#Features of desktop computer

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Me: I'm going to use all this extra free time this evening to write! :)

The cat: ohai I'm going to cause problems by being cute and cuddly :3

Me: Curses, foiled again!

[darflores]

customizing themes and editing html used to play such a fundamental role on the expression of each individual blog and was honestly such a fun part of this website! i hate that mobile ux (by default in every platform, not just tumblr) is not as complex or nowhere near as fun and personalised as desktop ux can be

[petra-creat0r]

man I wanna customize my desktop so bad...

[abbiistabbii]

I think every computer user needs to read this because holy fucking shit this is fucking horrible.

So Windows has a new feature incoming called Recall where your computer will first, monitor everything you do with screenshots every couple of seconds and "process that" with an AI.

Hey, errrr, fuck no? This isn't merely because AI is really energy intensive to the point that it causes environmental damage. This is because it's basically surveilling what you are doing on your fucking desktop.

This AI is not going to be on your desktop, like all AI, it's going to be done on another server, "in the cloud" to be precise, so all those data and screenshot? They're going to go off to Microsoft. Microsoft are going to be monitoring what you do on your own computer.

Now of course Microsoft are going to be all "oooh, it's okay, we'll keep your data safe". They won't. Let me just remind you that evidence given over from Facebook has been used to prosecute a mother and daughter for an "illegal abortion", Microsoft will likely do the same.

And before someone goes "durrr, nuthin' to fear, nuthin to hide", let me remind you that you can be doing completely legal and righteous acts and still have the police on your arse. Are you an activist? Don't even need to be a hackivist, you can just be very vocal about something concerning and have the fucking police on your arse. They did this with environmental protesters in the UK. The culture war against transgender people looks likely to be heading in a direction wherein people looking for information on transgender people or help transitioning will be tracked down too. You have plenty to hide from the government, including your opinions and ideas.

Again, look into backing up your shit and switching to Linux Mint or Ubuntu to get away from Microsoft doing this shit.

[govindhtech]

PyRDP And Rogue RDP: Automating Malicious RDP Exploits

PyRDP automates file exfiltration and clipboard theft for rogue RDP campaigns. This method allows unnoticed spying via hacked remote desktop sessions.

Remote Desktop Protocol?

The Windows service Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) allows Terminal Servers and Clients to communicate. This system uses “virtual channels” to convey data from presentations, keyboard and mouse actions, clipboards, and serial devices. Traditional RDP security research has focused on how attackers with authentic victim credentials may get full GUI access to a machine.

Innovative New Campaign RDP Use

Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) uncovered a new phishing campaign tied to UNC5837, a suspected Russian espionage actor, in October 2024. This effort targeted European military and political institutions using signed.rdp file attachments. Instead than stressing interactive sessions, this marketing ingeniously used two obscure RDP protocol features:

Resource redirection maps victim file systems to attacker servers.

RemoteApps: Giving victims access to attacker-controlled applications.

RDP proxy programs like PyRDP may automate dangerous actions like file exfiltration and clipboard gathering. This approach is called “Rogue RDP.” This effort focused on file theft and espionage.

Key RDP Features

.rdp configuration files: .rdp configuration files can change RDP session functionality by configuring IP addresses, display settings, and certificate options. These files setup an RDP session like the traditional GUI (mstsc.exe). The observed campaign used phishing emails with malware-signed.rdp file attachments. This file allowed the adversary to read and write all of the victim's discs and clipboard contents and create an RDP connection from the victim's computer.

The resource redirection capability lets remote desktop users utilise local peripherals and devices. This includes printers, keyboards, mouse, discs, serial connections, hardware keys, audio equipment, and clipboards. The observed campaign's malicious.rdp file sent all discs, printers, COM ports, smart cards, WebAuthn requests, clipboards, and POS devices to the attacker's C2 server. Microsoft's "virtual channels" allow resource redirection and RDP packet transmission.

RemoteApps: This optional RDP feature lets remote server apps run as windowed programs on the client (victim). Thus, a malicious remote program that isn't installed on the victim's PC may seem local. Malicious.rdp files in RemoteApp campaigns presented users with a fake “AWS Secure Storage Connection Stability Test” app.

This application was hosted on the attacker's RDP server and looked local. The session displays this application alone when remoteapplicationmode is 1. RemoteApp requires RDP server resources, yet mapped victim CDs allow RemoteApp access. This malware also received the victim's Windows environment variables as command-line arguments.

Function of PyRDP

PyRDP, an open-source Python-based MiTM RDP proxy toolkit, is used offensively. Even if its use in the claimed campaign is unverified, its automation makes it a feasible weapon for such attacks. PyRDP relays the victim-RDP server connection to boost capabilities:

Possible NTLM hash and plaintext password theft.

The RDP server executes commands, not the victim's machine.

Note the user's clipboard.

Mapping and maybe scraping drives.

Controlling, recording, and broadcasting RDP sessions.

PyRDP uses fine-grained control over built-in functionality rather than RDP protocol vulnerabilities. PyRDP might have been used in the campaign under observation to bypass the user login screen and reveal the malicious RemoteApp by giving credentials. Potential features include clipboard capture and automatic file exfiltration.

Security Risks and Effects

This campaign highlights unknown RDP security risks. It shows how attackers may employ lawful characteristics for evil, making identification and incident response harder due to fewer forensic artefacts than other attack routes. Even without direct command execution on target PCs, the attackers were able to access victim discs, steal files, collect clipboard data (including passwords), and steal environment variables. Signed.rdp files may bypass security alarms, reducing attack suspicion.

Advice for Defenders

The sources give several ways to fortify systems and identify these attacks:

Log Artefacts: Monitor registry keys (HKU\…\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Servers) and Windows Event Logs (Event IDs 1102, 1027, 1029) to comprehend an attacker's infrastructure. Increased logging (e.g., Sysmon) can track file write activity from C:\Windows\system32\mstsc.exe on redirected discs, however transient files should not be included. You may also use regex patterns to identify.rdp files run from email attachments.

System hardening: Network-level blocking of outgoing RDP traffic to public IPs, registry-based resource redirection disablement, and Group Policy-based granular RDP policy configuration (e.g., resource and clipboard redirection management, enforcing Network Level Authentication, and blocking.rdp file extensions as email attachments) can improve security.

Questionable RDP configuration files with a base64 encoded Let's Encrypt certificate or that allow resource redirection and RemoteApps can be identified using YARA criteria.

Final comments

The “Rogue RDP” campaign shows how to innovate with old tactics. The risk is dishonestly using actual RDP capabilities, not protocol weaknesses. To defend against such assaults and grasp PyRDP's potential, one must understand RDP features, notably resource redirection and RemoteApps.

[jcmarchi]

Vizrt TriCaster is the Core of Sharp HealthCare's NDI Workflow

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/vizrt-tricaster-is-the-core-of-sharp-healthcares-ndi-workflow/

Vizrt TriCaster is the Core of Sharp HealthCare's NDI Workflow

On this segment of NDI November, Gary will be joined by Chris Burgos from Vizrt to discuss how Vizrt enhances Sharp HealthCare’s NDI workflow and video production with seamless integration and high-quality streaming capabilities. This innovative solution ensures efficient, reliable, and scalable media management for healthcare communications.

NDI November is a month of live webinars highlighting the exciting technology for Video and Audio over IP. Join us as we welcome guests from the top NDI partners in the industry including case studies, installation success stories, product spotlights and more. One registration gains you access to all 3 webinars PLUS a chance to win one of our amazing NDI prizes!

What specific challenges did Sharp HealthCare face in their previous communication and training setups that led them to seek a new solution?

Needed to Connect:​

4 acute-care hospitals​

3 specialty hospitals​

3 affiliated medical groups​

HQ with medical simulation labs​

375-seat auditorium​

4 floors of conference facilities

How did the integration of a 100% NDI ​IP-based audio-visual workflow with TriCaster at its core transform Sharp HealthCare’s internal and external communications?

“Our ability to communicate with large audiences – and not have all of the expenses and logistics associated with it – is definitely a winning combination for Sharp.” – CTO at Sharp HealthCare

“TriCaster® and NDI® have helped us reach more audiences with tailored content than we’ve ever been able to before, helping us to achieve our goals of innovation, education and community outreach,” – CTO at Sharp HealthCare

​Can you elaborate on the role of NDI Remote links in enhancing accessibility for employees who cannot attend meetings in person?

Connected employees with ease, regardless of where they are located. Colleagues unable to attend meetings in-person can easily join from anywhere in the world using a web browser on a computer or via a smartphone using an NDI Remote link​

​TriCaster Mini X

Making professional video production possible for all – the Mini X gives producers at any level the freedom to create and share video wherever and whenever they want using anything from a smartphone to a 4K camera – truly demonstrating the power of software defined visual storytelling.

TriCasters are the most capable and cost-effective live video production solutions available and Mini X is no exception. TriCaster Mini X is the most complete, compact multimedia studio in the world.

The Mini X embraces the all-in-one desktop form factor with increased power and capabilities, giving producers access to 8 external sources with 4 integrated HDMI inputs and supporting modern resolutions up to 4Kp30. Plus all the power known to TriCaster Mini including HTML Graphics rendering, new adaptive help menus for ease of use, and much more

TriCaster Mini S

TriCaster Mini S is a software-based video production solution that brings together the might of the world’s best live production solution, TriCaster, with the flexibility to deploy it on the hardware that works for you – all with an affordable subscription. It’s the perfect live production solution for streamers, podcasters, corporate, educational, medical, governmental, religious, and digital media streaming environments.

You don’t have to be a video expert to tell your story with broadcast-quality results. With TriCaster Mini S, you can be on your way to making a show in resolutions up to UHD for delivery to any platform you want, within minutes of getting started. Not only this, with Mini S, Vizrt will provide superior support for new storytellers to assist in getting started. TriCaster Mini S offers live production with hundreds of amazing features as well as the world’s best IP video connectivity built at its core.

Vizrt Viz Connect Solo Family

Viz Connect Solo video converters are the fastest, easiest, and best way to video over IP. Ultra-portable enclosures with resolutions up to UHD 60p, the groundbreaking benefits of NDI®, and a host of tools and capabilities makes Viz Connect Solo video converters the right choice for the full spectrum of video production needs.

Vizrt Viz PTZ Cameras

Offering exceptional HD or UHD picture quality, 20-30x optical zoom, great low-light performance, and phantom-powered audio, the PTZ3 PLUS and PTZ3 UHD PLUS cameras combine quality hardware with intelligent production-enhancing features, including AI presenter tracking and the world’s first FreeD tracking data embedded via NDI|HX. All in a sleek, discrete body that blends into any space.

[radiantindia]

The Rise of BitBox: India's Own Desktop PC Brand

Discover BitBox, the "Made in India" desktop PC brand. Learn about its features, benefits, and how Radiant Info Solutions is bringing BitBox to Indian consumers.

[ms-demeanor]

I would like to address something that has come up several times since I relaunched my computer recommendation blog two weeks ago. Part of the reason that I started @okay-computer and that I continue to host my computer-buying-guide is that it is part of my job to buy computers every day.

I am extremely conversant with pricing trends and specification norms for computers, because literally I quoted seven different laptops with different specs at different price-points *today* and I will do more of the same on Monday.

Now, I am holding your face in my hands. I am breathing in sync with you. We are communicating. We are on the same page. Listen.

Computer manufacturers don't expect users to store things locally so it is no longer standard to get a terabyte of storage in a regular desktop or laptop. You're lucky if you can find one with a 512gb ssd that doesn't have an obnoxious markup because of it.

If you think that the norm is for computers to come with 1tb of storage as a matter of course, you are seeing things from a narrow perspective that is out of step with most of the hardware out there.

I went from a standard expectation of a 1tb hdd five years ago to expecting to get a computer with a 1tb hdd that we would pull and replace with a 1tb ssd to expecting to get a computer that came with a 256gb ssd that we would pull and replace with a 1tb ssd, to just having the 256gb ssd come standard and and only seeking out more storage if the customer specifically requested it because otherwise they don't want to pay for more storage.

Computer manufacturers consider any storage above 256gb to be a premium feature these days.

Look, here's a search for Lenovo Laptops with 16GB RAM (what I would consider the minimum in today's market) and a Win11 home license (not because I prefer that, but to exclude chromebooks and business machines). Here are the storage options that come up for those specs:

You will see that the majority of the options come with less than a terabyte of storage. You CAN get plenty of options with 1tb, but the point of Okay-Computer is to get computers with reasonable specs in an affordable price range. These days, that mostly means half a terabyte of storage (because I can't bring myself to *recommend* less than that but since most people carry stuff in their personal cloud these days, it's overkill for a lot of people)

All things being equal, 500gb more increases the price of this laptop by $150:

It brings this one up by $130:

This one costs $80 more to go from 256 to 512 and there isn't an option for 1TB.

For the last three decades storage has been getting cheaper and cheaper and cheaper, to the point that storage was basically a negligible cost when HDDs were still the standard. With the change to SSDs that cost increased significantly and, while it has come down, we have not reached the cheap, large storage as-a-standard on laptops stage; this is partially because storage is now SO cheap that people want to entice you into paying a few dollars a month to use huge amounts of THEIR storage instead of carrying everything you own in your laptop.

You will note that 1tb ssds cost you a lot less than the markup to pay for a 1tb ssd instead of a 500gb ssd

In fact it can be LESS EXPENSIVE to get a 1tb ssd than a 500gb ssd.

This is because computer manufacturers are, generally speaking, kind of shitty and do not care about you.

I stridently recommend getting as much storage as you can on your computer. If you can't get the storage you want up front, I recommend upgrading your storage.

But also: in the current market (December 2024), you should not expect to find desktops or laptops in the low-mid range pricing tier with more than 512gb of storage. Sometimes you'll get lucky, but you shouldn't be expecting it - if you need more storage and you need an inexpensive computer, you need to expect to upgrade that component yourself.

So, if you're looking at a computer I linked and saying "32GB of RAM and an i7 processor but only 500GB of storage? What kind of nonsense is that?" Then I would like to present you with one of the computers I had to quote today:

A three thousand dollar macbook with the most recent apple silicon (the m4 released like three weeks ago) and 48 FUCKING GIGABYTES OF RAM with a 512gb ssd.

You can't even upgrade that SSD! That's an apple that drive isn't going fucking anywhere! (don't buy apple, apple is shit)

The norms have shifted! It sucks, but you have to be aware of these kinds of things if you want to pay a decent price for a computer and know what you're getting into.

[hardware-sparks]

I fucking hate autodesk sketchbook

[queenoftreasures]

Say Goodbye to Glasses with Desktop Yoga

With all of us hunched over our laptops and less physical movement, our joints and muscles go for a toss. The eyes water and the muscles are weak, leading to the need for glasses. Here’s how you can say goodbye to glasses. What is the main cause of aches and pains? The aches and stiffness tend to make it difficult to have a normal day. Every joint in the human body is built for a specific…

[foone]

why are printers so hated? it's simple:

computers are good at computering. they are not good at the real world.

the biggest problems in computers, the ones that have had to change the most over the time they've existed, are the parts that deal with the real world. The keyboard, the mouse, the screen. every computer needs these, but they involve interacting with the real world. that's a problem. that's why they get replaced so much.

now, printers: printers have some of the most complex real-world interaction. they need to deposit ink on paper in 2 dimensions, and that results in at least three ways it can go on right from the start. (this is why 3D printers are just 2D printers that can go wrong in another whole dimension)

scanners fall into many of the same problems printers have, but fewer people have scanners, and they're not as cost-optimized. But they are nearly as annoying.

This is also why you can make a printer better by cutting down on the number of moving elements: laser printers are better than inkjets, because they only need to move in one dimension, and their ink is a powder, not a liquid. and the best-behaved printers of all are thermal printers: no ink and the head doesn't move. That's why every receipt printer is a thermal printer, because they need that shit to work all the time so they can sell shit. And thermal is the most reliable way to do that.

But yeah, cost-optimization is also a big part of why printers are such finicky unreliable bastards: you don't want to pay much for them. Who is excited for all the printing they're gonna be doing? basically nobody. But people get forced to have a printer because they gotta print something, for school or work or the government or whatever. So they want the cheapest thing that'll work. They're not shopping on features and functionality and design, they want something that costs barely anything, and can fucking PRINT. anything else is an optional bonus.

And here's the thing: there's a fundamental limit of how much you can optimize an inkjet printer, and we got near to it in like the late 90s. Every printer since then has just been a tad smaller, a tad faster, and added some gimmicks like printing from WIFI or bluetooth instead of needing to plug in a cable.

And that's the worst place to be in, for a computer component. The "I don't care how fancy it is, just give me one that works" zone. This is why you can buy a keyboard for 20$ and a mouse for 10$ and they both work plenty fine for 90% of users. They're objectively shit compared to the ones in the 60-150$ range, but do they work? yep. So that's what people get.

Printers fell into that zone long, long ago, when people stopped getting excited about "desktop publishing". So with printers shoved into the "make them as cheap as possible" zone, they have gotten exponentially shittier. Can you cut costs by 5$ a printer by making them jam more often? good. make them only last a couple years to save a buck or two per unit? absolutely. Can you make the printer cost 10$ less and make that back on the proprietary ink cartridges? oh, they've been doing that since Billy Clinton was in office.

It's the same place floppy disks were in in about 2000. CD-burners were not yet cheap enough, USB flash drives didn't exist yet (but were coming), modems weren't fast enough yet to copy stuff over the internet, superfloppies hadn't taken over like some hoped, and memory cards were too expensive and not everyone had a drive for them. So we still needed floppy disks, but at the same time this was a technology that hadn't changed in nearly 20 years. So people were tired of paying out the nose for them... the only solution? cut corners. I have floppy disks from 1984 that read perfectly, but a shrinkwrapped box of disks from 1999 will have over half the disks failed. They cut corners on the material quality, the QA process, the cleaning cloth inside the disk, everything they could. And the disks were shit as a result.

So, printers are in that particular note of the death-spiral where they've reached the point of "no one likes or cares about this technology, but it's still required so it's gone to shit". That's why they are so annoying, so unreliable, so fucking crap.

So, here's the good news:

You can still buy a better printer, and it will work far better. Laser printers still exist, and LED printers work the same way but even cheaper. They're still more expensive than inkjets (especially if you need color), but if you have to print stuff, they're a godsend. Way more reliable.

This is not a stable equilibrium. Printers cannot limp along in this terrible state forever. You know why I brought up floppy disk there? (besides the fact I'm a giant floppy disk nerd) because floppy disks GOT REPLACED. Have you used one this decade? CD-Rs and USB drives and internet sharing came along and ate the lunch of floppy disks, so much so that it's been over a decade since any more have been made. The same will happen to (inkjet) printers, eventually. This kind of clearly-broken situation cannot hold. It'll push people to go paperless, for companies to build cheaper alternatives to take over from the inkjets, or someone will come up with a new, more reliable printer based on some new technology that's now cheap enough to use in printers. Yeah, it sucks right now, but it can't last.

So, in conclusion: Printers suck, but this is both an innate problem caused by them having to deal with so much fucking Real World, and a local minimum of reliability that we're currently stuck in. Eventually we'll get out of this valley on the graph and printers will bother people a lot less.

Random fun facts about printing of the past and their local minimums:

in the hot metal type era, not only would the whole printing process expose you to lead, the most common method of printing text was the linotype, which could go wrong in a very fun way: if the next for a line wasn't properly justified (filling out the whole row), it could "squirt", and lead would escape through gaps in the type matrix. This would result in molten lead squirting out of the machine, possibly onto the operator. Anecdotally, linotype operators would sometimes recognize each other on the street because of the telltale spots on their forearms where they had white splotches where no hair grew, because they got bad lead burns. This type of printing remained in use until the 80s.

Another fun type of now-retired printers are drum printers, a type of line printer. These work something like a typewriter or dot-matrix printer, except the elements extend across the entire width of the paper. So instead of printing a character at time by smacking it into the paper, the whole line got smacked nearly at once. The problem is that if the paper jammed and the printer continued to try to print, that line of the paper would be repeatedly struck at high speed, creating a lot of heat. This worry created the now-infamous Linux error: "lp0 on fire". This was displayed when the error signals from a parallel printer didn't make sense... and it was a real worry. A high speed printer could definitely set the paper on fire, though this was rare.

So... one thing to be grateful about current shitty inkjet printers: they are very unlikely to burn anything, especially you.

(because before they could do that they'd have to work, at least a little, first, and that's very unlikely)

[techqy]

Does Your Device Keep Disconnecting From Wifi?

Try running a network troubleshooter.

Windows troubleshooter in order to fix all the hardware or software problems affiliated with your device. 

Although they do not have the ability to fix each and every problem, the problem of your Wi-Fi being disconnected from your laptop can using this. The steps to do so are mentioned below-

Step 1-

In order to go to the troubleshoot tab in your Windows 10 device, click on the start option and then locate and click on the update and security option.

Step 2-

Now locate the function of network connections and then click on Run the troubleshooter option.

Step 3-

Finally finished the process by following all the onscreen instructions present on your device.

To Continue to Read Blog: https://www.techgill.com/laptop-keeps-disconnecting-from-wifi/

[commodorez]

We've been working on this for the past 2 years...

This weekend at Vintage Computer Festival East @ms-dos5 and I will be celebrating the 30th birthday of Windows 95 with the biggest, most elaborate exhibit either of us have ever done.

18 feet of table space featuring 9 computers running various versions of Windows 95 on a mix of laptops and desktops, with awhat slew of productivity software, games, and goodies to explore.

VCF East is April 4th-6th, at the InfoAge Science Center in Wall, NJ. Exhibits will be open on Saturday and Sunday.

We hope to see you there!

[lovelytsunoda]

love, actually | robert 'bob' floyd

summary: recently appointed admiral robert floyd feels overwhelmed in his new position, and unprepared to fill the shoes of the late admiral thomas kazansky. when he inherts the job, he also inherits tom's old secretary. cue the romance. inspired by hugh grant's storyline in love, actually

pairing: admiral!bob floyd x secretary!reader

warnings: mentions of death and greif was she secretly in love with that old man (because same) we may never know! mentions of addiction (but not with our two main characters!), can be considered to be a minor part of the heather and tommy universe (see 'tell me something girl (are you happy in this modern world)!) so many navy inaccuracies it would make a real admiral's head spin, professionalism simply does not exist in the pacific fleet

the office was barren, devoid of the remarkable life that had once occupied it. the large oak desk that had once held family photos and love notes from the admiral's wife was now empty, save for the top of the line desktop computer. admiral kazansky's wife and kids had been by earlier in the week to collect his things. bob hadn't been there, but he'd heard from natasha that it wasn't a pretty sight. she said that heather kazansky looked frail, and slightly lost without her husband of thirty years by her side. tom was her soulmate, and she'd gone through the pain of watching him die slowly.

cancer was a bitch.

this wasn't how he had wanted to come in to the job. although it was no doubt that he was the best man to lead the pacific fleet (and with an endorsement from maverick mitchell, nobody was going to question his appointment.), he was now wondering if he was really ready.

"admiral floyd?"

bob turned around. standing in the doorway in a skirt that was certainly not navy issued, was a tall young woman with round glasses and soft features. she wore no makeup save for the mascara on her eyelashes.

"hi, i'm y/n. i was admiral kazansky's secretary. and, i suppose, i'm now yours." her voice was soft and gentle, like music to bob's ears. "i brought your welcome packet and agenda for the day."

"admiral robert floyd." he stuck his hand out for her to shake, ignoring how clammy his palms suddenly seemed to feel. "but please, call me bob."

"that's your callsign, right? does it mean anything?"

bob rolled his eyes. "baby on board. they call me that because of my youthful appearance."

she laughed briefly, a cheerful and somewhat abrupt sound, before she looked at the empty office, her face falling again. "he was a good man."

"he was." bob agreed somberly.

"i loved that old man, i really did."

for a second, bob felt like something had tripped in his brain. she loved him? it seemed so cliche when he thought about it, but weren't cliches there for a reason? the pretty young secretary with the silver fox admiral. but what about heather? and his kids? he'd been married to heather since 1987, and from what bob knew of the admiral, he was an honorable man in all aspects of life.

this confusion must have shown on bob's face, because the secretary simply laughed, turning to face him with her arms crossed over her baby blue blouse.

"like a father, admiral. admiral kazansky and i were never involved. he was a family man. i'm the same age as his middle child." she didn't know why she was spitting out words like this. divulging too much information would be unprofessional and- "i actually used to go out with his eldest son when i first started working here. i was young and dumb and mitchell kazansky was a few years older and smooth talking. and then i broke up with him and he went to rehab. he's doing good now. he got married four years ago, i think. i've met his wife, she's a sweet girl." stop. fucking. talking. y/n.

in truth, bob only caught half of the word vomit. he was too preoccupied with the way her eyes sparkled behind her glasses, and the way her crossed arms accidentally pushed up her cleavage. she was totally wearing a push up bra. jake and bradley could probably even accurately guess her boob size. bob couldn't, but didn't need to to wonder what it would be like to rest his head against them, feeling her arms wrap around his tired frame.

"anyways." she exhaled, cheeks rosy with embarrassment. "i'll let you settle in. just so you know, your friday meeting with the commanders got moved up. it's nothing to worry about. come find me at lunch and i'll give you the brief. i used to make them for tom all the time, especially when he got sick."

"thank you." bob said graciously. "i really appreciate it. would you actually mind staying with me during the meeting? just to make sure i don't put my foot in my mouth."

she smiled, passing him a file folder. "of course, admiral. i'd love to."

the afternoon meeting came faster than bob would have wanted, and he was still struggling to make heads or tails of half the reports that his secretary had left on his desk. having a meeting this soon into his tenure seemed unusual, and for a moment he wondered about the severity of the content being discussed.

of course, he couldn't worry for long. through the panes of glass in the office doors, he could see y/n out at her desk, applying a thin layer of chapstick while she waited on hold with someone. her desk was filled with little baubles and a few small plants were on the filing cabinet behind her.

she looked calm and carefree, unbothered. and bob was smitten. completely and totally smitten. sure, it was a workplace harassment suit waiting to happen. and yes, it was never a good idea to get involved with people at work, especially when you outranked them.

but in that moment, bob floyd simply couldn't care less. especially when she gave him a flirty little wave from behind her desk, and even more so when the collar of her shirt dipped just enough that bob could see the edge of her lacy white bra.

this woman was going to be the death of him.

"bob?" she called out, poking her head through the doorway. "the commanders are here earlier than expected. have you had a chance to look over the notes?"

fuck. he couldn't admit that he was so distracted that he forgot to read the file. "uh, about half of it?" he explained sheepishly. "it's a lot."

she flashed him an understanding smile. "if you get lost in the meeting, i can take over. i used to do it for tom all the time."

"thank you. you're a lifesaver."

she winked, backing out of the room. "you owe me one, admiral."

the commanders filed into the meeting room, gathering around the round oak table like they were king arthur's knights. bob recognized a few of them, including jake seresin. he took a seat underneath the world map that was used to plot out missions, y/n taking a seat beside him.

and bob floyd wished he was a better man because as soon as he saw that skirt slip up her plush thigh, he was a goner. he forgot why he was even in that meeting in the first place. to his credit, he did fairly well, answering questions about the transition of power in the pacific fleet, and what was going on with some current matters that had gone unfinished when the previous admiral had passed. whenever bob seemed to stutter or falter in any way, y/n jumped in to rescue him, with a well-worded response delivered in such an effortless manner that he wondered why he was the admiral and not her.

jake caught him staring, a glean of admiration in his eyes as he watched the secretary (who was one of only two women in the room, by the way) outline a budget for the coming year. the commander kicked his former platoonmate under the table, holding back a laugh. bob shot him a dirty look before redirecting his attention to y/n.

after the meeting, and after shaking hands with what felt like every commander in san diego, jake stayed behind to chat with bob, eager to 'catch up' on everything the other had missed since their assignment with maverick. but really, jake just wanted to rib his coworker about the pretty secretary.

"dude, kazansky's secretary? come on."

"jake, shut up." bob could feel his face going pink. "it would be unprofessional at best, harassment at worst. her boss just died, for god's sake!"

jake laughed, hands tucked into the pockets of his dress whites. "i'm sure that they make porno's about this kind of thing. i say go for it. you only live once, admiral."

"hangman, go fuck yourself."

there was a knock on the office door, and y/n stuck her head inside the office. "admiral floyd, commander seresin. its five, so im on my way out. if you need anything, there's a post-it with my personal number on it in your welcome packet. don't stay too late, you'll make me look bad." she grinned at bob, waving at him before ducking back out of the office again.

bob shouted after her, something along the lines of 'see you in the morning', but he couldn't hear himself think over the sound of jake's laughter.

"what!"

"dude, look below your fucking belt. you're fucked."

_______

life went on, and bob found himself settling into his role as admiral nicely. of course, he wasn't doing it alone. y/n was a massive help in meetings, and they had started tag-teaming on important topics: putting together elaborate slide presentations, models and poster boards before every meeting with the fellow admirals or the commanders. there was a meeting with the president's aide scheduled for the new year, and surprisingly, bob wasn't worried about it. he had even gone as far as to help y/n decorate the office for christmas.

every day, she showed up in a trendy, fashionable and flattering outfit that definitely went against navy regulations, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. especially not when those leather slacks of hers made him so achingly hard that he spent half of his lunch break in the private bathroom jerking off. it wasn't the good admiral's fault that his secretary was so stunningly beautiful and sweet and kind and funny and so many other things that made him wonder if it was finally time to consider finding a life partner.

the pair had started sharing their lunch breaks, and bob was enjoying getting to know her outside of the office. she was easy to talk to, and he was convinced he had never laughed as much as he had when he was with her.

and that's why he was so worried when he saw that she had put in for a transfer request.

_____

they were one week out from christmas, and the base was getting ready to send all non-essential staff home. that meant that y/n was getting a much needed break, and while bob would be considered to be 'on-call', he got to go home as well. the last meeting of the year was finished, and y/n was cleaning up the round table in the conference room when she heard hushed voices from the cracked door in bob's office.

"robert, you understand what you're getting yourself into, right? the kind of trouble you'd be opening up for her?" natasha trace's voice was low and not quite venomous, but not calm either. "don't think that people haven't figured out why you hide in the bathroom over your lunch break, bradley told me about your little crush. you can't act on it, bob. i'm sorry, but you just can't. she's your subordinate. unless one of you transfers out. no matter how much you think you'd be able to make it work, it just not possible."

"i love her, phoenix. and i don't know what to do."

"you keep your mouth shut and your dick in your pants. that's what you do."

she felt her heart grow tight in her chest. bob was in love with someone? it was probably another soldier, or a pilot. or, and she hesitated at the thought, was bob floyd falling in love with her?

she didn't know if she wanted to find out. because if she was wrong, and bob didn't feel the same way about her that she felt about him, it was going to lead to a lot of heartbreak.

she put in for a transfer to another fleet later that week.

________

"what the fuck? how could this happen, phoenix? what did you say to her?"

natasha gaped at the frazzled admiral, who was pacing behind his desk. "what did i say to her? i didn't say shit, bob. she must have overheard us and gotten the wrong idea."

it was christmas eve, and bob didn't even know why he'd come into the office. he supposed it was because he wanted everything pressing to be done before the holidays, but seeing the neon blue transfer request paper on his desk had thrown him for a loop.

"i can't function without her. she keeps this office going." bob wailed, running his fingers through his hair. "i need her."

"yeah." jake snorted. "in more ways than one."

"can it, hangman." natasha scolded. "you'd have to find a really good, sound reason for denying the transfer, you know. keeping her here without one would be an abuse of power."

"you think i don't fucking know that?"

"there is another solution here." bradley bradshaw suggested, leaning against the side of the desk. "her address would be in her files, right? why don't you go and talk to her?"

actually.....that wasn't a terrible idea.

"no." natasha glared at him, almost as if she could read his mind. "that would be another glaring abuse of power. do none of you have functioning brain cells? this is psychotic."

"but it could work." bob mused, scrambling to boot up his computer. "what woman doesn't love a grand romantic gesture?"

"that's my boy." jake roared with laughter, clapping him in the shoulders. "let's make this christmas miracle happen."

bob scrambled to pull up her personnel file, scribbling a street address down in his messy cursive. "okay, okay. how do we know she's home? i mean, it's christmas eve. she could be with family, or with friends-"

"trust your gut, admiral." jake encouraged. "rooster, grab the keys to the bronco!"

"i'm surrounded by idiots!" natasha cried, throwing her hands up in the air. "why am i even here?"

there was a fleeting sense of nostalgia as the former dagger squad members piled into rooster's sleek black bronco. it was cold for california, albeit the lake of snow on the ground. a strong wind was coming in off the ocean, pushing the bronco closer to y/n's house. bob was jittery, working his way through everything he wanted to say.

because how did he tell a woman that he loved her without even having gone out with her yet?

"alright, take a left at this next set of lights, and then a left at the stop sign after that." jake instructed, reading directions off of his phone. rooster was going at least ten over the speed limit, and natasha was praying that there were no police officers around.

"that's her house!" bob shouted, jumping to attention in the backseat. "the one with the the three volkswagens in the driveway. she still lives with her parents, the whole family drives german cars. i remember her bringing it up over lunch one day."

the bronco skidded to a stop in the middle of the road, forced to slow abruptly when bob threw his door open. natasha chased him out of the car, followed up by jake while bradley worried about where to park on the unforgivingly small street.

bob ran up the driveway, in between an suv and a sport model jetta before practically launching himself at the doorbell.

"y/n?" he called, ringing the bell. "its admiral floyd! can we talk for a minute?"

"she cant hear you, dipshit." jake reminded gently. "just wait for her to answer the door."

the front door crept open, y/n standing nervously behind it in a christmas sweater and jeans. on her feet where two large slippers that looked like reindeer heads.

"admiral floyd? what are you doing here?"

"please don't transfer." bob pleaded, the words coming out in a single breath. "i don't know what i would do without you. you consume my every waking thought, every breath. these past few months working with you have been the most rewarding months of my career and i know how selfish it must sound of me to beg you not to go, but the truth is that i've fallen in love with you, y/n y/l/n. and i can't let you leave the fleet without making sure that you know that."

she stood frozen in the doorway for a minute before a wide smile broke out over her face. "come here you big doofus."

she stepped out onto the front porch, grabbing bob by the lapels of his tommy hilfiger trench coat and pulled him in for a kiss. his eyes widened in shock before he leaned into it, arms settling to hold her protectively.

"i put in the transfer request so you could ask me out, admiral." she whispered, giggling slightly. "i guess it worked."

"yeah." bob breathed, leaning in to kiss her again. "i guess it did."

"god damn it!" bradely shouted, out of breath and he came up the driveway. "don't tell me i missed everything trying to find somewhere to park my fucking car?"

y/n laughed, pulling away from bob. "do you guys want to come inside? i'd feel awful making you stand out here in the cold."

jake shrugged. "why the hell not."

"cassie's here, so behave yourself." y/n warned, referring to tom kazansky's youngest, whom jake had a history of hitting on.

jake perked up. "oh, cassandra!" he called, walking into the house

"not a chance, seresin. teddy and i are still very happily married!" a voice called from within the living room.

"god damn it!"

y/n turned to look at bob. "i made a massive mistake inviting them in, didn't i?"

bob chuckled, kissing her forehead. "yeah. but i wouldn't be here without them, so cut them some slack. come on, let's go celebrate christmas."

[abbiistabbii]

I don't think people realize how absolutely wild Linux is.

Here we have an Operating system that now has 100 different varieties, all of them with their own little features and markets that are also so customizable that you can literally choose what desktop environment you want. Alongside that it is the OS of choice for Supercomputers, most Web servers, and even tiny little toy computers that hackers and gadget makers use. It is the Operating System running on most of the world's smartphones. That's right. Android is a version of Linux.

It can run on literally anything up to and including a potato, and as of now desktop Linux Distros like Ubuntu and Mint are so easily to use and user friendly that technological novices can use them. This Operating system has had App stores since the 90s.

Oh, and what's more, this operating system was fuckin' built by volunteers and users alongside businesses and universities because they needed an all purpose operating system so they built one themselves and released it for free. If you know how to, you can add to this.

Oh, and it's founder wasn't some corporate hotshot. It's an introverted Swedish-speaking Finn who, while he was a student, started making his own Operating system after playing around with someone else's OS. He was going to call it Freax but the guy he got server space from named the folder of his project "Linux" (Linus Unix) and the name stuck. He operates this project from his Home office which is painted in a colour used in asylums. Man's so fucking introverted he developed the world's biggest code repo, Git, so he didn't have to deal with drama and email.

Steam adopted it meaning a LOT of games now natively run in Linux and what cannot be run natively can be adapted to run. It's now the OS used on their consoles (Steam Deck) and to this, a lot of people have found games run better on Linux than on Windows. More computers run Steam on Linux than MacOS.

On top of that the Arctic World Archive (basically the Svalbard Seed bank, but for Data) have this OS saved in their databanks so if the world ends the survivors are going to be using it.

On top of this? It's Free! No "Freemium" bullshit, no "pay to unlock" shit, no licenses, no tracking or data harvesting. If you have an old laptop that still works and a 16GB USB drive, you can go get it and install it and have a functioning computer because it uses less fucking resources than Windows. Got a shit PC? Linux Mint XFCE or Xubuntu is lightweight af. This shit is stopping eWaste.

What's more, it doesn't even scrimp on style. KDE, XFCE, Gnome, Cinnamon, all look pretty and are functional and there's even a load of people who try make their installs look pretty AF as a hobby called "ricing" with a subreddit (/r/unixporn) dedicated to it.

Linux is fucking wild.

[gaytamorfosi]

Cesare’s Lesson

🇬🇧 ("La lezione di Cesare" Versione Inglese)

It was definitely strange to see Cesare on my bed. To be honest, it was already strange to see him outside the gym.

That’s where we met — among weights and barbells — and despite the age difference, we became somewhat friends. Cesare is one of those guys who always needs to be the center of attention: vain to the core, he checks himself out in the mirror more than anyone else in the weight room. He’s convinced he’s irresistible, and he acts like the entire world is supposed to agree.

A few days ago, he messaged me asking for help editing some photos in Photoshop. Harmless enough, or so it seemed. I invited him over and brought him into my bedroom, where I keep my desktop computer.

I definitely didn’t expect the evening to take the turn it did.

As soon as he sat down, Cesare admitted that the photo excuse was just a cover: he wanted to see me, plain and simple. He said he was into me, that there was some kind of tension between us... and then he did something that left me speechless. Sitting on the bed, he started flexing his muscles right in front of me, like I was judging a bodybuilding competition. He struck a pose, flashing that smug grin that screamed “I know you want me,” and that dumb expression he thought was his secret weapon.

And I thought: Does he really believe I’d fall at his feet after this low-budget softcore setup he clearly planned?

I had two options. I could tell him, plainly, that I’m into a completely different kind of guy — younger, less full of himself — or… I could have a little fun and spice things up with a tiny spell.

I chose the second option.

The magic was simple, and the effect was instant. Right before my eyes, vain Cesare began to change: his bulky frame shrank within seconds, muscles deflating like balloons, his squared jaw softened, and his features morphed into those of a much younger guy, with a fresh face and soft hair. His eyes, now wide and clear, looked at me with a mix of surprise and shyness.

Finally — exactly the kind of presence I actually wanted on my bed.

And now, my dear, I thought with a satisfied smirk, you’re going to get exactly what you came for… just not in the way you imagined.