Theres a neighbor that doesnt want to add more ambulances only cause they dont want to pay more taxes. Like dude, we have 4 ambulances for 100,000 people.
Some people just dont care, even when they know they'll benefit from it, too.
Where I grew up in rural texas: these are current times as I still go there regularly to visit.
Convenience store: 10 km down a major highway
Market: 20 km
The nearest Walmart : 58 km <-- this used to be the only option until they built ... The nearest chain grocery: 21 km
Train: 60 km (Amtrak)
Park: 8km. Down a road with a 60 mph (96 km/h) speed limit. But definitely walkable.
Bus stop: ??? There is no public transportation in the town of under 2000 people. Google maps won't even give me a suggestion so...I have no idea. Does a greyhound count?
Library: 21 km
The only things I see that have a visa logo on it, are those prepaid cards. Out of all the cards I've ever had, bank or credit, I'm pretty sure only 1 has ever been visa, and that was like 15+ years ago, everything else is, or has been MasterCard.
Idk, ask the Texas Tribune, haha.
I feel people have made the same mistake before, and confused crowdtangle, which is a disinformation tracker, and tangles, which is a "surveillance-for-hire outfit." Meta probably felt the need to clarify, at least once time before.
One point of contention. I dont think tangles is some defunct meta app. Texas has recently acquired a contract with a law enforcement surveillance tool called tangles.
Tangles is a product offered by the cybersecurity company Cobwebs Technologies, which was founded in Israel in 2014 by three former members of Israeli military special units. The company has said their products, which are marketed as open source intelligence (OSINT) tools, have been used to combat terrorism, drug smuggling, and money laundering, but Meta has accused the company of operating as a surveillance-for-hire outfit. In 2023, Cobwebs Technologies was acquired by the Nebraska-based tech firm PenLink Ltd.
This tool is out there, and still being used.
Ohhh nooooo! That's not funny! Well, maybe for the dog.
But, that really sucks for the tech.
Per the article
The resolution simply requires the hand counting of physical paper ballots at the precinct level to ensure it matches the total reported by the tabulators. This does not involve a hand-count tabulation of the vote totals but rather simply the total number of physical ballots cast at that particular precinct.
So, because in Tennessee, a QR Code error created a mismatch between the number of physical ballots vs tabulated ones, and they found the same code error in 64 out of 66 counties in Georgia's tabulators, they are going to hand count the number of ballots to make sure it matches the number the tabulators counted. Especially, since they apparently found a bunch of additional ballots in some counties, as well...
I mean, this seems reasonable on the surface. But, considering the situation, it seems like it could all go really sideways.
Isn't there another way they could count just the number of paper ballots? Like, as they come in, instead of later on, by hand? I'm not sure of the way thier system / machines work, or of a way that would convince everyone of privacy, but...like a laser counter that counts every time its broken, or something...Idk, there just seems like there has to be a better way.
Edit: so really, objectively speaking, this is an issue. One that wouldnt be caught unless they ordered a hand recount after the fact. I mean, obviously, this isnt an objective source, but, unless theyre just straight up making this up (which I suppose is a possibility), how is not having every ballot counted OK? Isnt there a better suggestion than breaking the seal immediately, counting everything by hand, and inviting all the issues that come with that? Something that could even be presented to the court or something as an alternative, that everybody could agree with. At least people could say they tried to solve the issue another way. If it gets rejected, then it would be plainly obvious there were ulterior motives. At this point, it sounds as if theres some plausible deniability behind the reasoning for hand counting.
Thats a street urchin. Strangely, this blog post was one of the first links that came up. It ponders how the name street urchin came to be.
It says
Looking in the OED, I see two possibly relevant definitions. 1c. A goblin or elf. (From the supposition that they occasionally assumed the form of a hedgehog.)... There is also 4a. A pert, mischievous, or roguish youngster; a brat.
Edit: formatting is crazy
Theres a link to the other article, in this article. Says Kristin Houser wrote it...although you may have a point about the rest.
I would think maybe Sour cream instead of Mayo. Make it more creamy and give it a bit of that acidity.
That happen to a person in our group in Australia, but with cocaine. We were waiting to collect our baggage before customs. The officers told them to put it in thier waistline and see if the dog would sniff it out. Pups was sucessful and got some pets. He didn't have a Kong tho.
Bet they use this case as reason to ban abortion pills instead.
Syphilis can hang out for something like 30 years. Maybe they were on a break, or he got infected before they got together.
Wow! Thank you for such a detailed answer. Even without some weird law, it's good information to have, and with a little elbow grease, it sounds completely doable. And if it keeps people from getting in trouble / protects privacy, I'm all for it!
I find this interesting. Does one just install software and buy a domain? I would assume theres somewhere you have to register with in order to federate. I mean, if theres no one to go after, this would be a nice work around. At least, until theres a site for every Texan that figures it out.
I think semi public would be like setting your facebook profile to private. It shows your name, and basic details, but doesn't show all your posts or interactions.
Edit: haha, you kinda answered this somewhere else as I was typing.
Or, like, not allow registration for under 18s at all, I suppose.
Problem is, one would still have to find a way to verify the registrant is over 18.
Its getting more dystopian by the week. I would say day, but a lot of brains don't move that fast here.
Texas SCOPE act takes effect Sunday. How does Lemmy comply?
The new SCOPE Act takes effect this Sunday, adding protections for kids online through age verification and stricter marketplace regulations but one non-profit is challenging it. Will a judge block it? #OnlineSafety #ConsumerProtection #SCOPEAct
"The SCOPE Act takes effect this Sunday, Sept. 1, and will require everyone to verify their age for social media."
So how does this work with Lemmy? Is anyone in Texas just banned, is there some sort of third party ID service lined up...for every instance, lol.
But seriously, how does Lemmy (or the fediverse as a whole) comply? Is there some way it just doesn't need to?
can I post mineral collection here?
I can remove this post if it is inappropriate.
I have a collection of rocks and minerals. It's not the bestest as most are small specimens, but at last my collection could finally serve a greater purpose. Maybe I could get help identifying some in the process.
It's just all these pictures look so professional, I don't want to misconstrue the purpose of this community.
Thanks
how does my "neighbor" hear my private telephone conversations.
This is completely strange, and very long. I've exhausted all my ideas, and need fresh ones.
Some background.
- my neighbor is old, very very old. Also, they are not very mobile. So something like creeping up to the window and listening in is out of the question. Although, a very long time ago (decades) they did used to hang out near an air condition vent, listening to our in person conversations.
- when I say neighbor, I mean they live in a small house connected by a breezeway to my house. I do admit they are rather close. Yes I do have access to thier house.
- i have no real idea of thier level of technological expertise. They are pretty manipulative so even though I'm under the impression they're very limited on expertise, it's possible they know more than they let on. Let's just say at this point, they say they have difficulties placing calls to thier saved contacts on thier jitterbug flip phone, but when your not looking they're already on the line with someone, like five seconds after you walked out the door. As far as we know they do not have access to the internet, but who knows. They do know how to navigate to at least a limited number of websites though. (Slight fear of them seeing this post, haha)
- they digest far right media. This in itself doesnt seem relavent, but I suppose, in my head, this might be able to give them awareness of the types of technology that one might use to pull something like this off.
- It is remotely possible that someone could have installed something inside the house maybe about 15-20 years ago, and given the neighbor access to it.
- they are on a limited income, and are not independently wealthy. Any technology would have to be no only easy to use, but on the less expensive side as well.
So... Maybe about once a year for the past few years a topic or phrase that was talked about over the phone would come up in conversation the next day. Not a big deal, written off as coincidence. That's just how it goes sometimes. Well now, we've had a falling out. For the past few weeks they have brought up many private conversations I have had over my cell phone with at least 2 different people. They repeat not just what I say, but what the person on the other end of the phone says as well. I say, "Man, im pretty sure they're hearing my phone calls." The other person says, "Maybe there's a bug somewhere." The next day they start to prattle on about...a bug on the wall. But not a real bug...oh what do you call those things...you know, bugs that know things. Or I say "I'm worried about this escalating." The other person jokingly says "Oh, don't eat or drink anything from them, unless they take some first.. They may try to kill you." The next day neighbor is handing me a concoction they've made. "Oh, I've just sat down with this mixture I've created for my health. Everything I put in it is sitting on the counter there. (Cue various herbal supplements / tinctures) here have the first sip... it's not going to kill you." They are bringing up / creating situations centered around private converstaions from the night before. They may skip a day or two here and there, but it's a pretty regular occurrence.
Something worth mentioning, is that while im on the phone call, I will turn on my Bluetooth and use my earbuds. Everytime the buds connect, the call drops, and we have to call each other back. I figured I was pushing a button wrong or something and hanging up. But since the neighbor has gone somewhere, we have not been able to replicate the situation.
Things we have tried but have since been disproven:
- At first we thought we were leaving windows open and they could just hear it...but all windows were closed.
- maybe they can hear through the walls somehow, they are thin. But its never been a thing before. (why would they have to hang out by aforementioned vent, then) We blast the radio real loud and see how much we can hear from neighbors porch. Can't make out exact words and doesn't explain hearing the other person.
- well thier radio automatically connects to iPhones ( un-updated iphone from the air drop debacle/ f-ed up feature of the radio involving nfc and bluetooth) and it did pair with my phone at some point. Maybe they can the other person over thier radio. But we tried to make it work and just cant replicate it.
- we've checked obvious places for a walke talkie looking receiver. Nothing.
- we've used one of those cheap bug detectors off Amazon and checked the house...and the vent. No wires comming out of strange places as far as we can tell.
I'm at my wits end. What could they be using and how can I stop it? It maybe all a coincidence, but then its as much so as Facebook / Google targeted ads that arent listening your conversations. I mean, what, are they an advanced algorithm that can guess what your thinking based on all available data on you?
Help! And thank you for taking the time. Also, sorry about the format / spelling getting all this out on mobile is tough.
TL:DR. My really old neighbor seems to hear my both sides of cell calls to at least 2 different people. Is there simple, rather cheap technology put there that they could be using. And how do i go about finding it / making it stop.