#Data Accuracy Platform

[reasonsforhope]

If you're feeling anxious or depressed about the climate and want to do something to help right now, from your bed, for free...

Start helping with citizen science projects

What's a citizen science project? Basically, it's crowdsourced science. In this case, crowdsourced climate science, that you can help with!

You don't need qualifications or any training besides the slideshow at the start of a project. There are a lot of things that humans can do way better than machines can, even with only minimal training, that are vital to science - especially digitizing records and building searchable databases

Like labeling trees in aerial photos so that scientists have better datasets to use for restoration.

Or counting cells in fossilized plants to track the impacts of climate change.

Or digitizing old atmospheric data to help scientists track the warming effects of El Niño.

Or counting penguins to help scientists better protect them.

Those are all on one of the most prominent citizen science platforms, called Zooniverse, but there are a ton of others, too.

Oh, and btw, you don't have to worry about messing up, because several people see each image. Studies show that if you pool the opinions of however many regular people (different by field), it matches the accuracy rate of a trained scientist in the field.

--

I spent a lot of time doing this when I was really badly injured and housebound, and it was so good for me to be able to HELP and DO SOMETHING, even when I was in too much pain to leave my bed. So if you are chronically ill/disabled/for whatever reason can't participate or volunteer for things in person, I highly highly recommend.

Next time you wish you could do something - anything - to help

Remember that actually, you can. And help with some science.

[dextara]

🔗 Seamlessly Connect Your Systems with Salesforce Integration Services! 🌐

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Integrate smarter and accelerate your business success! 🚀💼

[drefear]

Imagine reader artist, who loves to draw Miguel. And the other day she's just drawing naked Miguel's body. He saw it and just smirks and say: "I've got bigger than that" or "I could show/pose for accuracy"

TW: raunchy smut, Dom!miguel, fem reader, smut with no plot.

A/N: I wrote half of this while at work and a little drunk. So here ya go. Also currently in the process of writing a part two.

Miguel’s face filled your sketchbook, his back in his spider suit, his mask, every angle you could find him at. You often sat in his office for hours while he did reports, sketching him and drawing him. You loved using different mediums and colors, giving him new features and styles. You specifically loved practicing drawing his broad body and sculpted as-

Ahem. Legs.

Yes, ok, fine, you had a small crush on your boss, whatever, no big deal.

You would purposefully finish all of your work as fast as possible so you could sit back and draw him. And because you weren’t loud or annoying, and everything was always done on time and orderly, he let you.

But one mission in particular made him stressed out, and as you watched him filling out data about the anomaly he’d just captured, he glitched his suit down his torso and injected himself with that mysterious green liquid, entrancing you for those glorious few seconds.

It was very obvious he had a nice body, duh. But you never let your mind go too far in imagining him out of his suit, scared to go into a territory you couldn’t back out of.

And now you did, drawing his torso and pecks, shading his abs, and this got you curious about more.

Lower.

Biting your lip, you sat in the cafeteria a few days later. You purposefully sat with your back to a wall, making sure no one could sneak up on you and see what you were drawing, as you drew him laying down. His arms splayed behind his head, face relaxed, as you defined his leg muscles. As you finished the piece of art, the only area you’d avoided was his groin.

And now you stared at the empty area of art, knee bouncing from anxiety about how you were supposed to draw this. You had no reference for him. Yes, you’d seen dicks before, obviously. You lived in a universe with unrestricted internet access, so it’s not like you’d never been around the block, but here you were, blushing like a 15 year old just because of a dick.

Drawing and then erasing and drawing, you repeated the process a few times before you heard someone click their tongue in front of you. You’d been so consumed by what you were doing, you didn’t even feel your spider senses or hear them come close.

Miguel stood with an eyebrow raised and his hands on his hips, eyeing you curiously. “Why are you so jumpy?” He asked and you snatched the book in front of you to your chest, stuttering some bullshit answer about too much caffeine. He just nodded and continued giving you a new order.

You got up from your seat and moved to follow him to his cold, dark lair area. As you were about to step onto his platform, you tripped and your hands flew out to stabilize your fall. As you did, the notebook flew across the floor and slid as your vision blurred from how fast you’d collapsed, getting up slowly and rolling your shoulders. You reached to where the sketch book had fallen, but it was no longer there.

No.

NO.

It was between his fingers, as he flipped through the pages slowly, eyeing your work with his brows furrowed, focused. You jumped towards him and he just turned his back, making you feel like you ran into a wall. You reached around him and he webbed your wrist to the table beside you, still not tearing his eyes from your work.

“Stop, that’s private! Give it back!” You shouted and he rolled his eyes briefly.

“It’s all drawings of me, I think I’m allowed to see-“ and his words stopped as he flipped to the newest page.

The nude drawing of him.

You gulped as his expression became unreadable, stoic, and your eyes flashed between the art and him. “I-I was just practicing forms and poses-“

“It’s… inaccurate.” He spoke lowly before your eyes blinked for a moment, confused.

“What do you mean?”

He walked to you and stood tall, bending down slightly to stare directly into your eyes. His mouth turned up at the ends and his eyes glittered with something you’d never seen in him before.

Turning the book back to you and showing you your own drawing, he smirked deeper.

“I’m much bigger.” His eyes were almost challenging you, making your blood run ice cold, and you felt his hands yank your body against his. “Do you want to see for reference?”

And then his watch made a loud sound, Lyla popping up to explain some anomaly on earth number whatever. He groaned and turned to walk out. “I’ll be back once this is done. Don’t go anywhere because When I do return, we’re continuing where we left off.”

Then he was gone and you stood, mouth agape from the whole exchange. You thought it might take a while for him to capture this anomaly, so You’d decided to go back to your own universe in preparation, showering and fixing yourself up. You bit your nail nervously as you thought about it all. Was he serious? No way, right…?

As you stood in the bathroom mirror, the sound of a portal opening cut through your mind like a knife, making your body rush into your living room. You gripped the towel tight around your torso as you saw Miguel walk out of the colorful dimension behind him and into yours. The portal closed and with that, his mask disintegrated so you could see his face. A bit tired, he still had a less-than-enthusiastic expression on.

“I thought I told you not to go anywhere.” He repeated and you stood stuff as a board, now a bit scared. He took slow, calculated steps towards you as your head tilted back to continue watching him. “Inaccurate and disobedient. I have a lot to teach you, don’t I?” His index finger hooked under your chin as he smirked and grabbed your hand with his free one, pulling you into your bathroom. He looked around for a second before hitting a button on his watch and letting the fabric disappear.

You bit your lip as your eyes took full advantage of his exposed skin. “You- it-“

“Yeah. I know.” He grabbed your wrist and spun you around, bending you over your counter with your hand breached against your back. “Now I want you to really study how I fuck you, so that you get a good look at how big I am, and how easy I can maneuver this body.” He whispered into your damp hair and pushed down, then ripping the towel away and throwing it out of the bathroom completely.

His eyes stared down at your weeping cunt and he licked his lips. “I’ll be tasting you another time. Today, I want you to really feel my size.” He was cocky, and he had a right to be. His dick was huge, almost alarmingly big.

The tip of his cock pressed against your entrance and you clenched your jaw. “It’s gonna hurt, but I’ll go slow. That way you can feel good and still learn.” He cooed in a teasing tone and your eyes found his in the mirror, watching intently as he began to push into you. The sudden width he was stretching you to was mind numbing and your knees began to buckle, but he just held you up with one hand, the other still guiding himself into you.

“Coño, your sucking me in so nicely, might not even need to slow down.” He spoke and your eyes were rolling back from his words, to which you snapped out of once his hand that was holding you up held your face harshly towards the mirror. “No slacking, little girl. You better keep your eyes on my cock.”

Halfway inside, and you were already fluttering around him, on the verge of orgasm. “That’s it, sucia, cum on my cock. It’ll be the first time of many.” You shivered at his words, feeling him sink in further and immediately orgasming. The rolls of pleasure washing through you made him grunt as his hips couldn’t help but rut into you harshly. The lack of prep had you feeling everything he was giving you, hyper aware of your insides wrapping around him.

“Mm, wanna fuck me back? Grind back onto my cock? Paciencia, Nena.” He instructed as you kept trying to get him in further. Wrapping a hand around your torso, he tweeked at your nipples and made you gasp from the sensation. “That’s it,” he mumbled.

Finally, smirked, he chuckled darkly as you tried once more to thrust backwards. “Fine, you asked for it.” He met your eyes in the mirror, now blood red and swirling with the threat as he snapped his hips forward and forced the rest of him into you, making you gargle out a strained sound in shock and pleasure. The pain was beautiful, and began to subside quickly as you felt him twitch. He hit every spot and more, feeling new depths and points of pleasure.

Tears welled in the corners of your eyes as he started a slightly faster pace. Your body jiggled from the movements and the sound of skin slapping against skin filled your apartment, your mouth hanging open as your eyes never left were his dick was buried into you. He smiled, enjoying the way you watched his cock disappear into you over and over, and you felt the pressure building once more. How he bullied your cunt and grinned while doing it made you burst, tears breaking free and a scream ripping through you as your pussy squeezed him.

“Fuck, so tight.” He groaned, head now falling back and he kept going, beginning to chase his own high. Your mind had shut off now, fucked practically stupid on his cock and he rocking into you mercilessly. His speed was unmatched and he moved to pick up your hips to meet his, closing the gap your height difference had created, and finally having him slam into you until his hips met your ass, making you choke on your own oxygen from the absolute brutal beating he was giving your cervix.

He slid one hand to the back of your neck and pressed you further into the counter top of your sink, forcing your pert nipples to meet the cold marble and you cried out more, barely able to push back against him now as you were trapped between his body and your bathroom’s confinements with only your top toes touching the floor. Your face was streaked with tears as he grunted and let out ragged breaths.

“The perfect little pussy, so perfect for my cock. You can take it, little artist. You wanted to draw my cock so badly, now you have the perfect image to do it. Fucked deep inside of you. Draw us like this for me, yeah? I wanna see it everyday. Or should I just fuck you every day instead?” His words tumbled from his mouth like an avalanche and you could feel his cock about to burst, making you teeter over that cliff as well. “That’s it, strangle my cock. Cum all over me, niña, paint me with your cute cunt.” He demanded and you obliged, feeling a shooting electric sensation rip out of you. Suddenly, you were both a bit wet between the thighs and he was mesmerized by what he saw. Your juices squirt all over him and he came instantly after seeing that, pounding into you as far as he could and forcing his cum the deepest it could be inside of you.

Both of you were unmoving as you caught your breath, a layer of sweat covering you both as you stared at each other in the mirror. No words could describe what had just happened and Miguel smiled once more, which prompted you to ask.

“What?”

“You need to get a mirror by your bed. Because I want to do this to you every day.” He watched your eyes widen in the mirror in front of you both as he licked your neck from behind and sinking his fangs into your soft skin, jutting his hips once more and making you realize he was still hard.

“For art purposes.”

Part two is out!

[axolterp]

Axolt: Modern ERP and Inventory Software Built on Salesforce

Today’s businesses operate in a fast-paced, data-driven environment where efficiency, accuracy, and agility are key to staying competitive. Legacy systems and disconnected software tools can no longer meet the evolving demands of modern enterprises. That’s why companies across industries are turning to Axolt, a next-generation solution offering intelligent inventory software and a full-fledged ERP on Salesforce.

Axolt is a unified, cloud-based ERP system built natively on the Salesforce platform. It provides a modular, scalable framework that allows organizations to manage operations from inventory and logistics to finance, manufacturing, and compliance—all in one place.

Where most ERPs are either too rigid or require costly integrations, Axolt is designed for flexibility. It empowers teams with real-time data, reduces manual work, and improves cross-functional collaboration. With Salesforce as the foundation, users benefit from enterprise-grade security, automation, and mobile access without needing separate platforms for CRM and ERP.

Smarter Inventory Software Inventory is at the heart of operational performance. Poor inventory control can result in stockouts, over-purchasing, and missed opportunities. Axolt’s built-in inventory software addresses these issues by providing real-time visibility into stock levels, warehouse locations, and product movement.

Whether managing serialized products, batches, or kits, the system tracks every item with precision. It supports barcode scanning, lot and serial traceability, expiry tracking, and multi-warehouse inventory—all from a central dashboard.

Unlike traditional inventory tools, Axolt integrates directly with Salesforce CRM. This means your sales and service teams always have accurate availability information, enabling faster order processing and better customer communication.

A Complete Salesforce ERP Axolt isn’t just inventory software—it’s a full Salesforce ERP suite tailored for businesses that want more from their operations. Finance teams can automate billing cycles, reconcile payments, and manage cash flows with built-in modules for accounts receivable and payable. Manufacturing teams can plan production, allocate work orders, and track costs across every stage.

[oneaichat]

How Authors Can Use AI to Improve Their Writing Style

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way authors approach writing, offering tools to refine style, enhance creativity, and boost productivity. By leveraging AI writing assistant authors can improve their craft in various ways.

1. Grammar and Style Enhancement

AI writing tools like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and Hemingway Editor help authors refine their prose by correcting grammar, punctuation, and style inconsistencies. These tools offer real-time suggestions to enhance readability, eliminate redundancy, and maintain a consistent tone.

2. Idea Generation and Inspiration

AI can assist in brainstorming and overcoming writer’s block. Platforms like OneAIChat, ChatGPT and Sudowrite provide writing prompts, generate story ideas, and even suggest plot twists. These AI systems analyze existing content and propose creative directions, helping authors develop compelling narratives.

3. Improving Readability and Engagement

AI-driven readability analyzers assess sentence complexity and suggest simpler alternatives. Hemingway Editor, for example, highlights lengthy or passive sentences, making writing more engaging and accessible. This ensures clarity and impact, especially for broader audiences.

4. Personalizing Writing Style

AI-powered tools can analyze an author's writing patterns and provide personalized feedback. They help maintain a consistent voice, ensuring that the writer’s unique style remains intact while refining structure and coherence.

5. Research and Fact-Checking

AI-powered search engines and summarization tools help authors verify facts, gather relevant data, and condense complex information quickly. This is particularly useful for non-fiction writers and journalists who require accuracy and efficiency.

Conclusion

By integrating AI into their writing process, authors can enhance their style, improve efficiency, and foster creativity. While AI should not replace human intuition, it serves as a valuable assistant, enabling writers to produce polished and impactful content effortlessly.

[ghostwarriorrrr]

🇹🇷🔥 Turkish Air Force - F-4E 2020 Terminator

The F-4E 2020 Terminator represents a significant leap forward in the capabilities of the Turkish Air Force. This comprehensive upgrade enhances the venerable F-4E Phantom II with modern Turkish-made weapons systems, showcasing Türkiye’s commitment to self-reliance and advanced military technology.

Background

With a storied history dating back to the 1960s, the F-4E Phantom II has been a pivotal player on the global stage of air combat. Serving multiple nations and seeing numerous conflicts, the Phantom carved out its place in aviation history as a versatile and rugged aircraft. Türkiye’s decision to upgrade this aircraft stems from a strategic imperative to leverage existing assets while infusing them with cutting-edge technology to maintain relevance in modern aerial warfare. The 2020 Terminator program is the Turkish Air Force’s ambitious initiative to retrofit these fighters with state-of-the-art systems.

Strategic Importance

The ability to exert air superiority and conduct precision strikes is paramount in a region marked by dynamic security challenges. The F-4E 2020 Terminator’s enhanced capabilities contribute significantly to deterrence, and the demonstration of Türkiye’s advancing aerospace industry serves both a strategic and diplomatic purpose.

Upgrade Overview

The 2020 Terminator upgrade, realized by Turkish Aerospace Industries in collaboration with ASELSAN, constitutes a multifaceted improvement over the aircraft’s original design. It touches every aspect of the aircraft’s systems, bringing its avionics, armaments, and electronic warfare systems into the 21st century.

Avionics:

The modernized multi-mode pulse Doppler radar extends the aircraft’s detection range, allowing it to lock onto and engage targets from greater distances. Integrating a Hands-On Throttle-And-Stick (HOTAS) system enhances pilot control, minimizing response time during high-stakes manoeuvres. Color Multifunctional Displays (MFDs) replace outdated gauges, providing pilots with real-time data visualization for improved situational awareness.

Armament:

The Terminator’s weapons suite has been revolutionized with a mixture of Western and indigenous munitions. Long-standing armaments like the AIM-9X Sidewinder are joined by Türkiye’s own precision-guided munitions, such as the SOM cruise missile, capable of striking strategic land and sea targets with formidable accuracy. The UAV-230, a domestic innovation, represents the pinnacle of Türkiye’s missile development, offering supersonic ballistic delivery of a range of warhead types over substantial distances. The BOZOK, MAM-C, MAM-L, and Cirit missiles exemplify Türkiye’s expertise in laser guidance and smart munition technology, enabling the Terminator to engage and defeat a broad spectrum of target profiles with unerring precision.

Electronic Warfare:

To contend with the contemporary battlefield’s electronic warfare environment, the F-4E 2020 Terminator incorporates an advanced Electronic Support Measures (ESM) system for rapid threat identification and an Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) suite to confound hostile tracking systems. Moreover, chaff and flare dispensers have been integrated to provide decoys against incoming missile threats, enhancing the aircraft’s survivability in hostile airspace.

Operational Capability:

The F-4E Phantom II, transformed by these integrated systems, emerges as a multirole platform capable of dominating beyond-visual-range air-to-air engagements and precision ground-attack missions. It can operate in complex electronic warfare environments and deliver various ordnances based on mission requirements, making it a flexible asset in the Türkiye Air Force’s inventory.

Significance:

The F-4E 2020 Terminator project is a hallmark of Türkiye’s aerospace ambition and its push toward defence autonomy. By retrofitting and modernizing its Phantoms, Türkiye maximizes the value of its existing fleet while also establishing a foundation for future indigenous aircraft development projects.

Munitions Details:

The advanced, indigenous Turkish weaponry integrated into the F-4E 2020 Terminator underlines a significant shift toward self-reliance in defence technologies. Each munition type brings unique capabilities that enhance the platform’s lethality:

UAV-230: A domestically-developed ballistic missile, this supersonic weapon delivers high-precision strikes at long ranges, challenging enemy defences with its speed and reduced radar cross-section.

BOZOK: The versatility of this laser-guided munition makes it ideal for engaging both stationary and moving targets with high precision, ideal for close air support.

MAM-C/L: These smart micro munitions are designed for tactical flexibility, allowing for precision targeting in complex engagement scenarios, from anti-armour operations to counter-insurgency roles.

Cirit: A highly accurate laser-guided missile system designed for low collateral damage, Cirit is adept at striking soft and lightly armoured targets with pinpoint accuracy.

SAGE Munitions: TUBITAK SAGE, Türkiye’s leading defence research and development institute, has contributed a range of munitions enhancing the Terminator’s operational capabilities across various domains.

Conclusion:

The upgraded F-4E 2020 Terminator is a testament to Türkiye’s determination to retain a competitive edge in aerospace and defence technologies. The integration of modern avionics, armaments, and electronic warfare capabilities ensures the aircraft’s continued relevance in modern air combat, and its presence in the skies serves as a deterrent in a strategically complex region.

[cyle]

i love reading through other platforms' data exports of what they have on me.

for example, Discord's data export has a few big JSON files of "analytics events", that seem to accidentally contain some things that are probably not really analytics events.

there are these fun "prediction" JSON blobs in a different format than the events...

one of them is trying to predict my gender. "predicted_gender: male", over and over. and what's really hilarious is that it logs its estimated accuracy and the timestamp of the attempt. so i can see that in late 2022, discord kept started to try to predict my gender, and it swung from 91% confident i was male to only 71%, and has been doing this prediction process almost daily this year (2023), ranging from ~70% confidence to ~92% confidence.

another is trying to predict my age, and has waffled between "25-34" and "35+" for a year. similarly with a wide range in confidence. makes me wonder what data modeling they're doing to make that prediction...

relatedly, it's always fun to look at the different event names a platform is logging, to get a taste of how granular they're tracking people... here are some fun ones:

start_listening

tooltip_viewed

context_menu_link_opened

keyboard_shortcut_used

premium_upsell_viewed

app_native_crash

jump

remix_surface_exit_modal

nuo_transition

there are over 400 different kinds of events logged in my data dump, and over 419,000 of these events logged. kinda scary!

[in-faithwe-conquer]

Kaidan: What the hell, Shepard? What just happened? Actually, don't tell me. I've got work to do, and I... I can't be distracted.

Shepard: I was plugged into the virtual world of the geth consensus. Saw their history, purged a Reaper infection...

Kaidan: Crap. Now I'll be obsessing about how that works instead of doing my spectre division expense report.

Shepard: You're welcome.

Kaidan: YOu know entering the geth consensus is gonna be the best chapter in your autobiography.

James: So... Prothean, huh?

Javik: Yes.

James: You guys like to drink? Booze it up?

Javik: No.

James: Okay. What about gambling? Play cards?

Javik: Games of chance were punishable by death in the empire.

James: Oh sure, sure. That seems... reasonable. Okay. So smoking? You ever do that?

Javik: Only when my armor became enflamed.

James: Right..."smoking." I get it. So jokes, then. You got jokes. All right -- you got any good ones?

Javik: No, Yes.

James: Give 'em to me.

Javik: The tulomorian spy entered the enemy's camp and said to the vanksher: "I didn't know your parnaps could glow."

James: Um...

Javik: That was the joke.

James: Ha! Oh, right! Yeah. I get it. Yeah, that was a good one.

Javik: No it wasn't. I just made it up. The joke is now on you human. You will believe anything.

Javik: I do not think this "James" soldier understands me. None in this cycle seem to understand me. And I do not care.

Legion: This platform can be of some assistance, Garrus Vakarian.

Garrus: I appreciate the offer, Legion, but this is something I know a thing or two about.

Legion: Telemetry data indicates the calibration of Normandy's weapon accuracy can be improved by .32 percent.

Garrus: That's all? You can't squeeze .34 percent out of it?

Legion: Negative. That threshold is not possible.

Garrus: You sure? Take a look now.

Legion: Scanning... Normandy's weapons systems have been improved by a margin of .43 percent. How did you accomplish this?

Garrus: A little secret we organics like to keep: always hold some back for emergencies.

Legion: Is our current situation an emergency?

Garrus: A geth meddling with our computers, telling me how to do my job? Nah, I can't imagine that would qualify.

[basshole-astard]

[AMERICAN POLITICS]

i know everyone is worried about KOSA being a censorship bill, and that's fair. but do you know what really, REALLY concerns me about this bill? the fact they want to install age verification systems at the device/operating system level

(transcript with highlights below cut)

this will almost definitely track your data - note how it doesn't say how much, just that it's going to have to collect some, and that's worrying. to me. best case scenario we need to give our devices our government ID. worst case scenario it's tracking app usage and browser history and who knows what else. they don't say! how convenient.

but, based on Sec. 6(d)(5) "consider indicia or inferences of age of users, in addition to any self-declared information about the age of individuals." and Sec. 10(a)(1)(D) "using indicia or inferences of age of users for assessing use of the covered platform by minors", nevermind Sec. 9(b)(4)'s own admission that some data will be collected, that's.... that's data tracking.

and i know websites already do this, but i feel like a government mandated software for age verification that will track this data is a step too far.....

read the text of the bill here, if you want. genuinely the amount of legaleze is - as far as i can tell - only going to PROBABLY cause censorship, not GUARANTEE it.

but you know what KOSA does guarantee? stated plainly and clearly in their intents of what this bill will do? data tracking.

so if you're contacting your senators about opposing this bill, please consider not only voicing your concerns about censorship, but also about the privacy violations. thank you.

contact your senators here

highlighted text in image bolded

SEC. 9. Age verification study and report.

(a) Study.—The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall conduct a study evaluating the most technologically feasible methods and options for developing systems to verify age at the device or operating system level.

(b) Contents.—Such study shall consider —

(1) the benefits of creating a device or operating system level age verification system;

(2) what information may need to be collected to create this type of age verification system;

(3) the accuracy of such systems and their impact or steps to improve accessibility, including for individuals with disabilities;

(4) how such a system or systems could verify age while mitigating risks to user privacy and data security and safeguarding minors' personal data, emphasizing minimizing the amount of data collected and processed by covered platforms and age verification providers for such a system; and

(5) the technical feasibility, including the need for potential hardware and software changes, including for devices currently in commerce and owned by consumers.

(c) Report.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the agencies described in subsection (a) shall submit a report containing the results of the study conducted under such subsection to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.

[reasonsforhope]

"Is social media designed to reward people for acting badly?

The answer is clearly yes, given that the reward structure on social media platforms relies on popularity, as indicated by the number of responses – likes and comments – a post receives from other users. Black-box algorithms then further amplify the spread of posts that have attracted attention.

Sharing widely read content, by itself, isn’t a problem. But it becomes a problem when attention-getting, controversial content is prioritized by design. Given the design of social media sites, users form habits to automatically share the most engaging information regardless of its accuracy and potential harm. Offensive statements, attacks on out groups and false news are amplified, and misinformation often spreads further and faster than the truth.

We are two social psychologists and a marketing scholar. Our research, presented at the 2023 Nobel Prize Summit, shows that social media actually has the ability to create user habits to share high-quality content. After a few tweaks to the reward structure of social media platforms, users begin to share information that is accurate and fact-based...

Re-targeting rewards

To investigate the effect of a new reward structure, we gave financial rewards to some users for sharing accurate content and not sharing misinformation. These financial rewards simulated the positive social feedback, such as likes, that users typically receive when they share content on platforms. In essence, we created a new reward structure based on accuracy instead of attention.

As on popular social media platforms, participants in our research learned what got rewarded by sharing information and observing the outcome, without being explicitly informed of the rewards beforehand. This means that the intervention did not change the users’ goals, just their online experiences. After the change in reward structure, participants shared significantly more content that was accurate. More remarkably, users continued to share accurate content even after we removed rewards for accuracy in a subsequent round of testing. These results show that users can be given incentives to share accurate information as a matter of habit.

A different group of users received rewards for sharing misinformation and for not sharing accurate content. Surprisingly, their sharing most resembled that of users who shared news as they normally would, without any financial reward. The striking similarity between these groups reveals that social media platforms encourage users to share attention-getting content that engages others at the expense of accuracy and safety...

Doing right and doing well

Our approach, using the existing rewards on social media to create incentives for accuracy, tackles misinformation spread without significantly disrupting the sites’ business model. This has the additional advantage of altering rewards instead of introducing content restrictions, which are often controversial and costly in financial and human terms.

Implementing our proposed reward system for news sharing carries minimal costs and can be easily integrated into existing platforms. The key idea is to provide users with rewards in the form of social recognition when they share accurate news content. This can be achieved by introducing response buttons to indicate trust and accuracy. By incorporating social recognition for accurate content, algorithms that amplify popular content can leverage crowdsourcing to identify and amplify truthful information.

Both sides of the political aisle now agree that social media has challenges, and our data pinpoints the root of the problem: the design of social media platforms."

And here's the video of one of the scientsts presenting this research at the Nobel Prize Summit!

-Article via The Conversation, August 1, 2023. Video via the Nobel Prize's official Youtube channel, Nobel Prize, posted May 31, 2023.

[whos-starr]

Gone

Summary: What if it all went wrong? What if Hemlock got away with Omega? What if our heroes didn’t get the happy ending they did? If there’s one thing I can tell you, it’s that it doesn’t end well.

Word count: 1924

Notes: Break-it fic!!! Saw someone make a post about wanting a fic where everything goes wrong so here it is!!! I’ve been wanting one of these too but it ended up being a “fine I’ll do it myself” thing. It’s a quick one-shot, but here ya go hope you enjoy!

Tag list: @mantellmix @twinsunstars

The doors opened to a long catwalk, leading to a small landing platform. It was just large enough for a small fighter. Hemlock dragged Omega along, having lost nearly all his patience. And Omega knew it. His base was wrecked, his data gone, his CX troopers were unable to help him anymore.

“But I still have you.”

And that’s what haunted Omega as she struggled against the binders holding her and Hemlock together as he walked along the catwalk, towards the landing platform. His commander was right behind her. Scorch, was that his name? Omega had heard his voice before. He sounded like a clone. Omega didn’t want to believe he was a clone. Who would serve the very man causing so much pain to his brothers?

Hemlock looked at the small keypad in his hand, the one he tore off the CX operative that had been continuously following Omega and her brothers. He tapped a few of the buttons, then looked out almost triumphantly at the rainy skies. It was pouring, and Omega’s hair stuck to her face. From the clouds and rain came a familiar ship. It was black and red, and was a sleek new design. Omega had only seen a ship like it once before. It belonged to that same CX operative. It was the ship she’d been taken here on after she surrendered on Pabu.

Hemlock kept walking, his pace increasing as the ship landed. He was wasting no time. He stopped in front of the ship’s ramp and looked back for a moment at Scorch.

“Make sure no one follows us.” He said, the anger evident in his voice. Scorch nodded and took a charge out from his belt. He primed it and threw it back along the catwalk. Omega watched as it hit the metal ground and exploded. The ground she was on shook a bit, and she looked back up at the explosion as she stabilized herself. There was a giant gap in the catwalk now, separating the base exit from the landing platform. She took one last look before Scorch walked inside the ship and Hemlock followed, dragging her with. She pulled back again, and reached for the small dental tool hidden in her sleeve. She went to stab at Hemlock with it, desperate for any escape. But Hemlock held her arm back and ripped the tool out of her hand. He tossed it away and glared at her.

“I’ve had enough of this. Stun her.”

Hunter opened the doors, tired and injured and only thinking of Omega. He could tell Crosshair was the same. The doors opened to show what used to be a perfectly serviceable catwalk, now in two pieces. The side they were on, and the side where a ship sat ready to take off. He saw Hemlock, Scorch, and Omega in front of the ship’s ramp. Hunter crouched down on the catwalk, the rain blurring his view. He felt Crosshair rest his blaster on his shoulder. Scorch shot Omega with a stun blast, and she fell to the ground. Hemlock released the part of the binders on his arm, and put it on Omega. Scorch hit the switch on his blaster to revert it back to kill, and aimed at Hunter. Hemlock whispered something to him, and then entered the ship. Scorch kept the blaster aimed at Hunter and Crosshair with one hand, and dragged Omega inside the ship with the other. Hunter had enough. He shot at Scorch, anger fueling him. But between the torture earlier and the rain now, his vision was blurred and his senses overloaded. Crosshair went to shoot as well, with only a bit more accuracy than Hunter. Both wanted to fight for Omega, to get her back, and were willing to do anything. But they just couldn’t. Not anymore.

Scorch, spooked by the blaster shots, hurried inside the ship with Omega and closed the ramp. The ship began taking off. No. Hunter shot at the engines. The shields were already up. No. Crosshair stood and shouted something Hunter didn’t hear. No. Hunter had been here before. Six months ago on Ord Mantell, when he’d watched that shuttle fly away above him with Omega. No. Crosshair had been here before. Just a few days ago when he’d missed his shot at the operative’s ship. No. The ship flew away, up into the atmosphere and into hyperspace. No. No. No.

Omega woke up, she didn’t know how long she’d been out. She had hoped with all her might that seeing Hunter and Crosshair meant she would be safe. But as she opened her eyes, she only saw the familiar red and black walls of the operative’s ship. She noticed her hands were cuffed now, and she was sitting in the back of the ship. She looked around and saw Hemlock sitting in the pilot’s seat, aimlessly looking out at the blue streaks of hyperspace. Scorch was in the co-pilot’s seat, but was turned around and watching Omega. Of course. Hemlock would know better than to leave her unattended now. But she would still find a way out. It didn’t matter what prison he put her in, or whatever other place he had in store. She could escape. She would escape.

Or so she hoped.

Hunter sat in the cockpit of the Remora, just staring at the buttons on the console. Rex and what was left of the rebel clones showed up on Tantiss shortly after Hemlock had gotten away. They picked up Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair. Echo went on an Imperial shuttle with the clone prisoners.

Wrecker was laying on the floor, now with more med-patches and a monitor on his heartbeat. The monitor made slow, repeated beeps in the background. He’d been hit hard in the fight, between the creature in the jungle and the fight with Hemlock’s operatives.

Crosshair was sitting on a bench near the holotable. Howzer was sitting with Crosshair, attending to where his hand used to be. Rex was sitting in the cockpit next to Hunter. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up.

“…I’m sorry.” He said. Hunter glanced up at him, and sighed.

“Me too.” He replied. He really had nothing to say. He’d lost Omega. For a third time. He didn’t even get to see her before she was taken away again. The last time he’d properly talked with her was when Pabu was being invaded. And he wouldn’t ever talk with her again. Hemlock was off to who knows where, nobody had any leads on his location, and Hunter had almost no will to do anything at this point.

He was ready to give up. He knew he shouldn’t. He knew he should carry on for Omega. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He felt like such a failure. It was his job to protect her. He knew he was her brother, but more often than not he felt like a father. He felt responsible for her. He’d failed her. He’d failed himself. He’d failed his squad. Crosshair was right. Clone Force 99 died with Tech. But it took losing Omega for Hunter to see it.

Echo stood at a holotable, pouring over files and various information. It had been several years since Omega was taken. Maybe ten, now? Had it really been that long?

Echo was alone in the room. He’d kept the small Clone Rebellion alive, but it was getting harder every day. Clones were dying all around him, whether to the Empire or because the accelerated aging was catching up to them. He’d lost Howzer just a few months ago. But Wolffe had come to join them, not very long after the escape on Tantiss. He, Gregor, and Rex had gone off on a mission about a year ago. They never came back. And so Echo was left alone, running the rebellion and trying to find Omega. Hunter had given up entirely. Wrecker was kept busy with trying to get Hunter’s spirits up. Crosshair had decided to stay out of everything, and kept to himself nowadays.

Echo examined a file. Nothing. Nothing, day after day. Where could someone go in the galaxy where they could never be found?

Hemlock walked down the dark gray hallways of the Deero base. Deero was a nice place, by Hemlock’s standards. A small, rocky planet that was on the absolute edge of the outer rim. No one could find it. Besides that, it didn’t have much to offer. But it worked. Hemlock had built this new base underground, deep within the depths of the planet. The entrances were hidden above ground, and all landing pads were under rocks or hidden behind the natural formations of the planet. And the constant dust storms above ground kept scanners from seeing anything. He wasn’t making any mistakes with this base.

Hemlock set his datapad into the scanner and input his code. The blast doors opened and he walked into the second hallway, guarded by several ray shields. It was a similar construction to the Vault on Tantiss, but, of course, with added security measures.

Omega had been…troublesome, to say the least, when they first arrived at the base. When he left Tantiss, he went to the secondary facility on Daro where he was able to contact the Emperor and explain the situation. Lucky for him, he was the Emperor’s favorite and wasn’t blamed too heavily for the incident. But the Emperor never fully forgave. Hemlock’s climb to Scientific Minister had been slowed, but he was sure it would come soon.

Soon after, the Deero base was built and Omega was transferred there. She’d attempted to break out multiple times, getting very far on multiple occasions. But, a simple fix was easily administered. Simple, but effective.

Hemlock came to the end of the ray shielded hallway and input his code a second time. The second set of blast doors opened, revealing the main lab. His assistants and employees were bustling about, attending to their tasks and examining test results. They went around their stations, exchanging work and comparing data. In the middle of the room was a large glass capsule, filled with bacta. And inside, floating around, was Omega. She was hooked up to various cords and tubes, some of which kept her in the hibernation she was in. Others constantly took samples of her blood, flowing it out so tests could be made without any wait. He was ever so close to finishing Project Necromancer. Then he could be Scientific Minister. He had to be, once this was done.

He watched as Omega floated aimlessly in the bacta, remembering the naive child she used to be. When she was defiant, idealistic, and imaginative. Now she would never be any of those things. She didn’t have the chance. And never would get it again.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He snapped his head to look at the researcher bothering him.

“What is it?” He asked coldly, not fond of being disturbed.

“Uhm, sir,” The researcher started, her voice nervous and shaky. “We’ve done it. Project Necromancer is complete.”

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA tech to use moonlight to enhance measurements from space

NASA will soon launch a one-of-a-kind instrument, called Arcstone, to improve the quality of data from Earth-viewing sensors in orbit. In this technology demonstration, the mission will measure sunlight reflected from the moon— a technique called lunar calibration. Such measurements of lunar spectral reflectance can ultimately be used to set a high-accuracy, universal standard for use across the international scientific community and commercial space industry.

To ensure satellite and airborne sensors are working properly, researchers calibrate them by comparing the sensor measurements against a known standard measurement. Arcstone will be the first mission exclusively dedicated to measuring lunar reflectance from space as a way to calibrate and improve science data collected by Earth-viewing, in-orbit instruments.

"One of the most challenging tasks in remote sensing from space is achieving required instrument calibration accuracy on-orbit," said Constantine Lukashin, principal investigator for the Arcstone mission and physical scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

"The moon is an excellent and available calibration source beyond Earth's atmosphere. The light reflected off the moon is extremely stable and measurable at a very high level of detail. Arcstone's goal is to improve the accuracy of lunar calibration to increase the quality of spaceborne remote sensing data products for generations to come."

Across its planned six-month mission, Arcstone will use a spectrometer—a scientific instrument that measures and analyzes light by separating it into its constituent wavelengths, or spectrum—to measure lunar spectral reflectance. Expected to launch in late June as a rideshare on a small CubeSat, Arcstone will begin collecting data, a milestone called first light, approximately three weeks after reaching orbit.

"The mission demonstrates a new, more cost-efficient instrument design, hardware performance, operations, and data processing to achieve high-accuracy reference measurements of lunar spectral reflectance," said Lukashin.

Measurements of lunar reflectance taken from the Earth's surface can be affected by interference from the atmosphere, which can complicate calibration efforts. Researchers already use the sun and moon to calibrate spaceborne instruments, but not at a level of precision and agreement that could come from having a universal standard.

Lukashin and colleagues want to increase calibration accuracy by getting above the atmosphere to measure reflected solar wavelengths in a way that provides a stable and universal calibration source. Another recent NASA mission, called the Airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance mission, also used sensors mounted on high-altitude aircraft to improve lunar irradiance measurements from planes.

There is not an internationally accepted standard (SI-traceable) calibration for lunar reflectance from space across the scientific community or the commercial space industry.

"Dedicated radiometric characterization measurements of the moon have never been acquired from a space-based platform," said Thomas Stone, co-investigator for Arcstone and scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). "A high-accuracy, SI-traceable lunar calibration system enables several important capabilities for space-based Earth observing missions, such as calibrating datasets against a common reference—the moon, calibrating sensors on-orbit, and the ability to bridge gaps in past datasets."

If the initial Arcstone technology demonstration is successful, a longer Arcstone mission could allow scientists to make the moon the preferred reference standard for many other satellites. The new calibration standard could also be applied retroactively to previous Earth data records to improve their accuracy or fill in data gaps for data fields. It could also improve high-precision sensor performance on-orbit, which is critical for calibrating instruments that may be sensitive to degradation or hardware breakdown over time in space.

"Earth observations from space play a critical role in monitoring the environmental health of our planet," said Stone. "Lunar calibration is a robust and cost-effective way to achieve high accuracy and inter-consistency of Earth observation datasets, enabling more accurate assessments of Earth's current state and more reliable predictions of future trends."

IMAGE: NASA's Arcstone instrument will be the first mission exclusively dedicated to measuring moonlight, or lunar reflectance, from space as a way to calibrate and improve science data collected by Earth-viewing, in-orbit instruments. Credit: Blue Canyon Technologies

[gigaroni]

The G-Class Automation: "Seismic Ear".

OAET ARCHIVE -> Automations -> G -> Seismic Ear

DATA LOG: Edited 12,395 SCR Calendar.

The Seismic Ear is an 850 meter tall, imposing stationary automation built by the irradiated.

Designed to be dropped onto a planets surface from orbit, the Seismic Ear sends destructive "Taps" into the ground using six enormous slamming weights flanking the structure. the automation then listens to the ground using the tips of these taps, to determine the distance, shape, and potentially composition of any underground structure within an average range of 1,400 km.

DEPLOYMENT:

Seismic Ears are usually stored on cargo vessels, or more often: a dedicated orbital assembly platform. A target is chosen from orbit, using the cargo vessel itself to survey and calculate a trajectory to the desired location, with an accuracy of around 20 centimeters.

Once a location is picked: the seismic ear is deployed from the station to land at the chosen site from orbit. The shape of the six flanking pistons, plus the device atop the structure (usually airbrakes or thrusters) allows it to control its descent into the atmosphere partially, insuring it impacts face first into the ground, Usually at supersonic speeds.

Once landed, the automation will begin probing the soil using instruments in the front of the central chassis. Once the local composition is determined, it will begin the "Tapping".

TAPPING

Once a Seismic Ear is ready, they begin extending their six hammers high into the air, and then letting gravity do the rest of the work.

Depending on the soil composition: The automations can deploy a tiny atomic bomb within the sensing fingers of the hammers to ensure a good Tap. They repeat this for several years to build up an accurate history of Taps.

These taps usually sound very similar to distant thunder, due to the massive amount of soil being violently osculated. This "Thunder" can last several minutes after a single tap. The only difference is the first shockwave. This shockwave has a much harsher "Static" sound to it.

HEARING

After a single Tap, the structure will listen to the vibrations sent throughout the depths, and using the information provided, construct a detailed map of the underground networks. The Irradiated commonly use this to spy on underground facilities.

REPURPOSE

After the local area is mapped completely, the Seismic Ears then go into a dormant state, to act as either a Communications tower, or a landing pad for future Irradiated activities. Dormant seismic ears are usually never activated again.

DEFENSE

There are rare times when an ear is reactivated temporarily, to warn trespassers.

This can also be used as a last ditch effort to destroy a threat to the SCREI radiation, by repurposing the small atomic bombs used for tapping. This "Suicide attack" usually destroys the entire ear, but also leaves a large crater in the area. These incidents are nicknamed "Slams" due to the sheer destruction they can cause.

During use, however: seismic ears on their own are pretty defenseless. The most they can do is send out a shockwave. Usually, due to this flaw, an active seismic ear will have a fleet of smaller automations guarding the structure. Most of these are flying, or burrowing automations.

it is Ill advised to try and take down an inactive seismic ear, but active ears are easy to disable, if broken into. Avoid agitating the guarding automations.

[deafmangoes]

The other annoying thing about procedural algorithms is that they don't need to be trained on other people's data. Yes, I know they need vast amounts of data to be of any accuracy or use, but there's a whole wealth of world literature that's not under copyright. It's all free to use.

Now, maybe they already started with that, but somehow I doubt it. I think these companies simply decided it would be too much effort to locate, source, digitise and label all the stuff that's actually out there for free, and instead just do backhanded deals with platform owners for user data.

In the latest Staff post, I note that one exception to sale was content shared to Tumblr by third-party companies for advertising campaigns and the like.

So just to reiterate, not only will they take your thoughts, feelings, jokes, anecdotes, stories, photographs, artworks - hell, even your porn - and sell it to be mulched into so-much digital pulp, but corporations are exempt from this because they have more rights than you do.

[bu1lwaypro]

Bullwaypro.com review Registration

When choosing a forex broker, the biggest concern is always trust. Nobody wants to deposit funds into a platform only to discover withdrawal issues, shady practices, or poor regulation. That’s why we take a deep dive into every key aspect of a broker to see whether it’s legitimate or just another name in a long list of unreliable platforms.

Today, we’re looking at Bullwaypro.com review—a forex broker that has been gaining attention in the trading community. With a high Trustpilot rating, FCA regulation, and thousands of users, it certainly has some strong points. But does it truly hold up under scrutiny?

Let’s break it down step by step and find out.

Bullwaypro.com Registration Review: Quick and Easy Sign-Up Process

The registration process for Bullwaypro.com reviews is straightforward and efficient. Here’s how it works:

Locate the registration button in the upper right corner of the website.

Enter your personal data, ensuring accuracy for verification.

Wait for a manager to process the provided information.

Once verified, registration is successfully completed.

This structured approach suggests a secure onboarding process, where user information is checked before full access is granted. It’s a good sign—brokers who take verification seriously are often more reliable and compliant with financial regulations. Would you like details on the verification requirements or account setup next? ​

Bullwaypro.com – Establishment and Domain Registration Date

When assessing the legitimacy of a forex broker, one of the first things to check is whether the domain registration date aligns with the brand’s establishment date. If a broker claims to be operating for several years but its domain was only recently registered, that’s a red flag. So, how does Bullwaypro.com reviews measure up?

The company was established in 2022, and the domain bullwaypro.com review was registered on November 11, 2021. That means the domain was secured before the company officially started operating, which is a positive indicator. It suggests the brand was not hastily set up overnight but rather planned in advance.

Why is this important? Well, scam brokers often buy domains right before launching, making it easier to disappear without a trace. Bullwaypro, on the other hand, took steps ahead of time, likely to secure its brand identity and online presence early on. That’s a sign of long-term intentions, rather than a short-lived, fly-by-night operation.

This looks like a good argument in favor of legitimacy. What aspect should we analyze next?

Bullwaypro.com – Strong Regulatory Oversight

When it comes to forex trading, regulation is one of the most critical aspects that separate trusted brokers from potential scams. A regulated broker is subject to strict financial laws, regular audits, and capital requirements. So, what kind of regulatory status does Bullwaypro.com reviews have?

This broker operates under the oversight of the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority)—one of the most respected and stringent financial regulators in the world. The FCA license is not something a broker can obtain easily; it involves rigorous checks, capital requirements, and compliance with strict operational standards. Only brokers who meet transparency, security, and client protection policies receive this approval.

Why does this matter? Because FCA-regulated brokers are legally required to:

Segregate client funds from company accounts, ensuring traders' money is protected even if the broker faces financial trouble.

Follow fair trading practices, meaning no price manipulation or conflicts of interest.

Be covered by a compensation scheme, which provides an extra layer of security to traders.

We think this is a strong argument in favor of Bullwaypro’s legitimacy. Many brokers operate without regulation or under weak offshore jurisdictions—but here, we see one of the best financial regulators backing this platform.

This definitely adds trust to Bullwaypro.com reviews. What should we analyze next?

Bullwaypro.com – Client Reviews and Reputation

One of the best ways to gauge a broker’s reliability is to look at what actual traders are saying. Scammers tend to have poor ratings, few reviews, and plenty of complaints. But what about Bullwaypro.com reviews?

On Trustpilot, this broker holds an impressive score of 4.4 out of 5, based on 2,995 reviews. That’s a strong indicator of trustworthiness, especially in the forex industry, where traders are quick to leave negative feedback if something goes wrong.

Here’s why this is significant:

A score above 4.0 is already considered very high for brokers, as the industry tends to be highly competitive and filled with mixed experiences.

The sheer number of reviews (2,995) suggests a well-established platform. It’s easy for a scam broker to fake a handful of positive comments, but accumulating thousands of reviews takes consistent service over time.

Out of those, 2,869 reviews (the majority) are rated 4 or 5 stars, meaning most traders are satisfied with their experience.

This definitely looks like a solid argument for legitimacy. A broker with nearly 3,000 reviews and a high rating is unlikely to be a short-term scam. Instead, it suggests that Bullwaypro delivers on its promises and maintains a good relationship with its clients.

Final Verdict: Is Bullwaypro.com review a Legitimate Broker?

After a thorough review, Bullwaypro.comreviews checks all the right boxes when it comes to trust and reliability. The broker is not just another name in the forex industry—it has strong regulatory oversight, positive user feedback, and a well-structured platform. Here’s why we think traders can confidently consider this broker:

✅ Regulation by FCA – One of the most trusted financial regulators, ensuring transparency, security, and fair trading conditions. ✅ Established Track Record – The domain was registered before the company officially launched, showing proper planning and long-term intent. ✅ Excellent User Reviews – With a 4.4 Trustpilot rating and nearly 3,000 reviews, traders are overwhelmingly satisfied with the platform. ✅ Secure Deposits & Fast Withdrawals – No hidden fees, instant processing for most transactions, and reliable payment methods. ✅ User-Friendly Trading Conditions – Multiple account types, fair leverage, and a widely used trading platform. ✅ Accessible Customer Support – Various contact options make it easy for traders to get assistance when needed.

With all these factors in mind, Bullwaypro.com review stands out as a legitimate and well-regulated broker. The combination of FCA oversight, positive reviews, and a transparent operational model makes it a solid choice for both beginner and experienced traders.

Of course, every trader should do their own research and choose a broker that fits their needs, but based on the evidence, Bullwaypro.com reviews appears to be a trustworthy option in the forex market.

[mariacallous]

The volunteer cartographers who power the maps on platforms like Facebook, Lyft, and Strava have been intensely debating over the past week about whether to honor US president Donald Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. When should they update? Will the change affect all of the gulf, or just the US portion? Should it be reflected for everyone, or only Americans?

These are some of the questions the cartographers have been asking one another. Their discussions and edit wars provide a glimpse into the confusion over what may be one of the first orders of the new Trump administration generating visible changes across the internet.

On OpenStreetMap, a volunteer-run mapping platform that provides cartography data for a number of popular apps, online discussions show some contributors pushed to immediately update the gulf’s name to the Gulf of America. “This isn’t meant as vandalism, but more of starting the discussion,” one user wrote. They tried to make it only the name for English-speaking users, but the change was quickly rolled back by another contributor, who wrote, “Something isn't renamed just because a president says so.”

The original submitter replied, referring to Trump’s order, “Well, if he utters the idea in passing during a speech, that's one thing. But signing an EO and moving federal agencies to officially rename it is a vastly different thing. I hope you agree,” replied the original contributor. (They declined to comment beyond their post.)

In an executive order issued last Monday, Trump said that rebranding the gulf would recognize “this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our nation’s economy and its people.” He also ordered that Alaska’s tallest mountain, Denali, return to being known as Mount McKinley in recognition of former president William McKinley, whom Trump has said he admires. Critics have written off the moves as “very silly” and “petty.” Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum has said the body will continue to be known as the Gulf of Mexico to the rest of the world.

On Friday, the Department of the Interior announced that the new names had become official and federal agencies needed to update any relevant signage and paperwork. Private companies, however, aren’t required by law to follow suit. But on Monday, Google Maps became the first major mapping provider to publicly announce that it will switch to the new names for US users as soon as the federal government publishes them to a key database. “When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name,” Google wrote. “Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names.”

Disputes over names and boundaries are common in the maps industry, with a number of countries having enacted laws requiring mapmakers to adopt specific titles and borders. Trump’s order, in particular, follows scant public input and is disputed even within the US.

OpenStreetMap has various ways of labeling names. For instance, it’s possible to list Mexico as the colloquial name for the country while also displaying its official name, Estados Unidos Mexicanos, or United Mexican States. Other labels allow for different names to be shown in different countries and languages. Apps that license OpenStreetMap data can choose which of the labels to reflect to their users or add their own naming conventions.

Altogether, around 10 attempts to change the gulf’s name have been reverted over the past week on OpenStreetMap. Several contributors have contended that OSM should wait for common usage in society to change before making an edit to the main name of the gulf. “OSM’s primary goal is to reflect what people on the ground believe is correct, striving for accuracy and neutrality in the face of diverse perspectives,” says Clifford Snow, a member of the organization’s Data Working Group who has reversed some of the edits allegedly made without consensus.

A similar back-and-forth has played out over Denali. But reaching agreement may wind up proving difficult. “I do not believe that OSM will ever be able to pick one [name], without offending some user somewhere,” one contributor wrote. “We need a path out of this quagmire that does not involve edit wars.”

Other contributors discussed when it would be appropriate to make the changes. Mapping providers, including Google, say they follow the US Geological Survey’s Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), but that database hasn’t been updated with the new names yet. Interior Department spokesperson Elizabeth Peace declined to speculate about when USGS staff might get around to processing the updates.

Under a 1947 law, decisions about which geographic names the US government will use are to be made by the secretary of the interior and the Board on Geographic Names, or BGN, a panel of officials from a smattering of government agencies. The GNIS is a repository of BGN-approved names.

As of Tuesday, at least one listed member of the BGN had received no correspondence or records related to changing the name of the gulf, according to a request filed by WIRED under the Freedom of Information Act. That suggests either that the usual mechanisms have not been engaged, or that some other authority is being exercised to change the official name. The Interior Department spokesperson declined to comment.

Another point of uncertainty has been whether the entire gulf should be renamed. The president’s order addressed “the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba.”

But as one contributor on OpenStreetMap wrote, “the Gulf of Mexico is much bigger than this. So it seems rather than a renaming, this executive order is creating a new name for a sub area of the Gulf of Mexico.”

The White House didn’t respond to WIRED’s request to clarify the intended boundaries for the new name. If the change were to apply to any non-US territory, the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency would have to update what’s known as the Geographic Names Server, a database of names for foreign locations. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency declined to comment.

Mikel Maron, a spokesperson for the OpenStreetMap Foundation, which helps steward the volunteer efforts, says the debate over the Trump order highlights the value of having an open community trying to represent the complexity of the world. For now, their discussion continues. “Ultimately the OSM Foundation Data Working Group has stepped in to put a hold on any big changes in the OSM database until things are more clear,” he says.

Snow, the working group member, says the trending consensus is leaving the Gulf of Mexico and Denali as the primary names and adding a label to each for the new official US name. But if Gulf of America catches on, the open source map may have to follow.