choutos @choutos@qoto.org

Why is Windows such a SHI*** OS... doing an install on a new laptop for #work and need to start over because something is corrupt. All big tech is corrupt, I want to have only Linux in the company

Please share this Joint statement from on Gaza: to fight against the continuing slaughter of the Palestinian people.

#Iceland #Luxembourg #Slovenia #Ireland #Malta #Spain #Norway #NeverStopTalkingAboutPalestine #Palestine #IsraelWarCrimes #IsraeliCrimes #UN

A bit over 20 years ago, I was booking flights for myself for the first time. It was frustrating because all of the booking sites required you to specify a city of origin. I was living in Swansea, which has no international airport (it barely has one at all). The closest airports were Cardiff and Bristol (neither of which had good public transport links) and Birmingham, Manchester, and London airports were all roughly equally easy to get to.

The thing I wanted was something that could cross-reference train, bus, and flight times and give me the cheapest option, the fastest option, and the cheapest option that was within some upper bound longer than the fastest.

This was not an option, but there was hope on the horizon. The W3C was pushing an idea called the ‘semantic web’. In this model the airlines, bus, and train companies would all publish their schedules in a machine-readable format and their web sites would just be (user replaceable) views over the data.

Over 20 years later, the situation remains just as bad as the first flight I booked. I still have not forgiven the combination of advert sellers and businesses defending arbitrage that killed this model. The fact that some of the same people are hyping ‘AI agents’ to build an inefficient, unreliable, replacement for the very place where they removed user agency in the first place makes me angry.

meirl
#memes

Headline from a distant dystopian cyber future. Oh no, it is from today.

Job Search: This is how your CV convinces the algorithm.

#wtf #jobsearch #fedijobs

Imagine having a bicycle with a closed chain guard. One day the chain falls off & you realize it's assembled with tamper-proof screws.

Now imagine the manufacturer wanting to make unscrewing that screw a felony carrying a 5-year prison sentence & a $500K fine.

They'd be booed out of business, if not institutionalized.

None the less, that's EXACTLY how DMCA 1201 works.

Despite @pluralistic & others' efforts I feel this isn't clear to the general public.

#tech #business #enshittification

A NYU graduating student used his graduation speech to condemn the genocide in Gaza & call for universal justice.

NYU is now denying him his diploma, seeking additional punishment, & released a statement that "NYU strongly denounces the student & is deeply sorry that the audience was subjected to these remarks."

Meanwhile NYU's library is named after Elmer Holmes Bobst, a man who said, “Jews have troubled the world from the very beginning. If our country ever falls apart, blame the Jews."

smh

The 10 Belgian universities are asking Foreign Minister Maxime #Prévot (Les Engagés) to urge the #EuropeanCouncil to an immediate suspension of the Association Agreement with #Israel. That treaty stipulates that Israeli researchers can participate in European research programmes. Such a suspension would make it easier for universities to stop cooperation with Israeli partners. “We believe that a clearer signal from the European Union is needed to Israel.”

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2025/05/14/universiteit-vlir-israel-gaza-palestina-danckaert/

#Belgium #Academia #EU

I'm quitting Google Docs because @CryptPad is a better option for me...

https://rasterweb.net/raster/2025/05/15/hello-cryptpad-goodbye-google-docs/

#office #docs #cryptpad #google

Este sabado 17 de maio en Compostela pola defensa da língua

For weeks I have been telling reporters that #Trump could have the power to switch off our tech in #Europe. It felt a bit alarmist until I just read that #Microsoft, on the behest of the #US gov, has suspended the email account of Karim Khan, the #ICC chief prosecutor.

One of the most important international courts and a legal bulwark against #genocide, crimes against humanity, and #warcrimes is threatened by #BigTech dependency.

https://apnews.com/article/icc-trump-sanctions-karim-khan-court-a4b4c02751ab84c09718b1b95cbd5db3

#DigitalSovereignty #FOSS #EthicalTech

Well, rules are rules.

Instead of storing my data in the cloud, I just store it in the bush. It's the same thing, only palette-swapped. More accessible, too.

“Here is the state of venture capital in early 2025:

Venture capital is moribund except AI.
AI is moribund except OpenAI.
OpenAI is a weird scam that wants to burn money so fast it summons AI God.
Nobody can cash out.”

With his typical thoughtful restraint, @davidgerard has told some hard truths:

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/03/in-2025-venture-capital-cant-pretend-everything-is-fine-any-more/

#ai #vc #hopeisnotastrategy

Hungarian spies were caught in Western Ukraine, looking for defense vulnerabilities. Either they are planning to occupy a piece of territory themselves, or they intend to help Putin edition.cnn.com/2025/05/09/w...

Ukraine says it has uncovered ...

Sorry, but whoever doesn't consider European night trains the pinnacle of civilized long-distance travel, I can't help you.

This ÖBB NightJet is spectacular.

In case you're wondering, yes, the price of the single cabin (with your own bathroom!) is cheaper than hotel + flight.

Yes, it's *much* more pleasant, productive & efficient! (And yeah, I'm talking United 1K treatment flight.)

#travel #trains

Trump being given super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet "the flying palace" from Qatar royal family to use as Air Force One -- when he leaves office his library keeps it

The Constitution prohibits any U.S. government official accepting gifts "from any King, Prince or foreign State." The transfer of the plane to the Trump presidential library is an attempt to get around this.

And of course, the security implications of using a plane provided by a foreign power are enormous.

Expect lots of fun in courts on this one.

Holy cow this is amazing. Moderna's combo Covid and flu mRNA shot outperforms current vaccines in large trial: A combination shot would make it easier for people to get vaccinated against Covid and the flu at the same time https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/modernas-combo-covid-flu-mrna-shot-outperforms-current-vaccines-large-rcna205242

#covid #science #health