I have no particular theme that I blog or reblog. These are usually things I find amusing, I like, or I get a request to reblog. I am, once again, reworking this blog. I'd like to make it a little more personal, eventually.
So, what is the OGL and why are DnD creators thoroughly screwed?
Tumblr has not been doing a great job at talking about this, but:
With OneDnD, Wizards of the Coast has decided to update the Open Game License (OGL). Said license is what allowed people to create homebrew DnD content and sell it, and even larger companies to use certain sorts of content. Pathfinder, for example, is built on said OGL. This also allows streamers and artists to exist and benefit from said content.
With OneDnD (sometimes called “dnd 6e”), WOTC wants to create a much more restrictive OGL, which will, amongst other things:
Make WOTC take a cut for any DnD-related work (according to Kickstarter, a whole 25% of the benefits)
Let WOTC cancel any project related to DnD up to their discretion
Let WOTC take ANY content made based on their system, and re-sell it without crediting you, or giving you a single cent
And most importantly, revoke the old OGL, which will harm any company or game system that used it as a base, such as Pathfinder. And it means they GET ownership over any homebrew content you may have done for 5e in the past!
It’s important to note that OGLs are supposedly irrevocable. They were planning to use it for OneDnD initially, but they want to apply it retroactively to 5e, somehow. Which is illegal, but lawyers have mentioned there’s a chance they may get away with it given the wording.
This means that anything you make based on DnD (A homebrew item? A character drawing? Even music, according to them?), can get taken and used as they deem appropiate.
These news come from a leak of the OGL, which have been confirmed by multiple reputable sources (including Kickstarter, which has confirmed that WOTC already talked with them about this), and was planned to be released next week.
So, what can we do?
Speak against it. Share the word. Reblog this post. Let people know. Tumblr hasn’t been talking much about this matter, but it’s VERY important to let people know about what is WOTC bringing.
Boycott them. Do not buy their products. Do not buy games with their IP. Do not watch their movie. CANCEL your DnD Beyond subscription. (Btw, they ARE planning to release more subscription services too!). They do not care about the community, but they care about the money. Make sure to speak through it.
And maybe consider other TTRPG systems for the time being, Pathfinder’s Paizo has been much nicer to the community, their workers are unionized and are far more healthy overall
so funny how for a brief time we managed to get perfect alignment for extensions between browsers, webextensions from chrome to firefox to safari, and then google decided "nope, we're going to enforce some new rules now, time to choose us as your only platform or put in extra work" and now you can't even publish the same extension on every chromium fork.
reminder that it's in your best interest to stop using Chrome before January 2023, or you're going to lose extension data.
COLD WEATHER TIPS FROM SOMEONE WHO LIVES WHERE IT’S COLD:
I always see posts about layering clothing, but there are so many more creative ways to help keep you warm if you don’t have a lot of warm clothes. But first, a note on layering clothing:
-Your underlayer is your WICKING layer. That means it is a layer specifically to absorb the moisture your body produces. DO NOT USE COTTON AS A BOTTOM LAYER. Use merino wool if possible, but other good substitutions are nylon, polyester and rayon.
-Your middle layer is for insulation. You want AIR POCKETS in there, NOT tight fitting clothes. This is where you want to put your fluffy sweaters, your fleece, down, fur, flannel, or vests. If you do not have these, you can substitute with multiple layers of long sleeve shirts.
-Your outer layer is for keeping the cold away from your body. If you do not have a jacket, you can put on your thickest piece of clothing and then a raincoat over it. Windbreaker if you have one.
ALSO
-Jeans are the absolute worst at holding heat. Use only as a last resort.
-You can’t really ever have too many layers on your feet. Alternate tucking your layers of pants into your layers of socks to keep your ankles warm!
-Wear a hat OVER a hood if it will fit! This will keep your ears warmest.
TAKE OFF/OUT ANY AND ALL JEWELERY/PIERCINGS
-If you have a medical bracelet, DO NOT REMOVE IT. If you can, tuck a layer of clothes between it and your skin.
NON-CLOTHING TIPS:
-Raid your recycling. Gather all cardboard boxes and break them down so that they are flat. Put them on the floor to add more layers between you and the cooling house. Newspaper will also serve the same purpose.
-In an emergency, you can also layer newspaper between clothing layers. Don’t worry about looking stupid if you’re staying warm.
-If you have a tent, set that sucker up in whatever room you have decided to stay in. Stay in it and keep it zipped shut as much as you can, but do NOT cover the vent at the top. You can put the rain fly up, but make sure there is circulating air for you to breathe.
-You are probably not going to feel very hungry at times. DO NOT STOP EATING OR DRINKING. Digestion produces a lot of body heat and the food will give your body energy to keep itself going.
-The best foods are heavy and full of carbs and proteins. Eat nuts, eggs, pasta, meats, and beans. If you are on a diet, now you’re not. If you’re vegetarian… bulk up on those pastas and nuts.
-Try not to sweat. If you are finding yourself getting damp, take off the outer layer just until you start to cool slightly. Then redress! Your bottom layer should dry quickly, and being wet is dangerous.
-On that note, STAY ACTIVE. You are probably going to want to hunker down and snuggle up, but that will make your muscles cramp. Every 15-20 minutes do something that gets you up and about. Walk circles in the room, do a couple jumping jacks, stretch, whatever. Just enough to move some blood around your body. Don’t get sweaty or out of breath, it’s just a little movement.
-CHAPSTICK. ON YOUR LIPS. ON YOUR NOSE. ON YOUR EARS. ON YOUR KNUCKLES. Don’t let your extremities get dry or cracked.
SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA:
-Uncontrollable shivering
-Slurred speech
-Confusion or memory loss
-Dizziness or lack of coordination
-Inability to be woken from sleep
CHILDREN AND INFANTS!!!! I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.
-Children WILL get colder before you. Make sure they are properly bundled up.
-If you need to breastfeed, put a blanket over the both of you and wait a few minutes for the air to warm before removing or shifting your clothing.
-DO NOT COVER AN INFANTS FACE. ESPECIALLY WHEN SLEEPING. Keep them tucked inside your own clothes when possible. As close to your heart and stomach as possible.
-Put chapstick on children’s cheeks and clean their face often if they are crying or wiping at their nose. This will prevent cracked skin and irritation.
-Make sure your children are staying as hydrated as you! They are going to fuss and not want to drink cold things, but they NEED liquids.
SIGNS OF HYPOTHERMIA IN INFANTS AND TODDLERS ARE DIFFERENT:
-Shortness of breath
-Cold, red skin
-Lethargy or listlessness
Finally:
CHECK ON YOUR NEIGHBORS. CHECK ON CHILDREN. CHECK ON THE ELDERLY. STAY SNUGGLED. STAY SAFE.
Some of you fanfic authors will casually drop the most gut-wrenchingly in-character reactions and dialog and then just breeze past it like I didn't have to stop reading for a moment to clutch at my own chest smh
There is a tiny OCD part of my head that just realized that the herbs in my window boxes are arranged parsley, thyme, rosemary and sage, and wants the world to end.
I am absolutely fucking serious. The original meme, without the big red denial, is someone's attempt to fucking kill people.
There is NO SAFE DOSAGE of pennyroyal oil. Even Mother Earth News says there's no reason to use pennyroyal essential oil for ANYTHING, even topically or as a fragrance, for fuckssake! That should give you some idea about how dangerous it is!
Pennyroyal tea, plant matter in hot water, is a traditional abortifacient. It is *incredibly* dangerous, induces abortion by bringing the body close to organ failure (and frequently pushing the system right over the edge, because dosage is impossible to meter), but I would drink a gallon of it before I took a half-teaspoon of pennyroyal essential oil.
Two teaspoons, taken across 48 hours, has successfully killed someone.
Three teaspoons taken as a single dosage killed the consumer within THREE HOURS.
There is NO SAFE DOSAGE! FOR PENNYROYAL OIL INTERNALLY! NONE!
The person who made this meme is PURPOSEFULLY, ACTIVELY, trying to get desperate people killed!
As Google has worked to overtake the internet, its search algorithm has not just gotten worse. It has been designed to prioritize advertisers and popular pages often times excluding pages and content that better matches your search terms
As a writer in need of information for my stories, I find this unacceptable. As a proponent of availability of information so the populace can actually educate itself, it is unforgivable.
Below is a concise list of useful research sites compiled by Edward Clark over on Facebook. I was familiar with some, but not all of these.
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Google is so powerful that it “hides” other search systems from us. We just don’t know the existence of most of them. Meanwhile, there are still a huge number of excellent searchers in the world who specialize in books, science, other smart information. Keep a list of sites you never heard of.
www.refseek.com - Academic Resource Search. More than a billion sources: encyclopedia, monographies, magazines.
www.worldcat.org - a search for the contents of 20 thousand worldwide libraries. Find out where lies the nearest rare book you need.
https://link.springer.com - access to more than 10 million scientific documents: books, articles, research protocols.
www.bioline.org.br is a library of scientific bioscience journals published in developing countries.
http://repec.org - volunteers from 102 countries have collected almost 4 million publications on economics and related science.
www.science.gov is an American state search engine on 2200+ scientific sites. More than 200 million articles are indexed.
www.pdfdrive.com is the largest website for free download of books in PDF format. Claiming over 225 million names.
www.base-search.net is one of the most powerful researches on academic studies texts. More than 100 million scientific documents, 70% of them are free