#Brett in Tech

[hackeocafe]

8 Amazing Websites You Didn't Know Existed

There are a lot of amazing websites on the internet. In this video I will show you 8 amazing websites you may have never heard of and we’re getting started right now.

[chronic-invisibility]

i've been watching wired tech support videos lately because they're interesting and also sometimes funny, and this answer literally made me choke on my own spit bc i was laughing so hard. someone asked how to detect poison and she gave such a hilarious answer, sometimes the experts don't have much of a sense of humor.

[nanaturbina]

"I like my men fruity and pathetic, you wouldn't get it."

[varilovesyou]

Pretty men

[of-fear-and-love]

Character programming scene from Virtuosity (1995)

[gigijb1969]

Rockets 2025, Friday, May 2, Central Texas/Stonewall Weather Delayed Launch Report

[ur-mag]

Hunt for missing dad Brett Orme as murder cops join search ten days after his ‘suspicious’ disappearance | In Trend Today

Hunt for missing dad Brett Orme as murder cops join search ten days after his ‘suspicious’ disappearance Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS

[coochiequeens]

Women in the UK cycle a lot less than men, and farming is male-dominated – so I aim to highlight the role of women in both these areas.” - PhD student Veronica White

By Alex Morrison

A University of Exeter researcher will cycle hundreds of miles across England to interview women in farming about their visions for the future.

PhD student Veronica White will set off from Land’s End on 12 April on a route of over 1,200 miles, ending at the Scottish border in July.

The future of farming is often visualised in high-tech terms – but White’s tour will investigate how women living or working on England’s farms imagine what the future of food production could look like.

Explaining her reasons for her “PhD by bike”, White said: “I was born in the US but I grew up in the Netherlands, where my family travelled by bike or public transport.

“I don’t drive, so cycling is still my main mode of transport – and of course it’s also a low-carbon, sustainable way to travel, which is important to me.

“By cycling, I will see and experience the farming landscapes I ride through – I will feel the hills in my legs, and experience the seasons as they shift.”

She added: “Women in the UK cycle a lot less than men, and farming is male-dominated – so I aim to highlight the role of women in both these areas.”

Credit Brett McKim

White will stop at various points along her journey to spend several days meeting people in farming communities.

Reflecting on the challenge of bike touring and camping, she said: “I know that this cycle tour is not going to be easy. It will, most likely, be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

“But isn’t that what they say about doing a PhD, too? Nobody starts a PhD thinking it’s going to be easy – so why not throw a 1,200-mile cycle ride into the mix?!”

To find out more, see the Farming Futures Cycle Tour webpage. For updates from the trip, see White’s Instagram.

There is also a JustGiving page to raise money for the Farming Community Network.

[rjzimmerman]

Press release from the Center for Biological Diversity:

The Center Biological Diversity today sued the Trump administration, including Elon Musk, to obtain public records on the activities of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The lawsuit appears to be the first contending that DOGE itself is an “agency” for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.

Today’s lawsuit seeks information on the number and identities of volunteers and paid workers within DOGE, meeting details of department staff, communications between individuals within the department and any of Elon Musk’s corporations, and the directives that the department is enacting from the White House and Trump’s advisors.

“The public has every right to know what kind of rogue agency Elon Musk and his tech-bro army have created,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center. “Musk’s wrecking ball outfit should be called the Department of Government Evisceration because he’s destroying critical federal agencies that keep us and the environment safe and healthy. The reality is that rebuilding functioning federal agencies will cost far more in the long run than any trivial savings gained.”

Since DOGE was established on Jan. 20, Musk and a few individuals have unlawfully dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, unilaterally terminated federal contracts to further the right-wing culture agenda, attempted to obtain personal data on virtually every person in the country, and drove the mass firing of thousands of federal servants.

Since the presidential campaign, Musk has continuously promised transparency but virtually nothing is known about his role or how DOGE is structured and who works in the department.

The White House has attempted to obfuscate his role, claiming that Musk is a temporary “special government employee,” an advisor to Trump, an IT consultant and has no decision-making authority. In contrast, President Trump has stated that he has “put a man named Elon Musk in charge,” “he’s doing a great job” and that Musk runs the department. The main information on the department’s website consists of reposts from X, one of Musk’s companies.

In January the Center sued the White House Office of Management and Budget seeking all records of communications between the government and Musk or other members of Trump’s transition team likely to work for DOGE. To date, the government has failed to provide any records in response to the Center’s Freedom of Information Act requests.

The suit also contends that DOGE has failed to comply with FOIA’s requirements that agencies affirmatively disclose to the p

[meret118]

GOP Tax Bill Would Cut Gender-Affirming Care From Medicaid For All Ages

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gop-tax-bill-would-cut-gender-affirming-care-from-medicaid-for-all-ages_n_6830f019e4b0b6e012c811d1

The Debt Is About to Matter Again

When interest rates outpace growth, very bad things can happen.

https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/05/trump-tax-cut-debt/682922/

The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History

House Republicans voted to advance a bill that would offer lavish tax cuts for the rich while slashing benefits for the poor.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/05/big-beautiful-transfer-of-wealth/682885/

'Call This What It Is—Theft': Republicans Approve Largest Medicaid, SNAP Cuts in US History

https://www.commondreams.org/news/republicans-cut-medicaid

They're Not Just Cutting Medicaid': GOP Bill Would Trigger Over $500 Billion in Medicare Cuts

"This is what Republicans do—pay for massive tax breaks for billionaires by going after programs families rely on the most: Medicaid, food assistance, and now Medicare."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/cuts-to-medicare

The hidden provision in the Big Ugly Bill that makes Trump king

“No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued….”

Translated: No federal court may enforce a contempt citation.

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-hidden-provision-in-the-big-ugly

Here are 10 things you need to know about Trump's big ugly bill

https://www.alternet.org/what-is-in-trumps-big-beautiful-bill/

The bill has passed the house.

ETA:

Moody’s downgrades United States credit rating, citing growth in government debt

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/16/moodys-downgrades-united-states-credit-rating-on-increase-in-government-debt.html

This could be solved if we just went back to the tax brackets before reagan was elected.

Republicans just sneakily handed a 'gift-wrapped favor to Big Tech'

U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) added the language Sunday night ahead of a markup session Tuesday, in what appeared to be an effort to stop state governments from enforcing existing and proposed laws to protect the public from AI systems.

www.alternet.org/republicans-just-sneakily/

GOP Effort To Revoke Tax-Exempt Status From Some Nonprofits Sparks Concern

www.newsweek.com/gop-effort-revoke-tax-exempt-status-some-nonprofits-sparks-concern-2071764

[lovelybeautifulsleep]

Photographer Chelsea Kyle captures model Marina Nery for the latest DSCENE STYLE STORIES exclusive feature, with assistance from Angela Cholmondeley and Nick Beaudet. In charge of styling is Stephanie Wengerkiewcz, assisted by Maksim Misgirev. Makeup is done by Tatyana Harkoff, while hair is by Francesca Alfonso. Chelsea Kyle and Marina Nery did the creative direction, and Brett Moen took care of digital tech.

[morayofsunshine]

holy shit they might've put a fam band reference in the off book captain dangersky musical

idk if it was intentional, but y'all know that episode where Brett brought some really cool musical tech and Zach & Jess sang a song to its beat where they implored people to look at the sea?

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Judd Legum and Noel Sims at Popular Information:

On Tuesday morning, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced changes to how the company will handle content moderation across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Each aspect of Zuckerberg's announcement appeared designed to ingratiate the company with President-elect Donald Trump and his MAGA base.

For example, Zuckerberg said that Meta would "move its Trust and Safety and Content Moderation teams out of California and our U.S.-based content review is going to be based in Texas." According to Zuckerberg, "as we work to promote free expression, I think it will help us build trust to do this work in places where there is less concern about the bias of our teams." The only people who believe that people in California are inherently more biased than people in Texas are right-wing partisans. The reality is that there are millions of conservative people in California and millions of liberal people in Texas. And content moderators are only enforcing policies created by Zuckerberg and his executive team. But moving part of Meta to Texas allows Zuckerberg to follow the lead of Elon Musk, who has relocated the headquarters of Tesla and X to Texas.

The idea, advanced by Zuckerberg in his announcement, that Texas is a bastion of free speech is also a myth. Last month, for example, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) "threatened to pull funding from Texas Children’s Hospital" because a doctor in Houston posted a viral TikTok video advising patients that they do not have to answer questions about their citizenship status. After Abbott's threats, the video was taken down. In 2021, Texas enacted a law censoring how teachers can discuss race and gender in the classroom. Since 2017, Texas has had a law requiring most companies doing business with the state to sign a statement about their views on Israel. Zuckerberg's announcement on Tuesday followed a series of other moves calculated to curry favor with Trump. Meta has donated $1 million to Trump's second inauguration celebration. Zuckerberg promoted Joel Kaplan, a Republican operative and close associate of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as the Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer. (Kaplan appeared on Fox & Friends on Tuesday morning to promote Meta's content moderation changes.) And on Monday, Zuckerberg announced that Dana White, the CEO of UFC and close friend of Trump, would join Meta's board of directors.

[...]

Fact-checking Zuckerberg's claims about fact-checkers

Zuckerberg also announced that Meta will "get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes similar to X, starting in the US." He justified this move by attacking the professional journalists that Meta has partnered with since 2016. Zuckerberg said that "fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the U.S." Zuckerberg did not provide any examples or evidence to support his claim. Lead Stories, Facebook's most prolific fact-checking partner, said Tuesday that in "all the years we have been part of the partnership, we… never received any complaints from Meta about any political bias, so we were quite surprised by this statement." But Zuckerberg's new position is likely to please Trump, whose 2024 campaign "waged an aggressive campaign against fact-checking in recent months, pushing TV networks, journalism organizations and others to abandon the practice." Trump's pick to chair the FCC, Brendan Carr, sent a letter to Meta and other tech companies in November accusing them of participating in a "censorship cartel" by using fact-checkers.

Meta's fact-checking program was designed by the company, not journalists. It was intended to insulate the company from responsibility for misinformation that spread on the platform. As part of Meta's program, it partnered with and provided financial support to certain fact-checkers certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). Meta chose when and how to use these fact checks across its platforms.

Over the years, Meta took a number of steps that made its fact-checking program ineffective. For example, it banned all fact-checks of politicians. And, as Popular Information reported, Meta pressured the IFCN to certify low-quality right-wing websites, including the Daily Caller, as fact-checkers. The Daily Caller then used its position to downrank factually accurate articles that cast Trump in a negative light. Meta also used fact-checks produced by journalists to "inform their automated systems, sometimes leading to erroneous application of labels that fact-checkers were unfairly blamed for."

[...]

A green light for hate speech

Zuckerberg also announced that Meta would "get rid of a bunch of content restrictions on immigration and gender that are just out of touch with mainstream discourse." The previous restrictions on immigration and gender content on Meta platforms involved hate speech. The new rules permit users to “call for exclusion or use insulting language in the context of discussing political or religious topics, such as when discussing transgender rights, immigration, or homosexuality.” Specifically, it is now permissible to describe people as feces or filth based on their immigration status or gender identity. Meta also now allows “allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality.”

Mark Zuckerberg’s recent moves to end fact-checking and allow hate speech on Meta platform is a sickening caving into the right’s war on content moderation standards in the name of “protecting free speech”.

See Also:

The New Republic: Which Party Benefits From Zuckerberg’s Move? The One That Lies a Lot.

[of-fear-and-love]

Virtuosity (1995)

[gigijb1969]

Rockets 2025, Thursday, May 1, Central Texas/Stonewall Launch Report

Rockets 2025, Central Texas/Stonewall Edition, began today. The original schedule listed 20 rockets for today launched by 6 schools. Of those, 19 were successfully tested today. All were good flights, some lacked deployment of chutes. Quite a few were successfully recovered, though some will need to be searched for tomorrow while retrieving new launches. The site took on a new look this year as…

[friday411]

More Jeremy ?

I'm not sure the tech ever be good enough, but I really want them to do the whole canon like they planned....

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@stellacartography @meetinginsamarra @lisbeth-kk@keiragreeneyes @peanitbear @totallysilvergirl