#2017/05/01

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Ad-tech targeting is an existential threat

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me TORONTO on SUNDAY (Feb 23) at Another Story Books, and in NYC on WEDNESDAY (26 Feb) with JOHN HODGMAN. More tour dates here.

The commercial surveillance industry is almost totally unregulated. Data brokers, ad-tech, and everyone in between – they harvest, store, analyze, sell and rent every intimate, sensitive, potentially compromising fact about your life.

Late last year, I testified at a Consumer Finance Protection Bureau hearing about a proposed new rule to kill off data brokers, who are the lynchpin of the industry:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does

The other witnesses were fascinating – and chilling, There was a lawyer from the AARP who explained how data-brokers would let you target ads to categories like "seniors with dementia." Then there was someone from the Pentagon, discussing how anyone could do an ad-buy targeting "people enlisted in the armed forces who have gambling problems." Sure, I thought, and you don't even need these explicit categories: if you served an ad to "people 25-40 with Ivy League/Big Ten law or political science degrees within 5 miles of Congress," you could serve an ad with a malicious payload to every Congressional staffer.

Now, that's just the data brokers. The real action is in ad-tech, a sector dominated by two giant companies, Meta and Google. These companies claim that they are better than the unregulated data-broker cowboys at the bottom of the food-chain. They say they're responsible wielders of unregulated monopoly surveillance power. Reader, they are not.

Meta has been repeatedly caught offering ad-targeting like "depressed teenagers" (great for your next incel recruiting drive):

https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/05/01/105987/is-facebook-targeting-ads-at-sad-teens/

And Google? They just keep on getting caught with both hands in the creepy commercial surveillance cookie-jar. Today, Wired's Dell Cameron and Dhruv Mehrotra report on a way to use Google to target people with chronic illnesses, people in financial distress, and national security "decision makers":

https://www.wired.com/story/google-dv360-banned-audience-segments-national-security/

Google doesn't offer these categories itself, they just allow data-brokers to assemble them and offer them for sale via Google. Just as it's possible to generate a target of "Congressional staffers" by using location and education data, it's possible to target people with chronic illnesses based on things like whether they regularly travel to clinics that treat HIV, asthma, chronic pain, etc.

Google claims that this violates their policies, and that they have best-of-breed technical measures to prevent this from happening, but when Wired asked how this data-broker was able to sell these audiences – including people in menopause, or with "chronic pain, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, arthritis, high cholesterol, and hypertension" – Google did not reply.

The data broker in the report also sold access to people based on which medications they took (including Ambien), people who abuse opioids or are recovering from opioid addiction, people with endocrine disorders, and "contractors with access to restricted US defense-related technologies."

It's easy to see how these categories could enable blackmail, spear-phishing, scams, malvertising, and many other crimes that threaten individuals, groups, and the nation as a whole. The US Office of Naval Intelligence has already published details of how "anonymous" people targeted by ads can be identified:

https://www.odni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ODNI-Declassified-Report-on-CAI-January2022.pdf

The most amazing part is how the 33,000 targeting segments came to public light: an activist just pretended to be an ad buyer, and the data-broker sent him the whole package, no questions asked. Johnny Ryan is a brilliant Irish privacy activist with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. He created a fake data analytics website for a company that wasn't registered anywhere, then sent out a sales query to a brokerage (the brokerage isn't identified in the piece, to prevent bad actors from using it to attack targeted categories of people).

Foreign states, including China – a favorite boogeyman of the US national security establishment – can buy Google's data and target users based on Google ad-tech stack. In the past, Chinese spies have used malvertising – serving targeted ads loaded with malware – to attack their adversaries. Chinese firms spend billions every year to target ads to Americans:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/business/google-meta-temu-shein.html

Google and Meta have no meaningful checks to prevent anyone from establishing a shell company that buys and targets ads with their services, and the data-brokers that feed into those services are even less well-protected against fraud and other malicious act.

All of this is only possible because Congress has failed to act on privacy since 1988. That's the year that Congress passed the Video Privacy Protection Act, which bans video store clerks from telling the newspapers which VHS cassettes you have at home. That's also the last time Congress passed a federal consumer privacy law:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Privacy_Protection_Act

The legislative history of the VPPA is telling: it was passed after a newspaper published the leaked video-rental history of a far-right judge named Robert Bork, whom Reagan hoped to elevate to the Supreme Court. Bork failed his Senate confirmation hearings, but not because of his video rentals (he actually had pretty good taste in movies). Rather, it was because he was a Nixonite criminal and virulent loudmouth racist whose record was strewn with the most disgusting nonsense imaginable).

But the leak of Bork's video-rental history gave Congress the cold grue. His video rental history wasn't embarrassing, but it sure seemed like Congress had some stuff in its video-rental records that they didn't want voters finding out about. They beat all land-speed records in making it a crime to tell anyone what kind of movies they (and we) were watching.

And that was it. For 37 years, Congress has completely failed to pass another consumer privacy law. Which is how we got here – to this moment where you can target ads to suicidal teens, gambling addicted soldiers in Minuteman silos, grannies with Alzheimer's, and every Congressional staffer on the Hill.

Some people think the problem with mass surveillance is a kind of machine-driven, automated mind-control ray. They believe the self-aggrandizing claims of tech bros to have finally perfected the elusive mind-control ray, using big data and machine learning.

But you don't need to accept these outlandish claims – which come from Big Tech's sales literature, wherein they boast to potential advertisers that surveillance ads are devastatingly effective – to understand how and why this is harmful. If you're struggling with opioid addiction and I target an ad to you for a fake cure or rehab center, I haven't brainwashed you – I've just tricked you. We don't have to believe in mind-control to believe that targeted lies can cause unlimited harms.

And those harms are indeed grave. Stein's Law predicts that "anything that can't go on forever eventually stops." Congress's failure on privacy has put us all at risk – including Congress. It's only a matter of time until the commercial surveillance industry is responsible for a massive leak, targeted phishing campaign, or a ghastly national security incident involving Congress. Perhaps then we will get action.

In the meantime, the coalition of people whose problems can be blamed on the failure to update privacy law continues to grow. That coalition includes protesters whose identities were served up to cops, teenagers who were tracked to out-of-state abortion clinics, people of color who were discriminated against in hiring and lending, and anyone who's been harassed with deepfake porn:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/06/privacy-first/#but-not-just-privacy

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/20/privacy-first-second-third/#malvertising

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[toskarinarchive]

Toskarin Database

Last updated: 2024-08-25, 23:02+00:00

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[verstappen100]

An ongoing Daniel Ricciardo video collection ❤️🍯🦡☀️

adding links to vimeo and youtube finds (under the cut, so it'll update reblogs as I add more links over time!)

hello!! This is definitely not a comprehensive list, mostly filing under things that are just new to me as a more recent fan! it's cool when I stumble upon a vid I haven't seen or one I recognize from a gif set! so I'm adding them in a list of links here in case anyone else is curious ❤️ some are like 30 second commercial spots & others are longer interviews, most so far from 2014-2020 🎥🎤✨

okay allons-y!!

Sourced from Vimeo

not chronologically organized (yet!) so I've just added the upload date atm for a date approximation; have yet to look into all the uploading accounts, too, so there is definitely way more out there to see!

📍Update 01-01-2025:

Btw if you click a link in the tumblr app and it shows a tumblr page saying "There's nothing here" sadly many of the vimeo links are not redirecting correctly atm 😭

the videos are still up and available (thankfully!! and they can be found by searching the titles on vimeo [which are listed for each vid before the upload date part below]) but!! I will be making like a Google doc with all the links, since tumblr insists on adding this redirect bologna and I'm not tech savvy enough to know why its not working hehe 🙃 I'll be back this weekend with a fix and the new link list!

lastly here's the link for DR's brand vimeo which also has the overall site search option at the top for easy access 🔍 not linked but copy-and-pastable into Google or Safari etc: https://vimeo.com/user50821531

thanks y'all!! ❤️

update 01-05-2025 I'm sorry y'all!! I have been fighting a fever all weekend 😭 so I have yet to compile everything, but the Google doc with all the working links will be here asap!! ❤️ (update 02-02-2025 omg I'm taking 5ever! Sorry y'all, I've not forgotten, life has been hella busy but I'll be adding all the vimeo links to a file soon!! Thanks for being so patient with me! hope everyone is well!! ❤️)

definitely starting with the dozens of videos on DR's official brand Vimeo (which has the delightful Sunday Night Flights series of casual post-race recaps) link

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen paint Aston Martins in Hosier Lane - Uploaded on Mar 21, 2018 - link

Daniel Ricciardo - T Magazine Aus BTS spot - Uploaded on Jan 14, 2023 - link

Ricciardo, favorito para el GP de Singapur - Uploaded on Oct 25, 2016 - link

Red Bull - Camper Race BEHIND THE SCENES | Max Verstappen und Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on May 29, 2017 - link

Red Bull InFrames - Singapore GP with Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Oct 25, 2017 - link

Daniel Ricciardo drives Renault Clio - Uploaded on Jul 24, 2014 - link (ah the image in the collage above is for the other Clio commercial linked below and vice versa!! I got them mixed up when adding screenshots hehe. Pobody's nerfect)

Daniel Ricciardo | Race Service (parallel parking with some slightly haunting editing) - Uploaded on May 22, 2022 - link

Season Break - Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Jan 30, 2020 - link

Daniel Ricciardo x Hilton - Uploaded on Feb 7, 2023 - link

Optus TVC Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Dec 17, 2024 - link

Fox Sports - I Am Daniel Ricciardo (bananas editing /positive) - Uploaded on Apr 9, 2017 - link

ESPN AUSSIES ABROAD: DANIEL RICCIARDO - LIFE IN THE FAST LANE Opener - Uploaded on Apr 21, 2016 (I have yet to watch the full documentary!) - link

ESPN AUSSIES ABROAD- DANIEL RICCIARDO - LIFE IN THE FAST LANE Preview 2 - Uploaded on Apr 21, 2016 - link

Daniel Ricciardo: Uncut (😳🥴 sorry mind in the gutter, this is a longer interview tho!) - Uploaded on Sep 17, 2017 - link

Daniel Ricciardo Feature - Uploaded on Mar 28, 2018 - link

Renault Clio I Ricciardo I Augusto Gimenez Zapiola - Uploaded on Sep 3, 2020 - link

Sky Sports Ident - F1 - Ricciardo - Uploaded on Jan 5, 2018 - link

PIRELLI: DANIEL RICCIARDO P ZERO WORLD - Uploaded on Aug 12, 2016 - link

C4F1 Daniel Ricciardo Interview Australia 2019 - Uploaded on Mar 20, 2019 - link

Daniel Ricciardo_comp_1005 - Uploaded on Dec 11, 2017 - link

Daniel Ricciardo x Artura - Uploaded on Feb 10, 2021 - link

Daniel Ricciardo drives the Triple Eight Project Sandman V8 Supercar - Uploaded on Mar 16, 2016 - link

Red Bull Racing x PUMA USGP Launch at Austin Speed Shop - Uploaded on Mar 7, 2017 - link

TAG Heuer Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 2018 Global Commercial - Uploaded on Jul 12, 2019 - link

Red Bull : One day in the life of Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Apr 15, 2016 - link

Carsales // Celebrity Drive with Daniel Ricciardo - Uploaded on Aug 1, 2023 - link

On_set_with_Daniel_Ricciardo.mov - Uploaded on Nov 22, 2021 - link

Castrol EDGE Daniel Ricciardo Live on The Edge - Uploaded on Jun 4, 2020 - link

Aston Martin Racing - Daniel Ricciardo vs Darren Turner - Uploaded on Dec 17, 2021 - link

Red Bull Racing Daniel Ricciardo Photoshoot - Behind the scenes - Uploaded on Sep 16, 2020 - link

Dan Ricciardo and Alissa Smith - Silverstone 2018 Interview - Uploaded on Apr 14, 2019 - link

YouTube

omg I have yet to properly dive into YouTube! probs this section will just be as I come across things (Vimeo is much more manageable for perusing)

[2017 F1]日本GP ダニエル・リカルド&マックス・フェルスタッペン トークショー Daniel Ricciardo & Max Verstappen's talk show - 10-08-2017 - link

Added 01-01-2025 - Daniel Ricciardo on Malaysian GP - 09-27-2017 - link

Added 01-02-2025 - Q & A with Tonio Liuzzi and Daniel Ricciardo - 08-31-2011 - link

Added 01-05-2025 - Trackwalk with Daniel Ricciardo, Korea - 10-17-2011 - link

Added 02-02-2025 - Daniel Ricciardo's "Ultimate F1 Track Layout" interview - 09-22-2016 - link

more to come soon!! ❤️ thank you for stopping by!

[contemplatingoutlander]

FiveThirtyEight is gone. Its legacy will endure.

Nate Silver’s website suffered because of Trump and changes in political news coverage.

Opinion | Perry Bacon, Jr. | March 7, 2025

FiveThirtyEight became famous for its “forecasts” from founder Nate Silver. But the website (where I worked from 2017 to 2021) was trying to do much more than predict presidential election results. FiveThirtyEight was an attempt to improve and reimagine journalism. I think it succeeded — even though the website is now defunct. ABC News, which owned FiveThirtyEight, this week laid off the site’s 15 remaining staffers. The network had already made drastic cutbacks two years ago, with Silver himself departing back then. We are in the midst of staff reductions throughout the journalism industry. That said, ABC News is not a newspaper in a declining city in the Midwest. If the network wanted to keep the site going, it could have. This decision probably wasn’t just about money. [...] Political journalism has changed in ways that have made FiveThirtyEight less essential. Silver started the website during the 2008 presidential campaign. (There are 538 votes in the electoral college.) He correctly saw a flaw in American political coverage. Journalism professors and many within the news industry had for years argued that political news was too focused on the “horse race” (who was going to win the next election) instead of policy issues. What Silver argued was that horse-race coverage, while extensive, was often quite bad. It was overly fixated on a single poll or arguing that a candidate appeared to be surging after delivering a strong speech, without any other evidence. Averaging polls, scrutinizing demographics and voting histories of states — that all seems obvious now. It wasn’t 17 years ago. [emphasis added]

I will miss FiveThirtyEight. It was always a reliable source of aggregate polling data. It also provided a lot of background information about the potential bias and reliability of individual polls.

R.I.P. FiveThirtyEight March 7, 2008 - March 5, 2025

_________________ Collage sources (before edits, starting in center, then moving top left to right clockwise, ending bottom left): 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07

[See more excerpts from the column under the cut]

In 2010, the New York Times hired Silver and starting hosting FiveThirtyEight on its website. A few years later, ESPN hired him to create a FiveThirtyEight that would cover not only politics but also sports, science and other topics with statisticians and more traditional journalists working in a combined newsroom. The site grew in size and influence. And other news organizations started borrowing its methods, averaging polls and producing statistical models to analyze elections. [...] The site often had political scientists and scholars write pieces. Fact-checking was extensive, adding to the site’s reliability and reputation. But I knew FiveThirtyEight was in trouble when I saw not only stories similar to ours published in the Times and The Washington Post but also those larger organizations poaching our staffers. Another factor that made the website less relevant was Trump. He made politics more about tweets, firings and other drama that the data can’t really capture. [...] But for me, FiveThirtyEight staffers and its devoted fans, the site was about much more than election predictions and even Silver. It was an alternative, higher form of journalism. It was also a lovable community of nerds, wonks and junkies. Our readers were Democratic-leaning, but they weren’t people watching MSNBC just to hear how terrible Republicans are. They wanted us to tell them if a Democratic politician was going to lose. They loved that every article seemed to involve the writer examining election results down to the county level and producing three charts to support their thesis. Silver now has one of the most popular political Substack newsletters; former managing editor Micah Cohen is now politics editor for Apple News; reporter Anna Maria Barry-Jester has moved on to cover public health for ProPublica. But from my vantage point, FiveThirtyEight is everywhere in more subtle ways. The amount of charts and data in stories about politics in particular is much larger than it was two decades ago. The chief political analyst at the New York Times is a data whiz named Nate (Cohn) who joined the paper essentially as Silver’s replacement. If you tell someone about a poll, they will often ask whether other surveys show the same result. There is still too much horse-race coverage. I hate when I see polls of the 2028 Democratic primary. Can we wait a minute? But FiveThirtyEight made that coverage smarter and more rigorous — creating a legacy that will endure.

[thealieninhiding]

The Katie McGrath Archives (WIP)

A repository of my ongoing digital archeology & archival work please contact me if you have anything to contribute and buy me a coffee if you value my content

Updates

(last updated 2025-01-14)

2025-01-14

Scans:

2008-10 InStyle (LQ)

2009 DRAMA Magazine (LQ)

2009-10 The Sunday Times Style (Ireland)

2010-10 Tatler

2010-12 InStyle

2011-02 Instyle (LQ)

2011-07 Tatler (LQ)

2011-10 Sunday Independent

2012-03-14 Sci-FiNow

2012-03-23 The Lady Magazine

2024-07-03

Scans:

2014-02-07 London Times - Dracula sets

Audio:

(Un)likeminded 2x02 How to Survive The Apocalypse

2024-05-24

Video:

2017 Katie McGrath interview [CW|KMcGsource]

2017 Supergirl Season 3 Sweet dreams (are made of this) Music Video

2017 CW SDCC Promo Supergirl and Arrow

2019-01-01 The CW Promo Open To All

2021-04-25 Supergirl Season 6 Katie McGrath Lena Luthor

2021-09-15 Supergirl Season 6 Katie McGrath Reflecting on Supergirl

2024-05-22

Audio:

Interview - 2009-07-17 Katie McGrath Mr Media interview

Interview - 2009-10-15 Geek Syndicate Merlin BTS special

Video:

BTS - 2008-10-08 Blue Peter Merlin BTS

Events - 2009 TV Choice Awards Digital Spy interview

Events - Getty Videos of 2009 TV Choice Awards, 2010 Merlin Series 3 launch, 2011 W.E. premiere, 2017 King Arthur Premiere

2024-05-17

Archived interviews

2008-12-07 Tribune Magazine - What Katie Did

2011-10-14 What's on TV - Merlin's Katie McGrath- 'Bad girls have more fun!'

2012-12-03 Fanhattan Blog - Colin Morgan, Katie McGrath and Bradley James on Season 5 and The Series Finale

2018-08-01 The TV Junkies - Supergirl SDCC 2018 Interviews- Lena’s Impractical Lab Outfits, the Return of Reporter Kara and a More Grounded Season 4

Audio

HHush samples

Interview - 2009-2011 Sci-fi Talk rewind merlin the series specials episode 1

Interview - 2011? Merlin S4 Sci-fi talk byte katie mcgrath on morgana

Interview - 2013 BBC Radio 1xtra part 1 & part 2

(Un)likeminded 1x02 While You Were Dreaming

Trees a crowd- Irish folklore segment

Magazine scans

2008-09-20 Radio Times

2009-06-08 TV Week (Aus)

2010-09-05 Sunday Express

2010-09-30 Totally Merlin Magazine

2011-12 Total Film

2012-03-14 Sci-Fi Now

2012-10-06 Radio Times

2013-04-06 Irish independent

2013-09-02 Marie-Claire (UK)

2013-12 Instyle

2013-12 Total Film

Video:

Fans - 2012-04-16 Merlin4 [carlospyrrhus]

Fans - 2017-08-30 Supergirl cast together on set [Joyce Law]

Interview - 2009-09-?? Merlin S2 audio interview with Katie McGrath [BJsRealm] part 1

Interview - 2010-09-06 Merlin Series 3 - BBC Radio 1xtra Interview with Angel Coulby & Katie McGrath [BJsrealm]

Interview - 2011-10-14 Merlin S4 Colin Morgan, Eoin Macken Katie McGrath on The Late Late Show

Interview - 2012-07-15 Colin Morgan and Katie McGrath at SDCC 2012 - innerSPACE [merlinnetwork2]

Interview - 2012-07-18 Katie McGrath Talks Merlin At Comic Con 2012 [ThinkHeroTV]

Interview - 2012-10-25 BBC Radio 1 Breakfast - Colin & Katie part 1 & part 2 [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2012-12-03 Merlin S5 Katie McGrath interview international press day [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2012-12-03 Colin, Bradley, Katie phone interview [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2013-11-09 Katie McGrath on BBC One Saturday Kitchen [BJsRealm]

Interview - 2019-07-22 ENTREVISTA SUPERGIRL Elenco fala sobre a nova temporada [Warner Channel Brasil]

Interview - 2019-07-23 Melissa Benoist Teases Directing An Episode Of 'Supergirl' [ET Canada]

Interview - 2020-02-21 ‘Supergirl’ Celebrates 100th Episode [ET Canada]

Panels - 2011-07-28 Merlin Comic Con 2011 Panel [ThinkHeroTV]

[robronpolls]

links to kisses below for proper comparison

04/12/2014 - "Because you know why we're both still here" - first kiss 25/12/2014 - "So... you going home?" - Christmas back room kiss 06/04/2015 - "You're meant to live off sugar!" - Easter kiss 14/04/2016 - "I want to be able to rely on you, Robert." - Officially BoyFriends kiss 14/10/2016 - "Oh, well, he hasn't said yes yet!" - horny pre-proposal boyfriend kiss 23/01/2017 - "Got too much keeping me here these days." - after hours at the pub kiss 21/02/2017 - "I promise I'm gonna be the best husband I can be." - unofficially officially husbands in the garage kiss 25/12/2017 - "What kind of friend would you be to me, Aaron?" - the saddest kiss on the cheek that Christmas has ever seen 22/02/2018 - "Do you want to get dumped again?" "We definitely don't have a song." - officially back together kiss 05/10/2018 - "...I'm delighted to pronounce you husband and husband!" - Officially Official Husbands Kiss 17/10/2019 - "Maybe I'll have a vege patch, then." - "last" kiss in the woods 28/05/2025 - "Not going to punch me again, are you?" - the 'we are so back' kiss <3

[the-louseum]

Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, a Los Angeles S.W.A.T. lieutenant, is assigned to lead a highly skilled unit in the community where he grew up. Torn between loyalty to the streets, where the cops are sometimes the enemy, and allegiance to his brothers in blue, he strategically straddles the two worlds. Hondo encourages his team to rely on communication and respect over force and aggression, but when a crisis erupts, these unflinching men and women are prepared to put their tactical training to the test.

Season 1 (2017-2018)

✦ 1×01 - Pilot

✦ 1×02 - Cuchillo

✦ 1×05 - Octane

✦ 1×08 - Miracle

✦ 1x09 - Blindspots

✦ 1×10 - Seizure

✦ 1×12 - Contamination

✦ 1×13 - Fences

✦ 1×14 - Ghosts

✦ 1×18 - Patrol

✦ 1×19 - Source

✦ 1×21 - Hunted

✦ 1×22 - Hoax

Season 2 (2018-2019)

✦ 2x01 - Shaky Town

✦ 2×05 - S.O.S.

✦ 2x09 - Day Off

✦ 2x14 - The B-Team

✦ 2x15 - Fallen

✦ 2x17- Jack

✦ 2x19 - Invisible

Season 3 (2019-2020)

✦ 3x04 - Immunity

✦ 3x06 - Kingdom

✦ 3x07 - Track

✦ 3×08 - Lion's Den

✦ 3x17 - Hotel L.A.

Season 4 (2020-2021)

✦ 4x03 - The Black Hand Man

✦ 4x06 - Hopeless Sinners

✦ 4x07 - Under Fire

✦ 4x09 - Next of Kin

✦ 4x14 - Reckoning

Season 5 (2021)

✦ 5x02 - Madrugada

Season 6 (2023)

✦ 6x11 - Atonement

✦ 6x14 - Gut Punch

Season 7 (2024)

✦ 7x02 - Peace Talks

✦ 7x09 - Honeytrap

Season 8 (2025)

✦ 8x12 - Deep Cover

✦ 8x20 - Devil Dog

[boxboxluckybird]

List of articles and books that are about Motorsports or Motorsports adjacent

Idk if y'all will have total access to these- I get to them through my university's library database- I'll give titles so you can find them- and if i have links to pdfs, ill put them in too

i will continue to update this list as i continue to read more books and articles :3 also i need to go on my uni laptop to get all the crash and safety books i have on there to put on this list

Motogp-

article about Franco Morbidelli and Joann Zarco's crash in 2020- gives full analysis with the numbers and a discussion of everything (link) Name of Article: Descriptive Kinematic Analysis of the Potentially Tragic Accident at the 2020 Austrian MotoGP Grand Prix Using Low-Cost Instruments: A Brief Report by Marco Gervasi et. al. (2020-10)

article about the myth surrounding Valentino Rossi- (it is in french but there is also an italian version) Name of Article: Valentino Rossi : la construction médiatique du mythe by Charlotte Moge pp. 363-383 (DOI link)

Book Chapter Valentino Rossi: A Uniquely British Look at an Italian Motorsport Legend by Sean Bell in "More than Cricket and Football: International Sport and the Challenge of Celebrity" (2016)

this one is all about the economy and how motogp affects tourism in Indonesia-

Do Satisfied Visitors Intend to Revisit a Large Sports Event? A Case Study of a Large Sports Event in Indonesia by Pahrudin Pahrudin Link to PDF (Article) (2024-12)

Formula One-

Book about racism in sports- (i used this as a main secondary source when researching historic racism in f1) it has an article about Lewis Hamilton and other racism in formula one Title- Race, Racism and Sports Journalism by Neil Farrington (2012) (i recommend his other book about racism in sports social media)

"Technology Innovations and Consumption of Formula 1 as a TV Sport Product" by Christopher Schneiders (2022-09)

Analyzing Brand Strategy on an International Scale: The Sponsorship Performance Cycle in Formula One Racing by Jonathan A Jensen, et. al. (2024-09) (Article)

When Success Is Rare and Competitive: Learning from Others' Success and My Failure at the Speed of Formula One by Micheal A Lapre (2022-12) (Article)

Green Light or black flag? Greenwashing environmental sustainability in Formula One and Formula E by Annals of leisure research(2025-01) (Article)

Technological Discontinuities and Competitive Advantages: A Historical Perspective on Formula 1 Motor Racing 1950-2006 by Mark Jenkins (2010-07) (Article)

Sandwiched Between Sport and Politics: Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, Formula 1, and Non-Democratic Regimes by Hans Erik Naess (2017-05) (Article)

The age-productivity gradient: Evidence from a sample of F1 drivers by Labour economics (2011-08) (Article) pdf link

Book Chapter Chapter 10: Aryton Senna, Alain Prost, and the Spector of Death by Becquer Medak-Seguin, et. al. in "Cultural Exchanges Between Brazil and France" (2016)

Smoke and mirrors: new tobacco products and Formula 1 by The Lancet (2019-05) (Article)

NASCAR-

"If It Ain't Rubbin', It Ain't Racin'" Article about Nascar by Lawrence and Barbara Hugenburg (2008-08)

A comparison of college football and NASCAR consumer profiles: Identity formation and spectatorship motivation by Shaughan A Keaton (2015-03) (Article)

"Sport, Spectacle, and NASCAR Nation: Consumption and the Cultural Politics of Neoliberalism" by Joshua Newman (2011)

Book Chapter Louise Smith: The First Lady of Racing by Suzanne Wise in "South Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times" (Volume 3) (2012)

Book Chapter The Most Southern Sport on Earth: NASCAR and the Unions by Dan Pierce in "Southern Cultures : The Fifteenth Anniversary Reader" (2008)

Special interest ones-

"Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness" by Ewan Thomas- pdf- link (2022)

"The future of motorsports: business, politics and society" by Hans Erik Naess, et. al. (2023)

"The Green Transition in Motorsport: Purpose, Politics, and Profit" by Hans Erik Naess, et. al. (2023)

More than "just a driver": A study of professional women racecar drivers' agency in motorsport by Jill Kochanek (2021-01) (Article)

'What on Earth are They Doing in a Racing Car?': Towards an Understanding of Women in Motorsport by Jordan J.K. Matthews, and Elizabeth C.J. Pike (2016-09) (Article)

tag list: @raikkonens @caleb-is-existing @books4ever03

[talknerdytome18]

If You Liked A Good Girl's Guide To Murder, Here's What You Should Read Next!

I think it's very obvious that I'm an AGGGTM fan. And ever since finishing the series in 2023, I've been needing books that have a similar vibe to it.

So, if you've just finished AGGGTM and are now looking for the next thing to help with your AGGGTM hangover, here are my recs for you!

The Naturals Series By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Status: Completed.

The Naturals: 05/11/2013

Killer Instinct: 04/11/2014

All In: 03/11/2015

Bad Blood: 01/11/2016

Twelve (Novella): 07/11/2017

I feel like every AGGGTM fan (me included) reads this series right after reading AGGGTM. And trust me, you will not regret it.

The series follows Cassie Hobbes - a teenage girl who is recruited to join an elite FBI program that specialises in having teenagers with "natural abilities" to solve cold cases. Each book follows a different case that centres on a specific member, though the books are all written in Cassie's perspective.

This series is around the same level of violence as AGGGTM. There's a bit of graphic description in the "You" chapters, but it's not too gory.

This series is unforgettable and you'll binge it in a week. And then when you finish, you'll cry because you'll miss the characters and the world that you've been brought into.

2. Eleanor Jones Is Not A Murderer Series by Amy Doak

Status: Ongoing Series

Eleanor Jones Is Not A Murderer: 05/09/2023.

Eleanor Jones Can't Keep A Secret: 02/07/2024

UNDERRATED.

This series is genuinely amazing. If you've read AGGGTM and haven't read this, WTF ARE YOU DOING??? GET UP RN AND GO READ IT!!!

The first book follows Eleanor Jones - a teenage girl who has just moved to Cooinda - a small Australian country town. She moves around a lot and because of it, she prefers to stay invisible instead of making friends (she's on her ninth high school in less than five years!!!). However, the first person she does talk to on her first day ends up being stabbed later on, so she's suspected for it cause she was the last person he talked to. So now she has to clear her name and find the real suspect.

The second book is my fave. It picks up off where the first book ended off. Eleanor is now solving a new murder case that Nance (a resident at the local care home that she's volunteering at for a school project) admits to witnessing when she was younger.

Seriously, READ THIS SERIES. Eleanor is such a relatable character. It's such a shame it's so underrated cause it's amazing. The characters are fun, the romance between Eleanor and Troy is exquisite, and the mysteries are insane.

It's not too graphic. I'd say it's a little less graphic than AGGGTM. It covers some topics (drugs, murder, etc), but it's not extremely graphic.

Also, it's an ongoing series. The third book will be out in July. Read the first two before the third comes out!

3. One of Us Is Lying Trilogy (The Bayview Trilogy) by Karen M.McManus

Status: Completed

One Of Us Is Lying: 29/05/2017

One Of Us Is Next: 07/01/2020

One Of Us Is Back: 23/07/2023

Again, every AGGGTM fan has probably read this, but I don't care. If you haven't read it, wtf are you doing? GET UP AND READ IT.

This series was perfection to me. Even after a year, I miss it. I wish I could read it for the first time again. Anyone who can is LUCKY AF AND THAT SHOULD BE ME.

The first book follows four students (Bronwyn, Nate, Addy and Cooper) who've witnessed the death of their classmate Simon, who ran a gossip page and planned to expose their secrets after detention. Now because of it, they're all suspects in his murders and now have to figure out who had killed him.

The second book follows a different cast (Maeve, Knox and Phoebe) but is still thrilling nonetheless. A year after Simon's death, there are copycats attempting to replicate him, but none have succeeded... until now. When a truth or dare game takes over their school, the new trio must stop it before it gets deadly.

And the last book IS THE BEST ONE. It has three perspectives (Addy, Nate and Phoebe). It's now been almost two years since Simon's death. Just when things seem to be finally settling down, a mysterious billboard appears, taunting Bayview. Nobody thinks anything of it, until a member of the Bayview crew suddenly goes missing.

This series is so worth it, honestly. I genuinely wish for there to be one more book because I love the world Karen created with these books. I personally think they're her best work and nothing can change my mind on it.

Please read it. It's about as graphic as AGGGTM. There's some description, but nothing triggering.

4. Five Survive by Holly Jackson

Published: 29/11/2022

If you just finished the AGGGTM trilogy and want more by Holly Jackson, then you're very lucky that she has two standalones (a third coming out in July).

Five Survive wasn't my personal fave, but it's still a great read if you're a Holly fan.

This book follows Red Kenny and her friends who are on a road trip in an RV for spring break. Suddenly, the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. They quickly realise that this is no accident and that there is someone out there that knows who they all are and wants one of them dead for a secret they are keeping.

I would say this is around the same level of violence as AGGGTM. It isn't too graphic cause it's a YA novel, but it doesn't shy away from tackling heavy topics to a certain extent.

It's a fun read that you can possibly finish in one sitting. I really reccomend this if you are looking for more works by Holly Jackson!

5. The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

Published: 02/04/2024

MY FAVOURITE HOLLY STANDALONE.

If you ever seen negativity about this book and think it isn't worth it, DON'T LISTEN AND JUST READ IT. IT'S SO WORTH IT.

This book follows Bel Price, whose mother (Rachel Price) had disappeared sixteen years ago and has since lived in the shadow of it. However, as a documentary is being filmed about her disappearance, her mother suddenly reappears and has an unbelievable story about where she has been for the past sixteen years.

However, as inconsistencies appear in her story, Bel becomes suspicious and decides to investigate her mother's case to find the truth.

This book starts off slow, I'll admit. However, after 100 pages, you will not stop turning the pages. It's arguably one of Holly's best works and I really think you'd love it if you loved AGGGTM.

Just like Five Survive and AGGGTM, this is around the same level of violence. There is heavy content, but it's not too graphic.

Amazing book. I wish it wasn't so underrated.

6. How To Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

Published: 30/08/2022

UNDERRATED.

This one is a little different than AGGGTM, but it's still amazing.

This book follows Alice Lawrence, whose life has fallen apart since her sister's murder last Halloween. Her parents divorced, she lives in a small apartment with her mother, and she has to testify against her sister's killer in court, who all doubt what she saw last Halloween.

However, after being knocked out by a Sidney Prescott look-alike on the day of the testimony, she is brought back to the day her sister died. She now must save her sister from being murdered, while also finding the true identity of the killer.

Unlike AGGGTM, this is a slasher/horror book. There is a mystery going on, but unlike AGGGTM, it's not in the past. You'll be seeing people die, so don't get too attached to anyone.

It's a very fun read. I think I'll reread it sometime this year.

7. Nothing More To Tell by Karen M.McManus

Published: 30/08/2022

BEST STANDALONE BY KAREN.

Out of all Karen's standalones, this one has the closest vibes to AGGGTM. Two Can Keep a Secret does as well but I hated that book (no offence).

This book follows Brynn Gallagher, who has recently moved back to her old hometown after four years. She had left shortly after the shocking murder of her favourite teacher Mr. Larkin, whose body was found by three of her classmates - including her former best friend Tripp. She has always suspected that they weren't telling the full truth of what happened that day.

Now four years later, Brynn has been hired as a intern for a new true-crime show and is determined to find out the full truth behind Mr. Larkin's murder.

This book is one of my faves. It's not too graphic (it's a YA book) and is perfect if you are looking for a book like AGGGTM. I really want a sequel, but I don't think I'll ever get one.

Conclusion

That's all! I hope you all enjoyed. I hope this post helped you with picking your next read if you loved AGGGTM, but weren't sure what to read after it.

Em <33

[transspeciesculture]

We keep mentioning how transspecies as a term has existed long before the radqueer & transID communities formed, and started claiming it as part of those communities despite it's actual usage within nonhuman/fictional/unusual human species identifying spaces and objections from said spaces.

As a sort of quick thing to back this up, here are some examples before the year of 2020 (estimated beginnings of the radqueer/transID community)!

All of this excludes troll posting/mockery, and is focused on NH/FICT community's discussions. Some additional content warnings are provided for some of the e-mails, however.

This is not extensive, feel free to show us any other finds (excluding alt.horror.werewolves e-mails, we've already scoured trough everything. There is actually more mentions via that, but all from the same person).

Mentions of term:

01 - "Gender-bender" e-mail, 1999. Included in this section due to the unclearness of if the original author of the e-mail identifies as otherkin or transspecies personally.

[Link] [Link 2] [Archive] [Archive 2]

02 - "On cosmic surgery and personal identity" e-mail, 2005

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

03 - "Da Jakkal's work revisited" e-mail, 1999. Warning: has some outdated terminology/beliefs.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

04 - "Re: Introduction" e-mail, 2002

[Link] [Archive]

05 - "Re: Shifters: in need of Help." e-mail, 1999. Warning: thread has mentions of an un-nameable native American creature.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

06 - "Re: Musing of the Week" e-mail, 1999

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

06 - "Re: define were" e-mail, 1997. Warning: thread has mentions of an un-nameable native American creature. (This is the second time we've have to issue this CW. Sucks.)

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

07 - "Re: Fun with Faith" e-mail, 1997. Same warning as above, unfourtunately.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

08 - "Re: Questions on Were's/Shifting/etc" e-mail 1997. Same warning, a lot of early instances of the word being used seem to all be from this one being, sorry.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

09 - "Re: Slithering into AHWW" e-mail, 1997

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

10 - "Re: Odd Dreams" e-mail, 1998

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

11 - "Shifters: WereBreeds" e-mail, 1999. Warning: has some outdated terminology.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

12 - "On the appropriation of trans narratives by therianthropes" article, 2013. Contrary to the title, it is supportive. It does mention the native creature again due to excerpting an AHWW member's ramblings, so thread with caution.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

13 - "An Introduction to Animality" article, 2009

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

Usage of term for clear self identification (flags and symbols are included):

01 - "Re: A question to everyone out there" e-mail, 1997. Warning once again for mentions of an un-nameable native American creature, and questionable identity that may or may not be considered cultural appropriation (we have no place to say as we are not native). Still, it is an clear account of identification with the label and experiences that'd come to be associated with it.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

02 - "Chewing and biting (and intro)" e-mail, 1999. The poster at the time of posting already specifies that they do not identify with the label anymore, but used to.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

03 - "Transspecies Pride stamp" flag/pride graphic, 2017.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

04 - "Transspecies Flag" flag, 2018

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

05 - "Why I call myself Transspecies" personal article, 2018

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

06 - "Gender: Furry II (Now With More Scales)

[Archive]

07 - "Real Dragons: Transspeciesism" article, 2001

[Archive]

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Google’s new phones can’t stop phoning home

On OCTOBER 23 at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

One of the most brazen lies of Big Tech is that people like commercial surveillance, a fact you can verify for yourself by simply observing how many people end up using products that spy on them. If they didn't like spying, they wouldn't opt into being spied on.

This lie has spread to the law enforcement and national security agencies, who treasure Big Tech's surveillance as an off-the-books trove of warrantless data that no court would ever permit them to gather on their own. Back in 2017, I found myself at SXSW, debating an FBI agent who was defending the Bureau's gigantic facial recognition database, which, he claimed, contained the faces of virtually every American:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/mar/11/sxsw-facial-recognition-biometrics-surveillance-panel

The agent insisted that the FBI had acquired all those faces through legitimate means, by accessing public sources of people's faces. In other words, we'd all opted in to FBI facial recognition surveillance. "Sure," I said, "to opt out, just don't have a face."

This pathology is endemic to neoliberal thinking, which insists that all our political matters can be reduced to economic ones, specifically, the kind of economic questions that can be mathematically modeled and empirically tested. It would be great if all our thorniest problems could be solved like mathematical equations.

Unfortunately, there are key elements of these systems that can't be reliably quantified and turned into mathematical operators, especially power. The fact that someone did something tells you nothing about whether they chose to do so – to understand whether someone was coerced or made a free choice, you have to consider the power relationships involved.

Conservatives hate this idea. They want to live in a neat world of "revealed preferences," where the fact that you're working in a job where you're regularly exposed to carcinogens, or that you've stayed with a spouse who beats the shit out of you, or that you're homeless, or that you're addicted to Oxy, is a matter of choice. Monopolies exist because we all love the monopolist's product best, not because they've got monopoly power. Jobs that pay starvation wages exist because people want to work full time for so little money that they need food-stamps just to survive. Intervening in any of these situations is "woke paternalism," where the government thinks it knows better than you and intervenes to take away your right to consume unsafe products, get maimed at work, or have your jaw broken by your husband.

Which is why neoliberals insist that politics should be reduced to economics, and that economics should be carried out as if power didn't exist:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/05/farrago/#jeffty-is-five

Nowhere is this stupid trick more visible than in the surveillance fight. For example, Google claims that it tracks your location because you asked it to, by using Google products that make use of your location without clicking an opt out button.

In reality, Google has the power to simply ignore your preferences about location tracking. In 2021, the Arizona Attorney General's privacy case against Google yielded a bunch of internal memos, including memos from Google's senior product manager for location services Jen Chai complaining that she had turned off location tracking in three places and was still being tracked:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/01/you-are-here/#goog

Multiple googlers complained about this: they'd gone through dozens of preference screens, hunting for "don't track my location" checkboxes, and still they found that they were being tracked. These were people who worked under Chai on the location services team. If the head of that team, and her subordinates, couldn't figure out how to opt out of location tracking, what chance did you have?

Despite all this, I've found myself continuing to use stock Google Pixel phones running stock Google Android. There were three reasons for this:

First and most importantly: security. While I worry about Google tracking me, I am as worried (or more) about foreign governments, random hackers, and dedicated attackers gaining access to my phone. Google's appetite for my personal data knows no bounds, but at least the company is serious about patching defects in the Pixel line.

Second: coercion. There are a lot of apps that I need to run – to pay for parking, say, or to access my credit union or control my rooftop solar – that either won't run on jailbroken Android phones or require constant tweaking to keep running.

Finally: time. I already have the equivalent of three full time jobs and struggle every day to complete my essential tasks, including managing complex health issues and being there for my family. The time I take out of my schedule to actively manage a de-Googled Android would come at the expense of either my professional or personal life.

And despite Google's enshittificatory impulses, the Pixels are reliably high-quality, robust phones that get the hell out of the way and let me do my job. The Pixels are Google's flagship electronic products, and the company acts like it.

Until now.

A new report from Cybernews reveals just how much data the next generation Pixel 9 phones collect and transmit to Google, without any user intervention, and in defiance of the owner's express preferences to the contrary:

https://cybernews.com/security/google-pixel-9-phone-beams-data-and-awaits-commands/

The Pixel 9 phones home every 15 minutes, even when it's not in use, sharing "location, email address, phone number, network status, and other telemetry." Additionally, every 40 minutes, the new Pixels transmit "firmware version, whether connected to WiFi or using mobile data, the SIM card Carrier, and the user’s email address." Even further, even if you've never opened Google Photos, the phone contacts Google Photos’ Face Grouping API at regular intervals. Another process periodically contacts Google's Voice Search servers, even if you never use Voice Search, transmitting "the number of times the device was restarted, the time elapsed since powering on, and a list of apps installed on the device, including the sideloaded ones."

All of this is without any consent. Or rather, without any consent beyond the "revealed preference" of just buying a phone from Google ("to opt out, don't have a face").

What's more, the Cybernews report probably undercounts the amount of passive surveillance the Pixel 9 undertakes. To monitor their testbench phone, Cybernews had to root it and install Magisk, a monitoring tool. In order to do that, they had to disable the AI features that Google touts as the centerpiece of Pixel 9. AI is, of course, notoriously data-hungry and privacy invasive, and all the above represents the data collection the Pixel 9 undertakes without any of its AI nonsense.

It just gets worse. The Pixel 9 also routinely connects to a "CloudDPC" server run by Google. Normally, this is a server that an enterprise customer would connect its employees' devices to, allowing the company to push updates to employees' phones without any action on their part. But Google has designed the Pixel 9 so that privately owned phones do the same thing with Google, allowing for zero-click, no-notification software changes on devices that you own.

This is the kind of measure that works well, but fails badly. It assumes that the risk of Pixel owners failing to download a patch outweighs the risk of a Google insider pushing out a malicious update. Why would Google do that? Well, perhaps a rogue employee wants to spy on his ex-girlfriend:

https://www.wired.com/2010/09/google-spy/

Or maybe a Google executive wins an internal power struggle and decrees that Google's products should be made shittier so you need to take more steps to solve your problems, which generates more chances to serve ads:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/24/naming-names/#prabhakar-raghavan

Or maybe Google capitulates to an authoritarian government who orders them to install a malicious update to facilitate a campaign of oppressive spying and control:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly_(search_engine)

Indeed, merely by installing a feature that can be abused this way, Google encourages bad actors to abuse it. It's a lot harder for a government or an asshole executive to demand a malicious downgrade of a Google product if users have to accept that downgrade before it takes effect. By removing that choice, Google has greased the skids for malicious downgrades, from both internal and external sources.

Google will insist that these anti-features – both the spying and the permissionless updating – are essential, that it's literally impossible to imagine building a phone that doesn't do these things. This is one of Big Tech's stupidest gambits. It's the same ruse that Zuck deploys when he says that it's impossible to chat with a friend or plan a potluck dinner without letting Facebook spy on you. It's Tim Cook's insistence that there's no way to have a safe, easy to use, secure computing environment without giving Apple a veto over what software you can run and who can fix your device – and that this veto must come with a 30% rake from every dollar you spend on your phone.

The thing is, we know it's possible to separate these things, because they used to be separate. Facebook used to sell itself as the privacy-forward alternative to Myspace, where they would never spy on you (not coincidentally, this is also the best period in Facebook's history, from a user perspective):

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3247362

And we know it's possible to make a Pixel that doesn't do all this nonsense because Google makes other Pixel phones that don't do all this nonsense, like the Pixel 8 that's in my pocket as I type these words.

This doesn't stop Big Tech from gaslighting* us and insisting that demanding a Pixel that doesn't phone home four times an hour is like demanding water that isn't wet.

*pronounced "jass-lighting"

Even before I read this report, I was thinking about what I would do when I broke my current phone (I'm a klutz and I travel a lot, so my gadgets break pretty frequently). Google's latest OS updates have already crammed a bunch of AI bullshit into my Pixel 8 (and Google puts the "invoke AI bullshit" button in the spot where the "do something useful" button used to be, meaning I accidentally pull up the AI bullshit screen several times/day).

Assuming no catastrophic phone disasters, I've got a little while before my next phone, but I reckon when it's time to upgrade, I'll be switching to a phone from the @calyxinstitute@mastodon.social. Calyx is an incredible, privacy-focused nonprofit whose founder, Nicholas Merrill, was the first person to successfully resist one of the Patriot Act's "sneek-and-peek" warrants, spending 11 years defending his users' privacy from secret – and, ultimately, unconstitutional – surveillance:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/03/depth-judge-illstons-remarkable-order-striking-down-nsl-statute

Merrill and Calyx have tapped into various obscure corners of US wireless spectrum licenses that require major carriers to give ultra-cheap access to nonprofits, allowing them to offer unlimited, surveillance-free, Net Neutrality respecting wireless data packages:

https://memex.craphound.com/2016/09/22/i-have-found-a-secret-tunnel-that-runs-underneath-the-phone-companies-and-emerges-in-paradise/

I've been a very happy Calyx user in years gone by, but ultimately, I slipped into the default of using stock Pixel handsets with Google's Fi service.

But even as I've grown increasingly uncomfortable with the direction of Google's Android and Pixel programs, I've grown increasingly impressed with Calyx's offerings. The company has graduated from selling mobile hotspots with unlimited data SIMs to selling jailbroken, de-Googled Pixel phones that have all the hardware reliability of a Pixel, coupled with an alternative app suite and your choice of a Calyx SIM and/or a Calyx hotspot:

https://calyxinstitute.org/

Every time I see what Calyx is up to, I think, dammit, it's really time to de-Google my phone. With the Pixel 9 descending to new depths of enshittification, that decision just got a lot easier. When my current phone croaks, I'll be talking to Calyx.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/08/water-thats-not-wet/#pixelated

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[calderacitylovers]

Zutara SlowBurn FanFiction: Personal Favs, part I

·        I AM STILL HERE by owedbetter Published: 2017-10-09 | 77K words | 7 Chapters

After the Last Agni Kai K heals Z with the help of bloodbending. Very sweet.

 ·        THE SUMMIT by AJLenoire

Chronicles post-war years, as Gaang and other characters gather for annual summits to keep peace and build relationships between the Four Nations. Katara yearns for a bigger purpose than the Avatar’s companion and slowly grows into a shrewd diplomat. Very sweet slow burn ZK story. Has mature scenes.

 ·        CLOTHE ME IN SEASONS, DRESS ME IN SNOW by sadladybug Published: 2015-01-05 | 62K words | 7 Chapters

Follows old Zuko as he reflects on his life and what would have been if he kept Katara closer. Absolutely beautiful, but also a devastatingly heart-breaking story about loss and pain.

 ·        SILENT DECLARATIONS by Megara Pike (Megara_Pike) Published: 2021-01-20 | 2,6K words

A short story based on animation by Hayley Wong. Z finds K asleep in her study and carries her to bed. Very sweet, gentle story.

 ·        COVERED IN YOU by evergreenonthehorizon Published: 2021-04-02 | 55K words | 14 Chapters

Eight years after the war Z convinces K to take on a role of a Southern Water Tribe ambassador in the Caldera city. Both are completely clueless about each other’s feelings. Features political talks, big gestures, and a ball. Very cute, sweet slow-burn story. Has mature scenes.

 ·        TEN STRIDES IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION by evergreenonthehorizon Published: 2021-04-03 | 29K Words | 12 Chapters

A collection of short stories filling in the gaps between some of the events of ATLAS3 and up to the Last Agni Kai. Features accidental cuddling, embracing in the rain, sharing a bed for warmth, post-Ember Island Theater discussions, being discovered, waiting to be kissed, Suki & Katara being good friends, battle plans, Zuko & Sokka getting drunk, slow burn & angst. Very sweet.

 ·        THE SWAY OF THE SUN by TheBlackBriarSparrow Published: Published: 2019-10-14 | 102K Words | 27 Chapters

Two years post-war Gaang reunites in Caldera city for a secret party in honor of the overworked Fire Lord’s birthday. Rebels attack the palace setting a thrilling consequence of events in motion. Adventures, investigations, and fights ensue. Z & K work together and enlist old friends to help find missing people. Beautiful slow-burn story with an exciting plot.

·        A WARM EMBRACE by ewinkie Published: 2020-10-06 | 19K Words | 7 Chapters

An ATLAS3 rewrite from Southern Riders to the Last Agni Kai. Katara and Zuko have to hide in a cave following their encounter with Yon Rha. Comforting turns to cuddling, which turns to waking up on Appa's tail in each other's arms. Katara is shocked at how comfortable she is. Zuko is shocked that Katara doesn't hate him for it. Features sharing a bed, being discovered, slowburn, and lots of teenage silliness.

 ·        FOLLOWING BLUE by Boogum Published: 2018-11-07 | 39K Words | 10 Chapters

ATLA S2 rewrite. After Katara falls from Appa’s saddle during a pursuit, the Blue Spirit becomes her reluctant companion and helps her reunite with her friends. Ba Sing Se scenes are completely rewritten, and Z ends up joining the Gaang much earlier. Thrilling beginning, sweet middle, average ending.

 ·        ANOTHER WORD FOR ALCHEMY by FanPanda13 Published: 2014-08-19 | 108K words | 24 Chapters

Five years post-war Aang summons old friends for a summit and invites them on a trip to investigate mysterious locations where he experiences loss of bending. Features Gaang setting Z & K up, travelling on Appa like in the olden days, lots of sparring, royal courting, magnificent navy ships & war ballons. Thrilling story with fun banter between old friends. Slowburn, mature content.

 ·        CONSUME ME WITH FIRE, FLOOD ME WITH DESIRE by Dacamia Published: 2020-08-14 | 86K words | 24 Chapters

Steamy ATLAS2 and ATLA S3 rewrite. Z & K accidentally meetup on their way to Ba Sing Se and decide to travel together. Features aged-up characters, lots of intimate scenes, staying in a beautiful cave, helping villagers, betrayal in Ba Sing Se, reunion, forgiveness, etc. Explicit mature content.

 ·        ROOTS AND WINGS by zukoscomet Published: 2020-08-14 | 250K words | 25 Chapters

A series of short stories of Z & K as they grow closer, confess their love for one another and start a family.

 ·        THOSE WHO FAVOR FIRE by hiwasseelane Published: 2021-05-02 |29K Words | 13 Chapters

An ATLAS3 rewrite. Sweet, teen-appopriate.

Here’s a link to Part II of my personal favs.

Here’s a link to Wholesome Zutara Short Stories.

[aerindrs]

୨୧˚⊹♡ Understanding All My Enhypen Drs - Part 2

i have five enhypen drs as of now, one being only girl dr, another where im a guy and three group shift drs (one of them is enhypens sister group) which are the ones i will be talking about today.

3. Enhypen Group Shift Desired Reality

this is a shared dr with @galisrealities . my korean name is Ahn Marin here and my stage name is A-Rin (matching with Ni-ki, Ta-ki, Ma-ki). i am a 01 liner in this dr and Gali is a 02 liner. both of us were in a girl group called WINX predebut that disbanded hence we went on iland to continue our dreams.

predebut i did fencing and played for nationals for my own country and also for korea. i ended my fencing career when i played ko yurim in the kdrama 2521 and played in the olympic games while filming and won the gold medal. Gali and i are enhypens duo leaders while being the only two girls in the group and also enhypens producers and song writer. we had our solo debut in 2021 with Monster and Naughty.

> random things about me:

this dr is again very similar to my cr and enha dr 1.

i got a guitar when i was 13 yrs and music literally become my second nature.

i scripted a twin brother called Marwan in this dr. He's a model and often comes to korea for brand ambassador-ing and practically lives in our dorms like he's the 10th member.

while we were in winx there was this rumor about me that i am related to the royal family since bangladesh in my drs are ruled by monarchs. and well that is true.. just nobody except my family knows heh.

i got into a little tiny (not tiny it was big) dating scandal in 2021 june which caused me to go on a 3 month hiatus.

i was caught kissing itzy's chaeryeong and well things didn't end up well and we broke up soon after.

but i came back from hiatus and well happy end— (no i started dating nct's renjun the next year and well got cheated ON MY FYCKING BIRTHDAY).

Gali and i are shifting to around may 2024 the day enhypen filmed their new dorms. All the angst is long in the past and im healed and moved on and we're just shifting to enjoy the kpop life.

i am currently in a relationship with jake and sunghoon hehe <3

4. Enhypen Group Shift Desired Reality 2

this is a shared dr with @garrdenwonie . my name is Marin (cr last name) and my stage name is just Rin. i am a 04 liner while Sayori is a 05 liner. we met in 3rd grade and became the bestest friends. literally glued on to one another. we started a youtube channel in 2017 and posted dancing and singing covers (sometimes daily vlogs and all that). the following year we moved to korea to actually pursue our dreams and auditioned in jyp ent. we both got in and just a few months later sayori was added to itzy’s line up. she declined the offer to debut earlier cuz she wanted to debut with me instead. we moved companies and later in 2020 went on iland in hopes we'd finally debut together.

> random things:

we're shifting to iland so this dr is solely focused on iland and my relationship with my s/o, enhypen and sayori.

this dr has a deeper lore,, it's a soulmate reincarnation trope dr based on me and sayori’s fantasy dr.

so basically in our past life we were both princesses of a kingdom called aurelia but due to natural disasters and wars the kingdom fell and well everyone died and hence we got reincarnated.

in our past life we were sisters with 7 knights that were our soulmates with whom we are reunited with again in iland.

“about you” by 1975 was produced by the two of us and released in our solo duo album. the song describes our feelings about them, then and now.

enhypens lore aka darkmoon was coincidentally based on our past life as me and sayori are friends with our creative directors and decided to give them ideas about the plot and did not realise we were stating our own lives many centuries ago.

my s/o in this dr is jay and sayori’s is jungwon (we're literally mini jaywon was the first thing we thought).

our resemblance claims are couplez (liz and rei) and they're soo us like we literally act like a couple, enhypen is so sick of us. like it's never fan service for us and i think our boyfriends agree too.

5. ROMA (Enhypens Sister Group) Desired Reality

this is a shared dr with @hyukadrs . Roma is short of Romantic Killers. our lore is the antagonist vampire characters of enhypens story, darkmoon. aka we're always trying to get rid of their lovers by whatever means. this hatred is fueled from our own betrayals from humans, so we're trying to protect them from getting hurt too. we debuted on 1st february 2021 with the title song Good Morning and Good Girls In The Dark (by Yena) from our mini album Border: New Day. my stage name is Marin here and i’m a 02 liner while Ayaka is a 03 liner.

> random facts about me:

i was born and raised in jeju island and did ballet since i was 9.

i went to a ballet school in london where i met kazuha.

in 2019 in high school i was working at a cafe where the waitors cosplayed as different cartoon/tv show/anime characters. that specific day, i was in a monster high cosplay and down the street a group of street dancers were also coincidentally in the same dresses. Ayaka was one of them and we were both casted the same day.

Roma was originally supposed to be a monster high themed group but the company thought enhypen and vampires would suit us more.

before our debut we had moved in with enhypen and were living with them to “bond”. but a few years in we moved out (we scripted we move into the blackpink house yippiee).

my s/o is jake and ayaka’s is sunghoon (jakehoon 2.0 aah).

me and jake started dating in high school and our relationship was kept a secret from everyone at first because of company policy but we decided to not tell enha and ayaka too and keep it our own little secret until oh well.. (trying to keep my accounts pg 13 um).

we're shifting to a post roma dr first which is a small town/parents dr waiting room with a cafe that jakehoon always wanted, my little florist shop on the side and our own little farmhouse at the back.

after that when we're missing our idol lives we'll shift to roma before our debut so we can experience everything a-z.

Part One

[lemoncrushh]

The Entertainer - Story Page

Summary: Set in the 70s, Sky Jones, a young woman from L.A., meets Harry Styles, an up-and-coming musician and frontman for the band Wildfire. Told in first person from Sky's point of view, she shares her journey and what it's like to fall for a rockstar.

Author's Note: This was originally written and posted way back in 2017. An oldie, but I'm finally getting around to finishing the sequel. I figured before I start reposting that, you need the original story. Hopefully there are some newer fans/readers who haven't read this one yet. A ten-part series, each chapter acts as a track from an album. Within each chapter, there will be song lyrics. Be sure to check the bottom of each part to get a list of the songs included. It makes for a great soundtrack, like a movie. This story is very special to me, and I hope you enjoy. Inspired by the song "The Entertainer" by Billy Joel.

I am the entertainer And I know just where I stand Another serenader And another long haired band Today I am your champion I may have won your hearts But I know the game, you’ll forget my name And I won’t be here in another year If I don’t stay on the charts

Reposting daily! Links will be updated as I post.

Track 01 - You Have a Great Collection

Track 02 - Looks Like Rain

Track 03 - Pick a Memory

Track 04 - Pajamas & The Holiday Inn

Track 05 - It's Always Been About the Music

Track 06 - No Concern of Yours

Track 07 - Let's Hit The Road

Track 08 - I Don't Wanna Be Alone

Track 09 - Make Some Beautiful Music

Track 10 - Let's Make the Most of It

The Playlist

Another note: Though this story does include some sex, I would not consider this smutty at all, just in case that's what you're looking for. The sequel, however, will contain a lot so...lol...it's your call.

I do require that you be at least 18 to read my fics though.

MASTERLIST

[alex31624]

2024 is almost done. It has been a weird year for me, there was personal stuff that went wrong, but it also was the year of me joining a fandom.

Being in the Ducktales fandom has been a great experience that helped me recover my passion for writing and gave me the chance to draw.

For that, I'm thankful.

Anyway, is time to check the top ten post of this year. Let's see what's on the list.

10. It's PK!

222 notes for PK debut on Ducktales. He needed to be there for real.

09. Dad...

Yeah, in Ducktales, uncle and dad is almost the same. 238 notes confirm it.

08. Happy birthday Ducktales!

With 239 notes, the 7th anniversary post is my most popular piece of art of the year.

07. Angry birds

241 notes for the lamest joke ever.

06. The gang finally together

I love this edit. A 10 kid adventure would have been the best episode on Ducktales season 4. 242 notes think the same.

05. Webby in Lorcana

We all lost our minds when the Webby card was revealed, as the 282 notes said.

04. Webby and Louie, the siblings ever

Webby and Louie are my favorite characters and I love how real their bond feels. They truly are sister and brother, and they got 312 notes.

03. Comics covers!

The collection of IDW Ducktales covers was well received, looking at the 563 notes it got.

02. To the seas!

I think it was a missoportunity to not have HDL showing more of their marine life. 644 notes agree with me.

01. Dipcifica

Is so funny that a Gravity Falls post is the top post from a Ducktales blog. I had just finished watching GF and I was totally into Dipcifica (I'm still in). I think they made a great couple. And with 645 notes, is my top post from 2024.

There you have it, the top ten post of this year. I hope the next year would be even better.

[themaveriqueagenda]

it's trans+ history week, so i finally have an opportunity to make a detailed post about maverique history.

so here it is:

a detailed timeline of maverique history.

31/05/2014 — @queerascat coined maverique as "a non-binary gender characterized by an unconventional and unothodox internal sense of self and the interrelationship between that sense of self and society"

15/06/2014 — queerascat reworded the definition as: "a non-binary gender characterized by autonomy and inner conviction regarding a sense of gender which is unorthodox, unconventional and entirely independent of conventional concepts of gender". they created the maverique flag on the same day.

18/06/2014 — tearun suggested maver as an equivalent to man/woman and rique as an equivalent for boy/girl, the latter was never heard of again due to it sounding like "reek"

19/06/2014 — someone suggested mav as an equivalent to boy/girl, @whatdoesenbymean suggested Mv (pronounced "mav") as a title

21/06/2014 — after some confusion, queerascat reworded the definition one last time as "a gender characterized by autonomy and inner conviction regarding a sense of self that is entirely independent of male/masculinity, female/femininity or anything which derives from the two while still being neither without gender nor of a neutral gender"

22/06/2014 — the @maveriques blog was created

24/06/2014 — maveriques posted a CMYK analogy to explain maverique

28/06/2014 — maveriques posted a list of proposed maverique terms

29/06/2014 — someone suggested Mv (pronounced "miv") as a title

06/07/2014 — queerascat uploaded a video about their label change and the term maverique in their youtube channel

12/03/2015 — maveriques clearly defined maverique as not an umbrella term

11/10/2015 — queerascat posted a gender tag video from a maverique perspective on their youtube channel

13/10/2015 — someone suggested maveriquine as an equivalent for masculine/feminine

~2015/16 — there was discourse on aliagender and aporagender being racist, and that maverique was a good term to use instead because it was coined by a Black person, queerascat pushed back against this

31/07/2016 — maverine was suggested as an equivalent to masculine/feminine

18/11/2016 — @moonstruck-melts suggested the earth and sun symbols for maverique, and @feekins suggested pluto as a symbol

03/02/2017 — @the-christian-closet suggested the comet symbol for maverique, mistaking it for an alternative sun symbol

05/02/2017 — maveriques posted a poll asking how people feel about the sun as a maverique symbol

12/02/2017 — maveriques posted the results, with most maveriques liking it but having reservations

24/02/2017 — courage-archive-deactivated2018 / sneer posted the symbol with the two extending arms

17/07/2017 — veriquinity was suggested as an equivalent to masculine/feminine

~2021: the maverique subreddit was created

06/01/2022 — renée yoxon went on the fifty shades of gender podcast to talk about being maverique, trans, nonbinary and genderqueer

06/2022 — reddit user ChaoticStrange suggested a maverique visibility day on 31/05 and others agreed

16/01/2023 — renée yoxon briefly spoke about being maverique on the gender reveal podcast

18/06/2023 — @themaveriqueagenda on tumblr was born

20/08/2023 — themaveriqueagenda on instagram was born