catileptic

catileptic, 10 days ago to random

i caught myself thinking, this weekend, that there was a interesting idea i wanted to express over here. and then, i caught myself thinking "oh, nobody reads this in the weekend". as though i was doing some sort of outreach / social media work / as though the "numbers" mattered. i wish i could scrub this "intuition" from my brain entirely. this is how the focus mindset poisons our minds and our interactions. :( sometimes i am in awe of just how much stuff i disagree with lives under my skin

catileptic, 18 days ago to random

Pro-Palestinian protests in Romania have been met with hostility and control from the police forces.

From banning banners with slogans that do not infringe on rights, and neither do they incite to violence, to harassing protesters, to summoning people who intended to protest to the police station for "friendly advice", we see Ro police taking sides. The side of genocide.

ActiveWatch also condemns the silence of the press, which only covered these abuses sparingly: https://activewatch.ro/articole/fantomele-militiei-si-securitatii-bantuie-politia-si-jandarmeria/

catileptic, 20 days ago to random

The Romanian Ministry of Digitalization released a form that people can use to report malicious #deepfake materials. What counts as malicious? Fraud, propaganda, disinformation.

We went into detail about how misguided this is, in a Romanian article over on the @apti website: https://apti.ro/ordinul-mcid-deepfake-praf-cu-iz-electoral .

But, because this matter concerns me deeply, here's a break-down in English (especially relevant if you're following the #DSA implementation): 1/4

catileptic, 23 days ago to CSS

Google announced client-side scanning for Android. I don't think there's any point in calling it otherwise, or discussing the alleged "usefulness" of this technical implementation.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/15/googles-call-scanning-ai-could-dial-up-censorship-by-default-privacy-experts-warn/

#CSS #ClientSideScanning

@Mer__edith very aptly reminded, in her reaction, that the AI-powered scanning is proprietary and it's within Google's discretion what type of communication is flagged as problematic. Scams, today. What next? Reproductive rights? Labour organizing?

catileptic, 1 month ago to random

The situation in Georgia is developing into a coordinated intimidation campaign.

The OCCRP published an update and every single paragraph is chilling: https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/18707-georgian-opponents-to-russian-law-face-serious-threats

Journalists and activists are being intimidated, as are their families. They see their own faces on posters under the message "no place for agents in Georgia". And it's not just them who are treated with such brutality - protesters have also seen their faces on such posters.

1/2

catileptic, 1 month ago to random

OpenAI has partnered with StackOverflow to use the content on the site to train ChatGPT. Some users who have posted highly-rated answers have tried to either delete or edit them. But they noticed that the moderators changed their edits back and their old answers re-appeared. Then the moderators banned them for 7 days.

Oh and while we're on the subject, Valve also removed the ban on AI-generated art on Steam.

Anything we put up in these walled gardens will be monetized.

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/stack-overflow-bans-users-en-masse-for-rebelling-against-openai-partnership-users-banned-for-deleting-answers-to-prevent-them-being-used-to-train-chatgpt

catileptic, 1 month ago to random

Brett Scott published a really good piece on the cost of "cashlessness".

"Money is political, and that’s the starting point of the economics of cash."

https://www.asomo.co/p/the-cost-of-cashlessness

It's especially important since the only other time I hear people defending cash is when they fear a take-over from a shady, world-wide organization. And it's not that they want freedom, but they want another shady, world-wide organization to not lose its foothold.

catileptic, 1 month ago to random

The police in Georgia are reacting violently and abusively against protestors who took to the streets against the "foreign agent law", that would force NGOs, civil rights groups and media to register as “foreign agents” if more than 20% of their funding came from abroad.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/may/01/georgia-protest-foreign-agents-bill-police-georgian-parliament

The chair of the leading party says the law is meant to prevent “non-transparent funding of NGOs", which is "the main instrument for the appointment of a Georgian government from abroad”.

1/2

catileptic, 2 months ago to random

Is there any list / webring / index of independent wikis that are not game-related?

Is there any google dork (or some other search technique) to find them?

I'm more curious to see what folx build on the wiki platform, but also to go on some nice rabbit holes.

catileptic, 2 months ago to random

I'm delivering two sessions, on March 28-29, in Romanian, on digital security for NGOs, as part of an event by TechSoup Romania.

Sign-ups are free and still open: https://activatorsecuritate.ong.techsoup.ro/

One session is on passwords (which is going to quickly dive into MFA and such), and one is on the steps an activist can take after they are hacked or part of a security incident.

My colleague, Bogdan Manolea, from @apti is delivering a session on GDPR and the safe & secure processing of personal data.

catileptic, 2 months ago to random

folks who maintain a #bookwyrm instance: what resources does your server / VPS have, and what's the user count that is sustained by those resources?

trying to work out what hosting a Romanian Bookwyrm could cost :)

catileptic, 2 months ago to random

i'm curious about deliberately practicing thinking / reasoning about things in order to clarify the thoughts one has about various subjects.

some folx journal (in writing or digitally) and explore a subject in writing, which, in turn, clarifies their thinking. other folx do this in direct conversation. others try to explain a subject, which they are still exploring themselves.

is there literature about these processes and how they shape our thoughts?

how do you do this for your own mind?

catileptic, 2 months ago to random

I'm making a list of Mastodon and other Fediverse instances either hosted in Romania, registered on a .ro domain or with content that is mostly Romanian (regardless of where they are hosted).

The reason behind this: the Ro digital service coordinator added some extra hoops on top of what DSA requires. We're trying to figure out who will be affected.

If anyone knows such instances, please leave them in a public or private toot (or boost / tag folx who can help) <3

I already know of mstdn.ro

catileptic, 3 months ago to random

all 4 rounds of elections are coming up in Romania: local, EU parliament, local parliament and the presidency.

such an excellent moment for this new trap song: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=FoQS41g6VrA calling for women to be elected to the parliament

i don't want to stop at women. i don't want to even say we need to uphold the parliament and the borders and the violence-enforced statehood.

that being said, i'm happy there's a great, catchy, hot trap song that can turn people's minds to change.

catileptic, 3 months ago to random

happy anniversary to all those struggling, resisting and fighting for equity, a decent living, a society in which they can chose freely and thrive. no flowers needed to keep that going. but perhaps what's needed it so remind all folks who feel like this struggle is "over", "not necessary" or "a war against men" that:

1. no, 2. men are welcome allies and comrades and 3. we're far from the end goal.

keep the flowers and keep the conversation going.

catileptic, 3 months ago to random

The sources of a Ro journalist were made public, in a contemptuous, threatening FB post, by the temporary director of the Ro National Library.

This director revealed personal, private data, that he had access to only as part of his job, simultaneously compromising journalistic sources. He posted the fact that Emilia Șercan, a Ro investigative journalist, used the library archives to read the PhD thesis of a Ro political figure.

This data is protected by GDPR.

https://activewatch.ro/articole/solicitam-demiterea-lui-adrian-cioroianu-din-functia-de-director-al-bibliotecii-nationale-a-romaniei/

catileptic, 3 months ago to random

Bogdan Manolea, my awesome @apti colleague and the person who has taught me a wealth about the legal part of digital rights, is featured on a podcast created by the Center for Independent Journalism in Romania.

The discussion is in Romanian and covers #deepfakes Not the technical side, but the legal side, the societal impact, usage during elections and, most importantly, an attitude that can get very far in thinking critically about media that might be synthetic.

https://youtu.be/0MagaJQAtLg?si=a_ydaYG1vSSo4puL

catileptic, 3 months ago to random

This beautiful trap song came out in Romania. I hope it gets English translations for the lyrics, one day, because it is a feminist gem.

It's a brutal image of what relationships, dating and existing in society is like for feminine-presenting people, in Romania.

"If it weren't for men, who would protect you? / Protect us from whom? Exactly, for fuck's sake!"

Ro social media is rife with variations on "but not all men" - when it should be rife with "never again!".

https://yewtu.be/watch?v=C0Bc0nwSerM

catileptic, 4 months ago to random

I'm going to deliver 3 free and open webinars on tech-empowered gender-based violence, in Romanian, at the end of Feb / start of March.

This is a collab between Asociația pentru Relații Comunitare (ARC) and @apti .

If you're part of an org. interested in doing work on this subject, ARC created a form to collect what your needs / plans are (deadline: 5 feb): https://bit.ly/3Hv1zBf

If you want to join the webinars, sign up here: https://bit.ly/493280Q

catileptic, 4 months ago to random

Amnesty (who I hope will join the Fediverse soon) published an interview where I repeat, as a little broken record, that all tech is political. There's no such thing as neutral tech.

“My approach to technology is informed by political struggles.”

It features spyware, ChatControl, and the Amnesty Digital Forensics Fellowship.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2024/01/my-approach-to-technology-is-informed-by-political-struggles/

catileptic, 4 months ago to random

Disappointed to see none of the mainstream press in Romania reporting on the anti-AfD protests in Germany. At the time of my writing this, not even Deutsche Welle Romania picked it up yet.

I'm hoping it's just a delay. I'm hoping it will make the headlines.

I'm hoping our mainstream press isn't siding with the totalitarian, fascist ideology.

But hope is thin, these days.

catileptic, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to random

A guide on deploying a self-hosted #Klaxon instance, useful for watching for changes on a given webpage and receiving the updates via e-mail:

https://github.com/tsundokul/klaxon-deploy

The author of the guide, friend & comrade, @boss is now on Mastodon. I have an immense amount of respect for his tech activism in RO. Give him a follow for more HRD content from our corner of the world. :)

catileptic, 4 months ago to random

Police in RO strip-searched and collected the fingerprints of a female activist.

She had previously posted a picture on Facebook of a police person with their gun drawn, pointing at a civilian car, during a peaceful protest.

The chief of police said they performed similar actions in the case of 24 other messages distributed in social media, that "instigated to violence" in the context of ongoing farmers' and agricultural workers' protests.

https://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-26825021-24-dosare-penale-pentru-instigare-timpul-protestelor-transportatorilor-spune-seful-politiei-romane-cazul-protestatarei-ridicate-dupa-mesaj-facebook.htm

catileptic, 5 months ago to random

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) is looking to hire a Digital Rights Research Lead!

https://birn.eu.com/vacancies/vacancy-call-digital-rights-research-lead/

Deadline: January 22.

catileptic, 5 months ago to random

Reminding everyone that we have a cybersecurity law in Romania, that has been declared constitutional (ffs!), that allows a handful of gov. institutions to ask cybersecurity services providers for client data related to vulnerabilities and incidents.

The data reported back to these institutions must not include personal or content data - lol.

Otherwise, freelancers & companies risk a pretty hefty fine (5.000-50.000 RON).