soyagi
Do you sometimes get frustrated at how slow your computer's operating system can be? Now is your chance to prove that you could do a better job!
Behold the nerdiest game ever, in which YOU are the operating system! As such, you have to manage the computer's processes, memory and input/output events, and try not to get rebooted by an impatient user. Good luck!
Archived version: https://archive.ph/3vfmc
How much ink does an all-in-one printer need in order to fax a document? Or to scan one to your computer? The obvious answer is "none." But if you own certain printers from companies like HP and Canon, you won't be able to use core features unless the device has ink—even if those features have nothing to do with ink.
Unfortunately, all-in-one printers arbitrarily demanding ink to perform non-printing functions isn't a new frustration. And that's despite some companies having printers that can scan without ink. Clearly, scanning or faxing without requiring an ink cartridge would improve users' experience—and they've illustrated that through class-action lawsuits. But this hasn't stopped printer makers from fighting to keep the nettlesome practice.
No ink, no scan
Since mid-2022, HP has been fighting a class-action lawsuit alleging that certain all-in-one printer models won't scan or fax without ink and that HP doesn't properly disclose this to shoppers. On January 13, 2023, the complaint was dismissed but allowed to be amended (you can view the amended complaint here: [PDF]), and on August 10, a Northern District of California judge dismissed HP's motion to dismiss the amended complaint [PDF].
HP Envy 6455e and HP Deskjet 2655 purchasers Gary Freund and Wayne McMath filed the complaint, which states that HP printers are designed to enter an error state when low or out of ink, preventing usage until the installment of a new ink cartridge. The plaintiffs are also peeved that HP marketing and advertising doesn't clearly disclose this, the complaint says. The complaint also notes that an HP support agent has said that HP printers are "designed in such a way that with the empty cartridge or without the cartridge the printer will not function."
"HP’s All-in-One Printers do not work as advertised. Ink is not a necessary component to scan or to fax a document," the complaint reads.
It adds:
Tying the scan or fax capabilities of the All-In-One Printers to ink contained in the devices offers no benefit and only serves to disadvantage and harm consumers financially. However, tying the scan or fax capabilities of the All-In-One Printers to ink contained in the devices does, however [sic], serve to benefit HP.
Anyone who's owned an inkjet printer knows how expensive ink can be. That suggests a reason to push people to buy ink through tactics like blocking core features if no ink is present and reportedly selling printers below cost. Ink-buying programs have also become cash cows. HP in 2021, for example, said its Instant Ink subscription business was worth $500 million, per CRN. In its Q2 2023 financial report, HP named Instant Ink a key growth area.
The complaint against HP says:
Indeed, HP designs its All-in-One printer products so they will not work without ink. Yet, HP does not disclose this fact to consumers. … Even were it technically possible to scan a document without all ink cartridges present, HP does not disclose any 'workaround' to consumers in any of the product packaging nor in any of HP’s advertising and marketing materials regarding its multi-function devices.
The complaint seeks monetary damages as well as the end of HP's "misleading advertising and marketing campaign" and for HP to "engage in a corrective campaign to inform consumers of the misleading advertising."
Here are all the HP printer models listed in the complaint:
- HP Deskjet 2755e
- HP DeskJet 3755
- HP DeskJet 4155e
- HP ENVY 6055e
- HP ENVY 6075
- HP ENVY 6455
- HP ENVY Pro 6475
- HP OfficeJet 250 Mobile
- HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 Wide Format
- HP OfficeJet Pro 8025
- HP DeskJet 2622
- HP DeskJet 2655
HP declined to comment on this story.
Canon's doing it, too
HP isn't the only company demanding ink for scans and faxes. It's not even the only one that has faced litigation over it.
As noticed by The Verge, Canon back in March settled a class-action lawsuit [PDF] stating that Canon all-in-one printers can't scan or fax with low or empty ink cartridges and its "advertising claims are false, misleading, and reasonably likely to deceive the public."
The settlement terms weren't disclosed, and Canon didn't respond to Ars Technica's request for comment. But here are the models listed in that complaint:
- MAXIFY GX7020
- MAXIFY GX6020
- PIXMA TS3520
- PIXMA G3260
- PIXMA G7020
- PIXMA G2260
- PIXMA MX330
- PIXMA MX452
- PIXMA TS9520
- PIXMA TR8620
- PIXMA TS6420
- PIXMA TS6320
- PIXMA TR4520
- PIXMA MG3620
- PIXMA MG2522
- PIXMA TS3320
- PIXMA TR7020
- PIXMA TS9521C
- PIXMA TS8320
- PIXMA TR8520
- PIXMA TR7520
- "and any and all predecessor models"
Similarly to the HP situation, representatives on Canon's support forum allegedly confirmed that certain all-in-one printer models require "all ink tanks installed and they must all contain ink in order to use the functions of the printer" and that "there is no workaround for this."
However, the posts that are linked to in the complaint (here and here) as of November 22, 2022, have a comment from a moderator saying, "It's possible to scan with an empty ink tank or cartridge." The support page provides instructions for disabling the function that detects ink levels.
Canon didn't explain why its printers ever required ink to scan in the first place. But the company has at least agreed to instruct users on disabling the ink requirement, which is better than where HP is currently.
Semantics prioritized over customers
As of this writing, HP doesn't seem to be working toward enabling its printers to scan and fax without ink. When trying to get the complaint dismissed, HP claimed that support agents who said printers are designed to not scan without ink don't represent HP and were not referring to printer models owned by the complaint's plaintiffs.
The printer industry has long had an issue with customer trust. HP, for instance, has bricked third-party ink (and issued other problematic printer firmware updates), along with the company's controversial HP+ program and region-locked printers . HP has already paid settlements for abruptly bricking third-party ink via its Dynamic Security "feature."
The Verge noticed that HP at least changed its language for the Envy 6455e's Amazon product page to say that you can "print, scan, and copy from your phone—from whenever, wherever" to "print, scan, and copy from your phone—from anywhere."
Such semantic games feel more like HP seeking a loophole than trying to please customers.
Such corporation-first tactics may be why Epson thinks it's dunking on competitors with its own support page dedicated to this topic. It reads, "Since 2008, all Epson printers will scan even when there is little or no usable ink left in the cartridge."
But, as is often the case with printers, a sneaky little caveat could abruptly ruin your day. As the support page also states:
However, all of the genuine Epson cartridges must be installed in the printer, even if depleted of usable ink and the printer displays the replace cartridge message.
So you still need an Epson ink cartridge to scan. If you happened to have tossed your ink cartridge when it became useless, your all-in-one printer could be virtually useless, too. (Epson didn't respond to a request for comment.)
It's alarming that printer makers know customers feel swindled and confused—but won't eliminate the problematic design. Printer vendors have become too bold in expecting customers to accept wordplay, settlements, and confusing support responses. Class-action lawsuits may light a fire under these companies, but it shouldn't be up to disgruntled customers to complain to support agents, lawyers, and judges.
If printer companies can't deliver a reliable, easy experience, customers will have no choice but to consider alternatives.
Source: https://front-end.social/@fox/110846484782705013
Text in the screenshot from Grammarly says:
We develop data sets to train our algorithms so that we can improve the services we provide to customers like you. We have devoted significant time and resources to developing methods to ensure that these data sets are anonymized and de-identified.
To develop these data sets, we sample snippets of text at random, disassociate them from a user's account, and then use a variety of different methods to strip the text of identifying information (such as identifiers, contact details, addresses, etc.). Only then do we use the snippets to train our algorithms-and the original text is deleted. In other words, we don't store any text in a manner that can be associated with your account or used to identify you or anyone else.
We currently offer a feature that permits customers to opt out of this use for Grammarly Business teams of 500 users or more. Please let me know if you might be interested in a license of this size, and I'II forward your request to the corresponding team.
![](https://yiffit.net/pictrs/image/fc438e0c-9e98-47c4-8b93-5a5020ad1329.png)
Source: https://front-end.social/@fox/110846484782705013
Text in the screenshot from Grammarly says:
We develop data sets to train our algorithms so that we can improve the services we provide to customers like you. We have devoted significant time and resources to developing methods to ensure that these data sets are anonymized and de-identified.
To develop these data sets, we sample snippets of text at random, disassociate them from a user's account, and then use a variety of different methods to strip the text of identifying information (such as identifiers, contact details, addresses, etc.). Only then do we use the snippets to train our algorithms-and the original text is deleted. In other words, we don't store any text in a manner that can be associated with your account or used to identify you or anyone else.
We currently offer a feature that permits customers to opt out of this use for Grammarly Business teams of 500 users or more. Please let me know if you might be interested in a license of this size, and I'II forward your request to the corresponding team.
![](https://yiffit.net/pictrs/image/fc438e0c-9e98-47c4-8b93-5a5020ad1329.png)
Archived version: https://archive.ph/vNSJa
Don’t make me an unwilling participant in your embarrassing show of affection, writes Guy Walters
I clearly remember the first time I witnessed a public proposal of marriage. My wife and I were out for dinner on Valentine’s Day (when we still did things like that), and we had gone to some terribly chic and expensive restaurant in Chelsea (when we still had money).
At some point, we became aware of a kerfuffle, and it quickly emerged that a man was on one knee and holding up a ring to his dining companion, who he obviously wished to be his wife. I can recall him clearly, as he had a dodgy moustache and nasty baggy suit – we were just coming out of the nineties – and I can also recall the woman’s reaction, which was one of complete shock.
After what seemed like an age, she said yes. Because we were in a terribly chic and expensive restaurant in Chelsea, rather than applause, the only response from our fellow diners consisted of an elderly SW3 matron sourly uttering the words, “Oh for heaven’s sake”.
At the time, I thought that comment was ungracious, perhaps even downright unpleasant, but in retrospect it was absolutely right. Public proposals are an utter disgrace, and the men who make them – and it is always men – should be permanently banned from getting married. In fact, I’d go further, and require that they should be forced into some kind of treatment, as such behaviour is a massive red flag, and indicative of all sorts of psychological unpleasantness that urgently requires lancing.
If you are on social media, then you will see such public proposals regularly, and you will realise they follow the same pattern. Take the example recently posted by Dublin Airport on Instagram, complete with the cheesy caption “Love is in the air at Dublin Airport”. A stewardess is seen walking into the arrivals hall, whereupon a young man presents her with some cheap flowers. Onlookers, aware of what’s about to happen, start clapping and cheering. Then the man reaches into a bum bag by his armpit – how classy! – and fishes out a white box which evidently contains a ring, and gets down on one knee.
What happens next is telling, and is a moment that is present in every public proposal video – the woman steps back. In this instance, she steps back five times, until there is a gap of some two metres, perhaps more. She then does something else that is common to all these videos – she puts her hands over her face. There is a pause, and she then accepts. More applause by the crowd, a hug, and then the third common element – the man waves to the onlookers.
This ghastly choreography is almost identical to that which was recently seen in a video posted to Twitter by Newcastle University, in which a male graduate is seen proposing to his girlfriend just before she is about to receive her degree on stage. There are those same steps back, the hands over the face, and the smug male wave to the applauding crowd.
You do not need to be an expert in body language to see what is going on. The woman is being placed – by the man – into a state of shock and acute public embarrassment. Her ability to refuse the proposal is almost completely compromised by the presence of so many onlookers, and her agency is therefore massively diminished. It is not hard to see how some men who do this to women may in effect be practising coercive control, and any smart money would bet on the side of such men proving to be extremely manipulative husbands.
The other troubling element is the evident male narcissism. By making a private act public, such men are making the event a piece of theatre, albeit one in which only the half the cast has agreed to appear. What should be an intimate moment between two equals is now rendered into a performance that is essentially all about the man. The woman now merely has a supporting role. This is especially so in the case of the degree ceremony, in which the woman’s starring role of receiving her degree on stage was completely usurped and turned into a very different role in a very different piece of theatre by a supreme act of selfishness.
The social media managers of places such as Dublin Airport and Newcastle University should be aware that these public proposals are far from popular. The Dublin video has been watched 17.7 million times on Instagram, yet it has only garnered 1.2 million likes, which strongly suggests to me that 90 percent of viewers did not like what they saw. I cannot do the number-crunching for the graduation proposal video, because tellingly, Newcastle University has deleted the tweet in the face of much opprobrium.
The only public proposal video I ever wish to see is one in which the woman says no, and not only that, but also publicly lambasts the man for putting her in such an egregious position. This, I hope, would go viral, and make some men realise that there is a vast difference between taking control of a situation and taking control of a person. The motives behind public proposals may be romantic, but ultimately they are the very opposite of what true love means.
It looks like Google's long-running project to split up ChromeOS and its Chrome browser will be shipping out to the masses soon. Kevin Tofel's About Chromebooks has spotted flags that turn on the feature by default for ChromeOS 116 and up. 116 is currently in beta and should be live in the stable channel sometime this month.
The project is called "Lacros" which Google says stands for "Linux And ChRome OS." This will split ChromeOS's Linux OS from the Chrome browser, allowing Google to update each one independently. Google documentation on the project says, "On Chrome OS, the system UI (ash window manager, login screen, etc.) and the web browser are the same binary. Lacros separates this functionality into two binaries, henceforth known as ash-chrome (system UI) and lacros-chrome (web browser)." Part of the project involves sprucing up the ChromeOS OS, and Google's docs say, "Lacros can be imagined as 'Linux chrome with more Wayland support.'"
Previously ChromeOS was using a homemade graphics stack called "Freon," but now with Wayland, it'll be on the new and normal desktop Linux graphic stack. Google's 2016 move to Freon was at a time when it could have moved from X11 (the old, normal desktop Linux graphics stock) directly to Wayland, but it decided to take this custom detour instead. Google says this represents "more Wayland support" because Wayland was previously used for Android and Linux apps, but now it'll be used for the native Chrome OS graphics, too.
On the browser side, ChromeOS would stop using the bespoke Chrome browser for ChromeOS and switch to the Chrome browser for Linux. The same browser you get on Ubuntu would now ship on ChromeOS. In the past, turning on Lacros in ChromeOS would show both Chrome browsers, the outgoing ChromeOS one and the new Linux one.
Lacros has been in development for around two years and can be enabled via a Chrome flag. Tofel says his 116 build no longer has that flag since it's the default now. Google hasn't officially confirmed this is happening, but so far, the code is headed that way.
Users probably won't notice anything, but the feature should make it easier to update Chrome OS and might even extend the lifetime of old ChromeOS devices. This should also let Google more directly roll out changes on ChromeOS. Currently, there can be a delay while Google does the extra build work for ChromeOS, so the standalone browsers get security fixes first.
Archived version: https://archive.ph/EG7nc
Runaway Netflix hit Heartstopper was a huge hit with teenagers when the first series came out last year.
But while it may have been targeted at a younger audience - just like Alice Oseman's hugely popular graphic novels series of the same name - it ultimately had a much broader appeal.
The series centred around the blossoming same sex relationship between school friends Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor).
The storyline follows Nick's coming out journey as he realises he is bisexual and series two, which drops on Netflix on Thursday, will follow Charlie and Nick's deepening romance.
For the young LGBTQ+ community, Heartstopper is about representation, identity and first love, while the show also tackles other teen issues such as bullying and friendship problems.
Older viewers have also been drawn to the series with its universal themes and nostalgia for rose-tinted schooldays (even if they weren't always so rose-tinted).
For some though, it's had a more profound effect.
Fiona - not her real name - says the show helped her to open up about her sexuality for the first time, in her 40s.
"Saying that Heartstopper made me realise I was bisexual is a bit of an oversimplification. There was probably a part of me that always knew but didn't really know how to label it because there weren't any people talking about bisexuality when I was growing up," she explains.
More people identify as bisexual than gay or lesbian, a new study recently suggested.
Fiona herself is married with a young child and her husband has been very supportive as she has begun to open up about her sexual orientation.
But it was a very different landscape in the 1980s.
She says that growing up through the Aids crisis and Section 28 was damaging, recalling once hearing Aids described by adults in hushed tones as the "gay plague".
"There was a lot of trauma and horror associated with not being straight.
"Because I liked boys as well, I just kind of pushed that side down. It [bisexuality] was always floating around in my head but I had those negative ideas of what it means to be bisexual."
She also feels that there's been a lack of bisexual storylines on our screens, which hasn't helped. Last year's Glaad report, which charts LGBTQ representation on TV in the US, noted that there was a four per cent decrease in bisexual characters compared with the previous year.
While there have been prominent bisexual characters in recent TV series, such as Rosa Diaz in Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Darryl Whitefeather in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, it was Heartstopper's Nick Nelson that made everything click for Fiona.
"When I saw his journey, the emotions he felt... the more I thought about it, the more I thought this is something I can relate a lot to the past.
"It was like jigsaw pieces floating around and watching Heartstopper was the thing that finally... they all fit into place.
She says that while the show has "been really important for young people... because it normalises those feelings... there is a generation of older people who are realising they are bisexual because Heartstopper is helping them to go through the things they went through as a teenager and recognise it".
Heartstopper doesn't sugar-coat the issues that still exist today in coming out; Nick is part of a very macho school rugby team, for example, which includes some members who are openly homophobic.
"The fear of coming out to friends is very relatable. That's something I'm still going through at the moment," says Fiona.
But she notes that Heartstopper is also a "simple love story... that isn't drenched in trauma", which she feels is significant.
"There was a big phase where every gay storyline involved HIV... you couldn't just have simple love stories like straight people."
Watching Heartstopper led to Fiona tentatively begin to explore her newly uncovered identity.
"I just subconsciously started using the [bisexuality] label for myself to see how felt. It's like unlocking a part of your identity that's always been hidden.
"Everything just clicked and I was crying at the end when Nick comes out to his mum."
Fiona recently attended her first Pride event but while her husband has been an ally, she isn't ready to come out to her wider family yet.
"My family are very heteronormative. I'm a bit of a misfit because they do (traditional) gender roles, women do this and men do that, and I've always kicked against that."
While Fiona's coming out journey is at her own pace, Connor revealed on Twitter last year that he was bisexual, but suggested he was forced to come out after pressure on social media.
"No-one should be forced to come out when they're not ready, they should be able to do that in their own time. He was pushed into a corner where he felt he had to do that, it was completely unacceptable," Fiona says.
Connor himself said recently: "One of the really powerful things about Heartstopper is that it's a voice for a lot of people.
"We do try and teach people that no matter what, it's OK. It's okay not to know, and it's OK to explore and it's okay to work things out. You'll get there. It's going to be the best thing ever when you do."
Series two will see the relationship between Charlie and Nick grow and mature.
The pair are "super, super optimistic and hopeful about their relationship," Connor says.
"But it's maybe not as easy as they thought it would be, to suddenly be as out and proud as they want to be."
Dr Julia Shaw, a psychologist and author of the book, Bi: The Hidden Culture, History and Science of Bisexuality, says bisexual people face "double discrimination, expressed to them by both homosexual and heterosexual people".
"There's an assumption that for bisexual women, it's probably a phase, whereas for bisexual men, it's kind of the opposite... the assumption will be that you're actually gay but just not willing or brave enough to come out yet.
"Often bisexual people are seen as not queer enough to be fully part of the queer and homosexual community," she adds.
Dr Shaw also recognises the importance of representation on screen.
"Parasocial relationships are when we have relationships with... or get to know people on screen, or in other media contexts," she explains.
For example, the viewer may feel a genuine connection with Connor's character through shared experiences.
"We know that parasocial relationships are important for changing people's hearts and minds when it comes to queer issues.
"So if you feel like you know someone [who is gay or bisexual] in your real life, or through the media, you're much more likely to accept that that's a sexuality that really exists."
She adds: "I think that bisexual representation in the last five years has shot up massively, although it's still not proportionate.
"I think Heartstopper is one of the first representations of a delicate portrayal of bisexuality in boys in a way that we haven't seen before."
Oseman herself, who identifies as asexual and aromantic and uses both she and they pronouns, says: "We want to see our struggles represented accurately in the media, but we also often want media that makes us feel hopeful, comforted, and happy, and I like to think Heartstopper does both those things."
So what would Fiona say to Oseman if she met her now?
"Thank you for giving my generation the representation that we didn't have. I don't know if she will ever realise what impact she's really had."
Runaway Netflix hit Heartstopper was a huge hit with teenagers when the first series came out last year.
But while it may have been targeted at a younger audience - just like Alice Oseman's hugely popular graphic novels series of the same name - it ultimately had a much broader appeal.
The series centred around the blossoming same sex relationship between school friends Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor).
The storyline follows Nick's coming out journey as he realises he is bisexual and series two, which drops on Netflix on Thursday, will follow Charlie and Nick's deepening romance.
For the young LGBTQ+ community, Heartstopper is about representation, identity and first love, while the show also tackles other teen issues such as bullying and friendship problems.
Older viewers have also been drawn to the series with its universal themes and nostalgia for rose-tinted schooldays (even if they weren't always so rose-tinted).
For some though, it's had a more profound effect.
Fiona - not her real name - says the show helped her to open up about her sexuality for the first time, in her 40s.
"Saying that Heartstopper made me realise I was bisexual is a bit of an oversimplification. There was probably a part of me that always knew but didn't really know how to label it because there weren't any people talking about bisexuality when I was growing up," she explains.
More people identify as bisexual than gay or lesbian, a new study recently suggested.
Fiona herself is married with a young child and her husband has been very supportive as she has begun to open up about her sexual orientation.
But it was a very different landscape in the 1980s.
She says that growing up through the Aids crisis and Section 28 was damaging, recalling once hearing Aids described by adults in hushed tones as the "gay plague".
"There was a lot of trauma and horror associated with not being straight.
"Because I liked boys as well, I just kind of pushed that side down. It [bisexuality] was always floating around in my head but I had those negative ideas of what it means to be bisexual."
She also feels that there's been a lack of bisexual storylines on our screens, which hasn't helped. Last year's Glaad report, which charts LGBTQ representation on TV in the US, noted that there was a four per cent decrease in bisexual characters compared with the previous year.
While there have been prominent bisexual characters in recent TV series, such as Rosa Diaz in Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Darryl Whitefeather in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, it was Heartstopper's Nick Nelson that made everything click for Fiona.
"When I saw his journey, the emotions he felt... the more I thought about it, the more I thought this is something I can relate a lot to the past.
"It was like jigsaw pieces floating around and watching Heartstopper was the thing that finally... they all fit into place.
She says that while the show has "been really important for young people... because it normalises those feelings... there is a generation of older people who are realising they are bisexual because Heartstopper is helping them to go through the things they went through as a teenager and recognise it".
Heartstopper doesn't sugar-coat the issues that still exist today in coming out; Nick is part of a very macho school rugby team, for example, which includes some members who are openly homophobic.
"The fear of coming out to friends is very relatable. That's something I'm still going through at the moment," says Fiona.
But she notes that Heartstopper is also a "simple love story... that isn't drenched in trauma", which she feels is significant.
"There was a big phase where every gay storyline involved HIV... you couldn't just have simple love stories like straight people."
Watching Heartstopper led to Fiona tentatively begin to explore her newly uncovered identity.
"I just subconsciously started using the [bisexuality] label for myself to see how felt. It's like unlocking a part of your identity that's always been hidden.
"Everything just clicked and I was crying at the end when Nick comes out to his mum."
Fiona recently attended her first Pride event but while her husband has been an ally, she isn't ready to come out to her wider family yet.
"My family are very heteronormative. I'm a bit of a misfit because they do (traditional) gender roles, women do this and men do that, and I've always kicked against that."
While Fiona's coming out journey is at her own pace, Connor revealed on Twitter last year that he was bisexual, but suggested he was forced to come out after pressure on social media.
"No-one should be forced to come out when they're not ready, they should be able to do that in their own time. He was pushed into a corner where he felt he had to do that, it was completely unacceptable," Fiona says.
Connor himself said recently: "One of the really powerful things about Heartstopper is that it's a voice for a lot of people.
"We do try and teach people that no matter what, it's OK. It's okay not to know, and it's OK to explore and it's okay to work things out. You'll get there. It's going to be the best thing ever when you do."
Series two will see the relationship between Charlie and Nick grow and mature.
The pair are "super, super optimistic and hopeful about their relationship," Connor says.
"But it's maybe not as easy as they thought it would be, to suddenly be as out and proud as they want to be."
Dr Julia Shaw, a psychologist and author of the book, Bi: The Hidden Culture, History and Science of Bisexuality, says bisexual people face "double discrimination, expressed to them by both homosexual and heterosexual people".
"There's an assumption that for bisexual women, it's probably a phase, whereas for bisexual men, it's kind of the opposite... the assumption will be that you're actually gay but just not willing or brave enough to come out yet.
"Often bisexual people are seen as not queer enough to be fully part of the queer and homosexual community," she adds.
Dr Shaw also recognises the importance of representation on screen.
"Parasocial relationships are when we have relationships with... or get to know people on screen, or in other media contexts," she explains.
For example, the viewer may feel a genuine connection with Connor's character through shared experiences.
"We know that parasocial relationships are important for changing people's hearts and minds when it comes to queer issues.
"So if you feel like you know someone [who is gay or bisexual] in your real life, or through the media, you're much more likely to accept that that's a sexuality that really exists."
She adds: "I think that bisexual representation in the last five years has shot up massively, although it's still not proportionate.
"I think Heartstopper is one of the first representations of a delicate portrayal of bisexuality in boys in a way that we haven't seen before."
Oseman herself, who identifies as asexual and aromantic and uses both she and they pronouns, says: "We want to see our struggles represented accurately in the media, but we also often want media that makes us feel hopeful, comforted, and happy, and I like to think Heartstopper does both those things."
So what would Fiona say to Oseman if she met her now?
"Thank you for giving my generation the representation that we didn't have. I don't know if she will ever realise what impact she's really had."
Keep in mind plenty of people struggle to get the jobs they want, regardless of gender identity, sexuality, etc.