#but some people will use it as a buzzword to scam

[tombraiderrocker]

If they claim they can cure your condition that you have been told is incurable, run. If they claim they cured themselves, run. If they claim they have cured everything from cancer to lupus holistically, run. If they claim you have to buy only supplements from them, run. If they claim they that only thing that will cure is x but x costs tons of money, run. If they refuse to run tests or address your diagnosed conditions before insisting you do an expensive treatment not covered by insurence, run. If they offer a one size fits all treatment/cure, run.

I have been scammed by "holistic" and "naturalistic" people before as a chronically ill person. In fact it was an actual doctor who went to medical school who scammed me for years. So watch out. If it seems too good to be true it probably is.

[aesethewitch]

Hii so, I’m new to online witch spaces. I wasn’t aware there was any witch scams.

I might be a bit naive or have not ran across any luckily. But what are some ones to be wary of?

I apologize if this is a silly ask.

Hello! This is very much not a silly ask!! It's an important question to ask, and I'm glad that you have.

Yes, scams are everywhere. There have been scams in occult/spiritual circles since literally forever. Any space comprised of vulnerable, young, and hungry people is going to have people who want to take advantage. Online witch spaces are no different.

The big ones off the top of my head are:

People selling "witchy merch" like prints, bags, shirts, and other stuff like that using stolen art and AI-generated images

People selling crystals that are purposefully mislabeled as something they aren't, are made of glass/other material, or at an incredible mark-up for no reason (for example, "Lemurian Crystals" selling for hundreds of dollars on Etsy when they're nothing more than common quartz)

People selling same-day or even same-hour divinations -- when you think about it, isn't this kind of impossible? Check the volume of requests they get; if it's one or two people doing hundreds of these a week, either they're copy-pasting readings or they're using a GenAI to do the work for them. Either way, that's bullshit!

People selling spells which the buyer has no way of verifying -- think "energy work only" spells and the like; if the buyer gets no physical product in any way, and if they have no way of otherwise verifying the service has been done, how are they going to know it's legitimate? The answer is, they can't know, and the seller is banking on that fact

People setting up temporary shops that will disappear after selling a certain number of listings, not actually providing any services/products (or providing products that don't match their listings)

These are, I think, the big scam categories. A lot of them are easy to spot, with their copious typos and obvious AI images and buzzword-laden descriptions and reviews stuffed with fake five-star praises.

I would be wary of anyone whose entire online presence is dedicated to selling you something. I'd also be wary of people leaving information out of their listings, or who are obscuring what you're actually getting behind mystical language. And above all, be extremely wary of any shop you can't easily contact without running into chat bots. If you can't talk to a real person who's willing to answer your questions and address any concerns, they're either a scam or simply not worth your time.

When in doubt, get a second opinion. Ask someone else what they think about a listing or seller or shop. See if you can find someone who's actually gotten a service/product from that seller. Have someone else read the listing to see if they notice the same red flags.

And above all, don't let eagerness for results cloud your judgment. It's the number one thing these people prey on. They're banking on people to make impulsive, rash decisions, because it shields the seller's faulty practices from close examination.

[gailynovelry]

SCREAM I love dystopias and I love worldbuilding and I am appalled at the thought of how desperate a person would have to be to get something called a Worker Bee Implant omg

Please tell me more fun things about this please

aaaaaaa hello! So this is from Mindhive and boy is Mindhive a ride. Still working out a lot of things about it, but also it's 80k long, so there's a lot of thoughts to choose from. Hmmmmm.

More context about the implants! But not all of the context, hehehe;

~ The trial volunteers do not go into the trial with any idea of what the implant actually does. It's only specified to be a "mental enhancement." Within the context of the world of MH, this means that most trial volunteers are going in assuming that it's going to be another failed attempt at a "general intelligence enhancement."

~ We say "another failed attempt" because the tech industry in MH has been in a hype cycle for "we're going to use science to enhance IQ!" for a while. But "intelligence" is complicated, and brains are complicated, and there's no magic bullet to "enhance" these things.

~ (Can you tell that the tech industry in MH is prone to eugenic lines of thinking and hype cycles for things that will never pan out for practical reasons? Real life is an unfortunately great source of inspiration for dystopia.)

~ But the implant is not an intelligence enhancement.

~ It could be considered a communication enhancement. If you've read the summary, you know one of the things it is capable of!

~ Hooray telepathy : D

~ It's intended to work in concert with a different type of technology, known as an EIS - an Emotive Intelligence System. Basically, a classic sci-fi AI, but under a new name because MH takes place in the future and in my present the tech industry has made the term "AI" into a marketing buzzword associated with art theft and scams.

~ The ideal EIS for this set-up has enough interpersonal skills to communicate with contractors, but only enough interest in workers to maintain Baseline Aliveness.

~ So, not V.E.R.T.I.G.O, who has a near-anthropologist curiosity about people, and a firm desire to provide them with a decent quality of life whenever possible. : (

~ What does this add up to? Not the horrors, of course, I am sure that the way these ideas click together have nothing to do with the way that corporations approach labor costs, working conditions, and bodily autonomy. : )

Also we're really into making webpages right now, so this WIP has some Neocities funstuff happening! Yay!

[ada-crunch]

Comparing a Scam Token to Cardano? The Ridiculous Story of Retik Finance

Read the original article HERE.

A lot of recent articles have been talking about a new cryptocurrency called “Retik Finance.” Make no mistake, Retik Finance is obviously a scam. Do not interact with their website and do not send them any of your crypto. Normally, I would just ignore these obvious scam, but what surprised me today was that my google news feed suggested an article with this ridiculous headline:

A quick look at their website (which I will not link here to prevent any potential reader from being scammed themselves) and it is obvious that Retik Finance is a scam.

The scam token is being featured in a lot of articles on small-time Indian news outlets. The articles are vague, misleading, and oftentimes just outright wrong. Take this little snippet from one of these articles:

The article claims that a 2.65% price dip invalidates Cardano as a leader in “evolving crypto landscape.” This is absolutely preposterous. A 2.65% price dip is completely insignificant and a token’s price is not indicative of a cryptocurrency’s underlying technology. A token’s price only represents the demand from buyers for a token in a marketplace.

Taking a look at their website is also hilariously ridiculous. The first thing you are greeted with is a presale that asks you to connect your wallet. Again, please do not connect your wallet to this:

They also display the address for their token. Which, oddly enough, is an ERC20 token. So their claims of low-fee transactions are blatantly false, anything transaction on the Ethereum blockchain carries a hefty fee (I took the liberty to check the etherscan page and found that a transfer of Retik tokens cost around $5–6 in Ethereum per transaction, which is obviously not cheap).

The token’s etherscan page is even more hilarious. There are only 8 holders of all Retik tokens and all 8 of those holders are likely the same person. Take a look at the screenshot below:

Those percentages show how much of the total supply of Retik tokens are owned by each wallet. See how those numbers are all nice, pretty numbers that end in zeros? Yeah, it’s definitely unnatural and are all likely the same person (not to mention the top wallet owns 40% of the total supply).

Scrolling down further on their website reveals some more nonsense.

They claim to be audited, have a KYC process, and a whitepaper. KYC for a cryptocurrency? That sounds really counter-intuitive.

The audit button leads to this audit report, which already claims Retik is a “high risk” and that the creator of Retik can blacklist any account and has the ability to enable/disable trades. This is another a red flag to add to the list.

The KYC button just goes to a page that says KYC is pending:

The whitepaper is extremely vague, uses a lot of buzzwords, and doesn’t discuss any type of technology at all. It's an embarrassing collage of buzzwords attempting to look authentic.

Going back to the original article, if you scroll to the bottom, you’ll find this little disclaimer:

Neither the author nor the website (ThePrint, an Indian news outlet) will take responsibility for the the content of this outrageous article. Typical.

Retik Finance is a laughably dumb scam. The fact that people still fall for these kinds of scams is something I still don’t understand. But google suggesting these kinds of articles in my feed? That’s even more outrageous. Google must have some kind of basic process to filter out these kinds of scummy articles. Because of Google’s complacency, so many more people will be exposed to these scams.

In short, Retik Finance is nothing compared to Cardano. Retik Finance will never replace Cardano. Retik Finance is a scam. Don’t fall for scams. Google needs to get better at not suggesting scam articles in news feeds to users.

If you enjoyed reading this, consider following/clapping. It helps a lot! Need help with crypto gas fees? Go here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoGasFees/

ADA Crunch

[meow-moment]

everyone makes fun of sci-fi movies for just adding random science words like Quantum in front of other words like a prefix but already we've done this. When cryptocurrency was the new thing you could just say Oh yeah that guy's a Cryptobro and he's pushing a CryptoNFT Crypto Scam. and people would be able to tell it was some stupid bullshit. and now with AI you can be like This AI Generated Movie is AI Scripted and AI Voiced and you can tell it's some stupid bullshit. I guarantee that as soon as they crack quantum mechanics Quantum will be the new insufferable buzzword and we'll start seeing headlines about how Disney is using one Quantum Worker to do the work of 10 normal crew members or some shit. people will start using Quantum Products to scam people and call it The Future Of Marketing and within 2 months Quantum Anything will only be in use among terminally online joe rogan enthusiasts

[hareofhrair]

So while the ethical and legal issues with AI are real, this problem actually isn’t. The stats that claim AI is using a ton of power were using the power draw of the *entire data center,* of which AI is only a relatively small percentage. To quote the Ars Technica article I’m about to link:

“Long before generative AI became the current Silicon Valley buzzword, those data centers were already growing immensely in size and energy usage, powering everything from Amazon Web Services servers to online gaming services, Zoom video calls, and cloud storage and retrieval for billions of documents and photos, to name just a few of the more common uses.”

Even if generative AI went away tomorrow, all of that would remain.

The article then goes on to point out that people’s readiness to believe this is probably due to conflating AI with crypto. But while crypto’s exponential energy requirements were an unavoidable part of the business model, generative AI has an incentive to become more efficient and cheaper over time, like most technology.

Here’s the aforementioned article about it.

Imo, the problems with AI are not with the technology itself, anymore than internal combustion is to blame for vehicle pollution.

The problem is 1) grifters scamming tech illiterate executives and investors into believing AI is a magic cure all, so they try to force it into industries and areas where it’s useless or actively detrimental, or are foaming at the mouth to replace their human work force with it, when the tech is not capable of that and likely never will be.

And 2) lack of regulation allowing businesses to train their models on stolen data, either outright stealing art and writing without payment or attribution, or skimming it from users through incredibly shady practices that should not be legal.

But the actual problems in both of those cases are corporate structures putting people in decision making positions over issues they have zero experience with, and lack of legal regulation and the fucked up nature of IP law.

Don’t allow your legitimate concerns about the way capitalism abuses a novel technology to be warped into luddite hysterics over a technology that is neither as revolutionary or as apocalyptic as some would like you to believe.

I don't know, how about switching it off?

[theanharchist]

I Hate Daniel

90s born audience and readership preferred.

An entry clarifying my lack of admiration towards Daniel, a selfish bastard, who keeps trying to be my friend.

Adam my ex-Internet pal has nothing to worry about compared to Daniel a gas-lighting guy and I never like to talk poorly about people but this is honest.

Daniel and his Hollister zip-up smells super duper bad by the looks of his selfies, with clothes, the emoji flags he pairs with his dating profile I always swipe left at, when I had an active profile, where he would always recreate his account to re-land on my page. His aesthetic lands himself between a freegan and Buddhist but he lies about being Catholic just by his tendencies and the foods he levitates towards. He shouldn’t even be using incense. The Catholic Church uses incense…not the Catholic.

I feel bad for his neighboring tenants that share the same laundry room. He is super gross and lives in a studio with cats, jugs of fertilizer and again, he smells like shit by the looks of it. I know my European archetypes from growing up in an apartment complex with rank immigrant kids the building over.

What are you doing drinking Tumeric shots as a high school valedictorian and Catholic? Clearly, he’s Jewish, though. His olive complexion reeks feces and cumin. I can just tell because he gardens a specific way. I would not comment there but he over-flexes through the videos he constantly texts people of him gardening.

Then, he cannot drive anywhere or lies about that and always asks people to help him and asked me for $140 once I said “no” too and then he sent me an unsolicited Venmo request because I was collecting Bratz dolls and he thought I had the extra change for “a friend.” Absolutely not. Daniel is super annoying, always trying to call me via Instagram on my, now, lost account. Daniel should be paying me a grand or more for forcing me to be his therapist through the digital social interaction he needed and just by trying to get my contact being the person he is. Slovakia isn’t even the European country to flex that you are European.

Slavs smell bad and they usually run cleaning businesses and scam people…like Daniel. I will swing an axe at Daniel from my medieval China Buffet collection if I ever see him near my lawn. Only because he said he was pacifist to try and get laid when in the same clause he said he’d like to go hunting.

His mom is always over his place and I saw a sitting stain on his bed from a photo he shared on the Internet and it has to be his mom being over. Europeans are disgusting, maternally. He kept trying to tell me that breastfeeding in a crowd of moms is healthy for a single infant and I cancelled him immediately.

Also, he has $10,000 saved up to the point where he shouldn’t ask anyone for help especially with people living paycheck to paycheck.

Again I remained calm and am even writing this in a normal, content with myself, mood. I just gotta call this guy out so other people watch out. All he likes to do is gaslight and make people mad in cruel ways. Talent-wise he has none. I can tell he is indeed autistic or has some sort of self-deficit disorder where he cannot self-actualize because he has out of the blue dreams he tries to express to people but it’s effortless and makes no sense for someone like him.

You cannot want to help people, complain about over-the-phone patients at your current job, as an aspiring doctor, having failed the M-Cat, and want to go into life as a graphics designer with pixel art in the same go. As in it’s really rude how he reels people into pencil drawings and graphic design dreams but he admitted to not supporting other people because it makes him feel bad about himself when other people are more successful than him.

So should he even have a dating profile or be circulating? Probably not. Daniel did this to try to land in the buzzword ‘toxic’ as well to be in-trend. He failed immediately there because you’d have to be attractive, first. Being nice doesn’t make up for where he lacks in that sense. That is where his valedictorian of a D-school landed him in life. A stupid strategizer.

All Daniel does is complain about his sit-down, remote job at Walgreens, supposedly. Here’s a GIF of Daniel’s favorite actor declining Spielberg’s role casting him as “Daniel” in hypothesis. Slovakian language is ugly as f*ck. All I see is a lady with a mole wearing a French maid costume, trying to be that as well, trying to raise their flag as high as Germany by rolling their ‘Rs’.

[gratulation-1368]

It's always so jarring seeing generally intelligent and well informed people with which I usually agree on things not so much as defending but critiquing critiques of Generative "AI".

note: I'll be using "AI" as a stand in for large language and image generation models. Applications of machine learning technology in other fields is usually simply called "Machine Learning" since "AI" is both nonsensical in it's implications and solely a marketing buzzword.

In the first place the whole thing is a massive grift by tech companies: "AI" startups have convinced big tech companies that they have this wonder technology that will be the next internet. The appeal for big tech (aside from a willingness to invest in basically anything in hopes of getting early adopter advantages) is that they'll have a way of using the insane amounts of user data they collect (which has a very low shelf life for advertisement purposes) to train some genius AI to make them a ton of money.

The technology itself can barely even generate any kind of revenue at all and necessitates gigantic expenses in training and maintaning new models. Despite what the companies say, all of the evidence we have suggests that we are basically on the peak of what the technology will ever be capable of: improvements require exponentially more amounts of training data and most models have already scraped literally the entire internet.

So, before even getting into the details, defending "AI" is already buying into a grift, more specifically a "Bigger Fool" scam, and, in my opinion, generally not even worth the effort.

As far as the technology itself goes:

It's intent is completely malicious: the desired result of complete automatization of creative labor (which in of itself is dubiously desirable) is being pursued for the specific purpose of companies not having to pay qualified people. I've seen many people describe "AI" as "just a tool", but tools are made with a purpose in mind and usually don't largely deviate from it. AI is "just a tool" in the same way that a Vulcan Gun is, it may not be inherently evil but there's not really many ways of getting anything good done with it.

The output itself is unremarkable at best. Language models frequently lie and hallucinate false information, even with the latest improvements they remain completely untrustworthy and inherently can never be trusted. A lot of people have started using chatgpt as a search engine which is completely irresponsible, totally superfluous and, frankly, embarassing. Image generation is an even worst offender. Most of what is generated is in a very recognizable and awfully unappealing style, featuring jarring faux-realistic rendering, a tendency to permeate images with a feverish orange luminescence and a sickening combination of excessive focus on detail and complete inability to make any of it recognizable. The best outputs I've seen usually just stem from imitating a different, more abstract style. As far as artistic value goes, the ability of the algorithm to create thousands of images with very little time or labor generally leaves it's creations as worthy of very little consideration since, as far as anything can disqualify something artistically, overabundance usually annihilates any semblance of worth.

In conclusion: why even bother defending these damned nothingburger slop machines.

[criptox]

"Regulatory Clarity: Positive Momentum in the Tokenized Era"

```html

Understanding Regulatory Clarity in the Crypto Space

The world of cryptocurrencies is constantly evolving, with new innovations and challenges arising every day. One of the most pressing issues facing this vibrant landscape is the need for regulatory clarity. In this article, we'll explore what regulatory clarity means, why it's important, and how it can impact the future of cryptocurrency.

What is Regulatory Clarity?

Regulatory clarity refers to the clear and comprehensive laws and guidelines set by governments and financial authorities regarding the use, trade, and management of cryptocurrencies. It provides a framework within which individuals and businesses can operate without the fear of unexpected legal repercussions. Without regulatory clarity, potential investors and developers are often hesitant to engage in the crypto sphere.

Why is Regulatory Clarity Important?

Here are some key reasons why regulatory clarity is vital for the growth and sustainability of the crypto market:

Investor Protection: Clear regulations help protect investors from fraud and scams, encouraging more people to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Market Stability: Regulations can reduce market volatility caused by speculative trading, fostering a healthier trading environment.

Encouragement of Innovation: When entrepreneurs knows the legal landscape, they are more likely to innovate and invest in new technologies within the crypto ecosystem.

Global Standards: Regulatory clarity can pave the way for international cooperation on cryptocurrency regulations, leading to a more coordinated global approach.

The Current Landscape

Currently, the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies varies significantly from one country to another. Some nations, like El Salvador, have embraced Bitcoin as legal tender, while others have imposed strict bans on cryptocurrency transactions. This inconsistency creates confusion and uncertainty, leaving many potential crypto users in the dark about their rights and obligations.

The Path Forward

For the crypto industry to thrive, it's essential that regulatory bodies provide clearer guidance. Collaboration between industry leaders and regulators can help establish reasonable frameworks that prioritize both innovation and consumer protection. Here are some steps that can be taken:

Engaging in Dialogue: Regulators should actively engage with the crypto community to understand their concerns and needs.

Creating Clear Guidelines: Authorities need to develop undemanding regulatory frameworks that provide specific guidelines for businesses and individual users.

Continuous Evaluation: As the crypto space evolves, regulations must be regularly updated to reflect new challenges and opportunities.

Conclusion

Regulatory clarity is not just a buzzword—it’s essential for the future of the crypto industry. As we move further into the digital age, it’s vital that lawmakers and regulators recognize the importance of creating an environment where cryptocurrencies can flourish without compromising security. By fostering collaboration and open communication, we can pave the way for a more stable and innovative future in the crypto space.

It’s high time for clarity because the digital currency revolution is only just beginning!

``` "Regulatory Clarity: Positive Momentum in the Tokenized Era"

[cloudshapedpatch]

am i the only one who thinks the whole "manifesting" thing has gone a little too far?

im a spiritualist. i take time to understand the stars and the way the world works and i take my tarot, crystals, spirit, and the universe seriously. it's not a trend to me, it's my way of life. and it makes me so upset when i see people who are doing it cause it's trendy.

i saw a tiktok the other day of a pregnant woman working out. nothing special, but the caption said "i am manifesting this baby" ??? she already HAS the baby. it's growing inside her. she was over seven months along! that's not how manifesting works! it's become a super glorified buzzword and i hate it!

and i see a whole lot of "i attract but never chase" esp on twitter and tiktok. it's alright to want to attract something to you, but at this point it's all people ever do or say. they say they are manifesting (when in actuality, a lot of times they aren't actually putting in the effort or don't even know how to meditate or actively manifest beyond just wanting something). it's a really super easy way to say "im not going to put in any work to attain my goals but i should have this good thing because i deserve it"

don't get me wrong, everyone is deserving of good things, but the constant "attract not chase" mindset is harmful to yourself and others. you need a balance. you cannot aggressively want something and expect it to appear in your lap. if you are truly seeking to attract something, put in the work to properly manifest it. bring it to fruition. and then know when you need to chase. going after what you want is not a bad thing. it's not a poor thing or a pathetic thing to work towards and go after what you want.

if you really want to see results, make sure you have a balance. manifest the things you want. talk to spirit or the universe or any deity you may work with and see whether it's actually going to be a good thing for you, or whether you're ready for it yet. put yourself in a position to receive. even in attraction, it's not passive background work. you have to actively make sure you have the opportunity to receive it. open yourself up to the possibilities! you can't gain anything if you shut yourself out to world.

i know that crystals and tarot are super popular right now but using it just to play with or to fit in, and not taking it seriously, can have dangerous consequences. playing with the supernatural isn't a game, and while crystals are mostly harmless (unless handled wrong, i've heard of way too many people taking baths with their selenite! just cause some lady on tiktok said it's okay), it's still so easy to go too far if you don't know what you're doing or not taking it seriously.

if you really, actually, want to get into spirituality, please talk to someone who actually knows what they're doing. stop interacting with the tarot reads on twitter and tiktok, and get into it outside your home. go to an apothecary. go to crystal shops without the buzz antics. i know it's hard as a new spiritualist to know what's goid and what's a scam, so here's some guides i use to choosing a good shop:

don't shop anywhere that sells colored glass as crystals

don't shop from anyone or anywhere that swears by opalite. it's not real. if you want to know more about that please reach out!

hematite rings. just don't. hematite is great for soaking up negativity but it's fragile and prone to breaking when it's had enough. buying a new $30 ring when it breaks because it's soaked up too much negativity is just a way shops use to get lots of returning customers. just buy a big chunk of it and remember to cleanse it every so often.

make sure you research the way herbs interact if you're unsure. some combination don't work well together or neutralize each other and don't do anything. this is the same for crystals.

PLEASE don't attempt to open your third eye unless you are thoroughly experienced and ready for impact. closing your third eye is difficult and having it open when you're not ready is overwhelming at best. i learned that lesson the hard way. it's not fun. you don't ever have to open your third eye if you don't want to. it's not a requirement.

doing tarot reads for other people when you're still not completely sure about your deck isn't good. until you know the card meaning inside and out, reversals and uprights, and know your specific deck, it's too easy to give an incorrect reading and lead others astray. just stick to yourself.

[arecomicsevengood]

I Think We Can All Agree, NFTs Are The Ugliest Thing We’ve Ever Seen

It was recently announced that Kickstarter is moving to the blockchain. I’ll be honest with you, I have no idea what this means, or why it would be done. It’s pretty obvious to me how Kickstarter makes its money, they pretty transparently deal in the stuff and take fees for doing so. It seems like blockchain is just the latest buzzword that gets thrown around silicon valley tech circles and appeals to investors. I don’t really know what it is, or how it connects to crypto, bitcoin, NFTs, all these things that are widely opposed to by reasonable people on the grounds of being environmentally destructive and also a scam. I know the website Popula used Blockchain, but that’s not why I stopped going there, the site was poorly designed and uninterested in giving any indication as to what its articles were about. I am not being facetious when I say I have no idea what the blockchain is. Does it have anything to do with how people on Twitter block people they’ve never interacted with because of the people they have negative interactions with are associated with them in some capacity? Does that cause a lot of carbon emissions?

All I know is that I’ve had a “fuck kickstarter” stance for a moment now, for reasons I haven’t publicly articulated. It’s one of the basic premises I operate from, which are perhaps impossibly idealistic and generally prone to conspiratorial thinking. These are the thoughts that sneak into my TCJ reviews and instigate minor controversies. I started writing for TCJ when Dan Nadel was an editor, though I never worked with him, I think my thoughts align broadly with the issues he highlighted in his infamous “sell your boots” editorial, or at least the subsequent comments thread. I think Kickstarter is a poor excuse for publishing. It creates a world where artists that are either established or have a big social media following or easy pitch can maybe succeed but diverts their success into things that have nothing to do with the art, or reaching a broader audience.

Nadel’s company Picturebox is in many ways my ideal for what a publisher should be. They put out a bunch of great books, but they also took risks, and some books were more successful than others. Successes subsidize risks, a risk that fails is not pursued further. With Kickstarter, a book that “does well” is pre-sold in advance to a readymade audience, and the more successful they are, they get a book on a different paper stock or some stickers or other bullshit. Whereas in publishing, you put out a book, and if does well, the stores that carried it know to order more of your other books, and more risks are taken. We’re now living in a wildly conservative time for book publishing, and interesting things don’t make it to stores, and stores are boring. It’s bleak all around.

Picturebox may be an esoteric example if I’m citing my ideal of what a good publisher does. Often I find myself thinking of Dark Horse in the nineties, which published creator-owned work from Frank Miller, Paul Chadwick, Paul Pope, Mikes Allred and Mignola, Bernie Mireault, Jay Stephens, and Dave Cooper. They also paid Jim Woodring to write Alien comics, they had a Grendel anthology that published work in the U.S. by artists from Croatia, and they did a bunch of manga licensing. I think of them as a much more conservative company now, whose work I don’t pay much attention to. Bob Schreck and Diana Schutz were the big editors in charge of the work I’m talking about, I believe, and it’s interesting to me that, when Schreck went on to DC Comics at the turn of the century to edit Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Strikes Again, he was working with an artist who was aware of (and inspired by) alt-cartoonists like James Kochalka to make weird and invigorating work. Comics these days is far more siloed off. There was a time when the success of Frank Miller got a higher page rate for Renee French. Now is a much rougher time for artists like Renee French economically, and while it may be wildly profitable for Frank Miller, I don’t think it’s benefitted him artistically to be in, essentially, the 1% of comics artists, afforded a deal with Legendary to be the only artist they publish. (Right? The movie studio got into comics, but only ever released Holy Terror?)

Another reason to romanticize the 1990s: Publishers handled publicity for their books in such a way that artists did not need to be constantly online, which is maybe the number one requirement of a person seeking to promote their Kickstarter. Part of the rationale behind Kickstarter is to treat traditional publishers like they’re parasites, which is true inasmuch as current publishers also require their artists to be online constantly, doing all the promotion of their work themselves, as part of the ongoing neoliberal shifting burdens onto those least adept at shouldering them. If I were a publisher, and I wanted the work of the artists I published to be as strong as possible, I would want their time online to be minimized. It does not benefit an artwork for its creator to suffer from terminally online brain. Particularly if a publisher is seeking to have a diverse publishing slate, the more an artist differs from the cis white male model, the more likely they are to be continually antagonized and harassed online. The work of being a proponent for oneself online works against the work of making work that’s larger than yourself off of it. (Traditional publishing theoretically supplies editors as well, which I’m sure many comics would benefit from, but how much publishers actually give useful editorial input to their artists is something I couldn’t say.)

This is not to suggest that Kickstarter doesn’t fulfill a role. Clearly, it is a response to the conservatism of traditional publishing. “Publishers should make bolder choices” might seem like a non-solution, as all the cultural factors I’m alluding to here plainly suggest why everyone is so conservative. But like: That’s it. That’s the solution. That’s the issue. Book publishing, done well, is the alternative to weird web platforms, which will probably always be prone to snake-oil salesmanship.

---

For whatever it’s worth, I should direct people to Domino Books, who is currently planning an anthology of weird experimental work which will be funded partly through advertising. Domino is also a zine distro, and I believe proprietor Austin English largely believes that distributing affordably-produced self-published work is a preferable alternative to publishing as I’m outlining it here. His tastes are far more outré than what would ever be successful on Kickstarter. But again: Selling ads to subsidize the costs of a publication is a pretty good example of what a publisher can do that shouldn’t be the artist’s responsibility to bear. Not all comics should have advertising, but it’s a pretty major part of the newspaper model that provided a profitable outlet for comics for the entire twentieth century. Anyway, credit is due to him and editor Floyd Tangeman for publishing artists who seemingly have no social media presence where one can preview their work.

[hareofhrair]

Hey, so, assuming good intentions here, but first of all you've got some misinformation.

Procedural image generation is not harmful to the environment.

Reports that claimed it was were reporting the energy output of the ENTIRE data center, which handles a LOT more than just any LLM, including "everything from Amazon Web Services servers to online gaming services, Zoom video calls, and cloud storage and retrieval for billions of documents and photos."

These data centers are the infrastructure of the internet, so conflating their complete power usage with the tiny fraction used by "AI" is absurd. This only caught on as an argument because it came so close on the heels of the crypto scam, which WAS disastrous for the environment, and would only continue to get worse as its design necessitated exponential energy needs.

"AI" on the other hand (I hate calling it that, it's such a meaningless buzzword but anything else is too confusing) is incentivized to become cheaper and more efficient over time, like any other tech.

Additionally, procedural generation of this kind (generating random small details for greater variety without designers having to individually make all those unique assets) has been a tool in video game dev since before Minecraft. Minecraft uses procedural generation to create its maps. No developer sat down and built those environments. This is one of the vanishingly few actual legit use cases for AI.

As for the other issue... That's rather less defensible. Overwolf doesn't just support the IDF, they're an Israeli company to start with, and three days after the Oct 7th attack they partnered with an Israeli charity to raise donations for protective gear for the IDF. Fuck Overwolf, and Curseforge. Go use ModDB. Or Nexus. Or Modrinth. There is no reason to use that shit anymore.

Inzoi is created and published by Krafton, Inc, a South Korean holding company for Bluehole Studios, the creators of PUBG, with a baker's dozen subsidiaries including Unknown Worlds, the creators of Subnautica. Basically, they had options when it came to figuring out a modding platform and chose an Israeli company.

That said, they're not Overwolf, and I haven't seen anything to suggest they themselves support Israel, and their choice of who to run mods through is pretty minor.

If tangential association with Israel makes you uncomfortable, that's a valid reason not to play. But I don't think this is a situation in which boycotting is useful. The game is still in development, and they have no investment in Israel beyond Overwolf being a convenient modding platform. It's probably more useful at this time to show that there are a lot of people interested in the game who want them to find a different modding platform, rather than playing it really negative and petty in a way that kind of suggests you were never really interested in playing the game to begin with.

Friendly reminder to my moots that Inzoi’s build mode uses generative AI for the creation of things like art and wallpaper and it’s not worth melting our planet for a vidya game thank you

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Oky I got no horses in this Artist-doll game, so I just wanna say it as a neutral person on the topic. I kinda agree that it's shitty for artists to make an exclusive line of sales between them. Not the act of exchanging dolls, or trading for personal pieces just as it. But the entire making copies of exclusive, or "one-off" resin tones, or limited dolls just to give another artist. If an artist says a resin tone is a one-off, and then makes another one just to trade with another artist, that just feels like a massive kick in the ass. So what the artist is saying "This piece is limited to only a certain number, 1-n, but only if I don't want another artists work and can trade this exclusive version."

But I think it's quite audacious, and just shows a lack of personal responsibility, when an artist is not delivering to their paying customers, has been in production limbo for months with no update, or has clearly scammed people, but then just turns their ass around and magically can produce a doll to trade with another artist, or just gift them a doll.

Calling out this behaviour honestly makes perfect sense to me. Even if you're not into buying these artist's dolls, and have been personally affected by their abysmal business tactics. Even as an outsider, this shit just doesn't look good on the hobby as a whole. Artists are pushed as the "symbol" of BJD's, or at least the status quo for the artist scene in our sphere of the hobby, and they're often the biggest people in the hobby. Looking into the hobby from the outside, and seeing this hypocrisy just being par for the course just seems insane, and I think it kinda does actually reflect badly on the hobby as a whole, but mostly artists, even those who're genuinely good and honest. Especially with how many followers of these double-faced artists are spineless tools who for some reason decide that they won't try to get their hundreds of dollars back after being scammed, and instead whine about nothing happening, when they don't even do anything to change the situation.

If you were to ask me, and several of my dolly friends, I think most of us would say the main negative words to describe the artist side of the BJD hobby are: Scamming. Bad quality. Bothersome. Obnoxious. Can't keep to their word. Lying. Petty. Infighting. Elitist (actually elitist, not just used as a buzzword.) And maybe even gaslighting. (Considering how some scammers will try and blame everyone else, or even try and change the actual events by lying about them)

~Anonymous

[catboy-dysphoria]

Rarely do I ever see posts for sex workers outside of the blogosphere of sex work blogs, that aren't thinly-veiled judgments, or vague affirmations written by someone who has never participated in sex work, so as a former FSSW/cam worker, I'm sending out some reminders to current sex workers, as well as anyone interested in starting <3 Below the cut bc it gets kinda long, and bc I can't properly tag without getting smacked by Tumblr.

Feel free to add if you have experience.

Learn to do your own taxes as a self-employed person (if applicable)

Learn to spot signs of a scam (connecting with other sex workers is harder than it used to be, but can be very helpful for this!)

Find a place to get tested regularly that you trust. LGBTQ centers often offer free testing, even if you are not LGBTQ yourself. Most also are sex-worker-friendly, in my experience. Be honest about what sex acts you're participating in.

Bring your own protection and lubricant, and make sure they're compatible.

Learn how to practice sex safely. This goes beyond Health Class 101. This includes learning how to clean your toys, how to use lubricant and signs you need to re-apply, how to acquire and use PrEP/PEP (which I recommend for everyone, if you're able to get it and have sex with multiple partners. There's a number of resources out there for aquiring low/no cost PrEP) contraceptive use (beyond just condoms!) and more.

Search yourself (both your alias(es) and real name) regularly. Try to send takedown notices for stolen content. You may even be able to pursue legal action. If you don't want your sex work alias connected to your real identity, this can also help you keep tabs on that. Reverse image search on some of your pictures every so often (but keep in mind RIS works...less well for pictures of naked ppl)

You don't need to be your full, authentic self for clients. This seems obvious (or should,) but also remember that you are not betraying your identity/community if you choose to closet yourself to clients, use buzzwords that may be offensive for better search results, etc.

Money 💰 first 💰 always 💰. Especially for FSSW. Negotiate any additional fees beforehand.

Re:money, be careful what apps you use, if any, and what information is tied to them. Learn about how much cash you can deposit at once into your bank account, and stay far enough below that number so as not to arouse suspicion from your bank. Sex workers are the best friend of a new money service and the worst enemy of an established one. Have backups. Established/long-time sex workers will remember what happened to Venmo, Cashapp, etc.

It can be easier to lower your prices than raise them (often, but not always.) I liked to have a range that I kept to myself, so I can offer cheaper rates to people I liked, and more expensive rates to people I didn't. Don't undersell yourself. This is SO much harder now with OF etc being in the mainstream and cheaper than before, but remember that you are the only one who can offer your specific body and services. Don't sell yourself short.

Remember that as a gig worker, your money will not be consistent. You may hit a strong cash flow at some point in your career, don't bank on it always being as strong. If possible, have enough saved for at least 1-2 months of crickets.

Be nice, be friendly, but don't be a doormat. If you're new to in-person sex work, practice ways to say no politely but firmly. There are people who know that you have fewer resources to report them for bad behavior.

^ Related, take safety measures. Learn what self-defense tools are legal for you to carry in your state/city/country, and how to use them. Pepper spray requires a firearm license in some states, and the last thing you want in a worst-case scenario is to be hit with a charge for defending yourself. Learn some form of weaponless self-defense, ideally more than one.

Additionally, have a way to check in with a safety person/trusted friend. I used to use Kitestring, but it looks like that's being shut down. Asking a friend to send you a text 5-10 minutes past when you think you should be done, and telling them what you want them to do if you don't respond would be a good alternative, as well as telling them where you're going and who you'll be with.

Learn the laws in your area, as specifically as possible. Take advantage of loopholes. Have a cover story. This applies extra the more marginalized identities you hold.

Have a cover story for friends/family you don't want to know about your work. This can be as specific or vague as you feel comfortable, but make sure it's consistent.

At least one person you know will find out, almost guaranteed, especially in the age of the internet/for internet-based work. Be prepared.

Remember to sometimes have sex for your own fun, if you want to. It can be nice to not have to focus as strongly on a partner as a client, or associate sex purely with a transaction.

Know your limits/boundaries. I advise not having any "first times" with a client unless you have an established relationship. If a client suggests something that you've never done before, I advise practicing with a trusted friend/partner before doing it professionally. If you don't want to be contacted on short notice or during certain times, be upfront.

Risk reduction! It's a huge topic. Many of the things we do are not free of risk. Learn how to practice things safely, whether that includes substances, kinks (especially kinks including impact play and bondage,) etc.

Have a plan for the future. Have more than one. Maybe that includes shifting genres (if that's the case, know at some point you'll need to shift from focusing on the loyalty of clients to getting new ones,) making more niche content, or getting a "vanilla" job. A lot of sex work (but not all!) depends on staying pretty, and people don't stay pretty forever. If your line of work is illegal or grey-legal, it may involve switching to a more protected line of sex work, like working in a dungeon, or a line of work that is adjacent, like some non-profit work. To reiterate from a few points ago, a good safety net is making sure you have enough savings to keep yourself afloat for at least a few months.

SW is in a weird position of being something many people want, but also something many people (including the former!) don't want to respect. Something endless participate in to different degrees, but something still not protected by the law in most places. Highly desired and largely shunned. Sending all SWers of all varieties lots of love and support.

[theearloftophats]

this is not a good take. I respect the dedication but this post reeks of using buzzwords to sound intelligent and i think you have horribly mischaracterized Swatch, and I would like to talk about it.

I am so sick of this fandom and how it treats Swatch. And though i usually hate sticking my nose into things i just. i need to talk about them. Forgive me if this is ramble-ish its 4am and I haven't been in this fandom for a while so im working off a lot of memory.

To start with. They are a butler working for Queen. they may be the head butler, but they are literally a servant of hers. they would not have the power to speak up or disobey her to help Spamton even if they wanted to if they want to keep their job. The notion that they have a "higher place" in the social strata is an absurd one. the only dialogue we see from them is from the perspective of a costumer. they aren't going to be open and honest with you. they have to maintain a level of professionalism with Kris. Most of it reads as a scripted sales pitch if anything. because they're doing their job. and even then, there are multiple instances where their exasperation with Queen seeps through quite clearly.

I also want to point out the hypocrisy in saying Swatch, a butler, a SERVANT, is a class traitor, but saying that Spamton, who was a CAPITALIST who got rich and famous enough to live WITH THE MONARCH, who PARTOOK IN THE SYSTEM, is not? He WAS a crooked salesman as far as we know. his first boss fight is him trying to scam Kris out of their money and/or their soul. Swatch may work for Queen, but to say that they have abandoned the working class to favor the elites is ridiculous and to turn around and defend Spamton for doing exactly that is dishonest.

Continuing with the Spamton stuff, you cannot take a character who's entire theme is how lonely and angry at the world and the people in it at their word like that. Of course he is going to feel like Swatch "pretended to be his friend" because he probably feels BETRAYED. Granted, they probably participated in his downfall because of their position. but Spamton is an unreliable narrator, and a morally grey person at best. what makes Spamtons lines about being betrayed by queen and swatch the direct and whole truth, but Swatch lamenting about him being a "valued customer" them "playing coy". why does one character get to be objective in their perspective but the other is an evil bootlicking petite bourgeois.

They are lamenting that he fucked himself over by trying to use an old robot body to achieve the delusional dream of reaching "Heaven". if anything they're bitter ex posting on main lol.

I want to make a point of talking about this line specifically.

this line is so fucked to me. where. WHERE are you getting this level of CRUELTY from them? because they have personal issues with spam?? they very clearly have history together in some capacity and maybe they're a little more harsh about him but there is NOTHING about them in ANY of the rest of their dialogue that would suggest something like this. This is a very strange leap to take from them being offended that Spamton would steal their look to sneak into the basement.

Here are some bits of Swatch's dialogue that I feel give a little insight into them outside of just being a shopkeeper for Queen's cafe.

Especially that first one. They very clearly put on a persona when working to appear as professional and collected as possible. I think it is entirely unfair to base your opinions of a character on how they behave when you only see them through the POV of a customer. Especially without taking into account why they might behave that way. This idea that swatch is some sort of uncaring asshole is ridiculous to me, but its one i see all too often.

Swatch comes across as quiet, and reserved. their dialogue is almost entirely neutral and practiced, and when they do slip a little and they reveal irritation or displeasure, they apologize and/or correct themself. Maybe they're a little cold. but that doesn't make them a bad person.

Alright. So. Clearly this is a subject I have alot to say on lol. Im not mad tho just very passionate abt Swatch =] I would like to stress that this is not an attack against you, op, I just think that this is an extreme mischaracterization of a character I am quite attached to, who I feel gets given the short end of the stick a lot and is used as a scapegoat for spamton angst far too much by the fandom at large. You have cherrypicked dialogue to make a point, and then additionally chose to read it in the least charitable way possible. You are projecting a harsh political alignment on a character who doesnt have NEARLY enough screentime to warrant such a deep dive, and using dialogue from a character who is explicitly shown to be unreliable and possibly entirely insane (/affectionate), who also has a rocky personal history with, and thus and obvious bias against them as evidence to your claim. it is simply bad media analysis.

other than that, i hope you have a good day, and i wish you nothing but the best. /g

Why is Swatch a class traitor???

Thank you very much for asking :)

In this post I'll be using he/they pronouns interchangeably to refer to Swatch. I enjoy the idea of they-pronouns Swatch but at the same time I refuse to believe that the only instance of canon pronoun usage to refer to him is misgendering, as some people posted about before, because that's not how Toby flies.

That being said, before talking about Swatch specifically, I need to explain the logic behind this reading of them. Swatch being seen as a "class traitor" is derived from the marxist idea of class consciousness, or in different terms, the fact that people who are in the same economic position understand each other and therefore owe each other solidarity, the idea that people need to be conscious of their position in their society and side with people who will help their situation and improve their lives.

In this sense, a class traitor is a person who, despite understanding their position in the social strata, refuses to side with their peers and instead either shuns them to appeal to a higher social class, to "appear as one of them", so to speak, or completely refuses the idea that they are part of that class to begin with. A good, palpable example, are snobbish, classist doctors. Doctors are employed by someone – be it a hospital, a clinic, an insurance company, the government in some countries, even in private practice, etc, but they are not, by Marx's definitions, owners of capital, aka someone with the exorbitant amount of money that allows them to control production in a large scale (in other words, conglomerates and billionaires). However, having a higher material condition on average, and having attained this social position through study that was allowed by a higher material condition in the first place, some doctors don't realize that they are just as much of a proletariat as the poor man they are treating, and thus exhibit behavior like discrediting, ignoring or even being hostile to people they identify as lesser, despite the fact that they're supposed to be together, sociologically speaking.

What the fuck does that have to do with Swatch, you ask? Well, Swatch is, to put it bluntly, literally a servant to aristocracy. They are, by definition, part of the working class, and therefore they owe solidarity to their fellow workers. Spamton, in direct counterbalance, is a member of the working class who has been elevated, by one way or another, into a position that makes him just as, if not more powerful than aristocracy. Spamton had become burgoise, though he still retains his origin as a working class salesman, that much hasn't changed in him, as far as we can tell. This seems to be going on just fine, if we are to believe Spamton's response in the Q&A, until Spamton needs a support system, when his business goes belly up to the point that he ends up homeless.

I really need to emphasize this point. Spamton isn't a "funny little guy who lives in a non-house cuz it's funny", not even in-universe. He is, put it simply, destitute. He does not live in the trash because he wants to. And, I think that every clear-headed person understands this, you cannot go from being one of, if not the, richest person in your entire world, to a homeless man living in a garbage can who people pretend doesn't exist, unless your peers and your society have wronged you tremendously. Spamton didn't become a homeless man just because he fucked around and found out, he became a homeless man because he fucked around and found out, AND none of his peers from this time wanted to help him. And, most importantly, this includes Swatch.

As a servant, he must know what poverty looks like. He must know what having a material condition worse than the ones you surround yourself with is like. And they did nothing to help, or maybe even contributed to Spamton's isolation, which is a separate can of worms I don't have the energy to look at gameplay videos for at this time of night.

For real, does the guy who sells Spamton's bowties with the label removed, and refers to him as a "crooked salesman", and plays it coy and laments when Spamton goes off the deep end sound like they have class consciousness?

Do they sound like they wouldn't shoo off a poor, hungry plugboy from the palace's kitchen back door?

Swatch has apparently rejected his origin not only as a metaphorically working-class artist, but the fact that he could empathize with other working-class people as well, including the less fortunate and the desperate. This makes him a class traitor, by Marx's own theory.

Of course, there's a lot more nuance to Swatch and Spamton's relationship, especially the fact that Spamton isn't the perfect portrait of a poor victim and is very combative and aggressive, which doesn't make people very willing to empathize with him in the first place. There's also the power inbalance and dynamic involved in the fact that, when Spamton lived in the Pandora Palace, Swatch was his butler as well, and that might complicate things from Swatch's end.

At the end of the day, this is just my own takeaway from Swatch's words about Spamton, and Spamton's words about Swatch. This doesn't mean much for anything besides my own understanding of Deltarune and what sort of fun dynamics I can explore in fanworks, nor does it mean I am claiming it as truth, but I do think it's an interesting exercise in media analysis.

Edited to include a few more words on Spamton becoming burgoise cuz I meant to do that but forgor lmao

[mostlysignssomeportents]

#1yrago Babysitter vetting and voice-analysis: Have we reached peak AI snakeoil?

The ever-useful Gartner Hype Cycle identified an inflection point in the life of any new technology: the "Peak of Inflated Expectations," attained just before the sharp dropoff into the "Trough of Disillusionment"; I've lived through the hype-cycles of several kinds of technology and one iron-clad correlate of the "Peak of Inflated Expectations" is the "Peak of Huckster Snakeoil Salesmen": the moment at which con-artists just add a tech buzzword to some crooked scam and head out into the market to net a fortune before everyone gets wise to the idea that the shiny new hypefodder isn't a magic bullet.

Machine Learning has enjoyed an extraordinarily long and destructive peak, with hucksters invoking AI to sell racist predictive policing systems, racist sentencing and parole systems, and other Weapons of Math Destruction.

But those were Long Cons run by sophisticated hucksters with huge gangs of confederates; lately, we've been seeing a lot of short cons run by petty grifters who prey on fears to target individuals and small businesses, rather than cities, nations and Fortune 100 multinationals.

Here's an example: Predictim uses a secret "black-box algorithm" to mine your babysitters' social media accounts and generate a "risk rating" that you're entrusting your kid to someone who is a drug abuser, a bully, a harasser, or someone who has a "bad attitude" or is "disrespectful."

This system does not weed out risky people. It is a modern-day ducking stool, used to brand people as witches. What's more, it's a near-certainty that its ranking system is racially biased and also discriminates on the basis of class (because poor and racialized people are overpoliced and more likely to be arrested or otherwise disciplined for offenses that wealthier, whiter people get away with, so if you train a machine-learning system to find the correlates of anti-social behavior, it will just tell you to steer clear of brown people and poor people).

But the company -- backed by the University of California at Berkeley’s Skydeck tech incubator (this is a stain on the UC system and Skydeck) -- is finding customers, because it has found a way to play on suckers' fears. As Sal Parsa, Predictim co-founder says, "There’s people out there who either have mental illness or are just born evil. Our goal is to do anything we can to stop them."

Once babysitters click the "I consent" link on a parent's request to give Predictim access to their social media, they are at risk of having an unaccountable algorithm assign an arbitrary, unappealable score to their name that could permanently bar them from working in their industry.

In addition to pushing junk tech, Predictim's management is font of junk psychology: for example, CTO Joel Simonoff wants to feed data from social media streams to the unscientific Meyers-Briggs test (a latter-day astrological tool) to produce an even more unscientific personality category that parents can use to discriminate against potential sitters.

Predictim doesn't promise to keep predators away from your kids, just to "help." But when you read the feedback of Predictim's customers, like San Francisco's Diana Werner, you see that the customers have somehow gotten the impression that using Predictim will keep your kids safe ("Predictim goes into depth, really dissecting a person — their social and mental status. 100 percent of the parents are going to want to use this We all want the perfect babysitter.").

Ruby on Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson shredded Predictim in an epic Twitter thread that shamed UC Berkeley, the company's founders and employees and its customers.

But he has his work cut out for him, because Predictim is just for starters.

Companies like AC Global Risk have announced that they can use voice-stress analysis to identify criminals, even before they've committed crimes, using (again) proprietary machine-learning systems that can "forever change for the better how human risk is measured."

AC Global Risk's products are, if anything, even more dangerous than Predictim: they're being marketed as a potential answer to Donald Trump's "extreme vetting" obsession, and AC Global Risk is proposing to subject refugees fleeing for their lives to this unaccountable black-box's judgment, potentially sending people to be murdered in their home countries on the strength of its random-number generator's judgment.

AC Global Risk raises every red flag: they claim that they can predict whether someone is a criminal with 97 percent accuracy, by analyzing their voices. As with Predictim, the people their algorithm condemns have no right of appeal; and as with Predictim, the company can dismiss its false positives as sour grapes from "bad guys" the system caught, and claim that its false negatives were among that tiny 3% who slipped through its net ("Imagine how much worse it would have been if you hadn't been paying us to sit in judgment!").

https://boingboing.net/2018/11/26/ducking-stool-2-0.html