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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2023

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  • The Republican agenda for over 50 years has been to eliminate federal agencies. Reagan was overwhelmingly elected and he campaigned on closing Carter’s recently created department of education.

    If it’s not explicitly in the constitution, they believe it should be operated by the states or by a corporation. It’s not about “why do they want to close it”, it’s “why should this exist” - especially when (they think) a corporation could do it better. Bonus: corporations make money and you can invest in them to make money for yourself.

    Generally, the idea is a very small federal government and more sovereignty for each state. It’s easy to misunderstand this when conservatives are also calling for federal restrictions on health and freedoms. Don’t fool yourself to believe there’s consistency in politics.

    The world was very different two hundred and fifty years ago. Our lives, commerce, and opinions are no longer impeded by state boundaries. The reason for this country to exist still remains but the context has changed. Anyone holding conservative ideas is, intentionally or not, holding this country back.

    Moreover, if you think this administration gives a shit about anyone but themselves and corporations, you my sweet innocent child are truly out of the loop.

    Again, going back to Reagan, Americans have been convinced that the government is bad and enriching corporations is good. Trickle down economics is still by and large considered good for workers. You give tax breaks to the billionaires and corporations and, in theory, they can employ more people. Of course we know now that trickle down economics has been a failure and that enriching the poor and middle class is best for the entire economy.

    The United States is a failure. It came close but it doesn’t scale. We need a new Constitution and Bill of Rights that more explicitly outlines the responsibility of the federal government and what The People can trust it to do for them. If you want a truly Democratic Republic, we also need to make election day a holiday, fund election campaigns strictly through taxpayer dollars, and implement ranked choice or STAR voting. Footnote - the new constitution would have to explicitly say election campaigns are an exception to any free speech clause because fuck Citizen’s United.


  • oxjox@lemmy.mltoPhotography@lemmy.mlWhat does lemmy think?
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    10 days ago

    You have two light sources of different colors.
    Diffuse your light source and block ambient light. This is best achieved, in part, by increasing your shutter speed and using a strobe. Without the strobe, you should get a black image. Adding a diffused strobe would minimize specular highlights. I also find it helpful to use props (plates) that don’t reflect light as much. Speaking of props, the table looks like it’s from an office lunch room.

    The camera is at an awkward angle.
    You’re not totally parallel with the table and the carrots aren’t perfectly perpendicular. Always nice to get it perfect in the shot but this should be fixable in post.

    Carrots are raw.
    I’m not sure if you want to cook them, maybe just blanch them for a minute then cool in ice water so they at least look appetizing. Blanching would bring out more color too.

    That might seem like a lot but it’s really not. I mean, you gotta make do with what you have so ignore the comments about props. Work on composition and lighting and, if you’re shooting food, make it look edible. If you don’t have a diffuser or strobe, your first step should be blocking that ambient light. You want a large black surface facing the carrots from the bottom left. To diffuse light, you can try covering your light source with a piece of parchment or tracing paper or a white sheet.

    This is actually a great submission and easy place to get started. Not too complex. Should be easily improved upon.

    Edit: I will say, after looking again at the tiny thumbnail version of this, the lighting looks interesting. It almost looks painted with light. It’s not until you look at the full size photo that you can spot the inconsistencies.


  • The “in general” part of your statement is doing a lot of work here. It’s a bit more complicated.

    It’s absolutely true that many manufacturers are using cheaper materials and near-slave wage labor to make clothing. Industry, in general, has changed dramatically in the past 10-15 years as we’re seeing a flood of low cost garment makers who can ship direct to consumers at a fraction of what we’re used to paying for clothes. There’s a substantial portion of the industry (Shein, et al) that’s putting out ultra trendy clothing for tens of dollars.

    There’s also still good quality brands out there but their stuff costs more than the cheap(ly made) stuff. Most consumers don’t see or understand the value in spending more today for something that will last more than five years. Especially in regard to fashion; trends and styles change so why would you want to wear something more than five years. Also, a lot of people do not know how to properly care for their clothing.

    Consumers have greatly benefitted from certain international trade regulations at the expense of quality materials and craftsmanship and unfair wages. Speaking on behalf of Americans, the costs of our goods would be noticeably higher without the legislation passed during the Reagan and Clinton administrations. You could also argue we’d be able to afford it if the jobs remained in this country and we were being paid fair wages.

    I’d argue that WAGES are what have been enshittified more than anything else. People are making less money today than they did 30 years ago.

    For reference, I looked up Levis 501 Jeans from 1996 and today.
    1996 - $37.99 | 2025 - $79.50

    If I run this through the inflation calculator, $38 in 1996 is worth $75.97 today.

    Now, if you convert $50k, that should equal $100k today. I have my doubts that a job that paid $50k in 1996 is paying $100k today. I’m not sure about my math / source but it appears to me that the median hourly wage in 1996 was $18.94 and in 2024 $24.75. Adjusted for inflation, it should be $37.99 today.


  • oxjox@lemmy.mltoPrivacy@lemmy.mlEveryone knows your location
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    18 days ago

    Apple released a more user friendly version of this in 2021 https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/A_Day_in_the_Life_of_Your_Data.pdf

    I think it’s safe to say that, at this point, most people know that their information is being sucked up. But very few care at all. Some of the people I’ve spoken with are actually in favor of being tracked because they find it beneficial and they want better ads. I don’t know if this is a real desire for them or if they’ve been brainwashed.

    The chance of your personal data being used against you is increasing every day. Leaks are happening all the time; largely from databases presumed to be more secure than an app on your phone. Still, relatively few people are really affected by this.

    Please tell me otherwise but it seems that the worst thing the data collecting raised in this post could do is manipulate an algorithm to show you ads or social media content or other website content (most concerning, political propaganda).

    That’s to say, okay - this is weird but you have to tell people why they should care if you want them to raise concern. WHY is this “terrifying”? I mean, I can speculate but even the worst case scenarios I’ve told people about have barely raise an eyebrow.








  • oxjox@lemmy.mlOPtoPlex@lemmy.caApple TV alternatives for Plex?
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    29 days ago

    This is so frustrating.

    I was saying to people who were upset about losing TikTok that no one should be so invested in an app or some technology owned by someone else that losing it upends their life. And now here I am waiting for Plex to send out an update to all but exempt me from enjoying my own media.

    I am exhausted with these companies making changes to their products. I have cancelled so many subscriptions, deleted so many apps, because someone wants to fuck with the user experience that helped them gain so many users in the first place.

    Luidditeville, here I come.



  • By constantly asking “why”. Certainly, by asking why something is popular and ponder that for as long as needed until you come to a reasonable conclusion.

    You may never conclude why some things are the way they are but by keeping this in mind, you’ll pick up the habit of thinking independently.

    Actually, one of the things I’m always wondering is how I became an independent thinker. I have a hard time understanding how so many people are so gullible and what I can do to help them.

    I can’t help by attributing my independent thinking to being somewhat isolated and poor as a child. I’m self sufficient and reject most things that are popular.

    I also worked in advertising as a graphic artist for a few years. It became apparent that I am not cut out for thinking like everyone else. Advertising still annoys the heck out of me.


  • A quote is not a source. The news often misquotes people or takes words out of context.

    A tweet should be screenshotted with the original link along with an alternate to xcancel.com.

    If the tweet itself has a link or mentions something elsewhere, a link to that source should also be provided.

    Sounds like a lot but anything less is misinformation, as far as I’m concerned. So much news and memes have been spread where the subject is taken out of context. Hours or days or years will go by before people come to discover the true meaning of something and by then the impression has already been made.