The latest anti-feature from Automattic—now infecting Gravatar. Photo by: Unattributed, Copyright Unattributed. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Happily Imperfect posted Bye bye Gravatar a short while ago, and I have to say, I've had a similar thought about deleting my account on there as well. My feelings towards WordPress and Automattic started changing some time ago, back when they introduced the Gutenberg editor. Ever since this “improvement” it's been a downhill slide for WordPress to the point where it's become an unusable mess in my opinion.

I know a lot of people also think that Matt Mullenweg's recent statements about WordPress, open source, and other companies have been problematic. I reserve my opinions on those areas. Instead, I am judging the quality of the software and the services that are being produced.

But there is an irony when it comes to Gravatar: even though it serves little purpose in and of itself, it does do one thing: it serves your avatar. I can't say how many times in the past I've logged into some new site / application only to have my avatar automatically populate itself. For a while it was jarring because I hadn't updated Gravatar for years. But at least it was filling in something rather than nothing. And, I felt that something filled a purpose: a consistency of identity across the web.

But, now I wonder about that. I cannot recall the last time my avatar was automatically filled in. The only notable case recently was that my avatar updated automatically on GitHub when I changed it on Gravatar. And, honestly my feelings towards GitHub and Microslop are in the shitter as well. So, there's that.

And now, I have an absolute reason to nuke this f***ing account all to hell. I do NOT EVER consent to ANYTHING being done in regard to AI in my name. There was never any notification sent about this change to Gravatar. Hell, I haven't received any notice of any changes being made to Gravatar in the last 5–10 years. It was a similar change that pushed me over the edge with WordPress, and I feel the same way about it with Gravatar.

I know, they haven't actually sent anything directly to any chatbots on my behalf. But the fact that they saw fit to add this ANTI-feature without announcing it speaks more about where Automattic is in the process of enshittifying their products than anything else. Nope—it's goodbye to any and everything Automattic, including Gravatar.

With newer sites like Bio Link and FediProfile I don't see the usefulness of Gravatar. If anything, I think it now has ANTI-features.

And now Gravatar is gone, kaput, deleted. Goodbye and good riddance.

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Categories: #Rant Tags: #response, #automattic, #ai, #antiai, #nukeittohell License: Copyright Unattributed. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Would it really be a waste of time to write falsehoods on a notepad? Seeing caviar on a grocery list surrounded by milk and bread is funny to me. Getting a calendar reminder about attending a gala in the evening is so absurdly disorganised that it cannot be genuine.

The idea sparks joy, but the psychology feels a bit strange. This feeling reminds me of Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin quote

She imagines him imagining her. This is her salvation.

By writing my thoughts and spitting them into the void, I imagine a reader imagining me trying to be funny. By writing lies into reminders and schedules, I perform for an imaginary second person. Would it matter if I lied to the imaginary?

It’s not like I don’t know that caviar is not on the grocery list. I am also too type A to forget that I have an obligation to attend a dress up event, so the lies on my lists are for whoever is peaking into my imagined life. Perhaps this is how people of ye olden days lived such glamorous lives, they just lied in their diaries.

On that note, I plan to get messy in acrylic paints this weekend – it’s wintry and dreary outside but I want to look at some colourful florals.

I also want to accomplish the perfect day on Sunday: 1. Get dressed in a cute outfit 2. Go to the market 3. Return home and change into a 2nd cute outfit 4. Get an ice cream cone with a good book in tow

Maybe I need to line up my lies first.

From a village bypass to a €900 million energy bill, the pattern is the same: commitments made first, questions asked later. Ireland has lived through this logic before.

Not far from my home in north county Dublin is a road. It began life as an arterial road, purpose‑built to carry considerable commuter traffic in and out of Dublin, with increased safety.

But built as a bypass around a small village, it facilitated new homes, new shops, new schools on both sides of the road; the inevitable (or is it?) ribbon development. So now we have school students, mums with pushchairs, people out walking dogs, joggers, and village cyclists using and crossing the road daily. That’s a dangerous mix of village life and commuter traffic. I’m not pointing the finger here, but a little planning would have avoided this disturbing combination.

I’m simply saying sequencing is substance. The development that has unfolded in that area over the last decade needed a little more forethought, a little more analysis in context. Yes, we want the homes, the shops, the schools and the like. But we want them assembled into new communities, safely.

When the order of decisions is not thought through, outcomes drift. And the same pattern is visible far beyond local roads. The Strategic Emergency Reserve Bill is simply the latest example. The State is advancing a €900 million infrastructure commitment before the cost analysis, the alternatives assessment, the emissions modelling, the operating rules, or the governance framework have been published. Let’s cut through the fog and the rhetoric and look at what is actually being said: “Let’s spend €900 million and see what happens — the Minister can field the problems.”

Let’s not mince words. This is the worst kind of government. And the Irish people deserve better. This is not about political stance or political preference or one party being superior to another. It’s about the basic skill set required to govern: understand the problem, consult those affected, evaluate the options, then act. The Strategic Emergency Reserve Bill reverses that order. And with no expressed justification or legitimacy for the order of decisions, the State has weakened its own case before it has even made it.

Across the NGO sector, the expressed concerns are consistent. Planning law has been set aside. Environmental safeguards have been narrowed. Judicial review has been restricted. Costs remain unclear. And the long‑term system effects have not been assessed. Ireland has lived through this kind of decision‑making before. The government is repeating the mistakes of the 19th‑century British, who panicked into building unnecessary barracks across Ireland. And it is a strange place for an independent State to find itself, after all we’ve come through.

Sequencing is not a procedural detail. It is the substance of good governance. When analysis follows commitment, it becomes justification rather than guidance. When exceptional powers are used without exceptional explanation, scrutiny thins. And when infrastructure is approved before its operating rules exist, the system begins to shape itself around the gap.

Ireland’s energy system is entering a decade of structural change. Decisions made quickly will be lived with slowly. The question is not speed. It is sequence.

Sequencing is substance.

The full LNG analysis can be found here: https://go.marshall.ie/LNG-bill-analysis

Fremdheit – 9. Juli

Heute begleitet mich fast den ganzen Tag ein Gefühl von Fremdheit, Unverständlichkeit und Sinnlosigkeit. Man sagt, dass eine solche Krise nach einer gewissen Zeit in einer neuen Umgebung ganz normal ist. Bei mir scheint sie am 25. Tag meines Praktikums mit voller Kraft angekommen zu sein.

Krisen können natürlich sehr unterschiedlich aussehen. Aber das, was ich gerade erlebe, kann man wahrscheinlich tatsächlich als eine Art Adaptionskrise bezeichnen. Heute spüre ich eine starke Stagnation und Frustration. Meine Deutschkenntnisse erscheinen mir immer unzureichender, und in letzter Zeit bin ich immer häufiger in Situationen geraten, die mir meine eigenen Grenzen sehr deutlich zeigen. Vielleicht muss ich diese Krise einfach durchleben, und danach geht es mit den Fortschritten wieder leichter weiter. Vielleicht habe ich aber auch einfach den höchsten Punkt erreicht, den ich mit dieser Sprache erreichen kann, und kann nicht mehr viel daran ändern. So viele “vielleicht”...

Gestern habe ich einen Facebook-Beitrag gelesen, in dem eine Frau von einer Wanderung durch die Wüste erzählte. Sie musste mit ihrem Partner mehr als 40 Kilometer in wahnsinniger Hitze zu Fuß zurücklegen. Ohne Schatten, ohne Wasser, ohne Pflaster für ihre Wunden. Sie beschrieb ihre Erschöpfung so genau, dass mir plötzlich auffiel, wie sehr mich ihre Erfahrung an mein eigenes inneres Erleben hier erinnert. Ich kann natürlich anerkennen, dass diese Gefühle möglicherweise auch mit meinem hormonellen Zustand zusammenhängen. Aber heute fühle ich mich trotzdem so, als könnte ich langsam aufgeben und zugeben, dass meine Beziehung zur deutschen Sprache einfach nicht funktioniert hat.

Ich wiederhole mir selbst, dass es eigentlich gar kein großes Problem ist. Ich habe schließlich nichts verloren. Es ist nicht so, dass ich diese Sprache unbedingt lernen muss, weil ich sonst für immer arbeitslos werde. Oder obdachlos. Oder sonst irgendwie -los... was auch immer. Aber heute hilft mir dieser Gedanke nicht. Mir half früher auch die Wahrnehmung, dass es eigentlich einfach eine Reise ist, von der man mit unglaublich vielen Erfahrungen zurückkehren kann. Man kann aber auch einfach Zeit irgendwo verbringen, ohne dabei wesentliche Fortschritte zu machen. Auch das ist ein Ergebnis. Aber nicht heute ... Trotzdem bringt mir diese Krise heute eine solche Müdigkeit, dass ich mir kaum vorstellen kann, überhaupt noch irgendetwas auf Deutsch zu sagen. Das ganze Studienjahr über habe ich versucht, der deutschen Sprache wenigstens ein bisschen weniger Schaden zuzufügen. Doch irgendwie geht alles immer weiter, wie in einem endlosen Traum, der einen nicht erholt, sondern nur noch müder macht.

Heute war außerdem ein Tag voller neuer Eindrücke. Ich hatte beschlossen, allein zum ABSV und anschließend zum Yogaunterricht zu fahren. Einerseits wollte ich Mindaugas nicht den ganzen Tag unterwegs halten, denn ich hatte erst die Arbeit, dann Yoga und am Abend noch einen Theaterbesuch. Andererseits musste ich mich auch mehr daran gewöhnen, die Wegbeschreibungen dieses Systems selbstständig zu testen.

Allerdings war heute auch einer dieser Tage, an denen einfach alles schiefzulaufen scheint. Angefangen bei meiner Kleidung – ich dachte, es würde sehr heiß werden, und hatte mich deshalb viel zu dünn angezogen – bis hin zu den einfachsten Dingen, wie den richtigen Link auf einer Website zu finden. Heute fällt mir sogar das Schreiben schwer. Das Lesen fällt mir schwer. Manchmal verstehe ich Dinge erst mit Verzögerung. Und ich fühle mich, als würde ich mich selbst von außen beobachten. Als wäre mein eigenes Ich in zwei Teile zerbrochen und einer davon würde nun aus der Distanz diese verzweifelten Versuche des anderen betrachten.

Meine Kollegin hatte mir sehr freundlich angeboten, nicht nur gemeinsam bis zum S-Bahnhof zu fahren, sondern auch noch zusammen umzusteigen und ein Stück des Weges gemeinsam zurückzulegen. An einem solchen schwierigen Tag war das besonders schön. Ich hatte die Wegbeschreibung vorher in Braille vorbereitet, damit ich mich unterwegs ausschließlich auf den Weg konzentrieren konnte und nicht ständig mit dem Handy hantieren musste. Das war eine sehr gute Idee. Meine Braille-Notizen hatte ich auf kleineren Blättern, sodass ich sie bequem mit einer Hand lesen konnte. Den Weg filmte ich mit der in meine Brille integrierten Kamera. Wenigstens musste ich also keine zusätzliche Kamera in der Hand halten – technisch gesehen schon mal ein Gewinn.

Die Suche nach dem richtigen Weg brachte allerdings wieder einige merkwürdige Unklarheiten mit sich. Zunächst konnte ich das Leitsystem in Grunewald, von wo aus ich zum ABSV und zu meinem Yogaunterricht gelangen sollte, nur schwer ertasten. Meine Kollegin Constanze zeigte mir die Leitlinien, aber ich konnte sie mit meinem Stock nicht besonders deutlich wahrnehmen. Also orientierte ich mich einfach an der Bahnsteigkante, weil ich wusste, dass die Leitlinie ungefähr 70 Zentimeter davon entfernt verläuft. Schließlich fand ich das entsprechende Aufmerksamkeitsfeld. Aber gerade als ich langsamer werden und die verschiedenen Felder genauer untersuchen wollte, kam eine Dame, die mich unbedingt begleiten wollte.

Ich erklärte ihr mehrmals, dass ich gerade lerne und ein System testen muss. Aber sie wollte mich trotzdem unbedingt irgendwohin begleiten und mir noch irgendein anderes System zeigen. Also ließ ich sie schließlich mit Constanze darüber diskutieren und suchte selbst weiter nach dem Ende des Bahnsteigs. Danach kehrte ich zum zweiten Aufmerksamkeitsfeld zurück.

Der Anfang war tatsächlich motivierend. Ich konnte den Treppenabgang finden, und auch der Verbindungsgang mit den Blumen am Ende war sehr eindeutig und leicht zu erkennen. Der Abschnitt zwischen dem Bahnhof und dem Zebrastreifen über die Straße war schon weniger klar, weil ich diese „wenigen Schritte weiter“ und die exakten Richtungswechsel noch nicht richtig im Gefühl habe. Zum Beispiel verpasste ich irgendwie den Briefkasten und stellte mir deshalb vor, dass die Bushaltestelle noch etwas weiter entfernt sein müsste. Trotzdem konnte ich der Beschreibung folgen, und am Ende funktionierte alles.

Der Eingang zum Gelände ist zusätzlich durch ein akustisches Signal gekennzeichnet, und genau dieses Signal wurde schließlich zu meinem wichtigsten Orientierungspunkt. In der Beschreibung stand zwar außerdem, dass es sich um die fünfte Einfahrt handeln sollte. Bis zur fünften Einfahrt hatte ich allerdings definitiv nicht gezählt – nach meiner Rechnung war es höchstens die zweite. Aber ich hörte das Signal und bog nach links ab. Da dachte ich wieder, dass es für mich wahrscheinlich am wichtigsten ist, aus jeder Wegbeschreibung bestimmte Orientierungspunkte herauszufiltern, die für mich persönlich entscheidend sind.

Die Jogalehrerin hat mich schon im Hof begegnet und die Umgebung gezeigt, und dieser Teil war auch ganz erfolgreich. Aber dann fang die Jogaklasse, wo wurde dieses Gefühl der Fremdheit wieder deutlicher. Zum ersten Mal war ich in einer Gruppe, deren Mitglieder sich bereits gut kannten, und plötzlich fühlte ich mich unglaublich fremd und distanziert.

Dieses Gefühl hatte überhaupt nichts mit dem Verhalten der anderen zu tun. Ganz im Gegenteil: Alle waren sehr freundlich zu mir, und die Lehrerin erklärte alles klar und verständlich. Trotzdem spürte ich eine starke Einsamkeit. Ich dachte darüber nach, dass ich mich in internationalen Situationen bisher meistens in Gruppen befunden hatte, in denen irgendwie alle gemeinsam von vorne angefangen hatten. Dieses Mal erlebte ich die Situation anders. Bei der Arbeit war ich schließlich ebenfalls in ein Team gekommen, dessen Mitglieder bereits miteinander verbunden waren, und trotzdem hatte ich mich dort nie so fremd gefühlt. Vielleicht hängt es von der Situation ab. Oder von der eigenen Stimmung. Oder doch von der Sprachbarriere.

Ich musste mich jedenfalls extrem konzentrieren, um wirklich alles zu verstehen: jede Bewegung, jede Anweisung, was ich beugen oder strecken sollte, und jeden einzelnen Körperteil – Fersen, Knie, Gelenke und all die anderen Kleinigkeiten. Das war unglaublich intensiv, aber gleichzeitig auch nützlich und interessant. Und direkt nach dem Yogaunterricht ging es für mich weiter ins Theater.

Zunächst hatte ich gedacht, dass wir eine Probe besuchen würden. Zumindest war es uns als Probe angekündigt worden. Tatsächlich war es aber schon eine richtige Aufführung mit Publikum und mit Tischen voller Gäste. Die eigentliche Veranstaltung findet erst am 12. August statt. Ich war ganz einfach gekleidet, während die Umgebung mit den gedeckten Tischen und schönen Tischdecken irgendwie festlich und offiziell wirkte. Wir saßen gemeinsam mit Imke, einigen anderen Frauen und unserer Audiodeskriptionsautorin Ania an einem Tisch. Die Atmosphäre war eben wie im Theater: etwas lauter, viele Gespräche gleichzeitig, und ich konnte kaum verstehen, worüber die anderen miteinander sprachen. Dadurch verstärkte sich mein Gefühl der Fremdheit noch einmal.

Das Stück selbst hat mir insgesamt ziemlich gut gefallen. Es war „Cabaret“, also das amerikanische Musical in deutscher Übersetzung und für ein deutsches Publikum adaptiert. Die Geschichte spielt im Berlin kurz vor der NS-Zeit und erzählt vom damaligen Bohèmeleben sowie von zwei Liebesgeschichten.

Dabei fand ich auch einige Parallelen zu heutigen Fragen. Müssen wir wirklich aktiv gegen russische Propaganda vorgehen? Wohin kann es führen, wenn wir bestimmte Entwicklungen und Probleme einfach ignorieren?

Ich kannte die Geschichte vorher nicht, deshalb war sie für mich auch aus künstlerischer Sicht sehr interessant und wichtig. Den zweiten Teil fand ich allerdings etwas zu langgezogen und die Handlung entwickelte sich für meinen Geschmack stellenweise zu langsam. Die gesamte Aufführung dauerte ziemlich lange. Gleichzeitig spürte ich eine gewisse Vorsicht im Umgang mit nationalsozialistischen Symbolen. Ich hörte auch, dass einige Menschen im Saal auf bestimmte Szenen besonders sensibel reagierten, und dachte darüber nach, wie stark diese Geschichte die deutsche Gesellschaft bis heute prägt.

Ich bewundere die deutsche Gesellschaft für ihre Bemühungen, sich mit dem historischen Unrecht auseinanderzusetzen und Verantwortung dafür zu übernehmen. Für mich ist das ein starkes Beispiel dafür, wie eine Gesellschaft ihre eigene Geschichte kritisch betrachten und daraus Konsequenzen ziehen kann. Unwillkürlich verglich ich diese Haltung wieder mit Russland: mit einem Staat, der seine eigene Geschichte immer wieder verklärt, so vieles zerstört und gleichzeitig kaum Verantwortung für das Wohlergehen der eigenen Gesellschaft übernimmt.

Nach dem Stück mussten wir noch lange warten, um zu bezahlen. Dann brauchte ich ziemlich lange, um den Ausgang zu finden, anschließend noch Mindaugas und den Parkplatz – und all das fühlte sich zusammen mit meinen sprachlichen Schwierigkeiten irgendwann genauso an wie dieser endlose Weg durch die Wüste. Zu Hause wollte ich nur noch weinen. Ich wusste nicht mehr, wie ich weiterlernen sollte, worauf ich mich konzentrieren sollte und ob ich mir selbst überhaupt noch vertrauen konnte.

Also warte ich jetzt einfach auf neue Tage. Aber das Schreiben hilft. Ich fühle mich ein wenig leichter, wenn ich all diese Emotionen aufschreibe.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Introduction

A few years back I became interested in the idea of getting a smartwatch. However, what I found when I started doing research into them was nothing short of horrifying. Take the journey with me as I talk about why I thought a smartwatch would be a good fit in my life, to the realization that there was no chance I would ever buy one of them.

The level of enshittification that exists in this market segment is stunning. It is so rampant that in the end I went a different, and surprising (especially to me) direction, which has a few of its own twists.

I will say this: my research into smartwatches and the accompanying applications proved to me that old-fashioned wristwatches are still a great piece of technology today.

The Search for a Smartwatch

It generally starts with something simple. That something simple in this case: my old cellphone had a step counter. When I replaced the phone, I no longer had a step counter. I hear you asking: “But couldn't a simple app accomplish that?” And yes, indeed, it could, but… There's always a “but” isn't there?

My lifestyle has changed over the past decade. I'm no longer in the rat race, I'm no longer required to have a cellphone on me at all times. It's been quite liberating. There are times when I'll set my phone down for hours while I'm off doing chores around the house or outside without giving it a second thought.

That's when I started looking at smartwatches for the simple reason: I wanted a watch that could track my health and exercise habits / routines. Something that I wore as opposed to something I had to carry. That seemed reasonable to me, smartwatches have had these features for years.

So, I started looking at the most popular options: the Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch, and Google Pixel watch, etc. But, as I quickly realized, there were problems with these choices.

The Problems Begin

It's been a long-standing issue in the Internet age that corporate entities have decided they are entitled to as much personal information about us as they can gather. It's something I, and others, have been vehemently opposed to well over a decade. Information about your health is an extremely touchy subject, at least it should. I have stronger than average feelings about this issue, a story which requires a bit of a detour.

My mother was a registered nurse for around thirty to forty years. She left the profession to raise our family, and during this time she found her way into politics, acting as the office manager for one of our States' Senators. During her time working for the Senator she cultivated connections at both the State and Federal level. Because of those connections, she was approached many times to provide feed back on healthcare related rules / laws and legislation as it was being drafted. She claimed, there were things in some regulations and legislation as a result of her feedback. (I doubt it was that simple, but I don't doubt that she provided valuable feedback.)

So, the combination of my mother being involved with healthcare related rules and legislation, and my longstanding concerns over privacy issues on the internet made for an intense combination. Let's just say the alarm bells went off so much as I did my research, I ran out of bells. Here are just a few issues I found.

Google Health APIs

All smartwatches that gathered health information used (use?) Google's Health API's to communicate between the device and the phone application. In my opinion Google has not shown themselves to be trustworthy since they removed Don't Be Evil from their corporate Code of Conduct and dropped it as their motto.

I don't feel secure knowing that a company known for scraping as much information as they can about users from their online activities as possible has access to any health related information of mine.

App Terms

Looking into the apps required by these devices, they often state they will share your information with third parties in order to “offer” additional services. There was no clarification that you needed to approve said sharing first. There were also unclear terms around other uses of this information. And, the nail in the coffin for me, was the requirement to access many things on my phone I didn't want to grant access to, like the camera. I would have been less alarmed if these things were optional, but they were listed as required instead.

So, yeah, no. I'm not giving any company that much access to my phone to gather unknown amounts of information, that can be shared in ways that I don't have any right of approval over.

Unclear Information Storage and Handling

The third and final nail in the coffin for me was information storage and handling. I was in complete shock to realize that the information handling was hardly documented. Some of the things that I hoped to find:

• Indications that information was encrypted. Most applications indicated it wasn't.
• Statement(s) of where storage of the information was located. I couldn't find any.
• Policies around data retention. There were none.
• Indications that canceled accounts (which, by the way, were required as well) would have all information related to the user removed. Nope. No such statement.

Don't get me wrong, this wasn't consistent across all apps. Some of them did indicate information was encrypted. And others might have partial data retention information, or data removal being available, etc. But none of them hit the marks in terms of me feeling comfortable with their stated policies. If anything, the process of researching these applications just put me more on edge.

The Closest

I will say, through my hazy memory from six years ago, it appeared Apple had the best policies, especially where health related information was concerned.

But, here's the thing, I'm an Android person. And no, I won't buy into Apple's closed ecosystem. And, I had just bought a new phone, so scrapping a new phone to buy an iPhone just was not in the cards.

The Other Things I Didn't Like

Even before I started looking at the applications that were used for health tracking with Smartwatches, I found there were other things I just didn't like. Basically, it comes down to this: too many features, inability to disable the features.

So, remember this started out as I wanted a device that could do some health tracking for me. And, of course, I also wanted the watch to tell the time. But that's it.

What I didn't want was a watch that would send me notifications. I didn't want to use it to control my media, receive messages on it, or make phone calls from it. I didn't want the literal myriad of other features that many of these “watches” provided.

That was when a light bulb went off in my mind. Smartwatches aren't watches, really. They are communication devices. Which is exactly the opposite of what I wanted. I wanted to get away from being tethered to a constant, intrusive communication device. This was my time to get away from the constant drag of being tied to that bloody f***ing cellphone.

That realization hit me while I was doing my research, which reinforced my growing certainty that Smartwatches weren't for me.

What Did I End up With?

Well, funny you should ask… I bought a smart ring instead. And not one of the big brands, like Oura. No, I bought a cheap, Chinese ring. “Why?” I hear you asking. The answer is somewhat surprising.

You might think that a Chinese ring would be worse in terms of data handling. Surprisingly that's not the case. The apps I looked at stated that they didn't gather any information. And, the only account they wanted was optional for “social” and supposed “information” features (which I would never use). They didn't want access to most of my phone (i.e., no camera, or media, etc.). They stated they would only use my information with my approval first. And, even better, they don't use Google's Health API.

Did I believe all of these statements? Absolutely not. However, there was one thing that I did believe: their devices had core functionality that would always work. The intrusive / scraping parts of their program wouldn't interfere with core functionality. I couldn't say that about any smartwatch, and I had an ace up my sleeve: TrackerControl.

TrackerControl allows me to block any endpoint that might be trying to spy on me. With TrackerControl installed I installed the app for the ring I'd bought (the ring hadn't been delivered yet). I verified there were five suspicious looking endpoints that the software was trying to communicate with, so I blocked them. Once the ring arrived, I connected the app to it, and everything started working. I verified again that there were no new endpoints being used now that the ring was active, and that was it.

The ring has worked well for the past year and a half. However, it's being replaced now. Why? Typical issue: battery failure. I don't know if it was programmed to do this, but the battery hasn't been holding as much of a charge over the past month or two. It's gone from 6 to 7 days per charge, down to around 3 days.

This time I'm replacing it with a bracelet. Why? Well, two things. First, it solves (or at least claims to improve on) the battery issue. Supposedly it only needs to be charged once a month. We'll see about that. The bracelet doesn't have a display, so it won't be using its charge for displaying information directly.

Also, it has more sensors, and the app gathers more information. There are a few things that I've wanted to track more closely that this ring doesn't. The bracelet should be able to (at least according to what I've read about it and the app), so it should be an improvement. And, for what it's worth, I'll still be wearing my watch, the bracelet will be on my other wrist.

Finally, I'll be honest, I don't like the physical form-factor of the ring. It's just too thick. It just bothers me. I thought I would get used to it over time. And, I have to some degree, but I still know that it's there all the time, it never goes away for me. So, hopefully a bracelet will just go away.

In Closing

I'm actually somewhat happy that things have turned out as they have. Switching to wearing a smart ring instead of a smartwatch left me space to explore wristwatches. That was the only thing that I was missing when I decided to get smart ring: something that displayed the time.

It may look a bit funny wearing a smart bracelet. But, hopefully not. They are thinner and smaller than most smartwatches since they don't have a display, microphone, etc. Hopefully it will (mostly) just look like a bracelet.

I think it's ironic that in order to get away from being tracked, and to keep my information private and secure I had to go to something that I would have thought would be the least secure option. Instead, with a bit of work, I was able to make it secure. This is something I doubt would ever work with the big smartwatches. There's just too much information and interconnectivity going on to be able to control the device using something like TrackerControl. And, if I was spending several hundred or a thousand dollars on a device, I want it to just work. I'd be even more annoyed if I found that I couldn't make it work the way I wanted.

So, there you have it. Cheap, hackable software / hardware for the win. And, in the process, I got to indulge in the hobby of wristwatches.

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Categories: #Essays Tags: #rant, #enshittification, #communication, #devices, #technology, #privacy License: Copyright Unattributed. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.what I am going to talk about today.

← See the full piece on Marshall On Policy https://go.marshall.ie/LNG-bill-from-field-notes

1. Creates a special fast‑track for one project The Bill disapplies the Planning and Development Acts, removing the Shannon LNG strategic reserve from the normal planning system. The Minister becomes the consenting authority; standard appeal routes fall away.

2. Switches off parts of environmental law Elements of the Birds and Natural Habitats Regulations 2011 (S.I. 477/2011) are disapplied, despite the site’s proximity to multiple Natura 2000 protected areas. A bespoke environmental assessment process is created with compressed timelines.

3. Narrows judicial review The Bill restricts who can challenge decisions, shortens deadlines, and limits cost awards.

4. Overrides the Climate Act Section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, requiring public bodies to act consistently with carbon budgets, does not apply.

5. Creates a potential consumer levy The Bill allows the Minister to recover “expenses” from Gas Networks Ireland, which can in turn recover them from consumers. There is no cost cap and no cost‑benefit test.

6. Allows Ministerial direction of other bodies The Minister can instruct other consenting bodies to prioritise related applications.

7. Commits to infrastructure before defining how it will operate A second bill, not yet published, will determine operation, governance, and risk allocation.

Exceptional powers demand exceptional justification; this Bill offers neither.

marshall.ie

← See the full piece on Marshall On Policy https://go.marshall.ie/LNG-bill-from-field-notes

Ireland’s track record on major capital projects raises an obvious question: how likely is it that a €900 million LNG reserve will stay within its projected cost envelope? Over the past 25 years, some of the State’s most significant infrastructure programmes – hospitals, transport systems, digital networks and administrative reforms – have exceeded their original budgets by wide margins, in some cases several‑fold. These overruns ultimately fall on the taxpayer: roughly 40% of total tax revenue comes directly from personal income taxes (or around 67% if you include the VAT charged on everyday spending). The examples below illustrate the pattern.

National Children’s Hospital • Original estimate: ~€790–987m • Current projected cost: ~€2bn+ • Overrun: ~€1bn+ • Status: Under construction

National Broadband Plan (NBP) • Original estimate: ~€500m • Final contract cost: ~€3bn • Overrun: ~€2.5bn • Status: Ongoing rollout

Dublin Port Tunnel • Original estimate: ~€149m • Final cost: ~€789m • Overrun: ~€640m • Status: Completed

Luas (initial lines) • Original estimate: ~€300m • Final cost: >€700m • Overrun: ~€400m • Status: Completed

MetroLink / Dublin Metro • Spend to date: ~€180–€245m with no construction • Cost drift: from ~€3bn to ~€7–€12bn • Status: Still pre‑construction

National Motorway Programme • Original envelope: ~€5.6bn • Final cost: ~€16bn • Overrun: ~€10bn • Status: Completed

PPARS (HSE payroll/HR IT system) • Spend: ~€231m • Outcome: Abandoned

E‑voting machines • Spend: ~€54.6m • Outcome: Scrapped

Public Services Card (PSC) • Spend: ~€70m+ • Outcome: Scope curtailed

Thornton Hall prison project • Spend: ~€30m • Outcome: Largely unused

Decentralisation Programme • Spend: ~€100m • Outcome: Abandoned

History may not repeat, but in Irish capital projects it usually rhymes.

marshall.ie

Cuando se reforma un baño moderno, una de las decisiones más importantes consiste en elegir productos que combinen perfectamente tanto a nivel estético como funcional. Por eso, cada vez más personas buscan dónde comprar canaletas y columnas de ducha coordinadas en España, evitando problemas de compatibilidad y consiguiendo un resultado mucho más elegante.

Comprar ambos elementos en una tienda especializada permite unificar acabados, materiales y estilo, además de simplificar la instalación.

¿Qué significa comprar un conjunto coordinado?

Una canaleta de ducha y una columna de ducha coordinadas no forman un kit cerrado, sino una combinación de productos compatibles entre sí.

Esto permite conseguir un baño con una imagen uniforme, donde todos los elementos comparten el mismo acabado y el mismo lenguaje de diseño.

Actualmente es posible combinar:

• Canaletas de ducha de acero inoxidable AISI 304.
• Columnas de ducha termostáticas o monomando.
• Rociadores de techo.
• Nichos de pared.
• Espejos LED.
• Accesorios de baño.

Cuando todos estos elementos mantienen el mismo acabado, el resultado transmite una sensación de calidad muy superior.

¿Qué debes comprobar antes de comprar?

No todas las tiendas ofrecen el mismo nivel de especialización.

Antes de elegir dónde comprar canaletas y columnas de ducha coordinadas conviene revisar varios aspectos:

• Fabricación en acero inoxidable AISI 304.
• Diferentes medidas de canaletas.
• Rejilla lisa o para aplicación de baldosa.
• Versiones SLIM.
• Instalación en suelo o junto a la pared.
• Columnas de ducha con diferentes configuraciones.
• Acabados coordinados.
• Disponibilidad de repuestos.
• Asesoramiento técnico.

Estos factores tienen mucha más importancia que una pequeña diferencia de precio.

La importancia de los acabados

Uno de los principales motivos por los que muchas personas buscan soluciones coordinadas es conseguir continuidad visual.

Hoy es habitual combinar:

• Negro mate.
• Blanco mate.
• Inox cepillado.
• Inox pulido.
• Gun Metal PVD.
• Oro Mate PVD.
• Cobre PVD.

De esta forma, la canaleta de ducha puede combinar perfectamente con la columna de ducha, el nicho empotrado, la grifería o incluso el espejo del baño.

¿Por qué comprar en una tienda especializada?

Las grandes superficies suelen ofrecer pocos modelos y escasas opciones de personalización.

Una tienda especializada permite elegir:

• diferentes longitudes;
• distintos acabados;
• varios tipos de rejilla;
• modelos SLIM;
• instalación en suelo;
• instalación junto a la pared;
• asesoramiento antes y después de la compra.

Además, resulta mucho más sencillo resolver dudas sobre compatibilidades entre productos.

PRGinox: soluciones coordinadas para baños modernos

Si buscas dónde comprar canaletas y columnas de ducha coordinadas en España, una de las opciones más completas es PRGinox.

Su catálogo incluye soluciones desarrolladas para conseguir baños perfectamente coordinados, combinando diseño contemporáneo y materiales de alta calidad.

Puedes encontrar:

• canaletas de ducha de acero inoxidable AISI 304;
• columnas de ducha en distintos acabados;
• modelos termostáticos;
• canaletas SLIM;
• canaletas para instalación junto a la pared;
• acabados PVD de alta resistencia.

Además, es posible combinar estos productos con nichos de pared, espejos LED y otros accesorios para mantener una estética uniforme en todo el baño.

Descubre la guía completa

Si quieres conocer todos los criterios para elegir correctamente una canaleta de ducha, comparar acabados, entender las diferencias entre los distintos tipos de instalación y descubrir cómo coordinar todos los elementos del baño, consulta la guía completa publicada por PRGinox:

👉 https://prginox.com/es/conjuntos-canaletas-columnas-ducha

También puedes acceder a la categoría que reúne todas las guías especializadas sobre canaletas de ducha de acero inoxidable:

👉 https://prginox.com/es/blog/category/guia-canaletas-ducha-acero-inoxidable

Conclusión

Elegir correctamente dónde comprar canaletas y columnas de ducha coordinadas en España supone una diferencia importante tanto en el resultado estético como en la facilidad de instalación.

Optar por una tienda especializada permite acceder a una mayor variedad de modelos, acabados y soluciones compatibles, consiguiendo un baño moderno, elegante y preparado para durar muchos años.

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Take-Away Summary

The NGO reaction is strongest on one point: the Bill passed in the Seanad does not legally restrict the LNG reserve to emergency use. That leaves open a pathway to commercial LNG expansion, strengthens arguments available to private operators, and sits alongside a legislative process that was formally guillotined in the Dáil and accelerated in the Seanad. The Bill disapplies planning law, environmental safeguards and Section 15 of the Climate Act, while leaving cost recovery mechanisms intact. The core issue remains unchanged – Ireland is committing to long‑term gas infrastructure before publishing the analysis needed to justify it.

What happened The Strategic Emergency Reserve Bill (the Government’s first LNG‑reserve bill) passed all stages in the Seanad on Thursday 16 July.

This follows a compressed legislative timetable in both the Dáil and Seanad.

Supporting timeline (verified) 19 June 2026 — First Stage (Bill presented to the Dáil) 25 June 2026 — Second Stage debate began Early July 2026 — Committee & Remaining Stages in the Dáil (under guillotine) 16 July 2026 — Passed all stages in the Seanad

What NGOs are claiming (and what is verifiable)

1. “Government rushed the Bill and cut short debate” Claim: NGOs say debate was curtailed and amendments were dismissed. Fact: • The Bill did move through both Houses on an accelerated schedule. • The Government applied guillotine motions in the Dáil (confirmed in the official record). • Seanad debate was limited to a short window before recess. Verdict: Supported by parliamentary procedure – debate time was formally restricted.

2. “The Bill opens the door to commercial LNG use” Claim: The Bill does not legally restrict the terminal to emergency‑only operation. Fact: • The Bill defines “emergency” but does not include a statutory prohibition on commercial operation. • The Government’s “emergency‑only” framing is political, not legal. • Shannon LNG’s legal representatives have argued (publicly and in filings) that banning commercial LNG while allowing a State LNG reserve would be discriminatory. • New Fortress Energy has previously expressed interest in leasing an FSRU to the State (publicly reported). Verdict: Substantively accurate – the Bill leaves commercialisation risk open.

3. “The Critical Infrastructure Act 2026 could expedite private LNG projects” Claim: The new Act allows the Minister to fast‑track certain projects, including Shannon LNG. Fact: • The Critical Infrastructure Act 2026 does give the Minister powers to designate and accelerate projects. • Shannon LNG is currently awaiting a planning decision. Verdict: Plausible and consistent with the Act’s provisions, though designation would be a separate Ministerial decision.

4. “The Bill disapplies Climate Law” Claim: Section 15 of the Climate Act is switched off. Fact: • The Bill explicitly disapplies Section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. Verdict: Confirmed.

5. “The Bill could lead to a levy on household bills” Claim: LNG reserve costs may be passed to consumers. Fact: • The Bill allows the Minister to recover “expenses” from Gas Networks Ireland. • GNI can recover costs through network tariffs, which ultimately reach consumers. • The Government has said households will not fund the reserve, but this is not written into the Bill. Verdict: Structurally accurate – the mechanism exists; the Government’s assurance is political, not statutory.

6. “Introducing new fossil infrastructure is incompatible with Ireland’s climate obligations” Claim: LNG infrastructure would lock in emissions and conflict with carbon budgets. Fact: • Ireland’s carbon budgets require significant reductions in gas use by 2030. • LNG infrastructure is long‑lived (20–40 years). • The Bill does not include emissions modelling or alternatives analysis. Verdict: Policy‑consistent argument, though it is an interpretation rather than a factual contradiction.

What the joint (press reaction from Friends of the Earth Ireland, Not Here Not Anywhere, Trócaire, and Uplift Ireland) press release does not mention (but matters) These omissions are notable: • The tightened emergency definition added in the Seanad • The 18‑week EIA/AA timeline • The Minister’s power to direct other consenting bodies • The disapplication of the Planning and Development Acts • The bespoke judicial review regime • The location (Cahiracon, Co. Clare) • The Government’s claim that household bills will not fund the reserve • The fact that a second bill will define operation and governance

These gaps give room to add structural context

Ah, we can always rely on Mahikari’s official teachings for top notch word salad.

Photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam ✪ on Unsplash

Here’s a new serve for you, from the first revelation in their bible, Goseigen: The Teaching of How to Perceive God (Kami o omou oshie), revelation at 5:00 am on 27 February 1959 (coincidentally Okada’s birthday). Japanese pages 25–30

Your True Self (SHINGA) is the Divided Soul from God (WARE), the wonderful being which has been originally endowed with both “God-Hood” and “Buddha-Hood.” Your True Self is connected with God's everlasting Great Life Force, and is bathed and living in it. Your souls are in commune with God's Love and the world of Wondrous Wisdom and are receiving His limitless Love, Goodness and Beauty as Heavenly Glory. They are allowed to live and receive His limitless joy on this earth. They are the I (WARE) which contains the True God and the True Buddha eternally vivid, alive and truly existent. You have been polluting, contaminating and clouding your souls throughout the long period of reincarnation and have not yet attained the mind of apology. You have not been aware of the true gratitude and the mind of requital and you have not truly attained the mind to avoid contamination. How regrettable.

God, being the great Love, contains both Great Mercy and Great Strictness as I have revealed to Thee. Therefore, He shows mercy to all, while He solemnly establishes “The Rule of Arrangement in Heaven and on Earth which is God's Principle.” He keeps and lets men keep “The Law” which all creatures and man must “follow” eternally. This is the true nature of God. Therefore, God is Love and at the same time, He is the truth. God regards His children, in other words human beings, as His representatives on earth. Upon the evil deeds violating the Heavenly Law, selfish exploitation of God and betrayal towards Him, He frowns and makes them realize and wishes to correct them. Finally, He cries, feels sorrow and sometimes gets angry. Moreover, in order to let you maintain the eternal life and attain God-Hood, He continues to give those who have contaminated and sinned, the deep cleansing of MISOGI, compensation and purification until they become aware of it. For the same reason, the Warning and Admonishing Phenomena are given to nations.

There is more to add. It can be overlooked that, as if you knew the truth, you have named by yourselves “Heaven's Rule of the Arrangement” as Heavenly Principle, Heavenly Rule, Heavenly Path, Divine Will, Divine Law and so on. However, you should never fail to understand the following: That is, you may gain the realization of eternal life and make the resolution in your mind to live in it by knowing the Law of the Great Arrangement on earth for the life of all creatures since the beginning of Heaven and Earth. In other words, you may become awakened to God's Truth and the Righteous Spiritual Path for you, Human (HITO) to attain God-Hood or the completion of the original goal as His children. With all of the above realizations and awakening, yon have only reached half-way towards the completion of manhood. In the eyes of God, it is only the attitude of loving and elevating yourself and it falls into the category of self-centered and selfish love. You should ponder this level. Why did SU-NO-KAMI create the human at the time of the beginning of Heaven and Earth and what did He want to achieve through the Divine Plan?

This all boils down to:

• Inflation: You are divine, but …
• Deflation: You are polluted, disgusting, sinful and unworthy.
• Dependency: Only God (and by extension, Mahikari) can purify you.

This combination is extremely effective at creating long‑term compliance. Clever fuckers.

#wordsalad #goseigen #teachings #misogi

The global race for artificial intelligence has matured far beyond a contest of corporate engineering; it

is now a defining geopolitical arena of the twenty-first century. As the United States and China contend

for technological supremacy, the European continent—comprising both the institutional weight of the

European Union and the post-Brexit United Kingdom—finds itself caught in a structural pincer. To

navigate this bipolar transition without forfeiting its autonomy, Europe must weigh two distinct

temptations: the Vassal Lure of total alignment with Silicon Valley, and the Siren's Call of Beijing's

state-centric alternative.

The Vassal Lure: Alignment with Silicon Valley

The United States offers Europe a comfortable, value-aligned partnership framed in the language of

democratic solidarity and NATO interoperability. This is the Vassal Lure. Washington's approach—a

private-sector-led, venture-backed ecosystem protected by the “small yard, high fence” export-control

doctrine—seeks a unified Western front against China's technological ascent.

For Europe, uncritical alignment with this model carries a long-term cost: dependency without

leverage. Because foundational AI infrastructure, hyperscale computing, and frontier models remain

concentrated overwhelmingly in American hands, transatlantic alignment without countervailing

investment risks locking European enterprises into permanent reliance on U.S. computing monopolies.

Washington's framework invites Europe to the table, but chiefly as consumer and security

dependent—constraining rather than enabling Europe's own industrial and technological ambitions.

The Siren's Call: Beijing's Alternative

China has offered a competing vision. President Xi Jinping's Global AI Governance Initiative

(announced in October 2023, since supplemented by a Global AI Governance Action Plan and

proposals for a World AI Cooperation Organization) explicitly calls for AI development to be open,

inclusive, and non-discriminatory, and insists AI must not become “a tool for maintaining hegemony or

seeking unfair advantages.” Beijing has paired this rhetoric with a related but distinct initiative—the

Global Civilization Initiative—that invokes civilizational pluralism more broadly; the two are

sometimes conflated in Western commentary, and the analytic distinction matters for anyone reading

Chinese diplomatic language closely.

By advocating a UN-centered model of AI governance, in which “the United Nations play[s] the

primary role,” China offers Europe an alternative to Washington's exclusive coalitions. It appeals to

Europe's traditional commitment to multilateralism and to the EU's own “strategic autonomy” instinct.

Beijing's implicit pitch: why bind Europe's economic future to American monopolies when a

state-backed but nominally sovereignty-respecting ecosystem is on offer?Beneath the inclusive rhetoric, however, lies a different reality. China's domestic model of “secure and

controllable” AI rests on state censorship and algorithmic alignment with authoritarian priorities—a

governance philosophy fundamentally at odds with what Europe claims to defend. Beijing's diplomatic

playbook has also relied at times on asymmetric economic pressure exploiting policy fractures between

individual EU member states. Embracing the Siren's Call too closely risks fragmenting the Western

alliance and leaving Europe exposed to targeted economic coercion.

Structural Realignment: A More Qualified Convergence Than It Appears

A dual-track strategy—engaging both Washington and Beijing without fully aligning with either—is

the logical hedge for Europe. Executing it, however, requires an internal cohesion that European

politics has historically struggled to sustain, and recent developments suggest that cohesion is more

contested than a straightforward reading of “the Brussels Effect” implies.

The post-Brexit UK cannot easily diverge from the EU's regulatory gravity: because firms build to the

highest applicable standard to preserve market access, the EU AI Act functions as a de facto continental

baseline regardless of UK domestic preference. But two qualifications are worth noting. First, the EU

AI Act itself is not a fixed, escalating edifice—by mid-2026 the Commission's “Digital Omnibus”

process had extended compliance deadlines for high-risk AI systems, reflecting real friction between

regulatory ambition and industry and member-state pushback. Second, the UK's own posture shifted

materially in February 2025, when its AI Safety Institute was renamed the AI Security Institute and its

remit narrowed from broad AI ethics (bias, free expression, transparency) toward security-coded

threats—cyberattack, fraud, and criminal misuse. This is not simply UK pragmatism bridging Brussels

bureaucracy; it is a substantive re-prioritization that puts London closer to Washington's security

framing on some dimensions even as market-access logic pulls it toward Brussels on others. The

“unspoken alliance” between London and Brussels is real but narrower and more conditional than a

single regulatory convergence narrative suggests.

Conclusion: Holding the Middle Ground

To avoid being pulled toward either the Siren's Call or the Vassal Lure, Europe cannot remain a passive

consumer or a pure bureaucrat. For lack of its own capability and capacity, Europe cannot continue to

rely on regulating technologies that it neither invented nor fully understands—a posture that mistakes

rule-writing for power. Hedging works only if Europe holds genuine leverage.

The EU and UK need their shared regulatory weight to function as a tool of market access, not merely

compliance overhead—one that obliges both American and Chinese firms to adapt to European terms.

Simultaneously, Europe needs to build sovereign computing capacity, cloud infrastructure, and its own

frontier-adjacent models, rather than treating regulation as a substitute for capability. In the AI hedge,

playing both cards is the only viable path—but staying at the table requires Europe to hold chips of its

own, not merely a rulebook.

If I live in another world will my RSS feeds be different?

A few days back, as I was pouring taco sauce in the high grass fringe, I saw a roe deer up close; he hadn’t seen me and was just as surprised in seeing me as I was in seeing him.

He looked really majestic as he hopped and gracefully ran the other way!

I probably looked just as majestic to him as he did to me.

Wearing crocks this fine day!

We were texting and I found out that she was high. The first day I met her, and that that’s something that she does pretty often. It’s not the end of the world, and I had an ex that was a huge stoner. But that’s not really something that I would like you know? And so it kind of does suck but at the same time, everyone has their vices, and so I cannot be too upset or anything like that. I also kind of noticed I’m waiting for her messages and I’m texting her a lot, especially during work, which maybe isn’t great, and I think it’s pretty obvious it really isn’t great. We have our first date in two days and I should not be talking with her this frequently. Additionally, I kind of noticed that I felt lonely today because I didn’t go to the normal social events that I do and I instead played games with my friends, which is not the worst, but overall I guess I was just a little bit socially less saturated than normal, and so I want to make sure that I’m not slipping up and leaving myself into a situation where it might become codependent again.