NEW: Thermal drone footage shows the Microsoft-backed DataOne AI data center in Vineland, NJ is running dozens of gas generators.

None of them have permits.

A visual investigation from @TheGuardian @index

https://floodlightnews.org/new-jersey-data-center-federal-violation/

TIL that Gumroad (a previously popular indie creator store front) has gone all in on AI everything (apparently even editing the look of your storefront now requires arguing with an AI agent) 😱

(Consensus is this is the choice of the CEO that started about a year ago.)

If you bought things via Gumroad in the past, you might want to make sure you have downloaded everything to a safe place.

https://gumroad.com/gumclaw

We have restored access to our mail service. Here's how to log back in to your mailbox:

1. If you have an @autistici.org email address, we will soon restore your mail address on a new domain (we're working at it!). Until then, you won't be able to receive or send new emails, but you will still be able to access your account. You will find all your existing emails there.

2. For mailboxes on other domains:

- Use webmail: go to https://www.inventati.org click the Login button top left and enter your normal credentials.
- For standalone clients just change the mail server address: mail.autistici.org to mail.inventati.org (incoming email) / smtp.autistici.org to smtp.inventati.org (outbound email).

Keep tight! We will update you step by step here.

Il servizio di posta funziona di nuovo. Ecco le istruzioni su come accedere alla tua casella:

1. Se hai una mail @autistici.org, stiamo spostando la tua casella su un nuovo dominio (seguiranno aggiornamenti). Nel frattempo non potrai inviare o ricevere nuove mail, ma potrai comunque accedere al tuo account. Una volta dentro, troverai tutto il tuo archivio.

2. Per indirizzi sugli altri domini:

- Usa la webmail: apri la nostra home all'indirizzo https://www.inventati.org clicca Login in alto a sinistra e inserisci nome utente e password.
- Per i client di posta, cambia l'indirizzo del server: da mail.autistici.org a mail.inventati.org (posta in entrata) / da smtp.autistici.org a smtp.inventati.org (posta in uscita).

Tieni duro e abbi fiducia! Continueremo a pubblicare aggiornamenti via via che ne abbiamo.

As we conclude,

> "[LLM] users encounter a fundamental asymmetry: they must singlehandedly supply much of the sequential structure that is ordinarily co-constructed by multiple participants"
> "This hidden labour challenges accounts of LLM use that focus on performance and optimization"

More here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22129748

Dear culture-war motorists, look to the future. We’ll all be driving at 20mph soon

"We need politicians to explain – and to keep explaining – why the unrestricted use of cars in urban centres is damaging to the local economy as well as to the environment, to people’s health and to the overall feel of a place"

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/aug/28/culture-war-motorists-future-drive-birmingham-speed-limit

#20sPlenty #Urbanism #Birmingham #ULEZ #AirPollution

Fifty three years ago I started the day as a child and ended it as a mom. This was the first photo of me and my daughter. We both still had our hospital bracelet on.
The hospital where she delivered never even gave me a room. I was left in a hallway and discharged about eight hours after I arrived. As an unwed mother I didn't warrant a red carpet welcome. I paid them $250 and went home to the room I rented in an old Victorian house. Obviously there were holes in the wallpaper but we were warm and safe and we were living within our means. I was fourteen years old and ninety eight pounds.
I'm sharing my story because it shows all good things are possible.
My daughter turned into the best kind of human.
It wasn't easy but I have zero regrets.
True grit was never personified by John Wayne types but by regular people surviving against the odds.
Disappointing the doubters was sweet consolation.
She gave me the gift of grandkids too.
I've had a good life.
So far.

Fifty three years ago I started the day as a child and ended it as a mom. This was the first photo of me and my daughter. We both still had our hospital bracelet on.
The hospital where she delivered never even gave me a room. I was left in a hallway and discharged about eight hours after I arrived. As an unwed mother I didn't warrant a red carpet welcome. I paid them $250 and went home to the room I rented in an old Victorian house. Obviously there were holes in the wallpaper but we were warm and safe and we were living within our means. I was fourteen years old and ninety eight pounds.
I'm sharing my story because it shows all good things are possible.
My daughter turned into the best kind of human.
It wasn't easy but I have zero regrets.
True grit was never personified by John Wayne types but by regular people surviving against the odds.
Disappointing the doubters was sweet consolation.
She gave me the gift of grandkids too.
I've had a good life.
So far.

@imanijoy Wow, that is a whole new perspective that I hadn't considered before but it is so much more fitting for me.

Meta's Celebration https://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/3284.html

I used to think this was funny... then I thought about only spending $600 on a graphics card.

📰 "When verifying their profile or age on platforms, users disclose sensitive biometric information to third-party companies. One such company is the #US-based firm #Persona […]" Includes quotes from noyb data protection lawyer Felix Mikolasch.

Read more (in German): https://netzpolitik.org/2026/linkedin-etsy-roblox-wer-dein-gesicht-scannt-wenn-du-dich-online-verifizierst/#netzpolitik-pw

"Secretary of State Marco Rubio is attacking the group for running an online platform that the U.S. government can't spy on and for facilitating communications the U.S. government doesn't like. But precisely because Autistici/Inventati is based in another country—Italy—the U.S. government has basically unchecked power to impose counterterrorism sanctions on it."

It's hard to overstate how significant this is. Simply providing infrastructure independent of US tech giants is viewed as terrorism. The same could be said about most nodes on the Fediverse.

https://reason.com/2026/08/27/rubio-uses-terrorism-law-to-ban-secure-email-service/

@sebsauvage
Et les 1/4 restants sont des humains qui se comportent comme des bots en relayant mécaniquement ce qu’on leur demande de poster et répondent aux robots en les prenant pour des humains. On tient là un système particulièrement efficace d'optimisation informatique.

@eff @htsuka @KPBSPublicMedia it is very curious to me that other US states have not signed up to this service or implemented their own version of the privacy protecting laws that exist in California

@laurenshof Putting strong warnings directly in the appropriate config option instead of as a comment that people ignore has a long history.

E.g., at Google, (I'm simplifying slightly) the option variable to opt out of some sensible container management configuration was called `MY_SERVICE_IS_NOT_THAT_IMPORTANT`.

Hard to argue the internal equivalent of k8s took your service down if you explicitly set that option.