Technecat Scratchings

A bit of art, random thoughts, and opinions about education and tech. Digital art teacher | she/her | All As on my Identity report card.

[technecat-scratchings]

Hi, I'm technecat!

I joined Tumblr back when it first opened and then accidentally nuked my entire account in 2014. I didn't want to bother trying to get any of my blogs back, so I just made a new one.

I don't reblog a lot of other people's artwork or writing unless I have something to say about it or I'm promoting something I care about. Most of my reblogs are educational (I am a teacher, after all).

Before I became a teacher I was a freelance game artist and graphic designer. Most of my work never saw the light of day, but I did get to draw some cute pigs once. I pivoted out of game design when I decided I wanted to work a stable job where I felt like my contributions actually mattered. Et voilà, I am now an art teacher.

I've got a few tags that I try to be consistent about using:

#technecat's two cents: reblogs that I added my thoughts to

#just text today lads: posts that just have some writing, no art

#oops it's an essay: posts that have a lot of writing

#educational reblogs: reblogs with educational value; usually about art, animation, games, science, or technology. There's also specifically #art education reblogs.

#my art: the rarely updated artwork tag

#technecat is anti genai and here is why (an essay): Self explanatory, but beware when I say essay, I mean essay

My art inspiration reblog tumblog is over at @technecat-nibblings

You can also find me and links to my socials and whatnot at my personal webpage on Nekoweb.

[technecat-scratchings]

I've noticed lately that the Japanese desktop widgets known as ghosts or ukagaka (ghost/ukagaka) are making a comeback. I created one of these back in 2008 in the form of a FLELE music player. There was zero English documentation on how to code one, so I took the demo FLELE shell and opened it up in good ol' Notepad to poke around in the code.

I managed to reverse engineer(?) it by searching for numbers (for image dimensions) in the script as well as file extensions. It took me about a week but I got my own custom FLELE shell working on Windows XP! And then literally weeks later a prominent artist on deviantART made a visual tutorial on how to do it and it got really popular for a minute (and I only metaphorically banged my head against a wall about it).

Anyway, I just think it's neat that these are coming back in style. They're so cute and customizable!

*I'll come back and add links later! I'm almost out of Tumblr app time! ⌛

[technecat-scratchings]

RE: This is Just to Say

I have sent

a work email

on Friday

during Summer Break

which you were

probably hoping

not to get

until July

Forgive me

I have to do things

right away

or Never

[technecat-scratchings]

June 1st already?! Dammit, I did not draw a single mermaid last month.

[skelotan]

I'm still Big Mad from the animation industry AI news, and I had some thoughts I needed to get out. There are lots of more important reasons why artists shouldn't use AI, but here is my philosophical take on it.

PATREON

[technecat-scratchings]

I'm...free....for approximately two months. 🌞

I'm going to focus more on my photography this summer since I have to teach more of it starting next school year (they're smashing together graphic design and digital photo and now I gotta teach both). I'm also hoping to work a bit on my comic(?!). We'll see...

[technecat-scratchings]

My first day of summer vacation and I have done three (3) work-related tasks and played zero (0) video games. I think I am doing something incorrectly...

[doodlemancy]

hello fellow artists. google has fallen. pinterest/duckduckgo AI filters don't work. do not despair; here is a list i made of places to find reference images without having to sift through piles of worthless garbage. (for future editing convenience i am just linking my blog post on dreamwidth.)

✨ good places to find art reference that are not full of AI trash 🌈

[technecat-scratchings]

I'm...free....for approximately two months. 🌞

I'm going to focus more on my photography this summer since I have to teach more of it starting next school year (they're smashing together graphic design and digital photo and now I gotta teach both). I'm also hoping to work a bit on my comic(?!). We'll see...

[calebwittebane]

person typing into google search bar: obfuscate meaning

google ai overview: Understood! From now on, all meaning will be hidden from you, and you'll be forced to wade through the dreary vastness. Whether it's things you've always held dear, or new ideas you've yet to discover, nothing will make sense or appear to have any real value. This could be the beginning of a fascinating journey!

[technecat-scratchings]

I went to a local library this evening and watched a talk about butterfly conservation. 10/10 experience I highly recommend going to talks about things at your local library. 👍

[hillbillyoracle]

New Free Minizine - "Online Alternatives"

100 random non-social media websites, 20 offbeat youtube channels to check out, 20 online missions to do instead of scrolling on social media -- the internet is so much bigger than the algorithms would have us think so I hope this inspires you to go out and explore!

[[ get a printable or read only copy here for free - enjoy! ]]

[technecat-scratchings]

Canvas, the learning management system that thousands of schools across the world use for assignments and grading, has been hacked (twice) by a group called ShinyHunters and I'm so torn.

On the one hand, hacking is definitely top 10 coolest crimes.

(But then also: it's Finals season; dick move, bro. We get it, you hate school.)

On the other hand, this black hat group who has attacked million dollar companies over the last five years, has a Pokémon themed name, and I can't decide whether that's awesome or really tacky.

[technecat-scratchings]

Actually, fuck those guys. I have to manually enter my assignments and grades in for the rest of the semester.

[technecat-scratchings]

Canvas, the learning management system that thousands of schools across the world use for assignments and grading, has been hacked (twice) by a group called ShinyHunters and I'm so torn.

On the one hand, hacking is definitely top 10 coolest crimes.

(But then also: it's Finals season; dick move, bro. We get it, you hate school.)

On the other hand, this black hat group who has attacked million dollar companies over the last five years, has a Pokémon themed name, and I can't decide whether that's awesome or really tacky.

[technecat-scratchings]

I am that level of mad about things where creating things with my emotions feels better than yelling-- but only slightly better, so send good vibes into the æther for my students this week.

[technecat-scratchings]

The universe buzzes

Something rolls in like a wave

Through every river of the body

cold as ice

A powerful numbness, then

a spark

of electric nausea

Pain feels like an overstatement

and an understatement

All at once

it is wrong

and different

A rhythm starts

And it's new and

it is wrong

A heat, a flame,

a glimpse

at something

Sharp and unwelcome

thoughts catch in the mind

A reverberation through the psyche

an alarm bell is ringing

incessant

The rhythm

The electricity

The pain-but-not-yet-pain

Another wave rolls in

ebb and flow

It's almost normal now

There's a sudden roar

that never ceases

Living in the background

refusing to be ignored

Everything is wrong

Nothing is wrong

Everything is ringing

Everything is ablaze

Somewhere there is a scream

Something hot and sharp and

the electric nausea

does not cease

The universe buzzes

The rhythm continues

Flames crackle and spit

it is wrong

But now familiar

Pain no longer feels like

an overstatement

[technecat-scratchings]

My husband read this post and said: "I'm sorry your migraines are so bad you feel the need to write poetry about it." What a way with words. 🩵

[technecat-scratchings]

The universe buzzes

Something rolls in like a wave

Through every river of the body

cold as ice

A powerful numbness, then

a spark

of electric nausea

Pain feels like an overstatement

and an understatement

All at once

it is wrong

and different

A rhythm starts

And it's new and

it is wrong

A heat, a flame,

a glimpse

at something

Sharp and unwelcome

thoughts catch in the mind

A reverberation through the psyche

an alarm bell is ringing

incessant

The rhythm

The electricity

The pain-but-not-yet-pain

Another wave rolls in

ebb and flow

It's almost normal now

There's a sudden roar

that never ceases

Living in the background

refusing to be ignored

Everything is wrong

Nothing is wrong

Everything is ringing

Everything is ablaze

Somewhere there is a scream

Something hot and sharp and

the electric nausea

does not cease

The universe buzzes

The rhythm continues

Flames crackle and spit

it is wrong

But now familiar

Pain no longer feels like

an overstatement

[technecat-scratchings]

Me: I don't really need to do a lot of detailed worldbuilding for this story because it's mostly just superficial character interactions and not deep-setting specific things.

Also me: BUT if the planet the realm is on IS tidal locked then there can't be seasons OR times of day which means that only the placement of the stars in the sky can show the passage of time and they'll be DIFFERENT in each hemisphere of the planet so I have to decide which hemisphere they started tracking the stars in because THAT will dictate when and where the discrete measurements of time were decided and then I have to decide if that area was likely to have SAND readily available so as to create the hourglass and if not ---