Infosec.Pub

Donald Trump has claimed there have been talks between the United States and Iran over the past day in which the two sides had “major points of agreement”, appearing to avert a potentially severe escalation of the conflict.

Tehran has denied the claim, in which Trump also speculated that a deal could soon be done to end the war. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said no talks had been held with the US since the bombing campaign began 24 days ago.

Trump’s threat at the weekend to “hit and obliterate” Iran’s power stations and energy infrastructure if Tehran did not allow shipping to move freely through the strait of Hormuz, and Iran’s threat to destroy infrastructure across the Middle East in retaliation, had raised fears of a deepening conflict and global economic crisis.

New online accounts on Polymarket platform betting a total of $70,000 suggest ‘some degree of inside info’

Several accounts on the online platform Polymarket laid bets on a US-Iran ceasefire over the weekend that appeared to show signs of insider knowledge, according to experts.

Eight accounts, all newly created around 21 March, bet a total of nearly $70,000 (£52,000) on there being a ceasefire. They stand to make nearly $820,000 if such a deal is reached before 31 March.

An account that made the same bet was created shortly before the US struck Iran on 28 February. It also placed a winning bet on those strikes, which raised similar questions around insider trading, and so far has bet on nothing else.

The new accounts all appear to have been created late last week, around the time when the US president, Donald Trump, appeared to first double down on war with Iran, then suggest in an after-markets Truth Social post that he was considering “winding down” military operations.

17-03-2026

"The extension of the voluntary monitoring of private communication on the internet by online platforms in the EU has failed. Negotiators from EU states and the parliament could not agree on a compromise, as a spokeswoman for the Cypriot Council Presidency announced on Monday.

note# since it seems on the agenda again and most links don't share any updates on the complicated legislation. Here's a recent & imo reliable update.

The era of reliability begins... right after this out-of-band patch

Leaked "DarkSword" exploits published to GitHub allow hackers and cybercriminals to target iPhone users running old versions of iOS with spyware, according to cybersecurity researchers.

For those unaware: algorithmic pricing is the practice of using data about a user to change how much to charge them. For example if a company buys your data and realizes that you just got paid, or that you’re that you’re really desperate for whatever product, or whatever, then they will charge you more. Usually this is done by a company requiring you to download an app so that you can “see” the prices, though it can be done more inconspicuously with online shopping.

This practice is becoming common in some areas. So its good to hear that Manitoba will be the first jurisdiction in Canada to outlaw the practice.

cross-posted from: https://quokk.au/c/flippanarchy/p/777000/infinite-money

“It’s impossible to get a single right answer that is consistent throughout each support agent,” said Sloot, who lives in Toronto.

Sloot is one of more than a dozen customers with whom Marketplace has spoken who say they are frustrated with the poor customer service they received from Canada’s big three telecoms: Rogers, Bell and Telus. Complaints include long hold times, multiple transfers and escalations, dropped calls and overall poor communication, which can make seemingly simple issues take days or weeks to get sorted.

Employees at two of the largest telecom companies, Rogers and Telus, told Marketplace that frontline customer service representatives have less incentive to help issue credits or lower bills, and said they’re measured on their abilities to increase customers’ bills.

It comes as complaints against telecoms reached an all-time high last year, with more than 23,000 complaints filed with the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS), the majority of them relating to billing issues like incorrect monthly charges and missing credits. Meanwhile, in Spain, a new law is looking to cap how long customers have to wait when addressing similar issues — and some say Canada should take note.

'The system is designed to frustrate as many people as possible'

Tenumah believes Bell is following a pattern he has seen many times before. “The system is designed to frustrate as many people as possible,” he said. “Part of the design is that people will give up so that [companies] don't have to incur that expense.”

Reps encouraged to increase customer’s bills: insiders

It’s not just consumers who are frustrated — some telecom employees are, too. Marketplace has spoken confidentially to several current employees of Telus and Rogers, whose identities we are concealing because they fear professional repercussions.

Marketplace spoke to a Rogers worker who takes escalation calls and supports frontline agents. He said those employees' ability to help customers, including by issuing credits, is "decreasing constantly."

A longtime customer service representative with Telus said similarly.

“When I first started, we listened to customers, we appreciated them. I never had any hesitation reducing someone’s bill.”

Now, she says she’s monitored on the number of credits she issues. She says credits of a certain level have to be approved by a manager, and her scorecard is affected negatively if she lowers a customer’s bill.

Another Telus employee, a technician, said he has high sales targets to meet and he’s expected to upsell customers when he arrives at their home to install or fix equipment.

Spanish law limits wait times to three minutes or face fines

In late December 2025, Spain passed a law introducing mandatory customer service standards for telecoms and other large companies with more than 250 employees. It stipulates that customer calls must be answered within three minutes, 95 per cent of the time.

“This will be a revolution, in that it's a small thing, but will change the everyday life of millions of consumers,” said Pablo Bustinduy, the Spanish consumer affairs minister.

Under the new law, which goes into effect within the next year, customer complaints must also be resolved within 15 days, or five if it involves “improper charges.” Non-compliant companies could be fined up to 100,000 euros.

Josée Bidal Thibault, commissioner and CEO of the CCTS encourages Canadians to file a complaint if they can’t get resolution through their telecom.

I've added this image-based direct link to help folks here have an easier line send a 🖕 to your service provider if they've been screwing you over.

When the CRTC, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, allowed the Rogers Shaw acquisition to go though on March 24, 2022, I knew that enshitification was inevitable at that point.

I'm hoping that enough folks are tired and frustrated with the frankly shit service that we get, enough so to bring this to Mark Carney to do something about it.

It really doesn't make sense for Canada, a first world country, to have such shit internet service.
As a Canadian Korean, I often look at South Korea and wonder just why fellow Canadians here have to deal with this hostile system when really it doesn't have to be like this. I'm tired of this and I'm hoping others feel the same.

How nice of them to put them all together conviently like that for Ukraine.

A ViVeTool workaround still works for now.

Adding to the recent controversy surrounding Intel Arc GPU support—or lack thereof—in Crimson Desert, gamers recently flagged a very peculiar in-game painting, among other assets, as evidence of use of generative AI in the game. The image depicted a battlefield filled with cavalry, but many of the soldiers and their horses were blended into one another, and there were general inconsistencies in the image that stood out as being AI-generated. Despite the almost obvious use of generative AI, Pearl Abyss did not use Steam's generative AI disclosure on the Crimson Desert store page. Now, three days after the AI-generated in-game art was discovered, Pearl Abyss has issued a statement, via the @CrimsonDesert_ account on X, acknowledging that it was AI-generated but also claiming that the artwork was not meant to make it into the final game.

Community is what you make it. I've been fortunate enough to have great neighbors

The Inmo Go 3 has a camera cover that speaks volumes about smart glasses right now.

The Trump administration will pay $1 billion to a French company to walk away from two U.S. offshore wind leases as the administration ramps up its campaign against offshore wind and other renewable energy.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.npr.org/2026/03/23/g-s1-114868/trump-totalenergies-offshore-wind-leases

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.