It's Very Endearing To Me How Many People Are Willing To Keep An Eye On A Video Feed So They Can Push

English is a difficult language. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.

Hello! Do you have any favorite fiction works that intentionally address/explore linguistics? (For example, the Arrival movie, or Out of the silent planet)

hmm i don't think i know a ton, but babel is an auto-rec for me (translation magic! also breaks your heart!) and i really enjoyed the original ted chiang story that arrival is based on, "story of your life." ann leckie's imperial radch series does fun things with pronouns too, although linguistics is much less central.

always happy to get recs!

A Number System Invented by Inuit Schoolchildren Will Make Its Silicon Valley Debut

Math is called the “universal language,” but a unique dialect is being reborn

In the remote Arctic almost 30 years ago, a group of Inuit middle school students and their teacher invented the Western Hemisphere’s first new number system in more than a century. The “Kaktovik numerals,” named after the Alaskan village where they were created, looked utterly different from decimal system numerals and functioned differently, too. But they were uniquely suited for quick, visual arithmetic using the traditional Inuit oral counting system, and they swiftly spread throughout the region. Now, with support from Silicon Valley, they will soon be available on smartphones and computers—creating a bridge for the Kaktovik numerals to cross into the digital realm.

Today’s numerical world is dominated by the Hindu-Arabic decimal system. This system, adopted by almost every society, is what many people think of as “numbers”—values expressed in a written form using the digits 0 through 9. But meaningful alternatives exist, and they are as varied as the cultures they belong to.

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idk I just love how we Young People Today use ~improper~ punctuation/grammar in actually really defined ways to express tone without having to explicitly state tone like that’s just really fucking cool, like

no    =    “No,” she said. 

no.    =    "No,” she said sharply.

No    =    “No,” she stated firmly.

No.    =    “No,” she snapped.

NO    =    “No!” she shouted.

noooooo    =    “No,” she moaned.

no~    =    “No,” she said with a drawn-out sing-song.

~no~    =    “No,” she drawled sarcastically.

NOOOOO    =    “No!” she screamed dramatically.

no?!    =    “No,” she said incredulously.

its weird being 18, 19, 20 in 2016 because i remember going into kindergarten and seeing those chunky ass giant computers at the desk and then going through school while technology rapidly develops and graduate in a world where people can have the entire internet and more just in their pocket like idk its so strange to me

Ars Technica

New Windows AI feature records everything you’ve done on your PC

Recall uses AI features "to take images of your active screen every few seconds."

I think every computer user needs to read this because holy fucking shit this is fucking horrible.

So Windows has a new feature incoming called Recall where your computer will first, monitor everything you do with screenshots every couple of seconds and "process that" with an AI.

Hey, errrr, fuck no? This isn't merely because AI is really energy intensive to the point that it causes environmental damage. This is because it's basically surveilling what you are doing on your fucking desktop.

This AI is not going to be on your desktop, like all AI, it's going to be done on another server, "in the cloud" to be precise, so all those data and screenshot? They're going to go off to Microsoft. Microsoft are going to be monitoring what you do on your own computer.

Now of course Microsoft are going to be all "oooh, it's okay, we'll keep your data safe". They won't. Let me just remind you that evidence given over from Facebook has been used to prosecute a mother and daughter for an "illegal abortion", Microsoft will likely do the same.

And before someone goes "durrr, nuthin' to fear, nuthin to hide", let me remind you that you can be doing completely legal and righteous acts and still have the police on your arse. Are you an activist? Don't even need to be a hackivist, you can just be very vocal about something concerning and have the fucking police on your arse. They did this with environmental protesters in the UK. The culture war against transgender people looks likely to be heading in a direction wherein people looking for information on transgender people or help transitioning will be tracked down too. You have plenty to hide from the government, including your opinions and ideas.

Again, look into backing up your shit and switching to Linux Mint or Ubuntu to get away from Microsoft doing this shit.

The Insects of Hawai'i - BBC Earth

‘3 things....’ asks!

1. 3 things you wish for

2. 3 movies you have rewatched many times

3. 3 songs that mean something to you

4. 3 topics you’d love to learn more about

5. 3 colors to paint your room

6. 3 characters that inspire you

7. 3 fruits that you love the most

8. 3 tv shows that you never get bored of

9. 3 things you like doing on a rainy day

10. 3 things you like eating with coffee

11. 3 books that you would recommend everyone to read

12. 3 apps you use the most

13. 3 classes you used to hate in middle school

14. 3 professions that you would like to try

15. 3 quotes that have a special place in your life

16. 3 drinks you consume the most

17. 3 tv couples you adore the most

18. 3 dream jobs you’ve had in your childhood

19. 3 animals you’d love to take care of in your house

20. 3 adjectives that you’d use to describe yourself

21. 3 things you are the most passionate about

22. 3 movies/books/tv shows that made you cry

23. 3 songs you listen to while cleaning

24. 3 places that makes you feel peaceful

25. 3 people you’d never get tired of

26. 3 countries you’d love to visit

27. 3 things you wish you did more often

28. 3 things you love cooking/baking

29. 3 characteristics of the person you aspire to be

30. 3 moments you could never forget

31. 3 types of flowers you love the most

32. 3 months you enjoy the most

33. 3 scented candles that you love the most

34. 3 people in history that inspire you the most

35. 3 vegetables that you like the taste of

36. 3 ways of traveling that you enjoy the most

37. 3 languages you would love to learn