Dreams Of Sleep

Night-owl introvert trying out this social media thing. Voracious reader and math enthusiast. Pessimist trying to become an optimist.

[philippageorgiou]

You were right.

MINX — 1x07 'God Save the Queen of Dicks'

[kaleidoscope-vol2]

Joyce and Doug better not hook up. They have a great mentor/mentee thing going and Tina and Doug are the ones with real chemistry.

[dreamsofsleepingin]

Based on this interview, Jake specifically called out avoiding Joyce/Doug falling in love: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jake-johnson-idara-victor-hbo-max-minx-1235123997/

I don’t want Joyce/Doug to be a thing either. I think it would make the show feel unbalanced. I like the way they shift the focus between all the characters now.

[titleknown]

In even more terrifying internet news, long story short, there’s a big committee happening in the US Copyright Office to try and talk about whether they should expand Content ID to the entire internet, and they’re asking for public input.

So, tell them how much automated Content-ID-type systems suck and how Copyright enforcement needs to be relaxed not tightened.

Here’s the EFF Overview on this and why it’s so important, here’s the rules/guidelines for submitting your form (Pay special attention to the Statement of Interest Questions, because it’s those they’re asking about), and here is the form itself.

Again, the deadline is February 8th, so get on it as soon as you see this post! Don’t delay, the answers don’t have to be long, as long as they’re loud and clear!

[titleknown]

[Image Descriptions: A Twitter thread where Jason Scott tells you for the love of god please comment to the Copyright Office why mandated internet filtering would be a bad idea End I.D.]

Transcription of Thread:

Your pal Jason has a Friday Writing Assignment for you. I am sorry about that, but it’s about the future of the Internet, so I hope you understand what’s at stake here. It’s for what seems like a very boring committee, but this committee is about to make some very big decisions.

Sen. Tillis, who is owned by the content companies (he’s the newest “Senator From Disney”, if you want to google that) is pushing a range of legislation to change ownership rights. He is the legislative side of a push to completely change what you think of as “digital property”.

I don’t want to flood you with paragraphs about NOTICE AND STAYDOWN, Universal ContentID, and a bunch of massive killing blows to fair use, sharing, plus the corporate takeover of the public domain and culture, but, well, you can find plenty tracked here: https://techdirt.com

So, we’re getting to the assignment part. There’s a committee meeting and zoom call coming now, where the pros and cons of what we call Content ID will be discussed. It sounds boring, and I’m sure it is, but what it is, is taking the steps towards passing legislation.

But I want it clear what’s really going on here. There is a coordinated attempt to use laws, crappy AI, incredibly intense fines and threats of jailtime to ensure that a tiny minority of companies REALLY control what’s on the internet.

Here is the form for submitting your comments. Please read it carefully, and respond using their instructions. I will not guide you on the form of your response. It does not need to be long.

What a boring URL, right? That’s how this works. Bore them out, build up a case, say “Well, we asked The People, and they didn’t have much to say.” This is a nightmare landscape coming unless we speak up. Thanks. The deadline is February 8th, but please do it today.

[heyatleastitsnotcancer]

The SSI Restoration Act of 2021 is currently proposed to congress. SSI is a type of disability payment for disabled Americans. The bill will increase the SSI payment to the poverty level (right now the maximum payment is 9528$ a year). It will allow disabled people on SSI to marry and not lose their income. It will increase the asset and income caps for SSI among other improvements.

Friends and I made a website that has all of this info plus a REALLY easy way to send an email to your state reps. If you click the link below and click send email, you can send a letter of support for the SSI Restoration Act to your state reps. It’s already written and takes only a few minutes. Seriously it is ridiculously easy. These emails have more pull to reps than resistbot so please fill out if you can!

We also have a Facebook page called “Campaign to Fix SSI” that has this information and regular updates. Here’s the link for that.

See posts, photos and more on Facebook.

Please do this and boost! It could change the lives of millions of disabled Americans.

[heyatleastitsnotcancer]

This got a big boost in reblogs/likes the last day or two. We are up to over 500 letters sent! Please keep boosting and if you are in the US and able to, actually do the letter campaign. We got 3 new cosponsors on the bill this week alone and will only get more if you contact your representatives.

[heyatleastitsnotcancer]

We are up to 900 signatures! The post is losing a bit of traction that it’s had the last week (which has been amazing) so please keep boosting and send those letters! (and call your members of congress if you are able to. That holds the greatest weight but I understand it’s challenging for many)

[autumnjjas]

WHOA This is a big deal and frankly about time. Very glad to see this on the proposals—not thrilled to see only one of my reps has co-sponsored it. Let’s get this done!

[heyatleastitsnotcancer]

We have an email prompt on the website to thank your rep as a cosponsor as well if you scroll down past the “ask for support” button. And of course the email to ask your reps to support the bill. Thank you for emailing! Every week, we pick up more cosponsors which is good news. Every email helps. Calls more so as you said! There’s a call prompt available on the website if you don’t know what to say and a resource to quickly find your reps contact info.

[nicholasbritel]

New Girl Week → Day 1 - Friendship moment(s): Winnie being the cutest, most supportive friend

[youcantmakeme]

New Girl 10 Years Day 1 - Friendship moment

This is a sad song Saddest song in the world Nick Miller, Nick Miller From the streets of Chicago 'Cause players play like they do Like they did Sad song 'Cause the ballers ball and the hood 'Cause he's Chi-town hustle In the world 'Cause the people love the of Chicago Represent him, 'cause the players Don't play and the players in the city Nick Miller, Nick Miller's A stone-cold killer Huh! Sing it, you know, you feel Likes the taste of vanilla Nick Miller, Nick Miller He's the illest of the ill He pours 100 drinks And none have ever spilled Plus he's super-high On a bunch of pain pills His favorite movie is The Big Chill He's got a hairy chest 'Cause he eats a balanced meal Hey, hey Kickin' mad flavor in his ear. Sad song 'Cause the ice in my glass represents The tears from my eyes, I love you, dawg This is a sad song Nick Miller, Nick Miller, yo, streets of Chicago Rough and tumble, one love, you my heart This is a sad song Saddest song in the world Nick Miller, Nick Miller From the streets of Chicago 'Cause players play like they do Like they did Sad song 'Cause the ballers ball and the hood 'Cause he's Chi-town hustle In the world 'Cause the people love the of Chicago Represent him, 'cause the players Don't play and the players in the city Nick Miller, Nick Miller's A stone-cold killer Huh! Sing it, you know, you feel Likes the taste of vanilla Nick Miller, Nick Miller He's the illest of the ill He pours 100 drinks And none have ever spilled Plus he's super-high On a bunch of pain pills His favorite movie is The Big Chill He's got a hairy chest 'Cause he eats a balanced meal Hey, hey Kickin' mad flavor in his ear. Sad song 'Cause the ice in my glass represents The tears from my eyes, I love you, dawg This is a sad song Nick Miller, Nick Miller, yo, streets of Chicago Rough and tumble, one love, you my heart

[miffied]

actually if u could choose any of them what was ur fav book you had to read for a high school english class? mine was the things they carried in 10th grade

[mercurial-madhouse]

On Tumblr the “lifespan” can feel even shorter. If you see this post, reblog it for other creators to see and then reblog one of your creations! Fic, fanart, gifs, manip, whatever you’ve shared!

Let us relive and love your work with you all over again.

[commodorecliche]

concept: a facemask that says “Vaccinated But I Don’t Trust Y'all”

[degenerate-perturbation]

This is puzzling the living hell out of me. If you’re vaccinated you literally don’t need to trust anyone. That’s the whole point.

[commodorecliche]

you know, i was just gunna ignore this, and let you be a ignorant on this, but since I’m a frontline healthcare worker, it’s going to bug me if i don’t tell you exactly how incorrect this statement is.

1. Yes, being vaccinated adds a great layer of protection against covid. The vaccines, overall, are extremely effective, in that they allow for 90-95% protection against some of the primary covid strains. Meaning that for many people who are vaccinated, they don’t have to necessarily put their full trust in others to also be vaccinated.

HOWEVER:

2. I cannot emphasize this enough, but BEING VACCINATED IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING 100% FULLY PROTECTED, ESPECIALLY NOT FROM COVID VARIANTS. Being vaccinated is not a bullet-proof shield against covid. You CAN still catch the virus, even if you’re fully vaccinated, and while for many people, vaccination will prevent them from experiencing severe symptoms if they catch, you can absolutely still get infected (even without symptoms) and still spread the illness to others.

NOT TO MENTION:

3. The covid vaccines, while effective, do not protect against many of the variant covid strains we are currently dealing with, and while the vaccine does offer protection against some of those variant strains, it doesn’t protect you as efficiently from them. My coordinator is a prime example. She is fully vaccinated, and has been since they first became available to frontline healthcare workers like us. However, she caught a variant strain of covid and experienced a horrific, month-long illness that she is still trying to recover from (months later) and that she will likely suffer with for years to come. Every classic covid symptom, she had it. Every symptom that persists past covid’s resolution (like brain fog, shortness of breath, etc…) she’s still experiencing. Upon antibody testing, they found she did develop full antibodies to the vaccine like she was supposed to; but they also found that after she caught the strain, she developed antibodies from that particular strain that were different than the vaccine antibodies she’d already developed. 

Just because you are vaccinated, even fully, does not mean you are 100% safe, especially if other people around you aren’t fully vaccinated, or if they’re jackasses and are lying about their vaccination status just to take their masks off. You can absolutely still catch covid and its variants if you’re vaccinated; you can absolutely suffer the full extent of that illness even if the chances are reduced; and you can absolutely still asymptomatically carry the virus and/or its variants, and transmit it to others.

The vaccine is extra protection, and I’m so happy we have it. I’m thrilled to be vaccinated. I do feel safer; but I’m not letting that feeling of safety lure me into being careless. Being vaccinated is not a green light to ignore proper safety or to trust that others have your safety in mind. Despite what y’all want to think, this pandemic is still happening. People are still catching covid and its variants, and they’re dying from it. I’ve seen it in my hospital to this day.

Think of the vaccine like the seat belt in your car. That seat belt is critical and it has saved countless lives. But it’s not a guaranteed safety measure, and it doesn’t give you the freedom to drive like a maniac just cause you’re wearing it. Your seat belt also doesn’t guarantee that others aren’t going to hit your car in a way that’s so damaging your seat belt can’t help you. Having the seat belt on will absolutely make you safer!!! But it doesn’t mean you’re 100% protected from the dangers of a crash.

So no, even if you’re vaccinated, if you want to take your mask off, you’re still having to place your trust in others that they are vaccinated too. If you’re vaccinated and don’t want to wear a mask, you still have to trust that other people aren’t just being lying assholes and potentially still exposing you to covid and/or its variants, and thus enabling you to potentially carry and/or transmit it.

So don’t be stupid. Don’t blindly trust that every fucker out there without a mask is following proper CDC guidelines and is fully vaccinated and that you’re totally safe. You’re safer, if you’re vaccinated, for sure. Just like you’re safer in your car if you wear a seat belt. But that doesn’t mean you get full reign to be careless. We are not yet to a point of effective herd immunity for covid. Wear your mask. Wear your seat belt.

[marvelsmostwanted]

So Texas Democrats in the state legislature blocked Republicans from passing a voter suppression bill by refusing to show up to the session (meaning they didn’t have a quorum and couldn’t vote). They have gone to DC to try and persuade Congress to vote on the For the People Act - which clearly, at this point, should be our highest priority so we can have fair elections.

Texas Republicans reacted by voting to have law enforcement find and arrest them - which is not a thing I knew they could do!! - to force a quorum to jam the bill through.

Luckily, Texas law enforcement has no jurisdiction outside of Texas, but this effectively means that these Texas Democratic officials are currently exiled from Texas. We should take this opportunity to put pressure on Congress to act now so we can protect our democracy (and so these members of the state legislature can safely return home!).

Source for the full story - July 12, 2021

Please consider supporting the Texas Democrats at the link below. This could be a real turning point:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/tmf_210712?utm_source=tw

We need your help during this historic quorum break

Every contribution prepares us for what comes next.

[pbrim]

This has happened before, in fact this is the third time I remember seeing this happen. Once was in 1979, over voting issues, and the other was in 2009 over redistricting. There had been redistricting after the 2000 census, which enabled the Republicans to take over the legislature for the first time in 130 years. The Republicans, now that they held power, and wanted to re-do the redistricting to give themselves even more power. The Democrats insisted on only one redistricting per census.

I do know that the time in 2009 almost caused a war between Texas and Oklahoma. See, the fleeing state legislators went to Oklahoma, or at least enough of them that if they were forced to come back, the legislature would have a quorum and could vote in whatever they wanted. So they threatened to send Texas Rangers into Oklahoma to arrest them and bring them back in handcuffs. When the Governor of Oklahoma found out, he called up the National Guard and posted them all along the border. (It may have been the Oklahoma version of the Texas Rangers, I do not recall precisely.) He said, in essence, "I do not know or care about the Texas Legislature's internal problems, but if the Texas Rangers set one toe across the Oklahoma state border, that will be regarded as an invasion of Oklahoma and a violation of our state sovereignty. It will be repulsed by any means necessary." (Texas and Oklahoma do not often play well together.)

This led to a tense standoff for a few days with the Rangers just one side of the border and the National Guard on the other, glaring at each other. In the end the Rangers went home, the special session of the legislature was adjourned. There was not another redistricting before the 2010 census.

[publiusmaximum]

Some democrats, at least, do have spines.

[fatehbaz]

Tara Houska (zhaabowekwe), social media, 8 July 2021. Text reads:

This is the Mississippi River headwaters right now. Minnesota in a severe drought. Enbridge is taking 5 BILLION gallons of water from our rivers & lakes to drill Line 3 pipeline thru. […]

[wagahai-da]

fucking Enbridge is airing commercials on mpls radio claiming that everything they’re doing is accepted by native people and they’ve been listening to native people SO HARD trust us you guys and it’s SO FUCKING DISGUSTING

[thats-howthelightgets-in]

Anyone here who lives in the US needs to send messages to the MN legislature right now. I’ll get you started, here’s how you can contact the governor AND Lt. gov: https://mn.gov/governor/contact/

There’s a million reasons to defend the Mississippi: Her cultural significance, the fact she supports mifwestern wildlife, the fact we don’t want to lose a whole ass river… But if you can’t muster up enough to care about it for any of the regular reasons, consider the fact you will almost certainly starve. Please take the 5 minutes to send an email, I can’t do this on my own.

[youcantmakeme]

Welcome to our "10 Years of New Girl" celebration!

A whole week to celebrate the joy that New Girl has been giving us for the last 10 years.

You can make gifs, fan art, video, fanfic, screenshots...honestly, anything you want! It can be colorful, pale, bw. Whatever you feel like doing :)

I'm posting this with a lot of time in advance because I know many people (myself included) don't have much free time and so this is to help out everyone who wants to join.

This year we will be celebrating moments. Here are the prompts. Feel free to msg me if you have any doubts or suggestions.

September 14 - Day 1 - Friendship moment

September 15 - Day 2 - Happy moment

September 16 - Day 3 - Nostalgic moment

September 17 - Day 4 - Romantic moment

September 18 - Day 5 - Funny moment

September 19 - Day 6 - A moment with music

September 20 - Day 7 - Free - New Girl 10 Years

I hope you will all join!

[cool-nick-miller]

I’ve been waiting for a new Jake movie for TOO FREAKIN LONG.

I’m so damn happy 💗

[youcantmakeme]

I wonder if I hosted another New Girl week this year, to celebrate 10 years of the show, people would join.

It would be from September 14 to September 20.

Anyone?

[dreamsofsleepingin]

Not sure if I will have time then, but I’m always down for a New Girl party.

[typhonserpent]

If you are American, PLEASE SUPPORT THE SSI RESTORATION ACT OF 2021

This new bill has been introduced in both the house and the Senate.

Among other things, it will:

Raise the monthly disability income by just over 30 percent - bringing it to poverty level.

Remove penalties for recieving financial help from friends and family.

Increase the amount of assets a disabled person may have from $2,000 to $10,000 (this hasn't been updated since 1989)

Update outside income restrictions to allow disabled people to receive up to $399 a month without reducing their benefits.

REWARD, not penalize, people who want to receive additional income while on social security income.

REMOVE THE MARRIAGE BAN YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT THIS WILL REMOVE THE MARRIAGE BAN

For those unaware current regulations do a lot to oppress disabled people. In fact marriage equality doesn't even extend to disbled people who risk having their benefits reduced or outright taken away if they marry someone. This means that in common law states disabled people can't even live with their significant other or they risk losing their financial independence.

Current regulations mean that if you're disbled you can't have so much as one penny over $2,000 to your name. So buying a car and gaining more independence or freedom is largely out of the question for disabled people.

Current regulations penalize social security recipients who receive income from outside sources, even if those sources are reimbursement. Did you get paid to babysit for a few hours? That's income, and you get your benefits reduced. Did you loan a friend $10 and they pay you back? The government considers that $10 income, and you get your benefits reduced.

These aren't mere anecdotes - these are all examples of actual things that have happened to disbled people I know, and if you have any disabled friends in your life I'm sure they can tell you the same stories.

If you value marriage equality, if you value financial independence, if you value the rights of disbled people, please PLEASE support this bill! Contact your reps, vote, and make noise! This is a great thing!

[typhonserpent]

UPDATE: Text SIGN PSLOAE to 50409

Resistbot is hosting a petition for this! They will automatically send letters to your representatives for you!

[actualbabe]

i'm still working on it but here's a snippet from the New Girl Gay Nick AU for @grasslandgirl and my other schnick comrades huddled in the trenches

***

They're sitting next to each other on the couch, Nick distractedly playing his video game while Schmidt lounges beside him and idly flicks through a magazine. Winston is out with a few friends ("I know people outside of you three," he'd insisted as he walked out the door) and Cece showed up about an hour ago to pick up Jess for their date, so it's just the two of them left, seated slightly closer than they really need to be given how empty the loft is.

Schmidt's wearing his stupid kimono, which is way too short to be taken seriously and definitely some form of cultural blasphemy. It rides up even higher when he sits down, revealing a frankly ridiculous amount of his pale thighs. Nick focuses very deliberately on how Schmidt looks like a total douchebag instead of his growing impulse to sink to his knees in front of him, to rest his broad hands around the slim width of Schmidt's ankles, to lean in and scratch his stubble against the sensitive skin of Schmidt's inner thighs. He wonders what would happen if he manned up and just did it, if Schmidt would gasp in surprise before running his hands through his hair, if he would berate Nick for stealing his conditioner while Nick sucked the head of Schmidt's dick into his mouth.

The controller buzzes in his hands, and Nick realizes belatedly that his character has died while he was too busy staring at Schmidt's legs. He scowls and hits the Respawn button with slightly more force than necessary.

***

Schmidt would say yes, if he asked. In the parade of sexual partners Schmidt’s brought through the loft, there’s been a near fifty-fifty split of men and women. And Nick might be nose-deep in denial, but he’s not blind. He sees the way that Schmidt looks at him sometimes, the way he’s looked at him since they were Freshmen in college. Schmdit flirts with anything that has a pulse, and far be it from him to spare Nick such a privilege. Of course, it’s not like he excludes Winston or Coach or Jess or Cece, either. Fuck, he flirted with the checkout lady at the grocery store last week, and she was like sixty.

Point being, if Nick wanted to, all it would take is one word for Schmidt to... well, you know. With him. He wouldn’t even have to get him drunk to do it, though there’s no way in hell Nick would ever be stupid enough to suggest it sober, and it feels unfair to be on an unequal playing field.

He thinks about it, sometimes, though it’s hardly his choice. Nick’s lying on his freshly-washed sheets, courtesy of him working a double that coincided with laundry day and resulted in Schmidt stealing them off his bed and throwing them in the wash with the rest of his linens. They smell like the needlessly fancy laundry soap that Schmidt uses, and Nick rolls onto his stomach to breathe it in, pressing his hips firmly against the mattress and begging all three of the saints he knows the names of that he won’t do anything fucking stupid, like jerk off while thinking of his roommate of nearly ten years.

...

The thing is, if Nick just asked him, Schmidt wouldn’t think he was serious. Or even if he did, it wouldn’t be any different than any of his other conquests. As his roommate of nearly ten years, Nick is all too familiar with the way Schmidt treats the people he sleeps with. To him it would be nothing, just another opportunity to get off. But to Nick it would be the end of the fucking world. There’s no scenario in which they sleep together and it doesn’t flip his entire reality on its axis. He doesn’t think there’s any way that he could go through that with Schmidt, one of the most important people in his life, if not the most important, and not treat it like something special.

If Nick knows anything about himself, it’s that he can’t be trusted to hold on to good things. He’s the inverse of King Midas, everything he touches falls apart near-instantly. He’s a bull in a china shop, except this time it’s his fucking heart and soul on the line.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Peloton bricks its treadmills

“Tread,” a $3000 “smart” treadmill from Peloton, is a deathtrap. 125,000 Treads have been recalled after the devices injured 72 people and killed a child.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56993894

Say what you will about Peloton’s safety engineering, but never fault the evil genius of its strategists. The company responded to the news by bricking the Treads in the field and demanding $40/month “subscriptions” from owners to continue using them.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/peloton-tread-owners-now-forced-into-monthly-subscription-after-recall/

The pretense here is that the subscription comes with safety software that means that you treadmill will not maim you or murder your children.

This raises an obvious question: why not just put that software into all the existing Tread devices for free?

But the answer is obvious. Because a free software update will cost the company money, and charging $40/month will make the company money — $480/year/customer, free net revenue for software that they’ve already written.

You might as well ask, “Why don’t ransomware gangs just tell pipeline owners about the defects in their software for free, rather than demanding millions of dollars?”

I mean, ransomware gangs have bills to pay, and so does Peloton. No one will write ransomware for free.

This is the predictable failure-mode of designing devices that can be updated without their owners’ permission or consent.

It’s not even the first time Peloton has done this — in 2020, they bought their competitor Flywheel and bricked all its bikes.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/20/21145349/flywheel-bike-shut-down-email-user-reactions-peloton-trade-in

The whole scam is only possible because Peloton — like most other “smart device” companies — gets to abuse copyright, patent, and cybersecurity law to ban third parties from making alternative software for its devices.

Without laws like Section 1201 of the DMCA and the CFAA, a small group of coders could hack up their own Tread firmware, one that re-enabled the standalone mode, or offered a cheaper (or better) (or both) subscription service.

Without Adversarial Interoperability (AKA Competitive Compatibility/comcom), Peleton’s dead hand lays on your property forever, long after you’ve paid, and if you have demonstrate disloyalty to its shareholders, that hand punches you in the face.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

Devices that answer to their manufacturers, not their users enable a toxic new usury, with riskier loans made to precarious people, with the threat of “digital repossession” to ensure a steady flow of payments that are securitized as bonds.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/02/innovation-unlocks-markets/#digital-arm-breakers

Peloton is in the usury business, lobbying Iowa’s legislature to maintain the “rent-a-bank” system preferred by loansharks who offer Peloton financing at “0% down, 0% APR, 0% fees” but reserve the right to charge 30% APR in the fine-print.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/24/peloton-usury/#going-nowhere-fast

This is dystopian on its face. My novella UNAUTHORIZED BREAD is a good place to start if you want to see where the Internet of Shit leads us to in terms of class war and exploitation.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Image: The Jetsons/Hanna-Barbera