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ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith siderealannamichaelslannamichaelscosmolinguistOn a single tube train alone the other day, I saw two people in black thin-rimmed aviators and all I could thin was well now I know what I want my next pair of glasses to look like!
Never felt so much like a dad, possibly because that style always reminded me of my dad since that's what he wore when I was a little kid.
But one of these two people was a young person of ambiguous gender presentation, so I have hope that such things can become fashionable among the queers.
I'm due an eye test, and presumably new glasses, so I've been keeping an eye out for what kind of frames I might want (since the narrow rectangular thick-framed "hipster glasses" that seem to suit me best are not as readily available as they once were! the frames I have now are boring as hell, too big and too round for me even though they're not as much of either as has been popular lately).
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jwz_blog_feed
Four years ago I asked whether "Google Pass" was a thing that I needed to give a shit about and consensus was, "no, nobody uses that." But I have heard anecdotally, recently, that this might no longer be true. Thoughts?
The goal here is, "reduce the amount of time it takes for someone standing in front of my nightclub to wave their QR code at the door staff." On iOS, Apple Wallet supports that goal very well.
Note: I don't use Android and know as little about its ecosystem as possible, so please use small words.
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
jwz_blog_feed
Configuration Tiers: Three Levels of InfractionTIER 0, "The Pamphlet" ~$6
Minimum viable violation. A bootable Linux device with a display, network connectivity, and an app store. No battery, no keyboard -- just proof that this constitutes a regulated device under AB 1043. Good for bulk handout at conferences (50-100 units).Legal status: Arguable. The 128×64 display introduces fuzziness. The AG could claim it's a dev board. That's fine -- ambiguity is instructive too.
TIER 1, "The Computer", ~$12
An unambiguous general purpose computing device. Color display, keyboard, WiFi, Linux, app store, user setup. The core product. There is no interpretive gap between this device and the law's definitions.Legal status: Unambiguous. This is a computer with a color display, keyboard, WiFi, Linux, and an app store. It does not collect age data. It is handed to a child. The maximum fine is $7,500.
TIER 2, "The Appliance", ~$18
A self-contained, battery-powered pocket Linux computer. The educational device angle -- a modern descendant of the Acorn BBC Micro and the original Raspberry Pi.Legal status: Beyond unambiguous. A pocket computer with a color screen, keyboard, battery, WiFi, 8GB storage, and an AI accelerator. It costs less than a large pizza. It fits in a child's hand.
Every tab on this site is gold:
How Distros Are Responding: We track how Linux distributions are responding to age verification mandates, and we provide tools to undo whatever they implement. If a distribution adds an age collection prompt, we will publish a script that removes it. If it ships a D-Bus age verification daemon, we will publish a package that replaces it with silence.
How One Bill Becomes Every Bill: AB 1043 was not written in isolation. It is a template. ICMEC published the model text as a ready-to-introduce statutory draft, and its Global Head of Policy presented it directly to Virginia's Joint Commission on Technology and Science. The same organizations that drafted the model bill are now deploying it in state legislatures across the country. The companies that benefit from the compliance moat fund the advocacy organizations that draft the bills that create the compliance moat. [...]
The Door That Stays Open: AB 1043 requires only self-declared age -- a birthdate field, not government ID or biometrics. Industry analysts have described this as "an initial implementation designed to get the door open." Self-declaration today. Biometric verification tomorrow. The infrastructure is the same; only the input changes. Once every operating system has an age collection interface and a real-time API for transmitting age data to applications, upgrading from a text field to a face scan is a configuration change, not a new law.
Penalty Comparison: Cost of Giving a Child a Computer:
Cost of one Ageless Linux device: $12-18
Maximum combined US penalty for one device given to one child: $46,000
US penalty-to-cost ratio: 3,067:1
Brazil penalty for one violation: up to 522,222:1
jwz_blog_feedOn the need for a censorship API for legal compliance reasons in some countries and U.S. states
From: FloofyWolf <debian-devel-list@floofywolf.net>
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2026 20:38:08 -0800
To: debian-devel@lists.debian.org
Cc: xdg@lists.freedesktop.org, ubuntu-devel@lists.ubuntu.com, debian-legal@lists.debian.org, legal@lists.fedoraproject.org, devel@lists.fedoraproject.org
Subject: On the need for a censorship API for legal compliance reasons in some countries and U.S. statesRecently, a proposal has been made to implement an API for a new California censorship regulation, "On the unfortunate need for an "age verification" API for legal compliance reasons in some U.S. states" by Aaron Rainbolt. I believe the approach outlined to be very short-sighted, in that creating a bespoke API for each of the hundreds of government censorship requirements that debian will presumably now be following will result in much duplication of effort and an unreliable user experience in which important censorship restrictions may be missed and not implemented. As such, with people now supporting the idea that debian should implement government censorship requests, even creating new standards if needed, I propose the creation of a censorship framework to speed implementation of current and future censorship regulations. [...]
Systemd units will be created for every desired censorship function, and will be started based on the user's location. For example, a unit for Kazakhstan will implement the government-required backdoor, a unit for China will implement keyword scans and web access blocks (more on this later), a unit for Florida will ban all packages with "trans" in the name (201 packages in current stable distribution), a unit for Oklahoma will ensure all educational software is compliant with the Christian Holy Bible, a unit for the entire United States will prevent installation of any program capable of decoding DVD or BluRay media, and a unit for California will provide the user's age to all applications and all web sites from which applications may be downloaded. As can be seen, multiple units may be started for a given location. [...]
To prevent users from bypassing censorship requirements, debian will need to switch to being a binary-only distribution with signed binaries, signed kernel, and signed kernel modules, with mandatory secureboot, and controls to prevent any non-signed software from being installed, written, or compiled, as any foreign sources of software may fail to query systemd-censord or may fail to respect the permissions it returns.
jwz_blog_feedBy training their AI systems on public GitHub repositories (though based on their public statements, possibly much more) we contend that the defendants have violated the legal rights of a vast number of creators who posted code or other work under certain open-source licenses on GitHub. Which licenses? A set of 11 popular open-source licenses that all require attribution of the author's name and copyright, including the MIT license, the GPL, and the Apache license. (These are enumerated in the appendix to the complaint.)
In addition to violating the attribution requirements of these licenses, we contend that the defendants have violated:
- GitHub's own terms of service and privacy policies;
- DMCA § 1202, which forbids the removal of copyright-management information;
- the California Consumer Privacy Act;
- and other laws giving rise to related legal claims.
ysabetwordsmith calimacjuan_gandhi
ysabetwordsmith ysabetwordsmith lsandersonjuan_gandhisoemandjames_davis_nicoll
Which of these look interesting?
The Siren by Tomi Adeyemi (October 2026)
6 (23.1%)
Twined Fates: Tangled Hearts, Book Three by K. Bromberg (October 2026)
0 (0.0%)
Light of the Song by Joyce Ch’Ng (September 2025)
7 (26.9%)
The First Flame by Lily Berlin Dodd (November 2026)
1 (3.8%)
A Destiny So Cruel by Amanda Foody & C. L. Herman (November 2026)
1 (3.8%)
Find Me Where It Ends by Cassandra Khaw (October 2026)
10 (38.5%)
Bad Company by Sara Paretsky (November 2026)
5 (19.2%)
The Kings’ List by Jade Presley (May 2026)
2 (7.7%)
My Unfamiliar by Mara Rutherford (December 2026)
4 (15.4%)
Ghosted by Talia Tucker (November 2026)
1 (3.8%)
The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki Vansickle (September 2026)
2 (7.7%)
The Scarlet Ball by Nghi Vo (October 2026)
8 (30.8%)
Chosen Son by Adrienne Young (November 2026)
0 (0.0%)
Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)
Cats!
20 (76.9%)
rmc28This time a week ago I was on the ice with fellow Cambridge alumni for "Alumni game 1", kicking off Varsity. Photos (from one of my Warbirds teammates!) that actually make me look good are over at my hockey insta but here's my personal favourite, capturing a moment in motion:
After about an hour on the ice (2 periods running clock, 4 lines), I had a quick shower, and then spent the next ten or so hours mostly on my feet, doing music and announcements for my Huskies teammates, and scoresheet and in-game announcements for Women's Blues and Men's Blues. Final scores were:
The alumni games were a great vibe: we cared, but it wasn't that intense. A whole load of the women I played with in 2022-23 came back, and for me that was really joyful, plus I got to make some new friends. A couple of the older guys in game 1 had played with my old work colleague Brian Omotani back in the day. Although he didn't play, he was there to watch, and he made time to come and find me for a brief catchup later in the day.
The rest of the day though was a different gear. The Huskies game was especially tough to watch, and I felt every goal against my teammates. The Women's Blues game was incredible, the team worked so hard and it was probably the best I've seen them play. And the Men's Blues winning so decisively was delightful, especially as the first goal came from one of the two ex-Huskies (and they both got an assist each later). The whole day was incredibly intense. And then I took my kit home to hang it up, changed, met up with everyone at Mash, danced until the club closed, went to Maccies (and realised just how much my feet hurt) until that closed, and sat on a bench gossiping with two of my favourite people in the club while one of them finished his burger. Eventually we all cycled home. I didn't want the day to end, but I had things to do on Sunday.
That is, very nearly, the end of the season with just the Nationals weekends in Sheffield to go. We've finished the league games, we've had Varsity, we're shifting to "summer ice" open practices, and even had the very last "S&C" gym session on Thursday this week. Some people will graduate and leave soon, and I will miss them so much, but I am so grateful for this university season and the time I've had with these wonderful people.
ysabetwordsmith - Select Seeds Orderysabetwordsmith - Prairie Moon Ordersiderea - "Dum superbit impius" [music, pols]lannamichaels - "The People You Meet Along The Way." (The Parent Trap - 1998) Gcosmolinguist - Possibly my most #dadcore thought EVERjwz_blog_feed - Google Pass, reduxjwz_blog_feed - Ageless Linuxjwz_blog_feed - systemd-censordjwz_blog_feed - GitHub Copilot litigationysabetwordsmith - Fossilscalimac - petty annoyances of the weekjuan_gandhi - суббота в Лавардаке и Барбастеysabetwordsmith - Birdfeedingysabetwordsmith - Moment of Silence: Nicholas Brendonlsanderson - 2026.03.21smbc_comics_feed - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Congratsjuan_gandhi - для тех, кто не понял, повторяемsoemand - (no subject)james_davis_nicoll - Books Received, March 14 — March 20rmc28 - Varsity!timeasmymeasure
