WORTH PONDERING: “You can’t shame people for violating YOUR moral code, only theirs” sounds
January 1st, 2026 06:25 amAND FOR: The X-cluded.
AND FOR: The X-cluded.
SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED. BEHOLD MY SHOCKED FACE: Fraud explains high Obamacare enrollment despite subsidy lapse.
SHE’S RIGHT YOU KNOW? Why Paywalls Exist and Why Serious Writing Needs Them.
HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR EVERYONE. MAY 2026 BE BETTER THAN 2025: And remember, every year takes us a year away from 2020. So, getting older is worth it!
Лето 2025.
Ещё пара кодаковских некодаковских 🙂 камер. Теперь до полного комплекта не хватает камер с 65-кратным зумом и 90-кратным зумом 🙂

( Kodak FZ45 )
Now hear me out...
I call it "eargapping". I learned about it in my Intro to Antique Coding class.
vendor of bluetooth chip used in sony, bose, and everyone else's headphones leaves debugging protocol completely open with no authentication over bluetooth low energy:
uh oh:
- remotely connect to headphones over thus protocol without needing a pairing interaction
- dump "now playing" data
- connect audio stream and eavesdrop
- dump your phone number
- brick the headphones
- dump the pairing key used to make your phone recognize your headphones as your headphones, and then impersonate your headphones
and that's when the REAL fun starts:
- talk to your voice assistant remotely
- make and manage calls while your phone is in your pocket
- eavesdrop from your phone microphone (by making you call them and then dropping the bluetooth connection so your phone switches to builtin mic)
- steal your whatsapp from 10ft away (since they have your phone #, the ability to accept the "we'll call and verify it's you" phone call before your phone starts vibrating, and the ability to listen and hear the code)
- steal your amazon (since you can login thru a phone number and a whatsapp confirmation code)
But! I now have a strong theory as to why my book reading has been down. This was the year that I finally stopped living in denial and bought reading glasses. After doing that I came to realize that I had been following all kinds of stupid rules that I hadn't even noticed, like, "I only read books in direct sunlight".
Dammit.
(Yes, I read books on paper, no, I don't want to hear about your Kindle.)
THE PURPOSE OF A SYSTEM IS WHAT IT DOES:
As Thomas Sowell has pointed out, it’s a mistake to judge a law or program by the stated good intentions of its creators. You have to judge it by the incentives it creates. This program creates vast financial incentives for fraud…so that’s what we get.
— Jim Williams (@Alpowolf) December 31, 2025
Related:
DAVID SACKS: "In California, we have $24 billion going to homeless programs, and yet the number of homeless people keeps rising.
They can't pass an audit. The state refuses to even permit an audit. We know there's massive fraud going on in that program." pic.twitter.com/Nx7wFR3OOg
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) December 31, 2025