knowing the infosec community, if you actually tagged this they'd default to considering the threat model of field workers dropping printed plans, and not those plans themselves modeling the threat
The fact that their training period is apparently 47 days kind of says it all doesn't it? They, themselves have chosen to make a joke of their training process... If they made it longer they'd just add on some other nazi meme. But make it 10 years and they'll still be nazis doing nazi things for nazi reasons.
I do worry that the established Democrats don't understand that the regime WILL execute them. Relatively soon at this rate... They are aiding an enemy that must harm them
I think the missing the point is intentional. You don't confront a system that refuses to fairly investigate a shooting by saying, "hmmm all this system needs is a little more oil and polish and it'll be fine."
355K likes, 6,114 comments - ashleytheebarroness on January 12, 2026: "People reach for the Gestapo comparison because it sounds extreme and foreign. It lets white Americans pretend this kind of policing came from somewhere else.
Border Patrol and ICE have for decades been trained to be ruthless and outside the law. Learn from former Border Patrol whistleblower Jenn Budd about the realities of this. Now this is in our faces personally.
Remember that Democrats increased funding for ICE to record levels. There was never any possibility that any amount of that funding would not be used against the American people, that's all ICE does. Those Democrats knew this was coming when they signed those bills; of course they don't oppose it now.
I just left two sternly worded voicemail messages to my Senators about ICE and their need to replace Schumer. I hope I conveyed my fury.
I sent them an email recently saying "How can you claim that you support democracy when American voters are demanding Schumer's replacement and your answer is "no"?
I don’t think they even say that because they mean it. They say it because they’re funded by the same billionaires. I think it’s the ”loyal opposition” -move, commonly seen in authoritarian regimes. They’re going to do the same shit, just slower.. 🤔
@yessie I will agree to disagree.. Abollising Imigration and Custems Enforcement, to me, would mean anything/anyone could mamkkke its way into this country..
@yessie I don't agree wit their tactics, I don't agree witth what they're doing, but there *hhas* to be some sort of regull,latory body, or illegaals are going to think they can get awaay with anything thhey want.
They don't seem to be able to grasp that the whole violence and cruelty is the point of ICE. They don't want properly trained officers. They want goons who terrorize people into submission. And they can't imagine how bad it can become.
If they can’t understand why ice needs to be abolished, then I suggest that ice should get no more funding AND not have ANY lethal or non-lethal weapons. Period They can do their jobs at the airport and “points of entry” without the use of force (Hence they should be abolished and a different agency with a different name installed at customs)
I'm thinking we should offer $50k signing bonuses to all Secret Service personnel who want to join the resistance agains trump and his minions. Take out huge ads everywhere, especially on Truth Socalled that trump lives on. Let them start wondering who has signed up.
But those ICE guys really do need more training! I'd start with a 6 month session with "Ms. Manners", 6 months in "anger management", some training on how to avoid shooting people, particularly in the face, and maybe how to use their database software. Why database software? I just read that the Oglala Sioux (far more credible than the Trump administration) are threatening legal action due to ICE illegally holding tribal members and ICE claims they can't find any.
What’s it gonna take to recognize 🍊🤡💩has declared war on us- the taxpayers, voters, AMERICANS. AND he’s destroying NATO & everything else a la Putin. Stop thinking of fkng bipartisanship and all the other bs no one’s interested in.
If you are in the USA, you know what to do with this.
"The design is meant to look as clean and simple as possible while still looking like a whistle. It was also designed to be easily gripped with thick gloves or cold hands. It has a raised lip on the bottom and grips on the top to allow you to hold it securely in your mouth even if you are blowing as hard as you can. There is a hole in the back for a key ring or lanyard so you can wear it around your neck or attach it to your zipper or keychain.
Another huge focus in designing this was to make it printable in one piece with no supports or rafting. I wanted someone to be able to print this before going for a hike or something with no assembly, cleanup, or fuss of any kind to get it ready. Just print and go"
UpdateBy popular demand I have added a de-badged version of the V29. It is labeled V29D in the thing files section. I originally put the version number on the whistle to tell them all apart as I was developing them.
The Supreme Court released a few decisions this week. All of them are important for the parties involved, and ultimately for everyone, but not to the immediate degree that some of the other pending…
Can we finally just come out and say it. the US government is now being run by Neo Nazis? The Intercept had the guts here, we need other news orgs to do the same. We need to call these people what they really are.
This is exact the kind of wishy-washy, both-sidesism that is not just unhelpful, but harmful to a degree that is maybe not obvious. By saying that if only ICE agents were better trained, it would be OK for them to occupy American cities and terrorize innocent people, they are doing the work of normalizing this behavior.
NEW: A federal agent with ICE shot a man in Minneapolis last night, marking the second shooting in the city committed by immigration enforcement agents since Trump’s administration launched the federal occupation of the Twin Cities. Immediately after the incident, neighbors and community members flooded the scene, chasing off the agents involved and uncovering sensitive operational details left behind by the agency.
Minneapolis, MN – A federal agent with ICE shot a man in Minneapolis last night, marking the second shooting in the city committed by immigration enforcement agents since Trump’s administration launched the federal occupation of the Twin Cities.
[VIDEO] ICE agents left behind unmarked patrol vehicles during the chaos in north Minneapolis last night. Protesters damaged the cars, smashing windows, writing graffiti, and flattening tires. Some found documents and materials left behind by the agents using the vehicle that revealed sensitive operational details about ICE’s operations in Minnesota. On a livestream of the protest, someone rifled through a stack of “challenge coins” found inside the car.
Minneapolis, MN – A federal agent with ICE shot a man in Minneapolis last night, marking the second shooting in the city committed by immigration enforcement…
Minneapolis, MN – A federal agent with ICE shot a man in Minneapolis last night, marking the second shooting in the city committed by immigration enforcement agents since Trump’s administration launched the federal occupation of the Twin Cities.
Under 5 CFR § 2635.202(b), "an emplovee may not, directly or indirectly, accept a gift given because of the emplovee's official position." This fundraiser directly violates that federal statute as it is raising funds explicitly because of the beneficiary's actions while on duty as an ICE agent, which makes him an emplovee of the Executive Branch Disbursement of these funds to the named beneficiary would violate federal law.
After ICE agents shot people in Minneapolis tonight, a crowd faced them down and eventually chased them away, despite federal mercenaries and police shooting a tremendous amount of tear gas.
ICE agents abandoned their vehicles in the area, containing IDs, paperwork, license plates, gear, and operational plans.
Demonstrators apparently retrieved these "challenge coins" that ICE mercenaries receive when they kidnap people.
This "coin" is decorated with a skull wearing a crown.
ICE mercenaries serve king death. They are evil incarnate.
For those what don't know, @SoFurry is back, and the new site is very nice looking... But I can't figure out how to see uploads from those that I follow nor see who I'm following. I would think my feed would do that, but there's a single post there despite my alerts showing uploads from someone else I'm following.
Meh, why do art galleries have to be this hard? Why don't we just Federate them, #pixelfed looks like it could do the job with some tweaks.
Also add your testimony on the bill. You don't have to sign up to speak (though, please do if you can), you can simply register your "con" on the legislative record: app.leg.wa.gov/csi/House?selec…
Fuck this shit. It's bad enough that we gotta deal with actual literal nazis fucking up the country, but our own elected Democrat shitheads are trying to fuck us from the other end at the same time.
Washington state trying to pass age verification (cynical reply)
Sensitive content
Anything to prevent parents having to actually be parents for their children, right?
Shit drives me up a wall. It's also a stark reminder how the median adult is both clueless about privacy and data security concerns *and* doesn't give a fuck regardless. Flying across the country twice was a reminder that not using Meta, Xitter, and Gxxgle accounts (or even just a few services/products) places you in an insignificant minority. People can't even hold their phones to obscure what you're doing or show all the accounts you have.
When I talked with the many younger people at my old job, the vast majority were resigned to the fact that "they know everything about me, why try, lol." Exactly what they want. And it just continues to enable age verification garbage and everything associated with it.
I've never been more motivated to primary nearly every sitting politician out of existence, but until the youngest voters understand that primaries can be much more important than actual elections, good fucking luck. I'm not holding my breath.
for my US train gremlin friends: Amtrak USA Rail Passes are currently 50% off. $250 for 10 legs (ie get on at one stop, off at another stop, changing trains means you use another leg) within 30 days; buy by Jan 20, start your 30 day window within 120 days of purchase (so the latest you could travel is June 20). coach only, so no beds and no Acela
it’s no eurail/interrail but a decent deal nonetheless
@tully my hot take is that Amtrak coach on long distance is basically fine - the seats are really nice! I did Seattle to NYC in Coach and would gladly do it again.
Thirty years ago I took an Amtrak trip from Denver to Houston. The most direct route had a layover in, wait for it... Springfield, IL.
What a way to design a rail network. Anyway, it was a nice trip and the trains themselves were very nice. It just took too long for the actual distance traveled.
@tully Also, San Antonio is not on the way to Austin from New Orleans. The most direct highway route is US Highway 190, soon(ish) to be Interstate 14. We should be building a passenger only rail line alongside that Interstate, but we're not.
I am hopeful for the new high-speed line from LA to Las Vegas. If we can make that a success, I think it should be a huge driver for other rail lines across the United States. But given the abysmally slow pace of development with such projects, I don't think I'll live to see that happen.
I made a map of all the public transit in Vermont! It's the map I always wish I had when I plan travel there. My goal is that someone sees this map, learns about a bus near them, and then takes the bus because of it.
I'd like to remark on this personally- a lot of things with regard to Sharkey have been stalled due to my limited availability resulting from my breakup with my ex- which entailed me finding new housing, among other things. Lifes been chaotic as hell- but it's finally starting to settle, and I'm hoping that _now_ I can properly fulfill my role as the lead maintainer. Additionally, I'll be looking into taking on our financials myself (under an LLC)- as circumstances with our previous fiscal host (which is required by OpenCollective) have become a little complicated. The paperwork for that should be settled sometime in Febuary and I'll make a proper announcement with more details. I'm excited for what 2026 holds for Sharkey- I plan to be a lot more active, contribution wise! Thank you all for bearing with us, genuinely, I appreciate it a _lot_.
No other changes this time, our current priority is to stabilize a mass of fixes and improvements we've made on top of Misskey 2025.5.0, which has been stalled due to life things getting in the way for several of our contributors. That said, the hope is to get things back in motion through the coming months- and contributions are always welcome. Thanks for bearing with us in the meantime!
i'm probably going to be told tomorrow that i'm being laid off, so if anyone has a lead on a decent remote embedded software engineering or unix/linux systems job, i've got a resume to send you.
i don't like discussing the specifics of who my past clients have been in public. however, my most recent position was contracting with the kernel team of a major CDN and cloud services provider that i know many people on fedi are also current or former employees of, maintaining their internal linux distribution (an customized Ubuntu downstream) for their custom server platforms, porting forward and cleaning up patchsets to newer versions of the distribution, fixing issues in toolchains and libraries, etc.
i've also done embedded software work for a large variety of devices including medical, cellular technology, and industrial control equipment, in addition to some consumer products. i've done board bringup and BSP development with Yocto/Openembedded, Buildroot, FreeRTOS, etc, on most major SoC and microcontroller families. when doing business logic, I am most comfortable in C and Lua, but fine working with C++ codebases, and can learn to work with other languages if a project needs it.
Oh no. Trump has been given (as if he needed it) permission to continue war acts in Venezuela. I want him to keep in mind, If Iranians aren't to be killed then neither are Venezuelans.
@lazy Hey Tina, don't worry; she is not Pepper, she is the Gothic Sorceress of my mini series about Avian Intelligence. I like to call her "Cepper" (for "Cepper&Parrot" 😅).
Official homepage of Pepper&Carrot, a free(libre) and open-source webcomic about Pepper, a young witch and her cat, Carrot. They live in a fantasy universe of potions, magic, and creatures.
@lazy Being somewhat of a new follower, I'm not certain... but I don't think this is Pepper. Pretty sure her hair is brown and she's got more of a whimsical bearing.
Plus Carrot probably would have chewed it to pieces by now.
@solitha Welcome around! Yes, it's another character, a gothic sorceress, more adult (probably over 300 years old, a parody of The Witcher's Yennefer in a way), resident at a university of Magic. This mini series about AI has its own tag here: peppercarrot.com/en/webcomics/…
I'm continuing Pepper&Carrot in background, I'm right now finalizing the dialog for episode 40 scenario. If the production continues to progress around this script, it will be an adventure with Shichimi and Torreya.
Official homepage of Pepper&Carrot, a free(libre) and open-source webcomic about Pepper, a young witch and her cat, Carrot. They live in a fantasy universe of potions, magic, and creatures.
@RandomDamage @Sobex In my vision, I wanted to make her more like a resident or researcher at the University of Magic, a role where she could study, teach, access the library, speak directly to the headmaster, and get invited to the New Year party, etc... But it's hard to build a more complete lore with just 4 panels at a time.
Note: I tried out of curiosity and research via a local install of flathub.org/en/apps/com.jeffse… and it was really bad: 'open source' AI LLMs model I tried can't make a punchline, or an ending twist. Every story they output can't surprise the audience: they are statistically tropes, story slop, and the ending is always super cringe. But this test was super educational about CPU usage: super slow despite having a powerful computer. Uninstalled.
"statistically" is probably the operative word there, since that's more or less what they are... statistical word generators.
They'll never twist or surprise because they're going for the most likely output from the millions of artists they've been fed (and increasingly, re-ingesting slop).
(Edit: I probably didn't need to say all that, did I? Derp.)
Gotta say the Avian Intelligence mini has been spot-on and a delight.
Though, re-checking all the story, the goth witch looks too young for a post-doc, and also her relation to the info provided by the parrot is really what you might expect from a bachelor or master student, but not someone with a PhD under her belt. A fortiori a permanent researcher would have the ability to check a good chunk of the parrot nonsense, and avoid incinerating herself.
So my personal take, given what we have now could be a witch at the beginning of her PhD, or in her Master's (since she's getting a bit more assertive). A PhD student is a lot closer to faculties and could well be invited for the new year party she's in.
@Sobex For sure, having her in her late years of study could be an advantage if I decide to show other students, and their relation with their Avian Intelligence later. So, I'm not closing this door. I'll see, writing is difficult, and sometime I have to take direction for a good 4 panels and... the lore will follow later :) Thank you for the feedback!
@dereisenhofer Yes, it looks like I'm inspired to continue the weekly comics stories around this two characters. The AI industry pissed me off with the training of 20 years of my artwork without my consent and many other reason, and I find therapeutic to write these little stories to cope with that. 🤣
This comic is perfect to present the problems with LLMs. And the parrot already is my favourite picture to explain LLMs. Like, would we say a parrot is intelligent because it learned to say "Who's there" if someone said "knock knock"?
@dereisenhofer Thank you! But I have no merit for that analogy: the en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stochast… paper from Emily M. Bender & co was really the starting point. I met the concept after brainstorming with Framasoft for a mechanical Parrot mascot illustration on one of their campaign peppercarrot.com/en/viewer/fra… . Later, I felt the idea of a cyber AI Parrot character would be a powerful concept and character, like in books of some of my favorite authors ( A. Douglas , T. Pratchett ). And here we are ☺️ .
Official homepage of Pepper&Carrot, a free(libre) and open-source webcomic about Pepper, a young witch and her cat, Carrot. They live in a fantasy universe of potions, magic, and creatures.
@voxel Hehe, yes. I needed to find a sort of 'bridge' in my scenario to let her explore the world of data center later, and connect this series to the large Amphora of Intelligence ( peppercarrot.com/en/miniFantas… ). This episode is an attempt to motivate her to find the 'server'.
Official homepage of Pepper&Carrot, a free(libre) and open-source webcomic about Pepper, a young witch and her cat, Carrot. They live in a fantasy universe of potions, magic, and creatures.
@tiredbun @voxel I hope I'll can draw enough episodes in this mini series to explore many issues (addiction/psychosis/and more) on user side and be able to land a conclusion aligned with something that was really well expressed on this toot: lgbtqia.space/@alice/115845072… , something nuanced. I hope by the end, the Gothic Sorceress will have a responsible usage of it, and maybe her own 'local' one. Maybe even themed like a crow. I'll see, so many things to draw to reach this point! I'm working on it.
I should state for the record that I think LLMs and other forms of AI have some valid and worthwhile uses, and that *none* of them should be tied to big tech or capitalism.
See things like: - accessibility - some types of research - spell-check and predictive keyboards - spam/scam filtering
@tiredbun @voxel I've seen enough blatantly wrong LLM-generated alt text and spell check results that I don't think the technology is fit for purpose. Any purpose. AI "hallucination" is not a solvable problem: It's the exact thing LLMs are designed to do. So, with all due respect to the person being quoted here, I don't trust anyone who would entrust something as important as accessibility to AI.
@Linebyline I totally agree, this is a good point. For sure, I think LLM-generated alt text should only be used as, eg. , a quick placeholder text to fill up an editing text-area, requiring a human to post-fix it. I strongly wish the output of any LLM should never go into public or production unsupervised. A human should always be required in the last chain of the process with a strong expertise on the task to critic, rewrite, adapt and make it better.
@elzen Yes! Well guessed: this episode is my 'bridge' to link back the Amphora as the data-center/server of the Avian Intelligence. A future opportunity to speak about shortage of device, price hiking, and ecology.
@hairylarry Yes, totally. And especially in the context of this comic. Clearly a violation of the Avian Intelligence "content and usage policy". I'll see how I can exploit this later, and maybe introduce the OpenMagic company.
Never mind the bathroom chats, * this young disruptor needs a name.
* to quote from Milne: "God bless Mummy. I know that's right. Wasn't it fun in the bath to-night? The cold's so cold, and the hot's so hot. Oh! God bless Daddy - I quite forgot."
@papush_ For the weekly, yes. In background I'm still in the production of a Pepper&Carrot episode that has nothing to do with AI. I understand that this theme feels annoying for those who wants to just stop this topic. But understand that for me, with all the last 20 years of my artworks they trained without my consent, my art style, and all, I feel powerless. Making comic to mock it is my way to cope with that, it's therapeutic. I promise I'll do something else once I'm done with it.
FBI executes search warrant at Washington Post reporter’s home
The search came as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials.
By Perry Stein
The FBI executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at a Washington Post reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials. The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her home in Virginia at the time of the search. Federal agents searched her home and her devices, seizing her phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. One of the laptops was her personal computer, the other a Washington Post-issued laptop. Investigators told Natanson that she is not the focus of the probe. The warrant said that law enforcement was investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who has a top-secret security clearance and has been accused of accessing and taking home classified intelligence reports that were found in his lunchbox and his basement, according to an FBI affidavit. Natanson covers the federal workforce and has been a part of The Washington Post’s most high-profile and sensitive coverage during the first year of the second Trump administration. In December, Natanson wrote a first-person account about her experience covering the workforce as President Donald Trump’s administration created upheaval across the federal government. She detailed how she posted her secure phone number to an online forum for government workers and amassed more than 1,000 sources, with federal workers frequently reaching out to her to share frustrations and accounts from their offices. While it is not unusual for FBI agents to conduct leak investigations of reporters who publish sensitive government information, it is highly unusual and aggressive for law enforcement to conduct a search on a reporter’s home. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In April, Attorney General Pam Bondi rescinded a Biden-era policy that prevented officials from searching reporters’ phone records when trying to identify government personnel who have provided sensitive information to news organizations. Bondi said in an internal memo at the time that the media should not be afforded such protections, noting leaks of government information during the Trump administration. “This conduct is illegal and wrong and it must stop,” she wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post. But Bondi said that the Justice Department would search reporters’ communication records only when other investigative methods had been exhausted. The search warrant and seizures appeared to be Natanson’s first interaction with investigators. Archive link to WaPo article
darwin (they/them)
in reply to mhoye • • •