#Automated Material services

[ujwala-hole11]

Automated Material Handling Equipment Market Insights The Rise of Robotics in Supply Chain Operations

The Automated Material Handling Equipment (AMHE) market has gained remarkable traction in recent years, driven by the increasing need for efficiency, productivity, and safety across various industries. AMHE includes systems like conveyors, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), robotics, and sorting systems, all designed to optimize the handling and transportation of materials in warehouses, distribution centers, and manufacturing plants. The market is poised for further growth as companies invest in advanced technologies to streamline operations and reduce labor costs.

Growth Factors in the AMHE Market

Several key factors are driving the growth of the Automated Material Handling Equipment market. One of the main contributors is the increasing demand for faster, more efficient operations, particularly in industries such as e-commerce, logistics, automotive, and manufacturing. Automation helps companies meet these demands by reducing human error, minimizing downtime, and improving overall productivity. Additionally, advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) are enhancing the functionality of AMHE systems, making them more intelligent and adaptable.

Automation in Warehousing and Distribution Centers

Warehouses and distribution centers are among the biggest adopters of automated material handling systems. The rising demand for quick delivery times in the e-commerce sector has forced companies to implement automated solutions to keep up with order volumes. Automated systems such as sorting, packaging, and AGVs help reduce operational bottlenecks and improve throughput. These systems can move goods more efficiently, leading to faster order fulfillment and improved customer satisfaction.

Technological Advancements Shaping the AMHE Market

Technological advancements play a significant role in shaping the AMHE market. Automation technologies such as AI, robotics, and machine learning are being integrated into material handling systems to improve efficiency and reduce human involvement. AI-powered robots can sort, transport, and pick items with greater precision, while machine learning allows systems to adapt and optimize processes based on real-time data. These advancements are not only making AMHE systems more efficient but also enabling greater flexibility in adapting to different types of products and warehouse layouts.

Adoption of Robotics and Smart Systems

Robotics is a central element of the AMHE market, with robots being increasingly deployed to handle materials in warehouses and production lines. Robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), and drones are improving the speed, accuracy, and safety of material handling operations. These robots are capable of performing repetitive tasks such as lifting, sorting, and packaging, freeing up human workers for more complex tasks. The adoption of robotics is expected to increase as companies strive to reduce labor costs and improve operational efficiency.

The Role of AI and IoT in Automation

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are transforming the AMHE market by enabling smarter systems. AI allows for predictive maintenance, optimizing workflows, and enhancing decision-making, while IoT enables real-time monitoring of operations. The integration of these technologies helps businesses track materials and equipment performance, anticipate problems, and streamline supply chain processes. As these technologies become more advanced, the level of automation in material handling systems will continue to rise, offering greater flexibility and efficiency.

Benefits of AMHE: Improving Efficiency and Reducing Costs

The primary benefits of automated material handling systems are improved efficiency and reduced operational costs. These systems enable faster processing of goods, minimize human error, and reduce labor costs. In addition, automated systems can operate around the clock, which leads to better utilization of resources and maximized productivity. The long-term cost savings from adopting AMHE solutions are driving companies to invest in these technologies, despite the high initial installation costs.

Impact of E-Commerce Growth on AMHE Demand

E-commerce has had a significant impact on the demand for automated material handling systems. As online shopping continues to grow, logistics companies are increasingly relying on automation to meet the rising demand for faster and more efficient order fulfillment. Automated systems can handle large volumes of orders, process returns, and manage inventory more effectively. As e-commerce companies expand their operations, they are expected to continue investing in AMHE systems to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

Regional Insights: Global Adoption of AMHE

The AMHE market is experiencing rapid growth in various regions around the world. North America and Europe are leading the market due to the presence of key players, advanced technological infrastructure, and a strong focus on automation across industries. The Asia-Pacific region, particularly China and Japan, is also witnessing significant growth, driven by the rapid industrialization and the rise of e-commerce in these countries. Emerging economies in Latin America and the Middle East are also expected to contribute to the market's expansion as they increasingly adopt automation to enhance productivity and efficiency.

Challenges Facing the AMHE Market

Despite its growth, the Automated Material Handling Equipment market faces several challenges. The high upfront costs associated with the installation of automated systems can be a barrier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, the complexity of integrating automation with existing infrastructure and the need for skilled labor to operate and maintain these systems can pose difficulties. However, as the technology matures and becomes more affordable, these challenges are expected to diminish, making AMHE solutions more accessible to a wider range of businesses.

Conclusion

The Automated Material Handling Equipment market is set for significant growth, driven by technological innovations, the rise of e-commerce, and the need for greater efficiency in industrial operations. Robotics, AI, and IoT are transforming material handling systems, making them smarter, faster, and more adaptable. As industries continue to embrace automation, the AMHE market will play a crucial role in reshaping supply chain management and operational processes in the years to come.

[aippals]

Material handling systems

Moving things from one place to another, both finished and in-raw, is referred to as material handling. It covers managing, keeping, and safeguarding the materials from the point of manufacture to the point of distribution. The manufacturing business is one that uses this particular handling technique on work floors.

[little-p-eng-engineering]

Comprehensive Overview of Engineering Services by Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant

Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant is a highly reputable firm renowned for its expertise in providing a wide range of engineering services. With a dedicated team of professionals, state-of-the-art technology, and a commitment to excellence, Little P.Eng. serves various industries and clients across the globe. In this comprehensive article, we will explore the key engineering services offered by Little P.Eng., including material handling, seismic design, structural engineering, piping stress analysis, above-ground tank design, and pressure vessel design.

Introduction to Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant

Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant is a leading player in the engineering consulting domain, offering innovative solutions and technical expertise to address the unique challenges faced by industries such as manufacturing, construction, energy, and petrochemicals. The firm's success is founded on a solid reputation for delivering cost-effective and reliable engineering solutions.

The Core Values of Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant

Excellence: The firm strives for excellence in all its endeavors, aiming to exceed client expectations in every project.

Integrity: Little P.Eng. operates with utmost integrity, ensuring transparency, honesty, and ethical practices throughout its operations.

Innovation: Innovation is at the heart of the firm's approach. It constantly explores new technologies and methodologies to stay at the forefront of the industry.

Safety: Safety is a top priority, and the firm places great emphasis on designing structures and systems that prioritize the safety of personnel and the environment.

Now, let's dive into the detailed engineering services offered by Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant:

1. Material Handling Engineering

Material handling engineering is an integral aspect of modern industrial operations. It involves the design and optimization of systems and equipment for the efficient movement, storage, control, and protection of materials and products. Little P.Eng.'s material handling experts excel in creating tailored solutions that enhance productivity, reduce manual labor, and ensure the safe flow of materials.

Key Aspects of Material Handling Engineering by Little P.Eng.

a. Conveyor Systems

Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant specializes in the design and implementation of conveyor systems customized to specific industries and requirements. These systems facilitate the smooth and automated movement of goods within facilities, leading to streamlined production processes and reduced labor costs.

b. Automated Material Handling

Automation is a significant trend in material handling, and Little P.Eng. is at the forefront of implementing cutting-edge robotic and automation technologies. These innovations optimize operations by reducing errors and increasing efficiency.

c. Warehouse Design

Little P.Eng. ensures that warehouse layouts are optimized for maximum storage capacity and accessibility. Their designs enhance inventory management and expedite order fulfillment, resulting in improved overall operational efficiency.

d. Packaging Equipment

Packaging plays a crucial role in product protection and presentation. Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant designs packaging equipment tailored to handle various materials and products efficiently, enhancing the final product's quality and appearance.

e. Safety Measures

Safety is paramount in material handling, and Little P.Eng. prioritizes the design of systems that minimize risks associated with material movement and handling. This includes comprehensive safety measures and training for personnel.

2. Seismic Design

Seismic design is a specialized field focused on ensuring that buildings and structures can withstand the forces generated by earthquakes. As seismic events can cause catastrophic damage, Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant excels in designing structures that prioritize safety and resilience in seismic-prone areas.

Key Aspects of Seismic Design by Little P.Eng.

a. Seismic Hazard Assessment

Little P.Eng.'s seismic design experts perform thorough seismic hazard assessments by analyzing historical data, fault lines, and ground motion characteristics. This data informs the design process, ensuring structures are prepared for potential seismic events.

b. Structural Analysis

Seismic design requires an in-depth understanding of structural analysis to assess how a building or structure will respond to seismic forces. Little P.Eng.'s engineers employ advanced analysis techniques to ensure structural integrity.

c. Innovative Design Techniques

Little P.Eng. embraces innovative seismic design techniques, including base isolators, damping systems, and the use of reinforced materials. These approaches enhance a structure's ability to withstand seismic forces.

d. Code Compliance

Compliance with building codes and seismic design standards is paramount. Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant ensures that all designs meet or exceed the necessary regulatory requirements to guarantee the safety of structures in seismic-prone regions.

e. Retrofitting and Rehabilitation

In addition to new construction, Little P.Eng. offers retrofitting and rehabilitation services for existing structures, bringing them up to modern seismic standards and ensuring their ongoing safety.

3. Structural Engineering

Structural engineering is the cornerstone of designing and constructing safe, robust, and resilient buildings, bridges, dams, towers, and other critical infrastructure. Little P.Eng. excels in the design and evaluation of structural systems to ensure their stability and safety under various loads.

Key Aspects of Structural Engineering by Little P.Eng.

a. Load Analysis

Little P.Eng.'s structural engineers are experts in calculating loads, stresses, and deformations on structures. They perform comprehensive load analyses to determine the most suitable structural solutions.

b. Material Selection

Choosing the right materials is crucial for structural integrity and durability. Little P.Eng. considers factors such as the type of structure, environmental conditions, and budget constraints to make informed material selections.

c. Structural Systems

Little P.Eng. engineers meticulously design structural systems, including beams, columns, and foundations, to efficiently distribute loads and prevent structural failure. Innovative solutions are employed to optimize performance.

d. Computer-Aided Design

Advanced software tools play a vital role in structural engineering. Little P.Eng. utilizes cutting-edge software for structural analysis and design, allowing for precise calculations, simulations, and 3D modeling.

e. Safety Standards

Safety is a top priority in structural engineering. Little P.Eng. ensures strict compliance with safety standards and building codes to protect the well-being of the public and occupants of structures.

4. Piping Stress Analysis

In industries where industrial piping systems are prevalent, such as petrochemical plants, power facilities, and refineries, piping stress analysis is crucial. Little P.Eng. specializes in designing and evaluating these systems to ensure they can withstand thermal expansion, contraction, pressure, and other forces without failure or leaks.

Key Aspects of Piping Stress Analysis by Little P.Eng.

a. Layout and Design

Little P.Eng.'s experts work on the layout and design of complex piping networks, accounting for factors like fluid flow, temperature changes, and equipment connections. Their designs optimize performance and minimize energy consumption.

b. Stress Calculations

Engineers at Little P.Eng. calculate stresses and deformations in piping systems using advanced software. This includes considering thermal gradients, pressure differentials, and material properties to ensure structural integrity.

c. Support Systems

Proper support systems and hangers are essential to prevent sagging, vibration, and excessive stress on pipes. Little P.Eng. designs support systems that enhance the longevity of piping networks.

d. Material Selection

Selecting the appropriate materials is critical to withstand corrosive substances, high temperatures, and high-pressure conditions. Little P.Eng. engineers make informed material choices to ensure durability.

e. Code Compliance

Little P.Eng. ensures that all piping systems adhere to industry standards and codes, such as ASME B31.3 for process piping. Compliance is vital for the safety and regulatory compliance of the systems.

5. Above-Ground Tank Design

Above-ground tanks are widely used for storing liquids and gases in various industries, including oil and gas, chemical processing, and water treatment. Little P.Eng. specializes in designing these tanks to meet specific requirements while ensuring safety and compliance.

Key Aspects of Above-Ground Tank Design by Little P.Eng.

a. Tank Sizing

Little P.Eng. engineers determine the appropriate tank size based on the volume and characteristics of the stored materials. Their designs optimize space and efficiency.

b. Material Selection

The choice of tank material is a critical consideration, and Little P.Eng. selects materials that align with the type of substance being stored, whether it is corrosive, flammable, or sensitive to temperature changes.

c. Construction Methods

Above-ground tanks can be constructed using various methods, including welded steel, concrete, and fiberglass. Little P.Eng. evaluates the best construction method based on project-specific requirements and regulations.

d. Safety Features

Safety features are paramount in tank design. Little P.Eng. ensures that tanks incorporate features such as overflow protection, pressure relief systems, and leak detection to prevent accidents and environmental damage.

e. Regulatory Compliance

Design consultants at Little P.Eng. ensure that above-ground tanks meet all regulatory requirements, including those outlined in codes like API 650 for steel tanks. Compliance is essential for environmental protection and safety.

6. Pressure Vessel Design

Pressure vessels are critical components in industries dealing with pressurized fluids or gases, such as chemical manufacturing, energy production, and petrochemical processing. Little P.Eng. specializes in designing pressure vessels to safely withstand high internal or external pressures.

Key Aspects of Pressure Vessel Design by Little P.Eng.

a. Material Properties

Little P.Eng. engineers carefully select materials with the necessary strength and corrosion resistance to withstand the specific service conditions of pressure vessels.

b. Thickness Calculations

Calculations of vessel wall thickness are crucial to ensure structural integrity and safety under pressure. Little P.Eng. performs precise calculations to determine optimal thickness.

c. Welding and Fabrication

The welding and fabrication methods used in pressure vessel construction must meet rigorous standards. Little P.Eng. employs certified welding procedures to prevent defects and ensure vessel reliability.

d. Testing and Inspection

Pressure vessels undergo rigorous testing and inspection processes to verify their integrity. Little P.Eng. engineers conduct comprehensive testing to ensure vessels are safe for operation.

e. Code Compliance

Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant is well-versed in codes such as the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. The firm ensures that all pressure vessel designs and constructions adhere to these codes and regulations.

Conclusion

Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant is a leading provider of engineering services that encompass material handling, seismic design, structural engineering, piping stress analysis, above-ground tank design, and pressure vessel design. The firm's unwavering commitment to excellence, safety, innovation, and regulatory compliance has earned it a reputation as a trusted partner in diverse industries.

With a dedicated team of experts and cutting-edge technology, Little P.Eng. delivers cost-effective solutions that prioritize safety, sustainability, and efficiency. Whether it's designing structures to withstand earthquakes or optimizing material handling systems, Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant stands at the forefront of engineering innovation, contributing to the development of safer, more resilient, and more productive industries worldwide.

Tags:

Engineering Services

Seismic Design

Piping Stress Analysis

Structural Engineering

Pressure Vessel Design

Material Selection

Regulatory Compliance

Little P.Eng. Engineering Consultant

Seismic Hazard Assessment

Structural Resilience

Engineering Innovation

Material Handling Engineering

Above-Ground Tank Design

Excellence in Engineering

Innovative Solutions

Safety Measures

Compliance with Codes

Structural Analysis

Automated Material Handling

Conveyor Systems

Warehouse Design

Packaging Equipment

Retrofitting and Rehabilitation

Load Analysis

Support Systems

Welding and Fabrication

Tank Sizing

Construction Methods

Pressure Vessel Testing

Welding Procedures

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Located in Calgary, Alberta; Vancouver, BC; Toronto, Ontario; Edmonton, Alberta; Houston Texas; Torrance, California; El Segundo, CA; Manhattan Beach, CA; Concord, CA; We offer our engineering consultancy services across Canada and United States. Meena Rezkallah.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Cleantech has an enshittification problem

On July 14, I'm giving the closing keynote for the fifteenth HACKERS ON PLANET EARTH, in QUEENS, NY. Happy Bastille Day! On July 20, I'm appearing in CHICAGO at Exile in Bookville.

EVs won't save the planet. Ultimately, the material bill for billions of individual vehicles and the unavoidable geometry of more cars-more traffic-more roads-greater distances-more cars dictate that the future of our cities and planet requires public transit – lots of it.

But no matter how much public transit we install, there's always going to be some personal vehicles on the road, and not just bikes, ebikes and scooters. Between deliveries, accessibility, and stubbornly low-density regions, there's going to be a lot of cars, vans and trucks on the road for the foreseeable future, and these should be electric.

Beyond that irreducible minimum of personal vehicles, there's the fact that individuals can't install their own public transit system; in places that lack the political will or means to create working transit, EVs are a way for people to significantly reduce their personal emissions.

In policy circles, EV adoption is treated as a logistical and financial issue, so governments have focused on making EVs affordable and increasing the density of charging stations. As an EV owner, I can affirm that affordability and logistics were important concerns when we were shopping for a car.

But there's a third EV problem that is almost entirely off policy radar: enshittification.

An EV is a rolling computer in a fancy case with a squishy person inside of it. While this can sound scary, there are lots of cool implications for this. For example, your EV could download your local power company's tariff schedule and preferentially charge itself when the rates are lowest; they could also coordinate with the utility to reduce charging when loads are peaking. You can start them with your phone. Your repair technician can run extensive remote diagnostics on them and help you solve many problems from the road. New features can be delivered over the air.

That's just for starters, but there's so much more in the future. After all, the signal virtue of a digital computer is its flexibility. The only computer we know how to make is the Turing complete, universal, Von Neumann machine, which can run every valid program. If a feature is computationally tractable – from automated parallel parking to advanced collision prevention – it can run on a car.

The problem is that this digital flexibility presents a moral hazard to EV manufacturers. EVs are designed to make any kind of unauthorized, owner-selected modification into an IP rights violation ("IP" in this case is "any law that lets me control the conduct of my customers or competitors"):

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

EVs are also designed so that the manufacturer can unilaterally exert control over them or alter their operation. EVs – even more than conventional vehicles – are designed to be remotely killswitched in order to help manufacturers and dealers pressure people into paying their car notes on time:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

Manufacturers can reach into your car and change how much of your battery you can access:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/edison-not-tesla/#demon-haunted-world

They can lock your car and have it send its location to a repo man, then greet him by blinking its lights, honking its horn, and pulling out of its parking space:

https://tiremeetsroad.com/2021/03/18/tesla-allegedly-remotely-unlocks-model-3-owners-car-uses-smart-summon-to-help-repo-agent/

And of course, they can detect when you've asked independent mechanic to service your car and then punish you by degrading its functionality:

https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2024/06/26/two-of-eight-claims-in-tesla-anti-trust-lawsuit-will-move-forward/

This is "twiddling" – unilaterally and irreversibly altering the functionality of a product or service, secure in the knowledge that IP law will prevent anyone from twiddling back by restoring the gadget to a preferred configuration:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/

The thing is, for an EV, twiddling is the best case scenario. As bad as it is for the company that made your EV to change how it works whenever they feel like picking your pocket, that's infinitely preferable to the manufacturer going bankrupt and bricking your car.

That's what just happened to owners of Fisker EVs, cars that cost $40-70k. Cars are long-term purchases. An EV should last 12-20 years, or even longer if you pay to swap the battery pack. Fisker was founded in 2016 and shipped its first Ocean SUV in 2023. The company is now bankrupt:

https://insideevs.com/news/723669/fisker-inc-bankruptcy-chapter-11-official/

Fisker called its vehicles "software-based cars" and they weren't kidding. Without continuous software updates and server access, those Fisker Ocean SUVs are turning into bricks. What's more, the company designed the car from the ground up to make any kind of independent service and support into a felony, by wrapping the whole thing in overlapping layers of IP. That means that no one can step in with a module that jailbreaks the Fisker and drops in an alternative firmware that will keep the fleet rolling.

This is the third EV risk – not just finance, not just charger infrastructure, but the possibility that any whizzy, cool new EV company will go bust and brick your $70k cleantech investment, irreversibly transforming your car into 5,500 lb worth of e-waste.

This confers a huge advantage onto the big automakers like VW, Kia, Ford, etc. Tesla gets a pass, too, because it achieved critical mass before people started to wise up to the risk of twiddling and bricking. If you're making a serious investment in a product you expect to use for 20 years, are you really gonna buy it from a two-year old startup with six months' capital in the bank?

The incumbency advantage here means that the big automakers won't have any reason to sink a lot of money into R&D, because they won't have to worry about hungry startups with cool new ideas eating their lunches. They can maintain the cozy cartel that has seen cars stagnate for decades, with the majority of "innovation" taking the form of shitty, extractive and ill-starred ideas like touchscreen controls and an accelerator pedal that you have to rent by the month:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/23/23474969/mercedes-car-subscription-faster-acceleration-feature-price

Put that way, it's clear that this isn't an EV problem, it's a cleantech problem. Cleantech has all the problems of EVs: it requires a large capital expenditure, it will be "smart," and it is expected to last for decades. That's rooftop solar, heat-pumps, smart thermostat sensor arrays, and home storage batteries.

And just as with EVs, policymakers have focused on infrastructure and affordability without paying any attention to the enshittification risks. Your rooftop solar will likely be controlled via a Solaredge box – a terrible technology that stops working if it can't reach the internet for a protracted period (that's right, your home solar stops working if the grid fails!).

I found this out the hard way during the covid lockdowns, when Solaredge terminated its 3G cellular contract and notified me that I would have to replace the modem in my system or it would stop working. This was at the height of the supply-chain crisis and there was a long waiting list for any replacement modems, with wifi cards (that used your home internet rather than a cellular connection) completely sold out for most of a year.

There are good reasons to connect rooftop solar arrays to the internet – it's not just so that Solaredge can enshittify my service. Solar arrays that coordinate with the grid can make it much easier and safer to manage a grid that was designed for centralized power production and is being retrofitted for distributed generation, one roof at a time.

But when the imperatives of extraction and efficiency go to war, extraction always wins. After all, the Solaredge system is already in place and solar installers are largely ignorant of, and indifferent to, the reasons that a homeowner might want to directly control and monitor their system via local controls that don't roundtrip through the cloud.

Somewhere in the hindbrain of any prospective solar purchaser is the experience with bricked and enshittified "smart" gadgets, and the knowledge that anything they buy from a cool startup with lots of great ideas for improving production, monitoring, and/or costs poses the risk of having your 20 year investment bricked after just a few years – and, thanks to the extractive imperative, no one will be able to step in and restore your ex-solar array to good working order.

I make the majority of my living from books, which means that my pay is very "lumpy" – I get large sums when I publish a book and very little in between. For many years, I've used these payments to make big purchases, rather than financing them over long periods where I can't predict my income. We've used my book payments to put in solar, then an induction stove, then a battery. We used one to buy out the lease on our EV. And just a month ago, we used the money from my upcoming Enshittification book to put in a heat pump (with enough left over to pay for a pair of long-overdue cataract surgeries, scheduled for the fall).

When we started shopping for heat pumps, it was clear that this was a very exciting sector. First of all, heat pumps are kind of magic, so efficient and effective it's almost surreal. But beyond the basic tech – which has been around since the late 1940s – there is a vast ferment of cool digital features coming from exciting and innovative startups.

By nature, I'm the kid of person who likes these digital features. I started out as a computer programmer, and while I haven't written production code since the previous millennium, I've been in and around the tech industry for my whole adult life. But when it came time to buy a heat-pump – an investment that I expected to last for 20 years or more – there was no way I was going to buy one of these cool new digitally enhanced pumps, no matter how much the reviewers loved them. Sure, they'd work well, but it's precisely because I'm so knowledgeable about high tech that I could see that they would fail very, very badly.

You may think EVs are bullshit, and they are – though there will always be room for some personal vehicles, and it's better for people in transit deserts to drive EVs than gas-guzzlers. You may think rooftop solar is a dead-end and be all-in on utility scale solar (I think we need both, especially given the grid-disrupting extreme climate events on our horizon). But there's still a wide range of cleantech – induction tops, heat pumps, smart thermostats – that are capital intensive, have a long duty cycle, and have good reasons to be digitized and networked.

Take home storage batteries: your utility can push its rate card to your battery every time they change their prices, and your battery can use that information to decide when to let your house tap into the grid, and when to switch over to powering your home with the solar you've stored up during the day. This is a very old and proven pattern in tech: the old Fidonet BBS network used a version of this, with each BBS timing its calls to other nodes to coincide with the cheapest long-distance rates, so that messages for distant systems could be passed on:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FidoNet

Cleantech is a very dynamic sector, even if its triumphs are largely unheralded. There's a quiet revolution underway in generation, storage and transmission of renewable power, and a complimentary revolution in power-consumption in vehicles and homes:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/12/s-curve/#anything-that-cant-go-on-forever-eventually-stops

But cleantech is too important to leave to the incumbents, who are addicted to enshittification and planned obsolescence. These giant, financialized firms lack the discipline and culture to make products that have the features – and cost savings – to make them appealing to the very wide range of buyers who must transition as soon as possible, for the sake of the very planet.

It's not enough for our policymakers to focus on financing and infrastructure barriers to cleantech adoption. We also need a policy-level response to enshittification.

Ideally, every cleantech device would be designed so that it was impossible to enshittify – which would also make it impossible to brick:

Based on free software (best), or with source code escrowed with a trustee who must release the code if the company enters administration (distant second-best);

All patents in a royalty-free patent-pool (best); or in a trust that will release them into a royalty-free pool if the company enters administration (distant second-best);

No parts-pairing or other DRM permitted (best); or with parts-pairing utilities available to all parties on a reasonable and non-discriminatory basis (distant second-best);

All diagnostic and error codes in the public domain, with all codes in the clear within the device (best); or with decoding utilities available on demand to all comers on a reasonable and non-discriminatory basis (distant second-best).

There's an obvious business objection to this: it will reduce investment in innovative cleantech because investors will perceive these restrictions as limits on the expected profits of their portfolio companies. It's true: these measures are designed to prevent rent-extraction and other enshittificatory practices by cleantech companies, and to the extent that investors are counting on enshittification rents, this might prevent them from investing.

But that has to be balanced against the way that a general prohibition on enshittificatory practices will inspire consumer confidence in innovative and novel cleantech products, because buyers will know that their investments will be protected over the whole expected lifespan of the product, even if the startup goes bust (nearly every startup goes bust). These measures mean that a company with a cool product will have a much larger customer-base to sell to. Those additional sales more than offset the loss of expected revenue from cheating and screwing your customers by twiddling them to death.

There's also an obvious legal objection to this: creating these policies will require a huge amount of action from Congress and the executive branch, a whole whack of new rules and laws to make them happen, and each will attract court-challenges.

That's also true, though it shouldn't stop us from trying to get legal reforms. As a matter of public policy, it's terrible and fucked up that companies can enshittify the things we buy and leave us with no remedy.

However, we don't have to wait for legal reform to make this work. We can take a shortcut with procurement – the things governments buy with public money. The feds, the states and localities buy a lot of cleantech: for public facilities, for public housing, for public use. Prudent public policy dictates that governments should refuse to buy any tech unless it is designed to be enshittification-resistant.

This is an old and honorable tradition in policymaking. Lincoln insisted that the rifles he bought for the Union Army come with interoperable tooling and ammo, for obvious reasons. No one wants to be the Commander in Chief who shows up on the battlefield and says, "Sorry, boys, war's postponed, our sole supplier decided to stop making ammunition."

By creating a market for enshittification-proof cleantech, governments can ensure that the public always has the option of buying an EV that can't be bricked even if the maker goes bust, a heat-pump whose digital features can be replaced or maintained by a third party of your choosing, a solar controller that coordinates with the grid in ways that serve their owners – not the manufacturers' shareholders.

We're going to have to change a lot to survive the coming years. Sure, there's a lot of scary ways that things can go wrong, but there's plenty about our world that should change, and plenty of ways those changes could be for the better. It's not enough for policymakers to focus on ensuring that we can afford to buy whatever badly thought-through, extractive tech the biggest companies want to foist on us – we also need a focus on making cleantech fit for purpose, truly smart, reliable and resilient.

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

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/2024/06/26/unplanned-obsolescence/#better-micetraps

Image: 臺灣古寫真上色 (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raid_on_Kagi_City_1945.jpg

Grendelkhan (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ground_mounted_solar_panels.gk.jpg

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

[ghelgheli]

Contemporary utopians only consider the efficiency and the abundance of goods and services without sufficiently taking into account the qualitative and material side of production, that is, the autonomy and independence of workers and the sustainability of the natural environment. Their vision of an economy of abundance based on market-driven innovations ends up reinforcing the real subsumption under capital and easily turns into the means of further expropriation from nature and surveillance over workers. Since alienation of work cannot be overcome in this way, fully automated post-capitalism propagates an alternative hope that everyone keeps driving electronic SUVs, changing smartphones every two years and eating cultured meat hamburgers. Such a vision of the luxury future obviously sounds attractive to many people in the Global North because ecological modernization assures them that they do not need to change anything about their extravagant lifestyle. This kind of abundant future appeals to the satisfaction of people's immediate desires without challenging the current imperial mode of living in the Global North. The problem is, however, that such a vision accepts too uncritically existing value-standards and consumerist ideals. It ends up reproducing the social relations marked by oppression, inequality and exploitation that are inherent to capitalism.

Paradoxically, hidden under the optimistic tone of this technocratic vision is actually a pessimistic 'capitalist realism' that holds that there is no strong class struggle to challenge the existing social relations and to fundamentally detach from the capitalist mode of living. People are deprived of the power to transform the system, and this is why technology must play a central role to fill the void left by agency. In fact, this transformation can be implemented without strong social movements, and its promise of a comfortable life appear attractive. Such a productivist vision of post-capitalism ends up endorsing capitalist value- standards under the guise of a grandiose emancipatory project for infinite production and consumption. It gives up the revolutionary subjectivity of the working class and accepts the reified agency of machines as the subject of history.

Kohei Saito, Marx In The Anthropocene

[betterbemeta]

don't let the bad news (evil executive orders, play by play of obvious corrupt schemes, etc.) tire you out but here's the thing.

this is not the time to 'wait,' or 'hunker down' or 'take a break.'

I know that fact plays havoc with people who have anxiety, or have ADHD or experience mania, etc. It can be difficult for many people to handle 'urgency' without it feeling like

they are being screamed at maximum volume to have already done 'everything'

but also to do it right now

and also they're already a failure

and also they can fail worse or harder, etc. etc.

I understand these feelings. But we must navigate urgency now and fragility is unfortunately not an option. Increasingly 'breaking' doesn't mean another adult fixes it for you, it means 'swept into the trash.' I understand that many people need support to confront this reality, but accessing that support also takes work, unlike an algorithm it will never 'find you.' Not falling through the cracks is not always voluntary but we want to maximize the cases where it is.

And we can talk about how the removal of safety nets is a strategy to ensure as many people smash against the ground as possible. But not on this post.

The thing is, there is no material difference between the behavior that a violent ruling party wants us to do (stay put due to obedience) and the action that the 'freeze' reaction to danger wants us to do (stay put to conserve energy/endure pain).

Even if we frame it as 'needing a rest' or 'self-care,' every significant delay to critical tasks is still a delay that could have an impact on us. Moving forward is self care right now, and will be community care if we do it in groups.

It is the strategy of oppression to make moving at all feel so overwhelming that you believe you only have the strength to hide away as they do whatever they want.

Many people will relinquish their autonomy this way, sometimes even actively.

the creepy tradwife lifestyle is bait for overwhelmed women, that a Husband will take half of the artificially overwhelming responsibility of independence away from you, in exchange for being a robot that automates HIS independence. Which he believes he needs, if he can't afford to pay a servant!

The military benefits when poverty is un-survivable with dead ends, to-dos, shit jobs, waiting lists, especially for people who have been screwed over education, that giving yourself to a cult seems like a good deal. They house, feed, clothe you, they give you directions in a world that abandoned you! You can trade up 'get a job lazy poor' to 'god bless you for your service!' (don't ask veterans if they can eat that.)

But being overwhelmed can still cause you to give up autonomy passively. Especially if you are alone or feel alone.

You don't need to do everything all at once but make serious (incremental, sane, well-paced) goals to do things you may want to accomplish like

get your bank account or financial stuff sorted out,

apply for a passport,

change your name/get married/similar processes,

get on unemployment (may also require proof of weekly job applications depending on where you live),

go to the doctor,

renew your lease or move house,

whatever you need to do. This isn't an exhaustive list.

Pencil in your Saturdays and don't bail, is what I mean.

Make buddies and teams.

Start a group chat.

Whatever works.

As long as it does and you can hold proof of it. Not a 'I sent an email' or 'i left a message,' you MUST follow up. I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry ok. I know. You're ALREADY doing so many things, I know! Me too. I know it sounds like your parents or like "pull up your pants and clean your room!" or like someone's disappointed in you. But nobody is, or they shouldn't be. And this isn't about bootstraps: nobody will participate collectively if you don't. If you wait for there to be a puller upper group, there won't be one. you have to decide to do that thing tomorrow. Even if you're tired and did so many other things today. You have to tell your friends. I KNOW. I know.

these plans and actions will give you a 'tomorrow' and that is critical right now. It is the whole goal of those who oppose you to deny you that. To make them work for it, we have to also work for ourselves.

[metatheatre]

"Again we have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that Capitalism grew and prospered out of the protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that Capitalism was build on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor – both black and white, both here and abroad. If Negroes and poor whites do not participate in the free flow of wealth within our economy, they will forever be poor, giving their energies, their talents and their limited funds to the consumer market but reaping few benefits and services in return.

The way to end poverty is to end the exploitation of the poor, ensure them a fair share of the government services and the nation’s resources...

The tragedy is our materialistic culture does not possess the statesmanship necessary to do it. Victor Hugo could have been thinking of 20th Century America when he wrote, "there’s always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher classes."

The time has come for America to face the inevitable choice between materialism and humanism. We must devote at least as much to our children’s education and the health of the poor as we do to the care of our automobiles and the building of beautiful, impressive hotels. We must also realize that the problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power...

So we are here because we believe, we hope, we pray that something new might emerge in the political life of this nation which will produce a new man, new structures and institutions and a new life for mankind. I am convinced that this new life will not emerge until our nation undergoes a radical revolution of values. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people the giant triplets of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A civilization can flounder as readily in the face of moral bankruptcy as it can through financial bankruptcy.

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will only be an initial act. One day the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be beaten and robbed as they make their journey through life. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar, it understands that an edifice which produces beggars, needs restructuring.

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth, with righteous indignation it will look at thousands of working people displaced from their jobs, with reduced incomes as a result of automation while the profits of the employers remain intact and say, this is not just.

It will look across the ocean and see individual Capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia and Africa only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries and say, this is not just...

A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war, this way of settling differences is not just.

This business of burning human being with napalm, of filling our nation’s home with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloodied battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.

A nation that continues year after year, to spend more money on military defense then on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

So what we must all see is that these are revolutionary times. All over the globe, men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and out of the wombs of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born...

Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world, declaring eternal opposition to poverty, racism and militarism. With this powerful commitment, we shall boldly challenge the status quo and unjust mores and thereby speed the day when every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low and the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places plain...

So let us stand in this convention knowing that on some positions; cowardice asks the question, is it safe; expediency asks the question, is it politic; vanity asks the question, is it popular, but conscious asks the question, is it right. And on some positions, it is necessary for the moral individual to take a stand that is neither safe, nor politic nor popular; but he must do it because it is right."

-- Martin Luther King Jr., 1967

[liquidorcard]

We're back to this.

Okay, so, Lily's not actually EXACTLY right about this, but unfortunately, I'm worried anything she says will immediately be doubted because she's Lily. I care about people's perception of this, so I'm not going to kinda half-heartedly back her up by filling in the gaps of some of what she's said here. But, this isn't an unreasonable explanation of the issue, let me be clear. Just somewhat incomplete and not articulated the best.

The US is at a trade deficit with Canada. They buy more from us than we do from them.

Most of that is vital resources the US doesn't have enough of. Like water, power and gas.

But the deficit isn't actually as big as Trump has made it sound. Though the US imports a lot of material goods from Canada, they export a lot of services aswell. Most of what Canada gets from the US is stuff like network companies, telecommunications, shit like Uber and Netflix, etc. As someone who works in entertainment, I can tell you, a lot of shit is filmed here. Hollywood productions. The world got to see the campus of the college I went to featured on The Last of Us. Almost every time you see NYC on screen, what you're actually seeing is Vancouver. That's just what the American market has prioritized services. Canada has nothing to do with that (other than do things like provide tax cuts for studios to film here, etc.)

That's not an endorsement of how our respective economies operate and interact, I have my own criticisms of it. That's just a description.

Trump, in this one instance, I wouldn't characterize as an idiot. He knows exactly what he's doing. . . What that is though, benefits no one* (I'll get to it). Not even the American people.

It would benefit the American industry if they had more direct control over the resources Canada has. "But Liquid don't you go on and on with your pro labor stance? Wouldn't that be a good thing? More jobs?"

Benefit American industry by benefitting cooperations, increasing America's economic dominance, which we should all understand by now the laborers would not see a fucking dime of.

It wouldn't create more jobs. Especially as automation continues to march forwards. The American government (both the Republicans and the Democrats, even though one is way more guilty of this than the other) would take the opportunity to squeeze the citizens under its control. For its many faults, the Canadian government has done a lot more in terms of protecting its laborers and the environmental impact of its industry. Not ENOUGH in my opinion, but MORE. Way more. Part of why America needs to buy so many resources from Canada is because of how badly it's absolutely decimated it's own. These aren't resources the US is capable of handling responsibly. That's part of the reason why we don't have any of the megacorps the US does. The job market in Canada isn't what it should be, but it IS more stable because of that. Believe it or not, there are way more economic and social advantages to not endlessly expanding until the world is (literally) on fire than not.

The US doesn't subsidize Canada. If anything, it's the other way around.

That's why he's talking about Annexing us. He wants to rape the world even more than the US already does.

And, fair is fair, Canada is somewhat responsible for this. The country has become complicit in allowing the US to become the global monster it is by not diversifying in our economic partnerships sooner. The US was seen for so many years abd a reliable and safe partner for trade-- so we sent our troops to aid in their wars, we covered their asses regardless of the skullduggery they partook in. I think the only thing Canada ever really did to defy the American government truly in a way that mattered was accepting draft dodgers during the Vietnam War. And even then, part of me is half remembering we did deport some of them. I can't quite remember why, but Canada has no official laws in terms of accepting political refugees-- something apparently some Jan 6th insurrectionist are finding out in real time right now.

Because Lily doesn't give a shit, probably doesn't know, let it not go unsaid that here in Alberta the government has fucked over our own people in order to support American industry in the past. Especially First Nations people. That's a whole other can of worms I can't get into in detail, but trust me, it's fucking happened.

That willingness to suck American dick is EXACTLY why Danelle Smith is currently lying on Fox News that Canadian citizens, even Albertans (Canada's most Ameriboo province) want to be a part of America.

If any of you want a deeper dive into what's actually going on with Canada's response to America's threats, how Trudeau, Poilievre, and Alberta's oil industry factors into that-- let me know. I feel like I'm ready to rip my hair out right now with how little Americans (and frankly a lot of Canadians-- like Lily) give a shit about our politics, so just give me the excuse. I'm begging you.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Contemporary utopians only consider the efficiency and the abundance of goods and services without sufficiently taking into account the qualitative and material side of production, that is, the autonomy and independence of workers and the sustainability of the natural environment. Their vision of an economy of abundance based on market-driven innovations ends up reinforcing the real subsumption under capital and easily turns into the means of further expropriation from nature and surveillance over workers. Since alienation of work cannot be overcome in this way, fully automated post-capitalism propagates an alternative hope that everyone keeps driving electronic SUVs, changing smartphones every two years and eating cultured meat hamburgers. Such a vision of the luxury future obviously sounds attractive to many people in the Global North because ecological modernization assures them that they do not need to change anything about their extravagant lifestyle. This kind of abundant future appeals to the satisfaction of people’s immediate desires without challenging the current imperial mode of living in the Global North. The problem is, however, that such a vision accepts too uncritically existing value-standards and consumerist ideals. It ends up reproducing the social relations marked by oppression, inequality and exploitation that are inherent to capitalism.

Kohei Saito, Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism

[baldy-wan-kenobi]

Mech setting lore: Tin Soldiers

Tin soldiers, or Tinmen, is a derogatory term for the mercenaries now common in the False Peace, piloting Generation Two Frames in the service of whoever has the scratch to pay them.

they are soldiers of fortune, always in search of the next score, and rarely loyal to anything but their pocketbook. However, they are rarely a solo act, usually working in small teams, to maximize their effectiveness as a combat force. While Solo Tinmen aren't unheard of, it's said that only the exceptionally skilled or the exceptionally stupid walk that road, and there's a great deal more of one than the other.

Tinmen are supplied and maintenenced by engineers known as Steelmongers, who will fix, service, buy, and sell Frame parts, making them the best friend of many a Tin Soldier.

Tinmen will usually get their jobs from a Broker, middlemen and fixers who connect potential clients with Tinmen, as well as handling contract negotiations. These jobs take on three main types, and many groups of Tinmen will specialize in one or another, honing their skills in a particular area:

Explorator missions see the Tinmen contracted as hired muscle, usually for a corporation or city-state, to escort one of their Explorator Teams to find and loot an Old World site, with the goal of finding Old World Tech hidden within. The mercenaries are a necessary component of this operation, thanks to the advanced, self-repairing automated defenses of the Old World Installations, wielding fearsome weaponry from a forgotten time. While such contracts can be quite lucrative, their true value is in salvage rights, enabling Tinmen to lay claim to technology and materials they find in the Installations, often powerful weapons or impressive frame parts that can be used on their own mechs or sold to a Steelmonger for exorbitant prices.

Proxy missions are the second type of contract, where Tin Soldiers are hired as irregular military forces, sent to fight in deniable skirmishes with other mercenaries hired by other powers. This style of warfare is necessary in the time of the False Peace, as any open war between corporations or city-states would be met with a full onslaught from the Knights of Svalbard, a confrontation which no power on earth can afford.

The third type of mission are Defense contracts, where Tinmen are hired to defend an Independent settlement or City-State from Raider Forces or an Automaton Attack, where automated forces from an Old World Installation act on ancient directives to attack local settlements and assault City-state forces.

Despite the general animosity towards them, many Tinmen come to be viewed as celebrities, after a fashion, with tales of their exploits told and retold time and time again, some even gaining genuine fans, willing to put themselves in harm's way to see their heroes in action.

[dykedvonte]

hi i actually have so many questions to ask!!! hope youre doing well, your posts are always so fun and gutwrenching to catch up on

can you explain more about the post-capitalism world??? i always found the ship looking so…. belly of a rusted metal ship to be weird but also offputting in a way that gets the atmosphere in the game so good. like i know its mostly to do with PE being a cheapskate company and using the lowest quality possible materials INCLUDING interior design but like damn, it reminds me of the ferries you take your car on across channels, all the furniture a bit dirty and outdated. we know the ship passed inspection and that the Tulpar is clearly quite old with the comment curly makes but like duuuuude i would not trust that thing, is that why swansea always has so many things to do??

also, the Pony Express name itself. i cant take it seriously with how deep and serious the rest of the game goes 😭 i know its probably done on purpose but it always gets me out of the headspace haha, chosen to show how ridiculous these kinda companies can be??? thoughts… so many….

For this i'd actually like to start with the Pony Express and it's name. The name comes from the irl Pony Express. TDLR is that it was one of the first cross country delivery service that specifically relied on the labor of undesirables as they traveled across the country in harsh conditions. It's likely named off the fact the game PE does the same thing and likely uses the horse as a call back to how all the couriers for the irl Pony Express rode on horse back.

It was also fazed out by a more automated, not man led, system just like what happens to the crew in the game.

The game gives a lot of insights to how humans are treated in heavy labor environments and how companies clearly maximize profit over employee safety/comfort. The first sign is that collective pay is permitted and that it seems minor mistakes and infractions can heavily deduct from that payment. Even if one crate is accidently broken, they don't get paid when most companies would have a set minimum take home in light of infractions.

The fact that the only places that lock are the places with the most expensive equipment is also a sign that it's late enough post-capitalism that they don't even carry pretenses about worker safety or privacy. I mean, they actively discourage sleeping over 5 hours with pay cuts and Swansea even bitterly jokes he isn't jeopardizing anything with his break time. All their food is synthesized slop that only one person can make to discourage food theft and they have to ration that, especially since they added a member knowing they didn't have enough room. It's that they have their own training courses for each position so they don't have to pay someone what their qualified. Everything is designed with a purpose of being tracked, the code scanner likely having inputs on how often something was used and put back to document penalties.

The biggest thing is the Pony Express holding out for so long against other companies. It's not for care of their workers but because human labor is objectively cheaper. It's implied so many companies left human workers behind because while the overhaul is expensive, what they make up in a lack of safety requirements and pay make up for it. It's a sort of retro-futuristic post-capitalism where it won. Things were set back because they no longer have to worry about the people, with very few being deemed worthy to move up.

It's telling that none of them are shocked by the conditions of the Pony Express more just tired of being there.

[aippals]

Energy Management Centre in pune | India

The process through which a company proactively and methodically monitors, regulates, and maximizes its energy use is known as energy management. The goal of energy management is to lower energy costs and conserve energy use. Better energy management can be achieved by taking small steps, such as tracking monthly energy expenditures and switching out incandescent lightbulbs with more energy-efficient ones.

[republicsecurity]

Standard Chastity/Underwear/Diaper Component of the Armor Suit

The Standard Chastity/Underwear/Diaper Component is an integral part of the advanced full-body armor suit worn by Cadets, Conscripts, Reservists and Intendurds in the Security Forces, Lifeguards, Paramedic Corps and Nursing Corps and training academies. This component is designed to ensure hygiene, control, and comfort for the wearer, whether used in conjunction with the full armor suit or as a standalone piece of equipment.

Design and Features

Material: Constructed from high-density, hypoallergenic synthetic fabrics, the component provides durability, flexibility, and breathability. The inner lining is coated with an antimicrobial layer to prevent infections and maintain cleanliness over extended periods.

Two-Chamber Design: The component features a specialized two-chamber design. One chamber securely encases the penis, while the other accommodates the scrotum, ensuring both are protected and kept in an optimal environment. This design helps in preventing chafing and maintaining hygiene, even during extended periods of use.

Chastity Mechanism: The chastity feature includes a secure, ergonomic cage designed to prevent unauthorized sexual activity. Made from lightweight, medical-grade polymers, it ensures comfort while maintaining strict control. The cage can be adjusted to fit various sizes and shapes, ensuring a snug but non-restrictive fit.

Waste Management: Integrated into the design is an advanced waste management system. This includes absorbent layers capable of handling urine and fecal matter, which are quickly wicked away to prevent discomfort and skin irritation. The component can be easily cleaned and sanitized, whether worn as part of the armor or independently.

Compatibility: The component seamlessly integrates with the full-body armor suit. Connection points allow for the automated removal and disposal of waste, managed by the suit’s internal systems. When worn independently, it functions efficiently, ensuring the wearer remains hygienic and comfortable.

Security and Monitoring: Equipped with biometric sensors, the component monitors the wearer’s physiological state, transmitting data to the suit’s central processing unit or an external monitoring system. This includes tracking hydration levels, waste excretion, arousal and other vital signs to ensure optimal health and performance.

Comfort and Fit: Designed for extended wear, the component features adjustable straps and a contoured design to prevent chafing and discomfort. The fit can be customized to each wearer, ensuring it remains secure without impeding movement or flexibility.

Usage and Maintenance

Usage: The Standard Chastity/Underwear/Diaper Component is designed for continuous use up to 7 days, with a standard operational period of 5 days. This duration ensures that cadets remain in peak condition during extended training exercises or deployments, without the need for frequent removal or maintenance.

Maintenance: Regular cleaning and sanitization are required to maintain its functionality and hygiene standards. The component can be detached from the suit and cleaned using standard military-grade cleaning agents. Replacement parts and servicing are available through authorized personnel and facilities.

The Standard Chastity/Underwear/Diaper Component exemplifies the blend of technological innovation and practical application, ensuring cadets maintain hygiene and comfort during their rigorous training and operational duties.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA payload aims to probe moon's depths to study heat flow

Earth's nearest neighboring body in the solar system is its moon, yet to date, humans have physically explored just 5% of its surface. It wasn't until 2023—building on Apollo-era data and more detailed studies made in 2011–2012 by NASA's automated GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) mission—that researchers conclusively determined that the moon has a liquid outer core surrounding a solid inner core.

As NASA and its industry partners plan for continued exploration of the moon under Artemis in preparation for future long-duration missions to Mars, improving our understanding of Earth's 4.5-billion-year-old moon will help teams of researchers and astronauts find the safest ways to study and live and work on the lunar surface.

That improved understanding is the primary goal of a state-of-the-art science instrument called LISTER (Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity), 1 of 10 NASA payloads flying aboard the next delivery for the agency's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and set to be carried to the surface by Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander.

Developed jointly by Texas Tech University in Lubbock and Honeybee Robotics of Altadena, California, LISTER will measure the flow of heat from the moon's interior. Its sophisticated pneumatic drill will penetrate to a depth of 3 meters into the dusty lunar regolith.

Every half-meter it descends, the drilling system will pause and extend a custom-built thermal probe into the lunar regolith. LISTER will measure two different aspects of heat flow: thermal gradient, or the changes in temperature at various depths, and thermal conductivity, or the subsurface material's ability to let heat pass through it.

"By making similar measurements at multiple locations on the lunar surface, we can reconstruct the thermal evolution of the moon," said Dr. Seiichi Nagihara, principal investigator for the mission and a geophysics professor at Texas Tech. "That will permit scientists to retrace the geological processes that shaped the moon from its start as a ball of molten rock, which gradually cooled off by releasing its internal heat into space."

Demonstrating the drill's effectiveness could lead to more innovative drilling capabilities, enabling future exploration of the moon, Mars, and other celestial bodies. The science collected by LISTER aims to contribute to our knowledge of lunar geology, improving our ability to establish a long-term presence on the moon under the Artemis campaign.

Under the CLPS model, NASA is investing in commercial delivery services to the moon to enable industry growth and support long-term lunar exploration. As a primary customer for CLPS deliveries, NASA aims to be one of many customers on future flights. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the development of 7 of the 10 CLPS payloads carried on Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander.

IMAGE: LISTER (Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity) is 1 of 10 payloads flying aboard the next delivery for NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. The instrument is equipped with a drilling system and thermal probe designed to dig into the lunar surface. Credit: Firefly Aerospace

[lilacthebooklover]

@staff after thoroughly reading and examining tumblr's terms of service and community guidelines, i can say with absolute certainty that @theinkbunny has done nothing at all that's worthy of being banned.

you claim that tumblr is not for:

Terrorism

Hate Speech

Harm to minors

Promotion or glorification of self-harm

Sexually explicit material

Violent Content and Threats, Gore and Mutilation

Non-Genuine Social Gesture Schemes

Deceptive or Fraudulent Links

Misattribution or Non-Attribution

Username/URL Abuse or Squatting

Account Dormancy

Spam

Mass Registration or Automation

Illegitimate Promotions

Themes Distributed by Third Parties

Copyright or Trademark Infringement

Impersonation and Non-Genuine Behavior

Harassment

Privacy Violations

Disruptions, Exploits, or Resource Abuse

Unlawful Uses or Content

Election Interference

Human Trafficking and Prostitution

i understand this, and agree wholeheartedly. and that is precisely why it is impossible to understand why @theinkbunny's blog has been suspended.

inky is one of the sweetest people on here, and has never once promoted terrorism or hate speech. he is himself a minor and has done nothing to harm anyone else on here, underage or adult. any mention of self-harm on his page is treated with the seriousness it warrants, and is appropriately tagged to prevent users from viewing it where they have no desire to.

he has been harrassed for months by anonymous askers intent on sending him sexually explicit material despite the fact that he is a minor. he has never once posted any of those asks as he is aware that it is against the community guidelines, and despite reporting it, the abuse has continued. his blog is entirely sfw, and i am certain that it is in no way whatsoever disobeying the terms of this site.

again: any mention of violence or threats he's posted has been frustration and upset over the stream of vicious anons intent on sending such things to him. it is by no means his intention to expose violent material such as gore to those who do not wish to see it, especially as he too does not want to see it in the slightest.

his asks are infrequent and sent to people he already follows/is mutuals with. there are no "follow trains" or excessive asks, and as his blog is oc and fandom based, there are very few sources needed to be provided (those which are are reliable, and with no malicious intent). his posts are original & he consistently reblogs rather than reposts.

he has one username (excluding side blogs with very different handles) and has not done anything as ridiculous as hoarding those similar to it. i find that he posts almost every single day, as well as using tumblr as a way to message those he has befriended here by being such a genuinely wonderful presence here.

ink's blog has never been used as a platform to promote anything, his tags are accurate and relevant. his ocs are his own, he gives fandom content full recognition & appreciation to its owners/creators. he has never claimed to be anyone other than his brilliant self, even posting occasional pictures of himself on here. there is no imitation involved, and there is nothing about him or his content that would incur a ban.

i reiterate: all and any harassment on his blog is the result of others (hiding behind anonymity) harassing him. he has no ill intent and has continuously proved himself to be a respectful individual. he makes use of tumblr to befriend and encourage people & to share his phenomenal artwork: all of which is firmly within community guidelines and completely legal.

he is too young to vote and is a canadian citizen with no intent or attempt to interfere with u.s. elections. finally, it goes without saying that he has never once promoted sex trafficking or illegal prostitution. his blog content is wonderful, innocent and obeys every rule put in place by your staff.

your terms of service say directly, and i quote, "If we conclude that you are violating these guidelines, you may receive a notice via email. If you don't explain or correct your behavior, we may take action against your account. Repeat violations of our Community Guidelines may result in permanent blog or account suspension. We do our best to ensure fair outcomes, but in all cases we reserve the right to suspend accounts, or remove content, without notice, for any reason, but particularly to protect our services, infrastructure, users, and community. We reserve the right to enforce, or not enforc, these guidelines in our sole discretion, and these guidelines don't create a duty or contractual obligation for us to act in any particular manner".

despite having absolved yourself of the obligation to justify your decisions in banning without notice, you have also stated that it is for "any reason". however, for this to apply, it is necessary that there must be a reason in the first place. ink has not received any notice, nor has he violated any guidelines; let alone on repeat occurances. you claim to ban blogs to protect your users, and yet situations such as this are arising more and more frequently- in which said users are being suspended for seemingly no reason and with no explanation.

i, among many others, have begun to notice a disturbing pattern in the banning of transgender individuals on tumblr who have done nothing that would even imply that they have violated this site's guidelines. tumblr is supposed to be a platform open to everyone, not only cisgender users.

having read the terms of service in full, i understand that users are able to "report violations of these guidelines to [you] directly". however, having taken into account the persistent influx of hateful asks inky receives on a regular basis, presuming that those transphobic, discriminatory anons were the ones to report him is a more than reasonable conclusion to make. they do violate the community guidelines due to their persistent harassment, hate speech, sexually explicit material and violent content & threats.

i am aware that you most likely receive many reports per day, and that it must take a while to go through them all. on the other hand, there is far more harm than good done when not even the most basic of fact-checking is done to ensure that reports are valid and warranted. i'm sure the tumblr staff placed in charge of such matters possess enough rational thought to understand how jumping to conclusions about whether or not a trans minor may have violated the terms of service without even checking their blog would create the wrong impression.

i am appalled, disappointed and shocked at what is demonstrably unfair and unwarranted condemnation towards a user who has done nothing in violation of your terms. i urge you to rectify your mistake and focus more on suspending those who are actually causing harm than on causing undue stress and dismay to people who are just trying to enjoy using your platform. a reputation of suspending people with no due cause is hardly going to make for a welcoming site, i promise you.

restore inky's account (@theinkbunny if you needed a reminder) and return it to him lest further action be taken. it is the only correct and reasonable response here, and as you have assured in your TOS that your intention is to make users' experiences here enjoyable, i am sure that you will be eager to fix this issue before it becomes even more prominent. tumblr ought to be a safe place for people everywhere to connect over topics they enjoy. as conditions are at the moment, it seems like nothing more than a cesspool of discrimination, ignorance and unreliability.

i thank you in advance for taking my words into account and returning ink's blog to him.

[dailyanarchistposts]

The collapse of workerism

Of course, some would have it that we never lost a revolutionary perspective at all, quite confident they had the solution all along. This comes in the form of workerism, a broad set of strategies – mainly Marxist or anarcho-syndicalist – that affirm the centrality of the working class for overthrowing capitalism. In the history of revolutionary struggle, few ideas have consistently held more sway; but surely that’s only the reason why this sorely outdated approach has proven so hard to get over. Things have changed more dramatically than ever in the last decades, shattering the material conditions that once granted workplace organisation such grandiose pretensions. It’s important to clarify why, or else the attempt to exceed activism risks being subsumed by yet another reformist method, this one all the more stagnant.

Only a few decades ago, the prospects of organised labour in the Global North were much more hopeful, with trade unions retaining a great deal of strength into the 1970s. Mainly during the ‘80s, however, capitalist production underwent some major alterations. Profound technological developments in the field of electronics – especially digitisation – caused the productive process to become much more automated, requiring significantly less human input. This combined with an increased ability on the part of employers to outsource employment to less economically developed countries, where labour was much cheaper. Fairly suddenly, therefore, the two biggest sectors of the economy – split mainly between industry and agriculture – were greatly reduced in size, resulting in massive layoffs. Yet those who lost their jobs were generally absorbed by steady growth in the services sector, thereby avoiding immediate social destabilisation. Whilst it was once the smallest economic sector by a long way, the services sector is now by far the largest in the Global North, even approaching 80% employment rates in the US, UK, and France.

The result has been a striking redefinition of the common notion of work. It’s lost its centre of gravity in the factory, having fragmented instead in the direction of various post-industrial workplaces – restaurants, shops, offices. Once a largely centralised mass, the working class has been dispersed across the social terrain, the new focus being on small, highly diverse productive units. Between these units, workers possess few common interests and interact little, leading to a significantly diminished potential for collective action. Of course, resistance in the workplace continues, but the internal avenues necessary for revolt to generalise have been majorly severed, the situation continuing to decline in light of ever greater technological advance.

Nobody can deny the profound identity crisis faced by the working class. Only a few decades ago, the factory was seen as the centre of everything, with workers offering the vital component in the functioning of society as a whole. Work was once a way of life, not so much in terms of the amount of time it took up, but instead because of the clear sense of existential grounding it offered. For generations, there had been a strong link between work and professionalism, with most workers committing to a single craft for the entirety of their lives. Career paths were passed down from father to son, who often remained in the same company; the families of different workers also maintained close ties with one another. Nowadays, however, everything has changed: employment is immensely uncertain, the relentless fluidity of the post-industrial economy forcing most to get by on a roster of precarious, low-skilled jobs. Far fewer people take pride in their work, especially given that employment only rarely has a convincing subtext of doing something socially important. Trade unions have also vanished as a historical force, having been defeated in the key battles of the ‘80s, their membership levels imploding in lock-step with the advance of neoliberalism. A residue of the old world still exists, but it continues to dissipate further every day, never to return. In the Global South, too, things are inevitably moving in the same direction.

These developments cast serious doubt on the validity of Marxist and anarcho-syndicalist strategies for revolution. It’s becoming increasingly meaningless to speak of “the workers” in reference to a cohesive entity. It isn’t as if the disintegration of the working class implies the absence of poverty, nor of the excluded – in no sense whatsoever. What it does mean is the end of the working class as a subject. One that was, as Marx put it, “disciplined, united, organised by the very mechanism of the process of capitalist production itself” (Capital, 1867). Over the last decades, the working class has been dismembered and demoralised by the very same mechanism: just as the mass application of steam and machinery into the productive process created the industrial proletariat two centuries ago, the invention of new, automated technologies has led to its dissolution. There’s no single project around which to unite the working class any more; it follows, as with identity politics, that gains in the workplace will almost always be limited to improving capitalism rather than destroying it. The Industrial Revolution has been superseded by the Digital Revolution, yet the revolutionary optimism of workerism remains ideologically trapped in a bygone era, fumbling for relevance in a century that won’t have it. Although, to be honest, this is hardly news: already for some time now, the nostalgic language of workerism has come across as stale and outdated to most, even if academics often struggle to keep up.

In any case, the collapse of workerism might be nothing to mourn. Another implication of the end of traditional employment is the predominance of a range of workplaces few would want to appropriate anyway. The factory has been replaced by the likes of call centres, supermarkets, service stations, fast food joints, and coffee shop chains. Yet surely no one can imagine themselves maintaining these workplaces after the revolution, as if anything resembling a collectively run Starbucks or factory farm is what we’re going for? When workerism first became popular, there was an obvious applicability of most work to the prospect of a free society. In the 21st century, however, the alienation of labour runs all the deeper: no longer is it the mere fact of lacking control over work, but instead its inherent function that’s usually the problem. To put it another way, it should come as no surprise that Marxists haven’t yet replaced their hammer and sickle with an office desk and espresso machine, as would be necessary to keep up with the times. The modern symbols of work are worthy only of scorn, not the kind of valorisation involved in putting them on a flag.

This is another big problem for the workerist theory of revolution, given its conception of revolution primarily or even exclusively in terms of the seizure of the means of production. Achieving reforms in the workplace is one thing, but only rarely can such exercises in confidence-building be taken as steps towards appropriating the workplace altogether. Surely the point isn’t to democratise the economy, but instead to pick it apart: those aspects of the economy genuinely worth collectivising, as opposed to converting or simply burning, are few and far between. Of course, they still exist, but they’re marginal. And that confirms the absurdity of expecting workplace organisation to offer the centrepiece of any future revolution.

This hardly implies doing away with the material aspects of revolutionary struggle, given that communising the conditions of existence remains necessary for living our lives – not just this or that activist campaign – in genuine conflict with the system. All the more, the moment in which these subterranean influences suddenly erupt, and mass communisation overturns the ordinary functioning of the capitalist machine, surely remains a defining feature of revolution itself. Yet such endeavours must be sharply distinguished from seizing the means of production – that is, appropriating the capitalist infrastructure more or less as it stands before us. Far from offering a vision of the world we want to see, the syndicalist proposal to reclaim the conditions of work – to assume control of very the system that’s destroying us – merely implies self-managing not only our own exploitation, but also that of the planet.

As an aside, it should be added that these issues undermine the contemporary relevance of Marxism altogether. It was previously suggested that Marxian class analysis no longer offers a credible account of oppression; the current discussion, meanwhile, suggests it cannot be used to frame the topic of revolution either. As a method for interpreting the world, as well as for changing it, Marxism has had its day. If we wanted to be a little diplomatic, we could say this isn’t so much a criticism of the theory itself, more a recognition of the fact that the world it was designed to engage with no longer exists. If we wanted to be a little less diplomatic, moreover, it should be added that what’s left of Marxism is utterly boring, reformist, and kept “alive” almost exclusively by academics. As the big guy declared back in 1852, “The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.” Yet in no case has this claim, offered in response to the lack of imagination amongst revolutionaries in the 19th century, been more relevant than with Marxism today. We should pay our respects, if indeed any respect is due, whilst refusing to be crippled by an outdated approach. The same goes for anarcho-syndicalism, its once unbridled potential decisively shut down by the combined victories of fascism and Bolshevism.

To offer a last word of clarification, none of this implies doing away with workplace organisation altogether. There’s still much to be said for confronting power on every front: the collectivisation of any remaining useful workplaces, as well as the fierce application of the general strike, surely remains vital for any effective revolutionary mosaic. Just as workplace organisation continues to prove effective for breaking down social barriers, as well as potentially improving our lives in the here and now. The core claim offered here is only that it cannot be considered the centrepiece of revolutionary struggle altogether – quite the minimal conclusion. Merely in terms of asking what the abolition of class might look like today, workerism has lost its way. And that doesn’t begin to consider the abolition of hierarchy as such. When taken in isolation, organised labour offers nothing more than a subtle variety of reformism, thinly cloaked in its stuffy revolutionary pretensions. Total liberation, by contrast, refuses to single out any focal points of the clash, be they workerist, activist, or otherwise.