Actors on Strike

I don't think a lot of people have given much consideration to the issues that people have with their images being scanned and then used later in AI without further permission or compensation.

Consider that anyone anywhere in any film at any time could be reused without notice in the most disturbing porn imaginable. Do you honestly think these images won't be licensed and sublicensed and used to train AI engines? And because you signed a contract, that would be legal?

Think about how you'd feel if you were an extra on some film set, you made $100, and the next thing you know a studio sells a set of image contracts the way people sell kitbashing image packs.

Because that's what's coming.

If companies can license creator's works and figure out ways not to pay them, and the works can end up completely bastardized in ways the original creator would never predict or want, imagine what these studios are going to do to your face and body.

This has even more disturbing implications when you consider child actors who’s parents/guardians may give away that permission on their behalf when they’re too young to truly understand.

Beyond actors, what about non-actors who may have shown up on cameras in, say, a news story or people on social media who unexpectedly went viral and had exactly no idea what they were getting into?

Eventually, the AI problem is not just going to be about actors and creatives in a certain industry. Eventually, this postman will come to everyone’s door and it’s gonna be delivering some bad news.

If you’re able to contribute to relief efforts for the Maui fires, I’m sharing these organizations recommended by Indigenous colleagues in Hawai'i:

Hawaiʻi People's Fund

ʻĀina Momona

Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement, Alaka'ina & Kakoʻo Haleākalā

Hawaiʻi Community Foundation Maui Strong Disaster Relief

If you've ever wondered why people in Hawai'i hate tourists, try to wrap your mind around the fact that there are CURRENTLY, RIGHT NOW, tourists sipping martinis and looking at fish within swimming range of the fresh corpses of local people who couldn't escape the overnight destruction of their entire town.

Try to comprehend that there are fully functional, high capacity boats passing through the waters in front of an area full of survivors who are stranded and in need of supplies, refusing to help. They are hosting snorkeling tours.

Really think about, try your best to actually picture over two thousand people unhoused and in need of shelter, with nothing but the clothes on their backs and nothing to return to. Understand that the island, stolen land, is littered with hotels full of air conditioned of rooms with beds and showers and toilets, each fully equipped to host hundreds of families for weeks, turning these people away because they're booked up with tourists who refuse to leave.

And understand that these tourists were offered free transport to return home or be hosted on other islands. Free. Courtesy of local tax dollars. 4,000 wealthy tourists were offered free flights shelter on Oahu and begged to leave the island, BEFORE the survivors were given shelter.

And enough still insisted on remaining and carrying out their vacations that people are left without shelter and resources while they enjoy "their stay in paradise".

[Edit]: This current situation, and this type of tourist behavior is horrifying beyond words. In other circumstances, the tourism situation is much more complicated, and I need to ask that people do not add on to this post unless they are local.

If I could go back to my past self when dealing with fat hating trolls and give some advice to But It’s Unhealthy Science Says So subtypes, it would be this:

One: kill the notion that science is some kind of objective moral arbiter to which we can turn. Science is a process that generates and (ideally) continues to update our general body of knowledge about the observable, physical universe we inhabit.

It doesn’t and it can’t tell us what’s right and wrong morally. It certainly can never answer the question “does this person deserve to be treated this way?”

Fuck it. Maybe this person’s awful and totally conscious, completely within-their-control dietary habits 1000% did lead to their adipose tissue swelling way above a certain point and squishing their poor little pancreas until they got diabetes. There’s still NO science that can prove they deserve to get treated like shit, or that they deserve shame, or that they’re an objectively worse human being. There’s no science that can justify abuse, or putting things like healthcare and fair paying employment out of fat people’s reach.

No study can prove fat people deserve fat hate, but plenty of studies indicate that it actually just makes everything worse.

Two: if a study by scientists at the University of Prestigious Fuckwittery finds that blahedy-blah percent of these people have a Bad Thing Happen and also have This Trait We Don’t Like it’s NOT EVER the same thing as solid life advice that can be applied at the individual level or even concrete proof that The Bad Thing is caused by This Trait We Don’t Like.

Trolls will throw any number of studies like this at you. (Though mostly they just copy and paste from the front page of the first google result for Obesity Unhealthy Bad Why or the whatever government health agency they can think of in under 30 seconds).

Even the scientists from The U of PFW will tell you in their own study that FURTHER STUDY IS NEEDED, that their findings are not a guarantee or a final verdict, that it’s way more complicated than that and no doctor should be basing most or all of their treatment of fat patients on such a study.

They’d probably also tell you that people who’ve never been to any medical school or have any scientific training really should consider that at least 30-60 minutes of vigorous, intensive shutting the fuck up per week is also part of a healthy lifestyle.

In conclusion (and all seriousness):

Science will never justify fat hate.
No study can tell individual people if they’re living their lives right, or even what the “right choice” is in every single day-to-day decision they make in their lives under their individual circumstances. Which includes, yes, what to eat and what physical movements to do (or not do).
So neither can anyone else, even a fucking doctor. And especially not your cousin, your mom, your coworkers, that bad non-friend friend you have or That Dude On The Internet Who Haterbates Loudly in Comments.
The sooner you learn that you don’t need to argue the science to prove why you don’t deserve fat hate, the better your mental health will get.

Replacing physical buttons and controls with touchscreens also means removing accessibility features. Physical buttons can be textured or have Braille and can be located by touch and don't need to be pressed with a bare finger. Touchscreens usually require precise taps and hand-eye coordination for the same task.

Many point-of-sale machines now are essentially just a smartphone with a card reader attached and the interface. The control layout can change at a moment's notice and there are no physical boundaries between buttons. With a keypad-style machine, the buttons are always in the same place and can be located by touch, especially since the middle button has a raised ridge on it.

Buttons can also be located by touch without activating them, which enables a "locate then press" style of interaction which is not possible on touchscreens, where even light touches will register as presses and the buttons must be located visually rather than by touch.

When elevator or door controls are replaced by touch screens, will existing accessibility features be preserved, or will some people no longer be able to use those controls?

Who is allowed to control the physical world, and who is making that decision?

Reblog to give mutuals a break from whatever they're been going through

poll (silly style) what kind of beverage is the person you reblogged this from

water

lemonade

coffee

tea

soda

smoothie

hot chocolate

juice

cocktail

secret other thing (specify in tags)

See Results

Saw this on Twitter. What 3 potions would you drink?

I would take brown, white, and yellow!

Brown, light green and black for me!

Black and red, and give me something for punctuation! I’ve spent too much time fuming about rules being different between the languages I speak (…and then about different punctuation schools within either of said languages…).

[Image: three rows of four simple icons of potions in round glass vials with cork stoppers, each potion a different color:

The title says “You can only choose three potions”

Row one has:

Pink: built in mental thesaurus

Orange: remember all of your world building

Green: banish imposter syndrom

Blue: ability to finish your WIP

Row two has:

Purple: Marketable™ Idea

Gray: never get tired of reading your own work

Red: infinite grammar skills

Dark red: coherent first drafts

Row three has:

White: 2000 words every day guaranteed

Yellow: immune to distraction

Lime green: desire to actually write when you sit down

Black: eradicate typos permanently]

hey reblog this with a piece of your favorite poem, please

rating actual medieval names i have found as a medieval studies student but they get progressively more unhinged:

William de Appeltrefeld: 8/10 bc appeltrefeld sounds like a nice place to live. who wouldnt want to live in a field full of apple trees? points deducted cause there are like fifty bajillion williams in england
Luke de Luka, merchant of Luca: 6/10. ur parents really werent creative huh
Hugh de Wlonkeslowe: 7/10. looks like a straight person trying to keyboard smash. *laughs in english place names*
Roger Smert: 10/10 absolute banger of a name. does it make any sense? absolutely not! but you guys. i dont think you understand. smert!!
John de la Bro: 7/10. when ur such a bro that its literally ur name and 800 years in the future its all people know of u
Hugh Sad: 7/10. weve all been there buddy
Gaylarde de la Mote: 10/10. slay. i bet this guys mote was the gayest mote youve ever seen
Hugh de la Penne: 9/10. we stan a pasta man
Richard de Astlegh: 10/10. verily, he shall ne'er give thee up, ne'er let thee down, nor shall he run with great haste and desert thee, he shall ne'er cause thee to weep, ne'er bid you farewell, ne'er shall he speak wicked falshoods in thine ear or cause thee harm
Bindo Hug: 8/10. who is this man a hobbit???
Eudo la Zusche: 6/10. deadass sounds like something youd see in a really bad fantasy novel
William crisp: 7/10. w h a t.
Asser son of Licoriz: 7/10 there is so much going on here i dont even know what to tell you
Baldwin Panik: 10/10 cause this is a heckin mood
Richard Cok, aka Dick Cok: 69/10. nice.

Hi, I’m a housekeeper. I’ve seen plenty of nicely left rooms, and some utter messes that made me almost cry. For the most part, people are super well behaved and I thank you for that.

However, this job is really taxing. I enjoy it, but a lot of housekeepers are usually quite young or they are older, which can be a lot of pressure on them for health and mental reasons. I’ve had to start using braces on occasion.

It’s a difficult job no matter where you go- and one rule I live by is don’t do what I wouldn’t like to clean up. So here are some things you could try to do, and make a hard job a little easier. Please consider re-blogging this so that others can try to help out too!

STRIP LINEN
It saves water, but also it saves time for us too if you strip the linen off anything you’ve touched and leave the stuff you haven’t alone. Towels can be reused, but I would leave a note for the housekeeper to alert them.
ROOM CLEANING
Most hotels can offer room service, however, in my hotel this can be added on to 10 rooms already. If you don’t need it, please make it known at the front desk or leave a ‘do not disturb’ sign. If you really need it, make sure you move your stuff off what needs cleaning as we cannot touch it.
TIPS
Optional, but after cleaning a room with four kids and yogurt in the tea and coffee bowl, it is nice to see a little tip. I personally will take sealed consumable items like soap or once, a whole box of tea. It’s not much, but it has knocked our toiletries cost way down.
BIG BINS
If your bins are full, and you know you’re going to have more rubbish, ask for a large bin bag. We have those. You don’t have to break the rubbish bag because you needed to stuff it in.
CUPS, MUGS AND CUTLERY
If you have taken food up to your room, if you have a drink from the bar or glass bottles, if you have dirty mugs- consider who has to take those back. If you have time take your things back to where they came from and try to reuse the mugs and cups.
AND FINALLY, KNOW THE CHECKOUT TIME
In our hotel, final checkout time is 12. Please go to the front desk even if you have a card box outside your room, and try to be packed and leave as early as you can. I’ve had days where I have 6 rooms, but no one leaves until 12 and I end up working overtime to finish. Check in time is 3 for me, and having guests want rooms while you’re rushing to catch up can make me incredibly stressed.

These aren’t all going to be doable, or present, but please, please PLEASE consider doing one or more of these for us. Any housekeeper will tell you a clean room can make the last bad room seem far away.

Thank you for your consideration and kindness!

Zomg. Camp Damascus.

I haven’t devoured a book this quickly or been so captivated by one since I myself was a confused neurodivergent baby queer dealing with religious abuse. Not as intense as the main character endures, but it was real.

I’d give anything for a time machine to hand this book to my younger self and many others around me at the time who couldn’t, at that moment, picture what breaking free and taking ownership of ourselves would even look like.

So:

Amazingly written neurodiverse characters. ✅

Amazingly accurate depictions of what having sensory issues is like. ✅

Amazingly accurate depictions of what it’s like when your brain devours facts and loves to share them. ✅

Amazingly written queer characters who get happy endings. ✅

Non-supernatural things done by human beings to other human beings being the real horror. ✅

A main character that drives the story like a freight train because curiosity and the refusal to surrender it is a superpower. ✅

Characters who’s acceptance and accommodation of each others needs is a day saver and an underrated miracle. ✅

Best portrayal of the damage done by gaslighting and how it’s an insidiously underestimated tool in an abuser’s toolbox. ✅

“Because I can” being more than sufficient reason to give a damn about others and help them out. ✅

A character experiencing the roller coaster of learning how much bullshit the world’s been full of the whole time and then realizing it’s not all bullshit - but that doesn’t negate that, yeah, she can be trusted to know when something really actually is bullshit. ✅

A literal liar, liar pants on fire situation. ✅

Best self created scripture since Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. ✅

Capitalism as the most cursed enabler of evil and inventing work polo gothic as an aesthetic, thus saying so much without having to say anything at all. ✅

Proves Ian Malcolm’s entire “Life finds a way” monologue applies equally to love. Because love is real. Not even the most oppressive, brutal, powerful regimes in history have been able to stamp it out. ✅

Leaves me wanting more books like this from Chuck Tingle and hoping us buckaroos won’t have to wait too long for more, while being grateful for all the work and bravery it took to get this out into the world. ✅

Sinéad O’Connor, acclaimed Dublin singer, dies aged 56

The Dublin performer found worldwide fame with hit single Nothing Compares 2 U in 1990

The Irish Times

I reject this. Take it back 🥺

Since I keep seeing "$61 billion weight loss industry"....

This is a super old figure, folks.

In 2022, the US market cap of the weight loss industry was $75 billion [1, 3]. In 2021, the global market cap of the weight loss industry was estimated at $224.27 billion [2].

In 2020, the market shrunk by about 25%, but rebounded and then some since then [1, 3] (Tell me thin privilege is socially constructed without telling me that thin privilege is socially constructed).

Also disturbing, "Multi-level marketing companies constitute a major force in the [US] weight loss market, with the top 8 firms accounting for $3.4 billion in 2020 sales. Included in this group are Medifast, Herbalife, Shaklee, BeachBody, AMWAY, USANA, Isagenix and more." [3]

By 2030, the global weight loss industry is expected to reach be valued at $405.4 billion [2].

-ATL

References

LaRosa, J. March 10, 2022. "U.S. Weight Loss Market Shrinks by 25% in 2020 with Pandemic, but Rebounds in 2021." Market Research Blog. Available here.
Staff. February 09, 2023. "[Latest] Global Weight Loss and Weight Management Market Size/Share Worth." Facts and Factors Research. Available here.
LaRosa, J. March 27, 2023. "U.S. Weight Loss Market Partially Recovers from the Pandemic." Market Research Blog. Available here.

Because I love them equally here is The Crimebag ™:

[Image: an orange and white cat on a harness standing atop a fence gate outside by a brick wall. ]