Avatar

Cluetorials

@cluetorials

How To Do Life, according to The Internet
I don't get it :(

every browser except firefox runs on chromium. they are just chrome reskins. firefox is the only good browser. install firefox

Firefox does a ton of cool shit but just out of the box, fresh install it does less tracking and dataharvesting than Chrome (in that it does essentially none while chrome's goal is to crawl all the way into your asshole and monetize the data of the unique features of your intestinal lining) and does not contribute to the chromium near-monopoly (Firefox and Safari are the only non-chromium browsers with any notable market share).

Also you know how Adobe fucking sucks and is really annoying and it's frustrating to have to use their PDF reader? Firefox now comes with a built-in PDF reader AND editor. Check this shit out:

Firefox also has a feature called Multi Account Containers that allows you to log in to accounts in different containers so that you don't have to open up an incognito window or log out of various services to use a different account. For instance, I have my Work container and my School container and I can log in to office 365 in either one of them without having to log out of the other, or I can have seven tabs logged in to seven different tumblr accounts (not sideblogs, separate accounts) in the same window if I want to do that for any reason.

[image description: a tweet by user @indigenousAI saying

“fun fact: as a DV survivor i cannot register to vote because doing so makes my address public. anyone who is fleeing or hiding from an abuser is automatically disenfranchised from the political process and this is a feature, not a bug”]

I don’t know of the original poster might not be aware

but!

if you’ve been a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, you can enroll into the address confidentiality program (free of cost!) and be registered to vote as an absentee voter and your name and address will not be made available for the public

it is super easy to get enrolled - the application takes like 5 minutes, but it has to be with someone who is certified to do it (most likely an advocate! try going to a family justice center in your area or calling the Attorney Generals office in your area!!!!)

ALSO : 

you don’t need to have any police reports or have a protection order to qualify!!! you just have to sign stating that you’ve been a victim of one of the aforementioned crimes.

Reposting as Primaries and General Voting are coming up.

Are you frustrated you can't leave second kudos on AO3? or third kudos? or whatever-who's-counting kudos?

Well, have I got the html for you!

Plop any of these in a comment (by copy&pasting the code) to make an author's day and show your appreciation!

  • Second kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/tHMjbb6/second-kudos.png" alt="second kudos">
  • Third kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/52bggQH/third-kudos.png" alt="third kudos">
  • nth kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/6y7qGtC/nth-kudos.png" alt="nth kudos">
  • yet another kudos: <img src="https://i.ibb.co/wKtcj0s/yet-another-kudos.png" alt="yet another kudos">

It will look something like this (and will be transparent with white outline on dark backgrounds):

Feel free to spread and use these as much as you like! (and if you have ideas for other variations, let me know ✌️)

So happy to see people enjoying these and spreading the love 💖

UPDATE with some suggestions from the replies! And bonus: cookie kudos.

HTML codes under the cut.

let me tell you, I got a ‘kisses your forehead’ kudos and it absolutely made my day

Time to feed unprofessional managers what they’ve been dishing out for far too long.

Couple things here, for when you do this to people: 

1. if you get the “answer my call” text, NEVER ANSWER THE CALL

They are calling you because they want to have the conversation verbally, and be able to lie later about what they said or didn’t say. Force them to continue via text or email- force them to continue the conversation in writing or not at all. 

2. “Lack of 2 weeks notice is unprofessional!” or the other version, “Not providing notice is illegal!”

No it isn’t. Neither is true. 

And in the US, all states except Montana are “at will” employment (though you may hear an employer refer to it as “right to work” to make it sound better, it’s the same thing). Sure, at-will employment means they can fire you without cause, BUT! It also means that you are not legally required to give a reason for quitting, or to give notice of any kind. 

Is it polite to give notice when you can? Sure. Do bosses expect it? Absolutely. But that does not make you legally required to provide it. 

3. The only thing I would change in the worker’s interaction here was their response when initially asked to come in. 

Employee: “Hey Mark. Sorry I’m unable to cover the shift tonight because I’m studying for my exam tomorrow.” 

Don’t give a reason for your lack of availability. It may be tempting to. You may feel rude if you don’t. 

DON’T DO IT.

You do not owe your boss any information about what you do off the clock, and any reason you give will only ever be used against you. 

Boss: “Hey I need you to cover Jasper’s shift tonight.”
Employee: “Sorry, I’m not available.”

And leave it at that. 

Do not elaborate. 

Do not offer additional information. 

When you boss asks you to elaborate, because they will, be polite but firm. “With respect, that’s personal. I’m sorry, but I’m unavailable to cover this shift/work late/come in early/etc.”

Be a broken record- you’re unavailable. That’s the only information they need to know, and it’s the only information they have a LEGAL RIGHT to know. 

Please stop giving your bosses information they don’t need to know and don’t get to have, because they’re only going to try and use it to fuck you over later. 

My job is HR. The above is completely accurate.

Right! This is why I hate hate hate it when bosses try to be your friend and make small talk. Cause I had this boss who would ask the employees where they were living right now, how they were commuting to work, make like she was showing interest in our lives, sympathize with us about our long subway rides or biking in the snow or whatever AND THEN she’d expect us to work painfully early shifts and if you said you weren’t available for early mornings she’d guilt you by saying well you’re only fifteen minutes from the workplace and this other guy has to ride the train for an hour to get here. One of the best things you can do for yourself and your coworkers is give your boss as little personal info as possible.

The above is accurate EXCEPT saying that “right to work” is the same as “at will”. This is VERY untrue. At Will = either party (employer or employee) may quit the employer/employee relationship at any time for any LEGAL reason. (There are reasons that are illegal to fire someone, and this remains true across all states.) Right-to-Work = Anti-union; you cannot be forced to join a union in order to work at any given workplace. AKA, union-only workplaces are illegal. Which might sound okay, except keeping workplaces union-only and requiring certain professionals to join a union is HOW A UNION HAS POWER. If you’re in a RTW state and you join a workplace that’s 90% union and you don’t join the union, then you’re essentially a scab - AND the union cannot represent you since you are not part of the union. Now, I’m in an at-will state which is NOT rtw and I’ve never been in a union (because there isn’t one for what I do, AFAIK). If I had the opportunity to join a union I would do it faster than you can snap your fingers. I am incredibly pro-union, as the descendant of coal miners and rail workers. I wish people in tech jobs would form more unions. ANYWAY. That’s my only contribution to this conversation. I’m pretty passionate about people knowing their rights and about people not mixing up the two things, since that’s the kind of psy-ops anti-union people want you to fall for. They don’t want you to know that RtW is an anti-union law. They don’t want you to know the power in collective action. Keep yourselves informed. Know your rights in and out of the workplace, and don’t let your bosses pull illegal shit. If they try, contact your local NLRB (Labor Board). They can help you from there.

Avatar

“spicy pillow” jokes aside, I think @flowerkrone​’s tags deserve a serious reply:

#my old phone looks like this on my shelf lmao #im too scared to touch it to throw it away #idk what trash this even goes into when its at this point

The pillow-shaped object here used to be the phone’s battery. It’s not a battery anymore. Now it’s a balloon full of corrosive, pyrophoric chemicals and hydrogen gas and it’s one puncture away from burning your house down. I am 100% serious. You should be scared to touch it.

But you gotta touch it, because you gotta get it out of your house before the pressure builds up to the point where the balloon pops. This isn’t going to happen soon – there is no need to panic – but it will happen eventually.

And, indeed, it doesn’t go in the ordinary trash. You put this in the ordinary trash and you’re gonna set the garbage truck on fire. Don’t do that to the garbage collectors, their job is hard enough already.

The first thing you need to do is get a fireproof container. The most common household item that qualifies as a fireproof container is a cast-iron cookpot with a cast-iron lid – often sold as a “Dutch oven.” Any other cooking container that’s unreactive, has a very high melting point, and has a lid made of the same materials will also work: enameled or stainless steel, Pyrex with glass lid, etc.

However: Do not use a pot with a PTFE-based non-stick coating. If the battery does explode, the fire will probably be hot enough to degrade a PTFE coating, producing toxic smoke. (Not that you should breathe the smoke from the battery fire either, but PTFE breakdown products are worse.) Do not use a pot made of aluminium or copper. The fire might even get hot enough to melt those.

Whatever container you use, you might have to throw away along with the phone, so don’t use your good Dutch oven for this. Go to a thrift store and buy a cheap one.

Once you have the fireproof container:

  1. Gently pick up the phone and put it in the fireproof container. If possible, gently tape the phone to the bottom of the container to prevent it from bouncing around. Don’t put any padding in there, that’ll just make a fire worse if it does happen. Put the lid on and tape it shut.
  2. Put a label on the container, something like “DEFECTIVE LI-ION BATTERY – FIRE HAZARD”.
  3. It is now reasonably safe to move the container around. However, if the battery does explode, the container is very likely to leak smoke and get hot, so keep it in a well-ventilated area and away from things that will be damaged by heat. Don’t leave it exposed to the weather, either.
  4. You need to find either a hazardous waste disposal site, or an e-waste recycler that will accept defective Li-ion batteries. I can’t help with that because I have no idea where you live.
  5. However, your local fire department, if you have one, will probably be happy to help. Call their non-emergency number. Nothing is on fire yet, so this isn’t an emergency, but things that can easily start a fire are still within the fire department’s responsibilities. Tell them you have a phone with a bulging lithium-ion battery, you put it in a fireproof container, and you want to know how to dispose of it safely.
  6. If the fire department tries to tell you this isn’t dangerous or it’s okay to throw it out in the regular trash (with or without fireproof container), hang up on them and write a cranky letter to your local government representatives, then keep looking for a proper disposal site.
  7. When you do find a a hazardous waste disposal site or an e-waste recycler, call them and make sure they will take defective Li-ion batteries, before showing up. That’s also a good time to ask if they will let you have the fireproof container back.
Avatar

Reblog to save lives.

Avatar

Okay, let's try this without the errors and casual domestic abuse references and classism/racism!

All of the below may be worn "because I like how they look." When I say what they're worn for, I mean the intended practical intention of their design.

This is a compression tee or workout tee. They are usually made out of synthetic materials for moisture-wicking purposes. They are worn for exercise or workouts, to draw sweat away from the skin.

This is a muscle tank. It is worn for working out (lifting weights, most often) or showing off one's muscles.

This is a sleeveless tee. Note the different sizes of the armholes. This is pretty much just a fashion statement, two tickets to the gun show, etc. but sometimes worn at the gym.

This is an A-shirt, ribbed knit tank, or fitted knit tank. In the US it may colloquially be called a "wifebeater," but that's classist, racist, and fucking gross, so knock it off.

Originally intended as an undershirt, may be worn as a primary shirt. Still worn as an undershirt by many men/mascs.

This is a fitted tee. They come in crew necks (pictured) and v-necks, typically. These also started as undershirts and are often still worn as same, but now are often worn as casual shirts as well. The difference between one intended as a casual shirt and one intended as an undershirt is mostly just fabric weight.

This is a tee shirt, also known as a heavyweight tee (a reference to fabric weight), loose-fit tee, or unisex tee. Intended as casual wear.

This is a polo shirt. Usually worn fitted and tucked in as shown, unless being worn with shorts. This is a "dress casual" sort of shirt, the kind of thing a person might wear to a semi-nice dinner out with family during the summer, but it's also part of the work uniforms of a lot of working-class people now, so.

This is a Henley or y-neck. Usually 3-5 buttons at the neck and made of cotton knit. This started as underwear too - a warm layer for winter - and is still used that way, often layered with camp shirts, chamois shirts or flannels. Also worn alone. These are pretty common chores/work shirts in my experience.

This is a camp shirt or work shirt. It is made of broadcloth, denim, canvas, or another sturdy material. Worn either as an outer layer unbuttoned over a tee, tank or henley, or if it's a nice shirt in good shape you can button it up and tuck it in and get away with wearing it to a semi-casual thing, like a weekday dinner with friends or an event at church/synagogue which isn't a service, like a potluck or a meeting.

These can often be bought lined or quilted and used as a light jacket. I used these for throwing on real quick when going to bring in wood so the wood wouldn't chew up my forearms.

Now THIS is a flannel. The difference is this is made out of flannel.

Everything I said above applies to this, except flannel shirts are more "casual" than a nice camp shirt bc the material is softer.

Flannel. Shirts. Don't. Have. To. Be. Plaid. A lot of them are, but I own/owned plenty of solid color flannel shirts. I don't care for these as much for chores bc the soft material means stuff is more likely to poke through, but they're great for layering.

I'm out of pictures so hang on, adding more.

Avatar

This is a chamois shirt. It's another kind of work shirt, it's just made out of a different material. I owned like 900 of these when I was in high school, they were my favorites. From a practical standpoint I liked them better than flannels, even though flannels were more fashionable.

All three of these shirt types are really practical shirts. People wear them bc they look good, yes, but like, people wear flannels in the PNW bc it rains all the fucking time and I wore camp shirts bc I didn't like tearing up my arms or getting ticks.

These are BOTH going to be listed as a "dress shirt" on most websites bc SEO is a fucking plague. (David and Jake and I just spent 3 fucking weeks debating renaming our shirts and doing SEO research, yes, they BOTH get called dress shirts.)

You may see the one on the right called a "button up" or "button-up." Both are correct ways to spell the term. The one on the right is more dress casual, the one on the left, office wear or formal.

The difference between the shirt on the right and the shirts above is fabric and cut. The above shirts have thicker, sturdier fabrics and tend to be cut looser or more square. The blue shirt below is made of a light woven (sometimes knit) fabric, usually cotton, though satin, silk, linen and bamboo can also be found. It's also usually more fitted.

The dress shirt on the left is pretty much invariably made of cotton and is sometimes starched. You never wear a knit dress shirt (though you may layer a polo shirt with a blazer for a dressed-up casual look, like being a manager at a car dealership or a realtor or going to a summer wedding) and for formal looks you would generally not wear something like silk for the shirt if it's cut like this. It doesn't hold clean lines and tends to look sloppy.

When you get into dress shirts, though, that's like a whole other world in terms of collars and cuffs and so on, so I'll stop here.

Adding a brief cultural note to the very useful post: If you're reading stuff set in the UK and you come across a description of someone wearing a vest, that's probably something along the lines of the A-shirt/ribbed knit tank/fitted knit tank shown above, especially if they're wearing it under a shirt that buttons up or wearing it as pyjamas (someone who's sleeping in 'a vest and pants' in the UK is wearing an A-shirt and boxers/briefs, not a waistcoat and trousers).

Avatar

Oh is THAT what Granny Weatherwax meant when she said "I've got three vests on"?! All this time I was like "I mean it's Granny, she might be wearing three waistcoats under her dress."

G-d, that makes so much more sense.

Yep! It's "I'm wearing multiple layers of underclothes" in context (also in a way that codes very specifically crotchety elderly person, though I can't quite explain why)

Avatar

Also worth noting that in UK a dress shirt means something like this:

A shirt for wearing with a tuxedo (which we'd traditionally refer to as a dinner jacket, or evening dress) with a pleated or marcella front, possibly with a wing collar and almost always white

What Americans would call a dress shirt we'd call a formal shirt (or just a shirt if we didn't think we needed to clarify), which I think is the exact reverse of how the US refers to them

Avatar

No, that's called a tuxedo shirt in the US because you wear it with a tuxedo. It's a specific specialty shirt to be worn with only one kind of jacket (a tuxedo jacket, and yes, I know there are many different cuts of jacket but they're all tuxedo jackets) and (generally) only one style of tie, so it's referred to in the context in which it is properly worn, using the more specific term.

A dress shirt may be worn with multiple styles of jacket - a blazer, sport coat, tweed, suit jacket, etc. - and multiple styles of tie, so it gets the more generic term.

Oh, and we call the pleated front of a tuxedo shirt the "bib."

Avatar

In Australia, what the US calls a dress shirt we call a business shirt (because they’re worn by people who work in businesses - or offices - rather than a work shirt, which is worn by someone who works out in the open, or works a trade).

Nations divided by a common language, right?

There was an Atlantic article about this recently…I’m too lazy to find the link, but the basic idea is that you need to build up enough pressure in your lungs to counter act whatever makes you actually hiccup in the first place.

For me that’s hold breath for 15s > sharp inhale > continue holding for another 15s > sharp inhale> hold for as long as I can manage then cross my fingers and so far it has worked

The length you hold is dependent on your lung capacity/how slow you count by default, but the important bit is not exhaling between. It is possible to build up the right pressure by just straight holding your breath (which is why it’s so common in get-rid-of-hiccups advice), but it’s faster and easier if you break it into a couple of big inhales.

Avatar
Removing this tool from their toolbox will result in substantially less data that can be associated with you in the wild. It is not only beneficial to your privacy, it also makes the surveillance advertising industry less profitable. And don’t take our word for it: Facebook has said that Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature would decrease the company’s 2022 sales by about $10 billion.
Avatar

Grand Buffet - Cool As Hell (music video from 5 Years Of Fireworks DVD)

[tumblr] tag in the [tumblr] tags is still the most powerful tag format

frank how did you type the site logo like that

This is actually one of my favorite pieces of code

oh? what's the code? :o

[tumblr]

YO NO WAY THAT'S SO COOL............. thank u frank

Thank you for your feedback! The format of this post is called "tagging." It was originally created for Tumblr's internal use by an engineer called "Frank." Many tags are like this.

Life on [tumblr]

Oh my god the bot taught us all something

When will the robot be able to teach me things, to my amazement

When will the robot

be able to teach me things,

to my amazement

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

Avatar
wundersimp

Don't ever hesitate. Reblog this. TUMBLR RULE. When you see it, REBLOG IT.

The original post only has US helplines. I’ve added UK helplines underneath. It would be great if people could add numbers from everywhere in the world.
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 and available 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
New Zealand: 4-473-9739
New Guinea: 675-326-0011
Nicaragua: 505-268-6171
Norway: 47-815-33-300
Philippines: 02-896-9191
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
South Korea: 2-715-8600
Sweden: 031-711-2400
Switzerland: 143
Taiwan: 0800-788-995
Thailand: 02-249-9977
Trinidad and Tobago: 868-645-2800
Ukraine: 0487-327715

Here’s some Canadian ones too!

Canada Suicide Prevention Service: Call: 1-833-456-4566 (24/7) or text: 45645 (4 pm to 12 am EST) 

Kids Help Phone: Call: 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868.

First Nations and Inuit Hope For Wellness Help Line: 1-855-242-3310

Transgender Crisis Line: 1-877-330-6366

And then don’t forget about 911 as well! 

Please reblog. This is important!

Avatar
artist-in-too-many-fandoms

Reblog this please, somebody might really need it!

Avatar
im-actually-useless69

I may not be able to spread the message much but still i will try. If you are in any trouble please get help you need. I care about you and love you.

National Suicide Hotline (English, Spanish): 800-273-8255

TherapyRoute (24 Hours, Philippines):

  • PLDT: (02) 804-4673
  • Globe: (0917) 558-4673
  • Toll-free for Globe/TM: 2919
  • Helpline: 0917-854-9191

Tawau Paglaum—Centro Bisaya (Cebu):

  • (939) 937-5433
  • (927) 654-1629

The National Center for Mental Health Crisis Hotline (PH):

  • Telephone: (02) 989-8727
  • Cellphone: (0917) 899-8727

China:

  • Helpline 1 (Free): 0800-810-11@7
  • Helpline 2 (Mobile/IP/extension users): 010-8295-1332

Japan:

  • Helpline 1: 03 5774 0992

Malaysia:

  • Helpline 1: (063) 92850039
  • Helpline 2: (063) 92850279
  • Helpline 3: (063) 92850049

Singapore:

Thailand:

  • Helpline 1: (02) 713-6793

India:

United Kingdom:

  • Samaritans: 08457 909090
  • Childline: 0800 1111
  • Abuse Not: 0808 8005015
  • Brook Young People’s Information Service: 0800 0185023
  • Eating Disorder Support: 01494 793223
  • Anxiety UK: 0844 477 5774
  • Depression Alliance: 0845 123 23 20
  • Rape Crisis Centre: 01708 765200
  • Rape/sexual assault: 0808 8000 123 (female) or 0808 8000 122 (male)
  • Miscarriage Association: 01924 200799
  • LLGS Helpline (LGBT): 0300 330 0630
  • Sexuality support: 01708 765200
  • Bereavment: 0800 9177 416
  • Runaway/homeless: 0808 800 70 70
  • CareConfidential Pregnancy/post abortion: 0800 028 2228
  • Domestic Violence Helpline: 0345 023 468
  • National AIDS Helpline: 0800 567 123

I will reblog this as many times as possible, I recommend anyone reading to do the same

Avatar

I also found some greek ones (they’re at the end of the fourth heartstopper book, but “Χαμόγελο του παιδιού” is a good option too)

Στήριξη ατόμων με διατροφικές διαταραχές: 210 9234904

Μονάδα εφηβικής υγείας: 210 7710824

Γραμμή στήριξης παιδιών και εφήβων: 116 111

Κοινότητα λοατκι+ νέων αθήνας: 6945 583395

24ωρη γραμμή παρέμβασης για την αυτοκτονία: 1018

Avatar

Here’s a few New Zealand ones:

Lifeline (suicide prevention): 0800 543 354

Need to Talk? 1737 (text or call): offers free and brief 1:1 support for people feeling down, overwhelmed, anxious, or someone wanting to support a friend.

For acute mental health crisis you can go to your DHB webpage and find their urgent response service crisis line.

Women’s Refuge: 0800 733 843 for crisis and refuge, alternatively you can phone your region’s local family violence agency - many will have an 0800 support line number and provide services for people experiencing or using harmful behaviours. Helpful in supporting you to get information, create a safety plan, and provide information and advice around Protection Orders and community support services.

Safe to Talk (for sexual harm): 0800 044 334

And importantly, if you or someone you know is in immediate danger phone 111 for emergency services 💛

Upsizing clothes! There are a million upcycling tutorials for clothes that are too big, but so few on how to make too small clothes you still love bigger!

Avatar

Thank you for your suggestion! We all go through weight fluctuations in life, so it stands to reason our clothes should be able to fluctuate with us.

Resizing your clothes used to be a very common practice before the advent of fast fashion. Fast fashion sizing is extremely flawed, especially when it comes to plus size fashion, and we're stuck with a lot of vanity sizing, so it's a good skill to have regardless of whether you're looking to mend something old or buy something new.

How to upsize clothes:

Introduction:

There are many different ways to make a garment larger. The following list is not exhaustive, just a few ideas to get you started.

Grading patterns:

If you're making your own clothes, it's always useful to know how to modify a sewing pattern. The easiest way to adjust a pre-existing pattern to your size is slash and spread grading. First, you need to define which spots on the pattern need extra space. You then cut your pattern in that spot, and slide the resulting pattern pieces away from each other until you've got the size you need. Use paper to fill in the gaps. To ensure the resulting pattern makes for well-fitting clothes, make a mock-up and add, move, or remove darts where necessary to adapt it to your body type.

The image below shows potential slashing lines on a set of standard pattern blocks. Each line is a spot that allows you to add extra space. To read more about this process, check out the corresponding article by Threads Magazine.

(Image source) [ID: a diagram of slashing lines on a pattern block for a dress, bodice, skirt, sleeve, and a pair of pants.]

To make your clothes easier to let out in the future, make sure to provide ample seam allowance when cutting out your pattern pieces. This surplus fabric has several different uses, including giving you some wiggle room for when you need to size up your garment.

Now, let's take a look at pre-made garments.

Lengthening clothes:

A garment that's too short on you is easy to modify. Just add more material!

If it's a skirt or a dress, add ruffles to the bottom. Ruffles are easy to make by hand or with a sewing machine. You could also add lace, or wear the item with an underskirt.

For pants, let down your hem or sew on a new cuff. If this isn't enough, maybe consider turning your trousers into capri pants or shorts.

As for shirts, sewing an extra layer to the bottom edge is the easiest way to go, too. You could even combine two shirts into one to get an extra long shirt.

Another option is to cut your item in two and insert extra fabric between your separated garment parts.

(Image source) [ID: a pair of blue pants with cuffs sewn onto the bottom of the legs to lengthen them. The cuffs are made out of a fabric with a blue and brown geometric print.]

(Image source) [ID: a before and after picture of a red t-shirt that was lenghtened by adding in a patch of colourful fabric at the waist.]

Letting out seams/darts:

Remember how we made sure to have ample seam allowance earlier? When a garment has surplus fabric in the seams and you only need a little extra space, you can undo the seams of your garment and sew them back together again, this time with a smaller seam allowance than before. The Spruce Crafts has a pretty good tutorial on how to let out seams. You won't be able to make major size changes using this technique, but if you only need a few centimetres, this is a good way to go.

A lot of garments also have darts. Darts are fabric folds that are sewn down in strategic places to help the fabric follow the body's curves. If a dart doesn't fit you the way you want it to, then unpick the dart and try on the garment. Either leave the dart open, or pin the dart in place however you want it, then take off the garment again and sew the dart back together.

Be careful not to rip the fabric when using a seam ripper. Also note that removing entire darts may change the garment's fit.

You can also add custom darts to achieve a better fit, but that's a topic for another time.

(Image source) [ID: twelve different types of darts on a feminine bodice block.]

Adding extra fabric to your garment:

If we need to add more room than seam allowance or darts can provide us with, we need to add extra material. Remember those slashing lines we looked at earlier? If you're working with a pre-existing garment rather than a pattern, those are the perfect places to chop up your clothes and add in extra fabric.

Check your sewing stash for fabric that's similar in weight and material to your original garment, or go thrift shopping for an item you could use to upsize your garment. Long skirts and maxi dresses are a great source of fabric for alterations like these!

Lace inserts are also a fun choice to add some room, and if you're working with a knit item, you could even knit or crochet your own custom insert.

Define the area where you want to add extra fabric on your item, and measure how much you need. Draw a straight line on your garment with chalk/soap. Make sure the line doesn't cross any important structural or functional parts of your garment like darts or button holes: refer to the slashing diagram we saw earlier if you're not sure what spot to pick. Cut the line open (or unpick the seam if it's situated on a seam), and add in your extra fabric. Finish off your new seams so they don't unravel later on, and you're done!

You can add straight strips of fabric for extra width or length, or you could use flared panels or even godets to make your item flair out.

Want to see this technique in action? Check out this video by Break n Remake:

Some ideas:

This Pinterest user cut a straight line down the front of a t-shirt and inserted a lace panel to add extra width in the front of the garment.

(Image source) [ID: a blue t-shirt with a panel of dark blue lace added in at the centre front.]

Busy Geemaw cut open the side seams of a shirt and used flared panels to add some extra width in the bust and hip area.

(Image source) [ID: a green and white long-sleeved shirt with a striped flared panel in matching colours inserted at the side seam.]

This person added a panel to the sides of a pair of jeans to give them more space in the hip area. You could easily use a long straight panel or a panel that flares at the bottom to resize the entire garment instead of just the hips, or use a wide piece of elastic for extra stretch.

(Image source) [ID: a side view of a pair of light blue jeans with a dark blue wedge-shaped denim insert running down from the waist and ending above the knee.]

This person added a godet in the back of their shirt in order to get more space in the back.

(Image source) [ID: a blue and white plaid shirt with a white lace godet inserted in the back.]

Blue Corduroy enlarged a pair of shorts by opening up the side seams and adding in strips of fabric.

(Image source) [ID: blue denim shorts with a floral fabric insert at the side seams.]

You don't need to resize the entire garment if you don't want to. For example, One Brown Mom turned this ankle-length skirt with a too small waistband into a well-fitting knee-length skirt by taking advantage of the skirt's flared shape.

(Image source) [ID: a woman wearing a black shirt and a brown tartan knee-length skirt.]

Conclusion:

Throughout our lives, our weight will fluctuate and our bodies will change. There's no shame in this: it's just a fact of life. Therefore, knowing how to upsize an item that is too small for you is a useful skill to learn.

If you want more inspiration, check out these projects by Confessions of a Refashionista, One Brown Mom, and Thriftanista in the City.

Avatar

Hi Mr Gaiman! My partner and I are reading American Gods together (taking turns reading aloud) and we came across a sentence we cannot make the meaning of. If you don't mind, what did you mean by "But the conditions of transportation were such that, for some, it was easier to take the leap from the leafless and dance on nothing until the dancing was done."?

I've read American Gods before but never caught the phrase! Thanks so much!

Avatar

From Farmer and Henley's Slang and its Analogues:

To mount a ladder (to bed or to rest), verb. phr. (common).—To be hanged.

1560. Nice Wanton [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 172]. Thou boy, by the mass, ye will climb the ladder.

1573. Harman, Caveat [E. E. T. S., 1869, p. 31]. Repentance is never thought upon till they clyme three trees with a ladder.

1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. He mounted the ladder, he was hung.

English synonyms. To cut a caper upon nothing, or one's last fling; to catch, or nab, or be copped with, the stifles; to climb the stalk; to climb, or leap from the leafless, or the triple tree; to be cramped, crapped, or cropped; to cry cockles; to dance upon nothing, the Paddington frisk, in a hempen cravat, or a Newgate hornpipe without music; to fetch a Tyburn stretch; to die in one's boots or shoes, or with cotton in one's ears; to die of hempen fever or squinsy; to have a hearty choke with caper sauce for breakfast; to take a vegetable breakfast; to marry the widow; to morris (Old Cant); to trine; to tuck up; to swing; to trust; to be nubbed; to kick the wind; to kick the wind with one's heels; to kick the wind before the Hotel door; to kick away the prop; to preach at Tyburn cross; to make (or have) a Tyburn show; to wag hemp in the wind; to wear hemp, an anodyne necklace, a hempen collar, a caudle, circle, cravat, croak, garter, necktie or habeas; to wear neckweed, or St. Andrew's lace; to tie Sir Tristram's Knot; to wear a horse's nightcap or a Tyburn tippet; to come to scratch in a hanging or stretching match or bee; to ride the horse foaled of an acorn, or the three-legged mare; to be stretched, topped, scragged, or down for one's scrag.

Avatar
Avatar

WHY IS DRAWING HANDS SO FUCKING HARD

Avatar
starbuckssollux
Image

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

you just gotta figure out how to do the mitten thing! (everybody does it differently, so whatever works for you)

Image
Image

make a little mitten shape, a bump for the big thumb muscle, a line for where you want to knuckles to be (and where the fingers end), and you can work out how the hand does hand things~

you can make them more simple or more real, however you want! hands are weird, so don’t worry if they keep looking wrong for a while, once you figure out what works for you, it’ll click. If you practice like 10 or-so basic hand shapes, you can make slight variations on all those, and 10 turns into 20 different hand poses~

Good luck, you can do it, practice until you find your groove, hands are stupid, don’t worry if they don’t look right!

Avatar
starbuckssollux

you are a fucking saint x2

Hi Neil

Why did you stop making bagels?

What did the bagels ever do to you?

XD

Avatar

I stopped because I went to New Zealand, and didn't bring my sourdough starter. There's frozen sourdough starter waiting in the freezer in my house in Scotland for me to return and start bageling once again.

Working with rye flour was fun, as it was closer to using clay than to using dough. They were not beautiful but they tasted amazing.

(Photos: before and after boiling, and after coming out of the oven.)

Avatar

Neil, as a fellow bread maker, I’m begging you to share your recipe. Those look amazingly delicious and mine never turn out that well.

Here's my notes to myself from the time:

100 ml starter 200 grams rye flour 220 ml water Mix well, cover with cling film, leave overnight. Next day, add 50 g of Buckwheat flour, 50 g of Barley flour, 100 g of rye flour. 1 tsp of sea salt and 1 tbsp of maple syrup in 2 tbsp of water. Mix well, cover with cling film, leave for a couple of hours in a warm place. Put a big pot of water on to boil. Add syrup to the water. (I’m using date syrup.) Take a bowl of water. Wet hands. With wet hands, make a ball of dough, handful size — think medium snowball. Smooth it, make the hole in the middle, drop into boiling water. It will sink to the bottom, then rise. After a couple of minutes, turn it over in the water. After a couple more minutes take it out and put it on baking paper on a baking tray. I sprinkle the paper with flour. Keep hands wet through all of this, as if working with clay. Don’t crowd the bagels in the water pot. No more than 4 at a time. Give them time — they get puffier. When all the bagels are on the baking tray (it makes 6 or 7) put them in the oven for about 16 or 17 minutes. Then turn them over. Back in the oven for another 6 minutes. And then they come out. Off the tray. Let them cool, and then eat them.

There's no heat setting mentioned, because I was cooking them in an Aga oven which doesn't have fancy things like temperature controls, but is somewhere around 220C or 420F.

Reblogging for the people who have been complaining that Tumblr isn’t showing this post on a search. I searched for it and found lots of people talking about how nice it was that Neil Gaiman was sharing a bagel recipe but not seeing this. So I’ve re blogged this and am using my name (Gaiman) and the singular of bagels (bagel) in here to see if Tumblr’s search functions work if you prod them.

I'm reblogging this, mostly because it's all I can find. Even Google seems determined not to show the post I wrote here a few years ago about the history of Bagels. (It's fascinating. To summarise, there were centuries in Poland when Jews were forbidden to bake or buy bread, and bagels, as a boiled bread dough, were a solution to that.) And the hole meant that bagel sellers would use broomsticks, or just long rods, or strings, as bagel-carriers.

When Jews first came to America, they brought beigels with them. Their Union was the Beigel Bakers Union. (You can learn about them, about the New York Beigel strikes, and about the end of the union and the job in the 1960s with the arrival of the Thompson Bagel-making machine at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagel_Bakers_Local_338.)

Just a bunch of useful websites

12ft – Hate paywalls? Try this site out.

My Fridge Food – No idea what to make? Tell this site what ingredients you have on hand and it will give you recipes to cook.

Project Gutenberg – Always ends up on these type of lists and for very good reason. All works that are copyright free in one place.

Ninite – New PC? Install all of your programs in one go with no bloat or unnecessary crap.

Unchecky – Tired of software trying to install additional unwanted programs? This will stop it completely by unchecking the necessary boxes when you install.

Sci-Hub – Research papers galore! Check here before shelling out money. And if it’s not here, try the next link in our list.

LibGen – Lots of free PDFs relate primarily to the sciences.

Zotero – A free and easy to use program to collect, organize, cite and share research.

Car Complaints – Buying a used car? Check out what other owners of the same model have to say about it first.

CamelCamelCamel – Check the historical prices of items on Amazon and set alerts for when prices drop.

Have I Been Pawned – Still the king when it comes to checking if your online accounts have been released in a data breach. Also able to sign up for email alerts if you’ve ever a victim of a breach.

Radio Garden – Think Google Earth but wherever you zoom, you get the radio station of that place.

Just The Recipe – Paste in the url and get just the recipe as a result. No life story or adverts.

Tineye – An Amazing reverse image search tool.

My 90s TV – Simulates 90’s TV using YouTube videos. Also has My80sTV, My70sTV, My60sTV and for the younger ones out there, My00sTV. Lose yourself in nostalgia.

Foto Forensics – Free image analysis tools.

Old Games Download – A repository of games from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Get your fix of nostalgia here.

Online OCR – Convert pictures of text into actual text and output it in the format you need.

Remove Background – An amazingly quick and accurate way to remove backgrounds from your pictures.

Twoseven – Allows you to sync videos from providers such as Netflix, Youtube, Disney+ etc and watch them with your friends. Ad free and also has the ability to do real time video and text chat.

Terms of Service, Didn’t Read – Get a quick summary of Terms of service plus a privacy rating.

Coolors – Struggling to get a good combination of colors? This site will generate color palettes for you.

This To That – Need to glue two things together? This’ll help.

Photopea – A free online alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Does everything in your browser.

BitWarden – Free open source password manager.

Atlas Obscura – Travelling to a new place? Find out the hidden treasures you should go to with Atlas Obscura.

ID Ransomware – Ever get ransomware on your computer? Use this to see if the virus infecting your pc has been cracked yet or not. Potentially saving you money. You can also sign up for email notifications if your particular problem hasn’t been cracked yet.

Way Back Machine – The Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and loads more.

Rome2Rio – Directions from anywhere to anywhere by bus, train, plane, car and ferry.

Splitter – Seperate different audio tracks audio. Allowing you to split out music from the words for example.

myNoise – Gives you beautiful noises to match your mood. Increase your productivity, calm down and need help sleeping? All here for you.

DeepL – Best language translation tool on the web.

Forvo – Alternatively, if you need to hear a local speaking a word, this is the site for you.

I’d also like to further note that the Way Back Machine can (and should) be used to capture tweets, news stories, and social media posts that might get yanked. If that website you love is not around anymore, there very well might be a copy of it on the Internet Archive. You can even get an add-on for Firefox that will automatically prompt you if a version of the page that’s not loading exists in the archive.

idk im really tired of 15-17 year olds who have never interacted with the gay community irl and spend too much time on tiktok trying to act like the authority on all that is lgbt+ 

Avatar
lesbotan

  mean this in the kindest possible way. if you are too young and unsafe to go to your gay community center or pride here’s some ways you can connect to gay history.

Avatar
lesbotan

since it was suggested in the tags

Want to learn something new in 2022??

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)

Want to learn something new in 2023??

Cooking with flavor bootcamp (used what I learned in this a LOT this year)

Learn Interior Design from the British Academy of Interior Design (free to audit course - just choose the free option when you register)

How to ride a bike (listen. some of us never learned, and that's okay.)

How to cornrow-braid hair (I have it on good authority that this video is a godsend for doing your baby niece's black hair)

Making mead at home (I actually did this last summer and it was SO good)

Basics of snowboarding (proceed with caution)

How to draw for people who (think they) suck at art (I know this website looks like a 2003 monstrosity, but the tutorials are excellent)

Pixel art for beginners so you can make the next great indie game

Go (back) to school

Introduction to Astronomy (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Principals of Economics (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Introduction to philosophy (free college course)

Computer science basics (full-semester Harvard course free online)

Learn a language

Japanese for Dummies (link fix from 2022)

Portuguese (Brazil)

American Sign Language (as somebody who works with Deaf people professionally, I also strongly advise you to read up on Deaf/HoH culture and history!)

Chinese (Simplified)

Quenya (LOTR fantasy elf language)

being a self-taught artist with no formal training is having done art seriously since you were a young teenager and only finding out that you’re supposed to do warm up sketches every time you’re about to work on serious art when you’re fuckin twenty-five

Avatar
attentiondeficitstarscream

someone: oh yeah, do this exercise during your warm ups! it’ll help

me: my what

Avatar

What’s up I have an actual college degree in art and I was never ONCE taught to do warm ups.

Avatar

when i was in undergrad, it was kind of mentioned in and offhand way that we should do warmups, but we were never shown what that meant. And, y’know, we were young so it didn’t matter so much. 

Being older now and having an art job it’s…kind of essential. 

So: a quick primer for those of you who are like ‘ok but how do i actually go about doing this warmup thing.’ 

1) you may be tempted to do ‘a warmup drawing’ which is just a drawing that will take longer than it needed to and probably be frustrating and kind of bad because you didn’t warm up first. It’s tempting but always a trick your brain is playing on you! Do not trust! 

2) warmups will vary based on what feels good to you/what task you’re about to do/what motor skills you want to practice. That being said, some good standbys:

a) circles. Just a whole page of circles on whatever drawing surface you’re going to be using, whether that’s your tablet or your sketchbook or a drawing pad on an easel. For these circles you should make sure that you’re drawing from your shoulder and not your wrist. In fact, you want to be drawing from your shoulder rather than your wrist most of the time! forever! your wrist is delicate please preserve it! 

In order to ensure that you’re drawing from your shoulder, when you’re holding your pencil or whatever drawing tool you’re using, the only part of your hand that should be touching the drawing surface is part of the last two fingers–some people prefer the finger tips, but I tend to favor the first knuckles. Either way, the fingers should really be ghosting over the surface, providing guidance rather than support. 

I usually start with big circles and then go to smaller circles and lines of ellipses, and then try to fit circles and ellipses inside other shapes i’ve already drawn as a precision exercise, but i don’t do that unless i’m feeling loose

b) spirals! i don’t always do spirals, but if i’m stiff and the circles just aren’t cutting it, spirals are a good fall back. I start from the center and work outward, going both clockwise and counterclockwise until i feel comfortable with the whole range of motion. Some people really care about getting perfect spirals but for me it’s all about making sure i’m comfortable with how i’m moving so who really even cares about how the spirals look. Not me! 

c) lines! straight lines! in parallel! i do a mix of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. These are often more from the elbow than the shoulder, especially if I’m working on a smaller surface. For this exercise, I recommend holding the drawing tool perpendicular with the surface

d) connect the dots. This is a precision and accuracy exercise and takes two forms. The first is to draw two dots and then draw a straight line between them. The second is to draw three dots and draw the curve that connects them. This sounds a lot simpler than it is in practice. Take time to ghost over the line you plan to draw before actually committing to your line. (I don’t always remember where I picked up my warm up exercises, but I’m pretty sure I got this one from Scott Robertson. His how to draw and how to render books are very technical but also accessible and worth checking out)

e) cubes, spheres, cones, and cylinders. These help get your brain into a more volumetric space. I draw multiples of each, rotating the forms around, and I’ll often take the time to do some rough shading on at least a few of them

f) spidermans! This one is really good if you’re going to be storyboarding or working on dynamic poses. Just fill a page full of spidermans doing all sorts of acrobatics. 

g) beans. I don’t do beans too much anymore, but I know a lot of people like it so I’m mentioning it here. Fill an area with different size bean shapes without lifting your pencil off the paper. 

h) short medium and long line repetition. draw a short, medium, and long line on your page, and then draw directly on top of them 8 to 12 times, doing your best to exactly trace what you’ve already drawing. Repeat with a wavy line. I’m bad at this one, which means I probably need to do it more. 

And there are lots more options too! Hit up youtube to see what other people recommend, put together your own go-to list, mix it up when you’re getting bored, etc. 

This is a long list, I know, but I usually don’t take more than 10 to 15 minutes to warm up, and I can warm up one handed while I’m drinking coffee, so, multitasking hurrah. 

Sometimes I’ll advance to a precision warmup and find that I haven’t loosened up enough yet; it’s totally ok to go back to an earlier exercise! Also, all of this has the added benefit of kind of ritualistically getting you into the drawing mode so even if I’m not feeling it before I start, by the time I’ve gotten to the end I’m usually Ready For Drawin’. Brain hacks. 

so, yeah! that’s a lot of words, but! Warmups are important! Save your joints, take less advil, do better drawings! 

How on earth are you supposed to draw from a sholder? might as well tell me to draw from the foot. It makes no sense

Avatar
stupidlittlereblogs

Reblogging to save a wrist

Reminder: If you have no voter ID, apply for a postal vote.

Additional context on Voter ID

This is being rolled out for future elections and is purely a form of voter suppression.

The poorest in society are unlikely to have the required ID and at the same time are unlikely to vote for the Conservatives.

A similarity can be seen with age brackets… and why they have designed some forms of youth ID to be unacceptable but OAP ID… FOR THE SAME THING… is a-ok.