As of July 4th 2018, the Internet as we know it might be dead for good.
The European Parliament is passing a new Copyright Directive. Article 13 #CensorshipMachine will impose widespread censorship of all the content we share online. Art, fanfiction, parodies, remixes, mashups, memes, etc.. Anything that you do not hold the rights over will be taken down.
Article 13 would force all online platforms to police and prevent the uploading of copyrighted content, or make people seek the correct licenses to post that content. Internet platforms hosting large amounts of user-uploaded content must monitor user behaviour and filter their contributions to identify and prevent copyright infringement.
Such filters will be mandatory for platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit and Instagram, but also much smaller websites.
Last Tuesday (19th June 2018) a group of more than 70 people who have played important roles in building the internet and developing it (Tim Berners-Lee, Vincent Cerf,
Jimmy Wales, Mitchell Baker…) into what it is today addressed an open letter to the members of the European Parliament:
“As creators ourselves, we share the concern that there should be a fair distribution of revenues from the online use of copyright works, that benefits creators, publishers, and platforms alike.
But Article 13 is not the right way to achieve this. By requiring Internet platforms to perform automatic filtering all of the content that their users upload, Article 13 takes an unprecedented step towards the transformation of the Internet from an open platform for sharing and innovation, into a tool for the automated surveillance and control of its users. […] The damage that this may do to the free and open Internet as we know it is hard to predict, but in our opinions could be substantial.”
it’s clear that julian and jadzia are always high key trying to fuck the same people and that’s just, delightful. we all already know about the “go away” padd. but for another example, when bashir and worf first meet in “way of the warrior” bashir has clearly roped miles into being his wingman. he’s posing and pouting in the bg like “hey there tall dark and handsome. i heard you were into violence. well, i play darts, that’s kind of like violence. maybe you and i could–” but then jadzia walks in and it’s all over for him. beaten to the punch once again. that’s julian: 7 , jadzia: 23. get rekt u little blueblood antelope. she was in full cosplay and still, the biggest nerd of the bunch, was u
Most animals on earth are capable of reproducing until they die.
The animal kingdom is full of strange reproductive strategies, but when it comes to menopause, humans are among the weirdest. In just three species on the planet — humans, killer whales and pilot whales — do females routinely stop breeding years before the end of their lives. Human women spend about a third of their life span after menopause.
Menopause is the time in most women’s lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children.
Many species become less fertile as they age. For instance, female chimpanzees experience declining fertility rates from their early 30s onward until their reproductive chances reach zero around age 45. What makes humans and some whales different is that they carry on living and surviving with good odds for so long after menopause, whereas chimpanzees and other animals rarely survive much beyond the point where their eggs run out, even in captivity.
So, if aliens follow the pattern of the majority of life on earth they too will be able to basically reproduce until they’re shortly about to pass of natural causes.
Someone write about those poor aliens freaking out when they learn their female crewmember they’ve known for years, who seems so young, it no longer able to bear children and is surely going to die soon!
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Sarah stared at her shipmates, especially Grth'x, who had moved to the cover of the room and was chanting under his breath while rocking backand forth rhythically. “Why is Grthx starting the ‘Chant of mourning?’”
Chizzik placed a tarsel claw on Sarah’s shoulder in the show of human sympathy, “Because he loves you Human-Sarah. We all do, we shall miss you greatly.”
Sarah stared at them, “The fuck? I’m not going anywhere.”
This seemed to be the wrong thing to say, Grth'x started chanting a little louder.
Chizzik started making a whining noise by rubbing the plates of her thorax; the cry of distress, the equivalent of crying to her species. “Human-Sarah, I know you humans are a stubborn race, but you must face reality. You are no longer able to bare children, your life is coming to an end.”
Sarah slapped away Chizzik’s claw, “Fuck off. Having kids isn’t the be-all and end-all of a woman’s life. Life isn’t over just cause I can’t have kids.”
Chizzik almost admired the strength of human denial. It was the trait which had made them survive their deathworld. When even their own planet was telling them “You can’t” they were pushing ahead shouting the phrase “Watch me!” But there was surely no denying it now.
“I know it may not be easy to accept. I thought humans were a long lived race, you seem so young,”
Sarah hit a fist onto the table “Damn right! I’m 49, not even middle age. You’re not getting rid of me that easily. I’ve got another 50 years, at least.”
Chizzik looked confused. “But, your fertility, it has ended. When a life-form is no longer able to bear children, it is a undeniable sign that their bodies are shutting down, their life is ending.”
“What?” Sarah stared at Chizzik and the, still chanting, Grth'x, understanding -albeit a confused understanding- was starting to dawn on her. “Not for humans it isn’t. Menopause doesn’t mean our life is ending. Watch me, I’m just getting started.”
Grth'x stopped chanting at looked at Sarah with a confused exression that matched Chizzik’s own. “What is Menno-Paws?
Sarah stared at her two friends and sighed with resignation. This was going to be one of those things that would end up in the human guide book, she just knew it.
