On June 20, the EU’s legislative committee will vote on the new Copyright directive,
and decide whether it will include the controversial “Article 13”
(automated censorship of anything an algorithm identifies as a copyright
violation) and “Article 11” (no linking to news stories without paid
permission from the site).
These proposals will make starting new internet companies effectively
impossible – Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and the other US giants
will be able to negotiate favourable rates and build out the
infrastructure to comply with these proposals, but no one else will. The
EU’s regional tech success stories – say Seznam.cz,
a successful Czech search competitor to Google – don’t have
$60-100,000,000 lying around to build out their filters, and lack the
leverage to extract favorable linking licenses from news sites.
If Articles 11 and 13 pass, American companies will be in charge of
Europe’s conversations, deciding which photos and tweets and videos can
be seen by the public, and who may speak.
The MEP Julia Reda has written up the state of play
on the vote, and it’s very bad. Both left- and right-wing parties have
backed this proposal, including (incredibly) the French Front National,
whose Youtube channel was just deleted by a copyright filter of the sort they’re about to vote to universalise.
So far, the focus in the debate has been on the intended consequences of
the proposals: the idea that a certain amount of free expression and
competition must be sacrificed to enable rightsholders to force Google
and Facebook to share their profits.
But the unintended – and utterly foreseeable – consequences are even
more important. Article 11’s link tax allows news sites to decide who
gets to link to them, meaning that they can exclude their critics. With
election cycles dominated by hoaxes and fake news, the right of a news
publisher to decide who gets to criticise it is carte blanche to lie and
spin.
Article 13’s copyright filters are even more vulnerable to attack: the proposals contain no penalties for false claims of copyright ownership, but they do
mandate that the filters must accept copyright claims in bulk, allowing
rightsholders to upload millions of works at once in order to claim
their copyright and prevent anyone from posting them.
That opens the doors to all kinds of attacks. The obvious one is that
trolls might sow mischief by uploading millions of works they don’t hold
the copyright to, in order to prevent others from quoting them: the
works of Shakespeare, say, or everything ever posted to Wikipedia, or my
novels, or your family photos.
More insidious is the possibility of targeted strikes during crisis:
stock-market manipulators could use bots to claim copyright over news
about a company, suppressing its sharing on social media; political
actors could suppress key articles during referendums or elections;
corrupt governments could use arms-length trolls to falsely claim
ownership of footage of human rights abuses.
It’s asymmetric warfare: falsely claiming a copyright will be easy
(because the rightsholders who want this system will not tolerate
jumping through hoops to make their claims) and instant (because
rightsholders won’t tolerate delays when their new releases are being
shared online at their moment of peak popularity). Removing a false
claim of copyright will require that a human at an internet giant looks
at it, sleuths out the truth of the ownership of the work, and adjusts
the database – for millions of works at once. Bots will be able to
pollute the copyright databases much faster than humans could possibly
clear it.
I spoke with Wired UK’s KG Orphanides about this, and their excellent article
on the proposal is the best explanation I’ve seen of the uses of these
copyright filters to create unstoppable disinformation campaigns.
There’s pretty detailed information about the law from the above-mentioned Julia Reda here.
This site gives info on the 10 remaining ‘undecided’ MEPs, and contact information. (Oddly, it seems to be a different list from this other set of undecided MEPs on the committee.) I don’t get the impression any MEPs outside the Legal Affairs committee have any influence at this point in the legal process.
There’s a gadget on this page that will apparently identify your MEP and set up a call between your phone number and them.
I admit I’m not sure what I can say that would make the Conservative MEP ‘representing’ me prioritise things like artistic expression and access over the wealth of giant tech and media companies, but I can try.
So i just got this message when i attempted to update my voter registration.
This is a lie. I became a naturalized citizen in 2005. Drove all the way to Memphis Tennessee for the ceremony.
I have voted in 2 elections; i have an American passport I’ve traveled with, and i have gone to the Department of safety and homeland security to update all information, last time i did was 2 years ago when i needed a copy of my social security card.
So, a warning to all naturalized citizens inTennessee , check your status now!!
Something is happening. *update* I have confirmed others that are having this issue. Folks, this is Not a drill!! Check your statuses. *update 2* Still trying to find answers. After calling the Department of homeland security and safety, i was told by the representative that he didn’t know what was happening and would like to refer me to an “immigration officer”. The wait time is 57 minutes. The office closed in 17 minutes. I will try again on Monday. Until then, i am taking my passport with me Everywhere!! EVERYWHERE!!!
Feinstein: You’re a big, powerful man. Why didn’t you [gestures pushing motion]?
Crews: Senator, as a black man in America [sigh]…
Feinstein: Say it as it is. I think it’s important.
Crews: …you only have a few shots at success. You only have a few chances to make yourself a viable member of the community. I’m from Flint, Michigan. I have seen many many young black men who were provoked into violence, and they were imprisoned, or they were killed, and they’re not here. My wife for years prepared me. She said, “If you ever get goaded, if you ever get prodded, if you ever have anyone try to push you into any kind of situation, don’t do it. Don’t be violent.” And she trained me. I’ll be honest with you it was the strength of my wife who trained me and told me, “If this situation happens, let’s leave.” And the training worked because I did not go into my first reaction, I grabbed her hand, we left, but the next day I went right to the agency. I have texts, I have phone conversations, and I said, “This is unacceptable!” And I told them how -you know- I almost got violent, but I didn’t. And I said, “What are you going to do about this predator that you have roaming your hallways?” And -you know- I was told, “We are going to do everything in our power. We are going to handle this Terry. You’re right. It is unacceptable.” And then they disappeared. Nothing happened.
It’s important to also note that she asked this question so that he had the chance to explain on record – her second point is that she believes his reason is important and needs stating. No doubt there are a lot of nasty people asking this question in earnest and allowing him to explain himself in his own words is super important for combating that kind of narrative.
Other people are going to have smarter things to say about this, but with Kennedy’s resignation from the SCOTUS, Roe v. Wade will be under attack. I don’t know if that attack will succeed, but it can’t possibly hurt to learn more about how to protect yourself against unplanned pregnancy anyway.
If you are a woman in the USA who can become pregnant, and you don’t want to, then procure reliable birth control while you can, as soon as you can. Almost everyone is aware of the Pill, so here are some alternatives, several of which last longer and are just as reliable (if not more so).
This list will not include birth control methods that rely on the cooperation of a partner and/or the ability to plan ahead for an encounter, such as condoms, diaphragms, the withdrawal method, abstinence, etc. These are contraceptives designed to prevent pregnancy even in the worst circumstances in which consent is lacking–or if, hey, you feel like having sex right now and no condoms are in sight.
Many of these are also useful for women who don’t want their SOs or families to know they’re on birth control and can’t risk the discovery of Pill packs, diaphragms, etc.
All links are courtesy of Planned Parenthood.
“I want a method of birth control that will last for at least three years.”
If you are dead-ass sure of this, check out tubal ligation.
Unfortunately, I don’t know much about how to procure low cost or free access to these methods–I am very fortunate and have access to them through my regular health care provider. However, Planned Parenthood is a great resource, and I encourage anyone who wants to reblog this with accurate, verifiable information about low cost/free access to do so.
No, these methods are not foolproof (save perhaps tubal ligation), but don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good. If you can get pregnant and you don’t want to, don’t rely on the Supreme Court to help you out. Men have been itching to get back control of our uteri for years, and here’s their chance. They won’t let it slip if they can possibly find a way.
I was just talking with my girl about this last night, the fact that it’s not only the temperature but how prepared a city is for it (overall architecture style, mass use of AC, people’s typical hydration habits). 80 degrees in a place adapted for 60 is just as bad as 110 in a place adapted for 90. I’m from Texas but have nothing but sympathy for people in cooler climes when heat waves roll around.
Someone!! who understands!!!
But seriously this is so true. The main problems are that British homes are generally designed with capturing and holding heat as the goal rather than releasing heat, because it’s more often cold than hot; and also pretty much no one has home AC, and very few workplaces have it either. Instead I have to sit by the open window and hope for any scant breath of wind…
High five!
This might make you laugh, going the other way. Growing up and living in Texas all my life, I later moved to a place with real winter.
My first winter there was miserable because I had no idea of what a real winter coat was supposed to be (coat just means ‘more expensive and longer jacket’, right?) and even less of an idea of this thing called “layering”. I mean, why would any sane person ever wear more than one shirt at once?
Seriously, send help, we’re all melting here.
Noooo! Don’t melt! Some tips if y’all’s news hasn’t been shouting it at you already like ours likes to do during winter cold snaps…
-Drink lots of water on hot days.
-Don’t do outdoor activities in the middle of the day-late afternoon, even short ones.
-Don’t walk your dog on concrete hot enough you can’t put your bare feet on it yourself. Keep to grass or walk early in the morning/in the evening.
-If your home/apt is miserable and there is a place nearby with air conditioning (movie theater, mall, etc) go hang out there during the hottest hours of the day.
-We cheat with ceiling fans in most rooms, but anything you can do to increase circulation will help (multiple windows open, standing fans, even prop open doors if you don’t have pets that will escape and you can trust your neighborhood, etc.).
-Keep your curtains closed or blinds half shut on the side of the home the sun is coming in through (even if the window itself is open to let the breeze in). If you can rig a shade tarp outside the windows even better. Anything to stop the death laser from directly reaching the inside of your house.
If you’re really hot and Lily’s suggestions aren’t cutting it try some of these:
Wet a wash cloth and ring it out. You want it wet, not soaking. Put it in the freezer until it’s stiff. Apply it to the back of your neck to help you cool down. Refreeze and reapply as needed.
Heat pools in your joints so run cold water over wrists, elbows and your neck to cool off.
Anything dark and heavy needs to take a break. Light, breatheable fabric (linen, cotton, etc) is the way to go. (I know, I know, Kylo. You have an aesthetic but it can wait until the heatwave has passed.) “Breezy” is the keyword here.
Stick the back of your fan to the open windows of your house to pull cooler outside air (hopefully) into your own personal Sith lair.
Don’t forget that your furbabies are going to be hot and need a cool dark place and lots of water.
If you sweat buckets, like I do, a dry change of clothing can feel heavenly after a long, hot day of sweating.
Cold, chilled food (gazpacho, cold noodles, watermelon, etc) are a good way to keep yourself cool and, yes, I am encouraging you to go eat ice cream/gelato/sorbets. 😀
Also, use the oven and the range sparingly. They’ll heat up your lair and make your suffering worse.
And remember, always wear sunscreen because the only thing worse than a blistering heatwave is a going through blistering heatwave with a sunburn.
If it’s too hot outside and the air is super hot, close your windows down and put fans on.
Pots and pans of water everywhere are a good idea too because the water will evaporate and cool the air inside.
Especially near fans.
Stick pillow cases in the freezer to twenty minutes then stick em on your pillows. Same with bed sheets. You’ll thank me.
Shower in the morning and again in the later afternoon/early evening.
Ice cubes. All the ice cubes. In bowls for pets. In your water. Even if you hate them like I do. Have them.
Point the fan at the ceiling not the floor. Hot air rises, colder air doesn’t. You want to keep the warm air from getting even warmer. The fan will cool it and keep you alive.
If you have breathing problems like I do, damp clothes on your chest can be good. But not super cold and not wet. Just damp. It’ll cool the skin and the muscle.
If you get inflammation because of the heat like I do, cool showers help a lot. So does anti inflammatory gel if you can get it. Most shops have a brand of ibuprofen gel that you can use. Be careful tho, it’s sticky and you have to be careful when you apply it not to decorate your clothes with it. It feels weird too but is also very cooling and nice.
Suncream is your friend. Sunburn will make everything worse because any heat source becomes mount fucking doom incarnate. Just wear the damned suncream.
Wear a cap or a hat to limit headaches, sunstroke and heatstroke. This is how I survived on a boat with no real ventilation during the last heatwave. That cap was my best fucking friend ever. Seriously.
Close your curtains but make sure that if they’re heavy to have something keeping them from being flush against the wall etc. You need to make sure the air can get through relatively easily whilst limiting the sunlight. I usually use a small box or sth similar to push the curtain out a little.
I was telling someone about how I got chickenpox cause my ma made me hang out with my sister and sleep in her roomwhen she’d had it and they were like “YOUR MOM WAS ANTIVAX???”
And, like, no, calm down, fren. I’m just old. There hadn’t had a vaccine for chickenpox then
*Old Man Voice* Back in my day, we had to play Russian roulette with our kids about being one of the ~9K hospitalizations and or ~100 deaths a year from chickenpox. Also, everyone born in the mid-80s and earlier is prolly gonna get scabies, so, there’s that
Vaccinate your kids, guys!
Yep. I remember the week all 3 of us had chicken pox, and how freaked out my mom was bc we had just been to a bbq and I had held someone’s brand new baby.
Like I got home and found the first pox on my arms and side and my mom rightly freaked the whole hell out.
The baby was fine but our nerves were all on edge for a bit. I felt so guilty even though I had no way to know before I found the pox on my side.
And that’s the thing, the vaccine would have not just prevented me from suffering, but protected that baby who was too young. Couple kids in my class went to the hospital that summer, too.
Plus shingles are the worst, I’m told. Friends have had them. I want the shingles vaccine but i’m too young yet.
I still remember when my medical exam for immigration rolled round and they asked me why I hadn’t had the chicken pox vaccination on my form and I was like “a vaccination for what now?” Cause I had no idea there was one, and I had this genuine moment of happiness in thinking “that means less suffering for children. Amazing, what a time to be alive” and then they stuck me with the MMR booster shot because in order to legally enter the US you have to have all your vaccinations or you can’t come in.
Presumably to protect you from the locals at this point, cause there’s not just chicken pox outbreaks in my area atm, but measles and whooping cough too.
Whooping cough was another fun thing I got as a kid cause I couldn’t be vaccinated. And unfortunately I went to school with a lot of anti-vaxxer victims, who also got super sick and passed it on, meaning I spent a lot of time off school at the age of seven, coughing so hard I burst blood vessels in my eyeballs and feeling like every labored breath might be my last cause some ignorant fuck decided their personal purity and fake science was more important than protecting the life of their actual child and those around them.
Please vaccinate your children. And if you’re an adult, check and see you are up to date on your shots. Important ones like MMR need to be updated after a decade or so. It’s not just your life you’re saving.
– Go in at the end of the month
– Buy the model of the year right before the model for the next year comes out (dealers get desperate to sell the old models)
– Refuse to put any money down. Say that if they ask you to put down money, you’ll leave
– Seriously. If they ask you to put down money say you need to go and walk out
– If there’s another dealership nearby, tell them that you’re walking there right after you leave
– If a deal seems unfair but you really like the car, tell them you’re going to another dealership and leave. Chances are, they’ll call back the next day with a better deal
– If possible, after the first call wait till the last few days of the month and they’ll likely call again with an even better deal
– Look around for family and friends that need a car. If you buy more than one car from the same dealership you’ll get a much better deal
– If a family member/friend is looking for a used car while you’re looking for a new car or vice versa, still get the used car from the same dealership
– If you decide to buy a new car after a few years, trade in the old car and buy a new one from the same dealership. Companies appreciate loyalty and will likely offer you a lower price
UPDATED
(My dad went to college for finance, more specifically he looked a lot at stocks and how to sell things for a maximum profit. He learned it from the perspective of the company but it also works in his advantage)
– When you walk into a dealership, the salesperson will immediately “be your friend”. They’ll act like it’s you and them against dealership – Sometimes a salesperson will offer to talk to the manager. This does not mean anything. Chances are, they’re going to have small talk for a few minutes and come back out – Carefully consider the usefulness of an extended warranty. You’re losing money unless there’s an accident or issue soon after you buy the car – This wasn’t so clear before, but you’re still going to have to pay a down payment. What you should refuse is a securing payment – The securing payment is a psychological trick. You feel more tied to the company so you’re more likely to buy from them – You’re extremely more likely to buy at the last place you go, but with the securing payment you’re less likely to go to another dealership due to a sense of commitment – A salesperson may say it’s a limited time deal. Most times, unless this is the last of that years model, or it’s a special event, the deal is not going away and will still be there if you decide to go back. It’s not necessarily a deal breaker, but you should be suspicious if it’s said to you – Save money by asking to buy the floor model. There’s no mileage on it, but it’s worth less because people have sat in it – Or, ask to buy the demo if you’re willing to buy a car with some mileage. The depreciation of the price is usually worth it – Each can get you a few thousand dollars off due to the fact that it is technically not a “new” car anymore – Always look at the websites and play around with the build a car, payment calculators, or anything other offered features. Make sure when you’re using it you look at the down payment and the number of months that you will be paying for the car over – Try to not buy a really obscure model because the trade in value will be lower – Get the maximum down payment you can afford to lower the interest cost – Look for a crash rating test. A 5 is going to get good trade in value, and is much safer
(This was written in NY so there might be exceptions in other states or countries)
This is the election that counts. Start educating yourself now on who will be campaigning to be your congresspeople/governor/etc.
Register to vote NOW. Don’t wait. You can do it any time.
This is the fight we need to win. VOTE
VOTE
VOTE
Also…reminder to pay attention to all local elections and VOTE. These elected officials are the people most likely to directly impact your life in the short term.
This has to start now. Right now.
Get your birth certificates. There may be a fee or long wait times. Make sure you get a certified copy.
Make sure you have ID. Dig into your state’s laws and the whole Real ID thing, because (and sorry I can’t research this now, but pneumonia) I believe there are certain states whose driver’s licenses don’t qualify for Real ID.
Make sure you’re registered to vote. Google it. Follow the instructions for your state.
Know where your local polling place is or find out if you can vote by mail.
Vote in ALL your upcoming elections. Yes, that means the little ones for city council or dog catcher or whatever. Vote those racist, homophobic, bigots out at every level.
They’re like weeds. You can pull up every visible bit, but if you leave one tiny segment of root, they’ll just come back.
To quote Mira Grant, rise up while you can. Because the Republicans are way the hell worse than zombies.
Damn skippy! My mantra all year has been “Come on, 2018…”
I’m seeing a lot of posts cross my dash recommending that people replace Microsoft Office with OpenOffice in light of Microsoft’s new terms of service.
OpenOffice is abandonware that hasn’t seen an update in seven years!
Please do not install it. Instead install LibreOffice which is the exact same software plus seven years of updates.
What happened was Oracle acquired OpenOffice when they bought Sun Microsystems but didn’t really have any interest in maintaining it so they abandoned it. Because OpenOffice was an open source project the community was able to just pick it up and continue development. However, because Oracle never gave up the ‘OpenOffice’ trademark the community project could not use the name ‘OpenOffice.’
You can still download OpenOffice but it is no longer being maintained. If you want the up-to-date branch you should be installing LibreOffice. It is the same software.
Death By Catchphrase 