Older than dirt? You'll love slash con Escapade Online's "Remember the 1900s," back when you needed coins to make a call, maps were on paper, and movies were on film. Reminisce & answer questions from fans who've never made a dial-up modem scream! Join us Thu 7 Aug–Sun 9 Aug: escapadecon.carrd.co

"Pronouns used to be a funny joke, Hank. Until the government tried to tell me I couldn't use them anymore. So now I'm adamant about making sure trans people are gendered right. Not for their sake. But because I'll be damned if the US government is going to tell me what words I can and can't use."

Yeah, this: wheelchair users don't need a $30,000 wheelchair that can transform. They need ramps and better doorknobs. But that's not SEXY. It's the same mindset that says solar is boring. It just sits there while modular nuclear is SMASHING ATOMS, baby! sightlessscribbles.com/disability-d...

I've bounced off LitRPG, possibly because it's mostly written as power fantasy for geeky men. So: Looked for LitRPG with a woman as the main character. Then: looked for LitRPG starring a woman whose personality is not "I will crush all men who cross me." Sigh. Looked for reverse-harem LitRPG.

You know what I really really like that analogy

Pissed-Off Scientist@rockney.bsky.social · yesterday

I have seen the future...

JuanOchoa@juanochoa.eurosky.social · yesterday

heh

I will crawl over broken glass to vote against every Republican in every election for the rest of my life for what they’ve done

The brains and the brawn heard you talking about partnerships that you Do Not Separate and are ready to be counted..

Looking Ahead Edwin

Alt: Edwin Payne and Charles Rowland stood in the Dead Boy Detectives office turning to loot at the camera

static.klipy.com

escapadecon 🐧@escapadecon.bsky.social · 2d ago

Matched set, do not separate! When you think "Soldier + Scientist," who comes to mind—Sherlock, Stargate, Sentinel? We'll discuss why an intellectual and a fighter might fall in love at slash con Escapade Online, Thu 7 Aug-Sun 9 Aug! (Which of your very faves did we leave out?) escapadecon.carrd.co

"Anime: What's New/Good/Gay?" From magical healing [redacted] to child soldiers, anime keeps pushing boundaries & leaning into clichés. What are the newest, and your "not good, but great!" faves? Find out at Escapade Online, Thu 7 Aug–Sun 9 Aug, virtual edition of the slash con! escapadecon.carrd.co

i think playing a ttrpg character who talks like this would be very VERY fun

Igor Toscano 🏴@toscanoigor.bsky.social · 6d ago

Libraries pay millions to rent ebooks they never own. So maybe it's no surprise Penguin Random House is sponsoring arguments against stronger library ebook rights. www.libraryjournal.com/story/news/m...

Moving Beyond the Publisher Playbook: Why State-Level Contract Law is Essential to the Future of Digital Library Rights

The era of mere “firefighting” and polite, incremental negotiation is over. The library sector is asking for relief from ebook pricing schemes that consume tremendous amounts of public dollars while p...

libraryjournal.com

✨💖 ONLY 4 MORE SLEEPS 💖✨ until Escapade Online 36.5! Are you registered for the slashiest slumber party's virtual edition, Fri 7 Aug–Sun 9 Aug? You can attend entirely in your PJs! Rose & Lily will be there along with all your other favorite hockey players/blorbos—come join us! escapadecon.carrd.co

US-born teen working a landscaping job gets assaulted and handcuffed by ICE, even after presenting his REAL ID A periodic reminder that guillotines are the moderate solution... 🎁🔗: www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...

Immigration agents detained NC teen despite US citizenship. Why he’s seeking damages

Immigration officers detained him in November. Here’s why he filed a legal challenge.

newsobserver.com

There are good cops! There's even a term for them! That term is "rookie." They either join the cult or get fired.

Alex@purplechrain.bsky.social · 5d ago

An officer reported other cops for using racist, sexist and homophobic slurs at work, filed an Internal Affairs complaint & submitted recordings of the other cops being bigoted as evidence b/c otherwise nothing would be done about it. He’s now charged with 16 felonies & could get 13 years in prison.

Need to destress & soothe your soul? Apply fic until symptoms abate! In our panel “Grab Your Blankie & Get Cozy” we’ll talk comfort fic—which ones always help you feel better? Register for next week's Escapade Online slash con Thu Aug 7–Sun 9 Aug (scholarships still available)! escapadecon.carrd.co

New: We found 50 cops who misused Flock cameras and other license-plate readers for personal purposes, often to spy on their girlfriends or ex-wives. He "watched every single move I made. ... Who do you turn the chief of police in to?" wapo.st/3S6rTuo

She left her ex. He secretly tracked her through a network of policing cameras.

Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.

wapo.st

airbnb I’m staying at unintentionally created the toughest punk album cover of 2027

The TOS being so strict that they control you offsite is the problem; sites like Patreon and Kofi have offsite clauses too. The social criminalization of the suggestion that somewhere you might be doing nsfw is a problem. It's branding a person as obscene and we need consumers to stand up for us

Sam Cole@samleecole.bsky.social · 5d ago

a bunch of popular ASMR artists lost their channels forever this week, after YouTube cited them for violating terms against "sexually gratifying" content: www.404media.co/youtube-asmr...

What I hate about COVID downplayers is… you won okay. In the aftermath of humanity coming together to develop the most crucial vaccines of our lifetime & collectively sacrificing to save lives, we are now less safe, less vaccinated & less empathetic than ever. You won ok. Lay down your swords.

I like this notetaking example. it is a good case of how gender works. Notetaking has never been about producing a transcript. It is a bureaucratic skill in the 20th c. organixarion because it is SENSEMAKING. Those women socialized to take notes? They have been doing men’s metacognition for them

Jennifer Romig @jennifermromig.bsky.social · 4d ago

Notetaking in meetings is tiny case in point - used to be some predictable social assumptions who would do it; now anyone can offer to do ”notetaking” by turning on the AI listener. Further interesting scenario is human recollection / notes (taken by habit by a person) conflict with AI summary

"At long last, scientists have created the Brainrot Machine, as seen in the classic scifi Novel, Don't Create The Brainrot Machine."

Beau Oddball@beauoddball.bsky.social · 5d ago

I’m not putting in my faith in those AI Robots. Every Sci-fi movie ever has said don’t trust in Artificial Intelligence made by rich techno bros.

People who protest boycotts are always fascinating. "Well, maybe money's tight and all that, but it's WRONG of you to not-spend it for reasons I object to. If you don't have the RIGHT reasons, you MUST buy this product."

Mom@milph.mom · 4mo ago

Apparently, in his own words, I’m “literally killing” him. I enjoy some problematic content and I don’t suddenly feel like a bad person if someone else personally dislikes it. Sounds like a skill issue. bsky.app/profile/phil...

"The visual and proprioceptive stimulus obtained through the precisely controlled hand movements when using a pen contribute extensively to the brain’s connectivity patterns that promote learning … far more elaborate than when typing on a keyboard."

Frontiers | Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: a high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom

As traditional handwriting is progressively being replaced by digital devices, it is essential to investigate the implications for the human brain. Brain ele...

frontiersin.org

Not even, "kill people for not voting for him." Kill people for living in the same state as people who didn't vote for him. He got millions of votes in California, but those weren't the majority. He's happy to kill off his own voters if they're outnumbered in their states.

Seth Masket@smotus.bsky.social · 7d ago

I've been seeing a lot of people responding to this with "there ought to be a law," but importantly, we haven't needed a law for this sort of thing because no prior president wanted to be known as a leader who would literally kill people in their hour of need for not voting for him

Kids: 1 KIDS Act: 0

EFF’s @maassive.bsky.social spoke with @cnn.com about the anti-ALPR sentiment sweeping the nation. “Once people start learning about the massive scale of the data that’s being collected and who it’s being accessed by, it starts to freak them out.”

Flock cameras are getting mobbed | CNN

From coast to coast, Americans across the political spectrum have been taking official or vigilante action against the always-on, searchable camera network.

cnn.com

this is basically an unheard of number and if it relates at all to voting intention in november the GOP is staring the apocalypse in the face

Polling USA@usapolling.bsky.social · last wk.

2024 Trump Voters - "Do you regret voting for Trump in 2024?" No: 77% Yes: 22% GSG / July 27, 2026

Every so often things like this roll across my screen and I wonder how in the hell I survived it. Then I think, it's still early days, I'm not sure I've survived it yet.