For nearly a year, immigration authorities have detained and sought to deport a mentally ill man whose mother, lawyers and public records say was born in the United States and not Jamaica as he claims, a review by The Associated Press found.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no authority to detain U.S. citizens, but has long done so, usually for hours or days, when officers mistake identities or can’t immediately verify citizenship. Immigration lawyers say a nearly 10-month improper detention would be rare but not unprecedented.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, disputes that the man is a U.S. citizen and alleges, without providing evidence, that the birth certificate he submitted to obtain a U.S. passport that he held for 15 years was fraudulent. But AP’s review found documents that support claims by his mother and legal team that he was born in Florida and therefore not subject to ICE’s authority.

For anyone unfamiliar with it, DroidDeck is a relatively new, open-source Android application that lets you run Valve's actual Steam client, along with PC games from your Steam library, on supported Android phones and handhelds. Rather than just launching individual Windows games through something like Winlator, it brings much of the familiar Steam Deck experience to Android, including Steam's interface, Proton compatibility, controller integration and more. It does all this without needing to root your device or replace Android with another operating system. It's still experimental, but the progress has been pretty amazing so far.

So I've been chatting with the people behind DroidDeck over the last couple of weeks, and I've finally put together what turned into a pretty lengthy feature about the project, its history, and the people making it happen.

I interviewed The412Banner, Max, xXJSONDeruloXx, Kimchi and Astro Sky, digging into everything from their earliest experiences with gaming and development to how their separate experiments with Linux, Gamescope and Steam eventually came together. What started as a way of getting the actual Steam client running on Android has grown into something way more ambitious, and I really wanted to tell the story of how that happened rather than just write another overview of what the software can do.

We also got into the technical challenges, the ridiculous pace of development (it updated and changed a few times while I was writing this!), their approach to AI-assisted coding and automated testing, the importance of open source, and where they hope to take DroidDeck in the future. There are some personal stories in there too, particularly about the early breakthroughs and the excitement of finally seeing things work. It's a long read, admittedly, but I wanted to give everyone involved the space to tell their side of the story. I'm really grateful to all five for taking the time to answer my many, many questions, and I hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about the people behind a project that's quickly become one of the more interesting developments in Android handheld gaming!

And just to be transparent, since I know it's a subject people have strong feelings about, DroidDeck does make use of AI-assisted development.

We discuss that openly in the article, including how the developers use AI tools, automated testing and code reviews as part of their workflow.

I have no real interest in anime. As far as I can remember, I've never clicked on any anime related links on Lemmy, but it seems like every other post I see is about anime, a lot of them have to do with someone or something called Moe. I keep blocking them, but more show up. How do I stop it?

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/technology@piefed.social/p/2533091/proton-to-re-interview-staff-about-ai-to-see-who-gets-to-keep-their-job

https://archive.is/GG1Br

Trump has taken an axe to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stalling climate research on and response to extreme weather events

Sweeping cuts to the premier US climate agency under Donald Trump have severely hampered the country’s capacity to forecast, research and respond to extreme weather events, former government officials and scientists have warned, as the US faces a cascade of hazards fueled by a potentially historic El Niño this winter.

From the start of his second term, the president has taken aim at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), slashing staff levels, canceling contracts and grants, and shutting down databases and research laboratories. The agency that has long been considered a global crown jewel in climate science and forecasting, has lost roughly 20% of its staff since January 2025.

The National Weather Service, which is housed within Noaa, has also taken a hit. Weather stations have had to delay data collection and cut operating hours, with hundreds of meteorological and other technical positions still vacant across its 122 forecast offices.

Don't be evil, amirite?

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12126048

The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) urgently appeals to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to bring the human rights situation in Tibet, East Turkestan, Hong Kong, South Mongolia and China itself to the attention of the Chinese Government. The Federal President’s talks with the Chinese political leadership were announced for the state visit to the People’s Republic, which is scheduled to take place from 26 to 31 October.

[Original in German. Automated translation with minimal edits.]

On his trip to China, the Federal President must under no circumstances defer human rights and democratic values in the sense of alleged realpolitik and economic interests. He should clearly identify human rights violations and also call for an end to the ruthless assimilation policy of the Chinese government, which is massively directed against the language, religion and culture of Tibetans and others. Under no circumstances must the Federal President normalise autocracy and dictatorship by giving the impression that this is a state visit to a normal country. This impression can arise when the visitor programme talks about ‘conversations with civil society’, but this cannot happen in China, explained ICT Managing Director Kai Müller.

“It would be desirable for Frank-Walter Steinmeier above all to take a clear stand against the Chinese law on ethnic unity and progress, which came into force on 1 July and with which the Communist Party has further cemented and tightened its strategy of forced assimilation of Tibetans, Uyghurs and others,” Müller continued.

[Edit to insert link.]

For anyone unfamiliar with it, DroidDeck is a relatively new, open-source Android application that lets you run Valve's actual Steam client, along with PC games from your Steam library, on supported Android phones and handhelds. Rather than just launching individual Windows games through something like Winlator, it brings much of the familiar Steam Deck experience to Android, including Steam's interface, Proton compatibility, controller integration and more. It does all this without needing to root your device or replace Android with another operating system. It's still experimental, but the progress has been pretty amazing so far.

So I've been chatting with the people behind DroidDeck over the last couple of weeks, and I've finally put together what turned into a pretty lengthy feature about the project, its history, and the people making it happen.

I interviewed The412Banner, Max, xXJSONDeruloXx, Kimchi and Astro Sky, digging into everything from their earliest experiences with gaming and development to how their separate experiments with Linux, Gamescope and Steam eventually came together. What started as a way of getting the actual Steam client running on Android has grown into something way more ambitious, and I really wanted to tell the story of how that happened rather than just write another overview of what the software can do.

We also got into the technical challenges, the ridiculous pace of development (it updated and changed a few times while I was writing this!), their approach to AI-assisted coding and automated testing, the importance of open source, and where they hope to take DroidDeck in the future. There are some personal stories in there too, particularly about the early breakthroughs and the excitement of finally seeing things work. It's a long read, admittedly, but I wanted to give everyone involved the space to tell their side of the story. I'm really grateful to all five for taking the time to answer my many, many questions, and I hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about the people behind a project that's quickly become one of the more interesting developments in Android handheld gaming!

And just to be transparent, since I know it's a subject people have strong feelings about, DroidDeck does make use of AI-assisted development.

We discuss that openly in the article, including how the developers use AI tools, automated testing and code reviews as part of their workflow.

Kalle Benallie
ICT

Mail-in voting has long been used by Indigenous communities to circumvent the long distances to travel to a polling place or because they have no transportation. Since President Trump’s second term in 2024, the administration has made numerous attempts to restrict mail-in voting.

“As with all these attempts to destabilize the 2026 midterm elections, we’re telling tribal voters to continue to vote by mail. Nothing has changed in terms of the state’s process by voting by mail,” Triston Black, director of the Young Peoples Project at Arizona Native Vote, said.

Black, Diné, said it’s irresponsible to start a panic during the midterm elections about voting by mail. He emphasized that voting is run by the states, not the federal government.

The Trump administration has issued executive orders to implement federal mail voter lists, charge the U.S. Postal Service to determine who may vote by mail and have them not deliver ballots sent by anyone not included on the lists. The administration has also supported the passing of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act also known as the SAVE Act.

In September, the Supreme Court upheld a federal court order, preventing the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out parts of an executive order on mail-in voting. Some of which were to impose requirements for the design of the envelopes used to mail ballots and for the submission of voter data into a USPS portal.

The SAVE Act most notably would require voters to have proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and to cast ballots in federal elections through a REAL ID, U.S. passport, military ID, or other forms of ID, which would require birth certificates, birthplace or other documents to prove citizenship.

In March, South Dakota passed a bill that required new registered voters to show proof of citizenship. Tribal ID’s are accepted as acceptable documentation.

Black said voting by mail is a safe and secure way to vote where more than 80 percent of Arizonans across all parties, particularly among older voters, vote. He added that 64 percent of tribal voters living on Navajo, Hopi, or White Mountain and Apache lands voted by mail in 2024.

He encourages those who received their ballot in the mail to vote as soon as possible or vote early at voting locations. If they didn’t receive their ballot to contact their local county office.

“On sovereign lands, the postal service is usually a little bit slower just because of the distribution and tracking center. So areas with limited access to mail may experience delays. So for voters that do get their ballot by mail just be sure to be on the lookout. And once you do receive your ballot, mail it back as soon as possible or drop it off at a dropbox early voting location,” he said.

Voters can track their ballot on Arizona Secretary of State’s website. If they need help curing their ballot because they didn’t sign it or if it’s a signature mismatch on the envelope, Arizona Native Vote can help before the November 8 deadline.

Navajo Nation presidential nominee Crystalyne Curley and speaker of the Navajo Nation Council urged congressional leaders in March to oppose the SAVE Act and expand voting access instead.

“For many Navajo people, this is not a Democrat or Republican issue. We are thinking about our elders and grandparents, many of whom were not born in hospitals and do not have birth certificates. Under the SAVE Act, they would be required to travel long distances, multiple times, just to register to vote and cast their ballots,” Curley said in a press release.

Nearly one-third of Americans voted by mail in the 2024 general election, according States United Democracy Center.

The Native American Rights Fund also opposes the SAVE Act; the organization have maintained that all versions of the SAVE Act harm Native voters.

A newly released report from NARF called Obstacles Persist: According to the Data showed rejections of voter registration applications by mail and at DMVs increased by 200 percent in areas with larger Native populations, as national numbers fell.

The report said between 2020 and 2024, rejections for missed deadlines increased 134 percent in counties where Native Americans make up more than 25 percent of the population, compared to a rise of 55 percent nationally. The report stated it’s “strong evidence that USPS network disruptions had a significant impact with Native voters.”

NARF is deploying their Election Protection ’26 effort that will have 300 attorneys, law students and volunteers conducting poll watching in North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Maine, Alaska and Nevada.

“What those poll watchers are going to be doing is they’re going to be going to remote areas. They’re going to go to reservations. We’re going to go to our communities and we’re going to be observing the process in order to provide an objective and safe place for us to cast our ballots,” NARF  Senior Staff Attorney, Jaqueline De León, Isleta Pueblo, said.

De León said NARF lawyers will be on standby on election day if problems arise.

Calvin Hedrick, director of policy, training and tribal Relations at California Native Vote said there are a lot of rural tribal communities in California and tribes have been trying to ensure citizens have street names and addresses rather than just a mail box.

California is one eight states including: Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington where they do an all-mail election, or universal mail-in voting. All eligible voters receive a ballot by default.

“A lot of rural reservation communities, they’ll just be post office boxes. They’ll just be a post office box at the end of the road that people can all go to to get their posts. That’s something that a lot of tribal members would not be able to get those documents or be able to mail them because they don’t have proper address,” Hedrick, Mountain Maidu, said.

He said that mail-in voting cuts the amount of traveling and time that Native voters can avoid.

“We’ve heard multiple times about tribal community members having to drive 45 minutes or an hour or longer to try to get to their polling place. And then we’ve actually heard stories also where people are like, and then I get to my polling place and there’s something wrong, so they say that I have to go to the county. So then they have to drive another hour,” Hedrick said.

Michelle Sparck, director of Get Out the Native Vote, spoke at a web series called the “Native Civic Power Series: Sovereignty at the Ballot Box” hosted by the National Congress of American Indians. She said voting by mail is not primarily how Alaska Natives choose to vote, due to the difficulties the state presents such as roadless communities and extreme weather, but they have tried to encourage voters to register for absentee ballots.

She said in 2022, about 84 percent of the village absentee ballots arrived in Juneau, Alaska after the certification deadline

“We have systemic issues, even if the weather cooperated us with us, in every corner of the state where two-thirds of our communities are in roadless communities. We are entirely dependent on the post office, the downline air carriers, small planes, and we have to have the ability to vote in person,” Sparck, Qissunamiut Tribe of Chevak, said.

She added 131 precincts out of Alaska are entirely dependent on the postal service.

“The SAVE America Act was a real concern for us because they wanted passport level identification in order for us to register to vote and in order to be able to apply for our absentee ballot. In Alaska as it is, we do not need an excuse to vote by mail. Anyone can apply for it and you can drop it off at the polling station even on election day,” Sparck said.

With the election right around the corner, voters can visit their respective secretary of state’s website for more information on rules and deadlines regarding mail-in ballot submissions.

The post Mail-in voting largely used by Indigenous communities still face challenges appeared first on ICT.

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Lack of profits and the threat posed by western countries are raising concern about the sustainability of Beijing’s AI boom

Trillions of dollars have been wiped from China’s stock markets in recent months amid increasing anxiety about the future of artificial intelligence, as Beijing races against the United States for dominance in the sector.

The STAR 50 Index, which tracks technology and innovation companies on the Shanghai stock exchange, has plunged 40% since June. Other indexes of major companies dropped by about 20% over the same time period.

The precipitous drop has wiped out $2.4tn from the Chinese stock market since May, according to Bloomberg.

AI stocks account for over 40% of the stock market value in China and Hong Kong, according to Goldman Sachs, meaning that any dent in value will send shockwaves across the whole domestic market.

From Bill Burnett

Juvenile Burrowing Owl practicing some hunting moves while siblings watch unimpressed

Lubbock, Texas 6/26

From Wil Fangon

i was shooting one screech owl and the other one slowly showing the head...unbelievable.

I watch a lot of STEAM videos on YouTube. In the past I loved supporting new creators but some time last year I stopped trying new channels that don't have human presenter, there's just so much slop. Now I've noticed that there are channels where even the presenter is AI. I can spot a few tells (presenter is never on screen for very long, voice pacing doesn't vary, no ums and ahs, etc) but it's getting harder and I wish I knew more clues.

One thing that seems to help is checking the channel history (does the presenter age, have they only started making content very recently etc)

Can someone recommend a good, recent guide to spotting AI videos?