Free Software Foundation launches difficult phone.
Also satellites leak links and Bitcoin is still a scam.

Operation: Un-Proprietary-the-Mobile-Desk

The Free Software Foundation, or FSF, is trying very hard to prove a point about freedom in the mobile space with the announcement of the Librephone Project. The goal is to develop a mobile operating system that is 100 percent free software, which is a commendable amount of idealism for a sector that largely runs on the digital equivalent of industrial-grade glue and proprietary secrets. This essentially means every single component, from the kernel to the most obscure modem driver, must be auditable and modifiable, which is roughly equivalent to demanding that the office coffee machine only accept beans grown under a specific ethical mandate.

The FSF is, to its credit, not starting from zero; it is attempting to consolidate the work of several existing free mobile projects under one banner. This is a lot like combining three different legacy departmental databases into one spreadsheet and expecting everyone to get along. The main hurdle, predictably, is the tiny, invisible, but critically important proprietary components like the baseband firmware that phones need to actually talk to the cellular network. In other words, the FSF has designed a very ethical office but has not yet figured out how to get a dial tone.

Post-It Notes on the International Space Station

In news that confirms the universe is just a very large corporate network, researchers found that communications with Geostationary Earth Orbit satellites are, in many cases, about as secure as shouting passwords across the office floor. The security mishap involved sensitive internal links and command protocols being transmitted in the clear, allowing for simple passive eavesdropping. This is not some futuristic cyber attack; it is the space equivalent of a network administrator neglecting to enable WPA2 on the company Wi-Fi in the year 2005.

The study, ironically titled Don’t Look Up, points out a structural failure where the ground side management links are often left exposed for anyone with the right equipment to pick up. For a technology designed to connect the globe, the oversight is charmingly incompetent. It is a reminder that no matter how advanced the hardware is, the security policy is always going to be written by an exhausted intern who just wants to go home.

The Department of Justice Cleans the 'Pig Butchering' Mess

The Department of Justice seized a casual $15 billion in Bitcoin from an alleged scam operating out of Cambodia, finally closing the book on one of the larger "pig butchering" crypto operations. The phrase "pig butchering," which is somehow worse than the actual crime, describes a specific type of investment fraud where scammers spend months grooming victims before draining their savings. The money was traced to Chen Zhi, a well known figure in the region's organized crime scene.

The entire industry seems dedicated to proving that the most advanced financial instruments on the planet are still primarily used for very old fashioned con artistry. Fifteen billion dollars is a lot of money to be found in the digital equivalent of an overseas lockbox, but it really just confirms that every new high tech system will eventually be used to steal the digital equivalent of an old person’s life savings. It is a tale as old as time, only this time the suitcase full of cash is a few thousand lines of hash.

Briefs

• Agentic AI Hype: People are asking why we are rushing to 'Agentic' systems when current models can barely handle a single instruction. This is a very good question; we are trying to automate the job of a junior project manager when the current model cannot correctly order lunch.
• GrapheneOS Escapes the Google Nest: The security focused GrapheneOS is ready to break free from Google Pixel hardware through a new partnership. The operating system, previously tethered to a single device line, is now ready to spread its mission of privacy focused paranoia to other major original equipment manufacturers.
• Surveillance Data is Everywhere: New reports detail how surveillance data challenges old assumptions about location tracking. Surprise, every company knows where you parked yesterday; it turns out we all agreed to a lifetime of digital attendance sheets a long time ago.