#software development time and estimates

[prismetric-technologies]

Accurately estimating the time and cost of software development is crucial for project success. Here are key tips to help you make precise estimates: 1. Break down tasks into smaller, manageable units. 2. Use historical data and industry benchmarks. 3. Involve the development team in the estimation process. 4. Consider potential risks and uncertainties. 5. Regularly review and update your estimates as the project progresses.

[mariacallous]

AI’s energy use already represents as much as 20 percent of global data-center power demand, research published Thursday in the journal Joule shows. That demand from AI, the research states, could double by the end of this year, comprising nearly half of all total data-center electricity consumption worldwide, excluding the electricity used for bitcoin mining.

The new research is published in a commentary by Alex de Vries-Gao, the founder of Digiconomist, a research company that evaluates the environmental impact of technology. De Vries-Gao started Digiconomist in the late 2010s to explore the impact of bitcoin mining, another extremely energy-intensive activity, would have on the environment. Looking at AI, he says, has grown more urgent over the past few years because of the widespread adoption of ChatGPT and other large language models that use massive amounts of energy. According to his research, worldwide AI energy demand is now set to surpass demand from bitcoin mining by the end of this year.

“The money that bitcoin miners had to get to where they are today is peanuts compared to the money that Google and Microsoft and all these big tech companies are pouring in [to AI],” he says. “This is just escalating a lot faster, and it’s a much bigger threat.”

The development of AI is already having an impact on Big Tech’s climate goals. Tech giants have acknowledged in recent sustainability reports that AI is largely responsible for driving up their energy use. Google’s greenhouse gas emissions, for instance, have increased 48 percent since 2019, complicating the company’s goals of reaching net zero by 2030.

“As we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute,” Google’s 2024 sustainability report reads.

Last month, the International Energy Agency released a report finding that data centers made up 1.5 percent of global energy use in 2024—around 415 terrawatt-hours, a little less than the yearly energy demand of Saudi Arabia. This number is only set to get bigger: Data centers’ electricity consumption has grown four times faster than overall consumption in recent years, while the amount of investment in data centers has nearly doubled since 2022, driven largely by massive expansions to account for new AI capacity. Overall, the IEA predicted that data center electricity consumption will grow to more than 900 TWh by the end of the decade.

But there’s still a lot of unknowns about the share that AI, specifically, takes up in that current configuration of electricity use by data centers. Data centers power a variety of services—like hosting cloud services and providing online infrastructure—that aren’t necessarily linked to the energy-intensive activities of AI. Tech companies, meanwhile, largely keep the energy expenditure of their software and hardware private.

Some attempts to quantify AI’s energy consumption have started from the user side: calculating the amount of electricity that goes into a single ChatGPT search, for instance. De Vries-Gao decided to look, instead, at the supply chain, starting from the production side to get a more global picture.

The high computing demands of AI, De Vries-Gao says, creates a natural “bottleneck” in the current global supply chain around AI hardware, particularly around the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the undisputed leader in producing key hardware that can handle these needs. Companies like Nvidia outsource the production of their chips to TSMC, which also produces chips for other companies like Google and AMD. (Both TSMC and Nvidia declined to comment for this article.)

De Vries-Gao used analyst estimates, earnings call transcripts, and device details to put together an approximate estimate of TSMC’s production capacity. He then looked at publicly available electricity consumption profiles of AI hardware and estimates on utilization rates of that hardware—which can vary based on what it’s being used for—to arrive at a rough figure of just how much of global data-center demand is taken up by AI. De Vries-Gao calculates that without increased production, AI will consume up to 82 terrawatt-hours of electricity this year—roughly around the same as the annual electricity consumption of a country like Switzerland. If production capacity for AI hardware doubles this year, as analysts have projected it will, demand could increase at a similar rate, representing almost half of all data center demand by the end of the year.

Despite the amount of publicly available information used in the paper, a lot of what De Vries-Gao is doing is peering into a black box: We simply don’t know certain factors that affect AI’s energy consumption, like the utilization rates of every piece of AI hardware in the world or what machine learning activities they’re being used for, let alone how the industry might develop in the future.

Sasha Luccioni, an AI and energy researcher and the climate lead at open-source machine-learning platform Hugging Face, cautioned about leaning too hard on some of the conclusions of the new paper, given the amount of unknowns at play. Luccioni, who was not involved in this research, says that when it comes to truly calculating AI’s energy use, disclosure from tech giants is crucial.

“It’s because we don’t have the information that [researchers] have to do this,” she says. “That’s why the error bar is so huge.”

And tech companies do keep this information. In 2022, Google published a paper on machine learning and electricity use, noting that machine learning was “10%–15% of Google’s total energy use” from 2019 to 2021, and predicted that with best practices, “by 2030 total carbon emissions from training will reduce.” However, since that paper—which was released before Google Gemini’s debut in 2023—Google has not provided any more detailed information about how much electricity ML uses. (Google declined to comment for this story.)

“You really have to deep-dive into the semiconductor supply chain to be able to make any sensible statement about the energy demand of AI,” De Vries-Gao says. “If these big tech companies were just publishing the same information that Google was publishing three years ago, we would have a pretty good indicator” of AI’s energy use.

[soon-palestine]

An interactive evacuation zone map, touted by the Israeli military as an innovation in humanitarian process, was revealed to rely on a subset of an internal Israeli military intelligence database. The US-based software developer who revealed the careless error has determined -> that the database was in use since at least 2022 and was updated through December of 2023.

On Tuesday, July 9th, we discovered an interactive version of the evacuation map while examining a page on the IDF's Arabic-language website accessible via a QR code -> published on an evacuation order leaflet.

The map is divided into "population blocks" an IDF term to refer to the 620 polygons used to divide Gaza into sectors that a user can zoom into and out of.

However each request to the site pulls not only the polygon -> boundaries but the demographic information assigned to that sector, including which families - and how many. members - live there.

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐩𝐬:

Evacuation maps have played a central role -> in determining which sectors of Gaza were deemed "safe", but repeated instances of Israeli bombing in "safe" sectors has prompted international bodies to state "nowhere in Gaza is safe"

To determine how these sectors have been affected over time, assess the presence of vital -> civilian infrastructure, and gauge the potential impact on the population following the military's evacuation calls to Gaza City residents, the latest of which was two days ago, our team created a map tied to a database using software known as a "geographic information system” -> With the help of volunteer GIS developers, our map of Gaza included individual layers for hospitals, educational facilities, roads, and municipal boundaries.

This endeavor took an unexpected turn earlier this week when we started to work on -> the layer of "evacuation population blocks"

using a map shared to the Israeli military's Arabic site. Unlike static images, these maps responded interactively to zooming and panning. A software developer suggested that dynamic interaction was possible because the coordinates -> of various "population blocks" were delivered to the browser with each request, potentially retrieving the coordinates of the "population blocks" in real time and overlaying them on the map we were building.

The software developer delved into the webpage's source code -> —a practice involving the inspection of code delivered to every visitor's browser by the website. The source code of every website is publicly available and delivered to visitors on every page request. It functions "under the hood" of the website and can be viewed without -> any specialized tools or form of hacking.

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚

Upon examination, the data retrieved by the dynamic evacuation map included much more than just geographical coordinates. The source code contained a table from an unknown GIS -> database with numerous additional fields labelled in Hebrew.

These fields included population estimates for each block, details of the two largest clans in each block (referred to as “CLAN”), rankings based on unknown criteria -> and timestamps indicating when records were last updated.

Some data terms, such as "manpower_e," were ambiguous for us to interpret, possibly referring to either the number of fighters or the necessary personnel to maintain the area -> Using this information we determined that Block 234, Abu Madin was last updated on 27 April 2022. This suggests that Israel's effort to divide Gaza into 620 "population blocks" began one and a half years before the current Israeli offensive -> Additional modification dates indicate that the military updated data in this field regularly throughout October and November, before formally publishing it on the arabic Israeli military webpage on December 1, 2023.

It appears that the IDF has accidentally published -> a subset of their internal intelligence

GIS database in an effort to impress the world with a novel, humanitarian evacuation aid. It is easier to retrieve a database in its entirety than to write a properly selective query. Such mistakes are common among programmers that lack -> experience, security training, or are simply unwilling or unable to do meet standard data security requirements for a project.

𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 -> In January, Israeli security chiefs proposed a plan for "the day after" where Palestinian clans in the Gaza Strip would temporarily administer the coastal enclave. In this concept, each clan would handle humanitarian aid and resources for their local regions. Israeli assessments of the proposal suggested such a plan would fail due to "lack of will" and retaliation by Hamas against clans willing to collaborate with the army. The plan has since been modified to include Hamas-free “bubbles,” (as reported by the Financial Times) -> where local Palestinians would gradually take over aid distribution responsibilities.

As this plan is to be initially implemented in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia. Al-Atatrah Area and Beit Hanoun, we have analyzed the information in the database assigned to those three areas -> Israeli army classified the Al-Atatrah area as region 1741, although there are only 620 'blocks' on the map. The registered population was listed as 949, last updated by the IDF on October 9th. We assume this represents an estimate by the IDF of current residents as of Oct 9th. Residents of Al-Atatrah were among the first to evacuate following the initial bombardment on October 7th and 8th and were not given a formal notification to evacuate. The Israeli military noted that the Abo Halima family comprised 54% of the block’s population -> In area west of the town Beit Hanoun, Israel had desginated the Almasri clan as the largest in the sector, consisting 18% of the block's population. Second largest was the Hamad family, with11% of the block's population. This area were also associated with rankings, however -> without the criteria used to determine the ranking, these numbers are difficult to interpret.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥?

Although some of the data were inadvertently truncated during publication, posing challenges for comprehensive -> interpretation, this database provides a valuable window into the Israeli military's perspective on Gaza.

For one, it prompts questions into why the military had already partitioned Gaza into 620 population blocks a year an a half before October 7th -> This suggests an early inclination to implement a governance policy where clans would assume authoritative roles, as well as detailed population surveillance. Tracking dense populations in the chaos of urban warfare is a difficult task -> It may be that the QR code on the evacuation map actively collects the locations of people who scan it, allowing the IDF to collect real-time data on Palestinians in Gaza as they attempt to find safety.

END

[thegrayascendancy-if]

We are looking good, friends, for I finally have a playable version of the update on my hands 🥳 Plots? Established. Choices? Laid down. Sass? Locked and loaded.

There are still 2.5 large scenes + editing to do, mind you, but it's always nice to have a single structured piece you can traverse, tweak and add upon. Slow-dripping that sense of accomplishment to keep me going 😅

Now onto the less cheerful side of things. Sadly, my testing setup got obliterated in the meantime by the software changes beyond my control, so I cannot reliably estimate how long beta reading and error/typo fixing will take. Already sweating in anticipation 🤡 I've been growing so frustrated with Twine lately, and it had a substantial effect on the development time. A lot of it is not the engine's fault, but some certainly is. I still enjoy the extended features I get to introduce (like the Secrets or the Codex pop-ups), but now I know that I vastly prefer how you code the scenes with ChoiceScript... Not to mention the out-of-the-box testing and an easy way to estimate how your stats are accumulating. Sigh. It's okay though, I am determined and will not let it defeat me!

Stay tuned!

[lunarsilkscreen]

A Programming Hook

Object-Oriented Programming's strength is Modularity; and just about everything coded today follows the OOP design. Except Python and JavaScript--sometimes.

So I've coined a term "Hook"; not to be confused with a fishing-line-hook, or the literary tool where you write the most interesting part of your whole story into the first sentence.

A [Hook] in this regard is a [Space for Something]{to go} like a nook or a closet. You don't know *what* might go into that nook or closet; you just know there are *things* with which are properly displayed or stored in a Nook or in a Closet.

And this is the same concept.

There's a *whole* lot of features that we'd might *wish* to add to a coding project, yet time and funding constraints, oftentimes, makes it hard to include every feature one might want.

In this vein; we add space for the features we might want to add *after* we finish all the important bits.

This is very important in [Software Engineering], because there will be a time in a project where you make it to an important feature that you cannot implement *without* having had re-written the *whole* thing.

And so, you want options available when that inevitably comes to pass.

Now. I developed this whole making [Training Simulations] in the [Air Force] and when I tell you; one day somebody asked me to do something that may have added several weeks to the development time.

They asked "How long will this take to [fix]?" To which I responded; "I'm not sure. I think I remember adding some hooks that would make this easy, and it could be done tonight. But as it wasn't a requirement *at the time* this may take 2-4 weeks to implement if I have to rework it from scratch."

To which, they were very upset with my best time "4 hours, or the end of shift, whichever comes first" or "several weeks, because that would put us behind schedule."

"I'll get back to you at the end of day Chief!"

Non-developers, Maintenance Professionals like myself *actually* who're used to every little thing being documented and not *created on the fly* were rather upset with those timelines.

And I had already been reprimanded several times based on my timeline predictions.

Which uh. Were accurate. They just weren't particularly accurate *for me* whom'st {is/was} a very well educated developer... In a sea of maintainers who have not studied the code as I have done.

My timelines were usually off at this stage *because* I was getting my understanding of how the coders (who were also rather green) and the (maintainers become coders) would be able to understand the timelines.

I have to make clear; I was, in-fact, doing *my* job to the best of my ability, and even better than *your{my supervisor's}* ability despite them being very concerned about my time estimates being [too long].

Communication isn't bad on my side... Even when I appear to be bad at communicating.

One of these days I will not be so defensive! Yet the Anti-Trans sentiment remains, so will the SALT!

Anyway; these particular [Hooks] were contextual triggers. Things that would/should be called at certain times during certain steps in the simulation.

Custom CallBack functions mostly.

And these particular callbacks were rather complex for a simple one-function call event.

Luckily for my OCD brain; I had stopped to asked the question about this exact feature they wanted to add *now* that they had been worried about adding earlier, until the customer made it a [Need to have].

I had asked the question, at that time; "What happens if *this* particular feature *becomes* a Necessary addition."

Because my [awesome predictive abilities] were spot on about what they need that particular simulation to accomplish.

Luckily I had been stumbling through various frameworks and implementations of the Squadrons Honorable Historical Developments. (Part of the job was updating and modernizing old Adobe Flash 2.0 projects) And had stumbled across a few implementations of these features *both* before it was necessary *and* after it seems to have taken a week to tack on at the end.

And that's when I started adding the concept of "Hooks" to my personal development checklist. Everytime you ask yourself; "How might this feature be used outside this implementation" or "What happens if I need to add something *somewhere* that might break Modularity" is an opportunity to add in hooks.

"Can I go back, and reuse this feature to make my job easier in the future?"

Or you know; Object-Oriented Design (And Modularity) in a nutshell.

[pawborough]

Below the cut is our extensive FAQ! If you have a question, check here first!

How long has PawBorough been in development?

PawBorough has been in development since the summer of 2021.

When will PawBorough be playable?

PawBorough will enter closed Beta for Kickstarter backers in late 2024. Open Beta will proceed to allow entry of non-backer users afterwards. Our current timeline projects an extended period of open Beta for new users to join in late 2024 or early 2025, depending on how many features need tweaking and to what extent. We currently estimate full launch in 2025.

Will PawBorough be free to play? Yes. PawBorough will have premium features, but will not be “pay to play.” 

Where do I download PawBorough?

PawBorough is a browser game with no need for download. However, we are working on an application for mobile devices which will be available to download in the future. There is not currently a timeline for this development. 

Will PawBorough be mobile friendly?

Yes. We are dedicated to mobile usability. Our development of an application is intended to enhance the mobile experience. 

Will you have a suggestions page?

Once we have the game refined and populated, we will be opening a forum for suggestions to improve the user experience. 

Is PawBorough accepting artist applications?

Currently PawBorough is accepting artist applications. If you would like to work as a visual artist on The PawBorough Team, please send your resume and portfolio to pawboroughgame@gmail.com. 

Is PawBorough accepting developer applications?

PawBorough is not in need of developers at this time. 

Can I volunteer for PawBorough work?

For the majority of work, we do not accept volunteer applications. We periodically open volunteer applications for early feature testing. For notifications on when these applications open, keep up with our Kickstarter updates!

What timezone will PawBorough be in? 

PawBorough will function in EST/ET! 

How can I reach out directly to the team?

Please email us at pawboroughgame@gmail.com. All other methods to contact us may not reach us. 

Will you keep the official Discord open after the full launch of PawBorough?

No. After PawBorough launches officially, we will be shutting down our Discord. It is not in our best interest to rely on third party software for communication with our community. Already, this is an issue we take responsibility for perpetuating. We want to ensure all information is sourced to and on our website in a single space. Players are welcome to create their own, unofficial spaces however! 

How can I support the development of PawBorough right now?

We take donations from our PayPal. All donations will go towards our continued development.  You can also support us by spreading the word! Tell your friends about our project, keep informed on our updates, and join the site when we’re live!

Will you have dark mode?

Yes. 

Will there be more breeds/patterns?

PawBorough will continue to add more content over the span of its lifetime.  We have currently committed to 21 breeds in total, but new patterns may be added in perpetuity as the game ages. 

Can cats die? Is there a way to remove them from the game?

Cats do not die from play. The only way to remove a cat from the game is to voluntarily retire the cat. 

What are mystic and domestic breeds? 

PawBorough features seven Boroughs that a player may join. A Borough is a culturally unique location in the world of the game. Each Borough has at least two breeds of origin: a domestic breed and a mystic breed. These breeds come in “pairs.” For every domestic cat, there is a mystical, magical counterpart. We call these pairs an “origin set” or “origin pair.”  In lore, this is explained as normal cat breeds being magically, genetically altered over hundreds of years. As a player, you will be able to switch between mystic and domestic breeds instantly. 

What are the mystic and domestic pairs? What are the origin Boroughs of every breed?

Here are all origin pairs that we have showcased in updates thus far.  Shorthair / Bovine = Harvest Prowler / Thumper = Harvest Ragdoll / Fyret = The Metropolis Longhair / Moontail = Luna Snowfoot / Prancer = Sol Wolf / ??? = Cogwheel Littlefang / Stonehide = ???

Can Domestic Breeds be turned into Mystic Breeds (and vice versa)?

Yes. Here is a graphic of the system we are testing, which incorporates Borough origin: 

Why not just have separate items for every breed? Why the pairs?

This choice was intended to unilaterally flatten the rarity between mystic and domestic breeds, and instead determine rarity by origin set. With an item for every breed, seeding the items would inevitably become imbalanced in some way. This way, Shorthair and Bovines, for example, are equal opportunity for the player.  We did not want to, as a game, incentivize collecting mystic breeds over domestic breeds, thus viewing domestic breeds as a contextually “lesser” option. That has just never been our vision! 

Will some Breeds/Patterns/Colors be more rare than others?

Yes.  Breed rarity will be dependent on the origin pair. Bovines and Shorthairs may be more common than Longhairs and Moontails, for example.  Patterns will have breed and drop rarity.  Colors will be dependent on breeding outcomes. You may use our live kit predictor on our website to view how two colors interact. A brief write-up on how color outcomes for kits are calculated is located here!

How much can you customize your two Founder cats?

You will be able to fully customize the colors and sex of your Founders. You will also be able to select from a pre-selected pool of patterns and breeds, which will be changeable for all cats via items. We are currently working on adding the ability to fully customize white coverage for Founders. The only thing you will not be able to change is the Borough birthplace (eye color.)  We are also considering adding the ability to freely re-access the creator and change your founders at any time. As a general note, your Founders will be incredibly customizable! 

Will kits be able to wear accessories?

Yes! We love that we can do this! This does mean our accessory pool will be more limited. However, kits will be fully customizable!

How will players obtain "Generation 1" cats?

Generation 1 cats are cats which are not born from cats already on the site (i.e “offspring.”) There are several methods to obtain a generation 1 cat, however most notably an item called “incense” can be used to immediately spawn a random generation 1 cat into your camp.  Each Borough will have an incense item which spawns a cat with the eyes of said Borough.  Incense is obtained via crafting. 

Will new colors be added to the demo?

Currently, there are no plans to add new colors, but this possibility is not off the table. 

Will you have feathers behind the ear as an accessory?

No. We are aware that, historically, media with anthropomorphized cats has a history of anti-indigenous themes.  In the interest of respecting indigenous populations, we will not be illustrating any feather-themed accessories without indigenous sensitivity consultation.

Will I be able to attach tags to my cats? Such as #kit?

Yes, we will be implementing a tagging system! 

Will multiple cats be able to have the same species of Fauna companion?

Yes! 

Will there be a way to make my cat stay as a kit forever?

Yes. We will be adding perma-kits as a feature. 

Can you add a nonbinary/third gender pose to the cats?

We would love to, but we’re a small indie team with limited resources. Three poses with full accessory and pattern functionality is already quite a bit of effort for us, especially with the demand of the art style we are committed to!  However, we consider the Mars and Venus poses to be, for all intents and purposes, genderless. The purpose of two adult poses is simply to explore the designs. You will be able to switch between both adult poses at any time via a switch on the cat’s customize page. 

Will there be a pronouns section for a cat's page?

We were asked to add this feature quite a bit, and we did add it! We are currently testing a system which may allow custom pronouns (such as neopronouns) that the game will recognize and use in narration and dialogue. This will help aid our initial reservation to the concept. 

Will there be a way to change a cat's eye type?

Yes, and eye palette too! The only thing you cannot change is the birth Borough (Borough eye color.)

What's the difference between an Accessory and Decor item?

Accessories are pieces of clothing tailored to layer on each cat pose. They cannot be moved from where they sit on the cat. They can only be shifted above or below other Accessories layered onto the cat.  In comparison, Decor items are items which can be shifted, rotated, and resized around the cat. Decor and Backdrop items come together to create a scene! 

Can we change a cat's birth Borough/eye color?

No.  

To what extent will you feature violence or adult content?

PawBorough is for teens and older. Users must be 13 and up to play. This means that we will feature minor use of moderately strong language, mentions of alcohol, and the allowance of art with cartoon blood and violence.  However, photorealistic blood or gore will not be allowed, and we allow absolutely no sexually suggestive content whatsoever. 

Will you have a custom system? How will it work?

This question refers to the concept of allowing custom, user-uploaded art to be created into items and imposed over a cat.  Yes, we will have a system for this. Our custom cat items are called “pelts.”  “Unclipped pelts” will allow for users to draw over the lines of the cat.  “Clipped pelts” will go under the lines of a cat, and be easier to work with Accessories.  Both will be a premium feature, and come with limitations and restrictions to help maintain the visual identity of the game. We will also be implementing a less complex pelt system for Fauna! 

Will you have breeds that resemble big cats?

We will not be featuring any breeds from the Panthera order. This includes lions, jaguars, leopards, tigers, and snow leopards. We also will not be adding cheetahs, due to their cultural association with big cats. In the lore of PawBorough, big cats (and cheetahs) are mythical depictions akin to humans imagining elves!  All other breeds from the Felidae family are on the table. This does include wildcats. 

Will you add more white coverage possibilities?

Uncertain at this time. The idea is on the table, however we’re currently focused on illustrating for all the planned breeds! 

Do you have a “basic” pattern?

No. We do have a pattern called “solid” that may aesthetically resemble a more basic patterning, but we do not have a base-level pattern that users build up from. Instead, all patterns have some degree of rarity and detail. 

Is there a way to change a cat's colors?

Yes. Users will have access to items which randomize a single cat’s colors. 

Can I rename my cats?

Yes! Much like changing the pose, renaming a cat is able to be done anytime via the customization page. 

How will line breaking accents be handled? Won't they clash with apparel?

For those who are unaware, PawBorough features accent genes which may break the silhouette.  The answer to this is: yes, they will! We deliberated over this for some time. However, we are treating line-breaking accents much like other accessories. It will be on the onus of the player to prevent clipping with any other accessories, just as accessories can and will clip with one another.  Line breaking accents will be layerable among accessories, so users can adjust the layering how they like.  From a design standpoint, line-breaking accents will only include biological body modifications. This includes, but is not limited to, horns, teeth, scales, claws, fur, and anything else which would grow from the cat itself. This therefore excludes these attributes from accessories.  Overgrowth is an exception to this rule, due to its inception before the restriction was in place. In lore, Overgrowth is explained as a benign, parasitic, magic-touched plant which lives in cat fur and is easily passed to children of infected parents while nesting. 

Can accents be in any slot? Can I have the same accent in both slots?

All accent genes can be in either slot! However, you may not have the same accent in both slots. Both slots are able to lack an accent at the same time, however. 

What are the default patterns and breeds I can pick for my Founders?

You may create your Founders starting with: Solid Tiger Tuxedo Blotches This list is subject to change. No accent genes will be available for Founders to start with. 

How does breeding work?

Breeding is available between two compatible cats. Users will choose to start a nest with two cats. Users will then babysit the nest until the new kits are ready to enter the User’s camp. Kits will inherit colors and patterns based on the parents. Testing of this mechanic is available on our website!

Can players cancel unwanted nests? Is it possible to accidentally lose a nest?

Nests can be reversed via a Bitter Root item. This is an active choice that the player must click several times to confirm.  Otherwise, nests remain until the player interacts with them and do not expire. 

Can Domestic and Mystic Breeds produce offspring?

Yes! All cats can breed with one another. 

How will Paw Borough prevent inbreeding regarding the cats?

Currently, cats which are related via 5 generations apart cannot breed together. 

Will cats ever be too old to breed?

We have no intention for a feature like this at this time. 

Can cats have multiple mates?

Yes. 

How does white coverage work for breeding?

Random coverage spots are chosen for each kit, with dominant spots passed down and recessive spots having a lower chance of showing. The coverage amount is chosen via the algorithm below. none x none => 90% none, 10% low full x none => 5% full, 10% high, 50% medium, 20% low, 5% none full x full => 90% full, 10% high full x medium => 50% full, 10% high, 40% medium full x high => 90% full, 10% high full x low => 25% full, 25% high, 25% medium, 25% small medium x medium => 5% full, 10% high, 50% medium, 20% low, 5% chance of none high x high => 15% full, 20% medium, 65% high, 10% low high x none => 30% none, 30% high, 25% medium, 15% small high x medium => 10% full, 10% small, 40% high, 40% medium high x low => 60% small, 20% medium, 20% high

How many cats are in a litter?

This is subject to change, but a cat can have between 1-4 kits in a single litter. 

Can I breed my cats to have different eye colors than my borough?

Yes. 

Can I breed my cats with other users?

Yes! We have a system for cross-account nests which will allow two users to both care for a nest and then divide the kits. 

Is there a cap on how much regular currency a player can obtain every day?

There will likely be a cap, but questions like these have become difficult to give concrete answers on until we can simulate the economy in closed Beta!

Will there be events during the game?

Yes! PawBorough will have an onsite story which will be told through events, in addition to holiday events which will give users seasonal item rotations. 

If I miss story events, how can I catch up?

All real-time story events will be documented in an onsite archive which users can visit and read at any time. Campaign events which surround Guild play will be re-playable, which new users can play at any time. 

Will the game have achievements?

Yes. PawBorough will feature a badge and reward system. 

Will there be side/minigames?

At this time, we are focused on a closed gameplay loop which is fun, satisfying, and rewarding without the need for an abundance of generalized minigame designs. We may incorporate unique, one-off minigames for immersion in the future. But it is our hope that they won’t be necessary for an enjoyable game. We would much rather focus our resources towards buffing out the gameplay loop, and accommodating several play styles with it! 

Are there any plans for a battling system for cats?

Yes! PawBorough will feature teams which may register at the Guild. Users will be able to go on missions with their cats and earn rewards, leveling up their team and earning exclusive items in the process. What stats does a cat have? What are they used for?

Cats feature seven statistics: Stamina, Strength, Sense, Smarts, Speed, Savvy, and Sorcery.  A cat's base stat number is divided among these categories. Leveling a cat up will allow the player to build out any given statistical category. Statistics are used for different dynamics in combat (mele, range, healing, dodging, etc.) as well as helping to calculate different daily item yields. Cats can be leveled up both by participating in Guild play and by yielding items.  Each cat also has a Fortune and Doom statistic, which affects good luck and bad luck in RNG and general combat. These two stats cannot be changed. 

Are base stats completely randomized?

Yes, but there is a cap and a weighted bell curve. All Founders start with the same base stat. 

Can I read official lore of the game?

As of right now, we are working on an updated lore page with a more interactive presentation and more meat than our previous iteration. We will notify all social media when we have a new page live. 

How will recolors of accessories work?

PawBorough features a dye system. All items will come in 12 standard colors and may be dyed to any of the 12 colors. Dyes are obtained via crafting.  “Special dyes,” as they are currently called, will feature more unique coloring from the standard item, such as holographic, polka-dot, or pastel. Special dyes will only be applicable to certain compatible items. (And in all cases, a special dye will only work on an item that the standard doesn’t already apply to. For example, if a shirt is polka-dot by default, there is no reason for the shirt to be compatible with the polka-dot special dye.) 

Can I be an Alpha tester? Is Alpha open? 

Alpha applications are available here. If this form is closed, it means applications are no longer accepted.  Alpha is not open as of June 12th, 2024. We will keep active communication and announce when Alpha opens. Applicants who are chosen will receive emails with the appropriate steps. 

If I am chosen as an alpha tester, do I have to sign an NDA?

No. 

How will data wipes happen during the closed Beta?

For context, a data wipe consists of removal of all cats, items, currency, and user content.  A data wipe will NOT wipe the following:  Your account, including your username, credentials, and ID number.  Credit for any money previously spent on your account.  Closed Beta will feature at least one data wipe as the test comes to a close. However, closed Beta will feature as many data wipes as we the developers deem necessary for testing important game dynamics. As an example, we need to test economic balance, and will wipe as necessary to test new pricing and currency distribution. 

Is there a limit to how many Beta Testers there will be?

Closed Beta is limited to the number of Beta Keys sold on our Kickstarter. Population reports put this number at over 1600 keys. 

How much earlier do Early Bird tier codes get into the closed Beta?

Early bird codes allow 3 days of early access! 

Will Luna Stones be tradeable or will they be locked to your account?

All Kickstarter items will be tradeable. 

Are Moontail wings randomly chosen when using a Luna Stone on a cat? What about when you breed a Moontail?

Wing types are random when using a Luna Stone. To change a Moontail’s wing type, an item will be easily available. When breeding, the wing type of the parent will pass down. 

I am a backer. How will I receive my Kickstarter rewards?

With the email you used to back, you will be emailed a code for your beta key(s) and a reward code which will be redeemable onsite for your tier rewards/add-ons. Can I still pledge to the Kickstarter?

No. 

Are the Kickstarter items obtainable since the campaign ended?

No, and yes. We will not be distributing these items again. They are retired. However, when the site is live, you may trade with backers for Kickstarter items. 

Will I lose my Kickstarter rewards after a Beta wipe?

Any redeemable item codes will become redeemable again after a data wipe. 

Account 

Can two or more people share an account?

No. We limit the game to one account per user. If you are caught sharing your account with another person, you may have your account frozen. All items you may lose by choosing to share your account are at your own risk. 

Can system members have individual accounts?

When we say one account per User, we mean User. This means that systems with individual users may have separate accounts. However, any evidence of “funneling,” daily yield transfer, or frequent and egregious transfer of cats or resources which would give a User identifiable advantage over other Users will result in consequences, including but not limited to removal of the aforementioned resources and termination of one or both accounts. 

Can you change your Borough after choosing one at signup?

Yes! 

Can you change your username? Will multiple people be allowed to have the same username?

Your username will be changeable. No two accounts may share a username. 

Am I allowed to have a "side" account?

Accounts are limited to one per user. Evidence of frequent cross-account trading which implies the existence of a side account will result in investigation and consequence. 

What is the character limit on usernames?

18. It is the same for cat names. 

Will I get my account banned if a housemate and I both play PawBorough, and you recognize the same IP address?

No. In fact, we are rather lenient and understanding of this. We only will take administrative action if the cross-account activity is egregiously imbalanced and rewards one player with a clear, identifiable advantage over other players. 

Can players terminate their own account?

Yes. 

How many accounts will be reserved for staff use?

The first 10 account IDs will be reserved for staff use. This number may be subject to change. 

Is there a referral system? Are there any rewards for referring people?

We are developing a referral system in tandem with our badge system. Our system will reward referring players with a payout every time their referee(s) completes an achievement and earns a badge. 

Can I use a cat I made in PawBorough as an original character / purchase commissioned art of this character?

Yes, we love it! However, no content featuring our doll art may be used commercially. You may not profit off of our exact images. We also require that any public use of our art or designs be credited back to our website.

Can I use cats in offsite roleplay? Do I need to give credit? Can I go make my own story out of my PawBorough characters?

Yes. Credit requirement largely depends. If you use an image from the site, you must credit us. If you’re using a mystic design of ours, those creature designs are owned by us. We would prefer if you did not completely divorce them from our game and give us credit for the creature design. Under no circumstances may you use any mystic designs in commercial content.  However, we don’t own the concept of a generic cat character. If you create and name a domestic cat in our game, you’re welcome to take it elsewhere and do anything you damn well please with it! Again, so long as you credit any use of our images, and use none of our images commercially!  Also, for clarity, we don’t own the concept of moth cats or cow cats, but our specific design elements in tandem with the breed titles are attributed to us. You’re totally free to make a moth cat design for your own use! 

Are we allowed to trade art for beta keys with other users?

Yes.

Is offsite trading allowed?

For beta keys, yes, but at your own risk. Note that many games of our genre disallow cross-site trading with games in development, or altogether. We do not allow nor endorse disregarding the TOS of other games.  We are considering an embargo on cross-site trading of cats, items, and site currency both during Beta and for a brief initial launch period. This is to help preserve the microcosm of our onsite economy and grow it to a healthy, prosperous size before introducing the possibility of cross-site scalping. We hope you understand this decision. We’ll keep forefront communication with Users on these policies during the game’s lifespan. 

Can I sell my Kickstarter rewards for real-life currency?

No. This will never be allowed. 

Can I trade my Kickstarter rewards for digital or physical art?

Yes. Art as a traded good would not be counted under the cross-site embargo. If any cross-site content is included in conditions of the trade, it would be considered illegal. 

Will there be a safe way to exchange premium currency for regular currency with other players?

Two-step cross-account trading will be in place. Both players will have to approve a supposed trade before it will activate. 

[atiny-for-life]

Mini Lore Nugget #8:

Mini Lore Nuggets - Masterlist

In the Fever Part.2 Diary Entries, we learned that Z-World's government really started shooting up on the waking-nightmare-scale after they began running AI simulations to come up with the "best" policies to implement for maximum control and efficiency.

What resulted from these simulations was that the AI determined all crimes and terrorism were strictly the result of human emotions. Therefore, the best way to rid the world of such suffering must be to eradicate emotions and all which might evoke it.

Z's government developed technology to essentially numb the population - the chips we later learned about in the World Ep.1 Diary Entries. In the Fever Part.3 Diary Entries, we then got some additional info on the AI software used by the government: it was an AI system which utilized deep learning technology and ran uncontrolled for a while as the government awaited its results.

During this time, the system began treating human emotion as a bug - perhaps because it couldn't understand it - and it also started estimating humans' individual energy, thereby reducing it to a product. And since it found it to be a product, it also began treating it as a tradeable commodity.

Instead of questioning these results, the government was more likely delighted, because they immediately took over this new energy trading platform, banned all arts and emotions, and wilfully stripped the population of its humanity by treating them as nothing more than components needed to maintain the governments' idea of a utopia.

Out here in the real world, we've also begun to see the crazy amount of negative consequences since AI technology has become widely implemented in pretty much all areas of life:

#1 - Use of AI in Healthcare

In the US, the healthcare system has been relying on AI powered algorithms to guide health care decisions, but due to the data sampled by the AI, extreme racial bias has crept in and is actively putting black lives at risk. To quote Science Journal:

At a given risk score, Black patients are considerably sicker than White patients, as evidenced by signs of uncontrolled illnesses. Remedying this disparity would increase the percentage of Black patients receiving additional help from 17.7 to 46.5%.

Furthermore, the data sourced by AI for global use (such as in risk-prediction) is often extremely biased in other ways as well: radiology manuscripts are over represented, the majority of documents sourced are authored by men, and data-poor regions are grossly underrepresented, meaning the majority of information sourced comes from the US and China. [Source]

#2 - YouTube's Algorithm Is Messed Up

According to the Tech Transparency Project which has gathered data from another study:

YouTube recommended hundreds of videos about guns and gun violence to accounts for boys interested in video games. Some of the recommended videos gave instructions on how to convert guns into automatic weapons or depicted school shootings. Many of the videos violated YouTube’s own policies on firearms, violence, and child safety, and YouTube took no apparent steps to age-restrict them. YouTube also recommended a movie about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to minor accounts.

Further watching on dumb stuff YouTube AI features have done to fuck people over:

#3 - Ethics Has Left the Chat

#4 - The Physical Cost of Generative AI

Where Meta has recently constructed a 2 million square foot data facility in Georgia, a nearby living couple have documented the devastating consequences to the environment and their lives.

Facilities like these are used to power stuff like Chat GPT, Gemini, etc.:

In order for them to function as needed, they put a huge toll on the power grid and require the construction of an entirely new infrastructure atop the usual servers, storage systems and networking equipment.

For one, AI data centres require high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) which come with their own required infrastructure needs (advanced storage, networking, energy and cooling capabilities). The sheer number of GPUs necessary for AI use alone then already add a ton more square footage to the size of the data centre.

On top of that, living in a county with a data centre like this in the US drives up the cost of electricity for everyone in the county.

And what does all this mean for the environment? Deforestation. Light pollution. Air pollution. Here is a still frame from a video shot by a woman living over 366 meters away from an AI centre's construction site:

All this pollution then started seeping into the ground water, resulting in this:

And what does that mean for someone living nearby? Dishwashers breaking. Washing machines breaking. Water pressure dropping to the point where you can't even flush a toilet anymore because all the pipes are clogged with sediment.

On a global scale, it should also be noted that:

According to the Washington Post in collaboration with the University of California, Riverside, writing a single 100-word email in Open AI's ChatGPT is the equivalent of consuming just over one bottle of water.

Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of engineering at UC Riverside, says that while "We haven’t come to the point yet where AI has tangibly taken away our most essential natural water resources," the use of AI in places with frequent droughts has caused rising tension between communities who need the water and data centers. Not to mention, hardware production pollutes water, per a study initially published in January 2015 in the Journal of Cleaner Production, due to the extraction of precious minerals like boron, silicon, and phosphorous.

[Source]

UPDATE:

A new video has been released which takes a look at Memphis where Elon Musk had the data center built that allows for Twitter's Chat-Bot Gronk to exist, and here is what was discovered:

No regulatory body has been informed of what is operating within that facility.

Large turbines are causing noise pollution (far more turbines than is reasonable).

The building emits a disturbing smell.

Aerial and thermal footage obtained of the site has revealed that:

The air quality in the entire area has been severely degraded to the point of causing health issues for people living in the area:

Continuing, Alexis shared her grandfather's story of how he developed Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) despite being a non-smoker-

- and continuous by saying her, her mother, and grandmother all three also developed respiratory illnesses (asthma and bronchitis in Alexis's case and just bronchitis in her mother and grandmother's case):

Another local is dealing with much the same issue:

If you're still not convinced of how truly horrific the situation is:

And if you're now wondering how all this could happen, I've got one word for you: DOGE. Together with the Trump administration, funds for the EPA have been slashed to the point where they're basically non-functional:

Presently, should everything continue on this set path, then...

These videos provided the screenshots used above:

#5 - Use of AI in Warfare

Israel has been using untested and undisclosed AI-powered databases in order to identify targets and plan bombing campaigns throughout Gaza, which has reportedly led to the loss of thousands of civilian lives.

And who provided this technology? Google. For fear of losing business to Amazon. And not just them. Microsoft too has been collaborating with the Israeli military, as has Amazon who collaborated with Google in 2021 to establish "Project Nimbus" which continues on to this day with zero transparency or accountability.

Sources: x | x

Beyond that, even after the bombs were dropped, drones would come in to specifically target surviving children and it is known that Israel utilized AI-powered drones for carrying out precise assassinations and various combat missions.

The video below is timestamped to when this surgeon retells the horrors of what happened to the children while he was working in the Gaza strip:

Outside of Israel, Ukraine has also been using AI-technology in its warfare:

Further reading on the topic:

#6 - AI-Generated Art

With AI-generated art flooding social media and streaming platforms on the daily, it's getting harder and harder for new artists to enter the scene. On top of that, all the recommendations you're getting online - be that on an image search, streaming platform or elsewhere - are also all the result of AI-powered algorithms.

And as we all know, generative AI is trained on data banks filled to the brim with stolen art from non-consenting artists across the globe - be that musicians, painters, photographers, voice actors, chefs, or writers.

All of this ultimately shapes the world we live in. Those in the know are now full of mistrust of corporations, new information, articles, and media. Anything and anyone is being accused of using AI when they post something online by skeptics, and those who don't know any better are living in blissful ignorance while they're being spoon-fed misinformation left, right, and center.

Further watching on generative AI as a whole:

Further reading:

Final Note:

Not all AI is bad, of course. There have been major breakthroughs in all fields of science thanks to AI which will bring about positive change for (hopefully) all of humanity.

But the problem is that the technology is developing far too quickly for lawmakers to keep up with (as planned, most likely, by all the billionaire tech bros on this planet) and generative AI in particular should have never been made publicly accessible. It should have remained in the hands of trained professionals who know how to use it responsibly.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 1, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Jan 01, 2025

Twenty-five years ago today, Americans—along with the rest of the world—woke up to a new century date…and to the discovery that the years of work computer programmers had put in to stop what was known as the Y2K bug from crashing airplanes, shutting down hospitals, and making payments systems inoperable had worked.

When programmers began their work with the first wave of commercial computers in the 1960s, computer memory was expensive, so they used a two-digit format for dates, using just the years in the century, rather than using the four digits that would be necessary otherwise—78, for example, rather than 1978. This worked fine until the century changed.

As the turn of the twenty-first century approached, computer engineers realized that computers might interpret 00 as 1900 rather than 2000 or fail to recognize it at all, causing programs that, by then, handled routine maintenance, safety checks, transportation, finance, and so on, to fail. According to scholar Olivia Bosch, governments recognized that government services, as well as security and the law, could be disrupted by the glitch. They knew that the public must have confidence that world systems would survive, and the United States and the United Kingdom, where at the time computers were more widespread than they were elsewhere, emphasized transparency about how governments, companies, and programmers were handling the problem. They backed the World Bank and the United Nations in their work to help developing countries fix their own Y2K issues.

Meanwhile, people who were already worried about the coming of a new century began to fear that the end of the world was coming. In late 1996, evangelical Christian believers saw the Virgin Mary in the windows of an office building near Clearwater, Florida, and some thought the image was a sign of the end times. Leaders fed that fear, some appearing to hope that the secular government they hated would fall, some appreciating the profit to be made from their warnings. Popular televangelist Pat Robertson ran headlines like “The Year 2000—A Date with Disaster.”

Fears reached far beyond the evangelical community. Newspaper tabloids ran headlines that convinced some worried people to start stockpiling food and preparing for societal collapse: “JANUARY 1, 2000: THE DAY THE EARTH WILL STAND STILL!” one tabloid read. “ALL BANKS WILL FAIL. FOOD SUPPLIES WILL BE DEPLETED! ELECTRICITY WILL BE CUT OFF! THE STOCK MARKET WILL CRASH! VEHICLES USING COMPUTER CHIPS WILL STOP DEAD! TELEPHONES WILL CEASE TO FUNCTION! DOMINO EFFECT WILL CAUSE A WORLDWIDE DEPRESSION!”

In fact, the fix turned out to be simple—programmers developed updated systems that recognized a four-digit date—but implementing it meant that hardware and software had to be adjusted to become Y2K compliant, and they had to be ready by midnight on December 31, 1999. Technology teams worked for years, racing to meet the deadline at a cost that researchers estimate to have been $300–$600 billion. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration at the time, Jane Garvey, told NPR in 1998 that the air traffic control system had twenty-three million lines of code that had to be fixed.

President Bill Clinton’s 1999 budget had described fixing the Y2K bug as “the single largest technology management challenge in history,” but on December 14 of that year, President Bill Clinton announced that according to the Office of Management and Budget, 99.9% of the government's mission-critical computer systems were ready for 2000. In May 1997, only 21% had been ready. “[W]e have done our job, we have met the deadline, and we have done it well below cost projections,” Clinton said.

Indeed, the fix worked. Despite the dark warnings, the programmers had done their job, and the clocks changed with little disruption. “2000,” the Wilmington, Delaware, News Journal’s headline read. “World rejoices; Y2K bug is quiet.”

Crises get a lot of attention, but the quiet work of fixing them gets less. And if that work ends the crisis that got all the attention, the success itself makes people think there was never a crisis to begin with. In the aftermath of the Y2K problem, people began to treat it as a joke, but as technology forecaster Paul Saffo emphasized, “The Y2K crisis didn’t happen precisely because people started preparing for it over a decade in advance. And the general public who was busy stocking up on supplies and stuff just didn’t have a sense that the programmers were on the job.”

As of midnight last night, a five-year contract ended that had allowed Russia to export natural gas to Europe by way of a pipeline running through Ukraine. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky warned that he would not renew the contract, which permitted more than $6 billion a year to flow to cash-strapped Russia. European governments said they had plenty of time to prepare and that they have found alternative sources to meet the needs of their people.

Today, President Joe Biden issued a statement marking the day that the new, lower cap on seniors’ out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs goes into effect. The Inflation Reduction Act, negotiated over two years and passed with Democratic votes alone, enabled the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over drug prices and phased in out-of-pocket spending caps for seniors. In 2024 the cap was $3,400; it’s now $2,000.

As we launch ourselves into 2025, one of the key issues of the new year will be whether Americans care that the U.S. government does the hard, slow work of governing and, if it does, who benefits.

Happy New Year, everyone.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[moose-mousse]

You learn many good things when you take your education in software development.

But they also teaches you a thing that will create terrible software.

YOUR DEADLINES ARE SET BY SOMEONE ELSE AND IF YOU MISS THEM YOU WILL FAIL YOUR COURSE AND YOUR EDUCATION

This is very annoying

Because it means that when you are done with your education I will have to shake you until that stupidity leaves your brain.

And in case you do not end up working with me, or someone like me, I write this post.

YOUR DEADLINES ARE SET BY YOU

OTHER PEOPLE WILL TRY INFLUENCING THEM, BUT SINCE YOU WRITE THE SOFTWARE YOU HAVE THE FINAL SAY

Make estimates that GUARANTEES you will get done

If you are a newbie or if they want to work on something you do not know how to do, then you will deliver later

If they say they have made promises higher up, then ask them why they made estimates without talking to you?

If the estimates do not fit management, then management will have to manage.

And take enough time to build the thing, build unit tests for the thing, refactor it after it is done, writing documentation for it and any other step you think is needed before the software is ready

YOU are the defender of the software.

Defend it!

[visual-latex]

House interior at night - Doubutsu no Mori e+ (Gamecube, 2003)

Study; pencil, colored pencil and watercolor

Original screenshot:

First couple layers:

I paint very slowly.

Doubutsu no Mori e+ is basically the North American version of the original Animal Crossing (i.e. with new American holidays), translated back to Japanese, with the Japan-exclusive furniture added back in, as well as some extra content. It is the most complete edition of the original Animal Crossing, and all combined it feels a bit like a crunchier New Leaf, which is funny.

The red text on the partitioning screen reads "Nintendo" and "software company". Except software (sofuto) is written backwards??? for some reason?????? Like, it's "tofuso", not "sofuto"......

And the green text reads "Marufuku".

(Warning: We are now entering a tangent zone)

I believe this is a reference to a real company, Marufuku (no relation to Marufuku Ramen), which was a telephone subscription rights/financial services company. This business model (I'm not explaining this) collapsed when Japan's very... particular landline system was abolished, shortly after the time of the original Doubutsu no Mori's release.

(photo source: hoshner_sigmaniax on Flickr)

Although defunct, Marufuku is still known for their abundant and iconic red-and-white signs. There's even a whole site dedicated to them, which estimates there were originally about 500,000 of such signs (although they can't estimate how many have survived). Obviously the item here has a different color scheme, maybe I'm off base here, but I can't imagine what else this could be referencing?

In the painting I tried to make it look more like the real sign font, but (being from the US) I didn't catch the reference until I had already started on it, and my handwriting is bad at any rate, so the result is a little... well, it's a bit wobbly.

I'm surprised the developers put a real company name in here, but it's so tiny, and I can't imagine Marufuku was in any financial position to file suit over this kind of thing anyway. It's weird to think about, but it's entirely possible the video game item will outlast the real-world Marufuku signs...

By the way, the version of this item in New Leaf has overwritten all of the text with what seems to be nonsense (although the Nintendo portion is still somewhat recognizable).

Anyway I hope you like my house

[exeggcute]

Can you please tell me what story points are I hear about them from tech dudes they sound so scary

oh yes lmao. let me answer this publicly so everyone can learn...

in software development there's a work allocation philosophy called agile that everyone either does or tries to do. some people just "do" agile and some people will tell you that agile is a vibe and you can only "do" subsets of it like scrum or kanban or whatever. many people use these terms interchangably and many places end up doing an unholy patchwork of various agile frameworks and hoping for the best.

(or they don't actually do agile at all but adopt agile tools and terminology anyway because that's the shit everyone knows how to use. Big Atlassian has us in their grip...)

in (some) agile work planning, each team divides their session into sprints, which is a fixed length of time for which you pre-determine what you'll be working on and any new tasks won't get picked up or really even looked at until the next sprints. from what I've seen these are usually two-ish weeks but can definitely be more or less. at the end of your sprint, you'll ideally be done with all of the work you were assigned and then get new things to work on for the next sprint.

each unit of work is broken into a story, which is supposed to be a whole anthropomorphized "user story" and not just a unit of work but I've never worked somewhere that adhered to this. sometimes people call them a ticket or an issue instead. it kinda depends on the tool you're using. right now we use a not-jira tool that calls them stories, so to us they're stories! but they're basically just bite-sized work assignments.

each story gets an estimate of how much effort you think it'll take to complete it. (not time, just effort. these are supposed to be different but no one has ever explained how in a way that's satisfied me.) those are your story points. so when you do your sprint planning every <x> weeks, you or your boss or your scrum master or whoever allocates work based on the point total of your stories. let's say that you're usually trying to hit 30-ish story points or so; you might pull in a 13, an 8, a 5, and four 1s for that sprint based on which stories are outstanding. but the next sprint might be two 8s, a 5, three 3s, and a 2.

also I love (and am mystified by??) how these tech dudes are apparently just coming to you to complain about their sprint planning all the time. but I understand. it's rough out here.

[ev-charger]

Cost of Setting Up an Electric Vehicle Charging Station in India (2025 Guide)

With India accelerating its transition to electric mobility, the demand for EV charging stations is growing rapidly. Whether you're a business owner, real estate developer, or green tech enthusiast, setting up an electric vehicle (EV) charging station is a promising investment. But how much does it really cost to build one? Let's break it down.

Before diving into the costs, it's important to understand the types of EV chargers and the scope of services provided by modern EV charging solution providers like Tobor, a rising name in the EV infrastructure space offering smart, scalable, and efficient EV charging solutions across India.

Types of EV Charging Stations

Understanding the charger types is essential, as this heavily influences the overall cost:

1. AC Charging Stations

AC (Alternating Current) chargers are typically used for slower charging applications, ideal for residential societies, office complexes, and commercial locations with longer dwell times.

Level 1 Chargers: 3.3 kW output, suitable for two- and three-wheelers.

Level 2 Chargers: 7.2 kW to 22 kW, suitable for four-wheelers (e.g., home or workplace).

2. DC Fast Charging Stations

DC (Direct Current) chargers are used where quick charging is required, such as highways, malls, or public parking zones.

DC Fast Chargers: Start from 30 kW and go up to 350 kW.

They can charge an electric car from 0 to 80% in under an hour, depending on the vehicle.

Cost Breakdown for EV Charging Station Setup

The total cost to set up an electric car charging station in India can vary depending on the type of charger, infrastructure, and location. Here is a detailed breakdown:

1. EV Charging Equipment Cost

The cost of the electric car charger itself is one of the biggest components:

AC Chargers: ₹50,000 to ₹1.5 lakh

DC Fast Chargers: ₹5 lakh to ₹40 lakh (depending on capacity and standards like CCS, CHAdeMO, Bharat DC-001)

Tobor offers a range of chargers including TOBOR Lite (3.3 kW), TOBOR 7.2 kW, and TOBOR 11 kW – suitable for home and commercial use.

2. Infrastructure Costs

You’ll also need to invest in site preparation and power infrastructure:

Land Lease or Purchase: Costs vary widely by city and location.

Electrical Upgrades: Transformer, cabling, and power grid integration can cost ₹5 to ₹10 lakh.

Civil Work: Parking bays, shelter, lighting, signage, and accessibility features – ₹2 to ₹5 lakh.

Installation: Depending on charger type and electrical capacity, installation can range from ₹50,000 to ₹3 lakh.

3. Software & Networking Costs

Smart EV charging stations are often connected to networks for billing, load management, and user access:

EVSE Management Software: ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh depending on features (Tobor integrates smart software as part of its offering).

Mobile App Integration: Enables users to find, reserve, and pay at your station.

OCPP Protocols: Ensures interoperability and scalability of your station.

4. Operational & Maintenance Costs

Running an EV charging station includes recurring costs:

Electricity Bills: ₹5–₹15 per kWh, depending on the state and provider.

Internet Connectivity: ₹1,000–₹2,000 per month for online monitoring.

Station Maintenance: ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh annually.

Staff Salaries: If you have on-site attendants, this could range ₹1 to ₹3 lakh annually.

Marketing: ₹50,000 or more for signage, promotions, and digital visibility.

Total Investment Required

Here’s an estimate of the total cost based on the scale of your EV charging station:

Type

Estimated  Range

Level 1 (Basic AC)

₹1 lakh – ₹3 lakh

Level 2 (Commercial AC)

₹3 lakh – ₹6 lakh

DC Fast Charging Station

₹10 lakh – ₹40 lakh

These costs can vary based on customization, location, and electricity load availability. Tobor offers tailored solutions to help you choose the right hardware and software based on your needs.

Government Support and Subsidies

To promote EV adoption and reduce the cost of EV infrastructure:

FAME II Scheme: Offers capital subsidies for charging stations.

State Incentives: States like Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Gujarat offer reduced electricity tariffs, subsidies up to 25%, and faster approvals.

Ease of Licensing: As per Ministry of Power guidelines, EV charging is a de-licensed activity, making it easier to start.

Return on Investment (ROI)

An EV charging station in a good location with growing EV traffic can break even in 3 to 5 years. Revenue comes from:

Charging fees (per kWh or per session)

Advertisement and partnerships

Value-added services (e.g., parking, cafés, shopping zones nearby)

Final Thoughts

With India's electric mobility market booming, setting up an EV charging station is not only a sustainable choice but also a profitable long-term investment. Whether you're a fleet operator, business owner, or infrastructure developer, now is the perfect time to invest.

For reliable equipment, integrated software, and end-to-end EV charging solutions, Tobor is one of the leading EV charging solution providers in India. From residential setups to large-scale commercial EVSE projects, Tobor supports every step of your journey toward green mobility.

[mariacallous]

In March 2007, Google’s then senior executive in charge of acquisitions, David Drummond, emailed the company’s board of directors a case for buying DoubleClick. It was an obscure software developer that helped websites sell ads. But it had about 60 percent market share and could accelerate Google’s growth while keeping rivals at bay. A “Microsoft-owned DoubleClick represents a major competitive threat,” court papers show Drummond writing.

Three weeks later, on Friday the 13th, Google announced the acquisition of DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. The US Department of Justice and 17 states including California and Colorado now allege that the day marked the beginning of Google’s unchecked dominance in online ads—and all the trouble that comes with it.

The government contends that controlling DoubleClick enabled Google to corner websites into doing business with its other services. That has resulted in Google allegedly monopolizing three big links of a vital digital advertising supply chain, which funnels over $12 billion in annual revenue to websites and apps in the US alone.

It’s a big amount. But a government expert estimates in court filings that if Google were not allegedly destroying its competition illegally, those publishers would be receiving up to an additional hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Starved of that potential funding, “publishers are pushed to put more ads on their websites, to put more content behind costly paywalls, or to cease business altogether,” the government alleges. It all adds up to a subpar experience on the web for consumers, Colorado attorney general Phil Weiser says.

“Google is able to extract hiked-up costs, and those are passed on to consumers,” he alleges. “The overall outcome we want is for consumers to have more access to content supported by advertising revenue and for people who are seeking advertising not to have to pay inflated costs.”

Google disputes the accusations.

Starting today, both sides’ arguments will be put to the test in what’s expected to be a weekslong trial before US district judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia. The government wants her to find that Google has violated federal antitrust law and then issue orders that restore competition. In a best-case scenario, according to several Google critics and experts in online ads who spoke with WIRED, internet users could find themselves more pleasantly informed and entertained.

It could take years for the ad market to shake out, says Adam Heimlich, a longtime digital ad executive who’s extensively researched Google. But over time, fresh competition could lower supply chain fees and increase innovation. That would drive “better monetization of websites and better quality of websites,” says Heimlich, who now runs AI software developer Chalice Custom Algorithms.

Tim Vanderhook, CEO of ad-buying software developer Viant Technology, which both competes and partners with Google, believes that consumers would encounter a greater variety of ads, fewer creepy ads, and pages less cluttered with ads. “A substantially improved browsing experience,” he says.

Of course, all depends on the outcome of the case. Over the past year, Google lost its two other antitrust trials—concerning illegal search and mobile app store monopolies. Though the verdicts are under appeal, they’ve made the company’s critics optimistic about the ad tech trial.

Google argues that it faces fierce competition from Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and others. It further contends that customers benefited from each of the acquisitions, contracts, and features that the government is challenging. “Google has designed a set of products that work efficiently with each other and attract a valuable customer base,” the company’s attorneys wrote in a 359-page rebuttal.

For years, Google publicly has maintained that its ad tech projects wouldn’t harm clients or competition. “We will be able to help publishers and advertisers generate more revenue, which will fuel the creation of even more rich and diverse content on the internet,” Drummond testified in 2007 to US senators concerned about the DoubleClick deal’s impact on competition and privacy. US antitrust regulators at the time cleared the purchase. But at least one of them, in hindsight, has said he should have blocked it.

Deep Control

The Justice Department alleges that acquiring DoubleClick gave Google “a pool of captive publishers that now had fewer alternatives and faced substantial switching costs associated with changing to another publisher ad server.” The global market share of Google’s tool for publishers is now 91 percent, according to court papers. The company holds similar control over ad exchanges that broker deals (around 70 percent) and tools used by advertisers (85 percent), the court filings say.

Google’s dominance, the government argues, has “impaired the ability of publishers and advertisers to choose the ad tech tools they would prefer to use and diminished the number and quality of viable options available to them.”

The government alleges that Google staff spoke internally about how they have been earning an unfair portion of what advertisers spend on advertising, to the tune of over a third of every $1 spent in some cases.

Some of Google’s competitors want the tech giant to be broken up into multiple independent companies, so each of its advertising services competes on its own merits without the benefit of one pumping up another. The rivals also support rules that would bar Google from preferencing its own services. “What all in the industry are looking for is fair competition,” Viant’s Vanderhook says.

If Google ad tech alternatives win more business, not everyone is so sure that the users will notice a difference. “We’re talking about moving from the NYSE to Nasdaq,” Ari Paparo, a former DoubleClick and Google executive who now runs the media company Marketecture, tells WIRED. The technology behind the scenes may shift, but the experience for investors—or in this case, internet surfers—doesn’t.

Some advertising experts predict that if Google is broken up, users’ experiences would get even worse. Andrey Meshkov, chief technology officer of ad-block developer AdGuard, expects increasingly invasive tracking as competition intensifies. Products also may cost more because companies need to not only hire additional help to run ads but also buy more ads to achieve the same goals. “So the ad clutter is going to get worse,” Beth Egan, an ad executive turned Syracuse University associate professor, told reporters in a recent call arranged by a Google-funded advocacy group.

But Dina Srinivasan, a former ad executive who as an antitrust scholar wrote a Stanford Technology Law Review paper on Google’s dominance, says advertisers would end up paying lower fees, and the savings would be passed on to their customers. That future would mark an end to the spell Google allegedly cast with its DoubleClick deal. And it could happen even if Google wins in Virginia. A trial in a similar lawsuit filed by Texas, 15 other states, and Puerto Rico is scheduled for March.

[nandinish27]

Best Courses to Study in Australia for Indian Students with High ROI.

Why Australia is a Top Study Abroad Destination in 2025

Australia continues to rank among the top destinations for Indian students seeking world-class education, global career opportunities, and a multicultural lifestyle. With over 100,000 Indian students currently studying in Australia, the trend is fueled by high employability, quality institutions, and welcoming immigration policies. This blog provides a complete study guide in Australia for Indian students, focusing on the top courses offering the highest return on investment (ROI) in 2025.

Top Reasons to Study in Australia for Indian Students

Globally ranked universities like the University of Melbourne, ANU, and UNSW

Post-study work visas for up to 4 years

Pathways to Permanent Residency (PR)

Industry-relevant, skill-based courses

High graduate employability

Scholarships and financial support for Indian students

High ROI Courses for Indian Students in Australia

1. Information Technology and Computer Science

Why It’s Worth It:

Booming tech industry in cities like Sydney and Melbourne

Strong demand for software developers, AI specialists, and cybersecurity analysts

Excellent PR pathways via the Skilled Occupation List (SOL)

Career Opportunities:

Software Developer

Cloud Engineer

Cybersecurity Analyst

Average Salary: AUD 70,000 – 120,000

2. Engineering (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Mining)

Why It’s Worth It:

High demand for engineers in infrastructure, renewable energy, and mining

PR-friendly occupations

Hands-on, accredited programs (Engineers Australia recognition)

Career Paths:

Civil Engineer

Structural Engineer

Renewable Energy Consultant

Average Salary: AUD 75,000 – 130,000

3. Health Sciences & Nursing

Why It’s Worth It:

Acute shortage of skilled healthcare workers

Strong employment growth projected until 2030

Offers direct PR routes for nursing graduates

Career Opportunities:

Registered Nurse

Public Health Officer

Physiotherapist

Average Salary: AUD 65,000 – 110,000

4. Business Analytics and Data Science

Why It’s Worth It:

High demand across sectors (banking, retail, healthcare)

Versatile career paths with global appeal

STEM classification supports extended post-study work visa

Career Options:

Data Analyst

Business Intelligence Consultant

Data Scientist

Average Salary: AUD 85,000 – 130,000

5. Accounting and Finance

Why It’s Worth It:

Consistent job demand across Australia

Accredited courses (CPA Australia, CA ANZ)

Opens doors to roles in multinational firms

Career Opportunities:

Chartered Accountant

Financial Analyst

Auditor

Average Salary: AUD 70,000 – 115,000

6. Education and Teaching

Why It’s Worth It:

Australia’s school system seeks qualified teachers, especially in regional areas

Included in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL)

Roles After Graduation:

Primary School Teacher

Early Childhood Educator

Secondary School Teacher

Average Salary: AUD 65,000 – 100,000

7. Architecture and Construction Management

Why It’s Worth It:

Australia’s urban expansion and infrastructure projects

Recognized qualifications with global applicability

Popular Careers:

Architect

Project Manager

Construction Estimator

Average Salary: AUD 70,000 – 120,000

Cost of Education in Australia (2025)

Course Type

Average Annual Tuition (AUD)

UG Courses

20,000 – 45,000

PG Courses

22,000 – 50,000

MBA

40,000 – 80,000

Scholarships Available for Indian Students

Australia Awards Scholarships – Fully funded by the Australian government

Destination Australia Scholarships – Regional study scholarships worth AUD 15,000

University-Specific Grants – E.g., Monash International Merit Scholarship, University of Sydney International Scholarships

Post-Study Work Rights and PR Pathways

Australia allows international students to work up to 20 hours per week during semesters and full-time during breaks. Graduates can apply for a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485), offering work rights for 2–4 years depending on qualification and location.

PR Pathways via:

General Skilled Migration (GSM)

Employer-Sponsored Visas

Regional Migration Programs

How Eduvisor Can Help You Study in Australia

Navigating the Australian education system, choosing the right course, and applying for visas can be overwhelming. That’s where Eduvisor, a trusted study abroad consultant in India, steps in. Eduvisor offers personalized counseling, university shortlisting, scholarship assistance, SOP writing, and complete visa support — tailored for Indian students planning to study in Australia.

Final Thoughts

Choosing a high-ROI course in Australia is more than just picking a subject — it’s about aligning your passion with global trends. With the right guidance and planning, Australia can be your gateway to a successful international career. Use this study guide in Australia for Indian students as your blueprint for 2025 and beyond.

Ready to begin your journey? Let Eduvisor turn your study abroad dream into reality.

FAQs

Q1. What are the most affordable courses to study in Australia? A: Vocational Education & Training (VET) courses, TAFE programs, and regional university degrees are often more budget-friendly.

Q2. Is PR easy after studying in Australia? A: Courses on the SOL and MLTSSL lists (like IT, Nursing, Engineering) make it easier to qualify for PR.

Q3. How do I find scholarships to study in Australia? A: Government sites, university portals, and expert consultants like Eduvisor can help you explore scholarships based on merit, need, and region.

[essential-randomness]

$upporters-only Stream Today, but most importantly... I updated my $upporters perks!

As Patreon's "guide for creators" kindly reminds me, it's important to experiment with perks as you grow. Time for a change then!

Here's some of the new perks:

$upporters-only access to posts, poll, streams and code ($3+): now all paid $upporters get to join in the fun of secret streams, polls, and (soon) special code snippets.

Alpha access to unreleased sites and services ($8+): we're currently working on a secret new project (what today's stream is about), and $upporters will get to join the alpha before it's cool!

$ponsors Blorbo Wall ($15+): Blorbos walls are a tradition started with BobaBoard. Now, we'll make one for $upporters too! And $25+ $upporters can make their blorbo even bigger!

Priority dibs on merch ($15+): Sometimes, I make merch that cannot be made in large quantities, or that's still in an experimental stage and might never see wide release. When this happens (estimated once or twice a year), $25 supporters will get first dib on buying it, with $15 closely following!

In addition to this, you'll continue supporting all my projects, as well as the many, many, many hours I spend teaching web development to fannish folks, and helping them get their ambitious software projects out of the door!

Support me on Patreon or my personal website!

[pencil-peach]

GWitch Onscreen Text: Episode 7

This is part eight of my attempt to transcribe and discuss all the monitor text in g witch! Because I got worms! We're on episode 7, "Shall We Gundam?"

Now then. Shall we? (Gundam?)

Not text, but in the opening, Vim tells the Peil Witches that it's despicable of them to breach the Cathedra Agreement, only for one of them to respond that she believes he would know something about that himself. This is our first hint towards the existence of the Schwarzette.

Now to the real text, we see a mockup of the Pharact of it's systems in this opening as well.

Here, we see that the Pharact is 19.1m and 57.1t.

The Blue and Red labels are tough to make out, but they each respectively say the same thing. I'll make my best guess: Blue labels: G-O | SYS-GUND CHH Red Labels: GUND FORMAT | CORAX UNITS

The Corax Units are the name of the Pharacts GUND Bits, and we know those use the Gund Format, so that checks. We saw 'CHH' on 4's data graph, still not sure what it means though.

I think the floating red text says GA - MS//RACT, but I can't be sure. The big label in the center says GUND-ARM FP/A-77.

Not text, but I think Sarius and Delling is another relationship I wish we got to see more of. Delling actually worked directly under Sarius within Grassley before eventually becoming President of the entire Group.

During the scene in the greenhouse, we get a look at the program on Miorine's monitor. No way to read the actual text on it from this shot, but we do see Miorine verify the name of one of the brands of fertilizer before presumably typing it on the screen, so it's probably safe to assume it's tracking the general maintenance of the tomatoes.

We never get a completely clear shot of the Incubation Party Invitation (Because it just can never be easy) But I'll make my best estimate of it from the shots we DO get.

TEXT: SUBJECT: INCUBATION EVENT PARTY INVITATION & APPLICATION GUIDELINES FROM: BENERIT GROUP PROTOCOL MANAGEMENT OFFICE

INVITATION The Benerit Group has the great honor of inviting you to the 15th Incubation Event.

Off topic but this scene has one of my favorite Miorine Noises in the whole show. It's so good. Take a listen. She is Flabbergasted.

TEXT: 15th INCUBATION EVENT PARTY Hosted by BENERIT GROUP

Pretty...

The Mobile Suits on display aren't named, but the one in the back right is actually the YOASOBI Collaboration Version of the Demi Trainer.

(YOASOBI are the musical duo that composed Shukufuku)

I wont bore you with a 1 to 1 transcription of the text of this first presentation, so here's the general overview.

This is PRESENTATION No. 001 for the Incubation Party from TENGRIFF SOLUTIONS. They're asking for 100,000,000 to develop an INTEGRATED FIRE CONTROL SOFTWARE. What that means generally is that they want to develop a software that can automatically correct/redirect an MS's aim to a specific target, in both Individual and Team based MS Operations. The benefits of this system are: AUTO TRAJECTORY CORRECTION AUTO CORIOLIS CORRECTION AUTO GRAVITY CORRECTION FIRE CONTROL FORMS BATTALION HIGH SPEED TARGET DATA LINK HIGH PERFORMANCE SPOTTING SYSTEM ALL ENVIRONMENT CONTROL SYSTEM

Unfortunately this project did not meet the 75% formation requirement and DIED

Funny Shaddiq Expression. I don't think he ever makes a face like this for the rest of the series.

[Pointing] One of the two times throughout the series we see any pat of Notrette. The only other time is in the second season opening.

We see VIM JETURK on Lauda's screen when he's calling him. (The "Accept" button actually darkens when Lauda taps it)

This scene is our first look into Nika's role as a go between for Shaddiq, and also how it'll be a main point of conflict between her and Martin, as he's the one who sees the two of them talking.

(Also, Shaddiq has a habit of abruptly lowering the tone of his voice to signify a change in his demeanor. If you ever rewatch the series again, try and listen for it ! He does it all the time)

TEXT (Top to Bottom) BENERIT GROUP NETWORK CONNECTION ^ ACCESS REQUEST ACCESS POINT: STAGE SCREEN LINE CODE: 2915.455X.eX STATUS: APPROVAL PENDING LINE CODE: Yds2.4006.40 LINE CODE: 2945.Rr50.52 LINE CODE: KL40.024c.R2

Miorine's phone when she requests access to the Stage Screen

When she gets approved and begins connecting, her phone displays this loading screen called SYNCHRONIZE

And the stage screen is displaying that same loading screen for a split second before fully connecting.

Miorine explains what this all means in the show proper, so I feel it'd be redundant to explain it, but here's the presentation anyhow.

We also see the UI of the program Mio is using in the presentation. She only uses the MEMO tab, but we see that there's a TEXT and PICT tab as well.

When Miorine takes the phone back from Delling, the investment status has reached 3%, meaning he invested 7,200,000,000 in the company. Mama Mia !

Business Successfully Formed!

But it seems that they only reached the bare minimum amount, 75%. So of the 240,000,000,000, she requested, the company earned at LEAST 180,000,000,000

We also see that Miorine’s presentation is only the 5th one of the night.

And that's all! Thank you very much! Unfortunately I can't leave anymore images because I've somehow reached the image limit :(

Instead I leave you with this: Go back and watch the scene where Miorine and Suletta see Prospera and Godoy. After the scene where Suletta greets him, they keep drawing his face wrong. Okay! Goodbye....!

Click here to go to Episode 8!

Click here to go to the Masterpost!