cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/56820592

• The Chinese government exploits the vulnerability of separated Uyghur families as an opportunity for surveillance and strict monitoring of the Uyghur community in Australia, which has a chilling effect on diaspora activities.
• Australia and other governments should respond to Beijing’s intimidation of the Uyghur diaspora with public statements, clear travel advisories, safe reporting channels, criminal investigations, and support for family reunification.

...

The Chinese government is interrogating Uyghur Australians visiting Xinjiang, pressing them to collect information on Uyghurs in Australia, Human Rights Watch said today as its executive director, Philippe Bolopion, visited Australia.

Chinese authorities have long engaged in transnational repression—human rights abuses committed beyond a country’s borders to curtail dissent—against Uyghurs living abroad and their relatives in Xinjiang, by targeting activists critical of the Chinese government. By pressing visitors to provide information about Uyghur activists, organizations, and language schools in Australia, the authorities are repressing the rights of Uyghurs in Australia to freedom of expression, association, culture, and family life.

“The Chinese government exploits the vulnerability of separated Uyghur families as an opportunity for surveillance and disruption of communities abroad,” said Philippe Bolopion, executive director at Human Rights Watch. “Interrogating Uyghurs visiting Xinjiang and strict monitoring of diaspora activities have a chilling effect emblematic of Beijing’s transnational repression in Australia.”

...

Uyghurs in Australia who have been unable to visit their families in Xinjiang said they have no information about relatives there or can communicate with them only under strict official surveillance, with Chinese government officials monitoring their calls.

...

In recent years, the Chinese government has permitted Uyghurs from Australia and elsewhere in the diaspora to make restricted visits to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Such visits are important for many Uyghur families who have been separated since the government’s abusive Strike Hard Campaign in Xinjiang began in 2016. However, these visits have also provided the local authorities with opportunities to question or interrogate visitors and monitor their movements.

...

Three Uyghur Australians, who are not activists, described traveling to Xinjiang on Australian passports under this visa-free program. They said their families in Xinjiang had to seek permission from local authorities before their visits.

One said they first had to check in at a government-designated hotel, rather than their family home, and that their relatives in Xinjiang told them they would face problems with the authorities if they did not comply. The visiting Australians also said they had to report their daily activities in Xinjiang to local authorities and were kept under heavy surveillance, especially when traveling outside Urumqi, the regional capital, where restrictions seem less severe than in other cities.

I renounced my [Chinese] citizenship more than a decade ago, but the police had all the information about me. They asked me about everything—my connection to Xinjiang, even [pressed me] to tell them the primary school I went to. They also repeatedly asked questions about my life in Australia, my friends, family, and others in the diaspora. They specifically asked for addresses, phone numbers, and other information about multiple prominent activists. I told them I didn’t know and that I don’t go to political events. Then they said, “You have to give us something.”

Then they started asking me to monitor Uyghur organizations [in Australia] and provide them with more information about their activities. “If possible, take photos of people in community gatherings,” they said. “We know it is difficult for you and looks suspicious, but you can try.”

...

Another Uyghur Australian said authorities interrogated him more than a dozen times, once for more than seven hours: “They asked for addresses and phone numbers of several prominent Uyghur activists in Australia.” When he said he did not have that information, the police pressed him to monitor the activists’ activities upon returning to Australia and photograph them during events.

I had to register with local authorities and report my everyday activities to the point-of-contact person, including places I visited and people I met. They interrogated me once and started asking questions about my life and people I know in Australia.... I don’t think I will return. I didn’t feel safe. I felt like they could do anything or detain me.... How could I say no to anything they asked me to do? In that situation, I panicked and only thought about complying with everything and returning to Australia safely.

...

A third person who was also interrogated by the police in Xinjiang said she was put under severe pressure because she feared for her and her family’s safety.

From what I have witnessed, every Uyghur I met back home lives in fear. Children speak [Mandarin] Chinese at school, and when they accidentally speak Uyghur, it can escalate with local authorities [concluding that] parents have ideological problems. When I tried to go to an Eid [Islamic] prayer during my visit, I went to four different mosques and they were all closed. No one [around me] dared to go to a mosque anyway. Everyone back home says things are getting back to normal in public settings. But in private, some people told me about horrible things that happened over the last 10 years.

...

In July, China’s new Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress took effect. The law contains provisions having extraterritorial application that could be used to deny rights to Uyghurs abroad, and other diaspora groups. Article 63 broadly states that “organizations and individuals outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China” that “undermine national unity and progress or incite ethnic division” will be held “legally accountable.”

...

The Australian government and other affected governments should adopt measures to protect their citizens and residents from Beijing’s acts of transnational repression, Human Rights Watch said.

“The Chinese government’s transnational repression poses a serious threat to the rights and freedoms of Uyghur Australians who wish to maintain family ties in Xinjiang while preserving their culture and identity in Australia,” Bolopion said. “Australia and other affected governments should take meaningful steps to address these concerns.”

...

Today i bring the working main camera!

Building on the work nondescriptpointer did on the wide lens camera i have written the driver for the main camera and now its working alongside auto focus and color correction.

The color correction still a work in progress, but you can already see how much it improved the image.

before:

After:

But the after is still very grainy, plasma camera storing in jpg isn't exactly helping either, ill be working to get rid of the grain.

If we look at the same scene form my android galaxy A16 you see that there still is alot of work to be done:

I'll continue to work on the camera, but i wanted to get something out today (mainly so i could send to nondescriptpointer xd)

I asked him what role he wanted to play in the upstreaming and we agreed he would send it and i would review and assist. ~~So i successfully pulled down another soul into the linux phone kernel rabbit hole muhahahahaha~~

News roundup

Alot of things happend lately so good thing to discuss them, the big one:

Emergency calling test

You may have noticed that everywhere i put warnings that emergency calling is not verified yet. i wanted to fix that but after searching i couldn't find anything about it.

So i just called the police non emergency line and explained the situation, the operator told me that the information wasn't public but provided me with an email to send my application too.

I was a bit sad cause if its a non public thing its probably gated behind being big tech, but i send the email anyway, and much to my suprise i got back.

De testen zijn goedgekeurd voor dinsdag 18 augustus tussen 13:30 en 14:15 uur.

Met vriendelijke groet,

(name censored) B ICT,

Tactisch & Technisch Beheer 1-1-2 (TB112)

Translation:

The tests have been approved for Tuesday, August 18, between 1:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.

Kind regards,

(name censored) B ICT,

Tactical & Technical Management 1-1-2 (TB112)

So Im really excited for this, and then you know for sure that you can reach the emergency number with your linux phone.

Fairphone 6+

So the Fairphone 6+ has been officially announced an as soon as i can buy one im buying one, testing my image, and fixing any issues.

Im really glad for the donations so i can justify to myself this purchase instead of spending 650 euros for a phone that i already have.

Donations

I'm really grateful for all the people that donated and still continue to donate, i was over the moon when i got my first donation and i never expected to get this much. From the bottom of my heart thank you all very much.

I want to be open on where it's going. And i think as donators you deserve to know that its being spent wisely. so i made a script that builds this page from my bank statement:

https://catcrafts.net/financials

If it all works then donations should be reflected live and it will show the expense for the FP6+ when i buy it, net will drop in the negative as the remainder is coming out of my pocket.

If you want to send a donation please do so to the updated link: https://bunq.me/catcraftsdonations this will be reflected in the dashboard live and for tax reasons its now mega clear that its a donation.

Catcrafts as a company

Im contacting a notary with the plans to have Catcrafts corporated as a non profit company (stichting), this is is depending on all the legal stuff however so this isn't set in stone.

If and if this company goes somewhere and i could quit my job, i will pay myself a salary to live on that will be publicly visible on the financials page. Dutch law requires for non profits that salary to be at max market confirming and not a shadow way for paying out dividends, so its guaranteed that any money in the company will go towards furthering the mission.

I think a non profit phone company has a genuinely good proposition, i praise fairphone alot for the things they do right but in the end they are still an profit seeking business so im a bit wary, and they still post on Musk's X so my long term judgement on their company is still out there

I applied to be a fairphone partner with in my eyes a pretty good pitch, if they accept my opinion will be improved ;) hopefully i just need to have more patience or they are ghosting me ;-;

Shipping restrictions

I'm sad to announce this but i don't think i can do worlwide shippng, earlier i said i would be shipping worlwide but i must sadly retract that statement for reasons out of my control. I will be shipping worldwide with the following exceptions:

US, CA: It's seemingly impossible to get a Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheids­verzekering (corporate liability insurance) for the United States and Canada in the netherlands, its all worldwide excluding US and CA. Getting coverage for those requires "contact us" with probably a very hefty premium, and selling without insurance is too risky as that would mean financial ruin if i get sued.

I would appreciate if anyone that isn't a massive company has experience with this, will be contacting my insurer aswell to see what's possible on this front

RU, BY, KP: Sanctions make it a criminal offense for me to ship to these countries.

imsd

Thanks to the community we now have 4 confirmed working carriers! If you are using the image please let me know so i can add it to the list!

Making a Linux phone

Ever since this project i've been dreaming about making my own linux phone, i've been looking into it here and there and while this might just be the sleep deprivation talking i think i can do it.

Making a good linux phone however is the hard part, and i don't think i can make an better arm linux phone then the fairphone 6 as those qualcomm chips are impossible to buy.

So im not going to, i'll make a RISCV one. will it be bad? yes, will it end up like the pinephone? most probably, will it run hot and have terrible battery life?, most likely. will it cost me a ton of money?, yes.

BUT

It will be a phone as open as i can make it, with good software, and a (in my eyes ethical) non profit company backing it. i think there is a good business proposition to made there, whatever the case its very long term anyway.

Meeting the lead pmos dev

Imagine my surprise when i see the lead pmos dev on a dutch tech forum, and i'm named, and then heart sank trough the floor when i'm being made out for something that can be disproved with a 10s search.

Luckily the record was set straight fast!

Translation:

I don't want to hide context so here is the full thread:

https://tweakers.net/nieuws/250872/fairphone-gaat-smartphone-met-12gb-ram-uitbrengen-voor-649-euro.html?showReaction=22462270#r_22462270

What's next

1. More color correction
2. Laser rangefinder autofocus instead of software only.
3. Selfie camera
4. Fingerprint sensor
5. Extensive testing

And then the FP6 is done, i will open my shop and continue with the FP6+

Since a long time i feel purpose in my life again, and i have alot of stuff still planned! And getting all the patches upstreamed is also probably a half year commitment atleast.

If you made it this far thank you for reading! As always ask me anything in the comments and ill do my best to answer.

Summary: Announced, no further details

well, found a little:

8:33PM PT -- Law enforcement sources confirm police responded to an incident involving Hayden today and there is currently an open investigation.

8:20PM PT -- A source close to Hayden tells TMZ ... she recently had been complaining about back pain in the past year.

Source

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v30SRprmmLE

The president cited the cost of the drills and said he did not want to send a signal that is "totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea. He also criticized South Korea for not helping him on Iran.

The president cited the cost of the drills and said he did not want to send a signal that is "totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea. He also criticized South Korea for not helping him on Iran.

Good news imo, more people to help w/ conservation. Now what "BirdTok" is I have no idea.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/31992817

I recently got a lava lamp. They take an hour or two to warm up before they become the trippy, moving “lava” they’re known for. Sometimes while warming, the blob inside becomes contorted into bizarre shapes. Usually they remind me of specimen jars in some mad scientist’s lab.

This time, it apparently transformed into a bird.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27354868

The National Hurricane Center said Lala's maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph (120 kph), making it a Category 1 hurricane. The storm's center was forecast to move over or near the island's southern end by the evening, lashing its worst winds at volcanic slopes thousands of feet above sea level.

Its a salsa mukluk 3. It comes with studded 26 in tires and two panniers. I've always wanted fat bike but i just wish the circumstances were better.