I think it technically counts as Spring, but Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction has me enraptured.

But if we’re talking about Summer alone, hands down, Dungeon People.

Asking the person you’re debating to look up your own citations is certainly one way to converse. But ok, let’s go for it.

In Aug 2023, Forbes published an article describing the proposal of “unfettered access” you referred to:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2023/08/21/draft-tiktok-cfius-agreement/

In June 2024, the Washington Post reported that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) turned down the proposal and includes some broad reporting as to why:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tiktok-offered-an-extraordinary-deal-the-u-s-government-took-a-pass/ar-BB1nfAcE

The article isn’t very technical, but it mentions some interesting responsibility angles that the US wouldn’t want to back themselves into:

• throwing open some, but not all, doors to server operations and source code creates a mountain of work for the government to inspect, which would be a workload nightmare
• the US government’s deepest concerns seem to be about what data is going out (usage insights on the virtuous side and clipboard/mic/camera monitoring on the ultra shady side) and data coming in (bespoke content intended to influence US residents of China-aligned goals). Usage insights are relatively benign from national security perspective (especially when you can just mandate that people in important roles aren’t permitted to use it). Shady monitoring should be discoverable through app source code monitoring, which you can put the app platforms (Apple, Google, whoever else) on the hook for if they continue to insist on having walled app gardens (and if you trust them at all). The content shaping is harder to put your finger on though, since it’s super easy to abstract logic as far out as you need to avoid detection. “Here, look at these 50M lines of code that run stateside, and yeah, there are some API calls to stuff outside the sandbox. Is that such a big deal?” Spoiler: it is a big deal.
• the US can’t hold Byte Dance accountable so long as it remains in China. Let’s say the US agreed to all this, spent all the effort to uncover some hidden shady activity that they don’t like (after an untold amount of time has passed). What then? They can’t legally go after Byte Dance’s foreign entity. The US can prosecute the US employees, but it’s totally possible to organize in such a way that leaves those domestic employees free from misdeeds, leaving prosecutors unable to enforce misdeeds fairly. It’d be a mess.

The second article explains this somewhat, but I’m admittedly painting some conjecture on top regarding how a malicious actor could behave. I’ve got no evidence that Byte Dance is actually doing any of that.

But going back to the “influence the public” angle, I’m struggling to see how different TikTok is versus NHK America (Japan’s American broadcasts) or RT (American media from the Russian standpoint) aside from being wildly more successful and popular. But I guess that’s all there is to it.

I’d prefer our leaders also be transparent with us regarding their concerns about TikTok. The reductive “because China!!1!” argument is not compelling on its own.

Do you have any citation for that?

Does ByteDance publish TikTok’s transmission protocol to demonstrate transparency?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Protocol

Have you ever squeezed a closed tube of toothpaste before?

Apparently the city council and Anne Davidson haven’t.

Men: Stop fixating on the need to “get a woman”. Procreation is not how to win at life. No one virtuous is keeping score like that. All that “alpha/omega” stuff is trash. Stop everything you’re doing, trying and striving for. Spend some time genuinely at rest, not fixating on sex or work or entertainment or fitness, and think about yourself.

Really examine the person that you are. Think about the good that you’ve done. Think about the harm that you’ve caused. Think of how you can nudge yourself towards being a better person; someone who is considerate to others feelings, someone who can help without expecting reciprocation. Start doing that stuff. Your reward for this work is inner peace, not babes and money and success.

Self-reflection leaning towards kindness, forgiveness and genuine curiosity about yourself is the key to being the best you that you can be.

It will take a long time. When you get frustrated, ask yourself what kind of reward you’re expecting. If that reward is anything besides “being a happier, more satisfied me”, work on refocusing yourself.

Living like this will catch people’s attention. A word of warning: some will be emotional vampires who want to take advantage of you, and you’ll unfortunately have to live through a few relationships with those before you recognize them. But other people, more well-adjusted folks, will notice as well. Those are the kinds of people who can become life-long friends. And, in my experience, that’s where loving relationships start.

Who knows? You might uncover some really important things about yourself along the way that you never realized were there before.

eat your own dog food

I die a little inside every time I hear the phrase “drink your own Champaign”. It’s agonizing, like a 40 degree day.

This trailer is trash compared to the original one used for film’s initial release in Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nW6LLojcUw

I’m genuinely disappointed that Asbestos Cafe is basically forbidden now. That’d be a solid name for a hardcore alcoholic vegan bar.

I know he retired as studio president a few years ago, but sure hope that Masaaki Yuasa got a well-deserved payout as a part of this deal. Dude is 59 years old, has an epic filmography to his name and (with any luck) is now sitting of a brand new pile of money.

Good for him.

Am I the only one who thinks that the design decision to eliminate the ability for cars to both cross Dexter or make left turns anywhere is a deliberate choice to create driver frustration and reduce favorable attitudes towards building more of these?

Normal protected intersections are terrific and allow automotive traffic to flow in all directions. What was the thought process here?

Green and flowy up on top of Jefferson Park last night…

😄👋

These are legitimate challenges that activitypub faces. I’m glad that they’re popping up like this so they can be observed, mitigated and planned for in the future.

I haven’t read the manga, so maybe this is my fault, but I’ve been underwhelmed by the Game-of-Thrones world politics the show has turned into. I miss Rimuru running into baddies and making new friends.

Honestly the most satisfaction the show is giving me now comes from Gobta’s leveling progress. 💚

That would have been my follow up if I were the reporter.

tl;dr: Between the University Street and Westlake stations, the tracks make a 90-degree turn. When taking this turn, riders were experiencing a very herky-jerky ride. The closures and repairs were intended to fix that. The sharp turn had caused the tracks to wear down in the spots where the wheels were grinding against them. This wear-down lead to extra space between the rails that the train wheels would slide back and forth on (causing the train car to rock back and forth). The repair involved replacing the rails at the 90-degree bend.

The original article, on a website that isn’t hot trash, can be found here (along with more photos):

https://bellevuebeatblog.com/2024/02/02/bellevue-bomb-squad-responds-to-report-of-a-rocket-in-residence/

https://www.cbr.com/best-zombie-anime/

Kshama Sawant did not run for re-election during the last election cycle. Her seat is now filled by Joy Hollingsworth who was elected in Nov 2023.