“BlueSky is decentralised” - the media.

This Wayland Open Letter Is Incredible #Linux #YouTube https://youtu.be/nWnBg8zGAeU

🗞️⚖️ "The Austrian Federal Administrative Court has confirmed that the "Pay or Okay" consent model violates European data protection laws, delivering a significant ruling against leading newspaper DerStandard.at on August 18, 2025."

👀 Read more: https://ppc.land/austrian-court-rules-pay-or-okay-model-illegal-for-derstandard-newspaper/

Big techs are building a counter-narrative regarding AI environmental impacts by focusing on individual usage. Few drops, few watts so you can keep receiving stochastic responses.

One of the main critiques is that they provide market-based emissions that are misleading for several reasons and do not follow GHG reporting protocol.

Overall, this is very problematic because individual measures do not appeal to the scale of its infrastructure and supply chains.

More:

https://telegra.ph/Google-says-a-typical-AI-text-prompt-only-uses-5-drops-of-water--experts-say-thats-misleading-08-23

let me tell you, there's little that pisses me off more than what i call the "$100 walmart e-waste laptop scam". laptop manufacturers love to make cheap plastic pieces of junk with the worst screen you could ever imagine, 2-4GB of RAM, 16-32GB of eMMC storage, and a slow CPU for around $100. they're completely useless for doing anything at all, the best use I can think for one is to hook it up to a better monitor and keyboard and use it as a DOS gaming PC.



if you want to save basically anything, you're not going to be able to because of the eMMC that i'm surprised is even big enough for windows, and you can forget about installing linux either because the storage is still too small on it to do anything legitimately useful. you can't upgrade the storage or RAM either, as it's all soldered to the motherboard.



these laptops usually sell for around $100 at stores like walmart, and consumers who know nothing about computers will buy them, wonder why it's so slow and terrible, and inevitably either return or throw them out. they come off the production line already being total e-waste, and it really annoys me to no end. it's a massive waste of resources that would only stop if idiots would stop buying them.

"YouTube's Sneaky AI 'Experiment'"

YT to alter your videos during upload ☠️🤬

I heard there are cool alternative services for video sharing, BTW

https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/23/0836256/youtubes-sneaky-ai-experiment-is-social-media-embracing-ai-generated-content

YouTube Is Using AI to Alter Content (and not telling us)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=86nhP8tvbLY&si=3Ug0CXvFtJXyWG_b

it might actually be over

https://9to5google.com/2025/08/25/android-apps-developer-verification/

Fuck Google.

Remember folks, there are other options to Android besides just iOS. Sailfish OS exists. Plasma Mobile exists. PureOS exists.

They aren't going to provide the same level of experience. You won't be able to install apps that require more and more egregious attestation. You might even have to switch how you communicate and down the line as more developers bend the knee and turn on shit like Play Protect, change who you bank with or the services you buy.

And you know what? That's okay. I'm not a personal liberty absolutist by any means, but lines have to be drawn somewhere. It's my fucking device, I will use it how I want.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/08/google-will-block-sideloading-of-unverified-android-apps-starting-next-year/

"Sideloading" is the rentseeker word for "being able to run software of your choosing on a computing device you purchased". There is no reasonable case for an operating system developer having a say over what programs you run on your hardware.

#Android #Google

Google asks what we think of their plans to block Android app installs outside of Google Play (unless the developers let Google verify their identity and pay a fee).

Want to tell them your opinion, just submit this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfN3UQeNspQsZCO2ITkdzMxv81rJDEGGjO-UIDDY28Rz_GEVA/viewform?usp=dialog

Under-reported detail: If you don't pay a fee to Google, they limit how many people can install your apps and how many apps you are allowed to have.

Source: https://developer.android.com/developer-verification/guides/android-developer-console

***** Google's plans to restrict sideloading on Android are an authoritarian wet dream come true *****

Let me be really clear about how horrifically dangerous #Google's plans are to restrict #Android sideloading to "verified developers" (that is, entities for which Google has full verified identity and associated information that they could hand over to authorities on demand).

This means that even though you own your Android device, you cannot install apps obtained from ANY source (except perhaps apps you build yourself that will only be permitted to run on your own device) unless Google knows pretty much everything about who created that app.

The ways that this could be abused are so numerous I won't even start listing them here, other than to note that it is absolutely horrific overreach by Google and at least appears to be Google bending over for abusive government demands, and could put already vulnerable individuals and groups at even more risk.

Absolutely disgusting.

L

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

🇨🇿 Czech Republic is now OPPOSED to Chat Control, as announced by Prime Minister Petr Fiala:

"On behalf of myself and the entire TOGETHER coalition, I want to say clearly: we will not allow the monitoring of citizens' private correspondence. We do not agree that any emails or messages on platforms such as WhatsApp or Messenger can be monitored. Protecting our children is important, but we have to do it differently."

This now leaves eight undecided member states.

We've been working on improving On-Screen Keyboard support in computers, mobile devices and TVs as part of the We Care About Your Input - KDE Goals initiative.

Check out what has been done so far in Plasma Virtual Keyboard and tell us what you'd like to see next. 💻️📱📺️

https://discuss.kde.org/t/plasma-virtual-keyboard-feedback-needed/39008

#kde #linux #accessibility #kdegoals #osk #virtualkeyboard #wayland

@kde@lemmy.kde.social

I see a lot of good posts about the meaning of "sideloading" recently. I've been saying this for years. It's a bad word designed to control how people think about installing software.

For more examples like "sideloading" you might enjoy GNU's words to avoid list. It recently got updated to include "artificial intelligence" too. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html

Maybe they should also include "sideloading".

📣 Hello! We've formally sent a proposal to the GNOME Foundation and KDE e.V. leadership for a unified Linux App Summit (LAS) that would merge GUADEC, Akademy, and the current LAS into a single event.

We're sharing it with you as an open letter. Our goal is to create a more efficient, cost-effective, and impactful conference for everyone. We invite you to read the full proposal and share your thoughts.

🔗 https://href.tf/LAS2026

#Linux #GNOME #KDE #FOSS #OpenSource #LAS2026 #GUADEC #Akademy

thread on @gnome@floss.social 's Discourse: https://discourse.gnome.org/t/an-open-letter-a-proposal-for-a-unified-linux-app-summit-las-2026/31124/2

Word to save new files on Microsoft’s servers by default

You already need custom noscripts and third-party applications that make custom Windows ISOs to make installing Windows somewhat bearable - unless you enjoy spending hours manually disabling all the anti-user settings in Windows - and now there's another setting to add to the massive, growing list of stuff you have to fix aft

https://www.osnews.com/story/143202/word-to-save-new-files-on-microsofts-servers-by-default/

#Office

Microsoft just pulled a classic bait-and-switch tactic by ending free #Office licenses for NPOs. 😡 

Don't let Big Tech lure you into their platforms with their "free" offerings. Open source alternatives like Linux + Tuta put YOU in control. ✊

Because you deserve better. ❤️ 

Read more: 👉 https://tuta.com/blog/microsoft-office-free-for-non-profits-ends