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dankmemeuniversity

possum-adjacent

go girl give us nothing

red-mercer

If you’re buying Apple shit in the 2020s you totally deserve the ripoff that you get

pizza-and-ramen

The fucking option that includes an Ethernet port just puts it on the external power supply, like it’s a fucking MacBook.

chrysanthemumpink

People keep saying that this is how computer adaptability works and comparing it to the decrease in the lack of CD-ROM drives and Floppy Disk readers.

But this is completely different! And do you want to know why? Because, previous changes were consumer led. They came AFTER the technology had run its course, had viable alternatives, and didn’t force a majority of customers to adapt for profit. Also, Apple is lying. This isn’t innovation, it’s a purposeful manipulation of the market that makes physical ownership of content more difficult.

The Floppy Disk wasn’t just abandoned. It was replaced by CD-ROM in the 90s as a more portable & less expensive alternative. And even then, CDs had existed for more than a decade before computer manufacturers made the permanent switch in 2003. And despite the switch, the production of the floppy disks themselves continued until 2011. By the time floppy disks truly faded from production, most ppl didn’t even own one. And when CD-ROM became “obsolete,” they weren’t ripped from the market and even today it’s fairly easy to find readers that are cheap and/or included with desktops or laptops.

But here’s the thing? CD’s aren’t obsolete. Neither are DVDs, USB, and Ethernet and SDs. Not really. What is there to replace them? You could say cloud, streaming, etc. But those aren’t actually replacements, they are just different forms of consuming materials. And a majority of consumers will be inconvenienced without those things. Like how would you even connect a wired mechanical keyboard? That’s not adaptation, it’s inconveniencing consumers until they get used to it.

But it’s more than inconvenience. What all of these exclusions do is get rid of physical data. It slowly ostracizes consumers from the very concept of physical data and that is incredibly dangerous. All softwares, ad-ons, recordings, and medias being relegated to downloadable accessibility makes these things harder to pirate or share. It also encourages monopolies as it makes smaller, independent production and sharing much more difficult. It also makes the distribution of softwares tied to research & employment more easily controlled by corporations rather than people. And most of all, it takes away consumer control of the things that they use.

Like even PlayStation did this with the PS5? Do you really think not having a physical drive is an innovation? With physical games you can reuse, share, and save. I can play Spider-Man, give to my cousin, and then let any friend borrow it. And unless I bought the physical game online, neither google or Amazon can add that to their algorithmic perception of me. But without that…you have content strictly defined on individual basis and algorithms.

It’s just that all of the growing exclusions aren’t adapting. They are willful manipulations for the sake of changing how large scale consumers ingage with technology and the internet.

The headphone jack was not obsolete. It was purposefully left out to sway the market towards $100 Bluetooth. Physical gaming disk drives aren’t growing obsolete. They are being purposefully phased out so that the consumer begins to rely on individual downloads and algorithm rather than sharing and saving. And USB/Ethernet/SD/HDMI are not obsolete either. They are just being ignored so as to get consumers to change their perception of tech and accessibility. As if having a computer that’s only compatible with apple tech that’s less than 5 years old is reasonable. As if any use of physical content is a paid luxury rather than the standard

doubleca5t

the funny thing about the whole "no one wants to work" trend is that this is, hypothetically, how wages are supposed to go up naturally under capitalism. When wages are too low, workers refuse to work, so businesses raise their wages. The problem is that american companies are so used to paying people scraps and so far removed from the idea of workers having any kind of power or demanding some degree of dignity that they're just completely dumbfounded by this. When everyone refuses to work, their first instinct isn't "oh, our wages are too low" it's to post signs complaining about kids these days and begging people to pwease pwease come back to work I pwomise you won't get the cowonaviwus whiwe being yewwed at by a woman who compwains they made hew food wrong and demands a comped dessewt befowe leaving you a $2 tip

fandomsandfeminism

How to deal with kids (without hitting them)

1. The Best Defense is a Good Offense: Be proactive with children’s behavior.

Don’t wait until a child is in the middle of a meltdown in the toiletries aisle of Target. Try to be aware of how different situations and stimuli might affect kids of different ages. A few tips:

Kids, especially toddler age kids, struggle with transitions. Give them a clear time table and stick to it. Give them updates as deadlines approach. “We are leaving the library in 5 minutes.” “We need to go see Grandma in 10 minutes.” “Target will only take 20 minutes.”

Getting toted around by adults can be exhausting and frustrating. Give kids tasks to do. Put them in charge of something. It can be something actually helpful (you get to hold the calculator and keep track of how much money we are spending in the store) or something fun to keep their mind busy (count all the blue things in this aisle.) Talk to your kids. Help them feel involved, instead of just a tote bag.

Model self care and emotional awareness. Kids are often dealing with SUPER new emotions, and may not know how to recognize them, contextualize them, or act on them. Talk through your own emotions, or emotions you think they may be having, and show them how to deal with them. “Yeah, I know, mommy is really sad that we can’t go to the park because of the rain. It makes me feel really bad inside. I think if we color with crayons for a while, I’ll feel better.”

Give kids choices. Obviously, age plays a big part here, but a reasonable, curated set of appropriate choices gives kids a growing feeling of agency and teaches making good choices. “Would you like peas or green beans?” “Penguin Shirt or Turtle Shirt?” “Water or apple juice?” This requires YOU to also speak with and listen to the kids. Always important.

Consistency is very important. Make sure your rules are clear, the reasons are clear, and the consequences are clear BEFOREHAND. Kids really can’t just infer rules out of thin air. They need to be taught the expectations, and then YOU need to keep to them.

Be aware of how the children in YOUR care react to things, and find ways to mitigate “bad” behavior before it happens.

2. “Punishment” is not the goal. Discipline means teaching.

Your goal, as a parent, as a teacher, as a baby sitter, is not to punish kids. Your goal is to help teach kids how to become thoughtful, responsible, and kind people. The entire idea of kids “deserving” bad things because they’ve “been bad” is flawed. If a kid does something “bad”, then we should aim to help them not make that bad choice again.

How?

Identify any immediate stimuli or situation causing the bad behavior and remove/alter it so the behavior stops. This might mean leaving an errand unfinished, a time out, taking away a toy, etc, in order to STOP the behavior that is happening RIGHT NOW.

Talk to the child about why their behavior was “bad.” What bad affects could it have? How does it affect others? What caused it? Kids, even very young kids, can understand complicated things if explained in terms on their level.

Come up with a plan for what to do next time the original stimuli or situation happens. If Timmy tries to take your truck again, what can we do differently? The next time we are in line at the bank, what can we do to make it more fun?

If the child is older, and the offense is more severe, you may feel the need for a tangible consequence. Remember that these should be age appropriate, reasonable, and negotiable. Give kids the ability to reduce their consequence with good behavior, and be willing to modify the consequence if they have a compelling and reasonable request. Listening to kids and being empathetic is not a weakness. It is a sign of respect.

3. Don’t forget that kids are people. Kids are also kids.

Kids will not be perfect angels. You will not be a perfect adult. Sometimes they will be cranky, angry, tired, hungry, selfish, or mean. You can be these things to. One bad day doesn’t mean you are a failure, and it doesn’t mean the kids are a failure. You have to let kids have bad days sometimes. You have to love them anyway and be willing to give it a fresh go tomorrow.

Working with kids is not easy. No one said it would be. But part of working with kids is the obligation to always be thoughtful about our interactions with them- we teach them with everything we do. So we should treat them with all the respect, kindness, thoughtfulness, and patience we want them to learn.

(Here is a clean version of this, without the discourse, slightly updated)

whitepeopletwitter

davetheshady

callout post for toy story 4

‘cause that was some bad storytelling and amatonormative bullshit, yo

(spoilers, cw: discussions of toy suicide???)

so, like, the central conflict is that woody can only define himself by his caregiving relationships. he’s still grieving andy and he throws himself into helping bonnie behind the scenes when he’s apparently lost her love and attention. it’s clearly an obsession for him and an unhealthy coping mechanism, and it makes sense as a conflict for a toy that can also resonate for the audience. so far, so good.

however, the first issue is that though his friends sense something is wrong, they ONLY criticize his actions, and his actions not only aren’t the problem, but are presented as the correct thing to do.

like, stowing away with bonnie to her kindergarten orientation? she was having problems she couldn’t deal with by herself: she was alone and some kid took her art supplies, and she was too scared to do anything about it. woody doesn’t try to solve her problems by inserting himself into the situation so she can play with him; instead, he secretly gets some of the art supplies back. he provides the basic tools, and bonnie solves the problem herself, by creating forky to keep her company and relieve her anxiety. woody’s not being overprotective, but actually helped her take advantage of an opportunity to grow.

then we have woody’s mission to keep forky from succumbing to his existential horror and returning to the trash from whence he came. woody repeatedly puts himself at risk because bonnie needs forky… and, once again, it seems like that was the right thing to do. we see bonnie get genuinely upset each and every time she loses track of forky; losing him permanently WOULD be pretty traumatizing for her. and meanwhile, given the time to adjust forky DOES come around to the concept of being a toy! their heart-to-heart on the road to the RV park may have been woody mainly spilling all his issues, but it actually helped. by the end, forky seems excited about being bonnie’s toy, looks up to woody as a friend and mentor, and is able to form connections with other toys like gabby gabby. (side note: does it count as stockholm syndrome if someone doesn’t know they’ve been kidnapped…?) this is all presented as unambiguously positive, and none of it could’ve happened if woody had listened to his friends and let forky commit toy suicide. and while woody was engaging in risky behavior, it’s still not any worse than stunts he’s pulled before. no one would blink twice if he defenestrated himself from a moving RV to rescue buzz lightyear. the problem is his unhealthy mindset and resulting impulsivity.

the satisfying resolution to this conflict would be woody’s friends acknowledging that he needs help mentally AND physically. woody’s right that bonnie and forky need assistance, but woody doesn’t necessarily have to be the one to provide it, and at the very least he doesn’t have to provide it alone. he’s got a ton of friends who presumably want to support him and would be willing to step up once the issue was identified. working as a team lessens the burden for everyone. and as for woody’s personal journey: defining himself solely by his relationship to his kids is really unhealthy, which means he needs to define himself as an individual. the positive conclusion for his story arc is him accepting this and either doing it or taking steps to begin the process.

the second issue is that none of this happens.

the third issue is that they actually did have the bones of a satisfying conclusion in his relationship with bo peep. the movie starts with her accepting that it’s time to move on when she’s being given away, and when she turns up again, it’s clear that she’s been living her life on her own terms. she’s basically a well-adjusted post-apocalyptic wanderer, a lost toy who roams free in her sweet skunkmobile ride and offering help to other lost toys. she’s dealt with the same issues woody is going through now, her lifestyle is full of the stuff he excels at – helping friends, often with wild stunts – and most importantly, she has freedom and self-determination.

but the movie never bothers to show woody acknowledging these are things he wants or even needs. (the movie doesn’t even have woody acknowledge his issues obliquely. a perfect opportunity would have been the conclusion to gabby’s arc, since she’s his dramatic foil in the film. he gives up an organ and risks his chance to return to his home to help her – if she acknowledges and works out her issues while we see him looking on approvingly, then by the transitive property we can assume he’s done the same. but instead, we see gabby deal with potentially becoming obsolete when she gets rejected by a kid by… getting a new kid… which already didn’t work for woody…)

woody’s personal conflict is entirely subsumed by him wanting bo. them getting together is romantic, but it never finishes his story arc. all the emphasis is placed on the guy getting the girl, not the guy being with a girl who has valuable lessons to impart about his struggles while they can both support each other in their mutual missions of exploration and aid.

this is then promptly compounded by even more heteronormative nonsense throughout the denouement. bonnie makes forky an extremely stereotypically female-coded trash girl counterpart that basically screams ‘love interest’, and the camera pans lovingly across mr. and mrs. potato head’s clasped hands. they used archival recordings as a tribute to don rickles to make sure he was in the movie, but THAT’S what they want to go out on?? a silent salute to the fact that his character was married???

the only narrative purpose these beats serve in the conclusion of the movie is to reinforce an apparent message of ‘haha we were kidding about the power of friendship in the first three movies, what we were REALLY missing was some hetero relationships’. woody giving up all of his familial and platonic relationships is a huge sacrifice, for both him (they HIJACKED A FUCKING RV FULL OF PEOPLE to come save him!) and the audience. we’ve been invested in these friendships for four movies! their fucking theme song is “you’ve got a friend in me”! there’s a ton of emotional weight there. woody’s friends never finished their own arc – figuring out what’s really wrong with woody while learning all the important lessons about toyhood he has to share. had that happened, and had everyone realized that the price of woody best finding happiness and fulfillment was that he has to leave, and had everyone acknowledged that this was, in fact, an ENORMOUS sacrifice for all of them – that would have been satisfying, if very bittersweet. (so, like: totally on brand for toy story.) instead, they shove everything under the rug of ‘yay he’s in a romantic relationship!’ and completely gloss over the emotional ramifications of THE ENTIRE SERIES.

in conclusion, the movie’s solution to woody’s unhealthy tendency to define himself solely by his caregiving relationships is to instead have him completely abandon his family and friends forever so he can define himself by his romantic relationship instead!!!! hahahahahahahahahahaha what the fuck.

paxamericana

the survival rate is 98% only if everyone can get treatment you stupid motherfuckers! the CFR rises to 7 to 10% when people can’t get hospital beds and ventilators and the doctors and nurses are dying from lack of PPE!

also a 98% survival rate still means 2% die! 2% of the us population is 6.5 million people! that’s more Americans that have ever died from any single event ever! that’s two thousand 9/11s! that’s sixteen WW2s!

zanmor

and that’s literally saying we’ll risk 2% of you all dying if it means we can get this economy plowing ahead at full steam two weeks sooner, with the unspoken fascist idea that most of the 2% who will die are a “drain on society” anyway

quirkelly

Fun factoid, america has an approximate population of 328,000,000 people,

Of which 2% is 6,560,000 people.

They’re fine with a loss of 6.56 million people JUST IN AMERICA for profit.

Think about that

one-time-i-dreamt

not a dream

My dad’s a criminologist, but when I was little, I didn’t know how to pronounce that word properly, so I told my kindergarten teacher, among other people, that he’s a criminal instead. Yesterday, I was talking to a dude I met at the dog park (our dogs play with each other a lot), and idk how we even got to that, but he told me a story how when he was like 8, he walked his family dog alone and someone in the park asked him where his dad was, to which he replied, “In jail,” and that person got extremely flustered and changed the topic. Turns out, his dad works in prison, but the person misunderstood and thought he was jailed instead. Kids, man.

redrosella

My dad works as a pharmaceutical manager, but as a kid I could never remember that. So at school once I told my school counselor that he sold drugs. And then to make matters worse, I realized what I said, so I tried to clarifying it by saying either “legal drugs” or “not illegal drugs” but I accidentally smashed them together and said “illegal drugs”.

insert-creativity-here

My mom works as a probation officer but has to go into courts/prisons often. One day in pre-k my teacher asked where my mom was and i said “in court”. The next day she asked if my mom was home and i said “no she’s in jail”.

crookedkingdom

cannot stop thinking about "if soulmates do exist they're not found. they're made" and how much more wonderful a concept it is. you were not made to fit with someone else, you were made be yourself and it's up to you to choose who fits with you and how they fit. you get to wake up every day and choose to have the people you love the most belong with you and that makes it so much more meaningful than some random act of fate forcing you together

lolt64

im fine IM FINE

changesadvocate

Concussions: How Much They Can Truly Cost People

Despite common belief that concussions are not serious and do not have a large impact on the individual, that is completely false. The brain is made of what is similar to a wet tissue and a concussion is a bruise on that tissue. What people don’t consider is that for a concussion to happen, it has to hit into the skull; which takes approximately 1,300 pounds per square inch to break. That is over a third of the weight of a car.

Not only that, concussions do have a tendency to change a person’s personality. Changes in personality is a symptom of concussions, however it can be a long-term symptom after the bruising has healed. Whenever the brain has trauma inflicted, the actual chemical balance can change.

Little known fact: potential complications from concussions include epilepsy and if two concussions occur within a small time frame, PCS (post concussion syndrome) and second impact syndrome. Post concussion syndrome is where another concussion occurs before the previous has completely healed resulting in an even longer healing time. If enough concussions occur, the healing time could be as long as years. Second impact syndrome (SIS), however, is always after the second concussion but doesn’t always occur. SIS is where the brain rapidly swells after a second concussion and is typically fatal.