Probably the ones I never suspected at the time I adopted them - like Gmail, Google Translate, and all the speech recognition that has moved from being a program and speech engine that was only on your hard drive to now being shit like Otter.ai and other types that are sending your words off your drive and analyzing them, and training AI, etc off them.

The latter is particularly bad news for disabled people who rely on speech recognition and many don't realize this aspect of it.

I think I gotta go with license plate reading cameras. Government essentially building a graph of who goes where when, there have been hacks leading to theft of that data before (MA I think?), and like most things it starts out as "but terrorists" and then ends up being used for a minor tax fraud thing.

Maybe more generally, I feel that between all the cameras, license plate OCR, it is now pretty much impossible to anonymously go somewhere.

AI agents. No consent. Ring Cameras. No consent. Meta’s Glasses. No consent.

Decisions made by other extremely stupid people that I can’t do anything about.

- License Plate Readers and Facial Recognition Scanners

You can't opt out of them. Facial Recognition you can try to thwart, but thats a moving target. LPRs its illegal to obfuscate your license plate.

Social networks.

Because people voluntarily provide all the information we don't even ask for.

Surveillance capitalism… I despise it. Mandatory GAFAM AI companions and the surveillance infrastructure that wants me to be so transparent that the translucence would turn me into a syncopated chess piece—a smombie who could be controlled and data-farmed without me even realizing it. Do not want… ✅ 💡 😅 #fckbigtech #fcksurveillancecapitalism

Rick and Morty - I Am Alive #yt

youtu.be/t2r5AfCYEp4

The mobile because they've created something that everyone has, including kids, that everyone depends on and can't live without.
Furthermore, there are very few alternatives, essential apps often don't work (bank apps), and they're very expensive (Linux phones).

They've been very clever at creating a very convenient piece of technology by turning it into a spy and an object of addiction.

Always connected vehicles. Not only is it a huge invasion of privacy and one that you have no way to escape if you need a new car but it also brings with it subscription capitalism requiring you to continually pay for things you already bought.

#Privacy #Surveillance

ONT-Routers from my ISP. It must be riddled with Autocracy Inc. malware from ages, now (no firmware updates since the Big Bang).

Buses' chinese "CCTVs". Though I got no proof, all points to the information being leaked to Xi.

Public WiFi signals. No way to prevent being tracked (not even without any electronics on me)!

WhatsApp. Because nobody cares what apps they use, as long as everybody else is using it.

E-mail. Because almost nobody uses E2EE with it (e.g.: OpenKeychain)

Picking a #1 is hard!

But for its absolute ubiquity, I'd have to pick Google Analytics. I think that marked the first really pivotal moment of the conversion of the web from useful tool to shiny distracting toy hiding spyware etc.

Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) specifically. It's basically impossible to avoid them when driving. (In addition to fixed cameras, they are often mounted on police cars.)

In my home state (Florida), it's illegal to hide or obscure your auto tag. The only viable option is to not drive. 😡

-The mobile phone
-credit cards

It’s where the total surveillance society started and then just went bananas

Anything meta, tiktok or temu and adjacent

They're very aggressive and most people are completely unaware of and usually refuse to believe any wrongdoings or risks the entities pose.

Now google is bad in its own right, but honestly I'd still rather have it over the others. Google atleast has some decent software with decent security.

Screw the search engine and browser though.

It's a shame they are not all that concerned about having a Stalinist president who enjoys the company of communist dictators and former KGB officers.

#MAGA #Stalinism #USPolitics #oligarchs #billionaires

A Future of the Brave - Part 2

Tick, Tick
--------------
Fellow citizens, the truth is that our present can only be as stable as our future.

For too long we have hobbled from decade to decade, generation to generation, and millennium to millennium, myopically adhering to superfluous battles that can never be won. Never once as a species forwarding or embracing an all encompassing path towards a certainly better future.

Our excuses have been many, our reasoning mostly incoherent, and our lack of vision as a species, certainly fatal.

For in the meantime, as each tick of the ages has passed, the critical threats posed and ignored by our species discordance have increased exponentially.

Pandemic famine and disease, massively destructive weapons, fatal atmospheric and climate change, super volcanic eruptions, catastrophic space body impacts, Orwellian societies of unparalleled oppression, and many other global catastrophes too numerous to list here, waiting to befall us at any moment.

In fact, one of the most immediate and ominous threats facing America and much of the world today is the utilization of advanced technologies for the implementation of authoritarian control over societies.

My friends, the truth is that if we do not fight for and secure freedom today, the time will very soon come when it will be almost impossible to do so.

In retrospect, when one soberly considers the critical challenges that we must face together to survive as a species, our differences, at times, can become almost imperceptible.

Critical Focus
----------------------
Fortunately, there is a curious and wonderful fact about humanity.

Whenever we come together to focus on and solve some seemingly insurmountable problem, we are successful.

From initially learning to navigate vast oceans, to understanding and curing disease, to placing humans on the moon and exploring the solar system beyond, our species record of technical achievement is truly stunning.

In fact, history clearly records that our progress as a species is not impeded by our inability to solve critical problems; it is instead impeded by our inability to recognize and focus on them.

We have survived thus far not by elegant planning, but simply because of our once isolated population groups, the relatively low level of past technologies, and sheer dumb luck.

However, time has turned, and we cannot go back. Populations have become almost completely integrated, our technology has progressed to fantastic and globally lethal levels, and sooner or later our sheer dumb luck will run out.

Without direction, without a plan, without common goals and purpose, our species, and our world, will fail.

All our history, all our dreams, all our knowledge, our anguish, our joy, our victories, our defeats, all of our passion, everything that was human, gone forever. As if it had never existed in time at all.

Could anyone, no matter what their nationality or beliefs, want their children or grandchildren to live their last anguished moments of life in this failed world? A world now beset by an inescapable catastrophe that could easily have been avoided if their ancestors had exercised just a little foresight and vision?

I think not.

A Grand Challenge
------------------------------
My friends, the simple truth is that we are wasting our precious time, resources, intellect, and passion. As a species we are just as aimless today as when our primitive ancestors first ventured out upon this earth.

Today I am proposing that for the first time in human history, we change that.

Radically.

More than any time in history, humanity needs a grand challenge. Not only to avert its extinction, but also to indelibly etch the common bond of mutual reliance and cooperation on current and future generations.

Fortunately, all of the forces that now seem to conspire against us can quickly be turned to our advantage.

For the first time in human history we actually possess technologies so advanced that any physical problem can potentially be solved.

And yet, I wonder, do we possess the will and wisdom to utilize them for our salvation instead of our destruction?

I propose that we find out.

So today I offer you a radical and stark choice between two future realities.

An aimless future of continued war and conflict, with all its accompanying suffering and death; or a limitless future dedicated to defeating suffering and death itself, with all its accompanying technological advancement and social evolution.

Yes indeed, I have a new plan, for all of you. A plan of hope. A plan of adventure. A plan of such extraordinary magnitude as to take the breath, and challenge the senses, of all who would consider it. A plan to bind our common people in hope, and finally free our conscience for noble purpose.

I propose that in the next three decades we at last end the scourge of human disease upon this Earth, and begin the inevitable adventure of humanity's migration beyond it.

We shall at last unlock the fundamental secrets of our biology so we may conquer any illness or defect at will, and we shall free ourselves from the bonds of our native home so we may evade global calamities, and begin the expansion of our species beyond this world.

No longer shall our survival be dependent upon the random and dispassionate forces of nature. No longer shall we quiver in anguish as we helplessly watch those we love suffer and die in agony from an endless list of human disease and dysfunction. No longer shall our globe be divided in constant turmoil and conflict while the hammer of fate hangs precariously balanced over all we know and love.

We shall at last take control of our future, our fate, and ourselves.

No other endeavor ever attempted by humankind will require more genius, dedication, compassion, and sacrifice.

And no other endeavor ever attempted by humankind will be more vital to the continued existence of our species.

I understand that for many this may initially seem like pure science fiction. This is to be expected since the scales of the threats we face reside within the scope of what we have always considered to be science fiction. However, in reality, all of these goals are well within our technological reach. They are the quickest, and I believe only, way for our species to battle both the physical and societal threats that will continue to confront us.

Question
--------------
And yes, I know, there are so many, many more questions to answer.

'Will we abandon those in immediate need while pursuing such monumental projects? Will we forsake strong national defense in puerile pursuit of harmony? What about those who reject technology and its advances, will they be forced to participate in procedures or activities against their will? Who will organize and lead such a fantastic program? Who will participate? Who will pay?' And on and on and on.

Obviously, I cannot answer all of your questions this evening. There is simply not enough time. However, I can assure you that no one will be abandoned, strong defense will be maintained, and of course no one will be forced to do anything.

A revived America will initially organize and lead the program, and any country that supports basic human rights may participate.

Participating countries will contribute according to ability; this could be cash, natural resources, technology, labor, or any combination of these. A tremendous amount of money and resources will also be realized from the consolidation of redundant research, manufacturing, and social aid programs and facilities. Eventually participating countries will earn equal organizational authority and a multinational group will become the programs permanent leadership.

As for the plethora of other questions remaining, it is enough for this evening that you have discovered them, and yearn for their answers. For in doing so, you have already begun actively participating in our bold new future.

Remember my friends, in the end we simply have two choices – assured extinction, or one hell of a fantastic plan to avoid it.

And no matter what our decision, if we do not gain control and direct the focus of today’s technology, then we shall certainly never tame the ultra advanced technology of our very near future. We shall instead become its forewarned and willing victims.

My friends, I vote for a fantastic plan.

Rise
-------
Tonight we have taken an incredible journey.

A journey from the depths of our darkest night to the heights of our greatest triumph.

A journey towards A Future of the Brave.

While this evening’s adventure was merely spoken, now we must ready. For tomorrow, the real adventure begins. There is nothing I have said that need wait, so we will not.

And while I will not lead you, I will guide you. And you in turn will guide me.

In this way, none will become misled, and none will become lost.

My friends, tomorrow, we rise.
SearingTruth, A Future of the Brave, 2005

A Future of the Brave - Part 1

A Glimpse of Dawn
------------------------------
Good evening my fellow Americans.

I stand before you today in the midst of our most dark night.

A night which shrouds all we have known and sacrificed in a darkness so pervasive that some say our battle for liberty, never yet joined, has already been lost.

To those good Americans whose lives have been scarred by injustice, whose conscience has been stunned by betrayal, and whose souls bear the wounds of unspeakable inhumanity, I say take hope.

Great hope.

For I stand before you today not to lament the loss of our freedom, not to decry the disgrace of our nation, and not to surrender to the forces that would lay all we have loved desolate and barren.

No. I stand today instead to revel in, and plan for, our great nation’s revival. A revival that will not only restore our traditional freedoms and liberties, but also allow us to embark on the long journey towards regaining the trust, respect, and admiration of our global neighbors.

A revival that will once again display to the world that Americans are one of the most just, humane, and visionary people ever to grace this good Earth.

And a revival that will ultimately offer to our world the greatest hope it has ever known.

The Enemy Within
-----------------------------
My friends, the first step on our road to revival is to recognize and defeat the enemy which immediately confronts us.

It is indeed true that America has never before faced such an insidious enemy. An enemy that, as many classic tales of good and evil forewarn, came not from without but from within. An enemy that, like many tyrannies before, simultaneously wields the weapons of both force and intellectual perversion.

For I ask you, who would say that freedom is not free, with the price being freedom itself? Who would submit accusation in permanence of guilt? Who would mute the cry of innocence by cruel withdrawal of voice? And who would declare the rule of law omnipotent executive will?

I will tell you my friends. They are the same who perceive the foundations of tyranny within the Constitution, and declare the basic precepts of free society our greatest weakness.

They are the same who openly proclaim the virtues of torture, secret prisons, extra judicial abduction, universal surveillance, and dictatorial government.

Yes my friends, they are the same who have declared in both word and action that we must destroy America in order to save it.

My fellow citizens, twice we have fallen. Towers by enemies without, and freedom by enemies within.

It is a disheartening truth that terrorists didn’t steal our dignity, liberty, and freedom, Republicans did.

Few knew that when the Republican Party declared a war on culture many decades ago, they meant a war on the culture of American liberty itself.

For it is not by accident that we find ourselves left today with only one heinously corrupt branch of government; an executive branch which openly and proudly violates every principal, and fulfills every fear, of our revered founding fathers. And it is not by chance that the Republican Party facetiously exclaims that it has simply always been this way, and we just never noticed.

And of course, our new dictatorship has nothing to do with 'terrorism'.

For 225 years America had fought many external enemies, far more powerful than those we fight today, without abandoning our Constitutional form of government.

In fact, wielding the moral right and might embodied within our Constitution had always naturally defeated any enemy espousing philosophies of tyranny and oppression.

No. Our current dictatorship is the culmination of many decades of insidious planning which has left the highest levels of our government infested with judicial, legislative, and executive officials who believe not in freedom and justice, but instead, tyranny and oppression. Some even boldly blazing paper trails espousing their unconstitutional beliefs and future hopes for circumventing our beloved Constitution.

My friends, this administrations illegal and covert activities began the moment power was assumed, and one thing is very clear. Instead of working to make America safer after an attack on our nation, as all other American Presidents throughout have done, George Bush and his accomplices simply used the event as a convenient excuse to accelerate their own attack on American liberty and freedom.

In fact, the terrorists must be ecstatic. To them it looks like they simply attacked once and the American Constitution self destructed.

And they probably haven’t attacked again because they see no need to; the Republicans appear to have finished their work.

Of course, by now some may be wondering about the Democratic Party. Why haven’t I mentioned them?

Well, it’s simply because they made themselves irrelevant by never, ever, even once in the last six years, standing as a party to protect our Constitutional form of government.

On the contrary, they went along with every treasonous step, every single step of the way.

They have committed that most pathetic of crimes, apathetic accomplice.

There is simply nothing else to say about them.

Mirror
----------
My friends, sometimes the most difficult thing about fighting evil is realizing that it actually exists, and then unambiguously and forcefully calling it what it is.

History shows time and time again that one of evils greatest strengths is its ability to disguise itself as good, or at least a temporary necessity, until that last fatal moment when its revelation becomes clear, indisputable, and inescapable.

So today let us take a clear and unadulterated look into the mirror at ourselves.

Just six years ago we were one of the most respected and admired defenders of democracy and human rights in history. Respected not only by our friends, but even begrudgingly by most of our enemies. In fact, even the fantastic power of our military paled in comparison to the overwhelming might of our moral authority.

Today we are a nation that operates secret prisons occupied by anonymous inmates, illegally abducted and held indefinitely without charge or representation. We are guilty of torture. We are guilty of murder. We are guilty of preemptive war of conquest. We are guilty of the wholesale surveillance of our population, suppressing all hope of privacy and free dissent. And we are guilty of disgracing our nation through the abandonment of even our most basic precepts of morality.

If this is not evil then nothing we have ever fought against is evil, and nothing we have ever fought for is good.

Truth’s Victory
----------------------
But today I can reveal to you a simple and powerful truth.

A tyrant’s only ally is fear.

Just as in a fairytale where the villain cannot exist unless you believe in it, tyranny cannot exist unless you fear it.

Whether fear of personal oppression or phantom enemies presented by the state, terror must be maintained or the cohesion of authoritarian control always disintegrates.

And so today I say to you that the way to victory is easy.

Just stand up and fight.

Unlike our founding fathers, we are not asked to forge towards the defeat of some implacable enemy through fields and valleys awash with filth and blood. We are not asked to leave our homes, our land, and our families on an almost certainly fatal journey with little hope of return. And we are not asked to die the brutal and agonizing death of so many anonymous patriots, whose last anguished cry was freedom, alone on some cold and desolate battlefield.

No my friends, all we are asked to do is stand up and fight with our voices and our unaltered votes.

My fellow citizens, the truth is that the Constitution fails to defend itself, enduring only in the brave hearts of those who would uphold it.

So today I ask every American within the sound of my voice, or reach of my words, to once again stand as one people, with one voice, with one conscience, and one purpose, and demand the immediate and unconditional restoration of our government of the people, by the people, for the people, and visible to the people.

Today I ask every American registered with the Republican or Democratic parties to immediately abandon those failed institutions and register as a non-partisan voter. Today I ask that from this day forward, we, as a united people, vote only for those candidates who pledge to immediately restore our Constitutional Republic.

These are the keys to the kingdom my friends, which we have always held. It just seems that, for awhile, we had forgotten how to turn them.

Yes, it’s time to empty our secret prisons. Let us free the innocent, and justly convict the guilty.

And let history record that in that darkest hour, when loss predeemed history, providence again praised freedom. Providence, and the righteous will and might of the American people.

Common Goals, Uncommon Beliefs
---------------------------------------------------------
You know, I have great faith in the valiant and brave American people, and have no doubt that we will prevail in our fight against the current Republican dictatorship.

And yet, is one more victory over an immediate evil enough?

Shall we forever grasp only for the sustenance needed today, eternally trusting in a future harvest that we know must one day fail?

Can we not at least begin to attempt to break the cycles of rampant evil and suffering that have thus far been humanity’s inheritance?

I’m not speaking of utopia, just something at least a little better than today.

It is indeed true that history is replete with examples of its own iteration, and many claim that it can never be different. But is this really true?

Couldn’t it be that we, as a species, have missed something? Something very simple, something very fundamental? Something that perhaps may even have been discovered from time to time, only to be lost again in the churning turmoil of our species thus far aimless path?

I believe so. I believe we have simply forgotten how very much we have in common. And in turn, how dependent we are upon each other for our species ultimate survival.

In fact, one of the greatest tragedies of our existence is that we are a people united by so many common goals, but divided by so many uncommon beliefs.

I believe that our goals are more important. We all want to be free. We all want our children to be healthy and happy. Most all of us want peace so long as our own rights are protected.

These are the ideals that we can all strive for together. These are the threads of humanity that cannot be torn apart.

if you are supporting Zohran, you have not dug deep enough into his ties, history and background. 🚨

To be clear, I do not care about Left, Right, ethnicity or anything else, the whole political system is terrible.
I think politicians should be replaced with people that have qualifications and experiences relevant to what they are governing.