#03/365

[mailnews]

365 ADVENTURES - DMC ORIENTE MÉDIO

Pacote para a FÓRMULA 1 na PENÍNSULA ARÁBICA l Ingressos + Hospedagem + Transfers

http://images.mailnews.com.br/mail/365ADVENTURES-03-ABR24/365adventures-03-abr24.html

Informativo publicado pela Mailnews, direcionado aos Agentes de Viagens

[daily-souls]

mothquella 240/365 - 03/06/24

[a-round-of-robyns]

05/03: glow; wc: 365; @jegulus-microfic

“You’re going to absolutely glow tonight, Prongs.” Sirius said as he finished dusting highlighter over James’ cheekbones.

“Yeah, Reg won’t be able to take his eyes off you.” Peter commented from across the room where he and Remus were playing chess while waiting for the other two to finish getting ready.

“Can you not bring up the fact that James is dating my baby brother please?” Sirius asked, an exaggerated look of disgust on his face.

“I thought you supported them Pads” Remus said, a glint of mischief in his eyes

“Yeah Sirius, I thought you supported us?” James joined in.

“Watch it Prongs, I can always take back my blessing-”

“No you won’t, Regulus would kill you.”

“AND, I do support them, I would just rather not be reminded of it all the time.”

“Whatever Sirius, let’s go before Mary drags us down by our ears again.”

All the boys suppressed a shiver at the memory and filed out the door to go down to the common room. As soon as the door opened, they were hit with a wall of sound that had previously been blocked out by the silencing charms on their dorm. Once James reached the bottom of the stairs, he scanned the room for Regulus.

His eyes caught on his boyfriend who was standing right across from him on the other side of the common room. The side of Regulus’ mouth quirked up when they made eye contact. James was overcome with the need to kiss Regulus, and so made his way over, never taking his eyes off Regulus.

“Hi baby.” James muttered, arms circling Regulus’ waist, brushing his lips over Regulus’.

“Hi Jamie.” Regulus replied, “You’re looking very sparkly tonight, did Sirius finally bully you into letting him put you in makeup?”

James beamed down at him, “Do you like it? It’s something called highlighter.”

“You look very pretty, darling.” Regulus said, leaning up to kiss James properly.

James responded very enthusiastically, arms tightening around Regulus, whose hands had somehow found their way into his hair.

He pulled back slightly, nosing at Regulus’ neck. “You think I’m pretty?”

“I do.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Now come back here and kiss me.”

[agirlwithimaan]

When Abu Bakr Zoud said:

"We pray a minimum total of 17 rakah (fard) a day and each rakah has 2 sujood. On average if you spend 10 seconds per sujood that equal only 6 minutes a day. Only 6 minutes our of our 24 hour days in the position that brings us closest to Allah azzawajal. If you pray for an entire year it equals 1.5 days spent in sujood out of 365 days. And if you prayed for 60 years, you would have spent only 75 days out of the 60 years of your life in sujood. That only equals .03% of your life. That's not even one percent. If you want to increase this number, add the night prayer and spend more time beautifying your sujood whenever you pray, so you can meet Allah having spent some of your life in the point where you were closest to Him."❤️‍🩹

[sunny-mercya]

Masterlist

OneShots;

-> Masterlist 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 /

Series;

-> Masterlist / 2 /

Other Accounts -> AO3 | Wattpad | Quotev

-> @mercya-libraries Reblogs & Appreciations of other FanFic's & Co.

-> @ordinary-mercya Blog for Causal things

-> Informations & Rules | Writer Recommends

Request Open!

Series;

Hey, Brother do you still believe in one another?

Heiji Hattori x Male Reader | Platonic! Shinichi Kudo x Brother!Reader

Fandom -> Detective Conan/Case Closed

Status; Ongoing & Being Rewritten

Summary; After Shinichi's disappearance you had lost the ground beneath you. Still you pulled through and stood as tall as you could. Though how much could you take till you break?

Based Songs -> Hey Brother | Saudade | Last Impression | I can't stop my love |

01. Saudade

02. Exhausted

03. Of Jealousy and Blessing

04. Awkward

04.2. Keeping Secrets

05. Nightlife

06. Love Sick

07. Love Letter

08. Therapy

09. (Self)hatred

10. Osaka Trip - Stalking

11. Osaka Trip - Abducted

12. Osaka Trip - Dubious love making

13. Osaka Trip - Fever Migraines

14. Osaka Trip - Rising Hope

15. Osaka Trip - Survival

16. Osaka Trip - Saving Knights

17. Osaka Trip - Recovery and Dates

18.

19.

Given

Heiji Hattori x Male Reader

Fandom -> Detective Conan/Case Closed

Mini Story to Hey, Brother

Status; Complete

Summary; 365 Days and you remain in all of them — through the good and bad times, Heiji and You would never break the bond of love you both had for one another as this love is for eternity.

01. Arguments

02. Cold Crash

03. Sensitivity

Gone.

Batfamily x Male Child Reader

Fandom -> Batman/DCU

Status; On Hold & Discontinued

Summary; All you wanted was a good night story from your family, not being kidnapped.

01. Not now

02. Mommy's Love

03. Hope

04. Rescue

Christmas Special

05. Chana

06. Sleepless

07. Disasters

08.

One Shots;

Tokyo Revenger

Mikey Sano

Swimming | Brother Reader

Shinichiro Sano

Bread baking gone wrong | Male Reader

Goth Moth | Male Reader

Nahoya Kawata (Smiley)

First Date Magic | Male Reader

Bonten

Sickly Summer | Male Baby Reader

Detective Conan/Case Closed

Heiji Hattori

I can't stop my love for you! | Male Reader

Waiting | Male Reader

False Brother | Male Reader

Flirtatious Conversation | Male Reader

Marriage Arrangement | Male Reader

Ghost Stories | Male Reader

Matsuda Jinpei

Big in Japan | Male Reader

Tonight in Japan! | Male Reader

Rei Furuya/Amuro Toru

Locked out of Heaven | Male Reader

MAGI - The Labyrinth of Magic

Kouen Ren

Caring in Secret | Male Reader

Sleep | Male Reader

Puns | Male Reader

Koumei Ren

World of Silence | Deaf Male Reader

Sinbad

Treacherous Love | Male Reader

Castlevania

Trevor Belmont

Small steps to forgiveness | Male Reader

Fucked up again | Male Reader

Turned | Male Reader

Attack on Titan

Levi Ackermann

Sweet family of mine | Male Reader – Single Dad & Modern Era AU

DC

Bruce Wayne

No second chance | Male Reader

Hal Jordan

Clark Kent

Memento Mori | Male Reader

Marvel

Peter Quill

Coming Home | Son!Reader

Headcanons;

BatFam #1

BatFam #2 -> Participating in the Metropolis-Gotham Olympics

Batman #1

Fem!Reader

Detective Conan/Case Closed;

Kaito Kid

Hearts Thievery | Soulmate AU

Shinichi Kudo

Denial and Acceptance | Soulmate AU

Tranquility |

[bad268]

Writing Inktober 2023

300 word minimum and no repeats are the challenges this year. Maybe. Hopefully. Probably. (haha yes)

BTW the medal emojis are the winners from the polls :)

01/10 Dream

Sebastian Montoya X Reader (W.C. 386)

02/10 Spiders

Seth Borden X Reader (W.C. 338)

03/10 Path

Max Verstappen X Reader (W.C. 367)

04/10 Dodge

Benny Rodriguez X Reader (W.C. 348)

05/10 Map

Sebastian Vettel X Reader (W.C. 338)

06/10 Golden

Justin Herbert X Reader (W.C. 342)

07/10 Drip

TMR Newt X Reader (W.C. 342) 🥈

08/10 Toad Sacrifice

Andrea Kimi Antonelli X Reader (W.C. 338)

09/10 Bounce

Marcus Armstrong X Reader (W.C. 384)

10/10 Fortune

Johnny Cade X Reader (W.C. 485) 🥉

11/10 Wander

Peter Parker X Reader (W.C. 402) 🥇

12/10 Spicey Scandal

Pierre Gasly X Reader (W.C. 391)

13/10 Rise Tonight

Colby Brock X Reader (W.C. 370)

14/10 Castle

Oscar Piastri X Reader (W.C. 370)

15/10 Dagger Nightmare

Lando Norris X Reader (W.C. 419)

16/10 Angel

Mick Schumacher X Reader (W.C. 395)

17/10 Demon

Kimi Raikkonen X Reader (W.C. 327)

18/10 Saddle

Daniel Ricciardo X Reader (W.C. 318)

19/10 Plump Wet

Ollie Bearman X Reader (W.C. 365)

20/10 Frost

Paul Aron X Reader (W.C. 389)

21/10 Chains Bouquet

Charles Leclerc X Reader (W.C. 369)

22/10 Scratchy Flight

Joe Burrow X Reader (W.C. 390)

23/10 Celestial Redeemer

Corpse Husband X Reader (W.C. 400)

24/10 Shallow Chosen

P! SBI X Reader (W.C. 358)

25/10 Dangerous

Callum Ilott X Reader (W.C. 310)

26/10 Remove Shots

Dennis Hauger X Reader (W.C. 348)

27/10 Beast

Christian Lundgaard X Reader (W.C. 339)

28/10 Sparkle

Dino Beganovic X Reader (W.C. 406)

29/10 Massive Approval

Felipe Drugovich X Reader (W.C. 358)

30/10 Rush

Clement Novalak X Reader (W.C. 386)

31/10 Fire

Pato O’Ward X Reader (W.C. 343)

Bonus: Break

Tadashi Hamada X Reader (W.C. 363)

Average W.C. 369

Want to read other years’ Inktober stories, check these out:

2021 // 2022 // 2024

On a side note, I looked back at last year’s entries, and I definitely thought Bouquet was Banquet, so instead of admitting I was wrong, I did it as a sub this year. If you noticed, no you didn’t :)

Also funny story about Shallow, I kept reading it as Swallow, so I couldn't do it

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

[dreqmchic]

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚ BREAK THE CURSE is the second full studio album by DREAMCHIC. the album was released under fleury records on august 17, 2024. consisting of ten tracks in total, featuring its two title tracks MIDAS TOUCH and SUPERNOVA 2 and a promotional single titled 365, dreamchic went onto promote BTC for a total of ten weeks.

BTC would prove to be the quartets best performing piece of work yet, reaching over 5 million unit sales in total, 237 PAKs, and a total of 20 music show wins — midas touch with 7 wins, supernova 2 with 10 wins, and 365 with 3 wins.

this era would also become dreamchic’s longest promotional period, spanning just a little over 10 weeks. the music video for supernova 2 was released on august 14 — performed and promoted for 4 weeks. the music video for midas touch was released with the album on august 17 — performed and promoted for 4 weeks. a surprise music video for 365 was released on august 22 — performed and promoted for 2 weeks.

ᯓ★ TRACKLISTING

01. MIDAS TOUCH. prod. mickey moon, kyrie han … lyrics. mickey moon, kwon yejun

02. SUPERNOVA 2. prod. mickey moon, addy, ichiro nakayama … lyrics. mickey moon, ichiro nakayama

03. 365. prod. mickey moon, kyrie han … lyrics. mickey moon, natalia hwang

04. BAD ROMANCE. prod. mickey moon, addy … lyrics. mickey moon, HYORIN, hailey seo

05. CRAZY SEXY HOT. prod. kyrie han, mickey moon … lyrics. mickey moon, hailey seo, kyrie han

06. MAKE YOU CRY. prod. mickey moon, LONDON … lyrics. mickey moon, chen zhiruo

07. GUESS. prod. mickey moon, LONDON … lyrics. mickey moon, hailey seo

08. TRUTH BE TOLD. prod. addy … lyrics. mickey moon, LONDON

09. TOUCH MY BODY. prod. mickey moon, ichiro nakayama … lyrics. hailey seo

10. LET ME IN. prod. mickey moon … lyrics. mickey moon

ᯓ★ COMPOSITION, CONCEPT, AND PRODUCTION

BREAK THE CURSE is an album best defined by its hyperpop, electropop, and clubpop flare. almost all tracks were written and produced by DREAMCHIC’S main rapper and lead vocalist MICKEY MOON. mickey has went onto express that her main inspiration behind the sound and direction for the album was the clubbing and raving scene. in an interview, she states: “we’ve been working really diligently on this album for awhile now, and we felt that there was no better time to release it like now. as for the inspiration behind the creative process…” she laughs trying to choose her next words carefully. “i really got inspired by the partying scene. i wanted to make music that i could party to…i really like the vibe of raving, not—not to say that i’ve been partying or anything,” she laughs again alongside her members, attempting to explain in the best way possible. “but i would best describe this as a party album that you can play in clubs or when you just want to dance. we had a lot of fun making this album. i would say break the curse in its entirety has brought us even closer and has been our best creative session to date.”

additionally, BTC has quickly become a fan favorite and a staple in both pop culture and the music industry. the era has gotten the internet talking with the fashion choices, music videos, concepts, and lyrics. the lyrics in certain tracks have raised several brows and has been at the center of many discussions with netizens and fans alike. for example, TRACK SEVEN: GUESS, has received an abundance of love from fans, going viral, and being one of the highest charting songs on the album — peaking at #2. however, many have also questioned the lyrics. some lines in particular that created quite the stir being: “you wanna guess the color of my underwear, you wanna know what i’ve got going on down there…” these lyrics have brought the girls a lot of judgement in spite of its massive popularity. a lot of netizens even going as far as to scrutinize them for being too “provocative,” however stronger words were often used. when asked about the lyrics, mickey moon responded: “we were just messing around in the studio. ‘just having fun and, like, greatness just popped into our head regardless of the lyrics. it’s just spontaneous and fun.” though, hailey had a spicier response in comparison: “i mean, the lyrics are there! we all know what they mean but at the same time…i’m grown! so is mickey and like—it’s not like the lyrics are a lie!” the lyrics for the promo single 365 were also questioned for their ‘allusion’ to drug use (especially considering natalia hwang having a hand in the writing process) but the girls never spoke on it.

aside from this, the concepts and music videos were highly praised for the production quality and aesthetic. dreamchic utilized a concept heavily influenced by the culture and fashion of the 2000’s, most commonly a term often recognized as mcbling. below, you can find a collection of photos that emulates the overall concept for BTC:

ᯓ★ ERA NOTES

001. this era literally opened doors for the dreamchic girls. dreamchic was already a big name in their generation, but this era was something totally different. something shifted when this came out. once again, both ENVIE and DREAMCHIC were pitted against one another (nobody’s surprised) but this time was different. it felt more personal, which some fans could pick up on, due to a few incidents that happened. though it seemed to be a tough battle when both of them had comebacks only a few days apart—pre-sales only being different by half a million sales—when it was all said and done dreamchic won by a landslide! it was a victory for the girls and dreamers.

002. the promotion period was one for the books, lasting for a little over ten weeks total; filled with radio show appearances, variety show appearances, performances, music videos, commercial films, brand deals, editorials, livestreams, and so much more.

003. the members were evidently closer. not to say that they weren’t close already, but you can tell that the behind the scenes created an extremely strong bond between them. this coalition brought some solo stans together…that’s saying A LOT.

004. another thing that showed how much fun they had behind the scenes was the live listening party they hosted on FLORYVERSE. you could really see how passionate they were in the songs and how they would dance and sing along to the songs they enjoyed the most together. it was a real fun time like damn these girls are really a family 🥲

005. even though they had a lot of fun with this release, they also worked a lot. like they were being overworked but they didn’t complain. all the months before were literally all just dedicated to producing, writing, dance rehearsals, filming, etc. very little time for sleeping and eating, just sneaking in naps and snacks on set or for a couple of minutes in between rehearsals.

006. all members except hana took part in writing at least one track on the album. mickey, of course, wrote and produced all tracks (aside from truth be told though she did take part in writing it). hailey has credits on four tracks and ruo has credits on one track but she’s also participated in a lot of decision making when it came to composition. but where hana lacked in the writing department, she had a hand in choreographing. though they had a choreographer, it was left to hana to revise the demos for 365, SUPERNOVA 2, and MIDAS TOUCH.

[ddoxhan]

letters from me to you

every letter you didn't send to jimin

word count : 0.9k words

genre : angst; you loved jimin more than you ever imagined, and it hurts that you still do; non-idol! karina x gn! reader

t/w : none :) other than a relationship breaking apart and there's absolutely nothing that can be done about it

a/n : unrequited love, something so ever ethereal yet burns a hole in your heart and leaves a scar you will never forget. but does it hurt more when it becomes unrequited? since it wasn't from the beginning, and you had a taste of that person's love.

— 26/01/2014 | sunny ☀️

to my dearest jimin,

happy first anniversary! it's been 12 months, 365 days, 8760 hours, 525,600 minutes since you said yes under those bright stars on this very day last year. time has gone past so fast yet so slow, when I look into your eyes, everything around us seems to slow down and allow me to drown myself in those galaxy-like orbs of yours. you know I've never been expressive with my words hence this letter but still, I can never find the very words to convey my love to you. however, these four words might actually just do the trick.

I love you, forever.

your love

—  11/04/2015 | spring sun 🌸

to my crybaby jimin,

don't get mad just from reading 'crybaby' but I can't help but call you that. not after you so adorably sniffled while watching 'the notebook'. I just wanted to squeeze those cheeks of yours but I knew you were going to be upset for breaking the mood, so I held myself back. okay, this was definitely not the purpose of this letter, but oh well, I just wanted you to know you're the cutest.

happy birthday, my baby jimin! once my baby, forever my baby. I hope you had a blast today after been to the amusement park, cafes and even the late night movie later before the end of your big day. I have never been more blessed with a gift like you to be in my life and better, as my girlfriend.

once again, happy birthday. let's spend this day together in the years that are to come. I love you, forever.

your beloved

— 08/07/2015 | cloudy ☁️

to my precious jimin,

I know I'm in the wrong so I am not going to make up any excuses to justify what I did. you felt hurt and neglected by my actions and nothing can ever undo those wounds. but will you let me make it up to you? if you need time to think, take as long as you need because I'll be right here waiting until you give me a chance to prove my love for you that never faded. if anything, I only find myself loving you more than I did the day before.

work has doubled in amount but I should have known to try harder to spend time with you despite that. it is my responsibility to do that, yet I chose the easy way out and hurt you. I'm so sorry, baby. please forgive me. I love you so so much, I love you, forever.

your dumb bear (still in regret)

— 17/03/2016 | rainy 🌧️

to my wonderful and amazing jimin,

there is nothing special about today, surprise! although there isn't a special occasion today, I want to let you know that every day that I spend with you is special and every moment we have together is engraved in memory forever no matter what happens.

I know I can be cheesy but I feel like every time I tell you that I love you, it just feels more overwhelming and unbelievable. so unbelievable that I have the most beautiful; in and out; person in the whole world as my girlfriend. it would be better if one day, it would change to my wife. I can already tell how your face would start burning up and the tip of your ears cutely beet red. even though I had told you I love you numerous times, it never feels enough. I love you, forever.

yours forever

—  02/10/2017

to my lovely jimin,

it's been five years since we've been together, and I know how you are when something or someone upsets you. if you don't talk to me or even be next to me, I would not know what to say or do to help you, honey. we promised to never go to bed with complicated feelings, regardless of whether it be about us or someone else. you said it is not good for the health if we keep our feelings bottled up.

if it's about me, please, please tell me what I did wrong. tell me what I need to fix so that you would not be upset. please, talk to me, jimin. let me be by your side as I always did. I love you, forever.

—  19/01/2018

to my one and only jimin,

please take me back, I love you so much. please don't leave me all alone in this shared home of ours. it's too painful to see the memories of us, filled with happiness and joy. let me still call us, us. please, please come home and whisper sweet nothings like you used to, say that everything was all a prank. that you went overboard with the joke. please bring me into your embrace and stroke my back, tell me everything's alright, we're alright.

I love you, jimin, you know that right? I love you, forever.

yours

.

.

.

.

you know, I've always imagined us walking down the aisle as I take you in my hand and swear the oath to be each other's seasons, side by side all the way through our future days together. but sadly, all I could do now was clap for you, your happiness with your lover, staring at each other so lovingly on the pedestal. if you were happy, so would I be.

because I've always loved and will love you forever, my jimin.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Convicted monopolist prevented from re-offending

This Sunday (Apr 30) at 2PM, I’ll be at the San Francisco Public Library with my new book, Red Team Blues, hosted by Annalee Newitz.

In blocking Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, the UK Competition and Markets Authority has made history: they have stepped in to prevent a notorious, convicted monopolist from seizing control over a nascent, important market (cloud gaming), ignoring the transparent, self-serving lies Microsoft told about the merger:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/644939aa529eda000c3b0525/Microsoft_Activision_Final_Report_.pdf

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/2023/04/27/convicted-monopolist/#microsquish

Cloud gaming isn’t really a thing right now, but it might be. That was Microsoft’s bet, anyway, as it plonked down $69b to acquire Activision-Blizzard — a company that shouldn’t exist, having been formed out of a string of grossly anticompetitive mergers that were waved through.

Activision-Blizzard is a poster-child for the failures of antitrust law over the past 40 years, a period in which monopolies were tolerated and even encouraged by the agencies that were supposed to prevent monopolies from forming and break up the ones that slipped past their defenses. Activision-Blizzard is a giant, moribund company whose “innovation” consists of endless sequels to its endless sequels, whose market power allows it to crush its workers while starving competitors of market oxygen, ensuring that gamers and game workers have nowhere else to go.

Microsoft is another one of those poster-children, of course. After being convicted of antitrust violations, the company dragged out the legal process until George W Bush stole the presidency and decided not to pursue them any further, letting them wriggle off the hook.

The antitrust rough ride tamed Microsoft…for a while. The company did not use the same dirty tricks to destroy, say, Google as it had used against Netscape. But in the years since, Microsoft has demonstrated that it regrets nothing about its illegal conduct and has no hesitations about repeating that conduct.

This is especially true of cloud computing, where Microsoft is using exclusivity deals and illegal “tying” (forcing customers to use a product they don’t want in order to use a product they desire) to lock customers into its cloud offering:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-says-microsofts-cloud-practices-anti-competitive-slams-deals-with-rivals-2023-03-30/

Locking customers into Microsoft’s cloud also means locking customers into Microsoft surveillance. Microsoft’s cloud products spy in ways that are extreme even by the industry’s very low standards. Office 365 isn’t just a version of Office that you never stop paying for — it’s a version of Office that never stops spying on you, and selling the data to your competitors:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/25/the-peoples-amazon/#clippys-revenge

Microsoft’s Activision acquisition was entirely cloud-driven. The company clearly believes the pundits who say that the future of gaming is in the cloud: rather than playing on a device with the power to handle all the fancy graphics and physics, you’ll use a low-powered device that streams you video from a server in the cloud that’s doing all the heavy lifting.

If cloud gaming comes true (a big if, considering the dismal state of broadband, another sector that’s been enshittified and starved by monopolists), then Microsoft owning the Xbox platform, the Windows OS, and the Game Pass subscription service already poses a huge risk that the company could grow to dominate the sector. Throw in Activision-Blizzard and the future starts to look very grim indeed.

It’s a nakedly anticompetitive merger. As Mark Zuckerberg unwisely wrote in an internal memo, “it is better to buy than to compete.”

(These guys can not stop incriminating themselves. FTX got mocked for its group-chat called “Wirefraud,” but come on, every tech baron has a folder on their desktop called “mens rea” full of files with names like “premeditation-11.docx.”)

Naturally, the FTC sued to stop the merger (after 40 years, the FTC has undergone a revolution under chair Lina Khan and is actually protecting the American people from monopoly):

https://www.vice.com/en/article/ake97g/ftc-sues-to-block-microsoft-acquisition-of-call-of-duty-publisher-activision-blizzard

The FTC was always in for an uphill battle. “Cloud gaming,” the market it is seeking to defend from monopolization, doesn’t really exist yet, and enforcing US antitrust law against monopolies over existent things is hard enough, thanks to all those federal judges who attended luxury junkets where billionaire-friendly “economists” taught them that monopolies were “efficient”:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/13/post-bork-era/#manne-down

But the FTC isn’t the only cop on the beat. Antitrust is experiencing a global revival, from the EU to China, Canada to Australia, and South Korea to the UK, where the Competition and Markets Authority is kicking all kinds of arse (see also: “ass”). The CMA is arguably the most technically proficient competition regulator in the world, thanks to the Digital Markets Unit (DMU), a force of over 50 skilled engineers who produce intensely detailed, amazingly sharp reports on how tech monopolies work and what to do about them.

The CMA is very interested in cloud gaming. Late last year, they released a long, detailed report into the state of browser engines on mobile phones, seeking public comment on whether these should be regulated to encourage web-apps (which can be installed without going through an app store) and to pave the way for cloud gaming:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/13/kitbashed/#app-store-tax

The CMA is especially keen on collaboration with its overseas colleagues. Its annual conference welcome enforcers from all over the world, and its Digital Markets Unit is particularly important in these joint operations. You see, while Parliament appropriated funds to pay those 50+ engineers, it never passed the secondary legislation needed to grant the DMU any enforcement powers. But the DMU isn’t just sitting around waiting for Parliament to act — rather, it produces these incredible investigations and enforcement roadmaps, and releases them publicly.

This turns out to be very important in the EU, where the European Commission has very broad enforcement powers, but very little technical staff. The Commission and the DMU have become something of a joint venture, with the DMU setting up the cases and the EU knocking them down. It’s a very heartwarming post-Brexit story of cross-Channel collaboration!

And so Microsoft’s acquisition is dead (I mean, they say they’ll appeal, but that’ll take months, and the deal with Activision will have expired in the meantime, and Microsoft will have to pay Activision a $3 billion break-up fee):

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/big-tech-blocked-microsoft-stopped

This is good news for gaming, for games workers, and for gamers. Microsoft was and is a rotten company, even by the low standards of tech giants. Despite the sweaters and the charity (or, rather, “charity”) Bill Gates is a hardcore ideologue who wants to get rid of public education and all other public goods:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/13/public-interest-pharma/#gates-foundation

Microsoft has a knack for nurturing and promoting absolutely terrible people, like former CEO Steve Ballmer, who has played a starring role in Propublica’s IRS Files, thanks to the bizarre tax-scams he’s pioneered:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/24/tax-loss-harvesting/#mego

So yeah, this is good news: Microsoft should have been broken up 25 years ago, and we should not allow it to buy its way to ongoing dominance today. But it’s also good news because of the nature of the enforcement: the CMA defended an emerging market, to prevent monopolization.

That’s really important: monopolies are durable. Once a monopoly takes root, it becomes too big to fail and too big to jail. That’s how IBM outspend the entire Department of Justice Antitrust Division every year for twelve years during a period they call “Antitrust’s Vietnam”:

https://onezero.medium.com/jam-to-day-46b74d5b1da4

Preventing monopoly formation is infinitely preferable to breaking up monopolies after they form. That’s why the golden age of trustbusting (basically, the period starting with FDR and ending with Reagan) saw action against “incipient” monopolies, where big companies bought lots of little companies.

When we stopped worrying about incipiency, we set the stage for today’s Private Equity “rollups,” where every funeral home, or veterinarian, or dentists’ practice is bought out by a giant PE fund, who ruthlessly enshittify it, slashing wages, raising prices, stiffing suppliers and reducing quality:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/16/schumpeterian-terrorism/#deliberately-broken

Limiting antitrust enforcement to policing monopolies after they form has been an absolute failure. The CMA knows that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure — indeed, we all do.

From Apr 26–28, Barnes and Noble is offering a 25% discount on preorders for my upcoming novels (use discount code PREORDER25): The Lost Cause (Nov 2023) and The Bezzle (Red Team Blues #2) (Feb 2024).

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Mountain View, Berkeley, San Francisco, Portland, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, DC, Gaithersburg, Oxford, Hay, Manchester, Nottingham, London, and Berlin!

[Image ID: A promotional image from the Call of Duty franchise featuring a soldier in a skull-mask gaiter giving a thumbs up on a battlefield. It has been altered so that he is giving a thumbs-down gesture. Superimposed on the image is a modified Microsoft 'Clippy' popup; Clippy's speech-bubble has been filled with grawlix characters; the two dialog-box options both read 'No.']

Image: Microsoft, Activision (fair use)

[imasallstars]

The cover art for THE IDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS ECHOES 06 album has been released and the album is set to be released on October 9th 2024. It will feature two new unit songs, a special drama, as well as their version of Migratory Echoes

The crossfade of the album is located here

Tracklist:

Tr.01　Itsuka no Kimi e 　Lyrics: Tomohiro Akiura　Music&Arrange: Atsushi Harada (Arte Refact) Tr.02　365-nichi no Story 　Lyrics: Tomohiro Akiura　Music&Arrange: Yuhara Satoshi (KEYTONE) Tr.03　Migratory Echoes (noctchill Ver.) 　Lyrics: Yohei Matsui, Tomohiro Akiura　Music: Takao Yanagawa 　Arrange: Masatomi Waki (Arte Refact) Tr.04　Special Audio Drama “meowchill” Tr.05　Itsuka no Kimi e (Off Vocal) Tr.06　365-nichi no Story (Off Vocal) Tr.07　Migratory Echoes (noctchill Ver.) (Off Vocal)

[wub-fur-radio]

I Dreamed I Saw Dwight Eisenhower (or, How Come There’s Never an Old Weird American Around When You Need One?)

Come out, ye gifted kings and queens And hear my sad complaint No martyr is among ye now Whom you can call your own – R. Zimmerman

Wub-Fur once again finds it needful to apologize for an overlong absence from the Internet airwaves and offer in recompense (as is our wont) another eclectic mix of contemporary indie rock and such. We recently awoke, as one does, from a recurring prophetic fever dream of a nation teetering on the edge of the fascist abyss and rushed to our virtual turntable to assuage our bewilderment and dismay by finding some excellent new tunes to share with you all. Featuring magical, melodious, and magnificent musical outpourings from Allah-Las, the Softies, Rain Parade, Beach Fossils, Woods, the No Ones, Pink Mountaintops, and 11 more of our favorite artists of 2023.

Nb. We didn’t really like Ike all that much, but he was a freakin’ saint compared to the authoritarian conman the Grand Old Party threatens to return to the White House next year. If you are an American citizen, please act (and vote!) accordingly.

▶︎🎶 Listen on Mixcloud or 🍎 Music

Running Time: 1 hour, 4 seconds

Tracklist

365 (3:06) — flypaper | London, UK

The Stuff (3:55) — Allah-Las | Los Angeles, CA

Marijuana (Acoustic) (2:37) — Together Pangea | Los Angeles, CA

One Day (I'll See) (2:22) — Hot Apple Band | Sydney, Australia

Graveyard Song (4:29) — Jeff Rosenstock | New York

In the Store (2:27) — The Lost Days | California

Change My Ways (1:23) — The Softies | Portland, OR †

Pink Cake (2:45) — Sonny & The Sunsets | San Francisco, CA

Weep (3:34) — Woods | New York

Run to the Moon (3:44) — Beach Fossils | Brooklyn, NY

Bring You Back (3:10) — Rain Parade | Oakland, CA

Sunset on the Faders (3:32) — Hiss Golden Messenger | Noeth Carolina

I Wanna Go Down to the Basement (2:51) — James & the Giants | Wisconsin

Downwards Daze (3:34) — Pink Mountaintops | Los Angeles, CA

Tiger at the Drugstore (3:37) — Skating Polly | Tacoma, WA

Left on Coast (4:52) — The Garment District | Pittsburgh, PA

Time Sent Lewis (4:02) — The No Ones | Portland, OR

The Document (4:03) — Bird Streets | Brooklyn, NY

All tracks released in 2023.

† Apple Music version substitutes “Fluff” (1:30) by Tony Molina (2022) for the Softies track, which is sadly unavailable on that platform (and which is also, not coincidentally, a cover of a Tony Molina song.)

[mailnews]

365 ADVENTURES - DMC ORIENTE MÉDIO

Omã - Uma Pérola na Península Arábica

"Informativo originalmente direcionado aos Agentes de Viagens. Fale com seu Agente ou com a própria empresa anunciante para mais informações"

MAILNEWS #365ADVENTURES

[daily-souls]

i like shading metal 88/365 - 03/01/24

[batsupes-community]

Omega Superman 2024

Greetings! Welcome to the Year of Bottom Clark 2024.

This blog is dedicated to Bottom Superman from all DC universes. That includes the DCAU, DCEU, Comics, and Elseworlds! Whether you ship him platonically or romantically with another character,, we welcome you to join our event! Please read the event’s rules before you join, much appreciated! You'll find them below.

We’ve also got a server. If you’re interested just message to this blog and we’ll answer your questions and then get you an invite. When does the event take place? It begins January 1, 2024 and ends on December 31, 2024.

Where might I find the prompts? You can find the prompts right here.

Which universes are allowed? American Alien, Crime Syndicate, DCAU, DCEU, Elseworlds (e.g. Distant Fires),  Injustice, Justice Lords, New 52, Post Crisis, Rebirth, Young Justice, etc. Wikipedia mentions other Superman universes.

How Can I Join? That’s easy! Once you’ve had a gander at the prompts you can then create content to be posted on the day’s you’ve set your sights on. There happens to be three different prompts for each of the 365-366 days of the year. You may choose only one, but you’re more than welcome to do all three. That is entirely up to you. Furthermore, you really don’t have to join for each day. That’d be way too much, but kudos to you if you somehow manage it. Still, this is just for fun, so no stress, no rush, and please enjoy yourself!

RULES 01. All fanwork types are acceptable. This includes not only fanfiction and fanart, but also gifs, graphics, fanvideos, speed paints, podcasts, meta, essays, sims recordings, and cosplay. All works however must be finished. Please do not post sketches or drafts, thank you!

02. Use warnings correctly. Please do tag your kinks and themes which could make others uncomfortable.

03. Please tag all entries as “omegasuperman2024” within the first 3 tags so that we can track the tag and see your posts.

04. Late entries are acceptable. We will check up to a month for anything late. Should we miss an entry, feel free to inform us so that we can reblog it. We will also have a collection on AO3.

05. You do not by any means have to create something for every day. This is supposed to be fun, not stressful. Only create for the prompts that resonate with you the most. You could choose to do one prompt a week, or one prompt a month, etc. Or you could choose a single week in the entire year to concentrate on. It’s all up to you. We’re happy just as long as you’re having fun!

06. Side ships and side characters are welcome. However, focus must be mainly on Superman. 07. Fem!Superman and Non-Binary Superman is more than welcome! We’d love to see your version of Superman. Be they female, non-binary, human, kryptonian, or some other iteration.

08. Any iteration of Superman is welcome. Clark Kent, Jon Kent, Calvin Ellis, Kong Kenan, Sunshine Superman, Ultraman, Val-Zod, Kal Kent, etc.

09. We have zero tolerance for ship bashing. Please note that this blog is a safe place for shippers.

10. Be respectful to the participants. Everyone is here to have fun, ergo hate of any sort is prohibited. Note: We will be adding alternate prompts so if you have any ideas feel free to send them in. There will also be 31 Free Days where you can write/draw/etc whatever you want if it's not available as a prompt already.

[shifuto]

216/365

@zexalmonth 2023

3rd: The High Priestess upright | Intuition, sacred knowledge, the subconscious mind Music can do miraculous things to the subconscious mind. You can make something based on the soundtrack or themes/motifs you like. As a challenge, put on one of the Zexal soundtracks and try to make something before the song ends! Show it to us!

the Zexal OST is one of the things I never remove from my phone because it's just that good! I feel like we got so lucky that Conisch was the one to make it because it's the best in the whole YGO franchise in my opinion (a very biased opinion considering how much I love games and how much gaming vibes Zexal music has). It sounds like something straight out of a JRPG, epic and more..

was going through some of my favorite themes to find inspiration for today's prompt and I have to talk about these 2 songs:

"Duel Of Certain Victory" (from Zexal Sound Duel 5)

guess this one plays on the last few episodes, probably in the duels with Nasch and Zexal? Anyway. I really like the urgency and heroic motifs in this, a fight between Chaos and Light. My favorite part is that shift at 2:03 when the time signature changes (4/4 -> 3/4), it's so freaking good

"Forced Duel" (from Zexal Sound Duel 4)

not sure where this one plays unfortunately (if you do, LET ME KNOW AAAAAAAA) so I'm going to assume it's on the late episodes too. This track is crazy good wtf!!! I really love the rock base (sounds like something from Megaman or Castlevania) and there's a lot going on with the time signature on this: there's the build up in 4/4 and a jump to a 7/4 bridge, going back to 4/4 and the first guitar riff/verse, then back to that bridge, then the build up again but make to more epic, then the resolution in 3/4 and outro in 7/4...... phew!! This is a fantastic tune, and one of my favorite songs in general

hmm wasn't sure how to convey this image but I liked how it turned out. Ryoga and Astral are dueling against each other (because it's in grayscale it's not possible to see but this is Ryoga-Nasch dueling with Chaos so no need for D-Gazer.. an excuse to have them both heterochromic)

Ryoga is pissed because he's losing lmao

[ugh-yoongi]

for the pals who don't know many ggs: a playlist ★

these are just some of my personal favorite girl group songs to use as a jumping point for those who may not listen to a ton of girl groups! i tried to limit myself to one per group and didn't include solo work.

01. fifty fifty - lovin' me // 02. blackpink - forever young // 03. stayc - so bad // 04. le sserafim - impurities // 05. wjsn - save me, save you // 06. dreamcatcher - red sun // 07. billlie - mcguffins ~ who's the joker? // 08. twice - cry for me // 09. loona - ptt (paint the town) // 10. exid - fire // 11. weeekly - after school // 12. iz*one - ayayaya // 13. ichillin' - la luna // 14. clc - hobgoblin // 15. bvndit - venom // 16. gfriend - labyrinth // 17. hot issue - icons // 18. favorite - loca // 19. (g)-idle - hwaa // 20. itzy - 365 // 21. lapillus - hit ya! // 22. nature - limbo! // 23. woo!ah! - i don't miss u // 24. purple kiss - autopilot // 25. aespa - illusion // 26. everglow - adios // 27. pixy - bewitched // 28. nmixx - cool (your rainbow) // 29. ive - love dive // 30. kep1er - back to the city // 31. mamamoo - my star // 32. oh my girl - nonstop // 33. viviz - bop bop! // 34. got the beat - stamp on it // 35. red velvet - peekaboo // 36. momoland - baam // 37. triples - generation // 38. kiss of life - bad news // 39. apink - dilemma // 40. 2ne1 - come back home // 41. newjeans - gods // 42. weki meki - picky picky // 43. rocket punch - ring ring // 44. aoa - like a cat // 45. f(x) - all mine