I just lost ¾ of a really good blog post by typing :q! without thinking and I’m having a really hard time rewriting it.

@mckinley@mckinley.cc I figured it out: Digital License Plates Considered Harmful

@lyse@lyse.isobeef.org I’m porting https://github.com/kyx0r/nextvi to 9front.

@lyse@lyse.isobeef.org The thing is, if it didn’t connect to the Internet on its own, it would be basically fine. You could make a device like this that communicates directly with an app on your phone. The app would spy on you, I’m sure, but just about all of the user-facing features I can see could be done in the app alone and the plate could be updated over Bluetooth or something. You could prevent people from incorrectly changing their registration year or plate number with cryptographic signatures from either Reviver or the DMV, which I hope they’re doing already.

Of course, on a phone, you have all those pesky permissions that people can turn off.

@lyse@lyse.isobeef.org That’s already the case where I live. There are also some DMV kiosks in public places, usually grocery stores, and you can renew your registration right there. If I remember correctly, it will even print your updated registration and give you the sticker for your license plate so you don’t have to wait for the mail.

@movq@www.uninformativ.de It’s an e-ink display, which makes it a little more practical from a design perspective, but it’s still completely ridiculous.