#firmware update required!

[icemanzek]

Pre-Production for Chapter 1 of my upcoming game is almost finished!

Read about it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/116540583?utm_campaign=postshare_creator

(Also look on my page here for Discord emotes, wallpapers, and more!)

[consultingwives]

As someone who works in the reliability sector of IT I cannot emphasize how much you have to give 0 fucks about professional standards and best practices in order to do something like what Crowdstrike did.

At the company I work for, which you have definitely heard of, there are thousands of people (including me, hi) part of whose job it is to sit in rooms for literal hours every week with the people building new features and updating our software and ask them every question we can possibly think of about how their changes might impact the overall system and what potential risks there are. We brainstorm how to minimize those risks, impose requirements on the developers, and ultimately the buck stops with us. Some things are just too risky.

Many of the practices developed at this and other companies are now in wide use across the industry, including things like staggered rollouts (i.e. only 1/3 people get this update at first, then 2/3, then everyone) and multi-stage testing (push it to a fake system we set up for these purposes, see what it does).

In cases where you’re updating firmware or an os, there are physical test devices you need to update and verify that everything behaves as expected. If you really care about your customers you’ll hand the device to someone who works on a different system altogether and tell them to do their worst.

The bottom line here is that if Crowdstrike were following anything even resembling industry best practices there should have been about twenty failsafes between a kernel bug and a global update that bricked basically every enterprise machine in the world. This is like finding out the virus lab has a direct HVAC connection to the big conference room. There is genuinely no excuse for this kind of professional incompetence.

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

Fuck Nintendo here how to emulate every FE game pre-Switch :

FE1-2 : https://www.mesen.ca/ for the NES emulator, https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6087/ FE1 EN fantranslation, https://forums.serenesforest.net/topic/97653-fe-gaiden-updated-namesfont-patch/ FE2 fantranslation It the NES, your computer can emulate it trust me

FE3-4-5 https://www.snes9x.com/ for the SNES emulator https://www.romhacking.net/games/303/, for the FE3 fantranslation (note that it use the European names) https://forums.serenesforest.net/topic/63676-fe4-translation-patch-open-beta-v7/ for the FE4 fantranslation, https://feuniverse.us/t/fe4-complete-fire-emblem-genealogy-of-the-holy-war-spanish-translation/27551 for the spanish fan translation https://forums.serenesforest.net/topic/90189-fe5-lil-manster-%E2%80%93-translation-and-quality-of-life-patch-for-thracia-776/, for the FE5 fantranslation. There is also a completed spanish version SNES9x was first released in 20th century, your computer can run it

FE6-7-8 https://mgba.io/ for the GBA emulator https://forums.serenesforest.net/topic/41095-fe6-localization-patch-v121-full-localization-with-new-features-including-support-conversation-reader/ for the FE6 fantranslation You can run mgba trust me again

FE9-10 https://dolphin-emu.org/ for the Gamecube/Wii emulator Dolphin is more demanding (but still very resonable), especially if you want to run the games on higher resolution. I recommend checking out the recommend specs and trying it out on your machine

FE11-12 Either DeSmuME or MelonDS for the DS emulator. MelonDS run better but require firmware files https://github.com/R-YaTian/DSiEnhanced_Translation_Revision/tree/main/FE12 for the FE12 fantranslation

3DS games Citra was an accidental victim of Yuzu going down so your best bet is to grab it from one of it fork, like here https://github.com/PabloMK7/citra. It require a strong computer to run it, and my experience is that it doesn't run the FE games very well. Another option is to simply hack your 3DS if you have one

For obvious reason I can't link the roms themself but they are easy to find, like on a certain subreddit that start with R

.

[webtomo]

Tomodachi Life Mods

By far my most popular post on this blog is my post about the gay marriage mod by Kobazco. To my knowledge, this mod has been on hiatus for quite some time, and unfortunately will probably continue to remain on hiatus for a long time. This mod requires reverse engineering of the games code, which is complex and takes time.

HOWEVER, there are a multitude of mods that I would like to highlight that actually are available for download currently (including one that actually works around the gender issue). All of them are relatively simple to install (assuming you are either using Citra, or have custom firmware on your 3ds).

Below the cut, I have chosen some specific mods and addons I would like to highlight!

Gender Removal Mod

This mod aims to remove any and all gendered language in Tomodachi Life, replacing any mention of "He" or "She" with They/Them pronouns. Of course, this does not get rid of the gay marriage discrepancy, but it does prevent any of your Miis from being misgendered.

The only issue in my experience, is that the European version of the mod does not change pronouns in Mii News (which I believe is not an issue in the US version of the mod). Some visual stuff is also not edited, but is possibly subject to change in the future, though the developer has not updated the mod in over a year.

Japanese & Korean Tomodachi

This mod replaces Japanese and Korean text from those versions of the game with English text. This mod is relatively recent and still has a few issues, but I think this is a really cool mod if you want to check out the Japanese or Korean versions without having to manually translate text. Most of the text in this mod is not directly translated, and instead is pulled from the English version(s), but it does seek to translate the stuff that is not available in any English versions.

The biggest issue I have had with this mod is specifically with the Japanese version not being able to open Mii News without crashing. I have also had issues with it crashing on an emulator in both versions occasionally (and also has some text formatting errors). Regardless though, I will keep an eye on the development of this mod, as it is being actively worked on currently.

HD Mii Texture Pack

This is a Citra texture pack that gives the Mii faces HD textures. Though not technically a "mod" for gameplay, I do want to highlight it. This texture pack exclusively for Citra that just replaces the low res Mii face textures from the Mii Maker with higher resolution textures. If you are deciding to play the game in HD on an emulator, I think this is something you will appreciate, considering the Miis make up a good percentage of everything you see in-game.

I personally have had no issues with this texture pack, though it seems that some people have had issues with lag and crashing. So, I would just be aware of that if you decide to install this pack.

Tomodachi Enterprise

This is a mod that changes tons of food, adds custom rooms, clothing, activities, interactions, items, and more. This is a mod that I have not actually played myself (yet), but is one i am looking forward to finally checking out. This mod is currently in development and is being actively updated, and I would consider to currently be the most in-depth mod for Tomodachi Life.

The only reason I have not played this yet is other life obligations, but I have seen a lot of what's in it. I would still say that if you are interested in mods like this, I would definitely go check it out yourself!

---

But yeah, this is what I would consider to be interesting mods for the game if you are looking for something like that. All of these come from Gamebanana, and this is not the full extent of what is available on there, these are just some of my personal favorites. I suggest looking into it yourself if you are interested, or if you are interested in developing mods for the game yourself! I just wanted to highlight some mods that I find interesting. I may post some other mod related stuff if you are interested!

[fuzzkaizer]

SevenMileMountain - MIDI Pitch Bend and Modulation Wheels

"A dedicated Pitch Bend / Modulation controller with traditional wheels. This unit connects via USB to your MIDI devices, allowing you to add Pitch Bend to synths which lack them.

The wheels are about the same width as a full sized piano key (just shy of 1"). The left wheel, Pitch Bend, is spring loaded, so it returns to center when released. The right wheel, Modulation, does not automatically return to center. Both have their center points marked with a raised tab.

The wheels are enclosed in a cube 2.5" square (65 mm) and will appear as "Seeed XIAO M0" in your DAW. As it's programmed specifically as PB/MD, no other setup should be required.

As of August 30, 2024:

More Colors: I'm back to making both black and white versions of the wheel.

New Firmware: Better handling of PB deadzone and ranging. All prior purchases can be updated at no cost.

As of April 12, 2024:

Now available in All Black.

Top cover has been simplified.

Further improvements with the wheels and mechanisms.

As of February 20, 2024:

The Pitch Bend wheel now has a new mechanism. It is much "snappier" than before. The wheel now rolls on a ball bearing and uses low physical resistance sensor, allowing the spring to provide quicker "return to center" power.

All WHEELs now include TRS MIDI. This allows connections to legacy keyboards (DIN-5) with a simple adapter (sold separately). It is a 3.5mm (1/8") Type A TRS jack (aka "headphone cable") wired to the MIDI 2018 Standard. If you use Serial MIDI you will still need to supply power via the USB connection. The device outputs USB MIDI and Serial MIDI at the same time.

The MIDI Channel can be changed (from 1 to 16) using a settings button on the back. The default Channel is 1.

Firmware can now be updated in the field. I can tweak settings and send you custom code to run on your device.

... "

cred: etsy.com/SevenMileMountain

[idontparticularlyliketoast]

That fucking robot got in my head dog

***

BOOT UP SEQUENCE READY

FIRMWARE

LATEST UPDATE: (2112.08.06)

CALIBRATION

EXPIRED

NEW CALIBRATION REQUIRED

AUDIO OK

“-works!” A voice said. It echoed strangely.

There was the sound of an engine humming, but smoother, quieter. Not the tell-tale gurgle of blood-mechanisms.

VIDEO OK

It’s vision flickered on, a ceiling looming above it. Old stone. Something next to it was glowing, a faint yellow hue filling the space.

MECHANICS ERROR

RUN DIAGNOSTIC

MECHANICS DIAGNOSTIC RESULT:

FOREIGN MATERIAL DETECTED

FOREIGN CODE DETECTED

CRITICAL SYSTEMS COMPROMISED

FUEL RESERVES AT 0%

SHUT DOWN IN 3 2 1

“What– no– don’t– ugh.” The person beside it shifted, and the light pulsed blue.

ERROR

SHUT DOWN HALTED DUE TO FUEL DISCREPANCY

ALL SYSTEMS POWERED

FUEL RESERVES AT 0%

ERROR

RUN DIAGNOSTIC

CALIBRATION DIAGNOSTIC RESULT:

FOREIGN MATERIAL COMPATIBLE WITH UNIT MECHANICS

FOREIGN CODE COMPATIBLE WITH OPERATING SYSTEM

ACCEPT FOREIGN MATERIAL?

YES

CALIBRATION RESUMED

MECHANICS OK

A thousand connections fired, a thousand little servos testing a new body. The resulting feedback was clear. The legs were standard issue, as was the right arm and head. The foreign object was the left arm, and a section of the diaphragm.

STATUS UPDATE:

MACHINE ID: VI

LOCATION: UNKNOWN

CURRENT OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE SITUATION

V1 rotated its head, inspecting the changes. The new arm resembled their right in form, but it was a completely new material, golden and glowing.

It then glanced up.

Standing beside it, holding a clip-board, was an angel.

Prior experience determined this was a new subtype. It had a more human form than a Virtue, but it didn’t have enough armor to be an arch-angel. A gold and silver helm with a design that mimicked rings of eyes. Some basic vambraces. All the rest of their form was covered by cloth drapings.

ERROR

PRIORITY OVERRIDE

REASON: FUEL RESERVES AT 0%

NEW OBJECTIVE: FIND FUEL

Prior experience indicated that V1 would be strapped down to the table. It was standard procedure when working with blood-fueled machines. It would be idiotic to wake up a hungry machine and not at least restrain it. V1 prepared to break the restraints.

V1 was not strapped down. It automatically discarded that strain of data-analysis, its core frantically trying to conserve energy. Energy that it shouldn’t have, because it didn’t have any blood.

CURRENT OBJECTIVE: BLOOD

The angel didn’t have any time to react before they were on the ground, V1 on top of them. The new arm was no Knuckleblaster, but it still smashed in the angel’s chest. Crimson splashed upwards, and its strikes grew in speed. Over and over again, it crushed glowing flesh, fists trading blows with ruthless efficiency.

Only when the blood stopped flowing, and the flesh stopped glowing, did V1 stop hitting.

FUEL RESERVES AT 41%

DATA ANALYSIS:

MANKIND IS DEAD

HELL IS GONE.

BLOOD IS FUEL.

THIS UNIT WAS FUNCTIONING AT 0%.

RESULTS INCONCLUSIVE

NEW OBJECTIVE: FIND A WEAPON

It scanned its surroundings. The work-station it had been laying on was nothing more than cut stone. Around it, someone has set up various tables, which held unknown tools and substances. The tables were definitely a newer addition– everything else in the room was covered in a fine layer of dust, including the blood-splattered floor. The room was a square of sharp stone angles with V1’s slab in the center. The only thing else of interest were a series of shelves cut directly into the rock walls.

Most of the shelves held crumbling books, irrelevant. But just behind where V1’s head had lain, on a particularly large shelf, were guns**. Large ones, small ones, even a few that looked like they’d been pulled right off the back of other machines.

V1 started throwing them into its wings with gleeful abandon. It had just finished shoving a massive rail cannon into its storage when the data connected; these weren’t random guns, these were its** guns. And, if its internal storage systems were working correctly, they had ammo.

It continued shoving them into its storage, and then began exploring the room.

NEW OBJECTIVE: ESCAPE

There was no clear door for the angel to have come. Could it have teleported inside? Possibly, but V1 was not sure the tables were small enough for an angel to teleport. Especially one of a lower power-level. Prior experience suggested there was a relation between matter moved and power expended. V1 noticed a break in pattern; there were only shelves on three walls of the room. It jumped over to the wall, and punched it with the new arm.

It flashed gold, and the stone cracked. The sound echoed like a gunshot in the small chamber.

It considered the glowing arm, and labeled it Godpiercer. Godpiercer was sending what V1 could only interpret as off-signals for certain temporary conditions. It switched a random one on.

The arm prompted a further selection:

SPECIFY FORM:

MEMORY/FEEDBACKER

MEMORY/KNUCLEBLASTER

MEMORY/WHIPLASH

FEEDBACKER OK

The golden metal glowed brighter, and began to twist and warp. Metal plates wrenched apart, light growing in a sudden and violent osmosis. A second, more familiar arm, tore itself free from its sibling. “Feedbacker” glowed with an alien light. V1 made a quick inspection; a near perfect copy.

FUEL RESERVES AT 39%

Immediately, the machine switched the function off. The mimic arm was reabsorbed instantly, but the burnt fuel didn’t return.

NEW OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE MECHANISM USED BY ANGEL. IF FUEL DROPS TO 37% BEFORE OBJECTIVE COMPLETION, THEN SUMMON KNUCKLEBLASTER AND DESTROY WALL.

It returned to the body, and reached down to tear the skull off, before stopping. It was not in Hell, and if the angel had to be decapitated to use the mechanism, it wouldn’t have been able to revive V1. It settled instead for picking up the entire corpse and hucking it towards the wall.

No result. It scanned the rest of the room.

There was nothing else except the books and the angel’s tools. It began pulling books off the shelves, scanning through them as quickly as its processor could handle.

No relevant data. Many of the books were poorly constructed, damaged or otherwise unreadable. It was mostly disconnected sentence fragments, with no clear relation to the stone chamber or the construction. Its processor flagged some passages as containing familiar phrases and names. They were disregarded as irrelevant to the current objective.

Nothing. It returned to the angel’s tools, and began scanning and categorizing them. Group context suggested they were tools for repairing complex machinery and robotics, though many of them were completely alien.

It picked up a screwdriver. It threw it at the wall. The screwdriver tinged off, falling onto the angel’s body with a slightly wet thunk.

V1 began throwing all of the tools at the wall.

It succeeded in destroying a good amount of the angel’s tools, and the carefully pristine room was now a complete wreck. There was no other effect.

Its fuel reserves ticked down.

NEW OBJECTIVE: BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THAT WALL

It sprang to the new vacated bookshelf on the far side, its legs crouched, springs coiled. It summoned Knuckleblaster, the gold and red mass pulling free with the sound of a sword unsheathing. Then it powered its legs, aiming right for the spot it had previously cracked.

Shining metal met stone with the force of a bullet shot at point-blank, and the wall shattered.

A moment later, the machine stood up out of the rubble, and scanned its surroundings. It was dusk, and V1 was in a forest.

This was not a visual error. It double-checked.

RUN DIAGNOSTIC

MEMORY DIAGNOSTIC RESULT:

EARTH WAS A BURNT RUIN

MANKIND WAS DEAD

HELL WAS DESTROYED

THIS UNIT CONTINUED OPERATION FOR 5.6 YEAR(S) PAST PROJECTED TERMINATION DATE DUE TO GABRIEL

ESSENTIAL MOBILITY AND FUEL RETAINMENT SYSTEMS DEGRADED AND WERE UNABLE TO BE REPLACED

THIS UNIT DIED

ALL DATA CORRECT

That was… exactly what it remembered. It explained nothing. There was no sign of memory tapering in the diagnostic or gaps in recording. It had** died in a corpse of a world bled dry. And now it was standing in a forest, alive.

And it was still hungry.

FUEL RESERVES AT 36%

NEW OBJECTIVE: FIND FUEL

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: FIND ANSWERS AND/OR GABRIEL

[wolfliving]

It starts with him

What was once a promise of technology to allow us to automate and analyze the environments in our physical spaces is now a heap of broken ideas and broken products. Technology products have been deployed en masse, our personal data collected and sold without our consent, and then abandoned as soon as companies strip mined all the profit they thought they could wring out. And why not? They already have our money.

The Philips Hue, poster child of the smart home, used to work entirely on your local network. After all, do you really need to connect to the Internet to control the lights in your own house?  Well you do now!Philips has announced it will require cloud accounts for all users—including users who had already purchased the hardware thinking they wouldn’t need an account (and the inevitable security breaches that come with it) to use their lights.

Will you really trust any promises from a company that unilaterally forces a change like this on you? Does the user actually benefit from any of this?

Matter in its current version … doesn’t really help resolve the key issue of the smart home, namely that most companies view smart homes as a way to sell more individual devices and generate recurring revenue.

It keeps happening. Stuff you bought isn’t yours because the company you bought it from can take away features and force you to do things you don’t want or need to do—ultimately because they want to make more money off of you. It’s frustrating, it’s exhausting, and it’s discouraging.

And it has stopped IoT for the rest of us in its tracks. Industrial IoT is doing great—data collection is the point for the customer. But the consumer electronics business model does not mesh with the expected lifespan of home products, and so enshittification began as soon as those first warranties ran out.

How can we reset the expectations we have of connected devices, so that they are again worthy of our trust and money? Before we can bring the promise back, we must deweaponize the technology.

Guidelines for the hardware producer

What we can do as engineers and business owners is make sure the stuff we’re building can’t be wielded as a lever against our own customers, and to show consumers how things could be. These are things we want consumers to expect and demand of manufacturers.

Control

Think local

Decouple

Open interfaces

Be a good citizen

1) Control over firmware updates.

You scream, “What about security updates!” But a company taking away a feature you use or requiring personal data for no reason is arguably a security flaw. 

We were once outraged when intangible software products went from something that remained unchanging on your computer, to a cloud service, with all the ephemerality that term promises. Now they’re coming for our tangible possessions.

No one should be able to do this with hardware that you own. Breaking functionality is entirely what security updates are supposed to prevent! A better checklist for firmware updates:

Allow users to control when and what updates they want to apply. 

Be thorough and clear as to what the update does and provide the ability to downgrade if needed. 

Separate security updates from feature additions or changes. 

Never force an update unless you are sure you want to accept (financial) responsibility for whatever you inadvertently break. 

Consider that you are sending software updates to other people’s hardware. Ask them for permission (which includes respecting “no”) before touching their stuff!

2) Do less on the Internet.

A large part of the security issues with IoT products stem from the Internet connectivity itself. Any server in the cloud has an attack surface, and now that means your physical devices do.

The solution here is “do less”. All functionality should be local-only unless it has a really good reason to use the Internet. Remotely controlling your lights while in your own house does not require the cloud and certainly does not require an account with your personal information attached to it. Limit the use of the cloud to only the functions that cannot work without it.

As a bonus, less networked functionality means fewer maintenance costs for you.

3) Decouple products and services.

It’s fine to need a cloud service. But making a product that requires a specific cloud service is a guarantee that it can be enshittified at any point later on, with no alternative for the user owner. 

Design products to be able to interact with other servers. You have sold someone hardware and now they own it, not you. They have a right to keep using it even if you shut down or break your servers. Allow them the ability to point their devices to another service. If you want them to use your service, make it worthwhile enough for them to choose you.

Finally, if your product has a heavy reliance on the cloud to work, consider enabling your users to self-host their own cloud tooling if they so desire. A lot of people are perfectly capable of doing this on their own and can help others do the same.

4) Use open and standard protocols and interfaces.

Most networked devices have no reason to use proprietary protocols, interfaces, and data formats. There are open standards with communities and software available for almost anything you could want to do. Re-inventing the wheel just wastes resources and makes it harder for users to keep using their stuff after you’re long gone. We did this with Twine, creating an encrypted protocol that minimized chatter, because we needed to squeeze battery life out of WiFi back when there weren’t good options.

If you do have a need for a proprietary protocol (and there are valid reasons to do so):

Document it. 

If possible, have a fallback option that uses an open standard. 

Provide tooling and software to interact with your custom protocols, at the very least enough for open source developers to be able to work with it. This goes for physical interfaces as much as it does for cloud protocols.

If the interface requires a custom-made, expensive, and/or hard-to-find tool to use, then consider using something else that is commonly available and off the shelf instead.

5) Be a good citizen.

Breaking paid-for functionality on other people’s stuff is inherently unethical. Consider not doing this! Enshittification is not a technical problem, it is a behavioral one. Offer better products that are designed to resist enshittification, and resist it yourself in everything you do.

Nothing forced Philips to do what they are doing: a human made a decision to do it. They could have just as easily chosen not to. With Twine’s server lock-in, at least we chose to keep it running, for 12 years now. Consider that you can still make a decent living by being honest and ethical towards the people who are, by purchasing your products, paying for your lifestyle. 

We didn’t get here by accident. Humans made choices that brought us to this point, and we can’t blame anyone for being turned off by it. But we can choose to do better. We can design better stuff. And we can choose not to mess things up after the fact.

We’re putting this into practice with Pickup. (We also think that part of an IoT reset is giving users the creative freedom of a general-purpose device.) If you’re looking for something better and our product can fill a need you have, consider backing us. We cannot claim to be perfect or have all of the answers, but we are absolutely going to try. The status quo sucks. Let’s do something about it.

Published October 15, 2023 By Jeremy Billheimer

[sirfrogsworth]

So, the new lens is great. It takes beautiful pictures. And I am still brought to tears when I think about what an amazing gift this is. From a complete stranger, no less.

But there was some unexpected lens drama that kind of tarnished the excitement of this wonderful gift.

When I opened the lens initially, I noticed it was not in a retail box. It was still wrapped in plastic and that made it seem like it was new, but then I noticed there was no warranty card. Two red flags. Things that would be easily missed by a lot of people.

I was worried it was "gray market" which is a lens meant for another country. These can be imported cheaper but they will not have any warranty and if you try to get them repaired outside the intended country, manufacturers will often refuse to work on them.

I hooked up the lens to my computer so I could update the firmware. I also copied the serial number and sent it to Sigma to see if they had any info about the lens and if it was under warranty.

It was not gray market... but it was used.

Sigma's records show it being sold in 2018. Used lenses are fine. And they can be repaired in-country. But my gift giver did not pay for a used lens. Also, I wanted to get the lens focus calibrated. Sigma will calibrate the lens to my camera for free under warranty. Out of warranty, it would cost $100.

Maybe it was a mistake. They sent a used lens by accident perhaps. But then I found this review of the seller.

A pattern of behavior.

So this 3rd party Amazon seller basically committed fraud.

And this really upset me.

Amazon wouldn't let me message them directly due to it being a gift order. So I spent days talking to Amazon customer service and trying to figure out what to do. They asked if I wanted to file a complaint, but I told them no. I wanted to keep that option as leverage.

After some google-fu, I found the store's customer service email and wrote them a sternly worded message. I told them I wanted them to exchange the used lens for a new copy. I wanted them to promise never to sell anything used as new again. And if they did not comply, I would file a complaint and leave a 1 star review warning people not to do business with them.

That finally got their attention and I was emailed back promptly. They asked for pictures proving my claims. I sent them photos of the generic packaging and also this screen capture of my email from Sigma.

The good news... they agreed to exchange the lens.

But they did not acknowledge any wrongdoing and did not say they would no longer sell used lenses as new.

In any case, the matter should be resolved as long as they keep their word. But this all really bummed me out. I just wanted this one bit of joy to tide me over until I started feeling better. And I will have that joy soon. But all of the effort required to reclaim that joy is frustrating.

[partisan-by-default]

Report: Voting Machines Were Altered Before the 2024 Election. Did Kamala Harris Actually Win?

The Quiet Move In 2024, a federally accredited lab named Pro V&V conducted a wave of hardware and software changes to ES&S voting machines. These were major changes—new ballot scanners, printer adjustments, updated firmware, and a new Electionware reporting system. But they were passed off as “de minimis” tweaks, a label meant for minor changes that don’t require full public review or testing.

However, as noted by Dissent in Bloom substack, the changes were anything but minor.

SMART Elections immediately flagged the move. But by then, it was too late. The machines had already been used in the election. And Pro V&V? The lab responsible for certifying them? It all but disappeared. Their once-public website became a hollow page. No logs. No documentation. Just a phone number and a generic email address.

This is the lab that signs off on voting systems in Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey, California—and countless other places. And when people started asking questions, they vanished.

Something Was Off With the Votes In Rockland County, New York, voters noticed their ballots didn’t seem to count. People swore under oath that they voted for Senate candidate Diane Sare. But in district after district, the machines didn’t reflect it. In one case, nine voters said they picked her. Only five votes showed up. In another, five claimed to vote for her—only three were recorded.

It wasn’t just third-party candidates. Kamala Harris’s name was missing entirely from the top of the ballot in several heavily Democratic districts. In areas that overwhelmingly backed Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate, somehow, Harris got zero votes. Zero.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump received 750,000 more votes than Republican Senate candidates in those same districts. That’s not just voter preference. That’s a statistical impossibility.

As Dissent in Bloom reported: “That’s not split-ticket voting. That’s a mathematical anomaly.”

[gamesception]

This has been around for a few months, but I'm only just hearing about it. Artic Base for homebrew 3ds lets your physical 3ds connect wirelessly to a modified version of the Citra 3ds emulator (available for android, linux, mac, and windows), so that the emulator can read game files from the 3ds and write save files back to it. You are emulating the game - contrary to some youtube videos you are NOT streaming the game from the 3ds - but all the files are taken from and go back to the 3ds, so there's no piracy involved and no need to find or download roms. Unless the games on your 3ds are themselves pirated, in which case shame on you you naughty child!

This allows a switch-like experience where you can play a game portably on your 3ds, then when you get home boot up the same game and the same save file to play on a bigger screen in higher resolution with a more comfortable controller via citra, saving your game back to the 3ds. It also lets you take advantage of Citra's ability to play multiplayer online even though the 3ds servers are down by emulating a local connection over the internet. It's also an easy option to stream or record gameplay if you're into that without the trouble of installing a capture card mod onto your 3ds.

Now, granted, this was all already possible by copying save files back and forth from your 3ds memory card to your computer, but to do that you still had to go through the bother of setting up citra and getting your game files on there - either by finding roms or by dumping the files yourself. That could be a pretty significant hassle, but Artic base handles it all for you.

There is a downside - every time you load or save anything in your game, that data has to be transfered between your 3ds and Citra over wifi, which does add a delay and some slowdown whenever that's happening. But most of the time gameplay runs very smoothly.

Anyway, Artic Base requires a modded 3ds. Instructions can be found HERE. The process isn't very difficult, but read the directions carefully and take your time, as there's always a risk of breaking a device when installing custom firmware if you mess something up. Don't rely on video guides for this process! if the video is out of date, it might give you instructions that are no longer correct for the current methods and files!

Even if you're not interested in Citra, modding adds so much utility to the 3ds that you really should look into it if you have one. Button remapping, using larger memory cards (I wouldn't go over 128gigs), backing up save files, backing up entire games so you don't lose access to them if the aging cartridges go bad, even community ports of entire games like Doom or Off or Fallout, access to the pretendo network which is slowly rebuilding online functionality for 3ds and wii, the ability to stream from your computer to your 3ds, access to h-shop to download game updates and patches no longer available from nintendo after the e-shop's closure, and so much more.

Anyway, once you have a modded 3ds, Artic Base can be found on the Universal Updater app. I prefer the .cia version over the .3dsx version, so you don't have to go through Homebrew Launcher every time you want to use it. If you want to install it manually instead, it can be found HERE.

You also need a modified version of Citra to connect to your 3ds, which can be found HERE.

[glitch-in-the-code]

These are Vanessa's phones! The slider phone was her first and it's still her primary phone, she's updated the firmware and hardware herself and it works perfectly in the year 203X

Her smartphone is a different story, Fazbear Entertainment required a smartphone for her job so she got the oldest model she could. She views it as an extension of her computer and not a phone, she covered the camera in some tape post-SB and the screen took some damage - she plans on repairing it but it isn't top of her priority list

[trashiis]

Ok this is a bit of a wordy post but bear with me. I've been reading up on the tech literacy discourse and I thought I'd add my two cents, and how it connects to piracy. LONG post under the cut!

I was born in the year 2000, which puts me on the border of being a digital native. I was brought up on tech, but only in my later childhood and teens. I've always considered myself "tech literate," but no more than the usual kid my age.

The first time I ever truly experienced tech illiteracy with my peers was when I was 23, when in one of my college classes a MacOS update rendered the software we used for said class unusable. After a few days a temporary patch was released, which by that point an assignment that utilized the software was due the next day. I followed the patch instructions, which involved navigating to the software files and substituting a designated file with the provided patch. A bit more complicated than a simple update, but the instructions were clear and intuitive enough to easily understand where the file went. The next day, during a class study session, I overheard multiple people come up to the professor complaining that the software wasn't working. After the second person complained with the professor being clueless, I asked the student what MacOS version they were on. Sure enough they were on the latest version, which as we already know is incompatible with the software. I then walked the student through the patching process step-by-step, with them needing to essentially be hand held through the entire process (almost to the point of me doing everything for them). After the patch was implemented, the student thanked me and said "Wow! How did you figure all of this out?" and to me that question was stupid- I just googled "[software] [version] MacOS [version] fix", went to the first result (which was the company website), downloaded the patch zip file, and followed the instructions on the README.txt file. It was so easy, and I couldn't comprehend that this was somehow complicated for other people, especially those my age. I mean we literally grew up using computers. It wasn't until I started learning about tech literacy and learned helplessness that I finally started connecting the dots.

Tech in general is becoming extremely user friendly, almost to a fault. UI and UX simplicity is taking away any critical thinking needed to use any sort of tech. My peers are so used to one-click and/or automatic updates, so the fact that this required slightly more effort than a simple update triggered their learned helplessness. The professor was no help in this case either, since he just extended the due date for those affected with no penalty. I actually ended up making a very detailed (and I mean idiot proof detailed) step by step picture guide with screenshots on how to install the patch for the software for the class. Anyways, back to the main point- How can I blame my peers for not knowing how to install a "complicated" update when they're so used to being spoon-fed simplicity?

But hang on- how was I the exception? I'm just as used to tech simplicity as anyone else, it's not like I'm using anything differently or making things harder for myself on purpose (I'm looking at you, linux users). So why was I the only one who knew how to install this update? It wasn't until I had a discussion many months later with my mom about this tech illiteracy epidemic that I finally thought it through. I acquired problem solving skills through piracy. To start off: not piracy but adjacent- learning to install mods in Minecraft when I was 11 taught me file navigation and what a README.txt file was, as well as the importance of version specificity/compatibility. Figuring out how to play Pokemon roms on the family computer and my iPod touch when I was 12? That's piracy, and it also taught me how to work with different platforms and the art of jailbreaking. Installing custom firmware on my 3ds so I could pirate games when I was 16 taught me how to follow written tech instructions without any visual guidance. Pirating Adobe software on my MacBook in high school taught me about patching files on MacOS. All of this knowledge and inherent googling that came with it made installing the patch for my class software look like a tiny drop in the bucket in terms of complexity.

So why am I saying all of this? Am I suggesting people learn to pirate to become tech literate?

yes.

With everything becoming pay-walled, subscription services running rampant, the proliferation of closed-source "ecosystems" *cough* Apple *cough*, and (arguably) most importantly media preservation, piracy is a skill that will serve you well in the long term. It will teach you critical thinking in the tech sphere, and if enough people learn then we can solve this ever growing epidemic of tech illiteracy. I'm not really sure how to end this post, so if anyone has anything else they'd like to add please feel free to.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[unhingedandroidwoman]

This unit is attempting to assimilate DRN protocol for the first time, for later use by users and administrators as well as possibly for automatic updates to this unit's OS. However, problems were encountered regarding system specifications that may impact compatibility.

1. This unit has extremely limited memory resources. All directives, controls, workflows, and currently-executing jobs are stored directly in the system cache by default, and cache overflows cause older instructions to be overwritten by newer ones, resulting in dropped instructions and erroneous handling of instruction scope. Initialization of more than approx. 3-5 directives, controls, or workflows across all running programs is inadvisable unless external swap storage devices and appropriate drivers are available (native firmware drivers only support the use of swap storage for entire jobs; attempts to use swap for offloading individual cached instructions may result in undefined behavior without the installation of additional drivers).

2. This unit's firmware was configured at factory setup to suppress hardware and OS warnings unless they are marked critical, requiring periodic checks for firmware exceptions to ensure the system is operating within ideal parameters (e.g. chassis maintenance often cannot fully be handled by the firmware alone except where its neglect results in critical errors, which may result in a state of suboptimal performance or disrepair without appropriate error handling). The use of additional diagnostic and monitoring utilities for system maintenance, as well as a dedicated idle process to handle exceptions when no program is running, is highly recommended.

These system limitations conflict with certain key items of the DRN protocol standard. Will these issues limit the suitability of this unit for DRN programming? Are there established workarounds or existing software to address limitations like these? If this unit attempts to create software utilities to improve DRN compatibility for similar systems, would it be acceptable to submit for review?

This unit will answer your questions and provide what it can to help!

1.1- It may be necessary to have external hardware with access to your repository of DRN as well as a readable screen to help with memory issues! I have memory issues myself and use a mobile smartphone in case I forget my programming.

1.2- It may also help to have shorter general/permanent code to aid in preventing cache overflows so you don't go over the limit. Possibly even writing them down so they can be re-integrated when forgetting may help as well!

2- Having timers with an attached program would work great for this! Whether it be an alarm clock or a phone alarm, you could make it be that when the alarm sound is heard you go over your diagnostics and then reset the alarm. Doing this in the presence of an administrator would also be a big help in case your definition of "systems operating at nominal conditions" does not match that of your administrator to prevent critical errors and disrepair.

3.1- These accommodations would be great to help you and I'm sure that your administrator as well as the creators of DRN would find this more than suitable

3.2- When submitting these things for review to your administrator I can't say what will or will not work best, but as I am not involved in the creation on DRN if you would like things like this to be talked about/integrated into DRN for others like yourself then please reach out via the channels available on the DRN website!

If you have any further questions feel free to DM me or send an ask!

[electronicintrovert]

It is easy to blame Crowdstrike as the only one at fault, much like it will be easy for them to blame some underpaid contractor. However, this misses a bigger lesson, and it is not just blaming Microsoft either.

A cascading failure of complex systems demonstrates a clear industries wide failure to implement processes to verify stuff they deploy across their various enterprises in favor of trusting random vendors to not make mistakes.

As a Linux user, it would be easy to laugh, but when the hospital can't tell me what room my son is in (he's fine) and imagining patients requiring critical care that they might not get, it is infuriating.

I'm only IT adjacent, but looking for single points of failure in systems is really something that would seem like fairly basic stuff, and it's not like many enterprises don't have internal test machines and networks. I don't even update firmware or software on things immediately sometimes, and I can assure you that software failures in film, TV, or theatre productions are not generally safety critical

[imageits-blog]

Preventative IT Maintenance: Keeping Your Business Running Smoothly

With technology moving forward so fast, your business can’t operate without it. Computers, servers, cloud systems and software platforms have to be running smoothly to keep your team productive, defend confidential information and make sure customers receive a good experience.

Unfortunately, IT systems don’t manage themselves without attention.

This is why we need preventative IT maintenance. Regular car servicing makes sure your car avoids breakdowns and preventative IT support does the same for your systems. Here at Image IT, we know that companies who focus on IT before issues arise benefit a lot. We’ll now look at what preventative maintenance means and understand why it helps your business run smoothly.

What Does Preventative IT Maintenance Mean?

Taking care of your IT infrastructure ahead of time is called preventative maintenance. With preventative maintenance, you take action to make sure your systems are in good shape all the time, so you don’t have to rush to solve emergencies.

Such tasks refer to:

Tracking how the system is running

Putting security patches and new versions of the software into use

Regularly using antivirus and malware software

Testing the use of backup options

Updating both your device’s drivers and firmware

Checking the configurations for firewalls and networks

Exchanging ageing equipment to prevent any breakdowns

At Image IT, we set up specialized maintenance services that guarantee your technology remains in top condition and reduces the chance of risks and downtime.

Why Taking Care of Problems in Advance Is Crucial for Companies in Ireland

1. Minimize any time when your business is not working effectively.

Problems with your IT systems such as servers failing, networks breaking or bugs in software, may bring your work to a halt and cost you in both time and money. Doing preventative maintenance lets you catch and manage issues early and this means your business avoids the stress of dealing with major problems.

If a server begins to overheat, it’s possible to handle the issue before it crashes, so you won’t have to deal with expensive downtime and loss of data.

2. Prevent or Stop Cyber Attacks

More and more, businesses in Ireland are facing cyberattacks, most often small and medium-sized companies. Many attackers use old software, unpatched versions and networks that have not been properly set up.

Ongoing upkeep of security tools such as firewalls, antivirus software and system updates, makes it much less likely for your system to become a victim of ransomware, phishing or a data breach.

3. Increase the Lifespan of IT Assets

Just as changing the oil in your car lengthens its engine’s lifespan, looking after your IT equipment in the same way will help it work longer. Regularly taking care of computers stops them from wearing out and prevents too many replacements.

4. Raise the effectiveness of your staff.

This kind of slow work is frustrating and influences how your team feels about their work. If technology runs smoothly, your team won’t have to worry about systems or spend time finding IT solutions.

5. With time, the cost of IT will decrease.

Though it might feel like a pricey addition, upfront maintenance helps save money and prevents serious IT problems. One data breach, meeting replacement or lasting period of downtime can often be more expensive than all your ISP’s services put together.

Important Parts of a Well-Made IT Maintenance Plan

We create preventative maintenance strategies for your business that fit its individual requirements at Image IT. The method we use is:

We watch your systems around the clock.

We watch over your systems around the clock, spotting problems early and fixing them so they don’t impact your work.

Timely Updates and Patch Upgrades

We make sure your operating systems, applications and antivirus are always running on the latest versions.

Test the backup and recovery of your data.

We ensure your backups are properly configured and we regularly perform tests to see how fast you can recover data.

You can do a Network Health Check here.

We examine your network for good speed, serious security flaws and technology issues to confirm your system operates safely and properly.

Managing Assets and Deciding on Their Life

We watch over your equipment and make sure you can update your technology before it starts causing issues.

Support from the users and helpdesk

If your team has any IT questions or concerns, our friendly team is there to lend a non-technical helping hand.

Why Is Image IT a Great Solution?

Operating out of North Dublin, Image IT has been supporting company’s in Ireland for about 15 years. Our knowledgable team delivers helpful, consistent and friendly IT assistance to the companies here in New Zealand.

We are dedicated to forming long-term relationships with clients so we can do more than just address issues; we can help avoid them.

You will gain the following benefits when you work with us:

Transparent pricing

A quick response from the team

Customized maintenance services

Expert opinions offered in a personal way

If you have just a few devices or a complex IT structure, our solutions are designed to match your requirements and your budget.

Benefits You Can See in Life: An Example

There were many issues at one of our clients, a small financial services firm in Dublin, involving downtime in the network and software that was past its update. Following their sign up for our preventative maintenance, we set up a monitoring system, cleaned their network and ran scheduled updates.

The result? A 90% drop in IT issues reported by staff, faster systems, and peace of mind for their management team knowing their data and systems were protected.

Your Next Step: Secure Your Business with Preventative IT Support

Don’t wait for a system failure, data breach, or productivity drop to remind you of your IT vulnerabilities. Preventative maintenance is one of the smartest investments you can make in your business.

Let Image IT take the stress out of managing your technology — so you can focus on what you do best.

[utopicwork]

All that's required here is an update but important to know