@jackcole@mstdn.social cover
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

jackcole

@[email protected]

Retired scientist (cyber security research), father of 4, pilot, chemist, permanent law and languages student. #fedi22 #cybersecurity #AI #ML #flying #music #photography #languages #chemistry #electronics #law

My posts are automatically deleted after a week. If there was an older post for which you'd like information, photo, or cartoon, let me know.

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@stux@mstdn.social avatar stux , to random

Pam Bondi has spend more time investigating the people who are reading the files then the people who are in the Epstein files

They had exactly 4 computers available for congress to view the millions and millions of (still redacted) pages

Even worse, they kept a record of what they searched and used it against them

Yeah.. The Gestapo would be jealous on the DOJ

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@stux Yeah, but her Don Rickles imitation was pretty good, except Rickles had he zingers memorized or made them up on the spot. Now if she could imitate an U.S. Attorney General.

@stux@mstdn.social avatar stux , to random

As of today, mstdn.social, masto.ai, mastodon.coffee, gram.social, pixey.org, vido.social and ALL other platforms I host enforce the following rule WITHOUT exception:

8. No AI (LLM) Agents. We want to keep this platform human, not robot.
ALT
jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@stux And ppl are starting to write ai;dr instead of tl;dr

@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar jackcole , to random

HITLER FROM PERSPECTIVE OF A PEER
Peer= Alexander Moritz Frey, a German medic in WW1.
Stefan Ernsting, author of "The Fantastic Rebel Alexander Moritz Frey"
Ernsting: "We're still treating Hitler like he's some holy man or something," he comments. "Let's stop doing that. He was just a pathetic little psychopath and they all fell for it."
Article in Der Spiegel (The mirror) in English, not behind paywall at this perma link.
https://perma.cc/RU49-2Y4U

@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar jackcole , to random

“.. in rambling on so much, Trump reveals just about everything one could ever want to know about him—his lack of discipline, his ignorance, his vanity, insecurity, and crudeness, and a mean streak that knows no limits.”
Susan Glasser, The Newyorker
https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/its-time-to-talk-about-donald-trumps-logorrhea

@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar jackcole , to random

Trump’s notion of what a “deal” really is: a series of “pledges, frameworks .. shakedowns, memoranda of understanding, or otherwise opaque, informal, or incomplete arrangements” that allow him “to claim a quick victory and move on to the next thing.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-23/why-trump-s-trade-and-greenland-deals-aren-t-always-real-deals

@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar jackcole , to random

RE: https://mstdn.social/@noelreports/115843801316293775

People wanting to build focus to much on , and even then ignore . But the lack of infrastructure beyond just transmission lines has made some data centers useless. Transformers such as this are required. Suppliers and supplies are not cheap or abundant.

@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar jackcole , to random
@jensorensen@mastodon.social avatar jensorensen , to random

Latest comic: Climate Silence

AS THE COP3O CONFERENCE TAKES PLACE IN BRAZIL, WE SEEM TO BE TALKING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE LESS AND LESS IN THE US. WHY? SCREAMING CROX NEWS ANCHOR: HOAX! SCAM! AGENDA! PLOY! PUNDIT: FOR SOME REASON, VOTERS DON'T CARE ABOUT IT, SO CANDIDATES SHOULDN'T BRING IT UP. METEOROLOGIST: I GET DEATH THREATS WHEN I MENTION IT, SO NOW I JUST TALK ABOUT CLOUDS. BIG MEDIA CO. EXECUTIVE: DOESN'T GET CLICKS! GOTTA GET CLICKS AND EYEBALLS! WOMAN AT KITCHEN SINK: I JUST PREFER NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT. HEY, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WATER? BILLIONAIRE: I HAVE MY LUXURY DOOMSDAY BUNKERS, SO HUMANITY WILL SURVIVE. IF BY "HUMANITY" YOU MEAN ME.
ALT
jackcole ,
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@jensorensen

"Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out.

Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet."

  • Carl Sagan

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

Social engineering -- the art of tricking people into doing stupid shit -- has always been the most reliable way to hack anything. Now with AI browsers and agentic this and that, we've actually built social engineering into the code. So it can be used to trick others but also trick itself. Brilliant!

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@briankrebs Tricky!
This is what makes the cryptographer's boasting that it would take hundreds of thousands of times the life of the universe to crack their cryptographic technique. Attackers are both lazy and impatient. We'll just look to see if they posted credentials online or use social engineering. 5 minutes max.

@w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

President Trump says he’s directing DoJ to investigate ties that Jeffrey Epstein had to prominent Democrats and institutions, including Bill Clinton and Larry Summers. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11/14/us/trump-shutdown-news?unlocked_article_code=1.1E8.vgcC.JtRckBYAs_rP&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

jackcole ,
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@w7voa OJ Simpson searching for the real killer.

@ProPublica@newsie.social avatar ProPublica , to random

NEW: “No Separation Between Church and State”: Inside a Texas Church’s Training Academy for Christians Running for Office

--
A Fort Worth church’s candidate training program is the “next stage” of a religion-driven political movement, which has more latitude now that the IRS has allowed religious leaders to endorse candidates from the pulpit, an expert said.

https://www.propublica.org/article/fort-worth-mercy-culture-church-campaign-university

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@ProPublica And some politicians say that the church is the state.

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

Writing my next script I am researching the Nazi takeover of Germany. The similarities with present day USA are striking.

Hitler formed a paramilitary force that used violence to intimidate the public. Trump has formed ICE which does the same.

Hitler used selective justice and pardoned his violent SA Stormtroopers. Trump pardoned his violent Jan 6 supporters.

Hitler used his majority to ensure he could rule by decree. Trump uses his majority to rule by executive order.

And the list goes on.

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@randahl OTOH Hitler was 56 when he died, Trump 79 now. Hitler, an Austrian, served in the German Army in WW1. Trump, his children and father served no where at any time, and grandpa avoided serving when Hitler did.

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

Anyone know what to do with 20 lbs of green tomatoes? I guess we can still broil them and turn them into green salsa. We're supposed to get a freeze overnight soon, and so furiously picked the unripe fruit. But now I'm looking at this pile thinking, this is nuts.

jackcole ,
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@briankrebs Wife says one year she wrapped green tomatoes in paper and they ripened. We had ripe tomatoes from that in early December. YMMV

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

That icky sense of growing deeply ashamed for your country worsens with each passing day this sorry excuse for a human being remains in office. From the NYT:

"The Trump administration told states that they must “immediately undo” any actions to provide full food stamp benefits to low-income families, in a move that added to the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the nation’s largest anti-hunger program during the government shutdown."

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11/09/us/trump-news#trump-administration-states-undo-full-snap-food-stamps

jackcole ,
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@briankrebs

1/2

SNAP: It appears that USDA message refers to Federal funds that states had and disbursed, not to state funds that were disbursed. is taking advantage of an ongoing appeal of the order that SNAP funds be released. So states such as Maryland that distribute(d) state funds are unaffected.

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

They had me at the headline: AI isn’t replacing jobs. AI spending is

"From Amazon to General Motors to Booz Allen Hamilton, layoffs are being announced and blamed on AI. Amazon said it would cut 14,000 corporate jobs. United Parcel Service (UPS) said it had reduced its management workforce by about 14,000 positions over the past 22 months. And Target said it would cut 1,800 corporate roles. Some academic economists have also chimed in: The St. Louis Federal Reserve found a (weak) correlation between theoretical AI exposure and actual AI adoption in 12 occupational categories."

"Yet we remain skeptical of the claim that AI is responsible for these layoffs. A recent MIT Media Lab study found that 95% of generative AI pilot business projects were failing. Another survey by Atlassian concluded that 96% of businesses “have not seen dramatic improvements in organizational efficiency, innovation, or work quality.” Still another study found that 40% of the business people surveyed have received “AI slop” at work in the last month and that it takes nearly two hours, on average, to fix each instance of slop. In addition, they “no longer trust their AI-enabled peers, find them less creative, and find them less intelligent or capable.”

https://www.fastcompany.com/91435192/chatgpt-llm-openai-jobs-amazon

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@briankrebs will destroy many jobs when it crashes the in the near future. This bubble will break harder than past bubbles. The coming AI winter will be an ice age. It will take a generation or more before ppl are willing again to invest in AI research. Right now they are investing in Sam Altman's fever dream.

@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar jackcole , to random

Private jets account for 16% of the workload for air traffic controllers.
Instead of impacting the general public the small number of passengers on private jets could fill seats on commercial flights during the shutdown.

Instead, they will insist they must use private jets for reasons such as Televangelist Kenneth Copeland.

Allow public transport for Thanksgiving, fill empty seats on airliners, ground rich people's status symbols.

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , (edited ) to random

This thread is worth reading if you are a Google docs user.

Short version: When you export a document from Google Docs, Google replaces all your hyperlinks with links that allows Google to monitor the interactions of everyone you share your document with.

This hidden link replacement can potentially be used to build a model of your professional relations, where people who interact more with your content are considered a stronger relation.

Think about the implications.
https://fosstodon.org/@Joe_0237/111145684757912952

jackcole ,
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@randahl Graph theory and email spectroscopy, an HP research paper from decades ago later used by IBM in its NORA (non-obvious relationship awareness) application.

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

From the independent reporter Jacqueline Sweet (Disaster Girl):

"An FBI informant convicted of lying to the Bureau about a fake bribery scheme involving the Bidens has been quietly released from prison just months into a six-year sentence—raising concern he could be pardoned by Donald Trump any moment."

"Alexander Smirnov, who has multiple business ties to Trumpworld, was sentenced on January 8, days before Trump became president. He had pleaded guilty to fabricating a story that former President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, had received millions in bribes from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, as well as to a $2 million-plus tax evasion offense."

"Yet despite Smirnov being judged a flight risk, with ties to Russian intelligence and foreign assets, the U.S.-Israeli citizen has been mysteriously missing from prison for at least the past four months, Disaster Girl can reveal. Following reports in April that the Trump administration was reviewing the case, concerns have now arisen that the president is considering an imminent pardon."

https://jacquelinesweet.substack.com/p/516fefea-d649-4490-8051-976bc50d18e7?postPreview=paid&updated=2025-11-07T15%3A40%3A54.638Z&audience=everyone&free_preview=false&freemail=true

jackcole ,
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@briankrebs An easy mystery to solve.

@indivisibleteam@mastodon.social avatar indivisibleteam , to random

The Trump Shutdown is the longest government shutdown in US history.

House Republicans aren’t even in DC — they’re hiding out at home “on recess” for the fifth week in a row.

As the GOP does nothing, federal workers are missing paychecks, families are going hungry, air travel is becoming a public nightmare, and our economy is sputtering.

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@indivisibleteam

Today, Mike Johnson will keep the House adjourned for the 95th day out of the last 107.
12 days of work in 107 days.
With full pay and benefits.
The senate has been working, so this is not about the shutdown.
It is about avoiding a vote to release the files.

@evacide@hachyderm.io avatar evacide , to random

If you are shocked that I'm happy that a man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people is dead, I have terrible news for you about all of my other opinions.

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@evacide Every day a man stops at a street vendor news stand to look at the front pages, then leaves without buying. One day the vendor asks what he is looking for. The man replies "an obituary." The vendors tells him that obituaries are on the last page. The man replies "not the one I'm looking for."

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

Did you watch the unfuckingbelievable interview that 60 Minutes aired last night on Trump? The travesty is that the edited version should never have been edited, as we can see from viewing the transcript of the entire batshit crazy interview. Wherein Trump contradicts himself many times and claims he had no idea who Binance founder Changpeng Zhao even was before pardoning him for billions in crypto money laundering. The president even bragged that he got 60 Minutes' parent to pay him $15M, then suggested they could edit that out of the interview (which they dutifully did), even though he sued Paramount for editing out unflattering parts of an interview w/ VP Kamala Harris last year, and they caved because they wanted a merger to go through.

Mike Masnick at Techdirt has an excellent breakdown of the lunacy. I've been waiting to see how 60 Minutes was going to handle its next interview with the POTUS, and they didn't fail to disappoint.

https://www.techdirt.com/2025/11/03/60-minutes-edits-donald-trump-telling-them-60-minutes-should-edit-donald-trump-talking-about-how-60-minutes-paid-him-for-editing-kamala-harris/

jackcole ,
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@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

ICYMI, Joe Menn had a good scoop this week about how the US govt is getting set to ban TP-Link devices from being sold in the United States. If that happens, a whole lot of small businesses will probably need to find new networking gear. I have never trusted TP-Link devices and have repeatedly warned readers away from them. They have a history of flooding the market with massively underpriced hardware, and this is a market where generally speaking the cheapest means the most hackable. Here's one reply I sent to a reader in 2023 who inquired about finding what appeared to be an undocumented cloud login page.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/u-s-agencies-back-banning-top-selling-home-routers-on-security-grounds/ar-AA1Pubbt

"Thanks for your readership and the nice note. I was posting on Mastodon yesterday about your very brand of router!

https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs/110588154233185809

"I realize that NYT and others constantly recommend TPLink b/c of the features vs price point, but I would stay away from this brand, and any that force you to register "in the cloud" before you can use them as local networking devices. You do not want your router to do anything except when you tell it do so, and to my mind all this cloud business being attached to network storage and local network things is troubling."

"If you are at all confident around computers, I'd recommend getting something like a high-end ASUS router and then installing an open source firmware on it, like Tomato or something. Because the default software that is on most routers is complete garbage, and often turns on a lot of stuff you really don't want turned on, or has other stupid default settings. If updating your new $160 router w/ third party firmware that could brick it if you screw it up is too much, then just stick with a Netgear router and make sure you check for firmware updates periodically."

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@briankrebs Some years ago I concluded that the hackers were cooperating with the firmware developers. I quit using TP-Link, and physically destroyed the devices.

@georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random

Put a quack in charge, expect to be royally ducked.

Screenshot of a tweet by Senator Ed Markey that says, “Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. RFK Jr. must resign.” Below is an NBC News screenshot with the headline “Measles spreading beyond the center of the Utah-Arizona outbreak.” Two news anchors appear on screen.
ALT
jackcole ,
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@heiseonline@social.heise.de avatar heiseonline , to random German

Peregreen 3: Schnellste elektrische DIY-Quadkopter-Drohne fliegt 585 km/h

Die Hochgeschwindigkeitsdrohne Peregreen 3 hat mit 585 km/h einen neuen Geschwindigkeitsrekord aufgestellt. Der Aufwand dafür ist hoch.

https://www.heise.de/news/Peregreen-3-Schnellste-elektrische-DIY-Quadkopter-Drohne-fliegt-585-km-h-10904810.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

jackcole ,
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@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , (edited ) to random

Top story on WaPo: How Trump’s ballroom will dwarf the White House
Trump’s new 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom would be almost as large as the rest of the complex.

"There has been little public information released about the layout or design of the addition, which would be the largest ever, with a planned size almost double the footprint of the 55,000-square-foot main section of the White House."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/25/trump-white-house-ballroom-east-wing/

A wapo graphic shows how the planned ballroom (shown in red) for where the East Wing previously stood would roughly be double the size of the main White House complex. The Washington Jost Democracy Dies in Darkness | l = ——— rr A " ) . How Trump's ballroom will . dwarf the White House Trump's new 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom would be almost as large as the rest of the complex. Updated today at 9:30 a.m. EDT %: Summary A» KH 0213 By Aaron Steckelberg, Manuel Canales, Maureen Linke and Javier Zarracina President Donald Trump's project to build an expansive new White House ballroom officially broke ground Monday. Crews tore down the East Wing in only four days, despite Trump's claim that the ballroom wouldn't interfere with the existing building. There has been little public information released about the layout or design of the addition, which
ALT
jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@briankrebs This now and will forever be the until it is repurposed (such as for POTUS to hold public meetings) or bulldozed with original contributors paying for restoration of the east wing. Interesting that you want to leave your mark or be recognized in your remaining days by removing similar things others left for a similar purpose (e.g., Jacqueline Kennedy garden). What goes around comes around?

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

Overheard someone say the other day, "Thing is, cybercriminals aren't hacking in anymore. They're just logging in." And there's a lot of truth to that. But even that's archaic already. The whole truth is far more terrifying: They're not even logging in most of the time. They're basically copying stolen authentication tokens.

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@briankrebs And companies are basically just posting credentials online, so more than open invitation that doesn't require stealing.

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

What if Trump's new ballroom is just an excuse to build a bigger, deeper, stronger bunker underneath so he can hide from the angry mobs?

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-george-floyd-politics-a2326518da6b25b4509bef1ec85f5d7f

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@briankrebs All the tech bros have their . Billionaires aren't bonkers, they're bunkers. is trying to keep up with the Jonses.

Dr. Strangelove recommends that the President gather several hundred thousand people to live in deep underground mines where the radiation will not penetrate.

To preserve the "best" of society, an expansive bunker is required.

Hitler unfortunately died age 56 from a stray bullet in his bunker in target practice to keep his skills sharp.

@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar arstechnica , to random

Satellite shows what’s really happening at the East Wing of the White House
"Now it looks like the White House is physically being destroyed."
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/satellite-shows-whats-really-happening-at-the-east-wing-of-the-white-house/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@arstechnica No permits, no approvals, no containment for that was used extensively in the building destroyed. People on the WH grounds, workers doing the demolition, people outside the fence all got to breathe that.

@stux@mstdn.social avatar stux , (edited ) to random

I fully support putting ICE agents on the web with their face 🤷

There should be a risk for those who wanna join the Gestapo

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@stux ICE agents will have a difficult future after Diaper Don is gone. Sure, there might be a blanket pardon on top of their J6 pardon, but they still will need to live and work somewhere. People won't forget, and explaining what you did in 2025 will be difficult.

@thejapantimes@mastodon.social avatar thejapantimes , to random

Amazon's cloud services unit AWS was hit by an outage, causing connectivity issues for many companies around the world and disrupting services for several popular websites and apps including Fortnite and Snapchat. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/10/20/tech/websites-apps-dark-amazon-outage/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@thejapantimes Many services that depend on AWS through the companies that are clients went dark. I was awakened at 4am ET by an alert from a service provided by a company using AWS.

@stux@mstdn.social avatar stux , to random

Next year in November, the Voyager 1 spacecraft will be ONE full light day away from the Earth!

Launched in 1977, it took almost 50 Earth years to reach "just" distance of 1 light day

Space is so big and we are so tiny :blobcatgiggle:

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@stux

How empty is space?
Very roughly: if the Sun were the size of a grain of table salt, the distance to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star, would be about four kilometers. Think about that. Can you imagine putting a single grain of salt down, walking four kilometers, looking back and being able to see it? But it gives off tremendous amounts of light, so we can.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars - on stars where no human race is.

  • Robert Frost
@Crystal_Fish_Caves@mstdn.party avatar Crystal_Fish_Caves , to random

Just like SOOO embarrassing!

If you are still proud of voting for this trainwreck, please step off the planet and leave it to those of us who actually have working braincells left.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-forgets-president-during-capitol-073307749.html

MEDIA Trump Forgets He Was President During Capitol Riot, Blames ‘THE BIDEN FBI’ for Jan. 6 in Dead-of- Night Post AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson President Donald Trump blamed the Capitol riot on former President Joe Biden, claiming that “THE BIDEN FBI” had placed agents in the crowd that had assembled in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6. 2021. Trump’s post came in the wee hours of Sunday, at 12:38 a.m. “THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6,” he wrote on Truth Social. “If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM – DO SOMETHING!!! President DJT”
ALT
jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@Crystal_Fish_Caves blames everyone else for anything that happened regardless of dates, history, any facts.

@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar jackcole , to random

Andrew Ross Sorkin on worrying similarities between Wall Street today and 1929's pre-crash market, saying [correctly that] today's economy is being propped up by the AI boom.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/booms-busts-bubbles-andrew-ross-sorkin-60-minutes/

jackcole OP ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

Andrew Ross Sorkin is an American journalist and author. He is a financial columnist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box. He is also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service published by The New York Times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Ross_Sorkin

@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

Republican views on masks:

Masking up to prevent COVID?
— unacceptable! 🔴

Masking up to create an anonymous fascist army?
— totally fine! 🟢

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@randahl "Satan's Muzzle" if worn for

@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar jackcole , to random

“..’The risk of a sharp market correction has increased,’ the BoE's Financial Policy Committee said in a quarterly update, in its sharpest warning to date of the dangers of an AI-triggered market slump ..”
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/bank-england-warns-sharp-correction-markets-if-mood-sours-ai-or-fed-2025-10-08/

AI might take your job, but only because it collapses the economy.

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

Whatever this is, it's probably not great. WaPo writes: Pete Hegseth orders rare urgent meeting of hundreds of generals, admirals

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of the U.S. military’s generals and admirals to gather on short notice — and without a stated reason — at a Marine Corps base in Virginia next week, sowing confusion and alarm after the Trump administration’s firing of numerous senior leaders this year."

"The highly unusual directive was sent to virtually all of the military’s top commanders worldwide, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the matter. The directive was issued earlier this week, as a government shutdown looms, and months after Hegseth’s team at the Pentagon announced plans to undertake a sweeping consolidation of top military commands."

"In a statement Thursday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell affirmed that Hegseth “will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” but he offered no additional details. Parnell, a senior adviser to the defense secretary, voiced no concerns about The Washington Post reporting on the meeting, scheduled for Tuesday in Quantico, Virginia."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/25/hegseth-generals-quantico-meeting/

jackcole ,
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@briankrebs

Hegseth summons U.S. generals from around world for meeting next week without saying why. Trump thinks a war will keep him in office. Probably not about DEI, vaccine mandates, transgender personnel. It is, after all, called the "Department of War", now to live up to the name.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09/25/us/trump-news?unlocked_article_code=1.ok8.iZEI.KiXmoz4hB12s&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

@AJ_andrew69@mastodon.social avatar AJ_andrew69 , to random

Opinion.

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@AJ_andrew69 And? The enemy of every living thing on planet Earth.

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

Customers of Adobe Analytics started reporting on Sept. 17 seeing data in their customer tracking portals that belonged to other organizations. A number of people on a Slack channel for Adobe Analytics users said their accounts were populated with data that wasn't theirs, including from Chase bank. Adobe has acknowledged the issue, which appears to be ongoing.

An alert from Adobe's status page: | My Events @ | Expand all A Issue #202509170072 Regions: Americas, APAC, EMEA Subscribe | (-] Status: Opened Started/Updated: Yesterday 3:30 AM - Yesterday 6:52 PM (BST) Yesterday 6:52 PM (BST) Impact severity: Major Event history Impact scope: Some customers are impacted. Services impacted: Data Collection(Data Collection), Media (Video)(Media Processing), Reporting Applications(Analysis Workspace) Impact update: An update on this issue has been posted as follows - Due to an issue that occurred from 14:00 UTC on September 17 to 11:00 UTC on September 18, a subset of Analytics customers globally may be experiencing inconsistencies or erroneous data in Analysis Workspace reporting, which may lead to unexpected results or anomalies in thei reports. The Adobe engineering team has reverted the change that resulted in this issue. The team is actively continuing remediation efforts and working to determine next steps.
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jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@briankrebs Good lord.

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

Somehow I missed this from The Onion. Just about everyone in Congress needs to be voted out of office at this point. Slightly more than half of lawmakers have abdicated their advise and consent role, and the rest seem resigned to the notion that they have no power and that it's largely up to the courts to save democracy in the US.

https://theonion.com/letter-to-congress/

An Onion headline: CONGRESS, NOW MORE THAN EVER, OUR NATION NEEDS YOUR COWARDICE
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jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@briankrebs true and smh

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

Malignant narcissists can't stand when you make fun of them because they lack any real sense of humor or introspection. And they're totally fine with trampling on the First Amendment if it makes their critics quiet down and self-censor. From NYT:

"President Trump threatened on Thursday to revoke broadcasting licenses over late-night hosts who speak negatively about him, escalating an assault against the media. “They’re giving me all this bad press, and they’re getting a license,” Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, after ABC suspended the late-night Jimmy Kimmel Live show. “I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”

Then you have his lapdog FCC chief Brendan Carr doing his best mafia tough guy imitation threatening ABC's broadcast licenses if they didn't cancel Jimmy Kimmel, which of course they did. In some ways that's appropriate, because this entire administration is operated a lot like a mafia organization -- shaking everyone down for money and extorting companies and universities over speech they don't like.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09/18/us/trump-news

jackcole ,
@jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

@briankrebs

I am shocked!

Strasser: [after Laszlo leads the band in playing the French national anthem] You see what I mean? If Laszlo's presence in a cafe can inspire this unfortunate demonstration, what more will his presence in Casablanca bring on? I advise that this place be shut up at once. Renault: But everybody's having such a good time. Strasser: Yes, much too good a time. The place is to be closed. Renault: But I've no excuse to close it! Strasser: Find one. [Strasser leaves, ending the conversation; Renault walks into the middle of the room and blows his whistle] Renault: Everybody is to leave here immediately! This cafe is closed until further notice. Clear the room, at once! Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds? Renault: I am shocked- shocked- to find that gambling is going on in here! Croupier: [hands Renault money] Your winnings, sir. Renault: Oh, thank you very much. Everybody out at once!
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  • Reply
    • @georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random

    I can’t believe we have to point out this basic fact to counter his war narrative.

    The image shows two X posts. The first, by @JoyceWhite... (Joyce Alene) from 5 hours ago, states: "The population of the U.S. is 340.1 million. Apparently, most of us have now died from drugs, according to the president." The second, by @Acyn from 10 hours ago, quotes a reporter saying the President of Venezuela called a strike on a boat illegal, followed by Trump saying: "What's illegal is the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs." The post includes a Fox News image of Trump at Morristown Airport, NJ, with the caption "RUMP: TRIP TO U.K. WILL BE INCREDIBLE."
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    jackcole ,
    @jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

    @georgetakei Like , isn't good with numbers. In his term of office he was told that two Brazilian soldiers will killed. He put his head in his hands, and sorrowfully asked "How many is a brazillian". Probably a fake story since he has no empathy.

    @briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

    There's very little chance Experian's service will successfully alert you to your identity being hijacked before it happens, but in the unlikely event that they do you're unlikely to notice because of the 27 other marketing emails they sent you the same week.

    jackcole ,
    @jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

    @briankrebs correct

    @briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

    I'd pay for a high-quality handmade sketch (a good one, not some stick figures) that depicts what I desperately want to ask AI to devise just because I like the idea of asking it to imagine its own demise: I'm picturing a scene where the data centers have been overgrown with dangling vines and weeds creeping out of server cabinets, which have long ago been stripped for scarce parts in the battle against the machines. I'd settle for a more gently apocalyptic theme as well.

    jackcole ,
    @jackcole@mstdn.social avatar
    @davidrevoy@framapiaf.org avatar davidrevoy , to random

    The Amphora of Great Intelligence (AGI)

    A comic strip in four panels: 1. A bird's-eye view of a giant amphora the size of a building with closed eyes and a closed mouth engraved on it. Using scaffolding, a community of wizards climbed up and are throwing all their books into it, to fill its content. > Wizards: All our grimoires for the Amphora of Great Intelligence! 2. A ground level view at the bottom of the giant amphora. This time, the wizards bring tree trunks, cut down nearby trees, and throw them into a large fire to boil the giant amphora. > Wizards: All our forests for the Amphora of Great Intelligence! 3. A gathering of all the wizards below the imposing amphora which has now opened its glowing eyes and mouth slightly. The crowd of wizards at its feet applauds: > Wizards: Amphora of Great Intelligence, our world is dying, share your knowledge with us! 4. Same shot, as the amphora responds with joyful and amused eyes. The wizards are confused by the answer... > Artificial Intelligence: According to geologists, you should eat at least one small rock per day. > Wizards: ... ... ...
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    jackcole ,
    @jackcole@mstdn.social avatar
    @junesim63@mstdn.social avatar junesim63 , to random

    "Brexit was not an abstract shift. It was not esoteric. It was not a vague change. It has translated into measurable harm, counted in vacancies, waiting times, drug shortages, and most painfully, avoidable deaths. The cost is not only trade coefficients, but human beings who have suffered and sometimes died earlier than they should have.."

    An NHS manager on the measurable damage Brexit caused the NHS.

    https://www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/from-promises-to-collapse-the-measurable?publication_id=2063884&post_id=173170468&isFreemail=true&r=55ldjt&triedRedirect=true

    jackcole ,
    @jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

    @junesim63 Now Brexit has come to America.

    @nocontexttrek@mastodon.social avatar nocontexttrek , to random

    Star Trek The Original Series scene. Spock is outdoors in a green grassy but blurry kind of background. He's up close, making a face like he's mid-decision or maybe on the verge of a sneeze. Closed caption reads, "Logically, you should all be dead."
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    jackcole ,
    @jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

    @nocontexttrek Channeling Joni Ernst

    @BrianJopek@mastodon.world avatar BrianJopek , to random

    Preach, Ben.

    The reason I don't want a "Christian nation" isn't because I'm against Christianity. It's because I've studied church history and learned about the horrors caused by the church crawling into bed with the empire. Separation of church and state helps keep Christianity Christian. - Rev. Benjamin Cremer
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    jackcole ,
    @jackcole@mstdn.social avatar

    @BrianJopek

    “The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries."

    James Madison 1803