#Data curation Services

[orientalsolutions]

 Data curation Services and Data Mining company in India -Oriental Solutions

 Oriental Solutions is a leading company based in Chennai, India specializing in comprehensive data solutions. With expertise in data curation, mining, and migration, we provide efficient document management and image curation services. Our skilled team excels in medical transcription, secretary services, billing, and coding, ensuring accurate and reliable outcomes. Trust Oriental Solutions for top-quality data summarization and a wide range of medical-related services. Experience excellence and professionalism with us .

[excelra]

Expert Data Curation Services

Excelra is a leading life science company offering top-tier data curation services. With expertise in precision and efficiency, we meticulously curate data to empower breakthroughs in research and innovation. Trust Excelra for unparalleled data curation excellence.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

When Facebook came for your battery, feudal security failed

When George Hayward was working as a Facebook data-scientist, his bosses ordered him to run a “negative test,” updating Facebook Messenger to deliberately drain users’ batteries, in order to determine how power-hungry various parts of the apps were. Hayward refused, and Facebook fired him, and he sued:

https://nypost.com/2023/01/28/facebook-fires-worker-who-refused-to-do-negative-testing-awsuit/

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/05/battery-vampire/#drained

Hayward balked because he knew that among the 1.3 billion people who use Messenger, some would be placed in harm’s way if Facebook deliberately drained their batteries — physically stranded, unable to communicate with loved ones experiencing emergencies, or locked out of their identification, payment method, and all the other functions filled by mobile phones.

As Hayward told Kathianne Boniello at the New York Post, “Any data scientist worth his or her salt will know, ‘Don’t hurt people…’ I refused to do this test. It turns out if you tell your boss, ‘No, that’s illegal,’ it doesn’t go over very well.”

Negative testing is standard practice at Facebook, and Hayward was given a document called “How to run thoughtful negative tests” regarding which he said, “I have never seen a more horrible document in my career.”

We don’t know much else, because Hayward’s employment contract included a non-negotiable binding arbitration waiver, which means that he surrendered his right to seek legal redress from his former employer. Instead, his claim will be heard by an arbitrator — that is, a fake corporate judge who is paid by Facebook to decide if Facebook was wrong. Even if he finds in Hayward’s favor — something that arbitrators do far less frequently than real judges do — the judgment, and all the information that led up to it, will be confidential, meaning we won’t get to find out more:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/12/hot-coffee/#mcgeico

One significant element of this story is that the malicious code was inserted into Facebook’s app. Apps, we’re told, are more secure than real software. Under the “curated computing” model, you forfeit your right to decide what programs run on your devices, and the manufacturer keeps you safe. But in practice, apps are just software, only worse:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/23/peek-a-boo/#attack-helicopter-parenting

Apps are part what Bruce Schneier calls “feudal security.” In this model, we defend ourselves against the bandits who roam the internet by moving into a warlord’s fortress. So long as we do what the warlord tells us to do, his hired mercenaries will keep us safe from the bandits:

https://locusmag.com/2021/01/cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/

But in practice, the mercenaries aren’t all that good at their jobs. They let all kinds of badware into the fortress, like the “pig butchering” apps that snuck into the two major mobile app stores:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/02/pig-butchering-scam-apps-sneak-into-apples-app-store-and-google-play/

It’s not merely that the app stores’ masters make mistakes — it’s that when they screw up, we have no recourse. You can’t switch to an app store that pays closer attention, or that lets you install low-level software that monitors and overrides the apps you download.

Indeed, Apple’s Developer Agreement bans apps that violate other services’ terms of service, and they’ve blocked apps like OG App that block Facebook’s surveillance and other enshittification measures, siding with Facebook against Apple device owners who assert the right to control how they interact with the company:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen

When a company insists that you must be rendered helpless as a condition of protecting you, it sets itself up for ghastly failures. Apple’s decision to prevent every one of its Chinese users from overriding its decisions led inevitably and foreseeably to the Chinese government ordering Apple to spy on those users:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/11/foreseeable-consequences/#airdropped

Apple isn’t shy about thwarting Facebook’s business plans, but Apple uses that power selectively — they blocked Facebook from spying on Iphone users (yay!) and Apple covertly spied on its customers in exactly the same way as Facebook, for exactly the same purpose, and lied about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

The ultimately, irresolvable problem of Feudal Security is that the warlord’s mercenaries will protect you against anyone — except the warlord who pays them. When Apple or Google or Facebook decides to attack its users, the company’s security experts will bend their efforts to preventing those users from defending themselves, turning the fortress into a prison:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/benevolent-dictators/#felony-contempt-of-business-model

Feudal security leaves us at the mercy of giant corporations — fallible and just as vulnerable to temptation as any of us. Both binding arbitration and feudal security assume that the benevolent dictator will always be benevolent, and never make a mistake. Time and again, these assumptions are proven to be nonsense.

Image: Anthony Quintano (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Zuckerberg_F8_2018_Keynote_%2841118890174%29.jpg

CC BY 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

[Image ID: A painting depicting the Roman sacking of Jerusalem. The Roman leader's head has been replaced with Mark Zuckerberg's head. The wall has Apple's 'Think Different' wordmark and an Ios 'low battery' icon.]

Next week (Feb 8-17), I'll be in Australia, touring my book *Chokepoint Capitalism* with my co-author, Rebecca Giblin. We'll be in Brisbane on Feb 8, and then we're doing a remote event for NZ on Feb 9. Next is Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. I hope to see you!

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

[cleolinda]

Threads update so you don’t have to:

I have not followed many people yet. As such, Threads’ algorithm is populating my feed with anything it can lay hands on. I have to assume it is not, in fact, using Instagram data, because if it were, my feed would look A SHIT TON BETTER THAN THIS. If you like American ball-centric sports, you are valid and I am happy for you, but I Do Not, and my feed is football and basketball posts as far as the eye can see. Also, streaming services’ PR accounts. Lotta Disney properties and Netflix. Something called Wasted posts constantly, I don’t know what it is. Someone who has a cooking show on cable. Various actors. Oh God, this is everything I don’t follow on Twitter. Why am I here.

I sat there muting accounts for like five minutes and then I had an existential crisis and stared at the wall for a moment. If all I’m doing is muting, why am I even there? If I weren’t on it to report back, would I just close the thing and never return? Will it get better as more people join? Part of my problem is that I’ve stayed off Twitter so long that I’m not even sure I enjoy the microblogging format, period, anymore. Maybe I’ll get back into the rhythm of it? But apparently I think in paragraphs, not short sentences. I like having room to clarify what I’m saying. I like the (comparatively) slower turnover of my dash.

The worst part is that you’d say, if you want your feed to be calmer, then curate your experience. Unfollow people. But I can’t, because Threads is shoving strangers at me. So is Twitter these days. Maybe Threads will become The Conversation™ the way Twitter used to be, something worth slogging through to feel “in the know,” but right now, from a usability perspective, it’s not.

[gothhabiba]

On the one hand, people who take a hardline stance on “AI art is not art” are clearly saying something naïve and indefensible (as though any process cannot be used to make art? as though artistry cannot still be involved in the set-up of the parameters and the choice of data set and the framing of the result? as though “AI” means any one thing? you’re going to have a real hard time with process music, poetry cut-up methods, &c.).

But all of this (as well as takes that what's really needed is a crackdown on IP) are a distraction from a vital issue—namely that this is technology used to create and sort enormous databases of images, and the uses to which this technology is put in a police state are obvious: it's used in service of surveillance, incarceration, criminalisation, and the furthering of violence against criminalised people.

Of course we've long known that datasets are not "neutral" and that racist data will provide racist outcomes, and we've long known that the problem goes beyond the datasets (even carefully vetting datasets does not necessarily control for social factors). With regards to "predictive policing," this suggests that criminalisation of supposed leftist "radicals" and racialised people (and the concepts creating these two groups overlap significantly; [link 1], [link 2]) is not a problem, but intentional—a process is built so that it always finds people "suspicious" or "guilty," but because it is based on an "algorithm" or "machine learning" or so-called "AI" (processes that people tend to understand murkily, if at all), they can be presented as innocent and neutral. These are things that have been brought up repeatedly with regards to "automatic" processes and things that trawl the web to produce large datasets in the recent past (e.g. facial recognition technology), so their almost complete absence from the discourse wrt "AI art" confuses me.

Abeba Birhane's thread here, summarizing this paper (h/t @thingsthatmakeyouacey) explains how the LAION-400M dataset was sourced/created, how it is filtered, and how images are retrieved from it (for this reason it's a good beginner explanation of what large-scale datasets and large neural networks are 'doing'). She goes into how racist, misogynistic, and sexually violent content is returned (and racist mis-categorisations are made) as a result of every one of those processes. She also brings up issues of privacy, how individuals' data is stored in datasets (even after the individual deletes it from where it was originally posted), and how it may be stored associated with metadata which the poster did not intend to make public. This paper (h/t thingsthatmakeyouacey [link]) looks at the ImageNet-ILSVRC-2012 dataset to discuss "the landscape of harm and threats both the society at large and individuals face due to uncritical and ill-considered dataset curation practices" including the inclusion of non-consensual pornography in the dataset.

Of course (again) this is nothing that hasn't already been happening with large social media websites or with "big data" (Birhane notes that "On the one hand LAION-400M has opened a door that allows us to get a glimpse into the world of large scale datasets; these kinds of datasets remain hidden inside BigTech corps"). And there's no un-creating the technology behind this—resistance will have to be directed towards demolishing the police / carceral / imperial state as a whole. But all criticism of "AI" art can't be dismissed as always revolving around an anti-intellectual lack of knowledge of art history or else a reactionary desire to strengthen IP law (as though that would ever benefit small creators at the expense of large corporations...).

[pomodoko]

@staff, because you need to know

Here’s my feedback message I sent to @support through feedback. Inspired by @getvalentined‘s post here.

“The recent post on the Staff blog about changing tumblr to an algorithmic feed features a large amount of misinformation that I feel staff needs to address, openly and honestly, with information on where this data was sourced at the very least.

Staff considers the main feed as it exists to be "outdated," to the point that you literally used that word to describe it, and the main goals expressed in this announcement is to figure out what makes "high-quality content" and serve that to users moving forward.”

THIS IS DONE COMPLETELY AGAINST THE WILL OF THE USERS. As a long term user of tumblr since 2012 and a current subscriber to your no-ads subscription service, I am highly considering ending my monetary support and send in a scathing review on the App store for how much misinformation @staff is distributing to the current userbase. Reverse-chronological dashboard is the lifeblood of users, and the MAIN FUNCTION of the dash is for users to curate their own experience and interests via following blogs they like. By pushing algorithmic content, you're taking away users' safe spaces and make it so smaller blogs will receive worse traffic than they already do, or vice versa, bigger blogs to stay in the spotlight, because that's what an algorithm is.

"Historically, we expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience." MAKE A POLL. Actually TALK to the userbase on what they want out of their feeds/dashboard. Actually, user @darkwood-sleddog has already MADE a poll about this for you, with an overwhelming 95.2% of voters OUT OF 130,205 PEOPLE voting for the dash to stay chronological, the way it's always been.

By switching to an algorithm For You feed for new users and now forcing this change on older ones, Staff is expressing that you are looking down on your userbase and assuming that we are not smart enough to curate our own experiences here on Tumblr, a MICROBLOGGING SITE. You are lying to your users with each and every new update and hiding the fact that people have been sending you feedback and complaints in droves. Tumblr's current traffic is at an all time high thanks to the fall of Twitter and Reddit, due to both websites DOING THE EXACT THING YOU'RE TRYING TO PUSH ONTO YOUR USERBASE. Twitter's forcing users to look at content they push rather than actual content the users follow, and Reddit's copying that from Twitter.

Tumblr is neither of these platforms, and Tumblr is not TikTok, either. This is the last stronghold of interactive, engaging social media/microblogging platforms that allows users to be authentic, funny, creative, and informative. You're making changes that the majority of users here do not appreciate, and I implore you to think twice.

[pb-dot]

Some Thoughts on the Reddit Blackout

Like many new arrivals on Tumblr these days, I used to be a Redditor until recent developments encouraged me to take my business elsewhere, and I have been following the development of the story as thoroughly as I can without actually giving Reddit any more traffic. With the most recent development of the Reddit admin corps taking on a suite of strategies lifted straight from the depression-era railroad baron playbook, I figured the time has come to talk a little about the wider implications of this whole story.

The Tech sector is, to the best of my understanding, in a vulnerable place right now. After the Web 2.0 gold rush and years of consolidation and growth from the biggest actors, your Alphabets, Twitters, Metas, and so on, many of the larger sites and services are reaching the largest size they can expect to grow to. How, for instance, could Facebook or Twitter grow much more now that everyone and their mother is on Facebook and Twitter? Prior to the Musk buyout, Twitter seemingly settled on upping engagement, making sure people were on Twitter longer and invested more energy and emotion in the platform, usually by making damn sure the discourse zapping through that hellhole was as polarizing and hostile as possible. Meta, meanwhile, has been making bank on user data as advertisers, AI folks, and any number of other actors salivate over getting their hands on the self-updating contact and interest registry that is Facebook.

With the rise of what we apparently have decided to call AI, data is now more valuable than ever. I consider this to be yet another Tech Hype Bubble on the level of NFTs or Metaverses, but, like with the two above, I can imagine it's hard to explain that when you are a Tech CEO and your shareholders ask you "Hey, how do you plan on earning us money off of this AI/NFT/Metaverse thing?" This is not to say CEO Steve Huffman isn't handling this whole thing with the grace of a three-legged hippo, but merely to suggest that his less-than-laudable decisions and actions in this mess don't arise from his character alone but also is a result of wider systemic issues.

One of these issues is the complicated role user data plays in modern websites and -services. Since its inception as a publicly accessible space, the question of how to monetize the Internet has been a tricky one for site and service owners. Selling ad space on your website or service has long been the go-to, but this in itself presents its own issues, having to curate content that is considered ad-friendly, malicious or careless actors making using said service or website less attractive for customers, and finally how to convince your advertisers that they get what they pay for in the first place, ie. "how do I know people even look at our ads?" All of this is before you even stop to consider how ads massively favor large, established actors.

It's no small wonder, then, that several startups in the era of internet mass adoption chose to forgo ads, or at least massively deprioritize them and/or relaunch them as "promoted posts," in an attempt to escape the stigma around ads. Meta/Facebook is probably the biggest fish in this particular pond, but we also see other services such as Twitter and Reddit follow the same pattern.

What makes this work is that the data these platforms collect from their users isn't all that valuable on a person-to-person basis, knowing that so-and-so is 32 years old, lives in a traditionally conservative part of the city, goes to Starbucks a lot, and listens to Radiohead isn't particularly useful information for anyone but a dedicated but lazy stalker; When viewed as an aggregate, however, large collections of data on a large population becomes quite valuable. This is especially true if you're working with, say, targeted ads or political campaigns. Look no further than the Cambridge Analytica data scandal for an example.

Now, all this is to illustrate the strange position the user occupies in Web 2.0. We tend to think of ourselves as the customer of Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr, and so on, but it isn't the case. After all, we don't pay for these services, and if we do it's to buy freedom from ads or other minor service modifications. It is more correct to say that we make up the product itself. This is true in two respects, first, an active social community is vital for social media to not be entirely pointless, and second, we generate the data that the platform holder seeks to monetize. This hybrid product/participant role doesn't map cleanly to traditional understandings of "worker," but I argue it is a closer fit than "customer."

All of this is to say that it is immensely gratifying to see the Reddit Blackout taking the shape of a strike rather than the more typical boycott model we've seen in the internet-based protests of yesteryear. Much of this, I think, we can thank the participating Reddit moderators. While the regular platform user can be *argued* to be a worker, the moderator inarguably is one, and the fact that they aren't paid for their efforts is more a credit to the prosocial nature of humans than to the corporate acumen of the platform holders. Either way, moderating a subreddit is work, if the subreddit is large, it's quite a lot of work, and moderators keeping malicious actors, scammers, and hatemongers out of everyone's hair is a must for any decently sized social space to not be an objectively terrible experience. So, if you were to, for example, withhold your labor (moderating for free) which you as a worker can do, it would be plain irresponsible to leave the place open for said bad apples to ruin everyone's bunches, thus the shutdowns.

I don't think it's a controversial take to claim that the Reddit admins also view this more as a strike than a boycott, given their use of scabs, intimidation, and other strikebreaking tactics in an attempt to break the thing up. This is nothing new, and the fact that Reddit admins are willing to stoop to these scumbag tactics tells us that their bluster about the shutdown not affecting their bottom line is nothing more than shareholder-placating hot air.

As this entire screed has perhaps demonstrated, I believe the Reddit Blackout is important. My stay at Tumblr so far has been excellent and will probably continue past this strike no matter what outcome it has, but for others in my situation, or perhaps entirely alien to the Reddit biome, I ask you to consider: If we do not stop this level of consumer and user-unfriendly bullshit Reddit have been pulling on the API change, where will it pop up next? Who's to say the next bright idea in corpo-hell isn't "Hey boss, how about we charge these nerd losers a dollar per reblog? And maybe a fiver for a Golden Reblog (TM)?"

This is perhaps getting into grandstanding, but I believe we are way past due for a renegotiation of what it means to be a platform holder and -user on this hot mess of an internet. If we as users do not take an active, strong stance on the matter, the Steve Huffmans, Elon Musks, and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world will decide without us. One does not have to be a fortune teller to see that the digital world this would create would not have our best interests in mind any more than the current one does.

So, in closing, I wish to extend my wholehearted support to the participating Moderators of Reddit and everyone who has decided to take their business elsewhere for the duration of the shutdown. Even without getting into the nitty-gritty of the API situation, this is a fight worth having, and may we through it make a world that's just a little bit less shitty.

Become Ungovernable

Become Unprofitable

Stay that way.

[malarkgirlypop]

MEDIC! Part 23 (Donald Malarkey x Fem!OC)

HEHEHE love you all!

Based on the HBO show and the actors who portray the characters, no hate to anyone involved.

Tag list: @next-autopsy, @panzershrike-pretz, @xxluckystrike, @bucky32557038ww2 (let me know if you want to be tagged.)

Since we were moving off the line I started helping George with the stock. No one would be needing any medical care so I was a free hand. I unpacked the shelves with the new items we had gotten from the previous drop, rations, clothes, ammo, everything we needed to survive. I was helping George with the ration packs, they gave us a whole bunch of food but we needed to sort it into separate bags to give to the men to take with them. I pulled a heavy box off of the top shelf, sliding it to the front.  

“George.” I heard a call from behind me as one of the soldiers waltzed into the room. “We need you to come blow this thing up.” The man said. 

“Alright, I’ll be there. Em, I’m going to blow shit up, you gonna be alright here?” He asked, picking up the bazooka and slinging it over his shoulder.

“I’ll be fine!” I called over my shoulder, I heard his footsteps retreat out of the room. Now I was alone, milling around and sorting the items. It was so boring. A tedious task. Normally it wasn’t so bad. George helped and we chatted, then the other soldiers came in to visit as well, keeping me distracted as I worked. But now it was silent. If only I had some music to listen to that always made cleaning and chores so much more fun. Music! I had my phone and earbuds. No one was here and hopefully they still had some battery left. It wouldn’t hurt and I would get the job done faster I’m sure. I grabbed my bag from the corner of the room, rummaging through it. I pulled out my phone and earbuds that I had stashed deep down the bottom so no one could find them, along with everything else I had in my pockets the day I arrived. I powered on my phone, it worked. God I hadn’t been on it in months, which was weird to think about, it’s a normal accessory in my own time. 60% that’s pretty good, and my earbuds were still alive too. I was ecstatic. I placed one in my ear, I should only have one in incase someone comes in or there is a bomb strike. Wouldn’t want to miss that. I heard it chime on and connect. I opened spotify, since all the songs I wanted to listen to were downloaded I didn’t need to worry about having service or data. I scrolled through my curated playlists. I stopped on the GUTS album. This is perfect! I played it from the start. 

It was fine at the start, since I was alone I quietly hummed along to the song. If anyone walked in they would just assume I had a song stuck in my head. I sorted the rations while listening. Bopping my head the beat. I sang along with the words as I worked. Dancing to the faster songs as I went. I had memorised all of the songs when the album first came out, so I still remembered them all. 

“I’m a perfect all-american bitch, with perfect all-american lips and perfect all-american hips.” I swayed around the room, singing only a bit louder. No one could hear me. 

I packed the rations, working fast. Having dance breaks when a good song came on. I forgot where I was. I sang into my hand like a microphone, bouncing around the room. I didn’t realise it but I got significantly louder in my singing. Having the headphone on full volume so I could hear it over my own voice. I pretended I was performing on stage as I jumped around singing. I took a quick glance over my shoulder around the room, no one was there good. 

Then ‘Vampire’ came on. I stood in place singing into my hand. My voice echoed around the room as I belted it out. 

“Blood-sucker, fame fucker, bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire.” I sang loudly.

By this time I completely disregarded my task at hand, making it counterproductive. I didn’t care, liking the normalcy I had forgotten. I had missed this. Jumping around my apartment with my speakers on full singing as loud as I could. I puffed as the song finished, I pretended to receive applause from the fake audience in front of me, bowing deeply. 

The song ‘Logical’ came on. I gasped, “I love this song!” I squealed, waiting for the lyrics to start. 

I belted the song at the top of my lungs forgetting where I was and what I was doing. In that moment I was putting my heart and soul into the song. The lyrics somehow all related to the anger I had pent up about Don and I’s fight. Come for me like a saviour, Don had done that, he had made me think that he cared. When he clearly didn’t. I put myself through hell for him, just for him to tell me I was an obligation. God I was so mad, at him, at myself. I had fallen for him so hard, with such high hopes he felt the same. It crushed me to know he didn’t. So maybe I do go home after all of this, if anything was going to stop me going, it was him. But if he doesn’t want me, I’d be better off leaving. I poured my emotions into the song as I sang. It was relieving, I forgot how much music helped me when I was stressed, being able to get in my car and sing my heart out with the windows down without a care in the world. For some reason the song just hit the spot and my pain was now being shouted into the air as I sang. 

“AND ALL THE THINGS YOU DID TO ME. YOU LIED, YOU LIED, YOU LIED, OHHHH.” I was pretty proud I was hitting all of the notes. I could sing, I was in the choir at school but I was never very talented. It’s not amazing just being able to hold a tune. My voice wasn’t unique or different, but it still could belt out my favourite songs in a way that wouldn’t hurt the ear. 

Another fast paced song came on after the other one had finished. I bopped my head, dancing around the room like a crazy person. Almost bumping into multiple things around the room as I had my eyes closed as I danced. I changed my playlist to the one I most often played in the car, hitting shuffle. The song ‘Push up’, by the freestylers. It was one of the songs my mum always used to play in the car when we were driving. I was little but still sang along with her. When I got older I actually listened to the lyrics, I was horrified I was singing it in front of my mum who also belted it out in the car. Now I play it when I want a good time. Mum had good music taste. I don't know what dance moves I was doing, my body just moved to the beat. I did that one move where I moved my chest up and down pretending it was being pulled by my hand. Shaking my ass like the song said. I breathlessly sang and danced, a bright smile on my face.

“PUSH UP, YOUR BODY, YOUR BODY NEXT TO MINE, I GOTTA MAKE THAT SEXY BOOTY MINE, AND SHAKE IT, BABY, SHAKE THAT ASS, I LOVE IT WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE GETTING NASTY!” I panted as I moved, forgetting how tiring dancing was. I spun in a circle, a group of men watched me, I finished my turn, facing the way I was originally. A group of men watching me? I looked over my shoulder, surely I had just imagined it. Nope they were there, a group of Easy men looking thoroughly entertained. I turned away from them cringing, how much did they see. I quickly slipped the headphone out of my ear and pocketed it. I slowly turned around to face the men. As I did so they started clapping, they all grinned from ear to ear. There in front of me stood Lieb, Babe, Grant, Web, and George. 

“How long have you been standing there?” I asked, hoping they had just arrived. 

“We had come when you were singing that song about lying.” George grinned. “It went like you lied, you lied.” He sang. That was like three songs ago. 

“But we heard someone singing so we all came to see who it was. Turned out to be you.” Babe chuckled. I didn’t think they could hear me, but I guess I was singing loudly. 

“My favourite song was that last one.” Lieb smirked, of course he liked that one the prick. The image of me shaking my ass came into my head, they had all seen it. 

“What was that move that you were doing?” Grant asked, putting his hands on his knees and shaking his butt left to right. 

“Should I teach it to you?” I joked, trying to not sink into the floor from embarrassment. They all nodded laughing, “Wait, really?” I asked. 

“Yeah I want to dance like that, it looked different. I don’t think I have seen any of the moves you just did.” George grinned at me. “What’s it called? The move?” He asked. 

“Twerking.” I laughed as the men looked at me puzzled, they tried out the name themselves, a mutter of the word “twerking” filled the room. I laughed at them. 

I gathered the men in front of me, they shook their arms and legs loose like they were going to run a race. I laughed at them, they were so eager to learn, who was I to say no. 

“Ok, stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and then lean forward putting your hands on your knees.” I was trying to keep my composure, why did they all look so serious. Their concentrating faces on, they followed my instruction. They looked like they were trying to catch their breath after running. “Ok now you just move your pelvis up and down.” They all tried, looking like cats about to throw up. I cracked up watching the five men try their hardest. 

“I can’t do it. What is it supposed to look like again?” Grant asked, standing up straight scratching his head. I got into the same pose as them, moving my pelvis up and down in a smooth motion. They all looked very impressed. 

“I can’t do that.” Babe groaned. I laughed at his pouting face. 

“Arch your back and then relax it.” I did the motion again for them. This is one of the weirdest things I think I have ever done. Not in my wildest dreams would I imagine teaching five WW2 soldiers how to twerk. 

I watched the rest of the men trying, all doing very odd interpretations of the dance move. George just bent and unbent his leg, bobbing up and down. Grant leant forward but moved his butt from left to right like a dog wagging its tail. Babe hunched his shoulders up and down like he was excessively shrugging. Lieb was impressively very good at it, “Ok Lieb!” I pretended to make it rain dollar bills over him. I looked over to Webster who just looked entirely lost, like a weird caterpillar his whole body moved. “Oh Web.” I laughed at the man, he just stared at me with his blue eyes. 

“Here, when I do it only my butt moves, everything else stays in place.” I said turning around to show him, he stepped closer and really focussed in on the move. Trying it again, he still didn’t get it. 

“Look here.” I placed his hand on my lower back, as did the move, “See my back stays still.” 

“What is going on?” I heard from the doorway, looking over to see Don watching us. His eyes set on Web and I. He looked pissed. “Web mind taking your hand off her ass.” My eyes widened, of course he was pissed. The position Web and I were in didn’t look very good. Me bent over in front of him with my butt out and him with his hand on my lower back. I stood up, stepping away from the man. The other Easy men in the room looked uncomfortable as well. Don glared at Web and I. 

“I was just teaching them a dance move.” I tried to explain. He huffed, turning on his heel and marching out of the room. The men watched me gauging my reaction. I was so mad. 

“Shut up!” I snarled, the men looked offended, they hadn’t said anything but I could feel it. The looks they were giving me said it all, they didn’t need to say anything. They looked uncomfortable, like walking in on a lovers quarrel. I followed after Don, letting my anger get the better of me. I caught up to him on the street. 

“Stop acting like you care!” I yelled at him. He turned to face me. “What? You want to push me away and then get mad at me for talking to someone else. You don’t get to do that! Stop fucking with my head!” I shouted at him. I panted from my rage that raced through my body, how dare he say he doesn’t care and then act like this, it was making my head spin. 

He stomped towards me, grabbing me by the arm. He dragged me into one of the houses. “Let go! Let go of me!” I tried to pull out of his grip but he was stronger than me. He shut the door behind him, I wrenched free of his grasp. I tried to move past him and leave, but he blocked the door. “What do you want from me? I don’t have the cash for the hours you babysat me, sorry!” I spat angrily. 

“Stop it!” He growled. “Stop acting like this!” 

I scoffed astonished, “Are you kidding! All I wanted was to check on you. You were avoiding me, I wanted to check if you were ok? I know you’re hurting too! Those boys meant so much to you! I just wanted to care for you how you did for me. It goes both ways! You’re allowed to hurt!” I told him, his face dark, I could see the pain etched into his features. 

“It’s fine, you don’t care for me the way I do you. But I still care about you, even though you hurt me so much. I can’t turn them off. If you can’t talk to me about it, that's fine, but at least talk to someone!” His features softened.

“I do care for you! Of course I do! It’s just been so much! I can’t process it, I’m so busy, I feel like I have the weight of these men on my shoulders, they have expectations of me, I feel responsible for them. If they get hurt it’s my fault!” He rambles on, it all floods out of his mouth, like opening a dam. 

“I don’t have time to think about Skip and Alex or Buck or Bill! I knew I would if I talked to you, I knew if I just spoke to you for a second that it would all come out.” He takes a breath as he spills the truth. 

“So I avoided you. I’m sorry Em.” He scrubs his hand over his face, sighing. 

“I didn’t mean what I said the other day either. I’m so sorry I hurt you. It killed me to see you so upset, and that I was the one who did that.” I listened to him, it hurt me to see the agony on his face. He walks forward standing closer to me. 

“You are not an obligation! You never have been, ever! ” He says, taking my face in his hands, lifting my head to look into his eyes. “I choose you! I will always choose you.” He pauses looking deeply into my eyes. My hands reach up holding onto his arms that still cup my face. 

“I love you.” I uttered softly, it was barely audible to my own ears, but he heard me. 

It happened so quickly, I couldn’t even process what had happened. Don kissed me. His lips found mine. He kissed me so deeply with so much desire. It was like gasping for air after coming up from the water. I didn’t know how much I needed him, wanted him. His mouth moved against mine, hungrily tasting me. I kissed him back with the same intensity. Enjoying the way his lips felt on mine, like we were made for each other. My stomach clenched, the butterflies swirling around inside. I wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him flush with me. His hands moved to my back and held me tightly. I opened my mouth as he deepened the kiss, his tongue finding mine. I tangled my fingers through the hair that peaked out from under his beanie at the base of his neck. It was like I was addicted, I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him. The taste of his lips on mine, his familiar scent that filled my senses, his hands that roamed around my body, the sound of him moaning into my mouth as we kissed. He pulled back, I whimpered, needing his mouth back on mine. 

“I love you.” Don smiled down at me, my heart swelled, I grinned at him. He placed another gentle kiss on my lips, letting it linger before pulling away.   

“Do you forgive me?” He asked. 

“Hmmm? I don’t know, I think maybe if you kissed me again, I could potentially forgive you.” He laughed, placing a kiss on my lips. 

“How about now?” He smirked. 

“Maybe another one?” I said playfully. He leant forward placing kisses all over my face in quick succession. I giggled as he assaulted me with his lips. He placed the last one on my lips, so gentle and sweet I could melt.

“What the hell were you teaching the guys when I walked in?” He asked, his eyebrow quirked. I flushed, burying my face in his jacket. 

“Nothing.” I mumbled into his clothes. His hand found my chin, tilting it up to look him in the eyes. “I was teaching them a dance they caught me doing.” I said giggling, thinking back to all of their weird moves they had done while I was teaching them. 

“What was the dance?” I smiled and laughed. He looked confused at why it was so funny. 

“I’ll show you another time.” I gave him a wink, he looked at me curiously. “Don, it’s not your fault if those men get hurt. You know that?” I asked, the conversation turning more serious. I took his face into my hands, my thumbs brushing along his skin gently. “I understand carrying all that responsibility, trust me. And I know it’s easier said than done as well. But we can’t let their deaths haunt us forever, all we did was try our best.” He nodded, still wrapped in each other's arms. I pulled him in, hugging him tightly. “We can have a break hopefully, since we are being moved off the line.” I smiled, thinking about how the men didn’t have patrol tonight and that we were leaving tomorrow. It was so exciting. 

The door to the house swung open, Don and I jumped apart in fright. George, who was peeking his head in the door, wryly grinned. “Sorry to interrupt you two, but grubs up.” We smiled at the cheeky man. Following him. Don and I kept sharing glances, our faces flushing pink. Thinking back to the moment we had shared. I kept giggling happily, feeling ecstatic. 

We made our way into the basement, the rest of 2nd platoon already there. I spotted Lieb who watched us enter. I came in first smiling, with a shy looking Malarkey in tow. His eyebrows raised as he smirked at me. I walked over to him. “Ah, I wondered where you disappeared too.” He teased me. 

“Shut up.” I laughed, bumping into him.

“Are you going to sing us a song?” Babe asked, his mouth full of food. 

“No, I am not!” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. 

“Or what about some more dance moves?” Grant teased. I picked up a cloth that laid on the table in front of me hurling it at the man, smacking him in the face as we all laughed. I walked over to where the cloth landed, bending down to pick it up. 

“Ow!” I cried holding my back, pain evident on my face. I looked up to see all of the men looking at me worried and concerned. I slid my hand from my back, my hands on my knees. 

“EHHH!” I said as I shook my ass laughing. The men’s faces changed from worried, to confused, to amused. “Got you suckers!” I said standing up, Grant shook his head. 

“I still have no idea how you do that?” I patted him on the shoulder, still laughing. 

The rest of the night passed quickly, it was like Christmas had come early. I was so excited for tomorrow I could hardly sleep, and when I did I had definitely fallen asleep smiling. 

We packed up our gear and made our way to the trucks, ready to move off the line. Lt. Jones had been promoted and was leaving us, he shook our hands as we wished him good luck on his future endeavours. We climbed into the back of the truck, Don helping to pull me up. He sat beside each other, our hands secretly held by our sides. I watched Web approach the truck, going to climb up by himself, Lieb stuck his hand out to offer assistance. I smiled knowing that Lieb finally came around to liking the man. I watched as the small town faded into the distance and wondered what might be ahead for us next. I knew whatever happened that Don and I would face it together. 

[music-ntproduction]

Discover the Benefits of Music Worx: A Comprehensive Guide

Are you an artist or DJ looking to make waves in the music industry? Look no further than Music Worx! This comprehensive guide will unveil Music Worx's plethora of benefits, from boosting your music career to reaching a wider audience. Let's dive into how this powerful platform can take your music promotion game to the next level.

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Utilize the platform's playlist submission feature to get your tracks in front of influential curators who can boost your visibility. Engage with other users by commenting on tracks, sharing feedback, and networking within the community.

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By following these tips and using Music Worx to its full potential, artists and DJs can maximize this powerful platform's benefits. From accessing new promotional tools to connecting with a global network of industry professionals, Music Worx offers unparalleled opportunities for advancing your music career. Embrace the features, engage with the community, and watch your music reach new heights with Music Worx. Start making waves in the music industry today!

[dandelionsresilience]

I’m not sure how reliably I’ll be able to keep up with it, but I’ve been wanting to start posting weekly or monthly Good News compilations, with a focus on ecology but also some health and human rights type stuff. I’ll try to keep the sources recent (like from within the last week or month, whichever it happens to be), but sometimes original dates are hard to find. Also, all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.

Anyway, here’s some good news from the first week of March!

1. Mexican Wolf Population Grows for Eighth Consecutive Year

““In total, 99 pups carefully selected for their genetic value have been placed in 40 wild dens since 2016, and some of these fosters have produced litters of their own. While recovery is in the future, examining the last decade of data certainly provides optimism that recovery will be achieved.””

2. “Remarkable achievement:” Victoria solar farm reaches full power ahead of schedule

“The 130MW Glenrowan solar farm in Victoria has knocked out another milestone, reaching full power and completing final grid connection testing just months after achieving first generation in late November.”

3. UTEP scientists capture first known photographs of tropical bird long thought lost

“The yellow-crested helmetshrike is a rare bird species endemic to Africa that had been listed as “lost” by the American Bird Conservancy when it hadn’t been seen in nearly two decades. Until now.”

4. France Protects Abortion as a 'Guaranteed Freedom' in Constitution

“[A]t a special congress in Versailles, France’s parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to add the freedom to have an abortion to the country’s constitution. Though abortion has been legal in France since 1975, the historic move aims to establish a safeguard in the face of global attacks on abortion access and sexual and reproductive health rights.”

5. [Fish & Wildlife] Service Approves Conservation Agreement for Six Aquatic Species in the Trinity River Basin

“Besides conserving the six species in the CCAA, activities implemented in this agreement will also improve the water quality and natural flows of rivers for the benefit of rural and urban communities dependent on these water sources.”

6. Reforestation offset the effects of global warming in the southeastern United States

“In America’s southeast, except for most of Florida and Virginia, “temperatures have flatlined, or even cooled,” due to reforestation, even as most of the world has grown warmer, reports The Guardian.”

7. Places across the U.S. are testing no-strings cash as part of the social safety net

“Cash aid without conditions was considered a radical idea before the pandemic. But early results from a program in Stockton, Calif., showed promise. Then interest exploded after it became clear how much COVID stimulus checks and emergency rental payments had helped people. The U.S. Census Bureau found that an expanded child tax credit cut child poverty in half.”

8. The Road to Recovery for the Florida Golden Aster: Why We Should Care

“After a five-year review conducted in 2009 recommended reclassifying the species to threatened, the Florida golden aster was proposed for removal from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants due to recovery in June 2021, indicating the threats to the species had been reduced or eliminated.”

9. A smart molecule beats the mutation behind most pancreatic cancer

“Researchers have designed a candidate drug that could help make pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, a treatable, perhaps even curable, condition.”

10. Nurses’ union at Austin’s Ascension Seton Medical Center ratifies historic first contract

“The contract, which NNOC said in a news release was “overwhelmingly” voted through by the union, includes provisions the union believes will improve patient care and retention of nurses.”

This and future editions will also be going up on my new Ko-fi, where you can support my art and get doodled phone wallpapers! EDIT: Actually, I can't find any indication that curating links like this is allowed on Ko-fi, so to play it safe I'll stick to just posting here on Tumblr. BUT, you can still support me over on Ko-fi if you want to see my Good News compilations continue!

[orientalsolutions]

Visit the Oriental Solutions blog page to explore a dynamic company dedicated to providing end-to-end solutions for information processing and document management needs

[mayalaen]

my server vs netflix

Long post for a few mutuals who asked about this 🏴‍☠️

Netflix (according to the geeks on server forums -- so this could be off a bit) has individual servers that hold about 100TB of data each, and Netflix claims they have around 18,000 servers worldwide.

Netflix has about 3000 movies and 1800 TV shows available in the United States at any given time. It varies in other countries, but is similar.

This is my server below (pen for size comparison and purple sticky note covering the super bright blue light that bores into my brain)

It's got 5 drive bays, and right now I have 60TB of storage space in it (meaning it's just a little smaller than one of Netflix's servers), and only 37TB of which is currently used. I can easily expand with add-on bays once I fill up the 60TB.

I currently have 4470 movies and 862 TV series, all with closed captioning that I've curated and about 100 of the TV shows have bonus scenes and specials included.

My server cost me about $2700: $1200 for the 5-bay box and the rest was spent on hard drives over the course of 2 years -- 5 inside the server and 6 backup drives. I bought good drives when they were on sale.

I spent another $300 on a range extender for my house so mom and dad could watch in their bedrooms without interruption.

My home internet costs $50 a month and I'm able to serve friends and family in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. It's not always accessible (sorry Australia and your shitty internet), but it's up most of the time.

I never take movies/TV shows off of my server, and all the TV shows have their original DVD soundtracks, so nobody has to worry I'm going to remove their faves or ruin soundtracks.

I take requests from anyone, adding it when I find it with no judgement on content.

I don't charge anyone for using my server, and yet I'm paying less than I used to for internet and streaming services.

My payments for internet and streaming for my business and two family houses (Charlie's house and my house) used to be $900 A MONTH ($450 of it was the business internet because ISPs gouge businesses even though the internet usage at the shop is less than home).

Just before I quit Cox Internet, they were about to raise the cost and my new total would've been $1000 per month.

My monthly payments are now $220 for internet service and streaming services. So within just a few months, the server paid for itself.

I still have YouTube TV, Netflix x2 (one for each house), Hulu, and Discovery+.

I'm not saying the average person can set this up, but I want to make it clear that streaming services aren't the mysterious, unknowable magic that people think they are.

They're just servers (hard drives) with data on them and a good internet connection.

Anyone can set up a home server. You don't need a $1200 box like mine. Even an old computer/laptop or single hard drive will work.

A brand new 2TB good-quality hard drive that could hold about 1000 movies or 60-80 TV series would only cost $60 plus another $29 for a basic enclosure/case. (I bought mine from NewEgg for backups)

I use Plex as my media server program. It has a free version and a paid version. I bought the lifetime pass on sale for $90. It goes on sale 2-3 times a year. There are other programs out there too, including Kodi, which has a Netflix skin so it looks like you're using Netflix.

Plex and other programs like it already have a huge library of metadata, so I didn't have to create my own cover art or fill in any other information other than title & year for movies or title + season + episode number for TV shows.

Careful naming of files and sorting in properly-named folders is all you need to have this:

It took me about 3 months to download and organize most of the movies and TV shows in between working and taking care of my home/family. Now I update the server once a week and it takes about 2 hours a week to download/update new TV shows and movies.

I wasn't able to torrent when I had Cox Internet, but the new $50/month ISP doesn't give a shit. Even so, I use a VPN, which is $9 a month just in case they ever decide to get touchy about torrenting.

The server does regular maintenance on itself, and I have backups of everything.

I realize not everyone has the tech skills to set something like this up, but even if one tech person in the family or circle of friends has the ability, they could serve around 60 people.

The most I've had streaming at one time was 10 separate people watching different things, and my server handled it with no problem.

Others on the server forum claim they've maxed out around 25 people simultaneously watching, but 60 people is the number suggested because not everybody will watch at the same time.

Streaming, as it currently works, does NOT support anyone related to the creation of TV shows and movies.

Hopefully this will change, but even if it does, that doesn't change the fact that I can easily support creators myself by buying their DVDs, merch, going to cons, and donating to them or their projects directly.

Right now, pirating movies and TV shows doesn't hurt creators because streaming services and big studios are the main villains, and if all you did was donate $5 to your favorite TV show/movie, you'd be giving them more than if you streamed their content as many times as you wanted each month on a big streaming service.

I have movies and TV shows on my server that aren't even available from content creators anymore due to greedy CEOs and execs who dump their content for tax breaks.

If more people switched to using their own servers, MAYBE it would scare the greedy assholes into paying content creators what they deserve, but in the meantime it's a great way to enjoy content that was created to be shared and to support the creators.

EDIT: I need to add that streaming a TV show/movie as much as possible in the first few weeks of the release date DOES help the show get renewed and the movie execs are more likely to buy future movies, so please stream as much as possible then to help content creators. After that time is up and the streaming service moves on, then it's totally fine to pirate.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The antitrust case against Apple

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TONIGHT (Mar 22) in TORONTO, then SUNDAY (Mar 24) with LAURA POITRAS in NYC, then Anaheim, and beyond!

The foundational tenet of "the Cult of Mac" is that buying products from a $3t company makes you a member of an oppressed ethnic minority and therefore every criticism of that corporation is an ethnic slur:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/12/youre-holding-it-wrong/#if-dishwashers-were-iphones

Call it "Apple exceptionalism" – the idea that Apple, alone among the Big Tech firms, is virtuous, and therefore its conduct should be interpreted through that lens of virtue. The wellspring of this virtue is conveniently nebulous, which allows for endless goal-post shifting by members of the Cult of Mac when Apple's sins are made manifest.

Take the claim that Apple is "privacy respecting," which is attributed to Apple's business model of financing its services though cash transactions, rather than by selling it customers to advertisers. This is the (widely misunderstood) crux of the "surveillance capitalism" hypothesis: that capitalism is just fine, but once surveillance is in the mix, capitalism fails.

Apple, then, is said to be a virtuous company because its behavior is disciplined by market forces, unlike its spying rivals, whose ability to "hack our dopamine loops" immobilizes the market's invisible hand with "behavior-shaping" shackles:

http://pluralistic.net/HowToDestroySurveillanceCapitalism

Apple makes a big deal out of its privacy-respecting ethos, and not without some justification. After all, Apple went to the mattresses to fight the FBI when they tried to force Apple to introduced defects into its encryption systems:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/04/fbi-could-have-gotten-san-bernardino-shooters-iphone-leadership-didnt-say

And Apple gave Ios users the power to opt out of Facebook spying with a single click; 96% of its customers took them up on this offer, costing Facebook $10b (one fifth of the pricetag of the metaverse boondoggle!) in a single year (you love to see it):

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/facebook-makes-the-case-for-activity-tracking-to-ios-14-users-in-new-pop-ups/

Bruce Schneier has a name for this practice: "feudal security." That's when you cede control over your device to a Big Tech warlord whose "walled garden" becomes a fortress that defends you against external threats:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/08/leona-helmsley-was-a-pioneer/#manorialism

The keyword here is external threats. When Apple itself threatens your privacy, the fortress becomes a prison. The fact that you can't install unapproved apps on your Ios device means that when Apple decides to harm you, you have nowhere to turn. The first Apple customers to discover this were in China. When the Chinese government ordered Apple to remove all working privacy tools from its App Store, the company obliged, rather than risk losing access to its ultra-cheap manufacturing base (Tim Cook's signal accomplishment, the one that vaulted him into the CEO's seat, was figuring out how to offshore Apple manufacturing to China) and hundreds of millions of middle-class consumers:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-apple-vpn/apple-says-it-is-removing-vpn-services-from-china-app-store-idUSKBN1AE0BQ

Killing VPNs and other privacy tools was just for openers. After Apple caved to Beijing, the demands kept coming. Next, Apple willingly backdoored all its Chinese cloud services, so that the Chinese state could plunder its customers' data at will:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html

This was the completely foreseeable consequence of Apple's "curated computing" model: once the company arrogated to itself the power to decide which software you could run on your own computer, it was inevitable that powerful actors – like the Chinese Communist Party – would lean on Apple to exercise that power in service to its goals.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese state's appetite for deputizing Apple to help with its spying and oppression was not sated by backdooring iCloud and kicking VPNs out of the App Store. As recently as 2022, Apple continued to neuter its tools at the behest of the Chinese state, breaking Airdrop to make it useless for organizing protests in China:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/11/foreseeable-consequences/#airdropped

But the threat of Apple turning on its customers isn't limited to China. While the company has been unwilling to spy on its users on behalf of the US government, it's proven more than willing to compromise its worldwide users' privacy to pad its own profits. Remember when Apple let its users opt out of Facebook surveillance with one click? At the very same time, Apple was spinning up its own commercial surveillance program, spying on Ios customers, gathering the very same data as Facebook, and for the very same purpose: to target ads. When it came to its own surveillance, Apple completely ignored its customers' explicit refusal to consent to spying, spied on them anyway, and lied about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Here's the thing: even if you believe that Apple has a "corporate personality" that makes it want to do the right thing, that desire to be virtuous is dependent on the constraints Apple faces. The fact that Apple has complete legal and technical control over the hardware it sells – the power to decide who can make software that runs on that hardware, the power to decide who can fix that hardware, the power to decide who can sell parts for that hardware – represents an irresistible temptation to enshittify Apple products.

"Constraints" are the crux of the enshittification hypothesis. The contagion that spread enshittification to every corner of our technological world isn't a newfound sadism or indifference among tech bosses. Those bosses are the same people they've always been – the difference is that today, they are unconstrained.

Having bought, merged or formed a cartel with all their rivals, they don't fear competition (Apple buys 90+ companies per year, and Google pays it an annual $26.3b bribe for default search on its operating systems and programs).

Having captured their regulators, they don't fear fines or other penalties for cheating their customers, workers or suppliers (Apple led the coalition that defeated dozens of Right to Repair bills, year after year, in the late 2010s).

Having wrapped themselves in IP law, they don't fear rivals who make alternative clients, mods, privacy tools or other "adversarial interoperability" tools that disenshittify their products (Apple uses the DMCA, trademark, and other exotic rules to block third-party software, repair, and clients).

True virtue rests not merely in resisting temptation to be wicked, but in recognizing your own weakness and avoiding temptation. As I wrote when Apple embarked on its "curated computing" path, the company would eventually – inevitably – use its power to veto its customers' choices to harm those customers:

https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/01/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either/

Which is where we're at today. Apple – uniquely among electronics companies – shreds every device that is traded in by its customers, to block third parties from harvesting working components and using them for independent repair:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/yp73jw/apple-recycling-iphones-macbooks

Apple engraves microscopic Apple logos on those parts and uses these as the basis for trademark complaints to US customs, to block the re-importation of parts that escape its shredders:

https://repair.eu/news/apple-uses-trademark-law-to-strengthen-its-monopoly-on-repair/

Apple entered into an illegal price-fixing conspiracy with Amazon to prevent used and refurbished devices from being sold in the "world's biggest marketplace":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/10/you-had-one-job/#thats-just-the-as

Why is Apple so opposed to independent repair? Well, they say it's to keep users safe from unscrupulous or incompetent repair technicians (feudal security). But when Tim Cook speaks to his investors, he tells a different story, warning them that the company's profits are threatened by customers who choose to repair (rather than replace) their slippery, fragile glass $1,000 pocket computers (the fortress becomes a prison):

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/01/letter-from-tim-cook-to-apple-investors/

All this adds up to a growing mountain of immortal e-waste, festooned with miniature Apple logos, that our descendants will be dealing with for the next 1,000 years. In the face of this unspeakable crime, Apple engaged in a string of dishonest maneuvers, claiming that it would support independent repair. In 2022, Apple announced a home repair program that turned out to be a laughably absurd con:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/22/apples-cement-overshoes/

Then in 2023, Apple announced a fresh "pro-repair" initiative that, once again, actually blocked repair:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

Let's pause here a moment and remember that Apple once stood for independent repair, and celebrated the independent repair technicians that kept its customers' beloved Macs running:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/29/norwegian-potato-flour-enchiladas/#r2r

Whatever virtue lurks in Apple's corporate personhood, it is no match for the temptation that comes from running a locked-down platform designed to capture IP rights so that it can prevent normal competitive activities, like fixing phones, processing payments, or offering apps.

When Apple rolled out the App Store, Steve Jobs promised that it would save journalism and other forms of "content creation" by finally giving users a way to pay rightsholders. A decade later, that promise has been shattered by the app tax – a 30% rake on every in-app transaction that can't be avoided because Apple will kick your app out of the App Store if you even mention that your customers can pay you via the web in order to avoid giving a third of their content dollars to a hardware manufacturer that contributed nothing to the production of that material:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/save-news-we-must-open-app-stores

Among the apps that Apple also refuses to allow on Ios is third-party browsers. Every Iphone browser is just a reskinned version of Apple's Safari, running on the same antiquated, insecure Webkit browser engine. The fact that Webkit is incomplete and outdated is a feature, not a bug, because it lets Apple block web apps – apps delivered via browsers, rather than app stores:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/13/kitbashed/#app-store-tax

Last month, the EU took aim at Apple's veto over its users' and software vendors' ability to transact with one another. The newly in-effect Digital Markets Act requires Apple to open up both third-party payment processing and third-party app stores. Apple's response to this is the very definition of malicious compliance, a snake's nest of junk-fees, onerous terms of service, and petty punitive measures that all add up to a great, big "Go fuck yourself":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/06/spoil-the-bunch/#dma

But Apple's bullying, privacy invasion, price-gouging and environmental crimes are global, and the EU isn't the only government seeking to end them. They're in the firing line in Japan:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Japan-to-crack-down-on-Apple-and-Google-app-store-monopolies

And in the UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-wins-appeal-in-apple-case

And now, famously, the US Department of Justice is coming for Apple, with a bold antitrust complaint that strikes at the heart of Apple exceptionalism, the idea that monopoly is safer for users than technological self-determination:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1344546/dl?inline

There's passages in the complaint that read like I wrote them:

Apple wraps itself in a cloak of privacy, security, and consumer preferences to justify its anticompetitive conduct. Indeed, it spends billions on marketing and branding to promote the self-serving premise that only Apple can safeguard consumers’ privacy and security interests. Apple selectively compromises privacy and security interests when doing so is in Apple’s own financial interest—such as degrading the security of text messages, offering governments and certain companies the chance to access more private and secure versions of app stores, or accepting billions of dollars each year for choosing Google as its default search engine when more private options are available. In the end, Apple deploys privacy and security justifications as an elastic shield that can stretch or contract to serve Apple’s financial and business interests.

After all, Apple punishes its customers for communicating with Android users by forcing them to do so without any encryption. When Beeper Mini rolled out an Imessage-compatible Android app that fixed this, giving Iphone owners the privacy Apple says they deserve but denies to them, Apple destroyed Beeper Mini:

https://blog.beeper.com/p/beeper-moving-forward

Tim Cook is on record about this: if you want to securely communicate with an Android user, you must "buy them an Iphone":

https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/7/23342243/tim-cook-apple-rcs-imessage-android-iphone-compatibility

If your friend, family member or customer declines to change mobile operating systems, Tim Cook insists that you must communicate without any privacy or security.

Even where Apple tries for security, it sometimes fails ("security is a process, not a product" -B. Schneier). To be secure in a benevolent dictatorship, it must also be an infallible dictatorship. Apple's far from infallible: Eight generations of Iphones have unpatchable hardware defects:

https://checkm8.info/

And Apple's latest custom chips have secret-leaking, unpatchable vulnerabilities:

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/hackers-can-extract-secret-encryption-keys-from-apples-mac-chips/

Apple's far from infallible – but they're also far from benevolent. Despite Apple's claims, its hardware, operating system and apps are riddled with deliberate privacy defects, introduce to protect Apple's shareholders at the expense of its customers:

https://proton.me/blog/iphone-privacy

Now, antitrust suits are notoriously hard to make, especially after 40 years of bad-precedent-setting, monopoly-friendly antitrust malpractice. Much of the time, these suits fail because they can't prove that tech bosses intentionally built their monopolies. However, tech is a written culture, one that leaves abundant, indelible records of corporate deliberations. What's more, tech bosses are notoriously prone to bragging about their nefarious intentions, committing them to writing:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/

Apple is no exception – there's an abundance of written records that establish that Apple deliberately, illegally set out to create and maintain a monopoly:

https://www.wired.com/story/4-internal-apple-emails-helped-doj-build-antitrust-case/

Apple claims that its monopoly is beneficent, used to protect its users, making its products more "elegant" and safe. But when Apple's interests conflict with its customers' safety and privacy – and pocketbooks – Apple always puts itself first, just like every other corporation. In other words: Apple is unexceptional.

The Cult of Mac denies this. They say that no one wants to use a third-party app store, no one wants third-party payments, no one wants third-party repair. This is obviously wrong and trivially disproved: if no Apple customer wanted these things, Apple wouldn't have to go to enormous lengths to prevent them. The only phones that an independent Iphone repair shop fixes are Iphones: which means Iphone owners want independent repair.

The rejoinder from the Cult of Mac is that those Iphone owners shouldn't own Iphones: if they wanted to exercise property rights over their phones, they shouldn't have bought a phone from Apple. This is the "No True Scotsman" fallacy for distraction-rectangles, and moreover, it's impossible to square with Tim Cook's insistence that if you want private communications, you must buy an Iphone.

Apple is unexceptional. It's just another Big Tech monopolist. Rounded corners don't preserve virtue any better than square ones. Any company that is freed from constraints – of competition, regulation and interoperability – will always enshittify. Apple – being unexceptional – is no exception.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/22/reality-distortion-field/#three-trillion-here-three-trillion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

[mariacallous]

Leaked internal documents have exposed the activities of a Russian state-backed legal defence foundation that European intelligence agencies and analysts say is in fact a Kremlin influence operation active in 48 countries across Europe and around the world.

Internal documents from the Fund for Support and Protection of the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad (Pravfond) indicate that the foundation finances propaganda websites targeted at Europeans, helped pay for the legal defence of the convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout and the assassin Vadim Krasikov, and has employed a number of former intelligence officers as the directors of its operations in European countries.

The documents show that the group has spent millions of euros to finance propaganda and legal campaigns. Public data also shows that Pravfond’s local partners have received millions in state subsidies from a number of the European states where the foundation operates local branches, raising questions about the use of public funds and national security concerns just days before elections to the European parliament.

More than 40 Pravfond documents, obtained by the Danish public broadcaster DR from a European intelligence source and shared with a consortium of European journalists including the Guardian, show that the organisation has had a number of documented former intelligence agents among its leadership. They include Vladimir Pozdorovkin, who has been identified by European intelligence sources as an agent for the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service, and in public records as Pravfond’s curator for its operations in the Nordic and Baltic countries; and Anatoly Sorokin, who the documents show is a member of the SVR and curates Pravfond’s Middle East, Moldova, and Transnistria division.

The head of the Institute of the Russian Diaspora, which is listed on official documents as Pravfond’s “project implementer”, is Sergey Panteleyev, who has been subject to sanctions in EU countries as a member of a Russian military intelligence unit that specialises in psychological-warfare operations.

Andrei Soldatov, an expert on the Russian intelligence services and co-author of The Compatriots, said Pravfond appeared to be a “classic soft-power effort” and that the ties between intelligence and compatriot organisations were “well documented”. He noted that Andrey Milyutin, the deputy head of the department of operative information of the fifth service of Russia’s security agency, the FSB, was a member of the government’s committee on “compatriots living abroad”, indicating the link between intelligence activity and outreach to the Russian diaspora.

In a 2020 national security report, the Estonian security services called Pravfond a “pseudo legal protection system” that “in reality is an influence operations fund”, and they have said the FSB uses the groups to recruit collaborators abroad, including among supporters of the 2014 annexation of Crimea, many of whom had ties to the group.

Pravfond was founded in 2012 by presidential decree and was backed by the Russian ministry of foreign affairs and the federal agency Rossotrudnichestvo, which administers foreign aid and has been described by the head of Pravfond, Alexander Udaltsov, as a “unique element of Russian soft power”. Udaltsov has been subject to sanctions by the European Union since 2023 for “supporting and implementing actions and policies which undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”.

Pravfond did not reply to questions sent by the Guardian and by its reporting partners in the week before this publication, although some of the recipients of its local grants did.

The documents show that Pravfond sponsored the legal defence of Krasikov, an alleged FSB agent who was given a life sentence for the murder of the former Chechen field commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin’s Tiergarten in 2019. The documents indicate that the lawyer Robert Unger received €60,000 in legal fees paid out by Pravfond’s budget in 2021 as approved by Udaltsov. A European intelligence source said it possessed documents showing that Unger had received a larger sum of money for representing Krasikov in previous sessions, but could not provide documentation.

Asked about the payments, Unger confirmed he had received a request from the journalist consortium but said his mandate for Krasikov ended in 2021 after the life sentence and that because he was “still subject to legal professional confidentiality even after the end of the mandate and have not been released from it, I am unfortunately prevented from answering your questions”.

A Pravfond budget document from 2014 also showed that the organisation had provided significant sums to fund the legal defences of Bout and the convicted drug trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko, both of whom later returned to Russia as part of prisoner exchanges negotiated between Moscow and Washington.

The documents also indicated that Pravfond had spent hundreds of thousands of euros to maintain several websites that purported to fight against “Russophobia” and promote the “defence of the Russian language” in Europe. It has also funnelled money to a number of fringe publications throughout Europe.

Documents obtained by the consortium showed that Pravfond funded the activities of golos.eu, an online portal that operates out of a post-office box in Brussels and mainly provides a vehicle for commentators to voice criticism of the Ukrainian government, particularly the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and his top aides and military advisers.

Reached for comment by the Guardian, the Golos deputy editor Yuri Andriychenko denied that the site received money from Pravfond or had any links to the Russian state. He suggested that someone else had applied for grant funding using the site’s name, writing: “We are not surprised that someone in Russia is trying to make money on our name, because it is much easier than creating your own project.”

According to the internal documents, Pravfond also funds the activities of Euromore, another online portal that focuses heavily on purported threats to Russians in Europe. Euromore was “designed to take into account the closure of international platforms” such as RT and Sputnik by the EU authorities and “create its own significant alternative”, the documents said. Those sites were largely blacklisted in the west after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

[hprofational9]

Maximizing Your Income: 25 Effective Ways to Make More Money from Home - Money Earn Info

Get Over 2,500 Online Jobs. You may have already tried to make money online. Here is Some Information about Easy Job you can do from home. 👉 Offers for you

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Remote Consulting Services: If you possess expertise in a particular field, consider offering consulting services. Platforms like Clarity — On Demand Business Advice connects consultants with individuals seeking advice, providing an avenue for additional income.

Create and Sell Online Courses: Capitalize on your skills and knowledge by creating online courses. Platforms like Udemy, Teachable, and Skillshare allow you to share your expertise and earn money passively.

Affiliate Marketing Mastery: Deepen your involvement in affiliate marketing by strategically promoting products and services related to your niche. Building a well-curated audience can significantly increase your affiliate earnings.

Start a Profitable Blog: Launch a blog centered around your passions or expertise. Monetize it through methods like sponsored content, affiliate marketing, and ad revenue to create a steady stream of passive income.

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Invest in Dividend-Paying Stocks: Start building a portfolio of dividend-paying stocks. Over time, as these stocks generate regular dividends, you can create a source of passive income.

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Digital Product Sales: Develop and sell digital products such as ebooks, printables, or templates. Platforms like Gumroad and Selz make it easy to sell digital goods online.

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Remote Transcription Jobs: Explore opportunities in remote transcription on platforms like Rev or TranscribeMe. Fast and accurate typists can find quick and consistent work.

Participate in Paid Surveys: Sign up for reputable paid survey websites like Swagbucks and Survey Junkie to earn extra income by providing your opinions on various products and services.

Remote Customer Service Representative: Many companies hire remote customer service representatives. Search job boards and company websites for remote customer service opportunities.

Cashback and Rewards Apps: Use cashback apps like Rakuten and Honey when shopping online to earn cashback and rewards on your purchases.

Create a Niche Podcast: Start a podcast around a niche you are passionate about. Monetize through sponsorships, affiliate marketing, and listener donations.

Automated Webinars for Digital Products: Create automated webinars to promote and sell digital products or services. This hands-off approach can generate income while you focus on other tasks.

Rent Out Your Property on Airbnb: If you have extra space in your home, consider renting it out on Airbnb for short-term stays. This can be a lucrative source of additional income.

Remote SEO Services: If you have expertise in search engine optimization (SEO), offer your services to businesses looking to improve their online visibility.

Invest in Real Estate Crowdfunding: Diversify your investment portfolio by participating in real estate crowdfunding platforms like Fundrise or RealtyMogul.

Create a Subscription Box Service: Develop a subscription box service around a niche you are passionate about. Subscribers pay a recurring fee for curated items.

Remote Project Management: Utilize your project management skills by taking on remote project management roles. Platforms like Remote OK and Home feature remote opportunities.

Making more money from home is not just a possibility; it’s a reality with the myriad opportunities available in today’s digital age. By diversifying your income streams and leveraging your skills, you can create a robust financial foundation. Whether you choose to freelance, start an online business, or invest in passive income streams, the key is consistency and dedication. Explore the strategies outlined in this guide, identify those that align with your strengths and interests, and embark on a journey to maximize your income from the comfort of your home.

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[aibyrdidini]

GUIDE FOR CONSULTING SERVICES USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

In a recent project using AI for a real estate management and sales company, it became a laboratory for consulting and breaking down resistance to the lack of culture and benchmarks in the local market to compare the use of technology and pricing.

As much as we have technical experience, every day we are surprised by new things and unusual demands, which we have to learn and adapt to because we are consultants and we have to live with all the differences with professionalism.

After this successful experience, I decided to write a guide to help our employees and the market, because what counts at the end of the day are the state of the art, customer satisfaction and problem solving.

I'd like to point out that in the area of AI, as opposed to IT, we can apply 4 solutions, depending on the complexity of the problem: Use of Generative AI with prompts, Use of AI tools customizing the solution for a specific client, Use of NoCode to provide the solution and the development of applications with algorithms and AI technology combined.

The provision of AI consulting services faces significant challenges, but these can be overcome with the right strategies. Promoting an AI culture, adopting an efficient data management strategy, and transparency in the AI market are essential if companies are to make the most of this technology and achieve positive results in their operations.

CHALLENGES IN PROVIDING SERVICES USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) FOR ENTERPRISES.

Lack of Culture

│ ├─ AI is a Very New Technology

│ └─ Majority of Enterprises Lack Culture and Knowledge

├─ Difference from IT

│ ├─ Data and Information Needs to be Cleaned

│ ├─ Data and Information Needs to be Recognized and Mastered

│ └─ AI will Use Data and Information to Create Solutions

└─ Lack of Market References

└─ No Standard Pricing for AI-based Solutions

Addressing the Challenges

├─ Lack of Culture

│ ├─ Educate Enterprises on Benefits of AI

│ ├─ Provide Proof-of-Concept Projects to Demonstrate AI Capabilities

│ └─ Develop AI Adoption Roadmaps for Enterprises

├─ Difference from IT

│ ├─ Emphasize Importance of Data Preparation and Curation

│ ├─ Highlight Need for Domain Expertise in AI Model Development

│ └─ Offer Data Engineering Services to Support AI Implementation

└─ Lack of Market References

├─ Research Competitor Pricing and Offerings

├─ Develop Transparent Pricing Models based on Project Scope

└─ Provide Detailed Proposals Outlining Solution Value and Pricing

Pricing Considerations

├─ Cost of Data Preparation and Curation

├─ Complexity of AI Model Development

├─ Ongoing Maintenance and Support Requirements

├─ Potential Business Impact and ROI for Enterprises

└─ Benchmarking Against Industry Standards and Competitors

Delivering Value with AI Consulting

├─ Understand Enterprise Pain Points and Objectives

├─ Tailor AI Solutions to Specific Business Needs

├─ Ensure Seamless Integration with Existing Systems

├─ Provide Comprehensive Training and Change Management

├─ Monitor and Optimize AI Models for Continuous Improvement

└─ Demonstrate Measurable Bus

LACK OF CULTURE

- AI is a Very New Technology: The rapid advancement of AI technology presents a unique challenge for enterprises, especially those new to the field. The novelty of AI means that many companies lack the foundational knowledge and understanding required to leverage its full potential.

- Majority of Enterprises Lack Culture and Knowledge: The absence of a culture that embraces AI within organizations hinders the adoption and effective utilization of AI technologies. This gap in knowledge and culture can lead to missed opportunities for innovation and efficiency gains.

Difference from IT

- Data and Information Needs to be Cleaned: Unlike traditional IT projects, AI projects require meticulous data cleaning and preparation. This process is crucial for training AI models accurately and efficiently, yet it is often underestimated in terms of time and resources.

- Data and Information Needs to be Recognized and Mastered: Beyond cleaning, recognizing and mastering the data and information used in AI projects is essential. This involves understanding the nuances of the data, its structure, and how it relates to the problem at hand, which is a skill set that may not be readily available within all organizations.

- AI will Use Data and Information to Create Solutions: The ultimate goal of AI projects is to use data and information to create intelligent solutions. However, achieving this requires a deep understanding of both the data and the AI technologies themselves, which can be a significant hurdle for organizations without the necessary expertise.

Lack of Market References

- No Standard Pricing for AI-based Solutions: The lack of established market references for pricing AI-based solutions complicates the procurement process for enterprises. Without clear benchmarks, it becomes challenging for companies to determine the fair value of AI services, leading to uncertainty and potential overpricing.

ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES

Lack of Culture

- Educate Enterprises on Benefits of AI: Raising awareness and understanding of AI's benefits is crucial. This can be achieved through educational workshops, seminars, and training programs tailored to different levels of the organization.

- Provide Proof-of-Concept Projects to Demonstrate AI Capabilities: Demonstrating the tangible benefits of AI through proof-of-concept projects can help overcome resistance and foster a culture of innovation.

- Develop AI Adoption Roadmaps for Enterprises: Creating a structured plan for AI adoption can guide organizations through the process, ensuring they have a clear path to integrating AI into their operations.

Difference from IT

- Emphasize Importance of Data Preparation and Curation: Highlighting the importance of data preparation in AI projects can help organizations allocate the necessary resources and attention to this critical step.

- Highlight Need for Domain Expertise in AI Model Development: Recognizing the need for domain-specific expertise in AI model development can guide organizations in seeking out the right skills and partnerships.

- Offer Data Engineering Services to Support AI Implementation: Providing data engineering services can support organizations in preparing their data for AI, bridging the gap between data readiness and AI deployment.

Lack of Market References

- Research Competitor Pricing and Offerings: Conducting thorough research on competitor pricing and offerings can provide a basis for developing transparent and fair pricing models for AI services.

- Develop Transparent Pricing Models based on Project Scope: Creating pricing models that reflect the scope and complexity of AI projects can help ensure that enterprises receive value for money.

- Provide Detailed Proposals Outlining Solution Value and Pricing: Offering detailed proposals that clearly outline the value and pricing of AI solutions can enhance transparency and trust between service providers and their clients.

PRICING CONSIDERATIONS

- Cost of Data Preparation and Curation: The cost associated with preparing and curating data for AI projects should be considered in the overall pricing structure.

- Complexity of AI Model Development: The complexity of developing AI models, including the need for specialized expertise, should influence pricing.

- Ongoing Maintenance and Support Requirements: The ongoing maintenance and support required to keep AI models effective and up-to-date should be factored into pricing.

- Potential Business Impact and ROI for Enterprises: The potential return on investment (ROI) that AI solutions can offer should be considered in pricing, reflecting the value that AI can bring to businesses.

- Benchmarking Against Industry Standards and Competitors: Pricing should be benchmarked against industry standards and competitors to ensure fairness and competitiveness.

DELIVERING VALUE WITH AI CONSULTING

- Understand Enterprise Pain Points and Objectives: Gaining a deep understanding of the enterprise's pain points and objectives is crucial for tailoring AI solutions effectively.

- Tailor AI Solutions to Specific Business Needs: Customizing AI solutions to meet the specific needs of the business ensures that the solutions are relevant and impactful.

- Ensure Seamless Integration with Existing Systems: Integrating AI solutions seamlessly with existing systems is key to avoiding disruption and maximizing the benefits of AI.

- Provide Comprehensive Training and Change Management: Offering comprehensive training and change management support helps organizations adapt to new AI technologies and processes.

- Monitor and Optimize AI Models for Continuous Improvement: Regular monitoring and optimization of AI models ensure that they remain effective and aligned with evolving business needs.

- Demonstrate Measurable Business Impact: Showing measurable business impact through AI solutions helps justify the investment and fosters continued support for AI initiatives.

RDIDINI PROMPT ENGINEER