I was going to rant about communists and cavemen, and use this as the basis of a stream of consciousness rant, but nah flock it.
This is my review of Deftones Milk of the Madonna Horchata Blonde Ale:
The number of headlines over these goddamn cameras keeps growing. Now I maintain that my opinion of Flock itself is mostly neutral, the existence of such a device was going to happen as a result of the demand for it. Somebody was going to fill the market’s demand from Orwellian shitlords in the state and local governments that wished they could figure out who was violating their precious COVID curfews and who (raises hand) went to the gym and placing all into a database where they can cross reference places you frequent for later use. Now they can! In the end Flock is, unprincipled, unethical, but not necessarily evil.
Its not like these things are completely without use. A private actor might certainly have use for surveillance, the trouble being those places already have such systems in place and are typically open about doing so. Nah they’re putting these in places rife for abuse. Some of the headlines thus far that irritated me:
- This one placed in the parking lot at a gun range in Wisconsin.
- This one in Michigan in front of a cannabis dispensary.
- This one in my neck of the woods, where a cop took advantage of his access to the database to search for an elderly family member.
I know several of you that are old, smokes pot, and like to shoot their guns. All of you are now shouting “that could’ve been me!” while doing all three at the same time.
Luckily there appear to be signs they realize they are overstepping in many locations. For my home in AZ, which culturally is somewhere between the cast of Tombstone and the SoCal type that made Big Bang Theory and its multiple spinoffs popular, its not polling particularly well:
Otherwise, I am envisioning a future where nobody leaves their home without their Kabuki mask.
Listen, I’ve liked Deftones since I was in high school, but the song that comes to mind with this beer is Seven Words. Deftones? Good. Beer? Good. The combination? They’ve put their names on good products before. The problem is I don’t like the popular Mexican beverage, horchata. So why did I think this was going to result in anything but me wishing to go outside and throw the half empty can at the nearest Flock camera? Turns out…there are no Flock cameras near me, so I am just repulsed. Deftones Milk of the Madonna Horchata Blonde Ale: 1.8/5
Is there a reason the posts aren’t posting as scheduled?
Something related to a recent WordPress “up”grade?
Yes, but the site is noticeably faster, so I mean, every time you have to update, it becomes a battle of wills to reset things that shouldn’t have broken.
Moj, before reading your previous postings and accomplishing things unheard of in this household, I was gonna brag about assembling a bench for the shower.
You done good. Now I’ll have to convince Mrs F that the shower bench was really a feat and I almost had to call for help.
Aw, thanks Fourscore! I only run to my husband for help when my brain is mush.
It’s the employment of anti-FIrsting technology and we all know it.
Looking at the map from the deflock site Mojo linked last post. It appears in my little city most of the cameras are on the main arteries, using secondary streets it would be possible to avoid them (for now). One of you enterprising nerds with programing skills should make an app that guides you around the cameras, if there is one already.
isn’t one already.
My little town has none, although the cities north and south of me do.
There are at least two in my town.
They likely rat out the truckers coming down the hill to the weighstation to the east.
I’m guessing there is at least one on the Washington side that alerts WADOT that truckers have entered the state, so the weigh station can track them and or write them speeding tickets.
Trying to avoid the Flocks would make you a suspicious person that requires additional surveillance, maybe an upgrade on the hidden factory installed car camera.
The driving equivalent of structuring.
I structure plenty of my routes to avoid stop signs and roundabouts.
I’m boxed in.
😡
Just a few in my town – a couple trained on the Mall parking structures and a mess of them trained on vehicles exiting the Holland Tunnel from Manhattan.
Here the vast majority (30+) of the Flocks are all over the local university campus. County sheriff has two on a major highway, the local Lowe’s has three, and a small office park has one.
For some reason there’s none at the local community college, but 5 at the local Home Depot.
One of you enterprising nerds with programing skills should make an app that guides you around the cameras, if there is one already.
Wouldn’t that require the app to know and track your location?
Piggyback that off of all the trackers already on your phone?
Deflock relies on user entered data. I haven’t checked recently, but there were a few in NH that were not flock cameras but were other surveillance cameras.
First thought on Flock: Agreed on unavoidable. People do it with their homes on their phones, why not their car? Business … expand, etc. ‘Easy’ ‘solution?’ Somehow, whatever way, a complete ban on police using it pre or post ‘crime / investigation?’ Not allowed in court, or ‘most likely,’ it requires a warrant. Can get neighbors, etc to agree and can pool resources. That kinda makes sense after a crime to get video surveillance for proof.
I, myself, am freshly stoned and haven’t gone down that rabbit hole, but I’m glad Flock is slapping people in the face with a reminder of the Skynet they invented and welcomed in.
It’s not just the police I worry about.
I don’t want private entities having that data, regardless of how common it is for companies to hoover up data they should not be keeping.
Flock, Palantir, Google, Facebook, X, your car, your appliances, your phone…
Somehow in my lifetime we have ‘progressed’ to the point that all of us are under more effective, constant and detailed surveillance than actual prisoners in custody were when I was born.
Hmm. I haven’t thrown my brain into that, yet. Insurance tracking cars and drivers seems unavoidable, and I’m guessing that’s well underway even if one hasn’t openly agreed to it.
The most obvious step for “privacy” is to DNA finger-scan everything, necessitating the database and whatnot, and *everything* used or space entered needs Human Verification for liability and customization(!) demands. When that gets too cumbersome, it’ll be ‘modernized.’ We’ll radiate out our own DNA scent for scanners to pick up and sort out.
I take some inward solace ‘knowing’ I’m far, far too small for anyone to use ‘it’ against me, directly, but that’s just a little lie to tell myself. I’m also on Medicaid, so it ain’t like I’m not a known quantity.
I’ll shut the game cams off on the driveway during HH.
Zep, my bee partner had some unattended property that he used on the week ends. He had game cams watching the driveway and his garage/storage building. The local thief, who lived a 1/2 mile away was unaware, drove in, tried to push the garage door in.
Nice pictures when the deputies arrived after the fact (when notified).
“Yeah, we know that guy, he lives a couple houses away. ” The perp did a little time, has restitution payments which he makes from time to time.
Yesterday was also a fun culmination of my very profitable July, getting my little severance package from the title service. I’m rather pleased with my $5500 bank account, the highest it’s been possibly since I got back to America in ’22.
*cheerful face* Have fun today, kittens and kaboodles. And whatever UCS is identifying as, these days. *stair narrows*
You should use wider risers and make sure the railing is secure. Narrow stairs can be dangerous.
Nah, ya simpleton. I’m rather robust, telekinetically. On your path, I amplify any concern in your being. To fuck with ya, I narrow the stairs as you arise or descend, heightening the claustrophobic peril you’re in. (Think about it.)
I save my narrowed gazes for those who accidentally demean me.
I shall now use “stair narrows” at every opportunity.
(Just wanna say, that was intentional, not an auto-fuck. Didn’t wanna stomp on anyone else’s gays.)
Suuuuure it was!
Paging RC Dean, RC Dean to the medical ethics courtesy phone.
If you could email me at ‘thecow’ at ‘my screen name’ .com, I would appreciate it.
Done.
Most new cars have had built-in surveillance systems for the last 5 to 10 years. The car records everything it does and transmits that data back to the OEM who then sells it to anyone that will pay for it.
Per recent legislation, all vehicles starting with the 2026 model year must have driver surveillance systems to ensure the driver is capable of safely driving the vehicle. The legislation puts no restrictions what what happens to the surveillance data that drives this monitoring. So the OEM will absolutely be storing and reporting to the back office to be sold to anyone that will pay for it.
Flock cameras are just another dimension of the total surveillance state we live in.
“New cars, last 5-10 years”
That let’s me off the hook
I have a 2024 car with one of those systems. It’s pretty bad. It will alert when I’m checking to my left or right and sometimes when I look over my shoulder before changing lanes.
That is one of the reasons I HATE the wife’s Subaru. Not only is it a tinny build quality, but road sensors out the ding dong, controls in weird places, and just not a fun car to drive.
TWIP
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/08/the-week-in-pictures-dog-days-of-summer-edition.php
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2026/08/22/meme-with-me-i-want-to-be-your-meme-supplier-cant-you-see/
Huzzah! That is a five start crop.
Mahalo.
that thread made me go find this picture.
real life; real place
https://www.flickr.com/photos/beothuk/8000165560
Intersection of Gay and Church in Nashville made me chuckle.
Another week of MS taking one for the team. I hope next week goes better MS.
Sounds like this was a Whore Chata, am I right?
👏 Golf 👏 Clap👏
I swear this “1057” cheese from scotland is named for the year it was made.
It has proven to me that it is possible to age cheddar for too long. Before now, I would have not believed it.
Is it a blue cheddar?
No, not on any of the packaging or the appearance of the cheese
@Grummun from dedthred
My FANTASY setup, but I have a Steelcase I adore, so next best thing.
Also, I don’t know if I’m a munchkin. I don’t have to move my neck up or down to see anything.
Before
After
The “after” is soothing. Well done.
I put my 60s SteelCase desk on some 2 1/2” risers I made so I could get my knees under it
I haven’t bought a vehicle for a long time but when I last did I checked the brochures for the one with the most leg room. I also don’t want anything where I’m sitting too low. Hard for an old taller guy to get in-out.
I can climb up and step down easier than scrunching down to get in and figuring out how I’m going to get out.
Finally, a real benefit
Italian brainrot burst forth on the internet in early 2025. The memes are weird, AI-generated characters with faux Italian-sounding names. A cow with the body of the planet Saturn and large human feet is known as La Vaca Saturno Saturnita, while a frothy coffee in a tutu is called Ballerina Cappuccina.
Grown-ups can find Italian brainrot confusing, but kids love the Dadaist characters. And sensing an opportunity, products geared toward a younger audience are regularly using brainrot characters.
That includes Steal a Brainrot, a video game made by a company called Do Big Studios and launched last year, shortly after brainrots took the youth internet by storm. In the game, different brainrot characters come out on a conveyor belt and players pick them up. But they can also steal brainrots from each other. Steal a Brainrot is one of the top games on the online gaming platform Roblox, with hundreds of thousands of players logging on at any moment to steal each other’s characters.
Building a better world.
I guess I am officially old because none of that makes the slightest sense to me.
Ooh, thunder.
Flock those stupid cameras.
“I know several of you that are old, smokes pot, and like to shoot their guns. All of you are now shouting “that could’ve been me!” while doing all three at the same time.”
Spud, is that you?
Karmelo Anthony does not get a new trial at this time. The decision can be appealed but I suspect it will be upheld.
Something about not doing the crime if you don’t want to do the time.
I think somewhere along the way kids needs to be taught this. Going to jail/prison ain’t like going to school.
Screw up in school and you might get booted out. Screw up in prison and you might get dead.
Seems like some decisions would be easier to make than others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoxQWFtqaYM
The problem is I don’t like the popular Mexican beverage, horchata. So why did I think this was going to result in anything but me wishing to go outside and throw the half empty can at the nearest Flock camera? Turns out…there are no Flock cameras near me, so I am just repulsed.
Sounds like I should pass on this beer.
But I could use a beer. I was at a gun show earlier and I was a dumbass. I bought an expensive gun history book forgetting that I already had it. Shit.
I imagine someone you know will enjoy receiving it as a gift.
Mexicans are weird. I once bartended in a Mexican nightclub (in Colorado), and people would order Coors Light with ice or Coors light with tomato juice.
I like when I respond with actual data on something like universal healthcare and the people assume that I’m getting paid by the insurance companies and I’m a shill. Like they can’t even fathom someone who doesn’t agree with them, but also the arguments I put forth are so professional that they think I’m doing it for money rather than just my absolute disgust with left wing politics in all of its forms.
I should start advertising my services. I’ll take Shekels , dollars, or yuan. No questions asked. I’ll do the work of a bot army with one long winded rant that your enemies can’t help but hate read.
It’s actual fun getting the AI to spit out answers where it admits that universal healthcare has piss poor metrics in nearly everything that matters because general questions just tend to favor the general opinion of morons. The fact that Google’s AI gives you summarized Reddit slop for most of what you ask is pretty fucking funny.
AI is Family Feud writ large. Survey Says!
Apropos
To GT:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sXzw3z9LL._SL1293_.jpg
The first time a lefty responds to a point I make without calling me names, will be the first time.