#extracting document outline

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Do you have a snoot noodle or other variation of sighthound? If yes, there’s new heart health research for the breed happening!

A researcher at Texas A&M whose work I’m familiar with is starting a new study looking at genetic factors contributing to heart disease in Borzoi and related breeds. They just put out a call for dog owners who are willing to submit saliva samples & (noodle) medical records. Studies like this need a big sample size! They’re accepting new sign-ups starting now until March 1, 2025, for dogs both in the US and internationally.

Let’s help make some science!

From the study page:

“Background and purpose

Recent research in Borzoi dogs has revealed that dogs of this breed experience sudden, unexplained death. About 85% of sudden, unexplained deaths in humans are linked to an underlying heart disease. Our existing research in Borzoi dogs has shown that they are predisposed to developing arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) and dilated cardiomyopathy (a heart muscle disease causing dilated heart chambers and weak pumping function).

Due to our documentation of the frequency of these conditions in Borzoi dogs, we seek to identify responsible genetic variations similar to what is seen in humans with electrical cardiac diseases that trigger arrhythmias and dilated cardiomyopathy.

The objective of our study is to identify genetic mutations associated with heart disease in Borzoi dogs and document their existence in other sighthound breeds.

What happens in this study

We are collecting saliva samples from both healthy Borzoi and Borzoi dogs affected with arrhythmias and/or dilated cardiomyopathy. We will also collect saliva samples from any other sighthound breeds.

We will extract DNA from these samples and perform genomic sequencing on a select number while retaining the remainder for further screening.By analyzing the sequencing data, we can compare the genes of healthy and affected Borzoi dogs and identify variants linked to their heart conditions. We will also compare the findings in Borzoi dogs to results from other sighthound breeds.

Pet owner responsibilities

A swab kit will be sent to you for at home use along with a link to an instructional video on how to properly obtain a swab of the mouth. The kit will contain equipment to collect the saliva swab, a history form for your pet, a client consent form and a shipping label to return samples to us.

Participation requirements

To participate, you must have a Borzoi dog or a sighthound breed that is either healthy or affected by arrhythmias and/or dilated cardiomyopathy. Pets may be any age or sex. Electronic or paper veterinary medical records will need to be provided.

Benefits and risks of participating

There is little to no risk for taking a brief swab of the mouth for saliva collection if procedures outlined in the video are followed. No individual genetic test results will be provided to study participants.

Compensation

There is no cost to the owner for participating in this study. No compensation will be provided.”

[stirthewaters]

Too Sharp to Touch pt. 13

Word Count: 1.5k Summary: You and Wednesday break into the hunting store to uncover more clues. A horrifying discovery is uncovered. Warnings: Gun mentions, idk tbh Pairings: Wednesday x Reader A/N: I am soooo sorry for the long ass break 😭 Too Sharp to Touch Masterlist

The key slid into the lock with a click so soft it was almost tender.

Wednesday presses the door open and slips into the hunting store first, her steps silent against the worn wooden floor. You followed close behind, pulling the door shut with trembling fingers. The hunting store was hollowed out at night—rifles gleaming cold on the walls, animal heads staring blankly from dusty plaques. The air smelled of oil, leather, and something acrid underneath.

Wednesday didn’t look back. She didn’t need to.

Your presence, a tangible weight behind her — jittery, electric.

It crawls up Wednesday’s spine, demanding attention she did not want to give.

She moves through the store, slicing through the dark like a knife. She knew where the records would be kept: behind cheap locked doors and cheaper locks in the back offices.

Kneeling before the office door, the Addams produced her lockpicks, keeping her movements silent, precise, and practiced. She felt you hovering behind her — too close, too warm.

“Stay close,” Wednesday muttered, softer than she wanted it to sound.

An unnecessary precaution.

You were already so close Wednesday could smell the faint scent of your shampoo — something clean, something that didn’t belong in a place like this.

The lock gave way with a reluctant snick, and the two of you slipped inside.

It was a cramped, miserable little office: metal cabinets, a battered desk, a computer buzzing to itself in the corner. Paperwork strewn like dead leaves across every surface.

Wednesday closed the door and clicked on her penlight, keeping the beam narrow.

“Start with the desk,” she said. Her voice came out clipped. Cold.

Good. She needed the distance.

You moved to the desk without argument. Your hands shook slightly.

Wednesday ignored the strange ache in her chest at the sight.

She turned to the filing cabinets, yanking them open one by one. It should have been simple. Catalog. Analyze. Extract. But you kept catching in her periphery — a soft outline, small and quick and breathing too fast.

Distracting. Dangerous.

Wednesday forced herself to focus. Her fingers combed through receipts, invoices, supply orders. Most of it was mundane. Tedious.

Until your soft gasp cut through the silence.

“Got something,” You whispered.

Wednesday was at your side in a heartbeat, penlight tilting down to observe like pinning a butterfly.

A stack of orders.

Darts.

Syringes.

Crates labeled SPECIMEN HANDLING. Shoved behind cases of arrows and mounts. Hidden.

Your brow furrowed. Confused. Vulnerable.

Wednesday swallowed the sharp taste rising in her mouth.

“This could just be for animals,” You offered— you sounded like you were trying to convince yourself.

Wednesday said nothing.

They dug deeper.

The smell of rot grew worse.

More papers: lists of modified equipment. Cages. Restraints. Reinforced to withstand superhuman strength. The raven knew for a fact those bars were thicker than the average cage.

Wednesday felt a knot tightening low in her stomach.

No — not her stomach.

Something deeper. Something old.

Another file — slim, hidden between invoices.

You tugged it free, flipping it open with trembling fingers.

Inside, a typed document: SERUM 11-X: Handling and Application Notes.

You skim it; Wednesday could see the rise and fall of your chest.

Dosages listed for subjects weighing 80-120 pounds.

Instructions for “immediate restraint following injection.”

Warning: “Instability in high-powered specimens.”

Specimens.

Subjects.

“It’s just some kind of tranquilizer,” you remark so softly the Addams almost doesn’t catch it.

Wednesday forced herself to move slowly. Deliberately.

She peels the document from your hands, turning toward the ancient computer.

Jiggles the mouse experimentally.

A flicker. Login screen bypassed. Shipping logs opened. Lines of inventory fill the screen.

Rows and rows of shipments appeared.

Some were normal — bulk ammo, standard rifles.

Others were more… unusual.

You leaned in, shoulder brushing Wednesday’s. Neither of you move away.

“Subjects delivered to site on…” You read aloud, voice growing softer. “Return condition: unstable. Failed integration.”

Failed integration?

“What the hell does that mean?” you whisper.

Wednesday stays silent, her face expressionless. Thinking.

You move to another set of papers on the desk, searching for sense.

A page falls free from a file. Handwritten notes — messy, frantic:

Trial 6: Resulted in partial power absorption. Subject unstable. Extensive tissue degradation.

Trial 7: Temporary suppression successful. Symptoms include identity fragmentation, and loss of special abilities.

Wednesday stares at the words until they blur.

Suppression.

Absorption.

Not just capturing outcasts.

Changing them.

Stealing from them.

Wednesday feels something cold crawl up her spine — colder than the storm waiting outside. You lean in close, so close the Addams can feel the heat of your body against her side.

She doesn’t move away. She can’t.

The tension twists inside her, unfamiliar and sharp.

Not fear. Not anger. Something worse.

Something weaker.

You flip through another file. Handwritten notes. Trial results. Partial power absorption. Identity fragmentation.

You back away, the papers slipping from your fingers.

“No,” you whisper. “No, this can’t—”

Wednesday watches you, heart thudding too hard in her chest. She wanted to reach out. Pull you in. Protect.

It was stupid. It was dangerous. It was softer than anything Wednesday allowed herself to be. She stayed rooted where she was.

Barely.

“They’re trying to erase Outcasts,” You murmur, voice barely above a breath.

Wednesday’s chest tightened painfully.

“They’re trying to make us human,” You finish, voice hushed as if even you didn’t want to admit it.

A noise outside. Footsteps.

Wednesday didn’t hesitate. She grabs your wrist without thought, yanking you toward the stockroom; you stumbled after her, too shocked to protest. The Addams drags you through the maze of crates and shelves, heart hammering against her ribs. The back door.

Freedom.

She kicks it open, shoves you into the chilled night air, and follows. Dead leaves crunch beneath your boots, the cold nipping at exposed skin. Wednesday doesn’t stop until you’re buried deep between two alley walls, hidden in the shadows.

She backs you against the bricks, shielding you with a sense deep within her that even she couldn’t name, your breathing ragged in her ears. You waited.

The danger passed.

Finally — finally — she eased back, enough to look at your face. Moonlight silvers your hair, catching the terror still lingering in your wide eyes.

Wednesday’s hand lingers at your side, somehow wanting to reach out, to tether you back to herself.

But she doesn’t.

She can’t.

Instead, she says flatly, softly.

“We’re not dealing with hunters.”

_______________________________________________________

The cold clings to both of you as you creep through the woods.

Your breath puffs in frantic bursts beside her, too loud in the suffocating quiet. Wednesday’s steps are soundless. Deliberate. Above you, the clouds drag themselves over the moon, covering the world in near-total darkness.

It suits Wednesday fine.

It keeps her focus sharp.

It keeps her from looking at you too long — at the shivers racking your body, at the way you kept brushing her hand against her sleeve like you don’t know what else to hold onto.

Wednesday’s jaw clenches.

Weakness. Distraction.

But the thought tasted bitter now.

She slowed her pace by a fraction, just enough that you can match her without tripping over roots or fallen branches. She’d thought your werewolf senses would be better than this.

The iron gates of Nevermore loom ahead, black against black. A familiar thrill prickles down Wednesday’s spine — the dangerous, delicious pulse of doing something she shouldn’t.

Normally, she relished it.

Tonight, it was tempered by the steady ache of your presence beside her.

You approached the side wall — the section she knew was never patrolled after curfew. You hesitate, glancing up at the slick stone.

Wednesday crouches low, weaving her fingers together to form a step.

You blinked at her.

“Boost,” Wednesday said simply, voice sharper than she intended.

You hesitated again, chewing your lip — and then places her boot in Wednesday’s hands.

You’re even lighter than you look.

Wednesday hoists you upward with a grunt that she immediately regretted — inelegant, too human. You scrambled up, struggling for a grip on the icy stone. Your foot slipped, just once, scraping hard against the wall.

Wednesday moved before thinking. Her hands found your waist, steadying you.

Warm.

Fragile.

Alive.

“Hold still,” Wednesday ordered, voice low and fierce.

You obeyed without question.

Wednesday guided you higher, shoving down the treacherous instinct to keep holding on. You managed to hook yourself over the wall and tumble onto the other side with a soft oof. Wednesday scaled it herself in three swift movements, landing in a crouch beside you. The two of you duck low, moving quickly across the shadowed grounds toward the dormitories. The school looms above you, windows dark, stone heavy.

Safe.

For now.

Neither of you speak as you slip through an unlocked maintenance door. Your footsteps are damp echoes against the old tiled floors. Wednesday leads you back toward her dorm, each step winding tighter and tighter in her chest.

You stumbled once, and Wednesday reached out — caught her — fingers tightening on her jacket sleeve without meaning to. You stiffened. Wednesday let go immediately, forcing her hands to curl into fists at her sides.

And deep inside her chest, where Wednesday believed she had only bone and blackened blood - something alive flinched.

Taglist:

@idkjustliving2 @alexkolax @tekanparadiae

[zablife]

Becoming Mrs. Shelby (Part 20)

Tommy x wife reader

Summary: You race against the clock to find something that will help Tommy, but you must face Mary first.

Part 19 Masterlist

The moment the car returned to Arrow House, your feet flew up the stairs. Eyes darting anxiously down the hall for any sign of Mary, you breathed a sigh of relief at the silence that greeted you. Continuing on to the library, you wasted no time attempting to open the mahogany bureau which had once belonged to Grace.

In vain hope of finding one miraculously unlocked, your fingers fumbled against the cool metal of a brass handle. When it did not open, you moved onto the others without success, beginning to despair as they all remained shut tight against your prying. For a moment you considered the force it would take to break one and you stifled a grunt of exertion as you leveraged your full weight against the bottom drawer. Losing your grip, you tumbled to the ground with a thud, wishing you had a copy of the key.

You knew as well as Tommy that Mary held the only set of master keys in the house, a vast collection crowded onto a ring she kept fastened at her side. How would you be able to get at it? It would be impossible without waiting until she fell asleep and stealing it from her room.

As you briefly considered enlisting Clara's help with the theft, your eyes drifted to a nearby clock realizing that plan would take time you didn't have. Finally your eyes rested upon the sterling silver letter opener on the desk. You wouldn't need a key if you picked the lock, you convinced yourself.

Without a clue as to what you were doing, you slid the pointed end into the keyhole, carefully listening for a change in the hollow clinking sounds produced by your prodding. Then, to your great amazement, the letter opener hit upon a latch that freed the drawer instantly. With a tiny squeal of delight, you reached in to extract the manila folders hidden in its depths before repeating the same steps to empty the desk of its contents.

Eagerly flicking through the mountain of paperwork, you skimmed over the pages as quickly as possible, but you fell into confusion over the multitude of names and organizations. You found papers referring to the "Economic League," the "Oddfellows" and one from the "Vigilance Committee." You weren't sure how it was all related until you compared recurring names of business men, MPs and Army officers, realizing they were one and the same with Section D.

Grace appeared to have corresponded with them regularly, providing information about Shelby Co. Limited and Tommy's general whereabouts. She had faithfully recorded all she knew in the pages of a small, red journal before being typed into reports. Most importantly, you uncovered replies from Father Hughes himself, outlining the organizations mission to undermine the current government which allowed the Shelbys freedom.

However, the final document you stumbled upon gave you pause. Noting it was dated the week before Grace's death, you clamped a hand over your mouth in shock as you read the brief, yet significant message. It appeared to be a warning to provide more concrete evidence against the members of the Shelby family. Apparently Tommy had protected them well. Is that why she'd asked for his help? you wondered, grimacing at the thought of her loathsome demand.

A deep foreboding thrummed in your veins as you read the last lines of type, "Failure to achieve your objective will result in final termination. Next of kin will be notified." You gasped in spite of yourself, comprehending the terms of Grace's contract were to kill or be killed.

Oblivious to the sound of the creaking door at your back, you were startled by the outraged voice of Mary. “Shame on you!" she spat, crossing the room to stand before you in obvious fury. "Did you find what you were looking for in Mrs. Shelby's private things?" she scolded.

"This is my house now and I will search every inch of it if I so choose,” you seethed, unafraid of her vitriol.

"To save him?" she sneered, surveying the mass of papers along with the one clutched tightly in your hand. "Well it won't work," she informed you, arms crossed over her chest in defiance.

"We'll see about that," you retorted, plucking important pages from the stacks before you.

 “I knew you'd stand by him," she uttered, poison dripping from her tongue. Lips curved into a sinister smile she pronounced, "Perhaps you do deserve him."

"More than Grace ever did because I actually love him," you declared, chin held high.

Mary snorted at your proud reply noting, "You're nothing more than his instrument, a plaything he uses. Grace was a self reliant woman, free to live her life as she pleased. No wonder a man had to kill her!” she remarked pointedly.

Rebuffing her criticism, you stood tall before her, a calmness washing over you as you addressed her misconceptions about Grace. "It must be hard for you to accept she was fallible, but she made many mistakes. I intend to see them rectified," you informed her.

She stammered at your sudden confidence which seemed to drain her of whatever power she'd once held over you. You used this momentum to deliver the final blow to her ego. “Pack your bags, I expect you gone by nightfall.”

She barely registered the order, though you noted the tight clench of her jaw in response.

Without waiting for her to make the first move, you gathered all the necessary papers into your arms and stalked away, intent on making one last trip before evening.

Cont reading Part 21

[probablyasocialecologist]

According to documents obtained by Grist and Type Investigations through a Freedom of Information Act request, the FBI’s Minneapolis office opened a counterterrorism assessment in February 2012, focusing on actions in South Dakota, that continued for at least a year and may have led to the opening of additional investigations. These documents reveal that the FBI was monitoring activists involved in the Keystone XL campaign about a year earlier than previously known.  Their contents suggest that, long before the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines became national flashpoints, the federal government was already developing a sweeping law enforcement strategy to counter any acts of civil disobedience aimed at preventing fossil fuel extraction. And young, Native activists were among its first targets. “The threat emerging … is evolving into one based on opposition to energy exploration related to any extractions from the earth, rather than merely targeting one project and/or one company,” the FBI noted in its description of the Wanblee blockade. The 15-page file, which is heavily redacted, also describes Native American groups as a potentially dangerous threat and likens them to “environmental extremists” whose actions, according to the FBI, could lead to violence. The FBI acknowledged that Native American groups were engaging in constitutionally protected activity, including attending public hearings, but emphasized that this sort of civic participation might spawn criminal activity.  To back up its claims, the FBI cited a 2011 State Department hearing on the pipeline in Pierre, South Dakota, attended by a small group of Native activists. The FBI said the individuals were dressed in camouflage and had covered their faces with red bandanas, “train robber style.” According to the report, they were also carrying walking sticks and shaking sage, claiming to be “Wounded Knee Security of/for Mother Earth.” “The Bureau is uncertain how the NA group(s) will act initially or subsequently if the project is approved,” the agency wrote.  The FBI also singled out the “Native Youth Movement,” which it described as a mix between a “radical militia and a survivalist group.” In doing so, it appeared to conflate a specific activist group originally founded in Canada in the 1990s with the broader array of young Native activists who opposed the pipeline decades later. Young activists would play an important role in the Keystone XL campaign and later on during protests against the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock, but the movement had little in common with militias or survivalists, terms typically used to describe far-right groups or those seeking to disengage from society.  The FBI declined to respond to questions for this story. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis field office said the agency does not typically comment on FOIA releases and “lets the information contained in the files speak for itself.”

[...]

Environmental activists and attorneys who reviewed the new documents told Grist and Type Investigations that law enforcement’s approach to the Keystone XL campaign looked like a template for the increasingly militarized response to subsequent environmental and social justice campaigns — from efforts to block the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock to the ongoing protests against the police training center dubbed “Cop City” in Atlanta, Georgia, which would require razing at least 85 acres of urban forest.  The FBI’s working thesis, outlined in the new documents, that “most environmental extremist groups” have historically moved from peaceful protest to violence has served as the basis for subsequent investigations. “It’s astonishing to me how such a broad concept basically paints every activist and protester as a future terrorist,” said Mike German, a former FBI special agent who is now a fellow at the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice.

[weewoowings]

Okay I’m gonna be mean and ask for 3 because I’m greedy and I Iove me some Tevan!

🖍️ I’m a sucker for this trope especially if Buck is the teacher! Tell me more please!

🎖️Need more on this! Are they both in the military? Just one?

🪩 Alternate first meeting? Yes please. Is it something to do with disco ( because of the emoji)? Cause that would be pretty epic!

Also hard to say if it’s a blessing or a curse, I think I have like 30 different documents started each with only a little bit written lol and that’s not including what’s still in my head 🤭.

Alright, I have answered the first 2 already, but let's go!

Okay, Kindergarten Teacher.

It starts off with Tommy signing his divorce papers. He also holds in his hands a custody agreement, which makes him a single parent, because his ex-husband signed away his rights.

Odette - Dot/Dottie just turned 3 and is biologically Tommy's child, they used a surrogate. Around 2 years old the toddler started showing signs for autism spectrum disorder, and Tommy's husband started to withdraw and in the end asked for a divorce, because it wasn't how he pictured life.

Tommy moves with his daughter, which brings a whole new set of challenges.

He finds a Kindergarten/pre-school that can give his daughter the attention, space and care that she needs. Buck is her teacher.

Alrighty, the Military WIP. Only vaguely outlined as of now.

Tommy is a highly decorated Army pilot and is assigned to a forward operating base in a volatile and remote location. Highly skilled and his cool demeanor under pressure, makes highly respected but also gives him the reputation of being a bit aloof. And here comes Buck. 😃 Charismatic, fearless and sometimes too selfless highly skilled Army medic with a knack of finding himself in the middle of chaos.

The cross paths on a high stakes rescue mission when Tommy's crew gets called to extract Buck and his team under heavy fire. Buck's quick thinking and resourcefulness leaves an impression, but his reserved nature keeps him from saying something to Buck.

When Tommy's helicopter gets shot down, Buck is on the rescue/evac mission that's heading to the mountains. The last location the helicopter made contact with the base.

Alright different first meeting. I'm currently writing this story and I'm on chapter 3. It's canon divergent. I posted a sneak, a couple of days ago.

Basically Buck is already out and proud. He's been living as a bisexual man for years now. Hen and Karen invite him along to a queer club..

On the other side of town, Tommy hasn't been out in months, not since a spectacular breakup, where his Ex Matt decided to go back to his ex-husband after over 2 years and leaving him with lots of issues. Anyhow, Lucy drags him out to a club.

And then he sees him...

[quotidian-oblivion]

i would love love LOVE to hear about 3 (Extracts) and 7 (babysitting)!!

Writer ask game

Hi!!! Okay okay, so.

Extracts are basically just bits and pieces that didn't make it from other fics into one document and some which are just plotless oneshots and scenes!

Let me share one of my favorite plotless scene:

Trapped in the middle of a human-selling auction. Located in a convenient mansion hallroom of a rich Gotham jerk. The Big Bads from all 'round Gotham were here to play. Currently, their attention was on him—Robin. So was the attention of Jason—Red Hood. AKA the person who took Tim out for ice cream five years ago. AKA the person who nearly killed him five months ago. (Well, six, but five sounded catchier.) "We should vote," one of the Big Bads spoke up. "Democracy with criminals?" Tim snorted.  The glares already on him intensified.  "Sorry," Tim bit back a laugh. "'S amusing, that's all."  Oh, had he mentioned that he was on drugs? Yeah, he was not happy about it. Unfortunately, some guy had managed to stab his neck with the damned needle before Tim managed to take him out. So now, he was swaying in the middle of a hallroom, trying to get his sluggish mind to think faster to create an escape plan. What drugs did they inject him with? Probably the same thing they injected in the tied-up actual slaves shown off as displays on the stage.  The drugs musn't be that strong if Tim could still feel the flames of anger roaring in his chest. He had all his senses and brain function, but they were just a little… slow.  "Vote for what?" another man asked. "What is the best way to torture this bird?" "Humiliate the bird." "Break the bird." "You know the scene in Finding Nemo?" Tim addressed the crowd again. "Where all the 'gulls are like "mine mine mine". That's a funny thought, but it fits here. Y'all are seagulls." Alright, so maybe his brain function wasn't doing as well as he hyped it to be.

It starts off funny but gets angsty very very fast lmao. Gives you whiplash and hurts your neck.

~

Babysitting!

THIS ONE IS SO ADORABLE AND FLUFFY NOT KIDDING GUYS, ITS ACTUALLY THE SWEETEST THING I'VE EVER WRITTEN!!!!

It's basically an AU where baby Timmy is being babysitted by Dick and Barbara. Here's a snippet!

It's fully outlined also and I just need to write it that's all (along with 60 other wips-), but yeah! ^^ Thanks for asking!!

[lillified]

can i ask what the general lore for your au is? love me some good lore

I think I’ve done a pitch outline before that’s covered some of this, but I can give you the basic background for reference! (Tumblr page search seems a bit broken the further back you get anyway)

Cybertron is an alien planet with a long history of strife. Following the reign of the Quintessons, a hostile and colonial alien species, and their eventual ousting, the remnants of a military-industrial state and its tyrannical caste system left only a matter of time before massive conflict erupted.

Cybertron: The original home planet of the Cybertronians, and the current territory of the Autobots. Cybertron is a very ancient planet formed around the remnants of an enormous organic “ancestor,” whose blood and other material is extracted for use as food. This organic material is vital to the survival of all Cybertronians, and the most important component, Energon, is extremely highly coveted. It can be found sparingly in other parts of the universe (notably other early established Cybertronian space colonies), but without access to the original ancestor, or its sparsely documented relatives and protégé, it is unrenewable, which would inevitably mark the end of the Cybertronian race. Extensive industrialization on a global scale made Energon sparse, and an exhaustive global war only exacerbated this scarcity.

The Decepticons: Made up primarily of the former lower castes of Cybertron, the Decepticons are a mish-mash group of revolutionary mercenaries, banded together to end the tyrannical rule of Cybertron. Although they were originally known as the Ascenticons, they gained the derogatory name after their defacto “leader,” Megatron, permanently maimed her rival for the primacy, Optimus, during a political demonstration that turned violent. Optimus was famously left without a lower jaw, and the brutal scuffle was used to galvanize moderates against the perceived extremity of the group.

Now, having been largely driven off of Cybertron after a battle which devastated both sides., the fractured branches of the Decepticons struggle to find places they can recoup and regather amid the cosmos. Their primary squad, team Alpha, is currently drifting in space, eagerly anticipating the day it can find the resources to reestablish communication with what remains of the Decepticon army.

The Autobots: A faction formed out of the former military of Cybertron and its allies. Figureheaded by the stoic and personable Optimus Prime, the Autobots barely hold onto control of Cybertron, and seek to persist against the Decepticons’ demands for radical reconstruction. Now made up of many of Cybertronian’s youth, plenty of Autobot soldiers aren’t fully aware of what they’re fighting for, and barely retain memories of life before the war. If the current course of the war continues, they hope to drive the Decepticons out of anywhere they’ve hidden until they surrender and concede.

The Present: With impassible stakes for everyone involved, if they want any hope of surviving and reclaiming Cybertron, the Decepticons must do the impossible: overcome their many differences and work as a team. Our story starts in the far reaches of space, where Decepticon Team Alpha is searching for resources and a temporary residence where they can begin to reestablish communication with their allies.

The members of Team Alpha include:

Megatron: the melancholic leader, whose reputation does not match her lethargic withdrawal.

Starscream: the second in command with a penchant for mutiny. Her disloyalty is kept a secret, for both Megatron’s sake and Starscream’s.

Soundwave: the enigmatic and cynically self-important communications officer and third in command. Their speciality is espionage and information control, though they haven’t seen much of it recently.

Lockdown: former bounty hunter turned medic. this mean-looking ‘Con might not be certified, but in a pinch, he’ll patch you up—by any means necessary.

Knockout: the only thing worse than a mad doctor is his lackadaisical and negligent assistant. Knockout doesn’t really believe the Decepticons will win, but his hate for the Autobots is stronger than his realism.

Breakdown: a bruiser-in-training rescued from a docked Decepticon warship. He and Blitzwing were the only trainees who survived being stasis fried. Albeit a strong and capable fighter, this ‘Con doesn’t really have the “Deception grit” yet.

Blitzwing: Breakdown’s fellow soldier. Though she was also trained to be a mercenary, Blitzwing lacks a lot of the natural talent for fighting Breakdown has. Her unrecognized skill lies in weaponsmithing, though Starscream hopes to make a competent combatant out of her yet.

Ravage: don’t be fooled—this weapon class Minicon only looks like a Cybercat. The eldest of Decepticon team alpha, this odd bot gave up his Cybertronian appearance to live out the laid back life of a lazy mechanimal. His powerful spark makes him Megatron’s weapon of choice.

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

Nationalistic, hierarchical, anti-communist, traditionalist, ethno-nationalistic, fascists are left wing now? So when did you become a leftist?

Take a look and see how many of these line up with what leftists want today. Sorry to break it to you sweetie, but national socialism is socialism. Ethno-nationalism and socialism aren't automatically opposed. The only reason Hitler hated the communists is because they were competing for the same membership pool. Two different ways to get to very similar goals. You gotta stop thinking of everything as left vs right, and if one is left wing, then the opposing thing must be right wing.

[titleleaf]

17, 18, and 29 for the fic asks pls 😘

17: talk about your writing and editing process

I write out of order, which causes me no end of trouble but I can't seem to shake it. (Like, if I'm writing five scenes, A-B-C-D-E, I'll write D first, then keep going to E, then look back and write C, then go further back and fill in A and B.) It feels almost redundant to say I'm a pantser and not a plotter given how short my works tend to be, but when I'm working on something that's looking to be upwards of 5k (or longer than a single scene) I do generally work with an outline to make sure all the right parts end up on the page. I edit while I write, then go through and review all instances of placeholder marks (for me, left-hand square brackets, like [this) to confirm/replace/investigate whatever they flag, then do a final pass or two or three before posting. I sometimes work with a beta, but I have a hard time overcoming my anxiety around that kind of pre-publication feedback, so it's something I want to work on doing more often in 2025.

18: if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

I very seldom keep deleted stuff unless it's a large chunk of text that's getting in the way for editing/flow reasons. I usually extract it and set it aside to figure out if it can fit in someplace else, or if I'm just being precious about an image or a phrase or something and need to cut it entirely. (When I went looking for old fic drafts where I cut sections I just ended up finding a bunch of mostly-finished fics I haven't even posted yet, which, oops, I am going to remedy as soon as I can.)

I did just find this for "like wolves and little girls" (AMC IWTV, Santiago/Claudia noncon, heed the tags):

It still feels creepy, talking to somebody without moving your lips, never knowing exactly when they're going to answer. Her diary only listens; a vampire can talk back.

Not sure why I cut it or where it was cut from in the fic, but it was there. I originally started writing the whole fic from Santiago's POV before scrapping it, so there's a bunch of cut lines from his POV in here too, mostly descriptions but I guess some dialogue.

"Do you remember, Claudia?" Pitching his voice to a sonorous growl, an evocation of the orator: "The Dark Gifts must never be given to the crippled… the maimed…or to children." "Is that what I am? Is that it? Back when Armand got made, I'd have been married with two kids. I'm not a baby." "What are you, Claudia? A girl, a woman, both, neither? Nothing at all."

29 how easy is it for you to come up with titles?

Not very. I used to have a junk-drawer document full of snippets of stuff I wanted to use for titles, or picked out as potential title material in the future, but I haven't done that in a long time, maybe I should get back on that.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Footnotes

[1] See implantation of NFC chips in people in Sweden. https://www.npr.org/2018/10/22/658808705/thousands-of-swedes-are-inserting-microchips-under-their-skin?t=1570529276200.

[2] See Journey Towards The Abyss- Scattered Reflections on the Techno World for a critique of nano-technologies being developed for this purpose or the recent development of Metal 'Trees' in Ireland for the same purpose: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Metal-Trees-Suck-Up-CO2-From-Air.html as examples

[3] Zoo's and research facilities in China developed this technique which has now been used in dozens of cases. https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/panda-porn-and-other-desperate-measures-to-get-rare-species-to-mate.aspx

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_legislation

[5] See Dean Spade: 'Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law' for a comprehensive critique of these trajectories or the United Kingdoms Section 5 of the Public Order Offenses Act as concrete example.

[6] See Silvia Federici: Caliban and the Witch.

[7] See Saidiya Hartman: In the Belly of the World: A note on Black Women’s Labor

[9] An endangered species of insect

[10] Nasa for example, produced a paper in 2016 outlining a possible strategy for the colonization of Mars https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a21330/nasa-wants-martian-resources-for-martian-colony/

[11] This trajectory is most exemplified (though not limited to) by the group 'Extinction Rebellion'

[12] Such prophets of the Eco Fascist 'Left' as David Attenboroughs who proposed ending food aid to the African Continent as a way to tackle 'overpopulation' and the discourses around 'overpopulation' in general unmask the potential directions off this trajectory. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/sorry-sir-david-attenborough-this-isn-t-the-way-to-tackle-over-population-8824385.html

[13] Although most of the current documents around outer space extractivism currently solicit the use of machines, one only has to look at the disproportionate distribution of current extraction projects requiring human labor in the 'global south' to see who will likely be drafted for off world projects and who will benefit from them. An interesting NASA solicitation from 2017 can be seen here: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-seeks-commercial-solutions-to-harvest-space-resources

[14] The 'Death Drive' is a conceptual framework first proposed by Lee Edelman in the text 'No Future' and later expanded upon in the journal Baedan vol I; it is the possibility contained within queerness to negate futurority and a negative, anti social turn against the future.

[alagaesia-headcanons]

Hi! I just wanted to say it's been really cool to see the amount of effort and thought you're putting into Clear Horizons. In response to your recent post looking for inspiration, I thought up a couple of prompt ideas (possibly loose outlines - sorry if this is the wrong level of detail) for short fics with Murtagh and Orrin that I'm happy to share. I'm not sure that they're drabble length, but still, I hope these can be useful to you.

1. It might be fun to see the two of them have a conversation where they trade stories related to their interests. I'm picturing something like "I was investigating [sparsely documented scientific process] and while my experiments were successful it turned out way different from what I'd hoped" "wow that's wild I was investigating [obscure magical rumor/curse somewhere in the countryside] and while I solved the mystery things turned out way different from what I'd expected", but obviously you can play it however you like.

2. I personally hc that Murtagh really loves camping. I also suspect that Orrin doesn't have much experience camping, at least not so far off the beaten path without servants or knights for support. I think it would be cool to see a conversation from their first time out camping together - it could be fun to explore the reasons behind the camping trip, or how they reconcile their differing levels of experience, or the trust required to rest well all alone in the wild, or what it's like to be away from prying eyes for a bit, or the different things they associate with the activity of camping, or anything else you might find interesting about the situation.

No worries if neither of these speak to you, but hopefully this helps! Feel free to shoot me a message about it if you'd like. Best of luck to you. :)

Thank you so much for the lovely encouragement and the lovely prompts!! I've written for the first one here! The second one actually feels perfect for an idea I have near the end of Clear Horizons, so I may use it as inspiration for that 👀...

(All this writing has been an interesting look at the kinds of world building details I never would have thought about that I end up needing to decide. This time, I've decided the other planets in their solar system are all named after gems~)

-

The peace of the empty room is almost jarring after the long, crowded feast. “Now that we have a quiet moment to ourselves...” Murtagh drifts over to his bag. He deliberately waited for just such an opportunity to have Orrin’s full attention and also an unobstructed view of his reaction. “I have something for you.”

Orrin makes a grieved little noise, insisting, “Murtagh! You didn’t need to do anything like that; it’s too much. Having you here is a gift in itself.”

“Well, thank you,” Murtagh replies, pleased. “But! You’re wrong- It is imperative that I give you the best present that you’ll love so much, everyone else’s will pale in comparison.”

“Ahh, so it’s part of your peacocking.”

“Yes. Don’t peek!” Orrin holds his hands up and sits back in his chair. “That’s cheating.” Diligently keeping his back to Orrin so that he can’t see, he leans down and extracts a carefully wrapped up bundle from his pack. Hefting it up in his arms, he wrangles away the thick cloth protecting the large, leather bound book beneath. Sidling closer to Orrin under his curious gaze, Murtagh finally turns and hums blithely while he slides the book from his arms onto the table.

The moment the title comes fully into view, Orrin slaps a hand over the cover. “Holge’s Treatise on Natural Phenomena?!” Murtagh straightens up as he deposits the book and preens- just a little. “You can’t be serious-! I’d all but given up hope of learning of a copy, much less owning... When was this penned?” With immense eagerness measured by the caution of someone who both reveres books and handles rare texts on the regular, he thumbs through the introduction. “Where in the world did you get this?” he gasps in awe as he turns to the first chapter.

“In Ceunon,” Murtagh answers, but then pauses without elaborating. As he expected, Orrin’s eyes have zeroed in on the page, scanning it rapidly, and he won’t hear a thing he says until his focus relents again. Smiling softly, Murtagh waits patiently as he reads, silently counting out the beats of time.

Predictably, when he reaches forty, Orrin stirs and then says, “...Ceunon? Not Ilirea?”

“I didn’t look in Ilirea. It’s possible there’s a copy in the old citadel, but I’m not so sure. Besides, it’s your birthday: that deserves thought and effort. I wasn’t going to settle for the easy pickings by just rummaging around in there and swiping whatever seemed suitable.” Then Murtagh pauses and tilts his head.

“Just don’t ask how I got the money to-”

“So where’d you find money for such-”

Both cutting off simultaneously, Murtagh glowers at Orrin’s warm laugh. He sniffs primly and declares, “Someone might as well put Galbatorix’s hoarded wealth to good use, considering that he never did.” Orrin’s sound of agreement still wavers with a hint of laughter and Murtagh rolls his eyes fondly. “And it’s not as though that made it any easier to find the book. A librarian in Narda tipped me off, then when I searched out the collector I was directed to, I learned he didn’t actually have it, so he eventually told me who he thought should- then repeat that about five times over. Then I spent no less than three hours vowing to treat the book better than my first born child to convince the man to take my money once I finally found it.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised.” He flips to a page filled with equations. “Because it’s so specialized, it requires an expert to make a verifiably accurate copy, so very few exist. I still can barely believe it...”

“I hope it is accurate. I’m certainly not smart enough to know. Although I did read the chapter on astronomy while I travelled.”

“Astronomy?” he echoes in surprise. “I didn’t know he wrote about that. I’ve only heard him mentioned for his study of elements in nature.”

Nodding towards the book, Murtagh says, “The bulk of it seems to be about that. Hopefully that holds up better than his foray into astronomy.” Orrin glances at him and Murtagh confesses, “I thought most of it was bullshit.”

“Oh?” He rests the edge of his jaw in his palm.

Murtagh shrugs. “Well, I’ve spent a lot of time a lot closer to the stars than almost anyone else can reach, and I’ve inevitably noticed things.”

Orrin grins. “I’m not sure proximity determines your authority on astronomy.”

“It makes a difference though! You don’t realize just how much more I can see up there. Looking the other way is the most obvious proof of it. The sky can look perfectly clear, but once we’re up high enough, the ground below looks hazy and blurred and veiled. All of that is in the way of the heavens when you’re on the ground.” Orrin shifts his chair so he can lean in towards Murtagh, distractedly trying to find the chapter in question. “I don’t believe his argument about the moon and its implications about the arrangement of orbits. He assumes too much- other planets do have moons. I’ve seen them!”

Orrin abandons the book and latches onto that with full fascination.

“Thorn is best at tracking all the stars and planets; he always knows where the Opal is. They can’t be seen from the ground, but with a spyglass up there, I can see two moons around it. First, I figured they might be distant stars, but I know they’re moons.”

“Because they move?” Orrin infers, excitement in his breath.

“Exactly! They’re sometimes on one side, then on the other, or they’re out of sight, entirely behind the planet. But I’ve never seen them move away.”

“That must be beautiful...” Orrin muses longingly.

Even with the spyglass, the planet and its moons are mere pinpricks of light, and yet Murtagh knows what he means. “It is.” He hopes to show him one day.

At last, Orrin turns to a page with several planetary diagrams and he hums appraisingly. “You know, there are theories that the alignment of the planets are partially responsible for Eoam’s Floating Crystal.” Murtagh purses his lips skeptically. “Your mark against these kinds of models-” he runs a finger down the page- “actually supports that idea, I’d say.”

“Really? But that’s magic,” Murtagh counters. “I have a hard time believing the heavens have any hand in it.”

“True, but it’s a rare case where the magic itself is a natural phenomenon. I felt quite the same way, honestly, until the Southern Islands were added to Surda’s territory and I had the chance to visit myself. I found first hand records of how the Crystal’s behavior changed with time, with the days and nights, and also through the seasons. Once I was there, close enough to see it myself, I noticed how it consistently responded to the tides, even. I never would have realized if I couldn’t go.”

“Hmm, so it seems like the proximity helped you understand?”

He links his hands behind Murtagh’s waist. “Alright, alright, you win,” he surrenders readily. “Yes, I’ve taken those theories much more seriously since then. And these other models are the most common counter argument. For my own amusement, I tried applying those old records to the proposed equations to calculate when the next transit of the Ruby will be. But alas, I still have to wait another...” he tilts his head and stares up towards the ceiling- “twenty seven years to know if I was right.”

“You always are- I’ll clear my schedule.” Orrin laughs.

Murtagh sways restlessly as the pause extends itself, then abandons subtlety to prompt, “So you like it?”

Orrin meets his eye with a little, incredulous scoff, so utterly fond. “Dear, I adore it. It’s absolutely incredible.” His hands fidget with his tunic. Quietly, “It’s kind of staggering; you didn’t have to go to so much trouble for me.”

Murtagh shakes his head. “I wanted to give something you’d truly love... because I love your love.” Orrin’s exhale shivers as he pulls him into a kiss.

[hackherway]

Gaining Windows Credentialed Access Using Mimikatz and WCE

Prerequisites & Requirements

In order to follow along with the tools and techniques utilized in this document, you will need to use one of the following offensive Linux distributions:

Kali Linux

Parrot OS

The following is a list of recommended technical prerequisites that you will need in order to get the most out of this course:

Familiarity with Linux system administration.

Familiarity with Windows.

Functional knowledge of TCP/IP.

Familiarity with penetration testing concepts and life-cycle.

Note: The techniques and tools utilized in this document were performed on Kali Linux 2021.2 Virtual Machine

MITRE ATT&CK Credential Access Techniques

Credential Access consists of techniques for stealing credentials like account names and passwords. Techniques used to get credentials include: keylogging or credential dumping. Using legitimate credentials can give adversaries access to systems, make them harder to detect, and provide the opportunity to create more accounts to help achieve their goals.

The techniques outlined under the Credential Access tactic provide us with a clear and methodical way of extracting credentials and hashes from memory on a target system.

The following is a list of key techniques and sub techniques that we will be exploring:

Dumping SAM Database.

Extracting clear-text passwords and NTLM hashes from memory.

Dumping LSA Secrets

Scenario

Our objective is to extract credentials and hashes from memory on the target system after we have obtained an initial foothold. In this case, we will be taking a look at how to extract credentials and hashes with Mimikatz.

Note: We will be taking a look at how to use Mimikatz with Empire, however, the same techniques can also be replicated with meterpreter or other listeners as the Mimikatz syntax is universal.

Meterpreter is a Metasploit payload that provides attackers with an interactive shell that can be used to run commands, navigate the filesystem, and download or upload files to and from the target system.

Credential Access With Mimikatz

Mimikatz is a Windows post-exploitation tool written by Benjamin Delpy (@gentilkiwi). It allows for the extraction of plaintext credentials from memory, password hashes from local SAM/NTDS.dit databases, advanced Kerberos functionality, and more.

The SAM (Security Account Manager) database, is a database file on Windows systems that stores user’s passwords and can be used to authenticate users both locally and remotely. 

The Mimikatz codebase is located at https://github.com/gentilkiwi/mimikatz/, and there is also an expanded wiki at https://github.com/gentilkiwi/mimikatz/wiki . 

In order to extract cleartext passwords and hashes from memory on a target system, we will need an Empire agent with elevated privileges.

Extracting Cleartext Passwords & Hashes From Memory

Empire uses an adapted version of PowerSploit’s Invoke-Mimikatz function written by Joseph Bialek to execute Mimikatz functionality in PowerShell without touching disk.

PowerSploit is a collection of PowerShell modules that can be used to aid penetration testers during all phases of an assessment. 

Empire can take advantage of nearly all Mimikatz functionality through PowerSploit’s Invoke-Mimikatz module.

We can invoke the Mimikatz prompt on the target agent by following the procedures outlined below.

The first step in the process involves interacting with your high integrity agent, this can be done by running the following command in the Empire client:

interact <AGENT-ID>/<NAME>

The next step is to Invoke Mimikatz on the Agent shell, this can be done by running the following command:

mimikatz

This will invoke Mimikatz on the target system and you should be able to interact with the Mimikatz prompt.

Before we take a look at how to dump cleartext credentials from memory with Mimikatz, you should confirm that you have the required privileges to take advantage of the various Mimikaz features, this can be done by running the following command in the Mimikatz prompt:

mimikatz # privilege::debug

If you have the correct privileges you should receive the message “Privilege ‘20’ OK” as shown in the following screenshot.

We can now extract cleartext passwords from memory with Mimikatz by running the following command in the Mimikatz prompt:

mimikatz # sekurlsa::logonpasswords

If successful, Mimikatz will output a list of cleartext passwords for user accounts and service accounts as shown in the following screenshot.

In this scenario, we were able to obtain the cleartext password for the Administrator user as well as the NTLM hash.

NTLM is the default hash format used by Windows to store passwords.

Dumping SAM Database

We can also dump the contents of the SAM (Security Account Manager) database with Mimikatz, this process will also require an Agent with administrative privileges.

The Security Account Manager (SAM) is a database file used on modern Windows systems and is used to store user account passwords. It can be used to authenticate local and remote users. 

We can dump the contents of the SAM database on the target system by running the following command in the Mimikatz prompt:

mimikatz # lsadump::sam

If successful Mimikatz will output the contents of the SAM database as shown in the following screenshot.

As highlighted in the previous screenshot, the SAM database contains the user accounts and their respective NTLM hashes.

LSA Secrets

Mimikatz also has the ability to dump LSA Secrets, LSA secrets is a storage location used by the Local Security Authority (LSA) on Windows.

You can learn more about LSA and how it works here: https://networkencyclopedia.com/local-security-authority-lsa/

The purpose of the Local Security Authority is to manage a system’s local security policy, as a result, it will typically store data pertaining to user accounts such as user logins, authentication of users, and their LSA secrets, among other things. It is to be noted that this technique also requires an Agent with elevated privileges.

We can dump LSA Secrets on the target system by running the following command in the Mimikatz prompt:

mimikatz # lsadump::secrets

If successful Mimikatz will output the LSA Secrets on the target system as shown in the following screenshot.

So far, we have been able to extract both cleartext credentials as well as NTLM hashes for all the user and service accounts on the system. These credentials and hashes will come in handy when we will be exploring lateral movement techniques and how we can legitimately authenticate with the target system with the credentials and hashes we have been able to extract.

[elsa16744]

What is Customer Analytics? – The Importance of Understanding It

Consumers have clear expectations when selecting products or services. Business leaders need to understand what influences customer decisions. By leveraging advanced analytics and engaging in data analytics consulting, they can pinpoint these factors and improve customer experiences to boost client retention. This article will explore the importance of customer analytics.

Understanding Customer Analytics

Customer analytics involves applying computer science, statistical modeling, and consumer psychology to uncover the logical and emotional drivers behind consumer behavior. Businesses and sales teams can work with a customer analytics company to refine customer journey maps, leading to better conversion rates and higher profit margins. Furthermore, they can identify disliked product features, allowing them to improve or remove underperforming products and services.

Advanced statistical methods and machine learning (ML) models provide deeper insights into customer behavior, reducing the need for extensive documentation and trend analysis.

Why Customer Analytics is Essential

Reason 1 — Boosting Sales

Insights into consumer behavior help marketing, sales, and CRM teams attract more customers through effective advertisements, customer journey maps, and post-purchase support. Additionally, these insights, provided through data analytics consulting, can refine pricing and product innovation strategies, leading to improved sales outcomes.

Reason 2 — Automation

Advances in advanced analytics services have enhanced the use of ML models for evaluating customer sentiment, making pattern discovery more efficient. Consequently, manual efforts are now more manageable, as ML and AI facilitate automated behavioral insight extraction.

Reason 3 — Enhancing Long-Term Customer Relationships

Analytical models help identify the best experiences to strengthen customers’ positive associations with your brand. This results in better reception, positive word-of-mouth, and increased likelihood of customers reaching out to your support team rather than switching to competitors.

Reason 4 — Accurate Sales and Revenue Forecasting

Analytics reveal seasonal variations in consumer demand, impacting product lines or service packages. Data-driven financial projections, supported by data analytics consulting, become more reliable, helping corporations adjust production capacity to optimize their average revenue per user (ARPU).

Reason 5 — Reducing Costs

Cost per acquisition (CPA) measures the expense of acquiring a customer. A decrease in CPA signifies that conversions are becoming more cost-effective. Customer analytics solutions can enhance brand awareness and improve CPA. Benchmarking against historical CPA trends and experimenting with different acquisition strategies can help address inefficiencies and optimize marketing spend.

Reason 6 — Product Improvements

Customer analytics provides insights into features that can enhance engagement and satisfaction. Understanding why customers switch due to missing features or performance issues allows production and design teams to identify opportunities for innovation.

Reason 7 — Optimizing the Customer Journey

A customer journey map outlines all interaction points across sales funnels, complaint resolutions, and loyalty programs. Customer analytics helps prioritize these touchpoints based on their impact on engaging, retaining, and satisfying customers. Address risks such as payment issues or helpdesk errors by refining processes or implementing better CRM systems.

Conclusion

Understanding the importance of customer analytics is crucial for modern businesses. It offers significant benefits, including enhancing customer experience (CX), driving sales growth, and preventing revenue loss. Implementing effective strategies for CPA reduction and product performance is essential, along with exploring automation-compatible solutions to boost productivity. Customer insights drive optimization and brand loyalty, making collaboration with experienced analysts and engaging in data analytics consulting a valuable asset in overcoming inefficiencies in marketing, sales, and CRM.

[cromptai]

Will AI Replace Your Job or Be Your Smartest Teammate?

"Will AI make my job irrelevant?"

"If AI can ideate, write specs, and prioritize based on data… what exactly am I here for?"

I won’t lie - the fear was real.

And it was valid. But fear alone isn’t the lens through which we should view the future. So, I did what product people do best: I explored, questioned, and experimented.

A Shift in Perspective

Instead of running away from AI, I ran towards it.

I started small. I asked ChatGPT to write a first draft of a feature announcement. It wasn’t perfect, but it gave me momentum. Then I used AI tools to group and summarize feedback from thousands of user reviews - something that would’ve taken my team weeks. I even implemented predictive models to forecast churn, which freed me up to focus on the why behind the data.

And then it hit me :-

AI isn’t here to replace me. It’s here to amplify me.

It’s like having an incredibly capable intern who can write, code, analyze, and summarize. But—and this is crucial - it needs precise instructions. The quality of the output depends entirely on the quality of your input. AI doesn’t innovate or empathize. It doesn’t understand nuance, context, or your users like you do.

Empathy is Still Our Superpower

This is where humans shine.

Where AI sees error logs after a user’s third failed login attempt, you see an opportunity to reduce friction and build trust.

When churn spikes among first-time users, AI will show you the numbers. But it takes your insight to realize the onboarding flow assumes too much prior knowledge.

AI can accelerate work - but it cannot replace empathy, creativity, or user understanding. Those are still uniquely human strengths.

AI is no longer a futuristic concept - it’s here, and it’s changing the way we work. Instead of seeing it as a threat, we should understand how it can be a powerful ally.

Step 1: Recognize the Shift in Work Dynamics

Artificial Intelligence is transforming workflows across industries. Rather than fearing it as a job-stealer, recognize it as a tool that can automate repetitive tasks and significantly enhance productivity.

Step 2: Identify What AI Does Best

AI platforms like Crompt AI excel at tasks that are time-consuming but not emotionally or strategically complex. For example:

Drafting emails, reports, and social media content

Summarizing documents and analyzing large datasets

Generating creative ideas, content plans, or concepts

Assisting with coding, scheduling, and general queries

These are areas where AI can save hours of manual effort.

Step 3: Spot the Human Edge

There are things AI cannot replace - this is where your true value lies:

Emotional intelligence and human empathy

Strategic thinking and decision-making

Leadership, ethics, and team management

Creative innovation grounded in real-world context

These qualities define uniquely human contributions that AI can only support - not replicate.

Step 4: Use AI to Boost Your Productivity

Think of AI as a powerful digital teammate. For instance:

Writers can use Crompt AI to brainstorm and outline ideas.

Marketers can generate ad copy, analyze performance, and improve messaging.

Developers can debug, refactor, or co-write code faster.

Professionals can manage documents, extract insights, and convert voice to text seamlessly.

With the right approach, Crompt AI becomes an extension of your own capabilities.

Step 5: Upskill and Adapt

The key to staying ahead is learning to work with AI.

Master prompt engineering - knowing how to ask AI the right questions.

Stay informed about how AI is evolving in your field.

Focus on building your personal value by combining human insight with AI fluency.

Step 6: Think Human + AI, Not Human vs. AI

The future isn’t about choosing between humans and AI - it’s about collaboration. Let AI handle the heavy lifting, while you focus on the creative, emotional, and strategic layers that make work meaningful.

Conclusion

AI tools like Crompt AI aren’t here to take your job - they’re here to amplify your impact. Used wisely, AI becomes your most powerful teammate. Embrace it, and you won’t just keep up - you’ll lead.

[robintechknowledge]

Copilot Use Case

Microsoft Copilot revolutionizes daily productivity by seamlessly integrating AI assistance across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. In applications like Word, it transcends basic writing aids, capable of drafting entire documents from simple prompts, summarizing lengthy reports, or even refining the tone and style of existing text. For dynamic presentations, Copilot in PowerPoint can generate slides from an outline, suggest relevant visuals, and even create speaker notes, drastically cutting down the time spent on design and content creation. This proactive assistance empowers users to overcome the blank page syndrome and focus on refining ideas rather than laboring over initial drafts.

Beyond content creation- Copilot use case, Copilot significantly enhances communication and data analysis. In Outlook, it can summarize complex email threads, extract key information, and draft concise responses, helping users manage overflowing inboxes with unprecedented efficiency. Within Microsoft Teams, Copilot acts as a real-time meeting assistant, providing instant summaries, identifying action items, and even answering questions about discussions if someone joins late. Furthermore, in Excel, Copilot transforms raw data into actionable insights by answering questions about functionalities, generating charts and pivot tables, and even suggesting formulas, making advanced data analysis accessible to a wider range of users. These diverse applications highlight Copilot's potential to streamline workflows, foster collaboration, and ultimately elevate the quality and speed of work across various business functions.

[emasmith997]

Understanding Panelboard Schedules, Voltage Drop Formulas, and Revit Family Creation for MEP Success in 2025

As the construction and building systems industry moves toward smarter, more integrated, and regulation-heavy projects in 2025, understanding key MEP components becomes essential for successful design and execution. 

Whether you’re an architect, contractor, franchise owner, or facility manager, mastering core MEP elements like the panelboard schedule, formula for voltage drop, and revit family creation services can improve design accuracy, code compliance, and energy efficiency.

1. What Is a Panelboard Schedule and Why It Matters

A panelboard schedule outlines the specific circuits, loads, breakers, and wire sizes in an electrical panel. 

It’s a critical document for electrical engineers and contractors during design and installation. An accurate panel schedule ensures load balancing, system protection, and code compliance. 

Learn more about electrical system planning in this Electrical Design Services guide.

2. Using Voltage Drop Formulas for Precise Load Distribution

The formula for voltage drop is essential for sizing wires and preventing energy loss or system inefficiency. Ignoring voltage drop calculations in long runs or high-demand circuits can lead to costly overhauls or safety issues. 

Use NEC guidelines or voltage drop calculators during early design stages for best results. For detailed MEP load calculations, explore our blog on MEP Calculations & Compliance.

3. The Importance of Revit Family Creation Services in BIM

In the age of digital modeling, revit family creation services are crucial to building accurate BIM models. 

Custom families for MEP components allow for realistic clash detection, coordination, and design iteration. They reduce rework and speed up approvals. 

Check out our BIM engineering services for custom solutions.

4. How Quantity Takeoff Improves Cost Accuracy

Quantity Takeoff tools allow architects and engineers to extract detailed material and labor quantities from construction drawings. 

Integrated with BIM and MEP software, takeoffs improve bid accuracy and reduce budget overruns. 

Learn how our team supports efficient costing through construction estimating services.

5. Understanding Plumbing and Electrical Riser Diagrams

Both plumbing riser diagram and electrical riser diagram are essential for visualizing system layouts vertically through a building. 

These diagrams help in troubleshooting, inspections, and efficient pipe or conduit routing. You can explore our detailed approach to Plumbing Design Services and Electrical Riser Design.

6. Why You Should Know the Different Types of Architects

Understanding the different types of architects—such as residential, commercial, landscape, or industrial—can help project owners and developers pick the right design partner. 

Each specialization brings unique value to MEP integration and overall building performance.

7. Exploring Pre-Action Fire Sprinkler Systems

A pre action fire sprinkler system combines detection and suppression, making it ideal for data centers, museums, and critical facilities. 

It requires both a detection signal and sprinkler activation, offering an extra layer of protection. For tailored solutions, visit our Fire Protection Services.

8. Bonus Insight: Best Franchises to Own in Florida with Efficient MEP Design

When exploring the best franchises to own Florida, energy efficiency, safety compliance, and quick turnaround times are key to ROI. 

MEP systems—when designed with tools like panelboard schedule templates and accurate revit family creation services—can accelerate approvals and occupancy.

Final Thought

As 2025 demands smarter and more regulated construction practices, integrating MEP tools such as quantity takeoff, plumbing riser diagram, and accurate electrical riser diagram documentation is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. 

Whether you’re involved in new construction, franchise development, or sustainability consulting, leveraging these MEP strategies will lead to better project outcomes.For more insights or help with your next project, explore the full range of MEP Engineering Services by NY Engineers.