M Berk

In case you’re following, the aforementioned person has now said “I generally don’t do Zoom,” and asks if I can handle logistics for him, or better, arrange an in-person meeting. This man wants to be catered to and deferred to, and I am enjoying this.

(No, I will not set up his meeting)

California Won't Let It Go: Attorney General Bonta Announces $2.75 Million Settlement with Disney, Largest CCPA Settlement in California History Second enforcement action stemming from 2024 investigative sweep of streaming services OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced a settlement with the Walt Disney Company (Disney...

California AG announces a $2.75M settlement with Disney—the largest CCPA settlement in CA history—resolving allegations that the company did not fully honor consumer opt-out requests across all devices and streaming services tied to a user’s account. oag.ca.gov/news/press-r...

That guy is mediocrity personified

“Fuentes: “So just like Hitler imprisoned Gypsies, Jews, communists, you know, all of his political rivals, we have to do the same thing with women. … So they go to the gulag first. They go to the breeding gulags.””

“According to Oxfam, the top 0.0001 percent in the United States now controls a greater share of wealth than it did in the Gilded Age — the time that middle school history tells us most clearly showcases what it looks like when the very rich take command of democratic society.”

YouTube video by Johanna Vanderspool Liar Liar The Movie- Car Troubles HD.mov

I find myself ranting like this more often than I’d like. I’m glad to have company. You are correct.

And it is so alienating and infantilizing to be in this position.

When I am at my lowest, I watch this: youtu.be/wk7fYBw6PfQ?...

WROTE, dammit.

I KNOW I wrote it correctly. FUAC!

Well kids, I just write a thoughtful email explaining how this person could easily complete the tasks he wanted to outsource to me (and which are absolutely his responsibility), and I look forward to watching - and not caring about - the explosion.

Sorry if I set you up. I also intend no condescension. As much as I hate the phrase: feedback is a gift, and it’s an honor to give and receive it. Even when it hurts.

Or one of my staples:

“What a thought provoking introduction.”

Followed by a deconstruction of how they absolutely failed to deliver on a single point.

Nailed it

This reads like a professor generously grading a sloppy paper.

I have the same voice. 😂

I do!

I remember so many promises, including small business grants during the early pandemic that never happened.

With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet Ring's 'Search Party' is dystopian surveillance accelerationism.

Ring used the Super Bowl to launch “Search Party,” an AI feature that turns neighborhood cameras into a network to find a lost dog.

This isn’t about lost dogs. It’s about normalizing automated neighborhood surveillance.

www.404media.co/with...

#ring #surveillance #tech #privacy #superbowl #flock

I keep rereading this paragraph expecting the words to change

It’s all covered in the Bible:

“And if thy Ring camera offend thee, tear it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy security cameras that came with the house should perish, and not that thy privacy should be cast into hell.”

This was futile. They’re not even asking for the right information to properly process the request. They take your name and email and then say “no results.”

I asked them why they didn’t ask for relevant car/license plate info, and they just didn’t respond.

Discord Launches Teen-by-Default Settings Globally Discord is announcing enhanced teen safety features rolling out globally that reinforce its long-standing commitment to creating a safer and more inclusive experience for users over the age of 13.

I'm incredibly disappointed in Discord's decision to pre-comply with age verification mandates. Discord is one of the few "safe" spaces for communities to come together, especially those dealing with sensitive matters (like mental health). This decision will do harm.

discord.com/press-releas...

This was actually quite good.

I teach product management, and the 4 questions are basically the discovery arc that an excellent PM goes through to identify and solve problems for customers.

I’m also struggling with the chilling nature of speech here. This is the pathway to constant, pervasive monitoring in all aspects of life. Nothing good comes from that.

You’d think the far right would get that, being aware of the book of Revelation and all.

This one is hard for me. It’s one of the only places I have good communities on hard topics.

Also, I’m having my students “work on” Discord as their class project this year, and this change hits at the middle of every single group project, from monetization to engagement.

Replace “dogs” with “brown people” and “pet owners” with law enforcement, and the idea is clear.

Then this gem in their privacy policy, basically saying they take no responsibility for what the companies they partner with do:

“A third-party vendor will be governed by its own privacy statements, and Sutter Health is not liable for any breach or loss of information by a contracted vendor.”

Just a giant FU to Sutter Health for starting to embed advertising and other third party trackers in its health app, you know, where they can scrape deeply personal information for shits and giggles and profit.

My almost 105 year old abuelita-in-law is VERY excited for Bad Bunny. She came from the island, and for her entire life, she’s been an American citizen! Voted for FDR! 🇵🇷🇺🇸

At this risk of sounding crazy, because this situation is objectively crazy, the stuff I’ve read points to Russia as both a conduit for money and source of the drive to gather info on world figures. Epstein seems like a particularly vicious useful idiot.

Cannot believe I typed this.

I really miss when social media was about having conversations with one another.

I can’t code, but in general, I find such joy in the making of things that my own sense of my humanity will not allow me to give it up.

What’s at stake is a population’s sense of their own agency and ability to bring something out of nothing - core to human nature.

I’m interested in important work, even when it’s uncomfortable. Want to try sharing and see how it goes?