The TikTok ban looms this month, while it could still get an unlikely temporary reprieve from Biden or an even more unlikely permanent reprieve from SCOTUS. Either way, Hank Green (talking ON TikTok, but impishly wearing a YouTube shirt) points out that, whatever the government’s motivation for wanting to ban TikTok, TikTok itself is not…
Author: Clio
Dairy: “Can You See Me?”
“My friendships mean everything to me and the thought of having to do all that awful socializing to make new ones fills me with dread.” – “Can You See Me?” by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott, p. 153 As I’m reading this book, about an 11-year-old Autistic girl navigating her new middle school, one persistent…
My Custom Tarot Cards
Disclaimer: All base images below were generated by AI. I am aware of the ethical considerations here. I am sharing these for entertainment purposes only; these are not commercially available. If you feel any of these images infringes on your or someone else’s copyright, please let me know and I will proceed accordingly, including deleting…
The Ghost of My Mother
I My mother taught me how to needlepoint, but not to cross-stitch or embroider. Those other things were too complicated. She taught me to hook rugs and macrame, but not to knit or crochet. She* knew she was supposed to be able to do those things, but she wasn’t good at them. My mother taught…
Trans Rights and the Overton Window
Here are some possible positions on transgender rights: I have marked the position of these statements based on where I think society was perhaps a decade ago, before this topic became front and center in an ongoing culture war. The Progressive Left would likely prefer (2) to be the “Moderate” position. The Regressive Right is…
It’s Okay To Be Okay
My mother died this Sunday. By which I mean: The human entity which gave birth to me more than half a century ago left this mortal coil. She’d been in assisted living for several years. Late last year, she was classified as being in hospice. Last December, just after Christmas, my brothers and I (as…
idea
i have an idea:i’ll sell the bits of my brainthat contain all the unwritten wordsand let you sort them outit’ll save me the time of typingand realizing thatthe words on the pagedon’t shinequite so brightlyas the images in my head 11.26.24
Trans Rights and One Way Empathy
Here is a belief that is not a fact: All people are born “biological male” or “biological female”. Here is a fact: In the US and most other countries, when an infant’s birth is registered with the appropriate authorities, they are assigned “male” or “female” based on their genitals. In some cases, where the genitals…
On Smells and Danger
This is about a stress event that happened last week at work. It’ll take a detour first, though. It is a half million years ago. Protohumans are actively evolving, living in small groups. The world is full of dangers: Toxins in the environment, cliffs and rocks that can break bones, predators that can eat us,…
Some Thoughts on AI
NaNoWriMo is under fire for suggesting that AI tools might be acceptable under certain circumstances. Here’s my position. It is unethical to use AI tools to create works that you then sell as your own product. That is plagiarism. It is unethical to use AI tools to create works if you have the financial resources…