cross-posted from : https://anarchist.nexus/c/technology/p/436078/dutch-authorities-allegedly-seize-vpn-server-without-a-warrant-company-claims-that-la

The authorities apparently got tired of asking and just went in themselves.

Canada-based Windscribe, a VPN provider, just said that one of its European servers has been allegedly seized by Dutch authorities without a warrant. According to the company’s post on X, law enforcement said that they will return it to the service provider after they “fully analyze it.” It’s unclear why law enforcement impounded just a single rack from Windscribe’s cabinet, but the VPN provider said that it only uses RAM disk servers, meaning anyone who would look through the installed SSDs would only find a stock Ubuntu install on it, so the servers shouldn't hold any trackable data.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/54980020

THE ESCALATING COST of living keeps making headlines and inspiring furious Reddit threads. Food prices remain a flashpoint, especially when it comes to coffee. But behind every grocery store gripe lies a deeper unease about whether wages are keeping up and the tariffs that continue to dominate economic news.

But the fixation on tariffs and inflation obscures a different shift revolutionizing pricing: algorithms. The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project warns automated tools are reshaping what Canadians are charged for essential goods and services, including groceries and fuel. Companies can now use software to tailor prices based on everything from our browsing patterns, location, loyalty history, device type, and operating system. The same item can appear at one amount for you and another for someone else, depending on who you are, when you see it online, and what the algorithm believes you are willing to pay.

Here’s how it works. Companies gather data from many routine digital touchpoints: web and app tracking (cookies, pixels, and device fingerprinting), geolocation from phones and browsers, and in-store sensors. Also involved are data brokers who sell detailed consumer profiles combining demographics, purchase histories, and online behaviour. After the initial lure with attractive benefits and promises of discounts, (“the hook”), you’re handed over to a surveillance infrastructure that mines data about your behaviour and willingness to pay (“the hack”) and then raises fees, cuts rewards, and traps you in the program by making cancellation difficult (“the hike”).

A federal statement announcing Jeffrey's Epstein's death in prison was dated the day before he was found dead hanging in his cell.

The document released by the US Department of Justice in the latest set of the Epstein Files describes Epstein being found unresponsive in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in Manhattan, where he was declared dead.

However it is dated Friday, August 9, 2019, while prison records and official document show it was not until August 10, 2019, that a corrections officer delivering breakfast found Epstein unresponsive in his cell.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/57350918

A flood of "fake NZ news" pages are swamping social media with misleading slop, including using AI to animate still photos of a Mount Maunganui landslide victim.

Dodgy Facebook pages devoted to churning out AI-generated images and videos are almost unavoidable on the site now - and they're still fooling an awful lot of people.

In an investigation I conducted for the Australian Associated Press, a Facebook page calling itself "NZ News Hub" - which has no connection whatsoever to the now-defunct Newshub - has been pushing out dozens of posts a week that take the legitimate reporting by news organisations including RNZ, the New Zealand Herald, Stuff and others, and add sloppy AI-generated images or videos to them.

In one case, a video was posted that grotesquely animates a still photo of a 15-year-old Mount Maunganui landslide victim, making her appear to dance.

The page's bio proclaims "NZ News Hub brings you the latest New Zealand news, breaking stories, politics, business, sport, and community updates", but it does not appear to contain any original reporting.

For instance, on Waitangi Day, the page published a post that appeared to be a video of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at Waitangi, but was clearly generated by AI.

Nevertheless, the page, which has nearly 5000 followers, has dozens of people "liking" and commenting on its posts as if they were real. Many of their followers appear to be business pages and even include a few politicians.

Playing FF7 with my kids and we ran into this chump working for shinra who is now surprised they’re doing a terrorism

I'm so proud of em, haha!

Self-professed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate believes reading is for people with “slow brains,” according to a recent resurfaced clip of him on X. In the video, Tate is seen bragging that his brain is too advanced for reading and that he’d rather be in constant chaos.

“I’m too smart to read. I know you’re sitting there going ‘smart people read’... no. I need action. I need constant chaos in my life to feel content. I need to be driving a supercar and f—ing fighting, f—ing a bunch of hoes and champagne… going crazy.”

I mean it must have take a long while to light a goat or something similar on fire as a sacrifice. Do then the believers just go home come back the next day and keep lighting it till its down to ash? Or when it was burnt to a crisp did they use the meat to feed the villiage city or town?

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday accused Israel of committing an environmental crime after Israeli forces sprayed a "toxic substance" over southern Lebanese towns.

“This is an environmental and health crime against Lebanese citizens and their land,” Aoun was quoted as saying by Lebanon’s National News Agency.

On Monday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said it received notice from the Israeli army of planned aerial activity near the Blue Line and was asked to remain inside shelters

Unifil said it was informed by the Israeli military that it would spray a “non-toxic chemical substance” from the air over areas near the border.

Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that it had documented Israeli aircraft spraying chemical substances over extensive agricultural areas, particularly in the town of Ayta ash-Shaab and its vicinity in southern Lebanon.

The second round of the presidential election in Portugal is between the the moderate socialist António José Seguro and the far-right André Ventura. Ventura represent the Chega party which got 22.8% last year in the general election.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/42875362

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/54899054

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/04/ebike-riders-sydney-harbour-bridge

I'm watching the puppy bowl and 2/3rds of the pups are named after celebrities or food.

guys I feel like a idiot !!!!!! where do I figure out where to post ????? are there selected community's??? is there a blogging section...???? I know this browser is more for "coding nerds" as some call it.. (me) butttttt I wanna figure it out and get along with yall!!!! even though I just called y'all nerds..!!!! (I want friends.)

posted at the request of Lumicon

fruits featured:

• Inga densiflora
• Pouteria caimito
• Theobroma bicolor

I turn on the kitchen light in the middle of the night and a cockroach is already there and that fucker just stares at me, isn't even afraid. Being a landlord is a thankless struggle.

THE ESCALATING COST of living keeps making headlines and inspiring furious Reddit threads. Food prices remain a flashpoint, especially when it comes to coffee. But behind every grocery store gripe lies a deeper unease about whether wages are keeping up and the tariffs that continue to dominate economic news.

But the fixation on tariffs and inflation obscures a different shift revolutionizing pricing: algorithms. The Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project warns automated tools are reshaping what Canadians are charged for essential goods and services, including groceries and fuel. Companies can now use software to tailor prices based on everything from our browsing patterns, location, loyalty history, device type, and operating system. The same item can appear at one amount for you and another for someone else, depending on who you are, when you see it online, and what the algorithm believes you are willing to pay.

Here’s how it works. Companies gather data from many routine digital touchpoints: web and app tracking (cookies, pixels, and device fingerprinting), geolocation from phones and browsers, and in-store sensors. Also involved are data brokers who sell detailed consumer profiles combining demographics, purchase histories, and online behaviour. After the initial lure with attractive benefits and promises of discounts, (“the hook”), you’re handed over to a surveillance infrastructure that mines data about your behaviour and willingness to pay (“the hack”) and then raises fees, cuts rewards, and traps you in the program by making cancellation difficult (“the hike”).