#and then the board voted on a solution to implement

[clonerightsagenda]

With 3 days to close the management company tried to torpedo my sale but I *think* it's resolved now. At least I'm showing up to closing tomorrow and no one has told me not to

[adventure-showdown]

What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

ROUND 1 MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Four to Doomsday

Synopsis

The Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric arrive on a spaceship which is headed for Earth. On board they meet natives of Earth from various different eras, and also three Urbankans: Monarch, Persuasion and Enlightenment. What are the aliens' intentions when they reach Earth?

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

Terminus

Synopsis

Still under the malign influence of the Black Guardian, Turlough sabotages the TARDIS, placing the Doctor and his companions in grave danger. Nyssa disappears through an unstable interface with a nearby space liner, and the Doctor begins a desperate search for her aboard the ship.

When the liner docks at Terminus, a space station at the exact centre of the universe, the horrific truth starts to emerge. It may be already too late to save Nyssa's life, and the existence of the entire cosmos is now at peril...

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

Warriors of the Deep

Synopsis

Earth, 2084. Two global superpowers hover on the brink of war. When the TARDIS is forced to make an unplanned visit to Sea Base 4, the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough find themselves accused of being enemy agents. Quicky embroiled in a deadly game of paranoid intrigue, it becomes clear that others on the base have sabotage and murder in mind.

However, there is a greater threat to Mankind: the Silurians and Sea Devils, prehistoric reptiles seeking to reclaim the Earth. Can the Doctor prevent them implementing their 'final solution' and triggering a war that could wipe out the entire human race?

Propaganda

“face it Tegan, he’s drowned” – the greatest line in the history of television (anonymous)

The Awakening

Synopsis

The year is 1984. The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough arrive in Little Hodcombe, a small English village, looking forward to spending some time with Tegan's grandfather. They soon discover that all is not well - Tegan's grandfather is missing and the locals are re-enacting English Civil War battles from 1643.

With the past mixed up with the present, can the Doctor stop the games before an evil entity hidden in the village church awakens?

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

Resurrection of the Daleks

Synopsis

Captured in a time corridor, the Doctor and his companions are forced to land on 20th century Earth, diverted by the Doctor's oldest enemy - the Daleks. It is here the true purpose of the time corridor becomes apparent: after ninety years of imprisonment, Davros, the ruthless creator of the Daleks, is to be liberated to assist in the resurrection of his army.

Not even the Daleks foresee the poisonous threat of their creator. Indeed, who would suspect Davros of wanting to destroy his own Daleks - and why?

Only the Doctor knows the truth. Will he descend to Davros' level of evil to stop him?

Propaganda no propaganda submitted

[forblogmostly]

Blue Cloud Softech to Acquire AIS Anywhere in Landmark Share Swap Deal

In a significant development that reflects its ambitions for global expansion and technological depth, Blue Cloud Softech Solutions Limited has announced its plan to acquire a 100% stake in the U.S.-based technology firm AIS Anywhere. The Hyderabad-headquartered IT services and solutions company will execute this acquisition through a preferential share allotment worth ₹730.54 crore, marking a pivotal moment in its growth strategy.

The acquisition will be finalized by issuing 31.68 crore equity shares of Blue Cloud Softech, each with a face value of ₹1 and issued at a premium of ₹22.06 per share. This issuance will not be in exchange for cash, but as a share swap arrangement with the current shareholders of AIS Anywhere, effectively making the U.S. firm a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blue Cloud.

This strategic move comes as part of a broader realignment of Blue Cloud’s global vision—to enhance its portfolio and technical capabilities by integrating the expertise of AIS Anywhere, a company known for its leadership in emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, Cybersecurity, Internet of Things (IoT), and customized enterprise solutions. The deal has been structured in alignment with SEBI’s regulatory framework under the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018, and the Companies Act, 2013.

AIS Anywhere, headquartered in New Jersey, has consistently demonstrated robust financial performance. With revenues of $83.69 million in 2024, $72.68 million in 2023, and $64.23 million in 2022, the company has proven itself as a valuable player in digital transformation services. Its offerings are tailored to help organizations navigate complex digital transitions while focusing on security, scalability, and sustainability.

The transaction will see Mrs. Janaki Yarlagadda and M/s Siraj Holdings LLC—current equity holders of AIS Anywhere—receive the new Blue Cloud shares in proportion to their shareholding in the acquired entity. Mrs. Yarlagadda, who holds 44.53% in AIS Anywhere, will receive approximately 14.1 crore shares, while Siraj Holdings LLC, which owns the remaining 55.47%, will receive over 17.5 crore shares. While Mrs. Yarlagadda will be categorized as a promoter post-acquisition, Siraj Holdings will remain under the non-promoter category.

Despite the significant share issuance, there will be no change in the control of Blue Cloud Softech. The voting rights and shareholding structure will be altered to reflect the inclusion of new shareholders, but the operational and management reins will remain with the existing board and leadership team.

The acquisition was officially placed before the company’s shareholders as a special business item at its 2nd Extraordinary General Meeting for FY 2025–26, scheduled for July 10, 2025. The meeting, to be held virtually, marks an important procedural step under SEBI’s Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR), ensuring that the transaction remains transparent and compliant with all applicable norms.

The Blue Cloud Board has further confirmed that the allotment of equity shares will be completed within 15 days of shareholder approval, or within 15 days of regulatory clearance if pending. The shares issued will be subject to a lock-in period as mandated by SEBI guidelines to ensure market stability and fairness.

What makes this acquisition particularly noteworthy is the alignment of both companies' strategic visions. While Blue Cloud is already known for its software services in India and abroad, AIS Anywhere brings with it a strong foothold in advanced technology implementation across global markets. The move is expected to significantly bolster Blue Cloud’s capabilities in digital transformation domains such as AI automation, big data, cybersecurity frameworks, and IoT-based platforms.

AIS Anywhere’s suite of enterprise applications, particularly its focus on aligning tech innovation with business needs, fits well with Blue Cloud’s long-term roadmap of becoming a comprehensive solutions provider. Together, the combined entity will be better positioned to address the complex digital challenges faced by industries across sectors, from manufacturing and retail to healthcare and logistics.

Following the completion of the transaction, Blue Cloud Softech will officially become the holding company of AIS Anywhere, subject to final regulatory approvals from authorities including SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India, and BSE Limited.

This acquisition not only reflects Blue Cloud’s confidence in its strategic direction but also signifies the company’s readiness to scale up in international markets. It underscores a growing trend in Indian IT companies turning to global acquisitions to augment capabilities, enter new markets, and deliver next-generation solutions across borders.

With this bold step, Blue Cloud Softech Solutions Limited is poised to elevate its status from a rising Indian technology firm to a global digital transformation partner, capable of delivering scalable, secure, and intelligent solutions for a connected world.

[rchristie-476]

Blog Post #8

Case Study Project title

Frame

Client Name

VIU Capstone Project

Date completed

April 12, 2024

Your Role (designer, art director, illustrator, etc)

Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, UI Designer, Design Researcher  

Project description

Frame Was a project that was started for my Bachelors Degree capstone at VIU. I was tasked with deciding on a problem that resonated with me and spending the year researching, prototyping and solving that problem. The Problem I decided to address was the lack of accessibility surrounding public art exhibition. I proposed that due to various factors such as public disconnect, zoning permissions, and unnecessary bureaucracy, the public were no longer able to easily access and participate in public art. The main goals of this project were to research my problem and build a substantial understanding of it, consider ways to solve the problem, and then finally implement, brand and promote the solution I had chosen to solve it. 

Research and Analysis

I spent the early stages of this project primarily researching the problem and the different factors surrounding it. I looked into things like the importance of public art in growing cities, the accessibility requirements of public art, the impact and psychology of street art, anything to do with public art itself. As my research progressed I began to investigate barriers to public art more and more, things like application processes and public posting requirements, and this is where I found a lot of the issue lay. The process of applying for public art spaces was strenuous, just as much so was the process of applying for government funding or finding open mural space nearby. I was finding it was near impossible for an artist to post their work to anything more than social media. without running into more than one obstacle. These findings, though a little disheartening, led me to conduct some research of my own in the way of surveys and interviews. Using a small sample group of people from the community, I found that over 60% of people felt disconnected from the art they saw regularly in their community, and 100% of people didn’t feel involved in their communities artistic planning process. 

Describe your preliminary work on this project. Include things like:

research

analysis

other information gathering and investigation you undertook

Design Process

As I stated before, the first section of this project was primarily research as I wanted to have a deep understanding of my problem moving forward. But once this was done I had to really start to consider the type of people other than myself who were affected by this problem. I began doing user and audience research which consisted of creating personas, storyboarding and doing demographic research. 

When I finally felt happy with my understanding of not just the problem, but the audience, I moved into brainstorming the solution for the problem. I worked on thumbs and sketches doing brainstorming exercises to help figure out what the best solution to the problem would be. Once I had narrowed it down to three realistic solutions I selected my favourite and continued to push through development. 

Once all the research was done the solution I came up with was a set of publicly accessible digital billboards, with QR codes linking back to an upload section. Along with an accompanying companion app and website. The idea was that the public could upload their art to these digital boards scattered through down and that anyone else passing by could vote and interact with it via the app or website. This is where Frame was born, although in its early months it was actually referred to as public pixels, and the initial idea expanded the more I worked on it. I made the decision to have the app act as a professional resource for artists, in addition to providing easy access to the boards, and this vastly widened the scope of the project itself.

I decided that in Addition to providing easy access to the boards, the Frame app would be a compilation of resources for artists, community members and potential employers. The final version of Frame was a high fidelity prototype of both the app and website including a social media feed, interactive map of art zones, QR code scanner, work posting board, portfolio section, as well as a plethora of compiled applications, contracts and other resources for artists and potential employers. In addition to this Frame features a partner program where local businesses can sign up to volunteer art spaces, host events or create job postings.   

Design Solution and Deliverables

In the case of making public art easily accessible, Frame absolutely does the job. By giving the general public the ability to upload, vote on and interact with art easily Frame is able to solve the problem I initially set out to, but, what makes me happiest is that it was able to help solve the problems I discovered along the way. Although The process of applying to do public art is tough, so is the process of finding someone to do it, and I feel Frame is able to address both of these problems in tandem. Not only does it let artists post their art, it allows them to find work making art, form connections and interact with the community around them which are some of the fundamental reasons public art is important as it is.

Special Circumstances

I had to take a lot of consideration towards the practical implementation of this project, as I wanted it to be something that would be feasibly possible in real life and potentially something I could take into development myself. I spent a large portion of time later in the project learning how to acquire and program digital signage, route the information for the users and signs through api servers, and easily make the boards durable and low maintenance. Although not a fully functional app yet, I was able to create my first working display board prototype along with a small upload and display system. 

All in all I’m very happy with Frame and its growth, and I can proudly say it is a project I will be continuing to develop far into the future.

[aristonitservices]

Tech Innovations of 2024 That Will Shape 2025

As 2024 winds down, it’s the perfect time to look back at some incredible tech innovations that defined the year. From revolutionary AI tools to advancements in blockchain technology, this year has set the stage for a tech-powered future. But here’s the exciting part: the innovations of 2024 are not just fleeting trends. They’re paving the way for even greater things in 2025 and beyond.

Let’s dive into the game-changing technologies of this year and explore how they’re shaping tomorrow.

AI and Automation: Transforming Industries Like Never Before

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just a buzzword; it’s a reality that’s revolutionizing industries worldwide. In 2024, AI became smarter, more accessible, and surprisingly creative. From AI-driven customer support systems to tools that create unique marketing content in minutes, businesses have seen firsthand the power of automation.

Think about this: tasks that once took hours or even days can now be completed in mere seconds. That’s the magic of automation paired with AI. For example, e-commerce companies are using AI to predict customer preferences, offering hyper-personalized shopping experiences.

But it doesn’t stop there. AI has also made strides in healthcare, assisting doctors in diagnosing diseases faster and more accurately. These developments are not just about convenience; they’re literally saving lives. As we move into 2025, expect even more industries to adopt AI, reshaping how we work, live, and interact with technology.

Curious about how AI or automation could improve your business processes? Reach out to explore tailored tech solutions today!

Blockchain: Building Trust in a Digital-First World

2024 has been the year blockchain broke out of its crypto bubble and proved its worth across multiple sectors. Beyond cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology is now the backbone of supply chain management, ensuring transparency and security in every transaction.

Take logistics, for example. Companies are leveraging blockchain to track shipments in real-time, reducing fraud and improving accountability. It’s also being used in the food industry to trace products from farm to table, giving you peace of mind about what you’re eating.

And let’s not forget the creative industries! Blockchain is helping artists and creators protect their intellectual property through smart contracts and NFTs. This ensures fair compensation and ownership rights in the digital age. As 2025 approaches, blockchain will continue to build trust in areas like voting systems, identity verification, and even real estate.

IoT: Connecting Your World Like Never Before

If you thought smart devices were cool in 2023, 2024 took it to a whole new level. The Internet of Things (IoT) is no longer limited to just smart speakers or thermostats. This year, IoT expanded into areas like connected healthcare, smart cities, and even agriculture.

Imagine this: your city’s traffic lights communicate with your car to optimize your commute. Farmers monitor crop health remotely using IoT sensors, ensuring better yields and less waste. These are not distant possibilities—they’re happening now, thanks to IoT’s growing ecosystem.

The beauty of IoT lies in its ability to make life easier, more efficient, and even more sustainable. As we step into 2025, IoT is set to connect even more aspects of our daily lives, blending convenience with innovation.

How Can Your Business Ride the Tech Wave?

The best part about these innovations is that they’re not reserved for tech giants. Small and medium businesses are jumping on board too, finding creative ways to implement AI, blockchain, and IoT to streamline operations and delight customers.

But here’s the thing: staying ahead requires a proactive approach. Don’t wait for 2025 to roll around before exploring these technologies. Whether it’s upgrading your existing systems or diving into something entirely new, the time to act is now.

If you’re not sure where to start, don’t worry. The key is to identify your business’s unique challenges and match them with the right technology. You’d be surprised how even small tweaks can lead to significant improvements.

Closing Thoughts

The tech innovations of 2024 have set the tone for a dynamic, interconnected, and efficient 2025. From AI’s creativity to blockchain’s reliability and IoT’s seamless connectivity, the future has never looked brighter.

As we embrace these changes, one thing is clear: technology is not just transforming industries; it’s transforming lives.

So, are you ready to ride the wave and make 2025 your most innovative year yet?

Get in touch with Ariston to start your journey into the future of technology. Let’s build something extraordinary together!

[nollarsnetwork]

The Rise of Transparent Community Governance in Digital Spaces

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the concept of governance is undergoing significant transformations. Traditional structures often face challenges related to accountability and inclusivity, leading to a growing demand for innovative models that foster collaboration and trust. Transparent community governance emerges as a promising solution, reshaping how communities interact, make decisions, and hold themselves accountable.

Understanding Transparent Community Governance

At its core, transparent community governance refers to systems and practices that promote openness, accountability, and inclusivity in decision-making processes within a community. This model empowers individuals to participate actively, ensuring that their voices are heard and valued. With the rise of decentralized technologies and digital platforms, communities are increasingly adopting transparent governance frameworks that leverage tools such as blockchain and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

The Need for Transparency

Transparency in governance is essential for building trust among community members. In traditional models, decision-making can often be opaque, leaving stakeholders feeling disengaged or skeptical about the processes. Transparent community governance addresses these concerns by:

Enhancing Accountability: When decision-making processes are open and documented, it becomes easier to hold leaders and participants accountable for their actions. This accountability fosters a sense of responsibility and encourages ethical behavior.

Promoting Inclusivity: A transparent governance model invites input from all community members, ensuring diverse perspectives are considered. This inclusivity not only strengthens the decision-making process but also helps create a sense of belonging and ownership among participants.

Building Trust: Trust is a crucial element in any community. Transparent governance establishes clear communication channels and fosters an environment where members feel comfortable voicing their opinions, knowing that their contributions will be acknowledged.

Key Features of Transparent Community Governance

To effectively implement transparent community governance, several key features must be incorporated:

Open Communication Channels: Establishing platforms for open dialogue is vital. Online forums, discussion boards, and social media can facilitate communication, allowing community members to share ideas, concerns, and feedback.

Accessible Information: All community-related information should be easily accessible to members. This includes meeting minutes, financial reports, and decision-making processes. Transparency in information-sharing builds trust and ensures everyone is on the same page.

Decentralized Decision-Making: Moving away from centralized authority structures enables communities to leverage the collective wisdom of their members. Decentralized decision-making can take various forms, such as consensus-based voting or community-led initiatives.

Regular Audits and Reviews: Periodic audits of governance practices help ensure compliance with established guidelines and standards. These reviews allow communities to assess their performance, identify areas for improvement, and adapt to changing needs.

Real-World Examples

Several projects and organizations are successfully implementing transparent community governance:

DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations): DAOs are digital organizations that operate through smart contracts on blockchain networks. They empower members to propose and vote on initiatives, funding, and governance changes. The transparency inherent in blockchain technology ensures that all transactions and decisions are publicly recorded and verifiable.

Open-Source Software Communities: Many open-source projects adopt transparent governance practices, allowing contributors to participate in decision-making and project direction. This inclusivity encourages innovation and collaboration among developers worldwide.

Local Community Initiatives: Grassroots movements often leverage transparent governance to engage community members in local decision-making processes. By holding open forums and providing access to information, these initiatives foster a sense of ownership and responsibility among residents.

Challenges to Overcome

While the benefits of transparent community governance are significant, several challenges must be addressed:

Digital Divide: Not all community members have equal access to technology, which can hinder participation. Ensuring that all voices are heard may require additional efforts to bridge this gap.

Information Overload: While transparency is crucial, providing too much information can overwhelm members. It is essential to strike a balance between openness and digestibility.

Resistance to Change: Established organizations may resist adopting transparent governance practices due to fear of losing control or power. Overcoming this resistance requires strong leadership and a commitment to cultural change.

Get in Touch:

🌐 Website:  https://www.nollars.com/

🔗 https://nollars.blogspot.com/

🔗 https://sites.google.com/view/nollars/home

Conclusion

Transparent community governance is transforming how communities engage, collaborate, and make decisions. By prioritizing openness, accountability, and inclusivity, communities can foster trust and empower members to actively participate in shaping their environments. As digital technologies continue to evolve, embracing transparent governance practices will be key to building resilient, adaptive, and thriving communities in the future. In this era of transformation, the shift toward transparency represents not only a necessary evolution in governance but also a powerful opportunity to redefine how we connect, collaborate, and create meaningful change together.

[udo0stories]

In 2019, the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco made history by voting to outlaw the use of face recognition by city agencies, including the police department. Since then, about two dozen additional US cities have done the same. However, voters in San Francisco appear to be against limiting police technology as they supported a ballot proposition on Tuesday that will facilitate the use of drones and other surveillance equipment by city police. London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco, supported Proposition E, which received 60% of the vote and passed. It grants the San Francisco Police Department additional authority to use drones and install security cameras without interference from the Board of Supervisors or Police Commission. Additionally, it relaxes the requirement that the SFPD obtain Board of Supervisors approval prior to implementing new surveillance technology, enabling requests to be made at any point during the first year. According to Matt Cagle, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, those modifications weaken other significant protections while maintaining the current ban on face recognition. "We fear that Proposition E will expose San Francisco residents to unsafe and unproven technology," he states. "This is a cynical attempt by powerful interests to take advantage of people's fears of crime and give the police more power." Supporters like Mayor Breed have framed it as a solution to the city of San Francisco's crime problem. Although overall crime rates have decreased, fentanyl has recently been the cause of an increase in overdose deaths, and commercial downtown neighborhoods are still dealing with a shortage of retail and office space as a result of the pandemic. Tech-related organizations also backed the proposal, such as the campaign group GrowSF, which did not reply to a request for comment. "We will continue in our mission to make San Francisco a safer city by supporting the work of our police officers, expanding our use of technology, and getting officers out of their desks and onto our streets," Mayor Breed stated in a statement following the proposition's approval. With the exception of a pandemic blip in 2020, she pointed out that 2023 saw the lowest crime rates in the city in ten years, and that violent and property crime rates would continue to fall through 2024. Proposition E also lessens paperwork requirements, including when officers use force, and gives police greater latitude to pursue suspects in automobile pursuits. The nonprofit organization Fight for the Future, whose campaign director and managing director is Caitlin Seeley George, has long opposed face recognition technology. She describes the proposal as "a blow to the hard-fought reforms that San Francisco has championed in recent years to rein in surveillance." "People's rights are being undermined and situations where people are more vulnerable to harm are being created," claims George, as a result of the police using surveillance technology more frequently while also decreasing transparency and oversight. While Cagle of the ACLU agrees with her that residents of San Francisco will feel less safe, he believes the city should continue to be known for having sparked a national backlash against surveillance. After San Francisco banned face recognition in 2019, about two dozen other cities did the same, many of them with the addition of new oversight procedures for police monitoring.

[antrika]

Capture, Analyze, and Implement With Customer Feedback Software

Knowing what your customers need and expect from your brand can help you fill the gap between potential loopholes and provide a final product that leads to maximum customer satisfaction. How? By optimizing collecting feedback from your customers. That's why your center focus should be on leveraging consumer data from varied channels and managing feedback data to outline an effective roadmap via centralized customer feedback software . 

Most organizations' inboxes are filled with feature requests and other suggestions. While some of them are actionable, others may not meet your business goals and offerings. However, whether your customers are looking for something that aligns with your strategy or isn't related to your product, irrespective of their requests, you must always respond to each request to make them feel valued. To do so, consider integrating the customer feedback tool into your organization's system to streamline the feedback management process. 

Collect, analyze, and implement impactful solutions by listening to what your customers say and aligning their needs and expectations with an improved end product that brings profit to your organization. A robust feedback management system like Antrika can help you simplify the process from collecting feedback, outlining a roadmap, and implementing to analyzing changes effectively. 

Do you want to know how? In this blog, we will navigate you through every essential factor to seamlessly capture feedback, analyze, and implement critical solutions using customer feedback software. 

What is Feedback Loop?

A customer feedback loop focuses on improving your product or services based on customers' suggestions, feedback, reviews, and market trends. Collecting feedback continuously through a feedback management system enables businesses to boost consumer retention by accessing insights on buyer needs and streamlining feedback data into product roadmaps to enhance product features and solve potential loopholes or bugs. 

By implementing the Customer Feedback Tool , businesses can invite customers to one centralized platform to post feedback, like, and vote for specific feedback they resonate with. This aids in the streamlining process of managing and categorizing priority feedback data, and companies can integrate other communication channels under one platform to seamlessly manage varied boards and prioritize feedback data to create an effective roadmap. 

However, companies can gather feedback using other sources like:

Various customer surveys

Customer forums

Accessing customer reviews

And more

By integrating Antrika, businesses can streamline the feedback management process in 3 simple steps.

Collect feedback data: Combine data from varied channels to store on a centralized board or invite customers to post feedback directly. 

Prioritize themes: Identify common trends and patterns in customer feedback to prioritize essential data based on categories.

Access insightful data into the roadmap: Discuss, brainstorm, and implement the best solutions by understanding customers' needs and challenges with the product and creating a roadmap to fix your product's loopholes seamlessly under one platform. 

Why Collecting Feedback is Important?

As per the study by Microsoft, 52% of individuals worldwide believe that organizations must act upon their feedback. If you ignore maximum feature requests or other improvements, you are more likely to lose opportunities to gain profit and reduce customer loyalty over time. 

Moreover, Dave Chapman from Buffer says that our customers know what will help them with better user experience, and suggestions like feature requests, bug fixes, and more add up to help us stay aligned with what our customers need and expect from our brand. 

In short, your customers can be your brand ambassadors if you reduce customer churn and deliver what they expect. That's why to collect and analyze user feedback is essential to learning where you are lacking and delivering precisely what your customers are seeking. 

In addition, you may lose out on opportunities to attract new perspectives. Why? Because 89% consumers rely on reviews of current customers and businesses prompt responses to those reviews. Responding to your customer's positive or negative opinions will bring out your brand as the one that values and cares for customers' voices. 

So even if you receive constructive feedback, through regular responses your target audience may consider checking out product details only because you positioned your brand that aims to enhance customer experience. 

Perks of Gathering Feedback via Feedback Management System

By optimizing the feedback-collecting process, you can achieve more efficiency and automate the feedback loop with minimal steps by eliminating hassles. To help you understand the importance of capturing, analyzing, and implementing the right solutions through the customer feedback tool, we have listed a few benefits below. 

Enhance Cost Efficiency

By introducing customer feedback software to your product development procedure, you are more likely to manage your budget by cutting costs on multiple resources to collect feedback and strategize to outline effective feedback. Since software like Antrika simplifies centralizing varied data and categorizing or prioritizing feedback, you will need fewer employees to manage data entry or other procedures. 

Improves Productivity

When the workflow is automated or organized to make employees' jobs easier, they are more likely to be productive. For instance, your technical team can rely on an automated feedback management process to determine the core focus of their product improvement strategies. 

This approach saves your employees effort and time and encourages them to stay focused on tasks that truly matter for improving the end product seamlessly.

Elevated Communication Method

Whether you are collecting feedback or prioritizing essential feedback data, robust customer feedback software offers an internal board wherein employees from different departments can determine patterns, analyze user feedback, and prioritize critical aspects to plan out an ideal product roadmap. 

Utilizing this approach, as an organization, you can save time constantly updating your team members, as the tool ensures keeping everyone aligned with seamless discussion and effective features. 

Fosters Transparency in Feedback Loop

Frequent internal discussions and sharing a roadmap with the internal team and stakeholders enable everyone to be aligned with the objective. Also, when you access the object's progress, project managers can identify errors and save the time and effort of developers to craft bug-free features or other solutions. 

In addition, from feedback prioritization and roadmap strategy to the final testing stage, a centralized feedback management system can help organizations boost transparency and avoid making unnecessary mistakes to deliver results in minimal time. 

How to Develop a Sustained Feedback Collecting Strategy?

Determine your Business Goals and Ideal Metrics

Before you begin with yet another feedback loop, consider defining the goal that you wish to achieve and how to measure that goal. Are you looking to maximize customer satisfaction and retention, provide consistent solutions, or re-work your brand image? 

Do you want to identify challenges and opportunities or to improve your current offerings? Depending on your objective, you must strategize in collecting feedback or plan to evaluate adequate data. 

Select your Ideal Method to Collect Data

While there are many ways to collect feedback from your consumers, you can invite your customers to a centralized feedback management tool wherein customers can seamlessly post their opinions and suggestions with a feature to like, comment, and vote for a seamless experience. 

However, along with this approach, you can consider collecting feedback through surveys, interviews, testimonials, social media comments, reviews, data from customer support departments, and more. Remember, each method has its process and perks. Consider your goals, resources, and audience before strategizing and collecting feedback methods. 

You must select a relevant method that is convenient for your organization and offers insights into improving your offerings in the future. Remember, you can integrate feedback data from varied channels into a centralized feedback platform for hassle-free evaluation. 

Automate and Organize Feedback Collecting Process

Imagine organizing feedback data from different channels and methods manually. It would be too time-consuming and hectic, creating chaos in your workflow. Instead, opt for software like Antrika that simplifies your hassle of analyzing different feedback data by allowing you to categorize data based on varied themes or prioritize critical data based on the frequency of feedback posted or the number of likes or votes for specific requests. 

Turn Feedback into a Streamlined Roadmap

To ensure offering compelling features and improved solutions, listen to what your customers suggest. As mentioned above, utilize the recurring requests and suggestions to prioritize critical data to outline a technical blueprint to craft potential improvements. 

Discuss with your team and stakeholders to understand market trends, values, and how certain implementations can add value to your business. Based on research, allow your developers to access customer data to understand demand and plan robust solutions accordingly. 

Lastly, keep stakeholders aligned with the plan and specific updates to keep you free from re-work and offer impactful inputs to make your development process count with effective results. 

Close the Feedback Loop with Changelog

Collecting feedback and implementing solutions does not end your feedback loop. It will go unnoticed if you fail to update your customers about the improvements. To avoid such circumstances, let your customers try out new features, acknowledge new updates, or even give you honest reviews if any errors or gaps are left behind. 

Changelog enables updating customers with seamless, easy-to-understand notifications on the changes made. This approach will help you analyze the impact of your solution and make your customers feel that their opinions are heard and valued by your company. 

Foster a Culture for Continuous Improvements

Collecting customer feedback isn't a one-time activity but an ongoing process to learn about their needs and expectations and improve accordingly. You can collect feedback, understand trends, test certain factors, and make changes. Make sure to respond to your customers promptly, whether you implement their opinions or not, to keep them aligned with the brand. 

Capture Right Opportunities with Antrika

Collecting feedback does not have to be chaotic. Streamline your entire product development procedure by leveraging the right tool, like customer feedback software, to help your team focus on implementing effective results in a clutter-free procedure. 

If you want to know more about how Antrika's feedback-collecting tool works or learn about customer feedback management pricing , then get in touch with us or ask for a demo right now!

[ailtrahq]

Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz advocates for integrating an automated market maker (AMM) feature with the XRP Ledger (XRPL) to enable the creation of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on the XRPL.  Schwartz described AMMs as a fascinating aspect of decentralized finance in a post on social media. However, implementing this feature should only proceed with the consensus of the XRPL community, he explained. The XRPL operates as a decentralized blockchain network, facilitating efficient and secure transactions for the XRP cryptocurrency. Unlike conventional systems, XRPL employs the Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA) for consensus, ensuring quick transaction processing and scalability. It provides a practical foundation for developing decentralized applications (dApps), while the AMM is a decentralized exchange solution that relies on a mathematical formula to establish asset prices. This formula considers the supply and demand of the assets involved, adjusting prices accordingly. AMMs are the weird defi trick everyone's talking about.— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) October 6, 2023 When asked about the timeline for AMMs becoming active on XRPL after governance voting by a community member, Schwartz responded that if the majority supports the amendment, the changes could be implemented in as little as two weeks. Schwartz highlighted that, as far as he knows, no validators currently support the majority vote. The AMM feature was introduced with the release of Ripple version 1.12.0, which also introduced the potential clawback feature.  The team says that incorporating an AMM doesn’t just involve adding a new trading engine; it will also facilitate integration with the XRPL decentralized exchange. In general though, validators shouldn't vote YES individually. The community should make a decision and then validators should nearly all vote YES when they believe the community is on board and enough nodes support the change.The amendment voting process is intended to…— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) October 6, 2023 Despite the feature’s importance, Schwartz cautioned validators against voting independently for these changes. He stressed the need for the community to reach a consensus first. Validators should vote ‘YES,’ overwhelmingly when they observe that the community agrees and sufficient nodes endorse the adjustment. In April, Schwartz also urged caution for those considering investing in XRP through an AMM. He outlined three key reasons for this caution.  Firstly, Schwartz highlighted the exposure to other digital assets within the AMM, explaining that price fluctuations of one asset can impact the value of all other assets in the pool, including XRP.  While acknowledging the usefulness of AMMs for trading, Schwartz emphasized the need for investors to thoroughly research and understand the potential risks before choosing to hold XRP within an AMM.  Additionally, he pointed out the limited potential for significant gains as another risk. Despite AMMs providing liquidity for XRP and other tokens, there’s no guarantee of substantial price gains for XRP. Probably between 1/3 and 1/4. There are really only three reasons not hold your XRP in an AMM: 1) There could be an implementation bug in the AMM code that causes you to lose money. A low risk, but non-zero. …— David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) April 25, 2023 Ripple scores another victory over an SEC In related news, judge Analisa Torres has denied the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) motion to appeal its loss against Ripple Labs. The SEC sought to appeal the partial ruling in Ripple’s favor, declaring that retail XRP token sales didn’t meet the legal definition of a security.  However, Judge Torres rejected the SEC’s motion, stating they failed to prove controlling legal questions or substantial differences of opinion. A trial date is set for April 23, 2024. Ripple execs and the Gary Gensler-led SEC will meet in person for at least an hour to discuss a settlement before the final pretrial conference.

Judge Torres had found the SEC’s appeal wouldn’t significantly expedite the case’s resolution. This ruling should mark a crucial win for Ripple, reaffirming the validity of the previous ruling.

[kaidanworkshop]

Workshop Progress: April Update

We have a lot of information to cover, so we will be splitting it into two separate posts; one covering our current team progress, and another covering our donation drive and budget breakdown. It has now been a little over six weeks since the Workshop went public, and with our casting call out of the way the staff have hit the ground running. As per our respective teams: Creation Kit & Assets Team: There's been quite a lot of progress in replacing the old follower framework, which has also fixed several bugs that affected LivTempleton's Kaidan 1 & 2 original files. It will also allow us to add in new features such as an outfit framework. Additionally, the finalization of a new skin set and facial tattoo has begun. The CK & Assets Team's K01 progress notes have been featured in our developer diary this week, for those who are interested in reading more. Writing Team: After our new members were on-boarded, they quickly fleshed out the remaining sections of our style guide, then created a standardized format that works for both our in-house script production and accommodates Mr. Warren's specifications. After converting the original script into this format, the Writing Team is currently refining the dialogue and making small adjustments (as per suggestions made in our 'I Have An Idea' channel) to prepare for commission finalization. Community Team: We continue to monitor the suggestions made via the Workshop Tumblr and follow up with the other two teams when investigating solutions to the concerns raised in our Bug Report section, as well as the inquiries made in the 'I Have An Idea' channel. After checking with the CK & Assets team about implementation and looking at the budget, we recently set up a new channel for community members to suggest nicknames for Kaidan to refer to the player by. In a week or so, we will place all suggested names into an online poll where users can vote on multiple names. The top 5 nicknames will be chosen for our initial beta, and all other names on the list will roll over into future polls. Interested in joining the staff? We are currently accepting staff applications for the Creation Kit & Assets Team and the Community Team. You can find that info here.

[mariacallous]

I’ve been in academics for more than 20 years as a member of the physics faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. Here, the department is small enough that all of us get to share in the course load, which is quite nice—it gives me an opportunity to teach a wide range of courses, from physical science (for non-science majors) all the way up to quantum mechanics.

During the first years of the pandemic, everyone in education had to adapt, and most of our activities weren't conducted in the most ideal environment. At my school, we started off by moving all classes online using Google Meet. (That wasn’t too much fun.) This was supplemented with short lecture videos. (I actually enjoyed making those.) Next, we implemented a hybrid model where some students would be in class and some would be online. (This was terrible.)

While remote learning can have some advantages, as a teacher I noticed that we all picked up some bad habits over the past couple of years. Have you noticed that after a holiday, when you’ve sat around and watched too much football while eating more than you normally would, you might not be at your regular level of fitness? Well, the same thing can happen with learning.

With exercise, you know that after the holidays you have to hit the gym or get outside in order to get back in shape and feel ready to take on the world. With learning, I think it is more about figuring out how to constructively use the technologies that helped us go remote instead of relying on them as a crutch.

Smartphones

It can be shocking to realize how much power we carry around with us all the time. Not only is your phone a very powerful computer, it also has a decent camera and a host of other sensors.

And smart phones often belong in school: It's possible to use your phone to collect and analyze data. For an experiment, students can use the accelerometers in the phone to measure the distance an elevator travels. Or how about using a long-exposure photo to measure the speed of the International Space Station? You can even solve physics problems by creating Python code right on your phone, or use built-in lidar to create 3D maps of a room.

In larger lecture-style classes, as a first step in class discussions, I have the students use their phones to vote their answers to conceptual questions. (One of my favorites is about the acceleration of a tossed ball at its highest point. A common answer is that since the velocity is zero, the acceleration is also zero—but that’s not true. In fact, if the acceleration was zero at the highest point where the velocity is also zero, the ball would just magically appear to be stationary.)

However, there is one way the students use their phones in class that I think is not always such a good idea: They take pictures of everything. (Admittedly, this has been going on for a while, so it’s not purely pandemic-related.) Now, don't get me wrong—I also take a lot of pictures. Photos are not just a great way to capture memories of your favorite dog; they can also serve as a reminder of things we need to do, like taking a picture of the grocery list. So what's the problem with students taking a picture in class of a physics solution or the derivation of an equation?

Let me give a real life example. It's my introductory physics course, and I'm going over a practice problem. I find it to be useful to model effective problem-solving strategies so that students can see the entire process. Of course, students have an opportunity to ask questions as I demonstrate the solution, and I pause several times to let them attempt each part before progressing. Once we make it to the end, the problem is finished, and at least part of the solution is written on the board. (Sometimes stuff gets erased.) Before you know it, some phones come out. Snap!

Why is that bad? I think it encourages students to think of physics problems as being like the game Pokémon Go, where the object is to capture as many solutions as possible. But it’s not: The process is important, not the solution.

I don’t mind if the student is just taking a picture to help them remember the result, intending to go back and work through the whole thing on their own. That's not a bad idea. However, I'm just afraid that all too often a student feels that the solution is the goal. Having the answer is not the same as understanding.

Or take the example of students who start off working on a problem in pairs using presentation boards mounted around the room. After working for five minutes, each student will move to a new board with a new student to work for five more minutes. This goes for three or four rounds until most pairs have solutions. (I got this idea from a fellow physics educator; it's called whiteboard speed dating.)

Sometimes these speed dating problems are a little difficult. Students can find it challenging to even start. They are afraid to put something on the board that might be wrong, because no one wants to be wrong. Wouldn't it be better to just not write anything down and wait? I mean, surely Dr. Allain (that's me) will eventually go over the solution and then boom, phone picture!

When this happens, I tell the class the following very important idea: "It's better to do something wrong than to see something right."

Those mistakes are part of the learning process. You can't expect to always get everything right when you are learning. It would be like going to basketball practice but not taking any shots because you are afraid that you might miss. Yes, you are going to miss. Missing a goal is how you get better at taking shots. The same is true for physics or any type of learning.

In the end, I let my students take photos, because there’s a chance they might actually use the pictures in a practical way. Also, banning phones would mean that I couldn't have any phone-based classroom activities, and it might send the wrong message that I have all the answers and the students need to earn those answers through hard work. Instead, the answers are just the tip of the iceberg.

But if you’re a student heading back to school in January, and your teacher allows phones in class, my advice would be to take pictures if you need to save something off the board. But don’t stop there. Force yourself to go back and work through any problems or solutions from those pictures. Treat the photo as the beginning of the learning process, not the end.

Online Answers

There's another place where the students’ focus on answers—instead of the learning process—is clearly visible: websites that give solutions to physics problems. During the pandemic, students took advantage of these more often, because more assessment was moved to an online form, which makes it easier to cheat. And because these sites are becoming more popular, there are now more of them. This makes me sad. The problem is that students can just copy a solution without understanding it, and it's all too obvious that many times this is exactly what happens.

Consider the following very common projectile-motion problem that is covered in just about every physics textbook: A ball is launched horizontally off a table that is 1.2 meters above the floor, and it hits 1.7 meters from the starting point. What is the launch velocity of the ball?

The problem is normally solved by looking at the horizontal and vertical motions separately. (That's the cool part of projectile motion.) Just about every textbook calls the horizontal velocity vx and the vertical velocity vy. So, when a student submits a solution using u for the horizontal velocity and u' (called u-prime) for the vertical velocity, it just looks weird. Why would they pick those symbols for the variables? You know why: They found the answer online.

You might think that if instructors assigned unique physics problems, the students would actually create their own solutions. That doesn't work. I can make something weird (and honestly quite fun) for a physics question, but students post it online within hours. It would actually be funny if it weren't so bad for learning. And even worse, someone is making serious money from these online solutions, which often require a subscription to their services.

If you’re a student who is tempted to use online answers, I’d urge you to use them only to work through a part of a problem that you are stuck on or to double-check that you’ve understood the problem correctly.

Attending Class

There's one more thing that students have a problem with lately—going to class.

Online learning isn't all bad; in fact, for some learners, it offers opportunities that weren't there before. Videos can help students keep up with class—well, if they actually watch them—and they provide an opportunity to review material that was perhaps a bit confusing. Going remote gives students a certain amount of flexibility to compensate for things that happen in real life, like catching the flu or getting a flat tire. Life happens, and it would be a shame to miss out on school. And it can be a bonus in Louisiana: When we have to cancel class because of a hurricane (yes, that happens), we won’t lose much class time since we can just switch to an online mode.

But there's something about in-person classes that I've found difficult to replicate in an online environment. I like to think of a physics class as a community of learners. Students can play the role of educator and learner at the same time when they interact with their peers. (And don't forget the other learner in the course—the instructor. Even teaching an introductory physics course, I still find some new understanding every time I teach it, which is why I love it so much.)

If you’re a teacher, there’s so much more that can be done during class time than just lecturing. You can have students work on problems—or even better, have them find the error in a solution to a problem. You could have them create problems that other students could solve. Honestly, the possibilities are endless. If you are looking for more ideas (at least in physics), check out the American Association of Physics Teachers’ resource site: Compadre.org.

If you are a student, try to attend class as much as possible. Don't think of it as though you are in a movie theater watching a bunch of answers. Instead, use that time to engage in all the learning opportunities.

In the end, the goal is to practice, not to get everything right. When it comes time to work on your homework, let yourself get stuck. Work the problem to the point where you don’t know what to do anymore. Getting stuck is the first step to getting unstuck, right? After all, if you don't have any troubles with a physics problem, then you either already understood it or it wasn't that great of a problem to begin with.

[tubbsmccracken]

On this day - December 18, 1952

Georgia Governor Proposes Abolition of Public School System to Avoid Integration

On December 18, 1952, anticipating that the U.S. Supreme Court would soon strike down racial segregation in public schools, Georgia Governor and ardent segregationist Herman Talmadge announced he would end public education in the state rather than integrate. “There is only one solution in the event segregation is banned by the Supreme Court,” Talmadge declared at a press conference, “And that is abolition of the public school system.” Governor Talmadge was stringently opposed to the possibility of racially-integrated schools. Instead, he proposed amending the state’s constitution to create a state-subsidized, racially-segregated private school system. The public/private distinction was critical, since even as a Court decision striking down public school segregation seemed imminent, private facilities including schools were still seen as legally-immune to integration litigation (though that too would soon change). Governor Talmadge’s plan involved leasing existing public schools for $1 to a “suitable man or woman” tasked with setting up and operating a private school system and using that system to maintain segregation. White students enrolled in these schools would receive a $200 annual tuition subsidy from the State. The plan to restructure the state’s education system had no other objective than to enforce racial segregation, leaving in place State infrastructure, schools, teachers, and administrators, with the change being in name only to permit segregation to continue. Though Governor Talmadge’s plan did not specify what would happen with Black students, a similar plan was implemented in Virginia in the following years. The Virginia plan, which mirrored Governor Talmadge’s idea, resulted in zero funding for Black students, and in most Black students going without school for five years, before the plan was eventually struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Governor Talmadge successfully campaigned on a promise to white constituents that white students and Black students “will not attend the same schools as long as I am Governor of Georgia,” and his December 18 announcement represented just one of many State attempts to preserve white supremacy and racial segregation during his tenure. During the 1952 legislative session, for example, the Georgia General Assembly passed an appropriations bill, signed by Governor Talmadge, denying State funding to any school that enrolled both Black and white students. Following the Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, Governor Talmadge warned that “blood will run in the streets of Atlanta” and reaffirmed that “we intend to maintain separate schools in Georgia one way or another, come what may.” The same year, Georgia voters approved an amendment to the Georgia constitution allowing for the abolition of public schools, and two years later, the state legislature gave the then-sitting governor the authority to abolish public schools if integration was forced on them by federal courts. However, the threat of abolishing public education in the state was never realized in the immediate aftermath of Brown because Georgia and other Southern states were permitted to resist integration through delay well into the 1960s. In the five Deep South states, every single one of 1.4 million Black school children attended segregated schools until the fall of 1960. Consequently, Georgia was not required to integrate their schools until Governor Talmadge was out of office. Governor Talmadge’s commitment to segregation made him highly popular among white voters in Georgia, who voted for him repeatedly. While Talmadge was barred by the state constitution from seeking another term as governor after 1954, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1956 and served as a staunch opponent to civil rights for 24 years until a financial scandal sunk his bid for a fifth term in 1980. Segregationists like Governor Talmadge, operating at the highest levels of government, represented and advanced the views of the majority of white citizens at the time. 

[creek-cryptid-deluxe]

Yesterday I had an experience that was surreal, amazing, and then kind of astonishingly sad. 

we are in the midst of our local elections on a city level. i vote by mail and do early voting so i had already voted. I was out working in my yard, when a car pulled up in front of the house. now, that’s not unusual because it faces a fairly major road and people pull over all the time for whatever reason. Usually it’s students who are new and lost. So I pay no mind and keep on cleaning out the flowerbeds (because the live oak is carpeting everything with those little squiggly green guys... male catskins is what i think they are called.) when I hear a young female voice behind me say “excuse me, are you [my real name]?” I feel panic rise within me... and it dissipates instantly when I see a young lady in her early teens standing there. 

“yes ma’am I am. How can I help you?” She hands me a flyer as her dad walks up behind her in a t-shirt and cargo shorts and introduces himself as a guy I voted for as a council member. He asked if I planned to vote in 2 weeks and I explained that being disabled, I vote by mail and had already voted for him. He laughed and high fived me, then asked “If there is one thing you want to see changed in our city, what would it be? I want to make sure that if I am elected, I have a solid idea of what our citizens believe is needed so I  know where to focus our efforts and budget.”

I hemmed and hawed for a bit, then finally said that accessibility for disabled folks is a REAL problem here. Then I explained that I’m a part time wheelchair user and even without the chair, accessibility can be an issue because of how my hips are. There’s a ton of areas where the sidewalk is too narrow for a wheelchair to get through or the sidewalk is uneven or broken, which makes it a challenge to get through, and some places don’t even have sidewalk. and that doesn’t even touch on the buildings that don’t have access. He nodded and told me he has two MAJOR concerns, onee of which is getting ADA compliant sidewalk for every single road in the city. He’s already had pushback from some contractor who said that sidewalks take ‘5 years to do’. I balked and said that was insane, especially since a huge tennis court that was unnecessary was just put in over at my park within a month’s time. 

I asked what his other MAJOR concern was and he went into the data regarding how many trees per month a city of our size should be planting vs how many we are. He noted that our city has the worst air quality in the county. Well, you know me. I launched into the issues with lawns and the benefits of lawn alternatives not just for homes but also medians, businesses, and parks. I brought up data about water waste, biodiversity, pesticide, and fertilizer along side data about many groundcovers like clover and ponysfoot, help clear the air the way trees do, but because they are groundcover, they can do so on a much larger scale. Then you toss in some native growing wildflowers for the pollinators. 

He said that I sounded just like his guy that handles forestation and planting, but that he hadn’t considered lawns, residential or otherwise and that he’d like to sit down with both me and his guy to talk more in depth. He also told me that after the election, if he is elected to council to email him so he can set up that meeting because he’s really interested in that data and research and what solutions can be implemented. And if he isn’t elected, to reach out to him anyway because there are lots of boards and stuff that I could be involved in that would be very interested in what I have to say. AND he said they could easily accommodate having me on zoom for meetings. 

So that’s extremely exciting. I have an opportunity to make a difference. 

The sad part is that he told me about a man he went to speak to in the same way he approached me. When tree planting and air quality was mentioned, the man said “Oh you’re a dem.” The guy running for council said “Well, no sir. We don’t have parties at the city level.” The man said “But you’re one of them tree huggers.” Council guy: “....Yes. Yes I am. Because I want the planet to still be around for my kids and grandkids.” Man: “Right. So you’re a dem. Who is the other guy running, so I can vote for him?” Council guy: “Have a nice day sir.”

I was appalled and outraged. I believe my exact words were “Things like environmental issues and, public health crisis's like, say... a pandemic, are NOT political issues! They are human issues. If you are a human being and want to continue to be alive, they are issues that matter to you. Jesus fluffing christ.” He laughed and said, “I know. Some people will cut off their own noses to spite their face.” And it’s true. Because the propaganda machine in the US is so fucking good at its job, people will happily vote against their own interests. 

But I get my chance to make a difference on a scale larger than my yard. 

[cogitoergofun]

Railroad workers have expressed dismay at Joe Biden’s proposed solution to a looming strike that threatens to derail the US economy, which they say belies his image as the most pro-union president in generations.

As a 9 December deadline looms for the long-running labor dispute between the US’s largest railway companies and their unions, Biden has called on Congress to intervene and block a strike that could cost the US economy about $2bn a day by some estimates.

The impending strike comes as the US struggles with a cost-of-living crisis driven by a 40-year high in inflation, and Biden has said that a railroad labor action could “devastate our economy”. On Wednesday Congress is expected to pass legislation that will force a settlement.

But union leaders are unhappy that Biden’s solution appears to be the imposition of a settlement reached in September that has already been rejected by many for failing to address members’ concerns about pay, sick days, staff shortages and time off.

“Joe Biden blew it,” said Hugh Sawyer, treasurer of Railroad Workers United, a group representing workers from a variety of rail unions and carriers. “He had the opportunity to prove his labor-friendly pedigree to millions of workers by simply asking Congress for legislation to end the threat of a national strike on terms more favorable to workers. Sadly, he could not bring himself to advocate for a lousy handful of sick days. The Democrats and Republicans are both pawns of big business and the corporations.”

Matt Parker, a locomotive engineer and chairman of the Nevada State Legislative Board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said: “The overly simplistic approach that the administration has taken to this whole issue shows how out of touch they are with the plight of railroad workers.”

Railroad workers have threatened industrial action over their lack of paid sick time and the rail companies’ disciplinary attendance systems in which they are penalized for taking unpaid time off, an issue workers say has contributed to a lack of a work-life balance on the job.

Four of the 12 railroad unions representing a majority of the railroad workforce have rejected a tentative new union contract agreement which fails to address their concerns. If any of the 12 unions go on strike, each union has agreed to honor the picket line.

[...]

Parker expressed dismay and disappointment over the Biden administration’s push to impose a tentative agreement most railroad workers voted against, and warned the impacts of doing so without addressing the quality-of-life issues will probably lead to higher attrition rates in a workforce that has already experienced significant declines in employment in recent years.

As railroad carriers have implemented cuts and more grueling scheduling systems, they have also reported record profits and have paid out $196bn in stock buybacks and dividends to shareholders since 2010.

BNSF and Union Pacific, the two largest railroad corporations in North America, both reported record profits in 2021. BNSF is owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.

Senator Bernie Sanders hit out at Buffett last week. “Warren Buffett, the owner of BNSF Railway’s parent company, became $1.38bn richer yesterday,” Sanders tweeted, referring to a boost to Buffett’s net worth from a rise in Berkshire Hathaway’s stock price.

“In one day, Mr Buffett made twice as much money as it would cost to guarantee 15 paid sick days a year to every rail worker in America,” Sanders said. “The greed of the rail industry must end.”

Parker claimed this action to call for imposing a rejected contract undermines Biden’s relationship with labor, as he has repeatedly and proudly proclaimed to be the most pro-union president ever.

“What railroad workers are standing up for is a better quality of life, to get the respect that they deserve, and the benefits that they deserve and have earned. Sick time, reasonable time off to rest when the majority of the railroad workforce works on call 24/7 365 days a year,” Parker said.

“With the increased demands that the railroads have put on with their personnel cuts and with these draconian attendance policies, railroaders are not given sufficient time off to rest, to recoup, to recover from illness or to spend time with their families,” he added. “That’s what they’re looking for. The failure to address that could have a profound effect in the future on the ability for railroads to hire and maintain workers.”

Jeff Kurtz, a locomotive engineer in Iowa for more than 40 years, severely criticized the Biden administration’s tentative agreement. “It’s not just about paid time off, it’s about time off period,” said Kurtz, who has now retired. “Basically what the carriers, and now it looks like what Congress is going to say too, is you are pretty well tied to your job for the rest of your life.”

In the railroad agreement, workers were provided with one paid day off and the ability to schedule three doctor appointments annually without being penalized, but Kurtz noted the parameters and restrictions make it nearly impossible to use the time off and provide employers with even greater interference and control over their workers’ healthcare. Workers had sought 15 paid days off in the contract.

“The Presidential Emergency Board was just no help whatsoever,” added Kurtz. “I thought it’d be somewhat more labor-friendly than it was, but it could have been written by the carriers as far as I was concerned.”

[allthecanadianpolitics]

New Democrats are calling on the Liberal government to come back to work for Canadians who are relying on them for help.

The pandemic has left a lot of Canadians struggling to make ends meet and the Liberals are making the situation worse. By shutting down parliament, the Liberals are making people who depend on the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit to wait to know if more help is coming and what it will look like.

“Canadians are worried about paying their bills, a possible second wave of COVID-19, and the return to work and school. It is completely unacceptable to add to this uncertainty,” said NDP House Leader Peter Julian. “The government must come back to work so that millions of Canadians who rely on CERB can get the support they need to put food on the table and pay their rent.”

Earlier this week, Julian wrote to the Government House Leader, asking that parliament be recalled sooner than September 23, so MPs can vote on and pass new supports that can be implemented before the CERB runs out on September 27. If the government can’t agree to this common-sense solution, New Democrats are asking them to extend CERB until the programs aimed at replacing it are actually in place to help people pay their bills.

In order to pass the needed legislation, the House of Commons needs to sit, but in response to a separate letter from Julian and NDP Whip Rachel Blaney, the Speaker confirmed that the Liberals’ move to shut down parliament also shut down work that was being done “…to facilitate the House’s ability to function more fully during the pandemic.”

“We are still waiting for a plan. The Liberals were in such a rush to save themselves from investigations into their own scandals and now they have no plan to get back to work or to help the people who are relying on supports like CERB to get by. No one needs this kind of stress and it’s completely unnecessary,” said Blaney. “We’re ready to work with the other parties to solve this problem but we need the government to get on board. Our message to the government is simple: get back to work, and let’s get Canadians the help they need.”

Tagging: @politicsofcanada