#src: broad city

[boinin]

Grossed out beyond words at what's happening in my home city right now.

I'm safe, as are my nearest and dearest, but disgusted by the displays of violence and mayhem happening in the name of "protest".

Wishing the victims a swift recovery.

tl;dr after a horrific incident in Dublin city centre this afternoon where three children and a women were stabbed in broad daylight, certain groups are causing arrest and rioting under the guise of protesting today's crime. It's tentatively being linked with fringe far right groups. (src)

[incorrectshera]

I was so worried, I baked a whole cake. And then I ate a whole cake.

Bow

[incorrectaphquote]

spain: i really appreciate it. i owe you one.

romano: i love you too.

spain: did you just say something?

romano:

[incorrectwebseriesquotes]

Jordan: You said that if you were ever to do same gender experimentation, it would be with me.

Emma: I've never said that to you.

Jordan: It's been implied.

Emma: By you!

[jughead--jones]

@imperatore-falcone : src.

“You don’t want this war, kid.”

He loomed, towering and pointed in his posture. Broad shoulders, piercing green eyes, white curls slicked back and the smell of smoke. He was a caricature of his profession, even in the way he spoke, but Carmine was the genuine article. He would not let that be doubted.

“I have plans for Riverdale. This city, it’s people- from the poorest salesman to the richest doctor. Each and every one. And when I’m through, they will love me.”

“Do you wanna stand against that, Jones? Do you wanna be on my bad side when this city worships me?”

"You really think you're going to be helping people with Hiram Lodge at your side?" Jughead looked almost confused and surprised. He must have thought he was some sort of cult o personality, with the confidence he tried to exude. "Let me tell you a few things about your precious ally, before you start thinking about your conquest."

He stepped closer, undeterred by the height and stature of the older man in front of him. He stood up to Sweet Pea and Tall Boy, he could stand up to this. "He's a gentrifier. He's a prison owner. He's a drug peddler, and he sells to kids. Think about that before you start your public campaigns."

"You wanna keep working with that? Fine, but don't expect it to get you far, because I'll stop at nothing to expose you and your friend."

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The future is symmetrical

When Mitch Kapor articulated the principle that “architecture is politics” at the founding of EFF, he was charging technologists with the moral duty to contemplate the kinds of social interactions their technological decisions would facilitate — and prohibit.

At question was nothing less than the character of the networked society. Would the vast, pluripotent, general purpose, interconnected network serve as a glorified video-on-demand service, the world’s greatest pornography distribution system, a giant high-tech mall?

Or could it be a public square, and if so, who would have the loudest voices in that square, who would be excluded from it, who will set its rules, and how will they be enforced?

As with its technical architecture, the political architecture of the net is a stack, encompassing everything from antitrust enforcement to spectrum allocation, protocol design to search-and-seizure laws, standards to top-level domain governance.

Among those many considerations is the absolutely vital question of service delivery itself. What kinds of wires or radio waves will carry your packets, who will own them, and how will they be configured?

For decades, a quiet war has been fought on this front, with two sides: the side that sees internet users as “mouse potatoes,” destined to passively absorb information feeds compiled by their betters; and the “netizen” side that envisions a truly participatory network design.

This deep division has been with us since the internet’s prehistory, at least since the fight over Usenet’s alt.* hierarchy, flaring up again during the P2P wars, with ISPs insisting that users were violating their “agreements” by running “servers.”

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/11/altinteroperabilityadversarial

Above all, this fight was waged in the deployment of home internet service. The decision turn the already-monopolistic cable and phone operators into ISPs cast a long shadow. Both of these industries think of their customers as passive information consumers, not participants.

As an entertainment exec in William Gibson’s 1992 novel Idoru describes her audience: “Best visualized as a vicious, lazy, profoundly ignorant, perpetually hungry organism craving the warm god-flesh of the anointed. Personally I like to imagine something the size of a baby hippo, the color of a week-old boiled potato, that lives by itself, in the dark, in a double-wide on the outskirts of Topeka. It’s covered with eyes and it sweats constantly. The sweat runs into those eyes and makes them sting. It has no mouth…no genitals, and can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote. Or by voting in presidential elections.”

Contrast this with the other cyberpunk archetype, the console cowboy who doesn’t merely surf the digital, but steers it — the active participant in the technological/media environment who is more than a recipient of others’ crafted messages.

For a long time, Big Tech and Big Telco tried to have it both ways. AT&T promoted teleconferencing and remote family life conducted by videophones in its 1993 “You Will” marketing campaign. Youtube exhorted you to “broadcast yourself.”

But AT&T also set data-caps, kicked users off for running servers, and engaged in every legal, semi-legal and outright illegal tactic imaginable to block high-speed fiber networks.

Youtube, meanwhile, blocked interoperability, leveraged vertical integration with Google search to exclude and starve competitors, and conspired with Big Content to create a “content moderation” system that’s two parts Kafka, one part Keystone Kops.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/12/fairy-use-tale/#content-id

While the questions raised by broad participation in networked society are thorny and complex, one question actually has a very simple and factual answer: “How should we connect our homes to the internet?” The answer: “Fiber.”

There is no wireless that can substitute for fiber. Wireless — 5G, Starlink, whatever — shares the same spectrum. We can make spectrum use more efficient (by tightly transmitting the wireless signals so they don’t interfere), but physics sets hard limits on wireless speeds.

Each strand of wire in a wired network, by contrast, is its own pocket universe, insulated from the next wire, with its own smaller, but exclusive, electromagnetic spectrum to use without interfering with any other wire on the other side of its insulation.

<img src=”https://craphound.com/images/broadband_comparison.jpeg" alt=”EFF’s broadband comparison chart, showing the maximum speeds of 4G (100mb), DSL (170mb), 5G (10gb), cable (50gb) and fiber (100tb).”>

But copper wire also has hard limits that are set by physics. The fastest theoretical copper data throughput is an infinitesimal fraction of the fastest fiber speeds. Fiber is millions-to-hundreds-of-millions times faster than copper.

https://www.eff.org/wp/case-fiber-home-today-why-fiber-superior-medium-21st-century-broadband

We should never run copper under another city street or along another pole. Any savings from maintaining 20th century network infrastructure will be eradicated by the cost of having to do twice the work to replace it with 21st century fiber in the foreseeable future.

Trying to wring performance gains out of copper in the age of fiber is like trying to improve the design of whale-oil lamps to stave off the expense of electrification. Sure, you don’t want anyone sitting in the dark but even the very best whale-oil lamp is already obsolete.

But besides future-proofing, there’s another reason to demand fiber over copper or wireless: symmetry. Our copper and (especially) wireless infrastructure is optimized for sending data to end-points, not getting data back. It’s mouse-potato broadband.

(this is especially true of any satellite broadband, which typically relies upon copper lines for its “return path,” and even when it doesn’t, has much slower uplinks that downlinks)

By contrast, fiber tends to be symmetrical — providing the same download and upload speeds. It is participatory broadband, suited for a world of distance ed, remote work, telemedicine, and cultural and political participation for all.

Fiber is so obviously better than copper or wireless that America paltry fiber rollouts needed to be engineered — they never would have happened on their own. The most critical piece of anti-fiber engineering is US regulators’ definition of broadband itself.

Since the dawn FCC interest in universal broadband, it adopted a technical definition of broadband that is asymmetrical, with far lower upload than download speeds. Despite lockdown and broadband-only connections to the outside world, Congress is set to continue this.

The latest iteration of the Democrats’ broadband bill defines “broadband” as any connection that is 100mb down and 20mb up (“100/20”). Both of these speeds paltry to the point of uselessness, but the upload speed is genuinely terrible.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/future-symmetrical-high-speed-internet-speeds

US broadband usage has grown 21%/year since the 1980s. 100/20 broadband is inadequate for today’s applications — let alone tomorrow’s (by contrast, fiber is fast enough to last through the entire 21st century’s projected broadband demand and beyond, well into the 2100s).

Any wireless applications will also depend on fiber — your 5G devices have to be connected to something, and if that something is copper, your wireless speeds will never exceed copper’s maximum speeds. Innovation in spectrum management requires fiber — it doesn’t obviate it.

Today, the highest growth in broadband demand is in uploads, not downloads. People need fast uploads speeds to videoconference, to stream their games, to do remote work. The only way a 100/20 copper network’s upload speeds can be improved is by connecting it with fiber.

Every dollar spent on copper rollout is a dollar we’ll forfeit in a few years. It’s true that cable monopolists will wring a few billions out of us if we keep making do with their old copper, but upgrading copper just makes the inevitable fiber transition costlier.

China is nearing its goal of connecting 1 billion people to fiber. In America, millions are stuck with copper infrastructure literally consisting of century-old wires wrapped in newspaper, dipped in tar, and draped over tree-banches.

https://mn.gov/commerce-stat/pdfs/frontier-service-quality-report-final.pdf

Indeed, when it comes to America, monopoly carriers are slowing upload speeds — take Altice, the US’s fourth-largest ISP, which slashed its upload speeds by 89% “in line with competitors’ offerings.”

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/27/immortan-altice/#broadband-is-a-human-right

America desperately needs a high-fiber diet:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/30/fight-for-44/#slowpokes

But it has a major blockage: the American right, who have conducted history’s greatest self-own by carrying water for telecoms monopolists, blocking municipal fiber:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/17/turner-diaries-fanfic/#1a-fiber

It’s darkly funny to see the people who demanded that “government stay out of my internet” now rail against monopoly social media’s censorship, given that a government ISP would be bound by the First Amendment, unlike Facebook or Twitter.

Luckily, Congress isn’t the only place where this debate is taking place. In California, Governor Newsom has unveiled an ambitious plan to connect every city and town to blazing-fast fiber, then help cities and counties get it to every home.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/15/how-to-rob-a-bank/#fiber-now

In tech circles, we use the term “read-only” to refer to blowhards who won’t let you get a word-in edgewise (this being one of the more prominent and unfortunate technical archetypes).

The “consumer” envisioned by asymmetrical broadband futures is write*-only — someone designed to have other peoples’ ideas crammed into their eyeballs, for their passive absorption. A consumer, not a citizen.

As Gibson put it, it’s a person who “can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote.”

Cyberpunk is a warning, not a suggestion.

[rjzimmerman]

Rats raid a trash can in lower Manhattan before the coronavirus pandemic. Normally New Yorkers with uptown and downtown addresses dump enough trash on the streets for rats to be able to live out their lives less than 150 feet from where they were born, but now its likely more will be entering homes to find their next meal. PHOTOGRAPH BY CHARLIE HAMILTON JAMES, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Excerpt from this National Geographic story:

AS HUMAN BEINGS around the world change their daily behavior to try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, our absence is causing ripple effects in the urban ecosystem. Among the most noticeable changes: Rats are coming out of hiding. They’re taking to the streets in broad daylight and invading homes in a desperate search for food.

In New Orleans’s storied French Quarter, the tourists—and their trash—are gone. Suddenly hungry rats are venturing forth during the day in large numbers. In Seattle, rats have been seen wrestling in public parks in the afternoon. “They did not scurry or dart or dash,” writes The Stranger’s Charles Mudede. “They instead pranced about the wood chips like students in a high school musical.”

People who have never have rat problems before are suddenly coping with unwanted visitors invading their social isolation. Annette and Andreas Spreer have stored root vegetables, cabbages, and apples in their cellar on and off since 1995. They live in Stuttgart, Germany, where restaurants have been closed since March 22, and people are staying home as much as they can. A few days ago, for the very first time, she noticed some of her potatoes looked as if they had been gnawed on. “They didn’t eat the apple or the cabbage or carrots. Just the potatoes.” Annette says. “I could not believe this could happen.”

Stories like these are likely playing out around the world, according to Robert Corrigan, famed urban rodentologist, who lends his expertise to cities across the globe as an independent consultant. He says that as particular colonies of rats lose their established food sources—whether it’s litter and trash cans in parks, or dumpsters outside restaurants—they will start fighting over any food that’s left. Some rats will kill and eat their own kind to survive. (Corrigan says the Seattle park rats were likely “duking it out for the kill.”) Others will strike out into the unknown, looking for new food sources.

[tcm]

Red-Headed Woman by Kim Luperi

Red-Headed Woman by Kim Luperi "So gentlemen prefer blondes, do they?" newly-redheaded Lil (Jean Harlow, ironically known for her platinum blonde locks) derisively inquires in RED-HEADED WOMAN (’32). Well not in this movie they don’t, because Harlow spins convention on its head—and while doing so helped push the limits of what Hollywood could get away with onscreen during the pre-Code era.

I wrote my undergraduate thesis on BABY FACE (’33), highlighting the difference between the censored version audiences saw and the pre-release cut discovered in 2004 at the Library of Congress. While researching, I came across reviews and memos comparing BABY FACE to RED-HEADED WOMAN, which prompted me to dive in to this film’s censorship file to see how the two films handled markedly similar subject matter.

In both films, Harlow’s Lil and Barbara Stanwyck’s Lily (of course they basically have the same name) respectively set their sights on climbing the social ladder, doing so the only way they know how: with their bodies. While both ladies share the same overall ambition, the main point of divergence between the pictures is the tone. RED-HEADED WOMAN unfolds with a farcical air, cutting but with an infusion of glamour, consistent with MGM’s sophisticated technique. Meanwhile, BABY FACE plays as a straight up drama, right in line with Warner Bros. rough around the edges, working-class style.

In the case of RED-HEADED WOMAN’S, a lighter touch was advocated for early on to help the film pass censor boards. Upon proclaiming the script was the worst he’d ever read, Jason Joy, director of the Studio Relations Committee (SRC), suggested MGM eliminate “the blatant sex quality” and infuse a satiric tone. Producer Irving Thalberg was on the same page, pushing for a “broad burlesque” approach to save the story—presumably from censor annihilation.

Comedy obviously made its way into the film, but the issue of how audiences interpreted the humor was part of the problem. Viewers who saw it as a “sex extravaganza rather than a sex problem” generally embraced the movie’s comical tone, taking less issue thematically as opposed to those who took it seriously, and of course, moral-minded censors were prone to the latter. Joy even advocated that censors review RED-HEADED WOMAN with an audience, hoping its "probable salvation" rests with them witnessing fans laugh at Harlow and empathize with the wife she’s wronged. Indeed, the film’s more frivolous approach seems to have been its (barely) saving grace, as it passed censor boards in the US, albeit with many required edits.

In flirting with the confines of sex and decency, RED-HEADED WOMAN served as a tempting marker of how far studios could push their luck. Joy despaired that the film’s success would prompt other studios to top it, lamenting that the film “and several other pictures will serve to force a new understanding of our purpose." Certainly, the sexually charged content RED-HEADED WOMAN got away with made it possible for Warner Bros. to produce BABY FACE the following year.

As with the Harlow movie, BABY FACE’s central theme worried the SRC and elicited many script suggestions, chief among them to minimize the sex element and ensure that Lily’s climb doesn’t result in happiness. But the studio still pushed the film’s hard edge, hastening an initial censor rejection in New York that prompted several edits, a major one being the ending. This stands as another difference between the two movies. As RED-HEADED WOMAN concludes with Lil on top, depending on which version of BABY FACE you see, Lily closes the picture in varying states of concession.

A “Mrs. R” from the City of Atlanta Board of Review, who steamed of RED-HEADED WOMAN, “Sex, sex, sex, the picture just reeks with it, till one is nauseated," later forewarned that "there is going to crystallize such a revulsion of feeling that the Industry is going to feel it in no uncertain way." Oh, Tinseltown would, but neither RED-HEADED WOMAN or BABY FACE would be the final breaking point—they just pushed the envelope far enough along until the hammer came down upon Hollywood in the summer of 1934 with the re-enforcement of the Production Code, effectively ending the pre-Code era.

[attractionssinsanjose-blog]

History Park at Kelley Park

https://goo.gl/maps/WaTh9fnTecN9PSJJ6

History Park at Kelley Park - https://www.sanjose.org/listings/history-park

1300 Senter Rd, San Jose, CA 95112

The lands of the estate were once belonging to Mrs. Louise Kelley, a feminist and former Mayor of San Jose, who inherited the land from her uncle, Judge Lawrence Archer. In memory of her father (ARcher) and her husband's (Frank Kelley), Kelley named the property "AR-Kell Villa." Still on the pepper-tree drive away from Senter, pillars named "AR-KEL" can be seen.

Kelley Park is situated in San Jose, California, United States, a city park of 156 acres (63 ha). Story Street in north-west Kelley Park, Senter Road in the southwest, Roberts Road in the northeast, and Yerba Buena High School and Phelan Drive in East San Jose are bordered by Kelley Park. Coyote Creek spans much of the area, part of the larger San Jose Coyote Creek Area Chain.

Excellent place for groups, picnics and family reunions. Very well kept and spacious. Barbecues, beds, showers. If you want to secure a place, you have to make reservations but it is on the first stage after 10 a.m. Nevertheless, there are drawbacks, such as batteries, speakers / music etc. This is a great place to bring children.  The chives petting zone, like walking, was a big hit. One of the nice features of the park is that there are many shade trees, even when the sun is high.

The team that preserved and refurbished the park did an incredible feat.  All of the old favorites are revived and some new features have been installed.  Consider it a custom for the parents. It is the best place to relax for holidays with my parents. Big broad park with plenty to go and see. Nonetheless, parking can be difficult, because I assume you have to charge some missed, so be ready for this. Once you are there, it's a great place and you wander around. Excellent fun for the kids in the forest, at least. Better days were seen in the fun park.

The Japanese Gardens were a very fun and serene place to visit. Excellent place. Superb place. It is too big compared to the Bay area's only Japanese greenhouse. They have a big Koi pond with plenty of fish and many other plants and vegetation. If you are looking for a place to rest in the Bay area. This is a must see place. We are also equipped with a wide picnic area. The only thing to do is to park 6 US dollars per day and 10 US dollars on holiday. It is an urban park of original structures, art and artifacts and replicas of historical items. It has a chocolate shop / cafe gallery and basically it's a museum. Access safe. Safe.

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d50792.2238437802!2d-121.85652077890934!3d37.282950408854944!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e6!4m5!1s0x808e3328c017fc69%3A0x469a3a31aa7333c3!2sHistory%20San%20Jos%C3%A9%2C%20Senter%20Road%2C%20San%20Jose%2C%20CA!3m2!1d37.319090599999996!2d-121.85824989999999!4m5!1s0x808e2fbab207bb51%3A0x5e5fe87ee7298052!2sSacred%20Space%20Memorial%20Funerals%2C%20175%20Bernal%20Rd%20Suite%20100-10%2C%20San%20Jose%2C%20CA%2095119!3m2!1d37.2279905!2d-121.7768507!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1570136550961!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

This amazing park is located near the following parks in San Jose, California:

Alum Rock Park

Chinese Cultural Garden

Emma Prusch Farm Park

Guadalupe River Trail

Happy Hollow Park & Zoo

Hellyer County Park

History Park at Kelley Park

Kelley Park

Lake Cunningham

Martial Cottle Park

Oak Hill Memorial Park

Overfelt Gardens

Plaza de César Chávez

Rosicrucian Park

San Jose Municipal Rose Garden

Santa Teresa County Park <Japanese Friendship Garden>

[swissforextrading]

Former health official Thomas Zeltner appointed boss of the Swiss Red Cross

Former health ministry official Thomas Zeltner has been appointed head of the Swiss Red Cross (SRC). He was elected to the presidency by delegates gathered in the central city of Neuchâtel on Saturday. Zeltner's candidacy was approved by 90 delegates, with only two abstentions. He is tasked with restoring calm to the crisis-stricken organisation. The 75-year-old Bernese is expected to take on a transitional role while the organisation carries out a broad consultation on its operations. Until mid-May, chaired the SRC's blood donation unit. During his career, the doctor and lawyer made his name by heading the Federal Office of Public Health from 1991 to 2009. The SRC is Switzerland’s biggest charity (not to be confused with the International Committee of the Red Cross). Its president Barbara Schmid-Federer resigned early June following a damning report. Schmid-Federer’s leadership style was taken apart by the independent report into the dismissal of SRC Director Markus... https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/former-health-official-thomas-zeltner-appointed-boss-of-the-swiss-red-cross/48617110?utm_campaign=swi-rss&utm_source=multiple&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=o (Source of the original content)

[incorrectaphquote]

france: i would follow you into hell.

prussia: i would take you on my shoulders, like, i'd strap you up, and i'd be like, let's go through hell.

[torentialtribute]

Chelsea fans show they’re on Callum Hudson-Odoi’s side in tussle with Maurizio Sarri

The songs told you everything you needed to know. The clarity of the message that followed the good cause of Callum Hudson-Odoi was matched only by the roar that greeted his name when the teams were read out for the kick-off, which were the loudest of the whole.

Those echoes around Stamford Bridge as Hudson-Odoi sealed the place of Chelsea in the last 16 of the Europa League

[bewerken] [lijst toevoegen] Do you like it?

Chelsea told Hudson-Odoi that he should stay in the club despite a bid of £ 35 million from German giants Bayern Munich in January, a move that led to a transfer request from the 18-year-old.

His request came not out of love for money, he also rejected a new contract of £ 85,000 a week, or for ideas beyond his young ambition, but from the desire to play and develop it abroad as he had to. Paris Saint-German is the latest major weapon to try his services.

Since the window is closed, Sarri Hudson-Odoi has handed over a handful of 19 minutes in over three weeks. Still in the Premier League starts, despite Chelsea losing 4-0 to Bournemouth at the end of January. He was not even in the squad for the 6-0 defeat against Man City.

CALLUM HUDSON-ODOI & # 39; S LIST THIS SEASON Four matches Four matches Six games, two goals , one assist

It would be understandable, perhaps, if broad rivals Willian and Pedro had been consistent that Sarri had no choice but to keep Hudson-Odoi on the sidelines. Sometimes it is not even on them. He is often on the stands.

But that is not the case. Willian, even if he had placed the opening goal of Chelsea, was directly involved in seven goals in 21 starts of the Premier League. That is less than Watford defending Jose Holebas and Bournemouth young man David Brooks to name two of the more than 40 other players.

And even when Chelsea lost 2-0 to Manchester United three days ago in the FA Cup, Sarri Davide replaced Zappacosta.

But here was finally the chance for Hudson-Odoi to show his manager that he deserves more opportunities.

And, would you believe it, I just went and took it. Funny, that.

There was an early mistake, when Hudson-Odoi tried that. to intercept Malmo's cross, only to lead the ball to the path of opposition captain Markus Rosenberg. Fortunately, for the Chelsea boy at least, the shot fizzed wide. Sarri turned to the bank as he whispered cursing curses.

He tried 14 dribbles during the game. The rest of his teammates could only collect the same number between them. Nine of them were successful, the same number as Malmo just tried. Hudson-Odoi earned the best balls from each teammate.

He is direct. He is dangerous. He lets things happen. He gets the supporters from their seats.

They can see it. Some of the biggest clubs in Europe can see it. Sarri, until now, can not or will not.

Those fans who are so desperate to see this wondrous young talent can only hope that their chanting also resounded between the ears of the Chelsea manager. If they do not, it is unlikely that they will get their wish. Sarri is in charge, at least.

Source link

[italicwatches]

Megalobox - Episode 02

So last time was a hell of a way to start. Let’s see if this can keep up the momentum. It’s Megalobox, episode 02! Here we GO!

-We begin right where we left off, with Junk Dog staring Yuri down, and the bets going fucking wild…And despite Nanbu’s efforts, not one single soul is willing to put a stop to this. Even when he’s starting to get legitimately worried that Junk Dog is going to die facing down a man like this…

-And then the match STARTS, and Yuri’s like a bold of god damned lightning the way he moves. He totally avoids everything Junk Dog throws at him, and with a single punch, he glances Junk Dog’s cheek quick enough to slice it open…

-And he can see what he’s dealing with. Skill held back by the Gear, rather than enhanced by it. So he throws out a handicap. One hand tied behind his back. You’ve just got to deal with his left fist, Junk Dog. Try and get past it.

-The fight begins anew, with people waiting to see how this goes…And sure, at first, Yuri is able to easily block and shut down everything Junk Dog throws at him. But then, he spots an opening! One, two, and Yuri’s fist is forced up…Junk Dog moves in, and…

-And Yuri snaps his arm down hard enough to knock Junk Dog onto the mat, his bloodied mouthguard hitting the dirt. But then he rises against the count, puts that guard right back in…He might die tonight. But he feels more alive than he has in a long, fucking, time…!

-Opening! Centered on a rather more literal junk dog, a beaten and battered hound baring fangs against a cruel world, and aiming to take on the white wolf…

-Hard cut to the city, to a boy just…taking it in…

-Back into the ring. Yuri keeps that handicap going, as uno Dog is starting to get mad…And his fury makes him move faster, enough to force Yuri’s instincts on! His right hand comes up, and he blocks…But they both know Junk Dog would have had him down had he not broken his own rules.

-No more handicaps, champ. A square fight. …A square fight it is. Time to show you what a real boxer can do, little man.

-Both men square up, and now Yuri’s watching Junk Dog for real. He rushes in, leaning on his footwork…And both men read each other, a play, a counterplea, but then a counter to the counter, as Yuri snaps inside Junk Dog’s guard and puts one knockout punch into his jaw! He hits the mat for the second time, as the count starts…His body screams at him to rise, as Yuri figures it’s over…And Nanbu just fucking shouts at him to stay down, not even trying to cheer him on…

-Yuri takes his leave, and Junk Dog barely makes it onto his feet well after the count. But before Yuri can leave…Junk Dog says he’s not impressed. He’s still conscious, champ.

-So you are. But Yuri’s done for today. This isn’t his ring or his fight. …You want another round? He fought in your turf. Now come fight him in his. Earn your place in the Megalo ring, kid. The real Megalo ring.

-That night, yet again, Junk Dog goes out into the desert to vent…And this time, at least, he stops before his motorcycle goes careening into a ditch. But this time, it’s not the bitter frustration of a thrown fight that has him lost in his head. It’s the fire of a loss he wants to change. Of facing someone better than him, but being so tantalizingly close to victory…He just needs to be a little faster, a little better…!

-In his swank-ass house, Yuri contemplates…When his dog wants out to roam the broad, free wilds he lives amidst. And that’s when Yukiko comes to have a chat. She’s not happy that he went down to an unsanctioned, underground match like that, especially without her permission…Not after she’s spent so much making him into the very epitome of everything her company stands for…

-Megalobox Round 02: The Man Only DIES Once

-Back to that kid on the roof, a cassette slapped into a walkman as he watches the city. The rough city, not the clean one in the distance. The one of cheap food, bitter tears and starry-eyed teams. Of strays and abandoned, whether they’re on two legs or four.

-And back to Junk Dog, a digital billboard trying to welcome him into the real Districts. But of course, that’s not where he goes. No, he’s back in the slums, in the shit, and into his underground ring, where it’s another fixed match waiting for him. …And Junk Dog’s got one hell of a favor to ask.

-Get him into Megalonia.

-Do you have any idea what you’re asking? You would’ve DIED back there if he hadn’t gone easy, Dog!

-You’re not the one in the ring, old man. Get him papers. Get him in the Districts. Get him into the real deal to start the trek, and let him do the rest.

-Of course, Nanbu just wants him to quit these dreams, to keep his head down and make another day pass. And then, Junk Dog finds himself back in the ring…But this time, he doesn’t even have his earpiece in. As soon as the match starts, he just walks up, and slams the guy who was supposed to win down onto the mat. And of course, some toughs are waiting to have a little chat with Nanbu once that went wrong…

-A chat in a little restaurant, where Nanbu can hear someone being beaten within an inch of their lives. Nanbu’s forced to beg in the kitchen, beg for forgiveness from the big man in the kitchen making himself some soup. Do you know how you make stock, Nanbu? You take bones and organs, the real trash of the meat, and you boil it, and boil it. If you do it right, you can turn trash into the beginnings of a meal.

-So how well do you think they can make a meal out of this situation, Nanbu. How much are you worth…? Here, try this stock. Tell him what you think. And Nanbu desperately drinks of the saucer he’s handed, begging Fujimaki here to give him one last chance, some more time… he bows his head into the table hard enough to split his forehead, hard enough to draw blood.

-Of course. But they will need to square up…Your other eye, Nanbu. Give him your other eye.

-…Nanbu, instead, plays his last, most pathetic card. The kid. Junk Dog. He’s the one who betrayed the plan, so surely he should be the one to pay. …Offering your pawn as a sacrifice. That’s cold, Nanbu. Cold and sad. But, no. Fujimaki isn’t interested in reducing Junk Dog’s earning potential. He’s too useful in Fujimaki’s ring, unlike you…

-Fujimaki’s ring…And that snaps something back into Nanbu’s head. What Yuri said to the kid. What Junk Dog said to him before this match that went so wrong. He, can, change this. Junk Dog can pay back the debt in full and then some, once he steps into Megalonia!

-After it’s all over, Nanbu and Junk Dog are out on a bridge, and Nanbu’s lost deep in thought…Trying to figure out how they’re going to survive this…Because now there’s only one way they both get out of this alive. Megalonia. They have to get you in there, or they BOTH die, kid! Three months of life to try and earn the rest of their lives!

-But Junk Dog’s fine with that. He’s going to keep fighting. He’s going to WIN. He’s not going anywhere but up, not until he faces Yuri…

-In the depths of the slums, Fujimaki has a citizenship card rewritten for Junk Dog. A new name, a new life, the one kindness Fujimaki is doing for these two frauds. Because he’ll make it back the hard way…

-So what name’s going on the card, Junk?

-…Joe. From now on, his name is Joe.

-In the name goes, and Joe rips off a bandage, a scar still healing on his cheek…New man, new plan. Time to rise.

-Credits!

Fuuuuuck.

[stoweboyd]

Slack and the Future of Work Platforms

Dom Nicastro asked me (and some other market watchers) about the recent acquisition of Atlassian's HipChat and Stride by Slack, and that's been published at CMSWire. Nicastro picked some of the things I said, but I thought I'd share my full comments, and add a new topic at the end, regarding Slack's unique opportunity as a work platform, more than as a work chat product.

Nicastro asked for my thoughts on July 31:

Nicastro: Obviously there was the big shakeup with Atlassian bowing to Slack and selling their collaboration tools.

Did this move surprise you? Why? Why not?

Boyd: I was surprised that Atlassian had approached Slack in the way they did, but not surprised that HipChat and Stride were losing in the head-to-head competition with Slack.

Nicastro: Do you expect Atlassian users to just make the move to Slack or is it an opportunity for Teams to swoop in and steal some of them?

Boyd: My bet is that users of the Atlassian tools who had not already defected to alternative solutions will use the time before the tools are shut down to evaluate all the options. Slack has the opportunity to build some export/import bridgework, or to offer Atlassian users some discounts. But ultimately I bet the users will move to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Workplace, and other alternatives in about the same proportions as others in the marketplace do, with perhaps a slight lean in the direction of Slack. But remember, they could have defected to Slack a month ago if they liked Slack so much.

Nicastro: What does this mean for practitioners as they entertain a central hub for collaboration in their enterprises? Is it a Slack vs. Teams world? Or is that something manufactured by people like me who like big headlines?

Boyd: Yes, Atlassian surrendering to Slack is the final battle of one war, but the bigger war is still going: Slack versus Microsoft Teams. And Microsoft has 150 million business users for Office 365, and it has the inside track on converting those to Teams users.

My prediction is that Slack needs to line up with an internet giant to out-market Microsoft, so an acquisition by Google or Amazon is predictable. However, Slack is an unusual case: it has grown very quickly, and is the market-defining product for work chat. So the company is likely to go it alone until its growth slows. Honestly, though, the fit with Google's G-Suite is compelling, and would be a good use of $10 billion.

Nicastro: What do large organizations need out of enterprise collaboration tools today? What's most important?

Boyd: Work chat is the hot, high growth element of the larger domain of work technologies. That's used best for small teams that communicate frequently to coordinate work. There are well known issues with scaling work chat to effectively support the communications and coordination at scale larger than teams, however, a great proportion of work is the work of small teams.

Other tools are also critical. Email is still the default mechanism to communicate with those we do not work with as teammates. Task, work, and project management tools -- like Asana, Trello (acquired by Atlassian), Basecamp, Smartsheet, and many others -- are also in broad use in the enterprise. And of course, companies stil rely on documents, even if they don't get printed out as much anymore, so tools like Google Drive (with Docs, Sheets, and Slides), Dropbox and Dropbox Paper, and Microsoft Office 365 (Word, Powerpoint, and Excel) -- which used to be called 'productivity' tools -- are still essential. Note that Google and Microsoft are big players in this last category, 'productivity tools', and Slack has no horse in that race, as yet. Also, Microsoft and Google both have task management offerings, which Slack has opted to simply integrate with all comers.

Nicastro: Who right now has the most compelling story out there to offer these things?

Boyd: Slack has the best pure play work chat story, Microsoft (trailed by Google pretty aggressively) have the best work technology suites, ranging from email to 'productivity'.

Nicastro: What advice would you give practitioners/orgs in the digital workplace looking at this news and wondering what's best for them in their enterprises -- in other words, what should we be using to collaborate -- what are some good steps they can take to help themselves figure out what's best?

Boyd: That's a huge question. I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all answer. A 20,000 person law firm with offices in three countries has very different needs from a 300 person design firm in one city, and again different from a 50 person software company with a largely remote workforce.

I'd suggest any company start with a simple assessment: what is the center of gravity in the company's work activities? Is it project coordination with many external clients, like the design firm might be? Start by getting a good work/project management platfom established, and accept the inevitability of email-based communications. Is it internal communication by small teams? Start with work chat, and then decide what secondary considers matter to help pick the right work chat solution. I bet the law firm is document-centric, and relies on a solution like Sharepoint of Google Drive, so the obvious option is to pick one of those first, and adopt the other tools in the suite.

Nicastro: Anything else I didn't ask you'd like to add, feel free!

Boyd: One last observation: There is an interesting trend that is gaining steam, which I call 'work processing'. A new generation of document-centered tools -- like Quip, Notion.io, Slite, Nuclino, and others -- support shared documents with styled text, embedded objects (tables, videos, images), tasks and checklists, and social affordances: threaded comments, internal notifications, and messaging. In this approach documents are not just dumb files with styled text, sitting in a cloud file system. Instead of relying on work chat communications, which are only structured by channels and search, work processing relies on a system of documents to structure company information and discourse. This can also be integrated with work chat, or may include work chat internally. A trend to keep an eye on!

We covered a lot of ground, but the heart of our discussion was largely inward-looking, focused on the conventional idea of internal ‘collaboration’: a company's employees communicating, coordinating, and cooperating among themselves, principally.

However, companies are being rapidly remade, as hierarchies are being eroded by the tectonic changes in the economy, and as companies move toward increasingly autonomous teams operating horizontally, and increasingly working with ‘outsiders’ on company operations. The adaptations to an accelerating marketplace require companies to become more agile and flexible, to work more closely with customers, partners, and suppliers, and to pull diverse, distributed task forces together to innovate and deliver greater value to customers.

This has major ramifications across the enterprise -- on leadership, operating principles, decision-making, and, well, everything. But pertaining to Slack and the role of work technologies this means a new set of requirements. 

Instead of simply supporting communications with the company, work chat and related tools will have to support increasingly critical multiorganizational use. When all involved are using the same technologies -- say Slack -- the cross-company integration is relatively straightforward, and might involve a cross-authentication between the two companies’ Slack accounts. 

However, when company A wants to coordinate work with company B, and they are using different tools -- say Slack and Teams, for example -- things become more complex. There would have to be a common protocol between vendors of work chat solutions for that to work, or at least a one-to-one agreement between Slack and Microsoft. (Or not: we could have a standoff like we did with instant messaging services back in the day, but that’s a different history lesson.)

Slack has become the market leader for a number of reasons, but it has clearly staked its claim to being the most oriented toward easy integration with other tools, such as help desk, document systems, task management solutions, and so on. I am wagering that they will be the first to move aggressively toward full distributed platform support, just as businesses realize that their futures rely on reorienting their operations toward the horizontal, and move to convert themselves into business platforms. For companies to become full-on business platforms they will need to rest upon foundational work platforms -- technology that will include work chat and other work management tools, as well as close integration with other necessary enterprise software.

This realignment of business operations toward the horizontal is the most obvious motivation for my claim that Slack will ultimately align itself with an internet giant, like Google or Amazon, because we can expect that these horizontal work platforms for business will naturally emerge on top of the cloud computing platforms that the giants will command.

Maybe we will be writing about platform-as-a-service, soon, with Slack as one important element in that stack.

[sharonsmith731]

NYC Mandates Vaccinations for Public School Teachers, Staff

The new policy marks the first no-option vaccination mandate for a broad group of city workers in the nation's most populous city. Associated Press from Medscape Medical News Headlines https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/957074?src=rss

[alhindee]

The Incident that took place in Al-Masjid Al-Haram and the issue of the awaited Mahdy تصفح برقم المجلد > Volume 4 > The Incident that took place in Al-Masjid Al-Haram and the issue of the awaited Mahdy (Part No. 4; Page No. 89)   The Incident that took place in Al-Masjid Al-Haram and the issue of the awaited Mahdy [10] Praise be to Allah. May peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, Companions and those who follow his guidance.To proceed:The terrible crime committed by a group of Muslims after the Fajr (Dawn) Prayer on Tuesday, corresponding to 1/1/1400 A.H. when they broke into Al-Masjid Al-Haram (the Sacred Mosque in Makkah), fired at those who were offering Salah (Prayer) and circumambulating Allah's Sacred House, the most sacred of places, outraged the Islamic world and was received with denunciation. It was an attack on Al-Bayt-ul-Haram (the Sacred House, another name for the Ka`bah) which Allah made a refuge and a place of safety for people. It was a violation of its sanctity, the security of the country and the sacred month; an act of terrorism against the Muslims, sowing the seeds of Fitnah (trial) and wrongfully defying the ruler of the country.There is no doubt that this crime was an act of disbelief committed in the Sacred House of Allah about which Allah states, ...and whoever inclines to evil actions therein or to do wrong (i.e. practise polytheism and leave Islâmic Monotheism), him We shall cause to taste from a painful torment. [11] It is also considered as having brought fear, harm, and injustice to the Muslims. Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) states, And those who annoy believing men and women undeservedly, they bear (on themselves) the crime of slander and plain sin. [12] He (Glorified be He) states, And whoever among you does wrong (i.e. sets up rivals to Allâh), We shall make him taste a great torment. [13] He (Glorified and Exalted be He) also states, And the Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers) will have neither a Walî (protector or guardian) nor a helper. [14] In addition, they took up (Part No. 4; Page No. 90)  arms and shot security guards who wanted to quell this Fitnah and protect the Muslims from their evil.The Prophet (peace be upon him) stated, Whoever takes up arms against the Muslims is not of them. [1] He (peace be upon him) also prohibited carrying arms in the Sacred Mosque and stated, This city (i.e. Makkah) was made a sanctuary by Allah until the Day of Resurrection; blood should not be shed therein nor should its trees be cut. [2] He (peace be upon him) also stated, Fighting in this town was not lawful to anyone before me; it was made lawful for me only during an hour on one day; and today (now) its sanctity is the same as it was before. It is incumbent upon those who are present to convey it (this information) to those who are absent. [3] There are many Hadiths that stress this meaning. The evil and harm of this Fitnah not only affected many pilgrims, but others as well.They closed the doors of Al-Masjid Al-Haram and prevented people from entering or leaving. Thus, this group of people are described in Allah's Statement, And who are more unjust than those who forbid that Allâh’s Name be glorified and mentioned much (i.e. prayers and invocations, etc.) in Allâh’s Mosques and strive for their ruin? It was not fitting that such should themselves enter them (Allâh’s Mosques) except in fear. For them there is disgrace in this world, and they will have a great torment in the Hereafter. [15] Overall, this awful incident led to great injustice, corruption, and affliction. No similar incident had ever occurred in Al-Masjid Al-Haram before, whether in the times of Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic time of ignorance) or after Islam.They justified their injustice and aggression claiming that they wanted to take Bay`ah (pledge of allegiance) to the so-called Al-Mahdy (a man named after the Prophet, who will appear as a sign of the Hour and rule according to Islamic law), it is void and groundless explanation. It is impermissible for them to use it as a pretext to violate the sanctity of Al-Masjid Al-Haram and the Muslims therein. They are not allowed to take up arms and shoot the security guards and others. The awaited Al-Mahdy is one of the matters of the Ghayb (the Unseen), so it is impermissible for any Muslim to confirm that anyone is the awaited Al-Mahdy; this is considered speaking ignorantly about Allah and His Messenger, and claiming to know that which only Allah knows; until his signs, or the Prophet's (peace be upon him) descriptions of Al-Mahdy become clear. The most important and (Part No. 4; Page No. 91)  clearest of these descriptions is that he will rule according to Shari`ah (Islamic law); filling the world with justice as much as it was filled with injustice. Other signs include his being of the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him), having a broad forehead and a prominent nose, and having the same name and surname as the Prophet (peace be upon him). If all these signs are manifested, a Muslim may claim that this is Al-Mahdy. As for relying on dreams as a proof that a certain person is Al-Mahdy, this contradicts Shari`ah, the Ijma` (consensus of scholars) and the believers. Even if many dreams are claimed, we cannot rely on them regarding something contrary to the sanctified Shari`ah. Allah (Glorified be He) perfected Islam for the Prophet (peace be upon him) and completed His Blessing on him before his death, so it is impermissible for anyone to rely on a dream in opposing Shari`ah. Moreover, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was informed that Al-Mahdy will rule according to the sanctified Shari`ah, so how can he and his followers violate the sanctity of Al-Masjid Al-Haram and the Muslims, and take up arms against them unjustly? How can he defy an already existing government that has given the Bay`ah to one man, and create anarchy this way? It is authentically reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated, When you are loyal to one man as your leader, you should smite the neck of any other person who seeks to undermine your solidarity or disrupt your unity, whoever he may be. [4] (Related by Muslim in his Sahih (authentic) Book of Hadith). When the Prophet (peace be upon him) accepted Bay`ah from his Sahabah (Companions), he made sure that they would not fight over leadership with their rulers, unless you notice them committing absolute Kufr (disbelief) for which there is a proof from Allah. [5] Praise be to Allah, this country has never committed what obligates defying this order; those who permit rebellion in the country if its people commit sins are Al-Khawarij (separatist group that believes committing a major sin amounts to disbelief) who declare Muslims to be Kafirs (disbelievers) for committing sins, fight Muslims and ignore the Mushriks (those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity or worship). The Prophet (peace be upon him) described them in His Statement: They quickly pass through (the teachings of) Islam just like an arrow passes through (Part No. 4; Page No. 92)  prey. [6] He also said, Whenever you meet them, kill them, for you will be rewarded by Allah on the Day of Judgment. [7] (Agreed upon by Al-Bukhari and Muslim). There are many known Hadiths about them. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also stated, Whoever finds that the governor appointed over them indulges in an act of disobedience to Allah, they should condemn the governor's act, but should not withdraw themselves from his obedience, for whoever separates from the Muslims will die as those who died in the times of Jahiliyyah (as rebellious sinners). [8] He (peace be upon him) also stated in the Hadith of Al-Harith Al-Ash`ary , I order you to do five things Allah has ordered me to do: Jihad (fighting in the cause of Allah), listening, obedience, Hijrah (a believer's migration to an Islamic land) and (sticking to) the group. If a person separates from the community a span's length, they remove the noose of Islam from their neck, unless they repent. [9] There are many other Hadiths that stress this meaning.The scholars of Saudi Arabia, including me, have issued a Fatwa (legal opinion issued by a qualified Muslim scholar) concerning this incident. This Fatwa was published in local newspapers, and broadcast on radio and television. Below is the text of the Fatwa:            [1] Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on blood money, no. 6874; Muslim, Sahih, Book on faith, no. 98; Al-Nasa*y, Sunan, Book on sanctity of blood, no. 4100; Ibn Majah, Sunan, Book on ordained punishments, no. 2576; and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 2, p. 142. [2] Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on funerals, no. 1349; Muslim, Sahih, Book on Hajj, no. 1353; Al-Nasa*y, Sunan, Book on Hajj rituals, no. 2892; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on rituals, no. 2017; and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 1, p. 316. [3] Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on Hajj, no. 1832; Muslim, Sahih, Book on Hajj, no. 1354; Al-Tirmidhy, Sunan, Book on Hajj, no. 809; Al-Nasa*y, Sunan, Book on Hajj rituals, no. 2876; and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 4, p. 31. [4] Muslim, Sahih, Book on rulership, no. 1852; Al-Nasa*y, Sunan, Book on sanctity of blood, no. 4020; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on Al-Sunnah, no. 4762; and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 4, p. 341. [5] Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on trials, no. 7056. [6] Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on merits and virtues, no. 3611; Muslim, Sahih, Book on Zakah, no. 1066; Al-Nasa*y, Sunan, Book on sanctity of blood, no. 4102; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on Al-Sunnah, no. 4767; and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 1, p. 92. [7] Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on asking apostates and those who separate themselves in obstinate rebellion to repent and fighting them, no. 6930; Muslim, Sahih, Book on Zakah, no. 1066; Al-Nasa*y, Sunan, Book on sanctity of blood, no. 4102; Abu Dawud, Sunan, Book on Al-Sunnah, no. 4767; and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 1, p. 131. [8] Muslim, Sahih, Book on rulership, no. 1855; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 6, p. 24, and Al-Darimy, Sunan, Book on heart-softening narrations, no. 2797. [9] Al-Tirmidhy, Sunan, Book on proverbs and examples, no. 2863; and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 4, p. 130. [10] This was published in the Islamic Research Journal in 1400 A.H. [11] Surah Al-Hajj, 22: 25 [12] Surah Al­Ahzab, 33: 58 [13] Surah Al-Furqan, 25: 19 [14] Surah Al-Shura, 42: 8 [15] Surah Al-Baqarah, 2: 114 https://www.alifta.gov.sa/En/IftaContents/IbnBaz/Pages/FatawaDetails.aspx?View=Page&PageID=268&CultStr=en&PageNo=1&NodeID=1&BookID=14 https://shamela.org/src/files/contents_url.php?id=2ce482458d3415bb8745b69adc5bc459 #Islam #Quran #Hadith #Sunnah #Fatwa