Wrong: Ada Lovelace invented computer science and immediately tried to use it to cheat at gambling because she was Lord Byron’s daughter.
Right: Ada Lovelace invented computer science and immediately tried to use it to cheat at gambling because that was the closest you could get in 1850 to being a Super Mario 64 speedrunner.
Wrong: Ada Lovelace invented computer science and immediately tried to use it to cheat at gambling because she was Lord Byron’s daughter.
Right: Ada Lovelace invented computer science and immediately tried to use it to cheat at gambling because that was the closest you could get in 1850 to being a Super Mario 64 speedrunner.
My subs have those barcode tattoos, but it’s not some kind of slavery play like it often is…
See we’re got a complicated poly free-use situation going on with lots of extended polycule members who may drop in and want to borrow a sub or three for a scene or a month.
So we designed our system around the non-kinky institution that most closely resembles our situation, where we’ve got a bunch of individual “resources” that need to be loaned out to verified patrons and tracked so we can tell where our items are, when they are supposed to be back, if they’re late to be returned, and put holds on them.
So we’re using a library management program.
You just go to the circulation desk, scan your polycule card, then the subs you want to check out. It’s a simple and efficient solution!
We’re still having some teething problems with late returns, though. And it’s trickier than we expected to fill out the item description pages. How exactly do you categorize a bisexual transmasc painslut with a thing for puppy play into the Dewey decimal system? Still, the work continues.
sorry but. doesnt that just make it some kind of slavery play in the end…?
also HOITT
Nah cause for slavery play you gotta, you know, do slavery play. Roleplaying that you own a sub, purchasing a sub, that kind of thing.
We’re not doing that (in general, at least. I imagine at least one dom/switch has done some slavery play with a sub they were loaned). We’re doing a free use thing where any sub can be used by any dom in the group (with safewords and preestablished limits, of course. We’re playing, not running some weird human trafficking ring). The barcodes are just to help keep track of who is where and with who, because this got way too complicated for just a shared Google sheets page.
And you may think it’s hot but that’s probably only because you’re not having to maintain all this library infrastructure! This software is from the 80s and I’m running it on NT4, and the damn barcode readers keep failing to scan. They’re just not designed to read the lines off human flesh, especially single they kinda assume that the target surface is perfectly flat, which humans rarely are.
I did suggest we used contactless RFID implants instead of barcodes, but half the polycule wasn’t into the idea of getting an RFID chip injected into them, and the other half was way too into it. (the puppysub half, natch).
So I’m having to research alternate barcode readers, which is going terribly. Do you know what happens when you call up Zebra and ask them which of their scanners work best on human skin? If you’re LUCKY, they hang up on you! And explaining “no, it’s for a sex thing” does NOT HELP.
So I’m stuck here at the circulation desk looking at datasheets and trying to compare how good they are at low contrast reads and non-flat surfaces.
I thought I’d found a handheld scanner that’d work, but it turns out that if your skin is any darker than your average Irish vampire, it fails to work. And frankly this whole situation is weird enough without accidentally implementing a racist tech stack.
I really got to get my resource allocation bar code soon…
I could give you one but with the current state of my system there’s like a 20%-25% chance you’ll end up in 386 Inland waterway and ferry transportation
okay, this is amazing. but why can’t each sub just carry a library card of their own, like a “resource card” that they can wear on a collar/cuff/piercing/whatever? and that you could actually lay flat to scan? like, I see the appeal of the tattoo bar code, but for practical purposes of the functioning system, wouldn’t attaching a bar code to the sub on a piece of laminated card make more sense?
Cards are a great idea, and we did do that early on, but the subs losing them was always the problem! When a dom comes by and grabs a sub and then goes off to a room to do Weird Things with them for an hour or two, nine times out of ten they’d come back with no card, and I’d have to manually look them up in the database. It took forever, especially on busy days like weekends.
Piercings would be better but they fell into the same camp as the RFID implants: most of the polycule was bleh on the idea, and one small group was WAY too into it.
And frankly those people give me enough trouble as it is. The hucow punks are always asking me to fix their equipment, and frankly, no! I may have grown up on a farm and studied electrical engineering, but that doesn’t mean I have the slightest idea how to repair or maintain a milking machine! This kind of vacuum hydraulics is a mechanical engineering problem first and foremost, and that’s just not my forte.
Sigh. Being the asexual IT person in a big kinky polycule is difficult sometimes.
I have done some research into collars and I think they’d be a good option. Last time I surveyed the ‘cule, all the subs were fine with collars (half of them were wearing them at least part-time already anyway), it’s just a matter of figuring out some good options for sourcing custom barcoded/RFID’d collars.
That also means getting feedback from the doms about what features they want, too. The last thing we need is for doms to be taking them off all the time because they’re doing a scene that needs a collar with D-rings or something. So we’re gonna have to make sure we choose something reasonably functional.
A few doms want to go all electronic fancy pants collars but I don’t think we really have the budget for that, plus I don’t want to have to support that.
And the obvious choice of finding a local leatherworker to make us a bunch of collars won’t work because we’ve got some subs who are vegans or have leather allergies! I’ve been looking at a place on Etsy that has some good canvas options, and maybe they can do us a bulk discount of some sort, maybe with RFID chips sewn directly inside, like they already do with an airtag.
(which is something a few doms have put on the features wishlist anyway, so they can easily locate lost subs. Apparently it’s not all that uncommon for a sub to be, uhh, “played” to the point where they’re in a haze and can barely remember their name, and then the dom goes off to get them something to drink and a pillow or whatever, but the sub ended up wandering off once they extricated themselves from the scene, and God only knows where they are now. Maybe they’re off in someone else’s scene? Maybe they’re playing ps1 games down in the lounge? Doms are always asking me “where’s $SUB?” and all I can tell them is if they’re checked out or not, not where they are.)
Have you ever considered facial recognition software?
Far less hot then barcodes but possibly more practical
We have, but… Masks.
And not just the covid masks you’re still supposed to wear in the common areas! I know y'all take them off during the scenes, and that’s fine; you can take individual risks but I’m trying to keep this nigh-orgy from turning into a nigh-super-spreader event!
But yeah. Other masks are a problem. And do you really want to ask a sub that’s already halfway to subspace to take off their pup mask before they go off and chew on a bone? No! I’m not here to harsh anyone’s mellow, or ruin the moment.
I did think about putting in multiple pictures, including the subs in their various masks, but it turns out even that wouldn’t work. Even if each sub always only wears their own mask, often the masks are those generic black leather puppy hood things, so they look identical.
(In fact, there’s one dom who prefers that! He bought a bunch of identical puppy masks and does a thing where he sends one puppy sub to pick out one or two more, and put them in the same mask (with hidden gag) before being them to him. It’s some dehumanization power move thing where he has scenes where he’s got two-three subs he can’t tell apart, so they’re like interchangeable toys to him, rather than people.)
(you’d think body types would be a problem but it turns out given how many transfemmes we’ve got (because we move in herds) it’s not exactly hard to find a tall kind of chubby girl with a penis who is into being treated like a puppy. We’ve got a bunch of those gals!)
Are you using one of the cataloguing standards that are already established, or is it custom or proprietary? For example MARC records or the sort.
Yeah our system is set up for MARC records but we had to define a lot of new fields. Normally libraries don’t need to track if an item is straight, gay, bi, etc, for example, let alone if they are into being peed on.
People keep asking me to publish our schema so that other similar organizations can use it but I haven’t had time to clean up and document it yet.
I reviewed the MARC record standards and I think I have some guesses on what you’ve done?
Since Holdings are the most flexible, and thus probably the most easy to modify the software around …
I think we’re looking at catalogue cards like this?
Submissive format block:
0XX = Control information, numbers, codes 1XX = Primary names 2XX = Titles 3XX = Physical Qualities 4XX = Important Squicks 5XX = Notes 6XX = Favored Kinks 7XX = Other Subs That Go Well With This One 8XX = Favored Rooms 9XX = Reserved for local implementation
I wonder if your software has Z39.50 support, it could be cool to setup an ILL with different parts of the polycule based on where they’re centralized.
Ok but if you’re setting up ILL, you’re probably talking about at least a polyconsortium, not just a polycule, so you’ll need to harmonize lending terms between the local polycules. You’ll also need to set up a delivery network, because the last time I checked I’m pretty sure subs were NOT eligible for delivery through standard carriers.
I think if you’re at the point you’re cataloging you probably figured out Delivery in some capacity at some point. Subs are pretty easy to package up so I don’t think its too much of an issue. Also, isn’t that the whole point of making a record standard?
Yeah. we’ve got IPL (Inter-polycule loan) with some other institutions. This is somewhat tricky to do because we have to negotiate terms and ensure our bylaws can be matched closely enough that we don’t end up violating any agreements. Fortunately, that’s not my responsibility. We’ve got negotiators and lawyers to work on that. So we’ve got like 4 (or 5? I can’t recall off the top of my head and my terminal isn’t currently hooked up) other polycules we have free sub trade set up for.
As for delivering them, again, not my department. from what I understand there’s several drivers in the polycule who do those jobs.
How exactly it happens is up to the sub and gets negotiated between them and the dom and/or driver. I don’t usually have anything to do with that, I just coordinate setting their location as being the proper IPL location and make sure their return date is included. Sometimes I have to call my counterpart at their location for late returns, which is always Fun (I’m an autistic asexual! I do not like talking to people on the phone, especially Weird Preverts (like me)).
ANYWAY the one part of the whole sub-transportation thing that I have to deal with is the “kidnap” flag on the sub’s profile. One of the ways subs sometimes get transported is that they’re grabbed by a couple strong people who tie 'em up and stuff 'em in a van.
Obviously if their kink is for the “unsuspecting kidnapping” part we can’t exactly have them come in and coordinate how and when to do it, you know? So if they’ve got that flag set on their account, instead they just get called into the library or one of the main poly houses, with a fake reason. I think it’s usually just “Mistress Foobar wants to play with you” or “We need to do some annual paperwork involving your consent forms” and then when they show up, SURPRISE!
I don’t have to deal with the other transportation stuff. The Toys & Tools guy has supplies for that. They’ve got the usual extra-large pet carriers, and one of those foam-cutting tables so they can encase people snugly inside standard crates. That one is fun. I took a nap in one once and nearly got mailed to LA.
My subs have those barcode tattoos, but it’s not some kind of slavery play like it often is…
See we’re got a complicated poly free-use situation going on with lots of extended polycule members who may drop in and want to borrow a sub or three for a scene or a month.
So we designed our system around the non-kinky institution that most closely resembles our situation, where we’ve got a bunch of individual “resources” that need to be loaned out to verified patrons and tracked so we can tell where our items are, when they are supposed to be back, if they’re late to be returned, and put holds on them.
So we’re using a library management program.
You just go to the circulation desk, scan your polycule card, then the subs you want to check out. It’s a simple and efficient solution!
We’re still having some teething problems with late returns, though. And it’s trickier than we expected to fill out the item description pages. How exactly do you categorize a bisexual transmasc painslut with a thing for puppy play into the Dewey decimal system? Still, the work continues.
sorry but. doesnt that just make it some kind of slavery play in the end…?
also HOITT
Nah cause for slavery play you gotta, you know, do slavery play. Roleplaying that you own a sub, purchasing a sub, that kind of thing.
We’re not doing that (in general, at least. I imagine at least one dom/switch has done some slavery play with a sub they were loaned). We’re doing a free use thing where any sub can be used by any dom in the group (with safewords and preestablished limits, of course. We’re playing, not running some weird human trafficking ring). The barcodes are just to help keep track of who is where and with who, because this got way too complicated for just a shared Google sheets page.
And you may think it’s hot but that’s probably only because you’re not having to maintain all this library infrastructure! This software is from the 80s and I’m running it on NT4, and the damn barcode readers keep failing to scan. They’re just not designed to read the lines off human flesh, especially single they kinda assume that the target surface is perfectly flat, which humans rarely are.
I did suggest we used contactless RFID implants instead of barcodes, but half the polycule wasn’t into the idea of getting an RFID chip injected into them, and the other half was way too into it. (the puppysub half, natch).
So I’m having to research alternate barcode readers, which is going terribly. Do you know what happens when you call up Zebra and ask them which of their scanners work best on human skin? If you’re LUCKY, they hang up on you! And explaining “no, it’s for a sex thing” does NOT HELP.
So I’m stuck here at the circulation desk looking at datasheets and trying to compare how good they are at low contrast reads and non-flat surfaces.
I thought I’d found a handheld scanner that’d work, but it turns out that if your skin is any darker than your average Irish vampire, it fails to work. And frankly this whole situation is weird enough without accidentally implementing a racist tech stack.
I really got to get my resource allocation bar code soon…
I could give you one but with the current state of my system there’s like a 20%-25% chance you’ll end up in 386 Inland waterway and ferry transportation
okay, this is amazing. but why can’t each sub just carry a library card of their own, like a “resource card” that they can wear on a collar/cuff/piercing/whatever? and that you could actually lay flat to scan? like, I see the appeal of the tattoo bar code, but for practical purposes of the functioning system, wouldn’t attaching a bar code to the sub on a piece of laminated card make more sense?
Cards are a great idea, and we did do that early on, but the subs losing them was always the problem! When a dom comes by and grabs a sub and then goes off to a room to do Weird Things with them for an hour or two, nine times out of ten they’d come back with no card, and I’d have to manually look them up in the database. It took forever, especially on busy days like weekends.
Piercings would be better but they fell into the same camp as the RFID implants: most of the polycule was bleh on the idea, and one small group was WAY too into it.
And frankly those people give me enough trouble as it is. The hucow punks are always asking me to fix their equipment, and frankly, no! I may have grown up on a farm and studied electrical engineering, but that doesn’t mean I have the slightest idea how to repair or maintain a milking machine! This kind of vacuum hydraulics is a mechanical engineering problem first and foremost, and that’s just not my forte.
Sigh. Being the asexual IT person in a big kinky polycule is difficult sometimes.
I have done some research into collars and I think they’d be a good option. Last time I surveyed the ‘cule, all the subs were fine with collars (half of them were wearing them at least part-time already anyway), it’s just a matter of figuring out some good options for sourcing custom barcoded/RFID’d collars.
That also means getting feedback from the doms about what features they want, too. The last thing we need is for doms to be taking them off all the time because they’re doing a scene that needs a collar with D-rings or something. So we’re gonna have to make sure we choose something reasonably functional.
A few doms want to go all electronic fancy pants collars but I don’t think we really have the budget for that, plus I don’t want to have to support that.
And the obvious choice of finding a local leatherworker to make us a bunch of collars won’t work because we’ve got some subs who are vegans or have leather allergies! I’ve been looking at a place on Etsy that has some good canvas options, and maybe they can do us a bulk discount of some sort, maybe with RFID chips sewn directly inside, like they already do with an airtag.
(which is something a few doms have put on the features wishlist anyway, so they can easily locate lost subs. Apparently it’s not all that uncommon for a sub to be, uhh, “played” to the point where they’re in a haze and can barely remember their name, and then the dom goes off to get them something to drink and a pillow or whatever, but the sub ended up wandering off once they extricated themselves from the scene, and God only knows where they are now. Maybe they’re off in someone else’s scene? Maybe they’re playing ps1 games down in the lounge? Doms are always asking me “where’s $SUB?” and all I can tell them is if they’re checked out or not, not where they are.)
This is all very interesting but I do gotta wonder, where do switches fit into this system? Would they have to carry a card and collar and effectively check themself out before checking out a sub?
The barcodes are the same for subs and doms, so you can carry either (or both). It just depends on how you use it: either to log in (so you can search for and check out subs) or as an item ID being checked out. (I may have written about this already in one of the many reblogs, it sounds familiar).
Switches work fine in this system. You gotta understand that it has two separate but related purposes:
1. To help doms & subs meet up in compatible groups. You don’t gotta hang out in a common room and go “hey is anybody here into Reverse Bukkake?” and potentially have no one respond. You can just go type that into the search box and it’ll show you which subs we’ve got that’re into that, and you just filter it by availability.
The profiles of switches just list both dom stuff and sub stuff they want to do. So maybe someone will like to be a dom for sex but a sub for shibari, and obviously you’re not gonna meet up with them if you want to dom them for sex.
But it doesn’t have to solve the problem 100% to work. We’ve got one of those color-coding systems that are often used with free use situations, just instead of collars or whatever, it’s listed on their item page.
So while I said we’re a free-use situation, we’re… You know, sensible? Real people? Not a fantasy? (RACK and all that)
Like don’t get me wrong there are some people on here who marked themselves the equivalent of “feel free to jam a cock in me no matter what I’m doing. Don’t ask me if it’s okay.”, the majority are “yeah I’m up for the following activities, message me if you want to set up a sesh”.
So a switch might just be like “nah I’m only into that for domming” or “sorry I only feel like subbing today” and the dom can just go find someone else.
So yeah. Switches are just a bit more complicated than “pure” subs and doms. Their profile pages are a little longer, and you’ll usually need to ask 'em a question or two before you check them out, but they work fine. We’ve had enough switches to work out most of the kinks (no pun intended).
He’s got specific lacing advice for skates and tall boots and there are decorative patterns and I recently relaced my skate shoes for both a wide forefoot and less friction on the laces so it’s easier to tighten and loosen them but he also has lace-locking patterns so that shoes stay exactly as tight as you laced them the first time and it is just a VERY GOOD website.
Like. I’ve been buying shoes the wrong size because it’s often hard to find wide shoes but the lacing pattern for a wide forefoot means that my big hobbit feet actually fit into the previously too-tight running shoes and sneakers I had.
cannot recommend more putting secrets and hints in your creative work that you dont expect anyone to figure out
act like youve got a ravenous fanbase of a million people poring over every detail, cuz then if nobody figures it out you feel cool n smug knowing something nobody else does, and if someone does figure it out then its like theyve joined a secret society
I’m going to be at Alabama Comic Con this weekend!
Meant to make this post a fair bit sooner, but better late than never! You can find a full version of the map on the convention website here, I’ll be sharing spaces 423 and 424 with @bamsara.
Hope to see some of y'all there!
I’m gonna be at Alabama Comic Con this weekend too!
HEY if you’re wondering what I’ve been doing lately, I’ve been prepping for this con! Hope to see you guys there!
“So you’re saying that you can tell me an ENTIRE recipe of a meal just by tasting it?” The Taster stares back, silent. “Fine, try this. My Grandma used to make it.” However, even before trying it The Taster sees the dish and his eyes widen. “I was wondering when I’d see one of Her ones…”
Community admins can now allow moderators to invite new members too. Check out your community’s settings!
The ability to search for communities on web is rolled out to everyone. There’s a new dropdown option on search that lets you browse communities related to your search term on the web (this will be in the apps with the next update), and there’s a new “Related Communities” section in the sidebar on the web.
We’re recommending communities for folks who have already joined communities in more places, including a new carousel in For You.
Backdating posts has always had the potential to act in unexpected ways, so we’ve added new warnings about this.
🛠 Fixed
Ads in the iOS app no longer interrupt your background audio. Please update to version 36.4 for the fix.
When leaving a longer reply on desktop web in certain cases or mobile web on Android devices, the cursor will no longer jump up unexpectedly in the text area.
Custom domain verification emails were briefly not being sent September 18th. This was fixed and all pending verification emails were re-sent.
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No ongoing incidents to speak of right now.
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Experiencing an issue? Check for Known Issues and file a Support Request if you have something new. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can!
“Wait,which one was your ex?” “Firstly, we didn’t breakup and to answer your question it’s the three meter tall women thats currently winning the fight against an orc.”
I’m Sameer from Gaza 🍉🇵🇸….. I need your help if you can
Hello,
My name is Sameer Al-Nasla, and I’m a 17-year-old from Gaza. Like many young people, I had big dreams for my future. I was on the verge of completing high school, and my goal was to study medicine and become a doctor. Since I was a child, I’ve always wanted to help my people by providing medical care, especially in such a difficult region.❤️😁
However, the ongoing war has taken everything from me and my family.💔😔
When the war began, my family was forced to flee our home in West Gaza and relocate to the South. Life immediately became a struggle. In the chaos of displacement, I lost the chance to finish high school, which means I also lost my opportunity to attend university and pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. 😣💔
To make matters worse, the war destroyed my father’s business, which was our family’s source of income. Now, with no home and no livelihood, life has become a constant fight for survival. I’ve had to start working at a young age to help support my family of six, but it’s not enough to make ends meet.😢🍉
Every day, my family and I face the reality of war. Death and destruction surround us. Our health has deteriorated, diseases have spread, and we don’t have access to proper medical care. The suffering is overwhelming, and yet, despite everything, I still hold onto my dream.🥀💔
This GoFundMe campaign is my chance to ask for help from people around the world who believe in second chances and the power of education. I am raising funds to leave Gaza with my family so I can complete my studies abroad, become a doctor, and one day return to help my community.🙏🏻🙏🏻
Your donation, no matter how small, can change my life and help me rebuild a future that feels possible again. I want to make a difference not only for myself but for those who continue to suffer in Gaza. With your support, I can escape the violence, achieve my dreams, and eventually give back to those who need help the most.🙏🏻❤️
Please consider donating to help me and my family start a new chapter. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and support.🤲🍉🇵🇸
is this what it was like in 9/11. trying to reason with people whose entire concept of human decency flies out the window when presented with the possibility of causing the smallest amount of harm to a “terrorist”, no collateral damage is too large, no civilian too innocent, no connection too murky for people to deserve to die or be permanently crippled. people citing world war two urban warfare statistics to try to make a bad situation seem less worse and not balking at how fascist they sound
Americans are obsessed with punishment to an insane degree. people DESERVE to die if they support on hezbollah or hamas, regardless of whether their actions bring harm to anyone. if you’re a nurse or a courier or a fucking security guard in a place where the only political entity in the region has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States your life is forfeited. if your child or wife or siblings happened to be mutilated it’s your fault for existing. collective punishment and collective responsibility only exists for third world nations.
if you plant bombs in equipment you know with a high degree of certainty will enter civilian hands and be used around civilians, and you kill them or seriously maim them, this isn’t terrorism, only Arabs commit terrorism
Yes, this is what it was like in 9/11. If you said innocent civilians were dying, you got answers like “well THEY should have thought of that before attacking us” as if they’re one nebulous entity. This same thing has now been said to me verbatim about Palestinians the last couple of years.
Meanwhile people look at me like I’m crazy when I say we should at least make sure to minimize casualties, let alone what I actually believe which is that civilian casualties and injuries should be as close to zero as possible
i used to work for a nature center and we would constantly have wild owls come and call out to the owls in their cages and try to 1.) get them to follow them or 2.) they were looking for a mate
in the spirit of this post: when you live in areas with wild horses, the number one culprit for horse theft is actually other horses, because the young stallions that get chased out of the herd wanna start their own, and oh, look, look at all those cute mares in just,,,,a fenced off grassy area,,,how easy would it be to lure them over the fence,,,like some four-legged yodeling pied piper,,,
i think about this a lot
This is so cute wtf
Social animals will see another animal amd be like: Is anyone going to befriend this? And then not wait for an answer.
Humans are, delightfully, nowhere near the only ones who do this.
Seal: “Wait, who hired the photographer? Did anyone already pay him? Alex, go ask him to make sure to get a shot of all the kids together, and don’t forget to tip him.”
He’s got specific lacing advice for skates and tall boots and there are decorative patterns and I recently relaced my skate shoes for both a wide forefoot and less friction on the laces so it’s easier to tighten and loosen them but he also has lace-locking patterns so that shoes stay exactly as tight as you laced them the first time and it is just a VERY GOOD website.
Like. I’ve been buying shoes the wrong size because it’s often hard to find wide shoes but the lacing pattern for a wide forefoot means that my big hobbit feet actually fit into the previously too-tight running shoes and sneakers I had.
ALT
