America’s wildfire risk data quietly puts millions of homes in danger | Federal models keep missing homes that burn. A new AI tool zooms in.
America’s wildfire risk data quietly puts millions of homes in danger
The federal government is using blunt tools to map wildfire risk. Homes are paying the price.Umair Irfan (Vox)
At least 4 Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers
At least 4 Wisconsin communities signed secrecy deals for billion-dollar data centers - WPR
Massive data center proposals are often developed in secret. Wisconsin has now joined several states with legislative proposals to make the process more transparent.alyssa.allemand (Wisconsin Public Radio)
Satya Nadella insists people are using Microsoft’s Copilot AI a lot
Satya Nadella insists people are using Microsoft’s Copilot AI a lot | TechCrunch
With Microsoft spending many billions on data centers, and rumors that no one is using its AI, CEO Satya Nadella shared some usage numbers.Julie Bort (TechCrunch)
The Netherlands consumer protection regulator launches an investigation into Roblox under the Digital Services Act (DSA) for not sufficiently protecting children
ACM launches investigation into Roblox in connection with risks that minors are facing
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) launches an investigation into online game platform Roblox in connection with possible risks that minors in the EU face on the platform.ACM
cpx - A modern, fast file copy tool for Linux with progress bars, resume capability, and more
GitHub - 11happy/cpx: cp reimagined
cp reimagined. Contribute to 11happy/cpx development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
A bloody season: the olive harvest in the West Bank
Journalists Rafaela Cortez and Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro embedded with Palestinians during the 2025 West Bank olive harvest. They witnessed terrible violence and oppression, including the killing of a 13-year-old boy, but also inspiring resistance.
From Mondoweiss via This RSS Feed.
A bloody season: the olive harvest in the West Bank
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/2377…
Journalists Rafaela Cortez and Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro embedded with Palestinians during the 2025 West Bank olive harvest. They witnessed terrible violence and oppression, including the killing of a 13-year-old boy, but also inspiring resistance.
From Mondoweiss via This RSS Feed.
A bloody season: the olive harvest in the West Bank
Journalists Rafaela Cortez and Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro embedded with Palestinians during the 2025 West Bank olive harvest. They witnessed terrible violence and oppression, including the killing of a 13-year-old boy, but also inspiring resistance.
From Mondoweiss via This RSS Feed.
A bloody season: the olive harvest in the West Bank
cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/7496489
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/2377…
Journalists Rafaela Cortez and Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro embedded with Palestinians during the 2025 West Bank olive harvest. They witnessed terrible violence and oppression, including the killing of a 13-year-old boy, but also inspiring resistance.
From Mondoweiss via This RSS Feed.
A bloody season: the olive harvest in the West Bank
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/2377…Journalists Rafaela Cortez and Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro embedded with Palestinians during the 2025 West Bank olive harvest. They witnessed terrible violence and oppression, including the killing of a 13-year-old boy, but also inspiring resistance.
From Mondoweiss via This RSS Feed.
'The Intent of Genocide': 2,700 Gaza Families Entirely Wiped Out by Israeli Attacks
An analysis of Gaza's civil registry by Al Jazeera detailed Monday how thousands of US-backed Israeli military's attacks on the exclave become stories not only of individual casualties but of "lineage, heritage, and identity disappearing in an instant"—with 2,700 families entirely wiped out since October 2023.
In 6,000 families, Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City, just "a single sole survivor" has been left behind.
Mahmoud reported on an attack that killed a recent high school graduate, whose family had lived in Khan Younis for generations, as well as his father, sister, and 22 members of his extended family.
"Sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins—so many branches gone," said Mahmoud.
Ismail Al-Thwabta of the Gaza Government Media Office told Al Jazeera that the erasure of more than 2,700 families accounts for more than 8,000 deaths. More than 71,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began attacking the exclave in 2023 in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack, and hundreds have been killed since this past October when a "ceasefire" agreement was reached.
"Forty thousand families were targeted, which means more than four deaths in each family," Al-Thwabta told Al Jazeera.
Lebanese commentator Sarah Abdallah said the death toll of entire families exemplifies "the intent of genocide."
"This is not war," said Abdallah. "This is annihilation."
— (@)
Irish Palestinian rights advocate Daniel Lambert of the Bohemiam Football Club emphasized that thousands of families have been wiped out or left with just one surviving member with the enablement of the European Union, UK, and US.
Al Jazeera's report came days after Trump administration officials unveiled a "master plan" for a "New Gaza"—one including luxury apartments, data centers, and a "New Rafah" built over the rubble of the southern city that was razed by the Israel Defense Forces last year, forcing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh also explained on Al Jazeera Monday how the thousands of babies born in Gaza since October 2023 have not been added to the Population Registry, which is controlled by Israel.
.@nour_odeh explains that if Israel opens the Rafah crossing to allow Palestinians to leave, the risk is they won't be allowed to return. Nour also points out that babies born in Gaza since 2023 haven't been registered so Israel doesn't recognise them & this has consequences too. pic.twitter.com/WPaWuiW8fF
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) January 26, 2026
"That leaves their legal status unresolved," repoted Drop Site News. "Without registration, it is unclear how these children would leave Gaza, under what documents, or whether Israel would allow them to return if they do."
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
'New Gaza' Plan by Far-Right Zionist Jared Kushner Decried as 'Ethnic Extermination'
"Not anchored in law, nor in facts. Just glossy real estate pitch decks dreamt up by Jared Kushner."julia-conley (Common Dreams)
'The Intent of Genocide': 2,700 Gaza Families Entirely Wiped Out by Israeli Attacks | Common Dreams
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/2311…
An analysis of Gaza's civil registry by Al Jazeera detailed Monday how thousands of US-backed Israeli military's attacks on the exclave become stories not only of individual casualties but of "lineage, heritage, and identity disappearing in an instant"—with 2,700 families entirely wiped out since October 2023.
In 6,000 families, Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City, just "a single sole survivor" has been left behind.
Mahmoud reported on an attack that killed a recent high school graduate, whose family had lived in Khan Younis for generations, as well as his father, sister, and 22 members of his extended family.
"Sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins—so many branches gone," said Mahmoud.
Ismail Al-Thwabta of the Gaza Government Media Office told Al Jazeera that the erasure of more than 2,700 families accounts for more than 8,000 deaths. More than 71,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began attacking the exclave in 2023 in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack, and hundreds have been killed since this past October when a "ceasefire" agreement was reached.
"Forty thousand families were targeted, which means more than four deaths in each family," Al-Thwabta told Al Jazeera.
Lebanese commentator Sarah Abdallah said the death toll of entire families exemplifies "the intent of genocide."
"This is not war," said Abdallah. "This is annihilation."
— (@)Irish Palestinian rights advocate Daniel Lambert of the Bohemiam Football Club emphasized that thousands of families have been wiped out or left with just one surviving member with the enablement of the European Union, UK, and US.
Al Jazeera's report came days after Trump administration officials unveiled a "master plan" for a "New Gaza"—one including luxury apartments, data centers, and a "New Rafah" built over the rubble of the southern city that was razed by the Israel Defense Forces last year, forcing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh also explained on Al Jazeera Monday how the thousands of babies born in Gaza since October 2023 have not been added to the Population Registry, which is controlled by Israel.
.@nour_odeh explains that if Israel opens the Rafah crossing to allow Palestinians to leave, the risk is they won't be allowed to return. Nour also points out that babies born in Gaza since 2023 haven't been registered so Israel doesn't recognise them & this has consequences too. pic.twitter.com/WPaWuiW8fF
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) January 26, 2026"That leaves their legal status unresolved," repoted Drop Site News. "Without registration, it is unclear how these children would leave Gaza, under what documents, or whether Israel would allow them to return if they do."
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
'The Intent of Genocide': 2,700 Gaza Families Entirely Wiped Out by Israeli Attacks
An analysis of Gaza's civil registry by Al Jazeera detailed Monday how thousands of US-backed Israeli military's attacks on the exclave become stories not only of individual casualties but of "lineage, heritage, and identity disappearing in an instant"—with 2,700 families entirely wiped out since October 2023.
In 6,000 families, Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City, just "a single sole survivor" has been left behind.
Mahmoud reported on an attack that killed a recent high school graduate, whose family had lived in Khan Younis for generations, as well as his father, sister, and 22 members of his extended family.
"Sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins—so many branches gone," said Mahmoud.
Ismail Al-Thwabta of the Gaza Government Media Office told Al Jazeera that the erasure of more than 2,700 families accounts for more than 8,000 deaths. More than 71,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began attacking the exclave in 2023 in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack, and hundreds have been killed since this past October when a "ceasefire" agreement was reached.
"Forty thousand families were targeted, which means more than four deaths in each family," Al-Thwabta told Al Jazeera.
Lebanese commentator Sarah Abdallah said the death toll of entire families exemplifies "the intent of genocide."
"This is not war," said Abdallah. "This is annihilation."
— (@)
Irish Palestinian rights advocate Daniel Lambert of the Bohemiam Football Club emphasized that thousands of families have been wiped out or left with just one surviving member with the enablement of the European Union, UK, and US.Al Jazeera's report came days after Trump administration officials unveiled a "master plan" for a "New Gaza"—one including luxury apartments, data centers, and a "New Rafah" built over the rubble of the southern city that was razed by the Israel Defense Forces last year, forcing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh also explained on Al Jazeera Monday how the thousands of babies born in Gaza since October 2023 have not been added to the Population Registry, which is controlled by Israel.
.@nour_odeh explains that if Israel opens the Rafah crossing to allow Palestinians to leave, the risk is they won't be allowed to return. Nour also points out that babies born in Gaza since 2023 haven't been registered so Israel doesn't recognise them & this has consequences too. pic.twitter.com/WPaWuiW8fF
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) January 26, 2026
"That leaves their legal status unresolved," repoted Drop Site News. "Without registration, it is unclear how these children would leave Gaza, under what documents, or whether Israel would allow them to return if they do."From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
'New Gaza' Plan by Far-Right Zionist Jared Kushner Decried as 'Ethnic Extermination'
"Not anchored in law, nor in facts. Just glossy real estate pitch decks dreamt up by Jared Kushner."julia-conley (Common Dreams)
'The Intent of Genocide': 2,700 Gaza Families Entirely Wiped Out by Israeli Attacks | Common Dreams
cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/7478411
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/2311…
An analysis of Gaza's civil registry by Al Jazeera detailed Monday how thousands of US-backed Israeli military's attacks on the exclave become stories not only of individual casualties but of "lineage, heritage, and identity disappearing in an instant"—with 2,700 families entirely wiped out since October 2023.
In 6,000 families, Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City, just "a single sole survivor" has been left behind.
Mahmoud reported on an attack that killed a recent high school graduate, whose family had lived in Khan Younis for generations, as well as his father, sister, and 22 members of his extended family.
"Sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins—so many branches gone," said Mahmoud.
Ismail Al-Thwabta of the Gaza Government Media Office told Al Jazeera that the erasure of more than 2,700 families accounts for more than 8,000 deaths. More than 71,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began attacking the exclave in 2023 in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack, and hundreds have been killed since this past October when a "ceasefire" agreement was reached.
"Forty thousand families were targeted, which means more than four deaths in each family," Al-Thwabta told Al Jazeera.
Lebanese commentator Sarah Abdallah said the death toll of entire families exemplifies "the intent of genocide."
"This is not war," said Abdallah. "This is annihilation."
— (@)Irish Palestinian rights advocate Daniel Lambert of the Bohemiam Football Club emphasized that thousands of families have been wiped out or left with just one surviving member with the enablement of the European Union, UK, and US.
Al Jazeera's report came days after Trump administration officials unveiled a "master plan" for a "New Gaza"—one including luxury apartments, data centers, and a "New Rafah" built over the rubble of the southern city that was razed by the Israel Defense Forces last year, forcing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh also explained on Al Jazeera Monday how the thousands of babies born in Gaza since October 2023 have not been added to the Population Registry, which is controlled by Israel.
.@nour_odeh explains that if Israel opens the Rafah crossing to allow Palestinians to leave, the risk is they won't be allowed to return. Nour also points out that babies born in Gaza since 2023 haven't been registered so Israel doesn't recognise them & this has consequences too. pic.twitter.com/WPaWuiW8fF
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) January 26, 2026"That leaves their legal status unresolved," repoted Drop Site News. "Without registration, it is unclear how these children would leave Gaza, under what documents, or whether Israel would allow them to return if they do."
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
'The Intent of Genocide': 2,700 Gaza Families Entirely Wiped Out by Israeli Attacks | Common Dreams
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/2311…An analysis of Gaza's civil registry by Al Jazeera detailed Monday how thousands of US-backed Israeli military's attacks on the exclave become stories not only of individual casualties but of "lineage, heritage, and identity disappearing in an instant"—with 2,700 families entirely wiped out since October 2023.
In 6,000 families, Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City, just "a single sole survivor" has been left behind.
Mahmoud reported on an attack that killed a recent high school graduate, whose family had lived in Khan Younis for generations, as well as his father, sister, and 22 members of his extended family.
"Sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins—so many branches gone," said Mahmoud.
Ismail Al-Thwabta of the Gaza Government Media Office told Al Jazeera that the erasure of more than 2,700 families accounts for more than 8,000 deaths. More than 71,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began attacking the exclave in 2023 in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack, and hundreds have been killed since this past October when a "ceasefire" agreement was reached.
"Forty thousand families were targeted, which means more than four deaths in each family," Al-Thwabta told Al Jazeera.
Lebanese commentator Sarah Abdallah said the death toll of entire families exemplifies "the intent of genocide."
"This is not war," said Abdallah. "This is annihilation."
— (@)Irish Palestinian rights advocate Daniel Lambert of the Bohemiam Football Club emphasized that thousands of families have been wiped out or left with just one surviving member with the enablement of the European Union, UK, and US.
Al Jazeera's report came days after Trump administration officials unveiled a "master plan" for a "New Gaza"—one including luxury apartments, data centers, and a "New Rafah" built over the rubble of the southern city that was razed by the Israel Defense Forces last year, forcing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh also explained on Al Jazeera Monday how the thousands of babies born in Gaza since October 2023 have not been added to the Population Registry, which is controlled by Israel.
.@nour_odeh explains that if Israel opens the Rafah crossing to allow Palestinians to leave, the risk is they won't be allowed to return. Nour also points out that babies born in Gaza since 2023 haven't been registered so Israel doesn't recognise them & this has consequences too. pic.twitter.com/WPaWuiW8fF
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) January 26, 2026"That leaves their legal status unresolved," repoted Drop Site News. "Without registration, it is unclear how these children would leave Gaza, under what documents, or whether Israel would allow them to return if they do."
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
'New Gaza' Plan by Far-Right Zionist Jared Kushner Decried as 'Ethnic Extermination'
"Not anchored in law, nor in facts. Just glossy real estate pitch decks dreamt up by Jared Kushner."julia-conley (Common Dreams)
Some potentially interesting data: horses per capita in the U.S. and China
I know this is a rough metaphor, but I doubt the tycoons shaping the future would be any gentler in practice.
In the United States, after the post-war rise, the trend shows a long, gradual decline. This is followed by a sharp rebound around the early 2000s, and then another drop. As horses disappeared from productive labor, they briefly found a second life as leisure and entertainment. That phase, however, did not last very long either.
The picture is even worse in China, where the decline has been almost continuous since the mid-1970s.
These are just two representative countries, but I suspect the broader pattern elsewhere is not fundamentally different.
Guys, try to make yourselves entertaining — it may be the only thing that secures your future health insurance.
Horse population data are from FAOSTAT (the US rebound may partly reflect methodological changes, but the broad pattern remains), and human population data are from the World Bank.The figure was generated by the author using Python.
Iran to label EU member states’ armed forces as ‘terrorists’ in response to move against IRGC
Iran plans to designate the armed forces of European Union countries that have blacklisted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as “terrorists”, according to a post by top Iranian security official Ali Larijani on X.
“Therefore, the consequences will fall on the European countries that undertook such an action,” said the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
LIVE: Iran warns retaliation to US attack will not be limited
Numerous US military assets in the Gulf region are ‘within the range of our medium-range missiles’, Iran warns.Usaid Siddiqui (Al Jazeera)
How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills
Research shows AI helps people do parts of their job faster. In an observational study of Claude.ai data, we found AI can speed up some tasks by 80%. But does this increased productivity come with trade-offs? Other research shows that when people use AI assistance, they become less engaged with their work and reduce the effort they put into doing it—in other words, they offload their thinking to AI.It’s unclear whether this cognitive offloading can prevent people from growing their skills on the job, or—in the case of coding—understanding the systems they’re building. Our latest study, a randomized controlled trial with software developers as participants, investigates this potential downside of using AI at work.
This question has broad implications—for how to design AI products that facilitate learning, for how workplaces should approach AI policies, and for broader societal resilience, among others. We focused on coding, a field where AI tools have rapidly become standard. Here, AI creates a potential tension: as coding grows more automated and speeds up work, humans will still need the skills to catch errors, guide output, and ultimately provide oversight for AI deployed in high-stakes environments. Does AI provide a shortcut to both skill development and increased efficiency? Or do productivity increases from AI assistance undermine skill development?
In a randomized controlled trial, we examined 1) how quickly software developers picked up a new skill (in this case, a Python library) with and without AI assistance; and 2) whether using AI made them less likely to understand the code they’d just written.
We found that using AI assistance led to a statistically significant decrease in mastery. On a quiz that covered concepts they’d used just a few minutes before, participants in the AI group scored 17% lower than those who coded by hand, or the equivalent of nearly two letter grades. Using AI sped up the task slightly, but this didn’t reach the threshold of statistical significance.
Importantly, using AI assistance didn’t guarantee a lower score. How someone used AI influenced how much information they retained. The participants who showed stronger mastery used AI assistance not just to produce code but to build comprehension while doing so—whether by asking follow-up questions, requesting explanations, or posing conceptual questions while coding independently.
How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.www.anthropic.com
like this
Maeve likes this.
like this
Maeve likes this.
like this
Maeve and Dessalines like this.
like this
Maeve likes this.
like this
Maeve likes this.
like this
Maeve likes this.
like this
Maeve likes this.
like this
Maeve and Dessalines like this.
like this
Maeve likes this.
like this
Maeve likes this.
I tend to like the fact the US has a military strong enough to discourage anyone from invading/killing/raping everyone.
High probability of the people who wants to do that is seeking revenge, so it's the military fault anyway.
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 1st February 2026
Want to wade into the snowy surf of the abyss? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid.
Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.
Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.
If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.
The post Xitter web has spawned so many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.
(Credit and/or blame to David Gerard for starting this. What a year, huh?)
When all the worst things come together: ransomware probably vibe-coded, discards private key, data never recoverable
During execution, the malware regenerates a new RSA key pair locally, uses the newly generated key material for encryption, and then discards the private key.Halcyon assesses with moderate confidence that the developers may have used AI-assisted tooling, which could have contributed to this implementation error.
Dessalines
in reply to librebyte • • •