#Interoperability in tech

[onlinemarketingcash4ublogspotcom]

Title: Understanding ActivityPub

ActivityPub is an open, decentralized protocol designed to facilitate social networking across diverse platforms. Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and published as a recommendation in January 2018, it aims to empower users with more control over their data and online presence. ActivityPub serves as a bridge that connects different platforms into a cohesive ecosystem, often referred to as the Fediverse (short for "federated universe").

[rjohnson49la]

ActivityPub is an open, decentralized protocol designed to facilitate social networking across diverse platforms. Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and published as a recommendation in January 2018, it aims to empower users with more control over their data and online presence. ActivityPub serves as a bridge that connects different platforms into a cohesive ecosystem, often referred to as the Fediverse (short for "federated universe").

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Canada sues Google

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/2024/12/03/clementsy/#can-tech

For a country obsessed with defining itself as "not America," Canada sure likes to copy US policies, especially the really, really terrible policies – especially the really, really, really terrible digital policies.

In Canada's defense: these terrible US policies are high priority for the US Trade Representative, who leans on Canadian lawmakers to ensure that any time America decides to collectively jump off the Empire State Building, Canadian politicians throw us all off the CN Tower. And to Canada's enduring shame, the USTR never has to look very hard to find a lickspittle who's happy to sell Canadians out.

Take anti-circumvention. In 1998, Bill Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a gnarly hairball of copyright law whose Section 1201 bans reverse-engineering for any purpose. Under DMCA 1201, "access controls" for copyrighted works are elevated to sacred status, and it's a felony (punishable by a five-year prison sentence and a $500k fine) to help someone bypass these access controls.

That's pretty esoteric, even today, and in 1998, it was nearly incomprehensible, except to a small group of extremely alarmed experts who ran around trying to explain to lawmakers why they should not vote for this thing. But by the time Tony Clement and James Moore (Conservative ministers in the Harper regime) introduced a law to import America's stupidest tech idea and paste it into Canada's lawbooks in 2012, the evidence against anti-circumvention was plain for anyone to see.

Under America's anti-circumvention law, any company that added an "access control" to its products instantly felonised any modification to that product. For example, it's not illegal to refill an ink cartridge, but it is illegal to bypass the access control that gets the cartridge to recognise that it's full and start working again. It's not illegal for a Canadian software developer to sell a Canadian Iphone owner an app without cutting Apple in for a 30% of the sale, but it is illegal to mod that Iphone so that it can run apps without downloading them from the App Store first. It's not illegal for a Canadian mechanic to fix a Canadian's car, but it is illegal for that mechanic to bypass the access controls that prevent third-party mechanics from decrypting the error codes the car generates.

We told Clement and Moore about this, and they ignored us. Literally: when they consulted on their proposal in 2010, we filed 6,138 comments explaining why this was a bad idea, while only 53 parties wrote in to support it. Moore publicly announced that he was discarding the objections, on the grounds that they had come from "babyish" "radical extremists":

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/copyright-debate-turns-ugly-1.898216

For more than a decade, we've had Clement and Moore's Made-in-America law tied to our ankles. Even when Canada copies some good ideas from the US (by passing a Right to Repair law), or even some very good ideas of its own (passing an interoperability law), Canadians can't use those new rights without risking prosecution under Clement and Moore's poisoned gift to the nation:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/15/radical-extremists/#sex-pest

"Not America" is a pretty thin basis for a political identity anyway. There's nothing wrong with copying America's good ideas (like Right to Repair). Indeed, when it comes to tech regulation, the US has had some bangers lately, like prosecuting US tech giants for violating competition law. Given that Canada overhauled its competition law this year, the country's well-poised to tackle America's tech giants.

Which is exactly what's happening! Canada's Competition Bureau just filed a lawsuit against Google over its ad-tech monopoly, which isn't merely a big old Privacy Chernobyl, but is also a massively fraudulent enterprise that rips off both advertisers and publishers:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/canadas-antitrust-watchdog-sues-google-alleging-anti-competitive-conduct-2024-11-28/

The ad-tech industry scoops up about 51 cents out of every dollar (in the pre-digital advertising world the net take by ad agencies was more like 15%). Fucking up Google's ad-tech rip off is a much better way to Canada's press paid than the link tax the country instituted in 2023:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-ban-surveillance-advertising

After all, what tech steals from the news isn't content (helping people find the news and giving them a forum to discuss it is good) – tech steals news's money. Ad-tech is a giant ripoff. So is the app tax – the 30% Canadian newspapers have to kick up to the Google and Apple crime families every time a subscriber renews their subscriptions in an app. Using Canadian law to force tech to stop stealing the press's money is a way better policy than forcing tech to profit-share with the news. For tech to profit-share with the news, it has to be profitable, meaning that a profit-sharing press benefits from tech's most rapacious and extractive conduct, and rather than serving as watchdogs, they're at risk of being cheerleaders.

Smashing tech power is a better policy than forcing tech to share its stolen loot with newspapers. For one thing, it gets government out of the business of deciding what is and isn't a legit news entity. Maybe you're OK with Trudeau making that call (though I'm not), but how will you feel when PM Polievre decides that Great Replacement-pushing, conspiracy-addled far right rags should receive a subsidy?

Taking on Google is a slam-dunk, not least because the US DoJ just got through prosecuting the exact same case, meaning that Canadian competition enforcers can do some good copying of their American counterparts – like, copying the exhibits, confidential memos, and successful arguments the DoJ brought before the court:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-google-monopolizing-digital-advertising-technologies

Indeed, this already a winning formula! Because Big Tech commits the same crimes in every jurisdiction, trustbusters are doing a brisk business by copying each others' cases. The UK Digital Markets Unit released a big, deep market study into Apple's app market monopoly, which the EU Commission used as a roadmap to bring a successful case. Then, competition enforcers in Japan and South Korea recycled the exhibits and arguments from the EU's case to bring their own successful prosecutions:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/10/an-injury-to-one/#is-an-injury-to-all

Canada copying the DoJ's ad-tech case is a genius move – it's the kind of south-of-the-border import that Canadians need. Though, of course, it's a long shot that the Trump regime will produce much more worth copying. Instead, Trump has vowed to slap a 25% tariff on Canadian goods as of January 20.

Which is bad news for Canada's export sector, but it definitely means that Canada no longer has to worry about keeping the US Trade Rep happy. Repealing Clement and Moore's Bill C-11 should be Parliament's first order of business. Tariff or no tariff, Canadian tech entrepreneurs could easily export software-based repair diagnostic tools, Iphone jailbreaking tooks, alternative firmware for tractors and medical implants, and alternative app stores for games consoles, phones and tablets. So long as they can accept a US payment, they can sell to US customers. This is a much bigger opportunity than, say, selling cheap medicine to Americans trying to escape Big Pharma's predation.

What's more, there's no reason this couldn't be policy under Polievre and the Tories. After all, they're supposed to be the party of "respect for private property." What could be more respectful of private property than letting the owners of computers, phones, cars, tractors, printers, medical implants, smart speakers and anything else with a microchip decide for themselves how they want to it work? What could be more respectful of copyright than arranging things so that Canadian copyright holders – like a games studio or an app company – can sell their copyrighted works to Canadian buyers, without forcing the data and the payment to make a round trip through Silicon Valley and come back 30% lighter?

Canadian politicians have bound the Canadian public and Canadian industry to onerous and expensive obligations under treaties like the USMCA (AKA NAFTA2), on promise of tariff-free access to American markets. With that access gone, why on Earth would we continue to voluntarily hobble ourselves?

[dj-of-the-coven]

indulging in my weird fucking interest in dated technology and the history of the internet is so embarrassing sometimes. why the fuck am I excited to watch hours-long videos on things like the invention of email spam or the design philosophy of old desktop icons

[innonurse]

CVS Health to invest $20 billion in tech-driven healthcare overhaul and interoperability improvements

- By InnoNurse Staff -

CVS Health has announced plans to invest $20 billion over the next 10 years to enhance its consumer healthcare offerings through improved technology and system interoperability.

The initiative will span CVS' integrated business segments, including Aetna, its retail pharmacies, and healthcare providers. A central component of the plan is the development of a shared patient record system that would enable better communication among various healthcare stakeholders, regardless of company affiliation.

The company also aims to make the healthcare experience more proactive by sending patients automated notifications—such as claim updates—reducing the need for them to reach out for information. Additionally, CVS is looking to streamline processes like claims management and cost estimates to create a more efficient system. CVS anticipates that the effort could lead to noticeable changes in the consumer healthcare experience within five years.

This investment comes as part of broader changes at CVS, which include the planned closure of 271 stores in 2025—adding to nearly 900 closures from 2022 to 2024—as part of a national restructuring strategy. In May, CVS participated in a bankruptcy court-approved process to acquire prescription files from 625 Rite Aid pharmacies and agreed to take over 64 Rite Aid store locations in three states, pending court and regulatory approvals. Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year.

Read more at MobiHealthNews

///

Other recent news and insights

'AI scientist' collaborates with humans to identify cheap drug combinations for potential cancer treatment (University of Cambridge)

Scientists grow vascularized heart and liver organoids, overcoming size limits and opening new avenues for research (Stanford School of Medicine)

[onewebinc]

Xvif - Meaning, Features & Advantages (2024)

Revealing XVIF: XML Validation Interoperability Framework

📖To read more visit here🌐🔗: https://onewebinc.com/xvif/

[ehr-integration]

2024: The Dawn of Interconnected Healthcare

Envision a world where medical records seamlessly traverse between hospitals, medical practices, and pharmacies, guiding care decisions. Healthcare's future shines bright in 2024, illuminated by three major trends poised to revolutionize how we experience and deliver health: interoperability, revenue cycle management (RCM) optimization, and empowered patient engagement.

Interoperability

The longstanding aspiration of unlocking healthcare data is finally becoming a reality. After years of anticipation, 2023 witnessed the momentous launch of the nationwide data exchange powered by TEFCA (Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement). This landmark framework acts as a key, unlocking data silos and allowing medical records to flow freely across different healthcare systems nationwide. This unprecedented data liberation promises to harmonize care coordination, drastically reducing medical errors and eliminating redundant tests. The future of healthcare looks brighter than ever, with patients empowered to actively participate in their own journey by easily accessing their complete medical picture across disparate providers.

RCM Evolution

Picture cloud-based RCM platforms powered by AI automation, where bills are personalized, claims processed seamlessly, and denials tackled proactively. We are well on the path to realizing this vision. According to a recent survey conducted by Change Healthcare, 98% of healthcare leaders across the US plan to leverage AI across their revenue cycle within the next three years. This aligns with several other studies from organizations like HFMA and NBER, all highlighting the rising adoption of AI for tasks like automated claims processing, personalized billing, and proactive denial management. This growing focus on AI-powered RCM is fueled by its potential to support value-based care models, where providers are rewarded for improved patient outcomes rather than just the number of procedures performed.

Patient Engagement, Redefined

With virtual care models taking center stage, AI advances like Google’s PaLM2 and others are fueling a patient-centric healthcare revolution. Robust language models tailor interventions, while intelligent assistants handle appointments and provide real-time support. The healthcare landscape is transitioning from hospital to the comfort of our homes, empowered by convenient virtual consultations and remote monitoring.

Beyond the Horizon

This glimpse into the healthcare landscape of 2024 is just the first act. Picture wearable sensors feeding real-time health data into AI-powered models that predict and prevent illnesses. The possibilities are limitless, driven by ongoing technological advancements and an unwavering commitment to patient-centered care.

So, buckle up. We stand on the precipice of a transformative era where data intertwines with innovation, finances align with outcomes, and patients rightfully take center stage in their well-being. The future of healthcare is not merely interconnected – it's genuinely human-centric, and 2024 is only the beginning. 

Ready to make this journey easier? Reach out to Falkondata and discover how we can streamline your process and achieve your goals.

[quirkwizard]

The Epilogue to the Epilogue

Sweet mercy Hori, end your story! I've already had to two other ending analysis post of your story, each one with less content then the last. What is, the next ending going to come via your Twitter sketches? I never thought an author would be brave enough to pull off what amounts to a hat trick to end their manga, but here we are.

All joking aside, the final fan book was released for My Hero Academia not to long ago. Normally, I don't care to talk about these. However, since there are a lot of things cleared up about the world and story with this, I figured I would talk about it. And since it's so mostly filled with random facts and a few pages of panels, these will mostly boil down to notes about it. These will be divided into groups.

For the sake of this, I am using the translations provided by aitaikimochi and shibuyasmash on Twitter.

Other:

-I'm actually mad that the United States got a new Number 1 pro hero and it wasn't Captain Celebrity. Christopher Skyline did not go through his whole mini-arc in Vigilantes just to be forgotten about here. Man overshadowed by a character that's just a name.

-The fact that Hori worked with real medical professionals on whether or not Bakugou could survive getting his heart exploded is so fascinating to me. Especially about how it was done the way it was to be as realistic as possible.

-Hori saying "Use your imagination" is not the proper translation. He's not calling people illiterate, nor is he saying that it's up to reader interoperation. He's just telling people to go and take a look at the volume for the answer. Which still seems like conformation. It's just not as bitter as either side seems to think it is.

Villains:

-Giving All For One a name at all is weird to me. Calling himself Zen is weirder. Having it tie back to his dead, prostitutes mother and her alias is about as weird as you can get for me on this.

-I honestly disappointed when we found about Tomura's real Quirk. It was just some random Quirk All For One used when flying around. Like, it makes sense to manifest that way given how "Float" works, but it feels like it anti climax to find out about it in a fan book.

-I like how this book goes on to push how much the LOV was slumming in. Going with pre-packaged food and entraining themselves by playing cards. It does make me wonder if Spinner and Tomura brought a rig to play games with each other all the time.

-Hori described what Gentle and La Brava does as "I guess it's kind of like Google". Hori, what does that even mean? I feel like I need a little more context then that. Are they some weird conglomerate of tech stuff? If it is, that seems kind of like an odd place for them to end up.

-It's interesting to see Hori talk about the back and fourth about killing off Toga. While I could see the arguments for keeping her alive, I still ultimately agree with the idea of killing her being the better option. I just think that alternative doesn't have the same impact.

Heroes:

-I'm a little mix on All Might being called the "Best Hero Ever." This feels like a compromise for All Might and Izuku with their achievements, but you could still have made their titles more distinct.. I would have preferred something like the "Greatest Pro Hero".

-Saying that All Might's highest speed is Mach 10 is kind of insane given everything we've seen. I prefer to think that's just his highest recorded speed. Like there was some charity event to see how fast he went and that's the number they recorded.

-I am a little disappointed that Aizawa cutting his hair was just an artistic choice. Because there is that whole symbolism of hair carrying memories that people talked about and it gets cut once that lingering memory of Oboro is gone. Just makes it feel less special.

-It's really odd to me that we don't have any kind of ending comment with Endeavor. Again, I always thought that his ending was the most open ended and hoped that we would have gotten something out of Hori for this book. It's a shame to say the least.

-Actually, there really aren't a lot of notes on the other pro heroes. Besides a few of the main stay teachers, the only one to get mentioend is Miruko. Who, I have to say, I could not care less about what she is doing now that the series is Miruko. She's still fighting? Wow, how riveting.

Other Students:

-There's some fun trivia. Koda liking bunnies, but being scared of Miruko is one of the funniest pieces of trivia in this entire franchise. And I have to wonder if Sero's bit about the mustache was inspired by the Spiderverse movies and the one that Miles grew out for that.

-It's interesting that Jiro is able to focus so much on her music career in spite of still bein a hero. While it could just be because heroes have more time to do stuff, it makes me wonder just how much work you have to do to be considered a hero and to keep your job as one.

-I have to know what Kirishima's "manly calendars" are. Is it just Kirishima doing differently manly things? Stuff like lifting big weights, breaking stuff with power tools, and working on big pick up trucks? I don't care what it takes. We need this available to us.

-The fact that Mina's horns grow with her Quirk is interesting. I just assumed they were there for aesthetics and didn't have any real function with her Quirk. It makes me wonder what kind of connections they have to her ability to produce the acid.

-I'm not a shipper, but I find it funny that Hori told everyone that Denki and Jiro aren't together in Chapter 431. Only to go on about how Jiro and Momo spend lots of time together and are "SUPER close friends". He has to be doing that intentionally. I don't know why, but he has to be.

-The idea of Bakugou and Monoma becoming closer is interesting. I actually thought there was a lot of overlap with their characters. I kind of wish we would have gotten more out of them in the main story. Maybe some new, minor rivalry that Bakugou can throw himself into.

Main Cast:

-The fact that there can be heroes with the same name is very odd. Or that Tensei can even be counted as a hero since he can't exactly do hero work. Maybe he's acting as a sidekick for Tenya, working as the one helping his little brother from the sidelines.

-You know, I wouldn't have had "Shoto goes into urban planning" on my bingo card, but here we are. Though it is still humorous how socially inept he still is. The fact that people faint at his smile must be very worrying to him. Probably makes him think his smile is cursed.

-The fact that Bakugou still gets babied by the other pro heroes. It's like they look at that train wreck of a kid that's killing his reputation with every interview. And they decide that he needs some kind of mentor figure right there and then to keep him on the right path.

-What's that? Ochako was the one who put a positive twist on Deku? Was the one always supporting him? Even has the nickname of "Deku's Cheer Capitan?" Wow, it's almost like she's important to Izuku's growth and play a major role in him gaining confidence.

-So not only did Izuku stay a Top 100 without doing any hero work, he shot up to the fourth spot on his first day back. To everyone who says he was forgotten about, I want you to send a hand written apology for all the terrible takes you had and you appalling ignorance.

-Not only is Izuku still teaching, but apparently he's teaching hero history and regular history. Though I can only imagine that his entire classes would just be him yammering on about all the smallest details of history. Once again proving he's just like me, for real.

One Shot-Review:

Yeah, there isn't a lot to say about this one. It's nice to see Eri and see her happy after everything she's gone through. It's a good way of showing that even deviations who can't control their Quirk can still live in this world. And it's cute that she has her own thing going on outside of hero work. It does solidify Izuku's place in the world after he lost "One For All". That people still adore and look up to him. Something that I greatly appreciate after the last two ending chapters. I like that look we get a proper look at Izuku's costume, or at least the back of it with the cape. Plus having him dunk on Bakugou after all these years is still nice to see. Izuku was out of the race for years and he's still a higher rank then you. Yet I really don't think it adds that much to the overall story. Eri's story wasn't really something that needed completion. That tiny bit of her living a normal life was more then enough to finish off her story. This kind of just feels like it's a section of a secret, missing Chapter 430.5 where we got updates on all the other characters we didn't see as much. I'm glad we have it, I just don't think we need it.

Which kind of sums up my feelings for a lot of this fan book. Sure, none of the fan books have been earth shattering in terms of the content they provide. Yet this one feels pretty dull in comparison to everything else. There are a few highs, like the bits talking about Toga or getting more information on Izuku. It's why I didn't feel that compelled to talk about some of the characters with this, especially the students. A lot of their content is just say something really innocuous about their lives as heroes. Which I do like to read about. It's cute to hear things like Denki getting into issues because someone yelled a name at him. I just think that there should have been something a little more interesting for one of the last pieces of content for the story. These could have been the chance to go all out with the details of the story Hori wanted to talk about, but didn't have time to discuss. Or at least don't repeat information we already know.

[mariacallous]

Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has plans to stage a “hackathon” next week in Washington, DC. The goal is to create a single “mega API”—a bridge that lets software systems talk to one another—for accessing IRS data, sources tell WIRED. The agency is expected to partner with a third-party vendor to manage certain aspects of the data project. Palantir, a software company cofounded by billionaire and Musk associate Peter Thiel, has been brought up consistently by DOGE representatives as a possible candidate, sources tell WIRED.

Two top DOGE operatives at the IRS, Sam Corcos and Gavin Kliger, are helping to orchestrate the hackathon, sources tell WIRED. Corcos is a health-tech CEO with ties to Musk’s SpaceX. Kliger attended UC Berkeley until 2020 and worked at the AI company Databricks before joining DOGE as a special adviser to the director at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Corcos is also a special adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Since joining Musk’s DOGE, Corcos has told IRS workers that he wants to pause all engineering work and cancel current attempts to modernize the agency’s systems, according to sources with direct knowledge who spoke with WIRED. He has also spoken about some aspects of these cuts publicly: "We've so far stopped work and cut about $1.5 billion from the modernization budget. Mostly projects that were going to continue to put us down the death spiral of complexity in our code base," Corcos told Laura Ingraham on Fox News in March.

Corcos has discussed plans for DOGE to build “one new API to rule them all,” making IRS data more easily accessible for cloud platforms, sources say. APIs, or application programming interfaces, enable different applications to exchange data, and could be used to move IRS data into the cloud. The cloud platform could become the “read center of all IRS systems,” a source with direct knowledge tells WIRED, meaning anyone with access could view and possibly manipulate all IRS data in one place.

Over the last few weeks, DOGE has requested the names of the IRS’s best engineers from agency staffers. Next week, DOGE and IRS leadership are expected to host dozens of engineers in DC so they can begin “ripping up the old systems” and building the API, an IRS engineering source tells WIRED. The goal is to have this task completed within 30 days. Sources say there have been multiple discussions about involving third-party cloud and software providers like Palantir in the implementation.

Corcos and DOGE indicated to IRS employees that they intended to first apply the API to the agency’s mainframes and then move on to every other internal system. Initiating a plan like this would likely touch all data within the IRS, including taxpayer names, addresses, social security numbers, as well as tax return and employment data. Currently, the IRS runs on dozens of disparate systems housed in on-premises data centers and in the cloud that are purposefully compartmentalized. Accessing these systems requires special permissions and workers are typically only granted access on a need-to-know basis.

A “mega API” could potentially allow someone with access to export all IRS data to the systems of their choosing, including private entities. If that person also had access to other interoperable datasets at separate government agencies, they could compare them against IRS data for their own purposes.

“Schematizing this data and understanding it would take years,” an IRS source tells WIRED. “Just even thinking through the data would take a long time, because these people have no experience, not only in government, but in the IRS or with taxes or anything else.” (“There is a lot of stuff that I don't know that I am learning now,” Corcos tells Ingraham in the Fox interview. “I know a lot about software systems, that's why I was brought in.")

These systems have all gone through a tedious approval process to ensure the security of taxpayer data. Whatever may replace them would likely still need to be properly vetted, sources tell WIRED.

"It's basically an open door controlled by Musk for all American's most sensitive information with none of the rules that normally secure that data," an IRS worker alleges to WIRED.

The data consolidation effort aligns with President Donald Trump’s executive order from March 20, which directed agencies to eliminate information silos. While the order was purportedly aimed at fighting fraud and waste, it also could threaten privacy by consolidating personal data housed on different systems into a central repository, WIRED previously reported.

In a statement provided to WIRED on Saturday, a Treasury spokesperson said the department “is pleased to have gathered a team of long-time IRS engineers who have been identified as the most talented technical personnel. Through this coalition, they will streamline IRS systems to create the most efficient service for the American taxpayer. This week the team will be participating in the IRS Roadmapping Kickoff, a seminar of various strategy sessions, as they work diligently to create efficient systems. This new leadership and direction will maximize their capabilities and serve as the tech-enabled force multiplier that the IRS has needed for decades.”

Palantir, Sam Corcos, and Gavin Kliger did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In February, a memo was drafted to provide Kliger with access to personal taxpayer data at the IRS, The Washington Post reported. Kliger was ultimately provided read-only access to anonymized tax data, similar to what academics use for research. Weeks later, Corcos arrived, demanding detailed taxpayer and vendor information as a means of combating fraud, according to the Post.

“The IRS has some pretty legacy infrastructure. It's actually very similar to what banks have been using. It's old mainframes running COBOL and Assembly and the challenge has been, how do we migrate that to a modern system?” Corcos told Ingraham in the same Fox News interview. Corcos said he plans to continue his work at IRS for a total of six months.

DOGE has already slashed and burned modernization projects at other agencies, replacing them with smaller teams and tighter timelines. At the Social Security Administration, DOGE representatives are planning to move all of the agency’s data off of legacy programming languages like COBOL and into something like Java, WIRED reported last week.

Last Friday, DOGE suddenly placed around 50 IRS technologists on administrative leave. On Thursday, even more technologists were cut, including the director of cybersecurity architecture and implementation, deputy chief information security officer, and acting director of security risk management. IRS’s chief technology officer, Kaschit Pandya, is one of the few technology officials left at the agency, sources say.

DOGE originally expected the API project to take a year, multiple IRS sources say, but that timeline has shortened dramatically down to a few weeks. “That is not only not technically possible, that's also not a reasonable idea, that will cripple the IRS,” an IRS employee source tells WIRED. “It will also potentially endanger filing season next year, because obviously all these other systems they’re pulling people away from are important.”

(Corcos also made it clear to IRS employees that he wanted to kill the agency’s Direct File program, the IRS’s recently released free tax-filing service.)

DOGE’s focus on obtaining and moving sensitive IRS data to a central viewing platform has spooked privacy and civil liberties experts.

“It’s hard to imagine more sensitive data than the financial information the IRS holds,” Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, a digital civil rights organization, tells WIRED.

Palantir received the highest FedRAMP approval this past December for its entire product suite, including Palantir Federal Cloud Service (PFCS) which provides a cloud environment for federal agencies to implement the company’s software platforms, like Gotham and Foundry. FedRAMP stands for Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program and assesses cloud products for security risks before governmental use.

“We love disruption and whatever is good for America will be good for Americans and very good for Palantir,” Palantir CEO Alex Karp said in a February earnings call. “Disruption at the end of the day exposes things that aren't working. There will be ups and downs. This is a revolution, some people are going to get their heads cut off.”

[still-july]

hows it going !! have you read any good books lately ?? :)

hi rose!!! it's going alright, i just finished the exam i was most worried about so that's a relief

i've been reading lots of books lately!!! (no it's not escapism as a coping method shut up)

here are some of my favourites, in no particular order:

format = title: description (my personal thoughts)

currently reading

Octavia's Brood: a collection of social-justice based short stories (I'm not done with this one yet but I'm liking it so far! there was one i especially liked called the long memory, and i thought runway blackout and sanford and sun were really interesting too)

The Color of Law: a history book about the tactics of redlining and the HOLC (i can't read it too often or i get pissed, but it's well-researched and fascinating)

The Whalebone Theater: historical fiction set in 1928 England about an orphan who finds a whale washed up on the beach (i just started this one, so i have no clue where it's gonna go from here lol)

The Brothers Karamazov: a classic russian novel about family (i'm so mad at myself for this one. i was gonna read the importance of being earnest next off my classics list. i had it all planned i checked out the edition i wanted i was so ready. and then my stupid brain was like. what if we got absurdly sucked into this dostoevsky book instead. what if we threw off all of our plans. what if we squished alyosha's cheeks bc he's so freaking sweet. anyways i'm mildly obsessed and i want to finish it as fast as possible so i can get into the fandom. also fyodor pavlovitch deserves to die in a ditch please and thank you)

Butch is a Noun: a collection of essays about butch identity and queer theory (i have already ranted about this but it's soooo good and also free online! more ppl should read it)

recently finished

A Psalm for the Wild-built: a eco-futuristic book about a traveling monk who meets a robot (REALLY REALLY GOOD. i knew i was gonna like it bc several ppl recommended it to me but wow. amazing. unfortunately the wait time is ages so i haven't read the second in the series yet)

Another North: a collection of essays about loss (it was alright but not my favorite ever. i did recommend it to my mom who loved it though)

Picks and Shovels: third book in the marty hench series, thriller novel about a forensic accountant (the description makes it sound boring but it's really really not i LOVE this series so goddamn much. it's suspenseful and vibrant and just a fucking fabulous series. also i just really really love Cory Doctorow and his writing. his fiction is great (especially Radicalized ughhhh) and also his nonfiction blog pluralistic.net is incredibly well written and important. also i got to meet him at a (free!!) book signing! he was so nice :)) also also: his 4-part podcast on cbc called understood: who ruined the internet is great. it talks about how awful the Internet is now and names the EXACT people who enacted the policies that made it that way. 2 out of the 4 episodes are out, it's really insightful and important especially right now. tl:dr Cory Doctorow is pretty much the most important science/tech person on the Internet right now and the martin hench series is a great entry point to his stuff. it got me caring about things like interoperability and ip law and the legal precedent on open source code. anyways the first book is called red team blues and i highly recommend it!!!)

We're Here: a collection of the best queer speculative fiction of 2020 (generally pretty good, i really really liked the short story the currant dumas though)

The City We Became: speculative fiction novel about cities that become human (look. I know I've talked about this already. but jesus fuck goddamn christ i fucking LOVE neek i need to absorb him into my body. in a platonic way though. he is literally everything to me i think about him constantly. i guess there are other characters in the book too)

Iron Widow: fantasy with a strong Chinese influence (my lovely mutual @rootbeerrex recommended this to me and i finished it within 48 hours. really really good book, i can't wait to read the second one (i unfortunately left it at a friend's house and can't get it back until this weekend :/ )

finished a while ago but am still thinking about because it's so good

Symphony for the City of the Dead: biography of Dmitri Shostakovich, a Russian composer (OUGH i really really liked this one. it made me want to be friends with shostakovich which is maybe not the best thing for a historical work to be but makes for a very fun reading experience. also i just really love shostakovich's music so it was cool to learn the context in which it was written. this book was one of the few biographies i really loved, i don't usually go for them but this was worth it)

The Mars House: a sci-fi book about the politics between mars-born people and earth-born people (i'm putting it on this list because i really liked the worldbuilding and the first half but i wasn't a big fan of the ending tbh. january deserved better)

The Boy with a Bird in his Chest: a fantasy realism coming-of-age story about a boy named owen who literally has a bird living in his ribcage. it's also a metaphor for queerness though (RAFGHJGKFJFHGGHH i loved this book so much!!!!! i don't know why but it hits so hard. definitely made me sob at multiple points. probably gonna reread it as soon as i can. fantastic book. please read it)

Between The World and Me: nonfiction letter by Ta-Nehisi Coates to his son about the realities of being Black in america (incredible piece of literature, i think everyone should read it at least once. it's also inspired by Baldwin's Letter to My Nephew which is hands-down my favourite Baldwin essay, so that was cool!)

The Book Eaters: dark & gritty fantasy set in the UK, about several mysterious families who have the power to eat books and consume their contents. however, some rare children are born with a hunger not for books, but for human minds. (definitely a page-turner!! i couldn't set it down and i read it in like a day. horror/gritty fantasy isn't really my usual genre but it was really well done here)

Africa is Not a Country: nonfiction writing that pushes against preconceptions and stereotypes about Africa (OUGH. incredibly well-written and honestly necessary for today. also the author dipo faloyin is very funny and makes it engaging even when dealing with depressing history. on an unrelated note, did you know that approximately 90% of Sub-Saharan Africa's cultural artefacts are outside of the continent? anyways go read this book, then get mad about it, and then go do something about it.)

bonus: books i've already read before but reread recently

This Is How You Lose the Time War: a novella about two agents on the opposing sides of an interdimensional war who fall in love through time and space (i've read this once before but i recently got the chance to buy it on national indie bookstores day so obviously i leapt at the chance! and it is absolutely as good as i remembered)

Howl: this doesn't technically count as a book but i'm adding it in anyways because it's amazing. it's a long poem by Allen Ginsberg about outcasts from society and the Beat generation and liberation and it's fucking amazing. I've been rereading it a couple of lines at a time each morning, because i like making myself feel strong emotions first thing after i wake up. seriously though it's one of the most evocative pieces of writing i've read and also it makes me kind of want to carve it into my skin which is a normal response to good poetry for sure

The Anthropocene Reviewed: a collection of essays written by John Green, who used to work as a book reviewer, in which he reviews various products of humanity on a five-star rating, from diet dr. pepper to kentucky bluegrass to the notes app. (this is possibly my favourite book of all time <- lying because i am unable to choose just one favourite book :| however it is almost definitely my favourite nonfiction book, and i reread it as often as i can. it's a gorgeous study on humanity, both the good and the bad, and i absolutely think everyone should read this. i know I've said that about multiple of these books already but i really mean it for this one. my favorite essays are: academic decathlon, lascaux cave paintings, "new partner", and harvey)

okay that's it i'm done now! there's a lot more nonfiction on there than i usually read bc that was my new year's resolution and i'm actually enjoying it a lot! i just checked out this book on ancient Persia that i'm super excited to read :D also there's a lot of essays/anthologies which was not intentional, i don't know why i've been reading so many of those lately

anyways i would apologize for the sheer volume of this but you know me well enough by now to know better to expect me to have restraint. however i will apologize for the late response, life has been kicking my ass lately

[onlinemarketingcash4ublogspotcom]

How Flipboard and Threads are Using ActivityPub to Shape the Fediverse C...

[skysometric]

there's no place to call home on the fediverse

i've been using Mastodon since long before the implosion of Twitter brought it into the mainstream conscious. i'm a fan of the tech, in theory. i have my hangups, like the fact that switching servers means you lose all of your post history, or the many instances that still play social politics with each other. some of these problems are being worked on, others i've (usually) been able to work around.

but something else is festering lately, and it's more than just the usual social politics.

the promise of the fediverse is alluring: you can follow all of your friends on any other site, from the comfort of your home server! except, lately, that seems to be impossible. no matter what i try, there's always friends of mine that i cannot follow for one reason or another.

for example: i'm not a big fan of Meta's new Threads, but i know a few friends who use it exclusively – and the promise of interoperability with Mastodon means that, in theory, i could just follow my friends from my Mastodon account. win-win, right?

well, no, because my instance has outright blocked Threads. and so have most of the smaller instances i've seen. this is purposeful, because they are (understandably) distrustful of Meta and anything Meta touches.

no matter how much i sympathize, though, it does mean that i cannot follow my friends on Threads from Mastodon.

i mean, hey, i could switch back to the flagship instance mastodon.social! they've openly allowed access to Threads! but there's a problem with that too, because a lot of the smaller instances (that my friends are on) also block mastodon.social.

as to why, many of them cite the waves of spam and bots that harass other users on a daily basis – that kind of thing is hard to moderate on both ends, so i vaguely understand the intent behind this decision. (i do not understand most of the other reasons for blocking the largest instance on the fediverse and alienating folks from their friends, such as disliking its owner. but whatever.)

long story short, right now i am denied access to many of my friends – and if i switch servers, losing all of my post history in the process... i will still be denied access to many of my friends.

"so run your own server!"

okay, let's pretend that i have the spare resources to spin up a server, and the desire to be a sysadmin for that server. like let's just set aside the tech cost that most people cannot afford, just for one second, because there's a more glaring issue here:

i'd still get blocked from many of my friends.

know why?

because many servers AUTOMATICALLY BLOCK small instances with only one user, citing security concerns and data scraping!!

there is literally no right answer here. no matter what i do, i will not be able to follow all of my friends on Mastodon. it is an impossible problem.

many folks like to call Mastodon the Linux of social media and say that the reason it hasn't caught on is that it's too complicated to understand. but even as a techie who understands exactly what's going on, i find Mastodon an impossible to parse social graph of blocked instances and inter-server drama. as things stand, there is no person who can join a server and follow all of their friends – there will always be compromises.

all i want is to find a home on the fediverse... but every house is part of a homeowner's association that wants to secede from the city.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Privacy first

The internet is embroiled in a vicious polycrisis: child safety, surveillance, discrimination, disinformation, polarization, monopoly, journalism collapse – not only have we failed to agree on what to do about these, there's not even a consensus that all of these are problems.

But in a new whitepaper, my EFF colleagues Corynne McSherry, Mario Trujillo, Cindy Cohn and Thorin Klosowski advance an exciting proposal that slices cleanly through this Gordian knot, which they call "Privacy First":

https://www.eff.org/wp/privacy-first-better-way-address-online-harms

Here's the "Privacy First" pitch: whatever is going on with all of the problems of the internet, all of these problems are made worse by commercial surveillance.

Worried your kid is being made miserable through targeted ads? No surveillance, no targeting.

Worried your uncle was turned into a Qanon by targeted disinformation? No surveillance, no targeting. Worried that racialized people are being targeted for discriminatory hiring or lending by algorithms? No surveillance, no targeting.

Worried that nation-state actors are exploiting surveillance data to attack elections, politicians, or civil servants? No surveillance, no surveillance data.

Worried that AI is being trained on your personal data? No surveillance, no training data.

Worried that the news is being killed by monopolists who exploit the advantage conferred by surveillance ads to cream 51% off every ad-dollar? No surveillance, no surveillance ads.

Worried that social media giants maintain their monopolies by filling up commercial moats with surveillance data? No surveillance, no surveillance moat.

The fact that commercial surveillance hurts so many groups of people in so many ways is terrible, of course, but it's also an amazing opportunity. Thus far, the individual constituencies for, say, saving the news or protecting kids have not been sufficient to change the way these big platforms work. But when you add up all the groups whose most urgent cause would be significantly improved by comprehensive federal privacy law, vigorously enforced, you get an unstoppable coalition.

America is decades behind on privacy. The last really big, broadly applicable privacy law we passed was a law banning video-store clerks from leaking your porn-rental habits to the press (Congress was worried about their own rental histories after a Supreme Court nominee's movie habits were published in the Washington City Paper):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Privacy_Protection_Act

In the decades since, we've gotten laws that poke around the edges of privacy, like HIPAA (for health) and COPPA (data on under-13s). Both laws are riddled with loopholes and neither is vigorously enforced:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/09/how-to-make-a-child-safe-tiktok/

Privacy First starts with the idea of passing a fit-for-purpose, 21st century privacy law with real enforcement teeth (a private right of action, which lets contingency lawyers sue on your behalf for a share of the winnings):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/americans-deserve-more-current-american-data-privacy-protection-act

Here's what should be in that law:

A ban on surveillance advertising:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/ban-online-behavioral-advertising

Data minimization: a prohibition on collecting or processing your data beyond what is strictly necessary to deliver the service you're seeking.

Strong opt-in: None of the consent theater click-throughs we suffer through today. If you don't give informed, voluntary, specific opt-in consent, the service can't collect your data. Ignoring a cookie click-through is not consent, so you can just bypass popups and know you won't be spied on.

No preemption. The commercial surveillance industry hates strong state privacy laws like the Illinois biometrics law, and they are hoping that a federal law will pre-empt all those state laws. Federal privacy law should be the floor on privacy nationwide – not the ceiling:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/07/federal-preemption-state-privacy-law-hurts-everyone

No arbitration. Your right to sue for violations of your privacy shouldn't be waivable in a clickthrough agreement:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/04/stop-forced-arbitration-data-privacy-legislation

No "pay for privacy." Privacy is not a luxury good. Everyone deserves privacy, and the people who can least afford to buy private alternatives are most vulnerable to privacy abuses:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/10/why-getting-paid-your-data-bad-deal

No tricks. Getting "consent" with confusing UIs and tiny fine print doesn't count:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/02/designing-welcome-mats-invite-user-privacy-0

A Privacy First approach doesn't merely help all the people harmed by surveillance, it also prevents the collateral damage that today's leading proposals create. For example, laws requiring services to force their users to prove their age ("to protect the kids") are a privacy nightmare. They're also unconstitutional and keep getting struck down.

A better way to improve the kid safety of the internet is to ban surveillance. A surveillance ban doesn't have the foreseeable abuses of a law like KOSA (the Kids Online Safety Act), like bans on information about trans healthcare, medication abortions, or banned books:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/kids-online-safety-act-still-huge-danger-our-rights-online

When it comes to the news, banning surveillance advertising would pave the way for a shift to contextual ads (ads based on what you're looking at, not who you are). That switch would change the balance of power between news organizations and tech platforms – no media company will ever know as much about their readers as Google or Facebook do, but no tech company will ever know as much about a news outlet's content as the publisher does:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-ban-surveillance-advertising

This is a much better approach than the profit-sharing arrangements that are being trialed in Australia, Canada and France (these are sometimes called "News Bargaining Codes" or "Link Taxes"). Funding the news by guaranteeing it a share of Big Tech's profits makes the news into partisans for that profit – not the Big Tech watchdogs we need them to be. When Torstar, Canada's largest news publisher, struck a profit-sharing deal with Google, they killed their longrunning, excellent investigative "Defanging Big Tech" series.

A privacy law would also protect access to healthcare, especially in the post-Roe era, when Big Tech surveillance data is being used to target people who visit abortion clinics or secure medication abortions. It would end the practice of employers forcing workers to wear health-monitoring gadget. This is characterized as a "voluntary" way to get a "discount" on health insurance – but in practice, it's a way of punishing workers who refuse to let their bosses know about their sleep, fertility, and movements.

A privacy law would protect marginalized people from all kinds of digital discrimination, from unfair hiring to unfair lending to unfair renting. The commercial surveillance industry shovels endless quantities of our personal information into the furnaces that fuel these practices. A privacy law shuts off the fuel supply:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/digital-privacy-legislation-civil-rights-legislation

There are plenty of ways that AI will make our lives worse, but copyright won't fix it. For issues of labor exploitation (especially by creative workers), the answer lies in labor law:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/01/how-the-writers-guild-sunk-ais-ship/

And for many of AI's other harms, a muscular privacy law would starve AI of some of its most potentially toxic training data:

https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-updated-terms-to-use-customer-data-to-train-ai-2023-9

Meanwhile, if you're worried about foreign governments targeting Americans – officials, military, or just plain folks – a privacy law would cut off one of their most prolific and damaging source of information. All those lawmakers trying to ban Tiktok because it's a surveillance tool? What about banning surveillance, instead?

Monopolies and surveillance go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Some of the biggest tech empires were built on mountains of nonconsensually harvested private data – and they use that data to defend their monopolies. Legal privacy guarantees are a necessary precursor to data portability and interoperability:

https://www.eff.org/wp/interoperability-and-privacy

Once we are guaranteed a right to privacy, lawmakers and regulators can order tech giants to tear down their walled gardens, rather than relying on tech companies to (selectively) defend our privacy:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

The point here isn't that privacy fixes all the internet's woes. The policy is "privacy first," not "just privacy." When it comes to making a new, good internet, there's plenty of room for labor law, civil rights legislation, antitrust, and other legal regimes. But privacy has the biggest constituency, gets us the most bang for the buck, and has the fewest harmful side-effects. It's a policy we can all agree on, even if we don't agree on much else. It's a coalition in potentia that would be unstoppable in reality. Privacy first! Then – everything else!

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/2023/12/06/privacy-first/#but-not-just-privacy

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[is-the-battlemech-cool-or-not]

Third League Royals: A Guide to Building Standardized nuSLDF BattleMechs

"Third League Royal" is a term coined for refitted and modernized BattleMechs deployed by the Star League Defense Force (SLDF) of the Third Star League from 3151 onward, in the Touchdown AU.

These upgraded designs follow strict formatting guidelines to ensure interoperability, survivability, and networked warfare efficiency in the modern battlefield.

This guide outlines how to construct a Third League Royal using MegaMekLab (MML), with a focus on out-of-universe implementation.

Core Features of a Third League Royal:

1. Mixed Clan Techbase (Unofficial Rules Enabled):

All Third League Royals must use the Mixed Clan techbase.

The Unofficial Tech Level must be enabled in MML to permit these configurations.

Furthermore, under the Tech Progression tab in Options, you must enable "ignore intro/extinct years for Unofficial Tech Level units"

2. Nova CEWS or Equivalent EW Suite:

All standard Third League Royals mount the Nova Combined Electronic Warfare Suite. Usually placed in the head slot, unless:

a) The 'Mech has a traditional head-mounted system that takes priority.

and/or

b) A Small Command Console cockpit is in use.

Exceptions:

Recon or command-focused 'Mechs may instead mount:

a) Clan ECM Suite (fluffed as "Archangel ECM").

and/or

b) Clan Active Probe (fluffed as "Wolfhound Active Probe").

3. Small Cockpits & Command Consoles:

All units use Small Cockpit technology.

Command variants use the Small Command Console Cockpit.

Ensure the cockpit is armored via the Assign Criticals tab in MML.

4. Armored Cowl Equipment:

All designs must mount an Armored Cowl in the head.

Must be armored via the Assign Criticals tab.

5. Clan-Tech Modernization of Legacy Loadouts:

Loadouts should (but do not have to) resemble previous variants of the 'Mech.

Upgrade to Clan equipment wherever appropriate:

IS Medium Lasers → Clan ER Medium Lasers.

IS Gauss Rifle → Clan Gauss Rifle or HAG.

LRM/SRM systems → Clan ATM or Streak launchers.

6. IS Composite Structure:

Must be selected under Structure.

7. Clan Double Heat Sinks:

Exclusively use Clan Double Heat Sinks.

Install as many as the design allows to minimize heat buildup (see below for Quirks that will effect the final number).

8. Supercharger Optimization:

Optional but recommended for weight efficiency:

Downgrade engine rating by one step.

Add a Supercharger to restore original speed.

Example: 300-rated engine → 285-rated + Supercharger.

9. Quirks:

a) Add the following universal Quirks (in addition to any original ones):

Battle Computer (replaces Command Mek Quirk if present on base model)

Combat Computer (+4 sunk per turn on top of normal heat sinks - not shown in MML UI, total heat/heat sunk must be manually calculated)

Cowl

Easy to Pilot

Extended Torso Twist

Improved Communications

Improved Sensors

Multi-Trac

Variable Range Targeting

b) If Jump Jets are present, add:

Reinforced Legs

c) Weapon and AMS Quirks:

i) All weapons (energy, ballistic, missile) must have:

Accurate Weapon

Improved Cooling Jacket (reduces individual weapon heat by one - not shown in MML UI, total heat/heat sunk must be manually calculated)

ii) All AMS types must have:

Directional Torso Mounted Weapon

d) Negative Quirks of the original design should be removed unless given a compelling lore reason.

10) Additional Design Notes:

a) Armor Allocation: Prioritize maximum armor where weight allows, using Clan Ferro-Fibrous or Ferro-Lamellor if possible.

b) CASE II: Highly recommended for Clan ammo-fed weaponry.

c) Head Slot Limitations: If both Nova CEWS and Command Console are needed, prioritize the Command Console and shift Nova to an alternate location.

The Third League Royal format creates a high-performance, standardized set of BattleMechs optimized for 32nd-century mixed-technology, survival-focused, network-centric warfare. By following this guide in MegaMekLab, players can build compliant 'Mechs that reflect the Third Star League's vision of a modern, networked military. Whether deploying a reimagined Atlas or a revitalized Shadow Hawk, your 'Mech will carry the legacy of the Star League forward—into the next era of warfare.

[innonurse]

Opinion: Tailored solutions are needed to overcome behavioral health interoperability challenges in the US

- By InnoNurse Staff -

Behavioral health (BH) care in the U.S. faces significant interoperability challenges, including manual reporting, siloed systems, and inconsistent data standards, all of which create administrative burdens and delay patient care.

To address these issues, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are investing over $20 million in developing BH data standards (USCDI+) over the next three years.

However, implementing these standards nationwide is difficult due to varying technological capabilities across states and providers. Solutions must be customized based on the specific workflows and needs of each region, believes Carter Powers, a public health technology partner for the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (BHA).

For example, Colorado created a centralized registry to streamline medication-assisted treatment (MAT) admissions by automating intake processes. Meanwhile, Michigan used telehealth to overcome geographic and transportation barriers to BH care. Both states highlight the importance of tailored solutions for addressing local challenges, but what works in one area may not work everywhere.

Overall, a one-size-fits-all approach to BHIT interoperability is likely inadequate. State health administrations and providers must collaborate on tailored solutions that address their unique technological needs to ensure successful and sustainable data exchange.

Read more at MedCity News

///

Other recent news and insights

German healthtech startup Family.cards secures €1.2 million to enhance digital accessibility for seniors (EU-Startups)

EGYM secures $200 million in growth funding to advance its fitness technology initiatives (Athletech News)

New data shows BD’s AI software is highly effective in identifying indicators of controlled substance diversion (PRNewswire/quantisnow)

AI technology may predict breast cancer risk by detecting 'zombie cells.' (Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences University of Copenhagen)

[thoughtportal]

Every person who uses the internet should read this book!

The Internet Con How to Seize the Means of Computation By Cory Doctorow

The platforms locked us into their systems and made us easy pickings, ripe for extraction. Twitter, Facebook and other Big Tech platforms hard to leave by design. They hold hostage the people we love, the communities that matter to us, the audiences and customers we rely on. The impossibility of staying connected to these people after you delete your account has nothing to do with technological limitations: it’s a business strategy in service to commodifying your personal life and relationships. We can – we must – dismantle the tech platforms. In The Internet Con, Cory Doctorow explains how to seize the means of computation, by forcing Silicon Valley to do the thing it fears most: interoperate. Interoperability will tear down the walls between technologies, allowing users leave platforms, remix their media, and reconfigure their devices without corporate permission. Interoperability is the only route to the rapid and enduring annihilation of the platforms. The Internet Con is the disassembly manual we need to take back our internet.