Given today’s temps, this beast is keeping in with the environmental controls.
Also, be safe!
Holy crow, let’s keep cool today!
Meta is looking to screw you again
Meta sucks and is trying more nonsense. If you must stay on instagram or facebook, be aware of what is happening. (Best thing is still leaving the platform altogether)
🔒 🚨 MEGA PRIVACY UPDATE: What Meta isn’t telling you about their latest change.
If you see this notification on Instagram or Facebook, pay close attention. Meta is quietly removing the option to fully “Disconnect Future Activity” from your account.
Here is exactly how this limits your digital privacy and what it actually means:
🛑 The illusion of choice: You used to be able to completely sever the link between your off-Facebook/off-Instagram browsing habits and your account. Now, Meta is replacing it with a setting called “Activity from other businesses.”
🕵️♂️ Tracking stays on: Instead of stopping the tracking, this new setting only lets you choose whether Meta uses that tracking data to show you personalized ads and content. The tracking itself doesn’t stop—they just change how they utilize the data they’ve gathered about you.
📉 Less control for you: By retiring the original “disconnect” feature, Meta is making it harder to keep your data siloed. Your external app usage, shopping habits, and website visits will remain tied to your Meta identity.
What you can do right now:
1️⃣ Go to your Accounts Center.
2️⃣ Find Your Information and Permissions.
3️⃣ Click on Your Activity Off Meta Technologies.
4️⃣ Look for Activity from other businesses and adjust your settings to limit how they use your data.
Don’t let them quietly strip away your privacy controls. Check your settings today!
#PrivacyMatters #DigitalPrivacy #MetaUpdate #DataProtection #TechNews #InstagramPrivacy #FacebookPrivacy #CyberSecurity #ConsumerRights
Flying v and a fire!
Fire pics(see prev entry)
Day 20,970 seed 570501080801
First feedback from using the gmrs channel 20 repeater
Called out as “WSJP248 checking in, anyone on the air?
Got a response, and asked about a fire up the hill, and it helped me to find out this info
ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – Roanoke County Fire & Rescue crews are responding to the Havens Wildlife Management area in the Fort Lewis area for a brush fire as of early Friday afternoon.
The County said at noon, “There are no structures in the area and no threat to the public at this time.”
One to two acres have burned as of noon, according to the County, and the fire will likely grow. “There’s a lot of thick brush in the area which will produce heavy smoke.”
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
I suppose I am a plebeian
Of the artists I just haven’t been able to appreciate in my entire life is Jackson Pollock, and just now I was reminded of Cy Twombly.
Neither of them evoke anything in me in response to their art, except “good for them, I guess, looks like trash to me.”
The backyard zoo, July 2
chipmunk, deer with baby, squirrel, bird chase, crazy bug
#roanokeva #backyardzoo #chipmunk #deer
Nice little bonus with our food
A couple of thank-yous for the tip: a bunny with a carrot and a dapper monocled person with a mustache and top hat. Both are wearing pretty large bow ties, drawn on mini Post-it notes.
Pretty smart, actually. I found it very endearing.
The confederacy chose treason to preserve slavery. It’s really that simple.
This season of Rebel Spirit is right on target.
[Rebel Spirit] Episode 7: The Daughters
https://podcastaddict.com/rebel-spirit/episode/227279930 via @PodcastAddict
Throughout this season Akilah has spoken with many people – historians, politicians, journalists, artists, designers – and in every conversation one name keeps coming up. The Daughters of the Confederacy. So in today’s episode, Akilah is taking a closer look.
Rebel Spirit is a production of Ninth Planet Audio in association with iHeart Podcasts.
Reporting and writing by Akilah Hughes, she is also the Host and Executive Producer.
Produced and Written by Dan Sinker.
Yesterday, 6 out of 9 Supreme Court Justices decided that the plain text of the Constitution was Constitutional.
Thomas wrote a 91 page dissent as to why what we can plainly see isn’t what it seems. What bullshit.
No AI diagnosis, thank you!
I arrived at the doctor today, and they handed me a tablet with a new agreement that they wanted me to sign at check-in. I looked at it, and one thing stuck out like a sore thumb.
According to the current Carilion General Consent to Treatment and Financial Agreement, part six: (emphasis mine)
6. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI): Carilion Clinic may use Al tools to assist my healthcare providers. These tools may include, but are not limited to, software that assists decision-making, records information, or helps prepare documentation for my healthcare providers to review and approve. Any data used or recorded by Al tools will be kept in accordance with federal and state privacy requirements.
When I asked the person at check-in if I was going to be denied treatment if I refused, she stated, “Oh, don’t worry, they just use that for dictation.”
I then told her, “Well, that paragraph has me sign away a whole lot more than just allowing a tape recorder in the room. That decision-making portion feels really bad.” I then asked again, “Does this mean I can’t get treatment if I don’t sign?”
Her response was to call someone else, and in the end, she ultimately got the response that we could print out the document, draw a line through the portion I disliked, initial it, and they would scan that in, noting that I disagreed with the AI portion.
Please be sure to read your forms given to you by anyone asking for your signature, and make very sure what they are saying is the same thing that is in writing.
To put it in perspective.
They’re bragging about “thousands” being on the national mall?
The National Mall in Washington, D.C. receives an average of 68,000 to 137,000 visitors per day, without a “fair”. I’d say attendance was even lower than any other given day without it.
Also,
Having a competitive eating contest with only four contestants is pathetic, but that the winner of this pancake-eating competition isn’t decided on merit-as in, who eats the most pancakes-but is based on who gets the most applause is a perfect metaphor for how Trump views… well… everything.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/great-american-state-fair-event-201050555.html
Grafton monster and Powerhouse
I wanted to make this a sticker back when Fallout 76 was a thing. I still do, maybe after I do some other cryptid art to match.
Heroes of Roanoke doodles, via @the.gleest
Costumed Heroes… and Villains… Are Appearing Across the Roanoke Valley
At first, everyone thought it was just another internet rumor.
A blurry photo near the Roanoke Star.
A shadow on the Greenway.
A figure perched high above downtown just before dawn.
Then came the videos.
Now… people are asking if the Roanoke Valley has its own superheroes.
The first to capture the public’s imagination was The Roanoke Raven. Dressed in midnight black with a purple mask, witnesses claim the mysterious guardian has been spotted watching over downtown rooftops before disappearing into the night. Some say they’re protecting the city. Others insist they’re simply waiting.
Not long after came The SALEMander.
Equal parts firefighter, athlete, and neighborhood legend, the crimson-clad hero has reportedly been seen racing toward danger rather than away from it. House fire? Flooded street? Cat in a tree? No one can prove anything… but people keep telling remarkably similar stories.
Then, circling overhead (or at least somewhere high enough to judge us all) is The Vinton Vulture.
Despite the intimidating name, locals insist this masked mystery has a knack for finding what others have lost. Missing pets. Missing wallets. Missing hikers. If something disappears, don’t be surprised if a dark-winged figure quietly points rescuers in the right direction before vanishing without a word.
Unfortunately…
Heroes rarely appear without villains.
Reports have begun surfacing of The Hollow King, a ghostly figure said to emerge from abandoned places and forgotten tunnels beneath the valley. Wherever he walks, lights flicker, echoes linger, and people suddenly remember stories they’d rather forget. Some believe he’s more myth than man. Others refuse to go looking.
More concerning is the arrival of The Roanoke Ravager.
Unlike the others, the Ravager doesn’t hide. He wants to be seen.
Witnesses describe shattered signs, overturned park benches, mysterious claw marks, and a booming laugh echoing through the mountains. Every appearance seems designed to test the city’s newest protectors.
Coincidence?
Performance art?
An elaborate social media campaign?
Or something stranger?
Authorities have no official comment.
Local photographers are suddenly carrying better zoom lenses.
And somewhere beneath the glow of the Mill Mountain Star, heroes and villains may already be choosing sides.
If you happen to see a caped figure disappear over a rooftop…
Don’t panic.
Just wave.
They might be on your side.
