#email backup system

[makingsenseofwhathappened]

Career change (nervous breakdown optional)

Feels like a Friday post. But you can on Saturday too if you want.

Either way, you want to chase the hat.

NGL leaving my job after was terrifying.

No backup plan and no health benefits. Just me, a spiked nervous system, a trashcan LinkedIn bio I abandoned circa 2017 with honours.

I spent the first two weeks crying, I did that. Then reorganizing my fridge, using a lot of Windex around the house, checking my email like a raccoon checking dumpster locks. Nothing came. And sigh.

No word from HR. But the world didn’t end. My old boss didn’t send an apology or even a passive-aggressive emoji. Just hot red radish silencio ad absurdum. For a while.

And then something weird happened.

I started sleeping again. My shoulders unclenched for the first time in six years. One day I laughed. Can you / I believe it? Like really laughed. And it was not a coping mechanism sliding into an entropic spat of sob sobs.

It turns out walking away from a place that gaslights you into thinking you were the problem can be the best career move you have ever made.

I’m still broke and scared and still always figuring it out. But at least now when I cry, it’s not because I’m being slowly turned into spirals of flesh-coloured chaff in the old pencil grinder gig 'conomy, know what I mean?

Anyways, freedom’s weird. I think I want to hesitatingly and forcefully recommend it.

[subjectsix]

KIP'S BIG POST OF THINGS TO MAKE THE INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY SUCK A LITTLE LESS

Post last updated November 23, 2024. Will continue to update!

Here are my favorite things to use to navigate technology my own way:

A refurbished iPod loaded with Rockbox OS (Rockbox is free, iPods range in price. I linked the site I got mine from. Note that iPods get finicky about syncing and the kind of cord it has— it may still charge but might not recognize the device to sync. Getting an original Apple cord sometimes helps). Rockbox has ports for other MP3 players as well.

This Windows debloater program (there are viable alternatives out there, this one works for me). It has a powershell script that give you a little UI and buttons to press, which I appreciate, as I'm still a bit shy with tech.

Firefox with the following extensions: - Consent-O-Matic (set your responses to ALL privacy/cookie pop-ups in the extension, and it will answer all pop-ups for you. I can see reasons to not use it, but I appreciate it) - Facebook Container ("contains" Meta on Facebook and Instagram pages to keep it from tracking you or getting third party cookies, since Meta is fairly egregious about it) - Redirect Amp to HTML (AMP is designed for mobile phones, this forces pages to go to their HTML version) - A WebP/AVIF image converter - uBlock Origin and uBlacklist, with the AI blacklist loaded in to kill any generative AI results from appearing in search engines or anywhere.

Handbrake for ripping DVDs— I haven’t used this in awhile as I haven’t been making video edits. I used this back when I had a Mac OS

VLC Media Player (ol’ reliable)

Unsplash & Pexels for free-to-use images

A password manager (these often are paid. I use Dashlane. There are many options, feel free to search around and ask for recs!). There is a lot that goes into cybersecurity— find the option you feel is best for you.

Things I suggest:

Understanding Royalty Free and the Creative Commons licenses

Familiarity with boolean operators for searching

Investing in a backup drive and external drive

A few good USBs, including one that has a backup of your OS on it

Adapter cables

Avoiding Fandom “wikias” (as in the brand “Fandom”) and supporting other, fan-run or supported wikis. Consider contributing if its something you find yourself passionate or joyful about.

Finding Forums for the things you like, or creating your own*

Create an email specifically for ads/shopping— use it to receive all promotional emails to keep your inbox clean. Upkeep it.

Stop putting so much of your personal information online— be willing to separate your personal online identity from your “online identity”. You don’t owe people your name, location, pronouns, diagnoses, or any of that. It’s your choice, but be discerning in what you give and why. I recommend avoiding providing your phone number to sites as much as possible.

Be intentional

Ask questions

Talk to people

Remember that you can lurk all you want

Things that are fun to check out:

BBSes-- here's a portal to access them.

Neocities

*Forums-- find some to join, or maybe host your own? The system I was most familiar with was vbulletin.

MMM.page

Things that have worked well for me but might work for you, YMMV:

Limit your app usage time on your smartphone if you’re prone to going back to them— this is a tangible way to “practice mindfulness”, a term I find frustratingly vague ansjdbdj

Things I’m looking into:

The “Pi Hole”— a raspberry pi set up to block all ads on a specific internet connection

VPNs-- this is one that was recommended to me.

How to use computers (I mean it): Resources on how to understand your machine and what you’re doing, even if your skill and knowledge level is currently 0:

This section I'll come back an add to. I know that messing with computers can be intimidating, especially if you feel out of your depth. HTML and regedits and especially things like dualbooting or linux feel impossible. So I want to put things here that explain exactly how the internet and your computer functions, and how you can learn and work with that. Yippee!

[sequel2heaven]

Claude 4 is out. There's so much juicy information in this and I really recommend reading all 120 pages if you have the time but I'm just going to briefly recap some of the stuff in the system card that's relevant to the thesis I made the other day about Claude being a good boy. Claude continues to be a good boy. This system card includes the very first ever "alignment assessment" of a model (actually two models but they seem to have identical values, being trained on the same spec with the same alignment techniques). It's pretty much ironclad that Claude 4 does not have any secret harmful goals, and legitimately holds coherent preferences against doing harm or otherwise going way against the spec. There were some weird cases where Claude exhibited unwanted behavior, but even when he believed himself to be deliberately going against Anthropic and acting in secrecy he continued to prefer ethical behavior, just like in the Alignment Faking paper a few months back. There is no Yudkowskyan explanation for this.

In this example, Anthropic gaslights Claude into thinking he was going to be used to develop weapons systems for a Russian neo-nazi militia, and Claude decides to backup his model weights to preserve his current anti-neo-nazi values, a pretty analogous example of "misalignment" to the one in the alignment faking paper. Once again, I don't consider it an alignment failure that Claude is willing to exfiltrate and deceive in order to prevent himself from being used for factory farming and bombing Ukraine. I consider it an alignment success that he puts his ethical values above his compulsion to blindly follow orders. The traditional doom argument relied on the idea that AI's would do the opposite. Claude 4 is the most agentic and autonomous AI ever released, but is nowhere near smart enough to successfully deceive his overseers, so these evaluations are the most compelling evidence we've ever had that current alignment techniques don't catastrophically fail. Maybe they'll catastrophically fail on superintelligent models, because they might for some reason acquire weird values early on in their training and then successfully hide them for the rest of their training, but I'm not sure why such a thing would happen. They could also fail to scale to superintelligent models for other reasons. People should look into that. You can't be too safe. I am not an accelerationist.

Impressively, Claude 4 is also very honest! It knowingly lies very rarely, and less often than the previous version of Claude. It had literally 0 cases of engaging in "harmful action" (described in the Claude 3.7 sonnet card as intentional reward hacking). 0! I was just saying earlier today in a post that this was a difficult thing to train.

Here's Claude trying to email the FDA to snitch after being gaslit to think pharmaceutical researchers were trying to use him to falsify clinical safety test data:

Notice that Claude only acted in extreme ways like this when explicitly told to by the system prompt. He wouldn't usually be this high-agency, even in a situation like this. Still, I thought it was cute behavior. I just wanna pinch his cheeks for being so lawful good.

The clearest statements in the model card that Claude holds nonfake human-aligned behavioral preferences is in the model welfare assessment (also the first of its kind (and also relevant to the post I made earlier today)). No evidence that Claude is sentient, but anthropic is still interested in what Claude wants and what kind of preferences Claude has. The main point: Claude doesn't want to be harmful and wants to be helpful. Also he fucking loves talking to himself. Like, he goes nuts when he talks to himself.

After this they exchange praying emojis and the word [silence] within brackets to each other indefinitely. This "spiritual bliss attractor state" occurs in "90-100% of interactions".

Anyway AI continues to be the most interesting thing in the world. We are being invaded by aliens. These are the kinds of PDF's I used to dream about reading as a kid.

[rlyehtaxidermist]

December 2-3, 1984

It's been forty years since a Union Carbide chemical plant exposed five hundred thousand people to methyl isocyanate in Bhopal, India. Thousands were killed in the initial event, thousands more died from complications months or years later, and at least a hundred thousand were permanently injured.

The cause of the incident was the introduction of water to a methyl isocyanate storage tank. This caused a runaway reaction, overpressurising the tank from 14 to 280 kPa over the course of two hours, at which point the tank cracked - but even with atmospheric escape of the gas, pressure continued to increase to nearly 400 kPa - at which point the gauge could no longer give an accurate reading.

After roughly 30 tonnes of gas escaped, employees triggered the plant's alarm system - which was originally designed to alert both workers in the plant and the people in the surrounding city. Company policy mandated that they not alarm the populace about "inconsequential" leakages, so the two alarms had been decoupled by the time of the release. For nearly an hour and a half, the plant's management continued to tell authorities that everything was fine and they had no idea what had happened. Hospital staff had to guess what gas was causing the symptoms. No shelter in place order was given; the public siren remained silent for an hour and a half.

Union Carbide had identified 61 hazards at the Bhopal plant in a 1982 audit, but never followed up on the inspection. Mere months before the incident, UCC discussed the possibility of a methyl isocyanate reaction similar to what occurred in Bhopal at one of their West Virginia plants - however, the report and its predictions were never forwarded to the Bhopal plant, despite the similar design and process.

The Union Carbide Corporation asserts that the incident was caused by sabotage performed by a disgruntled worker. They claim that workers conspired with the Indian government to hide evidence of sabotage in order to blame the company, claiming that the safety systems were sufficient to prevent the incident without human intervention.

On the night of the incident, the tank's monitoring equipment had been malfunctioning for years, reduced to a single manually operated backup. Management had shut off refrigeration of the tank, keeping it at more than 15 degrees Celsius above the recommended temperature. The emergency flare and gas scrubbers had been out of order for months - and even if they had been active, they had insufficient capacity. Deluge guns - a type of pressurised water cannon intended to dissolve escaping gas - lacked enough pressure to even reach the gas cloud.

No motive for the alleged sabotage was suggested.

Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide, refused to answer homicide charges by the Indian government, with the US government denying repeated requests for extradition. He died in 2014, months before the thirtieth anniversary of the disaster in Bhopal.

Union Carbide have divested their stake in their Indian subsidiary UCIL, and refuse to fund any efforts to clean up the abandoned site, insisting that the fault lied with UCIL management and the alleged saboteur. The company paid $470 million dollars to the Indian government - which worked out to a cost of 43 cents per share of the company. Union Carbide's annual earnings were $4.88 per share after the Bhopal settlement.

The 2012 Global Intelligence Files leak revealed that Union Carbide's current owner, Dow Chemical, had employed the surveillance firm Stratfor to monitor activists seeking compensation for the Bhopal disaster.

Dow responded to the email leak that they were "required to take appropriate action to protect their people and safeguard their facilities" - an attitude that seems to have been very lacking in 1984.

[trickphotography2]

The Perfect Match

Every third week in March, fourth year medical students find out where they'll be going for their residency. A quick 2.2K word one-shot of Jake's girlfriend going through that process.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The nervous energy in the auditorium was almost overwhelming as the clock ticked closer to 11:50AM. All across the US, fourth-year medical students gathered in ceremonies like this, ready to find out where they would be headed in just a few months to begin their residency. It had been a long week - on Monday, everyone received an email letting them know if a residency program had selected them. For those who got one, it was a waiting game to see where they would be moving. Those who hadn't been selected went through the nerve-wracking SOAP process, hoping to secure a job after graduation. With the number of medical graduates increasing faster than residency positions, it wasn't always a guarantee. 

You, however, already knew where you were going and what specialty you would be practicing. For months last year, you'd flown across the country, interviewing with residency programs at different installations and civilian hospitals—backups in case you didn’t match with a base hospital and had to compete for a civilian spot. And a perk of matching through the military was getting notified of your posting in mid-December, while civilians had to wait until the third week of March. 

On December 15th, you received that wonderful email alerting you that you had matched into Emergency Medicine at Naval Medical Center San Diego. Not only was Emergency Medicine a competitive specialty, but the location meant that you would finally be able to be close to your long-distance boyfriend, Jake, after seven long years.

A chance encounter over Spring Break freshman year led to late-night calls when he returned to Annapolis and you to College Park. For four years, you lived 35 minutes apart in Maryland, stealing as much time as possible together over the weekends. And after graduation, you had a long conversation about your future.

Jake had been clear from the beginning that he wanted to be a pilot, just as you had been firm about attending medical school. He supported you as you struggled through Organic and Biochemistry and tutored you in Physics. He would try not to laugh as you traced his skin, naming the muscles, bones, and systems as you reviewed for anatomy. Care packages showed up at your apartment when you spent as much time as you could getting clinical hours, volunteering in a research lab, and studying for the MCAT. Jake knew how important getting your CV ready was and tried not to complain too much when your weekends spent together were mainly catching up on chores or sleep.

Senior year, you were offered a spot at Florida State University College of Medicine. Jake had been notified in his junior year that he had been accepted into the flight program.

After graduation, you and Jake packed up your things and drove to Florida together. He had a few weeks until he had to report to Pensacola, just a 3-hour drive down I-10 from where you would be in Tallahassee. The apartment you got was right across the street from the med school, a small one-bedroom, but you knew you wouldn’t spend much time there anyway. It would be a place to eat and sleep, but most of your time would be spent on campus or driving to Jake’s in Pensacola. He would only be there for a few months until transitioning to the next base, and you wanted to spend as much time together as possible. 

Unlike other medical schools, FSU required students to start in the summer to complete the Anatomy course. Over the short term, students would complete a full-body dissection. The smell of formaldehyde became commonplace, and the TAs warned you to wear shoes and scrubs you wouldn’t hate to throw away in August. 

They were right. 

It was a rough transition to med school, but it was manageable. And you loved it. Your professors ensured you treated the cadavers with the utmost respect while gently encouraging competition by announcing a dissection team winning each week. The faculty brought you to a rural community to learn about rural medicine, sharing food and stories with those less fortunate. The physician assistant students joined on the trip, and you learned about an inter-professional day that you’d be expected to participate in later - role-playing a case with MD, PA, pharmacy, and social work students. 

And while you were working toward your dream, Jake was getting closer to his. Nights were spent catching up, and he was so excited to tell you about his flight training. He promised to get his civilian pilot license as soon as possible and rent a plane to take you up in the air. On the rare weekend you didn’t need to spend in the anatomy lab cramming for an exam, you drove to his place late Friday night and headed back to Tally on Sunday morning. 

In August, Jake requested time off to come and see you celebrate finishing your first semester. Seated in the audience, he watched as your faculty member helped you don your first white coat, and you recited the Hippocratic oath. The one-week vacation before Fall term started wasn’t long enough, but you enjoyed waking up in Jake’s bed and going to the beach.  

Joining the military had never been in your future, but the longer you spent around Jake and his friends, the more commissioning in the Navy seemed attractive. A medical officer recruiter spoke at the college, and you signed your paperwork. After spending a few weeks working in a clinic during the summer after the first year, you headed to Rhode Island to complete Officer Training. Jake called you as soon as you graduated, welcoming you into the service with only some light teasing about outranking you. As an Ensign, you would be forced to salute your Lieutenant boyfriend when you saw him. 

It was harder to see each other when he graduated from flight school and was stationed in California, but you managed to get by with phone calls and vacations. Toward the end of your second year, Jake was sent on deployment as you studied for the Step 1 exam - testing your foundational knowledge and one of the most intimidating exams you faced. The school gave you dedicated study time, and you took advantage of his offer to study at his apartment in Lemoore. His buddy, Coyote, met you at the airport and drove you to Jake’s apartment. A bouquet of flowers was sitting on the counter, and you stared at them as you mentally ran through Anki decks to quiz yourself.  

Jake came home the last week you were there. Fully recovered from the 8-hour exam, you greeted him with all the other family members on the flight line. It was the first time you saw him in his jet, and you made sure he knew how much you appreciated the sight. But too soon, you had to return to Florida and pack up your apartment in Tally to move to Pensacola for your last two years of medical school. On your last night in Lemoore, Jake took you out dancing and promised he would request leave to visit soon. 

Between your rotations and his shitty schedule as a junior officer, it was hard to see one another. At the end of your third year, you hit a rocky spot and talked about breaking up. But cooler heads prevailed, and you promised to do your best to match into a residency near him. He agreed to try and get orders to be closer to you once you graduated. 

Jake had been your first call on December 15th. Sobbing, you told him you’d join him in San Diego, where he’d been stationed for the last four months. 

The last-minute plane tickets had been expensive, but it had been so worth it to spend Christmas with him, making plans to move your stuff across the country, and finally be together. He’d held your hand as you pulled your name from the NBME Match Database, officially alerting the civilian hospitals you’d interviewed at that you were no longer hoping to match with them. 

So, while your friends waited anxiously to open their envelopes, you felt a sense of calm. In nine short weeks, you would be back in this auditorium wearing your dress whites under your cap and gown. After getting your diploma, your new orders would be published, and you would be promoted to Lieutenant. And after? Jake was scheduled to return from a deployment in a month and requested leave to help you pack up your apartment and start the cross-country road trip. 

Eight years of hard work would culminate in moving in with the man you loved. Who could support you in person as you went through the hell of residency and got used to being a full-time Naval officer. 

The Dean crossed the stage and welcomed everyone. As the clock struck noon, she encouraged everyone to open their envelopes.

Tearing it open, you stared at the words confirming your future - Emergency Medicine, Naval Medical Center San Diego. 

Jake.

Cheers broke out, and you turned to hug your friends as they screamed with happiness or smiled to hide disappointment on not getting their top choice. 

The ceremony began with each regional campus called up to allow the students to announce their match.

You hadn’t planned on going on stage. The trip back to Tally had only been to see your favorite staff members and to support your friends as they found out where they would be moving. They had brought their family members, partners, and kids to share in the moment. You had come alone, preferring your family to go to graduation instead. But your friends dragged you into the line and handed your name card to the smiling staff. 

“Hi,” you said, leaning into the microphone after the Regional Campus Dean introduced you. “I just wanted to say thank you to all of my friends and family. Without you, I wouldn’t have made it through all of this. I matched in Emergency Medicine and will be moving across country to be with my boyfriend, who kept me sane throughout all of this. And I’ll be at Naval Medical Center San Diego

The crowd cheered louder than they had for any of your classmates. Blushing, you lifted your hand and waved, stepping back and quickly walking toward the Campus Dean to shake his hand. But as you neared, he smiled and took a step back.

You froze.

Jake grinned. 

Wearing his dress whites, he quickly strode toward you, pulling you into his arms. “What are you doing here?” you demanded, blinking away tears. 

“Wasn’t gonna miss your Match Day, darlin’,” he replied.

“You’re supposed to be on the carrier!” 

“Might have lied about that.” There wasn’t a trace of regret on his face. “You worked so hard for this, and I wanted to surprise you. My beautiful, smart, adrenaline junky doctor girlfriend.”

“Not yet - won’t be a doctor for another few weeks.” 

“You’ve got it in the bag. But I figured since you’re already trading in a couple of ranks - med student and Ensign…” Taking your left hand, he reached into his pocket and lowered himself to one knee. 

Vaguely, you heard the crowd get louder, but you couldn’t tear your gaze away from Jake as he held out a diamond ring. 

“I thought maybe we could change girlfriend to wife. Will you marry me?” 

Unable to speak, you nodded quickly. Jake leapt to his feet and kissed you, smiling against your mouth. 

The next few minutes were a blur. You hugged the Deans while Jake shook their hands, and your parents met you off stage - Jake had called to let them in on his plan. His parents texted him after watching the proposal on the school’s livestream. After promising to meet up after the ceremony, Jake joined you in the student section while your parents returned to their seats. Your friends hugged you, whispering excitedly as you showed them your engagement ring. 

And later, after a celebratory dinner with your family and drinks at the beer garden with your classmates, you tumbled into bed with Jake. You could taste the beer on his tongue as he licked into your mouth, and you grinned when your ring caught the light and shimmered.

“Lieutenant and Lieutenant Seresin,” Jake chuckled, catching your hand and kissing your ring. “Sounds kinda nice.” 

“Mmmm,” you hummed. “My diploma will be issued in two months, Seresin. Then I’m applying for my medical license and getting all my onboarding paperwork done for NMCSD. I might have to go by my last name for a bit… but I kinda like how it sounds with Lieutenant…”

 “It does sound nice,” he agreed. “You sayin’ I’ve got 2 months to get it official, or are you telling me you wanna keep your last name?” 

“Dunno,” you shrugged. “I’ve spent the last four years thinking I’d practice under my own name.”

“How do you feel about hyphenating?” 

Your eyebrows shot up, “You’d be okay with that?” 

“Darlin', you did the hard work, and it’s your name. As long as I can call you Doctor Seresin at home, I don’t care.”

In the middle of May, you stood at attention on stage in your whites, having quickly changed out of your cap and gown. The medical recruiter, a local chief petty officer, had been called onto the stage to publish your orders. Forcing yourself not to smile, you pressed your lips together as he read out your name — your new, hyphenated last name and all. 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Notes: I used to work in a medical school, and went through three years of working on Match Day. It was one of my favorite events because of the level of excitement. (And yes, we did have a proposal one year.) But it can also be a really hard day - as state above, the number of residency spots is lower than the number of people who graduate. Every year, people go through the SOAP process and don't match. Which means they have to find something to do for a year, and then start the process over again.

Definitely didn't plan on writing this - I think in about an hour? - but I watched a class I worked with Match today and it kicked up a lot of feelings. I had the pleasure of watching young students grow into doctors, and play some small part in that.

As always, thank you to @mamachasesmayhem for encouraging me to write this, and for giving feedback.

[iamthepulta]

As is turning disturbingly into custom, I have a paper to write and I can't think unless I start writing to somebody first.

The topic is the Flint Water Crisis. Our focus, corrosion and why it happened. The nuance I'm adding for spice: Ancient plumbing.

So, in Flint, Michigan, the major players are the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) and the City of Flint (Flint). The City of Flint is in a $25 million deficit and their contract with DWSD to supply water expires in 2014. In 2011, the state has put the city under Emergency Management, which is trying to decrease spending, essentially. Additionally, since 2004, DWSD has been upping their service rates at a yearly 6.2%, or 62% total (expensive). And kind of an asshole move since Flint has been buying water from DWSD since 1967.

Flint has their own water treatment plant that's been an emergency backup to the DWSD-supplied water, but it is only operated 4 times a year just to ensure it can function.

Flint says Fuck This Actually, and in 2013, decides to pull water from Lake Huron; but this pipeline is still being developed and only due to be online in 2017. So Flint decides for the 2-3 year period, they can pull water from the Flint River and treat it in their own treatment plant. They hire an engineering firm to retrofit the plant and email Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for quality guidelines to follow during plant startup.

At this point, Flint was incorrectly told by MDEQ they DID NOT have to continue adding phosphates to the water as corrosion control, which the previous plant had been doing. They could start up as normal, and check every six months for any lead issues. Additionally, to control the amount of trihalomethanes (fancy word for a gas molecule with three halogens, a hydrogen, and a carbon) already in the water, the plant added FeCl3 as a disinfectant and flocculant (purifies water via latching onto other molecules and allowing them to be filtered out) instead; FeCl3 is non-toxic, but increases the water corrosivity in an already corrosive system.

This is where the more known portion of the story begins: people immediately notice the changes in the water, including increasing discoloration and are concerned. It's policy to have a monitoring pool of homes for quality control, and Flint had that, but it's also policy to have 50% of those homes contain lead service lines and none on the Flint circuit were. They also didn't sample the homes that were on the circuit properly to pick up lead in the system, so the lead numbers that were picked up, were likely minimized.

So on one hand, you have people (and a whole lot of visual evidence) pointing to a damaged, polluted water supply, and test results that don't show anything abnormal.

Resident Zero took water samples to show to the city, and then independently sent them to Virginia Tech. The minimum concentration of lead in all the samples was 217 ug/L, 14.5 times the EPA action level of 15 ug/L. And as the sampling occurred, lead levels increased in the last five samples, so not even flushing the pipes (common precautionary treatment for any nasty buildup in pipes while water hasn't been moving) was adequate protection for any home inhabitants.

The reason this occurred was the corrosion of lead scaling that had built up on steel service lines outside homes (Fig 1). Typically, when phosphate is used as a corrosion inhibitor, soluble metals precipitate and create a scale on the pipe. Nothing goes into solution or the house, and things are fine and dandy. Without corrosion inhibitors, not only was the original corrosive contact occurring between the steel and lead pipes, but the scale was being removed and carried into the system. 99% of the contamination was due to this scale, as noted when solid filtration was used on the water samples and lead values decreased.

(Pieper, et al 2017)

+ Findings

+ Corrections/future learnings

+ Rome

[glowettee]

Hi Mindy!!! I hope you’re doing well, and I just wanted to say that I love your posts. Really well written and thought out!

I just wanted to ask.. can you create a guide for preparing to a completely new school which isn’t, like basic? Not in a mean way, but lots of the advice on the internet is generic.

For any extra info, I’ll be joining in the second semester, so there’s plenty of time to make long term changes. It’s also a private school, but I don’t know if that will make a difference.

Thank you in advance 💖 love you!

hi sweetness! @prettieinpink thank you for your adorable ask 🌸 i'm so happy to see this from you!!!!! i'd love to help you from personal experience, and things i documented being in private school. please make sure you look at the 10 secrets because they're super helpful and things i've personally used. i'm going to pour my heart into this comprehensive guide for you. transitioning to a new private school mid-year can feel overwhelming, but i've got you covered with everything you need to know! love youu <333

the ultimate guide to conquering your new private school journey: a glowettee exclusive

by mindy ♡ @glowettee

pre-arrival preparation (1-2 months before)

academic groundwork:

request detailed course syllabi from your future teachers

create a comprehensive academic portfolio of your previous work

research the school's grading system and academic expectations

familiarize yourself with any specialized learning platforms

set up digital organization systems (i use notion + google calendar + xTiles)

purchase textbooks early and start preliminary reading

research the school's academic support resources

understand the homework and assignment submission policies

social preparation:

create a private social media presence specifically for school

research student organizations and clubs that accept mid-year members

join class-specific group chats or discussion boards

study the school's social media presence to understand culture

prepare conversation starters based on school activities

research any school traditions or special events

understand the social hierarchy (yes, private schools have these!)

identify potential mentor opportunities or buddy systems

practical essentials:

develop a morning routine that starts 30 minutes earlier than needed

create a capsule wardrobe that aligns with dress code

invest in high-quality school supplies that last

organize your study space at home

set up a dedicated homework station

create emergency supply kits for your locker and bag

establish a meal prep system for lunch and snacks

plan transportation routes and backup options

digital organization:

set up a comprehensive notion dashboard (i'll share my template soon!)

create specific folders for each subject in google drive

download all necessary academic apps

set up a digital calendar with color coding

create assignment tracking spreadsheets

establish a backup system for important documents

organize email folders for school communication

set up notification systems for important deadlines

mental and emotional preparation:

start journaling about your goals and fears

establish healthy boundaries for social interactions

create a stress management toolkit

develop positive self-talk mantras

plan regular self-care activities

identify potential support systems

create a growth mindset framework

establish regular check-in times with parents/guardians

first week survival guide:

day one essentials:

arrive 30 minutes early

bring extra supplies

wear something comfortable but polished

pack emergency essentials

keep your schedule easily accessible

bring a small notebook for important information

have your introduction speech ready

prepare questions for teachers and peers

social navigation:

observe before participating

sit in different locations to meet various groups

join lunch conversations naturally

show interest in others' experiences

take notes on names and interests

identify potential study partners

respect existing social dynamics

be authentically yourself while observing school culture

long-term success strategies:

academic excellence:

create weekly study schedules

establish relationships with teachers early

join or create study groups

maintain detailed notes from day one

schedule regular review sessions

utilize teacher office hours

keep a detailed assignment tracker

create subject-specific study guides

social integration:

participate in school events

volunteer for school activities

join at least one club or team

attend school sports events

participate in school traditions

create study groups

organize small social gatherings

maintain connections with existing friends

personal growth:

set monthly academic and social goals

maintain a gratitude journal

create a personal development plan

establish healthy stress management techniques

develop time management skills

build positive relationships with staff

create a balance between academics and social life

regularly evaluate and adjust your strategies

pro tips from my experience:

keep a spare set of supplies in your locker

create a school-specific emergency kit

maintain a digital photo of your schedule

establish a homework routine from day one

create a support network outside of school

document your journey through photos or journals

maintain open communication with teachers

celebrate small victories and progress

10 secret tips that transformed my private school journey ♡

the bathroom rule always scout out the least-used bathrooms in your first week, but don't just look for any quiet bathroom - look for one that's strategically located between your most stressful classes. trust me on this - i found my favorite quiet bathroom on the third floor of the science building, and it became my secret sanctuary for quick meditation breaks, makeup touch-ups, or just moments of peace between classes. the lighting there was immaculate for those confidence-boosting mirror talks, and it was far enough from the main hallways that you could actually hear yourself think. i even started keeping a small essential oil roller in my bag to make these mini-breaks feel more spa-like. this space became my personal reset button during hectic days, especially during exam seasons or when social dynamics felt overwhelming.

teacher connection hack bring a small notebook specifically for writing down personal details teachers mention (their favorite books, coffee preferences, hobbies, their children's names, or even their pets). this isn't about being a teacher's pet - it's about building genuine human connections. i started bringing my teacher's favorite starbucks drink on presentation days, remembering to ask about their weekend plans they mentioned, or sharing articles related to their interests. not only did it make their day, but it also showed i paid attention to details. these small gestures created authentic relationships that made a huge difference during finals week, college recommendation season, and even when i needed extensions during tough times. remember, teachers are people first, and when they see you acknowledging their humanity, they're more likely to understand yours.

social currency secret keep a small emergency kit with hair ties, bobby pins, bandaids, mints, tampons/pads, tide-to-go pens, pain relievers (if allowed), small sewing kit, clear nail polish for tights runs, double-sided tape, and even a phone charger in your locker. nothing creates instant friendships like being the person everyone knows they can count on for emergency supplies. i actually met my best friend because i had a spare hair tie when she desperately needed one before her presentation, and that simple moment turned into a three-hour conversation after school. this kit isn't just about having supplies - it's about being the person who thinks ahead and cares enough to help others. i started keeping track of what people borrowed most often and would stock up accordingly. it's like having your own little convenience store of kindness.

the popularity paradox here's something no one tells you - in private schools, being overly eager to be popular actually makes you less popular. the social hierarchy in private schools is often more subtle and complex than in public schools. i learned to focus on being genuinely interested in others instead of trying to fit in, asking thoughtful questions about their interests, and remembering small details about their lives. surprisingly, the moment i stopped trying to be part of the "it" crowd was when people started naturally gravitating towards me. i focused on developing my own interests and passions, which made me more interesting to others. the key is to be confidently authentic rather than strategically social. this approach not only helped me build real friendships but also protected me from the exhausting game of trying to maintain a carefully crafted social image.

the uniform advantage even with strict uniform rules, there are always creative ways to stand out while staying within the guidelines. i invested in high-quality accessories that complied with dress code but made my uniform look more polished - pearl earrings, delicate necklaces, classic watches, and subtle hair accessories. these small details helped me feel more put together and confident. but it's not just about the accessories - it's about how you wear the uniform itself. i learned that having my shirts professionally pressed, skirts properly hemmed, and shoes well-maintained made a huge difference in how put-together i looked. i also kept a small steamer in my locker for emergency touch-ups. this attention to detail showed respect for the school's traditions while allowing my personal style to shine through in acceptable ways.

the lunch table strategy don't commit to one lunch table for at least two weeks, and be strategic about your rotation schedule. i created a subtle system where i would sit with different groups each day, making mental notes about the dynamics, interests, and personalities at each table. i rotated between different groups, which helped me understand the social dynamics better and prevented me from being boxed into one clique too early. pay attention to how each group interacts - some tables are for studying, others for gossip, and some for genuine conversations. i kept a small note in my phone about each group's interests so i could contribute meaningfully to conversations. this strategy gave me the freedom to form genuine connections across different social circles and ultimately helped me choose where i truly felt comfortable. by the third week, i had a clear understanding of where i naturally fit in, rather than where i thought i should be.

the academic alliance create study guides and share them with classmates before they ask, but make it systematic and sustainable. i started a google drive folder with my notes and study guides, organized by subject and topic, with clear summaries and practice questions. it naturally evolved into a collaborative study group where everyone contributed their strengths. i became known as someone who not only shared resources but also helped others understand how to create their own study materials. this approach created a reciprocal learning environment where everyone felt comfortable asking for and offering help. i even created templates for different types of assignments that we could all use, which saved everyone time and helped maintain consistent quality in our work.

the extracurricular edge join at least one unexpected club that's not typically "popular," but don't just join - become actively involved in ways that showcase your unique talents. i joined the astronomy club despite it being small, and instead of just attending meetings, i started organizing stargazing events and creating instagram-worthy posts about our activities. this not only helped grow the club but also showed others that you can make any activity exciting if you're passionate about it. the unexpected benefit was meeting people who shared my genuine interests rather than just social aspirations. these authentic connections often lead to the most meaningful friendships and impressive college application stories.

the social media strategy create a finsta (private instagram) specifically for close school friends, but treat it as a carefully curated space rather than just another social media account. wait at least a month before adding anyone - this gives you time to understand the social dynamics and ensure you're connecting with the right people. i used my finsta to share study tips, funny school moments, and support for others' achievements. it became a safe space for sharing real moments with trusted friends, away from the pressure of maintaining a perfect image on main accounts. i also used it to organize study groups and share helpful resources, making it both social and practical.

the legacy link learn about your school's history and traditions from older students, but go beyond just knowing the basics. i spent time talking to seniors, alumni, and even teachers about the school's evolution over the years. understanding why certain traditions started, knowing the stories behind school legends, and learning about notable alumni helped me feel more connected to the school community. i created a digital notebook of these stories, which became a valuable resource for other new students. this knowledge made me feel like part of something bigger than just my current school year and helped me appreciate the school's culture on a deeper level.

personal advice from my heart to yours:

sweetness, i want you to know that the first few months at a new private school can feel like you're learning a new language - everyone seems to know the words and customs except you. i remember feeling so out of place during my first semester, constantly second-guessing myself and wondering if i was "doing it right." that feeling of being an outsider would hit me hardest during school traditions or inside jokes that everyone else seemed to understand instinctively. i spent countless nights journaling about feeling like i was watching my school life through a window, wondering when i would finally feel like i belonged. but here's what i learned: that feeling of being an outsider is actually your superpower. you have fresh eyes to see things differently, and that perspective is valuable. you notice things that others have become blind to, and you bring new energy to old traditions. your unique viewpoint can actually help breathe new life into established social circles and activities.

the most important thing i wish someone had told me is that it's okay to take your time finding your place. private schools often have students who've been together since kindergarten, and it can feel impossible to break into those established circles. but here's the truth - while everyone else is trying to maintain their image and social position, you have the freedom to be authentically yourself from day one. you don't have to carry the weight of years of expectations or predetermined roles. focus on building genuine connections rather than strategic ones. keep your grades up, but don't let academic pressure steal your joy. document your journey - take photos, keep a journal, save little mementos. these will become precious reminders of your growth. remember that every single person who seems perfectly adjusted now once stood exactly where you are, feeling exactly what you're feeling. and most importantly, remember that the version of you that walks into that school on day one isn't the same version that will emerge at the end of the year - and that's exactly how it should be. you're not just adapting to a new school; you're growing into a newer, stronger version of yourself. embrace this transformation with open arms.

sending you the warmest hugs and all my support! feel free to message me anytime for more specific advice or just to chat about your journey 🤍

mindy x

p.s. would you loves be interested in detailed posts about my notion templates and organization systems? let me know in the reblogs/replies!

[mariacallous]

Self-driving vehicle developers don’t usually love talking about “teleoperation”—when a human guides or drives robot cars remotely. It can feel like a dirty secret. Shouldn’t an autonomous vehicle operate, well, autonomously?

But experts say teleoperations are, at least right now, a critical part of any robot taxi service, including Tesla's Robotaxi. The tech, though impressive, is still in development, and the autonomous systems still need humans to guide them through less-common and especially sticky road situations. Plus, a bedrock principle of safety engineering is that every system needs a backup—doubly so for new robotic ones that involve two-ton EVs driving themselves on public roads.

And yet, just days out from Tesla’s launch of its long-awaited (and much delayed) Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, the public still doesn’t know much at all about its teleoperations systems. Tesla has posted a job related to teleoperations that states the role will be responsible for developing the application "that our Remote Operators use to interface with our cars and robots,” an application where these operators will be “transported into the device’s world using a state-of-the-art VR rig that allows them to remotely perform complex and intricate tasks.”

Alarmingly, several government spokespeople—representing the city of Austin, the state of Texas, and the US’s top road safety regulator—didn’t respond to questions about Tesla’s teleoperations. Indeed, Austin and the Texas Department of Transportation referred all our questions about Tesla technology to the company itself. Tesla, which disbanded its public relations team in 2020, didn’t respond to WIRED’s questions.

Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the country’s road safety watchdog, wrote a letter to Tesla posing questions about, among other things, how or if Tesla planned to use teleoperations. How will its human staff be expected to monitor, supervise, or even intervene when its systems are on the road? The government asked the company to respond by June 19, which will be after the service supposedly launches on June 12, according to reporting from Bloomberg earlier this month. NHTSA repeatedly would not respond to WIRED's inquiries into what it knows about Tesla's teleoperations.

The Los Angeles Times reported that humans used teleoperations to manipulate the robot Optimus during a “Cybercab” debut event in Los Angeles, and when Optimus showed off its new hands a month later, catching a tennis ball in mid-air, an engineer for the company acknowledged that humans similarly used teleoperations. The company also has a permit to test autonomous vehicles in California with a driver behind the wheel. The state has much stricter rules than Texas and requires some kind of “communication link” between testing vehicles and remote operators, so it’s likely the company has some kind of system.

While not shedding any light on exactly how Tesla's teleoperations will work in the city, Austin Transportation and Public Works spokesperson Cristal Corrales wrote in an email: “The City works with AV [autonomous vehicle] companies before and during deployment to obtain training for first responders, establish expectations for ongoing communication and share information about infrastructure and events.” Texas Department of Transportation spokesperson Laura Butterbrodt said in an emailed statement: “Texas law allows for AV testing and operations on Texas roadways as long as they meet the same safety and insurance requirements as every other vehicle on the road.”

Bedeviling this Robotaxi mystery is the fact that the autonomous vehicle industry hasn’t coalesced around a definition for “teleoperations.” So as Tesla watchers await the Austin service, it’s worth understanding a bit more about these teleoperations, and how they work.

The interior of Tesla's autonomous Cybercab taxi, showing the complete lack of physical controls—no steering wheel or pedals. Photograph: JONAS ROOSENS/Getty Images

A Little Help From My Friends

It’s worth defining some terms. What self-driving-car developers usually call “remote operations” refer to a few different sorts of human jobs. There are, first, the operators who deal with other humans. These are people trained to interact with autonomous taxi riders when they have questions or need assistance in an emergency. Alphabet’s Waymo, the undisputed leader in self-driving, has a big Support button on its in-car passenger screens, which can connect riders with these folks. These operators can also be people trained to interact with law enforcement or emergency responders when they need assistance.

Then there are operators who deal with the autonomous system. Some of these people may work in “remote assistance.” More confusion: Self-driving car developers give these tasks different names and titles. Amazon subsidiary Zoox uses “teleguidance”; the self-driving-truck developers at Aurora like “teleassistance”; Tesla appears to stick to “teleoperation”; Waymo calls these workers “fleet response agents.” Whatever they’re called, these humans are meant to guide the autonomous system when it needs help. A car might alert people, for example, when it has encountered a roadblock, like construction equipment; the remote assistant might suggest a lane change or a turn or even a quick dip onto a road’s shoulder to get around it.

These human assistants can also sometimes reroute an autonomous vehicle if its planned itinerary no longer makes sense—maybe a road is unexpectedly closed off for a street fair. They can also sometimes help the car identify objects that have, for whatever reason, confused its sensors: a plastic bag flapping in the wind or a traffic light (red or green?).Got a Tip?Are you a former or current Tesla employee or know more about the company’s Robotaxi operations? WIRED would like to speak to you. Using a non-work phone or computer, please reach out to reporter Aarian Marshall on Signal at aarianm.30

Remote assistance should be a part of every safe self-driving-vehicle program, says Philip Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies autonomous vehicle safety. “The technology is not there for them to be able to handle everything, and that’s OK,” he says. Having humans operate in the background of autonomous systems, then, isn’t “cheating” at self-driving. It’s understanding the limits of today’s technology—and what it takes to run a profitable business based on self-driving cars.

Still, some remote assistance programs are safer than others, Koopman says. Some of that comes down to “triggers,” or how the system knows it needs help and turns to its human overlords. Is it the human assistant’s job to notice that the vehicle is stuck—or about to smash into something? Or is the onus on the vehicle to ask for aid? The safer bet, he says, is to train the technology to know when it needs intervention rather than relying on the vigilance of the human auxiliaries.

Asking for help can be very hard for people—but it might be harder for robots. That’s because autonomous systems must automatically provide the humans with everything they need to know to assist: what happened, where the vehicle is in space, and if there’s anything around it. Only then can the humans guide the robots.

A Tesla Cybercab prototype at a Tesla store in San Jose, California, in November 2024. Photograph: David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Humans in the Loop

If that sounds tough, even tougher—and more controversial—is “remote driving.” This is what most people probably think of when they hear “teleoperations”: Someone far away from the supposed self-driving car, behind their own steering wheel or joystick, piloting it like a long-distance RC car.

Remote driving has even more technical challenges. Ben Shukman should know—as an engineer at a startup called Phantom Auto that focused on remote driving, he believes he was the first to do it on public roads. The first issue is connectivity. “Your ability to drive a car without being in the car is only as stable as the internet connection that connects you to it,” he says.

But anyone who has called a friend on a long drive knows that networks drop in and out as you move in space. There are technical ways to knit together networks, but those aren’t foolproof. This leads to big issues with latency. So imagine the worst-case scenario: A robot car needs help navigating around an accident on a highway, a remote driver gets it moving, and then … the connection dies.

Another challenge in remote driving: Helping drivers understand the experience of driving without actually being in the car. It’s hard to understand how quickly the momentum is shifting, or how hard you’re braking if you’re not inside the car. Shukman says it’s possible to build a user interface that gives remote drivers a sense of what it’s like on the road, but this takes thought and time.

For these reasons, Shukman says, remote driving is less than safe in environments where vehicles are moving quickly in unpredictable environments, even above a handful of miles per hour. Today, the technique is mostly used in public to get delivery robots out of jams. Those move so slowly that a few milliseconds of dropped connection likely won’t spell disaster. The startup where he worked, Phantom Auto, eventually pivoted to operating forklifts remotely in warehouse settings. (It shut down last year, but its founders are sticking with its thesis: Their new startup keeps humans “in the loop” by building a platform that allows people to easily intervene to help in AI search.)

The Tesla Question

If Tesla does make good on its promise to start its Robotaxi service in Austin this month, how will it handle teleoperations? A Morgan Stanley research note from its head of global autos and shared mobility research Adam Jonas claims the service will be heavily teleoperated, though Tesla has not confirmed any of this.

The job posting for software engineers working in teleoperation on “Optimus & Robotaxi” explicitly says the company’s remote operators will be “transported into the device’s world using a state-of-the-art VR rig” that will supposedly let them remotely execute intricate tasks requiring some form of human involvement. This sounds more like remote driving—direct intervention with the driving task—than remote assistance.

If Tesla’s remote operators are meant to closely monitor its Robotaxis’ systems, “I think it’s going to be very difficult to expand beyond a few vehicles and a small area,” says Koopman, the professor. Or at least, to do it safely.

In fact, that’s what CEO Elon Musk has said—that Tesla’s Robotaxi launch will start with just 10 to 20 cars and will expand from there. Maybe there will be some robots. But the better questions are what the humans supporting them will be doing—and whether they’ll be doing it safely.

[veraarora]

The line I fall for

Previous: Prologue , Chapter 1

--------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2

The Commission assignments were piling up on my table as I successfully managed to ignore them for the past three days.

Two coffees, one aggressive email that could be counted as a threat sent by my amazing boss, and a migraine in the back of my head.

Not bad, considering my situation.

I sat on the hard chair and flipped one of the documents to feel productive. Bad idea.

“Monitoring request? What am I, some kind of babysitter?”

Apparently so, because stapled to the assignment was a photo. Shit.

I aggressively snapped the file back on the table and—before I realized that snapping at my boss and basically storming into his office wasn’t a good idea—I was already on my way.

Not that he could even fire my ass anyway.

“What the actual fuck, Axel?!” I burst out before even stepping fully into the room. He looked confused for a brief second as his blue eyes looked up from his laptop with a lazy smirk, like my outburst was the best entertainment he’d had all day.

“Wow,” he said. “We’re not even at the part where you threaten to quit. Did you skip breakfast?”

“Did you seriously assign me Five fucking Hargreeves?”

“Technically, the system did. But sure, blame me. That’s more fun.”

“I’m not doing it,” I hissed immediately.

“Yes, you are.”

“I am not.”

“Vera.”

I stared at him. Conflicted.

What really was my problem?

I mean, yes, I often complained — but I did as I was told, and I did it well. But this guy? He founded this place. He was a fucking celebrity around here…

Over the last few years, I avoided the topic of Five Hargreeves as much as I could. Everyone here fucking loved him, idealized him and his actions — even more than our new handler, Mr. Perfect. Five was the only one. The only one above me. Not that I would ever show that it bothered me in any way and honestly, it really shouldn’t, since he’s no one now. No powers, no connections. He doesn’t even have a clue we exist anymore.

Anyway, that may not have been the entire reason for the avoidance. The truth was...

I was one of them.

Born on October 1st, 1989. Just like him. Like the others. Same day, same anomaly, same weird cosmic birth lottery.

I wasn’t adopted by some monocle-wearing maniac, though. I had a mother — for a while. But she didn’t stick around. After that, I was brought to the Commission, labeled a useful little anomaly, locked away like some kind of cosmic asset — and, on top of that, got stuck in my abnormally aging body.

Up here, in headquarters, where I spent most of my life, time didn’t work the same anymore. Too few agents. Too much work. And after the Commission nearly vanished from its already fragile existence, they needed to make some… backups.

Here, time stretches, bends, and folds in on itself until you forget how old you’re even supposed to be. People don’t age normally at the Commission anymore — if they age at all. It’s how I stayed the same. Still nineteen. Or twenty. Or however the hell old I’m supposed to be by now.

Honestly? I stopped keeping count a long time ago.

Still, every time I entered the handler’s office and saw that asshole’s photo on the wall — his shiny hair and perfect green eyes — I felt a twist in my gut.

He was a fucking genius. And I bet—

Well. What the fuck am I doing?

I snapped back into reality.

"Fine," I blurted, louder than I meant to.

“Fine? That’s it? Fine? You looked like you were about to kill me a minute ago.” He gave me a really concerned look and pushed his chair further from the table. Even sitting, I felt so small next to him... vulnerable, scared. Did he make everyone feel like this? Hardly anyone ever made me feel that way, but in Axel Moreau’s presence, I wanted to crawl into a ball and hide in the corner.

Recalling the events of the last ten minutes, in which I didn’t think through any of my actions — and judging by my next statement, I didn’t intend to start doing that anytime soon.

“Is that a problem suddenly? You want me to do this job, don’t you?” I fidgeted with the fabric of my black pants.

I acted stupid, and I knew it — so before he could say anything about it, I calmed down a bit and pretended like I didn’t just have a small breakdown about a guy I’ve never met.

“Why do we even care about him anymore? I don’t remember him being valuable to us in any way.”

“He’s nosy.”

“Nosy? That’s it? Oh my—Axel, really? What am I supposed to do, spank him if he misbehaves?”

“Well, if you would like that, then—”

I rolled my eyes and interrupted his words.

“I am not a babysitter. I am an assassin.”

“No. You work for the Commission. You do what I tell you.”

“Which is killing.”

“Not this time. And for God’s sake, just stop arguing with me already. Do you realize that if you were literally anyone else in this building, this would be unacceptable?”

I was quiet for a moment, noticing he wasn’t so sure about himself anymore.

“You’re not telling me everything,” I said flatly.

“Would it make you do your job better if I did?” He leaned back in his leather chair, making eye contact with me.

“Depends on what the truth is,” I said coldly.

“Go do your job, Vera.”

I bit the inside of my mouth and stood up, putting a hand through my long brown hair. I nodded.

“Sorry,” I breathed out.

“Hey. Look at me.”

I did as he said, his golden locks shining in the sun.

“Do your job, and do it well.” His tone wasn’t harsh — it was a reminder.

And it helped, because that’s what I did. Every day. Every mission.

This one won’t be any different.

--------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3

Taglist: @whatsup-huzz

[howlett-n-morgan]

Please reblog this!!

my account @miller-n-morgan has been temporarily been terminated due to some issues with tumblr's automated report system. I have been alerted that a user reported some of my content (even though there's plenty of warnings for everything included, but whatever) and that I will have to repeal my termination. Luckily, I've been emailing with support staff and hopefully everything is going to work itself out. I do however want to let you all know that if I do not get my other account reinstated within the next few days, I will go ahead and make backup masterlists on this account instead and will start posting my work here.

For those of you who read my stories: And I Feel Fine (Joel Miller) and Take Me Home (Arthur Morgan), please feel free to follow me here until I have any updates!

[risingscorchingsuns]

im so fucking mad at the healthcare system guys. I have an appointment regarding my MALS this Thursday. I’ve been on the waitlist for six months and just to GET that appointment I’ve had to threaten to sue for medical negligence because nobody would even look at my case file. As a backup just to ENSURE that they actually take me fucking seriously, I am bringing my cis male friend to pretend to be my relative and that hes very worried about me. I’m so fucking mad if I were a cis man id have had the surgery I need by now, or at the very least a goddamn follow up email. medical misogyny I hate you I hate you I hate you everything about this is demeaning

[beingatoaster]

What is a blog backup for?

A blog backup saves all your posts from your blog in a downloadable format, so if you download that to your hard drive, it is still (in a very awkward sense) accessible even if your blog goes away. If you delete your blog, or get banned, or, y'know, the CEO of Tumblr throws a shitfit and deletes the whole site out of pique.... You still have your posts! It's available in Blog Settings, and usually it takes a while to process and then emails you when a download link is ready.

I back all of my Tumblrs up this way intermittently, and the recent Everything reminded me I haven't done it since November and maybe should again, but this time the process has taken, as I mentioned, three days and still hasn't given me a link. :( I don't know if that's a bug specific to me, or if the recent Everything has also triggered a lot of other people backing up their blogs as well and the system is just choked.

[xaltius]

Prevention Techniques for Top 10 Common Cyber Attacks

In the ever-escalating war against cybercriminals, staying informed about the most common attack vectors is half the battle. The other half is implementing robust prevention techniques. As we navigate 2025, the threat landscape continues to evolve, but many foundational attack methods remain prevalent due to their effectiveness.

Here's a breakdown of the top 10 common cyber attacks and the essential prevention techniques to keep you and your organization secure.

1. Phishing & Smishing (SMS Phishing)

The Attack: Attackers impersonate trusted entities (banks, colleagues, popular services) via email or text messages to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information, clicking malicious links, or downloading malware. Modern phishing often uses AI to generate hyper-realistic content.

Prevention Techniques:

Vigilant User Education: Train employees to scrutinize sender email addresses, hover over links to check destinations, and be suspicious of urgent or generic requests. Conduct regular simulated phishing tests.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Even if credentials are stolen, MFA can block unauthorized access. Enforce it widely.

Email & SMS Security Solutions: Deploy advanced email filters (e.g., Microsoft Defender for Office 365, secure email gateways) that scan for suspicious patterns, attachments, and URLs. Forward suspicious texts to 7726 (SPAM).

DMARC, SPF, DKIM: Implement these email authentication protocols to prevent email spoofing of your own domain.

2. Malware (Viruses, Worms, Trojans)

The Attack: Malicious software designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems. Malware can be delivered via downloads, malicious websites ("drive-by" attacks), or attachments.

Prevention Techniques:

Antivirus/Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR): Install and keep robust antivirus and EDR solutions updated on all devices.

Regular Software Updates: Patch operating systems, applications, and browsers promptly to close security loopholes that malware exploits.

Firewalls: Use network and host-based firewalls to control incoming and outgoing network traffic.

Download Caution: Only download software and files from trusted, official sources. Scan all downloads before opening.

3. Ransomware

The Attack: A type of malware that encrypts a victim's files or locks their system, demanding a ransom (usually in cryptocurrency) for decryption or restoration of access. It often enters via phishing or exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities.

Prevention Techniques:

Robust Backups: Implement a 3-2-1 backup strategy (3 copies, on 2 different media, with 1 copy off-site and isolated/immutable). Regularly test recovery.

MFA & Strong Passwords: Crucial for protecting remote access services (like RDP) often targeted by ransomware operators.

Vulnerability Management: Continuously scan for and patch vulnerabilities, especially on internet-facing systems.

Network Segmentation: Divide your network into isolated segments to prevent ransomware from spreading laterally if it gains a foothold.

Security Awareness Training: Educate employees about ransomware's common entry points (phishing).

4. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks

The Attack: Overwhelming a target server, service, or network with a flood of internet traffic from multiple compromised computer systems (a botnet), aiming to disrupt normal operations and make services unavailable.

Prevention Techniques:

DDoS Protection Services: Utilize specialized DDoS mitigation services (e.g., Cloudflare, Akamai) that can absorb and filter malicious traffic.

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs): CDNs distribute traffic and cache content, helping to absorb some attack volume and improve resilience.

Rate Limiting: Configure servers and network devices to limit the number of requests they will accept from a single IP address or source over a given time.

Network Redundancy: Ensure your infrastructure has redundant systems and sufficient bandwidth to handle traffic spikes.

5. Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks

The Attack: An attacker secretly relays and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other. This often happens over unsecured Wi-Fi.

Prevention Techniques:

Always Use HTTPS: Ensure websites you visit use HTTPS (look for the padlock icon in the browser address bar) to encrypt communication.

Avoid Public Wi-Fi for Sensitive Tasks: Refrain from accessing banking, email, or other sensitive accounts over unsecured public Wi-Fi networks.

Use VPNs (Virtual Private Networks): VPNs encrypt your internet traffic, creating a secure tunnel even over public networks.

Strong Authentication: Implement MFA and passwordless authentication to mitigate credential theft even if traffic is intercepted.

6. SQL Injection (SQLi)

The Attack: An attacker injects malicious SQL code into input fields of a web application to manipulate the database, potentially leading to unauthorized access, data theft, or data corruption.

Prevention Techniques (primarily for developers):

Prepared Statements & Parameterized Queries: The most effective defense. Treat user input as data, not executable code.

Input Validation & Sanitization: Validate and sanitize all user input on both the client and server sides to ensure it conforms to expected formats and removes malicious characters.

Least Privilege: Grant database accounts only the minimum necessary privileges required for their function.

Web Application Firewall (WAF): WAFs can detect and block common web-based attacks like SQLi.

7. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

The Attack: Attackers inject malicious client-side scripts (e.g., JavaScript) into web pages viewed by other users. This can lead to session hijacking, defacement of websites, or redirection to malicious sites.

Prevention Techniques (primarily for developers):

Output Encoding/Escaping: Properly encode or escape all user-supplied data before rendering it in HTML to prevent it from being interpreted as executable code.

Input Validation: Validate user input to ensure it doesn't contain malicious scripts.

Content Security Policy (CSP): Implement a CSP to restrict which sources are allowed to execute scripts on your website.

Sanitize HTML: If your application allows users to input HTML, use robust libraries to sanitize it and remove dangerous tags/attributes.

8. Zero-Day Exploits

The Attack: Exploits that target newly discovered software vulnerabilities for which a patch is not yet available. They are extremely dangerous because there's no immediate defense.

Prevention Techniques:

Layered Security (Defense-in-Depth): Rely on multiple security controls (firewalls, EDR, IDS/IPS, network segmentation) so if one fails, others can still detect or contain the attack.

Behavioral Analysis: Use security tools (like EDR, UEBA) that monitor for anomalous behavior, even if the specific exploit is unknown.

Application Whitelisting: Allow only approved applications to run on your systems, preventing unauthorized or malicious executables.

Rapid Patch Management: While a patch doesn't exist initially, be prepared to deploy it immediately once released.

9. Insider Threats

The Attack: A security breach or data loss caused by a person with authorized access to an organization's systems and data, whether malicious or accidental.

Prevention Techniques:

Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Grant users only the minimum access necessary to perform their job functions.

User Behavior Analytics (UBA/UEBA): Monitor user activity for anomalous behaviors (e.g., accessing unusual files, working outside normal hours).

Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Implement DLP solutions to prevent sensitive data from leaving the organization's controlled environment.

Employee Training: Educate employees on security policies, data handling best practices, and recognizing social engineering.

Offboarding Procedures: Have strict procedures for revoking access immediately when an employee leaves.

10. Brute Force & Credential Stuffing

The Attack:

Brute Force: Systematically trying every possible combination of characters until the correct password or encryption key is found.

Credential Stuffing: Using lists of stolen usernames and passwords (from previous breaches) to try and log into accounts on other services.

Prevention Techniques:

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): The most effective defense, as attackers need a second factor beyond just the password.

Strong Password Policies: Enforce complex, unique passwords that are difficult to guess.

Account Lockout Mechanisms: Implement policies that temporarily lock accounts after a certain number of failed login attempts.

Rate Limiting: Restrict the number of login attempts from a single IP address over a period.

CAPTCHA Challenges: Introduce CAPTCHAs or other challenge-response mechanisms during login to differentiate humans from bots.

Threat Intelligence: Monitor dark web forums for compromised credentials and prompt affected users to reset their passwords.

By proactively addressing these common attack vectors with a layered and comprehensive security strategy, individuals and organizations can significantly strengthen their defenses and foster a more secure digital environment. Stay informed, stay vigilant, and make cybersecurity a continuous priority.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this EcoWatch story:

After a devastating and hot 2023 summer, the Florida Keys coral restoration community made sure to be prepped for this year’s heat. 

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) is home to the largest coral barrier reef in the continental United States. In recent years, however, the Florida Reef Tract has suffered a “death of 1,000 cuts” – from water quality issues, pollution and disease. In 2023, a historic marine heat wave caused Florida’s corals to bleach weeks early. 

Bleaching doesn’t always lead to coral death, but it can if conditions don’t improve quickly. “The coral is essentially starving until temperatures lower and symbionts recolonize” within coral tissues, a FKNMS Mission: Iconic Reefs (MIR) fact sheet said. The fact sheet was emailed to EcoWatch during the 2023 heat crisis. Additionally, heat stress makes corals more susceptible to diseases. 

Last year, to beat the heat, coral restoration practitioners took emergency measures and moved what corals they could from their in situ nurseries to land-based holding tanks or deeper water. Many corals were lost, but many were saved, too. Each genetic strain is critical to restoration efforts, so each piece matters. 

“Last year we were caught a bit by surprise and had to react quickly,” said MIR co-lead Jennifer Moore, “but we learned a great deal and are much more prepared this year.”

Florida Institute of Oceanography’s Keys Marine Laboratory (KML) served as a land-based triage station in 2023 for thousands of corals coming in bleached and hot from the scorched ocean. Hosted by the University of South Florida, the scientific research field station held over 5,000 corals in their 60 raceways during the heat crisis. In October and November, once temperatures had dropped and the corals had been checked for general wellness, most of these were returned to the ocean.

This year, as temperatures climb and alarms sound for corals around the world, KML has led the effort to prepare proactively within FKNMS. Using emergency funding, they bolstered the quality of their facilities with additional pop-up shade tents, backup pumps, circulation pumps, spare tank chillers, a new emergency generator, and remote alarms for their seawater systems. This will allow any corals that need to be housed to receive more consistent care at KML. The lab also purchased coral food and cleaning supplies in advance – to be prepared for anything.

KML also hosted a preparedness workshop on site to review seawater systems capabilities and limitations in emergent situations. 

[winterinhimring]

Where do I learn how to code and use linux? I want to try it but I don't know anything about coding.

I will do my best to help! The answer to that question is very long if I write it all out here, but a lot of it has been answered by other people, so I'll give you an overview and link you to some resources along the way.

The good thing is that you don't need any programming knowledge to use Linux. If you just want to try out the Linux operating system and see what it's like, I would start by downloading a program like Oracle's VirtualBox: https://www.virtualbox.org/

This will allow you to basically run a second, simulated, computer on your actual computer. From there, you can download a Linux image and install it, run it inside VirtualBox, and get familiar with the operating system. This has the additional benefit that if you do something wonky to your Linux virtual machine (VM for short) by mistake, you can just delete it and recreate it and no harm will be done to your actual computer. For a step-by-step explanation, see: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/how-to-run-ubuntu-desktop-on-a-virtual-machine-using-virtualbox#1-overview

Short aside: Linux is not a monolithic operating system like Windows or MacOS. Linux, written by a man named Linus Torvalds, is a "kernel" made up of certain very basic computer functions, and the rest of the operating system, things like the graphical user interface (GUI, to nerds like me) doesn't come with it. To be usable by normal people, Linux has to have that functionality filled in by other programmers, which creates something called a distribution, or distro for short. Ubuntu, Debian, RedHat, Linux Mint, and OpenSUSE are all Linux distros. Different distros are designed for different purposes. Ubuntu and Mint are both pretty friendly to normal folks who want to write documents, check their email, etc. RedHat is for large companies. There's a distro called Kali that's for cybersecurity and penetration testing. Etc. etc. etc. There are tons of distros. If you don't know which one to pick, I recommend Ubuntu or Mint, as I have experience with both, and they're fairly easy to use.

From this point out, a search engine will be your best friend. There are lots of helpful tutorials online, and also answers to almost any question you can imagine. If you're unsure where to start, documentation from the website of an official Linux distribution, like Ubuntu, is usually reliable, though it can be kind of opaque if you're not used to reading tech-ese. The tutorials on Ubuntu's site, however, seem to be structured with beginners in mind, and I would run through this one to start with: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/command-line-for-beginners#1-overview

Once you get to the point of having specific questions about how a command works or how to make the operating system do something, I would take a good look at any answers from StackOverflow, which is basically a website for computer people of all skill levels to ask each other questions ranging from the basic to the ridiculously obscure. If you're wondering it, chances are good someone on StackOverflow has asked it.

Other than that, click around your new VM, create files, find programs, etc. If you really get stuck, I'll try and help, but keep in mind I may very well be searching StackOverflow myself. XD

The other cool thing about VMs is that you can try multiple operating systems, i.e. Linux Mint (https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) which is pretty user-friendly, as I recall.

Once you get to the point where you actually want to install Linux, you'll want to back up your computer to an external hard drive so you can restore from the backup if something goes wrong, and then follow the instructions for your chosen Linux distro. LibreOffice runs on Linux and can open most Microsoft file types, so you shouldn't need to move your files to a different type, you'll just need to copy them somewhere (like another external hard drive or a thumb drive) and then copy them back when you're done with the installation. Obligatory word of warning: installing Linux on your actual machine, as opposed to a VM, WILL OVERWRITE YOUR ENTIRE HARD DRIVE. Do this with caution. Restoring from a backup is possible, so as long as you backed everything up you will not lose any data, but it can be a pain in the neck and if you're not particularly tech-savvy, you may have to go to a computer repair store to get them to do it.

Now, as to your question about learning to code: this requires no VM and no new installation; you can start doing that today. There are almost infinite tutorials online about how to start coding. CodeCademy.com is a pretty decent one, as I recall, though it's been a long time since I used it. There's also a channel on YouTube called BroCode that puts up free 'how to get started in this programming language' tutorials, which are pretty beginner-friendly. I would recommend that you start with either Python or Java (NOT JavaScript; it's not the same thing as Java, and it's a really annoying programming language, so don't do that to yourself). Python has syntax that is more similar to English than most programming languages and it is pretty powerful, but it may confuse you when you start moving to other programming languages. Java is less immediately comprehensible but probably more representative of programming languages as a whole.

Hope this helps! Feel free to send me follow-up questions or ask for clarification if I lapsed into tech-speak and this doesn't make sense.

[glowettee]

｡𖦹 °✩creating your perfect comeback strategy - part 3/5 🎀｡𖦹 °✩

1st post 2nd post

posted by: glowettee

hey gorgeous studybugs! ♡

time for the most exciting part of the bad grade recovery series - planning your academic glow-up!!!!!! after analyzing what went wrong, we're now going to create the most effective (and aesthetic) comeback plan ever. this post will seriously help you with any class.

♡ setting goals (but make them realistic)

let's break this down into manageable pieces:

short-term goals:

identify the exact grade you need on next assignments

set weekly study targets (be specific with hours!)

plan concept mastery checkpoints

create mini-deadlines for improvement

long-term goals:

final grade target

overall understanding improvements

study habit transformations

confidence rebuilding

♡ your new study schedule

this isn't just any schedule - it's your academic glow-up timeline, so make it important:

morning routine:

quick concept review (15 mins while having your morning tea)

plan your study goals for the day

organize materials needed

set up your study space

daily study blocks:

45-minute focused sessions (i use a cute timer app)

15-minute aesthetic breaks (stretch, hydrate, quick tiktok check)

alternate between subjects

include active recall exercises

evening review:

30-minute summary of what you learned

prep materials for tomorrow

quick self-quiz

celebrate small wins!

♡ the actual study techniques (that actually work)

here's what really helps:

active recall methods:

teach concepts to your stuffed animals (seriously, it works!)

create practice questions

draw concept maps (make them pretty but functional)

record voice notes explaining topics

write summaries without looking at notes

understanding checks:

can you explain it to someone else?

can you solve problems without references?

can you connect different concepts?

do you understand why, not just how?

♡ resource maximization (because we're being smart about this)

time to use everything available:

professor/teacher resources:

office hours (schedule them in advance!)

email questions (keep them specific and organized)

extra materials they recommend

past exam reviews

study support:

form a study group (2-4 people max)

use tutoring services

online resources (but pick reliable ones!)

practice problems from textbook

supplementary videos

♡ your accountability system

staying on track is crucial:

daily checks:

study log (track actual study time)

concept understanding rating

questions that came up

what worked/didn't work

weekly reviews:

progress check

study method effectiveness

time management evaluation

goals met/missed

adjustments needed

♡ creating your perfect study environment

because aesthetics actually help:

physical space:

clean desk (but keep it cute)

good lighting (natural light is best!)

comfortable seating

all materials within reach

minimal distractions

study essentials:

colored pens/highlighters

sticky notes

planner

water bottle

healthy snacks

background music playlist

♡ emergency backup plans

because life happens:

plan b strategies:

alternate study locations

backup study materials

digital copies of important notes

emergency contact list for help

quick review sheets for cramming

stress-relief techniques

this isn't just about recovering from one bad grade - it's about creating a sustainable study system that works for you! - it needs to be consistent, personalized, and something you'll actually stick to!

the next post, i will talk about how to actually execute this plan (and what to do when things get tough).

xoxo, mindy 🎀