cross-posted from: https://lemmings.world/post/34356091

Offline-first apps promise instant loading and privacy, but in practice, very few apps get offline support because getting sync right is surprisingly hard.

https://marcobambini.substack.com/p/why-local-first-apps-havent-become

TIL about the "Mar-a-Lago face" a bold plastic surgery and fashion trend popular among American conservative and Republican circles. It’s characterized by "detectable" facial modifications, including exaggerated Botox, visible fillers, extreme tanning, fake eyelashes, dark smokey eyes, and full lips. The look is often seen as a status symbol and a way to signal political allegiance, inspired by figures in Donald Trump’s inner circle. The trend is so distinctive that it’s been described as a “visual shorthand” for wealth, power, and identity within these groups.

Meet Cute is a feature that takes the indecision out of online dating by automatically matching you with a surprise match based on our personalized matching algorithm. Choose to chat with your match or unmatch to pass on the conversation.

Dating Assistant allows users to go beyond traditional traits like height or education, allowing you to enter unique prompts tailored to what you’re looking for. For example, you can write “Find me a Brooklyn girl in tech” and the dating assistant will help you with your search. You can use the assistant to provide dating ideas or help you level up your profile.

Source: Meta Newsroom.

Thousands of workers and students across Italy joined a general strike and widespread demonstrations on Monday in solidarity with the Palestinians living in Gaza.

Italy’s grassroots unions called for a 24-hour general strike in both public and private sectors, predominantly affecting public transport, trains, schools and ports.

More details and pictures (in Italian)

• Hacker News;
• Lobsters.

Even as criticism of Israel ramps up and a growing number of countries say they’ll recognize a Palestinian state, concrete actions remain limited.

• Hacker News.

I wonder what presents he's got for me?

Nvidia Announcement.

• Hacker News.

Project at https://github.com/jaemzware/stuffedanimalwar

Try a live example at https://stuffedanimalwar.com:55556/fromkittehwithlove

Sort of a modern twist on BBS. Every new user will not see what was done previously, but stick around and enjoy the chaos.

• Hacker News.

Found this while surfing the webz, thought you might it as interesting and amusing as I did. Hopefully it's not too OT.

It's a mix of piracy history, code golfing, free speech activism, art, digital community, and general ingenuity that ends up being a critique of digital copyright under the DMCA. Also found the quote at the end of the table to be sadly still very relevant.

As long as I am mayor of this city [Jersey City, New Jersey] the great industries are secure. We hear about constitutional rights, free speech and the free press. Every time I hear these words I say to myself, That man is a Red, that man is a Communist. You never hear a real American talk like that. -- Frank "I am the law" Hague (1896-1956)

The United States is considering imposing sanctions as soon as this week against the entire International Criminal Court, putting the court's day-to-day operations in jeopardy in retaliation for investigations of suspected Israeli war crimes.

Washington has already imposed targeted sanctions on several prosecutors and judges at the court, but naming the court itself in the sanctions list would be a major escalation.

Six sources with knowledge of the matter, all speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic issue that has not been publicly announced, said a decision on such "entity sanctions" was expected soon.
A source said court officials had already held emergency internal meetings to discuss the impact of potential blanket sanctions. Two other sources said meetings had also been held of court member state diplomats.

One U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed that entity-wide sanctions were being weighed but did not elaborate on the timing of the possible move.

A State Department spokesperson accused the court of asserting what it said was its "purported jurisdiction" over U.S. and Israeli personnel and said that Washington was going to take further steps although the spokesperson did not say exactly what.

"It (the ICC) has the opportunity to change course by making critical and appropriate structural changes. The U.S. will take additional steps to protect our brave service members and others as long as the ICC continues to present a threat to our national interests," the spokesperson said.

SALARIES PAID IN ADVANCE

Sanctions applied to the court as an entity could affect its basic day-to-day operations, from its ability to pay its staff, to its access to bank accounts and routine office software on its computers.

To mitigate the potential damage, ICC staff received salaries this month in advance for the rest of 2025, three sources said, though this is not the first time the court has paid wages in advance as a precaution in case of sanctions.

The court is also seeking alternative suppliers for banking services and software, three sources said.
The ICC, based in The Hague, has indicted Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as figures from the Hamas militant group, for alleged crimes committed during the Gaza war.
Washington has previously targeted court officials with sanctions for their roles in those cases and in a separate investigation into suspected crimes in Afghanistan, which initially had looked at actions by U.S. troops.

ICC STATES PUSH BACK AT UN

Three diplomatic sources said some of the ICC's 125 member countries would try to push back against additional U.S. sanctions during a U.N. General Assembly in New York this week.

But all indications are that Washington will scale up its attack on the ICC, four diplomatic sources in The Hague and New York said.

"The road of individual sanctions has been exhausted. It is now more about when, rather than if, they will take the next step," a senior diplomat said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called the court "a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare" against the United States and its ally Israel.

The court was founded in 2002 under a treaty giving it jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes that were either committed by a citizen of a member state or had taken place on a member's territory.
Israel and the United States are not members. The court recognizes the state of Palestine as a member and has ruled that this gives it jurisdiction over actions on Palestinian territory. Israel and the United States reject this.

In February, the White House imposed sanctions on the court's lead prosecutor, Karim Khan, who had requested the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. Khan is on leave amid an ongoing investigation into sexual misconduct allegations which he denies.