#what is cloud computing and how it works

[computerguru-blogs]

Which Technology Is Making Quantum Computing Easier To Access And Adopt?

What type of Technology is making quantum computing easier to access and adopt?

There are several technologies and platforms that are making quantum computing more accessible and easier to adopt:

1.Cloud-based quantum computing platforms: Several companies, including IBM, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, offer cloud-based quantum computing platforms that allow users to run quantum algorithms and experiments remotely using web interfaces or APIs. Read more

[analyticspursuit]

The Power of Cloud Computing in Data Science: How It Enables Faster, More Efficient Analysis

In this video, we're going to explore the power of cloud computing in data science. Cloud computing is a technology that enables users to access resources online, without having to install or manage software on their own.

Clouds enable data scientists to access large data sets and sophisticated machine learning algorithms without directly accessing the data. This allows us to run our analyses faster and more efficiently, leading to better insights and decision-making. So make sure to check out this video to learn more about the power of cloud computing in data science!

To read more about cloud computing in data science, check out this blog.

[lbhslefttiddie]

I haven’t seen you around much here lately, so I just wanted to say I hope you’re doing well ^^ . If you have any life challenges going on right now, I believe in you to conquer them!!!

thank you!!! the life challenges is my phone and computer both had a stroke and died within a month of each other 😔 it was super cursed but im cool im being very brave about it

[jihnari]

heard rumors of the hackers trying to get ao3 to pay them $30k to stop the attack? so, what, "this attack is taking too long and is more expensive than we thought it would be and we require additional funds to keep it up so uhhh if you could pay us that would be great"??? yes im sure ao3 is very incentivized to give you money

[volinare]

STOOOOOOP wtf is wrong with youuuuuuu. Fucking 76288 fucking that is NOT a thing!! This "desktop" only has six of the things I have on my desktop?? I'm not great at computers but I genuinely do not understand the issssuuuueeeeee

[techtoio]

The Rise of Quantum Computing: What You Need to Know

Introduction

Quantum computing is poised to revolutionize the tech industry, promising to solve problems beyond the reach of classical computers. As this futuristic technology rapidly advances, it’s essential to understand its basics, potential, and implications. This article will delve into what quantum computing is, how it works, and why it matters. Read to continue

[laureleikirsch]

me, using skills that in 2013 were just enough to get my certified in desktop publishing:

my coworker who seems to be about my age, possibly a couple of years older: YOU'RE A COMPUTER GENIUS

[ms-demeanor]

So You Need To Buy A Computer But You Don't Know What Specs Are Good These Days

Hi.

This is literally my job.

Lots of people are buying computers for school right now or are replacing computers as their five-year-old college laptop craps out so here's the standard specs you should be looking for in a (windows) computer purchase in August 2023.

PROCESSOR

Intel i5 (no older than 10th Gen)

Ryzen 7

You can get away with a Ryzen 5 but an intel i3 should be an absolute last resort. You want at least an intel i5 or a Ryzen 7 processor. The current generation of intel processors is 13, but anything 10 or newer is perfectly fine. DO NOT get a higher performance line with an older generation; a 13th gen i5 is better than an 8th gen i7. (Unfortunately I don't know enough about ryzens to tell you which generation is the earliest you should get, but staying within 3 generations is a good rule of thumb)

RAM

8GB absolute minimum

If you don't have at least 8GB RAM on a modern computer it's going to be very, very slow. Ideally you want a computer with at least 16GB, and it's a good idea to get a computer that will let you add or swap RAM down the line (nearly all desktops will let you do this, for laptops you need to check the specs for Memory and see how many slots there are and how many slots are available; laptops with soldered RAM cannot have the memory upgraded - this is common in very slim laptops)

STORAGE

256GB SSD

Computers mostly come with SSDs these days; SSDs are faster than HDDs but typically have lower storage for the same price. That being said: SSDs are coming down in price and if you're installing your own drive you can easily upgrade the size for a low cost. Unfortunately that doesn't do anything for you for the initial purchase.

A lot of cheaper laptops will have a 128GB SSD and, because a lot of stuff is stored in the cloud these days, that can be functional. I still recommend getting a bit more storage than that because it's nice if you can store your music and documents and photos on your device instead of on the cloud. You want to be able to access your files even if you don't have internet access.

But don't get a computer with a big HDD instead of getting a computer with a small SSD. The difference in speed is noticeable.

SCREEN (laptop specific)

Personally I find that touchscreens have a negative impact on battery life and are easier to fuck up than standard screens. They are also harder to replace if they get broken. I do not recommend getting a touch screen unless you absolutely have to.

A lot of college students especially tend to look for the biggest laptop screen possible; don't do that. It's a pain in the ass to carry a 17" laptop around campus and with the way that everything is so thin these days it's easier to damage a 17" screen than a 14" screen.

On the other end of that: laptops with 13" screens tend to be very slim devices that are glued shut and impossible to work on or upgrade.

Your best bet (for both functionality and price) is either a 14" or a 15.6" screen. If you absolutely positively need to have a 10-key keyboard on your laptop, get the 15.6". If you need something portable more than you need 10-key, get a 14"

FORM FACTOR (desktop specific)

If you purchase an all-in-one desktop computer I will begin manifesting in your house physically. All-in-ones take away every advantage desktops have in terms of upgradeability and maintenance; they are expensive and difficult to repair and usually not worth the cost of disassembling to upgrade.

There are about four standard sizes of desktop PC: All-in-One (the size of a monitor with no other footprint), Tower (Big! probably at least two feet long in two directions), Small Form Factor Tower (Very moderate - about the size of a large shoebox), and Mini/Micro/Tiny (Small! about the size of a small hardcover book).

If you are concerned about space you are much better off getting a MicroPC and a bracket to put it on your monitor than you are getting an all-in-one. This will be about a million percent easier to work on than an all-in-one and this way if your monitor dies your computer is still functional.

Small form factor towers and towers are the easiest to work on and upgrade; if you need a burly graphics card you need to get a full size tower, but for everything else a small form factor tower will be fine. Most of our business sales are SFF towers and MicroPCs, the only time we get something larger is if we have to put a $700 graphics card in it. SFF towers will accept small graphics cards and can handle upgrades to the power supply; MicroPCs can only have the RAM and SSD upgraded and don't have room for any other components or their own internal power supply.

WARRANTY

Most desktops come with either a 1 or 3 year warranty; either of these is fine and if you want to upgrade a 1 year to a 3 year that is also fine. I've generally found that if something is going to do a warranty failure on desktop it's going to do it the first year, so you don't get a hell of a lot of added mileage out of an extended warranty but it doesn't hurt and sometimes pays off to do a 3-year.

Laptops are a different story. Laptops mostly come with a 1-year warranty and what I recommend everyone does for every laptop that will allow it is to upgrade that to the longest warranty you can get with added drop/damage protection. The most common question our customers have about laptops is if we can replace a screen and the answer is usually "yes, but it's going to be expensive." If you're purchasing a low-end laptop, the parts and labor for replacing a screen can easily cost more than half the price of a new laptop. HOWEVER, the way that most screens get broken is by getting dropped. So if you have a warranty with drop protection, you just send that sucker back to the factory and they fix it for you.

So, if it is at all possible, check if the manufacturer of a laptop you're looking at has a warranty option with drop protection. Then, within 30 days (though ideally on the first day you get it) of owning your laptop, go to the manufacturer site, register your serial number, and upgrade the warranty. If you can't afford a 3-year upgrade at once set a reminder for yourself to annually renew. But get that drop protection, especially if you are a college student or if you've got kids.

And never, ever put pens or pencils on your laptop keyboard. I've seen people ruin thousand dollar, brand-new laptops that they can't afford to fix because they closed the screen on a ten cent pencil. Keep liquids away from them too.

LIFESPAN

There's a reasonable chance that any computer you buy today will still be able to turn on and run a program or two in ten years. That does not mean that it is "functional."

At my office we estimate that the functional lifespan of desktops is 5-7 years and the functional lifespan of laptops is 3-5 years. Laptops get more wear and tear than desktops and desktops are easier to upgrade to keep them running. At 5 years for desktops and 3 years for laptops you should look at upgrading the RAM in the device and possibly consider replacing the SSD with a new (possibly larger) model, because SSDs and HDDs don't last forever.

COST

This means that you should think of your computers as an annual investment rather than as a one-time purchase. It is more worthwhile to pay $700 for a laptop that will work well for five years than it is to pay $300 for a laptop that will be outdated and slow in one year (which is what will happen if you get an 8th gen i3 with 8GB RAM). If you are going to get a $300 laptop try to get specs as close as possible to the minimums I've laid out here.

If you have to compromise on these specs, the one that is least fixable is the processor. If you get a laptop with an i3 processor you aren't going to be able to upgrade it even if you can add more RAM or a bigger SSD. If you have to get lower specs in order to afford the device put your money into the processor and make sure that the computer has available slots for upgrade and that neither the RAM nor the SSD is soldered to the motherboard. (one easy way to check this is to search "[computer model] RAM upgrade" on youtube and see if anyone has made a video showing what the inside of the laptop looks like and how much effort it takes to replace parts)

Computers are expensive right now. This is frustrating, because historically consumer computer prices have been on a downward trend but since 2020 that trend has been all over the place. Desktop computers are quite expensive at the moment (August 2023) and decent laptops are extremely variably priced.

If you are looking for a decent, upgradeable laptop that will last you a few years, here are a couple of options that you can purchase in August 2023 that have good prices for their specs:

14" Lenovo - $670 - 11th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD

15.6" HP - $540 - 11th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD

14" Dell - $710 - 12th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD

If you are looking for a decent, affordable desktop that will last you a few years, here are a couple of options that you can purchase in August 2023 that have good prices for their specs:

SFF HP - $620 - 10th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD

SFF Lenovo - $560 - Ryzen 7 5000 series, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD

Dell Tower - $800 - 10th-gen i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD

If I were going to buy any of these I'd probably get the HP laptop or the Dell Tower. The HP Laptop is actually a really good price for what it is.

Anyway happy computering.

[crypticchild]

bus stop crush who has a gf is back :(((

[newstrendline]

What is cloud technology

What is Cloud Technology? Cloud technology is changing the way businesses operate. With it, companies can access their IT infrastructure, applications and data from anywhere with an internet connection. There are many different types of cloud computing. These include public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud. They can also be categorized by deployment model and service model. What is cloud…

[pseudowho]

"Itadori-kun. Good. You're on time."

Kento checked his watch, clearly distracted, as Yuuji approached with pocketed hands. The shopping centre was bustling, a hive of activity around them. Yuuji ruffled his own hair, unsure.

"Yeah, I just...wasn't sure why we're meeting here, is all."

Still distracted, Kento tapped off a message, before slipping his phone back into his inner pocket. He rarely offered smiles when there was business yet to be done, and today was no different.

"I was hoping for your assistance with a few errands before your school term ends. I'm sure you'll be busy with your friends after then, and I shouldn't like to take your vacation time. I'm sure you're looking forward to the break."

In truth, Yuuji deflated just at the thought of it; though he was an orphan amongst orphans, he didn't favour empty time in the way he used to, with memory and the devil as his constant companions. Still he smiled.

"Yeah! Can't wait. Got...got loads planned."

Kento read Yuuji, shrewd for a moment, before hyper-focusing on the task at hand.

"Quite. Come along, Yuuji."

Yuuji grew more and more flummoxed as Kento's list of errands tickered out before them. Too polite to question why, and with absolute faith that Kento had good reason to drag him along for the ride, Yuuji stomached it all with confused good grace.

Yuuji blinked, momentarily blinded by the flash of light in the photo booth. He grinned for the next photo, and Kento's cool deep voice rumbled past the curtain.

"No smiling, Yuuji."

"H-huh? How did you know?"

"Was I wrong?"

"Uh...sorry, Nanamin."

As a strip of tiny poe-faced photos clicked into the dispenser, Yuuji couldn't understand why Nanamin was so satisfied by such bland pictures. Yuuji was, however, touched; clearly Nanamin liked wallet photos as he liked his suits-- beige. Kento clipped across Yuuji's thoughts.

"Do you like the beach, Yuuji?"

Yuuji blinked. "The beach...?"

"Yes. The beach. Do you like it?"

"Uh...I guess. Why?"

Kento hummed, satisfied, not answering Yuuji's question. Instead, as he passed Yuuji his coffee, he stood and leaned around Yuuji, gently pulling at the back of Yuuji's collar. Yuuji twisted to look, baffled now, and Kento released him, sitting with another satisfied hum. He tapped on his phone again.

"Your identification documents are in your room at Jujutsu High?"

"Nanamin...what's this about?"

"It's important to take care of your documents, Yuuji."

"...so you're just...checking up on me?"

Kento smiled, polite. "Of course." A pause. "I assume you'd like to come back to ours for dinner?"

Yuuji brimmed with unasked questions. "I don't need to-- I'm not really that hungry-- honestly a coffee is great--"

"Mrs.Nanami has cooked extra."

"God, yes, please, I'm starving."

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The summer vacation approached Yuuji like a black cloud. He could not bring himself to be excited for enforced inactivity; his casual offers to assist staff on missions fell on deaf ears. Gojo laughed Yuuji off with a clap on the shoulder. Yuuji smiled away the gentle rejection; he did not have the stomach to beg to work.

Instead, Yuuji stewed, leaning on his rainy windowsill until cicada buzz replaced the pitter-patter of water on earth. Late July arrived, unwelcome, and Yuuji steeped in a pit of dread.

At 2am, on the first day of summer vacation, Yuuji's phone rang. Bleary-eyed, and flat, he looked away from his computer screen and lowered his headset. He looked at his screen with a lurching gut; he answered the phone.

"Nanamin?"

A voice, rusty with sleeplessness. "Ah, Yuuji. I apologise for waking you at this hour. I need help with a mission. Are you available?"

Yuuji perked up immediately, tail wagging. "Y-yeah! Yeah, totally! I can be ready...er...in ten? Yeah?"

Kento's voice smiled. "Good. I'll pick you up."

Yuuji danced from his desk chair, shaking off his joggers and wriggling into his uniform with a grin, ruffling his hair before the mirror. In barely two minutes, he was ready, a spring in his step as he headed to wait outside. He felt so light, so relieved, and he grabbed his keys, opening his door to--

"Oh, shi--...Nanamin?"

Kento stood at the door, comfortable in loose clothes, and...sandals? It was an odd contrast to the backdrop of night, and Kento's usual attire. Kento smiled again, polite.

"Yes. Are you ready?"

"Y-yeah, I'm...how did you get here so fast?"

"The roads are quiet at this time of night, Yuuji."

A pause. "...Nanamin."

"Yuuji."

"Are you fucking with me?"

"Language."

When Yuuji opened his mouth to argue back, his jaw dropped, as you bustled up the corridor behind Kento with a sleepy grin on your face. You slapped Kento's elbow, shooting him a chastising look.

"Morning, Yuuji! Excited?" You pressed a kiss to his cheek, whirling past to invade his bedroom. Yuuji was speechless, horribly confused.

Kento checked his watch as you bustled around. Tapped his foot as you bustled around. Tutted, and leaned pointedly round the corner to stare at you as you bustled around.

"Darling, we're going to be la--"

"--don't give me attitude, Kento, we are about 6 hours early, and you know it--"

"--it pays off to check-in ahead of schedule--"

"--hush. I'll have words with you later."

Kento bristled, pugnacious. You walked out of Yuuji's room with his rucksack in hand. You pinched his chin, gesturing him along with your hand.

"Come on, Yuuji. Before Mr.Organised has conniptions."

Yuuji felt himself swept along by Kento, who still scoffed, mulish. The night air smelled sweet, and Yuuji found himself gently bodied into the back seat of Kento's car.

"--Nanamin-- I don't understand--"

You shot Kento a pointed look from the passenger seat. At first frowning, then with dawning realisation, you scolded Kento in disbelief.

"...you haven't told him."

Kento almost smirked as he rolled the car away over gravel. "I don't know what you mean."

You looked from Kento, to Yuuji, and back again. You reached slowly into Kento's bag, rummaging. Yuuji felt a glossy little book pressed into his hands.

"...a...passport?"

"...Kento didn't tell you."

Never one for expecting a gift, Yuuji couldn't see one when placed before his eyes. "Tell me what? Nanamin?"

Kento chuckled to himself, his eyes glimmering at Yuuji in the rearview mirror.

"Our flight is at 10:30, Yuuji."

Yuuji peered into the seat beside him; a new suitcase, neatly labelled with a luggage tag in his name. He yanked it to the seat beside him, unzipping it, and finding it full of new swimsuits, t-shirts, shorts, sandals, everything he could possibly need. He opened the glossy new passport in his hands, and hiccupped, his breath catching in his chest.

Yuuji rammed into realisation with prickling eyes, and a quiet sniffle, his eyes hidden in the dark. His reply was thick, stilted.

"Our flight...to where?"

"Malaysia. Now give me back that passport. You'll only lose it."

[rin-may-1103]

The Wrong Robin Au (part four)

Previous | Master Post | Next

Danny slowed his car down, staring at the black iron gate coming into view; Bats and ivy welded on in an elegant pattern, obviously more thought-out than The Drake's ducks had been. He had to give it to Tim, the kid had been right about how stupid the ducks looked.

Glancing around, Danny found he was completely alone on the dirt road. The gray sky slowly brightened as the sun climbed higher in the distance, trees swaying in the gentle breeze, and birds chirped.

If it hadn't been for his experiences at Vlad's place, he would have found the scenery comforting, maybe even inviting. But the knowledge that this was the home of a billionaire, one that went out at night to fight crime like a furry on crack nonetheless, ruined it.

Maybe he should just head back to the motel...

...

Fuck it, when had Phantom ever backed down? That's right! Never! Danny was going to stick to his metaphorical guns and follow through with his admittedly stupid plan.

Taking his foot off the brake; Danny activated his intangibility, shared it with the car, and drove through the gate. (look, what were his powers for if not to make his life convenient? He deserved it after literally dying for them. AND the gate was probably locked. There was no way he could convince someone to let him in at this time in the morning, so...)

Danny kept an eye on his surroundings as he drove, he doubted Bruce Wayne would have ghost vultures working for him, but that doesn't mean Danny wouldn't be prepared if he did.

Eventually, a large building came into view. Its gothic architecture and obvious timely design set it apart from Vlad's modern monstrosity of a castle. Danny could just tell this was a home for a family with old money; the weathered roof and aged water fountain told stories of the people who used to live there. This was a home, not just a house.

Pulling his car over and parking, Danny quickly sent a mental prayer to the home's ancestors. He hoped they could forgive him for what he was about to do.

Grabbing his backup phone and his keys, Danny tossed the car door open and stepped out. Immediately his senses were clouded with grief and anger. It was so strong he almost lost his footing. The house was just drenched in the emotions, tendrils reaching out and wrapping around anything and everything.

Closing his eyes, Danny held his breath so he could focus on blocking the emotions out. (flashes of someone else's memories rushed past his mind; a glimpse of a young boy sitting in a library reading a book. An older man sitting next to him silently. In another flash, the two were now in a dark cave, the light of a computer the only thing illuminating them as the older man draped a blanket across the boy's back. whispered words of sincere promises echoed in his head.)

He had believed Tim, but he hadn't expected it to be this bad. Ancients, this was worse than when he had to deal with Spectra.

Batman definitely needed therapy.

...

Maybe Jazz should be Robin instead, she'd know how to handle this properly. but Jazz wasn't here right now, she was in Sweden learning all about mental health. Which meant Danny would have to do this himself.

yay.

He had two options; One, he sits down with the man and they have a sincere and very emotional conversation. Or two, he beats it into the guy's head that he needs to stop going out and trying to get himself killed. Based on everything he knows about Batman? It was going to be number two that was going to get results... Well, at least Danny had experience punching things until he got what he wanted. (even if it didn't always work.)

Shaking himself out of his mind, Danny started making his way to the front door. It was past five in the morning, Bruce should be home now. Whether he was sleeping like Danny would assume he usually did, was a different question altogether.

Glancing around the door, Danny found there was a large rope hanging to the left. Vlad had the same thing at his place, it was an old-fashioned doorbell.

shrugging, Danny pulled on the rope and waited.

and waited.

and waited.

After a minute or two, Danny pulled the rope again. Suddenly the door swung open to reveal an older man dressed in a nice waistcoat and trousers.

"Can I help you?" the man asked, a British accent completing the look.

Danny blinked for a second before quickly focusing back on his task. "My name's Danny. Bruce is being a dumbass who needs to take a chill pill and take a step back from hospitalizing criminals. Can I come in?"

It was the old man's turn to stare and blink at him. After a minute, the man stepped back and opened the door, his eyebrow raised. "I would like to see how you plan to tell this to Master Bruce. His office is this way, young man."

"May I ask what exactly you're doing here?" the man asked, closing the door behind Danny.

Danny shrugged, "I'm here to beat some sense into him. He's going to get himself killed and no one wants to see what happens when he does."

The butler, because the rich fruitloop would obviously have one, hummed as he nodded his head in agreement. "I see. Maybe this is what he needs then. he won't listen to me, no matter how much I nag him."

Nothing else was said as he guided Danny through the manor, eventually stopping at a fancy dark wooden door. "Master Bruce, you appear to have a visitor." Then He opened the door and gestured for Danny to enter.

He only had a moment to ponder how he should do this before he entered the room. He should keep his powers hidden, for now at least.

He was greeted with the sight of an exhausted man in a bathrobe sitting at his desk and staring out the window. He was clutching a very worn and loved book in his hands, his brows slightly furrowed. (Danny noted that it was the same book the kid had been reading, The Hero and the Crown... or something like that, Danny hadn't really gotten a good look at the title.)

The butler stepped back, closing the door, and stood next to it to maybe await his new orders. Ones he probably wouldn't get any time soon, if the way Bruce hadn't moved or responded meant anything.

Well, if the old man wanted to see this then who was Danny to stop him?

Stepping forward, Danny leaned over the desk and slapped the back of Bruce's head. The man swiftly turned and stared at him, raising one of his hands to touch his head in shock. Danny heard the butler choke in surprise but ignored him. He could only pray to Clockwork that Bruce didn't kill him for this.

"You are being absolutely idiotic, dude." Danny declared. "Do you think Jason would have wanted you to act like this?" Bruce stood up, his chair slamming into the wall, his eyes burning in anger. "No? Then get your shit together and be the man he would be proud of."

Bruce lunged over the desk, his fist pulled back to hit Danny. It was just like Danny expected, just like Tim had told him, the man was letting his emotions control his actions. Dodging to the side, Danny continued talking, "This going out every night, fighting more and more dangerous and outlandish people all by yourself? It's going to get you killed."

Bruce gave up on trying to punch him, instead, he threw himself forward and body-slammed Danny to the floor. Danny coughed, quickly blocking his face as Bruce took a swing at him. Using the man's blind anger to his advantage, Danny kicked Bruce in the chest and sent him flying into his desk. "Jason's dead. It sucks. and it hurts. It's probably the worst pain you've ever experienced, but there's nothing you can do about it."

Danny glared at the man as he scrambled into a crouch, waiting to see what Bruce did next. "Shut up," the man growled, shoving himself up and away from his desk. He picked up his stapler; he was probably either going to use it as a blunt weapon or throw it at Danny. Widening his stance, Danny got ready to dodge or lunge.

He remembered reading about him, online when he first became Phantom. He remembered reading about Robin and Batman and how they worked together to protect Gotham. How they tirelessly worked day and night to put their rogues away every time they got out again.

He remembered seeing pictures of Batman standing next to little Robin, a proud smile on his face as the police took the criminals away. Pictures of the man helping and protecting Robin whenever the boy couldn't handle whatever mess he had gotten into. There was even a memorable one of Batman scolding an obviously sheepish Robin, a knocked-out Riddler slumped behind him.

He had wished so badly for someone to help him back them, for someone to be his Batman when times got hard. He remembered how devastated he was when it turned out the only person like him was Vlad. Vlad, who had wanted to murder his father and marry his mother. Vlad, who had overshadowed people to gain more wealth and power. Vlad, who hadn't seen how wrong it was to try and clone him.

He remembered the comments and videos from the citizens of Gotham, cheering for their heroes when they succeeded in capturing the rogues. How they still supported them when they failed. It was nothing like Amity's reaction to him.

He remembered how Gothom reacted when Robin was pronounced dead. How the city had cried and raged. He felt it all the way over in Amity, the grief and anger. The whole city had come together to mourn the boy who protected them. Even two years later, Danny could still feel the echoes.

"Jason's dead. He's dead and gone and you're letting yourself get consumed with your grief. but you made a promise Bruce."

Danny knew he had, it was the same promise Danny had made just four years ago.

Bruce's eyes widened and the anger that was surging in his eyes froze for just a moment. His hand loosened around the stapler but didn't let it go. The butler looked concerned, unsure if he should interfere or not.

"You made a promise all those years ago when you first dawned that stupid bat suit. You promised to do everything in your power to help your city. To protect it. Robin made the same promise. When he took up his suit. They both did."

Bruce's jaw tensed, his eyes narrowing. Danny lowered his body, still ready to dodge at a moment's notice.

"You made a promise to your son, Bruce. Even if he didn't know it. One that you couldn't keep."

Bruce threw the stapler, making Danny jump to the side to dodge it. His mistake was not keeping an eye on what Bruce did after throwing it. The man quickly rushed up to him, eyes blazing in anger. "You don't know anything!" he cried, his fist slamming into Danny's jaw. Danny staggered back but ducked under the next punch.

"I lost my son! I wasn't there!" Bruce shouted, kicking Danny's legs out from under him. Danny's back hit the floor, knocking the breath out of him. Bruce followed him down, breaking his nose with another punch to the face. "I promised I would protect him and I wasn't there!"

Danny growled, catching Bruce's fist in his hand and sending a punch at the side of Bruce's head. Bruce tried to lean back, Danny's fist clipping his forehead. Bruce grunted, reaching up to grab Danny's fist to keep him from punching him again.

"You couldn't protect him! I get it, it sucks!" Danny shouted back, flashes of Dani's melting form grasping at his shirt in panic pulled to the front of his mind. "It leaves a black hole in the center of your chest! It sucks all the warmth out of you, leaving only the cold bitter knowledge that you couldn't save him!" (that he couldn't save her)

Bruce pulled his fist out of Danny's hand, slamming his elbow down into Danny's chest and twisting Danny's right arm sharply in an attempt to break it. Danny kept talking though, ignoring the pain as he pulled his arm out of Bruce's grasp, "But Jason made a promise! and you're doing nothing to keep it!"

Danny grabbed onto Bruce's bathrobe and flipped them so Bruce was the one on the floor now. Quickly reaching up, Danny grabbed both of Bruce's hands and held them as still as he could. Bruce was strong, but Danny had years of fighting Skulker and the other super-strong ghosts under his belt. "He made that promise knowing that you had made the same one!"

Bruce growled, throwing his head up in an attempt to hit Danny with it. Danny leaned back, accidentally loosening his grip just enough for Bruce to break out of it. Bruce shoved him off of him, making Danny slide back and hit a chair.

Grunting, Danny stood up and lunged at Bruce. Bruce dodged to the side, dropping down to pick the stapler back up. "I can't claim to know what Jason would have wanted," Danny spat, backing up to give himself more space as Bruce stepped toward him. "but I know as someone who made the same promise, I wouldn't have wanted you to change into what you are now!"

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Danny, "Yeah, and what's that?" he growled.

"A careless, suicidal, moron," Danny growled back.

Bruce froze, stopping in place as he stared at Danny.

Danny took his chance to drive his point home; standing up straight, he raised his hands up in surrender. "He was your son. He looked up to you for protection. For guidance. And sure, maybe you weren't the best dad, and maybe you made mistakes. But you were his dad."

Danny stepped forward, watching as the butler stepped forward to reach out to the man. "and what kind of son would want his dad to kill himself?"

Bruce dropped his stapler, his eyes falling to the ground and catching onto the book he had dropped earlier. It was opened to the front page, written words in messy writing covering it.

"You need to stop, Bruce," Danny said, slowly crouching down and reaching out for the book. Bruce watched him as he stood up, the book still open to the front page in his hands. Jason's writing visible to all of them.

"you couldn't keep your promise to protect him. It sucks and it hurts. but you can keep his promise. The same promise you made all those years ago."

Bruce looked up at him, his blue eyes filling with tears, the butler's hand resting on his shoulder. Danny stepped forward again, holding the book out for Bruce to take.

"You can't protect Gotham if you're dead."

Jason's handwritten note stared up at them, the ink messy and smudged.

'to the best dad in the world and the many adventures we'll go on!'

and Bruce? Bruce crumbled to the floor with a sob, leaving Danny to stand in front of him. Blood running down his face, staining his hoodie and pink Hello Kitty pants, the book still held out with steady hands.

Next

[futurewdclandonorris]

Workout | Lando Norris⁴

Pairings: Lando Norris x fem!reader

Summary: Lando and you have different ideas on working from home

Warnings: smut is my plot, unprotected sex, long read (2.9k+ words)

A/N: ending is filthy, in a way. I need to be drenched in holy water and restrained from writing smut from now on for my own sanity.

It was one of those days when Lando and you didn’t feel like leaving the house even though you still had things to do. With that in mind, you decided to work from home and well, Lando also decided to work from home. Workout. In front of you and your laptop.

Lando started his warm up long before you settled on the living room couch. Walking past him with your computer under your arm, you murmured “I can think of a better workout.” very nonchalantly.

He perked up, his eyebrows shooting up and bliss of curiosity filled his green eyes. He crawled to you on his knees and tilted his head like a puppy. “What-What do you mean?”

You peeked at him over the screen of your laptop. If this was a cartoon, you’d be able to see question marks pop up above his head, but he was just smiling stupidly at you.

“Nothing.” you said at last, averting your eyes back to the screen.

He gave you a confused look, murmuring an “alright” before jumping straight into it. You let a silent groan of frustration. Sitting with your laptop on your knees with a good view of him, how could he not get it?

As Lando continued his workout routine, you couldn't help but steal glances at him every so often. His muscular form was enticing, and you couldn't help but feel a certain heat building within you. You tried to ignore the feeling, tried to focus on your work, but it was no use. Lando's movements were hypnotizing, and you found yourself getting lost in your own thoughts, watching him over the rim of the screen.

There was a bead of sweat gliding down his forehead, that you followed so closely, sliding down to the side of his face to his neck and finally disappearing under his shirt that was already sticking to his body.

You cleared your throat, trying to shake off the thoughts that were clouding your judgment. Lando didn't seem to notice, still focused on his workout. You let out a soft sigh, feeling the heat between your legs intensify. Typing your fingers off, you tried to distract (and fool) yourself by pretending to be oh so busy, but if someone asked what it is that you’re working on, you wouldn’t be able to tell them.

However, you’d be able to tell them how you wish his sweat would mingle with yours, your bodies entwined, and both of you gasping for air. His muscular arms wrapped around your body, hot breath on your neck as he whispered dirty things in your ear--Ugh! Such thoughts caused another frustrated groan to escape you, and not a silent one this time. Averting his eyes to you, that finally seemed to catch his attention.

“You know,” he said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “I think I know what you meant earlier.”

“Oh, yeah?” you raised your eyebrows, trying to act unfazed, looking back at your laptop.

“Yeah, and it won’t be too long before I finish and give you all the attention you need.”

“Careful, don’t overwork yourself. We don’t want you to get injured.” you warned in a playful manner.

“Of course not, that’s why you’ll be doing all the work.” that finally made you snap your eyes to him to meet his grinning face followed with a wink while he bent over to one side, doing his stretches.

You couldn't deny the heat that flared within you at his words. Lando had always known how to push your buttons, and you couldn't help but feel the sudden urge to give in to his desires. With a deep inhale, you set your laptop aside and walked over to him. Lando's eyes widened in surprise as you straddled him, your hands gripping his sweat-drenched shirt.

"Is this what you want?" you whispered in his ear, grinding your hips against his. He let out a low groan, his hands finding their way to your waist.

"I thought you were busy." he teased, his lips trailing down your neck.

"I am. Busy wanting you." you moaned, your fingers finding their way to his sweaty curls and pulling him into a heated kiss.

The lips that met yours were softer than you imagined, and tasted like salt, sweat and the mint of his toothpaste. You could feel his hard muscles pressed against your body, and you moaned softly as he nibbled on your bottom lip. He pulled you closer by the waist, your lips moving in perfect sync, tongues exploring each other's mouths as the heat between you grew more intense.

Breaking the kiss, you looked at him with lust-filled eyes. "I want you, Lando," you breathed out, trailing your hand down his chest.

He didn't need any more encouragement. Lando stood up and carried you to the bedroom. He laid down with you on top of him. His hands went up your shirt, sliding slowly up your skin and making you shiver. You could feel your bra rubbing against your sensitive nipples, and the sensation combined with Lando's lips against your neck, his tongue teasing you, and his hands on your waist was enough to drive you crazy.

He pulled your shirt over your head and unclasped your bra all at once. Your nipples hardened at the draft of cool air that raced down your body. He brushed his fingers over them, circling your nipples slowly before finally teasing your areolas and pulling on them gently.

"God, you're so hot." he moaned, sucking one of your nipples into his mouth while his fingers teased the other.

"Make me hotter." you moaned back, grinding your hips against his while pulling him closer.

"I can do that." he smirked, his hand finding its way down your pants to rub against your soaked panties.

"Don't tease me." you moaned, your head falling back.

Even with you on top of him, Lando was the dominant one. You were his to enjoy, his to use. His to play with. He pulled your panties aside and slid a finger inside you. You moaned at the sudden intrusion, your back arching back from the pleasure. His tongue circled your elicited nipple before he bit it teasingly. His free hand played with your free nipple, pinching it and rolling it between his fingers.

Pulling his left hand out of your panties, he finished unbuttoning your pants and tugged down on them, wanting to take them off. You got the message and got off him for a split second in order to do so. That gave him an open window to remove his shirt and settle flat on the bed.

“Sit on my face.” he ordered.

You stopped undressing. You could feel the heat rushing into your cheeks and you shyly put down your head, looking away. It was something you’ve never done. Not with Lando, not with anyone. Butterflies in your stomach flew like crazy. You finally felt brave to look at him, your lips parting slightly. He noticed your hesitation and smiled.

"Trust me." his hand found yours, his thumb caressing the back of yours.

You could see the innocence in his eyes, as if he had no idea what you were so afraid of. You quickly pulled your panties off, and without hesitation, straddled his face, your legs on either side of his head, and glided upwards. The sight of him under you, his cheeks caressing your thighs, his lips curled into a smile made you shudder pleasantly.

Lando's hands held your hips, his thumbs teasing your waist, urging you to go on. Your body was tingling all over, and you felt like you were about to explode. Suddenly, you dropped your hips, making Lando moan between your legs. You could feel his lips against your inner thighs. His hands found their way to your ass, his fingers digging into your soft flesh.

“Fuck, you're so wet.” he groaned, his tongue licking up every inch of you, reaching your clit in an instant.

No wonder, you thought; it was the hottest thing you’ve ever heard.

You moaned as his tongue circled it slowly, stopping every now and then to flick it. He let out a deep groan, and you could feel his tongue vibrating against your clit. You started grinding yourself against his face, feeling yourself already on the edge. You gripped at his hair as he pushed a finger inside you, slowly and gently. He sucked on your clit and pulled it into his mouth to tease it with his tongue.

He moved his tongue to your entrance and began licking your walls before moving back to your clit. It was enough to make you lose control. The pleasure from his tongue and fingers sent you over the edge, your entire body spasming as you came hard against his mouth, only his strong arms preventing you from moving forward.

"Fuck." you moaned as you caught your breath, leaning down on him.

"Turn around.” he lightly tapped your ass, a devilish grin on his face.

Your breath hitched and lips parted as if you wanted something to say, but decided against it. You could feel your cheeks burning red. You gulped down heavily and turned around. These things are not something you plan, they just happen.

Lando held you in place by the hips as you sat on his face once more, his tongue reaching your clit almost instantly. You let out a loud moan, gripping onto the sheets. His tongue circled it, flicking it before he sucked on it. He pushed his tongue inside you, licking your walls in soft, sensual motions.

Your hands found the waistband of his shorts and slid it down quickly enough alongside with his boxers. His erection sprung free, long and hard, and your eyes widened at the sight of it. But you had no time to waste admiring him for you already gripped him in your hand.

“Mm, good girl.” Lando moaned against you, proud that you got the message. “Keep going.”

You began stroking his length slowly at first, still getting used to the feeling. But it didn’t take long until you were moving your hand in sync with his tongue, guiding his head to your clit. Lando let out a low groan as you slid your hand up and down, your grip tightening at every slow motion, your hand sliding up to the tip before going all the way down again.

He kept licking you, his tongue sliding in and out of your entrance, and his hands gripped your hips, pushing you down harder against his face. You let out a loud moan as he pushed the tip of his tongue against your g-spot, sliding it up and down. His hands slid up your thighs, slowly making their way to your hips and ass.

You decided it was your turn to tease him now. Sticking out your tongue, you ran it over his head.

“Fuck,” Lando hissed, his head falling onto the mattress, but only momentarily.

His hip bucked up, begging you to take more of him. You took him inside your mouth, letting your tongue explore every inch of his shaft. You slowly licked your way up and down, feeling him get more and more excited. You could feel his hands pulling you closer to him, desperate for more. You moved faster and faster, taking a little more of him each time until you couldn’t possibly fit any more. You pulled back, his dick wet with your saliva. You slid up again, letting his erection slide between your lips before finally taking him into your mouth once more.

His movements on your pussy slowed down, but his tongue was as hard as ever, teasing your clit and lips with every lick. He let his hands slide up your back and down again, his fingers teasing your ass. One of his fingers circled your entrance before putting pressure on it. It took you aback for a moment. You took him out of your mouth, letting your breaths calm down a little. You could feel his erection pulsing against your wrist. You felt yourself getting closer to orgasm already.

“Fuck, I’m going to cum!” you moaned, your hand squeezing now as you stroked him faster.

“Good. Give it to me.” he grunted, his tongue never stopping its movement, his lips still sucking on your clit.

The pressure was getting unbearable. You could feel him suck harder on your clit as he stroked you faster, your hand matching his rhythm.

“Lando.” you moaned his name as you felt yourself approaching the edge.

He groaned as he sucked on you, your juices spilling onto his face and tongue. You came with a loud moan and trembling body.

Constantly panting and moaning, you watched as Lando turned around and sat against the headboard. He unhooked your legs from around his head and brought you up so that you were sitting on his lap. He leaned against the headboard and pulled you towards him, your legs spread wide around his hips, your back to his chest. You let out a moan and shuddered as his erection slid along your folds.

“What do you want? I can make you feel good.” he whispered in your ear, his fingers teasing your clit.

"Fuck me." you whispered as you turned around, facing him.

You could tell by his look that he had a devilish grin on his face, and you couldn't help but smile back. You could feel yourself getting wet again as he slowly pushed himself inside you. You moaned as he filled you up inch by inch, his hands on your breasts, teasing your nipples. He let out a grunt of pleasure as he filled you all the way up.

"Fuck.” his whisper was already strained.

"Fuck me as hard as you can.” you breathed out heavily, hissing every time he moved inside you.

“Baby, I have to slow down.” he chuckled.

"For fuck’s sake,” you groaned, taking the matters into your own hands.

Turning to face him, you slid him inside you, all the way to the hilt. He moaned, a throaty, almost animalistic moan. He pounded his head back into the headboard, his hands digging into your skin even harder. You could hear him groaning, his body tensing under you.

You smirked, pulling out of him slowly. So that’s how you’re playing this, huh?

You slid out of him once more, only to slam down again. His head fell back against the mattress, his fingers digging into your skin even harder. You repeated the motion a few more times, each time loving his reaction to you teasing him.

“You still want to slow down, baby?” you arched your brow, smirking.

“Fuck me, baby, come on.” Lando groaned heavily, his head hanging from the side, unable to focus his eyes on you.

You took his arousal in your hands and pushed yourself down on him, his tip hitting you deep. You took a moment to let your body adjust to his girth before you began pounding yourself on him. He growled lowly as you kept going. You slipped a hand between your bodies and began rubbing your clit. His chest was heaving as he let out low moans, his fingers digging into your skin.

“Harder.” he grunted out, his hands sliding down to your hips.

You nodded and obeyed, slamming down onto him as hard as you could. You could feel it getting harder for you to keep up with the rhythm. Your muscles started to tense up. Your lips parted as you let out a soft moan. You could feel his tip pressing deep into you, hitting your g-spot with every thrust. You kept moving faster, letting your clit grind against his pelvic bone every now and then. His hands found your hair and he grabbed a chunk of it. He pulled on it, using it as leverage to straighten himself up and meet your face.

“God, you’re so tight.” his breaths were shaky and his voice pitched higher. You could tell he was close, so you moved your hips faster, stroking him harder.

"And you're so loud." you teased, wanting to hear him scream.

He didn't say anything, but pulled on your hair again, a silent affirmation of what you had just stated. You loved the sensation. He pulled harder, his other hand scratching your back. You could tell that his orgasm was close.

“Fuck!” he hissed loudly, his whole body tensing beneath you.

“Cum for me. Cum for me, Lando, baby,” you said in a low voice as you kept moving, his cock pulsing inside you.

He let out a loud groan as you felt his release taking over. His hands pulled on your hair and his cock tensed, shooting his hot cum deep inside you. His release filled you up, spilling out of you. You felt your muscles tense again. His load shot out of you, dripping down his shaft. You could feel his cock throbbing as more of his cum spilled out. You moaned loudly, your muscles twitching. Lando let out a final groan as your own orgasm took hold of you.

Lando’s hands slid down your body slowly until he reached your hips. He slowly let go of your hair, still panting heavily. You sat down on his lap, still straddling him. You looked into his eyes and you couldn't help but smile.

“That was a good workout.”

“Maybe I should consider doing this routine more often.”

“Maybe.” you sneakily smirked, kissing his chest.

[copperbadge]

I have a lot of feelings about the use of AI in Everything These Days, but they're not particularly strong feelings, like I've got other shit going on. That said, when I use a desktop computer, every single file I use in Google Drive now has a constant irritating popup on the right-hand side asking me how Gemini AI Can Help Me. You can't, Gemini. You are in the way. I'm not even mad there's an AI there, I'm mad there's a constantly recurring popup taking up space and attention on my screen.

Here's the problem, however: even Gemini doesn't know how to disable Gemini. I did my own research and then finally, with a deep appreciation of the irony of this, I asked it how to turn it off. It said in any google drive file go to Help > Gemini and there will be an option to turn it off. Guess what isn't a menu item under Help?

I've had a look around at web tutorials for removing or blocking it, but they are either out of date or for the Gemini personal assistant, which I already don't have, and thus cannot turn off. Gemini for Drive is an integrated "service" within Google Drive, which I guess means I'm going to have to look into moving off Google Drive.

So, does anyone have references for a service as seamless and accessible as Google Drive? I need document, spreadsheet, slideshow, and storage, but I don't have any fancy widgets installed or anything. I do technically own Microsoft Office so I suppose I could use that but I've never found its cloud function to actually, uh, function. I could use OneNote for documents if things get desperate but OneNote is very limited overall. I want to be able to open and edit files, including on an Android phone, and I'd prefer if I didn't have to receive a security code in my text messages every time I log in. I also will likely need to be able to give non-users access, but I suppose I could kludge that in Drive as long as I only have to deal with it short-term.

Any thoughts, friends? If I find a good functional replacement I'm happy to post about it once I've tested it.

Also, saying this because I love you guys but if I don't spell it out I will get a bunch of comments about it: If you yourself have managed to banish Gemini from your Drive account including from popping up in individual files, I'm interested! Please share. If you have not actually implemented a solution yourself, rest assured, anything you find I have already tried and it does not work.

[bi-writes]

whats wrong with ai?? genuinely curious <3

okay let's break it down. i'm an engineer, so i'm going to come at you from a perspective that may be different than someone else's.

i don't hate ai in every aspect. in theory, there are a lot of instances where, in fact, ai can help us do things a lot better without. here's a few examples:

ai detecting cancer

ai sorting recycling

some practical housekeeping that gemini (google ai) can do

all of the above examples are ways in which ai works with humans to do things in parallel with us. it's not overstepping--it's sorting, using pixels at a micro-level to detect abnormalities that we as humans can not, fixing a list. these are all really small, helpful ways that ai can work with us.

everything else about ai works against us. in general, ai is a huge consumer of natural resources. every prompt that you put into character.ai, chatgpt? this wastes water + energy. it's not free. a machine somewhere in the world has to swallow your prompt, call on a model to feed data into it and process more data, and then has to generate an answer for you all in a relatively short amount of time.

that is crazy expensive. someone is paying for that, and if it isn't you with your own money, it's the strain on the power grid, the water that cools the computers, the A/C that cools the data centers. and you aren't the only person using ai. chatgpt alone gets millions of users every single day, with probably thousands of prompts per second, so multiply your personal consumption by millions, and you can start to see how the picture is becoming overwhelming.

that is energy consumption alone. we haven't even talked about how problematic ai is ethically. there is currently no regulation in the united states about how ai should be developed, deployed, or used.

what does this mean for you?

it means that anything you post online is subject to data mining by an ai model (because why would they need to ask if there's no laws to stop them? wtf does it matter what it means to you to some idiot software engineer in the back room of an office making 3x your salary?). oh, that little fic you posted to wattpad that got a lot of attention? well now it's being used to teach ai how to write. oh, that sketch you made using adobe that you want to sell? adobe didn't tell you that anything you save to the cloud is now subject to being used for their ai models, so now your art is being replicated to generate ai images in photoshop, without crediting you (they have since said they don't do this...but privacy policies were never made to be human-readable, and i can't imagine they are the only company to sneakily try this). oh, your apartment just installed a new system that will use facial recognition to let their residents inside? oh, they didn't train their model with anyone but white people, so now all the black people living in that apartment building can't get into their homes. oh, you want to apply for a new job? the ai model that scans resumes learned from historical data that more men work that role than women (so the model basically thinks men are better than women), so now your resume is getting thrown out because you're a woman.

ai learns from data. and data is flawed. data is human. and as humans, we are racist, homophobic, misogynistic, transphobic, divided. so the ai models we train will learn from this. ai learns from people's creative works--their personal and artistic property. and now it's scrambling them all up to spit out generated images and written works that no one would ever want to read (because it's no longer a labor of love), and they're using that to make money. they're profiting off of people, and there's no one to stop them. they're also using generated images as marketing tools, to trick idiots on facebook, to make it so hard to be media literate that we have to question every single thing we see because now we don't know what's real and what's not.

the problem with ai is that it's doing more harm than good. and we as a society aren't doing our due diligence to understand the unintended consequences of it all. we aren't angry enough. we're too scared of stifling innovation that we're letting it regulate itself (aka letting companies decide), which has never been a good idea. we see it do one cool thing, and somehow that makes up for all the rest of the bullshit?