#employee 404

[squuote]

*SLAMS THIS DOWN WITH BRUTE FORCE okay placing this here!!! getting truly silly with it now

alt version that i think is more fun

[koukaaa-descent]

the antithesis of hate

(This is not necessarily connected to the art,, I've just had this in my drafts for a while and. Well.)

Monsoon was scorched by the blaze of the star, fragile skin blackening, sparse blues burning away beneath the heat of it. Indigo, suddenly impulsive, wrapped his arms around it. The poor thing is so much larger now—it’s nearly impossible to wrap his arms all the way around its body.

“You need to live,” he says, finding something awfully wet in his voice beneath the star’s hissing fires. Monsoon rattles, a series of short chirps interspersed with sharp clicks. It sounded almost familiar to the coo of a pigeon. Because of either mimicry or familiarity, its arms wrap around him as well, reciprocating such a familiar touch in spite of the pain each movement brought. Claws settle against the fabric of his uniform, never piercing the thick material.

“You need to live,” Indigo forces out, heartbroken for a reason he could not possibly discern. A terrible sense of hopelessness pervaded his senses. Heat began to char his suit, vicious flame devouring all it touched. He fought back the heat in his eyes caused not by pain but rather something else.

Monsoon would sprint through a field filled with eyeless dogs if Indigo had been the one to say that it was safe. That was the problem with creatures so beautifully intelligent yet so loyal—loyalty could bring about suicide for the sake of another. Intelligence would grant it the ability to know that and do whatever it was anyway.

They’re running out of time. They’ve always been running out of time. Indigo’s just glad that they got to spend their short lives together. He squeezes Monsoon as tight as he can, wondering where his tiny, inquisitive little dove had gone. A Bracken grew so impossibly quickly that those days had begun and ended in a mere moment of time. But... what a truly wonderful moment it was.

Fire engulfs the star, shrieking a demand unto the universe itself. Monsoon keens in pain, wrapping itself around his body with what little it can move. Loyal to the point of suicide.

In an awfully short moment, wrapped in his oldest companion's arms, Indigo finally puts a name to that foreign emotion. Love.

Light sears his sclerae through the tinted visor. With a raspy, thin whistle, Monsoon frays beneath it and scatters away into ash that utterly blinds Indigo to the world beyond. Very suddenly, the searing pain does not mean anything. Nothing at all.

The star billows into existence as it finally implodes, roaring past them—the impossibly tiny things that they both were in the face of it.

The last thing that Indigo ever sees. The first thing that he dares to regret.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

FYI artists and writers: some info regarding tumblr's new "third-party sharing" (aka selling your content to OpenAI and Midjourney)

You may have already seen the post by @staff regarding third-party sharing and how to opt out. You may have also already seen various news articles discussing the matter.

But here's a little further clarity re some questions I had, and you may too. Caveat: Not all of this is on official tumblr pages, so it's possible things may change.

(1) "I heard they already have access to my data and it doesn't really matter if I opt out"

From the 404 article:

A new FAQ section we reviewed is titled “What happens when you opt out?” states “If you opt out from the start, we will block crawlers from accessing your content by adding your site on a disallowed list. If you change your mind later, we also plan to update any partners about people who newly opt-out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training.”

So please, go click that opt-out button.

(2) Some future user: "I've been away from tumblr for months, and I just heard about all this. I didn't opt out before, so does it make a difference anymore?"

Another internal document shows that, on February 23, an employee asked in a staff-only thread, “Do we have assurances that if a user opts out of their data being shared with third parties that our existing data partners will be notified of such a change and remove their data?” Andrew Spittle, Automattic’s head of AI replied: “We will notify existing partners on a regular basis about anyone who's opted out since the last time we provided a list. I want this to be an ongoing process where we regularly advocate for past content to be excluded based on current preferences. We will ask that content be deleted and removed from any future training runs. I believe partners will honor this based on our conversations with them to this point. I don't think they gain much overall by retaining it.”

It should make a difference! Go click that button.

(3) "I opted out, but my art posts have been reblogged by so many people, and I don't know if they all opted out. What does that mean for my stuff?"

This answer is actually on the support page for the toggle:

This option will prevent your blog's content, even when reblogged, from being shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models.

And some further clarification by the COO and a product manager:

zingring: A couple people from work have reached out to let me know that yes, it applies to reblogs of "don't scrape" content. If you opt out, your content is opted out, even in reblog form. cyle: yep, for reblogs, we're taking it so far as "if anybody in the reblog trail has opted out, all of the content in that reblog will be opted out", when a reblog could be scraped/shared.

So not only your reblogged posts, but anyone who contributed in a reblog (such as posts where someone has been inspired to draw fanart of the OP) will presumably be protected by your opt-out. (A good reason to opt out even if you yourself are not a creator.)

Furthermore, if you the OP were offline and didn't know about the opt-out, if someone contributed to a reblog and they are opted out, then your original work is also protected. (Which makes it very tempting to contribute "scrapeable content" now whenever I reblog from an abandoned/disused blog...)

(4) "What about deleted blogs? They can't opt out!"

I was told by someone (not official) that he read "deleted blogs are all opted-out by default". However, he didn't recall the source, and I can't find it, so I can't guarantee that info. If I get more details - like if/when tumblr puts up that FAQ as reported in the 404 article - I will add it here as soon as I can.

Edit, tumblr has updated their help page for the option to opt-out of third-party sharing! It now states:

The content which will not be shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models, includes: • Posts and reblogs of posts from blogs who have enabled the "Prevent third-party sharing" option. • Posts and reblogs of posts from deleted blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from password-protected blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from explicit blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from suspended/deactivated blogs. • Private posts. • Drafts. • Messages. • Asks and submissions which have not been publicly posted. • Post+ subscriber-only posts. • Explicit posts.

So no need to worry about your old deleted blogs that still have reblogs floating around. *\o/*

But for your existing blogs, please use the opt out option. And a reminder of how to opt out, under the cut:

The opt-out toggle is in Blog Settings, and please note you need to do it for each one of your blogs / sideblogs.

On dashboard, the toggle is at https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/blogname [replace "blogname" as applicable] down by Visibility:

For mobile, you need the most recent update of the app. (Android version 33.4.1.100, iOs version 33.4.) Then go to your blog tab (the little person icon), and then the gear icon for Settings, then click Visibility.

Again, if you have a sideblog, go back to the blog tab, switch to it, and go to settings again. Repeat as necessary.

If you do not have access to the newest version of the app for whatever reason, you can also log into tumblr in your mobile browser. Same URL as per desktop above, same location.

Note you do not need to change settings in both desktop and the app, just one is fine.

I hope this helps!

[pollyanna-nana]

Louie isn’t evil.

Or: what Pikmin 4 tells us about his character.

BIG WARNING FOR PIKMIN 4 SPOILERS! (and the rest of the series)

———

I want to preface this by saying that I am in no way trying to be the end-all, be-all of character interpretations, but Pikmin 4 to me, at least, confirms the suspicions I’ve had since playing Pikmin 2 and 3 all those years ago that Louie ISN’T secretly evil, or possessed, or whatever else. He’s just… Louie. And I think that’s interesting in and of itself.

1. Olimar himself vouches for him, and clearly doesn’t think he’s a bad person.

Say what you will, but I’m inclined to think Olimar is a decent judge of character. Clearly he’s worked with Louie for enough time to see that while he’s not very good at his job, he’s not intentionally so— at least not in a malevolent way (will get more into this later). He also wants you to forgive him for Olimar’s sake, which can be read as self-sacrificing (as Olimar is known to be) but I also think hints at the soft spot he has for Louie.

It's also worth noting that he states during a end-of-day conversation that he told Louie that, since he's a new employee, he should do everything Olimar does... including throw castaways into the onion. Interesting that Louie took this so literally, but it does provide an explanation for why he kidnapped the Koppaites beyond "he's evil and crazy".

2. He really, REALLY loves his grandma.

Like, wow. He talks about her SO MUCH both in his Piklopedia entries and also elsewhere in the game. It's interesting. Worth noting is that he never mentions any other family members- unlike Olimar, who talks about his wife and each of his children independently. I've said this before, but the content of a lot of these entries implies to me that Louie was mainly raised by his grandma, likely since birth. And given some of her emails in Pikmin 2, assuming they're also canon to Pikmin 4's timeline... Well, Louie certainly had an interesting upbringing. But he clearly loves her all the same.

3. He has a mischievous streak and tends to do things on impulse.

This was already fairly obvious from the previous games, but I think it's worth noting that this game confirms that he's... would immature be the right word? In any regard, he doesn't seem to see himself as a "grown-up"- when in all likelihood he is. Personally, as a 22-year-old, I find that pretty relatable as I often think of myself as younger when in reality I am by all definitions an adult. This, along with his grandma still being around, makes it pretty much certain that Louie is a lot younger than Olimar and the president, likely in his early to mid twenties. Being a bit of a goofball isn't really out of the ordinary, all things considered.

THAT BEING SAID, he's clearly capable of practicing self-restraint when he wants to. What he says here about the red Pikmin is pretty significant, since we know he's willing to eat just about anything- but clearly he has some reservations about creatures that are friendly and helpful. Which leads to...

4. He loves dogs and fluffy things.

Same. But he doesn't even consider eating Moss, Oatchi or the Ancient Sirehound, showing that his creature-eating habits stop at things he recognizes as useful. He clearly also holds affection for things that are soft and fuzzy, and says as much.

5. He is so autism.

He plays with fidget toys. He loves certain textures and sounds. This guy is stimming all over PNF-404!!! I think this also lends some explanation for why his behavior is what it is- things like taking Olimar's suggestion to do as he does super literally even after crashing on an alien planet, his hyperfixation on cooking and tendency not to communicate and incorrectly interpret situations (thinking the Koppaites are kidnappers in 3, running away from you in 4). He could even be low or no empathy as well, explaining why it takes a hot minute to get him to understand why people are upset with him about something.

Interestingly this game also makes it clear that Louie wants to live on the planet, or at least thought he did while you were chasing him down, which makes a lot of sense when you consider that he doesn't really seem to fit in back on Hocotate. I, too, wish to run away to an alien world with all of the things that I like and no other people, so I get you, Louie.

6. He hates his boss and his job, and the golden pikpik carrot incident was likely premeditated.

This probably looks bad, but honestly? As a fellow work-hating anti-capitalist schmuck I get it. The president is for all intents and purposes a huge asshole, from sending Olimar straight back to the planet after selling his ship to not caring that Louie got left behind, just wanting to find the rest of the treasures. I doubt he is very kind to his employees, and doesn't seem very good at running the business. Definitely a funny character, but if he were my boss I would absolutely want to punt him into the sun.

From some other entries he clearly wants to sell certain things to accrue money, but it's for things like getting better kitchen tools and following his dream to have his own cooking show. Clearly being a freight driver isn't what Louie actually wants to do with his life, and he could not give less of a shit about what happens to the company. Very short-sighted on his part, but also again, yeah I get you Louie.

7. He... doesn't like the color red for some reason.

Honestly, I'm not even really sure what to make of this. Is it because it reminds him of the Hocotate ship? Or does he just not like the color? Would be very interesting considering that it's Olimar's signature color. Perhaps that's at least part of why he attacks you in Pikmin 2- though that's speculation for another day.

Also funny to me is his comments on the black-colored treasures. We know blue is his favorite color, but I guess he's also a bit of a goth at heart. Lol.

In conclusion.

I think Louie isn't written or intended to be evil, and Pikmin 4's portrayal of him was intentionally written to confirm this. He's just, as some have said, an agent of chaos, but that doesn't make him a bad person. Just an autistic 20-something working a shitty job he doesn't care about, who loves his grandma and has a mischievous streak and a hyperfixation on food. At least from what I can interpret, ymmv!

[whileyoureinschoolidothisallday]

OKAY it has been a day of being sad and panicky. Time to move.

Yesterday, I made a post detailing the cdc announcement that there will no longer be an isolation requirement for covid. If you are one of the thousands of people rightfully raging in my notes, here's some steps to focus on.

We're not gonna give up. I've seen quite a few comments with things like 'what's the point', 'why should I even try anymore' etc etc and what we're not gonna do is give them what they want! It helps the eugenics cause to be apathetic and listless. We've made it this far, we will continue to make it. I know it's hard, but I am at least right here with you. Give yourself whatever time you need to grieve, and then I need you to get up.

If you have stopped masking for any reason, or you haven't upgraded to a respirator style mask, now is the time to change or start. From now on, we will be living in a country where you could assume there are multiple covid positive people in the room with you at all times. Surgical masks will not handle that load, and cloth masks will be even less effective at that point. Obviously, this is an unprecedented situation we're putting these masks in, and I'm not gonna sit here and pretend to be an expert that can tell you with certainty that even respirators will hold up with this amount of viral load for a long period of time, but it's the best and strongest tool we have. I'm considering using my p100 more, so that's always something to consider as well (and they make you look like a cool raver when you wear them!!!). You can buy all sorts of masks here, there's more links in the comments of my original post, and most states have their own mask blocs. To find them, go to Instagram and type "[your state] mask bloc". Here is a google doc of verified advocacy groups and mask blocs all across the country here is a diy fit test kit you can buy for $30 (unfortunately they are sold out right now. shocker.) PLEASE remember to take a layered response in these times. Masks are not the only tool in our arsenal. PLEASE for the love of God keep up with your vaccinations. Make a corsi-rosenthal box or buy a high quality air purifier if you can afford it--at the very least our homes can be safe havens (you can even put a hepa filter on your furnace!!!! And in your car too!!!!!). Use CPC Mouthwash, nasal irrigation, and nasal sprays like this one. Make it a routine: you come home, you shower, you brush your teeth, you rinse your nose, you change your clothes. And, like I said in another one of my posts, DO NOT TAKE OFF THE MASK.

3. If you would like an outlet for your rage and you're into calling your reps, feel free to calmly but firmly let the cdc have it at these numbers!!!!!

[alt text: a tweet by user silly_paulie that reads:

"Disdain for the CDC unites us all. Call today and demand isolation policies be returned to 10 days, and reducing it further to 1 day would be criminally dangerous. Call both:

404-639-7000 (press 8)

800-232-4636"

end text.]

4. If you need more outlets for your rage, I STRONGLY encourage you to get involved with your local union. Moreso than calling the CDC, tbh. I've seen multiple comments telling people just to lie about your symptoms to get more sick time off, but since there's no legal precedent to allow employees sick time for covid, all that's gonna do is get people fired. I truly believe in my lefty heart that the ONLY way we're getting anything close to mitigation is through labor rights. Even the standard for the fucking flu is 3 days, and that's nowhere near as contagious or disabling as covid. I say this as a high risk person with a neuromuscular disability: covid is an intersectional issue, but where we have the most leverage to get what we need is through labor rights.

It is NOT safe for workers to be working while ill with a Level 3 Biohazard (same as TB and the FUCKING PLAGUE. Seriously we have more regulations around fucking lice)

It is NOT safe to willfully EXPOSE your employees to a Level 3 Biohazard

It is NECESSARY for all employees to be allowed up to 10 days to recover fully from Covid-19, in order to avoid possible further injury from or hospitalization

You will NOT die or be disabled for the sake of the wealthy!!!!!

(and while you're at it, ask for better air filtration too!!!! At least 5 air changes an hour, MERV-13 air filters!! Then we won't have to constantly worry about virus bs and policy changes in the first place!!!!)

5. Closing statements. Nothing has changed with covid, this is just policy. Covid still isn't magic, she still has to get in you before she can do damage--mask up, arm your home with clean air, and don't let her. It's always worse toward the end. This is not the time to give up, it's time to dig in your heels and get to work. There are so many good things happening with covid. They are finding encouraging treatments for long covid. Finally, after years of nothing, a new prophylactic for the high risk was submitted for emergency use to the FDA, and it looks like this time it's built to last against new mutations. Covid is here to stay for the rest of our lives, but the real science hasn't given up on taking the worst of its teeth out. We WILL get to the point where the extreme fear of catching covid is nothing but a bad memory for EVERYONE. All I need you to do is commit to the belief that you're gonna survive long enough to be in that moment with the rest of us.

Now stay safe, and give em hell!!!!!

[collapsedsquid]

People who paid to speak to an AI girlfriend modeled after real life 23-year-old influencer Caryn Marjorie are distraught because the service they paid for, Forever Companions, no longer works. It appears that the service stopped working shortly after Forever Companion CEO and founder John Meyer was arrested for trying to set his own apartment on fire.  [...] On social media for the last few weeks, the official Forever Voices Twitter account has been posting bizarre videos and statements about the CIA, Donald Trump, and the FBI. According to Austin NBC affiliate KXAN, Meyer was arrested on October 22 for trying to set fire to the building where he lived, causing an estimated $360,000 in damages. In addition to those arson charges, 404 Media obtained an affidavit for an arrest warrant for charges of “Terroristic Threats” against the headquarters of a company called Cloud Kitchens, which provides software to restaurants. The affidavit states “On October 14th 2023 AT 9:06 PM John Heinrich Meyer posted on Twitter "@travisk get ready for me to literally blow up Cloud Kitchens." This post was posted under the twitter handle for John H. Meyer.” An employee for Cloud Kitchens sent this and additional tweets to the FBI, which is working with Austin police on the case. “Meyer has a history of being an emotionally disturbed person, which is consistent. with the behavior he displayed during this incident,” the affidavit notes.

[vespidclan]

VESPIDCLAN NEWS!!!!!!!

after so much waiting, the one thing people wanted more than anything is here at last: you can finally drink beer with 404!

(disclaimer: 404 cannot actually drink beer or any other beverage, as she has no mouth. she is solely here so she can rant to you about her ex husband and complain about how terrible the local Walmart’s customer service is when they wouldn’t let her dismember an employee)

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

In July, before the latest WP Engine blowup, an Automattic employee wrote in Slack that they received a direct message from Mullenweg sending them an identification code for Blind, an anonymous workplace discussion platform, which was required to complete registration on the site. Blind requires employees to use their official workplace emails to sign up, as a way to authenticate that users actually work for the companies they are discussing. Mullenweg said on Slack that emails sent from Blind’s platform to employees’ email addresses were being forwarded to him. If employees wanted to log in or sign up for Blind, they’d need to ask Mullenweg for the two-factor identification code. The implication was that Automattic—and Mullenweg—could see who was trying to sign up for Blind, which is often a place where people anonymously vent or share criticism about their workplace.

“We were unaware that Matt redirected sign-up emails until current Automattic employees contacted our support team,” a spokesperson for Blind told me, adding that they’d “never seen a CEO or executive try to limit their employees from signing up for Blind by redirecting emails.”

Mullenweg didn’t block emails from the @teamblind.com domain, Blind said. According to Slack messages viewed by 404 Media, instead, he redirected those emails to himself.

[alanshemper]

[17 Oct 2024]

Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg made another buyout offer this week, and threatened employees who speak to the press with termination.

After an exodus of employees at Automattic who disagreed with CEO Matt Mullenweg’s recently divisive legal battle with WP Engine, he’s upped the ante with another buyout offer—and a threat that employees speaking to the press should “exit gracefully, or be fired tomorrow with no severance.”

Earlier this month, Mullenweg posed an “Alignment Offer” to all of his employees: Stand with him through a messy legal drama that’s still unfolding, or leave.

“It became clear a good chunk of my Automattic colleagues disagreed with me and our actions,” he wrote on his personal blog on Oct. 3, referring to the ongoing dispute between himself and website hosting platform WP Engine, which Mullenweg called a “cancer to WordPress” and accusing WP Engine of “strip-mining the WordPress ecosystem. In the last month, he and WP Engine have volleyed cease and desist letters, and WP Engine is now suing Automattic, accusing Mullenweg of extortion and abuse of power.

In the “Alignment Offer,” Mullenweg offered Automattic employees six months of pay or $30,000, whichever was higher, with the stipulation that they would lose access to their work logins that same evening and would not be eligible for rehire.

One hundred and fifty-nine people took the offer and left. “However now, I feel much lighter,” Mullenweg wrote in his blog.

But many stayed at Automattic even though they didn't agree with Mullenweg’s actions, telling 404 Media they remained due to financial strain or the challenging job market. Several employees who remained at the company describe a culture of paranoia and fear for those still there.

"Overall, the environment is now full of people who unequivocally support Matt's actions, and people who couldn't leave because of financial reasons (and those are mostly silent),” one Automattic employee told me.

The current and former Automattic employees I spoke to for this article did so under the condition of anonymity, out of concerns about retaliation from Mullenweg.

“I'm certain that Matt hasn't eliminated all dissenters, because I'm still there, but I expect that within the next six to twelve months, everyone who didn't leave but wasn't ‘aligned’ will have found a new job and left on their own terms,” another current employee told me. “My personal morale has never been lower at this job, and I know that I'm not alone.”

Mullenweg himself, in internal screenshots viewed by 404 Media, acknowledged that his first “Alignment Offer” did not make everyone who disagreed with him leave the company.

On Wednesday Mullenweg posted another ultimatum in Automattic’s Slack: a new offer that would include nine months of compensation (up from the previous offer of six months). Mullenweg wrote:

“New alignment offer: I guess some people were sad they missed the last window. Some have been leaking to the press and ex-employees. That's water under the bridge. Maybe the last offer needed to be higher. People have said they want a new window, so this is my attempt. Here's a new one: You have until 00:00 UTC Oct 17 (-4 hours) to DM me the words, ‘I resign and would like to take the 9-month buy-out offer’ You don't have to say any reason, or anything else. I will reply ‘Thank you.’ Automattic will accept your resignation, you can keep you [sic] office stuff and work laptop; you will lose access to Automattic and Wong (no slack, user accounts, etc). HR will be in touch to wrap up details in the coming days, including your 9 months of compensation, they have a lot on their plates right now. You have my word this deal will be honored. We will try to keep this quiet, so it won't be used against us, but I still wanted to give Automatticians another window.”

“We have technical means to identify the leaker as well, that I obviously can't disclose,” he continued. “So this is their opportunity to exit gracefully, or be fired tomorrow with no severance and probably a big legal case for violating confidentiality agreement.”

Mullenweg and Automattic did not respond to requests for comment.

This is the latest in what has been a tense few months at Automattic.

“Regarding escalations, to me, the most upsetting thing has been the way he's treating current and former employees and WP community members,” one former employee who recently left the company after several years told me. “He clearly has no clue what people care about or how the community has contributed to the success of WordPress. It very clearly shows how out of touch he is with everyday reality. One, sharing pictures of him being on safari while all this shit is going down, as if people would think that was cool. Only rich tech bros would think that.” (Mullenweg posted photos from a trip on his personal blog and social media posts last week.)

In July, before the latest WP Engine blowup, an Automattic employee wrote in Slack that they received a direct message from Mullenweg sending them an identification code for Blind, an anonymous workplace discussion platform, which was required to complete registration on the site. Blind requires employees to use their official workplace emails to sign up, as a way to authenticate that users actually work for the companies they are discussing. Mullenweg said on Slack that emails sent from Blind’s platform to employees’ email addresses were being forwarded to him. If employees wanted to log in or sign up for Blind, they’d need to ask Mullenweg for the two-factor identification code. The implication was that Automattic—and Mullenweg—could see who was trying to sign up for Blind, which is often a place where people anonymously vent or share criticism about their workplace.

“We were unaware that Matt redirected sign-up emails until current Automattic employees contacted our support team,” a spokesperson for Blind told me, adding that they’d “never seen a CEO or executive try to limit their employees from signing up for Blind by redirecting emails.”

Mullenweg didn’t block emails from the @teamblind.com domain, Blind said. According to Slack messages viewed by 404 Media, instead, he redirected those emails to himself.

“We are disappointed when we hear employers or executives try to limit access to Blind. Some of the most commonly discussed topics on Blind are protected speech in the U.S.—pay, job terminations, critiques of workplace conditions—which we believe workers should be free to access and discuss. Blind's mission is to bring transparency to the workplace, as we believe it can inspire meaningful change,” the spokesperson for Blind said. “Employers' attempts to block Blind are misguided and often have the opposite intended effect. Generally, we have seen more employees register and use Blind when their company tries to restrict access.”

One Automattic employee told me that Mullenweg’s interception of Blind emails was the thing that made them start looking for a new job. “For Matt to do that, without prior announcement, was equivalent to spying on his employees. And for him to think it's ok to tell people to message him for their verification code is ridiculous—I've never questioned an employer's judgment as much as I did in that moment (although it has happened many times since),” they said. “Clearly, Blind is designed to allow employee discussion free from employer interference, and he was trying to prevent that in the most obvious way possible.”

Instead of Blind, employees have been posting on Anonymattic, an anonymous message board set up on WordPress’s own systems that allows all employees to post using one login.

“A common theme for posts on Anonymattic is ‘Any time I try to get work done, some new drama comes up and I get distracted.’ I know that's true for me,” an employee told me.

“There is a vocal group of sycophants who are cheering on Matt's actions via Anonymattic,” they said, “drawing favorable comparisons to how Elon Musk and Donald Trump operate. Their morale seems high, but I can't relate.” Screenshots viewed by 404 Media show some staff having changed their Slack usernames to include “[STAYING]” to signal their support of Mullenweg and intention to remain at the company.

Anonymattic was “conveniently closed down around Covid with the excuse of avoiding toxic discussions,” an employee told me. “I say conveniently because people would post their opinions and complaints to leadership that were sometimes uncomfortable. That’s when the Blind migration happened.” They said they believe Mullenweg’s interference with Blind emails was “an attempt to stop employees from joining Blind in some kind of intimidating fashion (are they collecting who is joining Blind? With what intentions?)” Anonymattic was reopened around that time, they said.

“At the end, even if anonymous, Automattic can delete posts there and not in Blind,” they said.

Last week, in response to someone criticizing his decision to add a checkbox to the WordPress.org login that forced users to denounce affiliation with WP Engine, Mullenweg posted in the WordPress contributor community Slack, “Wait until you see what we have in store for Thursday! And Friday. And Saturday. And Sunday. And Monday.” Several people posted vomiting and face-palm emojis in response to that message.

A recently-departed employee told me that the WP Engine legal drama wasn’t their final straw. “But in hindsight, it should have been,” they said. “The escalation since then just confirmed I made the right choice. At the time, I thought Matt might have a point about the trademarks (something I know little about), but he did say at the time he was going to treat this like a war and continue escalating it, because the truth was on his side. I guess we’re now seeing what that really meant."

[seandwalsh]

Who lays the nectar eggs found in the Pikmin games? It might seem like a silly question, but for a series with such extensive lore surrounding its creatures it is surprising that it remains a mystery. Nectar eggs are a mysterious item found in Pikmin 2, Pikmin 3 and Pikmin 4. The eggs themselves are rarely acknowledged by the leaders and can contain a wide array of different things.

When broken, nectar eggs usually release a form of nectar or raw material. Curiously, there are also several creatures associated with these eggs, but it’s never been explicitly stated which actually produces them. Let’s look at the candidates:

Firstly, there are the Honeywisps. Honeywisps sometimes carry nectar eggs as they float through the air back to their nests. However, they don’t seem to be producing these eggs themselves, as in Pikmin 1 they can be seen carrying pure nectar collected from flowers.

Given they intend to feed the nectar from the nectar eggs they carry to their young, it seems more likely that they sometimes just steal nectar eggs from their nests of origin instead of collecting nectar from flowers.

“This timid creature flies around collecting nectar from flowers.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“This creature collects nectar for the larvae waiting in its nest.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 1, December 2001]

“This cutie swims though the air with a heavy-looking nectar egg dangling below its translucent body on its way back to its nest where its offspring await lunch.”

[Source: Dalmo, Sozorian Animal Enthusiast and researcher, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

The next creatures are the Mitites. Mities are a type of insect that occasionally hatch from broken nectar eggs in great numbers and produce nectar when defeated, which initially makes them seem like good candidates for the producers of these eggs. However, the nectar eggs notably don’t resemble insect eggs - and for good reason! The Mitites are actually parasites that lay their eggs within the eggs of a “particular species”, with their larvae feeding on the nectar the eggs provide.

“These parasitic insects feed on eggs. Upon reaching maturity, they excrete a special pheromone that attracts females of particular species, enticing these females to swallow the mitites whole. (Pikmin, however, seem to dislike the scent.) After entering the host female's body, the mitites lay their own eggs inside the host's eggs just prior to the host spawning.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

“The cheeky Mitite lays its eggs inside the eggs of other creatures to provide its offspring with an easy first meal.”

[Source: Dalmo, Sozorian Animal Enthusiast and researcher, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

Similarly, the egg-like Sunsquishes can also be found within nectar eggs. These are explicitly “other creatures’ eggs”, making them a species that parasitises on the eggs like the Mitites.

“A type of primitive organism called a protochordate. In its juvenile state, it has a skeleton-like structure called a notochord. It flaps its finned tail to move and lives within other creatures' eggs as it grows.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

That leaves us with the Burrowing Snagrets. In Pikmin 4, Downy Snagrets, the infant form of the Burrowing Snagret, occasionally hatch from nectar eggs. These seem to be the most likely candidates for the actual producers of nectar eggs.

As established in a previous post, almost all extant life on PNF-404 is made up of nectar, which would extend to the nutrients in the egg yolk.

“Nectar is a vital source of nutrition that most life on this planet depends on. Whether it's in the form of an egg yolk, sap, or honey, I leave up to your imagination!”

[Source: Dalmo, Sozorian Animal Enthusiast and researcher, Non-Player Character in Pikmin 4, July 2023]

Nectar eggs also strongly resemble bird eggs and Burrowing Snagrets are certainly large enough to produce them. They’re also large enough to swallow Mitites whole and are even said to eat insects in the Piklopedia.

“The majority of snagret species lie in wait to ambush and capture prey, with a body type perfectly adapted to such sudden strikes. It violently attacks small, surface-dwelling insects.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

What’s more is that Snagret has the widest distribution of a species after the Bulborb, which explains why nectar eggs can be found all over the world across the Pikmin games.

“Distributed across a relatively wide range, subspecies of snagret suited to the varying soil conditions have emerged, making the snagret the most geographically represented species besides the bulborb.”

[Source: Captain Olimar, Employee of Hocotate Freight and Captain of the S.S. Dolphin, Playable Character in Pikmin 2, August 2004]

So in short, female Burrowing Snagrets lay their eggs. Those that are fertilised will produce Downy Snagrets, while unfertilised eggs will produce nectar. Sometimes, a female Burrowing Snagret will eat a Mitite, resulting in Mitite larvae hatching within and feeding on the eggs laid by the Burrowing Snagret. The larval Sunsquish also finds its way into these eggs, while Honeywisps occasionally steal the eggs to feed the nectar within then to their own larvae.

[leighsartworks216]

Walten Files 4 Notes/Messages Transcribed

Anything I couldn't read is in [], with my best guess at what it says or "can't read", if there isn't enough information to make a guess with, or "unsure" if I cannot understand the writing.

At 2:54

Charles Brook: 10.10.1970 Hi! Just got hired officially as the computer supervisor for "Unnamed Bunny Smiles Restaurant" (though I've been coming up with a few names myself) I've known these guys for a while, they're family! I've done some work for them along with Susan for years now, even before CyberFun Tech! Getting to meet the Waltens and the Krankens has been super fun! So excited to get to work! The future is bright. C. B. P. 27:12

Worth noting, P. 27:12 is a proverb from the bible, "The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty."

-

At 8:40, in text that is upside down and flipped

Mr. Kranken This is Norman. I’m sending you this letter on behalf of our deal between Bunny Smiles and CyberFun Tech and most importantly, the well-being of our Cyberfun staff. We’ve been getting a lot of complaints about a member of our staff going missing who was highly associated with you and your team. Susan Woodings has been missing for a week now and here in CyberFun Tech we are working as hard as we can to try and manage to get in contact with her. Is there perhaps any detail you could hand us to help locate our missing employee? I’m going to be entirely honest with you, Mr. Kranken, and tell you I have a ton of questions and suspicions about whatever is going on with your company. Whatever it is, it’s making both your company and mine look bad to public light so, again, if there’s anything that could help us find Susan, write us back immediately. Thank you. I’ll see you Monday.

A second later, a sentence appears

SUSAN HAS BEEN STRUGGLING TO BREATHE FOR [3?] DAY SHE [can’t read] ANYMOR[E]

-

At 9:14

Employee Notes #[404?] By: C. B. BSI Notes [crossed out] The BSI Console The Bunny Smiles Incorporated console allows the robots of Bon's Burgers feel a lot more lifelike and allow for a more fun and interesting experience. I think this is an ambitious and innovating concept I would've never expected to make in my life. Susan did not disappoint at all. Absolutely stunning and delicate work. Jack was fascinated. Never seen anything like it! Felix was both amazed and scared, he doesn't understand a thing about how it works!

-

At 9:20

Walkaround Test (Week 1-2) By: C. B. Week 1: Banny knocked over the table! Rework room recognizing feature!  Bon test went well, recognized Sophie right away! Sha is next Boozoo's magic trick bit went well, [unsure] but he'll do better next time. Week 2: Banny fixed, test went as planned. Mask broke down from last incident. Bon walkaround test went well, way better than expected. Mask broke down Get new mask by Friday! There should be a spare one in the workshop

[squuote]

I was thinking bout having my office worker sona thing like know who stanley is but just never really knew him, just knew that he worked there. but I think it is objectively so much funnier having it separate from the game entirely and just having no clue who tf stanley is

[koukaaa-descent]

Full magma page, made with @lokibrainrot and @aidanandaxel !!!!!!!!!! I am so so so delighted actually. look at all of that . we did that ,,....,,, closeups beneath the cut. NONE OF THESE OCS ARE MINE ASIDE FROM INDIGO (PURPLE INDIVIDUAL ON THE LEFT) AND MONSOON (THE BRACKEN WITH A BEAK AT INDIGO'S SIDE)

Dark purple labels = @koukaaa-descent

Bright pink labels = @aidanandaxel

Magenta labels = @lokibrainrot

ALSO . NEON I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH . I saw Indigo and monsoon early on and almost trembled out of my skin. cap is so so so so soAUAAGAHAG to me. I could yap for hours

and FROST!!!!! I DO NOT RESCIND WHAT I SAID!!!! I love your art so so deeply. you have a wonderful style and I will never budge on that

[bifuriouswaterbender]

Another Hole in Your Head

Here's my response to the @steddiemicrofic January theme hole with the word length 404. Fic is rated G. They issued a challenge of "bonus points" for going G with such a prompt, and I was only too happy to fulfill it.

"You don't have to do this," Eddie said quietly in Steve's ear.

"Yes, I do. For Megan. She's nervous and scared, and even if she's trying to be cool and grown up about it…"

"She's still a nervous ten-year-old," Eddie finished. "I know, sweetheart. And I'm glad she's going ahead with it anyway. I'm just a confused as to why that means you have to as well."

"Because," Steve said, "I made a promise. Now, help me decide. Gold or silver?"

"No black?" Eddie asked, shifting the pairs around unhelpfully. "Not even a diamond?"

"I can get more pairs when they've healed," Steve said. He paused. "You know considered you have piercings, I'm suddenly concerned about what that process what like if you're asking this many questions."

"Let's all say a prayer of thanks that my ears didn't fall off," Eddie deadpanned. "Speaking of which, I still don't like that we're here." He glanced around like he was worried the Claire's employees would overhear and get angry with him for even suggesting an issue.

Steve rolled his eyes. "I need your worry about it like I need another hole in my head. Oh wait, I'm about to get two. Now pick a metal."

"Gold."

"Thank you," Steve said and pulled the pair off the rack. He headed over to where Megan stood bouncing on her toes and looking at pretty pairs. "Did you decide which ones you want? We'll swap them out in a month or so when your ears are ready for them."

She nodded, face serious as she held up a pair that looked like cat heads. "I want these ones."

"They're perfect," Steve said, squeezing her shoulder. "You still want me to go first?"

Megan nodded again. "Yeah, I know you said it only hurts a little… so I can watch yours first."

He chuckled. "Never lose that healthy skepticism, my dear."

As Steve straightened up, he made eye contact with the employee who had gotten everything ready. "All set?" she asked.

Steve nodded and handed over the set he planned to use. She got everything finalized as he sat down. Megan came creeping over, watching with wide eyes.

"Ready?" Steve asked. "It won't be scary. Then we'll do yours, and you're going to be so brave!"

Megan nodded, a little shy as she glanced at the employee, who smiled at her in reassurance. "Time for your matching set with Dad."

[phantomrose96]

Oh okay so I have a Pikmin theory.

So for starters: Pikmin 1->2->3 are chronological. Pikmin 4 is a sort of AU of Pikmin 1, precedented on Olimar not making it off PNF-404 alive (sort of a bad-end of Pikmin 1, but also with various other AU differences).

This leads me to wonder... is Pikmin 4->2->3 arguably a canon sequence of events? Cuz either the differences between 1 and 4 have knocked canon off course, and as such 4 will never lead to 2 and 3. Or you can string them together in a way that makes 4->2->3 a plausible canonical chain.

The biggest thing that stands out to me is Louie. In 1->2->3, no one was ever sent to rescue Olimar in 1, and the second he arrives home in 2 his boss informs him that Louie was attacked ("attacked") by a space rabbit that ate the precious cargo of golden pikpik carrots, launching the company into massive debt (and he forces Olimar back to PNF-404 to treasure hunt to pay off the debt.) It's later revealed Louie was never attacked, and he ate the cargo himself.

In 4, LOUIE is sent to rescue Olimar. (He never does. He completely gives up because he forgot what Olimar looks like, and then becomes the biggest pain in your ass after YOU rescue Olimar, because Louie starts taking hostages and running from you insisting he never wants to leave PNF-404 for... some unclear reason?)

This feels like it could break 4->2->3 as a plausible canon, considering Louie is not home on Hocotate to eat his whole cargo (fucker). But I realized something.

Pikmin 4 starts more or less around when Olimar's life support runs out and he dies. You get his SOS signal not long at all before this happens. And TBH, it's probably a good additional in-game month in 4 before you actually rescue Olimar and encounter Louie. In a good-end run of Pikmin 1, Olimar needs to repair his ship and escape PNF-404 before his life support runs out. So in short: Louie fucks up the cargo sometime prior to Olimar's life support running out, and Pikmin 4 is set after his life support runs out. (Technically, they changed the amount of time his life support lasts between 1 and 4, but I figure that was to trim down Olimar's Tale in 4 and not actually for a canon reason).

My point being, Pikmin 4 being largely set after Olimar's life support runs out means Louie had plenty of time to fuck up the pikpik carrot cargo.

Then there's the fact that in Pikmin 4, Louie is desperate to STAY on PNF-404 for reasons he refuses to ever explain. Maybe, because, ya know, he's waiting for the other shoe to drop. He knows he's responsible for plunging Hocotate Freight into what was essentially $10 million of debt. Louie doesn't want to be charged with $10 million worth of theft. And without Olimar bringing home the bottle cap, there's no plan for repaying that debt.

Louie maybe wants to stay on PNF-404 because he's not going the fuck to jail.

All this to say: I think 4->2->3 is actually a completely reasonable canon sequence, if you figure the "Louie lost (ate) the $10 million of golden pikpik carrots" happens in the background, right at the start of Pikmin 4 before Olimar's life support has run out. Olimar's SOS comes through, and President, desperate for his only competent employee back to help fix this, sends Louie to PNF-404 on a rescue mission. On PNF-404, Louie figures himself a fugitive who'd rather spend his days cooking bulborbs than ever return home to Hocotate to potentially face the music of his "this was definitely a felony" crime, and so he kicks and screams and fights to stay on PNF-404...

...And you drag him home anyway, along with poor rescued Olimar who's died and come back to life... just in time for their boss to be like "YOU idiots, go get me out of debt! Go back to PNF-404"

[girlactionfigure]

lawyersagainstantisemitism

Today, we woke up to the release of a video of Hostage Sasha Trufanov, an Amazon employee, who has been held in Gaza for 404 days! In the video, Sasha describes the utterly miserable conditions he faces.  Yet today, Amazon is polling Instagram users about Amazon employees’ working conditions! Is this a joke?  @amazon, your silence about Sasha’s well-being is deafening. Shame on you.  Sources: Instagram screen grab, and Times of Israel