>First, we’ve discovered that about a quarter of all the internet connection in or out of the house were ad related. In a few hours, that’s about 10,000 out of 40,000 processed.
>We also discovered that every link on Twitter was blocked. This was solved by whitelisting the https://t.co domain.
>Once out browsing the Web, everything is loading pretty much instantly. It turns out most of that Page Loading malarkey we’ve been accustomed to is related to sites running auctions to sell Ad space to show you before the page loads. All gone now.
>We then found that the Samsung TV (which I really like) is very fond of yapping all about itself to Samsung HQ. All stopped now. No sign of any breakages in its function, so I’m happy enough with that.
>The primary source of distress came from the habitual Lemmings player in the house, who found they could no longer watch ads to build up their in-app gold. A workaround is being considered for this.
>The next ambition is to advance the Ad blocking so that it seamlessly removed YouTube Ads. This is the subject of ongoing research, and tinkering continues. All in all, a very successful experiment.
>Certainly this exceeds my equivalent childhood project of disassembling and assembling our rotary dial telephone. A project whose only utility was finding out how to make the phone ring when nobody was calling.
>Update: All4 on the telly appears not to have any ads any more. Goodbye Arnold Clarke!
>Lemmings problem now solved.
>Can confirm, after small tests, that RTÉ Player ads are now gone and the player on the phone is now just delivering swift, ad free streams at first click.
>Some queries along the lines of “Are you not stealing the internet?” Firstly, this is my network, so I may set it up as I please (or, you know, my son can do it and I can give him a stupid thumbs up in response). But there is a wider question, based on the ads=internet model.
>I’m afraid I passed the You Wouldn’t Download A Car point back when I first installed ad-blocking plug-ins on a browser. But consider my chatty TV. Individual consumer choice is not the method of addressing pervasive commercial surveillance.
>Should I feel morally obliged not to mute the TV when the ads come on? No, this is a standing tension- a clash of interests. But I think my interest in my family not being under intrusive or covert surveillance at home is superior to the ad company’s wish to profile them.
>Aside: 24 hours of Pi Hole stats suggests that Samsung TVs are very chatty. 14,170 chats a day.
>YouTube blocking seems difficult, as the ads usually come from the same domain as the videos. Haven’t tried it, but all of the content can also be delivered from a no-cookies version of the YouTube domain, which doesn’t have the ads. I have asked my son to poke at that idea.
disclaimer: I am east asian. if anyone who is not white sees anything wrong with my phrasing, inaccuracies, or insensitivity, or something I missed, please feel free to add on. I’m just one person with one perspective; none of what I say should be taken as The Singular way to draw an Asian character. if you havent done so already, please take the effort to expand your view of Asian culture outside this one tutorial.
if a white person reblogs this and adds something stupid I’m going to bite and kick you like a wild animal
idk who needs to hear this rn but suffering is not noble. take the tylenol
A couple job interview hacks from someone who has to give a job interview every single goddamn day: (disclaimer: this goes for my process and my company’s process, other companies and industries might be different)
1. There are a few things I check and a few questions I ask literally just to figure out if you can play the game and get along with others in a professional setting. Part of the job I interview for is talking to people, and we work in teams. So if you can’t “play the game” a tiny bit, it’s not going to work. Playing the game includes:
- Why do you want to work here? (just prove that you googled the company, tell me like 1 thing about us, I just want to know that you did SOME kind of preparation for this interview)
- Are you wearing professional clothing? I don’t need a suit just don’t show up in a ratty t-shirt and sweatpants.
- Are you able to speak respectfully and without dropping f-bombs all the time? Not because I’m offended but because I don’t want to be reported to HR if you wind up on my team.
- Can you follow simple directions in an interview?
2. Stop telling me protected information. I don’t want to know about what drugs or medications you’re on, I don’t want to know about you being sick, I don’t want to know if you’re planning to have children soon, I don’t want to know anything about your personal life other than “can you do the job?”
3. When we ask, “What questions do you have for me?” here are my favorites I’ve heard: - What does the day-to-day look like for a member of your team?
- If one of your team members was not performing up to his usual standard, what steps would you take to correct that?
- What can I start doing now to accelerate my learning process in this job?
- What are some reservations you have about me as a candidate? (be ready for this emotionally….it will REALLY help you in the future, and I’ve had people save themselves from a No after this, but can be hard to hear)
- In your opinion, what skills and qualities does the ideal candidate for this job possess?
- What advice would you give to a new hire in this position/someone who wanted to break into this industry, as someone who has worked here for a while?
Those are just my tips off-the-cuff. I work in sales in marketing/SAAS, so these can be very different depending on the industry, but I wish the people I interview could read this before they show up.
use & for friendships, colleagues, familial relationships and use / for romantic or sexual relationships (or encounters)
not everyone reads fic. Lots of people use screen readers, and screen readers can’t see what’s on images. use descriptive text to help them out.
lots of people download fic to read on other devices, not all downloads capture images too.
there’s a big difference between No Archive Warnings Apply (NAWA) and Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings (CNTW). NAWA means that there’s nothing in the fic that needs to be warned for using the official Archive Warning system. CNTW means there might be something that requires a warning and the author is either avoiding giving out spoilers or they are unsure how to interpret their plot point with respect to the official Warnings. (in both cases, additional tags are where it’s at - you can explain yourself there)
the reason why the number of bookmarks in the fic is different from the number of bookmarks on your stats page is because your stats page number includes bookmarks that are hidden
there’s a preference setting where you can receive emails with your own comments/replies.
there’s a site skin that hides stats so you don’t have to see them
writing in rich text format makes my life easier
knowing html allows me to do fun things in the comments section like comment/reply with reaction gifs
knowing html also allows me to do interesting formatting in my fics that I can’t do with rich text alone
those little blue bubbles with the question marks in them will answer my questions a lot of the time - and also teach me something new
the FAQ is linked under the word About in the header
if you write your fic in the draft window, you might end up losing it so make sure you copy the text before you hit Post, just in case
they aren’t kidding when they say drafts are deleted after 30 days
For those of you who are serious about wanting to get out the US, read this master post of all the ideas I've investigated over the years.
For any folks out there with European ancestry who are sick of the United States, I encourage you to get a $40 subscription to Ancestry dot com and begin looking for paperwork on your ancestors going back to the old country. You might already be a citizen of that country and not even know it. There may not even be a limit for how many years have passed between you and your family's emigration. There are Jews with Spanish ancestry who have reclaimed themselves as citizens because of their documentation going back to the 15th century.
I'm talking all birth, marriage, divorce, naturalisation and military documentation between you and whoever in your family was born in Europe/citizen there. Unless your family formally renounced their old citizenships, look into it. HELL, even if they did, look into it. Citizenship laws over there change all the time.
For those of you who do not have ancestry, look into these options:
Latin Americans are eligible to apply for citizenship in Spain after 2 years because of the legacy of colonialism
Anyone under the age of 30 has the right to apply for 1 year long work away visas in other countries. You're not allowed to stay in that country specifically to work longer than 1 year, but if you can move there with your current employer and do well, someone might sponsor a visa if you're passionate about coming back to stay in the country
If you work in the service industry, go ahead and apply for a work away visa. You'll still be approved. While you're there bussing tables, think about grad school abroad and apply somewhere. It's often incredibly cheap compared to the US with discounts and social support for students depending on where you go, and FEDERAL US STUDENT LOANS CAN BE USED FOR ACCREDITED INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES
Grad school is free in Norway, even for foreigners, but you have to cover costs of living
Many international universities have programs offered in English
If you went to a university considered to churn out "High Potential Individuals" then the UK is offering 2 year visas to all students who have graduated within the past 5 years (think universities in the top 15 in the US)
If you are in a STEM field, you can apply for a visa to gain entry to the EU for 6 months to look for work
If you are an ARTIST, Berlin Germany offers a visa specifically for you
If you are in the medical field, check out Doctors without Borders and affiliated organizations that will take you abroad
Your medical licenses are good elsewhere in the world if you're willing to do residency abroad (sorry but I don't make the rules. They do tend to pay residents a fairer wage in the Scandinavian countries, though!)
If you are a contracted seasonal agricultural worker, there are farms in Iceland that are always hiring and will provide you with food and lodging
If you work in energy/nuclear, there are plants abroad looking for people
If you think flights+housing are too expensive to save for to live abroad, then may I remind you that flights abroad are cheaper than US flights right now for the rest of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. You can try to get a remote job or a remote side gig/hustle and from there you can work abroad and try to make it work
If you are worried about taxes, please Google the 330-day rule and residency test concerning US taxes. If you live abroad for 330 days out of the year, then the US only collects taxes from you on income earned above ~$100K a year. You still have to file US taxes, but that number basically becomes your new standard deduction.
If you work in education and are willing to teach, please apply for Fulbrights abroad, or English teaching programs abroad. If you are skeeved out about teaching English, I get it, but please know that people who speak English earn more over their lifetimes, and you would significantly improve the long term career prospects of your students and give them new opportunities
For retirees, just go abroad with your Social security if you have it. As long as you meet the financial requirements of another country and document that you can support yourself and that you aren't going there to work, you are in the clear!
I miss the days when, no matter how slow your internet was, if you paused any video and let it buffer long enough, you could watch it uninterrupted
kill the shift manager in your brain
Here is the fudgiest brownie in a mug recipe I’ve found
Here are some fun sites
Here is a master post of Adventure Time episodes and comics
Here is a master post of movies including Disney and Studio Ghibli
Here is a master post of other master posts to TV shows and movies
*tucks you in with fuzzy blanket* *pats your head*
You’ll be okay, friend <3
This blogs really only a reference for posts I could find useful, if you want personality you’ve come to the wrong place… call me Arc or Dawn. They/He. 21. For personality visit @he-who-reads-until-dawn
158 posts