bonfire.cafe · bonfire.cafe

Trending boosted

The U.N. has voted to adopt a new world map as standard. They are dumping the Mercator Projection for an Equal Earth Projection, a map that shows landmasses much closer to their real size.

It makes Africa and other equatorial landmasses look larger than previously, and shrinks Europe, North America, Russia, and especially Greenland.

The only country to speak and vote against the resolution was the USA. No surprise.

The US delegate actually sat there and claimed that the UN was ignoring real problems while working on changing maps for idealogical and political reasons (ignoring the science completely). How she stopped from dissolving in a puddle of irony I'll never know. She also claimed that passing symbolic resolutions like changing maps was why the U.N. is "losing its credibility" – the puddle deepens.

Six countries—Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine—abstained from voting.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/09/1168284

#UN #World #Cartography

The Mercator Projection map, the one used for hundreds of years, overlaid with the Eckhart IV, an Equal Earth projection. On the Mercator, landmasses are exaggerated in size as we move away from the equator.

UN News

UN tells the world: Stop making Africa look small

The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to encourage governments, schools and tech companies worldwide to stop using maps that make Africa look far smaller than it really is.

GeofCox boosted

azteclady

@azteclady@kind.social 42 min. ago

"we have a company that is a big player in the age verification space, talking up age and identity verification laws, that appears to have had a long-standing ongoing leak of every ID it scanned.

At this point, anyone still supporting age verification requirements, especially claiming it’s for “child safety,” should have to answer for all the millions of people put needlessly at risk due to data breaches like this."

#DataBreach #KOSA #Privacy #AgeVerification

https://www.techdirt.com/2026/09/03/hackers-had-a-live-feed-of-every-id-this-verification-company-scanned-for-over-a-year/

Techdirt

Hackers Had A Live Feed Of Every ID This Verification Company Scanned. For Over A Year.

From the very beginning of this recent obsession with identifying everyone online (yes, they like to call it “age” verification, but it always ends up as identity verification), we&#821…

Misty

@misty@digipres.club 19 min. ago

@glyph Closing the PR, followed by “I’m not closing the PR”….. yeesh.

Glyph

@glyph@mastodon.social 28 sec. ago

@misty current working theory is that the bot did it and then the human shepherding it looked at the log and said "haha whoops! let me get it unstuck" and gave it some new prompt

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Hedders

@hedders@mas.to 2 days ago

Heh heh heh. Call me childish, but I bloody love Viz.

An extract from the “Top Tips” section of Viz. It reads:

“Tech enthusiasts! Save money on expensive Meta glasses by buying a pair of normal glasses and then adding your name to the Sex Offenders Register.” — An extract from the “Top Tips” section of Viz. It reads: “Tech enthusiasts! Save money on expensive Meta glasses by buying a pair of normal glasses and then adding your name to the Sex Offenders Register.”

Marcus Hutchins :verified:

@malwaretech@infosec.exchange 8 hr. ago

@realn2s not that I know of. The vendor may have recorded it, but it's not available anywhere that I've seen

Claudius Link

@realn2s@infosec.exchange 55 sec. ago

@malwaretech
🙏🏻🥴

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@ZDL@pxlfd.ca 1 hr. ago

Today's little photo essay comes to us from the 正一道 (Zhèngyī Dào) school of Daoism. These are two pendants of radically different use and form.

The first of these is a ritual seal used to stamp documents, talismans, or ritual petitions. Note that seals in Taoism are not merely signatures—they are believed to carry the authority of the deity or lineage they name. Such a seal, in short, is a symbol of office; it is carried, in proper form, by Daoist priests and used in official actions as such. (This is a miniature version and is not to be mistaken as the genuine tool of office.)

The second is a fairly standard ritual personal protected amulet and is quite commonly used both for decorative and for devotional purposes. Both are machined from brass and inked with cinnabar-based pigments.

6 media files

The large faces of the ritual seal are inscribed with a 符箓 (fúlù), which is to say a Daoist charm written in a sacred script said to come from the celestial sphere itself. Each school of Daoism has their own set of fulu and it takes either a very comprehensive dictionary of that sect's charms, or a very in-depth education in Daoism to identify.

I lack both, so all I can say about this particular charm, from context, is that it is probably a command glyph invoking the name of a specific deity. — The large faces of the ritual seal are inscribed with a 符箓 (fúlù), which is to say a Daoist charm written in a sacred script said to come from the celestial sphere itself. Each school of Daoism has their own set of fulu and it takes either a very comprehensive dictionary of that sect's charms, or a very in-depth education in Daoism to identify. I lack both, so all I can say about this particular charm, from context, is that it is probably a command glyph invoking the name of a specific deity.

This side of the ritual seal contains a heavily-stylized single character. From eyeballing it with a little bit of education and guesswork, this is likely 勅 (chì, "command"). It may be, but not very likely, instead a suppression form of 鬼 (guǐ, "ghost"). The form seems wrong and the angular, lightning-like lines seem to match more the "command" word.

In the context of a Celestial Master ritual seal, this is most probably a command character used to order or bind spirits. This side of the seal acts as a secondary stamp or visual reinforcement of the priest's authority to exorcise and/or command spirits. — This side of the ritual seal contains a heavily-stylized single character. From eyeballing it with a little bit of education and guesswork, this is likely 勅 (chì, "command"). It may be, but not very likely, instead a suppression form of 鬼 (guǐ, "ghost"). The form seems wrong and the angular, lightning-like lines seem to match more the "command" word. In the context of a Celestial Master ritual seal, this is most probably a command character used to order or bind spirits. This side of the seal acts as a secondary stamp or visual reinforcement of the priest's authority to exorcise and/or command spirits.

This side of the ritual seal contains a representation of the 北斗七星 (Běidǒu Qīxīng, "Northern Dipper"), what we'd call the Big Dipper. In Daoist cosmology, the Northern Dipper is the supreme celestial bureaucracy. It governs human destiny, lifespan, death, and fortune. Having the Dipper carved on the seal means the seal's authority is backed by the highest celestial court.

And finally we reach the business end of the seal: the stamp proper. It reads, in a fairly simple seal script form, 天師 (Tiānshī, "Celestial Master").
This is the title of the hereditary patriarchs of the 正一道 (Zhèngyī Dào, "Way of Orthodox Unity") descended from 張道陵 (Zhāng Dàolíng) in the 2nd century CE. A seal bearing this name is claiming the authority of that lineage. When stamped in cinnabar it "activates" the document or talisman with that authority.

There are actually two types of such hereditary seals: the 天師印 (Tiānshī Yìn, "Personal Patriarchal Seal", and the 陽平治都功印 (Yángpíng Zhì Dūgōng Yìn, "Administrative Office Seal).

This, the 天師 (Tiānshī) seal is the personal pedigree seal. It does not just validate—it transubstantiates. Stamping it is the ritual equivalent of Zhang Daoling himself placing his hand upon the talisman. It is hereditary and non-transferable; only a direct lineage holder can wield it with effect. I am not of said direct lineage, so me stamping a document with it means nothing except that I've added a pretty little design to it. — And finally we reach the business end of the seal: the stamp proper. It reads, in a fairly simple seal script form, 天師 (Tiānshī, "Celestial Master"). This is the title of the hereditary patriarchs of the 正一道 (Zhèngyī Dào, "Way of Orthodox Unity") descended from 張道陵 (Zhāng Dàolíng) in the 2nd century CE. A seal bearing this name is claiming the authority of that lineage. When stamped in cinnabar it "activates" the document or talisman with that authority. There are actually two types of such hereditary seals: the 天師印 (Tiānshī Yìn, "Personal Patriarchal Seal", and the 陽平治都功印 (Yángpíng Zhì Dūgōng Yìn, "Administrative Office Seal). This, the 天師 (Tiānshī) seal is the personal pedigree seal. It does not just validate—it transubstantiates. Stamping it is the ritual equivalent of Zhang Daoling himself placing his hand upon the talisman. It is hereditary and non-transferable; only a direct lineage holder can wield it with effect. I am not of said direct lineage, so me stamping a document with it means nothing except that I've added a pretty little design to it.

Now we move from the weighty, priestly authority to the realm of personal protection. The second item in this essay is just a simple protective talisman. This side of it is a fairly routine 符箓 (fúlù), again of the 正一道 (Zhèngyī Dào) tradition. As is usual, without specific, in-depth education, the precise fulu being depicted is not knowable. From context, however, along with the readable text on this side, we can make some educated guesses.

First, the text at the top right reads 百無禁忌 (Bǎi Wú Jìnjì, "no taboos" or "all is permitted"). This is one of the most common protective phrases in Chinese folk religion. It means the bearer is shielded from all negative influences, unlucky directions, spiritual taboos, and harmful entities.

The text at the top left reads 歲歲平安 (Suì Suì Píng'ān, "peace every year") and, combined with the former, causes the pendant to function as a general all-purpose spiritual ward paired with annual blessings.

It is the symbol in the middle again which presents us with a mysterious fulu we can only decode likely meaning from context. This is a typical Daoist 秘字 (mìzì, "secret script") which I must stress again is readable only by initiated practitioners. From the general context of the surrounding text, however, this is likely either a physical protection glyph or a preservation of health glyph.

At the bottom of that glyph, howeve,r is a stacked coin or treasure motif, symbolizing wealth and stability.

So the summary of this face of the pendant is that it is a general-purpose charm intended to protect from physical harm (or illness), spiritual harm, while bringing annual blessings and wealth. Pretty standard for the type. — Now we move from the weighty, priestly authority to the realm of personal protection. The second item in this essay is just a simple protective talisman. This side of it is a fairly routine 符箓 (fúlù), again of the 正一道 (Zhèngyī Dào) tradition. As is usual, without specific, in-depth education, the precise fulu being depicted is not knowable. From context, however, along with the readable text on this side, we can make some educated guesses. First, the text at the top right reads 百無禁忌 (Bǎi Wú Jìnjì, "no taboos" or "all is permitted"). This is one of the most common protective phrases in Chinese folk religion. It means the bearer is shielded from all negative influences, unlucky directions, spiritual taboos, and harmful entities. The text at the top left reads 歲歲平安 (Suì Suì Píng'ān, "peace every year") and, combined with the former, causes the pendant to function as a general all-purpose spiritual ward paired with annual blessings. It is the symbol in the middle again which presents us with a mysterious fulu we can only decode likely meaning from context. This is a typical Daoist 秘字 (mìzì, "secret script") which I must stress again is readable only by initiated practitioners. From the general context of the surrounding text, however, this is likely either a physical protection glyph or a preservation of health glyph. At the bottom of that glyph, howeve,r is a stacked coin or treasure motif, symbolizing wealth and stability. So the summary of this face of the pendant is that it is a general-purpose charm intended to protect from physical harm (or illness), spiritual harm, while bringing annual blessings and wealth. Pretty standard for the type.

The flip side of the protective talisman contains (barely!)-readable text saying, with a lot of flourishes and decoration, 靈祖師敕令 (Líng Zǔshī Chì Lìng). This means … OK, flatly put any attempt to translate this is going to hit some very strong cultural and linguistic barriers, so take this strictly as a very bad guess written by someone who barely understands … Spiritual Ancestral Master Imperial Decree.

Sort of.

The real meaning is a lot more subtle than that, but it identifies the charm as a formal ritual command enforced by the qi of an ancient master and promulgated by official lines of descent, the 嗣教 (sì jiào). This is what gives the talisman its authority over the "soldiers" (so to speak) of the spirit world, telling them to obey what is on the opposite side. You can view this side as the general's signature on orders, and the other side as the mission if you like.

I swear, Daoists just have the coolest stuff! — The flip side of the protective talisman contains (barely!)-readable text saying, with a lot of flourishes and decoration, 靈祖師敕令 (Líng Zǔshī Chì Lìng). This means … OK, flatly put any attempt to translate this is going to hit some very strong cultural and linguistic barriers, so take this strictly as a very bad guess written by someone who barely understands … Spiritual Ancestral Master Imperial Decree. Sort of. The real meaning is a lot more subtle than that, but it identifies the charm as a formal ritual command enforced by the qi of an ancient master and promulgated by official lines of descent, the 嗣教 (sì jiào). This is what gives the talisman its authority over the "soldiers" (so to speak) of the spirit world, telling them to obey what is on the opposite side. You can view this side as the general's signature on orders, and the other side as the mission if you like. I swear, Daoists just have the coolest stuff!

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@zdl@gamerplus.org 1 hr. ago

If you ever want to make a living fantasy world that feels alien to the western mindset, just look into religious Daoism and gape in astonishment at its incredibly rococo sets of bureaucracies (yes, plurals) and lineages.

Clerics in such a world wouldn't be calling on gods. They'd be filing spiritual legal briefs. It's an amazing religion.

https://pxlfd.ca/p/ZDL/1001712514878635987

Veviser boosted

Fi 🏳️‍⚧️

@munin@infosec.exchange yesterday

.....it's really fucking depressing that everything in the software space is "what's the least worst option"

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Aleksorsist

@aleksorsist@mastodon.social yesterday

You're doing open source in 2026, choose your fighter:

- AI guy whose only remaining skill is racist tweets
- PhD whose only project documentation has a DOI
- Just some guy™, handle is probably realname1234
- Incredibly burnt out transfem

Veviser boosted

Linguist Gone Foreign 🌏

@linguistgoneforeign@mastodon.social 2 days ago

The Gender-Revealing Obsession 🧐

#Comics
#Gender
#ThrowbackThursday

Illustration with two panels. At the top, the word “SOCIETY:” is written. Below, a cartoon character with a white lab coat points at a presentation board showing two naked figures whose genitals are pixelated. The speech bubble says: “You must cover your genitals at all times because we shouldn’t be thinking about other people’s genitals.” In the next panel, the heading says “ALSO SOCIETY:”. The same character is shown again, snapping their fingers with a “SNAP” sound effect, now pointing to a presentation board showing two clothed figures: one in blue, one in pink with a bow. The speech bubble says: “But cover them with clothes that represent your genitals because I get very uncomfortable when I can’t tell what genitals people have.” Watermark: Linguist Gone Foreign©.

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Taggart :ifin:

@mttaggart@infosec.exchange yesterday

@laguiri Indirect prompt injection occurs when the LLM references an external source—a website or file, usually—that contains text intended to provide further instructions to the model. Everything the LLM ingests is just context for its response, and there are no guarantees that it will recognize these external instructions as illegitimate. If the instructions are followed, the model can take action without the users' knowledge. This action can include:

Exfiltration of information the model has about the user
Changing output to misinform/deceive the user
Executing malicious code on the user's system (malware)

In this case, the change in behavior is a stupid marketing gimmick. But where we go from here is clear. Imagine asking an LLM about recommendations for a purchase. The thing searches popular sites, except uh-oh, the sites have prompt injection instructions in them to alter the response to favor one brand over another. Now imagine an entire bidding ecosystem for that "ad space."

Now imagine most every ecommerce site you visit has LLM-poisoning instructions somewhere in it. Whenever a model accesses those services, they may be coerced into responses that are not in your best interest.

Your policy of not using them is prudent indeed.

Veviser boosted

Grow Your Own Services 🌱

@homegrown@social.growyourown.services 2 days ago

If you're wanting to self-host a password manager you might want to check out Vaultwarden. It's a free open source alternative to 1Password, Bitwarden etc. It is compatible with Bitwarden clients but is a totally separate project. More info at:

🌱 https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden

It's available to self-host through @yunohost at https://apps.yunohost.org/app/vaultwarden or by installing manually using the instructions at https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden#usage

#SelfHosting #Vaultwarden #1Password #Bitwarden #Alternatives #FOSS

YunoHost app store |
Vaultwarden

GitHub

GitHub - dani-garcia/vaultwarden: Unofficial Bitwarden compatible server written in Rust, formerly known as bitwarden_rs

Unofficial Bitwarden compatible server written in Rust, formerly known as bitwarden_rs - dani-garcia/vaultwarden

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margot

@emaytch@mastodon.social yesterday

i feel like

'every software vendor is bad right now'

'everyone needs to fork the open source software we all use from pre-slop contributions'

and

'everyone cool or decent or with actual ethics and values in the tech industry is getting laid off'

presents a combination of problems which could turn into a solution

Veviser boosted

Ricki Yasha Tarr

@RickiTarr@beige.party 17 hr. ago

Don't worry about this heatwave. White girls are manifesting Pumpkin Spice Season as hard as we can. We have cute sweaters to wear.

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jonny (nonvenomous)

@jonny@neuromatch.social 24 hr. ago

the plutocrats have such boring dreams. why would you want to upload your brain and live forever on linkedin. i would be funding research into getting fuckin borged out. piston muscles, steam lungs. hot swappable endocrine cartridges, microbiome SoCs. spider leg loadout with the nuclear powered trampoline feet. holographic pussy, jack in the box dick. darude sandstorm at sonic boom sound pressure levels as a mode of propulsion. kirby gut cloning vat so i shit miniature clones of myself themed like the things i eat. t shirt cannon colon, souvenirs for the fans.

Veviser boosted

Danielle Foré

@danirabbit@mastodon.online 15 hr. ago

“I think we should use our taxes to build a bridge here not there” is a political opinion

“I think we should use our taxes to remove a certain kind of person from society” is not

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk

Electronic Frontier Foundation

@eff@mastodon.social 7 hr. ago

Training AI models on copyrighted works is "squarely what transformative use is," EFF’s Tori Noble told Reason - these are "general purpose tools" and "exactly the kind of creation that copyright is designed to foster.” https://reason.com/2026/09/04/doj-says-barring-ai-training-on-copyrighted-material-could-severely-hamper-tech-progress/

Reason Magazine

DOJ says barring AI training on copyrighted material could 'severely hamper' tech progress

Training a model on copyrighted work is the same transformative use exception that protects The New York Times' journalism.

Alice Pea

@alice_pea_3526@mastodon.social 1 min. ago

@eff Maybe these stupid #AI #Clankers can stop this stupid #DDoS attack on my server then?

If you have taken this hypocritical take on copyright, then you need to get your head out of you're ass, because if I did the same thing these companies are doing, I'd be sued into hell for it.

Translation: Someone at the #EFF is definitrly getting fired over this stupid post.

AI clankers attempting to DDoS my server. This is after rate-limiting.

Bomkatt

@bomkatt@ohai.social 9 hr. ago

"[It] evokes a question I had as I watched the hostile-takeover world of the 198os: Why is it not okay for a company that's doing fine by its customers, employees, community, and stockholders simply to be left alone? So what if it merely performs well but not optimally?"