Notices by Cait the Proud Trans Woman (oldladyplays@wargamers.social)

Question: Anyone out there with prosopagnosia got recommendations on how to learn to, y'know...identify people by their faces?

I'm only coming to realise now that my life has been one long exercise in compensating for prosopagnosia (face blindness). People show me pictures of before and after facial surgeries, and I can't see the changes. You'd think that'd be easy, but my eyes just slide off people's features or something. I don't know how it works, I just know I'm coping with it, poorly, and I want better strategies.

Mostly I use other things, like what glasses they're wearing, or how they typically style their hair, their build, their clothing choices, all kinds of things, to compensate for my inability to tell similar faces apart. But all of those things are changeable, and indeed often changed.

So anyone else out there like this? And how do you deal with it?

When I was in university, I did my fourth-year undergrad thesis on Russian literature. Specifically, the Image of the Machine in Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Russian Utopias and Dystopias.

A real page-turner, I assure you. And no, before you ask, I don't have a copy. And I'm not giving out my doxx so y'all can search my university for it under my deadname. If it were online, which I'm quite sure it is not.

Anyway, the point I came to was this: in the pre-revolutionary work, the image of the machine was as humanity's humble servant, freeing us to become as gods with our leisure time. In post-revolutionary work, the machine had evolved into the master, enslaving people to its needs for maintenance and supply.

And I got into some stuff about the psychology of Russians before and after the revolution as measured at the time (and those books were fun to locate!). That's not really relevant to today's discussion, so I'll leave it aside.

This obviously relates to my feelings about the current state of AI. We are living in what can reasonably be described as a dystopic present. And fittingly, the machine is become our master. We work free for its supply, and willingly sacrifice the planet and our own ability to survive to maintain it.

Is this a manifesto? In some ways, maybe. But it's really time that we thought about what we're doing, and what we want to do about it. Because the only way this stops is by us doing something about it. And the only power we have is our willingness to use the tools that corporations dangle in front of us to distract us while they rifle our pockets for loose data.

Or our unwillingness.

So be unwilling. Be noncompliant. We don't have to break laws to grind the machine down. We just have to refuse to feed it.

#StopUsingAI #RefuseToChooseAI

Alright, it's time someone said it directly. This AI bullshit is getting out of hand. We need to start working together and saying NO.

Any time someone tries to implement AI into your daily life, refuse. Do not comply. If we all did this, companies would realise it's costing them too much to play around with this terrible technology, and it'll get put away some until it's worth having. That may be someday, but LLMs are not that day.

I went to my doctor's recently, and she handed me a sheet telling me that they were using AI to record interviews, so they could use it to transcribe the interview. I asked if I could opt out, because it didn't say I could on the sheet.

Turns out I can, opt out I mean, and I did. She made some noise about wanting to spend more time with her family, but okay, with a big sigh. And I'm thinking, "you're a *doctor*. If you want more time off, take more time off."

And I've been doing this ever since. I turn off every AI that they shove into the software I use.

Why do I do this? Because their AIs are being used to scrape data for their companies. For free. All they have to do is come up with something that will save people a few dollars, and those people will jump in and use it "for free", not knowing the price is being paid by the patients, rather than them.

Because here's the thing: if they want my data, they can fucking PAY me for it. Why the hell should they get to just steal my data from me via my doctor, and make money off it without cutting me in? It's obscene, we wouldn't put up with it anywhere else, and we shouldn't here.

As long as generative AIs are based on theft as a business model, we need to eschew them completely.

ETA: Some excellent points being made in the comments about other reasons why these current AI are not what we want. I'm not opposed to the development of AI - I'm opposed to its too-early deployment.

@ascentale

Just tangentially...speaking as someone with serious PTSD, I'd be so appreciative if bike users would just make a little noise when they're about to pass me from behind. It's so startling when a bike comes flying past me in total silence (with e-bikes, this is happening more often and at faster pace). It means I don't like using multi-purpose trails, because I"m exhausted at the end from the hypervigilance state I'm pushed into.

It's just a kindness, is all, to give a ring or a friendly "passing you on the left" or whatever, when you're coming up behind someone. Most of the time, you'll be ignored. BUt some of the time, you'll be making someone's day a lot easier.

I understand and appreciate Sarah McBride. I think she's been smart, strategic, and done what she needs to. Look for examples before her of early Black members of Congress, who had to endure all kinds of indignities, but stuck to it, stuck it out, and refused to rise to the bait. History always remembers the dignity and restraint of those people who've done this work.

And be sure, it's only serious restraint that's probably keeping her from popping off like a whole fireworks show. It's the same restraint you see to this day in marginalised members of the House, who face numerous indignities with grace.

The Republicans are pigs. You wrestle with them on their turf, you both get covered in shit and mud, and the pigs enjoy it. They want to humiliate her and make her feel less than. She's refusing to be either of those things.

It would be immensely satisfying, I admit, to see her cut loose and destroy Nancy Mace and MTG with some epic clapback. But it wouldn't accomplish her goal. Like it or not, she's going to be the face of a generation of trans folks to the public.

She has an awareness of her responsibility, to *not* be the "angry and dangerous man" they want to portray her as, and she's keeping that responsibility tightly to her, so she can start doing some good for us.

Let's not attack our own for having a different approach to bringing about change. We need radicals *and* pragmatists to accomplish change. Dreamers and builders. Wreckers and disruptors. We need them all.

I found my passport this morning. I had thought I'd lost it, as I checked what I thought were all the pockets of my backpack and didn't find it before I left the hotel coming home.

Today, I did the laundry, and as part of that, grabbed a few things that had been in the backpack as laundry. And there, underneath them...my passport. Huzzah for unremembered pockets.

Now I can much more easily get it renewed before Dec 1, when it expires.

ETA: I just remembered when I got my first passport with an F on it. It was before my surgery, so I could travel *for* the surgery. Good for one year, then you had to prove you'd *earned* your new gender marker, or it would revert.

Anyway, transphobia aside, I remember looking at it, and the first thing I saw was nationality: "CANADIAN/CANADIENNE" (all our official documents from the federal government are in French and English). And I started crying right there - this was the first piece of ID I had been able to switch over, 12 years after transition. And there it was: CANADIENNE. For those who don't speak French, that's the feminine form of Canadian in French.

Only then did I notice the F, and cried some more, but the first thing I noticed was the nationality.

@Natasha_Jay

Well, the farthest right AfD came second in Saxony, but only barely, to CDU? And thus AfD probably won't be forming the government, but a coalition around the CDU (right wing but not *as* right wing as AfD). So far the cordon sanitaire (or firewall, or Brandmauer) around the extreme right has held...barely. No one will go into coalition with them, so they can't get the votes to form government.

So far, anyway. It's worrisome, though, because Brandenburg (also in the east) votes later this month, and AfD leads there too.

It's all pretty scary, for sure. That so many voted for strongly right-wing policies and politicians is a bit terrifying.

EDITED: My mother, two weeks after misgendering me for the first time in decades, sent me this birthday card. It's very kind and made me cry.

Dare to be your truest self
Answer your heart's desires
Unlock the dreams within you
Grace the world with your talents
Have faith in your own strength
Take risks for what you love
Embrace your unique place in the world
Recognize how amazing you are.

It's an interesting thing, getting old. I'm here a couple of years from 60, and realising that I've probably got just 20 years left before the solipsistic universe ends.

That's a weird feeling.

I mean, at some points in life, 20 years is a huge amount of time. When it's your game clock running out, it doesn't feel so long.

Anyway, it's not really relevant or important, just a reflection on a pond, before my skipping stone breaks up the image.

I haven't talked about Michael in a while. Things are going great between us. We're both deeply in love, very happy with the healthy loving relationship we've built. He's still away for a few weeks, but then he'll be back and we'll get to be together again.

I remain one of the luckiest girls alive.

@rooster With our proprietary blend of phytoestrogen-based technology and the Inflater Machine, you too can go from flat as a board to busty, hippy, and hot. Ask today for our list of testimonials!

"I liked it so much I supersized mine!" - Z, MI

"CLANGGGG!!!!!" - S, NY

I'd like to put one of Trump's lies in perspective, please.

In 2022, according to the FBI, 62 migrants who were in the US illegally were charged with murder.

In 2022, 1153 people were killed by police gunfire in the US.

So if there's a major problem with a large gang taking the lives of US citizens, I have bad news for Republicans. The kill is coming from inside the house!

#ACAB

@cmconseils

No no no no no.

She just found it there. It's supposed to be distributed by a strange woman lying in the pond.

Know your prophecy.

Found this picture online - it me, 1995, three years after I transitioned, eight months or so into DIY HRT (birth control pills), at the first Pride celebration in my city. We had 86 people out at the city hall rotunda. I do not remember what I spoke about.

I was 29 when this was taken.

Whee! Just had a brief email conversation with what I hope will be my next tattoo artist. Sent them the picture of the tat that I had generated by an artist, emphasizing that it's for guidance only, and that I'm seeking their own artistic interpretation of the concept.

I'm all excited now! Another couple of months and I should have my second tat - not as big as my first (which is quite large), but still pretty big (aiming for about 15cm/6", on my upper arm). For those who haven't seen the reference image, it is this:

To any of those with contact with young people who are out protesting for Palestinians.

When the cops come for you, like they did, with heavy hands and empty orders, they're doing that because the boss class wants to scare you. They want you to think that they're going to blackball everyone who ever got a charge for protesting from ever getting a corporate job.

1) This is bullshit. There are too many of you, in a full-employment economy, for them to shut you out. And if not, you'll find ways to start your own organizations, and build society differently that way.

2) They're doing it this way because they're afraid of you. They're afraid of your passion and commitment in pursuing something you know could damage a career. They worry about having employees like that, because your kinds of people become the seeds of unions. Of worker power.

3) Keep it up. Keep up the pressure. You're winning. They don't know it yet, but you're winning.

I can't be with you right now, because of my disabilities and health stuff. But I'm behind you. Cheering you on. You're doing the right thing, the moral thing, and doing so with deliberation and hard thinking.

Alright, subtoot time, but positively so.

A friend of mine with significant visual impairment pointed out that the lack of description on images is a cultural problem on Fedi, not an individual failure.

So, let me do a thing to help build that culture.

How I Do Image Description

I close my eyes. I look at the image first, and close my eyes. Then I try to describe it without looking. I find this focuses me on the important things to get the image across, without getting distracted by unnecessary detail.

It's okay to peek. I have a strong visual memory, so I'm good with one look, but not everyone is. But do try and see the picture in your mind, if you're not aphantasic.

If you are, I'm not sure if I know a way to help. I apologise; I don't know enough about it to know yet. I did want to acknowledge that not everyone can do this approach.

Anyway, that's my contribution today to creating a culture of image description.

What can you do to add to it?

#Blind #Disability #AltText

Spending my morning learning how to pronounce the names of my Polish friends. It's a challenge, but at least their orthography is pretty regular - no weird shit like silent letters (I'm looking at you, FR and EN), letters that change value based on placement (RU, we need to talk about Г), weird diphthongs (NE, what's with "ij"?), or other tricks of other orthographies.

It's challenging because the sounds are not immediately obvious to a non-native speaker, but once you learn the orthography (aka spelling), it's pretty easy.

A short guide to a couple of bits for those who want to play our home game.

sz: sh
cz: ts
ł: w
ę: nasalized e

Anyway, that's enough to get you going. Start figuring out how to pronounce the names of your Polish friends! It's fun and rewarding.

Now, the flip side.

Cis women! It's time you stood up with us to fight for trans rights. It's your fight too.

Why? Because it's all about bodily autonomy. Trans people are fighting for the right to control our own bodies. Sound familiar?

It's the same fight, women. We need your help, just as we give ours. We are in the same fight, and should be shoulder to shoulder about both our sets of issues.

The best way to fight fascism is *together*. The more of us fighting, the better our chances of winning.

I am fully infertile.

I want to get that out of the way up front, because it's true. I have no dog in the fight.

But I want to state, unequivocally and clearly, that I stand with those who have the equipment for giving birth on the topic of abortion, and IVF, and any other power grabs the right comes up with to control the bodies of birthing people.

For me, it's an issue we as trans people should be fighting as hard for as we fight for our own direct issues. Bodily autonomy applies. It's the same basic issue motivating both anti-trans and anti-abortion campaigners: control of others' bodies.

When we fight for abortion access, we are indirectly and directly still fighting for trans people. We're fighting for trans masc and AFAB enby people to be given full rights over their own bodies. That's the direct path. We're also fighting for the right for all trans people to control our bodies.

So let's stand beside our uterine neighbours, trans women. We are all in the same fight.

When I came out to my mother lo these many years ago, she accused me of always having been selfish. It hurt, right to the bone. Because I knew she was right.

What I didn't know at the time was that it wasn't my fault. I tried to tell them who I was when I was four. I was punished, and told not to say that again. I learned that I was on my own with these feelings.

So I concealed it. Hid away the queerness inside me, tried desperately not to let it sneak out. It was in secret that I built a stash of feminine things to relieve my dysphoria when I could get alone time in the house.

I grew older, my self-focus grew more intense. I was rejected by my peers for the most part, even when I was in a gifted program with other super nerds. I was the one who went home with an empty envelope on Valentine's Day.

They could sense, I think, that I was hiding something deeply. Not what. But they knew I was different, and that was plenty.

So rejected by my peers, I withdrew. I didn't do things for people, because people didn't do things for me.

I became selfish. When my father died, I became more so, in every way but one (as a lover). Meaning the vast majority of people only ever saw me as self-involved.

As time went by, I grew less satisfied with this life. Being masculine didn't suit me, obviously, and it was draining pretending.

After my undergrad, I moved cities. A classic time for major change. Within a few months, I had transitioned.

And discovered a whole new side of me. See, once I didn't have to spend my whole time trying to figure out how to relieve my dysphoria, I discovered I was anything but selfish. I am, if I say it myself, generous to a fault. I help people beyond my capacity sometimes.

But it is a thing I like a lot about myself.

My point here is: give trans people a chance to be us. Many of us are giving, kind souls, who will literally walk on shattered glass for our loved ones. Just gotta unbox ourselves.