In August 2025, Google announced that starting next year, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
Paying a fee to Google
Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
Providing government identification
Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
Listing all current and future application identifiers
---
that basically means developing apps for fun as side projects or just learning as a hobbyist is kinda off the table. you wont be able to share your app with friends.
you wont be able to find a cool app on github or wherever and just run it unless the dev went thru all this and they probably wont be doing that for free so much anymore.
not to mention this will fuck with piracy apps and censorship circumvention apps and so many more things essential to freedom. (obviously dont mention piracy when you complain abt this to companies/governments, but im just saying. i think we all know how important piracy is for media preservation.)
they claim theyre doing this to make it safer, but theyre obviously trying to monopolise the android market entirely.
i would rather be free to install malware and be responsible for myself than be barred from installing anything that Paternalistic Google has not Verified.
(and their idea of safety is "yeah we can doxx this dev so we have leverage so they wont do anything we dont like.")
so anyways, the link - theres a lot of resources there for where to complain and who to bother about this, as well as alternative projects to consider using and/or supporting. we dont need google breathing down our neck any more than they already are.
got told at lunch "you feel like Tumblr Incarnate" and i had to tell them i've been here for 13 years and counting. i was here three years before dashcon happened. i saw the mishapocalypse. i survived the gigapause. i've been here longer than the shoelaces post. i've been here since it was hipsters versus fandom and i played both sides extensively by overdoing the sepia filters on everything and making my own flashing galaxy gif edits for my fandom posts. i'm every tumblr. it's all in me
99% of callout posts are bullshit and just petty personal drama someone is escalating to get even on a grudge. do not engage with these, do not freelance as a cop
DNIs do not work. accept this. internalize that people you don't like will see your posts and engage with them. this is unavoidable and the sooner you make peace with it the freer your mind will be. block the freaks and don't sweat the small stuff
building a tight knit circle of fellow weirdos who vibe with your particular quirks and taste is infinitely more rewarding and sustainable than chasing the biggest numbers
don't respond to bad-faith arguments or bad takes; just block people, blacklist tags, filter post content, and move on. don't feed the trolls (or the bigots)
don't hate-follow
don't tag your hate (ex. if you're posting about how much you hate a ship, don't tag it as that ship, etc.)
don't feel obligated to keep following someone who posts stuff that upsets/depresses/angers/bores you just because you know them really well, or because you're mutuals, or because you used to like what they post. following is nothing personal and neither is unfollowing
op doesn't know you; avoid parasocial relationships
don't pick fights or reblog posts just to disagree/argue
Look if there is absolutely nothing else you take away from the nonsense I am posting, it's this: Make Art.
Make art, with whatever you have. Use scrap cardboard and tape and build something; doodle in your notebooks, make a beautiful dinner, grow a plant, write, paint your nails. Learn to whittle, to knit, to cut straight lines, to sew, to cook, to run at a problem and not solve it the first time. Learn to try again.
Make things the wrong way.
If it works, do it again, better. If it doesn't, do it again, different. Draw badly. Look at the way the light hits something and try to figure out the colors it makes. Watch the way strangers walk and how the weight of them shifts in motion.
Creating art--beautiful things, ugly things, silly things--is not something that you should be leaving to people who are better at it or can afford the expensive materials or have a deep message or whatever. Do it anyway. Do it worse, do it cheaply, do it just for the joy of doing it. The work itself has merit. The work itself is rewarding. Make art.
Many thanks to @/consistantly-changing for the description, as seen below.
[Image descriptions in order: an article titled “When You Give a Tree an Email Address”. The subtitle says “The city of Melbourne assigned trees email addresses so citizens could report problems. Instead, people wrote thousands of love letters to their favorite trees.” The article is by Adrienne Lafrance, and was posted on July 10, 2015. Above the headline, is a photo of a straight pathway surrounded by trees. The pathway is wide, and ends with a building in the distance. The whole photo is bathed in green light from the trees.]
[Two excerpts from the article, which say: Then the emails began to arrive. Milman writes that instead of damage reports, people began to write fan mail to trees, complimenting their looks and leaves and telling tales of how they’d helped them survive during inclement weather. Some trees even write back.]
[“My dearest Ulmus,” the message began.
“As I was leaving St. Mary’s College today I was struck, not by a branch, but by your radiant beauty. You must get these messages all the time. You’re such an attractive tree.
This is an excerpt of a letter someone wrote to a green-leaf elm, one of thousands of messages in an ongoing correspondence between the people of Melbourne, Australia, and the city’s trees.]
[Several screenshots of messages to the trees, atop images of the trees they were sent to. They say: hey,
how ya doing?
- me
p.s would you consider your fingers to be your branches or your roots?]
[Dear Rose Gum,
Over the past year I have cycled by you each day and want you to know how much joy you give me.
No matter the weather or what is happening around you, you are strong, elegant and beautiful. I wanted you to know.
Love.]
[Dear Nettle,
I just moved in three months ago and I’m very glad that I can talk to you through this system. I live in the first floor and I can actually see you through my window!
I’m having trouble sleeping at night because of the noise of cars and ambulances at night, hope you’re not suffering that much and be able to have a good sleep.
Thank you for blocking the noises from the street and wish the birds don’t do harm to you. Pleasant to meet you and have a nice day!
Cheers!]
[Hello tree.
I don’t actually know you, but recently I’ve been wondering what trees say.
A friend of mine gave me your contact information, so I thought I would go straight to the source.
So here is my question: what would you tell people if you could speak?]
[Dear beautiful grassland gum,
I know things may get a little glume-y when you only have grasses for company, but today is your day to shine! Happy National Eucalypt Day!
Your friend.]
[Hi Tree 1022794,
How’s it going? I walk past you each day at uni, it’s really great to see you out in the sun now that the scaffolding is down around Building 100. Hope it all goes well with the photosynthesis.
All the best.]
[Dear Smooth-barked Apple Myrtle,
I am your biggest admirer. I have always wanted to meet you, but tragically, I’m stuck in New York.
I think you are the most handsome tree of them all, tall with an inviting open canopy. I love to just dream of you, the smell of your clusters of white flowers, the sight of your lush, dark green foliage, and feel of your patterned bark.
You inspire me to live life to the fullest, and pursue my dreams; you keep growing despite the terrible tragedies in this world. You are loved and deserve the world.
Love, some person in New York]
[Dear Magnificent River Red Gum,
I admire you every day as I walk past you on my way to and from work. You seem to have been around for some time. Is there any chance that you were here for longer than the time of white settlement?
You look to me to be substantially older than any of the other trees around Princes Park. Is this true? Does this entitle you to any special treatment? How old might you be? Hopefully you will outlast me in the land of the living. I am very interested to know more of your history.
Regards and hope you enjoyed the rain this weekend after such a long dry month.]
I just had an idea for a Murder Drones AU but knowing me there's a 25% chance I'd start writing it in the first place, and a 5% chance that I'd actually finish it XD
...
So all the drones are humanoid/bird/harpy-like beings that were once ruled by another species that went extinct, and the harpies have 2 sub-species. The disassembly drones are the hunter type and the worker drones are the farmer type. Others think Uzi's weird because she likes collecting bones and making potions instead of caring for plants, and N is looked down upon because he likes cute animals and flowers and-
I just had an idea for a Murder Drones AU but knowing me there's a 25% chance I'd start writing it in the first place, and a 5% chance that I'd actually finish it XD
...
So all the drones are humanoid/bird/harpy-like beings that were once ruled by another species that went extinct, and the harpies have 2 sub-species. The disassembly drones are the hunter type and the worker drones are the farmer type. Others think Uzi's weird because she likes collecting bones and making potions instead of caring for plants, and N is looked down upon because he likes cute animals and flowers and-
Social anxiety online for me is, everytime I write something to post, an ask for someone's inbox, a comment, or even a DM I just- stare at it for a while before sending it, thinking if I phrased it correctly and if it doesn't seem too weird.
Should I even write this the first place?
What if I'm bothering them?
What if they have a million asks already and they don't want to deal with more?
What if-
And then when I gather enough courage to send it, I still keep panicking because now I can't take it back, now it's out in the world and there's no going back and they're gonna think I'm weird or they're going to be mad at me or-
Then they respond positively to the thing I wrote and I'm like, oh thank gosh, I didn't ruin everything XD
I just had an idea for a Murder Drones AU but knowing me there's a 25% chance I'd start writing it in the first place, and a 5% chance that I'd actually finish it XD
...
So all the drones are humanoid/bird/harpy-like beings that were once ruled by another species that went extinct, and the harpies have 2 sub-species. The disassembly drones are the hunter type and the worker drones are the farmer type. Others think Uzi's weird because she likes collecting bones and making potions instead of caring for plants, and N is looked down upon because he likes cute animals and flowers and-
