I heavily recommend getting very good at spotting Meta glasses. Like I'm talking so good all you need is a glance. Otherwise, I would go about public life bearing in mind that more and more people are wearing expensive camera glasses that can record you without you realizing.
Learn how to identify smart glasses through visual cues, behavioral patterns, and recording indicators. Handle privacy concerns with this pr
Ready or not, the smart glasses future is upon us.
With smart glasses, there are concerns around being recorded. Fortunately, you can watch for indicator lights and certain movements as a way
Here are some basic primers. If someone is wearing what look like Meta glasses, they usually have a small circular camera in the outer corners of the lenses, like the one on your phone.
I would also regularly check their own product pages so you're on top of what the models look like. They tend to have larger frames, but come in a variety of shapes and colors.
Shop every style. Every color. Prices from $299 to $499. Browse Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta AI glasses and sunglasses to find your pair.
The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media's coverage of how people are using Meta's Ray-Bans smartglasses to film p
A new hobbyist developed app warns if people nearby may be wearing smart glasses, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, which stalkers and harassers have repeatedly used to film people without their knowledge or consent. The app scans for smart glasses’ distinctive Bluetooth signatures and sends a push alert if it detects a potential pair of glasses in the local area.
The app comes as companies such as Meta continue to add AI-powered features to their glasses. Earlier this month The New York Times reported Meta was working on adding facial recognition to its smart glasses. “Name Tag,” as the feature is called, would let smart glasses wearers identify people and get information about them from Meta's AI assistant, the report said.
Not necessarily, because Meta has military contracts (source 1, source 2, source 3), is testing surveillance tech on their own employees and their customers (source 4, source 5), and there are at least two class action lawsuits against them for privacy violations (source 6, source 7, source 8). There is also some sketchy stuff about workers being forced to review material, which may or may not be used without the customer's permission, that is sensitive, graphic, and/or pornographic (source 9).
The American Foundation for the Blind has said that "The Ray-Ban Meta glasses are an accessibility tool only by coincidence. That makes them more affordable and, in many ways, unaware of the needs of users with reduced vision" although they do have seemingly positive views on Meta Glasses as a whole. (source 10). It also seems like their marketing push as accessibility devices began last year (source 11).
But to add even more into the nonsense, Meta is now toying around with adding a "limit" to the functionality of their glasses unless their users pay for more access (source 12). AND, as stated above, Meta has officially added facial recognition code in their glasses and only admitted it after being called out, which is basically the death of privacy as we know it (source 13, source 14, source 15). And oh look another lawsuit because of it (source 16) THAT THEY LOST (source 17)!
Long story short: I don't begrudge someone using them as a disability aid overall, but ultimately both their privacy and other people's privacy are being disregarded by Meta and that is not and should not be acceptable by any means.
I understand there is no ethical consumption under capitalism but there is a level of personal responsibility someone has to take when using them if they truly truly need them, such as opting out of sharing information, not filming strangers without permission, not posting footage of strangers online, opting out of facial recognition if possible, etc.
Disabled people deserve assistive technology AND privacy rights, and Meta is not the solution.
The KIDS act (which contains KOSA) passed the US house, so I would recommend calling your senators and telling them to vote in opposition. I don't think I need to stress the importance of being able to use the internet freely and without privacy barriers being breached.
There are many scripts online you can follow, many ways to tweak your message to fit your senator (ESPECIALLY if they are up for reelection this year). Whether it's a recording you reach or a real person, be straightforward, don't argue, just let your rep know that you are a constituent and you oppose the KIDS act, etc.
Here is where you can search for your senator... call, email, fax, bring them physical letters, show up in person to their offices if you are able.
Weirdly, the more bored and resigned I sound about getting a medical thing checked out the more efficiently they check it out. Like, "Hi, I have had 4 pulmonary emboli and I'm having leg pain which is probably not a clot but I'd feel very stupid if it was and I didn't get it checked out."
ER doctor: you mean if I just send you for a leg ultrasound right now and it's clear you'll leave?
Me, picking up my book: yeah, I'm just gonna read until we get it done
Fastest ER visit ever (it was not in fact a clot but I sure would have felt dumb if it had been)
Or, "hey so this test result came back weird and so I think we have to rule out a benign pituitary tumor."
The more specific I get with what I need the faster they order tests. For the RA diagnosis it was, "hey this is probably some weird post viral arthralgia but could we do an arthritis panel since I've got 27 affected joints?"
If the doctor says something dismissive or they don't know, I ask for them to refer me to someone with more expertise in this area.
I had to go through three different practices to find a spinal surgeon who did not tell me that operating on me would be too dangerous because I'm fat. But the third one was like, "Oh, I'm not worried about you coding, there's just a risk that it won't work. But it has a hundred percent failure rate if we don't try."
I did not code. The surgery worked. Was it perfect? No. Did it drastically improve my quality of life? It gave me my fucking life back. I can sit. I can be out in the world and not in blinding pain.
It is so important to not take dismissals and such as the final answer. I got so much bullshit for so many years. It nearly killed me twice, people blowing off clots as muscle pain or "depression".
Track your symptoms. Make a list. Talk about how it affects your quality of life. Ask for physical therapy, ask for second opinions. If you have an idea of what might be wrong, ask them to help you rule it out. Also ask for patient assistance, nonprofit hospitals have it. You might have to go through their labs and their doctors but it can cover an awful lot.
Take a friend with you, or a family member. My pcp asks if I want a chaperone (I don't) but literally having an extra person with you can help.
Being me feels like a full time job sometimes, medically, but no one else is stepping up to it, you know?
ID / TL;DW: young Black man explains the history of voodoo dolls: they originated in England, where Black people where prohibited from learning to read or write, to help witches keep track of what ailed their patients. Eg., person goes to witch and laments headache, they treat their headache and make a small doll (called "poppet"), trying to represent them as good as possible, stick a needle in its head and put it up a shelf. When they return next week, the witch takes their poppet and asks about their headache. If it's gone, they remove the needle, otherwise they know they have to treat a rather persistent headache.
Come to think of it, it really is insane that my entire country is burning alive and literally no one in the rest of the world cares. Thousands of Indians are dying every day from the heat, it's 45+ degrees in multiple areas, the government couldn't give two fucks, we're getting severe warnings and red alerts, and not a soul outside of South Asia is speaking about it because why would you ever care about brown people
For everyone who ‘used to love reading’ but now hasn’t finished a book in years, you CAN get it back. Genuinely start bringing a book (preferably short and either fiction or a non fiction topic you already really enjoy) everywhere you go and when you have 5-20 mins waiting for the bus or at the doctors office or mechanic or whatever, get out your book and read it! You don’t have to finish it quickly or even read it often but it is so good for your brain and fun to get into the habit of reading more (and replacing being on your phone for those moments). Source: I read 0 books in 2023 and I’ve read 12 in the first 4 months of 2026
the amendment that "ended" slavery specifically left permission for slave labor as punishment for convinced criminals and our inmates have been legally exploited ever since, yes
[Image ID: Facebook post from Dr. Josh Olds reading: I've been hearing criticisms about the type of people some folk think take advantage of government assistance. "But Josh, what if it's a drug addict that uses Snap funds?"
Oh honey,
My American tax dollars have funded terror across the world.
It has purchased bullets that murdered civilians in Iraq.
Paid for bombs dropped on children in Gaza.
Financed police violence against Black and Brown bodies in my own country.
It has subsidized private prisons.
Been used to exploit the poor.
And enhanced the wealth of billionaires.
Allowing an addict to eat might be the most holy thing my tax dollars have ever done. /End ID]
throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s, our generation was inundated with aave. it eclipsed lolcat as the "funny way to talk." ain't nobody got time fo dat turns into dat boi o shit waddup. this is blatantly not an "aracial" or "gen z" way to talk. it IS black english. not to mention the amount of black reaction images!!
WHY, specifically, is it black peoples' facial expressions that are seen as just so comical or exaggerated? analyze the history of this nation's comedy and tell me why you might be predisposed to thinking of black peoples' faces as just, "more emotive" or exaggeratedly funny than a white or nonblack person's
and throughout those years, 00s-10s, many black bloggers -- victims of the mass staff-led purge (under the cover of them being 'russian' while reichblr still exists) -- they DID tell us it was a problem, DID try to educate people who freak out at the insinuation of 'being racist,' DID argue, DID point out the duplicity and the appropriation and the gross equivalence of african american slang with unintelligence, goofiness, etc. and they were ignored, abused, cancelled, chased off, until being eventually mass deleted by our racist transmisogynistic staff.
we didn't do enough, and the generation after us gen z "kids" didn't stop the trend. using the '-ahh' suffix. rizz. no cap. ate. delulu. it's giving. it's serving. crash out. lock in. aura. tea. main character. bruh. slay. real. keep it 100.
all of the following images are or were popular reaction images! what do they all have in common?
it feels like the effort to categorize slang as AAVE and not 'gen z' or 'gen alpha' slang has really petered out. it feels like we stopped talking about digital blackface in an era where the administration is posting ai-generated videos of black women who speak and act like exaggerated stereotypes and it frustrates me because we all have a responsibility to understand our generation's role in normalizing this type of racist shit for kids today. this needs to be addressed!
In light of recent events, I have begun submitting bug reports when I see mature content labels applied inappropriately to posts, especially if an appeal has been rejected.
for what it's worth: after a few months of submitting help tickets as 'feedback' when i saw a post inappropriately flagged as mature, i tried following this suggestion instead. today i got my first-ever response from tumblr support on this issue, letting me know that a post i'd submitted a ticket before has had its mature content flag removed.
This is legitimately brilliant. Bug burndown reports (the rate at which your software team can close bugs) is a major metric for most software houses.
It takes an extra step in our part, but this is part of what makes it effective. It's not one click, one reblog activism and it hits them where they care: their damn KPIs.
For anybody looking to replace YouTube with a frontend (or switch from one frontend to another), here's a quick pretty long tutorial (with visuals)! ⬇️
If you're switching frontends or don't care about exporting your subscriptions, then you can skip to the Picking A Frontend section.
Leaving YouTube
Leaving YouTube behind sucks because you lose all your subscriptions. But it doesn't have to suck because there's a way to export those, actually!
Google Takeout is a service Google offers that allows you to export your data from their sites.
When you open the site, most things will be pre-checked. Hit the "Deselect all" button, as we only need stuff from YouTube. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, check YouTube, and then click the "All YouTube data included" button.
This will bring up a menu where you can select what exactly you want to download. You can hit the "Deselect all" button at the top of the menu, and then select only subscriptions.
Next, hit the "OK" button at the bottom of the menu, and then click "Next step".
This will bring you to the page where you choose how to receive the file, when/how often to export, the file format, and file size. The default options should work just fine, but you can pick another destination if it's more convenient (Email, Google Drive, DropBox, OneDrive, etc.).
When you're done, click "Create export". Since the amount of data you're exporting is relatively small, it shouldn't take very long to receive the file. Once it arrives, download it to your device, and make note of where you saved it.
You will need to unzip the file once you've downloaded it to access the files inside. Use your file manager to unzip the folder and save it somewhere you'll be able to find it once we get to the Importing Your Data section.
Picking A Frontend
All YouTube frontends have their own pros and cons, so I'll list some of them here and you can decide what's best for your needs.
Desktop App Frontends
FreeTube
FreeTube is basically the best way to watch YouTube on any computer. It's available on Linux, Mac, and Windows. It's quite heavily customizable, and it's the only option I've listed (I believe) that has the option for parental controls and an optional password lock for the settings. It includes SponsorBlock. The feed reload times are pretty short, but the videos take a little longer to load than on some other frontends.
Browser Frontends
Invidious
Invidious currently has three public instances, but it can also be self-hosted (self-hosting is fairly resource intensive and complicated to set up). Each of the public instances are slightly different, so I'll give them their own sections. Instances and backends that are geographically closer to you tend to run better.
inv.nadeko.net — Nadeko is hosted in Chile. Accounts are supported.
yewtu.be — Yewtube is hosted in Germany. It does not allow users to make an account.
invidious.nerdvpn.de — NerdVPN is hosted in Ukraine. Accounts are supported.
The accounts you make on Nadeko and NerdVPN are different accounts and do not sync with each other. Invidious does NOT have SponsorBlock or Return YouTube Dislike. It has basically-instant feed reload times, but videos tend to take longer to load, and they might be at a lower quality and/or buffer frequently. You may also have to switch backends or instances while watching a video if you encounter an error.
Piped
I have not personally used Piped, but it seems fairly similar to Invidious. The main site is piped.video, but this instance is bugged and doesn't allow users to log in or register as of writing this. The only other instance currently up and running seems to be Private Coffee. I was able to register, however I'm getting a "sign in to confirm you're not a bot" error, so I don't know how well videos play. I also can't find an option for importing data. Piped includes SponsorBlock.
iOS Frontends
Unwatched
To be honest, I didn't know there were frontends available for iOS, but I heard this one being recommended, so I checked it out. Unwatched follows the same design structure that most iOS apps do, so it should be pretty intuitive to use if you're already familiar with iOS apps. The UI isn't very customizable, but the experience in general is. Unwatched is JUST a video player, though; you can't create playlists or read comments. The feed and videos load very quickly. Unwatched includes SponsorBlock.
Android Frontends
YouTube Revanced
YouTube Revanced is not actually a frontend, but I'm ignoring that for the sake of simplicity.
Revanced is the closest you'll get to the official YouTube app because it is the official YouTube app, just with fake Premium, SponsorBlock, and Return YouTube Dislike, as well as a lot of other QOL features that can be found in the settings. You can leave comments, post videos, scroll the Recommended/For You page, edit your channel, and everything syncs with the official YouTube app and site. You can probably get the age verification pop-up while using this app. This is NOT a good option if you're worried about privacy, as everything you do is still shared with Google.
Flow
Flow is a relatively new contender in the YouTube alternatives ring, and I'm checking it out specifically for this post. Its main perk is that it has its own algorithm that's kept local to your device, and you can see exactly why a video was recommended to you. You can alter what the algorithm shows you through Interests and Blocked Topics in the settings. The UI is very similar to the official YouTube app, but it's not as customizable as other options on this list. There are dedicated Shorts and Music tabs, and the UI for each stays very true to its official counterpart. Flow includes SponsorBlock and Return YouTube Dislike. Both feed and video load times are very quick.
LibreTube
LibreTube is another frontend I'm looking into just for this post. The UI is more similar to the official Youtube app than NewPipe and PipePipe, but it's not as close as Flow is. You can choose whether to fetch data directly from YouTube, or to use Piped to fetch data instead. LibreTube has an option to log into a Piped account, and this will allow you to sync your subscriptions and playlists to Piped. Includes SponsorBlock and Return YouTube Dislike. I did have to uninstall and reinstall it because it wouldn't show the newest videos from my subscriptions the first time.
NewPipe
NewPipe is probably the most basic frontend on this list. It does NOT have SponsorBlock or Return YouTube Dislike. It can theoretically act as a frontend for FramaTube/PeerTube, media.ccc.de, SoundCloud, and Bandcamp as well, but I haven't tested that out. Its a very solid frontend, though it is a bit slow to refresh.
PipePipe
PipePipe is a fork of NewPipe, and it has the features other fronends have that NewPipe lacks. It has SponsorBlock and Return YouTube Dislike. It can also be used as a frontend for BiliBili and NicoNico in addition to FramaTube/PeerTube, media.ccc.de, SoundCloud, and Bandcamp. It's faster to refresh than NewPipe is, as well. This is the frontend I personally use on my phone.
Importing Your Data
Importing subscriptions and playlists from YouTube to a frontend or from one frontend to another can be a... frankly shitty process. I'm here to make that shitty process as easy as possible.
Importing to FreeTube
Open Settings, click or scroll down to Data, hit Import Subscriptions and find the "subscriptions.csv" file from the Google Takeout.
Importing to Invidious
Nadeko:
NerdVPN:
You must be signed in to import your data! Click the gear icon in the top right, scroll to the bottom of the settings page, click "Import/export data", click the "Browse..." button next to the "Import YouTube CSV or OPML subscriptions" option, and find the "subscriptions.csv" file from the Google Takeout.
Importing to Piped
Piped doesn't seem to have a way to import data at this time.
Importing to Unwatched
On the Queue page, tap the meatballs menu, then "Import YouTube Subscriptions", then hit "Select File" on the pop-up that appears and find the "subscriptions.csv" file from the Google Takeout. You will also be able to select exactly which subscriptions you want to import.
Importing to YouTube Revanced
There's no need to import data to Revanced as you will be able to connect your Google account and retain all your data as-is.
Importing to Flow
Tap the gear icon in the top right to open Settings, scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit "Import Data", then hit "Import from YouTube" and find the "subscriptions.csv" file from the Google Takeout.
Importing to LibreTube
Open the kebab menu in the top right, open "Settings", hit "Backup and restore", then "Import subscriptions" and "YouTube (CSV)", and find the "subscriptions.csv" file from the Google Takeout.
Importing to NewPipe
On the Subscriptions page, open the kebab menu in the top right, hit "Import from", then "YouTube", then tap the "IMPORT FILE" button at the bottom of the page and find the "subscriptions.csv" file from the Google Takeout.
Importing to PipePipe
On the Subscriptions page, open the dropdown menu in the top right, hit "YouTube" from the "Import from" list, tap the "IMPORT FILE" button at the bottom of the page and find the "subscriptions.csv" file from the Google Takeout.
Closing Thoughts
After your data is imported to your frontend of choice, you're done! Feel free to comment on this post or DM me if you run into any issues, or if I've made a mistake in this post. Thanks for reading!
I saw this when running newpipe. But wait, it gets deeper. I clicked on the details buttons and it said as of today, we have 83 days left until Google rolls out this new requirement for apps inside and outside of the google play store. If any developer disagrees with their new terms and fees, they will be blocked!
I'll share some of the info below:
Looks like they're trying to nuke the remaining privacy and freedoms we have left on the internet.
What to do?
-Get your developer friends to not comply to their new guides
- Sign the open letter on the site and take action by checking out the full resources list on their website as well!
To summarize, this is all daunting especially when you feel all alone with unfair and inhumane regulations comming out faster than improvements but we got this working together!
Share the link with your friends, family and anyone who will listen!
Your phone is about to stop being yours. In September 2026, Google will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with them.
Wait. So the Trump administration really cut funding to the program that would research and respond to the spread of New World Screwworm past the Darién Gap because they blamed it on climate change, and left the joint international program to Mexico and the Central American Countries... And are panicking now that it's reached Texas, and only now that the flies have already made it all the way from Panama to Texas are they building New facilities to produce the sterile male flies needed to eradicate the pest?
I'm sorry to everyone who lives on the entire continent.
America is Trump's pump and dump scheme. If he's not getting a third term then he'll break the country for whatever poor soul has to clean up his mess.
New World screwworm had been eradicated from the US since the 1960s, Elon Musk brought it back in a year.
Notably, DOGE cut the funding a few days before the US resumed imports of cattle from Mexico... the imports that had been suspended because of the screwworm outbreak in Mexico. So we've had a year of importing cattle from Mexico during a screwworm outbreak without monitoring the outbreak that we already knew about. Mexico's outbreak is pretty bad btw, and cases have been found not just in cattle and dogs but also humans. I assume the rest of Central America too. Not that many people seem to give a fuck about them ig.
Why is it that every time I google something like "Are olives poisonous to cats" the top results are always like "Fun fact: Cats are carnivores! This means that they eat meat. There is no reason to include olives in a cat's diet. You should feed your cat cat food, which is dry or wet food especially designed for cats. You can purchase this at a store." like is there a single person alive on the planet who's googled "Are blueberry muffins safe for cats" because they're planning on switching their cat to a muffin-only diet??? No, I'm asking because the little bastard somehow popped open the packet while I was putting away the groceries and dragged one under the couch before I could react and now I need to know if I should call the after-hours vet. "Cats should not eat spaghetti." NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!!!! "Try to keep human food away from cats." i live in a studio apartment with a completely silent and permanently hungry apex predator who has the intelligence of a toddler and the desperate Machiavellian cunning of a creature who spent his formative months on the streets. He can already open doors and he is this 👌 close to learning how to open the microwave. He is stronger than me and covered in knives. So im gonna do my best but for the moment i just need you to tell me whether this yoghurt is going to kill my son y/n
I've been using the pet poison hotline's poison list cause it has a search function. It also tells you whether something is mildly, moderately, or severely toxic which can be very handy! It doesn't contain like everything but it might be a good place to start, it also includes plants for fellow houseplant lovers <3
Explore Pet Poison Helpline®s vast knowledge on poisons by reviewing our pet poison list. Explore our top 10 poison and holiday poison lists
For plants specifically, there’s also a wildly detailed set of posts and listings about toxicity on the old, wonderful, Plants Are the Strangest People blog
Strange racists and homophobes on the internet seem to have access to an alternate way cooler version of TV than me. "every white character on TV is in an interracial relationship" "every show has a gay couple in it" "main characters keep having to secretly be bisexual and nonbinary" "every show has gratuitous full frontal nudity" like damn promise?? What channel???
for real though, those DO NOT WATCH OR YOU'LL CORRUPT YOUR CHILDREN lists put out by conservative christian family groups is where I find all the stellar tv shows. Like, shit I didn't know half of those existed, thanks for finding them for me, gonna go watch 30 hours of gay tv now!
For personal context, before I went to the '98 Burning Man festival, one of the things I'd read from a couple different journalists was that "everybody" runs around naked. Which, fine by me, I'd already spent a lot of time in clothing-optional spaces, I'm not fanatic about it but it's nice.
So I got there early and set up a public shade structure on one of Black Rock City's main roads and spent most of each afternoon just watching the crowds go by. I don't remember seeing more than one actually naked person the whole week. I think a topless woman passed by my intersection maybe every half an hour, sometimes once an hour. So why in the hell were people, normally pretty smart and observant writers, coming away with the impression that everybody was naked?
Then I remembered an unrelated passage from Joel Garreau's great book about the history of the outer-ring suburbs, Edge City. Mall developers told him flat-out that they tried to keep the crowds in their malls less than 5% black. Not because they themselves were racist, but because they had determined, experimentally, that if more than 5% of the people in the mall are black, the median white shopper will wrongly describe the mall as at least half black, as mostly black. And not a few of them would describe it, at 6% black, as a mall where "only black people go." Why?
Because, emotionally, they were still upset over the last one when the next one came into view.
Same as the journalists describing Black Rock City as all naked. Same as the right-wing religious culture warriors describing television as entirely mixed-race and gender non-conforming. Not because it's even vaguely true, we know that, but because they haven't gotten over their discomfort over the last one by the time the next one comes along. The anger, not the stimulus, is the part that's continuous, so their mind lies to them that it's "all" the thing they can't get over.
Similar effect for the presence/proportion of women in things, by the way: https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/how-17-equals-496-the-amazing-multiplying-women.htm
