Yeeto My Cheeto

I will never shut up about how vehemently anti-ai i am. I will be the annoying one at parties if it gets brought up. I will be the one in the room to voice my thoughts when a family member pulls out ChatGPT on their phone. If ai has zero haters then I'm dead.

I do want to share someting really cool though which is a positive light in this whole deal. There's a live website (linked) which shows an extensive map of data centers in the US and their stages of development. It was created by activist Erin Brockovich to inform local communities about what is being built around them. She's empowered several places to stop the development of local data centers through voting and is working actively in the legal world to increase pressure against data center expansion. The website also has news articles about the legislation being passed right now in various states concerning AI data centers, and a lot of real change is happening because of the negative backlash. Even if it's happening slowly, it's working! Keep fighting, guys! This is how giants fall! GOD BLESS AMERICA AND SAVE GREAT SALT LAKE! 🙏

It is not the government's job force tech companies into safety checks that require ID verification. And it is extremely important to understand that this type of legislation creates additional demand monetarily for any companies that would otherwise start up. Sad reality is this legislation is never to protect children. This type of legislation is 110% always to make sure that the government knows what you are doing at all times. This is a surveillance set of bills.

Which is now leading to additional crackdowns on social media, digital curfews, talking about VPN bans, etc

Which they are also talking about app time limits controlling how long you use apps, etc (which is actually why google and apple added screentime and limit systems to mobile devices.)

This is literally just a foot in the door for a dystopian nightmare. Digital ID is digital slavery, its a digital concentration camp in the end, they in the long run are talking about controlling your money what you buy and when, how much you eat every day, what you’re allowed to eat, where you’re allowed to go and when and SO, SO much more that would boggle the mind of the average person to even consider it possible.

This is also why datacenters have been classified a military operation. Think chatgpt and others are really the goal? The military is interested in you having a chatbot? No. It’s for control.

But screwing you over is always bipartisan…… its them vs you and they are on the same side there is no right or left.

Just look at this post and subsequently linked post about flock cameras and palantir…… this is just a small glimpse into the kind of control they will have.

Here are some basic primers. If someone is wearing what look like Meta glasses, they usually have a small circular camera in the outer corners of the lenses, like the one on your phone.

I would also regularly check their own product pages so you're on top of what the models look like. They tend to have larger frames, but come in a variety of shapes and colors.

A new hobbyist developed app warns if people nearby may be wearing smart glasses, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, which stalkers and harassers have repeatedly used to film people without their knowledge or consent. The app scans for smart glasses’ distinctive Bluetooth signatures and sends a push alert if it detects a potential pair of glasses in the local area.

The American Foundation for the Blind has said that "The Ray-Ban Meta glasses are an accessibility tool only by coincidence. That makes them more affordable and, in many ways, unaware of the needs of users with reduced vision" although they do have seemingly positive views on Meta Glasses as a whole. (source 10). It also seems like their marketing push as accessibility devices began last year (source 11).

But to add even more into the nonsense, Meta is now toying around with adding a "limit" to the functionality of their glasses unless their users pay for more access (source 12). AND, as stated above, Meta has officially added facial recognition code in their glasses and only admitted it after being called out, which is basically the death of privacy as we know it (source 13, source 14, source 15). And oh look another lawsuit because of it (source 16) THAT THEY LOST (source 17)!

Long story short: I don't begrudge someone using them as a disability aid overall, but ultimately both their privacy and other people's privacy are being disregarded by Meta and that is not and should not be acceptable by any means.

I understand there is no ethical consumption under capitalism but there is a level of personal responsibility someone has to take when using them if they truly truly need them, such as opting out of sharing information, not filming strangers without permission, not posting footage of strangers online, opting out of facial recognition if possible, etc.

Don't listen to them.

It is so often the most personal beef or heavy bias. Just reserve judgment until you actually work with them and can see how they really are when you're not using a jaded lens.

Very much did in the sense that I literally do not know where my job is at the moment. But, for the time being I haven't been let go because nobody else including the store owner knows where it is either.

So, I don't wanna risk doxxing myself by posting pictures but goddamn am I tempted because this is not a believable event. This is a cartoon problem. For looneytoons.

But yeah, so, I work(ed?) at a kiosk selling boba tea, right? Freestanding kiosk in the mall with full water and electrical hookups and multiple fridges and sinks and a mini kitchen and the works. Fully functional tea shop. Very important to note that it was there last night, The work chat was discussing another issue last night at closing time. I'll get back to this.

It's been showing signs of being on the way out with how business is being handled lately and I've been considering other options, which is probably why I'm not as torn up about this as I should be, but maybe it just hasn't set in yet, but that's not the point. The point is there's been a lot of shit breaking and not being replaced and nobody mentioning anything about it until I walk into work in the morning and have to figure out why shit like the fucking cash register isn't there today. So I'm kinda used to having to ask questions about big things that nobody bothered to update me on. I was out for two weeks recovering from a surgery, so I came to work this morning assuming there'd be some kind of bullshit, yeah?

So, the question I had to ask the chat this morning was:

Not a text I ever thought I'd have to send in sincerity, but there it is. Because what I found instead was a fenced off patch of discolored tiles and a few holes in the floor where my entire place of employment used to be.

And the answer? Nobody knows! It was there last night when the mall closed, and every single trace of the structure and all its contents including drink making supplies and our safe and cashbox was gone when it opened again. And when I say nobody knows, I mean everyone from last night's closers to the actual (former?) owner of the store jad no fucking clue about this until getting that text from me this morning. For once I am actually the first to know. 🎉.

So. I guess I didn't so much lose my job as had it stolen. Not by AI, but good old fashioned hands-on human beings picking it up and carrying it away somehow. All mall security would tell me was that they were instructed not to tell me anything and have us contact our management. Who also don't know anything. And later on I came across some construction workers around the gravesite of the kiosk discussing filling in the holes, asked them about it, and was told that they "weren't at liberty to say".

So, not only is my job gone in the most literal physical sense of the word, but it was taken in some kind of super secret kiosk extraction in the dead of night without any warning or witnesses and nobody is allowed to speak of it. The store owner said she was gonna figure it out 10 hours ago and still no word back.

My mother in law thinks the FBI took it.

Not any of the other stores around the state. Just the one little kiosk.

Why? Because she loves a conspiracy and is just a little bit extra.

Also because she was around for the massive crackdown on Yakuza-owned businesses in Waikiki (in her homestate) that did actually involve the FBI seizing stores (no confirmation of making kiosks cleanly disappear in the middle of the night though).

Still no word from my job on what's actually going on, but the most likely theory so far is that maybe the kiosk was on lease and got repossessed? The mystery continues

According to the owner, based on what she's been able to find out, the kiosk was not removed legally and they're starting a potentially long process of legal action. I hope she gets to sue the shit out of whoever did it but for now at least I know for sure I'm unemployed.

Really hoping for more details in terms of who/why/how, so I'll keep updating if I learn anything.

For now the summary is: An unnamed entity that is most likely mall management (on account of mall security cooperating with them) stole an entire kiosk and all the contents including money and machinery with barely a trace in the middle of the night grinch-style, with zero warning or explanation, and ensured the silence of both security and the construction crew, in an action that was definitely preplanned and illegal, and as far as I know nobody knows its whereabouts.

Enjoy the unintentionally funniest text I've ever sent in my life

Aaand a close-up:

HEY HI HELLO THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE

Stay with me.

We do not know how the hell the Gay Pirate Plate was first acquired. This being a point of contention is actually pretty plot-relevant; the saga of the Gay Pirate Plate began with my grandmother and her sister, who, for some ungodly reason, both BADLY wanted the Gay Pirate Plate and believed it to be rightfully theirs.

I should back up, firstly, to establish: The Gay Pirate Plate is the cheapest, tackiest, ugliest plate in existence.

It is in no way a collector’s item. It is physically impossible for it to complement anyone’s decor, because the colors in it are garish. It’s just a ceramic plate with a gay pirate painted on it, and the painting is, this cannot be emphasized enough, extremely bad.

(How do we know the pirate is gay if he’s just posing on a plate? Listen. Fully 100% to stereotype, but he is. He is gay. There’s an energy. That pirate is a flaming homosexual. That pirate has sex with men and does it frequently. That pirate is fucking gay, all right, he just is.)

Anyway. The point is that this is an extremely cheap and ugly plate with a poorly-executed painting of pirate on it who is like a nine on the Kinsey scale.

My grandmother and her sister fought a blood feud over this plate for their entire lives. It would be on the wall in my grandma’s house, and then her sister would visit, and then it would be gone. She’d visit her sister and the plate would be on the wall and her sister would pretend it had always been there. She would steal it back, hang it up, and, when her sister visited, pretend it had always been there. This continued for DECADES.

When the sister died, the Gay Pirate Plate lived triumphantly in my grandmother’s house. And then my grandmother died. And my aunt, who had lived with her and been her carer throughout her life, rightfully inherited their house.

We visit my aunt after the funeral and stay with her for a week or two.

Me, my sister, and our dad. Her brother.

The three of us look at each other. We don’t say anything. We studiously avoid making eye contact with the Gay Pirate Plate mounted proud and ugly on the wall. We notice one another studiously avoiding looking at it. We notice one another noticing. We say nothing. We come to a silent consensus. We pack up to leave. We get in the van. Our aunt comes out to say goodbye. I loudly announce I need to use the restroom before we leave. She obviously stays outside to continue talking to my dad.

I take down the Gay Pirate Plate, stuff it under my oversized sweatshirt, go outside, and get in the van. She happily waves goodbye as we drive off.

Two days later my dad gets a phone call that opens with hysterical laughter and “You FUCKING ASSHOLE did you seriously STEAL THE PLATE–”

Anyway. The gay pirate plate lives in my dad’s house currently.

The plate must be clearly and openly displayed in a place of great prominence whenever it is in your possession. When it is not in your possession, the display piece must remain in place. This is where you would put your gay pirate plate, IF YOU HAD ONE.

No active steps may be taken to prevent the theft of the Gay Pirate Plate. That goes against the spirit of the game, as does attempting to hide it.

The plate MUST be stolen and cannot be gifted or removed with permission. Should you witness attempted theft of the Gay Pirate Plate you are required to intervene and return it to its place.

And I'm not talking normal stuff like being overly ambition, or lack of planning, not finishings

Tell me the stupid stuff.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DON ROSA!

On this day in 1951, Keno Don Hugo Rosa, known as Don Rosa, was born in Louisville, Kentucky. From a young age, he has been drawing various things, especially superhero comics related to Marvel and DC, and then moved on to drawing his favorite characters from Disney, especially Donald, Scrooge, Huey, Dewey and Louie and other characters from the Duckverse, more precisely from the Carl Barks comics universe. He also invented his own character Captain Kentucky where he published comic books under that name for a time. He will become more famous when he works for Disney comics from 1987 and when in 1992 he publishes a series of comics related to The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. From 1990 to 2008, he worked for Egmont comics (Danish edition of Disney comics). He even wrote and drew Ducktales comics (Ducktales 1987) and scripted the Talespin episodes, believe it or not. He retired in 2008 due to health reasons, but he certainly travels around the world and draws for his fans. It is generally more popular in Europe than in America. And yes, he is very unhappy with Disney's treatment of his comics. However, he received many awards.

Although he inherited a lot from Barks, Don Rosa still created his own Duckverse universe in which he showed more sensitivity in many characters than in other authors. He also wrote and drew comics related to the Three Caballeros. In his private life, he grows chilies. He had a wife, who unfortunately died last year. May his wife rest in peace. Amen.

Certainly, Don Rosa is one of my favorite writers and artists for Donald Duck comics and I am very grateful to him for the great comics he left behind. I wish him a happy 75th birthday and a long and healthy life and I hope that I may meet him in person one day. Thank you Don Rosa for these comics and the issues you left us!

And yes, his comics are not DUCKTALES nor DUCKTALES (especially the reboot version) is as close to his comics as anyone has claimed it to be, otherwise it is not.

Happy 75th birthday Don Rosa!