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magentas-dystopia · 1 year ago

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Something I really lament is the move towards digital media. Slowly we start to never own the things we like. Even if we "buy" a digital game, or movie or show. It's locked behind a certain platform or service. Once it shuts down we lose it forever.

(me when big booby anime girl explosion Is taken off of Netflix)

I also feel like there's a certain charm to owning physical media, like things you can hold and the satisfaction from pressing a clicky button or putting a disc or cassette in and seeing it work.

(oooh so classy so retro so.. expensive in the modern day)

More people should try to make copies of what they own digitally, or try to buy physical media before it's lost from streaming services and digital storefronts forever. Like the case with certain games like Godzilla 2014 and Transformers War for Cybertron. They don't exist digitally anymore. Only hard copies exist outside of emulation and at insane resell prices like... INSANE ones for a mediocre Godzilla game

So yea. Buy some more CDs of those albums you have on replay! Buy a DVD of that niche obscure anime you like! And most importantly PLEASE PLEASE START MAKING HARD BACKUPS OF SHOWS YOU LIKE THAT YOU PIRATE!!! media preservation is important!

(me downloading every episode of Daredevil onto my hard drive to burn to a DVD later so I can give it to all my friends)

This is now going to be a Comprehensive guide on how to rip a CD

POLL TIME!

Burning and Ripping Disc's❤️❤️💕💕🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

STEP ONE:

BUY A CHEAP BLU-RAY/DVD DRIVE FOR YOUR WINDOWS COMPUTER

here are some I recommend!!!

i personally use this pioneer one :)))

DVD drives in general are relatively cheap from 30-20 smackeroos, but Blu-ray drives are around 80-100 bucks depending on the manufacturer but offer better support for copying HD video such as on a Blu-ray.

STEP TWO:

FIND A PIECE OF MEDIA YOU ENJOY.

in this case its gonna be a CD!!

i really enjoy Vespertine by Bjork, but i wanna have it on my computer just in case anything happens to my CD. SO. ill open Windows Media Player

(she hasn't changed since 2011 <3333 be urself girl)

ill insert the disc into the player. and it'll start playing!

Pause the disc and go into Rip settings

NEXT!! select the format!

if you want to conserve space and don't mind sacrificing audio quality select MP3! if you want to hear the same level of audio quality as preserved on the CD, select a format labelled LOSSLESS. I recommend .WAV files as they'll work with most devices including an android phone or iTunes on PC (more on that later ;3 )

NEXT!

create a folder on whatever u wanna save ur music to! (u can call it whatever u want the world is your oyster bestie)

THEN!!! FINALLY

go into more options on the Rip Settings menu!

select ur folder and press Rip CD!!!!

the fun thing of this now, is that you can pull these files on your computer and put it onto your Android device so you can listen to your hearts content without lugging around your CD in a player at high quality without any subscription service with free reign of who you can give your download to!

But Magenta! what if i have an iPhone?

ohohoo fear not bestie because iTunes on PC has an even EASIER way to do it

because simply putting in a disc with iTunes downloaded prompts THIS

(oooo so new age)

and if you have apple music on your iPhone this will sync to your phone if you logged into iTunes on PC!!

thank you for coming to my TED talk

#vhs #media preservation #piracy #no like for real. please just download the stuff u pirate just in case it gets taken down #ateez #atz #x files #godzilla #Björk

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modawg · 5 months ago

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random headcannons abt if the seven could infact have phones

simply what i think their phones would look like/be used for if they could have them as demigods

percy: bro would have a flip phone this is just fact i think he’d also have an iphone but he uses that more like you would an ipad he normally leaves it home unless he knows he’s going somewhere where he’s gonna wanna take pics or notes or smth

id say he and sally had matching flip phones for a while since their cheap sally prob got herself one pre gabe then scavenged her money together to get percy one before he went to his first boarding school and that’s what he’s grown up using

for one of his teen birthdays 14-16 sally got him a newer phone but he’s gotten so used to his trusty flip that he only uses the newer one for games and shit

his wall paper is probably a picture of a dinner with sally paul estelle annabeth and grover it’s very cute

annabeth: she didn’t have a phone for a long while and only ended up getting one from her dad when she started hanging out with them again he got it for her as a way to probably buy her affection he probably got it in like red or something thinking it was her fav color (maybe it was when she was like 5 but be fr) it’s prob like an iphone 8 or smth it was new at the time but old asf now

her phones decked out in camp crafts home made stickers etc etc and she changes her wall paper pretty often depending on her fav pictures she has abt 100000 .5 pics of percy it’s like her fav thing

she mostly just uses it to take pictures set reminders/timer and to look things up + keep in contact with sally and paul

she’s broken it like 6 times at this point but the hephaestus cabin keeps fixing it for her

piper: new new new girlies got the newest phone only bc her dad bought it for her she probably had a phase where she continuously shattered/broke her phone to get her dads attention and was forced to have a flip phone for a while but now that everything’s cooled down her phones the most pristine out of all the seven

her phone is fully decked out with a polaroid of her trio in the case stickers bangles the works it’s probably the best looking phone you could have and she loves it but she only started doing that post chb when she first came to camp her phone was default everything bc she kept getting it replaced

leo: leo either built his own version of a phone or somehow got one like 6 years ago and keeps adding stuff to it/changing things on it to keep it alive bc that thing is holding on for dear LIFE

the most JACKED phone out of everyone like you wouldn’t know he’s a son of hephaestus bc that bitch is wrecked it’s got a cracked screen is disgusting but works probably the smoothest out of everyone’s

he mostly uses it as an extension of his work to take pics of what he’s working on write notes and maybe use the calculator if he was a mortal the police would’ve been at his door like every other day bc of the shit he looks up

jason: he had a cj mandated pager lets be fr he didn’t get a phone until piper took him and hazel to get them ones and when he did get one it was a flip phone it’s sturdy low-key and gets the job done he also just gives me the vibe that he’s feel guilty if you spent more then 50$ on him

his phone also has some stickers including a little bangle of superman that piper made him get it also has a peice of tape on there with his name on it like you would the inside of a kids shirt incase he looses it

frank: he’s got a pretty new phone it was a gift from his gma but it’s locked up in a big fat otter case and he kinda hates using it so it’s default everything until hazel gets her own phone and he starts using it more

i feel like phones aren’t things many ppl have in camp jupiter so he kept that shit under his pillow so he didn’t draw more attention to himself

once he lets himself use it more his wallpapers probably a picture of hazel and percy making goofy faces and he probably has at least one sticker or bangle that matches hazels

hazel: hazel def has an ipod touch she probably traded in a chunk of gold for some cash and bought the cheapest thing but piper got her to at least get something with a screen

her phone case is probably just a white phone case with a bunch of pictures of horses on there and her wallpaper for like a year was just the first selfie she took with jason and piper post buying the phone

once she learns how to change her wall paper she changes it every other week to different random pics she takes

she has a really bad habit of butt dialling people

nico: bro doesn’t have a phone he just seems like the type to not give af abt that and only gets one when will forces him to but it’s forever the most default shit ever he maybe changes the wallpaper to a pic of will but that’s abt it prior to getting his own he was the kid who’d show up and immediately ask if you had games on ur phone for him to play

SPOILER: he does get jason’s flip phone when he dies and uses that for a while but he refuses to change anything about the phone and only uses it for emergencies

when he’s really sad he listens to jason’s voicemail on repeat “hello! you’ve reached jason grace im not available rn but i’ll call you back when i can thanks!..uh piper is it still recording-“

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manicplank · 8 months ago

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What kind of phones do they usually use???

Phones (modern day)

Peppino: Probably has one of those phones you'd get in a box that comes with the prepaid plan. He's too broke to be picky.

Gustavo: Probably has an android of some sort. He's not a brand snob. If it makes phone calls and plays a few games, he's happy.

Mr. Stick: Now HE'S a brand snob. iPhone or nothing. He always has the newest one. He's definitely a phone addict, too.

Pepperman: iPhone. He likes expensive things and popular brands. He also has an iPad he uses for art.

The Vigilante: He probably has a cheap Motorola or something. He's not too keen on technology. He always needs help finding the weather app.

The Noise: Samsung kind of guy. Has the newest and most popular one. He'd get an iPhone, but every time he gets one, he drops it, and it shatters. He's too clumsy.

Noisette: iPhone. Has a cute case for it plus a screen protector. She probably even has a cute popsocket for it.

Fake Peppino: Has an iPad. No one knows how or where he got it. He doesn't use it for much other than playing games and watching videos.

Pizzahead: Another Samsung guy. He likes that he can play around with developer options and tinker with all the settings.

Pillar John: He has a Samsung, but definitely one of the Plus phones since they're bigger. He has big ass hands and needs a big ass phone.

Gerome: He probably has a Motorola. It makes calls and plays games. That's all that matter to him. (He's one of those people that's on level 1000 in Candy Crush).

#pizza tower #noise #the noise #headcanon #noisette #pizzahead #peppino #peppino spaghetti #the vigilante #fake peppino #pepperman #mr. stick #pillar john #pizza tower gerome #pizza tower gustavo

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octuscle · 1 year ago

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Hi Chronivac support: I hope you can help me. I am an affluent, well-educated, overgroomed, overdressed white corporate executive, but I know that is not my REAL calling and identity. I have very expensive clothes and a BMW, and even my name Timothy is formal and classy.

However, I know that I should be an uneducated manual laborer, working as a garbageman. My REAL calling. I must be forced to surrender my corporate career, my office, my BMW, my expensive formal Italian suit and tie, my briefcase, my manicured fingernails, my styled hair, my wristwatch and polished black dress shoes and socks and yes, even my own name along the way down the class ladder to my new real life. But I don’t have the courage to make the changes alone. Can you show me the way to transformation? Thank you.

Seriously? Well, it actually doesn't look like there's any reason for you to be dissatisfied with your life. But if you want to…

While you are taking your croissant and your cappuccino, your cell phone vibrates. You take it out of the inside pocket of your tailored Scabal jacket. But it's not your new iPhone 15 Pro. It's an old rather bruised device. But you know the code to activate it. The message you got is in Turkish. It's called "If you don't get your ass to the site in half an hour, you're out of a job." Unfortunately, you don't understand Turkish yet. The transformation has only arrived at your calloused hands and dirty fingernails. Your skin is getting darker. The back of your hands hairier. In incipient panic, you reach for your Montblanc wallet. But there is only a cheap nylon wallet in your worn jacket. With a few dirty bills inside. Fuck, if you pay for your breakfast, you're broke. You look around. And relax. Here in your favorite café, tea and sesame curls only cost a few cents. And you can pay later if necessary.

You get a new message. That you can pick up your wages for the last ten days later at the construction site. After that, you don't have to show your face again. Fuck, that means you'll have to bum cigarettes again the next few days. But working sucks too. And in case of need you can always carry boxes in the morning at the wholesale market. And actually, what the social security office pays you is by and large sufficient. Shit, the pissers said that you have to visit the employment office today. Otherwise they will stop paying you.

In the bus you drive without a ticket. What for? You have better things to spend your money on. The lady you sat next to gets up after a few minutes and changes her seat. Just because you are looking at pictures of fat cocks on your cell phone and massage your bulge. Infidel buffer!

You know what your name means, Ünal? It means "fame." What a contradiction to your new life. Let's see if the employment office has a job for you today.

Pics from your old and your new life found @mensuited and @hairyturkandarabstuds

#male tf #reality change #chronivac #male transformation #race change

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vagueandominousvibes · 2 months ago

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I came across one of those posts that's like "tell me in the tags the HCs for your blorbo's phone/car/device/etc" and started talking about the Knights' Lodge AU boys, only to realise it was getting so long I might as well make my own post about it.

Les aka. Blue

Blue's phone is one of those slabs that's only barely made the transition to touch screen. The screen itself is so cracked it would likely fall apart completely if it wasn't all held in place by a very dubious screen protector. Tiny shards occasionally fall off along the edge.

The brightness is turned down to 0, regardless of the actual brightness of his surroundings; he knows this phone so well he could use it blind. He's had it for years, and if anyone asks he'll shrug and say he's just not gotten around to getting a new one yet, but the truth is that it was a gift from his aunt. The background is of the two of them leaning against her motorcycle. He's in his teens and is wearing her patched leather jacket. They're eating ice cream and grinning from ear to ear.

His lock screen, however, is something really generic — like the most plain thing you can imagine. A solid colour maybe, or one of those stock photos of turquoise water washing up on a beach. His password has been the same 8-digit code since he was twelve. It's the day he came out to his aunt: he had a minor breakdown about it, and she took him out for really greasy fast-food; when they got back to hers, she put on this black-and-white version of Frankenstein that was so bad it was funny. Blue's aunt is long gone, but he still keeps a copy of that movie for when he's feeling rough.

Clancey aka. Red

Red gets a new phone every couple of years. It's not that he's careless with it — he really isn't — it just seems to be a magnet for accidents: it fell off the bathroom shelf, directly into the toilet, during an all-nighter in uni; it slipped out of his backpack when walking home from school once, and a bus drove over it; he accidentally dropped it on concrete and the screen shattered.

At this point it's a bit of a running joke in the family.

His current phone has a lovely maroon leather case with numerous little charms dangling from the top of the spine. Most are from various fan artists, though a couple are little pearl-chains his half-sisters made for him in pre-school. These two pearl-chains have moved from one phone to the next, and he's always made sure the case has somewhere to attach them.

Irvine aka. Green

On the outside, Green's may seem like a little bit of an Apple person. He didn't mean to become one, and he's got a proper gaming laptop, an Xbox, and a Switch, but his phone is an iPhone, he mostly uses a Mac, and he's got an iPad laying about somewhere. He's even got an Apple Watch.

In his twenty-some years of existence, he's never had to worry about being short of technological devices: Mr Irvine is very pleased to be able to provide his only child with the latest in technological development. All Green has to do is say the word, and it'll be his. Not that Green needs all of these things. He would much rather spend Christmas Day with his dad, instead of opening yet another thing alone in front of the white Christmas tree with glitter and fairy lights pre-installed.

The thing is, Green doesn't really know his dad — and Mr Irvine doesn't really know his son. Mr Irvine wants to make sure Green is provided for, and Green is grateful for the sentiment. He keeps every single thing his dad has ever given him, because he would feel exceedingly guilty throwing any of them away.

Which is why he's never going to tell his dad that his favourite device is a small grey-and-white mini-MP3 player from 2005, that runs on batteries, has no Bluetooth options, and stores some 150–200 songs.

Dunn aka. Shadow

Much like Blue, Shadow's phone is old and cracked. Unlike Blue, Shadow would love to get a new one, he just can't afford it. The SIM-card is one of those cheap top-up ones with ridiculously expensive data. He keeps it in his coat pocket for emergencies (and to take blurry photos of his and Vio's cat), but otherwise uses Vio's phone if he has to make a call.

Not that Shadow has a lot of calls to make, outside of the occasional GP appointment when necessary, or the optician every couple of years to get his eyes checked and get a fresh batch of contact lenses, but he generally prefers dropping by in person.

Does Shadow feel insecure about the state of his phone? He'll laugh the question off, but feel viscerally that yes, he really is. He keeps trying to save up, but for one reason or another he never gets there. Usually it's because of his mum — she barely recognises him these days, but he still likes to get her nice gifts, and if that comes at the cost of a new phone, what is there to do? He just wants her to be happy.

Cor aka. Vio

Vio accepted a long time ago that 'my phone' really meant 'our phone'. If he really wanted to, he could probably make up a reason as to why he would need his job to provide a work phone, but honestly, he spends more than enough time staring at screens as it is, and when he goes home he's off and doesn't want to be pestered with texts or emails that can wait till the morning.

So he has one phone, and he's perfectly happy to share it with Shadow. It's really quite enjoyable to curl up on the sofa with Shadow after dinner, to play yet another iteration of Scrabble, Word Search, or Sudoku together.

It must also be said that the background — their hands intertwined, silver rings glittering in candle light — still makes his insides flutter warmly, especially when he looks up and catches Shadow admiring the ring Vio had spent so long choosing.

#four swords #knights lodge au #i've not written down headcanons for a while but my brain latched onto this like a drowning man to a raft so here we are #editorial notes: (1) red dropping his phone in the toilet is lifted from my own life. thankfully i only needed to change the screen-#-but it was still super embarrassing t-t #(2) green's mp3 player is based on one i've got that my grandma gave me about the time i learned how to download yt songs - still works-#-like a charm!

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sumire-no-nikki · 7 months ago

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Restoring a 1930s Typewriter + Some Scattered Thoughts

There’s something so magical about holding something this old in one’s hands. Who used it before? What feelings had it translated into words? How many families did it watch grow and scatter? How many houses has it survived?

A couple of months ago I set out to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine to have a vintage typewriter. One evening, I found a listing for this gorgeous piece for relatively cheap. I didn’t know much about the world of manual typewriters but I was eager to learn. And just like that, I was knee deep in a new hobby.

As soon as I got the machine, I went to work. I used cheap toothbrushes and Waschbenzin to clean the slugs. As it is really quite old, some gunk in between the characters were not lifting. I had to improvise and use a sewing needle to scrape the caked ink. I then removed the tattered old ribbon and replaced it with a new one.

I still have the task of cleaning and doing some small repairs on its leather case. And while the platen itself is still in really good condition the feed rollers have flat spots making it a bit temperamental when advancing the paper. I will have to find a specialty store that can replace them in the future. There are areas of chipped paint which should be quick enough to address with some black nail polish. And then for a final touch, it needs to be polished with car wax. But these tasks are secondary. The typewriter is fully working despite its age. It was incredible seeing it come to life the first time I used it. It felt like a fantasy, like time travel.

Throughout the whole process of cleaning and repairing my typewriter, I was constantly reminded that this machine is 87 years old. The curved cover, the font on the decal and the simplicity encapsulates the art deco style from that era. WWII was just starting when this was manufactured. My grandfather wasn’t even born yet. Working with this typewriter was a meditative experience but it also brought on a lot of melancholy thoughts on existence, technology, consumerism.

You can just tell how much thought and care was put into building this typewriter. It’s innovation with purpose, not solely for profit. This machine’s ribbons feed from right to left. Once it is completely wound to one side, there is a button that reverses the gears and the ribbon will then feed from left to right, ensuring that the ink in the ribbon is used up without any waste. There is a button that allows you to type beyond your set margins in case it’s necessary. There is a lever that centers the platen and disengages the margin bell in order to prevent it from jiggling around and breaking while in transport. There is a self-starter key which is practically a tab button. The case comes with clamps that keep the typewriter from moving around. It also allows you to type with the case attached.

The manufacturers and innovators of that time thought about everything. Technology is meant to last. It is meant to address as many problems as possible, and meant to stand alone without needing more attachments. Back in the day, when you purchase something, it’s meant to last your lifetime, if not beyond. Just the fact that it still works after all this time is a testament to the integrity of its creation.

87 years from now, what will our era have left for the future? What will be left of our time when iPhones self destruct every two years to force purchase of the newest model? What will the future generation seek out to repair and refurbish from our time that isn’t made of plastic? What would be “vintage” to them when everything is made to break?

#diary #sumire-no-nikki

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orangameelectronics · 8 months ago

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maryangelex · 1 year ago

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The 141 & Their Phones

A/N: I'm pretty sure I saw someone post this or something similar but I have to give my own two cents!

Includes: Ghost, Price, Gaz, Soap.

Warnings: none except not-cannon material.

Ghost:

This guy has a Samsung, there is no way he'd give into buying anything from Apple (he's even got those Reikon earbuds, not Airpods).

His wallpaper would probably be one of the default ones but he'd actually pick one of them, the darkest colored one that's available.

Very few apps too, probably WhatsApp because the lads aren't keen on the green texts from him, and others like a workout tracker and Spotify; all his apps are password-secured too.

Very basic or has little to no social media (maybe he'd have it to keep up with the boys or like his tattoo artist).

He's got a dirt cheap black rubber case or maybe a sleek black one that one of the guys might have gifted him so his phone can have some dignity.

And he's definitely got a privacy screen!! You can't argue with me on this one, he has a privacy screen protector and it's part of his "masked identity" ordeal.

Price:

He's got an iPhone but it'd be an old model like an iPhone 8, maybe even an iPhone 6 (in the bigger sizes so it can fit in his big ol' man hands). He just likes the home button, he understands it better, okay?

He's got an Otter case!! Again, do not fight me on this. He's got one of those trucker dad cases; the bulky Otter ones because he thinks it's optimal protection.

Bonus points if it's those that clip onto his belt, he's an efficient guy!! The most severe dad energy.

He'd actually put a little effort into finding a nice wallpaper, maybe one of his dog or him and the team at a pub. He took it himself and he's very proud because he put a filter on it.

And he asked Gaz to size up his font...

Gaz:

Now this gorgeous boy knows what he's doing when it comes to technology. His iPhone is the newest one and it is absolutely beautiful.

his wallpaper would probably be something scenic, a picture he took himself because he didn't buy the one with the best camera specs for nothing.

He has all of his apps (which there is a lot of but he uses them well and frequently) organized into categories. And he definitely has widgets.

He wouldn't have the customized widgets or a theme or anything, but he has the widgets organized and his phone is just so essential because he's made it super optimal for him.

He'd have workout apps, meal-prepping apps, one to log his runs, a planner, and other organizer apps.

And he'd have a nice case, probably one of those Apple ones, and a screen protector that's unscathed.

Soap:

This is where it gets ugly...The opposite of Gaz. This iPhone is chaos incarnate.

He's got no case, his phone is semi-raw dogging it with just a screen protector (Gaz gets him new ones frequently so that he doesn't walk around with a battered screen)

No widgets because he doesn't understand those. But a ton of apps that are definitely not categorized, they're just all over the homescreen so he has like four pages.

His wallpaper would either be a picture of the Scottish Highlands that he took, or the Neil Ellis selfie. Yes, this man has a selfie as his wallpaper.

And his camera roll is full of memes he screenshot and all sorts of pictures he's taken.

And of course, he uses the most emojis out of the four of them.

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r0s3m4ry-mp3 · 1 year ago

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First actual post!11!!yipeee

BLOODY PAINTER/

HELEN OTIS

HCS☆°•.°•

He prefers to be called Otis because of the bullying he experienced for having a feminine name

He was born in korea and stayed there until he was 5 to start school in America

While living there he spoke mostly korean but he did also learn English and some Taiwanese

His mom is korean and his father is Taiwanese

He was treated and dressed as a girl until he was five And then his parents stopped because they didn't want to get attention drawn to them

He was bullied all throughout school for his feminine traits and lack of social skills

His parents suspected he might be on the spectrum but they never really did anything to get him diagnosed

He also showed signs of psychopathy and bpd at a young age

Hes always loved drawing since he was 6 but his parents told him he would never be able to make a living off it and they tried to make him like more stereotypical masculine things

He likes drawing in a semi realistic/renaissance style with gore

Hes never really felt any sexual or romantic feelings for anyone but hes not against dating he just hasn't felt the need for it

He sells some of his artwork on the darkweb and records himself killing his victims in his basement

In my au he hasn't ever dated judge angels he just sees her as a close friend and same with puppeteer

Hes in his early 40s(canonly)

He doesn't really have any gender he doesn't care just don't call him she/her or helen

Hes unlabeled but isnt against dating a guy or a girl or whoever else

He never really cared for his parents even after leaving the mental hospital he just ignored them and they ignored him

He has a high ego and craves validation from people

He listens to the cure,nirvana,the smiths and stuff like that but he also loves to listen to orchestral music while he paints

He wears gothic like clothing and old grungy rings

He probably doesn't know how to use a iphone😭

Hes 6,2 and pretty muscular

Loves old slasher films and just 80s movies like beetlejuice or the labyrinth

He smells like cheap cologne and blood

Some other hobbies he does other then painting is reading and playing the piano

He does go out from time to time because after awhile the police stopped really focusing on his case but hes still very careful when he does go out

#creepypasta #creepy pasta #bloodypainter #bloody painter #helen otis #helenotis #crp #bloody painter hcs #creepypasta headcanons #creepypasta hcs #asks are open

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mostlysignssomeportents · 8 months ago

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The antitrust case against Apple

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT (Mar 22) in TORONTO, then SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and beyond!

The foundational tenet of "the Cult of Mac" is that buying products from a $3t company makes you a member of an oppressed ethnic minority and therefore every criticism of that corporation is an ethnic slur:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Call it "Apple exceptionalism" – the idea that Apple, alone among the Big Tech firms, is virtuous, and therefore its conduct should be interpreted through that lens of virtue. The wellspring of this virtue is conveniently nebulous, which allows for endless goal-post shifting by members of the Cult of Mac when Apple's sins are made manifest.

Take the claim that Apple is "privacy respecting," which is attributed to Apple's business model of financing its services though cash transactions, rather than by selling it customers to advertisers. This is the (widely misunderstood) crux of the "surveillance capitalism" hypothesis: that capitalism is just fine, but once surveillance is in the mix, capitalism fails.

Apple, then, is said to be a virtuous company because its behavior is disciplined by market forces, unlike its spying rivals, whose ability to "hack our dopamine loops" immobilizes the market's invisible hand with "behavior-shaping" shackles:

http://pluralistic.net/HowToDestroySurveillanceCapitalism

Apple makes a big deal out of its privacy-respecting ethos, and not without some justification. After all, Apple went to the mattresses to fight the FBI when they tried to force Apple to introduced defects into its encryption systems:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/04/fbi-could-have-gotten-san-bernardino-shooters-iphone-leadership-didnt-say

And Apple gave Ios users the power to opt out of Facebook spying with a single click; 96% of its customers took them up on this offer, costing Facebook $10b (one fifth of the pricetag of the metaverse boondoggle!) in a single year (you love to see it):

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/facebook-makes-the-case-for-activity-tracking-to-ios-14-users-in-new-pop-ups/

Bruce Schneier has a name for this practice: "feudal security." That's when you cede control over your device to a Big Tech warlord whose "walled garden" becomes a fortress that defends you against external threats:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/08/leona-helmsley-was-a-pioneer/#manorialism

The keyword here is external threats. When Apple itself threatens your privacy, the fortress becomes a prison. The fact that you can't install unapproved apps on your Ios device means that when Apple decides to harm you, you have nowhere to turn. The first Apple customers to discover this were in China. When the Chinese government ordered Apple to remove all working privacy tools from its App Store, the company obliged, rather than risk losing access to its ultra-cheap manufacturing base (Tim Cook's signal accomplishment, the one that vaulted him into the CEO's seat, was figuring out how to offshore Apple manufacturing to China) and hundreds of millions of middle-class consumers:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-apple-vpn/apple-says-it-is-removing-vpn-services-from-china-app-store-idUSKBN1AE0BQ

Killing VPNs and other privacy tools was just for openers. After Apple caved to Beijing, the demands kept coming. Next, Apple willingly backdoored all its Chinese cloud services, so that the Chinese state could plunder its customers' data at will:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html

This was the completely foreseeable consequence of Apple's "curated computing" model: once the company arrogated to itself the power to decide which software you could run on your own computer, it was inevitable that powerful actors – like the Chinese Communist Party – would lean on Apple to exercise that power in service to its goals.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese state's appetite for deputizing Apple to help with its spying and oppression was not sated by backdooring iCloud and kicking VPNs out of the App Store. As recently as 2022, Apple continued to neuter its tools at the behest of the Chinese state, breaking Airdrop to make it useless for organizing protests in China:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/11/foreseeable-consequences/#airdropped

But the threat of Apple turning on its customers isn't limited to China. While the company has been unwilling to spy on its users on behalf of the US government, it's proven more than willing to compromise its worldwide users' privacy to pad its own profits. Remember when Apple let its users opt out of Facebook surveillance with one click? At the very same time, Apple was spinning up its own commercial surveillance program, spying on Ios customers, gathering the very same data as Facebook, and for the very same purpose: to target ads. When it came to its own surveillance, Apple completely ignored its customers' explicit refusal to consent to spying, spied on them anyway, and lied about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Here's the thing: even if you believe that Apple has a "corporate personality" that makes it want to do the right thing, that desire to be virtuous is dependent on the constraints Apple faces. The fact that Apple has complete legal and technical control over the hardware it sells – the power to decide who can make software that runs on that hardware, the power to decide who can fix that hardware, the power to decide who can sell parts for that hardware – represents an irresistible temptation to enshittify Apple products.

"Constraints" are the crux of the enshittification hypothesis. The contagion that spread enshittification to every corner of our technological world isn't a newfound sadism or indifference among tech bosses. Those bosses are the same people they've always been – the difference is that today, they are unconstrained.

Having bought, merged or formed a cartel with all their rivals, they don't fear competition (Apple buys 90+ companies per year, and Google pays it an annual $26.3b bribe for default search on its operating systems and programs).

Having captured their regulators, they don't fear fines or other penalties for cheating their customers, workers or suppliers (Apple led the coalition that defeated dozens of Right to Repair bills, year after year, in the late 2010s).

Having wrapped themselves in IP law, they don't fear rivals who make alternative clients, mods, privacy tools or other "adversarial interoperability" tools that disenshittify their products (Apple uses the DMCA, trademark, and other exotic rules to block third-party software, repair, and clients).

True virtue rests not merely in resisting temptation to be wicked, but in recognizing your own weakness and avoiding temptation. As I wrote when Apple embarked on its "curated computing" path, the company would eventually – inevitably – use its power to veto its customers' choices to harm those customers:

https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/01/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either/

Which is where we're at today. Apple – uniquely among electronics companies – shreds every device that is traded in by its customers, to block third parties from harvesting working components and using them for independent repair:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/yp73jw/apple-recycling-iphones-macbooks

Apple engraves microscopic Apple logos on those parts and uses these as the basis for trademark complaints to US customs, to block the re-importation of parts that escape its shredders:

https://repair.eu/news/apple-uses-trademark-law-to-strengthen-its-monopoly-on-repair/

Apple entered into an illegal price-fixing conspiracy with Amazon to prevent used and refurbished devices from being sold in the "world's biggest marketplace":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/10/you-had-one-job/#thats-just-the-as

Why is Apple so opposed to independent repair? Well, they say it's to keep users safe from unscrupulous or incompetent repair technicians (feudal security). But when Tim Cook speaks to his investors, he tells a different story, warning them that the company's profits are threatened by customers who choose to repair (rather than replace) their slippery, fragile glass $1,000 pocket computers (the fortress becomes a prison):

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/01/letter-from-tim-cook-to-apple-investors/

All this adds up to a growing mountain of immortal e-waste, festooned with miniature Apple logos, that our descendants will be dealing with for the next 1,000 years. In the face of this unspeakable crime, Apple engaged in a string of dishonest maneuvers, claiming that it would support independent repair. In 2022, Apple announced a home repair program that turned out to be a laughably absurd con:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/22/apples-cement-overshoes/

Then in 2023, Apple announced a fresh "pro-repair" initiative that, once again, actually blocked repair:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

Let's pause here a moment and remember that Apple once stood for independent repair, and celebrated the independent repair technicians that kept its customers' beloved Macs running:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/29/norwegian-potato-flour-enchiladas/#r2r

Whatever virtue lurks in Apple's corporate personhood, it is no match for the temptation that comes from running a locked-down platform designed to capture IP rights so that it can prevent normal competitive activities, like fixing phones, processing payments, or offering apps.

When Apple rolled out the App Store, Steve Jobs promised that it would save journalism and other forms of "content creation" by finally giving users a way to pay rightsholders. A decade later, that promise has been shattered by the app tax – a 30% rake on every in-app transaction that can't be avoided because Apple will kick your app out of the App Store if you even mention that your customers can pay you via the web in order to avoid giving a third of their content dollars to a hardware manufacturer that contributed nothing to the production of that material:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/save-news-we-must-open-app-stores

Among the apps that Apple also refuses to allow on Ios is third-party browsers. Every Iphone browser is just a reskinned version of Apple's Safari, running on the same antiquated, insecure Webkit browser engine. The fact that Webkit is incomplete and outdated is a feature, not a bug, because it lets Apple block web apps – apps delivered via browsers, rather than app stores:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/13/kitbashed/#app-store-tax

Last month, the EU took aim at Apple's veto over its users' and software vendors' ability to transact with one another. The newly in-effect Digital Markets Act requires Apple to open up both third-party payment processing and third-party app stores. Apple's response to this is the very definition of malicious compliance, a snake's nest of junk-fees, onerous terms of service, and petty punitive measures that all add up to a great, big "Go fuck yourself":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/06/spoil-the-bunch/#dma

But Apple's bullying, privacy invasion, price-gouging and environmental crimes are global, and the EU isn't the only government seeking to end them. They're in the firing line in Japan:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-to-crack-down-on-Apple-and-Google-app-store-monopolies

And in the UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-wins-appeal-in-apple-case

And now, famously, the US Department of Justice is coming for Apple, with a bold antitrust complaint that strikes at the heart of Apple exceptionalism, the idea that monopoly is safer for users than technological self-determination:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1344546/dl?inline

There's passages in the complaint that read like I wrote them:

Apple wraps itself in a cloak of privacy, security, and consumer preferences to justify its anticompetitive conduct. Indeed, it spends billions on marketing and branding to promote the self-serving premise that only Apple can safeguard consumers’ privacy and security interests. Apple selectively compromises privacy and security interests when doing so is in Apple’s own financial interest—such as degrading the security of text messages, offering governments and certain companies the chance to access more private and secure versions of app stores, or accepting billions of dollars each year for choosing Google as its default search engine when more private options are available. In the end, Apple deploys privacy and security justifications as an elastic shield that can stretch or contract to serve Apple’s financial and business interests.

After all, Apple punishes its customers for communicating with Android users by forcing them to do so without any encryption. When Beeper Mini rolled out an Imessage-compatible Android app that fixed this, giving Iphone owners the privacy Apple says they deserve but denies to them, Apple destroyed Beeper Mini:

https://blog.beeper.com/p/beeper-moving-forward

Tim Cook is on record about this: if you want to securely communicate with an Android user, you must "buy them an Iphone":

https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/7/23342243/tim-cook-apple-rcs-imessage-android-iphone-compatibility

If your friend, family member or customer declines to change mobile operating systems, Tim Cook insists that you must communicate without any privacy or security.

Even where Apple tries for security, it sometimes fails ("security is a process, not a product" -B. Schneier). To be secure in a benevolent dictatorship, it must also be an infallible dictatorship. Apple's far from infallible: Eight generations of Iphones have unpatchable hardware defects:

https://checkm8.info/

And Apple's latest custom chips have secret-leaking, unpatchable vulnerabilities:

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/hackers-can-extract-secret-encryption-keys-from-apples-mac-chips/

Apple's far from infallible – but they're also far from benevolent. Despite Apple's claims, its hardware, operating system and apps are riddled with deliberate privacy defects, introduce to protect Apple's shareholders at the expense of its customers:

https://proton.me/blog/iphone-privacy

Now, antitrust suits are notoriously hard to make, especially after 40 years of bad-precedent-setting, monopoly-friendly antitrust malpractice. Much of the time, these suits fail because they can't prove that tech bosses intentionally built their monopolies. However, tech is a written culture, one that leaves abundant, indelible records of corporate deliberations. What's more, tech bosses are notoriously prone to bragging about their nefarious intentions, committing them to writing:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/

Apple is no exception – there's an abundance of written records that establish that Apple deliberately, illegally set out to create and maintain a monopoly:

https://www.wired.com/story/4-internal-apple-emails-helped-doj-build-antitrust-case/

Apple claims that its monopoly is beneficent, used to protect its users, making its products more "elegant" and safe. But when Apple's interests conflict with its customers' safety and privacy – and pocketbooks – Apple always puts itself first, just like every other corporation. In other words: Apple is unexceptional.

The Cult of Mac denies this. They say that no one wants to use a third-party app store, no one wants third-party payments, no one wants third-party repair. This is obviously wrong and trivially disproved: if no Apple customer wanted these things, Apple wouldn't have to go to enormous lengths to prevent them. The only phones that an independent Iphone repair shop fixes are Iphones: which means Iphone owners want independent repair.

The rejoinder from the Cult of Mac is that those Iphone owners shouldn't own Iphones: if they wanted to exercise property rights over their phones, they shouldn't have bought a phone from Apple. This is the "No True Scotsman" fallacy for distraction-rectangles, and moreover, it's impossible to square with Tim Cook's insistence that if you want private communications, you must buy an Iphone.

Apple is unexceptional. It's just another Big Tech monopolist. Rounded corners don't preserve virtue any better than square ones. Any company that is freed from constraints – of competition, regulation and interoperability – will always enshittify. Apple – being unexceptional – is no exception.

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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/2024/03/22/reality-distortion-field/#three-trillion-here-three-trillion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

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