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Environmental groups want America's FCC "to slam the brakes on orbital datacenters," writes The Register.
They're arguing for an environmental impact assessment for what could be 1 million satellites:

Earthjustice, acting on behalf of DarkSky International, Environment America, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), filed a petition this week... The filing doesn't target any single company. Instead, it asks the regulator to put the entire emerging orbital datacenter sector on hold while it assesses the cumulative effects of proposals from SpaceX, Starcloud, Blue Origin, Cowboy Space, and any similar applications that follow. According to the petition, those proposals collectively seek "well over a million datacenter satellites" in low Earth orbit.... " increasing the existing volume of satellites in low-earth orbit by multiple orders of magnitude."

The groups argue that the FCC is trying to apply licensing rules written for much smaller satellite constellations to an entirely new class of infrastructure. "If ever a situation warranted a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement [PEIS], it is this one," the petition says. It argues that a single review would allow the agency to examine "the risks, alternatives, needs, costs, and impacts of this sudden transformation of Earth's exosphere" before deciding whether any of the projects are in the public interest. The petition raises concerns about rocket launch emissions, pollutants released as satellites burn up during atmospheric reentry, depletion of the ozone layer, orbital debris, light pollution, impacts on wildlife, and interference with astronomy.

It also argues that the combined effects of these constellations cannot be understood by evaluating applications one at a time.... "It is difficult to imagine a better example of multiple projects presenting essentially identical impacts and risks that compound synergistically and cumulatively than the present proposals..." The petition argues that the FCC's current approach, which generally treats satellite licenses as categorically excluded from detailed environmental review, is no longer fit for proposals measured not in dozens or thousands of spacecraft but in hundreds of thousands and, potentially, millions.
If the FCC agrees, orbital datacenter operators will have a mountain of paperwork to clear before sending their hardware skyward.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

"Flexible, app-based scheduling lets large pools of part-time workers choose four-hour shifts and even select the type of work they prefer," writes long-time Slashdot reader Tony Isaac. While the system started during the pandemic when factories faced severe labor shortages, the model is now "supplying hundreds of trained workers each week... while giving people — from retirees to sidejob hustlers to longtime employees — control over their hours."

NPR says it's attracting "people who may not be seeking a traditional career in the industry or even a 40-hour workweek,"
It's a change that manufacturers including Stanley Black & Decker and Georgia-Pacific are embracing... Today, in any given week, about 450 flexible workers — roughly half the pool — pick up shifts at the [GE Appliances] plant, with workers putting in an average of 24 hours a week. Their contributions have been key to GE Appliances' $180 million expansion of the Georgia plant, completed last year, which added 600 new jobs... [Darcy Duvall, the plant's director of human resources operations] has also come to see that many workers prize flexibility despite the significant trade-offs — like lower pay and almost no benefits. MyWorkChoice employees can opt into their own group healthcare plan, but few do... The flexible work option has also helped GE Appliances keep longtime employees with decades of experience on the job.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

In March, Anthropic's Claude "quietly deployed software to spy on China-based customers," reports the Washington Post — apparently to unmask Chinese rivals "suspected of hijacking its technology to make their own AI tools smarter."

Last week Anthropic removed the spyware "after a software developer revealed its existence and privacy advocates criticized Anthropic, saying it had surveilled its own users."

Anthropic's tracking code was designed in part to catch Chinese firms "distilling" its AI models, a technique that involves pressing a large, expensive AI system to serve as a tutor to a smaller, cheaper one. Asking the larger system huge numbers of questions — hundreds of thousands or more — generates responses that can be used to upgrade the power of the smaller one on the cheap. Distillation isn't illegal, and it has been used for years in the AI industry. But distillation without permission is against AI companies' rules, and, used effectively, is giving Chinese AI companies a major leg up, American AI companies say... Anthropic and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI have both accused Chinese AI companies of using this technique to build copycat AI models of their own.

In a May blog post, Anthropic said that Chinese companies' use of distillation, along with evading U.S. export controls on high-end computer chips, has allowed them to "trail closely" behind U.S. models. But if these techniques can be blocked, it might be possible for the United States to "lock in a 12-24 month lead" on Chinese capabilities, the company said... This month, Anthropic said in a letter to U.S. senators that was obtained by The Post that it uncovered a campaign in which Chinese tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI team used roughly 25,000 fraudulent accounts to generate more than 28.8 million exchanges with Claude to improve its own technology. In February, Anthropic made similar accusations against the Chinese firms Deepseek, Moonshot and MiniMax and said the campaigns were "growing in intensity and sophistication...." Anthropic and OpenAI have appealed to the U.S. government, arguing that distillation amounts to intellectual property theft that harms the U.S. in the geopolitical AI contest....

That Chinese AI labs are using U.S. models to improve their own technology appears beyond dispute. In a February 2025 study, researchers from China's Peking University and the state-funded Chinese Academy of Sciences developed methods to detect signs of distillation in leading large language models. They concluded that, with the exception of ByteDance's Doubao, most domestic models they tested showed substantial evidence of distillation, mostly drawing from U.S. models... In one set of intensive tests, a Qwen model misidentified itself as Claude nearly a third of the time, the Chinese researchers found.

U.S. firms have also used distillation to piggyback on AI systems made by others. In 2024, OpenAI released a tool to make it easier for customers to distill its own models and produce data sets for AI training. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in court testimony in May that his AI company xAI used distillation to train its models and that the technique is common throughout the industry.

The article also notes that Anthropic "said it has banned nearly 700,000 accounts that were using Claude in China." But the article includes this quote from Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution's China Center. "Anthropic's framing is that this is a geopolitical contest for basically the future of the world and freedom and democracy. It's that this is not just undercutting the U.S. commercially, but undercutting American strategic advantage in the most powerful technology we know today."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

"We need you in the fight," says the American legal expert in privacy, surveillance, AI, and Internet freedom of speech who became the EFF's new executive director in March.

As EFF celebrates the anniversary of its founding 1990, "Each headline is different, but they tell one story: Many of the threats that once seemed hypothetical are now reality, and EFF's work to ensure technology supports rights, justice, freedom, and innovation for all people has never been more critical."

Governments and large corporations possess surveillance capabilities that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Ever greater concentrations of power are shaping speech, creativity, markets, and democratic institutions. Governments are increasingly seeking to control the internet and people's ability to access information and communicate freely. Our community's work is fundamental to the future of our countries, our livelihoods, and literally our lives...

These are perilous times. It is also a moment of extraordinary possibility. The future of AI has not been written and we can work together to get it right. We can make sure our laws reflect the needs of the modern digital age. We can build the technologies that empower rather than marginalize communities.
For me, the work starts with recognizing that digital rights are not a siloed policy issue. We must fight and win on the digital terrain to organize, speak freely, access healthcare, find work, receive an education, and participate fully in democracy. We can and must reject a false choice between innovation and civil liberties, and build power across movements to make sure technology truly works for people...

EFF's founders understood something remarkably prescient: Technology and civil liberties would become inseparable. Now we all live digital lives, and the important digital rights issues that EFF has worked on since 1990 have become kitchen-table issues all around the world. EFF's founders understood that how technology is built, developed, used, and controlled deeply intersects with rights, justice, freedom, and democracy. EFF's unique combination of world-class lawyers, activists, and public interest technologists pursue change simultaneously in the courts, legislatures, companies, and our communities, and pierce through false choices. This integrated, intersectional approach, grounded in deep legal, policy, and technical expertise, is a linchpin in fighting and winning against some of the most powerful forces in the world — both governments and trillion-dollar companies.

We defend people against unlawful government data collection and challenge license plate and face surveillance in our communities. We shape AI law and policy to protect civil liberties and support creativity and innovation. We push companies to strengthen encryption, fight to ensure you have the right to own what you buy, and build public interest technologies like Privacy Badger and Certbot that millions of people rely on every day. This work matters because it all answers the same question: Will technology empower or control us?


Major battles the executive director sees on the horizon"


"Challenge increasingly sophisticated government and corporate surveillance systems that endanger our rights, democracy, safety and security."

"Preserve strong encryption and online anonymity."


"Ensure AI is developed and used in ways that respect fundamental rights and works for those who build it, use it, and are affected by it."

"Confront the concentrations of power that limit access to new creativity and defend the rights of developers to build and innovate."

"To meet these challenges, we must not only utilize the powerful levers of successful litigation, smart policy interventions, and effective public interest technology tools. We must also build a broader movement that recognizes that fights on the digital terrain are integral to all our fights for rights and justice... Together, our EFF community can help broaden the public conversation about technology's role in society and continue building the collective power necessary to shape the future rather than react to it....

"I'm looking forward to meeting more of you at my first EFFecting Change livestream on August 12 with Cory Doctorow, and hope this conversation is just the beginning of finding new ways to work together..."

The blog post ends by noting that "We need you and others in the fight. Please renew your membership, become a recurring monthly supporter, and introduce someone new to EFF by snagging them a gift membership.

"Everything we accomplish — every lawsuit, every policy victory, every public interest technology tool, every campaign — is possible because people like you are committed to ensuring technology strengthens freedom, privacy, creativity, and opportunity for everyone.
"The future we want and need will be built by people and movements working together to ensure technology empowers rather than oppresses.
"Let's build that future together."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

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Greg Adams Photography posted a photo:

Newtown, Bucks County, PA, 2025

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

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De roeiende Noren & doorgesnoven Argentijnen laten we vanavond maar even in hun sop gaarcoken en dan aandacht voor het volgende: het leukste, gezelligste, raarste en ruigste festival van Nederland KEERT TERUG. We voelen ons als importknuppels in de Randstad zó thuis in het Verre Oosten dat we sinds jaar en dag rondhobbelen op de Zwarte Cross - vroeger nog gewoon als bezoeker met afgeragde vouwwagen toen de Jovinks vermomd als de Ayatollahs met gruizige knettergekrock de katse campingtent afbraken, later (nu) ook als corporate mediadinges. Tom Staal gaat tegenwoordig streamend, lullend, kletsend en crossend over dat terrein EN JULLIE KUNNEN MEE! Wat is er nou leuker om zélf te zien hoe stuntmannen zichzelf óver de Megatent laten katapulteren, een bult bier te drinken op rare plekken, te rammen bij de Dropkick Murphys, te rocken bij Eli 'Paperboy' Reed (later deze week: Mosterds Muziektips), te rauzen bij Bökkers en natuurlijk allerlei krankzinnige creaties over de crossbaan te zien stuiven? Helemaal niks! Wij van GeenStijl geven een zooi gratis & voor niks Zwarte Cross-weekendtickets (+camping) in setjes van 2 weg. Enige voorwaarde: je moet GeenStijl Premium zijn en als je dat niet bent kun je dat HIERRRR worden. Slechts een paar euro per maand dus je kunt het ook rustig een maandje proberen. Wil jij 2 weekendtickets voor de Zwarte Cross? Mail effe je username naar michiel@geenstijl.nl en onze Paarse Broek neemt contact met je op - bij veel animo gaan we loten. En onthoud: gang is alles!

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Dit was vorig jaar

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The NATO chief Mark Rutte is quite annoying. It is in a worthy cause.

In een Tsjechisch onderonsje was Linda Nosková lange tijd dominant. Het leek een eenzijdige wedstrijd te worden, maar Karolina Muchová knokte zich naar een derde set. Na een snelle break was het uiteindelijk toch Nosková die de sterkste bleek.

The journey this truck has made over the previous 10 hours, by road and rail from northern France, was undertaken in great secrecy, due to the importance and value of the cargo within (reported to be insured for over a billion dollars). Great secrecy, anyway, until the secret was blown a couple of hours before the truck's arrival, in a social media post from French president Emmanuel Macron: "The Bayeux Tapestry is heading for London. This age-old treasure that tells our shared history is crossing the Channel." National Geographic reports on the big move, which took place over July 9-July 10, 2026.

...The British have been trying to borrow it for at least a century. Five times since 1931, British institutions have requested a loan, including for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953 and the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1966. Five times, its French custodians ultimately said no. The two countries' ever shifting political relationship doubtless played a role, but the key objection was typically a practical one: The artwork was considered too old, too fragile, and too large to be transported safely. A meticulous, inch-by-inch study of the tapestry, conducted by French experts some years ago, precisely quantified the damage it has already sustained over the centuries: "24,204 stains, 16,445 wrinkles, 9,646 gaps in the cloth or the embroidery, 30 non-stabilized tears, more significant weakening in the first few metres of the work." ...In France, some of the professionals who'd worked on the tapestry made it known that they viewed this decision as irresponsible. In Britain, high-profile critics included the famed artist David Hockney, who passed away this June at 88. He denounced the proposed loan as "madness," arguing that "some things are too precious to take a risk with." But the decision had been made. The Bayeux Museum was set to close for a two-year renovation, and the challenge ahead was to determine how such a precarious object could be moved safely.