#Automated Behavior Analysis

[swarmenterprises]

Swarm Enterprises

Website: https://swarm.enterprises/

Address: San Francisco, California

Phone: +1 (504) 249-8350

Swarm Enterprises: Revolutionizing Decision-Making with Cutting-Edge Technology

Swarm Enterprises is at the forefront of innovation, harnessing the power of swarm intelligence algorithms to redefine the way decisions are made. Inspired by the coordinated movements of natural swarms, these algorithms deliver unparalleled precision and intelligent recommendations. Clients are empowered to embrace data-driven decision-making, resulting in heightened efficiency and superior outcomes.

The company's secret weapon lies in its utilization of machine learning techniques, where massive data sets are transformed into invaluable insights. By training algorithms on both historical and real-time data, Swarm Enterprises uncovers hidden patterns, emerging trends, and subtle anomalies that often elude human analysis. This extraordinary capability allows clients to unearth concealed opportunities, minimize risks, and gain an undeniable competitive edge.

Swarm Enterprises doesn't stop there; they seamlessly integrate IoT (Internet of Things) devices into their offerings, enabling real-time data collection and analysis. These connected physical objects grant clients the ability to remotely monitor and manage various aspects of their operations. This groundbreaking technology not only streamlines proactive maintenance but also enhances operational efficiency and boosts overall productivity.

In a world where informed decisions are paramount, Swarm Enterprises is a trailblazer, providing the tools and insights necessary for success in an increasingly data-centric landscape.

[honestkindlereviews]

Gemini AI Time Hacks

Gemini AI Time Hacks: Automate Tasks, Prioritize Goals, and Reclaim 10+ Hours Weekly

Let's be honest. In today's hyper-connected, always-on world, time feels like our most precious and scarce resource. We juggle emails, meetings, projects, personal commitments, and the relentless stream of information, often feeling like we're drowning in a sea of tasks. The promise of productivity tools has been around for years, offering calendars, to-do lists, and project managers. And while they help, they often feel like bandaids on a deeper wound – the fundamental challenge of managing not just tasks, but our attention and energy in a way that aligns with our true goals.

The Intelligent Investor’s Mind: AI-Powered Psychology for Wealth, Wisdom, and Well-being: A Modern Approach to Financial Success Through Self-Awareness and AI: BUY EBOOK CLICK HARE

I’ve spent decades studying productivity, testing systems, and coaching individuals and teams on optimizing their workflows. I’ve seen the evolution from paper planners to complex software suites. But nothing, absolutely nothing, has felt as transformative as the advent of sophisticated AI models like Gemini. We're not just talking about another tool; we're talking about a potential paradigm shift in how we interact with our work and our lives. The idea of reclaiming 10, 15, even 20 hours a week might sound like hyperbole, but I'm seeing it become a reality for those who learn to truly partner with AI.

Think of your current workflow. How much time do you spend on repetitive tasks? Scheduling emails, drafting standard responses, summarizing documents, transcribing notes, organizing files, researching basic information, creating first drafts of content? These are the necessary gears of our professional lives, but they often consume hours that could be spent on higher-level thinking, creative problem-solving, strategic planning, or simply, well, living. These are the hours AI is poised to give back to you.

I remember a time, not so long ago, when preparing for a significant client meeting involved hours of manual work. I'd sift through past correspondence, pull up relevant reports, summarize key points, research the client's recent activities, and then try to synthesize it all into concise briefing notes. It was tedious, but essential. Now? I can feed Gemini access to relevant documents and email threads, ask it to summarize the client's history with us, highlight key discussion points for the upcoming meeting, and even draft a personalized opening based on recent news about their company – all in minutes. The difference isn't just speed; it's the ability to arrive at that meeting feeling truly prepared, having spent my valuable time on thinking about the strategy, not just compiling the background.

This is the core promise of AI-powered time hacks: offloading the cognitive burden of routine tasks to free up human capacity for what we do best.

Automate Tasks: Putting Your Workflow on Autopilot

The most immediate and tangible benefit of integrating Gemini into your workflow is automation. Not the complex, code-heavy automation of the past, but natural language-driven automation that feels less like programming and more like delegation.

Let's break down how this works across common areas:

Email Management: Taming the Inbox Beast

The inbox is a notorious time sink. We spend hours reading, sorting, responding, and searching. Gemini can become your email co-pilot.

The Intelligent Investor’s Mind: AI-Powered Psychology for Wealth, Wisdom, and Well-being: A Modern Approach to Financial Success Through Self-Awareness and AI: BUY EBOOK CLICK HARE

Drafting Responses: For routine inquiries, standard updates, or even initial outreach, Gemini can draft emails based on a few key points you provide. You can refine it, inject your personal tone, but the heavy lifting of structuring sentences and finding the right words is done instantly. Imagine needing to decline a meeting request politely, provide a project update, or send a follow-up email. Instead of staring at a blank screen, you give Gemini the context and the core message, and it provides a ready-to-send draft. This isn't just about speed; it reduces decision fatigue associated with crafting countless messages daily.

Summarizing Threads: Ever open a long email thread and groan? Feed it to Gemini and ask for a concise summary of the key decisions, action items, and participants. Instantly, you grasp the essence without wading through every single reply. This is invaluable for catching up after time off or quickly getting context on an ongoing discussion.

Scheduling and Coordination: While dedicated scheduling tools exist, Gemini can assist in the natural language back-and-forth of finding a time. You can ask it to suggest meeting times based on your calendar availability (with appropriate privacy controls, of course) or even draft emails proposing options to others.

Filtering and Prioritizing: While email clients have rules, AI can potentially understand the intent and urgency of emails more effectively. Imagine an AI that learns which senders, keywords, and types of requests are genuinely high priority for you, helping you focus on what matters most when you open your inbox.

This isn't about achieving "inbox zero" for the sake of it; it's about reducing the time spent in the inbox, freeing you to focus on tasks that require your unique human intelligence.

Document Handling: From Clutter to Clarity

We work with documents constantly – reports, articles, contracts, research papers. Managing, understanding, and extracting information from them is a significant time investment.

Summarization: The ability to instantly summarize lengthy documents is a game-changer. Need to get the gist of a 50-page report before a meeting? Feed it to Gemini. Want to quickly understand the key arguments of an article? Ask for a summary. This saves hours of reading time while ensuring you grasp the core information.

Information Extraction: Need to pull out specific data points, dates, names, or figures from a document? Instead of scanning page by page, ask Gemini to extract them for you. This is particularly useful for research, data compilation, or reviewing contracts.

Drafting and Outlining: Starting a new document from scratch can be daunting. Gemini can help generate outlines, draft initial sections, or even create different versions of content based on different tones or target audiences. This overcomes the inertia of starting and provides a solid foundation to build upon.

Translation and Simplification: Working with documents in different languages or needing to explain complex topics simply? Gemini can provide quick translations or simplify jargon-filled text, making information more accessible and saving time on manual interpretation or explanation.

By automating these document-related tasks, you transform your interaction with information from passive consumption and manual processing to active engagement with synthesized insights.

Data Management and Analysis: Turning Numbers into Narratives

While complex data analysis often requires specialized tools, Gemini can significantly expedite the initial stages and help in understanding the results.

Data Cleaning and Formatting: For simple datasets, Gemini can assist with formatting, identifying inconsistencies, or even generating basic code snippets (like Python) to perform cleaning tasks.

Generating Summaries and Insights: Provide Gemini with a dataset (within privacy and security limits, of course) and ask for a summary of key trends, outliers, or correlations. It can help you quickly identify interesting patterns that warrant further investigation.

Creating Visualizations (with support): While Gemini itself might not create charts, it can generate the code or instructions needed for charting libraries based on your data, saving you the time of looking up syntax or figuring out the right chart type.

Explaining Complex Data: If you're looking at a complex report or spreadsheet, you can ask Gemini to explain specific metrics, formulas, or the meaning of certain data points in plain language.

This level of assistance turns data interaction from a chore into a more intuitive exploration, allowing you to get to the insights faster.

Prioritize Goals: Focusing on What Truly Matters

Automation is powerful, but without clear prioritization, you just become more efficient at doing the wrong things. This is where AI's ability to understand context and goals becomes crucial.

The Intelligent Investor’s Mind: AI-Powered Psychology for Wealth, Wisdom, and Well-being: A Modern Approach to Financial Success Through Self-Awareness and AI: BUY EBOOK CLICK HARE

AI-Assisted Goal Alignment

Breaking Down Large Goals: Have a big, daunting goal? Share it with Gemini and ask for a breakdown into smaller, actionable steps. It can help you create a project plan, identify potential roadblocks, and suggest a logical sequence of tasks.

Identifying High-Leverage Activities: Based on your stated goals and the tasks on your plate, Gemini can help you identify which activities are most likely to move the needle. You can ask, "Given my goal to [achieve X], which of these tasks [list tasks] should I focus on first?" AI can analyze the potential impact and dependencies, offering a more objective perspective than your potentially overwhelmed brain.

Connecting Tasks to Objectives: We often have long to-do lists without a clear sense of why we're doing each item. You can use Gemini to help connect daily tasks back to larger projects or long-term goals, providing a sense of purpose and helping you prioritize based on strategic importance rather than just urgency. "Remind me how completing [Task A] contributes to [Project B] and my overall goal of [Goal C]."

Dynamic Task Management

Intelligent Task Scheduling: Beyond simple calendar blocking, AI can potentially learn your energy levels, your focus patterns, and the typical duration of certain tasks. It could then suggest optimal times to work on specific types of tasks, scheduling your deep work for your peak focus hours and routine tasks for when your energy is lower. "Based on my past performance, you seem to be most focused between 9 AM and 11 AM. Would you like to schedule [high-focus task] during that time?"

Adaptive Prioritization: Priorities change. New urgent requests come in, deadlines shift. Instead of manually reshuffling your entire task list, you can inform Gemini of the change, and it can help you dynamically re-prioritize your remaining tasks based on the new information and your overarching goals.

Identifying Bottlenecks: By analyzing your workflow and task dependencies, AI can help you identify potential bottlenecks before they become major problems. "I notice you've been stuck on [Task X] for several days, and it's blocking progress on [Task Y] and [Task Z]. Let's explore why and how to move forward."

This isn't about AI dictating your priorities, but about providing an intelligent framework and objective analysis to help you make better, more informed decisions about how you spend your time. It’s like having a strategic advisor constantly reviewing your workload against your objectives.

Reclaim 10+ Hours Weekly: The Cumulative Impact

So, how does all this automation and prioritization translate into reclaiming significant chunks of your week? It's the cumulative effect of saving minutes here and there across dozens of daily activities.

Think about the time spent:

Opening and processing non-essential emails.

Searching for information scattered across different documents or platforms.

Drafting and revising routine communications.

Getting started on a new task because you lack a clear outline or first draft.

Feeling overwhelmed by a long to-do list and not knowing where to start.

Switching between tasks inefficiently.

Attending meetings that lack clear objectives or summaries.

Each of these might only take a few minutes, but multiplied across a day, a week, a month, they add up to hours – hours that are often spent in low-leverage activities that drain your energy without moving you closer to your most important goals.

By using Gemini to:

Automate drafting and summarizing: You save time on writing and reading.

Extract key information: You save time on searching and synthesizing.

Break down and prioritize tasks: You save time on planning and decision-making inertia.

Get help with initial drafts: You save time on overcoming the blank page.

Identify high-leverage activities: You ensure the time you do spend is on what matters most.

The impact is exponential. Saving 15 minutes on email processing, 30 minutes on document review, 20 minutes on drafting a proposal outline, and 10 minutes on prioritizing your morning tasks might seem small individually. But repeated daily, across a range of activities, these small increments quickly accumulate.

The Intelligent Investor’s Mind: AI-Powered Psychology for Wealth, Wisdom, and Well-being: A Modern Approach to Financial Success Through Self-Awareness and AI: BUY EBOOK CLICK HARE

I've seen clients, initially skeptical, start by using Gemini for simple tasks like summarizing articles. Then they move to drafting emails. Then to breaking down project plans. As they get comfortable and see the time savings, they start looking for more opportunities to delegate routine cognitive work to the AI. The 10+ hour figure isn't pulled from thin air; it's a realistic outcome when you systematically apply AI to the repetitive, low-value tasks that currently consume your week.

Beyond Efficiency: The Impact on Well-being

Reclaiming time isn't just about being more productive; it's about creating space for well-being. Those reclaimed hours can be reinvested in ways that truly enrich your life:

Deep Work: Spending uninterrupted time on complex problems that require your full cognitive capacity.

Learning and Development: Acquiring new skills, reading, or exploring new ideas.

Creativity and Innovation: Engaging in activities that spark new ideas and solutions.

Strategic Thinking: Stepping back to see the big picture and plan for the future.

Relationships: Spending quality time with family, friends, and colleagues.

Rest and Recharge: Prioritizing sleep, exercise, and hobbies to prevent burnout.

When you're not constantly battling the clock and feeling overwhelmed by a never-ending task list, you have the mental and emotional capacity to focus on what truly brings you value and joy, both professionally and personally. This is the ultimate time hack – using AI to create a more sustainable, fulfilling way of working and living.

Getting Started with Gemini Time Hacks

Adopting AI into your workflow doesn't require a complete overhaul overnight. It's a process of experimentation and integration.

Identify Time Sinks: Start by tracking where your time actually goes for a few days. Be honest. Are there recurring tasks that feel tedious or time-consuming? These are prime candidates for AI assistance.

Experiment with One Task: Pick one specific task you'd like to automate or streamline using Gemini. Maybe it's drafting initial emails, summarizing meeting notes, or breaking down a small project.

Learn the Prompts: Get comfortable with how to phrase requests to Gemini to get the best results. Experiment with different wording and levels of detail. Think of it as learning to delegate effectively to a very capable, but literal, assistant.

Integrate Gradually: As you find success with one task, look for other opportunities. How else can Gemini help you with document handling, data analysis, or planning?

Establish Boundaries and Review: Remember that AI is a tool. You are in control. Review the output, refine it, and ensure it aligns with your standards and privacy requirements. Regularly assess how the AI is impacting your workflow and adjust your approach as needed.

This journey is less about finding a magic button and more about developing a new partnership. It's about understanding AI's strengths – its ability to process information rapidly, identify patterns, and generate text – and leveraging those strengths to complement your own.

The future of productivity isn't about working harder; it's about working smarter, and AI is the most powerful lever we've had in decades to achieve that. By embracing Gemini AI time hacks, you're not just optimizing your workflow; you're investing in your capacity for higher-level work, strategic thinking, and ultimately, a more balanced and fulfilling life. The hours are there, waiting to be reclaimed. The intelligent use of AI is your key.

The Intelligent Investor’s Mind: AI-Powered Psychology for Wealth, Wisdom, and Well-being: A Modern Approach to Financial Success Through Self-Awareness and AI: BUY EBOOK CLICK HARE

[technologyequality]

Boost Customer Loyalty with AI: Smarter Retention Strategies That Work

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[internett1line]

Understanding Network Sandboxes: Enhancing Cybersecurity for Businesses

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[muxtape]

The Future of Marketing AI-Driven Predictive Analytics

Diving straight into the heart of the future, let's chat about AI-driven predictive analytics and its revolutionary impact on marketing. Picture this: marketing not as a guessing game but as a precise, data-driven science where every move is calculated and every outcome, nearly foreseen. It's not just futuristic talk; it's the now – and if you're not in on it, you're seriously missing out.

AI-driven predictive analytics is like having a crystal ball but one backed by data, algorithms, and real-world application. It's about understanding your customer's next move before they even make it, tailoring experiences so personalised they feel magical. It's marketing but turned up to eleven. By harnessing the power of AI to predict trends, consumer behaviours, and potential market shifts, businesses are not just reacting; they're proactively shaping the future of their customer's journey.

But, here's the rub – with such a powerful tool comes the need for savvy minds who can wield it. It's not enough to have the technology; you need the know-how to translate complex data into actionable strategies. If you're not building a team capable of navigating the intricate world of AI and data analytics, you're setting yourself up for a fall. In the ultra-competitive UK market, being prepared and ahead of the curve isn't just advantageous; it's essential.

Then there's the aspect of real-time decision-making. Imagine tweaking your marketing strategy on the fly, optimising campaigns in real-time based on incoming data, and predicting consumer responses with uncanny accuracy. This level of agility and precision isn't just nice to have; it's becoming the new standard. If your marketing efforts lack this dynamic adaptability, you're playing a game of catch-up with those who've already embraced the AI-driven approach.

In conclusion, AI-driven predictive analytics isn't just shaping the future of marketing; it's defining it. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is real here. If you're not leveraging AI to anticipate market trends and consumer needs, you're not just behind; you're becoming obsolete. In a world where personalisation, precision, and agility are king, stepping up your AI game isn't just a good idea – it's imperative. Don't just watch the future happen; be a part of creating it.

[dipnots]

How to Choose the Right Antivirus Software: A Comprehensive Guide

In today’s digital age, where our lives are intricately intertwined with technology, safeguarding our digital assets has become paramount. With the proliferation of cyber threats, antivirus software stands as a crucial line of defense against malware, viruses, ransomware, and other malicious entities lurking online. However, the abundance of antivirus options can be overwhelming, making it…

[signode-blog]

Understanding Insider Trading: Unveiling the Wall Street Secrets

Introduction to Insider Trading Welcome to the world of finance, where markets operate on the principles of trust, transparency, and fair play. However, lurking in the shadows of this financial landscape is a practice that challenges the very foundations of these principles: insider trading. Let us embark on a journey to demystify insider trading, a phenomenon that has captured the attention of…

[barnacles34]

Steamy Mornings and Massages (Winter x Male OC)

7k words

Tags: smut, fluff, office sex, office massage, soulmates, romance, very love-heavy

Chapter 1: The Day After

"Let's just stay here," Minjeong murmured, pressing soft kisses to the crown of Junho's head. The morning alarm had shattered what his typically precise mind had categorized as Optimal Comfort Configuration™, but neither of them had moved to silence it[1].

His face remained buried in the crook of her neck, accepting what his mind reluctantly acknowledged as the only form of comfort he'd ever truly wanted. "Well, my secretary," he rumbled against her skin, the possessive pronoun carrying new weight in the morning light, "on a very important day, doesn't want to go to work?" Despite his words, his arms tightened incrementally around her waist, betraying his own reluctance.

Minjeong's embrace constricted in response, her Busan accent thick with morning warmth. "What are you going to do? Fire me?" Despite the implied challenge, she still continued to press soft kisses on his forehead. He tightened his embrace further, relishing in the warmth of Minjeong.

The challenge in her voice activated something primal in his executive functioning. His teeth grazed her neck in warning, hovering over precisely the spot that would make any low-necked blouse useless to wear for the following days. "Maybe," he murmured, his hand sliding to the small of her back with deliberate intent, dangerously close to the curve of her backside, "I'll fire you and keep you here, all day long, so that you belong only to me."

"That's..." her breath hitched as his hand dropped lower, "...rather unprofessional of you."

He lifted his head just enough to fix her with that boardroom stare that never failed to make her pulse race. "Says the woman currently preventing her CEO from attending his meetings." Her CEO? Something warm raced inside of her—she thought, her ceo? And this time, she wrapped her arms tighter—however much her thin arms could tighten; nevertheless, an affectionate hug.

"I prefer to think of it as optimizing your morning routine," she countered, though her professional efficiency was somewhat undermined by the way she melted under his touch, furthermore when he traced the curves of her backside. "Some things are more important than the Zhang Corp merger."

His laugh vibrated against her throat. "Careful, Secretary Kim. That sounds dangerously close to insubordination."

"And what does the CEO do with insubordinate employees?" The question emerged soft and weaker than intended as his mouth traced a deliberate path along her collar, trying her most obnoxiously.

"That depends," he murmured, his voice dropping to that dangerous register that made her breath catch. "Are they all as beautiful as you when they disobey direct orders?"

She attempted to maintain her composure, though her hands betrayed her by pulling him closer. "I wouldn't know. I've never seen you like this with other employees[2]."

"No," he agreed, suddenly serious as he raised his head to meet her gaze. "You haven't. You won't."

The intensity in his eyes made her throat tight. "Promise?"

Instead of answering, he caught her mouth in a kiss that effectively ended all discussion of work protocols and proper business conduct[3]. The morning sun painted complex equations of light across their entangled forms, but for once, neither of them was counting the minutes.

—

[1] The first recorded instance of CEO Kim's morning alarm continuing past its initial 0.3-second alert phase, a fact that would require significant updates to the home automation system's behavioral prediction models.

[2] The security system's emotion recognition protocols flagged this moment for what its algorithms could only classify as "Unprecedented Display of Executive Vulnerability."

[3] Later analysis would suggest that certain forms of insubordination yielded surprisingly positive results in terms of overall company morale, though these findings were kept strictly off the official record.

—

"You haven't eaten properly in days," Minjeong observed softly, her fingers tracing the subtle tension in his shoulders that most wouldn't notice. But she wasn't most people—she'd spent months learning to read the microscopic signs of his stress levels[4].

"I've been eating," he defended, though his attempt at authority was somewhat undermined by the way he instinctively relaxed under her touch.

"Coffee and quarterly reports don't count as meals," she countered, continuing her gentle exploration of his shoulder muscles. "I've watched you skip lunch three times this week alone."

He lifted his head to study her face, finding that mix of strength and tenderness that had first undone him. "You keep track of my meals?"

"I keep track of everything about you," she admitted, not backing down from his intense gaze. "Someone has to notice when you forget to take care of yourself."

His hand curved around the nape of her neck, thumb brushing her pulse point. "And you've appointed yourself to that position?"

"Consider it an extension of my secretarial duties," she murmured, then gasped softly as he tightened his grip in warning.

"There's nothing secretarial about the way you take care of me," he corrected, voice low and dangerous. "Is there, Minjeong-ah?"

The informal address, rarely used, made her breath catch. "No," she agreed quietly. "There isn't."

He studied her for a long moment, his analytical mind cataloging the flush in her cheeks, the slight quickening of her breath, the way she yielded to his touch while somehow maintaining that core of quiet strength[5]. "You're dangerous," he finally said, “dangerously beautiful, so beautiful,” then a kiss on the side of her neck which, eventually, will turn into a hickey and Minjeong hadn’t the power to resist her CEO’s advances anymore.

"Me?" She replied, out of breath, tremored, brilliantly transformed by her smile—the type of smile men fight wars for, the type of smile sinewy sociopathic CEOs would drop down for. "I'm just trying to make sure Korea's most brilliant CEO—I mean, my CEO, remembers to eat breakfast." Her small hand collected the waves of his hair, the aroma of the shampoo she recommended wafted in the air.

“Minjeong, you’re driving me crazy.”

“Is that a problem?” She pulled back her hand along his scalp, gathering hair, then trailing all down his nape, to his back: the type of affection that says, even if you were insane, I’d still be crazy about you.

Instead of answering directly, he pressed his lips to her forehead, then her temple, then the corner of her mouth—a calculated sequence of kisses that made her melt further into his embrace. "The only problem," he murmured against her skin, "is that you're making it very difficult to want to leave this bed."

—

[4] Her observation logs, never shared but meticulously maintained, included such details as the precise angle of his jaw when overwhelmed, the subtle shift in his typing rhythm when stressed, and the exact tone of voice that meant he'd skipped meals.

[5] The home automation system's behavioral analysis protocols struggled to categorize this new dynamic, where authority and surrender seemed to flow both ways simultaneously.

—

"Three days," Minjeong continued, her fingers finding the knots in his shoulders with practiced ease. "You've had that tension here since the Singapore deal started falling apart." The morning light caught the subtle furrow in his brow as he processed her words, realizing she'd been tracking his stress levels without him noticing. Her touch was methodical yet tender, each pressure point targeted with the same precision she applied to his scheduling.

"I didn't think anyone had noticed," he admitted, then caught her knowing smile. "Except you."

"I always notice," she replied simply. "Like how you've been drinking twice your usual coffee intake, or how your left eye twitches slightly when the board sends those passive-aggressive emails." Her hands moved lower, finding another point of tension. "You hide it well, but not from me."

He caught her wrist, bringing it to his lips. "It becomes…oddly weird when I see you do the things I usually do." The tease in his voice was softened by the way he pressed kisses to her fingertips.

"Consider it preventive maintenance," she countered, not backing down despite Junho trying to hide his habits under the rug, not backing down despite the heat in his gaze. "Someone needs to monitor your functionality levels[6]."

"Functionality levels?" His laugh rumbled against her skin as he shifted to hover over her. "Is that what we're calling this?"

"Would you prefer 'executive performance metrics'?" She managed to keep her voice steady even as his mouth traced a deliberate path down her throat. "I have spreadsheets..."

"Of course you do," he murmured, teeth grazing her collarbone in retaliation. "My perfectly thorough secretary, tracking every detail."

"Not just details," she breathed, hands sliding up his chest. "I know when you skip lunch to avoid the board members. When you stay late reviewing reports that could wait until morning. When you need..." she paused as his hand curved possessively around her hip, "...someone to remind you that you're human."

The words hung between them, heavy with meaning. Junho lifted his head to study her face, finding that unique blend of submission and strength that had first undone his carefully constructed defenses[7]. "And you've appointed yourself to that position?"

"Someone has to." Her smile carried traces of Busan sunshine. "Besides, I'm uniquely qualified."

"How so, Minjeong-ah?” Another tease. 

“Because you love me.” Minjeong stated, matter of factly. And this time, Junho seized her tight, trapping her under him, seizing her two thin wrists. Then, pressed a deep kiss onto Minjeong’s delicate lips. After a while, he released himself from the kiss, the kiss that Minjeong reluctantly let go of—her lips pointing outwards like a duck as he left. Finally, he said, “That’s right, I love you.”

Her stomach stirred with butterflies and more.

—

[6] Her personal files, never shared but meticulously maintained, included detailed protocols for managing various levels of CEO stress responses, from subtle intervention to direct action.

[7] The exact moment of this defensive breach had been logged by the building's security systems, though the footage was classified under "Executive Privacy Protocols."

—

Minjeong lingered in bed, her heart performing calculations that had nothing to do with quarterly reports. The smart home system's sensors detected her elevated pulse rate, though no algorithm could properly quantify the joy radiating from her smile[8]. She stretched luxuriously against Egyptian cotton sheets that still held traces of his warmth, letting herself marvel at the reality of being here, in his space, surrounded by evidence of Junho.

Her mind couldn't help but catalog the endearing chaos around her—academic journals scattered across surfaces, a tablet displaying economic projections that had clearly been reviewed at 3 AM, several coffee cups in various states of abandonment. The morning light revealed what darkness and desire had hidden the night before: Junho's private space was a fascinating contradiction to his public persona, a detail she filed away with all her other precious observations of him.

Rising with practiced grace, she padded across cold hardwood floors, her bare feet gliding across the floor. His dress shirt from the previous night—the one that had hung open as they'd discovered more interesting uses for his mahogany desk—called to her like a siren song. She slipped it on, the fabric carrying traces of his unisex cologne and something uniquely him that made her stomach flutter[9].

Junho emerged from his ensuite bathroom to find her like this: drowning in his shirt, examining his space with that careful attention she brought to everything concerning him. His breath caught audibly.

"That's mine," he noted, his voice carrying that dangerous edge that never failed to make her pulse race.

She turned to face him, letting the hem of his shirt brush against her thighs. "Really? I think it’s mine."

—

[8] The home automation system logged this moment as: "Secondary User Biometrics Indicating Unprecedented Levels of Serotonin. CEO Response: Highly Favorable."

[9] Security footage would later reveal this as the exact moment CEO Kim's usually impeccable morning routine experienced a critical efficiency failure, though no one questioned why that particular shirt never made it to the dry cleaners.

—

"You know," Junho mused against her neck, his hands tracing idle patterns on her thighs, "for someone so concerned about my eating habits, you're being very distracting in my kitchen."

"Me?" Minjeong's attempt at innocence was undermined by the way her fingers kept playing with his hair. "I'm trying to feed you."

"Wearing my shirt. Sitting on my counter." His smile carried equal parts mischief and heat as he pulled back to look at her. "I'm starting to think this is corporate sabotage, Secretary Kim."

She tried to maintain her professional expression, though her lips twitched. "I would never compromise company productivity, 사장님."

"No?" He raised an eyebrow, fingers sliding deliberately higher under his shirt. "Then explain why Korea's most efficient CEO is currently contemplating skipping his 9 AM."

"Poor executive guidance?" she suggested, then squeaked as he nipped her earlobe in retaliation. "I mean... clearly you need better supervision."

"Is that your professional opinion?" His laugh was warm against her skin. "And I suppose you're volunteering for the position?"

"Well," she threaded her fingers through his hair, tugging gently, "I do have extensive experience in handling difficult executives."

He lifted his head, eyes dancing. "Difficult?"

"Demanding," she amended, then added with deliberate sweetness, "High-maintenance?"

"You," he declared, catching her wrists and pinning them behind her back with one hand, "are getting dangerously bold with your performance reviews[12]."

Her answering smile was pure sunshine. "Does that mean I'm not getting that raise?"

"Oh, I'll give you a raise," he promised, his free hand sliding up her spine as he pressed closer. "Right after we discuss your insubordination."

"I have a presentation prepared," she managed, though her breath hitched as his mouth found that sensitive spot behind her ear. "Complete with charts on CEO stubbornness metrics..."

"Using company resources for personal research?" His mock disapproval was somewhat undermined by the way he couldn't stop smiling against her skin. "That's a serious violation of corporate policy."

"And what's the penalty for that?" She arched into his touch, shameless. "More overtime with my boss?"

"Definitely." He captured her mouth in a kiss that tasted like laughter and promise. "Starting now[13]."

—

[12] The home automation system registered this interaction as a significant deviation from standard performance review protocols, though it noted remarkable improvements in overall satisfaction metrics.

[13] Later analysis of the kitchen's usage patterns would reveal this as the morning the coffee maker recorded its latest ever first brew, a delay that would become surprisingly routine.

—

"We're going to be late," Minjeong observed, though she made no move to leave her perch on the counter as Junho's hands mapped new territories beneath his borrowed shirt. The morning sun painted gold across his shoulders, and she couldn't resist tracing the light with her fingers.

"Concerned about punctuality now?" His smile was wicked against her collar. "After deliberately sabotaging your CEO's morning routine?"

"I would never," she protested, then gasped as his teeth found that sensitive spot below her ear. "I'm simply... optimizing your schedule."

"Is that what we're calling it?" His laugh vibrated through both their bodies as he pressed closer, effectively trapping her against the granite. "And how does this particular optimization benefit the company?"

Her fingers curled into his hair as his mouth traced a deliberate path down her throat. "Improved executive mood... increased satisfaction metrics... better work-life balance..."

"Very thorough analysis," he approved, his hand sliding higher up her thigh. "Though I think we need more data points[14]."

"준호야..." Her professional composure cracked entirely as his fingers found bare skin. "The Zhang Corp meeting..."

"Can wait." He lifted his head to meet her gaze, his smile carrying that perfect blend of authority and affection that never failed to undo her. "I'm conducting important research."

"On what?" She managed to arch an eyebrow despite her rapidly dissolving coherence. "How to make your secretary lose her mind?"

"Girlfriend," he corrected, voice dropping to that dangerous register as his thumb traced patterns on her inner thigh. "And I believe we were discussing your performance review[15]."

Jun abruptly stopped their performance review midway because the deal was on the line and time was running short. Minjeong was reminded of this painfully by how Jun pulled away from the kiss—she was pouty about it until they reached the office, when her damascus-like resolve kicks in.

—

[14] The kitchen's environmental sensors registered multiple instances of what could only be classified as "Critical Protocol Deviations," though these readings were automatically archived under "Executive Privacy Settings."

[15] HR would later note a curious correlation between the CEO's improved mood and these new "morning performance evaluations," though no one dared to investigate further.

—

Chapter 2: The Meeting

The Zhang Corp representatives sat across the mahogany conference table, their expressions carefully neutral as they reviewed the merger proposals. Minjeong maintained her perfect professional facade, though her pulse quickened every time Junho's hand brushed hers as she passed him documents[1].

"The third quarter projections," she murmured, leaning close enough that his cologne made her thoughts stray to their morning activities. His finger tapped twice against the paper—their private signal that he needed a moment to compose himself.

"As you can see," Junho addressed the room with that commanding presence that made board members squirm, though Minjeong could detect the slight roughness in his voice that hadn't been there before their morning 'delay', "our integration timeline is aggressive but achievable."

She took her seat beside him, crossing her legs in a way that made his pen pause fractionally on the contract. Two could play at this game of professional torture. His response was to rest his hand on her thigh under the table, hidden from view but commanding enough to make her breath catch[2].

"Secretary Kim," he said smoothly, his thumb tracing dangerous patterns against her skin, "would you pull up the logistics breakdown?"

"Of course, 사장님." She managed to keep her voice steady as she reached for her tablet, though her free hand found his wrist under the table, her fingers curling around it in what could have been either submission or warning.

The meeting proceeded with perfect corporate efficiency, though the undercurrent of tension between CEO and secretary created what the room's environmental sensors could only classify as "Critical Atmospheric Pressure"[3].

—

[1] The conference room's biometric scanners noted elevated heart rates in both CEO and secretary, though this data was diplomatically omitted from official meeting records.

[2] Security footage would later require careful editing to maintain professional appearances, particularly regarding certain "under-table activities."

[3] The Zhang Corp representatives would later confess to the fact that they could tell what was happening, no amount of demure leg-crossing could hide it. Though, they ignored it in order to get that deal (which was integral to them).

—

The private office door clicked shut behind them, the afternoon sun casting long shadows across imported marble floors. Junho rolled his shoulders, tension evident in his posture despite the meeting's success[4].

"Come here," Minjeong said softly, recognizing the signs of his post-negotiation stress. She guided him to his leather chair, her hands already moving to his shoulders. "You get so tense during these meetings." Instead of standing behind him and the chair, she stood in front, impending a mount to get ‘better access’ to his shoulders.

"Keeping my hands to myself requires considerable effort," he admitted, then groaned softly as her fingers found a particularly tight knot. "Especially when you keep giving me those looks."

"What looks?" Her innocent tone was betrayed by the way her hands slid lower, tracing patterns down his upper chest. "I was being perfectly professional."

He caught her wrist, tugging her to face him. "Professional? Is that what you call that thing you did with your pen?"

"Taking notes?" She smiled down at him, letting her fingers trail along his tie. "I'm very thorough in my documentation."

"Very thorough," he agreed, pulling her into his lap with practiced ease. "Though I noticed some interesting gaps in the meeting minutes."

"Oh?" Her hands returned to his shoulders, kneading the tension even as she shifted closer. "Like what?"

"Like how many times you deliberately brushed against me," his voice dropped lower as her fingers worked their magic, "or how your skirt kept riding up when you reached for files[5]."

"Maybe," she breathed, her ministrations becoming less therapeutic and more intentional, "your secretary just needs better supervision."

His laugh rumbled through both their bodies. "Is that what you need, Secretary Kim?"

Instead of answering, she pressed a kiss to that spot below his ear that always made him growl. His hands tightened on her hips in warning, but she didn't stop her exploration of his neck, her fingers still working the tension from his shoulders even as she created a different kind of pressure entirely.

"The door," he managed, though his hands were already sliding under her blouse.

"Locked," she murmured against his skin. "I'm very efficient."

"My perfect secretary," he agreed.

—

[4] The office's environmental controls registered what could only be classified as "Post-Meeting Stress Relief Protocol: Executive Override Engaged."

[5] The meeting's official minutes would maintain strict professional standards, though certain observations were kept in much more private records.

—

"You're still tense," Minjeong observed, her fingers tracing new patterns down his spine. The afternoon light painted gold across his desk, where various merger documents lay forgotten. "Let me take care of you properly."

She slid from his lap, moving behind his chair with practiced grace. Her hands returned to his shoulders, this time with more purposeful intent. Junho's head fell back as she worked a particularly tight knot, a sound escaping him that had nothing to do with professional conduct[7].

"That noise," she murmured, leaning close enough that her breath teased his ear, "is definitely not going in the meeting minutes."

His laugh turned into another groan as her thumbs hit a sensitive spot. "Keeping secrets from the board, Secretary Kim?"

"Only the interesting ones," she admitted, her hands sliding lower, tracing the muscles of his back through his expensive shirt. "Like how my very commanding CEO turns to putty when I do this..."

His hand shot up to catch her wrist in warning. "Careful," his voice carried that dangerous edge that made her stomach flip. "You're getting bold with your observations."

"Just maintaining detailed records," she breathed, not backing down despite his grip. "For example, when I press here..." Her free hand found another knot, making him inhale sharply. "Your left eye twitches slightly. And when I do this..." She leaned forward, letting her lips brush his neck. "Your pulse jumps exactly like it did during the merger talks[8]."

The chair spun suddenly, Junho pulling her back into his lap with decisive force. "You," he growled, hands spanning her waist, "are playing a dangerous game."

Her smile was pure innocence, though her fingers were already working his tie loose. "I'm simply being thorough in my duties, 사장님."

"Your duties," he repeated, watching her with dark amusement as she stripped his tie with expert efficiency. "Is that what we're calling this?"

"Would you prefer 'executive stress relief'?" She gasped as his teeth found her collar. "Or maybe 'personnel management'?"

His laugh vibrated against her skin. "I prefer," he murmured, hands sliding deliberately up her thighs, "when you stop talking altogether[9]."

—

[7] The office's audio sensors temporarily malfunctioned during this period, a technical glitch that occurred with suspicious regularity during certain "private meetings."

[8] Her personal files contained extensive documentation of CEO behavioral patterns, though certain observations were encrypted under "Private Research: Ongoing."

[9] The afternoon's remaining meetings would require creative rescheduling, though no one questioned why the CEO's mood had improved so dramatically.

—

"You missed a spot," Minjeong murmured against his mouth, her fingers finding another knot of tension in his shoulders even as she shifted closer in his lap. The leather chair creaked softly beneath them, a sound that would forever carry new associations in both their minds[10].

"Did I?" His hands slid higher beneath her skirt, mapping territories that were becoming dangerously familiar for office hours. "Or are you just making excuses to keep touching your CEO?"

She pulled back just enough to give him that look—the one that somehow managed to be both defiant and yielding. "I take my responsibilities very seriously, 사장님."

"I've noticed," he growled, catching her wrist as she tried to maintain the pretense of massage. "Like how seriously you took those meeting notes earlier. Very... thorough."

Her laugh caught in her throat as his lips found that sensitive spot below her ear. "I was documenting important observations."

"Such as?" His teeth grazed her pulse point, making her grip his shoulders for balance.

"Such as," she managed, though her professional tone wavered as his hands grew bolder, "how the great Kim Junho gets distracted when I cross my legs. How your voice drops exactly half an octave when you're trying not to react to me. How you tap your pen twice when you're thinking about—"

He silenced her with a kiss that effectively derailed all attempts at analysis[11]. When he finally pulled back, her dazed expression made him smirk. "Any other observations to record, Secretary Kim?"

“I must’ve forgotten, I usually remember better when you kiss me.” She hinted, and he obliged, letting his lips connect yet again with Minjeong. This time, the endless teasing reached a breaking point that both of them coalesced to at the same time.

He tightly grasped her backside then pulled her up from the executive chair to the executive table. Wherein, she was splayed across the wide table. “We really have to ban tables when we’re around each other.” She joked. 

“That’d be a terrible idea.”

“How so?”

“Where else could I splay you across like this, then explore you, centimeter-by-centimeter?”

“Hmm…” she hummed, pleased, "Yeah?"

“Yeah.”

“Then come here, my ceo.”

“My beautiful secretary, whatever shall I do with you?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you find out?” She pulled as tight as she could, locking her arms around his neck.

He obliged, meeting lips with her once again. He felt the softness of her face as he explored deeper into the kiss, forgetting time and everything except what was being shared between them. Journeying his hands further, entangling it into the silken strands of his lover as he deepened the kiss, and she replied with a deep sigh—trembling with a mix of her high register. 

“You’re such a good woman for me, Minjeong.” He said before nipping at her lower lip, catching it softly between his teeth with a teasing tug, Minjeong let out a breathless laugh, “you’re devouring me, Junho.” Regardless, he dug deeper, letting his entire body shift into Minjeong’s malleable, petite body—letting his hand explore more of her silken strands, almost saying, yes Minjeong, that is my purpose: to devour you.

Now, instead of every 5 seconds, Minjeong’s soft moans that only served to goad Junho on were musically released into his ears every second. Precautiously, she asked, “how good is the soundproofing in your private room-ah!”

“Not good enough to hide your moans, dear.” He replied, his voice like rough gravel. Her eyes widened suddenly from the need to hide her moans. Yet he dug deeper, letting his loin rub against her wet bottom, daring her moan out loud.

Despite all the regulations, the possible condemnation, their passions only grew more. Mouths moving in sync, gazes meeting momentarily, it wasn’t just kissing anymore—it was a language. The type of language where Minjeong coalesced to his dangerous games and learned to enjoy it, almost as much as him.

“Junho, seriously, I don’t want to be seen as-”

“Minjeong-ah, I don’t give a single fuck if my employees hear you and I.” The teeth that so brazenly tugged on her lower lips trailed down her neck, tracing the soft tendons.

Whispering, in a verbose way, “And as you are my secretary, my extension, my life-line, you’ll follow. Me.” And as Minjeong was getting battered by the gravel-slung voice of Junho—she hadn’t noticed how her blouse was opened, bra pushed down to reveal the breasts that he was so infatuated with—only until she felt the torsion of her nipple.

“Ngh!”

“I love that, Minjeong, scream out. I’ll fuck you until the entire floor hears you call my name.”

And another wet mewl that inspired his further deviance.

Feeling the soft suction of his mouth on her neck, she deduced that it could only mean one thing: another hickey just placed above the collar of her blouse, the same sort of hickey that the Zhang corp executives couldn’t keep their eyes off of—any justification in their minds that it was a skin discoloration was debilitated by how intensely Minjeong and Junho shared those deadly glances, likely to jump on each other as soon as they left—and they were right.

“Junho—ngh!”

“Louder.” He replied, testing her, “fucking. Louder.” Then he pressed deeper, grinding his rough textured pants on the creamy soft bottom of Minjeong.

“Please Junho, seriously.” Was all that she could get out of her bated breaths, her deep moans.

Then suddenly, he stopped, caressing the softness of her cheeks with his, back-handed, knuckles.

“You look so beautiful when you’re all tired and exhausted, did I tell you that before?” Letting the tune of his voice marinate with Minjeong (who was recovering from how hot and bothered she was just a second ago).

However good his intentions were, he wasn’t perfect. The way Minjeong’s body looked splayed against the messy paperwork, her blonde hair all frizzy and stuck to the desk, how her chest went in-and-out catching all the breath she lost—all of it made it impossible for him to resist anymore.

He pounced on her again, connecting lips against her wet, trembling lips that nonetheless accepted him so openly, like a warm cup of milk tea on a winter morning. That momentary pause had changed everything, Minjeong—now fully conquered by him—was begging for that penetrative action that he would give out so liberally to her.

“Naughty woman, bad secretary, what else?”

“Junho’s toy.” 

“Fuck.” And in a flash, his belt flew off, then in another flash, his pants fell down. 

“Tented much?” She was truly in no position to tease: a strategic error.

He grinned at the statement, finally, teasingly, let his underwear fall inch-by-inch. 

Simultaneously, she bunched up her legs then pulled off her panty that revealed the color combinations that he would die for. Though before he could look for longer, she crossed her shins—hiding the cause of Junho’s demise behind her thin legs.

They shared a giggle before Jun hugged her soft body.

“I will penetrate you in this office.”

“Yes. It appears so.”

“No, like, do you consent?”

“Idiot..” Minjeong pulled him in for another kiss. Which, coincidentally, made his tip graze her engorged and swollen core, Minjeong almost came instantaneously from that alone.

And he could tell, laughing, “Seriously, Minjeong?”

“It’s your fault, you trained me like this.”

“This is like our 3rd time.” He said, as if to brush it off.

“This is my 3rd time.” 

And Minjeong would be certainly hurt by the thought that Junho’s partners before her made it more than his 3rd time for him—some of them, the girlfriends, she saw. 

He caught on the clues before it was too late, “Minjeong, not to compare, but who else have I been so crazy about? Who else did I track for every minute of the day? Who else did I let in my home (his girlfriends didn’t, actually, get to enter his home)? Who else would make me lose composure when they’re out of my sight-line?”

Letting his forehead touch against hers, he could feel her heart rend and beat and do all sorts of bothered gymnastics.

“It’s always been about you, Minjeong. You are the brilliance of my life, the expansion of a born star—bright from millions of light years away.”

And she needn’t say anything or reply. Absolving him by wrapping her arms tighter around his nape, then holding up her head to desperately kiss Junho again and again.

In between all the kisses, he penetrated Minjeong. His length, constricted against her core, travelled softly—wringing out all sorts of noises. Her swollen pussy wrapped around him gently but tight. “I love you, Minjeong.” Was the last thing said before Minjeong’s eyes went into the back of her head—a cute habit—before she orgasmed and creamed all over.

As per her request, Junho didn’t stop. He let his hips move as slow as he could possibly go before it could be called torture. During all this, Minjeong grabbed for stability as she was getting fucked through her orgasm, feeling that intense thrusting from the love of her life as she covered his length in more of her slick.

“Oh f-” He covered her mouth this time, respecting her wish to stay at least a little lowkey in the office, whatever the hell that meant right now. Then, shallow thrusts turned into slow thrusts all the way to the hilt, getting Minjeong to scrunch her face in pleasure, eyebrows knitted in the highest pleasure, her mouth agape with strands of her saliva connecting the roof of her mouth to her tongue.

“I love you, Minjeong. Fuck. This is insane, having sex with you in my office.”

“Ngh~ I - I love you so much,” was all that she could get across before succumbing to her dopamine receptors—eyes joining the back her head. Junho connected lips with her again, letting her legs lock around his waist, then rubbing his pelvis against her engorged core, clitoris and all.

After Minjeong finally got used to the familiar motions, he grasped her thin waist, almost wrapping his two hands around the entire circumference of her tight waist. Then their eyes met momentarily, Junho had the I am going to fuck you through this desk eyes whilst Minjeong had the prey eyes that relentlessly coalesced to him. Though, before he could go wild, he brushed off the stray hairs stuck to her forehead, gave a reaffirming kiss on her forehead before pumping all the way in.

The small of her back surrendered to his tight grip, bending against the pushes and pulls. Her legs tightened the lock around his waist—almost painfully tight, but that didn’t matter to him, who’d get to pummel her soft pussy.

“You’re so fucking tight,” he planted his body against Minjeong’s, pinning her two thin wrists against the stable table.

“You’re fucking me so good, Junho,” Minjeong replied, her rare use of the curse made him chuckle by the side of her head. 

“That’s right, baby,” Junho bear-hugged Minjeong, only thrusting deeper and deeper, pelvis rubbing against hers, to make her cum again.

“NGHHH~!” The abrupt moan startled him and herself—however, they didn’t care as much about the employees anymore after indulging in each other’s bodies. Instead of stopping or evaluating the situation—as the rationalists would do—they dug deeper into each other, trying to carve each other with their soft and swollen lips.

Suddenly, he lifted Winter and turned her over. Bending her back against the table before dipping his cock into her pussy again. This time, the entrance was entranced with the soft, tight, wet feeling that he was fully obsessed with. This time, he had more ready access to her soft ass that was so soft and supple that he had to relieve it of its aesthetic beauty: with some redness spread across her ass.

“Oh my god!” Winter squeaked as she reacted against the heavy-handed slap against her ass, loving it, spreading—overflowing—his length with her slick.

Leaning over, he held Minjeong’s chin for the last stretch, considerably slowing down and enjoying each other’s presence.

“How much do you bet the coworkers will give us bad looks?”

“The female workers already give me horrible ones.” She said whilst her chin was held stable by his hand, still moaning against the soft thrusts.

“Hmm, broad generalization. How do you know this?”

“That hickey that you gave that was far too purple and far too above the collar of my blouse.”

“No long-necked turtleneck?”

“No, that’d ruin the point, I wanted to show off the gift my Junho-ssi gave.” That was the moment when he moaned hard, pressing deep inside Winter before releasing all his seed—the seed that Winter felt bounce against her cervix, making her moan out and squeal happily.

“God. Minjeong, you will be my demise.” He sighed before Winter turned around and kissed him, “as long as I get to stay with you, through demise and all,” she said between the kisses.

—

[10] The office furniture procurement department would later note an unusual request for "enhanced stability features" in executive seating, though they wisely chose not to inquire further.

[11] The building's environmental controls registered what could only be classified as "Critical Temperature Fluctuation - Executive Override Protocol Engaged."

—

Evening painted Seoul's skyline in shades of amber and gold, the office gradually emptying as another corporate day drew to a close. Only the executive floor maintained signs of life, though its usual efficiency had given way to something far more intimate[12].

"We should go home," Minjeong murmured against Junho's shoulder, though she made no move to leave her position in his lap. His shirt had long since been unbuttoned, her blouse delightfully rumpled, both their professional facades thoroughly compromised.

"Should we?" His fingers traced lazy patterns up her spine, his other hand still possessively curved around her hip. "I rather like having my secretary exactly where she is."

She lifted her head to meet his gaze, finding that unique blend of authority and affection that never failed to make her heart race. "Your secretary has plans for you."

"Oh?" His interest visibly peaked. "More performance reviews?"

"Better." She smiled, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I'm cooking you dinner. Besides, breakfast was skipped."

The surprise in his expression made her laugh softly. "You don't have to—"

"I want to," she interrupted, then added with deliberate sweetness, "Unless my CEO is refusing a direct offer from his girlfriend?"

His hands tightened on her waist. "Using that title to manipulate me now?"

"Is it working?" She bit her lip, watching his eyes darken at the gesture.

Instead of answering, he pulled her into a kiss that suggested dinner might be delayed[13]. When they finally broke apart, his smile carried dangerous promise. "Your place or mine?"

"Yours," she decided, fingers playing with his collar. "Your kitchen needs christening properly."

His laugh rumbled through both their bodies. "Just the kitchen?"

"We'll see how dinner goes," she teased, then squeaked as he stood suddenly, lifting her with him. "준호야!"

"Efficient time management," he explained, setting her on her feet but keeping her close. "The sooner we leave..."

She pressed against him, deliberate and knowing. "The sooner you can help me... cook?"

"Among other things," he agreed, already reaching for his jacket. The predatory grace in his movements suggested cooking might not be the evening's primary activity[14].

—

[12] Security logs would note this as the third consecutive evening of "Extended Executive Hours," though the actual nature of these extensions remained diplomatically unrecorded.

[13] The office's automated systems began learning to expect these end-of-day delays, adjusting power consumption accordingly.

[14] The kitchen's motion sensors would later flag unusually high activity levels, though whether any actual cooking occurred remained a matter of some debate.

Fin

I fixed some stuff that I executed poorly before, like the crazy amount of math references; which, in foresight, was far too much.

I really had to get this out quickly. Now, I think it's a good idea to not expect anything from me for an entire month (hopefully not).

hope u enjoyed.

[jcmarchi]

Aviad Hasnis, CTO of Cynet – Interview Series

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/aviad-hasnis-cto-of-cynet-interview-series/

Aviad Hasnis, CTO of Cynet – Interview Series

Aviad Hasnis, CTO at Cynet Security, leads the company’s cybersecurity technology strategy, including development of its extended detection and response (XDR) platform, threat research, and managed detection and response (MDR) services. Prior to Cynet, he held senior cybersecurity roles in the Israel Defense Forces and holds advanced degrees in engineering and physics from the Technion.

Cynet Security offers an all-in-one automated cybersecurity platform designed to simplify protection for small and mid-sized organizations. Its solution integrates endpoint, network, user, email, and cloud security with built-in automation, XDR capabilities, and 24/7 MDR support.

Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving field. How do you balance staying ahead of threats while keeping solutions user-friendly and accessible to small and mid-sized businesses?

Lean SMB security teams must confront the same threats facing a Fortune 500 — with a fraction of the personnel or resources or budget. As cyberattacks soar in volume and complexity, SMB security leaders are driving demand for simplified, automated and consolidated security solutions to reduce complexity and improve protection.

At Cynet, my team purposely built the All-in-One Cybersecurity Platform to combine a full suite of security capabilities on a single, simple, AI-enabled solution.

By unifying environment-wide visibility and protection on one intuitive dashboard, Cynet maximizes user-friendly simplicity.

By automating key security processes, Cynet helps lean teams maximize efficiency.

Cynet’s platform is described as natively automated—can you explain how AI and automation play a role in detecting and mitigating cyber threats?

My team designed Cynet’s All-in-One Cybersecurity Platform to automate processes so people can spend less time managing day-to-day operations and more time building their business.

At Cynet, my team also takes pride in a “built, not bought” approach. Every capability, feature and automation of the All-in-One Cybersecurity Platform is developed in-house, from the ground up, and natively integrated so everything just works seamlessly out of the box. This eliminates integration gaps and overlaps that can compromise automated protections.

The MITRE ATT&CK evaluations ranked Cynet among the top performers. What AI-driven strategies contributed to this success?

I am immensely proud of my team’s contributions to Cynet’s record-breaking performance in the most recent MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation. There’s a good reason MITRE ATT&CK is the most trusted independent assessment among cybersecurity decision makers. MITRE uses real-world cyberattack scenarios to measure the performance of competing security platforms. That Cynet was the only vendor to achieve 100% Protection and 100% Detection Visibility reflects our commitment to building a reliable product for Cynet partners and customers around the world.

AI-based cybersecurity has been criticized for potential false positives and adversarial attacks. How does Cynet ensure accuracy and robustness in its threat detection?

AI-enabled cybersecurity solutions are most effective when integrated with expert oversight. While AI can process and analyze vast amounts of data rapidly, it is crucial to have experienced cybersecurity professionals providing ongoing supervision. My team at Cynet ensures that AI systems’ decisions are continuously validated, preventing situations where AI could potentially miss nuanced threats or make incorrect conclusions. In cybersecurity, where risks evolve quickly, human expertise is essential to interpreting results and making context-sensitive decisions.

To provide partners and customers with an additional layer of protection, Cynet backs the All-in-One Cybersecurity Platform with around-the-clock SOC support. Cynet’s SOC is staffed 24/7 by world-class analysts, ensuring that end-user environments are proactively monitored at all times, complementing automated scans. This unique combination of automated protection and hands-on expertise maximizes the peace of mind for Cynet partners and customers.

With the rise of deepfake attacks, AI-generated malware, and sophisticated social engineering, what emerging cybersecurity threats concern you the most?

We’re closely watching how generative AI is being weaponized—not just to craft deepfakes, but to automate phishing, generate polymorphic malware, and simulate legitimate user behavior. But all these AI-powered tactics are simply evolved means to a familiar end: tricking people. Therefore, it is not enough to simply keep cybercriminals “out”. Security teams also must be able to track user behavior and network activity for abnormal signals, and that’s a priority AI can assist.

To ensure our automated protections stay a step ahead of AI-enabled cyberattacks, Cynet’s product roadmap incorporates the latest security analyst insights, as well as direct input from Cynet partners and customers.

Ransomware attacks continue to evolve—how does Cynet’s AI-driven protection prevent and mitigate these attacks?

To thwart ransomware attacks, early detection is key. By automatically detecting threats, determining their root cause, eradicating all attack components throughout the environment, and delivering a report to confirm remediation, the All-in-One Cybersecurity Platform reduces manual incident handling by 90% and delivers 50 times faster results.

Do you see autonomous cybersecurity—where AI independently detects and responds to threats without human intervention—becoming a reality soon?

Though AI can automate detection and response, human analysts should always have the final say in strategic decisions. At Cynet, we embrace AI-driven automation while ensuring that security professionals remain engaged in high-value problem-solving.

The Cynet All-in-One Cybersecurity Platform automates key security processes, reducing the burden of manual operations so security teams can focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine tasks.

In incident response, Cynet automatically detects threats, determines root causes, eradicates attack components, and delivers detailed reports. This automation reduces manual incident handling by 90% and achieves 50-times faster results.

Despite this high level of automation, we always emphasize human oversight. Our 24/7 SOC team continuously monitors environments, validates alerts, and ensures that AI-driven actions align with security best practices.

This balanced approach ensures that automated systems work as intended while allowing human experts to provide critical insight and intervention when necessary.

What role do large language models (LLMs) play in cybersecurity? Can they be leveraged for both offense and defense?

Cybercriminals are putting LLMs to all sorts of no good. Guardrails to prevent mainstream GenAI platforms from performing malicious activity can be bypassed with relative ease. Social engineering scams can be launched at scale with the click of a button. Combined with easy access to malware kits and RaaS in cybercriminal forums, the bar for cybercriminals to do damage is lower than ever. With genAI, aspiring script kiddies no longer need advanced hacking skills to do real damage.

AI is also being used by threat actors to automate cyberattacks. How do you see the AI arms race in cybersecurity playing out?

The AI arms race in cybersecurity is well underway, with attackers using AI to automate phishing campaigns, generate deepfake content and create more advanced malware. These technologies allow cybercriminals to scale their attacks rapidly and make them more difficult to detect, increasing the overall threat landscape.

My Cynet teammates and I help security teams fight AI-enabled fire with AI-enabled fire. We automate detection, analysis, response and reporting to facilitate results far faster than human teams alone could. The key to maintaining an edge is to continuously refine models with up-to-date, high-quality data, enhance automated defenses, and integrate real-world threat intelligence to adapt to evolving tactics. As AI-driven threats grow more sophisticated, proactive defense strategies will be critical in staying ahead of attackers.

How do you see quantum computing affecting cybersecurity in the next decade? Is Cynet preparing for potential quantum threats?

Quantum computing is an intriguing but distant frontier in cybersecurity. While it has the potential to break traditional encryption methods, I don’t see it as an immediate risk in the next few years. Unlike generative AI, which is widely accessible and already impacting cybersecurity, quantum computing remains largely confined to research labs and nation-state-level initiatives.

Currently, financially motivated adversaries would face significant hurdles to access and use quantum computing for malicious purposes. The complexity and resources required to conduct a quantum-based cyberattack likely preclude mainstream deployment for the time being. That said, it’s important for cybersecurity vendors to maintain a proactive approach to R&D. Quantum is certainly an area my team will be keeping an eye on as the technology advances from theoretical to proof of concept to something organizations might actually face in the wild.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Cynet Security.

[deathworlders-of-e24]

Liz, Biotechnician

Part 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I still can’t get this stupid arm to work right,” Liz groaned. She’d managed to get to the lab on time today, and she’d been able to get dressed herself, but only barely. Her lab coat and uniform were both disheveled, the new bionic hand unable to get every button resulting in half of them being left undone. She’d ended up having to tie her shoe laces in knots to keep them on her feet because her fingers couldn’t bend the way she wanted or grip the thin laces. The only reason Liz was wearing the lab coat these days was to hide the cross section where her arm ended and the cybernetics began. Looking at it was… upsetting, to say the least.

“It’s only been a few cycles, Human Liz,” Coco said. “It’s my understanding that losing limbs is fatal to most other species of non-botanicals. Having the ability to complain right now is a gift.”

“It’s been over a week,” Liz said. “And I know, everyone keeps reminding me I’m lucky to be alive, you, the captain, Jane, I know how lucky I am, but this,” she waved the hunk of metal she called a hand, “is starting to piss me off.”

“You are upset,” Coco said. They were standing beside the center lab table. Liz couldn’t even see the claw marks the predator creature had left on their trunk anymore. “This is to be expected.”

Coco walked over to their wall computer, avoiding the small automated cleaner Liz had made to tidy up the dirt they tracked everywhere.

“Remind me again, this device you have made to remove the dirt, why have you attached a weapon to it?” Coco asked.

“Thought it’d be funny,” Liz said, “which it was.”

“And you have designated it…?”

“Stabby, ‘cause of the steak knife.”

“Why?”

“Old Earth legend. Makes us humans laugh,” Liz said, smiling as she leaned her chin on her good arm.

“You will have to explain that story to me again some time.” Coco clicked a button on their screen and a wall panel slid up between them, revealing the clutch of 5 eggs they’d taken from MX13 sitting in their tank. They were about the size of baseballs, or stone fruits. Liz had stuck a strip of electrical tape on the front and written ‘arm eating bastard eggs’.

“You know I’m half tempted to eat them,” Liz said.

“Please do not engage in predator behavior around me,” Coco asked. “It still makes me nervous sometimes watching you try to swat at insects.”

“Really? Why?” Liz chuckled.

“I know you are more evolved than a simple animal, but when I observe you stalk and hunt down the… mosquitoes? It reminds me of the predators we have on Spryga. It is unsettling.”

Liz stopped and thought for a moment. She hadn’t considered that before. It was probably a normal complaint among former prey species working alongside humans. Whoops.

“Well, sorry. Humans are weird like that, but I’ll try to be more conscious about it,” Liz said.

“Thank you. I do not mean to… step on your hands, but I appreciate it.”

“Step on your toes, hon.”

“Right.”

Liz pulled the tank out of the wall while Coco set the lab up, turning on heat lamps and setting the environmental controls in the room to MX13 standard, except for the air. Upon further analysis of the predator creature from the moon, it didn’t need the methane in the air to breathe. From what was left of its ‘lungs’, they breathed more like frogs, through their skin, stripping oxygen from out of the water they swam in. Apparently they were more reptilian than Liz had expected. There were underground rivers and lakes all across the subsurface of the moon, hunting grounds for the creatures. Liz guessed they came above ground to lay their eggs, away from the competition.

Furry reptiles, Liz thought. Why the hair though? It doesn’t make sense. Maybe to keep warm? The underground water has to be freezing.

“What do you think the GAIL will want to do with them after… if they hatch?” Liz asked.

“Standard procedure would be to return them to their natural habitat after a nano scrub to remove any and all unnatural scent from their bodies, so they can be reaccepted back into their species later,” Coco explained. “But hatchlings would be another question entirely. Perhaps they would be sent to an outpost for further study, or released into a controlled habitat somewhere.”

“What, like a zoo?” Liz asked. “You have zoos in the GAIL?”

“Possibly, I’m not sure what this zoo is.”

“We had them on Earth a long ways back. It was pitched as a way to study animals up close, but it was really just cheap entertainment for the masses. Eventually it kinda grew into a way to help endangered species, but it was still pretty on the line.”

“Then no, we don’t have zoos. What I’m speaking of are rehabilitated planets or moons with an ecosystem created to cater to the needs of the species we simply can’t put back where they are from.”

“That still kinda sounds like a zoo, but I guess if nobody is throwing peanuts at the elephants it’s still an improvement.”

The lab was set up for observation, the eggs were supposedly viable, so while they waited to see what would happen, the two got back to their other work. Reasonably they could’ve just left the eggs in the temperature controlled wall slot, but Liz had said that’d be boring, considering it was ‘the most she’d ever paid for less than a full carton of eggs.’

Coco stepped into their pot and watched the eggs, Liz in her desk chair tinkering with her new arm. She was sure if she could just get the pathways right, she’d be able to get the thing working properly. The cable running from her arm to her computer was annoyingly equated to a leash in her mind.

If I could just open a can of soda by myself, that’d be a huge win.

As they sat there doing important scientific work, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Coco said, unmoving in their corner. The door opened and, oddly enough, another human walked in. He stood just inside the doorway looking around sheepishly. Liz glanced at him and was surprised to see a maintenance droid sitting on his shoulder.

“Hey, I’m sorry to bother you guys, uhh, I’m Thomas, from engineering,” said the man.

“Well, hi, I guess,” Liz said, a little confused. “What are you doing all the way up here Thomas? We didn’t make any maintenance requests.”

“No, you didn’t, but I think you need one anyway,” Thomas said. “See, I was just in the med bay for the last couple cycles, and I overheard the nurses talking about the human who needed a cybernetic arm. I’m assuming that was you and not one of the other two, right?”

“What gave it away?” Liz said dryly, waving her metal hand. “And what are you doing, asking about me anyway? You want to see the robot arm or something, get an upgrade for your little buddy there?”

“Oh, no no no, I’m sorry, I just figured you’d need the fix for it,” Thomas said. He walked further into the room, albeit cautiously. “I asked about the model arm they gave you, the MK6, and there’s a small chance the one you have has a problem.”

“… huh?” Liz said, actually confused now.

“Yeah, the MK6 is a great design, but the company putting out the arms had a faulty inspection system, a couple hundred came off the line with a bug in the wiring.”

“I’ve ran a dozen tests on this thing, I would’ve found any code defect.”

“No, I mean, an actual insect, little crawly thing, in the arm. The factory where they were made had a pest problem so they were fumigating for a while. The whole plant is totally automated, so they didn’t stop production while they did it. Bugs went everywhere trying to escape, and some went into the product to avoid the pesticides. Prosthetics got sealed up, and so did the bugs. It’s probably gunked up the wiring in your arm, that’s why you can’t… you know,” Thomas explained, gesturing to her uniform.

“There… there’s a bug in my fucking arm?” Liz said, disgusted.

“I’m just saying there might be,” Thomas said, hands up like he was going to defend himself.

“Beep.”

“Yeah, I know buddy, but we gotta get permission first.”

“Did the small drone speak?” Coco asked.

“Oh my god you’re a Sprygan!” Thomas said, surprised. “I’m so sorry, I thought you were just a houseplant.”

“It’s no problem, I am not offended,” Coco said.

“Uhh, yeah, his name is Roomba, he asked why we don’t just fix the arm and go. We’re still learning patience and manners, apparently.”

“Beep.”

“Apology accepted. Thank you Roomba.”

“Can somebody just check my arm for bugs now please, before I throw up?” Liz half squealed, panicking. She could charge a hostile alien creature no problem, but the thought of insects touching her was enough to make her stomach churn.

“Yup, right, okay, gimme a sec,” Thomas said, coming into the room fully now. “Roll your sleeve up, I gotta remove the casing for this.”

Liz rolled the sleeve of her lab coat up past her elbow, grimacing as she caught sight of the connection plate set into the bone. The skin around it was still red and scarring.

Thomas pulled a small set of tools out of his back pocket and got to work. With a thin pick, he popped the forearm plate up, exposing the circuits running the length of the device, what Liz had in place of muscle tissue now. He took a small pair of needle nose pliers and started poking around, gently moving aside some wires here, around a bolt there. Liz turned her head away. As fascinating as the mechanism was, the idea of seeing an insect inside her body was going to make her sick.

“Okay, talk, bot boy, how come you knew about the defects?” Liz demanded. “I need stimuli to keep from thinking about this revolting situation, so talk.”

“I, uhh, wrote a paper at the academy, about how designers only see solutions to what they think could be the problem,” Thomas said, moving up her forearm. “A lot of people don’t realize they’re smarter than they give themselves credit for, especially actually smart people. Knowing what could go wrong, they start to doubt themselves, and when things do break, they wrack their brains over all the little things they think they did wrong. So I wrote a paper about all the other things that could go bad… like this little guy right here.”

Thomas clamped onto something and slowly fished it out of the device. Liz turned her head even further away, but it didn’t matter. Coco, ever present, and blunt as always, described it to her.

“It appears quite dead. Human Liz, you seem to have had a beetle of some kind in your prosthetic limb,” they said.

“Hon, I love you, but please don’t tell me the details,” Liz said, covering her mouth with her good hand.

“The lady who designed the MK6 is a certified genius, so I used her factory in my thesis paper. After they started getting complaints about some of their prosthetics, they ran every test they could think of, even rewrote the software a few times. It wasn’t until a no name engineer opened one up that they found the problem. Wasn’t anyone’s fault, it’s just a difference between working software and working hardware.”

“And you wrote an engineering thesis paper on that?” Liz asked, dry heaving ever so slightly.

“No, I wrote my psychology paper on that. I wrote my engineering paper on a new WARP drive design I made up.” Thomas threw the dead insect in the trash. “Bigger brains just see bigger problems. Takes a… well, not dumber person, just maybe a different kind of person to see the small problems.”

“Clearly. Anyone with two degrees isn’t what I’d call dumb either,” Liz said, turning her head back.

Thomas used a little brush to clean up the arm a little, squeezing a small tube of sanitizing gel into the empty space between wires.

“Roomba, sterilize this for me, would you?”

The little drone carefully climbed down from his shoulder and dropped onto the table. It held its little hand up as one of its finger tips ignited, making a small controlled torch. Liz held her arm out, looking concerned. The little droid ran its finger over the affected area and after a moment, the little flame went out.

“Beep.”

“Good job buddy. He said it’s totally clean now, 100% sterilized,” Thomas said.

“Oh thank god,” Liz breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks little guy, I owe you one.”

“Beep.”

“He said you’re welcome,” Thomas translated, handing the small droid a data pad. The pad wirred and trilled, and Liz realized the droid was playing a video game.

Odd little fella, huh, she thought.

“You should be able to get the arm working by the end of the day now. It’s had plenty of time to adjust to your neural pathways, it just couldn’t execute any functions till the block was removed. It’ll work just like your old one now,” Thomas said, putting the little tool kit back in his pocket.

“Guess I should say thanks for that,” Liz said, rolling her sleeve back down. “So… thanks. I owe you one too. Any of you guys down in maintenance need a hand, I’ve got a shiny new one to offer.”

“Human Thomas,” Coco chimed in, “thank you for fixing my friend. Your service has been greatly appreciated.”

“You’re very welcome,” Thomas smiled at them, “both of you. I better get back down to the maintenance deck though, we’re still repairing the core room from that flare the other cycle.” Thomas turned to leave, and was almost at the door when Liz called after him.

“Hey, hardware!”

He stopped in the doorway.

“Weird thing to call me, but I can dig it. Yeah?”

“How many degrees do you have?” Liz asked.

“Four, why?” He said.

“Know anything about eggs?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas left after a while, saying he’d be back to help build a better inclosure for the hatchlings. Apparently he’d kept bearded dragons as pets when he was a kid, so he knew at least a little about ‘lizards’.

Liz opened a desk drawer and dug out a stress ball, something Doctor Shaw had given her for rehab, and tried to squeeze it. Amazingly, her metal fingers actually curled and the ball morphed out of shape.

“Finally!” She said. “Coco, look! I can squeeze the ball!”

“That is wonderful, Human Liz,” Coco said, the lit photo bar in their branches feeding them synthetic star light. “The human capacity to overcome body altering trauma is fascinating. In my research of non-botanical life, this is very clearly an exception. Other lifeforms would simply perish from such catastrophic damage.”

“Wait until you hear our bones grow back stronger after they break,” Liz said, laughing.

“They do what?” Coco asked, a note of alarm making its way into their voice synthesizer. Liz cackled, throwing her head back and everything. She felt better than she’d had in days, like whatever funk she’d been in was starting to disappear. She suggested they discuss human bone structure while they go get something to eat, saying Coco could gorge themselves on chocolate while she got a sandwich or something.

The mess hall was lively, and various species meant various different cultures and cuisine, so it always smelt different every few minutes or so. They sat and discussed cellular structures, bone density, and the like, how calcium deposits support bone regeneration for a while, making the broken area stronger than ever, for a time at least. Coco was simultaneously fascinated and terrified. They had no idea non-botanical lifeforms were so resilient in the Terran System.

After some time, and a second sandwich, they made their way back to the lab. They’d just stepped off the lift and were a few feet from the door when Liz heard it.

…scchhtt scchtt sschht…

Something was scratching at the door, low to the floor. Something small.

“Coco wait a minute,” Liz said softly, holding out her good arm in front of the Sprygan.

The door opened… and there was a baby arm eating bastard sitting there, looking up at her. The thing looked almost like a big kitten, except for the gator snout and reptilian limbs. Its body was covered in patchy fur, almost like a baby seal. It looked up at the two of them and chirped like a cat before waddling over, sat on Liz’s foot, and began gnawing on her laces.

“Holy shit,” Liz said. “It’s so ugly I love it.”

“I will go call Human Thomas,” Coco said, “we will need the new enclosure now.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Thomas arrived, the scientists had found two more Armeaters. “Yeah, one word, that’s what I’m calling them,” Liz had said when asked. One had been crawling around in Coco’s plant pot, and the other was sniffling around under the desks. As for the other two eggs, it seemed the three had…

“You mean they ate the other eggs?” Thomas asked, mildly horrified.

“Yeah, we checked the recordings. They sat looking at the eggs for a bit before they, uhh, kinda just crushed the eggs and ate them scrambled,” Liz explained. She was sitting in her desk chair, covered in Armeaters. Coco didn’t put out any body heat, so the little buggers had decided Liz’s lab coat and uniform were the optimal place to get warmth. It was actually pretty cute, in a weird sort of way, as they were all three purring in a guttural manner.

Thomas rigged the big tank the eggs had been in with a little 3D printed ‘rock’ cave, with some spare dirt the Sprygans had on board. The engineer worked hard to make the enclosure as close to the environment on MX13 as possible. By the time he was finished, they even had a little ‘pool’ made out of a file tub they weren’t using.

The problems started when the humans tried to put the creatures in the tank. They didn’t go for it. The moment Liz tried to set them down, they started whining, making this pew sound, much like baby alligators.

“I do not understand,” Coco said. “Why are they doing this? There is food and water in the enclosure, as well as a heating rock to keep them at the optimal temperature.”

“They probably imprinted on Liz when you walked in,” Thomas said. “Lots of creatures think the first thing they see after they’re born is their parent.”

“That sounds… confusing,” Coco said. “On Spryga, we either sprout from the ground near our progenitor, or we are sometimes an offshoot of them when branches or limbs break off and take root on their own.”

“This is just great,” Liz said sarcastically. “Gonna have to get a blow up bed or something, sleep in the lab now. We’re having a slumber party Coco, sorry, but apparently the kids need me.”

“Beep.”

“Because they’re newborns Roomba, they don’t know any better- OW SHIT!”

Thomas looked around, then started laughing uncontrollably. The auto-cleaning device had started its rounds, cleaning up eggshell and dirt. It had nicked his ankle with its knife.

“THERES A ROOMBA WITH A KNIFE!” He howled. “This is amazing! Why didn’t I think of that?”

He looked directly at Liz, more serious than either of the two scientists had seen so far.

“Do you think Roomba can ride the roomba? Can one of the little guys ride with them too?” He asked, so seriously.

“You humans are starting to concern me,” Coco said. “I’m getting more chocolate.”

“Can you grab me a drink too hon? These little guys are sleeping and I don’t want to wake them.” Liz was petting the little creatures when she noticed she was using her prosthetic arm. She hadn’t even noticed, it felt so seamless. She curled the fingers and scratched gently behind one of their ears.

About time, she thought. The funk was over. The new normal wouldn’t be that bad it seemed. She looked at the engineer.

“Thomas, if it’s the last thing I do on this ship, they’re riding the roomba.”

[technologyequality]

AI-Powered Client Acquisition: Finding, Engaging, and Converting Your Ideal Customers

AI-Powered Client Acquisition Finding, Engaging, and Converting Your Ideal Customers So, you’ve optimized your pricing strategy with AI (if you haven’t, what are you doing?!). Now, let’s talk about what’s arguably even more important—getting the right people to pay those prices. Because here’s the thing: Not all customers are created equal. If you’re spending time chasing the wrong leads,…

[louziferr]

Chuck is a jab/reference at Gagarin + hot take

Guess who’s back? Your average niche philosopher with zero swag :3

I was in denial but the fact that Chuck is eerily similar to the very first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, I eventually gave in and agreed to my own thesis. Now, as I’m in a college where my major is psychology and I’m working on several character analysis in the movie, I held an essay about Yuri Gagarin and how propaganda and expectations literally killed him. (To make it short, with the set up propaganda he had to live up the plastic expectations of the civilians and government which used him as a PR instrument internationally, that lead to loss of his identity and results were he was acting out. Long story short, he died during a pilot training with a fighting jet after the party prohibited him exactly that in fear they lose their propaganda instrument, would look bad for a totalitarian regime…)

And the way he lived as a person and how media had portrayed him, it’s identical to what Chuck goes through…

Again, please consider that this is just a theory of mine, could be wrong, could be right, could be insane… and yes, ive put a TL;DR at the end, because I yap A LOT.

Chuck and Gagarin are “the first people” to either go to space or discover Planet 51, all alone. The fact that both spacecrafts were automated so they didn’t have to “push buttons”, like Chuck is even mentioning…

Both Chuck and Gagarin have to fight with themselves and try and live up to the made up expectations through media. Both had made self-deprecating comments about themselves, the total opposite what media portrays. Gagarin said: “I’m just a simple man, a pilot and just a comrade, friends.” Chuck said: “I’m just a button pusher, I just made it because of my looks.” Another example is the weight and body dysmorphia both struggled with. The system expected them to maintain this hero role, but god forbid they eat more Twix bars or condensed milk than usual.

Gagarin was known for his sweet tooth, Chuck too. While Chuck is often seen eating Twix bars (or chocolate in general), Gagarin was often seen or mentioned in family notes with condensed milk and chocolate, especially after he had a more affordable lifestyle and the Soviet party “spoiled” him with goods.

Both men know what they can and possibly reach, but it gets put into the background from constantly having to perform at their best. Both thrive in publicity, but not when they get forced to.

HOT TAKE: Chuck isnt the typical cocky jock he was portrayed in the movie, I believe he was thinking he has to perform for these aliens as well is the result of having to give 100% all the time for the camera. His behavior gave him publicity on earth, and he was thriving in it, probably because of his past in a party school, that shaped him a lot. At some point it became his identity and only purpose that fills him. But Lem is here to make him realize the aliens don’t give a crap about it. Like a reality check.

I firmly believe that Chuck is also coming from a working-class family. It would make sense in comparison to Gagarins past during WW2 and under N4ž1 occupation and the fact that Chuck proved to be street smart with skipping cars and stuff. Gagarin grew up on a farm and used to tinker as a kid with tanks and tractors and had a lot of knowledge about how to manipulate German tanks.

Gagarin was upset that the Vostok 1 he sat in was automated and he couldn’t do much, just like Chuck was upset. But he was upset because he isn’t aware of his abilities most of the time. Gagarin was super aware of his abilities and was more upset about the lack of trust General Kamanin had (who oversaw the Vostok mission)

Chuck is definitely known for his look and smile, guess who too? When I was working with Gagarin propaganda, whether it were letter stamps or memorials painted onto apartment complex walls, it was his smile that lead to the Soviet Union use as a propaganda instrument and make him famous. In Chucks case, so too. He is known for his smile and hot look on magazines, like the one the military on P51 confiscates. So, yes, both are handsome young men.

The grin itself... They both have that teethy white grin into cameras. Oh yeah and both were known to be very charming and so called “woman-heroes”. (Bro idk how else I’m supposed to name that, im German and my vocab is ass…)

Both Chuck and Gagarin are simple men. In the Art Book of P51, Chuck was meant to be a simple, not overly complicated and easy to explain character. Gagarin was a simple man at heart, a simple Soviet citizen with a family, coming from a low-income family.

Ive said it before and I’ll say it again, the evidences are clear, there are multiple Cold War references through the movie and Chucks arrival is supposed to represent the Red Scare (this fear/denial and hostility towards communism, shaped through propaganda) the West went and still go through at some parts… That just fuels my thesis on Chuck being a jab at Gagarin, or at least the resemblance.

I think it’s not that much of an importance because a lot of other male characters do, but both Chuck and Gagarin have a wife, whom they loved dearly. Unfortunately, Gagarins wife died a few years ago.

TL;DR: Chuck is pretty similar to Yuri Gagarin, not only because of looks and societal status, also because of the same fate, same struggles and the fact that the movie has Cold War references and Gagarin was a pilot then astronaut during that time. And the hot take is that Chuck isnt the cocky jerk he is portrayed as, but someone that suffers from the same problem we have as a society and from what Gagarin suffered too: Unrealistic expectations on public figures we see as heroes.

Also thank you so much for even reading that bs I call niche interest, it’s so niche i swear but to me it feel so big… I’ll publish a full document with everything listed and documented someday, haha

[darkmaga-returns]

I recently interviewed the professional version of ChatGPT. My intent was to put a crosshair on the functional uses for AI, but I got a totally new and profound view. More on that in a minute. The first thing on the list was Cognitive Augmentation, which covers things like research, ideation, writing, etc. There are no moving parts so far.  However, the list went on with fluid uses like surveillance, mechanical and procedural automation, and narrative control.

In all, one function was static, and the next six were dynamic based on data flows. This prompted me to ask ChatGPT:

Would you say the prime directive for AI is live-flow data analysis?

Then ChatGPT spilled its guts:

At its most powerful and strategic, AI exists not to archive knowledge but to act upon the world in real time. This aligns it more with control systems than mere analytics. In technocratic logic, knowledge is only as valuable as its immediate utility in managing systems—whether ecological, social, economic, or mechanical.

Think motion. Why live-flow dominates, according to ChatGPT:

1. Cybernetic Control:

AI inherits from cybernetics a commitment to feedback loops—processing input, adjusting outputs, and minimizing system entropy through continuous real-time correction.

2. System Optimization:

Smart grids, autonomous vehicles, financial trading bots, and social platforms rely on AI only insofar as it acts continuously to optimize flow, minimize error, or redirect behavior.

3. Governance and Enforcement:

Technocratic systems—whether in energy, healthcare, or speech regulation—favor AI not as a tool of deliberation but as a mechanism of enforced compliance via perpetual data scanning and instant decision-making.

4. Surveillance as Governance:

The logic of surveillance capitalism and state bio-monitoring depends on AI’s ability to observe and react faster than humans, preempting decisions rather than responding to crises after the fact.

Then it noted that static analysis is secondary, but still strategic.

[maheswathi]

Digital Marketing in 2025: Trends, Tools, and Strategies for the Future

Its 2025, businesses must remain ahead of the curve to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving field of digital marketing. Digital marketing in 2025 will be more data-driven, customer-focused, and interactive than ever thanks to the most recent developments in AI, personalization, and user behavior analysis.

What’s New in Digital Marketing in 2025?

1. AI-Powered Marketing

Artificial intelligence is now at the core of most marketing tools. From content generation to predictive analytics and chatbots, AI is enabling brands to automate processes while enhancing customer experience.

2. Hyper-Personalization

Generic content no longer cuts it. Brands in 2025 are using real-time data and machine learning to deliver hyper-personalized content, emails, and ads tailored to individual user preferences and behaviors.

3. Voice Search & Conversational Marketing

With the increasing use of voice assistants, optimizing for voice search has become a must. Conversational marketing through chatbots and messaging apps is also revolutionizing how businesses interact with customers.

4. Video-First Content Strategy

Short-form videos dominate platforms like Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok. Brands are investing in video content not just for awareness but also for conversions, product demos, and testimonials.

5. Privacy-First Marketing

As privacy regulations tighten and third-party cookies fade out, marketers in 2025 rely heavily on first-party data, ethical tracking, and consent-based marketing strategies.

Top Digital Marketing Strategies for 2025

SEO 2.0: Search engines are prioritizing user experience signals, mobile usability, and voice search optimization. Semantic search and intent-focused content are critical.

Omnichannel Integration: Consistent brand messaging across platforms—social, email, web, apps—is key to improving customer journeys and retention.

Micro-Influencer Collaborations: Niche influencers with loyal audiences offer high engagement and authenticity.

Interactive & Immersive Content: AR filters, interactive quizzes, and gamified experiences increase engagement and dwell time.

Sustainability Marketing: Brands that showcase ethical practices and sustainability efforts attract conscious consumers.

Tools Dominating Digital Marketing in 2025

AI Content Tools: ChatGPT, Jasper, Copy.ai

Analytics Platforms: Google Analytics 4, Mixpanel, Heap

Marketing Automation: HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo

Social Media Management: Buffer, Later, Hootsuite

SEO & SEM: Semrush, Ahrefs, Surfer SEO

Final Thoughts

Transparency, intelligent technology use, and meaningful engagement are key components of digital marketing in 2025. In this next stage of the digital era, brands that adjust to these changing trends and put the needs of their customers first will prosper.

Now is the time to revisit your digital strategy and align it with the future. 2025 calls for audacious, creative, and customer-focused marketing initiatives, whether that be through embracing AI, improving personalization, or producing immersive content.

Are you prepared for digital marketing's future?

[signode-blog]

Understanding Insider Trading: A Comprehensive Overview

Insider trading, a term often associated with the financial markets, is a practice that lies at the intersection of legality, ethics, and market integrity. In its simplest form, insider trading involves buying or selling a security based on material nonpublic information about that security. This practice, while legal under certain circumstances, becomes illicit when individuals exploit…