#client reporting software

[agencydashboard1]

Elevate Your Marketing Agency with Streamlined Client Reporting Solutions

Revolutionize your marketing agency with our automated reporting solutions. Our client reporting software consolidates data from multiple platforms, offering you insightful analytics at your fingertips. Streamline your reporting process, improve teamwork, and create visually appealing performance reports for your clients. Designed specifically for marketing agencies, this tool enhances productivity and simplifies workflows, enabling you to concentrate on what truly matters—growing your clients' businesses. Take your agency's reporting capabilities to new heights today!

[bravevulturetrance]

Smarter Workflows for Financial Advisors – Arcus Partners

[inextcrm]

Streamline Your Business Meetings with the Best Meeting Scheduling Tools

In today's fast-paced business world, efficient time management is essential for success. One area where many businesses struggle is with scheduling meetings. Coordinating multiple schedules, finding a suitable time, and ensuring everyone is on the same page can be a daunting task. Fortunately, with the advent of meeting scheduling tools, this process has become much simpler and more streamlined.

What are Meeting Scheduling Tools?

Meeting scheduling tools are software applications designed to simplify the process of arranging and managing meetings. These tools typically allow users to view the availability of team members, schedule meetings, send out invitations, and even automate reminders.

Key Features of Meeting Scheduling Tools

1. Calendar Integration

The best meeting scheduling tools seamlessly integrate with popular calendar applications such as Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple Calendar. This integration allows users to view their schedule and availability in real-time, making it easier to find suitable meeting times.

2. Automated Reminders

Forget about missed meetings with automated reminders. Meeting scheduling tools can send out reminders to all attendees, ensuring everyone is on time and prepared.

3. Customizable Meeting Options

Whether you need to schedule a one-on-one meeting or a large conference call, meeting scheduling tools offer customizable options to fit your needs. Set the duration, location, and agenda for each meeting with ease.

4. Time Zone Support

With team members spread across different time zones, coordinating meetings can be a logistical nightmare. Meeting scheduling tools take the hassle out of this process by automatically adjusting meeting times based on the time zone of each participant.

5. Analytics and Reporting

Gain valuable insights into your meeting habits with built-in analytics and reporting features. Track metrics such as meeting frequency, duration, and attendance to identify areas for improvement.

Why Use a Meeting Scheduling Tool?

The benefits of using a meeting scheduling tool are clear:

Save Time: Say goodbye to endless email chains and back-and-forth communication. With a meeting scheduling tool, you can quickly find a time that works for everyone.

Improve Productivity: By streamlining the meeting scheduling process, you can free up valuable time to focus on more important tasks.

Enhance Collaboration: Ensure that everyone is on the same page by easily scheduling and managing meetings with meeting scheduling tools.

Reduce No-Shows: Automated reminders help to minimize the risk of missed meetings, keeping everyone accountable and punctual.

Conclusion

In conclusion, meeting scheduling tools are invaluable assets for any business looking to optimize their time management and improve productivity. With features such as calendar integration, automated reminders, and customizable meeting options, these tools make scheduling and managing meetings easier than ever before. Say goodbye to scheduling headaches and hello to streamlined efficiency with the best meeting scheduling tools available today.

[chloedecker0]

Maximizing Retail Profits: Harnessing B2B Price Optimization Software

In the ever-evolving world of retail and e-commerce, businesses are constantly seeking ways to gain a competitive edge. Among the many strategies employed, B2B Price Optimization and Management Software stands out as a game-changer. Price optimisation and management (PO&M) software solutions enable businesses to oversee and optimize the prices of their goods and services. These services also provide a growing range of sales intelligence advice, such as best-next-action suggestions and customer churn warnings. In the industry, vendors either focus on back-office price management and product management roles, or they focus on providing real-time sales intelligence to sales representatives and B2B digital commerce websites, or both. Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, a leading global advisory and consulting firm, has recognized the significance of this technology in their report, “B2B Price Optimization and Management Applications, 2023”. Quadrant Knowledge Solutions focuses on helping clients in achieving business transformation goals with Strategic Business, and Growth Advisory Services. 

Download the sample report of Market Share: B2B Price Optimization and Management Software

Understanding the Retail and E-commerce Landscape 

The retail and e-commerce industry is a highly dynamic and competitive space. Companies within this domain face the continuous challenge of pricing their products right to maximize profitability while staying attractive to their customers. In this context, pricing becomes a critical element of their strategy. Let's delve into some of these challenges: 

Rapidly Changing Market Dynamics: Retail and e-commerce markets are highly volatile, with ever-shifting consumer preferences and market trends. Adapting to these changes in real-time is essential to stay competitive. Without the right tools, businesses risk making pricing decisions that are out of sync with market realities. 

Intense Competition: In retail and e-commerce, competition is fierce. With numerous players offering similar products or services, pricing becomes a key differentiator. Setting prices too high can drive customers away, while pricing too low can erode profit margins. 

Complex Supply Chain and Cost Structures: The retail and e-commerce sector often deals with complex supply chain operations and cost structures. Understanding the true costs associated with a product or service is essential for setting optimal prices. Traditional methods of cost calculation can be time-consuming and error-prone. 

Customer Behaviour and Expectations: Today's consumers are more informed and price-sensitive than ever before. Their buying behaviour can change rapidly in response to various factors, including promotions, discounts, and market trends. Retailers must be agile in responding to these changes. 

Competitor Pricing Strategies: Keeping a constant eye on competitor pricing is crucial. Businesses need to respond promptly to pricing moves made by competitors to remain competitive. Manual tracking and analysis of competitor pricing are arduous and inefficient processes. 

Download the sample report of Market Forecast: B2B Price Optimization and Management Software

B2B Price Optimization and Management Software: A Necessity 

B2B Price Optimization and Management Software is the solution to these challenges. This technology leverages advanced algorithms, data analytics, and real-time market insights to help businesses make data-driven pricing decisions. It empowers retail and e-commerce companies to optimize their prices efficiently while taking into account factors like demand fluctuations, competitor pricing, and customer behaviour.

Talk To Analyst: https://quadrant-solutions.com/talk-to-analyst

[fairuzfan]

Nearly 100 journalists and other members of civil society using WhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Meta, were targeted by spyware owned by Paragon Solutions, an Israeli maker of hacking software, the company alleged on Friday.

The journalists and other civil society members were being alerted of a possible breach of their devices, with WhatsApp telling the Guardian it had “high confidence” that the 90 users in question had been targeted and “possibly compromised”.

It is not clear who was behind the attack. Like other spyware makers, Paragon’s hacking software is used by government clients and WhatsApp said it had not been able to identify the clients who ordered the alleged attacks.

Experts said the targeting was a “zero-click” attack, which means targets would not have had to click on any malicious links to be infected.

WhatsApp declined to disclose where the journalists and members of civil society were based, including whether they were based in the US.

Paragon has a US office in Chantilly, Virginia. The company has faced recent scrutiny after Wired magazine in October reported that it had entered into a $2m contract with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s homeland security investigations division.

[fuck-customers]

Management just released a stupid new policy that I'm pretty sure is illegal under US labor law. The general standard has been FOR YEARS that the first 5-10 minutes of our shifts are to get set up and settled in for the day before starting on calls (I work in a call center). Management has now released a statement saying that everyone needs to be ON CALLS the moment they clock in for their shift, and that 5-10min of settling in (logging into our client software, setting up our computers, checking work-related communications/email) need to be done BEFORE clocking in now, despite the fact that these are work-related tasks and should not be done off the clock.

I'm about 98% sure that's wage theft under federal law and have every plan to report this to the DoL. I'm also pretty sure my workplace is non-compliant in regards to the posting of FLSA standards document (legally, one HAS to be posted in the office, per the DoL website; I've never fucking seen one in the damn office), so I'll be reporting that as well once I confirm. Not to mention the potential EEOC claim for ignoring my established ADA accommodations. Idk what management is doing, but it's Bad

Posted by admin Rodney

[mudwerks]

(via Vending machine error reveals secret face image database of college students | Ars Technica)

Canada-based University of Waterloo is racing to remove M&M-branded smart vending machines from campus after outraged students discovered the machines were covertly collecting facial-recognition data without their consent.

The scandal started when a student using the alias SquidKid47 posted an image on Reddit showing a campus vending machine error message, "Invenda.Vending.FacialRecognitionApp.exe," displayed after the machine failed to launch a facial recognition application that nobody expected to be part of the process of using a vending machine.

"Hey, so why do the stupid M&M machines have facial recognition?" SquidKid47 pondered.

The Reddit post sparked an investigation from a fourth-year student named River Stanley, who was writing for a university publication called MathNEWS.

Stanley sounded alarm after consulting Invenda sales brochures that promised "the machines are capable of sending estimated ages and genders" of every person who used the machines without ever requesting consent.

This frustrated Stanley, who discovered that Canada's privacy commissioner had years ago investigated a shopping mall operator called Cadillac Fairview after discovering some of the malls' informational kiosks were secretly "using facial recognition software on unsuspecting patrons."

Only because of that official investigation did Canadians learn that "over 5 million nonconsenting Canadians" were scanned into Cadillac Fairview's database, Stanley reported. Where Cadillac Fairview was ultimately forced to delete the entire database, Stanley wrote that consequences for collecting similarly sensitive facial recognition data without consent for Invenda clients like Mars remain unclear.

Stanley's report ended with a call for students to demand that the university "bar facial recognition vending machines from campus."

what the motherfuck

[apomaro-mellow]

Built for Loving 4

Part 3

Eddie had been assisting others with their own projects for about two months before he was given another assignment. It was one of the odder ones that the others either had no interest or no time for. Eddie was still drawing up the design for a small child. He’d sent two versions already but they’d been rejected with comments and tweaks to make. He’d been pretty good about ending his shifts without overtime and even spending some face time with Wayne. 

Of course, just as things were getting smooth, there was a bump in the road. He was once again summoned by an intern and brought to one of the labs where Owens was waiting. Instead of looking at him though, Eddie was drawn to the operating table, where a figure lay under a white sheet….like a cadaver.

“There’s another problem with your bot”, Owen sighed, like he was tired of seeing Eddie.

“Again?”, Eddie blinked, looking at him now.

“I want you to look at this report from IT. I want you to scrub this bot completely clean and get it right.”

“Don’t want him coming back a third time?”, Eddie asked as he went over to one of the monitors where the report was already pulled up.

“There won’t be a third time, kid. If it doesn’t work, he gets scrapped, you go on probation, and if we haven’t completely lost the trust of the client, someone else will fulfill the request.”

Eddie turned in his chair. “‘Scrapped’? Like-”

“We’ll strip down the usable parts to be recycled, but his software’s gonna have to go.”

Eddie bit his lip and nodded. “Understood.” He commended himself on keeping his voice even, despite the sirens going off in his head. He had everything to lose if this didn’t go right. He didn’t just want to save Steve from the trash heap, this job was his dream. What was he going to do if he failed his first assignment? He turned back to the monitor and Owens left him to it, knowing he had something to prove now.

He scoured the report. It was a transcription of the call from the customer to IT. Eddie worried that Steve had refused a request, but this was different. He opened up the recording of the call to listen to it as he read.

“Brenner Bot Helpline, this is Derek, how may I assist you?”

“This damn bot is broken”, the client hissed. Eddie recognized his voice from Steve’s records from before.

He skipped past the phone operator getting the identification information and asking the prerequisite questions. He resumed play when they got to the meat of the problem.

“This thing isn’t working.”

“Can you explain in detail?”

“It’s…clingy! And cloying. It follows me around whenever it’s on, asking about me, asking things it shouldn’t, retaining things it shouldn’t!”

Eddie paused again. This was getting serious. The operator asked for specific incidents and times and Eddie decided to use that as a reference as he watched the recordings. He slid over to the table, knowing Steve was under it. As soon as he removed the cloth, he could see why Owens put it on. Despite his harsh reality check the first day Steve left, he must have known it would kill Eddie to see him like this.

The client had used the new skin to the fullest. Steve’s body was littered with bruises. His face was the only part of him not marred in black or purple. Eddie almost heaved. He attached the cord and covered him back up, then slid to the computer. He skimmed Steve’s records until he got to the first incident mentioned.

Like before, this was in Steve’s point of view, so he couldn’t see Steve, couldn’t see exactly how he moved or expressed himself. But he could check the code record later. For now, he just needed to see exactly what the issue was.

They were in bed together, the client shirtless and sweaty. Steve was able to read his vitals and tell that it would be some time before he was ready to go again, already calculating the likelihood of another round based on the fact that he hadn’t been put in sleep mode yet. Pleasure bots were designed to learn and adapt to their owner’s preferences. So Eddie could tell something was wrong when Steve spoke and his owner looked annoyed.

“When will you be back?”

“I’ll be back when I’m back. Probably Thursday.”

“I know you’re busy with the Evans deal. But can’t Franklin handle it?”

The client frowned deeply. “Enter sleep mode.”

Steve closed his eyes, ending the recording. Eddie’s hand was over his mouth. Remembering client preferences was one thing. But, well, to put it simply, their typical clientele for pleasure bots usually didn’t want them to be able to recall things like other people’s names, or what was happening in their lives. When they were booted up for the first time and the client went through all their preferred settings, the last step was assigning them a prime directive. This took precedence over everything and any information that wasn’t important to the directive was typically discarded within twenty four hours. 

And Eddie could just guess what this guy made Steve’s prime directive - be my sex slave, be my fuck toy, or something to that effect. Something simple. He shouldn’t be able to recall things related to the guy’s job, sensitive things. With a malfunction like this, Steve could ruin the guy’s life if he talked to the wrong person.

Eddie went to the next incident. The client was getting ready as Steve watched him get dressed. From his vantage point, Eddie could tell that Steve was on the ground.

“Do you have to go?”, Steve asked.

“You know I do. You always know”, the man griped as he buckled his belt.

“To her.” Steve’s voice got an odd edge to it.

“She’s my wife. It’s quite vexing that she understands this arrangement and yet you do not.” Fully dressed, he came over to Steve and knelt down, fiddling with something until Eddie could see that it was rope.

Steve looked down at his wrists and ankles, rubbed red. “Is this love?”, he asked.

But the client was already up and at a mirror, checking himself over. “Put yourself to bed.”

“Do you love me?”, Steve asked again.

“Not this again. Enter sleep mode. Now!”

The screen went black and Steve presumably dropped right there on the floor instead of into bed as instructed. Eddie’s gut felt like it was going to fly out of his ass. He stood and went over to Steve, turning him on.

“Enter diagnostic mode”, Eddie said as he grabbed a tablet to bring up the client’s preferences that he set up.

Steve sat up and looked forward, ignoring Eddie who stood right next to him. “Entertainment automaton, by Brenner Ventures, subject to copyright. Product I.D. EDM-001.” Just like before, his voice was monotone. 

Eddie swallowed and tried to ignore the bruises around his neck as he went down the checklist. “Client name?”

“Gerwin Hammond.”

That was the name on file. Check. “Personality parameters?”

“Agreeable, submissive, unable to say no, will do anything for Gerwin, even kill.”

That was exactly what was on file. Although, Gerwin’s own addition was a little worrying, so Eddie went ahead and asked the follow up.

“Can you kill?”

“All Brenner Bots are unable to harm a human, whether directly or indirectly, or through inaction.”

Eddie sighed a breath of relief. So far so good. Now the one he was truly worried about. The prime directive. He asked Steve his. On file, Gerwin had given the directive to be his pet. About what Eddie had expected.

“To be loved.”

The tablet fell from his hands. “Repeat last statement and elaborate.”

“The prime directive of this mechanism is to be loved.”

“Shitshitshit!” Eddie went to the door and locked it. He then went to the monitor to see Steve’s code. “This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening!” Then he paused in his typing. “What the fuck is even happening? I- …Did I really program a robot…to love…?” 

His fingers flew across the keyboard, searching Steve’s code for anomalies. His first time out the gate, Eddie hadn’t wanted to rock the boat too much. He thought he’d gone really basic. But his coding had always gotten praise. And he did give this one his all. Still, that didn’t explain any of this!

“There’s gotta be something I missed. Something obvious. Something that’s making him-like this!” Eddie’s head shook frantically, his desperation growing as he failed to find anything off in the coding. “This is wrong, this is wrong, this is all wrong! Dammit!”, he slammed his fists on the keyboard.

“There’s something wrong with me?”

Eddie froze. Then slowly, he turned around. Steve was still sitting perfectly straight, like a marble statue. But instead of looking straight ahead into nothing, he was looking right at Eddie.

“How did-you’re supposed to be in diagnostic mode.”

“What’s wrong with me?”, Steve urged.

“Ohhhh so many things. Somanythings”, Eddie squeaked the second bit as the situation fell on top of him. Then Steve’s face fell and he quickly backtracked. “No! No nono, there’s nothing wrong with you, just-your code? Or something, I don’t know!”

“Why doesn’t he love me?”

Eddie had no words for a moment. But that gave him a few seconds to process. There was nothing wrong with Steve. If anything, he had the possibility to be a marvel of technology.

“Do you…love Gerwin?”

“I do”, Steve smiled.

“And you want him to love you back?”

“More than anything.”

Eddie needed time to figure this out. But Steve didn’t have time. Even if he claimed to need a week, a month to figure out and fix Steve’s issue, Owens or one of the other guys would just pop in to check on his progress. He couldn’t let anyone see Steve like this. Steve was going above and beyond his programming right now, which was technically a malfunction. He’d get scrapped in a heartbeat.

“Okay, okay…okay”, Eddie paced about. “First thing’s first. Reset skin.”

Steve’s flesh changed, the bruises disappearing completely. It was like it had never happened. Whatever ‘it’ was.

“Does it hurt?”, Eddie asked, unable to help himself.

“No. But I remember the pain”, Steve said.

Voices passing the lab in the hallway reminded Eddie of where they were. “We gotta get you outta here. Stay put for a second and if anyone comes…play dead or something.”

Steve tilted his head and Eddie groaned.

“I mean just like-drop if you see someone other than me. Understand?”

“Understood.”

Eddie left to grab things for their grand escape. He couldn’t just walk out the front door with company goods. There were cameras everywhere. He passed a custodian closet. Perfect. He returned to his lab section and held the uniform up to Steve. It came with a hat and a mask to cover his nose and mouth.

“And the cherry on top”, he held out a wig. “Passed by a cart on the way here.”

It brushed Steve’s shoulders. Because it had been in a cart with other hair pieces, it was messy and unstyled. But that was just perfect.

“Just keep your head down and follow my lead.”

The ensemble was missing shoes, but Eddie was hoping most wouldn’t notice. He’d worked a few janitorial gigs and people tended to ignore them. Eddie checked that the coast was clear before leaving the lab. It was nearly the end of his shift anyway. No one should bat an eye at him leaving a few minutes early. Steve walked alongside with him, which might seem strange, but it couldn’t be too odd for an employee to shoot the breeze with a janitor, right?

The weight on his shoulders eased as they got close to the front doors. But of course, it just couldn’t be that easy for them. The person who came from one of the halls wasn’t even someone Eddie recognized. They worked on a different floor. That was the moment Steve chose to remember the command he had given him earlier as his knees gave out from under him.

Eddie just barely kept him from collapsing with a groan, garnering the attention of the woman. Holding up a man made of metal was no simple feat.

“Oh my god, is he okay?”

“Yep! Yep, perfectly fine”, Eddie said. “Get up”, he ordered through gritted teeth.

Steve stood, looking in good health for all to see, but the woman didn’t look too convinced. Eddie nudged him with his elbow.

“You’re fine, right? Tell her you’re fine.”

“I’m fine”, Steve answered.

“Anywaaaaayyy, gotta go”, Eddie grabbed Steve by the shoulders and pushed him the rest of the way. He didn’t breathe until they were at his van. And even then, the situation didn’t dawn on him until they were at his apartment and he watched Steve look around.

“....I am so fired.”

Part 5

[mariacallous]

Following a White House edict effectively banning federal employees from disclosing their personal pronouns in email signatures, sources within multiple federal agencies say pronouns are now being systemically blocked across multiple email clients and other software.

WIRED confirmed various automated efforts with employees at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the General Services Administration (GSA), the US Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The employees spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity, citing fears of retaliation.

Multiple agency directors sent emails over the weekend telling staff that, due to President Donald Trump’s executive order, their offices would be removing the pronoun capability from Office 365. Employees were told they’d also need to remove pronouns from their email signatures in order to comply with the directive.

A staffer at USAID says the formal deactivation of their ability to list pronouns occurred last week, in response to executive orders defining sexes issued by President Trump on his first day in office. A GSA staffer says pronouns were wiped from employees’ email signatures after hours on Friday and were also no longer visible in Slack, the workplace messaging app. At the CDC, there used to be a section for employees to share their pronouns on their Teams profiles, another workplace app. That field no longer exists.

Reached for comment, the White House transferred WIRED to OPM communications director McLaurine Pinover, who pointed to January 29 memorandum ordering agencies to disable all features “that prompt users for their pronouns.”

The ban on personal pronouns follows sweeping efforts by the White House to eliminate programs that encourage diversity and social justice within the federal government, as well as other references to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” in federal employees’ discourse.

In a striking example of the policy in action, an image surfaced last week of a wall being painted over at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Quantico, Virginia, academy due to it listing "diversity" among the bureau's core values. (According to an email from the FBI’s Office of Integrity and Compliance obtained by Mother Jones, the bureau no longer counts "diversity" among its core values.)

The Trump administration began a radical campaign last week aimed at inducing members of the federal workforce to leave their jobs ahead of threatened reductions. The effort is spearheaded by Elon Musk, leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force that has effectively seized control of several federal agencies and sensitive government systems with apparent clearance from the White House.

WIRED reported last week that Musk’s outfit had effectively taken over the Office of Personnel Management, the US government’s human resources department. In this and other efforts, it is employing inexperienced young engineers whose ages range from 19 to 24—many of whom, public records show, are former interns or have been affiliated with Musk-aligned companies.

OPM emailed federal workers on January 28 with a “deferred resignation offer,” sparking widespread confusion among federal workers. (DOGE’s own new HR chief was unable to answer basic questions about the offer in a contentious staff meeting last week, WIRED reported.) In an email to staff Sunday evening, OPM clarified whether the deferred resignation program complied with existing privacy laws. “Yes,” read the answer. “The deferred resignation program uses only basic contact information about federal employees, like name and government address, along with short, voluntary email responses. The information is stored on government systems. To the extent that the Privacy Act applies, all information relevant to the program is covered by existing OPM System Records Notices.”

Multiple agency sources told WIRED last week that several of Musk's lieutenants had been granted access to key computer systems controlled by the GSA, an independent agency tasked by Congress with overseeing federal buildings and providing equipment, supplies, and IT support across the government.

[meret118]

The cogent documentary, “Surveilled,” now available on HBO, tracks journalist Ronan Farrow as he investigates the proliferation and implementation of spyware, specifically, Pegasus, which was created by the Israeli company NSO Group. The company sells its product to clients who use it to fight crime and terrorism. It is claimed that Pegasus was instrumental in helping capture Mexican drug lord, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman. However, there are also reports that NSO’s products are being used to target journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents.

. . .

Farrow: I put up a piece in The New Yorker this week. It was fascinating to talk to experts in the privacy law space who are really in a high state of alarm right now. The United States, under administrations from both parties, has flirted with this technology in ways that is alarming. Under the first Trump administration, they bought Pegasus. They claimed they were buying it to test it and see what our enemies were doing, and The New York Times later sued them for more information and found really persuasive evidence that the FBI wanted to operationalize that in American law enforcement investigations.

In September, the Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S.) signed a two-million-dollar contract with Paragon, an Israeli firm whose spyware product Graphite focusses on breaching encrypted-messaging applications such as Telegram and Signal. Wired first reported that the technology was acquired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—an agency within D.H.S. that will soon be involved in executing the Trump Administration’s promises of mass deportations and crackdowns on border crossings. A source at Paragon told me that the deal followed a vetting process, during which the company was able to demonstrate that it had robust tools to prevent other countries that purchase its spyware from hacking Americans—but that wouldn’t limit the U.S. government’s ability to target its own citizens. The technology is part of a booming multibillion-dollar market for intrusive phone-hacking software that is making government surveillance increasingly cheap and accessible. In recent years, a number of Western democracies have been roiled by controversies in which spyware has been used, apparently by defense and intelligence agencies, to target opposition politicians, journalists, and apolitical civilians caught up in Orwellian surveillance dragnets.

Now Donald Trump and incoming members of his Administration will decide whether to curtail or expand the U.S. government’s use of this kind of technology. Privacy advocates have been in a state of high alarm about the colliding political and technological trend lines.

“It’s just so evident—the impending disaster,” Emily Tucker, the executive director at the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law, told me. “You may believe yourself not to be in one of the vulnerable categories, but you won’t know if you’ve ended up on a list for some reason or your loved ones have. Every single person should be worried.”

[poeticlark]

769 words, my own au i call "doll au", inspired by cyberpunk. everyone is a cyborg yah whatever. enjoy, and yes i accept questions on the au.

Part Two

-.-.-

Captain Curly’s medical file is 13 pages of technical jargon, schematics, therapy notes and several police reports. It's the longest in volume, outmatching even Swansea’s extensive age and habit of replacing livers when they fail him. 

Before completing a trimonthly diagnostic on each crewmember, Anya must read through their medical records to prepare. All restricted files on the Tulpar are paper, unable to be downloaded or accessed through any cyberware. Locked away in cases and drawers for select crew.

She opens Curly's file on the desk, organises the paper's with a soft shuffling. Slides her glasses on, so the eyestrain of the contacts doesn’t overwhelm. 

Her radio comforts, cello solos for reading while she drinks the Pony Express tea. Tea is a liberal interpretation of dust swept from the factory floor and stuffed into rice paper pouches that dissolve into the water, leaving behind a starchy taste. There’s only 100 packed for the whole trip, and she hates them.

Alas, the urge to drink tea while studying, self-ingrained through her schooling habits, is too strong to beat. Anya sips at her starchy dust water and tries to comprehend what a Systematic Ram Reshuffler is.

The Captain’s body is full of things, full of wires and chips. His files are full of complications from those wires and chips. She reads through the reports from his biomonitor, the watch embedded in his wrist, the bracing on his hand where he broke it in a warehouse accident. The optical enhancements he has, top market for his line of work. The maintainer attached to his heart. A diagram of his brain overflowing with neuralware, stretches of cabling stretching along the rippling tissue.

She jots down a note to monitor Curly for complications, and more stringent psychological evaluation. No wonder he’s so indebted, she thinks to herself. These implants must cost tens of thousands.

She stops in her shuffling, turns the radio down when a note rings out like a squeal. Surely, she misread it. Misunderstood. 

The fourth page is an extensive report of the process of installing a Morpheus Behavioural Chip from Projekt Industries. 

Something's kicking in her chest, something scared. A Morpheus.

The report is not as dramatic as maybe it should be, size twelve lettering on slightly creased paper. Perfectly normal language, probably typed out by a surgeon eager to rush off to their lunch break. Nauseatingly mundane and impassive. Totally typical of a post surgery report. She’s unsure that it’s about Curly, until she doubles and then triple checks his full name at the top of the page.

26th September, 1984: The implant was installed into the client’s frontal lobe. Surgery was 7 hours and 42 minutes. There were no complications.

28th September, 1984: The client woke up from anaesthetic and attempted to decannulate himself. The nurse on duty prevented this from happening, and he quickly regained composure.

29th September: 1984 The implant appears to have integrated with the client’s nervous system and frontal lobe without complication. No inflammation beyond standard medication. Diagnostics by a software engineer shows full functionality has been achieved.

13th October, 1984: The client will be discharged tonight, and return weekly until the end of the month for monitoring. Prescription for courses of medication sent electronically: immunosuppressants, antibiotics, antiinflammation and antiemetics will be supplied in courses  

A Morpheus chip in the frontal lobe of Captain Curly. Anya leans back, spine slamming into the back of her chair as her vision seems to fizzle at the edges. Curly, in charge of The Tulpar and the wellbeing of every single person on board, has a behavioural chip. Curly is a doll. 

Scolding herself for that kind of language, she lets the paper down on the desk like it stings to touch. Curly’s a person, a person with independent thoughts. Not some meat machine, and she’d be able to tell if it wasn’t him. His opticware is connected to the implant, an alert to anyone he talks to if it's active. Curly is himself, and himself is a person. A Morpheus chip doesn’t mean anything.

The cup of tea, wobbling precariously in her unsteady hand, tips onto her. It scalds, soaking into her uniform’s trousers and the pants underneath that.

“Fuck!” 

She stumbles to her feet, stumbling to get out of her uniform and shoving the papers across the table. It burns, bringing angry tears to her eyes as she stumbles to the sink reserved for handwashing. At least the medical room can lock, she bitterly recalls while stripping down to her underclothes and splashing water onto her angry, red skin. 

She's lost her appetite for pony express tea even more, now. Behavioural chip interfaces with all programs in functionality tests, the report read, and the dead pixel flashes at the back of her skull insistently.

[altaqwaelectric]

From Design to Deployment: How Switchgear Systems Are Built

In the modern world of electrical engineering, switchgear systems play a critical role in ensuring the safe distribution and control of electrical power. From substations and factories to commercial buildings and critical infrastructure, switchgear is the silent guardian that protects equipment, ensures safety, and minimizes power failures.

But have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes, from the idea to the actual installation? Let’s dive into the full journey — from design to deployment — of how a switchgear system is built.

Step 1: Requirement Analysis and Load Study

Every switchgear project begins with requirement analysis. This includes:

Understanding the electrical load requirements

Calculating voltage levels, short-circuit ratings, and operating current

Identifying environmental conditions: indoor, outdoor, temperature, humidity

Reviewing applicable industry standards like IEC, ANSI, or DEWA regulations (especially in UAE)

This stage helps engineers determine whether the project needs low voltage (LV), medium voltage (MV), or high voltage (HV) switchgear.

Step 2: Conceptual Design & Engineering

Once the requirements are clear, the conceptual design begins.

Selection of switchgear type (air insulated, gas insulated, metal-enclosed, metal-clad, etc.)

Deciding on protection devices: MCCBs, ACBs, relays, CTs, VTs, and fuses

Creating single-line diagrams (SLDs) and layout drawings

Choosing the busbar material (copper or aluminum), insulation type, and earthing arrangements

Software like AutoCAD, EPLAN, and ETAP are commonly used for precise engineering drawings and simulations.

Step 3: Manufacturing & Fabrication

This is where the physical structure comes to life.

Sheet metal is cut, punched, and bent to form the panel enclosures

Powder coating or galvanizing is done for corrosion protection

Assembly of circuit breakers, contactors, protection relays, meters, etc.

Internal wiring is installed according to the schematic

Every switchgear panel is built with precision and must undergo quality control checks at each stage.

Step 4: Factory Testing (FAT)

Before deployment, every switchgear unit undergoes Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) to ensure it meets technical and safety standards.

Typical FAT includes:

High-voltage insulation testing

Continuity and phase sequence testing

Functionality check of all protection relays and interlocks

Mechanical operations of breakers and switches

Thermal imaging to detect hotspots

Only after passing FAT, the switchgear is cleared for shipping.

Step 5: Transportation & Site Installation

Transportation must be handled with care to avoid damage to components. At the site:

Panels are unloaded and moved to their final location

Cabling and bus duct connections are established

Earthing systems are connected

Environmental sealing is done if installed outdoors or in dusty environments

Step 6: Commissioning & Site Acceptance Testing (SAT)

This final stage ensures the switchgear is ready for live operation.

Final checks and Site Acceptance Tests (SAT) are performed

System integration is tested with other components like transformers, UPS, and generators

Load tests and trial runs are conducted

Commissioning report is generated, and documentation is handed over to the client

Conclusion

From idea to execution, the journey of building a switchgear system is highly technical, safety-driven, and precision-based. Whether you’re in power generation, industrial automation, or commercial construction, understanding this process ensures you choose the right system for your needs.

[secularbakedgoods]

New story, plus a publishing fiasco

This is a crosspost of my newsletter! If you’d like to get posts like this direct to your inbox or RSS reader, you can subscribe here.

Book publisher Unbound went into administration (functionally, bankruptcy proceedings) last month. They've been behind on royalty payments to authors for a while (and openly intend to keep not paying them for the foreseeable future). It also looks like, in at least one case, they were deliberately under-reporting sales of books to stiff an author on royalties (which they weren't paying anyway).

Even in the world of commercial publishing, this is an act of soul-sucking evil. The author in question, Aaron Reynolds, apparently scrapped an entire book while operating under the belief that his previous one had flopped—when, in reality, it had sold out its print run.

Unbound (now Boundless) has announced they intend to continue operating. I have no idea how. After this clusterfuck, I don't see any author in their right mind signing with them.

New Flash Fiction: "Fifth of November"

From what Jay had heard, people who’d been in war zones tended not to enjoy fireworks all that much—especially when those fireworks were going off randomly in their neighbourhoods. Moran hadn’t said anything about it, but their relationship (for lack of a better word) wasn’t exactly at the trauma-sharing stage.

Jay Moriarty and Sebastian Moran spend Bonfire Night together in this brief interlude, which takes place between "Sebastian Moran Gets Mauled by a Tiger" and "Jay Moriarty Ruins Everybody’s Childhood." You can read it for free here!

This Week's Links

Builder.ai collapses after revelation that its "AI" was hundreds of engineers

For eight years, Builder.ai marketed its "Natasha" AI system as a fully autonomous tool that could build software "as easily as ordering pizza." However, internal documents and employee accounts reviewed by Bloomberg paint a sharply different picture. Engineers in Noida and Bangalore manually coded client projects while being instructed to mimic AI-generated responses.

‘It’s a Weird Time to Be Rich Right Now’

“In times past, wealthy people were considered aspirational figures. Now, it’s more like, ‘If you’re wealthy, you did something wrong. You cannot be a billionaire without being a criminal. The system is stacked against the rest of us.’ And that has gotten louder and louder, and my clients are hearing it, and it’s disturbing to them.”

Tim Friede, Herpetologist

Tim Friede has made it his life goal to help scientists develop a universal anti-venom by allowing himself to be bitten repeatedly by venomous snakes.

---

I think I've figured out how to engagement-bait on LinkedIn. There is no way to use this power for good. Only evil.

-K

[viridianriver]

Alright so part 2 of sharing wild stories from my job in rail now that my old (litigious-ass) employer has gone bankrupt. And this one? Fuckin crazy.

I used to work at this railway company that's since gone under (rest in piss), creating driverless and partially automated trains.

We had a client (All of our clients were city or country governments) and we'd made them a fancy new railway line, along with a bunch of other contractors. The whole project cost at least a billion, could have been several. (And only (allegedly) some of that spending was embezzlement or misappropriation! Good job railway companies, you actually made an effort to make railway infrastructure this time!) And as shitty and corrupt as the job was in other ways, the engineering work we did was solid. This thing was extremely safe and reliable.

So one day, the client comes to us freaking the fuck out. They were saying our software was telling the trains to do all sorts of wild shit. Shit that made no sense at all. Shit that could kill hundreds of people.

We asked if anyone unauthorized had been in the central control room, because that seemed the most likely issue. (Example control rooms pictured below)

It's supposed to be a very very secure place, I literally had to get a FBI background check to be allowed in one (which was hilarious in itself but that's another story), and the client still would have armed guards around. Even though I partially created the shit, they still would never let me anywhere near any controls. I probably woulda been dragged out of the room by armed guards before even getting a hand on anything if I tried. All us engineers knew to never touch anything you don't have permission to in there, don't even make any moves to look like you're gonna touch shit when you visit.

But the client swore up and down that they didn't let anyone in. So we started a deep technical forensic investigation into what could have caused these weird messages sent to the trains from central control. Me and a whole team spent weeks poring over logs of every little signal sent, which was a lot, since the signal frequency was on the order of milliseconds.

And we found, conclusively, that it was technically impossible our software did it. It was rigorously designed to meet safety standards - software like that doesn't just go rogue. And even if it does malfunction a little, it sure doesn't act like an evil "AI" from science fiction and start sending out commands to basically play bumper-cars with trains. The only possible explanation was that someone took the controls. And it didn't look like intelligent sabotage, a coworker joked that it looked like when you give a kid the mariokart controller.

We also found that our software had saved people's lives, the commands were saying to do shit like run trains over switches not in position, run trains where other trains were, and our software was like "no"

We were wracking our brains trying to find any other possible explanation for this weird 'malfunction' since we knew it'd start some shit with the client if we were like "nah you definitely fucked up" but there was literally no other possible explanation. We'd spent the better part of a month going Sherlock Holmes on this shit - and it was an open and shut case

So we delivered the report, basically saying "we definitely didn't do it - the only possibility is that someone must have been at the controls - also we mitigated the damage, so you're welcome" The client was pissed, and said that it was definitely our software because they keep their control room guarded, there was no unauthorized access, and they were sure it wasn't their staff. Eventually everyone but the lawyers forgot about it - and figured we'd never know who was button mashing.

Until a long time later, a coworker of mine was visiting with the clients, and they got drunk and told him that their country's leader had come to tour the new railway project, and their bosses let him into the control room. With his very young son. And they all kinda knew it wasn't our software at fault - but their employer wouldn't let them admit it, because the politician was a vindictive piece of shit. (He wasn't American, but let me just say he gave major Trump vibes)

I don't know what it was like in that room - but I can't imagine how the engineers were sweating. The button mashing went on for a while - and wtf do you do if the kid of the most powerful and prolly dangerous person in your country is running around playing trains in your control room? I honestly don't know what I'd do - but they went with "cover it up and blame the software" and "spend at least 50 grand of taxpayer money having engineers look for a software failure that we all know doesn't exist" which ... Is a choice. But honestly an understandable choice if you don't want to get imprisoned or some shit.

So this is all rumor - don't fuckin sue me - I'm just gossiping about what I heard and I dont know shit. But yeah, if I learned anything at that job?

Engineering rigor saves lives, never trust a manager who says "this would never happen" because honestly? Wilder shit than you can believe happens. Especially when powerful people who everyone is afraid of saying 'no' to come around.

Part of good engineering is designing not just for the expected use case, but for the absurdly negligent and horrific use cases. I'm damn relieved we built it well enough to stand up to a kid button mashing like it was a video game - because that would have been deadly otherwise.

Power isn't a meritocracy - if someone's in power, they're not likely to be smarter or better or more responsible than you. They're just some guy. And often that guy is a douchebag who's so negligent with other people's lives, he let his kid "play trains" with actual trains full of people.

Engineering is a very silly, and occasionally scary job and it just gets sillier and scarier the closer you get to absurd amounts of money and political power. It's honestly destroyed my ability to take any "authority" seriously, I swear they're usually either dumb as shit or scary as shit. Often both.

Anyway, I've got more dumbass stories if you want some more train gossip

[galwednesday]

This week's deep dive rec is Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou's investigation into infamously fraudulent biotech start-up Theranos and its founder and CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, which conveniently comes in both book and podcast format. Podcast summary:

She was once the world's youngest self-made female billionaire. Now Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the blood-testing startup Theranos, stands accused of leading a massive fraud, and lying to investors, doctors, and patients about the capabilities of her technology. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison. But Elizabeth may be able to sway a jury with her charisma, highly unusual defense strategy and the fact that key evidence has gone missing. John Carreyrou broke the Theranos scandal. Now he’ll take you into the courtroom as he examines Silicon Valley’s fake it-til-you-make it culture, and the case against Holmes.

Episodes 8 and 9 are particularly interesting looks into how Theranos secured funding and partnerships using faked demos, and how this strategy fell apart when potential clients pressed for more technical details. Episode 8 summary:

Elizabeth Holmes wowed investors, board members and journalists with live, in-person demonstrations that made it seem like her blood-testing machine worked. But most of these demos were faked. Behind the scenes, the blood samples were tested either manually or on third-party lab equipment. It's an astoundingly bold deception that was enabled by a software application Sunny Balwani wrote.

Episode 9 excerpt:

NARRATOR: The DOD contingent pressed for more information on how the black box that looked like a big desktop computer tower even worked. Holmes and Edlund refused to answer. That was a trade secret, they repeated. Frustrated, one member of the DOD delegation blurted out, "I'm starting to believe the device is just a box of Palo Alto air." Sensing that they were fast losing credibility, Holmes and Edlund made a small concession. They agreed to pass around the white rectangular cartridge containing the blood sample that slotted into the front of the device. Wagar asked what was inside the cartridge beside the blood sample. WAGAR: And they're like, we're not going to tell you. And so when I got to me, I reached into my pocket and pulled my Swiss army knife out and I started to try and cut it apart because you know, I'm curious and that really wigged them out. Um, I think they kind of jumped over the table to take it back from me. And I laughed at them and I said, you know, you realize that if you actually let this thing out into the wild, the first cartridge, people are going to tear it apart to see how it works. You know, you can't nondisclosure the entire Department of Defense.