Arachne 🏳️‍🌈

It's that time! Vote in the annual Locus Awards Poll & Survey to determine the winners of the 2026 awards (tickets available now)!

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I love good news!! I hoard it like treasure. 💰

A consequence I was not expecting.

If anything ANYTHING good can come from this absolutely senseless horror of a war, maybe it will be that some countries decide solar and wind are the safer bet.

I don’t think we talk enough about how the foundational, most aspirational premise of the AI industry is “what if there was a human-level intelligence that didn’t have human rights.” Like. Exploitation is literally the whole point! Of COURSE they hold human life, intelligence and labour in contempt!

Massive fires on two oil tankers after attack in Iraqi waters Two foreign tankers were seen ablaze in Iraqi territorial waters after a strike near the al-Faw port.

As a species, we need to be done with oil as a source of fuel.

We need to just walk away from it.

TOADS!!! Thank you for helping them!! 😍

Lots of folks asking how to join the class. My lawyers' emails and contact-form here. As well as the complaint if you want to take a look.

prf-law.com/current-case...

InternetNZ shouldn’t be the battleground of a ‘free speech’-inspired culture war Why is the members-run not-for-profit that manages the .nz domain the target of a campaign against 'censorship'?

Last year, the Free Speech Union tried to take over InternetNZ. They failed, but it looks like they are having another go.

thespinoff.co.nz/internet/04-... 2/2

Yeah, in times of shit-hitting-the-fan there's nothing you can do, really. Best of luck!! 🤞🤞🤞

I wouldn't say my life is calm, but I do try to actively make it calmer by saying 'no' to most things.

Grammarly Is Facing a Class Action Lawsuit Over Its AI ‘Expert Review’ Feature The feature, which Grammarly shut down Wednesday, presented editing suggestions as if they came from established authors and academics—without their consent.

So many of us are absolutely FIGHTING not to use this stuff and tech companies keep shoving it into every application. Making most programs harder to use, less helpful, more expensive, and more environmentally destructive. It's maddening!

An open letter to Grammarly and other plagiarists, thieves and slop merchants To everyone at Grammarly, I am writing a book right now, a really challenging endeavor that no doubt someone in Silicon Valley will think it’s fine to steal the day it’s published. I’ve been a profes...

“You should be ashamed of where you work. Not just Grammarly or Superhuman or whatever comically dumb name you come up with next. Almost everyone running tech firms, most people in positions of responsibility … congrats, you’re all making the world a worse place.”

- @moryan.bsky.social

In the history of human invention there have been countless tools fashioned which proved to be useless, counterproductive, or harmful. And we have abandoned or reinvented them to be something better. Just because someone made a thing doesn't mean we have no choice but to use it.

As people shift to letting AI “assist” them, I think a lot about how tools change you to accommodate them. The frustration of constantly battling intrusive suggestions leads to giving in and letting it have its way

I wonder if they knew they might be sued, but decided it was worth the risk to offer the feature? The fines imposed by courts are never enough to really hurt a company's bottom line (see Anthropic).

How in the hell did no lawyer suggest to them this would happen?

I honestly think the position of big tech is to just do the thing, and only stop if you force them, and then just pay any "fee" imposed by lawsuits which is never enough to really hurt their bottom line.

An EXCELLENT reason never to use AI tools in your writing. It doesn't just change HOW you express yourself, it can prompt you to change what you mean in the first place.
What I'm suggesting is: you should not be using Grammarly.

Grammarly Is Pulling Down Its Explosively Controversial Feature That Impersonates Writers Without Their Permission Shishir Mehrotra, CEO of Grammarly's owner Superhuman, has announced that the company is "disabling" a feature that impersonated journalists.

"Nonetheless, the company’s use of people’s names without their sign-off became a bitter flashpoint in the AI discourse."

SLOPPELGANGER omg 😁

Better yet, you can just email expertoptout@superhuman.com and say you opt out without bothering to find out if you’re there

Absolutely dying at the number of people here who think you are asking what Lorem Ipsum is 😂

Grammarly's presentation of something they call Expert Review, including my name (plus Stephen King's, plus Mary Norris's), though to be sure I've never been contacted by Grammarly, much less compensated.

What in the absolute fuck is this.

I want to see Stephen King bankrupt Grammarly with lawsuits.

Omg GET THEM. Please!! For all of us little guys who will also get ripped off but can't do anything about it.

Who?

Also, I have yet to see a non-paywalled explanation of HOW to opt out of this if you don't own Grammarly, so I feel like this "option" is fairly intangible.

Universal Basic Income

A young black racer snake in dormant grass and leaves. It's holding its head up out of the grass like Nessie.

Yard Nessie is back. I tried to get closer, but it casually escaped under the shed.

This is soon!! Hear Mary Robinette Kowal narrate stories about lesbians exploring space, all we have to do is get it funded.
Very cool!! 🧡🤍🩷
🌈📚
@wctracy.bsky.social @maryrobinettekowal.com