country boys wear the tightest pair of blue jeans you’ve ever seen and unbutton their flannel to the nipple like.. who at this rodeo needs to know you’re a slut. the clown?
Every time this post crosses my dash it’s tagged with a different Timothy olyphant character and you’re all correct
Police in Glasgow tried to seize “evidence” from a queer, Yiddish, anarchist vegan cafe. The high crime? Displaying a “fuck the police” tote bag in their window.
The police forced the cafe to removed the bag for “breach of peace” but staff put up an identical bag right after the seizure. Officers challenged co-founder Morgan Holleb when the bag was back up. So, he flipped it around to the Yiddish side, which also reads “fuck the police.” He then wrote “fuck the police” in permanent marker on the front door. The bag and marker remain on the door to this day.
Since the incident, the store has received over $4,400, in donations and purchases of the bag. They sold out within a week but are not available online again at pinkpeacock.gay/product/tote/.
The cafe is now open to everyone, “except cops and TERFs.”
The bag in question:
What's your favourite ridiculous piece of 90s technology?
Thank you so much for the excellent question!! I’ve been meaning to answer this one for a while, so here goes.
My favourite ridiculous piece of 90s technology is PocketMail! It wasn’t that ridiculous at the time, but it’s definitely something that could have only existed in the late 1990s / early 2000s. I actually have a PocketMail device, an Oregon Scientific PM-32 that I found on the side of the road in a box full of broken landline telephones!
PocketMail devices were essentially very basic Personal Digital Assistants that allowed you to access your emails without having to use a computer with an internet connection! Here you can see the basic screen and buttons for composing, sending and receiving emails.
But remember, this thing doesn’t have Wi-Fi - so how exactly can it access your emails? If you flip the device over, you’ll see a strange little speaker thing that flips out…
That’s an acoustic coupler! You had to hold the device up to the handset of a landline telephone! So if you had a PocketMail account (with a special email address ending in @pocketmail.com) and were away from your computer/office, you could simply dial the phone number for the PocketMail service on the nearest landline telephone, then hold the device up to the handset so that it can send and receive email data with the email server in the form of audio - and presto! You have just sent an angry last-minute email to your intern for neglecting to look after your Tamagotchi while you were on a business trip to sell Y2K survival kits.
But… what did it sound like? The phone service has long since been shut down after the rise of more capable and portable internet-connected devices, but if you press the little ‘Mail’ button on the top of the device, you can still hear the sounds of this poor, obsolete little thing trying to reach out and communicate in the only way it knows how to:
AUDIO WARNING: LOUD
Kind of creepy, isn’t it?
Blast from the past. DD loaned me an acoustic coupler back in 1986 when she was in the US and I was still in NI; it sounded just like that (and looked like this).
I think the original intention was to save money on phonecalls, which it may have done at her end. Not however at mine; to British Telecom a transatlantic call was a transatlantic CALL whether voice or not, and got charged accordingly.
The bills from December ‘85 to May ‘86 were astonishing, and the bills from June to December ‘86 were even worse because of that misinformation about charges. (Not that I stopped, because Reasons.) ;->
By December 28th and one transatlantic FLIGHT later, it was no longer a problem. :-)
David and Saul, oil on canvas, 1885
by Julius Kronberg (Swedish, 1850-1921)
“The past is another country, they do things differently there.”
But can they really have done things so differently that people looking at this painting didn’t think “Whoa, cool it a bit lads, or get yourselves a room…”
I mean, obvious or what?
*****
And now I’m remembering the 1986 UFP-Con where @dduane and I thought we were being so subtle and understated.
Except that when we announced on the Sunday evening of the con that we’d got engaged, the concom not only had champagne already hidden under the table, it and its ice-bucket had preceded us from panel to panel while everyone waited to finally hear what they’d put together for themselves since about Friday afternoon.
A perceptive lot. And sneaky with it. :->
torchwood was like one third tacky camera zooms and one third homosexuality and one third the most terrifying and fucked up implications ive ever seen in sci-fi
what if there was a pterodactyl in the secret underground base? what if tosh had gay sex with an alien? what if owen died and came back wrong and now he's fully conscious but his body cant heal so he has to feel himself decay while his friends grieve his death?
Reblogging again. Firefox is an excellent, safe and fast browser and everyone should consider using it.
Don’t just consider it. If you have the ability to switch to Firefox, this is your official notice to do it.
If you’re saying, “well, I need Chrome because I need such-and-such extension for my job”, the computer will not explode if you install another browser. Use Chrome ONLY for work tasks and use Firefox for everything else. If you’re concerned about losing your bookmarks, Firefox can import your Chrome bookmarks.
[ID: Firefox Library window. The “Import and Backup” panel is expanded, displaying the option, “Import Data from Another Browser”, which is also circled with a red MS Paint ellipse. ID end.]
Forgot a thing. Subscribe to Mozilla VPN for bonus points. It’s basically the only truly secure VPN service in the world right now.
For $5 a month, you can completely conceal your online activities from your ISP in a manner that isn’t just immediately monetised or turned over to the cops. No, it’s not free, it does cost money, but the money doesn’t go to line a billionaire’s pockets.
I wonder how much of this is because of work/school from home forcing people to use Chrome so all their stupid monitoring softwares and platforms can work.
This is also your reminder that you don't have to use just one browser. You can use chrome for all the monitoring bullshit your office wants you to run and use firefox for everything else.
Be sure to add the multi account containers extension to your firefox, which allows you to be logged in to multiple accounts on the same website at the same time in the same window but in different tabs.
look on my five open tumblr accounts (not sideblogs, accounts!) ye mighty and despair.
Firefox is super good, folks. It's good in a general "google shouldn't own everything in the entire fucking world" sense AND in a "this is an actual good product that does lots of cool shit" sense.
ALSO make sure to add the Ublock origin extension on Firefox - I haven't seen a youtube ad in five years and you don't have to either.
While you're at it, why not add the Wayback Machine extension so that if you go looking for a page that has been taken down the wayback machine will automatically offer you an archived version instead; also handy for documenting people's shitty takes and winning arguments after they delete the original post!
Worried that Firefox is going to slow down your computer? In benchmarks, modern versions of chrome and firefox are pretty much the same speed but you can still install the auto tab discard extension ANYWAY so that it will snooze unused tabs in order to keep your computer running faster. Set it to sleep, discard, close, and store tags at your discretion!
And while you're at it: install Firefox as your mobile browser for android and add those extensions to your mobile browser! Mobile adblock is here, baybee, save your data and enjoy a better mobile experience! And install it on iOS! iOS can't add extensions, but at least it's better than safari, and if you want a somewhat more private iOS browsing experience try firefox focus for iOS (which is also available on android but you can accomplish the same thing with extensions).
Anyway, firefox is good.
Also: in January 2023, Chrome is making some changes to plugin architecture that effectively neutering adblockers. If you want good adblocking, you won’t have it in Chrome. Use Firefox
(In fairness, some Chrome-derived browsers like Vivaldi and Opera have openly parted ways with Chrome about this, and more power to them, but Firefox is the way to go.)
🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈
This is one of the most adorable Pride posts I’ve ever seen
What I love about the imagery of the turtle is that it’s sending the message that they are protecting themselves by being in their shell. It’s not about deceiving straight people (like we are often told), but about the turtle’s own safety. They’ll come out when the time is right and they feel comfortable. 💕🏳️🌈
Imagine if you will a complete inversion of a boorish American on St. Patrick’s Day. Imagine an Irishman who aggressively celebrates the Fourth of July with unabashed gusto, who desperately tries to claim the significance of some alleged 1/32 American heritage, who wears a shirt with an eagle turning into an American flag and who drinks a specialty red, white, and blue novelty beverage until he collapses in a pool of tricolor vomit. Imagine some guy so invested in a superficial, touristy version of Americaness that he will nervously call the side with his $20 “authentic” hamburger “freedom fries” out of fear of offending. Imagine a guy who upon meeting any American will try to strike up a friendly conversation by asking them what their favorite gun is and talking about how personally inspiring he finds Abraham Lincoln.
You must understand, as you prepare to read the May 24th entry of this novel, that this Irishman is Bram Stoker.
y'all I just realised
tumblr is a website that wasn't designed to produce any specific kind of content, and in the end it mostly boils down to shitposts that mean absolutely nothing, and american political discorse where all sorts of liberals and communists duke out about which way is the best to oppose the political right
this is a None Website With Left Beef
Come back, I have to tell you the plot of a fic I’ll never write and get you excited about it so we can all be disappointed with me later
what is your eye color. what is your favorite color. what is the color that appears most frequently in your wardrobe. what color is your favorite blanket. what color is your water bottle.
There is only one woman but it seems like there are lots because she is moving very rapidly
This is my theology
It's her, the Divine Feminine
Me, showing a man who makes 3 times my yearly salary how to save a Word document as a PDF
pratchett will write an entire book about the grim reaper pretending to be santa claus while the grim reaper’s granddaughter goes about hunting down the dumbass who decided to kill santa, and then right when you think you’re done and the oddly pointed shenanigans are winding down he hits you with “humans need fantasy to be human. to be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape,” and knocks you into next wednesday
“Why does the third of the three brothers, who shares his food with the old woman in the wood, go on to become king of the country? Why does James Bond manage to disarm the nuclear bomb a few seconds before it goes off rather than, as it were, a few seconds afterwards? Because a universe where that did not happen would be a dark and hostile place. Let there be goblin hordes, let there be terrible environmental threats, let there be giant mutated slugs if you really must, but let there also be hope. It may be a grim, thin hope, an Arthurian sword at sunset, but let us know that we do not live in vain.”
GNU TERRY PRATCHETT
Gnu Terry Pratchett
what if every Tumblr user suddenly looses their mouse?
J = Next Post K = Previous Post L = Like N = View Notes Space = Show Photo Shift + R = Reblog Shift + E = Add to Queue Z + Tab = Switch Blogs
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
I just reblogged this with the command, shit
Do you know how much this helps people who have trouble with the mouse? (Me, other disabled people) thank you
Yup, I use these when my hands get particularly weak (like now)
Alt + R is the new command to reblog Alt + Q is the new command to queue
Untitled Goose Game but you play as R2-D2 and your job is to ruin the Empires day.
It's a wonder day in the Senate, and you are a horrible droid.
*grabby hands*
Press X to make an oil slick right when Palpatine walks by. Press Y to shriek insults in binary.
SOMEONE WENT TO A STAR TREK CONVENTION IN THE 1980’S AS SPOCK AND KIRK’S PENISES I AM NOT MAKING THIS SHIT UP
THEY PERFORMED SPIRK THROUGH INTERPRETIVE DANCE
If you haven’t read the fanlore page yet, here’s an excerpt from the founding mothers of our fandom constitution. KF: Well, four of us in Phoenix saw that. And, it was PJ, Carol, Donna and I, and thought, well they are so wonderfully entertaining to us, we have to do something back for them. But, y'know, we’re really not singers, we’re really not dancers, what can we do? So we sat around with a bottle of wine cooler. And, I don’t drink, and I said, well, how about if we distill down the basis of the cock of the, ahum, Kirk and Spock— (laughter) KF, MS: —Freudian slip, Freudian slip! (laughter) KF: Yes, ah, down to their basics, and how ‘bout if we do a cock show? And— MS: I have that on tape, too. KF: I have it too. Luckily Dixie Owen would come with her video machine, and I ended up putting together a video from the two years. But the first year we ended up going there, and we had a huge seven-foot, and a six-foot cock. Kirk of course was a little shorter and thicker, Spock was taller and thinner— MS: Was very green— KF: —very green with two, with a double ridge on the top. What we did basically is, we took this foam that was used in couch cushions, very dense foam, and we’d sculpt it with an electric knife— MS: Electric knife— (laughter and coughing) KF: —so that we had the proper shapes. Carol, who—a little insider—ended up working doing the— In the beginning, for the Barney TV show? She actually did the animals and things and the costumes for Barney. Anyhow, she was our designer who— MS: (laughter) Sorry. KF: —made the fabric that came down from the head all the way down— And then for the balls, we’re thinking, “Well what are we going to use?” And I said, “Well, listen, we gotta carry ‘em on the plane. How about if we use beach balls covered in fabric, ‘cause then we can deflate them.” MS: Yes. KF: And then of course we had pipe cleaners for the hair and furry bits. MS: I remember when you brought them. Oh my god. KF: And we figure, so we— And I put together a list of songs, and we had little snippets of songs. We started out on the stage with Spock all kind of bent over and just kinda hunched. And he had the little song, y'know, “I am a rock, I am an island.” And of course you hear from off-stage the signs of “Macho Man.” All: (laughter) (indistinguishable shouts) KF: —Pick one— MS: “Macho, macho man"— KF: —and on the stage Spock goes “Huuunh?” and immediately his two balls come out— (squeals) —yeah, from underneath— MS: —from underneath, boing! KF: —and his head starts coming up a little bit, and coming up a little bit, and then the Matt Davis song, “I want you to want me, I want you to need me.” MS: The entire auditorium was in hysterical— KF: And then of course the finale is the 1812 Overture climax with the cannons going off! MS: Complete with, was it— KF: It was, it was— MS: —did you use confetti that time? KF: No, it was white candies wrapped in plas— in cellophane which I then threw up by the handfuls for— MS: Yeah. Woooo! Multiple overlapping voices: —for the climax. KF: For the climax, yeah. And, the audience was hysterical.
“Kirk of course was a little shorter and thicker, Spock was taller and thinner-“
I have read this description in a fic on AO3 THIS WEEK. I love fandom.
Fandom has always been fucking bananas, and I’m so grateful for our foreparents in the Star Trek fandom for launching what fandom’s become today.
It is nothing, nothing compared to the above… but I remember being at a convention masquerade (I think it was even a Worldcon…?) and two people came down the runway dressed as the Enterprise and a Klingon cruiser… and then they got into a brilliantly staged fistfight, wound up grappling with each other while shouting insults, and fell off the runway into the audience.
I don’t think anyone in that room could breathe for a good while, they were laughing so hard. It’s astonishing to me to this day that ambulances didn’t have to be called.
…But yeah: Trek fandom. For half a century and more, willingly going where no one has ever, EVER gone before. :)
In light of this sad post, I just want to FYI anyone that might be anxious about it:
I will never delete any of my fics for any reason.
1 - I take the Archive part of AO3 very seriously. I’ll edit and update, but not delete because in my mind it’s been archived once it’s posted.
2 - I’ve seen too many fics/authors I loved disappear, never to be seen again. If I posted it, then someone who loved it might have found it and someday get the intense urge to read again like I do for those fics, and I want them to be able to find it.
3 - What better way to get back at someone heckling you than to just stone-cold ignore their mean-spirited demands? To leave a fic up that infuriates the person bothering me so much for existing on AO3 at all? Even if it was really bad, I would just walk away. Make it written by Anonymous. Abandon it on the site. Comments can be turned off. Notifications can be turned off. An entirely new account can be made to start over with.
The fic can be orphaned.
For any author who is being bothered into deleting their fics/account, please at least consider orphaning your work instead of deleting it wholesale. Orphaning is a wonderful, innovative feature of AO3 put there specifically to thread the needle for people in exactly your situation. To bridge the gap of those who no longer want to be associated with a fic, and those who loved what you wrote and want to be able to revisit it.
An Untamed fic I really loved got the author a lot of harassment and they contemplated deleting it while they were still posting chapters because of the awful comments a handful of people were leaving with each update, but instead orphaned it after finishing. I have reread that fic at least five times since then. I don’t remember the author’s name anymore, just as they certainly wanted, but I still enjoy that fic and I know I’ll come back to it again and I’m so grateful that I can.
No amount of hate erases how much someone else genuinely loved what you wrote.
And there is ALWAYS someone to love it. Even if it’s just one person. Even when things are hard and the horrible people are very loud, try not to forget that they are there too.
Don’t make the hateful one the most important one.
This is so important, and I wish more authors used this option. (Thank you, @mondengel, for your reassurance!)
I honestly understand wanting to withdraw your fic: from harassment or just the vague embarrassment that something you wrote 5 years ago doesn’t really reflect you as a person or a writer anymore.
But. … there is ALWAYS someone to love it. Unless you are withdrawing the work to publish it as an original piece, I will always encourage an author to simply orphan the work. Your name vanishes. You get no comments/notifications. It is entirely separated from you. And then… the fandom community remains enriched with something many of them love.
I truly understand the urge to strike back, especially if you’ve been hurt or harassed. And the only weapon an author has is taking their piece away from the fandom. But. That hurts so many innocents, too.
In this fandom, we have many AO3 fics hidden behind collection/mystery walls, and I live in hope that the author is just taking some time to cool down (and allow the harassers to target someone else) before putting them back up for the rest of us to enjoy.
And maybe they’ll be kind right back to you!
And if you want to maintain control of the work you can (temporarily or permanently) add it to an anonymous collection (instructions for how to do that here). Your name will be removed from it and it will no longer show up on your author page but you will still receive comment notifications and if you go to your statistics page you will be able to see it. You can still edit the work this way and choose to orphan it later if you so desire.
Another option is to create a second account and shift works you don’t want associated with you there and then turn off all notifications from that account (which can be done from the preferences page). You may already have invitations (check the ‘invitations’ tab on your AO3 dashboard) or you can request one to be sent to you here (there is a waiting list, but you should get one within a week). Then once you have a second account set up, go to the preferences pages on both accounts and click the ‘Allow others to invite me to be a co-creator’ button. Then edit the work and add in the new account as a co-author, save the change, then edit again and remove your original account author and save it again. Ta-da! You’re main account is no longer listed as the author to the fic!
Oooh, this is very useful, thank you @batinaburnouse.
This.
I can’t say for sure how many times I’ve gone down my bookmarks and hit the advisory “This work has been deleted.” …and just felt my insides seize for the loss of something that had been very much enjoyed.
If you’re having difficulties, please consider orphaning instead of deletion.
