"Social network Bluesky is gearing up for big changes with today’s news that the company raised $100 million in Series B funding. The round, led by Bain Capital Crypto, was closed in April 2025 but had not been disclosed until now."

techcrunch.com/2026/03/19/blue…

#news #TechNews #technology #bluesky #atmosphere

Bluesky announces $100M Series B after CEO transition | TechCrunch

The additional funds have been used to scale Bluesky's team, while the company continues to develop Bluesky's app and the underlying ATProto that powers it.

^{Sarah Perez (TechCrunch)}

Trump has a $1 1/2 Trillion dollar deficit so far in 2026.... Now he wants to add another $200 Billion!

Secretary of Defense Hegseth confirms Pentagon is seeking $200 billion for war with Iran.
#AureFreePress #News #press #headline #GOP #Politics #uspolitics #uspol #Breaking #BreakingNews

North Korean's 100k fake IT workers net $500M a year for Kim

theregister.com/2026/03/18/res…

#tech #technology #news #technews #security #privacy #politics #northkorea

North Korea's 100,000-strong fake IT worker army rake in $500M a year for Kim Jong Un

: Researchers map full org chart of the scam from dodgy recruiters to helpful Western collaborators

^{Dan Robinson (The Register)}

New from Dylan Baddour of Inside Climate News: “If we get to the point where we have to declare a Level 1 #Water Emergency, we need to be ready for that and we have no precedent to follow. There’s no manual, there’s no video.” texasobserver.org/corpus-chris…

#environment #ClimateChange #Texas #GulfCoast #news #politics #USpol #drought

Corpus Christi Cuts Timeline to Disaster as Abbott Issues Emergency Orders

The governor’s office said the city’s two main reservoirs could dry up by May, much sooner than previous timelines. But authorities still offer no plan for curtailment of water use.

^{Dylan Baddour (The Texas Observer)}

Federal Cyber Experts Thought Microsoft’s Cloud Was “a Pile of Shit.” They Approved It Anyway.
---

A federal program created to protect the government against cyber threats authorized a sprawling Microsoft cloud product, despite the company’s inability to fully explain how it protects sensitive data.
propublica.org/article/microso…

#News #Microsoft #Cybersecurity #Government #Technology #Tech #Cloud

Federal Cyber Experts Thought Microsoft’s Cloud Was “a Pile of Shit.” They Approved It Anyway.

^{shoshana.gordon@propublica.org (ProPublica)}

It’s hard for reporters to see what’s happening up close in the Iran war.
theconversation.com/pete-hegse…

#news #journalism #IranWar

theconversation.com/pete-hegse…

Pete Hegseth is working hard to make sure the public hears only good news about Iran war

Americans have been able to know what troops at war are facing, and make informed decisions about the war’s cost, because a free press has been able to tell the story − good or bad. Can it still?

^{The Conversation}

Daily Beast:
Trump Goes on Wild Rant as Irish PM Struggles Not to Laugh

Trump reignited one of his favorite grievances, and the Irish prime minister could barely stifle his laughter at the absurdity.

Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin could barely keep a straight face as President Donald Trump launched a rant about one of his signature complaints: windmills.
thedailybeast.com/trump-goes-o…

#News #Politics #Democracy #Democrats #Trump #Ireland #Environment #ClimateChange

Trump Goes on Wild Rant as Irish PM Struggles Not to Laugh

President Donald Trump reignited one of his favorite grievances, and the Irish prime minister could barely stifle his laughter at the absurdity.

^{Annabella Rosciglione (The Daily Beast)}

Toxic oil waste is increasingly shooting out of the ground in Oklahoma, contaminating the state’s drinking water.

We found that regulators identified 2,000 problem wells in a 2021 report. Then they ignored their findings.
propublica.org/article/oklahom…

#News #Oil #Gas #Environment #Oklahoma #Data #EPA #Regulation

Oil Regulators Found Hundreds of Wells Violating Oklahoma Rules. Then They Ignored Their Findings.

Oklahoma took on an ambitious project to catalog all of the state’s injection wells, which shoot toxic waste generated by oil drilling back into the ground. Despite records showing risk of drinking water pollution, the state chose not to act.

^{Peter.DiCampo@propublica.org (ProPublica)}

Iran braces for internal unrest as US and Israeli attacks persist (March 14-16 updates)

An image posted by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News shows exercises by Iran’s special crowd-control units, with a mounted…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #basij #breakingnews #Iran #IRGC #Israel #israeliran #OperationEpicFury #OperationLion’sRoar #usiran
newsbeep.com/438102/

Honestly I don't even know where to start, just speechless.

This is just sooo bad 😡

#TikTok and #Meta = pure evil:

"maximizes profits at the expense of their audience's wellbeing"

"told us that it's because the stock price is down"

"maintain a strong relationship" with political figures to avoid threats of regulation or bans"

"advice to parents with children using TikTok is: "Delete it, keep them as far away as possible from the app for as long as possible"

bbc.com/news/articles/cqj9kgxq…

#News

TikTok and Meta risked safety to win algorithm arms race, whistleblowers say

Companies allowed more harmful content on user’s feeds, knowing their algorithms ran on outrage, BBC hears.

^{Marianna Spring (BBC News)}

A cloud of orange-tinted, thick dust spread across the Gaza Strip on Saturday as first responders told Palestinians to stay home, especially those with respiratory illness.

People were also urged to secure their tents to prevent them from being blown away. Israel’s war with Hamas has left most of Gaza’s 2 million residents displaced, living in tents and damaged buildings with little protection from the elements.

youtube.com/watch?v=H9-Wj-bx4G…

🕎 🇵🇸 ☮️
#Gaza #Palestine
#Press #News

Gimp 3.2 released: What's changing for designers and pixel artists

The update to the free image editing software brings new non-destructive layer types, vector export, and various improvements for designers and artists.

heise.de/en/news/Gimp-3-2-rele…

#Bildbearbeitung #Gimp #IT #OpenSource #news

Gimp 3.2 released: What's changing for designers and pixel artists

^{Dr. Volker Zota (heise online)}

Israeli soldiers fire on car carrying family in occupied West Bank, killing parents and two of four children. @AssociatedPress reports:

flip.it/8sZSgI

#News #WorldNews #Palestinian #Israel #War #MiddleEast

Another DOGE Bro Explains How He Flagged 'DEI' Grants for Termination

Yeah, we've been watching hours of these depositions at [404 Media](404media.co), and we'll have more soon. For now, here's some context.

This is Nathan Cavanaugh, a DOGE staffer assigned to the General Services Administration who, alongside another DOGE member named Justin Fox, was tasked with identifying grants for review for termination at the National Endowment for the… #trump #lies #politics #news #DOGE

The unprovoked US-Israel attack on Iran has displaced 3.2mn people, according to the United Nations (UN). And the Iranian Red Crescent has said over 17,000 homes have been damaged. The war is less than two weeks old.

The US and Israel attacked Iran first on 28 February without provocation. Iran was offering unprecedented concessions in negotiations at the time. The Pentagon has since stated there was no imminent threat from Iran.

thecanary.co/global/world-anal…

🕎 🇵🇸 ☮️
#Gaza #Palestine
#Press #News

Iran: US-Israel displaces 3.2 million people

In less than 2 weeks, the US-Israel attack on Iran has displaced 3.2 million people, with 17,000 homes damaged

^{Joe Glenton (The Canary)}

Israel have bombed people sheltering in tents in Lebanon. The genocidal settler state has a habit of bombing and re-bombing the people it has displaced. Their practice of striking tented camps is an oft-repeated story of the Gaza genocide.

Now, the people they have bombed in Beirut were only sheltering in tents because Israel had forcibly displaced them from their homes.

thecanary.co/global/world-anal…

🕎 🇵🇸 ☮️
#Gaza #Palestine
#Press #News

Lebanon: Israel bombs displaced people in Beirut

Israel commits another war crime by first bombing people out of their homes in Lebanon - and then strikes again as they shelter in tents

^{Joe Glenton (The Canary)}

Guess Meta's all in on #AI isn't paying off ;)

"Engagement rates on #Instagram, LinkedIn and #Threads declined last year compared with 2024, while #Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok increased slightly."

Not a good look when you just had to write off the US$ 73 Billion from that failed #Metaverse!

Our #DeMeta group on #Reddit seems to be working 😋:
reddit.com/r/DeMeta

cnet.com/news/social-media/ins…

#News #Tech #It #Cnet #SocialMedia #ArtificialIntelligence #Metaverse #Digital #Software #technews

People Spent Less Time on Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn Last Year. Here's Why

Social media is showing you more ads, suggestions and recommended posts, pushing aside content you actually want.

^{Dashia Milden (CNET)}

BREAKING:
Belgium’s MEP Marc Botenga:

“You claim to stand with the people of #Iran while you offer European bases to #US killing machines.

#eu #europe #uk #france #germany #netherlands #greece #italy #hungary #europeanunion #belgium #news #mastodon #socialmedia #trump #cdnpoli #uspol #politi #sovereignty #economy #resistance #antifascism #lfi #protest #freepalestine #china #russia #yemen #hezbollah #lebanon @politics @socialmedia @democracy #education #canada #Africa #justice #humanrights

"We won,"
- Trump declares the United States has won the war against Iran.

Trump has no end game plan in Iran. He has no plan at all.

First it was to aid the Iranian people - then he hung them out to dry.

Then it was regime change - now it's not.

Trump will simply declare victory and then run and hide...or pick on a smaller country like Cuba next.

THE MAN IS A MENACE!
#AureFreePress #News #press #headline #GOP #Politics #uspolitics #uspol

More at @Free_Press

BREAKING NEWS

The first sighting of America’s new B-21 Raider stealth bomber being refuelled mid air. With an F-16 escort.
#AureFreePress #News #press #headline #breaking #breakingnews

More at @Free_Press

21st Century Warfare

The ground robotic system Sirko-S1 helped Ukrainian Defenders evacuate a wounded brother-in-arms in the Kostiantynivka direction, Donetsk region.

The robot was returning to base after successfully delivering ammunition, food, and medical supplies when it spotted a group of Defenders on the road.

Using its built-in speakers, Sirko "spoke": "Glory to Ukraine, Warriors! Do you need some help?"
#AureFreePress #News #press #headline #Ukraine

More at @Free_Press

Interview: "Trump & Hegseth & Rubio have completely misjudged the nature of this war".

And "the lies that the American mainstream media..are telling the American people.. are putting us in jeopardy in a real substantive sense"...

"because the American people have no way of judging just how foolhardy, how stupid, how unwise, how violative of international dictum & rule this war is."

~Ret Col Lawrence Wilkerson

democracynow.org/2026/3/10/law…

#USPol #EUPol #IranWar #News #USMediaLies #USImperialism .

Ret. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Netanyahu Could Turn to Nuclear Bombs If Iran War Escalates

As President Trump gives conflicting statements about the length and objectives of the war he launched with Israel against Iran, fears are growing that the conflict could continue to expand throughout the region and beyond.

^{Democracy Now!}

Big news for Mastodon GmbH. They have formally joined forces with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

If you’re not in the design/tech world, trust me when I say this is a big step for the fediverse. The W3C establishes the standards used for the internet.

This is a solid path forward for small tech.

github.com/w3c/socialwg/blob/m…

#Mastodon #News #Technology #Fediverse #W3C #SmallTech #FOSS

socialwg/meetings/2026/2026-03-06-WG-kickoff.md at main · w3c/socialwg

Social Web Working Group. Contribute to w3c/socialwg development by creating an account on GitHub.

^GitHub

Tehran Times runs school-bombing victims’ photos on front page

Tehran: Iranian daily Tehran Times has published a front page featuring photographs of children killed in a bombing…
#EuropeSays #Headlines #News #Europe #Europa #EU #Tehran #Bellingcat #bombing #DonaldTrump #factcheck #Iran #Minab #school #TehranTimes #TheNewYorkTimes
europesays.com/iran/12182/

RE: mastodon.social/@madeindex/113…

Germany's government (among many others)* continues working hard on their surveillance state.

They want that #Palantir everywhere¹ & in anything (except their own space, obviously for "safety reasons"), and they keep expanding the #AI mass #surveillance, now even to their capital².

It's just funny to watch these absolute hypocrites, proof they have 0 principles, while talking about how liberal their country is.

¹ dw.com/en/german-police-expand…

² netzpolitik.org/2026/ki-gestue…

#Germany #german #news #tech

German police expands use of Palantir surveillance software

Police and spy agencies are keen to combat criminality and terrorism with artificial intelligence. But critics say the CIA-funded Palantir surveillance software enables "predictive policing."

^{Marcel Fürstenau (Deutsche Welle)}

Wales becomes the first UK nation to remove profit from children’s homes, fostering, and secure accommodation
#News

nation.cymru/news/wales-become…

Wales becomes the first UK nation to remove profit from children's homes, fostering, and secure accommodation

In less than a month, new providers of children’s homes, fostering services and secure accommodation will no longer be able to make a profit in Wales — making it the first nation in the UK to take this landmark step.

^{Ella Groves (Nation.Cymru)}

The #US & #Israel now really have a friend in #Tehran.

In strikes #Mojtaba was wounded, while his father, wife and other family members were likely killed.

This new #Ayatollah guy is going to be super sympathetic to them!

They truly must have achieved their #war goal...

In case you haven't heard it, there is that old saying in #Iran:

"Kill somebody's family and (only) wife,
make a friend for life"

"Hearts and minds" eh?

#IranWar #News #middleeast #uspol #politics #military #Humor #Sarcasm

"As Bluesky matures, the company needs a seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution, while I return to what I do best: building new things."

wired.com/story/bluesky-ceo-ja…

#news #TechNews #technology #bsky #bluesky #JayGraber

Great, here come the sleeper cells. 🙄 Tell me again why Trump decided to start a war in the first place? Last I heard he was on the "affordability!" bandwagon. Instead we're staring down a 1973-style oil shock but with bonus terrorism!

#news #thoughts #terrorism #war #politics #USpolitics #MiddleEast

abcnews.com/US/iran-activating…

Iran may be activating sleeper cells outside the country, alert says

The encrypted transmission was intercepted by the U.S.

^{Aaron Katersky (ABC News)}

President Trump defies U.S. analysis, blames Iran for airstrike on girls’ school that killed at least 175 people. @Independent has more:

flip.it/diiALr

#News #WorldNews #War #USA #Iran #Trump

Trump blames Iran for strike that killed school girls - as US investigators point to American bomb

Michael Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, declined to fully endorse the president’s assertion that Iran had been to blame for the strike when asked Sunday

^{Mike Bedigan (The Independent)}

GLP-1 medications may also fight addiction, says Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly whose team researched trends from GLP-1 use in 600,000 people (he's a medical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis and the St. Louis VA).

People taking the medication type had:
- 50% fewer substance-related deaths.
- 39% fewer drug overdoses.
- Lower risk of developing alcohol, opioid, cocaine, cannabis or nicotine addiction.

theconversation.com/glp-1-drug…
#health #news

GLP-1 drugs may fight addiction across every major substance, according to a study of 600,000 people

GLP-1 drugs are the first medication to show promise for treating addiction to a wide range of substances.

^{The Conversation}

Britain has just two days of gas as Middle East flow runs dry. Shrinking reserves could spark potential crisis with UK now paying highest wholesale price in Europe.

telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/…

#uk #europe #news #iran #iranwar