John Stryker

[McFranchisee @McFranchisee]

The most interesting part of this Wired story isn’t what’s in the 515-page file. It’s what’s left out.

There’s no mention of who McDonald’s sells this data to.

Because the answer is: they don’t. Unlike the other restaurants, tech platforms, data brokers and ad networks that actually traffic in personal information, McDonald’s doesn’t sell your purchase history. They use it to decide understand what offers hit & which ones don’t.

The article was sorta framed as some kind of dystopian “wake-up call.” We track your purchases and in exchange, you get meaningful discounts and free food. That’s the trade. Calling a loyalty profile a “dossier” and treating predictive models as Minority Report is a bit much. Every major retailer with a rewards program does versions of the same thing. The difference is that McD doesn’t then turn around and sell the file to the highest bidder. The data stays inside the system to make the offers better and the experience more relevant.

If the real concern is data collection in exchange for discounts, say that. But dressing up a standard rewards program as an Orwellian surveillance state while ignoring the companies that actually monetize and sell customer data is selective outrage.

[John Stryker @jstryker]

@THErealDVORAK He will be missed. Followed him dating back to the magazine columns in the 80s. He taught us all so much over the years.

[Mason Home Builder @bankertobuilder]

Bought this old house from some guy named Frank

Removed the water feature (maintenance nightmare), cleaned up the overgrown shrubs, and rezoned it to commercial

Now it’s actually a useful structure

Not sure what this guy was doing

[Bill Moore, Esq. @lawyer_memes]

A junior associate informed me she has a "hard stop" at 5 PM on Fridays.

She said she needs the weekend to protect her peace and maintain her energy.

I told her I completely respect her commitment to boundary setting.

I then removed her from the M&A deal she'd spent two months diligence-ing.

She came to my office on Monday confused as to why her access was revoked.

I explained that a closed deal requires momentum, not a pause button.

She asked how she was supposed to hit her billable requirement now.

I suggested she use all that extra weekend energy to find a new practice area.

Peace is a wonderful concept for people who don't practice corporate law.

The rest of us find our tranquility in a signed signature page.

[Math Files @Math_files]

Flight attendant: Do we have a doctor on board

Me: I have a PhD in mathematics

Flight attendant: one passenger is having a heart attack and one passenger is having an asthma attack

Me: (nodding) that makes two

[Skalez AKA FL4Life @TheSkalez]

@HellRaz0r1776 Not that this has anything to do with your post, but I remember watching this as a Braves fan last year or the year before and I had to take a picture. It was just too funny.

[Weapon 𝕏 @HellRaz0r1776]

Well, I’ll be damned. It finally happened.

[John Stryker @jstryker]

@BronaghTumulty You're a great reporter, Bronagh. I hope that you are able to stay in the market.

[Dustin Burnham @dustinthedad]

My wife calls me, panicked.

The call is from her number, and her voice is unmistakable- that’s my wife.

‘Babe, our son is hurt. He got in a bike wreck. I’m at the emergency room but they won’t take our insurance and I need cash to get him help. Please send me 3000 dollars as soon as you can, he’s really not doing well.’

Me- ‘Wow, that’s scary. Tell me our passphrase and then I’ll send the money.’

Her (it) - ‘What? What passphrase? This is your wife, our son is hurt. Send the money now!!’

Me- ‘I’ll call you back. I don’t believe that this is my wife. If it is, I’m sorry, but we discussed this.’

The number? Spoofed. Easy to do and there’s no way to tell if a phone number is being spoofed aside from hanging up and calling back to confirm.

The voice? AI generated. Easily done. A few seconds of audio is all it takes to create a realistic audio deepfake.

What can you do?

1) Create a family safe word or passphrase. Ours is definitely not ‘Keep Going’ although we considered it. Discuss the passphrase far away from phones or any recording device. This is as analog as possible. Don’t forget that the trigger for the passphrase is just as important as the phrase itself. So instead of asking ‘what’s the safe word?’ have a separate triggering question. For example, you could say ‘I’m eating banana cream pie’ and this would trigger your spouse to respond ‘purple velvet pillows’ if that’s the safe word.

Make it fun, silly, and easy to remember. And DON’T WRITE IT DOWN.

2) Cognitive security is an essential skill in 2026. Assume every image and video you see online is fake until proven otherwise. Expect scams and spammers, and be pleasantly surprised when it’s not.

3) Figure out a backup communication option with people who you absolutely need to be able to reach. Don’t just rely on a phone number for communication. Have redundant, ideally encrypted methods of communication with family.

What did I miss? I think (hope) Nikita is wrong on the timeframe- agentic bots like Claude bot are impressive but not quite ready to flood the phone lines in just 90 days. But I think it’s going to be a huge problem by the end of the year. I already get dozens of increasingly realistic spam calls and texts daily- it’s only going to get more annoying. Have a plan to keep your family and your finances safe!

[John Stryker @jstryker]

Kids. Mine had 256 KB and a 10 MB HDD. And more than I needed at the time.

[David Solheim @davidtsolheim]

@Austen My first laptop had 256MB RAM and a 4GB HDD… if I saw this I’d be in shock.

[Frank J. Fleming @IMAO_]

Look at this adorable, real thing that happened to me (not AI).

[John Stryker @jstryker]

@zoeydog1983 @Dietz__Tweetz @ALionEye 1989 wasn't too bad either

[John Stryker @jstryker]

At this point, I'll take it.

[Dan Szymborski @DSzymborski]

If the Blue Jays win, I just hope it isn't a walkoff homer allowed by Clayton Kershaw on the last pitch of his career. It feels like fate is trying and setting is up for that.

[John Stryker @jstryker]

@VitalVegas @briancommeans And of course, Sigma Derby at The D.

[John Stryker @jstryker]

@emzanotti I always heard that it's "we eat what we can, and what we can't, we can"

[John Stryker @jstryker]

I rarely tweet but there is this: that Gemini Banana thing is awesome. Just changed my profile pic for the first time in sixteen years.

[John Stryker @jstryker]

@razibkhan Those replies mentioning the Scots-Irish are just emphasizing Razib's command to read "Albion's Seed" - it's a great book that everyone should read.

[John Stryker @jstryker]

Zero, of course.

[𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 @Matt_Pinner]

I got 8 points,you?

[Crémieux @cremieuxrecueil]

He was a one man living proof that humanity can produce well-adjusted world-historic geniuses, and I think that's something that's important to have.

Any time someone says something like "People can't be eidetic!" you can just point to the man who was, and we can build to that.

[Crémieux @cremieuxrecueil]

The main takeaway people should get from von Neumann is that superintelligent humans are possible.

More people who can recite every book they've ever read, write arbitrary mathematical proofs without taking a moment to think, and revolutionize any field should be a biotech goal.