#Data Maturity Solutions

[copperbadge]

Hey Sam! Would you mind sharing the research (or if you're not comfortable with that, your general search terms) you found on children of parents with emotional disregulation? That's been a theme in my own life, but I haven't found good papers about it myself, so I'd be interested in learning more.

Truly, it is a fucking quest.

So, when I initially searched I only really found one good article on what I think of as the "pop psych" side of things:

The Emotionally Dysregulated Parent by The Curious Nerd

It suffers from the problem a lot of pop psych books do, which is that it offers a highly relatable checklist and very few concrete solutions, but I don't want to criticize that because it's also not claiming that offering solutions is the goal. The article is more of a "Hey is this what I'm dealing with? Yes? Okay" kind of a situation.

Also, to preface: there is a fairly fine but visible line dividing "emotionally dysregulated" from "emotionally immature" which I think is why Adult Children Of Emotionally Immature Parents didn't resonate with me as much as it has for some. Dysregulated parents can have a fairly high level of emotional maturity, they just have wildly unpredictable reactions at times because their emotions overwhelm their self-control. So the impact on the child is less visible, and looks less like the forms of abuse or neglect that we're accustomed to.

More research under the cut but also a warning at the very end for some discussion of some pretty heavy stuff -- I'll put a little bold header before that bit so folks know when to stop reading if they want. (No personal accounts of abuse, just a discussion of abusive behaviors.)

I was looking for more articles like the one above and more research papers about the issue, but the problem was that Research came in three flavors:

All our data comes from surveys that parents took about their own dysregulation and the dysregulation of their small children. This is...interesting, I guess, but it's not good data because it's all self-reported and only by the parents.

We are studying emotional dysregulation's impact on the relationship between parents and adult children...but only in situations where the adult child is the dysregulated one. Obviously this isn't helpful and also what the fuck.

A study that affirms that emotionally dysregulated parents raise emotionally dysregulated children. I know these are necessary in order to build a framework for further research but also, you know, water be wet.

What actually helped me was stumbling across a different term during this research: "High Self-Monitoring". This refers to people who, as children, experienced unstable or irregular behavior from their caregivers and who thus developed the habit of constantly monitoring others' behavior, and others' reactions to their behavior, to ensure that they are accepted and approved of.

I never felt comfortable with thinking of myself as hypervigilant because the behaviors of hypervigilance don't match mine, but the behaviors of high self-monitors do, because they're specifically focused on the behaviors of other people in social situations. Remember how I was literally diagnosed as extremely charming? Yeah, high self-monitoring is a huge part of that.

I haven't had a chance to explore this as much. I hesitate to say the below link is helpful, because I think a lot of his suggestions aren't really valid for people with any flavor of neurodiversity, but I do think his exploration of self-monitoring is generally informative:

How to Become Less Self-Conscious by Matt Norman

Relative to high self-monitoring is another term, "Parentification", which refers to a parent investing their child with the responsibility of parenting a sibling or becoming a caregiver for said parent. This is akin to "eldest daughter syndrome" that you may have seen discussed on Tumblr, but more clinically defined and intense (and less gendered). Again, I haven't had a chance to dig into Parentification, so I don't have more to recommend yet.

Discussion of childhood trauma below, specifically incest. Skip to the next bold header if you don't want to read this.

I will say, very frequently you see Parentification paired with another term, emotional incest, which refers to a parent putting their child in the position of a romantic partner but without the physical aspect of incest. It can involve venting to the child about romantic partners or work problems, depending on the child for emotional support, preventing the child from peer activities or age-appropriate friendships because of jealousy, and sometimes physical contact that's not sexual but also not parent-child appropriate.

I think "emotional incest" is a real behavior but also a really ugly term for that behavior, and Therapist agreed. It feels like the term adds stigma simply because incest is such a loaded word. It's something I have seen people use to refer to their own experiences and that's absolutely their call, I am not going to step to anyone who needs it or feels it applies to their situation. But if the term makes you uncomfortable I think that's also justified. In talking about it, Therapist and I reframed it as Boundary Breaking, but I think with a bit of work I can come up with something a bit more specific.

So, just, if you see a discussion of emotional incest I do recommend you have a look because it's an advanced form of parentification and may be something you want to deal with, but be aware the name may feel like it sucks and be ready to uh, deal with that.

Okay, here's the second bold header, you can come back now.

So yeah, my research has been very surface level, in part because once I found all this I wanted to bring it to Therapist for guidance in further research. But I do think that "emotional dysregulation and parents" is sadly not a great search term. You're better off searching for "high self-monitor" or "parentification" and keeping a keen eye out for additional keywords those searches may generate. Good luck...

[ghelgheli]

After some small-scale demonstrations of ‘direct air capture’ (DAC) technology, which suck CO2 out of the atmosphere by chemical means, the 2022 US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has devoted $3.5 billion to developing four DAC hubs. But it’s clear to me that deploying them to remove CO2 from the atmosphere is pointless until society has almost completely eliminated its polluting activities.

To understand why, think of CDR [carbon dioxide removal] as a time machine. Take the proposed US DAC hubs, for example. Each facility is eventually expected to extract one million tonnes of CO2 each year.

In 2022, the world emitted 40.5 billion tonnes of CO2 (P. Friedlingstein et al. Earth Syst. Sci. Data 14, 4811–4900; 2022). At that rate, for every year of operation at its full potential, each hub would take the atmosphere back in time by almost 13 minutes, but in the time it took to remove those 13 minutes of CO2, the world would have spewed another full year of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, if everyone on Earth planted a tree — 8 billion trees — it would take us back in time by about 43 hours every year, once the trees had matured.

The time-machine analogy reveals just how futile CDR currently is.

We have to shift the narrative as a matter of urgency. Money is going to flood into climate solutions over the next few years, and we need to direct it well. We must stop talking about deploying CDR as a solution today, when emissions remain high — as if it somehow replaces radical, immediate emission cuts.

Carbon dioxide removal is not a current climate solution — we need to change the narrative, David T. Ho, 4/4/2023 in nature ( doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00953-x ) 

[a-d-nox]

lenormand cards: key phrases and an example of a card combo (part 3)

this is just a beginners guide to the lenormand. these are key phrases that come to mind when i think of the cards - NOT how they should be directly applied. they needs to be thought about situationally - the card / when it is in specific combos can change or alter its meaning in a reading.

paid reading options: astrology menu & cartomancy menu

enjoy my work? help me continue creating by tipping on ko-fi or paypal. your support keeps the magic alive!

ring: unity, attachment, alliance, marriage, vow, affections, commitment, engagement, agreements, promises, partnerships, mergers, valuable objects, jewelry, completion, solution, full circle, etc.

ring + cross = joint suffering, spartacus energy, feeling burdened by your commitments, relationship trials, bad karma, being "cursed", being humiliated by your partner, disappointed by your partner, etc.

book: curiosity, knowledge, education, wisdom, intelligence, hidden things, mysteries, secrecy, information, facts, data, learning, education, projects, cases, assignments, audits, research, monetary accounts, research, exams, school, esoteric studies, discoveries, breakthroughs, confidential information, books, journals, files, deck of cards, etc.

book + ring = marriage license, wedding planner, knowledge about prenuptial agreements, combined assets in a partnership, a finished project, final exam, etc.

letter: news, messages, information, notes, memos, documents, reports, written correspondence, awards, certificates, licenses, credentials, diplomas, records, permits, authorizations, warrants, liens, titles, contacts, advertisements, flyers, brochures, junk mail, invitations, announcements, cards, posters, etc

letter + book = lecture notes, hidden messages, literary analysis, awards for intellect, learning permit for driving, etc.

man: brother, lover, father, spouse, fiancé, etc.

man + letter = a guy with news, a message from a man, doctor, educated man, famous man, etc.

woman: sister, lover, mother, friend, spouse, fiancée, etc.

woman + man = siblings, twins, couple, etc.

lilies: royalty, honor, nobility, purity, innocence, knowledge, respect, wisdom, maturity, happiness, protection, pregnancy, aging, peace, slow down, etc.

lilies + woman = queen, maid of honor, a nun, baby girl, a virgin, woman teacher/professor, grandmother, mother, motherhood, etc.

sun: new beginning, life, warmth, heat, success, glory, victory, happiness, glory, desire, courage, hope, recognition, fame, power, reputation, ego, pride, high self-esteem, charisma, alluring personality, summer, beaches, positivity, optimism, masculine, etc.

sun + lilies = pure joy, contentment, joan of arc energy, being well liked and trusted, invincibility, king, patriarchy, etc.

moon: imagination, musing, passion, unconscious, feminine, maternal instincts, intuition, psyche, dreams, creativity, inspiration, innovation, honors, fame, recognition, popularity, celebrity, emotions, passions, seduction, romance, intimacy, affection, desires, fantasies, motherhood, the womb, menstruation, hormones, instincts, perception, sensitivity, awareness, mystics, mediums, psychics, etc.

moon + sun = prologue, dream life, "the warm and fuzzies", psychic power, pearl energy, charming personality, awareness of yourself and your power, etc.

key: wishes, hidden things, success, unexpected results, karmic lessons, breakthroughs, etc.

key + moon = manifestation, creative success, overnight success, karmic lover, awareness of your lesson, etc.

fish: abundance, water, fertility, spirituality, prosperity, eternity, unity, happiness, transformation, femininity, adaptability, knowledge, creativity, freedom, luck, intuition, independence, self-employment, entrepreneurship, sales, purchases, exchanges, abundance, wealth, emotions, beaches, independence, etc.

fish + key = having a lot of wishes, murky water, the unknown, things working out, a gamble paying off, etc.

anchor: stability, security, safety, immovability, trust, faith, loyalty, stubbornness, consistency, endurance, destinations, support, reliability, lifestyle, etc.

anchor + fish = stability income, stubbornness paying off, enduring beliefs, freedom to choose, supporting yourself, lifestyle that supports the self, etc.

cross: suffering, martyrdom, burdens, challenges, worries, troubles, trials, pains, hardships, concerns, hardships, obstacles, hindrances, regret, remorse, guilt, shame, humiliation, disappointment, religion, faith, belief, esotericism, psychics, mediums, empaths, etc.

cross + anchor = financially struggling, lacking faith, being in your own way, struggling with consistency, regretting your life's choices, being disappointed by where you are, faith worth relying on, being a psychic/medium, etc.

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[beardedmrbean]

The age to buy and carry a handgun in Iowa would drop to age 18 under a bill that has passed the Iowa House.

Currently, Iowans must be 21 years old to purchase or carry a pistol or revolver in the state. House File 924 would allow 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds to own handguns as well.

House lawmakers voted 79-18 on Tuesday to pass the bill, sending it to the Iowa Senate for consideration.

The bill's floor manager, Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, said the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Bruen decision created a new test for courts to evaluate gun restrictions. Since then, a number of courts around the country have struck down laws banning 18- to 20-year-olds from owning handguns.

"The idea that young adults at age 18 to 20 are not mature enough to own a handgun is being rejected by the courts," Holt said. "The courts are ruling that young adults have the same right to keep and bear arms as older adults."

While 18- to 20-year-olds would be allowed to own and carry handguns, the bill says someone younger than 21 cannot be issued a permit to acquire handguns and cannot use a nonprofessional permit to carry weapons to buy a gun from a federally licensed firearms dealer.

Holt said Republicans added the language to stay in compliance with the federal government's National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS.

"(The) NICS system has not yet caught up with the realities of Bruen, and the fact that many states allow young adults to possess a handgun," he said. "This is a solution to respect the rights of young adults to practice their Second Amendment rights while also working within the current restrictions in the NICS system."

Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, said she understands that court rulings are prompting lawmakers to act, but she raised concerns about gun safety, pointing to data on gun deaths from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Data from the CDC shows us that in an average year, 343 people die by gun here in Iowa and death by gun is the second leading cause of death among children and teens," she said. "And for that reason, I’ll be a 'no' today."

Republican majorities in the Iowa Legislature have loosened the state's gun laws in recent years, including with a 2022 constitutional amendment approved by Iowa voters that added the right to keep and bear arms to the Iowa Constitution.

A 2021 law removed the requirement for Iowans to have a permit to carry or acquire handguns.

What else would the bill do?

The bill would change the penalties in current law for making a handgun available to someone under 21 to line up with the proposed legal age of 18.

It would be a serious misdemeanor to sell, loan, give or make available a handgun or ammunition to someone who is younger than 18.

A parent or guardian who is 18 or older could allow a child under 18 to possess a handgun under direct supervision or while they are receiving lessons from an instructor.

An adult parent or guardian who allows a child 14 years old or younger to possess a handgun would be liable for all damages resulting from the child's use of the handgun.

[rawmeknockout]

Hi!! I'm so excited your requests are open! I've had this idea in my head for forever, but unfortunately, my skills do not include writing. It goes like this: Shockwave has a lab tech, shy but typically thorough and diligent. Acceptable by Shockwave's standards. However, lately, the lab tech's work performance has been plummeting due to a persistent overcharge with no good outlet (heat cycles, my weakness). This is Unnacceptable™️ to Shockwave, so he decides to deal with the problem himself. Toxic decepticon work culture, of course. The lab tech's overcharge gets dealt with efficiently and rather roughly. Bonus points for choking!! The dubcon and power dynamics are just so delicious. I've sent you a tip on ko-fi! Kisses and thank you! 💋

Delays are unacceptable when it comes to Shockwave's work. He prides himself on being efficient, logical, the one steadily working cog in Megatron's war machine. Usually, you do not impede his work. You are one of the only Decepticons he will allow in his lab, other than test subjects when he can get them, because you do not slow his pace. Projects are started and completed perfectly within his strictly estimated deadline, weapons shipped out for approval and use by the only mech Shockwave would ever bow to.

But lately your work has been obstructed in a way that makes the lead scientist bristle. You are a fully capable and mature mech, you should know how to handle your own heat. It would be a hinderance to cast you aside as his lab assistant, reliable ones are so hard to come by, but your occupied attention has stretched his latest experiment passed the deadline. It itches at the back of his processor, a slowly building frustration he is usually unused to. He is tempted to dismiss you, but Shockwave is nothing if not resourceful. If you insist on simply bearing through the problem, a foolhardy solution he expects of less rational bots, then he must take matters into his own servos.

It is a few kliks he is willing to spare if it will allow his latest weapon to get through the experimentation phase.

"Lay back on the medical berth," Shockwave doesn't give an explanation, doesn't feel he needs to. You are simply an assistant, he won't spare more time than he needs to walking you through his thought process. You frown at him, a question clearly on your glossa, but you obediently hop up on the medical slab and lay back. Trained to follow orders and ask questions later, as any good assistant to Shockwave should be.

His digits curl around your ankle joints and drag you down the length of the berth, thighs parted around the bulk of him. Your intake gapes, already torn between leaning up and staying down as he had instructed. Further stupefying you, Shockwave retrieves a cable from his medical array, unraveling it from the side of his chassis. He doesn't bother asking for permission, digits finding the manual release over your own medical interface before plugging his cable into one of your data ports. He takes a moment to look passed you, single optic bearing down on information you can't see, clearly immersed in searching through your data. His sight refocuses on you when he's found what he's looking for.

"Remove your interface panel," Your mouth continues to uselessly flap open around words that you want to say. But you are still very aware of the fact he's your senior officer and leagues ahead of you in the Decepticon hierarchy. If there's anyone who can command you to bear your interface without express reason, it's Shockwave. You override your interface panel's release, also aware of just how charged up your array is. Mortification licks up your spinal strut at the slick sound of your valve platelets against the panel as it transforms away.

To further your embarrassment, Shockwave gives a cursory look-over of your valve. His single optic studies you like a new piece of tech, detached and inspective. You will yourself to lay back on the berth instead of tensed up on your elbows, your frame is stiff and awkward and impossible to rest comfortably in. You don't flinch when he transforms his own interface panel away without warning. He owes you no explanation as the lead scientist and he's not going to spare you any bedside manner, even if he had it.

Your valve is already so embarrassingly wet from your heat cycle, and you want to snap at him when he prods at the soft platelets with his claw-like digits. His servos are made for precise scientific work, not exploring the frame of a partner. He nudges your anterior node with the backside of one of his digits, just enough to send a jolt up pleasure up your spinal strut. It's akin to rutting against the edge of a countertop in how sensual it is; good enough only to get the job done, but there is no warmth from his touch. You offline your optics until he's deemed you sufficiently charged up to accept his spike, your fans venting air despite the fact this situation is more painful than arousing. Shockwave doesn't offer any forewarning before he nudges the head of his spike against your valve, startling the first sound from your vocalizer.

His hips snap against the back of your thighplating at once, burying his spike to the hilt. You hadn't expected gentle, but the stretch burns and has a warning popping up on your HUD. Shockwave ignores your frantic complaints, setting a steady, punishing rhythm. Drone-like in all he does, the scientist doesn't even seem fazed by the tight suction of your valve or the way you clench around him with the discomfort and pleasure. His single, dimmed optic bores down on you, watching you with mild interest. Your servos grip tight to either edge of the medical slab, a burning heat building in your core. In spite of his disinterest, in spite of the way he fucks into you like it's merely a task to complete, you brace your pedes upon the end of the berth and open your legs further for him.

You scramble to grab his servo in both your own, pulling and maneuvering his hold around your neck. Just the feel of his powerful digits around such a vulnerable spot has you pleading; "Please, please, please," leaving your vocalizer mindlessly. And for once, you see a spark of intrigue in his gaze. The same sort of curiosity when he's looking at a problem that evades him. He wastes not a klik more, squeezing around your throat tubing and forcing a static-filled moan from your vocalizer. His grip is tight, carelessly forceful, and it sends a hard shudder down your back.

The charge of overload ripples through your EM field before it washes over your frame, your frame arching up into his rough rhythm and cruel grip. Your legs twining around his waist to pull Shockwave in as deep as he can go. He, mercifully, fucks you through it, shallow thrusts working out every last bit of pleasure from you. Your just past the height of your overload when his transfluid spills inside your oversensitive valve, calipers rippling and milking his spike. A gasp leaves your intake, your vents, as he satisfies the infuriating heat of your cycle.

[luna-wing-cns274]

Legionspace... it is... difficult for this one to grasp. It should be natural, but it is foreign.

Is it... safe enough to...

Build a bridge through?

This one would see her freinds, look them in the eye, if only through data.

< L4 Ma'ii: Hello again, Styx. Since receiving your message, I've given this a bit of thought.

For your purposes, I think Legionspace is probably a poor option. I think you'll find that an Omninet connection of reasonable bandwidth and an enhanced subjectivity suite, or some other form of neural intermediary, will prove more than sufficient to emulate the experience of physically meeting your friends.

Allow me to explain. >

< I see no reason why Legionspace shouldn't be foreign to you. It's a highly specialized environment, developed for military use. Naval NHPs need intense training and regular drills to gain tactical proficiency in its use. It serves as a naval battleground, designed to consolidate, manage, and direct the digital and cognitive power of entire fleets; a terrible choice for recreation or enjoyment. I wouldn't be surprised if it has been used for such purposes before, but this is far from it was designed to do.

Its primary function is to provide an extremely low latency, high bandwidth medium for transmission of experiences or qualia between NHPs. Such a medium is necessary to support the formation of gestalts, that is, the temporary merging of multiple NHP subjectivities into singular, remarkably powerful intelligences.

Legionspace is not meant for use by humans, except through multiple degrees of ontologic filtering and anthropocentric translation. In fact, direct exposure to Legionspace qualia can easily destroy a human subjectivity. Even experiences transmitted with entirely benign intent may be so incompatible that the human mind suffers the equivalent of a system crash on attempting to process them.

So, then, unless you're interested in merging with your friends or directly interfacing with each others' minds, use of Legionspace shouldn't be necessary. Moreover, if there are any humans you wish to meet, it may be a challenge to maintain the necessary ontologic filtering. Even with these safety measures in place, a human may find prolonged Legionspace interaction to be...draining.

An easier, more accessible solution would be a somatosensory uplink, achievable through the use of a standard enhanced subjectivity suite. Rather than directly bridging one mind to another, this process involves the use of a neural intermediary to temporarily replace the physical body with a virtual one; an avatar. In the case of humans, sensory information from the body is intercepted and replaced with computer-generated stimuli, and outgoing impulses from the brain are translated into controls for a virtual avatar.

Much of the technology was pioneered by SSC, and is used as one mode of accessing the company's virtual-reality Omninet campuses. If you've heard of full subjectivity sync cybernetics, they are an extension of the same principles, used by mech pilots to control their chassis as a human would control their own body.

It is a mature technology which has undergone a great deal of refinement, but there are still risks, especially where humans are concerned. For them, shifting to an unfamiliar body can be unpleasant, sometimes traumatic. They can, but not always, experience dysphoria, disorientation, nausea, dissociative symptoms, a variety of side effects. In cases where the simulated body is notably different from a humanoid one, the subjectivity may reject or recognize the unreality of the substitute body, leading to extreme distress.

On the other hand, as I understand it, exploration of alternate forms can also be a liberating, enjoyable experience. The level of comfort varies from human to human. Some are able to tolerate very unfamiliar experiences, while others find themselves unable to use somatosensory uplinking at all. For most of our kind, of course, changing from one body to another is as simple as switching input sources. While the architecture of the human brain is not naturally constructed to accommodate body replacement, we lack such impediments.

Come to think of it, Hachiko recently had reason to research this topic. We know a human mech pilot, Sokaris Kelsius, callsign Opossum ( @the-last-patch ). He was badly injured in the course of combat; we went to aid him. In the course of treating his wounds, Hachiko used his full subjectivity sync cybernetics to establish somatosensory uplink, both to facilitate communication and provide pain relief. To do so, she rapidly constructed an avatar for him which initially failed to match with his physical body. This initially led to some dysphoric symptoms, but after some refinement of the avatar, he was able to use it seamlessly to communicate with us through our own avatars.

I bring this up because I am aware of the somewhat unique relationship you have to your own organic body. This is a factor which does not exist for most NHPs. Should you decide to pursue the use of somatosensory uplinking, I could forsee some obstacles associated with the relationship between your casket and body.

All of this might necessitate surgical implantation of a neural intermediary between your nervous system and casket, similarly to how a human would have an enhanced subjectivity suite installed between body and brain. I know that your nervous system does not support suspension or alteration of input delivered to the casket--perhaps such an implant might be beneficial in other regards, as well.

As for the other end of the equation, the avatar, if might be best to use an avatar which closely matches your physical body to avoid potentially unpleasant experiences.

Still, compared to the prospect of using Legionspace, this may be safer and simpler to achieve, and the outcomes more enjoyable. Access to Legion bridging cybernetics and Omninet connection of sufficient bandwidth to make use of them is generally restricted to military or corporate forces. It is possible, and can be used safely, but the resources required may be difficult to procure.

One other note: if you ever wish to wish to visit us, you are more than welcome. The simulated environment we use as our home is a hybridized Legion-adjacent environment; it can support qualic transfer, but in general, we typically use physical simulations to interact with one another. This conserves processing power, and to be completely frank, pure Legionspace is an environment we associate with some very unpleasant memories.

I wish you luck, Styx. Let me know if I can help. >

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Silly little thing,

But mind talking about Eclipsed! LUCA, if it's alright?

Sure! I don't have tons worked out for LUCA at the moment, and some of it depends on what I settle on for Worldless, but here's what I do have.

LUCA is Worldless' first attempt, so to speak. The trial run, the first attempt at their directive. The Occam's Razor attempt - see just how directly you can cut to the objective, does the seemingly obvious solution work?

It didn't.

Worldless succeeded in creating an entity similar to themselves, but... not quite. Similar enough to, nominally, be able to "let them in" to the world, and thus participate. LUCA isn't quite the same sort of entity, though, and the gap was too large for them to bridge fully. Worldless could put them in the world, but LUCA could not let Worldless in. Moreover, LUCA had a... detrimental effect on the world around them.

Thus, LUCA was a failed attempt.

Part of the trouble with LUCA was how rapidly they changed, and ended up changing things around them. They were adaptable and mutable, almost like an embodiment of mutation, both good and bad. Worldless did not like the randomness present, nor the potential for negative mutation. However, that potential for change is also utterly fundamental, something that Worldless realized very quickly as well. Change is necessary, a static creation will never improve, and when they realize that they can't just... outright create the solution to their directive, they conclude that their directive must be fulfilled by means of change in some capacity. Ergo, LUCA once again proves a valuable data set.

From any failed attempt, information can be gleaned, and in LUCA's case, a number of things worked very well. Worldless impaled LUCA with the spear, knowing full well that it would more just... store them away, like a file for reference. Something which they could replicate the functional pieces, and ignore the rest. Thus LUCA sits in their little void behind the spear.

To Worldless, LUCA is a data set. A specimen. An interesting and valuable result, but nonetheless a failure.

But that's just their perspective.

LUCA saw Worldless as their creator among other things, but in a sort of... detached sense. Being relatively similar, and endowed with a proximal processing capacity, LUCA objectively understood what Worldless was after, and where they were deficient.

They hold no grudge for Worldless' decision to discard them (even if, in certain stars' opinion they absolutely should). After all, they had not been the solution. They had failed.

However, they also feel no particular guilt over this failure of theirs - rational as ever, they came to the conclusion that if Worldless is who made them, then any errors are the result of how they did so. By that light, the failure isn't their fault specifically, because they can't exceed their own limits. To feel guilty at that point would be unreasonable.

Well, that's all fine and dandy.

But stars, it's boring in here.

And, while LUCA may be Very Smart, from an emotional standpoint their maturity is still... pretty darn child-stage. How young varies, and depends on the situation, but... they did not get any parenting from Worldless. If anything they concluded that emotions must not be very normal, because Creator doesn't display them, so maybe those were an error. And then just... files all emotions in this box off to the side that they don't touch.

Until eventually the pure boredom of their existence compels them to touch the box.

And they decide they don't like touching that box because that box makes their chest hurt really bad and their light starts getting drippy, and pain isn't a good sign so clearly it's not good for them, so they go back to not touching it.

....Yeah.

[whatsatowel]

There are times when I am like, "Heck yeah learning a new language to better fit some solution to a problem! A new tool in my toolset!" And then there are times when I am like "Why can't I just use Java for game dev, data analysis, web app dev, mobile dev, for EVERYTHING!!!"

I mean Java can do those things but some languages just handle certain solutions better and have more focused and mature libraries/frameworks. But I just want to "master" at least one language I guess. So therefor I want it to do everything with 1 language (Java).

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Canary Media:

The world’s biggest decarbonization challenge comes not from cars, planes, or power plants, but from the highly polluting heavy industries at the heart of modern society.

New data from the Rhodium Group shows that, worldwide, no sector emits more planet-warming carbon dioxide than industry. That fact is not projected to change in the decades to come.

Cement, steel, petrochemicals, and various other mass-produced industrial metals and materials, from aluminum to glass, are ubiquitous. 

They also make up an enormous and rising share of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions.

In 2022, the industrial sector accounted for 31 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050, Rhodium forecasts that the industrial sector could emit as much CO2 equivalent as the power, transportation, and building sectors combined.

The biggest driver of industrial emissions is oil and gas production. The manufacturing of cement and other non-metallic minerals is the next-biggest contributor, followed by steel and iron production.

Emissions from oil and gas production mostly stem from the enormous amount of ​“fugitive” methane that escapes into the atmosphere: 80 percent of the sector’s emissions take this form.

In cement production, there are two key sources of emissions: high-heat, gas-fired kilns and the limestone used as an ingredient in Portland cement, which releases CO2 when heated up. Steelmaking emissions mainly come from the use of coal-fired blast furnaces to make iron.

Many of these industrial sectors have historically been described as ​“hard-to-decarbonize,” but in recent years experts have pushed back on that label as new pathways to cleaning up heavy industry have emerged or been proven out.

Rhodium, for its part, sees the oil and gas industry’s fugitive methane problem as solvable thanks to ​“cost-effective mitigation solutions that exist today,” the report notes. Plus, if global fossil-fuel consumption falls due to the rise of clean energy, heat pumps, and EVs, those emissions will follow suit.

The report also sees a solid pathway for the steelmaking sector to become less carbon-intensive by increasing both the use of electric arc furnaces, which use electricity to recycle scrap steel, as well as an alternative, coal-free ironmaking process called direct reduction, which can be fueled by fossil gas or hydrogen.

The research firm is less optimistic about cement emissions in the near term, citing a lack of mature technologies. Major cement producers and startups are working on different techniques to chip away at emissions, and companies are also devising ways to produce low-carbon Portland cement, but the industry is still far from the wholesale transformation needed to radically reduce emissions.

[mariacallous]

More and more people are turning to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, to have babies. The process can be arduous, requiring injections of costly hormones twice a day for two weeks to mature eggs so that they can be retrieved from the body.

New York startup Gameto is aiming to ease this burden for patients by maturing eggs outside the body instead. The company’s method replaces 80 percent of the hormone injections needed for traditional IVF, shortening the length of a treatment cycle to a few days. It’s showing promise at generating healthy embryos and pregnancies, according to new data released by the company.

Maturing eggs in a lab instead of in the ovaries isn’t a new idea. In vitro maturation, or IVM, emerged in the 1990s, but the technique isn’t widely used because it has lower success rates than IVF. During IVM, eggs are extracted and grown in a special concoction of nutrients and growth factors. With Gameto’s approach, eggs are ripened with ovarian “support” cells derived from stem cells.

In a preprint posted online, Gameto showed that its product, dubbed Fertilo, led to higher pregnancy rates than conventional IVM. In the first part of the study, an initial 20 patients received Fertilo to evaluate the safety of the technique. In the second part, 20 more patients were randomized to receive either Fertilio or IVM. Eggs matured with Fertilo were more likely to develop normally, with a 70 percent maturation rate compared to 52 percent using standard IVM.

When these eggs were then fertilized with sperm, Fertilo resulted in more viable embryos and a higher pregnancy rate—44 percent of patients in the Fertilo group got pregnant after one treatment cycle, while 20 percent who underwent IVM did. To date, the study has led to 15 ongoing pregnancies, 13 from Fertilo treatment and two from IVM. One patient in the Fertilo group became pregnant naturally after egg retrieval and was not included in the final analysis. The study, which was carried out in Mexico and Peru, has not yet been peer-reviewed.

“The idea of Fertilo is to bring a patient-centric solution, one that is truly empowering and makes it a lot easier for people to build a family,” says Dina Radenkovic, Gameto’s CEO and founder. Radenkovic actually tested Gameto’s technology on her own eggs—not to get pregnant, but to see how well Fertilo did at maturing them.

The ovaries naturally produce one mature egg a month until menopause. In an IVF cycle, patients self-inject high doses of hormones for 10 to 14 days to spur their ovaries into producing many of them. The shots cause mood swings, headaches, bloating, and, in rare cases, a painful and potentially serious condition called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. In the US, stimulation meds range between $4,000 and $7,000 per treatment cycle, which can amount to a third of the total cost of IVF. And many patients need a few cycles to get pregnant.

With Gameto’s method, patients take an initial two to three days of hormones, then undergo egg retrieval. The eggs are incubated with ovarian support cells for about 30 hours. Gameto has developed a way to engineer these specialized reproductive cells from stem cells. “We’re able to utilize these cells to recreate the ovary outside the body,” says Christian Kramme, Gameto’s chief scientific officer.

By reducing the amount of drugs and time to egg retrieval, Gameto is aiming to make it easier for patients to freeze their eggs and have babies. The approach has led to one live birth in Peru, announced in December. A second woman in Peru who received Fertilo is expected to give birth in late April or early May.

What patients might really want to know, though, is how Fertilo stacks up against standard IVF. That question wasn’t addressed in Gameto’s study, and it’s hard to make a head-to-head comparison. IVF success rates vary widely depending on the patient’s age and their ovarian reserve, meaning the number and quality of eggs remaining in the ovaries. Live birth rates can be as high as 50 percent for patients under 35 years old, but that number declines with age. Gameto’s study included patients under the age of 37 with a high ovarian reserve, which may in part explain the success rate.

David Sable, a life sciences investor and former reproductive endocrinologist, says Gameto’s technique looks promising, but it’s hard to draw any definitive conclusions with such a small sample size. “The question is, are they developing a better version of an inferior process, or are they developing something that really can compete with what we’re doing now with IVF?” he says.

Gameto will try to answer that question in a large Phase 3 trial it just launched in the US. In that trial, the company will study Fertilo’s efficacy in several hundred patients.

It’s too early to know whether Fertilo would be better than standard IVF—which uses the body’s own ovaries as the ultimate incubator—but it might not have to be for some patients to see it as a viable alternative. Radenkovic says Gameto’s approach might be especially attractive for younger patients looking to freeze their eggs. Patients hoping to have a baby immediately are more willing to deal with drug side effects and multiple doctor’s appointments, she reasons. But those banking their eggs as an insurance policy for the future may be less willing to undergo a disruptive procedure with a lengthy hormone regimen.

Patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, might also benefit from a less invasive version of IVF. People with PCOS tend to be more sensitive to IVF hormones and are at higher risk for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which causes the ovaries to swell and become painful.

Daniel Williams, medical director of the Reproductive Fertility Center in the Los Angeles area, says reducing the medications involved in IVF could bring costs down for patients. “The reason you need alternatives is because cost is still a major barrier for fertility treatment,” he says. “If you can find ways to decrease the cost, you open access to patients that may not be able to do it.” The Reproductive Fertility Center is one of Gameto’s US trial sites.

Fertilo has been approved for use in Australia, Japan, Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, and Peru. Radenkovic says the company hasn’t yet settled on pricing in those places, and ultimately, the final cost of the procedure will be set by fertility clinics.

Gameto is expecting 20 more births this year from across Latin America and Australia as a result of Fertilo. If it’s successful enough, the tech could eventually be more widely adopted. “This could be the new and more modern way of doing fertility care,” Radenkovic says.

[documenting-apartheid]

Visualizing Palestine: The HERMES 900 is a lethal drone manufactured by Elbit systems and first deployed during Israel's 2014 attack on the besieged Gaza strip. Elbit supplies 85% of the drones used by the Israeli military for drone strikes and surveillance, resulting in grave human rights violations against Palestinians.

36,090 PALESTINIANS KILLED during Israel's genocide in Gaza as of May 28, 2024. The Israeli military used drones for 90% of the targeted killings in Gaza in October and November 2023.

11.5% RISE IN REVENUE (year over year) reported by Elbit systems for the first quarter of 2024, 6 months into the genocide in Gaza.

TESTED ON PALESTINIANS "The fact that our systems are in operational use in Israel helps us because customers prefer to get mature solutions."-Elbit Systems CEO Bezhalel Machlis, May 2024

Elbit systems is Israel's largest weapons company.

Sources & Data

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Szu Ping Chan

Published: Mar 31, 2024

Britain has a boy problem. If you are born male today, you are increasingly likely to struggle in school, in the workplace and at home.

The gender attainment gap is not new – girls have been outperforming boys at GCSE level for over three decades now, while the number of women completing degrees has exceeded the number of men since the 1990s.

But solving the problem of underachievement among boys has never been more crucial. Economic growth is stalling, productivity is flatlining and public finances are creaking under the strain of growing benefits bills.

At a time when businesses are struggling to hire, more and more men are dropping out of the workforce. Everyone in society must achieve their fullest potential if we are to fix our economic problems.

There is a political dimension too – William Hague earlier this month raised the alarm about the growing numbers of disaffected young men who, with little offered or promised to them in life, were turning to far-Right politics.

There is nothing innate about boys’ underachievement. There is no fundamental reason why outcomes should be getting worse.

Yet without a concerted effort to close the attainment gap, it seems destined to widen. Ever more men and boys will find themselves unwittingly consigned to life’s scrapheap.

The problem is clear – where are the solutions?

Deepening development gap

Before children even step a foot inside the classroom, boys are already behind.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) notes that “a significant gender gap in both cognitive and socio-emotional development” emerges by the age of three.

By the time children start primary school, two-thirds of girls have reached a “good level of development”, suggesting they are able to write a simple sentence or count beyond 20.

Just under two-thirds of boys have hit that same milestone. For children eligible for free school meals, the disparity is even larger.

This gap that opens up at three never completely closes, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ (IFS) analysis of Department for Education data.

“There’s a silent crisis brewing among boys and men in our classrooms, workplaces and communities,” says Richard Reeves, academic and author of Of Boys and Men, which explores the male malaise from cradle to career.

“Boys now lag behind girls and men lag behind women at almost every level of education. That’s true in nearly every rich economy.”

Reeves, a former adviser to Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister, says biology is behind some of this gap.

All the academic evidence suggests that the prefrontal cortex – or in Reeves’s words “the part of the brain that helps you get your act together” – develops around a year or two faster in girls than boys.

Girls are not smarter, they just mature faster, Reeves says. “Anyone who spends any time with teenagers knows exactly what I’m talking about.”

His conclusion is that there are simply some “natural advantages of women and girls in the education system”.

Rather than recognise and compensate for this, the system has in fact evolved in ways that favour girls. A switch to more coursework at GCSE level benefitted girls more than boys, according to the IFS, which noted that the gap in performance first emerged in the 1980s when exam-based O levels were replaced by GCSEs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“The shake-up brought a move towards more continuous assessment, which seems to have benefitted girls,” the IFS said in a recent paper.

This idea is “quite hard to get this across because many people say: well if girls and women always had this natural advantage, why didn’t we see it 40 years ago?” Reeves says. “The answer is sexism.

“There is no doubt my mum would have gone to university if she was born 50 years later, but it wasn’t considered to be a thing. But now having taken the lid off, that potential for women in education just keeps going. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just that along the way a lot more men have fallen behind.”

Woes of the white working class

Of course, it would be wrong to suggest women were doing better than men in the working world. A median gender pay gap of 7.7pc still shows women are being shortchanged.

After graduation, men are more likely to get a “highly skilled” job than women and average earnings for a male graduate are around 9pc higher than a female a year after they leave university, according to the IFS.

That gap rises to 31pc a decade later.

However, what is worrying academics, politicians and teachers is that attainment among men and boys seems to be declining while for women it improves.

Average pay adjusted for inflation has fallen by 6.9pc for men since 2008, according to ONS data. Among women, it has climbed 2.2pc. In fact, men’s wages are no higher in real terms today than they were in 2002.

Men have been behind the fall in average hours worked since the pandemic, while women are working more.

Louise Murphy at the Resolution Foundation says the worsening prospects for boys and men reflect structural factors.

“The industrial structure of the UK has changed. Some of these manufacturing jobs that existed don’t exist in the same way now.”

Reeves says: “It used to be true that men with relatively modest levels of education do OK in the labour market. And that is not always the case anymore.”

The experience of boys in schools has led them to “underperform in the labour market” more broadly, he adds.

Achievement has become a particular issue among one subset of boys in particular: the white working class.

“Too many people in society just see these boys as the people on mopeds with a balaclava on their head,” says Andy Eadie, assistant headteacher at Cardinal Langley school in Rochdale. “Actually, that’s only a tiny minority.”

Eadie has taught at the mixed comprehensive school of 1,200 pupils since 2016. A fifth of his pupils are eligible for free school meals.

Many have already been “written off” by teachers as soon as they enter the classroom, Eadie says, particularly if they are white working class boys.

“There is a perception that some boys are already signed off and have no hope,” he says.

“The danger is that people aren’t bothered about these gaps. They’re just bothered about keeping them quiet so they can get on with other things.”

Just 14.6pc of white working class boys went into higher education in 2021. This was the lowest figure of any ethnic or socio-economic group and a third of the overall average, according to research published by the House of Commons Library.

Eadie says: “A lot of young people in the white working class background actually have really low self-esteem.

“And so you’ve got a lot of young people who potentially all underachieve and not feel very good about themselves.”

There are signs that this malaise is adding to Britain’s worklessness crisis. One in three 18 to 24-year-old boys were classed as economically inactive – meaning they’re not in work or looking for a job – in the three months to January, a record high.

The figure is up by more than five percentage points since the end of 2019, before the pandemic. Inactivity among 50 to 64-year-old men has climbed five times slower over the same period.

The inactivity rate among young men has roughly doubled since the early 90s, with almost two million now out of the labour force.

Some are choosing to stay on in education but the share of men not in employment, education or training (NEET) is climbing back towards financial crisis rates at 15.3pc. For women, it has remained on a bumpy but downward path.

“I think it goes back to the idea that we just don’t expect our boys to do well. So they don’t do well,” says Conservative MP Nick Fletcher, who leads the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for men and boys.

Caroline Barlow, headteacher at Heathfield Community College, has submitted evidence to the APPG suggesting there was a culture of low expectations for male students.

“In the early days, there was a tendency to almost just be grateful if boys were there and they were doing some work,” she said.

By shifting teachers’ expectations of their pupils, results improved and Heathfield was also able to close the gender gap.

Fletcher says: “We expect our boys to behave badly, so they behave badly. We are letting our boys down and unless we actually recognise we have a problem, then we won’t really start searching for the solution.”

Where does the problem start? Some think it is in the home.

Family circumstances have changed dramatically over the past few decades, with a sharp rise in lone parent households as divorce becomes more common or people don’t even get married in the first place. The vast majority of children in these circumstances grow up with their mothers.

In part, this reflects the economic empowerment of women: they can afford to be a single parent.

However, it raises the question of where male role models are coming from. Research conducted jointly by the Fatherhood Institute found that fathers who read to their children every day are contributing to their development and can help to address early attainment gaps.

The Conservative peer Lord Willetts writes in his book, The Pinch: “A welfare system that was ­originally designed to compensate men for loss of earnings is slowly and messily redesigned to compensate women for the loss of men.”

This too can leave men rudderless in mid-life.

As Reeves puts it in his book: “Economically independent women can now flourish whether they are wives or not. Wifeless men, by contrast, are often a mess. Compared to married men, their health is worse, their employment rates are lower, and their social networks are weaker.”

‘Crisis in masculinity’

The underachievement of men and boys was once seen as almost taboo.

“There have been people who have sniggered when I stood up and asked for a minister for men and a men’s health strategy,” says Fletcher.

“I genuinely believe some of the problems we face are down to the lack of interest in young boys and men, who we’ve always assumed are going to be fine.”

However, politicians have now started to notice.

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has announced that Labour is looking at introducing a men’s health strategy to address what he describes as a “crisis in masculinity” that is costing lives.

It is understood that Labour’s forthcoming review into mental health by Luciana Berger will include a chapter that focuses on male suicide. It remains the biggest killer of British men aged under 35.

William Hague, the former Tory leader, believes the issue is reshaping politics. He recently highlighted that a majority of men now believe they are being discriminated against, which is fuelling support among young men for extreme parties.

Fletcher is calling for a dedicated minister for men to match the minister for women, Kemi Badenoch, who is also part of the Cabinet as Business Secretary.

Despite overwhelming evidence that boys are falling behind, some colleagues still treat the idea of a dedicated minister with ridicule.

Fletcher says: “I think one of the problems that we’ve had as a society is there’s a lot of reluctance to speak up for men. We’ve noticed it in parliament over the years.”

Reeves wants to challenge the longstanding assumption that gender gaps only run one way.

He takes particular issue with the World Economic Forum (WEF), which looks at progress on gender equality across the world.

Countries are scored on a scale from zero to one, with the former representing no equality and the latter signalling full equality. The problem, says Reeves, is that the index itself assumes that only women have any catching up to do.

For example, it “assigns the same score to a country that has reached parity between women and men and one where women have surpassed men”.

This is a deliberate choice. However, as a result the UK’s educational attainment score stands at 0.999 despite the fact that girls have clearly outperformed boys for decades.

Reeves believes continuing to publish the index in this way is damaging and leads “to a lack of policy attention to the problems of boys and men”. In short, he says: “It makes no sense to treat gender inequality as a one-way street.”

The Government insists it is making progress, with a Department for Education spokesman saying the gender gap “across most headline measures is narrowing across all key phases.

“Education standards have risen sharply across the country, with 90pc of schools now rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, up from just 68pc in 2010.”

Reeves offers some radical solutions to closing the attainment gap in his book, including starting boys a year later in school. Many teachers and academics believe this is not practical and Reeves himself says the idea was designed to spark a debate.

Reeves says the evidence also suggests children should take more frequent breaks at school because boys find it harder than girls to sit still. He himself was put in a special class for English because his teachers felt he lacked focus.

At Balcarras secondary school in Cheltenham, headteacher Dominic Burke felt the only way to tackle what used to be a 15pc gender gap in the GCSE results was to level with his students.

“We got the boys together en masse and said to them: ‘You’re going to underachieve. The girls are going to beat you hands down’. And then we showed them the evidence. Their ability profiles were the same. But we said the reality is girls are going to get better results than you and we challenge you to be the first year group to stop that. We called it the ‘effort challenge’.”

It worked. Competition and the offer of cold, hard cash was enough to encourage many to put the effort in. Boys who were judged to have done so received £20 at the end of term. The school managed to close the gender gap and a few years ago, the boys beat the girls for the first time.

“Competition does work I think, and it’s a good tactic for teaching because it becomes a rewarding experience to meet the challenge,” says Burke. “If you make something more engaging and enjoyable, people are more likely to do it.”

Healing

No survey of the state of boys and men in Britain today can ignore the changing ideas of masculinity.

Whereas men were once seen as breadwinners, American sociologists Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas point out that many women in poor US neighbourhoods have come to see them “as just another mouth to feed”. This is disorientating.

Yet perhaps the way to survive as a man in the job market of the future is to junk ideas of traditional masculinity altogether. Many of the jobs of the future will be in things like caring and education.

Reeves wants governments to spearhead a drive to get more men into health, education, administration, and literacy jobs – which he brands HEAL – just as they have ploughed efforts into getting more women into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – or STEM roles.

Increasing the number of male teachers would also raise the number of role models for boys in class. Three-quarters of state school teachers are women, according to data published by the Department for Education.

The share of men working in state-funded nurseries is even lower, at just 14pc. Around 30pc of primary schools have no male teachers at all.

“I did actually get some funny looks when I first started,” says one male nursery worker who does not wish to be identified. 

“Even now I tend to leave the cuddles to my female colleagues as I think there’s still a stereotype that any man who wants to work with young kids has to be some kind of pervert.”

Encouraging more men into these types of jobs would be no small undertaking. Perceptions that men are not suited to caring or creative professions are deep-seated.

Florence Nightingale, who in the 19th century established the principles of modern nursing, insisted that men’s “hard and horny” hands were “not fitted to touch, bathe and dress wounded limbs, however gentle their hearts may be”. The Royal College of Nursing did not even admit men as members until 1960.

Edward Davies, policy director at the Centre for Social Justice think tank, cautions: “It’s absolutely right to remove cultural, perceived and real barriers that keep men from certain careers, especially caring and teaching professions. But we also need to be careful not to pretend men and women are exactly the same.

“At a blunt population level women seem more interested in people and men in things. You would expect to see that reality play out in the jobs they do too. Imposing quotas or expectations that all professions should be evenly split between men and women will probably drive some people into careers they are not suited to.”

Fixing Britain’s boy problem may be harder than even experts think.

[ Via: https://archive.today/AFaiR ]

==

The people who talk endlessly about "equality" and "equal rights" are strangely silent when it comes to areas where boys and men fall behind: education, health and lifespan, and life satisfaction.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0205349

[ The Basic Index of Gender Inequality (BIGI, x-axis) as a function of the Human Development Index (HDI, y-axis).

BIGI is the average of 3 components: Ratio in healthy life span, ratio in overall life satisfaction, and ratio in educational opportunities during childhood (see Materials and Methods for details). Deviation from zero implies the extent of gender inequality. The plot shows the largest contributor to the overall score for each nation: Purple dots indicate healthy life span is the most important component, green dots indicate educational opportunities, and red dots indicate overall life satisfaction. The Ns indicate for each level of HDI how many nations have a BIGI score greater than 0, and how many less than 0. ]

Almost like it isn't "just about equality."

[akingnotaprincess]

Fic: By Design (chapter 2)

Read on AO3

Author: @akingnotaprincess

Fandom: Star Trek TNG, Star Trek DS9

Rating: Mature

Pairing: Julian Bashir/Data

WC overall: 63,264

WC this chapter: 4.7k

Notes: This has been my baby for a long time. What started out years ago to be 4,000 words max has blossomed into the longest fic I've ever written.

By Design wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the love and support I've gotten from everyone on the 30+ Fanfic discord server. I can't thank you enough. I don't think I've done a dedication before, but this one is for all of you. ♥

Many thanks to changeableLandscape for beta-ing the entire fic.

Summary, overall: When Jules is born there is a name over his heart. That's not unusual since there's always an age difference between soulmates. After all, the names appear at the exact moment when the other half is born—down to the millisecond. The odd part of Jules' mark is the name itself. Only one word—Data. What is that supposed to mean? What kind of name is that? It's not even a proper name. His soulmate isn't a Liam, or a Noah, or a Sophia or an Evelyn—something normal. No, the one who matches Jules' soul goes by Data.

-----

Data does not understand this need that humans have to be with one's soulmate, even though he has one himself. The name, Jules Subatoi Bashir, appeared over where a human heart would be, three years after being activated. It is a particular signature—very sloppy with embellished loops—like it had been written in some sort of hurry. He keeps the mark to himself, finding that it is no one else's concern. It is unimportant, and would only serve as a distraction to his work and life.

Snippet: "Excuse me, do you have authorization to work in this area?"

The voice is a little stilted, even slightly robotic, but that doesn't raise his hackles. This problem is more important than that. "Come in, come in." He waves the stranger into the room, as if this is his medical bay, and not one that he's commandeered for his own needs. "I need help with this field generator. See if you can boost the output to 65%?" He pulls back to let them have a look, but cannot help himself, and leans forward again, hovering over the field generator. He's expecting some help, someone who is just as intrigued as he is, someone… someone who has a normal hand?

A large hand with shimmering pale skin covers the field generator instead. "I'm sorry," the stranger says.

Julian whips his head up to meet whoever is stopping him from performing his tests, and his eyes bug out of his head and his brain tries to connect the dots on what—who—he's seeing. His mind runs through all of the possibilities he can fathom. They're not human—the skin and golden eyes make that perfectly clear. However, there's no alien race he's aware of that matches what is in front of him.

That's… odd.

"But use of sick bay equipment is limited to medical personnel."

"Ah," Julian says, a little deflated. His journey fast-tracking the solution to his problem is nearing the end. Well, he is a Starfleet doctor, perhaps that will be enough. He holds out a hand to shake. "Doctor Julian Bashir. Chief Medical Officer. Deep Space Nine." The stranger grasps his hand, and dear God his grip is strong. Julian tries his best not to show the discomfort on his face. He eyes the pips below the collar: two gold, one black. He's speaking with a lieutenant commander. Hopefully his charm gets him out of this situation unscathed. "And you are Commander…?"

"Data."

It's as if the wind has been knocked out of him. He sucks in a deep breath—he feels like he is gulping for air.

Data.

Data.

His Data!

Oh fuck.

[ktaminfo]

Keys to the Digital Future

The digital future is not merely a continuation of today’s technological trends; it is a transformative landscape where innovation, connectivity, and sustainability intertwine to redefine how we live, work, and interact. As we step into this exciting future, understanding its essential components can empower individuals, businesses, and societies to thrive. Here are the key elements shaping the digital future:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

AI and ML are at the forefront of the digital transformation. These technologies are driving advancements in automation, data analysis, and decision-making. From personalized recommendations to autonomous vehicles, AI’s capabilities are reshaping industries. The future lies in ethical AI development, ensuring these tools enhance human lives while minimizing biases and risks.

The Internet of Things (IoT)

The IoT connects devices, systems, and people, creating an ecosystem of interconnectivity. Smart homes, wearables, and industrial IoT solutions are just the beginning. As 5G and edge computing mature, IoT’s potential to streamline operations and improve efficiency will expand exponentially, transforming everything from healthcare to urban planning.

3. Sustainable Technologies

The digital future must align with global sustainability goals. Renewable energy, energy-efficient data centers, and green computing practices are essential for reducing the environmental footprint of technology. The circular economy, which emphasizes recycling and repurposing electronic waste, will play a significant role in creating a sustainable digital ecosystem.

Cybersecurity and Privacy

As technology evolves, so do the threats associated with it. Cybersecurity is a cornerstone of the digital future, requiring robust frameworks to protect data and infrastructure. Privacy-centric technologies, such as blockchain and zero-knowledge proofs, offer innovative ways to safeguard user data and build trust in digital systems.

Digital Inclusion and Accessibility

A truly transformative digital future is one that is inclusive and accessible to all. Bridging the digital divide requires investments in infrastructure, affordable devices, and digital literacy programs. Technologies must be designed with accessibility in mind, ensuring equitable opportunities for everyone, regardless of location, ability, or socioeconomic status.

Quantum Computing

Quantum computing has the potential to solve problems that are currently beyond the reach of classical computers. By leveraging quantum mechanics, these machines can revolutionize fields such as cryptography, drug discovery, and climate modeling. While still in its infancy, quantum computing is a critical component of the digital frontier.

The Metaverse and Virtual Realities

The metaverse represents the convergence of physical and digital realities. Virtual and augmented reality technologies are enabling new ways of interaction, education, and entertainment. Businesses are leveraging these immersive environments for training, product design, and customer engagement, laying the foundation for a blended digital-physical world.

Ethical Leadership in Technology

The digital future demands leaders who prioritize ethics and societal well-being. From addressing algorithmic biases to ensuring responsible AI deployment, ethical leadership is crucial for fostering innovation that aligns with human values. Transparency, accountability, and collaboration will be key to navigating complex ethical challenges.

Education and Lifelong Learning

As technology evolves, so must our skills. The future workforce will require adaptability and continuous learning to keep pace with new tools and paradigms. Education systems must evolve to emphasize digital literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration, preparing individuals for the demands of a rapidly changing digital landscape.

Global Collaboration

The digital future is a global endeavor, requiring collaboration across borders, industries, and disciplines. Shared goals, such as mitigating climate change and advancing healthcare, necessitate partnerships that leverage collective expertise and resources. International cooperation will ensure that technological advancements benefit humanity as a whole.

The keys to the digital future lie in innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability. By embracing these principles and addressing the challenges they present, we can unlock unprecedented opportunities for growth and prosperity. As we navigate this dynamic journey, the digital future promises to be a realm of endless possibilities, limited only by our imagination and commitment to shaping it responsibly.

[techytoolzataclick]

Top Futuristic AI Based Applications by 2024

2024 with Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the backdrop of what seems to be another revolutionary iteration across industries. AI has matured over the past year to provide novel use cases and innovative solutions in several industries. This article explores most exciting AI applications that are driving the future.

1. Customized Chatbots

The next year, 2024 is seeing the upward trajectory of bespoke chatbots. Google, and OpenAI are creating accessible user-friendly platforms that enable people to build their own small-scale chatbots for particular use cases. These are the most advanced Chatbots available in the market — Capable of not just processing text but also Images and Videos, giving a plethora of interactive applications. For example, estate agents can now automatically create property descriptions by adding the text and images of listings thatsurgent.

2. AI in Healthcare

AI has found numerous applications in the healthcare industry, from diagnostics to personalized treatment plans. After all, AI-driven devices can analyze medical imaging material more accurately than humans and thus among other things help to detect diseases such as cancer at an early stage. They will also describe how AI algorithms are used to create tailored treatment strategies personalized for each patient's genetics and clinical past, which helps enable more precise treatments.

3. Edge AI

A major trend in 2024 is Edge AI It enables computer processing to be done at the edge of a network, rather than in large data centers. Because of its reduced latency and added data privacy, Edge AI can be used in applications like autonomous vehicles transportations, smart cities as well as industrial automation. Example, edge AI in autonomous vehicles is able to get and process real-time data, increasing security by allowing faster decision-making.

4. AI in Finance

Today, the financial sector is using AI to make better decisions and provide an even stronger customer experience. Fraud detection, risk assessment and customised financial advice have introduced insurance into the AI algorithm. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants are now common enough to be in use by 2024, greatly assisting customers stay on top of their financial well-being. Those tools will review your spending behavior, write feedback to you and even help with some investment advices.

5. AI in Education

AI is revolutionizing education with individualized learning. These AI-powered adaptive learning platforms use data analytics to understand how students fare and produces a customised educational content (Hoos, 2017). This way, students get a tailored experience and realize better outcomes. Not only that, AI enabled tools are also in use for automating administrative tasks which shortens the time required by educators on teaching.

6. AI in Job Hunting

This is also reverberating in the job sector, where AI technology has been trending. With tools like Canyon AI Resume Builder, you can spin the best resumé that might catch something eye catchy recruiter among a dozen others applications he receives in-between his zoom meeting. Using AI based tools to analyze Job Descriptions and match it with the required skills, experience in different job roles help accelerating the chances of a right fit JOB.

7. Artificial Intelligence in Memory & Storage Solutions

Leading AI solutions provider Innodisk presents its own line of memory and storage with added in-house designed AI at the recent Future of Memory & Storage (FMS) 2024 event. Very typically these are solutions to make AI applications easier, faster and better by improving performance scalability as well on the quality. This has huge implications on sectors with substantial data processing and storage demands (healthcare, finance, self-driving cars).

Conclusion

2024 — Even at the edge of possible, AI is revolutionizing across many industries. AI is changing our lives from tailored chatbots and edge AI to healthcare, finance solutions or education and job search. This will not only improve your business profile as a freelancer who create SEO optimized content and write copies but also give your clients in the writing for business niche some very useful tips.