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mostlysignssomeportents · 7 months ago

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“That Makes Me Smart”

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/2024/12/04/its-not-a-lie/#its-a-premature-truth

The Biden administration disappointed, frustrated and enraged in so many ways, including abetting a genocide – but one consistent bright spot over the past four years was the unseen-for-generations frontal assault on corporate power and corporate corruption.

The three words that define this battle above all others are "unfair and deceptive" – words that appear in Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and other legislation modeled on it, like USC40 Section 41712(a), which gives the Department of Transportation the power to ban "unfair and deceptive" practices as well:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/10/the-courage-to-govern/#whos-in-charge

When Congress created an agency to punish "unfair and deceptive" conduct, they were saying to the American people, "You have a right not to be cheated." While this may sound obvious, it's hardly how the world works.

To get a sense of how many ripoffs are part of our daily lives, let's take a little tour of the ways that the FTC and other agencies have used the "unfair and deceptive" standard to defend you over the past four years. Take Amazon Prime: Amazon executives emailed one another, openly admitting that in their user tests, the public was consistently fooled by Amazon's "get free shipping with Prime" dialog boxes, thinking they were signing up for free shipping and not understanding that they were actually signing up to send the company $140/year. They had tested other versions of the signup workflow that users were able to correctly interpret, but they decided to go with the confusing version because it made them more money:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/05/amazon-execs-may-be-personally-liable-for-tricking-users-into-prime-sign-ups/

Getting you signed up for Prime isn't just a matter of taking $140 out of your pocket once – because while Amazon has produced a greased slide that whisks you into a recurring Prime subscription, the process for canceling that recurring payment is more like a greased pole you must climb to escape the Prime pit. This is typical of many services, where signing up happens in a couple clicks, but canceling is a Kafkaesque nightmare. The FTC decided that this was an "unfair and deceptive" business practice and used its authority to create a "Click to Cancel" rule that says businesses have to make it as easy to cancel a recurring payment as it was to sign up for it:

https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/12/ftc_cancel_subscriptions/

Once businesses have you locked in, they also spy on you, ingesting masses of commercial surveillance data that you "consented" to by buying a car, or clicking to a website, or installing an app, or just physically existing in space. They use this to implement "surveillance pricing," raising prices based on their estimation of your desperation. Uber got caught doing this a decade ago, raising the price of taxi rides for users whose batteries were about to die, but these days, everyone's in on the game. For example, McDonald's has invested in a company that spies on your finances to determine when your payday is, and then raises the price of your usual breakfast sandwich by a dollar the day you get paid:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/05/your-price-named/#privacy-first-again

Everything about this is "unfair and deceptive" – from switching prices the second you click into the store to the sham of consent that consists of, say, picking up your tickets to a show and being ordered to download an app that comes with 20,000 words of terms and conditions that allows the company that sends you a QR code to spy on you for the rest of your life in any way they can and sell the data to anyone who'll buy it.

As bad as it is to be trapped in an abusive relationship as a shopper, it's a million times worse to be trapped as a worker. One in 18 American workers is under a noncompete "agreement" that makes it illegal for you to change jobs and work for someone else in the same industry. The vast majority of these workers are in low-waged food-service jobs. The primary use of the American noncompete is to stop the cashier at Wendy's from getting an extra $0.25/hour by taking a job at McDonald's.

Noncompetes are shrouded in a fog of easily dispelled bossly bullshit: claims that noncompetes raise wages (empirically, this is untrue), or that they enable "IP"-intensive industries to grow by protecting their trade secrets. This claim is such bullshit: you can tell by the fact that noncompetes are banned under California's state constitution and yet the most IP-intensive industries have attracted hundreds of billions – if not trillions – in investment capital even though none of their workforce can be bound under a noncompete. The FTC's order banning noncompetes for every worker in America simply brings the labor regime that created Silicon Valley and Hollywood to the rest of the country:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/26/hit-with-a-brick/#graceful-failure

Noncompetes aren't the only "unfair and deceptive" practice used against American workers. The past decade has seen the rise of private equity consolidation in several low-waged industries, like pet grooming. The new owners of every pet grooming salon within 20 miles of your house haven't just slashed workers' wages, they've also cooked up a scheme that lets them charge workers thousands of dollars if they quit these shitty jobs. This scheme is called a "training repayment agreement provision" (TRAP!): workers who are TRAPped at Petsmart are made to work doing menial jobs like sweeping up the floor for three to four weeks. Petsmart calls this "training," and values it at $5,500. If you quit your pet grooming job in the next two years, you legally owe PetSmart $5,500 to "repay" them for the training:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/04/its-a-trap/#a-little-on-the-nose

Workers are also subjected to "unfair and deceptive" bossware: "AI" tools sold to bosses that claim they can sort good workers from bad, but actually serve as random-number generators that penalize workers in arbitrary, life-destroying ways:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/26/hawtch-hawtch/#you-treasure-what-you-measure

Some of the most "unfair and deceptive" conduct we endure happens in shadowy corners of industry, where obscure middlemen help consolidated industries raise prices and pick your pocket. All the meat you buy in the grocery store comes from a cartel of processing and packing companies that all subscribe to the same "price consulting" services that tells them how to coordinate across-the-board price rises (tell me again how greedflation isn't a thing?):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/04/dont-let-your-meat-loaf/#meaty-beaty-big-and-bouncy

It's not just food, it's all of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Take shelter: the highly consolidated landlord industry uses apps like Realpage to coordinate rental price hikes, turning the housing crisis into a housing emergency:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/24/gouging-the-all-seeing-eye/#i-spy

And of course, health is the most "unfair and deceptive" industry of all. Useless middlemen like "Pharmacy Benefit Managers" ("a spreadsheet with political power" -Matt Stoller) coordinate massive price-hikes in the drugs you need to stay alive, which is why Americans pay substantially more for medicine than anyone else in the world, even as the US government spends more than any other to fund pharma research, using public money:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/23/shield-of-boringness/#some-men-rob-you-with-a-fountain-pen

It's not just drugs: every piece of equipment – think hospital beds and nuclear medicine machines – as well as all the consumables – from bandages to saline – at your local hospital runs through a cartel of "Group Purchasing Organizations" that do for hospital equipment what PBMs do for medicine:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/27/lethal-dysfunction/#luxury-bones

For the past four years, we've lived in an America where a substantial portion of the administrative state went to war every day to stamp out unfair and deceptive practices. It's still happening: yesterday, the CFPB (which Musk has vowed to shut down) proposed a new rule that would ban the entire data brokerage industry, who nonconsensually harvest information about every American, and package it up into categories like "teenagers from red states seeking abortions" and "military service personnel with gambling habits" and "seniors with dementia" and sell this to marketers, stalkers, foreign governments and anyone else with a credit-card:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-proposes-rule-to-stop-data-brokers-from-selling-sensitive-personal-data-to-scammers-stalkers-and-spies/

And on the same day, the FTC banned the location brokers who spy on your every movement and sell your past and present location, again, to marketers, stalkers, foreign governments and anyone with a credit card:

https://www.404media.co/ftc-bans-location-data-company-that-powers-the-surveillance-ecosystem/

These are tantalizing previews of a better life for every American, one in which the rule is, "play fair." That's not the world that Trump and his allies want to build. Their motto isn't "cheaters never prosper" – it's "caveat emptor," let the buyer beware.

Remember the 2016 debate where Clinton accused Trump of cheating on his taxes and he admitted to it, saying "That makes me smart?" Trumpism is the movement of "that makes me smart" life, where if you get scammed, that's your own damned fault. Sorry, loser, you lost.

Nowhere do you see this more than in cryptocurrencyland, so it's not a coincidence that tens – perhaps hundreds – in dark crypto money was flushed into the election, first to overpower Democratic primaries and kick out Dem legislators who'd used their power to fight the "unfair and deceptive" crowd:

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook-pm/2024/02/13/crypto-comes-for-katie-porter-00141261

And then to fight Dems across the board (even the Dems whose primary victories were funded by dark crypto money) and elect the GOP as the party of "caveat emptor"/"that makes me smart":

https://www.coindesk.com/news-analysis/2024/12/02/crypto-cash-fueled-53-members-of-the-next-u-s-congress

Crypto epitomizes the caveat emptor economy. By design, fraudulent crypto transactions can't be reversed. If you get suckered, that's canonically a you problem. And boy oh boy, do crypto users get suckered (including and especially those who buy Trump's shitcoins):

https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/

And for crypto users who get ripped off because they've parked their "money" in an online wallet, there's no sympathy, just "not your keys, not your coins":

https://www.ledger.com/academy/not-your-keys-not-your-coins-why-it-matters

A cornerstone of the "unfair and deceptive" world is that only suckers – that is, outsiders, marks and little people – have to endure consequences when they get rooked. When insiders get ripped off, all principle is jettisoned. So it's not surprising that when crypto insiders got taken for millions the first time they created a DAO, they tore up all the rules of the crypto world and gave themselves the mulligan that none of the rest of us are entitled to in cryptoland:

https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/07/20/hard-fork-completed

Where you find crypto, you find Elon Musk, the guy who epitomizes caveat emptor thinking. This is a guy who has lied to drivers to get them to buy Teslas by promising "full self driving in one year," every year, since 2015:

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/autonomous-driving/timeline-of-tesla-self-driving-aspirations-a9686689375/

Musk told investors that he had a "prototype" autonomous robot that could replace their workers, then demoed a guy in a robot suit, pretending to be a robot:

https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-unveils-his-funniest-vaporware-yet-1847523016

Then Musk did it again, two years later, demoing a remote-control robot while lying and claiming that it was autonomous:

https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/14/tesla-optimus-bots-were-controlled-by-humans-during-the-we-robot-event

This is entirely typical of the AI sector, in which "AIs" are revealed, over and over, to be low-waged workers pretending to be robots, so much so that Indian tech industry insiders joke that "AI" stands for "Absent Indians":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/29/pay-no-attention/#to-the-little-man-behind-the-curtain

Musk's view is that he's not a liar, merely a teller of premature truths. Autonomous cars and robots are just around the corner (just like the chatbots that can do your job, and not merely convince your boss to fire you while failing to do your job). He's not tricking you, he's just faking it until he makes it. It's not a scam, it's inspirational. Of course, if he's wrong and you are scammed, well, that's a you problem. Caveat emptor. That makes him smart.

Musk does this all the time. Take the Twitter blue tick, originally conceived of as a way to keep Twitter users from being scammed ("unfair and deceptive") by con artists pretending to be famous people. Musk's inaugural act at Twitter was to take away blue ticks from verified users and sell them to anyone who'd pay $8/month. Almost no one coughed up for this – the main exception being scammers, who used their purchased, unverified blue ticks to steal from Twitter users ("that makes me smart").

As Twitter hemorrhaged advertising revenue and Musk became increasingly desperate to materialize an army of $8/month paid subscribers, he pulled another scam: he nonconsensually applied blue ticks to prominent accounts, in a bid to trick normies into thinking that widely read people valued blue ticks so much they were paying for them out of their own pockets:

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65365366

If you were tricked into buying a blue tick on this pretense, well, caveat emptor. Besides, it's not a lie, it's a premature truth. Someday all those widely read users with nonconsensual blue ticks will surely value them so highly that they do start to pay for them. And if they don't? Well, Musk got your $8: "that makes me smart."

Scammers will always tell you that they're not lying to you, merely telling premature truths. Sam Bankman-Fried's defenders will tell you that he didn't actually steal all those billions. He gambled them on a bet that (sorta-kinda) paid off. Eventually, he was able to make all his victims (sorta-kinda) whole, so it's not even a theft:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/08/business/ftx-bankruptcy-plan-repay-creditors/index.html

Likewise, Tether, a "stablecoin" that was unable to pass an audit for many years as it issued unbacked, unregulated securities while lying and saying that for every dollar they minted, they had a dollar in reserves. Tether now (maybe) has reserves to equal its outstanding coins, so obviously all those years where they made false claims, they weren't lying, merely telling a premature truth:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cryptocriticscorner/episodes/Tether-wins–Skeptics-lose-the-end-of-an-era-e2rhf5e

If Tether had failed a margin call during those years and you'd lost everything, well, caveat emptor. The Tether insiders were always insulated from that risk, and that's all that matters: "that makes me smart."

When I think about the next four years, this is how I frame it: the victory of "that makes me smart" over "fairness and truth."

For years, progressives have pointed out the right's hypocrisy, despite that fact that Americans have been conditioned to be so cynical that even the rankest hypocrisy doesn't register. But "caveat emptor?" That isn't just someone else's bad belief or low ethics: it's the way that your life is materially, significantly worsened. The Biden administration – divided between corporate Dems and the Warren/Sanders wing that went to war on "unfair and deceptive" – was ashamed and nearly silent on its groundbreaking work fighting for fairness and honesty. That was a titanic mistake.

Americans may not care about hypocrisy, but they really care about being stolen from. No one wants to be a sucker.

#tether #ftx #scams #trumpism #caveat emptor #cryptocurrency #twitter #sleaze #premature truths #bossware #pluralistic

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outbreakperfected · 2 months ago

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Summary of the current state of the Chess/AION ARG from both a real life and lore perspective as of 9:19pm PST below the cut, for any guardians interested in catching up. Copy pasted from Discord from a few hours ago but there's been little progress on the state of the board so. Sorry if it's a bit hard to read.

After compiling together a bunch of people's different chess boards they got from completing a game in Eris' throne world that can be done once you collected all the chess pieces in the world that spawned last week, a bunch of streamers were able to piece together a QR code that led to the following site: http://aion-archives.net/ If you complete the puzzle, which is 27 weird chess boards you have to solve, you will be able to interact with a bowl of water that says "the water reveals" and it will give you a four number code (Signal Frequency x----) from 0001 to 4096, along with a custom chess board that you should take a photo of. If you plug in your chess board to any kind of chess site and receive the chess notation or FEN number, you can go to AION and input the following: your frequency number, and then the FEN number minus a few pieces. This will give you one of three things: Green text saying match confirmed, blue text saying data corrupted, or purple text saying quantum spin failed. The last one means you input your FEN notation wrong, while the first two mean you successfully put in the FEN notation. Meanwhile, people are also piecing together each unique board generated to match a frequency by their borders, and lining them into smaller chess boards assembled out of either red or grey tiles. By finding the piece in that bigger chess board created by the smaller chess board that would create some certain checkmate condition, this piece can be plugged into the in-game chessboard and if you complete a square successfully pillars around the arena will light up. They have the middle square done as of right now.

A handful of numbers on the website from frequency signals, as well as a bunch of other random dates (typically in coordination with stuff to do in either Destiny/Bungie or actual real life chess history) will spit out little bits of lore from the terminal. AION stands for the Apollo Intertemporal Observation Network, and we previously heard a mention of an "AION Initiative" back in some of the dialogue you can unlock from Vesper's Host by progressing through the puzzles in the questline. This was mentioned alongside the likes of Rasputin and Soteria, who we know are BrayTech AI. This fact also came to us from Astraea, who herself is a BrayTech AI. It is also very likely that the corrupted data outputs in some way link to the Corrupted Puppeteer, which is a failed BrayTech AI attempt to simulate a Vex Mind that possesses the ability to jump across various hosts and was able to construct some kind of neural network hivemind amongst House Salvation refugees on the Vesper Station.

A dialogue piece that only unlocks once the questline is finished actually reveals the message that was received through the Anomaly, and it is essentially that of someone named "Lodi" communicating that they are adrift. It is very likely this person is connected to AION. Additional texts you can receive from the website are prompts about an experiment starting today, traveling to another star, and a bunch of shit relating to astrophysics. If you bug the terminal too much, it will literally IP ban you which has happened to some unfortunate people in the twitch chat.

What is most interesting is that the code for the chess puzzle was cracked by uncorrupting FEN notations held behind the following set of numbers: 10071956 (I believe). This date aligns with some super important game in chess history, but importantly, you can see it be one of the dates counted down on the satellite in the short Edge of Fate teaser trailer.

and basically that is what we have so far

also if you input bungie related dates you can get easter eggs like pictures of a chess board made out of master chiefs

Right now a LOT of dialogue suggests stuff about jumping through space and time, which aligns with both what we know about the Nine and how the whole ARG is basically a game of 4D chess.

#destiny #destiny 2 #destiny game #destiny spoilers #destiny 2 spoilers #vyr speaks

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blo0d1er · 11 months ago

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First conceptualized by The Lucky One’s Jung Jisoo in 2020, gathering trainees to form a group with a “global’ look, the group soon to be titled SLASH performed in their first showcase in late 2021. The first rendition of the lineup consisted of Chinese Neverland contestant Zheng Hui, company nepo-baby Na Sebastian, the ever ambitious Sasha Flores, and dazzling Thai trainee Lalita Suwannathat. Marketed as Lucky’s little siblings, their unique concept and captivating performance generated excitement for the group.

The buzz only continued to grow as cryptic posters began appearing around Seoul, featuring QR codes directing curious viewers to an almost empty website only showing largely blacked out and blurred profiles of each member and a link to an Instagram account, @ bloodyvalentine, which infrequently posted behind the scenes film photos of the trainees with no captions but their names in a hashtag.

The building anticipation only made Jung Jisoo more ambitious, adding trainees Spencer Shu-Bellamy, Shin Doa, and Freddie Ahn (now known as BAM!’s Kiho) to the lineup to make it a 7-piece group. Teasers and posters only increased in frequency leading up to October 2022, when they were originally set to debut according to Prismatic’s leaked plans for the quarter.

However, 1 week before their set debut date, Lalita suffered a debilitating ACL injury in practice. Rather than allow the group to debut without her, the debut was delayed altogether. Many argue that Lalita received special treatment from Jisoo and the group’s management, and was intended to be the star of the group.

The group lay in limbo from that point on, waiting for Lalita to fully recover from her injury and a new debut date to be set. Within this time Sasha appeared on HYBE’s Dream Academy, barely being edged out of the final debut group while Hui appeared on Boys Planet 999 placing 8th and becoming an official member of ZEROBASEONE, exiting the trainee group to make his debut.

Suddenly a 6-piece unit, a new debut date was finally set for January of 2024, nearly 2 years after their original debut date, before the sudden acquisition of BAM! and other Sixth Sense Media trainees. In the quick and unexpected turnaround for the group’s debut, SLASH once again suffered the loss of a member and the postponement of their debut date. However, beginning to face pressure from both the members of the trainee group and their families, the company sent the group to America to continue training in a new environment and act as a distraction as they attempt to gather their resources. Two trainees were added to fill out the lineup; longtime trainee, Neverland contestant, and budding producer Chase Park, and Hwang Taebin newly acquired from Sixth Sense.

The 7 trainees lived in a beach-side condo in Los Angeles as they continued their training in renowned dance academies and vocal studios. The Instagram was still posting the trainees lives behind the scenes, although just as cryptic as ever. A new teaser video was posted to once again generate buzz surrounding the group and satiate the members and those backing them. However, one member would not return from America. The bloodyvalentine account inexplicably stopped posting photos of Lalita after her face took up a majority of the account’s feed previously.

Many believed that she simply left the unpredictable group setting to pursue her own ambitions, but an unknown source within Prismatic Entertainment leaked information regarding the alleged true nature of her disappearance to a forum of SLASH fans who have been around since the very beginning. According to this source, Lalita left a note in the group’s condo one night stating that she was tired of the purgatory of trainee life and ran away to experience freedom traveling across America. She has not been heard from since. The source also noted that her family planned to take legal action against Prismatic citing negligence.

Despite this, SLASH seems to finally be getting the debut that has been dangled in front of them for years, set to debut once again in late August 2024. After such turmoil and so many unanswered questions, SLASH’s future still remains shrouded in mystery. Will they be able to make it passed all of the struggles that may weigh them down?

#my bloody valentine ! 𖦹 ⋆｡°✩ dev. ๋࣭ ⭑#fictional kpop community #fictional kpop group #fictional kpop idol #fictional idol group #fictional idol community #ficnetfairy #oc kpop idol #oc kpop group #fictional kpop oc #kpop oc #fake kpop oc #fake kpop group #fake kpop idol #fake kpop addition #kpop addition #kpop added member #fictional idol oc #fictional idol addition

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52stations · 7 months ago

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signed up for a free trial of a qr code generator so i could get a qr code that linked to miley cyrus we cant stop but it now wont let me cancel the free trial this website is so confusing i hope they dont bill me $100

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porgthespacepenguin · 1 year ago

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1. How to setup 2FA on your accounts

As some of you may know, my friend @why-its-kai's Discord account was taken over this morning by a scammer.

The scam they used was this one, or close enough; but anyway, the exact specifics don't matter.

What matters is, it can happen to you. It can happen to anyone.

The good news is, you can learn how to protect yourself. Making some small changes can already improve your online security by leaps and bounds.

I made a series of 3 posts covering the basics:

How to setup 2FA on your accounts (you are here!)

How to spot a scam

How to set up a password manager.

Protect yourself with 2FA

Two-factor authentication, or 2FA, isn't a silver bullet -- but it exponentially increases your online safety by adding an extra step to the login process that a hacker/scammer does not have access to.

Every account that you care about (and even those you don't) should have some form of 2FA enabled.

Especially email -- should your email become compromised, this can become a catastrophe.

(For websites that don't support 2FA, use a burner email!)

What 2FA should I use?

2FA can take many forms, from the highly convenient (SMS, email) to the highly secure (security keys), but one thing is certain:

Any form of 2FA is better than nothing.

The simplest forms of 2FA are phone number or email. While these are very easy to use, they are unfortunately not very secure.

Still, I repeat: despite their flaws, these forms of 2FA are absolutely, 100% better than not having any 2FA at all.

On the other end of the spectrum, security keys (like for example a Yubikey) are extremely secure, but they cost money and are a bit of a hassle at time. I use them, but for most people, it's overkill.

What you want is an authenticator app.

Important

A note, before we go on…

If you enable multiple forms of 2FA, how secure your account is will depend on your weakest link.

For example, if you enable SMS authentication AND register a security key, your account will only be as safe as the SMS authentication. The security key is essentially useless.

In other words, the least secure form of 2FA you add determines the overall security of your account.

Sometimes, less is more!

Authenticator Apps

First, choose a free, reputable authenticator. Google Authenticator is a good choice. So are Aegis Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator.

For simplicity, we'll go with Google Authenticator; the process is rather similar for most authenticators.

First, download the app from your app store and install it on your phone.

Enrolling Gmail into GA

Securing your email should be your number 1 priority, so let's enroll a Google account to Google Authenticator.

Let's enable two-step verification first.

Phone number is better than nothing, but not very safe (SMS verification can be spoofed), so let's click on "Add authenticator app".

Click on "Set up authenticator". Google will generate a QR-code.

Next, go back to your phone and click on the little multicolored cross. It will bring up a menu; click on "scan a QR code".

Go ahead and scan the QR code.

Congratulations, you have enrolled your Google account!

Now, whenever you are asked for a 2FA code, just open the app and copy/paste it.

Note: the codes are stored locally on your phone.

Enabling 2FA on Discord

The process is fairly similar. Go to Settings > My Account:

Click on "Enable Authenticator App". You will be prompted for your password. Enter it.

Download Google Authenticator if you haven't already. Scan the QR code as described above.

Do take the time to download your backup codes as well!

As explained above, I personally do not recommend setting up SMS authentication here, since authenticator apps are supported, as this weakens the overall security of your account for little benefit.

Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3!

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

#online safety #cybersecurity #cybersec #2fa #two factor authentication #online security

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fairuzfan · 1 year ago

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read the post about "just google it" and thats a big fear i have about spreading awareness. i made and put up posters around my (us) town with info about gaza and the genocide and yet i know that if people see it and wanna look it up, the first page or two of results are gonna be nyt or the guardian or cnn and like what if the person is like "oh this mainstream media source says it's not a genocide, i guess i dont have to worry about it.

i did add some qr codes to videos of the south africa testimony and to a page where u can call reps, to try to bypass all the "news" that comes up when u look up whats happening. im also thinking about putting a qr code for decolonize-palestine. but it still worries me how much "googling" things, if you are new to learning about palestine and dont know where to look or who (not) to trust, risks being counterproductive.

oh yeah its like a huge problem. i mean i work in the information field and people genuinely don't know how to look things up or judge sources which is really concerning. that's why i made a "how to evaluate a source/article" guide because its something i also learn in school+work.

but yeah i've started to just give general sources now. like i'll tell them "read this book" or "check out this website" with a link. which is also why i converted this blog from an anime/meme blog to a palestine info blog because i know how prevalent it is.

but this is not to say no one makes mistakes or falls for harmful shit like, it still happens to everyone. idk im workin on projects where we're putting together general resources for people as a one stop shop type of thing plus my friends made https://thepalestinedirectory.carrd.co/ for this reason as well. i guess its just up to everyone to keep in mind things are 1) inherently against palestinians in western led sources and 2) might not be written in the best of faith+with the intention of palestinian liberation.

and i mean i see it with bloggers here who claim they're "pro-palestine" but are... kinda odd to me and I tend to avoid them haha. as well as some sources and info.

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bi-galacticgargleblaster · 1 year ago

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Rating election campaign materials that came through my door this morning (alphabetical):

Alba: Fairly standard double sided A5. Front side has a nice pic of the candidate, his name and the constituency clearly visible. There's a bunch of hashtags and a QR code I'm not bothering to scan. Big claims about scottish independence. Back side has a list of 6 priorities, 4 of which are pretty good, 1 of which I'm unsure about, and 1 of which is transphobic. Another QR code I'm not going to scan.

3/10 incredibly middle of the road and generic material, relying on transphobia is bad, about 80% of the space is dedicated to "INDEPENDENCE" with no real elaboration

Greens: No campaign materials

N/A

Labour: Double sided half A4 (split lengthways so it's super long). Front side has pictures of Sunak, Truss, and Johnson with "14 YEARS OF TORY CHAOS IS COSTING US ALL". Back side has more generic anti tory sentiment, a QR code I'm not scanning, a claim that "Tory chaos" has cost me £5,883 (no mention of how they got that number) since 2019, an instruction to "Vote for change. Vote Labour".

1/10 Literally no mention of who the Labour candidate is? Or the name of the constituency? Seems bizarre to have pictures of 3 Tory ex-prime ministers but not even the name of who you're actually putting forward? Entire argument is based on the idea that Labour would be better than the Tories, which seems irrelevent considering the constituency is currently held by SNP?

Lib dems: honestly I nearly forgot to even include them in the list, no campaign materials

N/A

Reform UK: Standard double sided A5. Front side has name of candidate and constituency, as well as pictures of Farage (party leader) and Tice (who is apparently the party chairman). Anti immigration and anti refugee sentiment as expected. "Zero Waiting Lists" - no elaboration. Back side is completely focused on immigration, many links to social media and the party website and phone number

0/10 relies entirely on anti immigration sentiment with no other policies except "Zero Waiting Lists", which is not expanded on at all

SNP: Folded pamphlet which equates to 3 double sides of A5. Side 1: SNP Logo and last name of the candidate. Side 2: Testimonies from a WASPI campaigner, a union rep, a "social justice campaigner", and a doctor (this one focuses on Gaza and is explicitly praising the candidate for showing solidarity with Palestine). Side 3: Candidate in front of scottish flag, 5 generic campaign statements I largely agree with, links to email, phone, website, and socials. Side 4: Candidate in front of building, full name clearly present. "Dear friend," followed by a 20 point plan. Points focus on workers rights, improving benefits, directly helping the local community, ensuring compensation for people affected by 3 major scandals, stopping arms sales to Israel and recognising Palestine as a state. Side 5: Picture of big ben, anti westminster sentiment, 4 steps to address the cost of living crisis. Side 6: Picture of the candidate in a suit. Direct call to re-elect the candidate. Reminder about needing voter ID and when polling stations are open.

9/10 The only material to mention Gaza at all. Only material that included a reminder about needing ID to vote and when you can actually vote. Didn't rely at all on bashing trans people, immigrants, or anyone aside from the Tories (which was restrained to a single line about them crashing the economy). Very little mention of scottish independence, which I thought was strange. Very focused on the positive things they planned to do and clear that it was tailored for this constituency, rather than a generic "Vote for this party" with someone's name slapped on it.

Tories: No campaign materials

N/A

Based solely on campaign materials it's pretty clear who has actually put effort in. Unsurprised to have had nothing from the Tories because they have no chance here, surprised to not hear from the Greens though.

#personal #uk politics

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fakephonepeapk525 · 7 months ago

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Fake PhonePe APK: Latest November 2024 {100% Working}

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#fake phonepe apk #fakephonepelatestversion #fakephonepe2024 #fakephonepeapk #prankphonepeapk #phonepemodapk #phonepepremiumapk #phonepeproapk

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weather-cluddy · 8 months ago

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THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WATCHING MILGRAM (as of the end of the 2nd trial)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Second trial

Official song playlist

2nd trial opening video Notes: Translation analysis

All-Knowing and All-Agony (Instrumental) Notes: Translation analysis (Some corrections: I believe that "I'll turn it around" should be "I have to make you turn around again" and "I'd rather give by taking", "It's better to receive by stealing")

Something interesting about the lyrics is that they contain relatively more kanji than Weakness, which makes the text look less childish, but it's not more advanced kanji. Of the kanji that Haruka uses, the one taught the latest is 降, from Weakness' "I was falling" line. This doesn't take into account the kanji in his own name, as that is generally one of the first things children learn to write regardless of the kanji used. Metamorphosis of the Weak (Text)

Tear Drop (Instrumental) Absolute Zero (Text)

Backdraft (Instrumental) Notes: All the cans read "pressure" in Milgram runes. The QR codes takes you to the voting page. Translation analysis. Baptism of Fire (EN) / Burning in the Welcoming Fire (JP) (Text) Notes: The English title is a reference to the idiom baptism of fire, while the Japanese title references Obon. There's a translation mistake at 2:01, it should say "This is what happens when you get stepped on with those safety boot-like shoes."

It's Not My Fault (Instrumental) Notes: Translation analysis. (Another way to translate the "relieved" line would be to take "shou ga nai" as something like "inevitable" and link it with the previous sentence, resulting in "I was relieved. It's just natural, right?"/"it can be helped that I was relieved, you know?")

Triage (Instrumental) Notes: The names on the cremation niches, color-coded by gender. Translation analysis. Aesculapius (Text) Notes: At 9:14, it should say "selfish" instead of "scientific."

I Love You (Instrumental) Love is [Un]Dead (Text)

Cat (Instrumental) Imposter Boulevard (EN) / Tracks of Deception (JP) (Text) Notes: The word "tracks" in the title is intended to be pronounced the same as "hope."

The Purge March (Instrumental) Notes: Translation analysis. There are several texts onscreen at 1:30: -Translation for the paper at the bottom with a photo -Text with big bold writting at the top: "Accept hardship. Accept trials. God watches over those who overcome them with strength." (Transcription sourced from these comments) -Torn paper. According to Hioki_MG, the long text is likely taken from this medical notice in Nagasaki Hospital. -Colorful pamphlet with mascots: The text is too covered up for full sentences, but the word written in the mascot's colors near the bottom is "happiness" Of blessedness and punishment (EN) / Of Happiness and Revenge and (JP) (Text) Notes: Like with Amane's first trial voice drama, the two words used are pronounced very similarly. The title is read as "Koufuku to Houfuku to"

Double (Instrumental) Notes: Onscreen text translation Neoplasm (Text)

Deep Cover (Instrumental) Notes: Onscreen text translation YONAH (Text)

2nd trial closing video Notes: Jackalope actually uses "dual personality disorder" in 6:21 instead of "multiple personality disorder" like he did on the 2nd trial opening video. Yamanaka said that the last, untranslated line doesn't contain the word "psychopath"

Portal (website version)

The project's official app. It also has a browser version. The first time you go in it'll show a big red screen with a red bar and white text below it; it's asking you whether to log-in or access as a guest. Click the white text. It'll bring up a box asking for your residence, birthday and gender. You don't have to fill them out, simply click the "I accept the term of services" square button at the bottom left and click the bar at the bottom.

Interrogations These are fan-submitted questions to each pair of characters to be answered during their trial periods. The groups are divided by prisoner number, so for example Haruka (prisoner 1) and Yuno (prisoner 2) share a set of questions. The exceptions are Mikoto and Kotoko, who due to productions delays didn't have overlapping judgements in the first two trials. The most complete list is this one which includes both trials but is missing Kotoko and Mikoto's second set. That can be found here in video form, translation courtesy of the Milgram Eng group and edited by ac. It's also in text form in Eng's twitter account. ac's channel also includes translations of the first trial interrogations done by the now-defunct Milgram Fancult group. They can be found in the wiki's interrogation pages as well, in the following format: https://milgram.fandom.com/wiki/Kirisaki_Shidou/Interrogation Lastly, milgrammer also translated some of the early first trial interrogations, up to the Mahiru-Shidou pair.

Timeline The app's timeline shows the last four posts for free, and requires a subscription for the full feed. There are two types of post: in-universe conversations, and comments about a new song from Deco*27 and either Rockwell or Teddyloid. For organizational purposes, the latter can be found in the Interviews and Commentary section. While the conversation are mostly for fluff/character exploration purposes, they do reference specifc events in the series, especially as time goes on. I would suggest to read everything up to Muu's 2022 birthday (July 5) after watching the first trial, then everything else after the second trial. A more authentic but also more complicated order would be to keep track of song release and interrogation dates and read them along with the songs and dramas. For that, I recommend this timeline of important events , as well as this chart of character's birthdays.

In terms of translations, the wiki gathers translations from a variety of sources, mainly rochisama , Maristelina, Tiramisu and Milgram Fancult (though many of the latter's translations were removed around September 2022, they can still be viewed in the page history). As of the time of posting, Rochisama's archive is the most complete translation archive, missing only the Mikoto's 2024 birthday convo (translated here by me), but they do sometimes fall behind on new releases, so feel free to check other sources as well.

Illustrations and Previews For subscribers, the app also offers art made by the staff and extra key animation frames a few days prior to the release of a new song (a few are released to all though the Twitter account), as can be seen in the Contents -> Report-> Advance tabs. Lastly, the day before a song's release, paid members can watch the first minute of it though the app. The song previews can be found here and the illustrations can be viewed here

Novels and Manga There are currently two novels: The Experimental Prison and the Maiden Jailer and Righteous and Justifiable Murder, with the latter being a direct sequel to the former. They're not necessary to understand the plot of the main project, but they share the same setting and may provide hints for future developments.

The Experimental Prison and the Maiden Jailer It was originally released as a novel in the gap between the first and second trials, and latter received a manga adaptation. The manga can be viewed in Japanese here, and a fan translation is available here . There's also a chapter-by-chapter summary based on a machine translation of the original novel.

Righteous and Justifiable Murder Only available in novel form, released mid-way though the second trial. You can read a preview of the first 56 pages here, and a summary of the full novel here.

A complete, human-made translation of both novels is available for those who can provide proof of purchase to Pai the Plushie. Those who preordered the manga or novel also received one of two short stories from the perspective of the main project's Jackalope, Top Secret Experiment Report side W or side S. Side W has spoilers for the main Milgram's second trial, and both reference events from the first and second novels. The translator for the extras requested that I don't link to them directly, but I can say that they can be found on Tumblr.

Minigram A comedy 4koma that's unrelated to the previous two works. It's uploaded on Twitter and Youtube's community tab, with the latter having official translations in the comments. Some fans have edited the official translations directly onto the panels. Merak's Twitter thread is almost complete, missing only the first chapter and the 61st one.

#milgram guide

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moonlitcomet · 1 year ago

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When avoiding scams and being hacked on discord specifically:

Don't click suspicious links. If you are not expecting it, do not open it.

Use 2FA when possible. It is the strongest way to protect yourself, but you still need to be vigilant and make sure you don't give away your accounts in other ways [ie token grabbers, QR codes, or other instant-login services].

Don't share passwords across accounts, especially with sensitive ones such as banking or legal documentation. The fewer shared passwords you have, the less likely a large data breach is going to affect a large number of your accounts and information.

Those "exposed" servers are phishing scams via verification bots. Someone sending you a DM saying that you may have sent someone pornography or nudes, and to join a server to see what it's about, is trying to lead you on to scan a login QR code, which bypasses 2FA and password usage.

If someone "accidentally reported you" it's a scam, they are playing off of a sense of fear and will ask you for your passwords by sending you to fake support accounts. You do not give passwords to official support, they do not need your password in order to access your account on their platform.

Continuing the above, websites will never make you prove your innocence in such a situation.

Anything to do with "crypto market" is a scam.

Do not download any files from people asking you to playtest a game, those "games" are token grabbers. Token grabbers are capable of bypassing 2FA, and can allow attackers to enter your account without a password.

Remove permissions from all bots that can "join servers for you". These bots can rejoin servers that you leave, or send you to different servers without your consent to artificially inflate user numbers.

Be vigilant when using the internet and especially social media or discord. Hackers and scammers rely almost 100% on you blundering into their schemes via panic, anger, or lack of knowledge. These same types of scams have been circulating the internet for over a decade in some cases, and victims fall for it when they aren't aware of the scam in the first place.

More general internet advice per @oldmanyaoi-jpeg:

If a message or group is trying to quickly induce a strong emotion, such as fear or anger, be aware that they may be trying to trick you into making an emotional decision (ex. "exposed" groups and accidental reporting scams)

additionally, any message with a deadline should be regarded with heavy suspicion, as they are likely trying to trick you into making a decision driven by panic (paypal and amazon payment scams)

Never click on a link that you find even remotely suspect, or call a number provided in a suspect message. Always get contact information directly from that entity (ex. go to paypal or amazon directly to check for suspicious activity or contact CS instead of clicking a provided "dispute" link)

If you aren't expecting a link, email, text, attachment, etc. it should always be judged suspiciously. (ex. "we have your package" scams, playtester scams, "you have a virus" scams)

If you are being asked to reveal any personal information, stop and examine everything critically, as you are likely getting scammed. Specifically and especially passwords- I work in IT. If people who have business with your account want in your account, we're getting into your account, and we don't need your password for it.

Be critical of the permissions asked for by an app you're linking to an account. "Joining servers" is one to be suspicious of, but there's plenty more (making posts for you, having access to documents in gdrive, seeing any personal information, etc) that you should always think about before giving to an app.

Delete accounts and remove access for apps that you aren't using. Reducing your digital footprint will reduce your vulnerability- no need to worry about an email regarding an old Venmo account if you've deleted it, for example. Compromised apps can't affect your account if you take away their permissions either.

2FA is the easiest way to protect yourself from any scam or malicious action, as even if you willingly give up your password, nobody can get in without your verification. So my final advice of the day:

Set up 2FA, and never give any verification code you receive to anyone who may be asking for it, no matter how much you trust them. The only time you should confirm a login with 2FA is when YOU are logging in.

#mine #remake of my old post to add better info #this is mostly in lieu of a wave of hacks on discord- but it's good to keep all of these things in mind and stay safe

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brandywyne · 1 year ago

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UrbanSpooks; Comprehensive Summary & Critique

I've been thinking about the series a bit since I first watched it. I decided to write up a comprehensive summary of each episode full of (most) images and information pertaining to each person within the series.

Warning, it is a horror series that artistically uses graphic content and paintings.

I wanted to go over it and give some opinions on what I think the series is doing well in, could use improvement on, some (hypothetical) ways that I think could improve the series, and perhaps a rambling or two.

Having said that, come hang out, get a little Cognac, ginger syrup, and sparkling fruit juice, and chill out. Just remember to drink responsibly!

Warning: This is a series that deals in...well...most everything you could imagine. For this reason, I will put an obligatory, Proceed with Caution for users who come into contact with my post. I will be discussing the paintings, the murders, etc so be warned.

I have a conclusion and critique at the bottom in case that's all you might be interested in, too!

Preface:

So, to start off with. Analog horror is a genre of "found footage" horror that often takes its shape from old VHS recordings, old recordings of government training videos, or old shows/locations that "existed" in the past but have been long since forgotten. It's akin to the modern age of Slenderverse/ARGs, in a way. ARG, or Alternate Reality Game, is a type of interactive interface creators use to engage their audience. It will utilize concepts of mixed media to its followers and give them pieces of a story spread out across websites, links, QR codes, IRL locations, and more. It's a way to keep the community interested and drip-feed content over time to keep fans interested. It's a useful way to keep an audience engaged and discuss your work, even if you're in a position where big pieces of media are unable to be released due to WIP or delays.

Having said that, it brings us back to "Analog Horror". What makes something "Analog" Vs. "ARG"? Analog by itself doesn't incorporate ARG concepts. Analog is often just the series or general footage created by the administrator of the series and doesn't utilize other websites, clues, mysteries (that the audience can solve outside videos), etc. UrbanSpook is a series that follows the "Analog" route as shown by the creator in the description of the series.

Episode One - FACES

youtube

(Original) (Archive)

The first episode of the series opens with the explanation that as of six months ago, police discovered three paintings stored away in an abandoned storage "area".

Each of the three paintings was titled after recent murders in the area. As we go through each batch of victims, I labeled them each by their own "Batch" to keep track of all reveals as they happen throughout the series to keep a concise order.

With these, we can begin building a timeline of events, victims, etc.

In Batch One, we learn of the first three victims of the killer.

Throughout FACES, we are presented with a series of victims, some identified and others unknown. A killer is established from the start, introducing us to "Mona" through her first self-portrait/reveal of the series.

From here, we can start developing a simple timeline to follow. I am going to use the details of the first reported murder as the starting point of the timeline. As of this moment, we do not have a year/month listed so improvisation will be made.

Since the first victim of the series is introduced to be "Carla Grey", I am going to refer to the starting point as the "Dawn of the Grey Era" or "D.G.E" for short.

I do want to mention the video's description again. "I found these in the basement of my apartment complex". As a member of the audience, we do not know when the killer operated or when the man in the series who found the tapes began converting them.

The fact that the tapes are on VHS and need to be converted to digital implies that the killer operated in the past (or that the story takes place in an alternate reality, but I doubt it).

VHS was introduced by JVC in 1976. The format saw a decline in the mid-2000s due to the rise of DVDs and digital media, and the last known manufacturer of VCRs ceased production in 2016.

This means the Killers were active (at a rough estimate) between 1976 (earliest) to 2016 (latest).

Another fact to consider is that DNA evidence was discovered in 1984 by British geneticist Alec Jeffreys. He developed a technique called DNA fingerprinting, which became a groundbreaking method for identifying individuals based on their genetic makeup.

In the past, brutal killings were easier to get away with due to the lack of this information at the time. Due to the lack of information we have on the killer throughout the series, I do wonder if the series is set between 1976 and 1984 when it would've been less of a hassle to properly handle the victim's remains, thus allowing for the ten victims in two separate batches of timeframes to pursue their victims and take their lives. (Episode two utilized DNA testing. This means it takes place post-1984.)

Due to being random tapes, they could also be out of order so timings of murders are hard to pinpoint.

Episode Two: THE LIGHTHOUSE

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(Original)

In The Lighthouse, it is discovered that a police officer for an unknown county named "Bill Collins" and his family went missing. The date they went missing is unknown as well.

At some unspecified point, Bill Collins finds the "Self Portrait" of the killer Mona within his home, but can not recall its origins.

The police will go on to investigate his case, leading them to his home and finding his 2-month-old infant deceased and hanging in the attic.

His car will be found partially submerged in [an] ocean, another unnamed location.

A few miles from the submersion, an old, unused lighthouse that has been abandoned for "several" years is investigated.

When inspected, the door of the lighthouse reveals a red abstract painting of a face that loosely resembles Bill Collins.

Upon entering the Lighthouse, the corpse of "Daniel Williams" is discovered. A sequence of underground tunnels are found as well.

This leads us to Batch Three (left) and further elaboration of past victims (right). I will extend on each character's C.O.D. (Cause of Death), locations, times of disappearance, etc as they're released to keep each episode consistent minus a few minor details here and there. This is simply to keep the narrative going and reveal pieces as the artist intended.

The photos scattered around the barrel are said to be the "Collin's family moments before death" and include another picture of the Killer. There isn't much to say about it for now.

Updated timeline & minor corrections included.

Episode Three: IN THE WALLS

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:( (Original)

The most distressing episode, I'm afraid.

I included the summary within the image to make it easier to follow. This episode works to develop victim(s) seven instead of introducing new victims. We're also introduced to our first (semi) named location, "Tiger Lake". It is also worth noting that the area code for the phone number is situated in Louisiana, giving us a rough location for the murders.

A few events occur within this episode to expand the timeline. I'm doing months at a 31-day increase, thus the change from 3 months/21 days into 4 months. This is also where I'm going to say that the timeline is likely NOT accurate. I'm following as best I can, but without explicit dates/time frames/key events the best I can create is a rough idea of how long the Killer has been active.

Also, remember that the narrator isn't always being truthful. There is a chance these tapes are out of order or perhaps killing times overlap with each other. Since the narration box states "open" phrases such as "several months", "Several days", "a few days", etc with no dates, it's hard to track when events are taking place. I treat each tape as a new "start" instead of a new continuation.

Episode Four: THE CLUE

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(Original) (Archive)

Batch Four only contains one victim, [Investigator Sean Kane] and we obtain further elaboration on Batch Two's Tom [Harris].

A detail of note is the third arm found within Tom's waxy tomb.

Here, connections can start to be made.

I do want to mention as well that the "Perpetrator" may not be a painter himself, or that the only painting of his might just be "Man in the Pipes".

Since Killer 2 seems to dislike direct attention, there is a chance he was the one who painted Man in the Pipes and Victim3J (Jimmy/Jackie/James) since those three photos/paintings are untitled/sent in without titles. (Note: These could also just be pictures of the victims before death, but they also look like paintings so it's hard to say with certainty.)

Sean Kane goes missing one week after the discovery of Harris. It is unknown exactly when Harris' body was discovered, so at this point, the timeline is not accurate. It's hard to piece details together/move names around because we aren't really given much stability.

Episode Five: WITNESS

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(Original) (Archive)

Batch five is introduced. We learn the murders take place on the West Coast and Stryker's remains are yet to be found.

Tina is the first victim to survive the encounters.

Episode Six: PIGS

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(Original)

Batch six is introduced, the Ford family. It is implied that the killers laid low here for some time.

A painting of Tina is revealed.

The Perpetrator's identity is slowly being built.

In the muddied footage, we can observe the Perp engaging in Morse code where he tells us "I AM BILL COLLINS".

Bill collins was said to have had DNA found in the meat barrel with the rest of his family in the lighthouse. He was portrayed with the long white skinny face "moments before death". However, I don't believe that was actually Bill Collins.

If you look to the image above, we can clearly see the long face as one of the meat masks the Perp owns. However, he is not wearing it in the scene he announces his identity in. He appears to be wearing a face that strongly resembles Jack Stryker (who remains unfound).

The long face looks closer to the painting of "Scream Maggie Scream" and might actually be a ruse to have others believe Bill Collins himself is dead.

Due to Bill Collin's past connections as an officer, he'd be well-equipped in combat, forceful entry, homes of fellow officers, and inside information that could benefit Mona.

Bill Collins is also the only character revealed thus far who has the same eyes as the Perp, the shape of the faces fitting atop each other perfectly.

For whatever reason, I believe Bill Collins framed his own murder with the photo of "Maggie", skinned her face to hang upon the barn wall, left his previous life/family behind, and began working with Mona.

He also has a painting strongly resembling himself painted on the door of the Lighthouse. In it, he looks abstract, as though he had his own flesh removed in the unnamed painting.

Episode Seven: FAMILY

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(Original) (Archive)

Episode Eight: MEAT

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(Original)

A few interesting details are revealed in this episode. Unknown barking from dogs can be heard, though neither victim owned a canine.

And with that, that covers all the major points I wanted to cover within the series in my post.

Opinions & Critique:

I don't want to cover details everyone else has already stated, (Cory, dramatic murders, ethics, etc, others have covered this topic and I have no unique perspective to add to those discussions. I'd like to focus on the narrative itself and suggestions for improvement)

That took a lot longer than I thought, lol. Now I can actually talk about it!

UrbanSPOOK is a horror series that follows two killers and their shenanigans of mischief and murder. It's not bad for what it is, but I do feel like there is ample room for growth and development from a creative standpoint.

I'd say my biggest complaint with the series on a narrative level is that it offers a lot...but also not much.

When writing a story, one of the most important parts is pacing. Drip feed your audience information at a steady pace so that they can recall the information afterward and be able to discuss it. When you reveal too much information too quickly, it tends to go in one ear and out the other.

As of now, there are 33 victims in the series within eight episodes. To Recap: Batch One: Carla Grey, Jackie Gramm, James Miller

Batch Two: Tom Harris, Lisa White, Jimmy, Cory/Margaret, Daniel Williams, Jennifer White, Maggie

Batch Three: Angel Collins, Collin's wife, Collin's daughter #2, Bill Collins

Batch Four: Sean Kane

Batch Five: Tina Rosenberg, Flora Rosenberg, Jack Stryker

Batch Six: Mae Ford, Ian Ford, Fiona Ford

Batch Seven: George White, Jigsaw Baby, Zeke, Isabelle Jackson, Bruce Jackson, Janice, Fred Baker, Paul, >PIPES<, Polly Pocket,

Revealing so much information can be challenging to remember, even with multiple watches. One thing I'd like to suggest is possibly slowing down a bit on releasing new victims and focusing on some of the characters we haven't touched on.

Touch on each character bit by bit and take it slow and steady. Make the Painters the main course that we can be excited by. Have them be the dessert we try to rush through dinner to get to quicker. There is so much content to work with just from what's been established thus far.

Humanize the victims more. We obtain so much information about all the terror the Painters are reigning, but how is the town responding? Maybe consider a little bit of world-building within the story. Flesh out the town(s) the story takes place in (Houma, Louisiana).

What are they saying in the news? Who is covering it? Are they making it a political issue or something else?

What precautions are people beginning to take?

How have the Painters affected people on a wider scale?

Isabelle was a teacher, how are her students reacting to her demise? the parents? Faculty?

The police are losing many of their own, how are they reassuring the public during these difficult times?

Consider showing us some news feed, maybe a weatherman discussing the onslaught of murders. Maybe some news clippings or children hosting a memorial at their school for their lost classmates (Zeke, Cory, Margaret, etc). Maybe write some obituaries or funerals?

Who was Carla Grey? Who was she to the community? Who mourns her loss?

Maybe focus on designing some missing posters for the people still unfound? Include a picture, height, weight, skin color, clothes they last wore, etc to fit the theme of police reports.

Perhaps consider adding a date (even if just Month/day if you don't want to reveal the year just yet) for those of us wanting to build a timeline of the Killer's activities?

How is the town's economy handling all of this? Are people moving away? Are people staying out late at night like they used to since the Painters became active? Do kids treat the Painters like a silly urban legend they use to scare each other with? Are there kids trying to dress like them on Halloween and upsetting victims?

What are the parents of victims like Cory/Margaret doing? Are they standing up themselves and trying to get a movement going in their small town? How are they coping with the grief?

2. incorporate more direct language. When police tapes discuss events going on, they tend to use very direct language.

Refrain from phrases like "Several days passed", "A few days passed since the last murder", etc.

When asking the public for information about victims, they'll usually try to be as direct as possible and give any information they feel is safe to give. This ties back into what I suggested VIA missing person's reports and general descriptions of the victims.

3. Another narrative detail to consider is what exactly are the Painters doing? Are they progressing the story by killing a certain person? Why are they targeting the people they are? For example:

Was Isabelle Jackson killed because the Painters were targeting Zeke and his family only for Isabelle to catch wind? Did she teach Zeke and learn that he saw something he wasn't supposed to see?

What are the Painter's motives for each victim? Are they targeting police officers to thin the herd? Does Bill Collins want revenge against them for some reason?

Use the murders to progress the story.

Cause = effect.

One of the quickest ways to annoy an audience is to lead them on and give the impression of development while nothing, in particular, is changing. Since the first murder of Carla Grey to Wet Skin George, what has changed? What have the Painters caused long-term in the lives they've ruined? Who can we (as the audience) root for?

Try to have things happen for a reason. I know it can be easy to go for the next hella cool brutal kill in the story, but it hits so much more when it happens for a reason. Are people killed in personal ways that maybe affected Mona/Collins in the past?

For example, did Mona know Jackie Gramm sometime in the past? Maybe Jackie was a skilled swimmer who spoke down to Mona for her body (Jackie is painted quite beautifully. Probably the prettiest painting of them all.) Maybe Mona painted it like this because she was envious of her looks and skill in sports? She could've drowned her to make her "ugly" via the bloating of the water once she was killed. She could take pride in stripping that beauty and athleticism from her. Jealously taken to its final straw. It would especially be interesting since Mona seems to really love showing herself in her paintings and fearlessly showing her face. This is just one way she could be humanized in a way that wouldn't make us forgive her, but be more sympathetic to her and add a layer of depth. Make her and Collins complex, have us understand her, not agree with her.

5. Don't be afraid of giving your characters flaws. How have Mona & Mr. Collins managed to go as far as they have? Do one of them have medical knowledge?

Do they have low stamina? Are they weakened/emaciated from lack of steady food/clean water?

6. What is their endgame goal? All killers have a motive in one way or another. Does Mona hold anger towards those who didn't support her artistically? Does she aim to kill and paint everyone who told her she'd never get anywhere with her art? Does she aim to kill as many as she can and gain infamy that way as a means of coping? Is this her way to "get back" at those she deems did her wrong? (P.S. This isn't information you have to reveal to the audience btw! This is info that's good to have just to keep your character on track)

7. Don't be afraid to pull in details and inspiration from real killers/ stories/research. It can help add depth to your story and add twists for the watchers to catch onto and unveil.

Conclusion:

Overall, I'd say UrbanSPOOK has a lot of potential. It's far from perfect, but everyone has to start somewhere for their story. It's clear to see that Slug is pouring a lot of heart into the story and really trying to make something good. There is an attempt at development, it just seems to me like Slug needs a good nudge in the right direction.

The Painters are an interesting concept. There are so many ways that Slug could take the series and develop both the victims and their abusers. Even if the story progressed in a way similar to the Mystery Flesh Pit and we got glimpses into the Painter's depravities through newspapers, newscasts, etc it would add so much. It's what makes the Isabelle Jackson call and the animated porch scene so lovely to the series. It's distressing, but it gives us a very real reaction to the characters interacting in their environment. I would LOVE for UrbanSpook to continue in that direction. If we could just get some character development, I'm sure many more people would enjoy the series. Instead of having things happen for the sake of happening, maybe sit with a cup of coffee for a bit and clear your mind. If you were in the Painter's position, what would be your motivation for doing what you're about to do and what would you hope to achieve from it? The series is still so young and filled to the brim with potential. Even if we took the first eight episodes and used them as a season one, that could be used to set the foundation for the narrative itself and build upon it! Leaked phone calls from police/distressed citizens, revolts in the city, anger, sorrow, resentment, there is sooo much that could be explored in the series.

I'd like to finish my little commentary on a good note and say what I think Slug is doing good on. The art for the series is beautiful. It's that perfect level of macabre and surreal. It's like the paintings pull you into the character's minds and show their deteriorating mental state. I love the inclusion of Mona's self-portraits and the twists with Bill Collins.

I loved the animation in episode eight, the mixed media of a real image and the characters interacting was really good! The phone call with Isabelle Jackson had phenomenal acting. The distance of the operator, the desperation of Isabelle. The fact she likely gave the wrong address on purpose because she was worried about Zeke and maybe caught wind of the Painters taking interest in him is emotionally enticing and speaks volumes for her character. The Painters are such a fun and unique set of villains that I'm sure are so fun to explore and develop while also showing off your artistic ability.

I look forward to seeing the next installment of the series. And I'd honestly love to know, what else would other people wanna see in UrbanSPOOK?

#Brandy Ramble #urbanspook #analog horror #digital horror #media critique #horror #Youtube #media analysis

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