[persianmom]

I am chronically online but not in a way that keeps me informed #mybubble

[rederiswrites]

Look, it's simple. If a person has to actively work to make money, they're not "the rich" and they're not the problem. A surgeon making $200k a year still stops making money if they stop showing up to do surgery, because they're still selling their labor. The radical discrepancies in how we value different skills are certainly a problem, but the guy who makes money when he doesn't even get out of bed is the one making money on the value of other people's labor.

[monsieurenjlolras]

Time for my favorite chart!

[your-naked-magic-oh-dear-lord]

Notice billions ain't even on there. Outliers something something.

[delinquentbookworm]

one time I went over to a friend's house and their housemate was making paper in the living room, and we saw this big tub full of water they were using to dissolve old scrap paper into a slurry, and everyone was immediately like "oh, you need scrap paper?" and started turning out their jacket pockets and producing expired coupons and bus tickets and crumpled receipts and old shopping lists and whatever else they'd been carrying round with them for no good reason, and passing it all to the paper-making housemate to make sure it was suitable before it got torn up and dropped into the tub, while people took turns stirring the slurry with a big wooden stick. it was strangely ritualistic, like presenting an offering to some kind of temple elder for inspection before placing it in a watery shrine to be devoured and reformed. pulp for the pulp god.

[somebodytolove31]

The problem with playing smash or pass is that there's a lot of characters which I'm not sexually attracted to but I would fuck in a heartbeat out of sheer curiosity and ego, like I don't find Mickey Mouse attractive at all but if he approached me at a bar and went "Hey sexy, want me to show you my mouseketool?" I would say yes because then I get to tell my friends I fucked Mickey Mouse

[hobgoblinhero]

Smash Or Pass should never be about attraction, that's what Hear Me Out is for. A Smash on Mickey Mouse is understandable, even respectable. A Hear Me Out on Mickey Mouse however, that requires a lab dissection

[kawuli]

random PSA, I know a lot of people use duckduckgo as a Google alternative search engine, but it always kind of annoyed me when I was using it because it felt like No Name Brand Google

I have switched to using Startpage.com and vastly prefer it. for one thing, instead of displaying an "AI summary" at the top of the search results (unless you turn it off, yes I know), it displays the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article, with link, whenever it finds one that's relevant.

also a waaayyyyy better sense of design than duckduckgo

also private, European based, least annoying search I've used lately (RIP old "don't be evil" Google)

[yomikoreadsbooks]

Keeping a list of Google alternatives just in case…

[saxifraga-x-urbium]

i have one of those, scraped from multiple different rec posts:

Search Engines

Infinity Search is an alternative search engine with a special focus on privacy

DuckDuckGo is a popular search engine for those who value their privacy and are put off by the thought of their every query being tracked and logged. Uses bangs, ![site] for in-page search (sells your data to microsoft and draws from fucking bing)

WolframAlpha is a privately owned search engine that allows you to “compute expert-level answers using Wolfram’s breakthrough algorithms, knowledgebase, and AI technology.” A data search engine.

Boardreader is a search engine for forums and message boards. It allows you to search forums and then filter down results by date and language.

Based in France, Qwant is a privacy-based search engine that won’t record your searches or use your personal details for advertising. Uses “&” as a bang search.

Another privacy-based search engine is Search Encrypt, which uses local encryption to ensure that users’ identifiable information cannot be tracked. Metasearch across multiple engines. 

Offering unbiased results from several sources, SearX is a metasearch engine that aims to present a free, decentralized view of the internet. Can be self-hosted. 

Gibiru’s tagline is “Unfiltered private search” and that’s exactly what it offers. Requires AnonymoX Firefox add-on for privacy. 

Disconnect allows you to conduct anonymous searches through a search engine of your choice.

Swisscows provides fully encrypted searches to protect your privacy and security. Built-in violence/porn filter cannot be overridden. 

MetaGer offers “Privacy Protected Search & Find” through its anonymised search. A plugin will allow it to be made a default.

Gigablast is a private search engine that indexes millions of websites and servers real-time information without tracking your data, keeping you hidden from marketers and spammers. Variety of filtration and refinement options for searching. 

Oscobo is a search engine that protects your privacy while you search the web. By not using any third-party tools or scripts, your data is protected from hacking and misuse. Has a Chrome extension to allow use in toolbar. 

https://search.marginalia.nu/ an independent DIY search engine that focuses on non-commercial content, and attempts to show you sites you perhaps weren't aware of in favor of the sort of sites you probably already knew existed. Use old-school searching rather than query-based for the best results. 

https://www.mojeek.com/ 

https://wiby.me/ - It’s goal is to index as many personalized websites as possible, and NOT commercial sites. 

https://4get.ca/ it works a lot like SearX, but honestly better. It doesn’t have its own index, but pulls from many others. I think it’s the best for research, since it allows you to search for answers from different indexes, is easy to configure, add free, and avoids censorship as much as it can.

https://www.searchenginemap.com/ for more on how search engines relate to each other.

https://yep.com/ is a crawler

https://www.etools.ch/ retrieves from Google, Mojeek, Bing, and Yandex, like Searx

https://www.dogpile.com/ 

https://searxng.org/ (next gen Searx)

https://luxxle.com/ - possibly conservative?

https://presearch.com/ - good for academic?

https://kagi.com/smallweb - free/randomised Kagi.

Other Searchers

www.refseek.com - Academic Resource Search. More than a billion sources: encyclopedia, monographies, magazines.

www.worldcat.org - a search for the contents of 20 thousand worldwide libraries. Find out where lies the nearest rare book you need.

https://link.springer.com - access to more than 10 million scientific documents: books, articles, research protocols.

www.bioline.org.br is a library of scientific bioscience journals published in developing countries.

http://repec.org - volunteers from 102 countries have collected almost 4 million publications on economics and related science.

www.science.gov is an American state search engine on 2200+ scientific sites. More than 200 million articles are indexed.

www.base-search.net is one of the most powerful researches on academic studies texts. More than 100 million scientific documents, 70% of them are free.https://cosine.club/ is an electronic music similarity search engine

[newlyy]

Not that I think all marriages are doomed but when deciding who to marry you should ask yourself “is this someone I’d want to divorce?” As in, is this someone I believe would be mature and fair, even when they’re upset and don’t particularly like me at the moment. Is this someone I could continue to trust while going through an adversarial process? And if the answer is no, don’t marry them.

[robertfagden]

actually im doing really well except for the fact that everything makes me sad and the things that dont make me sad make me angry. but other than that im fine

[sceptixfakemon]

i really genuinely wish I could hit chatgpt with my bare fists and hear its pityful electronic voice fade into glitched robotic gibberish and choking beeps as I hit it before I smash it for good and it shuts the fuck up forever

[veliseraptor]

love writing a post and then discarding it immediately. microdosing on having an opinion

[stardustsighs]

Would like to apologise to all my mutuals who ever dmed me and later became a victim of my terrible communication skills 🥀🥀

[tiktoks-for-my-besties]

[alexaloraetheris]

My favorite brand of people are musicians who hear Rush Fucking E, which isn't technically meant to be played by a human at all, and immediately picking up their instrument and going 'bet'.

[wholeheartedsuggestions]

i will try again tomorrow. i will try again and again and again, because that’s all i can really do.

[kocalls]

[bugdotpng]

these are by reptile_tiles on instagram!

[breelandwalker]

Witchcraft Books by Bree NicGarran

Grovedaughter Witchery: Practical Spellcraft

For the witch whose town is devoid of occult shops and covens, learning the craft can be a daunting task indeed. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways for a budding practitioner to make a start.

Stroll down the forest path with Bree NicGarran, author of The Sisters Grimmoire, and discover the surprising ways you can practice your craft with commonplace items from the supermarket and the craft store. Build a travel kit for on-the-go magic. Create your own spells from scratch with a step-by-step guide. Learn how to make your own witch webs and magical powders. Uncover the secrets of walnut charms and witchballs and much, much more. Every page carries tricks of the trade and homegrown charms from the files of the Grovedaughter herself.

From besoms to banishings to a bit of good advice, Grovedaughter Witchery is the ideal book for any witch with an inclination toward a practical, no-frills approach to witchcraft.

The Sisters Grimmoire: Spells & Charms For Your Happily Ever After

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, Who’s the cleverest witch of them all?

With the spells in this book, it just might be you!

Inspired by the well-known works of The Brothers Grimm, this volume boasts over sixty original spells lovingly crafted from favorite fairy tales, along with helpful spellcrafting instructions and several indices to aid you in your journey. All of this is wrapped up with useful chapter forewords discussing the various themes within the tales, some insight into the creative process, and a bit of discussion on ethics and the usage of magic.

Whether you’re ready to yell “All Heads Off But Mine,” looking to turn your luck around with some Buried Coins, or just wanting to show the world What Big Teeth you have, there is sure to be a spell within these pages that is exactly what you’ve been looking for.

After all, who couldn’t use a bit of Happily Ever After?

Pestlework: A Book of Magical Powders & Oils

From the author of Grovedaughter Witchery comes a volume of potions and powders for all occasions, suitable to enhance the craft of any practitioner.

Old standards like Banishing Powder and Blessing Oil meet new classics like Dream Dust and Stargazer Wishing Oil. Need to rid your house of a troublesome spirit? Try a sprinkle of Ghost-Be-Gone Powder. Looking for a way to get your zest back after spellwork? Brim With Vim Vitality Oil might be just the thing. Over 200 original formulae await you within these pages, along with helpful hints, safety tips, and detailed instructions for creating your own magical powders and oils.

Collected for the first time in a single volume, these recipes are the product of twelve years of experience and much experimentation. While magic is never a guarantor of success, the potions within these pages just might give your spells the edge you need.

Visit my Amazon Author Page for listings and book reviews! You can also visit the Willow Wings Witch Shop to order books and other witchy goodies directly from me. 

Make sure you check out my podcast, Hex Positive, on your favorite podcatcher app! (Part of the Nerd and Tie Podcast Network.)

If you own a shop and would like to carry my titles, please contact me at [email protected] for wholesale information.

[theexoticvet-deactivated2022070]

Every year I diagnose at least one cat with renal failure due to lily poisoning. If you have cats please don’t have lilies.

[teathattast]

[gluten-free-pussy]

WHAT

[theshockinglyeloquentdog]

Pusheen is married?!?

[lilkearnsie]

PUSHEEN HAS BABIES?!?!?

[grimauxiliatrixofficial]

Queen Of Keeping Personal And Professional Lives Seperate

[mortimermcmirestinks]

SINCE WHEN IS PUSHEEN A GIRL

[foulfowledfool]

an absolute queen. her birthday is febuary 18th

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

she's Irish

[helloitsbees]

everyone say happy birthday pusheen

[mikanseinic]

“how to recognize AI in fanfic” — hey so this is another not-gentle reminder that AI stole from us. it’s using OUR words and OUR sentences and OUR styles.

writing “long” paragraphs is not a sign of AI — it’s a common narrative choice many writers make both in fanfiction and in traditionally published novels, and AI stole it from us.

using an em dash is not a sign of AI. it’s a stylistic sentence choice that’s been an option in place of commas and semicolons for a very long time, and AI stole it from us.

long sentence structures are not a sign of AI, but are yet another stylistic choice writers often make to create a cadence and tone that mimics the flow of poetry, and AI stole it from us.

“YA narrative breaks”? i don’t even know what the fuck this means, but i can guarantee that AI stole it from us.

italics are once again a stylistic choice that many writers love to use to create emphasis, and it’s a more stylistically acceptable and traditional form of emphasis than bold or underline text. oh, and just to be extra clear: AI STOLE IT FROM US.

stop creating fandom witch hunts over AI when you know fuck all about what it means to sit and write a story, and to spend hours fiddling with sentence structure and dialogue to get the exact right tone. writers will stop writing out of fear that their work “sounds like AI” — IT DOESNT! AI STOLE FROM US! AI SOUNDS LIKE US! — and after a while, all that will be available on AO3 is shitty AI-generated fanfiction.

because yeah, people are going to continue to use AI to write fanfiction whether you “call them out” or not. but making a laughable thread on X that uses asinine criteria is not going to fix that problem. it will just push the real writers out because people will accuse them of using AI when they haven’t, and they will (rightfully) stop writing for spaces that attack them.

anyway. fuck ai.