Little Bits: Issue #26 For June 2025
A new instalment of Little Bits is here with endless opportunities, inspiration and creativity along with a message of encouragement to get ‘er done.
tech
Microsoft Hooked the Government on Its Products With Freebies. Could Elon Musk’s Starlink Be Doing the Same?
—
The tech billionaire and Trump adviser “donated” Starlink service to the White House. The move resembles a previous maneuver by Microsoft, which used “free” trials to lock in costly upgrades across the federal government.
https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-starlink-trump-white-house-spacex-microsoft?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Musk #ElonMusk #Starlink #Microsoft #Trump #Government #Tech
Today I launch “Amped Up w/ Cliff Schecter,” my new #Substack show every Thur 2pm et!
@ 2pm et TODAY I talk w fab co-host David Shuster & great guest Joe Walsh w some righteous anger & cutting humor re Trumpy & Co
Exclusively on Substack https://open.substack.com/live-stream/21418?r=j0lyx&utm_medium=ios #news #politics #tech #ai #usa #us #eu #europe #tariffs #stockmarket #media #donaldtrump #elonmusk #trump #tv #musk #press #nato #canada #china #russia #ukraine #america
So Much Content At SUBSTACK! Head Over, Become A SUBSCRIBER!!
" #Trade & #security Aren't a GoFundMe! The #usa Wasn't Played—We Wrote the Rules!" https://www.blueamp.co/p/trade-and-security-arent-a-gofundme #news #press #politics #us #america #media #ai #elonmusk #musk #donaldtrump #tv #trump #tariffs #stockmarket #tech
Oh, your service logged me out for my security? Great, I'll just open up the vault that contains my private keys so that I can open up the password manager with the master password of my other vault, which has the credentials I'll use to log back into my account. And then to finish the login process you'll send me a one-time password in clear text through SMS or email because those are the only options you offer for a "second factor". I feel much more secure now thank you.
(For clarity this is a sardonic post).
#InfoSec #cybersecurity #security #web #dev #tech
(For clarity this is a sardonic post).
#InfoSec #cybersecurity #security #web #dev #tech
Ditch of #us #tech dont forget to #goeuropean https://www.goeuropean.org/
Flipboard fans, we have an update for you! Meet Trending — your new destination for what’s making headlines, from world news to culture picks.
Here's a blogpost about the new tab, which makes it even easier to find up-to-date information from reliable sources in the Flipboard app or on the website.
https://about.flipboard.com/inside-flipboard/introducing-trending/
The arrests of #media member Don Lemon, a Democratic political candidate, and activists demand an immediate national response. Read my letter here... and let's take action!
https://www.blueamp.co/p/an-open-letter-to-journalists-and #politics #news #press #usa #unitedstates #socialmedia #ice #murder #dhs #trump #us #russia #eu #nato #us #america #tech #fascism #democracy #minneapolis #minnesota
Software "agents" were a hype-y topic when I was a graduate student 25 years ago. I wrote one for a class. I feel like what's being called "agents" or "AI agents" these days are even less capable than what seemed possible a quarter of a century (1) ago when I was in school.
What I thought then is still true today: to make something like a software agent legitimately useful for a lot of people would require a large amount of low-level grunt work and non-technical work (2) of the sort that the typical Silicon Valley company is unwilling to do. (3) The technology is the absolute easiest part of this task. Throwing a Bigger Computer at the problem leaves all those other pieces of work undone. It's like putting a bigger engine in a car with no wheels, hoping that'll make the car go.
By the way #AI companies and VCs, I'm available for contract work and have done due diligence research before if you ever want to stop wasting everyone's time and money!
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #agents #hype #SiliconValley #VentureCapital #dev #tech
(1) Which we've been told repeatedly is essentially infinite time in the tech world.
(2) Establishing semantic data standards and convincing a large enough number of people to implement them being an important component. LLMs do not magically develop protocols and solve all the ETL-style problems of translating among different ones. The Semantic Web didn't really stick for a lot of reasons, but one reason is that it's hard!
(3) Back when I was still in the startup world I was asked several times by VCs to tell them what I thought about some new startup that claimed to be able to magically clean and fuse data. I think they're still very keen on investing in this style of magic, because it requires an intense amount of human labor, but I think where companies landed was invisibilizing low-paid workers in other countries and pretending a computer did the work they did. Which has also been happening for well over a quarter of a century.
What I thought then is still true today: to make something like a software agent legitimately useful for a lot of people would require a large amount of low-level grunt work and non-technical work (2) of the sort that the typical Silicon Valley company is unwilling to do. (3) The technology is the absolute easiest part of this task. Throwing a Bigger Computer at the problem leaves all those other pieces of work undone. It's like putting a bigger engine in a car with no wheels, hoping that'll make the car go.
By the way #AI companies and VCs, I'm available for contract work and have done due diligence research before if you ever want to stop wasting everyone's time and money!
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #agents #hype #SiliconValley #VentureCapital #dev #tech
(1) Which we've been told repeatedly is essentially infinite time in the tech world.
(2) Establishing semantic data standards and convincing a large enough number of people to implement them being an important component. LLMs do not magically develop protocols and solve all the ETL-style problems of translating among different ones. The Semantic Web didn't really stick for a lot of reasons, but one reason is that it's hard!
(3) Back when I was still in the startup world I was asked several times by VCs to tell them what I thought about some new startup that claimed to be able to magically clean and fuse data. I think they're still very keen on investing in this style of magic, because it requires an intense amount of human labor, but I think where companies landed was invisibilizing low-paid workers in other countries and pretending a computer did the work they did. Which has also been happening for well over a quarter of a century.
Edited 307d ago
🚀 New on #TheFutureIsFederated 👩🚀
"This is what resistance to the digital coup looks like"
https://news.elenarossini.com/this-is-what-resistance-to-the-digital-coup-looks-like/
mentioning @jaredwhite @anildash @ghost @caseynewton @molly0xfff @404mediaco @Daojoan @theindex @dangillmor @ryanbroderick @micahflee @melaniebartos @kleisli
I'd love to hear what you think about #AdoptAWriter ✨
#tech #Fediverse #activism #BigTech #SocialMedia #FOSS #FLOSS #blog #resistance #SaveSocial
https://blueamp.substack.com/p/kamala-told-colbert-the-systems-broken Kamala Told Colbert the System’s "Broken;"
#Trump Proved it, Ended #PBS / #NPR "Kamala sat across from #Colbert—recently fired to make the slovenly golf-cheat happy so he’d “allow” Skydance #Media to take over Paramount Global—and admitted our system is broken"
READ THE REST & SUBSCRIBE! #news #politics #writing #russia #america #us #usa #unitedstates #press #tech #ai #donaldtrump #nato #eu #epstein #jobs #entertainment #tv #business
After a ProPublica investigation revealed how Microsoft’s “digital escort” tech support service could expose sensitive government data to cyberattacks, the company says China-based engineers will no longer provide assistance on DOD cloud services.
#News #Microsoft #Tech #Technology #Defense #Government #DOD #Cybercrime
A ProPublica investigation revealed how a little-known Microsoft program could leave some of the U.S. government’s most sensitive data vulnerable to hacking from its leading cyber adversary.
Here are the biggest takeaways from our reporting.
https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-digital-escort-china-government-data-takeaways?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Tech #Technology #Microsoft #Cybersecurity #Cybercrime #Government
"The #monopoly #media morons for whom he’s entertained tens of millions of ad-viewing viewers deemed it so, and I’m sure it has nothing to do w Stephen #Colbert using his brilliant timing and razor-sharp wit to disembowel Don-Don on the regular"
CONT-> https://www.blueamp.co/publish/post/168652683 #writing #humor #funny #tv #ai #usa #america #unitedstates #fascism #us #russia #democracy #tech #news #politics #press #entertainment
The way capitalism will dehumanize anyone to just to increase its profits!
Prisoners Alarmed to Discover That a Startup Is Training an AI Based on Their Phone Calls
https://futurism.com/future-society/inmates-ai-securus-surveillance
#Prisoners #Startup #AI #Training #Phones #Tech
For anyone tracking what's going on with generative AI appearing in the eBook software calibre, the calibre developer seems to be asking us to avoid his software:
In a GitHub issue about adding LLM features:
In the bug report:
Personally, besides the fact that I have a zero tolerance policy about generative AI, I've had enough of arrogant software developers. Read the room.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #calibre #eBooks #eBookManagers #AISlop #AIPoisoning #InformationOilSpill #dev #tech #FOSS #SoftwareDevelopment
In a GitHub issue about adding LLM features:
I definitely think allowing the user to continue the conversation is useful. In my own use of LLMs I tend to often ask followup questions, being able to do so in the same window will be useful.
In the bug report:
Wow, really! What is it with you people that think you can dictate what I choose to do with my time and my software? You find AI offensive, dont use it, or even better, dont use calibre, I can certainly do without users like you. Do NOT try to dictate to other people what they can or cannot do.
Personally, besides the fact that I have a zero tolerance policy about generative AI, I've had enough of arrogant software developers. Read the room.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #calibre #eBooks #eBookManagers #AISlop #AIPoisoning #InformationOilSpill #dev #tech #FOSS #SoftwareDevelopment
Edited 73d ago
Microsoft says it will no longer use China-based engineers to support the Pentagon. But ProPublica found that the tech giant has relied on its global workforce for years to support other federal clients, including the Justice Department.
https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-tech-support-government-cybersecurity-china-doj-treasury?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Technology #Tech #Microsoft #Pentagon #Cybersecurity #Defense #China
Edited 208d ago
Erst die #Masken-Affäre, dann die gescheiterte Richterwahl im #Bundestag: Die Kritik an #CDU-Fraktionschef Jens #Spahn nimmt nicht ab. CORRECTIV legt in einer mehrteiligen Enthüllungsserie das #Lobbynetzwerk Spahns offen. Im ersten Teil: der umstrittene #Tech-Milliardär Christian Angermayer.
https://correctiv.org/aktuelles/gesundheit/2025/07/22/netzwerk-mit-nebenwirkungen-jens-spahn-und-der-milliardaer/
The other day I had the intrusive thought
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #DiffusionModels #tech #dev #coding #software #SoftwareDevelopment #writing #art #VisualArt
AI is intellectual Viagra
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #DiffusionModels #tech #dev #coding #software #SoftwareDevelopment #writing #art #VisualArt
FediCon kicks off tomorrow in Vancouver 💫
And... our co-founder @michael is making the trip across the Atlantic to be there - that's over 7,460 km!
We wouldn't make these trips if we didn't believe in the Open Social Web and how it can be used to better the world.
In particular, Michael is looking forward to meeting all the amazing faces we speak to regularly online in person.
If you're there, say hello!
#FediCon #Fediverse #Mastodon #SocialMedia #OpenSocialWeb #Tech #Event
MageGee MK-Box 65% Mechanical Wired Computer Keyboard Review
A comprehensive review of the MageGee MK-Box mechanical computer keyboard covering overview, keycaps, switches, specifications, shortcuts and more.
Remove Unwanted Artificial Intelligence Features On DuckDuckGo
Discover how to remove the clutter of unwanted DuckDuckGo artificial intelligence features by altering search settings or using alternative websites.
https://www.adamsdesk.com/posts/remove-artificial-intelligence-duckduckgo/
#blog #search #NoAi #ArtificialIntelligence #tech #technology
#Microsoft Used China-Based Engineers to Support Product Recently Hacked by #China
==
Microsoft announced that Chinese state-sponsored hackers had exploited vulnerabilities in its popular #SharePoint software but didn’t mention that it has long used China-based engineers to maintain the product.
#News #Tech #Cybersecurity #Government #Safety #privacy
https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-sharepoint-hack-china-cybersecurity
Edit: Thanks to @GeopJr for pointing this out: this AI assistant is a third-party project and not directly affiliated with the GNOME desktop. I was tripped up by the wording of the Phoronix post I shared, which could have made this point clearer. I'll leave the original post below for the sake of transparency and also in case it helps anyone else who was similarly confused.
I am very twitchy about what's happening with AI polluting every corner of Microsoft Windows and am worried the same will happen to at least some Linux distributions. I think the worry is warranted, but in this case I misfired--sorry about that.
I guess I won't be using GNOME ever again
https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNOME-AI-Assistant-1.0
#tech #dev #FOSS #OpenSource #linux #software #GNOME #NoAI #AI
I am very twitchy about what's happening with AI polluting every corner of Microsoft Windows and am worried the same will happen to at least some Linux distributions. I think the worry is warranted, but in this case I misfired--sorry about that.
I guess I won't be using GNOME ever again
https://www.phoronix.com/news/GNOME-AI-Assistant-1.0
#tech #dev #FOSS #OpenSource #linux #software #GNOME #NoAI #AI
Edited 200d ago
Little Bits: Issue #27 For July 2025
Fresh little bits are here for the month of July along with a hopeful and motivational message about life achievements and the progression of life.
