Ok jackson showing up to matt’s birthday party THE DAY AFTER being fired for embezzling $61K from the company objectively makes him the funniest member of supermega
Hey so it’s come to my attention that the Creators of Disco Elysium want you to share the game and not give the company who took over and fired them (illegally)?) any profits off of their ideas and work, and I originally joined tumblr 2 weeks ago when that post was going around about the Steam sale and how you should [Skull and Crossbones flag] it instead.
So.
in light of that.
Check the replies/notes of this post :)
I was informed that posts containing links in them aren’t findable in the search so i’ll just…. drop a link in a seperate reboot :)
first things first though, copy this key:
q4-EJ9G2DV7MYYI-Vs0KdQ
here’s the edited version with the captal YY in the key above!
Hey, do y’all remember how Tencent said they were developing faceID AI to identify people in riots, and then they suddenly created an AI art generator to turn your selfies into anime?
Do y’all remember that time that someone discovered facial recognition cameras couldn’t see through Juggalo makeup, then Facebook had a fun “see what you’d look like with Juggalo makeup” thing, and then facial recognition cameras could suddenly see through Juggalo makeup?
Do y’all remember how, on Twitter, Elon started a tirade against artists who ask for credit when their art is reposted, and he suddenly he created one of the first big art AI programs?
Do y’all remember how AI destroyed the field of translation, despite the inferiority of the machine translations, because people didn’t care about the quality of the translations? They just wanted it done for free?
Do you know how companies will see a lot of money going into a New Tech Thing (like, say, AI art apps) and will jump to try and implement that New Tech Thing into their tech? For example, how it felt like every big company and celebrity had an NFT to sell?
Item: Medallion of the Baby With Lobster Arms; allows the wearer to summon at will a baby with lobster arms, if for some reason that is a thing they wish to do
imagine the most meanspirited, unlikeable, rude, bitter, self centered, negative person you can think of. not a rapist, not a murderer, not an abuser. just a charmless, tactless, dyed in the wool asshole you wouldn’t want to spend two seconds with. now assume they get sick, not with the flu, but with a long term, serious illness that limits their ability to provide for themself. a society in which that person is left to die alone because nobody likes them on a personal level is a failed society.
and the thing is, no matter how likeable or charming or cute you are, peoples’ patience runs out. the friends who drop everything to rush you to the ER the first time you shit blood tell you to stop being so tmi the fourteenth time. people might give you a couch to crash on the first week after your shitty ex kicks you out, but by week eight, you better have another place to stay. people run out of time, patience, money, compassion, energy. there needs to be an impersonal option, a real safety net that isn’t going to dump you when you become inconvenient
no because when everything everywhere all at once said “‘alone I’m useless’ ‘everyone’s useless alone. good thing we’re not alone.’” and “in another life, i would have loved to have just done laundry and taxes with you” and “you think i am naive. i’ve been alive just as many years as you. this [love] is how i fight” and “of all the places i could be, I just want to be here with you” and-
something i really like in how carefully severance is constructed is the payoff for the seemingly fruitless acts of rebellion. like BECAUSE helly breaks the window trying to get a note outside for her outie to see, even if it’s not possible and will always fail and never work, that is what pulls mr milchick away, leaving ricken’s book in the conference room. when dylan takes the card (’laminated ideograph’) to hide in the bathroom out of curiosity, mr milchick wakes him up to see his song which gives everyone the knowledge of the overtime contigency. even though their acts of rebellion are inherently doomed to failure, it is in striving and through these acts of rebellion that they are able to create pathways to escape. it’s about the act of rebelling against the corporate structure, not the success or failure of that action. rebellion in and of itself is a success.
The Etsy Strike isn’t
just about the platform increasing its fees for sellers, although that’s a wild move for the company to make after bringing in record profits for two years straight. Rather, it’s about how these fees are structured to hurt small businesses.
In essence, Etsy is forcing independent artists to operate according to the same business model and practices as Amazon. The most egregious instance of this is the platform’s insistence that we offer free tracked shipping.
Shipping costs rose steeply during the past two years. The pandemic also resulted in significant delays, and the new regulations regarding shipping packages to and from the UK haven’t helped. To ensure “customer satisfaction,” Etsy now penalizes sellers who don’t include tracking on every order, even if it’s just a single sticker. In addition, Etsy is aggressive about its policy of burying the listings of sellers who don’t offer free shipping.
What this means is that sellers are expected to absorb the rising costs of shipping. We are encouraged to purchase mailing labels through Etsy, which generally overcharges and also levies additional shipping fees on the seller. To give an example of what this looks like in practice, an artist would be expected to pay about $4 in order to mail a $3 vinyl sticker. This is exponentially worse when it comes to international shipping.
In other words, this protest isn’t about paying a few more dimes to Etsy for storefront rent. Rather, it’s about how Etsy is forcing small business to choose between losing money or raising their prices to levels that would substantially decrease sales. Artificially inflated prices also effectively shut out artists and crafters who don’t already have substantial online followings.
This is only one of many instances of how Etsy’s recent policies and fee structures hurt small businesses and independent artists. The situation is especially upsetting because it doesn’t have to be like this. Although Etsy was never without its flaws, the platform was relatively welcoming to part-time and amateur sellers, and this inclusive environment resulted in record-breaking profits for the company.
Unfortunately, this profit has led Etsy to consider licensing itself as a storefront for large international distributors such as AliExpress and Rakuten, who are already operating on the same scale as Amazon. This is especially unfortunate because Etsy forbids independent sellers from reselling professionally manufactured goods, thus creating a double standard that puts actual artists at a distinct disadvantage.
Etsy is a major platform for independent creators, especially as competition to table at in-person conventions is at an all-time high and platforms like Gumroad and Kickstarter are quickly losing their viability. Even if you doubt the efficacy of a grassroots strike against a giant multinational corporation, I think it’s still important to stand in solidarity with the artists, crafters, and other creators who are taking a stand against the entire online marketplace becoming like Amazon.
not only have tiktok and instagram given everyone who makes art Content Machine disease, but the contentification of the process of making art itself (artists posting hyper-stylized tiktoks & reels about the process of making art, forced jokes about being an artist, and “lifestyle” tips on how to #selfcare (with the express purpose of not burning out so you can continue to make more Content) because that’s what the algorithm forces them to do in order to get any eyes on their actual artwork) makes me want to pull my hair out & scream & stab someone. something something the cannibalizing of the tail of the snake by the snake, squared. EVIL
