So I Must Brave the Storm?

Today I learned of Tumblr's plan to begin (or continue) selling user content to OpenAI and Midjourney, which is the last straw for me and my presence on the site. Regardless of their claims that users can opt out of this, I frankly just don't believe them.

I've used Tumblr since 2010 when I started photography, and this blog is the largest existing archive of my work on the internet. It's a liability for me to continue to allow it to be hosted on a site that is now actively contributing to the theft of art, directly from artists. I know my photos have already been stolen, repurposed and claimed countless times over the years from Tumblr and other sites, but I have to draw a line here. I will unfortunately be removing all my past work from this blog, perhaps something I should have done when the suspicions first arose about Automattic's greed.

Many aspects of my creative career have been negatively impacted by AI already, I just see this as one less path in which to be exploited.

That being said I want to thank all of you for the support over the decade plus I've been active on here, I stuck around much longer than most because of my appreciation for a website that was a huge influence to my early creativity as a kid. I still think it was the best format for social media, and I really am going to miss Tumblr and the creative community it used to be.

I will still do my best to utilize this blog as a place to make announcements about any new projects, such as my upcoming book I aim to release at the end of the year.

You can still find me and my (Glaze/Nightshade protected) work elsewhere on the internet at Instagram, Twitter, and my website.

So long,

Brendon

Please be aware that the "opt-out" choice is just a way to try to appease people. But Tumblr has not been transparent about when has data been sold and shared with AI companies, and there are sources that confirm that data has already been shared before the toggle was even provided to users.

Also, it seems to include data they should not have been able to give under any circumstance, including that of deactivated blogs, private messages and conversations, stuff from private blogs, and so on.

Do not believe that "AI companies will honor the "opt-out request retroactively". Once they've got their hands on your data (and they have), they won't be "honoring" an opt-out option retroactively. There is no way to confirm or deny what data do they have: The fact they are completely opaque on what do they currently "own" and have, means that they can do whatever they want with it. How can you prove they have your data if they don't give everyone free access to see what they've stolen already?

So, yeah, opt out of data sharing, but be aware that this isn't stopping anyone from taking your data. They already have been taking it, before you were given that option. Go and go to Tumblr's Suppport and leave your Feedback on this (politely, but firmly- not everyone in the company is responsible for this.)

Finally: Opt out is not good under any circumstance. Deactivated people can't opt out. People who have lost their passwords can't opt out. People who can't access internet or computers can't opt out. People who had their content reposted can't opt out. Dead people can't opt out. When DeviantArt released their AI image generator, saying that it wasn't trained on people who didn't consent to it, it was proven it could easily replicate the styles of people who had passed away, as seen here. So, yeah. AI companies cannot be trusted to have any sort of respect for people's data and content, because this entire thing is just a data laundering scheme.

Please do reblog for awareness.

x- x / x - x 🍃

this isn’t reserved to china, though china suffers the worst from it due to being the same location as the investors. multiple countries are having to make buying property and land illegal for people who do not have at least permanent residency/do not live in our countries for a certain amount of days a year, because billionaire chinese investors and investment companies buy properties and land en masse for appreciation purposes, and in doing so, the act forces the prices to go up. and you have massive amounts of empty houses and unused land that just sit there, collecting capital gains. this was big in new zealand until we made it illegal (but unfortunately rich nzers and companies caught onto the practice and now do it themselves here, the scale has properly tipped).

i know other countries also have this problem from the rich and investors in their own nations, but yeah, i grew up in such a town where only 2000 people lived there, but there were around 5,000-10,000 empty, expensive houses in the area just bought up by real estate companies to sell and trade and collectively bring the prices up to make profit.

This is what every west coast US city is like. West coast real estate companies only rent out about half the housing units they purchase or develop. The rest sit empty. They’re the driving force behind a debilitating housing crisis. And the cities bend over backwards to accommodate this practice. There’s been no regulation here.

Los Angeles: 93,000 empty units with a homeless population of 69,000

San Francisco: 44,500 empty units with a homeless population of 20,000

Seattle: 22,600 empty units with a homeless population of 12,000

San Jose: 14,000 empty units with a homeless population of 7,000

Oakland: 10,000 empty units with a homeless population of 10,000

The state of California has a total 1.2 million empty units with a homeless population of 116,600. If every homeless person in California was housed, there’d still be 1.1 million empty units.

me: oh cool i got a new follower, i hope it isnt a porn bot

salinamarcil805:

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas ☃️🤍

PLEASE support the railway strikers in the UK. they just announced that they are cancelling services after 6pm on Christmas Eve. people are pissed because they need those services to get to their families for Christmas. well, if the services are that important, then the workers should be compensated for providing them. the UK is broken. so many industries rely on goodwill to stay afloat (I am a pharmacy technician for the NHS, trust me, I know), and that good will is running out. why the fuck would you work longer hours when you end up still struggling to pay for basic necessities?

you don't.

despite what the government tries to push, the workers don't strike to screw over regular people. workers strike so that they can be safer and better compensated to provide the services you need. when workers work long hours for little money, they become less conscientious. as they should. workers don't exist to provide you with services; they are real people, with real lives, which don't revolve around you needing them.

everyone has better things to do with their life than stay late at work to make sure you get where you want to go.

paid sick leave exists in a majority of countries on earth and the US government is acting like the demand for it is a radical anticapitalist act that will destroy the economy. OK

Bruh

I can’t believe I read this post with my own fucking eyes

I love it unironically, I burst out laughing. It hits the same note as “the opposite of malice is bonfire”.

lots of people seem to forget strikes are SUPPOSED TO negatively impact the economy and inconvenience people. that's how you force the company to give into your demands. it's hitting them where it hurts hardest--their profit.

Tumblr has a “yes and” culture that’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen online. I don’t think a single “Goncharov” post I’ve seen contradicts another, and the bandwagoning on “plot points” is incredible. Smooth as sharkskin, one might say.

fanfic really is. like. it really is about the community. it's about the comments. it's about the story you rip directly for your heart and bleed out on your keyboard. it's about the i loved it when you... and the i screamed when you wrote... and the keyboard smashes and the i can't believe you did that!!!! and the i'm suing you for damages like it. this is community. fanfic is literally. an act of community. the greatest act of community in fandom because it comes with such raw, overwhelming vulnerability. whether you're writing kink fic or 100k words of trauma exploration, you're just like. hi hello this is my soul please embrace it and people do. oh my gosh