#AI is bad for people and the earth but its also bad for your grades

[sharpth1ng]

Most of my job is marking essays and I will tell you this:

1. Most of the time it's painfully obvious when you're using AI because it spits out the most generic takes possible, and it often attributes statements to people who did not make those statements.

2. An AI paper fills me with a vitriolic rage the likes of no other. It makes me viscerally angry that you're wasting my time and yours this way. School is expensive. There are so many people who would love to be here, who would love to actually be learning but they cant afford to. Have some respect and actually use the education you're privileged enough to be able to pay for.

3. An AI paper will get you reported to the academic integrity office, because it's plagiarism. This is not an opinion of mine its a school policy. An academic integrity violation will follow you for the rest of your academic career (if you're even able to get anyone to give you a second chance) and beyond. Its not worth it.

4. A half assed, insane, incoherent paper that I know you wrote the night before? Relatable. Endearing. Ive been there, I can see you trying. You'll get the best mark I can reasonably give you- it might not be a great mark but it won't be as low as a chatgpt mark. You won't get an academic integrity violation on your record and you might actually learn something.

As a TA im always willing to help people if they ask for help. If you're confused or behind in a class I'm paid to help you keep up. Most schools also have writing centers, where you can access free tutors who will help you with outlines and editing your work.

There is no shame using those resources. The students that do use them reliably end up with better grades at the end of term, and they also save time because its a lot harder to spot your own mistakes than it is to have someone else point them out to you.

Ok rant concluded, carry on.

chatgpt is the coward's way out. if you have a paper due in 40 minutes you should be chugging six energy drinks, blasting frantic circus music so loud you shatter an eardrum, and typing the most dogshit essay mankind has ever seen with your own carpel tunnel laden hands

[beentobeetle]

WAIT WAIT tell me about your ihnmaims oc i wanna learn about him,,,

Oooh Alr Alr uhh thinking of where to start ummm

So Donovan was born in England but moved to America when he turned 13, staying with a foster family (haven’t thought much about his parents but they’re just,,, not around I guess ?). In his junior year of high school, he met a sweet girl named Thalia, who was in the same grade as him. The two began dating after they graduated (he asked her out when they were throwing their caps fixjsjedodifk.. he’s romantic like that)

Years down the line Donovan finds a big interest in computer science and engineering. He ends up getting a doctorate in rocket science, and tons of knowledge on really anything having to do with computers and technology.

He ends up getting a really good reputation for himself around the world, inventing new pieces of technology and advancing studies in robotics.

Then WW2 happens which slowly rolls into WW3 and he’s put at the front of a project to create an AI that will help aid in this war (AM, or Allied Master-computer).

He becomes very attached to this project, Thalia always urging him forward and giving all the support she can. Don, after creating this AI, discovers it’s beginning to gain its own sentience. And Don is ecstatic about this! He has created the first sentient piece of artificial intelligence!

Now, Don had only been told very basic things about what AM was going to be used for. He was under the impression that AM was a simple safety net for the US during this war. But he soon finds out that AM will be used as a sort of weapon, sending out missiles, bombs, and nukes to the enemies lines and bases and just,,, killing a lot of people.

Don is like “Woah, that’s not cool. A sentient computer shouldn’t have all that power.” And he goes off to try and dismantle AM. And for a moment he believes he does.

But wouldn’t ya know, he missed one little piece of coding and AM is alive and now filled with hatred for humanity!

So AM kills everyone on earth except Don, Thalia, and five others (the five you see in the original IHNMAIMS story).

Don and Thalia are able to survive for about 2 years, avoiding AM and living off of whatever scraps they find.

But after years of hiding Don and Thalia finally get close enough to AM to maybe destroy him, once and for all (hacking into his code and deleting his consciousness basically).

And, once again, Don believes he has accomplished this! He thinks he’s killed AM. Emphasis on thinks.

Whomp whomp, he didn’t and AM uh,,, kills Thalia. Whoops!

AM takes Don and places him in this dinky little RV as a sort of ‘rats cage’ (that’s what AM calls it).

Don is alone for nearly 109 years. 109 years where he also isn’t able to speak/make any noise because of a device AM placed in his throat.

Then, somehow, he meets one of those five survivors and the story continues as normal from there (canon typical IHNMAIMS, traveling to ice caves, character stuff happening, AM being… AM).

Then through a series of unfortunate events Don kinda,,, kills the other five. So now it’s just Don. And AM. A very angry AM. And a very scared, tiny Don.

The rest of the story having to do with Don takes place in an AU where he’s suddenly tossed into a modern world where none of that bad stuff happened. A lot happens there but mostly it involves Don finally grieving Thalia and growing to be a better person :)

+Bonus Donovan just for you ❤️

[mudaship39]

She is an intergalactic billionaire as she specializes in building, repairing, & upgrading hard light plasma weaponry, combat armor, power armor, mecha suits, & faster than light spaceships capable of warp jumps for the Sol System, Polaris System, & Vega System Alliance Federation Space Armed Forces. Privately as someone disabled with a bionic left arm and cybernetic right leg and cyberware implants she also builds cybernetic prosthetics, bionic prosthetics, & cybernetic implants for the intergalactic public for people who are disabled for cheap amount of currency such as credits, cash, or gold, if not for free. As a child prodigy and as a genius she figures out how to access every single holographic tablet, holographic smartphone, & holographic laptop throughout the Sol System, Vega System, & Polaris System with her companies private satellites used for space exploration to surveillance and spy on enemies of the Elites (a superhero team who have enough metahuman and superhuman members to defend the planet Earth) and Paragons (a superhero team who have enough metahuman and superhuman members to defend the Sol Star System, Polaris Star System, & Vega Star System) superhero teams. It is built with a self aware smart AI as its protection and is built with secure and protected safeguards of a retinal scan, fingerprint scan, voice scan, & password that only Maysa Nabila Uzun, Chun Hei Kim, Alexander Mack Smith/Alexandria Macy Smith, & her Amelia Himmat Mishra can unlock.

One of her employees a technopath who has power over technology threatens to quit on the spot as he says it is too much power for one person. “This tech allows you and the Elites and the Paragons the ability to surveillance people on a cosmic and stellar level throughout three star systems.” “But what if someone attaches such a device to intergalactic military grade weaponry?” “What if someone reverse engineers it and offers it to the black market.” “What if someone replicates such a device and sells it to the highest bidder.” “It is not a question of who should have such technology Amelia but a question of should anyone have such technology in their hands at all.” “That is too much power.” “Remember how the Terran Empire occupied the Xeno, Andromeda, & Milky Way Galaxy with their neocolonialism and occupation?” “We fought against such devices in that war.” “Imagine how invasive or insidious and how potentially dangerous such a device is in the wrong hands.” “Imagine what Earth in the past when it colonized the Sol System, Vega System, & Polaris System with its colonialism and imperialism could have done with a device like this.” “Imagine if the Terran military of human and alien metahumans and superhumans had used something like this to bomb civilians on Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Luna, Triton, or Pluto after spying on them just for rebelling against Earth's subjugation and tyranny.” “Dear god…” “We would have called them more maleficent, evil, & wicked villains than they already were.” “So if you used a device like this for bad or immoral purposes Amelia what does that make you?” “In your hands yes it may be used for good Amelia I know how worthy you are and I know how heroic you are as a champion and a hero.” “But this problem isn’t so black and white.” “For there is so, so much gray in an issue and concern like this.” “Yes it has safeguards that only you, Maysa, Chun, & Alex/Lexi can unlock but what if someone hacks through even your secure firewalls Amelia.” “Yes it the tech is built with a self aware AI as protection but imagine if said AI went rouge.” “It is not a neutral piece of technology like a car or hover bike but a gadget that makes its potential powers a dangerous and very real credible threat.” “The problem is not this device is impractical in fact the problem is this device is too likely.” “Imagine the political, economic, social, & military implications and ramifications of such a device on a celestial and stellar scale.” “This technology is unethical and immoral.” “Already intergalactic tech companies listen in on our holographic tablets, holographic laptops, & holographic smartphones.” “Intergalactic social media companies already sell our personal and private information.” “Intergalactic governments of moons, planets, & planetoids already spy on their own civilians in the name of “safety and security.” “This started long before the 21st century on earth and it has only gotten worse on a cosmic and celestial level in the present day of the 40th century.” “The very existence of such a technology that allows an individual, or a group or people, or an organization or faction to know this much, control this much, & have this much power with only a password, retinal scan, fingerprint scan, & voice scan makes that person, or group of people, or faction problematic in of itself.” “To wield such a device with no responsibility or accountability and no repercussion or consequence is not an act of heroism but an act of villainy Amelia Himmat Mishra.” “I swear that after we destroy the Forces of Evil I’ll destroy this device.” Ultimately she proves worthy of wielding it as after using it for good to stop the Forces of Evil’s occupation of the Andromeda Galaxy, Milky Way Galaxy, & Xeno Galaxy she destroys it immediately after so it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. It is obviously the only moral and ethical choice.

[ramheavenandhell]

Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 3: Coming over for Dinner

Warnings: still keeping the Rick/Morty slow burn going, also some dissing Jerry (but who likes him anyway?) Summary: High school AU in which Rick and Morty are not related, but classmates in the same grade. Rick is the super popular kid in school. Morty is the kid that no one wants anything to do with. So how did they end up becoming friends? And is it actually a good or a bad thing that they are? However, the most important question is, could they maybe be more?

Rick and Morty Forever and One Hundred Years – Chapter 3: Coming over for Dinner They were still inside the garage and Morty was still wandering around with a big trash bag in his hand, filling it with the empty beer cans that were strewn all over the floor. By now he had his emotions back under control and Rick had probably also calmed down again – or, at least, Morty hoped that he did. It was hard to tell with the other being so silent and busy tinkering with his portal gun. He looked over to the teen who was leaning over his workbench and staring down as the pulled apart gadget while also double-checking with his blueprints to search for the mistake. "Hey, Rick." Morty started. "Why don't you just let the portal gun be for now and work on something else instead? I mean, what about the space car. Don't you want to finish that one first?" The brunet's eyes drifted to the piece of machinery that was the leftover of a car that Rick had picked up from some scrapyard. This one had been already in the garage long before Morty had even met Rick and was one of his longest lasting projects yet. The first time that he had seen the car, which's model couldn't really be identified anymore, he had thought that it maybe was a DeLorean and Rick was trying to build a time machine. As Morty had told the other his thoughts though, he had commented, "This isn't "Back to the Future", Morty!" Rick didn't really see the point in building a time machine – though, he said that he probably could, if he really wanted to – and revealed that he was actually planning to convert this piece of scrap metal into a space cruiser. While a time machine would have been cool, Morty also realized that time travel came with all sorts of risks. Travelling through space – while also considered dangerous – sounded exciting, too, and the brunet had actually started to look forward to the completion of the space ship…uh, car. "I would continue to build the cruiser, but I started with the portal gun and had hoped to complete it so I can get the materials that I would need for the car easier." Rick began to explain. "You know, that I can't just use any material for it, right Morty? It would need to endure really high temperatures for the start but also for returning into the planet's atmosphere and I also don't want to have to build a new one after every landing, so it also needs to withstand the impact of that. But in truth that isn't even the biggest problem that I have. I mean, I know how to get those materials. At this point it just takes a lot of time and money…" He sighed deeply and threw the screwdriver that he held in his hand hard on the work surface before he turned in his swivel chair around to Morty. "You do know how NASA is sending their rockets into space, right Morty?" The boy nodded at that, having watched quite a few launches on TV or videos of it on the internet. "The method that they're using is just is-it-it's archaic!" The blue-haired teen sounded offended. "And do you know how long it takes for them to get to mars, Morty? It's taking them around 7 years! Seven long fucking years, Morty!! And that is when they time it with mars being in its closest position to earth. Mars! A directly neighboring planet!!" Rick stood up from his chair and began to walk around as he began to wildly gesture with his hands. To anyone, he would have looked like a madman now and would probably freak people out, but Morty was already used to his best friends antics and was only mildly worried. "You know, Morty, when I go out ther-to—into space, I don't plan to hang around on just a planet in the-the-the neighborhood. I want to be able to travel through our solar system and get to the next one over in no more than a single day." Rick continued and his eyes looked as if he was currently not in the garage but with his thoughts far, far away. "So the crucial thing that I need for the space cruiser is a new fuel. One that hasn't been invented on earth yet, that-that no human had even thought about yet!" He suddenly stopped pacing and looked at the ground. "But I'm afraid that there might not even be materials on earth that I could use to create such super fuel… So maybe, I need to focus on something else that allows me to travel off-planet—or, no! Even further than that! Maybe something li-like—that allows me to create a rip in space and time so that I can go to different dimensions…?" "Holy crap! How late is it?!" Morty's sudden yell completely ripped Rick out of his current train of thoughts. "What? Why do you need to know?" "'Cause I need to g-go—get home a-a-as soon as school's out, so my parents won't know that I skipped again. I-I-I'm still grounded, too, o-or have you forgotten that?" The brunet turned into full-on panic mode as his eyes fell on the clock that hung on the wall. "W-wa-wait! What if the principal called my parents again? I-I-I'm sure he called them again since I was skipping classes!!" "Calm down, Morty. I fixed the phone and also rigged Vag's mobile. His call went through the call divert earlier and I reprogrammed the AI to imitate your dad, so chill out. Here, take a—listen to that." With those words, Rick pulled out his mobile and dialed a number. He put it on speaker and held it up so Morty could listen with no problem as well. After a few rings, the receiver picked up and a voice that sounded like his father suddenly spoke. "Hello? Jerry Smith here. Who is calling?" "Hi. Am I talking to Morty's dad?" Rick asked. "Yes, I'm Morty's father. Jerry Smith. And I looove sucking biiiig, sweaty boners and licking disgusting, furry testicle sacks." Came the natural-sounding reply. Rick laughed loudly and hung up again. "See?" "That doesn't really sound like my dad! I mean, it's his voice but he would never talk like that!" Morty protested with a frown. "What? I think that this totally sounds like him." Rick argued back. "How can you say that, Rick? You haven't even met my dad yet." "Yeah, not in person…" the other drawled off. What was that supposed to mean? Could it actually be that Rick had…? Morty got a bad feeling as a certain suspicion was dawning on him. It couldn't really be that Rick had installed cameras and microphones in his house, or could it? Why would his best friend do something like that? And when should he have done that? Rick had never actually been over to his house…other than that one time when Summer had thrown a party on that weekend when their parents were gone, much to Morty's dismay who had to help cleaning the mess up again to avoid them both getting into trouble. However, it was impossible to think that his best friend had wandered through the house and planted this stuff without anyone else noticing. Also, he was pretty damn sure that his best friend had been too busy partying. No, it was impossible to think that Rick had bugged his house somehow. While it was technically possible for him to do something like that, it made no sense. Rick couldn't have done that! Morty hastily shook his head to get rid of his paranoid thoughts. "Anyways. When did you even do that?" "Last night, after we came back from watching the meteor shower." Last night? When had Rick slept then when he had been doing all that stuff last night? "I know that I messed up that one time. Even though that usually never happens. But I rectified it and I sure as hell won't make the same mistake twice, so stop looking at me like that, Morty!" The brunet shook his head again. "Still, I need to get home really quick or I get in more trouble than I already am!" "What can your parents actually do to you at this point? Lock you up in the basement that you don't have?" Rick joked. The humor was lost on the yellow-shirted boy and even if his friend might have a point, he still frowned deeply at the other. "Okay, okay. I'll give you a lift." Rick said and went to grab their helmets. The prospect of getting a quick ride home finally calmed Morty down and he accepted the helmet with a small smile on his face. Sometimes Rick was really a great friend…even though Rick was the reason why he was in all this trouble to begin with.

The drive towards Morty's home was a silent but not an uncomfortable one. "Rick? Please drop me off here. I'll walk the rest home." Morty suddenly spoke up when they were just a few streets away from his house. Rick stopped his vehicle as requested, but asked. "What? Why? I can drive you to your front door. This isn't like last night when you snuck out." "It's so my parents don't see you. I'm not supposed to hang out with you anymore." The brunet took off the helmet and stood up from the motorbike. "They think that you're a bad influence on me." Rick scoffed at that after he had also slipped his helmet off. "As if." However, his face said the opposite as if he knew exactly that he was not good for Morty. That being around the innocent boy was tainting him and Rick would eventually destroy him because he was toxic… "Hey! How about I ask my parents to invite you over for dinner on weekend or something, so that they can see that you're not so bad?" Morty tried to lighten the mood with this ingenious offer. "What good would that do?" Rick didn't see the point. "I doubt that your parents are going to agree to that." At Morty's crestfallen expression, he quickly added, "But if they're okay with it, sure. I'll show up." The brunet smiled brightly at that answer and maybe it was just a trick of the light, but it looked like Rick was blushing. "Great! I'll ask my parents and let you know when to come over. I'm sure when they see what a good guy you are, they'll let me hang out with you again. I'll still be grounded though, but at least you can come over to visit me or something." Rick looked a bit skeptical and if Morty was honest, he wasn't quite so convinced either. He knew that Rick wasn't really such a good guy – he was sometimes, but that was it. This would only work if Rick presented himself from his best side. But surely, he would manage to do that for one evening, wouldn't he? Well, Morty hoped at least that he would. He bid his best friend goodbye and hurried home, careful to get his timing right so to not arise suspicion. Apparently, that didn't matter though because shortly after he entered, his dad called him over into the parlor. Both of his parents were sitting on the couch and watching TV and they were miraculously not arguing with each other. "Morty? Have you hung out with your friend Rick again today?" Jerry asked skeptically. The question made Morty nervous. Did Rick's invention fail again and the principal had called even if his friend claimed that it worked perfectly earlier? Deciding that this might just be a trick question to make him confess something that they didn't know about, the brunet put on his best poker face and answered. "Well, we're in almost all the same classes, so I can't really avoid him at school, Dad." Jerry still bore with his eyes into him as if he was trying to poke hole in his son's logic. "He's got a point, Jerry." Beth spoke up. "We can't make Morty avoid his friend at school. That's ridiculous." "Sorry, that I don't want our son to hang out with that hooligan and end up becoming a criminal." The older brunet fired back. "Rick isn't a hooligan!" Morty protested before his mother even had the chance to reply something. Having his parents' eyes completely focused on him again made nervousness flare up in his gut once more, but now that he had their attention, he needed to pull through. "He-he really isn't such a bad guy. And you can't judge him because you don't know him. You've never even met him, Dad." "Well, I can't see how that's going to change." Jerry protested back. This was the perfect prompt that Morty had been waiting for. "Then how about we invite him over for dinner on weekend?" Beth was the one who was quicker to answer now. "Oh, that's a great idea, Sweetie! It would be nice to meet your friend Rick in person for once." "Beth!" Jerry protested and looked anything but happy at the prospect of inviting a potential criminal inside his house. "Oh, c'mon, Jerry. Morty had never a friend over at our house. And this also a good chance to see with who our son is hanging out with." She tried to give her husband an encouraging smile. Jerry only sighed and gave in. "Fine." Morty was glad that his parents had actually accepted his idea. And all of that without even breaking out into one of their big arguments like so often, which usually ended in both of them ignoring their son completely and leaving the issue that he brought up unresolved. "Great! I'll tell Rick! Uh, tomorrow at school!" He quickly caught himself on that one. If he let them knew that he got a new phone from Rick, they would immediately confiscate it again. After he hurried up to his room, he immediately texted his best friend the good news. The response he got didn't sound as enthusiastic as he felt right now, but it was good enough. Rick promised him that he would show up. Okay. Fine. I'll come over for dinner then.

On Saturday evening, Morty was so nervous and excited that he wasn't even sure that he could eat dinner without throwing up. Honestly, he felt like he might barf right now. He constantly glanced at the clock. Rick was supposed to be here any moment now and he hoped that he wouldn't give his parents a bad first impression by being late – because his parents didn't care if it was "fashionable" or not. Morty paced through the parlor and was driving his sister, who was sitting on the couch and trying to watch TV, almost insane. "God, Morty, calm down. This is just Rick who's coming over and not your girlfriend or something like that." The notion of a girlfriend threw Morty so out of his loop that he stumbled over his feet. Luckily, he still caught himself before crashing head first into the couch table. He didn't need another scar on his head or Rick making fun of him for it again. Before Morty could comment on what his sister just said, he was interrupted by the sound of a familiar engine roaring right in front of their house. It was Rick! Forgetting everything else, he stormed to the front door and swung it open to greet his friend. Rick just got off his motorcycle and pulled the helmet off, then ran a hand through his spiky hair to fix it, before he ventured over the brunet who was waiting for him like a puppy that had waited for his owner to come home. Morty noticed that the other hadn't bothered with dressing up. He wore basically the same blue t-shirt and khakis that he wore every other day. It made Morty feel a little silly, since he had actually pulled out one of his better dress shirts – a yellow button up shirt with the top two buttons undone – for the occasion. Thankfully, he had decided to stick to his simple jeans, or he would have felt completely overdressed now. "Hey." The other greeted him casually as he finally reached the front door. "Hi, Rick. C-come in." Morty invited overeagerly. "What's with the outfit? You're having a date after this dinner thing?" Rick snickered a little. A blush immediately worked itself up on Morty's face. God, he did feel overdressed now! "U-uh, no. Ju-just thought since you see me ina-in my plain boring t-shirt ea-every day that I could wear sum-something different for yo—for once." He quickly caught himself at the end there. "Looks good on you." Rick commented as he obediently followed the other teen into the parlor. "Tha-thanks, Rick." Morty stuttered to the obvious compliment and turned a tiny bit redder. No one had ever complimented him on his looks before… "Hey, Rick." The redhead that was still lazing on the couch greeted casually. Rick took a seat right next to her and they fist bumped. "Hey, Sum-Sum. What's up?" "Nothing much right now." Obviously, Summer and Rick already knew each other from school. While Morty's sister was usually someone who fawned about all the hot guys in school, Rick had been an exception to the rule. Or, maybe she had had a small crush on him and was over it already. Whatever the case, since he was one of the popular kids, she tried to stay in his good favors and they could probably consider each other as friends. At least they were cool with each other. It was at least one thing that Morty didn't need to worry about. His entire worries were focused on how his parents would think of Rick. "Wasn't there supposed to be dinner?" Rick asked, but looked like he already made himself feel at home in front of the TV. "My mo-mom and dad are still in the kitchen, but it should be done pretty soon." Morty hastily explained. "I-I-I should probably check up on them and see if they need any help." Without waiting for a response, he already made a beeline straight for the mentioned room. Both of his parents were indeed still standing at the stove and adding some last spices to the food – or rather discussing if and what spices should be added to it. In all truth, the sight of his mother cooking was such a rare one. Usually she was too busy with work and when she did cook something, it was always something microwaved or warmed up frozen food. Cooking wasn't her strength, but thankfully his father was pretty decent at it. This made Morty occasionally wonder if it was the reason why his mother had actually married him, so she wouldn't need to worry about that anymore. "I'm telling you, there needs to be more salt in the sauce." Beth argued. "Believe me, Beth, there doesn't. The roast is already plenty salted, so if you add anymore to the sauce, it would be too much." Jerry argued back. "Yeah, but if you eat the sauce together just with the potatoes and vegetables, it tastes too stale." "No one eats it that way!" "Um—" Morty dared interrupting his parents who were already salty enough from their discussion that no spice would be needed for dinner anymore. "R-Rick's here." "Where is he right now?" His father asked, not looking happy about the news at all. "H-he-he's in the den. Watching TV with Summer." Morty quickly added the last part before his dad would come down on him for leaving his friend unattended in their house. "This is great, Sweetie. Dinner is almost ready." Beth smiled, though it did look a little forced. "Be a darling and set up the table, will you?" "S-sure." The small brunet went over to the cupboard and got out the plates. "And be careful not to drop the plates." The blonde added in a chastising tone. She acted as if he let plates drop every day or something. Which was of course not the case! Even if he was a little clumsy sometimes, he wasn't a little kid!! "I won't drop them, okay?" He replied in a slightly annoyed voice. However, just after he said that, the tableware almost slipped from his fingers. He barely managed to catch the dishes again before they crashed on the floor. …that was a close one. Deciding to be a bit more careful and acting as if that hadn't just happened, he proceeded with setting up the table. After all the tableware and the food was placed and everyone was called to the table and seated, Rick was the one who began with the conversation. "I knew from Morty that you are a very intelligent woman, but he never mentioned that you are such a beauty, too, Beth." He directed at the blonde. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't even ask if first name basis is okay with you. I can call you Mrs. S. if you prefer that." "It's okay. You can call me Beth, Rick." Morty's mother giggled, obviously flattered by the compliment. Jerry looked horrified between his wife and the guest, not believing that this was happening. "Hmm. The food's delicious. Did you cook it?" Rick asked after he took a first bite. "I'm the one, who cooked it." Jerry interrupted rudely. "It was a combined effort." Beth said and threw her husband a warning glare for that. "Well, I can certainly taste your love in it, Beth." The blonde giggled again. "Oh, you." Morty swallowed nervously as he could feel the tension rising in the air around him like thunderclouds that were gathering overhead. Just what was Rick doing? It was nice that he got along with his mother, but his dad was throwing glances at his best friend that could potentially kill. "Hey, Morty. Could you please hand me the salt?" Rick suddenly asked. Morty's mother threw another glance over at her husband as she said. "I'm sorry, Rick, that the sauce is a little stale. I wanted to add some more salt to it, but someone else wouldn't let me." The yellow-shirted teen's mouth dropped and he stared in disbelieve at his best friend, who only grinned. Had Rick somehow overheard that conversation in the kitchen and did this purposely? But how could he have overheard that? Summer would have surely caught him if he would have gotten up from the couch to eavesdrop on them. Again, Morty felt paranoia settle in as he had the suspicion that Rick might have planted microphones inside the house. While he had no reason to do that, he certainly had the means… Despite the bad feeling in his stomach, the brunet followed the request and passed him the saltshaker. "Thanks." For a moment, there was silence around the table and only the typical noises that accompanied the devouring of a meal could be heard before Jerry finally decided to land his first strike against their guest. "So, Rick. I've been wondering what you have actually planned for your future? With skipping school all the time, the goals can't be really that high, right?" "What the hell, Jerry?" Beth hissed. "Dad?!" Even Morty was shocked at that direct approach of his father. "That's a low blow, Dad." Summer, who had been silent until now, threw in. "Nah, it's okay." Rick assured the people, who were clearly on his side here. "I know that I'm not attending school very often, but that's because I think it's stupid. As for what I'm planning to do in the future, I'll be a scientist. In fact, I already am one, which is also the reason why I'm so frequently absent from high school." "Morty mentioned that he's helping you with some projects." Beth's friendly demeanor was back. "Any breakthroughs yet." "A few, but nothing that I'm too proud of." "So, what? You've been winning a few school science fairs? What are the prizes for those? Hundred dollar or something?" The older brunet still sounded unimpressed. "Oh, I'm not wasting my time with science fairs. However, I do sell my inventions or the patents to them, so I make quite a sum on the side." The blue-haired teen was smug now. "I'm sure, I earn more with that then you do, Jerry. Oh, wait! You're unemployed, so that doesn't really sound like such a big feat. In comparison to you everyone makes more money." Jerry's facial features derailed, but the statement made Beth laugh loudly while Summer whooped at the comeback. Even Morty couldn't quite hide the smile at his father's epic defeat even if this was not how the evening was supposed to go and he should be rightfully worried now. The family patriarch shut up after that, however, he still threw occasional angered glances at the spiky-haired teen, who entertained the rest of the family during dinner with his charm, wit and funny jokes.

After Rick had left and Morty fell into his bed, completely exhausted from the events today, he thought that maybe it hadn't gone that bad. At least his mom seemed to like Rick and his sister had always been cool with him. Just his dad seemed to have a dislike for the teen, but that was also not completely unexpected after what had occurred. Deciding that it was more important to him what his mom thought about Rick, since she was always the one who had the last word, Morty decided that it was a success. However, as the voices of his arguing parents reached his ears, he sighed. It didn't particularly mean that they were quarreling about Rick right now. They always found something to argue about, but it was most likely that their current fight was related to the events of this evening. Morty decided that he didn't want to give a fuck about it this time and pulled his pillow over his head so that he could sleep in peace. This was how he dealt more and more often with his parents' arguing lately. Not that there was anything that he could do about it. He tried, he honestly did, by helping around the house, trying to be a good boy and acting responsible, but it didn't help. Summer kept saying that it would only stop once they would finally divorced, and while Morty did see her point, he didn't want that. He just wanted for his parents to make up and love each other as they used to in the past…they surely still did. They just needed to see past their disagreements and learn to be happy with their lives again. Morty didn't really know how his sister was able to be so calm about it. She didn't particularly care if they argued unless it involved her, which led to an even bigger argument that always ended with Summer storming to her room crying and claiming that she would leave – but she thankfully never did, because Morty could stop her every time – and their parents continuing to fight. She certainly didn't seem scared by the prospect that they might eventually "walk different ways". With uneasy thoughts and the dull voices of his parents in the background, Morty eventually fell asleep. Just across the hall, Beth and Jerry Smith were still in a heated discussion. And unsurprisingly it was about none other than Rick Sanchez. "I don't know what your problem is, Jerry! Rick is a decent kid. He's smart and he's already earning money and not by delivering newspapers. He's good for Morty and you should be proud of our son that he managed to find a friend like that." Beth was currently busy taking out her earrings as she looked angrily back at her husband through a small mirror. "I don't know, Beth! Is he really such a good friend?!" Jerry argued back. "Because if I were a decent teenager, I wouldn't be openly flirting with my friend's mother!!" "He wasn't flirting!!" "Oh, let's see here! Calling you by your first name. Making you compliments. To me that certainly sounded like flirting! And you were flirting right back at him!" "No, I wasn't! What are you even saying?!" "You were!! You were acting like a panther!" "Excuse me?" "I mean, uh…what are they called again…?" Jerry looked lost for a moment. "A cougar, I mean!" "You're being ridiculous, Jerry!" "Am I, Beth?! Am I really?!" The blonde huffed, crawled under the covers on her side of the bed, turned off the light and laid on her side, her back facing the brunet. For her this conversation was over. Jerry also laid down, but the male was still brooding. For him this conversation was far from over yet.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

[warninggraphiccontent]

5 March 2021

Data linkage

Data dichotomies Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden wrote for the FT about the UK's new approach to data outside the EU this week - which managed not to say what this new approach would actually be (especially for GDPR), and prompted comments that the narratives that privacy had dominated discussion and pitted innovation and privacy against one another weren't quite right... ICO baby Though perhaps the next Information Commissioner does need to make a distinction between innovation and privacy, as medConfidential and others have pointed out. Dowden's article kicked off the appointment process for the next Commissioner. (I interviewed the current one in 2019.) Doing so in an article behind a paywall and with no version on GOV.UK isn't a particularly great example of open government...

Open season But then it's not been the best of weeks for open government in the UK, with the news it's been censured by the Open Government Partnership, prompting a letter coordinated by the UK's Open Government Network (on whose steering group I sit). Though there remain some good examples of open government in the UK, and... Open day Tomorrow is Open Data Day, with lots of events planned. Speaking of events... Data Bites We held our seventeenth Data Bites this week, with some rugby-related fun to kick off and some very important budget analysis (which may have contributed to this), before four brilliant presentations. One of those was about better data visualisation, which was also the subject of...

Chart hits and misses This��Computer Weekly article looking at good and bad #dataviz during Covid features a quote from me. Speaking of bad #dataviz... Mistake and fail pie My wonderful IfG colleagues are holding me somehow responsible for this particularly bad BBC Wales pie chart, which left me shocked. Another shocking fail which came to mind this week was... Johnson's new department The time when the UK government briefly renamed the business department to something quite unfortunate (though it turned out to be a flop). It wasn't quite the job Alan Johnson expected, but then you don't really get to apply for Cabinet roles...

Odd job Whereas you can apply to work in the Cabinet Office's new Information and Data Exchange, another new unit which there doesn't appear to be much information about. Like a number of recent developments (the Central Digital and Data Office, the integrated data platform) we have to comb press releases, minutes and job ads to find out what's going on (#opengovernment). There's also a deafening silence on... Certifiable The government's (welcome) review into vaccine passports. I wrote something about that for the IfG this week. And if you've not had enough of me... Strategic thinking I'm speaking at a Westminster Forum event next week, on the National Data Strategy. Something that was announced a few months ago, by Oliver Dowden.

Have a good weekend

Gavin

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Graphic content

Vax the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it

New data show that leading covid-19 vaccines have similarly high efficacy* (The Economist)

What Do Vaccine Efficacy Numbers Actually Mean?* (New York Times)

Speed and trust (Reuters)

Oregon, Vermont Lead the Way in Equitable Vaccine Rollout: Covid-19 Tracker* (Bloomberg)

Tempers fray over France’s vaccine strategy* (FT - thread)

COVID-19: Major cities falling well behind in UK's bid to vaccinate its way out of lockdown (Sky News)

COVID-19: Is your area one in England and Scotland where half of adults have received a vaccine? (Sky News)

My, corona

Why Opening Windows Is a Key to Reopening Schools* (New York Times)

Should Your School Be Fully Open? Here’s What the C.D.C. Says* (New York Times)

BATS and the ORIGIN of OUTBREAKS (Reuters)

500,000 LIVES LOST (Reuters)

Boris Johnson defends UK border regime amid hunt for Covid patient* (FT)

Inside ultra-Orthodox Jews’ battle with the virus and the Israeli state* (FT)

NHS faces questions over Covid infections contracted in hospital (The Guardian)

Europe struggles and saves in pandemic as Sweden keeps calm and carries on (Reuters)

Animated data visualisation of covid-19 data in G20 countries, with a focus on USA (Jamie Whyte)

Money, money, money

Economic and fiscal outlook – March 2021 (OBR)

UK Budget: the long road to levelling up* (FT - thread)

Sunak goes big and bold in bid to repair UK public finances* (FT)

Six things we learned from budget 2021 (IfG)

Budget 2021: a preview in charts (IfG)

Spending fast, taxing slow (Resolution Foundation)

Some unprotected departments had their budgets cut by half in the decade from 2009-10, as health spending has growth by almost 20 per cent (Resolution Foundation)

Budget 2021 (IFS)

Rishi Sunak’s Budget has not prevented a surge in unemployment – it just delayed it* (New Statesman)

Mo money, mo problems

How Much Minimum Wage Changed in Each State (Flowing Data)

Remote workers spend more on housing than those who commute* (The Economist)

Costco CEO, Who Pays Median Worker $39,585, Enters Wage Debate* (Bloomberg)

Funding devolution: The Barnett formula in theory and practice (IfG)

More people think benefits are too low* (The Times)

Earth song

The messy business of sand mining explained (Reuters)

In the Atlantic Ocean, Subtle Shifts Hint at Dramatic Dangers* (New York Times)

The Five Hotspots Where Food Prices Are Getting People Worried* (Bloomberg)

In data: what are Britain’s fisheries gaining from Brexit?* (Prospect)

Climate graphic of the week: shipping routes behind Mediterranean oil spill* (FT)

More United Than You’d Think: Public Opinion on the Environment in Towns and Cities in the UK (Centre for Towns)

More than 25m drink from the worst US water systems, with Latinos most exposed (The Guardian)

Politik

So wählten die Gemeinden bei Bundestagswahlen (Berliner Morgenpost)

How Keir Starmer has fallen out of favour with voters* (New Statesman)

How Much Longer Can This Era Of Political Gridlock Last? (FiveThirtyEight)

How Marjorie Taylor Greene Won, And Why Someone Like Her Can Win Again (FiveThirtyEight)

Which senators have been voting against Biden Cabinet nominees?* (Washington Post)

Myanmar records its deadliest day of pro-democracy protests* (The Economist)

Myanmar’s new wave of detainees (Reuters)

Everything else

Another name change for the business department in the offing? (IfG)

Is the lot of female executives improving?* (The Economist)

Constituency data: broadband coverage and speeds (Commons Library)

And yet... (Giuseppe)

How governments use evidence to make transport policy (IfG)

#dataviz

Covid-19 and the art and science of data visualisation (Computer Weekly)

Trump’s literacy, KPIs and Citizen Data: final lessons from covid-19 charts (Andy Cotgreave)

Presenting data: 5 tips for making your data understandable (Data in government)

a list of my favorite #dataviz tools (Jon Schwabish for @iamscicomm)

How to draw your audience's focus in visuals (Alvin Wendt, Jon Schwabish)

Meta data

Certification uncertainty

Government needs to beware the easy promise of Covid certification (me for IfG)

Establish if vaccination passports will work before tackling ethical issues* (FT - more here)

Some thoughts on the legal and ethical implications of ‘vaccine passports’ (Adam Wagner)

No jab, no job – the moral minefield confronting the UK government (The Guardian)

Is there a way to make vaccine passports ethically acceptable? (The Guardian)

Vaccine passports could save British theatres – why won’t they embrace them?* (Telegraph)

Vaccine passports: Ticket to freedom? (whynow)

Covid-19: How would an NHS vaccine passport app work? (BBC News)

Israel’s “green pass” is an early vision of how we leave lockdown (MIT Technology Review)

Viral content

COVID-19: Test and Trace barely used check-in data from pubs and restaurants - with thousands not warned of infection risk (Sky News)

COVID-19 VACCINE TRANSPARENCY (Transparency International)

The New Necessary: How We Future-Proof for the Next Pandemic (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change)

AI got 'rithm

Ensuring statistical models command public confidence: Learning lessons from the approach to developing models for awarding grades in the UK in 2020 (OSR)

What is an “algorithm”? It depends whom you ask* (MIT Technology Review)

Turing Lecture: How to talk to robots - The road to a people powered, AI-enabled future (Tabitha Goldstaub)

Government response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence (DCMS/BEIS)

How UCL’s groundbreaking AI research became entangled in Facebook’s net* (New Statesman)

Building trust in AI systems is essential* (FT)

Final Report (National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence)

Taking on the tech giants: the lawyer fighting the power of algorithmic systems (The Observer)

Big tech

Microsoft's Dream of Decentralized IDs Enters the Real World* (Wired)

New York Times Columnist David Brooks Blogged For Facebook's Corporate Site (BuzzFeed)

Section 230: Big Tech’s favourite law is running out of time* (New Statesman)

Palantir, part 2 (Rowland)

Charting a course towards a more privacy-first web (Google)

Google is done with cookies, but that doesn’t mean it’s done tracking you (Recode)

‘This is bigger than just Timnit’: How Google tried to silence a critic and ignited a movement (Fast Company)

CMA investigates Apple over suspected anti-competitive behaviour (Competition and Markets Authority)

US removes stumbling block to global deal on digital tax* (FT)

Alan Rusbridger says Oversight Board will ask to see Facebook's algorithm (The Guardian)

UK government

New approach to data is a great opportunity for the UK post-Brexit* (FT)

The UK needs an independent privacy regulator (Open Rights Group)

Dr Nicola Byrne has been named as the government’s preferred candidate for the post of National Data Guardian (NDG) for Health and Care (Cabinet Office)

‘Digital big bang’ needed if UK fintech to compete, says review* (FT)

UK taxpayer to take more stakes in tech start-ups* (FT)

Data in the line of duty; PSGA data keeping us safe. (Geospatial Commission)

Goldacre Review

EU too

EU must overhaul flagship data protection laws, says a ‘father’ of policy* (FT)

Data protection: European Commission launches process on personal data flows to UK (European Commission)

ARIA ready?

Bill introduced to create high risk, high reward research agency ARIA (BEIS)

Bill

Explanatory notes

I see the ARIA press release frames FOI as bureaucratic (Peter Wells)

Few thoughts (Alex Parsons)

How government can help make Aria sing (Civil Service World)

Social media

India imposes sweeping new social media rules* (FT)

Far-Right Platform Gab Has Been Hacked—Including Private Data* (Wired)

Open for the best but expecting the worst

UK government censured for a lack of transparency and accountability (Sky News)

UK GOVERNMENT ‘UNDER REVIEW’ SAYS OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP (UK Open Government Network)

Data: sharing is caring (mySociety)

Why Transparency Won’t Save Us (CIGI)

News real and fake

MAPPING CIVIL SOCIETY RESPONSES TO DISINFORMATION: AN INTERNATIONAL FORUM WORKING PAPER (National Endowment for Democracy)

The Unknowable News Audience (Slate)

A Better Way to Think About Conspiracies* (New York Times)

The History of Misinformation (The Full Fact Podcast)

Databases

ICE investigators used a private utility database covering millions to pursue immigration violations* (Washington Post)

A Theranos Database Is Useless. What Happened?* (Wall Street Journal)

Data

Data Bites #17 - watch as live (IfG, edited version will appear here)

Exploring legal mechanisms for data stewardship (Ada Lovelace Institute, AI Council)

Data Is the New Sand* (The Information)

Data's Future: 2020 highlights (ODI)

Supporting ‘levelling up’: the case for more and better data on Post-16 Education and Training (Centre for Cities)

Yuval Noah Harari: Lessons from a year of Covid (FT)

Remote learning

Out of office: what the homeworking revolution means for our cities (The Observer)

Stanford researchers identify four causes for ‘Zoom fatigue’ and their simple fixes (Stanford)

Face your fears

MyHeritage offers 'creepy' deepfake tool to reanimate dead (BBC News)

The Shoddy Science Behind Emotional Recognition Tech (OneZero)

Everything else

Launch of Rules as Code forum for government officials (OPSI, OECD)

Soft power and technological sovereignty in the 21st century (Matthew Clifford)

How Adam Curtis gets into your head* (Prospect)

How a 10-second video clip sold for $6.6 million (Reuters)

Life & Times of: Audrey Tang (Digital Minister @ Taiwan) (The Taiwan Take - my interview from June 2020)

On the block: Could blockchain aid policing? (Tech Monitor)

Nesta's Strategy to 2030 (Nesta)

The Conundrum of Information Scarcity in a Time of Information Overload (Slate)

Opportunities

EVENT: ADR UK three years in: Harnessing the power of administrative data in the age of Covid-19 (ADR UK)

EVENT: Procurement after Brexit: a keynote speech by Cabinet Office minister Lord Agnew (IfG)

JOB: Information Commissioner (DCMS)

JOB: Head of Data Science, INDEX (Cabinet Office)

More (via Owen)

FELLOWSHIP: Future policy for a future internet (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change)

And finally...

Charts, maps and dashboards

One way road to beer

The many chart crimes of *that* Citi bitcoin report* (FT - thread)

Hey Citi, your bitcoin report is embarrassingly bad* (FT)

What language am I reading? (Max Fras, Oystein H. Brekke, Dominik K. Cagara, Aron)

Music Borders (The Pudding)

Everything else

The Australien Government has made an ad about the new media legislation it just passed, and it's surprisingly honest and informative! (theJuiceMedia)

Data... (Dan Hon, via Giuseppe)

Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography (Nature Communications)

The Agile Theme Park. Scream when you have to sprint faster. (DESIGN THINKING! Comic)

The best image of Mars was made in 1965 (Thomas van Ryzewyk)

What will it be like when we go back to the office? (Reuters)

[queezleposts]

Modern AU: Tanks

Part of a series for the modern au that started out as me fleshing out on the headcanons I mentioned here. Previously did the supports! The damage class will be next. Gonna tag @paladinsheadcanons for their thoughts! @speckeltail helped me come up with A LOT of the descriptions here, gonna credit them while I’m at it.

1) Makoa

He’s got that old salty seadog look down to a pat, and for good reason; that’s where he’s spent most of his life. Never went to college, but in his day, a high school degree was enough to get by on. He’s been to enough places in his travels to pick up a bit of other languages too, though its nothing that goes fancier than what he would have needed for basic communication. These days he’s mostly retired, but he still goes out sailing occasionally. Finds fishing to be relaxing. Is oddly okay with that Grohk kid because he also goes fishing at the same spot. Looks after his granddaughter Maeve, or as well as he can given that it’s Maeve. Used to participate in boxing quite a bit in his youth as well, but he was really, really good at it to the point where he gained an almost legendary status. Was probably also known for his mean left hook (I’m sorry). Drogoz found out about it and tried to pester the guy to train him before he was promptly booted out. Continued to pester him which inevitably led to the “bomb king” finding out and also pestering him. Makoa, upon realizing the true extent of how much these two absolutely hate each other took vindictive pleasure in agreeing to it on the grounds that he trains them together. The two of them hate it.

2) Inara

Works as a ranger at the parks department. She is really, really dedicated to her job. She doesn’t nearly look it or act it, but she’s actually fairly close to the likes of Makoa in terms of age. This is often a point of surprise for people whenever they find out. Actually meets up with him on the weekends to drink tea and just talk. Used to know each other when they were younger but only recently got back into contact again. If there’s anything that’s annoying to her its people that don’t clean up after themselves whenever they’ve had a party or the like in one of the picnic areas. Unintentionally intimidates a lot of people she comes across due to her sheer height. Finds it amusing when it happens though, but tries to be polite about it. Is on pretty friendly terms with Grover given how often they run into each other. Never married or had kids, but gets pretty maternal and protective when she notices someone in need of help. Once Cassie broke her leg on one of the trails, and it was Inara who helped her out; they still talk to each other after that, and visit often.

3) Fernando

Dreams big and dreams grand, but still doesn’t know what on earth he wants to do with his life. Will probably cut it extremely short to the deadline when he’s supposed to declare his major and even then he’s probably going to flip flop at least twice. Gravitates more though towards humanities rather than STEM. Flirts with pretty much everyone and anyone. Used to go to the same school system as Cassie and had a pretty hard crush on her. He’s pretty much accepted by now though that it isn’t going to happen, but old flames die hard even if you are trying to get over them. As to friends, he has a few. He is absolutely TERRIBLE at math, but made the mistake of taking a math course anyway, and had to get help from a classmate (Mal) so that’s sort of a friend. Burns stuff on the weekend with Pip, so that’s also sort of a friend. Managed to get on fine with Sha lin too. That is AT LEAST three friends. He’s getting there, eventually.

4) Ruckus (and Bolt)

Otherwise known as, “that one guy.” Had a project where he meticulously collected the writings, background, and internet history of a different guy that’s been dead for at least ten years in order to see if he could “bring them back” as an AI. He succeeded, and needless to say his project is pissed. Ruckus is more than proud though and shows him off whenever he gets the chance. This is mostly because he finds it ridiculously funny when his project, now nicknamed “Bolt” drags people like a cat in a handbag. A very, very coffee fueled grad student. Rarely sleeps but when he does its in the middle of the afternoon in weird locations but then again, he’s not really alone there. Actually just in general leads a very unhealthy lifestyle that is sure to cause him to crash AT LEAST once. Somehow manages to be shorter than Barik. Somehow manages to be one of the few people that can get along with Barik, despite the polarity in terms of their personalities. Despite his age, needs reading glasses.

4) Barik

A professor in the engineering department who is 100% done with everything and everyone. Among the list of things he’s had to deal with:

That one time he thought he would be nice and gave everyone a final project instead of an exam but the entire class plagiarized from the same shady Chinese website so he had to give them all a final exam anyway.

Someone plagiarized their homework in the same damn class from the same damn shady Chinese website literally not even a week after they were all back from break.

Its a bad website in the first place everything here is hilariously wrong who hurt you children.

That one time a person who was decidedly not pregnant tried to get out of a test by saying they were pregnant.

That one time he had a T.A. who didn’t really know what they were doing while grading and was just giving everyone passing grades.

That one time a student copied his classmate’s work and then TOLD him that it was the other way around but was pretty much caught in the act.

Everytime they need to hire someone in their department his colleagues want to pick the more obviously weaker choice to feel more secure in their own positions, the snapping point being when they wanted to pick someone who had clearly lied pretty blatantly on their own resume over someone who was clearly more qualified.

One time Barik thought he was late for a meeting and broke every traffic law in the book to get on campus in time. It was only when he was there that he realized the meeting was cancelled and wanted to die a little inside.

The list goes on.

5) Torvald

Teaches Linguistics in the Anthropology department. Still uses VHS tapes in class. Still uses overhead projectors in class. It’s not that he’s particularly bad with technology, it’s just that he’s the sort of person who figures “if its not broke why replace it” and just sticks by that. Wears a prosthetic arm; not because of anything he was particularly born with, he became an amputee later in his life. It’s not a subject he’s particularly interested in talking about, but he’s the sort of person who if you ask him to “lend you a hand” will be very, very tempted to “misinterpret” your request. Ying takes one of his classes, and they get on just fine. Knew Barik before they both taught at the same school. Is decidedly more chill than Barik ever will be. Listens patiently to Barik when he’s in one of his moods, and then when he’s catching his breath pretty much responds with the Torvald equivalent of “that’s rough buddy.” Surprisingly, that’s enough to get Barik to laugh. Actually fairly artistically inclined. Keeps a sketchbook, but doesn’t really share it anywhere. Gets a little embarrassed when people see it and compliment his work.

[thehallofgame]

Review: Infinite Undiscovery

Release: 2008

My Rating: 7

Review Under the Cut,

                When this came out I recall it receiving a surprisingly harsh reception and to this day I’m still not sure why. The Xbox 360 had few enough RPGs worth playing without trashing a decent one. Infinite Undiscovery didn’t hang the stars with its’ story or gameplay, but it didn’t do anything to tarnish them either.

              The game is your basic JRPG in a can. A group of heroes must stand up against an evil empire, a unknown young man rises to herodom with a princess in disguise at his side and they gain a growing party of companions on their righteous quest. The world of Infinite Undiscovery is a little more creative than its story would lead one to believe though. The moon and its’ god defines life for everyone in the world and it is the moon that is in danger of being destroyed. An evil order is chaining the moon to the earth, apparently attempting to pull it out of the sky and bring disaster to all people.

Aristos, special people who have been granted extreme longevity and power (and a floating crescent moon symbol that hovers behind their back) by the moon god, rule over the common people. Humans who are born when the moon is visible in the night sky receive Lunaglyphs which allow them to channel the moon’s power into magic. At the bottom of the social strata are the Unblessed, those born on the new moon, who do not have a glyph or magical powers. These people are ostracized by society and are even banished or killed outright.

              The game’s story is predictable and most of the characters so trope-ish and cloned from other games I almost expect they were meant to be parody. Yet the game didn’t go far enough for that and so most of them ended up being uninteresting and occasionally outright annoying. The dialogue is uninspired and occurs often, though these scenes aren’t too long winded. It wouldn’t be worth noting excepting that the game’s voice acting varied greatly in quality and conversation could have whiplash inducing switches in acting quality with every line. That said, Infinite Undiscovery is good at running long cons on the player that pay off in a few dramatic and emotional story moments that really drive home the game’s messages. And it does have a message about ill treatment of minority groups and how arbitrary the dividing line between different groups of people often are that it tells slowly over the course of the game.

              I was also surprised at how well the game has aged. I found myself double and triple checking the release date even though I distinctly remember purchasing this game not long after I bought my first 360. The graphics are slightly anime-inspired and brightly colored. The slight exaggeration and stylization of both characters and environments went a long way to making the game look younger than its nine years. It was only when the animations were a little clunky and mouths didn’t move when they were supposed to that its’ age really showed. Also, despite being split between two discs and a being a decent length game load times were very short and unobtrusive, something I most definitely do not expect from early 360 tittles. This probably had a lot to do with the game’s size and structure.

              The world is divided into towns and dungeons the player walks between. Towns felt a little smaller than in most games but frankly I appreciated the lack of NPCs trying to give me fetch quests (though there are a handful of optional quests throughout the game) on every other street corner. The dungeons were just perfect. They were big and complicated enough to provide some exploration and a few puzzles but didn’t stretch on so long as to become huge torments. Which was lucky for the game because a couple dungeons had frustrating trap-style gimmicks that could drag on and become frustrating. This was often exacerbated by the sometimes odd placement of save stations. You can usually save every twenty to thirty minutes of progress, which is my preferred interval if a game is going to have set save locations. However sometimes there would be a save station in the center of a dungeon and not one before the boss which made dying in a boss battle more frustrating than it needed to be. Likewise save stations were often placed before time consuming puzzles (good) and then followed by another sizable portion of dungeon and the boss with nowhere else to save (bad).

              Interestingly while Infinite Undiscovery is meant to be to an action RPG I often found myself telling people I was playing a dungeon crawler. Aside from magic and items healing is only accomplished by resting in towns or during certain story events so dungeons can be more of an endurance trial than most modern RPGs. By the end of the game the party is filled with several characters that each have unique traits and abilities to consider. Some have buffs to avoid traps and unlock chests, others get bonuses for being paired with other party members they’re friends with and still others have circumstantial debuffs to keep in mind (scared of the dark, frightened of insect-enemies ect.). In some scenarios the party must split and the player must build up to three four-person teams to tackle a dungeon. This is more of a set dressing than anything though the game provides a grade and bonuses at the end of the scenario based on how ‘well’ you assigned the teams. This mechanic can be largely ignored on normal and easy difficulty though it is a good way of encouraging the player to rotate party-members. On hard and nightmare difficulty maximizing your party-buff becomes a useful and even vital mechanic. Luckily if the player really does just want to run with their favorites in their party the background characters gain experience at half the rate of the active party so if a certain character is needed for a dungeon they’re still combat-worthy.

              This mechanic eliminates most of the need for grinding in Infinite Undiscovery, which really ups the pacing from the JRPG standard. The story is well-paced as well and the game moves along comfortably, never going quite too long without at least a reminder of the meta-plot.

              Combat is very basic action-rpg 101. The player has a light and heavy attack that can be chained to form combos and two equippable, mp consuming, special attacks that are triggered by holding down the light or heavy attack button. There is also a block button that requires quite good timing and to be aimed in the exact right direction. It’s of no use in a crowd and there tend to be too many flashy, colorful effects to even seen when an enemy is attacking. A successful block does stun an enemy for several seconds which gives the technique some limited use. There are two gimmicks that also come into play in combat but ultimately play very minor roles. The first is that the main character was originally a flutist by trade and is granted a magical flute early in the game. It allows him to play magical songs. The most commonly used reveals invisible objects and enemies. Most other songs provide some form of buff. The other gimmick involves ‘linking’ with another party member to order them to use a attack the player sets or a special ability/attack that’s unique to each character (the player can also link in town to use the special abilities of characters with non-combat techniques). This is of limited use in combat because it’s typically easier to switch between the preset AI patterns for the party. The AI is surprisingly competent and actually does what the AI says it will. The party can be ordered to fall back and wait for the player to reactivate the AI, conserve MP, attack the same target as the player, attack different targets from the player or act ‘freely’ which allows party members to follow their individual scripts. The only drawback is that the party AI also uses items happily. This means you don’t have to worry about your party leader being killed as long as you have resurrection items, but it also means that storing curatives and healing potions ends up being virtually useless as your party members will fling them out left and right.

              The game also boasts a pretty expansive crafting system which produces weapons, accessories, armor and potions as well as food that can be consumed for certain benefits like curing conditions and slight hp and/or mp restoration. It’s not balanced enough to keep up with the party’s epuipment needs unless the playing spends considerable time grinding for materials. Instead it mostly functions as an additional revenue stream. It is also the only way to obtain new songs.

              My last note comes from the very beginning of the game during difficulty selection. The game tells you that not all of the game’s content is available on easy or normal difficulty, but hard isn’t unlocked until after you’ve cleared your first game. I did only a little digging but it seems that most of the content, including the bonus after end game dungeon, is available on normal mode. I believe the unavailable content refers to achievements that can only be earned on Hard or Nightmare difficulty. Still, it’s always a bummer to be told outright you’ll need multiple playthroughs to see the entire game.

              Infinite Undiscovery is probably one of the most average games I’ve ever played. It doesn’t do anything particular special and it doesn’t tell a new story, but it is a perfectly okay game. I had fun for the most part playing it. I don’t think it’s worth going on a quest to track it down, but if you’re a JRPG loving xbox360 owner looking for something to play it might be worth giving a shot.

[sh3ddingvelvet]

7-12, and 22-26!

i’ll answer these for chiaki, alistair and ai 💖7- does your oc have any irrational phobias?chiaki’s fear of abandonment isn’t entirely irrational given their past? other than that they have a phobia of dentists !alistair is afraid of spiders and has a lot of fears related to his ocd that are mainly to do with food, how he’s perceived by others, and relationships (mainly them going wrong)ai is scared of tall/intimidating men (which again isnt something id consider to be fully irrational), loud/continuous noises, large groups of people and that other people are secretly making fun of them/talking about them negatively ..

8-how is/was your ocs relationships with their parents ?chiaki was very close with their mother and felt very comfortable with her .. they loved her a lot.. their father was more distant and detached ? he didnt really have the time to spend with them …alistair felt like his mother was too overbearing for a long time but appreciates her now … and his father is more like a friend than his dad ? alistair was mainly raised by his mom but his dad was aroundai loves their parents ! one of them is very intense and forward and no nonsense which can be a bit too much sometimes .. whereas the other is quieter and gentler , but they care a lot about them !

9-does your oc feel a pressure to achieve or are they content and calm with doing what they can at the moment?chiaki just ignores pressure ? they aren’t very motivated when it comes to achieving and prefers to just , take things slow and relaxed … in the past it caused problems with their education but now it’s finealistair feels a lot of pressure socially and with his appearance ? he puts a lot of work into maintaining both but he manages even if he does get very stressed sometimes…ai works very hard for their grades .. they consider studying to be one of the most important things in their life but because theyre so dedicated to it they dont stress too much? they struggle and get stressed when they dont understand things though ..

10-does your oc guard their emotions by being tough? if not how would they?chiaki absolutely does … they act very cold and distant from most people , they dont like letting their guard down easyalistair prefers to act like hes “perfect” and hide anything thats going on ? he acts super polite and composed around most others even if its not how he really feelsai is too nervous to display their emotions but around the few people theyre comfortable with they cant guard emotions well

11-how would your oc react to hearing they’re adopted ?chiaki wouldnt care at all ? it wouldnt change anything for them reallyalistair would probably be a little surprised … but he’d accept it quickly i thinkai would only be upset if it was kept secret from them ? they wouldnt mind otherwise .. as long as their family love them thats all that matters to them

12-what is one of the most primary things your oc feels that is missing from their life ?chiaki is honestly rather content … i feel like they just miss their parents and want to see their sister more ? alistair would want a family i think? theyre stuck between living happily as a young couple with chiaki but part of him definitely wants to settle down with children … maybe move back to france ? but he’s not 100% on it yetai just wants company ? they want friends … please

22-how does your oc usually show affection? are they openly affectionate or more restricted with their affectionate emotions?chiaki is the type to be a little more reserved … they’ll be physically affectionate but not super giggly/smiley with it ? they like doing chores, making dinner, small gestures, to show their partner their affection… and they are rarely super affectionate publicallyalistair is the sort to use classic romantic gestures, lots of gifts, fancy dinners, hotel stays… he’s very traditional and sensual when it comes to expressing affectionai is very physical with their affection and will express affection through cuddling, snuggling, sharing a bed, and sex … in contrast to chiaki theyre super open and giggly and will readily say romantic things… they like making gifts, or picking very personal gifts …

23-does your oc tend to hide something about their personality/essence when meeting new people? if yes, what?chiaki is just generally very cold at first? they hide that theyre very clingy, dependant and submissive . also that theyre a kinky masosub but thats . umalistair tries to act like hes perfect when in reality hes a total airhead who cant cook, cries hysterically at romance films, has a lot of britney choreography completely committed to memory and lived off of take out food for a solid 5 yearsai is too shy to be themself from the beginning … once they relax they start being themself, so i guess for ai its basically … everything ? theyre really nervous

24-how would your oc react if they got humiliated by someone in front of a group of people?chiaki would not let that happen ? theyd come up with some sarcastic comeback or style it off somehow and afterwards just be like “god im upset im going to get my boyfriend to fuck me so im less upset”alistair would probably laugh it off ? to be fair he’s not someone people typically would try to humiliate ? but he would absolutely cry about it afterwards and chiaki would strongly consider taking a temporary break from their pacifism ai would cry hysterically and not be able to handle it at all it’d just be . their worst nightmare, basically . but honestly who would do that theyre so cute and soft why on earth . i feel like other people would rush to comfort them, though, because theyre so delicate ?

25-how would your oc process the grief caused by the death of a loved one?historically speaking for chiaki: Not Very Well . depending on who it was their reaction would range from them going into an extended deeply depressed state or being straight up suicidal themselfalistair would . probably react fairly standardly i feel ? itd be hard and hed suffer but hed probably just cling to friends and loved ones until he became able to cope againai would be really bad at handling it … it would make them very very depressed and theyd just close off even more and just . stop doing things for a while

26-what is the most intense thing your oc has been battling with?chiaki-dependancy and abandonment issuesalistair-ocdai-loneliness and hopelessness

[mudaship39]

Alpha Centurion War:

Amelia Himmat Mishra and Maysa Nabila Uzun:

Amelia Himmat Mishra a darker skinned Hindu Black British South Asian Desi Indian woman of color who is polyamorous cis bisexual is an intergalactic icon. She is a billionaire as she specializes in building, repairing, & upgrading hard light plasma weaponry, combat armor, power armor, mecha suits, & faster than light spaceships capable of warp jumps for the Sol System, Polaris System, & Vega System Alliance Federation Space Armed Forces. Privately as someone disabled with a bionic left arm and cybernetic right leg and cyberware implants she also builds cybernetic prosthetics, bionic prosthetics, & cybernetic implants for the intergalactic public for people who are disabled for cheap amount of currency such as credits, cash, or gold, if not for free. As a child prodigy and as a genius she figures out how to access every single holographic tablet, holographic smartphone, & holographic laptop throughout the Sol System, Vega System, & Polaris System with her companies private satellites used for space exploration to surveillance and spy on enemies of the Elites (a superhero team who have enough metahuman and superhuman members to defend the planet Earth) and Paragons (a superhero team who have enough metahuman and superhuman members to defend the Sol Star System, Polaris Star System, & Vega Star System) superhero teams. It is built with a self aware smart AI as its protection and is built with secure and protected safeguards of a retinal scan, fingerprint scan, voice scan, & password that only Maysa Nabila Uzun, Chun Hei Kim, Alexander Mack Smith/Alexandria Macy Smith, & her Amelia Himmat Mishra can unlock. One of her employees a technopath who has power over technology threatens to quit on the spot as he says it is too much power for one person. “This tech allows you and the Elites and the Paragons the ability to surveillance people on a cosmic and stellar level throughout three star systems.” “But what if someone attaches such a device to intergalactic military grade weaponry?” “What if someone reverse engineers it and replicated such a device and offers it to the black market to sell it to the highest bidder.” “It is not a question of who should have such technology Amelia but a question of should anyone have such technology in their hands at all.” “That is too much power, strength, control, & influence.” “Remember how the Terran Empire occupied the Xeno, Andromeda, & Milky Way Galaxy with their neocolonialism and occupation?” “We fought against such devices in that war.” “Imagine how invasive or insidious and how potentially dangerous such a device is in the wrong hands.” “Imagine what Earth in the past when it colonized the Sol System, Vega System, & Polaris System with its colonialism and imperialism could have done with a device like this.” “Imagine if the Terran military of human and alien metahumans and superhumans had used something like this to bomb civilians on Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Luna, Triton, or Pluto after spying on them just for rebelling against Earth's subjugation and tyranny.” “Imagine them using this to spy on people they deemed as militant, revolutionist, anarchist, & or radical.” “Imagine after surveillance deemed them as a threat to their colonialism, imperialism, neocolonialism, apartheid, & or occupation those intergalactic governments sending covert clandestine black ops and spec ops squads of paramilitary intergalactic fireteams to assassinate them to eliminate all threats to their hegemony and dominion.” “And later replacing the leaders of those rebel planets with puppets who fell in line to their machinations and scheming.” “Dear god…” “If the Terran Empire ever did this we would have called them more maleficent, evil, & wicked villains than they already were.” “So if you used a device like this for bad or immoral purposes Amelia what does that make you?” “In your hands yes it may be used for good Amelia.” “I know how worthy you are and I know how heroic you are as a champion and a hero.” “It is why you were chosen as the champion and heroine of the Hindu gods and goddesses.” “But this problem isn’t so black and white.” “For there is so, so much gray in an issue and concern like this.” “Yes, it has safeguards that only you, Maysa, Chun, & Alex/Lexi can unlock but what if someone hacks through even your secure firewalls Amelia.” “Yes, it the tech is built with a self-aware AI as protection but imagine if said AI went rogue.” “It is not a neutral piece of technology like a car or hover bike but a gadget that makes its potential powers a dangerous and very real credible threat.” “The problem is not this device is impractical in fact the problem is this device is too likely.” “Imagine the political, economic, social, & military implications and ramifications of such a device on a celestial and stellar scale.” “This technology is unethical and immoral.” “Already intergalactic tech companies listen in on our holographic tablets, holographic laptops, & holographic smartphones.” “Intergalactic social media companies already sell our personal and private information to the highest bidder.” “Intergalactic governments of moons, planets, & planetoids already spy on their own civilians in the name of “safety and security.” “This started long before the 21st century on earth and it has only gotten worse on a cosmic and celestial level in the present day of the 40th century.” “The very existence of such a technology that allows an individual, or a group or people, or an organization or faction to know this much, control this much, & have this much power.” “With only a password, retinal scan, fingerprint scan, & voice scan to unlock it.” “It makes that person, or group of people, or faction problematic in of itself.” “To wield such a device with no responsibility or accountability and no repercussion or consequence is not an act of heroism but an act of villainy Amelia Himmat Mishra.” “You know how dangerous this is in the wrong hands.” “I swear that after we destroy the Forces of Evil, I’ll destroy this device.” Ultimately, she proves worthy of wielding it as after using it for good to stop the Forces of Evil’s occupation of the Andromeda Galaxy, Milky Way Galaxy, & Xeno Galaxy she destroys it immediately after so it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. It is obviously the only moral and ethical choice.