from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. To get extended episodes with additional coverage, support us on Patreon.

In a special bonus episode for our Patreon supporters, Mike and Ben discuss some of their favorite must-read books about online speech, platform power, and content moderation. This free teaser covers their first two picks: It’s Complicated by Danah Boyd and Behind the Screen by Sarah T. Roberts.

To hear the full episode with all six books, become a Ctrl-Alt-Speech supporter on Patreon.

Filed Under: books, content moderation, trust and safety

The idea of loading a comedy podcast onto the original 160 by 144 pixel screen of a Game Boy Color feels like a stretch even before any hardware enters the picture. The handheld dates back to 1998. It carries no wireless hardware, runs on an 8-bit processor, and originally shipped without a backlight. Still, Throaty Mumbo set out to make live YouTube playback happen on that exact platform and recorded the entire process.

Early tests began with a static image to get a feel for things, then he loaded a full-color Mario graphic onto an EverDrive cartridge to check if the Game Boy Color could handle images more advanced than those included. That tiny victory paved the stage for some movement. So the next step was to replace the screen, which involved removing the old non-backlit display and installing a brand new backlit LCD panel. Disassembling the item required some caution because those ribbon wires and plastic clamps don’t like to be messed with, but once the replacement panel was installed and the system turned up, the improvement was much improved visibility.

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With a reasonable view in front of him, the next step was to get some video up and running. He tested a couple homemade players, and it came out that one of them prioritized frame rate and produced smooth animation at the expense of some color depth. Another person attempted to jam more colors per scanline but suffered a slight decrease in frame rate, approximately five or six frames per second. Both of these DIY players employed specially encoded data sent through the cartridge slot, but getting the audio and video to sync perfectly proved challenging. These experiments verified, however, that the console could decode and display movies when the data arrived in the correct format and at the appropriate speed.

The next challenge would be getting new video data into the machine without needing to recreate complete segments in a cartridge from start. So, first, he tried routing everything through the Game Boy Color’s link cable connector. A PC transmitted frames to the handheld, which attempted to decode them in real time. What happened was that the link cable maxed out at 64 kbps, so throughput remained low, and the handheld’s processor struggled to keep up, resulting in graphics that sometimes took ages to show. Yes, the system worked for short demos, but it was far from capable of streaming video in real time.

However, a shift to wireless transformed the game, as he created a modified cartridge based on the GB Interceptor design. Then he added a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 microcontroller based on the RP2350 chip, which is wired directly to the breakout and accurately handles the timing for the cartridge bus, allowing it to respond to all memory reads from the Game Boy Colour in perfect sync with its clock. Then he added an ESP12F Wi-Fi module as a bridge, allowing the handheld to receive data without requiring a physical cable to be attached.

The entire pipeline works as follows: a nearby computer captures a copy of a YouTube stream using normal streaming tools, converts the video frames into a format that the Game Boy Color can read, and then sends the packed data via Wi-Fi. The ESP module then captures the stream and sends it to the RP2350 over an extremely fast SPI connection. From there, the microcontroller just sends the data to the Game Boy Color, as if a cartridge ROM were feeding it the pixels, much like a real game cartridge. Then there’s the GBC Tube software, which provides the user with an interface for searching for videos using an on-screen keyboard. Search results appear as low-resolution image thumbnails… and picking a title returns the video ID to the computer, which initiates the encoding and streaming process in the other way.

Audio takes a separate path, with the RP2350 spitting the sound from the incoming stream and sending it to a small I2S amp and speaker inside the shell. The video and audio are not precisely synced, however there may be some drift if you watch for an extended period of time. You still have two display options while watching: the high frame rate keeps the action moving smoothly, and the high color mode, which will produce richer colors but may sacrifice some smoothness in the process.

Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown isn’t over just yet. The streaming giant is now rolling out another change that could make shared household accounts a little more cumbersome, this time by asking every profile on an account to have its own email address. While the move isn’t designed to stop families from sharing a subscription, it does add another layer of identity verification that many users probably weren’t asking for.

Netflix wants every profile to have its own identity

As spotted first by CordCuttersNews, Netflix has begun introducing profile-specific email addresses, allowing each user on a shared household account to link their own email instead of relying solely on the primary account holder. Existing users are being prompted to add an email when switching profiles, while new profiles will require one during setup.

Netflix says the feature is meant to improve account security and make profile management easier. Individual email addresses will help users recover their own profiles, receive personalized notifications, and simplify future profile transfers if they decide to start their own subscription. The company also says it will make it easier to verify identities when logging into new devices, a change that naturally aligns with Netflix’s ongoing efforts to curb account sharing outside the home.

The rollout appears to be happening gradually across supported devices and regions, meaning not everyone will see the prompts immediately. Existing viewing history, recommendations, and watchlists will remain tied to each individual profile.

Another small change, another big headache

Unsurprisingly, the rollout hasn’t gone down well with users. Reddit is already filled with complaints from people who find the new email prompt unnecessarily intrusive. A few users have shared what appears to be a temporary workaround by disabling Feature Testing under Account > Security on the web, but since Netflix hasn’t officially acknowledged it, there’s no guarantee the fix will last.

The change doesn’t stop families from sharing a household account, but it does reinforce Netflix’s long-term strategy of giving every profile its own identity. For some, adding an email is a one-time task. For others, especially households with profiles created years ago for children or less tech-savvy family members, it’s simply another layer of friction. From Netflix’s perspective, it makes profiles easier to secure and eventually transfer. For users, it’s one more reminder that sharing a family account isn’t quite as effortless as it used to be

Parents watch their children reach for screens earlier each year. Short videos and social platforms pull attention hard, and the effects show up in shorter focus, less interest in slower activities, and early exposure to material that simply does not belong in a young life. One father decided the standard options did not fit what he wanted for his seven-year-old son. He took an older laptop and shaped it into something different.

The machine began life as a Corsair Voyager A1600, a beast of a machine with more power than was required to handle the majority of what we were going to throw at it. He ensured that it had enough horsepower to keep things working smoothly even when he had multiple instructional programs open at the same time. A few modifications in the BIOS settings were required to reduce the fans to a whisper and get the trackpad to behave properly by eliminating accidental touches, because when precision is required, we prefer to use a separate mouse.

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As it is, the system feels robust, responsive, and quiet, with no annoying fan noises. Kubuntu was chosen as the foundation operating system because it provides a consistent day-to-day functioning with relatively low memory requirements and complete control over the screen’s appearance. Installation was a bit of a trial and error process using a few different USB tools before it finally clicked, but once installed, the system was smooth sailing, with no need for constant babysitting. The upgrade process is fairly methodical, as opposed to the all-at-once events that some other platforms are known for, which is exactly what we desired.

The desktop has been reduced down to its minimal bones, with a few large icons for the programs the child actually uses displayed prominently. The usual comprehensive menu, including all loaded apps, is not available; nevertheless, a simple clock remains visible. There are no superfluous panels or notice sections that take up space. The concept is that the child opens what they need and stays there, while adults may still access the whole menu or a terminal via a few keyboard commands when something needs to be changed.

Safety was a top priority. Before any software is launched, a free service is utilized to filter out the bad stuff, including DNS filtering to prevent known adult content, malware sites, and other trouble locations. Only allowed web activities are accessible in the browser as direct shortcuts, because at 7 years old, we weren’t about to turn them loose on the wide web. The browser only allows access to pre-selected games or utilities; everything else is restricted and inaccessible.

The majority of the space is taken by a collection known as GCompris, which has dozens of activities to keep the child entertained. There are games to assist improve early reasoning, alphabet practice, elementary math, science explorations, and creative projects all in one place. The images are clear, and the feedback is kind, so even if the child makes a mistake, they are rewarded for trying again. KidPix brings drawing to life, allowing you to transform a blank sheet into a work of art complete with stamps, sounds, and all the colors. A basic paint software is included for when they wish to get more creative with shapes and fills.

Scratch Jr allows kids to bring games to life by dragging blocks to move their characters, adjust the scene, and narrate simple stories. Meanwhile Teach Your Monster has a way of sneaking in some reading and math practice through delightful small adventures that don’t feel like work at all. Other fun options to look into include a fancy dress-up game with a potato head character, a simple maze where a mouse chases pizza, a classic Minesweeper puzzle that keeps them thinking, a calculator that they probably already enjoy using, and a word processor that gets them typing away at an early stage. Not to add a small weather monitor on the desktop that connects the screen to what’s happening directly outside the window.
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The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is giving federal agencies until Sunday to patch a vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Server that is being actively exploited.

Identified as CVE-2026-20230, the security issue is server-side request forgery (SSRF) and has been added to the agency’s catalog of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV).

Per Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04, the remediation is deemed urgent and must addressed by Sunday, June 28.

Cisco marked CVE-2026-20230 with critical severity and released a patch on June 3, warning that it could be exploited remotely and without authentication via specially crafted HTTP requests.

At the time, the company noted that a proof-of-concept exploit existed, but had found no evidence of active exploitation.

Last weekend, threat detection startup Defused observed the vulnerability being exploited in attacks to write arbitrary text files to affected endpoints.

It is currently unknown what type of threat actor is leveraging CVE-2026-20230 in attacks.

Critical flaw in PLM products

CISA has also added CVE-2026-12569 to the KEV catalog, an improper input validation flaw impacting the PTC Windchill and FlexPLM software products.

Both are product lifecycle management (PLM) systems developed by PTC specifically for the manufacturing, engineering, retail, footwear, apparel, and consumer products industries.

CVE-2026-12569 is a critical-severity remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability that can be exploited through the deserialization of untrusted data.

PTC disclosed the issue on June 18 and published a security advisory, pointing customers to the complete list of vulnerable Windchill and FlexPLM versions and urging them to immediately take remediation steps.

According to the vendor, the flaw affects all versions up to 11.0 and multiple versions of the 11.1, 11.2, 12.0, 12.1, and 13.0 release branches.

CISA set the same June 28 deadline for federal agencies to patch CVE-2026-12569.

Agencies and organizations bound by BOD 26-04 should take immediate action to secure their systems by applying available security updates and vendor-recommended mitigations, or stop using the products mentioned by the set deadline.

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In the immediate aftermath of Microsoft’s announcement that it was raising prices of the Xbox Series X and S for the third time this generation, a tiny trend broke out on our technology news feed. A smattering of stories appeared encouraging readers to run out and buy an Xbox console before the price hike goes into effect on August 1. Combine this deadline with the allure of active Prime Day deals on Xbox consoles, and the message from these articles is clear: The best and most fiscally responsible time to buy an Xbox is right now, so go do it.

Allow me to play devil’s advocate.

While it often makes sense to plan purchases around known price hikes, it’s a dumb time to buy an Xbox. Yes, even with discounts offering an Xbox Series S for $350 and an Xbox Series X for $573 — hell, especially at these prices. In 2020, the Xbox Series S launched at $300 and the Xbox Series X was $500. Over the past couple of years, I personally picked up a Series X for less than $400 and a Series S for $250. These consoles are now in their sixth year, and normally around this time in the generation, hardware prices would be dropping and we’d be getting cool colorways and bundles. Today’s discounted Xbox prices are obscene for a console entering its sixth year.

It’s worth noting that today’s marketplace is uniquely unmoored, fueled by a memory and storage shortage that’s driving up hardware prices across the tech industry. However, Microsoft is a core part of the problem here. The company is exacerbating the RAM shortage with massive investments in AI data centers, and its feigned ignorance around spiking Xbox console prices is laughable.

Corporate chicanery aside, it’s simply not a great time to buy into the Xbox ecosystem. You could say there’s never been a worse time, in fact. Microsoft is in disarray following years of layoffs and studio closures, falling console profits, and executive-level changes to the Xbox business in 2026. Just this month, news broke that Double Fine, Ninja Theory and Compulsion Games are in imminent danger of being shut down, while new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and Chief Content Officer Matt Booty set the stage for more layoffs in July.

On the software side of things, Xbox doesn’t have a ton of exclusive games, as its first-party titles are widely available on PC. Its recent hits like Avowed, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Keeper are all available on Steam, and Xbox is legally obligated to distribute its largest first-party franchises (i.e., Call of Duty) across platforms. That’s not to mention the push to get its games on PlayStation and Switch, no matter how short-lived that may end up being. One of Microsoft’s loudest marketing points has been the fact that its games will work on subsequent consoles and eventually come to PC, and even if they’re not saying it out loud any more, the company is a leader in platform-agnostic cloud play. When everything is an Xbox and Xbox games are available anywhere, you don’t really need an Xbox at all.

There is zero reason to rush out right now and buy a six-year-old gaming console for more than its launch price, just because it’s going to become even more expensive soon. If you haven’t needed an Xbox before now, chances are, you still don’t need one. This might be rich coming from a consumer tech blog, but there is no real-world achievement for collecting every piece of contemporary gaming hardware — the closest we get is clout, but the returns on social media likes and comments are hollow and diminishing. Unlike Xbox prices, which are only rising. The actual smart move is to wait until the next generation hits — which is apparently very soon — and either pick that up or grab a Series console that will then be priced to clear.

This is nothing against the media outlets that’ve run stories encouraging people to take advantage of Prime Day Xbox console prices. Truthfully, there is a very small market for this advice and it’s fine to show these six people where the best deals are at the moment. But as general-audience advice, it sucks.

Besides, aren’t you saving up for a Steam Machine right now?

Ibnu Taufan, a PhD researcher at UL, discusses vibration research and his particular interest in a ‘dancing bridge’ phenomenon.

For many researchers, the origins of their interest in a particular scientific area can be traced back to a specific event or place. For Ibnu Taufan, the link can be found in two specific events – the first one involving the longest bridge in Indonesia.

“When I was young, my father and I used to travel from Sumenep (my hometown) to Surabaya (the second largest city after Jakarta) by a ferry. On the ferry, I watched Suramadu Bridge as it was being constructed,” he says.

“It took six years to complete the bridge. I asked my father why it took so long to build the bridge, but without a proper answer.”

The second event can be traced to Taufan’s time studying for a degree in engineering physics at the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember in Surabaya, where he finally got an answer to the question he asked his father.

“The lecturer explained the resonance phenomenon on a bridge. He showed the famous example of Tacoma Bridge, which collapsed due to a resonance phenomenon,” says Taufan. “This bridge has revolutionised vibration research, rendering bridges all over the world safer. He explained and proved the resonance using a simple mathematical model and the physics behind it.

“I loved math and physics in secondary high school, and, due to his explanation, I loved the study of vibrations even more.”

Taufan went on to complete his bachelor’s degree with a specific interest in vibration research, and began a career as a product and development engineer in vibration engineering at a pump manufacturing company in Indonesia.

“Mostly I worked on research about how to utilise vibration signals for machine health monitoring and to reduce excessive motion of structures using vibration control,” he says.

A few years into his career, Taufan was presented with an opportunity to pursue a PhD in vibration energy harvesting at University of Limerick (UL). Interested by this new research direction, Taufan decided to follow up on the opportunity and move to Ireland.

“This topic is fascinating for me because instead of reducing the uncomfortable vibrations (from cars), the goal of this research is to harvest ambient – waste – vibrations from machines into electricity to power Internet of Things (IoT) sensors for Industry 4.0 applications,” he tells SiliconRepublic.com.

“In this context, I am eager to solve vibration research challenges in order to contribute to both industry and society.”

Good vibrations

Taufan’s PhD research topic is to develop a novel broadband piezoelectric vibration energy harvester (PVEH) technology to sustainably power IoT sensors for preventive maintenance and performance optimisation in Industry 4.0.

“Generally, the industry relies on batteries or the electricity grid to power sensors for machine monitoring purposes. However, these types of energy sources are not sustainable and are expensive in remote locations,” he explains. “The PVEHs (battery-free devices) created in my PhD can harvest ambient vibrations from the machines themselves to sustainably power the IoT sensor for machine health monitoring in real time.”

He says the importance of this research lies in its capability of reducing battery waste and overreliance on the electricity grid.

“Batteries not only contribute to contamination in soil and groundwater due to metal waste during their production, but also the battery waste contains toxic heavy metals which can cause soil and water contamination on residential areas if not correctly disposed of,” says Taufan. “Also, the electricity grid needs physical wires or cables to thousands of remote sensors which would be impractical and expensive.”

Vibrational energy harvester (VEH) technology, he explains, can be employed to power thousands of IoT sensors in remote locations for machine monitoring in Industry 4.0. The IoT sensors can then make the data accessible via the internet to monitor the industrial assets in real time without batteries or electricity connections.

Dancing phenomenon

Within his vibration research, one of Taufan’s favourite topics is resonance, the previously mentioned phenomenon which can cause catastrophic failure in improperly constructed bridges, buildings, trains or aircraft.

Resonance is defined as a phenomenon which occurs when an external vibration frequency matches with a structure’s natural frequency, causing the amplitude of vibration to increase dramatically – though Taufan has a better (and more fun) way of explaining it.

“In simple terms, if someone loves a specific music (A), he or she will dance when hearing the music they like. However, if he or she hears another music (B) that they do not like, they will not dance.

“The person can be depicted as a structure, such as a bridge, while the music is an external vibration source (such as vibration from vehicles crossing the bridge or vibration due to the wind).

“The dancing phenomenon is the reason why the bridge can collapse.”

Taufan says that as part of his PhD research, he needs to design a harvester – or structure – which has a natural frequency similar to the operational frequency of a machine (ambient vibration).

“Therefore, the harvester will ‘dance’ if I put it on the machine,” he says. “The dancing phenomenon on my harvester will generate high-output power that can sustainably power IoT sensors for machine monitoring in Industry 4.0.

“This is why I love resonance, and the mathematics and physics behind it!”

The future of VEH

Taufan believes that in the near future, battery waste can be reduced significantly due to his research area, and that VEH tech plays “an important role” in Industry 4.0.

“The maintenance engineer in industry will not need to manually monitor machines or replace the batteries of the IoT sensors,” he says. “In railway industry, the VEH can be utilised to monitor railway condition using IoT sensors.

“Vibrations from railway (due to crossing trains) is sufficient to power the sensors – thus, the railway company does not need to conventionally monitor the track, which causes travel disruptions.”

He says some people think VEH can replace batteries in devices like smartwatches because it is perceived that the ambient vibration when we are walking, running or biking could charge the smartwatch using VEH technology.

“In my opinion,” he says, “VEH can partially – but not totally – replace batteries, recharge the rechargeable batteries in our smartwatch. This is because when the total VEH volume is small – such as within a smartwatch – the natural frequencies of the VEH will be higher than 30Hz.

“In this context, the frequency contents of ambient vibrations (from human motions) are below 30Hz. There is still an open challenge to VEH researchers to propose VEHs (with small volume like smartwatches) to power these devices without batteries. “

With his PhD still underway, what lies ahead for this researcher after he completes his studies?

While he’s open to R&D opportunities in industry, Taufan says he plans to stay in academia.

“I love both teaching and research in related to vibration,” he says. “I believe that my expertise and passion in vibration research can contribute to solve many problems related to vibration and sustainability in both industry and society.”

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