• 3 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 14th, 2023

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  • 50501 is a national protest movement here in the US. There is an individual chapter for every state. The chapter for my state has a ton of people involved in my city, and one of the things we’re doing is fostering community through events like block parties.

    Block parties are not “unsanctioned” lol

    I don’t know if they’re a thing in other countries, but here in the US, it’s become an official type of event. We work with the city, and close down streets to set up on the pavement, temporarily converting the road into a social space for everyone around. Local businesses come and do stalls, food trucks set up, local musicians perform, it’s great!


  • If your community is poorly connected, help out! Host a block party, set up a book swap, there’s all kinds of options. That’s a big focus of our local 50501 community in Michigan: restoring the bonds that have been worn away over the years by capitalists.

    I strongly disagree with the majority of your last post though. It sounds like you’re determined to close your eyes and ears to the people around you




  • This is the second, and more promising, time chemicals associated with life have been detected in the planet’s atmosphere by Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

    I thought I’d remembered reading about this before. Sounds like just a couple more years, and they’ll be sure this gas is there, which is huge, but not totally conclusive.

    Personally, I’d bet it’s life. A big rocky planet with an ocean of phytoplankton sounds like our best bet for finding it. The scientists in the article are trying really hard not to be excited



  • …doesn’t it usually imply…something you have in common?

    Yes. That you live in the same area. You have the same elected representatives, you use the same public services, you shop at the same stores, you live with the same stakes. That’s why people say you need to get involved in your community. Whether or not you acknowledge it, you’re part of it

    Edit: to add, “community center” probably sounds old-fashioned to you, because of what they were talking about:

    it’s hard to get anyone to be willing to be remotely friendly or willing to admit that they are destroying the social fabric of their own Communities.

    Getting rid of places where you can engage with your community has been part of this effort. Community centers are run by local governments, and are often one of the first things conservatives try to cut





  • I like the idea that they’re not just symbols, but shapes. Get anything to be shaped like a rune, and it’ll touch magic. So two rocks leaned against each other just right might create a trickle of water, or a tree that grows a twisted enough web of branches could, by chance, summon a flame. Then, like with all natural phenomenon, people figured it out! It fits well with the trope that wizards are arcane researchers and scientists, you find in settings like D&D’s




  • I agree with all of this, and I think it’s the right choice. You don’t have to immediately come out as the brave warrior of what is right, but you can absolutely speak up, in all kinds of ways. Even just starting with, “Hey, this line doesn’t sound right, I think it would make more sense if it said ‘gender’ here,” could be helpful. If they insist, ask why.

    Everyone’s individual circumstances are going to be different, but there’s definitely something you can do. The pressure you’re feeling is exactly what the fascists want you to bow to, but most of the people you work with aren’t fascists. You might be surprised how much change you can make



  • The other people interviewed answer those questions if you keep reading

    “It really weighed on the creativity of my role, and again, spat in the face of my expertise”, [Ricky says]. “It wasn’t just this though; the tool itself lacks the intent, context, and limitations of what we’re doing. It doesn’t have other aspects of the project, influences, references, or personal experiences in the back of its mind, because it doesn’t have a mind. Whenever we design something for a game, it’s drawn from somewhere, influenced by other things, and filtered through our own experiences as a human. These AI ideas lose ALL of that…"

    “What follows from these discussions is me explaining why, usually over hours rather than minutes, that these tools have no place in a professional game development pipeline or production and actually hinder the development of visuals”, Francis says. “I also find myself explaining to them how the iteration and ‘idea’ phase of a project is where the best stuff happens, how exploring things through artistic labor is where your best ideas come to fruition, and why would we want an AI (that we don’t even own) to do that for us with art that isn’t ours to use?”

    (Edited for formatting)