Hands-on with DoNotPay, a service claiming to be the first robot lawyer: slow, drafted a terrible defamation demand letter, missed legal issues, and more (Kathryn Tewson/Techdirt)
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/01/24/the-worlds-first-robot-lawyer-isnt-a-lawyer-and-im-not-sure-its-even-a-robot/
http://www.techmeme.com/230126/p10#a230126p10
The 'groomer' panic will not stop with LGBTQ+ 'ideology' bans:
"Staver told the viewer he would provide 'draft language' to deny those kids’ admission, and added a 'proper Biblical environment' was essential to protect children from encountering same-sex families..."
Christian nationalist wants to ban kids with same-sex parents from Christian schools - LGBTQ Nation
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/01/christian-nationalist-wants-ban-kids-sex-parents-christian-schools/
TIL that the Fair Tax was a Scientology idea https://prospect.org/economy/2023-01-26-freedom-caucus-fair-tax-act-irs/
How to Install the Latest Version of #Wine on #Ubuntu #Linux
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/01/install-wine-on-ubuntu
Yale's fraternities - including Delta Kappa Epsilon, to which Kavanaugh, DeSantis... and George W. Bush belonged - were investigated under Title IX over a decade ago for sexist/misogynist behaviors, like chanting "no means yes" on campus and posing in front of the women's center with a sign that read, "We Love Yale Sluts." The DKE frat was also disciplined in the late '60s for painful hazing incidents involving branding new pledges with a hot coat hanger. (GWB was frat President!)
thinking about the time in youth group when the assistant youth pastor found me sitting by myself and basically asked why i wasn't socializing with the others, told me that connection is what humans are made for, and then just left
another day after people were leaving bible study, he asked me to stay behind and gave me a weird lecture/pep talk on how he saw the capabilities of a leader who could make a difference in my school, or something?
like, thanks for repeatedly highlighting the fact that everyone here including you transparently dislike me lmao
You have to understand that Twitter only functions by having people to attack. You sticking around there to "fight the good fight" is GIVING THEM EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT. They WANT YOU THERE, FIGHTING. You're not changing a damn thing. You're playing a roll they want you to play for their amusement.
DON'T DO THAT.
Nor has Meta changed its approach to leave up claims that deny the results of the 2020 election. In fact, Meta did even less to address misleading voter fraud claims from GOP candidates during the midterms than it did in 2020. More here: https://washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/06/election-misinformation-labels-missing/
Been two whole years since the last American insurrection attempt, surely there's no risk it happens again
https://about.fb.com/news/2023/01/trump-facebook-instagram-account-suspension/
James Loewen penned these words on uncomfortable truths and the teaching of accurate history back in 1995 for the first edition of LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME.
Today, it’s truer than ever in the face of increasingly hostile & violent opposition.
This book helped lay the foundation for so much of how we think about and discuss American history at the high school and college levels, and I’m so eager to get this new graphic adaptation out into the world with urgency. (spring 2024, that is!)
I really, really, really enjoyed the first two episodes of If Books Could Kill
https://open.spotify.com/show/2khJBoF73ujIATWUFtSxLD
Very good critiques of how popular books can be deeply misleading.
I'm an optimist that there are systems for producing and delivering knowledge that go well beyond our status quo. And it's easy to be optimistic because the status quo is so bad.
When most of us hear "Save Local Restaurants" we think of small businesses owned locally. But the term is being used -- and abused -- by Chipotle, McDonalds, and Starbucks to sabotage a law that supports better wages. Go figure.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/25/business/california-fast-food-law-workers/index.html
#McDonalds #Starbucks #California #Wages #Worker #WorkerRights #Economy #politics #uspol #uspolitics
#Ubuntu 23.04 Makes Telegram a Deb-to-Snap Transitional Package
Here's my issues with Snap:
- The performance is awful, even after recent updates.
- One package manager is enough headache for a user.
- While the sandbox offers increased security, it comes at a steep convenience cost.
- It clutters the mounted filesystem space.
- Worst of all, it's entirely vendor lock-in with Canonical.
#gnu #linux #opensource #freesoftware
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/01/ubuntu-telegram-desktop-now-a-snap
Apparently my job here on #Mastodon is to boost a LOT of posts. And I'm OK with that, really. Most of you seem to like it. 🤷♀️
But as a periodic reminder for those who might be overwhelmed by it all, you don't have to unfollow or mute me to turn off the firehose.
Simply click on my avatar to see my profile and then click on the "..." menu to choose "Hide boosts from donmelton."
That's it. That will turn off the spigot but still show posts like this one.
Thanks for following! ❤️
elon musk
It remains hard for me to believe someone can be this fucking stupid.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/25/23571793/elon-musk-twitter-tesla-brand-image-damage-earnings
While a whole load of who knows who they are folks all bloviating about ‘gun rights,’ attributing gun violence to ‘urban crime,’ and declaring that gun regulation ‘doesn’t work,’ here are the numbers — deaths by gunfire per 100,000 population, ranked.
Notice a pattern? The deadliest states are primarily rural and ‘conservative’; the least deadly are primarily urban, ‘liberal’ and have the strictest gun regulation our courts currently allow.
Source: CDC mortality records. Google it or whatever you use. I’m not doing your homework.
The highest incidence of gun mortality in the U.S.:
Mississippi 28.6
Louisiana 26.3
Wyoming 25.9
Missouri 23.9
Alabama 23.6
Alaska 23.5
New Mexico 22.7
Arkansas 22.6
South Carolina 22
Tennessee 21.3
Montana 20.9
Oklahoma 20.7
Kentucky 20
The lowest rate of gun mortality in the U.S:
Minnesota 8.9
California 8.5
Connecticut 6
New York 5.3
Rhode Island 5.1
New Jersey 5
Massachusetts 3.7
Hawaii 3.4
This nation has suffered - and will continue to suffer - the catastrophic effects of GOP electoral subterfuge and court stacking for many more decades thanks to GOP Supreme Court hijacking that allowed Dubya, Samuel Alito, and John Roberts to undo democracy and implement the USA's current kakistocracy and led to Trump of all people appointing loads of judges.
Add in the GOP’s cultural civil war that divides people who should be on the same side and our judicial system has been reduced to a law firm for the donor class that owns and operates the Republican Party.
The Supreme Court isn’t the only one that matters. Maybe some people have the luxury of thinking none of this affects them. Those people would be incorrect.
Trump’s worst judge is now a dangerous threat to press freedom, in Children’s Health Defense v. Washington Post-
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/1/25/23568436/trump-judge-matthew-kacsmaryk-press-freedom-antitrust-childrens-health-defense-washington-post
The #Covid19 bivalent booster reduces the risk of symptomatic infection from the most common subvariant circulating in the U.S. by about half, per new #CDC study.
The data also shows that those who received an updated vaccine reduced their risk of death by nearly 13 fold, when compared to the unvaccinated, and by two fold when compared to those with at least one monovalent vaccine but no updated booster.
Only 15.3% of eligible Americans have received the new shot.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/25/bivalent-covid-booster-xbb-1-5-00079451?cid=mas