Futurology Today

• For simplicity, let's assuming this is your country, in some random rural area
• The dead person has a kitchen knife plunged into their chest, blood is still fresh
• The dead person is a random stanger, you've never met them, they are just a random average (non-famous) person
• There is no one else in the house
• You have a tiny bit of blood on your clothes, but not a lot, you are unsure of whose blood it is
• You have no injuries
• You were never drugged or anything, you just happen to mysteriously, spontaneously get teleported there, while sleeping. You went to sleep on your bed and just woke up only to find yourself in this scenario. (Bloodtests will show nothing)
• You wake up right in the morning, at sunrise
• There is electricity and running water, small amounts of food in the refrigerator, enough for maybe a day
• You don't have any items with you, not your phone, nothing beside the clothes you slept with (if any). There are clothing in this house belonging to the dead person
• There only electronics devices (besides appliances) in the house is the dead person's smartphone, in their pockets (no lockscreen codes or anything), and a laptop (no password). This house has wifi.
• This house does not have any security cameras.
• There is a car in the driveway, belonging to the dead person. No other vehicles, no bikes or anything like that.
• Nobody (yet) knows this person is dead. They live alone.

So, would you think that you did the murder, and just turn yourself in; or assume someone set you up and try to escape? How would you escape this scenario and avoid prison?

Remember, this is a rural area, not that many cameras.

So do you make a run for it? How?

Or do you just call the authorities and hope you don't get charged with the murder? Very awkward interrogation tho, nobody would believe you. I doubt "I don't remember how I got there" is a strong defence.

What is your "game plan"?

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250506120911/https://apnews.com/article/trump-justice-department-voting-rights-elections-fraud-0717d58a10daa11b3957d277a7ca8e0e

Presentations recorded at the SplinterCon conference, 24.02.2025

"As the fractures of the internet deepen, SplinterCon emerges as a hub for those dedicated to building its resilient future. On February 24, 2025, we’re convening at RightsCon in Taipei to explore the dynamics of a fragmented digital landscape and push the boundaries of what’s possible in decentralized connectivity."

Details https://splintercon.net/rightscon-taipei/

Sauce: Visual Novel "Chrono Clock"

I thought this was a great analysis of the published meeting between Carney and Trump so thought I’d share it here, not only because this is also my takeaway from the meeting: nothing’s actually done in a practical sense, but a bridge is built without compromising Canada’s position, and, more subtly and interestingly to Canadians, without actually praising Trump, but got him and his supporters to think that he’s being praised. It’s my first time actually liking doublespeak lol.

And I think it’s a great display of restraint from Carney, a kind of restraint we should have as adults. A close friend of his was insulted right in his face, and he took it without saying anything back, only to give out a response to a later question by a journalist in a way that is both slightly elaborately vague and lightly sugarcoated, just enough for you to maybe guess what his thoughts were when that exchange went down.

~~Also, if someone knows if CBC posts these anywhere else but YouTube, it’d be great if you could share that with me.~~ I’ve updated the link to CBC’s website. Thank you @zqwzzle@lemmy.ca!

You know, like McDowells. I don't actually care what color my shells are. There are principals involved. Principalities!

⚔️ Battle for Zmiinyi Island: The beginning of liberating the Ukrainian sea

🔥 Three years ago — on May 7, 2022 — special forces of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence and fighters from the SBU "Alpha" Special Center, supported by the Ukrainian Navy, conducted an operation to land troops on Zmiinyi Island.

✔️ Capturing Zmiinyi allowed Russian occupiers to control the northwestern Black Sea, threatened amphibious landings on Ukraine’s coast, and restricted the operation of Ukrainian ports.

⚡️ To drive the occupiers out, Ukrainian military intelligence, together with the SBU, prepared a surprise landing operation using boats and army helicopters.

"The enemy knew we wanted to do this, but the landing and attack still shocked them. They did not expect it, and we hit them hard," said Shaman, commander of the Defense Intelligence special unit involved in the operation.

☝️ The battle for the island lasted most of the day. The enemy brought in aircraft and reserves. Ultimately, Ukrainian forces withdrew to their positions, but the assault proved the island could be liberated.

"We gained a lot of experience, especially in mastering the captured equipment left behind by the Russians," noted Defense Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov.

❗️ Thanks to the liberation of Zmiinyi, Ukraine regained control over vital export sea routes.

"Until the end, a Russian special forces unit remained, trying to block shipping in the region. That is no longer the case," emphasized Budanov.

▫️ The island’s liberation became key for the "grain corridor," which is essential for Ukraine's economy and global food security.

🫡 The landing operation was part of a broader campaign for control over the Black Sea, demonstrating Ukraine's determination even in difficult conditions and paving the way for further successes against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

🔗 Watch how this unique operation unfolded in the documentary "Battle for Zmiinyi Island. The Sea" from the "Military Intelligence of Ukraine" series at the link.

https://t.me/DIUkraine/5818

From International Owl Center

Pierce did a little sunbathing at work this morning. Owls do this by going down to the ground and spreading their wings out in the sunshine. The sunlight may help convert the oil on their feathers to Vitamin D that they ingest the next time they preen.

Some further reading from Zoo Atlanta:

Did you know? Birds are endotherms, like you and I, so just like us they can regulate their own body temperature. But it still feels nice to get a little head-start with the help of the sun. Sunbathing is an important part of a bird’s routine. In fact, there are many beneficial reasons why birds tend to sunbathe.

Sunbathing can help with feather maintenance. When oils are heated, they become less viscous or in other words, they move faster, so that oil produced to maintain their feathers can be spread more easily. It also helps control ectoparasites, either by killing them directly or by increasing their vulnerability to preening as they try to escape from the heat.

UV light is important for birds because UVA is part of the vision spectrum of birds, they can see more than what we can, while UVB helps with the production of Vitamin D3 which helps with calcium absorption. A lack of calcium in birds results in an increased risk of seizures, an increased risk of reproductive problems such as egg laying, and lower bone density with an increased risk of fractures.

There are also different ways to sunbathe. Some species, like vultures, prefer to stand up, spreading their wings out away from their bodies, while species of pigeons and doves have been spotted lying down, lifting, or spreading one wing at a time. Others, like our guira cuckoos or tawny frogmouths, will lift regions of feathers on their body, sometimes creating what looks like balding patches to the passing eye. Either way, it involves trying to expose as much surface area as possible to take the best advantage of a sunny opportunity.

Context: https://pointieststick.com/2025/05/01/notes-from-the-graz-plasma-sprint/

Manila (AFP) – A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines' millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday's mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement.

Thousands of overseas Filipino workers, or OFWs, have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and his impeached vice president Sara Duterte.

While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) show at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened April 13.

But Jun Burlasa III, a Filipino working in Singapore, says he will not vote again if he has to do it online.

"I'd rather do manual," the 50-year-old told AFP this week, describing the new system as "confusing and suspicious".

At issue is a digital QR code generated after voting that leads users to a page asking them to verify their ballot has been submitted correctly. Below that is a box containing a jumble of computer code and candidate names.

Burlasa said many of the names visible were candidates for whom he had not voted.

Similar stories about the anxiety-inducing webpage have proliferated across social media, including Facebook posts that have reached thousands.

Eman Villanueva, a Hong Kong-based activist with migrant rights group BAYAN, said he was unsure his vote had been properly counted.

"There is absolutely no way for the voters to know if the votes that went through really reflected our choices," he said.

In previous overseas elections, voters could review the names they selected after the fact, but Comelec told AFP the QR code was never supposed to serve that purpose.

The landing page was only intended to verify a ballot's receipt, the commission said, adding that the name of every candidate running in the election should appear.

"We are definitely considering the feedback and studying how to incorporate them in future elections," Ian Geonanga, Comelec's director of overseas voting, told AFP.

Election watchdogs, however, say the commission failed to properly explain the new system and warn of the confusion risks disenfranchising voters.

"It's a natural reaction of people that if you're not familiar with the system, then you won't trust it the first instance," said Ona Caritos, executive director of the nonprofit Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente).

Since April 14, 1.5 million people have watched a video in which a Philippines-based engineer named Jaydee San Juan quizzes ChatGPT about the names visible on the ballot verification page.

"It's highly likely showing the candidates that were selected/voted for using that ballot ID," the AI chatbot replied.

Comelec, however, got the opposite answer when conducting the ChatGPT experiment itself, Geonanga told AFP.

The election commission's efforts to quell fears about the new system, meanwhile, have been misrepresented to sow more disinformation.

AFP fact-checkers recently debunked a video edited to make it appear Geonanga was saying online ballots were "designed" to rig the election's results.

The fiasco has also left election watchdogs and migrant groups sceptical that the switch to online voting will boost turnout as intended.

Danilo Arao, convenor of voting watchdog Kontra Daya, said even a small change to the ballot's design might have helped assuage fears he believes could lead to "widespread disenfranchisement".

Lente's Caritos said losing trust in the online voting system could impact OFWs' participation in the 2028 presidential election.

“We don't want that, because if election results are not trusted by our voters, then it would go into the legitimacy of the government," she said. "It's a domino effect."

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/gamedealsfree by /u/GameDealsBot1 on 2025-05-08 15:51:48+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/steamdeck by /u/W0RMW00D91 on 2025-05-08 23:38:42+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/steamdeck by /u/Dark-Knight-AoE2 on 2025-05-08 19:49:41+00:00.

I recently bought Lego lord of the rings, and was surprised how simple it was to get it running perfectly. This got me wondering what other games people have been able to get running without too much trouble.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/steamdeck by /u/Commercial-Candy-742 on 2025-05-08 18:27:08+00:00.

I play in bed, laying down with my hand and arms extended. I can only last like 5 min and my hands/arms start falling asleep.. How are you guys playing for extended periods of time in your bed?

Canadians, angered by U.S. tariffs and Trump administration talk of turning their country into a 51st state, really do appear to be boycotting the United States. Ticket sales for travel in summer, a crucial season for the industry, are down 21 percent compared with last year.

The decline in Canadian travelers, who make up roughly a quarter of all foreign visitors, is enough by itself to threaten tourism-oriented businesses in Florida, New York, Maine and other popular destinations.

Sometimes, however, the link between politics and personal travel decisions appears unmistakable. Since President Trump stepped up his hostility toward Canada, border crossings have plummeted.

Unlike air travel, land travel often isn’t planned months in advance, so changes reflect a change in sentiment more quickly. Crossings from Canada dropped sharply after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians to “choose Canadian products and services rather than American ones” on Feb. 1.

Traffic at two of the busiest crossings, near Niagara Falls, fell 42 percent in March compared with 2024. And traffic at a busy crossing point between Vancouver and Seattle fell 48 percent.

The Russian leader “understands only the strong position,” Margus Tsahkna tells Semafor.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.semafor.com/article/05/06/2025/time-to-push-putin-to-the-corner-estonian-foreign-minister-says

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.