#What-is-Facebook-Pixel

[mahasenelkhatib]

Help Mahasen, a Digital Artist from Gaza and Her Family!

Hello, I am Mahasen,a Digital Artist from North Gaza, where creativity thrives despite challenges. Verified by @90-ghost here

PLEASE DONATE HERE

In this tough situation, I am a digital artist finding solace and resilience through my art .. pixels and colors.

For over a decade, I've navigated the freelance world, weaving intricate digital tapestries that reflect the beauty and strength of my surroundings.

My father died, and I am the main provider for my family.

Before the war, I worked with international companies in motion graphics,

specializing in character design and storyboarding.

The conflict forced us into repeated evacuations, and our home suffered damage, including the theft and destruction of my essential art equipment and tablet. Each stolen piece held not just monetary value but years of dedication and creativity and hard work. We are left HOMELESS, UNSAFE, SICK with VERY LITTLE FINANCIAL SECURITY!

Our family consists of:

• My mother, 62 years old.

• My sister Mai, 35 years old, who is also visually impaired.

• Myself,Mahasen, 31 years old.

• My brother Mohammed, 28 years old, who is visually impaired.

• My brother's wife Iman, 28 years old.

• My youngest brother Amin, 21 years old.

Your support is crucial as I rebuild what was lost. Your contribution will help replace my tools and restore hope and creativity. And mainly for my family's safety, ability to survive the current situation and community.

Together, we can affirm that art is more than expression,

it is a lifeline that connects us and enlighten even the darkest moments.

Expenses Needed:

• Travel arrangements to Egypt ( $5000 per person ) for 6 family members.

• Living expenses to survive the current situation in Gaza.

• Buying art equipment and tablet to recover what I've lost and be able to work again.

• Living and transportation expenses during the initial period of travel.

• Food and medical expenses.

Every donation counts! Your support makes a real difference for my family and me.

Please consider contributing and sharing to help us.

Please Help Share AND Donate

My Socials: @MahasenAlkhatib Instagram here X here Facebook here

[8pxl]

♡ JUBILEE | pacific northwest based pixel artist

♡ WAYS TO SUPPORT MY ART

↳ wallpapers ↳ prints & merch ↳ cross stitch patterns ↳ deskmats & tapestries ↳ sticker by number kits ↳ continue to like & reblog my art

♡ MY PIXEL ART TUTORIALS

↳ simple landscapes (old) ↳ city tutorial (old) ↳ water reflection (old) ↳ clouds tutorial ↳ how i use values ↳ color process ↳ BONUS: bluesky 101

♡ OTHER PLACES TO FIND ME

↳ bluesky ↳ kofi ↳ discord server ↳ instagram | facebook | twitter | no longer active

♡ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT PROGRAM DO YOU USE? ↳ photoshop (i do NOT recommend it) WHAT PROGRAMS DO YOU RECOMMEND? ↳ pixquare (you can get 30% off with code 8PXL), aseprite, graphicsgale, even krita! HOW DID I LEARN PIXEL ART? ↳ trial and error basically. I started by just trying to create, and once I hit roadblocks I would google tutorials, or find similar artwork to what I'm trying to achieve. i started heavily doing monochromatic work then eventually working into more complex pieces! GOOD RESOURCES ON LEARNING PIXEL ART? ↳ lospec is a great learning resource. has tutorials, color palettes, and a large community. there's also lots of great tutorials on youtube, like adamcyounis. there's also saint11's great tutorials.

[bi-writes]

whats wrong with ai?? genuinely curious <3

okay let's break it down. i'm an engineer, so i'm going to come at you from a perspective that may be different than someone else's.

i don't hate ai in every aspect. in theory, there are a lot of instances where, in fact, ai can help us do things a lot better without. here's a few examples:

ai detecting cancer

ai sorting recycling

some practical housekeeping that gemini (google ai) can do

all of the above examples are ways in which ai works with humans to do things in parallel with us. it's not overstepping--it's sorting, using pixels at a micro-level to detect abnormalities that we as humans can not, fixing a list. these are all really small, helpful ways that ai can work with us.

everything else about ai works against us. in general, ai is a huge consumer of natural resources. every prompt that you put into character.ai, chatgpt? this wastes water + energy. it's not free. a machine somewhere in the world has to swallow your prompt, call on a model to feed data into it and process more data, and then has to generate an answer for you all in a relatively short amount of time.

that is crazy expensive. someone is paying for that, and if it isn't you with your own money, it's the strain on the power grid, the water that cools the computers, the A/C that cools the data centers. and you aren't the only person using ai. chatgpt alone gets millions of users every single day, with probably thousands of prompts per second, so multiply your personal consumption by millions, and you can start to see how the picture is becoming overwhelming.

that is energy consumption alone. we haven't even talked about how problematic ai is ethically. there is currently no regulation in the united states about how ai should be developed, deployed, or used.

what does this mean for you?

it means that anything you post online is subject to data mining by an ai model (because why would they need to ask if there's no laws to stop them? wtf does it matter what it means to you to some idiot software engineer in the back room of an office making 3x your salary?). oh, that little fic you posted to wattpad that got a lot of attention? well now it's being used to teach ai how to write. oh, that sketch you made using adobe that you want to sell? adobe didn't tell you that anything you save to the cloud is now subject to being used for their ai models, so now your art is being replicated to generate ai images in photoshop, without crediting you (they have since said they don't do this...but privacy policies were never made to be human-readable, and i can't imagine they are the only company to sneakily try this). oh, your apartment just installed a new system that will use facial recognition to let their residents inside? oh, they didn't train their model with anyone but white people, so now all the black people living in that apartment building can't get into their homes. oh, you want to apply for a new job? the ai model that scans resumes learned from historical data that more men work that role than women (so the model basically thinks men are better than women), so now your resume is getting thrown out because you're a woman.

ai learns from data. and data is flawed. data is human. and as humans, we are racist, homophobic, misogynistic, transphobic, divided. so the ai models we train will learn from this. ai learns from people's creative works--their personal and artistic property. and now it's scrambling them all up to spit out generated images and written works that no one would ever want to read (because it's no longer a labor of love), and they're using that to make money. they're profiting off of people, and there's no one to stop them. they're also using generated images as marketing tools, to trick idiots on facebook, to make it so hard to be media literate that we have to question every single thing we see because now we don't know what's real and what's not.

the problem with ai is that it's doing more harm than good. and we as a society aren't doing our due diligence to understand the unintended consequences of it all. we aren't angry enough. we're too scared of stifling innovation that we're letting it regulate itself (aka letting companies decide), which has never been a good idea. we see it do one cool thing, and somehow that makes up for all the rest of the bullshit?

[writingsbytee]

GET BACK

TOXIC BABY DADDY TERRY x BLACK FEM READER

Photo: @partiallyfuctional7

*Remember you are in charge of your own consumption. 18+ up audiences only; minors please don’t interact!*

WARNINGS / TRIGGERS: Reader has feelings of insecurities; Terry is a big, sexy, toxic, idiot here. 

PAIRING: Terry x Ava (reader)

SUMMARY: Tension develops between you and your baby’s father when he discovers you might be moving on. Terry’s unhinged ass is going to do whatever he can to get her back.

TROPES:  Second chance romance; MDOM or dominant themes

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I’m so excited to share this one with you guys! I’ve wanted to write toxic Terry for forever, but I was just nervous. I really liked writing this one. Maybe it’s the toxicity in me lol. Please tell me what you guys think, but be nice please. Babygirl is sensitive

“TJ get your cleats! Your father’s almost here!,” I shouted up the stairs. I hear the tell-tale thumps of his little feet as he rushes to put everything in his duffle bag. Wandering into the living room, I tighten up the area a bit. Straightening out couch cushions, the coffee table, you get the gist. Looking at the clock, I notice it’s almost two o’clock.

“TJ! Two minute warning!” I exclaim. Within seconds I hear the thunderous steps only a child can make. Then my little boy rounds the corner, a giant beam on his face. 

“Did it Mommy!”, he said proudly handing his soccer bag to me so I could double check everything. Rifling through the items I notice his epipen isn’t in there. Before I can ask my little man where it is, I hear the familiar chime from the ‘ring’ app on my phone. Grabbing it from the charger, I see my son’s father through the pixelated lens. I take a calming breath before walking to the door. 

“Hey baby girl, TJ ready?” Terry asked, smiling down at me. It’s truly unfair how fine this man is. Standing at his full height on our porch in a navy blue tee and olive cargo pants with asics. He could make a trash bag look good. I ignore the flutter in my belly at his smile and step aside to let him in. 

“He’s just about ready, but I can’t find his epipen. Can you come in while I run upstairs really quick?” I ask moving back so Terry can cross the threshold. He steps in like he owns the place (well technically he does).

“We gotta get going soon, I’m taking TJ to ‘Winter Wonderland’ after practice,”  Terry said, sweeping his eyes over the living room. 

I nodded, “Well I’ll find it and meet you guys there or at practice. Thanks for taking him,” I say, trying to be civil. 

“Just to let you know, Brandy’s going to be there,” Terry said, crossing his arms over his chest. 

I feel my back molars grind, “That’s fine.” I can’t fucking stand Brandy. She’s Terry’s new situationship and we didn’t get off on the best foot. That sour taste has never really left my mouth when it comes to her. Why Terry’s bringing her around our son, I’ll never understand.

“I trust you’ll keep it civil,” Terry says, looking down his nose at me. I roll my eyes and head toward the stairs completely ignoring him. Who the fuck does he think he is telling me to behave? She better fucking behave, I’m liable to beat a bitch. When I reach the bottom of the stairs Terry grabs my hand, spinning me to face him.

“Ava, I’m serious, keep it cool,” Terry’s voice had a slight edge to it which I didn’t appreciate.

“Listen, as long as she plays nice I’ll play nice. Matter of fact I’ll pretend she’s not even there. That work for you Terry?” I asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. I never wanted us to end up in this tumultuous cycle, but it wasn’t my decision. Terry broke up with me, said he didn’t want to be tied down. Vowing to be a good father he gets Terrence Junior (TJ) every other week. He’s the best dad and I won’t take that away from him, I just thought we’d be a family. I was holding out hope for a year hoping he'd change his mind and we’d get back together. 

Ultimately, I shattered my own heart, scrolling on facebook. I saw that he’d been tagged  in a photo hugged up on another woman. I stopped hoping after that. I stopped trying to get a man to see that I was enough, stopped trying to get him to stay when he so clearly was happy elsewhere. 

“Terry, the last thing I want to do is fight with you right now, yes I’ll be nice. Please just take TJ and leave, he'll be late for practice,” I say on the verge of tears. 

Terry’s eyes soften as he takes a step toward me, “Bunny…”, he starts. I hold my hand up stopping him and shake my head. I can hear our son make his way towards us obviously hearing his father’s voice as he barrels toward him. 

“Daddy! Daddy!,” TJ yells, launching himself into his arms.

“There my little striker! C’mere man,” Terry’s face blooms into a megawatt smile as he reaches for our son. He picks him up and blows a raspberry on TJ’s cheeks, causing him to burst into giggles. A small smile forms on my lips as a warm feeling spreads in my chest. Moments like these made me wish that we could be a little family again. But I can’t think like that anymore, Terry made his choice. He wants to be in the streets, that’s where he can stay. 

“You ready to go little man? I’ve got a surprise for you after practice,” Terry said, putting TJ down. Spotting the epipen on the kitchen island, I grab it, and pass it to Terry

“Well I’m going upstairs to shower and change, and I’ll meet you guys there,” I say, turning toward the stairs.

“TJ, go hug your mama before we leave,” Terry says looking at me.  TJ comes barreling towards me, goofy smile and arms outstretched. A warm smile blooms on my face as I hug my gentle little man.

“Hey, mama loves you, be good and listen to your dad ok?” I ask straightening his backpack. 

“I always listen mama,” TJ giggles, with a playful roll of his eyes. Terry grabs his son’s hand and with a half- assed ‘see ya later’ from Terry, they’re both out the door. I grab my airpods and head upstairs. Needing the comfort of a dominant mafia boss, my current audible obsession to ease some of the tension I feel creeping up my neck. Pressing play on my audiobook I begin getting ready. After the grueling arm workout of trying to tame my curls, I place it in a slick back bun with a few face framing curls to enhance my beauty (ref). Then I put on some light makeup and a simple outfit for this bipolar Georgia winter weather (ref). Grabbing my purse and keys, I head outside to my bronco, mentally preparing myself for the next few hours. 

When I pull up to the soccer field, I see that practice is in full swing. I immediately spot Terry standing off to the side with all the other parents. Why does he have to look so fucking good just standing on the sidelines. Brandy’s standing next to him ear pressed against her phone, what a shocker. Getting out, I pop my trunk to grab my lawn chair.

“Ava! Let me!,” I turn to see Lance, another one of the dad’s lightly jogging toward me. A small smile forms on my lips. Lance is fine don’t get me wrong, he just gets around the bookclub if you know what I’m saying. Hmm, maybe my bookshelf could use a good dusting off. I think it’s about time I had a little fun. I haven’t been with anyone since Terry, that needs to change. 

“Aww, that’s nice of you. Thank you Lance,” I say in a sickeningly sweet voice. Lance grabs my lawn chair out of the trunk and we head toward the soccer field. 

“I assumed you weren’t coming, since Terry brought TJ,” Lance said.

“Oh, so you checking for me now?”, I say, smirking at him. 

A small blush forms on the apples of his cheeks, “I look forward to seeing you at practices, sue me.”

A small giggle burst from my lips, “I’m just picking Lance.” He grins at me as we finally make it to the sidelines where the other parents are. My eyes find Terry to see him mugging Lance down. Lance isn’t paying him any attention as he sets up my lawn chair for me. 

“A throne fit for a queen,” Lance says, gesturing toward the chair. 

“Thank you Lance,” I say with a small smile before taking a seat. Okay so far so good, I just hope I can get through the rest of this evening unscathed.

TERRY

Since when did Ava and Lance become cool? That motherfucker has been sniffing behind her for over a year now. I subtly inch closer to the two, trying to listen in on their conversation without being detected. I hear him ask her what she had planned later. A pit forms in the bottom of my stomach dropping anchor and forming an uncomfortable weight there. I recognize the feeling in an instant, jealousy. Fuck. 

“Oh, Terry and his girlfriend are taking TJ to ‘Winter Wonderland’ downtown. I’m probably just going to tagalong with them so I can get pictures of TJ,” Ava says. Girlfriend? She thought Brandy was my girlfriend? Fuck no, I’m just having fun with her. I just didn’t want TJ to see the two of them arguing since they obviously didn’t like each other.

“Do you mind if Max (Lance’s son) and I join you? And maybe after I treat you and TJ to dinner?,”Lance said, smirking at Ava. My fucking Ava, and she’s smiling back?! Fuck nah, I ain’t about to have that. I take a step to interrupt their conversation when a hand on my shoulder grabs my attention. 

“Sorry boo, but I have to go. Family emergency,” Brandy said, before laying a kiss on my cheek and then she left so fast I would’ve thought her ass evaporated. I locked back in on Ava and Lance seeming to be in just a friendly conversation but I couldn’t shake the fact that Ava was entertaining him. As long as I’ve known her she’s only ever wanted me. So, to see her chatting it up with another man is really rubbing me the wrong way. 

She jumps up out of her chair, jumping up and down cheering for TJ. I damn near go cross-eyed trying to keep an eye on TJ and the jiggle of her ass when she jumps. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ava, she gave me my son, and she’s a fantastic mother, friend, and support system. I don’t know why seeing her potentially move on is fucking with me so bad. I pull out my phone and text my younger sister Trinity, I need advice ASAP.

ME: Trin I need your help. Fast

TRIN: Damn, no hi lol. What’s up Terry?

ME: It’s Ava, she’s going on a date tonight I think.

TRIN: Ok…what’s the problem?

ME: I don’t want her to.

TRIN: Aren’t you actively fucking that brittney chick??????

ME: ..yeah

TRIN: Ok so let me get this straight. Ava has to sit back while you fuck through all of Savannah, but the minute she gets a little bit of attention, you can’t deal?

ME: Well, when you put it like that..

TRIN:  I love you bro, but you’re a fucking idiot.

AVA

“We’d love to have dinner with you and Max tonight” you say, smiling at Lance. He smirks down at me, “I can’t believe that worked.”

Your brows furrowed, “What do you mean?” you asked.

“I’ve been trying to get you to look my way for months, what changed?” Lance asked, leaning in. ‘I’m trying to get over my baby’s father’ , you thought. But you can’t just say that out loud so instead you just smile and say, “I thought it was time I put you out of your misery.”

Lance laughs and says, “Well thank you for that pretty lady.”

A throat clears behind you and you glance over your shoulder to see Terry standing there.

“Can I talk to you real quick?”, he looks with anxious eyes darting back and forth between you and Lance. 

You glance back toward Lance, “I’ll be right back” you say, getting up from my chair. You follow Terry a few feet away to the edge of the field, but still able to keep an eye on TJ.

“What’s up?” you say, raising a brow.

“We need to talk, Bunny,” Terry said, wringing his hands. What’s going on? This nigga is never nervous. You raise both eyebrows this time, indicating that he can continue.

“What’s going on with you and Lance?” he asked, crossing his arms. Your eyes widen in disbelief, there’s no way his ass is questioning you about who you’re seeing.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” you reply, crossing my arms. 

Terry scoffs and rolls his eyes, “It’s my business if his ass is going to be around my son.”

You could feel the attitude crawling up your spine gripping your throat in a vice grip. “So you can prance all the bitches you want around our son? But when his friend’s dad; someone he’s familiar with, is around more often all of sudden it’s an issue?” you roll your eyes, Terry is really starting to piss you off. Just when you decide it’s time to try and move on he comes back with this.

“Terry what is this really about? You know Lance, you should be happy for me” you say pleading with him. His eyes soften, and he shuts them giving his head a rough shake.

“Happy? You can do way better than Lance!” he whispers.

A sarcastic laugh leaves your lips, “Mind your business Terry. I stay out of your love life, you stay out of mine.” you turn to leave but Terry reaches out and grabs your wrist.

“C’mon Bunny, you know I didn’t mean it like that. All I’m trying to say is he better kiss the ground you walk on, anything less is an insult.” 

You roll my eyes yet again, a small smile on my lips, “You’ll get him right if he doesn’t?” you ask with a subtle pop of my hip.

A smirk grows on his lips, “Bunny, you know how I’m coming behind you,” Terry said, crossing his arms. 

You shake your head to slow the smile from forming, “It’s nothing serious between Lance and I. I just need a little fun right now.”

“You know, we used to have fun,” Terry said, taking a step toward you. You could see it in his eyes. The way he was looking at you, he’s going to bend you over the first surface he can get his hands on. 

You reach your hand out, slowing his advancement toward you. “No, Terry. Don’t do this here.”

His smirk widens, taking in your panicked yet aroused features. You still wanted him , that he could see. “Don’t you miss me Bunny? We were good together. I could always tell what you needed before you knew yourself and vice versa.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion, “Where is all this coming from? Less than two hours ago, you were telling me I needed to be nice to Brandy and now you wanna reminisce? We’ll talk about this later, I’m not doing this right now.” 

You couldn’t believe Terry!  ‘We used to have fun’, he thinks he can just walk in here all gorgeous and muscled and you’ll just roll over? Well you will but you want to make him work for it at least. You spin, prepared to return to your seat when Terry grabs your wrist. 

“Don’t go out with him tonight, Bunny. Let me treat you and our son to dinner instead, and I can explain everything.”

“What if I don’t want to hear your explanations Terry? I’ve waited and waited for you to finally come to the realization that we should be together. Now that I have the potential to find something with someone new, you can’t handle it. How do you think I felt watching you parade girl after girl in front of my face? If you’re serious about me, you and TJ becoming a family again, you’re going to have to prove it to us. The back and forth shit isn’t going to work, and TJ deserves stability,” crossing my arms, I finish my rant and turn to head back to my chair. 

TERRY

Fuck, I need to get my family back 

Okay, so I wanted to make this a little short and to the point So I can set you guys up for the next part. Let me know if Terry is toxic enough for y’all or should I crank it up a little. I wasn’t expecting to turn this into a series but I think I just might *winks* As always let me know what you guys think, if we’re feeling this or not. Happy new year beautiful people! Sending you all love I hope this year is better than your last and you get everything you want!

Happy New Year! Until next time

TEE <3

TAGLIST

@blackgurlnhermoods @megamindsecretlair @dxddykenn @pinkkycherrish @episodes-ff @kimuzostar @uzumaki-rebellion @urfavblackbimbo @kianaleani @shallipii @greatpandagladiator @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @theereina @pocketsizedpanther @mymindisneverhere @onherereading @nayaesworld @earthchica @skyesthebomb @gg-trini @blyffe @melalsworld @mogul93 @ms-mosley-ifunastyyy @sweettea-and-honeybutter @diaries-of-me @notapradagurl7 @helloncrocs-deactivated20241222 @miyuhpapayuh @simplyzeeka @gg-trini @playgurlxoxo

[https-rediation]

Canon Heights(???) & Carmen Sandiego

Hi all 👋

I've recovered from the month and a half I spent on the Carmen Sandiego timeline and am back to my regularly scheduled obsessing

Which has expanded to the characters and how tall they are because seriously how tall are they oml????

Now, I assume plenty of us have seen this image before:

You can find it on the Official Carmen Sandiego Facebook back from Oct 2019 (not sure about the Instagram or Twitter I'm too lazy to check)

It's widely been used as the canon basis for the character's heights, though I found myself unsure of its reliability

There have been a multitude of posts using the same "Your [Insert Topic Here] Your Carmen Sandiego Character" format, none of which seem to be canon to the show

The Zodiac and Birth Month ones actively contradict each other after all

And I can hear you saying "this really doesn't matter, this is ridiculous online person I don't know"

And you would be correct but I'm nothing if not a nerd so guess what I stumbled upon during my timeline rewatch

Boom

Directly from the show, Graham's mugshot. This is a very frustrating image to be honest because if you look closely between the 5 and 6 foot mark there are 10 lines as opposed to the 12 there should be corresponding to each inch

But oh! There's another image with his mug shot!

This one has no numbers.

So I did what any sane person would do and resorted to math

First I took Chief's image and deleted her from existence, leaving only Graham

Then I undistorted the photo so that it properly lined up with the flat version Bellum displayed so I would know where the foot markers would line up

These were 14 notches apart. Equally unhelpful. So I accepted my fate and pulled out the pixel measurements. Between the 5 foot and 6 foot line was 405 pixels

Between the 5 foot mark and Graham's head was 358 pixels

Using this very simple equation

[A (px) / B (px)] * B (in) = A (in)

We can find out how tall Graham is

358/405 * 12 = 10.61

Round that up to 11 inches and add the 60 inches that makes up 5ft we get a resounding height of 5'11" (or 179 cm)

(if you're confused on why the math works, we know that 405 pixels = 12 inches, we're looking to find what 358 pixels out of that 405 is which is why we multiply that fraction by 12. 405/405 times 12 would equal 12, same idea applies to 358/405. I hope this makes sense.)

For the rest of the characters we can use this lovely height chart

You can find this chart on the Official Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (I checked). They're separated into individual photos, I just lined them all up into one big one here, it has been unaltered otherwise.

Using the same formula the character's heights are as such (rounded up or down accordingly by the decimals):

Coach Brunt: 6'10" (208 cm)

Countess Cleo: 6'6" (197 cm)

Boris: 6'6" (198 cm)

Male A.C.M.E. Agent: 6'4" (194 cm)

Cookie Booker: 6'4" (193 cm)

Chief: 6'4" (192 cm)

Shadowsan: 6'4" (192 cm)

Le Chevre: 6'3" (190 cm)

Devineaux: 6'3" (190 cm)

Prof. Maelstrom: 6'2" (187 cm)

Zack: 6'1" (186 cm)

Agent Zari: 6'0" (182 cm)

Mime Bomb: 5'11" (180 cm)

Crackle: 5'11" (179 cm)

Carmen: 5'10" (177 cm)

Tigress: 5'10" (177 cm)

Ivy: 5'10" (177 cm)

El Topo: 5'6" (168 cm)

Vlad: 5'7" (171 cm)

Julia: 5'8" (172 cm)

Teenage Carmen: 5'5" (166 cm)

Dr. Bellum: 5'3" (159 cm)

Player: 5'4" (162 cm)

Child Carmen: 3'10" (117 cm)

Kid Carmen: 2'6" (77 cm)

What does this mean? Either the cast of Carmen Sandiego is ridiculously tall or this is all vaguely nonsense

Regardless of my dubious findings I thought it was fun and might as well post what I had

The chart itself does have some merit though, using Carmen's 5'7" that is listed in the Facebook post as a basis you get these heights instead:

Coach Brunt: 6'7" (200 cm)

Countess Cleo: 6'2" (189 cm)

Boris: 6'3" (190 cm)

Male A.C.M.E. Agent: 6'1" (186 cm)

Cookie Booker: 6'1" (186 cm)

Chief: 6'0" (184 cm)

Shadowsan: 6'0" (184 cm)

Le Chevre: 6'0" (182 cm)

Devineaux: 6'0" (182 cm)

Prof: Maelstrom: 5'11" (180 cm)

Zack: 5'10" (178 cm)

Agent Zari: 5'9" (175 cm)

Mime Bomb: 5'8" (173 cm)

Crackle: 5'8" (172 cm)

Carmen: 5'7" (170 cm)

Tigress: 5'7" (171 cm)

Ivy: 5'7" (170 cm)

El Topo: 5'3" (161 cm)

Vlad: 5'5" (164 cm)

Julia: 5'5" (165 cm)

Teen Carmen: 5'3" (159 cm)

Dr. Bellum: 5'0" (153 cm)

Player: 5'1" (156 cm)

Child Carmen: 3'8" (113 cm)

Kid Carmen: 2'5" (74 cm)

This one feels slightly less outlandish, but really Player is still stuck at 5'1" as a 16 year old so how realistic can it be

I hope someone enjoyed my ramblings, however inconclusive they may have been 🙌

[bovineblogger]

do you remember when emoji ratings was a thing!!! that was a great meme & we should bring it back. but you specifically should rate all the cow emojis. if you want :)

absolutely.

APPLE

super cute!!!! got the roundness in da front, square butt, perfect. luvly. would be cuter if it was stylized tho. 8/10

ANDROID

VERY CUUUUTTEEEEE LOVELY!!! i preferred the old one tho :(( (right) 9/10

SAMSUNG

the cartoony smiley face looks strange to me .. 6/10

MICROSOFT

SOOOO CUUUUUUUUUTEEEEEEE SO CUUUTEEEEEEEE this is so good!!!!! perfect!!!!!!!!! big nose empty eyes. perfect. cow. 10/10

WHATSAPP

hm

TWITTER

kinda cute! dont really know what the face shape is supposed to be like ... uhhh . its okay! 4/10

FACEBOOK

you had a perfectly good brown cow why did you . why did you get rid of her. bring hehr back. like this is fine but the sideways body and front on face is kinda jarring ig 4/10

OPENMOJI

A BEAUTIFUL BELTED COW!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! HOW CREATIVE! THATS WONDERFUL THAT A NON-FRESIAN WAS USED FOR THE COW EMOJI THATS LOVELY<3333 10/10

HUWAWEI

heheheehehehe she looks like a chihuahua 6/10

LG

horse without a neck/10

SKYPE

EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEEEEE CUUUUUUUTEEEEEEEE this cow is excited about something!!!!!!!!!! this cows about to run up to u and try to lick ur face 8/10

ICONS8

she looks like shes wearing slippers....... aouuu floopy brisket. round nose.. how lovely. 9/10

MESSENGER

what a lovely girl!!! oh my gosh!!!! and a lovely brown cow too!!!!!!!! not a thought behind those eyes. i lve her. the anatomy is a little strange but i forgive thiem 7/10

PLAYSTATION

sHES SO FUCKIGN SMLA ORINGTOFDIEKFRGTRFEDLWKSNDFGFOTEFRIDWNSLKDCFVGTREFOWSXDC 10/10

HTC

a very pretty approximation of a cow!!!! with suuuuuuuper sharp horns!!!!!!!!!!! woawh!!!! a fearsome creature! 7/10

JOY PIXELS / TOSS FACE / EMOJIDEX

theyre okay. bye

[d2071art]

NO AI

TL;DR: almost all social platforms are stealing your art and use it to train generative AI (or sell your content to AI developers); please beware and do something. Or don’t, if you’re okay with this.

Which platforms are NOT safe to use for sharing you art:

Facebook, Instagram and all Meta products and platforms (although if you live in the EU, you can forbid Meta to use your content for AI training)

Reddit (sold out all its content to OpenAI)

Twitter

Bluesky (it has no protection from AI scraping and you can’t opt out from 3rd party data / content collection yet)

DeviantArt, Flikr and literally every stock image platform (some didn’t bother to protect their content from scraping, some sold it out to AI developers)

Here’s WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Just say no:

Block all 3rd party data collection: you can do this here on Tumblr (here’s how); all other platforms are merely taking suggestions, tbh

Use Cara (they can’t stop illegal scraping yet, but they are currently working with Glaze to built in ‘AI poisoning’, so… fingers crossed)

2. Use art style masking tools:

Glaze: you can a) download the app and run it locally or b) use Glaze’s free web service, all you need to do is register. This one is a fav of mine, ‘cause, unlike all the other tools, it doesn’t require any coding skills (also it is 100% non-commercial and was developed by a bunch of enthusiasts at the University of Chicago)

Anti-DreamBooth: free code; it was originally developed to protect personal photos from being used for forging deepfakes, but it works for art to

Mist: free code for Windows; if you use MacOS or don’t have powerful enough GPU, you can run Mist on Google’s Colab Notebook

(art style masking tools change some pixels in digital images so that AI models can’t process them properly; the changes are almost invisible, so it doesn’t affect your audiences perception)

3. Use ‘AI poisoning’ tools

Nightshade: free code for Windows 10/11 and MacOS; you’ll need GPU/CPU and a bunch of machine learning libraries to use it though.

4. Stay safe and fuck all this corporate shit.

[ariaste]

Hi! world-building question. A couple of places on the map seem to have a sort of Finnish/Estonian vibe in their names (Kaskinen, Puihajarvi). Did I read the pixels right and is there some story how the names came to be?

Puihajarvi definitely has deliberate Finnish/Estonian vibes, yes :D Kaskinen is more of an accidental/coincidental similarity, like a false cognate, as neither the cultural vibes nor the climate are anything like Finland/Estonia LOL

For Kaskinen and a bunch of other names (the Isles of Lost Souls, Persep, Zarach, Xereccio, etc): One time in about 2011-ish, I was 21 and I'd just started doing the worldbuilding for this, and I was bored of brainstorming placenames, so I posted on facebook asking if anyone wanted to help me come up with some, and that conversation generated about 250 names that I put into a spreadsheet. Sometimes if I need a name but I'm still shopping for what the vibes of the area are, I'll still glance through there and pick one out that tickles my brain. This was really fun to do because opening it up to more people than just me got me a broader range of Name Aesthetics (letters and sounds that are less automatically harmonious to my own ear, leading to names that I never would have come up with on my own -- which is good for making the world feel like it's got PEOPLE in it).

I can't remember if Puihajarvi was in that list or if it came about from the other way I do placenames, which is when I already do know the vibes of a region and I am looking to deliberately elicit linguistic associations to real-world touchstones. Puihajarvi sounds Finnish/Estonian, Genzhu sounds Chinese, Imakami sounds Japanese, Oissos sounds Greek, etc.

And once in a while there is a subtle little joke that is mostly just for me, like the "name" of the world, Mithalgeard. Mind you, the world does not have A Single Name, since there are thousands of languages in the world and they'd all have their own word for it (and it's probably the same word for "ground" or "dirt", since that's what "Earth" means). Mithalgeard is just one name, and it's funny to me, because it's basically standing right next to Tolkien at the hotel bar and ordering the same drinks from the linguistics bartender -- Miðgarðr (Old Norse), Middangeard (Old English), Middle Earth (Tolkien), Mithalgeard. A funny little etymological joke/tribute to the father of fantasy worldbuilding. :)

[princessazalea17]

How I will be moving forward after the February 28 Boycotts

Here are the places I will be re-directing my money towards to support local and smaller businesses.

Stop supporting (or minimize support for) McDonald's, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Amazon, Meta, and other large corporate chains. If buying from big giants, make mindful purchases to reduce your consumption.

Books: Pango books, The Last Bookstore, Thrift Books, Abe Books, and if through Amazon, buying used instead of new. Also, the library, for obvious reasons. I have made the mistake of wasting money on shitty new books before, I strongly do not recommend.

Food: Local food stands, taco trucks, smaller restaurants, and regional chains instead of national ones. Choosing In N' Out over McDonald's, Cane's over KFC, etc., or making copycats at home. The same goes for coffee and other drinks. Many smaller donut shops in the area are better priced and tastier than Winchell's. There are so many places selling authentic Mexican food that you have no excuse to buy some nasty bullshit at Taco Bell or Del Taco. However, I strongly recommend Yelp, some of the smaller restaurants suck in terms of food quality that you get for the price.

Clothing and Shoes: Old Navy is pro-DEI. Depop, since I buy and sell on there (despite prices being pretty steep at times). Smaller thrift stores that ACTUALLY have changing rooms in them (goodbye, Goodwill SoCal!) Go to Ross and Nordstrom Rack, and avoid Marshalls and TJ Maxx, apparently. DD's is shitty but I can work with it if I'm in a financial pinch. Facebook groups, but I haven't found any good ones yet. For shoes, Journey's, Zappos, WSS, DSW, and brand websites will work (and Depop if I am confident the shoe will fit).

Beauty: ULTA is pro-DEI. I can also order directly from brands' sites.

Haircare: I have too much, but if I need more, Sally Beauty is my go-to. Not sure about the local hair store, though, since I hear stories about store owners profiling their Black customers.

Personal care: I believe I have found what I need at Food4Less.

Groceries: Food4Less or Trader Joe's, Northgate Gonzalez Markets if I am too lazy to travel far or need something cheaper there than at the other stores.

Hardware and Tools: Maybe Harbor Freight, but I am so used to using Home Depot for everything since it is trusted and so accessible. This is going to be a hard one for me.

Gaming: Shopping sales and sticking to battle passes and Bing/Microsoft Rewards to minimize spending on unnecessary purchases on skins (it is a challenge due to FOMO and limited-time collabs, especially on Overwatch). If I am buying consoles and console gams, I will buy from trusted resellers (too many scams on Mercari and other user-based platforms)

Tech: Buy new due to being burned in the past from buying refurbished tech, but cut back on consumption. Use BackMarket for used iPhones and Pixels, or buy new or certified refurbished from Samsung for Galaxy phones.

Stationery and Office Supplies: I have so much shit hoarded from years of schooling and coursework. However, go to an office store or a dollar store (Dollar Tree/General or Family Dollar) if you don't want to support Target or Walmart. If you went to a hood school like I did, they will sometimes give away free school supplies. I'm gonna make a separate post on school supplies you DO and DO NOT need.

[runwayrunway]

id be interested in seeing you rank plane emojis from different platforms (by their livery, or by whatever else) just for fun, if you want!

You're right. I WILL do this for fun, because this is fun. Not based on livery, since they're mostly white with blue wings - just how much I like them. I'll be adding a rating out of 10 for each one because I think that's the tradition for this sort of thing.

Apple - 4/10

I mean, because I have an iPhone this is my default conception of an airplane emoji - I think it's fine, I just find it a bit offputting how they model the individual flaps and cockpit windows but the rest of it is a white airbrushed tube. It's a weird contrast.

It's fine, I think. Acceptable. I maybe think emojis by default aren't the most aesthetically pleasing.

Google Noto Color Emoji - 4.5/10

I think this is a slight improvement over the Apple version because of the more consistent stylization. It's also a little more contemporary, since most airliners that are flying now have two engines. I like that they added a few windows and highlights to keep the cabin interesting, and I think it's a bit...something that they took off the flaps but added flap track fairings. Cockpit windows look awful though.

Samsung - 2/10

This is a bit more of a realistic shape for an airplane but for some reason I don't like it. Maybe it's the fact that you can barely recognize that there's a tailfin at all, or the cockpit window looking weirdly...shiny? I think what gets me the most, though, is that those engines look like Super Mario pipes.

Microsoft - 1/10

She's a little...phallic somehow. I just think a top-down view of an airplane is almost always going to look worse if you make it super round and blobby. On the bright side, it's still recognizable as a plane.

WhatsApp - 7.5/10

I really like the way this one is red. Way to stand out in a crowd. It's also quite realistic without giving up on being stylized. My one issue is with the cockpit windows, which look a bit out-of-place and weird. This seems to be a common point of failure for this sort of emoji. Also, I'm unsure if this is meant to be a two-engined 747, but if it is points off for those not existing.

Twitter - 6/10

I hate to ever hand it to Twitter but this is just solid. That's an airplane, just a very simplified and round one. Even the cockpit windows on this one look okay.

Facebook - 3.5/10

Maybe airplane emojis with airbrush shading just look bad to me. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the shape of this but I don't think they differentiated the tailfin from the fuselage enough. It looks like a stub. Also, what is up with that miserably short wing chord?

Telegram - 7/10

I mean, it looks like a 3D version of the Apple one, but it's surprising how much making it 3D improves it. Plus, gotta hand it to them deciding their emoji was being flown by Tex Johnston. I admire that sort of verve.

Microsoft Teams - 0/10

On the flipside, animating this one and making it 3D makes it so much worse! It looks like it was made right when people just figured out that 3D animation was a thing that was possible to do, back in the 50s or something. And boy are those pixels crunchy - I wouldn't mind this if it weren't already heinous. Seriously, how is that tailfin even attached?

Skype - 10/10

Now this I really like. Most of these are impossible to assign a model to but this distinctly looks to me like one of the earlier, stubbier 737s, just really short with a pointy nose, and she's waving at you. Crisp, nice smooth animation, just fantastic.

Twitter Emoji Stickers - 0/10

Looks bad. One of the few of these which are very easy to recognize as a specific model of airplane - this is clearly a 747, based on the inclusion of the hump. There is a reason basically none of the others are trying to be a 747. Adding a weird lump to the front of your emoji doesn't really make it any less weird-looking, and rendering a plane from above tends to be weird-looking already. It looks like she was stung by a bee.

JoyPixels - 6.5/10

As with the WhatsApp red, I appreciate anything setting itself aside in color, so I have to compliment the choice of this sort of toothpastey green. This is one of the better simplified airplanes we've gone over today, and the only thing I really dislike is that it has the same issues with the tailfin Facebook does.

Toss Face - 0/10

I can barely tell this is supposed to be an airplane. It makes me want to, excuse the mental image, toss face.

JoyPixels Animations - 10/10

Now THIS is what I'm talking about! Just a nice little pixel aircraft, doing the same sort of smooth wriggling as the Skype airplane - no criticisms.

Sony PlayStation - small/10

Adequate, but too small to really assess further - but the fact that I don't dislike anything about it is honestly a credit at this point.

Noto Emoji Font - 3.5/10

This just looks like the Samsung emoji but rendered with plain lines. Removing detail from these tends to improve them.

OpenMoji - 0/10

Oh, no, I take it back! Too few details! It's like a torpedo with wings awkwardly stapled on. A really phallic one at that.

emojidex - what the hell/10

I think this more or less looks fine, and the livery it has also looks fine, but I'm so thrown off by the fact that I don't think this is a real airplane. I am obviously not an authority on every model of airplane ever built but I'm reasonably sure this isn't a real one. It most resembles a BAe 146/Avro RJ, the only four-engined t-tail plane intended for passengers rather than heavy cargo. But the 146/RJ has high wings, located above the cabin windows, so...what is this airplane? What does emojidex know that they're not telling us?

Messenger - 7/10

While not ugly per se, it's a bit futuristic for my taste. Still, the choice to model it from a position other than directly from the top avoids a lot of the pitfalls that make many of these so bad to look at.

LG - 4/10

Boring? Yeah, without question. But this is just a good representation of an airplane, and at this point I'll accept that. Does the tail thing, though.

HTC - 3/10

Something about the way this is shaped makes this look more like a rocketship than an airplane. Or a Convair Pogo.

SoftBank - 5/10

A decent pictoral representation of an airplane. See: LG. Fixes the tail thing.

Docomo - 5.5/10

Also a decent pictoral representation of an airplane, but I think rendering it in silhouette gets rid of many of the pitfalls associated with airplane emojis. No details to mess up, just the shape of an airplane. Why do the majority of these have four engines? Seriously, there are only three four-engine airliners in passenger service right now. Have the people designing these not flown since the early aughts?

au by KDDI - 2.5/10

Okay, I know I've been saying being a good representation of an airplane is good enough but this is just simplifying too far. This isn't an emoji, it's a unicode character.

Mozilla - 1/10

Why pointy but only sometimes? Why does the tail pinch in like that? It's ugly, Mozilla, you made an ugly one.

[lyonnerileyauthor]

hi there! hope you dont mind the nonny message but i was wondering if you could (and were comfortable with) talking about some of the challenges you've faced when monetizing spicy content. ive been considering getting into it and i think im finally ready to take the plunge but i have no idea what to expect.

ps. love your books!

trying to peddle any kind of sexual content is a minefield. I've had posts removed from Facebook, from Instagram, I've had labels slapped on me on Twitter and Tumblr and Bluesky (even for things that AREN'T NSFW, Tumblr being a prime example). I've even gotten dinged by Patreon, despite the fact my account is an 18+ verified account, and they pulled one of my posts. Despite their policy of "change the post and resubmit it, we'll reinstate it," they never did that and the chapter still lives in purgatory. (I had to repost it instead.) It's even difficult to have prints made, and only a few limited vendors are willing to do it, such as Mixam (who kinda sucks for other reasons).

I could go on and on, but be prepared to get your wrist slapped a lot, censor your content (don't use pixellating, a lesson I've learned the hard way) and have strangers go OUT OF THEIR WAY to report you and call you names and accuse you of all kinds of horrible things. (I'm routinely deleting comments telling me to k*ll myself, go to jail, etc etc).

Not to discourage you, just be aware it's difficult and you really have to be careful.

And thank you! I'm so glad you like them!! I really couldn't do any of this without my readers who always encourage and support me.

[maggplays]

Bio? Something like that.

How did I start modding? Literally no one has asked this, but here's my story, don't worry it's not long... I guess that depends on what your definition of “long” is, haha! Hang on, here we go.

On a random day in January, 2024, a few days before my birthday, I might add... I woke up to stars in my right eye. A few days later, I was told I had a very rare injury and it would never heal. Those are not words an artist/gamer wants to hear! Long story short, I am now legally blind in my right eye. If you think, oh that's not a huge deal, you can still see. Humor me, get a cheap pirate eyepatch, put that on, then pour yourself a cup of coffee. Not as easy as you thought, right? Depth perception. It’s a thing. Anyway, on with the story. Suffice it to say, I was depressed. Majorly. Then, through some random conversation somewhere, I found Stardew Valley.

Perfect! 2D animation, cute pixel art, story that's not sugar-coated anime, I love it! Got to year 3, TBH I've never played past year 3 because ADHD, and realized the dialogue was quite lacking. Then I discovered mods. What the-, it's a freakin' goldmine! Downloaded a lot of things, mostly dialogue, and tossed half of them. While playing through a Sebastian run, I saw it. Oh. My. God. It's a coding error glaring at me in my dialogue box. This is NOT acceptable. I tried to ignore it, but then it happened again. Okay, time for some investigation. I opened the folder and found... json files. Interesting, I wasn't entirely clueless since I do know HTML code from back when the internet was a baby, Facebook had no ads, and dinosaurs roamed the earth. Okay, okay, the internet was more like a spoiled toddler. Yes, I'm old. Shut up. But I digress. It didn't take long to discover the misplaced punctuation and go on my merry reality-avoiding way. Until I got bored again.

I looked for more Seb mods, but there were like seven. Three were yandere, not my jam, and only 2 were updated for 1.6 and were dialogue-only. Solution? Make my own mod for myself. I spent six weeks downloading mods, learning code, Googling to very little effect, writing dialogue, learning how to make an event, discovering I knew nothing, and on and on. The perfect distraction from the whole eye thing. I finished a decent draft, loaded it up, and praise Yoba, it worked! And on we play. At some point, I saw a comment complaining about the lack of Sebastian dialogue mods. Huh, yep, they're right. Too bad. Oh. Well, I guess I could load this thing I made, it's really just my own internal story monologue while playing the game, I'm NOT a writer, and most people probably won't get it. But I did spend a lot of time on this, and maybe someone out there will like it. Heck, no skin off my nose since it's free. So I took a deep breath, made peace with my inner demons, and threw it out into the void of Nexus, expecting it to be swallowed up and ignored. That... didn't happen.

In the first few hours, several people downloaded it. Huh, Nexus must have a decent search algorithm. That was literally all I thought about it. The next day, 300 downloads. And comments! Mostly positive with the exception of one wild demand I subsequently ignored. At one week, it had 3,000 unique downloads. I was floored, 3,000 weirdos downloaded my mod. Add to that, people seemed to actually like it! I've never gotten so much positive feedback for anything in my life. Seriously. Apparently, my oddball internal monologue, thanks ADHD, is quite entertaining. Heck, might as well make another one... and here we are. Yes, I've gotten negative comments and unreasonable demands, but I do my best to ignore them and practice staying positive. Trolls be damned! It's a lot harder to do that for yourself than for other people, turns out.

So, bottom line, found something interesting? Try it! Does it make you happy? Keep doing it! Even if it's only for yourself, do the thing and let it make you smile. Share it with the world if you're so inclined. Get out there and kick ass!!

[gorimbaudandgojohnnygo]

This Is Not A Facebook Post

The experts say social media and smartphones are ruining people's pure engagement with the world and I have to laugh. Try being a writer. Try being me, who's always been once or twice removed from any kind of pure engagement. No matter what I experience, a part of me is watching myself experience it, thinking about how I'm going to describe it later. Snapshotting a sunset takes less time than trying to describe the sunset, clouds catching flame then cooling to peach and gold, not to mention all the other things I can't capture in the pixels of a photograph—the fleeting smell of lilacs, sweet-tart and nostalgic, even when first in bloom I am already thinking of them browned and dead; the mourning doves' low-lonesome evensong. And selfies? Forget it. I was portraiting myself with disposable cameras and in photo booths before selfie was a word, before phones were smart, before media was social. And when there was no film available to document my existence, I stared at my reflection in warped barroom mirrors, in the filth- streaked windows of empty storefronts, so conscious of the gaze. When I gaze at myself it is my gaze, Narcissus; not in love with my own reflection so much as witnessing: I am here. I am, and this is how I look, right now. Today I caught my reflection in the sliding glass door, and this is what I look like, right now, cusping 40: battered boots, long blue hippie-pirate skirt, green tank top, no bra, leather jacket, chipped gold nailpolish, sunset-red hair. I'm unable to stop this. The looking, the documenting, the making everything into metaphor. The tiny sliver of glass—from a smartphone screen—in the palm of my hand. It doesn't hurt and I forget it's there, but then it begins to itch. My past coming back to remind me—of the time J. and I danced on broken wineglasses barefoot in a Cleveland backyard, and it all meant something. Really it meant that we were a bunch of drunk poets, and I was on a carnival of pills, but I turned it to poetry, turned it into a sign that read: You are a cheerleader of the apocalypse. You were born to be a sideshow freak. You should run away with the circus. And the only reason I wanted to run away with the circus was so I could write about it, and when will I stop seeking signs, making metaphors out of my underpants— the pair I'm wearing today I've had for a decade, they were sexy, once. Dark purple, silk and lace; the lace now torn, the crotch stained dark with menstrual blood. Metaphors out of the smell of cut grass, how the snapped greenbean aroma is the scent of crisis; the bird shit staining the driveway; the neighbor's chickens escaping to roam the neighborhood; a snatch of blues harmonica from the next street over; the flowering trees frothing white in spring; the cobwebs on the dead-brown stalks of last year's marigolds. Yesterday I found a spider in a box of printer paper, and I thought: I am that spider. Tell me, experts, when can I stop writing it all down? Tell me when I can stop making meaning, and just live.

—Jessie Lynn McMains, c. 2019-2021

[fashion-foxy]

EAH Not Server Based Game but kinda Sorta Server Based Game update 26/4/2025

I've been working on getting the game playable for 8 months. Here's what I've figured out since I last did an update post:

OK, so a complete (?) list of reasons the game doesn't work:

It's trying to connect to YouTube's API to play videos in the game. YouTube has been updated a couple of times since 2015, so much like trying to talk to your former best friend at your high-school reunion, neither of you has any idea how to connect to each other.

It's trying to connect to Facebook's API so it can save/log in data. Facebook isn't even called Facebook anymore, so again, it's freaking out

It's trying to connect to Google+ to log in/save data. Google+ doesn't exist anymore

And the biggest problem: A majority of the app is built on the assumption that you have GMS installed. This is a fair assumption. So, why is it in the problem category?

Well,

GMS (Google Mobile Services) is a fun bundle of APKs that come pre-installed on most Android devices. This basically means that if you go down to Best Buy and pick up a Google Pixel 9, it'll have hidden system apps on it that basically handle things like notifications or, say, wifi connectivity. So, if you're a mobile developer and decide you'd really like to have your app send notifications to user, but you don't want to reinvent the metaphorical wheel of sending notifications, you just have your app talk to the system apps already on your user's phone and tell them to send notifications.

Now you may see where I'm going with this.

GMS is just a collection of APKs, and APKs need to be replaced with a different one if you want to update it. Naturally, Google really wants to update the structure a majority of Android apps function on for security or to collect more data on Android users.

The eah game is running on the assumption that GMS from a decade is installed on the user's device. And it's not just in charge of ads, microtranactions, notifications, or logging in. IT'S RESPONIBLE FOR GESTURES AND SEVERAL EVENT TRIGGERS AND ANIMATIONS.

In the games' current state, to get basic functions working like responding to tapping the screen and loading mini games, we need GMS from about a decade ago.

To get the game working, there are 2 options:

Just kinda start launching the version of the game that works the best with different versions of Jellybean (Android 5) era GMS APKs installed and hope of them works

Rebuild the game to not rely on any GMS or modern GMS

Can you guess which one I'm gonna try first?

(Sidenote, I'm very adverse to completely rebuilding the games because 1, that'd be a giant project, and 2, I want to keep as much of the original game intact as possible.)

[red083749937]

i should stop stalking romantic interests.

like don't get me wrong, i enjoy seeing what i can dig up on someone. but i think this time i'm reallyyyy regretting it, i've discovered more than i'd like to have known.

i took it upon myself to search for the guy i've been speaking to for the past 9 weeks now. He's got the most generic J white boy name ever, his snap doesn't hint towards any last names. so i sat, and scrolled through an endless stream of J's on facebook.

Lots of pixelated images, then one stood out to me, it was him.

At first it was just like, "oh haha found him". Scrolled through his profile and all, until i saw his last name.

I was genuinely mortified. like threw up so so bad.

It's not a common last name, its some random ass Maltese last name, THAT I'VE ONLY EVER HEARD IN ONE OTHER PLACE.

Just to my luck, the guy who i've been sleeping with, talking to practically most nights, done VERY VERY INAPPROPRIATE THINGS WITH - IM 99.99% SURE IS RELATED TO THE HEAD CHEF I WORKED WITH AND WAS VERY CLOSE WITH FOR LIKE 3 YEARS.

I'D WORKED WITH HIM FROM AGES 14-17. SORRY WHAT?

I STILL TALK TO HIM EVERY NOW AND THEN, I DID YESTERDAY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

though i couldn't find him directly in J's friends list, i found someone who damn well looks like him. Same build, same nose, same everything, and i know he's got 3 brother, so it damn-well could be one of em.

So now i'm left here, stuck with the knowledge that i'm pretty sure i've slept with my bosses what? Cousin? Nephew? I DON'T KNOW.

OH AND, i'm pretty sure he went to school with my cousin, because they're friends on facebook too

-🥭

-

[retronator]

Guess what, Pixel Art News is back! … For the Summer.

Those of you who have been around the block for a while now—in particular in 2017—will remember my monthly YouTube show where I covered upcoming and newly released games along with random pixel art bits and pieces and a DIY section.

I'm not committing to reviving it, but I will create a few episodes this Summer, calling it #SummerOfPixelArt (it's not really a thing, I just made it up). On the plus side, I record it weekly now on Twitch and you can even catch individual news as shorts on places like TikTok and Instagram.

In the latest episode, among other things, I give recommendations of important pixel art games for their art direction + they are 50% off or cheaper on Steam Summer Sale. This includes tumblr folks such as @dpadstudio, @thimbleweedpark, @danfessler, and @johanvinet!

I've done 4 episodes so far, here are the other 3 you have missed if you don't follow me on YouTube, X, or Facebook where I also upload them.

Also, here is the episode cover again, featuring key art from Pathway, as otherwise this post won't appear on my front page. Whoops!