#award buyers

[solitairemeb-blog]

Disappointing to hear the British court hearing the phone hacking scandal has let scooby doo's [Omid Scobie] perjury go unchecked ATM. I'm hoping the judge has just let it pass for now 🤷‍♀️ . Scooby has stated on oath that he doesn't know hazbeen personally. Yet he has written in the forward to FINDING FREEDOM that the book was written after hundreds of hours of personally consulting with hazbeen and MEgain. So outright fucking lying.

[mekkyz-dubz]

!! PLEASE SHARE AND REBLOG THIS POST ASAP !!

Update: 7/9/2023 (I will update the listings if they are added to the stores.)

Drawing Tablet Buyer's Guide 2023

Are you looking for help to get into digital art? Are you confused for what models would you pick? Do you want success in your art career? Then this blog is for you. These are the buyer's guide for artists who wanted to take approach on digital art. As always, you don't need a latest and greatest tools just to make good art. Your handy mouse and a trusty old tablet can do fine art at the time. My Intuos 4 L still works today, even if it was released on 2009.

Here are the basic categories you'll fit into: Beginner, Intermediate and Professional.

Beginner - This is where you start making digital art for the first time.

Intermediate - These are experienced artists who are on mid-range level at a greater value.

Professional - These are same as intermediate but who are on to take approach an high-end level to mimic the meaning art.

There are three types of pen tablets for you to decide. These have pros and cons on these tablets.

Pen Tablet - A pen tablet doesn't require a screen and can benefit for a user experience such as good posture, portability and pricing, but this requires hand-eye coordination as this type of tablet has a steep learning curve and drawing on it feels unnatural to use.

Pen Display - A pen display is a monitor that can be drawn into. It is easier to learn how to use pen displays and can mimic a sketchbook you were drawing. However, there are issues such as bad posture, expensive pricing and limited portability. Sometimes, your hand gets in the way through pinpoint cursor while drawing.

Pen Computer - These are pen tablets that can be used by themselves and don't require a computer, it can be portable for travel use. However, they are very expensive, limited to none upgradability, difficult and costly repairs and have a short battery life. As such, I do not recommend getting these pen computers for these reasons above and instead look for other mobile tablet alternatives such as iPad Pro, Surface Pro 8 or Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Here are the list of drawing tablet recommendations based on three categories.

NOTE: Prices may vary due to sale discounts so I only put links to the official store from drawing tablet brands so I'm gonna keep the original price for future references. However, Amazon is safer for returns and good units and eBay is the way to go for second hand offers.

If you're an osu! player looking for a pen tablet, I'd suggest getting an Intuos Pen and Touch Small 2013 (PTH-480) on eBay. One by Wacom Small (CTL-472) has the same performance yet cheaper. The only good alternative that doesn't suck is Gaomon S620. I recommend getting OpenTabletDriver for that purpose.

If you want to invest digital art, I highly recommend getting a medium size tablet for larger hand gestures.

Beginner

Pen Tablet: $30-100 Range

Wacom:

One by Wacom Small (CTL-472) - $49.95

One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672) - $99.95

Huion:

Huion HS611 - $79.99

Huion Inspiroy H1161 - $89.99

Huion Inspiroy 2 S/M/L - $49.99 - $89.99

Huion Inspiroy H640P - $49.99

Huion Inspiroy H950P - $59.99

XP-Pen:

XP-Pen Deco Fun XS/S/L - $29.99- $49.99

XP-Pen Deco 01 V2 - $59.99

XP-Pen Deco M/MW - $49.99 - $69.99

XP-Pen Deco L/LW - $69.99 - $89.99

Pen Display: $170-420 Range

Wacom:

Wacom One (DTC-133) - $399.95

Huion:

Huion Kamvas 12 - $239.99 w/ stand

Huion Kamvas 13 - $264.99 w/ stand

Huion Kamvas 16 (2021) - $419 w/ stand

XP-Pen:

XP-Pen Artist 10 (Gen 2) - $169.99

XP-Pen Artist 12 (Gen 2) - $249.99

XP-Pen Artist 13 (Gen 2) - $299.99

XP-Pen Artist 16 (Gen 2) - $399.99

Intermediate

Pen Tablet: $100-200 Range

Wacom:

Wacom Intuos Small Wireless (4100WL) - $59.95

Wacom Intuos Medium Wireless (6100WL) - $199.95

Huion:

Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 - $139.99

Huion Inspiroy Giano - $199.99

Huion Inspiroy Q11K V2 - $139.99

XP-Pen:

XP-Pen Deco Pro S/SW - $99.99 - $129.99

XP-Pen Deco Pro M/MW - $129.99 - $159.99

Pen Display: $260-1300 Range

Wacom:

Wacom Cintiq 16 (DTK-1660) - $799.95 ($649.95 on Amazon)

Wacom Cintiq 22 (DTK-2260) - $1299.95

Huion:

Huion Kamvas Pro 13 2.5K - $399.99

Huion Kamvas Pro 16 2.5K - $599.99

Huion Kamvas 22 Plus - $549

Huion Kamvas 24 Plus - $899

XP-Pen:

XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro (2019) - $259.99

XP-Pen Artist 13.3 Pro (2019) - $279.99

XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro (2019) - $369.99

XP-Pen Artist Pro 16 (2021) - $449.99

XP-Pen Artist 22R Pro (2020) - $599.99

XP-Pen Artist 22 (Gen 2) (2021) - $499.99

XP-Pen Artist 24 Pro (2020) - $899.99

XP-Pen Artist 24 (2021) - $799.99

Professional

Pen Tablet: $140-500 Range

Wacom:

Wacom Intuos Pro Small (PTH-461) - $249.95

Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-661) - $379.95

Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-861) - $499.95

XP-Pen:

XP-Pen Deco Pro MW (Gen 2) - $139.99

XP-Pen Deco Pro LW (Gen 2) - $179.99

XP-Pen Deco Pro XLW (Gen 2) - $199.99

Xencelabs:

Xencelabs Pen Tablet Small - $199.99

Xencelabs Pen Tablet Medium - $279.99 for standard, $359.99 for bundle, $379.99 for special edition

Pen Display: $800-3500 Range

Wacom:

Wacom Cintiq Pro 13 (DTH-1320) - Formerly $799.95 but less than $379.99 on eBay

Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 (2021) (DTH-167) - $1599.95 ($1529.99 on B&H Photo Video and Amazon)

Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 (DTK-2420) - $2199.95

Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 Touch (DTH-2420) - $2699.95

Wacom Cintiq Pro 27 (DTH-271) - $3499.95

Huion:

Huion Kamvas Pro 16 4K Plus - $899

Huion Kamvas Pro 24 4K - $1299

XP-Pen:

XP-Pen Artist Pro 14 (Gen 2) - $419.99

XP-Pen Artist Pro 16TP - $899.99

Xencelabs:

Xencelabs Pen Display 24 - $1899

Resources:

Brad Colbow: YouTube | Brad.site

Teoh Yi Chie: YouTube | 2nd Channel | Parka Blogs

The Seven Pens: YouTube | Website

[alexa-santi-author]

My Saturday is going pretty good. How’s yours?

[mostunderratedawards]

Most Underrated Supporting Actress 2014

Sarah Paulson - 12 Years a Slave

Melissa Leo – Prisoners

Margot Robbie - The Wolf of Wall Street

Maria Bello - Prisoners

Jennifer Garner - Dallas Buyers Club

Viola Davis - Prisoners

[academyawardwinners]

Matthew McConaughey, Best Actor in a Leading Role for the film, "Dallas Buyer's Club." (2013)

[crowdvscritic]

crowd vs. critic single take // THE LOST WEEKEND (1945)

Photo Credits: IMDb.com

What’s one weekend away? For an alcoholic, torture.

Struggling writer Don (Ray Milland) is dreading a trip with his brother Wick (Phillip Terry), who monitors what he imbibes. He keeps a covert stash in the crannies of their New York City apartment, but it won’t be easy to sneak it out of town alongside his brother and his girlfriend Helen (Jane Wyman). Part belligerence and part willful ignorance convinces him perhaps it’s best not to go at all. A weekend spent only with himself—and a few fellow bar patrons—would be better.

CROWD // One of the reasons I love movies is they’re the closest to time travel we’ll ever get. Like Harry Potter dunking his head into the Pensieve, a screen always reveals more than the filmmakers intended because it's a literal portal into the past. The Lost Weekend’s portrayal of alcoholism feels melodramatic today, borderline heavy-handed, but in 1945, The New York Daily News called it "the most daring film that ever came out of Hollywood.” Turner Classic Movies notes it had a special relevance in a year when soldiers were returning from a traumatizing war, and it was “the first to treat drinking seriously and not play it for laughs. Gone were the inebriated Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man movies.” Just a few years later in 1949, Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell died when she was was hit by a drunk driver. When Malcolm Gladwell explored it on his podcast Revisionist History, he observed, “The fact that his drinking might have been the reason he was speeding somehow didn't seem to occur to many people... but in the mentality of the time, the driver was irrelevant. He was as unlucky as the victim." All that to say, how we feel about alcoholism has changed in the last eight decades. 

Though the context feels foreign today, the characters do not. If you’ve ever known someone struggling with crippling mental health issues, watching Helen and Wick waffle between support for Don and total exasperation will feel too familiar. You’ll also recognize the truth in Don’s statement that there are two versions of himself—the one who would love to be a writer, and the one who believes he’s a failure. One version wants to be the man Helen deserves and a responsible brother who pays the rent, but the other cons and manipulates them, even swiping the maid’s paycheck for his habit. (Writer/director Billy Wilder would create another unstable, manipulative character in Sunset Blvd., but Norma Desmond would add a sinister edge.) Even if The Lost Weekend doesn’t feel congruent with modern depictions of substance abuse, it’s still moving because its heart is empathetic to those struggling as well as their friends and family. 

POPCORN POTENTIAL: 7/10

CRITIC // That success is largely thanks to the cast. In another film, Don could have been a villain or comic relief—here is treated with as much care as Milland took in preparing for the role. His commitment is an early example of the strategy many Best Actor hopefuls still take today, volunteering a physical transformation to become this character. In addition to changing his diet to lose weight, he took the initiative to stay in Bellevue Hospital for a time (where some of the film was shot, though Bellevue later regretted it) to experience their treatment of alcoholics. Though he was unsuccessful at achieving drunkenness, he was successfully mistaken as public day drinker by acquaintances who were gracious enough to mention it to the press. Without Milland, Matthew McConaughey might have still lost weight for Dallas Buyers Club, Brendan Fraser might still have gained weight for The Whale, and Leonardo DiCaprio might still have gone through the tortures of The Revenant, but perhaps Milland's win is the source code for actors going to extremes to show commitment to their craft. 

In addition to nominations for editing and cinematography, Billy Wilder won his first Oscars for writing and directing The Lost Weekend. (He’d already lost five times, including for Ninotchka and Double Indemnity, and he’d win four more for Sunset Blvd. and The Apartment. Yeesh, what a career!) A Best Score nod brought to the tally to 7 total nominations, though that’s less impressive when you know the Academy recognized 47 nominees in 3 different music categories for the year of 1945. (The following year each category was narrowed down to the traditional five.) 

One more indicator of the Ghost of Oscars Yet to Come: The Lost Weekend is the first social issues drama to win Best Picture. Previous winners danced around what is now a staple during Awards Season, but Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Grand Hotel were really slice-of-life character dramas, The Broadway Melody and Going My Way were really musicals, and It Happened One Night and You Can't Take It With You were really comedies, although all six of those titles were conscious of money, class, marriage, and religion. The Lost Weekend is the first winner about everyday people facing a present day challenge not set during war or a historical period. For the first time, the Academy affirmed the value of a "small" story with its highest honor, giving dignity to people and concerns that could be mistaken as unimportant.

ARTISTIC TASTE: 9/10

[bloomassociates]

Bloom Associates Ltd: Crafting Dream Homes in the Heart of London

Situated in the lively and picturesque area of Battersea, London, Bloom Associates Ltd emerges as a symbol of home innovation and architectural mastery. Founded by Ross Malone, this family-run enterprise has carved a niche in the domain of designing and constructing bespoke extensions, lofts, basements, and comprehensive renovations, with a focus on the South West London region.

A Broad Spectrum of Expert Services

Bloom Associates Ltd is celebrated for its array of specialized services:

Architectural Prowess: In collaboration with Malone + Pike, a respected RIBA Chartered Practice, Bloom Associates provides top-tier architectural services. Their expertise covers a range of residential projects, including stylish loft conversions, elegant ground floor extensions, functional basements, and unique side returns, each design blending contemporary aesthetics with traditional elegance.

Construction and Renovation Proficiency: Known for extensions, basements, loft conversions, and extensive renovations, Bloom's team of seasoned contractors is dedicated to delivering outstanding workmanship and value. They focus on providing a stress-free building experience with transparent pricing and accurate project timelines.

Comprehensive Pre-Purchase Surveys: Offering in-depth pre-purchase surveys, Bloom Associates meticulously evaluates potential properties for structural concerns, dampness, asbestos, and other significant issues. This invaluable service equips prospective buyers with a detailed understanding of the property's condition and potential renovation possibilities.

Seamless Design and Build Journey

Bloom Associates employs a holistic approach to home improvement projects, starting with an in-depth understanding of the client's vision. This is followed by meticulous planning and execution, overseen by a team comprising skilled architects, project managers, builders, and interior designers, who ensure a seamless transition from design to the final construction phase.

Tailoring Spaces for Contemporary Lifestyles

Bloom Associates specializes in personalizing each project to align with the specific preferences and lifestyles of their clients. Whether it’s a luxurious basement, a spacious loft conversion, or a cleverly designed side return, the emphasis is on creating versatile, multifunctional spaces that mirror the individuality and dynamics of the homeowners. Their portfolio demonstrates an array of unique projects, each reflecting the distinctive taste and personality of their clients.

Unwavering Commitment to Excellence and Communication

At the core of Bloom Associates’ ethos is a steadfast dedication to quality and ongoing communication. The internal team ensures comprehensive management and execution of projects from the outset to completion, fostering a reputation for timely and budget-conscious delivery, all while upholding the highest standards of craftsmanship.

Initiate Your Home Transformation Today

If you aspire to revitalize your home with sophistication and practicality, Bloom Associates Ltd is your ideal partner. Whether it's for architectural innovation or complete building services, their team is prepared to realize your vision. Contact them at 0207 585 2020 to embark on your journey of transforming your home with an esteemed and skilled partner.

[nicole-ashwood]

Double Exposure: A guide on how we make them pay and the signs that will show it's working

Yes, I know a lot of the hate is going to Deck Nine, and believe me some of that is deserved. But ultimately Square has final Veto power and dictates where the story goes thanks to studio mandates.

Either way, this first part is how we focus our own power and make the bastards fix this. You want change? Here's a guide.

Do not buy ANY more Life is Strange products. Corporate bastards only pay attention to cash flow. Hit their wallets.

If you have self control and decent writing skills, leave a review on Metacritic. Praise what works (Hannah, some of the writing, the inklings of a background plot revolving around an evil future Max), and damn everything else.

Everyone else? Try and do the same on Steam. Just make sure you have enough playtime (~30 min - 1 hour) so people will be more aware. Quality doesn't matter on Steam so much as the Community Score.

Attack the story and writing choices, not the cast and writers. Bosses exist for a reason, focus your fire if you plan on referencing anyone.

Do not dox, send death threats, or do ANYTHING that they can use to justify your dismissal. You want this fixed, don't stoop to their level.

If you can, vote in any game awards the series appears in. Hannah has another game on the way, we'll make sure she gets her proper praises then.

Get your opinions where they matter. Instagram, TikToc, Reddit, and Twitter are where the search algorithms look. Make sure people know how bad they fucked up here.

Return the game if you can, and just watch Let's Plays. Bleed them dry.

This game will only sell if we aren't loud enough. Games are expensive. Your average buyer will still look up reviews and scores before they pop down a 50.

You want change? Don't say it's hopeless and get to work.

You die when you lose hope, and if anything I at least plan on taking as big a chunk out of them as possible before then.

And now for signs we need to keep an eye out for.

Anonymous Employee leaks and what tone they are going with. If the leaks show us things like Arcadia Bay, character returns, or anything else that gives us a hint to the plot taking place in AB, those are good signs.

Keep an eye on anyone who might return, and what their upcoming work is. Rhianna/Chloe has the mystery Lead and is our best clue, but the actors for Joyce, David, Victoria, Steph, Alex, and Ryan are all people we need to keep an eye out for. If they plan on bringing in LiS 2, then keep an eye out for Daniel's actor. He is the only one who could really return.

Watch for updates to the Remasters and series wide collectors editions. Square is going to milk the shit out of any capstone game, and this is where they'll do it.

Look for collabs that feature Max AND Chloe. Those will be meant to keep the series fresh in peoples minds up until 2027/early 2028 (assuming the tweet screenshot I posted previously continues to be true).

Books that highlight Chloe's view will probably be on the way soon. A lot of the stuff we've seen regarding Chloe in this game points to them revising what they originally wrote so Chloe appeared less toxic then originally wanted (yes, I just heaved when I wrote that). These books will continue to soften her, and ensure that she is single for the next game. Yeah, I fully expect the next game to ape the theme of restoring bonds from the first.

Keep an eye on their LinkedIn. As of this writing, they have 101 employees, half of which are artists and designers. Expect that number to increase come January. The finance report for this game will be out by then, and Square will probably pour more cash into D9 to hasten the next games release.

This series can be salvaged. It needs to be salvaged, if anything because it's the loudest voice gaming has for those who are marginalized. This series, in our current hellworld, is too damn important to end on some bullshit pivot like this, but it's only going to make it if we force their hands ourselves.

If you are a fan.

If you care about LGBTQ+ issues.

If you want to help those who feel alone and without anything to look up to in life.

Then by the Gods you damn well better do your part.

[insanityclause]

EXCLUSIVE: One year ago we told you that a second season of John le Carré adaptation The Night Manager was quietly being developed under the codename Steelworks.

Now, Deadline can reveal that the BBC and new co-pro partner Amazon have gone big on a supercharged two-season order of the thriller, with Tom Hiddleston returning to lead, Hugh Laurie coming back as EP and with a new director in I Hate Suzie’s Georgi Banks-Davies. A third season has also been greenlit. David Farr returns as writer and Stephen Garrett is showrunner.

The Night Manager Season 2 will begin filming later this year and will pick up with Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine eight years after the explosive finale of Season 1, going beyond the original book, which was written by the celebrated British writer in 1993. Additional plot details are being kept under wraps and there is not yet confirmation as to whether EP Laurie’s Richard Roper, who was last seen in the back of a paddy wagon driven by arms buyers who were not best pleased with him, will return to star. Hiddleston will also EP and will discuss in more depth on tonight’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Produced by The Ink Factory in association with Character 7, Demarest Films and 127 Wall, and in co-production with Spanish partner Nostromo Pictures, The Night Manager Season 2 was sold to Amazon by Fifth Season. The first was co-produced with AMC.

New director Banks-Davies, a BAFTA-nominee who takes over from Susanne Bier, has credits including I Hate Suzie, Garfield and upcoming Netflix series Kaos.

The Night Manager Season 1 was a huge success, watched by millions and winning multiple BAFTAs, Emmys and Golden Globes including best actor for Hiddleston. Also starring Tom Hollander, Olivia Colman and Elizabeth Debicki, it followed Pine – who ran a luxury hotel in Cairo – as he attempted to infiltrate the inner circle of Roper’s crime syndicate after being hired by Foreign Office task force manager Angela Burr.

The first season was commissioned more than 10 years ago and the show has since been remade in India, lapping the UK version by swiftly having a Season 2 greenlit for Disney+ Hotstar in May last year.

Simon Cornwell and Stephen Cornwell, le Carré’s sons who run The Ink Factory, said Season 1 proved “a landmark moment for the golden era of television – uniting on-screen and behind-the-camera talent at the top of their game – and an audience reception which was beyond our wildest imagining.”

They added: “Revisiting the story of Pine also means going beyond the events of John le Carré’s original work: that is a decision we have not taken lightly, but his compelling characters and the vision David has for their next chapter were irresistible.”

Amazon MGM Studios Head of Television Vernon Sanders said: “We are elated to bring additional seasons of The Night Manager to our Prime Video customers. The combination of terrific source material, the wonderful team at The Ink Factory, a great writer in David Farr, an award-winning director in Georgi Banks-Davies, as well as the talented cast truly make the series the full package.”

Hiddleston said: “The first series of The Night Manager was one of the most creatively fulfilling projects I have ever worked on. The depth, range and complexity of Jonathan Pine was, and remains, a thrilling prospect.”

BBC content boss Charlotte Moore added: “After years of fervent speculation I’m incredibly excited to confirm that The Night Manager is returning to the BBC for two more series.”

The Night Manager series two is created and executive produced by Farr, based on the characters created by le Carré. Additional executive producers include Garrett for Character 7, Banks-Davies, Laurie and Hiddleston; Joe Tsai and Arthur Wang for 127 Wall; Stephen and Simon Cornwell, Michele Wolkoff, and Tessa Inkelaar for The Ink Factory; Adrián Guerra for Nostromo Pictures; William D. Johnson for Demarest Films, Nick Cornwell, Susanne Bier, Chris Rice for Fifth Season and Gaynor Holmes for the BBC.

[trexalicious]

The best of award buyer H memes...

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Sphinxmumps Linkdump

On THURSDAY (June 20) I'm live onstage in LOS ANGELES for a recording of the GO FACT YOURSELF podcast. On FRIDAY (June 21) I'm doing an ONLINE READING for the LOCUS AWARDS at 16hPT. On SATURDAY (June 22) I'll be in OAKLAND, CA for a panel and a keynote at the LOCUS AWARDS.

Welcome to my 20th Linkdump, in which I declare link bankruptcy and discharge my link-debts by telling you about all the open tabs I didn't get a chance to cover in this week's newsletters. Here's the previous 19 installments:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

Starting off this week with a gorgeous book that is also one of my favorite books: Beehive's special slipcased edition of Dante's Inferno, as translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, with new illustrations by UK linocut artist Sophy Hollington:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beehivebooks/the-inferno

I've loved Inferno since middle-school, when I read the John Ciardi translation, principally because I'd just read Niven and Pournelle's weird (and politically odious) (but cracking) sf novel of the same name:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Niven_and_Pournelle_novel)

But also because Ciardi wrote "About Crows," one of my all-time favorite bits of doggerel, a poem that pierced my soul when I was 12 and continues to do so now that I'm 52, for completely opposite reasons (now there's a poem with staying power!):

https://spirituallythinking.blogspot.com/2011/10/about-crows-by-john-ciardi.html

Beehive has a well-deserved rep for making absolutely beautiful new editions of great public domain books, each with new illustrations and intros, all in matching livery to make a bookshelf look classy af. I have several of them and I've just ordered my copy of Inferno. How could I not? So looking forward to this, along with its intro by Ukrainian poet Ilya Kaminsky and essay by Dante scholar Kristina Olson.

The Beehive editions show us how a rich public domain can be the soil from which new and inspiring creative works sprout. Any honest assessment of a creator's work must include the fact that creativity is a collective act, both inspired by and inspiring to other creators, past, present and future.

One of the distressing aspects of the debate over the exploitative grift of AI is that it's provoked a wave of copyright maximalism among otherwise thoughtful artists, despite the fact that a new copyright that lets you control model training will do nothing to prevent your boss from forcing you to sign over that right in your contracts, training an AI on your work, and then using the model as a pretext to erode your wages or fire your ass:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/13/spooky-action-at-a-close-up/#invisible-hand

Same goes for some privacy advocates, whose imaginations were cramped by the fact that the only regulation we enforce on the internet is copyright, causing them to forget that privacy rights can exist separate from the nonsensical prospect of "owning" facts about your life:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/the-internets-original-sin/

We should address AI's labor questions with labor rights, and we should address AI's privacy questions with privacy rights. You can tell that these are the approaches that would actually work for the public because our bosses hate these approaches and instead insist that the answer is just giving us more virtual property that we can sell to them, because they know they'll have a buyer's market that will let them scoop up all these rights at bargain prices and use the resulting hoards to torment, immiserate and pauperize us.

Take Clearview AI, a facial recognition tool created by eugenicists and white nationalists in order to help giant corporations and militarized, unaccountable cops hunt us by our faces:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/20/steal-your-face/#hoan-ton-that

Clearview scraped billions of images of our faces and shoveled them into their model. This led to a class action suit in Illinois, which boasts America's best biometric privacy law, under which Clearview owes tens of billions of dollars in statutory damages. Now, Clearview has offered a settlement that illustrates neatly the problem with making privacy into property that you can sell instead of a right that can't be violated: they're going to offer Illinoisians a small share of the company's stock:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/14/clearview_ai_reaches_creative_settlement/

To call this perverse is to go a grave injustice to good, hardworking perverts. The sums involved will be infinitesimal, and the only way to make those sums really count is for everyone in Illinois to root for Clearview to commit more grotesque privacy invasions of the rest of us to make its creepy, terrible product more valuable.

Worse still: by crafting a bespoke, one-off, forgiveness-oriented regulation specifically for Clearview, we ensure that it will continue, but that it will also never be disciplined by competitors. That is, rather than banning this kind of facial recognition tech, we grant them a monopoly over it, allowing them to charge all the traffic will bear.

We're in an extraordinary moment for both labor and privacy rights. Two of Biden's most powerful agency heads, Lina Khan and Rohit Chopra have made unprecedented use of their powers to create new national privacy regulations:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does

In so doing, they're bypassing Congressional deadlock. Congress has not passed a new consumer privacy law since 1988, when they banned video-store clerks from leaking your VHS rental history to newspaper reporters:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Privacy_Protection_Act

Congress hasn't given us a single law protecting American consumers from the digital era's all-out assault on our privacy. But between the agencies, state legislatures, and a growing coalition of groups demanding action on privacy, a new federal privacy law seems all but assured:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/06/privacy-first/#but-not-just-privacy

When that happens, we're going to have to decide what to do about products created through mass-scale privacy violations, like Clearview AI – but also all of OpenAI's products, Google's AI, Facebook's AI, Microsoft's AI, and so on. Do we offer them a deal like the one Clearview's angling for in Illinois, fining them an affordable sum and grandfathering in the products they built by violating our rights?

Doing so would give these companies a permanent advantage, and the ongoing use of their products would continue to violate billions of peoples' privacy, billions of times per day. It would ensure that there was no market for privacy-preserving competitors thus enshrining privacy invasion as a permanent aspect of our technology and lives.

There's an alternative: "model disgorgement." "Disgorgement" is the legal term for forcing someone to cough up something they've stolen (for example, forcing an embezzler to give back the money). "Model disgorgement" can be a legal requirement to destroy models created illegally:

https://iapp.org/news/a/explaining-model-disgorgement

It's grounded in the idea that there's no known way to unscramble the AI eggs: once you train a model on data that shouldn't be in it, you can't untrain the model to get the private data out of it again. Model disgorgement doesn't insist that offending models be destroyed, but it shifts the burden of figuring out how to unscramble the AI omelet to the AI companies. If they can't figure out how to get the ill-gotten data out of the model, then they have to start over.

This framework aligns everyone's incentives. Unlike the Clearview approach – move fast, break things, attain an unassailable, permanent monopoly thanks to a grandfather exception – model disgorgement makes AI companies act with extreme care, because getting it wrong means going back to square one.

This is the kind of hard-nosed, public-interest-oriented rulemaking we're seeing from Biden's best anti-corporate enforcers. After decades kid-glove treatment that allowed companies like Microsoft, Equifax, Wells Fargo and Exxon commit ghastly crimes and then crime again another day, Biden's corporate cops are no longer treating the survival of massive, structurally important corporate criminals as a necessity.

It's been so long since anyone in the US government treated the corporate death penalty as a serious proposition that it can be hard to believe it's even happening, but boy is it happening. The DOJ Antitrust Division is seeking to break up Google, the largest tech company in the history of the world, and they are tipped to win:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/24/naming-names/#prabhakar-raghavan

And that's one of the major suits against Google that Big G is losing. Another suit, jointly brought by the feds and dozens of state AGs, is just about to start, despite Google's failed attempt to get the suit dismissed:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-loses-bid-end-us-antitrust-case-over-digital-advertising-2024-06-14/

I'm a huge fan of the Biden antitrust enforcers, but that doesn't make me a huge fan of Biden. Even before Biden's disgraceful collaboration in genocide, I had plenty of reasons – old and new – to distrust him and deplore his politics. I'm not the only leftist who's struggling with the dilemma posed by the worst part of Biden's record in light of the coming election.

You've doubtless read the arguments (or rather, "arguments," since they all generate a lot more heat than light and I doubt whether any of them will convince anyone). But this week, Anand Giridharadas republished his 2020 interview with Noam Chomsky about Biden and electoral politics, and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind:

https://the.ink/p/free-noam-chomsky-life-voting-biden-the-left

Chomsky contrasts the left position on politics with the liberal position. For leftists, Chomsky says, "real politics" are a matter of "constant activism." It's not a "laser-like focus on the quadrennial extravaganza" of national elections, after which you "go home and let your superiors take over."

For leftists, politics means working all the time, "and every once in a while there's an event called an election." This should command "10 or 15 minutes" of your attention before you get back to the real work.

This makes the voting decision more obvious and less fraught for Chomsky. There's "never been a greater difference" between the candidates, so leftists should go take 15 minutes, "push the lever, and go back to work."

Chomsky attributed the good parts of Biden's 2020 platform to being "hammered on by activists coming out of the Sanders movement and other." That's the real work, that hammering. That's "real politics."

For Chomsky, voting for Biden isn't support for Biden. It's "support for the activists who have been at work constantly, creating the background within the party in which the shifts took place, and who have followed Sanders in actually entering the campaign and influencing it. Support for them. Support for real politics."

Chomsky tells us that the self-described "masters of the universe" understand that something has changed: "the peasants are coming with their pitchforks." They have all kinds of euphemisms for this ("reputational risks") but the core here is a winner-take-all battle for the future of the planet and the species. That's why the even the "sensible" ultra-rich threw in for Trump in 2016 and 2020, and why they're backing him even harder in 2024:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckvvlv3lewxo

Chomsky tells us not to bother trying to figure out Biden's personality. Instead, we should focus on "how things get done." Biden won't do what's necessary to end genocide and preserve our habitable planet out of conviction, but he may do so out of necessity. Indeed, it doesn't matter how he feels about anything – what matters is what we can make him do.

Chomksy himself is in his 90s and his health is reportedly in terminal decline, so this is probably the only word we'll get from him on this issue:

https://www.reddit.com/r/chomsky/comments/1aj56hj/updates_on_noams_health_from_his_longtime_mit/

The link between concentrated wealth, concentrated power, and the existential risks to our species and civilization is obvious – to me, at least. Any time a tiny minority holds unaccountable power, they will end up using it to harm everyone except themselves. I'm not the first one to take note of this – it used to be a commonplace in American politics.

Back in 1936, FDR gave a speech at the DNC, accepting their nomination for president. Unlike FDR's election night speech ("I welcome their hatred"), this speech has been largely forgotten, but it's a banger:

https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/acceptance-speech-at-the-democratic-national-convention-1936/

In that speech, Roosevelt brought a new term into our political parlance: "economic royalists." He described the American plutocracy as the spiritual descendants of the hereditary nobility that Americans had overthrown in 1776. The English aristocracy "governed without the consent of the governed" and “put the average man’s property and the average man’s life in pawn to the mercenaries of dynastic power":

Roosevelt said that these new royalists conquered the nation's economy and then set out to seize its politics, backing candidates that would create "a new despotism wrapped in the robes of legal sanction…an industrial dictatorship."

As David Dayen writes in The American Prospect, this has strong parallels to today's world, where "Silicon Valley, Big Oil, and Wall Street come together to back a transactional presidential candidate who promises them specific favors, after reducing their corporate taxes by 40 percent the last time he was president":

https://prospect.org/politics/2024-06-14-speech-fdr-would-give/

Roosevelt, of course, went on to win by a landslide, wiping out the Republicans despite the endless financial support of the ruling class.

The thing is, FDR's policies didn't originate with him. He came from the uppermost of the American upper crust, after all, and famously refused to define the "New Deal" even as he campaigned on it. The "New Deal" became whatever activists in the Democratic Party's left could force him to do, and while it was bold and transformative, it wasn't nearly enough.

The compromise FDR brokered within the Democratic Party froze out Black Americans to a terrible degree. Writing for the Institute for Local Self Reliance, Ron Knox and Susan Holmberg reveal the long shadow cast by that unforgivable compromise:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/045dcde7333243df9b7f4ed8147979cd

They describe how redlining – the formalization of anti-Black racism in New Deal housing policy – led to the ruin of Toledo's once-thriving Dorr Street neighborhood, a "Black Wall Street" where a Black middle class lived and thrived. New Deal policies starved the neighborhood of funds, then ripped it in two with a freeway, sacrificing it and the people who lived in it.

But the story of Dorr Street isn't over. As Knox and Holmberg write, the people of Dorr Street never gave up on their community, and today, there's an awful lot of Chomsky's "constant activism" that is painstakingly bringing the community back, inch by aching inch. The community is locked in a guerrilla war against the same forces that the Biden antitrust enforcers are fighting on the open field of battle. The work that activists do to drag Democratic Party policies to the left is critical to making reparations for the sins of the New Deal – and for realizing its promise for everybody.

In my lifetime, there's never been a Democratic Party that represented my values. The first Democratic President of my life, Carter, kicked off Reaganomics by beginning the dismantling of America's antitrust enforcement, in the mistaken belief that acting like a Republican would get Democrats to vote for him again. He failed and delivered Reagan, whose Reaganomics were the official policy of every Democrat since, from Clinton ("end welfare as we know it") to Obama ("foam the runways for the banks").

In other words, I don't give a damn about Biden, but I am entirely consumed with what we can force his administration to do, and there are lots of areas where I like our chances.

For example: getting Biden's IRS to go after the super-rich, ending the impunity for elite tax evasion that Spencer Woodman pitilessly dissects in this week's superb investigation for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists:

https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2024/06/how-the-irs-went-soft-on-billionaires-and-corporate-tax-cheats/

Ending elite tax cheating will make them poorer, and that will make them weaker, because their power comes from money alone (they don't wield power because their want to make us all better off!).

Or getting Biden's enforcers to continue their fight against the monopolists who've spiked the prices of our groceries even as they transformed shopping into a panopticon, so that their business is increasingly about selling our data to other giant corporations, with selling food to us as an afterthought:

https://prospect.org/economy/2024-06-12-war-in-the-aisles/

For forty years, since the Carter administration, we've been told that our only power comes from our role as "consumers." That's a word that always conjures up one of my favorite William Gibson quotes, from 2003's Idoru:

Something the size of a baby hippo, the color of a week-old boiled potato, that lives by itself, in the dark, in a double-wide on the outskirts of Topeka. It's covered with eyes and it sweats constantly. The sweat runs into those eyes and makes them sting. It has no mouth, no genitals, and can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote. Or by voting in presidential elections.

The normie, corporate wing of the Democratic Party sees us that way. They decry any action against concentrated corporate power as "anti-consumer" and insist that using the law to fight against corporate power is a waste of our time:

https://www.thesling.org/sorry-matt-yglesias-hipster-antitrust-does-not-mean-the-abandonment-of-consumers-but-it-does-mean-new-ways-to-protect-workers-2/

But after giving it some careful thought, I'm with Chomsky on this, not Yglesias. The election is something we have to pay some attention to as activists, but only "10 or 15 minutes." Yeah, "push the lever," but then "go back to work." I don't care what Biden wants to do. I care what we can make him do.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/15/disarrangement/#credo-in-un-dio-crudel

Image: Jim's Photo World (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimsphotoworld/5360343644/

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

Cadillac was founded in 1902 by Henry Leland, who named the company after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who happens to be the founder of Detroit. Just 6 short years later Cadillac brought the idea of interchangeable parts to the automotive industry and laid the ground work for modern mass production of automobiles. As a result, Cadillac became the first American car to win the prestigious Dewar Trophy from the Royal Automobile Club of England. After earning such high praise Cadillac adopted the slogan "Standard of the World."

In 1910, Cadillac became the first company to offer a passenger car with a fully enclosed cabin, a major change from the vehicles of the time. Two years after that, in 1912, the company released the Model Thirty, the car with no crank, which was the first production car to feature an electronic self-starter, ignition, and lighting. By dropping the crank starter, Cadillac opened the door to women drivers, and was able to bring the prestigious Dewar trophy back to Detroit, making Cadillac the only car manufacturer to claim the award twice. Nearly three years later, Cadillac brought the world the V-type, water-cooled, eight cylinder (V8) engine, which would become the signature of the Cadillac brand.

The Roaring 20's was not only a big decade for the country but was also important for Cadillac. In 1926, Cadillac branched out and offered customers more than 500 color combinations to choose from. As the famous Henry Ford saying goes, you can have any color you want, as long as it's black. Cadillac changed this mentality. That same year, the company brought in designer Harley Earl to design the 1927 LaSalle convertible coupe, which made the car the first to be designed from a designer's perspective rather than an engineering one. What Earl created was elegant, with flowing lines, chrome-plate fixtures, and an overarching design philosophy, that made the Cadillac brand known for beauty and luxury.

In the middle of the 1930's a midst The Great Depression, while most companies and families were struggling Cadillac created the first V-type 16-cylinder engine for use in a passenger car. This engine would go on to be one of the most iconic engines in Cadillac history. Shortly thereafter, Cadillac released a V12 version to give buyers something between the already popular V8 and new V16 engines.

Cadillac went quiet in the 1941's when they suspended automobile production to help produce planes for the war. After the war ended Cadillac adapted some of the aircraft technology and created the first ever tailfin on a vehicle. This feature is now found on almost every car and was one of the biggest reasons that Cadillac was given the first ever Car of the Year award in 1949.

The tailfin took off rather quickly and by the mid to late 1950's it was being featured heavily in the design of nearly every vehicle. Also in the 50's Cadillac began developing power steering, which helped the automaker take third, tenth, and eleventh places at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After Cadillac's stunning "victories" power steering quickly became the new standard of the industry.

Small but meaningful innovations filled the 1960's for Cadillac. In 1963, the company made front seatbelts standard in their vehicles, which lead to the eventual passing of a federal law requiring front seatbelts in all vehicles just one year later. Then, in 1964, Cadillac brought to market automatically controlled headlamps and redefines luxury with Comfort Control, the industry's first thermostatically controlled heating, venting, and air-conditioning system. Over the next few years, Cadillac introduced variable-ratio power steering, electric seat warmers, and stereo radio.

While the 1960's were fairly quiet, with only some smaller, luxury items being introduced, Cadillac started out 1970 with a major bang. Cadillac opened the decade by unveiling the 400 horsepower, 8.2-liter engine Eldorado. With its completely redesigned axle this model boasted the highest torque capacity of any passenger car available at the time. Closing out the decade, Cadillac brought to market the 1978 Seville which used onboard microprocessors in its digital display. This started the era of the computerized automobile.

Throughout the 1980's Cadillac laid low, working on some new technologies that would come to market in the early parts of the 1990's. The first feature to debut was an electronic traction control system on front-wheel drive vehicles. Cadillac began offering this as a standard feature on the 1990 Cadillac Allante. This same year Cadillac would go on to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Two years later, in 1992, the company developed a feature that allowed the engine to run for up to 50 miles without coolant, and a unique induction system for near-perfect fuel distribution. The Seville Touring Sedan of that year would become known as the "Cadillac of the Year" thanks to features such as an all electronically controlled Powertrain, traction control, anti-lock brakes and speed-sensitive suspension. Closing out the decade, Cadillac introduced the, now iconic, Escalade SUV.

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS AS 'THE STANDARD OF THE WORLD'

Coming up on the 100th anniversary of the Cadillac brand, the company had to do something big or the decade, and they did not disappoint. Cadillac started off the 200's by introducing the F-22 stealth aircraft inspired Cien Concept, which ended up winning a few design awards. Later in the decade, in 2008, Cadillac expanded the Escalade SUV by making it the world's first full-size luxury hybrid SUV. In the same year, the company redeveloped the CTS Sedan. This redesign has been incredibly popular and even won the coveted 2008 Car of the Year award. A short year later, the performance edition CTS-V, becomes the fasted V8 production sedan in the world, establishing a record lap time of 7:59:32 on Germany's famed Nürburgring.

[ohcorny]

Hi!! I’m the person who did this Lucy fanart for you like.. 3 years ago now? Time flies!

So after I finally got my hands on the physical copy of volume 1 I patiently waited for volume 2 to come out, until I caught up with all of what remained of Never Satisfied after chapter 5 and I won’t lie, it was sad to know that its journey had come to an end too soon. But damn it was good! /lh

I still love your works a lot. So much must’ve happened in 3 years and boy I know I already said it in the fanart post, but I can proudly say NS is still being part of my life. Started it when I was 14 and now I’m 23.. I related a lot to some of the characters throughout these nine years and they’re still so dear to me (Rin hottest mom award for real omg)

I don’t have a fanart for Lucy as I intended to before I wrote this message sadly, but just know that NS was a big part of me growing up. If you ever, still plan on having volume 2 printed out you’d have 1 assured buyer lol

And of course I will check out all of your new, more recent works!! I love your art dude!

(So sad I will never know what was under Lucy’s eyepatch haha)

Take care! 💚

ougegh the passage of time. you were 14... it's so obvious that teenagers would read my YA comic about teenagers but it's always so weird to hear about it with specific numbers. you are now older than i was when i started making it (i was 21)

i'm really glad it could have meant so much to you...... and i'm sorry to have ended it early u_u i'll say it's very very unlikely i would ever put out a volume 2. there's just no reason to, when it would be a forever unfinished series. if i ever go back to NS, it would probably be a reboot. or maybe i'll pluck the characters out and use them somewhere else. dunno! it won't matter for several more years, when i've finished the new series.

please do read hunger's bite when it comes out! it's very much in conversation with the same subjects as NS--and there's a couple easter eggs for NS readers :]

[pouringforever]

Recently I've been nominated for a national award for my wine list - Star Wine List Best Medium-Sized List in the UK (medium is 200 - 600 references btw.)

I'm travelling down tomorrow morning for the award ceremony & going for a lunch at Mountain, which I'm very excited about.

I'm not expecting to win whatsoever, but it's nice to be considered alongside some incredible other places, and to represent the North in such a London centric field.

Last week i was also in London as I was invited to be a guest on a podcast to talk about wine, wine buying and building a list - so in a few weeks time you'll all be able to hear me chat at length about what I do professionally.

[academyawardwinners]

Jared Leto, Best Supporting Actor for the film, "Dallas Buyer's Club."

2013 Academy Awards

[missmoonfrost]

hi! btw I loved writing for both of your prompts, I hope you see them and like them <3

also now I'm going to prompt YOU! no pressure:

🍬treat - jegulus - taller regulus I may have a slight obsession

I loved them! Hope you like this! 🍬

James stopped at the entrance of St Mungos’ grand entrance hall and took in the crowd. The yearly charity fair always drew a lot of people, but he was equally surprised each time. They hadn’t even officially opened and yet there were witches and wizards all around, talking in small groups or setting up tables and hanging colourful decorations.

Effie and Monty had a stand selling donated books where James had helped out many times as a kid, but this year he and Sirius had both signed up to help out at the lottery. They soon find the old grey-haired wizard in charge. The instructions were clear enough, they mingled in the crowd with tree rings of lottery tickets each. Sirius' charming smile earned him more buyers than James, who in friendly competitiveness decided to split up and move closer to the entrance to catch the incoming crowd.

Either James was a strategic genius or people were feeling generous, but he soon sold out one ring of lottery tickets. Returning to the lottery stand to leave it, he saw Sirius hugging someone.

Someone with equally smooth black hair as Sirius, but slightly leaner and taller. It couldn’t be…?

James had not seen Regulus since his own graduation last year. He had heard all about the chaotic break with his family from Sirius, of course. He apparently shared an apartment with two other guys after a short period crashing on Sirius’ and Remus’ sofa.

That time he had definitely not been this tall. Making his way there to say hi, James realised Regulus was even taller than him. Not more than an inch, but that was enough.

Don’t get him wrong. James had always thought Regulus was pretty, always been impressed by his quickness and amused by his dry wit. But he had always been Sirius' little brother and quite frankly James had actively avoided getting involved in something as complicated as that.

Looking (and trying not to stare) at this Regulus, the same laws as last year didn’t seem to apply. Someone taller than James and just a year younger couldn’t be off limits just because he happened to be someone’s little brother, could he? At least not when his eyes sparkled like diamonds at something Sirius had just said and his smile gave his flawless face an inviting softness.

“Oh, there you are” Sirius greeted James, “I met my baby brother. Never thought I’d see him at a charity fair.”

“Shut up” Regulus rolled his eyes, “Hello James!”

“Hi! Eh… Hello!” James scratched his neck and looked after Regulus as he gave a little wave and walked off. Sirius gave him a weird look which made his attempt to appear normal even harder and he quickly hid behind the lottery-stand to hide his blushing cheeks. Maybe letting himself get attracted to Regulus was still too complicated to be worth it? Sirius had called him his baby brother after all.

He continued selling the remaining lottery tickets. But he couldn’t help but look out for silky black hair in the crowd. Or those eyes, seemingly carrying a myriad of mysteries. Or those lips. He couldn’t possibly had been smiling like that ever at Hogwarts, James would have remembered something as perfect, wouldn’t he?

He didn’t see him again, though. He had probably already left and maybe that was for the best. After selling all his lottery tickets there was a short break before the actual lottery ceremony along with some speeches and awards would begin. James used the time to go to the gents. He opened the door and stopped dead in his tracks. Regulus stood in front of the mirror.

He was putting on lipstick.

Making his perfect lips even more prominent against his stunning regal features. As if that wasn’t enough to make James gape, Regulus turned towards him (probably wondering what idiot stopped right in the doorway) and smirked.

Oh God. James had never seen a more gorgeous human being.

Regulus finished his work with exquisitely fluid movements, put the lid on the lipstick and the lipstick back in his pocket. He walked past James. Close (because being the idiot that he was, he was still standing right in the doorway). On his way, he towered over James in the most pleasantly intimidating way possible and said:

“I work at the up-cycled clothes stand. You should come by.”

While James’ brain short-circuited Regulus smirked as if he knew just what effect he had on James and leisurely walked on.

 “Y-yeah, m-maybe I’ll do that,” James shouted after him.

He would definitely do that. How he should explain his newfound interest in up-cycled clothes to Sirius was a later problem.