#any help is very appreciated

[murphyzzz]

any suggestions on how to do digital art without spending any money? I have a drawing pad that I can plug into my laptop I got as a gift… any free or cheap programs you would recommend?

[kagedbird]

Hi I desperately need help paying things off (credit card, taxes, car insurance, I have legit 3$ to my name)

Please consider commissioning me!! All info is in pinned post on my blog, I'd be happy to discuss payment details if you'd like! I just need the cash. ;w; Thanks in advance! Reblogs appreciated!!

[too-fond-to-be-fearful]

Been thinking recently about the goings-on with Duolingo & AI, and I do want to throw my two cents in, actually.

There are ways in which computers can help us with languages, certainly. They absolutely should not be the be-all and end-all, and particularly for any sort of professional work I am wholly in favour of actually employing qualified translators & interpreters, because there's a lot of important nuances to language and translation (e.g. context, ambiguity, implied meaning, authorial intent, target audience, etc.) that a computer generally does not handle well. But translation software has made casual communication across language barriers accessible to the average person, and that's something that is incredibly valuable to have, I think.

Duolingo, however, is not translation software. Duolingo's purpose is to teach languages. And I do not think you can be effectively taught a language by something that does not understand it itself; or rather, that does not go about comprehending and producing language in the way that a person would.

Whilst a language model might be able to use probability & statistics to put together an output that is grammatically correct and contextually appropriate, it lacks an understanding of why, beyond "statistically speaking, this element is likely to come next". There is no communicative intent behind the output it produces; its only goal is mimicking the input it has been trained on. And whilst that can produce some very natural-seeming output, it does not capture the reality of language use in the real world.

Because language is not just a set of probabilities - there are an infinite array of other factors at play. And we do not set out only to mimic what we have seen or heard; we intend to communicate with the wider world, using the tools we have available, and that might require deviating from the realm of the expected.

Often, the most probable output is not actually what you're likely to encounter in practice. Ungrammatical or contextually inappropriate utterances can be used for dramatic or humorous effect, for example; or nonstandard linguistic styles may be used to indicate one's relationship to the community those styles are associated with. Social and cultural context might be needed to understand a reference, or a linguistic feature might seem extraneous or confusing when removed from its original environment.

To put it briefly, even without knowing exactly how the human brain processes and produces language (which we certainly don't), it's readily apparent that boiling it down to a statistical model is entirely misrepresentative of the reality of language.

And thus a statistical model is unlikely to be able to comprehend and assist with many of the difficulties of learning a language.

A statistical model might identify that a learner misuses some vocabulary more often than others; what it may not notice is that the vocabulary in question are similar in form, or in their meaning in translation. It might register that you consistently struggle with a particular grammar form; but not identify that the root cause of the struggle is that a comparable grammatical structure in your native language is either radically different or nonexistent. It might note that you have trouble recalling a common saying, but not that you lack the cultural background needed to understand why it has that meaning. And so it can identify points of weakness; but it is incapable of addressing them effectively, because it does not understand how people think.

This is all without considering the consequences of only having a singular source of very formal, very rigid input to learn from, unable to account for linguistic variation due to social factors. Without considering the errors still apparent in the output of most language models, and the biases they are prone to reproducing. Without considering the source of their data, and the ethical considerations regarding where and how such a substantial sample was collected.

I understand that Duolingo wants to introduce more interactivity and adaptability to their courses (and, I suspect, to improve their bottom line). But I genuinely think that going about it in this way is more likely to hinder than to help, and wrongfully prioritises the convenience of AI over the quality and expertise that their existing translators and course designers bring.

[lilspacewolfie]

Antichrist will walk the earth

[shortbreadly]

this screenshot has been tugging at my heartstrings since the owl house ended so i had to redraw it

original screenshot

[spiraltonic]

☀️ Sun & Moon 🌑

[mukuberry]

imagining a beautiful world where you can find information on disorders without being hit with constant ableism

[anywayxstarchild]

currently on a random quest to acquire as many pictures of liam wearing his cross necklace as i can; if anyone has some at hand, feel free to share (please)

[starkid-innit]

Starkid Innit Friendship Bracelets

A PSA to everybody going to starkid innit, after hearing people’s thoughts the consensus on dress codes seems to be wear whatever you want and cosplay is encouraged

However I've also decided I'm going to officially declare project friendship bracelet a GO

(yes we are full on stealing this from the swifties but opportunities for a big UK starkid event don't come around very often and I'm determined to make the most of it)

So hopefully we'll get lots of people making cute (or unhinged) friendship bracelets and we can all share/trade them at the concert and it will all be very cute and please can we actually make this happen?

I'm counting on people to commit to this otherwise I'm going to feel like a right idiot, but it would be fantastic if loads of people got involved!

Also if you could help me to spread the word that'd be fab. I'll do my best but I have made a grand total of 20 tweets and 0 tiktoks in my time lol

Thanks for all your support, I can't wait to see what you all make, and I leave you with this inspiring image of this afternoon's creation:

[devotion-disorder]

recently I've received a couple of anons asking about a tutorial on how I render stuff. While im really happy that some of you might want to learn from me, I'm hesitant to answer them because I don't think I'm qualified to be teaching anyone about rendering/coloring! I mean, hell, I post a rendered artwork, like, once a month LOL

I think the way I colour is still extremely amateurish, and I've got a lot to learn myself in terms of actual theory and stuff. And to tell the truth, my process is mostly intuitive - hence why its amateurish and sometimes straight up Not Good my dawg!!!!!!!!!

The only advice I can give is that there's a lot of great resources online for free, especially on youtube. Also you can study your favourite artists' work in detail, try to pinpoint specifically what is it that makes their work appeal to you. Eventually you'll develop a sense for this kind of stuff I think!

[o-vera-nalyzing]

look i totally get it’s all love now but genuinely every kipperlilly sympathizer that only talks about how it’s so valid she hates the bad kids and how she’s a side character getting fucked by the main characters simply just feels like they themselves have hella side character syndrome and are relating to kipperlilly a bit too hard and might need to consider that they’re only a side character if they convince themselves they are

(my tags explain it a bit better but i was too lazy to copy them up here)

[drak2000]

A friend of mine’s kitten recently had a stroke and they’re struggling to get the funds to help her. Anything helps.

[thatonecrookedsmile]

I would say that, considering his history, he's not that wrong, but even I have doubts as to whether that would be right. But at the end of the day, this is just a joke that's been in my head for a while, sooooo…eh.

Oh hey, an attempt at a comic? Made by me? That I didn't give up during the process or lost all motivation? What was my only attempt at this, 2019? Damn, it's been a long time.

I thought about leaving this here without editing or any colors, just the natural ones from the paper and pencil. But something in my head said "HAHAHA, no" so I went back to work. I had to put this idea down on paper this time (literally). If another year passes without me being able to execute this idea, I would lose my mind.

This scenario was inspired by this video by Jehtt, inspired by the original meme by Windii. Credits to both of them.

For a long time I wanted to joke - especially on the anniversary - that I wanted Sammy to only have less than 5 seconds in the next game (or in other words, take his screen time in DR, and shorten it even more). You know, just for the funnies (unless..?) But,thanks to the news released at the beginning of January this year about The Cage, I legally can't do this joke anymore…this year. Don't worry, after that comes out (and finally gives Sam the screen time he wants,hopefully) and we start to crawl into the Bendy 3 production era, I'll make this joke when I can.

Anyway, happy birthday Sammy Lawrence. You may not be my favorite character in this franchise, but there are some things I can actually appreciate about you. Plus, you made me laugh a few moments before (you know what I'm talking about) so there's that.

And happy 7 years to Chapter 2, and by extension, Susie, Norman, Alice, the Searchers, (Johnny????), and Beta Ink Bendy. (I would mention Jack too, but he was only introduced with the release of CH4, so technically it's not his birthday yet, but I'll consider him here).

And now? May I be able to do something for CH4's anniversary. Wish me luck,cus I'll need it.

(it might be really late now, but it's still the 18th where I live, so it's still his birthday, so I still won)

[funkbun]

HEY hey if you have a copy of Bugsnax, are able to save clear screenshots of fully snakified grumpus (with singular snax), and are willing to upload them to the Miraheze Bugsnax Wiki/Bugapedia that'll be Very appreciated‼️‼️‼️

im asking this cause,,

If you want an example of what I mean, there's a Snakifications Section on Bunger's page which basically be serve as a base for the whole thing

Below cut I added some important stuff relating to file naming and uploading them :V

First I Highly Recommend looking through the "Snakified Images" category, as it includes every snakified grump already uploaded onto the wiki. This will help prevent duplicated images

Obviously the screen resolution isn't going to be the same for every device, but just try to make sure the screenshots aren't too blurry n stuff. Also, with naming the files themselves, please try to use this format:

"BUGSNAK Snakification GRUMPUS"

For example it'll be like ""Bunger Snakification Filbo". This will help with keeping the files organized in their categories

When uploading the images onto the wiki, please please include these categories in the summary of the upload. Again, this help a BUNCH with organizing images 🔽🔽🔽

[[Category:GRUMP Images]] [[Category:SNAK Images]] [[Category:Game Screenshots]] [[Category:Snakified Images]]

🔼🔼🔼 please

The "GRUMP" and "SNAK" should be replaced with the respective grumpus and bugsnak in the image

also please dont just go onto the Fandom Wiki and save and upload all of the snakifications from there, it may seem easier but it's really not worth it

I think I made this clear enough, but if u have more questions just ask me 👍

[relatablepicturesofyuukoaioi]

Hi there everyone! Things aren't going so well for me financially and job hunting is going poorly, so I decided to open pay what you want Yuuko/Nichijou Ko-fi commissions! I like running this blog and any doodle requests will get posted here to help keep the blog running (along side the usual queue). If you can spare anything or tip, it would be very much appreciated! <3

[wonder-worker]

"Administratively, too, [...] queens were considered the legal lords of their landholdings. [...] Grants noted that the queen's officials had administrative autonomy without being subject to the king or anyone else, and evidence of the same assumption can be gleaned from court rolls that were recorded with headings indicating the lord of the manor whose court proceedings were being enrolled. As an example, some court rolls for the manor of Haveringatte-Bower specified that it was the court of [Margaret of Anjou] that was in session, while later rolls recorded Elizabeth Woodville as the lord of the manor court."

-Michele Seah, 'My Lady Queen, the Lord of the Manor': The Economic Roles of Late Medieval Queens", Parergon, Volume 37, Number 2, 2020.