Notices by Rosalín Anne (singingnala@dragonscave.space)

Apple is testing its in-house Chatbot Siri against ChatGPT https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/01/26/ios-174-beta-has-signs-of-an-ai-improved-siri-ahead-of-wwdc-2024

From my in-person online friend on Whatsapp: The button to accept the terms and conditions on the wifi is labeled "agree and submit" and I can't not read it in a D/s context.

@objectinspace @tjolsen Welcome to the internet of 2040. The internet is filled with AI generated porn of all types: visual, audio and textual. Nobody can get any work done because they're too busy consuming it. :P

Random thought: Gpt4 using friends who rely on alt text: What would you say to gpt4 to make it not sensor your descriptions? Not that I plan on sending it a lot of adult oriented images. I'm just thinking about Discord servers I frequent and the images that are likely being posted. Someone just tested me with a cartoon erotic image to see what gpt4 would do when describing it. And I don't think that's the last time someone might try and pull that on a blind or visually impaired person.

Initial thoughts:
My ideal birthday party. I've never had a birthday party, ever. Yes, you read that right.
* cake
* presents*
* being surrounded by people who genuinely care about me
* a nice dinner
* calls or texts from people who are curious how I'm doing
* Whatever normal people do on birthdays. I don't even know what people do to celebrate big birthdays. I've never been to a birthday party for a notable birthday.
Here's what my 35th birthday consisted of:
* a psychiatry appointment for medication at 10 AM
* A prescription for one med instead of two
* Lots of sleep
* Watching Two and a Half Men and Star Trek because I'm bored
* crying in my shower because I really thought, just this once, I'd get a birthday party. Like, even just a little something.
I'm thankful to those who left birthday wishes on my timeline. I'll be sure to make this next year the best yet. But I think the moral of the story is, I have no spoons for anyone else's birthday parties until I can actually get a feel for that experience.

Response from friend: First, a very happy belated birthday. Next, I've learned that unless you specifically mention that that's a thing you want, at least for me, I've found that the older I get, the more I end up putting that birthday party experience together myself. And also, the older I get, the more that typically involves less and less as well. So maybe one year, I'd have people over, but the next, I'd have less people come with me out to dinner. Either way, the fact remains that generally, it's me that has to decide what I want and where we're going. And if it's to my house we come, then still, those hosting details are still mine to plan out.

My response:
1. Honestly, lots of ex-witnesses have some tough feelings surrounding birthdays. I'm far from the only one in that boat. And I do realize that the norm, as we get older, is less and less birthday fun and having to ask for it. But I think most people are missing that when no one has ever shown you what birthday norms are supposed to look like, it's hard to know what's even appropriate to ask for. Birthdays feel like an entirely new collection of social norms that are familiar to everyone else around me but completely foreign to me. At the end of the day, it's not the party. It's the expectation that I'm supposed to know norms I was never really exposed to, other than to behave appropriately happy for an occasion I've never gotten to truly experience.

To be continued.

*virtual Nala shriek starts loudly and fades into the background* All, these images, with no, descriptions! *theatrical crying* All these image messages sent into the fediverse that are just, apparently not meant for those of us who can't see them. *sigh*

A gentle reminder to my fellow Mastodonians: Although you may not personally know a screen reader user, there are quite a few of us on Mastodon. Transparently, I don't boost posts without image descriptions because it's disrespectful to my core follower base. Most of which are screen reader users. Please keep us in mind and add alt text when posting images.
Thank you!
Nala

@nq4t Respectfully, my asking the fediverse for alt text doesn't inconvenience you. If you truly feel you can't describe something, don't. But, I challenge you to ask yourself, how would you feel living in a world with no images? You are claiming disrespect because I'm asking for equal access. Asking for equal access is not disrespect. Also, to your point, I can see color. I just can't see images. So saying something is blue is helpful to me. Respectfully, assuming disrespect from my request also feels disrespectful. Have a great day.

On Discord, regarding the show Worst Cooks in America, my chick buddy just said this:
It’s horrifying, someone cut thru an avocado seed and sliced it into circles, someone reached into hot water to pull out boiled potatoes, one person said they gave someone salmonella poisoning… I saw eggs being boiled in a ziplock… someone tried to use a knife with the guard on, there was SPRINKLES ON GREEN BEANS😭 it was my worst nightmare

I have, no words...

What are you doing with your extra tonight, US folks? Something naughty, nice, or somewhere in between? I'm just happy to sync up with UK and Aussie folks again, until somebody changes their clocks again. Hello across the pond. Hello down under. We love our English speaking siblings abroad in this house. :)

On the look-out for my next permanent gig. My employer has switched me into a contractor relationship. I have ten years of lead tester/junior dev level experience. If anyone knows of any good permanent testing or consulting gigs, I am open to opportunities.

It bears repeating. If you're like me, and you're always trying to make sure everyone is happy and getting their needs met, remember. You are a part of everybody. If other people are putting their needs on the figurative group table and expecting excellent behavior even when things annoy them, kindly remind them of this the next time you have needs that belong on the group table as well.

@feditips @luca I thought that tool doesn't work anymore with Twitter locking down its API's. If it does work, that's great.