#PRISM Program

[right-agent]

i keep forgetting about this but here’s a fake poster a made

[taffy-glitch]

Thoughts on Prism? :)

um. hi can i help you (she just showed up on my mspaint canvas without being invited)

[critical-yeast]

Prism really has the vibe of “grad student who hasn’t been allowed to graduate because then the cheap labor is lost” lmao

[thejesterconcept]

And they were BROOMmates

And they were roommaaaaates...

OG Ink belongs to comyet!!

[georgewalker02160215]

[nando161mando]

With Firefox having AI added in the recent update. Here's how you can disable it.

Open about:config in your browser.Accept the Warning it gives.Search browser.ml and blank all values and set false where necessary as shown in the screenshot, anything that requires a numerical string can be set as 0 .Once you restart you should no longer see the Grey-ed out checkbox checked, and the AI chatbot disabled from ever functioning.

[neurotonic]

ok so, apparently I never posted THIS cutie patootie publicly. I kept telling myself I should post it but, well!! I forgor.

Anyways this is Crabicator, aka Crabby! Born from an idea where Fabricator realized Prism left some of her spare parts in her workshop. If Fabby was an outstanding Zoraxis employee (and she is. Or she's supposed to be.), she should've definitely thrown away those parts by now. Pointless scrap from an equally pointless engineer.

And somehow Fabby ends up with a mishmash of a robot in her workshop. More info about it below the cut because I rambled a bit HEH + some concept sketches on its design!

Crabby's functionality is a Bit limited when compared to Prism's dearest robots. It can't float properly and upgrades are a bit sparse. But Fabby did make some modifications to the kinesium core so that it doesn't have to overheat when it does a blasty blast. Also it Knows a little bit of bartending, but the only recipe it knows to make, like, properly is Water on the Rock. where the water is poured in a glass with one singular ice cube. And Fabby is very proud of it, thank you very much.

It also has jank memories of Prism's programming inside its head. It's barely comprehensible to it now, and it doesn't remember anything concrete. It makes Crabby wonder, sometimes, what Dr. Prism was really like. If she'd like to meet Crabby. Fabby doesn't seem to want to answer its questions about her.

Fabricator also claims it's a weapon of mass destruction but if we're being honest, she's just saying that so nobody in Zoraxis has a reason to throw it away. In reality crabby's like this:

also, some old concept sketches for different robot scrap combos, but the tripod crab won the baby vote.

also shout out to @the-valiant-valkyrie and @mothbeasts for giving me a hand in building this robuddy, no pun intended B)

[vitaminseetarot]

PAC: What Hobby Should You Begin Next? 🎨🛶📯

Sup y'all, it's time for a new pick a card reading (this one's especially for you night owls out there as I'm posting this at midnight lol). Ideally, I'd like to post one PAC every week after this but eh, lettuce see about that. 🥬👀

This pick a card was inspired by the remaining energies of late Taurus season. The grass is bright, the air is warm, the flowers are blooming, and it's brought out the artist in me. While I've been finishing a leisure painting, I stopped to draw out some cards to help out anyone who's in the mood to do something fun in their spare time but could use some direction or guidance.

Pick any one of the four Prism Oracle cards below, or its corresponding crystal/emoji, to see what hobby you could explore next, or if there is a hobby you enjoy that is calling for your attention:

Pile 1 - Consciousness + Moonstone 🌙 Pile 2 - Happiness + Carnelian 😊 Pile 3 - Creativity + Amethyst 🎉 Pile 4 - Determination + Citrine 🧭

Pile 1 - Consciousness + Moonstone 🌙

77 Beginnings, Sound+Resonance+Frequency, The Musician, Capricorn Rising - Aspire; Page of Swords, Page of Wands, 9 of Cups, Knight of Swords, XI Justice

Wow, pile 1, I think you have the most obvious answer of all four piles. You're very drawn to pursuing something musical. It could be in a variety of ways. You might try singing, writing a song, playing an instrument, learning to dance, or perform in musical theater (the purple curtain in the Justice card definitely brings theater to mind). You could enjoy collecting vinyl records, or producing music through special programs and apps. You may desire to publish your music online, or dream of going big on stage and signing major contracts with labels. Two Pages tells me you're most likely into more than one thing, as plenty of musical artists can multitask.

Your pile was the only one to get two Prism cards at first as Anxiety initially wanted to pop out. It's also clear that with two Pages and the Beginnings card, you're very new at this hobby. There's an over awareness of this fact, that on some level you may not know where to even start. There's some doubt I sense that you feel you can't be at the level you wish to stand on. Capricorn energy wants to reach for the very top of the ladder in accomplishment; it is a steady energy although not intent on settling. I get that there are many people here who greatly look up to an artist and wish to have their same talents. Try to look past the smoke and mirrors of all the top 40's singers and know that music is way more accessible than it's made to look.

Try embracing the newness of this pursuit, pile 1. It's okay to be a little lost, or feel that there's a long way to go. The only way to go pro is to start small and grow. There are a lot of free resources online for learning music (try out musictheory.net for free lessons) and free vocal technique lessons on Youtube. Some people are very lucky to have the chance to start learning at a young age, but if we were to set a rule stating that only those who did so could play, that would leave a lot of creative geniuses and successful musicians out of the frame. If you're learning to play the keyboard, practice one song or even one note at a time (doesn't have to be Chopsticks, lol). Consistency is key.

When the inspiration and joy to explore music finally strikes you, take the time to really dive in and make something small. If you're trying to write a song, start with a jingle. If it's music theory you want to go over, start with just 1 lesson and see how it feels. If you're learning to dance, begin with warm ups and slow music before working on the more intense songs. Are you looking for writing inspiration? Keep plenty of notes on hand and learn how to identify music so you can easily write a melody down (there are empty music notebooks for this). If this is something you would like to do in the long term, then continue to practice with that perspective by not overdoing it to compensate for "lost time". You are exactly where you need to be on your creative journey.

Pile 2 - Happiness + Carnelian 😊

66 The Selves, You Belong Here, The Wise One, Cancer Moon - Intuit; X Wheel of Fortune, Sagittarius ♐, VI The Lovers, 9 of Pentacles, XVI The Tower

What's going on, pile 2? With the Selves card above Sagittarius, I'm getting that a lot of you may be interested in pursuing theater or comedy, whether that's stand up or it's simply channeled through the projects you create. Your next hobby may involve incorporating a lot of humor into what you do. This pile is the most multifaceted of the four, with many differing hobbies, so I'm going to list a variety of different talents, but what binds them all together is the need to express one's own (very) strong opinions for the world to see.

You may want to be a photographer who documents unusual things, or write something that makes a powerful statement. There's a need here to let go of any of the anxieties that come with expressing your authentic self, because while those feelings are natural, listening to them too much will dampen your creative drive. This is the group that wants to make very surreal graffiti art or provocative dance routines. With the Tower card, here, I feel there's a need for the shock and awe to get your inspiration buzzing. On the gentler side, I can see some of you getting into something nature based like flower printing and permaculture but the caveat is that it's a reflection of your genuine self and beliefs in some way. With Wheel of Fortune, some of you may feel an urge to learn about tarot or pendulum reading, as these things are typically categorized as "unusual".

You may also get into traveling to stay involved in your hobby, or it requires roving about in some way. To break down creative blocks, it might help to actually move yourself to a different location. It doesn't necessarily involve moving to a whole new place, it could just refer to another part of your home or you may benefit from walking or dancing to decompress. I feel that moving your body will stimulate your creative ideas to flow through. A small number of you may have considered trying out extreme sports like free climbing or parkour. I don't really need to mention that these can be incredibly dangerous, so some of you may like something similar like skateboarding or gymnastics as well. It doesn't have to be intense, just active.

With the Lovers, there also exists a social aspect to your hobby. You may be drawn to share you hobby with a friend or with partners. It will greatly help you to be in an environment that supports your avant-garde tastes and not settle for less. It's not always easy to put shocking art with profound messages out there for the world to make sense of it, though some make it seem that way. It's easy to pretend that negative feedback doesn't get to you, but only accept constructive criticism as that will feed you more than shocked reactions. You cannot afford to have others in your life discourage you, as your skill sets require a lot of space for growth. Nourish relationships that want to celebrate your talents with you. Find a community that loves what you love, and wants to see you happy with what you do. Embrace the wild side of your artistic abilities.

Pile 3 - Creativity + Amethyst 🎉

54 Security, the Messenger, The Aspirant, Aries Sun - Assert; 2 of Pentacles, Knight of Wands, 0 The Fool, Aquarius ♒, Virgo ♍

Hello, pile 3. With the 2 of Pentacles, many of you may want to explore a hobby that is both online and offline, or the internet and social media are major components. If you like making artwork, you could be into digital art or simply want to upload images of your offline work for others to see. With Virgo, some of you may have a lot to say, by starting a blog or online journal documenting your life or interests, or you could try out freelance editing. If you were a youtuber, you could be really good at creating epically long videos about niche topics, or short videos explaining how to do a certain task (like tiktoks that showcase a person's routines and what cleaning products they recommend).

I see that this is the pile of innovation, as the Creativity card shows a lightbulb. You could have various ideas pop up in your head, only to feel unsure of how to approach them. Your attention span could split into a variety of different mediums for getting the idea out. Aquarius wants to take its genius energy and spread it around the world. For a lot of you, social media will support your ideas by broadcasting them. Your hobby may directly involve interfacing with others; your creative spark is not for hiding away. Web design, for example, is a hobby but it involves creating something that others will directly interact with. Your work is meant for a wide audience, should you choose to put yourself out there.

This may not always be easy for you, since there could be a pull towards more stable and predictable activities. There's a nervousness here, kind of like imposter syndrome. You may get a really cool idea for a mobile game app before you or someone else goes "but that's an unrealistic goal to spend so much time and effort on", followed by, "how could I ever make something like that?" The thing is, you can be the most talented, skilled, and experienced person when it comes to a subject, yet still have these same worries. Imposter syndrome doesn't magically go away with a college degree, a new job, or 10,000 subscribers. It's completely normal, but make sure to not let your doubts tempt you into doing something more boring and unfulfilling. This is the pile most likely to try a totally new hobby that is unrelated to your other skills, it doesn't have to be realistic.

But also understand that it can take time for something to get really good. Your first fiction draft is gonna turn out clunky, or your app could be filled with bugs, but it's part of the process. There's no perfect time; when you get the urge to try, just try it! Reach out to a local community or chat group so you can get a realistic sense of how long it takes for projects and skills develop. Slam poetry may be a great outlet, so if you'd like to do that, attend an open mic and see how others do it. You are allowed to be imperfect with your hobby--if you wish to evolve your craft, remember the passion and curiosity that brought you to it.

Pile 4 - Determination + Citrine 🧭

57 Spiritual Guide, What Goes Around Comes Around, The Astronomer, Taurus Rising - Enjoy; 9 of Pentacles, Cancer ♋, Queen of Swords, Knight of Wands, Knight of Swords

How's it going, pile 4? So this is the most active and possibly athletic pile we have here. Staying in the house is not gonna work because something is itching you to get out underneath the stars. Could some of you be majoring or planning in major in STEM? I'm getting a lot of natural science here. With the Astronomer card, you could want to use your telescope to go stargazing or visit planetariums. Are you still feeling the buzz from all the aurora storm and eclipse hype? It would not surprise me if these events awoke an interest for you and now you're looking up when the next meteor shower will show up or when Saturn will be most visible in the sky.

Your next hobby needs or is the outdoors on some level. But Cancer energy is that of a homebody. The most laidback people in this group may enjoy relaxing hobbies like birdwatching or gardening. These hobbies could be spiritually fulfilling for you. I'm seeing someone wearing an apron outside, so could some of you be interested in grilling or being the host to a fun party in the backyard. Do people even have book club meetings in gardens? A lot of enjoying nature is simply finding a good spot and soaking in the scenery with no other goal in mind. Just being near trees and beach sides might be enough.

But I see a lot of you mainly wish to have an adventure and go far out in nature when the weather's just right. You could be thinking about hiking or backpacking out on trails. It all depends on your comfort level as we all have different tolerance levels. I don't know if geocaching and pokemon go are still popular, but they can be unique ways to engage with the outdoors. You could try guided nature tours presented by nature conservationists like the National Audubon, where you can identify and take photos of animals as you wander through the woods and plains. You may like a hobby that is seasonally specific, like swimming in warm waters or skiing down a snowy mountain.

Your hobby may have you think deeply about how humans connect with nature, exploring the ecosystem and how our actions influence our environment. Climate change can be a very serious and, for some, directly impactful topic to mull over. Remind yourself that as long as you're respectful (leave no trace), mother nature enjoys your company as much as you do for her. A small few of you may have the urge to travel to weird locations. Two knights in your reading suggest boldness. If you decide to visit an abandoned or haunted place, Queen of Swords says to please be careful and follow rules if it says no trespassing, and remember that abandoned places can be dangerous from faulty wiring and unstable flooring. Overall, I feel this pile just can't do with an indoor hobby. You have the motivation and courage to explore the vast beautiful world out there. It awaits you.

This reading has not been evaluated by the FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or infection. Please ask your physician before going online.

2024, @VitaminseeTarot ™

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Every internet fight is a speech fight

THIS WEEKEND (November 8-10), I'll be in TUCSON, AZ: I'm the GUEST OF HONOR at the TUSCON SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.

My latest Locus Magazine column is "Hard (Sovereignty) Cases Make Bad (Internet) Law," an attempt to cut through the knots we tie ourselves in when speech and national sovereignty collide online:

https://locusmag.com/2024/11/cory-doctorow-hard-sovereignty-cases-make-bad-internet-law/

This happens all the time. Indeed, the precipitating incident for my writing this column was someone commenting on the short-lived Brazilian court order blocking Twitter, opining that this was purely a matter of national sovereignty, with no speech dimension.

This is just profoundly wrong. Of course any rules about blocking a communications medium will have a free-speech dimension – how could it not? And of course any dispute relating to globe-spanning medium will have a national sovereignty dimension.

How could it not?

So if every internet fight is a speech fight and a sovereignty fight, which side should we root for? Here's my proposal: we should root for human rights.

In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed that the US government was illegally wiretapping the whole world. They were able to do this because the world is dominated by US-based tech giants and they shipped all their data stateside for processing. These tech giants secretly colluded with the NSA to help them effect this illegal surveillance (the "Prism" program) – and then the NSA stabbed them in the back by running another program ("Upstream") where they spied on the tech giants without their knowledge.

After the Snowden revelations, countries around the world enacted "data localization" rules that required any company doing business within their borders to keep their residents' data on domestic servers. Obviously, this has a human rights dimension: keeping your people's data out of the hands of US spy agencies is an important way to defend their privacy rights. which are crucial to their speech rights (you can't speak freely if you're being spied on).

So when the EU, a largely democratic bloc, enacted data localization rules, they were harnessing national soveriegnty in service to human rights.

But the EU isn't the only place that enacted data-localization rules. Russia did the same thing. Once again, there's a strong national sovereignty case for doing this. Even in the 2010s, the US and Russia were hostile toward one another, and that hostility has only ramped up since. Russia didn't want its data stored on NSA-accessible servers for the same reason the USA wouldn't want all its' people's data stored in GRU-accessible servers.

But Russia has a significantly poorer human rights record than either the EU or the USA (note that none of these are paragons of respect for human rights). Russia's data-localization policy was motivated by a combination of legitimate national sovereignty concerns and the illegitimate desire to conduct domestic surveillance in order to identify and harass, jail, torture and murder dissidents.

When you put it this way, it's obvious that national sovereignty is important, but not as important as human rights, and when they come into conflict, we should side with human rights over sovereignty.

Some more examples: Thailand's lesse majeste rules prohibit criticism of their corrupt monarchy. Foreigners who help Thai people circumvent blocks on reportage of royal corruption are violating Thailand's national sovereignty, but they're upholding human rights:

https://www.vox.com/2020/1/24/21075149/king-thailand-maha-vajiralongkorn-facebook-video-tattoos

Saudi law prohibits criticism of the royal family; when foreigners help Saudi women's rights activists evade these prohibitions, we violate Saudi sovereignty, but uphold human rights:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55467414

In other words, "sovereignty, yes; but human rights even moreso."

Which brings me back to the precipitating incidents for the Locus column: the arrest of billionaire Telegram owner Pavel Durov in France, and the blocking of billionaire Elon Musk's Twitter in Brazil.

How do we make sense of these? Let's start with Durov. We still don't know exactly why the French government arrested him (legal systems descended from the Napoleonic Code are weird). But the arrest was at least partially motivated by a demand that Telegram conform with a French law requiring businesses to have a domestic agent to receive and act on takedown demands.

Not every takedown demand is good. When a lawyer for the Sackler family demanded that I take down criticism of his mass-murdering clients, that was illegitimate. But there is such a thing as a legitimate takedown: leaked financial information, child sex abuse material, nonconsensual pornography, true threats, etc, are all legitimate targets for takedown orders. Of course, it's not that simple. Even if we broadly agree that this stuff shouldn't be online, we don't necessarily agree whether something fits into one of these categories.

This is true even in categories with the brightest lines, like child sex abuse material:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/09/facebook-reinstates-napalm-girl-photo

And the other categories are far blurrier, like doxing:

https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trump-camp-worked-with-musks-x-to

But just because not every takedown is a just one, it doesn't follow that every takedown is unjust. The idea that companies should have domestic agents in the countries where they operate isn't necessarily oppressive. If people who sell hamburgers from a street-corner have to register a designated contact with a regulator, why not someone who operates a telecoms network with 900m global users?

Of course, requirements to have a domestic contact can also be used as a prelude to human rights abuses. Countries that insist on a domestic rep are also implicitly demanding that the company place one of its employees or agents within reach of its police-force.

Just as data localization can be a way to improve human rights (by keeping data out of the hands of another country's lawless spy agencies) or to erode them (by keeping data within reach of your own country's lawless spy agencies), so can a requirement for a local agent be a way to preserve the rule of law (by establishing a conduit for legitimate takedowns) or a way to subvert it (by giving the government hostages they can use as leverage against companies who stick up for their users' rights).

In the case of Durov and Telegram, these issues are especially muddy. Telegram bills itself as an encrypted messaging app, but that's only sort of true. Telegram does not encrypt its group-chats, and even the encryption in its person-to-person messaging facility is hard to use and of dubious quality.

This is relevant because France – among many other governments – has waged a decades-long war against encrypted messaging, which is a wholly illegitimate goal. There is no way to make an encrypted messaging tool that works against bad guys (identity thieves, stalkers, corporate and foreign spies) but not against good guys (cops with legitimate warrants). Any effort to weaken end-to-end encrypted messaging creates broad, significant danger for every user of the affected service, all over the world. What's more, bans on end-to-end encrypted messaging tools can't stand on their own – they also have to include blocks of much of the useful internet, mandatory spyware on computers and mobile devices, and even more app-store-like control over which software you can install:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/05/theyre-still-trying-to-ban-cryptography/

So when the French state seizes Durov's person and demands that he establish the (pretty reasonable) minimum national presence needed to coordinate takedown requests, it can seem like this is a case where national sovereignty and human rights are broadly in accord.

But when you consider that Durov operates a (nominally) encrypted messaging tool that bears some resemblance to the kinds of messaging tools the French state has been trying to sabotage for decades, and continues to rail against, the human rights picture gets rather dim.

That is only slightly mitigated by the fact that Telegram's encryption is suspect, difficult to use, and not applied to the vast majority of the communications it serves. So where do we net out on this? In the Locus column, I sum things up this way:

Telegram should have a mechanism to comply with lawful takedown orders; and

those orders should respect human rights and the rule of law; and

Telegram should not backdoor its encryption, even if

the sovereign French state orders it to do so.

Sovereignty, sure, but human rights even moreso.

What about Musk? As with Durov in France, the Brazilian government demanded that Musk appoint a Brazilian representative to handle official takedown requests. Despite a recent bout of democratic backsliding under the previous regime, Brazil's current government is broadly favorable to human rights. There's no indication that Brazil would use an in-country representative as a hostage, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with requiring foreign firms doing business in your country to have domestic representatives.

Musk's response was typical: a lawless, arrogant attack on the judge who issued the blocking order, including thinly veiled incitements to violence.

The Brazilian state's response was multi-pronged. There was a national blocking order, and a threat to penalize Brazilians who used VPNs to circumvent the block. Both measures have obvious human rights implications. For one thing, the vast majority of Brazilians who use Twitter are engaged in the legitimate exercise of speech, and they were collateral damage in the dispute between Musk and Brazil.

More serious is the prohibition on VPNs, which represents a broad attack on privacy-enhancing technology with implications far beyond the Twitter matter. Worse still, a VPN ban can only be enforced with extremely invasive network surveillance and blocking orders to app stores and ISPs to restrict access to VPN tools. This is wholly disproportionate and illegitimate.

But that wasn't the only tactic the Brazilian state used. Brazilian corporate law is markedly different from US law, with fewer protections for limited liability for business owners. The Brazilian state claimed the right to fine Musk's other companies for Twitter's failure to comply with orders to nominate a domestic representative. Faced with fines against Spacex and Tesla, Musk caved.

In other words, Brazil had a legitimate national sovereignty interest in ordering Twitter to nominate a domestic agent, and they used a mix of somewhat illegitimate tactics (blocking orders), extremely illegitimate tactics (threats against VPN users) and totally legitimate tactics (fining Musk's other companies) to achieve these goals.

As I put it in the column:

Twitter should have a mechanism to comply with lawful takedown orders; and

those orders should respect human rights and the rule of law; and

banning Twitter is bad for the free speech rights of Twitter users in Brazil; and

banning VPNs is bad for all Brazilian internet users; and

it’s hard to see how a Twitter ban will be effective without bans on VPNs.

There's no such thing as an internet policy fight that isn't about national sovereignty and speech, and when the two collide, we should side with human rights over sovereignty. Sovereignty isn't a good unto itself – it's only a good to the extent that is used to promote human rights.

In other words: "Sovereignty, sure, but human rights even moreso."

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/06/brazilian-blowout/#sovereignty-sure-but-human-rights-even-moreso

Image: © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Border_Wall_at_Tijuana_and_San_Diego_Border.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

[schhhwa]

In my humble opinion, Jeff hated the feelings he had for this self-driving little devil. This weakness did not allow him to enjoy his favorite activities, even such as killing people in the wilderness of country houses, it became routine for him. He brought the knife over the victims as if through a column of water and exhausted himself faster than usual each time. And BEN's presence made the situation worse, making Jeff even more nervous. God, no, he wasn't shaking like a little girl. He showed his temper, aggression, and impatience. BEN knew what was going on, he has an amazing ability to read people and see their actions through the prism of feelings and sensations. Therefore, Jeff's behavior was a game for him, as he had fun with a new technique that he had taken away from a new victim. At first, this was the case, before BEN himself became interested in getting deeper into the pale killer's head, even in the literal sense, which caused his body to glitch and disappear far into the codes of any programs. He didn't run away from his feelings like Jeff, but instead tricked Jeff into confessing his feelings (it was the best moment of his life, I guess, I mean, Jeff's reaction to being tricked should have been seen). Jeff didn't have to wait for BEN's answer.

[thenuclearmallard]

Number in letters

Small indigenous peoples are offered to preserve their speech

January 21, 2025

All methods of preserving and reviving endangered languages ​​used so far in Russia have not yielded results, stated participants of a forum dedicated to this problem in Krasnoyarsk. In their opinion, only the preservation of traditional forms of residence and management provides a guarantee for the continued existence of such languages. However, forum participants from among government representatives, the expert community and the indigenous peoples themselves agreed that the digital environment of indigenous peoples can help solve the problem.

In the middle of the last century, traditional farming guaranteed the preservation of native languages ​​for the inhabitants of the indigenous northern peoples

Photo: Gorshkov V. / Photo archive of the magazine "Ogonyok" / Kommersant

The scope of use of the languages ​​of indigenous minorities (IMN) of the North, Siberia and the Far East is gradually narrowing, which threatens their continued existence. This was discussed at the strategic session "Creating a digital environment for native languages ​​through the prism of technology and creative industries", which opened in Krasnoyarsk on January 21. It was organized by the Regional Association of Indigenous Minorities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The list of indigenous minorities of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation includes 40 ethnic groups. The largest of them are the Nenets, Evenks, Khanty, Evens, Chukchi and Mansi. Eight such peoples live in Krasnoyarsk Krai. The total number of indigenous minorities of Russia is 262.6 thousand people. The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2022-2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

"It is very unfortunate that we have to acknowledge the threatening language situation among almost all the indigenous minorities of the North. Thus, among the modern Evenks, only a few families have survived in which their native language is passed on to their children, and these are mostly those families that continue to preserve their traditional way of life," complained the leader of the Evenk Association of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Aleksandr Varlamov. In his opinion, the education system, which involves teaching children of indigenous minorities in boarding schools, does not ensure the continuity of language knowledge and traditional forms of economic management. "In the current state of affairs, it is quite expected that in the course of decades we will lose not only our native language, but also the last reindeer herders and hunters - the true guardians of ethnocultural traditions," he made a sad forecast.

A similar point of view was expressed by the professor of the Siberian Federal University, the famous historian and ethnographer Viktor Krivonogov.

“Having studied more than 30 peoples of Siberia, the Far East and foreign countries, I have not encountered a single fact where any people has preserved or revived their language,” he summed up the results of his 50 years of research work.

The scientist noted that this happened despite the implementation of numerous laws, programs and the “heroic work of teachers.”

According to the results of surveys conducted during scientific expeditions, the Soyots in the Republic of Buryatia have completely lost their fluency in their native language. Among the Tofalars in the Irkutsk Region and the Kets in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, this figure is less than 10%. Among the Krasnoyarsk Nganasans and Nenets, it is no more than 15%. Although, back in 1993-1994, almost 40% of the representatives of this people spoke Nganasan fluently. At the same time, according to Mr. Krivonogov, even among the Evenks of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, who can study their native language in middle and high school, the number of those who speak it fluently is decreasing. There are no such people left at all under the age of 19, and about 1% of those aged 19-29.

"The language is actually preserved only in the environment where traditional farming is practiced... If a child comes to school at the age of seven with his native Russian language, not knowing a single word in the Evenki language, can this language become his native language again? Of course not," Viktor Krivonogov named the reason for the loss of the native language. According to his data, at present only 5% of the representatives of the indigenous minorities of the Krasnoyarsk Territory continue to roam the tundra. Among the Tundra Nenets, the proportion of those fluent in their native language reaches almost 100%.

“Due to various objective reasons, the young generation of indigenous peoples of the North is breaking away from the centuries-old occupations of their ancestors, losing their mother tongue, their customs and traditions,” confirmed Victoria Polikarenok, head of the Evenki nomadic kindergarten “Chipkan”.

The creation of a digital environment for indigenous languages ​​can help solve the language problem, believes Grigory Dyukarev, Commissioner for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Krasnoyarsk Krai. In particular, he suggested that the session participants initiate the introduction of programs for training "teachers of native language and computer science" in universities, as well as include in the program advanced training for teachers of native languages ​​and the use of digital technologies.

Sardana Sivtseva from the Arctic Capital company named the Ayana platform as an example of creating a digital environment. It is an offline version of an electronic translator of the Evenki language for nomadic schools and places with unstable mobile communications. "The project has found a continuation in Altai, Krasnoyarsk Krai, and other regions. We initially planned that after the Evenki language, other languages ​​would follow," she said, calling on specialists to create electronic explanatory dictionaries of the languages ​​of the indigenous minorities. During the session, a machine translator of the Mansi language, the Evenki language portal "Evengus" and a number of other projects were also presented.

"We will try this new method as well. Maybe it will work if the previous ones did not lead to significant changes," Viktor Krivonogov expressed hope, adding that the result of applying digitalization in this area will become clear "in about ten years."

Valery Lavsky

[ranidspace]

we're a year out from windows 10 being considered End Of Life, on October 14 2025. it will no longer recieve updates, including security updates.

Security updates are INSANELY important these days, it feels like some insane security flaw gets found out and promptly fixed every month these days. running an unpatched version of an operating system puts a target on you and puts your computer and your home network at risk. It is rare to be attacked in that way, yes, but don't take the risk. Your two options:

Windows 11

The issue with windows 11 is not that it's bad, it's just that it adds and changes a bunch of shit for no reason, and for that i recommend installing Winaero Tweaker. This is a program that changes registries and settings on your computer to disable all the telemetry, remove the dumbass microsoft copilot and cortana shit, bring back the old right click menu, the old taskbar, and a bunch more options. It's available for Windows 10 as well, if you're not on windows 11 yet, please check out this program anyway, there's plenty of things you may want to change. It is one of the first things i always install on a new windows computer.

Once you have customized it a bit, there really isnt much of a difference between windows 10 and 11. they just added more bullshit, which you can mostly disable.

Linux

i would deal with fucked up drivers and lightly buggy programs if i never had to deal with windows again.

If you just use your computer to browse the web and manage files, talk to people on discord and shit, linux works perfectly. You will never have to look into a command prompt if you don't want to.

If you do work on it, you may miss some programs, but basically just microsoft office and adobe suite. Office is basically covered by LibreOffice (and works on windows too if you wanna try it out), but it's a bit harder with adobe suite programs. You wanna look at individual programs which you use to see what works for you.

If you play games, it depends. With the success of the steam deck, more and more games are working towards compatibility on linux. Even then, out of the top 1000 games on steam, 85% are compatible with linux, with only 4% straight up refusing. Minecraft works good with prism launcher (again, use this even if you're on windows) roblox works with sober(idk what other non-steam games there are), emulation works amazingly, theres nvidia drivers for it, it's good.

Like theres a bit more setup and some more troubleshooting needed when something goes wrong, but it is so fucking nice to just not have to deal with Windows Bullshit.

I recommend Kubuntu, though i've heard a lot of support for Linux Mint. I'd be happy to answer any other linux questions lol

[after-neo-world]

Iroha went into the Neo World Program despite it not being from her world, it was the closest thing she had to closer. Void float right beside her as she walked around.

"Why don't you explore the island, Void?"

The Prism looked at the painting who smiled at it.

"I will join you soon"

The creature nodded before flying off, leaving Iroha alone. Iroha took out a cigarette and put it in her mouth. She went to grab her lighter and tried to lit her cigarette. Her lighter and made a tiny flame before it stopped working.

"Damn it"

(@sundies-glassshine)

A familiar shadow loomed over Iroha, the top hat gave it away. A snicker from the wizard can be heard.

"Well, look who decided to come for a visit? Though... You look taller than i recall."

[000marie198]

Deven Mack himself thinks that Nine would rebuild Beepo to not be lonely anymore.

Which, seemingly impossible now because no prism.

Addition, I think he would try to rebuild Beepo but with what he has left . Not emotionless guard Grim Alpha no, original Chaos Sonic, Beepo. Post Prime we could get Beepo back like this and he won't be the same but it would still be him. Nine did scan Sonic the first time they met so he might have his biodata and now after what he'd went through and what he'd seen and not being influenced by the prism's energy, he won't do crazy stuff like build robots as friends who are programmed to do his bidding and have no sentience

I do, however, think he deserves real friends, real family (referring to that one post I made about it being messed up that he had relied on artificial robots programmed to do and feel exactly what he wanted). So Prime Bros should happen.

Nine deserves real people, real family.

He deserves care and love, a home. He doesn't deserve a small floating castle with no land outside, no food, no water, no resources. He'd die at this rate.

Beepo would be cool to get back but not at the cost of Nine staying in the Grim. The only source of nutrition being coconuts growing on two palm trees. That's not enough to sustain him.

I want Nine to meet Sonic again, meet Tails, be brothers, Sails and Mangey too. And I will die on this hill. Prime Bros my beloved

Also, I can't stop thinking about the fact that Nine is Deven's favorite character, Sonic's VAs favorite. I love this so much ejcjjdjdjfjfjfjfjf

[copaline]

It's WIP Wednesday, Bitches!

WIP Wednesday is here! Tagging the peeps that made the mistake of telling me they had writing in the works!

@i-prefer-base-twelve

@punedrr

Also gonna start tagging artists too because you guys are just so damn talented!

@cherryviolets

@ancharan

No pressure to share but I'd love to see what you have! And as always, if you see this and want to join in, please do! Consider yourself tagged by me! The banner is free to use!

Anyway, here's a little preview of Chapter 9 of Horror Vacui:

It had been a week without Leaf.  At first, Mabel had believed she was still in town. There were signs that something was finishing her tasks. Mayor Cutebiker had received his event planning packet and several important businessmen had been seen entering and leaving city hall. Preston Northwest was loudly telling anyone who would listen that his fortunes had shifted and he was planning on building another, more splendid manor. All in all, the work Leaf had promised continued to get done, but she herself was nowhere to be found. The PRISM office remained closed, and Leaf’s apartment was empty. Any attempt to locate her had failed and both Stan and Ford expressly forbid them from attempting to break into her home a third time. Stan went as far as to ground both kids to keep them out of trouble until the Shack reopened. Dipper had protested but, for once, even Ford had agreed it was for the best. And so Mabel and her brother remained confined to the RV when not completing chores. It wasn't the first time the Shack had been destroyed. Zombies had done quite a number in the place a year ago and it had bounced back easily enough. This was only marginally worse, but for some reason Mabel couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something bigger than Zombies and Neverweres had taken Leaf away, maybe for good. She stared at the small black business card listing a contact phone and email. Her small hands clutched a cellphone as she dialed a number for what felt like the thousandth time. “Hello, you’ve reached PRISM Consulting. Our representatives are unable to answer the phone right now, but if you leave your name and message…” Mabel groaned as it went straight to voicemail. “Oh, Mabel sweetie, is that you?” “Yes Phyllis,” she sighed in disappointment.  The first day she’d realized Leaf’s voicemail was sentient had been exciting. It was the same day Mabel learned that calling sixty times in a three-hour period was enough to give even a living computer program cause for concern. Now, the novelty of it had worn off and it just felt like another failed attempt to reach the person she wanted to talk to the most. “I’m sorry dear, Ms. Leaf is still out. Try her again tomorrow.” “Is she ever coming back?” Mabel’s voice wavered on the edge of breaking. There was a long pause on the other line as a creature made of ones and zeroes tried to figure out a way to be kind. “I’m sure whatever is keeping her away is very important.” “She doesn’t want to talk to me, does she?”