Leaving the USA at SFO, I tested out "Opting out of facial recognition scans before boarding" procedure to see if it indeed exists and will be followed.

It didn't go very well.

The gate agent argued saying I couldn't opt out. I insisted that I'm allowed to, and they pointed to a sign on the wall explaining the "Biometric verification privacy policy". The sign says "Customers wishing to opt out may speak to a gate agent or CBP officer for a manual verification" clearly at the bottom.

The agent then told me I have to opt-out *in advance with CBP*. I pointed out that the sign says "or gate agent" and asked if she was a gate agent. She insisted again that I can't opt-out but by that point another agent heard the discussion, came over, and showed the first agent how to place my passport on the scanner and sent me through. I overheard her telling the first agent as I walked away, "If it's a US passport, it's OK."

A flight of probably 300 people, I'm definitely the only one who opted-out today and by the gate agent's confusion, I suspect I'm the only one who has opted out in a long time.

I'm in every system there is (and China already has my entire SF-86) so it's not that I'm some off-the-grid paranoid who doesn't want to be in "the system" - but for privacy rights to exist at all, it's important to use them when you don't need to and keep them available for people who DO need privacy.

New @obsidian version for Insiders is out, and it's a big one! Two words: Frontmatter UI.

I've been trying it out for a few weeks already. Here's everything you need to know: https://youtu.be/RrxqkIhh9L8

Introducing Properties.

A simple way to add tags, aliases, dates, and even link between notes. As always, the metadata is stored durably in plain text files local to your device.

Obsidian 1.4.0 is now available for early access 💜
https://obsidian.md/changelog/2023-07-26-desktop-v1.4.0/

How to use Mastodon:

Step 1: Sign up.

Step 2: Do regular social media stuff.

Journalists: Only those with advanced degrees in computer science should even attempt to navigate Mastodon, the frustrations of its complexities will drive the average user to a state of hysteria.

This week's video is a doozy! I go through every single @obsidian plugin I currently have installed-- all 46 of them. I try out a lot of plugins, and consider it an achievement to have made it under the 50 mark. 😅 There are many awesome plugins in the Obsidian ecosystem... these are just the ones that stuck around for MY particular use cases.

https://youtu.be/3UMncGbocAU

Happy weekend!