The hot screensaver of the summer
ICE added new contract terms that “state laws shall not apply” to its detention centers a day after a federal judge ordered a facility be opened to state health inspectors. / WIRED
“A larger question is whether the GOP should be explicitly Christianist or, as it did when it embraced the playboy Trump, think better of scaring a secularizing electorate.” Populism will eat itself. / Financial Times
See also: “Would-be future American leaders who recognize the value of allies and think all will be forgiven when the White House has a new occupant need to appreciate the depth of the damage being done by its current resident.” / The New York Times [$]
With the introduction of Apple’s new lease program, the future of hardware—like all your other software and media—is rented. / Gizmodo
Related: Apple’s lease program appears designed to lock users into a perpetual upgrade cycle by making the company’s products “look more affordable than they really are.” / The Atlantic [$]
The FTC is suing Hims & Hers, alleging the telehealth platform sold customers’ health data to Meta and Snap, breaking their promise of privacy. / Reuters
When LLMs hallucinate software titles, they do so predictably enough that cyberattackers can deploy malware-laden products using those same names. / SecurityWeek
Mix together imaginary music genres to create your own vaporwave soundtrack in a screensaver project from Paul Ford. / STELLATE, Aboard
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Almost imperceptibly, we’ve become surrounded by bots—sometimes real, often imagined, and always a convenient scapegoat. / The New Yorker
“It treats me like I'm an idiot who has to be tricked into a story, and I really dislike being treated like an idiot.” Death to in medias res. / Aftermath
Musicians are pledging to boycott venues with facial recognition, and country artists across the political spectrum are coming out against data centers. / Ban Facial Recognition, Rolling Stone
As Japan turns against immigration, a crackdown on visas for business managers hits a beloved group: Nepalese owners of curry shops. / Japan Today
Some of Texas’s best taco establishments are in people’s backyards, but you can’t post about these spots or they’ll get shut down. / Texas Monthly
“They are even being cited as the drugs that can cure addiction to other drugs.” When the war on drugs turns into a wellness fad. / Literary Hub
Thrifting is now anything but—unless you change your hunting techniques. “What is good stuff to you is not good stuff to me. I don’t give a shit about the label.” / The Guardian
Half of every cookie, and what else a raccoon ate when it broke into someone’s kitchen. / Bluesky