Banished to the Problem Attic

It was very educational for me, not because I'm unfamiliar with AFL, but because it's very familiar and it has therefore never occurred to me that it's a particularly unique sport, or that I should question it in any way.

Commentary includes such thoughts as, 'No way that's legal? No?' and 'WHY would you bounce a ball that shape?' and 'Why is the FIELD so big?' and 'You PUNCH the ball? The ball? You PUNCH it?' and 'I don't remember from the rules, can you, can you throw people?' and 'Do they just keep playing even though that guy's knocked out?'

I had answers to all of these questions but it had never occurred to me to ask any of them.

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Anon, sincerely, as someone whose AO3 account number is 87, you are being silly.

What happened during lockdown is that AO3's traffic spiked because everyone was terrified, broke, and bored. Lots of new accounts did get made then, but I fundamentally disagree with the idea that a vast wave of n00bs-to-fandom who were very mainstream in their tastes suddenly overran everything and started behaving like bulls in a china shop.

I think a lot of people who were all-in on fandom but not that invested in AO3 decided they needed an actual account because they were now spending more time on AO3. I think a bunch of people who'd never noticed that archive-locking exists suddenly realized they were missing out on some works. I think fans who were still entrenched on FFN or Wattpad (and no, not all the fic there is bad) decided to make the jump to AO3. I think people who got bullied or stalked or who just like keeping different genres and vibes separate needed new accounts. I think a bunch of people who'd been all over fandom 20 years ago got into Heated Rivalry or whatever other latest hot fandom, came back to fandom in general, and realized they needed something more recent than Yahoo Groups.

🚨Safety Alert Australia

If you rely on a hidden phone for your safety, be aware that Australia’s new emergency warning system, AusAlert, can send alerts that override silent and “Do Not Disturb” settings.

If safe to do so, turn off any hidden device before the scheduled test and only switch it back on after the test period has ended.

that way we know we’re from tumblr without revealing anything

I’m just going to say this to strangers until i find a tumblr person

must keep reblogering!! Im going to be so suspicious if any one tells me this now!

Remember the answer is: I stole them from the president.

My parents partook in a ground search for a missing trans man today (I'm planning on joining the next. I just couldn't get the time off work on such short notice on a Friday) They told me that they were shocked that the cops really didn't care. They left the crime scene completely open for 3 days, haven't followed up on any leads, basically just took statements and left. The neighbors have footage of someone entering and leaving the house days after with a huge black garbage bag and throwing it into a trunk of a car.

They're shocked that the cops don't give a shit. I regretfully had to inform them that this is the case for literally any missing queer person, or marginalized person in general.

Here are some basic primers. If someone is wearing what look like Meta glasses, they usually have a small circular camera in the outer corners of the lenses, like the one on your phone.

I would also regularly check their own product pages so you're on top of what the models look like. They tend to have larger frames, but come in a variety of shapes and colors.

A new hobbyist developed app warns if people nearby may be wearing smart glasses, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, which stalkers and harassers have repeatedly used to film people without their knowledge or consent. The app scans for smart glasses’ distinctive Bluetooth signatures and sends a push alert if it detects a potential pair of glasses in the local area.

The American Foundation for the Blind has said that "The Ray-Ban Meta glasses are an accessibility tool only by coincidence. That makes them more affordable and, in many ways, unaware of the needs of users with reduced vision" although they do have seemingly positive views on Meta Glasses as a whole. (source 10). It also seems like their marketing push as accessibility devices began last year (source 11).

But to add even more into the nonsense, Meta is now toying around with adding a "limit" to the functionality of their glasses unless their users pay for more access (source 12). AND, as stated above, Meta has officially added facial recognition code in their glasses and only admitted it after being called out, which is basically the death of privacy as we know it (source 13, source 14, source 15). And oh look another lawsuit because of it (source 16) THAT THEY LOST (source 17)!

Long story short: I don't begrudge someone using them as a disability aid overall, but ultimately both their privacy and other people's privacy are being disregarded by Meta and that is not and should not be acceptable by any means.

I understand there is no ethical consumption under capitalism but there is a level of personal responsibility someone has to take when using them if they truly truly need them, such as opting out of sharing information, not filming strangers without permission, not posting footage of strangers online, opting out of facial recognition if possible, etc.