dulcimergecko

[dulcimergecko]

Saving this for future use.

I think every computer user needs to read this because holy fucking shit this is fucking horrible.

So Windows has a new feature incoming called Recall where your computer will first, monitor everything you do with screenshots every couple of seconds and "process that" with an AI.

Hey, errrr, fuck no? This isn't merely because AI is really energy intensive to the point that it causes environmental damage. This is because it's basically surveilling what you are doing on your fucking desktop.

This AI is not going to be on your desktop, like all AI, it's going to be done on another server, "in the cloud" to be precise, so all those data and screenshot? They're going to go off to Microsoft. Microsoft are going to be monitoring what you do on your own computer.

Now of course Microsoft are going to be all "oooh, it's okay, we'll keep your data safe". They won't. Let me just remind you that evidence given over from Facebook has been used to prosecute a mother and daughter for an "illegal abortion", Microsoft will likely do the same.

And before someone goes "durrr, nuthin' to fear, nuthin to hide", let me remind you that you can be doing completely legal and righteous acts and still have the police on your arse. Are you an activist? Don't even need to be a hackivist, you can just be very vocal about something concerning and have the fucking police on your arse. They did this with environmental protesters in the UK. The culture war against transgender people looks likely to be heading in a direction wherein people looking for information on transgender people or help transitioning will be tracked down too. You have plenty to hide from the government, including your opinions and ideas.

Again, look into backing up your shit and switching to Linux Mint or Ubuntu to get away from Microsoft doing this shit.

[dulcimergecko]

Sharing this for anybody who might be interested!

[dulcimergecko]

I SHOT THE HEAD OFF THE CPR MANNEQUIN WHAT THE HELL

[dulcimergecko]

Sunday Six!

Sherlock pursed his lips and carefully applied the lighter to the plant sample he was holding in a pair of extra-long tweezers.  The green leaves caught slowly, sending an oily-looking stream of smoke upwards as it burned over an empty petri dish and disintegrated.  Under the microscope, however, the ash proved to be a disappointment.  The fragments in no way resembled the contents of the partially-burned cigarette he’d found in Scotty’s stall, or the smear of ash he’d collected from Blaze’s holding pen at the fairgrounds. 

Scrubbing his fingers through his hair in frustration, Sherlock shoved the slide away to join the other two hundred and forty-two discarded samples.  He was fortunate that the ranch’s version of a vet barn possessed a research quality microscope and quite a few other common lab supplies, (he privately suspected Molly and her homework might be the cause), but it didn’t change the fact that he needed access to his own electron microscope and spectrophotometer...

Excerpt from the upcoming Chapter 30

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Hello to my lovely followers, I would like you to meet my new Furry Supervisor 3.0 and writing buddy! This is Miss B. She is a chair thief and a cuddle bug.

[dulcimergecko]

Same thing with books by own authors, non-white characters, diverse representation, etc. We HAVE these books, but public libraries run on the premise of tailoring the collection of materials to what people actually check out. If nobody checks out an item for three years, then it goes bye bye because there is always a newer item needing the finite space.

Guys, queers. Specifically my fellow queers.

I work at a library. We do this thing where, every so often, we weed the collection. It hurts to see books go, but it's necessary to make sure there's room in the library for new materials.

I have seen so much support for the library in text, and I've seen folks pass around those beautiful "queer your library" flyers. Keep doing that. That's great. Nothing wrong with that. But you HAVE to turn your words into action. We MUST remember to actually go to our local organizations and libraries and actually, with our own fucking hands, interact with these materials we want to see more of.

My branch is medium-sized for a library, maybe a little small. We don't have as many materials as I'd like, but we have fundamentals. Tell me why, even with all the verbal support I've gotten from my local community for the library as a resource for our LGBT+ community, every single trans biography and a good chunk of our vaguely queer theory books were on the list. This isn't a scheme to take the books off the shelves, it isn't another bigoted American governmental push. The only thing we look at when we weed is how long it's been since the last time the item was checked out.

Three years.

No one in my community interacted in any meaningful way with the few books on trans life and history we physically had on the shelves for three fucking years.

I promise you the materials you want and need are there, but this isn't a horde. This isn't a static safety net. You have to use them. You MUST use them or, in the future, maybe in three years, they *won't* be there anymore.

This isn't a vague post, there's no one person I'm hinting at or calling out. I'm not even talking directly to anyone who's directly in my line of sight. I just want everyone to hear this. Big library, small library, whatever. Doesn't matter. Please, we cannot be losing our shelf visibility like this.

[dulcimergecko]

Cooking adventures...

Spouse: "Do we have any vermouth?"

Me: "Maybe? Check the liquor cabinet...no...wait, I was thinking of triple sec."

Spouse: "I...don't think that would go very well in French onion soup."

[dulcimergecko]

Got my plane tickets for 221b Con!

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Could Canada PLEASE annex some red hell-hole states too? A desperate liberal stuck in the red zone...

How about if Canada annexes Blue America? 

It’s a perfect way out for Trump, who doesn’t like these states anyway. 

ROBERT REICH

DEC 30

Friends,

Trump wants to buy Greenland and annex Canada as the 51st American state. 

When I first heard these ideas I thought he was joking, but as with all things Trump, he’s not … quite. 

Last week, while naming a new ambassador to Denmark (which controls Greenland’s foreign and defense affairs), Trump made clear that his first-term offer to buy Greenland could, in the coming term, become a deal the Danes cannot refuse.

He seems to want Greenland because of its strategic location at a time when the melting of Arctic ice is opening new commercial and naval competition. He’s also interested in Greenland’s reserves of rare earth minerals needed for advanced technology.

But Trump isn’t stopping there. He also wants to annex Canada. This proposal appears more a public needling of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau than a serious plan. 

Yet Trump has continued to tease the idea of annexing Canada on social media. “I think it’s a great idea,” he wrote in a recent post.

This is all bonkers, of course. 

But as long as we’re considering changing national borders, why not do it in a more sensible way? 

How about the West Coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California becoming the 11th province of Canada? After all, the politics of these blue states would fit much better with Canada’s than with Trump’s America. 

Meanwhile, the New England states (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut) and New York could become the 12th Canadian province, for much the same reason. 

While Trump is toying with the idea of annexing Canada, these blue American states should bid him goodbye and be annexed by Canada. 

Hell, Trump might just go along. He doesn’t like these blue states anyway. They all voted against him in 2016, 2020, and again in 2024. He’s been looking for ways of getting even. Why not simply disown them? 

Letting Canada annex these blue states would also simplify Trump’s war on undocumented immigrants, since many of them reside in these states. 

America First Legal, a nonprofit run by Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, has already written to local elected officials in California and New York warning them not to try to become sanctuaries — threatening that the officials could be personally “criminally liable” if they refuse to support federal government efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants.

But if California, New York, and other blue states were annexed by Canada, the problem disappears. 

Of course, this leaves the pesky question of whether Canada would accept America’s West Coast as its 11th province and New York and New England as its 12th? I’ll leave that question to Canadians. (Please, Canadians, post your responses below.)

[dulcimergecko]

IT WORKS!

every time I do a web search, right at the top I have AI info dumping on me

just give me the top result please

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*hissssss at the mention of his name*

this blog hates donald trump

Look how many people hate him. I’m pretty damn happy about that 😁😁😁😁😁😁

[dulcimergecko]

Sunday Six(ish)

“Alright everybody, we’re going to give the band a chance to rest their fingers, so get yourself something to drink and we’ll be back in thirty!”  The caller stepped away from the microphone and turned back to answer one of the musician’s questions.

“Pardon me for a moment, I want to ask the band something,” Sherlock made his excuse to Molly, taking care to keep to the edges of the room where he’d be less likely to be noticed by John. 

“Hi there,” one of the musicians greeted him as Sherlock walked up.  She was a middle-aged woman holding an instrument that looked like an unholy cross between a guitar and a mandolin.  “It’s an Irish bouzouki,” she explained in response to Sherlock’s unasked question.  “What can we do for you?”

“I was wondering, what’s the etiquette for joining the house band?” Sherlock asked, not bothering to disguise his natural accent.  “I know what it’s like in Ireland, but I’m not sure about here.”

–Excerpt from the upcoming chapter 30 of ‘The Devil’s Blaze’

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Plus they have free stuff for all ages/abilities/socio-economic levels. Cooking classes for teens? Check! Bringing special fun programs to developmentally different individuals? Check! Zumba for seniors? Check! Learning to sew classes for kids? Citizenship classes? Social workers? We've got those too!

I'm almost 30 and still amazed you can just walk into a library and pull a book off a shelf and read it, don't even need to ask anyone, can just sit down and read book for free until closing time. There is nothing that free anywhere else that isn't serreptitiouly religious or requiring registration. that's how stuff should be. Libraries are so good

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canon: they died

fanfic: fUCK YOU