saw this post and went into a frenzy until these popped out

[ID in image desc]

(I also rlly liked how the unshaded versions look so they're under the cut :3)

Does this count as contributing to the new meme

Neural networks + Kittens = !!!

It was inevitable that the neural network, having named all kinds of internet datasets, should turn its talents to naming cats.

And what an occasion! The AFK Cat Rescue of Huntsville, Alabama contacted me because they had an exceptionally adorable bunch of kittens (plus one magnificent Persian) who need names and homes. June is kitten season here in the USA, so shelters are inundated with new kittens right now, and AFK takes the very high-risk cases, kittens who are too small to survive in regular shelters, or who are sick or injured, or have neurological disorders.

To be sure, the AFK Cat Rescue’s kitten-naming game is strong. They’ve got a black and orange kitten pair named Shere Khan and Bagheera, and they have another pair of cats named Grindylow and Pooka. With their full list of the several hundred cat names they’ve used over the years, plus the list of several thousand cats registered in Toronto (thanks to Tumblr user @maverick-ornithography), I had comfortably enough to train a neural network with.

I fired up my trusty karpathy-char-rnn neural network framework, and sat down to watch it learn.

“Very good,” I said. “Coming right along. Nice work on Aarla, maybe not try so hard on Teaw Mos Tilypsronvynkor.” I said all this to myself, of course, because the neural network operates entirely without my input once training starts. I can shout “No, you fool!” at it all day if I like and it ignores me perfectly.

Soon, however, I began to notice that quite a few of these cats had last names, and sounded actually rather grand.

I had, as it turned out, accidentally trained the neural network on another dataset, a list of character names from Tolkien, George R. R. Martin, C. S. Lewis, Robert E Howard, and Terry Pratchett (sent in by reader Thomas Pugh).

AFK Cat Rescue, however, decided to roll with it. First neural network kitten: Parihen the Thawk!

Parihen the Thawk: This guy was surrendered to an animal shelter after he hitched a ride in the engine of a car. He had a dislocated leg but it’s healing well with rest. He’s shy, tiny and misses his bff who is in the hospital right now for her much worse injuries. He’s got a lot of energy and loves to show off his belly.

I finally got the neural network training on the proper dataset, but I was worried when, by the time I went to bed it was producing literally the following names over and over:

Some who are not so fond of cats may argue that these are in fact the best cat names. Fortunately for the AFK Cat Rescue, the names did eventually become more suitable. I present to you:

Jexley Pickle - This little girl is a hoot and a half. She’s full of energy, bounce and comedy. She loves to nurse on ear lobes and finger tips. She’s about 6 weeks old and was found after being chased up a tree by a dog. 

Mag Jeggles - When you touch him he rattles from head to tail with purrs. He’s so sweet. He was simply too young to be made available for adoption, and was rescued from a shelter that could not care for him.

Snox Boops - He was in a room with a lot of kittens that were too small to place up for adoption and even much smaller than the others in the room. When you pick him up he capsizes in your hands and starts purring. He’s got a huge voice and a huge demand for love and attention. 

Mumcake - She was brought into a shelter as a stray, but she was too young for adoption and if she wasn’t pulled by rescue she would have been subject for euthanasia. She’s adorable, loving, outgoing and shoots sunshine right out of her butt. (Sunshine ejection not shown; you have AFK’s word for it.)

Tilly Mapper - This little girl also took a ride in a car engine and her rear leg was nearly completely severed as a result. She’s been stitched up but she’s had an infection set in. She is only around 8 weeks old and she’s in very poor body condition from having tried to make it on the streets. We hospitalized her yesterday and she’s doing much better. We hope to have her back to foster home by Friday.

Big Wiggy Bool - He is a doll-faced persian that was surrendered to a kill shelter when his family could not take him on their cross country move. He’s five years old and has obviously been doted on. He’s super affectionate, very easy going and a talker!  He’s been recently groomed and trimmed up by Robyn Warner with Goin to the Dogs and Cats Mobile Grooming Service. And he loves belly rubs. Rubbing that fluffy, soft belly is an experience so wonderful it can only be discussed in breathless whispers.

Photos of the above cats by volunteer Amy Harrell.

And, since it IS kitten season, the neural network is happy to provide a list of cat names (some more usable than others), for use in naming cats, computer servers, firstborn, etc.

Perhaps backup choices:

Definitely backup choices:

anyone want suckies?

Moo gurt suckies anyone? anyone up for a but of a mooGurt Suckle

my brain: ur dumb/annoying/ugly

me: 

Just a helpful resource for folks like me who aren’t very good at figuring out how to merchandise their work!

Help me

do you ever get stuck in between “it’s ok not to have everything on track i got time” and “i’ve already wasted my life at the ripe old age of 23”

BROS

IF YOU EVER PLAN TO GET CRYSTALS OFF OF ETSY

ORDER FROM SACRED ROCK STARS

BECAUSE I ORDERED TWO FLUORITE AND

I GOT MOSS AGATE, HEMATITE, AND THREE PIECES OF FLUORITE!

THIS WOMAN IS ALSO AMAZING TO TALK TO LIKE

I NEEDED SOME EXTRA SHIPPING BECAUSE I’M LEAVING SOON

AND

AND SHE JUST WAS SO COOL

HELPED ME PAY THE EXTRA FOR FIRST CLASS SHIPPING

AND IT WAS ALL WRAPPED SECURELY AND CAME WITH A NICE HANDWRITTEN LETTER

AND THERE WAS A GRATITUDE FEATHER AND SOME NICE LITTLE BAGS TO HOLD THEM IN AND

JUST

GO BUY STUFF FROM THIS PERSON THEY ARE AMAZING AND MY LIFE IS MADE.

ok YES, I fully endorse this shop! They just take such extra special care in packaging and are an absolute pleasure to work with! I ordered two selenite towers, WON a quite large selenite sphere, and got I think three extra tumbles (yes, moss agate was included!) the gratitude feather, and cards for all of the stones. So. Yes. :D

Yes! My favorite selenite tower came from this shop and the owner is such a sweetheart! Definitely recommend this store to anyone searching for crystals

My little friends love carrots! They don’t even care about anything they just wanna nibble the carrots

I’m distracting myself from life by researching triops

the first time I saw this video I was PMS-ing and when he sandwiched himself between two carrots I burst into tears

I wish I cared about anything as much as this creature cares abt carrots

Triops! I’ve always wanted to have some of these

I’m ok. I’m gonna be ok. I’m gonna live a beautiful life and I’ll get to know beautiful people. I will create things of beauty and be surrounded by flowers. And I’ll love myself, and I’ll be soft, I’ll be kind. And I’ll be ok.

people always talk about the extreme no homo mentality in guys sports teams but don’t talk about the severe lesphobia in girls sports teams. growing up playing team sports really fucked me up as a kid. straight girls i’ve played with were always scared of being perceived as gay for being athletic and because of the stereotypes of lesbians in certain sports. this was universal in the 3 sports i played: volleyball, softball, and basketball. 

there were always strict unwritten rules about how you presented yourself while playing. for instance the ribbon in the hair for softball and a bow in your ponytail for volleyball. if you didn’t prove your femininity while playing you were a lesbian. there was so much effort in not being seen as a lesbian and proving that you /weren’t/ a lesbian was really important. 

girls would always talk shit about girls with short hair on opposing teams. “we’re playing the team with the d*ke” was something i heard often as a kid. something i still heard in high school. being a lesbian in girls sports teams is predominantly what made me feel trapped in the closet in high school. I only felt comfortable coming out after i quit sports altogether

so if we could stop acting like straight girls have less of a stake in homophobia that’d be great 

Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?  Hollywood can go fuck itself, seriously. - Submitted by Anonymous

The cishets are at it again lads

Anyways, die cis scum

Ew

Company Adopts Rescue Cats to Help Employees Unwind and Improve Productivity

A Japanese company in Tokyo hopes to help their employees unwind and increase productivity by adopting rescue cats into their office. In a cramped and hectic city like Tokyo, having a pet is often a luxury. Most apartments do not allow pets and residents have to visit cat cafes to get their pet fix. The company - Ferray Corporation, an internet solutions business, has taken in nine rescue cats that have total run of the office. The kitties have become the employees purrfect stress relievers.

Photos by V and Ume - Via Love Meow

i did an important art project today

Design is available here! Just print out on 8.5x11″ paper, cut along the gray lines, paint the back of the paper with craft glue (i used Mod Podge) and wrap it around a plain glass pillar candle. Voila: your very own secular and/or idolatrous Space Mom candle! Please remember that Carrie Fisher’s dad was Jewish every time you look at it, cause, you know. 

A GIFT