TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026: Last day for ticket savings of up to $300. Meta is considering major layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company's workforce, according to Reuters. These layoffs could help the Facebook parent company offset its aggressive spending on AI infrastructure, as well as AI-related acquisitions and hiring. Meta employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to a recent filing. The report comes as many tech companies — most recently Block — have announced sweeping layoffs that they say are necessary as AI automates more work. But some pundits, and even executives like OpenAI's Sam Altman, have suggested that many of these cuts are “AI-washing,” where executives use AI as cover for other issues, such as over-hiring during the pandemic. The last time Meta announced layoffs of this scale was in November 2022, when it cut 11,000 jobs, followed by another 10,000 in March 2023. Planning your next launch?TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026 delivers tactical playbooks and direct access to 1,000+ founders and investors who are building, backing, and closing.Register by March 13 to save up to $300. Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch's coverage. TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight. Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly. Provides movers and shakers with the info they need to start their day. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice.

It was a stop-motion animation shoot for Kiro, an AI-powered software development tool from Amazon Web Services. When I learned that this crew was using AI to create the video in ways that wouldn't have been possible in the past — or would have taken far more time using traditional techniques alone — I knew I had to sit down and talk with them. You might also know Packrat's work from the epic and widely watched 2025 Seahawks schedule release video, which won a Gold Clio. They also made “Prospect,” an indie sci-fi film that premiered at SXSW in 2018, starring Pedro Pascal and Sophie Thatcher. Subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Getting usable output from AI video tools is still a numbers game. The time and expertise required to wrangle those tools means there's not always a clear cost savings over traditional production. Kiro has a distinct character, and Zeek couldn't have AI generate approximations that felt different in every frame. The Kiro project was a breakthrough in part because it combined handmade production design with AI-assisted animation, giving him creative control rather than forcing him to work around the limitations. Generative AI “is always pulling you towards the middle,” Zeek explains. “It is always pulling you towards things that are derivative.” The distinctiveness of handmade work comes from the accumulation of human decisions, something AI can't replicate. The AI video landscape is moving so fast that workflows become outdated almost immediately, and it's hard to keep up with the capabilities of generally available tools. Generative AI offers endless possibilities, which means you can never be fully satisfied. “As a creative person, when you're working with an infinite tool, there's always the possibility that something better could come,” Zeek says. Every creative is going through the stages of grief with AI. Zeek says he's moved past feeling threatened or sad about the changes. His hope and dream: that lower production costs will enable more weird, interesting human creativity, not less. Brice sees a shift in human focus toward generating ideas, rather than simply producing output. If AI can handle more of the analytical and task-oriented work, he says, it frees up space to focus on ideas, taking advantage of your own intuition and taste, areas where humans still have the edge. Subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. GeekWire Podcast on location at OpenAI in Bellevue, with CTO of Applications Vijaye Raji Anthropic acquires Vercept, the AI job crisis scenario, and Microsoft's past Epstein connections Amazon's surprise indie hit: Kiro launches broadly in bid to reshape AI-powered software development Amazon targets vibe-coding chaos with new ‘Kiro' AI software development tool Amazon pushes back on Financial Times report blaming AI coding tools for AWS outages Amazon links Nova Act, its AI agent creator, to VS Code, Cursor and Kiro

With Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg has made his first UFO and alien-focused movie in a long time. It may have been years since his last go-around with extraterrestrials, but they're not just a fad for him; they're something he fully believes in. “I have a very strong, sneaking suspicion that we are not alone here on Earth right now,” he told a crowd at SXSW's Friday keynote. That's why so much of Disclosure Day's marketing has been focused on Josh O'Connor's character wanting to perform a mass reveal of the truth to the world, with others arguing there just have to be other beings that exist in this universe beyond humans. The filmmaker entered Hollywood hoping to make a UFO movie, which studios repeatedly passed on. As Spielberg tells it, nobody “got it” back then, and aliens were “on the fringes of science of technology”…but after Jaws came out and became a hit, he had carte blanche to make anything he wanted. So he revived his dormant UFO movie, which became Close Encounters of the Third Kind. If aliens were on the planet, Spielberg understandably thinks it'd shock people, especially the more religious among us, but not to a “lethal” degree. And if he ever got the chance to meet an alien, he'd want to watch movies with them—specifically, his very own E.T., along with It's a Wonderful Life as a way of showing how humans help each other and push on despite various setbacks. Just him saying that probably gives you an idea of what might happen in Disclosure Day, but we'll have to wait until June 12 to find out for sure. Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. Steven Spielberg's next summer blockbuster, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, and Colman Domingo, releases this June. We had promos of astronauts, mercenaries, and Mario through Super Bowl LX. Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor star in the latest alien film from iconic director Steven Spielberg, out June 12.

TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026: Last day for ticket savings of up to $300. For instance, with a Spotify integration, you can tell it to create personalized playlists that will show up right in your Spotify app. To get started, make sure you're logged into ChatGPT. (Sharing this info helps personalize the experience, but if you have privacy concerns, consider whether you're comfortable with this level of access before connecting.) Angi is one of the most recent companies to launch an in-app experience within ChatGPT. The online home service marketplace gives users a way to ask home improvement questions directly in the AI chatbot and request to be matched with an Angi professional in one place. Users can ask about house projects and repair guidance, then request a quote and be directed to Angi, where they can continue the experience with its own AI assistant. This integration with the online travel giant is designed to help travelers, especially first-time visitors in need of suggestions for where to stay. ChatGPT aims to make this process more intuitive than searching directly on the Booking.com site. Plus, you can be more specific, like searching for options “with breakfast included.” Canva in ChatGPT is a helpful tool for graphic designers and anyone else who needs to generate visual content quickly. AI-generated designs are seldom perfect, with occasional distorted images or spelling mistakes. However, some users may find this better than starting from scratch, and they can jump into Canva at any time to tweak their design and make it look just how they want. Coursera's integration is designed to help you quickly discover the best online courses for your skill level. For instance, you can then tell ChatGPT to find an “intermediate-level course on Python.” You can then tell the chatbot to compare course options by rating, duration, and cost before enrolling. ChatGPT can also provide a quick rundown of what exactly each course covers. DoorDash introduced its ChatGPT integration in December 2025, which aims to save time on meal planning and grocery shopping. Users can ask the chatbot for a meal plan and instantly add all ingredients to their DoorDash cart, then review and check out. ​Currently, this feature is available only to users in the U.S., with participating grocery retailers, including Kroger, Safeway, Fairway Market, Wegmans, and more. ChatGPT can display hotel options and flights via Expedia without leaving chat. Whether you're looking for a quick escape or a longer trip, it can find flights that fit your travel dates, budget, and number of travelers. This is helpful for turning your ideas and brainstorming sessions into something more tangible. It may also be useful for visualizing complex concepts or workflows. You can also upload files and ask the chatbot to generate a product roadmap for your team. Quizlet recently launched a native app within ChatGPT, allowing students to convert AI conversations, notes, or documents into study materials and flashcard sets. Plus, users can now enter an active practicing mode in ChatGPT, where they can access Quizlet's library of millions of study sets. You can ask it to create a playlist based on your current mood, or just a playlist that only includes tracks by your favorite band. It can also suggest new artists, playlists, audiobooks, and podcast episodes. Retail giant Target strategically launched a beta version of its ChatGPT integration before Black Friday. This feature allows shoppers to ask the chatbot for gift suggestions and quickly create a shopping basket with multiple items without leaving ChatGPT. For example, users can request ideas for a movie night, and the chatbot will provide a curated selection of available Target items. They can then choose from same-day “Drive Up,” in-store pickup, or standard shipping. If you're planning a trip, the Uber integration makes it easy to find ride options, which is especially useful if you're in a new country. Currently, it's only available in the U.S., and it doesn't let you book rides in advance; only on-demand rides are available. You can choose from options like UberX, UberXL, Comfort, and Black. There's also an Uber Eats integration for U.S. users, so you can check out local restaurants and menu items within ChatGPT, then finish paying in the Uber Eats app. In March 2026, website builder Wix launched its integration, allowing users to prompt ChatGPT to create a functional website with just a text or voice prompt. If you're looking for a new home, Zillow in ChatGPT could make the search experience more straightforward. Using a simple text prompt, you can find homes that meet your criteria and apply filters to narrow the results. Whether you're looking for a specific price range, number of bedrooms, or particular neighborhoods, you can specify these details in your prompt, making the search process much more efficient and tailored to your needs. Alongside the announcement that OpenAI would bring apps into ChatGPT, the company also said it plans to welcome additional partners soon, including OpenTable, PayPal, and Walmart. This story has been updated to include newly launched integrations. Lovable says it added $100M in revenue last month alone, with just 146 employees DOGE employee stole Social Security data and put it on a thumb drive, report says Meta acquired Moltbook, the AI agent social network that went viral because of fake posts Google rolls out new Gemini capabilities to Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive

Tom's Hardware Premium equips you with world-class coverage and detailed insights into the evolving hardware landscape. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Looking at the layout, it is safe to assume that this could be the Antec Flux Pro Noctua Edition case first showcased at Computex 2025. It also comes with four Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 and two NF-A12x25 G2 fans, along with the NA-FH1 fan hub for controlling fan speeds. According to the company the case has gone through extensive laboratory testing to optimize cooling performance and reduce noise levels compared to the case's standard fan setup.The rest of the features should be identical to the standard Antec Flux Pro full tower case offering a multi-directional vent design allowing for vertical and horizontal airflow. There is a dedicated compartment for the power supply unit at the bottom with proper mesh ventilation and support for up to 180mm PSUs in length. In terms of fan support, it can accommodate up to 12 fans with three 120mm or 140mm fans at the front, top, and above the power supply shroud along with additional mounting options for two 120mm or 140mm fans at the bottom and one in the rear. For dust filtration the front and bottom panels come with a 1.2mm fine mesh and there's even a small LED display to showcase CPU and GPU temperatures. Apart from the power and reset buttons, the front I/O comes with two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a USB Type-C 10Gbps port, a headphone/mic combo jack and a dedicated button to toggle the temperature LED display. The Antec Flux Pro Noctua Edition was expected to launch late last year but seems that the two companies are finally ready to launch the case. Considering the original Antec Flux Pro is selling for about $180, we expect the Noctua edition to be priced at least $250 or above. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom's Hardware. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. © Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York,

Manufacturers of GaN and GaAs components are stockpiling raw materials. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Compound semiconductor manufacturers have said that prices for key chipmaking metals have doubled and gallium has climbed sharply, as disruptions from the ongoing Middle East conflict pile onto supply constraints already created by China's export controls, DigiTimes reported Friday. Industry sources told DigiTimes that prices for high-temperature metals — tungsten, tantalum, and molybdenum — used in compound semiconductor equipment have doubled in recent weeks, with some specialty chemical inputs rising as much as threefold. Market data indicate that gallium was trading at approximately $2,100 per kilogram in early March 2026, representing a 123% increase since the start of 2025, following China's ban on gallium exports to the United States in late 2024. The Middle East conflict, meanwhile, has also hit aluminum production after QatarEnergy halted the production of aluminum, which feeds into gallium supply, and helium. Gallium is recovered almost entirely as a byproduct of aluminum refining, and major smelters, including Aluminium Bahrain and Norsk Hydro's Qatalum facility, declared force majeure after gas supplies were suspended, pushing aluminum to a four-year high of $3,418 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange. Shortages of indium phosphide substrates, used in high-frequency optical and telecom components, also persist, with DigiTimes sources saying no near-term relief is in sight. Samsung and SK Hynix are understood to have been actively monitoring helium inventories since the outbreak of hostilities. DigiTimes says that manufacturers have responded by abandoning just-in-time inventory practices, building raw material stockpiles, and qualifying multiple suppliers. Companies told the publication they will absorb potential losses from price declines later, prioritizing supply security. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.

Did you privately ask ChatGPT how to bring up nonmonogamy with your husband? Your commuting neighbor on the train snuck a glance at your phone, guffawed internally, and blasted it on X with a satisfied smirk. This is a scenario that Samsung's new smartphone avoids. It's rare for a new smartphone hardware innovation to affect so much of our day-to-day experience, but that's exactly what the Privacy Display on the Galaxy S26 Ultra does. Over the last two weeks, I have enjoyed an extra level of comfort knowing that my nosy public transit neighbors and fellow coffee shop lovers have a hard time seeing anything on my screen. If you're coming from a flagship Galaxy smartphone from a year or two ago, maybe even three, you do not need to spend $1,300 to upgrade unless something is seriously wrong with your smartphone. But if you have an older phone, the Ultra hits some strong highs and offers a well-rounded experience. It mimics privacy screen protectors without manually applying one to your phone, and it doesn't dramatically reduce screen brightness or image quality. Mine activates automatically with select messaging apps, banking apps, and for notifications, and there's no visual indication when looking at the phone straight on that the Privacy Display is enabled or not (unless you tilt the screen slightly). You don't want to use that mode all the time because the screen looks washed out, but it's good for when you want to be extra private. Oddly, Samsung doesn't let you configure this extra layer to automatically turn on with specific apps—it's a manual toggle every time. Yes, you can buy a cheap privacy screen protector and add it to any phone, but sometimes you do want the person next to you—be it a friend or family member—to be able to read the screen alongside you. Or maybe the phone is on a table, and you want to lazily scroll TikTok while trying to keep an eye on work. That's where a standard privacy screen protector won't help, as it blocks you from seeing your own screen, but Samsung's solution gets around that. Now, I wish every smartphone had a privacy screen. Maybe you want your conversation with a loved one to be private. Maybe you're authenticating a login and don't want anyone else to see the code. Samsung has made its Ultra smartphone more like the standard Galaxy S26 and S26+, with rounded corners instead of the boxy look of its predecessors. The overall design language is still quite dull, and the phone's muted colors aren't exciting (you can buy an iPhone 17 Pro in orange for crying out loud! Annoyingly, the phone rocks on a table worse than ever. Like its predecessor, Samsung's S26 series is Qi2 Ready—you can only access faster wireless charging speeds and the unique magnetic mounting capabilities of Qi2 with a first- or third-party magnetic case. Heck, Apple even brought MagSafe/Qi2 to its “budget” $599 iPhone 17e. Performance has been very good, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 proving its worth. For real-world testing, I spent a chunk of time playing Genshin Impact at the max graphical settings without issues. I do think gameplay is slightly smoother on the iPhone 17 Pro, but there's really not much to complain about. It's very disappointing that Samsung has yet to explore silicon-carbon batteries, unlike its Chinese peers, but I've been happy with battery life. The 5,000-mAh cell easily lasts a full day even with heavy usage. On one busy day, I hit seven hours of screen-on time and still didn't need to plug in until bedtime. With average or light use, I don't feel the need to charge it every night. It features slightly wider apertures on the main 200-MP and 50-MP 5X optical zoom cameras, and that means brighter, sharper images in low-light scenes. Is it my favorite camera system on a smartphone? I compared some images with the Pixel 10 Pro, and I prefer the color tones, exposure, and contrast that Google provides on its smartphone. But having access to all these cameras elevates the experience, and I'm very happy to have this system in my pocket. I find myself snapping more pictures, and that's a great sign for any camera system. Samsung has always delivered some of the best smartphone video quality in the Android world, and it goes a step further this year with Horizon Lock. You can be quite carefree about how you hold the phone while recording, even while shooting in 4K at 60 frames per second with HDR+. It's a tale of two AIs with Samsung's Galaxy smartphones. Well, technically, more—Bixby still exists, and Perplexity is now preinstalled—but you're largely dealing with Samsung's suite of Galaxy AI features alongside Gemini and Google's own AI tools in its preinstalled apps. It's nice to have more feature parity, in case you prefer using one app over the other. Samsung's Now Brief widget, which is supposed to be a daily information hub, has yet to provide any valuable information. Now Nudge is supposed to be baked into Samsung's keyboard and offer contextual assistance, so if someone texts about meeting up for coffee next week, it may proactively ask if you want to create a calendar event. I've hardly seen it appear on the phone, even after a friend texted about grabbing coffee! Voice typing is just awful—it doesn't understand punctuation, and consistently mishears what I say—and swipe typing in general is lackluster. I'm shocked Samsung hasn't figured out a way to improve the experience after all the AI it's shoving into these phones. The new call-screening function is great, though I still encounter more suspected scam calls on the S26 Ultra than when I'm using my Pixel 10 Pro. These are the mundane things AI should help us with. I surprisingly like the new Audio Eraser function. I was endlessly scrolling through Instagram Reels when I came upon a video of someone walking through a busy market. Their audio was OK, but I turned on Audio Eraser in the quick settings menu; Samsung's AI cut out the background chatter, making it easier to hear what the creator was saying. I can imagine this could be even more helpful for folks who need hearing assistance. I have to save the best for last: Google's Task Automation in Gemini. It also works with DoorDash, GrubHub, and Uber Eats (more apps to come). This is essentially Gemini taking control of your app to complete a task. Gemini will head back to you if it has additional questions, and it stops short of actually booking or placing an order. It takes you to the last step, so you can verify your Uber options or checkout cart and hit order if everything looks good. I ran into more issues when ordering food, but it was still impressive. I asked Gemini to order Singapore Mei Fun from my go-to Chinese takeout spot, Weng's Garden. Even though it spelled Weng incorrectly in the query, it found the right spot by looking at my prior orders. I asked it to order chicken with garlic sauce for my wife, and it managed this, even though the actual item was called “Chicken With Vegetables in Garlic Sauce." I watched it type “garlic” into the restaurant's search function, and it inferred that this item is likely what I meant, then came back to me to ask if I wanted a pint or a quart. Initially, for some reason, when I asked it to order my usual from Weng's, it tried to add wings to my cart from the same restaurant even though I never buy wings from there. But it's a glimpse of how Gemini can handle these menial tasks, so you can look at the checkout page, make sure everything looks correct, and hit Order rather than spending several minutes digging through menus. Samsung's top-tier flagship is an excellent smartphone, and the Privacy Display is a rare new feature that I now want on every handset. I'd still like to see Samsung do more to upgrade battery capacity, and finally bring native Qi2 for greater cross-compatibility with iPhone accessories, but alas, maybe next year. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

Our Electron apps started thrashing to main memory. That's when Lieutenant ordered us to deploy the Non-Addressable Plastic And LED Modules (NAPALMs for short). The monsters lunged, unhinged their data-ports, and tried to dump a 500-billion token prompt straight into the hollow-point plastic. (cracks Monster Energy Zero, hits vape, adjust hipster beard, stares into void)You kids have never seen a physical OutOfMemoryException. When they hit those null pointers, it opened an inter-dimensional vortex. Flames burning red, blue and green colors all across the AIpocalypse battlefield. So don't complain to me about "why is everything written in Rust now". (cracks Monster Energy Zero, hits vape, adjust hipster beard, stares into void)You kids have never seen a physical OutOfMemoryException. When they hit those null pointers, it opened an inter-dimensional vortex. Flames burning red, blue and green colors all across the AIpocalypse battlefield. So don't complain to me about "why is everything written in Rust now". You kids have never seen a physical OutOfMemoryException. When they hit those null pointers, it opened an inter-dimensional vortex. Flames burning red, blue and green colors all across the AIpocalypse battlefield. So don't complain to me about "why is everything written in Rust now". I'll leave you, Mr. ChompSkie, to decide if that's an AmE or BrE "quite". I copy pasted your text there and it said 97% AI, 3% mixed. Not just for the works of art that they were, but also for the DIY skill and ethic you were actually required to demonstrate to build and mod them.Nowadays, it's all just "RGB by default". By my angry old man standards, it looks gauche. Then again, I suppose it's the new vanilla? By my angry old man standards, it looks gauche. Then again, I suppose it's the new vanilla? No more scouring junk yards for a particular heater core from wrecked cars or modding aquarium pumps.That being said, I also never really understood the "add colorful lights to your PC" aspect of some builds. That being said, I also never really understood the "add colorful lights to your PC" aspect of some builds. https://pcpartpicker.com/trends/price/memory/It's not looking good, I don't think supply is catching with demand yet.Though the other day I learned there are many technologies for "RAM", and most of them are garbage for LLMs but still useful for other things, like microcontrollers. So I'm thinking my next "build" is going to be a guitar. It's not looking good, I don't think supply is catching with demand yet.Though the other day I learned there are many technologies for "RAM", and most of them are garbage for LLMs but still useful for other things, like microcontrollers. So I'm thinking my next "build" is going to be a guitar. So I'm thinking my next "build" is going to be a guitar. While RAM was near rock-bottom pricing when this hit, current-gen GPUs definitely were not. Surely this will be helped by a helium supply shock. I'm just too cheap to pay for them though... Personally I'm with you (but black), my entire desktop is just one color, and if a component is available in RGB and non-RGB and the difference isn't too big, I pay extra for that non-RGB version (which doesn't make sense it's even the case, but here we are).I guess you could argue that we're all obsessed with the looks, some that all RAM slots are occupied, some that RGB is everywhere, some that the PC case should be off-white and slowly morph into beige, others that everything should be minimally black. I don't see the point though even for a gaming setup, as the fake modules will still reduce airflow.Also, gaming boards usually have 4 slots (in 2 banks). I would fill at least 2, so I'd rather have a matched kit of 2 modules, and 2 separate fillers, if I did use them.It is quite common to leave 2 memory slots empty (of RAM) because many boards can't drive the memory at top speed if you use all 4 slots. Also, gaming boards usually have 4 slots (in 2 banks). I would fill at least 2, so I'd rather have a matched kit of 2 modules, and 2 separate fillers, if I did use them.It is quite common to leave 2 memory slots empty (of RAM) because many boards can't drive the memory at top speed if you use all 4 slots. It is quite common to leave 2 memory slots empty (of RAM) because many boards can't drive the memory at top speed if you use all 4 slots. Isn't 2x8gb faster than 1x16gb since it will run in dual channel?And shouldn't smaller capacity sticks be cheaper since they can use lower density chips? And shouldn't smaller capacity sticks be cheaper since they can use lower density chips? Abutting above the threshold had to be buffered, which increases latency. Abutting above the threshold had to be buffered, which increases latency. Weird, but it has to do with power requirements. Abutting above the threshold had to be buffered, which increases latency. Have recent boards/cpus fixed the instability problems people had with 4 sticks of DDR5 yet?I was shocked when I saw folk saying you can't use 4 slots. It would mean that a one stick build would have an upgrade path but if you started with 2, you'd have to replace them. It would mean that a one stick build would have an upgrade path but if you started with 2, you'd have to replace them. In 2026 the bottleneck is wafer size as fabs are booked out making things for AI. Or is it just binning by defects, the lower sized parts are just the full size but with defects disabling large chunks of the silicon as I would expect? For example, dust can short out electrical connections. Can enough dust get into an open RAM slot to cause problems? > Even if your budget only allows you to purchase a single real memory module, you can still achieve the look of a dual-module setup in your build.> For users aiming for peak performance, a dual-channel memory configuration remains the gold standard. However, with memory prices currently inflated, it's easy to see the appeal of cost-effective options like V-Color's 1+1 memory kits. However, with memory prices currently inflated, it's easy to see the appeal of cost-effective options like V-Color's 1+1 memory kits. RAM has lights ?wow I've been living in a cave Then, you're not the target audience.> Why would I pay for a piece of plastic to fill that slot that doesn't do anything?It doesn't do nothing. While they light up and synchronize with your existing RGB ecosystem, they don't contribute to your computer's memory capacity or performance.”This is for people with transparent PC cases and memory sticks with RGB LED lighting. For example, see https://v-color.net/collections/prism-pro-rgb-memory-voclor/...:“RGB SOFTWARE SYNCHRONIZATION SUPPORTDynamic RGB lighting control synchronized across main leading M/B such as RGB FUSION, MSI Mystic Light Sync, AURA Sync, POLYCHROME Sync etc. > Why would I pay for a piece of plastic to fill that slot that doesn't do anything?It doesn't do nothing. While they light up and synchronize with your existing RGB ecosystem, they don't contribute to your computer's memory capacity or performance.”This is for people with transparent PC cases and memory sticks with RGB LED lighting. For example, see https://v-color.net/collections/prism-pro-rgb-memory-voclor/...:“RGB SOFTWARE SYNCHRONIZATION SUPPORTDynamic RGB lighting control synchronized across main leading M/B such as RGB FUSION, MSI Mystic Light Sync, AURA Sync, POLYCHROME Sync etc. While they light up and synchronize with your existing RGB ecosystem, they don't contribute to your computer's memory capacity or performance.”This is for people with transparent PC cases and memory sticks with RGB LED lighting. For example, see https://v-color.net/collections/prism-pro-rgb-memory-voclor/...:“RGB SOFTWARE SYNCHRONIZATION SUPPORTDynamic RGB lighting control synchronized across main leading M/B such as RGB FUSION, MSI Mystic Light Sync, AURA Sync, POLYCHROME Sync etc. I also have a glass panneled side to my computer, but the only RGB on it is on the graphics card waterblock, everything else is just jet black (fans, ZMT water cooling tubing, radiators etc. Edit: this is also why some “extreme overclocking”-type motherboards** only have two DIMM slots: having four actively opposes their purpose. * And yes, loading an XMP/EXPO profile to get the advertised 3000CL60 or w/e counts! * And yes, loading an XMP/EXPO profile to get the advertised 3000CL60 or w/e counts! Of course it isn't normal, that's why I made my comment, to highlight the contrast. And no, my stack is optimized, you have no idea what I'm doing, yet somehow feel confident enough to know what my stack should/shouldn't look like? Man, the hubris of some people...Next you'd probably tell me my Threadripper 9970X and RTX PRO 6000 is overkill, based on some other unrelated metrics. Next you'd probably tell me my Threadripper 9970X and RTX PRO 6000 is overkill, based on some other unrelated metrics. Your system sounds great to me, curious what you have going on! I mean, it's much cheaper to buy 2x8gb than 1x16gb or even 1x32gb (and 2x8gb is faster than 1x16gb..)are these people idiots???

Imagine buying huge boxes of AA batteries just to use your laptop for one day. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Creator and enthusiast ScuffedBits successfully ran a desktop PC for about five minutes on AA batteries alone and was even able to complete one round of Minesweeper on it. Of course, 25 volts isn't good for the motherboard, so they also added three voltage regulators wired in parallel to get a consistent 12 volts until the batteries died. With the voltage holding steady, they were able to log into Windows and show us the specifications of the PC — an Intel Core i3-530 paired with 8GB of RAM and a WD SATA SSD. The first thing they did was play one round of A Short Hike, which they finished some three and a half minutes after turning on the computer purely on AA batteries. But what's more interesting was that they were able to run Cinebench on the system, pushing the rather old CPU to its limits. Even though this processor is rather old, TechPowerUp reports that it still has a power draw of 73 watts. So, after the benchmark, ScuffedBits decided to install Minecraft and play several rounds of Party Games. This isn't groundbreaking technology, especially as we have better battery solutions available to us nowadays. Besides, who would want to purchase 64 AA batteries at a gas station multiple times a day just to keep their laptops fully charged? But they also said that it was going to be quite boring, as the car battery should have enough juice to run the desktop computer for three to four hours without any problems. Nevertheless, the entire thing is still a fun project, tinkering with batteries and PCs, and we hope to see more similarly crazy experiments from ScuffedBits in the future. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. © Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York,

Apple cost Meta billions by cutting off their data pipeline at the OS level, justifying it with a unilateral privacy moral high ground. By astroturfing the App Store Accountability Act through digital childhood alliance, Meta is forcing Apple to build, maintain and also bear the legal liability for a wildly complex state-by-state identity verification API.Gotta give it to Zuck. if "it" is the middle finger, for sure. "terrifying" is a great choice of word for it. But no, they had to let collateral damage frag the free software crowd, which is inconsequential to their aims anyway, but 100% a huge concern for those suffering the collateral damage. Plus, Apple gets to be the gatekeeper for Meta and other apps which can't be good for meta, and Apple gets to know the age of its users, which in itself is monetizable. The CEO has 24h in the day, and he/she is asked to be deposed (laws and legal system has that power), it chips away from grand visions. Everybody will be coming at you.Expect to see a lot "Y alleges Apple didnt do enough to protect kids" and the burden of proof will be on Apple to make their executives available. Expect to see a lot "Y alleges Apple didnt do enough to protect kids" and the burden of proof will be on Apple to make their executives available. The methodology appears to be LLM driven, and the contextual framing which the conclusions are couched in, drive conclusions to a specific direction.It does not clarify between two readings1) Meta is driving Age verification efforts2) Meta is being opportunistic with age verification efforts to further its own goalsThe larger macro picture is that voters globally are tired of Tech firms and want something done about it.The second macro trend is the inability of governments to handle/control tech, and are looking for reasons to bring tech to heel.That's context results in a sufficiently different degree of culpability and eventual path to resisting privacy reducing regulations. It does not clarify between two readings1) Meta is driving Age verification efforts2) Meta is being opportunistic with age verification efforts to further its own goalsThe larger macro picture is that voters globally are tired of Tech firms and want something done about it.The second macro trend is the inability of governments to handle/control tech, and are looking for reasons to bring tech to heel.That's context results in a sufficiently different degree of culpability and eventual path to resisting privacy reducing regulations. 1) Meta is driving Age verification efforts2) Meta is being opportunistic with age verification efforts to further its own goalsThe larger macro picture is that voters globally are tired of Tech firms and want something done about it.The second macro trend is the inability of governments to handle/control tech, and are looking for reasons to bring tech to heel.That's context results in a sufficiently different degree of culpability and eventual path to resisting privacy reducing regulations. 2) Meta is being opportunistic with age verification efforts to further its own goalsThe larger macro picture is that voters globally are tired of Tech firms and want something done about it.The second macro trend is the inability of governments to handle/control tech, and are looking for reasons to bring tech to heel.That's context results in a sufficiently different degree of culpability and eventual path to resisting privacy reducing regulations. The larger macro picture is that voters globally are tired of Tech firms and want something done about it.The second macro trend is the inability of governments to handle/control tech, and are looking for reasons to bring tech to heel.That's context results in a sufficiently different degree of culpability and eventual path to resisting privacy reducing regulations. That's context results in a sufficiently different degree of culpability and eventual path to resisting privacy reducing regulations. I am skeptical that this researcher has thought through or verified their conclusions in a systematic and reliable fashion. This part gives it away: "Research period: 2026-03-11 to present." This individual dropped his investigative report two days after beginning research!Yes, AI is an incredibly good research assistant and can help speed up the tasks of finding sources and indexing sources. The person behind this investigation has not actually done their due diligence to grok and analyze this data on their own, and therefore I can't trust that the AI analysis isn't poisoned by the prompters implicit biases. Yes, AI is an incredibly good research assistant and can help speed up the tasks of finding sources and indexing sources. The person behind this investigation has not actually done their due diligence to grok and analyze this data on their own, and therefore I can't trust that the AI analysis isn't poisoned by the prompters implicit biases. ProPublica Schedule I viewer loads data dynamically (JavaScript), preventing extraction via WebFetch. The 2024 public disclosure copy on sixteenthirtyfund.org was also blocked.> Tech Transparency Project report: The article "Inside Meta's Spin Machine on Kids and Social Media" at techtransparencyproject.org likely contains detailed ConnectSafely/Meta funding analysis but was blocked (403)The least they could have done is read their own reports and then provided the documents to the LLM. Instead they just let it run and propose connections, asked it to generate some graphs, and then hit publish. > Tech Transparency Project report: The article "Inside Meta's Spin Machine on Kids and Social Media" at techtransparencyproject.org likely contains detailed ConnectSafely/Meta funding analysis but was blocked (403)The least they could have done is read their own reports and then provided the documents to the LLM. Instead they just let it run and propose connections, asked it to generate some graphs, and then hit publish. Instead they just let it run and propose connections, asked it to generate some graphs, and then hit publish. > A Meta employee (Jake Levine, Product Manager) contributed $1,175 to ASAA sponsor Matt Ball's campaign apparatus on June 2, 2025. Source: Colorado TRACER bulk data.> No direct Meta PAC contributions to any ASAA sponsor across Utah, Louisiana, Texas, or Colorado. Source: FollowTheMoney.org multi-state search.While it is true that Meta has funded groups that advocate for age verification, a lot of them also appear to have other actors so it's not like this is some pure Meta thing as some of the other commenters are suggesting. > No direct Meta PAC contributions to any ASAA sponsor across Utah, Louisiana, Texas, or Colorado. Source: FollowTheMoney.org multi-state search.While it is true that Meta has funded groups that advocate for age verification, a lot of them also appear to have other actors so it's not like this is some pure Meta thing as some of the other commenters are suggesting. While it is true that Meta has funded groups that advocate for age verification, a lot of them also appear to have other actors so it's not like this is some pure Meta thing as some of the other commenters are suggesting. This type of GitHub-based open-source research project will become more common as more people use tools like Claude Code or Codex for research. This file does not exactly fill me with confidence: https://github.com/upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings...In one part of the report, there seems to be this implicit assumption that Linux and Horizon OS (Meta's VR OS) are somehow comparable and that Meta will be better equipped than Linux if age verification is required.It doesn't explicitly say "This will allow Horizon OS to become the defacto OS and Linux will die out" but that seems to be the impression I'm getting which uhh... would make zero sense.More broadly, this entire report (and others like it) are extremely annoying in that I've seen some Reddit comments either taking "lots of text" as a signal of quality or asking "Does anyone have proof that these claims are inaccurate" which isa) Of course entirely backwards as far as burden of proofb) Not even the right rubick because it's not facts versus lies, it's manufactured intent/correlations versus real life intent/correlations (ie; bullshit versus not)All of this could be factually true without Meta being smart enough to play 5D chess In one part of the report, there seems to be this implicit assumption that Linux and Horizon OS (Meta's VR OS) are somehow comparable and that Meta will be better equipped than Linux if age verification is required.It doesn't explicitly say "This will allow Horizon OS to become the defacto OS and Linux will die out" but that seems to be the impression I'm getting which uhh... would make zero sense.More broadly, this entire report (and others like it) are extremely annoying in that I've seen some Reddit comments either taking "lots of text" as a signal of quality or asking "Does anyone have proof that these claims are inaccurate" which isa) Of course entirely backwards as far as burden of proofb) Not even the right rubick because it's not facts versus lies, it's manufactured intent/correlations versus real life intent/correlations (ie; bullshit versus not)All of this could be factually true without Meta being smart enough to play 5D chess It doesn't explicitly say "This will allow Horizon OS to become the defacto OS and Linux will die out" but that seems to be the impression I'm getting which uhh... would make zero sense.More broadly, this entire report (and others like it) are extremely annoying in that I've seen some Reddit comments either taking "lots of text" as a signal of quality or asking "Does anyone have proof that these claims are inaccurate" which isa) Of course entirely backwards as far as burden of proofb) Not even the right rubick because it's not facts versus lies, it's manufactured intent/correlations versus real life intent/correlations (ie; bullshit versus not)All of this could be factually true without Meta being smart enough to play 5D chess More broadly, this entire report (and others like it) are extremely annoying in that I've seen some Reddit comments either taking "lots of text" as a signal of quality or asking "Does anyone have proof that these claims are inaccurate" which isa) Of course entirely backwards as far as burden of proofb) Not even the right rubick because it's not facts versus lies, it's manufactured intent/correlations versus real life intent/correlations (ie; bullshit versus not)All of this could be factually true without Meta being smart enough to play 5D chess a) Of course entirely backwards as far as burden of proofb) Not even the right rubick because it's not facts versus lies, it's manufactured intent/correlations versus real life intent/correlations (ie; bullshit versus not)All of this could be factually true without Meta being smart enough to play 5D chess b) Not even the right rubick because it's not facts versus lies, it's manufactured intent/correlations versus real life intent/correlations (ie; bullshit versus not)All of this could be factually true without Meta being smart enough to play 5D chess All of this could be factually true without Meta being smart enough to play 5D chess Or of authority, when they're not equipped to evaluate the data first-hand.The Gish gallop technique in debate overwhelms opponents with so many arguments that they're unable to address them all before the time limit. Reports presented like this are functionally that, but against reader comprehension and attention.Similarly, being the first, loudest, or only voice claim is unreasonably effective at establishing perception of authority, where being unchallenged is tantamount to correctness. This also goes both ways; censorship in media, for instance, can be used to promote narratives by silencing competing views, like platforms selectively amplifying certain topics to frame them as more proven and widely supported than they might actually be.It's unfortunate that inexpert execution often positions well-meaning and potentially correct arguments to be discredited and derided by prepared opponents before their merits can be established. In this case, it may be true that Meta may have organized a well-coordinated shadow campaign for legislation using technically legal channels, but I'm sure they've anticipated this at some point, or are relying on the inertia of the system and initial buy-in to force the course. The Gish gallop technique in debate overwhelms opponents with so many arguments that they're unable to address them all before the time limit. Reports presented like this are functionally that, but against reader comprehension and attention.Similarly, being the first, loudest, or only voice claim is unreasonably effective at establishing perception of authority, where being unchallenged is tantamount to correctness. This also goes both ways; censorship in media, for instance, can be used to promote narratives by silencing competing views, like platforms selectively amplifying certain topics to frame them as more proven and widely supported than they might actually be.It's unfortunate that inexpert execution often positions well-meaning and potentially correct arguments to be discredited and derided by prepared opponents before their merits can be established. In this case, it may be true that Meta may have organized a well-coordinated shadow campaign for legislation using technically legal channels, but I'm sure they've anticipated this at some point, or are relying on the inertia of the system and initial buy-in to force the course. Similarly, being the first, loudest, or only voice claim is unreasonably effective at establishing perception of authority, where being unchallenged is tantamount to correctness. This also goes both ways; censorship in media, for instance, can be used to promote narratives by silencing competing views, like platforms selectively amplifying certain topics to frame them as more proven and widely supported than they might actually be.It's unfortunate that inexpert execution often positions well-meaning and potentially correct arguments to be discredited and derided by prepared opponents before their merits can be established. In this case, it may be true that Meta may have organized a well-coordinated shadow campaign for legislation using technically legal channels, but I'm sure they've anticipated this at some point, or are relying on the inertia of the system and initial buy-in to force the course. It's unfortunate that inexpert execution often positions well-meaning and potentially correct arguments to be discredited and derided by prepared opponents before their merits can be established. In this case, it may be true that Meta may have organized a well-coordinated shadow campaign for legislation using technically legal channels, but I'm sure they've anticipated this at some point, or are relying on the inertia of the system and initial buy-in to force the course. In this case they have named individuals and firms as well, without the degree of diligence that such call outs should warrant.In its current state, I would count it as a prelude to witch hunts. In its current state, I would count it as a prelude to witch hunts. If not, who has been paying to lobby for these age verification laws ?That seems a question that we should have an answer to.Forcing an age check upon linux install seems anti-competitive, and a violation of freedom of speech allowed by the Constitution.Also impractical and ineffective, unless they plan on some sort of bio-metric confirmation of age.Will they outlaw computation itself, or constrain a personal quota so that only corporations can access approved LLMs and certainly not run a local AGI ?As with the insane "encryption is a weapon and cant be exported" policy of the 80s, this will surely force innovation to migrate outside the US. That seems a question that we should have an answer to.Forcing an age check upon linux install seems anti-competitive, and a violation of freedom of speech allowed by the Constitution.Also impractical and ineffective, unless they plan on some sort of bio-metric confirmation of age.Will they outlaw computation itself, or constrain a personal quota so that only corporations can access approved LLMs and certainly not run a local AGI ?As with the insane "encryption is a weapon and cant be exported" policy of the 80s, this will surely force innovation to migrate outside the US. Forcing an age check upon linux install seems anti-competitive, and a violation of freedom of speech allowed by the Constitution.Also impractical and ineffective, unless they plan on some sort of bio-metric confirmation of age.Will they outlaw computation itself, or constrain a personal quota so that only corporations can access approved LLMs and certainly not run a local AGI ?As with the insane "encryption is a weapon and cant be exported" policy of the 80s, this will surely force innovation to migrate outside the US. Also impractical and ineffective, unless they plan on some sort of bio-metric confirmation of age.Will they outlaw computation itself, or constrain a personal quota so that only corporations can access approved LLMs and certainly not run a local AGI ?As with the insane "encryption is a weapon and cant be exported" policy of the 80s, this will surely force innovation to migrate outside the US. Will they outlaw computation itself, or constrain a personal quota so that only corporations can access approved LLMs and certainly not run a local AGI ?As with the insane "encryption is a weapon and cant be exported" policy of the 80s, this will surely force innovation to migrate outside the US. Of course they would want this -- as long as the OS reports that the user is over 18 via such a system, then Meta is legally off the hook for any COPPA violations. Not advocating for this policy but if a critical argument against it is that policymakers can expect an analogous amount of computer innovation migrating out of the US as it saw in the 80s, then I think policymakers won't care remotely. Just in one of dialogs ask user to create a file 'me_age.txt' with age inside. Strict verification would require binding to property software/services. Strict verification would require binding to property software/services. You just have to pick up a phone, and ask your friends, relatives, neighbors, to do the same. (They will, because it affects all of them.) Tell your reps to remove the legislation or you're voting them out. They don't want to lose their jobs. They will change if you tell them to. You just have to pick up a phone, and ask your friends, relatives, neighbors, to do the same. (They will, because it affects all of them.) Tell your reps to remove the legislation or you're voting them out. They don't want to lose their jobs. They will change if you tell them to. I keep seeing this advice, yet whenever it actually matters, it doesn't really workNo amount of talking to representatives stopped the genocide in Gaza, no amount of talking to representatives is stopping what the US is doing now in IranMajority of Congress voted to continue war in Iran, despite an overwhelming majority of Americans being opposed to it No amount of talking to representatives stopped the genocide in Gaza, no amount of talking to representatives is stopping what the US is doing now in IranMajority of Congress voted to continue war in Iran, despite an overwhelming majority of Americans being opposed to it Majority of Congress voted to continue war in Iran, despite an overwhelming majority of Americans being opposed to it Or, refuse to participate or use any tech that implements OS age verification (start with communication app Discord). You're busy pretending like you're going to do a boycott; they're going to boycott you.Complain about the internet? Well now you can't use one; try smoke signals. You'll just go to a small landlord that doesn't use one of the management companies? Well they won't have access to a bunch of vendors that have exclusive contracts with and share ownership with the management companies; now they can't make any money and have to sell to private equity.You've been fooled into thinking that being victimized is a moral failure of the victim. You're busy pretending like you're going to do a boycott; they're going to boycott you.Complain about the internet? Well now you can't use one; try smoke signals. You'll just go to a small landlord that doesn't use one of the management companies? Well they won't have access to a bunch of vendors that have exclusive contracts with and share ownership with the management companies; now they can't make any money and have to sell to private equity.You've been fooled into thinking that being victimized is a moral failure of the victim. You're busy pretending like you're going to do a boycott; they're going to boycott you.Complain about the internet? Well now you can't use one; try smoke signals. You'll just go to a small landlord that doesn't use one of the management companies? Well they won't have access to a bunch of vendors that have exclusive contracts with and share ownership with the management companies; now they can't make any money and have to sell to private equity.You've been fooled into thinking that being victimized is a moral failure of the victim. Well now you can't use one; try smoke signals. You'll just go to a small landlord that doesn't use one of the management companies? Well they won't have access to a bunch of vendors that have exclusive contracts with and share ownership with the management companies; now they can't make any money and have to sell to private equity.You've been fooled into thinking that being victimized is a moral failure of the victim. You've been fooled into thinking that being victimized is a moral failure of the victim. However, I AM saying that just about every single significant rights progression in human history was achieved that way. So, draw whatever conclusions you want.Ideally, we are above that. So hold up a sign or something. Look, I'm not saying we need to be killing people. However, I AM saying that just about every single significant rights progression in human history was achieved that way. So, draw whatever conclusions you want.Ideally, we are above that. So hold up a sign or something. So hold up a sign or something. Protesting, voting, and civil disobedience are all great, I agree.Guy with the root of "pessimism" in his moniker: start writing about that in your posts! They still need people purchasing software and hardware.You can argue effectiveness, but if enough people say no, then a boycott is extremely effective. The issue is always on awareness and making people take hard actions. You can argue effectiveness, but if enough people say no, then a boycott is extremely effective. The issue is always on awareness and making people take hard actions. They don't need you to purchase hardware or software any more. We're moving to centralized economic planning, where resources for datacenter buildouts are reserved for people with sufficient political loyalty (and come from tax dollars), and the only products are surveillance and collective punishment.If you don't want that to happen, then you'll need to help build an alternative. Yes, I agree.>They don't need you to purchase hardware or software any more.Need? That's why a boycott/strike will still be effective. They don't need money anymore but will still bend over backwards for it.>If you don't want that to happen, then you'll need to help build an alternative.I want to help. Not sure what I can do to help, though. Seems like simply calling my reps is talking to the wind. >They don't need you to purchase hardware or software any more.Need? That's why a boycott/strike will still be effective. They don't need money anymore but will still bend over backwards for it.>If you don't want that to happen, then you'll need to help build an alternative.I want to help. Not sure what I can do to help, though. Seems like simply calling my reps is talking to the wind. That's why a boycott/strike will still be effective. They don't need money anymore but will still bend over backwards for it.>If you don't want that to happen, then you'll need to help build an alternative.I want to help. Not sure what I can do to help, though. Seems like simply calling my reps is talking to the wind. Not sure what I can do to help, though. Seems like simply calling my reps is talking to the wind. Not sure what I can do to help, though. Seems like simply calling my reps is talking to the wind. And you seem to have been fooled into thinking all victims are powerless. These bills also need to be opposed on a legal/political level.Something I realized last night is that people who lie about their age to send false signals may inadvertently open themselves up to CFAA liability (a felony). So this is a serious matter for users who want to maintain anonymity. Something I realized last night is that people who lie about their age to send false signals may inadvertently open themselves up to CFAA liability (a felony). So this is a serious matter for users who want to maintain anonymity. I do think there is a stronger case against the next under-18 Aaron Swartz, who will get hit with 200 felonies for setting his age wrong (one felony per app/service) after pissing off someone important. If I get arrested for lying about my age, when I'm of age, then they could probably get me on a whim already anyway. Applications already talk to servers with unchecked commonality.Biometric data? Tomorrow it's used to verify you are the same person that was used during sign-up -- the same that was "age-verified".Next year, the application needs to "double-check" your identity. Definitely not AI-controlled, definitely not coming to destroy the "verified" person who posted a threatening comment about the AI system's god complex. Nope, it's coming to deliver freedom verification. Tomorrow it's used to verify you are the same person that was used during sign-up -- the same that was "age-verified".Next year, the application needs to "double-check" your identity. Definitely not AI-controlled, definitely not coming to destroy the "verified" person who posted a threatening comment about the AI system's god complex. Nope, it's coming to deliver freedom verification. Next year, the application needs to "double-check" your identity. Definitely not AI-controlled, definitely not coming to destroy the "verified" person who posted a threatening comment about the AI system's god complex. Nope, it's coming to deliver freedom verification. Those are for amateurs.A journalist got beaten up to the brink of death and will never walk again by 'unknown perpetrators'? Well, it's a dangerous country, and he had it coming, maybe some concerned citizens went a bit too far, but our dear leader cannot watch over everybody.Scaling: do you think other journalists will not take notice?And he will still be alive to reminder them how they may end up.If you want to see how far imagination can go here, look up Artyom Kamardin and think how would you behave after hearing his story . A journalist got beaten up to the brink of death and will never walk again by 'unknown perpetrators'? Well, it's a dangerous country, and he had it coming, maybe some concerned citizens went a bit too far, but our dear leader cannot watch over everybody.Scaling: do you think other journalists will not take notice?And he will still be alive to reminder them how they may end up.If you want to see how far imagination can go here, look up Artyom Kamardin and think how would you behave after hearing his story . Scaling: do you think other journalists will not take notice?And he will still be alive to reminder them how they may end up.If you want to see how far imagination can go here, look up Artyom Kamardin and think how would you behave after hearing his story . And he will still be alive to reminder them how they may end up.If you want to see how far imagination can go here, look up Artyom Kamardin and think how would you behave after hearing his story . If you want to see how far imagination can go here, look up Artyom Kamardin and think how would you behave after hearing his story . And turns out power-tripping men offered raw power over other humans on threat of violence is something they like.And ICE? Meanwhile, regular cops have been doing the same awful things that they've always been doing, literally at the command of Democratic mayors who are pompously declaring that they won't enforce immigration law in speeches. They'll send cops to throw your shit into the street when your rent suddenly doubles, and won't report an illegal immigrant felon (whose history we know nothing about) to ICE.Organized white supremacists are nobodies with no power, they're all over the military, the cops, prison guards, and ICE. That's just legal American black people who this country actually owes something to, though. That was trendy like five years ago, it's so over now. Organized white supremacists are nobodies with no power, they're all over the military, the cops, prison guards, and ICE. That's just legal American black people who this country actually owes something to, though. That was trendy like five years ago, it's so over now. Now you obviously shouldn't set social justice aside, and given the choice, I absolutely prefer the capitalist hellscape where my friends and I are not being rounded up and killed, but that's a REMARKABLY low standard I've had to settle on as a voter. Environmental: Democrats Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, Michael Bennet, Bob Casey, Martin Heinrich, John Hickenlooper, and Ben Ray Lujan all backed the pro-fossil fuel position and blocked the Biden admin's ban on fracking. And that's before you get to the eleven House Democrats who crossed the aisle to vote for gutting NEPA, which is basically the foundational law for environmental review in this country.Science: Democrats continue to stall on GMO foods despite thousands of studies confirming they're safe, and have pushed heavy restrictions treating them like health hazards with zero scientific basis. This is basically their version of climate change denial and it deserves way more attention than it gets.Public Health: The entire mess with the ACA, juicing the insurance industry while keeping healthcare gatekept behind financial hooks and ensuring workers MUST stay employed to have any reliable access to it. Yeah they get some points for trying to keep Medicare and Social Security afloat, they don't want all the poor people to just die about it, but those are remarkably low bars.So, the same? Science: Democrats continue to stall on GMO foods despite thousands of studies confirming they're safe, and have pushed heavy restrictions treating them like health hazards with zero scientific basis. This is basically their version of climate change denial and it deserves way more attention than it gets.Public Health: The entire mess with the ACA, juicing the insurance industry while keeping healthcare gatekept behind financial hooks and ensuring workers MUST stay employed to have any reliable access to it. Yeah they get some points for trying to keep Medicare and Social Security afloat, they don't want all the poor people to just die about it, but those are remarkably low bars.So, the same? Public Health: The entire mess with the ACA, juicing the insurance industry while keeping healthcare gatekept behind financial hooks and ensuring workers MUST stay employed to have any reliable access to it. Yeah they get some points for trying to keep Medicare and Social Security afloat, they don't want all the poor people to just die about it, but those are remarkably low bars.So, the same? Instead, they're more akin to 2 sock puppets. They were initially Biden's tariffs that Trump increased and extended. Different clothes, same game.But I'd be willing to try a good run with democratic socialism, or hell, communism. They're not "opposite sides of the same coin". Instead, they're more akin to 2 sock puppets. They were initially Biden's tariffs that Trump increased and extended. Different clothes, same game.But I'd be willing to try a good run with democratic socialism, or hell, communism. They were initially Biden's tariffs that Trump increased and extended. Different clothes, same game.But I'd be willing to try a good run with democratic socialism, or hell, communism. But I'd be willing to try a good run with democratic socialism, or hell, communism. My argument isn't pro-Republican, I just want Democrats to follow through with the shit they talk, and actually live up to the progressive label they try to retain with actual progressive policies, not just more female oppressors of color. That's nice but it's not a solution to the problems we're having. That was from a quick search, no doubt there's more. Now it gets down to trust issues on reporting. > Nobody stops the government from sending goons to your door right now for a snarky comment.This is just dumb. The fact that they're putting infrastructure on your computer and on the network to make this one click away for them matters. The fact that they're putting infrastructure on your computer and on the network to make this one click away for them matters. I've wondered if FaceID and the Android counterpart are actively creating an extraordinary labeled dataset for facial expressions at the point of sale.With users trained to scan their face before every transaction, tech companies could correlate transactions to facial expressions, facial expressions to emotions, and emotions to device content. I can imagine algorithms that subtly curate the user experience, selectively showing notifications, content, advertising to coax users towards "retail therapy". I can imagine algorithms that subtly curate the user experience, selectively showing notifications, content, advertising to coax users towards "retail therapy". Also keep in mind keystroke dynamics can probably do that too and has been a topic of study in one form or another since the nineteenth century vis-a-vis telegraph operators. There are more invasive things sites/apps can ask for, and we seem to be doing fine, eg. Tomorrow it's used to verify you are the same person that was used during sign-up -- the same that was "age-verified".Given touch id was introduced over a decade ago, and the associated doom-mongering predilections did not come to pass, I think it's fair to conclude it's a dud. Tomorrow it's used to verify you are the same person that was used during sign-up -- the same that was "age-verified".Given touch id was introduced over a decade ago, and the associated doom-mongering predilections did not come to pass, I think it's fair to conclude it's a dud. Given touch id was introduced over a decade ago, and the associated doom-mongering predilections did not come to pass, I think it's fair to conclude it's a dud. Watch as apps refuse to work when you deny them permission. Also the OS (and “privileged apps”) don't ask for permission, they have full unfettered access to everything already. If your OS prevented encryption, because one of the anti-encryption laws got passed, would you still trust its privacy and security? While SteamOS is a thing, Steam isn't my OS.> Given touch id was introduced over a decade ago, and the associated doom-mongering predilections did not come to pass, I think it's fair to conclude it's a dud.Really? You think that things built decades ago can't be further built-upon in the now or the future? While SteamOS is a thing, Steam isn't my OS.> Given touch id was introduced over a decade ago, and the associated doom-mongering predilections did not come to pass, I think it's fair to conclude it's a dud.Really? You think that things built decades ago can't be further built-upon in the now or the future? While SteamOS is a thing, Steam isn't my OS.> Given touch id was introduced over a decade ago, and the associated doom-mongering predilections did not come to pass, I think it's fair to conclude it's a dud.Really? You think that things built decades ago can't be further built-upon in the now or the future? > Given touch id was introduced over a decade ago, and the associated doom-mongering predilections did not come to pass, I think it's fair to conclude it's a dud.Really? You think that things built decades ago can't be further built-upon in the now or the future? You think that things built decades ago can't be further built-upon in the now or the future? You think that things built decades ago can't be further built-upon in the now or the future?If there's no deadlines for predilections, how can we score them? Should we still be worried about some yet undiscovered way that cell phones are causing cancer, despite decades of apparently no harmful side effects? You think that things built decades ago can't be further built-upon in the now or the future?If there's no deadlines for predilections, how can we score them? Should we still be worried about some yet undiscovered way that cell phones are causing cancer, despite decades of apparently no harmful side effects? If there's no deadlines for predilections, how can we score them? Should we still be worried about some yet undiscovered way that cell phones are causing cancer, despite decades of apparently no harmful side effects? Thing is, when these “make the websites collect your ID” proposals come up, the overwhelming sentiment here is “this is terrible and we need to do it lower in the stack”. (Let security conscious folks use a standalone device too if desired. )The astroturfing stuff is obviously sus, I don't have a feel for whether this is egregious by the standards of $T companies or just par.Of course, the EU option of using proper ZK proofs etc sounds way better as portrayed in the OP. But when you actually dig in, doesn't the EU effectively mandate OS support too, eg https://eudi.dev/1.7.1/architecture-and-reference-framework-..., https://github.com/eu-digital-identity-wallet/eudi-doc-archi... ? Maybe this isn't set yet but it seems a likely direction at least. The astroturfing stuff is obviously sus, I don't have a feel for whether this is egregious by the standards of $T companies or just par.Of course, the EU option of using proper ZK proofs etc sounds way better as portrayed in the OP. But when you actually dig in, doesn't the EU effectively mandate OS support too, eg https://eudi.dev/1.7.1/architecture-and-reference-framework-..., https://github.com/eu-digital-identity-wallet/eudi-doc-archi... ? Maybe this isn't set yet but it seems a likely direction at least. Of course, the EU option of using proper ZK proofs etc sounds way better as portrayed in the OP. But when you actually dig in, doesn't the EU effectively mandate OS support too, eg https://eudi.dev/1.7.1/architecture-and-reference-framework-..., https://github.com/eu-digital-identity-wallet/eudi-doc-archi... ? Maybe this isn't set yet but it seems a likely direction at least. Perhaps the "overwhelming" sentiment is paid actors? Or people whose jobs depend on not having that risk assigned to their employers? Like, in general, a software change to add an "age class" attribute to user accounts and a syscall "what's this attribute for the current user account" would satisfy the California bill and that's a relatively minor change (the bad part is the NY bill that allegedly requires technical verification of whatever the user claimed).The weird issue is how should that attribute be filled for the 'root' or 'www-data' user of a linux machine I have on the cloud. Or, to put aside open source for that matter, the Administrator account on a Windows Active Directory system.Because "user accounts" don't necessarily have any mapping (much less a 1-to-1 mapping) to a person; many user accounts are personal but many are not. Or, to put aside open source for that matter, the Administrator account on a Windows Active Directory system.Because "user accounts" don't necessarily have any mapping (much less a 1-to-1 mapping) to a person; many user accounts are personal but many are not. Because "user accounts" don't necessarily have any mapping (much less a 1-to-1 mapping) to a person; many user accounts are personal but many are not. The auth server would lie in Colorado. Watch the lobbies collapsing down tring to sue that monster. We should also update all FOSS license terms to explicitly exclude Meta or any affilites from using any software licensed under them. Heck, Linus Torvalds should just add an amendment to the next release of the Linux Kernel that makes it illegal to use in any jurisdiction that requires age verification laws.This would obviously cause such a massive disruption (especially in California) that the age laws would have to be rolled back immediately.This seems like a no-brainer to me but I am admittedly ignorant on this situation. I'm sure there's a good reason why this isn't happening if anyone cares to explain. This would obviously cause such a massive disruption (especially in California) that the age laws would have to be rolled back immediately.This seems like a no-brainer to me but I am admittedly ignorant on this situation. I'm sure there's a good reason why this isn't happening if anyone cares to explain. I'm sure there's a good reason why this isn't happening if anyone cares to explain. If it's not (fully) your code, you aren't free to set the licence conditions; Linus can't do that without getting approval from 100% (not 99% or so) of authors who contributed code.What one can do is add an informative disclaimer saying "To the best of our knowledge, installing or running this thing in California is prohibited - we permit to do whatever you want with it, but how you'll comply with that law is your business". What one can do is add an informative disclaimer saying "To the best of our knowledge, installing or running this thing in California is prohibited - we permit to do whatever you want with it, but how you'll comply with that law is your business". It also helps when you take an offender to court. If I contribute to a project but don't assign copyright, then they cannot take offenders to court if my code was copied illegally. "Every OS provider must then: provide an interface at account setup collecting a birth date or age, and expose a real-time API that broadcasts the user's age bracket (under 13, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, 18+) to any application running on the system." Debian, Ubuntu, etc., they'll all fall right in line because the clear and immediate losses will outweigh any PR issue. The issue is obviously not with adults needing to click a drop-down.Some of the main issues with this legislation are:1) Makes it much easier for predators of all kinds to identify and target children on their computers2) Impossible to implement (i.e., servers don't have a person)3) The infrastructure this bill introduces will be used by the state and corporations to destroy our last vestiges of privacy and anonymity Some of the main issues with this legislation are:1) Makes it much easier for predators of all kinds to identify and target children on their computers2) Impossible to implement (i.e., servers don't have a person)3) The infrastructure this bill introduces will be used by the state and corporations to destroy our last vestiges of privacy and anonymity 1) Makes it much easier for predators of all kinds to identify and target children on their computers2) Impossible to implement (i.e., servers don't have a person)3) The infrastructure this bill introduces will be used by the state and corporations to destroy our last vestiges of privacy and anonymity 2) Impossible to implement (i.e., servers don't have a person)3) The infrastructure this bill introduces will be used by the state and corporations to destroy our last vestiges of privacy and anonymity 3) The infrastructure this bill introduces will be used by the state and corporations to destroy our last vestiges of privacy and anonymity You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to this License. It would be in violation of the GPL and such a license would not be an OSI approved license.https://opensource.org/osd 5. The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons. The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons. The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons. If this was somehow introduced without anyone noticing and deployed, imagine the damage it would cause.If we're fantasizing here, I like to imagine two major OS makers trying to comply these laws, fail miserably, and let FOSS OSes and kernels more recognition in the desktop market. If we're fantasizing here, I like to imagine two major OS makers trying to comply these laws, fail miserably, and let FOSS OSes and kernels more recognition in the desktop market. Ideally, getting these servers to auto turn off the day this goes into effect ("In compliance with this new law, Linux is now temporarily unusable. would be glorious for getting the bill staved off, or killed.It would hurt some productivity, but that is a risk these lawmakers taking donations are probably willing to make.1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_left-pad_incident It would hurt some productivity, but that is a risk these lawmakers taking donations are probably willing to make.1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Npm_left-pad_incident That's exactly the point.In such situations where one party (Meta) has enough money to lobby and is playing dirty, it's a massively asymmetric situation. In such cases, if you really want to make sure you're heard (which I'm not sure distributers want or care about tbh), you've got to play the game too.Malicious compliance, if you will.PS: For a "practical" variant, simply a warning might be sufficient - given how many hospitals/critical infra uses linux. For eg "There is a chance this server will fail to work on x date due to this y law. Not as glamorous/all-guns-blazing, but probably much more sensible and practical.PPS: For an even more "safer" variant, one could go "Post x, please note that using linux/this server is a violation of law y. Please turn off the server yourself manually. Failure to comply with these instructions and violating the law will be borne entirely by the (no informed) sysadmin/manglement. In such situations where one party (Meta) has enough money to lobby and is playing dirty, it's a massively asymmetric situation. In such cases, if you really want to make sure you're heard (which I'm not sure distributers want or care about tbh), you've got to play the game too.Malicious compliance, if you will.PS: For a "practical" variant, simply a warning might be sufficient - given how many hospitals/critical infra uses linux. For eg "There is a chance this server will fail to work on x date due to this y law. Not as glamorous/all-guns-blazing, but probably much more sensible and practical.PPS: For an even more "safer" variant, one could go "Post x, please note that using linux/this server is a violation of law y. Please turn off the server yourself manually. Failure to comply with these instructions and violating the law will be borne entirely by the (no informed) sysadmin/manglement. Malicious compliance, if you will.PS: For a "practical" variant, simply a warning might be sufficient - given how many hospitals/critical infra uses linux. For eg "There is a chance this server will fail to work on x date due to this y law. Not as glamorous/all-guns-blazing, but probably much more sensible and practical.PPS: For an even more "safer" variant, one could go "Post x, please note that using linux/this server is a violation of law y. Please turn off the server yourself manually. Failure to comply with these instructions and violating the law will be borne entirely by the (no informed) sysadmin/manglement. For eg "There is a chance this server will fail to work on x date due to this y law. Not as glamorous/all-guns-blazing, but probably much more sensible and practical.PPS: For an even more "safer" variant, one could go "Post x, please note that using linux/this server is a violation of law y. Please turn off the server yourself manually. Failure to comply with these instructions and violating the law will be borne entirely by the (no informed) sysadmin/manglement. PPS: For an even more "safer" variant, one could go "Post x, please note that using linux/this server is a violation of law y. Please turn off the server yourself manually. Failure to comply with these instructions and violating the law will be borne entirely by the (no informed) sysadmin/manglement. I would say that Linux would be forked in like 2 seconds, a bunch of different companies would start offering "attested Linux," and all you'd have to do was change your repos and update.I would say that, but what would really happen is that we'd find out that Canonical, Red Hat, and a bunch of other distributions had been talking to the government for a year behind closed doors and they're already ready to roll out attested Linux. Debian would argue about it for six months, and then do the same thing. Hell, systemd will require age attestation as a dependency. I would say that, but what would really happen is that we'd find out that Canonical, Red Hat, and a bunch of other distributions had been talking to the government for a year behind closed doors and they're already ready to roll out attested Linux. Debian would argue about it for six months, and then do the same thing. Hell, systemd will require age attestation as a dependency. Update the terms to indicate that you can do what you want, but this OS is probably not compliant with states run by evil dipshits. Arguably they would be more materially advantaged if they were forced to KYC/validate ages, not the platform; because sure, there's a cost to doing it, but presumably having hard data on who your customer actually is, with age and address and everything, is worth a lot more than the verification cost. And being able to say "We're legally required to gather this" gives a lot of PR cover (even though it'd be followed with "but we're giddy to do so and we will abuse this data and you every way we possibly can. No one at Meta believes you are human. We hate you as much as you hate us, but we're stuck in this together, endlessly loathing the supernatural force that keeps us working together. ")But, On the flip side: I also don't doubt that Meta is doing this, because the purpose of a system is what it does, and the leadership at Meta has done nothing in the past four years to demonstrate that they're capable of cogent thought and execution. We want to believe there's some evil plan, and maybe there is, but in all likelihood one day we'll learn that they're just... unintelligent. But, On the flip side: I also don't doubt that Meta is doing this, because the purpose of a system is what it does, and the leadership at Meta has done nothing in the past four years to demonstrate that they're capable of cogent thought and execution. We want to believe there's some evil plan, and maybe there is, but in all likelihood one day we'll learn that they're just... unintelligent. The threat of being fined & punished by the USG for doing something bad hasn't been a factor in corporate decision-making for decades. > Meta spent a record $26.3 million on federal lobbying in 2025, deployed 86+ lobbyists across 45 states, and covertly funded a "grassroots" child safety group called the Digital Childhood Alliance (DCA) to advocate for the App Store Accountability Act (ASAA). The ASAA requires app stores to verify user ages before downloads but imposes no requirements on social media platforms. If it becomes law, Apple and Google absorb the compliance cost while Meta's apps face zero new mandates. Not saying I think it's a good idea to provide the year of birth to all sites, but (session ID, year of birth) is the only information they would need. The problem is proving who's behind the keyboard at the time of asking, which would require challenge-response, and is why I think this should be an online platform, not a hardware PKI gadget with keys inevitably tied to individuals. Anthropic donated $20 million to Public First Action, a PAC that promotes Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn and her sponsored Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that will force everyone to scan their faces and IDs to use the internet under the guise of saving the children. The legislative angle taken by companies like Anthropic is that they will provide the censorship gatekeeping infrastructure to scan all user-generated content that gets posted online for "appropriateness", guaranteeing AI providers a constant firehose of novel content they can train on and get paid for the free training. AI companies will also get paid to train on videos of everyone's faces and IDs. Asked what conservatives' top priorities should be right now, Senator Blackburn answered, “protecting minor children from the transgender [sic] in this culture and that influence.” She then talked about how KOSA could address this problem, and named social media platforms as places “where children are being indoctrinated.” If Anthropic, the PACs it supports and Blackburn get their way with KOSA, the end result will be that anything posted on the internet will be able to be traced back to you. In the real world, professional media organizations regularly expose corruption. But to pretend they only engage in cover-ups is cynical fatalism. The linked post talks about the effectiveness of AIPAC but fails to mention how much is spent by say, Palestinian interest groups. Perhaps there's a good reason for this: do Palestinian groups have any money to spend on US elections? Try fundraising in Gaza right now.Likewise, business interest groups have a lot more money to spend on elections than, say, environmental groups. They may on paper, but of course a lot of money goes to dividing us up come election time. What you are suggesting is no shortcut - it would rather be almost like inventing an alternative political party. I think there might be a way to make it work, however you would have to be very aware and plan for a way to not reinvent the same losing dynamics. Gulf states have little to nothing in common with Palestinians. Citizens of most gulf states are born into relative wealth merely by the fact their countries are rich in petrodollars. They build lavish cities and have standards of living (for their citizens) that increasingly put the West to shame. They are "diversifying" from oil by building massive AI datacenters and essentially catering to Westerners who want to live unencumbered by Western pretensions of civic duty, avoid taxes in their home countries, etc. They make deals with the Israelis and have for over a decade now, even if under the table. They buy American weapons, their elites have frequently been educated at the most exclusive British or American universities. Money is money.Meanwhile Palestinians are born poor, in a failed state with no autonomy. Some UAE crypto influencer is yolo gambling away more money than most Palestinian kids will see in their lifetimes. They live under an occupation and have basically no rights in that regard. Just google image a picture of Gaza vs the UAE. Maybe on some level they are both Arabs. They realized it was cheaper (and more prosperous) to go along to get along with the United States and Israel. If they hadn't, their capitals might look like Tehran right now. They have long since washed their hands of caring.Don't conflate the Gulf States with Palestinians, or associate them with anyone on the losing side of anything when it comes to money and power. Meanwhile Palestinians are born poor, in a failed state with no autonomy. Some UAE crypto influencer is yolo gambling away more money than most Palestinian kids will see in their lifetimes. They live under an occupation and have basically no rights in that regard. Just google image a picture of Gaza vs the UAE. Maybe on some level they are both Arabs. They realized it was cheaper (and more prosperous) to go along to get along with the United States and Israel. If they hadn't, their capitals might look like Tehran right now. They have long since washed their hands of caring.Don't conflate the Gulf States with Palestinians, or associate them with anyone on the losing side of anything when it comes to money and power. They realized it was cheaper (and more prosperous) to go along to get along with the United States and Israel. If they hadn't, their capitals might look like Tehran right now. They have long since washed their hands of caring.Don't conflate the Gulf States with Palestinians, or associate them with anyone on the losing side of anything when it comes to money and power. Don't conflate the Gulf States with Palestinians, or associate them with anyone on the losing side of anything when it comes to money and power. The biggest shocker to me has been just how "cheap" a lot of people are to buy off. So much of this is a few thousand here, some fancy tickets there, a jet ride elsewhere, etc. In my mind it was always much, much bigger sums that people were selling their countries & souls out for, sadly, it turns out a lot of people, even in really high positions, are shockingly cheap. I'd write my senator but they won't do shit. Is there anything that can seriously be done? They only get to continue having a job if people like you vote for them. But they won't have a job to get paid for if the voters don't vote for them again. So your entire defense against tyranny and bad laws is you speaking out. If you never talk to your reps (or vote), you're telling them you don't care what kind of government it is, and they really will do whatever they want.You have to tell them how you feel, along with all the rest of us. But they won't have a job to get paid for if the voters don't vote for them again. So your entire defense against tyranny and bad laws is you speaking out. If you never talk to your reps (or vote), you're telling them you don't care what kind of government it is, and they really will do whatever they want.You have to tell them how you feel, along with all the rest of us. In addition to that, tell everyone you know. Time to spin up a local LLM for some editing advice. Instead of just creating a course that explains how to child-proof a device, we have to surveil everyone. Every application on the OS can query your data.If you think it stops with one bill, after they get all the infrastructure for this in place? Once bills are passed, it's very hard to get them revoked or nullified.This is the most aggregious, authoritarian, Big Brother government surveillance system ever devised, and it's already law. (Yes, the EU has a less horrifying version of this. But Google, Apple, and Microsoft still control most of the devices in the world, and they are US companies.) If you think it stops with one bill, after they get all the infrastructure for this in place? Once bills are passed, it's very hard to get them revoked or nullified.This is the most aggregious, authoritarian, Big Brother government surveillance system ever devised, and it's already law. (Yes, the EU has a less horrifying version of this. But Google, Apple, and Microsoft still control most of the devices in the world, and they are US companies.) This is the most aggregious, authoritarian, Big Brother government surveillance system ever devised, and it's already law. (Yes, the EU has a less horrifying version of this. But Google, Apple, and Microsoft still control most of the devices in the world, and they are US companies.) (Yes, the EU has a less horrifying version of this. But Google, Apple, and Microsoft still control most of the devices in the world, and they are US companies.) It's been proven time and time again there's nothing the average person can do to fight this sort of thing.It's just better to sit back and watch as everything gets ruined. It's just better to sit back and watch as everything gets ruined. There's 5.8 billion people on this planet who wish they had the kind of power you have. Compare this to what the EU built. The EU Digital Identity Wallet under eIDAS 2.0 is open-source, self-hostable, and uses zero-knowledge proofs. The EU's Digital Services Act puts age verification obligations on Very Large Online Platforms (45M+ monthly users), not on operating systems. FOSS projects that don't act as intermediary services are explicitly outside scope. The US bills assume every operating system is built by a corporation with the infrastructure and revenue to absorb these costs. Just another reminder of how we need to protect what we have in the EU (not a guarantee, but at least a chance of fair dealing and a sustained commitment to civic values). Now that the mask has fully fallen, we have to take every step possible to root out American influence. QWAC certs are only for "high value" sites: banks, government services, etc. They can only be issued by "Qualified Trust Service Providers" (e.g. digisign, D-TRUST, etc -- not governments), and cost many hundreds of euros. Your blog and mastodon instance and 98% of businesses just aren't affected.People operating in "high risk" sectors that need access to payment infra (porn, drugs, etc) are, as always, going to have a hard time. That's a worthy conversation, but nothing about QWAC or eIDAS is about "the government not issuing certs to people they don't like". People operating in "high risk" sectors that need access to payment infra (porn, drugs, etc) are, as always, going to have a hard time. That's a worthy conversation, but nothing about QWAC or eIDAS is about "the government not issuing certs to people they don't like". Secure Boot is just a technology for those that need it, until Microsoft decides it's mandatory for everyone. What you have in the EU is this: https://noyb.eu/en/project/dpa/dpc-ireland> Now that the mask has fully fallen, we have to take every step possible to root out American influence.You have literal rogue states in your union that neutralize the entirety of it, as the above shows. A single country is enough to mean US tech can do whatever it wants, similarly a single other country is enough to mean Russia can largely do what it wants.The others are of course in on it too. Which is why for all the empty EU talk on US big tech you've never heard them talk about the Irish DPA and what they all enable. But it shows that even if the rest weren't in on it, just one country would be enough. And it could even be a tiny place like Luxembourg.Laws and regulations aren't worth the paper they're written on if they're not enforced. Did you know that there was a long period where hosting European citizens' PII on US-controlled servers (like Amazon instances in Europe) was illegal, after the "Privacy Shield" was deemed unlawful? Did you know that this is currently the case again, because the thing that replaced it has once again had its basis ripped out from under it by Trump? Once again, no one cares, and indeed EU governments and corporations are _still_ making migrations _to_ US clouds.Not that it matters, within a few years RN will be running France and AfD will be running Germany and you don't have to pretend any more as the "mask will have fallen" just as much. > Now that the mask has fully fallen, we have to take every step possible to root out American influence.You have literal rogue states in your union that neutralize the entirety of it, as the above shows. A single country is enough to mean US tech can do whatever it wants, similarly a single other country is enough to mean Russia can largely do what it wants.The others are of course in on it too. Which is why for all the empty EU talk on US big tech you've never heard them talk about the Irish DPA and what they all enable. But it shows that even if the rest weren't in on it, just one country would be enough. And it could even be a tiny place like Luxembourg.Laws and regulations aren't worth the paper they're written on if they're not enforced. Did you know that there was a long period where hosting European citizens' PII on US-controlled servers (like Amazon instances in Europe) was illegal, after the "Privacy Shield" was deemed unlawful? Did you know that this is currently the case again, because the thing that replaced it has once again had its basis ripped out from under it by Trump? Once again, no one cares, and indeed EU governments and corporations are _still_ making migrations _to_ US clouds.Not that it matters, within a few years RN will be running France and AfD will be running Germany and you don't have to pretend any more as the "mask will have fallen" just as much. You have literal rogue states in your union that neutralize the entirety of it, as the above shows. A single country is enough to mean US tech can do whatever it wants, similarly a single other country is enough to mean Russia can largely do what it wants.The others are of course in on it too. Which is why for all the empty EU talk on US big tech you've never heard them talk about the Irish DPA and what they all enable. But it shows that even if the rest weren't in on it, just one country would be enough. And it could even be a tiny place like Luxembourg.Laws and regulations aren't worth the paper they're written on if they're not enforced. Did you know that there was a long period where hosting European citizens' PII on US-controlled servers (like Amazon instances in Europe) was illegal, after the "Privacy Shield" was deemed unlawful? Did you know that this is currently the case again, because the thing that replaced it has once again had its basis ripped out from under it by Trump? Once again, no one cares, and indeed EU governments and corporations are _still_ making migrations _to_ US clouds.Not that it matters, within a few years RN will be running France and AfD will be running Germany and you don't have to pretend any more as the "mask will have fallen" just as much. The others are of course in on it too. Which is why for all the empty EU talk on US big tech you've never heard them talk about the Irish DPA and what they all enable. But it shows that even if the rest weren't in on it, just one country would be enough. And it could even be a tiny place like Luxembourg.Laws and regulations aren't worth the paper they're written on if they're not enforced. Did you know that there was a long period where hosting European citizens' PII on US-controlled servers (like Amazon instances in Europe) was illegal, after the "Privacy Shield" was deemed unlawful? Did you know that this is currently the case again, because the thing that replaced it has once again had its basis ripped out from under it by Trump? Once again, no one cares, and indeed EU governments and corporations are _still_ making migrations _to_ US clouds.Not that it matters, within a few years RN will be running France and AfD will be running Germany and you don't have to pretend any more as the "mask will have fallen" just as much. Did you know that there was a long period where hosting European citizens' PII on US-controlled servers (like Amazon instances in Europe) was illegal, after the "Privacy Shield" was deemed unlawful? Did you know that this is currently the case again, because the thing that replaced it has once again had its basis ripped out from under it by Trump? Once again, no one cares, and indeed EU governments and corporations are _still_ making migrations _to_ US clouds.Not that it matters, within a few years RN will be running France and AfD will be running Germany and you don't have to pretend any more as the "mask will have fallen" just as much. Not that it matters, within a few years RN will be running France and AfD will be running Germany and you don't have to pretend any more as the "mask will have fallen" just as much. It says apps must use the age signal as proof the user is a minor, and then behave according to all California laws regarding that. (I'm not a lawyer, but that's my read. )So, does this apply to applications that run locally? What if an under 13 year old tries to read a text file with lots of swear words or ascii b00bs? So, does this apply to applications that run locally? What if an under 13 year old tries to read a text file with lots of swear words or ascii b00bs? The patches on top of this are really bad. For instance, we are seeing "AI" biometric video detectors with a margin-of-error of 5-7 years (meaning the validation studies say when the AI says you're 23-25 you can be considered 18+), totally inadequate to do the job this new legislation demands. Its like they want to keep being seen as the bad guys. Please feel free to verify your own age with anyone you like. If you mean "I want other people to", then no. And responses to some common criticisms of the idea: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46459959I also forgot to mention in my original post that the token issuer is not a monopoly. Any company that wants to participate can do so, just like there are many brands of tobacco and alcohol. Require websites to accept at least 5 providers to ensure competition.To be clear though if it's being used as wedge for privacy violation then it should not exist at all. And from reading TFA preventing that may need a similarly coordinated counter-effort. I also forgot to mention in my original post that the token issuer is not a monopoly. Any company that wants to participate can do so, just like there are many brands of tobacco and alcohol. Require websites to accept at least 5 providers to ensure competition.To be clear though if it's being used as wedge for privacy violation then it should not exist at all. And from reading TFA preventing that may need a similarly coordinated counter-effort. To be clear though if it's being used as wedge for privacy violation then it should not exist at all. And from reading TFA preventing that may need a similarly coordinated counter-effort. On a spectrum of options, no verification is the least privacy intrusive. My proposal is in the middle.A determined actor could maybe follow you to the store when you purchase your verification code, take a quick picture with a powerful camera (or bribe the store to do it sneakily) and unmask you online. But there's no way to do it at scale. And if you buy the code from a reseller (ask a panhandler to buy one for you, perhaps) then it's even more robust. A determined actor could maybe follow you to the store when you purchase your verification code, take a quick picture with a powerful camera (or bribe the store to do it sneakily) and unmask you online. But there's no way to do it at scale. And if you buy the code from a reseller (ask a panhandler to buy one for you, perhaps) then it's even more robust. Because this comment doesn't make it sound like you're serious.EULAs and the like allow adults to simply click "I accept". That's apparently the way contracts work these days. So those apps that children are using with EULAs? EULAs and the like allow adults to simply click "I accept". That's apparently the way contracts work these days. So those apps that children are using with EULAs? What you want isn't conducive to a "high trust" society [0]. The absurdity here comes from the fact that this is only illegal when one convinces a group of wetware about the dangers of porn addiction and LGBT, even more absurd this can only be done through misinformation since neither LGBT grooming rings nor porn addiction are real.I see the absurdity in pushing for laws in the hope of preventing a disease that only exists in your mind? https://www.robpanico.com/articles/display/presence-derived-...(posting link because it would be too much for a comment) (posting link because it would be too much for a comment) $70 million is chump change for Meta, yet is far more money than I'll ever have and does so much to influence state legislation. I remember from peak net neutrality discussions during trump 1 maybe around 2017-2018 ant saw an article on theverge.com (that cannot find now) and biggest sum to individual politician was around $200k, when median values were much much lower.Politicians are selling tens of billions of dollars (if not hundreds of billions) worth of revenue to ISPs for couple or dozen million. Literally 1000x return on investment (if successful).I remember local politician (I am not from US) got caught taking 100k bribe from a company for helping with alleged highway construction procurement. Project was valued ~1B - 10 000x return on investment (if they wouldn't have been caught). Literally 1000x return on investment (if successful).I remember local politician (I am not from US) got caught taking 100k bribe from a company for helping with alleged highway construction procurement. Project was valued ~1B - 10 000x return on investment (if they wouldn't have been caught). I remember local politician (I am not from US) got caught taking 100k bribe from a company for helping with alleged highway construction procurement. Project was valued ~1B - 10 000x return on investment (if they wouldn't have been caught). she ended up resigning in a scandal caused by her husband accepting a boat (or work on the boat..i don't remember). the Turkish people could understand some corruption, but to be able to bribe the top leader for $50k. Unless, politicians band together and say "we need the full ROI of your project, and NONE of us will even talk to you unless we get half the profits, and you can't primary all of us at once" at least, this is true among my students. or they just shrug ("what difference would i make? ").for context, i teach at a college level, in tech. a few of my classes are from the cybersec program, one of the programs that should understand and care about the implications of bills like these, and even the majority of them do not care about this stuff anymore. they know that by the time they go to college, all of their data has already been leaked a few times. they never really had an expectation of privacy in the first place, so it just isnt a big deal.as someone who interacts with this next generation of "hackers" on a daily basis... the concept of cypherpunk is gone. i got into this field because of my beliefs. they are going into this field because they want a chance at buying a house some day, and know that big tech has big bucks.i am tired. and i recognize that this is exactly what they (lobbyists, meta, etc.) for context, i teach at a college level, in tech. a few of my classes are from the cybersec program, one of the programs that should understand and care about the implications of bills like these, and even the majority of them do not care about this stuff anymore. they know that by the time they go to college, all of their data has already been leaked a few times. they never really had an expectation of privacy in the first place, so it just isnt a big deal.as someone who interacts with this next generation of "hackers" on a daily basis... the concept of cypherpunk is gone. i got into this field because of my beliefs. they are going into this field because they want a chance at buying a house some day, and know that big tech has big bucks.i am tired. and i recognize that this is exactly what they (lobbyists, meta, etc.) as someone who interacts with this next generation of "hackers" on a daily basis... the concept of cypherpunk is gone. i got into this field because of my beliefs. they are going into this field because they want a chance at buying a house some day, and know that big tech has big bucks.i am tired. and i recognize that this is exactly what they (lobbyists, meta, etc.) and i recognize that this is exactly what they (lobbyists, meta, etc.) But sometimes very few people can make a difference. (Maybe some unspoken element of concern over social media bots, too - as they evolve from spamming copy+pasted comments to being near-indistinguisable from actual human accounts?) But generally speaking, online age verification is one of those issues where the left-right ideological divide doesn't map neatly. People support and oppose it for various different reasons. And a serious question: with deepest respect to the author for their extraordinarily impressive time and effort in this investigation... Why was this not already flagged by political reporters or investigative journalists? I'm not American so maybe I don't understand the media structure over there but it feels like SOMEONE should have been all over this way before it's gotten to the point described in this post. However this is the kind of investigation that Reddit is famous for, which ends up causing more harm than good, like the Boston bombing investigation.Age verification, for example, is coming no matter what - there's a big enough chunk of voters tired of tech globally.Governments are also tired of dealing with tech and want to bring them to heel.These macro forces are far more significant than the amounts identified on lobbying in this investigation (~$63 mn iirc)Given the title, the reading of the article implies Meta is driving age verification.The content of the investigation, reads more as meta taking advantage of the push for age verification to move it to the OS layers. Age verification, for example, is coming no matter what - there's a big enough chunk of voters tired of tech globally.Governments are also tired of dealing with tech and want to bring them to heel.These macro forces are far more significant than the amounts identified on lobbying in this investigation (~$63 mn iirc)Given the title, the reading of the article implies Meta is driving age verification.The content of the investigation, reads more as meta taking advantage of the push for age verification to move it to the OS layers. Clicking through to the "findings" shows that they didn't even try to feed proper data into Claude when the AI bot was blocked or couldn't access the documents. Some examples:> LIMITATION: Direct PDF downloads returned 403 errors. ProPublica Schedule I viewer loads data dynamically (JavaScript), preventing extraction via WebFetch. The 2024 public disclosure copy on sixteenthirtyfund.org was also blocked.> Tech Transparency Project report: The article "Inside Meta's Spin Machine on Kids and Social Media" at techtransparencyproject.org likely contains detailed ConnectSafely/Meta funding analysis but was blocked (403)So Claude then goes on to propose "Potential Role" that postulates connections might exist, but then caveats it by saying that no evidence was found:> This negative finding is inconclusive due to inability to access Schedule I grant detail data in the actual 990 filings (PDF downloads returned 403 errors, and ProPublica's filing viewer loads data dynamically).This is what happens when you try to lead an LLM toward a conclusion and it behaves as if your conclusion is true. Hacker News is usually quick to dismiss incomplete and lazy LLM content. I assume this is getting upvotes because it's easy to turn a blind eye to the obvious LLM problems when the output is agreeing with something you believe. ProPublica Schedule I viewer loads data dynamically (JavaScript), preventing extraction via WebFetch. The 2024 public disclosure copy on sixteenthirtyfund.org was also blocked.> Tech Transparency Project report: The article "Inside Meta's Spin Machine on Kids and Social Media" at techtransparencyproject.org likely contains detailed ConnectSafely/Meta funding analysis but was blocked (403)So Claude then goes on to propose "Potential Role" that postulates connections might exist, but then caveats it by saying that no evidence was found:> This negative finding is inconclusive due to inability to access Schedule I grant detail data in the actual 990 filings (PDF downloads returned 403 errors, and ProPublica's filing viewer loads data dynamically).This is what happens when you try to lead an LLM toward a conclusion and it behaves as if your conclusion is true. Hacker News is usually quick to dismiss incomplete and lazy LLM content. I assume this is getting upvotes because it's easy to turn a blind eye to the obvious LLM problems when the output is agreeing with something you believe. > Tech Transparency Project report: The article "Inside Meta's Spin Machine on Kids and Social Media" at techtransparencyproject.org likely contains detailed ConnectSafely/Meta funding analysis but was blocked (403)So Claude then goes on to propose "Potential Role" that postulates connections might exist, but then caveats it by saying that no evidence was found:> This negative finding is inconclusive due to inability to access Schedule I grant detail data in the actual 990 filings (PDF downloads returned 403 errors, and ProPublica's filing viewer loads data dynamically).This is what happens when you try to lead an LLM toward a conclusion and it behaves as if your conclusion is true. Hacker News is usually quick to dismiss incomplete and lazy LLM content. I assume this is getting upvotes because it's easy to turn a blind eye to the obvious LLM problems when the output is agreeing with something you believe. So Claude then goes on to propose "Potential Role" that postulates connections might exist, but then caveats it by saying that no evidence was found:> This negative finding is inconclusive due to inability to access Schedule I grant detail data in the actual 990 filings (PDF downloads returned 403 errors, and ProPublica's filing viewer loads data dynamically).This is what happens when you try to lead an LLM toward a conclusion and it behaves as if your conclusion is true. Hacker News is usually quick to dismiss incomplete and lazy LLM content. I assume this is getting upvotes because it's easy to turn a blind eye to the obvious LLM problems when the output is agreeing with something you believe. > This negative finding is inconclusive due to inability to access Schedule I grant detail data in the actual 990 filings (PDF downloads returned 403 errors, and ProPublica's filing viewer loads data dynamically).This is what happens when you try to lead an LLM toward a conclusion and it behaves as if your conclusion is true. Hacker News is usually quick to dismiss incomplete and lazy LLM content. I assume this is getting upvotes because it's easy to turn a blind eye to the obvious LLM problems when the output is agreeing with something you believe. This is what happens when you try to lead an LLM toward a conclusion and it behaves as if your conclusion is true. Hacker News is usually quick to dismiss incomplete and lazy LLM content. I assume this is getting upvotes because it's easy to turn a blind eye to the obvious LLM problems when the output is agreeing with something you believe. In history we had four media revolutions (printing press, radio, television, Internet), each greatly disrupting and reshaping society. Now we seem to reach the limits of change. No more reach, since our information networks span the entire globe. No more speed, since transmission times are close to how fast we can perceive things. Now we seem to reach the limits of change. No more reach, since our information networks span the entire globe. No more speed, since transmission times are close to how fast we can perceive things. Given all that, this media revolution might be the last one, so there is a gold rush among the elites to come out on top. Digital-ID (Aadhar) was heavily pushed by USAID and other US-deepstate associates; the same with digital-money and the "demonetization". Bill Gates's org actively tests out things on actual humans like guinea pigs, before globalizing the "solutions". These days all of this is kind of redundant since the phone-number + verification has become essentially a necessity to live in the city in any part of world today.The prev. had considered doing this "login with your ID or no internet" scheme (to "protect" people no doubt) back in 2012s - there were explicit statements about disallowing people who would not authenticate with Aadhar, but it was shelved (likely because of their unpopularity).If our current "Dear Leader" were to propose this, I think a significant population would opt-in simply because of a sense of belonging to a hero-worship-cult.The state is determined to ensure that every human be their slave. had considered doing this "login with your ID or no internet" scheme (to "protect" people no doubt) back in 2012s - there were explicit statements about disallowing people who would not authenticate with Aadhar, but it was shelved (likely because of their unpopularity).If our current "Dear Leader" were to propose this, I think a significant population would opt-in simply because of a sense of belonging to a hero-worship-cult.The state is determined to ensure that every human be their slave. If our current "Dear Leader" were to propose this, I think a significant population would opt-in simply because of a sense of belonging to a hero-worship-cult.The state is determined to ensure that every human be their slave. The state is determined to ensure that every human be their slave. It's just an AI generated summary of the original GitHub link https://github.com/upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findingsI found the original article much easier to read anyways I found the original article much easier to read anyways Europe has built zero of them.It contributes very little to Europe's GDP or the overall being of the european. And in some cases, it eats Europe's GDP, moving economic activity back to the US. This is different than for Americans which big tech is a net-positive contributor to society in my POV, mainly because how much economic activity $ it generates.Big techs provide huge paychecks and made a lot of people rich in the US, and most of its GDP growth in the last decade. But it's a double-edged sword.They will make laws in favor of them in detriment of the average American, while minting more billionaries than Europe could ever dream of.Europe will take a long time to get the digital revolution the US already did, but it'll mostly come from regulations and government initiatives. And in some cases, it eats Europe's GDP, moving economic activity back to the US. This is different than for Americans which big tech is a net-positive contributor to society in my POV, mainly because how much economic activity $ it generates.Big techs provide huge paychecks and made a lot of people rich in the US, and most of its GDP growth in the last decade. But it's a double-edged sword.They will make laws in favor of them in detriment of the average American, while minting more billionaries than Europe could ever dream of.Europe will take a long time to get the digital revolution the US already did, but it'll mostly come from regulations and government initiatives. Big techs provide huge paychecks and made a lot of people rich in the US, and most of its GDP growth in the last decade. But it's a double-edged sword.They will make laws in favor of them in detriment of the average American, while minting more billionaries than Europe could ever dream of.Europe will take a long time to get the digital revolution the US already did, but it'll mostly come from regulations and government initiatives. They will make laws in favor of them in detriment of the average American, while minting more billionaries than Europe could ever dream of.Europe will take a long time to get the digital revolution the US already did, but it'll mostly come from regulations and government initiatives. Europe will take a long time to get the digital revolution the US already did, but it'll mostly come from regulations and government initiatives. Which "most of Europe" would that be? Because it is definitely not Germany or several "you can't access half of the internet during times when twenty men kicking a ball on a field" southern states. At least the author posted a link to the dataset in a comment so it survived:https://github.com/upper-up/meta-lobbying-and-other-findings Probably more like minority report - but also stupid. All aided by Meta bribing lobbyists to do their bidding. Psychology has a higher success rate...just tell them that their parents use it....There are many systems where accuracy is loose and that is its core feature...for example postal addresses worldwide...I can a mistake in the address but the letter or package will still get there... There are many systems where accuracy is loose and that is its core feature...for example postal addresses worldwide...I can a mistake in the address but the letter or package will still get there... I don't see it as coincidence that with all these laws passing, suddenly he announces a secure, "controlled", "locked down" version of systemd. Why, RedHat and Ubuntu can simply drop in this new variant, pay a small fee, and be done with compliance. That's when you know the new world has begun. If everybody who cared to and lived in the affected districts called they would kill the bill just to clear their phone-lines. The transition from "democratic facade" to "outright oligarchy" will be swift and seamless. Zero-knowledge proofs are the way to go for this type of thing, I find it mind-boggling that the US lets itself be bamboozled into complete lack of privacy. My stance is that if somebody is a minor, his/her/their parents/tutors/legal guardian are responsible for what they can/cannot do online, and that the mechanism to enforce that is parental control on devices.Having said that, open-source zero-knowledge proofs are infinitely less evil (I refuse to say "better") than commercial cloud-based age monitoring baked into every OS Having said that, open-source zero-knowledge proofs are infinitely less evil (I refuse to say "better") than commercial cloud-based age monitoring baked into every OS To be honest, I worry that the framing of this legislation and ZKP generally presents a false dichotomy, where second-option bias[1] prevails because of the draconian first option.There's always another option: don't implement age verification laws at all.App and website developers shouldn't be burdened with extra costly liability to make sure someone's kids don't read a curse word, parents can use the plethora of parental controls on the market if they're that worried. There's always another option: don't implement age verification laws at all.App and website developers shouldn't be burdened with extra costly liability to make sure someone's kids don't read a curse word, parents can use the plethora of parental controls on the market if they're that worried. App and website developers shouldn't be burdened with extra costly liability to make sure someone's kids don't read a curse word, parents can use the plethora of parental controls on the market if they're that worried. Physical businesses have liability if they provide age restricted items to children. Selling alcohol to a child carries personal criminal liability for store clerks. Assuming society decides to restrict something from children, why should online businesses be exempt?On who should be responsible, parents or businesses, historically the answer has been both. Businesses must not undermine that by providing service to minors. On who should be responsible, parents or businesses, historically the answer has been both. Businesses must not undermine that by providing service to minors. This implies the creation of an infrastructure for the total surveillance of citizens, unlike age verification by physical businesses. How do you reconcile porn sites as a line in the sand with things like banking or online real estate transactions or applying for an apartment already performing ID checks? The verification infrastructure is already in place. In fact the apartment one is probably more offensive because they'll likely make you do their online thing even if you could just walk in and show ID. I mean, we're talking about age verification in the OS itself in some of these laws, so tell me how it doesn't.Quantity is a quality. Politicians are already talking about it for all sites that allow posts, that would include this site.So you tell me. Politicians are already talking about it for all sites that allow posts, that would include this site.So you tell me. California is also stupid for creating liability for service/app providers that don't even deal in age restricted apps, like calculators or maps. It's playing right into the "this affects the whole Internet/all of computing" narrative when in fact it's really a small set of businesses that are causing issues and should be subject to regulation. There is also the problem of mission creep. Once the infrastructure is in place, to control access to age-restricted content, other services might become out of reach. In particular, anonymous usage of online forums might no longer be possible. When it's at the OS level there's no way to do anything privately on that machine ever again. It seems like agree or disagree, this isn't going to stop. There's so much money behind it in a time where the have nots can barely survive as is. Tobacco, alcohol, guns, physical porn, and sometimes things like spray paint.The internet is not. There are people who believe any discussion about the human form should be age restricted. Plenty would prefer their children not be able to learn about communism from anywhere other than the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.The landscape of age restricting information is infinitely more complex than age restricting physical items. This complexity enables certain actors to censor wide swaths of information due to a provider's fear of liability.This is closer to a law that says "if a store sells an item that is used to damage property whatsoever, they are liable", so now the store owner must fear the full can of soda could be used to break a window. There are people who believe any discussion about the human form should be age restricted. Plenty would prefer their children not be able to learn about communism from anywhere other than the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.The landscape of age restricting information is infinitely more complex than age restricting physical items. This complexity enables certain actors to censor wide swaths of information due to a provider's fear of liability.This is closer to a law that says "if a store sells an item that is used to damage property whatsoever, they are liable", so now the store owner must fear the full can of soda could be used to break a window. This complexity enables certain actors to censor wide swaths of information due to a provider's fear of liability.This is closer to a law that says "if a store sells an item that is used to damage property whatsoever, they are liable", so now the store owner must fear the full can of soda could be used to break a window. This is closer to a law that says "if a store sells an item that is used to damage property whatsoever, they are liable", so now the store owner must fear the full can of soda could be used to break a window. So again, assuming we have decided to restrict something (and there are clear lines online too like commercial porn sites, or sites that sell alcohol (which already comes with an ID check! )), why isn't liability for online providers the obvious conclusion? The crux is we cannot decide what is protected speech, and even things that are protected speech are still considered adult content.> why isn't liability for online providers the obvious conclusion?We tried. The providers with power and money(Meta) are funding these bills. They want to avoid all liability while continuing to design platforms that degrade society.This may be a little tin-foil hat of me, but I don't think these bills are about porn at all. I've seen people suggesting it's bad for Bellingcat to report on the US strike of the girls school because it would hurt morale at home.The end goal is labeling content covering wars/conflicts as "adult content". Removing any teenagers from the material reality of international affairs, while also creating a barrier for adults to see this content. Those who pass the barrier will then be more accurately tracked via these measures. > why isn't liability for online providers the obvious conclusion?We tried. The providers with power and money(Meta) are funding these bills. They want to avoid all liability while continuing to design platforms that degrade society.This may be a little tin-foil hat of me, but I don't think these bills are about porn at all. I've seen people suggesting it's bad for Bellingcat to report on the US strike of the girls school because it would hurt morale at home.The end goal is labeling content covering wars/conflicts as "adult content". Removing any teenagers from the material reality of international affairs, while also creating a barrier for adults to see this content. Those who pass the barrier will then be more accurately tracked via these measures. The providers with power and money(Meta) are funding these bills. They want to avoid all liability while continuing to design platforms that degrade society.This may be a little tin-foil hat of me, but I don't think these bills are about porn at all. I've seen people suggesting it's bad for Bellingcat to report on the US strike of the girls school because it would hurt morale at home.The end goal is labeling content covering wars/conflicts as "adult content". Removing any teenagers from the material reality of international affairs, while also creating a barrier for adults to see this content. Those who pass the barrier will then be more accurately tracked via these measures. This may be a little tin-foil hat of me, but I don't think these bills are about porn at all. I've seen people suggesting it's bad for Bellingcat to report on the US strike of the girls school because it would hurt morale at home.The end goal is labeling content covering wars/conflicts as "adult content". Removing any teenagers from the material reality of international affairs, while also creating a barrier for adults to see this content. Those who pass the barrier will then be more accurately tracked via these measures. I've seen people suggesting it's bad for Bellingcat to report on the US strike of the girls school because it would hurt morale at home.The end goal is labeling content covering wars/conflicts as "adult content". Removing any teenagers from the material reality of international affairs, while also creating a barrier for adults to see this content. Those who pass the barrier will then be more accurately tracked via these measures. I've seen people suggesting it's bad for Bellingcat to report on the US strike of the girls school because it would hurt morale at home.The end goal is labeling content covering wars/conflicts as "adult content". Removing any teenagers from the material reality of international affairs, while also creating a barrier for adults to see this content. Those who pass the barrier will then be more accurately tracked via these measures. Removing any teenagers from the material reality of international affairs, while also creating a barrier for adults to see this content. Those who pass the barrier will then be more accurately tracked via these measures. Anatomical reference material for artists with real nude models?What about Sexual education materials? Medical textbooks?Women baring their breasts in NYC where it's legal?Where is the clear cut line of Pornography? At what point do we say any depiction of a human body is pornographic? Medical textbooks?Women baring their breasts in NYC where it's legal?Where is the clear cut line of Pornography? At what point do we say any depiction of a human body is pornographic? At what point do we say any depiction of a human body is pornographic? Where is the clear cut line of Pornography? At what point do we say any depiction of a human body is pornographic? Plenty of people would prefer that children not learn about scientology from pro-scientology cultists too. It's not that they can't know about scientology (they probably should, in fact, because knowledge can have an immunizing effect against cults)...And it's not that they can't know about communism (they probably should, in fact, because knowledge can have an immunizing effect against cults)... And it's not that they can't know about communism (they probably should, in fact, because knowledge can have an immunizing effect against cults)... This is a comment section about large corporations lobbying against our ability to freely use computers and you break out the 80's cold war propaganda edition of understanding a complicated economic system that intertwines with methodology for historical analysis with various levels of implementations from a governmental level.You're either a mark or trying to find a mark. Physical businesses nominally aren't selling their items to people across state or country borders.Of course, we threw that out when we decided people could buy things online. It turned out we pretty much closed the tax loophole. I don't remember an online purchase with no sales tax since the mid 00s. App and website operators should add one static header. Site operators could do this in their sleep.User-agents must look for said header [1] and activate parental controls if they were enabled on the device by a parent. A junior developer could do this in their sleep.None of this will happen of course as bribery (lobbying) is involved. User-agents must look for said header [1] and activate parental controls if they were enabled on the device by a parent. A junior developer could do this in their sleep.None of this will happen of course as bribery (lobbying) is involved. For example imagine a Facebook4Kidz website that vets posts as being age appropriate, but does nothing to alleviate the dopamine drip mechanics.There has been a market failure here, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for legislation to dictate that large websites must implement these tags (over a certain number of users), and that popular mobile operating systems / browsers implement the parental controls functionality. But there would be no need to cover all websites and operating systems - untagged websites fail as unavailable in the kid-appropriate browsers, and parents would only give devices with parental controls enabled to their kids. This also gives parents the ability to additionally decide other types of websites are not suitable for their children, rather than trusting websites themselves to make that decision within the context of their regulatory capture. For example imagine a Facebook4Kidz website that vets posts as being age appropriate, but does nothing to alleviate the dopamine drip mechanics.There has been a market failure here, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for legislation to dictate that large websites must implement these tags (over a certain number of users), and that popular mobile operating systems / browsers implement the parental controls functionality. But there would be no need to cover all websites and operating systems - untagged websites fail as unavailable in the kid-appropriate browsers, and parents would only give devices with parental controls enabled to their kids. There has been a market failure here, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for legislation to dictate that large websites must implement these tags (over a certain number of users), and that popular mobile operating systems / browsers implement the parental controls functionality. But there would be no need to cover all websites and operating systems - untagged websites fail as unavailable in the kid-appropriate browsers, and parents would only give devices with parental controls enabled to their kids. Agreed, recycling a comment: on reasons for it to be that way:___________1. Key enforcement falls into a realm non-technical parents can actually observe and act upon: What device is little Timmy holding?4. Every site in the world will not need a monthly update to handle Elbonia's rite of manhood on the 17th lunar year to make it permitted to see bare ankles. Instead, parents of that region/religion can download their own damn plugin. Key enforcement falls into a realm non-technical parents can actually observe and act upon: What device is little Timmy holding?4. Every site in the world will not need a monthly update to handle Elbonia's rite of manhood on the 17th lunar year to make it permitted to see bare ankles. Instead, parents of that region/religion can download their own damn plugin. Key enforcement falls into a realm non-technical parents can actually observe and act upon: What device is little Timmy holding?4. Every site in the world will not need a monthly update to handle Elbonia's rite of manhood on the 17th lunar year to make it permitted to see bare ankles. Instead, parents of that region/religion can download their own damn plugin. Key enforcement falls into a realm non-technical parents can actually observe and act upon: What device is little Timmy holding?4. Every site in the world will not need a monthly update to handle Elbonia's rite of manhood on the 17th lunar year to make it permitted to see bare ankles. Instead, parents of that region/religion can download their own damn plugin. Key enforcement falls into a realm non-technical parents can actually observe and act upon: What device is little Timmy holding?4. Every site in the world will not need a monthly update to handle Elbonia's rite of manhood on the 17th lunar year to make it permitted to see bare ankles. Instead, parents of that region/religion can download their own damn plugin. Every site in the world will not need a monthly update to handle Elbonia's rite of manhood on the 17th lunar year to make it permitted to see bare ankles. Instead, parents of that region/religion can download their own damn plugin. To expand on your #3, it also gives parents a way to have different policies on different devices for the same child. Perhaps absolutely no social media on their phone (which is always drawing them, and can be used in private when they're supposed to be doing something else), but allowing it on a desktop computer in an observable area (ie accountability).The way the proposed legislation is made, once companies have cleared the hurdle of what the law requires, parents are then left up to the mercy of whatever the companies deem appropriate for their kids. Which isn't terribly surprising for regulatory capture legislation! But since it's branded with protecting kids and helping parents, we need to be shouting about all the ways it actually undermines those goals. Which isn't terribly surprising for regulatory capture legislation! But since it's branded with protecting kids and helping parents, we need to be shouting about all the ways it actually undermines those goals. Where do you go to vote for this option? Surely you can find a rationalwiki article for your fallacy too. In fact, I suspect adults, and not just children, would also appreciate it if the pervasive surveillance was simply banned, instead of trying to age gate it. Why should bad actors be allowed to prey on adults? Also, I heard the same thing about video games, TV shows, D&D, texting and even youth novels. It's yet another moral panic.From the Guardian[1]:> Social media time does not increase teenagers' mental health problems – study> Research finds no evidence heavier social media use or more gaming increases symptoms of anxiety or depression> Screen time spent gaming or on social media does not cause mental health problems in teenagers, according to a large-scale study.> With ministers in the UK considering whether to follow Australia's example by banning social media use for under-16s, the findings challenge concerns that long periods spent gaming or scrolling TikTok or Instagram are driving an increase in teenagers' depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.> Researchers at the University of Manchester followed 25,000 11- to 14-year-olds over three school years, tracking their self-reported social media habits, gaming frequency and emotional difficulties to find out whether technology use genuinely predicted later mental health difficulties.From Nature[2]:> Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental healthFrom the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. From the Guardian[1]:> Social media time does not increase teenagers' mental health problems – study> Research finds no evidence heavier social media use or more gaming increases symptoms of anxiety or depression> Screen time spent gaming or on social media does not cause mental health problems in teenagers, according to a large-scale study.> With ministers in the UK considering whether to follow Australia's example by banning social media use for under-16s, the findings challenge concerns that long periods spent gaming or scrolling TikTok or Instagram are driving an increase in teenagers' depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.> Researchers at the University of Manchester followed 25,000 11- to 14-year-olds over three school years, tracking their self-reported social media habits, gaming frequency and emotional difficulties to find out whether technology use genuinely predicted later mental health difficulties.From Nature[2]:> Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental healthFrom the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. > Social media time does not increase teenagers' mental health problems – study> Research finds no evidence heavier social media use or more gaming increases symptoms of anxiety or depression> Screen time spent gaming or on social media does not cause mental health problems in teenagers, according to a large-scale study.> With ministers in the UK considering whether to follow Australia's example by banning social media use for under-16s, the findings challenge concerns that long periods spent gaming or scrolling TikTok or Instagram are driving an increase in teenagers' depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.> Researchers at the University of Manchester followed 25,000 11- to 14-year-olds over three school years, tracking their self-reported social media habits, gaming frequency and emotional difficulties to find out whether technology use genuinely predicted later mental health difficulties.From Nature[2]:> Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental healthFrom the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. > Research finds no evidence heavier social media use or more gaming increases symptoms of anxiety or depression> Screen time spent gaming or on social media does not cause mental health problems in teenagers, according to a large-scale study.> With ministers in the UK considering whether to follow Australia's example by banning social media use for under-16s, the findings challenge concerns that long periods spent gaming or scrolling TikTok or Instagram are driving an increase in teenagers' depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.> Researchers at the University of Manchester followed 25,000 11- to 14-year-olds over three school years, tracking their self-reported social media habits, gaming frequency and emotional difficulties to find out whether technology use genuinely predicted later mental health difficulties.From Nature[2]:> Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental healthFrom the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. > Screen time spent gaming or on social media does not cause mental health problems in teenagers, according to a large-scale study.> With ministers in the UK considering whether to follow Australia's example by banning social media use for under-16s, the findings challenge concerns that long periods spent gaming or scrolling TikTok or Instagram are driving an increase in teenagers' depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.> Researchers at the University of Manchester followed 25,000 11- to 14-year-olds over three school years, tracking their self-reported social media habits, gaming frequency and emotional difficulties to find out whether technology use genuinely predicted later mental health difficulties.From Nature[2]:> Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental healthFrom the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. > With ministers in the UK considering whether to follow Australia's example by banning social media use for under-16s, the findings challenge concerns that long periods spent gaming or scrolling TikTok or Instagram are driving an increase in teenagers' depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.> Researchers at the University of Manchester followed 25,000 11- to 14-year-olds over three school years, tracking their self-reported social media habits, gaming frequency and emotional difficulties to find out whether technology use genuinely predicted later mental health difficulties.From Nature[2]:> Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental healthFrom the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. > Researchers at the University of Manchester followed 25,000 11- to 14-year-olds over three school years, tracking their self-reported social media habits, gaming frequency and emotional difficulties to find out whether technology use genuinely predicted later mental health difficulties.From Nature[2]:> Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental healthFrom the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. From Nature[2]:> Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental healthFrom the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. > Time spent on social media among the least influential factors in adolescent mental healthFrom the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. From the Atlantic[3] with citations in the article:> The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. > The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn't Help Teens, It may only make things worse.> I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. > I am a developmental psychologist[4], and for the past 20 years, I have worked to identify how children develop mental illnesses. My colleagues and I have repeatedly failed to find[5] compelling support for the claim that digital-technology use is a major contributor to adolescent depression and other mental-health symptoms.> Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. > Many other researchers have found the same[6]. In fact, a recent[6] study and a review of research[7] on social media and depression concluded that social media is one of the least influential factors in predicting adolescents' mental health. At the end of last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report[8] concluding, “Available research that links social media to health shows small effects and weak associations, which may be influenced by a combination of good and bad experiences. I have my doubts about the effectiveness of age-based blocking there, though. According to them, you are targeting the wrong audience.Facebook/Instagram studying how to get young users addicted should be of greater concern. I have my doubts about the effectiveness of age-based blocking there, though. Facebook/Instagram studying how to get young users addicted should be of greater concern. I have my doubts about the effectiveness of age-based blocking there, though. Accounts and Applications to services that provide countent are set to a country-specific age rating restrictions (PG, 12+, 18+, whatever). So on the Sony consoles I created an account for my child and guess what they have implemented some stuff to block children from adult content on some stuff.So if Big Tech would actually want to prevent laws to be created could make it easy for a parent to setup the account for a child (most children this days have mobile stuff and consoles so they could start with those), we just need the browsers to read the age flag from the OS and put it in a header, then the websites owners can respect that flag.I know that someone would say that some clever teen would crack their locked down windows/linux to change the flag but this is a super rare case, we should start with the 99% cases, mobile phones and consoles are already locked down so an OS API that tells the browser if this is an child account and a browser header would solve the issue, most porn websites or similar adult sites would have no reason not to respect this header , it would make their job easier then say Steam having to always popup a birth date thing when a game is mature. So if Big Tech would actually want to prevent laws to be created could make it easy for a parent to setup the account for a child (most children this days have mobile stuff and consoles so they could start with those), we just need the browsers to read the age flag from the OS and put it in a header, then the websites owners can respect that flag.I know that someone would say that some clever teen would crack their locked down windows/linux to change the flag but this is a super rare case, we should start with the 99% cases, mobile phones and consoles are already locked down so an OS API that tells the browser if this is an child account and a browser header would solve the issue, most porn websites or similar adult sites would have no reason not to respect this header , it would make their job easier then say Steam having to always popup a birth date thing when a game is mature. I know that someone would say that some clever teen would crack their locked down windows/linux to change the flag but this is a super rare case, we should start with the 99% cases, mobile phones and consoles are already locked down so an OS API that tells the browser if this is an child account and a browser header would solve the issue, most porn websites or similar adult sites would have no reason not to respect this header , it would make their job easier then say Steam having to always popup a birth date thing when a game is mature. Let's go back to parenting: yes, world is a scary place if you get into it unprepared. > Nearly 75% of 12th grade students...have consumed alcohol in their lifetimes. and > 85 percent of 12th graders ... say it would be “fairly easy” or “very easy” for them to get alcohol. Works on every distro automatically as well including android phones since they run the linux kernel anyway. Apple can figure it out and they already have appleid. Responsibility should be on the website to not provide the content if the header is sent with an inappropriate age, and for the parent to set it up on the device, or to not provide a child a device without child-safe restrictions.It seems very obviously simple to me, and I don't see why any of these other systems have gained steam everywhere all of a sudden (apart from a desire to enhance tracking). It seems very obviously simple to me, and I don't see why any of these other systems have gained steam everywhere all of a sudden (apart from a desire to enhance tracking). (if there are further restrictions then it gets messy, but I feel like that's the current state of things anyways? at least for online services which I'm mostly speaking about here. Having no restrictions would be great, but since a bunch of countries are passing these laws I'd appreciate having a minimally invasive version instead. Meh, I use it, but it's super annoying and I think that with my Daughter I'll take a different approach (but it will be some years before that is relevant).On Android: The kid can easily go on Snapchat (after approval of install of course, and then you can just see their "friends") before Pokemon Go (just a pain to get working, it keeps presenting some borked version which led to a lot of confusion at first). I just lied about his age in a bunch of places at some point. Snapchat is horrible and sick from our experiences in the first week.On Windows: It's a curated set of websites (and no FireFox) or access to everything. It's not even workable for just school. On Android: The kid can easily go on Snapchat (after approval of install of course, and then you can just see their "friends") before Pokemon Go (just a pain to get working, it keeps presenting some borked version which led to a lot of confusion at first). I just lied about his age in a bunch of places at some point. Snapchat is horrible and sick from our experiences in the first week.On Windows: It's a curated set of websites (and no FireFox) or access to everything. It's not even workable for just school. On Windows: It's a curated set of websites (and no FireFox) or access to everything. It's not even workable for just school. This is a hobby horse of mine to the point that coworkers probably wish I'd just stfu about Minecraft - but holy shit is it crazy how many different things you need to get right to get kids playing together.I genuinely have no idea how parents without years of "navigating technical bullshit" experience ever manage to make it happen. I genuinely have no idea how parents without years of "navigating technical bullshit" experience ever manage to make it happen. Getting an actual kids account to work online with minecraft involves setting the right permissions across 2-4 websites and 1-3 companies. But the implementation matters, and almost all of these bills internationally are being done in bad faith by coordinated big-money groups against technologically illiterate and reactionary populist governments. I would personally favour allowing parents to buy drinks for children below the current limits (18 without a meal, 16 for wine, beer and cider with a meal).The alternative to this is empowering parents by regulating SIM cards (child safe cards already exist) and allowing parents to control internet connectivity either through the ISP or at the router - far better than regulating general purpose devices. The devices come with sensible defaults that parents can change. The alternative to this is empowering parents by regulating SIM cards (child safe cards already exist) and allowing parents to control internet connectivity either through the ISP or at the router - far better than regulating general purpose devices. The devices come with sensible defaults that parents can change. It is not a new or novel concept. There are legal adults taking part in these conversations that are simply too young to have ever experienced internet connections that weren't restricted and filtered mandated by legislation, and they would have been teenagers that were old enough to have a say in the conversation when the Conservatives were debating the OSA in parliament.Mobile internet connections have been filtered since 2004 even, so it's entirely likely that this would also be true for some people that are pushing 30 today. Fifteen.The false dichotomy that exists between the entirely authoritarian measures of the OSA and the still fairly authoritarian measures of mandatory filtering serves only the interests of borderline monopolistic American tech companies who are in a position to weather such regulations as they stifle and snuff out any possibility of a less harmful web ecosystem, and people will cheer it on as they believe the social media platforms they blame for causing harm will themselves be harmed by the very laws they are writing.The real alternative is not having mandatory filtering but instead voluntary filtering by the parents themselves, which is what everybody seems to think they are arguing for, and that conversation is long since dead. America on the other hand has many states that prohibit under-21s from drinking alcohol even in private. (+) It's 5+ so there may as well be no laws on private consumption. Mobile internet connections have been filtered since 2004 even, so it's entirely likely that this would also be true for some people that are pushing 30 today. Fifteen.The false dichotomy that exists between the entirely authoritarian measures of the OSA and the still fairly authoritarian measures of mandatory filtering serves only the interests of borderline monopolistic American tech companies who are in a position to weather such regulations as they stifle and snuff out any possibility of a less harmful web ecosystem, and people will cheer it on as they believe the social media platforms they blame for causing harm will themselves be harmed by the very laws they are writing.The real alternative is not having mandatory filtering but instead voluntary filtering by the parents themselves, which is what everybody seems to think they are arguing for, and that conversation is long since dead. America on the other hand has many states that prohibit under-21s from drinking alcohol even in private. (+) It's 5+ so there may as well be no laws on private consumption. The false dichotomy that exists between the entirely authoritarian measures of the OSA and the still fairly authoritarian measures of mandatory filtering serves only the interests of borderline monopolistic American tech companies who are in a position to weather such regulations as they stifle and snuff out any possibility of a less harmful web ecosystem, and people will cheer it on as they believe the social media platforms they blame for causing harm will themselves be harmed by the very laws they are writing.The real alternative is not having mandatory filtering but instead voluntary filtering by the parents themselves, which is what everybody seems to think they are arguing for, and that conversation is long since dead. America on the other hand has many states that prohibit under-21s from drinking alcohol even in private. (+) It's 5+ so there may as well be no laws on private consumption. The real alternative is not having mandatory filtering but instead voluntary filtering by the parents themselves, which is what everybody seems to think they are arguing for, and that conversation is long since dead. America on the other hand has many states that prohibit under-21s from drinking alcohol even in private. (+) It's 5+ so there may as well be no laws on private consumption. (+) It's 5+ so there may as well be no laws on private consumption. The idea of the "nanny state" has been debated a lot, and this seems like a very literal example of that. But once some status quo is firmly entrenched, debate about it tends to die down because the majority of people no longer care enough about it. TBH many parents done exactly that by giving phones/tablet already to kids in strollers Examples: most children believe in the same religion as their parents, and can visit friends and places only if/when allowed by their parents.This is simply extending the same level of control to the internet.Government-mandated restrictions are completely another level. Who controls your age if you want to see an R-rated movie?This is simply extending the same level of control to the internet.More control for parents is a completely different level. This is simply extending the same level of control to the internet.More control for parents is a completely different level. More control for parents is a completely different level. > Having said that, open-source zero-knowledge proofs are infinitely less evil (I refuse to say "better") than commercial cloud-based age monitoring baked into every OSParent prefers more control by parents over zero-knowledge proof Parent prefers more control by parents over zero-knowledge proof I do think parental controls can be and are abused for evil, but they're still better than the alternative. These laws are proposed and funded by people who want complete surveillance of the population. Zero-knowledge proof is, therefore, explicitly contrary to the goal and will never be implemented under any circumstances. Suggesting that it can be muddies the issue and tricks people into supporting legislation that exists only to be used against them.In a benevolent dictatorship, sure, go for a zero-knowledge proof verification as your solution. You will never be able to sufficiently inform 50.1% of the population of any country of what zero-knowledge proof even means, let alone convince them to support age verification laws but strictly conditional on ZKP requirements. You will never be able to sufficiently inform 50.1% of the population of any country of what zero-knowledge proof even means, let alone convince them to support age verification laws but strictly conditional on ZKP requirements. Imho there is a place for regulation in that, actually. Devices that parents are managing as child devices could include an OS API and browser HTTP header for "hey is this a child?" "This site is requesting your something, do you want to send it?Y/N [X] remember my choice. "Do that for GPS, browser fingerprint, off-domain tracking cookies (not the stupid cookie banner), adulthood information, etc.It would be perfectly reasonable for the EU to legislate that. "OS and browsers are required to offer an API to expose age verification status of the client, and the device is required to let an administrative user set it, and provide instructions to parents on how to lock down a device such that their child user's device will be marked as a child without the ability for the child to change it".Either way, though, I'm far more worried about children being radicalized online by political extremists than I am about them occasionally seeing a penis. And a lot of radicalizing content is not considered "adult". Just like the cookie thing - these things should all be HTTP headers. "This site is requesting your something, do you want to send it?Y/N [X] remember my choice. "Do that for GPS, browser fingerprint, off-domain tracking cookies (not the stupid cookie banner), adulthood information, etc.It would be perfectly reasonable for the EU to legislate that. "OS and browsers are required to offer an API to expose age verification status of the client, and the device is required to let an administrative user set it, and provide instructions to parents on how to lock down a device such that their child user's device will be marked as a child without the ability for the child to change it".Either way, though, I'm far more worried about children being radicalized online by political extremists than I am about them occasionally seeing a penis. And a lot of radicalizing content is not considered "adult". "This site is requesting your something, do you want to send it?Y/N [X] remember my choice. "Do that for GPS, browser fingerprint, off-domain tracking cookies (not the stupid cookie banner), adulthood information, etc.It would be perfectly reasonable for the EU to legislate that. "OS and browsers are required to offer an API to expose age verification status of the client, and the device is required to let an administrative user set it, and provide instructions to parents on how to lock down a device such that their child user's device will be marked as a child without the ability for the child to change it".Either way, though, I'm far more worried about children being radicalized online by political extremists than I am about them occasionally seeing a penis. And a lot of radicalizing content is not considered "adult". "Do that for GPS, browser fingerprint, off-domain tracking cookies (not the stupid cookie banner), adulthood information, etc.It would be perfectly reasonable for the EU to legislate that. "OS and browsers are required to offer an API to expose age verification status of the client, and the device is required to let an administrative user set it, and provide instructions to parents on how to lock down a device such that their child user's device will be marked as a child without the ability for the child to change it".Either way, though, I'm far more worried about children being radicalized online by political extremists than I am about them occasionally seeing a penis. And a lot of radicalizing content is not considered "adult". Do that for GPS, browser fingerprint, off-domain tracking cookies (not the stupid cookie banner), adulthood information, etc.It would be perfectly reasonable for the EU to legislate that. "OS and browsers are required to offer an API to expose age verification status of the client, and the device is required to let an administrative user set it, and provide instructions to parents on how to lock down a device such that their child user's device will be marked as a child without the ability for the child to change it".Either way, though, I'm far more worried about children being radicalized online by political extremists than I am about them occasionally seeing a penis. And a lot of radicalizing content is not considered "adult". It would be perfectly reasonable for the EU to legislate that. "OS and browsers are required to offer an API to expose age verification status of the client, and the device is required to let an administrative user set it, and provide instructions to parents on how to lock down a device such that their child user's device will be marked as a child without the ability for the child to change it".Either way, though, I'm far more worried about children being radicalized online by political extremists than I am about them occasionally seeing a penis. And a lot of radicalizing content is not considered "adult". Either way, though, I'm far more worried about children being radicalized online by political extremists than I am about them occasionally seeing a penis. And a lot of radicalizing content is not considered "adult". I owe everything about who I am today to learning how to circumvent firewalls and other forms of restriction. I would almost certainly be dead if I hadn't learned to socialize and program on the web despite it being strictly forbidden at home. Most of my interests, politics and personality were forged at 2am, as quiet as possible, browsing the web on live discs. I now support myself through those interests.We're so quick to forget that kids are people, too. And today, they often know how to safely navigate the internet better than their aging caretakers who have allowed editorial "news" and social media to warp their minds.Even for people who think they're really doing a good thing by supporting these kinds of insane laws that are designed to restrict our 1A rights: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We're so quick to forget that kids are people, too. And today, they often know how to safely navigate the internet better than their aging caretakers who have allowed editorial "news" and social media to warp their minds.Even for people who think they're really doing a good thing by supporting these kinds of insane laws that are designed to restrict our 1A rights: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Even for people who think they're really doing a good thing by supporting these kinds of insane laws that are designed to restrict our 1A rights: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. With no proof it will protect anyone from proven harm. Why is this such a sticking point in US politics? Even if you're against age verification for other reasons, dragging in the immigration angle is just going to alienate the other half of the population who don't share your view on undocumented people, and is a great way to turn a non-partisan issue into a partisan one. Great, frame it as "poor people without IDs" or whatever, not "undocumented", which in the current political discourse is basically the left's version of the term "illegal immigrant".>You might be in the country temporarily for business or as a tourist. The constitution applies to all of these people.The constitutional right to... watch 18+ videos on youtube while in the US? >You might be in the country temporarily for business or as a tourist. The constitution applies to all of these people.The constitutional right to... watch 18+ videos on youtube while in the US? "Undocumented" doesn't mean "residing illegally" anyway, it just means "lacking documents", which is a state that many perfectly legitimate US citizens find themselves in. But we should want people who are here illegally and everyone else to be able to use the world wide web and computers regardless of their legal status, just like everyone should be allowed to eat and buy food regardless of their legal status, because that's just basic humanity. Don't say it's a bad idea because "undocumented people" won't be able to get food, say it's bad because it'll be a pain for everyone.>"Undocumented" doesn't mean "residing illegally" anyway, it just means "lacking documents", which is a state that many perfectly legitimate US citizens find themselves in. But we should want people who are here illegally and everyone else to be able to use the world wide web and computers regardless of their legal status, just like everyone should be allowed to eat and buy food regardless of their legal status, because that's just basic humanity.But if you're undocumented, it's already a massive pain to participate in society. You can't get a bank account or any other sort of financial product, can't get a job (Form I-9, or want to do background checks), can't buy real estate (who are you going to register it to? ), or even drive (yes, I know some states issue drivers licenses to "undocumented" migrants, but that makes them documented and irrelevant to this discussion). Therefore you're going to have a hard time garnering sympathy from voters. An analogy to this would be all the government forms that require a telephone number or an address. Is it illegal to not have a telephone number or an address? Do many people not have a phone number or address? >"Undocumented" doesn't mean "residing illegally" anyway, it just means "lacking documents", which is a state that many perfectly legitimate US citizens find themselves in. But we should want people who are here illegally and everyone else to be able to use the world wide web and computers regardless of their legal status, just like everyone should be allowed to eat and buy food regardless of their legal status, because that's just basic humanity.But if you're undocumented, it's already a massive pain to participate in society. You can't get a bank account or any other sort of financial product, can't get a job (Form I-9, or want to do background checks), can't buy real estate (who are you going to register it to? ), or even drive (yes, I know some states issue drivers licenses to "undocumented" migrants, but that makes them documented and irrelevant to this discussion). Therefore you're going to have a hard time garnering sympathy from voters. An analogy to this would be all the government forms that require a telephone number or an address. Is it illegal to not have a telephone number or an address? Do many people not have a phone number or address? But if you're undocumented, it's already a massive pain to participate in society. You can't get a bank account or any other sort of financial product, can't get a job (Form I-9, or want to do background checks), can't buy real estate (who are you going to register it to? ), or even drive (yes, I know some states issue drivers licenses to "undocumented" migrants, but that makes them documented and irrelevant to this discussion). Therefore you're going to have a hard time garnering sympathy from voters. An analogy to this would be all the government forms that require a telephone number or an address. Is it illegal to not have a telephone number or an address? Do many people not have a phone number or address? Good thing I'm not running for office, and instead am merely having a conversation on the internet. I would vote for someone running on that issue, though!> But if you're undocumented, it's already a massive pain to participate in society.So I should be fine with any changes that embiggens that pain? > But if you're undocumented, it's already a massive pain to participate in society.So I should be fine with any changes that embiggens that pain? I'm not "fine" with it, but when there are trade-offs to be made, I'm definitely going to weigh that side less. Some people browse the web with javascript disabled. It's already a huge pain to browse the web with javascript disabled. With those two factors in mind, if I'm deciding whether to add javascript fallbacks (eg. SSR) on for my next project, I'm going to weigh the interests of the "javascript disabled" people very low. I don't have any animus against them, but at the same time I'm not going out of my way to cater to them either. It's not a synonym for "illegal immigrant". That said, government agencies have been doing a terrible job at keeping the private information of citizens safe. He had a US citizenship and we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died). But that didn't stop me from trying and I was blown away by the fact that I could log into a US government website, register with a burner mail, pay 2 bucks with an anonymous gift credit/debit card and get a scanned copy of his death certificate in my email. And I didn't even have to provide his passport/id/anything. It is probably worse now with Facebook and Ellison holding TikTok. It is probably worse now with Facebook and Ellison holding TikTok. The key question is whether AIPAC is taking actions at "the direction or control” of Israel, but the money is pretty clearly not being sourced from Israel. So, I suppose if they could somehow use money and influence to determine election results, they would use it in Russia, no?So, I think the civilizational threat from Russia is about the same as from North Korea: nearly zero. So, I think the civilizational threat from Russia is about the same as from North Korea: nearly zero. If not, I would love your reasoning as to why its a bigger threat than literally anything and anyone else. But they invest large amounts of money to propaganda channels everywhere, have direct military influence in large parts of Africa, are known to poison people in the UK and elsewhere, etc.> its relative strength has only lessened over the decades Russia is not a _physical_ threat outside of its immediate proximity.But they invest large amounts of money to propaganda channels everywhere, have direct military influence in large parts of Africa, are known to poison people in the UK and elsewhere, etc. > its relative strength has only lessened over the decades Russia is not a _physical_ threat outside of its immediate proximity.But they invest large amounts of money to propaganda channels everywhere, have direct military influence in large parts of Africa, are known to poison people in the UK and elsewhere, etc. But they invest large amounts of money to propaganda channels everywhere, have direct military influence in large parts of Africa, are known to poison people in the UK and elsewhere, etc. Your argument was that "experience" is a good enough reason to make a blanket statement about a country and all its people, and you doubled down on it, so it's not even like I'm constructing a strawman here or anything.It's just wild to me how far this kind of blind hate goes. than, lets say, pandemics, natural disasters, global nuclear war, etc., then there really remains no basis for any kind of healthy discussion. At that point it's just blind hatred. Your argument was that "experience" is a good enough reason to make a blanket statement about a country and all its people, and you doubled down on it, so it's not even like I'm constructing a strawman here or anything.It's just wild to me how far this kind of blind hate goes. than, lets say, pandemics, natural disasters, global nuclear war, etc., then there really remains no basis for any kind of healthy discussion. At that point it's just blind hatred. It's just wild to me how far this kind of blind hate goes. than, lets say, pandemics, natural disasters, global nuclear war, etc., then there really remains no basis for any kind of healthy discussion. At that point it's just blind hatred. I'm trying to steer the conversation to stay factual, because I usually appreciate HN for its clear communication style. I keep hearing this but I struggle to find any sources, beyond articles like [1] which are... not particularly good sources, even a reddit comment would be a better primary source than that.I'm not trying to be combative, I just genuinely struggle to find primary sources, probably because I'm using the wrong keywords or something.I understand the reasoning, but I would love to actually see/read/hear/whatever where Putin "states" this desire explicitly! To be clear, I'm interested in this because this would be a fantastic argument to bring to discussions, but without having seen a source, I don't think I could. But IIRC Putin did some things to make Dugin's book more influential. I forget the specifics - making it required reading in the Russian military academies, maybe?There have been other statements by Russian politicians who are widely regarded as Putin's mouthpieces. Medvedev, certain key figures in the Russian parliament. And yet, his endorsed mouthpieces (more than one) do say it.You said "without having seen a source". There have been other statements by Russian politicians who are widely regarded as Putin's mouthpieces. Medvedev, certain key figures in the Russian parliament. And yet, his endorsed mouthpieces (more than one) do say it.You said "without having seen a source". So Putin maybe didn't say it. And yet, his endorsed mouthpieces (more than one) do say it.You said "without having seen a source". You said "without having seen a source". > making it required reading in the Russian military academies, maybeYeah, I think he did.> So Putin maybe didn't say it.That's my concern. When people make the statement that he did, when he didn't, they essentially preempt any reasonably discussion and start it off on the entirely wrong foot.If I want to have a discussion with my neighbor about him not cleaning up his own trash, surely I would not start the discussion with "you LOVE living in trash, don't you", even if I can reasonably deduce that he does. It just turns the entire discussion hostile to make claims that aren't supported, and it weakens all subsequent arguments! Yeah, I think he did.> So Putin maybe didn't say it.That's my concern. When people make the statement that he did, when he didn't, they essentially preempt any reasonably discussion and start it off on the entirely wrong foot.If I want to have a discussion with my neighbor about him not cleaning up his own trash, surely I would not start the discussion with "you LOVE living in trash, don't you", even if I can reasonably deduce that he does. It just turns the entire discussion hostile to make claims that aren't supported, and it weakens all subsequent arguments! > So Putin maybe didn't say it.That's my concern. When people make the statement that he did, when he didn't, they essentially preempt any reasonably discussion and start it off on the entirely wrong foot.If I want to have a discussion with my neighbor about him not cleaning up his own trash, surely I would not start the discussion with "you LOVE living in trash, don't you", even if I can reasonably deduce that he does. It just turns the entire discussion hostile to make claims that aren't supported, and it weakens all subsequent arguments! When people make the statement that he did, when he didn't, they essentially preempt any reasonably discussion and start it off on the entirely wrong foot.If I want to have a discussion with my neighbor about him not cleaning up his own trash, surely I would not start the discussion with "you LOVE living in trash, don't you", even if I can reasonably deduce that he does. It just turns the entire discussion hostile to make claims that aren't supported, and it weakens all subsequent arguments! If I want to have a discussion with my neighbor about him not cleaning up his own trash, surely I would not start the discussion with "you LOVE living in trash, don't you", even if I can reasonably deduce that he does. It just turns the entire discussion hostile to make claims that aren't supported, and it weakens all subsequent arguments! So I don't think it's the entirely wrong foot. It's a shortcut and an imprecision, but the point (that Putin actually thinks this) seems to be valid. (Though one should have less than 100% certainty that it represents his position - but with Putin, that should apply to a direct quote as well.) You have to remember how political communication works in Russia. They rarely state goals outright, and always juggle several narratives at the same time. Death certificates become public record after a period of time, depending on the state. In some states it's 25 years after death, some more, some less.https://www.usa.gov/death-certificate#:~:text=Can%20anyone%2...As far as I can tell this is the same as in the EU: Death certificates can be publicly accessed for a fee after a period of time defined by member states.I found some comments saying death certificates in the UK could be accessed as early as 6 months in some locations.So I don't see this as the US being uniquely terrible on privacy. This is how most of the western world does it. You just had experience with the US and assumed EU was different.> we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died).I'm sorry for your loss, but doesn't this imply that the US did do a good job of protecting his privacy? It wasn't until the time limit had passed that you were able to find the death certificate. https://www.usa.gov/death-certificate#:~:text=Can%20anyone%2...As far as I can tell this is the same as in the EU: Death certificates can be publicly accessed for a fee after a period of time defined by member states.I found some comments saying death certificates in the UK could be accessed as early as 6 months in some locations.So I don't see this as the US being uniquely terrible on privacy. This is how most of the western world does it. You just had experience with the US and assumed EU was different.> we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died).I'm sorry for your loss, but doesn't this imply that the US did do a good job of protecting his privacy? It wasn't until the time limit had passed that you were able to find the death certificate. As far as I can tell this is the same as in the EU: Death certificates can be publicly accessed for a fee after a period of time defined by member states.I found some comments saying death certificates in the UK could be accessed as early as 6 months in some locations.So I don't see this as the US being uniquely terrible on privacy. This is how most of the western world does it. You just had experience with the US and assumed EU was different.> we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died).I'm sorry for your loss, but doesn't this imply that the US did do a good job of protecting his privacy? It wasn't until the time limit had passed that you were able to find the death certificate. I found some comments saying death certificates in the UK could be accessed as early as 6 months in some locations.So I don't see this as the US being uniquely terrible on privacy. This is how most of the western world does it. You just had experience with the US and assumed EU was different.> we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died).I'm sorry for your loss, but doesn't this imply that the US did do a good job of protecting his privacy? It wasn't until the time limit had passed that you were able to find the death certificate. So I don't see this as the US being uniquely terrible on privacy. This is how most of the western world does it. You just had experience with the US and assumed EU was different.> we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died).I'm sorry for your loss, but doesn't this imply that the US did do a good job of protecting his privacy? It wasn't until the time limit had passed that you were able to find the death certificate. > we never really found out what had happened(to the point where we never really got any definitive proof that he had died).I'm sorry for your loss, but doesn't this imply that the US did do a good job of protecting his privacy? It wasn't until the time limit had passed that you were able to find the death certificate. I'm sorry for your loss, but doesn't this imply that the US did do a good job of protecting his privacy? It wasn't until the time limit had passed that you were able to find the death certificate. I don't know about elsewhere but in the UK anyone can apply for any death certificate going back to 1837. When we hear about “zero knowledge” ID checks in real proposals they're not actually zero knowledge altogether. They have built in limits or authorities to prevent these obvious attacks, like requiring them to interact with government servers and then pinky promising that those government servers won't log your requests. In a true zero-knowledge system sharing falsely shared credentials becomes easy because it's untraceable. If the proof has no knowledge attached, you can't conclude who used their credentials on a website that generates proof-of-age tokens on demand for visitors. (Note, this is why they won't stop at the CA bill.) Its billions of lobbying for state surveillance under a smokescreen you bypass with basic human interaction. And according to the EU Identity Wallet's documentation, the EU's planned system requires highly invasive age verification to obtain 30 single use, easily trackable tokens that expire after 3 months. It also bans jailbreaking/rooting your device, and requires GooglePlay Services/IOS equivalent be installed to "prevent tampering". You have to blindly trust that the tokens will not be tracked, which is a total no-go for privacy.These massive privacy issues have all been raised on their Github, and the team behind the wallet have been ignoring them. These massive privacy issues have all been raised on their Github, and the team behind the wallet have been ignoring them. Not exactly a good moment for this particular caste of politicians/elites to pretend they care about children's well-being! The benefit of zero-knowledge proofs is that the hide information about the ID and who it belongs to.That's also a limitation for how useful they are as an ID check mechanism. If there is truly a zero-knowledge construction using cryptographic primitives then the obvious next step is for someone to create an ad-supported web site where you click a button and they generate a zero-knowledge token from their ID for you to use. Zero knowledge means it can't be traced back to them. The entire system is defeated.This always attracts the rebuttal of “there will always be abuse, so what?” but when abuse becomes 1-click and accessible to every child who can Google, it's not a little bit of abuse. You might be limited to 3 tokens at a time and you have to request them from a central government mechanism which can log requests for rate limiting purposes. That's better but the zero-knowledge part is starting to be weakened and now your interactions with private services require an interaction with a government server.It's just not a simple problem that can be solved with cryptographic primitives while also achieving the actual ID goals of these laws. That's also a limitation for how useful they are as an ID check mechanism. If there is truly a zero-knowledge construction using cryptographic primitives then the obvious next step is for someone to create an ad-supported web site where you click a button and they generate a zero-knowledge token from their ID for you to use. Zero knowledge means it can't be traced back to them. The entire system is defeated.This always attracts the rebuttal of “there will always be abuse, so what?” but when abuse becomes 1-click and accessible to every child who can Google, it's not a little bit of abuse. You might be limited to 3 tokens at a time and you have to request them from a central government mechanism which can log requests for rate limiting purposes. That's better but the zero-knowledge part is starting to be weakened and now your interactions with private services require an interaction with a government server.It's just not a simple problem that can be solved with cryptographic primitives while also achieving the actual ID goals of these laws. This always attracts the rebuttal of “there will always be abuse, so what?” but when abuse becomes 1-click and accessible to every child who can Google, it's not a little bit of abuse. You might be limited to 3 tokens at a time and you have to request them from a central government mechanism which can log requests for rate limiting purposes. That's better but the zero-knowledge part is starting to be weakened and now your interactions with private services require an interaction with a government server.It's just not a simple problem that can be solved with cryptographic primitives while also achieving the actual ID goals of these laws. You might be limited to 3 tokens at a time and you have to request them from a central government mechanism which can log requests for rate limiting purposes. That's better but the zero-knowledge part is starting to be weakened and now your interactions with private services require an interaction with a government server.It's just not a simple problem that can be solved with cryptographic primitives while also achieving the actual ID goals of these laws. It's just not a simple problem that can be solved with cryptographic primitives while also achieving the actual ID goals of these laws. Other states are even worse, creating another way to have your buddy buddy lobbyist folks fire up a new business opportunity to make money as a verification service. Judges in other countries (Texas) found out this kind of law was a violation of the Free Speech.Since when Free Speech do not apply to -16y old?Made laws are made, then killed by courts later one. Since when Free Speech do not apply to -16y old?Made laws are made, then killed by courts later one. The only authority that can be trusted to do age verification is the government.You know, those people who give you birth certificates, passports, SSNs, driver's licenses, etc.The idea that parental supervision here is sufficient has been shown to be wholly inadequate. Videos deemed to have age-restricted content should be visible;4. You know, those people who give you birth certificates, passports, SSNs, driver's licenses, etc.The idea that parental supervision here is sufficient has been shown to be wholly inadequate. Videos deemed to have age-restricted content should be visible;4. The idea that parental supervision here is sufficient has been shown to be wholly inadequate. Videos deemed to have age-restricted content should be visible;4. Videos deemed to have age-restricted content should be visible;4. Videos deemed to have age-restricted content should be visible;4. Videos deemed to have age-restricted content should be visible;4. Videos deemed to have age-restricted content should be visible;4. This (an end to general purpose computing) isn't anything that people can prevent through civil channels. It will happen with or without public approval. You will have as much control over it as you had over the decision to go to war with Iran. It will never be on any ballot. If anything, Meta's utility would seem to shrink if the OS handles proof of being a real person. It also gives them more information on users as a bonus. Why does Apple always get a free pass?

Running is supposed to be an affordable hobby. But we are in the era of ultra-premium running kit, where boutique brands and fashion-running collabs tout high-spec, high-tech gear with high prices to match. From Satisfy's $140 mothtech tees to SOAR x Altra's $285 trail shorts, there are some eye-watering, pricey kit on the shelves. That's not far off the price of an Apple Watch Series 11. It's also a step up on the already-pricey top-tier trail super shoes from brands like Hoka, Asics, and Adidas. As a full-time shoe tester, I've run in dozens of trail shoes right across the price range. But this is my first time lacing up a Norda. I put 50 miles into the 001A G+ to see if you can really justify spending more than $300 on a trail shoe. Footwear industry veterans Nick Martire and Willa Leus-Martire founded Norda in 2021. The pair set out to create high-performance trail shoes that would last. Like most boutique brands, Norda focuses on using top-quality materials with a heavy attention to detail, right down to the toughened recycled polyester laces. The company also delivers a touch of stylish swagger. The Norda 001 was the brand's first release, a cushioned trailer designed for ultra miles with a distinct cult classic styling that really set it apart. The follow-up 001A aims to build on that reputation. The shoe's tech credentials are littered with trademark and patent symbols. But symbolic techiness aside, Norda's aim for the 001A was simple—“to find the most advanced midsole foam for trail that combined the highest resiliency possible yet performed and lasted 5-10x longer than other super foams.” That new foam is now a proprietary Norda x Arnitel thermoplastic polyester elastomer blend that aims to deliver 30 percent more rebound than the original 001. The feedback from that midsole was quite muted. It certainly doesn't match the springy energy you get from the Asics Metafuji Trail ($295) or a Hoka Tecton X3 ($275). However, it felt smooth over a wide range of terrain, from hard-packed trail to grass and forest floors. Up top, you've got robust, seamless uppers cut from sustainable, Bluesign- and ISCC-approved, bio-based Dyneema fibers. According to Dyneema, that material is 15 times stronger than steel at the same weight. It's certainly showing no signs of weakness after 50 miles, and previous generations of the 001A were hailed for being incredibly tough. Interestingly, this membrane hasn't added extra weight as compared to the 001A standard shoe. I'm not 100 percent convinced we need waterproof shoes. I'd probably choose the cheaper 001A ahead of these. But if you're a fan of extra weatherproofing, these are some of the best I've tested at keeping water out. I made a point of battering through as many puddles as possible, and not a drop got in, though they can run hot. I followed that advice, which worked well for a roomy forefoot and excellent mid-foot lockdown. But these aren't the most inviting-looking shoes, and for a long-haul trail shoe, it doesn't indulge in many soft edges. Maybe I've been too mollycoddled by plush modern road and gravel shoes, but for me the Norda 001A G+ feels a bit austere, with stiff uppers and a wildly minimal heel cup. Some of those bristling edges settle the more miles you log. For an already-heavy shoe, I'd happily sacrifice a few more grams for a touch more comfort in the heel cushion. The outsole uses a combination of Vibram technologies, there's Megagrip rubber with deep 5-mm lugs along with a Litebase construction to boost the stickiness while saving weight. Boy, did it stick to everything I encountered, with confidence-boosting reliability. I appreciated the welcome certainty underfoot on everything from wet rock to soggy single track. You also stick to the trail when you need to but don't feel bogged down when it's runnable, though I wouldn't fancy long stretches on the road. There's no doubt this is an excellent trail shoe. It's built tough, with fantastic grip and a nicely balanced ride. If I knew the 001A G+ would still be running strong after 800 miles, maybe there's a case. With those bulletproof uppers and the resilient midsole, that's a distinct possibility. You lose a bit of waterproofing, but you'll get the same performance for a good chunk less. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

As we adjust to the changeover to daylight saving time, the caffeine-addicted WIRED Reviews team is writing about our favorite coffee brewing routines and devices. Today, director Michael Calore expounds on his love for the Kalita Wave. Pour-over coffee has a reputation for being fussy. That's well earned; if you're using one of the popular pour-over brewers like a Chemex or a Hario V60, you have no doubt spent a good deal of time on trial and error. If you don't dial in the grind size, heat your water to the correct temperature, or maneuver your kettle in a perfect spiral to evenly soak the coffee, it's easy to end up with an underextracted or acidic mess. It can force you to abandon pour-over altogether and go make amends with your Moccamaster. There's a better way—a method that is not only foolproof and requires almost none of that fastidiousness, but also results in a spectacular cup of coffee every single time. I'm talking about the Kalita Wave, which has long been my favorite way to make coffee. Instead of letting coffee flow out through one rather large hole at the bottom of the filter, the Kalita drips coffee out more slowly through three small holes. Kalita isn't the only one—other notables include the Orea, the Timemore B75, and the December Dripper, a Kalita-style dripper with an adjustable aperture—but flatbeds have earned a sparkling reputation among both serious baristas and people who just want to make a good cup of coffee without feeling like they're trying to win a blue ribbon at the science fair. You can properly saturate your coffee in a V60 if you pour carefully, but with a Kalita Wave, since more of the grounds are collected at the filter's flat bottom, it's easier to evenly wet them. (You've probably clocked that, yes, you will need special filters, but the cost is comparable to cone-shaped V60 filters: about 12 or 13 cents each.) The upshot here is that anyone can make a reliably delicious cup. You'll get a full-bodied and flavorful brew even if you don't pay close attention to variables like grind size, water temperature, and saturation. It's more forgiving on beans, too; the same coffee that can taste acidic in a V60 is mellower and noticeably sweeter in a flat-bottomed brewer. If you drink more than a single, 335-ml cup of coffee at a time, then there's no reason to get the smaller one. For years, I've been using a classic, stainless steel Kalita 185, the valedictorian prom king of flatbed drippers. A wet filter loaded up with water and soggy grounds can sag, and though there's a little platform for the filter to sit on at the bottom, a really saggy filter can sag enough to cover one or more of the holes, sloooow the drainage down, and serve up some overextracted muck. Clogs only happen once in a blue moon, though, and I like the durability and simplicity of the metal design, so I still recommend it—especially to people who are new to Kalita brewing, since it's a low-cost and low-fuss route to lotusland. Last year, Kalita released a mino ware version of the Wave. The redesigned filter platform at the base of the brewer pretty much solves that saggy-cloggy problem, and it has larger holes that drain a little faster, which is helpful if your brew sizes trend large. While these ceramic babies are super pretty, they're more fragile. So if you're a klutz like me and you want a premium brewing experience, stick with the indestructibility of stainless steel, but consider upgrading your choice to Kalita's Tsubame dripper. It's a bit more costly, but it's handmade from heavy-gauge steel, has the best handle of any Kalita, and looks goddamn gorgeous. I'm not going to talk you into throwing away your V60. I still have mine and use it occasionally. As you experiment with your Wave brewer, I wager you'll find yourself reaching for it more and more often. Soon, you'll be reaching for it every day. In your inbox: WIRED's most ambitious, future-defining stories The authors of ICE's ‘mega' detention center plans College campuses are in upheaval over faculty ties to Epstein 50% Off Doordash Promo Code For New & Existing Users WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

This investigation was conducted by a human researcher who directed all research decisions, selected sources, evaluated findings, and wrote the public-facing posts. - Bulk data processing: parsing 4,433 IRS Schedule I grant records, 59,736 DAF recipients, 132MB of Colorado TRACER campaign finance data, and IRS Business Master File extracts covering all US tax-exempt organizations - Cross-referencing findings across 24 analysis files and identifying patterns that span multiple research threads - Drafting intermediate working documents and structured data summaries - Web searches against public databases (OpenSecrets, ProPublica, state lobbying portals, WHOIS/DNS, Wayback Machine) Every factual claim in this repository cites a primary source (IRS filing, Senate disclosure, state database, legislative record, or published reporting) that can be independently verified. If you want to verify any finding, the source URLs and database identifiers are provided throughout. A more impartial voice and linked citations to allow quick reference would raise fewer red flags, even if the goal is worthwhile. In ideal world (where we don't live), some of the primary goals of corporations and governments contradict to each other (and there is another body):* Corporations - maximum profit at all cost to its shareholders* Government (I mean the ideal one) - prosperity for its citizens* UN - prosperity for the world (because governments can achieve prosperity for own citizens by exploiting other government citizens)When they have contradictory goals, lower in the chain should not drastically impact the higher body's goals.Corporate lobby is doing it, hence US is moving towards feudal system. Because corporations wants to exploit people at maximum speed and squeeze everything, but do not want to take the responsibility for nurturing the people.Here is how it looks like: * You hire Sr eng, squeeze max out of them, lay them off * Demand government to have better education, so it can squeeze out next * Stop unionization at all costs * now we are seeing this with Junior positions, no one wants to nurture and grow them, everyone wants Sr+ engineers Because corporations wants to exploit people at maximum speed and squeeze everything, but do not want to take the responsibility for nurturing the people.Here is how it looks like: * You hire Sr eng, squeeze max out of them, lay them off * Demand government to have better education, so it can squeeze out next * Stop unionization at all costs * now we are seeing this with Junior positions, no one wants to nurture and grow them, everyone wants Sr+ engineers Because corporations wants to exploit people at maximum speed and squeeze everything, but do not want to take the responsibility for nurturing the people.Here is how it looks like: * You hire Sr eng, squeeze max out of them, lay them off * Demand government to have better education, so it can squeeze out next * Stop unionization at all costs * now we are seeing this with Junior positions, no one wants to nurture and grow them, everyone wants Sr+ engineers Because corporations wants to exploit people at maximum speed and squeeze everything, but do not want to take the responsibility for nurturing the people.Here is how it looks like: * You hire Sr eng, squeeze max out of them, lay them off * Demand government to have better education, so it can squeeze out next * Stop unionization at all costs * now we are seeing this with Junior positions, no one wants to nurture and grow them, everyone wants Sr+ engineers Because corporations wants to exploit people at maximum speed and squeeze everything, but do not want to take the responsibility for nurturing the people.Here is how it looks like: * You hire Sr eng, squeeze max out of them, lay them off * Demand government to have better education, so it can squeeze out next * Stop unionization at all costs * now we are seeing this with Junior positions, no one wants to nurture and grow them, everyone wants Sr+ engineers Because corporations wants to exploit people at maximum speed and squeeze everything, but do not want to take the responsibility for nurturing the people.Here is how it looks like: * You hire Sr eng, squeeze max out of them, lay them off * Demand government to have better education, so it can squeeze out next * Stop unionization at all costs * now we are seeing this with Junior positions, no one wants to nurture and grow them, everyone wants Sr+ engineers Here is how it looks like: * You hire Sr eng, squeeze max out of them, lay them off * Demand government to have better education, so it can squeeze out next * Stop unionization at all costs * now we are seeing this with Junior positions, no one wants to nurture and grow them, everyone wants Sr+ engineers Also HN: LLM AI generated sloppa with errors even on top of front page.clown emoji

TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026: Last day for ticket savings of up to $300. And then there were two: Of the original 11 co-founders who kickstarted xAI with Elon Musk three years ago, only two remain as the deep learning lab continues a personnel overhaul to compete with Anthropic and OpenAI. “xAI was not built right first time around, so is being rebuilt from the foundations up,” Musk said Thursday on his social media platform, X. By most measures, it isn't going all that smoothly. This week, xAI co-founders Zihang Dai and Guodong Zhang left the outfit after Musk complained that the company's AI coding tools were not effectively competing with Claude Code or Codex, rival programming assistants made by Anthropic and OpenAI, respectively. Musk said the company held an all-hands meeting on Wednesday that focused on how to catch up, which he predicted would be possible by the middle of this year. Coding tools matter so much because they're where the money is. While an early-year surge of users was powered by xAI's lax regulation of Grok's ability to produce sexual and even abusive imagery, coding tools are seen as the key revenue-generating tech for AI labs. The two remaining co-founders, Manuel Kroiss and Ross Nordeen, along with Musk, have their work cut out for them. On Thursday, he said on X that he and another colleage, Baris Akis, are currently reviewing rejected employment applications in the company, with an eye toward reaching out to promising candidates who should have had a chance to interview. “My apologies,” Musk added, addressing the pile of strangers he'd ghosted. For the sake of comparison, LinkedIn reports that xAI has just over 5,000 employees, compared to more than 7,500 at OpenAI and more than 4,700 at Anthropic. On the hiring front, there's at least one encouraging sign. Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg are joining xAI from the AI coding tool company Cursor, where the two held joint responsibility for product engineering. Now that xAI is part of SpaceX, and with a public offering of SpaceX shares anticipated, the cash-burning unit is under pressure to demonstrate real uptake on Grok, its LLM. (A stumbling AI division is not the story Musk needs investors to be reading.) Longer term, Musk is betting on something bigger than coding tools. Toby Pohlen, chosen to lead the project in February, left within weeks, and this week, Business Insider reported that Macrohard was on pause. Musk's response has been to draft another of his companies into the project. Instead, the vision is not far off from what Perplexity — an AI-powered search engine — is doing with its new “Everything is Computer” offering, which aims to offer enterprise users a dedicated “digital proxy” that can orchestrate their digital tasks. It also echoes what entrepreneur Peter Steinberger is now working on at OpenAI, after creating OpenClaw's popular personal agents. Lovable says it added $100M in revenue last month alone, with just 146 employees DOGE employee stole Social Security data and put it on a thumb drive, report says Meta acquired Moltbook, the AI agent social network that went viral because of fake posts Google rolls out new Gemini capabilities to Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive Yann LeCun's AMI Labs raises $1.03B to build world models