This tracks. I get Starbucks giftcards (as gifts, not for myself) and typically load them into the app so I can order ahead and spend less time waiting at the store. It pisses me off to no end that when I get to the last dollar or two, I can’t use it without reloading like $20 onto the app. I refuse to do that and lose the money.

Good. Now they need to start enforcing bans on corporate facial recognition technology use everywhere.

I wanted to like Mastodon but couldn’t. The only reason I used microblogging services like Twitter was to shitpost about Vampire: The Masquerade. Said game includes lots of death, blood, and other topics that make some folks uncomfortable. On Twitter, the atmosphere was very “don’t like, don’t read”, but Mastodon has an intense culture about using content warnings on anything that might make someone marginally uncomfortable. I’m cool with that, but I can’t do it on my shitposting or it sort of ruins the joke. Bluesky doesn’t have that atmosphere.

All code should be written in Esperanto, the international auxillary language!

Am I off base in seeing some similarities between this and the genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar?

It already is outlawed in the US. The US bans all depictions precisely because of this. The courts anticipated that there would come a time when people could create images which are indistinguishable from reality so allowing any content to be produced wasn’t permissible.

Over the past five or so years, I’ve watched the vegetarian frozen food section at my supermarket expand from one little freezer door with some Annies meals and Bocca burgers to five or six sections carrying even generic store-brand vegetarian and vegan meals. I don’t often buy prepared food but I like walking by to see what they have. Same with milk options - it went from a shelf with either soy or almond to a full section of different nut milks and flavors.

Some of the wildest changes to me have been at festivals and events. It used to be that you got french fries or onion rings or popcorn and that was about it. Then they started making efforts, as misguided as they could be, like just slapping steamed veggies on a sub roll and calling it done, or serving pasta and plain tomato sauce. Now I go to festivals and there’s usually at least one really good vegetarian option at every stand, if not an entire stand serving just vegan and vegetarian options. I look forward to seeing what unique choices there will be rather than trying to eat ahead of time so I don’t have to worry about it.

That’s really cool! I struggle with some games because of it. Subnautica is an absolute no for me, but even No Man’s Sky and Minecraft can trigger it.

In the complete opposite direction, “I just want to enjoy the story” mode, which simplifies or removes more mechnically difficult sections of the game. A few games have this and it’s great. I appreciated it in Danganrompa.

Mine (thalasaphobia) would be tough to remove.

It’s impossible to have a real discussion about this topic, especially right now. Anything other than “Israel is perfect and an innocent victim” is viewed as anti-semitic hate speech.

What I’m hearing is that the images in the game can’t be copyrighted and any of their competitors can use them with impunity. Awesome.

I got mine through Amazon. Samsung makes the cheapest ones I’ve found. Just search for something like “samsung commercial TV”. They’re generally a little more expensive than your ad/data harvesting-supported TVs but if you value your privacy and longevity of your devices, it’s worth it.

I got a display signage TV. Totally dumb. The only app it has is YouTube and that’s optional. I don’t even have the internet hooked up to it. Works fine for gaming and occasionally streaming via other devices.

There’s a number of takeout coffee places near me that will let you bring your own cup and give you a discount on it. You just need to know how many ounces it contains. I have an insulated stainless steel mug that I always bring. Most places that wouldn’t accept them during the pandemic are back to allowing it again.

Hatoful Boyfriend has some really great moments, especially if you pursue Anghel or Okosan. It also will make you cry your eyes out in the true ending, so there’s a good balance.

Last week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation published an opinion piece arguing that Tier 1 ISPs should not bow to pressure to drop Kiwi Farms, calling the move “a dangerous step” toward censorship.

It’s all fun and games for the EFF until someone on that site starts publishing their employee’s SSNs and home addresses.

Minecraft. I’ll play it if my friends ask me to but I found it incredibly frustrating and boring. The combat feels super weird and hard to execute, most of the discoveries are repetitive, and I didn’t really like the building mechanic. I know, I’m in the minority for not enjoying it, but I guess voxel-style games just aren’t my jam.

Eurgh, I can smell that in my brain. You win!

Worse, people making AI CSAM will wind up causing police to waste resources investigating abuse that didn’t happen, meaning those resource won’t be used to save real children in actual danger.