I’ve used and loved Photoshop for as long as I can remember. Back in the day, you purchased the program (for a pretty darned steep amount) and used it until another version came out that had so many new features you couldn’t help but upgrade. Same with all their other programs, many I also still use. Adobe is subscription based only now and I’m paying $64.19 every month.
So lets talk about the terms of service for Adobe…
There’s a lot of talk about Adobe Photoshop using the photos of their subscribers for AI purposes. This stems from their updated Terms of Service in June 2024.
Merida is my dog. Since I resized her photo below in Photoshop, can Adobe use that image for their own purposes even when I’m paying them almost $65 bucks a month?
Their TOS (Terms of Service) said yes.
4.2 Licenses to your Content. Solely for the purposes of operating or improving the Services and Software, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free sublicensable, license, to use, reproduce, publicly display, distribute, modify, create derivative works base on, publicly perform, and translate the Content.
After a ton of backlash, Adobe updated their TOS again just days later.
But because of technology advancements and to cover their ass, their updated TOS still grants them rights that are somewhat uncomfortable for end users. They’ve now prefaced each section with a “what this section means” paragraph. Of course, the explanation isn’t a part of the actual TOS, so what they say it means today may not be what it means tomorrow.
As more and more people become concerned about their privacy — and how their personal data is being used and sold (including everything from what we search for, read and buy — to where we live and our personal identifiers — including our photos and digital content and beyond), we can expect many, many changes as we journey forward.
Now you know: In the John Lennon hit “Whatever Gets You Through The Night”, the person singing backup vocals and playing keys was Elton John.
You’ve probably read about the recent data hack of National Public Data that included social security records, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers, for around 2.9 BILLION people. We’d call that massive.
Even worse? Three decades’ worth of SS numbers have been exposed on the online black market. Worse still? Even though the sensitive info was stolen by hackers earlier this year — the breach wasn’t disclosed until August.
I guess they had other things to do… you know, they were really busy like this lil’ guy:
How did National Public Data get my social security number in the first place??
National Public Data said it obtains personal information from public record databases, court records, state and national databases and other repositories nationwide. NPD is a data broker that sells personal information to private investigators, consumer public record sites, human resources and staffing agencies. So again, who put my SS number out there for NPD to gobble up??
There’s a proposed class action lawsuit that says NPD obtained the information by scraping nonpublic sources without consent. I believe that.
Check to see if you’re in the breach…
You can see if you’re in the breach without your SS number (first name, last name, state and birth year only) at https://npd.pentester.com/. If you’re listed, Experian recommends placing a freeze on your credit file at all 3 credit bureaus: Experian®, TransUnion® & Equifax®. That will keep bad actors from opening credit in your name with your SS #.
They also recommend that you watch your CC and bank statements for unexpected charges and get a copy of your credit report to make sure nothing has been opened in your name that you didn’t initiate.
Crazy… but I’m even amazed that a public search from Pentester (link above), a cybersecurity platform, allows anyone to search anyone else… and if the person is in the breach — addresses and phone numbers are displayed just as they were reported. 😳
Good grief, kids. Our world is a shit show.
Now you know: Almost all vertebrates yawn. Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even fish all share this trait.
It’s a fact that you must carefully evaluate news delivered by the mainstream media and social media to decide if its truth or fabrication. You think fake news is bad? Try photos that are nothing but lies generated in the billions.
Merida has never laid eyes on a cat other than outside her window. I’m 100% certain that photo is a fake because the cat appears to be alive. But would others viewing it know it was a lie?
Can we even trust photography anymore?
Traditional photography has been regarded as an essential part of society for a long time. From artistic expression to historic documentation, photography has played a crucial role on how people perceive and understand the world around them.
When it’s super easy to generate artificial images through deep learning, (Google’s new Pixel 9 with ‘reimagine’ is scary), the confidence we have in photos telling us a story is gone. I mean… you enter in text of what you want (like calico cat in the photo above), and voila! There it is.
AI is improving, but it’s not yet perfect.
After selecting an area in the photo below and using the text “mouse eating,” the results weren’t exactly what I was expecting. 🙂
Now you know: During WW2 when penicillin production could not keep up with demand, medics would collect the urine of treated patients, separate the penicillin out and administer it to other patients.
So my lawnmower’s issues are above the pay grade of Perry and Mr. Pesky. Next step is to the guy that put a new motor in it years back. Depending upon the repair cost, a new lawnmower might be in my future.
Next, one of the upstairs mini-split units leaked water all over the wall and floor. S&L — my A/C dudes — showed up before noon and had it working again in a little less than an hour. I haven’t gotten the bill yet. 😬
And on down the road to the real question I want to ask…
Is the Internet dead?
If you agree with me that the Internet is turning into nothing but garbage, raise your hand. If the Internet isn’t dead, it’s dying and in need of something — I don’t know what.
Mainstream media reporting is total shit. Even browsing the Washington Post this morning, I noticed they offered up titles like, “The Nazis took my mother’s boyfriend,” and, “A 70-yr-old-Granny Made a Push-up Bra for Women to Wear All Day.” And even those newsworthy tidbits were surrounded by clickbait links.
ONE solitary article on cbsnews.com this morning had 69 paid advertising links (with images) sprinkled throughout. Yup, I counted them. So while I read from several sources, I take everything as “it could be true.” That’s what I’m doing with the election too. I’m watching the Democratic National Convention, just like I did the Republican one earlier.
The left against the right.
On night one, it seemed like everyone speaking was screaming. Mad screaming with a little hopping even. You had to be a really strong democrat and Kamala supporter to think it was good. I tuned in late on night two but I did hear Michelle Obama. I’ve never been a fan of hers, but she did great. Former President Obama did great as well. My opinion only… but it was a good night for the Democrats.
Now you know: The most recent BOEING whistleblower, whose recent death was ruled a suicide, told his close friend “If anything happens, it’s not suicide. I like to breathe too much; I’ve got so much stuff I need to do and things that I haven’t done that I want to do” prior to his death.
Have you ever heard of crops being sprayed by drones? Me neither! But I have now…
Mr. Farmer had a crop duster less than a month ago. That was great fun to watch and I even posted photos here. But this drone was even more impressive. It’s HUGE, y’all! There were 3 people onsite when they rolled in.
As I stood in the garage trying to figure out what was going on, the owner of the rig and contraption came over to talk to me. He was a really nice guy and pretty much told me his life story in less than 10 minutes. Just had a baby on Saturday… lives in Cortland… was an auctioneer for 3 years and hated it… and then the most interesting fact of all…
He got the idea to do this on TikTok!
He said he works 15 hours a day for around 4 months out of the year, and he loves his job. This is his 3rd year of crop dusting drone style. He explained that after 2 years of being in the hot sun monitoring the drone as it sprays fields, he rigged boat seats and a pontoon cover on the back of the truck that carries the weed killer. Now, they are in the shade and still high enough to see the drone work.
Most interesting is that it’s all done by GPS — the drone is programmed to travel with each pass at a certain distance apart according to the size of the field and mph of wind.
“We’ve crashed 3 times in 3 years but nobody died. Those crop dusters can’t say that.”
I’m pretty sure that’s the best positive business quote I’ve ever heard. 🤣
Now you know: Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury, left his London estate to his ex-girlfriend. Years later, she put it up for sale at $38 million.
