#Drones in mining inspection

[garudsurvey01]

Revolutionizing the Future: Drone Survey & Aerial Inspection

Enhancing Efficiency and Accuracy with Land Survey Drones

When Technology Meets the Ground: A Glimpse into Drone Mine Surveys

Taking Construction to New Heights: The Advantages of Drones for Construction Sites

Unveiling the Power of Solar Panel Drone Inspection

High-Flying Agriculture: How Drones are Transforming the Farming Landscape

Drones, once a distant dream of science fiction, have taken over the skies and revolutionized industries across the board. Among their many applications, drone survey and aerial inspection have emerged as pivotal game-changers. This article will delve into the incredible world of land survey drones, drone mine surveys, drones for construction sites, solar panel drone inspection, and drones for agriculture, shedding light on how these aerial wonders are making significant waves in various sectors.

Land Survey Drone: A New Era in Land Assessment

In the world of land surveying, precision and speed are of the essence. Traditional land surveys, involving manual measurements and labor-intensive techniques, were not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. Enter the era of land survey drones, equipped with cutting-edge technology, and ready to redefine the industry.

Land survey drones employ state-of-the-art GPS and imaging systems to capture high-resolution aerial imagery. This not only expedites the surveying process but also enhances the accuracy of the data collected. The ability to conduct surveys from the sky reduces the need for ground-based measurements, which can be challenging in rugged terrain or densely vegetated areas.

Drone Mine Survey: Safety and Efficiency Combined

The mining industry has embraced the use of drone technology to improve safety, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. Drone mine surveys have become a staple in modern mining operations.

Traditional mine inspections often required workers to enter hazardous areas, putting their lives at risk. With the use of drones, these inspections can be conducted remotely. Drones equipped with specialized sensors can assess the structural integrity of mining sites, identify potential hazards, and even monitor the movement of heavy machinery.

Drones for Construction Sites: A Bird's Eye View of Progress

Construction sites are inherently dynamic, with numerous activities happening simultaneously. Drones have emerged as indispensable tools in monitoring progress, enhancing safety, and ensuring quality control on construction sites.

Drones for construction sites capture aerial imagery and create 3D models of the site, providing project managers with a comprehensive view of the ongoing work. This aerial perspective enables them to identify issues, assess the quality of work, and make informed decisions. Moreover, it enhances safety by allowing for the quick identification of potential hazards.

Solar Panel Drone Inspection: Harnessing the Power of the Sun

As the world embraces sustainable energy sources, the demand for solar energy has surged. With this comes the need for efficient maintenance and inspection of solar panels. Solar panel drone inspection has emerged as a cost-effective and time-efficient solution.

Traditional solar panel inspections involved manual checks that could be labor-intensive and time-consuming. Solar panel drone inspection, on the other hand, can cover vast solar farms in a fraction of the time. Equipped with thermal imaging cameras, these drones can identify malfunctioning panels and areas in need of maintenance quickly. This not only saves time but also ensures that solar energy systems operate at peak efficiency.

Drones for Agriculture: Precision Farming Takes Flight

Agriculture is the backbone of our civilization, and technology is now changing the way we grow our food. Drones for agriculture, often referred to as precision agriculture or smart farming, are taking the industry by storm.

These drones can monitor crop health, identify pest infestations, and even assist in precision crop spraying. By analyzing data collected from drones, farmers can make data-driven decisions to optimize crop yield and reduce the use of pesticides, resulting in a more sustainable and cost-effective farming process.

In conclusion, the utilization of drones in land survey, mine survey, construction, solar panel inspection, and agriculture is a testament to the ever-evolving capabilities of technology. These remarkable machines have transcended the boundaries of traditional methods, bringing efficiency, precision, and safety to various industries. As technology continues to advance, we can expect even more innovative applications for drones, further transforming the way we work and live. Drones are not just a part of the future; they are shaping it in real-time.

[alienpossession]

Ever since I laid eyes on the group of tradies that worked on my neighbor's house, their fate has been sealed to become yet another collection of men infected by the alien spores I cultivated for my own lustful fulfillment. I don't want to bore you with how did I have access to the so-called alien spores or how I, a mere 28 years old nerdy scientist, ended up leading the Research & Development department of a Big Pharma within 2 years of merely finishing my grad school, so let's cut it directly to me stalking one of the tradie when he shopped for some material for my neighbor's house.

When he went to the quieter side of the vast material stores seemingly lost in the selection of wood panels, I simply dropped the spores to the floor and let it made its move to approach his woods....stealthily.

It proven to be yet another successful conquest as the spores quickly latched itself to his pants, which surprised him as he tried to swat it away with his hand as he thought that it was merely some insects or something. The contact with his palm enabled the spores to reach more part of his body and before long, the spores shot itself through the available orifices such as his mouth, nose and ear as it then spread all over his organ system within seconds. When the takeover is finalized, he's a mere drone of his former self. With their core hivemind under my control as I provided it with life sources for months, like a good pet of mine, he started to grin at me and then undressed his clothing

"Wow, yet another bodies. You are one lustful human, don't you?"

I just licked my lips as my hands started to wander to rub my tenting crotch

"Go sniff my reeked shirt and wait for me in my truck, nerd. Let me build up some sweat by lifting these heavy panels and shit like the real man I am so you can have more potent musk to inhale later when we go back to my workplace,"

Obviously, after giving him heads throughout the 12 miles-supposedly-30-minutes-drive that he purposefully lengthened into 75 minutes (and 30 miles!) by taking the more scenic and secluded routes and pitstop where he fucked the shit out of my hole before I shoved his mouth into my leaking cock, he came back inside my neighbor house to infect his fellow tradies. When he called my phone number around 10 minutes after his takeover, I walked into my neighbor house with the 3 tradies already incorporated into the hivemind

I eventually spent my entire evening fucked in the construction zone/my neighbor's house by the tradies trio that fucked the shit out of my holes as if I'm some kind of slut they used to bang when they were straight and still human. The way they really treated me as if I'm just a fleshlight under their mercy really made my head spin as I never really experienced such a senseless fucking from multiple men at once.

The 3 new addition of tradies fit perfectly into my ever-growing collection. Plus, with my bald-headed, intimidatingly huge neighbor followed their fate as I eventually converted him into yet another puppet, I have easier time to gather them all in my so-called "sex dungeon" so I can inspect them in one go while they can mingle together in the basement that supposedly used by my Romanian neighbor to manage his crime enterprises with his fellow underworld colleague.

Well, maybe I should let Dragos to gather his friends and then use the spore to convert them all, must be nice to have his buddies all synchronized with him under one hive mind, right?

[azyimnothere]

HEEEEEELLLLOOOO GUYS GUYS GUYS!!!! 💙💙💙

How are we doing today? I know that they were doing great

It's pretty much an idealized version of what I think that Velchid selfie turned out like, I'd imagine that those little star cameras aren't all that great in resolution since they have so much going on in them to just be able to fly, do you think they'd be like drones or something? If that's the case I can just imagine how bad the paparazzi are in Mount Rageous, or would those cameras only be red carpet exclusive? Who knows, but either way I tried to make it look like a little shittier photo with a lot of blinga-ding from reflection and lights. I hope you guys like it! It isn't my best work to be honest but it's nice 😅

Oh and I don't know if this is already a thing or not, because I checked everywhere and couldn't really find it, tell me if you know someone who made this thingy first so I don't falsely claim it as mine okay?

So it's one where Orchid becomes a surprise assistant to Velvet and Veneer! (And of course Velchid is sprinkled in...not really sprinkled in, more like there's a full tub of salt)

So here's a little backstory if you want to know :D

As we know, there was mentioning of an assistant in the movie, or I just imagine it, I'm not sure atp it's 3 in the morning.

Anywhezel, so I thought it would be in one of those accidental encounters by chance.

Crimp had a hard day, on the verge of a breakdown every second because siblings became "kinda" overbearing, and with no assistant around to help (because they most likely quit), she had no help around them. There was nobody who was willing to take the job that was licensed for working and helping celebrities that way because of all the horror stories previous assistants shared around. Siblings didn't really care Crimp was alone with them, so they just put all the extra stuff on her.

Crimp knew she needed a bit of help purely to keep her sanity on the line with her, so she decided to take a walk and think about what to do next (after she made sure siblings were in bed of course). She sat on a bench in the nearest neon-colored park and cried, not knowing what else to do, and had to let it out.

But she heard someone approaching, turns out it was a purple haired mount rageon and she looked at Crimp sadly, and asking her what's wrong. That's how Crimp met Orchid!

Orchid was making her way from the grocery store and saw Crimp crying on the bench late at night, Orchid recognised her easily since Crimp was mentioned a few times by the siblings on social media, there were also some photos. Plus, despite being small she was hard to miss.

Crimp explained her situation and told Orchid she couldn't do everything alone anymore, and that no one was willing to take over a bit of the burden since the siblings simply scared everyone off. Which made Orchid feel sorry for her.

But Orchid figured, that she could perhaps help Crimp out, the job at that doughnut shop she worked at just wasn't payed enough for her to move out of her mom's apartment, she wasn't forced to move but craved some independence ever since she turned 18 (which wasn't that long ago).

A good bonus was that she got to work with her favorite duo! despite it probably, being a little challenging.

Orchid gave that proposition to Crimp, which made Crimp a bit sceptical, Orchid was a nice girl and didn't deserve that kind of stress, but Orchid persisted because Crimp didn't deserve all that stress either.

On the end Crimp agreed, it only had to go through the approval of the siblings first.

And as expected, Veneer didn't really mind who was helping Crimp as long as they helped Crimp in the first place, and everything gets done in time.

Velvet on the other hand wasn't all that for it, she remembered Orchid faintly from a memory of a concert, which meant Orchid was a fan, she didn't want some nosy stalker snooping around. But as she inspected further, and listened to what Crimp had to say, she reconsidered it and ended up agreeing, unenthusiastically.

So that's how Orchid is now a busy celebrity assistant for two.

The story is a little basic, but it is solid I think, there will probably be comics about it in the future if you're interested! 💕

Also here's some Ritzneer I didn't post, warning! Boys kissing!!!

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Love you lovelies!!!! 💙💙💙💙

[horny-boy-toy]

12/1: "Touching under the blanket"

Mlw

You and I are cuddling while we watch a Christmas movie with two of your friends. We're on the couch, they're curled up in recliners. The movie begins to drone and fall into the background as I flop my head back lazily to inspect your jaw. My eyes travel appreciatively to your chest, back up to your lips, slightly parted in focus while the light from the TV shines across your eyes.

My thumb rubs small circles on your shoulder and I hold my eyes to yours until your gaze breaks from the television to meet mine. My eyes drop to your lips for a moment, then dart back up. You give me a little nudge in the ribs with your elbow and turn back to the TV, grinning.

Honestly, a couple of reindeer really can't distract me from the way your throat twitches as you swallow or how your thigh presses against mine. I gently lift my arm off your shoulders, careful not to make any sound (even though I'm pretty sure I hear your friends snoring), and rest it casually on your thigh. I cant help but grin when your body melts a little into the touch. Your attention becomes a little forced as I nonchalantly draw little circles onto your leg with my fingers.

[NSFW- ALL MINORS STOP READING HERE]

You shift and I feel satisfaction pound through my chest as your breathing gets deeper. My hand inches up your leg and I look you in the face. Now's your time to back out, all you have to do is say no, but we both know that you're too much of a needy slut to do that. So, you just hold eye contact with me while I brush my knuckles feather-light over the zipper of your jeans. I grab one of your hands and guide it to the button of your pants, raising an eyebrow when you pop it open and slide down the zipper, lifting your hips and pulling the jeans down to your ankles.

I press on your knees and you let them fall, spreading your legs wide open for me under our blanket. I turn my body to face you and test placing my hand fully against your crotch. Your jaw clenches and I can, to my absolute delight, feel the wetness tainting your panties.

I rub the area and you clamp down on your lower lip.

"Oh... does that feel good?" I murmur in your ear while I rub circles against your cunt though your panties.

You clench and unclech your fists and shake your head. "Yeah... but we're- we're watching the uh.." you trail off for a moment, "the movie."

I press harder, "What was that, love?"

Your legs squeeze together and your breathing hitches. "Uh.."

I slide my hand away and give the soft flesh below your ear an open mouthed kiss. "Do you want me to stop?"

I hover close to you but nowhere does our skin actually make contact. I can feel the heat radiating off your body. I see the way your legs are twitching and your nipples are pressing against the thin fabric of your top. You visibly argue with yourself.

"No," you whisper.

I smile and place a hand behind your head on your neck. "Good girl."

I move so that I'm straddling you, careful not to hurt your legs by sitting too hard. You're pressed against the couch as I press my mouth to yours, savoring the sweet liquor of your tongue while my hands roam your body. Your hips lift slightly and I push back, grinding against you.

I tilt my weight sideways and fall back onto the couch, pulling you into my lap while you kick off your jeans. I grasp your hips in my hands and firmly guide you as you grind on my thigh. We break apart for air and my head falls back onto the couch.

You place your hands on my leg and continue to press down, making small noises of pleasure. My hands leave your hips and I undo my own zipper, having you pause long enough to shimmy my own pants and trousers to my knees.

My head is tilted back, and I watch you bounce on my leg, desperate for release, while I lazily stroke my cock. Your hands move up my stomach, pushing my shirt up as they move to my chest. "Please.." you whine in my ear. I can feel your wetness on my leg.

I take my hand off my cock and still your hips, then use your waist to guide you off my leg and onto the floor. I take my pants off fully and rest a hand on your head.

"Do you want to cum?" I ask, breathless.

You nod frantically, eyeing my hard cock dripping inches from your face.

I gently guide your head closer. "Then earn it."

Without a moment of hesitation you take the head of my cock into your mouth and suck on it. I sigh with relief and push your head farther down. You flick your tongue and ram me into the back of your throat and do all sorts of other wonderful things that rip groans from deep in my chest.

I hold your head firm and thrust into your mouth with my hips, the tears running down your cheeks bringing me so close to the edge I can taste the pleasure.

I push your head as far down my length as you can take and almost instantly explode. My cum fills your throat as a fire washes through me, making my hips jerk and hand tighten in your hair.

You swallow what you can but white still dribbles down your chin and I pull you up with my fist, still holding onto a chunk of your hair, to lick it off. I move to your mouth and taste myself on your tongue until I regain feeling in my limbs.

When that happens, I break the kiss and push you into a sitting position on the couch. You look so fucking perfect with that dazed expression on your face, bare legs spread and tits pressing against the thin fabric of your nightshirt.

I slide my fingers into the waistband of your panties and slide them down and off your legs. You're so fucking wet just from getting me off.

I sink to the floor and lean so that my face is inches from your dripping cunt and I look up at you. As soon as we make eye contact you whimper a bit too loudly and grasp my hair.

"I haven't even touched you yet. Are you really that needy for me?"

All you have in response is a desperate whine that is loud enough to have potential to actually wake one of your friends. I take the panties in my left hand and shove them into your mouth with two fingers. You startle and gag but I dont remove my fingers from your mouth until you process what happened and relax your head.

I place one of my hands on each thigh and press outwards and downwards, holding them firmly in place while I dip my tongue into your dripping sweetness. You let out a muffled gasp and your legs fight to squeeze shut but I hold them in place.

"If you're not enjoying this you'll tell me, yeah?"

You squeeze your eyes shut and nod.

"Good girl."

I bury my face in your cunt, drinking you up with fervor. My tongue laps across your entrance, stabs into your pussy, circles your clit. I suck and I nibble and I absorb every beautiful pained sound you make. It's hardly 5 minutes before your whole body tenses and your legs tremble and my mouth is filled with your cum.

I continue to play with your clit with one hand, overstimulating you and causing you to shake all over, and I take out the improvised gag with the other. I kiss you deeply and you begin to squirm and writhe but I don't stop pinching and rubbing your clit.

I bite down on your lip and murmur into your mouth.

"Take it. Take my fingers. I havent even properly fucked you and you look like you couldn't tell me your own name."

You can't respond, the look in your eyes vacant and blissed out as I stimulate you.

[girlactionfigure]

🟠 IDF ATTACKS MISSILE DEPOT / HEZBOLLAH ATTACKS KATRIN - MORNING NEWS

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( VIDEO 1 - IDF strike(s) Hezbollah weapons warehouses in Baalbek, northeast Lebanon. )

( VIDEO 2 - HOME hit by Hezbollah rocket in Katzrin, Golan Heights. )

⚠️(6:30) Warnings to Golan towns and Katzrin to remain close to protected spaces, minimize gatherings, etc.

♦️IDF DEEP ATTACKS (4) ON HEZBOLLAH.. in Baalbek, northeast Lebanon, hitting surface-to-surface ballistic missile depots.

▪️NASTY HAMAS PROPAGANDA ATTACK..  threatening messages and calls received by families of hostages - some from the phone numbers of their loved ones (via taken phones).  Messages sent by Hamas and Iran per the Defense Ministry. ,The messages included threats such as: if you don't fight you won't see your loved one, or demands to pay a ransom in exchange for information.

▪️AVNEI HEFETZ UNDER FIRE.. Avnei Hefetz is a Jewish town in Samaria near Tulkarm.  Fatah's Khalli al-Aqsa takes responsibility for gunfire at the town, many rounds of attacks.

▪️TERROR ATTACK THWARTED.. Police just reported this event from 2 weeks ago: by the Gilon intersection Route 85, terror-minors set up with Molotov cocktails at 4:30 AM.  Spotted by police, arrested.

▪️SIREN TESTS.. Moshav Shadi Hamad, Moshav Mishmatar, Matan and Nirit from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  In upgraded tests, some of these tests are regular up-down alert sounds with Home Front soldiers stationed around the area to register siren sound levels.

▪️PROTEST - ANTI-CONSCRIPTION - JERUSALEM.. by Shaarei Yisroel street.  Large police forces present.  Charedi anti-draft protest.

⭕50 ROCKET BARRAGE by HEZBOLLAH - GOLAN.. Katzrin area, several HITS including on a home in Katzrin, man injured.  Katzin is a small city, the population is NOT evacuated.

⭕ATTEMPTED MINE LAYING BLOWS UP.. in Temon, by Tubas, as it was being buried to attack the IDF.

⭕SHIA MILITIAS IRAQ (Iranian proxies) SAYS ATTACKED EILAT.. via suicide drones.  No such arrival of attack reported.

♦️COUNTER-TERROR OPS.. overnight in Shechem, and Shawika.

🔸DEAL NEWS.. Fox News reporter says Hamas sent him the points of dispute (in a PowerPoint presentation):

-The Philadelphi (Egypt border) Corridor (as in, who controls it, the IDF inspecting it)

-The Netzarim route (divides Gaza) (as in, the IDF manning in and preventing the free movement of Gazans and terrorists)

-Inspection of displaced civilians returning to northern Gaza (which might include hostages! And terrorists!  And rockets!)

-Changes to the hostage/prisoner exchange details (Hamas demands the most senior biggest mass murderers be freed, and first).

-Tying aid/reconstruction to acceptance of other conditions (they demand reconstruction BEFORE even releasing hostages).

.. President Biden: Blinken - "We must bring the deal to the finish line.  The United States will not accept Israel's long-term occupation of the Gaza Strip.”

.. At the end of his visit to Doha, US Sec State Blinken sent a message to Netanyahu: It is important that the negotiating teams working on the details of the agreement have "maximum flexibility" so that we can reach a deal.  (Note he is not hassling Hamas, who has refused to send delegates in person.)

.. Politico: Senior US officials say the ceasefire deal is on the verge of collapse.

🇺🇸Not Israel related:  In March President Biden ordered US forces to prepare for possible nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea.

[darkness-and-books]

I like that your hand fits in mine

Jim Kirk x reader

I think I managed to avoid any descriptions of the reader. Reader is in engineering. Written from reader’s POV. Anyone can be referred to as sweetheart, no changing my mind. Reader has enough hair to have fingers run through it. warnings ⚠️ : brief description of burns

Word count: 562

It had been a long day quite honestly. The engine core had overheated, accidentally skimming that thing caused awful burns when it was totally within regulation. Unfortunately nobody had told me that it was overheating, admittedly though the fact that the whole room was a couple of degrees warmer should have given it away.

I was half asleep and nursing a cup of coffee when my hand scraped up against the core. It took me a second to even realise anything was wrong. It was Scotty who finally shook me out of my daze “If you hold yer hand there much longer you won’t have a hand!!” He warned. I looked down to see my hand red and blistering already. It hadn’t hurt until just now when I looked at it, but damn did it hurt now. I vaguely registered that Scotty had ordered an ensign to take me to the medbay. McCoy had given me a rather stern look when he saw my burn and that I was still holding the hot coffee. It was the kind of look that generally had me turning the other direction, and I would have if it weren’t for the fact that the ensign (who I still feel bad for not knowing the name of) had already given me over to McCoy for inspection. “I don’t know why Kirk still lets you be an engineer. How many core related injuries is this now?” He asked raising a brow at me. “Hell if I know, you’re the one with the medical logs” I muttered through a yawn. McCoy fixed me up with the dermal regenerator, the skin was better, but I can still feel the heat pulsating underneath. “Thanks” I muttered to McCoy as I gently prodded at the newly regenerated skin. “Please don’t bug it too much, and come check in with me tomorrow. Just go back to your quarters or you’ll probably hurt yourself worse” McCoy droned, did I just get grounded? Forget my quarters, Jim’s bedding is warmer and it’s not like anyone can tell me not to. I headed up to Jim’s quarters and kicked off my shoes as soon as the door closed behind me. I wrapped myself up in his bedding and took a deep breath in, it was comforting to be surrounded by Jim’s smell even if he wasn’t here right now. I could feel myself dozing off. ————— I woke up to the sound of the door sliding open. I heard Jim’s footsteps coming near just before the bed dipped. “Hey Sweetheart, what’re you doing here? Not that I’m not glad to see you” Jim cooed softly as he ran his hand through my hair. “Burned my hand and Bones sent me to my quarters” I murmured into the pillow. Jim chuckled “Well last checked these are my quarters” He joked patting me on the side. “Can I see it?” Jim asked, referring to my hand. He held it in both of his own hands. He kissed my hand gently, “Mind if I lay with you?” He requested as though it weren’t his bed I was laying in. I softly nod my head and he slips into bed with me, still holding my hand and now reaching for my other. “I like that your hands fit in mine” Jim whispered after kissing me gently on the cheek.

It might not be great, but hey progress, right?

Requests open

[angelwiththeblue-box]

Tasha and Douglas painting each other's nails? Besties.

hi anon sorry this is so late but i provide u with a drabble as an apology!!

.

Tasha sits on the couch, a movie playing on the TV, but she's not paying too much attention to it, most of her attention focused on painting her left hand, the nail polish shaky in her non dominant hand.

She hears footsteps and looks up to see Douglas, tapping away on one of Donald's tablets.

"Oh, are you doing your nails! Do you have any remover, mine are chipped to all shit!" Douglas drops the tablet on the couch and sits next to her, waving his chipped black nail polish at her. She sets her nail polish down and hands Douglas her nail polish remover and he grabs a tissue and starts scrubbing at his nails.

"Do you want me to paint your right hand?" Douglas asks after a beat, the movie droning on in the background. "I'm ambidextrous, so it's never been a problem, but an ex of mine in college always hated doing his left hand, so I started doing his nails for him. I'm pretty good, too." Tasha sighs.

"Please. I hate painting my own nails, honestly, but I hate looking at bare nails even more."

Douglas laughs and takes the bottle from Tasha, grabbing her hand lightly and starting to paint the first coat nimbly.

"So, what happened to your ex?" Tasha asks, hiding the smirk on her face.

"Oh, he was an absolute douchebag, cheated on me with one of my friends at the time." Douglas motions for her to blow on her nails to dry the first coat.

"Sounds like a dick." Tasha says, inspecting Douglas' handiwork. He barks a laugh, motioning for her to give him her hand back.

"Oh, he was. One time, I planned a whole date for us, like nice restaurant and everything, and he stood me up!"

"He did not!"

"He did!"

[dogandponygal]

Institutions for Failed Persons Part 10

Once Doctor Veronika had moved you into Lunas room your new life felt nothing short of idyllic. It was hard to adjust to your new life as a pup before the good doctor introduced you to Luna, but now everything felt so natural. Luna began to feel like a big sister to you.

Sure she was also a dog, and she would regularly try in vain to impregnate you, and you never actually had an older sibling, but you couldn't think of a better description. She showed you how to be a good pup by example. You followed her around were ever she went.

She would cuddle you on the large doggy bed that Dr. Veronika had put in your room to replace the two smaller separate ones that your room originally held. When the other pups would fuck you at play time, she always knew when you couldn't take anymore, and protect you.

As time passed, language slipped away from your brain. You remembered plenty of words, but sentences became hard to form.

One thought you could muster was that you were always meant to be a puppy, and now you had found your purpose in life. For the first time you felt content.

One day during free time a group of visitors entered the unit that had become home for you.

A short woman dressed in all black anachronistic attire led them. Her clothes looked as if they may have been in style a hundred years ago, but not like anything you've seen in your life.

You couldn't seem to make out her face from under the brim of her large floppy witches hat, but she emanated an aura of control and confidence that was entirely singular.

She was holding hands with a woman dressed as if she had just come from an emo concert circa 2010.

The two were followed by four women in a line equally spaced from one another. There muted yet cheerful expressions brought a word to mind, "Doll".

You heard of witches and dolls, but always wrote them off as an urban legend. The arrival of the group conjured so many questions.

Your head began to ache with all of the thoughts you were experiencing. Sentences and memories barged into your previously empty mind. You hadn't thought this much in a dogs age.

Just as you felt like you couldn't be more confused, Dr. Veronika joyfully greeted the group.

"It is so good to see you again Mistress Willow! Do you have any time to catch up or should we get straight to business?" The Doctors reaction brought even more unwelcome thoughts to your head.

Luna thankfully rescued you from your thoughts by giving you a gentle bite.

You sheepishly followed behind her as she cheerfully approached the group of strangers. The dolls had been dismissed by their witch, and they were eager to play with all the pets on the unit. One of the dolls came over to you and gave you gentle scritches behind your ears.

It was surprising how smooth and cold her touch was, it was if she was actually made of porcelain. As she mechanically patted your head she called you a pretty puppy in an airy, dream like voice. A wave of comfort overcame you and washed all those nasty thoughts away.

One of the dolls began to curiously inspect a drone on the unit, who examined the doll in the same manner. It was if the two were mirroring one another. They seemed to be trapped by their own reflection of one another. Perhaps they were two sides of the same coin.

Dr. Veronika snapped her fingers twice and immediately gained your attention, as well as Lunas. That was a command that elicited a reflexive response from the two of you, and you instantly sat attentively before her.

"Awe what good little pets the two of you are!"

"Mistress Willow has been a wonderful client to work with in the past, as well as a personal friend of mine. Her dolls make the most wonderful tea I've ever tasted. I digress, she is here to adopt some new pets, isn't that exciting?" Dr. Veronika said enthusiastically.

"You see, Mistress Willow is looking for a pup to play with the dolls while she is spending alone time with her new girlfriend, and I think you would be the perfect candidate Luna." Luna moved her hips back and forth wagging the tail attached to her via a leather belt.

"Unfortunately she only needs one dog. However I just couldn't stand to see the two of you separated. Luckily she is also looking for a new pony to replace one of her cart horses. Her pony Proletariat was one I personally trained and he is getting to old for the job."

"She is going to retire him and let him happily live out his days in the pasture. While her other pony Shimmer is quite strong she cant pull her cart all by herself. Since I don't have any cart ponies that available for sale, it occurred to me I could just train you to be a pony"

Dr. Veronika had tilted your chin up to meet her beautiful and terrifying eyes as she told you about your new fate. She was so imbued with energy whenever she came up with an idea

"Honestly I think you would make a better pony than a puppy" Veronika said while tussling your hair

"That should've been obvious considering how well you responded to ketamine therapy, but hey, I may be a doctor but I'm only human. Even I make mistakes every once in a while." You let out a whimper at the news. Your formally cherished certainty about life had vanished.

You didn't know the first thing about horses, how on earth would you become one? Would you be able to stay with Luna while you trained? How long would the training take? Would you even make a good pony? Were you strong enough to pull a cart even with the help of someone else?

"Awe don't whine dear, I'll still be your doctor! I'll also have it arranged that Luna can stay in the stables with you while you train. Mistress Willow is fine with waiting for the two of you so you can stay together. I told her all about how adorably close you two are."

"I'll even have your favorite drone #4134 transferred so you'll feel even more comfortable as I train you to be the perfect push button pony. Besides, you seemed to hit a wall in your puppy training. Its like you can only function as a pup in Lunas presence."

"Once I get a bit in your pretty mouth and some blinders on your bridle you'll be able to be a wonderful pony even when Luna isn't by your side. You haven't disappointed me yet, I'm sure you wont start now." You could sense the doctors sadistic side in her tone voice.

"Besides, its not like you have any choice in the matter." She was right as always. You would have to put aside any trepidation about your new training. After all, pets like you aren't meant to make decisions. You are simply made to submit to your betters.

Institutes for failed persons: Experiments in Equine Excellence, Part 1

#medfet #petplay #drones #emptyspaces #ponyplay #puppyplay

You couldn't sleep as anxiety surged across your brain. The news you would be transferred to the pony training program did not sit well with you.

You thought your training as a puppy was going so well. At long last you felt a stability in your life that you thought was mere fantasy before you gave away your rights to the Institute of Human Animals. You believed that you had gained a never before experienced. 

You laid awake snuggling against Luna, the pup you had become so close to here. The good Doctor Veronika was starting your pony training so the two of you could be kept together and adopted by the same witch. Your memories of past fuck ups made you think this would be one of them

You did something you hadn't done in months, speak.

"Luna, I'm scared." Luna groggily tilted her head as she woke up to an entirely novel sound.

"I'm scared I wont make a good pony. I'm so scared we will be separated. Just tell me everything will be ok" Luna growled at you.

Then after a long silence, Luna spoke in a gravely and entirely singular manner

"Don't be. Veronika is good. Veronika has never lied to Luna. Luna will be by your side. Veronika loves us. Luna is not going anywhere." It was the first time you heard her speak

"Thank you Luna, I love you so much. You've been so good to me I don't know what I would do without you. As long as your with me I know I'll be safe."

Another long pause came before Lunas response. It dawned on you she was looking for words she hasn't used in so so long.

"Luna never wants you to speak again. Veronika would be mad. Luna will protect you. Luna loves you." She licked your face before snuggling back in to the dog bed you two shared. You let out a gentle whine, licked her back, and were finally able to fall asleep. 

In the morning you awoke to the sound of Doctor Veronika's energetic voice.

"Good morning my little pups! I guess I should say pets now because of our newest pony girl! Isn't this so exciting. I can't wait to show you two your new home. Since I cant wait, lets do it now!"

[t-hal-mothman]

some time ago, I baited @noxeorn to play text roleplay with me, EVERYTHING TURNED OUT TO BE THE FACT THAT WE HAD RANDOM BABIES and I make memes

here they are, from left to right, workers of the 1st shift of the bay 2 on level 4: Technician Drone Sparkles (mine), Technician Drone Citron (Nox), Irken Engineer Voolf (mine), Inspection Drone Chili (mine), Machine Operator Leaf (Nox) and Machine Operator Fox (Nox)

it's hard to convince your boss (read "the one who constantly says "An apple a day keeps the doctor away") to go get drunk, and she actually has a healthy lifestyle...

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up April 6-11, 2023

I took a little vacation, and it’s really hard to post these from a phone!

Under the cut:

Ukrainian forces are working to strengthen defensive lines and positions along the border with Belarus and Russia, the defence ministry has said.

The Pentagon is investigating a security breach in which classified war documents detailing secret American and Nato plans for supplying aid to Ukraine before its prospective offensive against Russia were leaked to social media platforms.

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has pledged fresh military support for Ukraine after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal. Canada will send 21,000 assault rifles, 38 machine guns and 2.4m rounds of ammunition to Ukraine and impose sanctions on 14 Russian individuals and 34 entities, including security targets linked to the private mercenary Wagner group, Trudeau said.

Wagner founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Tuesday that Russian forces now control much of the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Ukrainian officials have denied Prigozhin’s claim.

No ships were inspected on Tuesday under the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal "as the parties needed more time to reach an agreement on operational priorities," the United Nations said, adding that routine inspections were due to resume on Wednesday.

The German government reported transferring a new military aid package to Ukraine, which includes eight reconnaissance drones, another 23,520 rounds of 40-mm ammunition, and eight mobile antenna systems. Germany has also delivered eight more Zetros trucks for extreme off-road conditions bringing the total amount to 60, according to the report.

Ukrainian forces are working to strengthen defensive lines and positions along the border with Belarus and Russia, the defence ministry has said.

The ministry, citing Lt Gen Serhiy Nayev, commander of the joint forces of Ukraine’s armed forces, posted to Facebook:

The expansion of the system of engineering barriers in the areas bordering Belarus and Russia is ongoing. Anti-tank minefields are being created in tank accessible areas and probable paths of pushing the enemy deep into our territory which are roads, forest lanes, bridges, power lines, etc.

Nayev added that Ukrainian engineering units have equipped several dozens of mine fields using more than 6,000 anti-tank mines in the past week. Ukrainian soldiers were working “around the clock, despite the weather conditions”, he said.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, met with his Belarusian counterpart and close ally, Alexander Lukashenko, for talks in Moscow on Wednesday. Moscow is Minsk’s closest political and financial backer.

Lukashenko allowed Putin to use the territory of Belarus as a launch pad for the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Last month, Putin announced that Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

-via The Guardian

~

The Pentagon is investigating a security breach in which classified war documents detailing secret American and Nato plans for supplying aid to Ukraine before its prospective offensive against Russia were leaked to social media platforms.

The top secret documents were spread on Twitter and Telegram, and reportedly contain charts and details about anticipated weapons deliveries, battalion strengths and other sensitive information, the New York Times reported. According to military analysts, the papers appear to have been altered in certain parts from their original format, overstating American estimates of Ukrainian war dead and understating estimates of Russian troops killed, citing how the modifications could point to an effort of disinformation by Moscow.

“We are aware of the reports of social media posts and the department is reviewing the matter,” said Sabrina Singh, the deputy press secretary at the Pentagon, as officials worked to have them deleted.

The NYT said the documents, which are five weeks old, with at least one carrying a “top secret” label, do not contain details of when, how, or where Ukraine intends to launch its counteroffensive.

According to analysts, however, the leak represents a “significant breach of American intelligence in the effort to aid Ukraine”.

One of the documents, which circulated on pro-Russian government channels, summarised the training schedules of 12 Ukrainian combat brigades, and said nine of them were being trained by US and Nato forces, and needed 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanised vehicles, the newspaper said.

The classified papers also contain details on expenditure rates for munitions under Ukrainian military control, including for the Himars rocket systems, the US-made artillery rocket systems that have proved highly effective against Russian forces.

According to Ukrainian presidential official Mykhailo Podolyak, the leak was part of a Russian disinformation operation to sow doubts about Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

Podolyak told Reuters that the leaked data contained a “very large amount of fictitious information” and that Russia was trying to seize back the initiative in its invasion. “These are just standard elements of operational games by Russian intelligence, and nothing more,” Podolyak said. “Russia is looking for any ways to seize back the initiative. To try to influence the scenarios for Ukraine’s counteroffensive plans. To introduce doubts, to compromise the … ideas, and finally to intimidate [us] with how ‘informed’ they are.”

Nonetheless, Ukraine’s leaders met to discuss ways to prevent to prevent leaks of their defence plans, the president’s office announced on Friday.

In a separate development on Friday, Russia appeared to have made important gains in Bakhmut, one of the bloodiest battles of the year-long war, with outgunned Ukrainian troops holding out despite Moscow’s numerical superiority.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in its daily update that Russian forces had “highly likely advanced into the [Bakhmut] town centre, and has seized the west bank of the Bakhmutka River. Ukraine’s key supply route to the west of the town is likely severely threatened.”

It added: “There is a realistic possibility that, locally, Wagner and Russian MoD commanders have paused their ongoing feud and improved cooperation.”

The battle for Bakhmut has raged for seven months, with thousands of people killed and hundreds of buildings collapsed or charred. The few remaining civilians have been confined to basements for months with no running water, electricity or gas.

In spite of the rumours earlier this year of a retreat of his troops from the area, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he had instructed the army to find forces to bolster the defence of the embattled city.

The eastern military command spokesperson Serhiy Cherevatyi told Reuters that Ukraine controlled the situation in Bakhmut, understood Russian intentions and that Moscow had tactical success in some places, but was paying a high price for it.

“The situation is difficult; the enemy is concentrating maximum efforts to capture Bakhmut. However, it is suffering serious losses and not reaching strategic success,” Cherevatyi said.

“All decisions are taken with the aim of not allowing the enemy to break through our defence, to inflict maximum damage to it and preserve personnel. Having tactical success in some places, the enemy pays an exorbitant price for it and loses combat potential every day.”

-via The Guardian

~

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has pledged fresh military support for Ukraine after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal.

Canada will send 21,000 assault rifles, 38 machine guns and 2.4m rounds of ammunition to Ukraine and impose sanctions on 14 Russian individuals and 34 entities, including security targets linked to the private mercenary Wagner group, Trudeau said.

The Canadian government is also imposing sanctions on nine entities tied to the Belarusian financial sector to further pressure Russia’s “enablers in Belarus,” Trudeau said.

-via The Guardian

~

Wagner founder and financier Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Tuesday that Russian forces now control much of the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

“We are fully concentrated on Bakhmut, continuing to carry out combat missions. In Bakhmut, most of it — that is, more than 80% — is under our control, including the entire administrative center, plants, factories, the city administration,” Prigozhin said. “What is left is part of the multi-story residential areas, where fortification districts were made. There are tunnels under these high-rise buildings.”

Ukrainian officials have denied Prigozhin’s claim.

"This statement by Prigozhin is not true,” Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces told CNN on Tuesday. “I've just been in touch with the commander of one of the brigades that are defending the city. I can confidently state that the Ukrainian defense forces control a much larger percentage of the territory of Bakhmut." "Prigozhin needs to show at least some victory in the city, which they have been trying to capture for nine months in a row, so he makes such statements," Cherevatyi added.

The Wagner founder has been known to make incorrect claims about his forces’ advance on the ground in Ukraine. Last week, he posted a grainy video raising a flag at dawn, saying Bakhmut had "been taken," despite ongoing fighting in and around the city. His claim was seen as a "pretty desperate" attempt, Western officials said.

What Western officials are saying: The officials conceded Russia had been able to make some progress in Bakhmut, but added it could be "measured in meters."

"The Russians at the moment, despite trying for six months, with huge numbers of personnel and huge numbers of losses, have been unable to take the town, and at the moment have made very, very slow progress,” the officials said at a briefing last Wednesday.

In the video this Tuesday, Prigozhin said Wagner fighters had relinquished control of some areas around Bakhmut to the Russian military.

“We handed over the flanks to the Ministry of Defence. Units of the Ministry of Defence, including the airborne troops, have today taken over both the right and left flanks,” he said. “That is why Zaliznyanskoye, Nikolaevka, and other settlements, which were stormed by units of the Wagner PMC in previous months, are in the area of responsibility of the airborne troops and other units of the Ministry of Defence.”

-via CNN

~

No ships were inspected on Tuesday under the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal "as the parties needed more time to reach an agreement on operational priorities," the United Nations said, adding that routine inspections were due to resume on Wednesday.

"We urge all involved to meet their responsibilities to ensure that vessels continue to move smoothly and safely in the interest of global food security," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, adding that there are currently 50 vessels waiting to move to the Ukrainian ports.

All ships are inspected by officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations in waters near Turkey on the way in and out of Ukraine. Official online data shows no ships were inspected on Tuesday.

Since the deal allowing the safe wartime export of grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports was agreed in July, more then 27.5 million tonnes of food have been exported. Dujarric said this had contributed to the lowering of food prices globally.

"This critical work is done against the backdrop of the ongoing war and active hostilities. We do not underestimate the challenges, but we know they can be overcome," he said. "The U.N. team is working closely with all sides, taking into consideration all parties' concerns."

The deal - initially brokered last July by Turkey and the United Nations - was renewed last month for at least 60 days, half the intended period.

"The global humanitarian benefits of the initiative are evident and are not limited to exports to specific low-income countries. It is in everyone's interest to keep it going," Dujarric said.

Russia has said it will only extend the deal beyond May 18 if impediments to its export of agricultural products and fertilizer are removed. Moscow's demands include returning the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT banking system and unblocking the financial activities of fertilizer companies.

To help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume its Black Sea grain exports last year, a three-year deal was also struck in July in which the United Nations agreed to help Russia with its food and fertilizer exports.

Western powers have imposed tough sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While its food and fertilizer exports are not sanctioned, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance industries are a barrier to shipments.

-via Reuters

~

The German government reported transferring a new military aid package to Ukraine, which includes eight reconnaissance drones, another 23,520 rounds of 40-mm ammunition, and eight mobile antenna systems.

Germany has also delivered eight more Zetros trucks for extreme off-road conditions bringing the total amount to 60, according to the report.

Kyiv has also received four armored engineer vehicles DACHS, including the one Berlin delivered over the past week, the government wrote in its weekly update.

From Jan. 1, 2022, to April 3, 2023, Germany provided Ukraine with more than 2.7 billion euros ($2.9 billion) in military aid, according to the German government.

On March 29, Germany approved additional military aid for Ukraine worth 12 billion euros, consisting of 3.2 billion euros that will be distributed in 2023, as well as credit lines worth 8.8 billion euros that will be allocated between 2024 and 2032.

Berlin has also taken the lead in what has been dubbed the "tank coalition" to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons for combat on the battlefield.

-via Kyiv Independent

[banyanas]

murder drones thing thats been living in my head for years is: pov: you are the sorry sucker of Space IRS or whatever who's auditing JCJ's exoplanet they fucked up so it can inevitably fail the safety inspection and be re-evaluated for mining again or seized by Space Senate in what's basically planet-sized forclosure (with what’s probably financial motivation by Space Senate let’s be real). and then huh wow they did NOT tell u about the. Everything. Toxic Deathstorm. why are there dubiously-legal war weapons just flying around.

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 9, Number 3

Emergency Group

As AI takes over the creative professions, it may seem pointless for actual, struggling human beings to sit down to listen to music made by other human beings, to think about what they hear and to string together sentences about how they felt about that music and what it means. But, in a sense, Dusted has always been a bit pointless, as have many of the under-heard, under-loved musics we follow. Still, since there’s no money in it, we can’t be starved out. We may not win an us-against-the-machines battle, but there’s no reason to surrender. And so, this month, we gather our low-tech resources to consider another batch of excellent, under-the-radar releases from folk artists and metal thrashers, jazz improvisers and pop craftspeople. Contributors include Bill Meyer, Ian Mathers, Jennifer Kelly, Justin Cober-Lake, Jonathan Shaw, Tim Clarke, Bryon Hayes, Margaret Welsh and Andrew Forell—not a robot in the bunch.

Joseph Allred — What Strange Flowers In The Shade (Feeding Tube)

What Strange Flowers In The Shade by Joseph Allred

We’ll be dealing with the pandemic’s fallout for years to come, but some consequences are lined with silver. Locked up in a grad school apartment, Joseph Allred spent a lot of time getting acquainted with the less-handled items in their sizable collection of instruments. Best known as a mystical acoustic guitarist of the Takoma school and a spiritually astute singer, they also have a lengthy, if less documented, history of appreciating and performing plugged-in music. What Strange Flowers Grown In The Shade arose from Allred’s deep dive into the delights of effects pedals and a Fender Jaguar guitar. Bolstered by remote contributions by the Rolin-Powers Duo, Magic Tuber Stringband, and others, Allred set the sound-mixer for slow stir and the spotlight for the center of the resulting thick swirl. The outcome sounds a bit like Mike Cooper might if you packed him off to a cold, damp clime with nothing to play but choral recordings, and he embraced the circumstances (don’t try this at home, folks; Cooper would be more likely to embrace your neck with an asphyxiating grip if you did him such a disservice).

Bill Meyer  

 John Atkinson — Energy Fields (AKP Recordings)

It may have taken John Atkinson just two weeks on a residency in Wyoming (surrounded by the sounds of coal mines, wind farms, oil refineries, and hydropower plants) to get all of the field recordings he microedited into the four tracks that make up Energy Fields, but it took him another two years to figure out how to stitch them together. In that time, his longstanding interest in both the manipulation of found/sourced sound and in climate issues haven’t exactly dated. On the industrial rumble of “Black Thunder” and the galvanizing drones of “Spiritual Electricity” you can practically see the extractive machinery Atkinson was surrounded with, whereas the record’s second half moves to a calmer, more meditative and even hopeful place. The results are evocative and sometimes troubling soundscapes deeply rooted in our current ecological moment.

Ian Mathers

 Emergency Group — Inspection of Cruelty (Island House)

Inspection Of Cruelty by Emergency Group

Two side-long slabs of fusion-y free improvisation are led by long-time Dusted favorite Jonathan Byerley (Plates of Cake and Anti-Westerns), with seasoned jazz players Robert Boston and Andreas Brade in tow. WFMU DJ, writer and bassist Dave Mandl rounds out the foursome. A 1970s futuristic cool hangs over the whole enterprise, in its chugging rhythms, its radiant runs of electric keyboards, its motorific jams. You are meant to sniff out hash-scented whiffs of Silent Way into Jack Johnson-era Miles Davis (despite the lack of brass) in all this, but Return to Forever is a closer match, and maybe CAN, too. There’s an underpinning of jazz, but it wigs way the fuck out from there. I’d give the edge to urgent, driving “Part 1,” nearly half an hour long but constantly evolving, ever fascinating. “Part 2” is shorter, but not by much, but also less visceral, more of a head piece. It dozes deep into a psychedelic dream, where fairy dust keyboard notes drift down from pastel skies, sparkling all the way, and deep pulses of bass power the machinery that makes the illusion work. I’ve never loved keyboard-heavy fusion but I like this, go figure.

Jennifer Kelly 

 Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double — March On (self-released)

March On by Tomas Fujiwara's Triple Double

When percussionist Tomas Fujiwara convened his odd sextet a few years ago for their second album (2020's March), he had them record some extra material intended as segues between tracks. He decided the session warranted its own album, and new digital-only release March On centers on the 30-minute titular improv. The freedom of the set should suit fans of the artists involved (including Gerald Cleaver, Mary Halvorson, Brandon Seabrook, Taylor Ho Bynum and Ralph Alessi). Each of those musicians write and perform surprising, free-sounding music, but with careful composition structuring the adventures more carefully than might be expected. “March On” puts them in full improv mode, a task that succeeds largely because they've learned to interact so well with each other in a variety of ensembles over the past decade or so.

The Triple Double structure still holds, offering surprises in one level simply by changing configurations. The band's name suggests basketball, and the group plays a never-stagnating motion offense. We move from a horn duet to a guitar battle to a drum-guitar-trumpet trio with ease. Given the crowded space, each musician stays out of the others' way while still finding moments to become a focal point. The album closes with Halvorson and Seabrook briefly partnering for “Silhouettes,” 45 seconds of weird tone an unsettling conversation. It closes the album well, hinting at more mysteries within an ongoing conversation.

Justin Cober-Lake

 Full of Hell and Primitive Man — Suffocating Hallucination (Closed Casket Activities)

Suffocating Hallucination by Full of Hell & Primitive Man

A glib assessment of this collaboration between noisy grind band Full of Hell and the doomy monster that is Primitive Man might note: it’s 26 seconds of Full of Hell and 34 minutes of Primitive Man. For sure Suffocating Hallucination is dominated by the agonizing assaults of volume associated with Primitive Man’s excoriating, magma-paced music. But folks should recall just how adventurous the last few Full of Hell records have been, replete with excursions into hair-raising harsh noise and muscular hardcore. Open your ears to the textures of the record’s first two tracks (the sublimely titled “Trepanation for Future Joys” and the aptly titled “Rubble Home”) and you’ll hear both bands at work, responding to each other’s force and fury. Is that good? Depends on your appetite for unhappiness. This reviewer is compelled by the record’s final 18 minutes, in which the haunted factory sounds of “Dwindling Will” leach into the perversely magisterial “Tunnels to God.” As novelist Stephen Wright once observed, “If you can’t ascend, you might as well descend.” This music will get you there.

Jonathan Shaw

 Drew Gardner — The Return (Astral Spirits)

The Return by Drew Gardner

Folks following American “don’t call it primitive” guitar music have likely noted Drew Gardner’s redoubtably picking in Elkhorn, where he handles the usually-electric, six-string side of their bases-covered attack. Most folks don’t get to sound so sure in a minute, and it turns out that Gardner is a man with a past. He has been multi-instrumentalist since the 1980s, and during the mid-1990s he was an active participant in San Francisco’s free jazz scene. Around the same time, saxophonist John Tchicai had a teaching gig in Davis CA; he retained Gardner as a drummer, and when Gardner had a chance to record at Guerilla Euphonics in 1995, he returned the favor. Also on board were Church of John Coltrane alto saxophonist Roberto de Haven and, on one track, Marco Eneidi, also on alto. Gardner and bassist Vytas Nagisetty stoke the furnace, alternating a full head of steam with more judiciously applied rumblings, and the twinned reeds give Gardner’s themes a distinctly pre-electric Ornette feel. No doubt there’s a good reason why this music didn’t come out at the time, but it wasn’t on account of the music’s quality.

Bill Meyer

 Hourlope — Three Nights in the Wawayanda (self-released / Tymbal Tapes)

Three Nights in the Wawayanda by Hourloupe

Hourlope is a collaboration between Anar Badalov and Frank Menchaca, and Three Nights in the Wawayanda is the third part of an ambitious trilogy that began with Future Deserts, continued on Sleepwalker, and reaches its fantastical culmination here. Hourlope pair elusive electronic backing with Mechaca’s measured spoken word delivery, and the results are frequently beguiling. It feels like music from another time, both harking back to the origins of ambient electronica in the 1990s and reaching forward to imagine fresh new musical forms. The album’s finest moments are the more abstract, beatless pieces, such as the Fennesz-esque “Thumper,” and centerpiece “Green Navy/Rain,” a stunningly evocative two minutes in which Menchaca’s words perfectly complement the eerie atmosphere of the music.

Tim Clarke

Brett Naucke — Cast a Double Shadow (Ceremony of Seasons)

Cast A Double Shadow by Brett Naucke

Wine, beer and spirit clubs are not new, but the Asheville-based VISUALS winery is taking the concept beyond liquids with its Ritual of Senses club. It’s pairing rare, locally fermented products with components meant to delight the other senses. Packages are meant to arrive at the solstices and equinoxes and include a seasonally appropriate auditory component. Brett Naucke’s Cast a Double Shadow is included in the club’s winter solstice edition. Having spent most of his life near Chicago, the sound artist is now based in Asheville, hence his participation. Naucke blends a sonically diverse array of genetic material into a recombinant organism well-suited to survive the longest and coldest wintery night. Icy synths and brittle samples are bolstered by a lushness that carries a kernel of warmth inside of it. Bubbling arpeggios create the illusion of motion, and since a moving liquid cannot freeze, Naucke’s compositions remain lively amid the pervasive frostiness of the hibernal season. Those lucky enough to pair these ice-melting sounds with VISUALS’ liquid accompaniment will surely enjoy a synaesthetic intoxication. Imbibe responsibly, folks.

Bryon Hayes    

 The Natural Lines — S-T (Bella Union)

Matt Pond may not be Matt Pond PA anymore, but he’s making the kind of clever, earnest indie rock as always, with some of the same people, notably Chris Hansen, his longtime guitarist and co-producer. This self-titled full length follows on the 2022 EP First Five, revisiting pensive, string-soothed “Spontaneous Skylights” and adding ten new warbly gems. “Monotony” feels like a COVID song, specifically a song about a musician’s experience of COVID, its clamped guitar stuttering as Pond sketches adapting to a smaller world. “When you start to think about the way you breathe, it doesn’t mean you believe in monotony,” he observes in a wavering voice that struggles to remain upbeat. But the music swells and with it, Pond finds his footing. “Climb the drums to feel the fall, stab the strings to feel anything,” he sings. Later, “A Scene That Will Never Die” turns moody introspection into bell-clear, chiming triumph. Pond’s voice is always bruised, rueful, real, but the music surges in waves of joy. If you’re still climbing out of the last couple of years, take heart. Matt Pond is, too, and he’s got a new band and an album to help.

Jennifer Kelly

 No Cosmos — you iii everything else (Lighter Than Air)

You iii everything else by No Cosmos

Montrealean jazz trumpet player Scott Bevins inhabits a fluid convergence of jazz, electronics and R&B in this eight-song debut, drawing out languid, lucid melodies in brass and roughing them up with a battery of percussion from drummer Kyle Hutchins. Bright, reiterative bell-tones frame “kindergentlepatient” in Reichian pointillism, but the trumpet rings out a long-noted, clarion melody, a little echo clinging to it like a shadow, flickering underneath. “Almost Lost You,” an early single, slaps a slinky downtempo beat onto musing post-Miles cool, and floats traceries of soul vocals over its slouching groove. Less overtly accessible, but ultimately more rewarding, “0 to me to me to me,” ruptures its Rhodes-chilled serenity with continual explosions of drumming. I like it best when Bevins lets the chaos slips into his stylized precision.

Jennifer Kelly

Party of the Sun — Capsule III EP (Trailing Twelve)

Capsule III by Party of the Sun

Backwoods psychedelia springs up like mushrooms in the wilder parts of northern New England. Party of the Sun, an acid folk trio from the Monadnock Region (where yrs truly also resides), made these gently expansive tunes on a working sheep farm, following in the muck crusted footsteps of MV+EE, Sunburned and Akron/Family. Akron/Family, admittedly, hailed from New York, but the resonance is strong anyway, especially to that first slow-burning album, where the creak of rocking chairs, the rumble of thunder, seeped into translucent, transcendent melody. Here, “See Space” is all murmur-y, sunlit radiance, guitar and keyboards picking out glittering patterns under Ethan McBrien’s soft, considering tenor. “Forget Me Knot” coalesces out of a cloud of buzzing sonics, warm, widely spaced guitar chords emerging like the emerging light of morning. Harmonies swell, in a natural way, and drums thump up a climax, as the song balloons from quiet contemplation to something epic. “Smoke Bush,” with its subtle thread of female harmonies, eddies and swirls and lilts like a lost 1960s folk off-take. These tunes grow naturally out of reverie and solitude, but they don’t stay that way. They invite you in.

Jennifer Kelly

 Anastassis Philippakopoulos — piano1 piano2 piano3 (Edition Wandelweiser Records)

2020 was a rotten time for too many things to count, but it was a great time to stop and settle into some new music. That opportunity could not have been on anyone’s mind when Elsewhere Music released Anastassis Philippakopoulos: piano works mere weeks before the lockdowns began, but it was a perfect response to the moment. The Greek composer’s compositions, as performed by Melaine Dalibert, were distillations of reflection and deliberate action. This album, which contains earlier works performed by a different pianist, exchanges pith for elongation, but in other respects it’s a continuation of Philippakopoulos’s poetic dialogue between profound silence and unassumingly beautiful sound. Each note bears the weight of consideration, as though the composer carried out a moral inventory before committing to its placement in moderate proximity to another one, and the restrained touch of Serbian pianist Teodora Stepančić honors the music’s austerity.

Bill Meyer 

 Sif — Darkstalker (Self-released)

Darkstalker by Sif

Nuthin’ fancy here, folks, just 25 minutes of satisfying blackened doom. Richard Murphy has been making records as Sif for a few years, and the project has gotten progressively heavier, shifting from bummer drone meditations to this current thumping and crunching incarnation. The tape’s opening track “Kingseeker” slowly morphs from a repetitive churn to a sludgy groove, which situates the sounds in Louisiana’s long metal tradition (just what goes on down there?). It’s beautifully paced and just recalcitrant enough to insist on returning to the opening riff, rather than seeking any sort of catharsis. The title track spends some time foregrounding Murphy’s chops on bass, with the sort of heaviosity-worship one associates with Conan. Tremolos and more varied textures eventually cut into the song, with some heroic intent. But mostly Murphy wants to wield tone like a mace to your forehead. Hit me again, man. It’s good.

Jonathan Shaw

 Ultrabonus — El Gimnasio en Casa (Kitchen Leg)

EL GIMNASIO EN LA CASA VOL.1 by ¡ULTRABONUS!

Recorded a lifetime ago (well, in 2020, same difference) and released this past December, the unprocessed immediacy of El Gimnasio en Casa bears no left-in-the-can staleness. Berlin-based, multi-national four-piece Ultrabonus offers brief, melodic garage-punk tunes delivered with crisp, swaggery style by Argentina native Ignatz B. The title charmingly translates to “the home gym,” and the sunny lo-fi psychedelia is appropriately threaded through with calisthenic noodling. Nothing groundbreaking here, but Ultrabonus does what it does very well. Fun, cool stuff.

Margaret Welsh

  99Letters — Makafushigi (Disciples)

Makafushigi by 99LETTERS

Japanese producer Takahiro Kinoshita’s companion piece to his 2022 Kaibou Zukan (Anatomy Picture Book) takes his concept of gagaku techno into a seamy, industrial and far darker direction. Makafushigi (Mystery Tape) is, like its predecessor, built on samples of traditional instruments and vocal styles used in Japanese Imperial Court music. Introduced from Chinese and Korean sources, Gagaku music has continued under Imperial patronage since the 10th century. As 99Letters, Kinoshita fuses these ancient sounds with modern electronic music in ways that are as malevolent as the demons of mythology and as sinister as the underbelly of organized crime and ultranationalism in contemporary Japan. The tracks on Makafushigi are washed in a seamy mix of grit and clamor, a grim, grimy world of back alleys, dingy bars and low-tech manufacturing. It’s a haunted netherworld as alienating as it’s compelling. Fans of Haxan Cloak & Demdike Stare will find much to like here.

Andrew Forell

[usafphantom2]

Russia is believed to have sabotaged the Slovak MiG-29s supplied to Ukraine

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 04/08/2013 - 21:33 in Military, War Zones

Russian technical experts stationed at Slovakia's Sliac air base until 2022 may have sabotaged repairs to Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters, Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said.

The minister said that although there were parts of the engine that Slovak experts could access, there were also parts accessible only to Russian experts, as reported by the Euroactiv website on April 7.

Defects appeared only in the parts where Russian experts could access, he said. The Slovak Air Force stopped using the planes in August 2022 and they were transferred to Ukraine in March 2023.

Four MiG-29 fighters seen at Sliac Air Base in Slovakia. (Photo: Nils Mosberg)

"They knew how to fly, but that doesn't mean they were able to fight. The Ukrainians arrived in Slovakia a week before the departure of the planes, brought spare parts and inspected the planes,” Nad said.

While the Slovak police investigated the sabotage allegations, they did not find enough evidence to prove the allegations.

The Slovak Ministry of Defense “felt a loss of confidence in the Russian technicians in Sliac because the errors continued to appear in areas that only they could have accessed,” he said.

Retired Slovak pilot, Lieutenant General Lubomir Svoboda, suggested that the Russians deliberately caused damage to the planes, he told Dennik N. He said that after the Russians took possession of an engine, he flew for only 70 hours instead of the expected 350.

Slovakia delivered four Soviet-made MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine on March 23, becoming the first NATO country to supply combat aircraft to Ukraine.

The vice-president of the Ukrainian parliament, Olena Kondratyuk, announced on March 30 that the aircraft was already protecting the airspace above Kharkiv.

The supply of modernized Soviet MiG-29 fighters to the country will be a significant help, but it is unlikely to lead to significant changes in the front lines, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

They stated that the planes are not equipped with radars on board and cannot launch modern missiles, emphasizing that Ukraine needs modern Western fighters.

Tags: Military AviationMiG-29 FulcrumSAF - Slovak Air Force/Slovakia Air ForceWar Zones - Russia/Ukraine

Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work throughout the world of aviation.

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[millythegoat]

Just stumbled upon a co worker of mine who work in the Project department in a lift. She's been here for a while and as a very curious driven gal I asked her to bring me in for her routine inspection for the company's projects (I like tall things, I think it would be cool to get close with the heavy machinery and visit the unfinished buildings). The conversation as follow:

Me: "hi, correct me if I'm wrong, but you worked in the project dept, aren't you?"

Her: "yes I am"

Me "can I coming for your routine inspection please? Been working here for a while, love to see a bit what happened in there, y'know" *awkward smile*

Her: "do you have any safety shoes with you?"

Me: "nope, just this" *extend me sneakers to her*

Her: "yeah..no. I stepped on a metal nail and have to rushed into the emergency room and I can't use that leg for a month..and I was wearing safety shoes back then. The site is such a mess right now" she said it so nonchalantly

Me shocked: "wait wat? H-how big was the nail???"

Her: "big enough to pierced the shoe and my foot.." she shrugged

Me: "what about the infections? Wasn't the nail rusty??"

Her: "yeh..I have another operation for that month later. They even have to gush the blood out and I also scrapped the wound for the gravels that stuck in there"

Me: "YOU YANKED THE NAIL AWAY?? doesn't it safer to let it in there and let the medics yanked it off for you?!" I'm scared as shit imagining the scene in my head

Her, still in her excited face: "no..you got to pulled it out straight away, you don't know what's on the nail anyway. That's why after this I don't visit the site as much. I'll just sent a drone and check it from there now"

Me, speechless and gathering my thoughts: "you know wat..I think-"

Her: "But I can schedule something for you, my friends will visit there tomorrow can prepare something-"

Me: "no no...after what you've been through, just seeing it from afar will be enough for me. I'll visit it when it finished! :D thank you so much for your time" *pats her shoulder and took off*

[atom-aviation32]

The Future of Land Surveying: Drone Survey Technology

In recent years, drone survey technology has revolutionized the way land surveys are conducted. Gone are the days of relying solely on traditional ground-based methods. Drones equipped with advanced geospatial technology and high-resolution cameras are now taking over the surveying industry, offering greater accuracy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of drone surveys and why this cutting-edge technology is becoming essential for various industries.

What is a Drone Survey?

A drone survey involves using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to collect geographic data of the earth’s surface. These drones are equipped with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors, high-definition cameras, and GPS technology, which capture precise measurements and create accurate 3D maps or models of the surveyed area. Unlike traditional surveying methods that are time-consuming and labor-intensive, drone surveys can cover vast areas in a short period, providing highly detailed results that are ready for analysis.

Advantages of Using Drone Surveys

Improved Efficiency and Speed Drone surveys dramatically reduce the time required to complete surveys. For example, what would traditionally take weeks to survey can now be done in a matter of hours. This increased efficiency allows surveyors to gather more data in less time, making the surveying process quicker and more cost-effective.

High Accuracy and Precision Thanks to geospatial solutions and mapping technology, drones are capable of capturing data with high precision. This is especially important for industries such as land development, construction, and mining, where accurate measurements are essential for planning and analysis. The use of drones for surveys ensures that there is minimal room for human error, making the data more reliable.

Access to Difficult or Hazardous Areas Drone surveys are ideal for surveying hard-to-reach areas such as mountainous terrain, construction sites, or areas with hazardous conditions. Drones can fly over these areas, reducing the risk to surveyors and saving both time and money on costly safety measures.

Drone Surveys in Various Industries

Land Development: Drones are often used to assess potential land for development, gather environmental data, and plan infrastructure projects. Data analysis from drone surveys helps developers create detailed maps and accurate models of the land.

Agriculture: In agriculture, drone surveys are used to monitor crop health, assess soil conditions, and help farmers make better decisions regarding irrigation and fertilization. Drones can quickly capture data over large areas, offering a detailed analysis that guides farming practices.

Construction and Infrastructure: For construction projects, drone surveys are used to monitor job site progress, inspect structures, and ensure that construction is being carried out according to the plans. Using drones to collect data reduces the need for ground-based inspections, saving time and reducing costs.

The Future of Drone Surveys

The future of drone surveys is bright, with ongoing advancements in technology. As drone technology becomes more sophisticated, surveyors will gain access to even more powerful tools that enhance the accuracy, efficiency, and scope of their work. The integration of AI-powered data analysis and thermal imaging will allow surveyors to detect potential issues such as structural weaknesses or equipment malfunctions, making drones even more valuable in the fields of land surveying and construction.

Conclusion

In conclusion, drone survey technology has quickly become a game-changer in the world of land surveying. By offering enhanced efficiency, accuracy, and the ability to access difficult-to-reach areas, drones are changing the landscape of surveying across various industries. As geo-spatial solutions continue to evolve, drone surveys will play an even larger role in helping businesses and governments make informed decisions about land development, construction, and more.

Embrace the power of drones in your surveying projects today, and experience a smarter, faster, and more reliable approach to data collection.

[smithlee1221]

Aerial Inspection Services | Aerial Inspection Services | AUAV

AUAV’s professional aerial inspection services provide essential data for construction, mining, and agriculture industries. Our advanced drone technology ensures precision and efficiency every time.