Continuwuity - a self-hostable Matrix Homeserver - just got a new release.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/7562103

In China, accounting for roughly 90 per cent of global rare earth refining capacity, a typical rare earth processing plant employs hundreds of workers moving through networks of large chemical tanks which is often hazardous work. In the Canadian facility, this process will instead be controlled by an AI-based operating system.

Archived link

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Since 2020, the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), a government-supported research organisation, has been building a rare earth processing facility funded by the provincial government of Saskatchewan and the federal government of Canada.

The plant covers the entire chain from mineral concentrate to finished metal. It includes hydrometallurgy, chemical separation and metal smelting – all based on proprietary technologies developed in-house. The system was designed with a focus on operator safety and reduced environmental exposure to hazardous substances.

The facility is expected to be substantially completed in September 2026 and commissioned by December of the same year. After a ramp-up period, full operations are planned for 2027.

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One of the most technically demanding parts of rare earth production is separating up to 17 chemically similar elements.

In many Chinese plants, this work involves more than 200 workers manually adjusting valves and chemical flows across large separation systems.

At the Saskatchewan facility, much of the process will instead be controlled by an AI-based operating system. The system continuously analyses thousands of data points and adjusts the process in real time.

The goal is to reduce waste, limit worker exposure to hazardous chemicals, and improve metal purity.

The facility is intentionally smaller than major Chinese plants, with roughly 25 to 30 per cent of the capacity of a full-scale refinery. For now, it functions largely as a demonstration plant for new processing technology.

Despite its size, developers say it can already produce high-purity rare earth metals.

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First, sorry for the long post and billion questions (and hopefully it’s ok in this community? I saw a couple multiple-question posts without one in the title but I might have misunderstood the rule)

So, my PC is running W10 with ESU, and I’m very paranoid about… most things really, but the relevant one here is malware. I don’t just randomly download stuff from the internet, but I know you can get malware even without consciously doing that, and even though I have an AV (Bitdefender Free) I’m hesitant to just stay on W10 after the free ESU ends. But there’s no way in hell I’m switching to 11.

So, besides staying on regular W10, my main options would be Linux or W10 LTSC. And I have various questions regarding these three choices.

I consider myself relatively tech savvy compared to the average person, but definitely ignorant on the matter compared to the average Lemmy user. So it’s not exactly an ELI5, but definitely an ELI15 or something.

I also have access to a different, W11 PC that I could use as “testing environment”.

Option 1: Switching to Linux

Even regardless of security updates, Microsoft is getting on my nerves and I’ve been telling myself I need to switch to Linux or at least dual-boot for a while, but there’s various things making me question it:

(For most purposes, “Linux” here refers to Mint since that’s usually the one I see recommended for beginners, but if other distros work better for certain aspects I’d appreciate to know)

1a - Is there no file system that works perfectly on both Linux and Windows? I could technically dual-boot using two different drives, but what if I need to access/move files between two drives with different file systems? Which issues would I face if, say, one is NTFS and the other is ext4? I think all of my drives are currently in NTFS, would I have to reformat everything to safely access them from Linux without worrying about data/metadata loss?

1b - I read that to open an .exe on Linux I would have to do it through WINE, and that there’s a database to check compatibility of individual programs with it, but are the worst compatibility issues just “the program doesn’t open”, or can a compatibility issue result in data loss/corruption too?

1c - I’m currently using Firefox on Windows, is it possible to copy all my settings and data (browsing history included) from the Windows version to the Linux one?

1d - Other than specific .exe without WINE compatibility, are there any relatively common file types which can’t be opened with Linux that I should be aware of? (Mostly talking about picture/video/audio/text files, compressed archives or similar).

1e - What can I mess up by testing an USB live version? Are there any things I should be careful about? I’ve heard “changes aren’t saved”, but that’s referring only to OS configuration, right? And, going back to file systems, can I even access the data that’s on my NTFS drive from a live version or would I just be working with the stuff inside the USB?

1f - I read often that “you can’t get viruses on Linux”, but that’s mostly because they’re not developed specifically for it, so you might “get” them but they won’t work, right? If I dual boot, is there the chance that I get a malware while browsing with Linux and then it infects my pc when I boot Windows (even without consciously opening unknown .exe files)?

1g - Which Pc components should I pay attention to because they/their drivers might not work on Linux? Is there a site/tool that can check if my current hardware would have any issues? (For example, I have a Nvidia graphics card and I think I read that might be a problem?)

Option 2: Windows 10 LTSC

Linux would be the ideal, but if I get too paranoid or can’t invest enough time in it to figure how it works before October, my second choice would be W10 LTSC, since from what I understood, that one has much more extended security updates. I do have my share of doubts about it too, though:

2a - I heard there’s various different versions of W10 LTSC (IoT or not, RTM, 2021, I think there’s even an Enterprise version that isn’t LTSC?), but what are the actual differences? Is one version objectively better than the others?

2b - I know LTSC is meant to be used in a “company environment”, but are there any downsides to it compared to the Home version? Does it have some hard limitations on what can I do with it? (For example, can I play every Steam game currently supported by regular W10 on it?)

2c - The main place where I’m finding LTSC information is Massgrave, is the procedure to keep files on their page safe/advised or should I backup and format just in case? And after doing that, can I activate it with a Key bought from a third-party site? (I heard their Activation Script isn’t 100% perfect, and keys are not that expensive anyway)

Option 3: Regular Windows 10

If both Linux and LTSC end up being too overwhelming to trust myself with, the only choice left would be to stay on W10 with Bitdefender, at least for my main PC. Though I’m still pretty anxious about malware:

3 - I initially thought that you could get malware only by consciously downloading files, opening mail attachments, going on uncertified sites or plugging in infected devices, but apparently there’s some types of malware that can infect your PC without you consciously doing anything? (For example, I read the WannaCry attack affected even machines that did none of the above?) Is there nothing you can do to prevent this from happening on an unsupported OS besides “not connecting it to the internet at all”? Is this just not a viable choice if I don’t want to risk losing my files or having my data stolen?

Even getting some of these answered would be great, and of course, if you think I have some misconceptions that need to be corrected I’d love if you did so, thanks in advance!

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday voiced solidarity with Spain following recent threats by US President Donald Trump over Madrid's stance on Iran.

Macron has just spoken with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez “to express France’s European solidarity in response to the recent threats of economic coercion that Spain was targeted with yesterday," the French Presidency told broadcaster BFMTV.

European Council President Antonio Costa also expressed the EU's solidarity with Madrid and noted that the bloc "will always ensure that the interests of its Member States are fully protected."

Hello everyone!

Journiv is a self-hosted private journaling application that puts you in complete control of your personal reflections. Built with privacy and simplicity at its core, Journiv offers comprehensive journaling capabilities including mood tracking, prompt-based journaling, media uploads, analytics, and advanced search. All while keeping your data on your own infrastructure.

Journiv beta.21 is out with many new requested features:

• Daylio Import (#58). Watch demo
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Learn More

• Spin up Journiv
• Github
• Watch other demo videos
• Want to just try a demo? https://demo.almostadatacenter.com/ (Thanks to JasonFieldz for hosting a demo instance): username: demo@test.com password: Demo1234

The EU unveiled Wednesday new "Made in Europe" rules to bolster the bloc's industries against fierce competition from China in a push held up for months by wrangling over measures some see as overly protectionist.

Woke: Vibrator Coding Apps

I saw this movie...

Democrat Alex Holladay is projected to win the special election to represent Arkansas’s House District 70, edging out Republican Bo Renshaw, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Arkansas is clearly one of the nation’s more reliably red states, but Holladay was running in a politically quirky area: According to calculations from The Downballot, Donald Trump carried this district by 4 points in 2020, but Kamala Harris won the same district by 2 points in the 2024 cycle.

Arkansas is a difficult state for Democrats to win for many reasons. However, just like with any other red state there are purple and blue pockets. One of those purple districts was Arkansas HD-70, which MVP Harris won by a +2 margin in 2024. The GOP incumbent won this seat 51%-49% at the same time.

It seems that class takes a backseat in discourse, even in Marxist-Leninist spaces. Also, it seems that the reliance on "civilian groups" seems to backfire a lot, especially in American politics, since it allows corporate influence, as well as other opportunists, to take control of certain services and departments of the government. I will say that the German government during the 1930s seems just as incompetent as the current fascist movements today... but that they can still get into power and subdue other bourgeois factions is noteworthy.

Also, yeah, the Nazis are portrayed as more "competent" than how they actually were.

What do you think of the video?

About 30 minutes long; mostly talking.

Paywall? https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/spains-sanchez-reiterates-opposition-to-iran-war-after-trump-threatens-trade-halt-0b8c33d7

It is not too late https://www.forbrukerradet.no/breakingfree

i dont want to do another day in the shit my pants factory

Military clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan continued for a fifth day Tuesday, in a conflict with potentially major implications for South Asian and world geopolitics.

Pakistan has carried out waves of air and missile strikes, including on Kabul and other targets deep inside Afghanistan, since it announced last Friday, February 27, that it was launching “open war” on its smaller, northwestern neighbour. Pakistani forces have also attacked numerous Afghan positions along the 2,640-kilometer (1,640 miles) Durand Line, a British Empire-imposed border that Kabul has never recognized.

Afghanistan’s Taliban regime has countered with drone strikes and cross-border assaults. Both sides are boasting that they have killed hundreds of rival soldiers. Kabul is alleging Pakistan’s aerial war has resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties.

Most foreign governments, including those of China, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have appealed to the two sides to immediately cease hostilities and negotiate a settlement.

The United States led by the would-be fascist dictator Donald Trump administration is not among them. Endorsing Islamabad’s war narrative, the US State Department has declared Washington’s “support for Pakistan’s right to defend itself against incursions from the Taliban, which is designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization.”

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In an incredible, bittersweet success story, Croatia has announced it has freed itself from the scourge of landmines, 31 years after the country’s civil war.