lol I hadn't updated this in literal years. ey/they, aro ace HoH, ADHD and HSD cuz apparently I have to pay for being smart and creative somehow, now have a MSc in electrical engineering, still love space stuff, still love star trek and all my old ships, more d&d stuff now, still do cosplay, now obsessed with Dead Boy Detectives have my own cats now (Alistair and Jalmari)
Meanwhile, a little while back my friend Alaa was talking about "the best Italian restaurant in Gaza!", how everyone knew it; it was run by these two brothers who had migrated from Italy, what an experience it was, how on social media everyone was begging them for their recipes, that they had the best pasta sauces ever, that she was always recommending it and wanted everyone to be able to try it...
...and then finished with "but then of course the occupation bombed the restaurant with the entire family inside and they were all killed".
She's now working on a site dedicated to showing all the important little local places in Gaza that no longer exist—partly so that her own children can know them, and partly so they cannot be completely erased by the occupiers.
She's also working on this project, again to preserve the culture and history that the occupation is trying to wipe out, taking up the lead on this after her teacher Dr. Refaat Alareer (now most-known to English-speakers for his "If I must die" poem), who had started the project, was killed by the occupiers.
Hello dear ones! I am asking you to support my campaign to help me achieve my goal. I am in dire need of your support now to help me stay alive and safe and support me in getting a bone graft in my hand that was injured by an explosive bullet that prevented it from moving and building my home. Gaza is a very dangerous place both in terms of living and lives. The family consists of 13 members, most of them are young children and elderly people. I need your financial support to enable me to get the basic needs for my family until the Rafah crossing is reopened to transport my family to safety and peace. Please help a family survive through your small donations or through your contributions to others. Thank you very much for standing by those in need. Please see the pinned post and share my story if you can't donate. Thank you.My campaign has been verified 90-ghoset
Even if the ceasefire holds people still need donations to rebuild their lives after all the destruction.
Hello my friend, I ask you to donate, help and participate in evacuating the family to a new home instead of the destroyed one. Every donation has an impact in saving the family from the tragedy, even if it is simple. The campaign has been verified and participated in @90-ghost
I used to be *good* at search. It was a whole thing - I found people's "lost songs" or their unknown-source childhood stuffed toy or whatever from Google.
Now, you can't search for the exact brand/design name of something and get accurate answers. It drives me spare on Amazon - if I search for XYZ and you don't have any, or you only have 2, tell me that.
I wouldn't mind if it said "Here are 2 XYZ. Shoppers also searched for..." Instead it'll just throw a random, barely-linked pile of results and you have to wade through every single one to see if the thing you want exists.
THIS. For ages I used to say that I had "high Google-Fu". I could find *anything* because I knew how to use strings to enhance searches. The string commands haven't even worked for well over a year or more, far before they put in this infernal (and often wrong!) AI BS on top.
I used to be able to search for recipes and easily eliminate unwanted ingredients with a -. For example I'd look for low-carb desserts but without the zillions that use peanut butter simply by searching for something like:
low carb chocolate dessert recipe -peanut
And I'd get a slew of on-point suggestions. For some time now if you do -peanut Google ignores the - and assumes you want recipes stuffed with peanuts.
Where it's even worse now is now you get directed to sites full of bogus AI recipes that don't even make sense. But they have peanuts in them.
I used to be able to use reverse image searches to find out who made that awesome art so I could give credit in my share. They've removed that ability entirely and replaced it with Lens, which is AI BS just showing you more like what you looked for. (Rebecca Watson complained about this in her recent video about JD Vance jizz cup rumours and I apologise for that sentence but...yeah. Watson is great, go find her on Youtube and subscribe because she went into detail about how Google has become less and less useful for debunking.)
This isn't just about Google inserting shopping ads instead of what you wanted to learn about. That's bad. But the results now are just *broken*. The tools we used to have to make searches better have been removed. Google no longer wants us to find the answers we seek, but the answers they want us to have, and that's super creepy and dangerous.
And the alternatives are either using Google in the back end or have other significant barriers to use.
This addon forces 'Verbatim' search on Google - removing all bs personalization and localization and letting you find results for what you type, not what Google thinks is in your head.
It also forces "Sort by Date" on Google News search.
In the flood of bad search results, I had forgotten about Google News giving me 2012 articles related to high-profile drama instead of whatever happened last month that I was actually looking for.
Im not on tiktok and never have been, but I downloaded RedNote just to see what is up, and I am witnessing something truly amazing
The Chinese user community is giving the American tiktok refugees an overwhelmingly warm welcome, meanwhile the American users seem to have collectively agreed that not only will they not let the app be taken over with English and they will provide Mandarin subtitles for everything, they are LEARNING MANDARIN. Ive scrolled through so many videos of Americans offering greetings in Mandarin to try to acclimate to the new environment and be respectful, and speakers of both languages are posting lots of tutorials on language basics and internet slang in Mandarin
My God, there is an AMAZING outpouring of curiosity and delight among everyone to learn about each others cultures and daily lives. People are posting videos of landscapes, cities, towns, and natural areas in USA and China, posting recipes and traditional foods, vlogs of everyday life, and reaching out to find people with similar hobbies.
And it's not just young people! There are loads of videos from middle-aged American guys who have come to post about fishing or motorcycles and are now happily chatting with Chinese users sharing the same interests using Google translate
One American guy who was like. in his 60's had a comment on one of his videos that was like "Red Neck?" and he replied "Yes!" and I just about fucking lost it
Also the Chinese users love, and I mean LOVE, Luigi Mangione. He is apparently broadly adored in China. There is SO much fanart and SO many edits.
There are many threads initiating Chinese users to ask questions of American users about the USA, and vice versa, and everyone on both sides is clearing up a lot of misconceptions. Some of the questions I saw a lot from Chinese users were: "Is it true that American parents kick you out of the house as soon as you turn 18" (not often, but sometimes) "Do you all really wear shoes in bed" (NO!!! Apparently a lot of characters in American sitcoms are shown lying in bed with shoes on which I never noticed before!) and "are there really guns everywhere" (yes).
For the most part Chinese content creators seem just overwhelmed by the sudden influx of hundreds of followers that are super enthusiastic about what they're doing. A lot of them have made posts about how initially they thought the uptick in follower count was some kind of error, or that there was some kind of joke or prank, but then they realized the interest and enthusiasm was genuine and now they're welcoming all the newcomers.
I found several posts by Chinese users saying that this felt like a really profound historical moment, where these previously separated worlds are suddenly smashing together and suddenly there is freedom to learn about each other's cultures and connect. One of them said something along the lines of "This is a 21st century Tower of Babel and even though I'm an atheist I hope God lets this tower stand." OUGH MY HEART.
The app itself works a little bit like a video-based version of Pinterest. It's not really my thing so I probably won't be on there long term but it's been amazing to see what's happening.
literally every time Ame talks to anyone from the citadel I think of Brennan saying “you guys leave this incredibly charged bakery interaction!”
like every time she speaks to one of these people she’s taking a wrecking ball to all of their values and ideas about the world and then just leaving them to a crisis, and I feel like that first conversation with Mr. Callum was such a prescient (if comedic) glimpse into how Ame would interact with the institution of the citadel and the people it has produced
I am Ehab Ayyad ❤ a palestinian youngman from Gaza🍉🇵🇸, seeking to find safety and peace ☝️for my family if twenty members. We have been ❤🇵🇸🍉passing through all forms of torture and pain for almost ten months because of the war on Gaza.
Life is very miserable and tragic❤🇵🇸 as we are now deprived ❤🇵🇸🍉of all means of living. Drink water, healthy food health care and medicine❤🇵🇸 have become things 🇵🇸🍉❤of the past. We are dying dear friends. That is why I am asking you to help us break through this tough situation.Life in hot tents is incredibly sad and miserable. We are now experiencing the worst circumstances we have ever had in our life. The war has stolen happiness and life from us.
Please don't leave us alone in such dire times. Your kind contribution either through donating whatever you can or sharing my posts will be highly appreciated and valued.❤🇵🇸🍉
This fundraiser is vetted but has only raised a little money.
I am motaz Mohammed , 22 yrs , a Palestinian youngman, from Gaza, seeking to save my 20 _ member family from the hell of the war by moving to a safe place till the gruesome war ends.
Hello my supporting friends ! ❤
I am Motaz Mohamed , 22 y… MOTAZ MOHAMED needs your support for Help my family survive the war on Gaza b
Our suffering and hardship started on 14th October, 2023 when my family was forcibly displaced from the north to the south under a life-threatening situation. As a result, our houses were completely destroyed and demolished, and our business accordingly went with the wind. Nothing has been left to be a source of livelihood. No shelters to house us nor a livelihood source to live on.
We have been living miserably in tents since the early days of the war. Life had become very hard and tough. No means of life still exists. Getting the least level of life is now hard and impossible. All our hope is to secure the daily basic necessities but this seems more often impossible that is why we are suffering the hardship of life. You can't imagine how hard it is to get food, drink water, medicine and other facilities. Life has become dire and sad in addition to the hot weather inside the hot tents that adds to our pain and unbelievable sufferings. Words can't show the miserable situations and circumstances we are experiencing nowadays due to the unfair war.
A part of our daily sufferings to get the least of what we need. Imagine how you feel when you wait for at least four hours in queue .Things are the worst one has ever
experienced. That is why I am asking for you generous contribution to help me secure the least of what we daily need and to find safety and peace for the twenty-member family who are now tasting all forms of torture and sorrow.
Every day we wake up to find things move from bad to worse. No sign is there for the war to end and this add to our unhappiness and miserable life. Despair and hopelessness have become new forms of our life as we are now homeless , displaced and jobless.
Please don't spare this moment of helping a family in bad need. You add happiness and hope to people who lost every single thing in their life. You can help us by donating whatever you can or by sharing my link to other generous donors.
Thank you so much for supporting us in these dire times.❤
For those unaware, Bilal is a Palestinian user who has run a vetted fundraiser (and still is for his family members) and is now sharing campaigns much like 90-ghost.
I am Moatasem from Gaza, please help me and my brothers to get out of the woes of war, we hope to learn,We need urgent help, especially since schools are at the door, and we cannot enter Egyptian schools because they require a residence permit, and we have no choice but to enter private schools, but they need a lot. please share the pinned post on my page, and donate if you can for the necessity of cruelty🙏
Getting back to to these. Also in case it is relevant information for you reading this. Operation Olive Branch has reported some ppl that previously worked for them to the FBI after they left after raising concerns about how OOB operated. Do not donate OOB fundraising efforts but you can still use their spreadsheet as a source for fundraisers for both families and mutual aid. Just don't donate directly to OOB.
Here have a cat. I might just get a new one sometime soon.
Hello, I am Etaf Al-Qataa,I'm from Gaza, Im34 years old ,I… Etaf Alqattaa needs your support for Please help us get out of life's crises
Etaf is a wife and mother of 5 from Ghazzah. Last year, she and her family's home was destroyed, a long with her husband's source of income and their car.
They were displaced for 200 days, all the way induring the hellish tribulations of genocide. Luckily, they were able to flee into Egypt; however their struggles are not over.
Due to their lack of income, Etaf and her husband struggle to provide their children with food, clothing, and education. On top of that, they are struggling to pay the rent on their house as winter approaches.
In order to help Etaf's children continue their education and to help the whole family afford basic necessities, they need to raise €100,000. So far, they've only managed to raise €5,690 and their last donation was 18 hours ago.
Please help them however you can; donate if you're able and share their campaign. Every contribution will help them rebuild their lives.
Thank you to everyone who supports us in these difficult circumstances, thank you for your humanity and sympathy with us, may God make you happy throughout your life 🙏🫶🌹
I have a family friend who worked at our local Salvation Army headquarters as a a secretary. This particular office took all the Christmas donations for children in need, put them in a warehouse, and on a designated day the staff and their friends picked through them all, taking whatever they wanted. She saw people hauling away bikes donated for specific families. Some local children had hundreds of dollars of gifts donated in their name, and on Christmas they received three cheap things, items likely not even from the person who sponsored them.
My friend quit, and I’ve not given them a dime of my money since then.
I deal with a lot of agencies who provide disaster relief.
I used to say the Salvation Army’s disaster services were the one (literally the ONE) good thing they did.
They would come in, set up a canteen trailer, make and pass out hot coffee and donated food in a disaster, usually being one of the first agencies to get there and the last to leave.
Then I found out.
Every time they did this, regardless of if they were actually invited or deployed by the agency in charge (usually FEMA, sometimes others) they would SELF-DEPLOY. Meanjng they would just show up. Ok. That’s not TOO bad, sometimes agencies have to take initiative and get there before the red tape is sorted out. BUT. They, after they left at the end of the incident, they would send FEMA or the host agency a BILL. They used one or two paid employees (usually the driver of the truck and a supervisor); and many VOLUNTEERS, but they would bill for EVERYONE’s Labor at standard federal rates. They would bill for the food they distributed even though it was all donated by another agency or private parties. They would bill for the coffee they made and the supplies. Except they would use electricity from the shelter location, water from donations or from the shelter, and in many cases, they would get the coffee and industrial filters DONATED, but bill for them at retail prices.
The Salvation Army is also ass to the workers. A good number of people join it, naively thinking that it’s doing good, and end up leaving cynical and beaten down. The management is hostile, if not outright abusive, and demand some ridiculous hours of it lower to mid-level staff. Don’t support these people.
Also just for even more horrific context on the original twitter thread?
Salvation Army reached out to Milknmuffins and asked what shelter she’s at with the promise to address the abuse in it. She…ended up saying where she was. She was thrown out onto the street. It’s also all on Twitter.
They invited her to a personal talk so she could explain the situation in person.
And then they threatened her with a screenshot of a rape-threat made supposedly by her:
And then threw her out into the street while claiming she broke house rules that
So yeah, the Salvation Army is a bunch of entitled assholes that will treat the most vulnerable like shit if they dare try to do anything that makes them look bad
The “Fuck Salvation Army” posts are making the rounds again, so conisder this your reminder:
Do. Not. Give. These. Assholes. A. Single. Fucking. Penny.
