Phil Landmeier @shuttersparks@qoto.org

Took off from Oakland, California, US. Will be returning to OAK, Metropolitan Oakland International Airport.

G.O.P. Candidates Must Pledge to Go to Prison for Trump to Qualify for Next Debate https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/gop-candidates-must-pledge-to-go-to-prison-for-trump-to-qualify-for-next-debate

“Just because I am helping Vladimir Putin by saving his Black Sea Fleet from drone attacks, so Putin can kill more Ukrainians, people suddenly think I am the bad guy. It is all very unfair.”

🎻 🎵🎶

#CzarLink🇷🇺

How the Right Retired “Negrophile”—and Substituted “Woke”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/08/negrophilia-woke-right-conservative-desantis/

A Meta spokesperson acknowledged that Threads was intentionally blocking the search terms (“covid” and “long covid,”), and said that other terms were being blocked, but declined to provide a list of those. A search by The Post discovered that the words “sex,” “nude,” “gore,” “porn,” “coronavirus,” “vaccines” and “vaccination” are also among blocked words.

#Meta #Covid

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/11/threads-covid-coronavirus-searches-blocked/

"We believe PDD is a dying fraudulent company and its shopping app TEMU is cleverly hidden spyware that poses an urgent security threat to US national interests."

A major listed public company deliberately distributing spyware? This seems like a new phenomenon. Well, on looking further at this company, PDD holdings, PDD stands for "Pinduoduo", and even though theoretically it's registered in the Cayman Islands, it's really a Chinese company. It's one of those Chinese companies that's somehow listed on US stock exchanges even though Chinese companies don't (as far as I know) meet the financial reporting requirements of US companies.

"Contributing to the danger of mass data exfiltration is the fast uptake rate of the TEMU app: over 100 million app downloads in the last 9 months, all in US and Europe. TEMU is not offered in China."

100 million. Wow.

"The app has hidden functions that allow for extensive data exfiltration unbeknown to users, potentially giving bad actors full access to almost all data on customers' mobile devices."

"It is evident that great efforts were taken to intentionally hide the malicious intent and intrusiveness of the software."

"We engaged numerous independent data security experts to decompile and analyze TEMU app's code, integrated with experts of our own staff, and analysts who have written independently in the public domain."

We believe PDD is a dying fraudulent company and its shopping app TEMU is cleverly hidden spyware that poses an urgent security threat to US national interests

#cybersecurity #spyware

Periodic reminder that the only planet where 100% of Linux systems have working audio is Mars.

Black Vulture

Large raptor. Uniform black with silvery patches on undersides of wingtips. In flight, broad, rounded wings with distinct "fingers" are held flat like a board. Notice very short tail and small black head. Soars in flocks, often with other vultures and hawks. Flight style is distinctive; bat-like, strong snappy wingbeats followed by short glides. Look for them along highways eating roadkill, or picking through dumpsters.

Link: https://ebird.org/species/blkvul
Photo Location: United States

It’s now clear that Leonard Leo, Ginni Thomas and Harlan Crow conspired in the wake of Citizens United, where Justice Clarence Thomas cast a decisive vote, to unleash over a billion dollars to reshape the judiciary in the mold of the Federalist Society.

The result is now an extreme right-wing Supreme Court that has overturned abortion rights, environmental law, and affirmative action. And they are far from done.

Oh look, Leonard Leo and Ginny Thomas reportedly were leveraging Citizens United even before the decision came out to build a network of dark money group to lobby the Courts in support of right wing movement and getting richer. Yet another story on courts and right wing cesspool of corruption. #uspol https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/10/ginni-thomas-leonard-leo-citizens-united-00108082

"The U.S. Government Can’t Allow Elon Musk the Power to Intervene in Wars" - Musk is a national security risk who has committed treason by intervening for a US enemy over a US ally. He should be detained and tried. #Starlink should be seized and removed from #ElonMusk control. What will he do next? Sell our secrets to China? #Ukraine #UkraineWar https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-government-cant-allow-elon-musk-the-power-to-intervene-in-wars?via=ios

#G20 Diplomats Reach Deal on Language for #Russia ’s War in #Ukraine
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2023-09-09/g-20-leaders-summit-2023-day-one

“I’m all for decorum, but not when it will cost us the earth ... I used to be a well-behaved scientist. I stood quietly on melting permafrost in Utqiagvik, Alaska, and measured how much greenhouse gas was released into the atmosphere … When scientists take action, people listen.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/08/us-climate-scientist-risks-felony-chaining-herself-pipeline-drill

You need to stop using Chrome NOW. It’s not hyperbole: Google just rolled out a change to Chrome that tracks the sites you visit, builds a profile, and shares that with any page you visit that asks.

This is real. It’s not tech bro conspiracy shit.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/09/googles-widely-opposed-ad-platform-the-privacy-sandbox-launches-in-chrome

#privacy #google #chrome

Elon Musk secretly used control of his Starlink network to cripple a Ukrainian military operation while it was under way, in defiance of American foreign policy.

He is an oligarch working against U.S. interests, benefitting his fellow oligarchs in Russia. His biographer seems to think this is just Musk being Musk, quirky and idiosyncratic.

#Musk #Ukraine

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/elon-musk-biography-walter-isaacson-ukraine-starlink

The Daily Beast is reporting that Elon Musk ordered engineers to switch off his Starlink satellites just as Ukraine was preparing to attack the Russian naval fleet with drones. He said he feared nuclear retaliation by Russia. It’s high time we ask the question: How much power and influence does it make sense to hand just one person?

I just had to update my numbers for a lecture, so here's your periodic reminder: Starlink is now 55% of ALL active satellites in orbit.

And given the recent news about that awful billionaire unilaterally deciding to cut of internet access to parts of the world whenever he decides to, this is extra important to share. Why did our governments effectively gift Low Earth Orbit to one awful dude? This is so bad.