@kyleeduff's lover | Building @spoonmeapp and ReSim. Previously: @launchdarkly @github, @mx, Apple Store, Cashier at @McDonalds. This one's optimistic!
Denver, CO
Joined June 2011
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Few people in the United States have seen what great infrastructure looks like. This is the future that is scary to many. You’ll notice at one point the train, a car carrying cargo, bicycles, bicycle parking, and wide sidewalks are all in frame with a park in the middle.
This reminds me of that one time in law school I tore the ligament in my ankle playing basketball on campus during lunch. I sent a picture of my foot to my professor for why I was missing so he didn’t think I was lying. It was black and blue from my toes to mid shin and insanely swollen.
In his response he said “please don’t ever send me pictures of your feet again.”
A Thomas Massie/Mitt Romney presidential ticket would have Democrats scared. Because a lot of us normies would be persuaded now by those two.
I think a @ossoff / @MittRomney ticket would be even better. Let's work together for some change with reasonable people.
Trump was offering $5,000 bribe checks. Republicans were the ones offering "free money." That is different than Democrats saying "we will raise the minimum wage" or "offer universal healthcare with your taxes and pay less than private insurance."
That's better bang for the buck
Matt Duff retweeted
Some of the most vindicated individuals in American political history.
Trump was always exactly what they said he was.
Matt Duff retweeted
Now we'll finally learn what's in the Epstein files. Mike Johnson is no longer in a position to shut down the House in order to prevent votes on measures to force their release. It's time. It's past time.
Matt Duff retweeted
We got your back, New York!
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Several figures here aren’t federal results or NY-specific. The $472B combines US wide pledges: Micron's $250B is nationwide (NY site $100B) Anthropic's $50B covers TX and NY. The 48% murder drop is from NY's state run GIVE program (28 departments, Jan – May 2026).
arkolith.com/news/news-micr…
therepublic.com/?p=843020
governor.ny.gov/news/safer-str…
Matt Duff retweeted
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.
nitter.gq/log4j/status/211376224…
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 nextdns.io (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: arxiv.org/abs/2409.06203
[2] Cost of US consumer goods: aei.org/economics/chart-of-t…
[3] Vizio Q3 2024: sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/…
[4] Texas v. Samsung: texasattorneygeneral.gov/new…
Matt Duff retweeted
Got a cheap embroidery machine off amazon for $300 where the biggest complaint is the mandatory $12/mo app that you’re forced to use. Had ChatGPT create its own app that communicates with the machine. Generative art patches incoming!
I want to buy dumb devices that are repairable. Willing to pay a premium for that option. TVs, fridges, washing machines, etc.
Physical, tactile buttons on the television to change input, volume, and channel!
Every time I see a very scary knife attack in another country my first thought is "this is far more preferable than a gun attack."
tbh, I think Railway just thought credentials were too long lasting and wanted everyone to go rotate their keys for good hygiene.
Some of you put the dumbest MFer of all time in the world's most powerful role. So shameful.
newsweek.com/trump-asked-goo…
Matt Duff retweeted
The national Republican Party has made a big to-do about being anti-communist and anti-socialist, even though President Trump has, in the last month alone, ingratiated himself with the leader of an actual Communist Party and aligned himself with a former KGB Colonel who says the fall of a Communist regime was the worst geopolitical disaster of the 20th Century.
How exactly is that a glowing resume for promising to "protect America from Communism"?
Matt Duff retweeted
Putin is no "humanitarian."
He's a war criminal. He kidnaps children and is killing innocent civilians.
It's pathetic and disgusting to see American officials grovel at the feet of an autocrat.
Matt Duff retweeted
In what world is Putin a "humanitarian?” He's assassinated political rivals and journalists, bombed hospitals, and started a war that has intentionally killed tens of thousands of innocent people, including women and children. He's a war criminal.
