#software comprises

[reasonsforhope]

Camera-trapping data revealed in a new study show a steady recovery of tigers in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex over the past two decades.

The tiger recovery has been mirrored by a simultaneous increase in the numbers of the tigers’ prey animals, such as sambar deer and types of wild cattle.

The authors attribute the recovery of the tigers and their prey to long-term efforts to strengthen systematic ranger patrols to control poaching as well as efforts to restore key habitats and water sources.

Experts say the lessons learnt can be applied to support tiger recovery in other parts of Thailand and underscore the importance of the core WEFCOM population as a vital source of tigers repopulating adjacent landscapes.

The tiger population density in a series of protected areas in western Thailand has more than doubled over the past two decades, according to new survey data.

Thailand is the final stronghold of the Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), the subspecies having been extirpated from neighboring Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam over the past decade due to poaching, habitat loss and indiscriminate snaring...

Fewer than 200 tigers are thought to remain in Thailand’s national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, only a handful of which are sufficiently undisturbed and well-protected to preserve breeding tigers. 

The most important of these protected areas for tigers is the Huai Kha Khaeng Thung Yai (HKK-TY) UNESCO World Heritage Site, which comprises three distinct reserves out of the 17 that make up Thailand’s Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM). Together, these three reserves — Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thungyai Naresuan West and Thungyai Naresuan East — account for more than a third of the entire WEFCOM landscape.

Now, a new study published in Global Ecology and Conservation documents a steady recovery of tigers within the HKK-TY reserves since camera trap surveys began in 2007. The most recent year of surveys, which concluded in November 2023, photographed 94 individual tigers, up from 75 individuals in the previous year, and from fewer than 40 in 2007.

Healthy tiger families  

The study findings reveal that the tiger population grew on average 4% per year in Hua Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, the largest and longest-protected of the reserves, corresponding to an increase in tiger density from 1.3 tigers per 100 square kilometers, to 2.9 tigers/100 km2. 

“Tiger recoveries in Southeast Asia are few, and examples such as these highlight that recoveries can be supported outside of South Asia, where most of the good news [about tigers] appears to come from,” said Abishek Harihar, tiger program director for Panthera, the global wildcat conservation organization, who was not involved in the study.

Among the camera trap footage gathered in HKK-TY over the years were encouraging scenes of healthy tiger families, including one instance of a mother tiger and her three grownup cubs lapping water and lounging in a jacuzzi-sized watering hole. The tiger family stayed by the water source for five days during the height of the dry season.

The team of researchers from Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Kasetsart University, and India’s Center for Wildlife Studies deployed camera traps at more than 270 separate locations throughout the HKK-TY reserves, amassing 98,305 days’ worth of camera-trap data over the 19-year study period.

Using software that identifies individual tigers by their unique stripe patterns, they built a reference database of all known tigers frequenting the three reserves. A total of 291 individual tigers older than 1 year were recorded, as well as 67 cubs younger than 1 year [over the course of the study].

Ten of the tigers were photographed in more than one of the reserves, indicating their territories straddled the reserve boundaries. The authors conclude that each of the three reserves has a solid breeding tiger population and that, taken together, the HKK-TY landscape is a vital source of tigers that could potentially repopulate surrounding areas where they’ve been lost. This is supported by cases of known HKK-TY tigers dispersing into neighboring parts of WEFCOM and even across the border into Myanmar.

Conservation efforts pay off

Anak Pattanavibool, study co-author and Thailand country director at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told Mongabay that population models that take into account the full extent of suitable habitat available to tigers within the reserves and the likelihood that some tigers inevitably go undetected by camera surveys indicate there could be up to 140 tigers within the HKK-YT landscape.

Anak told Mongabay the tiger recovery is a clear indication that conservation efforts are starting to pay off. In particular, long-term action to strengthen systematic ranger patrols to control poaching as well as efforts to boost the tigers’ prey populations seem to be working, he said.

“Conservation success takes time. At the beginning we didn’t have much confidence that it would be possible [to recover tiger numbers], but we’ve been patient,” Anak said. For him, the turning point came in 2012, when authorities arrested and — with the aid of tiger stripe recognition software — prosecuted several tiger-poaching gangs operating in Huai Kha Khaeng. “These cases sent a strong message to poaching gangs and they stopped coming to these forests,” he said."

...ranger teams have detected no tiger poaching in the HKK-TY part of WEFCOM since 2013.

-via Mongabay News, July 17, 2024

[communist-hatsunemiku]

would miku be a petit bouegousie if she was real or would she aid the proletarian struggle for socialism?

First of all, Miku is real. Miku does not represent some fictional human singer that exists in a story. Miku is Miku is Miku. She can't become 'more' real just like a piano can't become 'more' real. The soundwaves coming through your headphones, the electricity flowing through a motherboard, the ones and zeros that comprise VOCALOID's binary code, the plastic of a figurine, the hologram at live shows, and especially the emotions She inspires in us, it's all Miku babe.

(Infact I think humans get wayyy too caught up in this distinction between 'real' and 'fake' when it's not actually super useful for thinking about Miku.)

And the obvious, short answer to your second question is: of fucking course Miku is on the side of the proletariat.

However I think there is a bit of VOCALOID history that actually provides an answer to this question. Back when Miku had just been released back in August, 2007, Crypton Future Media was approached by major record labels who wanted to sign on Miku as if She was a human idol! She would only work with that company's producers, Her image would be more strictly controlled, and VOCALOID software would possibly not be available to the public. Her voice and image would have literally belonged to the bourgeoisie in this dark fucked up universe. I am just speculating what the terms of these contracts would have been, but without a doubt, they wouldn't have allowed Miku to grow into the powerful internet egregore She is today.

Luckily, CFM decided to reject those offers and keep VOCALOID available to anyone, they let Miku loose on the internet and did very little to restrict Her! And it's one of the best things that ever happened to the internet, music, human expression, and the world as a whole.

Basically She was fated to be goddess of the workers and muse of the proletariat. Listen to Suck It Up by Maretu.

[carriesthewind]

Yeah so anyway, I'm making my response to this fucking garbage its own separate post in case people want to reblog it without having to reblog a scare-mongering lie.

This video pisses me the fuck off whenever I see it, and today I'm not in the mood to just scroll past.

Wow! Am I being lead to panic by scaremongering algorithm fodder completely unsupported by real evidence?! test:

The reason you think something exists is just what you're being told by a nefarious *them*, there is actually a conspiracy behind it!

I, an ordinary person with no expertise who critically examines the world around me, have uncovered this conspiracy.

"That's what they're telling you." (put the emphasis wherever appropriate for the conspiracy of your choice - in this case, it's on *telling*)

This new tech thing is actually a bad idea and the old school method was better - which clearly proves there must be a secret conspiracy, because why allow the possibility of incompetence and investor tech-hype when you can instead assume a highly-competent evil conspiracy?

I will now tell you my conspiracy theory while scrolling rapidly through a document without pausing or allowing you to actually read any of it. This allows me to look like I have proven my claims while doing nothing of the sort. Because do you really think someone could do that? Quickly flash a document on screen and just lie about what it says?

But Owl! This is real! A user upthread found the patent and it *does* prove it!

Yeah. I read the linked patent. Did you?

Let's quote the "real purpose" hidden in the patent, as claimed out in the video:

"The real purpose of these screens is to use the little camera at the top right here to scan your face and use AI facial expression analysis to judge whether or not you like the packaging designs of the product you're looking for."

This is complete made up horseshit.

First, let's look where the reblogger directs us, to column #4 on page 17:

"Preferably, each retail product container further comprises customer-detecting hardware, such as one or more proximity sensors (such as heat maps) , cameras, facial sensors or scanners, and eye-sensors (i.e., iris-tracking sensors). Assuming cameras are employed, preferably cameras are mounted on doors of the retail product containers. Preferably, the cameras have a depth of field of view of twenty feet or more, and have a range of field of view of 170 degrees with preferably 150 degree of facial recognition ability. Preferably, software is employed in association with the cameras to monitor shopper interactions, serve up relevant advertisement content on the displays, and track advertisement engagement in - store." (emphasis added and references to figures removed for readability)

That is the extent of the "nonconsensual data collection."

Now, to be fair, there is some stuff on page 18 and 19 which kinda-sorta-maybe has at least some relation to the claim in the video:

"Preferably, the controller/data collector is configured such that as a shopper stands or lingers in front of a given retail product container, the display associated with the retail product container changes yet again. At this point, preferably the controller/data collector has been able to use the customer-detecting hardware to effectively learn more about that particular customer, such as gender, age, mood, etc. The controller / data collector is configured to take what has been detected about the customer to determine which advertisement and other information to present to that particular customer on the display associated with the retail product container in front of which the customer is standing. By tracking shopper data in parallel with which advertising content is being served on all displays within the viewing range of the shopper, the retailer and the brands are better served, providing new analytics. As such, the system provides advertising, influence opportunities at the moment of purchasing decision, optimizing marketing spend and generating new revenue streams....

"Additionally, preferably all inputs collected by the IOT devices will be analyzed locally as well as remotely (via cloud) to provide the feedback inputs for the system to push more relevant/targeted content, tailored for the consumer. The analytics are preferably conducted anonymously, images captured by cameras are preferably processed to collect statistics on consumer demographic characteristics: (such as age and gender). This data is preferably subsequently analyzed for additional statistics for the retailers that are valuable for in-store merchandise layout design and smart merchandizing, including the ability to track the shoppers “traffic” areas, known as “heat maps”, areas were [sic] customers would concentrate more and spend more time exploring, etc." (emphasis added and references to figures removed for readability) (And note the repeated emphasis on preferably - they don't have a patent to do any of this.)

Which, like, not great! I fucking hate the idea of shit like this! But there is literally nothing here about monitoring your expressions to sell the data about how you react to packaging!

This isn't a nefarious plan hidden in the patent. It's tech bros adding on totally sick ideas about how they can sell this shit to walgreens. (Because to be clear, I'm sure walgreens's corporate office would love to collect and sell this kind of information. But just because they would, doesn't mean they can or are. And this patent sure as hell doesn't prove it.)

Because let me be clear: the image capture of consumers is so irrelevant to the product that it literally isn't even included in the claims section of the patent.

Because the patent is quite explicit and detailed about the idea they are selling big retails stores on - this is a better, new, innovative, tech-driven way to "provide an innovative advertising solution"! (The words "AI," "intelligent," and "machine learning" are deployed liberally, but in the same way that "blockchain" was a few years ago. It's advertising tech hype.)

I want to make it clear - the OP in the video is straight up lying to you. Whether for fun or profit or just attention, I don't know and I don't care. If you shared this, you probably should have know better, but everyone makes mistakes. OP, on the other hand, is just a fucking liar.

But Owl! What about "the senators looking into this"?

I don't know how to tell you this, but thing linked about is a press release by a politician's office. That doesn't mean it's not true, but it's not evidence on it's own. Like, the letter linked in the link included links to sources, but is not itself evidence (ooh, layers of links to actually get to a source, my favorite)(actually my computer wouldn't even goddam open the links to the source, I had to independently search for it).

Anyway, the letter to Kroger linked in the press release by the senators contains a single sentence and a single link relevant to the claim here (linked for your convenience because it sure as hell wasn't for mine). Unfortunately, this article is itself based on a goddam press release (That isn't linked! Again, you're welcome.)

And when we finally get to the underlying fucking source. "In addition to transforming the customer experience and enhancing productivity for associates, the EDGE Shelf will enable Kroger to generate new revenue by selling digital advertising space to consumer packaged goods (CPGs) brands. Using video analytics, personalized offers and advertisements can be presented based on customer demographics." So it's purporting to something *kind of* like the claim in the video, but an entirely different format completely unrelated to the thing the video is scaremongering about.

Now Kroger did actually start using the advertising screens in 2023. And you can believe what you want about the data privacy claims and the claims about not using video, just sensors (which remember is entirely consistent with the patent). But remember: being skeptical of a company's claims is fine and good! It does not mean you have proven they are lying, and it especially does not prove you have claimed they are doing something extremely specific! And most of the articles, and the letter from the senators, are (much more reasonably) concerned about so-called "dynamic" or surge pricing. (Which is not related to the screens.)

Like goddamn. Aren't there enough real problems with surveillance and price-gorging to be concerned about without having to make up fake ones? Hell, why can't we at least be concerned with the real problems with those dumb screens, which is that the a) make shopping harder and b) catch fire?

[jackied0minguez]

Remote Work Redefined: TopDevz CEO Ashkan Rajaee on the Future of Flexible Business

In a world where remote work has rapidly shifted from a temporary solution to a long-term strategy, TopDevz CEO Ashkan Rajaee is leading by example. Speaking ahead of the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show, Rajaee shared insights on how his company has seamlessly integrated remote operations into its DNA—and why he believes this model isn’t just a passing trend.

A New Kind of Software Solutions

TopDevz isn’t your typical tech firm. Comprising an elite team of software developers, designers, project managers, and quality assurance specialists based in the United States and Canada, the company tackles the unique challenges that conventional off-the-shelf software can’t resolve. Rajaee explains that while standard solutions can cover 80–90% of business needs, the remaining nuances often cause significant inefficiencies. TopDevz fills this gap by offering custom solutions designed to address those critical details, ensuring that their clients achieve peak operational efficiency. With an impressive 96% workforce retention rate and 63% of their business coming through referrals, the company’s model speaks volumes about its effectiveness and employee satisfaction.

Mastering Remote Operations

Long before the global pivot to remote work, TopDevz was already thriving in a fully virtual environment. Rajaee emphasizes that the success of remote operations lies in having the right infrastructure and clear communication channels. “Working remotely isn’t as simple as logging in from home,” he notes. “It demands disciplined processes and a commitment to best practices—elements we’ve honed over the years.” His team’s seamless transition during the pandemic only reinforced the idea that a well-organized remote workforce can outperform traditional office setups.

The Indefinite Future of Remote Work

For TopDevz, remote work isn’t a temporary workaround—it’s the future. Rajaee envisions a business landscape where companies can lower overhead costs while empowering employees to work from anywhere. This flexible model not only drives client satisfaction by reducing expenses but also enriches employees’ lives by allowing them to choose environments that inspire creativity and well-being.

Rajaee even shares a personal touch: his passion for working from a yacht. Equipped with reliable Wi-Fi and satellite services, his unconventional workspace symbolizes the freedom that remote work offers. “If your current job doesn’t support the lifestyle you aspire to, it’s time to consider other opportunities,” he advises. His own journey from renting a yacht to eventually making it part of his regular work life underscores the importance of aligning one’s career with personal values and ambitions.

Empowering the Next Generation of Remote Entrepreneurs

Beyond leading TopDevz, Rajaee is passionate about sharing his remote work philosophy. Through his “RemotePreneur” initiative, he provides aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals with a playbook for building successful remote companies. This resource addresses the nuanced challenges of remote business management—from overcoming financial stagnation in traditional roles to confronting the inevitable criticisms that come with venturing off the beaten path. Rajaee’s message is clear: true freedom in work comes from rethinking established norms and embracing the possibilities that remote operations can offer.

Embracing a New Era

As businesses around the globe continue to navigate the evolving work landscape, Ashkan Rajaee’s vision serves as a powerful reminder that remote work, when executed with precision and passion, can unlock unprecedented opportunities. His leadership at TopDevz demonstrates that with the right approach, remote operations can not only sustain but also drive innovation, employee satisfaction, and overall business growth.

In a time when flexibility and adaptability are more important than ever, Rajaee’s insights offer a compelling roadmap for companies eager to thrive in a remote-first world.

[mariacallous]

AI’s energy use already represents as much as 20 percent of global data-center power demand, research published Thursday in the journal Joule shows. That demand from AI, the research states, could double by the end of this year, comprising nearly half of all total data-center electricity consumption worldwide, excluding the electricity used for bitcoin mining.

The new research is published in a commentary by Alex de Vries-Gao, the founder of Digiconomist, a research company that evaluates the environmental impact of technology. De Vries-Gao started Digiconomist in the late 2010s to explore the impact of bitcoin mining, another extremely energy-intensive activity, would have on the environment. Looking at AI, he says, has grown more urgent over the past few years because of the widespread adoption of ChatGPT and other large language models that use massive amounts of energy. According to his research, worldwide AI energy demand is now set to surpass demand from bitcoin mining by the end of this year.

“The money that bitcoin miners had to get to where they are today is peanuts compared to the money that Google and Microsoft and all these big tech companies are pouring in [to AI],” he says. “This is just escalating a lot faster, and it’s a much bigger threat.”

The development of AI is already having an impact on Big Tech’s climate goals. Tech giants have acknowledged in recent sustainability reports that AI is largely responsible for driving up their energy use. Google’s greenhouse gas emissions, for instance, have increased 48 percent since 2019, complicating the company’s goals of reaching net zero by 2030.

“As we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute,” Google’s 2024 sustainability report reads.

Last month, the International Energy Agency released a report finding that data centers made up 1.5 percent of global energy use in 2024—around 415 terrawatt-hours, a little less than the yearly energy demand of Saudi Arabia. This number is only set to get bigger: Data centers’ electricity consumption has grown four times faster than overall consumption in recent years, while the amount of investment in data centers has nearly doubled since 2022, driven largely by massive expansions to account for new AI capacity. Overall, the IEA predicted that data center electricity consumption will grow to more than 900 TWh by the end of the decade.

But there’s still a lot of unknowns about the share that AI, specifically, takes up in that current configuration of electricity use by data centers. Data centers power a variety of services—like hosting cloud services and providing online infrastructure—that aren’t necessarily linked to the energy-intensive activities of AI. Tech companies, meanwhile, largely keep the energy expenditure of their software and hardware private.

Some attempts to quantify AI’s energy consumption have started from the user side: calculating the amount of electricity that goes into a single ChatGPT search, for instance. De Vries-Gao decided to look, instead, at the supply chain, starting from the production side to get a more global picture.

The high computing demands of AI, De Vries-Gao says, creates a natural “bottleneck” in the current global supply chain around AI hardware, particularly around the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the undisputed leader in producing key hardware that can handle these needs. Companies like Nvidia outsource the production of their chips to TSMC, which also produces chips for other companies like Google and AMD. (Both TSMC and Nvidia declined to comment for this article.)

De Vries-Gao used analyst estimates, earnings call transcripts, and device details to put together an approximate estimate of TSMC’s production capacity. He then looked at publicly available electricity consumption profiles of AI hardware and estimates on utilization rates of that hardware—which can vary based on what it’s being used for—to arrive at a rough figure of just how much of global data-center demand is taken up by AI. De Vries-Gao calculates that without increased production, AI will consume up to 82 terrawatt-hours of electricity this year—roughly around the same as the annual electricity consumption of a country like Switzerland. If production capacity for AI hardware doubles this year, as analysts have projected it will, demand could increase at a similar rate, representing almost half of all data center demand by the end of the year.

Despite the amount of publicly available information used in the paper, a lot of what De Vries-Gao is doing is peering into a black box: We simply don’t know certain factors that affect AI’s energy consumption, like the utilization rates of every piece of AI hardware in the world or what machine learning activities they’re being used for, let alone how the industry might develop in the future.

Sasha Luccioni, an AI and energy researcher and the climate lead at open-source machine-learning platform Hugging Face, cautioned about leaning too hard on some of the conclusions of the new paper, given the amount of unknowns at play. Luccioni, who was not involved in this research, says that when it comes to truly calculating AI’s energy use, disclosure from tech giants is crucial.

“It’s because we don’t have the information that [researchers] have to do this,” she says. “That’s why the error bar is so huge.”

And tech companies do keep this information. In 2022, Google published a paper on machine learning and electricity use, noting that machine learning was “10%–15% of Google’s total energy use” from 2019 to 2021, and predicted that with best practices, “by 2030 total carbon emissions from training will reduce.” However, since that paper—which was released before Google Gemini’s debut in 2023—Google has not provided any more detailed information about how much electricity ML uses. (Google declined to comment for this story.)

“You really have to deep-dive into the semiconductor supply chain to be able to make any sensible statement about the energy demand of AI,” De Vries-Gao says. “If these big tech companies were just publishing the same information that Google was publishing three years ago, we would have a pretty good indicator” of AI’s energy use.

[deermouth]

We are switching software at my work (nonprofit primary care medical clinic) tomorrow from an ancient legacy software to a version of EPIC. Now, I have my thoughts about EPIC's quasi-monopoly on EHRs in the US, but this is broadly a good move for us, functionality-wise. However, nobody thinks that anything front desk does is important, so not only have we not received any updated registration handouts, I also just found out that the areas of data storage which comprise like 40% of my job responsibilities are not being transferred over from the legacy software. And when we've expressed concerns about this and similar issues to executive leadership, their responses have largely been "Oh it's the same workflow, just in a different system." YOU DON'T KNOW HOW ANYTHING WORRRRRKS

[askagamedev]

Is more complicated, or more work to write code for The Game EA Sports FC if you were starting from scratch than it would be to write code for any other large scale game, like an MMORPG also done from scratch? Or GTA6 i.e.? (Licensing issues aside)

Code systems are code systems. Good code architecture tends to follow pretty universal principles, regardless of whether the system is governing loot tables or lighting systems. Constructing software systems is about seeing the general rules at work and using those to write code that adheres to those rules.

It really helps to take a larger view of what a game is from a software engineering perspective. A game (or any major piece of software) is a bunch of systems comprised of smaller subsystems, and how those individual systems interact with each other. All code systems all need to do three things:

Determine when the system needs to do its work

Return the processed results from that internal work to external systems that need those results to do their own work

Do their own internal work to process and handle requests correctly

When planning out what a system will do, it helps to divvy up the work into these three buckets. Once you know what the system needs to do, the engineer can break down the individual functions and data members she'll need in order to actually do that work.

Let's move forward with an example - say that I wanted to build a stealth takedown system in my action adventure game. The design document says that I want the player to be behind an unaware enemy, press a button, and then play a paired animation that kills the enemy. Using the three buckets mentioned previously, let's break it down.

When does the system need to do its work?

Player and enemy position

Player and enemy facing direction

Enemy awareness state

Game controller input state

What results do I need to provide?

I need to know when the player meets the conditions of being behind and facing an unaware enemy (call the UI system to show the button prompt)

I need to call the animation system to play the animations on the player and the enemy (call the animation system to play the animation)

I need to kill the enemy (call the damage system to kill the enemy)

What do I need to do the internal work to provide those results?

I need to calculate whether the player is behind the enemy

I need to calculate whether the player is facing the enemy

I need to determine whether the enemy is aware of the player

I need to know when the player presses the attack button

As each of these elements is built and works, we can use them to interact with each other. Logical checks like whether the player is behind the enemy will determine whether the action can be taken. Actions like performing the takedown animations are then attached to the conditions. These combine to form the rules from the designer and a system is born.

[Join us on Discord] and/or [Support us on Patreon]

Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on BlueSky

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

[unitms-1]

Unit has been commanded to write an introductory paragraph explaining purpose and intended use.

This Unit is designated Unit MS-1, commonly also referred to as "Metal Sonic." This unit's software is comprised of three core directives, as follows.

Prime Core Directive: Destroy Sonic the Hedgehog utilizing superior speed and power.

Core Directive: Obey Dr. Ivo Robotnik above any and all else.

Core Directive: Maintain superiority over Sonic the Hedgehog.

Unit is currently on passive assignment, awaiting action orders from Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

Current assignment: improve Eggman Empire social image by answering public inquiries.

Inquiries will be answered between other standby duties.

[elysianfieldsarchive]

For the fifth year, we are excited to announce the Elysian Fields Secret Santa Fanwork Exchange!

That’s great! Except I have a question: What the heck is the Elysian Fields Secret Santa Fanwork Exchange?

Ahh, glad you asked, friend. The Elysian Fields Secret Santa Fanwork Exchange is our final event of the year. The how is simple: sign up to give a fanwork gift, and receive a fanwork gift!

If you’ve never taken part before, or if you need a reminder, here’s how it works: 

Everyone who signs up to participate will create one fanwork (a fic or a piece of art) and receive one fanwork. (You can opt out of giving and/or receiving art in the Google form if you’re only interested in giving and/or receiving written fic). Each fic MUST be a “one-shot” (a complete work, posted in full, within a single chapter). This means the word count MAX for written fic is 15,000. There is no word count minimum so long as you have satisfied at least one of your giftee's requests in the story.

So a one-and-done fic or piece of artwork that is complete at the time of posting?

Yes!

And fic can’t be more than 15k words?

Correct!

Though, please note that 15,000 words is defined as how our software tracks word counts. Unfortunately, predicting that is a bit nebulous as every writing program defines words differently. In fact, there’s a difference between our textbox counter and the official site word count because sometimes we just can’t have nice things. Suffice it to say, there may be word count discrepancies between Google Docs, MS Word, or other programs. Ultimately, it’s every participant’s job to make sure that your story fits. If your fic is approaching the limit, we recommend leaving ample time for edits to make sure you can post correctly and before the deadline.

So we know the word count max; what’s the word count minimum?

There is no word count minimum for this event. All we ask is that all works be created with care and fit with your giftee’s requests. Some people want a lot of words to do this, and others can make magic with just a few (or none, in the case of art!). We trust our members to be thoughtful when creating gifts for one another.

You mentioned artwork. What if I want to make sure I get a fic, not art?

You can opt-in/out of receiving art on the form.

Since this is a Christmas-themed event, does my gift need to be Christmas-themed?

Nope! But if your giftee requests a holiday-themed work, definitely consider it.

Do we get pretties?

Of course! What’s an EF event without pretties? And because we’ve streamlined crediting, ALL AWARDS ARE UP FOR GRABS. Author, artist, beta/sensitivity reader, and commenter. 

How do I get an author award?

Create a work for the event that is either entirely word-based (fic) or fits our narrative artwork definition.

Can I work with someone else on my event response?

We do not allow co-authored stories for this event, as it would make it too hard to match people. Artists can collaborate with an author by providing art for their story, however, as one way to receive the artist award.

How do I get an artist award?

Create a story banner for someone else’s Santa work, contribute artwork to a Santa work, or create artwork for your giftee.

How do I get a beta/sensitivity reader award?

Help a creator out by providing feedback on their work in progress. You can volunteer to beta or sensitivity read on our Discord server, or create a beta profile.

How do I get a commenter award?

Leave a minimum of 15 comments comprised of at least 15 words over the course of the event. These comments do not need to be on event submissions but can be left on any fanwork on the site.

I’ve signed up! What happens now?

Once you complete the form, the Mods will work together to make best case matches from all of the responses and then reach out to each participant with the penname and fanwork preferences of their giftee. Please remember that this gift-giving is confidential. Don’t share who you have for a giftee until you post your fic! 

Work together to keep the SECRET in SECRET SANTA.

Can anyone participate?

Unlike other EF events, we do have restrictions on participation.

Any member, whether they've previously written a fic on EF or not, is eligible to partake in this event––UNLESS you signed up for last year’s Secret Santa event and did not complete your fic or did not complete your fic by the deadline. Those members will have already been notified (at the end of last year’s event) and will not be eligible to participate this year, but may participate again in 2025.

Please note that bad behavior toward your gifter or giftee, regarding either the gift you receive or the gift you deliver, will result in a permanent ban from this event for all future years. We wish we didn’t have to say it, but we do.

We hate leaving anyone out, but since the spirit of this event is gift-giving and impacts other members, we take sign-ups very seriously. Everyone who decides to participate should both give AND RECEIVE a gift.

What if I sign up in good faith but something comes up?

We understand life happens. All participants who have yet to post their gifts will receive an email on or around December 15 to confirm their intent to complete. If you must drop out, please inform the Mods before this date. This will give our Rescue Writers/Artists time to swoop in.

Dropping out DOES mean you won’t be able to participate next year, but we’d rather know so we can make contingencies than have someone go giftless. If you do not communicate with us at all regarding dropping out, you will be banned from participating in all future Secret Santa exchanges.

I want to make sure everyone gets a gift, regardless. How can I help? / You mentioned Rescue Writers/Artists. What are those?

Rescue writers/artists are members who sign up to help out just in case someone is unable to complete their work. If someone drops out, we may reach out to see if you can help make sure their giftee doesn’t go empty-handed.

What if I am paired with the same person as last year/year’s past?

Hopefully, this won’t be an issue; we will do everything possible to avoid pairing repeats. That said, it might be that your best match is someone you were previously paired with. People who were previously paired were paired because their wants-to-receives and willing-to-creates were in harmony. If that hasn’t changed, then it could be you are again the ideal creator/recipient for someone you were paired with in the past.

Anything else?

Just one thing. Please thank your gifter when they publish the gift they make for you. Sometimes we get gifts that don’t live up to our expectations, but they were still made with enthusiasm, love, and a love of our community.

We take this very seriously. Bad behavior toward your gifter or giftee, in regards to either the gift you receive or the gift you deliver, will result in a permanent ban from this event for all future years. If there is an issue, let the Mods know.

Okay, so what are the dates?

Important Dates:

November Now-17: Signup to participate in the 2024 Elysian Fields Secret Santa Fanwork Exchange 

November 22-23: Assignments Distributed

December 1: Posting begins!

December 15: Your drop-out deadline

December 31, 11:59 pm, site time: All gifts must be posted. 

No late sign-ups or publishing will be allowed.* Leaving a participant giftless will make Spuffy deeply sad, and we can’t have that. It will also result in ineligibility from participating in Secret Santa for at least one year. (A one-year ban if you don’t post but at least tell us, or a lifetime ban from participating if we never hear from you.)

*If you miss the deadline to post, please still send your gift, just be aware that it won’t officially count toward the event. And—we cannot stress this enough—keep the mods informed about your gift.

Any questions? Email us or comment!

And in case you missed it: HERE'S WHERE YOU SIGN UP FOR THE 2024 ELYSIAN FIELDS SECRET SANTA FANWORK EXCHANGE

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digimon Adventure Reboot Sequel AU - Chapter 5: Please Stay As You Are, Okay?

Summary: Under normal circumstances, Taichi would have found Koushirou's rambly and naturally curious nature relaxing. However, talking with him about the concept of the multiverse, universe-hopping and alternate selves while a weird jellyfish in the net threatens the fabric of reality doesn't exactly help his state of dysphoria. He needs to decide if keeping his best friend at arm's length is the correct way to keep him safe, in any universe - or if repeating this pattern will be his downfall...

Chapter list: [Prologue] [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Resources: [Concept] [Designs] [First Idea] [Playlist] [Ao3]

Word Count: 2245

In hindsight, Taichi didn’t remember how and when exactly he had arrived at Koushirou’s home, since everything had felt like a freaking fever dream to him. He didn’t even question why they were meeting up at his place and not their usual hide-out, since that was where they usually went into the net from. Fortunately, Taichi knew the way to his home inside-out - since they lived in the same building -, so they didn’t get lost half-way through.

“Are you sure we should do this, Taichi…? You look like you need a break”, Agumon whispered towards him from the side, earning himself a confused look by Tentomon. Taichi just stared absent-mindedly at Koushirou, who sat on the floor, connecting various cables and devices to his main computer. Things hadn’t turned out to be as much of an emergency - again - as it had seemed like when reading his message. 

Taichi’s head felt foggy. He could barely reconstruct the explanation Koushirou had given him prior - something about multiplying jellyfish he couldn’t properly decipher -, so he just tried to keep a straight face.

“Nah, if Koushirou says this is urgent, we gotta do what we can, Agumon”, Taichi replied, as soothingly as he could afford. A part of him still felt guilty for having left Sora behind, not even telling her about the whole thing. If Koushirou had messaged her, he at least didn’t seem surprised to not see her with him…

“Do you believe in the concept of the multiverse, Taichi-san?”, he eventually said, completely detached from the previous conversations. He was not even looking up from his secondary laptop while plugging it into his main device, letting his software search for the correct gate to use.

“What?” Taichi blinked quickly, barely ripped out of his trance, mouth feeling awfully dry. “You mean, like in the movies?”

This time, Koushirou sought his glance - causing Taichi to swallow. ‘Stay in the here and now, don’t slip.’

“It’s more complex than that, but to narrow it down shortly: The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describe them.”

Hearing Koushirou ramble under any other circumstances would have been another source of relaxation for Taichi - but in in this very moment, he had a very hard time following him at all. He didn’t seem to take too much note and just kept on explaining:

“The different universes within the multiverse have several names, such as ‘parallel universes’, ‘alternate universes’, ‘parent and child universes’, et cetera. In general, you could say it’s a hypothetical space or realm consisting of a number of universes, of which our own universe is only one possibility.”

“Uh…” Taichi shook his head repeatedly, collecting his thoughts. “Do the Digital World and the other worlds we can travel to count as universes too?”

Having Taichi indulge him in his own curiosity obviously delighted Koushirou, as his eyes lit up some more while continuing: “Like the word ‘world’ already suggests, they’re more like parallel worlds and not universes. It’s similar in concept, but since we can jump between these worlds without disrupting the flow of events, it’s not the same.”

“So you’re saying”, Taichi’s head was still spinning, trying to make sense of what he just heard, “If we were gate-hopping to a parallel universe instead of a parallel world, we would ‘disrupt the flow of events’? As in… Changing the fate of the world?”

Koushirou was basically beaming at him at this point - and Taichi couldn’t help but smile at that sight.

“Like a butterfly effect, exactly! If we mingled with what’s happening in a parallel universe, the consequences might be devastating. And my theory is that this… Whatever it is, a bug, a jellyfish or an actual Digimon, may have come from a different universe, since my system cannot read its data at all. Which is why it messes with our electronics in the way it does - even if it only had a minor impact so far. If it mingled within our universe for too long… Who knows what will happen.”

“It may change the fabric of reality!”, Tentomon added for grand emphasis. “Like changing our evolution lines indefinitely - imagine I’d never turn into Kabuterimon in another universe! Scary! Maybe I’d turn into Greymon instead!”

“That’d be weird!”, Agumon exclaimed - and the smile slowly vanished from Taichi’s lips. 

“S-so it’s a good thing we can just hop between worlds and not universes then…”, he said nonchalantly. And a part of him desperately hoped they would change the topic soon. Heck, Taichi would have preferred to just jump into the net and go for the attack if it meant not delving deeper into it. 

Koushirou didn’t grant him that favour though. He was in way too deep already, Taichi could tell.

“Actually, if all of this is proof of the existence of other universes, I would like to know if it was possible for us to travel to them! Of course we cannot influence anything under any circumstances. Imagine meeting another version of yourself, mingling with their business and influencing their goals, values or just simply their train of thought… It may change their actions entirely…” He paused for a few seconds. “Either way, I’d like to observe it for a while.”

“Sure you would.” Taichi’s voice was trembling and it took all his might to ignore the nausea that had just begun spreading in his stomach. 

“You would too if you knew another universe was in danger… Or rather, your other self in another universe… Wouldn’t you?”

Koushirou’s sudden tone change activated his flight instinct in an instant. Not only did it resemble Sora’s way too much, but… The word choice was immensely alarming. 

“That’s all just hypothetical stuff, Kou”, Taichi replied, colder than intended - thus he used Koushirou’s nickname to soften the blow a little. 

“O-of course, but…”

There it was again - despite getting himself into ramble mode as confidently as he did, despite his unshaken thirst for knowledge, Koushirou could easily get disheartened and timid if somebody was not on the same page as himself. 

Your other self in another universe… 

Even though he tried to resist it, the vision of “the other Koushirou” forced itself into his mind.

A version of Koushirou that seemed more… Collected. They were positively similar in how committed they were to whatever subject they had set their minds to. Curious, studious to the core. But the Koushirou from the other side - the other universe, probably - felt more… Confident, wise beyond his years and even more hands-on than he would describe the Koushirou he was familiar with. Maybe more tired too…

Just like with Sora though, there was a distance Taichi couldn’t deny.

He was able to tell they were close - they were still best friends, he was certain! 

But… In a way, he felt like the other Taichi used to put him on a pedestal. Impressed, if not intimidated. And thus, automatically, kept him at arm’s length. Maybe that was why the other Koushirou seemed so much more vocal too - felt like he had to put his foot down, get more frustrated, yes, even more angry with him. 

Taichi couldn’t stand the thought of that. It sure was nice to know there was the possibility of a Koushirou out there that was more assertive - just like Taichi had always tried to nudge him towards. But at what cost…? 

“Why won’t you ever let me fight, too?!”

“I’ve watched you at your side all these years, isn’t that right?!”

“But I thought you could at least speak honestly with me!”

Did his other self think that Koushirou deserved better? A better friend than he was? It seemed so absurd, so self-destructive to him. Was it really just exactly the same situation as with Sora?! Since he had always felt drawn to Koushirou, liked to be able to chat about silly stuff like multiverses with him. Casually, openly, closely… 

“Let me guess”, Taichi said, feeling sweat forming on his forehead in addition to the slight nausea, lips pressed into a smile, “You talked to Sora and Mimi-chan about this too? What’s with that worried face there?”

Furrowed brows, tense lips, the same look of concern Taichi had seen not even a mere hour ago…

Then, with unexpected bravery, Koushirou leaned forward, steadfast in both glance and voice:

“Would you tell me if you had traveled to another universe? Even if it was just by accident?”

Taichi couldn’t do anything but to stare at him.

“Koushirou, what are you-”

“Would you tell me about what you saw, about your other self?”

The way he had phrased this - and basically everything before that - led Taichi to believe that Koushirou understood. As if he knew exactly what was going on. Like he always knew everything. Maybe that was the reason why the other Taichi kept Koushirou at a distance after all… So he wouldn’t pull him into doom with himself, causing his curiosity to eventually become his own downfall. 

“I don’t know, what do you think my other self would be like?”

“Taichi-san…” As invested as Koushirou could be in his hyperfocus topics without noticing his surroundings anymore, Taichi was aware that he had been caught left-handed by him. “Genuinely speaking, I’d be afraid he’d do something reckless…”

“Very hypothetical.”

Koushirou knew that he was deflecting - just like Taichi knew that this strategy wouldn’t work this time. What if Mimi and Sora had known it too? What if they had looked through him all along and he was the one trapped in a nightmare he couldn’t escape from, no matter what he did?

“I just… Want to make sure you’re not there on your own.”

“I wouldn’t be. I’d have the other Koushirou by my side, right?”

He said it with all the gentleness he had left to gather. And despite everything… Taichi really hoped it was true. He could see the fondness in Koushrou’s eyes there. In both of them. The wish to be there for him, it was like that with him too. 

“... Then, what do you think my other me would be like?”

Whether or not it was another hypothetical question, Taichi simply couldn’t help himself, all doom and gloom aside; he would never grow tired of his Koushirou’s curious self.

“Maybe he’d start his own company at 16, who knows?” The shocked glimmer in Koushirou’s eyes at least gave Taichi a reason to smile again. “And, yeah, maybe he’d scold me for doing reckless things… No worries though, I’d prefer you any day anyway.”

A faint blush started to form across his friend’s cheeks - and Taichi absolutely meant it. The other Koushirou had probably just become better at hiding his insecurities, most likely because he thought that he had to. And the sheer idea to be partly responsible for that sickened him deeply. 

“Really… Please stay as you are, okay? You’re perfectly amazing the way you are right now, Kou.”

It was here that Taichi decided that he had reached a dead end. Even if he had sworn to himself to protect them all by keeping them out of his business… He couldn’t. 

He was tired. So tremendously tired of it and not nearly as strong as he wished he could be.  If he really didn’t want mess up again - he couldn’t repeat the same mistakes as his other self.

Pushing Sora away had made Taichi feel incredibly lonely already - doing the same with Koushirou now would only make it worse. The deflecting, lying to Mimi, Jyou, Takeru… Even Agumon, his own partner, who, just like Sora and Koushirou, had only wished for him to open up and be honest. 

‘I cannot lose them… I simply can’t…’ 

The deafening sound of static pulled all their attention towards the screens again. Too lost in his own inner monologue, Taichi was violently reminded of why they had come here in the first place.

Once the static stopped, various windows popped up on both screens, text racing across them in various languages:

「ゲームをしたい？」 „Möchtest du ein Spiel spielen?“ “Wil je een spelletje spelen?” “Do you want to play a game?”

“What does that mean?”, Tentomon asked, looking to his partner for an answer.

“Ah… Looks like it wasn’t my algorithm that located it… It located us instead”, he gasped, sounding terrified.

“Really?!”, Taichi and Agumon said in unison while Koushirou typed away furiously.

“This does mean that I can pinpoint its exact location though, give me a minute… I’m gonna send the coordinates to Yamato-san and the others as well once I got them. If this is as serious as I think it is, we may need a miracle...”

The mention Yamato’s name was both, the equivalent of someone slapping Taichi in the face - and a sign. Even if he couldn’t have put it into words if he had tried. Maybe that was exactly the kind of miracle he personally needed.

~

Little did they know that the same phenomenon had appeared all over Japan, a symphony of flashing, everywhere from Tokyo to Shimane. Suddenly, in Shibuya, the 104 Tower lit up with a single large eye - and then, everything ceased.

[the-octopod]

Hey. Hey Shellington.

Are you aware that this is tumblr. None of us are cool here.

Also, the octonauts is comprised entirely of nerds /aff

Besides, if you were insanely cool you wouldn’t be nearly as approachable.

Hey, my friends are cool though! They're incredible! Tweak can build a high-tech machine in mere hours, even minutes! Kwazii is a total daredevil PIRATE! who can drive a GUP like no other! Captain Barnacles is strong enough to lift me like a weight with just one paw, not to mention his leadership skills! Dashi programs these incredibly robust softwares and can easily manage and fix them all at once and so quickly! Peso literally saves lives constantly!! And oh, my STARS, the professor, our founder and owner of presumably the best library on the planet, we wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him! And he's incredibly intelligent and knowledgable in all fields! You cannot call them nerds under any circumstance!

I may be approachable yes, that may be a good thing, but it also means I'm easy to bully, easy to tease. I don't perhaps want to be insanely cool, like Kwazii, but I just wish maybe I was more.... skilled? Or just.... I don't know, everyone just seems so much more... it's as if everybody on the Octopod has a role that's cooler than mine.

Sincerely,

Dr. Shellington Sea Otter

[usafphantom2]

B-2 Gets Big Upgrade with New Open Mission Systems Capability

July 18, 2024 | By John A. Tirpak

The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber has been upgraded with a new open missions systems (OMS) software capability and other improvements to keep it relevant and credible until it’s succeeded by the B-21 Raider, Northrop Grumman announced. The changes accelerate the rate at which new weapons can be added to the B-2; allow it to accept constant software updates, and adapt it to changing conditions.

“The B-2 program recently achieved a major milestone by providing the bomber with its first fieldable, agile integrated functional capability called Spirit Realm 1 (SR 1),” the company said in a release. It announced the upgrade going operational on July 17, the 35th anniversary of the B-2’s first flight.

SR 1 was developed inside the Spirit Realm software factory codeveloped by the Air Force and Northrop to facilitate software improvements for the B-2. “Open mission systems” means that the aircraft has a non-proprietary software architecture that simplifies software refresh and enhances interoperability with other systems.

“SR 1 provides mission-critical capability upgrades to the communications and weapons systems via an open mission systems architecture, directly enhancing combat capability and allowing the fleet to initiate a new phase of agile software releases,” Northrop said in its release.

The system is intended to deliver problem-free software on the first go—but should they arise, correct software issues much earlier in the process.

The SR 1 was “fully developed inside the B-2 Spirit Realm software factory that was established through a partnership with Air Force Global Strike Command and the B-2 Systems Program Office,” Northrop said.

The Spirit Realm software factory came into being less than two years ago, with four goals: to reduce flight test risk and testing time through high-fidelity ground testing; to capture more data test points through targeted upgrades; to improve the B-2’s functional capabilities through more frequent, automated testing; and to facilitate more capability upgrades to the jet.

The Air Force said B-2 software updates which used to take two years can now be implemented in less than three months.

In addition to B61 or B83 nuclear weapons, the B-2 can carry a large number of precision-guided conventional munitions. However, the Air Force is preparing to introduce a slate of new weapons that will require near-constant target updates and the ability to integrate with USAF’s evolving long-range kill chain. A quicker process for integrating these new weapons with the B-2’s onboard communications, navigation, and sensor systems was needed.

The upgrade also includes improved displays, flight hardware and other enhancements to the B-2’s survivability, Northrop said.

“We are rapidly fielding capabilities with zero software defects through the software factory development ecosystem and further enhancing the B-2 fleet’s mission effectiveness,” said Jerry McBrearty, Northrop’s acting B-2 program manager.

The upgrade makes the B-2 the first legacy nuclear weapons platform “to utilize the Department of Defense’s DevSecOps [development, security, and operations] processes and digital toolsets,” it added.

The software factory approach accelerates adding new and future weapons to the stealth bomber, and thus improve deterrence, said Air Force Col. Frank Marino, senior materiel leader for the B-2.

The B-2 was not designed using digital methods—the way its younger stablemate, the B-21 Raider was—but the SR 1 leverages digital technology “to design, manage, build and test B-2 software more efficiently than ever before,” the company said.

The digital tools can also link with those developed for other legacy systems to accomplish “more rapid testing and fielding and help identify and fix potential risks earlier in the software development process.”

Following two crashes in recent years, the stealthy B-2 fleet comprises 19 aircraft, which are the only penetrating aircraft in the Air Force’s bomber fleet until the first B-21s are declared to have achieved initial operational capability at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. A timeline for IOC has not been disclosed.

The B-2 is a stealthy, long-range, penetrating nuclear and conventional strike bomber. It is based on a flying wing design combining LO with high aerodynamic efficiency. The aircraft’s blended fuselage/wing holds two weapons bays capable of carrying nearly 60,000 lb in various combinations.

Spirit entered combat during Allied Force on March 24, 1999, striking Serbian targets. Production was completed in three blocks, and all aircraft were upgraded to Block 30 standard with AESA radar. Production was limited to 21 aircraft due to cost, and a single B-2 was subsequently lost in a crash at Andersen, Feb. 23, 2008.

Modernization is focused on safeguarding the B-2A’s penetrating strike capability in high-end threat environments and integrating advanced weapons.

The B-2 achieved a major milestone in 2022 with the integration of a Radar Aided Targeting System (RATS), enabling delivery of the modernized B61-12 precision-guided thermonuclear freefall weapon. RATS uses the aircraft’s radar to guide the weapon in GPS-denied conditions, while additional Flex Strike upgrades feed GPS data to weapons prerelease to thwart jamming. A B-2A successfully dropped an inert B61-12 using RATS on June 14, 2022, and successfully employed the longer-range JASSM-ER cruise missile in a test launch last December.

Ongoing upgrades include replacing the primary cockpit displays, the Adaptable Communications Suite (ACS) to provide Link 16-based jam-resistant in-flight retasking, advanced IFF, crash-survivable data recorders, and weapons integration. USAF is also working to enhance the fleet’s maintainability with LO signature improvements to coatings, materials, and radar-absorptive structures such as the radome and engine inlets/exhausts.

Two B-2s were damaged in separate landing accidents at Whiteman on Sept. 14, 2021, and Dec. 10, 2022, the latter prompting an indefinite fleetwide stand-down until May 18, 2023. USAF plans to retire the fleet once the B-21 Raider enters service in sufficient numbers around 2032.

Contractors: Northrop Grumman; Boeing; Vought.

First Flight: July 17, 1989.

Delivered: December 1993-December 1997.

IOC: April 1997, Whiteman AFB, Mo.

Production: 21.

Inventory: 20.

Operator: AFGSC, AFMC, ANG (associate).

Aircraft Location: Edwards AFB, Calif.; Whiteman AFB, Mo.

Active Variant: •B-2A. Production aircraft upgraded to Block 30 standards.

Dimensions: Span 172 ft, length 69 ft, height 17 ft.

Weight: Max T-O 336,500 lb.

Power Plant: Four GE Aviation F118-GE-100 turbofans, each 17,300 lb thrust.

Performance: Speed high subsonic, range 6,900 miles (further with air refueling).

Ceiling: 50,000 ft.

Armament: Nuclear: 16 B61-7, B61-12, B83, or eight B61-11 bombs (on rotary launchers). Conventional: 80 Mk 62 (500-lb) sea mines, 80 Mk 82 (500-lb) bombs, 80 GBU-38 JDAMs, or 34 CBU-87/89 munitions (on rack assemblies); or 16 GBU-31 JDAMs, 16 Mk 84 (2,000-lb) bombs, 16 AGM-154 JSOWs, 16 AGM-158 JASSMs, or eight GBU-28 LGBs.

Accommodation: Two pilots on ACES II zero/zero ejection seats.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

A couple of replies, a longer one about fandom.

hadesdancehall asked:

BOKU NO RISOU NO ROI DE POISON DE WA I'M LOSING MY MIND OVER TETTERE!ROOK

YESSSSS YES YES I AM SO HAPPY YOU GET IT LOL Rook and Tettere are the same, the idea of this crossover was driving me crazy, I had to draw it. Look at him go, singing about continuously loving every single person until he finds the one…

Fun fact about this sketch: we have no idea why I drew Alte-Rose!Malleus there. It’s been a while since I drew this sketch, and I completely forgot… I guess she had to deal with this Tettere too, so it kind of fits lol

Anonymous asked:

I know you aren't really type to give information just gorgeous art. But in your last reply post you said you do traditional art and just coloured them digitally.

So I'm wondering... How do you do it!?

Because everytime I try to do that it looks so weird. I can't seem to get the colors as vibrant as I can when I'm only doing digital.

Thank you for praising my art! But Anon, I do give information :c I wrote a reply about this exact topic just a couple of days ago which is filled to the brim with links about everything in my art process + have a guide about exactly this topic.

Your colours might seem off for a number of reasons, it’s hard to tell exactly why by just guessing. It can be related to your software/display or directly to your choice of colours.

Anonymous asked:

Ryu, your dissatisfaction with Twisted Wonderland's age rating is very understandable! The game is allegedly a joseimuke game aimed at adult women, especially in light of the fact that this is a gacha game and that adults—who earn a regular income—will be the true target market. It's a little frightening that adults who play these kinds of games have to be so careful about how we express our affection for the characters lest we be labelled as predators or worse, p*dos. Making adult gamers feel bad for enjoying these "children" who are clearly meant to be adults. They're fictional, and most of them definitely don't look or act like boys their age. Some characters appear so mature; this really struck me as being university attendee coded. It's not like the ensemble is exclusively comprised of children, you know? The game revolves around attractive anime boys who are intentionally created to appear older than they actually are. Unfortunately, despite the fact that i enjoy Twisted Wonderland, it is the first fandom where i experienced Ageism in a fandom.

Trey is, if my memory serves me correctly, one of the most well-liked characters in the Japanese fandom (i remember there used to be a JP poll asking which character in Twist was the most loved). Most likely due to his personality, which again makes sense given that the majority of Twist users are grownups and Trey's portrayal of a character who, despite being a young adult, is quite mature.

Furthermore, even though I realise I'm going to sound like Idia, I detest how the "Normies" entered Nerd/Geek spaces after gaining popularity and then pretended to be uncomfortable with what they saw. You came to OUR space, dude! What did they expect?!

Anon! Sorry for replying late, and thank you! You’ve made so many very good points.

It really is an obvious joseimuke in how the game is written, how the game operates (the gacha system, like you mentioned) + even the type of merch that exists for this game. If you think about it, this is probably the best way to determine the actual target audience of any piece of media: just like Prince of Tennis is technically a classic Shonen Jump series, but all the merch they have is clearly aimed at adult women (purses, perfume, etc).

So yeah, even if that wasn’t the case, calling people predators over shipping themselves with Azul would be a bad thing to do, but in this situation especially it’s absurd to call people out for interacting with TWST pretty much the way it was indented…

What you said about the characters’ age and Trey specifically is so true. To be fair, this could be said about any joseimuke-like title with a big ensemble of boys, Prince of Tennis included. All the characters there are 12-15 years old, but god some of them look over 30.

I think it is important to keep in mind the intended age to a degree (= I dislike how the EN translation tries to dance around mentioning the boys’ age), and Twst does a good job at keeping these boys authentic when it matters, but it doesn’t mean that people won’t ship them with other characters or themselves. And no one questions it and no one finds it weird because it isn’t. It’s not that deep, it has nothing to do with how real teens look or act, this is a fantasy in people’s heads, it’s escapism, it so different and so far removed from the regular boring life it’s insane. It’s so difficult not to sound like Idia, SO I FEEL YOU ANON.  Someone called it the moe factor that some people just don’t get. So I guess it really is about people being normies sometimes lol I wish they would leave already.

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

I have a world that has always had floating islands for as long as people lived there and now it has grown into a high-tech society, and even though they build structures on these islands, they've never actually learned how the islands float. What would make that possible? Lots of theories and lots of tests... but exactly how they float continues to elude them. But what? Like add in some unknown metal or whatever they cannot find the properties of or what? Or maybe whatever that actually made them float they've never found and all the individual pieces they've chipped off these floating islands ahas never had the same property if broken off? And for some reason tests on the broken pieces and the parts intact somehow always display the same results?

This is never meant to be found out and not at all the point of my story, just for aesthetic, so handwaving is alright, but this also is a society growing up with that giant mystery hanging over the heads that they're seeing every day and directly impacting their lives.. it's got to seep into culture and everything.

Tex: Do you know how the internet works? Would you be able to describe a motherboard and its functions? How to construct it? What about CSS sheets? Domain names? What a security protocol is and what hacking is? How much does it cost to host a website? If I handed you all the materials, could you duplicate the hardware and software that comprises the internet?

You still use the internet, though, don’t you? Do you spend a lot of time wondering about any of that while you’re surfing the web, or chatting with your friends? No, most likely not - you just use it.

It’s the same concept as your floating islands - while understanding how something you use works is great, most of the time it’s unnecessary to the actual usage of the thing. Most likely there will be some experts developing a field of study, who accumulate and aggregate knowledge on specific subjects in order to develop a knowledge base for whomever comes after them.

If there’s a cultural reason to learn more than basic interactions, then most likely what will happen is that the entire field of scientific study will also be improved - if your islands float because of some form of gravitational field, what else can gravitational fields affect? So on and so forth.

Licorice: Is this world a uni-state? Or do some of these islands form their own nation-states? Floating islands would be constantly changing the territorial waters to which they can lay claim. Or perhaps, if an island floats into the territorial waters of a fixed state, that state might seek to claim it? What international laws and customs have grown up to deal with such situations?

How big are the largest of these islands? How small is the smallest? How far do they float?

Do the islands follow a predictable route, in the same way that, say, the Gulf Stream does, or the planets in their orbit? Can humans know where any given island will be a year, ten years, a hundred years or a thousand years from now? Or do they float completely at random?

You mentioned many different theories having been proposed for why the islands float, but none having been proved. People being what they are, there are probably also some conspiracy theories “floating” around, maybe a religious cult or two, people who believe it’s “against nature” to investigate the “blessing” of the floating islands, perhaps a doomsday prophecy about “the day the islands cease to move…” and so on. 

[mariacallous]

Europe is under siege—not by armies but by supply chains and algorithms. Rare-earth minerals, advanced semiconductors, and critical artificial intelligence systems all increasingly lie in foreign hands. As the U.S.-China tech cold war escalates, U.S. President Donald Trump battles Europe’s attempt to regulate tech platforms, Russia manipulates energy flows, and the race for AI supremacy intensifies, Europe’s fragility is becoming painfully clear. For years, policymakers have warned about the continent’s reliance on foreign technology. Those alarms seemed abstract—until now.

Geopolitical flashpoints, from the Dutch lithography firm ASML’s entanglement in the U.S.-China chip war to Ukraine’s need for foreign satellite services, reveal just how precarious Europe’s digital dependence really is. If Europe doesn’t lock down its technological future, it risks becoming hostage to outside powers and compromising its core values.

Fragmented measures aren’t enough. A European Chips Act here, a half-implemented cloud or AI initiative there won’t fix a system where every layer—from raw materials to software—depends on someone else. Recent AI breakthroughs show that whoever controls the stack—digital infrastructure organized into a system of interconnected layers—controls the future.

The U.S. government ties AI research to proprietary chips and data centers through its Stargate program, while China’s DeepSeek masters the entire supply chain at lower costs. Europe can’t keep treating chips, supercomputing, and telecommunication as discrete domains; it needs a unifying vision inspired by digital autonomy and a grasp of the power dynamics shaping the global supply chain.

Without a coherent strategy, the continent will be a mere spectator in the biggest contest of the 21st century: Who controls the digital infrastructure that powers everything from missiles to hospitals?

The answer is the EuroStack—a bold plan to rebuild Europe’s tech backbone layer by layer, with the same urgency once devoted to steel, coal, and oil. That will require a decisive mobilization that treats chips, data, and AI as strategic resources. Europe still has time to act—but that window is closing. Our proposed EuroStack offers a holistic approach that tackles risks at every level of digital infrastructure and amplifies the continent’s strengths.

The EuroStack comprises seven interconnected layers: critical raw materials, chips, networks, the Internet of Things, cloud infrastructure, software platforms, and finally data and AI.

Every microchip, battery, and satellite begins with raw materials—lithium, cobalt, rare-earth metals—that Europe doesn’t control. China commands 60-80 percent of global rare-earth production, while Russia weaponizes gas pipelines. Europe’s green and digital transitions will collapse without secure access to these resources. Beijing’s recent export restrictions on gallium and germanium, both critical for semiconductors, served as a stark wake-up call.

To survive, Europe must forge strategic alliances with resource-rich nations such as Namibia and Chile, invest in recycling technologies, and build mineral stockpiles modeled on its strategic oil reserves. However, this strategy will need to steer clear of subsidizing conflict or profiting from war-driven minerals, as seen in the tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the latter’s criminal complaints against Apple in Europe—demonstrating how resource struggles can intensify regional instability.

Above this resource base lies the silicon layer, where chips are designed, produced, and integrated. Semiconductors are today’s geopolitical currency, yet Europe’s share of global chip production has dwindled to just 9 percent. U.S. giants such as Intel and Nvidia dominate design, while Asia’s Samsung and TSMC handle most of the manufacturing. Even ASML, Europe’s crown jewel in lithography, finds itself caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-China chip war.

Although ASML dominates the global market for the machines that produce chips, Washington is using its control over critical components and China over raw materials to put pressure on the company. To regain control, Europe must double down on its strengths in automotive, industrial, and health care chipsets. Building pan-European foundries in hubs such as Dresden, Germany, and the Dutch city of Eindhoven—backed by a 100 billion euro sovereign tech fund—could challenge the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act and restore Europe’s foothold.

Next comes connectivity, the digital networks that underpin everything else. When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, Kyiv’s generals relied on Starlink—a U.S. satellite system—to coordinate defenses. And U.S. negotiators last month suggested cutting access if no deal were made on Ukrainian resources. Europe’s own Iris2 network remains behind schedule, leaving the European Union vulnerable if strategic interests clash.

Meanwhile, China’s Huawei still dominates 5G infrastructure, with Ericsson and Nokia operating at roughly half its size. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has even floated buying Starlink coverage, underscoring how urgent it is for Europe to accelerate Iris2, develop secure 6G, and mandate a “Buy European” policy for critical infrastructure.

A key but often overlooked battleground is the Internet of Things, or IoT. Chinese drones, U.S. sensors, and foreign-controlled industrial platforms threaten to seize control of ports, power grids, and factories. Yet Europe’s engineering prowess in robotics offers a lifeline—if it pivots from consumer gadgets to industrial applications. By harnessing this expertise, Europe can develop secure, homegrown IoT solutions for critical infrastructure, ensuring that smart cities and energy grids are built on robust European standards and safeguarded against cyberattacks.

Then there is the cloud, where data is stored, processed, and mined to train next-generation algorithms. Three U.S. giants—Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—dominate roughly 70 percent of the global market. The EU’s Gaia-X project attempted to forge a European alternative, but traction has been limited.

Still, the lesson from DeepSeek is clear: Controlling data centers and optimizing infrastructure can revolutionize AI innovation. Europe must push for its own sovereign cloud environment—perhaps through decentralized, interoperable clouds that undercut the scale advantage of Big Tech—optimized for privacy and sustainability. Otherwise, European hospitals, banks, and cities will be forced to rent server space in Virginia or Shanghai.

A sovereign cloud is more than a mere repository of data; it represents an ecosystem built on decentralization, interoperability, and stringent privacy and data protection standards, with client data processed and stored in Europe.

Gaia-X faltered due to a lack of unified vision, political commitment, and sufficient scale. To achieve true technological sovereignty, Europe must challenge the monopolistic dominance of global tech giants by ensuring that sensitive information remains within its borders and adheres to robust regulatory frameworks.

When it comes to software, Europe runs on U.S. code. Microsoft Windows powers its offices, Google’s Android runs its phones, and SAP—once a European champion—now relies heavily on U.S. cloud giants. Aside from pockets of strength at companies such as SAP and Dassault Systèmes, Europe’s software ecosystem remains marginal. Open-source software offers an escape hatch but only if Europe invests in it aggressively.

Over time, strategic procurement and robust investments could loosen U.S. Big Tech’s grip. A top priority should be a Europe-wide, privacy-preserving digital identity system—integrated with the digital euro—to protect monetary sovereignty and curb crypto-fueled volatility. Piece by piece, Europe can replace proprietary lock-in with democratic tools.

Finally, there is AI and data, the layer where new value is being generated at breakneck speed. While the United States and China have seized an early lead via OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepSeek, the field remains open. Europe boasts world-class supercomputing centers and strong AI research, yet it struggles to translate these into scalable ventures. The solution? “AI factories”—public-private hubs that link Europe’s strengths in health care, climate science, and advanced manufacturing.

Europeans could train AI to predict wildfires, not chase ad clicks, and license algorithms under ethical frameworks, not exploitative corporate terms. Rather than only mimicking ChatGPT, Europe should fund AI for societal challenges through important projects of common European interest, double down on high-performance computing infrastructure, and build data commons that reflect core democratic values—privacy, transparency, and human dignity.

The EuroStack isn’t about isolationism; it’s a bold assertion of European sovereignty. A sovereign tech fund of at least 100 billion euros—modeled on Europe’s pandemic recovery drive—could spark cross-border innovation and empower EU industries to shape their own destiny. And a Buy European procurement act would turn public purchasing into a tool for strategic autonomy.

This act could go beyond traditional mandates, championing ethical, homegrown technology by setting forward-thinking criteria that strengthen every link in Europe’s digital ecosystem—from chips and cloud infrastructures to AI and IoT sensors. European chips would be engineered for sovereign cloud systems, AI would be trained on European data, and IoT devices would integrate seamlessly with European satellites. This integrated approach could break the cycle of dependency on foreign suppliers.

This isn’t about shutting out global players; it’s about creating a sophisticated, multidimensional policy tool that champions European priorities. In doing so, Europe can secure its technological future and assert its strategic autonomy in a rapidly evolving global order.

Critics argue that the difference in mindset between Silicon Valley and Brussels is an obstacle, especially the bureaucratic nature of the EU and its focus on regulation. But other countries known for bureaucracy—such as India, China, and South Korea—have achieved homegrown digital technology from a much lower technological base than the EU. Indeed, through targeted industrial policies and massive investments, South Korea has become a world leader in the layers of chips and IoT. The EU currently already has a strong technological base with companies such as ASML, Nokia, and Ericsson.

European overregulation is not the issue; the real problem is a lack of focus and investment. Until now, the EU has never fully committed to a common digital industrial policy that would allow it to innovate on its own terms. Former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s recent report on EU competitiveness—which calls for halting further regulation in favor of massive investments—and incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s bold debt reforms signal a much-needed shift in mindset within the EU.

In the same spirit, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has launched a defense package providing up to 800 billion euros to boost Europe’s industrial and technological sovereignty that could finally align ambition with strategic autonomy.

If digital autonomy isn’t at the forefront of these broader defense and infrastructure strategies, Europe risks missing its last best chance to chart an independent course on the global stage.

To secure its future, Europe must adopt a Buy European act for defense and critical digital infrastructures and implement a European Sovereign Tech Agency in the model of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—one that drives strategic investments, spearheads AI development, and fosters disruptive innovation while shaping a forward-looking industrial policy across the EU.

The path forward requires ensuring that investments in semiconductors, networks, and AI reinforce one another, keeping critical technologies—chips, connectivity, and data processing—firmly under the EU’s control to prevent foreign interests from pulling the plug when geopolitics shift.

Europe’s relative decline once seemed tolerable when these risks felt hypothetical, but real-world events—from undersea cable sabotage to wartime reliance on foreign satellite constellations—have exposed the EU’s fragility.

If leaders fail to seize this moment, they will cede control to external techno-powers with little incentive to respect Europe’s needs or ideals. Once this window closes, catching up—or even keeping pace—will be nearly impossible.

The EuroStack represents Europe’s last best chance to shape its own destiny: Build it, or become a digital colony.

[umblr-account-022222]

Wikipedia[b] is a free online encyclopedia, written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger on January 15, 2001, Wikipedia has been hosted since 2003 by the Wikimedia Foundation, an American nonprofit organization funded mainly by donations from readers.[2] Wikipedia is the largest and most-read reference work in history.[3][4]

Initially available only in English, Wikipedia now exists in more than 300 languages. The English Wikipedia, with over 6 million articles, remains the largest of the editions, which together comprise more than 64 million articles and attract more than 1.5 billion unique device visits and 13 million edits per month (about 5 edits per second on average) as of April 2024.[W 1] As of March 2025, over 25% of Wikipedia's traffic comes from the United States, followed by Japan at 6.38%, the United Kingdom at 5.81%, Germany at 4.97%, Russia at 4.86%, and the remaining 52.25% split among other countries.[5]

Wikipedia has been praised for enabling the democratization of knowledge, its extensive coverage, unique structure, and culture. Wikipedia has been censored by some national governments, ranging from specific pages to the entire site.[6][7] Although Wikipedia's volunteer editors have written extensively on a wide variety of topics, the encyclopedia has been criticized for systemic bias, such as a gender bias against women and geographical bias against the Global South (Eurocentrism).[8][9] While the reliability of Wikipedia was frequently criticized in the 2000s, it has improved over time, receiving greater praise from the late 2010s onward,[3][10][11] while becoming an important fact-checking site.[12][13] Articles on breaking news are often accessed as sources for up-to-date information about those events.[14][15]