Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Heather Flanagan

Stephen Wolf @stephenwolf.bsky.social · 1d

The Declaration of Independence specifies 27 grievances with King George III and Britain.

Donald Trump and his regime have committed at least 20 of those same offenses highlighted in yellow.
#NoKings

An image of a list of the 27 grievances against King George III in the Declaration of Independence. Donald Trump's regime has committed at least 20 of them in whole or in part, condensed into the list below:
1. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
2. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation …
3. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing … his invasions on the rights of the people.
4. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; … obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners …
5. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice …
6. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices …
7. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
8. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
9. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
10. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution … giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
11. For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
12. For protecting them … from punishment for any Murders which they should commit …
13. For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
14. For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
15. For depriving us … of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
16. For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
17. For … abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
18. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
19. He has … destroyed the lives of our people.
20. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us …

23 1K 2.1K

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 3d

Original post: mastodon.social/@arstechnica...

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 5d

I really should have called today’s post “Why Tech Supply Chains Limit Fragmentation (and Many Other Things)”. It’s the next in the series about Internet fragmentation.

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 5d

Why Tech Supply Chains, Not Protocols, Set the Limits on AI and the Internet

I had one of those chance airplane conversations recently—the kind that sticks in your mind longer than the flight itself. My seatmate was reading a book about artificial intelligence, and at one point they described the…

Why Tech Supply Chains, Not Protocols, Set the Limits on AI and the Internet

I had one of those chance airplane conversations recently—the kind that sticks in your mind longer than the flight itself. My seatmate was reading a book about artificial intelligence, and at one point they described the idea of an “infinitely growing AI.” I couldn’t help but giggle a bit.

sphericalcowconsulting.com

1

Reposted by Heather Flanagan

enorlin.bsky.social @enorlin.bsky.social · 5d

I'm very excited to announce that @sphcow.bsky.social is joining us as a speaker at SW2con.com! Heather joins Adrian Cockcroft, Adam Seligman, Paul Kedrosky....oh, and @mikemaney.bsky.social....join us!

SW2 CON 2026

SW2con.com

1

Reposted by Heather Flanagan

enorlin.bsky.social @enorlin.bsky.social · 16d

We've launched registration for sw2con.com!
Our early confirmed speakers include: Adrian Cockcroft, Adam Seligman, Paul Kedrosky....and, @mikemaney.bsky.social.

Join us!

SW2 CON 2026

sw2con.com

1 1

Reposted by Heather Flanagan

Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · 10d

The technical consensus is clear: you can't create a backdoor that only lets the "good guys" in. However they're dressed up, these proposals create cybersecurity loopholes that hackers & hostile nations are eager to exploit. 6/

1 33 200

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 7d

1

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 7d

One hour left before the next attempted flight to Authenticate. To drink, or not to drink. THAT is the question.

1 1

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 7d

Flight was canceled and I’m having SO MUCH FUN at the bar!

2

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 7d

AND! My flight was cancelled so guess where I am hanging out now? (Floret has tasty cocktails, just sayin’)

1

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 7d

Wait, it’s a travel day you say? Well then obviously I must be at Floret @ SEA!

1

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 8d

Another day, another trip! This time to the Authenticate conference in Carlsbad, California. After this, only 4 more trips this year. Yay!

2

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 8d

I wish I could take a picture that captures Friday evening at a local wine cafe on the island where I live. A bunch of people, all who know each other enough to giggle and chat and join in other people’s conversations and be welcome to do so. I swear,

1

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 10d

I see good use cases where passkeys are used to authenticate before access is allowed to the wallet, and then the credentials in the wallet are used for whatever authorization is going on. Doesn't sound like that's what the Swiss are doing, though.

1

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 10d

I get the concern over synced passkeys for high-assurance use cases, but regardless of whether passkeys are synced or device-bound, they are still better than passwords! As for the authentication through an app, I wonder if they are merging authentication and authorization by using the app.

1 1

Reposted by Heather Flanagan

Josh Sternberg @joshsternberg.com · 11d

We are in an AI bubble. @patrickkulp.bsky.social spoke with a few historians to better understand what is happening, and what might come next.

www.techbrew.com/stories/2025...

What history tells us about an AI bubble

We asked three experts to weigh in.

www.techbrew.com

2 5 11

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 11d

That's cool, seeing the rain go by.

Reposted by Heather Flanagan

The Onion @theonion.com · 11d

Health Experts Recommend Standing Up At Desk, Leaving Office, Never Coming Back https://theonion.com/health-experts-recommend-standing-up-at-desk-leaving-o-1819577456/

87 2.9K 11K

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 12d

Next up, test out a new fountain pen, work on mDL blogs for a client, sort out DNS issues for another client, and plant garlic.

This interleaving of my interests is one of the biggest things I miss when I travel.

1

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 12d

So far today: advising on an identity-related not-for-profit's website (SIROS Foundation for the curious), discussing passkeys and the difference between device-bound and synced, talking about today's blog post (I'm really excited about this series), and finishing a batch of chicken stock.

2 1

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 12d

This week’s post is a long one—there’s a lot to unpack. Internet fragmentation isn’t just about risks; it also opens unexpected opportunities. I look at how trade, trust, and innovation may shift as the dream of one global Internet gives way to a patchwork future.

#Internet #Economics #Standards

The End of the Global Internet

Many people reading this post grew up believing and expecting in a single, borderless Internet: a vast network of networks that let us talk, share, and build without arbitrary walls. I like that model, probably because I am a globalist, but I don't think that's where the world is heading.

sphericalcowconsulting.com

2

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 12d

Join in-person or remote:
authenticatecon.com/event/authen...

Authenticate 2025 - Authenticate

Authenticate is the industry’s only conference dedicated to digital identity and authentication – with a focus on phishing-resistant sign-ins with passkeys.

authenticatecon.com

1 1

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 12d

I’m speaking at #Authenticate2025 on Tue 14 Oct, 10:30am:
“Beyond Shared Secrets: How Passkey Primitives Could Transform Machine Authentication”

This all started with a random hallway chat: could passkeys actually work for non-human identity? Spoiler: only if you squint in just the right way.

1 2

Heather Flanagan @sphcow.bsky.social · 15d

But now I need new frames and lenses 'cause I can't give them my current glasses long enough to get this fixed. First they have to order frames and THEN they can order lenses. It'll be another three weeks before this is finally sorted.

1