Garret Polk (masked)

@garretpolk@mastodon.gamedev.place
89 Followers
146 Following
2.3K Posts

Indie game developer/programmer.
Programmer on BAFTA/GDC award nominated ManifoldGarden .

Former Symantec/Norton.

Made Promeatheus, Costa con Carne (H3VR mods), and the game Wondee.

Twitter@garretpolk
Pronounshe/him
YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@NunSuperior
Home pagehttp://www.garretpolk.com

Adobe is now processing all your PDFs in the cloud, by default. The setting to “Enable generative AI features in Acrobat” was on, and I didn’t know it until I opened a document and Adobe asked me if I wanted a document summary. It’s annoying to have to click “No,” so I opened settings to disable the prompt.

THE PROBLEM
I sign Non-Disclosure Agreements for many of my clients. Adobe is a potential leak of protected information. I don’t know what Adobe does with this information. I don’t know what they store, or for how long. I don’t know what country (or countries) the data is stored in. I don’t know what LLMs are trained with this data. And I don’t need to know. What I need to know is that they won’t use default opt-in as a legal excuse to wiretap my information.

I recommend that you check your Adobe settings on all devices, for all Adobe accounts.

#CallMeIfYouNeedMe #FIFONetworks

#cybersecurity

It needs to be said
#auspol #tourism #uspol
Happy Explosion Day!

Yes, It Is Just Like The Nazis
Hey so remember Anne Frank? The Jewish young girl who hid in an attic and was killed by the Nazis? The emblematic person we think of when we think of victims of the Holocaust?

She did not die in a gas chamber or in a death camp. She died in a temporary' detention center for the mass deportations which preceded the death camps.
She was in that camp because a patriotic neighbor ratted her out to the German deportation force. She died, not of a bullet to the back of the head or choking on gas, but of typhus. She contracted typhus because the Nazis couldn't realistically deport people at the rate they wanted to, because before the death camps their infrastructure couldn't handle the sudden influx of ethnic minorities they had decided to imprison, and because they didn't care about the consequences of that so their deportation detention centers were unhygienic and prisoners were underfed and overcrowded.

And she was picked up by the deportation force not because she was an illegal citizen but because, just like the US is doing with asylum seekers, she was part of a formerly recognized class of citizens who were legally redefined to lack citizenship by a new administration.

Anne Frank is exactly like the children who have already died in the United State's detention camps. Exactly. Down to the very last detail. There. Is. Not. A.
Single. Difference.

So unless you want to fucking tell me that Anne goddamn Frank was not a victim of the Holocaust, y'all can shut the fuck up with that "stop making concentration camp comparisons, you're diminishing the suffering of the Holocaust" bullshit.

Its also worth noting that her family TRIED to flee to the US and was denied. She was in that camp partly because the US refused to let her refugee family immigrate.

Are you a boy or a girl?
I'm nonbinary.

Yeah, but what were you born as?
A baby.

No, I mean what is your sex?
Awesome.

FFS! Do you have a penis or a vagina??
I've had my share of both.

OMFG!! WHAT IS IN YOUR PANTS??
A frankly disturbing number of lockpicks.

Things are tough, so here's a whole bunch of positive news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgAhEq1tuls

#PositiveLeftistNews

Panama General Strike vs. Neoliberalism & U.S. Imperialism! Positive Leftist News Roundup, June 2025

YouTube

The billions and billions of dollars this bill pumps into ICE far exceed any conceivable legitimate need the agency could have, even if you agree with its mission.

This bill takes the same masked, anonymous gunmen who have been kidnapping people off the streets and gives them a budget the size of a military.

This is not about honoring the law. This is not even about immigrants.

This is about creating a police state.

I see no other way to read these numbers.
https://mastodon.world/@MJmusicinears/114764606160963355

MJ Muse (@MJmusicinears@mastodon.world)

Attached: 1 image "If the Nazi death party reconciliation bill passes, Gestapo ICE gets funding through FY2029: - $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion - $14.4 billion for transportation & removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million - $8 billion for hiring/retention - Billions more. Read what’s in the #BigUglyBill here. We try & have an updated analysis on Mon https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/house-reconciliation-bill-immigration-border-security Source: Aaron Reichlin Melnick, American Immigration Council

Mastodon

Well, there's some good news.

Four years after her passing ,the Nichelle Nichols Space Camp for girls 14-18 will open next year in Huntsville, Alabama.

Lt. Uhura will live on to inspire a new generation of space explorers.

Representation matters.

https://people.com/late-star-trek-actress-nichelle-nichols-honored-with-space-camp-for-girls-exclusive-11762359

Nichelle Nichols Space Camp for Teen Girls to Open in 2026, Honoring Late 'Star Trek' Icon's Legacy (Exclusive)

A space camp for girls, named for the late 'Star Trek' actress Nichelle Nichols, is launching in January 2026. Friends of the actress speak to PEOPLE about the impact the camp will have on women in STEM.

People.com
Hungary banned Pride marches. This is the response ✊🏳️‍🌈

Hungary has banned anything that “promotes homosexuality,” which essentially means Pride. Today over 500,000 people in Budapest turned up for a Pride march and told the government to: 'Fuck off!'.

#Pride2025 #Hungary #Budapest

×

So the UK Met Office is inviting people to suggest up to 5 names for storms. And apparently lots of people have been suggesting "Storm Bigoil", along with BP, Equinor, Exxon & Shell... This is obviously appalling & definitely not to be emulated via this link:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/forms/name-our-storms-call-for-names

@Natasha_Jay appalling. I just wanted to say that I definitely did not do that.
@crouton @Natasha_Jay me neither. That would draw attention to these companies' role in the climate crisis, and embarrass them, which we should certainly not do.
@Natasha_Jay Gosh darn that would be a darn shame were my fingers to accidentally click on that and fill in those boxes...
@Natasha_Jay I made some suggestions too!
I think Big Pete (BP) and Valero (well... Valero!), might be the least conspicious
@Natasha_Jay I followed your advice and didn't do that, but somehow a screenshot appeared on my laptop
@johnflomax @Natasha_Jay I would try to stick to the same names because they will probably only look at the most popular ones. 50 BeePee 50 BP and 90 Alice, Alice wins. It's not as good as 100 BP 90 Alice.
Agree, atleast for the first choice
@econads @johnflomax @Natasha_Jay it’s not like any of these names will ever actually be used. we should give them a large and creative list.
@maccruiskeen @johnflomax @Natasha_Jay no for sure, or Boaty McBoatface taught us nothing :D
But I assume the point is to make a news article about it. Top of the list being BP is more newsworthy (i.e. simpler to verify) than 1000 variations on BP. Anyway, I'm just some internet rando, do whatever you like :-)
@Natasha_Jay 👍 But at the same time, it would be advertising them as making a negative reference to them is better for them than not to mention them.
@Natasha_Jay
It would be a shame if the form allowed inputs outside the UK 
@Natasha_Jay boosting to make sure people are aware filling this form should be taken _seriously_
@Natasha_Jay I suggested Cassandra. The met office as been *modelling climate change for decades

@Natasha_Jay Hmm, think I will definitely not go over there and suggest Shelly McShellface...

Though Shelly is a perfectly legit name of course. No reason a storm can't be called that... 🤔

@Natasha_Jay humble contributions submitted

@Natasha_Jay
Worry that these will fall under "Any offensive names submitted will be deleted" but I filed with Saudi Aramco, Chevron, Gazprom, Putin, and ExxonMobil.

I wanted to include "Israel" but you know that's never getting through.

@xinit Yeah , Ok. Though not allowing blatant antisemitism seems to be a good thing. If you ask me. @Natasha_Jay
@DerGiga there's being against the Israel state's actions and there's anti-semitism. Maybe "Palestinian Genocide" then?
@xinit Ok. Clarification: Has Israel the right to exist?
@DerGiga
Ok. Clarification: Has Israel the right to do what it's doing?
@xinit To some degree it was defense and an expectable overreaction, that turned to a genocide at a point.
Though this was calculated in the terrorist attack.
I answered your question. Could you answer my simple question.
I may have confused you with someone you are not.
@DerGiga
I wish Israel hadn't been a place built on suffering for a whole class of people since the creation of the state. I've visited Jerusalem and the old city and enjoyed the cities and met some amazing people, but this really can't continue.
@xinit I answer later, since I have stuff to do.
But I do apologize, since I DID confuse you with someone you are not.
@xinit Thousands of years, have taught the jews, that they should never again be helpless. If there is a good reason for the existence of a state Israel would be a prime example. Though it would have been more fair if they were given the territory of Brandenburg.
It would be different if my neighbors would not have to wear basecaps on shabbat.
@xinit Also, I agree that there should be a Palestinian state, but that would need Israel to exist or it would become a vassal or territory of their neighbors.
Sadly, it has become the Palestinian fate to suffer, because their suffering is a weapon that can be weilded against Isreal . This suffering is also prolonged by the inheritable refugee status.
@xinit Also it would help, if the antisemitism everywhere would not pressure an exodus, that pushes people searching for affordable living space into the settlements and in extension taking land from the Palestinians.

@DerGiga It sure does. But it doesn't have the moral right to kill, torture, disable, starve and orphan thousands of Palestinians, to deprive them off their livelyhoods and turn their entire land into a rubble desert. Is it antisemitism to point that out, to find that inhumane?

But we were talking about storms, weren't we? So let's not derail this thread!

@xinit

@Natasha_Jay
Mine:

"Giant" is a film with James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor, and a good name for a big storm.

"Burgan" is an oil field in Kuwait. If it's worth going to war over, it's a pretty good name for a storm.

"Big Tex" is a symbol of all things Texas, a tall statue at the Texas State Fair, that burned up a few years ago, so it seems fitting.

"Ghawar" is an oil field in Saudi Arabia. Lest we forget.

"Ahvaz" is an oil field in Iran. Included to be fair and balanced in these nominations.

@Natasha_Jay The Met Office say that I'm inhuman!
@Natasha_Jay Presumably Stormy McStormface was already taken?
@Natasha_Jay I definitely didn't type this, the form came pre-filled.
@Natasha_Jay Storm Drax would be poignant.
@Natasha_Jay
Fossilfuelkills
And more
Largest oil and gas companies by market cap

List of the largest oil and gas companies by market capitalization, all rankings are updated daily.

@Natasha_Jay Despicable! People, where's the love for Saudi Aramco? They deserve credit too for all their hard work ❤️
@Natasha_Jay Oh no, I accidently did that! Shame on me. My reasoning: "We should honour the biggest polluters on the planet and the drivers of the climate catastrophe by naming storms after them. Their contribution should not go unnoticed."
@Natasha_Jay Michael Fish probably deserves one 😂

@Natasha_Jay It's fair that fossil fuel companies that contribute so much to these storms receive the recognition they deserve.

#Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #GlobalWarming #BigOil #FossilFuel #Environment

@Natasha_Jay No Stormy McStormface? 😛
@Natasha_Jay Oops I accidentally filled this out. It would be a shame if it happened again....
@Natasha_Jay Oh, bugger! I slipped on my keyboard and accidentally suggested a bunch of planet destroyers
@Natasha_Jay
I don't know who did it, I think this malicious person used my phone. Oops, it happens. He posted this:
The names of the super-rich who are contributing to increasing climate instability and using the influence they have through their wealth to restrict civil liberties.
@floreana @Natasha_Jay for the longest time storms exclusively had female names. It is time indeed to address this!
@Natasha_Jay
I don't know who did this but someone else has suggested very suspicious names right now...
@Natasha_Jay as much as I want to suggest Stormy McStormface, these sound like far better options!
@Natasha_Jay the UK has learned nothing from Boaty McBoatface apparently