Notices by Nate Bartram (nateb@mastodon.thenewoil.org)

@tek I mean, fair. Sometimes it truly is a "fallacy." I would LOVE for you to be right. But I personally would prefer not to put ourselves in a position to find out. We're fucking around, as the saying goes.

@drakenblackknight @tek Schumer's daughter is the least of my worries. Big Tech outlobbies Big Pharma even. They might even be the worst offender. Nothing useful is getting past until we oust those fuckers, nepotism be damned.

@tek It's called a slippery slope for a reason. You and I both agree that the incoming administration is a threat to freedom. Why stop at banning adversarial apps? Why not apps that can be used to access adversarial apps? Why not apps that "go dark" and inhibit proper dispensing of "justice" and "rule of law"?

@tek Valid points, and worthy of action for sure. I'm still worried about this for the fact that it sets a dangerous precedent. I worry this was killing a fly with a sledge hammer (as the quote loosely goes) and I especially worry about the precedent it sets. What other apps can we ban? Notesnook is Iranian. Cryptee is Estonian. Tuta is German, Proton is Swiss, Mullvad is Swedish.

Dangerous shit we're wading into. This wasn't the right solution, IMO.

@tek This isn't a botnet. This is a social media app that doesn't do anything more invasive than Meta or Amazon, who are not only allowed to operate freely, but were actually carved out in the law to provide exceptions for them. Meta & Amazon (and others) do EXACTLY the same level of privacy invasion. The issue isn't the app, it's our lack of privacy regulations. Salt Typhoon proved this: it doesn't matter where the company is from, the data is vulnerable. (1/2)

@tek Furthermore, much of the US is already banning porn. There is a clear trend toward censorship in this country. What's next? Banning VPNs cause they can be used to access porn (and theoretically TikTok, though I've been unable to prove that)? It's a slippery slope. Plus there's legal precedent: code is speech. PGP. We can't ban code.

I agree TikTok presents legitimate threats worth discussion. I don't think this was the right solution.

@tek This might be the first thing you and I disagree on, sir. While I agree TikTok does have legitimate concerns, I fear for the slippery slope precedent this sets.

@tek When I lived in Cali my friends and family would text me every time there was an earthquake anywhere. "You okay?" "That was literally 3 hours away from me. But thank you for the concern."

@tim @evacide It's not sarcasm. Just saying, I know there's a difference, and the fact that expert witnesses get paid is alarming. I mean, I guess there's an argument to be made that someone is taking time out of their day and you're compensating them accordingly but... I dunno. That same argument could be made for the jury (I got $20 for a whole day last time, that's definitely not my going rate) or the defendant or anybody, really.

@tim @evacide Oh I know the difference.

@evacide Witnesses get paid? This seems like an ethical conflict...

@tek @drakenblackknight this has been a most amusing read. Thank you both lmao

@tek Oh, like boot camp itself? lol

@tek Doing paperwork and watching YouTube, baby! (Once the gov't unblocked YouTube lol)

@tek At any rate, I was saying "neat" to the "crossing the equator" thing. I've heard about how that's a big deal (also the dateline, IIRC), but I never got to deploy on a ship so I never experienced that myself. Seemed like a reasonably fun time.

@tek lmao no, I don't do that shit. As a veteran myself, I hate that shit. To me it feels cheap. I remember so many times standing in line at the airport for Starbucks and someone behind me going "thank you for your service!" and just feeling like "you know, Starbucks is only $5. If you really wanna show some appreciation, you could buy me one. Words are cheap, you're just trying to feel better about yourself." Maybe that's a selfish take, but it always felt hollow to me.

@tek I had no idea you were a veteran. Neat!

@tek I mean, you did put up with my shit for years.

@tek He doxed a reporter? Jesus Christ. Fuck that guy. I hope there's a Hell so he can burn in it.

Fuck everyone who still supports Musk. He's a fraudulent hypocrite and enemy of democracy. End of story. I will not accept any "but look at the wonderful things he's given us" apologists.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/02/elon-musk-pac-voter-data-trump-harris.html