Weekly output: Google’s AI Mode, Waymo’s software testing, Trump threatens Chris Krebs, Venmo’s dubious privacy defaults

I had a short and useful visit to the future home of Starfleet Academy’s headquarters, courtesy of NTT’s Upgrade 2025 conference there hosting me (including comped airfare and lodging), and now I need to finish writing two pieces from that Japanese telco’s event.

4/7/2025: Google Expands Its Conversational ‘AI Mode’ Search Option, PCMag

Since I already had access to AI Mode and since this is a gardening time of the year, I tested this search option with some queries on that subject for Google’s Gemini AI.

4/8/2025: For Waymo’s Software Team, Bug Hunting Sometimes Happens at 45mph, PCMag

I wrote up an enlightening talk from a Waymo engineer at a software-quality conference I attended the week before hosted by a Tysons Corner startup called Antithesis–and then I got to experience the results of Waymo’s ongoing work during two uneventful rides in San Francisco.

4/10/2025: Still Mad About Losing the 2020 Election, Trump Targets Cybersecurity Pro, PCMag

One reason that I haven’t yet filed anything from NTT’s event is that I took time Thursday to report and write this post to ensure that it would adequately convey the fraudulent nature of Trump’s complaint against Chris Krebs, the CISA director he hired in 2018 and then fired in 2020 for telling the truth about the integrity of that year’s election.

4/11/2025: Venmo’s dubious defaults look like a permanent privacy foul, Fast Company

I’ve had a version of this story on my to-do list for a while, but then the inept opsec of the Trump administration served up a news peg when journalists found the Venmo accounts of multiple White House principals and started exploring their public-by-default friends lists. (Everyone in this administration should have known better, since BuzzFeed News located Joe Biden’s Venmo and inspected his friends list back in 2021). I quizzed a few subject-matter experts, but getting a statement out of Venmo took a little longer.

#2020Election #AIMode #Antithesis #BugBash #ChrisKrebs #defaultSettings #electionDenial #electionSecurity #GoogleAI #GoogleGemini #PayPal #TrumpRetribution #Venmo #VenmoFriendsList #Waymo

Starfleet Academy

Starfleet Academy (also referred to as the Space Academy) was a department within Starfleet. The main purpose of this department was for the education and training of individuals for service in Starfleet. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "The Apple"; TNG: "Final Mission", "The Drumhead", "The First Duty"; DS9: "Heart of Stone", "Little Green Men", "Homefront"; VOY: "Learning Curve", "In the Flesh", "Imperfection") The movement of personnel in and out of this service was governed by the Star

Memory Alpha

Trump orders investigations into 2 Trump1 officials
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-taylor-krebs-justice-department-1.7506594

* targets: fmr DHS official Miles Taylor; fmr former top cybersecurity official Chris Krebs
* escalation, Trump campaign of retribution
* Taylor: authored anonymous 2018 NYT op-ed
* 2019 book A Warning under the pen name Anonymous
* Krebs called 2020 election "most secure in American history"

🏳️‍⚧️ #TransLivesMatter
🇺🇲 #Trump #fascism #Christofascism #transgenocide #revenge #ElectoralFraud #ElectionDenial #dictators

Trump orders investigations into 2 members of his previous administration | CBC News

U.S. President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to punish his critics on Wednesday by signing a pair of memoranda directing the Justice Department to investigate two officials from his first administration and stripping them of any security clearances they may have.

CBC
Former Wisconsin justice to give up law license over 2020 election review

Michael Gableman falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen and was accused of widespread misconduct by state ethics officials.

The Washington Post

To the surprise of perhaps nobody with a pulse, yet another Big Law firm has preemptively surrendered in advance to the Pork Reich's fascist agenda to avoid Trump's revenge for *checks notes* taking completely legitimate cases against him and his fascist allies - including "representing two Georgia election workers who sued his (Trump's) former attorney and adviser, Rudy Giuliani, for defamation."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-doug-emhoff-firm

'Absolutely Shameful': Critics Slam Latest Law Firm to Cave Amid Trump's Revenge Threats

"Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP proactively reached out to President Trump and his Administration, offering their decisive commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession," Trump said on his Truth Social network. "The President is delivering on his promises of eradicating Partisan Lawfare in America, and restoring Liberty and Justice FOR ALL."

According to Trump, Willkie—whose partners include former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff—will provide a total of at least $100 million in pro bono services to veterans, active duty U.S. troops, and Gold Star families; law enforcement and first responders; to "ensuring fairness in our justice system;" and combating antisemitism.

The firm also agreed to commit to "merit-based hiring" and refrain from "illegal" diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring, promotion, and retention. It must also "not deny representation to clients, such as members of politically disenfranchised groups... who have not historically received legal representation from major national law firms... because of the personal political views of individual lawyers."

Setting aside the fact that forcing the law firm run in part by Kamala Harris's husband to grovel and capitulate without a fight is a huge propaganda win for Der Führer, Trump's increasing control of Big Law is a much bigger story than folks outside of the legal world may realize. I think most people grasp that like virtually all of the stories about white shoe DC law firms agreeing to work for Trump, even if they don't realize that's what they've done yet, the story of Wilkie's preemptive surrender is primarily about cowardice, greed, and collaboration.

What I'm not sure a lot of people who aren't familiar with how civil rights law actually functions in America understand however, is that every time Trump forcibly recruits one of these DC firms, he's also knocking out a valuable plank of resistance to his authoritarian violations because there are literally only so many lawyers available to take civil rights cases, and those cases are typically done pro bono. While it would be nice to imagine a legal system not entirely dependent on lawsuits and rich lawyers engaging in a little reputation washing to protect the civil rights of folks persecuted by a fascist government, that is in fact the situation in the really real world we're living in. At the rate he's going so far, Trump is not only going to force all the best law firms in DC to work for the regime, but he's also going to drastically reduce the number of cases that can be brought against his government for even clear civil rights violations, simply because there won't be any lawyers left able to take those cases at rates targeted people can afford.

#Fascism #Trump #BigLaw #WilkieFarrLaw #Collaboration #VichyEstablishment #Courts #Law #DougEmhoff #RudyGuilliani #ElectionDenial

'Absolutely Shameful': Critics Slam Latest Law Firm to Cave Amid Trump's Revenge Threats | Common Dreams

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP—where former Vice President Kamala Harris' husband is a partner—investigated the Capitol insurrection and successfully represented Georgia election workers defamed by Rudy Giuliani.

Common Dreams
"I'm in disbelief that this is actually happening": GOP election denial hits North Carolina voters

Voters spoke to Salon about the North Carolina Republican Party and its efforts to throw out their ballots

Salon

And Florida's DeSatan elevates a rabid election denier to senator as lil Rubio replacement

It keeps getting worse
#uspol #electiondenial #FuckTrumpToHell

https://t.co/FXSIjd9ulS

DeSantis Appoints Florida AG Ashley Moody, an Election Denier, to Vacant Senate Seat

Read more here.

Democracy Docket
Pam Bondi, Trump's Attorney General Pick, Has History of Corporate Lobbying and Election Denial

YouTube

Incompetence and antipathy/antagonism toward facts appear to be key attributes if one wants a key role in the next US administration. Also extreme loyalty and sycophancy.

New Ministry of Propaganda vibes, I'm afraid —
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/kari-lake-108.html
#USpol #USpolitics #USelections #election #elections #VOA #KariLake #ElectionDenial #FakeNews #fascism #disinformation #misinformation

Trump-Getreue soll US-Auslandsrundfunk leiten

Der US-Auslandssender Voice of America dient der weltweiten Verbreitung amerikanischer Ideale. Nun soll die prominente Wahlleugnerin Kari Lake dessen Leitung übernehmen - das gab der designierte Präsident Trump bekannt.

tagesschau.de

Harmeet Dhillon: Trump appoints anti-trans lawyer to lead Civil Rights Division at DoJ
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/12/donald-trump-appoints-anti-trans-lawyer-to-lead-civil-rights-division-at-doj

* election denialist
* anti-woke/anti-LGBTQ+ activism

* would report to Pam Bondi
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113556717845251484

* represented anti-trans detransitioner Chloe Cole in a lawsuit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloe_Cole
* accused Kaiser Hospitals of “medical mutilation"

#USPol #HarmeetDhillon #antiDEI
#Trump2 #GOP #fascism #authoritarianism #DoJ
#Christofascism #transgenocide #racism #CRT #ElectionDenial

Newsmax
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsmax

* Am. cable news, political opinion commentary, digital media company
* potent force in conservative politics
* published numerous conspiracy theories about voter fraud in 2020 election

#Newsmax #ConspiracistMedia #ConspiracyTheories #FakeNews
#conservatism #FarRight #ElectionDenial
#GOP #Trumpism #Trump2 #fascism #Christofascism

Newsmax - Wikipedia