#document management company in UK

[orientalsolutions]

Document Management Company

Document Management Oriental Solutions is a leading document management company based in India, specializing in digital document management services. Streamline your workflow, enhance security, and increase efficiency with our comprehensive solutions. Experience hassle-free document organization, retrieval, and storage, all backed by cutting-edge technology and a team of experts. Transform your business today with Oriental Solutions. Contact us now for a consultation and take your document management to the next level.

[cheriladycl01]

Switching up on me - Esteban Ocon x Lawyer! Reader

Plot: Busy days using an underground train system you aren't familiar too is stressful enough with all the people and noises, but your day couldn't get any worse when you switch bags with the person you bumped into on the platform.

You were currently running around central Milan in a tizz, you were trying to find the underground station so you could make your way over to the building your client had sent through.

Usually your legal firm dealt with everything strictly in the UK, but this high profile client of yours was unable to make the travel from Italy to England. Your boss sent you off saying you'd have to meet him there to run through final things before you went to court. Everything was in a large duffle bag, all the private documents and confidential agreements and you were struggling holding it next to you.

Once you got into the subway system you placed the bag down next to you but close enough no-one would be able to steal from you. A gentleman came and stood next to you waiting for the next train that was supposed to come in about a minute.

What you didn't anticipate was Milan's sudden rush hour, some guy bumped into you making your trip over your bag. The guy who was next to you caught you and held you steady so you didn't fall onto the tunneled track.

"Thank you!" you smile up at him, and you guys continue to stare up at each other until the train comes into the station. People push their way off and the mystery man looks up at the train side and gasps when he notices it's his. He grabs his bag and jumps on while you watch in awe as the love of your life, your literal soulmate leaves the station on the train.

You wait knowing that one was heading out of the city and sit on a bench waiting for yours to come in.

You pick up the bag which feels slightly heavier than before but you don't think much off it. You get on the next tube which is luckily a lot quieter and manage to get a seat and have your bag on your lap. When you feel it, it feels a little odd, not as padded out in some areas as you remembered it being.

You slowly unzip the bag, seeing none of your things. No water bottle with turtle stickers, or university hoodie, no legal documents of your clients and no nice pair of heels you were supposed to put on before you got to the office after your train commute and small walk.

"No no no!" you whispers to yourself rummaging through finding a helmet, a suit and other various manly bits that weren't yours.

You then remembered the man on the platform and that you must have switched bags. You smiled at the thought that you guys had the exact same bags which just fueled your thoughts of the fact that the very attractive man that saved your life on the Milan underground was in fact your soulmate.

You get off at the next stop at a completely random place in Milan, where you see and advertisement for the F1 race in Monza. The guy must be something to do with that, he was heading that way and he had the helmet and race suit.

You pull out your phone and pull up your clients number before calling them.

"Hey Y/N!" they answer after one ring and immediately they sound a little guilty.

"Everything alright?" you ask.

"Well, you see somethings come up and I'm going to need to postpone everything until tomorrow and the day after, I'll pay for the flight for the inconvenience and your extra hotel expenses and you know what even through dinner on me tomorrow night. I'll take you to a nice place in Milan, but I'm so sorry I cant do it today!" she blurts out and a massive smile comes onto your face.

"That's no problem at all, I can er... do a little more research in the mean time and ... maybe explore the city!" you exclaim knowing you'd be heading on a tube straight for Monza.

"Ahhhh! Your a star I'm so glad the company sent you! I swear you are the only one I trust! But defiantly explore the city it's beautiful. I'll see you tomorrow babe but I really have to go! Okay goodbye!" she says before hanging up.

"You clutch the bag, looking around before you find your way to the nearest taxi service.

"Hello, could you take me to Monza? The er race track?" you ask having no idea if there was a specific name.

"130 euro!" he says and your eyes nearly bulge out of your head at the price.

"Yeah, that's fine!" you grit your teeth.

You are there in no-time jumping out after paying the driver and looking at the map to try and find the most sensible place to go. You assume the paddock where it leads to the garages makes the most sense.

However as you get there and see the security and the pass entrance you start to panic. You walk up to one of the security with a friendly smile on your face which was almost sheepish.

"Hi, this is going to sound so bizarre but I think I've switched bags with a driver and I have their helmet and race suit. Can I get in to hand it back to him please and to get my bag back?" you ask and he laughs.

"Yeah sod off kid!" he laughs the one next to him joining in.

"No I'm being series look!" you say unzipping the bag. They look at it and look between each other.

"Radio it through to alpine" one of the says before walking off through the entrance. You awkwardly stand there waiting for someone to say anything.

"I've been told to bring her through!" the one on the walky talky says letting you go through. He walks with you until you come up to one place that has a big picture of the man you met in the subway.

"Esteban?" you ask pointing to his picture and the security guard nods.

"Apparently he went out to look for you, he's been called by his team to come back as you are here!" he smiles before walking off towards the front. Someone comes running out the front in team gear smiling at you.

"Hey, come with me can we get you anything to drink. You can wait in Esteban's driver room!" he smiles and you politely decline a drink, placing yourself on the sofa and waiting patiently.

"Hey!" a voice interrupts you from scrolling on your phone.

"Hey, I erm think I have something of yours!" you grin, holding up the bag and he sighs seeing his bag the exact colour and model that yours was.

"Thank god! That bag has my life in it!" he cries.

"I think i would have been fired if I actually lost mine!" you admit.

"Yeah, I just want you to know the minute I saw confidential i didn't look through anything. I only found the key card to your hotel room, that's where I was heading to in hopes you'd gone there to try make some calls.

"I worked out you must be a driver and that you'd probably be in dire need so i came straight here!" you smile and he nods.

"Well thank you for delivering the goods!" he smiles handing over your bag. You smile and thank him, before hesitating to exit the room. However you do with a sad sort of smile, knowing you'd probably never see him again.

"Wait!" a voice shouts making your turn round and you see Esteban stood there.

"Can I please have your number, or take you out to dinner as a thank you?" he asks looking over you, trying to get a read.

"Really?" you grin, not expecting him to have asked.

"Well, I think it's sort of fate right?" he asks with a little sly grin on his face.

"Yeah, I guess you're right!" you grin.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhh @georgeparisole @dakotatankbig @youcannotcancelquidditch @zzonsbeek @tallbrownhairsarcastic @mellowarcadefun @ourteenagetragedy @otako5811 @countingstacksandpanicattacks @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @hopexcroc @mirrorball-6 @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @the-fem1n1ne-urge @21stcenturytaegi @dark-night-sky-99 @spideybv28 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @kapsylia @laneyspaulding19 @lazybot @malynn @cassielikereading @viennakarma @teamnovalak @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @jlb20416 @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @seomako @urdad-hot @formula1mount @tinydeskwriter @butterfly-lover @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount @styl1shl1v

[sgiandubh]

Have nothing against Ashley, but how are things better? Only seen the gin on one bar. Rest are just her cocktail pictures. Where's the sales information, data? Where are cocktails featuring Sassy on their permanent menus? Still unsold bottles at local store here and nothing has been sold out for his small batch whisky. Do not see anything of an impact except nice pictures in bars and her comped trip to the UK. It's too expensive for an unknown brand, period. It's good but not great and nothing special that other more established brands do. The pop up was again directed to OL female fans. It's far too early to see any impact, unless you have P&L documents showing differently, do you?

Dear Nothing Against Anon,

Oh, here we go again: the pseudo-expert fuckwit, coming along with her corporate vocabulary, fake syllogisms and paltry logic, just in order to tearfully drone that sinister 'I hope that prick fails and disappears forever' dirge.

You sound just like those cowardly Fascist types who always start their worst bullshit rants with statements like: 'I am not a racist, but...' (proceeds with all the rest of the Klan's repertoire).

I wouldn't trust your perception of time, either. You want results, you want them NOW and you want them with a rabid vengeance you could surely put to a better use for the profit of more noble collective causes. But you seem to conveniently forget one simple, tiny detail:

She just started working for Great Glen Company's Sassenach Spirits subsidiary last May. For being less than three months in that company, she surely started to make a difference, taking things out of slumber, using her contacts and mapping out what clearly is an expansion strategy. What do you want her to do first? Change everything in 24 hours, preferably with a magic wand? Shouldn't she at least start somewhere and with something, first? She is doing exactly what I was expecting her to do, Anon: terrain work, in order to get a better feel of the market's fabric. And she is doing it the only right way - go where relevant people and relevant potential outlets are, talk to those people, make things happen.

As many, too many people in here, you are just judging based on what you see of her work on her and SS's social media accounts. While doing this, you also seem to conveniently ignore the amount of BTS work it takes - are you, by any chance, one of those incompetent corporate execs, always talking with great confidence about things they have no real grasp upon, Anon?

No, you aren't. Not even that. You are just another random moron, with a smattering of management accounting notions. You write absurd idiocies like '(...) unless you have P&L documents showing differently, do you? ', perhaps in the hope you'd intimidate me, or something. You probably have no idea of the fact that P&L (that is Profit & Loss, by the way) documents are mandatory for public companies only and issued on a quarterly and annual basis. And for your information, doll: a public company is a company using shares of stock in order to organize ownership. It may or may not be listed on a stock exchange, but the intention to have those shares traded is always present.

Until further notice, Great Glen Company is a private company, governed by US law. There is no legal obligation to issue the documents you so confidently mention.

And the pop up shop? Not really for mommies:

Now go play elsewhere. I have no time to further lose with people like you.

[kp777]

By Gene Marks

The Guardian Opinions

April 9, 2023

Everyone seems to be worried about the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) these days. Even technology leaders including Elon Musk and the Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak have signed a public petition urging OpenAI, the makers of the conversational chatbot ChatGPT, to suspend development for six months so it can be “rigorously audited and overseen by independent outside experts”.

Their concerns about the impact AI may have on humanity in the future are justified – we are talking some serious Terminator stuff, without a Schwarzenegger to save us. But that’s the future. Unfortunately, there’s AI that’s being used right now which is already starting to have a big impact – even financially destroy – businesses and individuals. So much so that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) felt the need to issue a warning about an AI scam which, according to this NPR report “sounds like a plot from a science fiction story”.

But this is not science fiction. Using deepfake AI technology, scammers last year stole approximately $11m from unsuspecting consumers by fabricating the voices of loved ones, doctors and attorneys requesting money from their relatives and friends.

“All [the scammer] needs is a short audio clip of your family member’s voice – which he could get from content posted online – and a voice-cloning program,” the FTC says. “When the scammer calls you, he’ll sound just like your loved one.”

And these incidents aren’t limited to just consumers. Businesses of all sizes are quickly falling victim to this new type of fraud.

That’s what happened to a bank manager in Hong Kong, who received deep-faked calls from a bank director requesting a transfer that were so good that he eventually transferred $35m, and never saw it again. A similar incident occurred at a UK-based energy firm where an unwitting employee transferred approximately $250,000 to criminals after being deep-faked into thinking that the recipient was the CEO of the firm’s parent. The FBI is now warning businesses that criminals are using deepfakes to create “employees” online for remote-work positions in order to gain access to corporate information.

Deepfake video technology has been growing in use over the past few years, mostly targeting celebrities and politicians like Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Cruise, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. And I’m sure that this election year will be filled with a growing number of very real-looking fake videos that will attempt to influence voters.

But it’s the potential impact on the many unsuspecting small business owners I know that worries me the most. Many of us have appeared on publicly accessed videos, be it on YouTube, Facebook or LinkedIn. But even those that haven’t appeared on videos can have their voices “stolen” by fraudsters copying outgoing voicemail messages or even by making pretend calls to engage a target in a conversation with the only objective of recording their voice.

This is worse than malware or ransomware. If used effectively it can turn into significant, immediate losses. So what do you do? You implement controls. And you enforce them.

This means that any financial manager in your business should not be allowed to undertake any financial transaction such as a transfer of cash based on an incoming phone call. Everyone requires a call back, even the CEO of the company, to verify the source.

And just as importantly, no transaction over a certain predetermined amount must be authorized without the prior written approval of multiple executives in the company. Of course there must also be written documentation – a signed request or contract – that underlies the transaction request.

These types of controls are easier to implement in a larger company that has more structure. But accountants at smaller businesses often find themselves victim of management override which can best be explained by “I don’t care what the rules are, this is my business, so transfer the cash now, dammit!” If you’re a business owner reading this then please: establish rules and follow them. It’s for your own good.

So, yes, AI technology like ChatGPT presents some terrifying future risks for humanity. But that’s the future. Deepfake technology that imitates executives and spoofs employees is here right now and will only increase in frequency.

[mariacallous]

The US is widely seen as the global leader in artificial intelligence, thanks to companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta. But the US government says it needs help from other nations to manage the risks posed by AI technology.

At an international summit on AI Safety in Seoul on Tuesday, the US delivered a message from Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announcing that a global network of AI safety institutes spanning the US, UK, Japan, Canada, and other allies will collaborate to contain the technology’s risks. She also urged other countries to join up.

“Recent advances in AI carry exciting, life-changing potential for our society, but only if we do the hard work to mitigate the very real dangers,” Secretary Raimondo said in a statement released ahead of the announcement. “It is paramount that we get this right and that we do so in concert with our partners around the world to ensure the rules of the road on AI are written by societies that uphold human rights, safety, and trust.”

The US government has previously said advances in AI create national security risks, including the potential to automate or accelerate the development of bioweapons or to enable more damaging cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

One challenge for the US, alluded to in Raimondo’s statement, is that some national governments may not be eager to fall in line with its approach to AI. She said the US, the UK, Japan, Canada, Singapore, and the European AI Office would work together as the founding members of a “global network of AI safety institutes.”

The Commerce Department declined to comment on whether China had been invited to join the new AI safety network. Fears that China will use advanced AI to empower its military or threaten the US led first the Trump administration and now the Biden administration to roll out a series of restrictions on Chinese access to key technology.

The US and China have at least opened a line of communication. A meeting between President Biden and Chinese president Xi Jinping in November saw the two superpowers agree to hold talks on AI risks and safety. Representatives from the nations met in Switzerland last week to hold the first round of discussions.

The Commerce Department said that representatives of the new global AI safety network’s members will meet in San Francisco later this year. A blueprint issued by the agency says that the network will work together to develop and agree upon methodologies and tools for evaluating AI models and ways to mitigate the risks of AI. “We hope to help develop the science and practices that underpin future arrangements for international AI governance,” the document says. A commerce department spokesperson said that the network would help nations tap into talent, experiment more quickly, and agree on AI standards.

The Seoul summit on AI safety this week is cohosted by the UK government, which convened the first major international meeting on the topic last November. That summit culminated in more than 28 countries including the US, members of the EU, and China signing a declaration warning that artificial intelligence is advancing with such speed and uncertainty that it could cause “serious, even catastrophic, harm.”

Amid rapid deployment of generative AI systems like ChatGPT last year, some prominent researchers and tech leaders began to speak more loudly about the potential for AI algorithms to become difficult to control and perhaps even a threat to humanity. Talk of the most far-off threats has since faded, but policymakers around the world are concerned about more immediate problems, such as the potential for generative AI tools like ChatGPT to spread disinformation and interfere with elections. In January, some voters in New Hampshire received robocalls using an AI-generated fake of Joe Biden’s voice.

Last October, President Biden issued a wide-ranging executive order to address the potential and pitfalls of fast-moving leaps in AI most evident with the startling abilities of ChatGPT. The Commerce Department was ordered to work on a number of initiatives to develop AI safety standards and also to develop a plan for global “engagement on promoting and developing AI standards.”

Biden’s executive order also required the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is part of the Commerce Department, to establish a US AI Safety Institute to systematically test AI models to understand how they could be misused and how they might behave.

[jess-moloney]

We know that from around June 2022 until around April of 2023 Jess was always with Jamie. No matter where he went or what he was doing, he was always with Jamie.

So she founded the Ice Studios collective with Renell in 2021 (even though by all accounts Renell herself had already founded Ice Studios by herself in 2017 before Jess even met her). In one of Jess's interviews, she says when she met Renell she told her boss that they had to rep her.

Which doesn't make sense because at what point did she really have a boss? By 2016 she was director at Donna Management so you'd think that she'd have just been able to sign Renell herself. What boss is she talking about? Not to mention this would have also been in the UK so not sure why Renell would have wanted to be repped in the UK since she works out of the US.

Whatever the case here is, it doesn't seem that whenever this meeting happened she was actually successful in repping Renell because by the point she started her own business in the announcement it only says that Jess will be representing Justine Skye (or more accurately people such as Justine Skye) but it doesn't go on to list a bunch of names like you think it would if she had a bunch of high profile clients and Renell should have been on that list because allegedly, according to Jess, Renell is the "whole reason she started her own company".

The first evidence we have of Jess actually being around Renell is in 2019 at that party. Not saying they couldn't have met before that but I don't think she was super involved with much of anything to do with Renell until that point because it was only after that point that she seemed to get off her arse and do something to make Ice Studios Happen. Then she bragged about it for maybe a year on Instagram stealing photos and randomly adding the Ice Studios hashtag to them even though Ice Studios couldn't have had anything to do with the pictures Lily-Rose Depp was posting to her Instagram.

After that point, we know that she was just with Jamie. All the time. Everywhere he went. For everything. She documented basically every single second of it on social media. So for a period of a year we know she couldn't have been working at Ice Studios or doing much for Ice Studios. At most, she was making some phone calls and maybe sending some emails but she was obviously way more preoccupied with being around Jamie, being seen with Jamie, making sure everyone knew she was with Jamie, and establishing her own fandom out of Jamie's fans.

April of 2023 was the last convention she attended with Jamie. She also stopped traveling with him to film. Don't believe for one second that she wouldn't have posted all over the place if she was with him when he went to France, Hong Kong, or Memphis. We know that she couldn't have possibly been there because she didn't post and there's no photos of them there together (like they used to do when they traveled). There's also no photos of her in any other places like going to New York to do any actual work, at an office, visiting with any other friends, attending events or award shows (which she surely should have been invited to some since one of her alleged clients, Quil Lemons) definitely was at a few.

Then Complexcon happened, which she promoted once. She didn't show up to work at it or bother to see her "best friend" and business partner Renell. Which there isn't any excuse for because this happened in her own state she could have driven to the location and worked there every single day. Yet, we see literally none of that because it didn't happen. Renell managed to fly in from New York to work there but Jess couldn't even get in her car to do it. She just stayed in Jamie's house making cooking videos and waiting for Jamie to come back.

During the holidays they posted their Holiday greetings late and it wasn't a photo of them together just a photo that Jamie allegedly took of her holding some pastries she allegedly made and a photo she took of him in his kitchen. Then nothing until a few days later where she spams Instagram with several stories of her snowboarding (no Jamie). A few days after that she posts a few uncomfortable photos of Jamie in her story and Jamie posts one or two in his. She posts a collection of photos from that trip to her IG for NYE but Jamie only posts one and doesn't bother to post any of Jess.

As we can establish from this entire time period:

She was not doing any hard work for or with Ice Studios whatsoever because she was either with Jamie or at his house and this can be proven via her own posts and social media. The most work she could have been doing for Renell are things like:

Calling clients/businesses and trying to get Renell work (though it's debatable how much she got Renell any work because Renell has her own connections and probably does fine without Jess repping her or taking a cut but somehow Jess convinced Renell to give her money anyway).

Sending some emails to some people (who knows how many or what she was even doing with that because what can she do and who does she know that Renell doesn't know?) It also seems to me Renell is known enough by enough people that they probably would have reached out independently to her for work.

Signing off on some projects, maybe. I don't think Jess was ever part of the creative process as she claims. I think Renell probably told Jess "This is what I'm going to do and what it's going to be like" and Jess said, "That sounds like a good idea, go do that" then went back to her Jamie stalking or lurking around his house.

Then suddenly 2024 comes in. Jess is quiet for a lot of it, and Jamie doesn't acknowledge her on Valentine's day at all. She's not been seen with him for months. He basically doesn't act like she exists or he wants to be seen with her.

By April he puts out new music. She doesn't promote it. Her only comments on it were a few random emojis and the "SO SICK ❤️❤️" comment on the video post (none of which he replied to). At the same time, his music video drops she's in New York with her "besties" getting drunk and hanging out with them for like a week. She's also making sure everyone knows it by posting pictures of it. Then she drops a video interview where she says something about Social Media being toxic, filming the interview in a hallway for no reason, where she's interrupted at least once by a loud squawking bird and then at another point an extremely loud truck/car motor. Seems odd she didn't have a better place to do that interview where it would have looked more professional or quiet, you know, like an office.

Finally, she leaves her house, after definitely not doing any significant work whatsoever for Renell or Ice Studios (but taking tonnes of credit for it) just so she can appear at an awards ceremony.

In all of this timeline, which we know she wasn't working with Renell directly, doing any hard work, doing anything whatsoever, what exactly is it that the Jess stans think she's so great for? Moral support? Telling Renell she was a "good photographer" but never bothering to visit her or help out with anything pertaining to half the business she owns? Not promoting the sample sale? Being erased from the Ice Studios website?

All of this is so extremely and utterly convenient for Jess. Putting out this interview to claim she doesn't like social media (which is a lie because she does and she keeps using it to share her life and make sure people know she's left the house and can do things without Jamie). Her narrative seems more like a cover story for why she doesn't have photos with Jamie anymore, but not the truth. As for whatever the fuck is going on with Renell we know she couldn't have possibly been that integral to Renell's success and we know that Ice Studios as a business has only declined over the two years or so Jess did literally nothing but follow Jamie around or sit in his house and do nothing. She doesn't even have an office to work out of.

There's no way this woman has a huge list of "clients" she's managing with how her lifestyle is. There's no way this woman is doing hard work for anything. What this woman is doing (if she has more clients than Renell) is probably overcharging a lot of gullible people for her "service" of making a phone call or two to get them work (if she's even doing that much). It's questionable what she even does for income but if she is doing anything with any clients (that she doesn't even have a registered license to do in California) it's not a lot and it's not making her a millionaire. We also know that so we'd also have to question where she's getting all this money. Not only to travel but to get $400 dollar haircuts, all this skincare crap she promoted in that interview, maintenance on her severely botoxed face, tattoo upkeep, and her designer clothing. The only real answer is that Jamie is the one taking care of her the most which would probably explain why he's killing himself to do conventions because she's leeching off of him like he's a never-ending fountain of money.

Everyone knows all of this to be the case because we could see it happening and yet everyone also wants to ignore all of this because Jess showed up at one award show in 2 years of not doing anything to "support" Renell without looking at the bigger picture.

Why are people ignoring that this change is very sudden, it's out of character, and that the most likely reason she's doing it is to prove something and not because she's genuine in her motives at all? I don't know or understand what's going on but we can't blatantly ignore her selfish and lazy behaviour before this point either and jump to the conclusion that Jess has always just been this way. No, she hasn't. She's been doing nothing for over two years then suddenly decided to do one thing and make it appear as if she has a life outside of Jamie. It's shameless self-promotion. It's not who she is or how she is or she'd have been like this all along.

Why her stans ignore this or just don't care to listen to the facts I don't know but a leopard doesn't change its spots and Jess is not this iconic, empowered, girlboss feminist lady everyone wants to portray her as just because she showed up at a party for an awards show after two years of doing nothing.

[ingek73]

After Harry’s phone hacking victory, is it last orders for tabloid top brass?

Some commentators now believe that the duke’s crusade against the popular press will finally bring about a reckoning

Inside the ballroom of the Hilton Bankside on Thursday evening, the mood among journalists was high. Prizes were being handed out, celebratory toasts were made and backs were slapped. Officiating at the annual press awards jamboree was a bow-tie-wearing Dominic Ponsford, the editor-in-chief of the industry journal behind the event, who even took a moment to joke about past clashes with Prince Harry, the fabled “ginger whinger”.

Seated at the tables around him were many of those newspaper editors and columnists who have been publicly warring with the King’s errant second child, including Piers Morgan, the former gossip journalist, talent show judge, ex-editor of the Daily Mirror and television presenter. At one point towards the end of the night the group of singers hired to jolly up the lengthy proceedings, burst into the chorus from the song The Final Countdown. Great fun.

But a day later and some in the room are facing their own ominous countdown, or at least a potential final reckoning. Could the landlord at that famous “last chance saloon”, the watering hole at which Home Office minister David Mellor once warned the “gentlemen” of the popular press they were drinking in, really be shouting out “Time, please” once again, twenty years on?

The ruling from Mr Justice Fancourt in the High Court on Friday, one which found the Duke had been subjected to damaging, illegal press activity between 2003 and 2009, has had some immediate effects. The Mirror Group of newspapers, in the frame during the legal proceedings, “apologised unreservedly” for “historical wrong-doing” later that day. But the impact of Fancourt’s 386-page judgement on the reputations of other British newspaper businesses may take a little longer to show.

“Thank goodness for Prince Harry. The police now need to look at this and promptly,” said Brian Cathcart, the media campaigner and Hacked Off founder. “There are many people involved who are still in prominent, opinion-forming positions on newspapers.”

Dr Evan Harris, a former director of Hacked Off who has spent the last few years carrying out legal analysis for the claimants in the hacking litigation, also believes the torch of justice has just been relit by the duke. “Since the contentious decision by the Crown Prosecution Service in 2015 that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any Mirror journalist or executive for phone hacking, tens of thousands of documents have been disclosed in this litigation, and as they were deployed in open court, many key documents are available to the police to see.”

There are also dozens of new witnesses and extensive judicial findings, Harris added. “The claimants stand ready to assist the police and CPS with identifying such material relevant to the original criminal conduct and to the new questions of perjury and perverting the course of justice,” he said.

Writing in Prospect magazine, its editor, Alan Rusbridger, who edited the Guardian when it broke the hacking story in 2009, argues that Fancourt’s words have cut through years of deceit. “We know that newspaper managements at two of our biggest media companies have consistently concealed and denied the truth about what went on,” he wrote. “They have issued dishonest statements and have lied to parliament, the stock exchange, to other journalists, to regulators and even the Leveson inquiry, set up to establish the truth. And now some have been caught telling porkies in court.”

Nick Davies, who first broke the hacking scandal while at the Guardian, was quick to express his more limited hopes for change on social media. “If the UK were just and democratic, Murdoch’s Talk TV would now have to consider suspending Piers Morgan and Richard Wallace, and the Met police would have to scope an investigation into Mirror Group crime. If,” he wrote.

More than a billion pounds has already been paid out in costs and damages, Rusbridger emphasised, without any admissions of guilt implicating senior editors or owners. And key emails have been deleted and documents lost. Speaking to the Observer this weekend, he added: “The press managed to sidestep the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which was supposed to deal with past wrongdoing. So it’s now been left to individual litigants to drag the truth out into daylight. It’s not very satisfactory, and probably can’t be fully achieved until everyone involved in past misdeeds has moved on – or been moved on.”

One of the stories produced in evidence during the recent MGN phone hacking trial. Photograph: PA

The focus is now likely to switch to the Daily Mail, against which the Duke of Sussex still has many outstanding allegations. It could even be the beginning of what critics of British “tabloid culture” are heralding as an era of serious redress that, for them, would make up for the dropping of the planned second part of the Leveson inquiry, a decision taken against the judge’s wishes by former Tory culture secretary, Matt Hancock. Murdoch’s newspaper group, owner of the Sun, does look vulnerable. Many of those implicated in the judge’s ruling are working there. Former editor of the rightwing popular titles the Sun and the defunct News of the World, Rebekah Brooks, who once avoided disgrace, is now CEO of News UK. This weekend her rehabilitation looks wobbly.

Morgan, now a presenter on Murdoch’s Talk TV, gave an angry doorstep statement on Friday and still appears to be banking on dodging bullets. His carefully worded defence did not deny knowledge of the practice of phone hacking and so did not contradict the judgement, as the performer and campaigner Steve Coogan, who settled a claim in 2017 for a six-figure sum, wryly noted on Saturday morning. More optimistically, Coogan added that there now seems a chance that the protective “omertà” guarding the guilty editors has begun to weaken.

He told the Observer yesterday: “We now have a high court judge making clear that a judge-led public inquiry was misled by multiple witnesses , namely Sly Bailey, Paul Vickers, Lloyd Embley, Piers Morgan, Tina Weaver, Neil Wallis and Richard Wallace, and of course that public inquiry was cancelled halfway through, against the wishes of Sir Brian Leveson, by Matt Hancock at the behest of the newspapers – including Mirror Group – who were being investigated.”

Prince Harry has described his chief virtue as patience, but Coogan now calls him “brave” for breaking the “Faustian pact” he claims some royals have had with the press, drawn up for reasons of self-preservation.

Prince Harry’s attitude diverged from the family path well before the birth of his sonArchie in 2019, but he became much bolder after that. Later that year his wife, Meghan Markle, announced that she was suing the Mail on Sunday for printing parts of her letter to her estranged father and the duke also revealed he was taking action over alleged phone hacking.

Two years ago, the Prince won an apology from the Mail on Sunday over an article claiming he had turned his back on the military and the high court in London ruled that the same paper had breached Meghan’s privacy by publishing extracts from her letter. A year ago Harry started a libel claim against the Mail on Sunday over an article claiming he had tried to keep official protection for his family and then, in October last year, he joined the singer Elton John and others in suing the publisher of the Daily Mail, alleging phone tapping and other breaches of privacy.

The Duke’s unexpected, even historic, appearance at the high court at the beginning of his lawsuit against the Daily Mail’s publisher took place in March, and then, in early June, he arrived to give evidence at the Mirror Group phone hacking trial, arguing that about 140 articles published from 1996 to 2010 contained information obtained via unlawful methods.

There are accusations of vendettas on both sides, of course. It is a term the duke used on Friday when speaking of the vitriol he had detected, ever since he was first exposed by the tabloids as a teenager for smoking cannabis and then for rowing with his brother about whether or not to meet up with Paul Burrell.

Both of these gobbets of information reached the public through illicit means, according to the Fancourt verdict. Yet a former executive at Reach, the national news group that owns the Mirror, suspects the duke and his fellow campaigners are being disingenuous. He may not have gone as far as Morgan, who called the “California-tanned” Duke “greedy” yesterday, but he does believe the celebrity campaigners are out for revenge. “They are settling scores. We all know that, whatever they say in public about their motivation,” the former editor said.

Other more measured defenders of the press, such as Sir Alan Moses, a former chairman of the Independent Press Standards Association, are concerned about attempts to set up a phoney “licensed press” that would operate only within government restrictions. Speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this weekend, he said the press should ideally be “unruly”, although subject to the law. There was, Moses argued, an exceptional case to be made for the industry to protect freedom of expression.

For the experienced Guardian journalist Polly Toynbee, the prize of a reformed press can now at least be glimpsed, although a fatal wound inflicted to an ailing newspaper title would not be a good thing: “I am delighted to see press standards called to account and I hope that the people behind this do now get called to account,” she said. “IPSO and press regulation are a disgrace for not investigating this themselves years ago. But it would be a tragedy if we lost the Mirror as a result, an all too rare non-Tory newspaper.”

[icouldntfindquiet]

I just saw your post and thought I’d give a little more context! Sorry for the length 🫣

Under certain circumstances and work related reasons, musicians can stay longer than 90 days. Think it’s up to a full year. Labels and/or management can provide documents for longer stays if international musicians are working. Van likely has a working visa and Benji probably has either a spouse visa or green card. I believe you have to stay in the country for a certain amount of time for both and it depends how long they’ve been married.

Catfish didn’t really need management from late 2021 till showtime was released as they were inactive. Yes it would’ve helped but again, not necessarily needed and they would’ve needed to be paid which either the label or Van could’ve been unwilling to pay for the time being. Management doesn’t take long to find and Van very well could be in the US interviewing management companies. I hate dunking on UK management cause some are really good but US management is generally better overall. I’ve worked with and experienced both as a fan. Really hoping they sign with Q Prime as they manage loads of solid acts. Look at their website!

Not sure what the situation is with the album but I would’ve assumed it was done and records have been pressed therefore ready to be announced. It takes 6-9 months for copies to be pressed (vinyl is in high demand and there are very limited factories so it’s backed up for roughly another decade). IMO I don’t think the album is being worked on for this reason but if it’s not pressed (which could explain the delay in the album announcement cause vinyl is a huge part of sales) then I guess it could be album related work with Sardy. Could also be doing press stuff out here. Doubt it but always a possibility.

He could also be in the US for privacy since Catfish are so unknown here. I can only imagine he’s pissed off and possibly embarrassed about what’s happened. Really feeling for all of them at the moment. None of this was really any of the band’s fault. You never know how management will play out either. Can’t imagine how disappointed they are but they’ll (hopefully) come back stronger. I wish we could all give them a big hug!

No worries! Thanks for the insight. It was interesting to read. I don’t know much about visas but it looks like Van has some nice music industry perks. 😁👍 I don’t know how often Benji goes to the US. His wife used to post stories when they were together in the US but hasn’t for a long time now.

Yeah, it’d be a waste of money paying for management if there’s no work. I realized lots of people think he’s in the US now but I don’t think he’s currently there. I noticed his account said US on 9th August. Van was clearly back in the UK for R&L but it’s been stuck saying the US so either he’s not logged in for a while or it’s stuck. Their statement says they’ve seen a doctor and I’m assuming it’s in the UK. I can’t imagine how complex it is to seek medical treatment in the US as a UK citizen but maybe he has music industry perks. 🤷‍♀️ I see Q Prime manages Foals, The Last Dinner Party, and Declan McKenna from the UK! All artists I’m a fan of.

I’m not sure what’s holding up the album either. Sardy’s been hyping it up for so long, I’m starting to think we imagined it. 😭 Remember RSD ‘24 and how they might’ve sent the prototype for the 10 year anniversary album instead? 🤡 Well that was April so did it take 5 months to make the 10 year anniversary vinyl?

Yeah, I feel bad for him and hope he’s not too hard on himself. I can’t imagine him catching a flight to the US if he’s really unwell though. My hope is that he’s resting and being kind to himself. ❤️

[pseudowho]

mrs haitch i need advice😕im in university and i called this business two weeks before i got here that i was interested in working there and they said to come by once i moved in and i did. i filled out an application and they said they would call me. they never did so i called them and they said a couple applications got shredded and that mine mightve been one of them. but then the manager said to come by and bring my social security number with me which basically implies i got the job. so i went today and told her ‘hey you basically told me i have the job so im here to work’ and she told me that they already hired people to work the only times im available to work and i just dont know what to do. i have terriblr luck with jobs (i didnt have a job the whole summer except for the last couple weeks) amd i know if i keep applying i might get one but no guarantee. i dont know if i just dont have enough experience (which i dont get how im supposed to get any if no one hires me) or what but i desperately need a job and im just stuck. obviously if this is too much you dont have to bother with it. i totally understand but you are a very wise woman and i thought to ask you for advice/your opinion on this.

I understand, it's okay. The job market is thoroughly shit here in the UK, and I believe it's the same in a lot of western countries at the moment.

With the 'not enough experience' schtick, which I fucking hate by the way, I feel like you might have more luck either swinging just below what you're looking for, or just above.

For the 'just above', consider playing the long game: think outside of the box with which jobs you might be able to get, if you have just a little extra something. Could you look into babysitting-- perhaps there's a fairly easy to get certification in basic childcare? Could you look into tutoring-- lots of parents are looking for University students to tutor their kids in basic subjects, because they could often get away with paying you a little less than a 'formal' tutor. If it's cash in hand, as well, this benefits you.

For the 'just below', aim for the kind of jobs that 16-18 year old kids go for, pre-University, if you're not doing this already. They're used to people with no experience. Any hospitals near you looking for cleaners or porters? Any hotels near you looking for cleaners or porters?? Try not to exclude a job just because of an initial 'ew' feeling. Branch out a bit.

The next bit of advice is quantity quantity quantity-- if you see any job which even remotely looks like you could do it, apply. Something's got to stick eventually.

The next one is fairly old-fashioned but I'll be honest, I've seen it work; take a walk around the local town. Scope out the businesses with an armful of your CVs and your best brave smiling face. You are genuinely more memorable as an actual living, breathing, smiling person than you are as some faceless document sent their way. In an age of companies being shedloads of CVs and job applications in such a competitive market, perhaps staying local and personal will help you stand out and work in your favour.

Phew...I think that's all I have really.

Remember, consider asking @mrhaitch who has actually helped students your age to do exactly this kind of thing.

Focus on getting into a job, and doing well at it. Then you'll have experience and income, and it's proven to be easier to find another job when you already have a job.

All my love, and good luck,

-- Haitch xxx

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 5/23/2023

six sentences or less bc that's the kind of week it is

listening

straighten up and fly right from the nat king cole songbook, covered by sammy davis junior. i have a lot of fondness for the nat king cole songbook bc my grandmother had a lot of fondness for it, and this one was very comfortably in our (contralto) ranges. really burrowing into the comforting familiar as we enter the Cross Country Move Hellzone (tm). spotify

-

reading

lot of documentation for work bc i am trying to build a google sheet + calendar for our grants and reports such that when someone adds OR EDITS a row in the grant/report tracker it creates a new google calendar event OR UPDATES existing events. i may have to give up on that second half.

in non-work stuff, it is hysterical how many hackers brian krebs (infosec reporter/journalist/researcher) is able to interview. like when this guy was asked "yo is this your code targeting a specific mastodon server with a crypto scam" the response was

Clicking the “open chat in Telegram” button on Zipper’s Lolzteam profile page launched a Telegram instant message chat window where the user Quotpw responded almost immediately. Asked if they were aware their domain was being used to manage a spam botnet that was pelting Mastodon instances with crypto scam spam, Quotpw confirmed the spam was powered by their software.

“It was made for a limited circle of people,” Quotpw said, noting that they recently released the bot software as open source on GitHub.

we live in the stupidest possible cyberpunk future.

-

watching

i don't know jack about shit about cars and i don't know what the fuck jennings motorsports on youtube is talking about 80% of the time but a friendly guy with a calm voice talking through how he's going to get some cars in the worst shape you've ever seen up and running again? yes good thanks, i've blown through his entire backlog in the last week in my second monitor while i've cleaned data. this man is essentially rebuilding this rare limited edition shiny holographic car from half a frame and a panel LOOK how fucked this thing is.

love the Will It Run? videos bc the answer is almost always yes AND SOMETIMES HE EVEN DRIVES THEM DOWN HIS DRIVEWAY AND BACK even if the cars are barely holding themselves together. the horse souls in these machines can be coaxed back into resurrection with the proper burnt offerings and application of liquefied dinosaur

-

playing

the charm of Powerwash Simulator is somewhat dampened by its extremely buggy achievements bc i KNOW i could get all 40 so fuckin easy if they just WORKED. i didn't get the "main campaign completed!" achievement despite spending nearly forty hours 100%ing every job, so i think the rarity of the achievements is somewhat inaccurate, bc it's more like, did you happen to play through that level at a time when the achievement was working? despite all that, it has been incredibly effective at damping generalized moving anxiety and it's a tremendous catch-up-on-podcasts game. it's hysterical to me this was published by square enix bc this style of simulator game is usually published by Playway or a Playway company, a shadowy network of about a hundred small polish studios, many of which went public and had IPOs in order to hand over a controlling interest of the company to Playway. long history of annoying business practices such as remaking more popular games with the serial numbers filed off and making demos to gauge interest and THEN only making about one full game for every twenty demos, which is very irritating for players. not this one tho, it's in fucking brighton in the uk, no relation!

-

making

this is going to be cleaning and move prep for the next six weeks. i deep cleaned (even mopped!) my kitchen and bathroom last weekend bc it uh. really needed it, and that's the most exciting thing i did. no progress on cleaning the flip clock radio bc i do not currently have the patience to sit down with qtips and get in all the little grooves.

[masllp]

Setting Up a Limited Company UK: A Comprehensive Guide by Masllp

Starting your own business is an exciting venture, but it can also be a complex and daunting task. One of the most important decisions you will need to make is how to structure your business. For many entrepreneurs in the UK, setting up a limited company is the preferred option. At Masllp, we understand the intricacies involved in this process and are here to guide you every step of the way. Why Choose a Limited Company? Before diving into the setup process, it’s crucial to understand why many business owners opt for a limited company structure. Here are some of the key benefits:

Limited Liability: One of the most significant advantages is that your personal assets are protected. Your liability is limited to the amount you’ve invested in the company.

Professional Image: Operating as a limited company can enhance your business's credibility and professionalism.

Tax Efficiency: Limited companies often benefit from various tax advantages compared to sole traders or partnerships.

Investment Opportunities: It's easier to attract investors as they can purchase shares in your company. Steps to Setting Up a Limited Company Setting up a limited company UK involves several steps, but with the right guidance, the process can be straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step guide by Masllp:

Choose a Company Name *Ensure your company name is unique and not already registered with Companies House. *Check for any trademarks to avoid legal issues.

Register Your Company Address *You must have a registered office address in the UK. *This address will be publicly available on the Companies House register.

Appoint Directors and a Company Secretary *You need at least one director to manage the company. There’s no legal requirement to appoint a company secretary, but many choose to do so. *Allocate Shares and Shareholders

Decide on the number of shares and their value. *Allocate these shares to your shareholders, who are the owners of the company. *Prepare Memorandum and Articles of Association

The memorandum of association is a legal statement signed by all initial shareholders agreeing to form the company. *The articles of association outline how the company will be run. Standard articles are available, but they can be customized if necessary.

Register with Companies House *You can register online, by post, or through an agent like Masllp. *The registration fee varies depending on the method of registration.

Register for Corporation Tax *Within three months of starting business activities, you must register for Corporation Tax with HMRC.

Set Up a Business Bank Account *It’s essential to keep your business finances separate from your personal finances.

Understand Your Ongoing Responsibilities

Submit annual accounts and a confirmation statement to Companies House.

Maintain accurate financial records and meet HMRC deadlines. How Masllp Can Help At Masllp, we specialize in helping entrepreneurs set up their limited companies efficiently and compliantly. Our services include: *Name Checking and Registration: We ensure your company name is available and register it on your behalf. *Preparation of Documents: We handle the preparation and submission of all necessary documents. *Tax Registration: We register your company for Corporation Tax and provide guidance on VAT and PAYE if needed. *Ongoing Support: We offer ongoing support to ensure you meet all legal requirements and deadlines. Conclusion Setting up a limited company UK can provide numerous benefits, but it’s essential to navigate the process correctly. With Masllp by your side, you can focus on building your business while we handle the complexities of company formation. Contact us today to get started on your journey to becoming a successful limited company owner.

[paydayquid]

Cash Offer Exclusive for Short Term Loans UK Amid Financial Crisis

There are relatively few opportunities if you're looking for a short term loans UK. Few lenders can be counted on to help those in need without demanding their debit card. In times of financial hardship, short term loans UK may be a unique offer, even though you still need a loan since you have unanticipated bills to pay for on time. For these loans, a lot of work is required. All it takes to get the money accepted for these loans amicably is to submit an application.

Due to the significant risk associated with having a bad credit history, those who have defaults, foreclosure, late payments, arrears, foreclosure, judgments from nation courts, individual voluntary agreements, or insolvency will have difficulties. However, they don't need to worry because they can apply for short term loans UK without any problems in the current lending environment. The absence of a credit check is the reason for it. Repayment on schedule aids in future credit score repair.

You can easily and quickly receive financial aid with short term loans UK direct lender by meeting the very typical terms and requirements. The requirements are as follows: you must be an adult or older than eighteen, a permanent resident of the UK who has lived there for the past 12 months, employed by a reputable company and earning at least £750 per month, and you must have an open checking account in your name.

All eligible customers may apply for short term loans UK direct lender, with amounts ranging from £100 to £1000 and flexible payback terms of two to four weeks. These loans can help with a variety of immediate needs, including covering the costs of medical procedures, domestic grocery shopping, small-trip travel, light and phone bills, past-due credit card debt, unpaid bank overdrafts, and much more. Additionally, customers are aware of its interest rates. The interest rates are comparatively high when compared to other loan options, which is the reason.

It is feasible to obtain a short term loans direct lenders without faxing documentation and completing a lot of paperwork. You must search for the top cash source internet. If you choose to proceed, you will need to complete an online application that is basic in nature and include all required information. Within 30 minutes at the latest, the lender will deposit the funds immediately into your bank account after receiving your details.

Are you trying to get a simple, same day loans UK that you don't have to pay back all at once? You can extend and more comfortably manageably spread out the expense of a loan with an installment loan from Payday Quid.

With a poor credit history, you could be having trouble obtaining a same day loans UK, and we know how annoying and stressful this can be. Lenders are more likely to reject your application for the necessary loan if you have a poor credit history. But as we evaluate each application on its own merit, you might be approved for a Payday Quid loan of up to £1000 as a new customer, provided you match our lending requirements.

https://paydayquid.co.uk/

[820619]

Hello, I'm M.

At the time i set up this blog, I'm a 26 year old Engineer for a manufacturing company based in the UK.

Back in 2021, after a particularly shitty week, I managed to win a house deposits worth of tax free cash in a random draw. Without it, i wouldnt have Sanctuary, the nickname i gave my new home when i eventually found it, and for that I am eternally grateful and also acutely aware of my luck.

However, the time period I won the money in turned out to be the start of a Cost Of Living Crisis in the UK, which effectively priced me out the range of houses i was interested in within a week of winning the deposit.

After 2 additional years of saving, effectively doubling what i had, i stumbled upon Sanctuary. In a fortunate twist of events, the house belonged to a member of staff at my workplace, except they worked in a completely different department. He was looking to retire ASAP, and after some discussion he agreed to sell me Sanctuary at asking price and include any/all furniture I needed (acutely aware of my luck here too). On August 18 2023, after 2.5 years of searching and saving, i got the keys to Sanctuary, almost fully furnished and ready for me to exist in. Now, almost 7 months in, I'm starting the blog to document upgrades and renovations I've had to carry out.

Pictures will follow when I can make sure they're all OK.

Thanks for reading!

[sgiandubh]

Lionsgate/*** quarter call - not so good as it seems

While I am still fumbling around with the strike's aftermath, let me just quickly say a word or two about ***'s last quarter call, yesterday. Nobody does it as @cb4tb, but FWIW, here goes:

I should immediately say I could not watch the replay on the link provided by the initial press release (here: https://investors.lionsgate.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2023/10-19-2023-140125017), despite my total good will to take one for the team, go to bed early and wake-up at ungodly hours. I have no idea why - maybe access is somehow limited? I would never know, I had no 403 error in my browser, so... 🤷‍♀️. Instead, I could peruse the paper version of the standard Company Quarterly Report (US SEC Form 10-Q), along with some scarce press comments, for a bit of context.

The document is damn long (94 pages) and it reads exactly like I presumed: a kidney stone would be easier to pass (https://investors.lionsgate.com/financial-reports/sec-filings). It's perhaps worth for this phrase alone (on page 43), which really made me stop in my tracks:

At the time of the document's public release, it is technically true and accurate that the tentative deal between AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA still has to be approved by the union's members. However, given the horrendous impact of the strike on almost all things Hollywood and California, for that matter (more on this in a separate post), it's more than likely the deal will hold. The rest is dire: more slashing of content to come, 'if the Company is unable to efficiently complete the production of the film, TV show or program or decides to abandon the production'.

While this does not seem to affect Season 8, this could (I repeat: could) mean that: a) BOMB is gone and b) MIK3 is no longer a priority (the fact that MIK 2, as OL, was listed among the last quarter premieres is not a guarantee it will be continued - not the same amplitude as OL). If so, Season 8 might start shooting as soon as January 2024, since it already has all the needed infrastructure and staff readily available at Cumbernauld (yes, Mordor, the peasant you all love to hate managed perhaps to save the day again!). So OL is doing ok on that side, unlike other productions of other studios, who reportedly started a mad scramble for location scouting and staff recruiting, just before the festive season - that is a big competitive advantage and one of the main reasons I believe it's still entirely possible to pull it off.

The 'thriving' future (according to Feltheimer, that genius 🙄) of *** as a standalone company is still something we severely lack data on, as Lionsgate kept its commitment to go on with the acquisition of Entertainment One (you know, the Peppa Pig people), for a mere 375 million USD, to be completed by January 31, 2024. At the same time, *** is not the only actor on the US media & tech market to proceed to lay-offs and it seems to fare better than many, as I already supposed and told you:

(Sourced at: https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/starz-layoffs-exit-uk-australia-lionsgate-1235779627/).

Something to be closely monitored in the upcoming weeks. I think it's going to be worth it. Sorry for not bringing any sensational content today and I know it's dull and probably uninteresting AF, but it's there and it has to be taken into account, for sure. So yes, 'not as good as it seems' (profit is now mainly driven by motion picture, not television production), but not as bad as expected by the prophets of doom across the street, who - as usually - have no damn idea of what they are talking about.

[mariacallous]

Generative AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot are rapidly evolving, fueling concerns that the technology could open the door to multiple privacy and security issues, particularly in the workplace.

In May, privacy campaigners dubbed Microsoft’s new Recall tool a potential “privacy nightmare” due to its ability to take screenshots of your laptop every few seconds. The feature has caught the attention of UK regulator the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is asking Microsoft to reveal more about the safety of the product launching soon in its Copilot+ PCs.

Concerns are also mounting over OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which has demonstrated screenshotting abilities in its soon-to-launch macOS app that privacy experts say could result in the capture of sensitive data.

The US House of Representatives has banned the use of Microsoft’s Copilot among staff members after it was deemed by the Office of Cybersecurity to be a risk to users due to “the threat of leaking House data to non-House approved cloud services.”

Meanwhile, market analyst Gartner has cautioned that “using Copilot for Microsoft 365 exposes the risks of sensitive data and content exposure internally and externally.” And last month, Google was forced to make adjustments to its new search feature, AI Overviews, after screenshots of bizarre and misleading answers to queries went viral.

Overexposed

For those using generative AI at work, one of the biggest challenges is the risk of inadvertently exposing sensitive data. Most generative AI systems are “essentially big sponges,” says Camden Woollven, group head of AI at risk management firm GRC International Group. “They soak up huge amounts of information from the internet to train their language models.”

AI companies are “hungry for data to train their models,” and are “seemingly making it behaviorally attractive” to do so, says Steve Elcock, CEO and founder at software firm Elementsuite. This vast amount of data collection means there’s the potential for sensitive information to be put “into somebody else’s ecosystem,” says Jeff Watkins, chief product and technology officer at digital consultancy xDesign. “It could also later be extracted through clever prompting.”

At the same time, there’s the threat of AI systems themselves being targeted by hackers. “Theoretically, if an attacker managed to gain access to the large language model (LLM) that powers a company's AI tools, they could siphon off sensitive data, plant false or misleading outputs, or use the AI to spread malware,” says Woollven.

Consumer-grade AI tools can create obvious risks. However, an increasing number of potential issues are arising with “proprietary” AI offerings broadly deemed safe for work such as Microsoft Copilot, says Phil Robinson, principal consultant at security consultancy Prism Infosec.

“This could theoretically be used to look at sensitive data if access privileges have not been locked down. We could see employees asking to see pay scales, M&A activity, or documents containing credentials, which could then be leaked or sold.”

Another concern centers around AI tools that could be used to monitor staff, potentially infringing their privacy. Microsoft’s Recall feature states that “your snapshots are yours; they stay locally on your PC” and “you are always in control with privacy you can trust.”

Yet “it doesn’t seem very long before this technology could be used for monitoring employees,” says Elcock.

Self-Censorship

Generative AI does pose several potential risks, but there are steps businesses and individual employees can take to improve privacy and security. First, do not put confidential information into a prompt for a publicly available tool such as ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, says Lisa Avvocato, vice president of marketing and community at data firm Sama.

When crafting a prompt, be generic to avoid sharing too much. “Ask, ‘Write a proposal template for budget expenditure,’ not ‘Here is my budget, write a proposal for expenditure on a sensitive project,’” she says. “Use AI as your first draft, then layer in the sensitive information you need to include.”

If you use it for research, avoid issues such as those seen with Google’s AI Overviews by validating what it provides, says Avvocato. “Ask it to provide references and links to its sources. If you ask AI to write code, you still need to review it, rather than assuming it’s good to go.”

Microsoft has itself stated that Copilot needs to be configured correctly and the “least privilege”—the concept that users should only have access to the information they need—should be applied. This is “a crucial point,” says Prism Infosec’s Robinson. “Organizations must lay the groundwork for these systems and not just trust the technology and assume everything will be OK.”

It’s also worth noting that ChatGPT uses the data you share to train its models, unless you turn it off in the settings or use the enterprise version.

List of Assurances

The firms integrating generative AI into their products say they’re doing everything they can to protect security and privacy. Microsoft is keen to outline security and privacy considerations in its Recall product and the ability to control the feature in Settings > Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots.

Google says generative AI in Workspace “does not change our foundational privacy protections for giving users choice and control over their data,” and stipulates that information is not used for advertising.

OpenAI reiterates how it maintains security and privacy in its products, while enterprise versions are available with extra controls. “We want our AI models to learn about the world, not private individuals—and we take steps to protect people’s data and privacy,” an OpenAI spokesperson tells WIRED.

OpenAI says it offers ways to control how data is used, including self-service tools to access, export, and delete personal information, as well as the ability to opt out of use of content to improve its models. ChatGPT Team, ChatGPT Enterprise, and its API are not trained on data or conversations, and its models don’t learn from usage by default, according to the company.

Either way, it looks like your AI coworker is here to stay. As these systems become more sophisticated and omnipresent in the workplace, the risks are only going to intensify, says Woollven. “We're already seeing the emergence of multimodal AI such as GPT-4o that can analyze and generate images, audio, and video. So now it's not just text-based data that companies need to worry about safeguarding.”

With this in mind, people—and businesses—need to get in the mindset of treating AI like any other third-party service, says Woollven. “Don't share anything you wouldn't want publicly broadcasted.”

[exlibrisfangirl]

Hey, hope your doing okay! I was just wondering if you had any advice about how to deal with ableist co workers? I have Crohn’s disease, so I have a weakened immune system. I have been out of work a lot recently due to flares and RSV, so I’ve been having people covering my shift. I asked someone to in the group chat and this girl said I should just quit. I kindly said I have an invisible disability and tried to be polite. She continued with ableist comments and even asked if Crohn’s was even a disability like I didn’t know what I was talking about. Just trying to think about how to handle the situation and if I should bring it up to management. If you have any advice, I’d be glad to hear it! Thanks!

Dear Nonny,

I am... SO sorry it took me forever to respond to this. I saw it, and then... shit kinda hit the fan in my personal life, and I forgot about it. *hangs head in shame*

I am actually dealing with a slightly similar situation at work at the moment. A coworker has been bullying me for a couple months now, which includes: a) giving me the silent treatment, b) undermining my authority with our clients at every opportunity, and c) talking shit about me to our other coworkers, including saying that she thinks that I am faking my medical conditions/don't actually have any "valid" medical conditions, and that she won't believe anything I say until she sees my "medical records" (which, of course, she has no right to demand). I have just recently met with my boss and HR and filed a formal grievance. I'm still awaiting the outcome, but, in the meantime, my boss has changed my schedule so I don't have to work with that coworker.

Unfortunately, this is not my first rodeo, and I've learned a lot over the years regarding how to deal with workplace/coworker issues as a chronically ill and disabled person.

Here's my advice...

First and foremost, know your company's policies on bullying/harassment and workplace discrimination, as well as your state/federal rights. (I don't know what country you live in, but I've dealt with this in the USA and in the UK, and I know they have similar protections in place. Here's an overview of your federal rights in the USA from the ACLU website.) At my workplace, in our staff handbook, there is a section which outlines our code of conduct and explains that any employee can face disciplinary action - up to and including immediate termination - for violating any of those expectations. Bullying and harassment are specifically mentioned. There is also a section which explains our rights as employees, including disability rights and what to do if we believe we have been discriminated against and/or wrongfully terminated.

Secondly, document EVERYTHING. Document what this coworker says to you and when. If there were witnesses, document that, too. If/when you choose to bring your boss/HR into it, they may ask for specific details, dates, and whether or not there were any witnesses present. I keep a running list in the note-taking app on my phone, so that I can easily access it during meetings, as well as copy and paste easily into emails.

Last, but not least: in my experience, the earlier you involve management the better, and be persistent. If you let the behavior go unchecked for a long time before you say anything, your boss *might* interpret that as "it must not be thaaat bad, so I can put it on the back burner". Make it very clear from the beginning that you a) want to be there/want that job, b) know your rights, and c) expect action to be taken and follow-up to take place. Employers generally do not want to risk being sued (or risk losing employees... or at the very least risk getting a bad reputation, which might deter potential future employees), so this will usually get them to take your concerns seriously and address them promptly. If that is not the case, and your workplace has an HR representative/department, telling your boss you'd like to meet with HR will likely do the trick; your supervisor/boss doesn't want to get in trouble with HR. The same goes for your union rep, if you are part of a labor union. Don’t hesitate to seek support from higher up the ladder (e.g. your boss's boss, etc.) if your boss doesn't seem to be taking you seriously or isn't taking prompt action to address your coworker's behavior.

Let me make this very clear: You don’t owe your coworker SQUAT. She is not your boss. She has no right to your personal medical information, and you do not owe her an explanation. If you really want to, you could perhaps send her a link to an educational website where she can read more about your condition on her own time, but please don't waste any further time and energy trying to educate her. If she truly wants to learn, she will. If she just wants to be an asshole (which is what I suspect is the case), she won't even bother reading the info you provide. Either way, your coworkers do not have the right to demand details or proof of your disabilities/illnesses, and you should not have to disclose personal medical information to your coworkers in order to be treated with respect and dignity in your workplace.

Read it... and then read it again. And again. And again.

You should not have to disclose personal medical information to your coworkers in order to be treated with respect and dignity in your workplace.

Feel free to plagiarize me and borrow/quote/adapt as much of this as you like for use with your coworkers and management. (Is it still plagiarism if I give you permission? 🤔)

I hope this has helped, even just a little, and I truly hope your situation improves soon! Stay strong, Nonny. Spoonie solidarity! 🥄💜