Mastodons

Pull The Plug, a recently formed direct action protest group in the UK, is drawing attention for its campaign against AI and associated technologies. The group, active via its website pulltheplug.uk, is being discussed among technology and politics circles, with some noting its tactics may resonate given widespread scepticism about AI development.

An ongoing film tournament pitting movies from 1938 against each other has closed its elimination round, with the top two finishers advancing to the quarter-finals. The advancing titles include Mr. Boggs Steps Out, Sex Madness and The Terror of Tiny Town. Classic film fans are following the bracket and debating which obscure 1938 pictures deserve to move on.

Mohammed Hussein, founder of the Olive Garden School, is appealing for charitable contributions to support children in Gaza who survived the war and are suffering trauma. He says the school works on support and rehabilitation for these children and is asking people online to help fund the effort.

A user named Lubna Al Ser has shared an appeal on Mastodon tagging mutual aid groups and lawyers, with hashtags referencing Gaza and Palestine. The post is being amplified through repeated shares by other accounts focused on mutual aid and the Middle East. It calls attention to ongoing humanitarian needs in Gaza, though the specific request being made is not detailed in the available information.

Technology writer Simon Willison has published a new piece titled 'Scrimshaw Jukebox' on his personal site, tagged under AI, Python and open source. The post was shared on Mastodon with a small amount of engagement, and little detail is available beyond the title and tags.

A Gaza-based university student is appealing for financial support so she can complete her second year studying English Translation, saying she needs help covering transportation costs. The plea is being shared and boosted across the decentralized social network Mastodon, where users are urging others to contribute or amplify the campaign amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

A link tagged with music and musicsky hashtags is circulating on Mastodon, pointing to a YouTube video. The post offers no further description of the content, artist, or event involved. Engagement so far is minimal, with only a small number of likes recorded. Without additional context, what the shared video contains and why it is being passed around remains unstated.

A university student is appealing for public support to continue her second year of studies in English Translation. She says she needs help covering transportation costs for the two days a week she attends classes, along with related expenses, and has asked her online community for donations to stay enrolled.

A verified fundraiser for Hilen and his sister, two students from Gaza trying to pay for their university education, has stalled at €131 of its €500 target. Supporters on Mastodon are boosting the appeal, urging people to donate and share the GoFundMe link, listing it with gaza-verified.org as a vetted campaign.

A widely shared post argues that having 'nothing to hide' does not mean people should share everything, urging users to take control of their digital lives with open-source tools. It recommends Linux for desktops, GrapheneOS for mobile, and Mastodon, Pixelfed, Loops, SimpleX and Delta Chat for social and messaging, alongside open email options.

Meta reportedly patched a virtual machine escape vulnerability in its MetaMuse product immediately before launch, according to 404 Media reporting. A VM escape flaw would let code break out of an isolated virtual machine, a serious security risk. Users in infosec and tech communities are discussing the fix and whether it connects to a fellow Mastodon user known to run servers from their own systems.

Mac users are turning to a third-party removal tool that deletes Apple Intelligence, freeing up more than 12GB of disk space on their machines. Many Mac owners appear uninterested in Apple's AI features and are welcoming the ability to reclaim storage. Discussion is circulating among Apple-focused outlets and on Mastodon, with users sharing the space savings they have recovered.

A meme circulating on Mastodon during election-related tagging urges people to choose their vote, framing the Pirate Party as an alternative to a surveillance-heavy future. It pairs slogans about freedom, privacy and the internet with imagery of Big Brother, Orwell and dystopia versus utopia, encouraging voters to see the ballot as a choice between those two futures.

A Heise Online background report examines how the EU's planned KIDS Act would require age verification on decentralized social networks, posing technical and organizational problems for Mastodon and the wider Fediverse. Discussion online is focusing on how age checks could be enforced across thousands of independently run servers, and what the rules would mean for privacy in Europe.

A German-language post circulating on Mastodon highlights the medical use of cannabis products for a wide range of symptoms and illnesses. It lists relief of pain and inflammation, as well as treatment of anxiety and depression, among the applications. The item links to further information, but no new study, policy change or event is mentioned, so the immediate trigger for the discussion is not evident.

A set of links advertising full-length adult videos under the name 'Goon Archives' is circulating widely across multiple platforms, including Mastodon, BitChute and other video sites. The material is tagged with explicit hashtags and marketed as art, though it is pornographic content. The spread highlights how adult content creators distribute material across platforms with differing moderation rules.