(I started a separate account for my Disneybounds and cosplays and general nerdy stuff because I didn't want to explain myself to my cousin in Japan, who had started following me on Instagram.

I *could* have, and maybe should have, set my Disneybound/cosplay account to private, but sometimes I get tagged in group photos, and also I personally find it convenient when people I encounter at meet-ups have public Instagram accounts so I can be all "oh yeah, that's where I know that person from" or "that person seemed nice at the lightsaber meet-up, I'm glad to see via their stories that we have similar beliefs and values".)

The Instagram/Meta algorithm recommended that my mother-in-law look at my cosplay/Disneybounding Instagram account and I'm not sure I've ever felt so betrayed by anything in all my life

I woke up to a comment so smug, so perfectly soaked in gatekeeping and faux-righteous posturing, it earned its own blog post.
You want freedom? You want GNU/Linux to mean something?
Then maybe start by not telling disabled users to go fuck themselves with a smile.
This commenter thought they were defending "software freedom." What they were really doing was kicking people out of the room. Dismissing accessibility. Mocking effort. Pretending that cruelty is some kind of rite of passage. They quoted Stallman like it was scripture, ignored real-world experience like it was noise, and wrapped it all in condescension dressed as virtue.
I’ve spent over a decade in this ecosystem. Writing patches. Rebuilding broken stacks. Helping blind users boot systems upstream doesn’t even test. I didn’t "just install Arch and whine about the terminal." I lived in it. I survived it. I held it together when maintainers disappeared and no one else gave a damn.
But apparently, because I didn’t call it GNU/Linux™ and because I dared to talk about how this OS chews people up and spits them out, I’m lazy. I’m weak. I should "get a dog."
So I wrote a response. Line by line. No mercy. No euphemisms.
This isn’t just about one comment. This is about every time someone’s been told they don’t belong because they couldn’t learn fast enough, code well enough, or survive long enough. It’s about everyone who was pushed out while the gatekeepers patted themselves on the back for "preserving the spirit of free software."
You want a free system? Start by making it livable. Because freedom that demands you crawl bleeding through a broken bootloader isn’t freedom. It’s abandonment dressed in ideology.
And if this kind of gatekeeping is your idea of community?
You can keep it.
https://fireborn.mataroa.blog/blog/you-dont-own-the-word-freedom-a-full-burn-response-to-the-gnulinux-comment-that-tried-to-gatekeep-me-off-my-own-machine/
#Linux #GNU #FOSS #Accessibility #BlindTech #FreeSoftware #Gatekeeping #DisabilityInTech #OpenSource #Orca #ScreenReaders #ArchLinux #BurnItDown #blogpost

In the last five years, we've gone from "employees will never have to go into an office" to "employees need to be in the office because creative and innovative work can only be done face-to-face between humans" to "lol we don't need humans"

Once upon a time, enterprising doll collectors took the heads from Nendoroid figures and put them on poseable Obitsu11 bodies to create hybrid dolls nicknamed "Obitsuroids". Soon thereafter, Good Smile Company came out with Nendoroid Dolls, which were compatible with traditional Nendoroids but had poseable bodies and fabric clothing. Other companies like Azone International followed suit with licensed anime character dolls with similar big-head/poseable body combinations.

I was reminded of this yesterday when I found out that Hasbro's current revamp of Furby is introducing DJ Furby, an animatronic plush with an elongated torso that looks suspiciously like a Long Furby (a style of customized Furby originated by Tumblr user furbyfuzz, according to LongFurby.com). Admittedly, DJ Furby has more bells and whistles, including lights in its long belly... But there's an element of "the corporations are watching" that reminded me of Nendoroid Dolls.

I'm pretty excited that Ncuti Gatwa is getting a Barbie doll (as the Fifteenth Doctor from Doctor Who) but I wish he had the Made to Move body rather than the Harley Davidson Ken body, just for the extra articulation.

https://creations.mattel.com/products/barbie-the-fifteenth-doctor-barbie-doll-hrm36

(Also mildly disappointed that he doesn't get a custom face sculpt but I guess it took Barbie Movie Ken over a year to get a unique Ryan Gosling face...)

Due to our current location (Orlando FL) and inlherent nature (geeky-nerdy), our local social circle consists of Disney fans and Star Wars enthusiasts. And it always throws me a little when these people are not ALSO Muppet fans.

I've been wondering why that feels so weird, and I think I've figured it out:

For me, the Muppets exist somewhere at the intersection of whimsy and cynicism, and silliness and idealism. And it feels like any adult who embraces Disney and Star Wars ought to love that.

Clearly this Fancy Jinafire Long packaging was created with the understanding that some people will want to display her in the box... But it also comes with a fancy unique water-spray-shaped stand that's not visible in the packaging, so you kinda have to take her out of package to get the full experience??

I guess they're trying to please two possibly incompatible markets

@trixter I kinda wish all doll packaging would be either easy-open easy-reuse-for-storage or just... Really plain cardboard so I don't feel bad about ripping into it like a cartoon Tasmanian devil and promptly recycling it.

The packaging for Fang Vote Jinafire Long in is SO pretty and I immediately tore it

In honour of the Year of the Snake, I finally opened 2024's Monster High Fang Vote Jinafire Long.

(I haven't gotten the new G3 Jinafire Long because I don't love the pale teal/gold claws combo, but then I saw someone theorize that the new colour scheme was to avoid the "golden-skinned Asian" trope and 😬)

Dolls:
Monster High G3 Deuce Gorgon
Monster High G1 Viperine Gorgon
Monster High 2024 Fang Vote Jinafire Long

OMG this is great news. Google open sourced PebbleOS and the original founder is bringing Pebble back. I've never had a better watch and I miss them all the time, they were so cute and fun 😭

repebble.com/
ericmigi.com/blog/why-were-bringing-pebble-back

FREEDOM

I've been buying the General Retail versions of Disney's Munchlings for a while now, hoping to get the Donald Nori Onigri [sic] just because I was desperately curious as to what identifiable scent you could possibly give a plain rice ball wrapped in seaweed.

I started to lose hope when the most recent one I got from Target claimed to be Series 1 but had a different line-up... But then I bought one box from Walmart and was rewarded with a Donald.

He smells like rice crispy treats.

Happy new year! Have you seen these images floating around online of animated pixel art? These are scenes from a calendar program from the 90s called Seize the Day, featuring art by Mark Ferrari. The scenes used palette cycling, a very efficient limited form of animation.

Did you know that there's a mobile port called Living Worlds that shows you the scene for the month? Each scene has a tiny story that progresses over the year, so now's the perfect time to check it out.

Enjoy it, and seize the day!

https://pixfabrik.com/livingworlds/

@LivingWorldsArt

@trixter loyal subjects knows how to tap into that nostalgia

#HappyDollyDays Night 2: Although my sister is five years younger than me, there was a stretch of time when we would get two different things from the same toyline. She got the purple and pink Popple, and I got the green one. She got Rainbow Brite, and I got the green one.

Years later, TLSToys has released 5.5" fashion dolls of Rainbow Brite and Friends... Allegedly. I'm not sure the Rainbow Kids have been released as of 2024. Since I can't get Patty O'Green, I'll have to settle for RB.
#dolls

Anyhow please enjoy my husband's Weird Al/weird owl pun

Haha whoops I meant to post this on my Toy account not my Everything Else account

I didn't manage to finish #31DaysOfDolloween this year, but maybe I can do #HappyDollyDays?

Amazon had LSToys Limited Edition Plum Pudding doll so I impulse-bought her based on her hair colour (blue), character-type (brainy nerd with glasses), and scent (blueberry).

As I opened her four Surprise accessories, I was disappointed to find that she didn't come with the notebook pictured, and puzzled by what appeared to be a clown owl with an accordion.

Husband: Well yeah, it's Weird Owl.

#dolls