People are sometimes wrong about which words are censored at any given time—it's constantly changing—but they aren't saying "grape" and "g-side" just cause they feel like it.
Making fun of people for this is like making fun of a middle schooler for not cursing around their parents. "What are you afraid of the word?? LITTLE BABY XD" NO FUCKNUTS THERE WOULD BE CONSEQUENCES FOR THAT.
These people are trying to discuss difficult and supremely important issues, while actively evading an always-updating fascist censorship regime, and you could show sympathy or solidarity with them but instead you choose to do this shit.
how can we stop google from shutting down android or whatever it is they're doing. How can we prevent this
There's some basic things you can do
Download stuff like f-droid and use them and give them support in these trying times
You can also try contacting your regulators and telling them to stop google from doing this
sign petitions, share petitions
Spread the word about all of this stuff and why it matters so much, don't let people think this is okay and that android shouldn't be forced through this.
Don't let people who think google is unstoppable, they can be stopped, you just gotta fight hard
I lot more detailed version can be found here (spread this website as well)
Your phone is about to stop being yours. In 2027, Google will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with them.
when I say anti censorship, that means allowing mature content on your website. it's not the website's job to keep track of if I'm a child or not, that's the child's parent's job. I don't want to give away my information because you can't track what your kid does online. I'm not giving you my ID or making a new account just to see mature content because you want to "protect kids." You want no such thing. If we really wanted to protect children, we would hold parents accountable instead of relying on the internet to keep them safe.
It's not the internet's job to keep them safe, it's the parent's job. thats like. what a parent does. I'm so tired of websites acting like they care about the kids when they really just want to sell my information. Flying cars they said.
As you may know, the Senate Commerce Committee was eyeing July 29th as a markup date for some kids safety bills, which likely would include some version of KOSA. However, they are still negotiating between Marsha Blackburn and the White House, negotiations which seem to have a lot of back and forth, the Senate is now considering August 3rd as a potential markup date. This would be a few days before they leave for a summer recess which would last until after Labor Day in September.
Call your senators, call your representatives, call Senate Commerce Committee members and give them reason to oppose these bills and to NEVER bring them back up.
Microsoft admits Windows 11 has a GDID tracker with no off switch, and it’s surveillance states dream
GDID is the persistent Windows ID that helped FBI trace a Scattered Spider hacker despite VPNs. Here's how it works and how to limit it.
TL;DR
Microsoft helped the FBI track down a hacker and revealed that every windows account has a GDID
This can track your IP and even get past VPN, making privacy experts worried about the implications
There are ways to help yourself to get more privacy, like using Linux or turning off certain things within windows
full thing
The FBI caught a hacker with the help of Microsoft
Microsoft “handed the FBI a way to trace Stokes’ Windows PC across VPNs, proxy servers, and three countries.
The tool is called a Global Device Identifier, or GDID, and outside a handful of enterprise documentation pages, most Windows users had never heard the term before this case made it public.”
“We went through the full 39-page complaint, cross checked it against independent reverse engineering of how Windows generates and transmits this identifier, and fact checked the technical claims since the story broke.
Here is everything you need to know about GDID, how it caught Stokes, and what it means if you are one of the 1.6 billion people using Windows PCs.”
what is a GDID?
A GDID is a Global Device ID
It’s basically “a permanent, unique digital fingerprint that Microsoft automatically assigns to your computer when you install Windows or sign into a Microsoft account.”
It’s mainly used for software licensing and windows store apps
“but because it links all your online activities on that computer back to a single identity, law enforcement can use it to track a device’s true owner across the internet”
“It survives Windows updates. It does not survive a clean reinstall, and Microsoft’s footnote in the complaint admits “one Microsoft user could have multiple GDIDs” over the life of a single account.”
A GDID is made when you sign into a Microsoft account
“Sign into Windows with a Microsoft Account, and a server assigns your installation a permanent ID number.
Windows stores it locally, several background services read it, and it gets stamped onto activity your PC reports back to Microsoft.”
“Reinstall Windows and you get a new number, but Microsoft’s own records give every reason to link the new one back to the old, through the same account, OneDrive, and activation history, which is close to what happened to Stokes.”
how it was used
The reason why the hacker was caught was because he used the same computer for everything
There is a bunch of tech words that I can’t explain
But it basically was able to track him, even with him using a VPN
why this matters?
“Costin Raiu, a well-known malware researcher, asked on the Three Buddy Problem podcast how much of this exists on other platforms, and whether it is linked more permanently to hardware.
Matthew Hickey, another security researcher, called Windows “surveillance software”.”
“Yes, every major OS keeps some persistent device identity, and every vendor can be subpoenaed.
But what differs with Microsoft is visibility and control, and Windows loses on both against Apple and Google’s platforms.”
what you can do
“Use a local account instead of a Microsoft Account, but we are also aware of how difficult it has become to skip signing in with a Microsoft account. Fortunately, the company is making it easier.”
“Turn off optional diagnostic data under Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics & feedback.”
“Block Advertising IDs by toggling off personalized ads and launch tracking under Privacy & security > Recommendations & offers.”
“Disable Cloud Search by turning off Cloud Content Search from Privacy & security > Search to stop local searches from sending data to Bing.”
please read this even if you're not indian. especially if you're not indian.
you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.
first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.
now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:
in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.
and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.
and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.
it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:
• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.
• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.
• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.
• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.
• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.
• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.
and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.
what i'm asking:
if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.
if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.
india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.
Nothings been confirmed yet of course, but I'll keep you updated regardless!
🇬🇧⭐️UK SOCIAL MEDIA BAN UPDATE! ⭐️🇬🇧
So here is what the UK is thinking of doing in this video
- The government is aiming to broaden the definition of social media to include virtually any platform or service where digital communication occurs. (This doesn't sound sus right guys? 🤨)
- A few weeks ago, the UK said they would not proceed with a total VPN ban. Unfortunately, the change in leadership recently in the UK, which makes such a ban or other restrictive measures much more likely to be revisited. (I seriously hope not!)
Basically, Andy Burnham’s government is leading to a more authoritarian internet regulation overall. Ugh this is awful news! 🙄😒
(Thank you for the update, @candyguts-blog :) 💕🙏! Definitely keep us updated here! I hope that you all keep fighting this stuff over the pond!)
it's the time again to start calling your senators to avoid internet censorship, as well as to stop letting israel be intergraded into the us military.
for kosa (kids safety act), it's suspected that they'll hold a meeting on august 3rd. this is only a markup, and not a final vote. however, please add pressure onto this thing unlike ever before. it's dangerously close to fully passing into law, and it'll ruin the internet for good.
as for the other subject, it also passed the house, with both republicans, and democrats voting in favor of genocide. it's sitting in the senate for now, and while i'm unsure of the date, there will be a markup on that as well. it is also dangerously close to passing as well. (as a side note, if you don't wish to feel defeated, please don't read the comments.)
I was trying to find a comprehensive list of places trying to implement age verification, and this is by far the best resource:
A live map of US state online age-verification laws: which states now make you prove your identity to get online, which are scheduled or blo
Check out their other tabs on speech, surveillance, and data centers as well. They back everything up with sources AND tell you how to get involved to fight back.
recently i've began to (at least try to) contribute to movements such as badinternetbills and keep android open by spreading the word through social media.
i already have a response to a question that someone might ask me, online or irl. the question being: "why do you do this if it's outside of your country?"
even if i'm one in 500,000 people spreading the word, i do this because i believe these "age verification" laws (which are actually laws that promote orwellian mass-surveillance through the internet) and anti-consumer practices (especially with phones running a certain OS that calls itself "open-source") shouldn't spread to other countries.
both "age verification" laws and android's "developer verification" violate online privacy.
i ask of you to also contribute to both movements.
Your phone is about to stop being yours. In 2027, Google will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with them.
