#Future of Data Migration

[mobio-solutions]

Hey everyone! 👋 Just wanted to share something cool. Imagine a journey where every step is perfectly tailored for you. That's what we're talking about with 'Data Detour: Your Tailored Path to Cloud Supremacy.' This is where precision meets innovation, guiding you to smarter decisions and unparalleled efficiency in the cloud. Join us in mastering the cloud your way.

[jcmarchi]

How to Plan a Smooth NetSuite ERP Implementation Process - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/how-to-plan-a-smooth-netsuite-erp-implementation-process-technology-org/

How to Plan a Smooth NetSuite ERP Implementation Process - Technology Org

NetSuite ERP implementation can significantly impact an organization’s operations and efficiency. No matter what type of business you’re in, when it comes to NetSuite implementation, the process requires concise planning and execution. Regarding cost, ROI, and resource allocation, ERP implementation efforts need a commitment to ensure project success. 55% of ERP system implementations fail to meet their objectives, and 35% of ERP system implementations go over budget.

Therefore, successful implementations depend on selecting the proper implementation process and following best practices for a smooth and successful transition.

ERP software simplifies many processes in modern enterprises. Associative photo by Luis Villasmil via Unsplash, free license

NetSuite ERP implementation options for businesses

There are three options for the NetSuite implementation process, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Let’s delve deeper into these options:

Self-implementation

 Self-implementation involves an organization responsible for deploying NetSuite without external assistance. While it is technically possible, it is only recommended if the organization has prior experience in successfully architecting, configuring, and deploying complex business applications.

To embark on a self-implementation, an organization needs to have an in-house team with extensive knowledge of NetSuite and ERP systems. This team will guide the entire implementation process from start to finish. Remember that during the NetSuite ERP implementation period, the in-house team’s entire focus will be on the project, potentially reducing their capacity to handle regular business operations.

Benefits:

Complete control over the NetSuite ERP implementation.

Potentially lower costs compared to hiring external consultants.

Drawbacks:

High level of expertise is required, which may not be available in-house.

Risk of errors or delays due to lack of experience.

Diversion of resources from regular business tasks.

NetSuite Direct Implementation

NetSuite Direct Implementation involves utilizing NetSuite’s internal team to assist with the implementation. Since NetSuite’s team is intimately familiar with the software’s capabilities and features, this option is best suited for standard installations with minimal customization or complexity.

It’s important to note that NetSuite Direct Implementation may not offer post-installation support as a standard offering, so organizations should consider whether they require ongoing assistance beyond the initial implementation.

Benefits:

Expertise from the creators of the software.

Familiarity with standard installations and best practices.

Drawbacks:

Limited support for post-go-live maintenance and assistance.

May not be suitable for complex or highly customized implementations.

Partner Implementation

Partner Implementation involves working with an external NetSuite implementation partner, which consists of experienced contractors specializing in ERP deployments, including NetSuite.

Choosing the right NetSuite partner is crucial for a successful implementation. These partners often offer deeper expertise than the other options and can handle more complex and industry-specific use cases. They can also provide post-go-live maintenance and support, ensuring the organization’s long-term success with NetSuite.

Benefits:

Specialized expertise in the NetSuite implementation process.

Post-go-live maintenance and support.

Industry-specific knowledge for tailored solutions.

Drawbacks:

Higher implementation costs compared to self or direct implementation.

Potential variability in partner quality, requiring thorough evaluation.

NetSuite Implementation Process

Managers need to follow These success-proven best practices for a smooth NetSuite implementation process.

Project Planning and Management: Start with a well-defined project plan that outlines the scope, objectives, timeline, and resources required for the implementation. Assign a dedicated project manager and assemble a competent team to handle different implementation aspects.

Business Process Analysis: Thoroughly analyze your existing business processes and identify areas that can be improved or streamlined with NetSuite ERP. This step will help you customize NetSuite to meet your organization’s needs.

Data Migration and Integration: Plan for a seamless data transfer from your old systems to NetSuite. Ensure data accuracy and consistency by cleansing and validating the data before migration. Additionally, integrate NetSuite with other essential applications to maintain data flow and avoid silos.

Customization vs. Configuration: NetSuite offers a high level of flexibility through configuration and customization. Prioritize configuration over customization to minimize complexity and future upgrade issues. Only opt for customization when necessary.

User Training and Change Management: Investing in comprehensive user training is crucial to maximize adoption and minimize resistance to change. Engage employees throughout the process, communicate NetSuite’s benefits, and proactively address concerns.

Testing and Quality Assurance: Rigorously test the system before going live to identify and rectify any issues. Conduct test scenarios to ensure that NetSuite functions as expected and aligns with your business requirements.

Data Security and Access Controls: Pay special attention to data security and access controls. Define roles and permissions clearly, ensuring that users have access only to the information they need to perform their duties.

Continuous Support and Maintenance: After the implementation, provide ongoing support to address any post-go-live issues and optimize system performance. Stay updated with NetSuite upgrades and patches to exploit new features and bug fixes.

Engage with NetSuite Partners or Consultants: Consider working with experienced NetSuite partner or consultants to guide you through the implementation process. Their expertise can help you avoid common pitfalls and make the most of the ERP system.

Conclusion

With all the above-mentioned best practices, you can enhance the chances of a successful NetSuite ERP implementation, improving efficiency, better data management, and overall business growth. Remember that every organization is unique, so tailor the implementation process to your needs and goals.

[reasonsforhope]

"There’s something deeply comical about suggesting that seagulls are smart enough to wait for you to look away before stealing your french fries, but dumb enough to fly into wind turbine blades.

A two-year study on the interactions of several seabird species at an offshore wind farm found that not a single case of birdstrike was recorded over the study period or in the 10,000 videos taken.

Looking at herring gulls, gannets, kittiwakes, and great black-backed gulls, Swedish state wind company Vattenfall found that most of the birds maintained a 50 to 230-yard distance between themselves and the radius of the spinning turbines.

“This is the first time that any kind of bird species has been studied this closely and in detail at an offshore wind farm,” said study author Henrik Skov. “And these birds are really good at avoiding the turbines. Now we need studies on more varieties.”

The study was conducted on a wind farm consisting of 11 offshore turbines near Aberdeen, Scotland. It used radar surveys and mounted video cameras to gather data.

Why these seabirds avoided the turbines could be down to the individual species observed since other studies have shown seabirds tend to rank high in offshore wind turbine mortality, and of medium risk for land-based wind turbine mortality.

Skov also offered that it could be the turbines are, for one reason or another, outside of prominent flight corridors, and therefore aren’t where birds have historically flown either for migration and nesting purposes, or feeding.

The study is a big milestone in scientists’ attempts to learn how and where to build wind turbines so that they don’t interfere with birds’ flight patterns. If there is something in the data of this study or future observations that could reveal the secret as to why there was no mortality at the Aberdeen wind farm, it could mean that hundreds of thousands of birds could be saved in the future."

-Good News Network, 3/31/23

[probablyasocialecologist]

Scaling up afforestation could be beautiful. The same goes for soil carbon sequestration—using methods like no-till, crop rotation, and/or regenerative grazing to store more carbon in soils. Agroforestry, or growing crops along with trees, can be a win-win for farmers seeking to diversify their crops. Blue carbon, or sequestering carbon in coastal ecosystems like sea-grasses and mangroves, could double as coastal protection for communities and support adaptation.

These strategies to remove carbon could also be dystopian, depending on who goes about them and how. Imagine a network of satellites and sensors feeding data to platforms 24/7, optimizing each square meter of land to sequester carbon. That could be great—but now imagine it’s run by a mega platform whose main aim is to allocate lowest cost carbon removals to algorithmic bidders. Companies procure carbon removals as needed based upon their changing forecasts, and speculators also exchange carbon removal futures, reserving vast areas of land from food production. The land is optimized for carbon, not grasshoppers, birds, or salamanders. Formerly forest-dwelling communities have long since left or been forced away, migrating to megacities, their cultural practices threatened with erasure. Despite early gestures toward vague “co-benefits,” the discourse of climate emergency has led the lands of the world to be optimized for a sole purpose. This is one extreme end-of-the-century scenario, but it could be the direction that carbon logics + artificial intelligence + a state of climate emergency + a lack of socioecological systems thinking points us toward.

Holly Jean Buck, Ending Fossil Fuels: Why Net Zero is Not Enough

[pangolin-404]

little (big) announcement

Well, looks like Tumblr has taken the turn to sell data to Midjourney.

According to my archive, I've been in here for 6 or so years. I've stuck with this site for a long time, and believe it or not I'd call this hellsite a net positive for my life. I never intended to leave, even when Tumblr was boiled down to its skeleton crew. I thought I'd go out with the whole site when the servers rotted away. I've heard rumors that the CEO was taking a gander at AI but I never thought it'd pull through since the Tumblr userbase is vocally anti-AI. And, lo and behold, they slipped it as an opt-out thing into the settings very casually.

I want to hold out hope that the resulting backlash will urge Tumblr's CEO (as I don't blame most of the staff for this) to back out, but the trust has been damaged greatly over the past few months.

I do not want my art or writing or anything to be used to feed AI. As for my art, I am hesitant to keep posting here. I don't know what I'm waiting for. But if that nebulous reckoning of the end times comes, I will log out. I think I'm too emotionally attached to delete my account.

I have a Bluesky account which I am thinking of wholly migrating to. That feels weird to say; I never thought I'd make a social media account anywhere else. I made a lot of friends on Tumblr (who I am connected to via Discord and not strictly here, thankfully), and will be hunting for people I follow on BSKY as well.

I know, inevitably, not everyone will migrate to BSKY. Some people will choose Cohost (I did make an account there, but so few people I know here go there, it's not my first choice) or Dreamwidth as their new platforms of choice. But for those who are moving to Bluesky, I hope to find them.

I really don't want to leave Tumblr. Its culture and UI is truly one of a kind and is the biggest reason I've stayed. I don't want to wholly abandon ship just yet; maybe I'm too sentimental and we're already past the point of no return. I'll still be here, even if for a little while.

I'll be making this my new pinned for the foreseeable future, so let's get all this out of the way. Here's where I lurk:

Tumblr (Main) (here!)

Tumblr (Art Blog)

Bluesky (Main)

Bluesky (Art Blog)

Cohost (Main) (most likely to collect dust)

Archive of Our Own (writing only)

Neocities (as a side project, I suppose)

It's been fun. May we all trip over our shoelaces on our way out the door. o7

[mariacallous]

Over the last 10 months, the world’s attention has been focused on Israel and the Gaza Strip. The war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, with Hamas’s attack on Israel has been cataclysmic. But the conflict has overshadowed another crisis enveloping the region: intense heat and water scarcity.

In mid-July, the heat index in Dubai was 144 degrees Fahrenheit. In late June, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, registered a temperature of 125 degrees. This heat coincided with Hajj season. When it was over, more than 1,300 people had lost their lives. And in Egypt, temperatures have rarely fallen below 100 degrees since May.

It was actually hotter in the Gulf region last summer, topping out at an eye-popping real feel of 158 degrees in the coastal areas of Iran and the United Arab Emirates. That reading and the unrelenting heat this season exceeded the “wet-bulb temperature” at which humans, if exposed for six hours, can no longer cool themselves off, leading to heat-related illnesses and death.

The World Bank estimates that by 2050, water scarcity will result in GDP reductions of up to 14 percent in the region. In 2021, a UNICEF report stated that Egypt could run out of water by 2025, with the Nile River coming under particular stress. Water stress in countries such as Egypt is exacerbated by the upriver flow of the Nile being restricted because of the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Syria and Turkey have been at odds over many years because the Turks have built dams along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, cutting the flow south. And among the many issue that divide Israelis and Palestinians is water and who has the right to tap into the Mountain Aquifer of the West Bank.

In addition to the extreme heat’s significant threat to life and livelihood in the Middle East and North Africa, a hotter region has the potential to destabilize politics well beyond its borders.

Before going further, it is important to underscore that this is not a column about “climate conflict.” About a decade ago, there was a spate of articles on this issue, highlighting the Syrian Civil War as an example of what the future would look like as the globe warmed. Even though this idea captured the imagination of a variety of notables including then-Prince Charles, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, and others, the claim about Syria in particular was based on incomplete data, faulty interpretation of that data, over-generalization, and, as a result, erroneous conclusions.

As the October 2021 National Intelligence Estimate on climate change dryly noted, the U.S. intelligence community had “low to moderate confidence in how physical climate impacts will affect US national security interests and the nature of geopolitical conflict, given the complex dimensions of human and state decisionmaking.” Basically, the spies are saying it is hard to make a causal connection between climate and conflict because there are so many variables that contribute to conflict.

A clearer and more pressing problem is how people adapt to rising temperatures and water scarcity. They migrate to places with lower temperatures and more water. According to the World Bank, as many as 19 million people—approximately 9 percent of the local population—will become displaced in North Africa by 2050 because of the climate crisis. And for people in the region, the destination of choice is Europe.

A number of caveats are in order: First, the bank is extrapolating. It is possible that there may be political, economic, or technological changes that limit the number of migrants. Second, not every person on the move will be migrating because of the changing climate. And finally, some of those displaced people will remain somewhere in the region given the resources necessary to make it across the Mediterranean. (That presents its own set of problems, however. Internally displaced people, who generally settle in urban areas, will put pressure on the budgets and infrastructure of places whose resources and capacity to absorb migrants are limited.)

All this said, in the abstract migration is positive for countries in the European Union, which have aging populations and need workers to pay into generous social safety nets. Yet the claim that migration provides benefits to society remains unconvincing to a significant number of Europeans who oppose large (or perceptively large) numbers of newcomers into their countries.

France’s National Front party, which long flirted with fascism and a coy version of Holocaust denial and rebranded itself as the National Rally in 2018 in an effort to shed this ugly legacy, has become a major force in French politics in large part due to its opposition to immigration, especially from Islamic countries. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the avatar of European illiberalism, built his authoritarian system on fears of the threat that migrants pose to Hungarian society.

Brexit, which British voters approved in 2016, was about a lot of things, but immigration propelled the United Kingdom’s imprudent decision to leave the European Union. More recently, the proximate cause of the recent riots in England was the allegation that an immigrant was responsible for the murder of three young girls at a dance class in the seaside town of Southport. Despite the allegation being demonstrably false, the ensuing street violence suggests that simmering resentment toward migrants within a segment of the marginalized English working class stoked by, and combined with, right-wing populism is dangerous and potentially destabilizing.

Then there is Germany, where in 2015 hundreds of thousands of Syrians sought refuge from the violence enveloping their country. Then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel made the decision to grant Syrians entry. It was a decision that many Germans embraced, but it also produced a backlash that has helped drive the emergence of the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party. The AfD is different from other right-wing populist parties in Europe given its provenance. Although it began as a party based on Euro-skepticism, it has moved steadily toward embracing fascism, downplaying the atrocities of the Third Reich, spreading Islamophobia, and inveighing against foreigners in general. Of course, there is a whole host of reasons for the rise of the AfD and other fascist, illiberal, right-wing populist parties in Europe. But scholars agree that migration is the through line in this phenomenon.

The Unites States has a compelling interest in a Europe that is stable, whole, free, and prosperous. The emergence and success of xenophobic, fascist, or fascist-adjacent parties that make common cause with the enemies of Western liberalism are a threat to that core U.S. interest. That’s why Washington needs to help head off mass migration to Europe. There is not a lot that the United States can do about conflicts—such as the one in Sudan—that drive migration, but U.S. policymakers can help when it comes to the climate crisis, which will contribute to the increasing numbers of people seeking refuge in Europe.

This requires not increasing financial assistance or green infrastructure projects but something both more cost-effective and influential: creative diplomacy. High heat makes the problem of water scarcity worse, which is why people migrate. Using its own experience and technical expertise from managing resources in the increasingly hot western United States, the U.S government can play a useful role in helping countries in the Middle East do a better job managing what water they have.

The conflicts that span the region make assistance harder, given the fact that water sources often cross boundaries. But that is a challenge that can be overcome.��Not only are there technical solutions to the problem of water scarcity, but there are also political incentives to come to agreement even across conflict zones.

Leaders across the region may disdain their citizens, but they have a political interest in satisfying at least their people’s minimum demands, including access to water. Even with all the nationalist huffing and puffing of their governments, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have a strong interest in sharing the waters of the Nile. Without such an agreement, the political and economic problems of both countries will deepen, threatening both leaders.

Of all things, the maritime border agreement between Israel and Lebanon can be a template of sorts for the way U.S. officials approach the problem of water sharing in the region. There was a range of critics of the agreement in the United States, Israel, and Lebanon, but the actual substance is less important than the way U.S. diplomats brought it about. They separated Israeli concerns about Lebanon and Lebanese concerns about Israel and focused instead on the upside for each country. Once that became clear—the exploitation of gas deposits off the Israeli and Lebanese coasts—it was hard for the two countries that nonetheless remain in a state of war to not agree to a boundary. Despite 10 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the agreement has not been breached. That is important and suggests a way forward for negotiations over water.

It is tempting to want to place efforts to deal with water scarcity in some broader climate agenda for the Middle East. That is exactly what U.S. officials should not do. Washington should focus on issues where it has a realistic chance of making a difference. There is little the United States can do about the intense heat, and mitigation of greenhouse gases is not a pressing problem in the region because it does not actually emit that much greenhouse gas. Water, however, is critically important, and it is an area where the United States has expertise to bring to bear.

Indeed, helping strike agreements to manage water scarcity in the Middle East is a low-cost way the United States can mitigate the perversions of European politics and help shape the global order to come.

[rjzimmerman]

Climate Migration Will Be the Global Challenge of a Generation. (Sierra Club)

Extreme weather events in South America are driving more families to abandon their homes and undertake a risky, sometimes dangerous journey toward the US border. Changing precipitation patterns mean that once arable land is increasingly barren due to drought, while other areas, like southern Brazil are increasingly prone to cataclysmic flooding.

“Climate change acts as a multiplier for other factors,” said Michael Nash, a filmmaker and researcher who spent two years traveling the world talking to climate migrants as part of a film on the subject. “As regions around the world increasingly suffer from its effects, economies and infrastructure are also damaged as well. People fleeing these situations are often referred to as economic migrants, but the truth is much more complicated.”

“There is no process currently to deal with someone who is coming to the US due to crop failure or natural disaster,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council. “This is an ongoing challenge [for all nations] in the modern era, something we critically need to develop.”

The number of refugees who have been forcibly displaced globally has dramatically increased in the last decade, nearly doubling in size, and migration overall is increasing as well. The principal drivers are economic or related to conflict, but climate change increasingly plays a role, according to data from the United Nations International Office on Migration (IOM). 

Most of those who have been displaced migrate internally—to another region within their birth country—but the number of those choosing to cross borders in search of a better life is increasing as well. The IOM has cited estimates of as many as 1 billion climate migrants in the next 30 years. Other projections point to 1.2 billion by 2050, and 1.4 billion by 2060. Those migrants will largely flee equatorial zones, which will be the hardest hit by global warming, though they will not be the only regions affected.

Some regions, particularly in the Global South, are projected to experience significant changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, sea level rise, and other climate-related factors. Less than 1 percent of the world is currently considered borderline inhabitable. By 2070, that number is expected to rise to 19 percent.

Precipitation patterns are shifting, temperatures are rising, and some areas are experiencing changes in the frequency and severity of weather extremes. The impacts range from melting Andean glaciers to devastating floods, to collapsing forest ecosystems to region-wide droughts. Honduras and Guatemala are already seeing crop failures on previously fertile land. Mexico City and Bogotá both currently suffer severe water shortages that have led to rationing. Brazil in May suffered the worst floods in the country’s history; studies on precipitation patterns suggest floods in the future are twice as likely due to the burning of fossil fuels. Venezuela this year saw the last remaining glacier in the country downgraded in status to an ice patch. Guajira, an Indigenous region that stretches across the borders of Colombia and Venezuela, has experienced desertification due to long-term droughts that have left residents without potable water, and made growing crops impossible.

Climate change also affects basic infrastructure that produces and transports clean water, food, and electricity. Due to droughts in Colombia, which relies overwhelmingly on hydroelectric power, the country this year temporarily reduced the sale of electricity to Ecuador, exacerbating drought-induced power shortages there.

[decispark]

Why Banning TikTok Is Concerning for the Future of the Internet

The banning of TikTok could just be the beginning.

Even if you hate TikTok, note that it isn't just about TikTok. It's about taking control of the Internet.  This may not just stop at TikTok.  This could expand to other non-US websites as well.  Keep in mind that Riot Games is owned by Tencent, as is Trovo Live.

A lot of people make a living off of TikTok.  They don't have much of an audience on other platforms, and may not retain a lot of their audience if they migrate to another site.

If you are concerned about the privacy concerns, note that many US-based sites collect data about you.

There are other bills out there that aim to take further control of the Internet, such as KOSA ans FISA.

If you are outside the US, other countries are also looking into banning TikTok. This includes, but is not limited to, Canada, UK, EU, NZ, and Australia.

[thatonebirdwrites]

I wrote this years ago about Worldbuilding

This is a repost from an old article I wrote on my ReshapingReality.org blog back in the day. This is the step-by-step process that I use in worldbuilding. You don't have to follow my process, but I figured it might be a good start for some writers.

To see my primary setting for my original science fiction stories as an example, I have imported 66% of my notes to my Elivera Wiki, and plan to finish importing my notes in the next year or two.

NOTE: To adapt these steps to Fantasy that has magic, the step for the magic system must include the rules of how the magic works, its strengths and weaknesses, its impact on the world/society/technology/people/culture, and its limitations. Technology is very similar in a way to magic as technology also has limitations, strengths, weaknesses, and impacts to world/society/environment/people/culture that needs addressed.

World-building 101 for Science Fiction

Whenever I world-build I start with the basics.  First I need a solar system.  You can take the easy way out and just use our home system, or you can build your own.  If you wish to build your own, these are the steps to follow to create a fairly scientifically accurate system:

Determine what type of star will be the sun for your system.  The star will determine where you can place your planet for it to be habital, it will also determine the color the star shows in the planet's skies, the radiation that impacts it, and other important attributes that effect the environment of the planet. See my blog entry here that discusses this in more detail: Worldbuilding Series Part One – a star

Once you have your star, you can focus on your planets.  Read this for more information: Worldbuilding Series Part Two – the planets. To help you build both your star and planet, I’ve created a template for your world-building needs. Input in the data to have the spreadsheet generate some basic attributes that you can use in the astronomical data of your system: World-building template

Part of the process in creating planets involves the planet’s geology.  The environment in which people live impact not only how they subsist but also how they build up their community, the types of buildings that would work well, what resources they have available, and how they use those resources. This post focuses more on terrestrial planets, but it does highlight some guidelines for gas giants as well: Worldbuilding Series Part Three – Planet Geology.

Now it’s important to focus in on the atmosphere of planets (if they have one) and their natural cycles.  This impacts seasons, natural disasters, storms, weather patterns, long-term climate change, etc. All of which will impact the people who live on your planet. Here is my entry on this: Worldbuilding Series Part Four – Atmospheres and Natural Cycles.

The features of the planet will play a large role in the development of the sentient species’ culture and their evolution.  This post highlights how to create features on the planet and how this process works: Worldbuilding Series Part Five – Geomorphology. It may be useful to take a look at my map-making post in order to create a map of the surface of your planet.

Finally, the sentient species themselves.  If they are humans, this simplifies matters, and you mostly have to worry about how humanity adapts to the planet you created. This post discusses the effects of environment on a culture: Effects of Environment.  You’d also have to consider the dynamics of diversity, which I highlight in this blog post (focusing more on a future earth dynamic but can be applied to humans migrating to new worlds as well): Diversity – Race.  If you are creating a new aliens species, this blog post discusses some of the factors to keep in mind and offers some suggestions on how this can be done: The Science of Aliens.

Another important factor to consider is how language can influence a culture and its development.  I discuss how language intersects world-building in this article: Languages and World-building.  To help you create your language, examine these posts: How I craft a Language part 1 and How I craft a Language part 2.

Now remember each step above doesn't require indepth analysis and a million words of worldbuilding to complete. Sometimes all you need is some basic descriptions and ideas. From those you can then fine-tune what areas need more development so it can fit the needs of the stories you wish to write.

For example, you'll eventually need to write more about the following topics below, but focusing on which needs extensive development and which need only a brief primer can be difficult to decide! But the best way forward is to think about the stories you wish to write, and focus on the details you need to create a story that will immerse the reader in your world. Then develop those details.

Politics and Government

Diplomacy and Espionage

Economics

Education

Daily Life

Technology and Research

Cities and their infrastructure

Philosophy and Cultural Values (See this post: Thoughts on Philosophy within World building )

For some creative questions to delve deeper see: fantasy world-building question list compiled by Patricia C. Wrede.  The above list compiled by Patricia C. Wrede is very much usable for science fiction writers — just focus on the questions that deal with creating a world and a culture and when you encounter the magic questions alter them to technology.

Maps

Another important aspect of worldbuilding is maps. Creating maps of your world and of your cities can be incredibly helpful with visualizing your world. It also helps track the character(s) journey across a region, the distances involved, the time needed, the environments crossed, etc.

For an example, I often create a zone map for my cities. Here is a detailed post on how to create a map: World-build: Maps

Character Design

This is just a placeholder for any primers I wrote for character design:

Primer for writing trans characters Character Template

Resources

Books:

Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer

Worldbuilding by Stephen Gillett

Body Trauma: A Writer’s Guide to wounds and injuries by David W. Page, MD, FACS

The Writer’s Guide to Weapons by Benjamin Sobieck

Forensics for Writers by D.P. Lyle, M.D.

The Science of Aliens by Clifford Pickover

The Writer’s Guide to Psychology by Carolyn Kaufman, Psy.D

Space Travel by Ben Bova with Anthony R. Lewis

The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer’s Guide to Interstellar Travel by Eugene F. Mallove and Gregory L. Matloff

The Language Construction Kit by Mark Rosenfelder

Advanced Language Construction by Mark Rosenfelder

Worlds of Wonder: How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by David Gerrold

The Planet Construction Book by Mark Rosenfelder

Building Imaginary Worlds by Mark Wolf

Revisiting Imaginary Worlds by Mark Wolf

The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding by Wolfgang Bauer

On Writing and Worldbuilding by Tim Hickson

Classes/Podcasts

N.K. Jemisen's Masterclass on Writing and Worldbuilding

Roxanne Gay's Masterclass on Writing

Neil Gaiman's Masterclass on Writing and Storytelling

Levar Burton's Masterclass on Storytelling

WorldAnvil Worldbuilding Podcast

Writing Excuses Podcast

Worldbuilding Magazines Podcast

Brandon Sanderson's Writing Class

Worldbuilding Tips by Jenna Moreci

Common Worldbuilding Mistakes by Yinka

Overly Sarcastic Productions' Trope Talks

Feminist Frequency

Feel free to ask questions and share more resources or tips!

[levia-san]

With (credible) rumors about tumblr soon selling its data to midjourney for AI training, it truly is a peculiar situation for everyone on this website.

Personally, it's a choice between yeeting all my art off the platform à la twitter or keep it, but with some asterisks attached for the future.

For one deleting it all won't actually delete the post (and thus art) itself, due to how tumblr works. Even now glazing everything in post is useless, because edits don't carry over in existing reblogs.

So deleting the blog is mostly off the table.

But what now?

It's a bit hard to say for me. As I do have some attachment to this hellsite. That's why even when I was mostly on twitter, I kept being somewhat active here

But as time goes one, the good will I had keeps getting stretched and now this is the final straw for me.

Obviously, going forward, every picture on this blog will be glazed, nightshaded when the webversion is out. Sadly, I think this also means the update frequency will decrease a lot, as glazing will add a not insignificant amount of time to the posting process.

I'll also start using tumblr less, either migrating to other websites like bluesky etc. or just become less active on social media as a whole. I'll still be in the qijiu week discord though, so you can find me and my scattered art there too.

Otherwise, when I remember, I post occasional stuff on ko-fi as well.(even have a sorted gallery of sorts, so it's a nice place to have things sorted)

I'll link all those places below.

Anyway I thank everyone who has read so far and the support I got on tumblr. bluesky (x) non BL bluesky (x) QiJiu Week Server (x) ko-fi (x)

[appletechx]

Navigating the Data Landscape: Unveiling the Latest Tools and Technologies for Data Migration in 2024

Introduction

In the ever-evolving realm of technology, data migration remains a crucial process for organizations aiming to stay competitive and agile. As we step into 2024, the landscape of data migration tools and technologies has witnessed significant advancements. In this blog post, we will embark on a journey to explore the newest tools and technologies that are poised to shape the data migration landscape this year.

1. Data Migration: A Critical Imperative

Before diving into the latest tools and technologies, let's establish the significance of data migration. As businesses grow and evolve, so does the need to transfer, update, or consolidate data across various systems. Whether it's migrating to the cloud, adopting new software, or consolidating databases, effective data migration is vital for maintaining operational efficiency, ensuring data accuracy, and complying with regulatory requirements.

2. Cloud-Centric Solutions

One of the most noteworthy trends in 2024 is the continued dominance of cloud-based solutions for data migration. Cloud platforms offer scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, making them an attractive choice for organizations of all sizes. Leading cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud have enhanced their migration services, providing tools that facilitate seamless data transfer between on-premises environments and the cloud.

3. Next-Gen ETL Tools

Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) tools are the backbone of data migration, and 2024 sees the emergence of next-generation ETL solutions. These tools offer improved automation, enhanced connectivity, and faster processing speeds. Apache Nifi, Talend, and Informatica are among the tools gaining traction for their ability to simplify complex data migration workflows and ensure data quality.

4. Data Integration Platforms

Data integration is a key aspect of migration, and modern data integration platforms are making strides in simplifying the process. These platforms facilitate seamless communication between disparate systems, ensuring that data flows cohesively across the organization. Integration tools like MuleSoft and Dell Boomi are gaining popularity for their ability to connect applications, APIs, and data sources.

5. AI-Infused Migration Solutions

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming a driving force in data migration. AI-powered tools analyze data patterns, automate decision-making processes, and optimize migration workflows. These intelligent solutions can predict potential issues, recommend optimizations, and adapt to dynamic data environments. IBM InfoSphere Information Server and Attunity are examples of platforms leveraging AI for smarter data migration.

6. Containerization for Data Portability

Containerization, with technologies like Docker and Kubernetes, is playing a pivotal role in enhancing data portability and migration. Containers encapsulate applications and their dependencies, providing a consistent environment across different infrastructures. This portability ensures smoother data migration, especially in hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

7. Blockchain in Data Migration Security

With the growing concerns about data security, blockchain technology is making its mark in data migration. Blockchain ensures the integrity and security of migrated data by creating an immutable ledger of transactions. This transparency and security are particularly crucial when handling sensitive information during migration.

8. Low-Code/No-Code Platforms

The demand for agility in data migration has led to the rise of low-code and no-code platforms. These user-friendly tools empower business users to participate in the migration process without extensive coding knowledge. Microsoft Power Platform and OutSystems are examples of platforms enabling rapid, code-free development and deployment of migration solutions.

9. Serverless Computing for Scalability

Serverless computing, epitomized by functions-as-a-service (FaaS), is gaining traction for its scalability and cost-effectiveness. In data migration, serverless architectures allow organizations to execute code snippets without managing the underlying infrastructure. AWS Lambda and Azure Functions are popular choices for incorporating serverless computing into data migration workflows.

10. Data Quality Management Solutions

Maintaining data quality is paramount in any migration project. Advanced data quality management solutions are emerging with features like real-time data profiling, cleansing, and validation. Trillium, Talend Data Quality, and Informatica Data Quality are examples of tools that ensure the accuracy and reliability of migrated data.

11. Graph Databases for Relationship Mapping

Graph databases are proving valuable in scenarios where understanding and mapping relationships between data entities are critical. They excel in depicting complex relationships, making them beneficial for migration projects involving interconnected data. Neo4j and Amazon Neptune are examples of graph databases streamlining data migration tasks.

12. Augmented Reality for Data Mapping

Innovations extend beyond traditional tools, with augmented reality (AR) making strides in data migration. AR applications allow users to visualize data mappings and relationships in real-time, providing an immersive and interactive experience. This technology enhances collaboration and understanding, especially in complex migration scenarios.

Conclusion

As we navigate the data landscape of 2024, the tools and technologies available for data migration continue to evolve, presenting opportunities for enhanced efficiency, security, and innovation. Cloud-centric solutions, next-gen ETL tools, AI-infused migration platforms, and emerging technologies like blockchain and augmented reality are reshaping the way organizations approach data migration.

Staying informed about these advancements is crucial for businesses seeking to optimize their data migration processes and stay ahead in an increasingly data-driven world. By embracing these cutting-edge tools, organizations can ensure seamless data transitions, maintain data integrity, and unlock the full potential of their digital ecosystems. As we move forward, the synergy between technological innovation and effective data migration will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in shaping the future of business operations.

[techtow]

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[union-combine]

Greetings citizens of the Union and beings from beyond! Welcome to Union News Central, I'm your host Bluglakkag Flublabbak. Hello! This is the recent news!

Parliament has agreed to the Xeno-outreach Organisation's proposal for the construction of a new habitat in orbit of Nillor Prime! ::3

According to the data of our allies in PEACE, there was one such habitat before, called Libertopia. And so, Parliament has determined the new habitat will be known as New Libertopia. In order to be as accommodating to as many life forms as possible, the habitat will be divided into sectors for all kinds of gas breathing species, so that all beings can be in public spaces without the necessity for rebreathers. It will also a neutral 'mixed' sector which will contain safe mixtures of gases for different species, though this will not work for all beings.

It's the goal of the Xeno-outreach Organisation that New Libertopia will be a place for embassies to be build, and asylum seekers, refugees, migrants, and alien citizens to call home without having to fear the harsh environments of Union worlds. It'll be a safe place for synethics, aquatics, toxoids, oxygenoids, and more!

The Union hopes its allies will assist in the construction of New Libertopia and we offer our allies the opportunity to migrate in its eventual eventual settlement. It would certainly be nice to have our some of our alien friends be closer to home! ::3

Bear in mind, though the plans for construction are underway, the actual construction of New Libertopia may be some time away, depending on investment and resource allocation.

This is Bluglakkag Flublabbak saying thanks for tuning in to our signal here at UNC. Be sure to bookmark our wavelength for future updates.

Solace in the Union.

[fountainpenguin]

I've been experimenting with Firefox as a browser on the side (after using Chrome for many years), and while I'm going to try to keep using it because I know everyone says it's a better browser and that switching is easy, I want to make a few notes:

- Only 7 of my 23+ extensions had a Firefox parallel, so it's a learning curve to get used to things I no longer have. So far, I haven't found a working Xkit extension, making the Tumblr experience worse, but I'll keep trying. I miss my slider extension for adjusting screen brightness, which I have on Chrome. However, I'm grateful my password manager carried over.

- There's no Google Docs Offline extension. This isn't going to work for me, who does a ton of my work offline due to long carpooling trips, so even if I switch to using Firefox at home, I'd have to keep Chrome for this

-> Moving things between Word and Docs isn't super convenient for what I do, and I don't have Word on my laptop. Options such as wordcounter.com are an option in an emergency (I often open one such tab before a long car trip), but that's only useful for words, not working on formatting.

- I like Firefox's browser themes. One of them is an animated Spirited Away header that I really like because the URL bar is black and the top of the screen is dark. One of the problems I often have with Chrome is that I edit docs while in the dark, but extensions don't change the URL bar, which is blaringly white and distracting. I haven't tested Firefox in the dark, but I think I would like the dark bar.

-> Unfortunately, one common place I'm in the dark is on long carpool trips... and since there's no Edit Offline option, that's not as helpful as it could be. It may be helpful if I'm on a laptop in bed at night, but I haven't tested this yet.

- Was quite surprised that when I checked Firefox settings, all the "We track your data" toggles were flipped on? I thought that was the one thing Firefox was supposed to not do? (Or I'm not phrasing this properly since it may have been "We let websites use targeted ads by tracking data," or something like that).

And that's fine, I'm glad I could turn it off, but very surprising to me since all the Tumblr posts I've seen encouraging people to switch to Firefox talk about how it's so easy to move your extensions over, it does everything Chrome can do but better, and they never track your data, and so far my experience has been the opposite of this.

- I'm grateful I have a Google Doc bookmarked. All my bookmarks were easy and instant to migrate to Firefox, but because it's separate from Google (obviously), there's no easy way to access my files without having something like a bookmark.

So, instead of opening a new tab and clicking on the Google Apps menu (where I usually go to access docs or sheets), I instead access them by having one doc or sheet bookmarked, then clicking on the icon that takes you to those home pages.

I don't mind doing this because it's the same amount of clicks for me- I'm very used to having a doc, sheet, and gmail in my bookmarks bar and I recently added my calendar to bookmarks. However, if I hadn't bookmarked these before opening Firefox, I don't see any easy way to find them. I'm glad I'm tech-savvy enough to get there, but if I were not tech-savvy, I think this would be stressful for me.

- I'm not 100% sure what the point of a private Firefox browser is when people say that Firefox doesn't track your stuff. It looks like it's for cookies and history. One small (avoidable in the future) problem I had was thinking I was in the private browser when I was still in the regular browser because the colors are the same- there's just a small logo informing you if you're in the private browser.

So, if you're sharing a computer with housemates and trying to use Firefox's private browser, be careful not to get them mixed up. I think I made this mistake because the keyboard shortcut to open a new tab in Firefox is not the same as it is in Chrome, so I thought I'd opened the tab, glanced over at my second monitor, and missed the fact that it hadn't gone through.

- After I told Firefox to stop asking to be my default browser, the next time I opened it, it asked if I wanted Firefox to open my tabs for me. There wasn't a description of what this meant, such as if I'm in Chrome and right click a link to open it in a new tab, if it would open an entire Firefox browser instead of a new tab in my Chrome window.

I did not commit to this option due to me not understanding what it meant, but if that's what it would do, that would be super annoying right now. Also, that's really weird of it to basically ask to be default browser in different words (if that's what it was asking).

So, here's the main reason I wanted to make this post:

- I downloaded a new word counter because Word Counter Plus was not one of the extensions that had a Firefox parallel. I picked the 2nd most popular one (didn't see there was a more popular one 'til now).

Let me tell ya, there is nothing more horrifying than opening the draft you've been revising for weeks, highlighting, checking the word count, and seeing the number 2,940 when you're expecting 17k+ and you're in the AO3 editor box, so there's no way to recover history if I actually had deleted 14k words.

Image of my word counter extension on Firefox vs. my definitely more correct one from Google Chrome- same document, and I checked to confirm all the words were highlighted in Firefox.

Luckily, all my 17k words are still there. I'm just doing final revisions and will be done soon - trying to get from 17k words down to 15k - but I will definitely be doing this in my usual Chrome because Firefox is not up to this task.

... Okay, I just switched to using the more popular Word Count extension, and even though I followed the steps in the extension, nothing happened. I didn't get a pop-up.

-> After testing, it doesn't work correctly. I was able to open a new AO3 chapter and select a small section of text. However, it doesn't even try giving me a pop-up when I test it on the chapter with 17k words. Not a good sign that the only two word counter extensions with more than 1,000 people are unable to do this, even though the extension's page says "works for any length of text."

So far, I haven't had adblocker or captcha conflicts, though I do have to go through the usual annoyances of setting a new browser to my settings.

I also read somewhere that Firefox doesn't let you copy-paste / cut-paste because it protects your data by not saving things in your clipboard. So far, I have not encountered this problem. However, if I did, that would also be a deal-breaker because I need to highlight and move data between docs (and within my doc) on the regular.

I'm going to keep testing Firefox sometimes because I'd like to use it since people keep saying it's the best and that Google is changing stuff in June, so now's the time to switch.

Since I've only seen posts that enthuse about Firefox being easy and the best on my dash, I at least wanted to mention some of my struggles so my followers can go into Firefox with appropriate expectations if they're also hoping to do things like have an accurate word count or use Google Docs offline (especially if they're holding out to switch until June and might be caught off guard if the learning curve is harsher than expected).

So, imo:

- Chrome is still the best option for me as someone who keeps track of thousands of separate Google Docs and Sheets and likes them to be easily accessible

- My research suggests there is no possible way to edit Docs offline if using Firefox (Bad news for my multi-hour carpool life and a definite deal-breaker to switching permanently)

- The two most popular word counters were not able to handle the length of an average document (less than 60 pages in Google Docs)

-> I can continue using the Google Docs app on my phone to edit offline and then access those docs on Firefox when I'm back in Internet connection, but I'd rather use a laptop keyboard than a phone keyboard if I'm in a vehicle for 6 hours (which is a common experience in my life right now)

- I recommend testing extensions thoroughly in a practice setting before you try to use them for actual important work. I would have been SO embarrassed (and potentially fired) if I was checking a ton of articles for a client and some of them were off by 15,000 words, but I waved them through because I'd only tested the extension with small sections of words (where it seems accurate) and not long sections.

I also would have been embarrassed if I'd searched something I thought was private and then I wasn't in the private browser and it came up in my recent history.

So, I would say Firefox may not be the right browser for a writer unless they've found different tools that get around these problems, and if you want to use Firefox, take the time to get familiar with it before you do anything "serious" with it. If you have important documents to review for work, don't jump in assuming your tools will work correctly.

[mariacallous]

What would Donald Trump’s foreign policy look like, should he win a second presidential term? The debate ranges between those who believe he will abandon Ukraine, withdraw from NATO, and herald a “post-American Europe”—and those who predict he will escalate the Russian-Ukrainian war and continue his fiercely anti-communist policies. Foreign governments have been frantically reaching out to Trump and Republican circles to understand, if not influence, the future direction of his policies; one such visit may have even played a role in Trump’s acquiescence to the most recent batch of U.S. military aid to Ukraine following months of delay by many of his Republican supporters in the U.S. Congress.

One fact is already clear: If Trump regains the presidency, he and his potential advisors will return to a significantly changed global landscape—marked by two regional wars, the threat of a third in Asia, the return of great-power geopolitics, and globalization measurably in decline. While many expect a Trump 2.0 to be a more intense version of Trump 1.0, his response to the dramatic changes in the geopolitical environment could lead to unexpected outcomes.

Trump may now be less eager to abandon Europe given fast-rising European defense spending and an ongoing major war. The strengthening U.S. economy and flux in global supply chains could facilitate a broader decoupling from China and market-access agreements with allies. Expanded Iranian aggression could make it easier for Trump 2.0 to build a large international coalition. An examination of these and other changes of the last four years could yield surprising insights into how a second Trump administration could differ significantly from the first.

Since Trump left office, the U.S.-Mexico border crisis has worsened significantly. In 2020, Trump’s last full year in office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection carried out 646,822 enforcement actions, including against three individuals on the Terrorist Screening Data Set. By 2023, this had skyrocketed to 3.2 million encounters, including 172 people on the terrorist list. Under the Biden-Harris administration, there have been some 10 million illegal border crossings, including nearly 2 million known so-called gotaways—illegal crossers who could not be apprehended. The unsecured border, broken asylum process, and overwhelmed immigration courts have enabled significant fentanyl trafficking, resulting in over 200,000 American deaths in the last three years.

For a second Trump administration, sealing the border would be the critical national security issue, overshadowing all others. The Republican platform calls for completion of the border wall, the use of advanced technology on the border, and shifting the focus of federal law enforcement to migration. It also proposes redeploying troops from overseas to the southern border and deploying the U.S. Navy to impose a fentanyl blockade. Americans now see the border as a major problem, and Congress is likely to support significant spending. This reallocation will impact other areas, since the U.S. Army and Navy are already struggling with personnel and fleet size targets. Navigating tensions with Mexico and Central American countries, many of which have free-trade agreements with the United States and receive U.S. assistance, will be challenging.

Facing escalating regional wars and the smallest U.S. military in generations, Trump would likely oversee the most significant U.S. military buildup in nearly 50 years. The U.S. Armed Forces are shrinking, and the defense budget is close to its post-World War II low in terms of both federal budget share and percentage of GDP. The capacity, capabilities, and readiness of the U.S. military are weakening, and the defense industrial base has atrophied. The disastrous defeat in Afghanistan has led to a significant drop in Americans’ confidence in the military.

Trump has long supported a bigger and stronger military, but his administration’s modest budget increases primarily went to personnel, operations, and maintenance, with little investment in capabilities. Under then-Defense Secretary James Mattis, the 2018 National Defense Strategy abandoned the long-standing U.S. doctrine of maintaining readiness to fight wars in two regions simultaneously, focusing instead on deterring China in the Indo-Pacific. Today’s Trump-approved Republican platform pledges a larger, modern military, investment in the defense industrial base, and a national missile defense shield. Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, likely the next chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has proposed a detailed plan to raise defense spending from 3 percent of GDP in 2024 to 5 percent within five to seven years. This plan aligns with Trump’s policies and could lead to a domestic manufacturing boom. Trump could announce the first-ever trillion-dollar defense budget with broad Republican support, determined not to be remembered as the president who let China surpass the U.S. militarily.

Notwithstanding the Biden administration’s climate agenda, the United States’ historic rise as the world’s energy superpower could empower Trump to pursue more punitive policies against Russia and Iran while wielding greater leverage over China. The United States is now producing and exporting more energy than ever, even as its carbon emissions have decreased, largely due to the shift from coal to gas. In 2019, the country became a net energy exporter. Since 2017, total energy exports have nearly doubled, and the country has surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s biggest oil producer. By further ramping up liquefied natural gas exports to Europe, a second Trump administration could reduce Russia’s influence, reshape European geopolitics, and strengthen trans-Atlantic ties. It would also greatly reduce the trade deficit with Europe, something Trump frequently rails about. Expanding energy production would also increase U.S. leverage over China, the world’s largest energy importer. Greater production—as well as closer alignment with Saudi Arabia under Trump—could do much to lower gas prices in the United States and oil prices globally. This, in turn, would allow Trump to pursue more aggressive strategic policies, such as striking Iranian nuclear assets or, should he wish to do so, diminishing Russian oil and gas exports.

The relative strength of the U.S. economy and major shifts in trading patterns would give another Trump administration far greater leverage on trade—including winning a trade war with China and striking new or revised trade deals with others.

Many Americans have a pessimistic view of their country’s economy, but it is far stronger relative to its peers than in 2016 or 2020. This year, the U.S. economy will account for an estimated 26 percent of global GDP, the highest share in almost two decades. It was nearly four times the size of Japan’s when Trump first entered office, and it will be seven times as large by the end of this year. As recently as 2008, the U.S. and Eurozone economies were similar in size. Today, the former towers over the latter, with the U.S. economy almost 80 percent larger. Britain’s relative decline is similar.

The strength of the U.S. economy would give Trump the leverage to strike the fair and reciprocal trade deals he seeks. Japan, facing an ever-aggressive China and urgently needing to boost economic growth, might build on the 2019 U.S.-Japan market access deal. Trump could resume the talks with Britain from the end of his first term with more leverage; a former Trump official indicated that a deal with Britain would be a priority in a second term. Trump might also revisit negotiations with the EU, following up on a market access agreement signed in 2019 following his imposition of tariffs. After eight years on top, the United States has overtaken China to be Germany’s top trading partner again. Trump’s aim to secure better deals is evident, and he may find more willing partners than before.

The same dynamics may lead to a far broader trade war with and decoupling from China. The U.S. economy has grown relative to China’s over the past eight years, with the gap widening in both directions: The U.S. economy is larger and the Chinese one smaller than economists expected. The forecast for when China’s economy might surpass the United States’ keeps sliding further and further into the future and may never happen at all. The International Monetary Fund projects that China’s share of the Asia-Pacific region’s GDP will be slightly smaller in five years than it is today, and it may never become the majority share. Even China’s official, flattering statistics suggest its economy is experiencing a lost decade due to deeply structural challenges, not temporary ones.

Over the past eight years, the U.S. economy has also become less dependent on foreign trade, including with China. In 2016, China was the top U.S. trading partner, accounting for more than 20 percent of U.S. imports and about 16 percent of total U.S. trade. By 2023, China slipped to third place, accounting for 13.9 percent of imports and 11.3 percent of trade. This shift would give greater credibility to Trump’s threats to revoke China’s most-favored nation trading status and impose wide-ranging tariffs. While these measures would have economic costs for Americans, around 80 percent of Americans view China unfavorably today, a significant increase from 2017, and the United States is now better positioned to withstand a protracted trade war with China than a few years ago.

Trump 2.0 would have the potential to lead a broader containment approach toward China. First, Trump and most Americans blame the Chinese government for the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed more than 1 million Americans, forced the U.S. economy into a deep recession, and likely cost Trump his reelection in 2020. Whether through trade measures, sanctions, or a demand for reparations, Trump will seek to hold China accountable for the estimated $18 trillion in damage the COVID-19 pandemic caused to the United States. In parallel, he is likely to end the attempts at partnership made by the Biden administration and Trump during parts of his first term. Issues like climate change, public health, foreign investment, Chinese land purchases in the United States, and Beijing’s role in the fentanyl epidemic will be viewed through the lens of strategic independence from China, as outlined in the Republican platform.

Second, the United States’ major European allies have become much more critical of China than when Trump left office—the result of COVID-19, Chinese “wolf warrior” diplomacy, Beijing’s support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, and mounting issues concerning trade, technology, and supply chains. The references to China in the 2024 G-7 summit statement and NATO summit communique, compared to the last versions under Trump in 2019, make that clear. Europe is following Washington’s lead in imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, restricting Chinese telecoms from 5G infrastructure, and exposing and punishing Chinese espionage. A second Trump administration could build a coalition against Chinese behavior.

Third, the United States’ Asian allies are enhancing their military capabilities and cooperation among themselves. Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and others are increasing their defense spending, and the United States recently negotiated expanded military access to key sites in the Philippines. Improved regional alliances and partnerships, including the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) pact, the Quad (Australia, India, Japan, and the United States), much improved Japan-South Korea relations, and growing Japan-Philippines cooperation will strengthen Trump’s hand with Beijing.

However, the China Trump will face is more powerful and aggressive than ever before. It has significantly increased its military harassment of Taiwan, the Philippines, and India. It has also deepened its strategic partnership with Russia: The two countries declared a “partnership without limits” in 2022, and Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023 that the world is undergoing changes “we haven’t seen for 100 years—and we are the ones driving these changes together.” China’s navy, already larger than its U.S. counterpart since around 2015, could be about 50 percent larger by the end of Trump’s second term. How would Trump respond if China attacked Taiwan? Washington assesses that Xi has ordered the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to be prepared to win a war against Taiwan by 2027, and U.S. war games consistently indicate the U.S. could lose such a conflict. Trump continues to hew to the decadeslong policy of maintaining strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan’s defense, even if he has included Taiwan in his familiar critique of allies not doing enough for their own defense. Nevertheless, the continuously eroding balance of power and rapidly evolving correlation of forces could make Trump less likely to assist Taiwan than one might suspect given his overall China policy. As Trump recently acknowledged in the bluntest of terms, Taiwan is 9,500 miles away from the United States but only 68 miles away from China.

Trump would return as commander in chief with the largest European war since World War II raging in Ukraine, the increased presence of U.S. forces on the continent, and European NATO members ramping up their defense spending. The much-changed situation in Europe could make him far less likely to withdraw U.S. troops, end support for Ukraine, or seek a grand bargain with Putin.

Trump’s persistent haranguing of European allies when he was president, coupled with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has prompted European countries to rapidly increase their defense spending. Whereas only five NATO members spent at least 2 percent of GDP on defense in 2016 and nine did so in 2020, 23 do so now. European NATO nations have increased their collective defense spending by more than half since Trump first took office, far ahead of the United States’ much smaller increase during the same period. Germany has even surpassed Britain as Europe’s biggest defense spender. The burden sharing Trump pushed for is beginning to happen: European NATO allies are now shouldering a greater share of bloc-wide defense spending, and Europe also provides the majority of aid to Ukraine. U.S. companies and workers are benefiting: The U.S. share of global arms exports rose from 34 percent to 42 percent over the most recent five-year period.

In his first term, Trump welcomed both Montenegro and North Macedonia into NATO, even though neither met the 2 percent mark at the time. His inclination to move U.S. forces farther east along NATO’s frontier is now a reality. Today, 20,000 U.S. forces are stationed in the alliance’s eastern frontier states, part of what Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Christopher Cavoli called a “definite shift eastward.” With the addition of Finland and Sweden as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO now has a significantly reshaped posture.

While the 2 percent floor for defense spending is now grossly inadequate, European states are proposing higher benchmarks. The European Union has released its first-ever defense industrial strategy, and many European countries are planning further increases in spending. Were Trump to preside over the June 2025 NATO summit in the Netherlands, he could not only announce “mission accomplished” with respect to the 2 percent target, but that NATO has collectively pledged a higher 3 percent floor.

Trump has promised to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours”—but has also threatened to dramatically increase arms support to Ukraine if Putin does not comply. He has never outright opposed military aid to Ukraine, acquiesced to congressional passage of a large supplemental in April, and recently concluded a positive call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Having observed how Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan sunk his presidency, Trump may be determined to avoid a similar loss of Ukraine.

Facing a Middle East with escalating Tehran-backed conflicts and a near-nuclear Iran, Trump 2.0 might also double down and increase U.S. military involvement to douse the fires Tehran has lit.

Trump is likely to end the Biden administration’s pressure on Israel to end the war against Hamas, de-escalate against Iran, and withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank. Trump would end Biden’s embargo on certain U.S. arms deliveries to Israel, halt aid to Gaza, and de-emphasize humanitarian concerns. Trump has consistently supported an Israeli “victory”—a stance repeated by his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance—and called on Israel to “finish the job.” Trump has walked back his previous endorsement of a Palestinian state, suggesting a very different approach to the “day after.” If a major war between Israel and Hezbollah breaks out, Trump’s track record suggests he would support swift Israeli action with less concern for civilian casualties, with full U.S. support but no direct military involvement.

Trump 2.0 would quickly face the choice of whether to take preemptive military action against Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran is now a nuclear breakout state, capable of producing enough weapons-grade uranium for several bombs in less than 10 days, even if weaponization may take several months to a year. Berlin, Paris, and London, antagonists to Trump 1.0’s Iran policy, may be supporters of Trump 2.0’s, as Iran’s growing military alliance with Russia, nuclear progress, and support for the Houthis have shifted European attitudes. Having repeatedly passed the wartime tests by Iran and its proxies, Israeli anti-air capabilities have rapidly improved, as has coordination with Arab partners. Trump will likely recharge his maximum-pressure approach, but he may be more likely to threaten Iran directly than ever before.

Trump 2.0 could also launch a campaign against the Houthis similar to that against the Islamic State during Trump 1.0. He would inherit a 24-nation coalition that is currently failing to restore freedom of navigation through the Red Sea. Despite the most intense U.S. naval combat operations since World War II, Suez Canal transits are still fewer than half of what they were a year ago; so far, over 90 commercial vessels have been hit and more than 100 warships attacked. Just as he declared the defeat and destruction of the Islamic State to be his “highest priority” on the first day of his presidency, he may flip the mission from a defensive to offensive one by hitting Houthi launch sites, targeting critical infrastructure, eliminating Iranian naval support, and directly threatening Tehran. A successful campaign could restore commercial shipping, lower energy and shipping costs, and foster diplomatic cooperation with European, Middle Eastern, and Asian governments.

Even if Trump’s instincts and inclinations remain unchanged, the world’s vastly shifted circumstances could prompt unexpected approaches. If Trump 1.0 was an alliance disruptor and protectionist, a second Trump administration could turn out to be a coalition builder and forger of significant trade deals. Concerns over U.S. abandonment of Europe and withdrawal from the Middle East may prove to have been hasty, with altered circumstances leading to greater stability in Europe and a rollback of Iranian aggression in the Middle East. Dealmaking with China may give way to the best opportunity to build a Cold War-like coalition to blunt aggressive Chinese behavior.