[ SECRET POST #6914 ]

Dec. 10th, 2025 07:39 pm
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[personal profile] case posting in [community profile] fandomsecrets

⌈ Secret Post #6914 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


01.



More! )


Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 19 secrets from Secret Submission Post #987.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Family Skills

Dec. 10th, 2025 06:10 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The end of marriage?

If marriage goes extinct, it will be because it deserves to.

All these factors converge on one result: increasingly, women are finding marriage unappealing. They see it as a ticket to second-class status where they're expected to subordinate their own lives and dreams to the desires of men.


Read more... )

Get That AI Outta Here!

Dec. 10th, 2025 05:33 pm
yourlibrarian: Spock is annoyed (TREK-WellFM-pureglasscup)
[personal profile] yourlibrarian
1) In another sign of AI run amuk, I do the AARP Trivia quiz each day. I swear they have delegated its creation to AI. There have often been errors in the past, usually spelling ones, though sometimes also offering the same answer twice (out of 4 choices) -- which if it happens to be the right answer means you have a 50/50 chance of being wrong even when you're right.

Last weekend there were two. An "explainer" or "further info" box usually pops up after you finish a question. One of them just said "nar."But my favorite was the question "What is the name of dish where beef is cooked in wine." The answer? Coq au Vin. To boot the explainer mentioned that though the name meant rooster it was often made with chicken. Which is, as we know, beef. Read more... )

2) This is the first I've heard that Friday Night Lights is getting a sequel, or maybe a reboot depending on how you look at it.

3) Back in October my Garmin tracker just stopped working as I was biking. It didn't do anything the rest of the day and I figured its (unchargeable) battery was dying, since it was guaranteed for a year and it was almost exactly that. Since Garmin seems to be moving away from selling trackers, I decided to try a Fitbit as my partner was satisfied with his. However the next day, the Garmin was working again, so I hadn't opened or set up the Fitbit yet.

Cut to last weekend when it went out again while I was exercising. The Garmin came back after an hour but I'm suspecting that the battery is dying and so it's particularly stressed during continuous activity. It's probably been cutting out for some time, as I've noticed odd differences in step reports during days that are functionally the same.

Skipping over all the things I already don't like about the Fitbit, I decided to start using it alongside the Garmin. The first morning, before I even started exercising, there was already a 200 step difference between what the Fitbit showed and what the Garmin reported. Read more... )

3) Saw the last Mission Impossible movie and have to say I was pretty unimpressed. Of course, they were never my favorites to start with. I thought I'd done a review of an earlier film but if so, I can't find it. So this will have to do. Read more... )

4) As if people who need groceries delivered (likely those with disabilities or lack of transport) weren't already paying more, now there's dynamic food pricing in action. "hundreds of volunteers shopped on Instacart for identical baskets of goods from Safeway and Target. Of the 437 participants, every single one was exposed to algorithmic price experiments, according to the report. The investigation also found evidence of price experimentation at Albertsons, Costco, Kroger and Sprouts Farmers Market." " All told, the price variations could cost families $1,200 a year, based on how much Instacart says the typical household of four spends on groceries."

"Customers were also shown different "original" prices, making some savings appear larger, the report found, a concept known as "fictitious pricing." Amazon was sued this October for allegedly using this tactic during its summer Prime Day sale."

Also a shout out to Consumer Reports for being one of the few sources that can be counted on in this time of media greed, kowtowing, and chasing squirrels.

5) While I've noticed my grocery has these errors all the time, perhaps they're just a new business practice. The attorney general's office said its investigation revealed that during 2019 and 2023, Dollar General failed more than 40 percent of pricing accuracy inspections.

"The settlement also requires Dollar General to modify its business practices to prevent future violations of Pennsylvania's consumer protection law, the attorney general's office said. The changes include training employees, maintaining enough staffing to update shelf tags weekly and posting notices at registers saying the lowest posted price will be honored." "We are hopeful the corporation takes this settlement very seriously as Pennsylvanians expect to pay the price that is on stickers and labels.""

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History

Dec. 10th, 2025 05:59 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Corpse Roads and Coffin Stones

Corpse roads are paths over which one carries a coffin to its final resting place. Like crossroads, corpse roads are physical places with metaphysical properties, according to folklore. Such pathways are found all over the world, but the origin of corpse roads in Great Britain is a little more political than you might expect.


The post also includes prompts for stories set in such places. I agree that it is an unparalleled location for family drama, but that is not my best topic.

Poem: "Koinophobia"

Dec. 10th, 2025 05:52 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls and posted as part of a swap with [personal profile] janetmiles. It also fills the Questioning square in my 6-2-25 card for the Pride Fest Bingo.  It belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows.


"Koinophobia"
-- the fear that you've lived an ordinary life


Everyone wonders, sometimes,
if they're living the life that
they were meant to live.

You should be able
to question yourself
and get an answer.

Are you doing what
you feel called to do?

Are you doing things
that make a difference?

What nobody else can do?

Or are you just going through
the motions because it's expected?

If you don't feel that you are on
the right path, then the solution
is simple: just change course.

Ask yourself what you are
meant to be doing, search
for that feeling deep inside.

And then go do it.

That alone will make
you far from ordinary.

So few people have
the courage to make
that leap of faith
in themselves.

Along the way,
of course, you can
take more steps
to stand out, to be
something epic.

You might travel
the world, take up
a dangerous sport,
learn how to speak
endangered languages.

Maybe you feel compelled
to teach peace and attempt
to solve dreadful conflicts.

You might be even drawn
to save lives, and that will
always make a difference.

Perhaps you want people
to see at a glance that you
are not ordinary, so you dye
your hair, tattoo your skin,
wear unusual jewelry or
clothes of fanciful designs.

It doesn't matter how you
express yourself and all of
the amazing things about you.

It only matters that you are
your true, authentic self.

And that's never ordinary.

* * *

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig, p. 49. Simon & Schuster, 2021.

This comes after "Nementia."

Poem: "Nementia"

Dec. 10th, 2025 05:20 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls and posted as part of a swap with [personal profile] janetmiles. It belongs to the series A Poesy of Obscure Sorrows.

Read more... )

side-tracks off side-tracks

Dec. 10th, 2025 11:08 pm
kaberett: Trans symbol with Swiss Army knife tools at other positions around the central circle. (Default)
[personal profile] kaberett

One of the things I found yesterday, while getting distracted from transcription by regretting not having taken History and Philosophy of Science (or, more accurately, not having shown up to the lectures to just listen), was some tantalising notes on the existence of a four-lecture series entitled Visual Culture in Science and Medicine:

Science today is supremely visual – in its experiments, observations and communication, images have become integral to the scientific enterprise. These four lectures examine the role of images in anatomy, natural history and astronomy between the 15th and the 18th centuries. Rather than assessing images against a yardstick of increasing empiricism or an onward march towards accurate observation, these lectures draw attention to the myriad, ingenious ways in which images were deployed to create scientific objects, aid scientific arguments and simulate instrumental observations. Naturalistic styles of depictions are often mistaken for evidence of first-hand observation, but in this period, they were deployed as a visual rhetoric of persuasion rather than proof of an observed object. By examining the production and uses of imagery in this period, these lectures will offer ways to understand more generally what was entailed in scientific visualisation in early modern Europe.

I've managed to track down a one-hour video (that I've obviously not consumed yet, because audiovisual processing augh). Infuriatingly Kusukawa's book on the topic only covers the sixteenth century, not the full timespan of the lectures, and also it's fifty quid for the PDF. I have located a sample of the thing, consisting of the front matter and the first fifteen pages of the introduction (it cuts off IN MID SENTENCE).

Now daydreaming idly about comparative study of this + Tufte, which I also haven't got around to reading...

Cash Action – DORK TOWER 10.12.25

Dec. 10th, 2025 06:00 am
[syndicated profile] dorktower_feed

Posted by John Kovalic

Most DORK TOWER strips are now available as signed, high-quality prints, from just $25!  CLICK HERE to find out more!

HEY! Want to help keep DORK TOWER going? Then consider joining the DORK TOWER Patreon and ENLIST IN THE ARMY OF DORKNESS TODAY! (We have COOKIES!) (And SWAG!) (And GRATITUDE!)

 

 

Politics

Dec. 10th, 2025 02:39 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Congress quietly strips right-to-repair provisions from US military spending bill

Congress has released the final version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and critics have been quick to point out that previously proposed rules giving the US military the right to repair its equipment without having to rely on contractors have gone missing.

The House and Senate versions of the NDAA passed earlier both included provisions that would have extended common right-to-repair rules to US military branches, requiring defense contractors to provide access to technical data, information, and components that enabled military customers to quickly repair essential equipment. Both of those provisions were stripped from the final joint-chamber reconciled version of the bill, published Monday, right-to-repair advocates at the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) pointed out in a press release
.


Imagine that you are deep in enemy territory, your gear breaks, and you have no way to fix it.

Also, this greatly undermines everyone else's argument that once you buy something, it belongs to you, and you can do whatever you damn please with it.  The military was the best argument for right to repair.

However, it offers a huge opportunity to any manufacturer who wishes to scoop market share.  You sell the product with its user manual.  Then for those owners who want to repair their own equipment, you sell spare parts and offer classes on maintenance and repair.  People who want to repair things would logically buy from you instead of your competitors.

Birdfeeding

Dec. 10th, 2025 02:37 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is cloudy, windy, and chilly.

I fed the birds. I've see a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 12/10/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 12/10/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 12/10/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

RIP (Read In Progress) Wednesday

Dec. 10th, 2025 04:43 pm
spiralsheep: Sheep wearing an eyepatch (Default)
[personal profile] spiralsheep posting in [community profile] booknook
It's Wednesday in some localised linear timelines (more or less). What are you reading?

(no subject)

Dec. 10th, 2025 02:45 am
twistedchick: watercolor painting of coffee cup on wood table (Default)
[personal profile] twistedchick
Times are trying, but my cats are on the job.

Sweetie, who now looks like a furry tabby bowling ball with legs, comes downstairs to support my efforts when I'm on the weight bench. She has learned not to walk under the moving parts (the weights) when they're moving, which means I don't get a cramp letting them back down sloooooowly to avoid her. And she tells me she loves me and would I skritch ... there? Ohhh thanks. And asks to be let into the storage room to check for mice. Why would I say no to that?

Zoomy doesn't do that, but he has taken to shoving his favorite toy mouse under the bedroom door for me at night, so that I will have it to play with if I want or to sleep with. (I don't, but he doesn't understand a lot about humans yet. He's only about 18 months old.) I give it back to him in the morning, and then find it again later. He also curls up (during the day) next to me and sighs and sleeps with only a little whuffling snore. (I'd let him sleep here at night but it would screw up my breathing; he sheds a lot. A lint roller is a must with him, for use on anywhere he's been lying.)

Only a paper moon

Dec. 10th, 2025 12:00 am
[syndicated profile] kevinandkell_feed

Comic for Wednesday December 10th, 2025 - "Only a paper moon" [ view ]

On this day in 1997, Kevin was hard at work printing huge stacks of documents until he was up to his shoulders. What could they be for?... [ view ]

Today's Daily Sponsor - No sponsor for this strip. [ support ]

Good News

Dec. 10th, 2025 12:06 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Good news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.

What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?

Gaming

Dec. 10th, 2025 12:01 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
How a Board Game Exposed Barriers to Local Investment & Inspired Change

After facing constant roadblocks in opening a neighborhood cafe, an artist in Savannah, Georgia, created a board game that mimics the frustration of small-scale development. It was a wake-up call for local officials.


Games aren't just entertainment. They can be powerful tools for education and change.

Wednesday Action Log 12-10-25

Dec. 10th, 2025 05:01 am
[syndicated profile] 20sidedtale_feed

Posted by Issac Young

Another uneventful week.

Still playing Slay the Spire here and there. I’ve only beaten ascension level 13 over the whole week, and I don’t know how long it’ll take to beat the next one.

I’m starting to think that I should invest in a new game. The only game I bought this whole year was Balatro.

What’s everyone else doing?

 

(no subject)

Dec. 9th, 2025 07:09 pm
sholio: tree-shaped cookie (Christmas cookies)
[personal profile] sholio
Daily updates for Rec-Cember are going about as well as anything daily usually does for me, so I think I'll switch to weekly posts - say Thurs or Fri. That sounds like a plan.

I think what I'm finding is that writing one rec is actually not much less work than a batch of them, and the batch style is more fun for me because I don't feel like I have to come up with as much to say about each individual fanwork. Even though I know I could just yeet the link on DW and flee. Why are brains.

I'm really enjoying the event, though!

(In other news, it is cooooooold, and I am struggling with motivation for Christmas. Maybe I need to write some Christmas/holiday/winter fic. I went to a holiday concert this weekend with [personal profile] ellenmillion and it was lovely! I need more of that kind of thing.)

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