ceoln @ceoln@qoto.org

Thank you President Biden! 👍👏-ER
In a big step forward for the climate and endangered species, the Biden administration just canceled some oil and gas leases in the Arctic Refuge! This will protect the habitats of birthing caribou and migratory birds and safeguards lands that the Gwich’in people rely on for their livelihood. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the nation’s largest wildlife refuge—it’s no place for oil and gas drilling and the damage it brings.

"Nissan said it could sell information about drivers and passengers’ sexual activity, intelligence and health diagnosis to data brokers, law enforcement agencies and other companies. German manufacturer Volkswagen said it could record drivers’ voices to profile them for targeted ads".

Countless books about our age will be written by the next generations of economists (assuming that there will be some future generations, of course).

They will be puzzled to understand how come data brokerage (i.e. the creepy art of shamelessly stalking everything about everyone's habits) swallowed all the other industries until it became THE only industry that everybody needs to bow to.

Two decades ago I felt disturbed by the scenes of Minority Report that pictures how personalized and invasive the surveillance and ads industry could have been in the future.

Today I don't feel that vision as a far fetched dystopia anymore.

https://www.politico.eu/article/car-manufacturer-data-privacy-driver-passenger-sexual-activity-report/

Exasperatingly frequently necessary reminder that the weaponization of ableism and fatphobia and homophobia and transphobia against your political enemies still works to NORMALIZE those things, thus SYSTEMICALLY HARMING your supposed allies.

"Spinster" denoted unmarried women who spun wool. Highly skilled spinsters were paid enough to afford not to marry. Despite later applied derogatory connotations, it's origin is a word that included independent women who rejected marriage and male partners entirely.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/where-did-spinster-and-bachelor-come-180964879/

#spinning #spinster

photo: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/where-did-spinster-and-bachelor-come-180964879/

whoopsie levels are 23% and rising

(23%) ■■□□□□□□□□

Researchers show how Chrome extensions can steal plaintext passwords for popular sites such as Gmail, Cloudflare, Facebook, etc

In case one thinks this is just for three or four websites, the research measurements showed that from the top 10k websites (as per Tranco), roughly 1,100 are storing user passwords in plain text form within the HTML DOM. Another 7,300 websites from the same ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/researchers-show-how-chrome-extensions-can-steal-plaintext-passwords-for-popular-sites-such-as-gmail-cloudflare-facebook-etc/

#browsers #security #technology

#Garfield #music #LastResort
#bot #lyrics

ICYMI | The ongoing book bans taking place in various school districts and libraries throughout the United States are the handiwork of a vanishingly tiny minority of far-right ideologues:

https://www.truthorfiction.com/only-11-people-responsible-for-majority-of-book-ban-requests/

Things nobody tells you about being homeless:

1) Almost nobody gives a fuck about you if you're homeless. It is seen as a personal failing. It is never seen in a wider context.

2) Not even homelessness assistance agencies give a fuck about you if you're working homeless.

3) Not even leftists aid orgs give a fucking damn about you unless you're not working and you're on the street. Believe me, I tried. They don't care about the working homeless or those who just need a hand up.

4) Pretty much all the homelessness aid that does exist is for addicts on the street.

5) Unless you have friends or family with money, nobody is going to help you escape being stuck in extended stay hotels, which often cost so much you can't get out of them, by design.

6) It is very expensive to be homeless as everything costs far more. Washing clothes, showering, eating, etc. all become very expensive. Even transportation becomes more expensive sometimes, if you're stuck taking taxis or Uber.

7) Virtually all homelessness aid assumes you don't have anyone else with you. If you've got kids or a partner, good luck getting help for them, too.

This blows my mind.
https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

tests are showing cat levels at 58%

(58%) ■■■■■□□□□□

Eventually, if you post enough about your nerdy obsessions, people will start pinging you with news and developments in that area, and I (completely unironically) think that's beautiful

I just had to update my numbers for a lecture, so here's your periodic reminder: Starlink is now 55% of ALL active satellites in orbit.

And given the recent news about that awful billionaire unilaterally deciding to cut of internet access to parts of the world whenever he decides to, this is extra important to share. Why did our governments effectively gift Low Earth Orbit to one awful dude? This is so bad.

Elon Musk secretly used control of his Starlink network to cripple a Ukrainian military operation while it was under way, in defiance of American foreign policy.

He is an oligarch working against U.S. interests, benefitting his fellow oligarchs in Russia. His biographer seems to think this is just Musk being Musk, quirky and idiosyncratic.

#Musk #Ukraine

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/elon-musk-biography-walter-isaacson-ukraine-starlink

I'm looking to buy d6s from Star Trek: Ascendancy by Gale Force 9.

Definitely Federation and Romulan, maybe others depending on the cost.

Anyone got any to sell? Boosting welcome.

#StarTrek #StarTrekAscendancy #boardgames #dice #buying