A criminally underrated line of foreshadowing in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is this:
“The coats were rather too big for them so that they came down to their heels and looked more like royal robes than coats when they had put them on.”
I just love that image. Right at the start, Lewis tells us that these four children look like kings and queens, and I think too often we just skip over it.
I want an online quiz that assigns you a hobbit family last name. Are you a Baggins? A Took? I want fist fights over who is assigned what in true fellowship fashion.
what’s really ironic about the “just let everyone get infected w covid!! herd immunity!!” arguments now is that letting the virus run rampant through the world has actually achieved the opposite: everyone may get infected, but then they’ll just keep getting infected. delta infections didn’t protect against the original omicron variant. omicron BA.1 doesn’t protect you against BA.2.12.1. none of them really protect you against BA.4 and BA.5. mass infection is not going to create mass immunity, it just means that with every infection you’re rolling the dice on what this unpredictable and very creative virus is going to do to you
On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission opened its long-anticipated
rulemaking on measures to stop corporations and other commercial actors
from abusing people’s personal data. In June, the agency
announced that it was considering this rulemaking to safeguard privacy
and create protections against algorithmic decision-making that results
in unlawful discrimination. Today it released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPR”)
on the topic. This is the first step in building a formal agency record
for potential regulations that would be based on public comments about
“commercial surveillance and data security practices that harm
consumers.”
In a nutshell, when you use Relay to visit a website or use an app, your
phone will send an encrypted signal to INVISV, which will then pass
that request along to a second relay point which is operated by the
Fastly, a content delivery network. This has the effect of separating
your IP address from your data traffic, with neither INVISV nor Fastly
having all the information required to know which data was sent to which
phone.
[[NOTE: I’m not advocating for this new carrier, I’m just making a note that it exists and will be watching to see how it preforms as it is released]]
“The need for protections against companies’ over-collection and
retention of sensitive data has also come into stark relief as state
prosecutors subpoena tech companies for private information about people
seeking reproductive healthcare information and services.”
“Big Tech has shown again and again that they will choose monetizing user data over protecting individual privacy, and the federal government
has been reluctant to offer serious regulation,” she says. “So if
people want to keep their information private, especially when it comes
to reproductive care, the time to learn the basics of online privacy is
now. Some of my favorite resources are the Our Data Bodies project, the Tech Learning Collective, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.”
[[NOTE: Worth looking at the links in that last paragraph, particularly Our Data Bodies project]]
tiktok age-protects cock jokes unless u send ur drivers license/passport to prove ur over 21. kill everyone now
this is what their support sent me. doesnt help every social media is copying tiktok atm the future of the web looks so grim rn. interent anonymity is in critical condition
I feel like signs like this of where the web is going are the number one sign to delete accounts on sites like TikTok and start using places that prioritize privacy even if their methods are imperfect. Any nugget of privacy you can get is crucial now.
Install duckduckgo and decentraleyes, use signal or element instead of discord for sensitive discussions, try not to post your face or name at all, and if you do don’t do so extensively.
Make a DRM free music repository and for the love of God install an adblocker, hell if you have the free time make your own website and rss feed!
Make the web work for you instead of being a passive product. If a forum or site asked for like my id or passport to prove I was able to register or access parts of it a few years back I would think it’s identity theft, and now it’s just something that people view as fuckin everyday shit. Christ!!!
And uninstall TikTok! Uninstall Facebook Instagram any shit unless u know what you’re getting into and put up several layers to stop tracking. Like. God. Dystopic shit here.
so let me get this straight. hbo aquires sesame street (an educational television show that was publicly broadcasted and free that has impacted millions of children), put it behind a paywall, and has now taken 200+ episodes off of its service which are now effectively “lost”
in all seriousness sesame street is such an important piece of living media. it has been around for DECADES and from day 1 shined the importance of diversity empathy and education for children in a fun way. their mission statement is “Helping Kids Everywhere Grow Smarter, Stronger, and Kinder”. it’s been such an influence for so many people at a formative age. it’s creators made it w the intention that it could be a res source for underprivileged kids and help them prepare for kindergarten. it is meant to be accessible !!!
With that story of the person buying a pregnancy test being sent formula samples in the mail getting traction recently, it needs to be pointed out that this is not new.
With my most recent pregnancy in 2020, I started receiving formula samples in the mail from Similac and Enfamil in my first trimester. My email was quickly passed between pregnancy and baby specific companies and my inbox became flooded with emails advertising countless products and services.
I was harassed by 2 cord blood storage companies after briefly browsing one of their websites. After my baby was diagnosed as terminal, I had a phone conversation with a rep who tried to convince me multiple times to store her cord blood for my future babies.
After Sam was born/died, within a week of my delivery I received a congratulations letter and offer from Gerber Life Insurance in the mail, also without my consent. I continued receiving formula coupons despite reporting her death to the companies multiple times, and even now I receive toddler formula coupons from time to time.
Amazon has tracked my purchases to the point that they know I (should) have a 19 month old and will advertise me toddler and baby things for girls, despite never having linked an AGAB to my Amazon account.
This level of capitalistic surveillance of pregnancy in the US specifically is not new and with the repeal of Roe v. Wade it should terrify you.
