The website "Racism and Health" from the #CDC is already gone #WhiteHouseWash
web.archive.org/web/2025012103…

cdc.gov/minority-health/racism…

In related news:
We got the whole publicly available part of the CDC-archive backed up - nearly 30.000 files #SafeguardingResearch
fedihum.org/@lavaeolus/1138943…

Racism and Health

Impact of racism on public health

^{Minority Health}

Nice. How to leave #X / #Twitter and #Instagram? In the edition of tomorrow‘s newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine offers valuable tips and highlights alternatives in the #Fediverse, such as #Mastodon and #Pixelfed. A must-read especially for @Gargron from @Mastodon and @dansup from @PixelFed and of course @helpers / @admins

📖 Read more here in german language: augsburger-allgemeine.de/geld-…

#SocialMedia #Privacy #Alternatives #Mastodon #Pixelfed #Fediverse

Walmart Access Update 🛒

Over the past three months, our Walmart Access Partnership has been a huge success, with Explorers in nearly all 50 states using this opportunity to enhance their shopping experiences. It’s been great to see how much this partnership has meant to so many of you.

As the pilot phase wraps up on February 16, the Walmart access offer will be on hold while Walmart reviews and considers continuing this offering. We’re hopeful this partnership will continue on a permanent basis, and we want Walmart to know just how valuable it’s been for our community.

If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, we encourage you to visit Walmart with this offer before the pilot ends. And if this program has made an impact on you, please share your story with us—your feedback can help show Walmart how important #AccessForAll truly is.

bit.ly/Aira_walmart

Hahahahaha

China's new and cheaper magic beans shock America's unprepared magic bean salesmen - The Beaverton
thebeaverton.com/2025/01/china…

#humor #ai

China's new and cheaper magic beans shock America's unprepared magic bean salesmen - The Beaverton

American magic bean companies like Beanco, The Boston Bean Company, and Nvidia have already shed hundreds of billions of dollars in stock value.

^{Mark Hill (The Beaverton)}

Wow. 18 years of service just came to an end.

Very popular CNN host Jim Acosta was always challenging Trump’s false narratives, but now that Trump is back in office, CNN decided to push his show from 22:00 to 00:00.

Jim Acosta responded by quiting live on air, saying “One final message: Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope.”

How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

He used the constitution to shatter the constitution.

How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days

^{Timothy W. Ryback (The Atlantic)}

deepseek censorship vs basic prompt engineering

0 : 1

I love Matrix / Element UX

#sarcasm

Montreal public library says it can't host English book club, citing Quebec's new language law
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-public-library-english-book-club-law-14-1.7443547?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Montreal @montreal-cbcnews

I'm so proud of my INCREDIBLY BRAVE WIFE @analog_ashley speaking on the record at a time when (very understandably) many feel unable to for fear of retaliation

science.org/content/article/tr…

A reminder that broadband-from-space isn't about bridging the global digital divide or serving poor people. It's just another for-profit enterprise that seeks to exploit a public commons for private gain.

"#Starlink has refused to comply with the country’s BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) – 30 per cent ownership to local historically disadvantaged people."

technext24.com/2025/01/28/star…

#Space #SouthAfrica

Starlink urges South Africa to waive 30% Black Economic Empowerment policy

Starlink said the policy would stifle international investments

^{Joshua Fagbemi (TechNext.ng)}

Is 185 users "a significant number"?

Will Mastodon.social be required to shut down its public web pages and cease federation?

Is AWS S3 required to ban pornography or implement age-assurance protocols for public HTTP requests?

Can Sotheby's auction house display images of Robert Mapplethorpe's "X" series on their web site?

These are some of the questions we asked in our letter to Ofcom regarding the #OnlineSafetyAct. blog.woof.group/announcements/…

On this Data Privacy Day, choose a search engine that puts you first. No ads. No tracking. No compromise. Just the results you want, on your terms.

(Illustration by Chaz Hutton for Kagi)

#Kagi #Search #DataPrivacyDay #DataPrivacyWeek #Privacy #AdFree

My wife and many of her friends are sociologists. She forwarded me this text that one of her friends found. Apparently it was also written by a sociologist. I found it helpful. Maybe you will too.

"As a sociologist, I need to tell you that your being overwhelmed is the goal.
1/ The flood of 200+ executive orders in Trump's first days exemplifies Naomi Klein's "shock doctrine" - using chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too disoriented to effectively resist. This isn't just politics as usual - it's a strategic exploitation of cognitive limits.
2/ Media theorist McLuhan predicted this: When humans face information overload, they become passive and disengaged. The rapid-fire executive orders create a cognitive bottleneck, making it nearly impossible for citizens and media to thoroughly analyze any single policy.
3/ Agenda-setting theory explains the strategy: When multiple major policies compete for attention simultaneously, it fragments public discourse. Traditional media can't keep up with the pace, leading to superficial coverage.
The result? Weakened democratic oversight and reduced public engagement.
What now?
1/ Set boundaries: Pick 2-3 key issues you deeply care about and focus your attention there. You can't track everything - that's by design. Impact comes from sustained focus, not scattered awareness.
2/ Use aggregators & experts: Find trusted analysts who do the heavy lifting of synthesis. Look for those explaining patterns, not just events.
3/ Remember: Feeling overwhelmed is the point. When you recognize this, you regain some power. Take breaks. Process. This is a marathon.
4/ Practice going slow: Wait 48hrs before reacting to new policies. The urgent clouds the important. Initial reporting often misses context
5/ Build community: Share the cognitive load. Different people track different issues. Network intelligence beats individual overload.
Remember: They want you scattered. Your focus is resistance.”

UPDATE: it seems that this Threads post is the origin of the above sentiment: threads.net/@itsjenniferwalter…

While I don't love linking to Threads, I think it's important to give credit where credit is due.

#resist #trump

Jen | Swiss Sociologist & Mental Health Advocate (@itsjenniferwalter) on Threads

As a sociologist, I need to tell you: Your overwhelm is the goal 🧵 1/ The flood of 200+ executive orders in Trump's first days exemplifies Naomi Klein's "shock doctrine" - using chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too d…

^Threads

I cannot be more pumped to continue working on this amazing startup with this amazing team and community! 🔥🔥🔥

The Open Social Web is the future, we’re just getting started 🚀

techcrunch.com/2025/01/28/auto…

Automattic and others back Openvibe, an app that's unifying the open social web | TechCrunch

Openvibe's clever app that integrates multiple open social networks including Bluesky, Mastodon, Nostr, and Threads, just got a boost toward its future

^{Sarah Perez (TechCrunch)}

Hey everyone,

I’m micr0, the person behind Altbot, the open-source bot that helps generate alt-text for images, videos, and audio on the Fediverse. Right now, Altbot uses Google Gemini to generate the alt-text, but that means your data goes through Google’s servers and could be used for training their machine learning models.

To fix this and ensure total privacy, I’m looking to move Altbot to a local model that will run completely on my own hardware. This way, your data won’t be saved, shared, or used anywhere else—it’ll stay private and only temporarily be on my hardware.

It’s a big goal, but one that’s been on my mind since the very beginning. I’ve been talking about this shift for a while, and it’s time to make it happen. Plus, if I reach the goal, Altbot will be running on 48% renewable energy, which means less environmental impact and more sustainability.

To make this happen, I need to raise $1,800–$2,000 USD to buy server-grade hardware—things like GPUs for model processing, a solid motherboard, power supply, storage, and cooling. With this setup, I’ll be able to run Altbot privately, efficiently, and sustainably.

I’ve also posted a breakdown of the planned server specs and spending as a reply to this post if you’re curious about the details!

If this sounds like something you want to support, any help would be appreciated! Every little bit gets me closer to the goal. You can donate here: Ko-fi Link.

Thanks so much for supporting Altbot and helping make the Fediverse a better place!

Buy Micr0byte a Coffee. ko-fi.com/micr0byte

Become a supporter of Micr0byte today! ❤️ Ko-fi lets you support the creators you love.

^Ko-fi

Sensitive content Reveal/hide

Trump banned #trans people from the army. I'm not a trans person, I'm your average white cis heterosexual man, allbeit blind from birth, and so far I've even never been to the States. However, there is always a "however". I always remember this "first they came…" statement by Martin Niemöller: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_th…...
So, now I'm speaking out for trans people.
Who is next? People of some nationality, religion, skin color? Maybe disabled people like me (and something already suggests that)? Women? People of certain age? You'll never know.
And what is next? Ban from schools? From public places? Fines? Prisons? You'll never know.
So, don't keep silence, speak out, protest as much as you can.
Otherwise they will come for you, and no one will be left to speak out.

statement and provocative poem attributed to pastor Martin Niemöller

^{Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)}

Via Tom's Hardware: Facebook flags Linux topics as 'cybersecurity threats' — posts and users being blocked

Does this mean that Meta/Facebook is going to also ban mentions of:

• #Android phones?
• #SteamDeck / #SteamOS?
• Most "smart" cars, TV's, appliances?
• Most (somewhere around 90 percent) of the top Websites?
• Talk of Meta's own internal infrastructure?

What an absolutely asinine thing to do. Linux is incredibly prevalent in the technology landscape today. Yes, #linux on the desktop is a small percentage of the overall devices on the market today. However, linux usage in #embedded, #server, and #appliance applications is to a level where censoring references to it is insanity.

The irony of all of this? Zuckerfaces recent pull back of moderation on Meta's sites.... Meaning it's now okay to bash socially vulnerable populations, spread tons of mis-information on many social and political topics... But linux?"Oh no! That's a #CyberSecurity threat!"

This reeks of political #tomfoolery. I won't be surprised if it's eventually revealed that our new overlords put pressure on #Meta to #censor linux.

tomshardware.com/software/linu…

Facebook flags Linux topics as 'cybersecurity threats' — posts and users being blocked

DistroWatch is one of the largest affected organizations.

^{Mark Tyson (Tom's Hardware)}