Martin Ruskov @mapto@qoto.org

One way to combat harmful contagion is to draw on an idea first used in the 1960s called pre-bunking. The idea is to train people to practice skills to spot and resist misinformation and disinformation on a smaller scale before they’re exposed to the real thing.

The idea is akin to vaccines that build immunity through exposure to a weakened form of the disease-causing germ. The idea is for someone to be exposed to a limited amount of false information, say through the pre-bunking with Google quiz. They then learn to spot common manipulation tactics used in false information and learn how to resist their influence with evidence-based strategies to counter the falsehoods. This could also be done using a trained facilitator within classrooms, workplaces or other groups, including virtual communities.

Then, the idea is to gradually repeat the process with larger doses of false information and further counterarguments. By role-playing and practicing the counterarguments, this resistance skills training provides a sort of psychological innoculation against misinformation and disinformation, at least temporarily.

Importantly, this approach is intended for someone who has not yet been exposed to false information – hence, pre-bunking rather than debunking. If we want to engage with someone who firmly believes in their stance, particularly when it runs contrary to our own, behavioral scientists recommend leading with empathy and nonjudgmentally exchanging narratives.

Debunking is difficult work, however, and even strong debunking messages can result in the persistence of misinformation. You may not change the other person’s mind, but you may be able to engage in a civil discussion and avoid pushing them further away from your position.

The Japanese beetle, an aggressively invasive insect species, has been detected for the first time in France, authorities in the east of the country said Tuesday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/07/09/wildlife/france-japan-beetles/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #environment #wildlife #beetles #france #environment

Seattle voters recently approved a 5% payroll tax on high incomes to fund social housing, aiming to build permanently affordable homes for a range of incomes. The initiative could generate $52 million annually for the new Seattle Social Housing program. https://theconversation.com/from-seattle-to-atlanta-new-social-housing-programs-seek-to-make-homes-permanently-affordable-for-a-range-of-incomes-255097

If you run a large Mastodon instance, and have upgraded to 4.4, please turn on referer headers.

It is *so* important for the health of the Fediverse.

At the moment I have 4x the followers on Mastodon as I do on BlueSky - but my blog's stats don't show that. In fact, they show the opposite!

Yes, it is privacy preserving. Yes, it makes a difference to publishers. Yes, it will show how vibrant an ecosystem we have.

Critique of EU draft proposal for gen AI regulations and training restrictions.

Other than the exemption for cultural heritage and research orgs to do Public AI in Europe, there is lots of uncertainty for Europe's AI programs.

https://coalition4creativity.org/2025/07/08/analysis-of-the-voss-report-technical-economic-and-legal-concerns-for-european-ai-policy/

@fulelo "The worst health effects were found in and around the largest tailing pond south of Bayan Obo in the city of Baotou. In the decades leading up to 2010, villagers were diagnosed with bone and joint deformities caused by too much fluoride in the water and acute arsenic toxicity, according to Professor Klinger...

Studies suggest this toxic mix could be slowly seeping into the groundwater and moving towards the Yellow River, China’s second-largest, and a key source of drinking water for the north of the country."

Updated every month: Access the raw datasets behind every #dataviz we've ever released online. The IIB Data Room. 500+ sheets, 1200+ datasets. Continually updated.
https://informationisbeautiful.net/data/

This is really important.

The main thing that makes it hard to achieve integrated nature and green in cities isn’t density of buildings or density of people — it's density of cars. And the more well-designed and integrated density of people & buildings you achieve, the fewer cars you need or want.

Boom di Linux in Europa!

Secondo Statcounter, nel solo ultimo anno Linux è passato dal 2,84% al 5,21% del mercato desktop europeo: un balzo dell’83,45%!
Per anni le percentuali erano rimaste sotto il 3%, ma stavolta è diverso: qualcosa si muove davvero.

Leggi di più: https://blazetrends.com/unprecedented-linux-growth-in-europe-amid-windows-10-end-of-life/?fsp_sid=61142

Complice il fine vita di Windows 10, sempre più persone stanno abbandonando Windows

Pubblicato su FediLUG Italia: @linux

#UnoLinux #Linux #windows

Bear in mind that if you held up a sign saying "I support genocide", you would not be arrested under the Terrorism Act.

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb/post/3lt7sya2mfk2q