Attention To All Dashcon Attendees

Hey, do y’all remember how Tencent said they were developing faceID AI to identify people in riots, and then they suddenly created an AI art generator to turn your selfies into anime?

Do y’all remember that time that someone discovered facial recognition cameras couldn't see through Juggalo makeup, then Facebook had a fun “see what you'd look like with Juggalo makeup” thing, and then facial recognition cameras could suddenly see through Juggalo makeup?

Do y’all remember how, on Twitter, Elon started a tirade against artists who ask for credit when their art is reposted, and he suddenly he created one of the first big art AI programs?

Do y’all remember how AI destroyed the field of translation, despite the inferiority of the machine translations, because people didn’t care about the quality of the translations? They just wanted it done for free?

Do you know how companies will see a lot of money going into a New Tech Thing (like, say, AI art apps) and will jump to try and implement that New Tech Thing into their tech? For example, how it felt like every big company and celebrity had an NFT to sell?

Just wondering.

Me when tragic siblings:

Behold

i am so tired of this. we are so tired of this. between Bob Iger's garbage comments,that one executive straight out sayin they'll wait out the strikes till people start losin their homes an now this. how long do they think they can keep treating the creatives they get rich off while doin nothin themselves like this? till when will they do an say whatever they want an keep gettin away with it? not long now.. not long. not anymore.

also Karla Ortiz keeps kickin butt❤

here's a link to the Have I Been Trained website for you to click

ALSO! use Glaze to protect the images of your work you post!

here's a link to that as well for you

it basically creates a protective layer on the image that prevents AI from stealin it. Very important. all the info is on the site.

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convincing the outside world that tumblr was dead was a joint effort that took years, and we would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for mf elon musk😭

that’s enough emotions for a whole year. ciao

"we need to be able to blaze other peoples posts" you can its called seeing a post and reblogging it with the tags 'posts that have 10k. to me.' so that the op can screenshot and go 'dont do this to me' and when you look it has 9k notes already

My favourite alternative news resources for staying informed:

Garbage Day — As an internet user, you are affected by the state of the internet — I’ve long read this newsletter for its analysis of culture through the lens of internet ephemera, but in recent weeks Garbage Day has also become one of the very best sources of breaking news and analysis about the ongoing coup. Even if you subscribe to nothing else in this e-mail, you are certain to discover a variety of journalists and news publishers via this publication (many of the independent journalists linked below I originally found via a link in Garbage Day.)

404 Media — As a reader of my work, you are affected by US anti-pornography laws, which limit freedom of sexual expression online — Sam Cole (ex-senior editor for Motherboard) at the independent news publication 404 Media does the best reporting on news related to these topics of any individual journalist I'm aware of. 404 Media is an internet and technology news platform that was co-founded by four journalists: a writer, two senior editors, and the editor-in-chief of Motherboard.

What the Fuck Just Happened Today? — As a person who lives in the world right now, you are, unfortunately, affected to some extent by US politics — WTFJHT delivers an extremely lucid, concise, once-per-day summary of US political news.

Law Dork — As a person affected to some extent by US politics, it is in your interest to understand US law. Chris Geidner (US Supreme Court expert and ex-BuzzFeed legal editor) is the best source I can recommend for informative, detailed reporting + analysis of, in particular, LGBTQ+ political and legal issues in US news.

Erin in the Morning — Erin Reed (trans rights activist and ex-digital director for TheAmerican Independent) is one of the best sources for all news regarding the fight for trans rights in the US; in-depth coverage of the wave of anti-trans legislation and how people are fighting back. Very difficult and vitally important work.

Notes on the Crises — Nathan Tankus (economist and self-taught monetary policy expert.) This is a finance-focused publication that has pivoted to full-time coverage of Elon Musk's activities within the treasury. It has been one of the first places to break news of Musk's activities and has been cited in the lawsuits against him.

Popular Information — Judd Legum (founder of the now-defunct ThinkProgress.) Highly influential investigative reporting; also publishes the newly-minted Musk Watch, focused on Elon Musk’s activities.

Public Notice — Aaron Rupar (ex-Vox journalist.) Notable reporting on the activities of the US right wing for a progressive audience.

WIRED — Believe it or not, the tech-focused magazine WIRED has been consistently publishing what is universally considered to be some of the best reporting on all breaking news WRT Elon Musk’s ongoing bureaucratic coup.

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US Helplines:

Depression Hotline: 1-630-482-9696

Suicide Hotline: 1-800-784-8433

LifeLine: 1-800-273-8255

Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743

Eating Disorders Hotline: 1-847-831-3438

Rape and Sexual Assault: 1-800-656-4673

Grief Support: 1-650-321-5272

Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000

Exhale: After Abortion Hotline/Pro-Voice: 1-866-4394253

Child Abuse: 1-800-422-4453

UK Helplines:

Samaritans (for any problem): 08457909090 e-mail jo@samaritans.org

Childline (for anyone under 18 with any problem): 08001111

Mind infoline (mental health information): 0300 123 3393 e-mail: info@mind.org.uk

Mind legal advice (for people who need mental-health related legal advice): 0300 466 6463 legal@mind.org.uk

b-eat eating disorder support: 0845 634 14 14 (only open Mon-Fri 10.30am-8.30pm and Saturday 1pm-4.30pm) e-mail: help@b-eat.co.uk

b-eat youthline (for under 25’s with eating disorders): 08456347650 (open Mon-Fri 4.30pm - 8.30pm, Saturday 1pm-4.30pm)

Cruse Bereavement Care: 08444779400 e-mail: helpline@cruse.org.uk

Frank (information and advice on drugs): 0800776600

Drinkline: 0800 9178282

Rape Crisis England & Wales: 0808 802 9999 1(open 2 - 2.30pm 7 - 9.30pm) e-mail info@rapecrisis.org.uk

Rape Crisis Scotland: 08088 01 03 02 every day, 6pm to midnight

India Self Harm Hotline: 00 08001006614

India Suicide Helpline: 022-27546669

Kids Help Phone (Canada): 1-800-668-6868

FREE 24/7 suicide hotlines:

Argentina: 54-0223-493-0430

Australia: 13-11-14

Austria: 01-713-3374

Barbados: 429-9999

Belgium: 106

Botswana: 391-1270

Brazil: 21-233-9191

China: 852-2382-0000

(Hong Kong: 2389-2222)

Costa Rica: 606-253-5439

Croatia: 01-4833-888

Cyprus: 357-77-77-72-67

Czech Republic: 222-580-697, 476-701-908

Denmark: 70-201-201

Egypt: 762-1602

Estonia: 6-558-088

Finland: 040-5032199

France: 01-45-39-4000

Germany: 0800-181-0721

Greece: 1018

Guatemala: 502-234-1239

Holland: 0900-0767

Honduras: 504-237-3623

Hungary: 06-80-820-111

Iceland: 44-0-8457-90-90-90

Israel: 09-8892333

Italy: 06-705-4444

Japan: 3-5286-9090

Latvia: 6722-2922, 2772-2292

Malaysia: 03-756-8144

(Singapore: 1-800-221-4444)

Mexico: 525-510-2550

Netherlands: 0900-0767

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New Guinea: 675-326-0011

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Norway: 47-815-33-300

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Poland: 52-70-000

Portugal: 239-72-10-10

Russia: 8-20-222-82-10

Spain: 91-459-00-50

South Africa: 0861-322-322

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Sweden: 031-711-2400

Switzerland: 143

Taiwan: 0800-788-995

Thailand: 02-249-9977

Trinidad and Tobago: 868-645-2800

Ukraine: 0487-327715

(Source)

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So on the matter of this absurd deflection tactic I'm seeing from antisemitism apologists, where they're like: "Um sweaty, if you play a game with a race of short, hook-nosed goblins who all work at the fantasy bank, and immediately see them as Jews, then that's a YOU problem," I would just like to be crystal fucking clear about something:

We are not "seeing Jews" when we look at the goblins in the Harry Potter universe (or the reptilian Illuminati overlords and diminutive, rat-faced hagglers in your beloved science fiction franchises). Most of us are Jews, and are therefore pretty fucking familiar with how actual Jewish people look and behave (we do not have horns; we do like to share our very strong opinions about how to garnish latkes and hummus). None of us are seeing a Ferengi merchant from Star Trek, or Gargamel from The Smurfs, and thinking "Oh wow, he's the spitting image of my Great Uncle Moishe, and I'm mad about that!" This is not, and has never been, about seeing genuine reflections of the Jewish people.

No, what we're seeing are characters and tropes bearing a strong resemblance to the grotesque antisemitic caricatures that have been used in efforts to dehumanise, disenfranchise, and decimate us for centuries. We know damn well the goblins or dwarves or greedy reptilian space overlords aren't accurate depictions of real Jews—but they are evocative of age-old antisemitic stereotypes, and that's the actual fucking issue here. This isn't some weird thought exercise where we just free associate random things with Jews based on our own skewed self-perceptions. We're saying to you, "Hey, the imagery in this piece of media is uncomfortably reminiscent of the bigoted tropes constantly wielded by our oppressors to hurt us, and that's a problem, because it's both compounding our trauma and subtly reinforcing people's unchecked antisemitic biases," and you're effectively telling us to fuck off in response.

Like, if you don't care about antisemitism I can't change that, but you don't get to accuse Jews of being "the real antisemites" simply for pointing out the similarities between the short, hook-nosed, child-stealing, banker goblins in your shiny new video game and the blatantly anti-Jewish stereotypes used to demean us throughout the course of human history.

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As more people use tumblr blaze and inevitably make asses of themselves, I think this is a good time to remind people that it’s never ok to send someone messages to kill themself, no matter who they are. Your first reaction upon seeing someone get dunked on should not be to go to their askbox and harass them. Block people if they upset you that badly. Death threats aren’t the cool funny “own” you think it is.