Anti-Social Media
The Stanford Internet Observatory is revealed as a nest of snitches: My First Job, at the Stanford Internet Observatory
“In actuality, SIO hired a load of interns to scan social media for posts deemed to be mis- and disinformation. It turns out that the posts we students flagged were often sent along to moderators at Twitter (now X), Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, which took them down in order to quash dissenting viewpoints—viewpoints that sometimes ended up being right, as in the case of Covid likely being the result of a lab leak, or Hunter Biden’s hard drive being his actual hard drive—not Russian disinformation.”
Big Wheels
Survey: Most People Are Uncomfortable With Sharing Their Driving Data
At this point, it’s no secret that connected cars collect an alarming amount of data on the people who own and drive them, but a recent survey found that almost nobody is happy about it. Insurance app company Jerry surveyed 1,300 drivers and found that 78 percent are either uncomfortable or extremely uncomfortable with their car’s maker collecting their data.
One of the great things about driving a car is the freedom that it involves, and part of that freedom is the ability to go anywhere without buying tickets, checking in, or otherwise operating under someone else’s nose.
That freedom would disappear with a GPS-based mileage tax. In fact, since such systems would probably be accessible wirelessly, they might even allow authorities to locate you in real time, or be alerted immediately if you’re speeding. Promises that that capability wouldn’t be abused are likely to ring hollow to many. (They certainly ring hollow to me).
…
there are some simpler alternatives: Every car already includes a built-in mileage recorder—it’s called an odometer. A highway tax based on odometer readings wouldn’t be high-tech, but it also wouldn’t invade anyone’s privacy.
Collecting odometer readings would be cheap and low tech, especially in states with mandatory annual vehicle inspections (like Texas). Acquiring and operating a GPS-based tracking system is not about taxation, it’s about expanding the surveillance state at the expense of drivers AND paying off politically-connected contractors.
Read more about automated license plate readers here.
Big, Bad Medicine
A previously censored paper from The Lancet has now undergone peer review and is available online.
The study, titled “A Systematic Review of Autopsy Findings in Deaths After COVID-19 Vaccination,”
analyzed 325 autopsy cases and found that a staggering 73.9% of deaths were either directly due to
or significantly contributed to by the COVID-19 vaccination.The paper’s lead author, Dr. Nicolas Hulscher, faced significant opposition in bringing these findings
to light. After initially being downloaded over 100,000 times, The Lancet removed the paper within 24 hours, according to Dr. William Makis.
…
“Our paper was delayed by one year, and those actions of CENSORSHIP and CANCELLATION led to many deaths that could have been prevented. This paper could be a game changer,” Makis added.
I’m sure they did with the best of intentions. Sure.
AI Makes Everything Crappy
The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse Rick Beato explains how pop music went from autotuning to AI-mediated recording and mixing, and ruined pop music in the process.
I, for One, Welcome our New Robot Overlords
Lab-grown, self-healing human skin designed to cover robot faces
Is it just me, or is this creepy as hell?
Big Gov
“In 2021, the Biden Administration got $42.45 billion from Congress to deploy high-speed Internet to millions of Americans,” GOP-appointed Commissioner Brendan Carr wrote on X last week. “Years later, it has not connected even 1 person with those funds. In fact, it now says that no construction projects will even start until 2025 at earliest.”
You can get a Starlink setup for $499 online. The Biden stash could hook up close to 85 MILLION households with that money. But where’s the fun, the cronies, and the graft in that?
The Random Texan 
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