Americans And Their Cheques... Lmao

>First, we’ve discovered that about a quarter of all the internet connection in or out of the house were ad related. In a few hours, that’s about 10,000 out of 40,000 processed.

>We also discovered that every link on Twitter was blocked. This was solved by whitelisting the https://t.co domain.

>Once out browsing the Web, everything is loading pretty much instantly. It turns out most of that Page Loading malarkey we’ve been accustomed to is related to sites running auctions to sell Ad space to show you before the page loads. All gone now.

>We then found that the Samsung TV (which I really like) is very fond of yapping all about itself to Samsung HQ. All stopped now. No sign of any breakages in its function, so I’m happy enough with that.

>The primary source of distress came from the habitual Lemmings player in the house, who found they could no longer watch ads to build up their in-app gold. A workaround is being considered for this.

>The next ambition is to advance the Ad blocking so that it seamlessly removed YouTube Ads. This is the subject of ongoing research, and tinkering continues. All in all, a very successful experiment.

>Certainly this exceeds my equivalent childhood project of disassembling and assembling our rotary dial telephone. A project whose only utility was finding out how to make the phone ring when nobody was calling.

>Update: All4 on the telly appears not to have any ads any more. Goodbye Arnold Clarke!

>Lemmings problem now solved.

>Can confirm, after small tests, that RTÉ Player ads are now gone and the player on the phone is now just delivering swift, ad free streams at first click.

>Some queries along the lines of “Are you not stealing the internet?” Firstly, this is my network, so I may set it up as I please (or, you know, my son can do it and I can give him a stupid thumbs up in response). But there is a wider question, based on the ads=internet model.

>I’m afraid I passed the You Wouldn’t Download A Car point back when I first installed ad-blocking plug-ins on a browser. But consider my chatty TV. Individual consumer choice is not the method of addressing pervasive commercial surveillance.

>Should I feel morally obliged not to mute the TV when the ads come on? No, this is a standing tension- a clash of interests. But I think my interest in my family not being under intrusive or covert surveillance at home is superior to the ad company’s wish to profile them.

>Aside: 24 hours of Pi Hole stats suggests that Samsung TVs are very chatty. 14,170 chats a day.

>YouTube blocking seems difficult, as the ads usually come from the same domain as the videos. Haven’t tried it, but all of the content can also be delivered from a no-cookies version of the YouTube domain, which doesn’t have the ads. I have asked my son to poke at that idea.

hard images 😎

One for the history books.

I just got described as an "ad hating commie" by someone because I said a minute of youtube ads is unpleasant. fully spent 5 minutes arguing and defending youtube ads. insane stuff

I always got the feeling she'd been waiting to have someone to show it off to

Jasnah is soooooo fucking funny she’s like Shallan seems bored she’s inside too much let’s go on a field trip to a scary alley and I’ll fucking kill a guy in front of her. Eviscerate even. great field trip no notes

...bittern....

Von Schrenck’s Bittern (Botaurus eurhythmus), female, family Ardeidae, order Pelicaniformes, Singapore

photograph by Alex Low

me

I raise an eyebrow. "not much different? I would've listened to Parmenion, bro. that shit you pulled at the Granicus? you're lucky Cleitus the Black was there.

"worth it..." he replies, blazed-ass eyes now distant.

i pass the bong to alexander the great. he has been surprisingly quick to grasp the idea and is now taking fat rips that make my eyes water to watch. he pauses after clearing the chamber, the stem lightly pinched between two slender fingers covered in gold filigree and tiny glittering emeralds. he holds it for a count of 5 and then blows the cloud out his pursed lips and flared nostrils. "delightful. much like a dragon." he says calmly, his eyes red and watery like sea-glass held to the sunset. "you know," he drawls, "we're not much different, you and i"

i needed this.

“My name is Aaron Bushnell. I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest, but compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal. Free Palestine.”

—Aaron Bushnell

“The act of an American soldier sacrificing himself for Palestine is the highest sacrifice […] a poignant message to the American administration to stop its involvement in the aggression.”

—PFLP Central Media Dept.

appropriate

HAPPENING