markjgsmith

Yesterday was basically rain the whole day. Huge down pours for hours at a time. I was inside a shop cafe for most of it, and I had some food and hot coffee so that was pretty good I guess. There was a load of strange bizare weird stuff as usual. I didn’t take that many notes as it was my birthday, but anyway here they are:

• Middle aged aggressive women (with young kids in tow), obsessed with saying the word ‘come’ whenever near me. On one street this morning it happened at least 3 times. Com means rice, but the double meaning is well known. The purpose is anger goading. Often accompanied with other anger goading like ‘Gay’.
• This morning people at every junction I needed to take this morning on my route pointing in the direction I needed to go in.
• Placed next to the penis graffiti this morning: a large empty plastic cup of a red colored soft drink. As I typed the last sentence 2 blokes sitting behind me say "Man City". What are the chances of that? It’s an opposite / not dynamic again.
• Non stop sparrow people, young women and young men doing over / under goading and general distraction harassment.
• A manufactured situation involving a little girl, her female guardian / parent and a trip to the bathroom. This has previously happened with other combinations: female guardian and little boy etc. All in Vietnamese but key words in English like "sorry". I would classify it as pedo pervert stuff but the entire situation appeared to be led by the child. Very strange. Poo related.
• Two delicate young women enter the cafe shop, never seen them before, I’m sitting completely quietly listening to podcasts, they turn to me and say ‘liar’ then go sit down. I say nothing. They stay for a few minutes, then get up and walk out. As they pass me they say quietly ‘No’ in angelic voice.
• Back at the internet place to send out newsletter promo. Somebody in one of the cafes is saying Dig over and over. That’s odd, the Diggnation episode was a last minute addition to the newsletter.
• In the late afternoon I got a sandwich and went to another shop cafe near the university. Lots of harrassment there too with shop staff ordering me to Up!, thats where the seating area is, then upstairs lots of people saying things like 'our' and 'our lie'. Ignored most of it, but 20 minutes after eating the sandwich and a hot instant noodles, stomach started feeling not so good. Left the place, and en-route back to the internet place to post a few more things, major gut issues, had to do an emergy classy #2 in a side street. Given all the poo related harrassment, seems likely to me that it was planned.
• Went to another shop cafe, there a couple on front of me did a few 'you learn’s' at me
• Later in the evening somewhere else, a tall western man walks past holding his lips, looking like he wanted me to see.
• Noticed that I have two huge zits on my face. Painful and swollen. It occurred to me that there was a segment on the latest Diggnation about this new treatment where they rub your own treated blood stuff on your face to reduce aging and wrinkles. It’s kind of weird that the same day I added their episode to the newsletter that later that night I got assaulted with a red soft drink to the face. And even stranger that I ended up with two big painful zits despite cleaning all the sticky soft drink gew from my face.

So on the whole it was a birthday with some good bits and some bad bits, and then it rained all night, and it’s been raining all morning. The rain appears to have cleared up, but it’s still quite cold.

Am I happy? I dunno, I try but the world has other plans, literally mutilating me on the inside and on the outside.

The worst part about all this is who do you trust, and the unfortunate thing is you can’t really trust anyone. You have to keep buying and eating food from people that might be making you ill, and listening to podcasts from people that might be causing you harm.

You just can’t ever know.

Update: The rain has started again. #

A quick update on the bizare strange weird heredoc permissions error I uncovered a few days ago. First of all I fixed the error. I added a chmod of the file after it gets created in the bash script, and after running several tests, the file now gets created with the correct permissions. Also I check that the update didn’t break the main site build. Technically the problem is fixed.

It does bring up some interesting things though:

• The environments used to run the code sometimes differ. That’s unusual. I would have expected that if the heredoc got created with specific permissions, then it should always get created in the same way across all the environments since they all use the same linux image as far as I can tell. I’m certainly not changing the configuration in any way between environments. Typically the OS has a specific umask set that it uses to create file in a consistent way.
• Having all the workflows all using the same reusable workflows definitely made it easier to see what was happening and fix the problem, even if it’s still a mystery why the file got created with the incorrect permissions. It strongly suggests an issue with the underlying platform rather than be anything to do with my code.
• Strangely bizarely weirdly, as I pushed out the fix and tested it this morning at the internet place it had been pretty quiet all morning. The instant I decided to deploy a pretty large flareup between customers in one of the neighboring cafes occurred between a butch woman and several men. It continued all through deploy and testing until literally I started to write this bullet item. I was at it’s most intense right when I discovered the fix had worked. There appeared to be a 'moment of proof and certainty' by participants in the argument. Weird. Smaller versions of this happen constantly, but this one felt very 'canonical', for some reason.

As I finished writing the previous item, one of the quieter older men from the flareup quietly said 'voila'.

Btw they can see me standing next to the cafe typing away on my device but to my knowledge that’s all they can see.

Anyway enough said. Just another weird coding and RL interaction.

Update: Just as I was getting ready to leave, having already committed this note, putting my stuff together and packing my bag, one of the men involved in the flareup, loudly said 'you know, ower' as he got on his motorbike and left. It wasn’t clear to me who he was saying it to, but it’s certainly an interesting thing to say given the issue in my code was a permissions issue.

Update: As I finished writting the previous update, several people from both cafes all said 'wow' one after the other.

Update: As I wrote the previous update someone said 'you know, pay'. #

cat << EOF > Marty Bent and Matt Odell on Trump family World Liberty Be Defined

I thought this was an interesting exchange on multiple levels. Marty Bent and Matt Odell on the Trump family World Liberty Be Defined crypto project on Rabbit Hole Recap podcast [1:19:20]:

MO: What are your thoughts on the World Liberty Be Defined shitcoin thing he has?

MB: It’s complete bullshit. What are you doing Trump family? People are like you’re doing all these scammy business deals, you’re gonna launch a shitcoin 2 months before the election?

MO: So many people hate him on the left, if he looses, they are going to come after us harder because of all this bullshit. You realise that right?

MB: Yes.

MO: Like they group us in with the crypto bullshit. They are not going to be like, oh the Bitcoiners were against World Liberty Coin.

MB: Yeah terrible timing. Terrible look. You are associating with people that run a network called Rug Radio? An overt insinuation that they are going to dump on retail? [laughs]

MO: Pretty bad.

MB: It’s very bad. These crypto scammers they know how to wiggle their way in. The fact that he did a spaces with his...I’m not sure if you listened to any of it?

MO: I didn’t. I know it existed.

MB: Not impressive people.

MO: Blah blah blah politics blah blah [...] stay humble and stack sats.

This exchange is a great example of why I really like their podcast. They really are in it for furthering Bitcoin, for making the protocol better. They might be on the right of the political spectrum but they will still call out weird shit even if it’s from their preferred candidate. #

cat << EOF > The crazy future of RL deep fakes

It occurred to be after writing about Marty Bent and Matt Odell’s recent interaction on Trumps sketchy looking crypto venture, that what if they themselves are scammers?

I think this type of thing is going to become ever more frequent. Noone is going to be able to trust anyone. I’m not alone in thinking this. Andrew Keen and Keith Tear get into that, along with a bunch of other interesting topics in the latest Keen On episode.

As for Marty and Matt, it certainly doesn’t sound like they are scammers, but I’ve heard some serious meta meta meta shit this week. It’s worrying that with AI deep fakes, in the future, you literally won’t be able to tell. In fact ironically it will be just as difficult for the scammers to convince you they are real as it will be for the real folks to convince you they aren’t fake.

Asymptote prison for everyone.

There are bound to be some very strange 2nd and 3rd order effects. The most obvious I can think of is real fakes, where people will be put up against each other by puppet masters, but without the full data set, so they will be fake but they might have many real qualities. A sort of modern RL version of Team America.

Fuck yeah!....Fuck Yeah? #

cat << EOF > Our Keir Starmer Journey

I like the Andrew Rawnsley, and Toby Helm’s roundup of Starmer’s first 11 weeks in office.

There’s a bit of controversy around gifts and staff salaries, but on closer look he seems to be mostly being very practical. He’s not afraid to point out where the other side left a mess, but I like that he’s also not afraid of accepting responsibility. This conscientious approach ties in rather well with this house redecoration metaphor he’s been going for. It all feels very sensible. At the minute he sounds like a tremendously good house renovation expert. And that’s great. It feels safe.

Nevertheless there’s this yearning to get a feel for his wider ambitions for the country because I think people realise that a country is in fact more complicated than a house. Having a small glimpse of his vision, even if it’s just a description of the house he sees, would give us an idea of what he thinks might be possible. And that’s important because it’s not just about him, it’s about the team around him, the institutions around him, and all the rest of it, and he’s the one with the best visibility of that right now.

I think people want to understand what he feels is possible. Maybe it’s a complete refurb of everything, or maybe it’s just a few key rooms in the house, or maybe it’s just to be in maintenance mode for a while only changing the furniture. People will likely be fine with most of the possibilities as long as it’s feasible, as long as it’s achievable.

In this article they mention the "house redecoration" metaphor, cleaning up cracks and mold, but I seem to remember reading or hearing elseshere about "house renovation" as the metaphor with suggestion of more foundational changes. The country is a much more multi-dimensional and realtime changing complexity thing than a house. It’s more like a giant living organism. That's why a description of his vision is so important, or even just an honest description of his approach to finding the right vision fit for the nation if it hasn’t been compleately figured out yet.

I wonder whether Starmer has some Elon Musk qualities in him. Perhaps even dare I say it a better, more british version of Elon Musk. I hesitate to mention Musk as I know he’s a bit of an enfant terrible at the minute, especially among UK elites, but wouldn’t it be cool if Starmer got the country firing on all cylinders in a way comparable to how Musk is helping to push US tech forward.

I keep thinking back to the unbelievable Danny Boyle London Olympics opening ceremony. That really was something wasn’t it? I want this Labour journey to be the next chapter in that story, but even better, less painful, more fun, and even more incredible and amazing. Are we just taking on a new scene in that story, or a whole new section, or is it all just foundational stuff to even make that a possibility? It’s all good.

Where are we at Keir mate, what do you reckon?

PS - In the original version of this article I confused Keir with Keith. Totally unintentional. That’s the sort of thing that happens in hectic environments. I did know Keir was Keir, but for some reason, I suppose because it’s not a name my brain is familiar with, Keir became Keith, and I just realised it now. Sorry mate, I’ve updated the article and url. #

Escallation notes for today, covers morning and afternoon:

• Sandwich vendor lady as I got to her stand: ‘bed’, there was a bit of weirdness when another customer right before me smiled and said 'you won' for no reason just as lady put chillis in his sandwich. Then when she made my sandwich, she got a bit strange when I asked for chilli sauce, saying 'lie' a bit grumpily, but maybe she was saying it to the customer after me. Reminded me that there had been some sort of weirdness the day before around chillis from another sandwich vendor right before tummy thing.
• On entering hot water shop both female staff both said ‘bed’. As I was paying the female staffer taking payments said ‘door’
• On paying at the shop cafe, female staffer taking payments said in a weird put on voice quite quietly ‘up up up up up!’. When she handed me my change from the purchase she did that thing where she seems really intent on putting the money into my hand but then keeps on moving her hand forward so normally most people would end up backing up and moving their hand in reverse, except I half expected something strange to happen so when I extended my hand to take the money, I purposely didn’t move it. She ended up having to back track and pull her hand back. She immediately turned towards the other staff member and said something that looked like she was describing what had just happened, so it looked like the other staff was in on the thing she was doing. But I’m not convinced she was. The fact that the previous shop staff said 'door' is actually significant. In apartments I’ve staid in here, several times the apartment caretaker has done basically the same thing as with the money, but with their entire body, sort of assuming you will let them in and try to pass by you expecting you will move aside. And of course when you don’t move the same situation occurs. It’s a bit awkward, they stop and back off and leave, usually somewhat upset. So what are the chances these two interactions are somehow linked? Pretty high I reckon. And also the one previous to that too. It’s another social layer multi step attack day. Wouldn’t surprise me if these staffers aren’t real staff, though they were wearing uniforms.
• It’s been all quiet for 15 mins, the instant I finished writing the previous item, there was a flareup between staff downstairs
• Another likely manufactured situation with shop staff filling up the hot water dispenser, trying to make it clear to me that they just filled it up

Bit of a weird vibe this afternoon, I’m back at the place I was at right before I ended up with dodgy tummy yesterday. It seems to have mostly passed and I didn’t get ill again, even though I used the same hot water fountain as yesterday. #

A little bit of what feels like intimidation from butch middle aged woman this evening, including one who had quite a wild young teen in toe on the back of her motorbike. That was followed by motorbike driveby gang stalker 'Ow!' harrassment. Previous to that there were two blokes who appeared to be waiting for me outside of a sandwich shop I sometimes go to who were really intent on me looking at them as I passed them, and one of them did an up down throwing motion with his right arm. At this sandwich shop, there was quite a strange incident last week, where the bloke that works there started shouting across the road right before I ordered my sandwich. It felt like a very manufactured situation. A few moments later, just as we exchanged sandwich for cash, a young boy suddenly appeared. And the sandwich shop bloke shouted 'wanker!' extremely loudly. I said nothing and just went on my way. It was very strange.

I might just be being a bit overly worried given the assault yesterday, where somebody threw a drink in my face with considerable force, but I wonder whether it’s a sign of another imminent attack. I sure hope it isn’t.

While I was writting this note, another motorbike driveby gang stalker drove by looking at me, and non-chalantly did the same arm throwing motion as they passed.

Update: A couple of minutes after writing this note there was an 'okay' harrassment from moto gang stalker.

Update: Followed immediately by 'money, they' harrassment from two teenage boys. #

Well blah blah blah’s are trending.

Always nice when you end up ahead of the game, which incidentally is also trending.

Sure wish money donations would start trending.

Update: Assaults, not so much.

Update: I seem to be surrounded by wigglers who are trying to convince everyone that I'm a wiggler. But that just cannot be the case, unless of course you are f-ing with the permissions.

Update: As soon as I added the previous update they tried to redefine wigglers in a way that would turn me evil. What a suprise. #

The woman bin person that always has 2 teenage kids accompanying and helping her with the bins, just passed by. She appeared to describe me as 'the liar' to them.

That doesn’t seem like a great sign as far as reducing assaults goes. #