20 Guardian icons
Jul. 10th, 2026 06:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
abyss_valkyrie posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
sid_guardianHere are 20 Guardian icons that were posted for various comms, now compiled in this post. :D
All icons are free to take and use.
Preview:
abyss_valkyrie posting in sid_guardianHere are 20 Guardian icons that were posted for various comms, now compiled in this post. :D
All icons are free to take and use.
Preview:
Book 42 - Philippa Gregory "The Red Queen"
Jul. 10th, 2026 08:58 amjazzy_davePhilippa Gregory "The Red Queen" (Simon & Schuster)
I will start by saying I did enjoy this book. I finished it within 2 days and, as usual, I loved the descriptions of the world. I had a love hate relationship with Lord Stanley and I really enjoyed hearing about Jacquetta's daughters and what had become of them.
The book was an easy read and kept a good pace. There was only one point where I felt that it slowed down a bit and I had to force myself not to skim some pages.
I do believe that people were very bored back then. It seems like there was a constant back and forth on who should be king and that might have been avoided if people weren't as bored. I mean I could be wrong. There could still be battles between the nobles of England to take over the throne. That's pretty much what the book comes down to though. I'm king, no I'm king, no I'm king, and so on and so forth. I like the intrigue and I like reading how characters deal with it but if that's not your thing skip this book!
The main character, I hated her so much... flames there were flames around my face. Seriously though, I am a tolerant person. I even found Lord Stanley awesomely conniving and I enjoyed his back handedness. He was probably my favorite character in fact. What I cannot tolerate is hypocrites and people who don't own up to their own mistakes/faults. Margaret was that to an extreme I have rarely seen in any character. She would constantly berate others for various "sins" and go on about how saintly she was and how she had the voice of God and the Virgin Mary on her side. She had an obsession with Joan of Arc but not for the right reasons or the reasons she tried to claim. She was obsessed with Joan of Arc because she wanted the recognition and the power. She speaks ill of others for being vain or greedy but she was the most power hungry character in the whole book. There was one point where I thought she would realize that she had sinned. I thought finally she realized she was vain and had done awful things not because her son on the throne was God's will but because it was hers. Alas, she immediately said that the only reason she was being punished for sin was because she made the mistake of associating with others who had sinned. Really!? Really lady!??
Basically what it comes down to is this book is a great read about an awful woman.
I will start by saying I did enjoy this book. I finished it within 2 days and, as usual, I loved the descriptions of the world. I had a love hate relationship with Lord Stanley and I really enjoyed hearing about Jacquetta's daughters and what had become of them.
The book was an easy read and kept a good pace. There was only one point where I felt that it slowed down a bit and I had to force myself not to skim some pages.
I do believe that people were very bored back then. It seems like there was a constant back and forth on who should be king and that might have been avoided if people weren't as bored. I mean I could be wrong. There could still be battles between the nobles of England to take over the throne. That's pretty much what the book comes down to though. I'm king, no I'm king, no I'm king, and so on and so forth. I like the intrigue and I like reading how characters deal with it but if that's not your thing skip this book!
The main character, I hated her so much... flames there were flames around my face. Seriously though, I am a tolerant person. I even found Lord Stanley awesomely conniving and I enjoyed his back handedness. He was probably my favorite character in fact. What I cannot tolerate is hypocrites and people who don't own up to their own mistakes/faults. Margaret was that to an extreme I have rarely seen in any character. She would constantly berate others for various "sins" and go on about how saintly she was and how she had the voice of God and the Virgin Mary on her side. She had an obsession with Joan of Arc but not for the right reasons or the reasons she tried to claim. She was obsessed with Joan of Arc because she wanted the recognition and the power. She speaks ill of others for being vain or greedy but she was the most power hungry character in the whole book. There was one point where I thought she would realize that she had sinned. I thought finally she realized she was vain and had done awful things not because her son on the throne was God's will but because it was hers. Alas, she immediately said that the only reason she was being punished for sin was because she made the mistake of associating with others who had sinned. Really!? Really lady!??
Basically what it comes down to is this book is a great read about an awful woman.
Five or possibly 15 or 20 favorite fics
Jul. 9th, 2026 10:19 pmsholioI was tagged on Tumblr on a "5 favorite fics you've written" meme and - while I don't do these all that often - decided to do this one and ended up cramming at least 15 in there and could EASILY have done more.
So I figured I'd copy it over here. (On a side note, it turns out that Tumblr's HTML editor generates "clean" HTML; I thought I was going to have to paste into the rich text editor on DW to avoid having to recode all the links, but the results were - urgh - and then I switched the tumblr post into HTML to copy that out, and it worked perfectly.)
( An ever-expanding cornucopia of favorites )
DW really doesn't have the "tag people into a meme" culture of Tumblr and similar sites, but feel free to get it spreading around DW as well if you think it looks fun!
So I figured I'd copy it over here. (On a side note, it turns out that Tumblr's HTML editor generates "clean" HTML; I thought I was going to have to paste into the rich text editor on DW to avoid having to recode all the links, but the results were - urgh - and then I switched the tumblr post into HTML to copy that out, and it worked perfectly.)
( An ever-expanding cornucopia of favorites )
DW really doesn't have the "tag people into a meme" culture of Tumblr and similar sites, but feel free to get it spreading around DW as well if you think it looks fun!
Where Venezuela’s Earthquakes Shifted the Ground
Jul. 10th, 2026 04:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
earthobservatory_iod_feed
Ground displacement was especially intense near Caracas and La Guaira, Venezuela, after earthquakes struck the region on June 24, 2026. The map was derived from NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) data acquired on June 25 and June 30 (after the earthquakes) and June 13 and June 18 (before the earthquakes).
NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin
On June 24, 2026, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck northern Venezuela, followed under a minute later by a magnitude 7.5 mainshock. Together, the quakes left immense damage and loss of life across the region. In the days that followed, satellite-based maps of ground displacement revealed how the land surface moved, providing insight into the forces behind the severe destruction in locations such as La Guaira and other coastal cities in La Guaira state.
This map was produced using data from the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite and processed by the NISAR science team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Scientists used a technique called InSAR, which compares data from repeat passes to detect subtle changes in the distance between the satellite and the ground. Images acquired on June 25 and June 30, after the quakes, were compared with images from June 13 and June 18, before the quakes.
NISAR views Earth at an angle, about 40 degrees from straight down, allowing it to capture a mix of horizontal and vertical displacement. In this map, red areas show where the ground moved east and up; blue areas moved west and down. Because the earthquake occurred on a strike-slip fault, however, most of the displacement shown in this map was horizontal (east and west).
White areas indicate little to no land displacement, including a thin strip near the middle-left of the scene, close to Morón, marking roughly where the fault ruptured at depth. The fault is part of a network of fractures that lies along the boundary between the Caribbean plate to the north and the South American plate to the south. Scientists say faults along this plate boundary, including the San Sebastián fault system where these quakes likely occurred (and possibly part of the Boconó system), have long been accumulating strain.
The fault rupture propagated offshore, toward the east, and then back onshore near the international airport north of Caracas, marked by the narrow white band visible between westward and eastward displacement. Just south of this fault section, the deep blue color indicates that the westward surface displacement along this part of the fault was far greater than elsewhere, reaching as much as 60 centimeters (24 inches).
“These are reasons why the damage in Caracas and La Guaira was so extreme,” said Eric Fielding, a geophysicist at JPL who provided the maps. “InSAR tells us a lot about what happened during this earthquake.”
Using the NISAR data, the U.S. Geological Survey refined its fault-slip model, or “finite fault model,” to better constrain how the fault slipped at depth, including along the rupture’s eastern section. “That is extremely helpful for the people who need to understand why damage was so severe in that area,” Fielding said.
The displacement maps for this event were provided through NISAR’s Urgent Response (UR) system, a fast-track process that can deliver data within 12 to 24 hours to support disaster response. The rapid processing relies on predicted orbit information, so UR maps are preliminary until they are later reprocessed with precise orbit information, typically within a day or two. This marks the first time the NISAR UR system has been used to map surface displacement from a large earthquake.
NASA Earth Observatory map by Lauren Dauphin, using data provided Eric Fielding and processed by the NISAR science team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Story by Kathryn Hansen.
References & Resources
- NASA (2025, July 23) Interferometry. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory, (2025, September 15) Mapping Kamchatka Earthquake Displacement. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory, (2025, April 15) Satellite Data Show Motion of Burma Earthquakes. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- NASA’s Disasters Mapping Portal (2026, July 9) Venezuela Earthquake June 2026. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- U.S. Geological Survey (2026, June 24) M 7.2 – 21 km ENE of San Felipe, Venezuela. Accessed July 9, 2026.
- U.S. Geological Survey (2026, June 24) M 7.5 – 20 km ESE of Yumare, Venezuela. Accessed July 9, 2026.
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Werewolves, Witches, and Vampires, oh my!
Jul. 9th, 2026 08:04 pmflareonfury posting in fandom_iconsThe below icons were made for itsabattlefield Supernatural battle. Entry count was only 20, but... I'm me, and I have a bunch of extras... What can I say? I love me some werewolves, vampires & witches ;D
[20] Being Human (US & UK)
[03] She-Wolf of London
[02] Sabrina the Teenage Witch
[07] Grimm
[01] Moonlight
[02] Buffy the Vampire Slayer
PREVIEW
werewolves, witches, and vampires....
itsabattlefield Supernatural battle. Entry count was only 20, but... I'm me, and I have a bunch of extras... What can I say? I love me some werewolves, vampires & witches ;D[20] Being Human (US & UK)
[03] She-Wolf of London
[02] Sabrina the Teenage Witch
[07] Grimm
[01] Moonlight
[02] Buffy the Vampire Slayer
PREVIEW
werewolves, witches, and vampires....
Super Typhoon Bavi
Jul. 9th, 2026 04:01 amearthobservatory_iod_feed
Moonlight illuminates the western side of Super Typhoon Bavi’s eyewall at about 15:30 Universal Time on July 5 (1:30 a.m. local time on July 6). The image was acquired with the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) day-night band on the NOAA-20 satellite.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
In early July 2026, for the second time in three months, a powerful typhoon crossed the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in the North Pacific Ocean. Super Typhoon Bavi was at peak intensity when it neared the islands on the night of July 5, bringing winds of 290 kilometers (180 miles) per hour, along with torrential rain and dangerous storm surge.
This nighttime image, captured by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-20 satellite, shows Bavi’s eye at about 15:30 Universal Time on July 5 (1:30 a.m. local time on July 6). Light from the Moon, which was in the waning gibbous phase, illuminates the eyewall’s western side. The eye passed over Rota, north of Guam, several hours after the image was acquired.
Bavi became a super typhoon in the early hours of July 4 local time while tracking west over the warm ocean. Satellite observations indicated that sea surface temperatures were around 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in the region. Bavi was the third tropical cyclone in 2026 to reach category 5 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
The typhoon caused extensive damage across Guam, Rota, and Saipan, according to news reports, downing power poles and lines; flooding roads and littering them with debris; and damaging buildings, including a water distribution station on Rota. U.S. Coast Guard crews worked to clear navigation hazards in the waterways around Guam and the Northern Marianas and reopen ports as dangerous marine conditions subsided, according to reports. This damage comes on top of destructive winds and flooding from Super Typhoon Sinlaku, which crossed the islands in mid-April.
Super Typhoon Bavi tracked west over the Northern Mariana Islands toward Asia in early July 2026. The storm’s clouds and path are overlaid on a Blue Marble: Next Generation image built from scenes captured by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). The image of the storm was captured by the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-21 satellite on July 8, 2026, at about 04:30 Universal Time.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
On July 8, Bavi remained a powerful typhoon as it moved west over the Philippine Sea. In the early afternoon, when the image above was captured, the National Weather Service reported maximum sustained wind speeds of 250 kilometers (155 miles) per hour. Forecasts indicated the typhoon’s track could bend northwest toward Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan, and mainland China and weaken over the next several days.
Writing in Yale Climate Connections, meteorologist Jeff Masters said that Bavi is the type of storm that might be expected when a strong El Niño event is building, which is currently the case. El Niño-year typhoons may form farther east, giving them more time over warm water to intensify before curving toward Asia, Masters explained, “resulting in a greater chance of reaching Category 5 intensity.”
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), and hurricane track data from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
References & Resources
- CIMSS Satellite Blog (2026, July 3) Super Typhoon Bavi rapidly intensifies to a Category 5 storm east of Guam, eventually passing just north of the island of Rota. Accessed July 8, 2026.
- Military.com (2026, July 7) Coast Guard Works to Reopen Guam, CNMI Ports After Super Typhoon Bavi. Accessed July 8, 2026.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2026, April 14) Super Typhoon Sinlaku. Accessed July 8, 2026.
- National Weather Service (2026, July 8) Public Tropical Cyclone Advisory. Accessed July 8, 2026.
- Weather Underground (2026, July 8) Super Typhoon Bavi. Accessed July 8, 2026.
- Yale Climate Connections (2026, July 3) Super Typhoon Bavi becomes the 3rd Cat 5 of 2026. Accessed July 8, 2026.
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Spider-Man Today #1-4
Jul. 8th, 2026 09:24 amlaughing_tree posting in scans_daily
"It can be intimidating to a new reader. With ‘Spider-Man TODAY,’ we wanted to make sure that a new reader could pick this up, start here, and not feel left out. So we hold your hand through it. In fact, you see parts of Spider-Man’s origin in each issue as we go through there, and then other characters' origins as we get beyond just this first arc. We wanted to make sure that this entry-level comic was a welcome mat saying, ‘Come on in, the water's fine.'" -- Nick Lowe
( Read more... )
X-MEN: ELSEWHEN #1's best panel
Jul. 8th, 2026 07:00 amtcampbell1000 posting in scans_dailyThe first of three graphic novels dropped this week, featuring John Byrne writing and drawing an "alternate history of the X-Men" in which Jean Grey doesn't die because the Shi'ar take an alternate approach to the Phoenix problem. ( A not very smart one, as it turns out, but never mind that for now. )
Cottonwood Fire Chars Utah
Jul. 8th, 2026 04:01 amearthobservatory_iod_feed
June 5
June 29
Mountainous landscapes appear green and untouched by fire in a satellite image acquired on June 5, 2026.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
An image of the same area shows a large brown patch spanning much of the image in an image acquired after the fire on June 29, 2026.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
Mountainous landscapes appear green and untouched by fire in a satellite image acquired on June 5, 2026.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
An image of the same area shows a large brown patch spanning much of the image in an image acquired after the fire on June 29, 2026.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
June 5
June 29
A burned landscape spans more than 150 square miles (390 square kilometers) of rugged terrain northwest of Junction, Utah, as seen in this pair of images captured by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 on June 5, 2026 (left) and June 29, 2026 (right). NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison.
After a winter of below-average snowpack and an unusually warm and dry start to summer, the National Interagency Fire Center warned that the Great Basin and parts of the Rockies faced an elevated risk of wildfires in July 2026.
The warning proved accurate. By July 7, firefighters labored to contain nearly three dozen large, early-season wildland fires that raced through forests in several parts of the western U.S. Utah was among the most active states, with fires having charred 558 square miles (1,445 square kilometers) and four major fires that were not fully contained still burning.
The Cottonwood fire ranked as one of Utah’s—and the country’s—largest and most destructive fires of the year so far. As of July 7, it had burned 150 square miles (390 square kilometers), just shy of the Babylon fire in eastern Utah. Landsat 9 captured the false-color image (bands 7-5-4) above (right) on June 29, 2026, when blackened vegetation spanned a large patch of rugged terrain along the Beaver River. The image on the left shows the same area on June 5, a few weeks before the fire ignited. In this band combination of shortwave infrared, near infrared, and visible light, unburned vegetation appears bright green, snow is blue, and clouds are white.
Ponderosa pine, oak, sagebrush, and grasses were among the vegetation types that burned. Officials with the state’s forestry division told news media that the Cottonwood fire had destroyed up to 150 structures. Eagle Point Ski Resort, which lost more than 100 condos and 30 cabins, also reported damage to four of its five chairlifts.
The damage to forests was extensive, though isolated patches survived largely unscathed, remaining as green oases within the broader burned area. Among them were the forests around Tushar Campground, the site of a 4-H summer camp. Beaver County officials credited years of forest treatments, such as clearing brush and trimming branches, with helping save the campground and surrounding forests.
The fire spreads especially rapidly on June 23 and June 26. The fire perimeters in this visualization are based on data from NASA’s Fire Events Data Suite.
NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison
As the fire spread, NASA’s Fire Events Data Suite (FEDS) tracked its progression and rate of growth. The visualization above, based on the FEDS system, shows the fire surging on June 23 and tripling in size over 12 hours that day as it spread to the north, east, and south. It also grew rapidly on June 26, when it made a run to the north. FEDS draws on data from the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensors aboard the Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 satellites, which detect active fires day and night by their thermal infrared signature.
FEDS is one of several tools available to firefighters and emergency management officials when responding to fires. First responders often rely on higher-resolution airborne imagers or on firefighters walking fire edges to map perimeters. FEDS offers a different advantage: consistent, easily accessible data that do not need to be specially requested, according to Tempest McCabe, a University of Maryland scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center who helped develop the tool. As a result, FEDS often detects a fire’s start earlier than other sources and tracks blazes for their full duration. To capitalize on strengths like these, the FEDS team is working closely with operational fire behavior analysts, with support from NASA’s FireSense program, to better understand and anticipate periods of rapid fire spread.
A total of 1,289 firefighters have been deployed to the Cottonwood fire, according to InciWeb, a website managed by the National Interagency Fire Center. As of July 7, the fire was 56 percent contained, but forecasters expect a hot, dry weather pattern to persist in the coming days, with fire behavior likely to be “very active to extreme” over the next 72 hours.
Government satellite data are part of a global system of observations used to track fire behavior and analyze emerging trends. Among the real-time wildfire monitoring tools that NASA makes available are FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System), the Worldview browser, and the Fire Event Explorer.
As of July 7, 2026, fires had burned 5,265 square miles (13,636 square kilometers) across the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. That’s 46 percent more than the 10-year average (2016-2025) for that point in the season.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and fire perimeter data from the Fire Events Data Suite. Story by Adam Voiland.
References & Resources
- 2KUTV (2026, July 6) Babylon Fire surpasses Cottonwood Fire as nation’s largest active wildfire. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- KSL.com (2026, July 2) Despite devastation, Cottonwood Fire leaves behind ‘islands of hope’ on Beaver Mountain. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- KUER (2026, July 6) Cottonwood Fire is yet another blow to ranchers in a tough year for rural Utah. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- NASA Earthdata (2026) Wildfires. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- National Interagency Fire Center (2026, July 6) National Fire News. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- National Interagency Fire Center (2026, July 6) Incident Management Situation Report Monday July 6. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- National Interagency Fire Center (2026, July 1) National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- The Salt Lake Tribune (2026, June 30) Eagle Point owner shares photos of resort charred by Cottonwood Fire. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- The Salt Lake Tribune (2026, June 30) Utah wildfires rank 1 and 2 as largest in the nation. Here’s the latest on big blazes. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- U.S. Drought Monitor (2026, June 30) Utah. Accessed July 7, 2026.
- Utah Fire Info Home (2026, July 7) 2026 Season Summary. Accessed July 7, 2026.
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no, "no subject" is accurate; accept
Jul. 7th, 2026 10:59 pmstarandrea♥ mixed language
I was watching a Chinese vlogger open some mail and she was like, "If you can guess what's in this, leave a comment," and I immediately thought, "yi ben livre." Which is a combination of French and Chinese that I blame on Language Jones because youtube had just shown me a thumbnail of his video "Stop Mixing Languages." (And he speaks French, which I assume was the connection my brain made, since when I started learning Chinese it was ASL that I kept substituting with, probably because it was my most recent non-native working language.)
♥ language in dreams
The other funny thing about that is that it's a reminder of how differently we think, since I know a lot of people don't think in words and I definitely do. The other day I saw a discussion of dreaming in non-native languages, and several advanced language learners seemed convinced this phenomenon is either imaginary or "bogus" (not sure exactly what they meant by that), despite multilingual people assuring them it's real and normal. I remember my glee the first time I woke up and realized I'd been dreaming in Chinese. But I know a lot of people don't remember their dreams, either, so it must just be different brains with different experiences.
♥ AI face editing
Relatedly, I hadn't noticed any AI face editing until tonight, when I was watching my one of my favorite Taiwanese vloggers and suddenly thought, "wait, that's not a real face shape." (China has a relatively extreme "beauty filter" culture, and constant exposure to it may make people more likely to slide across the line from "very idealized" to "straight up anime" face without realizing it.) I googled AI face editing, and now I can't stop noticing people's teeth. I hope that passes quickly.
♥ AI face editing and faceblindness
Oh, but also, I found a helpful English video about a Chinese demonstration of AI face editing (the comments were definitely from non-Chinese viewers), and it included a demonstration of live AI face-swapping at the end. I'm faceblind, which I didn't think about at all until the face-swapping demonstration, because the face-editing was very clear to me. I could easily see the difference between the edited and unedited faces. But I could not see the difference between an original face and a face swap. It was amazing: the narrator would be like, "here's a Tom Cruise face swap" and I was like, "it's the same guy," and then the narrator would be like, "and here, obviously it's Scarlett Johannsen" and I was like, "what obviously; what are you talking about, it's obviously the same person."
So anyway, I don't know what that means, except that there's something different about AI face editing that's visible to me as a faceblind person in a way face-swapping isn't. (By comparison, I mean, I've never recognized editing without a comparison until tonight, and this wasn't "that face looks edited" or even "that face doesn't look real," but literally "that's not a normal human face shape." It looked perfectly real, it just wasn't biologically possible.)
♥ training with the pup
Finally, Daphne and I met with a dog trainer today, and as I told Marci, "I was impressed by him." She was like, "That's not a reaction you usually have to men." I know. So rare. (I often get along better with old men, and he says he's been training for 50 years, so maybe the pattern holds.) On the strength of our first meeting I agreed to a few "private" classes rather than a group class. No money was exchanged until the end of today's session, so I don't want to gush until we meet again, but he did everything right in the initial evaluation.
I was watching a Chinese vlogger open some mail and she was like, "If you can guess what's in this, leave a comment," and I immediately thought, "yi ben livre." Which is a combination of French and Chinese that I blame on Language Jones because youtube had just shown me a thumbnail of his video "Stop Mixing Languages." (And he speaks French, which I assume was the connection my brain made, since when I started learning Chinese it was ASL that I kept substituting with, probably because it was my most recent non-native working language.)
♥ language in dreams
The other funny thing about that is that it's a reminder of how differently we think, since I know a lot of people don't think in words and I definitely do. The other day I saw a discussion of dreaming in non-native languages, and several advanced language learners seemed convinced this phenomenon is either imaginary or "bogus" (not sure exactly what they meant by that), despite multilingual people assuring them it's real and normal. I remember my glee the first time I woke up and realized I'd been dreaming in Chinese. But I know a lot of people don't remember their dreams, either, so it must just be different brains with different experiences.
♥ AI face editing
Relatedly, I hadn't noticed any AI face editing until tonight, when I was watching my one of my favorite Taiwanese vloggers and suddenly thought, "wait, that's not a real face shape." (China has a relatively extreme "beauty filter" culture, and constant exposure to it may make people more likely to slide across the line from "very idealized" to "straight up anime" face without realizing it.) I googled AI face editing, and now I can't stop noticing people's teeth. I hope that passes quickly.
♥ AI face editing and faceblindness
Oh, but also, I found a helpful English video about a Chinese demonstration of AI face editing (the comments were definitely from non-Chinese viewers), and it included a demonstration of live AI face-swapping at the end. I'm faceblind, which I didn't think about at all until the face-swapping demonstration, because the face-editing was very clear to me. I could easily see the difference between the edited and unedited faces. But I could not see the difference between an original face and a face swap. It was amazing: the narrator would be like, "here's a Tom Cruise face swap" and I was like, "it's the same guy," and then the narrator would be like, "and here, obviously it's Scarlett Johannsen" and I was like, "what obviously; what are you talking about, it's obviously the same person."
So anyway, I don't know what that means, except that there's something different about AI face editing that's visible to me as a faceblind person in a way face-swapping isn't. (By comparison, I mean, I've never recognized editing without a comparison until tonight, and this wasn't "that face looks edited" or even "that face doesn't look real," but literally "that's not a normal human face shape." It looked perfectly real, it just wasn't biologically possible.)
♥ training with the pup
Finally, Daphne and I met with a dog trainer today, and as I told Marci, "I was impressed by him." She was like, "That's not a reaction you usually have to men." I know. So rare. (I often get along better with old men, and he says he's been training for 50 years, so maybe the pattern holds.) On the strength of our first meeting I agreed to a few "private" classes rather than a group class. No money was exchanged until the end of today's session, so I don't want to gush until we meet again, but he did everything right in the initial evaluation.
move the coyotes
Jul. 7th, 2026 10:26 pmstarandreaI have several pictures of the "coyotes," but none at the top of my camera roll, so I searched my photos for "wolf" (since that's what these coyotes look like to me). My photos turned up an actual Irish Wolfhound, whom I don't remember meeting at all, along with several pictures of Mimi running, which I found hilarious and charming.
Then I searched for "coyote," and lo, this picture came up.
( coyote and friends )
One of our neighbors has two cardboard "coyotes" that she puts by the river to keep geese from coming up on the banking. Apparently real coyotes move, so the geese are more convinced by this ruse if the coyotes are not in the same place every time they pass by.
The same neighbor also has a hammock, hence my explanation, "She says the rent to sit in the hammock is to move the coyotes, so I moved a coyote."
(I first encountered the coyotes years ago, at night, while I was out walking with Mimi by flashlight. I genuinely though we had come upon a live animal and I quickly scooped Mimi up and backed away. Mimi was completely unworried, which I admitted after the fact should have been a clue.)
Then I searched for "coyote," and lo, this picture came up.
( coyote and friends )
One of our neighbors has two cardboard "coyotes" that she puts by the river to keep geese from coming up on the banking. Apparently real coyotes move, so the geese are more convinced by this ruse if the coyotes are not in the same place every time they pass by.
The same neighbor also has a hammock, hence my explanation, "She says the rent to sit in the hammock is to move the coyotes, so I moved a coyote."
(I first encountered the coyotes years ago, at night, while I was out walking with Mimi by flashlight. I genuinely though we had come upon a live animal and I quickly scooped Mimi up and backed away. Mimi was completely unworried, which I admitted after the fact should have been a clue.)
TV Tuesday: Help Out
Jul. 7th, 2026 10:06 amyourlibrarian posting in tv_talk
On our Saturday post
solenne mentioned the upcoming loss of TV Time, which is used for tracking shows to watch. Given all the networks or streamers in use, this has become complicated to do.What method(s) or service(s) work for you? How transferable is your data? Have your tools/habits changed over time? What problems have you run into?
Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday
Jul. 7th, 2026 10:43 amicon_uk posting in scans_dailyIn the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like.
Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.
The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.
Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.
It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.
The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.
Well, the USA's 250th Anniversary happened... I guess. The least unifying speech imaginable from Trump didn't start until 11pm and, as such, the fireworks display didn't start until the 5th of July. Though the scale of it meant that they're still cleaning the detritus out of the Reflecting Swamp and most of the rest of the city centre (I mean detritus from the fireworks, not the speech, just to be clear).
There were also the 200 or so fully masked, white supremacists walking through the city with Confederate flags, for that real "We are one people" vibe.
Trump also managed to drag the World Cup into another mire, by personally intervening in the case of an American player being given a red card, which means an automatic send off an one game suspension, which was then reversed by FIFA (an unheard of event). The global reaction was, shall we say, not supportive of this move, even if America then did go on to lose the match and be out of the competition.
In good news on the UK front, Nigel Farage is under multiple investigations for accusations of not being open about his finances, which seem dubious to say the least.
My Adventures with Superman gave us another new Super, who looks like Kon-El, sounds like Kon-El and acts like Kon-El, but is actually Jon-El... well, a Jon Kent from the future.
Given "Kara adapts to modern day Earth" is already a story arc, this seems an odd choice. We do get confirmation of the big bad though, Hank Henshaw's Cyborg Superman... a character I wish I had ever actually found interesting, but maybe this show will do something fascinating with it (at least it's not Doomsday, I guess)
A new EP of re-recorded Jem tracks dropped, with Britta Phillips recreating the singing voice of Jem again for four of the classics
And to end on a suitable bit of cheerful absurdity, Hasbro are releasing a Scooby Doo/Transformers Collaboration. The Mystery Machine becomes Mysterious Prime, with four interchangeable heads (Though sadly, probably not Headmasters) and Automutt a robotic Great Dane that turns into a box of Scooby Snacks.
Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.
The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.
Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.
It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.
The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.
Well, the USA's 250th Anniversary happened... I guess. The least unifying speech imaginable from Trump didn't start until 11pm and, as such, the fireworks display didn't start until the 5th of July. Though the scale of it meant that they're still cleaning the detritus out of the Reflecting Swamp and most of the rest of the city centre (I mean detritus from the fireworks, not the speech, just to be clear).
There were also the 200 or so fully masked, white supremacists walking through the city with Confederate flags, for that real "We are one people" vibe.
Trump also managed to drag the World Cup into another mire, by personally intervening in the case of an American player being given a red card, which means an automatic send off an one game suspension, which was then reversed by FIFA (an unheard of event). The global reaction was, shall we say, not supportive of this move, even if America then did go on to lose the match and be out of the competition.
In good news on the UK front, Nigel Farage is under multiple investigations for accusations of not being open about his finances, which seem dubious to say the least.
My Adventures with Superman gave us another new Super, who looks like Kon-El, sounds like Kon-El and acts like Kon-El, but is actually Jon-El... well, a Jon Kent from the future.
Given "Kara adapts to modern day Earth" is already a story arc, this seems an odd choice. We do get confirmation of the big bad though, Hank Henshaw's Cyborg Superman... a character I wish I had ever actually found interesting, but maybe this show will do something fascinating with it (at least it's not Doomsday, I guess)
A new EP of re-recorded Jem tracks dropped, with Britta Phillips recreating the singing voice of Jem again for four of the classics
And to end on a suitable bit of cheerful absurdity, Hasbro are releasing a Scooby Doo/Transformers Collaboration. The Mystery Machine becomes Mysterious Prime, with four interchangeable heads (Though sadly, probably not Headmasters) and Automutt a robotic Great Dane that turns into a box of Scooby Snacks.