#relational data model

[nitor-infotech]

Discover how Database sharding can transform your application's performance by distributing data across multiple servers in our latest blog. With insights into key sharding techniques, you'll further learn how to implement sharding effectively and avoid common pitfalls.

As you move forward, this blog will help you dive into real-life use cases to understand how sharding can optimize data management. Lastly, you'll get the most important factors to consider before sharding your database and learning to navigate the complexities of database management. 

[wickedhawtwexler]

i'm at the point in my job search where i'm applying for jobs i am definitely overqualified for lmao

[anaquariusfox]

I spent the evening looking into this AI shit and made a wee informative post of the information I found and thought all artists would be interested and maybe help yall?

edit: forgot to mention Glaze and Nightshade to alter/disrupt AI from taking your work into their machines. You can use these and post and it will apparently mess up the AI and it wont take your content into it's machine!

edit: ArtStation is not AI free! So make sure to read that when signing up if you do! (this post is also on twt)

[Image descriptions: A series of infographics titled: “Opt Out AI: [Social Media] and what I found.” The title image shows a drawing of a person holding up a stack of papers where the first says, ‘Terms of Service’ and the rest have logos for various social media sites and are falling onto the floor. Long transcriptions follow.

Instagram/Meta (I have to assume Facebook).

Hard for all users to locate the “opt out” options. The option has been known to move locations.

You have to click the opt out link to submit a request to opt out of the AI scraping. *You have to submit screenshots of your work/face/content you posted to the app, is curretnly being used in AI. If you do not have this, they will deny you.

Users are saying after being rejected, are being “meta blocked”

People’s requests are being accepted but they still have doubts that their content won’t be taken anyways.

Twitter/X

As of August 2023, Twitter’s ToS update:

“Twitter has the right to use any content that users post on its platform to train its AI models, and that users grant Twitter a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to do so.”

There isn’t much to say. They’re doing the same thing Instagram is doing (to my understanding) and we can’t even opt out.

Tumblr

They also take your data and content and sell it to AI models.

But you’re in luck!

It is very simply to opt out (Wow. Thank Gods)

Opt out on Desktop: click on your blog > blog settings > scroll til you see visibility options and it’ll be the last option to toggle

Out out of Mobile: click your blog > scroll then click visibility > toggle opt out option

TikTok

I took time skim their ToS and under “How We Use Your Information” and towards the end of the long list: “To train and improve our technology, such as our machine learning models and algorithms.”

Regarding data collected; they will only not sell your data when “where restricted by applicable law”. That is not many countries. You can refuse/disable some cookies by going into settings > ads > turn off targeted ads.

I couldn’t find much in AI besides “our machine learning models” which I think is the same thing.

What to do?

In this age of the internet, it’s scary! But you have options and can pick which are best for you!

Accepting these platforms collection of not only your artwork, but your face! And not only your faces but the faces of those in your photos. Your friends and family. Some of those family members are children! Some of those faces are minors! I shudder to think what darker purposes those faces could be used for.

Opt out where you can! Be mindful and know the content you are posting is at risk of being loaded to AI if unable to opt out.

Fully delete (not archive) your content/accounts with these platforms. I know it takes up to 90 days for instagram to “delete” your information. And even keep it for “legal” purposes like legal prevention.

Use lesser known social media platforms! Some examples are; Signal, Mastodon, Diaspora, et. As well as art platforms: Artfol, Cara, ArtStation, etc.

The last drawing shows the same person as the title saying, ‘I am, by no means, a ToS autistic! So feel free to share any relatable information to these topics via reply or qrt!

I just wanted to share the information I found while searching for my own answers cause I’m sure people have the same questions as me.’ \End description] (thank you @a-captions-blog!)

[river-taxbird]

There is no such thing as AI.

How to help the non technical and less online people in your life navigate the latest techbro grift.

I've seen other people say stuff to this effect but it's worth reiterating. Today in class, my professor was talking about a news article where a celebrity's likeness was used in an ai image without their permission. Then she mentioned a guest lecture about how AI is going to help finance professionals. Then I pointed out, those two things aren't really related.

The term AI is being used to obfuscate details about multiple semi-related technologies.

Traditionally in sci-fi, AI means artificial general intelligence like Data from star trek, or the terminator. This, I shouldn't need to say, doesn't exist. Techbros use the term AI to trick investors into funding their projects. It's largely a grift.

What is the term AI being used to obfuscate?

If you want to help the less online and less tech literate people in your life navigate the hype around AI, the best way to do it is to encourage them to change their language around AI topics.

By calling these technologies what they really are, and encouraging the people around us to know the real names, we can help lift the veil, kill the hype, and keep people safe from scams. Here are some starting points, which I am just pulling from Wikipedia. I'd highly encourage you to do your own research.

Machine learning (ML): is an umbrella term for solving problems for which development of algorithms by human programmers would be cost-prohibitive, and instead the problems are solved by helping machines "discover" their "own" algorithms, without needing to be explicitly told what to do by any human-developed algorithms. (This is the basis of most technologically people call AI)

Language model: (LM or LLM) is a probabilistic model of a natural language that can generate probabilities of a series of words, based on text corpora in one or multiple languages it was trained on. (This would be your ChatGPT.)

Generative adversarial network (GAN): is a class of machine learning framework and a prominent framework for approaching generative AI. In a GAN, two neural networks contest with each other in the form of a zero-sum game, where one agent's gain is another agent's loss. (This is the source of some AI images and deepfakes.)

Diffusion Models: Models that generate the probability distribution of a given dataset. In image generation, a neural network is trained to denoise images with added gaussian noise by learning to remove the noise. After the training is complete, it can then be used for image generation by starting with a random noise image and denoise that. (This is the more common technology behind AI images, including Dall-E and Stable Diffusion. I added this one to the post after as it was brought to my attention it is now more common than GANs.)

I know these terms are more technical, but they are also more accurate, and they can easily be explained in a way non-technical people can understand. The grifters are using language to give this technology its power, so we can use language to take it's power away and let people see it for what it really is.

[catboybiologist]

Many billionaires in tech bros warn about the dangerous of AI. It's pretty obviously not because of any legitimate concern that AI will take over. But why do they keep saying stuff like this then? Why do we keep on having this still fear of some kind of singularity style event that leads to machine takeover?

The possibility of a self-sufficient AI taking over in our lifetimes is... Basically nothing, if I'm being honest. I'm not an expert by any means, I've used ai powered tools in my biology research, and I'm somewhat familiar with both the limits and possibility of what current models have to offer.

I'm starting to think that the reason why billionaires in particular try to prop this fear up is because it distracts from the actual danger of ai: the fact that billionaires and tech mega corporations have access to data, processing power, and proprietary algorithms to manipulate information on mass and control the flow of human behavior. To an extent, AI models are a black box. But the companies making them still have control over what inputs they receive for training and analysis, what kind of outputs they generate, and what they have access to. They're still code. Just some of the logic is built on statistics from large datasets instead of being manually coded.

The more billionaires make AI fear seem like a science fiction concept related to conciousness, the more they can absolve themselves in the eyes of public from this. The sheer scale of the large model statistics they're using, as well as the scope of surveillance that led to this point, are plain to see, and I think that the companies responsible are trying to play a big distraction game.

Hell, we can see this in the very use of the term artificial intelligence. Obviously, what we call artificial intelligence is nothing like science fiction style AI. Terms like large statistics, large models, and hell, even just machine learning are far less hyperbolic about what these models are actually doing.

I don't know if your average Middle class tech bro is actively perpetuating this same thing consciously, but I think the reason why it's such an attractive idea for them is because it subtly inflates their ego. By treating AI as a mystical act of the creation, as trending towards sapience or consciousness, if modern AI is just the infant form of something grand, they get to feel more important about their role in the course of society. Admitting the actual use and the actual power of current artificial intelligence means admitting to themselves that they have been a tool of mega corporations and billionaires, and that they are not actually a major player in human evolution. None of us are, but it's tech bro arrogance that insists they must be.

Do most tech bros think this way? Not really. Most are just complict neolibs that don't think too hard about the consequences of their actions. But for the subset that do actually think this way, this arrogance is pretty core to their thinking.

Obviously this isn't really something I can prove, this is just my suspicion from interacting with a fair number of techbros and people outside of CS alike.

[foldingfittedsheets]

Oh my god. Okay. Technology rant incoming.

So I sell beds. I get deals on stuff like mattresses and adjustable bases. The adjustable vibrates which helps me fall asleep and tips the head and feet up for comfort. I got us a Tempurpedic Ergo Smart Base for the new king size bed. I have an eight year old Ergo Premier that’s in the guest room now and has never had any problems. It is far and away better than the current model we just got.

The new one has a bunch of features like monitoring your sleeping and we’re told to pitch the app that comes with it. Now my beef is we tell customers that they can use their phone as the remote if they want. But the only way to do that is to get the app and agree to let Tempurpedic have all your data, much of which relate to medical conditions? Hated that.

But then I started snoring. And one of the features that’s only on the app is an automatic response to snoring. It’ll vibrate you to have you turn over or elevate the bed more. For my beloved wife I wanted to activate the snore response. So I joined the fucking app. It requires your height and weight. I told it I was seven feet tall and weighed one pound cause fuck their data.

Then I set up the app. It requires an internet connection. Because I don’t want that fucker beaconing my data that I was forced to sign up for I tethered my phone and had it connect to that. Once setup was done I disconnected it.

It ceases to function without WiFi. A basic thing that is programmed in the base itself will not activate without WiFi. I’m fuming. Tried to hook it up to actual WiFi and this fucking thing won’t connect to the non-hotspot WiFi at all. Their help page just talks about getting a better router.

Livid doesn’t come close to covering my feelings about this shit. I’m emailing support but I am gonna fully stop recommending their product on this basis.

[directactionforhope]

"Starting this month [June 2024], thousands of young people will begin doing climate-related work around the West as part of a new service-based federal jobs program, the American Climate Corps, or ACC. The jobs they do will vary, from wildland firefighters and “lawn busters” to urban farm fellows and traditional ecological knowledge stewards. Some will work on food security or energy conservation in cities, while others will tackle invasive species and stream restoration on public land. 

The Climate Corps was modeled on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, with the goal of eventually creating tens of thousands of jobs while simultaneously addressing the impacts of climate change. 

Applications were released on Earth Day, and Maggie Thomas, President Joe Biden’s special assistant on climate, told High Country News that the program’s website has already had hundreds of thousands of views. Since its launch, nearly 250 jobs across the West have been posted, accounting for more than half of all the listed ACC positions. 

“Obviously, the West is facing tremendous impacts of climate change,” Thomas said. “It’s changing faster than many other parts of the country. If you look at wildfire, if you look at extreme heat, there are so many impacts. I think that there’s a huge role for the American Climate Corps to be tackling those crises.”  

Most of the current positions are staffed through state or nonprofit entities, such as the Montana Conservation Corps or Great Basin Institute, many of which work in partnership with federal agencies that manage public lands across the West. In New Mexico, for example, members of Conservation Legacy’s Ecological Monitoring Crew will help the Bureau of Land Management collect soil and vegetation data. In Oregon, young people will join the U.S. Department of Agriculture, working in firefighting, fuel reduction and timber management in national forests. 

New jobs are being added regularly. Deadlines for summer positions have largely passed, but new postings for hundreds more positions are due later this year or on a rolling basis, such as the Working Lands Program, which is focused on “climate-smart agriculture.”  ...

On the ACC website, applicants can sort jobs by state, work environment and focus area, such as “Indigenous knowledge reclamation” or “food waste reduction.” Job descriptions include an hourly pay equivalent — some corps jobs pay weekly or term-based stipends instead of an hourly wage — and benefits. The site is fairly user-friendly, in part owing to suggestions made by the young people who participated in the ACC listening sessions earlier this year...

The sessions helped determine other priorities as well, Thomas said, including creating good-paying jobs that could lead to long-term careers, as well as alignment with the president’s Justice40 initiative, which mandates that at least 40% of federal climate funds must go to marginalized communities that are disproportionately impacted by climate change and pollution. 

High Country News found that 30% of jobs listed across the West have explicit justice and equity language, from affordable housing in low-income communities to Indigenous knowledge and cultural reclamation for Native youth...

While the administration aims for all positions to pay at least $15 an hour, the lowest-paid position in the West is currently listed at $11 an hour. Benefits also vary widely, though most include an education benefit, and, in some cases, health care, child care and housing. 

All corps members will have access to pre-apprenticeship curriculum through the North America’s Building Trades Union. Matthew Mayers, director of the Green Workers Alliance, called this an important step for young people who want to pursue union jobs in renewable energy. Some members will also be eligible for the federal pathways program, which was recently expanded to increase opportunities for permanent positions in the federal government...

 “To think that there will be young people in every community across the country working on climate solutions and really being equipped with the tools they need to succeed in the workforce of the future,” Thomas said, “to me, that is going to be an incredible thing to see.”"

-via High Country News, June 6, 2024

--

Note: You can browse Climate Corps job postings here, on the Climate Corps website. There are currently 314 jobs posted at time of writing!

Also, it says the goal is to pay at least $15 an hour for all jobs (not 100% meeting that goal rn), but lots of postings pay higher than that, including some over $20/hour!!

[sevastiel]

since Stalkers old lair is abandoned, and Hunhow is ls close enough to look in the window, do you think its possible to give him a tv or something? or a game system?

Anon your brain is immense and deeply wrinkled.

Also, about that game Amir was working on...

I bet the drifter makes it a point to bring hunhow new games whenever he can, only to find that hunhow, the sentient machine who can exist in the weave and turn himself into code, has already started making his own. He still plays the ones the drifter brings him anyway, though.

Transcript below

D- "Hey Amir, can I have your help with something? Its game related."

A- "Sure, whats up?"

D- "Gist is this. Say you've got a sentient world terraforming space machine who helped you out a lot, but is on his own for most of the time. What game console and-slash-or games do you think he'd like?"

D- "Its a serious question! Don't look at me like that!"

Box text reads- "Hunhow and the Acolytes enjoyed Mario Cart 64 the best. Models/data were obviously edited"

Then, in the second one,

D- "So Hunhow had a couple of playtesting notes. Said he liked it a lot."

A- "Just a couple, huh..."

[mentalknot]

Why is it that, for math out of all fields, people won’t even take a moment to hear about our work, regardless of how much we strive to relate these topics to their interests…

“Oh I was never good at math, you have fun though—”

I was about to tell you about mathematical patterns in art — how conferences can be filled with beautiful concerts and board games galore…

“Whelp, you lost me after the first sentence… calculus was never my thing—”

You have a PhD in data science… but refuse to even look at the fascinating graph-theoretical patterns that inspire the models you used in your thesis? There are other types of math—

You don’t need to like math; we don’t expect you to! We simply want to share our interests without feeling like an alien, and we want to hear yours as well!

What has happened to boundless academic wonder?

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

By Bill Shaw

A new study in eClinicalMedicine has found that healthy volunteers infected with SARS-CoV-2 had measurably worse cognitive function for up to a year after infection when compared to uninfected controls. Significantly, infected controls did not report any symptoms related to these cognitive deficits, indicating that they were unaware of them. The net effect is that potentially billions of people worldwide with a history of COVID-19, but no symptoms of long COVID, could have persistent cognitive issues without knowing it.

The study’s lead author, Adam Hampshire, professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at King's College London, said:

"It … is the first study to apply detailed and sensitive assessments of cognitive performance from pre to post infection under controlled conditions. In this respect, the study provides unique insights into the changes that occurred in cognitive and memory function amongst those who had mild COVID-19 illness early in the pandemic."

This news comes as pandemic mitigation measures have all but been abandoned by governments across the globe. Public health practice has been decimated to the point where even surveillance data on SARS-CoV-2 infections and resulting hospitalizations, deaths, and other outcomes are barely collected let alone published.

The data that are available indicate, per the most recent modeling from the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) on September 23, that since the beginning of August there have been over 1 million infections per day in the US alone. This level of transmission is expected to persist through the remainder of September and all of October. For the months of August through October, these levels of transmission are the highest of the entire pandemic

The study on cognitive deficits has been shared widely across social media, with scientists and anti-COVID advocates drawing out its dire implications.

Australian researcher and head of the Burnet Institute, Dr. Brendan Crabb, who has previously advocated for a global elimination strategy to stop the pandemic, wrote:

"Ethical issues aside, this is a powerful addition to an already strong dataset on Covid-driven brain damage affecting cognition & memory. Given new (re)infections remain common, this work… should influence a re-think on current prevention/treatment approaches."

The study enrolled 36 healthy volunteers. These individuals had no history of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, no risk factors for severe COVID-19, and no history of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The researchers determined whether the volunteers were seronegative prior to inoculation, meaning that they had no detectable antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. If such antibodies were present, it would indicate past infection or vaccination.

These procedures resulted in a total of data from 34 volunteers being included for analysis. Two volunteers were excluded from analysis because they had seroconverted to positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies between the time of screening and inoculation. Notably, these two volunteers participated in all subsequent study activities, enabling a sensitivity analysis of the results that included them.

The researchers inoculated all 36 volunteers with SARS-CoV-2 virus in the nose and then quarantined them for at least 14 days. Volunteers only returned home once they had two consecutive daily nasal and throat swabs that were negative for virus. Thus, those volunteers who had an infection after inoculation spent the duration of their infection in quarantine. This quarantine was required by ethical study protocols, in order that the study itself not increase community transmission of the virus.

The researchers collected data on the volunteers daily during quarantine and at follow-up visits at 30, 90, 180, 270, and 360 days post-inoculation. The assessments included body temperature, viral loads from throat and nasal swabs, surveys on symptoms, and computer-based cognitive tests on 11 major cognitive tasks. The cognitive testing varied the particular exercise for each of the 11 tasks to avoid learning and memorization of solutions in subsequent sessions. Nevertheless, some tasks were more prone to learning so the researchers also studied the effect of infection on “learning” vs. “non-learning” tasks.

Of the 36 inoculated volunteers, 18 became infected and developed COVID-19 and 16 did not. The two groups did not differ significantly in key demographics. No volunteers required hospitalization or supplemental oxygen during the study. Every volunteer completed all five follow-up visits. 15 volunteers acquired a non-COVID upper respiratory tract infection in their community between the end of quarantine and the fifth visit at day 360.

The researchers found that the infected group had significantly lower average “baseline-corrected global composite cognitive score” (bcGCCS) than the uninfected group at all follow-up intervals. At baseline, the two groups did not differ significantly. The difference between the two groups did not significantly vary by time, meaning that the infected group’s bcGCCS did not improve during the nearly year-long study.

Because the bcGCCS was a composite based on individual scores for the 11 cognitive tasks, the researchers also looked at which tasks in particular were impacted. They found that the most affected task was related to immediate object memory, in particular, recall of the spatial orientation of the object. There was no difference in picking the correct object itself, just its spatial orientation. This means that infected individuals had a hard time choosing the correct spatial orientation of the object they had just seen, for example, erroneously picking a mirror image of the object they had just seen.

The results were not different based on sex, learning vs. non-learning tasks, or whether individuals received remdesivir or had community-acquired upper respiratory infections.

Because the investigators controlled for so many factors including the strain of SARS-CoV-2, timing of infection, quarantine, and lack of prior infection and vaccination, the study provides high confidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection was responsible for the cognitive defects. The control of the timing of infection also enabled clarification of whether and when cognitive deficits occurred and improved. The differences between the groups were apparent by day 14 of quarantine and as noted previously, the deficits in the infected group did not improve let alone resolve.

The symptom surveys did not differ between the two groups. None of the volunteers, infected or uninfected, reported subjective cognitive issues or symptoms. Thus the infected volunteers with measurable cognitive deficits at one year post-infection were not aware of these deficits.

The study reaffirms prior research into persistent cognitive deficits and brain damage associated with COVID-19, including other studies which have found deficits among patients without symptomatic long COVID. Building upon this prior research, the latest study indicates that basically every single unvaccinated individual with a history of acute COVID-19 is at risk for persistent, measurable cognitive deficits.

Given that other studies have shown that vaccination reduces one’s risk of long COVID by roughly half, similar measurable cognitive deficits are likely prevalent among vaccinated people who suffer “breakthrough” infection, albeit likely at reduced rates of decline.

The study raises the urgent questions about the level of protection provided by vaccination, whether strains since the original “wild type” SARS-CoV-2 strain have similar effects on cognition, and what is the impact of these cognitive deficits on people’s performance at home, work, and school.

The study also adds to the large body of damning evidence that the ruling class’ “forever COVID” policy is of immense criminal proportions. Enabling a dangerous, mind-damaging virus to circulate among humanity worldwide represents a scale of inhumanity and dereliction of duty that is practically unfathomable. The malignity of this intentional policy is underscored by the current situation where the U.S. alone has had over 1 million new infections per day since August, with levels not projected to drop below 1 million until November.

The working class must deepen the struggle to replace the capitalist system that prioritizes profit over lives with a world socialist society that places human needs first.

Study Link: www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370%2824%2900421-8/fulltext

[kde-plasma-official]

Hey guys, quick PSA on Meta and them using your data for AI training:

Since April 7 this year they have a new privacy policy in place that, if you don't opt-out, will use your:

name

user name, profile picture, description

avatar

reels

photos and their descriptions

comments

from Instagram, your

name

user name, profile picture

avatar

posts

activity in public groups, channels, on public pages

comments

reviews and posts on Facebook marketplace

from Facebook, and your

profile picture, status

avatar

descriptions of groups / channels you created and joined

any conversations you held with Meta AI

any group chats you added Meta AI to

in WhatsApp to train their Meta AI models.

This change will start on May 27th, setting the deadline to the 26th to decline to their use of data.

How do you opt out? Meta provided two opt-out forms for that:

For Facebook, fill out this form,

For Instagram there is this one,

For WhatsApp, use this link and then pick the "Data Subject Rights Form" (translation may vary). Then pick the third option. Read through the links they gave you (or don't) and at the bottom select "I want to make an objection". Then fill out with your Email address and Phone number used for WhatsApp. Pick a real E-Mail address, they get back to you. You will have to explain yourself to them. If you are from the EU and need a template try the following:

I am exercising my rights under Article 21 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to object to the processing of my personal data on the basis of legitimate interests.

I also object to the use of any of my data for AI training purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, the collection, storage, analysis, profiling, sharing, and any other form of processing of my personal data as stated in your privacy policy.

The processing under "legitimate interests" affects my fundamental rights to privacy and data protection as guaranteed under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Articles 7 and 8). Specifically, it impacts my right to control how and when my personal data is used, shared, and profiled without my explicit consent.

I request that you immediately cease all processing activities related to my personal data where "legitimate interests" is the basis. I request any of this data to be deleted. Furthermore, I request that you confirm in writing that these activities have been ceased and data has been deleted.

This is just thrown together in hopes that it sounds like I know my stuff. If you are not from the EU, try reading through it anyways, compare the articles stated in my template with something from your country. Usually there's always a loophole if you look hard enough.

For Facebook and Instagram you have to be logged in with an account to use these forms, but once you are logged in, you can enter any email you want to. If you have multiple accounts, click the link multiple times, one for each email address.

You just need to log in to one account, not all of them.

You don't need to provide a reason.

They should auto-accept your request and send you an Email with confirmation.

Edit: WhatsApp Link Edit edit: WhatsApp Link (again) and template I used

[reasonsforhope]

Since the 1960s, the world has seen a spike in the number of natural disasters, largely due to rising sea levels and an ever gradually increasing global surface temperature.

The good news? We’re getting better at helping each other when disasters strike.

According to a recent study from Our World In Data, the global toll from natural disasters has dramatically dropped in the last century.

“Low-frequency, high-impact events such as earthquakes and tsunamis are not preventable, but such high losses of human life are,” wrote lead authors Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado.

To conduct their research, Ritchie and Rosado gathered data from all geophysical, meteorological, and climate-related disasters since 1900. That includes earthquakes, volcanic activity, landslides, drought, wildfires, severe storms, and mass floods. 

In the early-to-mid 20th century, the average annual death toll from disasters was very high, often climbing to over a million. 

For example, the study cites that in 1931, 2.7 million people died from the Yangtze–Huai River floods. In 1943, 1.9 million died from the Bangladeshi famine of 1943. Even low-frequency events had extreme death tolls. 

“In recent decades we have seen a substantial decline in deaths,” Ritchie and Rosado observed. “Even in peak years with high-impact events, the death toll has not exceeded 500,000 since the mid-1960s.”

Why has the global death toll from disasters dropped? 

There are a number of factors at play in the improvement of disaster aid, but the leading component is that human beings are getting better at predicting and preparing for natural disasters. 

“We know from historical data that the world has seen a significant reduction in disaster deaths through earlier prediction, more resilient infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and response systems,” Ritchie and Rosado explained in their study. 

On April 6, [2024],a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the city of Hualien in Taiwan. Days later, as search and rescue continues, the death toll currently rests at 16. 

Experts have praised Taiwan for their speedy response and recovery, and attributed the low death toll to the measures that Taiwan implemented after an earthquake of similar strength hit the city 25 years earlier. Sadly, on that day in 1999, 2,400 people died and 11,000 were injured. 

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Wang Yu — assistant professor at National Taiwan University — said that event, known as the Chi-Chi earthquake, revolutionized the way Taiwan approached natural disasters. 

“There were lots of lessons we learned, including the improvement of building codes, understanding earthquake warning signs, the development and implementation of earthquake early warning (EEW) systems and earthquake education,” said Wang. 

Those same sensors and monitoring systems allowed authorities to create “shakemaps” during Hualien’s latest earthquake, which helped them direct rescue teams to the regions that were hit the hardest. 

This, in conjunction with stronger building codes, regular earthquake drills, and public education campaigns, played a huge role in reducing the number of deaths from the event. 

And Taiwan’s safeguards on April 6 are just one example of recent measures against disasters. Similar models in strengthening prediction, preparedness, and recovery time have been employed around the world when it comes to rescuing victims of floods, wildfires, tornados, and so on. 

What else can we learn from this study?

When concluding the findings from their study, Ritchie and Rosado emphasized the importance of increasing safety measures for everyone.

Currently, there is still a divide between populations with high gross national income and populations living in extreme poverty.

Even low-income countries that infrequently have natural disasters have a much higher death rate  because they are vulnerable to collapse, displacement, and disrepair. 

“Those at low incomes are often the most vulnerable to disaster events; improving living standards, infrastructure, and response systems in these regions will be key to preventing deaths from natural disasters in the coming decades,” surmised Ritchie and Rosado.

“Overall development, poverty alleviation, and knowledge-sharing of how to increase resilience to natural disasters will therefore be key to reducing the toll of disasters in the decades to come."

-via GoodGoodGood, April 11, 2024

[d8tl55c]

physeng(write, file, "tco_physeng_breakdown.png");

to:compiler {file}

to:compiler {txt: "Internet and Outernet are full of StickFigures with similar body plans, so there are optimizations for rendering vector strokes specifically. it's way more efficient to use those optimizations than keep calculating perfect spheres for no aesthetic benefit."}

{txt: "btw why haven't heat issues been patched yet"}

{txt: "i fixed this years ago for the latest model. remember."}

from:compiler {txt: "Thank you. The avast! nodes will appreciate the credits. TheChosenOne.exe has been unreachable for some time."}

to:compiler {txt: "you mean OuternetPhysEng still won't update their programs"}

from:compiler {txt: "Yes."}

to:compiler {txt: "and still won't provide a specific location?"}

from:compiler {txt: "Do not allow them to bring up the moral argument again."}

to:compiler {txt: "OK. fine. yes. i will spare both of us"}

to:compiler {txt: "abridged or full docs?"}

from:compiler {txt: "Abridged. Please describe the acronyms."}

to:compiler {txt: "ofc"}

{txt: "

sel.per.filter: standard StickFigure component (src)*****. invisible membrane with special collision properties. protects mouthparts.

H2O scoop: avast! code. implements water retrieval from ambient air.

EIS: avast! code. destroys ingested materials identified as, "dangerous" before they reach internal systems.

SOS: avast! code. they only said this one was, "used for control."

ECL: avast! code. recycles some forms of contact energy.

THROUGHLINE: base code, initialization data, and processing space for vitals. found in some form in all StickFigure-type worms. following unique sectors noted: Black Hole Monitoring System, Basic Intake Threat Enum, Fly By Wire.

smaller points list other vital and peripheral systems.

"}

from:compiler {txt: "Thank you. That's enough."}

end(physeng());

@compressedrage as per my previous email /silly

related: pliable stick figure biotech

[lunawagner]

Study Results (2/2)

For the previous post---> Click

Before beginning, let me clear something: We've compared groups as having lower or higher means related to each other, but that doesn't mean their means are high or low in general, that is, compared to the general population. For instance, there were Caleb mains who said they scored high in agreeableness and consciousness, so surprised by "low results," but actually, all groups have average or high means in these aspects, as you can see in numbers. They are lower or higher just compared to other groups, not in itself~~ As I said earlier, we all had low to average extraversion, average conscientiousness, high openness to experience, neuroticism, and agreeableness

For the future: If we happen to get a 6th LI, I might do this again with the HEXACO model or Szondi test lol

Play Time and Love Interest Choice Players who stated that they've been playing the game for 6-9 months(time 3 in table) showed a significant preference for Sylus. It matches with Sylus' release date, so I think the data shows those who started the game just because of Sylus (expected 16%, observed 26%).

Also, players who have been playing for less than 3 months(time 1 in table) preferred Caleb over others. Likewise, it's probably related to his release and the people who came for him. (expected 19%, observed 27%)

The most interesting one is that, compared to others, people who have been playing for more than 12 months(time 5 in table) significantly preferred Xavier as their primary love interest (expected 33%, observed 40%). However, it might be because of the community we get the data from and the fandom involvement of long-term players.

Alpha and Beta Factors

Alpha Factor= Agreeableness+Conscientousness+Stability(reverse of neuroticism)

Beta Factor: Extraversion+Openness to experience

The group didn't have a significant difference in terms of Beta Factor. For Alpha Factor, Caleb mains(M=191, SD=27) had statistically significant lower scores compared to Sylus(M=198, SD=25), Xavier(M=198, SD=27) and Zayne mains(M=200, SD=27).

Morality

It’s similar to the emotionality results, and honestly, I’m skeptical that the differences in both are due to pure chance, except for those between Zayne and Caleb mains. (Yeah, I know I laughed about it in the previous post, but let’s be serious for a moment). So, I’m reporting this just for the sake of reporting.

Other little things:

People who answered that they've been diagnosed with a mental illness had higher neuroticism and openness to experience scores. Neuroticism being high, yk, the most natural thing, but openness to experience?? Then it came to me: it's ADHD girlies. Many of the previous studies didn't find an association between openness to experience and mental disorders, yet some studies suggest that openness to experience is related to ADHD and neurodivergence.

People who said they are spiritual but not religious and agnostic had higher openness to experience means compared to other groups. (related research: Being agnostic, not atheist: Personality, cognitive, and ideological differences / Being Spiritual but Not Religious)

Poc participants reported less mental disorder diagnosis compared to non-poc participants. (protective power of collectivism and community support or differences in accessibility to mental healthcare)

Play time and knowledge of the story content were positively correlated. Obvious outcome, but good to check for participant honesty

99% of participants were females assigned at birth. 87% of participants preferred she/her as their pronouns. 64% of participants were aged between 18-24, and 31% were between 25-34

84% of participants were from the middle class.

65% of participants were people of color (I love you <3)

In terms of religion, percentages were balanced and between 10%-20% for Christians, Muslims, SBNRs, Agnostics, and Atheists. Other religious affiliations had fewer participants.

Thanks to everyone for participating!

Tag List: @xavieslittlestar @m00nchildwrites @dadddybangtan @gingers-random-junk @cloudyasteria @eoe-1379 @kwtdrn @punksausages @satorusfrontallobesilverhair @xanxann01 @dandellien @auraficial @fictionalmenlover5 @bundle-of-sunlight @starryfilled @cupcakefactory @rayamalaya @mandapanda16 @nouerzzz @jonggunkitten @fckkntired @dreamienebula @tiffyelefano @bbnique @maybeyougotmewrong @starrychxn @situationsheep @maimaily @irlsammy @meowumis @piranha-teeth @svnflowery @soapsoftheworld

[magnus-marmot]

TMAGP 37 thoughts

Spoilers, obviously.

This episode feels very fanservicey, so consider me serviced. It's nice to hear about the aftermath of the Eyepocalypse and to hear from Melanie again. Good that the power couple is still going strong. It's also nice to hear a good old statement where I don't have to make theories about the metaphysics. Though another part of me hungers for more data to support my model.

I love the Archivist being super confused about its potential victim thinking it's some sort of messiah for the Beholding, when in reality it's probably just an alchemical experiment (or quite possibly a lab accident), a Jungian shadow archetype designed to hold a mirror to your darkest feelings and separate the salt from the mercury. Speaking of, we get some interesting description of the Archivist here:

We learn that the Archivist is usually a formless mass (like a shadow), very mercurial in its intangibility, and then it coagulates into a physical form. The word choice here is not incidental, because all alchemical work revolves around the idea of solve et coagula (or dissolve and coagulate), in which matter is molded through a repeated process of separating and rejoining. Dissolving is a mercurial process, and coagulating is usually related to salt. And what does the Archivist do when moving on?

I've also started to consider that the transformative force in the metaphysics is not solely tied to sulphur, but that it's divided into celestial niter (or the active principle, solve) and celestial salt (or the passive principle, coagula). I'll have to make another post on this once I've wrapped my head around it, because I might have a tentative proposition for what the DPHW measures.

[inkwelldesires]

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚎

“𝚈𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.”

“𝚂𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝙰𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚍—”

“Y𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝.”

─────────────────

✨𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚛✨

𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚍 𝚡 𝙵𝚎𝚖!𝚄𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚋

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝟷𝟾+ (𝙼𝙳𝙽𝙸)

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: ~𝟾.𝟽𝚔

𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚢: 𝙲𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎/𝙼𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢 | 𝙿𝚜𝚢𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛 | 𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 | 𝚂𝚖𝚞𝚝

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢:

𝙸𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛—𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚎. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜. 𝙰𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗… 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

─────────────────

Part One: The Map of Patterns

Quantico, 9:03 AM — BAU Briefing Room

The overhead projector clicked on, casting a grainy map across the room in hues of cold gray. Colored pins dotted the state of Missouri—five cities, twelve victims, and a trail that stretched like a noose tightening around a central point.

“St. Louis,” Emily said, tapping her pen to the red circle on the map. “That’s where the last body dropped.”

Spencer sat forward, fingers laced together, elbows pressed into the table. His brow furrowed beneath the soft fall of his hair. His mind had already connected the victims: ages 18 to 32, mixed gender, all former addicts either in recovery or reportedly clean for months before their deaths. OD on paper—clean kills in practice.

“The tox screens are too clean,” Spencer said. “The levels are inconsistent with street overdose patterns. These were tailored—controlled dosages with pharmaceutical precision.”

JJ flipped through the case files. “The dealers aren’t talking, but word on the street says there’s a new player in town. Someone operating under the radar. A woman. They call her ’The Chemist.’”

Spencer’s eyes flicked up. “Creative.”

“Deadly,” Rossi corrected, voice gravelly. “Whoever she is, she’s cleaning up competition by baiting users back into relapse and watching them drop. She’s building dependency, cutting off supply chains, and tightening control. That’s not just business. That’s strategy.”

“I’ve been compiling the geographic data from the crime scenes,” Spencer added, pulling a page of printed coordinates and statistical models from his folder. “If you consider the timing of the overdoses in relation to transit points and supply routes, it suggests a deliberate triangulation. She’s anchoring her network in St. Louis, but the epicenter seems to fluctuate based on activity—like a moving pulse.”

Hotch nodded. “Pack your bags. Wheels up in an hour. We’ll coordinate with the local field office, but keep in mind—whoever this woman is, she’s organized, intelligent, and methodical. We don’t profile drug lords the same way we profile serial killers. But this case? It’s starting to feel like both.”

—

St. Louis, 4:47 PM — The Next Day

The bookstore was old, tucked between a laundromat and a boarded-up cafe on a narrow street that still smelled like rain. It wasn’t on any map. He’d found it by accident—chasing a lead in a medical journal referenced in one of the victims’ histories.

The bell above the door jingled as Spencer stepped inside. A small black cat darted across the hardwood floor. The scent of paper, dust, and something faintly sweet curled through the air like incense.

There were only three people in the entire place—an elderly man asleep behind the register, a teenage girl in combat boots reading Dune, and a woman near the back, crouched in front of the pharmacology section, her fingers ghosting over spines with practiced ease.

He moved toward the shelf quietly. The book he needed—Neurochemical Dependency and Psychoactive Metabolites—was nestled high, too high. He reached for it.

So did she.

Their hands nearly touched.

“Sorry,” she said, pulling her hand back first. Her voice was smooth and unbothered, but an edge of amusement was tucked inside it.

Spencer cleared his throat. “No, it’s—uh—go ahead. I just—this is the only place in the area that carries a first edition.”

Her brows lifted slightly. “You’re looking for that book?”

“Yes.” He hesitated, then offered, “Are you… also interested in neurochemical dependencies?”

A flash of something behind her eyes. Not surprise. Something sharper. “I have a thing for altered states,” she said. “Psychologically speaking.”

Spencer’s brain stumbled.

I should walk away. But I can’t. She’s disarming. In that rare, slow-burn way, that doesn’t quite hit until you realize you’re already leaning in.

“I’m with a research team,” he said quickly. “Studying trends in urban addiction patterns. Your understanding seems… advanced.”

She tilted her head, eyes narrowing just a fraction. “And you seem too well-dressed for field research.”

“I, um… travel light.”

She smiled. “You’re not local.”

“Neither are you.”

That hung in the air.

He should have noticed the warning bells in his gut. The slight twitch in her fingers, like someone used to pulling triggers without flinching. But instead, all he saw was clarity behind her gaze. The kind of clarity you only get when you know people better than they know themselves.

“I’m Spencer,” he said because he couldn’t help it.

She didn’t give her name. Just arched a brow and said, “You can have the book, Spencer. But if you want help understanding it…” She paused, reaching into her coat pocket and producing a card. “Call me. Sometimes, it’s easier to see the whole picture when you’re not too close to it.”

He stared at the card as she walked away. There was no name. Just a number. And a symbol.

A chemical structure.

Spencer swallowed.

Why didn’t I ask her name?

Why didn’t she give it?

—

St. Louis Field Office — 9:36 AM

The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, and the coffee in Spencer’s cup had long since gone cold. Maps were pinned to cork boards. Timelines stretched across walls. But Spencer wasn’t looking at any of them.

He was staring at the card.

No name. Just a ten-digit number and a chemical structure he’d memorized in three seconds flat.

Benzoylecgonine.

The primary metabolite of cocaine.

Of course she didn’t leave a name. Of course she left that.

“What’s got you so deep in thought, pretty boy?”

Morgan dropped into the seat beside him, coffee in hand, looking far too awake for someone who’d slept less than four hours.

“Nothing. Just…” Spencer flipped the card over, blank side up. “Analyzing.”

Morgan smirked. “You always are.”

Spencer felt his cheeks flush. He quickly busied himself with his tablet.

Across the room, Garcia’s voice filtered in over speakerphone. “Okay, my loves—so get this. Four of the twelve victims had bank accounts tied to the same shell company. And guess what? That company owns the lease to a whole block of buildings in South City—including an abandoned church, a bar, and—you’ll like this, Reid—a bookstore.”

Spencer’s head snapped up. “Which one?”

She rattled off the address. It was the same bookstore. His heart stuttered.

Hotch turned from the evidence board. “Reid, you know it?”

“I… might’ve stopped in there yesterday.” His voice was too casual. Too careful. “They carry niche medical texts. I was hoping to find one referenced in the victim’s file.”

“Alone?” JJ asked, raising a brow.

He nodded. “Didn’t seem relevant at the time.”

Morgan studied him with that annoyingly perceptive gaze. “You find anything besides a book?”

Yes. A ghost with brown eyes who reads chemical pathways like poetry.

“No,” Spencer said tightly. “Just… a lead.”

—

That Night — Hotel Room, 11:14 PM

He stared at the card again, then at his phone.

This was a mistake.

He knew that.

But mistakes don’t come wrapped in curiosity like this. Mistakes don’t leave you wondering if you were the one being profiled in a conversation that felt like seduction disguised as science.

He dialed the number before he could talk himself out of it.

Three rings.

Then her voice.

“I was starting to think you’d never call.”

He froze. “You expected me to?”

“I profiled you, remember?”

Spencer sat on the edge of the bed, voice low. “Then you already know this is a professional call.”

“Of course.” She sounded amused. “Strictly business. Tell me, Agent Reid… how close are you to figuring out who I am?”

His throat went dry. “I didn’t tell you I’m an agent.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Silence stretched between them like a drawn wire.

Then she said softly, “You’re not the only one who studies patterns. I just use mine for different reasons.”

He should’ve hung up. Every part of him screamed it.

But instead, he said, “We’re building a profile. High intelligence. Scientific precision. Deep understanding of dependency, both psychological and chemical. The unsub manipulates her clients like a puppeteer. No chaos. Just… control.”

“I like that,” she said. “Control.”

Spencer’s fingers dug into the bedspread. “Why are you talking to me?”

“You wanted answers. Maybe I wanted something too.”

He couldn’t breathe. “Which is?”

“Insight.” She paused. “You see people for what they are, not what they pretend to be. I find that fascinating.”

He stood, walking to the window, the lights of the city sprawling beneath him like static.

“I don’t know who you are,” he whispered. “But I know you’re dangerous.”

Her voice was velvet. “And yet you still called.”

Click.

The line went dead.

—

The Next Morning — St. Louis Field Office, 7:12 AM

Spencer arrived before anyone else.

He was halfway through mapping the cross-referenced building ownerships when Emily stepped in, holding a bagel and eyeing him like a hawk.

“You’re here early.”

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Mm.” She leaned over, reading his scribbled notes. “You ever think maybe you’re a little too good at connecting dots?”

“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t,” he said honestly.

Because the dots were leading him straight back to her.

Part Two: Fault Lines