#signal boost this pls

[silverspleen]

AYO if you have open commissions or know anyone who does and draw humanoids and fantasy stuff hit me up, I have a Deep And Abiding Craving for art of my Dragon Age tabletop OC.

[valiumvenus]

In the name of my friends, I am asking for help:

"Please SIGN and SHARE this petition against censorship at the University of Vienna! Give us back our lectures on Palestine!" 🇵🇸🕊️

TLDR: The University of Vienna is canceling lectures about Palestine, and disinviting scholars who have a pro-Palestinian stance; please sign & share the petition to show people everywhere care. The students' demands are listed in the petition. Anyone can sign.

Censorship surrounding topics of Palestine is nothing new - but in the last few months there has been an alarming increase in censorship, where artists have their exhibitions shut down, universities are setting up barriers to knowledge about Palestine, highly unserious articles with very serious accusations about academics are popping up, ... Now two lectures on Palestine were canceled, and another scholar was just uninvited for what he posted on his social media (pro-Palestinian content). A previous protest letter from the academic community was ignored by the University, and a recent sit-in there was met with an unnecessarily high number of police who intimidated the small group of protesters. That is the only reaction anti-Zionist protests yield. -> more info in the petition link

Why/How does the University of Vienna do this? Basically, any public criticism of the Israeli government is misconstrued as antisemitism. Then, the University disinvites the academics in question and cancels lectures, or forces lecturers to "adjust" their content. Scholars are being muzzled. The University doesn't want its students to learn about various perspectives on Palestine. Mind you, this is a public institution we're talking about.

The petition is intended to show the University that people disapprove of these practices. The argument of "safety" is brought up all the time, but at the same time, the University gladly erects barriers between their students and the valuable knowledge that would foster critical thinking and understanding. Palestinians are directly affected by this deadly apathy, and Muslim and Jewish people everywhere suffer from heightened antisemitism and islamophobia fueled by misinformation and myths. And at the end of the day, censorship is nothing but bad academic practice. It is an attempt to shape the minds of students by making information harder to access and to exclude scholars who talk about/are from Palestine. It's discrimination against Palestinians and it's shameless instrumentalization of Jewish trauma.

Anybody who is concerned can sign. Please share widely with any and all communities! The petition should go international! Every signature counts.

Say NO to all barriers to knowledge. 🇵🇸🕊️

[felassan]

[source (Senior Reporter at Kotaku), linked Kotaku article, two, 'FC 24's performance link', three, four, @/N7SeveranceDay (source of the last two images, "Account supporting BioWare employees laid off in 2023."), five, six, Polygon tweet, Polygon article]

"BioWare Continues to Refuse to Pay Severance" statement transcript:

“BioWare Continues to Refuse to Pay Severance On August 23 of this year, BioWare eliminated “approximately 50 roles at BioWare”. Following the layoffs, seven ex-BioWare employees engaged the services of R. Alex Kennedy to represent their interests, stating that the amount of severance offered was insufficient under Alberta common law. Counsel for the employees has attempted to reach a compromise that would avoid requiring lengthy court proceedings, but BioWare’s lawyers refused any offers to negotiate and settle out of court. The basis of Kennedy’s claim is that according to Alberta precedents and under Canadian law, these employees should be receiving approximately 1.7 months of severance per year of service they gave to BioWare. BioWare has now filed a Statement of Defence, which argues that the seven terminated employees are only entitled to two weeks of severance per year spent in service to BioWare, because of a contract provision that Kennedy says is not enforceable. The filing means BioWare will be taking these former employees to court rather than working towards finding an out of court resolution. The developers involved in the suit have expressed their disappointment: - “We are disappointed that BioWare prefers stalling and intimidation tactics to fair dealing with people who have given years, and in some cases decades, of dedication and hard work to the company.” - “We believe they are using intimidation and stalling tactics to try and get us to drop out. A lot of the more junior employees and those with families, who had more monetary pressure on them, could not risk waiting on a court case that may take many months more to resolve, and have already had to drop out.” - “At the time of the layoffs, BioWare offered us professional assistance in finding new employment, and an additional payment, but ONLY on the condition that we signed an agreement saying we cannot talk about any details of the settlement, and that we would completely waive any right to legal action or even to complain in any way about anyone associated with BioWare now or ever in the future. Tactics like that sure make me think that BioWare knows it is in the wrong.” - “Despite what they publicly announced when they laid us off, this process has been anything but empathetic, respectful, and communicative.” The latest BioWare layoffs were the third round so far this year, and many of the developers affected even in earlier rounds are still searching for work, though some have started to find new positions. Regardless of employment status, the members of the current lawsuit state they remain determined to pursue BioWare in court, regardless of their employment status: - “We strongly believe that if Dragon Age: Dreadwolf does not do as well as BioWare or EA wants at launch, there will be more, even larger layoffs. Therefore, regardless of our own well-being, we believe it is important to hold BioWare responsible and get a clear decision on what settlement amount is legal. We’re no longer part of the development team, so the best way we can help our former teammates now is to hold BioWare accountable and ensure that the next group who is laid off are not treated as poorly as we were.” November 7th marks “N7 Day”, which is a fan celebration of BioWare’s Mass Effect games featuring Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy. The developers involved in the lawsuit are hoping N7 Day this year will be a reminder to BioWare of the importance of loyalty to your crew, and hope fans can have a little fun and help express their support with memes and images using an #N7SeveranceDay hashtag. The ex-employees involved in the suit are all based in Canada and have an average of 14 years at BioWare.”

[source]

You can express your support using the hashtag #N7SeveranceDay.

Edit: [Part 2/update] [more on the Keywords topic]

[artemis-pendragon]

GOFUNDME

Contact hioo.sh on Instagram for more details as she is the gofundme organizer!

Her TikTok where she's updating on her situation is here: Haya.Orouq

She is only 18 years old doing everything she can to save her family!! Even if you can't donate pls pls pls share! We've already gotten several generous donations after people shared the post! Even the smallest donation can have the biggest difference, so if you can spare even a dollar or two that's huge! Thank you to everyone who has shared and donated so far! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[brother-genitivi]

Hey guys, unfortunately life has given me the short straw and I must ask for help.

I've managed to get my old job back, but only until the end of September when I go back to uni. The issue is that Student Finance have awarded me only 2.3k for my maintenance loan in which to live on for the next year. My rent is £600 a month (not including utilities) and I have just over £200 in my bank account.

I'd need about 7.6k for this year's rent, otherwise I'll have to drop out of university. Anyone that could provide for me is currently unemployed and a continent away, so I'm here asking for help. The ultimate goal is £7.6k for the year, but I'm going to put £600 for now, just so I can survive until October.

Thank you for reading this far. If you want to help out a sad little guy (me) then details are below :)

payp/al: paypal.me/leoozsoy

ko-/fi: https://ko-fi.com/brothergenitivi

0/600

(600/7600)

[beardeddetectivepaper]

[xxx-sparkydemon-xxx]

Dear friends,

I’m reaching out today on behalf of my dear friend Ismail Almughanni from Gaza 🇵🇸, who is going through an incredibly tough time. Due to the recent conflict, Ismail has lost both his home and his beloved bakery. His bakery wasn’t just a source of income—it was his passion, a way to serve his community, and a beacon of hope for many.

Now, Ismail is striving to rebuild, but he can’t do it alone.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Spread the word: Please share or reblog the pinned post on his profile. Every share helps his story reach people who may want to support.

2. Donate if you can: Any contribution, no matter how small, will bring him closer to rebuilding his bakery and reclaiming what he lost 🍞❤️.

Your support will mean the world to Ismail. Together, we can help him rise again and rebuild not just his bakery, but his future 🌿🤲.

Thank you so much for standing by him during this difficult time.

VERIFIED BY @/90-ghost (proof)

PLEASE SHARE THIS FUNDRAISER AND DONATE IF YOU HAVE AT LEAST $5 TO SPARE! EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS TOWARDS SAVING LIVES!

$2,107/$20,000

[taikeero-lecoredier]

Chat Control to return on the agenda this month

Tweet link For those unaware, Chat Control is a European proposal that aim to prevent people from sending videos,pictures or links through private messages and emails unless they agree to be scanned by artificial intelligence to "fight against csem". While the intention seems good this would open a door to mass surveillance and vulnerabilities that hackers can easily exploit,and given all the recent cyber attacks through the world, they dont need to have their job become even easier. Without even talking about the false positives this would trigger. There are better ways to keep children safe online. Chat Control is not it. Even messages from minors wont be exempt from being scanned. TAKE ACTION HERE !

JOIN OUR DISCORD SERVER ! American followers, please reblog this,because this goes in the same hand as KOSA does, and its very likely Europe will be geo blocked from messaging services if it passes, cutting off communication with your European friends. (and the possibility that the US govt will use Chat Control as "inspiration" if it passes) See more of my posts on chat control

[pinkhairswagtourney]

consider helping a homeless + disabled trans lesbian seek shelter this winter

my friend harmony was kicked out of her abusive + transphobic parents' house last month for being trans . she was able to stay with someone for a week before she was once again , kicked out for being trans . the person who let her stay has a partner who was extremely transphobic towards harmony and forced her to leave . she is once again without a place to sleep .

she has a few job interviews set up but needs help until she has a source of income . per her request , she has asked for money for hotel rooms , food , gas , and at the very least , a good winter jacket and a blanket if she has to sleep in her car . if you can , consider helping her by sending a few dollars her way , i'm extremely worried about her and it's been dropping to below freezing temperatures .

please rb this and spread the word

c-sh-pp + p-yp-l

[musingmanor]

Hey guys could you guys kindly donate to my Kofi, Not only do i need new tablet + software (i make money thru my art) , but i need some extra funds bc not only am i not employed but after being duped into a scam (i was talkint to these ppl for days and was under the impression i was going to be hired but foundout a bit too late they were a fraud place) my mom has cut me off finacially deeming me unworthy of her funds and i have like $80 in my bank acc alone. this isnt really good for my mental health esp since i have an ab/usive parent and may be homeless since she isnt starting to cut me off bit by bit after draining me for years finacially.

edit: If you wanna buy some adopts off my shop theyre still up

[aces-and-angels]

URGENT PSA: DELETED GFMS UPDATE- PLEASE READ

the detective hat is screwed on tight gang- i just remembered that the wayback machine exists and have been able to gather some additional information regarding the deleted gfm campaigns for omar, raina, and iman:

all the info is under the cut

---

see the info on the site yourselves by using the following links:

iman: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jhcjrv-help-imans-family-find-safety omar: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-to-evacuate-from-the-genocide ran/raina: https://www.gofundme.com/f/displaced-gaza-family-seeks-help-after-war-destroys-lives

my hunch was correct: these campaigns were not formatted in the way gfm requires in order to stay operational. i detailed the common reasons why gfm's may be terminated in a response post to @rubashabansblog but i will include it again here:

ruba- i have figured out the following info from my own research. there are several issues that can result in a gfm being suspended. the biggest issue comes from how the actual campaign is written. the key is being transparent. that means everyone that is benefiting from the campaign must be listed out by name (there may be a rule about specifying any minors/kids' ages as well) + locations. the issue also may be linked to whoever is organizing these campaigns on behalf of these families. another part that needs to be addressed fully is who will be handling the money. essentially if at any point in the transfer of funds someone is responsible for holding the money raised, they need to be listed on the account plainly and on the actual donation page as well. example: person a is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of person b. the last issue i can think of from everything i've read involves keeping an accurate account of the family's expenses. meaning that you need to write down everything that you are spending the money on. since there's no way to print actual receipts- gfm is asking people to write everything down on their notes app with their phones. these notes count as "receipts" and the total amount must always equal the amount the person/people are trying to raise. example: say i am raising $10K to evacuate, but am planning on putting aside $3K for other future living expenses like rent -> all of that needs to be documented fully. basically- as long as goal amounts match up to your expense report- the campaign should be fine. i understand that some families may need to keep raising their goals in order to cover the cost of living before they are able to evacuate. if that is the case- each time they raise/decrease the goal- i believe they need to update their gfm page to address the new total costs for their fundraiser. please forward this information to the affected families when you get the chance 🖤 perhaps this new info can help them solve the problem on their end *edit: another problem i forgot to mention- the currencies must match between the fundraiser and the bank account it is linked to. this means that if the fundraiser is in euros-- the bank tied to the account must also be in a country that uses euros as their primary currency. a US-based bank account would not work if the fundraiser is in euros.

all three campaigns have the same characteristics: not enough info is being disclosed in the fundraisers. another common theme: they are all recently made (may 2024). the decision to evacuate is a painful choice for families to make as none of want to be displaced yet again- but the situation in gaza has prompted many families to make this decision in an attempt to save themselves + their loved ones. the issue is that many of those who are now choosing to make campaigns are not aware of the ins and outs of how to properly start a gfm (+ i'm most certain there are other factors at play as to why this keeps happening to families in desperate need of aid).

this is bound to happen again and again unless this information is being spread widely. which is why i am also asking for this:

please share this w/ anyone who is fluent in arabic that can translate this in its entirety (DO NOT TRY TO USE GOOGLE TRANSLATE). i have a lot of new followers from 🇵🇸, some of them with newly made gfm pages that may be at risk of being frozen if they do not correct the issues i've addressed above. this information is vital to ensuring they are able to continue fundraising.

i have seen campaigns launched in june formatted similarly to the three that have been abruptly terminated. obtaining a stable internet connection in gaza requires people to put themselves at greater risk as they travel to locations with a working signal. people have been brutally murdered by just trying to activate the e-sims being sent over. so it makes sense that these newer campaigns made by these families would not have all the necessary info required- as these guidelines may be difficult to obtain on their end/may be worded in a way they cannot understand (you try reading the terms and policies of gfm yourself and tell me how fast your brain shuts off- and you're doing so in the comfort of your own homes. imagine what it's like to do so while facing constant bombardment).

a mutual of mine has already tried to contact gfm on behalf of omar- and they have informed me of gfm's response to their question:

Omar has already contacted them and is apparently in contact with the team according to the person i chatted with. they cannot disclose to me *why* the fundraiser was terminated they said they are working with Omar to solve the issue. if the issue cannot be solved, the money will be refunded to everyone... ^ this "contact" is likely using the same chatbox the rest of us need to use in order to even speak to a representative at gfm one-on-one. a very annoying system, but unless someone has a direct line to gfm- it is our only option.

we need to mobilize right now and put pressure on gfm to give these families the time they need to rework their campaign pages.

through the wayback machine i was able to figure out the organizers for each campaign.

omar is the organizer for his own -> says he is located in vienna but that is in direct conflict w/ the location he says he is in under the fundraiser info (displaced in rafah). i'm unsure if he has a contact in vienna that is actually the one responsible for holding/transferring the money, but this information needs to get to them so they can try to fix the issue ASAP

the other two have beneficiaries listed, but there could be additional problems with how that whole thing is currently set up.

i still do not know the emails for raina/iman's gfm's (and the wayback machine doesn't let you see the contact info on the archived pages 😓) but- we can try to mobilize right now for omar. he is absolutely devastated and has lost hope that he will be able to recuperate the money he has already raised. this is not the time for the rest of us to lose faith in his cause.

for anyone interested in helping out- i have laid out all this information so you can question gfm directly. if you come in knowing your stuff, they may be more receptive in their responses than the first initial attempts. please contact me directly if you wish to email on omar's behalf so i can forward you his email linked to the gfm account.

tagging for more reach: @appsa @palms-upturned @malcriada

[kimdokjas]

wait wait, what’s the change tumblr did to the reblog chains ? 🥲🥲🥲 I’m so lost

okay so basically, let's say you see a post on your dash

before the update, if you clicked on a url, you could do 3 things:

view that specific reblog on the blog you follow (A)

view the previous reblog on the blog A reblogged it from (B)

view the original post on op's blog (C)

however, staff recently implemented an update where clicking on a url no longer takes you to that specific post. now, clicking on a url just takes you to the blog itself.

this means that you now get 5 things:

view ONLY that specific reblog on the blog you follow (A) -> changed location near header. also, you will now ONLY see that post and nothing else

view ONLY the original post on op's blog (C) -> changed location near header. you will only see that post and nothing else. and ONLY if the op hasn't deleted it, otherwise it just shows an error

view the blog of the person you follow (D)

view the blog of the person D reblogged it from (F) -> option B no longer exists

view the blog of the op (E)

you might be thinking: "cool! i get more options so that's good, right?" well, no.

there are SEVERAL things wrong with this and it goes beyond the prev tags issue

1) first of all, it's counterintuitive that A and C changed locations to the area near the header, especially if your userbase was already used to the previous functions. it just seems like horrible UX design to me but let's put that aside for now.

2) as you can see, option B which allowed you to see the previous reblog of a post no longer exists.

now, if you click on the previous url, you will just be taken to their entire blog. you can no longer view the post itself.

someone asked staff about this, and they replied in this post that the change was INTENTIONAL and if you want to view the previous reblog you would have to "go through the notes view".

to borrow what someone else said:

basically, this update just killed the prev tags culture in one fell swoop.

(sure, you can still use it to reply directly to the person you're reblogging from, but it's now literally useless to use "prev tags" for everyone else involved. sure, you can choose to copy tags or peer review them, but again, if people will have to copy them then the less people are likely to use them, and not every prev lends itself to peer-reviewing imo)

now, listen. i know not everyone likes the prev tags culture, but it just seems like such a poorly-thought decision to kill a culture that like... half of your entire userbase uses (see this poll as a quick reference) and that's UNIQUE to your site and sets you apart from other social media.

but it's also not even just prev tags. let's say you want to remove an annoying addition on a post's reblog chain? you can no longer do that.

however, i feel like this is the most important point:

regardless of how you may feel about the prev tags culture, the pure UI aspect of it should remain

what i mean by this is: even if you don't like prev tags, simply 1) being able to access the reblog chain, and 2) clicking on a post and actually have it take you to their BLOG (and not just a page with that one single post) is literally essential navigation.

this update threatens to drive down user engagement (which is already critically low) by making it harder to navigate. which is actually another point:

3) even if you click on A and C now to view those specific posts, it's NOT the same as it used to be.

before, you could view the reblog directly on the blog. so you could just scroll down and see the other posts leading up to it. now, you will be taken to a page where you will ONLY see that post and nothing else.

but also, you can no longer easily navigate other people's blogs.

you know how sometimes you would see like 50 notifications of someone going through an entire tag on your blog? that's going to happen a lot less, i'm afraid.

let's suppose you want to go to op's blog because they're an artist and you want to see more of their art. so you click on C and see that the tag they use for posts with their art is "#my art"

cool! before, you could just click on that tag and immediately view ALL of their art as long as the posts have that tag.

but now, if you click on that tag, it will take you to the ENTIRE tumblr tag with literally all the posts that everyone in the history of time has tagged with that specific tag.

now, to do the same thing that just took 2 clicks before, you would have to: click on C to view the post -> look for the tag you want to navigate -> click E to view their whole blog -> scroll and look for a post that just so happens to have that tag (the search function is literally useless) and hope to god that there's a recent one or you'll have to scroll for ages or simply give up -> if you happen to find it, click on that tag to navigate their posts.

you see how this is counterproductive, right? you see how this can literally drive down engagement with content creators, right?

if you make people's blogs harder to navigate, you will literally drive down the number of likes and reblogs on their posts, which have already been steadily declining for years now.

4) options D and E to view the blogs and not the posts are literally useless because you could already access other people's blogs before. you just had to click on their url to view their blogs starting from that specific post AND you could choose to just refresh it to view their newest posts.

either way, the change just seems completely unnecessary. and again, it's not just about the prev tags culture but about basic UI.

so what can we do about it?

i normally don't advocate for flooding staff with messages but i do feel like this is one of the worst updates staff has ever done (and that's saying something) and something needs to change.

even if they don't retcon the entire update, that's fine, but staff could at least add the option to view the reblog chain as a different feature (maybe even opt-in) for example. there are better ways to go about this than just axing an entire existing feature.

also, this same issue that makes it harder to navigate blogs needs to change. i feel like content creators will be especially affected by this unless this changes because you can no longer easily navigate their tags, so it will inevitably drive down engagement.

so please, contact staff and let them know we want a change.

you can contact support here!

here's a template for a possible message you could send, but feel free to edit it. (under category you can choose "Feedback")

Hi, I would like to politely request a change to the recent update that affects the reblog chain of posts. Regardless of the "prev tags" culture itself, the UI aspect of being able to view the reblog chain of a post is essential for navigation on this website. Even adding it as a separate, opt-in feature would be a huge help. Additionally, clicking on a post and then on one of the tags now takes you to the entire tumblr tag instead of the tag on that blog, which makes it harder to navigate blogs. Both of these issues have the potential to drive down user engagement by actively making it harder to navigate Tumblr, but especially for content creators. I hope you can do something to address these issues as soon as possible. Thanks in advance and have a nice day.

also, if you can and/or want, reblogs are appreciated to help spread the word!

that's pretty much the gist of the issue from what i've seen, but if anyone else has anything to add or a different way we could contact staff to make ourselves heard, please feel free to let me know!

TLDR: it's not just about prev tags, this update affects basic functionality and content creators as well

Update Sept 07, 2024: this issue was "fixed" a few months back, although with some caveats / downgrades. You can check out this post for how to view the reblog chain, but all the other issues addressed in this post still remain.

[gregorygerwitz]

Remember when I was so excited that the state was finally paying me? Yeah, that was a premature celebration. My employer has decided to take over paying my weekly short term disability payment, so I'm getting less than half what the state got to pay me for two (2) weeks. It means I got comfortable and stepped back from Dashing (which is getting harder to do as my condition gets worse) and now we're almost $1k short for June rent.

We have until the 30th to pay for rent this month (plus a $200 late fee) or we will be evicted.

I hate that I have to keep asking for help, especially with everything else going on in the world, but keeping our home is so important. I'm hoping I will feel better tomorrow and next week and be able to make some money, but because that's not a guarantee, I'm gonna keep being anxious over here and crossing my fingers that my employer will extend my medical leave without having to jump through a million more hoops.

I'm not including my etsy link this time because I'm not physically capable of filling any orders right now

paypal venmo: amwallace95

$165/1000

[dormimi-zzz]

Match with me! I just donated €5 to help this family reach €9,000!🌟

[xxx-sparkydemon-xxx]

Urgent Appeal We in Gaza are facing genocide and famine. It is horrific, and we need your help for our family. This donation is a beacon of hope, our only lifeline in the abyss of despair. With a heavy heart, I ask for your generosity as we go through this inexplicable ordeal. Your contribution could mean the difference between survival and oblivion for my family, and for that, we are eternally grateful. My name is Mohammed. I was shot by an explosive bullet that pierced my left hand and I need a transplant as soon as possible and to buy medicine. Children Amir, Malak and the family are suffering from malnutrition and anemia due to lack of food, clean water and medicine and they need to buy a tent to replace their destroyed home. "Mohammed, Amir and Malak are not just numbers, they are human beings dreaming of a better future." "Your donation is a new spark of hope for Mohammed, Amir, Malak and their family." "Every donation, no matter how small, will make a huge difference." Please highlight my campaign by donating and reblogging and you can create a post to encourage others to donate Thank you for your constant kindness and compassion in our darkest times.Thank you, our children will be safe and we will never forget them. Thank you..My campaigns were documented by appsa @90-ghoset & @ibtisams"🍉💔🙏#youer

VERIFIED BY @/90-ghost (proof)

PLEASE SHARE THIS FUNDRAISER AND DONATE IF YOU HAVE AT LEAST $5 TO SPARE! EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS TOWARDS SAVING LIVES!

€22,766/€82,000

[scretladyspider]

🎃DONT SCROLL🎃

I've got like two weeks left to raise $1940 to stay housed and I’d be lying if I said I'm not scared by that. anything helps. please reblog- it’s free and could lead to my next donation.

venmo -secretladyspider

cashapp - secretladyspider

PayPal - secretladyspider@gmail.com

gfm - gofund.me/1ba08570

kofi- ko-fi.com/scretladyspider

patreon- patreon.com/scretladyspider

all stuff - supportscretladyspider.carrd.co

(venmo/cashapp/paypal are always best. everything else takes 3-5 business days. anything helps. thank you.🩷)