bethbethbeth

A Semi-Innocent Bystander

[dinomoder]

This is the best ad for Project Hail Mary I have ever seen. Like if I was on the fence about watching or reading it, this would convince me to do so.

[jakeperalta]

not using AI genuinely feels like the rest of the world is experiencing some kind of mass amnesia. if someone says they never use it, the immediate response is that can't be true because "everyone" uses it to write their emails or answer their questions. saw a comment suggesting that not using chatgpt to write an essay is "like the 90s". girl I graduated in 2021 and we weren't doing that! how is it that everyone has suddenly forgotten that they were entirely capable of doing these things all by themselves for their entire lives up until the past few years!! am I going crazy!!!

[leosmiserables]

obsessed with this bookshop in stratford-upon-avon having WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE listed as a ”local author”

[ellynneversweet]

Darcy’s introduction in Pride and Prejudice is really ‘what if you had just had the worst month of your life because your ex-bestie tried to lover boy scam your baby sister out of her share of your dad’s life insurance and your friend dragged you to a shitty party in a dive bar in the neighbourhood where he’d just signed a short term lease, and you decided to let your bad mood show because you were never going to see any of the assholes in this stupid shitty bar EVER again. And your friend ended up making out with a girl he’d just met there while you were stuck talking to her sister who was less cute and then her mother appeared and started trying to matchmake and started saying how if she was twenty years younger she’d clime you like a redwood and ooooh is that a black Amex, guess the next round is on you hahhahahahaha, while her other sister (how many fucking sisters does she have?!) flashed an obviously fake ID at the bar and ordered six vodka-diet red bulls and no one in her family except the less-cute sister even tried to stop her. And you went home and consoled yourself that you would never see any of these people again but then you met them over and over again because they live next door and your friend and the cute sister keep meeting up to make out but not actually date and then. You fall in love with the less-cute sister because it turns out she’s really witty and charismatic but she already knows and remembers and resents the fact that on a day when you were in a shitty mood you called her mid out loud in a dive bar.’

[sometiktoksarevalid]

[creatingblackcharacters]

Worth listening to 👀

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I am so damn pleased with the Sedgwick County Zoo media team, y’all. They just dropped a stellar blog piece on why GenAI slop videos of animals are such a problem - and how to identify them!

The Reality of AI Animal Content – Sedgwick County Zoo

If you spend any time on social media, you’ve probably seen them – bears bouncing on trampolines, apes caught on doorbell cameras, or “rescu

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a zoo or aquarium in the United States speak up broadly about AI. (The only times I can think of any comment at all has maybe individual instances when a deepfake of “their” animal escaping is circulating.) And they did a great job with this piece! It’s succinct, easy to read, and written in a way that doesn’t shame people for engaging with AI content before they knew better.

I think this is exactly the type of resource needed for sending to that family member or friend we all have - the one who isn’t aware of the slop issue and constantly sends you clearly fake videos because they’re “so cute.”

I’d love to have Sedgwick get some public positive reinforcement for taking this stance. If you’re so inclined, a comment on their FB post would be great as it’s likely they’re going to get shit for this from sloppers & co. We really do need animal organizations to stand up for accurate, real animal content and this is a great first step in that direction.

[duskydestra]

Happy birthday to AO3 🎂🎉

[victusinveritas]

[linguistness]

No, actually, i want cables and not bluetooth, i don't want touchscreens, i want buttons and knobs, i want to be able to take the battery out of my phone, i want to charge my phone and plug in head phones at the same time, i want a cd drive in my laptop and not have to buy an external drive, i want a car without a display, i want to turn on the lights with a switch not with my voice, i want to have a paper cinema ticket not a QR code, i want to listen to illegally burned music on a 00s cd player, i want to watch movies that i actually own, i want to read news once a day on paper, i want to aimlessly flick through magazines and not doomscroll on social media, i want to write emails and not talk to chatbots, i want to own stuff without hundreds of digital subscriptions, i want

[herpsandbirds]

Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus), male, family Phasianidae, northern India

Photograph by SarwanDeep Singh

[cherryhomo]

just wanted to share the National Down Syndrome Society’s message for this year’s World Down Syndrome Day (21st March) 💛💙

[naamahdarling]

Powerful message that lovingly includes multiple disabilities, united. I love this.

[telomeke]

[Image and video description–

The image is a textpost that reads:

This #WorldDownSyndromeDay, we've joined forces with @‌coordown and other international Down syndrome organizations to spread the powerful message: No Decision Without Us. [flexed biceps emoji] People with disabilities deserve a seat at the table where decisions are made about their lives, their futures, and their rights. Let's work together toward a world where every voice is valued. #NoDecisionWithoutUs #WDSD25

‌

The text accompanies a video posted by @ ndssorg on TikTok.

The video shows people with various disabilities forcefully requesting that they not be left out of the decision-making process when the decisions affect them directly. The persons with disabilities shown include:

Sophia, a young teen with Down's Syndrome protesting at not being consulted over what dress she should wear to someone's wedding

A smart-suited young man in a wheelchair, protesting at not being consulted regarding the design of a train station, taking his place at the meeting table and planting a figurine of a person in a wheelchair in front of the flight of steps leading up to the train platform in the architectural model

A little person in medical scrubs, protesting that the shelves of medical supplies that she needs for her work are beyond her reach, even with her arm stretched as far as she can vertically

A deaf person protesting at a student assembly that a fire alarm is of little use to the hard-of-hearing community if it is only sound-based

A person with visual disability pointing out that an airport touch screen is of little use to the visually-challenged community if all your fingertips can sense is flatness

A smart-suited young woman with a prosthetic leg and a smart-suited young man (possibly with Down's Syndrome) forcefully requesting a legislative assembly to give them seats at the lawmaking table as well, if the laws that are being made will have an impact on them too

The video draws to a close with Sophia storming into the room at the start of the video wearing an outfit of her own choice: a leather jacket, a black bustier top, a choker necklace and a purple tutu. The whole sequence ends with the cast raising their fists in the air in a show of united strength.

End description.]

[vassraptor]

also they are all singing

[lunaris1013]

Hey, y'all remember when I embroidered this jacket?

IT'S UP FOR AUCTION!

@ofmdcraftfair is raising money for the Campaign for Southern Equality's Trans Youth Emergency Project and OMG there's over 200 items for sale or auction! Not everything is OFMD themed, so even if it's not your fandom don't let that stop you from taking a look at everything on offer

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE WONDERFUL WARES ON DISPLAY!

OFMD Craft Fair

[booksinmythorax]

"Don't use Libby because it costs libraries too much, pirate instead" is such a weird, anti-patron, anti-author take that somehow manages to also be anti-library, in my professional librarian-ass opinion.

It's well documented that pirating books negatively affects authors directly* in a way that pirating movies or TV shows doesn't affect actors or writers, so I will likely always be anti-book piracy unless there's absolutely, positively no other option (i.e. the book simply doesn't exist outside of online archives at all, or in a particular language).

Also, yeah, Libby and Hoopla licenses are really expensive, but libraries buy them SO THAT PATRONS CAN USE THEM. If you're gonna be pissed at anybody about this shitty state of affairs, be pissed at publishing companies and continue to use Libby or Hoopla at your library so we can continue to justify having it to our funding bodies.

One of the best ways to support your library having services you like is to USE THOSE SERVICES. Yes, even if they are expensive.

*Yes, this is a blog post, but it's a blog post filled with links to news articles. If you can click one link, you can click another.

[knottahooker]

Please, PLEASE use Libby. OverDrive. Hoopla. CloudLibrary. Kanopy. Flipster. Freegal. Transparent Language. Mango. Jstor. Your library would not offer it if they could not afford it, and we afford things by reporting the number of people who use that service, so if you don't use the service we can't afford it. It's a cycle. Keep it going, keep using it, and we'll keep providing because we'll be able to justify the cost to the bean counters in government.

[dogposts]

big snow storm! perfect day to snooze outside

[happykeanu]

Sometimes Running the Bases is Hard: A Major League Baseball Series

[andweareunderway]

[sunshinechay]

[baseballheritageposts]

baseball heritage post

[chronicintrovert]

i can't do this anymore! i mean i can, and i will, obviously. but i can't fucking do this anymore!

[centrally-unplanned]

Area Man Who Has "Had Enough" Wakes Up Next Morning at 6:30 AM to Commute to Work Again

[rumade]

I’d divorce him too lmao

[sustainableseparatists]

[sisyphereantask]

It’s never JUST about the tomatoes.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Basically!

Throughout the day, partners would make requests for connection, what Gottman calls “bids.” For example, say that the husband is a bird enthusiast and notices a goldfinch fly across the yard. He might say to his wife, “Look at that beautiful bird outside!” He’s not just commenting on the bird here: He’s requesting a response from his wife—a sign of interest or support—hoping they’ll connect, however momentarily, over the bird.

The wife now has a choice. She can respond by either “turning toward” or “turning away” from her husband, as Gottman puts it. Though the bird-bid might seem minor and silly, it can actually reveal a lot about the health of the relationship. The husband thought the bird was important enough to bring it up in conversation and the question is whether his wife recognizes and respects that.

These bidding interactions had profound effects on marital well-being. Couples who had divorced after a six-year follow-up had “turn-toward bids” 33 percent of the time. Only three in 10 of their bids for emotional connection were met with intimacy. The couples who were still together after six years had “turn-toward bids” 87 percent of the time. Nine times out of 10, they were meeting their partner’s emotional needs.

The Secret to Love Is Just Kindness

Those who showed genuine interest in their partner’s joys were more likely to be together.

[educatedsavage]

Damn, this made me think of all the “shouting into the void” social media posts everyone makes. Just bids for connection. From ANYONE.

[c-ptsdrecovery]

I think that is ABSOLUTELY what a lot of that is. Our culture is very isolated (even BEFORE covid!), and we’re desperate to connect with others. I read an article one time that suggested that childcare workers stop saying that a child is “Just wants attention” and start saying that the child is “looking for connection.” We’re starved for it even from childhood.

[seymour-butz-stuff]

[sosayset]

When they are speaking about a passion, respond to children as if you would a tenured professor at a prestigious university, and to an adult as if you would a child free of the burdens of adulthood. 

Children are desperate to teach the wonders of the world that they know, that they have just learned, and share it with anyone interested.  Adults pour passion they didn’t know they had into voluntary obligations, and crave a simple acknowledgment of that passion as being worthy and valid. 

“Dear third grader, tell me exactly why you chose <x> as you third favorite carnivorous dinosaur instead of second, as specifically as possible.”

“Hey neighbor, your vegetable garden is absolutely gorgeous this year…and no I’m not just saying that because the tomatoes you gave me last year were absolute perfection.”

[captain-snark]

This is why I find it odd when people disparage/make fun of people for live streaming mundane things like them chilling and eating and going “who would watch that?” 

Someone also chilling and eating and just looking for a brief connection to another human being? Even if it’s on the other side of the screen? Even if they’re not necessarily even speaking to each other. 

It’s knowing that at this moment in time you know what another human is doing across a vast distance and for a moment the world doesn’t feel so large and empty.