year in review

src/posts/2024-in-review.md

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+---
+title: maia crimew things of the year list
+description: it's apparently illegal to run a blog and not write some sort of year-in-review list
+date: 2024-12-23
+feature_image: /img/posts/2024-in-review/cover.jpg
+feature_alt: "a collage of various images related to the things listed in this blog post"
+tags:
+  - culture
+  - year-in-review
+---
+
+the end of the year is fast approaching and everyone is busy preparing for the holidays, but just like many other bloggers i am using my time for a much more important endeavor: writing a year-in-review post where i list off 10 things i quite liked in 2024. however, unlike other, more well-adjusted writers, i am not going to focus my list on just one category (be it movies or games). instead, i will simply list 10 of my favorite things from this year in no particular order.
+
+## 10: album of the year: *poorly wrote suicide note - pwsn ii*
+<iframe width="100%" height="150" src="https://odesli.co/embed/?url=https%3A%2F%2Falbum.link%2Fi%2F1721291432&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write"></iframe>
+
+*[pwsn ii](https://album.link/i/1721291432)* is the second LP from the noise pop/screamo act *poorly wrote suicide note*. released early january, it stayed with me all year (i am listening to it as i am writing this) and is probably one of my favorite albums of all time. it is a raw and emotional record with my favorite tracks on it being "captive bolt", "respite" and "secrets you died with". (my favorite *poorly wrote suicide note* track of the year, however, is "soar beyond the sky" off *[unfortunate](https://album.link/i/1743978534)*, a three-track EP which upgraded *poorly wrote suicide note* from a solo act to a duo as mabel joined up with its original member ashley.)
+
+## 9: game of the year: *1000xRESIST*
+{% figure { src: "/img/posts/2024-in-review/1000xresist.jpg", alt: "the 1000xRESIST game banner, it features a character split into multiple different characters in the center and the logo in the bottom left", caption: "hekki ALLMO" } %}
+
+*[1000xRESIST](https://www.sunsetvisitor.studio/)* is a narrative sci-fi game from the canadian indie studio *sunset visitor 斜陽過客* released in may. it managed to not just garner a good amount of critical praise but also sneak its way onto tons of other year-end lists like this one. given the nature of narrative games like this one i won't say too much about it—it's simply something that you have to experience for yourself. i will, however, say that the game made both me and my gf cry numerous times as we experienced the story together.
+
+## 8: hack of the year: *The Real World leak*
+![an unflattering photo of andrew tate cut out and put in front of a screenshot of a selection of trans and womens liberation themed emojis in an emoji picker](/img/posts/2024-in-review/therealworld.jpg)
+
+in november, Andrew Tate's online university—called *The Real World*—[was hacked](https://www.dailydot.com/debug/andrew-tate-the-real-world-hack/) and had all chat logs leaked ([1](https://ddosecrets.com/article/andrew-tate-s-the-real-world), [2](https://ddosecrets.com/article/andrew-tate-staff-chats), [3](https://ddosecrets.com/article/andrew-tate-s-war-room-videos)). i have yet to publish my own analysis of the data (though i have been working on that), but in the meantime you can easily [search through the data yourself](https://search.ddosecrets.com/data/revolt/server/2bc384ec-5ec3-4170-8405-eebf8362f68e), courtesy of [DDoSecrets](https://ddosecrets.com). absolutely baller move.
+
+## 7: Hackers (1995) of the year: *Hackers (1995)*
+![the original cover for hackers (1995) the characters are in the middle of the cover, above them is text saying "their only crime was curiosity" and below them is the title of the film](/img/posts/2024-in-review/hackers1995.jpg)
+
+okay i know you've already heard this from me a billion times, but *Hackers (1995)* is one of the best movies ever. it's camp and weird and absolutely a product of its time but that's exactly where its charm lies: it's an imperfect view of a version of the 90s that never even existed and yet still ended up shaping the hacker community into what it is today. if you haven't seen it, you should totally watch it—while keeping in mind that all the characters are trans in both ways—and if you want to hear me ramble about this movie even more you should check out this [The Worst Of All Possible Worlds](https://www.worstpossible.world/) [podcast episode](https://youtu.be/DIfBX33NVSw) (also available on your favorite podcasting app) i guested on. hopefully one day someone will come along and create an even better *Hackers (1995)* so this spot on the list can be taken up by another movie.
+
+## 6: CEO shooting of the year: *the shooting of Brian Thompson*
+![a crop of a screenshot of the original surveillance footage showing brian thompson being shot](/img/posts/2024-in-review/luigi.jpg)
+
+hell yeah
+
+## 5: movie of the year: *The Substance*
+![the substance](/img/posts/2024-in-review/thesubstance.jpg)
+
+*The Substance* isn't technically my highest-rated movie of the year (a title that would go to *Challengers*, *Furiosa* and *Flow*), but it's definitely the one that stuck with me the most. maybe that has something to do with the unrelated massive panic attack i had immediately as i left the cinema, or maybe it is just simply That Good. it's a bit hard to actually remember my thoughts on this movie given [my review of it](https://letterboxd.com/nyancrimew/film/the-substance/) is just two words: "holy fuck". it's a difficult film to review in the first place, with how much it just throws at your face full force, but it is this coupled with its themes of addiction and fame and everything else it does at once that blew me away. oh and also the soundtrack fucks.
+
+## 4: project i worked on of the year: *Tracki/ExploreTalent investigation*
+{% figure { src: "/img/posts/gps-track-deez-nuts/cover.jpg", alt: "an illustrated scene in space that parodies the \"always has been\" meme format. on the left is an earth-like planet listing companies mentioned in this article. maia in an astronaut suit says \"wait, it's all ami shafrir?\" an older man with puppy features, also in an astronaut suit, points a gun at it and says \"always has been.\" the gun has a \"click\" sound above it.", caption: "art by [fourleafisland](https://fourleafisland.carrd.co/)" } %}
+
+i spent most of the first half of this year researching this shady conglomerate together with [ryan fae](https://bsky.app/profile/ryan.staticnoi.se) (who, by the way, wins editor of the year for putting up with all my shit (editors note: YAYYY)) and our [resulting article](/posts/gps-track-deez-nuts/) is probably my favorite investigative piece we've done so far. the whole process was a ton of fun and we found so much ridiculous shit that it didn't even all fit into the article, leaving many rabbitholes—such as a weird dating website that i at least got a [banger tweet](https://x.com/awawawhoami/status/1803218486346355137) out of—still mostly unexplored. and so while i still sometimes get an itch to go back i do think our article covered everything that really needed to be covered.
+
+## 3: stalkerware hack of the year: *mSpy helpdesk leak*
+![a glitchy edited promo photo for mSpy](/img/posts/fuckstalkerware-7/cover.jpg)
+
+in june, an anonymous hacker breached a helpdesk belonging to mSpy, one of the biggest stalkeware vendors in the world, and leaked the data [to me](https://maia.crimew.gay/posts/fuckstalkerware-7/) and [DDoSecrets](https://ddosecrets.com/wiki/MSpy). this has proven to be one of the most useful stalkerware datasets yet, and after i wrote my own surface level [writeup](https://maia.crimew.gay/posts/fuckstalkerware-7/) on it i have since helped various other outlets with reporting based on the data: [crikey](https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/07/02/stalkerware-australian-politicians-police/) covered mSpy's use in australia, [reason](https://reason.com/2024/07/02/federal-judge-ice-agents-linked-to-compromised-spyware-use/) covered its use in the US, [radio free europe/radio liberty](https://www.currenttime.tv/a/rossiya-prilozhenie-mspy/33050441.html) covered its use in ukraine and russia, and republik covered its use in switzerland ([part 1](https://www.republik.ch/2024/11/19/mit-dieser-app-weiss-ihr-partner-alles-ueber-sie), [part 2](https://www.republik.ch/2024/11/20/wenn-der-kundendienst-bei-der-straftat-hilft)). more articles are still being worked on.
+
+## 2: movie i haven't watched yet but really want to of the year: *I Saw the TV Glow*
+![banner for "i saw the tv glow" it features the film logo on the left and a person looking into a pink glowing crt screen on the right](/img/posts/2024-in-review/tvglow.jpg)
+
+i cant actually really say anything about Jane Schoenbrun's *I Saw the TV Glow*, since, well, i haven't actually watched it yet. one thing is certain, though: i really want to and i'll finally gonna do so really soon. i promise. 
+
+## 1: supporters of the year: *my ko-fi subscribers*
+
+thanks a lot to everyone who has been funding my work via [my ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/nyancrimew), which is still my primary source of income and is how all my work on this blog is funded. if you like the work i do this is by far the best way to support me as i dedicate more and more time to my independent investigative work. 
+
+as for what's coming next year, here's a few things i can say already:
+- a new project together with ryan! you can already follow it on [bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/staticnoi.se) or [twitter](https:<!--x.com/staticnoi_se) to stay up to date
+- more, even bigger investigative projects (i've been looking into some government spyware for a while now)
+- i plan on starting to regularly [stream on twitch](https://twitch.tv/nyancrimew) again
+- more dj gigs!!! if you wanna stay up to date on those you should [follow me on instagram](https://instagram.com/nyancrimew)