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#and before anyone reports this post or calls the fucking cops on me: IM SAFE
maraeffect · 3 years
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please send good vibes if u have a spare second. my familial and disability related trauma are affecting me really really badly tonight after a Talk with my family. anything helps seriously
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avasilvugh · 7 years
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super-sensate-seestras replied to your post
“Who do u think the superbabies will date?? :D (also since stella looks...”
I would love to hear more about Stella and Beth's relationship drama cause I absolutely love all of these breakdowns about the superbabies
WELL FRIEND there’s other drama too but this is the Major drama that hinders their relationship for a long time
so stella know she has a crush on beth, has been like aggressively ignoring said crush and tryin to Live Her Life and its been a year since stella came out, came to terms and she’s just started her nighttime shenanigans as a vigilante, just started trying to help the way kara does, the way maia does and its going ok???  until she.  you know.  gets stabbed (LIGHTLY STABBED) and is like hmmm i feel as though i should reassess maybe
and then beth’s back in national city after graduating early with like three bachelors (xenobiology, nanotechnology, and engineering) and at least one masters and a corresponding doctorate (in something sciencey, listen im barely an english major), working at l-corp bc she’s a Documented Genius and stella wants to step up her vigilante game, especially since she recently was lightly stabbed and doesnt rlly want that to happen again, and beth’s always been rlly calm and steady, very logical and she keeps all of maia’s secrets, so stella approaches her a little reluctantly to see if she’s willing to help and beth gives her this long, searching look and finally agrees, designs and builds her a new suit with a shitton of gadgets, is the main reason stella starts getting called mechagirl by the press but only helps with stella’s promise that beth can then help with actual missions bc like??  beth cares about her a lot too, doesnt want to see her die ya know??
and it’s weird??  bc now she’s friends with beth in her own right???  works alongside her a lot and beth serves as her tech person, finds her jobs she can do that supergirl or birdy (maia’s superhero alter ego) haven’t gotten to yet and national city gains a new superhero pretty much bc of beth.  and then its a late night of saving ppl and stella comes back to her apartment/headquarters and beth’s still there, wrapping up some end of night reports (she insists on keeping detailed logs in order to avoid any issues with the cops later on) and she’s ordered stella’s favorite takeout, put it in the oven to warm for her and stella’s so grateful and also pretty tired??  rlly tired and beth basically lives with her and sometimes the proximity blurs lines in stella’s mind and so she just leans down to kiss beth, murmurs thank you sleepily and goes into her room to change.  and beth’s just sitting there??  like oh my god, the girl i’ve been in love with for months just kissed me and she doesn’t even realize it but then stella REALIZES IT and runs back out like shit im so sorry beth, that was so inappropriate of me but beths like??  wait do you not like me and stella’s like WAIT DO YOU LIKE ME???? 
surprise!!  this is how stella finds out beth’s an alien and also how beth finds out stella’s an alien lmao.  like.  beth’s species has mental shields, similar to martians??  so stella’s never been able to read her or see in her mind but she never rlly tried to or even questioned it??  or even noticed bc she’s rlly empathetic anyway, reads body language rlly well, so she’s never known that beth likes her the way stella likes beth
like, later in their relationship, stella suddenly can read beth??  like rlly well and she’s like um what the hell and beth’s like oh, yeah, i stopped putting up the block and stella’s just like starry eyed like holy shit you trust me that much???  
beth’s like uh yeah but dont let it go to your head you nerd
but are they smart abt this and admit their v deep feelings for one another then??  no.  they just hookup and then keep hooking up, pretending like nothings changed, pretending like theyre not basically living together or doing all the shit Couples do but just refusing to tell anyone or acknowledge it at all.  and it’s ok for a while??  its solid
but then stella’s suit malfunctions, gives her a nasty burn down her side and she begs beth to not tell anyone that she’s in the hospital, that she’s been hurt and beth’s like shit, stella, i can’t keep doing this bc they’re working with a budget of about eleven dollars, a starburst, and stella’s bus pass, building with shit from the scrap yard and old electronics from secondhand stores and beth wants stella to just tell her family she’s the new vigilante bc then they’d have access to better resources, then beth wouldn’t be so scared every time stella runs out to go save a family from a burning car or stop a bank robbery, but stella refuses, knows that it would be a battle to be accepted like this.  
its a fight they’ve had for months before and then stella’s armor fucks up and beth just calls it.  tells her that she comes clean or beth won’t help her keep almost dying, so stella tells her that she doesn’t need her and beth moves all her shit out of stella’s apartment and its all rlly quiet, subdued and its so fucking sad
she takes the job offer she has at wayne security in charm city (wink wink) and doesnt tell stella, stella finds out when she goes over to her moms and finds beth there, with maia and her moms and finn, all laughing and grinning and maia tells her that beth is getting her own department at wayne security, that she’s moving on friday and stella fakes a smile, congratulates beth before she leaves and that’s the end of it, she never sees beth again
but then stella wrecks her motorcycle.  i think i mentioned once that stella is a little bit of an adrenaline junkie??  well she’s a huge adrenaline junkie and she was testing the limits of her newly redesigned bike, pushing it past 90, 120, 150 and then she just??  loses control of the motorcycle.  it just spins out and stella tries to stop it, turns into the spin and pumps the brakes which slows it down enough that she doesnt just fucking die, but not so much that she’s not close to dying
beth is still her emergency contact.  so beth gets the call, middle of the night, that stella danvers was in a wreck, is on the way to the hospital and that she should get here as soon as possible.  but beth is a ten hour drive away and can’t possibly know that she’d get there soon enough, be there if....if it came down to stella not being alone.  and.  well.  its not her place, never was.  so she calls lena, tells her the emts called the last number stella called bc its so much easier that way, kinder to everyone she thinks
she still drives through the night to national city.  gets there just a little after maia does, her eyes red and puffy from sobbing on the freeway, hands shaking a little.  thank god no one asks why she’s there or why she’s this panicked, bc she’d probably tell them and she knows that’s the last thing stella would want (or, well.  she thinks that at least).  maia just sobs out that beth is the best friend for coming, holds onto her in this desperate, damp sort of hug and beth just stays quiet
beth doesnt stay after she finds out stella woke up, is going to be okay.  she can’t right??  she shouldnt be here in the first place right??
so maia stays in national city to help stella in her recovery bc stella’s being stubborn and refuses to move back in with their moms, and maia figures most of her moping is to do with the fact she’s not allowed anywhere near her motorcycle anymore, but then she finds this one shirt that she knows is beth’s, knows beth has had since high school and its tucked under stella’s pillow and she puts it together pretty quickly.  the way they were friends and then all of a sudden they werent, the way beth came running back to nc the second stella got hurt, that weird pulse of anger, hurt she felt when stella found out beth was moving to charm city.  and like???  she doesnt know what to do with that information, she’s not sure what to feel or how to think about this so she just files it away for a later time, tucks the shirt back under stella’s pillow without saying anything
so eventually stella gets convinced to move back home, bc maia’s like hey.  i dont mind living with you and i dont mind helping you, but the neighbors are starting to think its weird that i carry you up the three flights of stairs to your apartment every day so finally stella moves home and maia comes with her bc they’re finally in a good place again??  they finally worked things out between them from when they were kids and maia’s not about to leave stella, not when stella’s like finally started seeing her as another Certified Safe Place.  so they’re back in their childhood bedrooms and then lena finds out about stella’s vigilantism.  mostly by accident??  stella’s still p much out of commission until her body’s at a 100 percent again but lena finds the mask and its a whole Thing between them, the first time stella’s ever really fought with lena and then by natural extension, kara finds out and then maia clues in and then the whole family has an opinion on it and stella’s just like MCFUCK OFF
and maia??  is like desperately scared for her sister, and she’s angry and she’s hurt that she didn’t tell her, didnt think that she would do anything to help her, but she also knows how isolated stella feels, how helpless she must be feeling, how stuck she is, so she calls beth
and when beth is beating around the bush with it, playing dumb like idk why you’d call me??  stella and i really aren’t that close, maia just calls her out on it like.  elizabeth, i know for a fact you were sleeping with my sister
oh
yeah, oh.  i have some words to share with you at a later date, but right now stella needs someone in her corner and that can’t be me 
and beth doesnt like.  doesnt even hesitate.  she drives her shitty beat up jetta the ten hours it takes to get from charm city to national city and gets a shitty hotel and is so, so nervous??  bc what if stella doesnt want her here??  what if she never wants to see beth again???  but then maia’s texting, saying that the house is empty if she wants to talk to stella and she does, she really does, like?  she didnt realize how big of a part of her life stella was until she was gone, until she had moved to a new city and met new people like she’s completely in love with stella, so she goes
stella opens the door and just stares for a second before she says that maia’s out for a while but beth just keeps looking at her and finally says it outright, says i’m here to see you, stella like its the most obvious thing in the world and stella’s so tired, she’s starting to close the door and she’s saying i dont need another lecture, i’ve had enough of those for a lifetime and beth lets her close it, knows her well enough to know she wont walk away from the door before beth does, so she calls through and says im not here to lecture you, stell.  i just.  i wanted to see you
the door opens
and its incredibly uncomfortable for a while, incredibly tense and when beth tries to ask her what’s going on, stella just hisses what, like you care?  and beth like??  normally would fire back with something, normally would let this blow up into a fight but she’s thought about it, she really has, and she knows that any time she can have with stella is better than no time at all.  that she’d rather take stella as she is, thrill seeking and too good for words and hard headed in the extreme, take the risks that come with her than have anything else.  so beth nods.  yeah.  i care.  i care a lot about you stella, and i shouldnt have forced you to make a decision like i did.  but its scary when the girl you love doesnt see the same value in her life that you do and it was terrifying watching you leave every night and not being sure if i would wake up to your face on the news
and stella’s like??  shit.  shIT, didn’t account for this at all.  but beth is very steady, is giving her this even-keeled look, keeping her eyes on stella but not forcing eye contact and she finally stands, gets ready to leave 
and she tells stella i love you.  and believe me when i say that transcends boundaries like platonic and romantic.  i love you, stella danvers, and i will always be here for you, in whatever way you want me to be and then she’s leaving 
and stella has a choice to make, two paths she can take and she stands a little unsteadily and grabs beth’s hand and pulls her back 
and she’s like im still pretty stupid, you’re aware of that, right?  and beth laughs, refutes the statement as she rests her forehead against stella’s.  you’re not stupid, stella, never stupid.  a little dense sometimes...  and stella laughs too before she admits, finally, i love you too, genius.  and i dont think i can keep doing this without you?  and she tries to backpedal, bc she’s worried she’s being manipulative or something but beth just shakes her head, says im going to kiss you now, ok?  and stella’s nodding fast, tears finally starting to fall when it all hits her and then they’re kissing for the first time in six months and theyre maybe still kissing when everyone comes home and maia groans bc like i texted you specifically so i could avoid seeing this ugh you guuuyyysssss
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newssplashy · 6 years
Text
Tech: 'I’m going to destroy you': Employees who worked at YouTube say violent threats from volatile ‘creators’ have been going on for years (GOOG, GOOGL)
Some YouTube's videographers take out frustrations on company's employees
The attack on YouTube by Nasim Aghdam may be isolated act by a disturbed person but former employees say workers receive threats anytime major changes are made to the site.
YouTube's management stationed an armed guard outside one employee's house a decade ago after a user threatened her and her family.
Former employees say Facebook, Twitter or any other platform that offers a chance at notoriety should be concerned with implications of Aghdam's case.
YouTube managers had no way to predict Nasim Aghdam would go on a bloody rampage, but they had plenty of reasons to fear that someone like her might one day show up, say former employees.
Aghdam was the 38-year-old, disgruntled YouTube video creator who arrived at the company's San Bruno, California, headquarters on April 3 and began blasting away with a 9mm handgun. She wounded three staffers before she killed herself. Police say leading up to the shooting Aghdam, who was from San Diego, believed YouTube sought to censor her and ruin her life.
This kind of violence is unprecedented in YouTube's 13-year-history, though Aghdam's anger and paranoia aren't unique among the millions of people who create and post videos to the site, according to five former YouTube employees. In exclusive interviews, they told Business Insider that going back to the service's earliest days, frustrated creators — seething over one of YouTube's policy changes or the other — have threatened staffers with violence.
Typically the threats were delivered via email. At least once, a video creator confronted a YouTube employee face-to-face and promised he would "destroy" him. In another instance, a man enraged by the suspension of his account, promised to harm Mia Quagliarello, YouTube's first community manager, and her family. The person created a crude web page that was filled with menacing images and slurs against Quagliarello and her family. In an interview, Quagliarello said company managers considered the situation serious enough to station an armed guard outside her home for three days.
"I forwarded (the threats) to Google security and they took it super seriously," said Quagliarello, who worked at YouTube from 2006 to 2011. "They sent over someone, like an ex-cop type, to sit on my block, like 24-7."
Neither Google, which owns YouTube, nor YouTube responded to requests for comment.
Before Aghdam arrived, all the threats turned out to be just that: threats. All the employees interviewed said they knew of no other time when a creator tried to physically harm a YouTube employee. At this point, the indications are that Aghdam's attack was the kind of event that has become all too familiar in American society: an isolated act committed by a person with a shaky grip on reality.
People who may have developed an unhealthy dependency isn't a problem exclusive to YouTube, the former employees said. At least three of those interviewed have worked at some of the other top social networks and say employees there have also received threats.
As online services like Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat have emerged as broadcast mediums for the masses, in many cases offering tools and financial incentives that make it easy for anyone to try their hand at building a career as a viral star, the potential for problems increases.
"When you have a platform that serves everyone, there are going to be people who are emotionally unstable," said a former YouTube employee who requested anonymity. "Whenever platforms change, you get a lot of emails, some of them are rational. Some of them are irrational."
"I'm going to destroy you"
In the case of YouTube, the world's largest video-sharing site, the Google-owned company has a reputation as a star-maker. Anyone with the ability to attract viewers has the chance at generating notoriety and a share of ad revenue.
As YouTube's following has expanded and revenues ballooned, the opportunities for amateur videographers has also grown. In recent years, this has resulted in more and more people becoming financially and emotionally dependent on the service, say the former employees.
So, what happens when the spigot is turned off? Often in YouTube's history, managers have tried making improvements to the site. Sometimes these changes have led to reduced viewership and ad money for videographers.
YouTube has been dealing with the problem for at least nine years, going back to a 2009 homepage redesign. Although YouTube was not formally sharing ad revenue with video creators at the time, the currency of video "views" was incredibly valuable to people seeking a path to mainstream stardom.
After a YouTube product manager published a blog post announcing the 2009 homepage changes, he was barraged with angry notes in the comments section — including at least one death threat, say several people with knowledge of the matter.
Former YouTube staffers say that too often in such situations, irrational people try to take out their frustrations on YouTube's workers.
Eric Meyerson, a former head of YouTube's advertiser and creator marketing departments, said a male video creator approached him during a 2013 YouTube event at Google's offices in Santa Monica, California.
"He was in a really bad frame of mind," said Meyerson, who worked for YouTube from 2010 to 2013. "He said something to the effect that ‘If you keep fucking with my channel I’m going to destroy you. I’m going to hurt you,' and he implied that he was going to take it out on employees of YouTube ... although it was a threat and obviously I want to take it seriously, we were used to a lot of volatility among the creator community."
People hanging around outside the building
A year ago, revelations surfaced that ads appearing at YouTube from respectable companies were running alongside such fare as recruiting videos for terrorist groups and commentaries that included hate speech.
YouTube responded by removing material that advertisers might find unappealing — part of a series of rule changes called "demonetization."
Apparently, Aghdam's clips, mostly focused on fitness and animal rights, were caught up in the purge. She claimed the new policies were designed to censor her.
This type of thinking may seem paranoid but it's not unique among video creators, according to Meyerson. He said that though the vast majority of creators respond to changes at YouTube in a reasonable fashion, a fringe element always sees conspiracies and plots in every move made by the company's leadership.
"That’s a fairly typical complaint among creators," Meyerson said. "'My stuff isn’t that bad. Why am I getting demonetized?' People think it's because of their political views. Conservatives are especially paranoid about this. 'I’m being demonetized because I’m a conservative and Google is a bunch of liberals' ... [When] YouTube decided to demonetize controversial content, they happened to affect the most passionate people who had the most intense ideas. Whether it was about guns or controversial opinions," he added.
One former employee who requested anonymity, said that though he never saw any violence, he was accosted several times. He said people would wait outside YouTube's offices to speak with employees about changes to the homepage or algorithm that was affecting them.
"One time there was a guy in a suit who drove from Los Angeles," said the source. "He had my LinkedIn page open and he knew who I was. He wanted to talk to someone about his channel, I think. That's the only time I really got scared because this guy knew who I was ... when I heard about the shooting, that was my first thought. That it was one of those people hanging around outside."
Apparently such threats were common enough to prompt Google security to implement a reporting procedure, or an "escalation path," for employees to follow, according to another source who also preferred to remain anonymous.
Both Meyerson and Quagliarello said they always felt safe at YouTube's headquarters and that the company's security team takes the job seriously. One unnamed source made it a point to applaud the efforts of Marty Lev, the former vice president of security at Google who left the company in 2016 and is now head of physical security at Amazon Web Services.
Whatever security YouTube had before, it's about to get stronger. Alphabet has said following Aghdam's attack that it will increase security at its offices.
Asked if it would bother her to drive past YouTube's headquarters and see that the campus resembles a bunker or fortification, Quagliarello, YouTube's former community manager, said: "It would make me feel sad, but at the same time I’ve been thinking that we need more security in [Silicon Valley]. I feel like we’ve been pretty laid back here. Unfortunately I think it’s time to buckle up."
source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/04/tech-im-going-to-destroy-you-employees_17.html
0 notes
newssplashy · 6 years
Text
Tech: 'I’m going to destroy you': Employees who worked at YouTube say violent threats from volatile ‘creators’ have been going on for years (GOOG, GOOGL)
Some YouTube's videographers take out frustrations on company's employees
The attack on YouTube by Nasim Aghdam may be isolated act by a disturbed person but former employees say workers receive threats anytime major changes are made to the site.
YouTube's management stationed an armed guard outside one employee's house a decade ago after a user threatened her and her family.
Former employees say Facebook, Twitter or any other platform that offers a chance at notoriety should be concerned with implications of Aghdam's case.
YouTube managers had no way to predict Nasim Aghdam would go on a bloody rampage, but they had plenty of reasons to fear that someone like her might one day show up, say former employees.
Aghdam was the 38-year-old, disgruntled YouTube video creator who arrived at the company's San Bruno, California, headquarters on April 3 and began blasting away with a 9mm handgun. She wounded three staffers before she killed herself. Police say leading up to the shooting Aghdam, who was from San Diego, believed YouTube sought to censor her and ruin her life.
This kind of violence is unprecedented in YouTube's 13-year-history, though Aghdam's anger and paranoia aren't unique among the millions of people who create and post videos to the site, according to five former YouTube employees. In exclusive interviews, they told Business Insider that going back to the service's earliest days, frustrated creators — seething over one of YouTube's policy changes or the other — have threatened staffers with violence.
Typically the threats were delivered via email. At least once, a video creator confronted a YouTube employee face-to-face and promised he would "destroy" him. In another instance, a man enraged by the suspension of his account, promised to harm Mia Quagliarello, YouTube's first community manager, and her family. The person created a crude web page that was filled with menacing images and slurs against Quagliarello and her family. In an interview, Quagliarello said company managers considered the situation serious enough to station an armed guard outside her home for three days.
"I forwarded (the threats) to Google security and they took it super seriously," said Quagliarello, who worked at YouTube from 2006 to 2011. "They sent over someone, like an ex-cop type, to sit on my block, like 24-7."
Neither Google, which owns YouTube, nor YouTube responded to requests for comment.
Before Aghdam arrived, all the threats turned out to be just that: threats. All the employees interviewed said they knew of no other time when a creator tried to physically harm a YouTube employee. At this point, the indications are that Aghdam's attack was the kind of event that has become all too familiar in American society: an isolated act committed by a person with a shaky grip on reality.
People who may have developed an unhealthy dependency isn't a problem exclusive to YouTube, the former employees said. At least three of those interviewed have worked at some of the other top social networks and say employees there have also received threats.
As online services like Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat have emerged as broadcast mediums for the masses, in many cases offering tools and financial incentives that make it easy for anyone to try their hand at building a career as a viral star, the potential for problems increases.
"When you have a platform that serves everyone, there are going to be people who are emotionally unstable," said a former YouTube employee who requested anonymity. "Whenever platforms change, you get a lot of emails, some of them are rational. Some of them are irrational."
"I'm going to destroy you"
In the case of YouTube, the world's largest video-sharing site, the Google-owned company has a reputation as a star-maker. Anyone with the ability to attract viewers has the chance at generating notoriety and a share of ad revenue.
As YouTube's following has expanded and revenues ballooned, the opportunities for amateur videographers has also grown. In recent years, this has resulted in more and more people becoming financially and emotionally dependent on the service, say the former employees.
So, what happens when the spigot is turned off? Often in YouTube's history, managers have tried making improvements to the site. Sometimes these changes have led to reduced viewership and ad money for videographers.
YouTube has been dealing with the problem for at least nine years, going back to a 2009 homepage redesign. Although YouTube was not formally sharing ad revenue with video creators at the time, the currency of video "views" was incredibly valuable to people seeking a path to mainstream stardom.
After a YouTube product manager published a blog post announcing the 2009 homepage changes, he was barraged with angry notes in the comments section — including at least one death threat, say several people with knowledge of the matter.
Former YouTube staffers say that too often in such situations, irrational people try to take out their frustrations on YouTube's workers.
Eric Meyerson, a former head of YouTube's advertiser and creator marketing departments, said a male video creator approached him during a 2013 YouTube event at Google's offices in Santa Monica, California.
"He was in a really bad frame of mind," said Meyerson, who worked for YouTube from 2010 to 2013. "He said something to the effect that ‘If you keep fucking with my channel I’m going to destroy you. I’m going to hurt you,' and he implied that he was going to take it out on employees of YouTube ... although it was a threat and obviously I want to take it seriously, we were used to a lot of volatility among the creator community."
People hanging around outside the building
A year ago, revelations surfaced that ads appearing at YouTube from respectable companies were running alongside such fare as recruiting videos for terrorist groups and commentaries that included hate speech.
YouTube responded by removing material that advertisers might find unappealing — part of a series of rule changes called "demonetization."
Apparently, Aghdam's clips, mostly focused on fitness and animal rights, were caught up in the purge. She claimed the new policies were designed to censor her.
This type of thinking may seem paranoid but it's not unique among video creators, according to Meyerson. He said that though the vast majority of creators respond to changes at YouTube in a reasonable fashion, a fringe element always sees conspiracies and plots in every move made by the company's leadership.
"That’s a fairly typical complaint among creators," Meyerson said. "'My stuff isn’t that bad. Why am I getting demonetized?' People think it's because of their political views. Conservatives are especially paranoid about this. 'I’m being demonetized because I’m a conservative and Google is a bunch of liberals' ... [When] YouTube decided to demonetize controversial content, they happened to affect the most passionate people who had the most intense ideas. Whether it was about guns or controversial opinions," he added.
One former employee who requested anonymity, said that though he never saw any violence, he was accosted several times. He said people would wait outside YouTube's offices to speak with employees about changes to the homepage or algorithm that was affecting them.
"One time there was a guy in a suit who drove from Los Angeles," said the source. "He had my LinkedIn page open and he knew who I was. He wanted to talk to someone about his channel, I think. That's the only time I really got scared because this guy knew who I was ... when I heard about the shooting, that was my first thought. That it was one of those people hanging around outside."
Apparently such threats were common enough to prompt Google security to implement a reporting procedure, or an "escalation path," for employees to follow, according to another source who also preferred to remain anonymous.
Both Meyerson and Quagliarello said they always felt safe at YouTube's headquarters and that the company's security team takes the job seriously. One unnamed source made it a point to applaud the efforts of Marty Lev, the former vice president of security at Google who left the company in 2016 and is now head of physical security at Amazon Web Services.
Whatever security YouTube had before, it's about to get stronger. Alphabet has said following Aghdam's attack that it will increase security at its offices.
Asked if it would bother her to drive past YouTube's headquarters and see that the campus resembles a bunker or fortification, Quagliarello, YouTube's former community manager, said: "It would make me feel sad, but at the same time I’ve been thinking that we need more security in [Silicon Valley]. I feel like we’ve been pretty laid back here. Unfortunately I think it’s time to buckle up."
source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/04/tech-im-going-to-destroy-you-employees.html
0 notes