July 07, 2019
More on D-Live
A few months ago we embedded a video concerning the YouTube alternative D-Live, which emerged in the wake of the YouTube-purge before-last as a free speech platform based on blockchain technology.
The video took the position that D-Live was not just a new and untested platform, it was a scam. Since then there has been some walkback around the web including by the fellow who made that video.
In the wake of his retraction and apology, SFO recently conducted an interview with Allen Chan, one of the founders(and current Director of Growth) of D-Live.
In the course of the interview, which was conducted by Direct Message, SFO established that D-Live is not at all the scam people initially feared it was.
It's far worse.
In the interest of data redundancy, the full conversation is screen capped here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
SPECULATION:
D-Live is a Chinese company and given the situation with the Orwellian TOS's of China affiliated (and China curious) companies, I suspect that in addition to the issues noted in the video, D-Live is a sort of honey-pot phishing scheme. The company's marketing appeals to people with eclectic views who seek to avoid walking on eggshells and risking demonetization/deplatforming. All the while D-Live is Hoovering up all their critical data (identities, credit card and routing numbers) of a self selected cross section of the sorts of people that want to maintain anonymity and have views that are likely to get them banned, brigaded, and demonetized, and that data, collated in one place is a commodity in and of itself, being of the greatest value to the worst people.
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A Small Bit of Encouragement
Just click here.
"Our fears of impending Molotov cocktails may be overblown."
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July 06, 2019
Given My Current Lack of a Computer...
It makes sense that I ought to look into automatic content generation.
My contribution in bold...
The re-entry capsule was shaking like a paint mixer as Christine punched impotently at the now black touch screen. The blood droplets that had hung in the air were now red rivulets running off her facemask. Callahan's corpse was pressed against the floor with his lifeless leg now draped across her torso, 3 times as heavy as it should be. Christine took a moment to note that there seemed to be far more blood in the capsule than ought to have been accounted for by such a little man, when a loud pop shook her from her contemplation and all that blood began to foam and boil. Her heart nearly broke but didn't at first. It took a minute later. "Christ, do you hear that?" the other woman cried. The smell of dead animal was overpowering at that rate. Christine nodded. The liquid of her life was dripping down her body to the floor, pouring right and left. "We can keep moving forward if you please, Christine," Callahan replied. It dawned on Christine that maybe he couldn't hear her when she was calling him names. "I do not think you're listening," he told her. "But if you hear me," she repeated, trying to drown out the pounding in her chest and head, "I'm getting off your back; get out of here. Please, you are not listening to me, callah
Hmmm....not quite as genre savvy as I'd like.
(H/T Don)
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Oh Wow. That's a Take.
Full disclosure.
It appears that the staff of the Extra Credits YouTube channel have gone mad.
Jeremy over at The Quartering has an analysis of what may be the dumbest take in quite a while on video game skins.
We've linked to Extra Credits previously.
We are sorry.
Note that back then, StargazerA5 did warn us in the comments that the Channel in question was exhibiting the initial signs of madness.
Watching a movie where the bad guys win does not make you cheer real life criminals. The reason is very simple, those things are not real life. Real life is people like Andy Ngo being beat up by a bunch of masked thugs. The mainstream media and left wing activist cheering these cowards on, that will turn people into Nazis long before any video game.
I'm no longer linking directly to the video in question, it's embedded in the last link if you must see it.
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"I Don't Need to Worry. I Use a VPN."
Oh.
According to Computer weekly, it seems that a third of VPNs are owned by the Chi-Coms.
But wait. There's more:
For example, seven of the top VPN services are owned by Gaditek, based in Pakistan. This means the Pakistani government can legally access any data without a warrant and data can also be freely handed over to foreign institutions, according to VPNpro.
I don't know why this surprised me in the least, since any service offering internet anonymity is the obvious thing for a surveillance state to get involved in infiltrating.
So. Do any of the tech savy readers here have any specific recommendations for Virtual Private Networks they know are solid?
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July 04, 2019
NEAT! (Maybe)
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Still Don't Have a Computer
Video is tangentially related.
Also:
I'm pondering a switch from Apple to Raspberry.
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Happy 4th!
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June 30, 2019
YC-9
Remember BoatyMcBoatface? Well, Hi-Point didn't.
Behold, the YC-9.
Disclaimers: May not be strictly accurate representation of referenced weapon.
Art by Danielle Brindle
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STD Abridged
Dumb.
But less dumb than the dumb it's referencing.
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APB (Update)
FINAL UPDATE : Sad news, she's gone.
22 years old is too short a time for anyone. May she rest in peace.
Sincerest condolences to Anna.
******************************************************
Previous iterations of this post and its updates are below.
more...
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PROGRAMMING NOTICE
When I tried to cut my iMac on this morning it did not respond.
I think the machine's credulity circuit melted.
In any event, it appears that it is an xMac.
Posting is going to be spotty.
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It's Not the Thing Itself That Fills Me With Dread...It's the Hushed, Deferential Silence
Slow clap for the title.
This fellow is not always my cup of tea, but he nails it here.
Slow clap for the title.
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June 28, 2019
Random Thimgs
Someone takes a moment from twirling his broomhandled mustache long enough to provide an interesting review of Innocents Abroad .
Dustbury points us to ...this...
Pixy doesn't seem to know what 'unexpectedly' means, but he does provide us with this....
...which tells us nothing, but certainly has my attention.
Pete notes what appears to be a cunningly executed trap.
J.Greely seems to be a deeply problematic individual whose tastes are not global at all.
And that's OK.
Dustbury points us to ...this...
Soon!
Scott Lowther gives a shout out to Tabletop Whale, a really interesting art of science page that is the exact opposite of the cringey dumpster fire one expects from 'STEAM'. ...which tells us nothing, but certainly has my attention.
Pete notes what appears to be a cunningly executed trap.
J.Greely seems to be a deeply problematic individual whose tastes are not global at all.
And that's OK.
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LOL
Take with a grain of salt, it is after all, Google, but this is rich.
I suspect that the reason Fauxcahontas is at the top of the search queries The Sooner State (and nowhere else) is not reflective of any groundswell of affection for her by the locals.
Gabbard must have done pretty well though.
I suspect that the reason Fauxcahontas is at the top of the search queries The Sooner State (and nowhere else) is not reflective of any groundswell of affection for her by the locals.
Gabbard must have done pretty well though.
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June 24, 2019
Style Guide
Houtengeki provides us with a convenient visual representation of today's fast-evolving terminology.
Global Elf
more...
Global Elf
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June 23, 2019
Even the Stupidest Stories Can lead Us To Worrisome Truths
In bowels of the previous post we snarked briefly about that Tifa non-troversey and how it was distracting from potentially worrisome issues with the game. That post hyper-linked to an article that had the character designer explaining that the decision was forced on him by the company ethics department in order to conform to 'Global Standards". Curious as to what "Global Standards" were, our crack team of fact checkers did a cursory search and lo-and behold it's a thing.
Interestingly, this policy was implemented by Sony in in 2018, which was about the same time that a wave of censorious shenanigans descended upon the internet in various places. That timeframe is significant because looking for info on "Global Standards"turned up this rather long but fascinating article at Medium, which deserves your full attention.
This explains a couple of things like why Patreon and Tumblr suddenly got all wonky regards adult content and still can't seem to define it consistently. Note that Stripe, is believed to have been the payment processor mentioned in the Matt Christensen video and transcript of his interaction with Patreon customer service after the second series of their purges last year, and Stripe and PayPal attempted to shut down SubscribeStar when it presented itself as an alternative.
It gets worse...
This, of course has far worse implication than the silly notion that "Global" beauty standards are actually being set by insecure members of the CCP's "50 Cent Army".
The article goes on to discuss how this has affected Reddit, Discord, Tumbler, Apple, Google, You-Tube, Steam and the development of the Playstation4, before taking a deep dive into the Chinese influence on various payment processors, how this is tied to Xi Jinping's modern version of The Little Red Book and the dire implications of any TOS that has a "Reactionism" clause.
Also: Epic Games is cancer. (But we knew that)
Of course, this is not entirely the CCP's fault.
Again; read the whole thing. Be warned, it's long. Medium estimates 30 minutes, but as I kept cross-checking stuff It took me a bit over 90. It was worth every minute. Joe B. did yeoman's work on this.
The payments processing situation with regard to free speech has been brought up a lot of late, but it bears repeating as it is beginning to look like this is the biggest issue facing freedom of speech.
This dovetails nicely into Dev's latest video...
...and should remind us that the Chinese social credit system is not just a problem for the Chinese people.
Note that the CTV article referenced in the video mentions that Libra will be backed by
I'm pretty sure the U.S. isn't investing in this so I imagine those government securities will include a lot of Yuan.
Dev's video also clarifies a widespread misconception about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, that EFF seems to share.
Anyway, watch the whole video, it's worth the 20 minutes.
Take heart; The situation is grim but not hopeless, and we are far better served to be aware of what's arrayed against us than to be ignorant of what lurks in the dark.
Also, I apologize to anybody, who, having read the first paragraph, read through the entire post thinking they were going to get boobs.
Interestingly, this policy was implemented by Sony in in 2018, which was about the same time that a wave of censorious shenanigans descended upon the internet in various places. That timeframe is significant because looking for info on "Global Standards"turned up this rather long but fascinating article at Medium, which deserves your full attention.
Let’s take this timeline for example; In, July of 2017, Stripe announces a partnership with Chinese Companies WeChat (Tencent) and AliPay. What happened less than a quarter of a year later? Well, Patreon (who as stated earlier relies on Stripe for processing), had their guidelines updated with further scrutiny paid to adult content, seemingly out of nowhere. As time went on, Patreon would be on and off with the adult content they allowed, eventually allowing it as long as the outward page being presented was not itself explicit. The NSFW community on the site was left in a cloud of doubt about what the official position was when it came to terms of service; much akin to what is currently happening on platforms like Steam. Are there any other examples of this, however? The archived list we used notes that Circle, which was at one point accepting of this content, apparently changed their mind.
This explains a couple of things like why Patreon and Tumblr suddenly got all wonky regards adult content and still can't seem to define it consistently. Note that Stripe, is believed to have been the payment processor mentioned in the Matt Christensen video and transcript of his interaction with Patreon customer service after the second series of their purges last year, and Stripe and PayPal attempted to shut down SubscribeStar when it presented itself as an alternative.
It gets worse...
...there’s been an oddly increasing number of incidents related to so-called "problematic content†being stripped from or outright barred from a number of sites. However, when looking into it deeper, there seems to be a simple, central trait shared by all of these incidents; Chinese Investment, or entrance into the Chinese Market. All of this also corresponds to reports that cross-border investment from China is reaching new levels, as there is proof of China actively attempting to move their money overseas. What’s terrifying about this revelation is, as you’ll see, the issue with censorship does not come simply from Chinese companies buying out firms so they can censor them; it comes, sometimes, from companies simply wanting to expand into the Chinese market themselves, and be compliant in doing so.
This, of course has far worse implication than the silly notion that "Global" beauty standards are actually being set by insecure members of the CCP's "50 Cent Army".
The article goes on to discuss how this has affected Reddit, Discord, Tumbler, Apple, Google, You-Tube, Steam and the development of the Playstation4, before taking a deep dive into the Chinese influence on various payment processors, how this is tied to Xi Jinping's modern version of The Little Red Book and the dire implications of any TOS that has a "Reactionism" clause.
Also: Epic Games is cancer. (But we knew that)
Of course, this is not entirely the CCP's fault.
On one hand essentially, tech firms are bending over to please the ideals of the Xi Jinping Doctrine, in hopes of courting favor with the party — leading to their eventual approval to begin operations within China.
On the other hand, tech firms are pleasing the ideals of the Xi Jinping Doctrine — without being told to, simply because they already ideologically align.
Again; read the whole thing. Be warned, it's long. Medium estimates 30 minutes, but as I kept cross-checking stuff It took me a bit over 90. It was worth every minute. Joe B. did yeoman's work on this.
The payments processing situation with regard to free speech has been brought up a lot of late, but it bears repeating as it is beginning to look like this is the biggest issue facing freedom of speech.
This dovetails nicely into Dev's latest video...
...and should remind us that the Chinese social credit system is not just a problem for the Chinese people.
Note that the CTV article referenced in the video mentions that Libra will be backed by
"bank deposits and government securities in currencies from stable and reputable central banks."
I'm pretty sure the U.S. isn't investing in this so I imagine those government securities will include a lot of Yuan.
Dev's video also clarifies a widespread misconception about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, that EFF seems to share.
Anyway, watch the whole video, it's worth the 20 minutes.
Take heart; The situation is grim but not hopeless, and we are far better served to be aware of what's arrayed against us than to be ignorant of what lurks in the dark.
Also, I apologize to anybody, who, having read the first paragraph, read through the entire post thinking they were going to get boobs.
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Gracious! It's Just Like an Isekai Show
Oh good. My login works in this universe. Fancy that.
So. Due to automotive problems and some ill-considered decisions, I have, for the last four days, been in a North Carolina swamp with spotty cell-phone connectivity and no internet whatsoever.
Today, after returning "home" I've discovered that I've returned not to my home, but someplace....else.
It's a dystopian alternate universe where Facebook is actually issuing its own online currency with the backing of multinational corporations, some of whom have a reputation of freezing the bank accounts of people they find politically suspect. This will make the Chinese Sesame Credit System a reality throughout the U.S.A. and the world...like it's some Walter John Williams novel.
In this dark reflection of my world, the news media is CREDULOUSLY reporting that cellphones are causing young people to grow horns out of their heads. Weekly World News must not exist in this universe...(checks Wikipedia)....aaand it went out of business here in 2007.
On the one hand "Yay! Draphs!" on the other hand....Bullshit. Surely it's bullshit? (does a modicum of checking) Yes it's bullshit.
In THIS reality the anti-war left is catatonic with rage that Trump...did...not...start a full blown war...
This grimdark science fiction novel has the poorly written, mustache-twirling, cruel and decadent aristocrats in the cities cutting off power to those in the rural areas just as the hottest days of the years approach...no doubt to maximize the impact of loosing refrigeration, air conditioning and access to home medical equipment.
In this sequel to Harrison Bergeron a beautiful, strong, competent, independent, heroic, mixed-race woman was forced to get a partial mastectomy because the Handicapper General demanded it so that the woman would meet approved global beauty standards.
Akshually that last paragraph consists mostly of snark as the non-story is not, in itself, of any importance...This most inconsequential of udder utter non-issues only becomes an issue because the media in this Orwellian Hellscape I find myself trapped in is, for some reason, literally trying to tell us that this non-event is not happening and that the new design has exactly the same bra size as the old...we're not seeing what we're seeing because 2+2=5.
The actual character design of this Tifa cosplayer is gorgeous (a 9/10 or better if one needs a numerical representation), it's like the Megacorps of this alternate world are hyping largely non-existent outrage in order to distract from the fact that the game is being released in 3 to 5 separate games, over years, looks very much like it may have pay to win issues, will be entirely online and fully embraces the media-as-a-service cancer to the extent that no one will ever really be able to own their game and will always be at risk for loosing it if one crosses the ever changing threshold on speech standards.
In this world, far from being over, the Jussie Smollet case is just getting started.
It seems that Kaiju are real here: The Kyushu shinkansen nework was taken out by a single slug.
This universe seems to have diverged from mine around 1984, because here Atari has a new console coming out.
So. I find myself trapped in an alternate, and slightly crazier world
However, this worlds version of my blog (curiously) is unchanged.
Perhaps this isn't really an isekai situation.
After all. All those years of wasting my life on comic books, video games and playing D&D didn't prepare me for squat in this place..
So. Due to automotive problems and some ill-considered decisions, I have, for the last four days, been in a North Carolina swamp with spotty cell-phone connectivity and no internet whatsoever.
Today, after returning "home" I've discovered that I've returned not to my home, but someplace....else.
It's a dystopian alternate universe where Facebook is actually issuing its own online currency with the backing of multinational corporations, some of whom have a reputation of freezing the bank accounts of people they find politically suspect. This will make the Chinese Sesame Credit System a reality throughout the U.S.A. and the world...like it's some Walter John Williams novel.
In this dark reflection of my world, the news media is CREDULOUSLY reporting that cellphones are causing young people to grow horns out of their heads. Weekly World News must not exist in this universe...(checks Wikipedia)....aaand it went out of business here in 2007.
On the one hand "Yay! Draphs!" on the other hand....Bullshit. Surely it's bullshit? (does a modicum of checking) Yes it's bullshit.
In THIS reality the anti-war left is catatonic with rage that Trump...did...not...start a full blown war...
This grimdark science fiction novel has the poorly written, mustache-twirling, cruel and decadent aristocrats in the cities cutting off power to those in the rural areas just as the hottest days of the years approach...no doubt to maximize the impact of loosing refrigeration, air conditioning and access to home medical equipment.
In this sequel to Harrison Bergeron a beautiful, strong, competent, independent, heroic, mixed-race woman was forced to get a partial mastectomy because the Handicapper General demanded it so that the woman would meet approved global beauty standards.
Akshually that last paragraph consists mostly of snark as the non-story is not, in itself, of any importance...This most inconsequential of udder utter non-issues only becomes an issue because the media in this Orwellian Hellscape I find myself trapped in is, for some reason, literally trying to tell us that this non-event is not happening and that the new design has exactly the same bra size as the old...we're not seeing what we're seeing because 2+2=5.
The actual character design of this Tifa cosplayer is gorgeous (a 9/10 or better if one needs a numerical representation), it's like the Megacorps of this alternate world are hyping largely non-existent outrage in order to distract from the fact that the game is being released in 3 to 5 separate games, over years, looks very much like it may have pay to win issues, will be entirely online and fully embraces the media-as-a-service cancer to the extent that no one will ever really be able to own their game and will always be at risk for loosing it if one crosses the ever changing threshold on speech standards.
In this world, far from being over, the Jussie Smollet case is just getting started.
It seems that Kaiju are real here: The Kyushu shinkansen nework was taken out by a single slug.
This universe seems to have diverged from mine around 1984, because here Atari has a new console coming out.
So. I find myself trapped in an alternate, and slightly crazier world
However, this worlds version of my blog (curiously) is unchanged.
Perhaps this isn't really an isekai situation.
After all. All those years of wasting my life on comic books, video games and playing D&D didn't prepare me for squat in this place..
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June 18, 2019
2 Million
That's how many people need to march to get the Chinese government to pause and reflect.
I did not see this outcome, and I am happy to be wrong.
It's no doubt a short reprieve, but that the citizens of a city of 8million could achieve this in the face of a a totalitarian nation of 1 and a half billion is nothing short of amazing. Outnumbered about 180 to 1, they successfully staved off further erosion of their liberties. This should serve as both an inspiration and moment of humiliating self-reflection to those of us whose political movements have yielded liberties for generations in the face of similarly minded totalitarians, but at odds of roughly 1:1.
Cdr. Salamander has been following this shamefully under-reported story and, as always, his take on it is well worth your time to read the whole thing.
Finally, there's this....
I did not see this outcome, and I am happy to be wrong.
It's no doubt a short reprieve, but that the citizens of a city of 8million could achieve this in the face of a a totalitarian nation of 1 and a half billion is nothing short of amazing. Outnumbered about 180 to 1, they successfully staved off further erosion of their liberties. This should serve as both an inspiration and moment of humiliating self-reflection to those of us whose political movements have yielded liberties for generations in the face of similarly minded totalitarians, but at odds of roughly 1:1.
Cdr. Salamander has been following this shamefully under-reported story and, as always, his take on it is well worth your time to read the whole thing.
Finally, there's this....
Behold: The exact opposite of Antifa
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June 17, 2019
More Musk Magic
This tweet means something, but the tweet's existence suggests it means something other than what is tweeted.
This tweet means something, but the tweet's existence suggests it means something other than what is tweeted.
"Oh please. This is Obviously a demonstration of the...(something-something)...capabilities of Starlink."
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