An overbearing client insulted the efficacy of his new security team, so they decided to prove their work ethic by blowing up his phone notifications with benign updates. As requested, they reported EVERY SINGLE INCIDENT to their new boss, even down to the last crack in the sidewalk. Sometimes, malicious compliance makes our bosses realize their idiocracy, but this story made a man lose his cool and lose hours of sleep over useless security updates.
Maybe from now on, he'll trust his team's judgement on their usual reports.
One sizzling day in late summer, she came down from the tree, red from head to foot. Sunburn accounted for her nose and shoulders, throbbing and coppery, while the mulberries could be blamed for the smear of deep purple-red that tinted lips and teeth. Her hands and feet were red with something more visceral, which perhaps went some way to explaining why she had been missing up a tree for all season and had come back looking so wild.
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Wednesday, September 17, to midnight on Thursday, September 18. (8pm Eastern Time).
That's one way to make sure your female friends never accept another 'movie night at my place?' invitation ever again. Beg them to come, promise them brownies as compensation for your shocking movie choice, make them walk miles uphill in the heat, only to demand each of them Venmo you $1 (ONE DOLLAR) to rent a movie they didn't even want to watch in the first place, and finally offer them no snacks…nor brownies, whilst you and your boys stuff your faces….? Sounds like a dream! Doesn't it…No, Chad, it sounds like you still managed to be a freeloader in your own home? I mean, who asks their friends to transfer them a dollar when they host you weekly without any expectations in return?
Either this frat bro is completely unaware of his 'cheapness', or just genuinely couldn't care less. We're not sure which option is the worst. But what we can say is that we wouldn't be rushing into making any plans with him either. So on their long walk downhill, stomachs lacking that warm brownie fullness, perhaps they could take the time to rethink their friendship with this guy, because he clearly values their friendship as a total of $3. And no, not for good reason. He's a big spender, and doesn't have an issue with spending $3 at his local Starbucks every afternoon…
Office politicians love a fairy tale where training creates permanent ownership and seniority earns a cut of other people's wins. A younger employee gets promoted, and a veteran coworker tries to convert past help into present rent. Gratitude becomes a bill. Mentorship gets repackaged as leverage. The promotion suddenly has a tip jar attached and the floor chorus hums about respect while ignoring the scoreboard.
This is the standard cycle in workplaces that confuse tenure with value. Early guidance is real, but it is not equity. Teaching someone the system does not mean owning their outcomes forever. The pattern shows up every time a ladder is climbed. And most importantly, pay raises do not work like pizza, you don't cut it for coworkers, and no one's getting a slice.
Guardian: 从这个土质和骨头的成色来看，起码是百年以上的产物, based on the soil quality here and the bone discoloration, it's from at least one hundred years ago 你是他们的女儿和妹妹，他们当然对你好, you're their daughter and sister, of course they're good to you [no bands in Guardian]
Sherlock (mostly of Moriarty), Fleabag, Andrew Scott in Hamlet, Andrew Scott, Winona Ryder, Gillian Anderson, Little Mermaid, Moonstruck, Alice in Wonderland.
Another week has passed us by and some of us might still be stampeding, some of us might be stepping more cautiously or even hobbling along struggling (like me) trying to balance out other commitments and squeeze in a few blasts of time to catch up.
If you've been using the table and tackling something each day, feel free to tell us all about it this week. If not here's the table and pick up with today's (or any other day that suits) and tell us about it when you can - use this post until I manage to get up to speed enough to make another one.
Wishing you well for the next week ahead and remember the aim of the month's challenges is that most can be adapted to fit what you need so if it says a 'flat surface', any type of flat surface will do - desks, worktops, floors, tables and so on. Similarly a vertical surface could be a window, a tiled wall, mirror or door. Part of the challenge is deciding how to apply the daily challenge (ha ha!).
This is supposed to be a low-stress challenge - if you miss a day, it doesn't matter, if the day's challenge doesn't suit, repeat the day before or start on the next day's. With the exception of two days, the challenges should take about 10 minutes, if you want to spend longer that's great, judge by your personal available time and energy.
To make it easier to take part and not be held up by time differences and days when I'm not able to post, all challenges will be posted in the table below the cut to aid both those taking part and the daily poster.
My biggest request for the month is that, whenever you can, you join in the chat - even if you haven't done the day's challenge come and cheer for others. We're here for the ups and downs this month so you can tell us when you're struggling as well as celebrate your successes.
And so today's challenge is, depending on where/when you are reading this (but I'll go with the 17th/18th) to either spend 10 minutes on a flat surface or on a vertical one.
Good luck and enjoy what's left of your September.
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 12 secrets from Secret Submission Post #975. Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ]. Current Secret Submissions Post:here. Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
So I was reading a post that was supposed to be about testing different LLMs at chess…and the author keeps saying things like “I asked it for the next move, and if the first 20 responses were all illegal, I chose a legal move at random.”
My dude (gender-neutral), this means the model cannot play chess.
Just imagine applying this logic to any other kind of tech. “If I run the vacuum cleaner over the same cat hair 20 times and it still doesn’t get sucked up, I pick up the cat hair by hand and keep going. And look, I end up with a clean carpet! This proves how well the vacuum works!”
I mentioned all this on Mastodon/Bluesky, and added that what I really wanted to see was a breakdown of the kind of illegal moves LLMs try to make. Someone replied with a rec for GothamChess on Youtube. (I’ve watched a bunch of his LLM game videos now, they’re exactly what I was looking for, more on those later.)
The thing is, though: I was out at the time, I couldn’t stop to watch videos, so I just googled the guy on my phone. When I leave a tab open, it’s a reminder to check this out once I get home.
…And one of the top search results was a Reddit post with the summary, quote, “American Internatiol Master Levy Rozman, AKA “GothamChess” has just been charged with one count of first-degree murder.”
I was, uh, pretty alarmed by this. I clicked through, hoping to find out more about what happened.
So…what gives? Is Reddit putting AI-hallucinated summaries in the metadata of its own posts, or is Google using AI-hallucinated summaries to replace what the site gives it? Which executive signed off on this?
Edit: The line is apparently the title of a completely different (and joking!) Reddit post. Thanks to Gwen for spotting it! It’s not linked in the post above, or in any of the comments — apparently Reddit was showing it as a “Related Post” for Gwen, and for me, it isn’t even doing that.
So it’s not completely hallucinated text…it’s just pulled from a completely inappropriate part of the page. And then put at almost the top of the Google search results. Without linking back to the context that would show it’s a joke. Either it’s a normal algorithm, but for some reason it was programmed to pull summary text from random parts of the page…or it’s still an LLM, having the “you should eat several small rocks per day” problem.
Wish I knew which it was. And I’m still curious which of the companies is falling on their face, here.
Two fandom-related posts in a row? Really? I can't even remember the last time that happened.
Critical Role has its fourth campaign starting in just over two weeks, and they posted the first artwork of the new characters earlier this week. They haven't released any other details like classes and such, but I'm very, very, very curious about several of them. Especially since they posted a video earlier today about character vibes, some of which sound kinda amazing.
The fandom is definitely ramping up again, which is helping with forcing my brain to get through watching as many of the specials that I've missed as I can before CR4 starts. I've missed having a proper weekly fandom, and I really want to try to get back in the habit of napping after work on Thursdays so that I can stay up late watching the new episodes live.
Today was the third of three clear, hot days this week, good weather for getting out there and back early. I was at the top of the rise by dawn and by the time I was there again two and a half hours later it was warmer than I like. Two warblers, a Townsend's and a Yellow, were the only incoming migrants. Migrants I thought had left were Western Wood-pewee, Western Flycatcher, Swainson's Thrush, and two Black-headed Grosbeaks who seemed to be heading west. The Western Tanager I think was just passing through. I was surprised to see a single American White Pelican on San Pablo Reservoir; I think they're around all year now. ( The list: )
There's a chance of rain tomorrow night. I'll believe it when I hear it!
I wrote a random drabble today for fan_flashworks and when I popped over to Ao3 to see what the book fandom is called there, I was SHOCKED (read this with full hyperbole) to discover that there are way more Anne/Gilbert fanworks than Anne/Diana. Gilbert! That whatever-you-call-a-love-interest-insert! That wet blanket! Puddleglum has him beat!
Gilbert may or may not have hidden depths and great character or whatever but the books (which I probably read over three times all through) did not really demonstrate that at all. I remember reading a great essay on Anne as well as the Emily of New Moon trilogy about how the interesting (male) love interests inevitably get shelved, and the MC ends up with the cardboard cutout. Wish I knew where that was; I’d like to read it again.
Anyway, I refuse to read the books anymore because they killed off my best beloved Walter, so maybe there are secret hidden depths that older-me could decipher. Whatever.
There are a number of causes that can contribute to a bad restaurant experience, and it's not always the restaurant's fault. If only these entitled customers possessed a base level of self-awareness, then they might have the ability to look at themselves in the mirror and realize, to quote Taylor Swift, "It's me! Hi! I'm the problem, it's me."
Leaving a bad review is only necessary if a real injustice has been done, but based on this collection of one-star reviews left by these wildly out-of-touch customers, it's clear that these reviews end up saying more about the personality of the customer than anything about the quality of the establishments they attended. In fact, that's why in most of these cases, the restaurant owners were quick to respond to these reviews with clarifying context.
The truth of the matter is that, as entertaining as it may be to leave a scathing review, please only do it if it's necessary. These owners rely on their restaurants getting strong ratings for the health and security of their businesses. Exaggerating your experience for the sake of a "fun, eye-catching" review can do real harm to the future of these restaurants. That's why these owners were eager to defend themselves. It wasn't just about honor; it was about their ability to keep their establishments open. So, if you somehow find yourself feeling emboldened to after an unfortunate dining experience, take a moment to think twice before you post anything. Perhaps you had an unsatisfactory meal, but you can get over that quickly. It's not nearly as easy to get over a failing business!
You should now have received an assignment! Please contact me (mod.modzilla@gmail.com) if you have a problem with your assignment, or you got two assignments (!), or if you just have a question about your assignment, whether it's a question for me or a question for me to pass on to your recipient.
You are welcome to email me to ask to swap your assignment. Because assignments were out late, I'm extending the swaps deadline to September 25. I usually confirm swaps towards the end of that period, but may be able to confirm sooner.
The following pinch hits are due at 11:59pm EST on Saturday January 24th 2026, and pinch hitters are also asked to check in in November 2025. To claim, please reply with your AO3 name, and let me know which recipient/PH number you want. You're also welcome to claim by emailing mod.modzilla@gmail.com.
If you already have an assignment and want to swap your assignment for a pinch hit, please say so - otherwise I'll assume you want both assignments.
I will reply to claims on this post after approximately a day - this is to give priority to people who are looking to swap.
Minimum requirements: An art gift must be a completed comic at least 10 pages or 40 panels long; a fic gift must be a story at least 10,000 words long. You can also fulfil a pinch hit by giving two complete half-length works, if your recipient has opted into that for the fandom(s) you are creating in. Any work must be for a fandom your recipient has requested and one character/relationship/worldbuilding tag requested in that fandom, and must avoid their DNWs.
![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png)
fail_feed) wrote2025-09-17 04:00 pm
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
