#tech rants

[radicalityincident]

God I hate how normalized not being in control of your own devices has become. My phone updates in the middle of the night without asking me shit or getting my consent for anything and its like "Oh hi I'm your new AI, please enjoy this forced overlay that you can't exit out of until you go through my tutorial"

"Great fuck you, I would like to uninstall you" "Oh I'm sorry you can't uninstall me! I'm a core system application and if you uninstall me your phone won't function correctly despite the fact that I did not exist yesterday and your phone worked fine" "....." "You can disable parts of my functionality but I will always be here and I will pop up notifications asking you to re-enable me unless you figure out how to disable those too! Then I will still show up in a different color at the top of your settings application telling you that you need to 'fix" a 'problem' with your phone, that problem being that I am disabled. Does that help?"

Like, you know what I can do on my desktop? "sudo pacman -Rdd linux" , this will just fucking remove the entire linux kernel. Fundamentally breaking my computer until I boot up a live disk and chroot in and reinstall it or whatever, and the computer will go "Are you sure (y/n)" or whatever and i'm like "y" and it will just go "Ok you got it boss"

But its mine, I get to do what I want with it. I control the computer, the computer does not control me. I refuse to cede control to my phone or anything else. The thing is a lot of people will joke that like "Oh I love just letting the machine tell me what to do, I don't know what I'm doing, it knows best" or whatever but the thing you have to realize is that when you say that you are abstracting away that "the phone" or whatever is not some value neutral logic driven robot like from sci-fi, it is a collection of the the capitalistic and fascistic desires of the tech oligarch fuckwits that are burning the world to the ground right now. You aren't submitting to the phone, you are submitting to Musk, Bezos, Nadella, Pichai, Cook and all those other evil bastards.

Fuck them, fuck their little AI toys, and fuck this.

[so-much-for-subtlety]

Despite how stupid I think the Friend AI chat necklace is I feel so sorry for this guy because he's really getting trashed on twitter.

He was only 17 in 2020 when he got sort of famous in tech circles for creating the first covid case data aggregator (it was an impressive project!) and since then he's done work with such good intentions like a project to help match Ukraine refugees with host families in neighboring countries.

Getting involved in the Silicone Vally VC reality distortion bubble is really going to mess him up.

The crazy thing is that even when this AI product is a flop and the company goes bankrupt it will actually not be bad for him, a little bootstrapped/self financed startup flopping is an embarrassment, but raising $2.5M and launching an AI hardware startup that then flops is actually (in SV) a huge success and will probably open up great opportunities for him.

I don't hate him (don't know him, but he's probably a cool guy) but I HATE the system.

[karmamiakat]

Preach this to my relatives!

“i don’t respect therians/otherkin/etc because they’re mentally ill!” oh so. so you believe mentally ill people aren’t worthy of your respect. no that’s fine. that doesn’t speak volumes about you as a person don’t worry about it

[spacebarsidecar]

I hate that my phone does the live pictures thing now cause yk storage I can't turn it off it proves how shaky my hands are etc BUT the photo of the wee dog in the tattoo parlour yesterday Is wagging

[random-cockroach]

[ganondoodle]

🤝being sick of that damn goat man

Though mine are probably more basic because I just think they were cowards and should have made his design more monstery, WHERE'S THE TAIL AND PAWS HUH.

see at first i even liked his design (just that though, in the tutorial i called him being a twist villain bc i had way too much faith into the writing lmao), but man going back through my stream recordings i was trying to be so nice to the game until the very end, i really didnt want to accept how much i disliked evrything lol, at least now i feel free to just yell about how much i hate it

anywaym they dIDNT EVEN GIVE HIM GOAT EYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COWARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GOAT EYES! TWO THUMBS! LIGHT FERN HAIR APPENDAGE! HOOVES! TAIL! FULLY FURRED! (he looks too smooth in canon, fuckimg smooth yoda ass rauru)

[waywardsou2]

You guys...

I miss the Batch so bad.

I haven't touched the fandom in ages but Ive suddenly started think about it again and j miss my crew so much 😭

I'm actually tearing up wtf

[turtleblogatlast]

One of the earliest examples of Leo’s “I’ll do my own thing to accomplish our goal without discussing it with my team first” is in episode one. It’s super, super quick, and ultimately inconsequential, but it subtly sets up a great precedent that I think is very interesting.

When the boys need to grab the medallion from Splinter without Splinter noticing, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie huddle together with Raph taking the lead in trying to devise a plan to get the mystic device. Meanwhile, Leo slinks away and grabs the device by clocking the situation (by knowing his father well enough to predict his actions - something he does with each family member multiple times in the series) and making a move on his own.

It works out perfectly fine, and is ultimately the best move, and it’s honestly okay that he didn’t consult everyone for something so small when it’s such a non issue to get it, but it nicely sets up how this tends to go in the series, including how it goes in the movie.

To be honest episode one is actually really good at setting up a lot of things for each character in the long run, this is just one example that caught my attention, as small and unassuming as it is.

[sandwhich-lady]

I am begging to know how the projections work in the dome in dimension 20. Like specifically in never stop blowing up, who controls which projections come on and when? Is it brennan? The projections crew? A combo of both? Are the panels an led wall or are they using actually projectors? How many?? How small are those projectors? How big? How are those placed for the image to flawlessly cover the whole dome? Was mapping that a nightmare? Do they use qlab?? How goddamn powerful are those projectors to have such high quality and brightness? Is it a bunch of really powerful short throw projectors? Do they project from the back or the front? How do they do that? I want that job how does one get that job. Anyway shout out to all the tech/art elements of never stop blowing up and dimension 20 in general yall rule

[smithsibsceo]

zane and kai bonded in the early seasons by discovering new music together. both didnt really have a great access to it growing up (there was an only an old radio or maybe a scratchy vinyl player in ignacia's library and zane's village had no electricity) so they mainly grew up hearing their respective villages' traditional live music. Hearing those 'end-of-2012-mashup' compilations changed both of their lives

[staycalmandhugaclone]

Still in the process of moving (well, more like trying to get everything settled in and establish a new normal), but I've saw this gorgeous artwork by the incredibly talented @cabbagege and had a moment of how Tech might struggle with the very fact of struggling with prosthetics after *denial is strong in me* surviving the season 2 fall and subsequent craziness to become CX2, and how he might try and fail to talk to Echo about it a couple times, but repeatedly ends up saying nothing because explaining emotions can be hard, but Echo knows and just waits until Tech finally finds the words. Something like

Tech: Functionally, there's very little difference between mechanical limbs and organic.

Echo: *doesn't respond yet, but stops what he's doing to ensure Tech knows he has his full attention.*

Tech: In fact, they are superior in several aspects: strength, durability; even offering additional possible features such as data storage or booster jets.

Echo: *lets out a slow, quiet breath of both relief and sorrow, but continues to wait as Tech maneuvers his emotions.*

Tech: Modern technology even allows the tactile sensation to feel nearly identical to that of natural nerves... but... *he hesitates*

Echo: That almost makes it worse. *He offers quietly.*

Tech: *pauses as he progresses this, staring almost blindly at his artifical hand*

Tech: It shouldn't...

Echo: Yeah... Well, reality doesn't really care about about what *should* and *shouldn't* matter.

Tech slumps slightly, as though Echo's words give an odd sort of permission to feel the depth of a grief he'd tried so hard to ignore, and that permission seemed to grant an odd weightlessness to it even as threatened to drag him to the hard floor. After a moment, he lets himself cave beneath it, sliding down heavily as he watched the mechanical limbs stretch out before him. Echo waits only a moment before quietly joining him, sitting close enough for their shoulders to nearly brush, but granting just enough space to allow Tech to initiate that contact only if he wanted it; only if he was ready.

They're silent for a while, eventually sharing hushed words about how profound those tiny differences in sensation can be; how unsettling that nearly perfect feeling was amidst the subtle reminders of *wrong* when those differences surface, and even tears begin to slip down Tech's face, those words only grow softer as Echo carefully wraps his arm around the taller man's shoulders.

Echo makes a point to comment on when those moments of oddness surface after that: trying to stretch a toe that no longer exists or scratch his thigh where there isn't skin to itch, and that offers an unspoken invitation for Tech to do the same. Over time, those moments turn from startling and unnerving, to muttered annoyances, to something of an inside joke between them, and when Crosshair slowly begins to join them, Tech feels a very different emotion towards his foreign body: gratitude. Because those limbs that weren't his until they had to be granted a means of understanding that he otherwise would never have known, and thus he was able to take the gentle support Echo gave him and extend it toward his other brother in a way that helped each of them heal just that much more.

[tragedy-for-sale]

Age of the Batch

This has been on my mind lately

Getting a few things out of the way. None of their wookiepedia pages state how old they are (not given a BBY year). If you simply look up their ages, it places Omega at 12 years (which is confirmed unless I dreamt that), and the batch at 13 (which is incorrect). We also know the oldest clones are 13 (26) by the end of the war.

Omega is older than the batch; Which crosses out the possibility of them being 13/Gen Ones. This means the oldest they could be is 12 (24) by the end of the war. We also know Omega was old enough to remember seeing the mutations of the batch get enhanced. So the question arose of what was the youngest age Omega could consciously remember that and also be an effective lab assist? Around three or four would be the youngest.

When Omega is explaining to the batch, she tells them '...sent to be with the other clones.' Does this infer they went back to their growth jars in those giant rooms, or out consciously? Since we know Omega is able to remember their mutations being done, that means the batch did not initially have all their mutations and had to be modified later in development. (Which complicates things based on the nature of how genetic mutations work). But that's a lot to get into at this moment and I'll spare you that rant because maker I could go on.

If the oldest the batch could be is 12, that would mean their got their mutations at age 2 (4) at the earliest. However, I feel like there is an emphasis on Omega being older than them, not the same age. We can infer the batch did not join the war right away because of the time of their introduction.

I feel it is more likely for the batch to be closer to 11 (22) by the end of the war. That would place them at 8 (16) years at the start of the war, and maybe they didn't make their debut in the war until a year later at 9 (18). This also puts Omega at a standard 4 years older, this makes the most sense because then she would be old enough to remember them being created and getting genetically enhanced during a time in development that's actually scientifically feasible.

If they were making their marks as extremely effective soldiers, who's to say they weren't rushed off to war prematurely. It is said in The Clone Wars that young clones were rushed into service before their 10-year training span was up, and the batch was likely a part of those groups.

[gars-weaponeer]

The Bullied Bad Batch?

Here comes a controversial take...

But It kind of always rubbed me the wrong way to see the first episode of the bad batch and have this narrative that they have always been bullied by the other clones for being different, like some sort of Star wars Loosers club.

It really doesn't makes sense to me. Specially comparing them to their episodes in the Clone Wars.

For starters: Sure, they are called "defective clones"... but are they really? Nothing about their mutations gives them an actual defect or a weakness. The closest we have is Tech's intelligence being so great he is way to logical about everything and lacks in social interactions.

But other than that the fact that Hunter's heightened senses overwhelm him sometimes, or that Crosshair's eyes are sensitive to bright lights, or that Wrecker's Muscles are in constant pain are all fandom made.

They were not just "born defective" like 99 and the Kaminoans decided to let them out into the world see what happened. They presented "some" mutations and the Kaminoans enhanced said mutations to make them perfect soldiers.

They are an an experimental group sure, but they were treated as a clone comando squad, an elite group.

I find it very hard to believe that an "elite group" would be bullied for being "different". It's like saying the Delta Squad was bullied by the other ct troopers.

Not to mention, their actitudes in their clone wars episodes are more akin to bullies. They are arrogant, They pick up fights with the other clones, They undermined the other clone's thoughts, ideas and even abilities. They don't follow orders and do things their own unorthodox way. Hell! even the "Reg" name they give regular clones sounds almost like an insult or a slur.

So why did we suddenly pass from: "They are just Regs, they cannot compare with us" to "The regs are calling us names, we have no friends in the school cafeteria." ???

-But Weaponeer! - I hear you say - They are called the Bad Batch because they were born defective.

And to that I say, NO. They are called "Clone force 99" because they were born with mutations (like 99). They call themselves "The Bad Batch" because they are a group of edgy, rebellious, younger clones that are aware they are different from the rest.

Let's not forget that deleted scene where we learn the Bad Batch had some nose art of a sexy Padme. That reads: "Born to be Bad."

Just so you can understand their actual energy.

That said, I think the writers should have kept the Bully Bad Batch on their series. At least on the first episode, when they are still in the GAR.

IMAGEN THIS:

The Bad Batch is an experimental group that is very important for the Kaminoans. So much so that they are given preferential treatment over regular clones, even comando clones.

They have their own personal barracks, They have their own ship that is theirs, They are allowed to do as they wish during missions since Kaminoans want to test them and record their evolution.

The Bad Batch know they are the Kaminoan's favorites, so does the regular clones and they hate it.

To regular clones it feels unfair. They are the ones that run into the battlefield and fight endless hoards of droids daily just to have this bunch of reckless clones rush in, do whatever they want, explode something and receive all the praise.

Not to mention that The Bad Batch is not nice about it either, they are arrogant, they boast, they call the other clones "regs" and compare their superior abilities to the rest constantly, almost like they forget they are clones too.

Worst part is, the Regs can't really do anything about it. Pick up fights with them always ends up badly. Wrecker is strong enough to send any reg to the med bay with one punch, Hunter can always anticipate punches and Crosshair has excellent aim when throwing the cafeteria trays.

The only one there that does not condone the behavior of his peers is Echo. Despite being a Reg he was accepted by the Bad Batch thanks to his unusual appearance and skills, but Echo is constantly trying to stop them from being mean to his other brothers. Not that it does much as the Bad Batch still see Echo as the "newbie" despite him being an ARC trooper.

But they are not bad people, they do have a sense of duty and honor like any other clone and they wouldn't really cause real harm to an ally. They see Omega and treat her with care, after all she is a young girl and they are not animals. They see the "insurgents" they were sent to kill and of course they cannot do that! Killing innocents? that's not what they do!

When they rebel from the Empire and go AWOL their whole world comes crashing down.

They no longer have the protection of the Kaminoans, they are no longer the favorite clones, now they are the traitors, hunted down not only by the whole empire but by one of their own.

This sudden change would make the batch wake up and turn from unruly teens to mature adults.

Hunter now has to be the mature leader and guide his team to safety in a harsh galaxy that keeps getting more and more dangerous. He has to be more careful, to a point that he is almost afraid of taking risks, specially since he has Omega to worry about. It would give him some character arc in which he passes from being carefree, to overly cautious, to learning to balance both.

Tech would learn that even though he has all the theory, he doesn't have all the practice. Nothing is as easy as just saying it, and things that he used to take for granted are now being mayor issues.

Echo's knowledge of the galaxy and skill would be more useful to his peers, but his tendency to distrust causes him problems in the long run. Not to mention he would still not be happy about sitting down doing nothing while his brothers are suffering at the hands of the Empire.

While Wrecker is having the hardest time adapting to their new life, being the more immature of the bunch. He learns that he cannot be as reckless as he has always been during their time in the GAR, specially when they have Omega to worry about.

That's Right people! MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! I think it would have been interesting to see that sort of dynamic.

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Then Again, these are just my thoughts. You are welcome to agree, add your own thoughts or just ignore them if they are not your cup of tea.

If you reached all the way down here thank you for reading ♥

And may the force be with you.

[inkprovised]

I was sketching when my graphic tablet died on me...

[kristiliqua]

some ultrakill fans flaming people for playing on lenient/harmless is so funny to me because here i am in my little corner playing on harmless with Also 100% damage reduction (in major assist settings) because my severe anxiety cannot handle the idea of me taking any damage at all . i am wearing my propeller hat and eating my lollipop and i am having fun :3 (and maybe one day i can ease that anxiety and play without major assists)

[waywardsou2]

Ok listen up, this had been rolling around in my head for ages now and my dumbass is finally making a post about it!

When Hunter missed that jump to the Marauder on Daro he fell off a fucking cliff like...if y'all go back and watch that episode he fucking sliped, fell onto his back, down a mountain, a really long fall onto some trees down another cliff and onto the ground.

YET HE GOT UP RIGHT THE FUCKING WAY AND WAS READY TO FIGHT

YET WHEN TECH FELL FROM THAT RAIL CAR ON EIRADU HE JUST DIED AND LEFT NO TRACE?!?!?

DAVE FILONI WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT OF THIS?!?!?!?!?! HMMM? EXPLAIN THIS SHIT TO ME?! COME FIGHT ME AND EXPLAIN THIS TO ME, RIGHT NOW!