What the media won't show

Folks, backup your Tumblrs, for real this time

To be clear, I don't have any news about any impending doom. But I've heard a bit more about what's going on with staff after the layoff of last week, and there are even less people than I thought still working here.

I don't think even the current staff know what's going to happen, but honestly, I don't see how the high ups could even pretend to intend to keep this place open while virtually unstaffed.

And of course, if the most despicable thing happens, you can find me at @javi@goblin.band from any fediverse platform 🤷

for reference, OP is a former employee of Tumblr who tries to keep up to date with tumblr’s inner workings. please back your blogs up.

In your blog settings you have the ability to initiate a blog export, and this will generate a backup for your blog.

Fair warning though, if you've been on the platform for a long time this archive is likely to be quite hefty in file size. This blog I have had for 5 years with 22k posts, and the export from tumblr came to be 48GB. My previous blog I made in 2011 and has 95k posts, so needless to say I did not use tumblr's built in export to back that one up.

If you want more control over exactly what you back up from your blog, I recommend that you use tumblr-utils instead. It allows you to backup specific tags, post types, and to ignore posts that you did not create (reblogs where you've added a comment count as a post you created, to be clear).

To use it:

now in the window that opens it should show the current path, and you can type "py -2 .\tumblr_backup.py [your options] [your blog name]" and hit enter. Example:

Backing up just my original posts from this blog with this command came to 632MB rather than 48GB, and also gave me the option to save my posts in JSON format which will be useful for converting my posts to a new format for self hosting.

On that note I'm currently looking into figuring out a simple (and ideally free) way of self hosting a static site blog that utilises activitypub, and also converting my old posts to re-host on said blog.

This post series by maho.dev on implementing activitypub with any static site is my primary source of guidance atm if you also want to try figure that out yourself, as well as having an explanation for why you'd even want to do this if you don't already know

but if tumblr goes down before I get things sorted and write up a post about it then i'll be reporting back on it via my bsky, mastodon, and toyhouse accounts

if you dont have an account on any of these I'll also be sharing an update via my personal site's RSS feed, link of which includes an explanation of what RSS is and some feed readers you can use, I highly recommend checking it out as getting a feed reader is going to be the best way you can stay connected with people if they scatter across the internet!

tldr: download tumblr-utils to backup your blog more efficiently, introduce yourself to RSS and get a feed reader to stay connected with people, consider saving mine so you can find out how to self host your blog later if tumblr goes down

i have already personally backed up all of my tumblr posts but this is a good reminder for everyone else

Most of these parents have the vaccines. The adults were manipulated by junk science peddled by fellow vaccinated morons.

This is bullshit

These public lands are OURS to hike on, fish, hunt, and just get away from the hustle and bustle of life.

wouldn't it be so funny if the 99% just teamed up to BUY IT ALL and give it back to the public as a gifted art project?

“cory booker is not actually accomplishing anything” I need you to stop being a pessimistic hag every second of ur life. u can be disillusioned. u can wish there was more done already. but this is SOMETHING!! he has broken the longest senate speech record and has been standing up for americans (and against a fascist racist oligarchy) for over 25 hours straight. hundreds of millions have and are watching him. HE is the news cycle. he is reading democratic and republican testimonies alike. people are hearing him, whether they chose to or are forced to!!!!!!! will it solve all our problems? no. but it is a Spark that will hopefully catch flame

I know most people don't care about anything unless it has to do with the U.S. but can we please start talking about the Canadian election.

Please don't vote for Poilievre. He's basically the Canadian Trump and plans to put in place laws that harm trans youth, and lots of other shit.

Please vote istg this is the only way anything will get better. Poilievre has been kissing millionaires and billionaires asses. He'll make life even harder, and he loves Trump.

Reblogs are appreciated, especially if you aren't Canadian.

I was gonna put stuff in the tags but no actually:

Please don't put that man in office. Please vote, and not for him.

If you're thinking of not voting, let me say this: someone is going to win, and whoever it is will be making decisions in your name. You have the opportunity to have an effect on who that person is. Don't you want it to be someone who agrees with you, at least a little bit?

If that thought (or another) compels you but you don't know who to vote for, first of all, not Poilievre and the Conservatives (blue), as mentioned above. Second of all, let me put you onto votemate.org. You just put in your postal code and it will tell you what district you're in, and then you can view the candidates for your district. Many of the candidates have info up about themselves and their platform (some don't—it's a new project and this election was called fairly suddenly, but keep an eye out because more profiles will be added as we get closer to polling time). If you want to find out more about a candidate, now that you have the name you should be able to search them up and find further details about their party and platform.

Once you've done your research and made your decision, make a plan to vote.

I for one will be very proud of you.

Adding to the chorus, please vote. Check out smartvoting.ca as well, it will let you know not only who is in your riding but also what their chances are against the conservative nomination. In some ridings that will be the Liberal candidate, in others it will be the NDP. The main goal is to block a majority for the conservatives and block as much as we can right now for what they're trying to do.

Poilievre is not only kissing Trump's ring, he and his ilk are actively using project 2025 as their playbook. I know the stats look like he's lost a lot of favour, but that only sticks if we all go to the polls and act on it.

The world right now is terrifying, and I don't want it to get worse and Poilievre is objectively worse. Find a candidate who has a platform you're interested in and vote for them. Find an MPs email and yell at them every chance you get to do the things you need them to do.

Engagement in politics and civics is down everywhere. The widespread disenfranchisement by the billionaire class has been so effective that voter apathy is the reason we are eeking out such dismal numbers in the polls generally. I know it feels like a piece of paper won't make a difference, but honestly, it absolutely does make all the difference in the world.

I don't hate the conservative party, but this crew they have now has consumed so much of the billionaire Kool aid that they are speed running authoritarian thinking. The whole point of government is to push and pull with alternating ideas. Fiscal responsibility is important, but so are social programs and the arts.

Please become interested and invested not only in your community but in the people we vote to put in charge.

To all my fellow Canadians. Vote, vote, vote.

Even if you think that your 'vote doesn't matter'. Vote anyway. Don't think the polls you see right now are a guarantee. The only guarantee we'd get, is the announcement of the elected parties after the election. Nothing is definitive right now unless we vote.

Do not be complacent.

“But what does protesting accomplish?” The same things that art, music, writing, conversation, community accomplish. Imagine a relationship where you never say “I am angry” because it “doesnt accomplish anything”.

Here's that (crunchy) clip of Trump talking about how he likes bad economies so he can "buy the dip" that I promised.

On hindsight I probably should've just taken the link from TikTok. (Not that TikTok is much better.)

Trump’s staff hides negative news from him to keep him happy. Musk was so affected by getting booed at Dave Chappelle's performance he had a mental breakdown. Their egos are horribly weak. This is how we defeat them—unyielding insults and mockery.

This is what we trained for. This is our moment. We need to get a lot louder and way more petty.

I believe in you.

If you have ever been tempted by a Paleozoic Pal, like a a stuffed trilobite or a full size eurypterid body pillow, now's the time to buy one, before they and a really lovely little museum are gone for good 😭😭😭

This was the museum I went to often in my childhood. I'm no longer able to visit unless I visit family, but this place holds a special place in my heart.

As stated in the article, they hold around 7 million artifacts- many of which are orphaned fossils, with the museum taking in collections that otherwise would have been trashed.

Please consider buying a Paleozoic Pal, but I'll also leave a direct donation link as well.

THE GIANT EURYPTERID BODY PILLOW IS BACK IN STOCK

I JUST WENT INTO A FUGUE STATE AND BOUGHT ME A 16 INCH CUDDLE BUDDY WITH PLATED TEETH!! DUNKIE, MY BELOVED!!

Screeching aside, anyone who can afford to, go look through their shop! They got clothes, and cute gifts, and books and all kinds of other awesome stuff! Ye, the shipping sucks, but we need to keep our museums alive! (the good ones, not the British Museum of Thievery XP)

HE’S HERE! MY BIG BOY IS HERE!! (And yes he is my BIG boy despite only being 16 inches, you shush!)

He took nearly a month to get here, but that’s because of ALL THE ORDERS THEY’VE BEEN GETTING! OVER 1800 ORDERS! This is why I love the online community!!

Now if you don’t mind I’m going to tuck Duncan into my sweater and go work on the piles of stuff I still have to do 😅

For anyone curious what's happening with the PRI they're digging themselves out! An anonymous donor gave them $1 mn which they used to secure a stay on the forclosure for the rest of the year and they're approximately a third of the way to buying their way out of the mortgage.

Hi, my name is Mosab , and I’m from Gaza. Life here has been harder than I could ever imagine, but today I’m sharing my story with hope in my heart, because your kindness has already given us so much strength.

This journey hasn’t been easy. The war has taken 25 family members from us—25 beautiful souls we loved deeply. Their laughter, their presence, their love… all of it is gone, leaving behind memories that are both precious and painful. Every day, I carry the weight of their loss, but I also carry their spirit, which gives me the strength to keep going.

Our Journey So Far

When I first reached out, I couldn’t have imagined we’d make it this far. Your support has been a light in these difficult times, and we are so deeply grateful for every single contribution.

But the road ahead is still challenging. Every day, we’re reminded of how much we’ve lost and how much we still need to rebuild.

Here’s what life in Gaza looks like for my family right now:

🏠 Safety: The uncertainty of tomorrow weighs heavily on us.

😢 Loss: The absence of the 25 family members we’ve lost is a pain we carry every moment.

💔 Dreams on Hold: The future feels so far away when survival takes all our strength.

How You Can Help Us Cross the Finish Line Even the smallest act of kindness can make a difference:

✅️ Vetted by @gazavetters ( #309 ) ✅️

Why Your Support Matters Your kindness isn’t just about helping us meet our goal—it’s about reminding us that we’re not alone in this fight. It’s about hope. It’s about survival. And it’s about giving my family a chance to rebuild our lives, even in the face of unimaginable loss.

Thank you for helping us get this far. Your generosity and compassion have already brought us closer to a better tomorrow, and for that, I’m endlessly grateful.

With all my love and gratitude,

Mosab and Family ❤️

A Future Beyond War Starts With You 💙

My name is Naser, and war has taken everything from me—my mother, my sister, my home, and the life I once knew. In an instant, my world was shattered, leaving behind nothing but memories and the weight of loss.

But even in the darkest moments, I refuse to give up. Because amidst the pain, I still have something worth fighting for—my three younger brothers.

🔹 One dreams of becoming a doctor, to heal others so they don’t have to endure the pain we’ve faced.

🔹 Another aspires to be an engineer, hoping to one day rebuild what war has destroyed.

🔹 And the youngest? He doesn’t have big dreams yet—he just wants to be a kid again, to wake up in a home that feels safe, to play without fear.

🏡 We Need a Home. We Need Education. We Need Hope.

Right now, we are not just fighting for survival—we are fighting for the chance to live, to grow, to dream again. We are fighting for a future where my brothers can become the doctor, the engineer, the child who gets to have a childhood.

💙 This is where you come in.

I’m not asking for much—just a chance. A chance to rebuild, to give my brothers a future beyond war.

Your support, whether through a donation or simply sharing our story, can make all the difference. Even the smallest act of kindness can create ripples of change.

🙏 Will you help us rebuild?

Together, we can prove that war doesn’t get the final word—hope does. Thank you for standing with us. 💙✨

I mean she did tell you.