Notices by Christine Hall (brideoflinux@mastodon.opencloud.lu), page 8

"It turns out that kidnapping celebrated foreign PhD students in broad daylight for writing mild criticism of their own university is not even remotely constitutional or reasonable. Thankfully, a judge has now freed her and made it quite clear that nothing the government is weakly arguing in this case makes any sense at all": Judge To ICE: No, You Can’t Actually Kidnap Students For Writing Op-Eds https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/09/judge-to-ice-no-you-cant-actually-kidnap-students-for-writing-op-eds/

That's because Google wants to keep all the data stealing to itself: Google is using machine learning to help Android users avoid unwanted and dangerous notifications https://betanews.com/2025/05/09/google-is-using-machine-learning-to-help-android-users-avoid-unwanted-and-dangerous-notifications/

"While data centers are commonly measured by power consumption, this metric alone doesn’t tell the full story of a facility’s true operational capacity": Beyond Megawatts: Rethinking How We Measure Data Center Capacity https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/energy-power-supply/beyond-megawatts-rethinking-how-we-measure-data-center-capacity

Musk’s security personnel, many visibly armed, and their vehicles have disrupted the tranquil street, and the prospect of his return from Washington has some worried over more than Musk’s failure to obtain construction permits. “If you follow him at all in the news, he’s always guilty of building stuff and then asking for permission later": Musk clashes with neighbors in exclusive Austin suburb | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/05/musk-clashes-with-neighbors-in-exclusive-austin-suburb/

Most of you already understand this, so this is a primer for folks either catching up or learning up: Why Flatpak Apps Use So Much Disk Space On Linux - OSTechNix https://ostechnix.com/why-flatpak-apps-use-so-much-disk-space/

Uber seems to be making autonomous vehicle deals all over the place. If I were earning my living as a Uber driver, I think I'd be getting nervous about now and figure that my job might be soon taken by automation: Uber's latest autonomous vehicle partner? Chinese startup Momenta | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/02/ubers-latest-autonomous-vehicle-partner-chinese-startup-momenta/

Futureproofing. Now, there's a word that would never have occurred to my parents' generation: Futureproofing Data Center Security for the AI Era https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/physical-security/futureproofing-data-center-security-for-the-ai-era

"Tech bosses don't actually like workers. You can tell by the way they treat the workers they don't fear. Sure, Tim Cook's engineers get beer-fattened, chestnut finished and massaged like Kobe cows, but Cook's factory workers in China are so maltreated that they had to install suicide nets to reduce the spatter from workers who would rather die than put in another hour at Tim Apple's funtime distraction rectangle factory:" The enshittification of tech jobs https://pluralistic.net/2025/04/27/some-animals/#are-more-equal-than-others

"One of the requirements for digital entries in these game jams is that they be playable in the browser, which puts a limit on just how graphically ambitious they can get. But A Warning pushes that limit to its breaking point, in service of a striking aesthetic built around a selection of Disney animated shorts from 1929 combined with lighting effects and a 3D-rendered interface": Game Jam Winner Spotlight: A Warning https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/26/game-jam-winner-spotlight-a-warning/

The article doesn't make clear that this is available for Linux as a Flatpak or AppImage. It's open source, based on Firefox. I'm going to install it this weekend and give it a try. I'll let you know: Discovering Zen Browser: A Calmer Internet, A Better Me, Best Productive Web Browser in 2025 https://medevel.com/discovering-zen-browser-a-calmer-internet-a-better-me-best-web-browser-2/

"The yesterday was hosted by the Responsible Tech Youth Power Fund, a grant initiative to support youth organizations working to shape the future of technology. The duke’s foundation, Archewell, co-founded with his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, funded the second cohort of RTYPF grantees, alongside names like Pinterest and Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Ventures": Prince Harry meets, funds youth groups advocating for social media and AI safety | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/25/prince-harry-meets-funds-youth-advocating-for-social-media-and-ai-safety/

"It’s affordable, deeply customizable, and very analog. It has manual windows and it doesn’t come with a main infotainment screen. Heck, it isn’t even painted. It can also transform from a two-seater pickup to a five-seater SUV": Bezos-backed Slate Auto debuts analog EV pickup truck that is decidedly anti-Tesla | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/bezos-backed-slate-auto-debuts-analog-ev-pickup-truck-that-is-decidedly-anti-tesla/

"“I didn’t code. I majored in polyscience, speech communications, and the only thing I’d ever built was a failed [congressional] campaign,” she said, referring to when she tried running for Congress and lost. (She was the first Indian-American to run for Congress back in 2010): Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani spills business tea with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/15/girls-who-code-founder-reshma-saujani-spills-business-tea-with-meghan-duchess-of-sussex/

"Rather than encourage users to reuse perfectly functional hardware with open-source alternatives like openSUSE, the suggestion to discard it not only perpetuates environmental harm, it completely ignores the thriving world of Linux distributions. This Forbes article promotes a false choice between buying new hardware or getting rid of it": Replace Windows, Not Your Device https://news.opensuse.org/2025/04/14/replace-windows-not-your-device/

"Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter (now X) and Square (now Block), sparked a weekend’s worth of debate around intellectual property, patents, and copyright, with a characteristically terse post declaring, 'delete all IP law.' X’s current owner Elon Musk quickly replied, 'I agree.'" Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk would like to ‘delete all IP law’ | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/13/jack-dorsey-and-elon-musk-would-like-to-delete-all-ip-law/

Even more to help you with your distro shopping: Best Linux distros for reviving an old PC https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/best-linux-distros-for-reviving-an-old-pc

I still think carbon credits are basically a scam: Microsoft inks massive carbon removal deal powered by a paper mill | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/11/microsoft-inks-massive-carbon-removal-deal-thats-powered-by-a-paper-mill/

"It seems Trump has an unlimited appetite for stripping people of security clearances they don’t hold. Or perhaps Trump’s handlers have figured out these EOs will provide an endless supply of dopamine hits that make the care and feeding of a malignant narcissist easier": Trump's Latest Weaponization Is about Historic Loyalty Oaths as Much as Current Ones - emptywheel https://www.emptywheel.net/2025/04/10/trumps-latest-weaponization-is-about-historic-loyalty-oaths-as-much-as-current-ones/

"While renewable energy capacity is set to increase, the intermittent supplies provided by wind and solar won’t be sufficient, a new report indicates": AI Data Center Growth Means More Coal and Gas Plants, IEA Says https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/sustainability/ai-data-center-growth-means-more-coal-and-gas-plants-iea-says

"The software translates the audio into narrative, and officers are expected to read through the report carefully to edit it, add details, and verify it for authenticity. Moreover, because the technology relies on audio from body-worn cameras, it often misses visual components of the story that the officer then has to add themselves": Anchorage Police Department: AI-Generated Police Reports Don’t Save Time https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/03/anchorage-police-department-ai-generated-police-reports-dont-save-time/