floof.org
Had an absolutely FANTASTIC Confuzzled 2024, and managed to get some photos too!
Thank you so much to https://x.com/FuggaFursuits for this beautiful one with Diamond Dragon (yes this particular sona of theirs is an otter!)
#FursuitFriday #Fursuit #Fursuiter #Fursuiting #FurryAnthro #FoxFursuit #FoxFursona #TerrenceTheFox #FurryFandom #UKFur #Furry
"True Blue, on the scene! I've got your back!"
I finally was able to commission Nuki (https://bsky.app/profile/imdanuki.bsky.social) for this, and am so happy! I love their style. ^^
TK usually plays the role of support-hero. Accented with his own tech, he's able to use his heightened sense of scent and hearing to locate enemies and civilians, and relay intel to the team. He excels at search and rescue, but has been programming energy-manipulating tech for combat support.
Dear Hackers,
Public libraries, and libraries in general, are not your enemies. They are some of the last places in the world where people can go, hang out, and do things without any expectation of money changing hands. They are a physical manifestation of file sharing and a corporeal form of torrenting. That in mind, libraries are chronically underfunded and they're currently under attack by right-wing politicians and fascists, but I suppose I repeat myself there.
As such, they make lousy targets for ransomware attacks. Chances are, you're not likely to see any money because they have no money to pay you. All you've done is hurt those who are less fortunate than you, you've hurt children, you've hurt students, and you've made no progress towards "sticking it to the man" or whatever.
For god's sake, leave the library alone. Or maybe, come visit one sometime.
Thanks,
Cyberpunk Librarian
https://shelftalkblog.wordpress.com/2024/05/28/an-update-about-access-to-library-technology-systems/
May 29: Update on Available Technology Services www.spl.org is back online. You can now once access our Event Calendar, as well as some digital services, such as online versions of the New York Tim…Shelf Talk
I watched an earthworm in my garden one day. I stopped whatever I was about to do and really zoomed in on this amazing living being. It carefully explored its surroundings with the tip of its shiny, clean body, and I imagined it could probably feel and smell and taste at the same time, as it was touching the soil softly here and there. Texture, temperature, moisture, acidity… all went into its difficult decisions where to move next.
It was beautiful to watch, and strangely humbling.
Please enjoy these classic fursuit photos, which I took with a Sony Clié PDA. No edits, just raw 2002 vibes
Pictured: Brok, Kiba, @moofles, Nebraxas, Timo
#fursuit #ConFuzzled2024 #CFz2024
*sigh* And I'd created a Stripe account a while back to try to make myself a page for customers to pay for things like domain names more directly than currently happens, and now I may have to look for some other payment processor. Although I do have to wonder whether there is such a thing as a decent payment processor at all nowadays. BACS/FP may still be the only proper way other than going back to the stone age and using cash, cheques and postal orders.
like, just to be clear, this is what's happening:
- Stripe has updated their terms and conditions to list "Content creation" as a prohibited business, explicitly clarifying that donations without an attached good or service are not allowed
- Stripe is actively enforcing these new terms by cancelling payments to people using Stripe directly for donations
- Stripe is continuing to operate via the VC-backed "creator" platforms of Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, and GitHub sponsors, often requiring folks to have a US bank account in order to get paid
- Stripe is selectively enforcing the new terms on sites like Liberapay and Ko-fi, in particular still using Ko-fi on their marketing materials, but their official stance on these sites is unclear
especially given how Buy Me a Coffee is clearly a VC-backed attempt to scam Ko-fi out of their business model, it seems like Stripe is just trying to fuck over independent creators and eliminate competition outside of their VC-backed partners. but also, they haven't made any clear statements on this besides just fucking over individual people for their new terms. it's super confusing and unclear what the fuck is going on
but! people are getting seriously hurt by their actions, immediately thrust into financial uncertainty by having their sources of income cut off. it's fucked!
update: https://toot.cat/@clarfonthey/112538040340396791
Prohibited and Restricted Businesses | Stripe
This page provides information about the types of businesses, products, and industries that can’t use Stripe’s services.stripe.com
Spare a thought for the brave jurors in the Trump trial today. Trump is a vindictive narcissist.
In my opinion - I think more people in the cyber industry and government should be speaking out against Copilot Recall being deployed in this manner.
I think most people will know what harm it will cause having a text database of everything the user has ever typed and viewed. Our parents will be using this.
I know it will drive business through incidents but.. surely there’s a line?
It feels so profoundly depressing, and like nobody cares about actually securing things for people.
Strangely (given what I usually do at cons) I saw most of the Directors' Sea Shanties event at ConFuzzled, and it was actually kinda fun. Then after the con and I'm back with family I see that my dad keeps watching old western films and stuff, and this ended up stuck in my head:
Soon may the Wellerman come,
To bring us sugar and tea and rum,
One day when the toungin' is done,
I'm an indian too!
Aaaand checked out of ConFuzzled 2024. Sad face.
I'm most probably going to hang around for most of the day until Dead Dog, then drive home late this evening. If you want to meet I'm at the back of the bar area at the moment, might be more in the foyer at times. Being a Spidey, I am fairly recognisable! 😉
In the end, as I didn't have anywhere private to change, I just took my mask/hood/faceshell/lenses off in the car, tucked the hood in, and drove home in headless Spidey mode.
I stopped off to buy lunch at a Sainsbury's Local/petrol station, where several people commented (favourably) on the suit. Rather than eat while taking up one of their limited parking spaces I moved on to a free local council car park. As I was eating, a car parked beside mine and a dad got out with a small child and I heard "yes look, it's Spider-Man! And he's eating… a…sandwich…" I waved and said hi and "if you give me a minute I'll put my mask on" and they seemed to like it. 😁👍 (I should have prompted them to get a pic as I'm sure they're kicking themselves now for not having done so.)
I stopped off briefly a couple more times on the way home. Saw people looking a few times, think there were one or two more nice comments!
I'm still not in love with going headless, but I had to to drive safely, and people did respond positively even so. Also now my parents, sisters, nibblings, and a couple who my sisters know who happened to be there, have all seen me in headless Spidey mode and acceptance rate is 100% so far. Wheeee.
So, ended up staying in suit from just before I checked out (about 1.30pm) until getting ready for bed time (near midnight). Admittedly with bare face a lot of that time, but still, attached shoes and gloves, plus my feet were still damp the whole day from when I was carrying my stuff to the car while it was trying to rain and the ground was wet.
I'm sorry to hear it wasn't a good time for you! But I absolutely get it. I really really love dancing in fursuit and have been to other nights when it was maybe less rammed than Animalz, and having a big doofy fursuit head provides some ear protection. That said, this is my third CFz and they've always seemed bad to me on sound adjustment. Just too loud and the bass cranked up ridiculously high that it's impossible to make out any other part of the music much of the time, like a kid with a subwoofer in the back of his cheap car who's turned the bass up as high as it'll go because they just want to rattle windows. I get that it's a rave but when people just talking into the mic at the opening ceremony feels like it's shattering my ribcage, it makes me think the audio balancing might want some reworking.
Gosh I sound so old. ^^;
@philpem yeah, Zel is knowledgeable about stuff like this and talked about how hard it is to configure for a room, how it changes when it's full of people of course, especially a weird long thin room like Scotia used to have back in Livingston. But they managed to do a remarkably good job of it there somehow!
And of course could just be I'm old and don't like as much bass as the kiddos, I dunno
A quick way to get an AI-free search without any extra work.udm14.com
If anyone would like to mess with this code, it has a CC0 license and is located on Glitch and Github:
https://github.com/readtedium/udm14
https://glitch.com/edit/#!/udm14
UDM14. Contribute to readtedium/udm14 development by creating an account on GitHub.GitHub
And if by some magic all of this actually spins up and gets working, then (1) the barrier to communication decreases (why not just send another email if it’s automated?), (2) individual communication load increases (because you can answer emails at a faster rate), and (3) the net efficiency of communication decreases (because of everything in the previous two posts).
Sound and fury, signifying nothing.
4/
I severely doubt many real orgs measure actual desired large-scale outcomes well enough to spot that net efficiency decrease. All this is going to look like increased productivity. Will •be• increased productivity in the ways that most folks actually measure it.
But here, with the bird’s-eye view of a hypothetical, it’s clear: the total amount of work happening to achieve the same ends has •increased•.
5/
Go use this thing I designed
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
Get on the electoral register so you can vote in elections and referendums.Government Digital Service (GOV.UK)
An election on 4 July means:
* voter registration deadline 18 June
* postal vote registration 19 June
* proxy vote registration 26 June
https://election-timetable.democracyclub.org.uk/?election_date=2024-07-04
An overview of voting in the UK, including voting in person, postal and proxy voting, and voting if you're abroad.Government Digital Service (GOV.UK)
Probably not a bad time to encourage you all to register for a postal vote. You never know when you might be sick / hit by a bus / on holiday.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote
Use this service to apply for a postal vote in, general elections and other UK Parliamentary elections, local elections in England (including mayors), Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales, referendums and MP recall petitions.Government Digital Service (GOV.UK)
I cannot stress this enough.
If you are not registered to vote. Do it now.
It's easy and simple.
If you don't have valid ID you can get it free from your local authority.
Register to vote.
Now.
Click here:
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
#GE2024 #GeneralElection #UKGE24
Get on the electoral register so you can vote in elections and referendums.Government Digital Service (GOV.UK)
