Your pal Al 🪴📝
@alsmth.bsky.social
Director of Fundraising @torproject.org • In-progress ceramicist & occasional fiber crafter • Oxford comma enjoyer • Fan of the internet • Anti-fascist transgender menace • Seattle, WA 🌈🔗⚡
🐘 Mastodon https://social.coop/@al
🐘 Mastodon https://social.coop/@al
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
Literal internet of shit
Withings’ urine scanning health tracker is now available for $350
Withings’ urine scanning health tracker is now available for $350
Replacement cartridges that can last up to three months with semiweekly testing start at $100.
buff.ly
October 29, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Literal internet of shit
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
🔒 Data Privacy Week: Stay anonymous with @torproject.bsky.social!
Protecting your privacy online is more important than ever.
📖 Read our guide now: blog.flokinet.is/2025/01/28/w...
Protecting your privacy online is more important than ever.
📖 Read our guide now: blog.flokinet.is/2025/01/28/w...
What is the Tor Network? A detailed guide to online anonymity
Learn how the Tor network enhances your privacy and anonymity. Discover secure browsing, bypass censorship.
blog.flokinet.is
January 28, 2025 at 1:33 PM
🔒 Data Privacy Week: Stay anonymous with @torproject.bsky.social!
Protecting your privacy online is more important than ever.
📖 Read our guide now: blog.flokinet.is/2025/01/28/w...
Protecting your privacy online is more important than ever.
📖 Read our guide now: blog.flokinet.is/2025/01/28/w...
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
Wikipedia is rolling out anonymity features piloted in countries with authoritarian governments in the US & is making a change to not show editor IP addresses in response to a global "increase in threats" from Elon Musk, Heritage Foundation, and governments
www.404media.co/wikipedia-pr...
www.404media.co/wikipedia-pr...
Wikipedia Prepares for 'Increase in Threats' to US Editors From Musk and His Allies
The Wikimedia Foundation says it will likely roll out features previously used to protect editors in authoritarian countries more widely.
www.404media.co
February 11, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Wikipedia is rolling out anonymity features piloted in countries with authoritarian governments in the US & is making a change to not show editor IP addresses in response to a global "increase in threats" from Elon Musk, Heritage Foundation, and governments
www.404media.co/wikipedia-pr...
www.404media.co/wikipedia-pr...
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
Attending #RightsCon? So are we!
Join our full-day event dedicated to online privacy, censorship circumvention, and censorship monitoring, on Feb 23 or any of our other sessions and talks:
🗓️ Sign up here: ooni-research.ocf.tw/docs/en/blog...
Join our full-day event dedicated to online privacy, censorship circumvention, and censorship monitoring, on Feb 23 or any of our other sessions and talks:
🗓️ Sign up here: ooni-research.ocf.tw/docs/en/blog...
Internet Freedom Workshop: Tor、Tails、OONI - OONI-Research
Join us on February 23rd, 2025, in Taipei, Taiwan, for a full-day event focused on online privacy, censorship circumvention, and monitoring. Hosted in partnership with the Open Culture Foundation, OON...
ooni-research.ocf.tw
February 6, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Attending #RightsCon? So are we!
Join our full-day event dedicated to online privacy, censorship circumvention, and censorship monitoring, on Feb 23 or any of our other sessions and talks:
🗓️ Sign up here: ooni-research.ocf.tw/docs/en/blog...
Join our full-day event dedicated to online privacy, censorship circumvention, and censorship monitoring, on Feb 23 or any of our other sessions and talks:
🗓️ Sign up here: ooni-research.ocf.tw/docs/en/blog...
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
I've seen people dismiss the Pornhub bans, sometimes couching their dismissal in an anti-porn stance. What I don't think they realize is that the people pushing this stuff conflate porn with LGBTQ people and sex education and are part of Project 2025
mashable.com/article/free...
mashable.com/article/free...
What the Supreme Court hearing about age verification could mean for you
The court's decision could set a new precedent for free speech online.
mashable.com
January 17, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I've seen people dismiss the Pornhub bans, sometimes couching their dismissal in an anti-porn stance. What I don't think they realize is that the people pushing this stuff conflate porn with LGBTQ people and sex education and are part of Project 2025
mashable.com/article/free...
mashable.com/article/free...
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
The Matrix (Film / DVD: 1999)
September 12, 2024 at 12:16 PM
The Matrix (Film / DVD: 1999)
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
The millennial experience is growing up with the internet, and watching it go from a free, open, democratic, and eclectic ecosystem to a wasteland of five websites controlled by billionaires, and now seeing it quickly fill up with AI-generated slop.
I want our World Wide Web back.
I want our World Wide Web back.
i don't want to hear your most boomer complaint. what's your most millennial complaint?
January 15, 2025 at 11:06 PM
The millennial experience is growing up with the internet, and watching it go from a free, open, democratic, and eclectic ecosystem to a wasteland of five websites controlled by billionaires, and now seeing it quickly fill up with AI-generated slop.
I want our World Wide Web back.
I want our World Wide Web back.
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
FOR JOURNALISTS: SecureDrop provides strong security through its use of offline encryption and the Tor network, but sources still need your help to protect themselves, especially in monitored environments.
Find out more:
Find out more:
Leaking on the clock: What your sources need to know
Last week, Eric Trump tweeted a screenshot of an email that circulated through the Trump Organization by Washington Post reporter David Fahrentholt. Although the tweet sensationalized Fahrentholt’s em...
freedom.press
January 15, 2025 at 5:41 PM
FOR JOURNALISTS: SecureDrop provides strong security through its use of offline encryption and the Tor network, but sources still need your help to protect themselves, especially in monitored environments.
Find out more:
Find out more:
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
[There are huge differences between flashing an ID at a brick and mortar location versus an online company storing and processing personally identifiable information associated with your viewing of adult content]
January 15, 2025 at 3:30 PM
[There are huge differences between flashing an ID at a brick and mortar location versus an online company storing and processing personally identifiable information associated with your viewing of adult content]
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
sometimes banning things works when it comes to moderation and other related things but history shows us that the #tiktok response is playing out exactly how banning things usually plays out: defiance, hacks, and work arounds.
January 14, 2025 at 3:40 AM
sometimes banning things works when it comes to moderation and other related things but history shows us that the #tiktok response is playing out exactly how banning things usually plays out: defiance, hacks, and work arounds.
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
WE’RE HIRING! The Knight Institute seeks a Policy Fellow, Research & Policy Program Coordinator, and Administrative Coordinator. Think you’d be a fit? Read this 🧵 and our website for more info & application instructions. knightcolumbia.org/page/work-wi...
| Knight First Amendment Institute
knightcolumbia.org
January 13, 2025 at 9:46 PM
WE’RE HIRING! The Knight Institute seeks a Policy Fellow, Research & Policy Program Coordinator, and Administrative Coordinator. Think you’d be a fit? Read this 🧵 and our website for more info & application instructions. knightcolumbia.org/page/work-wi...
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
"Reporters and editors at national newspapers are increasing their reliance on encrypted communications to help shield themselves and their sources from potential federal leak investigations and subpoenas." www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/b...
News Outlets Batten Down the Hatches for Trump’s Return
Media organizations are taking unusual steps to prepare for what they fear will be a legal and political onslaught from the new administration.
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2025 at 9:33 PM
"Reporters and editors at national newspapers are increasing their reliance on encrypted communications to help shield themselves and their sources from potential federal leak investigations and subpoenas." www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/b...
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
People may have tried to scare you away from the anonymity-preserving Tor Browser. … Use it anyway!
Advice column: Will I face increased scrutiny for using Tor?
People may have tried to scare you away from the anonymity-preserving Tor Browser. … Use it anyway!
freedom.press
January 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
People may have tried to scare you away from the anonymity-preserving Tor Browser. … Use it anyway!
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
January 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
oh boy, some good stuff in here
January 9, 2025 at 12:34 AM
oh boy, some good stuff in here
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
However you feel about TikTok in particular, it seems ominous that SCOTUS is poised to announce First Amendment strict scrutiny can be overcome by a daydream and a sneeze.
January 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
However you feel about TikTok in particular, it seems ominous that SCOTUS is poised to announce First Amendment strict scrutiny can be overcome by a daydream and a sneeze.
Privacy and agency over our data matters—is one of the forefront issues for online life—because every single corporate owned social platform will make decisions that harm people in the name of money and power.
January 10, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Privacy and agency over our data matters—is one of the forefront issues for online life—because every single corporate owned social platform will make decisions that harm people in the name of money and power.
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
New: How advertising on thousands of popular apps is used to fuel location data brokers. Done by @josephcox.bsky.social in conjunction with @wired.com
www.404media.co/candy-crush-...
www.404media.co/candy-crush-...
Candy Crush, Tinder, MyFitnessPal: See the Thousands of Apps Hijacked to Spy on Your Location
A hack of location data company Gravy Analytics has revealed which apps are—knowingly or not—being used to collect your information behind the scenes.
www.404media.co
January 9, 2025 at 9:08 PM
New: How advertising on thousands of popular apps is used to fuel location data brokers. Done by @josephcox.bsky.social in conjunction with @wired.com
www.404media.co/candy-crush-...
www.404media.co/candy-crush-...
oh boy, some good stuff in here
January 9, 2025 at 12:34 AM
oh boy, some good stuff in here
Please, science, I *need* to know what my dog is dreaming about.
January 8, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Please, science, I *need* to know what my dog is dreaming about.
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
#Venezuela: The whereabouts of Carlos Correa, ED of Espacio Público, remain unknown. On 7 Jan, he was allegedly intercepted & forced into an unmarked van by hooded officials. We stand with Espacio Público and strongly urge the State to guarantee his safety and disclose his location.
bit.ly/3C0c4gK
bit.ly/3C0c4gK
Whereabouts of Espacio Público's Executive Director, Carlos Correa, remain unknown. - Media Defence
The whereabouts of Carlos Correa, remain unknown. According to witnesses, Correa, was allegedly intercepted by hooded officials on Jan 7, 25.
bit.ly
January 8, 2025 at 5:26 PM
#Venezuela: The whereabouts of Carlos Correa, ED of Espacio Público, remain unknown. On 7 Jan, he was allegedly intercepted & forced into an unmarked van by hooded officials. We stand with Espacio Público and strongly urge the State to guarantee his safety and disclose his location.
bit.ly/3C0c4gK
bit.ly/3C0c4gK
Wikipedia BADLY needs to revise its position to allow signed-in users to connect from VPNs, proxies, and Tor. Editors are going to be targeted, and being pseudonymous is not enough to protect people who write about some of the most controversial topics.
Scoop: I obtained a confidential presentation outlining how a major conservative think tanks plans to go after volunteer editors on Wikipedia who it says are "abusing their position" and promoting antisemitism
forward.com/news/686797/...
forward.com/news/686797/...
Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors
The conservative think tank told prospective donors that the project was part of its work to combat antisemitism.
forward.com
January 7, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Wikipedia BADLY needs to revise its position to allow signed-in users to connect from VPNs, proxies, and Tor. Editors are going to be targeted, and being pseudonymous is not enough to protect people who write about some of the most controversial topics.
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
sadly cruel censorship did not allow me to use the best quote I got on background for this, "we're existentially fucked"
foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/07/c...
foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/07/c...
Salt Typhoon Stirs Panic in Washington
The full extent of the hack is not yet public, but it has hardened anti-China consensus.
foreignpolicy.com
January 7, 2025 at 9:46 PM
sadly cruel censorship did not allow me to use the best quote I got on background for this, "we're existentially fucked"
foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/07/c...
foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/07/c...
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
So what if we have collected a record of every person's movements and then stored that record online in a database that someone can hack? What's the worst that can happen? www.404media.co/hackers-clai...
Hackers Claim Massive Breach of Location Data Giant, Threaten to Leak Data
Gravy Analytics has been one of the most important companies in the location data industry for years, collating smartphone location data from around the world selling some to the U.S. government. Hack...
www.404media.co
January 7, 2025 at 7:57 PM
So what if we have collected a record of every person's movements and then stored that record online in a database that someone can hack? What's the worst that can happen? www.404media.co/hackers-clai...
Reposted by Your pal Al 🪴📝
Internet freedom advocates need to fiercely scrutinize laws that ban/limit access to porn. What we see in practice is that these laws are used to ban everyday LGBTQ content under the guise that being queer or trans is inherently explicit or pornographic.
www.usermag.co/p/instagram-...
www.usermag.co/p/instagram-...
Instagram blocked teens from searching LGBTQ-related content for months
Posts with LGBTQ+ hashtags were hidden under Meta's “sensitive content” policy which restricts "sexually suggestive content"
www.usermag.co
January 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Internet freedom advocates need to fiercely scrutinize laws that ban/limit access to porn. What we see in practice is that these laws are used to ban everyday LGBTQ content under the guise that being queer or trans is inherently explicit or pornographic.
www.usermag.co/p/instagram-...
www.usermag.co/p/instagram-...