SpicyAnt

Illegal immigrants hold a special position in the US economy because their labor can be exploited more aggressively. Their undocumented status is part of what makes them attractive to employers. It reduces their bargaining power, makes them easier to control, and allows wages and conditions that would not be accepted by legal workers. This creates an ecosystem where illegality is not a bug but a feature. Politicians know this, and many policies reflect that understanding, even if they deny it publicly.

Trump came in and disrupted this system with hardline rhetoric and blunt enforcement. Now, the employers who depend on this labor are pushing back. In response, Trump is starting to soften his stance. His latest statement draws a distinction between long-time undocumented workers and recent arrivals labeled as criminals. He is saying, in effect, that some illegal immigrants are acceptable.

Even if he is not offering legalization, this kind of message still changes the dynamic. If a figure like Trump says a group of undocumented immigrants should be protected, it weakens the threat of deportation for that group. That fear is part of what keeps wages low. So this shift, even if unintended, increases their bargaining power. It could end up helping them integrate and organize, and slowly change their position in the labor market. It is a strange turn for someone whose policies have been based on the opposite idea.

Chlorine for water treatment. Cheap and useful where clean water is difficult to come by and where water is stored for long term use. Also very common to buy if you have a pool. But maybe for middle class households it is not as common of an item - except perhaps in areas were pools are common enough in middle-class homes.

Just a guess!

We are asked to use Projects to manage our work, and we then mapped the project's structure into a folder structure using sharepoint. The thing is, this structure leads to very long file paths, and Windows won't let us open the files using the file explorer because the file path is too long, and so we need to search stuff through sharepoint, download as zip files, and end up breaking the intended organization. The projects page helps create the illusion of organization for the higher-ups but in reality it is a hindrance. We don't have admin access to the computer and so we can't change this file path limit setting. This is just the first that came to mind of an endless list of complaints I have.

Maybe I am being too simplistic here. But I have never received a spam message to my XMPP account and I don't know how a spammer would find it.

In a phone-based system a spammer can spam a list of numbers, or use contact lists that are easily shared via phone permissions. There are several low-effort discovery processes.

For e-mail, you get spam when you you input your personal e-mail into forms, websites, or post it publicly.

But for something like XMPP... It seems rather difficult to discover accounts effectively to spam them. And, if it is an actual problem, why not implement some kind of 'identity swap' that automatically transmits a new identity to approved contacts? A chat username does not need to be as static as an e-mail or a phone number for most people.

I just don't see 'spam' as such a difficult challenge in this context, and not enough in my view to balance out requesting a phone number. Perhaps a spammer can chip-in?

jihadist and far-right extremist groups, both of which strongly oppose U.S. military involvement.

Which groups are in favor of U.S. military involvement?

Not a rhetorical question, I really don't know.

ChatGPT-o1, 45 seconds thinking:

Transcribing unique symbols

OK, let me see. The string is transliterated into Latin characters, with visually similar conversions like 'Ꮋ' to 'H' and '0' to 'o'. This approach preserves the original meanings while ensuring readability.

Mapping out characters

I’m comparing unique characters with Latin counterparts. For instance, 'ᛖ' corresponds to 'e', 'ο' resembles 'o', and 'Ԍ' aligns with 'G'. This helps in understanding their possible meanings.

Piecing it together

I'm analyzing characters like 'ⅼ' and 'у' to map them to Latin or Cyrillic equivalents, considering possibilities like "Holy Glyphs" or "H0ly Glyphs" for accurate representation.

Piecing it together

Transliterating characters like 'Ꮋ', '0', 'ᛖ', and 'ο' into Latin script to form words such as "Hieroglyphs" or "Holy Glyphs". This process helps clarify the intended meaning.

Crunching the data

I'm refining the transliteration of characters like 'Ꮋ' to 'H', '0' possibly to 'i' or 'o', and 'ᛖ' to 'e' to form "Hieroglyphs" or possibly "Hoeroglyphs". This ensures a clearer interpretation.

Testing translations

OK, let me see. I’m trying out translations like "ᛖоԌⅼуᏢʜѕ" to see if they form "HOLY glyphs" or "eogluPhs". Neither seems quite right, so I'm investigating further options.

Mapping out characters

I'm decoding "áᚱе ᏟhäʀɑсᎢᎬᚱႽ" to "are characters". Breaking down each symbol, I’m curious if "häʀɑсᎢᎬᚱႽ" may represent a specific context or word.

Decoding progress

OK, let me see. I'm figuring out if "häʀɑсᎢᎬᚱႽ" means "characters" and "thàt" or "ηâτ" could mean "that". Each symbol contributes to this possibility.

Piecing together words

Transliterating symbols like "Ｌоοᛕ" to "Look", "ⅼіᛕË" to "like", and "ᏞëｔＴêᚱᏚ" to "Letters", I ensure each symbol's context is accurately captured.

Breaking down symbols

OK, let me see. Translating "Ꮋ0ᛖοԌⅼуᏢʜѕ" to "Hieroglyphs" involves evaluating "0" as "i" or "o", aligning with the intended letter in "Hieroglyphs".

Matching symbols

OK, let me see if "0" replaces "r" in "Hieroglyphs." "Ꮋ" is 'H', "0" might be 'i', "ᛖ" is 'e', and "ο" usually 'r'.

Revisiting the process

I’m starting over with "αɣ(῵9.β)" to confirm "Hieroglyphs" decoding. I’m pulling together observations on each symbol to ensure accuracy.

Piecing together clues

Ah, I’m decoding "Ꮋ0ᛖοԌⅼуᏢʜѕ" to "Hieroglyphs". Mapping each symbol to their corresponding letters, I find consistency in the pattern.

Weighing interpretations

Considering whether the Greek letter 'omicron' stands for 'o' or 'r' in "Hieroglyphs." This suggests a mismatch in translating the original text. Progressing through these options one by one clarifies the likely meaning.

Weighing options

I'm thinking "hieroglyphs" might be off track. Considering "Homoglyphs" as it aligns with "0" often substituting 'o'. This shift in focus offers a fresh perspective.

Evaluating translation

I'm thinking "Homoglyphs" might be close. The runic letter "ᛖ" is tricky, but "Homoglyphs" aligns with characters that resemble letters, which seems promising.

Pulling together

"Homoglyphs" makes sense as it pertains to characters that look alike from various scripts. This seems to fit the given symbols.

Piecing it together

"Homoglyphs" fits given the visual resemblance of the symbols to letters from different scripts. This approach highlights the worth of examining character shapes.

Here's the plain‐text reading of those mixed‐script glyphs:

“Homoglyphs are characters that look like letters.”

If:

• Anonymous SIM cards are an option where you live
• You do not want to beacon your approximate location to cell towers continuously, BUT having a base station is acceptable

(1) Router:

You can get an LTE/5G router, just make sure that it has the option for SMS forwarding. For recieving SMS you do not need to have an "active" plan, you only have to prevent the SIM card from being cancelled. This usually happens after several months of not topping up, so you can top-up with a $5 code every 5 months or so. You can leave this plugged in in your home and have your SMS forwarder with a local number. In my case, I got rid of my ISP and make use of my 5G router for anonymous internet at home, but since I swap the SIM card for .

(2) Raspberry Pi

If you want more flexibility, you can get some form of LTE module for a raspberry pi. I use the SIM7600G-H. You can find this module as a HAT with a USB adapter. You put in a SIM card and you have LTE on your raspberry pi. You can then interface with the module by making use of 'AT' commands, and you can, for example, make a script that checks for the reception of SMS and then forwards them to your e-mail (or, in my case, XMPP).

(3) Extra SMS phone

Depending on why you do not want an SMS phone, an extra phone might work for you. It can be used similar to a router for forwarding while the phone stays at a fixed location, or you may even find it reasonable to bring it with you. It really depends on the specifics of what you are trying to achieve.

If you do not want to beacon your approximate location to cell towers continuously, but having a base station is acceptable:

I have used Cheogram for SMS forwarding and VoIP over XMPP. It does work some times, but it also does not work some times. Mixed results.

If having a fixed-location base station is not acceptable to you, you can also reconsider why that is. Cell tower triangulation is not in isolation super accurate (they rely on the signal strength of connections to nearby towers). I suspect that if you really want to you can make the base station's triangulated location even less reliable by playing with directional and/or moving antennas, but doing this incorrectly could make you stand out. Personally, I do not mind having an anonymous base station with an approximately location known to the network, as what I want to avoid is my person being continuously tracked.

There is a freely available arXiv version, in case that helps: https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.17809

1. The fear of missing out was something that made me double think deleting my facebook. It turned out to be unfounded fear, as none of the hypothetical "missing out" scenarios have proven to be an actual problem.

If the study group is very important to you, and the study group is on Facebook, then just have a Facebook. Deadlines and test info are not critical information that you need to receive in your pocket as soon as it is shared. You can check your anonymous Facebook account once a week through a VPN in a desktop computer and you will likely be well informed enough. If you have a friend that is both in Signal and that Facebook group, you can tell them about this and ask as a favor that they forward any critical time-sensitive info.

As for my response, mostly I use XMPP. I turn on my WhatsApp phone on every few weeks. People can message me via XMPP, e-mail, or Signal.

2. I have a little scanner. I can use the phone's browser and log-in, using the scanner for the 2FA. But it is very rare that I use banking through the phone, as I do most of my banking via a desktop computer.

3. Bike, public transport, walking, and planning ahead.

4. On the desktop I do use Google Maps as it is quite efficient. Usually I plan ahead if I am biking somewhere new. I will often draw a path, write some street names at turns/crossings to remember, and pick some landmarks. Usually I am moving near places I know, so this is not task that comes up often.

5. At different points in time I have kept multiple fitness and nutrition logs (on websites and notebooks), but I rarely looked back at them. Now days I track rest times, hear rate, and running parameters while exercising, so I have a garmin watch and look at the output logs at the end of the exercise on the watch itself. It is not connected to any apps.

6. I make use of three devices: I. A Pixel phone running GrapheneOS has no SIM card. I have my apps, music, etc in this phone, and I use it as a mini tablet. It needs WiFi to get internet.

II. A PinePhone. I bought a large stack of the cheapest pre-paid SIM cards a while ago, and put in a new one whenever a SIM card runs out. I wrote a hook that, when I power down the device, a random IMEI is generated and written to the LTE modem. So, if I turn it off, swap the SIM, and turn it back on, I have a phone with a completely new mobile identity. This phone I can use to make calls and to share data with the GrapheneOS, but it does not have a static phone number. Usually it is off.

III. A Raspberry Pi 5 with a 4G LTE hat. This hat takes in a SIM card that is stable. So, this device is associated with a phone number and a persistent identifier, but it does not move. This is my phone number. SMS messages get sent to me via XMPP. If I am called, my XMPP also lets me know. I don't have VoIP, so I do need to call back if I choose to. However, it is so so rare that I make a phone call that I have not bothered to implement VoIP.

I have seen this repeated multiple times on Lemmy. When I look this up, I find:

• Dismissal with prejudice: https://freeross.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Doc_14_Dismissal_Indictment_7-26-2018.pdf
• The DEA agent responsible for this entrapment sentenced to prison for corruption: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-dea-agent-sentenced-extortion-money-laundering-and-obstruction-related-silk-road
• The target of the alleged crime (Curtis Green) advocating for Ross and claiming that his own messages were altered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0w8aOK1NRE
• The fact that the payments to the hitmen were made via bank wire transfer: https://imgur.com/why-would-dpr-send-easily-tracked-80k-wire-transfer-hit-when-he-did-all-other-business-bitcoin-PEozMNM

So, the charges are dismissed with prejudice, the DEA agent imprisoned for corruption, the alleged victim testifies in his favor. What makes the other narrative compelling? I see people citing the court document in which the claims were made..... But what is the value of that document if the result was a dismissal with prejudice? Shouldn't that support the innocence narrative?

I am genuinely curious. I'm not necessarily advocating his innocence, I want to understand what other people know that makes them so convinced that he is guilty of this.

Hmm... Wouldn't be so sure. Some librarians have the power to selectively forgive late fees. They can give preferential treatment depending on their mood or the politeness of the person. You might also bribe a librarian to let you take out books from the special collection.

Step 1 of installing GrapheneOS for de-googling your life: Buy a Google Pixel phone

Look - I know, I know. I get it. Google allows you to unlock the bootloader while maintaining the phone's unique and excellent hardware security features. The argument makes sense. It is compelling. Other manufacturers do not give you this freedom. I am not arguing about that. I have a Pixel phone running GrapheneOS myself.

However... It is just so very obviously ironic that one needs to trust Google's hardware and purchase a Google product to de-google their life through GrapheneOS. I think that it is a perfectly valid position for someone to raise their eyebrows, laugh, and remain skeptical of the concept either because they do not want to support Google at all, or because they simply will not trust Google's hardware.

The reason why I think that this is "controversial" is because I have seen multiple instances of someone pointing out the irony, followed by someone getting defensive about it and making use of the technical security arguments in an attempt to patch up the irony.