LCWebs, Grumpypants Mcgee
@lcwebsxoxo.bsky.social
Giving 110% OVER IT. Might actually be a Hobbit. Gen-AI users get the autoblock.
EXCLUSIVE: Ten years ago, David Michael Levin was convicted of hacking into government election websites. Now, he appears to have been hired by the Trump DOJ to...wait for it...monitor elections.
Exclusive: Trump DOJ appears to have hired lawyer convicted of hacking election sites to check ‘integrity’
Levin’s involvement in election monitoring could offer a hint of the kind of personnel who will staff the operation this fall, when the DOJ has said it will send 1,000 monitors to the polls.
democracydocket.com
*clears throat* *taps mic* criticizing the adult women who knowingly attach themselves to Trump - whether for his approval, proximity to fascist power, party status, or simply the joy of being evil - is not misogyny, no matter how much vicarious embarrassment it gives you to watch them do it
Once you normalize drones in residential areas, how do you prevent surveillance/stalker drones and worse [see: Ukraine: warfare]?
David King@cityplanning.bsky.social · 4h agoOne of the most powerful legal tools cities have to regulate different vehicle related issues is noise laws (this includes cars). Cities can enforce noise much more strictly, and they should get ahead of drone delivery as a nuisance. This article notes noise is the biggest complaint. Gift link.
Call this my Roman Empire because I think about it at least once per week, and it never fails to make me furious. Aaron Swartz will never see justice, will never breathe again, because he was falsely accused of doing 0.001% of what capital is *actually doing today*. bsky.app/profile/chan...
Chance the Lawyer@chancethelawyer.bsky.social · 5h agosay what you will about the myriad valid concerns with current LLMs but I personally will never get over the fact that Aaron Swartz was prosecuted to his literal death for downloading JSTOR and then a decade later, they downloaded & ingested the entire world and our IP laws just went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
it's ok to hate this technology for this reason and this reason alone. you don't owe anyone an open mind on this. you don't need to figure out the best use case for you if you think this is a fundamentally unethical technology. you aren't obligated to enrich your oppressors.
Chance the Lawyer@chancethelawyer.bsky.social · 5h agosay what you will about the myriad valid concerns with current LLMs but I personally will never get over the fact that Aaron Swartz was prosecuted to his literal death for downloading JSTOR and then a decade later, they downloaded & ingested the entire world and our IP laws just went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
say what you will about the myriad valid concerns with current LLMs but I personally will never get over the fact that Aaron Swartz was prosecuted to his literal death for downloading JSTOR and then a decade later, they downloaded & ingested the entire world and our IP laws just went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This should be national news. Waymo has the same capacity as Flock and are spending more time parked where people congregate than giving rides. The company is not forthcoming about where this surveillance data is going. We didn't consent to this.
Nashville Banner@nashvillebanner.bsky.social · yesterdayWaymos are parking — and constantly recording audio and video — in front of churches, parks and in neighborhoods across Nashville. The company says it “retains data for a reasonably appropriate amount of time,” but won’t share a specific policy. ✍️ @sarahgracetaylor.bsky.social
Waymos are parking — and constantly recording audio and video — in front of churches, parks and in neighborhoods across Nashville. The company says it “retains data for a reasonably appropriate amount of time,” but won’t share a specific policy. ✍️ @sarahgracetaylor.bsky.social
Waymo vehicles' surveillance does not stop between rides - Nashville Banner
Waymo vehicles continue to record their surroundings when they are parked in Nashville neighborhoods and near businesses, sparking privacy concerns among some.
nashvillebanner.com
“This is not what Neutrogena stands for or who we want to be." 😇 Yeah, but it’s who you are, though. You just never imagined that everyone would find out and boycott your asses into bankruptcy. BIG regrets about that, I’ll bet. 💸
Neutrogena’s stock is plummeting and are reporting nearly a billion dollars in market value loss amid a massive boycott following Hayden Panettiere’s tragic death and their termination of her contract after 10 years for speaking publicly about postpartum depression. Good, fuck them.
And what’s extra horrid is that it’s the tech companies’ borrowing binge that’s in large part to blame for the economic crisis, as it’s driving bond interest rates to a high not seen since 2007. Americans are saying “stop it” and big tech saying “wait, any minute this AI thing is gonna be great.”
Joey Politano🏳️🌈@josephpolitano.bsky.social · 23h agoIn possibly the fastest shift in public opinion I've ever seen, local data center approval went from -5 to -65 in less than a year heatmap.news/daily/data-c...
Maybe I'm in the minority here but if people who support AI are being shamed into silence then it's working. The shame is working as intended. The left's biggest problem is that it's afraid to hurt the feelings of folks who need to have their feelings hurt. Let them experience introspection for once
This really is some “you forced me to become a skinhead” cartoon logic. You can choose who can interact with your posts you choose who you follow you can block people if you’re going back to x because you want to talk AI then you want to talk about it there specifically. Losers. 
Johnny Normality (Spooky Mode)@probgobl.in · 19h ago"A bunch of people would rather post on Race War Now Dot Swastika rather than Bluesky because you keep making fun of their imaginary computer friend" is a RESOUNDING endorsement for the concept of hostility.
We need every horse kid in the country begging their parents not to vote for the man who wants to kill the horses
i think one of the hidden keys to politics right now is "how can our side make sure that the 'trump is gonna kill a bunch of beautiful wild horses' story gets in front of the millions of otherwise apolitical consumers of social media horse-related content"
ashley fairbanks@ziibiing.com · yesterdayif we want to win the midterms, let's turn out the horse girls.
He may well have 1000 Einsteins and Mozarts working in his warehouses right now, but they can't do anything with their abilities what with having to work 18 hours a day under constant threat of being fired for taking a piss
So tired of voice roles going to Big Name Actors who always sound exactly the same. GIVE REAL VOICE ACTORS JOBS AGAIN it’s a different skillset from film acting!!!
Kyle Hebert @kylehebert.com · 2d ago
"Not that long ago, American consumers largely did not operate under the assumption that every new gadget and appliance on the market concealed some hidden mechanism that might be used to exploit them, spy on them, or train large language models."
Faine Greenwood@faineg.bsky.social · 2d agoI agree that the tech backlash has a lot to do with the fact that Silicon Valley has pretty much given up on giving us cool things - and has trained us to assume that tech products that *seem* cool are probably secretly evil. I wrote about this last year:
Surely we can cut these down too right
404 Media@404media.co · 5d agoThe switch to Axon, which is not yet widespread but appears to be increasing as people oppose Flock, signals what might come next—cities entering contracts with another company which has faced less scrutiny and backlash. www.404media.co/cities-are-d...
Axon also makes nVidia GPU powered drones that autonomously kill. they're designed to replace first responders in the US, and many cities have already signed contracts with them. we need to stop the surveillance state before we have CCTVs on every corner and AI monitoring our every move.
404 Media@404media.co · 5d agoThe switch to Axon, which is not yet widespread but appears to be increasing as people oppose Flock, signals what might come next—cities entering contracts with another company which has faced less scrutiny and backlash. www.404media.co/cities-are-d...
Americans out in public shouldn't be spied on by their government without cause certified by a court. End of argument, no matter which tool is being used to do it.
404 Media@404media.co · 5d agoThe switch to Axon, which is not yet widespread but appears to be increasing as people oppose Flock, signals what might come next—cities entering contracts with another company which has faced less scrutiny and backlash. www.404media.co/cities-are-d...
This is like moving from 1930s Italy to 1930s Germany because Mussolini said some things you didn't like.
404 Media@404media.co · 5d agoThe switch to Axon, which is not yet widespread but appears to be increasing as people oppose Flock, signals what might come next—cities entering contracts with another company which has faced less scrutiny and backlash. www.404media.co/cities-are-d...
The switch to Axon, which is not yet widespread but appears to be increasing as people oppose Flock, signals what might come next—cities entering contracts with another company which has faced less scrutiny and backlash. www.404media.co/cities-are-d...
Cities Are Ditching Flock, Immediately Replacing It With Axon License Plate Readers
Rather than get rid of ALPR cameras entirely, many cities and towns are switching to Axon, whose cameras can be mounted to an existing streetlamp, helping them blend into their surroundings.
404media.co
I'm sorry but "a huge number of NYC cabs now are remaindered EVs running grey market software written by some dude in a garage" is the most cyberpunk thing I've ever heard
JarekFA@jarekfa.bsky.social · yesterdayI asked a driver how they service them since they’re no longer made. He said they have a guy they go to for all the software updates and all that. Even though, it has many missing typical car elements. (Like cruise control or power windows even I believe).
It's worth stressing that we only know about ICE's secret surveillance of anti-ICE meetings through the discovery process initiated by the government's prosecutions of protesters. There is likely a lot we don't know, and that's alarming (as I try to show the piece/thread below).
Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · yesterdayNEWS --> A group of religious organizations suing DHS just alleged that agents violated an ongoing court order when they secretly infiltrated a church in Minneapolis to conduct covert surveillance on anti-ICE meetings. Full backstory in my reporting and thread below.
leaving this here
How to Talk to Your Son about Fascism
How to Talk to Your Son about Fascism is a practical guide for parents, carers, and others with young men in their lives on how to talk with those young men about fascism and the right-wing, which spe...
routledge.com
Global Project Against Hate and Extremism@globalextremism.bsky.social · 2d agoNeo-Nazi Active Clubs are expanding efforts to recruit teenagers. Youth Club chapters have risen 142% since 2025, with 46 youth chapters operating across a global network of 220 Active Clubs in 33 countries. Extremists are using social media & gaming to recruit the next generation, including girls.