Eldritch Mlems

Germany: Lawsuit claims data watchdog acted as lawyer for German media outlet 'Der Spiegel', seeks to overturn its decision that the paper's 'pay or okay' banner is legal

The non-profit Noyb, founded by Austrian activist lawyer Max Schrems, filed a complaint under the General Data Protection regulation (GDPR) with the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (HmbBfDI) back in 2021 over Der Spiegel’s “pay or OK” banner.

It took the court three years to rule that Der Spiegel’s banner was permissible.

Now, noyb argues that the Hamburg Data Protection Agency (DPA) "was in close contact with SPIEGEL during the proceedings".

"Instead of investigating and deciding impartially, it also met with representatives of the company several times, invited them to its premises and provided feedback on the proposed changes," the non-profit argues.

Dr Raphael Rohrmoser, lawyer for the complainant: “The Hamburg data protection authority has obviously provided SPIEGEL with legal advice. The administrative fee charged by the data protection authority is likely to be significantly lower than the fees charged by law firms providing legal advice. For SPIEGEL, the authority’s approach represents a win-win situation.”

Max Schrems, Honorary Chairman of noyb: “Nobody should be a lawyer and a judge at the same time. However, the Hamburg data protection authority seems to see no problem in advising companies or even actively calling for the introduction of ‘Pay or OK’ instead of objectively investigating the facts. It is obvious that the authority will not consider the changes it has arranged as illegal.”

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The latest rejection comes as Venezuela’s opposition backed outside calls for the results of last week’s disputed presidential vote to be published, as the Pope said Venezuelans must “seek the truth” and warned against further violence.

The results published by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council on 2 August “cannot be recognised,” the EU Council said in a statement.

“Any attempt to delay the full publication of the official voting records will only cast further doubt” on their credibility, it said.

The country’s election authority says the 28 July vote was won by incumbent Maduro, a result that defied pre-election polls and ignited protests that rights group say have left 11 people dead so far and thousands arrested.

A growing number of nations, including the United States and Argentina, say the election was won by opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.](Venezuela: EU joins U.S. and Latin American countries in refusing to recognize Maduro's win in recent election over fraud allegations.)

The border between Poland and Belarus is the scene of increasing illegal crossings by refugees. The situation is escalating.

...touching the belly is still deadly though.

Wherever Books Are Burned, Men Also, in the End, Are Burned.

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Scooter and Bandit

About six months ago I talked to @Ashyr@sh.itjust.works about home brewing games set in Ancient China. Last night I finally debuted my game - The Scroll of Hengdian. If you like CDramas the name may be familiar as Hengdian Studios is where many series are filmed. My game is based on the Castles and Crusades game system so I could leverage the Codex Sinarum. The codex goes deeper into the actual history of China than my game does, but it is still very useful for this setting.

My TTRPG is xianxia-based so I created a new 'cultivator' class for all of my players. The differentiation really comes with the clan and domain choices that give access to magic based on elemental aspects and creature choices.

I borrowed heavily from the Codex Sinarum to develop the Qi abilities for my characters since that was the heaviest lift for me in terms of developing a new class that is a blending of fighter + wizard/cleric/illusionist. My players chose a blend of human and spirit based cultivators which gives me plenty of nuggets to develop additional qigong abilities.

In terms of content, my players are starting as young cultivators who have met at a sect that has invited them to cultivate and achieve their first level. I also took a random suggestion I saw a while back about creating a Star Trek TNG "Q" type dragon character (Die Lan Zi - iykyk) that occasionally comes around to mess with the party.

friend's cat. says, 'Frank is the official box and rug inspector in our household.'

New member of the family, 5-month old female. Suggestions welcomed!