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The Pornhub Bans Are Not About Keeping Kids Safe | …frankly this goes for most online safety regulation…
…except for the bits which are about parents not wanting to accept partial responsibility for their children’s actions: https://uk.pcmag.com/security/156095/the-pornhub-bans-are-not-about-keeping-kids-safe
Fediverse reactions
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Smuggled Starlink devices allegedly used to defy India’s internet shutdowns | The Guardian
The internet is a dual use technology: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/03/elon-musks-starlink-satellites-allegedly-used-to-defy-indias-internet-shutdowns
Fediverse reactions
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One person’s “over-engineering” is another person’s “…this error or elision would have been obvious to anyone who had actually thought about the problem for ten minutes”
I can’t count the number of times…
Fediverse reactions
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Soviet era Kerosene Lamp Generator gives new meaning to “Let’s fire up the radio!” | The SWLing Post
Tech finds a way: https://swling.com/blog/2020/05/soviet-era-kerosene-lamp-generator-gives-new-meaning-to-lets-fire-up-the-radio/
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Terry Pratchett interview in Adventurer 11 (June/July 1987) | Stuffed Crocodile
This is a must-read, albeit poring over scans of an old gaming zine; you really get a sense of where TP was at that point in his life, just before Mort came out: “Before I could stop myself I was typing ‘The First Universal Church of the Cosmic Confidence Trick’ This is a nutty sect
Fediverse reactions
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Critics decry Vietnam’s ‘draconian’ new internet law | Vietnam | The Guardian | …I am honestly wondering what @getyoti thinks of how Digital ID is being used in Vietnam
Social media users will need to verify their identities under new decree 147, prompting fears it will undermine expression and expose anonymous dissidents The law, which comes into force on Christmas Day, will compel tech companies operating in Vietnam to store user data, provide it to authorities on request, and remove content the government regards
Fediverse reactions
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I wish I could believe that this good news was the result of HMG walking-back from the precipice of “if it moves, regulate it”, but instead…
…instead I reckon that it’s the result of safety pressure groups fearing that their ball would be taken away from them resulting in a fundamental loss of opportunity to complain:
Fediverse reactions
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Getting it in early…
Normal service will resume later this week, including a backlog of posts that have been pointless to publish in the gap between Christmas & New Year. Happy New Year to Everyone. See you soon.
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Cost of false positives | Kellan Elliott-McCrea: Blog
Kevin Marks (q.v.) introduced me to Kellan’s Paradox of False Positives in Social Media, which predates the themes I explored in Billion Grains of Rice by 5+ years: https://laughingmeme.org//2011/07/23/cost-of-false-positives/ Via: https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmarks.com/post/3lefwdts3n225
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An Earth-Rocking Cosmic Explosion Turns 20 | Scientific American
An excellent read for people who have a scientific bent and would like to reflect upon gratitude at this time of year: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-earth-rocking-cosmic-explosion-turns-20/
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Potatoes: Chinese state propaganda in mainstream TV
I did not know this, but we can look forward to such controls being imposed (misused or otherwise) on social media if various safety groups intent upon imposing control on public speech, get their way. If you’re watching the Chinese drama Blossom you know that it’s a cinematically filmed romance with two gorgeous leads and
Fediverse reactions