Hackers Dox Hundreds of DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ Officials
Posted on r/politics |
Score: 51247 |
Comments: 1859
A hacking group known as Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters, associated with the Com community, has publicly released the personal information of hundreds of U.S. government officials. The doxing incident primarily targeted employees of the DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ, with nearly 700 officials from DHS affected. The hackers referenced an unsubstantiated DHS claim that Mexican cartels are offering money for doxing agents.
Key Points:
Hackers doxed hundreds of officials from DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ.
The group, Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters, is part of the 'Com' hacking community.
Nearly 700 DHS officials had their phone numbers and addresses leaked.
The hackers' message referenced an unproven claim of cartels paying for doxing.
The U.S. government has not provided evidence for the cartel payment claim.
""I want my MONEY MEXICO," a user of the Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters Telegram channel, which is a combination of a series of other hacking group names associated with the Com, posted on Thursday. The message was referencing a claim from the DHS that Mexican cartels have begun offering thousands of dollars for doxing agents."
Karoline Leavitt’s ‘Incredibly Dangerous’ Rant About Democrats Draws Instant Backlash
Posted on r/politics |
Score: 11010 |
Comments: 495
Trump White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sparked immediate backlash after claiming on Fox News that the Democratic Party's 'main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals.' Critics, including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, condemned her remarks as 'incredibly dangerous' and divisive rhetoric intended to make Americans 'hate your neighbor.'
Key Points:
Karoline Leavitt claimed the Democratic Party's main constituency is made up of 'Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals.'
Her comments were widely condemned as 'incredibly dangerous,' 'vile,' and divisive.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz responded that the White House was using outrageous rhetoric to make people hate their neighbors.
Critics called for Leavitt to resign following her remarks.
""Most Republicans are good people. Most Democrats are good people. The White House says outrageous things to make you hate your neighbor. Your neighbor isn’t the problem. The White House is.""
'Yeah, we like Hitler' Gaines defends leaked GOP chat
Posted on r/politics |
Score: 6105 |
Comments: 336
Myron Gaines, host of the 'Fresh and Fit' podcast, defended a leaked Republican group chat that contained antisemitic content, including a statement expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler. The article, from The Jerusalem Post, frames this as an example of rising antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
Key Points:
Myron Gaines defended a leaked GOP antisemitic group chat.
The chat contained a statement expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler.
The incident is linked to broader issues of antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
The report comes from The Jerusalem Post, highlighting the story's significance to the Jewish diaspora.
"'Fresh and Fit’ host Myron Gaines defends leaked GOP antisemitic group chat: ‘Yeah, we like Hitler’"
Trump drops F bomb live on air during Zelensky White House meeting
Posted on r/politics |
Score: 4386 |
Comments: 581
During a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Donald Trump used the F-word live on air when discussing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The incident prompted broadcasters to apologize and drew mixed reactions, with some supporters praising his bluntness while critics called it immature. This follows a pattern of increased public cursing during Trump's presidency.
Key Points:
President Trump used the F-word during a live press conference with Ukrainian President Zelensky
The expletive was used in reference to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro not wanting to 'f*** around with the United States'
Broadcasters apologized for the language while Vice President JD Vance was seen smiling and laughing
Reactions were divided with MAGA supporters praising the language and critics calling it immature
This continues a pattern of increased public cursing by Trump, with The New York Times reporting he cursed publicly over 1,700 times in 2024
""He has offered everything," Trump said, referring to Maduro. "You know why? Because he doesn't want to f*** around with the United States.""
Bypassing Amazon's Kindle Web DRM Because Their App Sucked
Posted on r/programming |
Score: 759 |
Comments: 120
The author reverse-engineered Amazon's Kindle web reader to download a purchased ebook for use in a third-party app, after finding the official Kindle app was too buggy. They discovered Amazon employs multiple layers of obfuscation, including a substitution cipher with a randomized alphabet that changes every five pages. The author ultimately succeeded by using a font-matching technique to decode the obfuscated glyphs.
Key Points:
The author's motivation was to regain control of a purchased ebook that was locked within Amazon's ecosystem due to a buggy official app.
Amazon's primary obfuscation method is a substitution cipher where characters are replaced with non-sequential glyph IDs.
The glyph-to-character mapping is randomized with every API request, meaning the 'alphabet' changes every five pages.
Additional anti-scraping measures include fake font hints with micro-movements to corrupt naive SVG parsing.
The successful solution involved matching the SVG path definitions of glyphs against a known font to crack the cipher for each request.
"This is a rental, not a purchase. This does not say "Rent""
Offline-first collection of 100+ networking tools and utils
Posted on r/selfhosted |
Score: 366 |
Comments: 33
Networking Toolbox is an all-in-one, offline-first collection of networking tools and utilities for system administrators. It is an open-source project hosted on GitHub that can be deployed in multiple ways, including Docker, static hosting, and from source.
Key Points:
The project is described as an 'all-in-one offline-first networking toolbox for sysadmins'.
It is open-source and available on GitHub under the MIT license.
Multiple deployment options are provided, including Docker, static hosting, and cloud platforms.
It can be built from source using Node.js and SvelteKit adapters for various platforms.
A live demo is available at networking-toolbox.as93.net.
"The all-in-one offline-first networking toolbox for sysadmins"
API design principle: Don't tempt people to divide by zero
Posted on r/programming |
Score: 133 |
Comments: 43
The article argues that API designers should avoid using zero in parameters where it could lead to division by zero errors in client code. It illustrates this with examples of APIs for value ranges and time series forecasts, showing how a zero increment or duration can cause hidden failures. The author recommends replacing zero with safe default values to prevent these errors.
Key Points:
APIs should not use zero in parameters where client code might perform division, as it tempts divide-by-zero errors.
The article provides a concrete example where an API using a zero 'increment' value causes a rounding function to fail.
A real-world example from a power grid forecasting API shows how a zero 'BlockDuration' causes an index calculation to divide by zero.
Developers may not encounter these errors in testing if their environment always provides non-zero values.
The solution is to replace zero with safe defaults, like setting increment to (maximum - minimum) for two supported values.
"I pointed out that this design tempts the user to divide by zero. Here’s a function you might write: int closestSupportedValue(int desired) { int nearest = minimum + ((desired - minimum + increment/2) / increment) * increment; return std::clamp(nearest, minimum, maximum); } We first find the multiple of the increment beyond the minimum that is closest to our desired value. (You can adjust the rounding by changing the +increment/2 appropriately.) We then clamp that value to the allowable range. This works great unless the increment is zero."
Fully switched my entire coding workflow to AI driven development
Posted on r/ClaudeAI |
Score: 67 |
Comments: 25
The author describes a structured workflow for AI-driven development that emphasizes rigorous planning before implementation. This approach involves compressing architectural decisions into a focused session, then using AI tools for precise execution, testing, and a two-step review process. The method prioritizes human control and modular scope to achieve production-quality code.
Key Points:
A non-negotiable, intensive planning phase is required to define architecture at the file and function level before any coding begins.
AI is used as a precise execution layer for well-scoped, single tasks, not for high-level 'vibe coding'.
A two-step review process combining manual review and an AI tool like CodeRabbit is critical for closing the quality gap with human-written code.
Context discipline—feeding AI only necessary files and information—is more important than using the largest models.
Creating a 'memory dump' of the AI's understanding of the repository can help maintain context across different chat sessions.
"I’m compressing all the architectural decisions that would typically take me 4 days into a 60-70 minute planning session with AI, then letting the tools handle implementation, testing, and review."
Nival has released the source code for "Blitzkrieg 2" to the public
Posted on r/programming |
Score: 31 |
Comments: 3
Nival has released the full source code for the 20-year-old WWII RTS game 'Blitzkrieg 2' to the public on GitHub. The release, which includes the game engine, map editor, and assets, is available under a non-commercial license for modification and educational use. This follows Nival's recent trend of open-sourcing its older titles, such as the original 'Blitzkrieg' and 'Prime World'.
Key Points:
Nival released the source code for 'Blitzkrieg 2' to mark its 20th anniversary.
The release includes the full game engine, map editor, scripts, and assets.
The code is available under a non-commercial license, allowing modification and educational use but not paid projects.
This follows the recent release of source code for the original 'Blitzkrieg' and 'Prime World'.
Nival may release source code for other games like 'Blitzkrieg 3' in the future, but no official plans are confirmed.
""The published archive includes the full code of the game engine, map editor, scripts, assets, and many other data. All of these are available under a non-commercial license.""
Plan Mode 2.0? - The new Plan mode ain't nothing to sniff at.
Posted on r/ClaudeAI |
Score: 18 |
Comments: 0
The article announces and praises a new 'Plan Mode 2.0' feature that combines multiple choice and multiple phase planning. Users navigate by pressing Tab to switch phases and arrow keys to select from multiple options within each phase. The author highlights its benefits for discovering ambiguity and options, making it user-friendly.
Key Points:
Introduces a new 'multiple choice x multiple phase' Plan Mode
Navigation is done by pressing Tab to switch phases and arrow keys to select options
Helps users discover ambiguity and uncertainty in their plans before finalizing
A great way to discover all available options within each planning phase
Described as super user-friendly, especially for beginners
"It helps you discover ambiguity/ uncertainty in your plan before accepting it. Furthermore, it is a great way to discover the options you have within each phase."
Posted on r/programming |
Score: 10 |
Comments: 10
The article details how Digital Society migrated its cloud infrastructure from AWS and DigitalOcean to Hetzner, resulting in a 76% cost reduction while tripling capacity. The move was driven by high operational costs after AWS credits expired and a desire for a UK/EU-based provider. The new stack uses Hetzner's VPS, Talos Linux for Kubernetes management, and CloudNativePG for databases.
Key Points:
Migrating from AWS and DigitalOcean to Hetzner saved 76% on cloud bills while tripling capacity.
High AWS Fargate costs for a data-intensive SaaS became unsustainable after startup credits were exhausted.
The new infrastructure stack uses Hetzner's ARM servers, Talos Linux for Kubernetes, and CloudNativePG for databases.
The migration consolidated services from two cloud providers into a single, more cost-effective platform.
The decision was influenced by a desire to use UK/EU-based providers and to minimize operational costs.
"We saved 76% on our cloud bills while tripling our capacity by migrating to Hetzner from AWS and DigitalOcean."
Governor Moore, It’s Time to Fix SDAT and Bring Fairness Back to Baltimore’s Property Tax Assessments
Posted on r/georgism |
Score: 9 |
Comments: 0
The article argues that the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) chronically undervalues vacant properties in Baltimore, leading to a tax system that punishes homeowners and rewards land speculation. This results in higher costs for residents, less revenue for city services, and a disincentive to develop vacant land. The author calls on Governor Wes Moore to reform SDAT's practices and consider a land value tax shift to create a fairer system.
Key Points:
Vacant lots in Baltimore are assessed at only one-eighth of their actual market value on average.
This undervaluation shifts the tax burden onto homeowners and reduces revenue for essential city services.
SDAT, as a state agency, requires gubernatorial action to reform its assessment procedures.
The current system incentivizes keeping land vacant by making it cheap to hold.
A land value tax shift is proposed as a long-term solution to reward property improvement and penalize land speculation.
"When holding on to an empty lot costs almost nothing, there’s no pressure to improve it, sell it, or put it to productive use. It’s a system that fuels disinvestment and decay."
The article argues that the housing crisis is not primarily caused by a lack of housing supply, but by the rising value of the land itself. It proposes a Land Value Tax (LVT) as the solution, which would tax the unimproved value of land, discouraging speculation and encouraging development. This would theoretically lower land prices and increase housing supply, solving the affordability crisis.
Key Points:
High housing prices are not solely a supply issue, as new builds are often unaffordable.
The core problem is rising land value, which increases regardless of the property's condition due to community development.
Landowners can profit from holding empty land without contributing, as its value appreciates passively.
A Land Value Tax (LVT) would tax the land's annual rental value, not the property built on it.
LVT would discourage land speculation, lower land prices, and incentivize building, increasing housing supply and affordability.
"You could buy an empty plot of land, let it sit there and do nothing with it, and in fact you would be better off doing that to avoid property tax and other expenses of building, and let the land make you money whilst you sit in the Bahamas sipping cocktails."