cross-posted from: https://feditown.com/post/974805

Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria, fears of a renewed ISIS insurgency have intensified. MintPress News has uncovered that, despite Meta’s previously strict policies on banning terrorism-related content, ISIS-linked accounts have been posting freely on its platforms.

Although Meta previously removed 26 million pieces of terrorism-related content—an impressive 99% of such material on its platform—MintPress News has revealed that content supporting ISIS, often referred to by its pejorative epithet ‘Daesh’ in the Arab world, is now flourishing on the platform. Many of these accounts are based in regions of Syria historically known as strongholds for the extremist group.

A series of seemingly pro-ISIS accounts have emerged, concentrated in areas such as Binish, Sarmeen, Jarablous, Manbij, Palmyra and Deir Ezzor—regions historically known as strongholds for the terrorist group. New accounts appear daily, with some prominently displaying ISIS flags as their profile pictures.

These accounts frequently post speeches by ISIS leaders, which remain active on the platform and often garner hundreds of likes and comments. These include videos of the group’s fighters parading with weapons in the back of SUVs, attracting significant attention and interaction on the platform.

from #TheRegister #Register Thomas Claburn Fri 10 Jan 2025 // 13:37 UTC

Sebastian Steck, a software developer based in Germany, has obtained the source code and library installation scripts for his AVM FRITZ!Box 4020 router, thanks to a lawsuit funded by the Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC).

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/technology/2025/01/08/biden-to-further-limit-nvidia-ai-chip-exports-in-final-push

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/24704138

"Donald Trump is returning, artificial intelligence is maturing, the planet is warming, and the global fertility rate is collapsing."

Opinion By #EzraKlein Jan. 12, 2025

from #NewYorkTimes #NYT [gift article - link can be shared. Expires in 30 days.]

Sarah Perez
11:39 AM PST · January 8, 2025

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/52215027

https://archive.ph/wnAoR

The fake operation has a curious tendency to defend the Pakistan military

In October, a new foreign policy think tank calling itself the Beltway Grid Policy Centre quietly entered D.C.'s diplomatic fray. While there was no launch party and is no K Street office we could find, the think tank nevertheless began producing its intellectual product at a startling pace, issuing reports, press releases, and pitching journalists on news coverage—much of it focused on South Asia, and, in particular, the ongoing political crisis in Pakistan.

The unusual nature of Beltway Grid's staffing leaves open several possibilities. The organization may be so hard at work defending the policies of the Pakistan military and criticizing former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the team simply hasn't had time to lead previous lives or respond to requests for comment. They may be early alien settlers, dropped off by drones on the coast of New Jersey, who are fans of Jane Austen and have come to study "the modern dynamics of lobbying." Or, more likely, somebody with a small budget asked ChatGPT to set up a fake think tank. Using AI to make a think tank adds a deeper layer of irony, since AI proponents regularly admonish the public not to conflate the operations of an AI program with “thinking.”

Beltway Grid's work product has left a few other clues as the motivations of its creator. One recent report, "Democracy Under Siege: Economic Fallout and Diplomatic Implications of Protests in Pakistan," argues that the November 2024 protests, which lasted just a few days and were led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party under former Prime Minister Imran Khan, resulted in higher inflation, a currency collapse, a loss of 0.8% of GDP, a cumulative cost of 3 trillion rupees. The numbers are eerily similar to a report distributed internally by the army and obtained by Drop Site News. Independent analysts have suggested the economic malaise may be more closely linked to the overall policies of the military government, but according to the author of the report Beltway Grid's "Chief Strategic Analyst, Political Influence," Alexandra Caldwell, the problems all belong at the foot of Khan. Caldwell could not be reached for further comment, but her report was convincing enough for Pakistani news to turn it into a broadcast. And its report on Imran Khan's bid for Oxford Chancellor—Beltway Grid took a dim view, believe it or not—can be found reported on PR wire services and even republished on Yahoo News.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/24555514

With Lenovo's announcement at CES 2025 of the Lenovo Legion Go S, we are pleased to share that their "Powered by SteamOS" model is the first handheld officially licensed to ship with Valve's SteamOS. We built this operating system to provide a seamless user experience optimized for gaming, while retaining access to the power and flexibility of a PC. SteamOS is the same operating system we run on Steam Deck, and the team is making updates to ensure it fully supports the Lenovo Legion Go S and provides the same seamless experience customers expect.

In addition, the same work that we are doing to support the Lenovo Legion Go S will improve compatibility with other handhelds. Ahead of Legion Go S shipping, we will be shipping a beta of SteamOS which should improve the experience on other handhelds, and users can download and test this themselves. And of course we'll continue adding support and improving the experience with future releases.

https://archive.ph/pNDob

cross-posted from: https://leminal.space/post/14389410

“[For] people who live in the country or in remote areas or minority groups or [who have] small businesses, that is a really good way for them to communicate and reach other people,” she says.

“It’s just not possible to set up an alternative at this point in time. So, to put it bluntly, we’re in a bit of deep shit, to be honest.”

No mention of Pixelfed, but I can understand why. Will it only be seen as an alternative once a critical mass of users move there? And can that happen if they don't see it as an alternative? Chicken and egg. I'm trying out, but it's a little vapid when everyone I know is on Instagram.

The goal is to show that a real go-kart for adults can be built with mail-order parts and basic tools, without cutting, welding, or nonsense.

Meta on Tuesday announced it will eliminate its third-party fact-checking program to “restore free expression” and move to a “Community Notes” model, similar to the system that exists on Elon Musk’s platform X.

The company said Community Notes will be written and rated by contributing users to provide more context to posts across its platforms, and the feature will roll out in the U.S. over the next couple of months. The announcement marks Meta’s latest attempt to smooth over relations with Republican President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office.

Meta said it will simplify its content policies by removing restrictions on subjects like immigration and gender and implement a new approach to policy enforcement that will focus on illegal and high-severity violations. The company is moving its trust and safety and content moderation teams from California, a historically Democratic state, to Texas, a historically Republican state.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/24503345

A team from China’s top government research academy pledged to produce this year a processor based on the open-source chip-design architecture RISC-V, as Beijing advances its semiconductor self-reliance drive amid escalating US restrictions.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) will be able to deliver its XiangShan open-source central processing unit in 2025, wrote Bao Yungang, deputy director at the academy’s Institute of Computing Technology, in a Weibo post on Sunday.