Kit

"What if Stratt didn't force Grace to go?" Then the Earth dies.

"What if Yao and Ilyukhina had survived?" Then they all would have died in space, not enough food to get to Earth or Erid

If the Taomoeba hadn't escaped then Grace would have never seen his best friend again. Returning to a world he loves but no longer recognizes.

If the stars weren't dying then Grace never would have met his best friend at all. Living content but alone.

Project Hail Mary is a hopeful story. It is a story of friendship and what it means to be brave. It's a story about saving the world.

Rest in peace to the incredible Anthony Stewart Head (20th February 1954 - 1st June 2026)

Huh. A generational divide.

Like, I don't actually mind watching videos if I know what the video is about and I want to watch it and I have the time to do so. If a friend sends me a video and describes it, I can then watch the video if it appeals to me.

But I have a hard time processing audio and visual at the same time. It's why I watch EVERYTHING with subtitles, because it's the only way I'll be able to understand everything. And a LOT, dare I say MOST, videos people make either don't have captions, or the captions are "auto" added by some kind of algorithm, and aren't correct. I'm 100% guilty of this! But most of my videos are cute animal videos that don't have audio words that matter. It's different when it's, like, an instructional video that is trying to explain something, and I need to know what's going on and the only way to do that is to watch/listen at the same time.

I also don't have a huge amount of spare time that I'm not doing or supposed to be doing or about to be doing something else in. I don't scroll algorithmic content out of boredom. I don't trawl the internet for videos. I follow like 30 accounts on tumblr, and at least a third of them are secondary accounts for the others, and some of them literally post maybe once a month, some less. That's all I have time for keeping track of. Most of the 'stuff I'm doing online' is research or learning, and I want to be able to skim to see what's there, to know if it is going to be worth my time to slow down and carefully read. With how search results are these days, half the links I click are garbage and a quick scan of the page can mean a huge difference in wasted time. I can't quick scan a video to find out if I'm about to waste the next 10 minutes of my life watching it through or not, I just have to waste the time and be mad about it after. And instead of doing that, I will simply not watch the video.

With videos, sure there are some things that are better or only able to be shown properly on video (a good example, I think, would be something like learning sign language... actually seeing someone do the motions is way easier than reading text describing hand motions. I've done instructional videos on how to ear tag mice and how to gavage feed peafowl and how to clip a chicken's beak, where describing the motions may not necessarily make sense.... but in those cases having a text description AND the video is still best). But if it's something that doesn't NEED to be a video-only thing, but someone made it a video, and I don't understand something, then I'm stuck rewinding over and over again, trying to get to the right spot. And "rewind" functions on internet videos are atrocious, if you've ever tried to use them there's no precision to it. So if (WHEN) I rewind a few seconds too far back, my brain immediately goes "whoops too far we know this part skip it" and half the time only tunes back to focus after what I needed to hear already passed. Which means i miss it. Again. And again. and again. And then I get frustrated at having to deal with a video. If it was just fucking WORDS on the PAGE, I could re-read it until I get it.

And that kind of experience isn't necessarily generational. It's probably /correlated/ because folks my age and older didn't grow up with endless video feeds from around the world. Instructions were printed where we could read them so that's how our brains got wired to absorb info. But someone with audio processing issues like me, or that is deaf/HoH, isn't necessarily old. Someone that is blind or has tracking issues or attention issues or can't read or whatever that makes watching videos easier for them isn't necessarily young. And people with just general preferences can fall into any generation.

so like two decades after launch, stratt gets a call that's just grace being like

debates i didn't know existed + a very humorous distinction

hostiles = antagonists that Murderbot is worried about 😳

1. The court holds Google responsible for statements made by its AI, considering them Google's statements (search engines have limited liability for results in their engine as they're the words of other sites/companies/people), meaning when their AI lies/hallucinates they're liable for the defamation/harm resulting from those statements.

2. Google's defense that customers are generally aware of the lack of reliability and are responsible for fact checking was dismissed. As the court pointed out, that would "significantly diminish" AI Search's stated purpose and it can't be distinguished from Google's business practices/statements as a search tool.

3. Studies have found about 91% of Google's everyday AI responses are accurate, leaving millions of searches per HOUR with potential liability for falsehoods. 56% of correct responses weren't supported by the sources the AI listed. Both of which mean Google is now liable for a LOT more AI "errors."

4. Google was held liable for 80% of court costs in this case and this precedent is expected to reverberate around the world. This is a massive shift from the 3rd-party search provider role Google has previously played and it comes right as they've tied ALL searches to their AI search.

What if Grace made a lopsided crochet Rocky and cuddled it every night.

What if Rocky couldn’t stop making xenonite puppets of his alien friend.

I feel like a certain amount of queer persons have fallen for the propaganda that our existence is inherently sexual, so anything that is even remotely sexual (as identified by a needlessly puritanical culture) is factually for sexual gratification in some way.

One of our event coordinators wants to do a live art session with nude models that are trans, and I was explaining to a friend that the hard part was finding a venue willing to host it. She assumed that the person coordinating was going to be a model and that this was an exhibitionist thing.

Like ... no? He's a talented artist who wants to give opportunities to trans persons.

People think our nature programs are about hookup culture. I would simply like a group of birders that is not going to put me in exile for mentioning my wife.

The bellydancing is not about sex. It is just fun for me. I enjoy it in a nonsexual way. And also like... if it was, would it be hurting anyone?

okay so recently a friend i'd initially introduced myself to under my deadname connected me with a friend of theirs who's going to be living in the same area as me a few months from now. now, my friend introduced themselves to me by a chosen name, and i believe their friend goes by a chosen name as well. however, while my friend is aware of my own chosen name, they haven't directly referred to me in long enough that if they were to do so, i'm not sure which name they would use for me (deadname or chosen name). additionally, i've yet to try out my chosen name irl, and so far i've only been using it online. and on top of that, i'm living with my brother, who i'm closeted to.

i'm aware this is a really stupid question but i'm unsure whether or not to introduce myself to my friend's friend with my chosen name (which i haven't even worked up the nerve to get the irl friends i already have to call me) or my deadname (safety reasons, don't have to deal with the anxiety of it all, etc)

so, should i use my chosen name, my deadname, or do some secret third option ??

chosen name

deadname

nuance / both ??

okay so recently a friend i'd initially introduced myself to under my deadname connected me with a friend of theirs who's going to be living in the same area as me a few months from now. now, my friend introduced themselves to me by a chosen name, and i believe their friend goes by a chosen name as well. however, while my friend is aware of my own chosen name, they haven't directly referred to me in long enough that if they were to do so, i'm not sure which name they would use for me (deadname or chosen name). additionally, i've yet to try out my chosen name irl, and so far i've only been using it online. and on top of that, i'm living with my brother, who i'm closeted to.

i'm aware this is a really stupid question but i'm unsure whether or not to introduce myself to my friend's friend with my chosen name (which i haven't even worked up the nerve to get the irl friends i already have to call me) or my deadname (safety reasons, don't have to deal with the anxiety of it all, etc)

so, should i use my chosen name, my deadname, or do some secret third option ??

chosen name

deadname

nuance / both ??