Best Of
Re: The AI tsunami
I enjoyed that video @person, and was especially drawn to watch it since our in-house tech-guy @Jeroen recommended it too.
I've been somewhat depressed around AI in my work (language editing) lately. I was expecting it to be a helper, not the main thing. The incentives are such that I have to use it. I seem to be noticing my brain deteriorate as a result of too much AI input. There is no professional pride (the good kind) or sense of progress and accomplishment (a.k.a. learning more about language and medical scholarly writing which I exclusively do).
AI told me (ugh oh) that in the future the language editing will be done by AI, and humans will do "higher level editing". But "my" AI can already do even that, and even here will soon probably be better than humans. Dunno, honestly, am bummed by this situation.
This post intentionally not edited by Grammarly, since @how might be right about the use of AI on NB. Will look into ways to turn off Grammarly for NB and stick to my plain ol' brain. 
marcitko
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
At yesterday’s weekly Gaza rally and march, a young Kiwi Palestinian woman sang while a young man played the violin beside her. Her voice was haunting and strong. She was meant to be on the March to Gaza currently taking place in Egypt, but was stopped at Egyptian immigration, detained, and then deported.
Our government has said nothing about this. Neither has our mainstream media.
This is not the first time she has tried to break the siege. She was also on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship Handala last year, which was blocked from reaching its destination.
A rough translation
Your voice, my people,
a song that carries forward,
softly resting in a home,
then rising again—
a melody that never fades.
Your voice, my people,
makes a lily bloom
from stone.
Your voice, my people,
a lullaby that sleeps
and wakes within our homes
a melody that does not vanish.
It makes a lily bloom
from stone.
Your voice, my people,
a song that hides,
then rises again
in a melody that never fades.
It makes a lily bloom
from stone.
We are here to be heard.
Oh my people
your voice, your poetry
makes lilies bloom
from stone.
No matter how long the night,
the dawn will come.
The threads of sunlight will return,
my people.
From the rubble of death,
life rises.
My people live.
Oh, and Destiny Church,aka the Dysentery Cult, held a large anti-LGBTQI march that ended in the same square where we held our rally. There was a significant police presence. but fortunately no major disturbance.
Shoshin1
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
7 Weird Ancient Egyptian Gods & Goddesses You've (Probably) Never Heard Of - Fun Guide for KS2
Nov 29, 2021 3 min read
Updated: Mar 31
The Ancient Egyptian religion includes over 2000 gods and goddesses. Although there’s so many, there’s a great number of Egyptian gods & goddesses that we know very little (or sometimes nothing) about. Because of this, you’ll often find a select few of the most popular gods and goddesses are included in every book, worksheet, article and classroom display about Ancient Egyptian religion.
We’ve even written an article about these popular Egyptian deities ourselves!
Ancient Egyptian imagery
But what about the less well-known gods and goddesses? What about the ones that nobody mentions because they’re just a bit… well… odd?
Well, we’ve scoured the long lists of Egyptian deities to find you 7 of the weirdest Ancient Egyptian gods & goddesses that you’ve (probably) never heard of.
Ancient stone toilet seat, rectangular with a circular hole, displayed under warm light. The surface is textured and beige in color.
An Ancient Egyptian toilet - courtesy ddenisen
Dua
God of: Toilets
Dua was the Egyptian god of sanitation and, yes, toilets! This meant he was responsible for keeping things clean, particularly in very dirty places such as bathrooms. Sanitation also includes the safe disposal of everything that ends up in your toilet (yes, this was a long winded way of saying “getting rid of your poop”!). So in many ways he could be described as a deified flush.
Weathered stone pharaoh statue with headdress, in dim light. Textured surface, some damage visible. Calm expression. Dark background.
Not enough prayers to Khenti-Khas to protect this nose!
Khenti-Khas
God of: The Noses of the Dead
And the award for the most obscure job for an Egyptian god goes to Khenti Khas, who is responsible for protecting the noses of the deceased. And clearly Khenti-Khas had his work cut out for him: many Egyptian statues were vandalised by ancient Egyptian people who believed that chopping off a statue’s nose would kill any part of that person’s spirit still living inside the statue. Lets hope Khenti-Khas was more successful in protecting the noses on the mummified dead bodies themselves.
Stone lion head fountain spouting water against a blurred green and dark background, evoking a regal and serene atmosphere.
Its not polite to spit - courtesy Linnaea Mallette
Tefnut
Goddess of: Spit
Alright so you may have heard of Tefnut before – she is often summarised as the goddess of water. But “goddess of the water” is a very generalised title and we certainly don’t want to get her confused with Anuket who is also a goddess of water, but more specifically the water in the River Nile. So let’s get down to the specifics. Tefnut is the goddess of moisture. This includes moist air, dew, a light drizzle and yes, even spit. In fact, Tefnut’s name can be translated as meaning “to spit”. And she has even been depicted as a picture of a mouth in mid-spit action. Poor woman!
Ancient Egyptian painting of four adults and a child walking, wearing patterned garments. Background has floral motifs and symbols.
Ancient Egyptian clothing
Hedjhotep
God of: Fabric
Hedjhotep was said to have invented clothing and was responsible for creating the clothes for the Pharaohs, the gods and the deceased. Not a lot is known of Hedjhotep, but he occasionally turns up in Egyptian mythology stories alongside other gods and goddesses. For example, he often hangs out with Tayet, the goddess of weaving. He also occasionally turns up in mythical stories featuring Shezmu, the god of treatments for headaches and stomach aches (pretty sure he should have made it onto this list too) where Hedjhotep sensibly makes bandages for him.
Egyptian painting of Anubis, a jackal-headed figure, embalming a mummy on a lion-shaped bed. Hieroglyphs and geometric patterns in background.
Ancient Egyptian Mummification in progress
Sepa
God of: Centipedes
Centipedes seems a strange thing to be a god of – but Sepa’s job was a very important one. The Egyptians were obsessed with preserving their dead and would mummify dead bodies to keep them in tip-top condition. Unfortunately for the Egyptians, insects would often attack the dead bodies before they could preserve them, forcing the body to start to decay. But the Egyptians had a secret weapon – the centipede. Centipedes feed on other insects so the Egyptians believed they protected the dead. So it was Sepa’s job to protect the dead through the use of predatory myriapod invertebrates with 100 legs (that's a centipede to you and I).
Egyptian painting of three figures in traditional attire, holding ankh symbols. Ornate geometric patterns and lush plants in background.
Helping Anubis mummify the dead
Kebechet
Goddess of: Freshness
No, we’re not saying that Kebechet was the goddess of armpit deodorant or fabric conditioner. Kebechet was the daughter of Anubis, the Egyptian god of death & mummification. So Kebechet was responsible for keeping the dead bodies nice and fresh during the embalming process. Imagine what a difficult job that must have been. But Kebechet knew what she was doing, because she was also the goddess of embalming fluid. Lucky thing.
Goose with outstretched wings stands on green grass by a lake. Sunlit feathers show brown, white, and black hues, creating a calm scene.
Could this be the "Great Honker" himself?
Gengen Wer
God of: The Celestial Egg
If this isn’t something straight out of a video-game, we don’t know what is. Believe it or not, Gengen Wer was a celestial goose. And if that wasn’t enough, his name means the “Great Honker”. In Egyptian mythology, it is said that Gengen Wer laid a great honking heavenly egg that contained the life force. Gengen Wer’s job is to protect that life force. What a goose!
lobster
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
I've been making daily plans (to-do lists) for a long time now. It helps tremendously with keeping anxiety at bay, knowing what I'm supposed to / want to be doing, not getting sidetracked, and knowing whether I hit my targets for the day.
However, this week, for the first time, I made a weekly plan for work. Even better, I've been sticking to it. I was drawn to do it because I had a phase of a lot of work, and the last time that happened, I became an anxious mess. The weekly plan has done wonders for my anxiety and allowed me to do fun things without remorse or worry before work and once I hit my targets for the day.
Can recommend!
marcitko
Re: The Plant Medicine Path
I came across this wonderful short docu by a team at The Guardian, about the indigenous people of the Amazon in Ecuador. Ayahuasca is part of their people’s heritage, and the docu talks about how taking the medicine out of the rainforest makes it more self centred and less able to heal. It talks about how western ayahuasqueros don’t really maintain the connection with nature when they go back to their country and to the cities.
Jeroen
Re: Dogen's Shobogenzo - Komyo (光明)
I did get around to listening to his series on Shobogenzo. I didn't study it so I couldn't really retell much of it, much of it was newer sort of information. I listen while working so my relation is pretty casual. I make up for it in volume, a few hours every day and eventually stuff starts to soak in.
The main thing I did take away though was Brad himself and his approach to teaching Zen. I've kind of shied away from that path over the years as it always sort of struck me as being too clever by half in all the ways it would kind of play word games in an attempt to shock you out of "it" instead of just speaking plainly. Brad's approach was more plain spoken and honest. I think I need to read some of his books, I'll probably try emailing him and see if I can't get a suggestion on where to start. Also thinking of dropping by treeleaf to see what's up there.
Have a good time all the time!
person
Re: The AI tsunami
@Jeroen you could try regenerative gardening. Just added a link on my website.
https://mettaray.com/Health/
also...
https://communitysupportedagriculture.org.uk/
We are not and never have been dependent on technology. Except for the sheep amongst us. AI is a tool and humans are good at breaking their tools...
lobster
Re: A chat with Mpisi
The introvert vs extrovert situation very much chimes with me. I’m quite an introverted person, but for a while I was a volunteer member of a mental health team in the Dutch town where I lived. The idea was to provide support for people who were just under the radar, not ill enough to need professional help but not doing so great on their own. I’d regularly meet a client in the local community centre, for coffee and cake and a talk.
This was very much concerned with loneliness and people who didn’t get out much. One was an avid player of the MMO game Second Life, one was an ex-truck driver who was now retired, one was a recovering mental health client trying to do mail delivery for the postal service. They were all definitely introverted people.
I wasn’t an active part of the team for very long, I’m not really good enough at small talk to be comfortable doing that work. But it showed me that even very introverted people will show up if you make an appointment for coffee and cake with them. However, lacking extroverted family members in the immediate surroundings who drag you along, it’s hard to find projects like the one I was engaged with.
You could say these things are a public health initiative, because loneliness is as much a predictor for an early death as obesity or smoking.
Jeroen