Well, that was the most graphic thing I’ve seen in quite a while.

Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

I use Voice by Paul Woitaschek (available on F-Droid). It has a nice, simple interface and a few really useful features. I’ve gone through dozens of audiobooks in various formats with it and haven’t had any problems yet.

Please, hold on to this reality as long as you can.

:(

Dimmu Borgir by Dimmu Borgir

I can’t believe you’ve done this.

This, to me, is one of the biggest fallacies of tech companies claiming they care about sustainability goals. No matter the application, most of our hardware is made with materials that come from central Africa. Those mines and facilities are largely controlled by China. Whatever you think of China politically, you have to recognize that many of the sustainability disclosures that, say, Apple is making are premised on these mines self-reporting compliance with certain standards. In practice, miners are using outdated, poorly maintained equipment. Commonly, they’re using shovels and even their hands.

You can write all the cutesy reports you want with stock photos of green leaves, hands holding soil, and smiling “farmers.” Unless and until you’re directly funding better means of extracting raw materials like cobalt from the ground, companies’ claims about their commitment to ESG should be completely dismissed as nonsense.

Some sources:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-24/cobalt-mining-in-the-congo-green-energy/100802588

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/drc-cobalt-and-copper-mining-for-batteries-leading-to-human-rights-abuses/

Yeah, this is going into the rotation

About ten years ago, I went through this process with as many data brokers and reporting agencies as possible. I printed documents, made accounts, mailed letters, and jumped through every hoop they set up. Some of the companies only recognized my request for a term of five years, while some were permanent.

I don’t get random credit card offers in the mail any more. However, since I started using an email alias service a few years ago, I’ve found my data making its way back to the data brokers. I’m not in the EU, so I don’t think I have much recourse for it. Even so, I think it’s worth it to jump through all the hoops. Maybe one day it’ll feel more meaningful.

tl;dr: It was cumbersome to do it, and other than a reduction in snail mail spam, I haven’t seen much benefit from it. All the same, I’d do it again.

Fear of the Dark by Iron Maiden?

That’s what she said.

Based on the shadow, I’m assuming the plane that took these photos is approximately 3 miles long.

For a bounty hunter? Definitely. For shift supervisor at the run-down Walgreens on the shitty side of town in Des Moines next to a Matress Firm and the CBD shop? Less so.

Everybody’s out here asking who is Jeff, what is Jeff, but nobody’s asking how is Jeff.

Wielded by none other than Gunnar Hansen, the original Leatherface. This movie truly had everything.

Cats were worshipped in Ancient Egypt because the Egyptians thought they were funny. Gigantic cat head monuments were built underground in their honor.