Link: How to turn off AI tools

Oct. 29th, 2025 10:38 pm
sonia: Quilted wall-hanging (Default)
[personal profile] sonia
Whether it's the environmental destruction, the extraction of private information into the public soup of things AI might spit out, or the fake and/or wrong answers, there are a lot of reasons to turn AI off.

Consumer Reports: How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More by Thomas Germain.

Even if you've done this already, it's worth taking a look, because the people pushing AI use trickery to keep turning it on after people wisely opt out.

It's still kind of goody-goody...

Oct. 28th, 2025 12:05 pm
chicating: I have a new dragon (Default)
[personal profile] chicating
and therefore not what the doctor(or Dan Savage, for instance) might have ordered--me over a notebook is novel like a thing that is not, clearly, no *transgressions* there, but the haunted house fiction class was a little bit better last night...

It would be a little better to watch us form into a group if there were more than two more sessions. Not that I exactly want to ponder a genre I don't really have a feel for every Monday night forever and ever, amen. But I am taking a shot and even living with not being the star in a way my fifteen-year-old self might not believe, so that is a tiny shoot of growth, even if it might not be worth the price of this thing.(Maybe the plot bunny about a haunted mall might be if I wrote it, not sure if I will. It's often hard to read a lot and write a lot at the same time, but I jotted thoughts down anyway.
Probably not taking Anne Elliot's class next month, as it is more expensive and I think I need to give extra Zoom a rest after this. But I will e-mail her if I ever get a pub date for Wedded Twist, short version. She's a great instructor/workshop leader and took a flattering interest.

(Nice smart people, nobody I even imagined sending a flirty comment to at a moment when I might imagine chemistry with damn near anybody...but it's probably okay because the closest person is in L.A. or Orange County or something and even if he were pine-worthy,(Nope, gay in a way that's easy to spot. Smart, though. Thorough reader in a way I've never quite mastered.) I think I have "Long-Distance Yearnings" fully covered anyway.

Horror fiction class tonight...

Oct. 27th, 2025 11:17 am
chicating: I have a new dragon (Default)
[personal profile] chicating
trying to pretend that an intellectual expansion makes up for my lack of passion(want a thrill, but feel so guilty...so many people have such bigger problems.) But I'm not totally wrong, right--we wouldn't have endorphins and oxytocin and stuff if we weren't all built to want to use them somewhere.

Oakland Love Life

Oct. 26th, 2025 09:13 pm
sonia: Quilted wall-hanging (Default)
[personal profile] sonia
I just learned that the city motto of Oakland is Oakland Love Life, as described on the city's website.
Love Life Acknowledgement (Abridged Version)

We acknowledge that in service to our beloved city of Oakland, and all its citizens, adhering to the city of Oakland's official motto, "Oakland Love Life" we enter into this space committed to embody love as our guiding principle.

We acknowledge Love Life as our motto as we denounce violence in all forms and the conditions that create it.

We acknowledge that when we demonstrate love, we also exhibit respect and kindness towards each other.

We commit to acts of love as an intentional force to generate tangible solutions, in regards to all of our actions.

We recognize as leaders, we must set an example and precedent for those in community who have entrusted us with these duties.

We welcome and appreciate all contributions to this space, and even when expressing disagreement, we request that we lead with love in your heart.

We seek to find common ground, and tangible solutions that demonstrate love for our city, its residents, and all constituents.

We acknowledge that when we lead with love we are able to uplift a thriving city rooted in equity, equality, justice, inclusion, and opportunity for all.

We commit to the action of "Love Life" as our motto and mantra.


Love Life Acknowledgement (long version) PDF.

I'm glad that Oakland is a Sanctuary City, and California is a Sanctuary State. I'm glad that Barbara Lee is Oakland's mayor, with her experience in national politics.

Database maintenance

Oct. 25th, 2025 08:42 am
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)
[staff profile] mark posting in [site community profile] dw_maintenance

Good morning, afternoon, and evening!

We're doing some database and other light server maintenance this weekend (upgrading the version of MySQL we use in particular, but also probably doing some CDN work.)

I expect all of this to be pretty invisible except for some small "couple of minute" blips as we switch between machines, but there's a chance you will notice something untoward. I'll keep an eye on comments as per usual.

Ta for now!

Consolation Prizes

Oct. 23rd, 2025 01:48 pm
chicating: I have a new dragon (Default)
[personal profile] chicating
(another CP I am learning too much about, being me)
Went to Big Box bookstore to hang out in the cafe, like that was the whole point of why I went, but the cafe was closed--to sit in--I still bought a muffin and Actual Mom got cheesecake with Oreo. I bought two books of women's fiction I don't really need because I have hundreds of books already, but they are Liane Moriarty and Anna Quindlen so not even *that* shallow, though I like to look good to the black guy who waits on us in there for some reason(I finished "James" yesterday, if we really knew each other, I might try to talk to him about it, but probably not in line so I am That Kind Of White Chick.)
The womanhood home game is not as consoling as it used to be, but the books do look, well, maybe not *fun*, because one is explicitly about carrying on after someone dies, but they seem like decent ways to spend time.(I miss fun. Anyone else? I hardly knew it, but I thought I'd get a chance one day.)
cupcake_goth: (Default)
[personal profile] cupcake_goth
Yesterday was Miss Erzabet No Biting's first vet appointment since right before we moved. Not only was it time, but we were hoping for information or answers about her inappropriate voiding (how the vet referred to her peeing and pooping anywhere she felt like), and (what worried me most) the very slight intermittent tremor of her head that has developed.

The vet's diagnosis, now confirmed by the blood tests: she has developed hyperthyroidism. I'm waiting on the call from the vet where he'll give me more information. I did some quick research and it looks like the two main treatments are either daily meds or having radioactive iodine injected into the thyroid, which involves a multi-day stay at the vet. I still kinda-sorta prefer that option to meds, because she isn't easy to pill. But then again, how will she react to being somewhere strange and away from me? The last time we did that (when she was at a kitty emergency place because of difficulty breathing) she refused to eat or drink, and spent two days hidden under the blanket in the cage. 

Shockingly, she was such a good girl about going to the vet! Previous trips involved her fighting being put in the carrier, peeing herself, and being completely silent and hyperventilating. There was none of that this trip! She was very vocal, but didn't sound distressed, thank goodness. It took her about three minutes of being home before she forgave me and was trying to herd me to the couch for cuddles.


cupcake_goth: (Default)
[personal profile] cupcake_goth
Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to the new Florence + the Machine album? SO MUCH I NEED IT NOW NOW NOW okay fine I'll wait for Halloween.

This weekend I did a bit of spellwork that I learned about online: wring writing. You think of a phrase that sums up something that's been troubling you or something that you want to let go, then write it over and over on a piece of paper until the paper is completely blocked out. Write the phrase on top of the phrase until individual words can't be seen. Then burn the paper, take the ashes, and put them in a jar with whatever things say "protection" to you. I used salt, cinnamon, and roses.

Let me tell you, this spell takes ENERGY. I haven't been that wiped out from a magical working in a very long time; once I was done with everything, I was hit with the shakes and had to flop for a bit. BUT, I certainly felt lighter after it. I'm going to do this with the particular phrase I settled on ("I can't ask for help") for the next few weekends.

When I told my therapist about this bit of spellwork, she was fascinated. She said she was probably going to adopt it herself, and also told me that doing it was my "therapy homework" for the week. More proof my therapist is the correct one for me.

AWS outage

Oct. 20th, 2025 10:11 am
alierak: (Default)
[personal profile] alierak posting in [site community profile] dw_maintenance
DW is seeing some issues due to today's Amazon outage. For right now it looks like the site is loading, but it may be slow. Some of our processes like notifications and journal search don't appear to be running and can't be started due to rate limiting or capacity issues. DW could go down later if Amazon isn't able to improve things soon, but our services should return to normal when Amazon has cleared up the outage.

Edit: all services are running as of 16:12 CDT, but there is definitely still a backlog of notifications to get through.

Edit 2: and at 18:20 CDT everything's been running normally for about the last hour.
sonia: Quilted wall-hanging (Default)
[personal profile] sonia


Via [personal profile] siderea, 35 min talk by Ed Yong on what it was like to report on the pandemic while valuing curiosity, empathy, and kindness, what it was like to step down from his job at the Atlantic, and what he's doing now. What an amazing human being.

Also, because my respect for Ed Yong reminds me of how I respected Ursula K Le Guin, a blog post of hers I ran across recently. A Rant About “Technology”, 2005.

Dear Yuletide Writer

Oct. 19th, 2025 06:33 pm
snacky: (Yuletide)
[personal profile] snacky
Hello, Yuletide Writer!

First things first: whatever you write for me, in any of these fandoms, I will be utterly delighted. These are faves and I love them and I will love whatever I get to read. And thanks so much for writing a story in one of these fandoms. I will just be so glad to have any story for any of the requests.

Some of this letter has been duplicated from previous years, so if you've been here before, that is why things seem familiar. :)

I am open to treats!

General stuff... )

Likes... )

Do Not Wants... )

Specific fandom details... )


I hope that helped! And honestly, no pressure to fulfill any of the specific details! Anything you want to write in any of these fandoms will be great. I'm just happy to be getting a story from you.

Thanks again and have fun!

Big love,
Snax

Dear Yuletide Writer

Oct. 19th, 2025 01:28 pm
shrift: Picture of a snowflake (snowflake)
[personal profile] shrift
Dear Yuletide Writer,

Request 1: Killjoys (TV) - Pree
Request 2: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) - Edgin Darvis, Xenk Yendar
Request 3: The Residence (US TV 2025) - Cordelia Cupp
Request 4: Murderbot (TV) - Murderbot, Dr. Mensah, Dr. Gurathin, Pin-Lee (giver's choice)
Request 5: Deadloch (TV 2023) - Abby Matsuda, Dulcie Collins, Eddie Redcliffe (giver's choice)

Details inside )

Thanks!
shrift

Links: around the world

Oct. 19th, 2025 12:18 pm
sonia: Quilted wall-hanging (Default)
[personal profile] sonia
We had a very cool summer in the Bay Area! While much of the country is baking, Berkeley is bundling up by Daniel Ekonde and Sara Martin. When the rest of the country is hotter than normal, it pulls in cool air from the Pacific and it's cold along the coast.

Seattle's Dunava, my favorite Balkan choir in the Pacific Northwest, went to Bulgaria and Serbia this year and they're writing about it on their blog. Dunava Balkan Choir blog 2025.

Via network, ran across a recommendation for FlossGrip dental floss holder from Brussels. International shipping looks affordable, not sure how, and I might try it out.

Halbuki Linguist Cooperative offers online language classes for less available languages such as Ukrainian, Quechua, Albanian, Turkish, etc. Recommended by the same friend who is writing a language learning app.

Babatunde Olatunji, Jin-Go-Lo-Ba (video, music only). Fantastic Nigerian drummer. We went to see him perform in DC when I was a kid, and I've never forgotten his gorgeously rhythmic name which sounds like a drumbeat itself, and the way the drumming filled the amphitheater and resonated in my body.

NPR Founding Mother Susan Stamberg has died by David Folkenflik. Growing up in the DC area, we heard Susan Stamberg, Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg, and Linda Wertheimer on the radio all the time. I didn't realize it was unusual to hear women announcers. My belated thanks to these pioneers who filled my childhood with their resonant kind voices.

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