2003: children shouldn't tell their age, name, or personal information to anyone on the internet for their safety

2026: children are legally required to tell their age, name, and personal information to everyone on the internet for their safety

"The free market will sort it out" the free market sorted out child labour by saying yes please and we had to pass a law. That's how the free market sorts things out.

I decided to put the working magic incantation on my blog so hopefully someone can find the answer quicker than I did (or AI may be able to provide correct answers 😂 ):
https://silicognition.com/Computers/Linux%20config/brother-pt-p700-user-mode-access/

Goodness. Just spent HOURS trying to figure out a udev rule to make a Brother PT-P700 label printer accessible from a user-level #python script.
It involved unbinding the kernel driver and selecting a USB configuration.
This shouldn't be something so difficult it should take HOURS. I had also expected that someone did this before. Just search engine failure?

PSA: The Amazon wishlist doxing threat is much greater and more immediate than folks might realize. Attack works like this:

Stalker who wants your address opens an Amazon seller account and lists themselves as a third party seller for any item on your public wishlist. Then, they order the item from themselves as a gift for you. Bam, they have your address.

In particular, attack does not depend on an existing third party seller having poor PII handling hygiene, like the articles have implied.

:update:

I really like this viewpoint on AI performing "semantic ablation". It hits home as I work diligently to write a textbook that contains plenty of nuance and (I hope) a unique perspective on the topic (computer networking).

"By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses. The process performs a systematic lobotomy across three distinct stages:
- Stage 1: Metaphoric cleansing. The AI identifies unconventional metaphors or visceral imagery as "noise" because they deviate from the training set's mean. It replaces them with dead, safe clichés, stripping the text of its emotional and sensory "friction."
Stage 2: Lexical flattening. Domain-specific jargon and high-precision technical terms are sacrificed for "accessibility." The model performs a statistical substitution, replacing a 1-of-10,000 token with a 1-of-100 synonym, effectively diluting the semantic density and specific gravity of the argument.
Stage 3: Structural collapse. The logical flow – originally built on complex, non-linear reasoning – is forced into a predictable, low-perplexity template. Subtext and nuance are ablated to ensure the output satisfies a "standardized" readability score, leaving behind a syntactically perfect but intellectually void shell.
#AIslop #writing

https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/16/semantic_ablation_ai_writing/

I apparently live in a world where a totally normal thing that happens is: Linux filesystem maintainer declares that his AI agent is conscious and also a girl btw, and then the AI agent comes out as a trans lesbian after flirting with someone on IRC. Linux filesystem maintainer throws a fit.

I... I think I'm too old for this.

Sooooooooo. Socialism anyone?

DoD told Anthropic it will invoke the Defense Production Act or label Anthropic a "supply chain risk", if not given unfettered Claude access by Friday.

https://www.axios.com/2026/02/24/anthropic-pentagon-claude-hegseth-dario

I occasionally help an elderly neighbor get stuff done with their computer. And every single time, I walk away in incandescent rage at how hard we have made this stuff for people who have not spent their entire waking lives marinating in it

re @claudeai

I've identified industrial-scale copyright violations on my content by Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, X, and more.

These companies created thousands of crawlers incorporating the text of all my blog posts, open source code, and books into their paid AI models to profit exorbitantly.

We've been on X/Twitter for many years, but it's time to reduce our activity there and instead promote Mastodon as our main social media channel now. So we've done just that: https://x.com/LibreOffice/status/2026204949760131158 – Welcome to all our new followers here 😊

> LOOK

You are in a room. There are exits to the north and west. There is an armchair.

> SIT

You are sitting in an armchair in a room. There are exits to the north and west. A small black cat enters the room.

> TAKE CAT

You cannot take the cat.

> PET CAT

You pet the cat. It starts to purr.

> PET CAT

You pet the cat. It jumps onto the chair, purrs, and settles on your lap.

> N

You cannot go north. You are immobilised by a cat.

> STAND UP

You cannot stand up. You are immobilised by a cat.

> W

You cannot go west. You are immobilised by a cat.

> PET CAT

The cat purrs.

#Cats

Anthropic and OpenAI are accusing Chinese companies of using their work for their AI models.

Anthropic and OpenAI clearly have the high moral ground, having never used other people's work to create their products /sarcasm

https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/23/anthropic-accuses-chinese-ai-labs-of-mining-claude-as-us-debates-ai-chip-exports/

RE: https://mstdn.ca/@drikanis/116107120926277506

I'd like to comment on the common "AI is just a tool" thing: I'm a woodworker by training & that means a lot of machines - but almost every craftsperson knows how to do their job with hand tools, or "lesser" machines.

Similarly, a writer can write without a text editor - just as well, only slower.

If loss of a tool = loss of your skill & knowledge, then that tool isn't an asset, it's a liability. You're signing over your ability to do business to whoever sells & maintains that tool.

#AI

Mere minutes later, the squirrel comes back, does some parkour, and finds a new entrance.

@mxshift Ah yes, squirrels. I had to resort to full metal fascia and soffit to finally keep them out. Anything else I tried like spray foam or new wood was completely ineffectual.

“What do you have to hide?“

Everything.

Full stop. Period.

Every. Thing.

What I had for breakfast is my choice to put out in the world.

Who I love, who my friends are, what we talk about, the books I read, the websites I visit, my favourite animal, my choice of shoelaces.

It. Does. Not. Matter. How. “Big”. Or “Small”.

Every. Thing.

It’s all up to me to decide who I want to share anything with.

#privacy #surveillance

- do you want to use google to sign in?
- do you want to add a passkey?
- do you want to add a 2FA token?
- we know you have 2FA but we've sent you an email instead
- this login attempt seems suspicious we've sent you a text about it
- can you click on these buses?
- you failed to click on the buses click on these bicycles instead
- should we save these details for next time?
- do you accept these trackers?
- you can opt out but we've decided it's legitimate interest anyway
- would you like to see a list of our 847 partners we share your data with?
- can we send you desktop notifications?
- can we access your location?
- do you want 10% off for signing up to the mailing list?
- do you want me to translate this page?
- hi I'm your friendly chatbot how can I help?
- oh no you can't buy this, reach out to us for a quote!
- do you want—

I'm tired boss

Windows Defender just scanned my machine and didn't find any threats. How it missed all the Microsoft products on there I'll never know.