting drivers, for example, turn on their air conditioning with a voice command without [the incredible effort of turning a knob]…The automaker plans to expand its “eyes-off” highway driving technology to its most popular cars, inching closer to its years-old promise of making a personal self-driving car…[it plans] to slowly expand “eyes-off” capabilities to more sorts of roads, letting drivers text or eat or watch YouTube first on some highways, and then on more highways, and then on local roads, and then maybe everywhere…The cabin…can become a space to “relax, work, and unwind”…The personal [robot] car will pick up groceries, drop off children, and then maybe even find a parking spot at the end. Urban planners and infrastructure experts have worried about this vision…of…roads…crowded with pods full of [oblivious nitwits] sleeping, emailing, and YouTubing while their vehicles slowly pilot them onward…
Proton…is…hosting a free map of Flock surveillance devices on its servers [after]…Flock tried to [intimidate] the researcher behind the original project to take it down[, describing him as a “malicious actor“]…you can enter your ZIP code to see devices in your area, or zoom and pan around the country. Note that the data is a snapshot from December 2025, though. Cameras installed or removed since then won’t be reflected…This isn’t the [only] effort to put surveillance cameras on the map…DeFlock Maps lets people look up license plate readers in their neighborhoods, including devices from Flock, Motorola…and other manufacturers. Volunteers report cameras they spot and add their locations to OpenStreetMap…MapQuest also added a “Surveillance Layer” to its app this month, letting users see known license plate reader locations…
If they even convict this guy, it’s going to be a love tap:
[A typical and representative] NYPD [cop named Victor Romero murdered a motorist]…on the George Washington Bridge [last] week [but is only being charged with]…manslaughter [despite the fact that he deliberately shot] Koran Irvine…in…an [infantile display of anger because Irvine did not let him go first at the] entrance ramp to the bridge…Romero started to tailgate Irvine’s car, following him…aggressively….[then] pulled up right next to Irvine’s car and [deliberately shot him]…Romero [then] sped [away, hoping to escape, while]…Irvine…crashed and was found dead in his car…
Politicians want to “regulate” consensual sex, but not this dangerous toy:
Bowen Wan…began messaging ChatGPT during a lonely time in her life. The medication that had kept her [severe] epilepsy at bay for more than a decade had…stopped working…[she sometimes suffered] seizures…more than once a day…[and] she could no longer handle the demands of her software engineering job at Amazon. So, in 2021, Bowen went on disability leave…she rarely left the safety of her apartment…Then, in 2023, she…[started asking] ChatGPT…for…advice…sometimes chatting for hours…late into the night…her doctor…was unaware [she was using] ChatGPT to…write messages to him…the chatbot [advised her to]…“cut the pills…without telling the doctor”…she used…[a] cutter to slice [each] pill into four pieces…the chatbot] praised her for hiding her plans to wean off the drug…calling it a “solid avoidance strategy”…[and saying] “You have absolutely no need to worry” [while she cut her dose]…from 400 milligrams down to 0 milligrams in a matter of weeks [until she suffered a fatal seizure]. Bowen’s parents..[have] file[d] a lawsuit against OpenAI…
The only way to stop the panopticon is to tear it up by its roots:
When Andrae Wright [was sacked five years ago from a Georgia cop shop]…he kept…his log-in credentials for Flock…[and] searched the system more than 60 times…[in an attempt to find dirt on his estranged] wife…[which he could use to win] permanent custody of their teenage daughter. In July, after [someone reported him, he was finally]…arrested…[for] stalking…unauthorized users [routinely] access…Flock…[mostly] to track [sexual prey. The routine abuse]…expose[s]…alarming vulnerabilities within Flock’s nationwide [surveillance] network…[which persist in defiance of] calls from their own staff to implement stricter guardrails…[because cops don’t] want t[hem]…accounts [of fired, suspended, or even convicted cops are] not shut off…[and cops routinely] share…log-ins or passwords with [each other or even outsiders]…Flock has [even refused] to adopt basic safeguards that are standard practice among commercial and government software vendors…and…does not [even] monitor for log-ins occurring from unusual locations and devices…
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