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master dilettante

#infosec #economics #mmt #journalism #media #corruption #oligarchy #workercoop #exploitation #nobots

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Brian Hood, Jonathan Turley, Jonathan Zittrain, David Faber, Guido Scorza

If i can slip in a quick PSA while my typically sleepy notifications are exploding, these are all very annoying things to say and you might want to reconsider whether they're worth ever saying in a reply directed at someone else - who are they for? what do they add?

  • "why are you surprised"/"even worse than {thing} itself is people being surprised at {thing}": unless the person is saying "i am surprised by this" they are likely not surprised by the thing. just saying something doesn't mean you are surprised by it, and people talking about something usually have paid attention to it before the moment you are encountering them. this is pointless hostility to people who are saying something you supposedly agree with so much that you think everyone should already believe it
  • "it's always been like this": slightly different than above. unless someone is saying "this is literally new and nothing like this has happened before" or you are adding actual historical context that you know for sure they don't already know, you're basically saying "hey did you know this thing you care enough about to be paying attention to and talking about frequently has happened before now as well." this is so easy to frame in a way that says "yes and" rather than "i assume you dont know about the things i know about due to being very smart." eg. "dang not again, they keep doing {thing}"
  • "{thing} might be bad, but {alternative/unrelated, unmentioned, non-mutually exclusive thing} is even worse": multiple things can be bad at the same time and not mentioning something does not mean i don't think it's also bad
  • "funny how people who think {thing} is bad also think {alternative/unrelated, unmentioned thing} is good": closely related to the above, just because you have binarized your thinking does not mean everyone else has.

anyway if the mental image you are conjuring for your interlocuters positions them as always knowing less than you by default, that might be something to look into in yourself!

CONSUMER ALERT: Scams target licensed drivers in Washington

Attorney General Nick Brown is warning consumers about a rising wave of text and email “phishing” or “imposter” scams targeting licensed drivers in Washington state. Scammers posing as local and state government agencies, such as the Washington State Department of Licensing and the Department of Transportation, are sending consumers fraudulent text and email messages that demand payment for unpaid traffic tickets or toll fees.

Consumers who receive such electronic messages should not click on any links within the message, should avoid replying to the message, and should delete the message from their device.

#Washington #Seattle #Scam #Scams #Phishing #Fraud

https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/consumer-alert-scams-target-licensed-drivers-washington

@www.shorelineareanews.com
@thestranger.com

CONSUMER ALERT: Scams target licensed drivers in Washington | Washington State

Attorney General Nick Brown is warning consumers about a rising wave of text and email “phishing” or “imposter” scams targeting licensed drivers in Washington state. Scammers posing as local and state government agencies, such as the Washington State Department of Licensing and the Department of Transportation, are sending consumers fraudulent text and email messages that demand payment for unpaid traffic tickets or toll fees.

copilot is just for entertainment? Per the TOS...
Highlighting is my own. From that last boost.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/for-individuals/termsofuse

@StefanThinks

a new variation on Poe's Law

Stefan's Law*

* subject to prior art yada yada

Solar Balconies Take Europe By Storm

Solar power has been around for a long time now. Once upon a time, it was mostly the preserve of research projects and large-scale municipal installations. Eventually, as the technology grew ever c…

Hackaday
The T-54 deployed by the Soviet Union to crush dissent during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 has met its fate in #Ukraine almost 70 years later. Although analysts point out that the tank was later upgraded to a T-55 and had some parts replaced, “it’s definitely the same tank in spirit.”

I dunno, I might just leave that box alone.

Here's hoping you have a danger-free Tuesday!

#cat #cats #castodon #catsofmastodon #humor #humour #deathbox

OkCupid, Match pay no fine for sharing user photos with facial recognition firm
OkCupid and Match settle with Trump FTC, don't have to pay any financial penalty.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/03/okcupid-match-pay-no-fine-for-sharing-user-photos-with-facial-recognition-firm/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
It's weird seeing news reports like "The population growth rate is slowing. What could be the cause?"
LONG WORK HOURS FOR FUCK ALL PAY. GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD TERRORISING PEOPLE. FUCKING ABYSMAL CONDITIONS FOR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL WELLBEING.
THEY HEAP SALT UPON THE LAND AND QUESTION THE LACK OF NEW GROWTH.

Public pension funds from California to New York hold billions of dollars in Palantir stock, while public employees protest their retirement savings funding the tech powering ICE.

NEW list of 30 state pension fund investments in Palantir:

https://readsludge.com/2026/03/31/these-state-pension-funds-invest-in-palantir/

These State Pension Funds Invest in Palantir

Public pension funds from California to New York hold a combined billions of dollars in Palantir stock, while teachers and other public employees protest their retirement savings funding the tech powering ICE operations.

Sludge