I'm a citizen of Lexington, Kentucky, the United States, the world, and the digital sphere. Politically, I care about equality (and changing structures to support it), elections (that is, making them more fair and representative), and electronics (or, rather, their impact on society).
I am a believing agnostic in Community of Christ with a (mostly) cherished past as a (mostly) literalist Mormon.
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🔗 linkblog: just read 'Twenty-first century swashbucklers: The rise of ethical media piracy | Opinion | kykernel.com'
- kudos:Got some future Pirate Party supporters here at UK. link to ‘Twenty-first century swashbucklers: The rise of ethical media piracy | Opinion | kykernel.com’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'EFF to Supreme Court: Warrantless 24-Hour Video Surveillance Outside Homes Violates Fourth Amendment | Electronic Frontier Foundation'
- kudos:Surveillance is scary. link to ‘EFF to Supreme Court: Warrantless 24-Hour Video Surveillance Outside Homes Violates Fourth Amendment | Electronic Frontier Foundation’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Apple Has Listened And Will Retract Some Harmful Phone-Scanning'
- kudos:Good progress but need more. link to ‘Apple Has Listened And Will Retract Some Harmful Phone-Scanning’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Menace, as a Political Tool, Enters the Republican Mainstream - The New York Times'
- kudos:Truly frightening. link to ‘Menace, as a Political Tool, Enters the Republican Mainstream - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read '24 UK employees placed on leave for breaking COVID policy | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Glad local reporters are looking into this; when the measures were announced, I was wondering what responses would be. link to ‘24 UK employees placed on leave for breaking COVID policy | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'The Secret to a Better Internet? Post Less, Chat More. - The New York Times'
- kudos:Interesting argument. I will say that having a running Keybase chat with distant friends has been terribly helpful during the pandemic. link to ‘The Secret to a Better Internet? Post Less, Chat More. - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Sen. Josh Hawley claims without evidence that liberals are attacking masculinity : NPR'
- kudos:Du Mez is the perfect person to respond to this. Fwiw, Gab is giving some serious Jesus & John Wayne vibes right now, for all the same reasons Hawley is. link to ‘Sen. Josh Hawley claims without evidence that liberals are attacking masculinity : NPR’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Rep. Gosar anime video highlights ties to the online right - The Verge'
- kudos:The whole point of far right meme culture is plausible deniability. Telling people to relax and that it’s just a joke is not only ridiculous but further plays into the parallels. link to ‘Rep. Gosar anime video highlights ties to the online right - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Data Broker Veraset Gave Bulk Device-Level GPS Data to DC Government | Electronic Frontier Foundation'
- kudos:Location data harvesting is scary stuff. link to ‘Data Broker Veraset Gave Bulk Device-Level GPS Data to DC Government | Electronic Frontier Foundation’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'U.S. Holocaust Museum Says China ‘May Be Committing Genocide’ Against Uyghurs - The New York Times'
- kudos:We have a magnet from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum reminding us (and everyone else who walks past our fridge) to keep an eye out for modern day hate, injustice, and genocide. link to ‘U.S. Holocaust Museum Says China ‘May Be Committing Genocide’ Against Uyghurs - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Supreme Court conservatives are skeptical on spiritual advisers in death chamber : NPR'
- kudos:Religious freedom only counts as such when it’s applied across the board and not just for conservative talking points. link to ‘Supreme Court conservatives are skeptical on spiritual advisers in death chamber : NPR’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'These Parents Built a School App. Then the City Called the Cops | WIRED'
- kudos:Heck of a story. link to ‘These Parents Built a School App. Then the City Called the Cops | WIRED’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'In Florida, a Firestorm Over Silenced University Professors Grows - The New York Times'
- kudos:So very dumb. link to ‘In Florida, a Firestorm Over Silenced University Professors Grows - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'ICO to step in after schools use facial recognition to speed up lunch queue | Facial recognition | The Guardian'
- kudos:Why are people still touting facial recognition as a convenience? link to ‘ICO to step in after schools use facial recognition to speed up lunch queue | Facial recognition | The Guardian’
🔗 linkblog: just read '7-Eleven breached customer privacy by collecting facial imagery without consent | ZDNet'
- kudos:We ought to be talking more about biometric data. link to ‘7-Eleven breached customer privacy by collecting facial imagery without consent | ZDNet’
🔗 linkblog: just read '‘Sideloading is a cyber criminal’s best friend,’ according to Apple’s software chief - The Verge'
- kudos:By this logic, macOS is malware’s best friend by allowing users to install software outside the App Store. It’s a dumb argument. link to ‘‘Sideloading is a cyber criminal’s best friend,’ according to Apple’s software chief - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Texas' governor wants 'pornographic' school library books removed : NPR'
- kudos:To paraphrase George Smiley, you can learn a lot about how those in power will treat people by the way they treat books. link to ‘Texas’ governor wants ‘pornographic’ school library books removed : NPR’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Public transportation can save the world — if we let it'
- kudos:Public transit forever. Lexington is considering BRT, and I’m really hoping it comes through. Would give me some more commuting options. link to ‘Public transportation can save the world — if we let it’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Florida Bars State Professors From Testifying in Voting Rights Case - The New York Times'
- kudos:So gross. link to ‘Florida Bars State Professors From Testifying in Voting Rights Case - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Facebook Changes Corporate Name to Meta - The New York Times'
- kudos:The weirdest part of this article to me is how you have Frances Haugen talking to the UK Parliament in one paragraph and then Nick Clegg—former deputy PM—defending “Meta” as their employee not long after. link to ‘Facebook Changes Corporate Name to Meta - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read '#181 Absolutely Devious Lick | Reply All'
- kudos:What a great episode. link to ‘#181 Absolutely Devious Lick | Reply All’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Google and Facebook’s Ad Empires - The New York Times'
- kudos:Tech companies are often ad companies, and it behooves us to remember that. link to ‘Google and Facebook’s Ad Empires - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'How hospitals inflate bills for healthy births by labeling them 'emergencies' : Shots - Health News : NPR'
- kudos:So much ugh. link to ‘How hospitals inflate bills for healthy births by labeling them ’emergencies’ : Shots - Health News : NPR’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Viewing website HTML code is not illegal or “hacking,” prof. tells Missouri gov. | Ars Technica'
- kudos:This story just gets more and more ridiculous. link to ‘Viewing website HTML code is not illegal or “hacking,” prof. tells Missouri gov. | Ars Technica’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Employees pleaded with Facebook to stop letting politicians bend rules | Ars Technica'
- kudos:Facebook might need more moderators, but they shouldn’t be company executives… link to ‘Employees pleaded with Facebook to stop letting politicians bend rules | Ars Technica’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'She Is Breaking Glass Ceilings in Space, but Facing Sexism on Earth - The New York Times'
- kudos:Sobering read. link to ‘She Is Breaking Glass Ceilings in Space, but Facing Sexism on Earth - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Trump’s site Truth Social broke software rules, says copyleft group - The Verge'
- kudos:Do not mess with open licensing. link to ‘Trump’s site Truth Social broke software rules, says copyleft group - The Verge’
- kudos:
Just finished Cory Doctorow’s Attack Surface, a few months after reading Little Brother and Homeland. It is the addition to that series we need right now.
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Texas Removed an L.G.B.T.Q. Resource Page After a Candidate Complained - The New York Times'
- kudos:This is frustrating and sad. link to ‘Texas Removed an L.G.B.T.Q. Resource Page After a Candidate Complained - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Missouri governor threatens reporter who discovered state site spilling private info - The Verge'
- kudos:If viewing the source code of a web page is hacking, my black hat skills just went up a thousandfold. link to ‘Missouri governor threatens reporter who discovered state site spilling private info - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'U.S. Antigovernment Groups Are Influencing the French Far Right - The New York Times'
- kudos:This is worrying. There’s a long tradition of open far right movements in France, and if the U.S has something to teach them, it should make us think twice about what’s happening here. link to ‘U.S. Antigovernment Groups Are Influencing the French Far Right - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Facebook whistleblower hearing: France Haugen finally got Republicans to stop yapping about anti-conservative bias.'
- kudos:Interesting article. I’m particularly interested in the idea of focusing on algorithms rather than content. link to ‘Facebook whistleblower hearing: France Haugen finally got Republicans to stop yapping about anti-conservative bias.’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Facebook’s outage likely cost the company over $60 million | Ars Technica'
- kudos:A compelling reminder that social media companies make money from eyeballs pointed at screens. link to ‘Facebook’s outage likely cost the company over $60 million | Ars Technica’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Opinion | Don’t Let Amazon Eat the Film Industry - The New York Times'
- kudos:The more pies Amazon has its fingers in, the more concerning it becomes. link to ‘Opinion | Don’t Let Amazon Eat the Film Industry - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Amazon Astro Leaks Data All Over New Carpet'
- kudos:Well played, The Onion. Well played. link to ‘Amazon Astro Leaks Data All Over New Carpet’
🔗 linkblog: just read 'Fairphone’s latest sustainable smartphone comes with a five-year warranty - The Verge'
- kudos:Really want to see Fairphone start selling in U.S. link to ‘Fairphone’s latest sustainable smartphone comes with a five-year warranty - The Verge’