#Create an Android App for Free

[appwrk]

[jypsyvloggin]

How to Create a Resume on Mobile

How to Create a Resume on Mobile In today’s digital age, it’s more common than ever to apply for jobs online. This means that you need to have a resume that is mobile-friendly and easy to read on a small screen. Creating a resume on mobile can be a challenge, but it’s definitely possible. Here are a few tips: Use a mobile-friendly resume builder. There are a number of online resume builders…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Reverse engineers bust sleazy gig work platform

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/23/hack-the-class-war/#robo-boss

A COMPUTER CAN NEVER BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE

THEREFORE A COMPUTER MUST NEVER MAKE A MANAGEMENT DECISION

Supposedly, these lines were included in a 1979 internal presentation at IBM; screenshots of them routinely go viral:

https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/1385565737167724545?lang=en

The reason for their newfound popularity is obvious: the rise and rise of algorithmic management tools, in which your boss is an app. That IBM slide is right: turning an app into your boss allows your actual boss to create an "accountability sink" in which there is no obvious way to blame a human or even a company for your maltreatment:

https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/

App-based management-by-bossware treats the bug identified by the unknown author of that IBM slide into a feature. When an app is your boss, it can force you to scab:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/30/computer-says-scab/#instawork

Or it can steal your wages:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

But tech giveth and tech taketh away. Digital technology is infinitely flexible: the program that spies on you can be defeated by another program that defeats spying. Every time your algorithmic boss hacks you, you can hack your boss back:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/02/not-what-it-does/#who-it-does-it-to

Technologists and labor organizers need one another. Even the most precarious and abused workers can team up with hackers to disenshittify their robo-bosses:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/08/tuyul-apps/#gojek

For every abuse technology brings to the workplace, there is a liberating use of technology that workers unleash by seizing the means of computation:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/13/solidarity-forever/#tech-unions

One tech-savvy group on the cutting edge of dismantling the Torment Nexus is Algorithms Exposed, a tiny, scrappy group of EU hacker/academics who recruit volunteers to reverse engineer and modify the algorithms that rule our lives as workers and as customers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen

Algorithms Exposed have an admirable supply of seemingly boundless energy. Every time I check in with them, I learn that they've spun out yet another special-purpose subgroup. Today, I learned about Reversing Works, a hacking team that reverse engineers gig work apps, revealing corporate wrongdoing that leads to multimillion euro fines for especially sleazy companies.

One such company is Foodinho, an Italian subsidiary of the Spanish food delivery company Glovo. Foodinho/Glovo has been in the crosshairs of Italian labor enforcers since before the pandemic, racking up millions in fines – first for failing to file the proper privacy paperwork disclosing the nature of the data processing in the app that Foodinho riders use to book jobs. Then, after the Italian data commission investigated Foodinho, the company attracted new, much larger fines for its out-of-control surveillance conduct.

As all of this was underway, Reversing Works was conducting its own research into Glovo/Foodinho's app, running it on a simulated Android handset inside a PC so they could peer into app's data collection and processing. They discovered a nightmarish world of pervasive, illegal worker surveillance, and published their findings a year ago in November, 2023:

https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/Exercising%20workers%20rights%20in%20algorithmic%20management%20systems_Lessons%20learned%20from%20the%20Glovo-Foodinho%20digital%20labour%20platform%20case_2023.pdf

That report reveals all kinds of extremely illegal behavior. Glovo/Foodinho makes its riders' data accessible across national borders, so Glovo managers outside of Italy can access fine-grained surveillance information and sensitive personal information – a major data protection no-no.

Worse, Glovo's app embeds trackers from a huge number of other tech platforms (for chat, analytics, and more), making it impossible for the company to account for all the ways that its riders' data is collected – again, a requirement under Italian and EU data protection law.

All this data collection continues even when riders have clocked out for the day – its as though your boss followed you home after quitting time and spied on you.

The research also revealed evidence of a secretive worker scoring system that ranked workers based on undisclosed criteria and reserved the best jobs for workers with high scores. This kind of thing is pervasive in algorithmic management, from gig work to Youtube and Tiktok, where performers' videos are routinely suppressed because they crossed some undisclosed line. When an app is your boss, your every paycheck is docked because you violated a policy you're not allowed to know about, because if you knew why your boss was giving you shitty jobs, or refusing to show the video you spent thousands of dollars making to the subscribers who asked to see it, then maybe you could figure out how to keep your boss from detecting your rulebreaking next time.

All this data-collection and processing is bad enough, but what makes it all a thousand times worse is Glovo's data retention policy – they're storing this data on their workers for four years after the worker leaves their employ. That means that mountains of sensitive, potentially ruinous data on gig workers is just lying around, waiting to be stolen by the next hacker that breaks into the company's servers.

Reversing Works's report made quite a splash. A year after its publication, the Italian data protection agency fined Glovo another 5 million euros and ordered them to cut this shit out:

https://reversing.works/posts/2024/11/press-release-reversing.works-investigation-exposes-glovos-data-privacy-violations-marking-a-milestone-for-worker-rights-and-technology-accountability/

As the report points out, Italy is extremely well set up to defend workers' rights from this kind of bossware abuse. Not only do Italian enforcers have all the privacy tools created by the GDPR, the EU's flagship privacy regulation – they also have the benefit of Italy's 1970 Workers' Statute. The Workers Statute is a visionary piece of legislation that protects workers from automated management practices. Combined with later privacy regulation, it gave Italy's data regulators sweeping powers to defend Italian workers, like Glovo's riders.

Italy is also a leader in recognizing gig workers as de facto employees, despite the tissue-thin pretense that adding an app to your employment means that you aren't entitled to any labor protections. In the case of Glovo, the fine-grained surveillance and reputation scoring were deemed proof that Glovo was employer to its riders.

Reversing Works' report is a fascinating read, especially the sections detailing how the researchers recruited a Glovo rider who allowed them to log in to Glovo's platform on their account.

As Reversing Works points out, this bottom-up approach – where apps are subjected to technical analysis – has real potential for labor organizations seeking to protect workers. Their report established multiple grounds on which a union could seek to hold an abusive employer to account.

But this bottom-up approach also holds out the potential for developing direct-action tools that let workers flex their power, by modifying apps, or coordinating their actions to wring concessions out of their bosses.

After all, the whole reason for the gig economy is to slash wage-bills, by transforming workers into contractors, and by eliminating managers in favor of algorithms. This leaves companies extremely vulnerable, because when workers come together to exercise power, their employer can't rely on middle managers to pressure workers, deal with irate customers, or step in to fill the gap themselves:

https://projects.itforchange.net/state-of-big-tech/changing-dynamics-of-labor-and-capital/

Only by seizing the means of computation, workers and organized labor can turn the tables on bossware – both by directly altering the conditions of their employment, and by producing the evidence and tools that regulators can use to force employers to make those alterations permanent.

Image: EFF (modified) https://www.eff.org/files/issues/eu-flag-11_1.png

CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/

[corvuscorona]

today I want to recommend TimeJot android app name of TimeJot. I looked around for a while for an app that would keep track of when the last time was that I [ changed the sheets / started a new bar of soap / made chili for dinner / other ] while requiring as LITTLE effort or complex thought from me as possible, & TimeJot is it.

you make an Event Category. you can put tags on it if you want. (you can also make it into a widget if you want.) whenever you Do this Event, in your real life, you can slap the lil timer in the bottom-right & it creates an instance for you, that lives in the category, and also in the other main tab that has a timeline of All Instances Of All Events In Order From the Most Recent at the Top. & the event jumps to the top of the default view.

you can also backdate instances. & add notes to any of them, when you make them or after the fact, if u feel like Future You needs to know something about This Specific Time You Went Grocery Shopping or whatever.

this stops me from going insane about knowing that I have no fucking idea whatsoever when the last time was that I cleaned the humidifiers. I recommend to all adhd bitches android app TimeJot for knowing when things happened in your daily life. use free software today. thank you.

[cosmicdream222]

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・。.。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Affirmation & Subliminal Audio Download: Self-Concept & Void Concept

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・。.。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

I made an affirmation/subliminal tape for myself and felt like sharing in case it helped anyone else! This is meant to completely saturate your mind so you fully believe you are the creator of your reality and already have your perfect life.

If I were to summarize it with one affirmation, it would be “I easily entered the void, and now my life is perfect.”

The affirmations all center on the three overlapping themes of: My life is perfect, I’m a master manifestor, and I enter the void easily.

Kinda had too much fun making this and included 7 layers total. There are a LOT of affs in here but they are all are fairly non-specific, blanket/umbrella self-concept that can be used by anyone, and are completely unisex.

I created my own affs, some are from my Master Manifestor vaunt, and I modified some basic ones I found on Tumblr and Pinterest. They are all safe, no negative words, no religion, no witchcraft etc lol :)

The audible affs are layered with two layers of Kottie’s & Enchanted Workshop’s Wake up in the void subliminals courtesy of @gorgeouslypink

Since I believe in honesty and transparency, I’ve listed all the details below the cut. If you just want to download and get listening, here are the Drive links:

✩Folder with all 3 versions

✩Version 1: Affirmation tape & subliminal

✩Version 2: Same as above but with echo effect for more repetition

✩Version 3: For overnight use through phone speakers. Aff volume is lowered and rain sounds from the subs are louder.

Actual pic of audio file :)

Made with love! Let me know if this helps you! 💕

Version 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fKLb-mLw4aXbYrO-uIEAzEkvANNkkMA4/view?usp=drive_link

Layer 1: Master manifestor, the void is easy, self-concept affs - entirely in the left ear

Layer 2: The same affs, in a different order - entirely in the right ear

Layer 3: “Perfect life” self-concept aff tape - includes both “you” and “I”, in both ears, at a lower volume

Layer 4: The affs from layers 1 & 2 but in a different order, in both ears, at a lower volume

Layer 5: Enchanted Workshop’s Wake up in the void subliminal

Layer 6: Kottie’s Wake up in the void subliminal

Layer 7: Self-concept affs and perfect life affs (from previous layers) at the lowest subliminal volume level

Version 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lujZ7M1hQu09fbJnq4ks2bOA_ss9dfzq/view?usp=drive_link

Same as Version 1, but an echo effect is added to layers 1 & 2. This makes the affs repeat multiple times, and can give you more of a trance-like effect.

Version 3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oVuIgj96NLNfIY0u5yzi8vAh89qSiwD_/view?usp=drive_link

Version 1 modified for overnight use through your phone speaker. Layers 1 & 2 play in both sides at a lower volume, and the volume of layers 5 & 6 is increased so the rain sounds are louder and affs are quieter.

These can be downloaded to your phone or PC and looped:

iPhone: AudioRepeater and Audio Looper are both free apps that will loop imported audio files.

Android: Several free apps will let you loop, including playing two audios at the same time (if that’s your thing) try Loop Player.

PC: The default Windows media player has a loop function.

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥

[sofia-d-asb]

Twine/SugarCube ressources

Some/most of you must know that Arcadie: Second-Born was coded in ChoiceScript before I converted it to Twine for self-publishing (for various reasons).

I have switched to Ren'Py for Cold Lands, but I thought I would share the resources that helped me when I was working with Twine. This is basically an organized dump of nearly all the bookmarks I collected. Hope this is helpful!

Guides

Creating Interactive Fiction: A Guide to Using Twine by Aidan Doyle

A Total Beginner’s Guide to Twine

Introduction to Twine By Conor Walsh (covers Harlowe and not SugarCube)

Twine Grimoire I

Twine Grimoire II

Twine and CSS

Documentation

SugarCube v2 Documentation

Custom Macros

Chapel's Custom Macro Collection, particularly Fairmath function to emulate CS operations if converting your CS game to Twine

Cycy's custom macros

Clickable Images with HTML Maps

Character pages

Character Profile Card Tutorial

Twine 2 / SugarCube 2 Sample Code by HiEv

Templates

Some may be outdated following Twine/SugarCube updates

Twine/Sugarcube 2 Template

Twine SugarCube template

Twine Template II

Twine Template by Vahnya

Sample Code and more resources

A post from 2 years ago where I share sample code

TwineLab

nyehilism Twine masterpost

How to have greyed out choices

idrellegames's tutorials

Interactive Fiction Design, Coding in Twine & Other IF Resources by idrellegames (idrellegames has shared many tutorials and tips for Twine, browse their #twine tag)

How to print variables inside links

How do I create a passage link via clicking on a picture

App Builder

Convert your Twine game into a Windows and macOS executable (free)

Convert your Twine game into a mobile app for Android and iPhone (90$ one-time fee if memory serves me right) // Warning: the Android app it creates is outdated for Google Play, you'll need to update the source code yourself

[hrtsri]

korean learning resources !

hello, my name is ri (ree) and i've been learning korean for almost 2 years. when i started learning korean, i tried using almost every source i could find and watched a whole lot of youtube videos.

whether you have just started learning the language, or have been a learner for a couple of months, here's a list of resources you can use!

﹡﹡ ʳᵉˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉˢ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵃ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗ ᵃʳᵉ ᵒⁿᵉˢ ⁱ ʰⁱᵍʰˡʸ ʳᵉᶜᵒᵐᵐᵉⁿᵈ

HANGUL VIDEOS:

♡ miss vicky hangul in 30 minutes

♡ all about batchim (part 1)

♡ all about batchim (part 2)

♡ all about batchim (part 3)

learn hangul in 90 minutes (start to finish)

LEARNING SITES:

♡ talk to me in korean: provides a grammar course & other learning materials.

how to study korean: provides free grammar with vocab lists with pronounciation.

loecsen: phrases & vocabulary with pronounciation.

♡ learnkorean: provides a course, grammar lessons, flashcards, worksheets & more all for free!

YOUTUBE CHANNELS:

seemile korean: topik help

♡ choisusu: learn korean vlog, podcasts & more

♡ conversational korean: vocabulary videos, lessons, listening practice tests & more!

♡ banzi's secret diary: cute cartoon for listening practice! (no subs for a challenge)

learn korean with jadoo: another cute cartoon with english & korean subtitles.

READING PRACTICE:

brunch story: stories by users in korean. (for more advanced learners)

♡ korean comics: one comic in korean & english with small vocab list!

do you want to go eat?: a cute & simple webtoon comic

♡ story korean: stories with vocabulary & grammar tips.

APPS:

mirinae: korean sentence analyzer & more (android & ios)

audioclip: korean podcast app for listening practice (android & ios)

todaii easy korean: learn koran by reading & listening to news (android & ios)

vocat: create your own vocabulary lists (android & ios)

podo korean: grammar lessons, vocabulary, reading & listening (andoid & ios) ** for vocab only download podo words

eggbun korean: learn korean with a chatbot tutor names lanny! (android & ios)

drops: korean vocabulary apps (android & ios)

PODCASTS:

cozy story time in korean

♡ choisusu

♡ tayoni's korean podcast

korean story

hopefully this is useful to you and good luck with your learning journery! and let me know if any of the links aren't working!

you can follow me on my instagram: wrldwithri ✨ to follow me along my language learning journey.

[mydigitaldarling]

CALLING NSFW ARTISTS AND WRITERS

CONTRIBUTOR APPS OPEN

My Digital Darling is a NSFW original character zine about lesbian androids in an underground gay club. Apply to create comics, stories, and illustrations for our zine! Apps close Aug 31st!

ARTIST | AUTHOR | SPOT ARTIST

★彡 Join our Discord! 彡★

@all-zine-apps @zine-scene

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to message us here!

[changes]

Tuesday, May 7th, 2024

🌟 New

We’ve doubled the number of recently-conversed-with blogs in the messaging suggestions when sharing a post.

In Communities, hovering over a reaction will now reveal who the 10 most recent reactions came from.

We’re shutting down Tipping on June 1.

🛠 Fixed

Fixed a bug on Web where entering fullscreen on an embedded YouTube video could make the embed disappear from the post.

We fixed a bug that was allowing non-Community-members to vote in polls created inside Communities. Only members should be able to vote in polls inside Communities, at least for now.

In the latest release of the iOS app, the ability to mute posts has been fixed.

🚧 Ongoing

We are aware that Twitch videos are no longer embedding.

We are aware that some folks are hitting a rate limit while using a VPN.

In the iOS app, we are aware that blog descriptions are truncated and not expanding on tap.

In the iOS app, we are aware that some Ad-Free Browsing renewals are not going though. Please contact Support if that has happened to you.

In the Android app, we are aware that images are not downloading for folks with Android 10 and higher. A fix is planned for the next release.

🌱 Upcoming

No upcoming launches to announce today.

Experiencing an issue? Check for Known Issues and file a Support Request if you have something new. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

Want to share your feedback about something? Check out our Work in Progress blog and start a discussion with the community.

Wanna support Tumblr directly with some money? Check out the new Supporter badge in TumblrMart!

[notfreetoday]

WOWOW on Demand Sign Up Tutorial

Hello, I am back (?)

Quick tutorial in case anyone wants to sign up (and later cancel) for a WOWOW on Demand account in order to watch Justice in the Dark when it airs at midnight JST on the 7th of March (aka Thursday night going into Friday morning).

Under the cut to reduce spam!

Before you start, please know that whilst you will sign up on the website, you will only be able to watch the shows using the phone app itself, because the website blocks VPNs.

You will need:

The ability to install the WOWOW on demand apk on your android phone (for iPhone users, it's available on the Jp app store, but I can't help beyond that)

A VPN (I used surfshark)

Access to a JP phone number (I used the number given on my forwarding service)

A credit card

2530 JPY per month (JITD is expected to end sometime in June 2025)

STEP 1: Set your VPN to Japan, go to the WOWOW website as shown, and click on the blue tab circled in orange

STEP 2: This just informs you that the service costs 2530 JPY/mth. Click the blue tab again.

STEP 3: Key in your email and click the button to receive a 4-digit OTP (it will be the first and only string of 4 digits you see in the mail). Major email domains should work.

STEP 4: You should receive the OTP within 3-5mins. If you don't receive the email, check your junk folder etc I lost patience after 2 mins and clicked the button 😅

STEP 5: This is all pretty self-explanatory. Don't ask me to translate the T&C/privacy agreement because I didn't read it either 😬

Congratulations! You have successfully created a WOWOW Online account (this is the normal account which lets you watch free videos/livestreams for eg, Spirealm Ep 1 is free to watch for now).

Next, you want to create a WOWOW on Demand account, which is the service that will give you access to JITD, the rest of Spirealm episodes, and if you are in Japan with a BS Cable subscription, the ability to watch and record WOWOW shows on your TV.

STEP 6: FINALLY we get to the most important bit, so of course I forgot to screencap it. For your Surname and First name, you will need to type it in Japanese text, so go ahead and google translate your name. For the phone number, I used the number from my Jp forwarding service (tenso), but I did try again by changing a few numbers, and it actually went through to step 4 so... if you don't have a forwarding service, you could try random numbers following the 03-1234-5678 format? Don't quote me on that.

Click the blue button at the bottom (which I accidentally cropped out) to move on.

STEP 7: A confirmation window will pop up, keep clicking the blue button...

STEP 8: Almost there. Ignore all the blue buttons and choose the credit card payment option.

STEP 9: Scroll down and key in your credit card details (doesn't have to be Japanese), agree to the service agreement and then hit the blue button again. You will not be charged yet.

STEP 10: Confirm you really do want to spend 2530 JPY x per mth (which for JITD would be 3 months = 7590 JPY = USD$50) and click the blue button again. Your CC will be charged here.

Congrats! You're done (and broke)! Now, using your log in details, log on to the app and search 光淵 or こうえん (you will need to use your VPN on your phone too)

HOW TO CANCEL WOWOW

You will be able to watch shows for one month from that date your subscription was charged. Ie, if charged on the 3rd of July, and you cancelled on the 31st of July, you would be able to access WOWOW on demand till the 2nd of August (1 month from the 3rd of July). Hence, please remember to cancel a few days before your subscription is charged, just in case the application takes a few days to be processed.

STEP 1: Log in and go to My WOWOW

STEP 2: You'll be brought to your profile page, choose the 2nd option from the left (right next to the word TOP)

STEP 3: Look for the 解約 button

STEP 4: Look for the same word, and confirm cancellation

That's it! (When july comes, if there are extra steps required, I'll post a follow up 😅

Happy watching everyone!

[mariacallous]

The eye-popping scandal surrounding the Trump cabinet’s accidental invitation to The Atlantic’s editor in chief to join a text-message group secretly planning a bombing in Yemen has rolled into its third day, and that controversy now has a name: SignalGate, a reference to the fact that the conversation took place on the end-to-end encrypted free messaging tool Signal.

As that name becomes a shorthand for the biggest public blunder of the second Trump administration to date, however, security and privacy experts who have promoted Signal as the best encrypted messaging tool available to the public want to be clear about one thing: SignalGate is not about Signal.

Since The Atlantic’s editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, revealed Monday that he was mistakenly included in a Signal group chat earlier this month created to plan US airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the reaction from the Trump cabinet’s critics and even the administration itself has in some cases seemed to cast blame on Signal for the security breach. Some commentators have pointed to reports last month of Signal-targeted phishing by Russian spies. National security adviser Michael Waltz, who reportedly invited Goldberg to the Signal group chat, has even suggested that Goldberg may have hacked into it.

On Wednesday afternoon, even President Donald Trump suggested Signal was somehow responsible for the group chat fiasco. “I don't know that Signal works,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I think Signal could be defective, to be honest with you.”

The real lesson is much simpler, says Kenn White, a security and cryptography researcher who has conducted audits on widely used encryption tools in the past as the director of the Open Crypto Audit Project: Don’t invite untrusted contacts into your Signal group chat. And if you’re a government official working with highly sensitive or classified information, use the encrypted communication tools that run on restricted, often air-gapped devices intended for a top-secret setting rather than the unauthorized devices that can run publicly available apps like Signal.

“Unequivocally, no blame in this falls on Signal,” says White. “Signal is a communication tool designed for confidential conversations. If someone's brought into a conversation who’s not meant to be part of it, that's not a technology problem. That's an operator issue.”

Cryptographer Matt Green, a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, puts it more simply. “Signal is a tool. If you misuse a tool, bad things are going to happen,” says Green. “If you hit yourself in the face with a hammer, it’s not the hammer’s fault. It’s really on you to make sure you know who you’re talking to.”

The only sense in which SignalGate is a Signal-related scandal, White adds, is that the use of Signal suggests that the cabinet-level officials involved in the Houthi bombing plans, including secretary of defense Pete Hegseth and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, were conducting the conversation on internet-connected devices—possibly even including personal ones—since Signal wouldn’t typically be allowed on the official, highly restricted machines intended for such conversations. “In past administrations, at least, that would be absolutely forbidden, especially for classified communications,” says White.

Indeed, using Signal on internet-connected commercial devices doesn’t just leave communications open to anyone who can somehow exploit a hackable vulnerability in Signal, but anyone who can hack the iOS, Android, Windows, or Mac devices that might be running the Signal mobile or desktop apps.

This is why US agencies in general, and the Department of Defense in particular, conduct business on specially managed federal devices that are specially provisioned to control what software is installed and which features are available. Whether the cabinet members had conducted the discussion on Signal or another consumer platform, the core issue was communicating about incredibly high-stakes, secret military operations using inappropriate devices or software.

One of the most straightforward reasons that communication apps like Signal and WhatsApp are not suitable for classified government work is that they offer “disappearing message” features—mechanisms to automatically delete messages after a preset amount of time—that are incompatible with federal record retention laws. This issue was on full display in the principals’ chat about the impending strike on Yemen, which was originally set for one-week auto-delete before the Michael Waltz account changed the timer to four-week auto-delete, according to screenshots of the chat published by The Atlantic on Wednesday. Had The Atlantic’s Goldberg not been mistakenly included in the chat, its contents might not have been preserved in accordance with long-standing government requirements.

In congressional testimony on Wednesday, US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that Signal can come preinstalled on government devices. Multiple sources tell WIRED that this is not the norm, though, and noted specifically that downloading consumer apps like Signal to Defense Department devices is highly restricted and often banned. The fact that Hegseth, the defense secretary, participated in the chat indicates that he either obtained an extremely unusual waiver to install Signal on a department device, bypassed the standard process for seeking such a waiver, or was using a non-DOD device for the chat. According to political consultant and podcaster Fred Wellman, DOD “political appointees” demanded that Signal be installed on their government devices last month.

Core to the Trump administration’s defense of the behavior is the claim that no classified material was discussed in the Signal chat. In particular, Gabbard and others have noted that Hegseth himself is the classification authority for the information. Multiple sources tell WIRED, though, that this authority does not make a consumer application the right forum for such a discussion.

“The way this was being communicated, the conversation had no formal designation like 'for official use only' or something. But whether it should have been classified or not, whatever it was, it was obviously sensitive operational information that no soldier or officer would be expected to release to the public—but they had added a member of the media into the chat,” says Andy Jabbour, a US Army veteran and founder of the domestic security risk-management firm Gate 15.

Jabbour adds that military personnel undergo annual information awareness and security training to reinforce operating procedures for handling all levels of nonpublic information. Multiple sources emphasize to WIRED that while the information in the Yemen strike chat appears to meet the standard for classification, even nonclassified material can be extremely sensitive and is typically carefully protected.

“Putting aside for a moment that classified information should never be discussed over an unclassified system, it’s also just mind-boggling to me that all of these senior folks who were on this line and nobody bothered to even check, security hygiene 101, who are all the names? Who are they?” US senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, said during Tuesday’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

According to The Atlantic, 12 Trump administration officials were in the Signal group chat, including vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and Trump adviser Susie Wiles. Jabbour adds that even with ​​decisionmaking authorities present and participating in a communication, establishing an information designation or declassifying information happens through an established, proactive process. As he puts it, “If you spill milk on the floor, you can’t just say, ‘That’s actually not spilled milk, because I intended to spill it.’”

All of which is to say, SignalGate raises plenty of security, privacy, and legal issues. But the security of Signal itself is not one of them. Despite that, in the wake of The Atlantic’s story on Monday, some have sought tenuous connections between the Trump cabinet’s security breach and Signal vulnerabilities. On Tuesday, for example, a Pentagon adviser echoed a report from Google’s security researchers, who alerted Signal earlier this year to a phishing technique that Russian military intelligence used to target the app’s users in Ukraine. But Signal pushed out an update to make that tactic—which tricks users into adding a hacker as a secondary device on their account—far harder to pull off, and the same tactic also targeted some accounts on the messaging services WhatsApp and Telegram.

“Phishing attacks against people using popular applications and websites are a fact of life on the internet,” Signal spokesperson Jun Harada tells WIRED. “Once we learned that Signal users were being targeted, and how they were being targeted, we introduced additional safeguards and in-app warnings to help protect people from falling victim to phishing attacks. This work was completed months ago."

In fact, says White, the cryptography researcher, if the Trump administration is going to put secret communications at risk by discussing war plans on unapproved commercial devices and freely available messaging apps, they could have done much worse than to choose Signal for those conversations, given its reputation and track record among security experts.

“Signal is the consensus recommendation for highly at-risk communities—human rights activists, attorneys, and confidential sources for journalists,” says White. Just not, as this week has made clear, executive branch officials planning airstrikes.

[neristudy]

Android app for German Learning

Do note * - it is means that I use apps only with apk/premium unlocker, bc for one reason or another, free version of the app is not usable/not so great.

And yes, I have duolingo as well - but we all had it at some point, so heh.

LingoDeer*:

great for picking up vocab;

better prononciation than in Duolingo;

though it is quite better for asian languages.

Chatterbug:

German videos;

German "shorts" like Youtubes/TikTok one;

Learngerman DW:

Basically cheating, bc we all love DW here, and if you don't - check it out, it is really great;

Easy German:

Learn german by reading newspaper articles!

Seedlang*:

Similar to an old duolingo with its tree, but quite lacking w/o premium.

LingQ*:

Read, listen, add your own sites/apps/videos for it to create a captions in German!

Create flashcards.

Readle*:

Great app with a lot of short stories to test your reading skills;

little test at the end of each text to check if you understand what you have read;

Voice overs for every text!

Flashcards:

Better than Anki for me, since it is a lot easier to set up;

Avaliable voice overs for both sides of a flashcard.

Beelinguapp*:

App for reading!

Have a split screen and read 2 text (in your native & in German) at the same time;

Create flashcards~

[reveriearchives11]

┆ ⤿New detailed Hogwarts script template will be out ! 💌 ⌗

➢ ﹔new Hogwarts template will be out and it will include lots of details and just so you guys know the template daily updates will be in my ko-fi page and it will be free only first days because it includes many many things. ୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ

˙ . ꒷ things that will include in this template. 𖦹˙—

⤹ Hogwarts acceptance latter

⤹ house related details

⤹ it's very detailed script in every way

⤹ includes a whole new page where there's bunch of PDFs to make your dr intresting and even my ideas where i created ideas and has included in the PDFs, also PDFs will have templates of social media you can use or create account if you don't know how and resource and apps recommended to help you.

⤹ 12 months photodump of scrapbook for your dr core memories included. That scrapbook will be created on canva so note that I will write direction in template on how to use it so dw.

⤹ customised journal "my journal" includes shifting journey diary, void diary, lucid dreaming diary and astral projection diary and one simple manifestation diary, resources like subliminals (for shifting, void, lucid dreaming etc.m), affirmations (shifting, void, etc..), meditations, morphic fields, challenges, methods, tips, techniques, advices from Tumblr and right full resources, motivation posts, Spotify subs, gateway tapes and how to use them.

⤹ intresting thing about this journal is it's customisble i will include pdf of whole icons, dividers, headers of shades and colours and you can add it however you want.

⤹ 2 LIFAS one is lifa app and one is lifa book i will include possible my features that i created and uniqueness to both of them and you can able to customise your app and book when you shift to your dr.

Note: this template will be free only for 2 days just two days after that it will have price of 15$ because I put lot of efforts into make this. Because guys my laptop is servaly demaged and I have been putting hours into making this template unique, aesthetically pleasing but also having everything at your fingertips i design this template in my android phone so I want you to support me into this. And i am at moment where I need your support a lot!

⋆˚࿔ thank you for reading so far!!𝜗𝜚˚⋆

[vivalgi]

If you haven't checked it out yet then Candlelight Games held an AMA event in r/choices. While I'm still censored by the CCP there for reasons unknown to me, other people asked plenty of interesting questions that were answered. Some of my key takeaways:

CL has a "no AI" rule in the contracts with art vendors, though naturally they're unable to control and enforce it. I still suspect the artist used AI assistance when creating Bardak or whatever his name was, considering the suspicious elements both in the workflow and final outcome. Whether there is AI involved in art or not I choose to believe CL has nothing to do with it. For now.

The current plan for the game seems to release it for free in episodes though mobile app stores and include microtransactions, which is... unfortunate. Premium choices always cut the natural flow of the story and ruin immersion. Also, Google and Apple are such puritans and gatekeepers that they don't leave a lot of creative freedom to adult game devs. I would have launched a Patreon or Subscribestar, dripfed the episodes through those platforms and finally put the finished product on sale on Steam and other stores and likely release some censored version on mobile. There's quite a few adult game devs among the top supported Patreons and if you want more male players then PC support is recommended. I even prefer to play Choices with Android emulator.

One of the female LI's nickname is "Niel" better be pronounced differently than the male name Neil. Hopefully the female LIs will get better treatment than the girls in their Choices books. The game's introduction mentioning "your infuriatingly attractive rival" isn't exactly reassuring though.

[ryebread-aurt]

Hai!!! One, i absolutely love your Curtis gang designs so much😭 and two, i was wondering what program you use for your art? I’m new to digital art, after being traditional all my life, and have no idea where to begin. Trying to incorporate a few minutes of practice each day with ibis on my android tablet (I’m an apple user so ironic, hoping to get a job so i can save up for a new ipad so i can finally get procreate) i also have Krita on my desktop. I’m wanting to create an Outsiders OC character design line up cause your recent project with the Outsiders lineup inspired me to do my own with my OCs but i have no idea where to begin when it comes to that. So any tips/recommendations?🥹👉🏻👈🏻

Oml thank you!! I use procreate and really love it, but apps like Sketchbook and Ibis paint are also really good if you don’t have an iPad. I recommend fooling around with free brush packs you can find online for whatever software you’re using and experimenting with those; custom brushes I’ve worked with have been game changers fr fr.

In terms of doing lineups, I like to start with one character and then base the proportions and general color scheme/design/etc of the rest of the first one I do. Also, I really only ever do flat colors for lineups and keep design/patterns really simple so I can use them for color picking and general reference for more detailed drawings too. Actually coming up with the designs is a little trickier to explain; for the outsiders specifically, I looked at the book as well as the movie and musical for references to combine into one design, and then did extra research on clothing/hair/whatever whatever. Pinterest is always my go to for inspo, so I do recommend that!

Thank you so much for the comment tho it makes my day when people like my art 🥹🥹🥹

[pale-opal]

Something that's been on my mind for a while is that a lot of artists have been struggling to find programs that work with their budgets. Adobe's prices are... infamous, to say the least, and there seems to be a sharp learning curve for the more affordable options. And if you're like me, you might not feel comfortable with pirating to get an art program that is out of your price range. So here's a list of free art/editing tools. Any options without links are either mobile apps or can only be downloaded on Macs: Options without ads or watermarks:

FireAlpaca (notes: while this is an art program at heart, it can also be used as basic photo editing software once you get the hang of it. There is also a blog dedicated to tutorials on how to use FA in case you get stuck)

Medibang (note: the aforementioned FireAlpaca blog has some information on this software as well)

Krita (note: also available as an app for android and Google devices)

Storyboarder (notes: not to be confused with "Storyboarder.AI". While this program does require your email address before downloading, it is safe to use as far as I know (but please use caution regardless))

Pixilart (notes: link leads to browser version, also available as a mobile app)

Audacity (notes: apparently, the company behind this software, Muse Group, have also created a separate, subscription-based AI-voice program. I am unsure if it uses AI in a way that is generally considered to be ethical, like SynthV does, or if it follows the trends typically expected of those kinds of applications. The reason that I include this information is that I want to give everyone the ability to make an informed decision about whether or not they want to use anything from Muse Group, as I know many users on this site are anti-AI. However, I also know that some of those users wouldn't mind using Audacity since downloading it wouldn't be giving Muse Group monetary support - hence why the program is staying on the list.)

Clipchamp (notes: there are also paid tiers for this program. It is also available in-browser and as an iOS app. Furthermore, please be aware that there are some optional features that use AI)

iMovie (note: also available as a mobile app on iOS devices)

DramaQueen (notes: this is a software used to write scripts for plays, movies, etc. While it does require you to fill out some information before downloading, as far as I am aware, it is safe to use (but as always, use your own discretion))

Options that do have ads, watermarks, or microtransactions

ibisPaint X

Sketchbook (notes: formerly known as "Autodesk Sketchbook". PC and Mac versions do exist, but you have to pay to download them)

Medibang Paint

Capcut (note: has optional AI tools).

Be sure to check what system requirements are necessary for each program, and be aware of their limitations before downloading (for example, many users report Clipchamp has a tendency to crash, while others seem to be able to use it fine). Also, please feel free to add on to this. I know I haven't even scratched the surface here, as I tried to stick to software that I've either heard of extensively or have used personally.