17:40:13 [weezzee] IM HAXOR 😎️ 17:44:36 [weezzee] NOW ITS TIME TO WATCH THE MASK ON REPEAT AND MEMORIZE ALL THE LINES SO I CAN BECOME MORE LIKE THE MASK IN MY DAY TO DAY LIFE

AZIZ

One of the great traditions of FOSS is its refusal to adopt that corporate visual design ethos which turns every logo into an abstract solid-colour silhouette optimised for mobile rendering. I like GIMP’s plucky rodent, for example. A counter-example would be the sad [d]evolution of the Firefox.

Good:

• The supporting cast
• Watching the Entity do its thing
• Rome, Austria, desert segments
• The lead bounty hunters’ introspection about taking sides
• The subtext about trust of technology and its role in parsing everyday reality

Bad:

• The entire Venice segment. Cringe.
• Further to above, clunky plotting. It’s the real villain of this film. Things feel strained in a way that Fallout never did.
• Gabriel. Who cares?

Raise hell with your telecomms regulator. Choice of DNS (not to mention how web content is rendered) is solely your business, but it will only remain that way if you get vocal.

You’re playing into corporate’s hands by assuming audiences cannot relate to a narrative if the actors don’t resemble them in some fashion. Their interests are served by having you buy into such a notion. They run social media sock-puppet accounts espousing it everywhere you care to look (like throwing spaghetti at a wall, if we just talk about it enough maybe some of it will stick!). The problem is that the notion is bullshit.

I love The Wire. It’s the best show about policing. I have nothing in common with black Americans barely living above the poverty line, though. Not behaviour, not worldview, not skin tone, not dress sense. Yet these characters make up three quarters of the cast; and I empathised and sympathised with them all the same. By the same token Lord of the Rings has a broad, enduring reach well beyond the Anglosphere.

I think much of the fuss over representation in modern media comes down to content producers trying to tailor the consumer to their product. They want us preoccupied with it. And when they’re caught out or backed into a corner on the matter, rather than fess up and admit they have industrial and institutional pressures to deal with (actor employment, Blackrock ESG gamification, etc), they suggest critics are racist instead. Perhaps that really is a better strategic approach than a policy of honesty and respect for the public’s intelligence. But it doesn’t make it true.

Don’t mind me honey, just takin’ out the gizmodo!

Anderson’s next film will be a pop-up children’s book smelling of clove cigarettes, flat champagne and snow, with a dedication in braille.

[Edit] Set in Franklin Gothic Light.

Illusionist, Michael.

Talk about digital privacy like you talk about physical health.

I don’t decide to consign myself to a life of fast food and video games because I’m a currently a bit flabby and sedentary. That’s called defeatism. If we thought about our health this way we’d all be better off dead. Rather, I recognise I’m at a particular point on a spectrum due to neglect, and take conscious action to move towards the optimal state: I walk to the shops. I take the stairs. I get in more greens.

Normie has to be shown a new perspective on a domain of his life he thinks he has filed away for good (no doubt due to discomfort). His privacy is not a balloon that becomes a discardable bit of plastic once popped; in fact it’s something he can tend and hone, as diligently as he does his ab or skincare routines.

He doesn’t care now because the issues surrounding digital privacy aren’t relevant to him. They are not relevant because the structures and technologies posing the issues are inscrutable, and condition individuals into believing they have zero agency. That’s why he’ll cede virtually anything for the sake of achieving a BAU task five minutes faster on $ProprietaryApp - he assigns nil value to those personal properties he’s convinced he cannot personally secure. He won’t reappraise his values until doubt over that comfortable certainty has crept in.

It’s going to take charitable people modelling the change they want to see, explaining in social settings why they’re paying cash at this venue or not using Chrome or aren’t contactable on WhatsApp. And the foundation of that is suitable language. My good health is a product of my routines, my knowledge of what is harmful and beneficial to it, my awareness of the various threat vectors, and my social circle’s recognition and encouragement of healthy living. The same applies for privacy.