Alexandru @codrut@social.privacytools.io

Everyone who considers themselves aware of #Amazon's societal detriment should repeat this challenge:

https://gizmodo.com/i-tried-to-block-amazon-from-my-life-it-was-impossible-1830565336

Would be cool if we could game it - the person who empowers Amazon the least for a year wins a bag of reddit gold.. (oh shit, can't be that).. wins an anonymous #Signal account (oh shit, no).. okay, we give them a dirt hut in the middle of the Amazon forest with no internet service.

France and Germany agree to block Facebook's Libra

https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/d46a6l/france_and_germany_agree_to_block_facebooks_libra/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-cryptocurrency-france-german-idUSKCN1VY1XU

10 years ago I started using ad blockers because I thought ads were annoying. Now I think that's the _least_ important reason to use them.

I think we should call them "browser firewalls." That more accurately describes their purpose.

The computers on the Voyager probes have over 40 years of uptime, and have been patched at distances measured in light-hours. How?

Reliability, redundancy, reconfigurability.

Radiation-hardened parts, cross-connectible backups, all memory is RAM.

They've patched 'em to have better data compression and more efficient forward error correction as distance resulted in reduced bandwidth.

Can cache data when there's no signal. Have turned off instruments to save power.

#StrangeLoop
https://thestrangeloop.com/2019/uptime-15-364-days---the-computers-of-voyager.html

Privacy and Security
UK Government Plans to Collect 'Targeted and Personalized' Data on Internet Users to Prepare For Brexit: Report https://gizmodo.com/uk-government-plans-to-collect-targeted-and-personalize-1838005616

La folie du smartphone, un poison pour la planète

Chaque année, des milliards de nouveaux smartphones toujours plus performants sont proposés par les fabricants. Mais, derrière l’attrait pour une haute technologie aseptisée se cachent de lourdes pollutions et des conséquences sociales dramatiques

https://reporterre.net/La-folie-du-smartphone-un-poison-pour-la-planete

Google Employees Say Their Careers Were Stymied After Reporting Harassment and Discrimination https://jezebel.com/google-employees-say-their-careers-were-stymied-after-r-1837981794

Chinese Government Reportedly Hacks Telecoms and Smartphones to Track Uyghur Population https://gizmodo.com/chinese-government-reportedly-hacks-telecoms-and-smartp-1837898564

Google Maps Is Still Directing Women Seeking Abortions to Pro-Life Clinics — and a Memorial for the ‘Unborn’ https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ywap9b/google-maps-is-still-directing-women-seeking-abortions-to-pro-life-clinics-and-a-memorial-for-the-unborn

The air conditioning trap: how cold air is heating the world https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/29/the-air-conditioning-trap-how-cold-air-is-heating-the-world

Be careful what you share with Google, or indeed any provider who collects and holds your data: https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/28/20836855/reverse-location-search-warrant-dragnet-bank-robbery-fbi