silveradept: The logo for the Dragon Illuminati from Ozy and Millie, modified to add a second horn on the dragon. (Dragon Bomb)
Because the state of Mississippi has no idea what protecting children online actually entails, and are instead hoping that queer content will simply disappear off the Internet so they don't have to see it, but are threatening fines of $10,000 USD for each time a minor accesses something the state considers age-restricted, which goes far beyond the official and still-in-force Miller test for obscenity, Dreamwidth will be temporarily unavailable in the State of Mississippi starting September 1, 2025, and lasting until the State of Mississippi is injuncted against enforcing their overbroad and unsafe law. Because the state requires not only age verification of minors, but permission slips obtained and then all of that identifying information and documentation to be retained, along with special flags set for minor accounts that will make it obvious to a casual profile viewer that they're looking at a minor account (and therefore a possibly very juicy target), Bluesky has decided they are blocking Mississippi from using their service until Mississippi can be told that their law is overbroad, unconstitutional, and does the opposite of what they want it to do. The reason that this is happening in the first place is because despite at least one Justice saying outright that the challenge to the law was likely to succeed on the merits, the Supereme Court of the United States allowed it to go into effect because the conservative majority (or Justice I-Like-Beer-and-Boobies himself) said that the plaintiffs hadn't demonstrated sufficiently that they would be hurt by the law. Which sounds much more like an encouragement to Mississippi and others to pass these laws, even if they are eventually shut down, than someone taking into account the likelihood that the law will be judged unconstitutional and permitting preliminary injunctions to stay in effect while the case is argued, so that the state doesn't get the opportunity to try and collect its fines.

Federation, Professional Experience, and What Can Be Done )

It also turns out that Tennessee passed a similar, if less draconian, law, and therefore Tennesseans under 18 will be temporarily barred from registering accounts on Dreamwidth until their law can be thrown out, because, in a similar way, people decided that while the law was likely to be axed, somehow there wasn't sufficient showing of injury to injunct the law immediately, so instead it gets to cause damage until rendered moot. So this particular conflict has to be fought on multiple fronts, in places passing laws and in places trying to pass them. Having seen the damage that happens when those places are allowed to pass laws, if your locality hasn't done it yet, it may be worth telling them what political ramifications await them if they do.
silveradept: Domo-kun, wearing glass and a blue suit with a white shirt and red tie, sitting at a table. (Domokun Anchor)
Let us begin with a promise from the company distributing the movie The Toxic Avenger to erase at least $5 million in medical debt, with each additional million past 5 made at the box office resulting in another million dollars' worth of medical debt destroyed. (The debt itself will not cost $1 million to acquire, as much of the outstanding debt is bought from various debt collection companies for significantly lower than face value.)

If you're looking for something that takes most of the strangeness of a comic book universe and lets it be strange and odd, while also being very entertaining, The television adaptation of The Middleman is available to stream and download from the Internet Archive. There aren't enough episodes of it, and it would do well with a revival, but you can enjoy it for the moment.

If you are on a Typepad-hosted or Typepad-managed blog or service, export all necessary data and assets before September 30, 2025, otherwise all of your material will be inaccessible permanently. Typepad is shutting down, and this is their attempt to allow people to export everything before they turn it all off.

These always feel like so much happens in such a short time )

Last out, a spiky dinosaur that new fossils suggest may have grown spikes from the neck at least a meter long, in addition to all the other spiny points.

A web application designed to tell you what kinds of animals you are picking up and putting down with authority, based on what weights you tell it you can lift and put down with authority. What Animal Do You Even Lift, Bro?

And a story of stones, and reforging the rings around them as the people who those stones were given to reforge themselves closer and closer to the people who they are. Nate and Lee have a wonderful relationship, and this shows in in so many ways.

(Materials via [personal profile] adrian_turtle, [personal profile] azurelunatic, [personal profile] boxofdelights, [personal profile] cmcmck, [personal profile] conuly, [personal profile] cosmolinguist, [personal profile] elf, [personal profile] finch, [personal profile] firecat, [personal profile] jadelennox, [personal profile] jenett, [personal profile] jjhunter, [personal profile] kaberett, [personal profile] lilysea, [personal profile] oursin, [personal profile] rydra_wong, [personal profile] snowynight, [personal profile] sonia, [personal profile] the_future_modernes, [personal profile] thewayne, [personal profile] umadoshi, [personal profile] vass, the [community profile] meta_warehouse community, [community profile] little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)

Code deploy happening shortly

Aug. 31st, 2025 07:37 pm[staff profile] mark posting in [site community profile] dw_maintenance
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)

Per the [site community profile] dw_news post regarding the MS/TN blocks, we are doing a small code push shortly in order to get the code live. As per usual, please let us know if you see anything wonky.

There is some code cleanup we've been doing that is going out with this push but I don't think there is any new/reworked functionality, so it should be pretty invisible if all goes well.

Bingo

Aug. 31st, 2025 08:52 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
I  have made 7 fills in my 8-1-25 card for the Crime Classics Bingo


I1 (Somebody at the Door) -- "No Faster or Firmer Friendships" (Polychrome Heroics)
I3 (As If by Magic) -- "To Allow in More Light" (Monster House)
I4 (Someone from the Past) -- "An Inkling of Things to Come" (Polychrome HeroicsShiv)

N4 (He Who Whispers) -- "He Who Whispers" (An Army of One)

G2 (Family Matters) -- "When You Learn to Read" (Polychrome HeroicsBig One)
G3 (Before the Fact) -- "Where You Find Light" (Polychrome HeroicsBig One
G4 (Deep Waters) -- "The Most Precious Heritage" (Polychrome Heroics: Rutledge)  
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
Shifting Plans
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1901
[End of March 179-]


:: As they get ready for the day, Trokhym throws a small twist in their previous plans. Part of the “Lost Son” story arc in the Frankenstein’s Family universe. ::




Laszlo woke very early. His eyelids flung themselves upward as his lungs heaved eagerly for the crisp springtime air. He washed in cold water, frigid but not bearing a skin of ice, and dressed carefully. Tucked into the vardo, he brushed his hair and braided the queue, just to make it harder for David to grab at it.

The thought made him freeze.

The memory, blurred by more than a decade, softened into wistfulness.
Read more... )

Cyberspace Theory

Aug. 31st, 2025 05:29 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
The ecology of attention

There’s a moment, usually around the seventh open tab, when your brain lets out a quiet scream. Not loud. Just a gentle, exhausted howl from somewhere behind your eyeballs. You've read ten headlines, watched half a video, skimmed three opinion pieces, checked your email, ignored two messages, and now you can't remember what you were doing in the first place. Welcome to the modern infoscape. It's busy, it's loud, and it's eating us alive.

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
We made it to the end of August! \o/ If you have completed some of your medium-term goals or subgoals, and/or you're still chugging away at your ongoing goals, then pat yourself on the back. You worked hard for that. We have also finished summer. If you're doing seasonal goals, hopefully you have completed your summer batch and are about to start on fall.

This year I'm trying something new, continuing to track goals at the end of each month. So far it seems to be helping, so that's encouraging. I'm looking at my goal list more often and trying to keep ticking off more of them. The main drawback is that this update becomes more of a chore each month.

These are the previous check in posts:
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 4
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 10
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 17
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 24
New Year's Resolutions Check In January 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In February 28
New Year's Resolutions Check In March 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In April 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In May 31
New Year's Resolutions Check In June 30
New Year's Resolutions Check In July 31

Read more... )

Birdfeeding

Aug. 31st, 2025 03:25 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Today is partly cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches. I heard a cardinal singing but didn't see it.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/31/25 -- I watered the irises.

EDIT 8/31/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/31/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/31/25 -- I took out the hose and watered the new picnic table and septic gardens.

A male ruby-throated hummingbird dive-bombed me while I was out with the hose. Hopefully he'll go back and drink from the droplets on the plants. :D I heard a woodpecker drumming but didn't see it.

EDIT 8/31/25 -- I watered the patio plants, old picnic table, barrel garden, goddess garden, and other house yard plants.

A sphinx moth tried to lick me, and then visited the impatiens and other flowers on the old picnic table. :D

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

We got the hose reeled up and put away.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.
denise: Image: Me, facing away from camera, on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome (Default)

A reminder to everyone that starting tomorrow, we are being forced to block access to any IP address that geolocates to the state of Mississippi for legal reasons while we and Netchoice continue fighting the law in court. People whose IP addresses geolocate to Mississippi will only be able to access a page that explains the issue and lets them know that we'll be back to offer them service as soon as the legal risk to us is less existential.

The block page will include the apology but I'll repeat it here: we don't do geolocation ourselves, so we're limited to the geolocation ability of our network provider. Our anti-spam geolocation blocks have shown us that their geolocation database has a number of mistakes in it. If one of your friends who doesn't live in Mississippi gets the block message, there is nothing we can do on our end to adjust the block, because we don't control it. The only way to fix a mistaken block is to change your IP address to one that doesn't register as being in Mississippi, either by disconnecting your internet connection and reconnecting it (if you don't have a static IP address) or using a VPN.

In related news, the judge in our challenge to Tennessee's social media age verification, parental consent, and parental surveillance law (which we are also part of the fight against!) ruled last month that we had not met the threshold for a temporary injunction preventing the state from enforcing the law while the court case proceeds.

The Tennesee law is less onerous than the Mississippi law and the fines for violating it are slightly less ruinous (slightly), but it's still a risk to us. While the fight goes on, we've decided to prevent any new account signups from anyone under 18 in Tennessee to protect ourselves against risk. We do not need to block access from the whole state: this only applies to new account creation.

Because we don't do any geolocation on our users and our network provider's geolocation services only apply to blocking access to the site entirely, the way we're implementing this is a new mandatory question on the account creation form asking if you live in Tennessee. If you do, you'll be unable to register an account if you're under 18, not just the under 13 restriction mandated by COPPA. Like the restrictions on the state of Mississippi, we absolutely hate having to do this, we're sorry, and we hope we'll be able to undo it as soon as possible.

Finally, I'd like to thank every one of you who's commented with a message of support for this fight or who's bought paid time to help keep us running. The fact we're entirely user-supported and you all genuinely understand why this fight is so important for everyone is a huge part of why we can continue to do this work. I've also sent a lot of your comments to the lawyers who are fighting the actual battles in court, and they find your wholehearted support just as encouraging and motivating as I do. Thank you all once again for being the best users any social media site could ever hope for. You make me proud and even more determined to yell at state attorneys general on your behalf.

Today's Adventures

Aug. 30th, 2025 09:53 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Today we went to the Tuscola Family Fun Day and the Arthur Amish Country Cheese Festival.

Amusingly, I'm wearing a goldenrod-yellow T-shirt with a corncob and the caption "This is my crop top." (It's full length.) I got at least half a dozen compliments on it. :D I bought it earlier this year at another event, definitely a good choice for fall festivals.

Read more... )

Communities

Aug. 30th, 2025 05:57 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
When your job treats you like a person

As I write this, however, as the new part-time engagement coordinator for a small community farm, I’m laughing at the comedy of errors. I’m not afraid, because this is the first job I’ve ever had that treats me, first and foremost, like a person.

Read more... )
dialecticdreamer: My work (Default)
Evening Discussion
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1629
[End of March 179-]


:: Part of the “Lost Son” story arc in the Frankenstein’s Family universe. ::



By the time the last drips of sunshine leaked from the clouds scraped by the shadows of the tall trees, the vardo was parked close to the leeward side of the small house, barely twice as wide as the vardo and only a little longer. Laszlo had split two of the six logs into firewood, stacking it in the drying pile where Rebeka had pointed, among the towers of green hardwood. On the windy side of the house, chimney style stacks took up most of the space that might be used for a garden. Rebeka had quickly identified the towers of hardwood, as tall as she was, and pointed out the newest, half-finished one. Piles of loose branches took up the corner farthest from the house, and a pile of wood chips beside it was nearly half its height.

Laszlo returned from the errand to find Rebeka in discussion with Troknym, talking about a book. He listened eagerly, until he realized that her hands were shaking as she tried to peel potatoes. “I can help,” he offered, motioning toward the potatoes.
Read more... )

Birdfeeding

Aug. 30th, 2025 05:54 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Today is partly cloudy and warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 8/30/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 8/30/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 8/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 8/30/25 -- I potted up 10 Ginger Gold apple seeds.

EDIT 8/30/25 -- I watered the apple seeds and the new picnic table plants.

I've picked several groundcherries today.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.  I saw one firefly; it's cool for them and terribly dry.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

Wildlife

Aug. 30th, 2025 12:15 am[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Celebrate International Bat Night August 30-31.

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.


What would happen if a maximum income of was implemented?

Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Our theme this month was "Books and Learning." I wrote from 1 PM to 4 AM, so about 13 hours, accounting for breaks. I wrote 2 poems on Tuesday and another 5 later in the week.

Participation was about the same, with 7 comments on LiveJournal and another 23 on Dreamwidth. A total of 9 people sent prompts.


Read Some Poetry!
The following poems from the August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl have been posted:
"He Who Whispers"
"An Inkling of Things to Come"
"To Allow in More Light"


Buy some poetry!
If you plan to sponsor some poetry but haven't made up your mind yet, see the unsold poetry list from August 5. That includes the title, length, price, and the original thumbnail description for the poems still available.

This month's donors include: [personal profile] janetmiles and [personal profile] fuzzyred. All sponsored poems from this fishbowl have been posted. There are 0 tallies toward a bonus fishbowl.


The Poetry Fishbowl has a landing page.

Today's Cooking

Aug. 29th, 2025 10:53 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Tonight I am making Ginger Gold Apple Pie.  :D  I've added 1/2 teaspoon of tapioca starch in hopes of thickening the filling a bit, but otherwise it's the same as before.   If you see any, grab them -- these apples only appear for 2-3 weeks, usually in August.

8/29/25 -- Done!  it's delicious.  The tapioca starch helped, but I should've used a whole teaspoon.
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
The following poems from the August 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."


"The Most Prestigious Heritage"
Story Date: Sunday, July 12, 2015
Summary: Syrian families create a language nest in Rutledge.
447 lines, Buy It Now = $224

Sabra Mamoud loved working
at 'Aswat Saghira, or in English,
the Little Voices Language Nest.



These poems form a triptych, to be posted in order:

"Where You Find Light"
Story Date: Early June, 2016
Summary: Josué and Aidan set up a house for earthquake refugees, complete with books.
422 lines, Buy It Now = $211

As soon as Aidan recovered
from the Big One flattening him
with the weight of so many deaths
and disruptions all at once, he
began looking for ways to help.



"When You Learn to Read"
Story Date: Monday, June 13, 2016
Summary: Josué reads aloud to refugee children.
286 lines, Buy It Now = $143

Josué parked his bike and
then bounded up the steps
of the big, bright pink house,
already looking forward to
the afternoon's activities.



"No Faster or Firmer Friendships"
Story Date: Monday, June 13, 2016
Summary: Josué and Maria-Vera read together.
515 lines, Buy It Now = $258

Once they finished putting away
all the groceries, the children
and a few adults drifted back
into the living room area.

Indigenous People

Aug. 29th, 2025 08:14 pm[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Cherokee, Osage, and the Indigenous North American Type Collection

After five years of community-partnered research with First Nations and Inuit communities in Canada and the United States, Typotheque is proud to announce the release of new Cherokee and Osage script fonts. Accompanying these is the Indigenous North American Type Collection, a large set of fonts that support the Indigenous communities in North America and their unique writing systems, in terms of digital access, use, and local typographic needs.


Speak it. Write it. Read it. Live it. Remember it.

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