So I got a cool new job and they will pay me enough to get back on my feet.... starting next week. Until then I am on salary and on call 24/7 and I cant really fit in gig work.

I need help with gas to get to work and home and food. Until next thursday.

I am asking for 200 dollars because you all have already helped a bunch with my last #mutualAid post. I am very grateful, but I am at work with a quarter of a tank and 2 dollars to my name.

Venmo: @nkwilczy
Cashapp: $montaagge
Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/montaagge

#transCrowdFund #helpPeopleLive #begPost

@mutualaid@fedigroups.social @mutualaid@a.gup.pe @mutualaid@ovo.st

9th of Owltober!
A little Boobook Owl had some unusual injuries but was reported as bright, recovering well, and full of life after care at Boobook Wildlife Shelter in Victoria, Australia. BWS accepts donations to the account no. on their fb page. Source: https://fb.com/202387785775473 #owlsintowels 💛🦉

"ChatGPT is adding real cartoonists’ signatures to fake New Yorker cartoons

OpenAI’s chatbot isn’t just imitating the magazine’s style. It’s also falsely attributing AI-generated images to real artists"

Oh, before all the models just had scribbles of signatures bc it was failing to reproduce the signatures

Yes, this is undeniable proof they stole copy written material and its not transformative. But copyright violations are legal when corporations do it with capital behind it

But not for you

I've just been informed that DuckDuckGo uses apparently LLM-generated descriptions of websites on its search results page. Yes, this includes NoAI version. I'm not sure it is coming from bing (the primary index). E.g., if you look up "comb" on DDG, it'll find you Wikipedia page, annotated with

Learn about the origins, materials, and functions of combs, a tool for cleaning, styling, and decorating hair. Explore the different kinds of combs...

And Cambridge dictionary, with this snippet:

Learn the meaning of comb as a noun and a verb in English, with synonyms, antonyms, and related words. See how to use comb in sentences and...

These sentences do not appear anywhere on the pages it found. Compare with Bing's snippet for Wikipedia result of the "comb" search:

A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it

(That's literally the beginning of the Wiki page, as it should be).

Edit: it might be Bing 3rd party API after all

@ketan when I was Corrections Minister, I funded a program that got dads in prison recording themselves reading audio books for their kids, to maintain the routines of home. The dads loved reading the books as much as the kids loved listening to them. One of the best things I got to be a tiny part of, I hope the program is still running now that I’m gone.

My worst nightmare happened today in NYC.

A Dominican Dad was shot feet away from his child by dirty cops.

School had just let out and ICE agents posing as construction workers shot Oscar Belgal as he went about his day in the Bronx.

The norm, ICE transported the victim under instead of actually calling medics, once at the hospital they wouldn't let anyone see him and he's ALREADY been wisked off to a concentration camp without complete medical care.

#TheBronx #FuckICE #NYC #OscarBelgal

I spent 14 years receiving NHS funded mental health treatment, being consistently misdiagnosed as having Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Depression. Then I had a breakdown. Then I got diagnosed as ADHD. Ta-dah! Depression gone, anxiety reduced, mental health has never been better. Earlier diagnosis would have saved thousands in NHS treatment and boosted tax revenue. But ADHD and Autism are over diagnosed? #ADHD #Autism #Neurodivergent #Neurodiverse

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/09/nhs-fonagy-review-autism-adhd-mental-health-conditions-care

One of our SaaS providers sent out a marketing email to all of their customers about new AI features. I replied saying that we used them as a secure solution and integrating things that add no value for our use case but add significant attack surface undermines our trust in their product and will cause us to consider alternatives.

It turns out that the reply-to header was the CEO’s email address and I initially got an out-of-office auto responder then a worried reply saying that of course the AI nonsense that they’d been talking about would be opt in and would not be given access to anything without explicit consent.

But now their CEO has one data point that jumping on the bandwagon will lose sales.

I’d recommend doing the same for any such marketing emails you get. The replies may go to /dev/null, but normally they have a ‘contact sales’ link. The more replies they get saying that incorporating ‘AI’ features undermines your trust in their product and makes you less likely to buy even the non-‘AI’ versions, the more they’ll consider these things high risk to ship.

PLEASE BOOST
I have a friend who is on iPad who needs a Mastodon app that can be used successfully with voice commands. He does not have use of his hands. He tried the official Mastodon app and finds it unusable. Is there another app that might be better? ACTUAL experience helps. Please don't Google this for me or try to give advice on using an iPad. He's a very advanced user. Thank you!

8th of Owltober!
Found on a busy road, this tiny Saw-whet Owl was scooped up for treatment at JLS Wildlife Hospital in Ithica, NY. After testing and rehab he was determined OK for release. Want to donate to JLS? https://www.vet.cornell.edu/giving/ways-give Source: https://fb.com/279924138530437 #owlsintowels 💛🦉

RE: https://social.lol/@love/117402488765790288

Closed Captions are pretty shite everywhere for the hard of hearing: On Crunchy Roll, the English subtitles are amazing when the spoken language is in Japanese, but the minute you switch to the English Dub, all that quality goes down the drain. Same with World of Wonder productions by Ru-Paul. English subtitles are absolutely generated by a machine that the producers don't bother to proofread before releasing, getting key terms and names and words obviously wrong.

the automatic subtitles on YouTube are not properly accessible. swear words being blanked out is not neutral accessibility for Deaf people like me. if the person in the video is swearing, we need to have that information conveyed to us, not [_____]. we are Deaf, not children. but no one wants to talk about this.

I dunno if people remember the ransomware economy thread I had on Twitter years ago, but one of the things I covered is all the “ransomware recovery” vendors who secretly pay ransomware groups and pretend they magically decrypt the data. They’re middle men for crime basically.

Anyway, one cybersecurity vendor (MonsterCloud) has finally had an arrest over it. Thread follows.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransomware-recovery-ceo-charged-over-secret-ransom-payments/amp/

While the press is full of reality tv and petit politics, the most heavily armed democracy on the planet has a midterm election in 27 days, and it's corrupt president has now banned international election observers that would prevent him from stealing the election.

While his hangarounds claim he must seize all voting machines because they have been hacked by China.

In short: The leader of the largest nuclear armed NATO nation is preparing a coup.

Wake up!

https://www.ms.now/news/trump-midterms-osce-election-observers

Guys, we have to talk about something: where are all these little gnats coming from

If I don't keep my car roadworthy and crash into yours, it hasn't gone "rogue", it's my negligence and I'm responsible. If my dog attacks you, I am liable. There are no rogue AIs, just negligent AI companies. Prosecute them.

Heads-up folks:

Here's a fashy UKIP 'stop the small boats' twat who trolls and sea-lions peoples threads.
He's also a pro AI shill.

skyhaven dot social is his own instance. See the attached screenshot with his snarky comment about someone reporting one of his misinformation posts.
Clearly there is also a moderation issue here.

#Fediblock

@alissaazar He who protects Nazis is a Nazi. A bar that allows Nazis is a Nazi bar.

I am so grateful to have reached the point of unmasking where instead of having to make an excuse to leave I can just say "Hey, this was so much fun and I had a lovely time. My social battery is now gone and I'm going to leave. But thank you so much for inviting me"

And also to have amazing friends who understand and accept that with grace!

#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD