keysandopenmind

[keysandopenmind]

when you're trying to escape your crush but you forget that she's also your roommate

[keysandopenmind]

The irony that the post I opened with that remark is my first post to ever hit 100 notes. 😆

Hey so, for the like, 5 other people on Tumblr talking about Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Fairies, I wrote a little ficlet, picking up where the second book leaves off.

Click to read Homecoming.

I'm sorry I don't have a fun graphic to make this post more interesting. I am writer, not a pictures person.

[keysandopenmind]

"Anti-aging"? Nah bro, I'm pro-aging. Aging is a privilege, a blessing.

[keysandopenmind]

[keysandopenmind]

Ncuti Gatwa & Millie Gibson : Who you gonna call? River Song or Captain Jack ?

[keysandopenmind]

Commissions Open!

Hey everyone, finances aren't easy atm, and as I'm close to finishing all the projects I took on this summer, I'm looking for more things to draw!

Full rules & prices: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_2HrmdCzLGZiVGUdmjS2UByUTG2ig9kUZsAWpDB-wQM/edit

I draw pretty much everything, including but not limited to: human characters, animals, monsters, furries, mech/robots, landscapes, weapons/items...

Reblogs appreciated! ^^

[keysandopenmind]

Ok so my kid had an ear infection, right? As kids often do.

The doctor scraped out a bit of earwax to have a better look inside.

I was sent a bill for $200 PER EAR for this 5 second procedure which I did not give permission for them to do.

That was key- they did not ASK me if they could do this "procedure". And, as I OWN a medical practice (it's me. The medical practice is me, sitting in my house on video calls) I knew to call them when this bill came in to be like "You did not obtain informed consent for this procedure, and it was not en emergency procedure. You had full ability to gain my consent and didn't. I'm not paying."

And the massive hospital who owned the bill said "yuh-huh you do have to pay."

And I said "I own a practice. I know these laws. I do not owe you money for this."

And they conducted an "internal review" and SURPRISE! Decided I totally owed them money and they had never done anything wrong ever.

And so I called my state's Attorney General office, and explained the situation because, as I mentioned, I know the law. The AG got in touch within a couple days to say they were taking the case and would send the massive hospital conglomerate a knock it off, guys letter.

Lo and Behold, today I have a letter where said hospital graciously has agreed to forfeit the payment.

"How not to get screwed over by companies" should be part of civics class.

Know your rights and know who to call when they're infringed on. This whole process cost me $0 and honestly less effort than I would have expected.

May this knowledge find its way to someone else who can use it.

[keysandopenmind]

It's so weird talking to people who's view of "here's the way life is for everyone" is shattered as soon as they talk to someone with disabilities (physical, mental illness, any). Like you'll say you'll have a problem and instead of helping you they'll argue with you about how you're not actually facing that problem. Like,

Me: Hey, I'm really struggling to find a job and a part of it is my resume. I was depressed & psychotic during highschool so I didn't do anything to gain skills or achievements to put on my resume. I also don't have anyone to put as a reference. What can I do?

Them: You can add your skills, hobbies, clubs you're in, and different volunteer work you've done! You can also get your teacher as a reference.

Me: I already know what to put on a resume, my issue is that I don't have things that I can use. Also, I'm in my mid 20s so I don't know if I can put my highschool teacher as a reference.

Them: Well if you're a part of a church or an activity group, you could add that. Also, think of any projects you've worked on in the past.

Me: I already know you can put these things on a resume. I'm not looking for suggests of things I've already done, I'm looking for what I can do now if I haven't done anything.

Them: There's no way you didn't do anything during highschool?? What about some odd jobs you definitely did for extra money, like babysitting or mowing the lawn?

Me: I spent all of highschool either in modified classes or in bed doing nothing - not even hobbies, what about that do you not understand?

And then you talk to someone who's also disabled and they're like "Here's a bunch of jobs you can do from home that don't pay much but look good on a resume, here's some free online courses that also look good on a resume, here's how you can be making small amounts of money in the meantime, here's some things you can put besides a professional reference, and here are your rights if your future employer tries to take advantage of your disability - which you probably shouldn't tell them about unless you need accommodations."

And suddenly my will to continue trying returns!

[keysandopenmind]

Love it when Rolling Stone puts out an article about the 25 most influential internet creators and I've only heard of 7 of them

[keysandopenmind]

I'm so freaking cranky about this. Filled out my response earlier, there was capslock shouting involved.

If they go ahead with this, I'm pulling my books, even if it means being exclusive to Amazon.

Bad Fucking News for self-publishing

Draft2Digital, which many have considered an ethical alternative to Kindle Direct Publishing, has just sent out a survey asking authors and *publishers* if they would like to sell the rights of the works they publish through D2D to be used to train LLMs.

And it's a dodgy fucking survey.

Some questions try to trick you into saying you would only mind if you disapproved of the purpose your words were put to, with options like:

Yes, it matters; I would withhold training rights for any licensing deal I found objectionable

As long as I’m fairly compensated, I would consider a competitive deal

No opinion

Note that you only get to say 'No' if you say you have 'No opinion'.

There are two free-text fields in which you get to give your reasons for telling them to go to Hell. This is what I put. I wouldn't copy my words in case they discount duplicates, but they might be inspiration.

Free-text field 1, question: Imagine this fictitious example for a non-competitive application: You’ve authored a 75,000 word novel, and an automotive company wants to license it along with thousands of other books to train their LLM’s natural language processing capabilities. They plan to use their LLM to support a suite of internal corporate productivity applications used by 200,000 employees. At what minimum price would you consider licensing the AI training rights to your book?

Please elaborate on your reasoning behind your choice. If you have an exact number in mind, share it here:

My answer:

I'm furious you're even asking us. To even consider letting LLMs scrape our work is grossly irresponsible. It isn't even just that it's unethical for authors (although it really, really is, and I will not support it in any way), the energy used and water required to cool these large models is accelerating climate change. I firmly believe there are few more irresponsible and damning actions a person can take at this moment in time than to have anything to do LLMs used to produce empty words and images in place of thoughts and ideas.

Free-text field 2, question: Again, imagine the same automotive company example above and you have a 75,000-word novel, but this time the license is for a potentially competitive application in which the company plans to train an LLM that will power a new external facing application for millions of its customers. It will brand the application, AutoFiction. AutoFiction invites customers to generate custom short stories in the style of their favorite author featuring the car owner and their car. At what minimum price would you consider licensing the AI training rights for this potentially competitive application?

Please elaborate on your reasoning behind your choice. If you have an exact number in mind, share it here:

The reasons are the same because there are no circumstances in which using LLMs to train off fiction is remotely OK. 'AutoFiction' would be contentless nonsense that would detract from my sales to actual readers, but beyond that the damage to the environment is inexcusable. If there is any shred of decency in any of you, you MUST NOT DO THIS.

Here's a link to the survey. I don't know if nonusers can complete it, but I didn't seem to need to log in. Note that it would not submit when I was using Firefox. I had to use the invasive AI-scraper, Edge.

[keysandopenmind]

sometimes musicals that i want to see are put on farther away than i'm willing to drive :'(

[keysandopenmind]

Taisiia Onofriichuk from Ukraine performs her hoop routine to the sound of "Thriller" by Michael Jackson at the 2024 Paris Olympics Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual Qualifiers

[keysandopenmind]

Concept: Depressing dystopian factory where everything is gray and samey and the workers are called by their employee numbers by an ominous deep voice.

But it's a really great place to work with high salaries, excellent benefits, and a flexible working schedule with plenty of paid leave. They just like the dystopian aesthetic.

[keysandopenmind]

Wild Blue Yonder || 73 Yards

[keysandopenmind]

They are just like me forreal

[keysandopenmind]

Sons Of The Labyrinth or The Things Our Fathers Do To Us