Mystery Babylon

@infobeautiful@vis.social

• expensive

• inexplicably noisy

• jams things in odd places

@lapis I needed to see this literally tonight.

@Tattie@eldritch.cafe @jasongorman@mastodon.cloud All hail Toastface, our saviour! We'll never have to work again, thanks to Toastface. :5bc4c7a501b204cc:​

@williampietri@sfba.social @jasongorman@mastodon.cloud Yeah. I'm in a position where I've spoken to a lot of the people doing the behind-the-scenes work getting AI to even be marginally usable or useful, and than's being generous to it. They're not being paid Elon Musk money. Most of them make less than I do. There are real human beings inside that AI box, that aren't getting any credit for pretending to be the Mystery Machine that techbros are selling.

@inarticulatequilter@mastodon.art That's AMAZING

@horrowfide@godforsaken.website Cozy-ass room you got there pal

@crypticcelery @sashag I've felt some of that last bit, too. The people I know of (usually only tangentially, as most close friends are also acutely aware) who are like, finally slowly waking up to something being Really Wrong. But they're acting like they have time to have a cup of tea and mull the situation over. It's a bit like being in a bad dream, wanting to shake people that an issue is coming up behind them but they just can't hear. I've had to really learn for the first time in my life, how to detach. It is so hard. That feeling of responsibility for the whole world is just part of my wiring, it's not just some trauma-dent I can get rid of.

@murdoc @sashag :hug:

@sabrina @sashag r e l a t a b l e :blobcatcomfnight:

@sashag Hahahahaha just drag me by every single fiber of my being, why don't ya! This is spot on. :ablobcatgoogly: I've added to the emotional mess by actually leaving the U.S., so now I have a big dollop of survivor's guilt on top of it, mixed with terrifying levels of relief and freedom that I have literally no idea what to do with, having spent my whole life in that pressure cooker of a country.

@starhawk@dice.camp Ahhh, this is perfect. So much to look at. :amaze:

@petherfile @alice :blobthinkingeyes:

@joelle@social.joelle.us I became more able to express anger when I had to, but it was more like a block being removed from my inner voice, not that the anger got stronger. It stopped being expressible only as tears. And I was angrier for awhile as I got through processing forty years of being pissed at the treatment I got. But underneath it all, I am WAY less angry and aggressive now. Life just baseline feels better. I do also think that some of my anger dissipated because I'm not facing daily misogyny anymore. :/

@TarkabarkaHolgy This. Is. Critical.

@bullivant@mastodon.ie Thank you for letting me get it off my chest. I wasn't trying to lecture or anything. Most of the descriptions of his later life usually call it something like "hormone treatments." But I think other people who might not know the history of this punishment could take it to mean something akin to what cis women choose to help with menopause. But it was extremely violent. He was punished from the inside out. In light of what's being done to adults and kids right now, it just makes me angry. Sometimes I feel a need to push back on things that are accidentally too euphemistic for the homophobia or transphobia they represent, you know? Kinda like how "conversion therapy" is a total coverup for what's actually done. The main point is, though, thank you for posting about him. It is always nice to see Turing remembered.

@bullivant@mastodon.ie Metaphorically speaking, one could say that all trans people who are denied hormone therapy, whatever their age or gender, are being subject to chemical castration.

@bullivant@mastodon.ie It was murder, doesn't matter whose hands did it.

@bullivant@mastodon.ie Hit with the same bullshit law that sent Oscar Wilde down. RIP. Hormone therapy unfortunately makes it sound gentler than it is. It was public, state-ordered forced feminization. The hormone therapy gay men were forced to take, often also called "chemical castration", was estrogen therapy. It was designed to destroy his normal sex drive. In addition, it causes cis men to grow breasts, weaken physically, and experience the same crippling gender dysphoria trans people go through. As a trans guy, I really feel for him.

@Javier@ratherbemaking.games Perfect.

@nami@tech.lgbt How to get it done faster: Here's how to expedite the application by mail: Use our Form Filler tool, and follow the instructions for completing Form DS-82 if you are renewing, or Form DS-5504 if you are changing your name within one year of a passport being issued. Collect your supporting documents. Be sure to include the $60 expedite fee in addition to the normal application fee. See Passport Fees for more information. Clearly mark "EXPEDITE" on the outside of the envelope. The expedite fee does not include the optional 1-2 day delivery fee. Purchase USPS' Priority Mail Express for faster shipping of your application to us. Can I pay for faster delivery and return shipping? Yes. You may choose one or both of the following shipment options: Delivery to us: Purchase Priority Mail Express from the United States Postal Service for faster shipping of your application to us. The price for this service varies depending on the area of the country. Return to you: Pay $19.53 for 1-2 day delivery. This means you will receive your passport 1-2 days after we send it. Include the fee with your passport fee in your check or money order payable to the U.S. Department of State for fastest return shipping. Do not submit a return envelope to us with postage pre-paid. You may receive your passport and the supporting documents submitted with your application in separate mailings. If you are renewing a passport card, we will send it to you via First Class Mail. We do not use 1-2 day delivery services if you only applied for a passport card. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html

@nami@tech.lgbt From the US Passport website. Current processing times: Routine: 6-8 weeks Expedited: 2-3 weeks and an extra $60 Not including mail-in and mail-back time, which can each be a couple of weeks. In my experience, processing times can vary over different parts of the year.

@gobborg@defcon.social @nami@tech.lgbt Are you applying for a new one or a renewal of a passport you already have? If it's the latter, it might be useful to actually call the passport people for advice while applying, and/or submit a change-of-gender form at the same time (which was what I had to do). They were very helpful and respectful to me about it.

@nami@tech.lgbt This is a very, very good idea. Now's an awesome time to do it, too, before the summer-travel rush.

@christine This is the best thing I have ever seen.

@edendestroyer@solarpunk.moe I would be ok with this.