If they're operating in the US, it doesn't matter whether the app is intentionally pulling unnecessary information, there are still server logs showing the IP of each request being made for the real-time updates (ISPs also will have logs of the connections, even if they can't see the SSL traffic directly). That IP + timestamp would let the government know (with the help of your ISP, who we know from the NSA leaks are all sharing info without asking for warrants) exactly who you are.
If you are routing all your traffic through a VPN, you can make that much harder to correlate, but unless you validate on the wire or in the code that the app isn't sending e.g. a device ID or any other kind of unique identifier, it could still end up compromising you. A webpage just intrinsically doesn't carry the same level of risk as a local app.
That's why, as the article notes, many of these have been shutting down preemptively; they know they could be putting their users at risk.
I'm torn on this for any app-operating companies/orgs based in the US.
The real-time maps mean at best they're able to see at least the IPs of users, and at worst, a ton of device or personal information (depending on what perms are granted to the apps). This would be a treasure-trove of info for ICE. A lot of women stopped using period-tracker apps for a reason after Roe was overturned.
Also, unless people are side-loading the apps, Google or Apple will also know exactly who downloaded them, since you can't download through their app stores anonymously.
There are websites with real-time information that don't force you to install an app to view, and visiting a website rather than using an app makes it much easier to minimize the information you're leaking.
I'm glad that some of these apps are shutting down preemptively if they are certain they don't possess the resources, or are located in a safe enough place, to ensure their users' privacy. Ideally they would partner with a legal entity outside the US to operate the app instead, but obviously that's a big burden.
These definitely look like tubs of chemical agents given the hazmat labels, rather than ammunition as the news was suggesting. A tub of ammunition the sizes in the first video would also be too heavy to carry like they are (if full). I think the comments positing that the cardboard boxes are gas masks are probably spot on.
This is a huge deal partially because the NG cannot be used simply to assist in regular policing actions as part of a federalized deployment (legally, anyways, per the Posse Comitatus Act) without actually formally invoking the Insurrection Act, so they could only ostensibly be deployed somewhere after mass civil unrest has broken out, not just tag along with ICE which is almost certainly what Trump will try to have them do.
When NG is called in by the state governor, PCA doesn't apply, but that is not happening here; Newsom has explicitly said he is against this.
Newsom is calling out that there is "no unmet need" specifically to try to head off the claim that the local authorities are unable to enforce the law.
If this actually happens, it could be the most significant and direct attack on state power that Trump has taken to date.
The kernel is now well beyond the singular control or shepherding of Linus. He's still hugely influential in the community obviously, so not a pure figurehead, but the kernal dev community will continue on very well.
Every time I see someone say that most people haven't swung a sword/ shot a gun/ been in a fight/ been in an accident, etc, I always wonder if I'm the one in the bubble or if they are.
In tight quarters like Europe, most countries would not allow this for a country they're not actively at war with, no. If someone flies something into your airspace and isn't actively attacking you, the presumption of an accident is normal, and shooting down aircraft would be considered pretty extraordinary. Hell, even the US didn't actually shoot down the spy/weather balloons that China flew over them until they'd basically crossed the entire continental US. This law is only happening because they know Russia is doing this intentionally, the drones are armed, and they're unmanned. If any of those factors were different, they probably wouldn't be doing this.
All my machines except for my gaming desktop are linux already. But there are still games with either DRM that doesn't support linux, or other niche issues, so I'm keeping my Win10 machine alive for the foreseeable future.
I will trust the experienced lawyers and civil rights advocates at the ACLU, thanks. Nothing about this bill is good for children, it is a direct attempt to allow government to exert control over online spaces' content, as well as de-anonymize internet users. Both of those are bad, including for kids.
...but there is now a clarity across Europe, and not just in Paris, that regardless of Vance’s reassurance, Europe has to have the capability to operate autonomously of the US. Trump is self-evidently not reliable, and his benign assessment of Putin’s intentions is not shared.
Planning for a European reassurance force in Ukraine is under way, as is planning for a potential Russian attack on Europe. Since February, France and the UK, through a combined joint expeditionary force, have formed the nucleus of that planning, but this has broadened, with new political leadership increasingly coming from four members of the Weimar+ group: Poland, France, Germany and the UK.
Honestly, I think Europe's disillusionment with us will be better for them in the long run. The fact that they were waiting on Biden to take the lead in Ukraine, whose fecklessness over lending credence to Russia's prima facie bogus claim of the war being US vs Russia made him hold back many strategic options from Ukraine, meant that they were also not thinking about what Russia's aggression meant for them, and reacting accordingly.
I think the original purpose of Article 5 (in terms of US intervening vs Russia) has probably been dead for a couple decades now, and it's good that Europe won't be finding that out when Russian troops are rolling in, and the US backs off.
R* sucks. Their asshole-simulator games-turned-live-service-cashgrabs have never represented anything but the worst of the games industry. GTA6 getting canceled would be an excellent opportunity for millions of people who would've bought it to spend their time playing something better.
I'm a huge open world and/or sandbox nut. Non-linearity is my jam. Kenshi, Rimworld, AssOdyssey/Shadows, Project Zomboid, Witcher 3, X4...
Don't get me wrong, I love a good story, but story takes many shapes, and not all stories are pre-written; plenty are emergent. I grew up playing with Legos (and still do), and me making whatever story I wanted (or that emerged along the way) was part of the appeal.
Honestly, apart from FF8 and TW3, and now Expedition 33, I haven't found many games with written stories that grabbed me. I read books when I want that fulfillingly-crafted linearity.
"It's been 3 months since we cut off all food and medicine to the civilians in your territory. Next we're going to fully occupy your territory, and kill you and anyone we assert is part of you. Hey wait, what do you mean you won't negotiate with us?"
If they're operating in the US, it doesn't matter whether the app is intentionally pulling unnecessary information, there are still server logs showing the IP of each request being made for the real-time updates (ISPs also will have logs of the connections, even if they can't see the SSL traffic directly). That IP + timestamp would let the government know (with the help of your ISP, who we know from the NSA leaks are all sharing info without asking for warrants) exactly who you are.
If you are routing all your traffic through a VPN, you can make that much harder to correlate, but unless you validate on the wire or in the code that the app isn't sending e.g. a device ID or any other kind of unique identifier, it could still end up compromising you. A webpage just intrinsically doesn't carry the same level of risk as a local app.
That's why, as the article notes, many of these have been shutting down preemptively; they know they could be putting their users at risk.