???????????
... I can't be the only one seeing this.
some dipshit uploaded my book to an AI site, so suffice to say, I will fucking kill them
emailed my agent cuz our contract states she has to protect me from shit like this, so we'll see what she says
but I will still kill these ppl
LMFAO THE SITE IS BEING TAKEN DOWN
hey so, just so there's no ambiguity about what just happened-- this was about Prosecraft, a website that would help you compare your writing to your favorite author by analyzing the "vividness" of the words used, passive voice vs active voice and the number of adverbs used in a given section.
unfortunately, the service is dogshit for various reasons but that's not the issue here.
the issue is that the website had trained an AI on 25,000 books, one of which included mine. and i definitely did not give anyone permission to use my work to train an AI. it's literally stated in my contract.
and if i didn't give permission--i can imagine quite a number of authors didn't give permission either. (oops, i don't have to imagine--because hundreds of authors came forward and said they didn't give permission either!)
so i emailed my agent about this. my agent directed me to my publisher which has a legal department that looks into piracy on this scale. all of those authors did the same, emailing their legal team, getting The Authors Guild involved.
EVERY AUTHOR pretty much roasting this guy named Benji Smith on Twitter for claiming to "support authors" yet clearly using pirated work to train an AI.
of course, he decided to take the website down. authors are now talking about getting AI protection clauses in their contracts going forward. i already have one with my agent, but I imagine I will have to get it instated into every publishing contract moving forward.
source: it happened to me lol (but if you don't believe me, here's a link)
the autistic view of the world has insight and beauty in it, and we’re taught that there’s something wrong with it.
What’s fascinating is that the parents who didn’t know it was the work of an autistic kid praised it as well.
theyoungestwhateleydaughter-dea
Technically, we don't know that it's an autistic kid's work, either. 5e infographic doesn't say Cadence is autistic.
"appropriate play skills" is such a horrid phrase, goddamn
people demonize autism so much that parents think their children aren’t playing “correctly”. it’s play, how could it ever be wrong?
"how do you just know this" is a question I get asked a lot, because I tend to be someone who can contribute unusual facts or insight on whatever topic a casual conversation turns to, and I never know how to answer because "I pay attention" sounds rude and isn't super actionable. but that is really it, I just take an active interest when I encounter something curious or unusual.
like recently one of my friends linked me a funny paragraph from a very badly written erotic novel. it was so bad that I thought "I wonder if this is real", so we looked up the book it was from and learned it was a vintage horny housewife type story by someone who wrote a lot of shitty cheap porn back in the 80s, all of which now seems to be completely out of print.
in the course of googling the author, I discovered that one of their works had been cited in a 2004 court case over a prisoner's right to keep erotic novels in his personal library after the prison confiscated them. a bit more googling turned up the case details in a legal database. the guy had received the books by mail and kept them, among others, in his cell. the prison seized them, citing a policy against prisoners having pornography. his lawyers argued that 1. erotic novels are distinct from pornography because they have artistic and expressive content beyond the depiction of sex acts, and 2. since he received them by mail they are therefore protected under his constitutional right to freely access non-disruptive information from outside the prison. I don't know if he got his books back, but he won his case.
then we googled the defendant and found out he was in prison for helping a woman to drug and murder his boss (who she lived with), mutilate the body with acid and dump him in a ravine.
anyway my point is, take an interest. that's how you learn weird stuff.
Compilation of people holding things that shouldn't be held, please add more if you have any
@is-the-snake-video-cute looks like a coral snake (blunt nose) but double checking- is it ?
That's indeed a coral snake, good ID!!
This thread is full of the luckiest people on the planet, I think. Also goes to show just how calm even venomous snakes are - coral snakes rarely bite unless you're actively harassing them - and how important it is to make sure your ID as non-venomous is 1000% certain before picking up any wild snake.
The bird one isn't "lucky"; pitohuis are poisonous, not venomous. Yeah, depending on the bird just touching one make your hand tingle, but it's not really dangerous, and you can even eat them if you prepare them properly.
Plus, the guy in the tweet is a biologist who literally studies those birds:
he knew what he was doing
Oh my God my vandalism has escaped containment
Hand study gao hang 5x6 feet Acrylic on raw canvas 2023
this one of those pieces where I look at it and think “oh that’s funny, i’ll reblog,” and then look at the art medium and lose my mind
Source: instagram.com
this is so cute and wholesome and I'm dead over it I'm crying
This is the exact opposite of hiding coins at the beach for your child with a metal detector
Dad enrichment activities
HEY CALIFORNIA PEOPLE!
HURRICANE ADVICE FROM A FLORIDIAN!
Make sure you've got shelf-stable food and water for everyone in the house, including pets. The rule of thumb is a gallon per person per day. Freeze water bottles if you want cold water.
Make sure you have enough meds!
Make sure you have batteries, candles, flashlights, and a manual can opener.
Make sure your electronics, including backup batteries, are charged. Unplug things you don't want fried in case of a power surge.
Don't tape your windows, it doesn't help and you'll just be stuck scrubbing goo off of them later.
Put a mug of frozen water in it in your freezer with a quarter on top of it. If your freezer defrosts, the ice will melt and the quarter will sink and tell you you need to throw things out.
Get everything that's not nailed to a foundation out of your yard. That dead branch hanging on by a thread? Time to get it down (it was probably time to do that three days ago, but now’s better than never).
Park away from powerlines and trees if you can. Rain makes the ground soft and then trees fall over.
Have an evacuation plan to a shelter. Evacuate if they’re telling you to.
If you start to flood, don't go in your attic. You'll get trapped if the water rises too high and you can't hack through your roof. This happened to a lot of people in Texas and Louisiana. Get ON the roof.
Be safe, be well <3
What the fuck?
???? WHAT???
Ngl, "tropical storm in death valley" was not on my 2023 bingo card.
Drainage on our roads is shitty in SoCal, don't attempt to drive through water deep enough to touch your bumpers and don't attempt to walk across moving water, water only as deep as your ankles can knock you down and sweep you away.
Predicted wind speeds are similar to strong Santa Anas, so lock things down like you would for that, though keep in mind that yeah the combination of heavy rain and wind leads to more felled trees than just wind.
Take photos of the inside of your home now; flood insurance fucking sucks here and if you're in a possible flood zone you want as much documentation of your home and belongings as possible in case you need to make a claim.
Freezing water bottles also means you've got a lot of ice in your freezer if power goes out, and safe potable water once it thaws, so freeze bottles of water to have something to keep your fridge and freezer cool and store more water regardless of if you want cold water.
Remember water expands when you freeze it so pour a bit out of each bottle so they don't explode.
If you can't get bottled water anymore use sandwich bags full of ice for the same effect
Get a pet carrier or kennel ready in case of evac, shelters usually only allow contained animals
Pet go bags need leash, collars/harness, 3 days of food, and current vaccine records
Animals spook during storms and will slip a collar to flee if given a chance. Don't give them a chance, and do not chase them if they do
Rule of thumb down here is 3 days worth of food, but a week is probably better in places where hurricanes are not common
Fill your bathtub before the storm, floods often damage the water system and this will give you flushing and bathing water for a few days
Try to stay out of floodwaters all together, they are often full of sewage and can hide powerlines, sinkholes, and all kinds of dangers
Post storm: your fridge will stay cold for roughly 24 hrs if you never open it. Pack perishables in cooler bags before the storm, use some of your frozen water bottles as ice packs. Eat all that stuff first and if you're very lucky the power will return within 24 hrs
Do Not Cook in your home with an open flame
Do not run generators inside or under your roof. Generators like grills should be at least 20-30ft from the structure when running
1. If you need to evacuate, TURN OFF THE POWER AND WATER to your dwelling before leaving. Service may be disrupted, but you don’t want either connected when it comes back on again and no one’s home.
2. This is the time to get phone numbers/ emails/ WhatsApp details for your neighbors. Yes, you may hate them. Or you may never have spoken to them. But it’s great to have contact with people who are seeing different things than you are when you no longer have access to normal news sources. In my area, even local webcams went down when the hurricane came through. Contact with people who had decided to shelter in place (don’t do this) was critical for us and for them.
3. Those outdoor solar garden lanterns are a great emergency light source if power goes out.
4. Wind can drive water through the cracks in tightly closed windows. Consider putting absorbent material like towels and mops nearby. It won’t hold a lot of moisture but if the amount is small, it can keep it from seeping into your drywall.
5. Once you get back, if you have to leave again (because water and power is still out) OPEN A COUPLE WINDOWS. Just a crack, but keep air flowing to discourage mold. After the hurricane passes you’ll have the most beautiful, clear weather you’ve ever seen for a couple weeks; don’t worry about rain getting in.
“if no art makes you feel anything, make your own art and feel something” is too raw of a line to have come from a jenna marbles video of her painting a rainbow/polka dot seahorse saying “it’s seahorse time” on a denim jacket
Why do you people feel profound thought has to come from high places? The gutter looks at the stars too
not only did you prove your point, but you showed an example of it in the same sentence
my mom loves to lie and like she always swears she was NEVER homophobic or anything to me as a child “i even have a gay work friend” but a really funny memory resurfaced recently where i asked if i could use birthday money i had to buy a rainbow flag when i was like ??? 7?? because i LOVED rainbows. and she said no that means something Evil and god will hate you . so what did i do. but ask my grandmom for a rainbow sweater for christmas and proceed to only wear that sweater for three years when it got cold because i didnt like the idea that god hated colors and i wanted to challenge him
normal 7 year old with religious trauma: oh no god can hear my thoughts and punish me
me: either you are wrong about god or god is wrong and i will fight him and i will be the one to find out
me at 7: he would not fucking say that
phoebe bridgers styled by jared ellner and photographed by davis bates
me and my fiancee getting married