What's On Repeat?

Music, food, entertainment, random tidbits. Rinse. Repeat. Proud member of Denny'sKru

[no-longer-another-bondi-blonde]

In 1990, the high school dropout rate for Dolly Parton's hometown of Sevierville Tennessee was at 34% (Research shows that most kids make up their minds in fifth/sixth grade not to graduate). That year, all fifth and sixth graders from Sevierville were invited by Parton to attend an assembly at Dollywood. They were asked to pick a buddy, and if both students completed high school, Dolly Parton would personally hand them each a $500 check on their graduation day. As a result, the dropout rate for those classes fell to 6%, and has generally retained that average to this day.

Shortly after the success of The Buddy Program, Parton learned in dealing with teachers from the school district that problems in education often begin during first grade when kids are at different developmental levels. That year The Dollywood Foundation paid the salaries for additional teachers assistants in every first grade class for the next 2 years, under the agreement that if the program worked, the school system would effectively adopt and fund the program after the trial period.

During the same period, Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995: The idea being that children from her rural hometown and low-income families often start school at a disadvantage and as a result, will be unfairly compared to their peers for the rest of their lives, effectively encouraging them not to pursue higher education. The objective of the Imagination library was that every child in Sevier County would receive one book, every month, mailed and addressed to the child, from the day they were born until the day they started kindergarten, 100% free of charge. What began as a hometown initiative now serves children in all 50 states, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, mailing thousands of free books to children around the world monthly.

On March 1, 2018 Parton donated her 100 millionth book at the Library of Congress: a copy of "Coat of Many Colors" dedicated to her father, who never learned to read or write.

[bonediggercharleston]

Everything I learnt about Dolly Parton was against my will and it was an absolute delight every single time

[bumblebeerror]

You WILL learn about Dolly Parton and what a fucking amazing woman she is and you will LIKE IT.

[bevismusson]

I assume everyone already knows how much I idolise Dolly, and it's because of stuff like this. She saw an issue, saw a way she could help (and importantly how she could help a community help itself) and just... did it. None of it feels like she's doing it for any other reason than because she has the facilities to do it and it's the right thing to do. She is proof that it is possible to be a millionaire and still be a genuinely good person.

[ms-cellanies]

Great article about the wide reach that Dolly's Imagination Library has made not only in her home town but across the world: https://cardinalnews.org/2023/01/31/dolly-is-part-of-the-answer-advocates-spread-dolly-partons-imagination-library-free-book-program-throughout-virginia/

[whitepeopletwitter]

[no-longer-another-bondi-blonde]

[wayfaring-cryptid]

How dare you leave that in the tags?

[ceruleanfuckup]

[femaleshits]

Im still doing the most of this lol https://www.instagram.com/p/CVCizmstYaE/?utm_medium=tumblr

[fruitandfitspo]

[roozmatazz]

We’re only a month away from Halloween so I’m gonna start telling these jokes and if someone asks me why I’m going to say that they’re Halloween themed jokes. If they say it’s not close to Halloween yet I’m gonna say that it’s always Halloween

[babyanimalgifs]

for anyone that’s having a bad day, here are pictures of animals sniffing flowers

[heroes-get-made-deactivated2022]

A few more:

[viejospellejos]

Bad Guy by @fin_draper

Audio On

[witcheshaven]

stop what you're doing right now and watch a 33 year old bat get help with flying

[jravenb]

🥺

[inber]

BLAAARGH!! PUT THE COALS WITHIN MY MOUTH! ROAST YOUR FOOLISH MARSHED MALLOWS!! COLLECT THE ASHES FROM MY ASS TRAY and dispose of them responsibly, especially if they are still warm, fires are no joke. Uh. BLAARGH!!

[whitepeopletwitter]

[bunjywunjy]

Is big bird an apex predator

not at all! as we can tell from his general behavior and repeated comments about how delicious birdseed is, Big Bird is a megafauna herbivore and a keystone of the Sesame Street ecosystem!

Big Bird is too large to be challenged by the predatory muppets, so he can browse where he pleases, and in doing so he opens up spaces and opportunities for the smaller muppets, both predatory and non-predatory alike!

[tallteenturtle]

Some people might have been confused by the fact that Big Birds eyes are on the front of his head, a trait often seen in predators. But the truth is that with no predators big enough to challenge the Bird it doesn't really matter where his eyes are. Maybe his front facing eyes are an evolutionary holdover from the days when his ancestors had to hunt for their food, who knows, nature is amazing! In any case he is definitely an herbivore now and we can all be thankful for that.

[snommelp]

Predators are more likely to have front-facing eyes than prey, but that’s because predators tend to prioritize depth perception over field of view, and prey the opposite. Big Bird, not having any natural predators, would not necessarily need a wide field of view, and greater depth perception would be beneficial in the Sesame Street biome, which appears to be filled with hard surfaces and obstacles, many of which change frequently.

[anais-ninja-bitch]

w..

which are the predatory muppets?

[cipheramnesia]

Animal, Dr. Teeth, that eight foot tall monstery dude, and Gonzo.

[anais-ninja-bitch]

do not slander sweetums like this

[cipheramnesia]

What are you trying to imply here?

[anais-ninja-bitch]

sweetums and gonzo are ethical vegetarians

[cipheramnesia]

Technically Gonzo is a scavenger but is also an opportunistic predator, and Sweetums is an ambush predator; while Animal and Dr. Teeth are pursuit predators.

[freekbugg]

@captainvladmir

[captainvladmir]

Predatory muppets?

[jravenb]

Sometimes I love tumblr

[whitepeopletwitter]

[jravenb]

John Lewis’ Last Words

Congressman John Lewis, who died on July 17, wrote this essay shortly before his death. He wanted it to be published on the day of his funeral. His staff provided a copy of the essay to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the morning of July 30, four hours before his 11 a.m. funeral was to start.

“The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.” - John Lewis

Register To Vote Here: https://vote.gov/

Check if you are still registered here: https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

[aiweirdness]

Once again, a neural net tries to name cats

Last year I trained a neural net to generate new names for kittens, by giving it a list of over 8,000 existing cat names to imitate. Starting from scratch, with zero knowledge of English or any context for the words and letter combinations it was trying out, it tried to predict what letters might be found in cat names, and in which order. Its names ranged from the strange to the completely nonsensical to the highly unfortunate (Retchion, Hurler, and Trickles were some of its suggestions). Without knowledge of English beyond its list of cat names, it didn’t know what letter combinations to avoid.

So I decided to revisit the cat-naming problem, this time using a neural net that had a lot more context. GPT-2, trained by OpenAI on a huge chunk of the internet, knows which words and letter combinations tend to be used together on the English-language internet. It also has (mostly) figured out which words and letter combinations to avoid, at least in some contexts (though it does tend to suddenly switch contexts, and then, yikes).

When I trained GPT-2 on the list of cat names using Max Woolf’s colab notebook, it still retained a lot of what it had learned from the rest of the internet. Gone were the strange names like “Tilly-Mapper” and “Balllucidoux” - it had a bunch of real words it could use instead. Here are some of the names it came up with - and the Morris Animal Refuge (who you may remember from that time they used neural net names for their guinea pigs) has given some of these names to some highly adoptable kittens.

First, neural net can do fancy:

Taffeta Pompompur Monocle Tom Glitter Notion Tinnitus Cheesemonger M. Tinklesby Linklater Soap

It can also do the opposite of fancy:

Scat Cat Butthole Gangrene Moisture Grotesque Petard Oilbag Buttwig The Cream Meatbag Dr Fart Fudge Putty Scumbag Constipation BUTT

And it can also do names ranging from tough to downright sinister:

Miss Vulgar Lillith The Vamp Elle Fury Deadbolt Romeo of Darkness Starmaker Fist Warning Signs Bibles Smoked The Firestarter Higher Rune Scarlet Be Thy Coat Kill All Humans Bones Of The Master Mr. Sinister Evil Whispers Spawn Serendipitous Kill Stranglehold

(Starmaker and Sparky Buttons are from a litter that had upper respiratory infections that damaged their eyes, but even though their world is kinda cloudy, they love to play and cuddle.)

I’m a particular fan of the Very Weird cat names:

Honeystring Dr Leg Tom Noodle Pinball Scene Peanutbutterjiggles You’re Telling A Lie Beep Boop Thoughts Bobble Bun Atmosphere You Name It Whiskeridoo Sparky Buttons

Seemingly This Guy Various Authors Chicken Whiskey Fish Especially Thelonious Monsieur Ringo Shuffles Sweet Cakes EXTAs (Eye Stalks) Checker Spin Donut Quin Two Patz Grandpa He Glad Funky Moe Fluttering Feelers Accepted A Tribute Chewie Bean PLEASE Gregory Chimney Notable PRODUCT LEGEND Weird Science Platinum Not Suitable For Character the Enforcer

Did I mention these cats are adoptable? If you live near Philadelphia, you live near these kitties!

Bonus content: yet more cat names!

[pastrygeckos]

Ok I can’t stop laughing at Scat Cat Butthole

[leafcrunch]

most of these are functionally indistinguishable from what people actually call their cats

[out-there-on-the-maroon]

I’m obsessed. “Scarlet Be Thy Coat” and “Bones Of The Master” are especially fascinating. 

[validwarriorcatsnames]

This blog and all forms of naming warrior cats is hereby replaced with this AI. Clan leaders are obscolete

[makoredeyes]

I am deadass naming a cat Mr Sinister someday or so help me

[programmerhumour]

Laughed hard when ı saw it

[write-it-motherfuckers]

A friend of mine posted this and tagged my old instagram account, asking me to share it. I figured sharing it here where I actually have a following, would be far better.

Please remember that just because the government is giving into pressure and greed, that doesn’t mean that any of this is getting any better, in a lot of ways it’s getting worse. And even if you yourself aren’t being as heavily affected anymore, there are people and communities that are.

Stay safe Darling ones, and help others remain safe too.

[noparlpf]

Navajo Reservation Relief Project organized by Terrill Benally

Yá’át’ééh (greetings in Navajo) my name is Terrell Benally. I am a first year Indige… Terrill Benally needs your support for Navajo Reservat

Donation

Navajo Nation Donate

Navajo Water Project

Help DigDeep bring clean, running water to hundreds of American families. 1 in 3 Navajo homes don't have a tap or toilet. We can fix that.

Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund organized by Ethel Branch

The Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation are extreme food deserts with only 13 … Ethel Branch needs your support for Navajo & Hopi Families CO

PPE FOR NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATIONS! organized by Prados Beauty

Hey There World Changers! We need your help! Help us #helptherez Native American H… Prados Beauty needs your support for PPE FOR NATIVE AMER

Official Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund organized by Navajo Nation

The Navajo Nation COVID-19 Fund has been established to help the Navajo Nat… Navajo Nation needs your support for Official Navajo Nation CO

[write-it-motherfuckers]

Thank you Darling. 

[mindblowingscience]

Polynesians, Native Americans made contact before European arrival, genetic study finds

Deep-genome analyses conducted by Stanford Medicine researchers and their collaborators have settled a long-brewing controversy about whether ancient Polynesians and Native Americans had contact.

Through deep genetic analyses, Stanford Medicine scientists and their collaborators have found conclusive scientific evidence of contact between ancient Polynesians and Native Americans from the region that is now Colombia — something that’s been hotly contested in the historic and archaeological world for decades.

“Genomics is at a stage where it can really make useful contributions to answering some of these open questions,” said Alexander Ioannidis, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford. “I think it’s really exciting that we, as data scientists and geneticists, are able to contribute in a meaningful way to our understanding of human history.”

Before this study was conducted, proponents of Native American and Polynesian interaction reasoned that some common cultural elements, such as a similar word used for a shared agricultural staple, hinted that the two populations had mingled before Europeans settled in South America. Those who disagreed pointed to studies with contrasting conclusions and the fact that the two groups were separated by thousands of miles of open ocean.

This new study is the first to show, through conclusive genetic analyses, that the two groups indeed encountered one another, and did so before Europeans arrived in South America. To conduct the study, Ioannidis and a team of international researchers collected genetic data from more than 800 living Indigenous inhabitants of several South American countries, Mexico and Polynesia, conducting extensive genetic analyses to find signals of common ancestry. Based on trackable, heritable segments of DNA, the team was able to trace common genetic signatures of Native American and Polynesian DNA back hundreds of years.

Continue Reading.

[evelynstarshine]

I know this sounds like a no duh we already know this, but it’s really important.as pakeha in NZ still deny this and use denying it in their politics to spread hateful conspiracy theories. This proves the Lapita culture were polynesian, as if it needed proof, and not ‘celts’ like the white supremacists claim. That Polynesia had potatoes and kūmara because of Polynesian traders not pre-historic ‘white generosity’. Every bit of proof matters and every study matters as you have a 100 years of white supremacy to overcome. We have Lapita traders, We have chicken bones and potatoes and shared carving traditions and creation stories and oral histories and pots with peruvian stones in them. We have so much but now we have GENES. Those who bowed their heads and said, well yes you have all this proof but no proof that secret white people didn’t do it, we now have GENES to prove it!

[yeltsinsstar]

Fantastic news. This might finally shut the racist, white supremacist minority, especially the ones in academia, the hell up. I doubt it will though, because facts happen to decent people, not those ignorant arseholes, so-called academics included. 

The evidence has been blatantly obvious for centuries. From Polynesian oral & recorded histories, through kumara being common throughout Polynesia and chickens in Peru predating the Spanish arrival in South America, to DNA confirming both of these and confirming that people did what people do. 

One of my former professors, now retired, is still studying scoria blocks from around the South Island that he & others have determined came from a volcanic island near Tahiti well known for supplying sacred stones for marae across central Polynesia. Obsidian from New Zealand has been found in the Cook Islands and Tahiti. Yet more evidence of widespread oceanic trading links that predate European or Chinese exploration of the region.

[mudaship39]

We always knew this. Our storykeepers orators and storytellers recorded this into our histories orally long ago ages ago before western science did. Our indigenous Pasifika people charted the night sky and sailed the open ocean long before when Europeans still thought the earth was flat and the center of the universe. My people other than being scientists have been, are, & always will be fishermen, hunters, sailors, navigators, & explorers who sailed the vast oceans.