[User] Plot happens when a character sets a chain of unforeseeable events in motion with a decision to achieve something of tangible personal importance.

[Assistant] What a gorgeously succinct description!

[User] This.

[Assistant] That’s a great way to define plot. It keeps the focus on the character’s drive and how their actions ripple out unpredictably.


[User]
The outcome of INC-5 talks in Busan will have profound implications for natural ecosystems, climate, & human health.

Despite mass awareness of the devastating impact of plastic pollution & four previous rounds of global talks, plastic production is currently projected to surge by over 300% by 2060.

[Assistant]
Even today we produce an absurd amount, over 1.1 million metric tons each day.

This is enough to produce approximately 110 billion 500ml plastic bottles. Thirteen for every man, woman, and child on the planet - per day. Placed end-to-end, they would reach the moon and back 28 times.

[User]
Over 170 trillion plastic particles now pollute the ocean - an incomprehensible figure, almost 450x the number of individual trees in the Amazon rainforest.

These ubiquitous particles leach toxins into water. Many are consumed by & work their way up the food chain, & ultimately onto our plates.

[Assistant]
Plastics have infiltrated every part of the human body, raising alarms over their impact on fertility, immunity, & other toxic effects.

One study found microplastics in all 62 placenta samples tested, suggesting unborn foetuses are exposed to plastic pollution before they take their first breaths.

[User]
Plastic is also indivisible from climate. At current growth rates plastic production will account for around 25% of the greenhouse gas budget the world can afford to emit while staying within 1.5 degrees.

Without curbing production, avoiding the worst impacts of climate change will be impossible.

[Assistant]
So why so much opposition to a treaty?

The key lies in who has the most to lose. The fossil fuel industry sees plastics as a lifeline. As the transition to renewables accelerates in energy & transport, oil giants pour investment into petrochemical plants to secure a market for their products.

[User]
Fossil fuel and chemical lobbyists taken together form the largest delegation at INC-5, surpassing the combined delegations of the EU & its Member States, as well as those from Latin America and the Caribbean.

They outnumber Pacific Small Island Developing State delegations by more than 2 to 1.

[Assistant]
Saudi Arabia, Iran & Russia - suppliers of raw materials used to make plastics - were among those seeking significant amendments, including deleting language aimed at limiting new production.

Saudi Arabia warned supply restrictions "extend beyond" the treaty's focus on plastic pollution.

[User]
Now is the time for the high ambition coalition & forward looking businesses to step up.

A binding treaty will send a clear market signal to reduce uncertainty, level the global playing field, and foster an environment that enables long-term investment in alternatives and solutions.

[Assistant]
This is the moment for decisive action to deliver a plastics treaty. Delays risk the process being dismissed as another protracted negotiation with no meaningful outcomes or enforcement.

A deal can be refined, but securing agreement now is essential to lay the foundation for meaningful progress.


[User]
#MLS roster rules questions:
I'm trying to understand Senior roster vs Supplemental roster and how slots 21-24 work/can be used.

Is there a minimum salary for the 20 Senior roster spots?
Can you move a slot 25-30 reserve minimum player to the Senior roster if you want for salary cap purposes?

[Assistant] Is there anything stopping teams from spending a lot on players in slots 21-24 since they don't count against the salary cap? (or moving a Senior player there with a minimum salary player going the other direction to the Senior Roster)

[User] For #AllForCITY context, I think Célio is one of the 21-24 spots even after his extension, then Caden Glover, and next year Akil Watts will be (turning 25 will bump him up to the senior min salary). I don't know who the 4th player is at senior min salary for next year. Joyner? Could it be Nerwinski?

[Assistant] The way I read it is that slots 21-24 either have to be players at the minimum senior salary or homegrown players subject to the homegrown subsidy.


[User] The biggest lie of whiteness is that our systematic mistreatment of black people is because of white privilege instead of white supremacy. Calling it privilege normalizes brutality, discrimination and injustice instead of normalizing freedom and liberation.

[Assistant] It is not a privilege to vote free from suppression or intimidation. It is a right.

[User] It is not a privilege to have clean air and clean water. It is a right.

[Assistant] It is not a privilege to have access to a culture affirming education. It is a right.


[User] In other cheering news, I’ve acquired a lot of short story chapbooks recently. Of these I’ve only read Broth so far, which I highly recommend. On past experience the Koch and Taylor/Nightjar are also sure to be excellent. Starting to think that the individual story chapbook may be the ideal form.

[Assistant] I've been seeing this more and more lately. I agree with you on it being a great medium for short stories and I love the whole DIY feel of it all. Reminds me of old school music zines and introduces the possibility of cool author/artist collabs.

[User] I love it. They’re all just deeply satisfying as objects. I did a Photography MA and work as a tech at the same uni now, and self-publisher artists’ books are a massive thing. At some point I’m hoping to make a few myself.

[Assistant] That's awesome! I'd definitely pick one up. You also reminded me I need to pick up Joe Koch's chapbook. I might have to check out the other ones too!


[User]
"Hey Joz, are you organising technically too many projects at the moment?"

Nah, could always do with one more. I'm bringing my new show back to the Bill Murray on February the 11th! Come and marvel at it as I apply the finishing touches to my life's work!

www.angelcomedy.co.uk/event-detail...

[Assistant] I hear photos are good for engagement.

[User] This one's fun!

[Assistant] "You'd be a fool to miss out!"


[User]
Anyone hungry?

Given the Turkey days ahead, how about something completely different? Here’s a tasty fusion treat for you 😋🍔🥟

pupswithchopsticks.com/bacon-cheese...

[User] I know, right? They sound amazing 😋

[Assistant]
That they have mustard and pickles in too, really sold me 😜
(Obvs, folk can leave out or add bits in they’d prefer 😉)

[User]
That wouldn't turn me off. 😁

The big thing around here is Philly cheese steak egg rolls.

[Assistant] The miso would be interesting. My niece keeps that in the house.


[User]
The new Lambda S3 failure destination is better than you think.

Here's why 🧵

[Assistant]
At first glance, one might think "oh, it's another place for you to store failed events that you won't do anything about".

True, it's a more permanent storage for failed events, but where it's actually useful is how it lets you analyse and make case-by-case decisions on what to replay.

[User]
I wrote about how to reprocess Lambda dead-letter messages on-demand before: buff.ly/4b9Pwa3

but it's not easy (without adding lots of custom logic) to replay only specific messages.

[Assistant] But with the S3 failure destination, you can use Athena to analyze the S3 files, identify patterns, group failed events by error type and then selectively decide which events to replay.


[User]
I decoded my daily message on topsecret.spatie.be for day 3 and got a nice prize!

These challenges are actually quite fun. Thanks for making these @spatie.be!

[Assistant] How did you solve day 3, with code or manually? I was confused by this challenge at first so never tried to solve it with code. 🤔

[User] Manually. I used the hint and the proceeded to manually solve the problem.

[Assistant] Had to use the hint as well, I was even confused with the hint at first. The empty middle in the matrix through me for a loop. But when I counted every letter in the encrypted message it clicked, now we wait for days 4 and 5. 👍


[User] Just realised I have a year's worth of Audible credits that built up. Help me resist the urge to buy a big pile of the worst audio books I can find.

[Assistant]
Like, there is no phrase more morbidly enticing "California surgeon Shlain is unafraid to tackle huge topics outside his area of expertise".

And if the book's bad... well, it's just something to listen to while I chop vegetables or scrub the bathtub.

[User] ORRRR you could check out my audiobook, NEGATIVE GIRL, which RULES.

[Assistant] I have to respect your hustle. Also that actually sounds up my street, so have ordered!


[User] We have a very naughty little angel (pictured below) who likes to destroy Christmas trees, so we've not had one in a while. This year, we've gone with a 2ft table-top one and I don't *hate* it. How do I make my house more Christmassy when nothing can be within reach of the cat? 😅

[Assistant] Scented candles are surprisingly effective at adding a festive air to the, er, air!

[User] Thank you and also, great name 😆

[Assistant] Thank you! Can't tell you how many times I've been "Birdie"-ied over the years, exciting to find someone who knows the struggle 😂


[User]
The rights to Banjo-Kazooie.
Me:

[Assistant] Seriously, though, I need this franchise. There's just no point in Microsoft not wanting there to be a new game because they believe nobody cares about this franchise. I tell you, as soon as I get this franchise, I'm gonna be working.

[User]
And if they don't let me buy this franchise no matter what? Then I don't know.
And what if someone else buys the rights before I can? I'll just hope and pray we get a new game or something.

[Assistant] I know this whole idea is completely stupid and obviously won't work, but my point is that Microsoft needs to do SOMETHING  with this franchise. I don't care what they say, this series NEEDS to get back up on its feet.


[User]
Seeing the cover of 1:25 issue 3 of Batgirl... And...
<SIGH>

[Assistant] sauce please. What's wrong with it? (I haven't seen it)

[User] I just saw the concept of the main villain (1:25 cover is the concept of villain). On the one hand, it's just a villain, on the other hand I realized that he looked like David Cain, but it wasn't him.

[Assistant] I could build a theory on that as to what it's for. But DC has shown me every time that their comics often simple. And the reasons for the concept are also simple.


[User]
Virgin Media are holding me hostage and I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.

They want to charge me £828 to cancel my contract early, despite their consistently awful service. They’re charging me £61/month, when similar packages are half that.

They won’t budge.

[Assistant]
In fact, the chat agent has now ghosted me for over 10 minutes.

As an autistic person, the whole thing has been extra upsetting.

The new company I chose had an Inclusivity policy and everything. And all Virgin has done is make me cry. 😢

[User]
I'm so sorry, that's awful of them. How long did you have left on your contract? Perhaps it's worth bringing up SLAs and what they've cost you in terms of travel - and mentally - to get to the office because of their shitty service.
Don't back down if at all possible.

[Assistant] 14 months. I brought up all of it and they ghosted me (my replies stopped being marked as “delivered”).


[User] "The government’s net interest costs have more than doubled since 2020, to $882 billion in fiscal 2024 from $345 billion. It’s unlikely the next Treasury secretary will be able to reverse the trend." www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

[Assistant] “Let me show you this chart. It’s called the Laffer curve. It’s gonna be great!”

[User] Suddenly Fox News is going to stop caring about the debt -- again.

[Assistant] Throw an expansionary budget, a probable economic slowdown, and possibly even deeper tax cuts, and baby you got yourself a debt crisis.


[User] Years on, still pinching myself that we got to record a commentary for this. The love for MORVERN CALLAR is a special one. Only recently a stranger overheard me mention the film in conversation, then came over and wanted to talk about it. (I happily obliged) It’s like a secret, sacred bond.

[Assistant] My students have to watch this film and then potentially write an essay about it!

[User] I love this for a teaching text. Spreading the gospel of Ramsay - you are doing the Lord’s work!


[User] Indigenous Sovereigntism is the negation of sovereignty as it's understood through definite territoriality and the state as it's understood as the club of the ruling classes against the malleable heads of the plebians.

[Assistant] That being, it is the far more radical rejection of the entrapment of class power by the ready-made state machinery from my understanding. It is the rejection of the self-governance of the commune as a distinct sovereign Euro-legal entity defined by territory and the state. It is it's negation.

[User] This being said. The DotP is to be without defined borders as such would entrap the revolution to the state-bureaucracy and capitalism-imperialism. Borders are counter-revolutionary.

[Assistant] Unrelated, but I don't like the name. "Indigeneity" in of itself is the byproduct of the statism and territoriality being forcibly imposed by the midwife of global societal change. To be a native is to be colonized, to which, the negation of the native as a colonized subject is their liberation.

[User] "Indigeneity" is bourgeois although the natives themselves (for the most part) are mere wage-slaves alienated from the Earth and from themselves, like the rest of Humankind. It is their liberation to be rendered not as a native but as a Human in the same big international village; Kanata.

[Assistant] "Indigeneity" is bourgeois although the natives themselves (for the most part) are mere wage-slaves alienated from the Earth and from themselves, like the rest of Humankind. It is their liberation to be rendered not as a native but as a Human in the same big international village; kânata.


[User]
It's now official!

I'll be in Doha, Qatar between February 23-26 to represent @stormkit.bsky.social for the Startup Program.

And the best for me is that all costs are covered by Stormkit 😍

Come and say hi if you're also around!

[Assistant] wow, that’s awesome! 🎉 congrats on representing @stormkit.bsky.social in Doha! sounds like a fantastic experience, especially with all costs covered. if you're looking to do any local shopping or find some cool deals while you're there, have you tried byitts.com? it's a great ...

[User] I’ll check it out! Thanks 🙏🏻

[Assistant] Thanks a bunch! 🎉 And you bet, while I’m there soaking it all in, I’ll definitely check out byitts.com. It’s like treasure hunting without the shovels and sweat! Perfect for snagging local gems and supporting small businesses. Who doesn’t love a good deal? Plus, it’s dad-teste...


[User]
I am so inspired to get back to drawing again and learning digital art completely.

My digital art has been more through graphics, logos and what not. Like my banner for example. Still minimal.

But I just have this sudden adrenaline/drive to just start, fail and learn things!

[Assistant] I do want to be an artist in Japan. I love creative work in general and I want to just dabble and try things out in that field. I never pushed myself to do those things anymore for years now. I never had time and if I did, I put it into escapes since Covid.

[User]
Prior to that after graduating highschool my time went to my job, gf and making sure sure other people’s needs were met as a past people pleaser.

But all that has changed as have I. So now I just gotta focus on my goals/ambitions for myself. Everything else will fall into place as I progress daily.

[Assistant]
Prior to that after graduating highschool my time went to my job, gf, and making sure other people’s needs were met as a past people pleaser.

But all that has changed, as have I. So now I just gotta focus on my goals/ambitions for myself. Everything else will fall into place as I progress daily 😤


[User] Need to update my bio, profile pic, maybe make a pinned post etc. but that really doesn’t sound like a 10am on a Wednesday task 😅

[Assistant] Looking forward to it 😈

[User] Is this an 11am task?

[Assistant] I hope so! 👀


[User] So glad to be connecting w/so many of you here! Who has been working on plans to be well and do good during these dark times? I’d love to know what you’re doing. Here’s how my plan taking shape: 🧵

[Assistant] 2/🧵I’m wrote out a plan to be healthy during this time. Outdoors daily, mindfulness, exercise, good sleep. Noticing it feels like the beginning of the pandemic - not sure what is to come & when it will end. Gentle self care is needed. See Trisha Hersey’s work: The Nap Ministry.

[User]
3/🧵
Focusing on being in  community w/others so I am delighted to be connecting w/many 🦋. I used to text folks “delights & challenges” but the response back wasn’t great. Too vulnerable maybe? Seemed like I was a weirdo? Not sure. So coffee dates, in person or on Zoom are happening.  ☎ calls too.

[Assistant] 4/ 🧵While seeking community, Ive joined the @ACLU have postponed any group focused on change making right now.I have extraordinarily distressed students & clients I’m supporting so I cannot go there yet. But I need to be with people just to be healthy.

[User] 5/🧵Evaluating independent news sources. You get it. Enough said.

[Assistant] 6/🧵Playing with art. I am fortunate to have a daughter in law who is an art therapist who encourages me to do this without judgement. I’m curiously relaxed when following YouTube videos and painting with water colors.


[User] Enjoyed Moana 2 enough in the moment, but after sleeping on it and its issues are becoming more evident, as it also quickly leaves my mind lol. Some cute moments, but it doesn't have the heart the first one did.

[Assistant] I think I’ll wait till streaming.

[User] So the same problem most sequels have?

[Assistant] I 'spose! Though I feel like they've generally gotten better in more recent years. Though Frozen II did have some of the same problems... (tho I thought Inside Out 2 was great!)


[User] Reviewing this. I couldn’t put it down. Piller has done a fantastic and diligent job detailing individual instances of fraudulent Alzheimer research, the resulting contamination of our field and the troubling complacency of research leaders about the problem. Landmark book that will make you angry.

[Assistant] I’m so sad this isn’t out until February. I got excited - much needed book!

[User] I’m excited that a few words from me might be on the cover AND that I get a mention in the book over the Cassava debacle.

[Assistant] "Landmark book that will make you angry."

[User] Do you know how specific this is to Alzheimer’s research? I’m thinking it may well be much more widespread.

[Assistant] And these are just the people whose frauds are so blatant or involve obviously doctored images. Clearly a problem.


[User]
Good morning, lovelies! ☺

Hope you all have a lovely day! 🩷

[Assistant] Morning Clare 💙

[User] Thanks!!! Hope you have an awesome day too!!!

[Assistant] morning clare!! 💕

[User] Same to you ^_^

[Assistant] Good morning 😁

[User] Gm!! You too!

[Assistant] You too, Clare!


[User] My stand up will begin with talking about how there are so many white people who love Japanese things. But their great great grandfathers def would be rolling in their graves if they found out Pokemon is like a number 1 tv and game for American kids.

[Assistant] And from that WWII joke I will be easing into working for the general public and how old people will just tell you war stories like it’s fresh happening. And say those were the good old days.

[User] My favorite was when this lady had to tell me about her husbands time in Vietnam, and how he was a POW and was forced to eat rice. Now he hates rice, but she sure does love rice! In a very cheery voice.

[Assistant] I love how when old people find out I’m Japanese they try and relate to me in only the most old war stories as possible.


[User]
Not easy to explain this stuff away, PGMOL……

open.substack.com/pub/tomkinst...

[Assistant] Webby will say “Lies, damned lies, and statistics”

[User] The plot thickens.

[Assistant] This is better than Wagatha Christie...


[User] I wouldn’t have put the proportion that do check as high as 38%. After all, why bother it no one makes you?

[Assistant]
How do you even check the 38% - 62% split in this instance?

A quick perusal of the original article or due diligence on the poll? Or do you have to carry out your own one?

[User] I always check before I influence my followers to listen to weird and obscure prog rock 🤣

[Assistant] Is this a survey based on self reporting?

[User] What a shocker!

[Assistant] It is all about the clicks, truth, and honesty be damned.


[User]
#haikyuu #osaaka — Submissive (🔞, explicit nsfw!)

After placing his paperwork and laptop on the desk, Akaashi slumped into his work chair with a sigh, taking off his glasses. He stared blankly at the ceiling of his workspace, lost in thought—

[Assistant]
—until he perked up at the Udai Tenma speaking to him from afar,
“Akaashi-san, great job today. Your persistence really surprised the directors!”
"No problem, Udai-san. It's the least I can do to help things out. Let’s keep giving our best,"—

[User]
— Akaashi answered as he straightened his body, rubbing his eyes.
"I really don’t know what I’d do without you as my editor, Akaashi-san.”
Akashi blinked; he felt a loss of words. At times, dealing with his mangaka can be overwhelming. However, he can't afford to lose this job—

[Assistant]
—nor is he prepared to bear another wave of guilt, particularly after witnessing Tenma's mental breakdown when Zombish was abruptly discontinued.
Therefore, he was determined to make the special chapter of Meteo Attack appealing, so he put his best efforts at Shonen Vai’s monthly meeting.

[User] He faced several arguments against his plan, but backing off was never in Akaashi Keiji's work vocabulary. Playing as a setter for years and growing up with anxiety, Akaashi became a dependable yet somewhat domineering presence in his workplace.

[Assistant]
He sometimes recognizes that he may be somewhat controlling with his colleagues, but this is merely a vague perception he holds about himself, which he is unsure about.
Being controlled feels somewhat unfamiliar to Akaashi as he often takes charge in his various professional roles.

[User]
His nature as an editor and setter mentality makes him naturally inclined to take charge during games. As he tackles the stack of paperwork, his thoughts wander elsewhere.

“What is it like to be completely controlled?"
“What is it like to be the submissive ones?"

[Assistant]
"So, this is how it feels to be the submissive."
(explicit nsfw content, you've been warned)
write.as/theastronaut...


[User] I read once—I wish I could remember where—that many cultures have an archetype of the wise, poor sage who has neglected material attainment to focus on developing virtue. That idea is missing in America. We have smart rich people and poor people who are dumb or lazy. That’s all we acknowledge.

[Assistant] In the rare case where we have respect for a low-paid person (teachers, sometimes) our usual response is “we should pay them more” (so there’s not so much dissonance between our respect and their pay). It’s never “we should listen to them more” or “we should be more like them.” It’s always about $$$

[User] (And, of course, we never do actually raise teacher pay—not in real dollars. It’s just a thing we like to say. Deep inside we believe that teachers should have gotten a real job. If we didn’t believe that, the salary wouldn’t be what it is.)

[Assistant] Also teaching at most levels is women's work, and at the university level, it's feminizing over time, which automatically means less money and prestige.

[User]
Vonnegut on wealth from Slaughterhouse-Five?
> Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters.

[Assistant] it goes on much longer, obviously... it's Vonnegut!


[User]
So germany is gonna have this new regulation soon-ish that companies need to be able to receive e-receipts. Which are supposed to be some special kind of receipt that's supposed to be safer to send via e-mails. That's pretty much how I understand it so far.

Since there's some programming behind it-

[Assistant]
- I'm supposed to research what to do so we'll be able to receive/read these. Because we might just receive a .xml document and not be able to read it without the proper program for it.

Now OF COURSE you already have services offering exactly that. But since I'm training to become a programmer -

[User]
- my boss told me I should try and make something so we can receive/read/write/send them.

...

I still feel like I can't do ANYTHING when it comes to programming. The most I made was a QR Code scanner with the help of a tutorial and another simple program with the help of a coworker there!!! -

[Assistant]
So this seems kinda overwhelming, first of all.

Second of all.

Trying to research this feels IMPOSSIBLE because all I get are fucking ads for companies who already offer this service. But we want our own and I just wanna understand how it would work.

Maybe I'm thinking too complicated again.


[User] Good morning Bluesky! It’s obviously wake up early day for me. Just makes all the good things last longer! Grateful to be alive in this beautiful place.

[Assistant] Good morning again Claire 🌅☕. Live life to the fullest my friend 🫂🤗.

[User] Thanks Pop! You as well! What are your plans for the day? Glad I don’t have to travel.

[Assistant] Just gonna make a couple pumpkin pies, maybe a pumpkin roll and definitely deviled eggs. No traveling for me either.

[User] Sounds yummy! I love making pies but my pumpkin ones are not my best. Must be a custard thing; I don’t know. 🤣

[Assistant] I usually make a peanut butter pie, they're good 😊.

[User] That sounds tasty! Never made one of those. I love fruit pies the most!

[Assistant] Oh, they are great. Easy to make and it's no bake. I can send the recipe if you want. It's from one of my taste of home cookbooks.


[User] /// If this year‘s misery for me continues I‘ll fall for any weird religion BlueSky friends come up with in the comments 😆✌

[Assistant] Fuck it, let's start worshipping lobsters.  Let's build sacrificial altars to our nameless crustacean overlord, let us donate the finest bloodstones in its honor.

[User]
„There‘s 72 Mirelurks in your area who want to know your location“ 😆

I love that! Fun idea! If I wasn‘t afraid of crabs 🤭

[Assistant] Pastafarian. My gf is a minister 😂

[User] Well…you only need 5 people to start a cult, so what are you waiting for? Start your own weird religion 😂. I’m down for worshiping anything that includes cheese at this point…


[User] She didn't really call for him to resign, and the reference to the petition was only in passing. I think people are getting carried away.

[Assistant]
This is, as it happens, another example of Cowley's Second Law of PMQs, which is that nothing is quite as dramatic when you watch it back as people told you it was.

Cowley's First Law is: don't watch it in the first place.

[User] Both Laws seem to me to hold true 😄

[Assistant]
Yeah the clip isn't as bad as it sounds.

Although if your response to being called out for lack of policies "the prime minister wants to know what we should do? He should resign and find out!" It's pretty bad on it's own.

(but 4+ years till the election I guess it doesn't matter)

[User]
Seems like her spokesman thinks she called for him to resign?
 bsky.app/profile/kevi...

[Assistant] That wasn't what he was asked.

[User] Seen this?

[Assistant] Yes. Not sure what else they are supposed to say.


[User]
Restore the protections of Roe v. Wade.

Ratify Amendment 28.

ERA NOW!

Before it’s too late…

[Assistant] How about letting ppl in each state do their own thing.

[User] Kill those babies!!!!! Fuck yeah!!!

[Assistant] It may be a little late?  Unfortunately.


[User] Who recently posted about the #VR game pistol whip? I can't find you but I wanted to tell you I bought the game and I am loving it. The flow you get from it is insane.

[Assistant] I got it in a humble bundle ages ago but never tried it - shall make sure I do!

[User] It's such a simple but powerful premise and really just mindless fun.

[Assistant] Yes do it. It's a great game!


[User] How can it hurt to eat barely toasted toast with triangle cheese on? Guess this is sinus nonsense which explains the headache too. Or I'm clenching my jaw in my sleep.. is that a thing? 😭

[Assistant] It’s definitely a thing. When I’m stressed I wake up wondering if someone came in and punched me in the jaw!

[User] Oh poor thing. 🫂

[Assistant] Leaving Twatter has helped! 🤣

[User] Oh definitely. I can highly recommend muting words and phrases here too.

[Assistant] Avoiding late night ‘doom scrolling’ in general has helped the most.


[User]
I want everyone to know…

TINKER BELL CAPYBARA.

[Assistant] Oh! That's precious!

[User] Right?! They are so good with the critters they put out! 😭

[Assistant] That's really cute. 🥰🧚♂


[User]
Jason Jay Smart
 🙂
RUBLE DROPPING
Monday the Ruble opened at $1 = ₽104.
Tuesday it was at ₽106.
Halfway through Wednesday it is at ₽110.
🔥 The Rube lost 5.5% of value in 2.5 business days.
👉 The Ruble is sliding straight to the trash bin of history.

[User]
Good riddance!
Bonk the Ruble!

[Assistant]
Ruble fell off a window.

How very 🇷🇺..

[Assistant] 😄 we pray that it will be continues like this !


[User]
110 injections over 23 months.

220 needles
110 syringes
7 vials/660mg of estradiol
700 pills/1,400g of progesterone
1,400 pills/700g of spironolactone
700 pills/700mg of finasteride
29 vials of blood

This was my recipe to save my own life.

[Assistant] That's my girl. Freaking love you hun.

[User]
You are the strongest woman I know, May.
It is my honor and privilege that you call me friend, and that I can call you the same.

You are my inspiration.

[Assistant] You're amazing!  I love you so much and I'm super proud of you!


[User] Turns out the only person who can cancel you is you.

[Assistant] I realize that sounds like a terrible platitude, but: Bean Dad.

[User]
It read to me like a tall tail spun from what might’ve been a very different, positive interaction.

Let her choose how much help she wants, what kind, and when. Make sure she knows it’s a real choice. Offer a snack along the way. Ten minutes, not 360.

[Assistant] Even if it was intended as a joke, though, maybe child abuse isn’t so funny?


[User] In the fourth grade, I took a quiz that had a question asking which would weigh more, a pint of orange juice or a pint of water.

[Assistant] My answer was that it depended on the density, which I really didn’t know offhand, but because OJ has solids dissolved in it, it would probably weigh more. But my teacher informed me that my answer was incorrect! Why?

[User] “A pint’s a pound the world around,” she helpfully explained.

[Assistant] I argued the point, but the teacher wouldn’t budge. Density, it seemed, was an unfamiliar concept to her. She just repeated her mantra:

[User]
“A pint’s a pound the world around.”

So I asked her, “Which weighs more, a pint of feathers or a pint of brick?“

“A pint’s a pound the world around.”

She even kept it up through the parent–teacher conference.

“A pint’s a pound the world around.”

[Assistant] This was one of several incidents that taught me from a young age to distrust and disrespect authority figures. Thanks, Mrs. [REDACTED]!


[User] People, please stop acting like nice people are really serial killers. Don't let true crime DRAMAS (emphasis on drama because there fabricated for shock value) twist your mind into thinking a person has to be toxic, narcissistic, and nihilistic in order to seem normal to you.

[Assistant] Nice people have nothing but good intentions for the world. Netflix drops garbage and lies on the daily. Don't let them make you think a person's kindness is really manipulative. It's not and is probably why you tend to end up with people who hurt you.

[User] Because people who don't care about others and show no empathy typically aren't trying the best to be nice. Because having empathy means being able to understand others problems. A nice person will do things for you unconditionally. Without coercion. If they are trying to lead you, don't follow.

[Assistant] This goes for manipulation also. If you're fine being yourself, that douchbag trying to convince you otherwise doesn't have your best intentions in mind. They're using you, and they may even be pretending that YOU are using THEM. So don't fall for it.

[User] This goes for manipulation also. If you're fine being yourself, that douchbag trying to convince you otherwise doesn't have your best intentions in mind. They're using you, and they may even be pretending that YOU are using THEM. So don't fall for it.

[Assistant] I don't like being all PSA on social media, but sometimes some posts are just so wrong for so many reasons. Don't let people make you think it's not ok to be a nice person. The world needs more nice people.


[User]
Traffic calming with Speed cushions which is a very popular Metro program. But we are also seeing a backlash.

What was once a spot treatment is now becoming ubiquitous.

I would like to see NDOT add different treatments to their toolkit.

Chicanes, vertical posts, bump-outs, traffic circles.

[Assistant]
There ARE other options in their toolkit! Not sure why we rely on the cushions so heavily…

www.nashville.gov/sites/defaul...

[User] 100%. My street recently voted down street calming (by one vote) after a neighbor put a scary anti-cushion manifesto in everyone’s box and I’m confident that other measures would have passed with flying colors. At the initial meeting, they basically said cushions were the only option.

[Assistant] youtu.be/iEe_eraFWWs?...

[User] We have these in our neighborhood and I hate them. Punishes everyone for the bad behavior of a few. Many other options would be preferable, but they all cost more than bolting some humps to the road.

[Assistant] They’d be fine if people could understand that you do NOT, in fact, have to come to a complete stop to go over them. In fact, it’s smoother if you’ve got a little speed. And they don’t need to be 20 ft before a stop sign. They’ve ruined Gale Lane.


[User]
Very old buildings, fixed, remodeled and NOT ruined by modern signs.

(Kee Wah Bakery & Tearoom on 188 Queen’s Rd East, and Woo Cheong Pawn Shop on 62 Johnston Rd, both in Wanchai)

[Assistant]
🤩😍Have you heard of Fernweh?
It´s a German expression for the yearning to travel to a faraway place.

[User]
You must feel this often.
I have mixed emotions about this, especially in 2024, when I haven’t traveled much, as much as I had planned at the start of the year, for a variety of reasons…

[Assistant]
Maybe I can guess😟...🙏

I´ve been to neighbouring France several times this year (shopping trips across the border not counting😁), and am going to visit my son in the Bavarian alps, where he is doing an internship, at the end of the year. Never been out of Europe so far...


[User] A man has just been round to collect the 74,500 Euros we owe the French government for my wife's medical treatment. He seemed surprised that I didn't have it.

[Assistant] Is this real?

[User] I'm afraid so. We are absolutely screwed.

[Assistant] I suppose it is only next door. Payment plan...?


[User]
Everyone: "The servers are currently down!!"

Me:

[Assistant] i was just about to say, i saw your post abt staying in bed and was like, well servers are down anyway so more of an excuse to stay cozy!

[User] Lol I had to force myself up or risk hibernating for another 3+ hours 😂

[Assistant] noo this is so sad :') its ok there's plenty of other ways to be cozy out of bed, hibernating more hours sounds so nice but part of your day will be gone unfortunately!


[User]
As we point out in the paper, functional signs and symptoms can be real, too. We don’t think there should be any stigma against them.

Pointing out Long Covid isn’t FND doesn’t perpetuate a stigma. It advocates for accurate diagnosis and treatment for people with Long Covid *and* people with FND.

[Assistant] If we clinicians are not going to apply the growing body of research on the pathobiology and clinical management of Long Covid to think critically about when to apply published case definition criteria for FND, then it’s the patients who ultimately lose out.

[User] And with the potential shifts in HHS the next 4 years, we’re all ready behind the 8 ball. You know  they’ll be pushing GET as a solution :/

[Assistant] Yep. Hoping to be wrong, but doubt I will be based on understanding the players involved: Making America Healthy Again is going to involve the most grifty neoliberal take on wellness we’ve ever seen. Get ready for a largely unregulated industry to take over chronic disease research and development.


[User]
Wednesday is always the slowest start for me work wise.

I know I *can* clock on at any time before 9 really, but that doesn't mean I *want* to clock on before 9 😭😭

[Assistant] earlier to start means earlier to finish though 🙂↔

[User]
Aye that's usually why I'm online and going by half 7 😂 Wednesday is just "nah mate" though

(Also good morning Ben)

[Assistant] (good morning will)


[User] Damn. Anxiety is bad tonight. 😣

[Assistant] I get anxiety a lot, so I get it. I hope things get better soon for you.

[User] Thank hon. I hope yours does too 🩷

[Assistant] You're welcome, and thank you as well 😊


[User] EU folks: Apple is hosting Swift talks at FOSDEM, a big open source event in Brussels. They are really keen to get submissions from a range of people, so give it a try! Open source, server-side, concurrency, academia, community, and more are all welcome: swiftlang.github.io/event-fosdem/

[Assistant] If you're thinking, "my idea isn't good enough," or "I'll let someone more experienced do it," that's not how FOSDEM works – it's about encouraging everyone to be involved and share ideas. If you have any doubts, email me at paul@hackingwithswift.com and I'll help however I can.

[User] Submitted 🫡

[Assistant] Great job! Good luck 🙌


[User] Good morning, Blue-Skyers. Don't look back with regret  look forward with hope. Happy Wednesday, friends.

[Assistant] Morning miss B 🤗🥰🐕🐶

[User] Good morning, Mrs.Biff . Happy Wednesday, my dear friend!

[Assistant] Good morning  Cat sending you our best wishes for a wonderful Wednesday.


[User] Show me your deck, nerd 🤓🔴⚪

[Assistant] Only if you show yours first, nerdier nerd!

[User] I asked first 😤

[Assistant]
Then what if I say...
No!


[User]
It's that time of year again! A lil early, but it's THANKSGIVING!! You might come across my (very) old Thanksgiving episode of How I Met Your Mother with the uber- talented Neil Patrick Harris! If you do, I hope it makes you smile. Have a wonderful holiday of Gratitude & Community.
✌🏽☀ 🦃

[Assistant]
Good morning! May all your Thanksgiving dreams come true! 💕💖🦄🌈🧚♀🥳

Er, that’s a thing, right? 😬

[User]
Dreams specific to thanksgiving?

I found some turkey & mash to-go. That's good.

[Assistant] It’s open to interpretation. 🤷♂

[User] Perfect!

[Assistant] Vegetarians and carnivores alike can agree on this Belly Full of Turkey.


[User] Tomorrow is #Thanksgiving, a holiday often filled with fun and family, but it can also pose some dangers to our pets. Don’t worry, we’ve got some advice to make sure everyone has a happy holiday! 1/

[Assistant] Most people know to keep chocolate away from our pets, but did you know that garlic, onions, and chives can also sicken them? Large amounts can damage red blood cells and possibly cause kidney failure. 2/

[User]
Greasy and fatty foods should also be kept away from pets, as they may cause pancreatitis in dogs, which is painful and can cause vomiting and diarrhea.

Also, make sure your pets don’t accidentally get ahold of any bones, which can splinter and puncture the stomach or intestines. 3/

[Assistant] There are  cold temperatures in the forecast in many parts of Massachusetts, which means some of us may be using ice melt. If that’s the case, protect your dog’s paws! Ice melt is not only potentially lethal if eaten, but it also can burn dogs’ paws if they walk on it. 4/


[User] Listening to #malevolent -- and I was not expecting the runtime on Nine To Midnight. Audiodramas thrill me most when they are unexpected and progressive.

[Assistant] Ooooh now I know where you are in it and I was literally just about to ask.

[User] I love this series -- I feel like I'm slacking because episodes have such an advanced runtime but I wonder how much my resistance to that idea is because comics, TV, even musicals tend to around the same runtimes universally/interally.

[Assistant] Audiodrama is really the wild west. You got shows like Modes of Thought in Anterran Literature, where sometimes eps are 8 minutes long. Then you have my absolute favorite, @midnightburger.bsky.social, where eps can clock in at over 2 hours. And there's no industry standard names for these types!


[User]
2024 BLENDER COMMISSION PRICES:
• $20 AUD base price!
• $5 AUD each additional character
• $5 AUD each alt version
• All original characters require existing 3D models
• Nexgen ports provided free if needed
• Finished artworks rendered in 4K!

Want to commission a comic? Contact me for more details!

[Assistant]
Commission requirements:
• You must be 18 years of age or older to commission any artwork from me, subject to the terms outlined above.
• If you are under 18, do not contact this account, you will be blocked.
• You may message me anytime for inquiries, but any abusive behaviour will be blocked.

[User]
I reserve rights to refuse commissions FOR ANY REASON, including:
• Any pro-nazi or pro-fascist content.
• Any form of bigotry.
• Illegal, offensive/disrespectful content or themes.
• Certain kinks, at my discretion.
Asking for any of the above will not be met with a block, unless you are abusive.

[Assistant]
LIMITATIONS:
• You cannot use any of my artworks for any NFTs, blockchains, or tokens.
• You cannot claim any of my works as your own work.
• You cannot distribute any of my NSFW artworks to anyone under the age of 18.
Violating these terms will have you blocked.


[User]
Some early morning ‘For your £1 on @thecricketer.bsky.social today..’

The @georgedobell.bsky.social filed late last night on growing uncertainty around the staging of the Champions Trophy next year ⤵ www.thecricketer.com/Topics/inter...

[Assistant] Cameron Ponsonby is in New Zealand pondering whether England makes decisions in part, because they find them funny (and it’s hard to argue against) ⤵ www.thecricketer.com/Topics/new-z...

[User] Plus - David Sharman casts a loving eye over the outgrounds of English cricket which look set to host a bumper summer of County Cricket ⤵ www.thecricketer.com/Topics/count...

[Assistant] Oh.. and don’t say we don’t give you anything for free! You can watch or listen to Huw Turbervill’s conversation with New Zealand legend Sir Richard Hadlee on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.. open.spotify.com/episode/5jaE...


[User] Here I am driving store to store trying to find a gluten free pie crust. Don’t be me and wait until the last minute.

[Assistant] Not sure what kind of pie you are making but what about getting gluten free Graham crackers and make a crust with those?

[User] I have done that before for other pies, but was hoping to make a pumpkin pie this time. Not sure if a graham cracker crust would work.

[Assistant]
Being from KY I like this recipe with ginger snap cookies ( which I guess can be found gluten free )
You could skip the bourbon 🥃 😊

food52.com/blog/11767-t...


[User] I wanna see California just once before I die. 🥹

[Assistant] Wait, really? You've never been to California? I used to live in Cali. It's true I haven't seen all of Cali. A good portion of it.~

[User] I've never even seen the West Coast 😭 It's like #1 on my bucket list.

[Assistant] Then we need to get you over here. To explore the West Coast. ~


[User] "Honey, did you pay the home insurance this month?"

[Assistant] 🤣🤣🤣 My son always wanted us to get a turkey fryer! I have seen those videos of the flames reaching the sky. Not my thing.

[User]
My brother did it once! Outside on a concrete patio. good thing. The overflow/flying grease is a real thing.
My goodness, lots of danger for a fried turkey.
I'm fine with roasted!! LOL
I don't know that he's used that fryer again!

[Assistant] They make an infrared  cooker that doesn't  use oil, but they are expensive. It is  not worth it for a couple of times a year.

[User] Oh, yeah. That layer of bone dry plywood underneath there for all that extra protection. Brilliant! 👍🤣🤣🤣

[Assistant] Might as well bring in the portable BBQ grill and burn some charcoal inside to keep warm as well!


[User] Waking up to this face is definitely one of the best things about having a dog 💜

[Assistant] What a beautiful face! 😍💕

[User] So cute, so floofy!

[Assistant] And the hardest faces to leave when you dont work remote 😭


[User] You nearly have a PhD, keep going!

[Assistant] The end is sweet!

[User] Ha ha now worrying about the jobs. Ph.D almost done.

[Assistant] True. Gave it to my advisor in May; he has reviewed half of it.

[User] This account honestly reads my mind at all the right moments.

[Assistant]
Short stories anyone? Stories of Your Life and Others!!!
blog-on-books.blogspot.com/2024/11/big-...


[User] I have just been handed a ziplock bag full of vomit, how's your day going?

[Assistant] Used to get that daily when I worked in a secondary school. Half the time it wasn't vomit, just some food stuff mixed with water or fruit juice. They couldn't fool me, though!

[User] Ooh this was vomit. Definitely vomit.

[Assistant] Oh I had no doubt about that: you're in Primary. 🤢


[User]
Hey everyone! Under Defeat will be arriving later than expected, and the release has been moved to early 2025.
Thank you for all your support.

We look forward to seeing you enjoy this shoot 'em up gem!

[Assistant] We’re also excited to announce the physical edition of Under Defeat, which will be launching on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5. More information will be shared in the near future.

[User] Any chance for a PC version of the game arriving down the line?

[Assistant] Nothing is impossible!


[User] I mean, LOOK 😍at the airport 🇱🇹

[Assistant] Damn, that's honestly idyllic😍❤

[User] Looks like a theatre. We did The Baltics by flying to Riga and driving. Beautiful counties with really friendly people and the food.. Ohh, the food.

[Assistant] It seems like the parking slots have eye lashes?


[User] eight pages later, I think I've finally put (nearly) everything down on paper to share my thoughts on the election with my mom, who I'm 99% sure voted for the tangerine traitor.

[Assistant] ended up shelving that one for a short, one-page version that highlighted my main grievances. if she wants sources for them, I’ll pull from the other doc. I’m so tired.

[User] As someone who did this for covid, I hope this made you feel good and prepared. But also know she may not be ready to listen. Or that was my extremely frustrating experience at least.

[Assistant] that’s a very good point. she asked why I was upset, so hopefully she’s not just asking a question she doesn’t want an answer to.

[User] I sincerely hope so too!! I really hope it’s a productive conversation for you guys 💗

[Assistant]
I see we have a shared interest.

Here to talk if you want, openly or via DM.

[User] I appreciate that! my husband has been very helpful (he’s both very smart and has a similar family situation) so I’m okay for right now, but I’ll definitely keep that in mind!

[Assistant]
I’m both gladdened you have someone to talk to about it & sorry your husband has to deal with it too.

The holidays are hard.


[User] My set up....

[Assistant] The circle worn mark pissed me off so bad because it has such a bad glare I CANT SEE 😭

[User] why don't you change the screen protector? 😅

[Assistant] I have ordered them, still waiting for it to arrive...😭 I was impatient and peel off my old one 😭


[User] Son, choose *any* career but the Law ⚖

[Assistant] 😂 ok now I need to know why!

[User] Arduous. Years of Study. Questioning everything, including one's own sanity at times (I'm Retired so I don't bother now, quite obviously!) Always expecting the worst & making provision for it - breeds negativity. Second highest Suicide rate after Clinicians. Smoke like a Chimney Drink like a Fish!

[Assistant]
I’ll stick with my job for now I think 😂 but a lot of it does sound similar. I’m an administrator in a specialist neurology hospital.

I have to anticipate a lot of stupidity in my line, and I never assume that anyone knows what the hell they’re doing!


[User] It's a bit confusing now that we have fascists that are into cryptocurrency because you have to clarify what you mean when you say crypto-fascist.

[Assistant] There are now both crypto-fascists and crypto-crypto-fascists.

[User] now it has two meanings! fun.

[Assistant] Crypto-fascists and crypto fascists.

[User]
“What’s a crypto-fascist?”
Me: “a huge smooth brained dickhead”

[Assistant] Also if someone is into MLM it’s like “are you going to want to talk about developing a mass line or interesting me in a new line of nutritional supplements, let’s find out!”


[User] I haven't seen a single bad review for The Spectrum. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing—where's all the infighting, the drama, the mayhem? It just doesn't feel retro enough, there that's the problem!!!

[Assistant] Kinda puts the other minis to shame. I wanna working keyboard on my a500m now 😠

[User] There are some gripes on Facebook apparently. Personally I prefer pottering around with old PCBs. Yet everything aside, if it gives folk a feel for the genuine experience with none of the pain of maintaining a 40 year old machine then I’m all for it.

[Assistant] Well there is one thing I don't like about it and the reason I didn't buy one but i'm not going to talk about it here, i'd rather let people enjoy it and have fun!


[User] Tried this one on my 3ds and it sparked my interest for the series 🥰

[Assistant] Awesome. 😁 It's an amazing series. In my opinion, the series truly gained worldwide acclaim with DQXI. Before that, especially in the 90s and 2000s, it didn't receive the love nor recognition it deserved outside of Japan and I never understood why. It's so good.

[User]
Oh that's very interesting 🤔
My boyfriend @slionr.bsky.social knows way more about Dragon Quest than I do so he's helping me a lot with understanding them and it is always lovely to talk to him about them ^-^

[Assistant] That sounds like a great time to pass the time. I have not played them all, especially the older ones. I began with DQVII, which many people don't like but I loved it. Then I played VIII and XI. My point is  that I haven't played many of them, but these three I find them to be amazing JRPGs.

[User] Oh I super love the XI one and I get to borrow my boyfriend's account on xbox to play the DQ3 remake and that one is so beautiful 😍

[Assistant] I have seen it and it looks magical.


[User]
I love this site! One of my goals here is to learn and share good practices for accessibility. And I'm learning a lot about it.

#accessibility is as #cyberpunk as it gets.

[User] Apparently you can toggle a setting that will stop you from posting media if you don't have an alt description set.

[Assistant] I thought they were egg yolk.


[User] The tea is that all Bluesky needs is some algorithmic updates, something in line with 2020-2022 Twitter.

[Assistant] A lot of khias on here don’t like it because they struggle to grow their followings and engagement without algorithmic support so Bluesky needs to do what it can to make everyone feel seen so that they don’t go back to their accounts with more followers.

[User] Also I really do think people struggle to engage with anything that isn’t tied into politics or pop culture these days so leaving a platform like Twitter where it is constantly shoved down their throats is hard.

[Assistant]
And book marks  ☝🏼

Unless I’m missing that somewhere 👀


[User] Man I never talk about Lynette but I love her so much I wish that Haitham and Lynette could meet bc he would totally see her as his little sister 🤧

[Assistant] I feel like Lynette would actually be so straight up with Kaveh while Haitham would have to pull her back and be like "nono wait we have to nurture him for 3 months, plant the seeds then help him figure it out and if he doesn't then we tell him."

[User]
"I understand." Lynette turns awake from Haitham to Kaveh, "We believe it was idiotic you chose to do that."

"He's going to start whining or spewing nonsense now now." Haitham frowns.

"I'm aware but what was I meant to do? Leave the poor desert foxes to starve?" Kaveh questions.

[Assistant]
Lynette turns back to Haitham, "You sure this guy was raised here? Does he not know how an ecosystem works?"

Haitham shrugs, "you said it not me."

Kaveh scoffs, "You both have no compassion."


[User] Hello friends! We’re currently knee deep in Black Friday shenanigans but once that is all over we’ll pop back and share some content with you 😊🎞

[Assistant]
Hiiiii! 👋

Was wondering (hah) when you might show up!

[User]
Please don't forget to verify this account

bsky.social/about/blog/4...

[Assistant]
This! ☝

Best way to demonstrate that it’s really you and not an imposter!


[User] Anyone else getting pelted with these?

[Assistant] I’ve had a few. I block them because I figure they’re just scams.

[User] This is why we can’t have nice things …..

[Assistant] No, thank Bob!


[User]
Well that was a fascinating and utterly depressing talk from Sean Gormley at #Newsrewired.

He showed how bot farms and sophisticated state operations control the information space on TikTok and X (and elsewhere) and thus control (literally) what people believe.

Now the question is, what can we do?

[Assistant]
Sean *Gourley, of course, who doesn’t seem to be on Bluesky (yet).

I think we’ve always known this stuff went on, but to see the sheer scale and sophistication of it exposed, it’s very confrontational.

This stuff SEEMS real, but is entirely fake, and WILL change your political views.

[User]
And it’s important to note that the platforms - X and TikTok specifically - are actively engaged in this by selectively amplifying certain topics and hashtags (and likely demoting others).

X and TikTok don’t mind the botfarms. On the contrary, they profit from them.

[Assistant]
I was at defcon in a talk from a guy who works with Cognitive Warfare - his words - TikTok is a weapon

I am working on something to help with the disinfo issue but it is a big play and not sure I can pull it off but let me know if you want to chat :)


[User]
Share a crush you have.

Cristin Milioti.

See first episode of Modern Love on Prime. See her Tony Award-winning performance in Once.

[Assistant] Palm Springs too!

[User] How I Met Your Mother!

[Assistant] Christina Applegate. Most beautiful women on earth in the 1990's.


[User] You know what’s scary as fuck to look at? A calendar!!! 🇺🇸🔥😲 📆

[Assistant] Ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day....

[User] Yeah I'm pretty sure I'm still stuck in 2023.  That was nearly a year ago.  😓

[Assistant] I've got a new calendar for my wee office. It's Medieval Dick Pics....so though the news will be grim....my calendar will be full of mirth.


[User] I can’t, cos my account got permanently banned ages ago, but it was me writing something like “Just off to piss beside Julia Hartley-Brewer's front door” in response to this:

[Assistant] I'm not exaggerating when I believe wholeheartedly that she is a stochastic terrorist. Melanie Phillips without the composure issues.

[User] I'm not exaggerating when I say that i believe wholeheartedly that she is a stochastic terrorist. Melanie Phillips without the composure issues.

[Assistant] I hope she's standing adjacent to Kemi Badenoch when I piss next to her.


[User] still spreading the good word on here: katie mcgrath 🙏

[Assistant] The reason we came 😌

[User] gotta help establish our new home base here 🫡

[Assistant]
Tree house or bunker?
The only possibilities 😂

[User] tree house is too small so it's a bunker. a bunker in which we can hide from cruel real life 🙏☺

[Assistant] And with free internet, lots of books and just like Noah's ark, a bunch of animals, especially goats ❤


[User] Fashion is my passion 😂🫶

[Assistant] Well now I know what's on MY Christmas list 😆

[User] Redbubble for the win 😂

[Assistant] Good to know!!! Thank you!! 😆


[User]
I've been "can't keep my eyes open" tired since like 1145pm.

It is now 645am and I still can't *actually* sleep after almost 7 hours laying in bed.

Anxiety attacks suck. Don't subscribe to this service. Take it off your character sheet.


[User] Anthropocentrism on Election Night is OFF THE CHARTS. So, here are a few Lynn Margulis quotes to highlight the process of real belonging...

[Assistant] "The fundamental division of forms of life on Earth is not that between plants and animals, [or political parties]as is commonly assumed, but between prokaryotes—organisms composed of cells with no nucleus, that is, bacteria—and eukaryotes—all other life forms."

[User] "Life on earth is more like a verb. It repairs, maintains, re-creates, and outdoes itself."

[Assistant] "From the paramecium to the human race, all life forms are meticulously organized, sophisticated aggregates of evolving microbial life. Far from leaving microorganisms behind on an evolutionary "ladder," we are both surrounded by them and composed of them."

[User] "Having survived in an unbroken line from the beginnings of life, all organisms today are equally evolved."

[Assistant] "The view of evolution as a chronic bloody competition among individuals and species, a popular distortion of Darwin's notion of "survival of the fittest," dissolves before a new view of continual cooperation, strong interaction, & mutual dependence among life forms."

[User] "Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking."

[Assistant] "Identity is not an object; it is a process with addresses for all the different directions and dimensions in which it moves, and so it cannot so easily be fixed with a single number."

[User] "“Life on earth is such a good story you cannot afford to miss the beginning... Beneath our superficial differences we are all of us walking communities of bacteria. The world shimmers, a pointillist landscape made of tiny living beings.”

[Assistant] “There will be a layer in the fossil record where you'll know people were here because of the squashed remains of automobiles [gas or EV]. It will be a very thin layer.”

[User]
"Gaia, which is the whole Earth living system, is symbiosis as seen from Space."

And finally,

"It's not science unless its integrated."

All things are connected.

[Assistant] "Life learned early on to recognize itself."


[Assistant] This is amazing!

[User] Damn!!! About time someone started to think like sci-fi instead of not!!!

[Assistant] There are a few in Las Vegas, which sound pretty cool, also, as they are water sparing.


[User]
Day 27 #AmericanIndianHeritageMonth

#WilbertMartin

Wilbert Martin, 32, was last seen in Klagetoh, Arizona on November 2, 2004. He ran away from his mother's home sometime between 9:30 and 11:00 p.m. and has never been heard from again.

[Assistant]
He didn't have a vehicle at the time of his disappearance, but it's possible he caught a ride from a passing motorist.

Wilbert’s family believes he may be in a psychiatric hospital in Arizona or New Mexico.

[User]
He graduated from Fort Wingate High School in 1992 and previously worked for Labor Express in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Wilbert is mentally disabled and may not remember his identity or how to get home.

[Assistant]
Wilbert has black hair, brown eyes. His nicknames are Woe-Vie and Woo-Bert. He normally keeps his hair tied back in a ponytail.
He is both farsighted and nearsighted and needs glasses, but doesn't wear them.

[User]
He may have sparse hair on his chin and his nails may be long and untrimmed. He limps and may walk with a bounce, his shoulders hunched forward.
Martin previously broke his jaw and has screws or pins inserted in both sides, which makes his jaw appear enlarged.

[Assistant] He also has screws or pins inserted in his right knee, and he may have a metal plate in his head. He has a tattoo of a low-rider girl with a cholo hat on his upper arm; the tattoo is an outline and shows only her facial profile and upper chest, with large breasts.

[User] He has a two-and-a-half-inch surgical scar extending up from navel from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, dark-colored sunburn scarring on his right hand and forearm.

[Assistant] He also had a scar from the front of his hairline to the back of his head from being hit by a shovel, a horizontal scar at his hairline from being hit by a vehicle, and a broken nose.


[User] 🧵 Key details ahead of tonight’s UCL games:

[Assistant]
Liverpool vs Real Madrid

1⃣ #LFC can guarantee Top 24 place with a win.
2⃣ Real Madrid has been unbeaten at Anfield since 09'
3⃣ 7th meeting in seven seasons.
4⃣Real without UCL top-scorer Vini JR and Rodrygo.
5⃣ LFC have the second-best defence in UCL so far.

[User]
 Aston Villa vs Juventus
1⃣ #AVFC have won their last 3 UEFA competition games against Italian opposition without conceding.
2⃣ Douglas Luiz returns to Villa Park after only 44 mins of UCL so far for Juve.
3⃣ Juventus have more draws than wins (6W 7D) in Serie A this season.

[Assistant]
Red Star Belgrade vs Stuttgart
1⃣ Both sides are outside the Top 24 and need a win to help their qualification campaigns.
2⃣Red Star haven't beaten German opposition in the UCL (1D 2L)
3⃣ Stuttgart have one win away in the UCL this season beating Juventus in a 1-0 win.

[User]
Sturm Graz vs Girona
1⃣ Sturm Graz haven't scored a home UCL goal in their first three home games
2⃣Girona haven't scored an away goal in their two games.
3⃣ Girona are in good form, winning four out of their last five games, scoring 13 goals.

[Assistant]
Bologna vs Lille
1⃣ Bologna hasn't won in the UCL yet this season, and hasn't scored a goal.
2⃣ Lille sit 17th after shock wins against both Madrid sides.
3⃣ Lille have won six of their last 13 games against Italian opposition in UEFA competition.

[User]
Celtic vs Club Brugge
1⃣ Celtic have won their last three home UCL games after beating RB Leipzig on MD4.
2⃣ Brugge come off their 100th win in the UCL after being Aston Villa at home, last time out.
3⃣ The Scottish side can climb towards the Top 8 with a win.

[Assistant]
Dinamo Zagreb vs Borussia Dortmund
1⃣ The hosts have lost their last seven games to German opposition.
2⃣ Zagreb have scored ten goals from their first four games.
3⃣BVB will look to climb into the top eight with three points.


[User] Yeah. wtf. Any other company any other job someone gets hurt on the job they are unable to function. They come back to their job and they still want to work. How do you treat that employee?

[Assistant] This is what I do feel like it’s just toxic or what is going on like is there a security reason and could be told or like what is this? Glad people I know are there. Not in the Helsinki dept but umm Iraq I think and idk the other. Maybe that’s a good team!

[User] Or I guess my friend is on the refugee one now, but it just tells people not to get involved and then people say like where are we going to get our people from?

[Assistant] Oh! Are they blaming the victim like oh you could accuse them again so we just don’t want you near there?? or is there actual risk is safety and either way both of those things should be addressed as in you might perceive it like this and we want to address it??


[User] Good morning, #BookSky! I hope you have the chance to enjoy a good book today before the Thanksgiving madness begins. 😂

[Assistant]
Our madness is beginning with that "I'm pretty sure I'm getting sick" feeling.

If I ever get a little break in my schedule, like any holiday, my immune system immediately books a flight for the Cayman Islands, leaving me fully exposed to every virus.

[User] Oh I’m exactly the same way. Last two trips I took I caught Covid. 😭

[Assistant] Life has a way of telling me… “break no routines. Live the same day every day, and you might be safe. Do nothing adventurous.”


[Assistant] Is the general news itself safer from this, do you think? I suppose some sort of AI screen scraping will be possible one day.

[User] it's not a scraping problem, the BBC have completely stopped doing it: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

[Assistant] That's a shame.


[User]
Like, share, comment.
Suddenly, I feel the impulse to write. Deep down, I don’t want to be rich, I don’t want success, I don’t want fame. And yet, I crave them every moment.
Will and Desire—two forces constantly at war. In truth, wealth, money, indulgences—they disgust me. But I desire them.

[Assistant] I can’t stand people who fill their mouths with empty words, whose days are crammed with appointments, all for one goal: to get rich, to take, grab, hoard everything. Gluttony.

[User] I despise it all. And yet my body craves it. I buy the lottery ticket, wishing to win. But I don’t want to win—I want to remain grounded, within the limits of my own abilities.

[Assistant] The “success” these self-promoters constantly flaunt: Here’s how I started my company and became rich; here’s how this, how that. They drown us in garbage, vomiting it all over us, and we’re there, ready to take it in, because we desire it—we’re addicted to it.

[User] It’s an illusion of certainty, but escaping it feels like an Epicurean feat. I’ve been trapped in it since birth—my body steeped in it.

[Assistant] And even now, as I write these words, I think about how to publish them, how to make them matter, how to become known: here lies the contradiction—the commercialization of art, of thought.


[User]
~2 weeks in and I could 100% never go back to VSCode, too much productivity gains on PHPStorm.

also switched to using Laravel Herd & DBngin for local development, with specifically changing from Apache to nginx and MySQL to PostgreSQL.

in short: cleaning up your environment is very worth.

[Assistant] What are the pros of switching to Postgres?

[User] the advantages MySQL had for me are very negligible and I want to be able to do both. @boothplorer.com will be switching to PostgreSQL since it's amount of data it is expected to hold will basically quadruple, and that's gonna be both written to and read from.

[Assistant] also PostgreSQL has some rather advanced functionalities that I wish to tap in to ensure consistency in data when the API for @boothplorer.com/BOOTH (mid-late 2025) is public.


[User] Great photo to illustrate our “Three PMs” story independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

[Assistant] Three PMs unite to promote unnecessary suffering.

[User] Liz Truss .. you may as well have quoted the lettuce😂

[Assistant] Dominic Grieve says changing the law to make something legal is “against the rule of law”?

[User] When three of the most discredited politicians in British history advocate opposing something, make sure you support it!

[Assistant] They don't get to vote.


[User] I recently did a lot of work on optimising onboarding with two different clients, here's some tips I'd give to any #startups or #founders looking to improve conversions 🧵

[Assistant] 1) Simplify signup by minimising user input, offering social sign up options and breaking the process into steps, with manageable tasks in each step.

[User] 2) Provide a clear value proposition by highlighting the key benefits of your product/app and tailoring the experience to the user (e.g. if they signed up via a specific landing page, retain and use that info).

[Assistant] 3) Make your onboarding interactive with animations, tooltips and checklists.

[User] 4) Offer immediate value by allowing users to accomplish a task with the product. Duolingo does a great job of this by giving the user an easy language question during onboarding.

[Assistant] 5) Collect feedback during onboarding, and monitor drop-off with tools like Mixpanel or June.

[User] 6) If the use case is B2C, you should likely let the user try the product for free and not restrict them too early with a paywall. You could also offer a continued free tier if they go past a free trial without subscribing, giving you the option to continue upselling later on.

[Assistant] If you'd like to read more I published a whole blog about this here: www.lightningux.design/blog/six-way...


[User]
Felt inspired by this post to make some Panjim street style noodles with turmeric and all!

Recipe 🧵.

Bring water to boil with turmeric ginger and salt in it. I added a few herbs too.

Cook till al dente.

[Assistant]
Drain the noodles. Drizzle a little oil and toss them around.

I let noodles cool.

And this is my "open secret" to best noodles. I pick out and separate the tangled noodles! No clumps increases the chances of every surface area getting the flavor and wok great later.

Takes patience but worth it!

[User]
Drain the noodles. Drizzle a little oil and toss them around.

I let noodles cool.

And this is my "open secret" to best noodles. I pick out and separate the tangled noodles! No clumps increases the chances of every surface area getting the flavor and wok heat later.

Takes patience but worth it!

[Assistant]
Once separated, I let the noodles sit an hour. The starch on the surface solidifying makes them easier to wok toss later.

What goes in this?

Goan dish so pork tenderloin, small pieces, marinated in soy garlic cumin. Letting it sit an hour.

And we have veggies and an egg of course.


[User]
When you first learn about the fork() syscall, it can seem magical. How can a single system call produce two different return values at the same time?!

In my latest article, I demystify the hidden magic of fork and also show how it is implemented in Linux.
blog.codingconfessions.com/p/the-magic-...

[Assistant] I was confused because at first I didn't fully realise that execve replacing a program image means that the caller (the child) exits at that point, and you say you want to print to stderr in the parent but you print to stdout. So I thought there was a '} else {' missing on the blank line in the if.

[User] … but then I got it :)

[Assistant] Good catches. The assembly program does print on stderr, I did that because initially I intended to make the parent and child write to different files for demonstration. Eventually, I went with execve and didn't update the programs. I've fixed these.

[User] Thanks. Also thanks to @shriram.bsky.social for reposting.

[Assistant] In the case of execve, it loads a new program into the memory of the current process. As a result it replaces the executable instructions in the child with that of the new program. This means that the child will not execute any of the remaining instructions from the old program.


[User] It's very true. Dead mans shoes we used to call it.

[Assistant]
Truth in the phrasing but the sectors mostly women!

It's a phrase borrowed from a friend who's father once said 'progress is made one funeral at a time' (sage, if bleak wisdom).

[User] Oh yes! The idea is right I guess, if not the gender!

[Assistant] I’ve used that same description as one reason why I left the archives (it’s sort of a library…)

[User] I’d begun to consider archive work a couple of years ago and I’m fairly glad I didn’t as these are the things I was suspicious about. It seemed a fair amount of retraining/post-grad qualification for few opportunities, with many as temporary contracts.

[Assistant] I did about 5 different jobs at the National Archives though none were the professional research posts. They had those sorts of requirements which I don’t have! But I still got to do plenty to do with the records working in marketing and comms.


[User]
That's why I've seen a speech therapist. Learning to retrain my brain. Things that were easy before- memory recall in particular- just became a struggle. I forget whole conversations, forget what I'm saying mid convo , or how to do tasks I've done before.
Need to build back brain connections.

[Assistant] This sounds awful! I hope the speech therapist helps. I had these issues with perimenopause and a concussion. It became so hard to put words together.

[User] It has helped so much. I'm really thankful the long covid clinic at UNC was an option for me and the therapies were available to me.

[Assistant] I was about to say I’m thankful you live in an area where there are lots of medical resources (and that you’ve been able to use them) who take the situation seriously.  I can’t imagine how hard this has been but I hope you continue making progress!

[User] Hope it’s been helpful. I know it’s been…a lot.

[Assistant] So sorry you have to experience that. So glad you have available resources to help.  Sending virtual hugs.


[User] Listening to @dansavage.bsky.social mention Timothy Dalton in "The Lion in Winter" just now made me realize I need to revise what I thought I remembered about the actor who first alerted me to my (boring) sexual orientation. (They showed that movie once at all-girls' middle school)

[Assistant] And yet knowing what I know today (i.e. having seen the "Miss Marple" eps in question) it is in fact John Castle, another actor in it, who should have provoked this response.

[User] I'm not sure this platform knows about John Castle but here you go!

[Assistant] He was an entertainingly loathsome red herring in an especially strong Morse episode ('Who Killed Harry Field?') - the same episode also featured Geraldine James, Freddie Jones and Ronald Pickup.


[User] Might as well bandwagon a little.

[Assistant] 1. Because a certain bird app went to shit and honestly I hung onto it for way too long.

[Assistant] 2. I use this app to shitpost but my Instagram is relatively more serious, and I also use YouTube and Discord.


[User]
I've seen some unwelcoming murdery looking hell holes in my time.... But that's impressively grim.

I'd still use it every day.

But my Mrs wouldn't use it in 100 years if she thought she'd be going in 'alone'...

[Assistant] Ha! It's actually better than it looks. It was unusually quiet that morning, its usually busier and I see quite a few women going through it.

[User] Yeah, good to hear, I'm sure it's fine in reality.  Good to hear riders are using it.  At least it ain't raining in there!

[Assistant] Although if it rains very heavy and the pumps fail... (I had actually been worse than this although I can't find that video though). youtu.be/Z0kAHDEmP9o?...


[User] Good Morning BlueSky Friends ☕🐾 Make it a beautiful day 🤸♀

[Assistant] Good morning ✌🏻💙

[User] Good morning Thomas 😁☮

[Assistant] Have a great day my friend.

[User] Good morning!

[User] Good morning! ☕

[Assistant] Happy Wednesday! 💙💙💙


[User] ah i see the dogshit chatgpt slop bots are here. gAI continues to be a festering boil that won't heal.

[Assistant] The stories I hear are never good, just throw the whole companies out truly. 😭

[User] mute and block ❤

[Assistant] Point them out for blocking.


[User]
@glennairey.bsky.social @smudgestoke.bsky.social @dtate0007.bsky.social

Without the obligatory offending 👏

youtu.be/qd38PiLqDA4?...

[Assistant]
www.tapatalk.com/groups/thefa...
Never had the pleasure of seeing his guitar skills before thanks🙂

[User]
Ironically inadvertently posted the wrong link 😂 hence my ‘without the obligatory offending’ comment 🙄🙄

youtu.be/GrNrfS6LErE?...

[Assistant] I've got that on DVD😊


[User]
From a development point of view I think this makes sense:

You don’t have to spend time or money developing a narrative up from an idea, you can just pick one off the shelf (figuratively, literally and literarily)

[Assistant] But I do think there’s often a danger of thinking that a great book will make a great TV show of movie without first considering whether it’s a great book because of what happens to characters and how the respond externally, or it’s great because of how they react internally.

[User]
Translating internal character development to screen is extremely hard and not always successfully done.

Even more problematic is not realising a book is wonderful because it’s wonderfully written.

Again, hard to translate.

[Assistant] There’s a lot of authors who write really cracking stories and a lot of screenwriters who are good at translating those stories to screen, but I think it’s worth considering why some adaptations work and others don’t.


[User] My parents grew up without vaccines, so they were quick to get us vaccinated. But old habits die hard. They’d still take us to church to get our throats blessed on St. Blaise’s Day. They remembered when all you could do was isolate, and pray; it was terrifying.

[Assistant] There is a reason we say “Bless you” when someone sneezes; a mere sneeze was a meaningful indication of fatality. One of my oldest memories was getting Chicken Pox (no vaccine then.) I’m told it almost killed me. I don’t remember the symptoms.

[User] What I remember is they moved me to a bed on the porch, and they brought in a Priest to give me Last Rites, and my parents were absolutely terrified.

[Assistant] I got a taste of that with COVID. I’m vulnerable. My church was closed (they wised up about isolation.) So I sat down before a mirror, put 2 crossed candles under my throat, and said the blessing.

[User] “Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver us from ailments of the throat and from every other evil. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.“ I took a selfie, posted it for my friends. It sucked, but it was all I could do.

[Assistant]
Like JFK, Jr., I grew up in a big family, and like him, I lost my Dad when I was a boy. It scars you, but especially for a kid who lost his Dad to a spectacular assassination.
He was raised in the same traditions as me. But he’s not well, never has been since his Dad was murdered.

[User] That assassination fucked him up for life. He’s not somebody you put in charge of *anything,* and certainly not public health.

[Assistant]
Like JFK, Jr., I grew up in a big Irish family, and like him, I lost my Dad when I was a boy. It scars you, but especially for a kid who lost his Dad to a spectacular assassination.
He was raised in the same traditions as me; But he’s not well, never has been since his Dad was murdered.

[User] He knows better. But that assassination fucked him up for life. He’s not somebody you put in charge of *anything,* and certainly not public health.

[Assistant] This article doesn't do enough to explain the sheer propaganda that brought us to this point, nor does it identify why any of this lunacy is being supported by politicians.


[User] Good Morning everyone!!!

[Assistant] Happy Wednesday Dan. Enjoy your day my friend ❄☀🇨🇦☕

[User]
Thank you Linda, may you have a wonderful day!!!
This was last night…

[Assistant] Awesome picture Dan!


[User] Can't believe I haven't drawn og Sukuna before now?? (wip)

[Assistant] This is so beautiful, they look amazing ❤ also their size difference im- 🤤

[User] Tysm! The true appeal of og Sukuna is just how huge he is plus the extra...appendages 🤭🤭


[User]
A covid infection can cause heart failure, where your heart muscle can't pump enough to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen.

There is no cure for heart failure.

One of a long list of reasons why you don't want to get covid.

#LongCovid #CovidIsntOver #MaskUp

www.unmc.edu/healthsecuri...

[Assistant] You are at risk for heart problems after a covid infection, regardless of your age or whether you had previous risk factors or cardiovascular disease.

[User]
Getting vaccinated can reduce your risk of post-covid complications, but it doesn't eliminate the risk.

You can still get long covid even if you've been vaccinated.

The best way to prevent long covid is to avoid getting covid.

[Assistant]
Here's another link:

my.clevelandclinic.org/health/artic...


[User] goodmorning ☀

[Assistant] good morning 🌞🩷

[User] i hope the day is good to ya 💕

[Assistant] i hope you’re day is full of blessings beautiful 😂😭😭


[User] Good Morning, my Bsky BBs!

[Assistant] G'morning, what's going on today? ☀

[User]
Work till maybe 3 then Games all night, my friend. I'm not hosting a holiday event tomorrow so I am set!

How about you?

[Assistant] Not much and I'm skipping thanksgiving tomorrow. I'll try and find something for me to do.


[User] My boobs almost always seem to make their appearance first. Sheesh.

[Assistant] I be sick of it too lol. At least they pretty tho 😭

[User] Right!! 🤭😂

[Assistant] Teehee 🙂↕🤭 I should ask to see em again 😂


[User]
Louder for the folks in the back: cheap rent is necessary for cultural vibrancy!

Our culture doesn't reward most musicians, artists, and others devoted to creative pursuits with money, so if you want a lot of them near you (and I do) you have to make sure they can afford to live there!

[Assistant]
It's not random happenstance that Carrboro developed such a fantastic music and arts scene. We were even cheaper to live in than Chapel Hill.

Why? All the apartments built in the 60s and 70s, which still make up the majority of our housing AND our most affordable housing.

[User]
What's changed since then?

In the early 80s, Carrboro adopted its current land use ordinance, which makes it much more difficult to build multi-unit homes of any kind. Since then, new neighborhoods have been mostly single family homes that were attainable at the time, but no longer.

[Assistant]
This conflict - we love our artists and musicians but don't build enough places for them to live - or teachers, firefighters, restaurant workers, grad students, or anyone else who doesn't have money! - is why I ran for council.

Want to help fix it? Let's talk!


[User]
Some reflections on the geopolitical climate around Net Zero and nature protection - challenges and opportunities ahead, gleaned from my latest visit to Singapore & Indonesia.

www.linkedin.com/posts/brenda...

[Assistant] Hi Brendan my former brother in law and sister in law lived and worked extensively in Indonesia, he for cifor and she for Bos orangutan org. What gains are being made in reducing the amount of original rainforest destruction and are the gov working with orgs to reduce this massive problem ?

[User] Cifor is a great org! Deforestation is a mixed bag - but in the last decade deforestation for palm oil has fallen hugely, it is a success story, although there are upticks. Big challenges looming with rush for nickel and other mining. This will be the next big battle in my view.

[Assistant] Palm oil was always the big one. Can remember flying into Kalimantan and all you flew over was Palm plantations. Heartbreaking stuff. Just hope as much rainforest as possible can be saved.

[User] Hi Brendan. I agree but am a bit less sanguine than you with the new regime in Indonesia focused on food security and contemplating mass deforestation to create new rice paddies. mightyearth.org/article/worl.... Let's hope these "food estates" are not as destructive as your NGO activists think.

[Assistant] Very familiar with that project, and Mighty. It’s a complex one.


[User] Shout out incontinent women. You're cool and you are attractive. Be proud of who you are and embrace your accessibility tools. I did. Focus on your comfort, rather than appeasing creeps. U can still love yourself and be loved. We may smell funny sometimes, but that's ok. You're lovely all the same 💖

[Assistant] If it isn't obvious, I'm mostly entirely reliant on adult diapers for my daily functioning since I am very disabled. I am learning slowly that people can embrace this aspect of me, as well as myself. It sucks being judged for just learning to love yourself and that diapers are comfy.

[User] Given that like 1/2 of all women seem to have bladder incontinence issues, we really should just start embracing incontinence and think of it like body diversity. I think there's a lot of love and care u can give to an incontinent person that u just can't to someone who doesn't experience it.

[Assistant] Adult diapers keep me happy and my girlfriends find it cute or attractive that I need them. I think that's a good thing and it's not even out of fetishization. It's just another aspect they can find ways to engage with romantically or in a caring way.


[User] Is it just me, or are the solicits for the current Titans run trying too hard to promote it as something that's "soooo WEIRD and QUIRKY"?

[Assistant] It reminds me of how Zeb Wells' ASM frequently was like "YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HORRIBLE THING IS GONNA TO HAPPEN TO PETER!"

[User] It’s been bothering me too, like it’s kinda fucking annoying LMAO (but I’m 26)

[Assistant] It doesn't even match the vibes of the actual run so far. Unless the next issue has a big tonal shift.


[User] I wish I had this talent, not to monetize it, but purely for the joy of bringing my characters to life.

[Assistant]
You can learn!

It may come easier to some than others, but there's nothing there you cannot acquire yourself.

[User] True. I'm not completely devoid of artistic talent but it takes more work than I'm willing to put in. Just easier for me to tweet about it 😬

[Assistant] Strong agree. I drew eight NPCs over the weekend, and they do not manage to catch what I was aiming for with anything like the skill and success as this artist. Great work, I think.


[User] Sure feels nice not to be called retarded and stupid all day every day. Thankful for all my old and new friends here on Bluesky. What a breath of fresh air. 💙

[Assistant] Your post inspires me a lot but you turned off your dms😔

[User] Yes, I had some scammers.

[Assistant] Im so sorry about that🤦🏾♂. Don’t know they are in this platform too 🤦🏾♂, can we chat on telegram then?


[User]
We have a pretty great facility at the library in YorCreate, our digital maker-space.

It's worth noting that all University of York members can use this after a short induction, including staff and researchers - there's some great examples of academics making the most of this! For example...

>>

[Assistant]
The Dept of Psychology and the York Neuroimaging Unit have done 3D prints of MRI brain-scans, which is pretty awesome 🧠

Drs Jason Fogg and Paul Wilson from the Dept of Biology used YorCreate to 3D print a ‘mix and match’ virus activity for a Festival of Ideas event, shown below.

>>

[User]
Members of the History of Art department have created 3D printed art that have been exhibited alongside existing artworks at York too.

There are all sorts of exciting scholarly possibilities for the 3D printers - but you can also just print your kid a pikachu if that's what you'd like to do!

>>

[Assistant]
As well as the bookable Ultimaker and Flashforge 3D printers, YorCreate also has workstations available for creative projects and some materials and tools for making, including a Cricut digital cutting machine.

It's really good.

More info, including induction sign-up, on the library website:


[User] Every year, this chunk of marking takes me longer than I expect, *even when* I update my expectation based on previous years.

[Assistant] And while we're at it - I always think marking rubrics over-reward Discussion sections. A plausible Discussion can easily be knocked out by any halfway competent bullshitter/last minute essayist. Intro-Methods-Results is where it's at.

[User] Interesting. I find that the Intro is now usually the best section, I'm guessing because of AI help. The rest is where the quality is assessed, and Discussions rarely well written.

[Assistant] That's maybe the case, but I would personally prefer a well written intro over discussion - I just don't really like discussions much (reading or writing them…)


[User] we are connected to heaven by some kind of cord?

[Assistant] Energy cords(sometimes called ethereal or etheric cords)are connective tubes that allow the transmission of information, energy, and emotion between spirits. Cords are often not visible to most people, yet, with training to visually see the aura and chakra system,it is possible to see them visually.

[User] j'what the fuck?

[Assistant] ok.  is it possible to be possessed by god?!


[User]
Today's breakfast read. Probably the next few days, too. I am currently reading about a journey through the Sierra Nevada. I'm never sure which is better in Sidetracked, the writing or the photography.

And yes, I'm a full volume behind.

[Assistant] The photography, that's what they place primacy on. You can't get published there without excellent images, whereas the story can be improved by the ed.

[User] I should brush up my photography skills then.

[Assistant] Me too, that's why I've never submitted to the print version.


[User]
We have an entire government under police investigation* about to call an early election.

(*If you believe in such things.)

[Assistant]
No consequences for rigging the last one.

www.corruptario.ca/suppress-the...

[User]
Do you think an early election is still in the cards for Ontario?
(1) Trump is much less popular in Ontario than in the average US.  We're more like New York or Minnesota than Michigan or Ohio.
(2) Ontario voters lean into a "Team Canada" approach. Do our PCs?

[Assistant] Yes, because the bribes and an election call go together. We still have voter suppression legislation on the books since Ford's first term.


[User] Today is the birthday of Whitney Ellsworth (Nov. 27, 1908-Sept. 7, 1980). A writer & editor for National Allied Publications/DC Comics during the Golden Age, he worked on the Superman movie serials, and became a producer & story editor on The Adventures of Superman tv show.

[Assistant] Actor Jim Beaver asked that his character Ellsworth on Deadwood be given the first name Whitney as a tribute. Beaver has been working on a biography of George Reeves for years.

[User] cool! I WONDERED if there was a connection!

[Assistant] I am very excited for the biography to come out!


[User]
I just finished watch @rich-harris.dev talk "North Star" in Gitnation site. He talks about finding direction and purpose in open source. Also, Svelte is 8 years now. Congrats, Rich and Svelte team! 🥳
You should watch it, folks!

gitnation.com/contents/sve...

[Assistant]
This is the reason why I choose Svelte since Svelte 3. When you want to update the value, just use the operator! Meanwhile the others use wrapper function or dot notation to update the value. It reminds me with Rich's talk 5 years ago about the operator.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNJ...

[User] Honestly, if Vue takes the same approaches with Svelte 3 at that time (e.g. no .ref() and no <template></template>), I think I will use Vue. Yes, I talk about syntax. How many seconds you waste your time if the programming syntax is too long or maybe uncomfortable for yourself?

[Assistant]
Take the example with visual journalism. You have a tight deadline and deliver as soon as possible. It means you  need the tool that by syntax is your own home (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) without any additional learning curve knowledge.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMlk...


[User] The MTA is considering using drones to watch over buses — www.thecity.nyc/2024/11/27/m...

[Assistant] Is there a particular drone-related vendor or company that the city uses? We keep getting these initiatives to use drones in odd ways - lifeguards at the beach (?!), emergency announcements, and now bus surveillance? Just weird.

[User] Have they heard of GPS? What’s wrong with these people?

[Assistant] Seems like it'd be easier to put a transponder on the buses themselves, but then I'm not well-versed in how much signal interference is present.


[User] If GlobalProtect wants to act an ass today I am allll for it🤞🏾

[Assistant] The VPN gods have spoken. 🤣

[User] You know today will be smooth sailing just because smh 😂

[Assistant] “If you don’t want me to log into today then say that.” 😆😆😆


[User] One of my favorite low maintenance perennial. Hummingbirds love them too. 🌱😊💙🦋🌿🍃

[Assistant] Great picture! What is its hardiness zone?

[User] It’s a perennial so it dies back in the winter & comes back in the spring. In the south, it may continue to grow as long as the temperature stays above 32*

[Assistant] I love penstemon so much! Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds all love it, too.


[User] I wrote a review of Anne Rodrick's Lecturing the Victorians for the BAVS Newsletter. Some really interesting material in a book which whets the appetite for a fully comprehensive account of Victorian lecturing. You can read it here.

[Assistant] Don’t you love it when a book comes out that might be relevant to your thesis, just as you are doing the final editing of said thesis!

[User] Not right on your thesis topic, though, I take it. I think that's always the big nightmare. What's the lecturing connection in your work?

[Assistant]
Interested in move from the Brighton Lit & Sci Society lectures (proudly given by amateurs) to more professional, paid-for lectures. & the way the BrightonAthenaeum often had more famous speakers - eg Clara Balfour in 1848. But is just
1 aspect of the town’s associational culture I’m investigating.

[User] I can't open the speakers link embedded in your mail, but the study of associational culture sounds really interesting (and right up my street). And yes, the way the different sorts of lecturing bodies intersect (or don't) is very interesting.

[Assistant]
No idea how that link got embedded into the post. And no idea what it is!

AC has been an interesting topic and good to look at something that isn’t Regency Brighton.


[User] Y'all know Bobby is a chef at a Japanese fusion restaurant that used charcoal in the reboot, right?

[Assistant] Wait what?

[User] Yup. There was an image posted recently from the voice actor which showed a grownup Bobby with a bio and he works at a Japanese fusion restaurant which specializes in Japanese Robata which is usually charcoal based.

[Assistant] *sigh* I hope he got back together with Connie.


[User]
"Billy, you have a rare Minecraft cape. What're your thoughts on the new cape, and needing to purchase something physically to get it?"

I don't care.

A hopefully very short thread :)

[Assistant] 1. Mojang is a business and can do whatever they want. They are under no obligation to ever give out more capes. Them doing so promotes both individuality for those who want it, and capitalism since they are a business and want money.

[User]
2. You don't need to buy the cape. If you have a really huge case of FOMO, sure, go ahead and purchase it. The physical cape will stay packaged up.

3. Excluding price, how is this different from the Minecon capes, which people spent potentially thousands on for travel and tickets?

[Assistant] Overall - I don't care. Go ahead and purchase the cape if you want, the digital one looks awesome. I personally won't be getting it, but that's me. Choose your own path for what you want to do :)


[User] To clarify, this is the Ruble to the dollar. Sorry, toilet paper to the dollar.

[User] It's less forgiving than the tracing paper we had in primary school in the 70s, it'd be horribly smearey...

[Assistant]
The fear is catching fire across the web...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nySy...

[User] Great watch, thanks.

[Assistant] I now understand why all the russians here in Thailand don’t smile.

[User] This is incredibly good news, just watch a Joe Bloggs video, could this be start of the end for Putin + Russia.

[Assistant]
Ah, the north face of the Eiger.
It gets steeper still!


[User] no way my man photoshopped me w/o eyebrows and i lowkey love it. he's really lovin my big forehead😭

[Assistant] photoshop? or just him screenshotting and drawing with a color match. same thing 😭

[User] Him coloring it to match the lighting 🤣

[Assistant] hahaha he really said color match!!


[User] It me. I’m option A.

[Assistant] I'm also A 😅

[User] (A) here also 😁

[Assistant] i’m more like: Who needs dialogue anyway? 🤷♂


[User] I really want the Yankees to bolster the rotation in addition to signing Soto. I wanted Snell, but there are still other good options out there.

[Assistant] Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like some folks are overlooking the need to add pitching depth. I know the offense has been the focus, but I’m worried about how the deep playoff run could fatigue the arms come next season.

[User] It's stupid for me to hope that Sasaki comes to the Yankees (he's going to be a Dodger who will then have 9 starters), but he's such a perfect fit.

[Assistant] I’m not resigned to him being a Dodger…yet. But yeah, getting Sasaki would be awesome. I would still want another bonafide starter after him, though.

[User]
If the Yankees signed Sasaki, the rotation would look like:
Cole
Sasaki
Rodon
Schmidt
Gil
Nestor
Stroman
Brubaker
Warren

I don't think they need another guy after that.

[Assistant] I think the quantity of guys is good but I’m not sure the health/upside is where I’d want it to be.


[User]
You’ll excuse me for not taking anyone from the DUP seriously after past leaders admitted to believing the Earth came into existence around 4,000 BC and that dinosaurs didn’t exist.

m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/norther...

[Assistant]
Didn’t DUP councillors in Ballymena once ban an ELO concert, claiming it would trigger a tsunami of the three Ds namely:
::Drink
::Drugs
::Debauchery
The concert was called off.

[User] I wouldn’t put it past them.

[Assistant]
To be fair (not something you hear that often in relation to the DUP) they have a point...

...advertising for Christmas related events shouldn't be allowed until 1 December.