Notices by Bill Hunt (krusynth@mastodon.publicinterest.town)

I'm pretty sure that special government employees are still subject to the required drug testing, which was instituted by President Reagan under Executive Order 12564. Public Law 100-71 makes it clear that the Executive Office of the President is subject to these requirements as well. Just in case anyone wants to use that information for anything.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that our failure in #CivicTech was in trying to bring technology to government, rather than bringing civics into technology. Our current crisis is the result of billionaire technocrats funding corruption in government.

The workers must be united before any change will be possible.

Hey if you're in the US you really really really need to be using a VPN so no one can monitor your traffic. Nowadays I use NordVPN. It works on both my desktop and phone!

If you want to sign up you can use my referral link below. Or not. Whatever. Just use a VPN please.

https://refer-nordvpn.com/piVszdDUcXt

When a cat gets a UTI they can confuse the pain that comes from peeing with their litterbox, thinking it's attacking them. They'll pee outside the box as a result.

This is what America and most of the world is going through at the moment. Folks are hurting and blaming what's put in front of them instead of knowing the root causes and working to fix it.

Every dollar you spend with a big business is inevitably used against you. The best thing you can do is shop small to fight oligarchs.

Feels apt to repost this today, "The Work Doesn't Stop"

https://billhunt.dev/blog/2024/11/13/the-work-doesnt-stop/

With ProtonMail emerging as another milkshake duck, what's the best option for secure mail these days other than self-hosting?

(Ideally something that doesn't require a bridge just to check your email.)

(I've run my own mail before and do not want to repeat the experience thank you very much.)

LIFE HACK: Forget crypto, did you know you can literally take food from the store, stick it in the ground, and it’ll make more food FOR FREE!?!?

I was watching a movie on a popular streaming service, whose parent company has invested heavily in AI, and was presented this classic image at the beginning.

And friends, I swear, I nearly died of irony right then.

@dalias I mean, I work for gov, so by that logic “slow” doesn’t indicate to me that anyone is taken into account either. We do most things slow and poorly.

@dalias I use “carefully” for the same reason (and have stickers to match).

My partner got me the coolest present ever, a signed 3.5” floppy from Renoly Santiago (Phantom Phreak)!!! #HackThePlanet

@skinnylatte I've shot polaroid regularly for about 20 years now, and it's just inconsistent by nature. I haven't loved any of the film since after the company collapsed, the color is washed out and casts blue no matter what lighting you have. Impossible film is even worse, fwiw.

I just saw that GSA quietly changed their policy on Login.gov - now any state, local, or tribal gov organization can use it, even without spending federal funding!

Now that they're also IAL2 compliant, this is HUGE! Finally, a single login to use for every government service! Spread the word!

https://billhunt.dev/blog/2024/12/06/login-gov-for-everyone-even-more/

@tek @christa I've already been down that path, lived it for years, and abandoned it.

@christa I literally have given up six times in the last two years trying to get Ruby to run. Let DHH have his empire of shit, I want nothing to do with it.

@christa Update: seventh try to get two versions of jekyll running on the same box and after 3 hours finally got it working. Kind of.

It is easy to point fingers at the hubris of the Dems. The DNC's nepotistic hegemony is certainly to blame for the failings this morning.

But if we want change, voting will NEVER be enough. We must use systems thinking to break apart the machines that hold us hostage. We have to control the flow of capital, and the flow of information, to choke off those in power. We must starve them of their resources. And we must take deliberate steps to protect the most vulnerable among us.

The biggest failing of Dems has been to eat a load of shit handed to us by the DNC. The current mainstream Dem party has the same goals as the Rs, amass wealth for corporate interests. They cannot be trusted.

Liberals spend too much of our time fighting amongst ourselves over definitions rather than coming together cohesively as the Rs have done since the Tea Party. We need a new, aggressively liberal policy plank focusing on equity and decolonization, and to refuse to accept ANY candidate that does not adopt it - new or incumbent. The Rs did this and won, over and over.

We also need to get used to paying for our news, and getting that news from smaller, independent offerors. Control of the media is one of the greatest benefits that the folks in control have today.