Evitcani

Writer, artist, dice maker | he/they | trans | Icon by @GlaceLeau | https://linktr.ee/evitcani

[windflowermary]

as a bit of a side note but still related to ao3 being down, ai bots are scraping the site so hard that it caused an outage. so to all of the people who didn't care about ai in fandom spaces, and didn't care that ai is being trained off of people's works, and didn't care that ai bots are harassing people via comments all over ao3: do you care now? now that it affects you directly? now that it's literally crashing the archive???

[the-cows-came-home]

[evitcani-writes]

Anywhere with many written (especially long) texts are being scrapped badly. I think most places report a 300+% in AI training traffic.

And there is literally no good solution which doesn’t screw things up for real humans.

The easiest you can do is to hide search behind account creation. However if you are committed to an open internet and serving groups for whom account creation may be dangerous, this has obvious drawbacks.

You can try poisoning the training data if they don’t obey the robots.txt, but occasionally this results in a real human getting weird pages (and might eventually be something companies can sue you over?). And also has some consequences for legitimate bot usage such as search engines or scientific research. And bots always find a workaround literal weeks of engineering work to stop them.

And I don’t know anyone who doesn’t care about AI scraping. The problem is we don’t have a solution. There are ALWAYS going to be bad actors. If there were only a handful of models taking data from training this would barely be an issue. The problems are the vibe coded scrapers who try to shove all the data into their mouth at once by repeatedly refreshing the page for no gosh dang reason.

Then you multiply that by every tech bro trying to scam a dollar, add government mass surveillance and boom you got no bandwidth left to serve the website. And then the bots are sitting around pinging “you there yet you there yet you there yet” as you try to stabilize the servers making them crash AGAIN so you rip the whole thing out behind a VPN and— well. It’s a whole thing.

You have the choice to sacrifice your morals or your ethics or your financial stability as an organization.

I have been where the AO3 engineers are and do not envy them.

[pawberri]

We need etsy to get bought by someone who will run it like the navy i need to only see small businesses in eastern europe weaving baskets by hand and anime yaoi keychains with original fanart

[pawberri]

Literally need someone with an serial killer level obsession with content moderation to sit at a wall of monitors sniping dropshippers. I need etsy HQ to look and sound like the nerv command center in Evangelion

[cottagelf]

A resident of Hamnavoe, Shetland Islands in Scotland, Anne Eunson decided to knit herself a beautiful lace fence using twine. The fence is fashioned from strong black twine - the same kind that is used to make fishing nets - and Anne knitted it on specially adapted curtain rods. It took her about three weeks to knit enough lace to surround her front garden, using a 23 stitch repeat of a familiar Shetland lace pattern.

*Photo via Laine Glover‎, Social History

[hanavbara]

kpop demon hunters as anime 🎶✨

[dredsina]

Urban Design Lab posted these great pics of an architect's life before CAD ...

[evitcani-writes]

If literally any engineer I knew could do this with a whiteboard in a meeting they would. Actually, I’ve seen some of them do it this way.

[evitcani-writes]

if you don’t have complicated feelings about animated Disney Mulan’s gender identity then i don’t know what to tell you. we have lived vastly different lives.

[evitcani-writes]

What should replace the term “fagoting” in knitting?

Lace columning

Lace bundling

Thread bundling

Bundle truss

Thread truss

No replacement, keep the term

Some other term

Voting ended onApr 19, 2025

I’m working through creating an online database of knit stitches and personally I’m not a fan of the term. While it refers to gathering the stitches vertically, the usage as a “bundle of sticks” is lost on a modern audience as-is.

[evitcani-writes]

For non-knitters, this is what this type of lace looks like:

[Source for photo]

It’s the most basic type of lace stitch for knitters. While it’s similar to lace bridging (which was previously known by the same term), the ultimate purpose isn’t quite the same so “bridging” didn’t feel right.

[evitcani-writes]

What should replace the term “fagoting” in knitting?

Lace columning

Lace bundling

Thread bundling

Bundle truss

Thread truss

No replacement, keep the term

Some other term

Voting ended onApr 19, 2025

I’m working through creating an online database of knit stitches and personally I’m not a fan of the term. While it refers to gathering the stitches vertically, the usage as a “bundle of sticks” is lost on a modern audience as-is.

[crashdavis]

asked my students if they wanted to share stories about what they did over spring break and this kid goes "you know the field behind costco?" and we all nod and he says "I got lost in the field behind costco."

[evitcani-writes]

one time I got flown out for an interview. After my interview, I decided I wanted to see the san fransisco bay so I started walking.

did you know there’s no fucking humidity in california

anyway I got lost in the only place in san fransisco with no buildings because there’s owls there.

[nudityandnerdery]

I want you to remember:

The fascists hate you too and they just will pretend otherwise until after they've killed the rest of us, before they turn on you.

[nudityandnerdery]

Thanks to whoever tried, but I knew they'd never allow it.

[library-graffiti]

Let's do it the old fashioned way. Spread it far and wide.

[victusinveritas]

Reminder: you can't be the whole wall against stopping fascism by yourself. Nobody can. But you damn sure can be a brick.

[nudityandnerdery]

There's a lot of good comments and tags in the notes, but this one is very important, I feel like it deserves some emphasis.

Part of how authoritarianism works is telling you that you can't stop it. And you can't stop it by yourself. But it wants to stop the train of thought there and let you fall into despair.

You need to remember the next part: you don't have to stop it by yourself.

You're not alone. Take care of your community and let your community take care of you. Supporting each other is so vital.

[evitcani-writes]

Ways to do something that isn’t being told to run for a local office:

Know economic uncertainty is a foothold fascism. We are likely heading into a recession (because of deliberate actions) which has additional cuts to social benefits. It’s cliché, but try to position your resources into conservation.

If you are at a job which you may politically disagree with, consider implementing parts of The Citizen’s Simple Sabotage Field Manual. Some of it is out of date, some of it is timeless. Consider distribution if you don’t work in a job where implementation is practical (or you work at a nice job).

Remove symbols of hate yourself. Do not look away. Do not walk away. Consider carrying graffiti markers to cover graffiti or other items which cannot be removed displaying hate. Molotows or Poscas are on the pricier side, but you can buy them individually and they stand the weather test.

Say something if it is safe for you to do so. If you see someone being harassed, walk up and politely ask them to leave as well as call over other people. Practice deescalation tactics. The NSW Government has this guide. While telling the person off may feel like an “and everybody clapped” opportunity, it can put you and the person they are yelling at in danger. Instead, get more numbers and deescalate. The police certainly aren’t going to.

Be part of your community. Last week, I was invited to a local knitting circle. I’m going to go. I learned about it through smalltalk. Read the flyers. Talk and greet people. Be a member of your community.

Cry. No, seriously. Let yourself cry. Let yourself mourn and yell and be mad! Do not be numb to strife.

Have a private life. This is advice I’ve been taking more seriously as I age. Blah blah old man shakes fist at social media, but seriously. That’s actually how they get you. Consider end to end encryption messaging apps and VPNs, but don’t trust them. If it doesn’t need written down, don’t write it down digitally. Get old fashioned with a paper and pen(cil) journal. Print out pictures you can flip through. Mine makes me… so happy to reread or just look at the badly printed regular paper low pixel count photos.

When the worst happens, take a deep breath and think. Fascists love terrorists. It gives them an excuse they can pretend is reason. Do not be terrorized into giving up your rights. If you want examples, check out everything America did after 9/11.

Right now, I’m surrounded by four sleeping cats. Two at my feet, one by my side on the floor, another on the bed on my other side. The creak of my partner’s chair in the other room right before their laughter. This is my home. If you don’t know what makes our world good, you will have nothing good to give it.

[evitcani-writes]

My personal list of unspoken courtesies in the American midwest

If you have any noise coming out of your phone in public, everyone is trying to figure out how to politely tell you off

If you are not in a crowd, you must smile and greet the person you are passing from the front (a nod, “good morning” or “how are you”). If you do not, you will be perceived as rude.

You must ask everything when visiting someone’s home (“may I use your bathroom?” “May I sit here?”) unless they inform you ahead of time (“the bathroom is down the hall” “feel free to sit wherever you like”). I don’t think anyone finds it rude not to ask, but many midwesterners will not do literally anything unless they ask.

When visiting someone’s home, you may not enter rooms, hallways or other areas unless invited or allowed after asking. Bedrooms are strictly off-limits unless explicitly invited. Again, unless invited the average midwesterner will just t-pose by your front door until you tell them to come in. No one thinks it’s rude if you just come in after being let in the door.

Apologize for everything. Everything is your fault. Apologize for needing to go. Apologize for getting on the bus. Apologize for needing to sneeze. Apologize for existing.

I literally never see anyone put the cloth napkin in their laps unless they’re dressed fancy.

You are expected to eat everything you put on your plate. If someone else put food on your plate, you must declare, “I’m stuffed!” prior to putting your utensils down.

You’ve never had better food when someone else prepares dinner.

In order to leave, you need to prepare ten minutes in advance, declaring “We should get going soon!” Once an appropriate amount of goodbyes are said, you may exit.

At any gathering with a teenager, you must inquire about their plans for the next 10 years. If you are older than 50, you may ask about the next 20 years.

Deference or special tolerance is given to those who are visibly elders. Even if you disagree or they offend you, the best you can offer is a smiling, “well, what can you do”. This is not a question but a segway to a commiseration session.

[evitcani-writes]

Anytime you doubt the power of art, go look up notable works from some random decade.

Then bam you get hit with a Lucifer by Franz Stuck on a dark and stormy night as the clock tolls midnight.

[jackalovski]

Have you ever looked closely at a car windshield?

The edge of the glass is painted where it is glued to the car but it has these small dots between the clear and painted glass.

These are there for a reason. When the sun hits the glass the painted areas and the clear areas will absorb heat at different rates. This causes the glass to expand and contract differently putting stress on the glass.

These dots help the glass to warm up more evenly over a larger area so the glass does not suffer stress that could cause it to spontaneously explode.

Fun fact: the Tesla cybertruck doesn’t have these.

Yes, the glass will spontaneously crack or explode in the sun.

[arizonasupernova]

THIS SUMMERS GONNA BE SO COOL

[evitcani-writes]

This is misinformation. Sort of.

These dots are called frits. They’re enamel, not paint (that is, they’re ceramic glass). They do absorb and help distribute heat, but not having them doesn’t lead to windshields shattering.

Mostly, they help protect the adhesive from UV light and the distribution of heat prevents (but doesn’t eliminate) the way light warps when it’s really hot.

The industry uses polyurethane adhesives because it stops windshields from popping out during accidents, but it degrades quickly under UV light. Thus the need to coat them with a black, ceramic to reflect the light away from the adhesive.

If the coating was solid instead of dotted, it could lead to a hot edge and cool center (since it is black enamel). The dots help even things out without obscuring vision. It is possible a solid frit could cause the glass to crack from warping (but it wouldn’t be the first issue you’d notice).

Some cars don’t have frit because they use an adhesive which doesn’t need UV protection or they tint the windows to prevent UV.

Is the part about Tesla true?

I dug into what Teslas use on their windshields. They do use Betaseal Express which is a polyurethane. However, I was able to confirm the cybertruck uses UV protective glass and so the frit does not appear to be an enamel (citation needed, but I couldn’t find anything stating it is) just aesthetic. It doesn’t need the frit to be functional as the UV tinting does the same job.

I hate the cybertruck as much as the next guy, but the cracking of the glass doesn’t appear frit related.

[evitcani-writes]

Oh god oh no it’s back.

[evitcani-writes]

Psst. The department of education opened a form to report “divisive ideologies”

Please make sure to submit all your math hot takes!

https://enddei.ed.gov/

The strategy is to flood them with dumb shit so they have a worthless foundation for their claims.

[fiollaigean]

"the magnus archives sounds cool! what are the content warnings?"

[fiollaigean]

kidnapping stalking insanity sleepwalking cannibalism and teeth, gaslighting gun violence pipe murder and silence and medical trauma and meat. bugs in your body and poisoned black coffee and self-mutilation and lies, police brutality breaks from reality suicide spiders and eyes. paaaaaranoia degloving the uncanny valley and running like prey to survive, agonies torture and drowning and falling and then being buried alive.

[evitcani-writes]

There is a big difference between “I got called a jackass” and “was I being a jackass?”

if you’re very lucky, you’ll be alone in a quiet room or in the shower or driving without music and you’ll think about the latter only long enough to see yourself alone in a quiet room or in the shower or driving without music