pinned for my most used tagsβ‘οΈ

Origami Around
Claire Keane
almost home
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β£ Chile in a Photography β£

Product Placement
AnasAbdin
Keni

pixel skylines
I'd rather be in outer space πΈ
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
$LAYYYTER
NASA

Discoholic πͺ©
we're not kids anymore.
i don't do bad sauce passes
tumblr dot com
DEAR READER
sheepfilms
todays bird

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@catboy-garfield
pinned for my most used tagsβ‘οΈ
zero patience for "irreversible damage" rhetoric because like... parents are allowed to do all kinds of other irreversible body modification to their kids and nobody gives a fuck. you can pierce your kid's ears, you can sign them up for a sport that will injure them for life, you can provide or withhold medical care like vaccines according to whatever whims you like. i've mentioned this before but my mom forced me to get laser hair removal done on my legs when i was a teenager because my body wasn't mine, the way i chose to upkeep it was a reflection on her. "irreversible damage" is very much part and parcel of the broader belief that parents own their children's bodies.
This Re: Societal dismissal of the threat covid presents to everyone. In less than five years, long covid has become the most common chronic illness in children, surpassing asthma. Somehow HRT is "irreversible damage" but giving millions of kids a poorly understood chronic illness is just "back to normal"
(P.S. Wear a respirator. Don't catch or spread covid.)
In my new gacha game, you can now pull for scantily clad anime women who represent famous airplane crashes.
Ok but like. What the fuck is there to do on the internet anymore?
Idk when I was younger, you could just go and go and find exciting new websites full of whatever cool things you wanted to explore. An overabundance of ways to occupy your time online.
Now, it's just... Social media. That's it. Social media and news sites. And I'm tired of social media and I'm tired of the news.
Am I just like completely inept at finding new things or has the internet just fallen apart that much with the problems of SEO and web 3.0 turning everything into a same-site prison?
Long collection of resources under the cut.
You're right that the internet is smaller than it used to be, but there's still some cool stuff left in the corners. I'd recommend checking checking out Neocities if you haven't--it's an independent web hosting platform like Geocities of the old web, and there are hundreds of interesting and active pages discoverable both through their search function and through web buttons (links attached to small pictures with the title of a website) within the websites themselves. Here are three examples of web buttons you may find in link pages:
Most Neocities websites have link pages or button collections with anywhere from tens to hundreds of these. Don't be afraid to explore!
If you're looking for something more like a search engine, I can point you towards Marginalia. It's not a particularly smart engine, but it's perfectly usable if you've ever been taught to use search engines back when they were mostly run through keywords instead of full sentence comprehension. There's also an "about" and "tips" section on the front page with more information. The algorithm of Marginalia can be filtered by the user to allow, disallow, or require JavaScript depending on your needs, plus there are filters designed specifically to prioritize web 1.0 sites or mostly text-based ones. It is possible to search for modern websites with it, but it can return websites from just about any decade (since the invention of the web, obviously) so long as they contain the information you're looking for. For example, here are some random interesting sites I've found using Marginalia:
Native Languages of the Americas: Native American Cultures
BASIC HTML COMPETENCY IS THE NEW PUNK FOLK EXPLOSION!
Earthbound Text Labs by Bill Eager
The possibilities for discovery are truly endless.
Now you might want to know about directories. These make browsing for websites easier, but require you to read through and judge which ones to visit, as there aren't algorithms ranking the sites besides the whim of whoever coded the directory. Some of them have themes, others don't. Here are two that I've used:
Yesterlinks Directory
Ichigo Directory
Directories can be harder to come by just by surfing the net, but they aren't impossible to find. Many personal websites have their own directories of interesting sites hidden within them.
Webrings are similar to directories, but are actually more community-based. You have to register your website to be a part of a webring, usually by sending an email to whoever runs it and meeting some kind of entry criteria. For example, my personal website used to be a part of a webring called Sweet Dreams, which was for websites that heavily utilize color palettes and images of cute things, particularly sweets. Webrings will give you access to a widget upon entry that allow visitors and other members to browse between the registered websites in a massive ring, ergo, where the term gets its name. Webrings can have any theme or criteria for entry. If you can make a website about it, you can find a webring for it.
Now, you might be wondering about social media alternatives. I can't offer much, but I can nudge you towards the idea of forums. Here's one I found that could really use some traffic. I also browse a bit on MelonLand forum, which is actually closed right now--it's currently closed on Mondays--but on any other day of the week, you can find a fun community there dedicated to web revival. You can find it through MelonLand's main page. I'd also recommend checking out SpaceHey, which is a MySpace clone that's customizable and easy to use.
I hope this is of some help to you. The internet may feel less magical than it used to be, but that doesn't mean that the spark has completely died out. These types of indie websites need more attention if we ever hope to reverse the damage done to the internet by centralization and corporate interest. People are trying to make the web a cooler place to be, but we're going to have to do the work of finding and interacting with these projects in order to get them off the ground someday.
ALSO you should consider browsing Virtual Pet List and seeing if there are any pet sites you might be interested in playing. There is a whole genre of browser games right under your nose
Another one that I just found recently is this, which is a whole collection of blogs, organized by topic!
A collection of 1,966 blogs about every topic
Look guys the real internet IS STILL THERE I'm going to cry
try Radiogarden
And it's amazing that you can find information that you looked for, just in the off chance, never expect ing that it would really be there.
Are you a word nerd like me, and my father before me?
Then may I introduce you to...
The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of Eng
Explore live radio by rotating the globe.
Thank you @headspace-hotel
I think part of getting better is complete ego death. Like youβre not above setting a timer for 5 minutes and focusing on a task. Youβre not above doing a very simple 3 minute workout to start. Youβre not above reading for 10 minutes a day when you first get out of your reading slump, even if you used to read for hours. Youβre not above starting slow and then building up to where you want to be/where you once were. What you are above is total inertia. Doing something really is better than doing nothing. Radically accept where you are, radically accept your limits, and go from there. Donβt let your ego get in the way.
Mirror-Ball Spiders: these spiders are covered in shimmering, mirror-like panels that shift and expand as the muscles of the abdomen contract
Spiders of the genus Thwaitesia are often described as mirror-ball spiders, because their bodies are lined with reflective panels that make them look like tiny disco-balls. These arachnids are also known as dewdrop spiders or sequined spiders.
Above: two different species of mirror-ball spider
The shimmering panels on the abdomen are produced by a digestive secretion known as guanine, which seeps out through the lining of the spider's gut and forms a mosaic of crystalline cells just beneath the surface of the abdomen.
Above: Thwaitesia argentiopunctata and Thwaitesia margaritifera
The crystals shrink and expand as the muscles in the spider's abdomen contract; they often shrink when the spider is agitated, and they expand as it begins to relax.
Above: the panels expanding and contracting
The adaptive purpose of the shimmering effect is unclear, but researchers believe that it mimics the glistening appearance of raindrops or beads of dew, which could allow the spiders to blend in with their environment.
Above: another view of the guanine crystals shifting just below a thin layer of cuticle
The reflective panels may also help to confuse predators, as this article explains:
The spiderβs decorative patterning may seem like a dead give-away to predators, but for those looking to feast on this arachnid, the hunt might result in confusion and failure.
βLike a disco ball with lots of different mirrors, the reflective splotches on the spiderβs abdomen probably scatter light and make it difficult for predators to see it,β saysΒ Robert Whyte, an honorary researcher in arachnology at theΒ Queensland Museum.
Above: Thwaitesia affinis
There are at least 22 known species of mirror-ball spider, and their physical features can vary significantly. In some cases, the silver panels on the abdomen are accompanied by colorful, iridescent spots and scales, and the abdomen itself may have a red, orange, green, yellow, or beige appearance.
Above: spiders of the genus Thwaitesia
These spiders are widely distributed throughout the southern hemisphere. They can be found in the tropical and neotropical rainforests of South America, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, China, Singapore, and Madagascar.
Above: Thwaitesia nigronodosa
Mirror-ball spiders are not aggressive toward humans, and there are virtually no recorded cases of humans being bitten by the spiders of this genus. They're also tiny, with most individuals measuring just 2-4mm long (roughly 1/10th of an inch), which means that their fangs are often too small to penetrate human skin.
Above: Thwaitesia margaritifera
Sources & More Info:
iNaturalist: Mirror-Ball Spiders
Australian Geographic: This Sequined Spider Glistens in the Light
My Modern Met: The "Mirror Spider" and its Changing Mosaic of Reflective Panels
A Field Guide to the Spiders of Australia: Tiny Forest Jewels: Spectacular Thwaitesia Spiders
Science Friday: How is a Spider Like a Disco Ball?
Land for Wildlife: Spider Sampling Points to a Potential Indicator Genus (PDF)
Royal Society Publishing: The Spider Cuticle
BBC Science Focus: Mobile Disco
it is impossible to watch a movie. every night i think i want to watch a movie. no movie gets watched. because it's not possible
and yet they keep making movies with the hopes that one day humanity will discover a way to watch them. it's so inspiring
im dodging tornado attacks like its nothing
Have you tried going to a tornado shelter?
the tornadoes should be taking shelter from me
βWanna come in? I show you my other ankle.β
HAPPY PRIDE
this sewing pattern just touched me while i was in the middle of reading it
πππππππππ πππππππππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππππππππ πππππππππ πππππππππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ πππ UCK OUTTA HEREβΌοΈβΌοΈ