Polecajka rozmowy:
"Musimy ODDAĆ BIG TECH LUDZIOM. #Zygmuntowski: "Pora odzyskać CYFROWĄ SUWERENNOŚĆ!" | #Kempodcast
Z Janem Oleszczuk-Zygmuntowskim rozmawialiśmy o technofeudalizmie, Varoufakisie, ekonomii, spółdzielczości i innych przyjemnościach. Polecam się serdecznie!
Lumo 1.1 is out: a faster, more capable AI assistant with zero-access encryption & open source apps. Claims 200%+ improvement in reasoning and better privacy than Big Tech AIs. 
Anyone here actually using Lumo? Is it really private and secure in practice? Curious what others think. 
This sort of deference could effectively kill tech companies' ability to operate as multinationals, which would be a curious consequence of their rush to cozy up to this administration: https://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-science/microsoft-says-u-s-law-takes-precedence-over-canadian-data-sovereignty/article
As I keep saying, the recurring theme in Trump's alliances is "no loyalty goes unpunished."
#politics #USPol #FRPol #BigTech #dataSovereignty
In the long run, LLMs make us dumber…
https://desunit.com/blog/in-the-long-run-llms-make-us-dumber/
Destroying Autocracy – August 21, 2025
Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.
It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.
DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.
FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.
As noted last week, I am willing to spend 10 of my retirement hours weekly on The Programmer’s Fulcrum. It’s the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy.
*You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each week’s Symfony Station Communiqué and Battalion “Destroying Autocracy” post. And you’ll be set with TPF after the fusing.
Featured Item
Hamish Campbell writes:
The geek answer (bad faith or blindness): “If only everyone learned to code, then society would be fairer.”
The activist answer: Code is part of the landscape, but culture, governance, and lived practice matter more. We don’t escape domination by teaching more people to type commands, we escape by changing what we do together with the tools.
Why “teach everyone to code” has become a dead-end slogan – it’s been tried, it’s been funded, and yet it hasn’t shifted power one bit. If anything, it’s reinforced the tech priesthood instead of breaking it.
Why “teach everyone to code” has become a dead-end slogan
Remember, as I mentioned in the TechnoAnarchist Manifesto, tech is now the major religion on earth.
As far as what programmers should do, he has:
Activist tech has been stuck in a defensive crouch
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
NextCloud reports:
Schleswig-Holstein’s “Deutschland-Stack” vision for a digitally independent Germany
EuroNews reports:
Cash is king: Why does the eurozone need a digital euro?
The San Francisco Public Press reports:
California Pushes AI Regulation as Experts Reveal Looming Dangers
The Guardian reports:
Microsoft workers occupy HQ in protest against company’s ties to Israeli military
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Victory! Ninth Circuit Limits Intrusive DMCA Subpoenas
Victory! Pen-Link’s Police Tools Are Not Secret
TechPolicy reports:
The TAKE IT DOWN Act Is US Law. Platforms Must Do More Than The Bare Minimum
BleepingComputer reports:
U.S. seizes $2.8 million in crypto from Zeppelin ransomware operator
The Conversation reports:
Poytner reports:
Poynter’s MediaWise launches new initiative to combat extremism in online gaming spaces
The Register reports:
Someone’s poking the bear with infostealers targeting Russian crypto developers
US cops wrap up RapperBot, one of world’s biggest DDoS-for-hire rackets
TechCrunch reports:
Hackers who exposed North Korean government hacker explain why they did it
Ecosia has offered to take ‘stewardship’ of Chrome. And it’s not a bad idea.
Great idea, hence it will go nowhere.
Fortune reports:
MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing
EuroNews reports:
Austrian newspaper’s pay or consent model violates EU privacy rules: court
The Association of Progressive Communications reports:
Brazil explores ways to hold platforms accountable in court and beyond
Bom!
Neutral
TechPolicy reports:
We Need to Control Personal AI Data So Personal AI Cannot Control Us
The Next Web reports:
Europe can lead the world in legal AI — by out-regulating everyone else
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
TechPolicy reports:
How US Officials Are Pressuring Europe Over Its Platform Regulations
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
President Trump’s War on “Woke AI” Is a Civil Liberties Nightmare
The Register reports:
End well, this won’t: UK commissioner suggests govt stops kids from using VPNs
United Kuntdumb tech logic: if something is shite, let’s fix it by making it worse.
TechCrunch reports:
Judge says FTC investigation into Media Matters ‘should alarm all Americans’
404 Media reports:
The Government Just Made it Harder for The Public to Comment on Regulations
Global Voices reports:
The politics and people behind Balochistan, Pakistan’s internet shutdowns
Hide Me reports:
“Chat Control”: The EU is about to read every message you send
Pariah States
Politico reports:
Russia is quietly churning out fake content posing as US news
And plenty of American stooges are spreading the shit.
Radio Free Europe reports:
Report: Russian Sabotage Operations In Europe Have Quadrupled Since 2023
DarkReading reports:
Europe’s Ransomware Surge Is a Warning Shot for US Defenders
BleepingComputer reports:
XenoRAT malware campaign hits multiple embassies in South Korea
Big Media
The Guardian reports:
How German media outlets helped pave the way for Israel’s murder of journalists in Gaza
I think fascism is just in the water in Germany. Like racism in America.
EuroNews reports:
Finland’s war on fake news starts in schools. AI could make that a lot harder.
Big Tech
The Atlantic reports:
Wok reports:
Google is killing the open web
Not a Tech Bro reports:
The Register reports:
Google yet to take down ‘screenshot-grabbing’ Chrome VPN extension
The Markup reports:
We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online
Data brokers face new pressure for hiding opt-out pages from Google
The Guardian reports:
Meta faces backlash over AI policy that lets bots have ‘sensual’ conversations with children
404 Media reports:
Grok Exposes Underlying Prompts for Its AI Personas
TikTok Shop Sells Viral GPS Trackers Marketed to Stalkers
Jimmy Wales Says Wikipedia Could Use AI. Editors Call It the ‘Antithesis of Wikipedia’
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Register reports:
Every question you ask, every comment you make, I’ll be recording you
Nice song reference. 
BleepingComputer reports:
Okta open-sources catalog of Auth0 rules for threat detection
Mozilla announces:
CRLite: Fast, private, and comprehensive certificate revocation checking in Firefox
Factorial reports:
DDoS Attacks on NGOs: When Digital Infrastructure Becomes a Vulnerability
Heisse reports:
Copyright: Springer vs Adblock Plus enters another round
Socket reports:
Researcher Exposes Zero-Day Clickjacking Vulnerabilities in Major Password Managers
Fediverse
Applied Social Media Lab reports:
We Distribute reports:
CrowdBucks is a new payment system for the Fediverse
It needs some.
Hamish Campbell explains:
Why Most Fediverse Codebases Are Languishing
The London School of Economics asks:
Are newsletters the new academic social media?
Niche, but interesting.
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism
To trust or not to trust?
#Microsoft's “Digital Principles for Europe”, No2:
“We will uphold Europe’s digital resilience even when there is geopolitical volatility.”
Let's break it down and see if #BigTech can keep its promises!
The “wild west” of the internet? Myth. From Reddit’s volunteer mods to corporate enforcers, everything is managed—often in ways you don’t see.
This week, we talk to UCLA’s Sarah T. Roberts about how Big Tech bent the web into a profit machine—and what it takes to reclaim it.
Listen here: https://youtu.be/9BvgwC0VQdQ
Google Reveals Gemini’s Energy Use in Landmark AI Transparency Report
#AI #Google #Sustainability #Energy #BigTech #GoogleGemini #GenAI
Damn, I was just about to offer myself as an AI critic to Zuck, for only $ 500,000,000 a year…
𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙕𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙯𝙚𝙨 𝘼𝙄 𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙗𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/08/21/zuckerberg-freezes-ai-hiring-amid-bubble-fears
Ook minder afhankelijk zijn van #BigTech en weer/meer de regie over je eigen data krijgen? Dan is LibreOffice een mooi alternatief voor het Office-pakket van Microsoft. Ideaal voor eenieder die Linux gebruikt of later wil gaan gebruiken.
Besturingssystemen: #Linux, macOS, Windows
Licentie: Mozilla Public License (MPLv2)
Prijs: €0
Er is een nieuwe versie beschikbaar (25.8): https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2025/08/20/libreoffice-25-8/
Gute Dokumentation!
Jetzt gilt #TunStattReden
Der #Digitalminister #Wildberger redet im Beitrag zwar von unserer Abhängigk. von US #BigTech , befürwortet aber an anderer Stelle die bundesweite Einführung von #Palantir .
Das passt nicht zusammen.
Außerdem darf hier nicht nur die #Software betrachtet werden.
Die #Hardware bietet auch Einfallstore.
Dort sind wir komplett BLANK.
#VorausschauendesHandeln ist gefragt und das kostet!
#Bundeshaushalt
https://www.zdfheute.de/politik/deutschland/software-palantir-digitalminister-wildberger-100.html
Wir haben verschiedene Möglichkeiten, Plattformen zu regulieren.
Wir können einerseits unsere Regeln durchsetzen, beispielsweise über den Digital Services Act.
Wir können unsere Datenschutzrechte durchsetzen über die #Datenschutzgrundverordnung und können damit bestimmte Geschäftsmodelle verhindern.
Oder aber wir können auch das Wettbewerbsrecht anwenden und Plattformen zerschlagen.
Start your journey away from billionaire algorithms by spinning up some ethical tech in parallel. Then dump #bigtech by the end of the year.
https://www.rebeltechalliance.org/stopusingbigtech.html
Join the #digitalexodus - take part in the #BigTechWalkout2025
Meta considers downsizing its AI division, with some executives expected to leave, and is exploring using third-party models for its AI products.
Some see this as an AI bubble bursting, others as Meta doubling down with a smaller “Superintelligence” team and record spending.
#AI #Meta #BigTech #Restructuring
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/technology/mark-zuckerberg-meta-ai.html
Human in the loop? More like humans everywhere — hidden under Big Tech’s myths.
In this week’s episode, UCLA’s Sarah T. Roberts joins us to break down how corporations bend the internet toward profit and control — and what it takes to reclaim it for people.
Listen: https://youtu.be/9BvgwC0VQdQ
One of these things is not like the other…
