The Inspiration Cabinet

Did you know that soda machines at restaurants and movie theaters spy on you? That most common new cars now record your sexual preferences and send it to the manufacturer (and also data about anyone who also gets in your car, walks by your car, and maybe happens to be within visual range of your car)? That grocery stores are trying to force customers to download an app to scan barcodes on shelves instead of putting up prices, so the app can scan the phone, decide how much that customer should be squeezed for, and adjust the price? That more and more innocent people are being sent to jail for crimes committed hundreds of miles away because an AI facial recognition algorithm spit their faces out and the cops didn't bother to do the most basic of checks?

girl I know took me to a local squatter hangout today, where a lot of local activism organises from. an old movie theater. thing is, I already knew the building like the back of my hand. i used to go there all the time as a kid. it was one of my standard places to go after school. it closed some time around covid and never reopened. it was strange, seeing it in this new state after so many years. every wall was covered in political graffiti. the city cut the building's power so most of the lights were off, though some had been connected to a generator. instead of selling tickets and popcorn, the lobby was being used to hand out food and old clothes. one of the screening rooms had been turned into a dance hall. another had random artworks and furniture laying around.