X use has been plunging, dropping and then plunging some more in both the US and UK since May 2023. No suprise there, but good to see it quantified.

If May 2033 = 100, then UK users now down to below 70.

The post is from Scientists for EU which is usually fairly reputable.

#Musk typing his rightwing political opinions about inciting civil war whilst (allegedly) in a ketamine haze have been noted and the grown ups have left the building.

Protip: If you live in an area with mosquito-borne diseases, fursuits provide a thick barrier of fur between you and the biting insects. Wear your fursuit outside as PPE!

#protip

So the U.S. government is considering banning certain parts for connected cars, (which is virtually all cars now,) from Russia and China because they don't want them to have the ability to use cars sold in the U.S. for spying purposes.

Maybe if we didn't let our car makers turn our cars into spyware on wheels this wouldn't be an issue eh? Anyone ever think of that?

https://siliconangle.com/2024/09/23/us-moves-ban-import-certain-connected-vehicle-parts-china-russia/

US moves to ban import of certain connected vehicle parts from China and Russia - SiliconANGLE

^SiliconANGLE

How can you read this!? There's no pictures!

Little concerned wah on acrylics over a super boring book about politics.

Long story short: I had ordered a book on Amazon and I received a completely different one, when I claimed for the mistake, they refunded me instead, not even asking for the mistaken book back. I quickly researched how much it was that book worth, it was only 14mxn (less than $1usd), so I had on my hands a boring book that I was not going to read it and I couldn't sell it back, so I decided to turn it in an art piece.

It may be exhibited at the MFF Art Show.

"And a princess' kiss will lift your curse and turn you back into a prince?" the princess said, bending down.

"No," the frog sighed. "I'm a milkmaid."

The princess paused. "Er... I'll get my brother."

"Is he a princess?"

The princess bent down again. "If it's for a good cause..."

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

If you don't think Privacy is one of the most important things right now, watch this.
Every major car manufacturer does this. Every... single... one..
I hate this shit, it's why I've sworn off buying any car new enough to have this bullshit in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoiYa0G_SpA

Is your car spying on you? This is what one woman said happened to her

A woman learned her OnStar system is tracking things like acceleration events, high-speed events, and hard break events and GM has been sharing that data wit...

^YouTube

DID YOU KNOW:
Fluffdragon nose horns have a variety of uses!

This life hack brought to you by:
#FursuitFriday
📷 Zelandeth
🪡 @selkiesuits
🌍 ScotiaCon 2018 (yep, a blast from the past - my first year fursuiting!)

The great big feline snowball fight at NordicFuzzcon 2018.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vhfxnhalYCs&pp=ygUWQ2F0IHNub3diYWxsIGZpZ2h0IG5mYw%3D%3D

#ThrowbackThursday

Kitty Snowball Fight at NordicFuzzcon '18.

A cat photoshoot turns into chaos at NFC 2018 as the kitties run riot in the snow :)

^YouTube

Mad cow disease, also known as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is when cows ingest contaminated meal, which can be sometimes made up of other cows. It was considered a disaster for the cattle industry in the 1990s.

Anyway, I bring it up because this is basically how LLM slop is starting to work now. All the nutritional grass has been eaten and now what’s left is the contaminated meal made from other LLMs. The LLMs eat the meal, and soon we will have, like Mad LLM disease or something

Good grief. Starlink v2 satellites are generating 32 times more radio emission than previous generations! This is totally blinding to radio telescopes and will stop us doing science in this part of the spectrum.

BBC News coverage: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4dnr8zemgo

Journal article: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2024/09/aa51856-24/aa51856-24.html

#astronomy #starlink #losingthesky

Elon Musk's Starlink satellites 'blocking' view of the universe

Radio waves from the satellites are "blinding" radio telescopes and hurting research, say scientists.

^{Georgina Rannard (BBC News)}

Yknow what saddens me

Flappy bird is back bc some crypto asshole done a legal shenanigan to get it declared an abondened IP, to use it for a crypto garbage mobile app under that IP, against the wishes and without paying the original creator

So, when it's for scamming people, we can actually declare stuff as abandon ware, but not when someone just wants to bury a beloved series or franchise, like the English dub of sailor moon, which you can only pirate now

This is why you can't steal from a corporation, it's called reclamation

Hug the Tail 🐺

#furry

Have you ever had a healthcare worker get angry with you for protecting yourself? Have you detected a critical error and had them argue or tell you you’re wrong?

I had a terrifying experience this week where one of my homecare nurses tried to administer insulin. I’m NOT a diabetic. I’m on nursing services for blood pressure checks and IV saline because I’m dangerously hypotensive.

I told them “I think you have the wrong patient I’m not on insulin” and they became very upset. They tried to force it on me and told me my file would be noted as “noncompliance” and I might lose the homecare services.

I held my ground and asked them to double check the file as they clearly had me mixed up with another patient.

They finally did - albeit through sighs and eyerolls. They didn’t apologize - they just left and said the next nurse could deal with my issues.

This js terrifying. Many people on homecare are elderly and/or not mentally competent and can’t always check and double check what they’re being given. What if I had been extra woozy or had passed out before they arrived? What happens if you administer insulin to someone on alot of meds and not diabetic?

More importantly - WHY are we not trusted to know our own bodies? Women, disabled people, marginalized individuals… it’s almost always the same experience. We’re told we’re wrong and threatened with loss of care, non compliance, psych holds or worse.

Is the fact that I demand they wear a respirator before entering playing a role? Could it be that they’re overworked and frequently sick because of unmitigated COVID spread?

We need masks and clean air in healthcare NOW. We can’t keep infecting and reinfecting healthcare workers and expecting that there won’t be consequences.

We absolutely shouldn’t be infecting high risk patients who are relying on them for life saving care.

If you’re a HCW who stopped masking - please start again. For your health and the health of your patients.

If a patient tells you a certain medication or procedure will be harmful - listen to them. We know our bodies & deserve to be respected.

I may write an essay about this experience when I’m less exhausted and angry. In the meantime you can read one of my other examples of medical gaslighting & misogyny … one which very nearly cost me my life:

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/my-most-dangerous-er-experience-and

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidCautious #CovidIsNotOver #CleanAir #WearaMask #Disability #LongCovid #Ableism #Denial #CleanAir #Pandemic #PublicHealth #InfectionControl #Eugenics #SafeHealthcare #N95 #Respirators #MasksWork #MaskUp #Spoonie #Discrimination #Dysautonomia #mecfs #pots #mcas #communitycare #wearamask #chronicillness #keepmasksinhealthcare