#Create a Non-duplicated Collection

[simmir99]

✨Sims grab your best fashion and your date because it's time for The Met Gala! 📍The Met Gala - The Metropolitan Museum of Art ✨ *FREE for Download - Details Below! (Only 40x30 lot size)

This museum was designed for the gala, with 3 STUNNING Art Exhibits, a Reception Room, Full Bar and of course the Red Carpet for your Sim's FLAWLESS photo! *After the Gala, convert the reception room into an Art & Pottery room, perfect for the NEW Business & Hobbies EP **All signs by have 2 versions (English and Simlish)! [Recolors by me 😉]

The Art Exhibits Illusions of Love - Inspired by a new event in Las Vegas held in complete candlelight, I created this exhibit especially for The Met featuring my new cc collection, which can be found HERE. This exhibit captures love, romance and even heartbreak. PERFECT for Date Night ❤️‍🔥

Dark Academia - Highlighting dark aesthetics and a mysterious sultry vibe. Featuring the INCREDIBE CC by @sims4luxury and @sooky88 🔥

Cultural Celebrations - Featuring the AMAZING art by @simminmybestlife and @rhiannonar-sims that both capture the cultures beautifully💜.

Lot Size: 40X30 CC Size (*see below): 1.14 GB Packs Used: Get to Work, Get Together, Get Famous, High School, Lovestruck, My Wedding Stories and Dine Out. *Used but non-essential: Spa Day, Moschino, Romantic Garden, and Everyday Clutter.

*CC load will be VERY light if you have Felixandre's Chateau, Estate, Berlin, Florence, SOHO and Felix/Harrie's Livin' Room collection. *I highly recommend downloading Sims4Luxury and PlantinumLuxeSims CC as it truly plays a BIG part in this build. All files have been unmerged to ensure no duplicates in your mods folder but please double check if you have the merged packages for these collections.

FREE for download on my Patreon HERE

*Please tag me as I would LOVE to see your sims at The Met

HUGE THANK YOU to the amazing CC creators @felixandresims, @syboubou, @sims4customcontent, @sims4luxury, @sooky88, @simminmybestlife, @rhiannonar-sims, PlatinumLuxeSims and MANY others!!

[ametunns]

The secrets of the Machine are a little underestimated.

This is a place for posters, I don't argue. But all these events take place after BATDR, before the start of B3NDY, some kind of last grandiose Meatly project,

after which the Bendy franchise will canonically close and we will be expected... different ways from this story.

Just like in the last time, I want to talk about the"Secrets of the Machine as the outline of the future world". It's more of a discussion about how the game itself reflects how the Bendy game can changing and how priorities can be set.

I don't think I'm saying anything new, but I was just curious to think about it. Enjoy reading!

||| Collecting parts before analyzing "Secrets of the Machine" >>>

Before I go into how Secrets of the Machine relates to all the latest projects, I need to show some of the things that will be reflected in the teaser game.

Remember the post from Meatly about "Bendy is like BATDR but like BATIM, and it will be in B3NDY". I'll add to that:

Some of Meatly's posts that somehow touch on B3NDY,

Announcement of the book "Silver Screams" with the status "non-canonicity of books",

cucumber pickle on April 1st (as strange as it may sound ik I'm fine believe me)

And I'll try to put it all together-

| • The Meatly's posts >>>

*"Either he has difficulties in tying all his desires together, or he is burnt out from the number of projects on his shoulders" - this is the first thing that came to mind at that moment. But now is not the time for this-

----

Bendy will receive new changes in B3NDY, but keeping the atmosphere of BATIM and taking into account the experience from BATDR to create a new approach in the design of the atmosphere.

---

---

Considering that the game literally has ink sewers and train tunnels, the Gent Corporation could easily create something like that under their organization. It could be a warehouse, archives, places for experimenting on people or trying to create "their own cycle", as noted in the book by Alan Gray himself...Wilson clearly got help from this book for many things.

I'm not even talking about creating a dictatorship, but I want to note!- do you remember the ritual things in Joey's office FROM THE CYCLE? What stopped him from taking these duplicates to start changing the Cycle from the inside, and not taking the real objects that could be under supervision? He got them only for Audrey and a wonderful coffee break also under the Arch Gate studio and in Wilson's personal lab. Again these repetitions "lower and lower"-

And the shaft... I remembered one small detail from the Cage teaser - something similar to a shovel, while we have a very heavy enemy in armor in front of us.

There will be new characters, but the focus will still be on those who have long been familiar.

---

---

By the end of B3NDY, the future of the franchise may move away from the horror theme, which, as it seems to me, could give new life, new breath to the Bendy games (or they will develop all the April jokes, who knows: a bazooka and dynamite are already lying in BATDR)

---

Now let's turn to "Secrets of the Machine", which showed us the next:

The atmosphere of the game sets a new tone from the very beginning: the emptiness of space, in the middle of which there is only an old house and a metal arch that turns on the light with the sound of cold metal. You just don’t know what this secret is, but you keep going, going deeper into the darkness and you notice the world’s attempts to return its details like coffins, pentagrams, things... You notice that the house is bigger inside than outside; Riley’s story doesn’t look like a monologue of a tape, not like some kind of note, but like really being in the role of this girl. And at the same time preserving the color palette and quite directly, without strong guesses, to understand this story. Nothing prevents them from repeating something like this in B3NDY or The Cage;

Bendy can be summoned, although before that it was necessary to either break the cardboard or just hope for a unexpectedness. Changes in character after talking to Audrey..?/...Gent?

New characters like the old cartoon character and the mannequin. They are minor roles, but it is possible to add some story to them too.

'Silent City' teasers suggest new directions for Bendy

|| • A new book >>>

The cinema in Secrets of the Machine can be considered as a premise for a Bendy movie/book. But let's be honest, that sounds very far-fetched.

It's easier to believe that the screen is simply a part of Bendy's world; an element that will sooner or later become a reality, either in the imagination ("Fade to Black") or in reality, all the while continuing to use technology and scientific advances.

The screen in Secrets of the Machine shows Gent's involvement. Yes, this was already made clear to us by the ending of BATDR, when all the real objects and the Machine were finally transferred to the corporation.

And the teaser itself for B3NDY, as you can see, is connected with the theme of the laboratory and research.

And the appearance of Nightmare Taxi, Riley's voluntary departure to Gent (oh yes, her depressed blood for the entire ink machine at the very beginning) - that't all can only give prerequisites for what the corporation is capable of.

||| • A joke, but I haven't found it funny anymore.

The cucumber pickle again showed colors like green and red. In BATIM, we only saw color in Drew's apartment, but with BATDR colors appeared in general. But you know...

There is a box in the Secrets of the Machine. With a questions. And for many efforts, you just get nothing.-

But in the cucumber joke, the doors are always open. Because at least somewhere there should be a "joke" in a place where there are vegetables and water from words.

And personally, I'm already tired of it.

Just it will BE EASY for newsreel worms to eat quickly spoiling foods. And besides cucumbers, you know who will be the next product...

The human.

Fresh, meatly and canned in tomato sauce

---

Thanks for reading. I hope it was interesting ⭐

[gameo-archive]

What we're doing here

Hello! After seeing @noctua-an-owl's awe-inspiring thread of First Round Gameos¹ on the bird app, I realized that I could do the same thing over here, since tumblr is better suited for storage. We managed to hunt down 177 of the 417 First Season Gameos¹ released this August (plus three Jameos² for enrichment!). Our final total for Second Season Gameodens³ (and our extra special Gameossius⁴) is 235, and Third Season Gameos¹ and Cameodens⁵ are trickling in every day, so we're close to 450 as of last count.

(¹ George + Cameo = Gameo; ² Joshua (Colley) + Cameo = Jameo; ³ George + Jayden + Cameo = Gameoden; ⁴ George + Cameo + Kassius = Gameossius; ⁵ Jayden + Cameo = Cameoden)

What to expect

About 2 re-run gameo(den)s a day and new ones whenever we get any to a maximum of 4 videos per day.

I will update posts with new information as I find it, especially when I can get a transcript for subtitles, and I'll delete duplicate posts to keep it tidy. <3

How can you help?

If you'd like to contribute to the wonderful @edmcmayonnaise created tracking sheet, it's here.

If you want to share anonymously, feel free to message me with links or questions.

If you'd like to create transcripts for any of the videos, feel free to message me with what you have. (shout out to @pipwasreal!)

If I've missed anything from either round, please please please send me links and tips to Gameo(den)s, yours or others that were publically posted.

George is open and Jayden opened shop for Valentine's Day so if anyone gets a 3rd season video, feel free to let me know here or on the bird app (I'm @realrocketbride over there).

Thanks to @deadboyagency for posting so many of these already, and the biggest hugs and gratitude to @noctua-an-owl who worked tirelessly on twitter to collect the first gameos - my work very much builds on what they did so lovingly. Also thanks to the DBD Haunt Discord server, who are also collecting video links and let me join just to raid their supplies. ;)

(Last, please don't be alarmed if a non-gameo post goes up; I'm still getting used to having 2 blogs and I'm making mistakes constantly. As soon as I catch it, I'll delete it. :) )

[mcytblraufest]

Holiday Exchange: General Rules and FAQ

TIMELINE:  Sign-ups open, Discord Opens: 18 October Sign-ups close, everyone must have joined the Discord: 15 November Assignments sent out: 23 November - 26 November Check-in: 9 December - 10 December  Posting Week: Sunday 24th December through Monday 1 January.

RULES FOR PARTICIPATING:  - Must join our Discord for communication - Must tag your recipient in the eventual post  - Must tag this blog in your post so we can keep track of gifts - DM a mod ASAP if you don’t think you’ll get your gift out on time or at all, or you want to withdraw - Must check in at the half-way mark to make sure everything is on-track. -Must request and offer to create around a minimum of three characters. -Any under-18 persons found requesting or offering NSFW content will be banned from this and all future iterations of the exchange. -Because of Tumblr, Ao3 and Discord TOS, you must be 13 to participate.

RULES FOR CREATING:  - Make a good-faith effort to respect creator boundaries - Your gift doesn’t have to contain only requested characters, but it does have to centre on at least one requested character.  - Any shipping must be kept to PG-13 levels or below unless your recipient specifically requested NSFW. Any non-requested NSFW is grounds for a ban from this and all future iterations of the exchange.  -Respect your giftee's DNW. Any gift found to be in violation of a reasonable DNW is grounds for a ban from future iterations of the exchange. - Dark or Violent themes must be tagged appropriately -No AI-created content.

DISCORD LINK - Discord: [here]

CREATING RESOURCES:  - How to add your fic to an Ao3 Collection. [link]  - The Ao3 Collection. [link]  - How to image-describe your art. [link1] [link2]

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:  - Art (1 drawing, created to a standard you would normally post as “finished”)  - Writing (1k+ words)  - Playlist (2 hour-long playlists)  - Moodboard (2 boards, at least 9 elements each, for a total of at minimum 18 elements between both boards. Speak to mods if that really doesn't work for your designs)  - Web Weaving (1 board of at least 10 elements)

MISC:  - Tag this blog as well, so we can reblog you!  - You will not necessarily be matched with someone who matches your ‘willing to create about’ exactly. The goal is to have multiple matches, but in cases of more obscure requests you might be matched with someone who only has one commonality between your ‘willing to create’ and their wish list. In that case at least you know what to make your gift around pretty quickly. :D  - Please send asks if you need information. If it is something you do not feel comfortable sending in an ask, you can message the head mod at @antimony-medusa​ - If you ask us a question about something that has been already outlined in this post we will not answer!

FAQ:

-I changed my mind about my gift list, I want to add something, what do I do? You can re-do your entry and we will delete the earlier version of any duplicate entries, or you send us an ask (off anon if you want an answer back) to change something (only minor changes using this method, please).

-Is there an Ao3 collection? I want to add my fic to it. There will be! It will be released once assignments are sent out.

-I added my fic to the Ao3 collection, but I can’t see it? The collection is currently set to ‘unrevealed’, so works can be added but won’t be visible before reveal day, so it’s all a surprise.

-I need to contact my recipient, but they have anon off! What do I do? Talk to us, we’ll contact them for you.

- I didn’t save my assignment message and now I’ve forgotten my assignment, what now? Get in contact with us, we’ll resend it. 

-I can’t finish my gift by the deadline, what do I do? You have two options. Option one is to consider if you can still finish it by a couple days or a week or so later, and ask the mods if you can get an extension. We will check with your recipient to see if it’s okay to extend your deadline. Option two is to drop entirely, in which case you tell a mod, and we will assign your gift to a pinch-hitter so your recipient still gets something. In both cases, the important thing is that you get in contact with a mod ( @antimony-medusa is head mod) as soon as possible to figure out a plan.

-If I want to make more than one gift, can I? You can make as many gifts as you'd like! If you really enjoy making gifts, we suggest signing up as a Pinch Hitter in the discord

-I don't celebrate Christmas, can I sign up? This exchange welcomes all holidays (even a complete lack of holidays), and people will have an opportunity to opt in to what events they want represented in their gift, whether that's real-world holidays, imaginary minecraft events, or no holidays at all.

-I'm only a fan of a small server, can I sign up? You are very welcome to sign up even if your fandom doesn't have the most active tag, this is a broad MCYT exchange. We will do our best to match you with someone else who also likes your block people. If your fandom has less than a thousand fics on the archive, we recommend that you try and recruit friends into the exchange too, so you know that there are people who like the same characters as you in the matching pool. We can't absolutely promise to match on smaller characters, but we have run this exchange twice and we haven't had anyone be entirely unmatchable yet, so fingers crossed that continues.

-Is RPF allowed? While MCYT is in a fuzzy space while we're often close to RPF and many of our older works are still tagged with Video Blogging RPF, this is a character-focused exchange. You will not be able to request or offer direct RPF for this exchange.

-Is shipping allowed? Yes. For the comfort of the greatest number of participants, we ask that participants make a good-faith effort to ensure that any shipping is boundary-respecting, but because there is no broad fandom-wide consensus about how that is defined in specific cases (whether it's okay to write beeduo as /r or /p is an obvious case) or between specific fandoms (lifesteal approach to shipping is different from HBG is different from DSMP), the mods will not be policing any specific understanding of boundaries across the event. The event will operate on Don't Like Don't Read, in that everyone will have the chance to opt in for themselves as to if they are comfortable with shipping or NSFW for each specific character they want to work with, and mods will match based on that.

-Is NSFW allowed? Yes, NSFW is permitted as long as it respects creator boundaries, and both sides of the gift exchange are 18+. People will only be matched to others who specifically requested NSFW work. For the comfort of the greatest number of people in the exchange and the mod team, nothing that would warrant the tags Underage, Rape/Noncon, Dubcon, Adult/Minor, or Incest is permitted.

-My person requested characters I don't want to write, and one of them is a ship I don't like. What do I do? You are only expected to create a gift for the characters you matched on. If you offered to create for Grian (shipping allowed), Good times with Scar (shipping allowed) and Docm77 (only gen), and you matched to someone requesting Grian (shipping allowed), Docm77 (shipping allowed) and Keralis (only gen), you are only expected to make a gift with the characters and relationships you matched on, in this case, Grian. If you are entirely uncomfortable with your match, you can tell a mod, and we can take it off your hands and get it pinch-hit. You will still receive a gift.

-If noncon isn't permitted, is non-consentual touching (platonic) allowed? As technically a punch in the face counts as non-consensual touching, and pvp is a classic part of most MCYT canons, we find banning all nonconsensual contact to be unnecessarily restrictive. As long as nonconsensual contact is not sexual in nature, it is permitted, however, it must be tagged for adequately along with any other potentially triggering content.

-Do you allow dark or violent content? Yes. The lore of many mcyt servers includes death games, abuse, cannibalism, murder-for-hire, and other dark or violent themes. However, all potentially triggering content must be tagged for so readers and giftees can make an informed choice to get infolved or not. We would recommend that you not include particularly dark topics unless requested to by your giftee.

-What is a Pinch Hitter? A pinch hitter is a person who saves the day and steps in when the original creator is unable to deliver their work for whatever reason, making a new work on an accelerated timeline. You can sign up to be a Pinch Hitter in the discord.

-What is a DNW? All participants will have the opportunity to fill out a DNW, which stands for Do Not Want. This is anything that has the potential to ruin a gift for you. DNWs must be phrased politely, (so no "No foster aus because they suck and you suck if you like them"), and they must be reasonable, (so no attempting to box someone into a specific gift, i.e. "DNW anything that isn't a space au where Tommy is a dinosaur-hybrid and Tubbo is a ghost bee and they rampage through the living ship named Las Nevadas"), but they can be as petty (disliking specific art styles) or as broad-reaching (no modern aus, no specific ships, no crossovers with specific servers) as you like. Deliberately breaking someone's DNW is grounds for a ban from the exchange.

-When do I have to join the discord? You have the option to join the dicord and hang out as soon as signup starts on October 18, and you must join the discord so we can communicate with you by November 15. Anyone not in the discord once we start matching will have their sign-ups deleted.

-Is the discord a social server? Can I expect game nights? The discord is primarily an event server, we are not going to be hosting events. We will have a directory of other social servers, if you want to take a conversation started in the discord into a more convivial space.

-What's a check-in and how do they work? Check-ins are there to make sure everyone is on track to finish their piece in time, and to communicate any issues with the mods! If you know that you won’t be able to check in on a specific date (lack of internet, etc), please contact the mods in advance.

-What if I need to drop out? It is your responsibility to communicate with us if you need to drop out of the event for any reason, and we do need that communication. We know that life is no respecter of fic and art deadlines, so no hard feelings if something happens. However, we would hate for anyone to end up having no gift, so please think about this if you are thinking of dropping out close to reveals. Please inform us in advance if you must drop out or think you will not be able to complete your gift on time. Dropping out after the last check-in without informing the mods will result in not being permitted to take part in further events run by this mod team.

I have a question not answered here? Send us an ask on tumblr, contact @antimony-medusa on tumblr or discord!

[krovscastlerpg]

COMING SOON: SPRING MISCHIEF 2025

A MAGIC ANON EVENT

It’s that time again, Krovs! The beginning of spring comes with a little fun known as the castle’s annual “Spring Mischief” event. Weather magic courtesy of the magic consultants has been cast upon the areas surrounding the castle and Krovs Town to replicate the weather of an early spring day in New York City. Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and most importantly, mischief is brewing.

Krovs Castle’s magic consultants have also created these “magic wands,” all imbued with specific spells that will cause a variety of temporary and (usually) harmless effects when the wielders use the right incantation. This has been approved by the council as part of the event and councilmen are all aware of the spells being used. Each wand has one spell and a one-time use. They’ll be available in the magic consultant offices in Krovs Castle and in various shops in Krovs Town for all characters (even non-magic ones) to use. Since the spells are temporary and wear off after a set time, there is no way to reverse the effects with magic. There is no limit to how many wands characters can collect and they can be used to affect anyone they like. 

Those who wish to avoid being hit with spells themselves may buy a magic negation amulet from the castle's magic consultants –– this only works while actively being worn.

In addition, all slave and staff power negating collars will be deactivated during this event so that they can enjoy some of the mischievous spells to the full extent. However, any attempts at escaping will be near impossible. Krovs still has its powerful, magical barrier around the castle to keep any unwanted intruders out and all slaves inside. Any slave or staff member who attempts to use their abilities to harm others – especially a master or council member – will immediately lose the privilege and receive a punishment determined by the council (players must get this type of plot approved by the admins before threading). Claimed and purchased slave collars will remain active in negating their abilities unless their master decides otherwise.

All magic anon wands will be posted when our event begins on March 10th.

RULE 63 FCS

There will be a sex swap (or “genderbend”) magic anon (known as Rule 63). We’re aware that not everyone might be interested in receiving this anon, so for those who want to participate with this one, please send the main a request to reserve your genderbend FCs by 11PM EST on March 9th. These FCs will be held up to and throughout the entire event with those players guaranteed our Rule 63 anon (although they are not necessarily required to play it out if they change their minds). FC reservation requests can be sent in now until the deadline above. 

This approval process is used to ensure that all female FCs potentially being used fall in line with our standard FC rules (the FCs are 18+ and aren’t part of our banned criteria), and that no duplicates will be used during the event. FCs will be on a first-come, first-served basis, so please have a backup in mind just in case. For player reference on available FCs, our list of taken genderbend FCs will be continually updated here as we get reservations. 

PLEASE NOTE: Not every single one of a player’s characters needs to be sex swapped either and players can choose to have only one or two of their multiple characters receive the Rule 63 anon or have all of their characters receive it. Players are also welcome to avoid this particular anon with their characters entirely for whatever reason. If anyone is struggling with finding a suitable fem!FC for their character, we can also help with that! :)

MAGIC ANON REQUESTS

We are taking requests for magic anons! If any player has ideas for a magic anon they would like to see in the event, please feel free to send it to us via our IM system! These can be new and original ideas or a specific magic anon we’ve had in past events that you’d like to see again.

Our sixth annual Spring Mischief event will begin on Monday, March 10th at 12PM EST. We look forward to everyone joining us for some magic anon mayhem!

Players please LIKE this post so that we know it has been read.

[hallowpen]

About YFind: I was talking about it with a group of friends and many of us found it shady, but could only get part of the information in English. We do unfortunately not speak Thai, but we are curious, sceptical and very much looking forwards to seeing how this develops.

Any chance you could translate the terms and conditions?

I will say... you're right to be skeptical. They're just vague enough to prevent any potential future lawsuits against the company, but not the other way around...

Here we go:

Terms and Conditions

The written synopsis must be submitted in Thai. The synopsis should be submitted according to the following format: 1.1 Page 1 - Must include the writer's relevant information: Legal First and Last Name, Age, Address, Telephone and/or Mobile Number, E-mail, Line ID or other social channels for contact - Title - Genre - A brief description of the story's original inspiration (if any) 1.2 Pages 2-4 - A 3-page synopsis, size A4, to be submitted as a WORD or PDF document named according to the following format (1 submission per one 1 applicant limit): Title_First-LastName (please use your legal First and Last name, do not use a pen name)

Each applicant can submit up to 2 synopses, not restricted to the same genre, according to the specified format. Applicants can only submit once, with no more than 2 synopses included in their submission. Once the document has been successfully submitted into the system, information can no longer be edited or changed. In the event that an applicant has submitted duplicate (or more than one) documents, only the first submission will be considered and accepted.

Applicants must be Thai citizens. There are no age restrictions.

Submissions must not purposefully replicate any previous publications, broadcasts, or depictions in media. This includes works that have been previously submitted in other contests, whether in written form, online, or through other various channels.

Submissions must be the sole creative work of the writer, who must identify as the sole applicant. Submissions must not infringe upon copyright or intellectual property rights. Applicants must not defame(insult) someone else by plagiarizing, reproducing or revising their work to submit as their own. The use of AI or other technology to create a synopsis is strictly prohibited and will be found in violation of the rules and regulations. If submissions are later found to be within violation of the law or any of its regulations, the Company and those whose rights have been violated are authorized to take legal action.

The winning submission's rights will become the copyright of the Company. The Company can use it's rights as it deems appropriate, not limited to reproduction, adaptation, and novel and/or poetry publication: The property can be produced as a drama (series) and/or film to be distributed to the general public through any partnered media company; The Company can collect any benefits relating to the copyright of the property, including sales, payments, and transfers for authorized lending of the property to others; Benefits can be collected from any commercial or non-commercial use of the property; And/or the Company can make any international distribution decisions throughout the span of it's property's copyright protection and/or the rights of the property according to the law. The Company can do so without having to pay compensation to and without asking permission from the applicant. All winning submissions will receive a reward when notified by the company. Upon notification, the owner of the submission must sign the appropriate 'copyright and rights transfer' documents. Failure to do so will disqualify winners from receiving a reward.

The reward cannot be exchanged or transferred. The prize money is subject to the withholding of tax according to the rate specified by law.

The Company reserves the right to investigate the validity and integrity of each submission according to the ownership conditions for receiving the prize money. If any work is found to not be in accordance with the Company's conditions, the Company can immediately disqualify the applicant without notifying them. Applicants must agree and accept any decisions of the Company, and/or the person designated by the Company, throughout every step of the selection process, including their selected winners who will receive the reward according to the Company's wishes. All final decisions remain at the discretion of the Company, and/or the person designated by the Company, without need of explanation. Applicants do not have any right to complain or object.

[omgmaxsmith-blog]

Why Should Organizations Choose RPA Managed Services Over In-House Automation?

In the current business world, time is a very valuable resource, and the work flow depends on efficiency. Automation, especially through Robotics Process Automation, has proven to become more functional in enabling a reduction of excessive human interventions. Even if it is wise to develop an in-house automation team, there are key benefits associated with managed RPA services that explain why organizations should seek the help of the latter.

Here's why more and more organizations are choosing external expertise for their RPA needs:

Faster Implementation and Time-to-Value: Developing an effective Centre of Excellence for RPA services demands a substantial amount of time, and a lot of effort goes into recruitment activities, training, and infrastructure development. The implementation of IT management services is more efficient with MSPs as they already have the knowledge and tools in place, so it is faster to gain a return on investment. According to data gathered from numerous industries, first-order automation gains through engaging managed services run approximately 40% better than those achieved by setting up in-house centers of excellence.

Access to Specialized Skills and Experience: Today RPA services is a rapidly developing industry. Managed service providers employ teams of certified professionals with diverse experience across various industries and RPA service platforms. They also provide access to best practice ideas, new and improved techniques, and niche solutions for particular types of business, aspects which cannot easily or inexpensively be duplicated in-house. Data collected using the current survey shows that 65% of the companies are outsourcing RPA with a primary motivation to access specialized skills.

Cost Efficiency and Predictable Expenses: On the other hand, although in-house automation becomes cheaper in the long run, the upfront cost of personnel hiring and training, software purchase, and maintenance is considerably high and variable. Managed services are given on a subscription basis, and this factor eliminates the element of uncertainty, resulting in lower costs. Researches also indicate that outsourcing of RPA services may make the costs to be decreased by about 30% lower than if it was to be done internally.

Scalability and Flexibility: Business needs fluctuate. Managed RPA services permit the demand for capacity for automation to be adjusted according to the requirements, and is not restricted just like the hiring of employees or purchasing more equipment that is required for permanent automation services. This is important for meeting the ever-changing market needs and the growth of the business. There is information that organizations cooperating with managed services enjoy 25% more freedom in scaling up their automation processes.

Focus on Core Business Activities: Outsourcing an RPA project creates the need for an in-house in-IT team to run and maintain the project away from its core business functions. For this reason, when one hires the services of an MSP, internal teams are relieved of handling tasks that can otherwise be tedious and time-consuming, leaving them time to work on more pressing issues for the organization, such as business development. In another view, outsourcing of RPA, like other non-core businesses, can enhance organizational focus by about 50%.

Continuous Support and Maintenance: However, for the RPA application to gain an adequate amount of functionality, it has to be monitored, maintained, and updated over time. Another benefit of MSP is availability of workforce support on such tasks as this relieves internal IT and the business. However, the total availability of RPA services can be enhanced to the optimum level as some of RPA services providers have an availability of 99.9% in some cases.

Selecting the right partner is, therefore, essential when engaging in RPA services. Different organizations that provide RPA services are Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Suma Soft, Infosys, and Wipro. Assessing the competence, the years of experience and services they offered will assist before choosing the appropriate service provider that will meet the needs of your organization for the future automation plans.

[guardiantales-fanblog]

Guardian Tales Director Q&A

and now for the Director's Q&A that also came out today. This is gonna be a long one. And again; all MTL'd from Korean, sorry. link to interview

Q: You are receiving favorable reviews for your story. Are there any plans to provide separate content to view past stories? A: There are no plans to provide it in-game. If possible, I hope you enjoy the story along with the gameplay. As of now, we are thinking of steadily adding a replay feature so that you can enjoy past stories. The full story is also being released on YouTube, so I hope you'll get into the game and try it out yourself.

Im... not sure what this means tbh... Maybe they're talking about prequel side-content.

Q: Many people are unhappy that the playable hero is locked to Knight. A: It's a matter of choice. In Season 2, knights and princesses were the centerpiece of the game, so it was for the sake of immersion. In Season 3, we plan to change it so that users can use their own heroes in the story. However, for those who like to play as knights, we've also made significant improvements to the knight experience. It's your choice.

So basically: teams in story are coming back, and we might get Knight ascension soon?

Q: Last year, you mentioned a new summoning system. Can you elaborate? A: […] Since I personally don't enjoy picking and the current picks don't fit the current state of Guardian Tales, we're introducing a selective pickup system to make it easier to get each hero. The pickup system will allow users to select five heroes and then those heroes will appear. This will make it easier for players to collect the heroes they want. Since the game doesn't force duplicate picks, the value of each hero will be lower. We will adjust the release window to preserve the value of new heroes. In Season 3, we expect that new players will be able to easily pick their favorite heroes from the existing ones, and existing players who have collected all the heroes will be able to focus on picking up new ones.

New summoning mechanic coming soon

Q: There are not enough party presets. A: We plan to improve the preset system along with the UI in Season 3. Enjoy all content with 30 presets. This method allows you to specify a preset for each content once the update is applied. 

(possibly the new UI for master arena)

Q: When will the replay feature be added after Chapter 13? A: Replay is a huge resource drain on our development team. We're working on improvements to simplify and standardize the development process, as there are multiple options in between. Although we did not have enough time to work on Season 3 until the first half of this year, we will develop it in a simplified way in the second half of the year and even show World 18 again

I was not aware replay development was so rough... I hope things become smoother for them

Q: Is it possible to add the ability to visit a guild lobby other than chatting with friends? A: I thought a lot about including the whisper function in the season 3 specs. As a result, there was a lot of other work to do, so it was omitted from the current plan. Adding the ability to visit other guild lobbies is difficult because it requires creating a new guild room. However, in order to strengthen the community function, we will make improvements to make it easier to invite when playing cooperatively or in friendly matches. There were issues that made it difficult to get together in the cooperative expedition. We are also considering updating our profile page so that we can show off our achievements to other users.

they might mean stuff like those stickers they've shown in the stream?

Q: Balance controversies are always inevitable. A: There will be no drastic balance changes before Season 3. […] We promised not to nerf existing heroes. We need to look at it over a long period of time, but we plan to periodically buff non-mainstream heroes so that the results can be felt relatively quickly.

Q: There is a trend of subculture games announcing animation production. Does Guardian Tales have any plans? A: There are no immediate plans to do so. It's not my personal preference. I watch a lot of anime, but I really want to tell a story in a game. The main character of Guardian Tales is the player. I don't want to create subculture content centered around the knight. We're open to considering external animation, but we want to keep the emotional impact of the gameplay.

Im surprised to know that they actually considered it. I have to agree with the director here, while i did wish it got one, I dont think an anime would give the same feeling playing the game does.

Q: What are your next collaboration plans?  A: I have a plan. It could be introduced within this year at the earliest, or next year at the latest. Originally, the Tensura collab was planned for last year. There is something I have prepared to present this year. That IP is my first pick. It's an IP that everyone will know when they hear it.

Q: I’m curious about the future princess’s whereabouts. A: We know that there is a high need for a reappearance as it left a great impression during Season 1. Based on the scenario, I think the story of the future princess and the unrecorded world was neatly concluded in season 1. Now, the story of another timeline is open to all possibilities depending on the users' imagination. Rather than waiting for the future princess, I would appreciate it if you looked forward to a scenario where you meet new characters. I will show you a story that will satisfy you.

ah..... FP............ come back home soon...

Q: What is the current status of overseas services? A: Still receiving a lot of love. However, in the case of China, Japan, and Global, content is being used up in line with Korea's progress. As the progress reached a certain level, the initial explosive power faded away. Still, new articles are coming in steadily. In Season 3, we plan to inject new momentum so that you can quickly enjoy it with other users. In line with Korea Season 3, it is being developed so that it can be quickly expanded to overseas markets.

Q: What is your biggest goal as Guardian Tales director? A: There is no final goal point. Because I like story RPGs, I am happy just by creating Guardian Tales that can provide the highest level of emotion. I just hope Guardian Tales continues to make good stories.

[nyupreservation]

"Azul" Print Comparison

This blog post for Preservation Week was contributed by media preservation graduate assistant Adrianne Lundy about her work on the Roland Legiardi-Laura and Joanna Kiernan Collection on the Azul Documentary (TAM.814).

Azul was directed by Roland Legiardi-Laura in 1988. The film focuses on Nicaraguan poetry and culture, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ruben Dario’s published book of the same title. In 2022, NYU Special Collections acquired Azul’s many production materials, including raw footage and audio recordings.

Included in these acquired materials were nine separate prints of the film. All were assumed to be exhibition prints, based on their labeling and because they were housed in travel carriers used to ship prints to exhibitors. It’s not uncommon for duplicate materials to exist in a collection. However, maintaining duplicates means committing storage, funds, and resources that could otherwise be devoted to original elements of other collections. Exhibition prints also tend to have high rates of damage from projectors, abundant handling, and travel wear and tear. It was decided that these prints should be inspected and assessed to identify the best quality prints of the bunch.

The inspection of all nine prints took place in March and April of this year. The film is 105 minutes, and each print consisted of three reels. I made notes on key condition points, including the number of splices and level of shrinkage. A common form of damage across many of the prints came from misloading projectors or from DIY-ed projection marks. On two different occasions, the first ~100 feet of image on the first reel were heavily scratched, contained damaged perforations, and edge damage, but contained very little damage going forward. This is as if a projectionist had improperly loaded the film, stopped, corrected, and reloaded. 

On other occasions, the projection marks varied in how they were implemented. Oftentimes individual projectionists/venues would have their own systems for indicating that a reel change was needed. On a number of prints, the heads and tails of the reels were painted white, presumably to indicate this.

On other occasions, one or two frames were cut and re-spliced into the film. This was likely a result of the three reels being edited together onto one reel for easier projection, and then separated again when the print was returned.

Another common issue across almost all prints were high levels of shrinkage. Most prints were found to have shrunk by 0.3% or more. Prints with 0.5% or higher shrinkage were noted as unsuitable for projection. 

In inspecting the films, it was found that some prints were subtitled in English, while others were not. For this reason, a “best copy” was sought of each of these two versions. The two unsubtitled copies had the most vibrant colors of all the nine prints. Both were printed on Eastman 7243 Safety Stock, a stock used for color master positives. The stock type, plus the lack of subtitles, indicates that they may be of an earlier generation than the rest of the prints in the collection. One was in excellent condition, while the other suffered from projector damage and shrinkage over 0.5%, making the choice of “best copy” simple.

The remaining seven prints all had subtitles and were all marked as “Low-Fade Positive Prints” (LPP). Though this stock was created to prevent color fading (in response to earlier color stocks that were susceptible to fading to a magenta color), the colors of these prints often appeared a bit duller in comparison to the 7243 prints. Despite this, there was one film that registered as having 0% shrinkage, along with a minimal number of splices.

Additional repairs will likely still be needed on these prints. The subtitled print was one of the versions with projector damage at the head, though the rest of the film is in very good condition. Though no perfs were broken, many were bent and damaged. The non-subtitled version has an improper tape splice halfway through the second reel that is collecting dust and grime. Despite this, it was wonderful to identify two minimally damaged prints to represent these two versions of Azul.

[mothmvn]

uuuugh intellectual property rant i think about a lot because i can't bear to try the Artist career in current conditions

unfortunately digital media reality interacts really stupid with the concept of "intellectual property"

we can often secretly agree intellectual property is a bad thing because sharing and iterating upon ideas is a good thing, because for eons and eons that's been living creatures' method for moving forward. however, since you cannot actually own a digital or online object (it gets reproduced! that's how it's viewed on a new device! it exists by being copied and re-shared!), the intellectual property becomes the only thing underpinning the collection of pixels produced in digital art shared online

so then generally left-wing people still end up arguing for their inherent, capitalism-given right to restrict access to new or unique ideas. because this is already a system they exploit for money. not necessarily in a malicious way, but like, they have already built their careers on the current legal/tech platform, which depends on the idea that humans are not just legally, but morally wrong to steal and re-publish information. in a world where "information gets duplicated for free for the person to view your work" is the bones of the main communication system. am i going crazy here

idk, like it's difficult for me to even argue that people producing digital items have a property-like right to them. you have a layered PSD or Premiere file or whatever that you don't share (on some level this is "the artwork" in ALL its dimensions), and you share thousands of flat copies you can't claim to own (you hand them over to apps and websites). in practice, you "own" the right to sue someone else, if they use one of the many auto-generated copies in a way you personally dislike (e.g. they earn money that you believe you would have earned otherwise)

which like. that's still not "owning your art", in my understanding. what you "own" is the right to link endlessly multiplying copies to yourself - much like a book author over all copies printed anywhere and everywhere. but book copies are solid objects that can be stolen, at least! this falls apart with e-books just like it falls apart with digital artwork! we're all trying to fake some kind of monetisable scarcity with digital files!! ! am i going crazy here!!!!

(and the only way you can logic your way into scarcity is by believing in your own legally-reinforced superpower of Intellectual Property, an ephemeral flavour you create that no one else has the right to replicate. how recently in history did we invent this authorial overreach vs how long have we been iterating on shit in spite of our friend saying loudly in the background "Hey What the fuck I painted that kind of thing first")

so like, the entire argument put forth by anti-AI digital artists completely falls apart for me if i level with it morally, genuinely

i can't stop mulling this over because i Hate that the premise of "art for fun, for me" as a career, its financial security, is staked on me becoming a digital cop. i dont want to do that! and non-digital materials aren't the medium most actual art Work is done in (because again, that work takes place in the realm where we practise monetising IP & being an e-cop about people re-using my art). so the only role i can see art playing in my life is a hobby.

and i guess on an interpersonal level it sucks that I'm separated from most "real artists" just by this refusal to utilise "IP powers" in real life. refusal to rely on money i "should have earned" from someone else's re-iteration or re-share to a different audience. god just saying that makes me feel nasty - yeah, i the original artist coulda done that hypothetical re-iteration too, but DID I?! isn't that the argument we use to value art - "you coulda done it but DID YOU" ?!

i dont know. am i going crazy here.

[texasdreamer01]

Atlantis Expedition: Science Division Departments - Field Sciences Department

With the original post outlining the departments getting further away in the rearview mirror, as I've already finished the medical and life sciences departments, on to the field sciences.

Below are the original notes, with - tada! - no revisions:

Field Sciences Department

> Head: OC > Contains: Linguistics, historical geography, cartography, ethnography, sociology, oceanography, hydrology, atmospheric physics, planetary physics > Function: Research pool for gate teams and any assigned missions > Examples of function: Preservation of refugee cultures, scouting for trade planets, analysis of back-up sites for establishment > Personnel quantity: 1 (Head) + 3 (linguistics) + 1 (histgeo) + 1 (cart) + 1 (ethno) + 1 (socio) + 1 (oceano) + 1 (hydro) + 1 (atmophys) + 1 (planphys) = 12 > A/N: SGC duplicate all shoved into one department, mostly ignored in-house but their brains are picked for background dossiers when it comes to mission planning. Linguists trained in xenolinguistics, from the SGC, can cover the various anthro fields if necessary, also various training in structural linguistics. Main scientist pulls for gate team assignments, if something critical isn't needed (i.e. Ancient technology).

There's about three loose groupings here: the linguists, the anthropologists, and the non-anthropological scientists. The last of these are more pure science, so while they may do technical work, they're not engineering based, and thus well-suited to this department for a few reasons.

Here's the breakdown, commentary included:

> Linguistics  » 3x of these  » SGC imports   ⇛ How many linguists to a Daniel Jackson  » Specialties?   ⇛ Linguistics Typology    ⟹ Does the analytical work of structuring languages   ⇛ Sociolinguistics/Linguistic Anthropology    ⟹ Does the sociological work of relevance in languages   ⇛ Computational Linguistics    ⟹ Does the computer work to categorize languages    ⟹ AKA Database creation   ⇛ Outline of linguistics   ⇛ Linguistics in science fiction > Historical Geography  » Collects first-hand accounts, as well as reference material, to construct location data  » Can contain work from botany and archaeology > Cartography  » Uses GIS-type software for creating reference materials  » Leverages historical geographer's work to make maps of different types > Ethnography  » SGC import  » Collates relevant information about found societies  » Contributes to database work > Sociology  » SGC import  » Specialties?   ⇛ Analytical sociology    ⟹ Studies the mechanisms contributing to the creation of social facts   ⇛ Sociocultural evolution    ⟹ Studies how societies and cultures change over time   ⇛ Outline of sociology > Oceanography  » Assists cartographer in mapping oceanic and other water body areas > Hydrology  » Analyzes water systems and their management  » Assists historical geographer, ethnographer, and sociologist > Atmospheric Physics  » AKA meteorology and climate physics  » Assists everyone but linguists unless otherwise requested > Planetary Physics  » Not astrophysics   ⇛ Works with the astrophysicists  » Studies composition of planets  » Assists and leads oceanographer, hydrologist, and atmospheric physicist in research

Insert Daniel's caterwauling about not being allowed to go with the expedition. I imagine he was very grumpy in picking out some of his staff to go instead of him, but they are, at least, quite likely to be well-trained.

At any rate, these are the people that contribute to pre-mission dossiers, analyze data brought back from missions, and are the general group of people that might be pulled into gate missions themselves based on their expertise in various facets of culture and cultural analysis.

Given the fact that the Atlantis expedition was launched years after the SGC was formed, and also years after they ironed out the kinks in developing gate teams and mission parameters, the expedition has a bit of a leg up in terms of pre-populating their experts. Having Elizabeth Weir as the head of the expedition helps, as she had at one point been the head of the SGC, so had the opportunity to learn how the SGC runs, and why it makes the decisions it does.

Because of this, the Field Sciences department is going to be heavy on the SGC imports, and not just given a quick training on Goa'uld-adapted technology like the Medical and Life Sciences department would be.

The linguists are going to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and likely already know Ancient from the Milky Way extant samples the SGC was able to get from their own missions. (Do I think Ancient really is a Latin analogue? Nope, but narratively that's what it is.) After having been trained on Goa'uld as a lingua franca of the Milky Way, these people are going to be more specialized in being thrown feet-first into a new language group and learning it without any preexisting framework.

The anthropologists - geographer, cartographer, ethnographer, and sociologist - are going to be the ones to gather, analyze, and provide context for not only the languages the expedition and gate teams will encounter (such as dialects of Ancient and other common trading languages in the Pegasus galaxy), but also to record and articulate historical and contemporary information of the peoples the expedition meets. This is useful for not only establishing back-up installations (i.e. alpha site, beta site, etc), but also for assisting in refugee work and tracking population migrations that they'll eventually figure out is caused by Wraith cullings.

The pure sciences do what pure sciences do: collect information. While linguists may find a group of people with fifty words for different shades of green, pure scientists will track down what those words are used for (i.e. locating different types of forests). They'll work closely with the Life Sciences department, in case a botanist needs to find a particular plant, or a zoologist needs to find a particular animal, by cross-referencing geographical data and likely working in concert with the local societies that provided them with that information.

Of all departments, it's the Field Sciences department that people like Teyla and Ronon will be most likely to interact with on a regular basis, given their roles of cultural experts and cultural liaisons.

Total Field Sciences Department Personnel

Head of Department: 1

Linguists: 3

Anthropologists: 4

Pure Sciences: 4

Total total: 12

Any canonical characters that happen to fit the bill of a role in this department will have their own post, but for now this is a general accounting of the expedition's field sciences department.

[mariacallous]

AMHERST, Massachusetts (JTA) — Since its opening in 1997, the Yiddish Book Center has wowed visitors with its architecture. A Jewish village resurrected on a college campus in sylvan Amherst, Massachusetts, the building conveys the Center’s mission: to rescue and revive a language spoken for over 1,000 years by Ashkenazi Jews in German-speaking lands, Eastern Europe and wherever they migrated. 

On Oct. 15, the Center is unveiling a new core exhibit, meant to flesh out and deepen the story told by its building and the treasures stored inside. Arriving at a moment when Yiddish is experiencing one of its periodic revivals, “Yiddish: A Global Culture” is a major Yiddish institution’s answer to a question without easy answers: How do you tell the story of a language without a country, and of a culture that lost a majority of its purveyors in a little over a decade of madness?

In response, the new exhibit depicts the “secular” Yiddish culture that arose in the mid-19th century as a distinctly transglobal, modern movement that includes theater, the press, mass market publishing and intellectual ferment in big cities from Warsaw to New York to Shanghai.

The exhibit is “foregrounding a story of creativity, tremendous accomplishment and tremendous diversity of a culture that has migration built into its DNA,” David Mazower, the Center’s research bibliographer and the exhibition’s chief curator, told me when I visited Amherst last month.

The displays in the exhibit will surround and weave in and out of the Center’s book stacks, another striking architectural feature of the building. The stacks offer duplicates of the Center’s collection of 1.5 million Yiddish books and periodicals, for sale and browsing. I couldn’t be the first visitor to be reminded of the closing scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” which reveals a colossal government warehouse filled with, in the words of the screenplay, “crates and crates. All looking alike. All gathering dust.” 

What a casual visitor might not see is all that is happening at the Center to blow the dust off those books, including translator workshops, summer fellowships, conferences, an oral history project, a busy publishing program and a riotous summer music festival.

Interest in all of those activities has been helped along by young Jews interested in the language and culture and a pandemic that created a demand for online Yiddish classes. The Yiddish Book Center has been drawing 10,000 visitors a year since its pandemic shutdown. The New York Times made the latest revival official (to non-readers of the Jewish media, anyway) in an essay last month by the Jewish polymath Ilan Stavans, declaring that “Yiddish Is Having a Moment.” Stavans notes a flurry of new translations of obscure and classic Yiddish writers, the all-Yiddish staging of “Fiddler on the Roof” and the Yiddish dialogue in three recent Netflix series: “Shtisel,” “Unorthodox” and “Rough Diamonds.”

(More controversially, Stavans also reports that Yiddish is appealing to those — presumably young anti-Zionist Jews — for whom Hebrew “symbolizes far-right Israeli militarism.”)

Such a revival also challenges keepers of the flame — not just the Yiddish Book Center, but the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York, The Workers Circle, publications like In geveb and the Yiddish Forward, academic departments plus a host of regional Yiddish organizations — to define a language and culture that means many different things to many different people.

Is it a language of a decimated past? A progenitor of the Jewish left? A tongue, still spoken daily by haredi Orthodox Jews, that continues to grow and evolve? Is it an attitude — a Jewish way of being and thinking — that survives in humor and cooking and music even if those who appreciate it can’t speak the language? For European Jews of the Enlightenment, the Yiddish scholar Jeffrey Shandler reminded me a few years ago, “Yiddish represented the resistance and inability of Jews to enter the cultural mainstream. It represented something atavistic, a way of holding Jews back.” For Zionists, meanwhile, it represented a weak Diaspora and everything associated with it (a clash explored in a current YIVO exhibit, “Palestinian Yiddish:  A Look at Yiddish in the Land of Israel Before 1948”).

Goldie Morgenthaler, herself the daughter of the Yiddish writer Chava Rosenfarb, has written that she teaches Yiddish literature to mostly non-Jewish university students in Alberta, Canada because “studying what is specific to one culture is often the first step to understanding many cultures.”

At YIVO, an institution founded by scholars in Vilna in 1925 and transplanted to New York in 1940, Yiddish is regarded as an expression of and vehicle for “Jewish pride,” according to its executive director and CEO, Jonathan Brent.

“For Jewish people in the Diaspora to understand that they have in fact a future as Jews,” he said last week, “they have to take pride in their heritage. For all kinds of historical reasons, many Jews felt that [Yiddish] was somehow a shameful or devalued heritage. It was ‘zhargon’ [jargon], and it had been basically eliminated from public discourse in the land of Israel. YIVO from the very beginning wanted to study Yiddish as a language among languages, the same way you studied Russian or Spanish or French. It was a language with a history.

“What Yiddish does,” he continued, “is help anchor us in the language in which our grandparents and great grandparents communicated their deepest thoughts and feelings. And that has real implications for the survival of the Jewish people.”

Aaron Lansky, the founder and president of the Yiddish Book Center, said the story he wants to tell goes back to his days as a graduate student in Yiddish at McGill University in the 1970s, when he first started saving the discarded books that would become the core of the Center’s collection.

“People think of [Yiddish] as this nostalgic creation,” he said. “But the truth is, it was a profound, multifaceted and really global literature that emerged in the late 19th century, and then just took off throughout the 20th century…. It wasn’t long before writers were using every form of literary expression — expressionism, impressionism, surrealism, eroticism. It all found expression in this very short period of time, and even the Holocaust didn’t destroy it. “

Lansky admits his own vision is more literary than the core exhibit’s, and thanked Mazower for creating a broader view of Yiddish as a global culture.

That view is represented in a 60-foot mural that serves as an introduction to the exhibit. Cartoons by the German illustrator Martin Haake depict key historical vignettes in Yiddish history, from nearly every continent. Glikl of Hameln, a German-Jewish businesswoman, writes her diaries at the turn of the 18th century. Women call for a strike at “Yanovsky’s Cigarette Factory” in Bialystok, Poland, in 1901. A nursery scene honors the leading Yiddish activists who were born in Displaced Persons camps after World War II. And tubercular Yiddish writers are seen recovering at the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society in Denver, Colorado, which operated from 1904 to 1940. 

The mural lines the ramp that leads to the bookshelves, where displays (some of which Mazower calls “wedges”) use artifacts and wall-mounted photos to talk about the breadth of Yiddish culture. There’s a display about Yiddish celebrities, including writers, such as Sholom Aleichem and Chaim Zhitlowsky, who would draw tens of thousands of mourners to their funerals. Another display honors those who preserved and studied Yiddish culture, from YIVO (described here as “The Mothership”) to the monumental “Language and Cultural Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry” undertaken between 1959 and 1972 by the linguist Uriel Weinreich. A Yiddish linotype machine, rescued by Lansky, anchors an exhibit about the Jewish press.

A centerpiece of the core exhibit is a recreation of the Warsaw literary salon of the writer and playwright I.L. Peretz, a leading figure of the late 19th century and early 20th centuries. While few actual artifacts belonging to Peretz survive, the room will include contemporaneous objects and photographs to immerse visitors in the literary scene of the day. 

“You’ll step through his doorway the way that so many young writers did, clutching their first manuscripts to show them either in Hebrew or in Yiddish,” Mazower explained. “His name, his address was known throughout the Russian Empire at that time. People would come thousands of miles in some cases to Warsaw to try and get entry into this alchemy-like space where extraordinary things happen.”

One of those pilgrims was Mazower’s great-grandfather, the famed playwright Sholem Asch. When Asch showed Peretz a draft of his notorious play “God of Vengeance,” whose lesbian subplot would shock audiences and rile religious leaders, Peretz reportedly told him to burn it. 

“My hope is that through the exhibition as a whole you see Jewish history through a Yiddish lens and in a different way from the Holocaust-defined story that so many of us have been educated with and that popular culture feeds us,” said Mazower. 

The exhibit treats the Holocaust as one part of the Yiddish story, not its culmination. The original Yiddish edition of Elie Wiesel’s “Night,” published as part of a memorial project in Argentina shortly after the war, rests in a wedge about individuals who rescued Yiddish culture under the Nazis. The same section features a tribute to Rokhl Brokhes, a writer murdered in the Minsk Ghetto in 1945. A still from a recent animated adaptation of one of her stories by Alona Bach, currently a PhD student at MIT focusing on the “intersections of electricity and Yiddish,” affirms one of the Center’s aims: to bring young Yiddishists into conversation with the past.

The story of Yiddish theater will wrap around the auditorium, starting with a large photo of the audience at the opening of the Grand Street Theatre in New York in 1905. A memorial section remembers the probably thousands of actors, playwrights and musicians who were killed in the Holocaust.

“Had Yiddish theater not suffered a rupture, which it did, it would have continued to evolve and borrow and expand,” said Lisa Newman, the Center’s director of publishing and public programs. “What’s so important about this exhibition is that it places Yiddish in this context of language no less than any other country’s, except it’s not a country.” 

I asked Mazower what kind of stories he did not want to tell about Yiddish culture.

“It’s not a story about Yiddish humor,” he said. “It’s not a story about the Holocaust. It’s not a story about the state of Israel. It’s not a lachrymose story about Jewish persecution through the ages.”

Other Yiddishists told me much the same thing (Brent said that the story of Yiddish “shouldn’t be told as a collection of jokes, or Yiddish curses, or as a cute language that connects you to Bubbe’s gefilte fish”). 

And yet, said Lansky, “We’re not feinschmeckers, we’re not elitist when it comes to Yiddish. Yiddish was a vernacular language, and I am happy to embrace that. I love the humor and social criticism that’s embedded in it. It’s the aggregate that’s so impressive. To see all of this literature and culture in a lively and accessible way can be quite transformative.”

[ilovedthestars]

✨ Fic Writing Review 2023 ✨

I was tagged by @dendrochilums and @blessphemy !

Words and Fics On AO3

29,868 words, of which 27,560 were actually fic (excluding meta and fanart image descriptions)

12 fanworks, of which 8 were new fics, 2 were fanart, 1 was meta, and 1 was a new chapter to a previously existing fic.

All for Murderbot, except for Things in the Shadows, my Witch King fanfic (and first foray into non-murderbot fic!)

My lifetime AO3 wordcount (since spring 2022) is 55,365

My lifetime actual written wordcount of Murderbot fanfic is somewhere on the order of 250,000 (give or take some duplicate drafts that are getting counted twice in scrivener)

Top Fics by Kudos

My actual top fics by kudos are mostly from 2022

Of the ones published/updated this year, An Unexpected Quarter wins. This is the one that I originally published in 2022 and updated with a surprise second chapter in 2023, so I think the age bias for kudos is still showing

The highest fic originally published in 2023 is Operation Parsec, which is 10th on the overall list. It's also the literal first fic I posted that year, as it was written for the New Years gift exchange. Yeah, I think my kudos rankings are almost entirely based on age

Fics and Fanart on Tumblr

By my count I made 12 fanart posts in my #stars art tag! This includes Many-Colored Strings and Ghosts of the Pressy, the two fanart pieces that I posted to AO3. (Ghosts of the Pressy is technically from 2022, but I didn't share it outside of discord until 2023)

Because I didn't have a tumblr until this year, I decided to go back through my list of ao3 works and post links to them under my #stars ao3 reruns tag

I posted snips from nine unpublished Murderbot fic wips for the Trick or Treat ask game (which are all linked in this post)

And had fun with lots of other ask games, tag games, and rambling about my wips in general! More can be found in #stars fic, #stars wips and #stars ocs

Fandom Fic Events 2023

Last year's Murderbot Diaries New Years Gift exchange ( @mbd-gift-exchange ), for which I wrote Operation Parsec for Lillow and received this gorgeous artwork from @acornwizard!!

The Aspec Murderbot Diaries event, for which I created Many-Colored Strings based on a prompt about platonic soulmate AUs

The Murderbot discord's AUpril event, for which I created several snips and small artworks that were shared only on discord

And several other less formal events/collaborations on discord, like the fictional art exhibition in the future of the MBD universe (i should get around to archiving the snips i wrote for this, I don't think I ever posted them, but I did help organize the ao3 collection)

Upcoming 2024

My gift project for this year's New Years gift exchange!

At least a dozen wips I'd like to get finished, and have no idea when or which order that will happen in, but among my top priorities:

The final 3-ish chapters of Old Unit, Young Unit

Several follow-ups to Salvage or Repair, ft. Yuma and Crowbar, particularly an immediate follow-up fic and a spinoff fic featuring two new OCs with an angsty past

Various other Polaris things that I can share after I finish OU,YU, including Niri POVs, some past & future spinoffs, and OldUnit's official company file

maybe that "Murderbot has a cat" fic that I already wrote most of but have been wanting to polish up for months now?

A revisit to my semi-abandoned Three time travel fix-it where One and Two live, perhaps? I'm low on energy but SC did give me some new ideas...

This was very fun, thanks for the tag! Rules copied below, I added some new categories but the main ones seem to be Words and Fics, Top Fics by Kudos, Fandom Events, and Upcoming 2024.

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass, just keep on scrolling.

I'll tag @specialagentartemis, @every-eye-evermore, @all-all0s-eyes, and anyone else who's interested!

[teamarcstechnologies]

How To Prevent Fraud In Custom Online Panel Research?

Custom online panel research has emerged as a powerful method for gathering targeted insights from specific demographics or groups. However, amidst its efficacy, ensuring the integrity and authenticity of data remains a critical concern. Fraudulent activities such as bot responses, duplicate entries, and dishonest participation can compromise the reliability and validity of research findings. Implementing robust measures to prevent fraud is imperative for maintaining the credibility and value of custom online panel research.

Strategic Participant Screening: Implementing stringent screening processes for panel participants is the first line of defense against fraudulent entries. Thoroughly vetting and verifying participants through detailed registration forms, including qualifying questions, and verifying identities can significantly reduce the likelihood of fraudulent or dishonest responses.

Utilize CAPTCHA and Human Verification: Integrating CAPTCHA challenges or other human verification tools in the survey process can help differentiate between human respondents and automated bots. These mechanisms ensure that real individuals are participating in the research, minimizing the risk of bot-generated responses.

IP Address Monitoring and Restrictions: Tracking IP addresses and restricting multiple responses from the same IP or device helps prevent duplicate entries. Implementing limitations on the number of responses per IP address or device ensures that each participant contributes only once, maintaining data accuracy.

Implement Data Validation Checks: Employing data validation checks within the survey ensures that responses align with expected patterns or logic. Flagging inconsistent or improbable responses for further review can help identify potential fraudulent entries.

Educate Participants on Expectations: Clearly communicate survey guidelines, expectations, and the importance of honest and accurate responses to participants. Emphasize the significance of truthful participation in maintaining research integrity, encouraging ethical behavior among panel members.

Anonymous Responses with Confidentiality Assurances: Assure participants of the confidentiality of their responses and provide options for anonymous participation when feasible. Creating a secure and non-judgmental environment encourages truthful responses and discourages fraudulent behaviors.

Regular Audits and Monitoring: Conduct regular audits and data checks to identify anomalies or suspicious patterns in responses. Proactive monitoring allows for timely intervention and corrective actions to maintain the quality and authenticity of collected data.

Utilize Technology and Advanced Algorithms: Leverage advanced technologies such as AI-based fraud detection algorithms to identify and flag potentially fraudulent responses. These algorithms can detect anomalies in response patterns or behavior, alerting administrators for further investigation.

Compliance with Ethical Standards and Regulations: Adhere to ethical research standards and comply with relevant regulations like GDPR, CCPA, or industry-specific guidelines. Ensuring transparency, consent, and compliance with data protection regulations builds trust and credibility in panel research practices.

Continuous Improvement and Adaptation: Stay vigilant and continuously adapt strategies to evolving fraud tactics. Regularly update security measures, improve screening processes, and incorporate new technologies to stay ahead of potential fraudulent activities.

By implementing a combination of these preventive measures and maintaining a proactive stance against fraudulent activities, researchers and organizations can enhance the credibility and reliability of custom online panel research. Upholding research integrity not only ensures the quality of insights but also fosters trust among participants and stakeholders, reinforcing the value of data collected through online panel research.

To know more: fraud detection and reporting tool

survey fraud detection tool

[cyberthecookienook]

Eyes in The Void

An abstract improv RPG

(You can archive this one)

----------------------------------

Imagine your Avatar. Grant it an Archetype, such as KNIGHT, INNOCENT, or SPECTER. Never reveal it. Give the Archetype a Tell, such as "A shining blade" or "Eyes too bright".

Collectively, imagine The Void. Define its form, such as "Abandoned manor" or "Moonlit forest". This is now Reality.

Form a circle and pick the first Demiurge.

Each round, one Avatar is absorbed by The Void, becoming the Demiurge. As Demiurge, shape Reality with your viewpoint.

Create a scenario from your memories. Then Avatars exist, interacting through the logic of Reality and/or their Tells.

The round concludes when an Avatar can no longer act, the Demiurge's scenario ends, or a stalemate is reached.

Afterwards, the Demiurge contributes to The Void's form, such as "Spooky" or "Secret Basement". This is now Reality.

Everyone else assigns each non-Demiurge Avatar a fitting Archetype. Tell them and no others. Graciously accept the Archetypes, discarding duplicates, and give each a Tell.

Then, the player to the Demiurge's right becomes the new Demiurge and the round starts. Everything is born anew, but the Avatars remember everything.

Play ends when everyone escapes The Void together, or anyone gives up. What happens afterwards is up to personal preference.

Tumblr 200-Word RPGs 2023

Last November, we did an informal game jam for folks who wanted to write something for Writing Month, but would prefer to write fewer than fifty thousand words of it. You can find the complete list of participants for that event in this post here. There's also an off-Tumblr archive of entries whose authors gave permission for them to be preserved here, if any of those links turn out to be broken.

Last year's collaboration went over well enough that I thought we might dust it off again this year. To be clear, this is just for fun – it's not a curated jam, and nobody's judging winners or handing out prizes..

If you'd like to throw your hat in, just follow these steps:

Step 1: If you're unfamiliar with 200-word RPGs, read a bunch of last year's entries (linked above) or browse the 200 Word RPG Challege archives at https://200wordrpg.github.io/ to get your brain-meats properly configured.

Step 2: Write your own 200-word RPG. If you're not sure whether you have 200 words or not (and with RPGs it can genuinely be difficult to tell!), you can use the word counter at https://200wordrpg.github.io/wordcount to check.

Step 3: Reblog this post and append your 200-word RPG.

Step 4 (optional): Please indicate in your post whether you're okay with having your 200-word RPG archived off-site for posterity – if you don't say anything one way or the other, I'll assume the answer is "no".

(As before, as a courtesy to anyone who's creeping the notes, please restrict non-200-word-RPG commentary to replies and tags until November 2023 is over – let's make the actual games easy to find!)

[krovscastlerpg]

COMING SOON: SPRING MISCHIEF 2024

A MAGIC ANON EVENT

It's that time again, Krovs! The beginning of spring comes with a little fun known as the castle’s annual “Spring Mischief” event. Weather magic courtesy of the magic consultants has been cast upon the areas surrounding the castle and Krovs Town to replicate the weather of an early spring day in New York City. Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and most importantly, mischief is brewing.

Krovs Castle’s magic consultants have also created these “magic wands,” all imbued with specific spells that will cause a variety of temporary and (usually) harmless effects when the wielders use the right incantation. This has been approved by the council as part of the event and councilmen are all aware of the spells being used. Each wand has one spell and a one-time use. They’ll be available in the magic consultant offices in Krovs Castle and in various shops in Krovs Town for all characters (even non-magic ones) to use. Since the spells are temporary and wear off after time, there is no way to reverse the effects with magic. Those who wish to sit out on the fun are welcome to buy a magic negation charm from one of the castle’s magic consultants that they must wear at all times to avoid getting hit with one of these spells. There is no limit to how many wands characters can collect and they can be used to affect anyone they like. 

In addition, all slave and staff power negating collars will be deactivated during this event so that they can enjoy some of the mischievous spells to the full extent. However, any attempts at escaping will likely be impossible. Krovs still has its powerful, magical barrier around the castle to keep any unwanted intruders out and all slaves inside. Any slave or staff member who attempts to use their abilities to harm others – especially a master or council member – will immediately lose the privilege and receive a punishment determined by the council (players must get this type of plot approved by the admins before threading). Claimed and purchased slave collars will remain active in negating their abilities unless their master decides otherwise.

All magic anon wands will be posted when our event begins on March 11th.

GENDERBEND FCS

There will be a sex swap (or “genderbend”) magic anon (known as Rule 63). We’re aware that not everyone might be interested in receiving this anon, so for those who want to participate with this one, please send the main a request to reserve your genderbend FCs by 11PM EST on March 10th. These FCs will be held up to and throughout the entire event with those players guaranteed our Rule 63 anon (although they are not necessarily required to play it out if they change their minds). FC reservation requests can be sent in now until the deadline above. 

This approval process is used to ensure that all female FCs potentially being used fall in line with our standard FC rules (the FCs are 18+ and aren’t part of our banned criteria), and that no duplicates will be used during the event. FCs will be on a first-come, first-served basis, so please have a backup in mind just in case. For player reference on available FCs, our list of taken genderbend FCs will be continually updated here as we get reservations. 

PLEASE NOTE: Not every single one of a player’s characters needs to be genderbent either and players can choose to have only one or two of their multiple characters receive the Rule 63 anon or have all of their characters receive it. Players are also welcome to avoid this particular anon with their characters entirely for whatever reason. If anyone is struggling with finding a suitable fem!FC for their character, we can also help with that! :)

MAGIC ANON REQUESTS

We are taking requests for magic anons! If any player has ideas for a magic anon they would like to see in the event, please feel free to send it to us via our IM system! These can be new and original ideas or a specific magic anon we’ve had in past events that you’d like to see again.

Our fifth annual Spring Mischief event will begin on Monday, March 11th at 12PM EST. We look forward to everyone joining us for some magic anon mayhem!

Players please LIKE this post so that we know it has been read.