April King

Staff Security Engineer at Dropbox, previously Twitter and Mozilla. Has read @cong's autobiography.

Public Key

npub13ycxw7pwu5878rw0878rnnnmdcu3k25ew0hyfkshj6hhza869ffs20vuj5

NIP-05 Address

april_at_macaw.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsgjvr80qhw2rlr3h8nlr3eeeakuwgm92vh8mjymgtedtm3wnaz55cpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43q486hsd

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub13ycxw7pwu5878rw0878rnnnmdcu3k25ew0hyfkshj6hhza869ffs20vuj5

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Last Notes

2024-08-12 19:51:21

i always sign paper documents using ISO 8601, in a sisyphean attempt to fight the dateriarchy.

2024-05-24 14:54:40

never thought i would miss the days of fake money for criminals.
at least that was a convenient way for the most annoying people to out themselves and didn’t end up ruining every tech product in existence.
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/112/496/638/157/104/374/original/46122fb92c8d856c.jpeg

2024-05-15 18:36:41

AI companies be like “only AI can solve the problems caused by AI”

2024-04-30 22:28:14

TIL of the bad.horse traceroute
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/112/362/524/225/399/950/original/d741cb7c42b3cb50.png

2024-04-24 02:15:04

on the perils of being named after a month
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/112/323/780/759/047/639/original/a4cb97bf7ca4987f.jpeg

2024-04-04 16:15:02

kudos to google for offering a free option to keep AI out of search results
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/112/213/836/590/173/638/original/d4d3d1bc30eea7f6.png

2024-03-30 15:34:42

computers used to yell at us when we connected to the internet, but in our hubris we ignored them.

2024-02-13 16:33:14

ahahahahahahaha hehehehehehe
this is the greatest library card design ever, thanks saint paul public library.
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/925/132/737/853/988/original/460bd74195fd5175.jpeg

2024-02-04 19:33:59

only a matter of time until we’re going to have to authenticate our very faces and voices using cryptographic hardware keys:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/04/asia/deepfake-cfo-scam-hong-kong-intl-hnk/index.html
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/874/879/608/166/344/original/ba4230f764fd5bbf.jpeg

2024-01-12 13:18:32

before reading this article, please be warned that it will completely deplete your “wtf” supply:
https://www.universalhub.com/2024/ebay-agrees-3-million-fine-trying-destroy-lives

2024-01-03 21:17:30

git blame, but it tells you who reviewed the code instead

2023-12-31 17:25:21

I finally did it! Today I used a cable (TB2→DVI) that had been sitting in storage for an entire decade.
All of you tech people who have bins and bins of obsolete cables, know now that your hoarding is completely justified.

2023-12-29 19:45:23

TIL that the US government runs an official dad joke database 👀
https://fatherhood.gov/for-dads/dad-jokes

2023-12-27 01:52:59

people rag on amazon for throwing around their monopolistic weight in the retail industry and for turning a blind eye to rampant counterfeits, but then they turn around and bless us with ads at absolutely no cost to us.
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/649/877/798/371/759/original/3a653b80133f4cfe.jpeg

2023-12-21 20:52:09

clearly HR departments everywhere are scrambling to get employees to take their serious conversations to Signal as fast as possible
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/620/380/693/823/686/original/255d1510504a1915.jpeg

2023-12-16 02:49:08

“it’s not acceptable to use our data to train your model,” asserts local area AI company that used other people’s data to train their model.
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/587/812/407/511/060/original/a7df3b26719906aa.jpeg

2023-11-22 16:21:01

tech companies be like, “why bother with an expensive team of experienced engineers and fact-checkers when we could instead replace them with an AI chatbot that thinks Australia doesn’t exist?”
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/455/111/908/505/792/original/1cb37af318fdf810.jpeg

2023-11-21 23:26:47

other engineers today: writing code, closing tickets, etc.
me today: adding…
alias vasili="ping -c 1"
…to her .zshrc.

2023-11-06 23:01:35

me: hey big companies, can I download all of your copyrighted movies and music and images in case one inspires me to make something someday?
big companies: lol no get rekt
also big companies: btw we're downloading and using all of your copyrighted works to stuff into our machine learning models

2023-10-25 23:16:03

can I please just pay to not have windows be user-hostile? forcing polls on people who download chrome, good grief that is some weak sauce early-2000s anti-trust bullshit.
looking increasingly likely I move to linux for my gaming pc once windows 10 dies.
https://www.theverge.com/23930960/microsoft-edge-google-chrome-poll-why-try-another-browser

2023-10-16 13:23:09

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@npub1mvf…3dc2 or maybe only have it enabled for people on your contact list, yeah.

2023-10-15 20:17:48

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@npub1mvf…3dc2 link previews (unfurling) save a -ton- of time and make for a vastly better user experience.
heck, you can look at twitter's recent changes to see how bad things get without link previews.

2023-10-15 14:36:58

shower thought: could a cation running for president of the Atomic States win a free and fair electron?

2023-10-14 15:26:58

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@npub15yp…j00n I’d like to think that if I was going to rob a a moving vehicle that the one loaded to the gills with cameras probably wouldn’t be my choice.

2023-10-13 17:37:26

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@npub19yj…wfvf that is a fun fact!

2023-10-13 14:06:58

missed opportunity for Netflix to open an ice cream parlor called Netflix & Chill
https://www.engadget.com/netflix-to-open-branded-retail-stores-for-some-reason-184331296.html

2023-10-12 12:41:12

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@npub12lx…jvjy for what it’s worth, modern research is showing that computers are both faster and more accurate than humans at solving captchas.

2023-10-12 12:17:22

alex (age 11): my TI calculator calculates the factors of huge numbers in instant (shows me)
me: you should try giving it a number that’s the product of two very large primes
alex: mom that’s just RSA (rolls eyes)

2023-10-11 20:00:13

data scientists beware
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/218/155/026/459/686/original/725f7627f4fe2c8a.jpeg

2023-09-29 13:53:36

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@npub1vcl…k6t3 likewise! thanks for throwing that together!

2023-09-29 10:32:37

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@npub1vcl…k6t3 I’ve also put together this, to get a list of all your Electron apps, at least on macOS.
https://gist.github.com/april/3da7c3720b0d9f3ee7dc9a95f623578d

2023-09-28 16:51:30

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@npub1jnl…8w7f it’s listed in the gist. :)

2023-09-28 15:37:23

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@npub1xs0…g0u7 it’s a Magic the Gathering app that seems to not update their dependencies. 😅

2023-09-28 15:16:17

been hacking away — with some fantastic help from the community — at my gist to show you all the (possibly vulnerable) versions of Electron on your system:
https://gist.github.com/april/3da7c3720b0d9f3ee7dc9a95f623578d
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/143/430/061/961/231/original/f49a64dcb0e6a596.png

2023-09-28 14:36:13

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@npub1hev…7z4j 19.1.8, that's a good vintage

2023-09-27 23:38:59

tired: FIFO (first in / first out)
wired: FAAFO (fuck around and find out)

2023-09-27 21:29:01

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@npub1ltk…6fl5 I've since updated it to work with bash too, thanks. :)

2023-09-27 21:28:19

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@npub1rya…qdhj libwebp, yup

2023-09-27 21:28:10

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@npub1jrm…kpuv it should work with either bash or zsh, does it not work with fish?

2023-09-27 17:38:57

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@npub136d…09c5 yeah probably, all you’d need to do is find the shared library and run strings against it too.
although on Linux most libraries have the version number in their file name.

2023-09-27 17:10:16

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@npub15fq…j8f3 don't think of it as vulnerable and outdated, think of it as "vintage electron"

2023-09-27 17:05:43

If you're on macOS and want to see what versions of Electron your apps are running, I made this handy gist:
https://gist.github.com/april/3da7c3720b0d9f3ee7dc9a95f623578d
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/138/198/777/948/924/original/cf620085af8e2c93.png

2023-09-27 16:45:34

I am so damned tired of this shit.
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/138/117/576/019/382/original/09c8ea8ac2d7d937.png

2023-09-27 15:54:36

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@npub1a9s…m2r0 bunnies are actually quite easy to potty train, much easier than LLMs 😅

2023-09-27 12:30:56

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@npub19em…vagr yeah but it bleeds everywhere, this is what website after website after website looks like on google now.
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/137/118/441/920/247/original/ae6c6478ef0f1bd5.png

2023-09-27 00:53:22

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@npub1yj3…qxrg @npub19qm…sn8k it would have to go back to 2005 content as well, 2005 Google would be absolutely murdered by SEO and AI nonsense.

2023-09-26 23:58:13

I hope you’re as excited as I am for the web to be overflowing with informational AI content like this.
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/134/157/137/800/054/original/33a159daa9d2d730.jpeg
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/134/157/584/686/333/original/3918cb0da259585b.jpeg
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/134/158/280/900/698/original/b703b64576ec8056.jpeg
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/134/159/038/593/084/original/c18800900259e399.jpeg

2023-09-25 16:31:13

it's pretty wild how bad the Slack UX has gotten in the last few months.
sidebars flashing in and out of existence, theme inconsistencies, lost threads, randomness with regards to elements collapsing.
how in the world does discord of all things have a better UX now?

2023-09-25 16:30:52

it's pretty wild how bad the
@SlackHQ
UX has gotten in the last few months.
sidebars flashing in and out of existence, theme inconsistencies, lost threads, randomness with regards to elements collapsing.
how in the world does discord of all things have a better UX now?

2023-09-25 16:11:19

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@npub1td4…q4cm Huh, that's interesting, I would think pretty much anyone using a third-party password manager would by default be juggling two credential managers.
Even if you use 1Password or whatever, you still have all sorts of credentials kept in iCloud (wifi passwords and application passwords in particular).
Curious what the stats are for people using a third-party password manager who have iCloud Keychain disabled vs. enabled.

2023-09-25 15:44:45

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@npub1k6f…jp0a I'm not talking about iOS, and that's not the behavior I would want anyways. I want to keep my passwords in 1Password.

2023-09-25 15:42:20

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@npub1fzv…3jjn @npub1s5m…c4j9 I'm not using the 1Password extension.

2023-09-25 15:41:53

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@npub1td4…q4cm Yeah, iOS should (in theory) know that the password came from another provider, so hopefully it's not too painful to change its behavior to not ask to resave it.

2023-09-25 15:38:40

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@npub1td4…q4cm WHile I appreciate your response to my post, I'm not using the 1Password Extension, and so therefore it's not overriding the Javascript API.
If I fill a password using 1Password and the native OS APIs, iOS then asks me if I want to resave my password into my iCloud keychain.

2023-09-24 16:32:36

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@npub1s80…8un5 it’s extremely annoying!

2023-09-24 16:32:15

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@npub185m…9xwq yup, this is exactly it. it worked great(ish) in iOS 16, and I enjoyed nothing having everything in one place.
Does the iCloud password thing have all the 1Password features yet? Notes, attachments, etc?

2023-09-24 16:25:41

Can’t get iOS 17 and 1Password to stop fighting, seemingly can’t use 1Password only for passwords and iOS only for passkeys.
Downright wild how passkeys went from a promising replacement for passwords to an awkward mess that confuses even security professionals.

2023-09-22 01:11:57

my favorite new iOS 17 feature is one nobody has mentioned anywhere. under:
Accessibility > Touch > Haptic Touch > Touch Duration
you can set the Touch Duration to fast, to make it recognize long presses in less time. huge improvement.

2023-09-21 18:11:48

companies will literally buy splunk because it's cheaper than paying their annual splunk bill.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/cisco-acquire-splunk-28-billion-2023-09-21/

2023-09-19 20:20:12

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@npub1l20…0c0w open S3 buckets don't have the same joy of directory listings 😔

2023-09-19 20:17:06

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@npub1l20…0c0w I miss feeling like a hacker by removing a filename to see the directory listing.

2023-09-19 20:13:13

mourning what we have lost
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/093/634/521/577/141/original/64eef853e6f11a2f.png

2023-09-19 17:52:03

the new iOS live voicemail feature is going to save me from having to deal with an absolutely immense about of bullshit
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/111/093/081/797/535/942/original/52fc8c6e58d01b3c.jpeg

2023-09-12 22:55:01

from the USA v. Twitter/X legal document:
> Moreover, when Kieran was asked to identify the “most senior” employee with “long-standing knowledge” about the information security team, he responded there was “nobody left.”
😬😬😬

2023-09-12 14:29:02

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@npub14ux…jx88 you are very welcome, hope all is well with you. :)

2023-09-12 14:17:23

United States of America v. Twitter Inc.:
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23971448/usvxdojflg091123.pdf
Filled with all manner of fascinating tidbits, including depositions from former Twitter staff around their privacy and security departments.

2023-09-09 12:05:01

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@npub1zle…vmkn I suppose the reason to rush is because that person will leave if you don’t recognize their work.

2023-09-07 16:42:24

shower thought: an evil interview question that asks candidates to design a certificate revocation system

2023-09-07 14:46:31

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@npub1upr…depl great choice of month to retire in

2023-09-07 12:17:42

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@npub1768…48zp hiring is definitely awful but at least it’s time bound

2023-09-06 23:55:17

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@npub1ult…hg4l I think it is unintentionally designed, created a specific way but lacking recognition of the broken system you have created.

2023-09-06 23:12:51

tech be like:
hiring a staff engineer: one req, six hours of interviews
promoting to staff: a ten page promo doc requiring months of effort, feedback from dozens of colleagues, and approval by six layers of management
… and then we wonder why the average tenure is so short.

2023-08-31 05:52:14

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@npub1hds…fcnv yes but they only works until they figure it out and slow down. which is still an improvement but not a solution.

2023-08-31 03:26:33

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@npub1ynl…873s I’d be happy to buy a ticket if everyone but Rumman had to sit there quietly and listen.

2023-08-30 00:50:39

AI bots are rapidly becoming better than humans at CAPTCHAs, if they haven’t already long passed that point.
(from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.12108.pdf)
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/110/975/817/842/912/291/original/76b4235885878053.jpeg

2023-08-27 01:19:31

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@npub1e8a…4vv4 Home Depot sells them online: https://www.homedepot.com/p/KNIPEX-7-in-Pliers-Wrench-with-Comfort-Grip-Handles-86-05-180/205333660

2023-08-25 23:17:21

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@npub1uka…eg6e I’m pretty sure they are legally required to do so, or else they wouldn’t.

2023-08-25 19:22:07

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@npub1vku…9345 Netflix doesn’t pay in stock, only cash. 😅

2023-08-25 19:11:59

netflix be like “the range for this position is between fifteen thousand and three billion dollars per year.”
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/110/951/838/086/484/547/original/f64cb225729d0294.jpeg
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/110/951/839/661/776/795/original/032fb5cc20f154cb.jpeg

2023-08-25 17:31:04

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@npub1q94…tm7y it technically happened in early 1995 with Netscape Navigator 2's introduction of Javascript, but I am too old and tired to remember the exact year.

2023-08-25 16:31:05

had a short discussion yesterday about regretful browser decisions made back in 1993
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/110/951/205/586/941/405/original/465d9a02aca2426b.png

2023-08-25 12:10:53

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@npub1vet…puma I have that same hammer although maybe with a peen instead of claws. They are great.

2023-08-25 02:35:18

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@npub1t9t…s4m5 yeah it’s super annoying. macOS has Lunar.app, which lets you dim MacBook screens a lot dimmer as well.

2023-08-25 02:16:20

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@npub1mlt…gwu7 @npub1k0j…e8k9 Also my spouse used mine for pulling out screws recently (!!!!!!!!!!!), so I am now on my second pair. 😂

2023-08-25 02:11:54

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@npub1mlt…gwu7 @npub1k0j…e8k9 I think most people haven’t paid more than $10 for a pair of pliers, so pricey compared to that. But for their utility and how well they work they are cheap af.

2023-08-25 02:09:11

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@npub1k0j…e8k9 I would pay 2-3x the price for them to be honest

2023-08-25 02:07:36

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@npub17du…y5k7 and it stays perfectly at the setting you set, it makes so many jobs 100x easier.

2023-08-25 02:06:27

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@npub17du…y5k7 @npub1v7n…pctp 💦💦💦🍑

2023-08-25 02:05:48

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@npub1v7n…pctp that’s in second place!

2023-08-25 02:04:04

this is the greatest tool that humankind has ever created, change my view
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/110/947/797/657/560/812/original/604fa65eac1599b8.jpeg

2023-08-25 02:03:24

this is the greatest tool that humankind has ever created, change my view

2023-08-24 17:23:59

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@npub19zs…5azk that is sexy af

2023-08-24 17:23:33

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@npub15te…2c9n yeah I use the automatic color balancing thing (night shift) alongside this, works pretty well for me by itself.

2023-08-24 15:25:42

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@npub1td4…q4cm nope! I give you permission to lay in bed, and enjoy a couple extra hours of cozy pillow time.

2023-08-24 15:25:11

by far my favorite iOS life hack is binding settings > accessibility > accessibility shortcut to “reduce white point.”
with a triple-click on the side button, it lets you dim your screen well beyond the lowest brightness setting. really great at night or if you get migraines.

2023-08-20 21:30:59

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@npub1ej7…37vh very good, very good

2023-08-20 13:15:59

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@npub1rv6…f9xn I think this is more breaking t.co than deleting, my Twitter archives from that era still have media links that work. But it’s always so hard to tell the difference between incompetence and espionage these days.

2023-08-17 21:49:57

every single document that revolves around controls, policies, standards, guidelines, and procedures is absolutely littered with these things, and this is all I see now.
https://macawsocial.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media_attachments/files/110/907/158/157/394/579/original/565d0e7a57b23008.png

2023-08-17 21:49:05

2023-08-17 03:31:42

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@npub14ux…jx88 this makes me want to watch "your name" all over again