#but not like Tech Worker salaries

[ardri-na-bpiteog]

I feel like it really shouldn't be unreasonable for 2 professional workers in their late twenties to feel like they should be able to afford a 2-bedroom apartment

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The moral injury of having your work enshittified

This Monday (November 27), I'm appearing at the Toronto Metro Reference Library with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

On November 29, I'm at NYC's Strand Books with my novel The Lost Cause, a solarpunk tale of hope and danger that Rebecca Solnit called "completely delightful."

This week, I wrote about how the Great Enshittening – in which all the digital services we rely on become unusable, extractive piles of shit – did not result from the decay of the morals of tech company leadership, but rather, from the collapse of the forces that discipline corporate wrongdoing:

https://locusmag.com/2023/11/commentary-by-cory-doctorow-dont-be-evil/

The failure to enforce competition law allowed a few companies to buy out their rivals, or sell goods below cost until their rivals collapsed, or bribe key parts of their supply chain not to allow rivals to participate:

https://www.engadget.com/google-reportedly-pays-apple-36-percent-of-ad-search-revenues-from-safari-191730783.html

The resulting concentration of the tech sector meant that the surviving firms were stupendously wealthy, and cozy enough that they could agree on a common legislative agenda. That regulatory capture has allowed tech companies to violate labor, privacy and consumer protection laws by arguing that the law doesn't apply when you use an app to violate it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

But the regulatory capture isn't just about preventing regulation: it's also about creating regulation – laws that make it illegal to reverse-engineer, scrape, and otherwise mod, hack or reconfigure existing services to claw back value that has been taken away from users and business customers. This gives rise to Jay Freeman's perfectly named doctrine of "felony contempt of business-model," in which it is illegal to use your own property in ways that anger the shareholders of the company that sold it to you:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/09/lead-me-not-into-temptation/#chamberlain

Undisciplined by the threat of competition, regulation, or unilateral modification by users, companies are free to enshittify their products. But what does that actually look like? I say that enshittification is always precipitated by a lost argument.

It starts when someone around a board-room table proposes doing something that's bad for users but good for the company. If the company faces the discipline of competition, regulation or self-help measures, then the workers who are disgusted by this course of action can say, "I think doing this would be gross, and what's more, it's going to make the company poorer," and so they win the argument.

But when you take away that discipline, the argument gets reduced to, "Don't do this because it would make me ashamed to work here, even though it will make the company richer." Money talks, bullshit walks. Let the enshittification begin!

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/22/who-wins-the-argument/#corporations-are-people-my-friend

But why do workers care at all? That's where phrases like "don't be evil" come into the picture. Until very recently, tech workers participated in one of history's tightest labor markets, in which multiple companies with gigantic war-chests bid on their labor. Even low-level employees routinely fielded calls from recruiters who dangled offers of higher salaries and larger stock grants if they would jump ship for a company's rival.

Employers built "campuses" filled with lavish perks: massages, sports facilities, daycare, gourmet cafeterias. They offered workers generous benefit packages, including exotic health benefits like having your eggs frozen so you could delay fertility while offsetting the risks normally associated with conceiving at a later age.

But all of this was a transparent ruse: the business-case for free meals, gyms, dry-cleaning, catering and massages was to keep workers at their laptops for 10, 12, or even 16 hours per day. That egg-freezing perk wasn't about helping workers plan their families: it was about thumbing the scales in favor of working through your entire twenties and thirties without taking any parental leave.

In other words, tech employers valued their employees as a means to an end: they wanted to get the best geeks on the payroll and then work them like government mules. The perks and pay weren't the result of comradeship between management and labor: they were the result of the discipline of competition for labor.

This wasn't really a secret, of course. Big Tech workers are split into two camps: blue badges (salaried employees) and green badges (contractors). Whenever there is a slack labor market for a specific job or skill, it is converted from a blue badge job to a green badge job. Green badges don't get the food or the massages or the kombucha. They don't get stock or daycare. They don't get to freeze their eggs. They also work long hours, but they are incentivized by the fear of poverty.

Tech giants went to great lengths to shield blue badges from green badges – at some Google campuses, these workforces actually used different entrances and worked in different facilities or on different floors. Sometimes, green badge working hours would be staggered so that the armies of ragged clickworkers would not be lined up to badge in when their social betters swanned off the luxury bus and into their airy adult kindergartens.

But Big Tech worked hard to convince those blue badges that they were truly valued. Companies hosted regular town halls where employees could ask impertinent questions of their CEOs. They maintained freewheeling internal social media sites where techies could rail against corporate foolishness and make Dilbert references.

And they came up with mottoes.

Apple told its employees it was a sound environmental steward that cared about privacy. Apple also deliberately turned old devices into e-waste by shredding them to ensure that they wouldn't be repaired and compete with new devices:

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

And even as they were blocking Facebook's surveillance tools, they quietly built their own nonconsensual mass surveillance program and lied to customers about it:

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

Facebook told employees they were on a "mission to connect every person in the world," but instead deliberately sowed discontent among its users and trapped them in silos that meant that anyone who left Facebook lost all their friends:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

And Google promised its employees that they would not "be evil" if they worked at Google. For many googlers, that mattered. They wanted to do something good with their lives, and they had a choice about who they would work for. What's more, they did make things that were good. At their high points, Google Maps, Google Mail, and of course, Google Search were incredible.

My own life was totally transformed by Maps: I have very poor spatial sense, need to actually stop and think to tell my right from my left, and I spent more of my life at least a little lost and often very lost. Google Maps is the cognitive prosthesis I needed to become someone who can go anywhere. I'm profoundly grateful to the people who built that service.

There's a name for phenomenon in which you care so much about your job that you endure poor conditions and abuse: it's called "vocational awe," as coined by Fobazi Ettarh:

https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

Ettarh uses the term to apply to traditionally low-waged workers like librarians, teachers and nurses. In our book Chokepoint Capitalism, Rebecca Giblin and I talked about how it applies to artists and other creative workers, too:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

But vocational awe is also omnipresent in tech. The grandiose claims to be on a mission to make the world a better place are not just puffery – they're a vital means of motivating workers who can easily quit their jobs and find a new one to put in 16-hour days. The massages and kombucha and egg-freezing are not framed as perks, but as logistical supports, provided so that techies on an important mission can pursue a shared social goal without being distracted by their balky, inconvenient meatsuits.

Steve Jobs was a master of instilling vocational awe. He was full of aphorisms like "we're here to make a dent in the universe, otherwise why even be here?" Or his infamous line to John Sculley, whom he lured away from Pepsi: "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?"

Vocational awe cuts both ways. If your workforce actually believes in all that high-minded stuff, if they actually sacrifice their health, family lives and self-care to further the mission, they will defend it. That brings me back to enshittification, and the argument: "If we do this bad thing to the product I work on, it will make me hate myself."

The decline in market discipline for large tech companies has been accompanied by a decline in labor discipline, as the market for technical work grew less and less competitive. Since the dotcom collapse, the ability of tech giants to starve new entrants of market oxygen has shrunk techies' dreams.

Tech workers once dreamed of working for a big, unwieldy firm for a few years before setting out on their own to topple it with a startup. Then, the dream shrank: work for that big, clumsy firm for a few years, then do a fake startup that makes a fake product that is acquihired by your old employer, as an incredibly inefficient and roundabout way to get a raise and a bonus.

Then the dream shrank again: work for a big, ugly firm for life, but get those perks, the massages and the kombucha and the stock options and the gourmet cafeteria and the egg-freezing. Then it shrank again: work for Google for a while, but then get laid off along with 12,000 co-workers, just months after the company does a stock buyback that would cover all those salaries for the next 27 years:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/10/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers/

Tech workers' power was fundamentally individual. In a tight labor market, tech workers could personally stand up to their bosses. They got "workplace democracy" by mouthing off at town hall meetings. They didn't have a union, and they thought they didn't need one. Of course, they did need one, because there were limits to individual power, even for the most in-demand workers, especially when it came to ghastly, long-running sexual abuse from high-ranking executives:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html

Today, atomized tech workers who are ordered to enshittify the products they take pride in are losing the argument. Workers who put in long hours, missed funerals and school plays and little league games and anniversaries and family vacations are being ordered to flush that sacrifice down the toilet to grind out a few basis points towards a KPI.

It's a form of moral injury, and it's palpable in the first-person accounts of former workers who've exited these large firms or the entire field. The viral "Reflecting on 18 years at Google," written by Ian Hixie, vibrates with it:

https://ln.hixie.ch/?start=1700627373

Hixie describes the sense of mission he brought to his job, the workplace democracy he experienced as employees' views were both solicited and heeded. He describes the positive contributions he was able to make to a commons of technical standards that rippled out beyond Google – and then, he says, "Google's culture eroded":

Decisions went from being made for the benefit of users, to the benefit of Google, to the benefit of whoever was making the decision.

In other words, techies started losing the argument. Layoffs weakened worker power – not just to defend their own interest, but to defend the users interests. Worker power is always about more than workers – think of how the 2019 LA teachers' strike won greenspace for every school, a ban on immigration sweeps of students' parents at the school gates and other community benefits:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/23/a-collective-bargain/

Hixie attributes the changes to a change in leadership, but I respectfully disagree. Hixie points to the original shareholder letter from the Google founders, in which they informed investors contemplating their IPO that they were retaining a controlling interest in the company's governance so that they could ignore their shareholders' priorities in favor of a vision of Google as a positive force in the world:

https://abc.xyz/investor/founders-letters/ipo-letter/

Hixie says that the leadership that succeeded the founders lost sight of this vision – but the whole point of that letter is that the founders never fully ceded control to subsequent executive teams. Yes, those executive teams were accountable to the shareholders, but the largest block of voting shares were retained by the founders.

I don't think the enshittification of Google was due to a change in leadership – I think it was due to a change in discipline, the discipline imposed by competition, regulation and the threat of self-help measures. Take ads: when Google had to contend with one-click adblocker installation, it had to constantly balance the risk of making users so fed up that they googled "how do I block ads?" and then never saw another ad ever again.

But once Google seized the majority of the mobile market, it was able to funnel users into apps, and reverse-engineering an app is a felony (felony contempt of business-model) under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a crime to install an ad-blocker.

And as Google acquired control over the browser market, it was likewise able to reduce the self-help measures available to browser users who found ads sufficiently obnoxious to trigger googling "how do I block ads?" The apotheosis of this is the yearslong campaign to block adblockers in Chrome, which the company has sworn it will finally do this coming June:

https://www.tumblr.com/tevruden/734352367416410112/you-have-until-june-to-dump-chrome

My contention here is not that Google's enshittification was precipitated by a change in personnel via the promotion of managers who have shitty ideas. Google's enshittification was precipitated by a change in discipline, as the negative consequences of heeding those shitty ideas were abolished thanks to monopoly.

This is bad news for people like me, who rely on services like Google Maps as cognitive prostheses. Elizabeth Laraki, one of the original Google Maps designers, has published a scorching critique of the latest GMaps design:

https://twitter.com/elizlaraki/status/1727351922254852182

Laraki calls out numerous enshittificatory design-choices that have left Maps screens covered in "crud" – multiple revenue-maximizing elements that come at the expense of usability, shifting value from users to Google.

What Laraki doesn't say is that these UI elements are auctioned off to merchants, which means that the business that gives Google the most money gets the greatest prominence in Maps, even if it's not the best merchant. That's a recurring motif in enshittified tech platforms, most notoriously Amazon, which makes $31b/year auctioning off top search placement to companies whose products aren't relevant enough to your query to command that position on their own:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

Enshittification begets enshittification. To succeed on Amazon, you must divert funds from product quality to auction placement, which means that the top results are the worst products:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

The exception is searches for Apple products: Apple and Amazon have a cozy arrangement that means that searches for Apple products are a timewarp back to the pre-enshittification Amazon, when the company worried enough about losing your business to heed the employees who objected to sacrificing search quality as part of a merchant extortion racket:

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-gives-apple-special-treatment-while-others-suffer-junk-ads-2023-11

Not every tech worker is a tech bro, in other words. Many workers care deeply about making your life better. But the microeconomics of the boardroom in a monopolized tech sector rewards the worst people and continuously promotes them. Forget the Peter Principle: tech is ruled by the Sam Principle.

As OpenAI went through four CEOs in a single week, lots of commentators remarked on Sam Altman's rise and fall and rise, but I only found one commentator who really had Altman's number. Writing in Today in Tabs, Rusty Foster nailed Altman to the wall:

https://www.todayintabs.com/p/defective-accelerationism

Altman's history goes like this: first, he founded a useless startup that raised $30m, only to be acquired and shuttered. Then Altman got a job running Y Combinator, where he somehow failed at taking huge tranches of equity from "every Stanford dropout with an idea for software to replace something Mommy used to do." After that, he founded OpenAI, a company that he claims to believe presents an existential risk to the entire human risk – which he structured so incompetently that he was then forced out of it.

His reward for this string of farcical, mounting failures? He was put back in charge of the company he mis-structured despite his claimed belief that it will destroy the human race if not properly managed.

Altman's been around for a long time. He founded his startup in 2005. There've always been Sams – of both the Bankman-Fried varietal and the Altman genus – in tech. But they didn't get to run amok. They were disciplined by their competitors, regulators, users and workers. The collapse of competition led to an across-the-board collapse in all of those forms of discipline, revealing the executives for the mediocre sociopaths they always were, and exposing tech workers' vocational awe for the shabby trick it was from the start.

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/2023/11/25/moral-injury/#enshittification

[sparklecryptid]

anyway to add onto my last post:

i think the reason why a lot of people think that library workers and librarians don't get paid adequately has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of the general public doesn't actually know what happens in a library or how the library works

like what do you think of when you think of library? you think of the nice people at the desk who help you find books right? you might also think of books and computers? generally you don't think about the role libraries play in protecting the right to free expression or the advocating that goes on behind the scenes. You don't think about it as attempting to provide a safe space for communities of all kinds. You don't think about how the line between social work and library work has gotten blurry in the past few years.

You think of librarians and library workers as keepers of the books! the book keepers! you don't think about the attempts going on to make the library more welcoming or be a venue in which to help educate the public on freedom of expression, intellectual freedom, privacy, and a host of other things like 'how to cook'.

so when you see a librarian having a salary of 100k and a library tech having a salary of 50-75k youre probably going 'why? all they do is books?' when the truth is they do so much more than books

[askagamedev]

a lot of people are probably asking you this, but if they aren't... do you have any clue what's going on with bioware? first moving swtor to another studio, which seems like it can be both a good or a bad thing, and now they're laying off 50 more people? studio veterans included?

this just seems like a very weird move to me, if not outright shitty. i want to believe in bioware, i love their games, no matter how flawed they are, but in the three years i've been familiar with them, things seem to be getting worse and worse. i know that DAD is in alpha so probably this layoff won't affect its quality too much, but again, that looks like a terrible move towards the employees themselves and the studio's more distant future.

Bioware is basically following the publisher mandate. In March of this year, EA declared that they were going to cut roughly 6% of their workforce (~800 layoffs) to lower costs, likely because they (like many tech companies) over-hired during the pandemic and need to correct the burn rate to appease their shareholders. These 50 devs being cut are Bioware's unfortunate sacrifice to the layoff declaration. As to whom and why, I suspect it is a combination of things.

Bioware probably had some kind of incubation team working on a secret new project that wasn't a sequel to an existing current franchise. I know that they would often have one or two such teams going at any given time - Anthem was one such project, as was the short-lived Shadow Realms project. New projects like that are much riskier than franchise sequels, so it is likely that the publisher decided that the risk moving forward was too high and they cancelled the experimental projects in favor of focusing on their established brands (Mass Effect and Dragon Age).

It is also likely that some of the long-term veterans are quite expensive to keep - they have high salaries and have been around long enough to collect on many of the big benefits EA offers, like sabbatical leave and the like. There's also the real possibility that there could be some bad blood or major creative differences between the current studio leadership and some of those veterans that were let go.

My heart goes out to those affected and I really do hope they land on their feet. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that employers never deserve any more loyalty than they're willing to give their employees. The employer will never choose an employee over its own survival, so we as workers should expect to do the same for ourselves. I never consider long tenure at an employer to be worth much when it comes to the business decisions, because I know how little it is worth when all is said and done. Business gonna business.

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[specialagentartemis]

I increasingly think that Arcane fans would like Synners by Pat Cadigan.

It’s thoroughly different in setting and plot—it’s a cyberpunk novel set in 1991’s vision of a high-tech future Los Angeles—but has, I think, a very similar style and spirit to the story of a large cast of mostly well-meaning but clashing characters hurtling a city to its breaking point. Synners is vivid, kaleidoscopic portrait of a city and the interconnected people who live in it, on the cusp a major technological change that's going to force everyone to change in return.

It depicts the initial invention and early days of brain-sockets that allow people to jack directly into the internet. Following a swirling cast of characters, from homeless teens to entertainment tech CEOs, from the shifting participants of hacker communities to the middle-aged drudge-workers on an advertising agency salary, to aging rock musicians and dreamy-eyed artistic druggies, all the people whose lives are going to be different forever. Who are changing for the machines.

The cast of characters is large but four core perspectives anchor the book: Sam, a teen hacker, who runs more with her street friends than with her businesswoman mom, fiery with the creativity and righteous anger of a teen activist with nowhere to put it; Gabe, her father, who wanted to be an artist and never made it, and he ended up with an ex-wife who doesn't like him and a daughter who doesn't talk to him and a salaried career in advertising that he completely phones in; Gina, newly hired by Gabe's same company, who used to be a rock musician back when that was hot and anyone cared, sharp and cynical and burned-out but willing to take this leap to do something truly creative and new again even if she thinks it'll bring them all down; and Mark, her friend, creative partner, on-again-off-again lover, and pain in her ass that she still deeply cares for despite her own resentment sometimes, a visionary and a musician floating in his own world most of the time, who embraces the brain sockets so he can upload his ideas and feelings and visions to the world in wild new unfiltered ways.

Synners is organic and messy, wild and energetic, and feels fresh even when a lot of that era of cyberpunk no longer does. It can be hard to follow at first - the first 200 or so pages are an exploratory introduction to the characters and their world. And then around the halfway mark it's like Cadigan snaps her fingers and everything springs to life and oh, shit, suddenly everything's happening and storylines start colliding and it's a breathtaking brutal poetic machine of a plot she's built.

[heliosoll]

Hii I'm here with regards to your winx Dr!

I've got a few questions, please let me know or just exclude ones that make you uncomfortable or ones you'd prefer not to answer! First question is, what's the winx society like? it's a mix of magic and tech so it's obviously different from ours but besides that what about the culture, the politics? Is there late stage capitalism there or is it more socialist/communist ish in the sense of workers rights, people not being exploited, universal basic income etc? and education, that's one I'm curious about. Is it possible to study both streams of magic i.e fairy and witch at the same time? or r they inherently antithetical to each other and will clash? It just seems so fascinating to me. In a similar ish vein regarding education, what jobs can a fairy take on after they've finished their alfea schooling? what happens to those who didnt manage to save anyone because it's not like there's a life threatening situation where you have to sacrifice yourself everyday? are they asked to stay back another year? how would you say the economy works over there? are jobs necessary in the same way that they are here? or are fairies kinda just given free reign to roam the magixverse and pop in whenever there's trouble along with the specialists and witches? are there research institutions specifically designed to further their knowledge of magic? it feels like the entire political structure and system is different in the winx universe and I absolutely loved that as a kid. oh yea did it take long for you to adjust having wings? do they kinda just pop out when you need to fly? like what's the sensation like? do you mind describing ig the texture? and if they're really as brightly coloured as what we see in the cartoon? im still having trouble imagining wings that can carry an entire person like woah that's incredible now that I think about it! also how exactly do people travel from planet to planet? does everyone have magic inside of them or only a select number? are there spaceships? can you breathe or fight in the vacuum that is space? or does it not work that way in you Dr? it's all so fascinating. do you get a salary? or is there no need for one??

Hi! How fun! Disclaimer that all of my answers are my experiences in my DRs. All DRs are different, so don't worry if there's anything here you don't want to experience!

what's the winx society like? it's a mix of magic and tech so it's obviously different from ours but besides that what about the culture, the politics? Is there late stage capitalism there or is it more socialist/communist ish in the sense of workers rights, people not being exploited, universal basic income etc?

In both of my Winx DRs, there are multiple planets and systems that have various cultures and societies. What society is like really depends on where you are! Lynphea works on a full trade/barter system; only a couple of major cities use money and only for tourists. Eraklyon has an absolute monarchy with figureheads for smaller cities (like Diaspro's family - the Quidoves). Magix has a direct democracy and is on the brink of socialism.

There's a council of representatives from different planets, however, not every planet is included. It can be a very lengthy process as all powers and the majority of people have to want to be on it (there's a voting process that the council holds separate from whoever's in charge), they have to agree to the council's main rules of morals of society (free healthcare and education, rights for all, etc), and the planet has to elect a representative.

I'd say education is best on Lynphea, Magix, and Solaria! Lynphea has some of the best magic programs in the universe, Magix is such a cultural hub that there's very little bias in the teaching, and Solaria is generally really good at balancing between things like science and healthcare vs arts and history. All studies are considered important and worthwhile there! (Fun fact: Helia attended an art school in Solaria in my DRs)! Zenith's education is good, but it's extremely selective and intense. Their primary education is so good that only people who really, really want it (or need it for their career) further their education, which means smaller programs and fewer spots for students. They're working on it hahah

Is it possible to study both streams of magic i.e fairy and witch at the same time? or r they inherently antithetical to each other and will clash? It just seems so fascinating to me.

Well technically, you can study the magic of other streams, but it's not really possible to practice them. Streams, for the most part, work on completely different wavelengths. For example, in order for a Believix fairy to be a Believix fairy, they need to continuously inspire the people around them. If that fairy were to start trying to use a more witchy input (ie feelings of self-will/self-preservation or intense, negative emotions), their output could backfire badly.

Picking a magic stream is a really important decision! This is actually a big reason why so many magic users don't do it. Picking a stream has a lot of pros (more focused magic, community that can make you stronger, certain career choices, etc), but it also has some cons like magical input being extremely particular.

In a similar ish vein regarding education, what jobs can a fairy take on after they've finished their alfea schooling? what happens to those who didnt manage to save anyone because it's not like there's a life threatening situation where you have to sacrifice yourself everyday? are they asked to stay back another year?

Fairies can pick any average day job they want (like accounting)! But you probably mean magic-specific jobs hahah Well, obviously guardian fairies! The Winx were appointed those positions but most fairies would apply for it. They could apply to guard specific areas like a home town or they could even go to the council and be sent on missions where a fairy is needed.

If someone has picked the fairy stream and goes to Alfea, like 9 out of 10 times they're trying to become a guardian fairy. As for other paths, some fairies get into general politics, others the government (a lot of royals at Alfea), and some will just be traveling fairies. Some fairies even set up their own shops for spells and helping people!

So Alfea fairies actually don't graduate until they reach their Enchantix level! Students are given a two-year period after Alfea's third year to complete this and are allowed to live on campus and continue learning during this time. Once the school feels a student is ready, they'll be sent out on missions either by themselves, with other fairies, or with specialists to help in crisis situations on their home planet. It's extremely rare for an Alfea fairy to not reach Enchantix during this time!

how would you say the economy works over there? are jobs necessary in the same way that they are here? or are fairies kinda just given free reign to roam the magixverse and pop in whenever there's trouble along with the specialists and witches?

For jobs, it depends on where you are again! On some planets, they are necessary, and on others, they aren't.

As for fairies, if they want to just roam and help whoever needs help, they'll need to get registered with their governments and the council if their planet is on it.

are there research institutions specifically designed to further their knowledge of magic?

Absolutely! The magic research programs and institutions on Lynphea are actually to dieee for hahah Domino also had a good one for templars but it faded away after the war :(

yea did it take long for you to adjust having wings? do they kinda just pop out when you need to fly? like what's the sensation like? do you mind describing ig the texture? and if they're really as brightly coloured as what we see in the cartoon?

It did take me a while to adjust to having wings and flying! I had never experienced that before, so it was quite weird at first. They do just pop out hahah They won't pop out randomly though, you still need the intention to do it. The sensation of them "coming out" or transforming mostly felt warm to me. It feels like a surge of warm energy/light coursing through your back (and sometimes your whole body). The texture of wings is very silky but kind of like... staticky too... like you get tingles when you touch them hahah The color really depends on the fairy! A lot of fairies do have bright-colored wings, but there are also plenty with darker or muted colors. The colors correspond to the fairy's personality!

also how exactly do people travel from planet to planet?

Spaceships or teleportation. Do you remember the teleportation postcard that Stella showed Bloom in the first season? Those are extremely common!

does everyone have magic inside of them or only a select number?

Not everyone has magic inside of them; some people have some but not enough to use it. It just depends on genetics! People without innate magic can still become magic users though! They just have to harness the magic around them instead of inside them. It's generally a lot harder though :(

are there spaceships?

Yes :) Commercial, private-owned, and military!

can you breathe or fight in the vacuum that is space? or does it not work that way in you Dr?

In my Winx DR, we could fight! We couldn't breathe unless we had Cosmix. In my Specialists DR, we couldn't do either hahah

it's all so fascinating.

I agree :) I love fantasy DRs so much!

do you get a salary? or is there no need for one??

It depends on the planet again! Some planets pay people for work with tangible money/coins/gems, while others pay with lodging/food. On some planets, a job is more of a partnership and you get paid back with experiences, more information on the field, etc.

This was fun! Thank you for all the questions :) I love talking about my Winx DRs hahah

[alltheficsiwant]

When Foxy meets Wolfie

When Foxy meets Wolfie | One Shot

Summary: You started your Wednesday coding and hoping to end it the same way. So when, your bestfriend Wanda dragged you to a club named Winter a few blocks away from your Brooklyn apartment. You are expecting to nurse one beer and be Wanda's designated sober friend. You DID not expect to meet the most handsome man you could ever see.

Ratings: 18+

Warnings: Brief mentions of violence but not much. Just very brief. This is just pure meet-cute? I guess?

Words: 5.9K

Pairings: Mob Boss! Bucky Barnes x Tech!Reader

Author's note: This is related to the Gummy Bears universe. Calling this the Wolfie and Foxy Universe from now on. :) Hope you like it guys!

Also, sorry if its a long one shot. I can't help it! I'm a detail whore. I have to explain some things. Just a warning. I apologize for any errors in spelling and grammar. I do not have a beta reader and I promise to edit this soon. - J💕

MAIN MASTERLIST

“Now this is what I am talking about,” You mumbled to yourself as you leaned back and watched as your code started to take form. Becoming more concrete and to think the idea only came out of you moments ago.

You can just say that you are in the zone and for you this is the perfect day to spend your day-off. Though basically, working at Wakanda Industries, hours are flexible and you are not exactly required to work over time or report to the office everyday. If they need you, you just show up but most days you can do your work at home.

Which is what you have been doing since the beginning when you started to work for them. You were just a mere IT worker back at Utah when you got the offer straight from the sister of the owner who is now your boss, Shuri. She found out about your code that completely changed the game of hacking.

“So you are Foxy3029,” 

Okay, that is not your best moment when you chose that name but it was that time the obsession with Naruto is too high and you have been jacked by gummy bears and red bulls for days creating the system. A circumventing system that could literally be a backdoor to any unhackable network. Of course, you put it out there and if a hacker didn’t decode it correctly. It destroys the hackers capability to hack at all.

It was notorious for silencing well-known black hat hackers that tried to infiltrate governments. In creating that code in your second year of college. You figured out that no-one would know who you are that is why you resorted to that nickname with the random numbers.

You were wrong. Of course, Shuri being one of the geniuses in her generation (You shocked her by admitting that you are an old lady now. When in fact, you are just two years older than Shuri.), apparently didn’t manage to figure out your code but instead found your signature all over it.

She managed to trace it back to your old dingy apartment in Utah. Shuri even told you that she begged T’challa to fly her to Utah and find you. As soon as she saw your tiny little self inside the dilapidated apartment building with sweatpants on and a dirty hoodie with a setup laughable enough to elicit a question, how the hell did you make the code while using that?

Shuri offered you a job in New York as his Deputy Program Head Manager and relocated you near them. All expenses paid with a salary four times more than your current one.

Who in their right mind would say no to that? You sure as hell didn’t.

Now for the past four years, you have been working alongside Shuri developing numerous state of the art technology that is being sold all around the world. Of course, no one knows about your involvement,  you wanted it that way. You wanted to remain anonymous and for the hell of it, you and Shuri decided to keep your hacker name as Foxy and remove the numbers.

Every Wakanda Industries technology has Foxy on it. You have worked with her in developing electric cars that are now patented and being used by Elon Musk to create his own line of cars. Of course the engine and the mechanics came from Wakanda Industries.

Then the solar paneled plants that you and Shuri made sure planted to cities who have no access to other means of electricity except the Sun. 

Then a few years ago, you and Shuri took an old biotech project from the Stark Industries which they sold for a high price to Wakanda Industries. You and Shuri created vibranium prosthetics that helped veterans or any disabled person. Of course, it was a bit of a list now since it wasn’t given freely.

There are still compatibility issues and there are a series of tests that you and Shuri are trying to work on in order to lessen the numbers of the issues and make it more possible for everyone. It isn’t sold exactly but the project earns a lot of money from investors who wanted to use it as a tax evasion. You tried to help as much as many people through other's hard earned money.

Right now, you have one particular person that asked for a much more modified movement for their prosthetics. A VIP, Shuri said and she hoped that you would be able to figure it out.

You did and you are as you write the very code that you think would help with the compatible issue with this VIP’s prosthetics. Shuri named him White Wolf, you don't know why but you decided to call him Wolfie. You also noticed that Wolfie is apparently one of the first ones who had test drive it when it was still under Stark and now Wolfie is in maintenance with Wakanda.

You never met the client because Shuri handles the brunt work. You are all behind the scenes.

So yeah, here you are on your day-off and still working. Well, this is your life and you are a grown ass adult. You can do the fuck—-

“Oh my little foxyyy!” A sing-song voice interrupted your thoughts. Your fingers halting its movement over your keyboard. You knew that voice.

“Wanda?” you called you. You heard some clattering and a curse that nearly rolled your eyes.

“Gosh, Y/N, when the hell did you last clean this place?” Wanda emerged from the living room towards your work space. Her eyes looked around the mildly cluttered room. “At least your work space is semi-clean,”

You rolled your eyes at her again. “My living room isn’t cluttered,” You mused. “It’s chaotically organized,” 

“Chaotically orga— you know what? Nevermind. Up you get,” She suddenly said as she looked at you with a raised brow and a hand on her hip. Eerily, it conjured the image of your mother but you quickly shook your head at that. She is too far away from you for her soul to even visit you. She is quite content with the monthly money you gave her.

“What?” you only supplied as you looked at her confused.

Wanda looked at you confused as to why not you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. Because clearly, you don’t know what she is implying.

“Did you seriously— check your phone,” She quickly cut her question off to point at you. You looked around trying to find it and came up empty handed. You scratched the back of your head.

“Where the hell did I put it?” You thought out loud.

“Now that is why,” Wanda sighed as you turned around to see her pulling out her phone from her pocket. She fiddled with it and put it over her ear. Silence enveloped the two of you until a distant ringtone was heard. The both of you, momentarily united, searched for it. You followed the sound as you walked out of your working space and into the chaotically organized living room.

Then through another hallway towards your room. You opened it and then the sound is now louder. The familiar tune of the current One Piece theme song playing loudly. You dove through the unmade covers of your bed and finally found your phone. You created a triumphant sound before lifting it up. Wanda stood at the door with narrowed eyes as you looked down at your phone.

“You texted me,” you trailed off and raised a brow. “Yesterday?”

“How long have you been in that workspace?” Wanda asked and you looked up at her sheepishly.

"Yesterday?" You repeated and Wanda rolled her eyes at you.

"Okay, that's it." She marched over to you and took your phone. You tried to protest as she threw it down on the mattress and proceeded to drag you towards the bathroom. "Take a shower. We are going out,"

"B-but"

"No buts!" Wanda said as she sharply turned around to look at you. You shrunk to yourself and leaned against the bathroom wall. You have seen her with her eyes wide and nostrils flared. Usually it was for her brother but now you get why Pietro always does what Wanda wants.

He was right. Her eyes do glow red when she's angry.

"Y/N, I love you but for the love of God. Just do what I say,"

"Okay," You mumbled and Wanda sighed when she probably saw the puppy eyes you are sporting.

"I'll pick out your outfit and lay it out on the bed. We are going out tonight," She said with such finality that it just made you nod.

Welp. You guess that coding is for another day.

You flinched as you watched the people in the dance. Seriously, do they really have to grind to each other like that? You shivered at the thought.

You decided to look away and looked around. The club you were in is called Winter. One of the famous clubs located in Brooklyn. You have known about it and you knew it was famous. It was nice despite it having too many people. The interior was sick and drinks are exquisite. Despite being a tad expensive, your Wakanda paycheck can compensate.

Though you were still quite surprised by the line it has on a wednesday night. You also wonder how Wanda managed to snag you both a reservation for a booth in such a short notice. You don't question it once Wanda mentioned it was through her "connections". You guess being one of the best art curators in New York has its perks.

Speaking of Wanda, your eyes searched for the red head and instantly saw her grinding on a black skinned man in a suit. You raised a brow at that before you chuckled as you saw the bedroom eyes she was giving the man.

You plan to let Wanda have a good time while you keep to your beer and the fries you ordered. Then take her back to Manhattan and you go back to your Brooklyn apartment to continue the coding. 

Judging by the way she moved with the man, she is going home to someone's apartment. It was a good thing she chose Winter instead of Scorpion which is in Manhattan. Winter is only three blocks away from your apartment.

"Hey there," You jumped as a voice interrupted your thoughts. You looked up and blinked a couple times at the man that is now standing in front of the booth you were occupying. You blinked some more to see his features and you nearly recoiled at the sly smirk he is giving you.

"Uh, yes?" You didn't bother to hide your lack of interest as you took another sip of your beer as you went back to eat the rest of the fries.

"Alone?" The man asked, clearly ignoring your lack of interest.

"Nope, I have friends," You answered back to him and you didn't even bother to look at him as you took a piece of the fries to eat. Though it missed the target, as you were suddenly jostled until you felt the man sit beside you. You dropped the fries in shock as you immediately moved away from him until your back hit the end of the booth which is a wall.

"Great, you don't mind giving you some company?" He cockily said with a smirk as he turned his body to you. Now that he's closer, you were suddenly hit by a heady cologne and it nearly made you gag. You resorted to covering your nose with the sleeve of your jacket.

"I do mind and I'm not interested," You told him as you try to stick yourself against the wall. Your eyes alert to his every move.

The man only chuckled as he took a piece of the fries and ate it. 

"Playing hard to get?"

"No playing. I'm not really interested," You gritted out. "Go to someone who gives a fuck,"

The man clearly a dumb fuck, continue his advances. His arm laid on the table as he slid closer to you. His thighs hit your knees. You jumped at that and tried to pull down the leather skirt Wanda insisted for you to wear.

Where the hell is Wanda?

"You're feisty. I like it," He mused as his other hand finally touched your knee. You jerked it off but he laid it back over your clothed thighs. That made you freeze as you looked at him in fear. "You are too tense, baby. Let me help you unwind, yeah?"

"No!" You shout as you feel his hand trying to lift your skirt. You were so focused on what was happening that you didn't notice the music had lowered and a man standing behind him. You fight him off but the man is insistent and when he is about to lean forward to kiss you.

That's when you saw it.

A gleaming black and gold hand wrapped itself from the back of the man's neck. The next thing you know a crash had echoed through the club. It was dead silent now.

The man groaned in pain at the unexpected manhandling. 

If every eye is on the bastard, yours was to the man who saved you and a very familiar vibranium arm.

The image of the arm blueprints came to mind. The very same one you were working earlier that night though as you trailed your eyes from the arm to the owner. You can't help but gasp as pools of electric blue stare at you.

It was hard for a moment but it softened a bit as your eyes connected with his.

"Are you okay doll?" You blinked at his question. Still unable to move or even speak. You are just nearly assaulted by the vilest bastard and now you are facing a man that would probably be Wolfie that Shuri is talking about. Talk about unexpected encounters.

"Y/N!" Wanda suddenly came to view. Her eyes wide, probably sobered up quickly seeing your state. She crawled towards you in the booth and reached to look over you. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

You let Wanda touch you and check you over. You would grumble at her but you just had a whiplash moment. One moment you think that you might be raped at the middle of a fucking club and the next you are facing a man whose eyes nearly drowns you.

“Y/N!” You finally blinked and looked at Wanda. Your mind clears a bit as you finally take in the situation. You looked at her as she repeated her question.

“N-no, I’m okay” You managed to stutter out. “B-but he touched me,”

“Where?” The both of you looked at the sharp and hardened voice. The man with the vibranium arm still stood there, the softness in his expression was still there as you looked back at him but anger was vibrating off his body. 

“M-my thighs and k-knee,” You continue to say. The man’s eyes darkened as he looked down at your body. As if trying to see any bruises or traces but he must have found something because he turned abruptly. Wanda moved to pull you out of the booth. You shakily stood up and leaned your body against you.

You can clearly see now the man is on a hold of the dark skinned man that Wanda was dancing with before. He had a chokehold over the man who struggled against it. Wolfie, you decided to call him inside your head, walk— no— stalked towards him. Like a predator going after his prey.

The club is awfully quiet now as the patrons watch but you didn’t have time to think about why he had so much hold over the club when you heard a shout of pain.

Your eyes turned to see Wolfie ramming his fist against the man’s right knee making him buckle.

“You don’t fucking touch a woman if she says no,” You heard him grunt out after the punch then he did another punch on the other one. This time an audible pop can be heard and the people gasp. You however were stunned in silence.

“You don’t fucking force yourself on someone,” He grunted out again. Then he breathed deeply as if composing himself while he fixed the lapels of his suit jacket.

“Lastly, you don’t break a fucking rule in my club,” With that he deliver a solid kick to the man’s head rendering him unconscious. The dark skinned man let him go, undisturbed by the act of violence. Once the bastard is slumped over the ground, Wolfie casually motions for someone. Two men both long haired, one blonde and one raven haired picked the bastard. 

Wolfie then looked over at you, not caring about the stares he was getting from people as he walked back. His eyes became softer every second he neared you. 

“The show is over— the next drink everyone orders is in the house for the inconvenience!” Suddenly the dark skinned man spoke and then the crowd cheered as the music flooded the club.

Wolfie finally reached you and Wanda. His electro blue eyes are just there watching your face.

“T-thank you,” you managed to stutter out. Though, you winced a bit at the loud sound of the music. Wolfie must have noticed it because he was already motioning for his men before he turned to you. 

“Why don’t we take the both of you to the VIP room? As a compensation for the inconvenience,” You turned to Wanda not knowing what to do after this. Wanda looked back to you also unsure. The instinct to just leave and let the night be is strong but you are quite curious about Wolfie.

“Also, I don’t want your Wednesday night to be a waste. You guys just came in an hour ago, let me treat you guys some drinks, yes?” He insisted. 

Wanda looked at him and then at you. Wait an hour ago? Has he been—

“It's up to you babe,” Wanda asked you and you looked at her then back at Wolfie.

“Okay,”

The two of you were whisked away to the VIP room. You finally got yourself together as you and Wanda settled down the plushed seats. The VIP room looks far different from the club. Maybe it's more well lit and not filled with those LCD red and blue lights that continue to flicker.

The loud pounding sounds of the club is effectively cut off as soon as the door of the room is closed. Wolfie asked the dark-skinned man that you later on will know as Sam, to guide the both of you. He said he still had to personally take care of the bastard that assaulted you before disappearing towards the door the two long haired men took him. You briefly saw another tall blonde man joining him.

“If you need anything just holler at me out there,” Sam said as he waited by the door. You shakily nodded and sat down while Wanda offered the man a smile.

“Thank you Sam,” Wanda said in a tone that you would have teased her about if you are not still recovering from shock. Sam caught it and chuckled.

“You owe me a dance, beautiful,” Sam said and Wanda giggled.

“I should get your number then,” Wanda answered back and your brain finally caught up as you looked at her incredulously. Trust your best friend to still flirt with a guy even in these situations. You can’t help but chuckle. “You know so I can cash it in anytime,”

Sam chuckled as he sauntered— yes, he sauntered— towards her as Wanda pulled out her phone. You saw Sam quickly put a number in and gave it back to Wanda.

“I’ll be waiting then,” Sam said and then looked over at you. “We might also be seeing one another more often,” He mused and without any further explanation he left the room. 

Wanda then looked at you with raised brows. “What does he mean by that?” She asked as she sat beside you again. Her arm immediately wrapped around your shoulders as you leaned against her.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” you told her as you looked down at your hand unsure if you should tell Wanda that you might actually know but you are not entirely sure if you—

“You are rolling something inside your head, spill it out,” Wanda said.

“Okay– I might know him. Remember when you barged into my house on a Wednesday night and demanded to go—”

“I didn’t demand, I already told you about it yesterday—”

“--- I know, I know— anyway, I was working on a coding for one of our VIP clients and the guy’s arm, the one who saved me, it was the same arm in the blueprint,” You told her and Wanda stared at you as you finished explaining. "He's Wolfie," You decided to tell him the nickname you gave him.

"Wolfie---" Wanda started but ultimately shook her head. She knew how weird things are in your head and she decided not to ask about that. "Nevemind-- but are you saying he’s one of your company’s clients?”

“Probably? I don’t know!”

“Do you even know who he really was?”

You now looked at her confused. “You know Wolfie?” You asked. Wanda’s eyes widened. “Oh my God!” She exclaimed as she leaned back to stare at you in disbelief. You just looked at her confused.

“What is it?”

“Do you seriously don’t know who he was? I thought you knew him!” Wanda exclaimed. "Of course, if you knew him you wouldn't be calling him wolfie." She grumbled as an after thought.

You shook your head suddenly and very confused. “No! I didn’t know who he was. Do you think I keep up with the socialites of New York?!”

“You should because he is on the top of the food chain!” Wanda told you.

“On top of the food chain? You mean he’s like the mayor or something—”

“Babe, he is more than the mayor or the governor of New York city. He runs this whole city, he owns several clubs. Didn’t you honestly hear of him?”

Okay, to be fair, you might be tech savvy between the two but you don’t really keep up with any news outside of your work. You can tell Wanda who is the best leading tech scientist and inventor. You can even fucking recite the whole function of python and how you can code a robot to do your bidding. But you are not that adverse with the business world and anything like that. Hell, you only heard of the Kardashians like a few years ago (Shuri had a field day at that).

So, No, you don’t know who the hell that handsome, blue eyed stranger was. You just knew he is probably the VIP that you are doing the code for.

“If I did, it would be obvious Wanda. Just tell me who he is?!”

“James Buchanan Barnes,” A voice interrupted the two of you. You both jumped to see the very man you both are talking about. Your eyes widened to see him out of his coat and only in a long sleeved button up. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. The shirt barely kept it together as it fit his biceps perfectly. He stood tall too as has his right hand on his pocket while the vibranium arm you saw earlier tonight rested beside him. His hair was a bit long, swept back away from his face.

His eyes are staring down at you with a smirk. “You never heard of me before, doll?”

“I-I don’t really keep up with anything outside work,” You stuttered. You felt Wanda clutching on to you a bit tighter.

“S-sorry about her not to know who you are Mr. Barnes–”

James cut her off with a chuckle as he fully entered the room. Sam and a blonde man right behind him. The sound of the club was effectively cut off once the door was closed.

“No need for that, it's quite refreshing to find someone who doesn’t know me,” He moved swiftly, making you and Wanda instinctively sit down. James walked over until he was beside you.

“May I?” He asked as he motioned for the seat beside you. You nodded swiftly too caught up with staring at his face. Gosh, Y/N, is this your first time seeing a handsome man?

“You really don’t know me, doll?” James asked again, amusement swimming in his eyes as he looked at you now that he was comfortably seated. You turned towards him completely.

“Sadly, yes?” It came out more like a question and that earned a chuckle from the three men in the room. Wanda is oddly quiet. “B-but kinda?” You hurriedly added and that made James raise a brow at you.

“Kinda?”

“Yes, I— ugh,” Your eyes went to his vibranium arm and pointed at it. “That,” You supplied as if that would explain everything. James looked down on it before he lifted it up for the both of you to examine.

“This? You know the arm but not the man himself?”

You sheepishly rub a hand behind your neck. “I um, I work on the coding of that,” You told him and recognition flashed before his eyes.

“Foxy” As soon as it was said, you can’t help the involuntary groan that came out of you. You can now hear Wanda snickering behind you.

“Oh gosh, I hate when I hear that name,” You grumbled.

“Well, you asked Shuri to keep it that way,” Wanda supplied and you turned to her, missing the amusement and wonder that is now on James' face as he watched you interact with Wanda.

“She kind of forced me to keep the name. She’s my boss after all, can I really say no to her?” You told her.

“So you are the developer that Shuri has been telling me to meet,” James mumbled and that made you turn back to him. Your eyes wide. Shuri talked about you to him? “I knew you were special the moment I saw you walked in my club tonight,”

“You saw me?” You squeaked out and James chuckled. Slowly he lifted his vibranium arm, his eyes silently asking a question. You don’t know what he was actually asking you but you nodded. Thankful that he was this way compared to the bastard. Consent is actually sexy if you ask yourself.

He reached out to touch your cheek delicately. You were quite shocked at the warmth that the arm had emitted. It must have been one of the latest updates you put into the program of the arm together with Shuri’s tech.

“How couldn’t I? You don’t exactly look like you wanted to be here,” James chuckled out and that involuntarily coaxed a reaction out of you. You pouted as you remembered the coding you forced yourself to leave behind.

“Well, you’re not wrong about that,”

“Y/N!” Wanda scolded you and you turned your head to look at her but it was stopped by the vibranium hand. Making your cheeks squish a bit still you persisted. Not wanting to back down.

“You took me away from my computer. I was coding for Wolfie and I am in the zone,” You grumbled as you pouted not even noticing how James didn’t remove his hand and instead caressed your cheeks as you spoke. Though he tilted his head when he heard a nickname. Wolfie huh?

“I told you, you are too cooped up.”

“Well, if you left me alone, this wouldn’t happen,” Suddenly the air was sucked out of the room and now you realize your words. Your eyes widened to see Wanda looking guilty. James let you go as you moved to take Wanda in your arms.

“H-hey, I'm sorry. It's not what I meant,” You sighed as Wanda crumbled in your arms.

“I-I shouldn’t have left you alone. I-I”

“It's nobody’s fault but that bastard,” James offered as the two of you looked over at him. He offered an apologetic look. “My club is supposed to be the safest place. We do not tolerate those kinds of bastards.”

“Yeah, it's nobody’s fault,” You agreed with James as you looked at Wanda who sniffled. You reached up to wipe the few tears that came out. “Also, it's unexpected really. I never attract any guys with what I am wearing,” 

You spoke that so casually that made all four people in the room taken aback.

“Y/N–”

“You are selling yourself short, Doll.” James once again cut Wanda off who was about to jump into a scolding that you knew all too well. You finally turned back to James and looked at her confused.

“I’m not,” You told him indignantly. “I am not selling myself short. I know I’m decent looking but come on,” You lifted the jacket and shirt you were wearing. “With this shirt and jacket, It's not a surprise the bouncer in front asked for my ID just to be sure I’m not under 18. It would have been enough to keep men away,”

James looked over at you before he chuckled. “Doll, you really don’t know the effect you have huh?”

You still looked at him confused. Momentarily forgetting that you are possibly in front of one of the dangerous men in New York judging by the way Wanda called him that he was on top of the food chain.

“If the words that are coming out of your mouth are—” you clear your throat as you try to deepen your voice. “---- Doll, you are the most beautiful girl I’ve seen. I wouldn’t have noticed you if you weren’t—” then you revert back to your original voice. “--- I don’t want to hear it,” You abruptly stood up and took a deep breath. 

“Thank you for saving me earlier but I think me and my friend would be leaving,” You told him and proceeded to drag Wanda who started to protest. 

James didn’t do anything as he let you, his eyes watching your every move. He can only chuckle while the other two men just look at you impressively.

“Usually, girls throw themselves at me,” James drawled as he leaned back at the cushions as you stopped short. “I like you, Doll,”

“You don’t even know me,” you told him as you turned around to look at him.

“Maybe I will, soon.” he told you as he lifted his vibranium arm. “Now that I know you are foxy,” 

You bit your lip at that. “I won't meet up with the VIPs. They are too stuck up and I am not the kind of person to even bother with them,”

James only chuckled amusedly. “That’s the reason why,” He answered, totally far from what you are discussing, that you looked back down at him confused.

“What?”

James only looked at you, mischief swimming in his eyes now. “That’s the reason why you are a beautiful doll. You are feisty little one,”

You just narrowed your eyes at him. Gosh what is it with handsome people with egos the size of New York? Why is all the egotistic and dangerous men have the most beautiful eyes you had ever fucking seen– stop it Y/N.

“We’re leaving,” you only declared. Not wanting to stay a minute longer or else you would melt with his stupid words—

“You owe me, Y/N.” Your hand froze, hovering above the door’s handle as your name came out of his mouth. You bite your lip as your stomach does a flip at the sultry tone. He repeated again with a hint of amusement now. You took a deep breath as you turned towards him.

“Now I owe you? I thought it was your club’s fault that this happened to me?” You asked, clearly not thinking about your words. Your tone challenged and James picked up on it as he stood up.

“I can just compensate you with a free drink but I decided to take you in my VIP room which was actually reserved to one of my highly valued customers,” James explained as he looked around the room. “This cost around 1700 dollars at least,”

Your eyes widened at that. You might have been doing a decent job at Wakanda and receiving enough wage to live your lifestyle and support your mother but damn. 1700 dollars for only a fucking room? You could have bought groceries with that kind of money plus new games for you PS5 and PS4.

“I-I didn’t ask you about this. You offered,” You retorted as you crossed your arms over your chest. Not wanting to back down. Gosh, you should have walked away now you are going to be dead somewhere in the ditch and forgotten. 

You felt Wanda silently reprimanding you, asking you to stop answering back or both of you will be dead but it seems like James is entertained.

“You got me there, Doll.” He said as he moved forward until he stood right in front of you. You stiffened a bit as you saw him towering over you. Despite wearing platform boots (courtesy of Wanda), you had to look up to be able to see his face. “How about I get your number and I’ll make it up to you, besides you don’t know me either.”

You stared back at him. “I think I know enough,” You mumbled to him but James shook his head.

“Not enough, Doll.”

“You’re dangerous,”

“Not with me doll,” He countered as he pulled out his phone and offered it to you. You blinked down at it. "You're safe with me,"

“What if I don’t give it to you tonight?”

James chuckled at that. “New York is small. I know it like the back of my hand, we’ll bump to each other,”

“I didn’t exist in your periphery until today and I have been here for more than four years now,” You told him, trying to stand your ground. You are that stubborn and it is supposed to have wear him down but James is just finding this fun.

“You did exist, Doll.” He lifted his vibranium arm again. “I just knew you as Foxy,”

You purse your lips trying to think. Half tempted to petulantly call him Wolfie. The nickname you had decided to call him from now on. Dead or not.

“Just give your damn number Y/N,” Wanda hissed at you as you glanced at her by the corner of your eye. “Don’t fight him on this please. I would like to live for another day,”

You sighed. You snatched his phone and decided to put your number. Your personal one and then offered it back to him. He took it making sure his fingers brushed yours, you jumped at the contact. If he noticed, he only smirked at you.

“Don’t call me too much. I might not answer,” You told him and James just smiled as he saved it up making sure you see it.

Foxy 🦊

“Let’s see, Foxy.” He mused and you nodded before you turned around. As you reached for the door, a thought came to you and slowly you turned back to him.

“What did you do to the bastard?” You can’t help but ask and James’ face turned serious for a moment before he only offered a smirk.

“You don’t have to think about it. It’s already been handled,”

“Like dirty laundry?” you asked and James raised a brow at you. You might have been oblivious to his identity but you knew how the people that are involved in some things or even the socialites handle problems. They disregard it like Dirty Laundry. Something you don’t talk about.

“Yeah, something like that,” He drawled. The Brooklyn accent is heavy on it as he regards you with an intensity that makes you blush. You nodded.

“Right, we are going.” You said as you grabbed Wanda’s hand and turned to the door. “Don’t make me regret giving you my number Wolfie,” You told him as you walked out. Deciding to throw another caution to the wind. You missed seeing James' eyes sparkle at the nickname.

“I’ll make sure of it Foxy,” You heard him call out.

Gosh, what did you get yourself into?

[actualmermaid]

I'm not going to write another long commentary on "quiet quitting" or "nobody wants to work anymore" or the "great resignation" or whatever. There's been enough of those.

What I AM going to write is a little bit of advice for those of you who are contemplating a career change, because workers have more power than ever and it's a great time to look for a new situation. You can take it or leave it--this is just what worked for me.

Family, school, and culture tried to keep me on a "white-collar professional" track, but I didn't like it and wasn't cut out for it. I have a BA in English and worked a customer service/tech support job for several years until the pandemic hit and we all got laid off (which was, truly, the best thing that ever happened to my professional life). I'm now a pastry chef and I love it.

It's not too late to start something new. Many jobs are willing to train you, as long as you have basic aptitude and willingness to learn. Search for apprenticeships and entry-level positions in fields that interest you, whether or not you have any previous experience.

Keep an open mind. See what jobs are urgently hiring and/or offering good wages, and do some research on what those jobs entail. Does it sound like fun? Send out a resume. You don't have anything to lose by trying or interviewing, even if it doesn't work out.

Write a brief cover letter explaining that you are changing careers, and although you don't have formal experience in [field], you are interested in the work and are willing to learn. Mention the skills that you learned in your previous job(s): customer interaction, critical thinking, time management, bookkeeping, confidence under pressure, whatever.

Don't get discouraged. You're awesome and brave, and if people don't want to hire you, that's their loss. Take your skills and experience to someone who will appreciate them, even if you have to be ghosted and rejected several times in the process.

If you can afford it, don't be afraid to take a little bit of a pay cut. (I got severance from my office job, and my wife makes a good salary, so we could afford to be choosy.) If you have to take a job you don't love in order to pay the bills, keep looking for something better! Again, don't get discouraged!

All experience is good experience. You learned things at your previous jobs, even if it doesn't seem "relevant." If nothing else, previous jobs can tell you what you're NOT cut out for, so you know what to avoid.

You have power in interviews. They're not just deciding whether or not they want to hire you--they're also showing you who they are as a business/industry, and you can (and should!) ask questions and set boundaries. Be firm, confident, interested, and polite.

If you're interested in a specific field, lurk in professional forums online to get a sense of the industry culture and what employers are looking for. Search for things like "electrician forum" or "women in trades" or "forest service lgbt friendly" and so forth.

Get all your paperwork in order. Make sure you have your resume updated and that you have access to transcripts, vital documents, and the names/phone numbers of past employers. Put all of this in one place.

Be bold! Think about what you wanted to be when you were 10, and look up what that job requires! Maybe you won't get to be a paleontologist-astronaut-ballerina, but you'll learn that you have a real talent for making artisanal ballet shoes (or whatever)!

[collapsedsquid]

In 2021, the website Angi, which helps homeowners find services, surveyed 2,400 contractors across different trades. Half reported that they couldn’t fill open positions, and 68 percent said it was a struggle to hire skilled workers. In a recent survey of 661 building contractors by the Associated General Contractors of America, 72 percent reported having open, salaried positions. The number one reason for all the openings: “Available candidates are not qualified to work in the industry.” 

In the past, Reyes recruited workers out of high school and trained them up. But he’s reluctant to do it again. It costs his technicians time, it costs him money, and there’s no guarantee that the people he invests in will stick around because the job market is so competitive. 

The workforce is also aging. Reyes said he knows of a few electricians getting ready for retirement who would like to hand over the business to their kids, but they just aren’t interested.  The way he sees it, younger people are getting lured into the tech industry with the promise of big salaries and just aren’t as interested in getting dirty underneath houses. 

Gotta bring back slave labor

[landunderthewave]

"Tech companies that have branded themselves “AI first” depend on heavily surveilled gig workers like data labelers, delivery drivers and content moderators. Startups are even hiring people to impersonate AI systems like chatbots, due to the pressure by venture capitalists to incorporate so-called AI into their products. In fact, London-based venture capital firm MMC Ventures surveyed 2,830 AI startups in the EU and found that 40% of them didn’t use AI in a meaningful way.

Far from the sophisticated, sentient machines portrayed in media and pop culture, so-called AI systems are fueled by millions of underpaid workers around the world, performing repetitive tasks under precarious labor conditions. And unlike the “AI researchers” paid six-figure salaries in Silicon Valley corporations, these exploited workers are often recruited out of impoverished populations and paid as little as $1.46/hour after tax. Yet despite this, labor exploitation is not central to the discourse surrounding the ethical development and deployment of AI systems."

(bolding mine)

[elfwreck]

New laws in California and Washington, and an existing one in Colorado, go beyond "can't ask you what you made in the past" and "must disclose salary by request during interview."

Three states - three large job-heavy states - now require every job listing to include the salary range, even if the opening might not be filled in that state. If it could be filled in that state, it requires the info.

(In CA, it's limited to employers with more than 15 employees. Actual mom-and-pop stores don't have to follow this law.)

California is 10% of the population of the US. About 12% of the jobs in the US. And it's got all those Silicon Valley tech giants, and all of the Hollywood entertainment industry.

The really cool part: Job agencies that serve as middleman to several companies, posting job listings on Indeed and LinkedIn and Monster and Glassdoor - they hate dealing with multiple templates. They want ONE template for posting a new job. They want all the info organize the same way every time.

Which means that, if their big employers start listing salary ranges, they'll want to do that for all employers because that's easier than keeping track of "does this listing allow for employees in California?"

(Note: Remote workers who live in California are subject to California labor laws. The company can't say "we're using TX laws because we're in Texas so we don't have to provide a salary range to job-hunters." If they're open to CA employees, they have to use CA laws.)

Like the no-asking laws, this one will creep to cover a whole lot of other areas that aren't technically held to it.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Podcasting "Microincentives and Enshittification"

Tomorrow (Oct 25) at 10hPT/18hUK, I'm livestreaming an event called "Seizing the Means of Computation" for the Edinburgh Futures Institute.

This week on my podcast, I read my recent Medium column, "Microincentives and Enshittification," about the way that monopoly drives mediocrity, with Google's declining quality as Exhibit A:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

It's not your imagination: Google used to be better – in every way. Search used to be better, sure, but Google used to be better as a company. It treated its workers better (for example, not laying off 12,000 workers months after a stock buyback that would have paid their salaries for the next 27 years). It had its users' backs in policy fights – standing up for Net Neutrality and the right to use encryption to keep your private data private. Even when the company made ghastly mistakes, it repented of them and reversed them, like the time it pulled out of China after it learned that Chinese state hackers had broken into Gmail in order to discover which dissidents to round up and imprison.

None of this is to say that Google used to be perfect, or even, most of the time, good. Just that things got worse. To understand why, we have to think about how decisions get made in large organizations, or, more to the point, how arguments get resolved in these organizations.

We give Google a lot of shit for its "Don't Be Evil" motto, but it's worth thinking through what that meant for the organization's outcomes over the years. Through most of Google's history, the tech labor market was incredibly tight, and skilled engineers and other technical people had a lot of choice as to where they worked. "Don't Be Evil" motivated some – many – of those workers to take a job at Google, rather than one of its rivals.

Within Google, that meant that decisions that could colorably be accused of being "evil" would face some internal pushback. Imagine a product design meeting where one faction proposes something that is bad for users, but good for the company's bottom line. Think of another faction that says, "But if we do that, we'll be 'evil.'"

I think it's safe to assume that in any high-stakes version of this argument, the profit side will prevail over the don't be evil side. Money talks and bullshit walks. But what if there were also monetary costs to being evil? Like, what if Google has to worry about users or business customers defecting to a rival? Or what if there's a credible reason to worry that a regulator will fine Google, or Congress will slap around some executives at a televised hearing?

That lets the no-evil side field a more robust counterargument: "Doing that would be evil, and we'll lose money, or face a whopping fine, or suffer reputational harms." Even if these downsides are potentially smaller than the upsides, they still help the no-evil side win the argument. That's doubly true if the downsides could depress the company's share-price, because Googlers themselves are disproportionately likely to hold Google stock, since tech companies are able to get a discount on their wage-bills by paying employees in abundant stock they print for free, rather than the scarce dollars that only come through hard graft.

When the share-price is on the line, the counterargument goes, "That would be evil, we will lose money, and you will personally be much poorer as a result." Again, this isn't dispositive – it won't win every argument – but it is influential. A counterargument that braids together ideology, institutional imperatives, and personal material consequences is pretty robust.

Which is where monopoly comes in. When companies grow to dominate their industries, they are less subject to all forms of discipline. Monopolists don't have to worry about losing disgusted employees, because they exert so much gravity on the labor market that they find it easy to replace them.

They don't have to worry about losing customers, because they have eliminated credible alternatives. They don't have to worry about losing users, because rivals steer clear of their core business out of fear of being bigfooted through exclusive distribution deals, predatory pricing, etc. Investors have a name for the parts of the industry dominated by Big Tech: they call it "the kill zone" and they won't back companies seeking to enter it.

When companies dominate their industries, they find it easier to capture their regulators and outspend public prosecutors who hope to hold them to account. When they lose regulatory fights, they can fund endless appeals. If they lose those appeals, they can still afford the fines, especially if they can use an army of lawyers to make sure that the fine is less than the profit realized through the bad conduct. A fine is a price.

In other words, the more dominant a company is, the harder it is for the good people within the company to win arguments about unethical and harmful proposals, and the worse the company gets. The internal culture of the company changes, and its products and services decline, but meaningful alternatives remain scarce or nonexistent.

Back to Google. Google owns more than 90% of the search market. Google can't grow by adding more Search users. The 10% of non-Google searchers are extremely familiar with Google's actions. To switch to a rival search engine, they have had to take many affirmative, technically complex steps to override the defaults in their devices and tools. It's not like an ad extolling the virtues of Google Search will bring in new customers.

Having saturated the search market, Google can only increase its Search revenues by shifting value from searchers or web publishers to itself – that is, the only path to Search growth is enshittification. They have to make things worse for end users or business customers in order to make things better for themselves:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

This means that each executive in the Search division is forever seeking out ways to shift value to Google and away from searchers and/or publishers. When they propose a enshittificatory tactic, Google's market dominance makes it easy for them to win arguments with their teammates: "this may make you feel ashamed for making our product worse, but it will not make me poorer, it will not make the company poorer, and it won't chase off business customers or end users, therefore, we're gonna do it. Fuck your feelings."

After all, each microenshittification represents only a single Jenga block removed from the gigantic tower that is Google Search. No big deal. Some Google exec made the call to make it easier for merchants to buy space overtop searches for their rivals. That's not necessarily a bad thing: "Thinking of taking a vacation in Florida? Why not try Puerto Rico – it's a US-based Caribbean vacation without the transphobia and racism!"

But this kind of advertising also opens up lots of avenues for fraud. Scammers clone local restaurants' websites, jack up their prices by 15%, take your order, and transmit it to the real restaurant, pocketing the 15%. They get clicks by using some of that rake to buy an ad based on searches for the restaurant's name, so they show up overtop of it and rip off inattentive users:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/24/passive-income/#swiss-cheese-security

This is something Google could head off; they already verify local merchants by mailing them postcards with unique passwords that they key into a web-form. They could ban ads for websites that clone existing known merchants, but that would incur costs (engineer time) and reduce profits, both from scammers and from legit websites that trip a false positive.

The decision to sell this kind of ad, configured this way, is a direct shift of value from business customers (restaurants) and end-users (searchers) to Google. Not only that, but it's negative sum. The money Google gets from this tradeoff is less than the cost to both the restaurant (loss of goodwill from regulars who are affronted because of a sudden price rise) and searchers (who lose 15% on their dinner orders). This trade-off makes everyone except Google worse off, and it's only possible when Google is the only game in town.

It's also small potatoes. Last summer, scammers figured out how to switch out the toll-free numbers that Google displayed for every airline, redirecting people to boiler-rooms where con-artists collected their credit-card numbers and sensitive personal information (passports, etc):

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/phone-numbers-airlines-listed-google-directed-scammers-rcna94766

Here again, we see a series of small compromises that lead to a massive harm. Google decided to show users 800 numbers rather than links to the airlines' websites, but failed to fortify the process for assigning phone numbers to prevent this absolutely foreseeable type of fraud. It's not that Google wanted to enable fraud – it's that they created the conditions for the fraud to occur and failed to devote the resources necessary to defend against it.

Each of these compromises indicates a belief among Google decision-makers that the consequences for making their product worse will be outweighed by the value the company will generate by exposing us to harm. One reason for this belief is on display in the DOJ's antitrust case against Google:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1328941/download

The case accuses Google of spending tens of billions of dollars to buy out the default search position on every platform where an internet user might conceivably perform a search. The company is lighting multiple Twitters worth of dollars on fire to keep you from ever trying another search engine.

Spraying all those dollars around doesn't just keep you from discovering a better search engine – it also prevents investors from funding that search engine in the first place. Why fund a startup in the kill-zone if no one will ever discover that it exists?

https://www.theverge.com/23802382/search-engine-google-neeva-android

Of course, Google doesn't have to grow Search to grow its revenue. Hypothetically, Google could pursue new lines of business and grow that way. This is a tried-and-true strategy for tech giants: Apple figured out how to outsource its manufacturing to the Pacific Rim; Amazon created a cloud service, Microsoft figured out how to transform itself into a cloud business.

Look hard at these success stories and you discover another reason that Google – and other large companies – struggle to grow by moving into adjacent lines of business. In each case – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon – the exec who led the charge into the new line of business became the company's next CEO.

In other words: if you are an exec at a large firm and one of your rivals successfully expands the business into a new line, they become the CEO – and you don't. That ripples out within the whole org-chart: every VP who becomes an SVP, every SVP who becomes an EVP, and every EVP who becomes a president occupies a scarce spot that it worth millions of dollars to the people who lost it.

The one thing that execs reliably collaborate on is knifing their ambitious rivals in the back. They may not agree on much, but they all agree that that guy shouldn't be in charge of this lucrative new line of business.

This "curse of bigness" is why major shifts in big companies are often attended by the return of the founder – think of Gates going back to Microsoft or Brin returning to Google to oversee their AI projects. They are the only execs that other execs can't knife in the back.

This is the real "innovator's dilemma." The internal politics of large companies make Machiavelli look like an optimist.

When your company attains a certain scale, any exec's most important rival isn't the company's competitor – it's other execs at the same company. Their success is your failure, and vice-versa.

This makes the business of removing Jenga blocks from products like Search even more fraught. These quality-degrading, profit-goosing tactics aren't coordinated among the business's princelings. When you're eating your seed-corn, you do so in private. This secrecy means that it's hard for different product-degradation strategists to realize that they are removing safeguards that someone else is relying on, or that they're adding stress to a safety measure that someone else just doubled the load on.

It's not just Google, either. All of tech is undergoing a Great Enshittening, and that's due to how intertwined all these tech companies. Think of how Google shifts value from app makers to itself, with a 30% rake on every dollar spent in an app. Google is half of the mobile duopoly, with the other half owned by Apple. But they're not competitors – they're co-managers of a cartel. The single largest deal that Google or Apple does every year is the bribe Google pays Apple to be the default search for iOS and Safari – $15-20b, every year.

If Apple and Google were mobile competitors, you'd expect them to differentiate their products, but instead, they've converged – both Apple and Google charge sky-high 30% payment processing fees to app makers.

Same goes for Google/Facebook, the adtech duopoly: not only do both companies charge advertisers and publishers sky-high commissions, clawing 51 cents out of every ad dollar, but they also illegally colluded to rig the market and pay themselves more, at advertisers' and publishers' expense:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi_Blue

It's not just tech, either – every sector from athletic shoes to international sea-freight is concentrated into anti-competitive, value-annihilating cartels and monopolies:

https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/learn/monopoly-by-the-numbers

As our friends on the right are forever reminding us: "incentives matter." When a company runs out of lands to conquer, the incentives all run one direction: downhill, into a pit of enshittification. Google got worse, not because the people in it are worse (or better) than they were before – but because the constraints that discipline the company and contain its worst impulses got weaker as the company got bigger.

Here's the podcast episode:

https://craphound.com/news/2023/10/23/microincentives-and-enshittification/

And here's a direct link to the MP3 (hosting courtesy of the Internet Archive; they'll host your stuff for free, forever):

https://archive.org/download/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_452/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_452_-_Microincentives_and_Enshittification.mp3

And here's my podcast's RSS feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

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/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

[racefortheironthrone]

Hey Steven, maybe you can help me with something I'm trying to articulate, but I'm not even sure is accurate, just seems like something I've observed, but I could be wrong.

So I've often heard about how the STEM fields are becoming more and more prioritized over the humanities in colleges, and that seems broadly true to me (though there's also other stuff that gets promoted over the humanities like business and law, it feels, though they might qualify as humanities, I don't know), and yet, in my opinion, it seems too broad, cause it seems less STEM and more TE, with the S and M put next to the humanities as fields you shouldn't bother with if you want a profitable career.

Technology and Engineering, it seems to me, are boosted over all else. I don't exactly see people saying get a job as an astronomer or a physicist or a biologist or a mathematician unless it's specifically to "contribute towards society in a profitable way (like, I hear geologists can get employed to help find new sources of fossil fuels, for example)," but meanwhile I hear people say, "just learn to code!" or get a degree in some engineering field or something like that. Basically, a focus on fields that contribute directly to someone making a profit instead of enriching society through the arts or through new discoveries. I don't know if what I said made any sense but I wonder your thoughts on all of it.

(Business I grant you, although a lot of that is due to employers subsidizing MBAs for their white collar workers. However, while Law used to be quite profitable for both parties, it's been in a bit of a demographic crisis for a few years now due to the fact that the number of legal jobs that pay well enough to afford law school tuition have declined massively and the number of people applying to law schools started to nosedive as well. Paul Campos, my colleague at Lawyers, Guns, and Money, has been on that beat for years.)

With regards to STEM, I think it is true that these things are pushed only in so far as they can be harnessed to the generation of profit. Technology and Engineering we agree on; these workers are highly prized by existing industries, they lend themselves well to both start-ups and spin-offs, and their work can be patented in ways that generate profit for both corporations and the university.

However, when it comes to Science, you need to remember that the "S" includes both applied and theoretical sides - and applied sciences look a lot like Technology and Engineering when it comes to industry demand for skilled workers, the potential for start-ups and spin-offs, and the profitability of patents. Think bio-medical, think bio-chemical, think Pharma, think materials and nano-tech and on and on. However, you are quite right when it comes to the theoretical sciences; you do that for the love of the game.

It is true that Mathematics is the most abstract, the most academic, and the hardest to monetize in the ways described above. However, as I learned from my union colleague who was in the Math department (who ironically went on to a career as a union organizer rather than attempt a career as a mathematician), there is one avenue for money-making with a Mathematics degree:

Finance.

I don't know whether this is still as true as when I was in grad school, but it used to be that Wall Street would throw very handsome salaries indeed at anyone with quant skills from any branch of STEM. (In fact, I remember complaints from some Engineering professors that industries that actually make stuff couldn't get enough engineers because they could make more money working for a hedge fund than actually engineering things.)

[mariacallous]

How bracing to wake up yesterday and read that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had donated $100m to Dolly Parton’s charitable endeavours, at his own “Courage and Civility” event. (Sarcastic airquotes: my own.) The many, many news reports about this act suggested it was a truly incredible sum from the second richest man in the world, who – according to recent estimates – gets richer by about $205m a day.

Anyway, once I’d peeled myself off the ceiling, I got busy on the government’s tax calculator. If you’re on the median average UK salary – and you pay your taxes – your take-home pay is £72 a day. Looked at one way, then, Jeff’s benevolence would be the equivalent of donating £34.56 to charity. Have YOU ever donated thirty-four quid to charity? Do you pay your taxes? If so, you’re actually being more generous than Jeff Bezos, who, famously, avoids almost all of his. And yet, where’s YOUR splashy news write-up in all the fine news outlets of the world? Where’s YOUR fawning TV interview? Why does no one refer to YOU as a “philanthropist”?

We’ll come to the obvious answers to those questions shortly, but for now, let’s look at the stage-managed hoopla around these so-called Courage and Civility awards. And yes, that title does make it sound like Jeff just demanded a warehouse operative bring him two inoffensive abstract nouns that were out of copyright. In fact, Bezos announced the initiative last year, shortly after disembarking his little space rocket, possibly sensing a planetary disdain being levelled at the kind of guy who could put himself in zero gravity for four minutes but couldn’t figure out how to treat his workers properly.

Anyway, the Courage and Civility awards are now an actual thing. And alongside Sunday’s self-effacing ceremony and his attempt to piggyback on the lifelong altruism and extraordinary charitable service of HRH Dolly Parton, Bezos granted an exclusive sit-down with CNN. First impressions? Jeff interviews like a chat tool, and resembles your local area’s most uncompromising and least booked 58-year-old Vin Diesel lookalike. Having long refused to sign the Giving Pledge – a promise by many of the world’s richest individuals to donate most of their wealth to charitable causes – Bezos announced that he intends giving “the majority” of his money away in his lifetime, according to CNN. And yet, does he intend to do this? His answer – “Yeah, I do” – feels somewhat vague and short on specifics.

But taking Jeff at his word, I mean it from the bottom of the heart when I say: BIG FRICKING DEAL. Most people give a significant amount of their money away during their lifetime, via a little something we call the taxation system. I know! Where’s our red-carpet gala? I tell you what, next time our paychecks arrive, why don’t we all get our hair done and put on black tie or a big old dress and graciously twat our way down a red carpet going “You’re MOST welcome!” for the cameras.

According to what Bezos told CNN, philanthropy “is really hard”. It certainly seems to be for him. Do recall he was only dragged kicking and screaming to the giving-a-shit game, having spent years accruing billions before it was finally pointed out to him that not having some kind of philanthropic arm looked fairly abysmal. In 2017 Bezos asked Twitter users for ideas on how to help the world “in the here and now”, before embarking on a truly committed programme of ignoring every single one of them who suggested paying his workers properly and contributing fair tax.

A year later, he actually uttered the words: “The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel.” That was the same year Amazon helped kill a Seattle tax on big firms to alleviate the homelessness crisis, by threatening to pull a huge building project. The business and tech commentator Scott Galloway calls Bezos “the mother of all welfare queens” for the vast benefits he’s drawn from public money and the tax breaks he remorselessly chases and demands.

But of course, Jeff is the kind of widely acclaimed visionary who simply lacks the vision to realise that the first way to help is by paying people a fair wage and forking out your taxes like an ordinary person – and not by turning up to dole out “charity” after the event like some bastard god of the purse strings. Unfortunately, he’s part of that specific billionaire class that believes they should be allowed to hypothecate almost 100% of their own vast riches in whichever direction they wish, because the exchequers of the world are just junior personnel, and they know better than all of them how to spend it.

So yes, for Bezos philanthropy “is really hard”. What he does – fauxlanthropy – is much, much easier. Moving billions to non-profits you control, effectively awarding yourself tax breaks, buying media fawning with one of the lamest possible sleights-of-hand: these things, self-evidently, are a whole lot easier. What’s hard to understand is why on earth we’re still buying into this obvious bullshit from some of the most selfish people in the world. The poor give a far greater proportion of their money to charity than the rich. I don’t mean to be uncivil, but what is courageous about letting Jeff Bezos pretend otherwise?

[askagamedev]

When mass layoffs happen, how is it decided who gets the axe and who gets to stay?

It's usually a combination of factors. Sometimes entire studios get cut, like how Embracer completely shuttered Volition. Sometimes an entire team is let go if the project gets cancelled. For the really massive games (the kind with multiple studios working on them, like Call of Duty) there's the chance that entire studios or subteams (e.g. the DMZ subteam on Call of Duty) can get eliminated if the decision is made to cut further support for the game mode. These kind of decisions get made at the publishing executive level.

When the studio/game isn't getting shut down/cancelled, the (remaining) team/studio leadership generally divides the employees between a "keepers" group (usually devs who are deemed absolutely necessary for a product's ongoing development) and an "everybody else" group. Keepers are the ones who know all of the innermost workings of the projects that are slated to continue. Without enough of them, the tribal knowledge is lost and the project is basically unsalvageable. The keepers are automatically safe from the reaper.

For everybody else, there's the group quotas and value ranking. There's usually some number of each specific discipline that will get stays of execution - server engineer, UI/UX designer, tech artist, QA, and so on. Each remaining employee is judged on the decision-maker's criteria, and this is where things generally get subjective. General qualities like cost to keep (i.e. salary), experience level, and productivity factor in, but so do things like how much the decision-maker likes the person, ease of working with this employee, and overall manager perceptions (e.g. did the manager see the worker crunching/overtime? Did the manager see the worker goofing off?). The highest in the value ranking for each discipline get to stay and everybody else gets cut.

Suggested Reading: [A Gamer's Primer to Practically Dealing with Job Loss]

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[willcodehtmlforfood]

The quickest way to second-guess a decision to major in English is this: have an extended family full of Salvadoran immigrants and pragmatic midwesterners. The ability to recite Chaucer in the original Middle English was unlikely to land me a job that would pay off my student loans and help me save for retirement, they suggested when I was a college freshman still figuring out my future. I stuck with English, but when my B.A. eventually spat me out into the thick of the Great Recession, I worried that they’d been right.

After all, computer-science degrees, and certainly not English, have long been sold to college students as among the safest paths toward 21st-century job security. Coding jobs are plentiful across industries, and the pay is good—even after the tech layoffs of the past year. The average starting salary for someone with a computer-science degree is significantly higher than that of a mid-career English graduate, according to the Federal Reserve; at Google, an entry-level software engineer reportedly makes $184,000, and that doesn’t include the free meals, massages, and other perks. Perhaps nothing has defined higher education over the past two decades more than the rise of computer science and STEM. Since 2016, enrollment in undergraduate computer-science programs has increased nearly 49 percent. Meanwhile, humanities enrollments across the United States have withered at a clip—in some cases, shrinking entire departments to nonexistence.

But that was before the age of generative AI. ChatGPT and other chatbots can do more than compose full essays in an instant; they can also write lines of code in any number of programming languages. You can’t just type make me a video game into ChatGPT and get something that’s playable on the other end, but many programmers have now developed rudimentary smartphone apps coded by AI. In the ultimate irony, software engineers helped create AI, and now they are the American workers who think it will have the biggest impact on their livelihoods, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. So much for learning to code.

ChatGPT cannot yet write a better essay than a human author can, nor can it code better than a garden-variety developer, but something has changed even in the 10 months since its introduction. Coders are now using AI as a sort of souped-up Clippy to accelerate the more routine parts of their job, such as debugging lines of code. In one study, software developers with access to GitHub’s Copilot chatbot were able to finish a coding task 56 percent faster than those who did it solo. In 10 years, or maybe five, coding bots may be able to do so much more.

People will still get jobs, though they may not be as lucrative, says Matt Welsh, a former Harvard computer-science professor and entrepreneur. He hypothesizes that automation will lower the barrier to entry into the field: More people might get more jobs in software, guiding the machines toward ever-faster production. This development could make highly skilled developers even more essential in the tech ecosystem. But Welsh also says that an expanded talent pool “may change the economics of the situation,” possibly leading to lower pay and diminished job security.

If mid-career developers have to fret about what automation might soon do to their job, students are in the especially tough spot of anticipating the long-term implications before they even start their career. “The question of what it will look like for a student to go through an undergraduate program in computer science, graduate with that degree, and go on into the industry … That is something I do worry about,” Timothy Richards, a computer-science professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, told me. Not only do teachers like Richards have to wrestle with just how worthwhile learning to code is anymore, but even teaching students to code has become a tougher task. ChatGPT and other chatbots can handle some of the basic tasks in any introductory class, such as finding problems with blocks of code. Some students might habitually use ChatGPT to cheat on their assignments, eventually collecting their diploma without having learned how to do the work themselves.

Richards has already started to tweak his approach. He now tells his introductory-programming students to use AI the way a math student would use a calculator, asking that they disclose the exact prompts they fed into the machine, and explain their reasoning. Instead of taking assignments home, Richards’s students now do the bulk of their work in the classroom, under his supervision. “I don’t think we can really teach students in the way that we’ve been teaching them for a long time, at least not in computer science,” he said.

Fiddling with the computer-science curriculum still might not be enough to maintain coding’s spot at the top of the higher-education hierarchy. “Prompt engineering,” which entails feeding phrases to large language models to make their responses more human-sounding, has already surfaced as a lucrative job option—and one perhaps better suited to English majors than computer-science grads. “Machines can’t be creative; at best, they’re very elaborate derivatives,” says Ben Royce, an AI lecturer at Columbia University. Chatbots don’t know what to do with a novel coding problem. They sputter and choke. They make stuff up. As AI becomes more sophisticated and better able to code, programmers may be tasked with leaning into the parts of their job that draw on conceptual ingenuity as opposed to sheer technical know-how. Those who are able to think more entrepreneurially—the tinkerers and the question-askers—will be the ones who tend to be almost immune to automation in the workforce.

The potential decline of “learn to code” doesn’t mean that the technologists are doomed to become the authors of their own obsolescence, nor that the English majors were right all along (I wish). Rather, the turmoil presented by AI could signal that exactly what students decide to major in is less important than an ability to think conceptually about the various problems that technology could help us solve. The next great Silicon Valley juggernaut might be seeded by a humanities grad with no coding expertise or a computer-science grad with lots of it. After all, the discipline has always been about more than just learning the ropes of Python and C++. Identifying patterns and piecing them together is its essence.

In that way, the answer to the question of what happens next in higher education may lie in what the machines can’t do. Royce pointed me toward Moravec’s paradox, the observation that AI shines at high-level reasoning and the kinds of skills that are generally considered to reflect cognitive aptitude (think: playing chess), but fumbles with the basic ones. The curiosity-driven instincts that have always been at the root of how humans create things are not just sticking around in an AI world; they are now more important than ever. Thankfully, students have plenty of ways to get there.