Image ~ April 10, 2015September 4, 2019 ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

I used to bike past a cemetery every day, and whenever I did I’d get this song going through my head.

Along with the Ood chanting “the circle must be broken.”

…somehow, my brain never juxtaposed those two things. Well, it will from now on, I expect.

Even before reading this, though, I always thought it was a bit odd how a song celebrating the circle of life argued against the “boredom” pro-mortality reasoning: “there is more to see than can ever be seen/more to do than can ever be done”.

(It is only just now occurring to me they might have meant more to see than can be seen within one lifetime, rather than within eternity. Probably because the part of me that read Ringworld at a very young age heard that line and immediately thought of the main character of said book, who swore to live forever because “how else could he see all there was to see?”)

(After writing that quote, I checked it using the Amazon “search inside this book” feature. Despite not having read the book in over a decade, probably at least half my life, I got the quote exactly right. Could be luck, but possibly Ringworld was more of a formative experience than I realised.)

Tags:

#reply via reblog #transhumanism

April 6, 2015June 12, 2020 ~ Brin ~ 2 Comments

tinierpurplefishes:

brin-bellway:

comparativelysuperlative:

Is it plausible to unfollow people and blame it on Tumblr? Asking because I just followed three people I could have sworn I already did. (Could have unfollowed on purpose and just forgotten, but, one of them is my sister. I am pretty sure I would have remembered that.) And since it’s Tumblr, anything short of meteor strikes could be this website’s fault.

The other bottom line is that if you thought I followed you and I don’t, I probably just think you haven’t posted in a while.

It’s worse than that.

You, the people who are successfully reading my blog, may have noticed that I just reblogged a bunch of stuff from this person. This is because it turns out that, even though Tumblr claimed I was still following him, his posts have not been showing up on my dash for about the past fortnight.

You might want to manually check the blogs you follow that “haven’t posted recently” to make sure they really haven’t. If you do find one that has, unfollowing and re-following works, or at least it did for me.

There are at least two aspects to this, as far as I know, tho one of them may have changed, and others may also be in play. First, tumblr’s new layout makes it stupidly easy to accidentally unfollow someone. Secondly, and this is the part that may have changed, but at least at one point there was a limitation that only the last hundred people you followed would actually show up on your dash. This is part of why I don’t follow back all the time, because I want to keep my follow list under that limit if it’s still there.

For what it’s worth, I was definitely still officially following comparativelysuperlative: when I went to his blog, Tumblr offered me an “unfollow” button rather than a “follow” button. I’m also only following 68 blogs total, and I’ve been following some of the blogs that have been showing up on my dash for longer than I’ve been following him.

(That’s…pretty horrible about the “only the last hundred people you followed” thing. Why not just explicitly forbid people from following more than 100 people at a time if you’re going to have that limit?)

Tags:

#reply via reblog #The Great Tumblr Apocalypse #Tumblr: a User’s Guide #(found this post in the notes)

April 6, 2015June 12, 2020 ~ Brin ~ 1 Comment

comparativelysuperlative:

Is it plausible to unfollow people and blame it on Tumblr? Asking because I just followed three people I could have sworn I already did. (Could have unfollowed on purpose and just forgotten, but, one of them is my sister. I am pretty sure I would have remembered that.) And since it’s Tumblr, anything short of meteor strikes could be this website’s fault.

The other bottom line is that if you thought I followed you and I don’t, I probably just think you haven’t posted in a while.

It’s worse than that.

You, the people who are successfully reading my blog, may have noticed that I just reblogged a bunch of stuff from this person. This is because it turns out that, even though Tumblr claimed I was still following him, his posts have not been showing up on my dash for about the past fortnight.

You might want to manually check the blogs you follow that “haven’t posted recently” to make sure they really haven’t. If you do find one that has, unfollowing and re-following works, or at least it did for me.

Tags:

#PSA #Tumblr: a User’s Guide #The Great Tumblr Apocalypse

etc because there’s so much more to lose.

April 6, 2015September 3, 2019 ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

comparativelysuperlative:

chroniclesofrettek:

theunitofcaring:

One possibility is having Horcruxes (well. backup copies of your brain stored somewhere). Which would effectively end death by most causes less dramatic than supernova. Another is eventually making people (who wish to be) substantially more durable. But aging might be a more tractable problem than either of those, so it’s possible we’ll have a length of time during which you can’t die of old age but you can still be killed. That’d be scary, i agree, but the worst outcome is ‘you die’, which is the outcome anyway if we don’t cure aging, so it’s still worth going for.

Identity gets weird once backups are possible. These questions get a lot more complicated than they sound right now.

It does, but I’m guessing most people would take the identity issues over risking inarguable death.

(Also I approve of there being copies of me even if I knew for sure that all of them are definitely not me. That part probably doesn’t apply to everyone else.)

Yeah, I don’t quite get why when mind-uploading comes up, the question people always ask is “would an AI version of yourself really be you?”. I mean, that’d be nice to know, but it seems to me that the much more important question is “is dying and being survived by an AI version of yourself better than dying and not being survived by an AI version of yourself?”.

I’m inclined towards “AI!me is not me, but she’s better than nothing”, but it’s one of my more open-to-persuasion stances.

(I’m not entirely sure why I find the idea of an AI version of me (who is not me) living on after my death to be comforting, but not the idea of a genetic descendant living on, since at first glance those would seem to have similar reasoning behind them. It’s probably to do with whether your descendant inherits your memories.)

Tags:

#reply via reblog #transhumanism

So No One Ever Thought it Pertinent to Mention There’s a Biopic of Franz Mesmer Starring Alan Rickman?

March 30, 2015June 12, 2020 ~ Brin ~ 2 Comments

diaryofasnowflake:

So it turns out as a movie it is pretty problematic and shitty but a good 25% of it is Alan Rickman wearing swishy cloaks trancing (or something like it) ladies who realllllyyyyyy seem to enjoy it. But he just keeps whining about healing the world and science and stuff.

This is for science.

And medicine.

Not sexy at all.

SHE WANTS THE T. (T=trance)

Goddamn that little handhold in a hypno context can just be the most intimate thing.

Ugh Hans Gruber Snape Mesmer Rickman stop making me love you.

Not sexual. Nope.

NOTE This character is pretty much moaning at this point. Because getting your blindness treated is hawt.

Prettttttty sure I do something like this in trance.

I guess this could be kinky but she’s already blind.

Like I said, there’s a lotta dis.

AW YEAH GET IT GURL AND BY “IT” I MEAN YOUR VISION AND THERFORE AN EYEFUL OF SEXY HYPNOTIST ALAN RICKMAN.

ALL THE FRENCH ROYAL LADIES WANT THE T.

Same.

Wait I think I saw a porno like this once.

WHAT THE FUCK HE IS MAKING A ROOM FULL OF FRENCH LADIES HAVE AN ORGASM. THIS MOVIE IS NOT EVEN PRETENDING MESMERISM ISN’T SEXUAL. WHAT IS GOING ON. WHY IS THIS MOVIE SHITTY/GREAT?

YOU TOO ALAN?

GREATEST.

MOVIE.

SCENE.

EVER.

In conclusion: Thank you, Dr. Mesmer. You hoped your work would cure suffering and disease, and eventually your legacy resulted in freaks like me getting off on it. And you got a shitty biopic that was kinda hot in a weird way, even by hypnofetishist standards. Mazel tov.

Also, Alan Rickman can get it.

SWAG

You hoped your work would cure suffering and disease, and eventually your legacy resulted in freaks like me getting off on it.

To be fair, this was totally a thing at the time. Consider, for instance, this extended quote regarding the morality of “animal magnetism”. which is basically a bunch of medical commissioners being extremely suspicious of how much resemblance hypnosis bears to sex. I think there might be other choice quotes in that book, too, but that was the easiest one to find.

(The book’s an interesting read, regardless. The late-1700′s conception of hypnosis described in the historical sections is pretty much unrecognisable from a turn-of-the-millennium point of view (my turn-of-the-millennium point of view, anyway), and even the “modern-day” (1890′s) sections are very different.)

Tags:

#anything that makes me laugh this much deserves a reblog #(‘Hans Gruber Snape Mesmer Rickman’) #reply via reblog #sexuality and lack thereof #though I actually don’t really find mesmerism hot #for pretty much *exactly* the same reasons that contemporaries *did* find it hot #orgasms are so not my style #too stimulating #not restful enough #I suppose this probably counts as #nsfw #oh and also #long post

Image ~ March 25, 2015September 3, 2019 ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

thelethifoldwitch:

Question: Why can one not Finite Incantatem death when it has been magically caused?

Finite works on most things, does it not? Undoes a Transfiguration, undoes enchantments, charms, hexes, jinxes, at least to a point. Where Finite does not work there is a counter curse, counter jinx, counter spell in some form.

Question: Why is there no such thing for Avada Kedavra?

Because, you see, if there was, it would not truly be death. Death is not an effect, it is a state of being. To kill the soul must be torn from the body, and how can that be undone? A soul torn free must pass on, or linger as a fragmented ghost of memory, and a soul torn free cannot return to the body.

Death, you see, is not an effect. It is a state of being. It can be held off, but when it arrives, and we each of us shuffle off this mortal coil, it is final.

— Excerpt from Revised Dark Arts: Theory of the Dark by Oscar Jefferson.

(Image Source)

Ah, wizard separatism. Dude needs to talk to some Muggles about resuscitation.

(Well, I suppose this might be set in a time before Muggles started figuring out some of the more basic death-reversals, but this is the sort of thing that even a modern-day wizard separatist might say.)

Tags:

#Harry Potter #my father was dead once #he got better

Hi Everyone!

March 8, 2015September 2, 2019 ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

kolzumi:

I just want to remind everyone in the US (excluding Arizona) that Daylight Savings Time begins tomorrow (March 8th, 2015) at 2:00 am.

That means that tomorrow morning, some automatic clocks (especially satellite-operated ones) will go from 1:59 am to 3:00 am. If you are awake during that time and see that change, do not worry! You did not lose time!

Try to remember to change your clocks tonight so that you’re on track for tomorrow if possible!

I’d really appreciate it if this gets reblogged so nobody panics due to the time change tomorrow. Thank you!

(Note: the above information also applies to Canada, except for Saskatchewan, which is already on DST because it is always on DST. Europe’s change is three weeks from now. I figured that if I was talking about the U.S. and Canada, I ought to include Mexico, but Wikipedia informs me that Mexico’s relationship with DST is too complicated to fit in this parenthetical.)

That faint sound you hear in the distance (or, if you are justice-turtle, the fairly loud sound nearby) is the sound of Arizonans laughing.

No matter. I will be eating dinner by sunlight tomorrow, and that is the important thing.

Tags:

#Daylight Savings Time #PSA #nearly time to switch modes on my brain’s Arizona<—>Eastern translator #(…close enough) #and turn on the short-term correctors on the European translators

March 4, 2015September 2, 2019 ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

jumpingjacktrash:

crazyhamlet:

lenoiretvert:

A lesson in Canada’s bilinguality.
Bilinguisme au Canada: une leçon.

French puns on products are seriously one of my favourite things.
Like, sometimes the french translation of a slogan is dumb and long and really bad. And sometimes it’s beautiful.

fromidable i’m peeing

When they’re good, they’re really good.

(When they’re bad, they’re Christmas crackers making “where does Christmas come before Thanksgiving? in the dictionary!” jokes, and straight up translating the English without stopping to consider that “Noël” doesn’t come before “Action de grâces” in the dictionary.)

Tags:

#our home and cherished land #puns

March 4, 2015June 18, 2020 ~ Brin ~ 1 Comment

comparativelysuperlative:

kneesbutt:

westfailia:

what if a catholic priest were to just bless the entire ocean would it turn the entire thing into holy water or do priests have an effective blessing range? does that range increase based on your level? can the pope bless the entire ocean?

so technically any priest could, but shouldn’t for pooping reasons.

source: my brother is in his 4th year of study at a catholic seminary, and referred to one of his professors.

So if there’s an emergency where you REALLY NEED to bless the entire Earth water cycle, you’d just need to make sure everyone knows about it and has a self-contained recyclable water supply somehow? If humanity ever gets reduced to a few besieged survivors, the vampires aren’t gonna know what hit them.

#this does count as using it as holy water I hope

Well, but there’s also the part about having to see the water, which could get tricky if you’re trying to bless most of the Earth. My first thought was “live satellite video”, but I’m not sure that counts.

Tags:

#the more you know #reply via reblog

March 4, 2015September 2, 2019 ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

harry2016:

HOLY TRINITY

fannishminded:

MULTIPLE people I am following are asking what these are, why we call them holy when only one has a hole. If they are made by the same company, and what is with us praising these.

I weep for you people, from other countries. WEEP.

Aussies may have Tim Tams.

EU may have Kinder and All sorts of fantastic biscuits.

USA? Has GIRL SCOUT COOKIES.

Not only are these things SINFULLY good, they are only sold for a bit over 1 month of the year, depending on region, that month of the year changes.

That middle one is Chocolate, Caramel Coconut. The left one is Peanut Butter, chocolate and sex on a stick aka crumbly cookie/biscuit.

You can eat em straight from the box, but pros? Pros eat these bad boys frozen.

And thin mints, man. that right one? THIN MINTS. You may have heard of these. Chocolate biscuit infused with mint essence coated in dark chocolate.

Yeah.

Those thin mints.

The Thin Mints for which every grown ass American on a Medical Diet cries for when they see a girlscout.

The Thin Mints with 1000 copycats, and not a one of them successful.

Girl Scouts, regularly boycotted by Fundies and Anti-choice nutters, not only taste amazing, but you get the joy of giving money to a good cause, while subtly flipping the bird at overly wound up fundie groups.

It’s like donating to Planned Parenthood and getting a box of double dark chocolate with fudge filling tim-tams especially made for them.

doctorcakeray:

The reason we eat them frozen is that we buy as many boxes of thin mints as we possibly can during that short sale period, and then store them for the dark months, like proud American squirrels.

landscapesclothesandfootball:

PROUD AMERICAN SQUIRRELS.

pjcalamity:

AMERICAN SQUIRRELS REPRESENT

kyliesparks27:

This is the greatest explanation of Girl Scout cookies I’ve ever seen

elenabernalt:

Hey… gives us some, haven’t you been told to share?

justice-turtle:

NOBODY SHARES THIN MINTS, BUY YOUR OWN ;-)

fuck I missed it again, I hate being broke, SOMEDAY I will have money during February and buy Girl Scout cookies

Are there any late booth sales in your area? I know I looked it up recently and saw that the Girl Scouts of Western New York (my nearest council) had booth sales going well into March.

Unfortunately, my parents have since decided we’re not going to NY again until April. :(

(For the record, Canada has Tim Tams and Kinder. The Girl Guides here sell mint cookies in the autumn, but they have a layer of Oreo-like cream on top, just below the chocolate coating. Since I’ve never been too fond of Oreo cream, I find it renders them inferior to proper Thin Mints.)

Tags:

#Girl Scouts #food #reply via reblog #I own a Samoa keychain #I don’t even *like* Samoas #but it was the only cookie keychain the Girl Scout store had left in stock #(I hear they’re called Caramel DeLites now) #(whatever) #(I doubt they taste any better) #home of the brave