Notices by Ari "Two Elements" Jackson (arisummerland@beige.party)

This isn't about anyone on here, but what the actual fuck is going on with people right now?

So many of my friends are losing jobs and running out of money and losing housing and having all sorts of crises (well, me included, but I'm in a more fortunate position than a lot of of my friends in some respects).

I just feel like the world is losing its goddamn mind! It's all about money, it's all about extracting as much money out of poor people, especially, and ... yeah.

I did just have to talk a good friend down off a metaphorical mental ledge, and remind him that he's needed on this planet, and the shit that's going on will pass, even though right now it's really fucking painful.

What the fuck, man. Usually the shit doesn't all come at once for all of us, so we can help each other out, but my shit's fucked, because I lost that job on Friday, and now his shit is fucked, and well... fuck.

At least it was only 85°F here today? But I was inside all day on the computer getting my transcription work done. At least I got it done?

One thing I still absolutely detest with the fire of 10,000 suns is that #Apple products assume, when I'm doing dictation, that I'm ALWAYS speaking about people in my contacts.

I have not yet found a way to turn off this horrific non-feature that NOBODY WANTS. It's an issue when I'm sending text messages, and it's a HUGE issue when I'm doing transcription.

What I have ended up starting to do is: every time my #iphone or my computer puts somebody's name into a sentence rather than the word I'm saying (for example, today, I was saying the word "page" repeatedly in transcribing an audio file, and it put a person's name in there instead -- one whom I haven't even had any contact with for over 15 years -- "Paige") I will go into my contacts IMMEDIATELY, find the name, and either delete the contact or decapitalize the entire name. (Bye-bye, Paige!)

That is the ONLY WAY that I have found that can keep my sanity and stop myself from wanting to smash all of my Apple products REPEATEDLY at this point. It will even capitalize the word "the" in the middle of a sentence because it assumes I'm talking about something in my contacts that starts with that word!!!

No. I'm not going to turn on Apple Intelligence. Fuck Apple Intelligence. I'm convinced that would just make it worse -- and I don't need its prying little AI fingers in everything I do. This is bad enough!

I do a fair amount of transcription work each month, and this is the one stumbling block that has made my blood boil every single time. I cannot even guess how many hours I have lost correcting the automatic assumption that I'm always talking about people in my contacts!

Name by name, contact by contact, I am going to defeat this horrible bug (NOT A FEATURE!) that nobody ever even fucking wanted in the Apple universe.

#FuckApple #IMissLandLines #AndDictaphones

Do any of you #tech people know about any #online safety classes for #seniors that I could direct my mom to?

She keeps repeatedly making the same mistakes, clicking on websites that she shouldn't go to, and downloading things to her #computer that end up sending her spammy notifications about how she needs virus protection, etc.

She clicks on those because she believes they are real and they flash up so quickly that she can't see that the URL is a fishy one. Then she puts her card number in -- and then she gets money stolen from her. Then she messages me and tells me that she messed up again and asks if I can come "fix" her computer.

The answer is no! I don't have time right now! I am sick today and I still have commitments I have to meet until 930 P.M. tonight. My sister and I can't figure out if this is just a plea for attention, if she's bored, or just what the hell she's doing.

So here she is, getting money stolen from her because she's bored and clicking on the wrong things -- probably on Facebook.

No amount of conversation or information from her children is sinking into her head. No amount of chiding, putting a post it note next to the computer, showing her what the URLs look like -- that they are clearly not official -- nothing works!

We've had this conversation a dozen times and she's still does the same thing. She's had hundreds if not thousands of dollars stolen from her because she must believe that computers are benign and that *she's* not doing anything wrong online (she's smart, so she thinks she's smart about computers -- but she isn't). We've had so many conversations about bad actors that I feel like a broken record.

I have resorted to taking her computer away from her in the past. I got her an iPad with an external keyboard, which seemed a little bit safer, but she "hated" it.

This last year, she bought herself a MacBook Neo, which runs on an iPhone chip, so I thought it would be a little bit less prone to mom fails, but somehow she's still downloading things that shouldn't be on there.

I wish there were parental controls on computers for seniors! 😩😩😩

This amazing and unusual project is looking for a new home.

If anyone in the desert Southwest of the US has an interest in working on finishing a flyable, 12-foot model #zeppelin #airship, this #typewriter acquaintance of mine is looking to rehome his project!

His contact info is in the video description.

#NewMexico #Albuquerque #Makers

https://youtu.be/yrckoeT_xOE

@LoganFive Ohhh what a complete cutie!

Lots of love, cuddles, treats, activity to keep doggo from getting bored.

They do grieve loss, especially from their primary human; recognize and allow for that. It may take a few months of adjustment. Vet may be able to help with short-term prescription.

Can your mom still visit? Did she drop the dog off (as though she "forgot" it) or did you go pick it up from her? That also makes a difference. It may be weird for her to visit and then leave, but it may also be joyful?

GOONS were on our campus today.

The university is doing a decent job of informing everyone of their rights, but still.

These emboldened predators are ripping through our community and nearby communities and it's NOT on the news.

The local animal shelter has had to take in surrendered dogs from more than one family now.

I hate this timeline.

I know it is not #Caturday today, but perhaps it's #WhiskersWednesday. Got this adorable pic of my old lady kitty, Lily the other day. She hasn't been feeling all that well. It may be thyroid issues, but also, we don't really know how old she is, as she was in the shelter system for a number of years before I got her. Anyway, enjoy her sweet face!
#CatsOfMastodon

His sister has tried out the box now!

It's extraordinarily hard to get a photo of her because she's always very wiggly and quick and my house usually has very dim lighting. I'm working at the computer in the kitchen today, so I have the light on.

#CatsOfMastodon

Gaaaahhhh lookit this handsome fella!

I remain stunned at how lovely he is.

I'll be posting a short Loops vid of him soon.

#CatsOfMastodon

@hellomiakoda oh gosh, I've never made those! I would have to find some vegan marshmallows, but I think those exist... yum!

YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!

I have been without an oven since December 8th when the front glass shattered.

Finally!!! I don't even know what to bake first!

A quote from one of my favorite movies of all time seems apropos today:

"Shut the FUCK up, Donnie."

@cbarbermd Gods, these men are absolute cowards and traitors.

What could one woman do to entail a half dozen burly, incompetent guys ineptly mobbing her and breaking bones?

Ice must be abolished.

Problems with #insomnia?

I highly recommend anything read by Andy Serkis.

Not because he's bad! Oh no. Just the opposite.

He's *incredibly* good. He is stellar, excellent, astounding, fantastic, mind-blowing, one of the best readers ever.

Yet his voice is so damn soothing!

For a while for my troubling insomnia I was listening to the Silmarillion read by him. I highly recommended this one because of all the fantasy names and places that your brain absolutely *cannot* parse, especially if you're trying to fall asleep. He also uses a particularly silky, slow tone and drawn out vowels that I find incredibly soothing.

This week at bedtime I'm listening to The Hobbit read by him.

The way he does all of the voices in The Hobbit is amazing, so I've actually restarted the same chapter a couple of times in order to try to hear the whole thing before I fall asleep. I mean, it's not like I haven't read the book 2 dozen times in my lifetime and seen the movie almost as many times. I know what happens. 🤣

Still, his sonorous voice will soothe me to sleep every time, especially if I set my audiobook player to stop at the end of each chapter.

Gods bless #AndySerkis. He is a gem.

@theropologist Aw laws, Kris, so very sorry to hear about this *massive* double whammy. That is totally unfair of the universe to slam you down like that!

Shaking a fist at the sky on your behalf right now.

Thanks for the heads up, thanks for the update, and thank you for everything you do to keep our wonderful server going.

We're here; please reach out if we can help you in any way. I know I send a small amount to you every month, but I probably need to look at it and up it a little bit. I don't know what I would do without beige.

Hey everybody who reads this: please support our wonderful Admin and our server if you can! I don't wanna lose beige. I'm on a couple other servers, but beige is the absolute best.

Beige bless, everybody. (autoCorrect wanted to turn that into "beige blast"; I'm OK with that!) #beigebless

Am I doing this right?

#Plushtodon #Blahaj #Moopsy

@PhoenixSerenity Smart! I've done the exact same thing. It allows me to attend events, but not compromise my precautions.

@PhoenixSerenity I have had almost the exact same experiences. I usually also always carry extra masks with me.

@PhoenixSerenity 100%. I've bookmarked some really good articles recently that I don't know if I'll be able to send to my friends who keep getting sick over and over and over. They just don't want to listen! My family does not want to listen, either, and nobody even asks me questions anymore because they know I will infodump to them about how bad Covid is, and then, that will make them feel badly. But maybe they need to feel badly and rethink their choices!

Omg omg omg Northeast #Kansas #Aurora