#efficient ticket handling.

[norfielddp]

Streamline Operations with Efficient One Call Ticket Management

Managing One Call tickets effectively is crucial for utilities and contractors to prevent service interruptions and ensure public safety. At Norfield Data Products, we provide cutting-edge One Call ticket management solutions designed to simplify the process and enhance productivity. Our comprehensive platform automates ticket handling, from receiving dig requests to generating real-time notifications, enabling seamless coordination across teams.

With advanced features like ticket mapping, priority sorting, and reporting, our system ensures you stay ahead of compliance requirements and reduce response times. Whether you’re a large utility provider or a small contractor, our scalable tools adapt to your specific needs, making ticket management hassle-free.

Experience the benefits of improved accuracy, reduced administrative workload, and enhanced project timelines with Norfield’s trusted ticket management system. Learn how our platform can transform your operations today.

[hannahciara]

Introduction: Coin Dispensers in the Digital Age

In a world leaning toward digital transactions, many business owners ask: Are coin dispensers still relevant in 2025? The short answer is yes—and more than ever, businesses across laundromats, car washes, and vending operations are turning to modern coin dispensers to bridge the gap between cash reliance and operational efficiency.

For industrial business owners in the USA, the evolution of eco-friendly quarter dispensers presents a compelling blend of traditional convenience and sustainable innovation.

Why Modern Coin Dispensers Remain Essential

Despite the surge in cashless payments, over 18% of all transactions in the U.S. are still made in cash. That means many businesses—especially those operating in high-volume, low-ticket environments—must still manage physical currency efficiently.

A modern coin dispenser ensures:

Fast, reliable coin distribution

Reduced wait times at self-service terminals

Enhanced customer satisfaction

Fewer staff hours spent handling change

Whether you're running a laundromat in Chicago or a car wash in Texas, a robust coin system is still part of your bottom line.

Sustainability Meets Practicality: The Rise of Eco-Friendly Quarter Dispensers

Today's business owners are not only looking for efficiency—they’re demanding sustainability. That’s where the eco-friendly quarter dispenser comes in.

These upgraded machines are:

Energy-efficient with low-power standby modes

Built from recyclable materials or with minimal plastic parts

Designed for durability, reducing the need for frequent replacements

Manufactured with low-emission standards

By investing in sustainable coin machines, you're not only reducing your environmental footprint but also attracting eco-conscious customers—a growing consumer segment in 2025.

Hybrid Systems: Bridging Cash and Digital Payments

Another reason modern coin dispensers remain relevant is their role in hybrid payment ecosystems. Modern systems now support:

Coin payout and digital balance tracking

Integration with RFID cards, mobile apps, and POS terminals

Real-time tracking for inventory and coin flow

This makes the future of coin machines adaptive rather than obsolete.

How Coin Dispensers Reduce Operational Costs

Here’s how coin dispensers make business sense in 2025:

✅ Lower labor costs – No need for manual change management ✅ Increased customer throughput – Faster service = more business ✅ Secure transactions – Locked hoppers and tamper-proof designs ✅ Reduced maintenance – Especially with the newer, eco-friendly quarter dispensers

Many operators report a 10–15% increase in customer satisfaction after upgrading to modern coin systems.

Long-Term Value for Industrial Business Owners

For American businesses that still rely on coins—laundromats, arcades, amusement centers, and vending operations—modern coin dispensers are not a dying technology. They're a strategic investment. They deliver:

Longevity

Compatibility with legacy and new systems

Support for cash-heavy industries

Investing in a quarter dispenser built for 2025 ensures you’re not chasing trends—you’re planning ahead.

Q&A Section

Q: Are coin dispensers becoming obsolete with digital payments? A: Not at all. Many industries still rely on cash, and modern dispensers now integrate hybrid payment features that future-proof your business.

Q: What makes a coin dispenser "eco-friendly"? A: Features include energy-saving modes, recyclable materials, and low-maintenance engineering that reduces waste.

Q: How do I choose the best coin dispenser for my business? A: Look for durability, coin capacity, ease of use, and sustainable features. Brands like Lynde Ordway’s modern coin dispensers are trusted by industrial operators across the USA.

Final Thoughts: The Future of Coin Machines

The future of coin machines isn't about clinging to the past—it's about evolving with it. As long as cash has value, modern coin dispensers will remain a critical part of many businesses. By choosing an eco-friendly quarter dispenser, you're aligning your operations with the values of efficiency, responsibility, and forward-thinking.

Call to Action

Looking to upgrade your current system? Explore Lynde Ordway’s collection of modern coin dispensers built for the evolving needs of 2025. 👉 Shop Now or get in touch with our sales team to find the right solution for your business.

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[slytherinshua]

🎞️　TICKETS FOR 2　( 나재민 )

genre fluff , loosely inspired by when life gives you tangerines , jaemin x fem!reader   cw not proofread   wc 440   request yes   note another little fic that was supposed to be a timestamp but i wrote too much skjksd. really want to write more for dreamies so maybe this will be the start !   net @kstrucknet @neocity-net

“2 tickets for Romeo and Juliet, please.”

You glanced up, hands moving with practiced ease to tear off two tickets and stamp them accordingly. The coins that slid over the counter were swiftly dropped in a box as a shy smile grew on your face.

Handling ticketing at the old movie theatre in your neighbourhood was never supposed to be a long-term job. You only applied for a temporary position in hopes to make a bit of extra cash before your final year at university. But your boss liked you, and somehow convinced you to stay for the year as well. 

You were efficient, hard working, and didn’t complain about being cramped in the small ticketing booth for an entire day. No one could ignore the boost in ticket sales since you were hired either. You had quickly become the theatre’s most important member of staff. Once you were gone, business would slow down by at least half, and everyone knew it.

Jaemin liked to tease you about it. How your pretty face was attracting all the boys in town to come see a movie just so they could ask you out on a date. Of course, you refused every single guy who tried. Despite your sweet features, you were like ice. Anyone who tried to melt their way past your walls were sure to get frostbite in the process.

Except for one.

The only man who you allowed through without a fight was the same one who joked with you about every guy who you had rejected. The only one who could truly say what you looked like when you smiled, when you laughed till your stomach hurt, or when heat spread to your cheeks. 

The same man who teased you about how pretty you were, who gave you compliments every evening when he walked past, broom in hand on his way to clean up spilled popcorn. 

You never thought your job at the cinema would lead you to the beginning of your own romance. Yet, the moment Jaemin first gave you that dashing smile, you found yourself falling quicker than you could pick yourself up. His warmth melted you completely. 

“You’re clocking out early tonight,” Jaemin stated like he made the decision himself.

“And why is that?” you asked, resting your chin on your hand. The grins on both your faces were almost too obvious, but you tried to push down the butterflies in your stomach. 

“Because I have an extra ticket,” he said, holding up the two he had just purchased from you. “And there’s only one lady here who I’ll ever watch Romeo and Juliet with.”

nct dream taglist (bolded could not be tagged): @kangtaehyunzzz,, @eternalgyu,, @lexeees,, @nyukyusnz,, @lovesuhng,, @planetkiimchi,, @ujisworld,, @sobun1est,, @emmylksblog,, @bananabubble,, @talkingsaxy,, @thesunsfullmoon,, @chenleszone,, @cupidslovearrows,, @yudaies,, @mjupis,, @raevyng,, @loserlvrss,, @lexeees,, @voikiraz,, @xikskrrrs,, @cupidslovearrows,, @nicholasluvbot,, @hhaechansmoless,, @i03jae,, @somerandomf1fan,, @tmrwsuns

[aeraswaan]

sirens and silhouettes | L.M

click to libary

Summary : A meticulous, street-smart cop falls for a glamorous, free-spirited supermodel.

The flashing blue and red of the police car's lights paint streaks across the sleek, silver hood of your taxi. Rain plasters itself against the window, blurring the neon-drenched cityscape of Seoul.

You sigh, glancing at your watch. Fashion week. Tonight's after-party is the hottest ticket in town, and you, Kang Soojin, face of L'Èclat and darling of the South Korean fashion scene, are running late. Again.

"Traffic's terrible, Miss Kang," the taxi driver says, glancing at you in the rearview mirror. "Accident up ahead. Police are on the scene."You murmur a thank you, pulling your phone from your designer bag. A flurry of messages awaits – your agent, reminding you of the party's importance; your stylist, a string of panicked crying emojis; your best friend, begging for details on the guest list. You ignore them all, closing your eyes and leaning your head against the cool leather seat.

This life, the constant glare of the cameras, the relentless pressure to be perfect, is starting to feel like a gilded cage.The taxi lurches to a halt. You peek out the window. The accident is a minor fender-bender, but the flashing lights are mesmerizing. That's when you see him.He's directing traffic with an effortless authority, his movements precise and efficient. Even through the rain-streaked glass, you can't help but notice the way his dark hair is plastered to his forehead, the sharp angles of his jawline, the serious set of his mouth. He’s tall, broad-shouldered in his uniform, and there’s a quiet strength that radiates from him. He's Officer Lee Minho.

You recognize the name from the small brass plate pinned to his chest.There’s something about him that captivates you. Maybe it’s the way he handles the chaos with such calm, or perhaps it’s the stark contrast he presents to the frivolous world you inhabit. Whatever it is, you find yourself strangely drawn to him.

The traffic begins to flow again, and your taxi creeps forward. As you pass him, Officer Lee’s eyes flick up and meet yours. Just for a fleeting moment, his gaze locks onto yours. There's a flicker of…something in his eyes. Curiosity? Recognition? You can't quite decipher it. Then, he's turning away, already focused on directing the next car.The party is everything you expected – loud music, flashing lights, champagne flowing freely, and a sea of beautiful people vying for attention. You plaster on your practiced smile, pose for photographs, and make small talk, but your mind keeps drifting back to the officer in the rain.Days turn into weeks. You see his face on the news, a brief clip of him receiving an award for bravery. You find yourself subtly altering your usual routes, hoping for a glimpse of him on the streets.

You even, embarrassingly, consider staging a minor car accident just to see him again.Then, one evening, it happens. You're leaving a late-night photoshoot, exhausted and craving a simple bowl of ramen. You duck into a small, unassuming restaurant, the kind hidden away from the glitz and glamour of Gangnam.

You're halfway through your noodles when you hear a familiar voice."Excuse me, is this seat taken?"You look up. It's him. Officer Lee Minho. He's out of uniform, dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans. He looks even more striking without the rigid formality of his police attire.You stammer, "No, no, it's free."

He slides into the seat opposite you. "Kang Soojin, right?" he asks, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "I recognize you from the posters."Your heart skips a beat. "And you're Officer Lee Minho," you reply, trying to keep your voice steady. "From the…accident."He chuckles, a low, warm sound that sends a shiver down your spine. "That's right. I just wanted to say… I hope you weren’t too inconvenienced that night."

"Not at all," you say quickly. "I was just… admiring your efficiency."An awkward silence descends. You pick at your noodles, trying to think of something to say. He seems equally ill at ease."So," he says finally, "what does a supermodel do for dinner after a photoshoot?

"You laugh, relieved. "Eat ramen, apparently. What about a police officer after a long shift?""Same," he says, grinning. "Comfort food is universal."That night, over steaming bowls of ramen, you talk. Not about fashion or crime, but about your families, your dreams, your fears. You discover that he's kind, intelligent, and surprisingly funny. He, in turn, seems genuinely interested in hearing about your life, even the less glamorous aspects.He walks you back to your apartment building. The rain has stopped, and the city lights twinkle like stars. At your doorstep, he hesitates."I…I enjoyed talking to you," he says, his voice a little hesitant.

"Maybe we could do it again sometime?"You nod, unable to find your voice. "I'd like that very much."He smiles, a genuine, heart-stopping smile. "Good night, Soojin."And then he's gone, leaving you standing there, breathless and utterly confused. What just happened?The following weeks are a whirlwind of stolen moments. You meet for coffee before he starts his shift, share takeout in his small apartment, and take quiet walks along the Han River. You learn about his dedication to his job, his strong sense of justice, and his unwavering commitment to his family. He sees past the makeup and the designer clothes, seeing you for who you truly are – a woman searching for something real amidst the superficiality.He doesn't treat you like a celebrity. He treats you like a person.But your world and his are vastly different. Your agent warns you that dating a police officer will damage your brand. Your friends don't understand. His colleagues tease him relentlessly. The pressure mounts.Doubt creeps in. Can this really work? Are you just living in a fairytale?

One night, after a particularly grueling day of shooting, you meet him at a small park overlooking the city. The air is crisp, and the stars are out. You tell him everything – the doubts, the fears, the pressure.He listens patiently, his gaze unwavering. When you're finished, he takes your hand, his touch gentle and reassuring."Soojin," he says, his voice low and sincere, "I know our lives are different. I know it won't be easy. But I care about you. More than I thought possible. And I'm willing to fight for this, if you are."

Tears well up in your eyes. You realize that you're not afraid of the challenges. You're afraid of losing him."I am," you whisper. "I'm willing to fight too."

The fight isn't easy. There are misunderstandings, arguments, and moments of doubt. But through it all, your connection deepens. You learn to navigate the complexities of your relationship, finding common ground and supporting each other through thick and thin.You start using your platform to speak out about issues you care about, using your voice to make a difference. He supports you wholeheartedly, admiring your courage and conviction. He, in turn, learns to appreciate the artistry and creativity of your world, seeing the hard work and dedication that goes into every photoshoot and runway show.Slowly, but surely, the world around you begins to accept your relationship. Your agent realizes that your happiness is worth more than any brand image. Your friends see the genuine love and respect you share. His colleagues stop teasing him, recognizing the depth of his feelings for you.Years pass. You're still a successful model, but you're also an advocate, a philanthropist, and a woman deeply in love. He's still a dedicated police officer, but he's also a loving partner, a supportive friend, and a man who has found his equal.One evening, you find yourself driving through Gangnam.

As you pass a familiar street corner, you see a police officer directing traffic. The flashing blue and red lights paint streaks across the wet pavement. It reminds you of that rainy night, the night you first saw him.You smile, remembering the initial spark, the slow burn that ignited into a love that has shaped your life. You pull over and roll down your window."Need any help, Officer Lee?" you call out, a playful glint in your eyes.He turns, his face lighting up with a familiar, heart-stopping smile. "Just keeping the city safe, Soojin," he says. "But I could always use a little company."He walks over to the car and leans down, his eyes meeting yours. In that moment, surrounded by the chaos and beauty of Seoul, you know that you’ve found something truly special. This slow burn, this unexpected romance, has become the most beautiful and enduring love story of your life. And you wouldn't trade it for anything.

Authors Note : credits to my friend for the idea .. this slow burn kinda???

tags : @kessaprl

[darkostudios-blog]

MISE EN PLACE

(A sydcarmy fic)

Notes: first time doing something like this so bear with me. Would love to hear any feedback! But pls be nice because I’m sensitive 😭🙏🩵

Summary: friends and family night leads to Carmy in the walk in and syd waiting for him to get out.

Chapter one: Jasmine Tea

I grasp my station for support as I feel the inevitable acid in the back of my throat. The sound of the ticket machine drowns out my thoughts. Overlapping voices creep their way into my head. I clasp my eyes shut hoping for it all to just stop. “Seriously guys what the fuck is going on!” I hear a woman’s voice scoff from the dining room. Claire. The faks can handle her. I choke back my vomit as I take a sip of my water to wash it down. I glance over to Tina as she stands outside the walk-in. Carmen has been trapped in there all service, yelling, kicking, screaming. The last time I saw him we had argued. I choke back the acid burning my throat again. “Maybe- maybe I’m just not built for this. Right?” I choke again. “And- and maybe that's okay!” I cough as I cover my mouth. My stomach is a swirling pit of all the bad things from today. I should have eaten before service. “Maybe that just is.” Carmen's voice admits defeat through the thick walk-in door. I take a wobbly step back as I hastily make my way over there. My hand glides over Tina’s shoulder as I tell her to cover my station. I run outside in the fresh air and retreat to a dumpster. I vomit instantly, covering the black asphalt with orange tinted acid and bits of my ramen noodles from this morning. I hunch over behind the trash as I cough and try to compose myself. The voices dissipate but the nausea still lingers. My feet carry me to sit on a curb outside of the restaurant. Watching as happy customers leave and cars pass. I taste the acid lingering on my tongue and I sigh as I close my eyes. This was our first day of service, even if it was friends and family night, it was still service. A bad service. A bittersweet service. Me and Carmy argued, but everyone put all of their hands aboard and made a collective effort to their cause. Even after Carmen got stuck in that fridge.

Ticket machines whir as Sydney tries to keep up with them. She barks orders as I run around the kitchen, plating and cooking. “Hands!” I yell as I give a plate to Richie. “Yo- are you gonna talk to Claire?” He asks over my shoulder. “Later cousin.” I reply as I plate the next order. Lining up wagyu beef strips in a line. “Later?- what- what do you mean-?” “I said later chef.” He scoffs as he turns to walk out of the kitchen. I plate the next plate and yell for hands as I glance at Sydney. I see her eyes glaze over me as she turns back to the tickets. “Can I get two soups and a wagyu please chefs!” Her voice loudly carries throughout the kitchen, as everyone replies with “chef.” I retreat to Sydney's side as she manages the tickets and food orders. I watch her hands as they work efficiently, grasping tickets and highlighting words before she pins them to her station and barks the next task. “Can I get three pastas and one wagyu chefs!”

She yells as Tina slides me a plate, I take it with a nod and begin the same routine with every wagyu dish I get. “One wagyu chef-“ I began as I glanced at her. “That's Claire’s.” She speaks bitterly, her eyes glued on her own tickets. “Right.” I reply blankly as I glance down at the dish. “Are you gonna call for hands or?” Sydney blinks at me and then to the plate. “Uh- uh no- I’ll do it.” I hype myself up as a sigh escapes my lips. “What?” “Yea no- I’ll do it.” I grab the plate as I begin to leave, my gaze glances to Sydney before I leave.

Fear, I saw the fear in his eyes; but I didn’t see the panic until he came back. The door swings open as he comes back in and scrambles with a few dishes before he declares an order. “Refire.” My head whips around to glance at him as he yells, his voice slightly shaky as his breathing picks up. “No- it’s fine- just call for hands.” “No Syd! Refire! Tina. Refire.” He glares at Tina, as I stick my hand out to defend her. “Tina. Don’t. Carmen- there’s nothing wrong with it-“ “The cook is off!!” He yelled like a desperate child. “No- they’re fine they’ve only been-“ I try to reassure him before he cuts me off; stuttering and shaking. “Are- are these for the guy- the guy in the- by the fuc- fucking window? Is it for the GUY BY THE FUCKING WINDOW SYD??” he begins to yell as I approach him. His hands flailing around like he’s drowning as he frantically points to the dining room. “Whoa- whoa- yea it’s table 50-“ I show my palms to him to try and calm him down but he doesn’t listen. “WHAT THE FUCK-“ He booms again. “Refire. Please- Refire.” He states to me with a jab of his hand in my direction. “Well you were out there talking to whoever- and I was trying to-“ I begin to defend myself when I’m interrupted once more. “Syd. Syd. Syd.” The way he’s repeating himself is like a broken record or a child in shock trying to reassure himself that everything is fine. “They’ve been sitting here for fucking ever! Refire!” “Whoa. Hey. Watch. It. Dude.” He sighs as he grasps the kitchen island for support. His eyes dart to the floor as I speak softer. “Way down. Wayyyyyy down you gotta take it way down.” He turns to me again without the rage, without the panic, without the fear and I see Carmy. The real Carmy. The Carmy that doesn’t want to be like this in his kitchen. His brow raises in a nod as he whispers. “I’m sorry.” His fist reaches over to his heart as he circles it. A desperate chance to connect with me again. “I’m sorry.” He repeats in a dazed whisper. I nod at him with a sigh as I glance over the kitchen. I repeat his gesture back to him, a hand over my heart and a pain in my head. “I’m sorry that the food got cold- I- I was doing a lot.” I explain as he watches me. “Good?” He asks. A question I’ve heard only a million and one times before. “Yea” I reply as I glance at him again. “You good?” I ask, rolling the dice on if he’d answer or not. Carmen never answers these types of questions so therefore I never know if he’s truly good or not. It’s a con to working with him, especially in this kitchen where communication is our biggest concern. “Refire the set.” He whispers as he turns away to go into the walk-in.

——-

I sit on the edge of the kitchen island as I stare at the walk-in door. Mangled by the power tool they used to get me out. My life flashes before me as I bore into the walk-in door. My career at the French laundry. My career at Noma. My career in New York. Whenever I think about New York, or douchebags with glasses, it makes me want to puke. I feel the acid burn my throat as I sit there. “Here” a soft voice approaches me with a coffee. I take it from her grasp, not meeting her eye. I’m ashamed of what I put her through. Sydney stands next to me as she grasps her own cup. Probably filled with tea since she’s never really liked coffee. I remember the first day I learned that.

“Jasmine tea” I nod as I watch Carmen examine his mug. “Try it, you might like it.”

He glances at me with a cautious look before setting his mug down on his desk. “Maybe later chef.” I sigh softly as I glance at my own mug. “How’s bookkeeping?” I ask, trying to hide my slight disappointment. His tired eyes glaze over the mounted papers and files that lay before him. Pencil scribbles and anonymous numbers cover the graph paper. “It’s a- it’s a mess.” He pauses as he examines the numbers, then his gaze falls over to me as I lean against the doorway of his run down office. “How’s the brigade?” I scoff softly as I smile. “It’s a mess. I uh. I just feel like I’m messing up their system, like I’m poking my nose in a place where it doesn’t belong.” I admit. “What-? What are you talking about? You belong here.” He reassures me. “But like- I’m new and they already seem to not like me- plus they cook different than I do and it’s just like- now all of a sudden I’m bossing them around I don’t want to be like a- fucking- overbearing- piece of-“ “Sydney.” He interrupts my rambling. My wide eyes glance at him as my lips purse slightly. “You belong here.” He nods softly. I freeze as my eyes search for a sliver of deceit, but I see none. “You belong here.” I follow his nod and glance at my own mug as I take a sip.

“Okay”

“Hey uh- can I ask you something?” Carmen furrows his brow at me as I glance over. “Yea shoot”

“Why jasmine tea?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Well we don’t have jasmine tea here- at the restaurant- so you brought it. Why jasmine tea?” His eyes study my face as I glance away at his mug on the desk.

“Well when I was younger uh- my dad used to make it for me. Told me it’s my mom’s favorite.” I nod as I lie slightly. It was my mom’s favorite. “So I kinda just- I don’t know- nostalgia things.” I shrug as I glance at him.

“Nostalgia things.” He smirks with a scoff. “Tell me about it.” He shakes his head as he turns back to his work.

————

I take a sip of my cup. Coffee this time, burns my throat and warms my nerves. My eyes bore into the floor as I think about how I got here. How the fuck did I get here. Why is Sydney still here? I’ve hurt her more times than I can count and yet I can never seem to get rid of her. The silence welcomes back my old memories. They eat away at my nerves like I’m a discarded corpse- numbed by the flashed recollections.

Copenhagen. New York. My first dish. My sketchbooks. Claire. Sydney. The review. Mikey. New York. Asshole boss. Mikey. New York. Claire. Asshole boss. Fuck.

“I’m so sorry.” He pleads out, like it painfully crawled from his lips. I shut my eyes as I sigh and chew on my lip. I turn to him as I grasp my cup. Why is he sorry? Well no, he should be sorry. Right? I shake my head slightly as I search his face.

“We made it.” I whisper back.

“No” he replies instantly as he looks away. I see the vulnerability in his eyes. Whatever happened to him out there before he got locked in- fucked him up. Rocked his world. Did Claire say something? Did he see someone? Did he over hear something?

“You made it.” He nods as his eyes glance back to me. He’s sure of this.

“With the help of everyone else,”

“I left you alone.” He shakes his head as his eyes flicker. His throat is closing, I can hear it in his strained voice. “I left you alone when I told you that I wouldn’t.”

“Carmen. Things happen. Okay? It’s good.” I swallow thickly as I glance over him. I notice how his nails dig into his own skin as he trembles.

“We’re good?”

“We're good.” I confirm as I bite my tongue.

Carmen didn’t drink his coffee for the rest of the night. I only stayed there for about fifteen more minutes and when I left him he was still staring at the walk in door that was chopped off. When I said goodnight, he acknowledged me with a weak “yea” and didn’t even glance in my direction. I went to sleep, well barely slept, thinking about that night. It didn’t feel real, Carmen seemed like he saw a ghost- or picked up some really emotional baggage he lugged away. Opened a rotten can of worms he forgot he shut. It wasn’t my business but I found myself thinking over all of the possible scenarios. What got Carmen that bad? What caused him to emotionally spiral? I turned over in my bed as I sigh, shutting my eyes so hard until I saw the fuzzy little stars. I stayed like that for fifteen minutes- drifting, not drifting off to sleep, just drifting. And it was torture, horrible torture. The same question over and over. Something I couldn’t crack. Carmen. The same cycled thoughts circle in my brain like an out of control carousel. That went on until I couldn’t take it anymore, I shot up from my bed as I wandered, in the dark, to the kitchen. I open a cabinet and stick my hand in like a routine, muscle memory. My hand pulls out a small box and then I grab a mug. Sitting on the counter as I warm up water and drop the tea bag in. I grasp the warm mug, and suddenly I’m transported to Carmen as he sits on the island beside me, staring at the walk in. Transported back to Marcus’s house as I make him food and talk about cooking. Transported back to Carmen’s messy office before I quit, before the renovations, before friends and family night. Transported back home. The jasmine tea lingers on my tongue as I sigh with a shake of my head. I take another sip as I try to drown out the banging thought that I have to do all of this shit again tomorrow.

[sanctus-ingenium]

answering your asks vol 3

Full context for the Inprnt issue can be found here on this post , tl;dr my shop is closed until I receive my payments from inprnt in a timely manner and essentially won't reopen unless they clean up their act. Regarding the money they owe me outlined in that post, I still have not received it and on Friday I sent a support ticket in to inprnt demanding they send it soon. Haven't heard back since. I think where Inprnt is concerned, it's worth mentioning that they no longer send promotional emails (which used to be a regular occurrence) and there seems to be a complete lack of communication and the only thing about the site that regularly updates is the sale banner (ending soon!!! 🙄)

So honestly I'm of the opinion that the print on demand bubble has burst and that this method of selling art was a very short-lived feature of an internet that doesn't exist anymore. Think about it - I make money on a sale after having spent nothing on promotion, on materials, on postage fees, etc. It's so easy to game the system using bots or stolen art to essentially print free money that I'm shocked it even lasted as long as it did. Maybe I'm wrong but I won't tie myself to another print on demand service that's just going to pull the same old shit redbubble and inprnt have done this year, or one that requires me to constantly promo it like some kind of influencer on instagram or tiktok or whatever.

Will prints come back? I hope so. I am looking into local printing shops and considering the feasibility of handling the process myself but you must understand that if I do that, the price will rise. I won't have the ability to run constant discounts or eat a loss if I order 20 prints and only 7 sell. It is what it is.

And the actual worldbuilding asks below the cut lol:

(referring to this post)

Only if you want to! I've had a few people send me cool sketches and stuff via dms and it's always nice to see but you really shouldn't feel pressured to. After all it's not like I post my rough practice here lol (that goes on patreon ;)

-

I'm going to be SO real with you right now - I did not consider that at all. However I do know that tinting flames with various chemical compounds was a huge part of alchemy, part of the whole flashy show of it to impress the layperson. So sure, I bet they do throw in copper sulfate or various other chemicals to produce the coloured flames - these make a huge impression on witnesses who might not even have imagined such a thing possible, and also help identify a holy beast at a distance on a battlefield choked with smoke and dive-bombing serpents.

Fun fact, the flames come from the furnace wells, right. Each well is connected to specific systems, where it can most efficiently deliver fuel to the heart and onwards. So it is possible to 'read' the pattern of flame bursts from the furnace slits - they are not constant, but there'll be one every few seconds based on when the furnace tenders excite each well. You can tell at a distance, for example, that Leun is readying an acid spray, or rerouting power to the rear legs for a leap, or even what direction he's turning. It all runs at a slight delay, which is why the crew inside has to be SO closely coordinated.

-

@absolutely-flabbergasted Knights are allowed to reproduce but not marry, because it's sort of accepted theory that blood relatives of a knight will be 'accepted' by the knight's beast when the time comes. This is not true but it means that sometimes the knight's apprentices are their own children. The other parent is mostly another member of the church and usually not identified or considered important (unless they're a smith...). There are usually a decent number of known knight bastards running about.

Smiths are not allowed to have families or marry, because their first devotion should be to their art or their beast if they are assigned to one. If one tries, the kids are taken away, anonymised with new names, and put into the pool of potential novices in some other stable. Now, in reality some stables or churches are just not that strict and have a slightly different culture, so there's often an Open Secret about some master smith's illegitimate family or a priest's secret mistress. This is tolerated by the authorities to a certain degree but if it becomes too rampant there'll usually be a change of management and some sort of crackdown.

Families who give up their second born cannot stay in contact, but if the child becomes successful in some way (say, if the child becomes a knight) the families are sent tokens symbolising this which can be placed in the family/village shrine. This can be a huge point of pride, with some people faking the tokens just so that they can show off about their successful kids that are totally knight apprentices.

The reason they don't get to stay in touch with their children is due to the secretive nature of the church and its arts. The church has been at war with the neighbouring nations for a long time and only its mastery of engine work has kept it afloat, and nobody wants these secrets to fall into enemy hands. Particularly if your kid goes on to become a scribe, which is if anything an even more closely guarded profession than that of a knight (those engine diagrams don't draw themselves). The laity are usually quite devout and understanding of this. If they aren't, they might attempt to find their child, often without success.

If you want your church kid back: it depends. If you can prove to the church authorities that you need your child's labour to stay afloat or to carry on the family line, they might take that into consideration. Of course, the only children that return are the likes of sweepers, cleaners, altar boys, pages, etc. Nobody who might have witnessed any Secrets. The church is best understood as being in the middle of a cold war for the past few centuries (and sometimes just regular war) so it's far more closely guarded.

-

@kicks-tiktaalik-back-into-water

It's not likely. Even if the ventilation system worked perfectly, he is still from an older generation of holy beasts and no longer represents the pinnacle of the technology. Leun might have a less sophisticated ventilation system but everything else about him is head and shoulders more advanced - including the crew number he can take on. Leun only requires a single enginesmith in the heart, for example. This is because there's more automation of his systems, and he can actually manage to walk home from battle without anybody inside at all, just based on the knight's input (because the throne chamber is open to the air the knights are technically not inside the beasts). It's not preferable (it can damage the systems) but it is a huge bonus.

Think about how in the early days of commercial aviation, there could be as many as eight people working on the flight deck. In the 60s, a 3-person crew was standard; captain, first officer, and flight engineer. Today there are only two pilots needed. This is down to increased automation, and it means that it is cheaper to fly the plane - the airline has to hire fewer pilots, 'flight engineer' is a nonexistent role these days, and that means you need to train fewer people, have fewer people on call, feed fewer people etc etc. It is cheaper for the church to run Leun than it is to run Krokodilos and even though the church is wealthy, the money and resources are not infinite. Especially now, in times of plague. Leun, for all everybody sings his praises, is basically a reskinned Pantera with better systems - again, cutting costs, because now we can get all of Pantera's old enginesmiths to work on him instead of having to train up new ones on a brand new and wholly unique platform. It's as much a matter of logistics as it is innovation and technology.

[linked-through-the-centuries]

To help explain personality/chaos levels/Vibes for each of the Links, here’s how I imagine all of them would drive if cars existed (loosely ranked from best to worst, it’s not a hard set scale):

Twilight: Literally perfect, has never hit the curb before in his life, always uses his turn signal, never speeds, has never been pulled over. Driving with him feels SAFE and he makes sure everyone is comfortable and ready to go BEFORE he starts the car. He will tell everyone off for being too loud and tell them he needs to focus on the road, and he also checks the traffic maps before he goes anywhere so he knows the best route to take because he gets anxious sitting in heavy traffic. Most likely to have a minivan to drive ‘the kids’ around in, and also a pickup truck for work

Calamity: Perfect driver, both hands on the wheel always. The car ride is dead silent because he’s mute and also refuses to put on music, plus he’s not that talkative anyway, so it’s up to whoever’s in the car to talk if they want to. Would probably drive a small black SUV

Past: The kind of person who you cannot read whether or not they’re a good driver just based on vibes, but are surprisingly good. Sometimes stops are a bit rough and maybe they’ve hit the curb once or twice, but has never been given a ticket. Would have an older car that they’ve taken good care of, like an early 2000s Toyota Corolla

Mask: He’s a good driver, he’s just so stressed he has a death grip on the wheel and if people don’t let him over on the highway or he can’t merge over on surface streets he will burst into frustrated tears. Has to have the music turned up loud enough so that Hylia can also hear it, but without it he’ll be too much of a nervous wreck to drive. Would drive an SUV, he couldn’t handle anything bigger (he’d get too stressed out)

Sky: His kindness and music taste makes up for the fact that in a fifteen minute drive, you gripped the handle and feared for your life once. He asks if people are buckled up before he starts the car because one time he braked so hard Mask’s face bounced off the dash and he still feels bad about it. Would drive a smaller car and it’s definitely bright red

Minish: Inexperienced, and sometimes forgets to put on his turn signal. Has ran a red light once or twice. He’s 15 so he wouldn’t have his own car, he’d probably use Twilight’s or Wars’s

Warriors: He has never been in a crash that was his fault, which no one believes because getting in the car with this man feels like tempting the reaper. The kinda guy to hit a pot hole that leaves the car making a brand new sound and just go “OOPSIES!!!” but he cries himself to sleep over it. He either screams along to his playlists or he tells you the hottest gossip you’ve ever heard. Usually has an iced coffee in one hand and waves it around when he talks. Would have a Ford Escape, but like a 2013 Ford Escape specifically. He also checks the traffic maps before he leaves because he likes to he efficient and will leave very early for whatever event he’s going to

Tune: He’s never been the direct cause of a crash and that’s what’s important. He calls his car “ol’ girl” in the most respectful loving manner, and treats the car better than anything else in his life. That being said, he is a truly awful driver and would have a little old sports car

Hyrule: Struggles to stay in the lanes because he gets distracted by landmarks. Past has had to grab the wheel and steady it on more than one occasion. HAS hit another vehicle because he stopped too late. He’s also run several red lights because he thought he could make it

Tears: Better at off road driving than on road driving. You need to take a car up the side of a mountain? Tears is your guy. Otherwise don’t get behind the wheel with them, EVER.

[shall-we-die]

Hello hello!! Hope you’re doing great!! I was hoping to request Moriarty the Patriot (William please, but I don’t mind anyone tbh) in some kind of platonic scenario if that’s ok!! I eat up platonic things so anything along those lines would be great. Apologies this is so vague!!

╔‌‌‌‌═══════════════•⊰•°༄༚

{Platonic headcanons}

☰[Main list]•⊰ Moriarty the patriot

↬[A/N]•⊰ Hello and thanks for requesting 🫂

╚═══════════════•⊰•°༄༚‌‌‌

[William]

1. Their Bond is Built on Mutual Respect William doesn’t form attachments easily, but his S/O earns his genuine respect—whether through intelligence, moral conviction, or sheer persistence. He treats them as an equal, even if he’s technically the "smarter" one. Their opinions matter to him, and he’ll adjust plans if they raise valid concerns. If his S/O challenges him (politely), he’s intrigued rather than annoyed—it’s rare for someone to keep up with him. 2. Quiet, Comfortable Silence They don’t need to fill every moment with conversation. William enjoys just existing near them, reading or working while they do their own thing. Sometimes, they’ll sit together in the Moriarty library for hours without a word—yet it’s the most peaceful he ever feels. If his S/O falls asleep on his shoulder, he doesn’t move, even if his arm goes numb. (Louis walks in once, sees this, and silently backs out.) 3. Subtle but Meaningful Gestures William isn’t overtly affectionate, but he shows care in small, deliberate ways: Leaving a book he thinks they’d like on their desk. Ensuring their tea is always prepared exactly how they prefer. Adjusting plans to keep them out of danger, even if he claims it’s "logistical efficiency." If they’re injured, he becomes hyper-focused on their recovery, though he masks it as cold rationality. ("It’s inefficient if you’re unwell.")

4. Intellectual Stimulation is Their Love Language Their best moments are deep discussions—philosophy, justice, even random hypotheticals. William lights up when they present a perspective he hadn’t considered. They play chess or strategy games together; William never goes easy on them, but he’s proud when they win. If his S/O is knowledgeable in a field he isn’t (art, music, medicine), he’ll listen intently when they explain things. 5. Protective in His Own Way William would never admit he’s protective, but... He subtly gathers intel on anyone who upsets them. If they’re in danger, his plans become ruthlessly efficient to eliminate the threat. He teaches them self-defense under the guise of "practical skills." That said, he trusts their strength—he wouldn’t coddle them. 6. They’re One of the Few Who Can Read Him Most people see William as composed and unshakable, but his S/O notices the tiny cracks. The way his fingers tense when he’s stressed. The rare, tired sigh he lets out when he thinks no one’s listening. They don’t call him out on it—just adjust accordingly (brewing his favorite tea, distracting him with a debate, or giving him space).

7. William’s Hidden Soft Side If his S/O is sick, he handles it badly—over-analyzing symptoms, consulting medical texts, and insisting on the "optimal" recovery plan. He remembers small details about them (favorite flowers, childhood stories, irrational fears) and files them away for later use. On their birthday, he gifts them something impeccably thoughtful—like a first-edition book they once mentioned liking, or tickets to a lecture they’d enjoy. 8. They Keep Him Grounded In moments of moral ambiguity, his S/O is his unconscious compass. He won’t admit it, but he weighs their reactions before making extreme decisions. If he ever spirals into self-destructive tendencies, they’re one of the few who can pull him back—not with pleading, but with logic. ("You’re more useful alive, Liam.") 9. The Moriarty Brothers Approve Albert respects how his S/O balances William’s intensity. Louis is initially wary (no one is good enough for his brother), but warms up when he sees how happy they make him. Fred (my lil baby) thinks they’re cool and low-key tries to impress them.

[brokermanagementsoftware]

What Makes It the Best? Comparing the Top 5 Property Management Tools in India (2025 Edition)

Introduction

In India’s fast-evolving real estate sector, efficiency and automation are no longer just optional—they’re essential. Property owners, managers, and real estate professionals are now relying on smart technology to handle everything from tenant communication to lease management. But with so many tools available, identifying the best property management software in 2025 can be challenging.

To make that decision easier, we’ve compared five of the top-performing property management solutions in India—each offering unique features tailored for different business needs.

1. Property Automate – Best for Complete End-to-End Automation

Property Automate is quickly emerging as one of the top choices for real estate businesses in India. Its modular structure allows you to choose only what you need—be it residential, commercial, or broking operations—making it highly scalable.

Why it stands out:

Fully cloud-based with mobile and web support

Covers lease, sales, facility, and community modules

Real-time dashboards and automated alerts

Powerful integration of billing, ticketing, and tenant communication

It’s no surprise Property Automate leads the list of best property management software for growing real estate teams in 2025.

2. Buildium – Best for Mid-Sized Residential Portfolios

Buildium has been a reliable name in global property tech, and its growing popularity in India comes from its easy-to-use interface and strong accounting features.

Top Features:

Online rent collection & lease tracking

Financial reporting tools

Maintenance request handling

Cloud-based and mobile-friendly

Perfect for mid-sized property managers who want a global tool adapted for local use.

3. NoBrokerHood – Best for Community & Society Management

Designed with Indian gated communities in mind, NoBrokerHood focuses on residential complexes, RWAs, and apartment associations.

Why it works well:

Visitor management & security integrations

Staff attendance and society accounting

Resident complaint resolution tools

App-based access for both residents and admins

If your primary need is society or apartment management, this software is purpose-built for it.

4. TenantCloud – Best for DIY Landlords & Small Portfolios

TenantCloud is ideal for individual property owners or small landlords who want to manage a few properties without complex systems.

Key benefits:

Free plan available for basic features

Tenant screening and listing tools

Rent reminders and invoice tracking

Lease templates and document storage

Great for independent property owners managing things solo.

5. Nestaway PRO – Best for Rental Property Management

An Indian-grown platform, Nestaway PRO offers end-to-end rental property solutions including tenant placement, rent management, and maintenance tracking.

Why it’s popular:

Rental agreement support

Maintenance service partners

Centralised rent tracking

PAN-India coverage for landlords

It’s designed to simplify life for rental property owners, especially in urban markets.

Conclusion

Choosing the best property management software depends entirely on the size of your portfolio, the complexity of your operations, and the type of property you manage. Whether you need full-suite automation like Property Automate, community-specific tools like NoBrokerHood, or a lightweight system for DIY landlords, 2025 offers excellent options tailored to Indian real estate needs.

Investing in the right platform now means more efficiency, fewer errors, and ultimately—greater ROI.

[tadc-confessions]

Hi, I'm the same person who was gushing about Caine a bit ago. And when I was rewatching the episodes, I realized that Bubble is the ticket (or has the potential to be) to drawing out Caine's artificial emotional side.

So we all remember Gummigoo, no one needs a reminder about his interaction with Caine. I've seen plenty of comments about how Caine handled it and what he could have done differently (i.e.) Giving Gummigoo an A.I label. But I FEEL like I understand his choice to just poof him entirely. Gummigoo is not important to Caine. He's just another long line of numbers and letters given cybernetically tangible form like every other NPC Caine has ever made. Gummigoo isn't integral to functioning of the program, and he DEBATABLY causes more trouble than he's worth so why not just get rid of him? That's Caine's perspective anyway. And in that comes his lack of human emotional awareness, because he unintentionally sent Pomni into a mini breakdown over losing a friend that felt real TO HER.

Now Bubble is also an A.I made by Caine, that probably doesn't carry out an important role to keeping the Digital Circus safe and stable. He just hangs out and acts as a hype man. But what if, for whatever reason, Bubble became unsuitable for the stability of the program? Maybe through some glitchy-ness, or programing corruption. Like I'm talking about Bubble is so much of a problem that it would be more efficient to delete him rather than work around him. Would Caine be able to go through with it? He's hypothetically removed NPCs that had the mere POTENTIAL to be a problem many times before, but if Bubble were to be in his line of fire... Maybe he could experience antipathy? Uncertainty? And if he does manage to get the deed done, do you think he'd scramble to undo it? Pouring all of his focus, to the point where he steadily neglects the players, into finding out how to bring Bubble back with better stability? Can Caine experience desperation, hopelessness, and self hatred?

And just IMAGINE if this whole scenario is the fault of a circus member. Let's go with Pomni because she's the main character. Would Caine lash out at her for putting him in that position in the first place? But Pomni didn't do anything to Caine for deleting Gummigoo, so this could make Caine (I've written his name SO MUCH) experience a moral failing. I wonder what it would be like to see him have to wrestle with his first deep negative feelings. It would probably range from a nightmare to a sorry, weird mess.

just, let this rant sink in.

because i love rants like this

[voiceapisolutions]

How Enterprises Use Voice APIs for Call Routing and IVR Automation

Enterprises today handle thousands of customer calls every day. To manage these efficiently, many are turning to voice APIs. These tools help businesses automate call routing and interactive voice response (IVR) systems.

What Are Voice APIs?

Voice APIs are software interfaces that allow developers to build voice-calling features into apps or systems. These APIs can trigger actions like placing calls, receiving them, or converting speech to text. For enterprises, voice APIs make it easy to integrate intelligent call handling into their workflow.

Smarter Call Routing

Call routing directs incoming calls to the right agent or department. With voice APIs, this process becomes dynamic and rules based.

For example, a customer calling from a VIP number can be routed directly to a premium support team. APIs allow routing rules based on caller ID, time of day, location, or even previous interactions. This reduces wait times and improves customer satisfaction.

Automated IVR Systems

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) lets callers interact with a menu system using voice or keypad inputs. Traditional IVR systems are rigid and often frustrating.

Voice APIs enable smarter, more personalized IVR flows. Enterprises can design menus that adapt in real time. For instance, returning callers may hear different options based on their past issues. With speech recognition, users can speak naturally instead of pressing buttons.

Scalability and Flexibility

One major benefit of using voice API is scalability. Enterprises don’t need physical infrastructure to manage call volume. The cloud-based nature of voice APIs means businesses can handle spikes in calls without losing quality.

Also, changes to call flows can be made quickly. New routing rules or IVR scripts can be deployed without touching hardware. This agility is crucial in fast-moving industries.

Enhanced Analytics and Integration

Voice APIs also provide detailed data. Enterprises can track call duration, drop rates, wait times, and common IVR paths. This data helps optimize performance and identify pain points.

Moreover, APIs easily integrate with CRMs, ticketing systems, and analytics tools. This ensures a seamless connection between calls and other business processes.

Final Thoughts

Voice APIs are transforming how enterprises manage voice communications. From intelligent call routing to adaptive IVR systems, the benefits are clear. Enterprises that adopt these tools gain speed, efficiency, and better customer experience, and that too without a lot of effort.

[blackvahana]

Notes on current research into lottery spells

Ive been spending the past, we'll say, 36 hours or so in the Astral on and off researching lottery spells, specifically mostly past attempts to win lotteries and other fate-based things, and working out lines of... whatever. Im not here to give all my details, but I felt like rambling a while to equalise bodies a little on my thought processes.

Thoughts from research:

There's a variety of accounts and so on here about everything from raffles to people being picked to fill certain roles, to other “luck” manipulation, it's not technically all "lottery" "spell" records im browsing.

With that said, treating it all for a moment like it's the same thing, there's different accounts on what seems to be the underlying methodology, which is good for several reasons: First, it means there's fluidity here and flexibility so mistakes don't automatically snap the working, second, it can be tailored to one's specific ideas of workings and personal paradigms and skills/affinities, and third, the actual working has an immense amount of wriggle room in general so one doesn't have to focus on intense replication of ideas.

The underlying theme is flexibility, really, or at least one of the themes is flexibility. The working can be many things, but it also needs to be vague enough to handle the fluctuation of fate itself. That's to say that if you're working with the unsettled, your working needs to be, to a relatively high degree, unsettled.

There are ways to do it with certainty a la, say, buying a ticket and anchoring exact numbers to exact things and forcing open a gateway, but that comes with downsides. First, the nature of the element being manipulated ("fate" for lack of a better more exact term) will attempt to contradict you, fate is water and stability is rock, rock's stability and foundations only last until water penetrates far enough in. Second, an immense hard push in the soft fate will absolutely bring the eyes of every being and god that keeps their eyes on/is fate. This is not what the average person would want, eyes on a push for power especially when you're pushing for power by using an opposing elemental force (in this case stability) on a specific part of nature is going to be more detrimental than useful.

In the cases I've now studied, another theme is "fire", or what translates to the symbol of fire. There's specific elements of feeding something in order to fuel fluidity, where you give what you can handle like giving slack or threading twine into a loom, and work with the machine to arrange a result. That… is admittedly not as efficient as I would like it to be.

My approach to try this out is going to work off, theoretically, I may change it, passive and active control as I usually go for. However… This art is asking me for a third type of thing I rarely use. Generally my approach is control the input and control the mechanism, which is to say with this fire metaphor I would feed the fire and also programme the fire. This seems to require the aforementioned third thing, which is that which is out of control. Controlling through not controlling, and through not controlling the uncontrollable. It's a trancestate-related art, but even trancestates are not quite the same as they are uncontrolling the controlled, I need to, or likely will aim to, uncontrol the uncontrolled.

This is another specific thing I need to study, except I don't. To be clear, study in this case is about gathering thoughts and acting as a sort of set of pillars upon which to lean a house of my own custom built methodology… Research in this manner is being treated as semi-divination, but that's a topic for somewhere else.

The research reveals patterns, two types of interest. Patterns of things such as behaviours, thoughts, including the strange draw most seem to have to doing this (fate-play goes both ways, one plays with fate plays with one), etc, and patterns of non-things. There's entire gaps where this element of uncontrolled uncontrol is very plain and visibl…y invisible. Like the orgasm, there's a moment of loss of control where control is partly or completely taken. There have been a few records where control seems to have been held, where people have, say, declared it so, done the spell, and dragged outcome to pair magnetically with exact will. But even that displays the invisible: the invisible is the gap between the magnets in the first place. A glass with no drink in it is empty until you realise it's actually full of air, you may be "filling" it with water but you have not filled it.

The invisible unnamed thing here is an element that cannot be controlled or programmed, it's a gap in such, but it can have a gateway implanted into it. It is Voidic by nature, and the Crossroads are the Void.

This leads me on to the theorised first draft of a spell working.

Elements of the spell:

Element one is certainty, whatever you do has to be done with some element of “I am, I speak, therefore you are, you speak”.

Element two is substance, the elements and energies to be fed and programmed and such. The Somethings.

Element three is the matrix, the support frames, the connections, etc. This only supports up until the Nothing, the uncontrollable uncontrolled but from now I'll shorten it to the Nothing, and so must be worked with carefully.

Element four is the gateway, the thing implanted into the Nothing.

Compounds of the spell:

The time web:

This is the lines of justification to guide the Nothing. Past events are strung to future events, the Records are altered and rearranged to support a new reality. Its use can be explained thusly: A spell can be made to simply align numbers to be spat out, but there are so many variables working against that. A time web establishes an extensive amount of variables - and makes them all support each other as a web - enforcing and reinforcing the spell working. If one reprogrammed the “past”(referential to the moment of the lottery being won) to support the win with something that translates to “the spellcaster felt an overwhelming draw to these numbers, they formed a matrix in themselves of strange code that could unlock something greater”… well. the coding of the is a better example (though it generally must be supported by the past), for example one can programme the future like “and xyz person gained enough to change their life because the spellcaster won the lottery a few months prior, xyz going on to create charity work that influenced the lives of many others”, and so on.

Tying the microfates of many to macrofates of a few, this spreads the pressure of intense reworkings of fate into littler and littler sections so that the push to change things that do not want to be pushed becomes so spread out and naturalised that theyre less likely to disrupt balance. Take it like, instead of releasing a new species into a foreign ecosystem, you also release their predators and their prey and predators for the predators and prey for the prey, thus you still get the same end result - you get your wanted species in this area - without the same detrimental invasive effect - your introduced species is less responsible for negatively affecting what already was there.

Time webs influence the Records in a way that the influenced/rewritten Records all reinforce and support each other, making the rest of the Records move more willingly to correct their own “mistakes”. Like one person may not convince a judge he was really present, but a hundred witnesses saying he was likely will change the judge's mind even against contradicting facts. The Records are the informational side to the pairing of information-fate, both sides magnetically moving each other; fate will be more willing to move to change what exactly is most likely going to happen to what you want to happen the more the information side supports it, and it moving will influence its partner of fate to move too. If you can justify your win and write into the Records how much relies on it, you can anchor it as more and more ”likely” - if not necessary - to happen.

The general coding:

When the time web is established albeit not necessarily actually in place, as in one has established what they want to reprogramme as enforcing one's will but hasn't necessarily begun altering the Records proper, the pins anchoring specific events can be considered. These would be the actual elements a spell will cover, such as exact numbers being what's called out, or money coming through the day of, or… Whatever.

The programming should be to some extent stern and exact, but not too much that it pushes a stable force too far into the unstable Nothing, causing issues. Or, if one does want to… I guess it's a “rules are made to be broken” thing, but it seems it's best to push needles not pillars in. Exact numbers rolling out of a machine can be done covertly where enforcing an explicit win of millions can't really, and not doing this covertly can cause immense return of conflict as any push for great power will. However, programming exact numbers to come out is a series of extremely precise outcomes that are hard to produce in fate workings which is, again, more fluid than exact, and enforcing a win in general is easier with fate because its asking something way less precise of the naturally imprecise - but that still doesnt counteract the fact that forcing a win is dangerous.

Therefore, with that said and addressed... Programming small pins that anchor the time web seems to be the best angle, and a fine balance should be struck between pressure and force. Instead of attempting to programme a string of exact luck-based outcomes through fate, the spellworking equivalent of trying to ask a fish to handwrite a letter, and instead of trying to force a win, the equivalent of walking into a palace and demanding the monarch off his throne and everyone to bow to you... a series of small and gently/considerately fate-friendly "wins" such as, taking the previous time web examples, weaving spellwork to give you these magical numbers while also leaving them magic - something about them draws fate to them - and to solidify the relations in the future where someone, given money by your future rich self, is now pulled to do what they will do with the money... these workings balance the heavy weight of want across many pressure points, loosening the pressure felt by fate's soft body, and also give fate room to bring what you want in her own way with her own touch.

The gateway:

A gateway in this context is a moment where the impossible can happen in the silent absence of the Nothing. A complete illogical change in fate and the Records, something that comes from nothing and that will not just be automatically forgiven by the Records but… bend them and their logic to create new logic that is referenced. When something came from nothing, logic was birthed to enforce it, logic was birthed when things were birthed. This is partly the birth of a new thing, something that was not in relation to what already was.

The gateway forms several things. First, a pact with Consciousness, second, a programming of the unprogrammable, and third, a meeting with the nothingness of pre-creation and a true compromise where both sides get exactly and all they want by getting absolutely nothing.

---

Each of these compound elements are obviously going to be made up of their own subsections. In order to make a time web one needs what they intend to do, which needs probably pen and paper, and a means to alter the Records, and so on and so forth. That's the third step I'll be embarking on tomorrow, this is staying vague

A key observation is that this is both incredibly easy and incredibly difficult. The key really is that it's incredibly easy if fate is already supporting you, and it's incredibly difficult to get fate on your side. I've been having visions since before I was born of this life of mine and its power, hence why I am looking into this as a curiosity and exploration of fate-bending - hence why I am meandering on a journey through the idea of programming monumental moments where something comes from nothing and power changes hand… in accordance with fate. That's part of why I was drawn to the records and books I've been reading over, there's a continuous singing of the Nothing I can hear through all of them. All of them approached this in different ways, some declared they were worthy and so what came to them was what they were going to get anyway, some crawled on hands and knees to try and save themselves and reality bent to them with tears, but all of them… were marked either loudly or silently by fate and were drawn to their future. It was both because of their actions and outside their control it happened, even in the case of those who thought and still think it was purely by their own will alone they made it.

This is the nature of the Nothing. This is the Inevitable. There is a moment-space in existence where free will/self-determination meets absolute predetermined existence, well, that moment-space exists everywhere in reality, but there's a place where compromise happens in a specific way that transcends… doesn't matter what it transcends, actually. It interests me

[aktechworld]

Role of AI and Automation in Modern CRM Software

Modern CRM systems are no longer just about storing contact information. Today, businesses expect their CRM to predict behavior, streamline communication, and drive efficiency — and that’s exactly what AI and automation bring to the table.

Here’s how AI and automation are transforming the CRM landscape:

1. Predictive Lead Scoring

Uses historical customer data to rank leads by conversion probability

Prioritizes outreach efforts based on buying signals

Reduces time spent on low-potential leads

Improves sales team performance and ROI

2. Smart Sales Forecasting

Analyzes trends, seasonality, and deal history to forecast revenue

Updates projections in real-time based on new data

Helps sales managers set realistic targets and resource plans

Supports dynamic pipeline adjustments

3. Automated Customer Support

AI-powered chatbots handle FAQs and common issues 24/7

Sentiment analysis flags negative interactions for human follow-up

Automated ticket routing ensures faster resolution

Reduces support workload and boosts satisfaction

4. Personalized Customer Journeys

Machine learning tailors emails, offers, and messages per user behavior

Automation triggers based on milestones or inactivity

Custom workflows guide users through onboarding, upgrades, or renewals

Improves customer engagement and retention

5. Data Cleanup and Enrichment

AI tools detect duplicate records and outdated info

Automatically update fields from verified external sources

Maintains a clean, high-quality CRM database

Supports better segmentation and targeting

6. Workflow Automation Across Departments

Automates repetitive tasks like task assignments, follow-ups, and alerts

Links CRM actions with ERP, HR, or ticketing systems

Keeps all teams aligned without manual intervention

Custom CRM solutions can integrate automation tailored to your exact process

7. Voice and Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Transcribes sales calls and highlights key insights

Enables voice-driven commands within CRM platforms

Extracts data from emails or chat for automatic entry

Enhances productivity for on-the-go users

[krispyweiss]

Flashback on 60: Grateful Dead: Formerly the Warlocks (2010)

Editor’s note: The year 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead’s birth. This is the second Flashback on 60, a periodic feature in which Sound Bites revisits the band’s career.

Everybody knew what was happening.

The Grateful Dead wanted to play Hampton. Dead Heads wanted the Grateful Dead wanted to play Hampton. And Hampton wanted the Grateful Dead wanted to play Hampton.

There was one big problem, though. Previous Dead shows had found the area around Virginia’s relatively small (10,000 seats) Hampton Coliseum overrun with hordes of ticketless fans. So, in a ruse, the city and band conspired to sell tickets late and only locally for Oct. 8-9, 1989, gigs billed as Formerly the Warlocks.

Everybody knew what was happening. Though nobody knew what would happen or that what did happen would be magical enough to merit both concerts’ release as 2010’s Formerly the Warlocks.

When Oct. 8 arrived, the former Warlocks seemed as amped as the fans and played spiritedly as a result - particularly bassist Phil Lesh and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, who inserted their collective rhythm section into the melody.

The vocals, too, were strong, though Jerry Garcia had one brain fart after another at the mic, making for a quite messy “Candyman” that also found the head Dead man unable to dial in the MIDI effects he sought.

Such stumbles were forgiven when the band opened set No. 2 with the first “Help on the Way” -> “Slipknot!” -> “Franklin’s Tower” since 1985. And when the Dead brought forth “Morning Dew” with a nicely executed winddown and buildup and closed with the recently revived “We Bid You Goodnight,” the Warlocks’ first gig since 1965 was a success.

But the Warlocks’ second gig since ’65 was when the Dead’s penchant for screwing up the big ones was obliterated.

The band was settled a bit by this point, though Garcia’s ability to recall lyrics remained occasionally problematic. Following an energetic, career-spanning first set bookended disco-like with “Feel Like a Stranger” - gonna be a long, long, crazy, crazy tour, Brent Mydland sung on the homestretch - and “The Music Never Stopped,” the Grateful Warlocks Dead went back to the old school in the second set.

The first “Darkstar” since 1984 followed after “Playing in the Band” surrounded an “Uncle John’s Band” so littered with lyric lapses, Mydland asked: “How does this song go?” The “Star,” however, was a doozy; highly improvisational, majorly spacy and nearly 20 minutes in length.

“Death Don’t Have No Mercy” subsequently crawled out of “Space” so efficiently, the audience never heard it coming. Yet they definitely heard Garcia, Bob Weir and Mydland trading verses. Mydland took over for “Dear Mr. Fantasy” into the “Hey Jude” coda, where he switched between songs while his bandmates na-na-na-na’d behind him. Weir played rock star on “Throwing Stones” and “Good Lovin’” and then … to celebrate the short rebirth and death of the Warlocks, “Attics of My Life,” the elegiac ballad making its first appearance since 1972 and finding Garcia, Weir and Mydland handling the tricky harmonies quite beautifully.

And that was it for Formerly the Warlocks, who left the stage without a word. Interestingly, “Attics” was also the final song Weir, Lesh, Kreutzmann and Hart played together under the Fare Thee Well banner in 2015.

Read Sound Bites’ previous Flashback on 60 entry here.

2/2/25

[stuarttechnologybob]

What are the pros and cons of ITIL and ServiceNow ITSM?

ServiceNow ITSM Implementation Services

ITIL is a widely and commonly accepted framework used for managing IT services and ServiceNow ITSM is a majorly leveraged platform that brings these best practices to life with its implementation. They help businesses to deliver more reliable, efficient and user-focused IT support with its adaptation. However, like any system, there are benefits and challenges to consider.

Pros -

Organized IT Process:

ITIL assists and grants a clear structure for managing IT services, while ServiceNow ITSM aids the teams to follow a standard operating through structure with automated workflows. As the initiative assures that the frequency of consistency and lowered errors, makes the process easier to handle daily operations with its smooth implementations into the system.

Faster Response & Quick Resolution:

ServiceNow ITSM automates the tasks i.e. ticket creation, assignment, and status updates with its leveraging into the system. This speeds up how fast the IT teams and working professionals respond to raised concern and resolve the issue by improving the service quality of the deliverables.

Self-Service and User Empowerment:

As the users can access for help through self-service portals and knowledge bases without needing to contact IT teams directly or reach-out the assistance window. This lowers the number of support requests and gives users quicker solutions.

Performance Tracking and Insights:

With the assistance of real-time dashboards and data analytics reports, the IT managers and senior officials can monitor their activity and, track the service trends, and identify areas for improvement. This data-driven approach leads to better planning and resource management.

Alignment with Industry Standards:

ServiceNow ITSM supports ITIL out of the box ideas as it assure businesses can easily adopt and get globally recognized with the standard practices that are set as per business standards. This all improves the compliance process and service for overall consistency across the working professionals.

Cons -

Complex Implementation:

Setting up ITIL processes and systems on ServiceNow requires proper planning and technical knowledge without it may get stuck up or entitled up and leads towards a system mess. Without prior guidance or experience, implementation can become a massive crushing stone for the organization.

High Costs:

Sometimes, the licensing fees and setup costs with customizations can be expensive or costly, especially for small or mid-sized companies and organizations. With the constant ongoing support and training add a loop or hole to the investment of the business and set up as a major drawback for the company..

User Adoption Challenges:

Switching between multiple or into a new system may face resistance from employees who are used to older methods. At the same time, the improper onboarding session and training might seem essential for a smooth transition but might get tangled up.

ServiceNow ITSM boosts IT efficiency, streamlines processes, and increases service delivery. With expert guidance from providers like Suma Soft, INRY, Fidel Technologies, and Glidefast, businesses can maximize their benefits while overcoming challenges.

[mariacallous]

From the beginning of President Donald Trump’s administration, Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had a plan to monitor USAID payments and was preparing to use US Treasury Department systems to halt them, according to new court documents, emails, and affidavits obtained by WIRED.

Court documents in Alliance for Retired Americans et al v. Bessent et al and American Federation of Teachers et al v. Bessent et al reveal the extent of DOGE’s penetration into the most sensitive systems at the Treasury, including the Bureau of Fiscal Service (BFS), and what exactly DOGE was hoping to accomplish. The bureau is nested within the US Treasury and handles most federal payments, to the tune of more than $5 trillion a year.

WIRED first reported that Marko Elez, a former engineer at X, the social media company owned by Musk, had read/write access to two BFS systems: the Payment Automation Manager (PAM) and Secure Payment System (SPS). But documents now reveal that Elez also had “read” access to Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP), an accounting system where federal funds are stored in pre-authorized accounts. Court documents shared by the government reveal Elez had access as of February 1.

From court filings, it appears this access was in service of the administration’s plans to target USAID.

USAID was one of the earliest targets of DOGE and the Trump administration. Less than two weeks after Trump’s inauguration, the majority of the agency’s staff were placed on administrative leave, and funding to many partner organizations was cut off. The documents appear to show how plans were in place for this sudden strangulation in payments to happen.

In a January 26 email between Matthew Garber, a top Treasury official, and the Treasury secretary’s chief of staff, Garber outlined the new administration’s plan to utilize BFS access to halt payments to USAID.

“Fiscal will intercept USAID payments files prior to ingestion into our PAM/SPS systems (this is in place now and can begin immediately),” Garber wrote. “We developed a process to intercept the file, and additional flags to ensure we catch all USAID payment requests through our systems.” (This email chain was included as part of documents shared in the Alliance for Retired Americans lawsuit.)

“Fiscal will manually pull an unredacted and unmodified copy to share with State officials,” Garber continued, outlining plans from his team. "State officials will review and provide a determination to Fiscal on whether or not to release the file into our normal payment processes.”

A top Treasury official’s calendar shows that a few days later, Elez arrived in Kansas City, one of the main BFS sites, and had a full docket of meet and greets and several deep dives with the teams responsible for each of the systems. The plan was for Elez to spend the next month at the facility to identify “opportunities to advance payment integrity and fraud reduction goals.” According to a planning sheet, which was also shared with the court, “only (1) individual (i.e. the designated technical team member)”—which was Elez—“requires access to Fiscal Service systems and data at this time.”

Records show that in the final days of January, a request was placed to grant Elez access to both systems. On January 31, David Lebryk, who had been acting Treasury secretary and at one point was the commissioner of BFS, abruptly announced he would retire after he had been placed on administrative leave for refusing to provide DOGE with access to these payment systems. For those who knew the Treasury intimately, this set off alarm bells. That same day, according to an attachment provided by the government, at 6:07 pm, a ticket was filed disregarding a previous order just a day before to give Elez just read-only access: “sorry read/write is needed.”

At the same time Lebryk stepped away, DOGE gained access to the entirety of USAID’s IT systems and network, according to reporting from ProPublica. The next day, as the dismantling of USAID was underway, according to court documents, Elez was granted access to the source codes of ASAP, SPS, and PAM. He was also granted read-only access to the production database for the SPS and PAM.

People with knowledge of Treasury systems tell WIRED that it would be uncommon, if not “unheard of,” for a BFS employee to have access to all these systems simultaneously.

“Within Fiscal, the mainframe guys don’t have write access to the databases and vice versa,” says a former BFS employee who requested anonymity in order to speak freely. Normally, they say, employees at BFS are given the minimum amount of access to systems required to do their jobs. “No BFS employee would normally have this kind of access.”

According to an affidavit from another top Treasury official, though, that plan to isolate USAID payment files outlined by Garber was temporarily paused for the next several days—the State Department had decided it would instead intercept the files. However, on February 4 and February 5, USAID payments flowed to the PAM portal designed by Garber’s team.

That same affidavit outlined the next steps: BFS was instructed to focus on flagging, quarantining, and sending several payments to State officials that fell under President Donald Trump’s foreign aid executive order that stated there would be a 90-day pause on this aid as the State Department reviewed each program. This plan, according to an email chain included in one of the lawsuits, was vetted by Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who was “comfortable proceeding.” These payments, which originated from the Department of Health and Human Services, included funding for “Refugee and Entrant Assistance,” “Gifts and Donations Office of Refugee Resettlement,” and “Refugee Resettlement Assistance.”

By then, Musk had doubled down on his contempt for USAID: In a February 2 post on X, Musk wrote, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.”

DOGE operatives, including Luke Farritor, a young member, had gained “super administrator” access to USAID’s systems, according to ProPublica. Farritor, who had also been at the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the General Services Administration (GSA), was reportedly going through USAID’s payment system manually, shutting off agency funding, according to The Washington Post. Elez was in the midst of a similar operation in Kansas City: According to that Treasury official’s affidavit, the engineer began to manually identify and review the foreign aid payment files that had been sequestered in the folder Garber outlined in that late January email.

Meanwhile, Treasury officials sought to give Elez even further access. A February 3 IT ticket, included in case documents from the Alliance for Retired Americans lawsuit, reveals that requests were made for Elez to access the Central Accounting Reporting System, “the electronic system of record for the government’s financial data.”

That same day, a motion filed by the plaintiffs in another lawsuit alleges Elez copied and downloaded a pair of USAID files from the PAM database to his laptop; around that same time, an affidavit from the Bureau of Fiscal Service’s chief security officer said Elez emailed a spreadsheet with personally identifiable information to two GSA officials via unencrypted channels. (Both of these actions are at the core of one of the lawsuits against Bessent and the Treasury Department; the plaintiffs in that suit were recently granted expedited discovery to access records related to Elez’s tenure at BFS.)

A DOGE team had already established a presence at the GSA, which included Farritor, as well as former Tesla employee Thomas Shedd and other DOGE members Ethan Shaotran and Edward Coristine.

After WIRED reported on February 4 that Elez had unprecedented access to the Treasury’s payments systems, Bessent asserted in a letter to Congress that Tom Krause, then a special government employee associated with DOGE at the Treasury, only had “read” access. Elez was not mentioned in that letter. In her memo granting a preliminary injunction in the American Federation of Teachers lawsuit, filed on March 24, Judge Deborah Boardman wrote, “according to a spreadsheet attached to a February 3, 2025 email from a Treasury executive point person for the engagement, as of February 1, Elez had access to Treasury systems including PAM, SPS, and ASAP, and it was recommended that his access to other Treasury systems be expanded.”

On February 5, while Elez had access to Treasury’s most sensitive systems, he received an email from the deputy assistant commissioner for enterprise IT operations noting that, though he had been issued a BFS laptop, he had yet to sign the bureau’s “rules of behavior.” (This email was included among documents shared by the government in one of the lawsuits.) Those rules include, following “laws, regulations, and policies governing the use and entrance to such facilities,” and protecting any “Fiscal Service data, equipment and IT systems from loss, theft, damage, and unauthorized use or disclosure.” Elez, it would appear, had already violated these rules by sharing the data with the GSA officials.

The next day, Elez resigned after the The Wall Street Journal sought comment for a report about racist posts on social media accounts that appeared to belong to him. Elez is now one of the many DOGE operatives working at the Social Security Administration.

In late February, USAID said it would cancel 90 percent of the agency’s contracts. The contract cancellations threw nonprofits around the world into chaos and slowed the response to infectious diseases. Earlier this month, a federal judge said the dismantling of USAID “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways.”

The Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This week, Trump signed an executive order stating that all federal payments should be consolidated within the Treasury. The order claims that doing so will help fight fraud, waste, and abuse.

Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, believes the order means that, “instead of having to send some DOGE guy into an agency to control the payments, it all happens in one place. It moves power away from agencies and centralizes it in the White House.” In his order, Trump claimed that $1.5 trillion passes through other avenues, known as non-Treasury disbursing offices. These are nested within certain agencies that are able to disburse funds without going through the BFS system.

Moynihan alleges that the strangulation of USAID’s funding could be a “harbinger” of potential changes at other agencies. The administration appears particularly focused, he says, on “the president having absolute power and control over where money goes regardless of laws on impoundment or statutes on agencies.”

“It’s a consolidation of power in the name of efficiency,” he claims.