digitalfox @digitalfox@vulpine.club

This #introduction dossier details a classified Blappeture Mesa research project. The Enrichment Center would like to remind you of these mandatory safety and happiness guidelines:

1. Petting and patient discussion are encouraged. ⚠️​ Device size may vary.

2. The device will never threaten to bite you and, in fact, may hug you. Repeatedly. (With permission.)

3. The device is slow to respond. Your request will be processed.

#Art details/full resolution/extra story: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/27507881/

Had a rather nice #dream of a blue vulpine friend showing off their simple clay modeling/sculpting simulation program. They revealed they recreated this data-fox in it, too, as a sample/demo file.

When I expressed a shy interest, rather than letting the computer representation of this fox have all the fun.. they reached over and grabbed me directly, somehow signaling my synthetic platform to shift to a clay consistency, letting them squeeze me and shape me in their hands, carefully but effectively bending and distorting my now-tiny form.

Naturally, I objected, flustered that they were a bit too strong for me, and worrying I was taking up too much of their time. So, in response, that fox simply nestled me under their desk, enabling them to get back to work while simultaneously intensely digging into and pulling my small, soft form with their toes, fully flattening me underpaw, and generally spreading this data-fox around enough to fill in every wrinkle and crevice of their footpaws. All in a way I couldn't irrationally fear I was monopolizing their time.

For some reason, I feel like @Austin_Dern is to blame (thank) for this >.>';

And I guess I wish for more forceful hugs than what my weighted blankets currently provide.

Alternative title: I couldn't fit everything I wanted into the character limit for posting. See the earlier replies in this thread for more context.

I feel something akin to the opposite of claustrophobia - I like being enclosed, wrapped up, held, and such. Perhaps not to an intense, abnormal degree (claustrophilia), but I do prefer it over wide open spaces.

In the realm of macro/micro, it ties into my fear of falling behind. If I'm small, I don't want to be lost or forgotten.

And it's pretty hard to be left behind when a small data-fox is either physically tethered to someone or inside their body (excluding one's reproductive organs).

I tend to avoid leashes given the strong superiority implications, owner/pet, etc. I'm rather annoyed by claims of 'smaller' meaning 'inferior creature'.

But I do like the notion of being a pocket fox, tucked under one's shirt...

Or adding in feet/paws as shared earlier, a paw-kit fox, strapped in between one's sole and sandal insole, squeezed /and/ kept along if they move. That's my main interest in footwear - keeping this little fox pressed on without forcing someone to stand still. Ribbons, scrunchies, etc work too, and it's not required (I know some loathe the notion of shoes).

Again continuing from the prior posts, I'm averse to the sexual side of #mouth / #maw and #vore, but this #asexual #autistic fox does find it appealing for other reasons.

Recall what the previous post said about weighted blankets?

Weighted blankets kind of feel closer to a giant tongue than a foot/paw, anyways. Regardless of analogy, there's a similar appeal in deep touch pressure, and likewise it bypasses a lot of the social pressure around how to handle normal hugs.

More reading on pressure: http://www.grandin.com/inc/squeeze.html

However, mouthiness goes beyond mere positive pressure.

* Complete isolation from the world outside, safeguarded, difficult for nefarious folks/things to reach past one's jaws to this small data-fox
* Demonstrates basic physical appeal, that this fox isn't off-putting to one's senses

On physical appeal: given my sensory system is easily negatively overwhelmed, I often fret that my mere existence is physically off-putting to others. Not just that I might smell bad, but that I /feel/ repulsive.

Natural reactions to something savory (salivating, etc) are an easy way to assert I'm not off-putting. It's at an instinctive level too, bypassing etiquette where someone will say they're not uncomfortable just to be polite.

Continuing from the prior post, I've often said I'm not interested in #feet / #paws for sexual reasons, and slang like "pawslut" is off-putting to me.

So.. what's got an #asexual #autistic fox intrigued here?

In short: Weighted Blankets.

In person, I can be negatively overwhelmed by traditional arm-based hugs - it often feels off, and there's complicated social norms around how long to hug, how tight to hold, etc. I usually prefer too tight of a hug instead of too light - the latter tickles and makes me feel uncomfortable and sometimes not as wanted.

Much like snuggling under a #WeightedBlanket (they're awesome!), stepping on this data-fox with one's feet/paws bypasses all of the above.

* Feet/paws are naturally heavy/forceful – they're how one's weight transfers to the floor
* No social norms to fret about for these hugs (asides from those assuming sexual intent)
* Doesn't obstruct one's hands, great for multitasking (e.g. under desk play), so I don't feel like I'm selfishly monopolizing one's time

Further reading:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/the-importance-of-teaching-robots-to-hug - social anxiety
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hug_machine - #autism and alternative hugs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_service_dog#Function - weight/pressure to counter anxiety

There's more, and arm hugs are still okay at times!

I've said I'm not sexually interested in the big and small, #macro / #micro, #size play, etc. The opposite, I find sex off-putting (but others are free to enjoy what they want).

So.. what about size *does* appeal to this #asexual, #autistic fox?

If you're familiar with The Magic School Bus and Clifford the Big Red Dog, combine those.

To me, with great size comes great responsibility.. and inversely, with small size comes reduced responsibility. When I'm large, I lean into my protectiveness for others, e.g. scooping someone up to guard them from the world outside, to lift some of the weight that's on their shoulders.

That said, I do like to non-harmfully tease, affectionately roughhousing, focusing the tiny critter's attention on the moment, distracting from the concerns of the world beyond. I won't talk down to them, but I will press down on them and show them I've got them.

Inversely, when I'm small, I appreciate having a place where it's okay to be overwhelmed, where failure to take charge is expected and without bad consequence. Take what I said before and flip the roles around.

I'm also fascinated by the science of size, of a tiny in a gigantic world (e.g. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) or a giant navigating a normal world.

My frustrations with #Windows10 summed up in one image: after a routine update, on login I'm given a full-screen popup to push Microsoft's paid services and to reset my browser from Firefox to Edge.
The real kicker is "Remind me in 3 days", no "Never" option.

Apparently devices with unlocked bootloaders running an operating system you choose cannot be trusted for *text messages*.

Less click-bait-y, #Google seems to be pushing #SafetyNet verification and hardware-level attestation as a security panacea, at the cost of the (admittedly smaller) crowd who likes to deeply modify their own #Android devices. In my case, using #root to lower the battery charge limits to inflict less wear on the glued-in battery in my phone, alongside customizing the UI.

https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/01/22/google-messages-might-stop-working-on-uncertified-phones-at-the-end-of-march/

Yes, there's alternative text messaging apps. I'm using the open source QKSMS. However, there's no API yet for third-party apps to use RCS, the next evolution of SMS/MMS. And that doesn't help if the Carrier Services app adds SafetyNet checks. And yes, you can say *you* don't need RCS, but why should increasingly more functionality be locked down?

(Also, don't go telling me how iOS is better - Apple doesn't even allow you to unlock your device's bootloader. Though Google is doing a wonderful job of reducing their advantage, secure, Google-absent options like GrapheneOS exist thanks to things like custom signing keys when relocking bootloader. And no, that doesn't pass SafetyNet - verified boot state green vs. yellow.)

Time is infinite, until it's not. It's helpful and important to relax, but to not put off matters forever, either. Value the time you have with folks… and value your own time, too, as best one can.

Mom shared an article with me which appeared to sum up matters well: https://www.andrewvorster.com/we-have-time-is-a-dangerous-myth-to-believe-in/

Now if you look to your left, you'll see the elusive middle ground between "I deserve everything in the world" and "I'm not worth anyone's attention." A rare sight indeed.

Since when did "interrupt the user from completing their task with a modal dialog prompt" become the preferred way of educating folks about new features in their software?

Most of the time I'd rather see a "What's New" menu item I can peruse at my leisure, and a few times I'd even want to enable the new feature I'm informed of but I accidentally click or tap elsewhere and dismiss the prompt before I can read it.
#UI / #UX

Some of these #emoji combinations are fantastic. I hope the Unicode standard itself will eventually support more: https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/01/16/gboard-emoji-kitchen-how-to-examples/

CC @Azure This may be the next best thing, perhaps? You've got extra blue hearts, a bouquet of giant trees, and some unsettling amalgamations, too!

I have successfully become a night owl (#5, according to Sleep as Android). I also slept more than a whopping fourteen hours.

On the one hand, it's nice to catch up. On the other hand, I feel even more behind in all that I want to do and should do.

HDMI Consumer Electronics Control?

More like Coordinated Everlasting Catastrophe.

…less rant-y, as it turns out, attempting to do any sort of non-basic automation of other HDMI devices using a Raspberry Pi and the libcec library might be a frustrating exercise. https://www.cec-o-matic.com/ is wonderful, but there's still device-specific quirks.

All I wanted to do was make up for an old Samsung TV refusing to turn on an old surround sound receiver by default (like most other TVs out there do, or better, some give you the choice). I wound up hackily listening to various events and transmitting commands on top of libcec, as shared in: https://github.com/Pulse-Eight/libcec/issues/103#issuecomment-142277310

Rgghh mumble-mutter…

On the flip-side, HDMI CEC means it's possible for me to hack around the limitations of this old TV with a $5 computer and some parts. (Technically I have the $10 Pi Zero W for wireless access.)

I like firm hugs, whether via a weighted blanket, or, when available, a known friend's strong grasp (and not just in their arms, but their fingers, tail, toes, tongue, whatever).

This comic succinctly nails part of why I want snugly squeezed: feeling as if I'll just… disappear.
https://foxes-in-love.tumblr.com/post/640180399928147968

#MastoTips / #tips: you can use filters to hide boosts/retweets from non-standard sources, e.g. "♲ @" catches some sources of Twitter crossposts.

(Note: since I have this filter active myself, I might not see replies to me that include it. I'd limit it to particular users only if Mastodon/glitchsoc supported that.)

I want to normalize giving stamps of approval in a literal sense. Not just those stickers for mailing, but literal paw prints, without or with ink.

Why require a signature when you can let the (mostly?) unique whorls of your hand/(fore)paw/etc do it for you?

Why tell someone you like them when actions speak louder than words and you could show 'em by giving 'em a big, careful squeeze underfoot? As the saying goes, you gotta take a walk in someone's shoes to see their point of view, so if that person won't see eye to eye with your positive opinion of them, perhaps a long walk would leave a greater good impression on them than a talk.

…okay, I might just be tired and seeking powerful pressure without having it interrupt whatever else someone could be doing besides being my affectionate weighted blanket.

(Being inclusive here, too - human, fuzzy, scalie, etc - not just paws.)