Nick @internic@social.cleverlibre.org

For a brief time this year, Amazon's bestselling "bitter lemon drink" was "Release Energy," which consisted of the harvested urine of Amazon delivery drivers, rebottled for sale by #CatfishUK prankster #OobahButler in a stunt for a new #Channel4 doc, "#TheGreatAmazonHeist":

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-great-amazon-heist

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

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/20/release-energy/#the-bitterest-lemon

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I wrote about my first two months on Mastodon. I was a Mastodon hater because I thought it would be weird, complicated, or dead. It's been none of those things.

I'm ashamed I didn't join earlier and I'm ashamed I haven't been telling people to join it, because it's a version of the internet and social media I've long advocated for with my reporting: decentralized, portable, user controlled, not corporate:

https://www.404media.co/mastodon-is-the-good-one/

Kevin McCarthy giving the nominating speech for Jim Jordan is like making the ex-boyfriend give the wedding toast. And to top it all off, McCarthy comes out and says that Jordan has been an effective legislator—even though he hasn’t passed a single bill into law in his 16 years in Congress. The response? Uproarious laughter from the Democrats. And well-deserved scorn.

#SimulatedUniverses
Rendering of the distribution of cosmic ay energies injected by structure formation shocks or by active galactic nuclei in a small cosmological simulation, and only considering a thin (20kpc) slice through the volume.

Visually, CRs from shocks are much more volume filling. The relative amplitude of the two depends quite a lot on the (unknown) acceleration efficiency of CRs by the two processes.

Rendering by F. Zanetti for her ongoing Master Thesis.
#astrodon #astronomy

BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce, Toyota, and Lexus are switching EV plugs

Volkswagen Group and Stellantis are the last remaining holdouts.

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/10/bmw-mini-rolls-royce-toyota-and-lexus-are-switching-ev-plugs/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Jargon watch: the term "shitposting" has appeared in three opinions indexed in Westlaw, including this one https://bit.ly/405pCiH

Jon Stewart ending his Apple TV show because Apple got uncomfortable about him talking about China tells you everything you need to know about Apple.

A company that says “Privacy is a human right” when it means tilting the mobile ads landscape in their favor but then is AWOL when it comes to actual human rights.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/business/media/jon-stewart-the-problem-ends.html

Study (N=7,195) finds compared to men, women have 44% higher odds of being pushed out of academia due to workplace atmosphere than pulled to a better opportunity elsewhere. Even after receiving tenure, women were still at increased risk of leaving.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03251-8

Report: Apple cancels The Problem with Jon Stewart over China, AI topics

The Problem with Jon Stewart seems to be that he could land Apple in hot water.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/10/report-apple-cancels-the-problem-with-jon-stewart-over-china-ai-topics/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Okta says hackers breached its support system and viewed customer files

Hackers obtained valid credentials, but Okta doesn't say how.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/10/okta-says-hackers-breached-its-support-system-and-viewed-customer-files/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

"In the vast majority of instances, the individuals targeted are Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, or Black, and many have faced racist and dehumanizing harassment as a result of the smears. Since 2014, we’ve handled thousands of such incidents—suppression of speech supporting Palestinian rights is nothing new—but it’s never been this bad."

https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/a-surge-in-suppression/

@jasonkoebler is a journalist who completely gets why -- at least for now -- Mastodon/fediverse is the way forward for social media that enhances your sense of integrity rather than demeans it. https://www.404media.co/mastodon-is-the-good-one/

Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, a key co-defendant in Trump's Georgia election interference case, has taken a last-minute plea deal. https://www.ajc.com/politics/jury-selection-begins-in-fulton-trump-case-amid-talk-of-plea-deal/O2LJI2U3ZNHKNCYG2QXNJLKCCI/

#ICYMI: From Israel to the United States, democracy faces a common challenge. But there are solutions to the challenge that will help safeguard our democratic values. And, to be frank, it's imperative that we do so. 👉 https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/netanyahu-trump-strongman-israel-weaker

The @cbc created a video on the Fediverse a few months ago:

What is the fediverse?
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2246740547994

@evan makes an appearance in the video.

#Fediverse

I definitely need to explain this better to people who aren’t American, because it’s reading like a callous joke - and it’s really completely honest and serious dark humor. Let me explain what happens when I rate a person down for unsafe rideshare driving in America:

They’re probably immediately banned from driving for the service, and they’re not paid for the (lengthy in my case) ride or tip, so no money that evening, and they now need to find a new job. In this economy.

Most people in America live paycheck to paycheck. Now no money is coming for them or their family that day. They have no safety net of savings.

Most rideshare drivers don’t have the most basic protections as employees they general American workers do. They may not qualify for unemployment quickly or at all. Either way they aren’t getting any food, shelter, or money immediately. They own or lease expensive cars, too.

If you don’t get food or rent assistance through those convoluted and hard to qualify for assistance programs, you’re pretty much dependent on charities with resources that week that do or do not deem you and your family godly enough to help. Unhoused people are all over in most US cities because there just are not enough resources or eligibility.

That’s the math empathetic Americans do every time we choose how to rate or tip service workers. Especially gig workers at unscrupulous companies. It’s legitimately- “ha ha… I could die, but this driver has little kids who need to eat and I don’t… ha… ha…”

I hope that explains.