'Technofascist military fantasy': Spotify faces boycott calls over CEO’s investment in AI military startup

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/spotify-faces-boycott-calls-over-ceos-investment-defence-startup

Spotify, the world’s leading music streaming platform, is facing intense criticism and boycott calls following CEO Daniel Ek’s announcement of a €600m ($702m) investment in Helsing, a German defence startup specialising in AI-powered combat drones and military software.

The move, announced on 17 June, has sparked widespread outrage from musicians, activists and social media users who accuse Ek of funnelling profits from music streaming into the military industry.

Many have started calling on users to cancel their subscriptions to the service.

“Finally cancelling my Spotify subscription – why am I paying for a fuckass app that works worse than it did 10 years ago, while their CEO spends all my money on technofascist military fantasies?” said one user on X.

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Balaquina@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I boycotted them a long time ago when I found out they donated to Trump’s campaign, despite being a Swedish company.

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- PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Wow didn’t know that.
  
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- positiveWHAT@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I also newly started boycotting them for the same reasons. Plus they don’t give enough to the musicians, and support AI music.
  
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- 3abas@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Been off Spotify since they have Rogan his platform, which contributed to Trump also.
  
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- roofuskit@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Highly illegal.
  
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  - Greg@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It’s legal through a US subsidiary if the funds come from US operations. The morality is questionable though
    
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- vividspecter@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Not to mention giving 100s of millions of dollars to fund Joe Rogan and his extreme right-wing propaganda.
  
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- killerscene@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  thats when i cancelled as well. this guy seems like such a fucknut
  
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- FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Same, took some legwork to get files for my 700-song library, but we did it. Fuck 'em.
  
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ryper@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

“Finally cancelling my Spotify subscription – why am I paying for a fuckass app that works worse than it did 10 years ago, while their CEO spends all my money on technofascist military fantasies?” said one user on X.

You shouldn’t be “paying for a fuckass app that works worse than it did 10 years ago” regardless of anything of CEO has done. Be less lazy and cancel subscriptions to shitty services.

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- kibiz0r@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I think one of the most toxic things on Lemmy is the prevalence of judging normies for using incredibly popular services and ascribing it to a character defect instead of life just being too complex for most people to be able to prioritize exploring more ethical technology choices.
  
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  - FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You’re not wrong. There are lots of holier-than-thou types around here.
    
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  - noobface@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    😎 If you’re not compiling your own kernel 🏋🏼‍♂️ you’re missing out on substantial gains 💪🏼. Just drink a little Nix shake in the morning 🤙🏼, then hit your favorite systemd alternative GitHub pages and pull the nightly. You’ll be so swole bro, you’ll be Goddify. 🎶
    
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  - Codilingus@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Agreed, most comments are miserable, toxic, old man yells at cloud, energy. More and more, so.
    
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  - vividspecter@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I get where you’re coming from, but it’s not like there aren’t multiple obvious alternatives (and not just on the fediverse). And someone clued in enough to boycott Spotify should have no trouble finding those alternatives.
    
    And the platform being owned by an outright Nazi should give even the most out of touch people pause.
    
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  - 3abas@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    No… It’s just laziness let’s not sugar coat it. You have the wealth of human knowledge in your pocket, knowledge of how to do absolutely anything and everything for free on a silver platter, all you have to do is prioritize exploring ethical technology choices. Complexity of the problem itself is not a good excuse to not learning to solve it as it continues to become a bigger problem.
    
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- UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  Be less lazy
  
  “Damn this sucks, I’m doing the thing”
  
  “Hey you lazy stupid fuck, go back in time and do it sooner”
  
  Why is the Internet like this?
  
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hopesdead@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Dude, you should have stopped using Spotify when they let Joe Rogan on their platform… or when they started hosting fake music.

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- Codilingus@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Or because they pay artist way less than any one else, while having lower quality audio.
  
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UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Always worth keeping in mind that these fuckers are selling snake oil to one another under the guise of national security.

This technology is dangerous not because it works as advertised but because it creates a vacuum of responsibility for when the very manual killing starts

Israel’s Lavender AI is a great example of this in action. It doesn’t work in any meaningful way. All it does is label casualties in a bombing run as “terrorists” after the fact.

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EstonianGuy@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Spotify CEO also donated millions to trump campaign.

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slaacaa@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Image

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criss_cross@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
What are the Spotify alternatives people recommend?

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- 1995ToyotaCorolla@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  IIRC Tidal and Qobuz should be good alternatives
  
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  - Jonnynny@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Thanks.
    
    I was talking to my wife this morning about this thread and the Qobuz recommendation was just what she needed to replace and cancel Spotify. She was able to import her playlists from her Spotify account and she’s been commenting for the past couple hours about how much better the audio quality is.
    
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  - FriskyDingo@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Qoobuz had the most horrific app I’ve ever experienced.
    
    Couldn’t even search a song in a playlist bad.
    
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- vividspecter@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  If you’re technically inclined, self-host navidrome or jellyfin.
  
  If you just want music and don’t care about the streaming part, bandcamp (although it does have some basic streaming I believe.
  
  If you want streaming and aren’t technically inclined, Tidal.
  
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- Codilingus@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Tidal is cheaper and better quality, Deezer is good, too.
  
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- oce@jlai.lu ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I have been using Deezer because it was local for me, France. At the beginning you could upload your own collection to share with others, it was fun. Now it’s basically the same as the others, I think it pays artists a little bit more than Spotify. Also just learned that is now majorly owned by some US investment fund. 🫠
  
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- Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Napster, bearshare
  
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- Lanske@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Qobuz is great. It’s a french company, they pay the artists well and the music is in high quality
  
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- avidamoeba@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Qobuz
  
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- FriskyDingo@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  This is where I’d have recommended deezer, but they shit the bed on their mobile app.
  
  +1 for tidal
  
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- NotProLemmy@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Funkwhale
  
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- Quazatron@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I jumped to Tidal many years ago because Spotify could not be bothered to provide high quality output. Yes, you can eat the difference, even on shitty gear.
  
  For the stuff I could not get on either platform I started buying CDs on Discogs and ripping them to FLAC.
  
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- steal_your_face@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Apple music believe it or not. Nice selection and interface. Works on Apple devices as well as android. Has a high bitrate and supports aptx on android. Don’t think they have a native app for windows or Linux, though, so you’d have to use the web version.
  
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BigBenis@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I stopped using Spotify long ago because of their shitty business practices. Producing a product they killed support for within just a couple years without reimbursing customers and producing huge amounts of e-waste. Jacking their subscription prices twice in one year. Apparently, they also donated to Trump despite not being an American company?? That’s to say nothing of their shitty recommendation algorithm, which just plays your most played tracks over and over. Good riddance.

For those interested, I use Tidal now. I’m satisfied with, their recommendation algo is fine and the higher quality streaming is really nice but nothing I’ve used has ever been as good as Google Play Music, I found so much good music though that service and could upload whatever I was missing. Once Tidal inevitably pisses me off, I’m going to move on to self hosting.

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- kassiopaea@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Being able to upload to Google Play Music was such a great feature. Honestly though, maybe it’s best that they killed it when they did. That way it can live on in memory as the example of what a music streaming service should be like… instead of becoming an enshittified zombie like spotify is today.
  
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Onyxonblack@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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- avidamoeba@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Seeking profit above all else isn’t human nature. Humans have lived and still live in societies that don’t do this. The socioeconomic system that we find ourselves in currently in a large part of the world does put profit above all else. But this system is just one iteration of how we live. And even it has changed over time where it has gotten worse over the last 50 years. It too would change and likely be replaced by another in the long run. Many believe that would be some form of socialism. Or we could go largely extinct before we abandon it. A better world is possible though.
  
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- defaultusername@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It is theorized by anthropologists that for most of humanity’s existence, humans operated on gift economies, without keeping any ledgers or IOUs, and also not bartering.
  
  en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy
  
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- Lumisal@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Great idea! You first, I’ll totally be right behind
  
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  - Onyxonblack@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
“Said one user on X.”

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vorb0te@lemmynsfw.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Helsing supplies Ukraine which is defending itself in accord with international law and the UN Charter. An attacked nation defending itself against Russian aggression. Nothing wrong with that. Basically the opposite of Russian Z-fascism.

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- SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah, it seems they also didn’t mention that it’s a European defense company, not a US defense company.
  
  Europe is investing a lot into defense now and it’s actually a good thing that they’re moving away from dependence on the US defense industrial complex.
  
  Spotify sucks tho. But that’s a separate thing.
  
  Clickbait article.
  
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  - head_socj@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I empathize with the sentiment and agree with the argument that Europe should invest in its own defense infrastructure, particularly if Putin is gearing up to make a move.
    
    That being said, Im increasingly wary of Europe’s willingness to appease Trump, and find it probable that, if right-wing parties continue making political gains, this same infrastructure will be turned against marginalized communities in these same countries; in a similar vein to the U.S regime’s attacks against immigrants and dissenters.
    
    Again, I’m not opposed to re-armament, but I hope EU citizens exercise more vigilance and skepticism in this era of resurging nationalism and protectionism.
    
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  - PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    A lot of money being invested in Euro defense right now.
    
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SuperSpruce@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Funny enough, for local downloads of video game OSTs (which I like way too much), I’ve been recently turning to Steam of all things. Often cheaper than Bandcamp and DRM-free!

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cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
damn people are just learning that spotify is a shitty pro fascist/pro white supremacist company?

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Cherry@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Been thinking of booting them for a whilst. Just cancelled. Better late than never.

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- addie@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah - been talking about doing so for quite a long time, and then signing up to a Qobuz family plan, downloading all their apps, and cancelling everything Spotify has taken all of five minutes. Hardly even interrupted the album we were listening to via Chromecast. There’s a lesson to be learned somewhere.
  
  Qobuz’ recommendations and albums-of-the-week actually look good, too. Like an actual music enthusiast has picked things out, rather than Spotify’s slop.
  
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  - rmuk@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Same story here. I cancelled Spotify after the whole Trump thing and switched to Qobuz; the whole thing was pretty seamless. I’ve got to say, the increased quality is actually noticeable and, as you said, the curated selections actually seem to be, well, curated. Also, if you’ve got a load of playlists on Spotify you want to keep, Qobuz actually provides subscribers with free access to a migartion service that did a superb job.
    
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torrentialgrain@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
There are lots of reasons to boycott Spotify and call out Ek for being a fascism enabler but this is not one. Helsing is a promising project that could give Europe the edge in the face of Russian imperialist aggression. If anything, we need more companies shaking up the crusty MIC.

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- geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The Germans can surely be trusted with AI murder tech.
  
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  - torrentialgrain@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Do you want Germany to take part of the NATO defense quotas or not?
    
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General_Effort@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Who’s calling for that boycott? Putin?

Respect for the true pacifists out there, but investing in EU-based defense industry is hardly questionable by ordinary standards.

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- BrainInABox@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Europe used the specter of Russia to justify it’s dive into militant fascism the last time too.
  
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  - General_Effort@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    False. Western Europe increased arms spending in response to German aggression. Germany increased arms spending… well.
    
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- vorb0te@lemmynsfw.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Probably. Rashism is real.
  
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FarraigePlaisteach@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The best time to start boycotting was when they started platforming a conspiracy theorising, testicle headed manosphere peddler. The next best time is not I suppose.

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atmorous@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Out of every company I would have never expected Spotify to be one of the ones to want that

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rimjob_rainer@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
What’s up with the cool startup names recently? First Palantir the fortune teller ball, now Helsing the vampire hunter? Fuck yeah, who doesn’t invest in these? /s

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FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
It is possible to get off Spotify.

What you can’t buy legitimately via other means you can use a Youtube-To-MP3 converter to rip and add the file to your music library.

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Uff@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Based. We need to fund european military technology in preparation of a Russian attack on sacred Western European soil.

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suddenlyme@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I thought we were already boycotting this shit

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yumyumsmuncher@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Jokes on them, I moved to CD and love it

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tomenzgg@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I can’t speak for how viable it is for success or whether it’s just a grift (as I haven’t had the time to really research into it) but feels like as good a time as any to mention that, out in Australia, The Pack Music Cooperative is fundraising for a cooperative music streaming service: www.thepackaustralia.com.au

They haven’t raised a lot towards their goal, yet, and could probably use an the help they can get. As a cooperative, they’ll side step a lot of the probably problems a corporation like Spotify or Tidal will have and they already are dedicated to prioritizing artists and their rights.

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dustyData@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Must be so nice to be so privileged as to be spoiled for choice on which fascist to support.

Spotify is the only streaming service available worldwide other than YouTube Music and Apple.

So for a lot of people it is either piracy or supporting a US tech megacorporation. Tidal, Qobuz, deezer. Cool, nice that they exist options. But most people in the planet would have to also pay a VPN and hope to not get their account banned if they want to use some of those alternatives.

It’s funny really, to see how the “fascist option” for some is actually the most ethical for others.

There’s always piracy of course, I suppose that is the only morally correct option always.

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HugeNerd@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Well tough guy, how else is Raytheon supposed to perfect its AIM-9X Romper Room baby-seeking missile’s accuracy?

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pogt@lemmy.wtf ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Reading this while listening to vinyl…best enjoyable music experience.

To hell with the enshitification of music streaming.

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iAvicenna@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
it will always be and has always been about money

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buttnugget@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m doing my part!

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DarkCloud@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
We all know that scene in Robo Cop 2 is going to happen eventually.

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