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Julian Lass@julianlass.bsky.social |
38 followers 163 following 75 posts
writer, teacher, arts
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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In 'Seeing' by José Saramago, a large number of people in an unnamed country cast blank ballots during an election, leading to a political crisis and government attempts to understand and respond to this unexpected form of protest.
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Viktor Winetrout
@viktorwinetrout.bsky.social
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Had to shut down my rodent removal business. No more Mr. Mice Guy.
10 replies 32 reposts 203 likes
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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"The postcolonial experience, that conceives of the world in terms of centre and periphery, and in which success is defined ... not just through “determination and focus”, but through proximity and affinity with the establishment and its institutions."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Eugenia Triantafyllou
@foxesandroses.bsky.social
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Strange Horizons is SO CLOSE to reaching their base goal! A magazine publishing some of the most diverse and interesting stories with a distinct SH kind of bent. Please support your favorite magazines :)
www.kickstarter.com/projects/str...
0 replies 39 reposts 32 likes
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Yes, customer service reps may be friendly, even if an unforced role, it's transactional. True friends can handle and perhaps even expect emotional honesty, including anger, wishing the best for each other for the sake of the other. It's a sharing of the self, not the exchange of specific services.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Or, truly worthwhile reading is rare and must be sought out.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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It's not just "these guys" - everything is seen now as data to mine. We're all caught in it. The challenge isn't stopping AI; it's preserving what remains in a world that treats everything as a resource to be extracted for profit.
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David Hepworth
@dhpersonal.neocities.org
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The Atlantic wrote an article about the issues at The Washington Post. Here’s an archived version: archive.is/cvB63
2 replies 1 reposts 11 likes
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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You unfollowed me too, and I’ll always wonder why.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Yes, customer service reps may be friendly, even if an unforced role, it's transactional. True friends can handle and perhaps even expect emotional honesty, including anger, wishing the best for each other for the sake of the other. It's a sharing of the self, not the exchange of specific services.
0 replies 1 reposts 1 likes
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
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seeing an uptick in "clearly a fetish for getting yelled at" content today, all while it's a sunnier day than usual and the grass beckons. when God speaks to us he does not always whisper
4 replies 12 reposts 90 likes
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Thanks for sharing. How unfortunate! Corporations shape the entire way we interact with them don't they, creating the situations where customer service reps are set up as targets for customer dissatisfaction. This just increases the chance of aggression becoming the norm.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Exactly, that’s my concern. This is more than just an immediate technological fix, that won't change the entitled ragers (good description btw). Using tech to hide real emotions removes consequences and changes how we learn and understand each other. Genuine understanding and empathy are diminished.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Instead of relying on technology to hide emotional distress, we should focus on creating an environment where workers are respected and protected, and where abusive customer behaviour is not tolerated, not just creating a veneer of calm through technology. 3/3
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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The core problem are the societal norms that enable and tolerate abusive customer behaviour. The Japanese government is considering labour law revisions to protect staff from customer rage. This legislative approach acknowledges that the problem lies in how customers are allowed to treat workers 2/3
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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I understand your point, and I agree worker well-being is important. However, I'm still doubtful. A line is crossed when voice is commoditised for treatment and neutralisation. In Japan, the drive to develop such AI stems from a culture where the customer is always right, to an extreme extent. 1/2
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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In Jack Williamson's The Humanoids, for example, robots try to keep humans safe from any harm, including strong emotions. By controlling every aspect of life to prevent distress, the Humanoids restrict autonomy and individuality, creating a homogeneous and controlled society.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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A pain-free world sounds great but I’m worried. Our reactions help us genuinely understand one other. Emotional expressions are integral to human identity but if they're artificially separated, stripped of context, expressions lose their meaning. There are no vocal expressions without a real voice.
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Thomas Ha
@thomasha.bsky.social
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the thing i like about weird fic readers is that they've usually seen it all and are pretty hard to impress, but they're also usually more patient about giving a story a shot, like that frowning judge who's always like, "hmmm i'll allow it, but tread carefully, counselor...let's see where this goes"
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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“EmotionCancelling Voice Conversion Engine” is something straight of a sci-fi story.
"the voice-altering AI changes the rant of an angry human caller in real time so the person at the other end hears only a softened, innocuous version."
A commercially bought ataraxia.
on.ft.com/3z4Ymr0
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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streety justice
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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1 replies 0 reposts 2 likes
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kd
@krunkledunx.bsky.social
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1 replies 15 reposts 106 likes
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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if you fancy, you could listen to my new little pictureless film 'quiet as a flower'? it was commissioned by copy press on its becoming fireflies digital imprint for moving image and spoken word. featuring a poem by rumi, from which the film takes its title.
www.copypress.co.uk/index/quiet-...
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Instagram sent an email on 1 June with a link to apply to opt out.
I applied to opt out, and it is difficult.
From Meta's privacy policy: "We research for the good of people around the world, for instance to advance technology or to help out in a crisis." 🙄
www.fastcompany.com/91132854/ins...
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Derrida's autoimmune logic? At least there's an awareness of the irony of the position, and a need to rationalise and explain it.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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This stands in total contrast to Kemi Badenoch’s proposal to amend the UK Equality Act to clarify that “sex” refers strictly to biological sex rather than gender identity.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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made a new little film commissioned by #copypress for their #becomingfireflies digital imprint for moving image and spoken word
featuring a poem by rumi, from which the film takes its title
www.copypress.co.uk/index/becomi...
a pictureless film, in the spirit of #lebrasiershelley #derekjarmanblue
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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This is fantastic. Like selective privacy, to curate what you share online? — you only make public what you choose.
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Thomas Ha
@thomasha.bsky.social
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maybe my only writing "rule": don't sleep on semi-pro short fic mags, don't turn your nose up at them, don't miss out. they're sharp markets w/specific visions taking big swings. my most reprinted stories and longtime readers are from semi-pro. never underestimate an attuned audience, man.
6 replies 80 reposts 306 likes
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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I’m going to be annoying and ask why haven’t they changed the spelling to British English?
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@davidfp.bsky.social
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International Workers’ Day ✊🏻
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Well, the FT appears to have since removed this particular article
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Tired of reading about them and tired of learning yet another one is into effective altruism.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Or by saying "we just ate the last cannibal."
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Someone recently said I should be ashamed to be German. They felt I shouldn't speak about Israel. "Have shame and shut up". It's an interesting phenomenon. "Your grandparents were Nazis". Except mine were both English and German, my dad was born in Belgium. And I in England. Complicates the thought.
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Hane
@hane.bsky.social
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in the space of reasons no one can hear you scream non-propositionally
0 replies 5 reposts 18 likes
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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I really enjoyed going to see 'The Marvels' tonight. It was enjoyable for two reasons: firstly, it was fun and not overlong; secondly, its unpopularity meant I had the whole cinema to myself on a Saturday night.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Funny how Tom Bombadil was excluded from Peter Jackson's film because he felt he didn't fit the good/bad ring narrative and didn't really advance the story.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Yikes! 🙈 I'll tread carefully then
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Yeah, I was just puzzling over that too. Wasn't intentional!
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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It's funny how things have shifted. You're labelled 'anti-democratic' (ad) if you're against brexit (referenda) or claim economic equality as the essence of democracy. The Tories now label popular protest as disruptive & ad, yet were only able to via 2ndary legislation, ad bc it bypassed Parliament.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Here a renegade sergeant and a second corporal shoot antelope. McCarthy's text describes the sergeant as using a "Vernier" scope, a pop-up rangefinder. Dall.e couldn't get that quite right.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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I asked dall.e to create images using text from Cormack McCarthy's Blood Meridian. The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) saw Mexico cede a vast amount of territory to the United States. The poverty, hardship and violence depicted by McCarthy's novel are reflective of the turmoil during this period.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Ordered this second hand OUP copy of Shakespeare's complete sonnets and poems to find someone else's notes to Venus and Adonis. Upon his hurt she looks so steadfastly | that her sight, dazzling, makes the wound seem three
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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I'd love to take a look Helen, my email's julian.lass@gmail.com
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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I like the fact they ‘come all graciously with no scorn nor condescension’
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Poets copying poets have no originality. He's urging: find your own living voice. Don’t steal from the grave, like those poor sods who wear wigs made from hair of dead people.
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Julian Lass
@julianlass.bsky.social
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Isn‘t it ironic that as a reader we also focus on the surface message first? (Age/beauty). He's having a go at the reader too. Look deeper, he's saying. See beyond the surface meaning. Find the enduring truth beneath.
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