trashhalo

The organization that represents Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's works has petitioned the U.S. government to restrict the right to repair a religious artifact called an E-Meter. This device is core to Scientology practices but the group argues exemptions allowing device hacking should not apply to equipment restricted to trained users. Experts believe the E-Meter is the targeted device, which the Church says requires specific Scientologist operation. Documentation shows the E-Meter updater software mandates registration, including a membership number, suggesting repair restrictions. The language used in the petition matches stipulations Scientology requires for E-Meter use and purchase agreements. In short, the Church appears to be attempting to prevent independent E-Meter repair or experimentation through copyright exemption restrictions.

Mark Freed experienced growing dread due to the increasing wildfires near his home in California. He felt a sense of helplessness and searched for safer places to live, but still felt disaster was inevitable. Experts define dread as being heavier than anxiety since it involves a tangible threat. With climate change, people dread future extreme events and the consequences of inaction. Constantly focusing on doom and helplessness can cause paralysis. Taking small climate-friendly actions and community support can help transform dread into hope and empowerment. While dread spreads awareness, constant focus on it harms well-being. Therapists recommend acknowledging valid emotions while reconnecting with life's meaningful aspects through nature or hobbies. For Freed, routine and spending time with his dogs now makes life livable despite managed dread.

The article discusses expectations for smart home announcements at the upcoming IFA tech show in Berlin. While companies may unveil new smart speakers, cameras and robot vacuums, the smart home remains fragmented as the Matter interoperability standard has yet to fully deliver on integrating devices. The author argues the industry needs to provide more utility than novelty by allowing different smart devices to work together seamlessly. Examples mentioned include lights notifying users of doorbell activity or a robot vacuum taking on multiple household chores autonomously. Overall, the smart home needs solutions that are essential rather than just novel if consumers are to see the value beyond the initial cool factor.

Laura Ann Carleton, a 66-year-old shopkeeper who owned a clothing store in Cedar Glen, California, was shot and killed after confronting a man who pulled down the rainbow Pride flag displayed outside her store. Carleton reportedly made disparaging remarks before opening fire with a handgun. He fled but was later shot dead by police. Carleton was regarded as an ally of the local LGBTQ+ community, even though she did not identify as such herself. Her death has sparked tributes from friends and activists who note rising incidents of violence and harassment targeting the LGBTQ+ community across the U.S. in recent months. Notably, over 350 such attacks have occurred from June 2022 to April 2023 alone according to recent reports.

The head librarian in Gillette, Wyoming was fired after 11 years for refusing to remove LGBTQ+ books from the teen section of the library. Residents had complained about books addressing LGBTQ+ topics and a Pride blog post. Guided by an out-of-state conservative group, residents challenged 29 books over two years. Last year, the library board cut ties with the ALA and changed policies to allow removing sexually explicit materials. When the librarian would not follow the new censorship-friendly guidance, the board voted to terminate her. She believed the library should serve all citizens. Interestingly, some long-time residents were upset that outsiders had attacked the respected small-town library.

cross-posted from: https://literature.cafe/post/349464

I don't think this was posted here already, but this instance has been up and running for a bit. Apologies if this isn't the best place for it, feel free to remove if need be! The instance has been running for a few weeks now and has a few users already, but if there's people invested in that specific niche interest that wants to spread the load across instances it exists. It has some extra lemmy front end UIs available, and I am building up the local communities as I have time to.

Some policy stuff as to how it operates, for sake of transparency.

Although I am currently the "only admin" I do have a "break glass" admin account and will be giving it to a trusted point person just in case (life happens sometimes...) as well as scaling up the team as need be.

If the instance ever has to go down, at the very least a 30 day notice will be given in advance as well as an outlined explanation as to why and a good faith effort will be made to keep it up as well.

The de-federation policy might be slightly controversial, and I completely understand. It is currently temporarily defederated from lemmys pornographic instances, mainly because of just how much it spams c/all. I will refederate in time when there more granular federation options, but I just can't reasonably moderate that right now. I also do defederate from the "worst of the worst" fediverse instances (ie, known CP hosts, far right, nazis, etc) as a precaution despite how janky cross federation is for lemmy right now, hence why the instance blocklist is long.

The instance currently uses object storage, and I post monthly financial statements as to what the cost of the resources for it are.

I also use a community seeder bot that runs every 12 hours to diversify content in all. The local communities focus are mainly book related, but it federates with most other instances.

I also am currently taking manual secure database backups at least weekly and storing them remotely, but I will be automating that process as soon as I can. I value security greatly.

The link is https://literature.cafe

Several prominent Black rappers have recently aligned themselves with conservative politicians and media figures, which the author finds concerning. Rappers like Ice Cube, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne have sat down with Tucker Carlson and supported Donald Trump. However, the author argues that right-wing populism threatens Black communities. While some see these moves as opening dialogue, the author believes shared values around money, religion, and distrust in institutions have brought these unlikely groups together against vulnerable people. As the hip-hop industry has become more commercialized and corporate, rappers have also gained wealth and political influence, but supporting policies that don't help everyday Black Americans. The author maintains that rap artists have a duty to use their platforms responsibly by advocating for politics that materially improve conditions in Black communities.

YouTube is changing the homepage experience for users who have their watch history turned off. They will now see an almost blank homepage with just a search bar and buttons for Shorts, Subscriptions and Library. This is intended to make it clear that personalized recommendations rely on watch history data. The new design aims to avoid extreme thumbnails and instead focus search. Some users have already started seeing this change, though it may not be fully rolled out yet. The goal is to both help those who prefer searching over recommendations, and potentially encourage users to turn their history back on. Overall this represents a major interface change focused on watch history preferences.

What's been your experience with youtube recommendations? For me they are consistently hot garbage.

Hello Vonnie is an illustrator from the Netherlands who makes colorful illustrations of relaxed and chilled out characters. She works both with sketchbooks and tablets, though finds sketching more freeing. While her characters aim for a relaxed vibe, she considers herself a chronic worrier. She recently launched an online shop selling prints and stickers. Her dream project would be creating ceramic works or a huge mural using her characters. She advises other illustrators to find joy in what they make and the rest will come with time.

Governor DeSantis's policies targeting the LGBTQ community, restricting academic freedom, and banning diversity programs have negatively impacted Florida's economy. Several organizations have canceled conventions and events in Orlando due to concerns over DeSantis's "anti-woke" agenda, resulting in an estimated $20 million loss in revenue for the state. Despite this, DeSantis's spokesperson dismissed the economic impact as a "media-driven stunt." However, boycotts in the past have caused enough economic pain to lead to policy changes, so organizations avoiding Florida are doing the right thing by not spending money there while these policies remain in place.

Trump's lawyer John Lauro argued that even if Trump committed a "technical violation of the Constitution," it does not necessarily mean he broke any criminal laws regarding pressuring Pence to overturn the 2020 election results. Lauro claimed Trump believed he had won the election and was exercising his First Amendment rights to express that opinion. However, critics say Trump's actions went beyond free speech and he conspired to defraud the public and nullify lawful votes. Former Attorney General William Barr said the charges are legitimate and Trump's actions went far beyond expressing an opinion. Trump has said he will seek to have the judge assigned to his case recused and request a change of venue, alleging unfairness.