Its Technical

[ap215]

Exclusive: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department is developing an online portal that will enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their governments including alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda, a move Washington views as a way to counter censorship, three sources familiar with the plan said.

The site will be hosted at "freedom.gov," the sources said. One source said officials had discussed including a virtual private network function to make a user's traffic appear to originate in the U.S. and added that user activity on the site will not be tracked.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-plans- ... 026-02-18/

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Zuckerberg questioned on under-13 Instagram users in social media trial

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced questioning in a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday about Instagram's under-13 users and Meta's efforts to boost engagement, as a trial examines whether the company knowingly offered an addictive and harmful product to children and teens.

The landmark trial against Meta and YouTube kicked off in late January. It centers on allegations brought by a plaintiff identified as "KGM," who claims that using social media from a young age caused her to become addicted and harmed her mental health.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/compani ... ocialshare

[ZoWie]

This trial gets a lot of Nooz in LA. It's been pretty epic. The parade of oligarchs through the LA County Courthouse has been quite the show.

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Eleven US states urge DOJ to thoroughly probe Netflix-Warner Bros. deal

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Republican attorneys general from 11 U.S. states have urged the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a thorough review of Netflix's bid to acquire studio and streaming assets from Warner Bros., saying the deal threatens U.S. dominance in movies.

The pressure is mounting on Netflix to find its way through regulatory hurdles and make a better offer after Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O), opens new tab opened the door to consider Paramount Skydance's (PSKY.O), opens new tab increased bid of $31 per share.

https://smry.ai/proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2 ... 6-02-25%2F

[ZoWie]

The Internet opens new tab has rebooted opens new tab all our entertainment and opens new tab it proves that all change is not inherently beneficial. Often opens new tab it's brain damaged and opens new tab I miss theaters with arc lamps up in the booth and entertainment opens new tab distributed in metal boxes.

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Proposed New York law would bar AI chatbots from posing as lawyers, allow duped users to sue

March 5 (Reuters) - A proposed law working its way through New York's legislature would bar artificial intelligence chatbots from impersonating lawyers and other licensed professionals in the state, opening up AI platforms to lawsuits by ​users.

The bill, opens new tab, whose sponsor called it the first of its kind in the country, would bar ‌AI chatbots from giving substantive responses and offering advice that “if taken by a natural person” would constitute the unauthorized practice of law.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/governmen ... 026-03-05/

[ZoWie]

Right now it would be feasible to write software that would detect the AI writing style. It has one. Wikipedia has put a lot of thought into this, and they've come up with several characteristics of AI text that gives it away every time. These are very subtle, and more like the kind of analysis that intelligence agencies do to trace the origins of communications. That means it's not easy, but right now it's possible.

Right now the major give-away is that AI writes like undergrad history and social sciences papers, parroting back found information in a dry academic style. If you wrote as many of these as I had to, you will know what I'm talking about. Humans will say things like how the Who were f--king loud. AI will say that the Who explored the boundaries of electronic amplification.

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Exclusive - Meta planning sweeping layoffs as AI costs mount

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, March 13 (Reuters) - Meta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers.


No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalized, the people said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/news/con ... ocialshare

[ZoWie]

It's common sense, really. Everyone wants a data center. These things are huge, and eat as much power as whole cities, and there are going to be thousands of them. It's already so widespread that it's trashed the environment, and climate change is finally happening. The investment must be staggering.

The money's gotta come from somewhere, and so grunt programmers are being automated out of their jobs. They got so good at it that they made themselves obsolete.

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Conservative voter fraud hunters pitch new computer programs to state officials

The creators of a controversial program designed to hunt for voter fraud that was promoted by conservative activists are pitching two new programs to state election officials ahead of

The first election software from Dr. John W. “Rick” Richards Jr. and his son, John W. Richards III, called EagleAI, promised to help officials and activists root out inaccurate voter registrations in the run-up to the 2024 election. The program was embraced by members of the Election Integrity Network, the group founded by Cleta Mitchell, a former election lawyer for President Donald Trump. But it was also criticized as inaccurate by election officials and experts, as well as some of the activists who tried it.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/electi ... rcna263738

[ap215]

Conservative voter fraud hunters pitch new computer programs to state officials

The creators of a controversial program designed to hunt for voter fraud that was promoted by conservative activists are pitching two new programs to state election officials ahead of

The first election software from Dr. John W. “Rick” Richards Jr. and his son, John W. Richards III, called EagleAI, promised to help officials and activists root out inaccurate voter registrations in the run-up to the 2024 election. The program was embraced by members of the Election Integrity Network, the group founded by Cleta Mitchell, a former election lawyer for President Donald Trump. But it was also criticized as inaccurate by election officials and experts, as well as some of the activists who tried it.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/electi ... rcna263738

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Democratic digital ad firm launches new service aimed at better reaching likely primary voters online

Democratic digital advertising firm DSPolitical is launching a new service on Monday aimed at better reaching likely primary voters online as the party looks for different ways to target its base ahead of a consequential November election.

DSPolitical, which shared its plans first with The Hill, is launching a new “precise digital ad targeting” tool that allows Democratic campaigns to target likely voters better ahead of their primaries, which will be driven by a 2026 Democratic Primary Vote Propensity model created by Democratic data firm Catalist.

https://thehill.com/homenews/5795667-ds ... targeting/

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Jury rules against Meta and YouTube in social media addiction case

A jury in Los Angeles has found that Meta and YouTube were negligent in a closely-watched trial over social media addiction. The companies were ordered to pay $3 million in damages to the woman who said she was harmed by their addictive features as a child.

The case was brought by a 20-year-old woman, named in court documents as “K.G.M,” who sued Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap, saying that she had been harmed by the platforms as a child due to addictive features. TikTok and Snap reached a settlement ahead of the trial.

https://www.engadget.com/social-media/j ... 44860.html

[ZoWie]

Of course they're addictive. So is TV. So are big league sports. Difference being the other two don't deliberately exploit adolescent insecurity to sell dangerous products and cause sex problems they can use for financial profits.

This is a major precedent. The oligarchy can't justify their tactics any more.

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It's not worth it don't waste your money on a pay stream or any streaming service that has a cost online nothing but greed

Americans quit subscription streaming services in droves as cost of living continues to climb, report finds

Source: The Independent

Americans are quitting subscription streaming services in droves as the cost of living continues to climb, a recent report has found.

Streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu have become increasingly popular in recent years, but Deloitte’s 2026 Digital Media Trends report, released late last month, shows how Americans are getting frustrated over the cost to have their favorite movies and TV shows at the click of a button.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/wo ... 54213.html

https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights ... tml#banner

[ZoWie]

I agree that the public is already too stressed financially to gracefully accept having to pay a different streamer for every sports and entertainment attraction they want to see. Markets in this condition usually go through a very traumatic shakeout where people jettison their least favorite providers.

I went over the edge when Apple TV bought the F1 rights. It's basically old fashioned pay TV trading on the respected Apple brand. I'm already paying one provider for basic cable, another one for the Dodgers, and now I have to pay one I can't even connect to with my existing equipment to see F1. I have to cough up thirteen and a half bucks a month to watch on my computer. Screw that.

We're reaching the limit for how much bullshit the public will accept.

[Number6]

To watch your favorite baseball team you have to subscribe to MLB. It used to be you could watch your team play on over-the-air stations. Last couple of years the Padres were shown for free by MLB because the company that provided the games went bankrupt. I'll follow the Padres via the radio or Sirius/SM.

[ZoWie]

Yes, I know all about MLB TV. I also know that you pay Spectrum Cable to watch the Dodgers, and then many of the best games are still on other providers that you have to pay separately. I also know that Formula One used to contract with ESPN, which comes with most cable subscriptions. Now, though, it's yet another ka-ching, and on a whole separate system that seems to be at least partly a means of selling more Apple devices.

It's easy to see where this is going, and how much more the average sports viewer will have to shell out for the stuff they used to get for a lot less, if not free.

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New US Congress bill proposal requires all operating system providers to verify ages

We've covered here before on individual US states setting up their own age verification laws, and now a new US Congress bill has been proposed for it. If passed, this would then potentially set it all up to be nation-wide across the entirety of the US.

The bill was introduced on April 13th and has been referred to the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce. It's being sponsored by the Democratic party's Josh Gottheimer, with it being co-sponsored by Republican Elise M. Stefanik so it has bipartisan support.

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/04/n ... rify-ages/

[ZoWie]

The problem is, "When is an OS not an OS?" These days, if it has batteries or an AC plug, it probably has some kind of OS. I assume they don't intend to require age checks or registration for everyone using refrigerators, lawn mowers, cell phones, GPS receivers, etc. The devil is really in the details here.