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mostlysignssomeportents · 10 months

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The moral injury of having your work enshittified

This Monday (November 27), I'm appearing at the Toronto Metro Reference Library with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

On November 29, I'm at NYC's Strand Books with my novel The Lost Cause, a solarpunk tale of hope and danger that Rebecca Solnit called "completely delightful."

This week, I wrote about how the Great Enshittening – in which all the digital services we rely on become unusable, extractive piles of shit – did not result from the decay of the morals of tech company leadership, but rather, from the collapse of the forces that discipline corporate wrongdoing:

https://locusmag.com/2023/11/commentary-by-cory-doctorow-dont-be-evil/

The failure to enforce competition law allowed a few companies to buy out their rivals, or sell goods below cost until their rivals collapsed, or bribe key parts of their supply chain not to allow rivals to participate:

https://www.engadget.com/google-reportedly-pays-apple-36-percent-of-ad-search-revenues-from-safari-191730783.html

The resulting concentration of the tech sector meant that the surviving firms were stupendously wealthy, and cozy enough that they could agree on a common legislative agenda. That regulatory capture has allowed tech companies to violate labor, privacy and consumer protection laws by arguing that the law doesn't apply when you use an app to violate it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

But the regulatory capture isn't just about preventing regulation: it's also about creating regulation – laws that make it illegal to reverse-engineer, scrape, and otherwise mod, hack or reconfigure existing services to claw back value that has been taken away from users and business customers. This gives rise to Jay Freeman's perfectly named doctrine of "felony contempt of business-model," in which it is illegal to use your own property in ways that anger the shareholders of the company that sold it to you:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/09/lead-me-not-into-temptation/#chamberlain

Undisciplined by the threat of competition, regulation, or unilateral modification by users, companies are free to enshittify their products. But what does that actually look like? I say that enshittification is always precipitated by a lost argument.

It starts when someone around a board-room table proposes doing something that's bad for users but good for the company. If the company faces the discipline of competition, regulation or self-help measures, then the workers who are disgusted by this course of action can say, "I think doing this would be gross, and what's more, it's going to make the company poorer," and so they win the argument.

But when you take away that discipline, the argument gets reduced to, "Don't do this because it would make me ashamed to work here, even though it will make the company richer." Money talks, bullshit walks. Let the enshittification begin!

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/22/who-wins-the-argument/#corporations-are-people-my-friend

But why do workers care at all? That's where phrases like "don't be evil" come into the picture. Until very recently, tech workers participated in one of history's tightest labor markets, in which multiple companies with gigantic war-chests bid on their labor. Even low-level employees routinely fielded calls from recruiters who dangled offers of higher salaries and larger stock grants if they would jump ship for a company's rival.

Employers built "campuses" filled with lavish perks: massages, sports facilities, daycare, gourmet cafeterias. They offered workers generous benefit packages, including exotic health benefits like having your eggs frozen so you could delay fertility while offsetting the risks normally associated with conceiving at a later age.

But all of this was a transparent ruse: the business-case for free meals, gyms, dry-cleaning, catering and massages was to keep workers at their laptops for 10, 12, or even 16 hours per day. That egg-freezing perk wasn't about helping workers plan their families: it was about thumbing the scales in favor of working through your entire twenties and thirties without taking any parental leave.

In other words, tech employers valued their employees as a means to an end: they wanted to get the best geeks on the payroll and then work them like government mules. The perks and pay weren't the result of comradeship between management and labor: they were the result of the discipline of competition for labor.

This wasn't really a secret, of course. Big Tech workers are split into two camps: blue badges (salaried employees) and green badges (contractors). Whenever there is a slack labor market for a specific job or skill, it is converted from a blue badge job to a green badge job. Green badges don't get the food or the massages or the kombucha. They don't get stock or daycare. They don't get to freeze their eggs. They also work long hours, but they are incentivized by the fear of poverty.

Tech giants went to great lengths to shield blue badges from green badges – at some Google campuses, these workforces actually used different entrances and worked in different facilities or on different floors. Sometimes, green badge working hours would be staggered so that the armies of ragged clickworkers would not be lined up to badge in when their social betters swanned off the luxury bus and into their airy adult kindergartens.

But Big Tech worked hard to convince those blue badges that they were truly valued. Companies hosted regular town halls where employees could ask impertinent questions of their CEOs. They maintained freewheeling internal social media sites where techies could rail against corporate foolishness and make Dilbert references.

And they came up with mottoes.

Apple told its employees it was a sound environmental steward that cared about privacy. Apple also deliberately turned old devices into e-waste by shredding them to ensure that they wouldn't be repaired and compete with new devices:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

And even as they were blocking Facebook's surveillance tools, they quietly built their own nonconsensual mass surveillance program and lied to customers about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Facebook told employees they were on a "mission to connect every person in the world," but instead deliberately sowed discontent among its users and trapped them in silos that meant that anyone who left Facebook lost all their friends:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

And Google promised its employees that they would not "be evil" if they worked at Google. For many googlers, that mattered. They wanted to do something good with their lives, and they had a choice about who they would work for. What's more, they did make things that were good. At their high points, Google Maps, Google Mail, and of course, Google Search were incredible.

My own life was totally transformed by Maps: I have very poor spatial sense, need to actually stop and think to tell my right from my left, and I spent more of my life at least a little lost and often very lost. Google Maps is the cognitive prosthesis I needed to become someone who can go anywhere. I'm profoundly grateful to the people who built that service.

There's a name for phenomenon in which you care so much about your job that you endure poor conditions and abuse: it's called "vocational awe," as coined by Fobazi Ettarh:

https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

Ettarh uses the term to apply to traditionally low-waged workers like librarians, teachers and nurses. In our book Chokepoint Capitalism, Rebecca Giblin and I talked about how it applies to artists and other creative workers, too:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

But vocational awe is also omnipresent in tech. The grandiose claims to be on a mission to make the world a better place are not just puffery – they're a vital means of motivating workers who can easily quit their jobs and find a new one to put in 16-hour days. The massages and kombucha and egg-freezing are not framed as perks, but as logistical supports, provided so that techies on an important mission can pursue a shared social goal without being distracted by their balky, inconvenient meatsuits.

Steve Jobs was a master of instilling vocational awe. He was full of aphorisms like "we're here to make a dent in the universe, otherwise why even be here?" Or his infamous line to John Sculley, whom he lured away from Pepsi: "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?"

Vocational awe cuts both ways. If your workforce actually believes in all that high-minded stuff, if they actually sacrifice their health, family lives and self-care to further the mission, they will defend it. That brings me back to enshittification, and the argument: "If we do this bad thing to the product I work on, it will make me hate myself."

The decline in market discipline for large tech companies has been accompanied by a decline in labor discipline, as the market for technical work grew less and less competitive. Since the dotcom collapse, the ability of tech giants to starve new entrants of market oxygen has shrunk techies' dreams.

Tech workers once dreamed of working for a big, unwieldy firm for a few years before setting out on their own to topple it with a startup. Then, the dream shrank: work for that big, clumsy firm for a few years, then do a fake startup that makes a fake product that is acquihired by your old employer, as an incredibly inefficient and roundabout way to get a raise and a bonus.

Then the dream shrank again: work for a big, ugly firm for life, but get those perks, the massages and the kombucha and the stock options and the gourmet cafeteria and the egg-freezing. Then it shrank again: work for Google for a while, but then get laid off along with 12,000 co-workers, just months after the company does a stock buyback that would cover all those salaries for the next 27 years:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/10/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers/

Tech workers' power was fundamentally individual. In a tight labor market, tech workers could personally stand up to their bosses. They got "workplace democracy" by mouthing off at town hall meetings. They didn't have a union, and they thought they didn't need one. Of course, they did need one, because there were limits to individual power, even for the most in-demand workers, especially when it came to ghastly, long-running sexual abuse from high-ranking executives:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html

Today, atomized tech workers who are ordered to enshittify the products they take pride in are losing the argument. Workers who put in long hours, missed funerals and school plays and little league games and anniversaries and family vacations are being ordered to flush that sacrifice down the toilet to grind out a few basis points towards a KPI.

It's a form of moral injury, and it's palpable in the first-person accounts of former workers who've exited these large firms or the entire field. The viral "Reflecting on 18 years at Google," written by Ian Hixie, vibrates with it:

https://ln.hixie.ch/?start=1700627373

Hixie describes the sense of mission he brought to his job, the workplace democracy he experienced as employees' views were both solicited and heeded. He describes the positive contributions he was able to make to a commons of technical standards that rippled out beyond Google – and then, he says, "Google's culture eroded":

Decisions went from being made for the benefit of users, to the benefit of Google, to the benefit of whoever was making the decision.

In other words, techies started losing the argument. Layoffs weakened worker power – not just to defend their own interest, but to defend the users interests. Worker power is always about more than workers – think of how the 2019 LA teachers' strike won greenspace for every school, a ban on immigration sweeps of students' parents at the school gates and other community benefits:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/23/a-collective-bargain/

Hixie attributes the changes to a change in leadership, but I respectfully disagree. Hixie points to the original shareholder letter from the Google founders, in which they informed investors contemplating their IPO that they were retaining a controlling interest in the company's governance so that they could ignore their shareholders' priorities in favor of a vision of Google as a positive force in the world:

https://abc.xyz/investor/founders-letters/ipo-letter/

Hixie says that the leadership that succeeded the founders lost sight of this vision – but the whole point of that letter is that the founders never fully ceded control to subsequent executive teams. Yes, those executive teams were accountable to the shareholders, but the largest block of voting shares were retained by the founders.

I don't think the enshittification of Google was due to a change in leadership – I think it was due to a change in discipline, the discipline imposed by competition, regulation and the threat of self-help measures. Take ads: when Google had to contend with one-click adblocker installation, it had to constantly balance the risk of making users so fed up that they googled "how do I block ads?" and then never saw another ad ever again.

But once Google seized the majority of the mobile market, it was able to funnel users into apps, and reverse-engineering an app is a felony (felony contempt of business-model) under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a crime to install an ad-blocker.

And as Google acquired control over the browser market, it was likewise able to reduce the self-help measures available to browser users who found ads sufficiently obnoxious to trigger googling "how do I block ads?" The apotheosis of this is the yearslong campaign to block adblockers in Chrome, which the company has sworn it will finally do this coming June:

https://www.tumblr.com/tevruden/734352367416410112/you-have-until-june-to-dump-chrome

My contention here is not that Google's enshittification was precipitated by a change in personnel via the promotion of managers who have shitty ideas. Google's enshittification was precipitated by a change in discipline, as the negative consequences of heeding those shitty ideas were abolished thanks to monopoly.

This is bad news for people like me, who rely on services like Google Maps as cognitive prostheses. Elizabeth Laraki, one of the original Google Maps designers, has published a scorching critique of the latest GMaps design:

https://twitter.com/elizlaraki/status/1727351922254852182

Laraki calls out numerous enshittificatory design-choices that have left Maps screens covered in "crud" – multiple revenue-maximizing elements that come at the expense of usability, shifting value from users to Google.

What Laraki doesn't say is that these UI elements are auctioned off to merchants, which means that the business that gives Google the most money gets the greatest prominence in Maps, even if it's not the best merchant. That's a recurring motif in enshittified tech platforms, most notoriously Amazon, which makes $31b/year auctioning off top search placement to companies whose products aren't relevant enough to your query to command that position on their own:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

Enshittification begets enshittification. To succeed on Amazon, you must divert funds from product quality to auction placement, which means that the top results are the worst products:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

The exception is searches for Apple products: Apple and Amazon have a cozy arrangement that means that searches for Apple products are a timewarp back to the pre-enshittification Amazon, when the company worried enough about losing your business to heed the employees who objected to sacrificing search quality as part of a merchant extortion racket:

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-gives-apple-special-treatment-while-others-suffer-junk-ads-2023-11

Not every tech worker is a tech bro, in other words. Many workers care deeply about making your life better. But the microeconomics of the boardroom in a monopolized tech sector rewards the worst people and continuously promotes them. Forget the Peter Principle: tech is ruled by the Sam Principle.

As OpenAI went through four CEOs in a single week, lots of commentators remarked on Sam Altman's rise and fall and rise, but I only found one commentator who really had Altman's number. Writing in Today in Tabs, Rusty Foster nailed Altman to the wall:

https://www.todayintabs.com/p/defective-accelerationism

Altman's history goes like this: first, he founded a useless startup that raised $30m, only to be acquired and shuttered. Then Altman got a job running Y Combinator, where he somehow failed at taking huge tranches of equity from "every Stanford dropout with an idea for software to replace something Mommy used to do." After that, he founded OpenAI, a company that he claims to believe presents an existential risk to the entire human risk – which he structured so incompetently that he was then forced out of it.

His reward for this string of farcical, mounting failures? He was put back in charge of the company he mis-structured despite his claimed belief that it will destroy the human race if not properly managed.

Altman's been around for a long time. He founded his startup in 2005. There've always been Sams – of both the Bankman-Fried varietal and the Altman genus – in tech. But they didn't get to run amok. They were disciplined by their competitors, regulators, users and workers. The collapse of competition led to an across-the-board collapse in all of those forms of discipline, revealing the executives for the mediocre sociopaths they always were, and exposing tech workers' vocational awe for the shabby trick it was from the start.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/25/moral-injury/#enshittification

#pluralistic #moral injury #enshittification #worker power #google #dont be evil #monopoly #sam altman #openai #vocational awe #making a dent in the universe

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s0fter-sin · 9 months

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prince!ghost and lord in waiting!soap

ghost is a warrior prince, next in line after king price and it’s always been accepted he would be the lone ruler; never one for entertaining the courts or indulging foreign rulers trying to consolidate their power. he hardly acts like a prince at all, in name only when he spends more time as a pseudo captain of the guard. price has never begrudged him that, not when he himself has been a lone king since his inauguration

though he’s a warrior prince, he’s never lost the favour of the people; many see him as a guardian even if he doesn’t interact with the people as much as benevolent and stalwart king price. who he does interact with is the kingdom’s children; always ready to bend a knee and listen to bright voices, to praise stick swords and shields or hear the plight of a struggling family. it was a common belief that if he wasn’t out protecting, then he was with the protected; face covered, blonde curls shining in the sun

soap’s always loved ghost. as his lord in waiting, it’s been his job to attend him since they were young and even as a child, he’d idolised him; his skills in battle, his surety. he thought his life would be nothing but service, clothing a brat prince and making sure his shoes shined. but ghost has proven more than that; he treats him as an equal, consults him on strategy and court politics and over time that idolisation turned into love

and ghost has always felt the same. he’d begrudged the idea of a lord in waiting, not wanting someone always in his business but then came this spitfire who never missed an opportunity to push back on him; to make him dig deeper. johnny is more than some mere servant; he’s his confidant, his best friend, his… everything. he could be simon with him, not prince ghost

but simon figures that out too late

king price gets word from king shepherd, a kingdom they’ve only recently stopped feuding with and he’s offering up his son, prince graves, as a way to bond their kingdoms together and firmly put war behind them. price is ready to deny him, he doesn’t fear war from shepherd, when he sends some ancient laws that leave him unable to refuse. he hates it, hates that he’s ruining ghost’s happiness and feels like he’s betraying his adopted son but there’s nothing he can do

graves comes to their kingdom within the month and it’s clear from the moment he walks through their gates that he’s the opposite of ghost; arrogant and conceited, his ceremonial armour glossy and untouched by battle. he’s dismissive of their servants, of their ways, of their people and ghost hates him

graves insists that the wedding happen as soon as possible, pushing the craftsmen and cooks beyond their limits to prepare and every moment ghost spends with him, the more he dreads his wedding day. every evening he retreats to his room, exhausted, and it’s all johnny can do to keep him afloat; trying to keep him positive as ghost falls away and simon breaks in his arms. he wants to whisk him away like the old tales, the pain his oldest friend and love is in making his heart ache but all he can do is promise to be there with him

but it seems graves wants to take even him away

“soap’s been my lord in waiting since we were children,” ghost protests, voice barely clinging to civility. “i wouldn’t want to lose such a valuable worker.”

“there are plenty of decent servants in our kingdom; you’ll forget this one soon enough,” graves waves away, carding a possessive hand over his curls and it’s only bc he’s looking for it that soap sees ghost’s jaw twitch beneath his neck gaiter. “it’s custom for one marrying into our kingdom to embrace all that it has to offer, leaving who they were behind to become someone better. you’re entering a new life with me; you don’t need the baggage of this dreary place.”

soap feels sick as he walks behind them, his blank expression hiding all sign of his breaking heart.

“soap is beholden to me,” ghost declares. “we were sworn together by the old laws. i’m afraid a custom isn’t enough for me to break a vow to the gods.”

graves lets out a disgruntled noise, tugging harshly at one of ghost’s curls with only a thin veil of fondness; his conceding smile not reaching his eyes.

“i never made a vow to the gods,” johnny points out later. “price gave me to you because he was sick of me setting fire to the kitchens.”

simon hums and sets his freshly cleaned armour aside, turning to him with a twinkle in his eyes he’s barely seen since sheperd’s missive. “you pinkie swore that you would never leave me; that’s more powerful than any promise to the gods,” he says and soap’s thrown back fifteen years, to a willow tree big enough to touch the sky; to two boys from different stations who didn’t care that one was dressed in silk and the other in scraps.

johnny feels a lightness he hasn’t in a month as simon winks at him. “besides, do you really think graves is smart enough to figure it out?”

the days pass quickly, graves’ veneer of affection growing ever thinner, and before either of them are ready, it’s the eve of ghost’s wedding.

he’s said nothing, done nothing but stare at the wedding robes graves had tailored for him in the fashion of his kingdom and johnny doesn’t know how to break the silence. he draws out each second as he fusses with the cape piece and ensures the shoes shine in the fire light until he has no more excuses.

he sighs as he straightens up, brushing off polish onto his pants. “i suppose this is where i leave you,” he says with a weak smile but it quickly dies when simon still doesn’t look at him. “i’ll be here in the morning to help you get ready… good night, simon.”

johnny bows and makes for the door, trying to convince himself he didn’t just say goodbye.

but he’s stopped by simon’s hand loosely wrapping around his wrist.

he looks back as simon finally tears his eyes away from the robes, looking at him with such clear longing it almost brings him to his knees.

“i don’t want graves to be the first man to touch me, johnny,” he confesses and johnny’s breath hitches. “i don’t want to be married to another… not when the one i’m set to wed isn’t you. but if i have to do this… please let me feel loved one final time.”

simon’s thumb brushes the back of his hand; their kingdom’s greatest warrior caressing him with a touch light as silk. he doesn’t pull johnny in, doesn’t need to; johnny’s already sinking into his touch.

desperation and love tinge every movement; johnny dancing his fingers over simon’s neck gaiter until he all too happily removes it, baring his scarred cheeks and lips. johnny kisses each one, willing his love and his touch to linger above all others as they move together; sharing breath, sharing body, sharing soul the way they wish they always have.

when ghost makes his way down the aisle, it’s not in the fine embroidered robes graves had laid out for him. he’s in his battle armour; dark and weathered, the sign of the ghost, the warrior prince, going to battle. the only thing missing is his helm, tucked under his arm.

showing his hair; curls gone and shaved tight to his skin.

a thing done only in a time of great mourning.

graves looks irate and it’s the only spark of joy ghost feels as he stops before the altar; set beneath the willow tree where johnny promised himself to him. one final insult.

ghost is silent throughout the ceremony and in spirit and in grief, so is the entire gathered kingdom until the priestess reaches the final vows and suddenly, a great roar rises above the crowd as seemingly every child in the kingdom swarms the altar.

ghost is too shocked to do anything but let them push him away from graves, bullying their way between them like they’re preparing to protect him just as he’s always protected them.

graves is furious but the children stand firm in the face of his threats until he moves to strike one-

and freezes as soap’s blade finds his throat.

“you would dare hurt these children?” he growls, sword following graves as he stumbles back. “you’ve kept up your charade the entire time and here is where you show your true colours. i think it’s time i show mine.”

graves splutters as johnny turns to the priestess and king price, falling to one knee and offering up his blade. “your grace, i wish to challenge prince graves for the hand of prince simon!”

his voice rings clear and he feels the eyes of every person in the kingdom.

but he only cares for one man.

who is watching him with more love than he’s ever felt.

“who are you to challenge me?” graves sneers. “you’re nothing more than a servant; no better than the dirt on my boots.”

johnny doesn’t bother to look at him, too caught in the love in simon’s eyes and the grateful look on king price’s face. “then you should have nothing to worry about. you’ve been crowing your accolades from the rooftops since you got here; let’s see if you live up to the hype.”

because simon only ever introduced him as his lord in waiting.

never as sir soap- his second in command and one of the greatest swordsmen their kingdom has ever seen.

#soaps challenge over rules the law shepherd wrapped price up in and hes all too happy to grant it #and of course soap wins and the kingdom gets to witness the marriage of prince simon and sir johnny #im imagining soap as full highlander in the last scene #huge mohawk with braided sides running down his back kilt great sword the works #i dont know where this came from lmao i was half asleep listening to sick of losing soulmates by dodie and it was like i was possessed #which is my favourite type of inspiration i cant lie #laswell is the priestess and gaz is prices advisor or his lord in waiting im not sure #lord in waiting is the male equivalent of lady in waiting just btw as far as i know its like a personal handmaid #i did about half a second of googling then went of existing knowledge that could very easily be wrong #coming out of my cage and ive been doing just fine.txt #we’re a team. ghost team #soapghost #ghostsoap #ghoap #john soap mactavish #soap cod #simon ghost riley #ghost cod #john price #captain price #phillip graves #fic #au #save post

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mariacallous · 2 months

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KnowBe4, a US-based security vendor, revealed that it unwittingly hired a North Korean hacker who attempted to load malware into the company's network. KnowBe4 CEO and founder Stu Sjouwerman described the incident in a blog post this week, calling it a cautionary tale that was fortunately detected before causing any major problems.

"First of all: No illegal access was gained, and no data was lost, compromised, or exfiltrated on any KnowBe4 systems," Sjouwerman wrote. “This is not a data breach notification, there was none. See it as an organizational learning moment I am sharing with you. If it can happen to us, it can happen to almost anyone. Don't let it happen to you.”

KnowBe4 said it was looking for a software engineer for its internal IT AI team. The firm hired a person who, it turns out, was from North Korea and was "using a valid but stolen US-based identity" and a photo that was "enhanced" by artificial intelligence. There is now an active FBI investigation amid suspicion that the worker is what KnowBe4's blog post called "an Insider Threat/Nation State Actor."

KnowBe4 operates in 11 countries and is headquartered in Florida. It provides security awareness training, including phishing security tests, to corporate customers. If you occasionally receive a fake phishing email from your employer, you might be working for a company that uses the KnowBe4 service to test its employees' ability to spot scams.

Person Passed Background Check and Video Interviews

KnowBe4 hired the North Korean hacker through its usual process. "We posted the job, received résumés, conducted interviews, performed background checks, verified references, and hired the person. We sent them their Mac workstation, and the moment it was received, it immediately started to load malware," the company said.

Even though the photo provided to HR was fake, the person who was interviewed for the job apparently looked enough like it to pass. KnowBe4's HR team "conducted four video conference based interviews on separate occasions, confirming the individual matched the photo provided on their application," the post said. "Additionally, a background check and all other standard pre-hiring checks were performed and came back clear due to the stolen identity being used. This was a real person using a valid but stolen US-based identity. The picture was AI 'enhanced.'"

The two images at the top of this story are a stock photo and what KnowBe4 says is the AI fake based on the stock photo. The stock photo is on the left, and the AI fake is on the right.

The employee, referred to as "XXXX" in the blog post, was hired as a principal software engineer. The new hire's suspicious activities were flagged by security software, leading KnowBe4's Security Operations Center (SOC) to investigate:

On July 15, 2024, a series of suspicious activities were detected on the user beginning at 9:55 pm EST. When these alerts came in KnowBe4's SOC team reached out to the user to inquire about the anomalous activity and possible cause. XXXX responded to SOC that he was following steps on his router guide to troubleshoot a speed issue and that it may have caused a compromise. The attacker performed various actions to manipulate session history files, transfer potentially harmful files, and execute unauthorized software. He used a Raspberry Pi to download the malware. SOC attempted to get more details from XXXX including getting him on a call. XXXX stated he was unavailable for a call and later became unresponsive. At around 10:20 pm EST SOC contained XXXX's device.

“Fake IT Worker From North Korea”

The SOC analysis indicated that the loading of malware "may have been intentional by the user," and the group "suspected he may be an Insider Threat/Nation State Actor," the blog post said.

"We shared the collected data with our friends at Mandiant, a leading global cybersecurity expert, and the FBI, to corroborate our initial findings. It turns out this was a fake IT worker from North Korea," Sjouwerman wrote.

KnowBe4 said it can't provide much detail because of the active FBI investigation. But the person hired for the job may have logged into the company computer remotely from North Korea, Sjouwerman explained:

How this works is that the fake worker asks to get their workstation sent to an address that is basically an "IT mule laptop farm." They then VPN in from where they really physically are (North Korea or over the border in China) and work the night shift so that they seem to be working in US daytime. The scam is that they are actually doing the work, getting paid well, and give a large amount to North Korea to fund their illegal programs. I don't have to tell you about the severe risk of this. It's good we have new employees in a highly restricted area when they start, and have no access to production systems. Our controls caught it, but that was sure a learning moment that I am happy to share with everyone.

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jellybeanium124 · 17 hours

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helped a real goniff at work today, you know the entitled type. asked me why we don't carry a certain common shirt pattern and then stared at me like he expected me to apologize or smth?? bro I don't decide what colorways things come in. hands me stuff while looking the other way like "you deal with this," y'know just old man "I-expect-to-be-waited-on-hand-and-foot" crap. and I am just lying to this man's face being polite and friendly, on the off chance it'll prevent him from blowing a gasket and maybe even make him a little nicer, meanwhile meaning none of it.

that's not a particularly noteworthy story, maybe. "customer service worker lies thru their teeth to rude customer because the employee has to be nice" is a tale as old as time. idk it just kind of struck me how naturally I continued to be good natured and polite even though this man was nothing but rude to me the whole time. like it was effortless.

I mean I lie to customers almost every time I close. if a customer stays after closing and then when I'm unlocking the door to let them out (it's locked so no one else comes in) and they go "oh are you guys closed? I didn't realize!" or something, I say "haha it's okay, have a good night!" even though it's not okay and they should've noticed because of the vacuuming and music being off but I can't tell them they were being rude. I just have to pretend it's okay and not deeply annoying behavior.

idk just something about how society has made lying to customers' faces a necessity in these kinds of jobs. do they know they're being lied to? some of them must.

#nina rambles

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audiofictionuk · 10 months

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New Fiction Podcasts - 18th November

Sected Audio Drama A British sitcom podcast about four incompetent souls trying to start their own cult. Can you create a new movement with no ideas, no philosophy, and a leader with the charisma of a plastic plant forgotten in a cupboard? They’ll certainly give it a go. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231109-02 RSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/sected

The Books of Thoth Audio Drama The god of wisdom holds many books with his great library. Unfurl the papyrus, and breathe in the ancient scent. Come with us as we explore the stories contained within The Books of Thoth. The Books of Thoth is an audio drama anthology podcast. You will explore tales of the past, the future, and even alternate realities. Every book in Thoth’s library has a story to tell. Let’s go find some, shall we? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231111-01 RSS: https://feeds.redcircle.com/6701d0b5-6b14-4b76-992d-02f391b5cf42

Theater of the Mind Presents: Retribution Audio RPG Retribution is a dark comedy/horror themed DND Podcast, set in our world. Join Melanie Kelly, Elliot Brandybain, Ulnok Vargr Johnson, James O'Brien, and Emory Lee, as they traverse the countryside and fight off evil. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231112-01 RSS: https://pinecast.com/feed/theater-of-the-mind-presents-r

The Very Worst Thing That Could Possibly Happen Audio Drama WINNER of BEST AUDIO FICTION at the Tribeca Festival 2023!! Raul's life in Hong Kong is thrown upside down when he discovers he can exchange letters with his favorite author, a woman in Paris who died thirty years ago. A nine part limited series, written and directed by Alex Kemp (The Imperfection, Modes of Thought) and produced by Wolf at the Door Studios. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231110-01 RSS: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/vwt

Out Cold Audio Drama A spooky anthology series produced by Julie Censullo and Sophie Nikitas. Put on your headphones and turn off your lights. Produced in Minneapolis, MN. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231109-03 RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2260953.rss

An Office Workers Guide to Demon Hunting Audio Drama A new audio drama from Family Friendly Podcast. An Office Worker's Guide to Demon Hunting is a family friendly, comedy audio drama that centers around a team of filing clerks with a few tricks up their sleeves. They're on a mission to close the rifts between their world and the dimension of the demons, known as The Between. They meet some interesting people along the way, including a robot secretary, a demon filing clerk, Wallace, and all Seven Sins.As a family friendly production, this podcast contains no swearing (biblical or otherwise), explicit suggestions, or inappropriate content.This show is suggested for 12+ for mild violence and dark themes. Individual episodes may not be suitable for all ages. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231111-02 RSS: https://feeds.redcircle.com/f1bd8e19-75c0-412b-812e-b547f462fc6f

Feedback: a comedy of impeccable customer service Audio Drama Aspiring drag queen and Ring Wireless representative Akbar Shahzad (Qasim Khan) has a problem with his ex-boyfriend. Anxious mother Valerie LeVac (Rosemary Dunsmore) has a problem with her phone bill. Over a series of calls their lives will be changed by the brief but meaningful relationship that develops between them. Part mystery, part romantic comedy, Kevin Shea's FEEDBACK uniquely blends audiobook and audio drama to tell this strange, surprising, and darkly hilarious story. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231106-02 RSS: https://rabbit-cobalt-7bz2.squarespace.com/feedbacklistennow?format=rss

D&D: The Campaign Chronicles Audio RPG Join me and my friends as we go on this amazing adventure! https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231010-09 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/eae300b8/podcast/rss

Rise of the American Griots Audio Drama When young Black teen, Nani, discovers she holds a gift that connects her to a long line of storytellers descended from her enslaved ancestors, she must quickly adjust to her new position in order to find a cure to an unknown illness rapidly spreading through the Black community. But with time not in her favor, can she rally enough support among new friends to save her family? And her people? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20221010-14 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/bf61636c/podcast/rss

Gnom, unser Audio Book Schräger kann Fantasy nicht sein. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231109-05 RSS: https://www.gugeli.de/feed/mp3/

Vorbereitung Optional | Der Indie-RPG One-Shot Podcast Audio RPG Ein wechselnder Cast von Freunden spielt unterschiedlichste Indie TTRPGs (Pen&Paper Games). Jede Folge ein anderes Spielsystem und eine andere spannende Geschichte! Meistens komplett improvisiert. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231111-03 RSS: https://pod.optional.page/@VorbereitungOptional/feed.xml

The Crime at Camp Ashwood Audio Drama Desperate to finally solve the decades-old cold case of her best friend’s murder, Margot Ingell returns to the scene of the crime. Will the discovery of a long-lost diary reveal the killer, or will the secret forever remain at the bottom of Camp Ashwood’s lake? https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231031-14 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/e50e5cb4/podcast/rss

Super Duper Boys: A Pathfinder Podcast Audio RPG Five idiots in a basement, four heroes save the world! We play pretend so you don’t have to. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231110-02 RSS: https://sdbpod.com/@sdb/feed.xml

Soul Operator Audio RPG Soul Operator is a multi-genre, multi-season podcast that can be described as an actual play-narrative fusion. The podcast was created with the intention of highlighting amazing solo ttrpgs that exist in the space by presenting their gameplay as a fleshed out story. Follow Tessa Whitlock as she navigates these strange new worlds, for better or for worse. https://audiofiction.co.uk/show.php?id=20231110-03 RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/7d820014/podcast/rss

#audio fiction #fiction podcast

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rockybloo · 2 years

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how did jack sr. and aurelia meet and fall in love?

I am still tinkering with that but I imagine it was during a festival celebrating the slaying of a monstrous giant and Jack's dad was lowkey getting burnt out from all the "fans" and attention he was getting so he snuck off to go rest when Aurelia, Jack's future mother, winded up finding him as she was one of the festival workers who was making sure everyone was well fed and having a great time.

She cracked a couple jokes about "Wow, star of the party burning out huh?" And he basically replied "You have no idea"

And the customer service talk winded up evolving into a genuine conversation which winded up causing Jack's Dad become smitten with her charm.

And even though him and the crew he was with were only passing through, he mentally saved the little town and made frequent visits which were nice little mundane breaks from being a living fairy tale.

#ask: jack sr.#ask: aurelia #ask #anon #ask: beanstalked

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johnwiltonkelley · 2 years

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What Are the 12 Different Types of Writing?

When writing, you will need to understand the many forms of writing. These include descriptive, expository, and review writing styles. Knowing this will help you become a better writer.

Expository writing is writing in which answers to problems are explained, identified, and presented. This style of writing is often utilized in a variety of contexts. Some examples are academic writing, magazine articles, research papers, and technical write-ups.

An essay has three parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. A thesis statement is usually included in an explanatory essay. A thesis statement is a summary of the essay's fundamental concept. It should be explicit enough to let the reader know what to anticipate yet wide enough to incorporate all relevant information.

Like all other forms of essays, an expository essay seeks to explain or clarify a topic. This might be a narrative, a fact, or a mix of the two.

Unlike persuasive writing, which attempts to persuade the reader, an explanatory essay does not try to convince the reader. Instead, it provides the reader with factual information about the issue while laying the groundwork for the author's argument.

Descriptive writing is a style of writing in which words are used to describe a topic. It might be fiction or nonfiction. The primary goal of descriptive writing is to assist readers in understanding the issue.

Authors should incorporate as much information as possible in their stories to make them more fascinating. They should also include sensory details such as smell, sound, and sight.

To improve the reader's experience, specific authors may use literary techniques such as similes and metaphors. While these skills are essential, they may be challenging to master.

In general, descriptive writing is brief. Authors often use adjectives, adverbs, and other literary techniques to accomplish their goals. It gives authors greater creative flexibility than argumentative or expository writing.

A poem, for example, might incorporate several types of descriptive writing. Most poetry will explain the composition's location, setting, and even atmosphere.

A narrative might range from a personal story to a historical event. Novels, short tales, and creative essays are narrative writing examples.

Business writing is professional workplace communication. It is used to communicate with clients, customers, and workers of a firm. These works are often meant to assist in enhancing a company's image. Emails, notes, proposals, and reports are all examples.

Business writing must provide all relevant information to the reader to be successful. This information must be correct, complete, and up to date. It must also be interesting. Business writers use persuasive language and communication to persuade readers that a specific action is preferable.

While the demands of each organization vary, business writing may be divided into four categories: transactional, informative, instructional, and persuasive. Each kind employs unique approaches, styles, and customs. Each form of writing serves a particular function.

In transactional writing, for example, the purpose is to present information in a straightforward and uncomplicated way. A person does not pay attention to grammar, spelling, or punctuation while writing in this style.

Persuasive writing includes review writing. Its purpose is to persuade the reader to agree with the author's point of view. This writing style is often utilized in advertising, cover letters, and other types of persuasive writing.

Several types of review writing include product, service, and literature reviews. All these writing styles use the same method to transmit information. They will explain the product, service, or literature while expressing their thoughts and concerns. Reviews may also include a call to action, such as a recommendation to purchase or not buy a particular product.

Someone may be paid by a firm to write a review of a particular product, service, or book. These businesses frequently pay for positive feedback so that clients may make more informed purchasing choices. Review writing is becoming more critical in the era of digitalization. People need to first read a review before purchasing online.

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nickgerlich · 2 years

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To Catch A Thief

The digital era has spawned entirely new ways to steal. It was only a matter of time, of course, because thievery has always been around. It is the underbelly of society. Just as Jesus said the poor will always be among us, so will the thieves.  

And today’s blog is about two types of digital theft…one affecting customers of a well-known company, and one that affected me personally. The latter is more a cautionary tale than anything, and since it was resolved in quick order, I am OK. But I sure felt violated, just like the people who eventually discover the theft affecting them in the first example. And off we go to that first example.  

If you use third-party shopping services, or, for that matter, any company relying on the gig economy to provide workers, you need to be paying attention to your credit card charges. Recently, some shoppers started noticing that their Instacart orders were not exactly what they had originally submitted. Turns out their Instacart shopper was adding a few items here and there to the orders they picked for customers, effectively doing their own grocery shopping with other peoples’ money (OPM).

Basically, a box of mac and cheese here, some spices there, etc., and they have done their shopping too.

The thinking is that most people don’t pay attention to their charges, and because an Instacart order isn’t completely rung up until the shopper is ready to leave—you never know if something you ordered suddenly isn’t available—you just await your delivery and go on living your life. All the while, our micro-thief has been getting free groceries.

In my example, I was leaving Albuquerque two weeks ago tomorrow from my conference, and noticed a couple of emails congratulating me on having redeemed some of my Hilton Honors points at Amazon. Well boy howdy, that caught my attention. Not only had I not done that, I didn’t even know I could. I immediately checked my Hilton app, and noticed I was missing about 600,000 points.   

That was when I exited the freeway and settled in to more than 30 minutes of phone conversations with various Hilton personnel, including their Fraud Detection department. I am convinced it was not a crime against me personally, since I never login from a computer, and only from my phone app. The perpetrator was likely thinking it was a victimless crime, only somewhat more heinous than the Instacart driver letting you pay for a few groceries.  

My Hilton thief also got into my account and added a new phone number, making it the primary, and also added two-factor authentication so that I could not make any changes without him or her getting a text seeking to verify the changes. I was cut off at the knees.

Fortunately, Hilton resolved it within two days, giving me a completely new account, reinstating my lost points, adding 150,000 more, and continuing my Diamond status for the year. Thank you, Hilton.

But this is not a victimless crime, because someone had to pay. As it turns out, 500,000 Hilton points can buy a $1000 Amazon gift card. That’s no small thing. The thief saw this as an easy crime, but was not smart enough to change the email address on the account. Every move she or he made was mirrored to me in emails.   Whomever did the crime is completely unknown to me. Was it a front desk clerk with an illegal side hustle? Someone else inside Hilton? A data breach that allowed someone access to many accounts? And yes, it could have been a breach on my phone as well, but this is the only incident of fraud or theft I have detected that has anything to do with my phone.

I now have two-factor on my new Hilton account, as well as facial recognition. I never dreamed I would have to use two-factor on something as seemingly benign as a loyalty points program. Then again, I’m pretty sure that Instacart shoppers never thought someone might be nickel and diming them either.

Theft is theft, fraud is fraud. There is no such thing as a victimless crime when it comes to using OPM. It’s the kind of thing that bedevils fraud departments, because it costs money to go after what amounts to petty theft. But it is petty theft that can add up. The $1000 or more that my thief used at Amazon most certainly went for gift cards instead of blenders and air fryers, because gift cards can be sold quickly and converted to cash. Blenders and air fryers cannot. I just hope that Hilton worked with Amazon, and shut down everything, including any gift cards purchased.

Meanwhile, be ever diligent in the digital era. You may be paying for someone’s else’s dinner. Someone may be profiting from your points. And in any regard, I hope they caught my perp and broke his knees, although I have my doubts. I’ll be watching everything a lot more closely from now on, even the little things.

Dr “Still Feeling The Sting“ Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #digital #theft #fraud #Instacart #Hilton

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year

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The Sacklers woulda gotten away with it if it wasn't for those darned meddling feds

The saga of the Sacklers, a multigenerational billionaire crime family of mass-murdering dope-peddlers, is an enraging parable about how the wealthy, the courts, and sadistic high-powered lawyers collude to destroy the lives of millions, profit handsomely, and evade justice.

But there's an unexpected twist to this tale. After the Sacklers procured a sham bankruptcy that denied their victims the right to sue while leaving their fortune largely intact, the Supreme Court – yes, this Supreme Court – saw through the scam and froze the process, pending a full hearing:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/us/supreme-court-purdue-pharma-opioid-settlement.html

The Sacklers basically invented modern, legal dope peddling. Arthur Sackler, the family's original crime-boss, revived the practice of direct-to-consumer drug marketing, dormant since the death of the medicine show, to peddle Valium. An aggressive and shrewd lobbyist, Arthur built the family fortune and, more importantly, its connections:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-the-sackler-family-built-a-pharma-dynasty-and-fueled-an-american-calamity/

A generation later, the family's business company created Oxycontin, and procured misleading and false research about the drug's safety kickstarting the opioid epidemic, whose American body-count is closing in on a million dead. Armed with inflated claims about opioid safety, the Sacklers' pharma reps bribed, cajoled and tricked doctors into writing millions of prescriptions for oxy.

This scam had a natural best-before date. As ODs flooded America's ERs and bodies piled up in America's morgues, it became increasingly clear that something was rotten. The Sacklers pursued a multipronged campaign to keep the truth from coming to light, and to keep the billions flowing.

On the one hand, they hired McKinsey to find novel ways to encourage doctors to keep writing prescriptions and to convince pharmacists to turn a blind eye to abuse. McKinsey had all kinds of great ideas here, including paying pharma distributors cash bonuses for every overdose death in their territory:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/business/mckinsey-opioids-settlement.html

When the issue of these deaths came up in public, the Sacklers blamed "criminal addicts" for their own misery, stigmatizing both people who desperately needed pain relief and the people who'd been deliberately hooked on the Sacklers' products. The legacy of this smear campaign is still with us, both in the contempt for people struggling with addiction and in the cruel barriers placed between people in unbearable agony and medical relief.

But mostly, the Sacklers kept their names out of it. They laundered their reputations by donating a homeopathic fraction of their vast drug fortune to art galleries and museums in a bid to make their names synonymous with good deeds.

The Sacklers didn't invent this trick. Think of the way that history's great monsters – Carnegie, Mellon, Rockefeller, Ford – are remembered today for the foundations and charities that bear their names, not for the untold misery they inflicted on their workers, their crimes against their customers, and the corruption of governments.

But the Sacklers made those Gilded Age barons seem like amateurs. They invented a modern elite philanthropy playbook that Anand Giridharadas documents in his must-read Winners Take All, about the charity-industrial complex that washes away an ocean of blood with a trickle of money:

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/11/10/winners-take-all-modern-philanthropy-means-that-giving-some-away-is-more-important-than-how-you-got-it/

As part of this PR exercise, the individual Sacklers kept their names and images out of the public eye. For years, there were virtually no news-service photos of individual Sacklers. When journalists dared to criticize the family, they used vicious attack-lawyers to intimidate them into retractions and silence (I was threatened by the Sacklers' lawyers).

They also worked their media mogul pals, like Mike Bloomberg, who added their names to the "Friends of Mike" list that Bloomberg reporters were required to consult before writing negative coverage:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/02/29/friends-of-mike-enemies-of-the-people/#sacklerbergs

But Stein's Law says that "anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop." As lawsuits mounted, the Sacklers found themselves increasingly synonymous with death, not charitable works. But like any canny criminal, the Sacklers had a getaway plan.

First, they extracted vast sums from Purdue and shifted it into offshore financial secrecy havens:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-purduepharma-bankruptcy/sacklers-reaped-up-to-13-billion-from-oxycontin-maker-u-s-states-say-idUSKBN1WJ19V

Even as this money was disappearing into legal black holes, the Sacklers demanded – and received – extraordinary protection from the courts, who aggressively sealed testimony and materials presented through discovery:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-courts-secrecy-judges/

When this gambit finally failed, the Sacklers insisted that were down to their last $4 billion, and, with trillions in claims pending against them, they declared bankruptcy.

When a normal person declares bankruptcy, they are required to divest themselves of nearly everything of value they possess, and then still find themselves hounded by cruel arm-breakers who deluge them with threatening calls and letters:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/19/zombie-debt/#damnation

But for the richest people in America, bankruptcy is merely a way to cleanse one's balance sheet of liabilities for any atrocity you may have committed on the way, without giving up your fortune.

The Sacklers are a case-study in how a corrupt bankruptcy can be conducted.

Purdue Pharma presents a maddening case-study in the corrupt benefits of bankruptcy. When it was announced in March, many were outraged to learn that the Sacklers were going to walk away with billions, while their victims got stiffed.

First, they converted their victims' right to compensation into "property" that the Sacklers themselves owned. This transferred jurisdiction over these claims from the regular court system to the bankruptcy court. A bankruptcy judge – not a jury – would decide how much each of these claims was worth, and then what how much of that worth these victims (now recast as creditors) would be entitled to through the bankruptcy.

Thus tens of thousands of claims were nonconsensually settled without a trial, by an administrative judge with no criminal jurisdiction, not a federal judge who'd undergone Senate confirmation:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/31/vaccine-for-the-global-south/#claims-extinguished

These "coercive restructuring techniques" are not available to everyday people who are drowning in student debt or credit-card bills – these are the exclusive purview of the wealthiest Americans, who enjoy a completely different bankruptcy system that is rigged in their favor.

Three judges – David Jones and Marvin Isgur of Houston and Bob Drain of New York – hear 96% of the country's large corporate bankruptcies:

https://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2021/05/judge-shopping-in-bankruptcy.html

These judges are unbelievably horny for corporations, embracing a legal theory "that casts the invention of the limited liability corporation alongside that of the steam engine as a paradigmatic development in the pursuit of prosperity":

https://prospect.org/justice/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-the-sacklers-purdue-pharma-bankruptcy/

Now there are more than three bankruptcy judges in America, so how do the nation's biggest companies get their cases heard by these three enthusiastic Renfields for corporate vampirism?

They cheat.

For example: when GM was facing bankruptcy, it argued that it was a New York company on the basis that it owned a single Chevy dealership in Harlem, and got in front of Judge Drain.

The Sacklers were – characteristically – even more brazen. They really wanted to get their case in front of Judge Drain, the nation's most enthusiastic supporter of "third party releases," through which bankrupt billionaires can wipe the slate clean, securing dismissals of all claims by the people they wronged.

Drain is also uniquely hostile to independent examiners, "an independent third-party appointed by the court to investigate 'fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, mismanagement, or irregularity…by current or former management of the debtor."

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3851339

If you're the Sacklers, hoping to keep two thirds of your billions and extinguish all claims by your victims, there is no better helpmeet than Judge Robert Drain of the Southern District of New York.

So, 192 days before filing for bankruptcy, the Sacklers opened an office in White Plains, New York (a company may claim jurisdiction in a specific court once they've operated a business there for 180 days).

Then they filed a bankruptcy in which they altered the metadata on their casefile, inserting the code for a Westchester county hearing into the machine-readable, human-invisible parts of the documents they uploaded to the federal Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system (they also captioned the case with "RDD, for "Robert D Drain").

They chose their judge, and the judge obliged. UCLA Law's Lynn LoPucki is one of the leading scholars of these bankruptcy "megacases," and has written extensively on why these three judges are so deferential to corporate criminals seeking to flense themselves of culpability. She sees judges like Drain motivated by "personal aggrandizement and celebrity and ability to indirectly channel to the local bankruptcy bar. The judge is the star and the ringmaster of a megacase – very appealing to certain personalities."

Thus, these judges are "willing and eager to cater to debtors to attract business…[an] assurance to debtors that…these judges will not transfer out cases with improper venue or rule against the debtor…"

https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/02870w66d

This kind of judge-shopping goes beyond the Sacklers; the cases that Drain and co preside over make a mockery of the idea of America as a land of equal justice. "Prepack" and "drive-through" bankruptcies are reliable get-out-of-jail-free cards for capitalism's worst monsters: private equity firms.

Whether PE murdered your grandmother by buying her care-home and putting each worker in charge of 30 seniors:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/portopiccolo-nursing-homes-maryland/2020/12/21/a1ffb2a6-292b-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html

or poisoned your kids by filling your neighborhood with carcinogens:

https://www.webmd.com/special-reports/ethylene-oxide/20190719/residents-unaware-of-cancer-causing-toxin-in-air

limited liability wipes the slate clean.

30% of America's bankruptcies are private equity companies using the bankruptcy system to wipe away claims for their misdeeds, while keeping a fortune, thanks to the shield of limited liability.

Take Millennium Health, JamesS lattery's fake drug-testing company, which promised to help nursing homes figure out whether seniors were abusing (or selling) their meds by testing their piss for angel dust and other drugs. Slattery defrauded Medicare and Medicaid for millions, borrowed $1.8 billion (Slattery got $1.3 billion of that). He eventually walked away from this fraud after paying a mere $256m to settle all claims, and kept a fortune in assets, including the 40 vintage planes his private company ("Pissed Away LLC" – I am not making this up) owned:

https://prospect.org/justice/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-the-sacklers-purdue-pharma-bankruptcy/

For the wealthy, bankruptcy is the sport of kings, a way to skip out on consequences. For the poor, bankruptcy is an anchor – or a noose. This is by design: judges who preside over elite bankruptcies speak of their protagonists as heroic "risk takers" and tiptoe around any consequences, lest these titans be chained to a mortal's fate, costing us all the benefits of their entrepreneurial genius.

PE companies helped the Sacklers design their own bankruptcy strategy, and it was a standout, even by the standards of Bob Drain and his kangaroo bankruptcy court. But now, the Supreme Court has pumped the brakes on the whole enterprise.

The judges ruled that the exceptions the Sacklers took advantage of were intended for bankrupts in "financial distress" – not billionaires with vast fortunes hidden overseas. In so doing, the court threatens all manner of corrupt arrangements, from "the Boy Scouts, wildfires and allegations of sexual abuse in the church diocese — where third parties get a benefit from a bankruptcy they themselves aren’t going through.”

The case was brought by the DoJ's US Trustee Program, which lost in the Second Circuit when it tried to halt the Purdue bankruptcy and argued that the Sacklers themselves had to declare bankruptcy to discharge the claims against them.

Now the Supremes have hit pause on the bankruptcy the Second Circuit approved, and will hear the case themselves. It's only one step on a long road, but it's an unprecedented one. Some of the country's filthiest fortunes are riding on the outcome.

Going to Defcon this weekend? I’m giving a keynote, “An Audacious Plan to Halt the Internet’s Enshittification and Throw it Into Reverse,” tomorrow (Aug 12) at 12:30pm, followed by a book signing at the No Starch Press booth at 2:30pm!

https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=50826

I’m kickstarting the audiobook for “The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation,” a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and bring back the old, good internet. It’s a DRM-free book, which means Audible won’t carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/11/justice-delayed/#justice-redeemed

Image: Edwardx (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Serpentine_Sackler_Gallery,_June_2016_05.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

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craftsbobble · 2 months

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Make My Mini-Me: Celebrating Your Unique Story Through AI-Crafted Bobbleheads

Introduction: The Fusion of AI and Handcrafts

In today’s digital age, we’re all curators of our own stories. From Instagram feeds to TikTok videos, we constantly seek ways to capture and share our unique selves. But what if there was a technology that could transform your wildest imaginations into tangible, personalized art? What if you could hold a piece of your dreams in your hands? Welcome to the revolutionary world of AI-meets-handcrafts at HeartVoiceGifts.

The Inspiration: A Tibetan Tale of Artistry and Technology

Nestled in the shadow of the majestic Himalayas, the rich Tibetan culture sparked our imagination at HeartVoiceGifts. For centuries, Tibetan artisans have told their stories through intricate metal castings and soulful portrait sculptures. We asked ourselves: How can we bring this timeless art form into the 21st century?

Our answer lies in the seamless blend of cutting-edge AI technology and skilled craftsmanship. Just as Tibetan artisans pour their hearts into every creation, our AI precisely captures the essence of your photos, while our dedicated artisans breathe life into these digital blueprints with meticulous care.

The 30-Day Journey: From Concept to Creation

Day 1–2: Brainstorming our brand identity and securing our digital home

Day 3–6: Crafting our visual voice — designing our logo, slogan, and brand persona

Day 7–12: Building and fine-tuning our AI character creation engine

Day 13–15: Sketching the blueprint of our user experience

Day 16–24: Customizing the Medusa e-commerce platform to bring our vision to life

Day 25–26: Enhancing performance with Cloudflare and custom worker development

Day 27–28: Selecting our digital partners — email services, web hosting, and rigorous product testing

Unveiling the Magic: Features That Set Us Apart

Witness the magic unfold as our skilled artisans bring AI-generated designs to life. Each bobblehead is meticulously handcrafted, ensuring a perfect blend of technological precision and human artistry. This behind-the-scenes glimpse into our workshop showcases the dedication and expertise that goes into every HeartVoice Gift.”

Experience the charm of HeartVoice Gifts at our brand boutiques, strategically located in bustling city centers and popular tourist destinations. Our eye-catching displays showcase a diverse array of personalized bobbleheads, inviting passersby to explore the world of AI-powered, handcrafted mementos. Each boutique is a gateway to creating your own unique piece of art.

Your Journey Awaits: An Invitation to Experience the Magic

Imagine holding a piece of art that captures not just your appearance, but the very essence of who you are. A bobblehead that tells your story — from the wide-eyed wonder of childhood to the determined gaze of a professional, from the loving smile of a parent to the adventurous spirit of a traveler.

At HeartVoiceGifts, we’re not just creating figurines; we’re crafting memories, celebrating milestones, and bringing dreams to life. We invite you to join us on this extraordinary journey of self-expression and creativity.

As a special welcome, new users receive complimentary Coins to generate 12 unique bobblehead designs. It’s our way of letting you experience the magic firsthand.

Step into a world where AI meets artistry, where your photos become portals to infinite possibilities. Visit HeartVoiceGifts today and begin your adventure in personalized, AI-powered, handcrafted art. Because your story deserves to be told — and held — in the most unique way possible.

Craft your story. Celebrate your journey. Create your HeartVoiceGift today.

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eatossolutions · 3 months

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From Kitchen to Cash Register: How AI in Food Service Optimizes Operations for Higher Profits

Imagine a world where your kitchen runs like clockwork, your staff is focused on customer experience, and the dollars are just rolling in. Sounds like a fairy tale for the busy restaurant owner, correct? Well, hold onto your spatulas because this tasty dream becomes a reality—all because of AI in food service.

Artificial Intelligence Will be That Special Ingredient For Success

Artificial intelligence is no longer the sole domain of science fiction movies; it's coming into the food service industry and the catalyst shall be your progress from "good enough" to gastro-glory. It uses machine learning algorithms that analyze data to find hidden trends and patterns and automate tasks, all to mean a smoother operation, happier customers, and finally a big bottom line.

Supercharge Your Sales with AI-Powered Insights

Ever feel like you're flying blind when it comes to predicting sales? Artificial Intelligence in food service can be your crystal ball. It analyzes past sales data, weather patterns, and even local events to project demand with near clairvoyance. This can help you optimize your inventory and avoid whole batches of food going to waste by having enough quantities of the most popular dishes to satisfy customers' cravings.

AI in the Kitchen: A Recipe for Efficiency

Imagine this: your kitchen staff is relieved from mundane and monotonous chores. AI in the food industry can conduct back-of-house operations, letting your team pay attention to what they have been trained for culinary mastery.

Here's how AI can work its magic in your kitchen:

Smart Ordering: Smart Ordering is when AI, through food service, looks at previous usage data to anticipate ingredient needs for hands-off ordering. No more mad dashes into town to the grocery store; you will have precisely the right amount of everything every time.

Dynamic Recipe Scaling: Through food service, AI can automatically re-scale recipes based on the number of orders you are getting. This minimizes waste and produces foods in exact portions, all to keep your food cost under control.

Predictive Maintenance: AI in the food industry can monitor equipment performance, anticipating equipment failures before they occur. This proactive approach saves you from the hassle—and cost—of unplanned downtime.

The Art of Upselling Perfected by AI

We all know how important upselling is, but sometimes it can feel contrived or just plain awkward. AI in the food service takes the guesswork out of the equation. By analyzing customers' data and purchase history, AI can offer complementary items likely to be of interest to each guest. Think of suggesting a glass of wine to go perfectly with that steak or a rich dessert to top off that full meal. It's upselling, but not the pitchy sales type to drive in more money and leave customers happier.

Powered Staff by AI

To be honest, staff scheduling can be a nightmare. AI in the food service may make light work of this by understanding customer patterns in traffic and staffing needs. You will thus have maximum workers present to serve during busy times and avoid overstaffing during lean times. AI in the food industry will even take on training and development by underlining areas in which staff may need extra help.

The Future of Food Service Is AI-Powered

Though Artificial intelligence in food service is yet to mature, prospects look too exciting to let go. Imagine a future where AI brings in a menu that is tailored to your diet and taste preferences. This is combined with the idea that AI in food service may in the future personalize recommendations for new dishes by sifting through customer feedback.

Well, the possibilities are endless here, and all of those benefits are clear: increased sales, happier customers, and more operational efficiency.

Do not let another day go by to let AI unfurl all its potential in your restaurant. Contact the eatOS AI solution provider today and see for yourself how this technology can redefine the contours of business. Remember, the only thing tastier than a perfectly cooked meal is a healthy profit margin. Allow AI to become the secret ingredient that takes you to the next level!

#Kitchen to Cash Register #AI in food service #Food Service Is AI-Powered #kitchen #KDS

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