👿

writer, artist, facilitator. user @ gmail. all pronouns. dyke politics, t4t pracksisss. treat me like fire. opinions mine, RT/like =\= agree.

[NAVI @kanaviye1]

girl in a wheelchair flirting w me last night talkin bout “you single? i aint tryna roll on nobody toes”

[Angel Obasi @StConnaisseur]

An anniversary celebration with Andrea Iyama, in Andrea Iyama

[S. Williams @ShakWills]

You should look up at the moon and listen to her for a little while.

[👿 @elleiswrite]

literally my fave activity

[jules 🐊 @smokeyrgreens]

introduced folks to my favorite tree 🌳

[👿 @elleiswrite]

@tobyandfiss this is my plan!!

[👿 @elleiswrite]

my choice to forgo a tv in my home feels wiser by the day

[Tristan @Tristan0x]

If you've ever wondered why smart TVs are so cheap, this is why.

@log4j rooted his Samsung and found an always-on hot mic, automatic content recognition, geolocation, network mapping, ad targeting and user profiling, shared with Samsung's "400 partners".

A lot of it can be blocked in <15 min, wrote a basic guide below.

What your TV is doing

The main culprit is ACR (automatic content recognition). Your TV screenshots what's on screen, fingerprints it, and sends it home to build your ad profile. Samsung does it every 500ms, LG every 10ms [1].

What is insane: it happens on connected devices too.
Plug in your laptop, your console, your work machine, and your TV can fingerprint that via HDMI [1].
He also found that if your Samsung doesn't have a mic, it'll look for one from a connected soundbar or bluetooth device.
https://t.co/vNdTnIQ6KF
It's on by default, and you likely agreed to it on the setup screen you clicked through in 10 seconds.

Step 1: Turn off ACR

Samsung: Terms & Privacy → Viewing Information Services
LG: Live Plus
Vizio: Viewing Data
Roku: "Use info from TV inputs"
Sony/Google TV: Samba Interactive TV

Menus vary by model, but those are the names to look for. While you're in there, opt out of interest-based ads, reset your advertising ID, decline every optional privacy agreement, turn off voice recognition, and delete apps you never open.

Step 2: Give smart devices their own network

Put the TV, cameras, speakers and vacuum on your router's guest/IoT network. The logic is simple: these devices rarely get patched. If one gets compromised (getting drastically more frequent with AI), it shouldn't be able to see your other devices or home network.

Step 3: Block trackers for the whole house with DNS-level filtering

NextDNS (cloud-based) is easy and has a solid free plan. Pi-hole is a little bit more work if you prefer self hosting. For simplicity we'll focus on the former.

1. Sign up at https://t.co/IwhafVWVM8 (free tier is plenty)
2. Privacy tab: add a blocklist (OISD is a good bet) and turn on Native Tracking Protection for Samsung, LG, Roku, Amazon (see attached image)
3. Setup tab: copy your endpoint
4. Paste it into your router's DNS settings as DNS-over-HTTPS/TLS (or use the IPs + "Link IP" if your router only does plain DNS)
5. Bonus: block outbound port 53 except to your router. Some devices hardcode their own DNS to get around you

Then open the NextDNS logs and watch how often your TV phones home. It's eye-opening. If an app or update breaks, find the domain in the logs and allowlist it.

Why they do this

TV prices are down 97% since 2000 [2]. Most of that is better manufacturing and brutal competition. But once margins on the hardware hit zero, the cost moved to you.

In Q3 2024, Vizio lost $6.7M selling TVs and made $115.8M in gross profit from ads and viewing data [3]. They've said on earnings calls that they keep TV prices low to grow the audience they sell to advertisers. Walmart bought them in 2024.

This isn't a conspiracy theory either. Vizio paid $2.2M to the FTC in 2017 for tracking 11 million TVs without consent. Last December, Texas sued Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense and TCL over ACR. Samsung and LG have since agreed to stop collecting that data without explicit consent [4].

TL;DR
1. ACR off
2. Ads + voice off
3. Smart devices on their own network
4. NextDNS filtering on the router

Sources:
[1] ACR study: https://t.co/S1IS8lXNbA
[2] Cost of US consumer goods: https://t.co/nclXELXcbd
[3] Vizio Q3 2024: https://t.co/CrVbwc9ZXk
[4] Texas v. Samsung: https://t.co/wFOUdeh1if

[chromatic. @juhmeer]

shout out to jasmine!! i love her rice

[‏ً @omgsidewalks]

The thing about Google clearing a forest in Finland without permits is that they decided that whatever fine they might face is worth it. It doesn’t cost them as much as not getting the land cleared.

Because like ALL things, if the punishment is a fine, it isn’t really illegal for rich people.

[Ajibola @4jibola]

the point of having is giving

[👑 @kingebarrington]

you can be as grown &amp; mature as you want at a young age, but you really cannot rush life. you just do not see things the same as life &amp; age refines you. ageism be damned because it's truly a blessing to live long enough to [hopefully] grow, change your mind/perspective, heal, etc

[🍂 @Lovandfear]

— Anaïs Nin

[👿 @elleiswrite]

@theblkrecluse 😅 this is me too

[👿 @elleiswrite]

@theblkrecluse welding, during and ongoing

[👿 @elleiswrite]

@TheRandiSavage imma email you 👀

[Randi @TheRandiSavage]

Reading Linden Hills for the next two weeks in the gender and literary geography class. One of the most important novels of the 20th century in my opinion! Also trying to organize a community read of this in December too 👀

[👿 @elleiswrite]

cousin walk with new friends, spinach artichoke feta pesto pizza, dancing under almost full moon, the eyes of the girl who wants you

[Harmony Holiday @Harmony_Holiday]

Nina Simone reading a poem off the page which looks like she plucked it from the spine of live book like a clipped and transplanted wing, in concert. We need some performers to do this now to encourage people to learn to read again

[Big Tee @societyhatestee]

i am no longer afraid of things falling apart. i have seen what happens after the worst of it. the sun still rises, people still laugh, new things still begin, and one day, you find yourself happy about something you once thought you would never recover from.

[👿 @elleiswrite]

@kingebarrington i told my dad my retirement plan is the end us empire/the world 😭

[Kegham Balian @kbalian90]

BREAKING: Taybeh, the last entirely Palestinian Christian village in the West Bank, is under a complete blockade by Israeli forces: no one allowed in or out.

I spoke with a resident of Taybeh who described the impact of the movement restrictions:

"You can’t plan your day. Checkpoints close suddenly and you get stuck and delayed and your day gets messed up. It’s frustrating, it wastes you time, you get emotionally and physically drained.

What bothers me the most is you’re no longer in control of your life becasue you’re no longer in control of your time, your route or your plans.

You start working out your day according to the closures, change appointments, cancel and postpone things you have to get done.

They control your movement, so they control you."