We Can't Rewind, We've Gone Too Far

"Anonymous" Video Analytics

2020-10-29T20:18:45Z

So. Cadillac-Fairview malls use digital information kiosks to show you store locations, which are poor design compared to just using a goddamn map. Only one person can use them at a time, they require you to touch the screen, they take longer, you can't see the whole mall at a glance, etc. I have been generally annoyed by them for the past year or so as I go to job locations in various malls that I haven't visited before. But they were just annoying, and poor design, and a bad idea during a pandemic. Fine. Pretty much everything is these days.

Turns out they can also be used to nonconsensually collect biometric information. Which CF was then storing in a third-party database. Or, CF claims, the third party was continuing to store them without their knowledge. That's not a defense.

The cameras were deactivated in 2018 when the government started investigating. Cadillac Fairview refused to "commit to ensuring express, meaningful consent is obtained from shoppers should it choose to redeploy the technology in the future."

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Griping about fandom culture

2019-02-19T20:48:31Z

( Actually let's cut this. ) It's been so much nicer inside my head since I drifted away from Tumblr.

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violsva @ 2017-12-05T11:27:00

2017-12-05T16:28:39Z

So the official position 45′s legal team is taking is that the president is Charles I.

This should end well.

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So I came up with a metaphor

2015-05-06T01:57:44Z

Let's say that Group A eats kittens.

They're terrible people, right? But if I say to you, "Stay away from Grace, she's a kitten-eating monster," you're going to assume I'm joking. That's hyperbole. That's actually a terrible thing to say about someone.

So everyone in Group A doesn't have to worry about rumours that they eat kittens, because seriously? Who does that? You must be joking.

But if anyone does say, loudly, "Hey, these people seem to be eating kittens," they can say "Well, you eat BABIES!"

Because then people who don't know them are going to go, "Right, these people are throwing hugely exaggerated insults at each other, got it." Because these look like the same insult, if you don't know the history. And even if you try to show them the history, well, you must be blowing it out of proportion, right? No one eats kittens. Not in our society.

The fact that one of these insults is in fact true - people have actually been eating kittens - and one is false - no one has eaten a baby - may be ignored.

And the second person now has to fight against accusations of baby-eating - which they do care about, because they don't want to be seen as a horrible person. They don't eat babies, and they're probably really upset that someone said they did. And a few people are going to be saying "Well, they must have a reason for saying you eat babies, and you did start it by saying that they eat kittens..."

So no one wants to accuse actual kitten eaters of eating kittens, and if you do, the first thing that does is cast suspicion on the one doing the accusing.

Anyway, if you're wondering where this is all coming from, someone in the Sherlock fandom ate a kitten in public and then tried to distract everyone by going "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!" If you really want more information, it's here.

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Transgender Day of Rememberance

2012-11-21T01:59:06Z

Let's not have any more of this.

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Presented without comment

2012-10-26T00:44:50Z

Mayor Rob Ford wants to eliminate city watchdog offices.

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BBC Sherlock

2012-09-06T21:52:48Z

This is not actually a review, as I'm too sleep deprived to say anything non-sweary. We saw the first episode the other day, and then three episodes in a row last night, which was a bad idea. Not actually in a row, there was Doctor Who in between. So this is an overdose, with the usual unpleasant side effects. After a couple days I will have assimilated it and might like it better.

But I just got more caffeinated than I've ever been, which isn't actually saying much, and wrote 1500 words on my own gender-swapped race-swapped modern AU (which has been around since before I knew anything about the episode plots), thank you very much, which passes the Bechdel test and won't pass the reverse Bechdel test if I can help it, and will hopefully be at least a little less faily on race issues because honestly the only way to be worse than S1E2 on race issues is to deliberately try and then call in a couple consultants to make sure.

And can we have a female character (other than maybe Mrs. Hudson) who isn't defined by her sexuality, immediately, at her first appearance? One? FFS.

And that's just the Issues. There's also the way you can poke the plots anywhere and they tear apart like wet tissue paper.

Anyway. I will watch the rest, but I'm glad I didn't pay for it, though of course I acquired it through Perfectly Legal Means. (That link goes to TVTropes. Don't click on it.)

So, I guess that was a review. The internet: not just for porn, it's for rants. And cat photos. I'm going to go look at some. I really dislike being angry.

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