Great news for Linux users, after months of testing, Mozilla released today a new package for Firefox on Linux (specifically on Ubuntu, Debian, and any Debian-based distribution). If you’ve heard about Linux, which is known for its open-source software and an alternative to traditional operating systems (OS), and are curious to learn more, here are four reasons why you should give our new Firefox on Linux package a try.

↫ Gabriel Bustamente and Johan Lorenzo

It’s a ppa and .deb package straight from Mozilla itself, so you don’t have to to rely on your distribution’s maintainers (as long as you use a Debian-based distribution, that is). Do note, however, that some distributions actually make changes to the default Firefox code, such as Fedora enabling things like Wayland-by-default and hardware-accelerated video decoding long before those became default in Firefox-proper. By using Mozilla’s package, you’ll lose all of these changes.

As a sidenote, Mozilla’s instructions for enabling the ppa and installing the .deb are a bit… Dubious, though.

Circa 2015 or so, it seemed like you couldn’t move a finger without being bombarded with ads and articles about ‘smart homes’ and the ‘internet of things’ — all of which would make our lives so much easier and more automated. Fast-forward a decade and this dream has mostly evaporated along with many of the players in the space. Why this happened is the topic of a recent video by [Caya].

An interesting bit of context that the video starts off with is that home automation really kicked off back in 1975, when the X10 protocol and related devices using power lines for signaling began being sold. These fully integrated solutions generally worked reasonably well, but what all changed when the IoT and ‘smart home’ craze kicked off and brought with it an explosion of new standards.

Over the past decade we have seen the concept of a ‘smart home’ collapse into a nightmare of abandoned IoT devices, subscription services, forced ads, privacy violations, and an increasingly more congested 2.4 GHz spectrum that everything from WiFi and Zigbee to Bluetooth and others ended up competing for, with a corresponding collapse in reliability of data transmissions.

As raised in the video, a big issue is that of the financial viability of running the remote services for a smart home solution, even if this is the part that should make it as plug-and-play as a 1990s-era smart home solution. To the average user setting up their own locally hosted smart home solution isn’t really a straightforward option.

Although at the end [Caya] demonstrates using Home Assistant (HA) as a locally hosted alternative, this is still not something that a non-techie will be able to set up or maintain. Even if you shell out a cool two-hundred clams for the Home Assistant Green plug-and-play hardware solution, the average person will be lost the second any of the prescribed steps in provided documentation do not work. Woe to whoever is the person who is ‘good with computers’ in those cases.

Ultimately another problem with ‘smart homes’ is that they’re really not that smart, as you can definitely set up all kinds of rules in HA and similar solutions, but this is more painstaking manual automation with all the excitement of programming PID controllers. Having an actual intelligence behind the system that could react to what’s happening would make it a far easier sell, yet which is where all the ‘smart assistants’ like Alexa keep falling flat.

Currently [Caya] has set up his HA-based lighting configuration to be used by OpenClaw ‘agentic AI’, as a way to add some actual ‘smarts’, but it’s telling that he hasn’t integrated the smart lock of his apartment into the system yet. Nobody wants to have the OpenClaw agent tell you that it ‘cannot open the front door’ for you, after all.

I am constantly getting scrape attempts for avatar-image-JPEG URLs that have not existed on my blog since a restructuring in 2022. They come in bursts of about a 100 per minute, each from a different IP address, and in random order.

I thought: enough is enough, I need to figure out what clown service these are coming from and start blocking whole networks.

Nope, they're almost all from cable modems, not from hosting facilities:

49.43.169.105	"55836 | IN | apnic | 2010-10-27 | RELIANCEJIO-IN Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, IN" 49.36.222.165	"55836 | IN | apnic | 2010-10-27 | RELIANCEJIO-IN Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, IN" 49.207.199.34	"24309 | IN | apnic | 2004-12-08 | CABLELITE-AS-AP Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Broadband Internet Service Provider INDIA, IN" 60.254.88.85	"17488 | IN | apnic | 2000-11-28 | HATHWAY-NET-AP Hathway IP Over Cable Internet, IN" 14.176.188.15	none 113.181.115.52	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 222.252.180.57	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.191.68.81	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 203.162.75.165	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.166.25.40	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.234.181.48	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.232.16.94	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.226.156.45	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.186.56.201	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 123.27.88.193	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 123.24.165.158	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 123.23.84.13	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.173.75.211	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.254.59.191	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.247.93.88	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 134.122.23.167	"14061 | US | arin | 2012-09-25 | DIGITALOCEAN-ASN - DigitalOcean, LLC, US" 113.184.185.188	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.170.114.205	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.236.40.167	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.170.244.63	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.165.28.93	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 163.223.48.0	"138797 | IN | apnic | 2019-02-11 | COASTAL-AS-IN Coastal Broadband And Online Services Pvt. Ltd., IN" 58.249.137.74	"17622 | CN | apnic | 2001-01-18 | CNCGROUP-GZ China Unicom Guangzhou network, CN" 39.68.1.38	"4837 | CN | apnic | 2001-09-17 | CHINA169-BACKBONE CHINA UNICOM China169 Backbone, CN" 14.191.63.98	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.168.114.54	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.161.135.60	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.228.183.221	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.177.130.34	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.236.8.100	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 144.31.35.211	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 14.230.66.236	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.166.3.113	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 143.20.253.201	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 14.172.46.240	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.191.87.248	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.240.145.79	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 171.250.165.14	"7552 | VN | apnic | 2002-10-08 | VIETEL-AS-AP Viettel Group, VN" 14.230.54.62	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.180.27.31	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 177.137.214.144	"263087 | BR | lacnic | 2012-04-18 | Rawnet Informatica LTDA, BR" 120.140.8.61	"4788 | MY | apnic | 1996-10-20 | TTSSB-MY TM TECHNOLOGY SERVICES SDN. BHD., MY" 49.37.213.156	"55836 | IN | apnic | 2010-10-27 | RELIANCEJIO-IN Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, IN" 216.75.132.173	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 144.31.35.77	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 216.75.132.173	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 216.75.132.173	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 144.31.35.77	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 144.31.35.77	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 216.75.132.173	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 216.75.132.173	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 143.20.253.246	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 143.20.253.246	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 14.169.142.16	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.190.135.174	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.165.212.210	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.165.39.79	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.254.166.139	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.170.190.94	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 123.31.236.195	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.175.2.197	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.245.142.32	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.168.130.126	none 14.234.120.102	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.187.7.237	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.169.200.172	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.187.7.158	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 222.253.132.0	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.179.243.6	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.189.84.206	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.189.125.112	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 123.27.175.238	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.179.139.90	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 216.75.132.167	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 216.75.132.167	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 14.191.192.133	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 216.75.132.212	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 207.180.11.239	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 207.180.11.239	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 113.186.16.134	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.170.25.114	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.229.9.235	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.188.28.166	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 123.16.224.122	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.173.194.120	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.239.74.25	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.239.32.210	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 14.177.207.17	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 113.173.255.127	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 144.31.35.232	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US" 181.213.41.191	"28573 | BR | lacnic | 2003-11-27 | Claro NXT Telecomunicacoes Ltda, BR" 113.182.199.97	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 88.235.232.128	"9121 | TR | ripencc | 1998-12-29 | TTNET, TR" 181.191.153.5	"267488 | BR | lacnic | 2017-08-17 | Pronet Construcoes LTDA, BR" 211.241.113.62	"9316 | KR | apnic | 1998-06-03 | DACOM-PUBNETPLUS-AS-KR DACOM-PUBNETPLUS, KR" 152.58.183.66	"55836 | IN | apnic | 2010-10-27 | RELIANCEJIO-IN Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, IN" 59.184.62.53	"9829 | IN | apnic | 2000-01-19 | BSNL-NIB National Internet Backbone, IN" 14.164.166.200	"45899 | VN | apnic | 2009-08-28 | VNPT-AS-VN VNPT Corp, VN" 152.57.115.213	"55836 | IN | apnic | 2010-10-27 | RELIANCEJIO-IN Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, IN" 49.34.210.1	"55836 | IN | apnic | 2010-10-27 | RELIANCEJIO-IN Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, IN" 1.246.164.57	"9318 | KR | apnic | 1998-06-03 | SKB-AS SK Broadband Co Ltd, KR" 31.223.92.91	"12735 | TR | ripencc | 1999-10-18 | ASTURKNET, TR" 103.66.177.245	"135578 | BD | apnic | 2016-06-18 | DIT-AS-AP Muhammad Nasir ta Dhaka Information Technology, BD" 152.42.242.171	"14061 | US | arin | 2012-09-25 | DIGITALOCEAN-ASN - DigitalOcean, LLC, US" 143.20.253.31	"401560 | US | arin | 2025-01-03 | ONECABLE - OneCable Network LLC, US"

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

Suit was filed late last month in a Utah state trial court against seven fertility clinics challenging the methods they use in IVF procedures. The complaint (full text) in Voice for the Voiceless v. Conceptions Fertility Center, (UT Dist. Ct., filed 4/30/2026), focuses on clinics' practice of discarding embryos that are not implanted, saying in part:

The result is that thousands of embryos-- live human beings-- are killed prior to birth by Defendants.... Defendants could practice IVF in a legal manner that would preserve life and only fertilize eggs that will be implanted into their clients, but they refuse to do so out of convenience and financial gain.

The Complaint's Introduction alleges in part:

The Utah Constitution guarantees the rights of all people to "enjoy and defend their lives and liberties."... However, an entire class of people has been deprived of their right to life and liberty because they cannot defend themselves. This class of people are the unborn minor children whose lives are terminated in violation of Utah law, as a direct result of Defendants' standard practice of how they conduct in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

The Complaint alleges causes of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress, public nuisance, wrongful death, and medical malpractice. Stateline reports on the lawsuit.

In Zan Sun v. Shen Yun Performing Arts, Inc., (SD NY, May 18, 2026), a New York federal district court held that the ministerial exception doctrine is not a basis for dismissing claims by two Falun Gong practitioners who allege that they were held in forced child labor by a classical Chinese dance and musical company based in New York. Plaintiffs allege that their treatment violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The court said in part:

... Defendants argue that because Falun Gong is a “religion,” Dragon Springs is a “church,” Shen Yun is Falun Gong’s “evangelistic ministry,” and Plaintiffs were its “ministers” who used “performance art to share religious principles and the prospect of salvation with the world,” the ministerial exception bars all of Plaintiffs’ claims.... Plaintiffs counter that none of the Defendants are religious institutions and that Falun Gong is not a religion.... The Court, however, need not decide this dispute—even if it could on a motion to dismiss....

The ministerial exception “does not mean that religious institutions enjoy a general immunity from secular laws,”... Instead, the exception is limited: It “protect[s]” religious institutions’ “autonomy with respect to internal management decisions that are essential to [their] central mission.” ...  A “church’s independence on matters ‘of faith and doctrine’ requires the authority to select, supervise, and if necessary, remove a minister without interference by secular authorities”.... 

Plaintiffs’ allegations of abuse, forced labor, and human trafficking do not implicate “matters of faith and doctrine” or “matters of internal government.” Plaintiffs claim they were subject to grueling training and work schedules with little pay, denied medical care when injured, prevented from leaving Dragon Springs, and subjected to other forms of psychological abuse that began when they were children. Accepting these allegations as true ... Defendants still retain the authority and independence to “select, supervise, and . . . remove [their] minister[s].” ... Matters of “faith,” religious “doctrine,” and ecclesiastical “government” have no bearing on alleged abuse, control, and confinement in between employment decisions....

... Defendants ... claim that, at most, what Plaintiffs allege they experienced is what one might expect at an elite dance academy or a boarding school.... [T]o the extent Defendants intend to prove that Plaintiffs were treated in the way they characterize, the resolution of this factual dispute does not implicate matters of faith and doctrine. It does not require interference with Defendants’ internal governance or even their right to choose ministers....

I was a long-time Bitwarden user, until a year or so ago when I started migrating my passwords first to Firefox/LibreWolf, and recently from there to a KeePass database I can transfer and use with whatever password manager application is compatible with KeePass’ file format. It seems I was accidentally on time, as it’s come out over the last few days that Bitwarden is probably going down the drain soon. In February, the company got a new CEO, and in March, it doubled its Premium price, announcing the hike deep in a feature announcement.

The new CEO seems to be a bellwether for what’s to come for Bitwarden. He’s a merger and acquisitions guy, with a history of gutting companies and selling them for parts, and changes to Bitwarden’s website also indicate where it’s headed.

The phrase “Always free” disappeared from the personal password manager page in mid-April. It used to sit prominently under the plan selector. The free plan still exists — for now — but the commitment language is gone.

And then there’s the values rewrite.

Bitwarden used to define its culture with the acronym GRIT: Gratitude, Responsibility, Inclusion, and Transparency. After May 4th, that changed. GRIT now stands for Gratitude, Responsibility, Innovation, and Trust.

Inclusion and Transparency are out. Innovation and Trust are in.

↫ Patrick Boyd

The “Always free” motto quietly reappeared on the site after its removal was uncovered and went viral on Fedi.

The change in CEO, the changes in values, and the removal (and reappearance) of Bitwarden’s well-known and oft-repeated commitment to its free plan have all been quiet. No announcements, no blog posts, no posts on social media – but they did change a four-year old blog post by Bitwarden’s former CEO to change that GRIT acronym. You don’t need to be an honors student to figure out where this is going, and what the new CEO’s plans are for Bitwarden.

Do as I did, and get your passwords out of BitWarden. I strongly suggest using an open format that can be used by any compatible password manager, with KeePass’ formats being the obvious choice. This way your passwords are truly yours, and not dependent on someone’s continued commitment to free plans or proprietary services that can unexpectedly change hands. Bitwarden is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license, but with all of the above, one has to wonder how long that’s going to remain a thing.