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shadowkat1. If you are trying to figure out what happened on Tumblr (or what the heck it is):
Tumblr Ban On All Adult Content to make the Internet Safer Just Made Things More Dangerous
The Onion of course chimes in and makes fun of it
Tumblrs decision to ban adult content users -- results in them looking elsewhere
Eh, I agree with the Onion. There's other more legitimate places to find it -- such as Amazon.
Also, reminds me a little bit of the Battle Over James Joyce's Ulysess -- which is actually the whole reason I got obsessed with reading Ulysess. By the way, Slaughter House Five was also banned for similar reasons. I read both -- people over-reacted.
We live in a sex-obsessed society, that has odd views about the human body and bodily functions.
[ETA - an even better link via wendelah1.]
Tumblr Porn Bloggers Flock to Dreamwidth and Pillowfort
Eh, I take exception to the word "porn" in the title, it's really just NC-17 or NSFW content.
The bit in bold is why I'm here and not elsewhere. I don't like my content being regulated or used by evil marketing people. Also I like privacy and control over it. Once a platform takes that away from me...I disappear from it and don't use it that much. LJ took control of my content away from me completely -- I got pissed off, came here and deleted that journal. Ash Holes.
PillowFort...I'm sort of taking a wait and see attitude with. I learned to do that after trying Tumblr, Blogger, and Imzy.
Also they didn't mention Fanfic.net which sort of did it first, and the loss of GeoCities along with various voy and yahoo platforms -- resulting in Ao3. People were hunting places to put up their fanfic and art that was safe and private to share with people in the community.
2. Dirty John
Hmmm...it got more interesting. Deborah and her kids have just figured out the charming man she married is...well, not what she thought. Actually the kids have been on to him since the beginning.
My difficulty with it? None of these people are likable or remotely sympathetic. I think they deserve each other.
3. Heard a sermon this morning about not falling into the trap of thinking the internet provides you with a real connection with others. Because this can lead to isolation and loniliness.
Here's the thing -- I felt just as lonely before the internet arrived. It hasn't changed that any.
Do miss letters though -- although technically, I am still writing them -- just to a far broader and ever-changing audience.
Also, the minister stated during her sermon the following:
* She'd met her wife via the internet dating app (Tangle-Wire -- hmmm, never heard of that one)
* She'd gotten her dog via the internet (FB)
* She'd found the theology school she's going to via the internet (FB)
And her dis-satisfaction with it? Her father got ill. She kept family members apprised of his condition via a personal blog -- Caring-Sharing. And began to think because of this blog, which they were extremely grateful for, that they'd begin to accept and respect her life choices -- which they'd never understood or had agreed with previously. I'm thinking as I'm listening to her -- uhm, why would you think that? You aren't writing about it -- you're sharing news on your father. And honestly if people refuse to accept or be tolerant of your religion or sexual orientation offline why would they be accepting of it -- online?
It was odd sermon. And irritated me a bit. Yes, I know the social connections I make with people that I never see or can meet in person via social media are fleeting ...but that's true of people I meet face to face. Actually, and weirdly, I've stayed in contact with some of the people I met online longer than one's I've met offline. It has nothing to do with meeting them in person or just by personal correspondence, it has to do with commonality of interest and sharing a similar outlook in life and "wanting" to stay in contact.
Relationships take work, no matter if they are online or offline. If you never post -- you won't maintain the relationship. If you fight with the person every time they respond to you, or if they are always picking fights with you -- that relationship will die soon. People don't tend to like conflict. They don't like being annoyed. They want a warm hug or an interesting point of view.
They want to connect -- and you can connect through multiple ways. But don't expect to do it fully. No one will accept everything about you, and that's okay. It is what it is. We're all alone after all -- whether we feel "lonely" -- has little to do with whether people are next to us or far away.
Sorry had to vent, it had been bugging me and reminding me of why I haven't been to church in a VERY long time. I have not been liking the sermons. In protestant and congregational denominations, sermons are a big thing. In others, less so.
What hit me about my church, and the society I live in -- is the times aren't quite as dark as people think.
3. Which brings me too...the things that have changed in the past ten years.
* I was talking to my Dad about this the other day...
ME: When I first entered my workplace in 2007, there were only two-three African-Americans in my department, one was my boss and one an administrative assistant. He was the only manager. Everyone around me was white. There were only about five or six people who weren't. Now, in 2018, at our staff meeting there were only three-four white people present - and one was an Administrative Assitant.
Dad: Out of how many?
Me: Nine people. The three white people -- were me, another woman contract specialist, an administrative assistant, and an immigrant from Russia. Everyone else was a person of color. Five years ago, it was the exact opposite - one manager, one admin, and one contract specialist.
Also, we now have two black managers, one a deputy chief and one a Sr. Manager. Previously the second manager was a white dude.
Dad (laughs in glee): Take that, WASP America.
Me: Exactly. Most of my department is POC. Even the Infrastructure Department -- is mostly POC, there's one white guy -- and he's an Italian-American immigrant. This a huge change. Before everyone was white.
* At church...when I first joined in 2009...we had a White Heterosexual Male Sr. Minister and a gay, Junior Minister Religious Life Instructor...with a female intern. Most of the congregation was heterosexual, although there were a few gays and lesbians around. And a handful of African-Americans, but not many.
Now in 2018, most of the congregation is LGBTQA, or a high percentage. There are lay-leaders who are.
A higher percentage of POC, and the Sr. Minister is female, the Religious Life is female, the Interim is a Lesbian, and the intern is female.
An African-American Broadway Singer, who is starring in Waitress on Broadway, sang Bob Dylan's The Times They Are Changing...and I thought, they definitely are. I see it everywhere.
* Films -- there have been more POC high quality films dealing directly with race than ever before.
On Television -- the same. The casts of almost all the television shows are racially and sexually diversified. Just look at the Connors. Murphy Brown is weirdly behind the times.
I was listening to Jay and Miles Review the X-men, and was struck by a couple of things. First of all, Jay (formerly Rachel) has recently come out as trans-male. Transgender for folks who don't get it -- and I keep trying to explain to co-workers, until I decided to give up, is when your spirit doesn't fit your body. Or somewhere along the line the hormones/etc got it wrong. Imagine if you will what it would be like to be feminine but in a masculine form? OR vice versa? Add to this that gender in of itself is a spectrum and the traditional views no longer apply. What a lot of people don't get -- is we all have male and female chromosomes...but some have more of one than another, and some don't...and it varies. We tend to judge people who aren't like us, don't think like us, don't have the same makeup we do and this can lead to a lot of pain and suffering for everyone involved.
It's hard to understand -- for a lot of folks. Because you sort of have to knock your ego and brain into new territory. What I'm finding reassuring is our media is putting out so much positive content that is attempting to explain it. Content that used to only be relegated to fandom or fanfiction, is now out there in the mainstream. That's amazing.
Commercials and mainstream shows, such as the Connors, have transgender characters. Heck, General Hospital introduced a transgender doctor for the first time ever.
This gives me hope. As do the lyrics of Dylan's timeless song "The Times They Are A-Changing".
Tumblr Ban On All Adult Content to make the Internet Safer Just Made Things More Dangerous
Tumblr, a site long known for its independent creative communities, has announced it will be banning adult content on Dec. 17 — which happens to be the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, a day set aside to memorialize the many losses felt by a particularly at-risk community.
It can’t be stated clearly enough: Tumblr’s ban on porn will harm sex workers and other queer communities. Taken as part of an overall anti-sex, pro-censorship trend currently racking the internet, it’s even more frightening.
The Onion of course chimes in and makes fun of it
Tumblrs decision to ban adult content users -- results in them looking elsewhere
Tumblr's decision to ban all adult content from its site results in users looking elsewhere to share their explicit material
Tumblr revealed earlier this month it would be removing all adult content, including sexually explicit imagery, from December 17
Shock announcement came just days after Tumblr was removed from Apple's iOS App Store over child pornography issues
Ban includes photos, videos or GIFs that show adult content, including real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples
More than 450,000 people have already signed a Change.org petition urging the site to rescind its adult content ban
Other users have vowed to find alternative platforms to host their content, including Pillowfort, Dreamwidth and Newgrounds
Eh, I agree with the Onion. There's other more legitimate places to find it -- such as Amazon.
Also, reminds me a little bit of the Battle Over James Joyce's Ulysess -- which is actually the whole reason I got obsessed with reading Ulysess. By the way, Slaughter House Five was also banned for similar reasons. I read both -- people over-reacted.
We live in a sex-obsessed society, that has odd views about the human body and bodily functions.
[ETA - an even better link via wendelah1.]
Tumblr Porn Bloggers Flock to Dreamwidth and Pillowfort
Eh, I take exception to the word "porn" in the title, it's really just NC-17 or NSFW content.
Sexual content has always been a part of fandom communities online, from LiveJournal to Tumblr. These communities have a history of abandoning platforms that don’t support the free expression of adult material. It was LiveJournal’s crackdown on NSFW material back in 2007 that broke many users' trust in the site and initiated the mass migration to Tumblr, along with the creation of fandom sites like An Archive of Our Own. Now Tumblr’s facing its own porn-related exodus, because NSFW content appears to be at odds with its business goals.
For Baritz, the experience has been head-spinning. Pillowfort is still in beta, and this situation has become a huge test for the site.
If anyone understands what Baritz has been going through, it’s Denise Paolucci. As the co-founder of Dreamwidth, a web 1.0-style blogging platform that shares Pillowfort's user-first philosophy, she has seen a similar spike on her site this week. Dreamwidth is more established—it has existed since 2008 and has 53,595 active users (and 3,453,932 total accounts)—but traffic to the site also has surged by a factor of 10, she says. Many Tumblr users are tweeting about their plans to migrate to both Dreamwidth and Pillowfort.
Both sites adhere to an anti-advertising, anti-VC funding, anti-corporate model that is focused on user privacy, control, and freedom. That's what makes them such appealing options to many disaffected Tumblr bloggers, but the challenges they face underscore why the dream of an independent web is so hard to achieve, even when there's demand.
The bit in bold is why I'm here and not elsewhere. I don't like my content being regulated or used by evil marketing people. Also I like privacy and control over it. Once a platform takes that away from me...I disappear from it and don't use it that much. LJ took control of my content away from me completely -- I got pissed off, came here and deleted that journal. Ash Holes.
PillowFort...I'm sort of taking a wait and see attitude with. I learned to do that after trying Tumblr, Blogger, and Imzy.
Also they didn't mention Fanfic.net which sort of did it first, and the loss of GeoCities along with various voy and yahoo platforms -- resulting in Ao3. People were hunting places to put up their fanfic and art that was safe and private to share with people in the community.
2. Dirty John
Hmmm...it got more interesting. Deborah and her kids have just figured out the charming man she married is...well, not what she thought. Actually the kids have been on to him since the beginning.
My difficulty with it? None of these people are likable or remotely sympathetic. I think they deserve each other.
3. Heard a sermon this morning about not falling into the trap of thinking the internet provides you with a real connection with others. Because this can lead to isolation and loniliness.
Here's the thing -- I felt just as lonely before the internet arrived. It hasn't changed that any.
Do miss letters though -- although technically, I am still writing them -- just to a far broader and ever-changing audience.
Also, the minister stated during her sermon the following:
* She'd met her wife via the internet dating app (Tangle-Wire -- hmmm, never heard of that one)
* She'd gotten her dog via the internet (FB)
* She'd found the theology school she's going to via the internet (FB)
And her dis-satisfaction with it? Her father got ill. She kept family members apprised of his condition via a personal blog -- Caring-Sharing. And began to think because of this blog, which they were extremely grateful for, that they'd begin to accept and respect her life choices -- which they'd never understood or had agreed with previously. I'm thinking as I'm listening to her -- uhm, why would you think that? You aren't writing about it -- you're sharing news on your father. And honestly if people refuse to accept or be tolerant of your religion or sexual orientation offline why would they be accepting of it -- online?
It was odd sermon. And irritated me a bit. Yes, I know the social connections I make with people that I never see or can meet in person via social media are fleeting ...but that's true of people I meet face to face. Actually, and weirdly, I've stayed in contact with some of the people I met online longer than one's I've met offline. It has nothing to do with meeting them in person or just by personal correspondence, it has to do with commonality of interest and sharing a similar outlook in life and "wanting" to stay in contact.
Relationships take work, no matter if they are online or offline. If you never post -- you won't maintain the relationship. If you fight with the person every time they respond to you, or if they are always picking fights with you -- that relationship will die soon. People don't tend to like conflict. They don't like being annoyed. They want a warm hug or an interesting point of view.
They want to connect -- and you can connect through multiple ways. But don't expect to do it fully. No one will accept everything about you, and that's okay. It is what it is. We're all alone after all -- whether we feel "lonely" -- has little to do with whether people are next to us or far away.
Sorry had to vent, it had been bugging me and reminding me of why I haven't been to church in a VERY long time. I have not been liking the sermons. In protestant and congregational denominations, sermons are a big thing. In others, less so.
What hit me about my church, and the society I live in -- is the times aren't quite as dark as people think.
3. Which brings me too...the things that have changed in the past ten years.
* I was talking to my Dad about this the other day...
ME: When I first entered my workplace in 2007, there were only two-three African-Americans in my department, one was my boss and one an administrative assistant. He was the only manager. Everyone around me was white. There were only about five or six people who weren't. Now, in 2018, at our staff meeting there were only three-four white people present - and one was an Administrative Assitant.
Dad: Out of how many?
Me: Nine people. The three white people -- were me, another woman contract specialist, an administrative assistant, and an immigrant from Russia. Everyone else was a person of color. Five years ago, it was the exact opposite - one manager, one admin, and one contract specialist.
Also, we now have two black managers, one a deputy chief and one a Sr. Manager. Previously the second manager was a white dude.
Dad (laughs in glee): Take that, WASP America.
Me: Exactly. Most of my department is POC. Even the Infrastructure Department -- is mostly POC, there's one white guy -- and he's an Italian-American immigrant. This a huge change. Before everyone was white.
* At church...when I first joined in 2009...we had a White Heterosexual Male Sr. Minister and a gay, Junior Minister Religious Life Instructor...with a female intern. Most of the congregation was heterosexual, although there were a few gays and lesbians around. And a handful of African-Americans, but not many.
Now in 2018, most of the congregation is LGBTQA, or a high percentage. There are lay-leaders who are.
A higher percentage of POC, and the Sr. Minister is female, the Religious Life is female, the Interim is a Lesbian, and the intern is female.
An African-American Broadway Singer, who is starring in Waitress on Broadway, sang Bob Dylan's The Times They Are Changing...and I thought, they definitely are. I see it everywhere.
* Films -- there have been more POC high quality films dealing directly with race than ever before.
On Television -- the same. The casts of almost all the television shows are racially and sexually diversified. Just look at the Connors. Murphy Brown is weirdly behind the times.
I was listening to Jay and Miles Review the X-men, and was struck by a couple of things. First of all, Jay (formerly Rachel) has recently come out as trans-male. Transgender for folks who don't get it -- and I keep trying to explain to co-workers, until I decided to give up, is when your spirit doesn't fit your body. Or somewhere along the line the hormones/etc got it wrong. Imagine if you will what it would be like to be feminine but in a masculine form? OR vice versa? Add to this that gender in of itself is a spectrum and the traditional views no longer apply. What a lot of people don't get -- is we all have male and female chromosomes...but some have more of one than another, and some don't...and it varies. We tend to judge people who aren't like us, don't think like us, don't have the same makeup we do and this can lead to a lot of pain and suffering for everyone involved.
It's hard to understand -- for a lot of folks. Because you sort of have to knock your ego and brain into new territory. What I'm finding reassuring is our media is putting out so much positive content that is attempting to explain it. Content that used to only be relegated to fandom or fanfiction, is now out there in the mainstream. That's amazing.
Commercials and mainstream shows, such as the Connors, have transgender characters. Heck, General Hospital introduced a transgender doctor for the first time ever.
This gives me hope. As do the lyrics of Dylan's timeless song "The Times They Are A-Changing".
no subject
Date: 2018-12-13 04:53 am (UTC)I was following a few of your links on the Tumblr Anti-Porn move, and had one of those aha! moments when I saw the above. Oath? Is that the same Oath group that Verizon (and AOL and several other companies they own) are asking users to sign off on the Oath user Agreement? The one that, if you actually read through the very lengthy, detailed agreement, you'll find sections where they state that while you theoretically retain your copyright privileges on any material you post on a forum or attach to an e-mail, Oath retains the right to read your e-mail, including the capture of any attachments, incoming or outgoing, any content you post on their various forums, etc. and may use that content any way they wish without notifying you.
Uhmm, huh.
Now I'm wondering if Verizon is just pulling Tumblr's strings here, being afraid of getting caught accidentally purloining something legally problematic for them.
OH, and just as a sideline matter, a few weeks ago I woke up and found my (landline) phone not functioning. I borrowed a phone from a neighbor, called Verizon, worked my way past the robot you're forced to deal with before you can talk to a human, told them of my plight, and was informed that it would be 5 days until they would send someone to fix it. Five Days.
Gonna be ditching these losers sometime in January or February. Much as I dislike Comcast (the only other really practical alternative here for internet, and they also do phone) they are still far less miserable to deal with, and quite frankly may be cheaper, and certainly faster for the internet part.
"Verizon! The Most Reliable Network!" Yeah, right.
For some interesting reading, do a search engine query on "Verizon Landline Lawsuits" and see what pops up, such as this little gem:
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/04/verizons-fiber-is-the-only-fix-program-upgrades-old-copper-lines/
no subject
Date: 2018-12-13 05:54 pm (UTC)Once again you validated my reasons for not using Verizon or switching to Verizon for anything. I'm currently with Altrice/Optimum for landline, cable, internet and T-Mobile for smartphone. Left Verizon in the dust in 2013 - they have the worst customer service on the planet.
The one that, if you actually read through the very lengthy, detailed agreement, you'll find sections where they state that while you theoretically retain your copyright privileges on any material you post on a forum or attach to an e-mail, Oath retains the right to read your e-mail, including the capture of any attachments, incoming or outgoing, any content you post on their various forums, etc. and may use that content any way they wish without notifying you.
All I can tell you for certain, is Tumblr also has that statement in front of their site. Which is --- we own anything you post and can do with it whatsoever we wish, as does LJ, which also states, we own whatever you post and can do what we wish with it -- well unless you pay us, then maybe not. Hence the reason I stopped using either site. I'm picky about who owns the copyright to what I'm writing. Some people aren't, but I am. ;-)