[Shadowmuse Blown]

I think it’s interesting that videophones were always depicted as something built-in, as with this one in the series “Thunderbirds”.  Even in Blade Runner they just extrapolated pay phones.  Captain Kirk may have had a portable “phone”, but I don’t recall any depiction of a portable communication device with a video screen with the possible exception of “Space: 1999”.

Gerry Anderson was always thinking ahead.

[MaxBigfoot]

A canned... can?   

[rtpoe]

I think it’s interesting that videophones were always depicted as something built-in, as with this one in the series “Thunderbirds”.  Even in Blade Runner they just extrapolated pay phones.  Captain Kirk may have had a portable “phone”, but I don’t recall any depiction of a portable communication device with a video screen with the possible exception of “Space: 1999”.

Gerry Anderson was always thinking ahead.

Dick Tracy enters the chat....

[solvegas]

An F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213 "Sealions" launches from the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) in the Eastern Mediterranean.

[TheZookie007]

What do you slëep in?

I'm either 4, 5, 19 or 20.

A t-shirt and a lunghi.

[TheZookie007]

A canned... can?   

Looks like one of those infernal AI-generated images

[TheZookie007]

I think it’s interesting that videophones were always depicted as something built-in, as with this one in the series “Thunderbirds”.  Even in Blade Runner they just extrapolated pay phones.  Captain Kirk may have had a portable “phone”, but I don’t recall any depiction of a portable communication device with a video screen with the possible exception of “Space: 1999”.

Gerry Anderson was always thinking ahead.

Dick Tracy enters the chat....

Yes! How soon they forget...

[MaxBigfoot]

Amazing and beautiful!   

[rtpoe]

When gov't agencies have fun on Xitter:

[solvegas]

The US Air Force demonstration squadron, Thunderbirds, perform by the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, to help kick off the National Veterans and Families month. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

Atlantic City Boardwalk, northeast bend with Charade Recherché sitting in our rented quadrocycle.  The nature of the panoramic shot meant that unless a person was fairly still during the pan, that parts of them might get overlaid as the camera moved.

I miss summer.

[MaxBigfoot]

Atlantic City Boardwalk, northeast bend with Charade Recherché sitting in our rented quadrocycle.  The nature of the panoramic shot meant that unless a person was fairly still during the pan, that parts of them might get overlaid as the camera moved.

I miss summer.

So do I.   
But, that's a great shot, Shadowmuse!   
I'm a little surprised at the lack of crowds, though.   

[MaxBigfoot]

He REALLY liked "300".   

[TheZookie007]

Amazing and beautiful!   

I just keep on thinking of how much it would hurt to stub your toe on those table legs...

[TheZookie007]

BBC, 25 February 2023: "The woman whose stolen images were used to scam men out of thousands"

For over a decade, stolen images of a former adult star have been used to scam victims out of thousands of dollars. How does it feel to be the unwitting face of so many romance scams?

Almost every day, Vanessa gets messages from men who believe they are in a relationship with her - some even think she's their wife. They are angry, confused and some want their money back - which they say they sent her to pay for daily expenses, hospital bills, or to help relatives.

But it is all a lie. Vanessa doesn't know these men. Instead, her pictures and videos - lifted from her past life in adult entertainment - have been used as the bait in online romance scams dating back to the mid-2000s. Victims had money extorted through fake online profiles using Vanessa's name or likeness, in a type of romance scam called catfishing.

The flood of messages containing tales of lost money and ruined lives have taken their toll.

"I started becoming depressed, and blaming myself - maybe if my pictures weren't out there, these men wouldn't be getting scammed," Vanessa says - we're not using her surname to protect her full identity.

For about eight years, Vanessa worked as a "camgirl" - streaming explicit material live on the internet via webcam. Because she was a bit shy when she started out, she decided to create an alter ego called Janessa Brazil. "It's not really me, it's Janessa, so I won't be ashamed," she thought.

She picked the surname Brazil not only because it's where she was born, but also because it's one of the most popular search terms on the internet. It was a savvy decision. "I hate that name," she says now. "But it helped me get popular quickly."...