Is there some regulatory reason why Apple’s Live Translation feature (for iMessages, AirPods, iPhone, etcetera) will be inaccessible within the European Union 🇪🇺‽
Live Translation with AirPods is not available if you are in the EU and your Apple Account Country or Region is also in the EU. […]
Live Translation with AirPods works on AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation or AirPods Pro 2 and later with the latest firmware when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, and supports English (US, UK), French (France), German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain)
This seems odd, as I have not heard of similar regional restrictions for Google Pixel Buds live translation (which, to my knowledge, supports folks living within the European Union 🇪🇺).
Hopefully, the EU 🇪🇺 & Apple can figure out a way to overcome the legal hurdles preventing this from being adopted.
In the worst case, I’ll need to use a third-party app for translation when traveling to Europe.
Vimeo, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMEO), a leading video platform for business, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Bending Spoons, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.38 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Vimeo shareholders will receive $7.85 per share in cash for each share of Vimeo capital stock that they own. The per-share purchase price represents a 91% premium over Vimeo’s 60-day volume-weighted average share price as of market close on September 9, 2025.
“After a disciplined review of strategic alternatives, the Board unanimously determined that this all-cash transaction delivers compelling, certain value to Vimeo shareholders and positions the company to accelerate its strategic roadmap as part of Bending Spoons,” said Glenn H. Schiffman, Chairman of the Board. “We’re confident they are the right long-term partner for our customers, employees, and brand.”
This acquisition is excellent news for investors, owners & potentially a few large companies.
Bending Spoons should be able to infuse new capital into Vimeo and attract the attention of large companies that are not too keen on relying on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok for their video hosting needs.
However, for smaller customers & current employees, being acquired by Bending Spoons means the fiscal beatings are about to begin, as the new rulers have a history of leaving unwanted bruises.
Given Bending Spoons’ history, Vimeo users would be wise to seek out alternatives, as the company will probably begin to reduce features and headcount for the YouTube alternative.
Hopefully, over the next few days, many video hosting services will offer a simple solution to export Vimeo videos elsewhere. Until then, folks would be wise to download their content off of Vimeo’s servers.
This probably marks the end for Android fans desiring to iMessage Apple fans & have their messages be recognized by the blue bubble masses.
“Each time that Beeper Mini goes ‘down’ or is made to be unreliable due to interference by Apple, Beeper’s credibility takes a hit,” the company wrote in a blog post. “It’s unsustainable. As much as we want to fight for what we believe is a fantastic product that really should exist, the truth is that we can’t win a cat-and-mouse game with the largest company on earth. With our latest software release, we believe we’ve created something that Apple can tolerate existing. We do not have any current plans to respond if this solution is knocked offline.” […]
To get the app working now, you need to have an old jailbroken iPhone (6/6s/SE1/7/8/X) and a Mac or Linux computer. You then need to install a Beeper tool to generate an iMessage registration code, then update to the latest Beeper Mini app and enter your code. You need to leave the iPhone plugged into power and connected to Wi-Fi at all times.
I would not be surprised if Apple bans this as well. Honestly, I am siding with Apple on this one. iMessage is their chat app & tech. Instead of attempting to enter the iMessage walled garden, build your own open source or proprietary chat app that can be used by Apple & Android fans.
So excluding this feature would make Threads less useful for live breaking news events such as sports, natural disasters, politics, etcetera.
Mastodon & Misskey have chronological search enabled, & although much smaller than Threads, neither have viewed chronological search as a security threat.
Meta will need to provide more clarification on this issue, as it is confusing how smaller players are able to resolve this issue, yet Threads is unable to for some reason.
I came across this from @arstechnica & it’s surreal that the world’s richest man does not care about X (formally Twitter) burning to the ground.
Elon Musk bitter that X (formally Twitter) will die
Musk spoke on stage at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in an interview conducted by journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. Sorkin asked Musk about trying to gain back advertising from businesses that pulled ads from X after Musk posted a favorable response to an antisemitic tweet.
“I hope they stop. Don’t advertise,” Musk said in response to Sorkin’s question (see video).
Perplexed, Sorkin asked, “you don’t want them to advertise?”
“No,” Musk responded. “What do you mean?” Sorkin asked.
“If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money? Go fuck yourself,” Musk said.
Sorkin replied, “but,” and trailed off. Musk wasn’t done. “Go fuck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is. Hey, Bob!” Musk said. Musk was apparently addressing Disney CEO Bob Iger, who previously said at the conference that advertising on X “was not necessarily a positive” association and so Disney “decided we would pull our advertising.”
Elon Musk is probably going to shut down X, blame the ad boycott & declare bankruptcy for the company. Or Musk could simply try to declare bankruptcy & keep the site alive (albeit barely).
Either way X alternative platforms like Mastodon, Misskey, Threads & even Tumblr will probably experience a surge of signups in the near future.
With advertisers abandoning Elon Musk’s social network due to the latter’s offensive post, one group from Japan 🇯🇵 will be staying & paying for X ads as it helps them meet their unethical bottom line.
Risa Yamada grew up fatherless and struggled to find consistent work until she stumbled on an intriguing job listing — one of a growing number of advertisements posted on social media by Japanese criminal gangs.
Hired to impersonate a police officer, she thrived, wheedling significant sums of money out of Japan’s many lonely, wealthy and naive elderly people on the phone.
“I didn’t think I could ever work a normal job,” the 27-year-old told a Tokyo court in July before being sentenced to three years in jail. […]
The young woman was far from the only unlikely criminal to be attracted by a yami baito — black-market part-time job — ad on X, formerly Twitter, and other platforms.
This is not the most harrowing story from @thejapantimes as their article (which you should read in its entirety) documents other criminal activities, one of which resulted in the brutal murder of an elderly woman.
Other social networks (like Telegram) are also being used. Still, it appears they are attempting to take steps to counter these criminal activities or (at the very least) respond to media reports when contacted by journalists.
X unfortunately, is numb to the situation as they are ignoring media requests for comment (which is sadly how X treats the media nowadays).
Although this is currently being highlighted in Japan 🇯🇵, it would not be surprising to see other criminal entities from other nations (or worse, even terrorist groups) begin to pay for X ads to recruit naive or desperate individuals to carry out illegal activities.
This video is a few years old (so the info presented could be outdated), but it reveals that the B2 Bomber boasts some impressive technology. However, I am surprised by two uncomfortable facts.
B2 Bomber lacks a refrigerator (which means no delicious food)
The toilet is exposed (there is no privacy!), so you better be very comfortable with your pilot or copilot!
Aside from that, this is an amazing (albeit expensive) military plane.
One of the primary reasons why Threads has forgone entry into nations residing in the European Union 🇪🇺 (as well as the European Economic Area & Switzerland 🇨🇭) was due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which forbids the sharing of user information (especially for advertising purposes) without user consent.
It doesn’t look like Threads collects vast amounts more data than Meta’s other services, and the mere collection wouldn’t get it into trouble. It’s the DMA’s rules around data mixing, or combining all of the data it collects on users to build advertising profiles, that could break the rules. German regulators already ordered the company to stop combining WhatsApp and Instagram data without user consent back in 2019. The DMA would apply similar rules all across Europe, forcing the company to require European users to opt in before their personal information could be combined across platforms.
We announced in August our intention to move people in the EU, EEA and Switzerland to the GDPR legal basis of “Consent” for the purpose of processing data collected on our own platforms for advertising purposes. We made that change to address a number of evolving and emerging regulatory requirements in the region. This includes how our lead data protection regulator in the EU, the Irish Data Protection Commission, is interpreting GDPR following a recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and anticipating the entry into force of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The option for people to purchase a subscription for no ads balances the requirements of European regulators while giving users choice and allowing Meta to continue serving all people in the EU, EEA and Switzerland. In its ruling, the CJEU expressly recognised that a subscription model, like the one we are announcing, is a valid form of consent for an ads funded service.
Meta has yet to reveal whether they will expand the premium ad-free experience to the rest of Earth. Still, the social networking king hopes this new premium option will make it easier for European Instagram users to access Threads.
It will be interesting to see how the @[email protected] responds to Meta’s latest offer, but if the premium option satisfies the European government, it will witness Threads make its first debut in the European Union 🇪🇺, bringing in tens of millions (if not hundreds of millions) of new users to the platform within days.
Note: This would be bad news for X (formally Twitter) as Threads is attempting to replace X / Twitter as the de facto platform for conversations online.
A long time ago, in a pre-COVID place not so far away, there was a politician from the streets who ran on a platform to lower rental prices in New York.
He complained that his constituents could not afford housing because the rent was “too damn high!”
While the video above is hilarious, it mirrors a current problem within the Tumblrverse.
Several months ago, Automattic CEO Matt Mullegnweg revealed that Tumblr struggles to generate meaningful revenue despite its loyal fan base.
According to Mullenweg, Tumblr is spending about $30 million more than it makes each year. This isn’t too surprising, given Tumblr’s history as a company. Founded in 2007, the blogging site was acquired by Yahoo (TechCrunch’s parent company) for $1 billion in 2013. But by 2019, WordPress.com parent Automattic bought Tumblr for just $3 million. Though it has a loyal base of power users, Tumblr has also struggled to grow its daily active users since its infamous porn ban.
So what does Tumblr’s financial woes have to do with its promised future of federation‽ Well, allegedly, the cost of embracing the Fediverse might make activating ActivityPub a pain in the arse!
According to a screenshot by @_jv_ (the former worked at Tumblr), an answer to a question submitted to a current Tumblr engineer may hint at why we might not see Tumblr enter the Fediverse anytime soon due to the “cost of admission.”
serious question, obviously you’re not the best person to talk about mastodon to but like. you reblogging someone that acknowledged that @photomatt said tumblr would implement activitypub; this is closest thing to an official acknowledgement of tumblr activitypub integration on Tumblr. Matt announced it impromptu in a single tweet and never talked about it again. I just assumed it’s been canned now, or at least, significantly delayed, is there a reason activitypub integration was never properly announced on tumblr?
it’s been delayed, but it’s something in our list for @labs and we’re evaluating it. my concern, re: activitypub, is that while federation is a really great idea, it’s never had a good product. it doesn’t really fulfill a widespread need, it’s very niche. nobody is joining threads or bluesky because it will federate someday. so i don’t think it would help grow tumblr at all. actually i think it would likely end up costing more than it makes, which is a concern.
Screenshot of user asking Tumblr Engineer about ActivityPub Activation
Later on, Javi (who worked at Tumblr) confirmed that ActivityPub is (more or less) on the back burner for financial reasons.
i know, I was working for tumblr when the Twitter thing happened and we scrambled to put together a project. I was the one supposed to do all the web UI work. Once my backend counterpart did some initial investigation and scoping, and it became obvious it was a complex task and that it would become a cost center without any chance to generate any cashflow, the project was quietly put on long-term hold.
Note: There were a few more relevant & recent posts on Mastodon, but they will not be displayed here to avoid bruising egos.
Although freely embracing ActivityPub would be ideal, Tumblr should not integrate the technology at the expense of the site itself (after all, they also have bills to pay).
There is no shame in declaring that the Federation is too expensive. Other platforms (Medium, Facebook & Instagram) are also forgoing embracing the Fediverse (probably for similar reasons), & Tumblr’s worth will not decline because they made a fiscally sound decision.
However, if Tumblr still wants to enter the Fediverse, there are a few alternative options available, ranging from “geeky free” to “pay to play.”
ActivityPub 1.0.0 for #WordPress is released today! Activate and your WP blog can now be followed in the fediverse, and receive replies back as comments. Huge props to
Here’s our changelog! The main points are the blog-wide account (before it was only per-author), and the two new Blocks, but tons of bug fixes, a security audit, and compatibility with various networks too. Dotcom is coming very soon!
Tumblr users could create a WordPress Workaround by having content created on Tumblr be automatically (pun not intended) copied upon an inexpensive or free WordPress account that is already a part of the Fediverse.
Another option is for WordPress users to utilize the power of IFTTT (If This, Then That) to copy their posts upon their shiny dot com WordPress sites.
Those with custom domains can have their WordPress blog operate as a subdomain from their Tumblr blog & connect to the Fediverse that way.
Paying The Tumblr Toll
A better option would be for Tumblr to charge a monthly fee (say $5 per month) to activate ActivityPub on their Tumblr blog. As a bonus, paying members would receive an icon declaring their blog is open to the Fediverse, as well as premium support when dealing with spam.
Automattic could also make Fediverse activation an exclusive feature for Tumblr users with custom domains, which would help lessen the appeal for spammers (plus prevent Tumblr’s domain from being blocked due to spam).
What Should Tumblr Do‽
Regardless of Tumblr’s decision, yours truly will continue to use the platform. Hopefully, Tumblr figures out an inexpensive way to activate ActivityPub as the community is one of the few who would fit in perfectly within the Fediverse.
The Fediverse may become flooded with billions of new users over the next six months after the @[email protected] declared that six major tech companies have less than a year to comply or face fines based on global revenues.
The European Commission has today designated, for the first time, six gatekeepers – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft – under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). In total, 22 core platform services provided by gatekeepers have been designated. The six gatekeepers will now have six months to ensure full compliance with the DMA obligations for each of their designated core platform services. […]
The Commission will monitor the effective implementation of and compliance with these obligations. In case a gatekeeper does not comply with the obligations laid down by the DMA, the Commission can impose fines up to 10% of the company’s total worldwide turnover, which can go up to 20% in case of repeated infringement. In case of systematic infringements, the Commission is also empowered to adopt additional remedies such as obliging a gatekeeper to sell a business or parts of it or banning the gatekeeper from acquisitions of additional services related to the systemic non-compliance.
The European Commission provided a list of do’s & don’ts regarding what they consider acceptable from the companies targeted.
Acceptable Behavior
allow third parties to inter-operate with the gatekeeper’s own services in certain specific situations
allow their business users to access the data that they generate in their use of the gatekeeper’s platform
provide companies advertising on their platform with the tools and information necessary for advertisers and publishers to carry out their own independent verification of their advertisements hosted by the gatekeeper
allow their business users to promote their offer and conclude contracts with their customers outside the gatekeeper’s platform
Unacceptable Behavior
treat services and products offered by the gatekeeper itself more favourably in ranking than similar services or products offered by third parties on the gatekeeper’s platform
prevent consumers from linking up to businesses outside their platforms
prevent users from un-installing any pre-installed software or app if they wish so
track end users outside of the gatekeepers’ core platform service for the purpose of targeted advertising, without effective consent having been granted
So What Does This Mean For The Fediverse‽
While the European Commission is focusing on enforcing new rules across various digital industries (messaging platforms, app stores, browsers, advertising, operating systems, etcetera), the fact that they listed five major social networks is a big deal.
The easiest way for social networks like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube to comply with the DMA regulations is to embrace decentralization & data portability.
Although social networks will be free to choose how they will embrace decentralization, it would not be surprising to see social networks adopt ActivityPub (as the latter is already embraced by Meta & friends).
Did You Say Billions‽
The major social networks are actively used by billions of people & according to Statista, each mentioned social network (excluding LinkedIn) has:
While more members in the Fediverse is something to celebrate, the massive influx of new users will probably cause an enormous increase in server costs for Fediverse admins, which will pose a problem for many Fediverse instances (who will need to look at funding alternatives to remain online).
Update: @ilumium provides more clarification regarding the Digital Markets Act & strongly believes these rules will not force social networks to “interoperate” with smaller rivals.
No, unfortunately the #DMA does not force gatekeeper social networks to interoperate even if smaller ones want it.
Despite #DigitalRights groups like @edri fighting for this, there was much political & #lobbying resistance, and now Article 7 DMA on mandatory #interoperability only applies to messaging services, not social networks.
Penfrat links to the full documentation of the policy over here, which is worth reading (in spite of the length).
Note:@rysiek also mentioned this as well (DMA applies to chat apps & not social networks).
Although giants like Facebook, YouTube, etcetera, may not join the Fediverse anytime soon, Instagram might be a possibility as Threads direct messages will be powered by Instagram.
