reach for the stars

28, they/them, low tech and library advocate apparently

[faeryeee]

thank you, marjane satrapi!

i was so sad to hear about her passing yesterday, she truly changed so many girls everywhere. rest in peace you beautiful woman

[beguilingcorpse]

[nostalgiaville]

Hey everyone!

I wanna give a big thanks to everyone that checked on my everythinggirl.com archive website: https://everything-girl.neocities.org/

This project is still a work in progress due to the large amount of lost media. So to anyone willing to contribute, I currently need your help in searching and recovering missing assets!

There's a chance they can be recovered by uncovering old browser cache. The Bearville Rewritten team made a video explaining how to recover cache from old computers containing flash files: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMttxlCYygY

There are many hub pages that are fully lost, like the Polly Pocket home pages for example. For the English site, only the Groovy Lagoon was archived For some reason I thought it wasn't saved until I discovered later on it was, I feel so dumb since the proof was in my face the whole time.

And although the pages were saved on the Spanish and French sites, they don't contain the original high quality English audio and have an updated art style.

(Please note that if you view these pages on my site, you'll find that Polly speaks English excluding the park one. This is because I edited the audio by taking the eng clips from the older (pre 2006) pages and inserting them into these newer ones. You can notice this since the lip sync doesn't match the audio, except the garden one which ended up being a perfect match.)

There's also the home page for Barbie. The one I have on my site are bits and pieces mashed together to make a semi functionable version. The different furniture and outfits are lost. Even the original pets are missing! I do have them on the home site, but they're different since I took them from the closet hub page, I chose them to be substitutes.

Copy and paste from my reddit post:

EverythingGirl was a popular 2000s girl's website that lasted from 2004 to 2014. It hosted a lot of sites from brands such as Barbie, MyScene, Polly Pocket, Pixel Chix, and more. The site had its own exclusive fairy mascot named Pippa the Digi-Pixie, whose slogan was "We've got digital games for girls today!" Like the toy brands hosted on the site, Pippa had a bunch of exclusive flash games/content. But the only difference is that they were only accessible if you made an account on the site, which sadly meant these weren't archived on the wayback machine.

From what I have researched, Here's that stuff you get when you had an account:

You could collect charms for your digital charm bracelet (from what I've heard, you could get a special one when it's your birthday). In order to obtain them, you'd had to earn points by playing games.

You could earn/raise your own pet called a "PowerPet" (not to be confused with "powerpets.com" a completely separate and unrelated Neopets-like online game). How it works is that you collect points called "Digi-Powers" by playing exclusive "Digi-Games" in "Pippa's Power Playground". Once you collect 50 Digi-Powers, you could purchase a PowerPet (I'm unsure if you could earn more than one pet or if there were any like special looking versions, like a Christmas or Valentines themed PowerPet).

Your PowerPet starts out as a square baby and as you feed it digi-powers it slowly starts to grow. You can customize your pet with different accessories called "Power Parts", and give them different hats, ears, tails, shoes/feet, face parts, hair, and more (these seems to be won through playing Digi-Games, though I'm unsure if these can also be purchased using your digi-powers). Also, your PowerPet lives in their own home called the "Powerhouse" that can be customized with different interiors. I'm unsure how many Digi-Games were made for the website, but I know for sure that there where original games like a "Pip's Digi-Power Game" (I believe Pip is Pippa's PowerPet), and branded games like "Polly Pocket Totally Bead-iful".

You could watch toy commercials at the "Digi-Channel" to earn Digi-Powers, very typical of 2000s kid websites.

I can go on and on in detail which games and assets are missing but I think you get the point. I do have some hope that these flash files can be recovered in the future, potentially an ex developer still has them in their hard drive somewhere and is willing to share them. If you have any lost assets, you can contact me through my email and socials which are listed here: https://everything-girl.neocities.org/socials

I appreciate any help, thank you!

[megthemariner]

@ryebreadgf / The Truth About Grief, Fortesa Latifi / bone deep, m.v.e / Sidewalk, Richard Silken / @fridayiminlovemp3 / 60 hours, m.v.e / @itsblackleader / Salt, Nayyirah Waheed / @heavensghost

[go-learn-esperanto]

I've recently been made aware that if you are thinking of switching to Linux or want to switch but don't know how there's a great website made just to help people migrating from Windows to Linux.

The website has a long list of supporters, so if you really know nothing and / or are afraid of trying it and messing something up you will be able to get professional help from this website.

End of 10

Extended support for Windows 10 ends in 2026. Don’t buy a new PC — revive yours with Linux. It's fast, secure, and help is available to get

There's even a list of places where you can go physically to get help. All over the world, not just in the USA by the way.

Say goodbye to Microsoft treating you like you don't own your PC. Say goodbye to intrusive features you didn't ask for. Say goodbye to ads on the OS you paid for.

Save your PCs from joining the massive amount of e-waste caused by Microsoft's unnecessary requirements.

[go-learn-esperanto]

Hey. If people aren't aware, Microsoft admitted they know who you and where you are at all times and will give your info to the police.

They have a Global Device Identifier (GDID) Tracker that functions as a fingerprint for your PC that can surpass VPNs, proxy servers and countries. Although it can't survive a clean reinstall of Windows (it can survive updates), because Microsoft forces you to go to the internet and log in into a Microsoft account, they will be able to get to you.

Microsoft kept it secret and it was only found out when the FBI tracked a hacker thanks to the information Microsoft gave them.

You should be paying attention to this, and possibly consider moving away from Windows. If a government, especially the US government, doesn't like you for some reason, this could be seriously concerning.

This article specifically notes:

For journalism, activism, or domestic abuse situations, skip Windows and use Linux routed through Tor instead of a commercial VPN. A GDID doesn’t care which VPN you use, only that it’s still the same Windows installation.

Microsoft admits Windows 11 has a GDID tracker with no off switch, first documented publicly in an FBI hacker complaint

GDID is the persistent Windows ID that helped FBI trace a Scattered Spider hacker despite VPNs. Here's how it works and how to limit it.

Other important quotes:

What has researchers uneasy is everything else the case reveals. Costin Raiu, a well-known malware researcher, asked on the Three Buddy Problem podcast how much of this exists on other platforms, and whether it is linked more permanently to hardware. Matthew Hickey, another security researcher, called Windows “surveillance software”.

Two things back that up:

There’s no consent screen. A GDID gets assigned when you sign into a Microsoft Account. Apple’s advertising identifier needs an App Tracking Transparency prompt and a visible reset; Android’s works the same way. GDID has neither, and a Windows reinstall only gets you a new number Microsoft can still get back to the same account.

Then there’s activation. Massgrave, the group behind Microsoft Activation Scripts, notes that Windows setup sends hardware info to Microsoft and gets identifiers back, the same tokens later used for Store access and licensing: “It’s impossible to prevent Windows from getting a GDID without breaking activation and UWP app[s].” Anyone who lost a license after swapping a motherboard has already met a smaller version of this.

[musterniillustrates]

i give it scant years before desktop computers come back fashion a la record players and people talk about bringing back computer rooms, not taking your computer around the house, "intentional" computing, "it's really important to take the time out and just sit with your computer and really absorb the action of computing" it will be no different from the romance and nostalgia surrounding the notion of throwing on a vinyl

[musterniillustrates]

i can feel this on the horizon it is creeping up on me on the daily

[remiliaworld]

Never forget what Matthew Mullenweg did to Predstrogen. Never forget our sisters vanishing faster and faster, while staff jumps between denying and admitting it was them.

[doesnotloveyou]

Writing a fic set in the 80s–90s and remembering the comfort of turning the tv on in the middle of the night when you were too depressed to sleep or think and just watching whatever was on. Streaming sucks at replicating the noise of a box tv at low volume playing mind numbing content the moment you turn it on. Channel surfing was easy when you felt nothing inside and your head was groggy. You didn't have to choose from 1000 options with 1mil micro options, or answer surveys, or sign in, or hit "skip" when an algorithm chose another thing exactly like what you just barely watched. all the annoying little popups modern services harrass us with weren't there bc at 4am on a summer night you couldn't be bothered to click all that crap. You just turned on the noise box, laid on the couch, and fell back asleep.

and you didn't need an internet connection, and if you used antenna, you didn't even need to PAY for tv at ALL

[ostolero]

young old person tip for you all. go get some photos printed (pauses so someone can say bogos binted) and fill out a physical album

[sayaratyriea]

and annotate them with who is in the photos and when and where the photos were taken!!! your extended family 50 years from now will be grateful, and so will you if you end up forgetting any details

[mortimermcmirestinks]

(sprints into room late, looking harried and frantic as fuck) bogos binted. did I miss it

[novelconcepts]

Hey, man, c'mere. Listen. Get in real close, this is important.

You're gonna make stuff again. You're gonna make stuff you're proud of. You're gonna make stuff you're excited to share. You're going to feel that overwhelming drive to create, not just the frantic I want to want to you're stuck in now. You're going to have awesome ideas, and you're going to make them into reality. You're going to create again. You're still an artist. You're still a writer. You're still home to the same passion you had before. You'll find it again. It's not gone. It's just resting. Let it rest. You're going to make stuff again. I promise.

[hawlucha]

With a heavy heart, I come to you all with the news announced by close friends of Cat Frazier that she had passed away on Monday, June 29.

She had been running @animatedtext since 2012, with her impact on the internet SHAPING tumblr. If you have a years long history on this site, you’ve seen her art.

She ran a venue in Oakland called Oakland Secret, a punk venue where I’d vend at regularly as an artist. She made a safe space for queer artists, artists of color, and local furs too. I am forever grateful for her work both in the Bay Area creative scene and online, and am forever changed by the totality of her impact.

I’ll be linking some articles from the 2010’s about her impact online: The Fader | Action | Jezebel | ObviouslySocial

I invite you to take a visit through her archive, and if you have a long history with this site like I do, it’s like walking down memory lane. (open link in browser)

[gailynovelry]

The fastest way to accomplish The Project is to cease being afraid of The Project. The Project cannot maim you. The Project cannot kill you. The Project is more afraid of you than you are of it. It is okay if The Project turns out differently from how it was in your head, and it is okay if it has flaws. You are capable of engaging with The Project.

[the-spoopy-ghost-of-raejin99]

[ivy-michaels]

I think the murder of physical media is part of what’s responsible for people becoming incapable of explaining the premise of a movie.

[foone]

how do you figure?

[annarcana]

The medium is the message.

In the world of disposable "content", the message too becomes disposable.

Platforms churn out millions of hours of video with zero fanfare, zero promotion, and frequently arbitrary windows of availability.

They just throw it away, all the time. Logged on to Tubi the other day, and apparently all the Fox deals ran out, so half the content is just gone now. Disney is the largest corporation on the planet, but God forbid they have to pay a dime to preserve their own content libraries.

If one of the richest entities on the planet didn't care enough to keep it, why waste space in my precious memories, or even pay more than fleeting attention to it?

If you make trash, then treat it like trash, then the audience is going to file its contents directly to waste.

[maightymai]

HEYY THE ZINE IS OUT NOWWW GO CHECK IT OUT NOOWWWW @chaosquillcollection https://chaosquillcollection.itch.io/future-with-you its FREE TO DOWNLOAD CEHKC IT OUTTT GOG GO GOGOG also check the podfics folder bc some amazing people VOICED this comic whwowoowowkoajojaspofja ok about the comic, er... well maybe ill come back wiht mroe thoughts later

[lightshadowverisimilitude]

Waymo Takes Revenge, Dropping Drunk Teens Directly Into Squad of Cops

A Waymo vehicle delivered two 15-year-olds, who were drinking alcohol and shooting small water beads out of the car, straight to police.

I'm sure it's totally fine and normal and great that the taxi spies on you and will just deliver you directly to the police :)

This definitely can't be something that would be used in an abusive or arbitrary way :)

Law enforcement for sure wouldn't abuse something like this :)

[puipui-official]

This was predicted in 2015

One Star

I got into the passenger seat. There wasn't a driver seat. But after two turns, something felt wrong: the self-driving Taxy was heading the

[doyoulovethewayzeylily]

just off the top of my head, this has been a common scifi trope since at least the 90s. pretty easy to predict

[saxifraga-x-urbium]

GitHub - zoicware/RemoveWindowsAI: Force Remove Copilot, Recall and More in Windows 11

Force Remove Copilot, Recall and More in Windows 11 - zoicware/RemoveWindowsAI

[creechie]

How do I... use this? I don't know what to do ;-;

[the-future-is-chrome]

here’s a youtube tutorial by the guy who made it