#Data backup policies

[ourjobagency]

5 Easy Ways To Improve Salesforce Data Backup Recovery Strategy

In today's data-driven world, businesses rely heavily on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Salesforce to manage their customer information, track sales, and drive growth. However, even the most robust platforms are not immune to data loss or system failures. That's why having a solid Salesforce data backup and recovery strategy is crucial for ensuring business continuity. In this blog post, we'll explore five easy ways to enhance your Salesforce data backup and recovery strategy.

Regularly Scheduled Backups:

The foundation of any effective data recovery strategy is regular data backups. Salesforce provides a built-in data export tool that allows you to export data in a structured format, such as CSV or Excel. Set up a routine schedule for these exports to ensure that your data is backed up consistently. Depending on your organization's needs, you may choose to perform daily, weekly, or monthly backups.

Automate Your Backups:

Manually exporting data can be time-consuming and prone to errors. To streamline the process, consider automating your Salesforce data backups using third-party backup solutions. These tools can schedule and execute backups automatically, ensuring that your data is consistently and reliably backed up without manual intervention.

Store Backups Securely:

Backing up your Salesforce data is only half the battle. Equally important is where you store those backups. Utilize secure and redundant storage solutions, such as cloud storage platforms like Amazon S3 or Google Cloud Storage. Implement encryption and access controls to safeguard your backups from unauthorized access.

Test Your Recovery Process:

Having backups is essential, but they're only as good as your ability to recover data from them. Regularly test your data recovery process to ensure that it works as expected. Document the steps, and make sure that your team is familiar with the recovery procedures. Conducting mock recovery drills can help identify and address any potential issues before they become critical.

Monitor and Alerting:

Proactive monitoring is key to identifying data backup and recovery issues early. Implement monitoring and alerting systems that notify you of any backup failures or anomalies. This way, you can take immediate action to rectify issues and minimize data loss in case of a failure.

Consider Salesforce Data Archiving:

As your Salesforce database grows, it can become challenging to manage large volumes of data efficiently. Salesforce offers data archiving solutions that allow you to move older or less frequently accessed data to a separate storage location. This can help reduce storage costs and improve system performance, making your data recovery strategy more manageable.

In conclusion, enhancing your Salesforce data backup and recovery strategy doesn't have to be complicated. By implementing these five easy steps, you can significantly improve your organization's ability to recover critical data in the event of data loss or system failures. Remember that data is the lifeblood of your business, and a robust backup and recovery strategy is your insurance policy against unforeseen disasters.

[techdirectarchive]

How to create Synology Snapshot Replication

Snapshot Replication delivers an expert solution for data backup and recovery, offering near-instant data protection with flexible scheduling. This package safeguards your business data in shared folders and virtual machines stored in LUNs, ensuring quick access and availability in the event of a disaster. In this article, we shall learn the steps on how to create Synology Snapshot Replication.…

[mywitchyblog]

PSA: YOUR SCRIPTS ARE SAFE. PERIOD. FULL STOP. 🔒🛡️

No, Notion employees aren’t sipping lattes while reading about your DR love story or your plot to be the main character in Hogwarts.

i saw this on my mutual @shiftinghoesblog and i though some of yall may need reassurence.

The Tea on Notion’s Privacy Policy ☕🍵

Notion’s Data Access and Consent guidelines are crystal clear (source: Notion Help Center). Employees CAN’T just waltz into your notes for funsies. Their policies lock your data down like the vault at Gringotts. Here’s the breakdown:

STRICT Access Controls: Notion employees can only see your data under very specific circumstances, like troubleshooting technical issues. AND THAT’S ONLY IF YOU GIVE THEM PERMISSION. Consent is queen here. 👑 If you didn’t say “yes,” they ain’t got the key, honey.

Encryption is Everything: Your notes are encrypted both in transit (when they’re being sent to the server) and at rest (when they’re stored). Translation? No hacker, Notion intern, or cosmic entity is peeping your Draco Malfoy fantasies or villain-arc DR scripts. 🖤✨

Account = YOURS: You can delete, export, and control every single thing you store in Notion. It’s like having the Elder Wand but for your data. 💼🪄

Let’s Talk Real Safety Tips (Because You’re a Boss 🖤):

If you’re still side-eyeing this, here are ways to flex your data security like the baddie you are:

💻 Password Power-Up: Use a password so strong even Bellatrix couldn’t crack it. And no, “password123” isn’t cutting it, bestie.

🔐 Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Protect your account like it’s holding the secrets to the multiverse (because, well, it kind of is).

📥 Backup Your Scripts: If Notion gives you the ick, download your scripts and store them offline or in an encrypted file.

And to Those Doubters Saying “But What If—”

Stop it. 🙄✨ Notion has actual legal obligations to protect your data. They’re not out here violating privacy laws to sneak a peek at your alternate-reality plotting. If that’s not enough, why would Linda from IT care about your scripted DR wedding or the drama at your magical prom? THEY DON’T, SWEETHEART. 🥂

So What’s the Vibe?

💎 Notion is Safe AF. 👑 Your DR secrets are sacred. 🔥 Stop worrying and script like the magical icon you are.

Now get back to manifesting your Desired Reality with confidence, sass, and all the ✨main character energy✨ you can muster. Your shifting journey is yours, protected, and unstoppable. 💫🌌 Go slay it, babes. 🔥🖤

[screentones-webcomicresources]

There are many web hosting companies to choose from if you're taking the plunge into making your own website with a comic content management system (CMS) like ComicControl or Grawlix, a Wordpress comic theme like Toocheke or ComicPress, or a HTML template to cut/paste code like Rarebit. While these solutions are generally free, finding a home for them is... generally not. It can be hard to choose what's best for your webcomic AND your budget!

We took a look at a few of the top hosting services used by webcomics creators using webcomic CMSes, and we put out a poll to ask your feedback about your hosts!

This post may be updated as time goes on as new services enter the hosting arena, or other important updates come to light.

Questions:

💻 I can get a free account with Wix/Squarespace/Carrd, could I just use those for my comic? - Web hosts like this may have gallery functions that could be adapted to display a series of pages, but they are very basic and not intended for webcomics.

📚 Wait, I host on Webtoon, Tapas, Comic Fury, or some other comic website, why are they not here? - Those are comic platforms! We'll get into those in a future post!

🕵️‍♀️Why does it say "shared hosting"? Who am I sharing with? - "Shared hosting" refers to sharing the server space with other customers. They will not have access to your files or anything, so it is perfectly fine to use for most comic CMSes. You may experience slowing if there is too much activity on a server, so if you're planning to host large files or more than 10 comics, you may want to upgrade to a more robust plan in the future.

Web Host List

Neocities

Basic plan pricing: Free or $5/month. Free plan has more restrictions (1 GB space, no custom domain, and slower bandwidth, among other things)

Notes: Neocities does not have database support for paid or free accounts, and most comic CMS solutions require this (ComicCtrl, Grawlix, Wordpress). You will need to work with HTML/CSS files directly to make a website and post each page.

Hostinger

Basic plan pricing: $11.99/month or $7.99/month with four year commitment (monthly, 1, 2, and 4 year plans available).

Notes: Free domain for the 1st year. Free SSL Certifications. Weekly backups.

KnownHost

Basic plan pricing: $8.95/month or $7.99/month with four year commitment (monthly, 1, 2, and 4 year plans available).

Notes: Free DDOS protection. Free SSL Certifications.

InMotion Hosting

Basic plan pricing: $12.99/month or $9.99/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, and 3 year plans available).

Notes:  Free SSL Certifications, free domain names for 1 and 3 year plans. 24/7 live customer service and 90-day money-back guarantee. Inmotion also advertises eco-friendly policies: We are the first-ever Green Data Center in Los Angeles. We cut cooling costs by nearly 70 percent and reduce our carbon output by more than 2,000 tons per year.

Reviews:

👍“I can't remember it ever going down.”

👍“InMotion has a pretty extensive library full of various guides on setting up and managing websites, servers, domains, etc. Customer service is also fairly quick on responding to inquiries.” 👎“I wish it was a bit faster with loading pages.”

Ionos Hosting

Basic plan pricing: $8/month or $6/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, 2 and 3 year plans available).

Notes: Free domain for the first year, free SSL Certification, Daily backup and recovery is included. Site Scan and Repair is free for the first 30 days and then is $6/month.

Reviews:

👍“Very fast and simple” 👎“Customer service is mediocre and I can't upload large files”

Bluehost

Basic plan pricing: $15.99/month or $4.95/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, 3 year plans available).

Notes: Free domain and SSL certificates (for first year only). 24/7 Customer Service. Built to handle higher traffic websites. Although they specialize in Wordpress websites and provide updates automatically, that's almost a bad thing for webcomic plugins because they will often break your site. Their cloud hosting services are currently in early access with not much additional information available.

Reviews:

👎"The fees keep going up. Like I could drop $100 to cover a whole year, but now I'm paying nearly $100 for just three months. It's really upsetting."

👎"I have previously used Bluehost’s Wordpress hosting service and have had negative experiences with the service, so please consider with a grain of salt. I can confirm at least that their 24/7 customer service was great, although needed FAR too often."

Dreamhost

Basic plan pricing: $7.99/month or $5.99/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, 3 year plans available).

Notes: Free SSL Certificates, 24/7 support with all plans, 97-day moneyback guarantee. Not recommended for ComicCtrl CMS

Reviews:

👍“They've automatically patched 2 security holes I created/allowed by mistake.” 👍“Prices are very reasonable” 👎 “back end kind of annoying to use” 👎 “wordpress has some issues” 👎 “it's not as customizable as some might want“

GoDaddy

Basic plan pricing: $11.99/month or $9.99/month with three year commitment (monthly, 1, 2, and 3 year plans available).

Notes: Free 24/7 Customer service with all plans, Free SSL Certificates for 1 year, free domain and site migration.

Reviews:

👍Reasonable intro prices for their Economy hosting, which has 25GB of storage 👍Migrated email hosting service from cPanel to Microsoft Office, which has greater support but may not be useful for most webcomic creators. 👎 Many site issues and then being upsold during customer service attempts. 👎 Server quality found lacking in reviews 👎 Marketing scandals in the past with a reputation for making ads in poor taste. Have been attempting to clean up that image in recent years. 👎 “GoDaddy is the McDonald's of web hosting. Maybe the Wal-Mart of hosting would be better. If your website was an object you would need a shelf to put it on. You go to Wal-Mart and buy a shelf. It's not great. It's not fancy. It can only hold that one thing. And if we're being honest - if the shelf broke and your website died it wouldn't be the end of the world.The issue comes when you don't realize GoDaddy is the Wal-Mart of hosting. You go and try to do things you could do with a quality shelf. Like, move it. Or add more things to it.” MyWorkAccountThisIs on Reddit*

Things to consider for any host:

💸 Introductory/promotional pricing - Many hosting companies offer free or inexpensive deals to get you in the door, and then raise the cost for these features after the first year or when you renew. The prices in this post are the base prices that you can expect to pay after the promotional prices end, but may get outdated, so you are encouraged to do your own research as well.

💻 Wordpress hosting - Many of the companies below will have a separate offering for Wordpress-optimized hosting that will keep you updated with the latest Wordpress releases. This is usually not necessary for webcomic creators, and can be the source of many site-breaking headaches when comic plugins have not caught up to the latest Wordpress releases.

Any basic hosting plan on this list will be fine with Wordpress, but expect to stop or revert Wordpress versions if you go with this as your CMS.

🤝 You don't have to go it alone - While free hosts may be more limited, paid hosting on a web server will generally allow you to create different subdomains, or attach additional purchased domains to any folders you make. If you have other comic-making friends you know and trust, you can share your server space and split the cost!

Want to share your experience?

Feel free to contribute your hosting pros, cons, and quirks on our survey! We will be updating our list periodically with your feedback!

[technologywhis]

Oh yes — that’s the legendary CIA Triad in cybersecurity. It’s not about spies, but about the three core principles of keeping information secure. Let’s break it down with some flair:

⸻

1. Confidentiality

Goal: Keep data private — away from unauthorized eyes.

Think of it like locking away secrets in a vault. Only the right people should have the keys.

Examples:

• Encryption

• Access controls

• Two-factor authentication (2FA)

• Data classification

Threats to it:

• Data breaches

• Shoulder surfing

• Insider threats

⸻

2. Integrity

Goal: Ensure data is accurate and trustworthy.

No tampering, no unauthorized changes — the data you see is exactly how it was meant to be.

Examples:

• Checksums & hashes

• Digital signatures

• Version control

• Audit logs

Threats to it:

• Malware modifying files

• Man-in-the-middle attacks

• Corrupted files from system failures

⸻

3. Availability

Goal: Data and systems are accessible when needed.

No point in having perfect data if you can’t get to it, right?

Examples:

• Redundant systems

• Backup power & data

• Load balancing

• DDoS mitigation tools

Threats to it:

• Denial-of-service (DoS/DDoS) attacks

• Natural disasters

• Hardware failure

⸻

Why it matters?

Every cybersecurity policy, tool, and defense strategy is (or should be) built to support the CIA Triad. If any one of these pillars breaks, your system’s security is toast.

Want to see how the CIA Triad applies to real-world hacking cases or a breakdown of how you’d protect a small business network using the Triad? I got you — just say the word.

[isolaradiale]

November was perhaps the most frustrating time of the year for Ofiuco. The Stars were always running maintenance on the island's functionality, making sure that even in a worst case scenario there would still be systems to fall back on if things went wrong outside of their own plans. It didn't happen often, but sometimes things slipped in that they didn't intend on.

But every November the Stars performed a big backup of the island's data. It was a lot of work, and involved pausing the city altogether so that the citizens that lived there had no idea that anything was amiss. That day, in this year's case November 8th, would feel like it had happened to them. Even though it actually hadn't.

"Why does this always fall on me to do? It's boring..." Ofiuco knew the reason. Her main body had evolved past her original schematics, but her robot body within the island's setting had all of the tools installed to make the data backup easier. None of the other Stars were allowed to touch that body since it was an extension of herself.

Ofiuco wasn't focused on the task at hand like she should have been though, so she didn't notice that she had accidentally hit the wrong button. "OOPS!?" At least until it was too late. Just like that, everyone's data in the city had been wiped. "...Good thing this is why we have backups in the first place." Everyone in the city was reconstructed from that backup, but something was wrong. Something that Ofiuco didn't catch at all.

All of the character data had been reinstated but it was jumbled. Characters were recreated as if they came from different worlds altogether, which would lead to a crisis that only some were able to realize. But how long would it take for the Stars to notice?

WHAT'S GOING ON?

Welcome to our last new event of 2024, ALTERNATIVE ALLEGORY!

Ofiuco made a little oopsie that slipped past her radar and accidentally deleted everyone's character data during the yearly big backup. Good thing she had the previous day's basic backup to reinstate them!

But something corrupted the backup, and while all of the characters were reinstated, all of the data has been jumbled up.

Because of this, the characters have been recreated as if they were from different worlds altogether.

Think of this as a chance to design an AU for your character, like Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia as if he were an Ace Attorney character, for example!

All threads must be set on November 9th or later. The characters will believe they lived through November 8th, but the city was in maintenance mode on that day and wasn't actually active!

This event will run until 11:59:59PM EST on Friday, November 29th!

WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR DESIGNING OUR CHARACTER'S AU?

You can pick any series from the masterlist to design an AU version of your character from! You only require mun permission if you're using an original character's world instead. You cannot use a series that is not on our masterlist.

You can design an entire backstory for that character as if they're from that world, however you must abide by our fandom OC policies. This means you cannot give them direct ties to any characters from that canon.

Similarly, you can give them powers or change their appearances according to the setting but must abide by our fandom OC policies regarding what is or what isn't acceptable. That means you can't give them any powers that rival or surpass the main characters. Powers are uncapped for this event so this isn't too limiting.

You aren't required to AU your character if you don't want to! That said, if you want participation for this event you will need to write with someone who is AUed.

Whether your character realizes they have been AUed and remember their original canon or not is up to you! Do whatever you think works better for what you plan!

You can change your character's AU if you'd like! You're not bound to one for the whole event, you can have several!

To make it easier for others to keep track of what you've done, we recommend making a post describing the AU and everything that has changed.

If you have any questions about the event, please send them to the masterlist! We will not be answering them in the Discord server so that everyone can see the answers!

[girderednerve]

The archivists I spoke to were confident that much less government data will be permanently lost than was initially feared. But they also saw little reason for complacency. “What we don’t know is how much material has been changed,” Mark Graham, the director of the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, told me. His team is tabulating how many dot-gov pages with certain keywords have been modified or deleted; in the lead are “health policy,” “World Health Organization,” and “systemic racism.” Their backups are foundational to many of the more recent efforts to archive the federal web. But they’re also closer to “snapshots” than functional substitutes: What use is an archived F.D.A. finding aid if it’s been disconnected from back-end data, and doctors without coding skills can’t use it to research clinical trials?

“It’s a lot easier for the archival community to say, ‘Yeah, we have a bunch of data,’ than it is to say, ‘Yeah, we’re hosting a bunch of server-side applications that will help you navigate the data,’ ” Jack Cushman, the director of Harvard Law School’s Library Innovation Lab, told me. Last month, his organization released a backup of the more than three hundred thousand data sets hosted by data.gov. (At least three thousand of the originals have been removed.) They’re also working on open-source tools to make all this data navigable.

Last week, the guerrilla archiving movement reached an important milestone, when restoredCDC.org went online. It’s a replica of the health agency’s pre-Trump website based on backups from r/DataHoarder—one that’s fully functional, with a reconstructed back end and interactive tools. But fresh challenges loom. Librarians and data hoarders have been able to save only publicly available records; restricted ones, such as the D.O.J.’s National Database of Police Misconduct—or the internal records being shredded by employees of U.S.A.I.D.—may be gone for good.

[tofueatingwokerati]

The UK no longer has end to end encryption thanks to Keir Starmer’s Labour government reanimating the zombie policy that is the Snoopers Charter, first peddled by Theresa May’s Tory government and rejected by the public.

Apple withdrawing end-to-end encrypted backups from the UK "creates a dangerous precedent which authoritarian countries will surely follow".

UK now likened to authoritarian regimes and why Starmer won’t challenge Trump since he is in lock step with US policies, openly goes after sick, disabled, pensioners and poorest, increasing their hardship rather than tax the mega rich. US policy is UK policy.

So what does this mean for Apple users in the UK?

All your data in the cloud is no longer secure in comparison to having ADP enabled and can be accessed by the government upon request. The GDPR is all but dead in the UK, there are now so many government policies that snoop on us by the back door with even news outlets online now charging us for access without *cookies enabled (data farming you whilst you read with no option to opt out unless you pay)

I checked with the ICO myself and it is a fully approved policy despite its contradiction to the rights of consent, removed in the process.

If you want a workaround here are my suggestions

Cancel your iCloud storage, your data will stay on the cloud until the renewal date, use that time to back it up locally or on a flash drive.

Change your iMessage settings to delete audio messages after 2 minutes and permanently delete messages after 30 days.

Alternatively, use a third party messaging app with a delete on read feature and disable Apple iMessage altogether.

If you are tech savvy you can set up a USB drive or flash drive directly into your router hub (you should have at least one USB slot, some have two) and use FTP to back up over wifi, you can do this on any device, you don’t need a desktop.

Use a VPN service or set one up. If you’re really technical you can use a Raspberry Pi to do this, but you will need to hard code it. Think Mr Robot.

This change does not impact sensitive data like medical details which remain end to end encrypted.

If you want to learn more on the sweeping bills being pushed through government and any action your can take visit Big Brother Watch: https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk

*If you want to read news articles without paying for the privilege of not handing over your cookie data, simply disable javascript within your browsers settings and refresh the browser page. Remember to turn it back on when your done. Alternatively disable all cookies but know this will impact your online experience and access.

[avengersmansion-official]

Welcome to Tumblr!

I'll start with a relatively softball question, which, yes, I could get from the official Avengers website, and an abbreviated version of which I have from a newspaper clipping about their first official announcement, but let's have it again. How did the Avengers first meet and decide to become a group?

I actually answered this already, but I'll give you another angle on it!

So the basic story is as follows: the original five Avengers (the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp) met after Thor's brother Loki tricked the Hulk into a rampage in order to pit him against Thor. The other four heroes answered a distress call meant for the Fantastic Four, and the five of them teamed up against Loki. At the Wasp's suggestion, they decided to remain a group thereafter.

Captain America joined soon after, replacing the Hulk, and the rest is largely history.

However, what's lesser-known is the operational structure of the Avengers during those early days. The Avengers were (and still are, to an extent) governed by a team charter:

(a digital scan of the original Avengers charter)

This charter, drawn up by one of Tony Stark's lawyers and ratified by the original members, defined the scope and structure of the Avengers' operations during those key early years. Most crucially, it did three things:

It defined the team's legal status - officially deputized and sanctioned as a peacekeeping force by the United States government, the UN, and SHIELD, meaning they could apprehend supervillains and stop disasters with a good degree of operational freedom. (largely aided by Captain America's ties with Nick Fury.)

It defined the team's nonprofit status, protecting them from being affected by corporate interests and allowing them to go against groups like the Zodiac and the Corporation with impunity.

It established the purpose of the team - not as those who might try to define a path forward for humanity, but as peacekeepers and sentinels. "Watchers on the rim", as a popular book series might put it.

Notably, the charter doesn't specify what the bylaws of the team were, only that there were bylaws. What were they? I, somewhat embarrassingly, don't know. All existing copies of them were destroyed and unrecoverable when Hydrobase sank (a disaster for data preservationists like ourselves, and a good advertisement for having off-site backups), and a new charter was established shortly thereafter, with its own set of bylaws. Maybe I'll ask Ms. van Dyne if she recalls what they were.

From what little I could gather, we know that early on, chairmanship of the group was on a rotating basis, and there was a strict meeting attendance policy, with penalties possibly up to and including expulsion from the team for missing scheduled meetings. Additional requirements, such as a seven-member active roster and racial diversity quotas, were later foisted upon the team by the United States government.

Other than that, little is known, because, again, the meeting minutes were destroyed with Hydrobase, and due to certain... issues involving the Vision, database sharing between the Avengers and their West Coast counterparts was often a fraught situation.

[mariacallous]

On Tuesday morning, five days after Hurricane Helene ripped through Boone, North Carolina, David Marlett was on his way to the campus of Appalachian State University. The managing director of the university’s Brantley Risk & Insurance Center, Marlett was planning to spend the day working with his colleagues to help students and community members understand their insurance policies and file claims in the wake of the storm. He didn’t sound hopeful. “I’m dreading it,” he said. “So many people are just not going to have coverage.”

Helene made landfall southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, last week with winds up to 140 miles per hour, downing trees and bringing record-breaking storm surges to areas along the Gulf Coast before charging up through Georgia. But perhaps its most shocking impacts have been on inland North Carolina, where it first started raining while the storm was still over Mexico. At least 57 people are dead in Buncombe County in the west of the state alone. Communities like Boone received dozens of inches of rainfall despite being hundreds of miles from the coast. Waters rose in main streets, sinkholes and mudslides wreaked havoc, and major roads were blocked, flooded, or degraded by the storm.

Now, there’s a good chance that many homeowners in North Carolina won’t see any payouts from their insurance companies—even if they have policies they thought were comprehensive.

“The property insurance market for homes was already a patchwork system that really doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Marlett says. “Now you’re adding in the last couple of years of economic uncertainty, inflation, climate change, population migration—it’s just an unbelievably bad combination happening all at once.”

For North Carolinians, the issue right now has to do with what, exactly, private insurance is on the hook for when it comes to a storm. An average homeowner policy covers damage from wind, but private homeowners’ insurance plans in the US do not cover flooding. Instead, homeowners in areas at risk of flooding usually purchase plans from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The way a hurricane wreaks havoc on a state is a crucial deciding factor for insurers’ wallets. Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida as a category 4 storm with some of the highest wind speeds on record, caused $63 billion in private insurance claims. In contrast, the bulk of the $17 billion in damage caused by 2018’s Hurricane Florence, which tore up the North Carolina coast, was water damage, not wind; as a result, private insurers largely avoided picking up the check for that disaster.

This breakout of flood insurance from home policies dates back to the 1940s, says Donald Hornstein, a law professor at the University of North Carolina and a member of the board of directors of the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association. Private insurance companies decided that they did not have enough data to be able to accurately predict flooding and therefore could not insure it. “In some ways, that calculation of 50 years ago is still the calculation insurers make today,” he says.

While the NFIP, which was created in the late 1960s, provides virtually the only backup against flood damage, the program is saddled with debt and has become a political hot potato. (Project 2025, for instance, recommends phasing out the program entirely and replacing it with private options.) Part of the problem with the NFIP is low uptake. Across the country, FEMA statistics show that just 4 percent of homeowners have flood insurance. Some areas hit by Helene in Appalachia, initial statistics show, have less than 2.5 percent of homeowners signed up for the federal program.

“Even in coastal areas, not many people buy that, much less here in the mountains,” Marlett says. “People have never seemed to fully understand that flood is a separate policy.”

Flooding is not unprecedented in the mountains of North Carolina: Hurricane Ivan swept through Appalachia in 2004, and flash floods from rivers are not unheard of. Purchasing flood insurance is mandatory with a government-backed mortgage in some areas of the country, based on flood zones set by FEMA. But the data is based on extremely outdated floodplain maps that have not taken the most recent climate science on record rainfall into account.

“The biggest non-secret in Washington for decades is how hopelessly out of date these flood maps are,” Hornstein says.

Even if water wasn’t the cause of destruction for some homeowners in North Carolina, the storm’s disastrous mudslides—another risk supercharged by climate change—may not be covered either. Many home insurance policies have carve-outs for what are known as “earth movements,” which includes landslides, sinkholes, and earthquakes. In some states, like California, insurers are mandated to offer additional earthquake insurance, and homeowners can purchase private additional policies that cover earth movements. But in a state like North Carolina, where earthquake risk is extremely low, homeowners may not even know that such policies exist.

It’s also been a tough few years for the insurance industry across the country. A New York Times analysis from May showed that homeowners’ insurers lost money in 18 states in 2023—up from eight states in 2013—largely thanks to expensive disasters like hurricanes and wildfires. Payouts are increasingly costing insurers more than they are getting in premiums. Homeowners are seeing their policies jump as a result: According to statistics compiled by insurance comparison shopping site Insurify, the average annual cost of home insurance climbed nearly 20 percent between 2021 and 2023. In Florida, which has the highest insurance costs in the country, the average homeowner paid over $10,000 a year in 2023—more than $8,600 above the national rate.

Florida has made headlines in recent months as ground zero for the climate-change insurance crisis. More than 30 insurance companies have either fully or partially pulled out of Florida over the past few years, including big names like Farmers’ and AAA, after mounting losses from repeated major hurricanes like 2022’s Ian, the most expensive natural disaster in the state’s history. Florida’s insurer of last resort, now saddled with risk from multiple homeowners, has proposed a rate increase of 14 percent, set to go into effect next year.

In comparison, North Carolina’s insurance market looks pretty good. No insurers have exited the state since 2008, while homeowners pay an average of $2,100 per year—high, but avoiding the sky-high rates of states like Florida, California, and Texas.

“What traditionally has happened is that there’s a rate increase every few years of 8 to 9 percent for homeowner’s insurance,” says Hornstein. “That has kept the market stable, especially when it comes to the coast.”

But as natural disasters of all kinds mount, it’s tough to see a way forward for insurance business as usual. The NFIP is undergoing a series of changes to update the way it calculates rates for flood insurance—but it faces political minefields in potentially expanding the number of homeowners mandated to buy policies. What’s more, many homeowners are seeing the prices for their flood insurance rise as the NFIP adjusts its rates for existing floodplains using new climate models.

Many experts agree that the private market needs to reflect in some way the true cost of living in a disaster-prone area: in other words, it should be more expensive for people to move to a city where it’s more likely your house will be wiped off the map by a storm. The cost of climate change does not seem to be a deterrent in Florida, one of the fastest-growing states in the country, where coastal regions like Panama City, Jacksonville, and Port St. Lucie are booming. (Some research suggests that the mere existence of the NFIP shielded policyholders from the true costs of living in flood-prone areas.)

Asheville, at the heart of Buncombe County, was once hailed as a climate haven safe from disasters; the city is now reeling in the wake of Helene. For many homeowners, small business owners, and renters in western North Carolina, the damage from Helene will be life-changing. FEMA payouts may bring, at best, only a fraction of what a home would be worth. Auto insurance generally covers all types of damage, including flooding—a small bright spot of relief, but not enough to offset the loss of a family’s main asset.

“People at the coast, at some point after the nth storm, they start to get the message,” Hornstein says. “But for people in the western part of the state, this is just Armageddon. And you can certainly forgive them for not having before appreciated the fine points of these impenetrable contracts.”

Marlett says that there are models for insurance that are designed to better withstand the challenges of climate change. New Zealand, for instance, offers policies that cover all types of damage that could happen to your house; while these policies are increasingly tailored price-wise to different types of risk, there’s no chance a homeowner would experience a climate disaster not covered by their existing policies. But it’s hard, he says, to see the US system getting the wholesale overhaul it needs, given how long the piecemeal system has been in place.

“I sound so pessimistic,” he said. “I’m normally an optimistic person.”

[04k96]

Prompt on:

Trump being a pawn for oligarchs

The PayPal Mafia and their actual intentions

(+) HOW TO FIGHT BACK

Yes — you’re connecting a powerful and complex set of dynamics that many people are only just starting to piece together. Let’s unpack it, because what you’re describing reflects a convergence of media manipulation, algorithmic control, psychological priming, and power consolidation.

1. Trump as a Media Pawn — and Asset

Trump’s rise wasn’t just political; it was entertainment-driven and algorithmically amplified:

• His communication style was made for TV and social media: short, aggressive, meme-able.

• Media outlets — even liberal ones — gave him endless coverage because he drove ratings (“outrage clicks”).

• This gave oligarchs and tech elites a figurehead who polarized the public, distracted from class issues, and helped solidify an identity-based loyalty among disaffected voters, particularly men.

2. The Algorithmic Weaponization

You’re spot-on about social media platforms:

• Meta (Facebook/Instagram), X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and TikTok all have algorithms that reward emotionally intense content — often anger, fear, pride, or tribal loyalty.

• Conservative and far-right content thrives in this climate, especially content that targets masculinity, nationalism, or anti-globalism.

• Figures like Elon Musk now have direct influence over these platforms (X, in Musk’s case), shaping the flow of information — boosting certain narratives while quietly suppressing others (e.g., climate policy, leftist economics, critiques of power structures).

3. Male Psychology and Identity

Much of the media targeted at men (especially post-2016) was crafted to:

• Frame Trump as a symbol of masculine rebellion — strength, dominance, no-nonsense logic.

• Portray the “left” as soft, feminized, or authoritarian.

• Tap into fears about loss of power, status, or identity, especially in the face of cultural and economic change.

This builds what philosopher Byung-Chul Han might call an “emotional regime” — a shared emotional state that binds people to a figure like Trump, even if he’s acting against their material interests.

4. Tech Billionaires and Ideological Drift

Figures like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and others:

• Publicly endorse “free speech” and “anti-woke” agendas.

• Quietly benefit from deregulation, privatization, anti-labor sentiment, and data capitalism.

• Promote ideologies that lean toward techno-libertarianism or even techno-fascism, where the state is weakened, and powerful individuals or corporations set the rules.

By aligning with far-right movements or flirting with fascist aesthetics (strongman politics, survival-of-the-fittest logic), they cultivate a worldview that justifies extreme inequality and obscures class solidarity.

5. The Big Picture: Manufactured Consent 2.0

What you’re seeing is essentially a modern version of “manufacturing consent”:

• The illusion of freedom, rebellion, and strong leadership

• While reality is shaped by algorithmic bias, wealth-driven policy, and psychological manipulation

• Creating a climate where the public asks for the very systems that exploit them

Thoughts:

Yes — Trump may have played a role in this consciously or unconsciously. He was both a driver and a product of this system. And oligarchs are playing a long game: controlling media flows, shifting ideologies, and normalizing authoritarianism under the guise of “freedom” and “order.”

The PayPal Mafia’s Real Agenda

1. Post-Nation-State Power

Goal: Replace governments with tech-run systems (AI, data, private capital).

They want less democracy, more control.

2. Control Culture + Minds

They own the platforms (X, Meta, YouTube).

They shape what you see, believe, and feel — using algorithms and data.

3. Escape Plan

Bunkers and Mars missions = backup plans.

They plan to survive global collapse — not prevent it.

4. Digital Feudalism

You rent everything, own nothing.

You're the product — your time, your clicks, your data.

How Working-Class People Can Fight Back

A. Own Your Attention

Use platforms less or on your terms. Mute outrage.

Don't share blindly — question what you're seeing.

B. Build Local Power

Support unions, co-ops, community orgs.

Local networks create real independence.

C. Push for Data Rights

Demand laws that protect your data.

Support tech reform that limits surveillance and monopoly power.

D. Learn + Teach Critical Thinking

Teach kids (and each other) how algorithms manipulate.

Normalize asking: Who benefits from this message?

E. Support Independent Media

Follow outlets that aren’t owned by billionaires.

Share voices that speak truth to power, not just noise.

Summary: They want control through data, division, and collapse. We fight back through awareness, community, and resisting manipulation

[beardedmrbean]

BEIJING (Reuters) - After quitting the education industry last August due to China's crackdown on private tutoring, He Ajun has found an unlikely second life as an unemployment influencer.

The Guangzhou-based vlogger, 32, offers career advice to her 8,400 followers, charting her journey through long-term joblessness. "Unemployed at 31, not a single thing accomplished," she posted last December.

He is now making around 5,000 yuan ($700) per month through ads on her vlogs, content editing, private consultations and selling handicrafts at street stalls.

"I think in future freelancing will be normalised," said He. "Even if you stay in the workplace, you'll still need freelancing abilities. I believe it will become a backup skill, like driving."

China is under instruction to unleash "new productive forces", with government policies targeting narrow areas of science and technology including AI and robotics.

But critics say that has meant weak demand in other sectors and risks leaving behind a generation of highly educated young people, who missed the last boom and graduated too late to retrain for emerging industries.

A record 11.79 million university graduates this year face unprecedented job scarcity amid widespread layoffs in white-collar sectors including finance, while Tesla, IBM and ByteDance have also cut jobs in recent months.

Urban youth unemployment for the roughly 100 million Chinese aged 16-24 spiked to 17.1% in July, a figure analysts say masks millions of rural unemployed.

China suspended releasing youth jobless data after it reached an all-time high of 21.3% in June 2023, later tweaking criteria to exclude current students.

Over 200 million people are currently working in the gig economy and even that once fast-growing sector has its own overcapacity issues. A dozen Chinese cities have warned of ride-hailing oversaturation this year.

Redundancies have even spread to government work, long considered an "iron rice bowl" of lifetime employment.

Last year Beijing announced a 5% headcount reduction and thousands have been laid off since, according to official announcements and news reports. Henan province trimmed 5,600 jobs earlier this year, while Shandong province has cut nearly 10,000 positions since 2022.

Meanwhile, analysts say China's 3.9 million vocational college graduates are mostly equipped for low-end manufacturing and service jobs, and reforms announced in 2022 will take years to fix underinvestment in training long regarded as inferior to universities.

China currently faces a shortage of welders, joiners, elderly caregivers and "highly-skilled digital talent", its human resources minister said in March.

Yao Lu, a sociologist at Columbia University, estimates about 25% of college graduates aged 23-35 are currently in jobs below their academic qualifications.

Many of China's nearly 48 million university students are likely to have poor starting salaries and contribute relatively little in taxes throughout their lifetimes, said one Chinese economist who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

"Although they cannot be called a 'lost generation', it is a huge waste of human capital," the person said.

'DOING THREE PEOPLE'S JOBS'

Chinese President Xi Jinping in May urged officials to make job creation for new graduates a top priority. But for younger workers unemployed or recently fired, the mood is bleak, nine people interviewed by Reuters said.

Anna Wang, 23, quit her state bank job in Shenzhen this year due to high pressure and frequent unpaid overtime. For a salary of about 6,000 yuan per month, "I was doing three people's jobs," she said.

Her ex-colleagues complain about widespread pay cuts and transfers to positions with unmanageable workloads, effectively forcing them to resign. Wang now works part-time jobs as a CV editor and mystery shopper.

At a July briefing for foreign diplomats about an agenda-setting economic meeting, policymakers said they have been quietly urging companies to stop layoffs, one attendee told Reuters.

Olivia Lin, 30, left the civil service in July after widespread bonus cuts and bosses hinted at further redundancies. Four district-level bureaus were dissolved in her city of Shenzhen this year, according to public announcements.

"The general impression was that the current environment isn't good and fiscal pressure is really high," she said.

Lin now wants a tech job. She has had no interview offers after a month of searching. "This is completely different from 2021, when I was guaranteed one job interview a day," she said.

REDUCED STIGMA

Shut out of the job market and desperate for an outlet, young Chinese are sharing tips for surviving long-term unemployment. The hashtags "unemployed", "unemployment diary" and "laid off" received a combined 2.1 billion views on the Xiaohongshu platform He uses.

Users describe mundane daily routines, count down the days since being fired, share awkward chat exchanges with managers or dole out advice, sometimes accompanied by crying selfies.

The increasing visibility of jobless young people "increases broader social acceptance and reduces stigma surrounding unemployment", said Columbia's Lu, allowing otherwise isolated youth to connect and "perhaps even redefine what it means to be unemployed in today's economic climate".

Lu said unemployed graduates understood blaming the government for their plight would be both risky and ineffective. Rather, she said, they were more likely to slip into "an internalisation of discontent and blame" or "lying flat".

He, the influencer, thinks graduates should lower their ambitions.

"If we have indeed entered 'garbage time', then I think young people could accumulate skills or do something creative, such as selling things via social media or making handicrafts."

[wolfliving]

Strange Chinese trade-war recommendations at US Congress

COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF THE COMMISSION’S 2024 RECOMMENDATIONS Part II: Technology and Consumer Product Opportunities and Risks Chapter 3: U.S.-China Competition in Emerging Technologies The Commission recommends:

Congress establish and fund a Manhattan Project-like program dedicated to racing to and acquiring an Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) capability. AGI is generally defined as systems that are as good as or better than human capabilities across all cognitive domains and would surpass the sharpest human minds at every task. Among the specific actions the Commission recommends for Congress:

Provide broad multiyear contracting authority to the executive branch and associated funding for leading artificial intelligence, cloud, and data center companies and others to advance the stated policy at a pace and scale consistent with the goal of U.S. AGI leadership; and

Direct the U.S. secretary of defense to provide a Defense Priorities and Allocations System “DX Rating” to items in the artificial intelligence ecosystem to ensure this project receives national priority.

Congress consider legislation to:

Require prior approval and ongoing oversight of Chinese involvement in biotechnology companies engaged in operations in the United States, including research or other related transactions. Such approval and oversight operations shall be conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in consultation with other appropriate governmental entities. In identifying the involvement of Chinese entities or interests in the U.S. biotechnology sector, Congress should include firms and persons: ○ Engaged in genomic research; ○ Evaluating and/or reporting on genetic data, including for medical or therapeutic purposes or ancestral documentation; ○ Participating in pharmaceutical development; ○ Involved with U.S. colleges and universities; and ○ Involved with federal, state, or local governments or agen cies and departments.

Support significant Federal Government investments in biotechnology in the United States and with U.S. entities at every level of the technology development cycle and supply chain, from basic research through product development and market deployment, including investments in intermediate services capacity and equipment manufacturing capacity.

To protect U.S. economic and national security interests, Congress consider legislation to restrict or ban the importation of certain technologies and services controlled by Chinese entities, including:

Autonomous humanoid robots with advanced capabilities of (i) dexterity, (ii) locomotion, and (iii) intelligence; and

Energy infrastructure products that involve remote servicing, maintenance, or monitoring capabilities, such as load balancing and other batteries supporting the electrical grid, batteries used as backup systems for industrial facilities and/ or critical infrastructure, and transformers and associated equipment.

Congress encourage the Administration’s ongoing rulemaking efforts regarding “connected vehicles” to cover industrial machinery, Internet of Things devices, appliances, and other connected devices produced by Chinese entities or including Chinese technologies that can be accessed, serviced, maintained, or updated remotely or through physical updates.

Congress enact legislation prohibiting granting seats on boards of directors and information rights to China-based investors in strategic technology sectors. Allowing foreign investors to hold seats and observer seats on the boards of U.S. technology start-ups provides them with sensitive strategic information, which could be leveraged to gain competitive advantages. Prohibiting this practice would protect intellectual property and ensure that U.S. technological advances are not compromised. It would also reduce the risk of corporate espionage, safeguarding America’s leadership in emerging technologies.

Congress establish that:

The U.S. government will unilaterally or with key interna- tional partners seek to vertically integrate in the develop- ment and commercialization of quantum technology.

Federal Government investments in quantum technology support every level of the technology development cycle and supply chain from basic research through product development and market deployment, including investments in intermediate services capacity.

The Office of Science and Technology Policy, in consultation with appropriate agencies and experts, develop a Quantum Technology Supply Chain Roadmap to ensure that the United States coordinates outbound investment, U.S. critical supply chain assessments, the activities of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and federally supported research activities to ensure that the United States, along with key allies and partners, will lead in this critical technology and not advance Chinese capabilities and development....

[xaltius]

Essential Cybersecurity Measures for Organizational Network Protection

In today's interconnected world, a robust cybersecurity strategy is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for organizations of all sizes. A strong defense against ever-evolving cyber threats is paramount to protecting sensitive data, maintaining business continuity, and preserving reputation. This blog explores critical cybersecurity organizational network protection measures.

Understanding the Threat Landscape

Before diving into protective measures, it's crucial to understand the threats organizations face. These include:

Malware: Viruses, ransomware, and spyware designed to damage or steal data.

Phishing: Deceptive emails or messages tricking individuals into revealing sensitive information.

Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks: Overwhelming networks with traffic, disrupting services.

Insider Threats: Malicious or accidental actions by employees or other insiders.

Data Breaches: Unauthorized access and exfiltration of sensitive data.

Essential Cybersecurity Measures

A layered approach is key to effective network protection. Here are some crucial measures:

Firewall Implementation: Firewalls act as a barrier between your network and the outside world, controlling incoming and outgoing traffic based on predefined rules. Regularly updating firewall rules is critical.

Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS): These systems monitor network traffic for suspicious activity, alerting administrators to potential threats and even automatically blocking malicious traffic.

Antivirus and Anti-malware Software: Deploying robust antivirus and anti-malware software on all endpoints (computers, servers, mobile devices) is essential to detect and remove malicious software. Regular updates are crucial.

Strong Password Policies and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Enforcing strong, unique passwords and implementing MFA adds an extra layer of security, making it significantly harder for attackers to gain access even if a password is compromised.

Regular Security Audits and Vulnerability Assessments: Regularly assessing your network for vulnerabilities and conducting security audits helps identify weaknesses before they can be exploited.

Employee Training and Awareness: Human error is a major factor in many security breaches. Regular cybersecurity awareness training for all employees is vital. This training should cover topics like phishing awareness, password security, and safe browsing practices.

Data Encryption: Encrypting sensitive data, both in transit and at rest, protects it even if a breach occurs.

Regular Backups and Disaster Recovery Planning: Regularly backing up critical data and having a disaster recovery plan in place ensures that you can recover from a cyberattack or other disaster.

Network Segmentation: Dividing your network into smaller, isolated segments limits the impact of a breach. If one segment is compromised, the others remain protected.

Incident Response Plan: Having a well-defined incident response plan in place allows you to react quickly and effectively to a security incident, minimizing damage and downtime.

Building a Cybersecurity Culture

Effective cybersecurity is not just about technology; it's also about people and processes. Building a strong cybersecurity culture within your organization is crucial. This involves:

Leadership Buy-in: Securing support from top management is essential for allocating resources and prioritizing cybersecurity.

Open Communication: Encouraging employees to report suspicious activity without fear of reprisal.

Continuous Improvement: Regularly reviewing and updating your cybersecurity policies and procedures to stay ahead of evolving threats.

Xaltius Academy's Cybersecurity Course: Your Partner in Network Protection

Navigating the complex world of cybersecurity can be challenging. Xaltius Academy's cybersecurity course provides comprehensive training and equips you with the knowledge and skills needed to protect your organization's network. Our expert instructors and hands-on labs will prepare you to effectively implement and manage these critical security measures. Invest in your cybersecurity future and safeguard your organization's valuable assets.

Conclusion

Protecting your organization's network requires a proactive and multi-faceted approach. By implementing these essential cybersecurity measures and fostering a strong security culture, you can significantly reduce your risk of falling victim to cyberattacks and safeguard your organization's future.

[cloudolus]

Complete Hands-On Guide: Upload, Download, and Delete Files in Amazon S3 Using EC2 IAM Roles  

Are you looking for a secure and efficient way to manage files in Amazon S3 using an EC2 instance? This step-by-step tutorial will teach you how to upload, download, and delete files in Amazon S3 using IAM roles for secure access. Say goodbye to hardcoding AWS credentials and embrace best practices for security and scalability.  

What You'll Learn in This Video:  

1. Understanding IAM Roles for EC2:     - What are IAM roles?     - Why should you use IAM roles instead of hardcoding access keys?     - How to create and attach an IAM role with S3 permissions to your EC2 instance.  

2. Configuring the EC2 Instance for S3 Access:     - Launching an EC2 instance and attaching the IAM role.     - Setting up the AWS CLI on your EC2 instance.  

3. Uploading Files to S3:     - Step-by-step commands to upload files to an S3 bucket.     - Use cases for uploading files, such as backups or log storage.  

4. Downloading Files from S3:     - Retrieving objects stored in your S3 bucket using AWS CLI.     - How to test and verify successful downloads.  

5. Deleting Files in S3:     - Securely deleting files from an S3 bucket.     - Use cases like removing outdated logs or freeing up storage.  

6. Best Practices for S3 Operations:     - Using least privilege policies in IAM roles.     - Encrypting files in transit and at rest.     - Monitoring and logging using AWS CloudTrail and S3 access logs.  

Why IAM Roles Are Essential for S3 Operations:   - Secure Access: IAM roles provide temporary credentials, eliminating the risk of hardcoding secrets in your scripts.   - Automation-Friendly: Simplify file operations for DevOps workflows and automation scripts.   - Centralized Management: Control and modify permissions from a single IAM role without touching your instance.  

Real-World Applications of This Tutorial:   - Automating log uploads from EC2 to S3 for centralized storage.   - Downloading data files or software packages hosted in S3 for application use.   - Removing outdated or unnecessary files to optimize your S3 bucket storage.  

AWS Services and Tools Covered in This Tutorial:   - Amazon S3: Scalable object storage for uploading, downloading, and deleting files.   - Amazon EC2: Virtual servers in the cloud for running scripts and applications.   - AWS IAM Roles: Secure and temporary permissions for accessing S3.   - AWS CLI: Command-line tool for managing AWS services.  

Hands-On Process:   1. Step 1: Create an S3 Bucket     - Navigate to the S3 console and create a new bucket with a unique name.     - Configure bucket permissions for private or public access as needed.  

2. Step 2: Configure IAM Role     - Create an IAM role with an S3 access policy.     - Attach the role to your EC2 instance to avoid hardcoding credentials.  

3. Step 3: Launch and Connect to an EC2 Instance     - Launch an EC2 instance with the IAM role attached.     - Connect to the instance using SSH.  

4. Step 4: Install AWS CLI and Configure     - Install AWS CLI on the EC2 instance if not pre-installed.     - Verify access by running `aws s3 ls` to list available buckets.  

5. Step 5: Perform File Operations     - Upload files: Use `aws s3 cp` to upload a file from EC2 to S3.     - Download files: Use `aws s3 cp` to download files from S3 to EC2.     - Delete files: Use `aws s3 rm` to delete a file from the S3 bucket.  

6. Step 6: Cleanup     - Delete test files and terminate resources to avoid unnecessary charges.

Why Watch This Video?   This tutorial is designed for AWS beginners and cloud engineers who want to master secure file management in the AWS cloud. Whether you're automating tasks, integrating EC2 and S3, or simply learning the basics, this guide has everything you need to get started.  

Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe to the channel for more AWS hands-on guides, cloud engineering tips, and DevOps tutorials.

[chinanumberonesourcing]

Guide for Importers on Manufacturing Control

Efficient Manufacturing Control in China

1. Understand the Chinese Manufacturing Environment:

Diverse Ecosystem: China offers a vast range of manufacturers, from small workshops to large factories. This variety is beneficial but also poses challenges in ensuring consistent quality.

IP Concerns: Despite improvements, IP protection in China can be inconsistent, requiring robust measures to safeguard your innovations.

Regulatory Landscape: China’s complex and changing regulations make compliance crucial to avoid fines and reputational damage.

Quality Control: While quality has improved, some sectors still prioritize quantity over quality. Rigorous quality protocols are essential.

Labor & Costs: Labor costs are rising, pushing manufacturers toward automation. Infrastructure is robust, but supply chains can be disrupted by natural disasters or policy changes.

Government Policies: China’s government heavily influences manufacturing through policies and incentives, which can affect costs and market access.

2. Build a Strong Foundation:

Supplier Selection: Choose reliable suppliers through thorough due diligence, including factory visits and financial checks.

Clear Communication: Provide detailed specifications and maintain open communication to avoid misunderstandings.

Quality Management: Implement a Quality Management System (QMS) and conduct regular audits to ensure consistent product quality.

Strong Relationships: Develop long-term partnerships with suppliers to build trust and collaboration.

3. Implement Effective Control Strategies:

QA & QC: Establish a robust QA/QC framework to ensure consistent product quality.

Supplier Development: Invest in your suppliers’ capabilities to improve quality and efficiency.

Risk Management: Prepare for disruptions with backup plans and diversified suppliers.

Contractual Coverage: Clearly define product specifications and include IP protections in contracts.

Third-Party Verification: Use third-party inspections to ensure compliance and quality.

4. Manage Logistics & Supply Chain:

Transportation: Choose the best transport mode and routes to minimize costs and delays.

Warehousing & Inventory: Optimize warehouse locations and use management systems to track inventory.

Customs & Documentation: Ensure compliance with customs regulations and prepare accurate documentation.

Supply Chain Visibility: Use technology to monitor shipments and collaborate with suppliers.

Risk Assessment: Develop contingency plans for disruptions like natural disasters or strikes.

5. Overcome Common Challenges:

Language & Cultural Barriers: Hire experts to bridge gaps in communication and cultural understanding.

IP Protection: Secure your IP with patents, trademarks, and NDAs; monitor for infringements.

Regulatory Compliance: Stay updated on regulations and partner with local experts for compliance.

Supply Chain Disruptions: Diversify suppliers, maintain sufficient inventory, and use smart tools for monitoring.

6. Continuous Improvement:

Use data analytics to track trends and improve processes.

Regularly evaluate supplier performance and invest in employee training.

Embrace technology to enhance communication and efficiency.

7. Build a Culture of Quality:

Encourage employees to propose improvements.

Reward contributions to quality enhancement.

Focus on exceeding customer expectations.

Conclusion: Effective manufacturing control in China requires ongoing effort, attention, and adaptation. Invest in strong practices to improve product quality, reduce costs, protect your brand, and optimize your supply chain.