cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20187958

A prominent computer scientist who has spent 20 years publishing academic papers on cryptography, privacy, and cybersecurity has gone incommunicado, had his professor profile, email account, and phone number removed by his employer Indiana University, and had his homes raided by the FBI. No one knows why.

Xiaofeng Wang has a long list of prestigious titles. He was the associate dean for research at Indiana University's Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, a fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a tenured professor at Indiana University at Bloomington. According to his employer, he has served as principal investigator on research projects totaling nearly $23 million over his 21 years there.

He has also co-authored scores of academic papers on a diverse range of research fields, including cryptography, systems security, and data privacy, including the protection of human genomic data. I have personally spoken to him on three occasions for articles here, here, and here.

"None of this is in any way normal"

In recent weeks, Wang's email account, phone number, and profile page at the Luddy School were quietly erased by his employer. Over the same time, Indiana University also removed a profile for his wife, Nianli Ma, who was listed as a Lead Systems Analyst and Programmer at the university's Library Technologies division.

According to the Herald-Times in Bloomington, a small fleet of unmarked cars driven by government agents descended on the Bloomington home of Wang and Ma on Friday. They spent most of the day going in and out of the house and occasionally transferred boxes from their vehicles. TV station WTHR, meanwhile, reported that a second home owned by Wang and Ma and located in Carmel, Indiana, was also searched. The station said that both a resident and an attorney for the resident were on scene during at least part of the search.

Attempts to locate Wang and Ma have so far been unsuccessful. An Indiana University spokesman didn't answer emailed questions asking if the couple was still employed by the university and why their profile pages, email addresses and phone numbers had been removed. The spokesman provided the contact information for a spokeswoman at the FBI's field office in Indianapolis. In an email, the spokeswoman wrote: "The FBI conducted court authorized law enforcement activity at homes in Bloomington and Carmel Friday. We have no further comment at this time."

Searches of federal court dockets turned up no documents related to Wang, Ma, or any searches of their residences. The FBI spokeswoman didn't answer questions seeking which US district court issued the warrant and when, and whether either Wang or Ma is being detained by authorities. Justice Department representatives didn't return an email seeking the same information. An email sent to a personal email address belonging to Wang went unanswered at the time this post went live. Their resident status (e.g. US citizens or green card holders) is currently unknown.

Fellow researchers took to social media over the weekend to register their concern over the series of events.

"None of this is in any way normal," Matthew Green, a professor specializing in cryptography at Johns Hopkins University, wrote on Mastodon. He continued: "Has anyone been in contact? I hear he’s been missing for two weeks and his students can’t reach him. How does this not get noticed for two weeks???"

In the same thread, Matt Blaze, a McDevitt Professor of Computer Science and Law at Georgetown University said: "It's hard to imagine what reason there could be for the university to scrub its website as if he never worked there. And while there's a process for removing tenured faculty, it takes more than an afternoon to do it."

Local news outlets reported the agents spent several hours moving boxes in an out of the residences. WTHR provided the following details about the raid on the Carmel home:

Neighbors say the agents announced "FBI, come out!" over a megaphone.

A woman came out of the house holding a phone. A video from a neighbor shows an agent taking that phone from her. She was then questioned in the driveway before agents began searching the home, collecting evidence and taking photos.

A car was pulled out of the garage slightly to allow investigators to access the attic.

The woman left the house before 13News arrived. She returned just after noon accompanied by a lawyer. The group of ten or so investigators left a few minutes later.

The FBI would not say what they were looking for or who is under investigation. A bureau spokesperson issued a statement: “I can confirm we conducted court-authorized activity at the address in Carmel today. We have no further comment at this time.”

Investigators were at the house for about four hours before leaving with several boxes of evidence. 13News rang the doorbell when the agents were gone. A lawyer representing the family who answered the door told us they're not sure yet what the investigation is about.

This post will be updated if new details become available. Anyone with first-hand knowledge of events involving Wang, Ma, or the investigation into either is encouraged to contact me, preferably over Signal at DanArs.82. The email address is: dan.goodin@arstechnica.com.

Nine Red Crescent crew members were missing for a week after they came under Israeli fire in Rafah.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says 15 bodies have been found in Rafah, southern Gaza, a week after its first responders came under heavy fire from Israeli forces.

The PRCS said on Sunday that eight of the bodies have been identified as PRCS members, six as members of the Civil Defence, and one as a UN agency employee. One PRCS first responder is still missing.

The group said the those killed “were targeted by the Israeli occupation forces while performing their humanitarian duties as they were heading to the Hashashin area of Rafah to provide first aid to a number of people injured by Israeli shelling in the area”.

“The occupation’s targeting of Red Crescent medics … can only be considered a war crime punishable under international humanitarian law, which the occupation continues to violate before the eyes of the entire world.”

In an earlier statement the Red Crescent said the bodies “were recovered with difficulty as they were buried in the sand, with some showing signs of decomposition”.

PRCS President Younis al-Khatib condemned Israel for targeting its paramedics as they “fulfil their humanitarian mission”.

“Those souls are not mere numbers. If this incident [happened] anywhere else, the whole world would have moved heaven and earth to expose this war crime,” al-Khatib said on Sunday.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20187958

A prominent computer scientist who has spent 20 years publishing academic papers on cryptography, privacy, and cybersecurity has gone incommunicado, had his professor profile, email account, and phone number removed by his employer Indiana University, and had his homes raided by the FBI. No one knows why.

Xiaofeng Wang has a long list of prestigious titles. He was the associate dean for research at Indiana University's Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, a fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a tenured professor at Indiana University at Bloomington. According to his employer, he has served as principal investigator on research projects totaling nearly $23 million over his 21 years there.

He has also co-authored scores of academic papers on a diverse range of research fields, including cryptography, systems security, and data privacy, including the protection of human genomic data. I have personally spoken to him on three occasions for articles here, here, and here.

"None of this is in any way normal"

In recent weeks, Wang's email account, phone number, and profile page at the Luddy School were quietly erased by his employer. Over the same time, Indiana University also removed a profile for his wife, Nianli Ma, who was listed as a Lead Systems Analyst and Programmer at the university's Library Technologies division.

According to the Herald-Times in Bloomington, a small fleet of unmarked cars driven by government agents descended on the Bloomington home of Wang and Ma on Friday. They spent most of the day going in and out of the house and occasionally transferred boxes from their vehicles. TV station WTHR, meanwhile, reported that a second home owned by Wang and Ma and located in Carmel, Indiana, was also searched. The station said that both a resident and an attorney for the resident were on scene during at least part of the search.

Attempts to locate Wang and Ma have so far been unsuccessful. An Indiana University spokesman didn't answer emailed questions asking if the couple was still employed by the university and why their profile pages, email addresses and phone numbers had been removed. The spokesman provided the contact information for a spokeswoman at the FBI's field office in Indianapolis. In an email, the spokeswoman wrote: "The FBI conducted court authorized law enforcement activity at homes in Bloomington and Carmel Friday. We have no further comment at this time."

Searches of federal court dockets turned up no documents related to Wang, Ma, or any searches of their residences. The FBI spokeswoman didn't answer questions seeking which US district court issued the warrant and when, and whether either Wang or Ma is being detained by authorities. Justice Department representatives didn't return an email seeking the same information. An email sent to a personal email address belonging to Wang went unanswered at the time this post went live. Their resident status (e.g. US citizens or green card holders) is currently unknown.

Fellow researchers took to social media over the weekend to register their concern over the series of events.

"None of this is in any way normal," Matthew Green, a professor specializing in cryptography at Johns Hopkins University, wrote on Mastodon. He continued: "Has anyone been in contact? I hear he’s been missing for two weeks and his students can’t reach him. How does this not get noticed for two weeks???"

In the same thread, Matt Blaze, a McDevitt Professor of Computer Science and Law at Georgetown University said: "It's hard to imagine what reason there could be for the university to scrub its website as if he never worked there. And while there's a process for removing tenured faculty, it takes more than an afternoon to do it."

Local news outlets reported the agents spent several hours moving boxes in an out of the residences. WTHR provided the following details about the raid on the Carmel home:

Neighbors say the agents announced "FBI, come out!" over a megaphone.

A woman came out of the house holding a phone. A video from a neighbor shows an agent taking that phone from her. She was then questioned in the driveway before agents began searching the home, collecting evidence and taking photos.

A car was pulled out of the garage slightly to allow investigators to access the attic.

The woman left the house before 13News arrived. She returned just after noon accompanied by a lawyer. The group of ten or so investigators left a few minutes later.

The FBI would not say what they were looking for or who is under investigation. A bureau spokesperson issued a statement: “I can confirm we conducted court-authorized activity at the address in Carmel today. We have no further comment at this time.”

Investigators were at the house for about four hours before leaving with several boxes of evidence. 13News rang the doorbell when the agents were gone. A lawyer representing the family who answered the door told us they're not sure yet what the investigation is about.

This post will be updated if new details become available. Anyone with first-hand knowledge of events involving Wang, Ma, or the investigation into either is encouraged to contact me, preferably over Signal at DanArs.82. The email address is: dan.goodin@arstechnica.com.

A prominent computer scientist who has spent 20 years publishing academic papers on cryptography, privacy, and cybersecurity has gone incommunicado, had his professor profile, email account, and phone number removed by his employer Indiana University, and had his homes raided by the FBI. No one knows why.

Xiaofeng Wang has a long list of prestigious titles. He was the associate dean for research at Indiana University's Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, a fellow at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a tenured professor at Indiana University at Bloomington. According to his employer, he has served as principal investigator on research projects totaling nearly $23 million over his 21 years there.

He has also co-authored scores of academic papers on a diverse range of research fields, including cryptography, systems security, and data privacy, including the protection of human genomic data. I have personally spoken to him on three occasions for articles here, here, and here.

"None of this is in any way normal"

In recent weeks, Wang's email account, phone number, and profile page at the Luddy School were quietly erased by his employer. Over the same time, Indiana University also removed a profile for his wife, Nianli Ma, who was listed as a Lead Systems Analyst and Programmer at the university's Library Technologies division.

According to the Herald-Times in Bloomington, a small fleet of unmarked cars driven by government agents descended on the Bloomington home of Wang and Ma on Friday. They spent most of the day going in and out of the house and occasionally transferred boxes from their vehicles. TV station WTHR, meanwhile, reported that a second home owned by Wang and Ma and located in Carmel, Indiana, was also searched. The station said that both a resident and an attorney for the resident were on scene during at least part of the search.

Attempts to locate Wang and Ma have so far been unsuccessful. An Indiana University spokesman didn't answer emailed questions asking if the couple was still employed by the university and why their profile pages, email addresses and phone numbers had been removed. The spokesman provided the contact information for a spokeswoman at the FBI's field office in Indianapolis. In an email, the spokeswoman wrote: "The FBI conducted court authorized law enforcement activity at homes in Bloomington and Carmel Friday. We have no further comment at this time."

Searches of federal court dockets turned up no documents related to Wang, Ma, or any searches of their residences. The FBI spokeswoman didn't answer questions seeking which US district court issued the warrant and when, and whether either Wang or Ma is being detained by authorities. Justice Department representatives didn't return an email seeking the same information. An email sent to a personal email address belonging to Wang went unanswered at the time this post went live. Their resident status (e.g. US citizens or green card holders) is currently unknown.

Fellow researchers took to social media over the weekend to register their concern over the series of events.

"None of this is in any way normal," Matthew Green, a professor specializing in cryptography at Johns Hopkins University, wrote on Mastodon. He continued: "Has anyone been in contact? I hear he’s been missing for two weeks and his students can’t reach him. How does this not get noticed for two weeks???"

In the same thread, Matt Blaze, a McDevitt Professor of Computer Science and Law at Georgetown University said: "It's hard to imagine what reason there could be for the university to scrub its website as if he never worked there. And while there's a process for removing tenured faculty, it takes more than an afternoon to do it."

Local news outlets reported the agents spent several hours moving boxes in an out of the residences. WTHR provided the following details about the raid on the Carmel home:

Neighbors say the agents announced "FBI, come out!" over a megaphone.

A woman came out of the house holding a phone. A video from a neighbor shows an agent taking that phone from her. She was then questioned in the driveway before agents began searching the home, collecting evidence and taking photos.

A car was pulled out of the garage slightly to allow investigators to access the attic.

The woman left the house before 13News arrived. She returned just after noon accompanied by a lawyer. The group of ten or so investigators left a few minutes later.

The FBI would not say what they were looking for or who is under investigation. A bureau spokesperson issued a statement: “I can confirm we conducted court-authorized activity at the address in Carmel today. We have no further comment at this time.”

Investigators were at the house for about four hours before leaving with several boxes of evidence. 13News rang the doorbell when the agents were gone. A lawyer representing the family who answered the door told us they're not sure yet what the investigation is about.

This post will be updated if new details become available. Anyone with first-hand knowledge of events involving Wang, Ma, or the investigation into either is encouraged to contact me, preferably over Signal at DanArs.82. The email address is: dan.goodin@arstechnica.com.

“I live in an age of fear,” lamented the essayist and author EB White in 1947, after the New York Herald had suggested that all employees be forced to declare their political beliefs to retain their jobs. He was, he insisted, less worried “that there were communists in Hollywood” than to “read your editorial in praise of loyalty testing and thought control”. It is a perspective as vital now as it was then, and as necessary on this side of the Atlantic as in America.

Each I is a finger, V is the thumb and index. X is crossing your index and middle finger.

Summary

Walmart fired Dani Davis, a 6'4" cisgender woman, after a man who mistook her for transgender verbally threatened her in a women’s restroom at a Florida store.

Davis, visibly shaken, reported the March 14 incident to her immediate supervisor but was fired for not informing salaried management, allegedly creating a “security risk.”

Davis called the firing discriminatory. After viral backlash, Walmart offered to reinstate her with back pay.

Davis, a longtime employee, is uncertain about returning, citing fears of a hostile work environment.

In Gaza, human shields are used by Israeli soldiers at least six times a day.

I served in Gaza for nine months, and first came across these procedures, called "mosquito protocol" in December 2023. It was only two months into the ground offensive, long before there was a shortage of dogs from the IDF's canine unit, Oketz, who were used for this purpose. This became the insane, unofficial excuse for this insane, unofficial procedure. I didn't realize then how ubiquitous using human shields, whom we referred to as a "shawish," would become.

Today, almost every platoon keeps a "shawish," and no infantry force enters a house before a "shawish" clears it. This means there are four "shawishes" in a company, twelve in a battalion, and at least 36 in a brigade. We operate a sub-army of slaves.

I recently saw that the IDF's Military Police Criminal Investigation Division opened six investigations into the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, and my jaw dropped. I've seen cover-ups before, but this is a new low.

If the MPCID wanted to do its job seriously, it would have to open far more than even a thousand investigations. But all the MPCID wants is for us to be able to tell ourselves and the world that we're investigating ourselves, so they've found six scapegoats and are pinning it all on them.

Normale Beschäftigung nachts um 1.

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The original was posted on /r/funny by /u/GPUfollowr77 on 2025-03-30 23:02:45+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/anime by /u/Djramsey on 2025-03-30 19:49:37+00:00.

What are some anime's that admittedly starts off slow but rewards you with an amazing experience either due to getting attached to the cast, plot, etc. For example, one piece comes to mind

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The original was posted on /r/anime by /u/MetaThPr4h on 2025-03-30 18:59:59+00:00.

Title says it all - talk about the anime you watched this past week that are not a part of this Winter 2025 season (like Sakamoto Days or The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Season 2), or a show that's continuing from previous seasons (like Blue Box).

With regards to Fall 2024 shows, however, it would be fine to write about them as long as you only began them after they finished airing. For example, it's fine to talk about watching Acro Trip or I'll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History if you started them after the final episode aired. Obviously, use your best judgement on this.

Please use spoiler tags; it's super simple stuff. An example below:

    [KonoSuba Ep 9] >!"THIS WAS A VERY BAD EPISODE, DARKNESS DID NOT DESERVE THAT!<

comes out to be [KonoSuba Ep 9] "THIS WAS A VERY BAD EPISODE, DARKNESS DID NOT DESERVE THAT

Last week's thread | All threads

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The original was posted on /r/anime by /u/LittleIslander on 2025-03-30 21:02:08+00:00.

There was definitely sufficient interest in the Interest Thread, so Nadia is full steam(punk) ahead!

| Index | Episode 1 → | |

|

|

Watch Information

• Start Date: April 13th, 2025
• End Date: May 27th, 2025
• Thread Time: 5:00PM EDT | 9:00PM UTC
• Streaming: [Retrocrush](https://www.retrocrush.tv/details/1000000009651/Nadia:-The-Secret-of-Blue-Water-(Original-Japanese) | [Retrocrush (Dub)](https://www.retrocrush.tv/details/1000000009652/Nadia:-The-Secret-of-Blue-Water-(English-Dubbed) | Apple TV+.
• Streaming (Movie & Specials): No Legal Streams Available
• Databases: MAL | Anilist | ANN | aniDB
• Databases (Movie): MAL | Anilist | ANN | aniDB
• Databases (Specials): MAL | Anilist

Schedule and Index

| Episode Number | Episode Title | Date | |

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|

| | 01 | The Girl at the Eiffel Tower / エッフェル塔の少女 | April 13th, 2025 | | 02 | The Little Fugitives / 小さな逃亡者 | April 14th, 2025 | | 03 | The Riddle of the Giant Sea Monsters / 謎の大海獣 | April 15th, 2025 | | 04 | Nautilus, The Fantastic Submarine / 万能潜水艦ノーチラス号 | April 16th, 2025 | | 05 | Marie's Island / マリーの島 | April 17th, 2025 | | 06 | Infiltration of the Secret Base / 孤島の要塞 | April 18th, 2025 | | 07 | The Tower of Babel / バベルの塔 | April 19th, 2025 | | 08 | Mission to Rescue Nadia / ナディア救出作戦 | April 20th, 2025 | | 09 | Nemo's Secret / ネモの秘密 | April 21st, 2025 | | 10 | A Crowning Performance by the Gratan / グラタンの活躍 | April 22nd, 2025 | | 11 | New Recruits for the Nautilus / ノーチラス号の新入生 | April 23rd, 2025 | | 12 | Grandis and Her First Love / グランディスの初恋 | April 24th, 2025 | | 13 | Run, Marie, Run! / 走れ！マリー | April 25th, 2025 | | 14 | The Valley of Dinicthys / ディニクチスの谷 | April 26th, 2025 | | 15 | The Nautilus Faces Its Biggest Crisis / ノーチラス最大の危機 | April 27th, 2025 | | 16 | The Mystery of the Lost Continent / 消えた大陸の秘密 | April 28th, 2025 | | 17 | Jean's New Invention / ジャンの新発明 | April 29th, 2025 | | 18 | Nautilus vs. Nautilus / ノーチラス対ノーチラス号 | April 30th, 2025 | | 19 | Nemo's Best Friend / ネモの親友 | May 1st, 2025 | | 20 | Jean Makes a Mistake / ジャンの失敗 | May 2nd, 2025 | | 21 | Farewell... Nautilus / さよなら…ノーチラス号 | May 3rd, 2025 | | 22 | Electra the Traitor / 裏切りのエレクトラ | May 4th, 2025 | | 23 | Young Drifters / 小さな漂流者 | May 5th, 2025 | | 24 | Lincoln Island / リンカーン島 | May 6th, 2025 | | 25 | The First Kiss / はじめてのキス | May 7th, 2025 | | 26 | The Lonely King / ひとりぼっちのキング | May 8th, 2025 | | 27 | The Island of the Witch / 魔女のいる島 | May 9th, 2025 | | 28 | The Floating Island / 流され島 | May 10th, 2025 | | 29 | King vs. King / キング対キング | May 11th, 2025 | | 30 | Labyrinth in the Earth / 地底の迷路 | May 12th, 2025 | | 31 | Farewell, Red Noah / さらば、レッドノア | May 13th, 2025 | | 32 | Nadia's First Love...? / ナディアの初恋…? | May 14th, 2025 | | 33 | King's Rescue / キング救助作戦 | May 15th, 2025 | | 34 | My Darling Nadia ♥ (Series Recap) / いとしのナディア♥（総集編 | May 16th, 2025 | | 35 | The Secret of Blue Water / ブルー・ウォーターの秘密 | May 17th, 2025 | | 36 | The New Nautilus / 万能戦艦Ν-ノーチラス号 | May 18th, 2025 | | 37 | Emperor Neo / ネオ皇帝 | May 19th, 2025 | | 38 | To the Sky… / 宇宙（そら）へ… | May 20th, 2025 | | 39 | Successor to the Stars… / 星を継ぐ者… | May 21st, 2025 | | Movie | Nadia: The Secret to Blue Water - The Motion Picture | May 25th, 2025 | | OVA | Nadia Specials | May 26th, 2025 | | N/A | Series Discussion | May 27th, 2025 |

Please be mindful of all spoilers!

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The original was posted on /r/funny by /u/No_Boysenberry4755 on 2025-03-30 22:33:46+00:00.