What we know about the U.S. service members killed in the Iran war Six soldiers are reported to have been killed in Iranian counterattacks. Four died in a drone strike against a port in Kuwait, the military said.

I'm told that the IC has assessed that the reservists killed in Kuwait a few weeks ago were targeted using adtech, and that the Iranians used it to trace their movements to the port.

www.nbcnews.com/news/militar...

Pretty much all of them?

recorded a Windows 95 full disk defrag to soothe your timeline.

The powerful tools in ICE’s arsenal to track suspects — and protesters Biometric trackers, cellphone location databases and drones are among the surveillance technologies agents are using in their immigration enforcement campaign.

ICE 🇺🇸 has been on a surveillance shopping spree

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...

FeatherType Generate beautiful feather text graphics from bird colors

Will you help me test a thing?

feathertype.binstobins.com

🪶

McSweeney’s is undefeated.

A Message from Your Federal Overlords “Even as videos emerged that contradicted the government’s account, the Trump administration was in a race to control the narrative around the kill...

"We regret to inform you that your anger is trending. This is deeply unhelpful. When the public reacts emotionally to repeated tragedies, it puts pressure on leadership to respond with something other than carefully selected words."

The Trump administration has secretly rewritten nuclear safety rules The rewrite was done to speed up the construction of a new generation of nuclear reactors. Critics warn it could compromise safety and public trust.

Adds to the list of things that seem fine
www.npr.org/2026/01/28/n...

The US and its economy are going to hell in a handcart. But in happier news, the Chief Market Analyst at IG is, according to the Guardian, investing in the One Ring to Rule them All.

Video: Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis An analysis of footage from three camera angles show that the vehicle appears to be turning away from a federal officer as he opened fire.

Really good video breakdown of the shooting of Renee Good illustrating that yes, this was cold blooded murder by an ICE agent.

Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching

thanks @fmeissner.bsky.social for leading me to this wellspring of postmodern chaos

After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:

- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%

Two accepted panels on Palestine were targeted after the preliminary programme was published online: Technologies at war: The role of tech companies and the EU in facilitating war crimes and genocide in Gaza, and Cyber Surveillance and Data Violence in Palestine: Protection, Practice, and Legality. CPDP approached the panel organisers and advised them to remove the word ‘genocide’ in the titles and descriptions, including references to crimes and violations of international law. CPDP then unjustifiably singled out these two panels with a disclaimer that read: “The text of this panel represents the opinions of the Panel Organiser and not those of CPDP. The case before the ICJ regarding the categorization of Israel’s activities in Gaza has yet to be decided.” Upon the request of the panels’ organisers, the disclaimer was removed. Discussions about human rights abuses, atrocity crimes, or genocide do not require a court ruling to be legitimate. At the core of international law and human rights work is prevention — a responsibility that also extends to private companies, which are expected to identify and mitigate risks of contributing to such abuses. These obligations are clear under the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its provisionary measures orders, affirmed the responsibility of state and non-state actors to take actions in the face of a clear and imminent risk of genocide. Multiple UN bodies and experts, genocide scholars, and leading human rights organisations have already categorised the Israeli conduct in Gaza as genocide that has met all legal elements of this crime.

"We were excited to have a panel accepted on the role of technology in genocide in Gaza at this year’s Computers, Privacy & Data Protection (CPDP) conference in Brussels. However, CPDP then requested that Access Now & others remove the word “genocide” from panel titles & descriptions. We declined."

Thinking of everyone marching against racism in Amsterdam today, and getting ready for our Tilburg University strike in a couple of weeks…

Okay, this is my newest very very favorite meme.

Get in loser, we're tanking the economy

Call for Proposals – Editorial Team The Editorial College at the journal Migration Politics seeks proposals from an editorial team that is willing to take on the management of the journal for a four-year term starting in December 202…

The Editorial College at the journal Migration Politics seeks proposals from an editorial team that is willing to take on the management of the journal for a four-year term starting in December 2025.
The full call is here: migrationpolitics.org/call-for-pro...

Day 1 of the national strikes against cuts in higher education and research 🟥

First op Leiden 💪🏽

@woinactie.bsky.social

Students and parents: now is the time to fight for your, your kids’ and future generations’ education.

Nederlanders moeten het bij ramp of aanval minstens 72 uur gezellig kunnen hebben met elkaar Na een cyberaanval, ramp of het uitbreken van een oorlog moeten Nederlanders het minstens 72 uur gezellig met elkaar kunnen hebben. Dat stelde minister David van Weel in De Telegraaf.

Nederlanders moeten het bij ramp of aanval minstens 72 uur gezellig kunnen hebben met elkaar

…because all of us out here until now trusted US defence contractors implicitly

Anyone who thinks the words ‘privacy’, ‘trust’ and ‘control’ currently belong in the same sentence as ‘information’ is selling something.

WYOMING:
“Thank you, Madam chairman.”
“I prefer ‘Mister’ chairman.”
“Well you all voted preferred pronouns cannot be compelled speech.”

#ProtectNotSurveil position paper:
We demand the full rejection of the #Europol reform! 👎

Here’s why:

❌ Fails to protect migrants or reduce border deaths
👁 Power grab by Europol
🛑 Criminalisation of migrants and solidarity organisers

Read more:

Palantir's Peculiar Sales-Pitch A Republic...if you can creep it

"It’s a major complaint of the [Palantir-affiliated] authors of The Technological Republic that ppl today shrink from saying what they think... I agree, and I’m going to break the taboos. The Technological Republic is a terrible book: badly written, tedious, and... full of bad ideas."

‘Rescuing’ data justice? Mobilising the collective in responses to datafication Key activities that relate to data justice have emerged from different stakeholders that seek to confront and address different implications of advancements in datafication. These activities indica...

Really nice state-of-the-art synopsis from @linadencik.bsky.social on #datajustice, useful for understanding both our current weird regulatory moment, and the more important question of what the notion of justice in relation to datafication and #AI is for: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

This 👇 doesn't grow old!
Sacha Baron Cohen is brilliant.
(The Dictator, 2012)

this is another reason why 'AI safety' was and is a red herring. it starts from the existing business models and market agenda of tech firms, and is a way of ensuring restructuring and governance reform can't happen. It creates safety from regulation for tech firms, not safety from harm for people.