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murdereraisuha · 4 years ago

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Classpecting TWST: Savanaclaw

Time to classpect the dorm that deserved better writing-wise. I’m gonna start tagging these “twst analysis” now too cause I am basically using the classpect stuff as a vehicle for getting a better understanding of the characters

Spoilers for chapter 2 and some of the trio’s personal stories. No knowledge of Homestuck required to read.

[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Leona, the symbol for the hope aspect, and the words “Leona Kingscholar: Prince of Hope”]

Before we get to the reasoning, I just want to say, Leona I am so sorry you have to share a classpect with Eridan. Okay now I’ll hand the mic to past me.

Throughout his personal stories, we see that Leona is fine with resorting to underhanded tactics, but he specifically values cleverness and creative use of resources. Leona looks down on those who don’t exhibit those things (ex. the Savanaclaw students in Leona’s dorm uniform story who tried to beat up Jack using sheer numbers).

Leona tends to only expend effort on things that benefit him in some way.

Leona is a powerful and intelligent magic user; he could have easily graduated already if he wanted to, but it seems he doesn’t want to.

Despite Leona’s strengths, those around him criticized him and constantly compared him to his brother due to Leona being the 2nd born prince. No matter what he did, he could not sway those opinions. He could never become number 1.

Because of this, he developed the belief that life isn’t fair and he gives up on things rather easily.

Based on this, I have 3 aspects in mind: rage, hope, and doom.

Rage and hope go hand in hand as opposites: rage is negative emotions, rejection, and doubt, while hope is positive emotions, acceptance, and ideals. For Leona, his story seems to be about him having given up on his hope and dreams of ever succeeding. In its place he has become quick to deem efforts worthless. He acts antagonistic to people like Vil and Malleus, and he seems to disapprove of some of Jack’s honorable ideals. All of these things connect to the parts of rage/hope.

Doom is also a possibility, as it represents negativity, decay, and limits. It is the opposite to life, the aspect that I picked for Kalim. Therefore, I think doom is plausible since Leona shows the opposite side to the luxuries enjoyed by Kalim and Farena as first borns.

Now for classes. I don’t think Leona does much stealing, he doesn’t suffer from indecision, he doesn’t put up any masks, and he’s not a very healing focused person. I think that narrows it down to witch, heir, mage, prince, and bard.

If it’s prince or bard it would have to be hope, in which case prince of hope fits Leona best due to his destruction of hope being focused more than just happening naturally. Though Leona has suffered, it seems to have more hampered his potential than gave him useful knowledge so now I’m kicking out mage. Heir seems to fit best if it’s as a heir of rage. Finally, I’m also kicking out witch since he he doesn’t do much manipulation of any of the 3 aspects.

Between prince of hope and heir of rage... it’s prince of hope. Since Leona says that nothing he did could sway people’s negative opinion of him, we can assume that Leona had hope earlier in his life that he could change those opinions. He did stuff like studying and improving his magic until he finally realized that that wasn’t changing his image at all. Rather than preserve his hope, he choose to destroy it, making his class the active destroyer class, prince.

In chapter 2, he rallies Ruggie the rest of his dorm against Diasomnia, using their hopes as a tool for destroying the other teams. In 2-24 Leona then tries to destroy their hopes once he deems their plan useless. At one point he says ��じゃあ本当のことを教えてやるよ」, translated by Shel_BB on youtube as “Let me give you a dose of reality.” This and the other things he says this episode really connect to the hope/rage themes of reality vs fantasy and stop vs go. Therefore, quite ironically since he is an actual prince, Leona's classpect seems to be a prince of hope.

[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Ruggie, the symbol for the Life aspect, and the words “Ruggie Bucchi: Rogue of Life”]

Ruggie grew up in a poor environment with food insecurity. Many of his clothes are hand-me-downs, he’s fine with eating odd things like dandelions, and before holiday break he raids the cafeteria for food to bring back for the others in his town.

Ruggie’s official hobby is part-time jobs. From working at Mostro Lounge to selling mandrakes, he’s really focused on earning money however he can.

His skillset, which includes pickpocketing and haggling, lets Ruggie pull off plenty of clever and underhanded tricks.

However, like Leona, Ruggie still has standards: in one of his ceremony robe voice lines, he says that he prefers his lot in life over that of a spoiled, rich person without any problems.

His dorm uniform personal story, where he teams up with Trein’s cat to get magic history help and catch rats, is about using the power of others instead of relying solely on himself.

There were 3 paragraphs of stuff here that I deleted because I was getting absolutely nowhere. I didn’t expect Ruggie to be this hard.

Like, Ruggie's problems kinda seem to stem from just poverty and Leona being an asshole. Well, hm, actually if we combine the moral of his dorm uniform story and Ruggie acting like Leona’s maid, perhaps Ruggie’s problem is something like he keeps taking on burdens? Out of everyone who lives in his slums, he’s likely the only one going to a prestigious school like NRC. He’s likely well-known there because of that and him bringing back food a lot. Are Ruggie’s ambitions for a good job not only his own ambitions, but that of the whole community? I’ve always been a bit confused about why Ruggie helps Leona out outside of the magift tournament stuff. Is he... so used to having to help others and constantly take on jobs that his standards for what’s reasonable work are gone? I just went through the chats and in Jack’s one with Ruggie, Jack is telling him about having to find something to draw for a homework assignment and Ruggie immediately offers to go get his warthog piggy bank. Bruh?? Doesn’t that have your money? Why are you just lending it out like that????

Alright, because Ruggie is a guy who needs to chill and have some me-time, I’m narrowing his class down to rogue, maid, or knight. For aspects, I’m thinking life (energy & luxury), time (action & death), or blood (community & responsibility).

On second thought, I’m kicking out maid and blood. Rogue & knight and life & time seem to fit Ruggie better. And now my best guess is rogue of life. First, he obviously fits the stealing aspect of the class through his skill at stealing. Like how a rogue redistributes things, Ruggie obtains money/food to redistribute to the others in the slums. He also injured the people in chapter 2, basically taking life from them, which resulted in Savanaclaw's chances of winning the tournament getting stronger. For the tendency of rogues to have a hard time coping with having their aspect, Ruggie has a hard time accepting luxury/relaxation time. He funnels all his resources into efficient causes and his community. Also, in Jack’s dorm outfit personal story where Jack tries to help him out with stuff, Ruggie is distrustful of him and goes out of his way to avoid him.

I didn’t have any sort of eureka moment with this one like I had with the twins, so I’m still unsure about it. However, considering that TWST characters obviously weren’t meant to get crammed into the classpect system, it makes sense that some might not fit perfectly. So, with what I do have, I think that Ruggie is a rogue of life.

[Image description: A banner containing a picture of Jack Howl, the symbol for the mind aspect, and the words “Jack Howl: Page of Mind”]

Jack values honor, strength, and hard work. He believes that people should accomplish things through their own efforts rather than lowly tricks.

Therefore, Jack disapproves of Leona and Ruggie's method of doing things.

In contrast to how Leona and Ruggie use others, Jack sometimes refuses help, like in chapter 2 when he claims he can handle his dorm by himself.

Jack is quite intelligent and insightful, as shown by his comments throughout chapter 3 and his scary outfit personal story.

Jack respects social/group hierarchies and takes care not to disturb order, as shown in his dorm outfit personal story.

Also in his dorm outfit personal story, Jack says that he wants to become someone with a single true purpose.

So, I'm already kind of stumped. He doesn't have any big moments in the spotlight during the main story, so there's not much to go off of there.

We have to start somewhere though. So, first off, I’ll eliminate the destruction classes and theft since he doesn’t do much of either. I’ll also eliminate the knowledge classes since I don’t think he holds any special knowledge of anything.

For potential aspects, after eliminating the ones that seem mostly irrelevant to him, I’m left with mind, heart, hope, rage, or blood. The 2 that particularly stick out to me are mind and heart.

Mind is the aspect of logic, unbiasedness, morality, and blending in. For Jack, his strong focus on justice even when it means going against someone he once admired seems very mind-like. His care in not stepping out of line in social situations also relates to blending in. Of course, we should still keep mind’s opposite, heart, in consideration.

Now that I’m pretty confident his aspect is mind or heart, we’re left with 12 possible classpects. I still can’t narrow it down well, let’s go back to Jack’s traits.

What challenges does he face or have to overcome? In the main story, the problem he faces is trying to correct the injustice in his dorm by himself. In his dorm outfit story, the problem he faces is being over zealous about helping Ruggie. Wait, actually, that’s not right. Though that is a problem, it seems like the main growth/realization for Jack is about his motivation for helping Ruggie. When questioned by Ruggie in part 1, he mainly cites the group hierarchy as the reasons for his actions. However, later on, Deuce deduces (haha) that Jack looks up to Ruggie like a big brother. Though Jack denies it, at the end of the story he asks if Ruggie would let him call him big bro.

It’s like he is concerned about justice and social harmony (mind stuff), but in reality he does stuff according to his impulses and emotions (heart stuff). This doesn’t feel like a prince/bard situation though, it isn’t dysfunctional or destructive enough for that. I thought that the pages of the cast might be Epel and/or Sebek, but it seems that Jack may be a page.

Pages, the passive exploitation class, are characterized by a deficit in their aspect that they try to hide and overcome. Like how Jack takes his service of Ruggie too far, pages often overshoot in their efforts to correct their weakness. However, as they grow and learn from their mistakes, pages become masters of their aspect, like in Jack’s scary outfit story where he starts out with a bad idea then at the end develops it into a sound plan to scare the tourists. That also fits well with mind, since smoke and mirrors is another big part of that aspect.

Therefore, with how well this class seems to fit with Jack’s actions and motivations, I think that he is probably a page of mind.

#twst #twisted wonderland #classpect #savanaclaw #leona kingscholar #ruggie bucchi #jack howl #homestuck #twst analysis

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fallenfurther · 4 years ago

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A drop into silence - Part 3

I decided not to leave this without a little hope for you all. I go a little into the science at the end, I hope I have kept it at the right level. I did have some fun researching stem cells. Part 1 and Part 2. Enjoy

************

The next few days were spent lying in a hospital bed, a smile plastered on his face, keeping up appearances for his little brothers. He laughed at Gordon’s jokes, smiled as Alan relayed his latest adventure on Cavern Quest and tried to reflect the air of positivity that the doctors seemed to have. His fingers stayed pink and healthy, his wounds were healing nicely, and his bones had been repositioned correctly first time. He was considered lucky. Yet deep down, beneath it all, Scott felt despair. The support of his family kept him there, kept him present and he would have drowned without them. But part of him wanted to drown. With every passing day the neurologist looked less satisfied with his progress. A week after the rescue and he was discharged with physiotherapy booked for when the cast they sent him home in was removed. The joy on everyone’s face kept him going. They were like a storm, spinning around him with such force it carried him along. Yet that night, after he’d thrown his nightshirt across the room in frustration, he let the façade fall. Scott lay on bed shirtless, placed his head on his pillow and stared at the ceiling. Only then could he let the thoughts surface. The tears silently fell, dampening his pillow. When the sound of someone entering his room came, he couldn’t stop them, couldn’t pull on the façade he’d discarded. He was thankful when it was Virgil who pulled a chair up to his bed.

“I can’t feel anything, Virgil.”

The soft brown eyes met his, a sadness in them that showed the truth.

“The doctors say the feeling could still come back; your nerves just need time to heal.”

“Screw the doctors!” Scott growled, anger filling him as tears continued to fall. “What do you believe, Virgil? You’ve seen the scans; you know the medical facts. I know you’ve spoken with Grandma, gotten her opinion. Do you think I’ll regain enough feeling, enough movement?”

Scott watched as Virgil broke eye contact. His brother was bent over in the chair, and guilt spread through him. He should take it out on Virgil. It wasn’t his fault. The tear that Virgil shed made Scott want to reach out. He did reach out, except he didn’t. His left arm didn’t move, didn’t follow the command Scott gave it. Instead, Virgil met his eyes and held his gaze. Those hazel eyes were strong and held, ready to speak the truth.

“I believe you’ll regain some feeling, just not enough for you to use the arm. You would only be allowed to fly a specially adapted plane and your days as an International Rescue operative are over. Brains is already planning on a way to allow you to fly Thunderbird One but…”

“I won’t be able to do rescues. I’ll be a liability.”

Scott’s heart broke and he knew Virgil’s was shattering beside him. International Rescue would never be the same. It would go on, because it had to, but without him at the helm of Thunderbird One, it wouldn’t feel right.

“I’m sorry, Scott.”

Scott pushed himself up awkwardly, still not used to the dead weight of his arm and twisted so he sat facing Virgil. His gaze fell on his fingers, again he tried to wiggle them, every thought projecting down the arm. Nothing. Virgil picked up the hand and shifted so it lay on his knee. Silently, he started massaging the muscles and flexing the fingers. These were some of Scott’s assigned exercises, all of which were easier done by someone else. Virgil went through every finger, bending it and flexing it, being careful of the cast that stopped at his knuckles. The tender care of his brother’s touch was lost to Scott. Closing his eyes, his body felt still. None of the movement could be felt. He had felt the tug when Virgil had pulled his arm, up in his shoulder, above where the main nerve had been severed.

“Grandma is reaching out to all her friends, asking if there is any research that has evaded her that might help.”

Scott fought the sob. Of course, she wouldn’t give up. She was a Tracy too, stubborn as they come. It brought a smile to his face, despite the tear that escaped. He felt his hand being placed on his leg and returned his gaze to Virgil. The artist’s hands fell on his bare shoulders, an act that gave Scott the strength he currently lacked.

“We’ll get through this.”

Scott gave Virgil a resigned nodded. He still struggled to believe it could get better. Virgil got up, leaving Scott’s shoulders to feel cold, only to return with the nightshirt he’d discarded.

“How about we get this on?”

*****

Scott stood in front of the mirror in just his suit trousers. The skin on his left arm clearly displayed the scars, a fresh pink colour, that reminded him that even though he looked okay, he wasn’t complete. It’d been almost three months and there was no change in the arm. It just hung there, limp. The rest of Scott’s body was still toned due his continued use the island gym. Even though he couldn’t be a member of International Rescue, the need to maintain his fitness remained. Yet as Scott stared at his redundant arm, he could see the signs of wastage. The bicep had less definition and his forearm was looking slimmer. Signing, he turned and slipped the shirt from its hanger. He’d gotten the technique now, on how to slip his dead arm into the sleeve, though he knew it would create creases in the crisp ironed material. Pulling it up at the shoulder, he pulled it round and slipped his right arm in. Again, his fingers had mastered the one handed fasten, and soon the shirt was done up. The suit jacket followed in the same manner. Sitting he pulled on his socks and shoes. He had yet to buy any new dress shoes, not wanting another reminder of what he couldn’t do. Slipping on the shoes, laces left untied, he grabbed his tie and room key. Outside Grandma was waiting. She’d flown him over and insisted on staying to help him. He regretted that he needed help, but the tie slipped from his hand and was thrown over his head. Scott smiled at his Grandmother as she tightened the knot round his neck before bending down and tying his shoes tightly. These shoes hadn’t let him down yet, but his secretary was aware of his difficulties and she was good at discreetly helping him.

“All ready. Go get them, Scott.”

Scott couldn’t help the small chuckle at his Grandma’s enthusiasm. He’d taken to doing more Tracy Industries work, so he didn’t just spend his time watching, worrying, and envying his brothers when they were out on rescues. They were all being careful, his arm a subtle reminder of why they must be cautious. Yet at the same time, when in the heat of the moment, they could forget it and they had started to push themselves again. They had just returned from a rescue before he had left last night, so goodness knows what could happen to them while he was away.

“Thanks Grandma. Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself in New York?”

“Oh, don’t go worrying about me. I’ve plenty to keep me occupied. Anyway, we need to get you to your meeting, can’t be late now.”

“I’m the CEO, they can’t start without me!”

Grandma looped her arm in his good one and started guiding him towards the exit. She was one of the strongest women he knew and as he peered down at the top of her head, he absorbed some of that strength. It was his family that got him out of bed each morning, his family that got him through the pain that rose when he found himself staring up at Thunderbird One, or when he went to the supply cupboard and saw his spare uniform. His family kept this grounded pilot going.

*****

The previous day had been tough, and all Scott had wanted was to be flown home so he could sleep in his own bed. However, Grandma had insisted that they stay another night and spend the day in New York. One gaze into his Grandmother’s hopeful blue eyes, her hands clasped together, and he relented. Maybe he needed some time away from the island.

“So, where are you planning to take me today?”

Scott smiled down at the older woman, who had her arm in his and was pulling him towards the exit. There was an energy in her that reminded him of Alan.

“Actually, I was hoping you’d agree to meet a friend of a friend I met yesterday. She’s currently doing some research you might be interested in.”

Scott’s heart stuttered in his chest. He knew what she was referring to and he tried to stay calm. There had been so many false leads, so much promising research that was still in the earliest of stages. They had even investigated bionics, though Scott wasn’t too keen as some of the early work was less than successful in the long run. He also had Brains working on an exosuit-like device that would be able to move his arm for him, but the prototypes were still bulky and hard to control. If Grandma thought it was worth his time then he would go, he just wouldn’t get his hopes up. The car out front took them to a skyscraper, and they were met in the lobby by a smartly dressed woman who embraced Grandma.

“It’s good to see you again Sally, and you must be Mr Scott Tracy. My name is Charlene Russell, I’m a neuroscientist and it’s my research that might be of interest to you.”

Scott shook her outstretched hand, noting the glance to his useless one. They were then led up to an office where they were subjected to a presentation. Scott didn’t miss the eagerness radiating from his Grandma.

“…so, as you can see, the rats regained full use of their legs after the treatment. When it comes to the same in humans, we have been given permission to start some trials in extremely specific patients, mainly in smaller less complex neurological deficiencies. We harvest the stem cells from the bone marrow, as well as the testis in men. Unlike earlier therapies we plan to harvest multipotent stem cells, so they still obtain the ability to become most cell lines. We have managed to find a combination of signalling proteins, hormones, and growth factors, which push human stem cells to become neuroectodermal cells, which is the first stage in the development of the nervous system in a foetus. We also have the right combination to produce neural stem cells. Our treatment involves injecting these cells into the area around the damaged nerves to allow the cells to trigger repair and in some cases, even bridge the broken strands allowing signals to pass along the nerves. It can take a few treatments to get the best results, but in our trials so far, patients have regained more function than expected from normal treatment alone.”

Scott sat straight, trying to take in all the science that was being thrown at him. The take home message seemed that they could repair damaged nerves in some patients. But would it work for him? He dared not hope for full movement but even some. If he could just feed himself and tie his shoes. To not have to rely on someone else for the simplest of things. It would ease the worry he saw in Virgil’s eyes.

“Do you think it could help me?”

“Well, Sally kindly shared with me your medical scans, and considering the nerve damage is limited to a few small areas, with the main break being at the top of your arm, this type of therapy has the potential to help. This therapy is very individualistic, and outcomes can vary, but if we could get even a few stem cells to bridge the gap at the top of your arm then that could restore some function, even if it’s just sensations of touch or pain.”

Even the feeling of touch would be an improvement. Currently he often bruised or cut the skin on his left arm because he couldn’t feel it. He had once left a trail of blood through the house when he’d cut his finger on something and hadn’t noticed.

“You said only a few selected cases could undergo the treatment, would I fall into this category?”

“Currently you don’t, however we have just been granted permission to try the therapy on a person with a similar injury in their leg. I believe we could apply to allow you on a trial as we could use your data in conjunction with theirs to assess the therapies potential in humans. We would have to apply straight away as the sooner after injury the treatment is preformed the better the success and you are already close to three months post injury.”

“Do you think we could get permission?”

“Yes. I believe the fact that you are Scott Tracy will help with your case too.”

“Then let’s do it. I have nothing to lose.”

Charlene smiled at him and Scott couldn’t help but mirror it.

“I’ll go fetch all the appropriate paperwork. I’ve had one of the medical teams on standby ready to do the required examinations and tests on your arm. These will have to be repeated at a late date for confirmation. Also, if you consent, they are also able to do the tissue harvest to start the process of extracting and culturing your multipotent stem cells. This would mean we could move quickly into starting treatment once permission is obtained.”

“So, I’m going to have a bone marrow harvest and you said something about testis in men, what does that involve?”

Charlene looked a little sheepish.

“Yes, the doctors will take a small slither of testicular tissue. They have assured me that it won’t affect your ability to have children and involves making a small incision with minimal scaring. The doctors will explain all the risks later, though from what I’ve heard most men don’t complain, especially if the bone marrow harvest is done first or at the same time.”

Scott swallowed, but nodded. There were always risks with new procedures, but this might be his best shot. There was a chance, a glimmer of hope if bureaucracy didn’t get in his way. Then he was Scott Tracy, CEO of Tracy industries and still considered Commander of International Rescue to most of the world. When had a bit of paperwork ever stopped him from getting what he wanted?

#sensorysunday #thunderbirds are go #Scott Tracy #Virgil Tracy #grandma tracy #sensorysunday2020 #whump #aftermath #recovery #numb #hope #medical trial #his family keep him going

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bounnostra · 5 years ago

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As per my last post || Trial 3.2.6 || pip || RE: Cowboy, Duck, Ivey, Maverick

Another heavy, exhausted sigh escapes the Cryptozoologist. At this point it's not even because he's resigned to losing BOOTS, but because he's tired. Tired of deaths, of trials, of playing this same rat-and-cat game over and over again. The very youthful and energetic spirit he had at the very beginning had vanished long ago, and replacing it was now merely a husk of its former self. A sad, disappointing, childish, naive and lackadaisical kid. He supposes that maybe this was the consequences of his actions... But he could wallow in self-pity later, once he gets some proper rest. Right now, he just wanted to get things over with.

"Hiding evidence under noses? Don't be ridiculous... MAVERICK himself held this amulet, and it did absolutely nothing either to him or to me, did it? I already explained where the traces of magic come from on this trinket. Besides, don't you think that if this amulet was, in some way, shape, or form related to the premeditated butchering of Masaki, that it would've been mentioned in the notes? It's just... That. An amulet."

His brows furrow, but what IVEY is saying is right, and he doesn't want to acknowledge it, but this truly was a premeditated murder against PINCER... Just the thought of it makes his stomach turn in on itself. The aromas bringing forth the nausea that's been bubbling within him ever since he laid eyes on Amita's desecrated body.

"... I'll just... Review the concrete facts we all agree with. First, Amita is the mastermind behind this operation. I don't know for how long, but for a while now she's been planning to commit a crime, and she had already chosen her victim upon noticing his pattern to spend time at an isolated part of this... Hell dimension we're in; the Udon Stand. Knowing she can't rig the game on her own though, she likely consulted with Gambit before setting everything in motion. I don't know if they struck a deal or not, but it's certainly something that could have possibly occurred. We've surmised that it was Amita who planned everything because of the specific instructions and detailing of the notes of objects Fae in origin."

He sort of... Glances at COWBOY as he speaks, eyes filled with... Trepidation? Fear? He just... Worries about what they'll think of him, of what they'll think of Amita and BOOTS, who is in this very courtroom... He can understand how the Jockey feels, after all what is he doing right now, if not betraying the person he promised a bright future too? And that future, he's going to snuff it out himself with his own hands...

"... Regardless, Amita needed someone she knew had blended into the background but also had wild impulses and mannerisms. Enter BOOTS. BOOTS was very wary about showing her skills to anyone, while Amita was very open about them. It's likely that it wasn't until they began corresponding with one another through Hoots that Amita discovered BOOTS' potential. Together, they plan to assault Masaki, and contrary to what they expected to be an easy victory, something went wrong. You all keep suggesting that Amita planned her own death, but there is nothing hinting towards that. The 'excitement' and 'clean' comments you've all been making about the notes likely refer to the excitement of getting to spin the Prize Wheel after committing the crime, a 'clean' crime, may I add. One without flaws. We already know that it failed... Perhaps somewhere along the lines BOOTS realized that Amita perhaps intended to only use her rather than work along with her."

His eyes drift over to BOOTS, and then to where PINCER-- Masaki once was. To think that just a few moments they all had his joyous presence around them. Even if they weren't close, PIP truly thought of himself and Masaki as kindred spirits. But perhaps now that he realizes how truly pathetic he is, he should not compare himself to Masaki. Even if he was powerless to prevent his death, he was the one person everyone could rely on. He brought smiles and happiness to everyone! What has he brought along? Confusion? Anger? Tension? He doubts anyone here could ever truly replace Masaki... BOOTS may have done a splendid job to impersonate him, but there's only one Masaki Miyamoto, and his soul is now with the others who have perished in this game... The only solace he can think of is on the fact that at least he and Runa can now be together, happily!

He wishes he could have a happy ending too, even one at the cost of his life... But that's selfish. Maybe he's always been this selfish and he's finally realizing it. This is the world of grown-ups, and it was about time he started acting his age. The real world is cold. The real world doesn't care about 'spirit.' All it cares about is-- well, certainly not whatever he is! MOSS' words echo at the back of his mind. 'You have a good heart, PIP.' He wonders how true that was. No, he doesn't need to. It's not true at all.

"Still, the two team-up and ambush Masaki. Perhaps Amita was in hiding, or perhaps she was contributing in keeping him from running away, that would explain the traces of Magic on his body, correct? That implies to me that he was certainly being assaulted by Amita. We are all assuming BOOTS lost control, but isn't it a lot more logical that she simply grew tired of Masaki putting up a fight and killed him quickly by transforming into a large animal? Either ways, Masaki meets his end and his arm is promptly removed and his body ditched in an alleyway that we had no access to prior. Certainly an easy task for BOOTS to accomplish, given her ability to fly. Amita then disguised the crime by using her Fae Magic to turn Masaki's severed arm into BOOTS,' but that was as far as BOOTS was willing to go with the plan. Then, perhaps due to knowing Amita reeked of betrayal, or simply because she saw it as a means to an end, or there was a fallout of sorts, BOOTS attacks Amita and kills her quickly. A slash to the throat and then her flesh is carved out. I think the body mutilation occurred while Amita was still alive. Hence her expression of shock and horror... A brutal death that perfectly matches Masaki..."

He just wishes that this could've been prevented... But he's not done with the overview of the case.

"Once Amita died, BOOTS herself transported Amita's body to Sonya via flight, avoiding creating any incriminating traces and dumped her corpse in the same place where we found Valerio's body and flew back to the hotel. She was wounded, for sure, but very much in her own mind. She likely transformed into Masaki right then and there. That was over six-- maybe seven or even eight hours ago now and pretended to be the same man that served us gentle and warm smiles every morning and the dulcet tones of his words. She has been pretending to be him the whole time, and with a perfect illusory disguise, there was no way we'd be able to even realize she had been wounded. The 'why' is simple; she wanted to obtain the primary objective described in the notes: she wanted to use the portal and escape. For all we know, that's the exact same thing Amita primarily wanted. The wand was, perhaps, just to save face and claim that she did what she did for all of us knowing that with the Supernatural characteristics of Masaki's murder and BOOTS' abilities, no one would be able to suspect her."

He was almost done... Just, lay the final nails in the coffin of his beloved, and he could go to the kitchen and drink himself until he passes out either from the poison burning his throat or from the pain gripping his heart.

"... Unlike the previous two cases, this was a premeditated murder, on both sides... Amita and BOOTS both knew what they were doing... Nothing was an accident. It was a plan that was not meant to go wrong, but it did because of both sides' selfishness. I believe that about perfectly explains everything, does it not? Amita couldn't have possibly chosen to die because this entire plan relied on her own self being alive to fill all the necessary roles. Just like with the amulet, there's nothing hinting she wanted to die, it was just... BOOTS covering for herself..."

He just, gives her a sad stare, before looking at the note that ORWELL's Hoot put in his hands. He... He's not going to read it right away... He doesn't want to know what's inside of it, because he's afraid. He's afraid of learning what someone else actually thinks about him. So he's going to do as he's done ever since before coming here, he'll bottle those feelings up and greet ORWELL with a small but selfish smile. A machine dispensing a cordial message, but nothing more than just that.

"... That's the most likely scenario. We... Have the 'why' and the 'how' now, don't we? So there's... Nothing else left to do but to vote..."

Once he's finished speaking, he glares at DUCK. It is now his own eyes that are burning with ire, fury and wrath. How dare she. How dare she?! First she chews him out for what he said at the beginning of the trial, and now she has the nerve to repeat exactly what he's been suggesting?! How laughable... What a cruel, twisted joke. So this was the real her. All his talking to her during the second Investigation. This was the culmination of all that heartache?! Of that abandonment?! How... Thrilling. He doesn't say anything, not yet. His expression is just replaced with a smile, a chilling smile that's unlike him. Perhaps Amita, or even BOOTS, weren't the only ones reeking of (Takumi voice) b e t r a y a l .

"How... Inspiring, Prosecutor DUCK. Thank you, thank you very much for your utter... Honesty. I'll see through that I don't disappoint... It. I'm so very glad to find out you have not strayed away from your path of... 'Righteousness.' You truly do stick to your 'ethics' quite closely. I'm glad to find we feel the exact same way."

With that, he's finished. The smile doesn't leave his face, but he refocuses and just, stares at the horizon.

#boun #ch3 #trial #pip #submission

1 note · View note

nahoo883 · 6 years ago

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Tufts expelled a student for grade hacking. She claims innocence

As she sat in the airport with a one-way ticket in her hand, Tiffany Filler wondered how she would pick up the pieces of her life, with tens of thousands of dollars in student debt and nothing to show for it.

A day earlier, she was expelled from Tufts University veterinary school. As a Canadian, her visa was no longer valid and she was told by the school to leave the U.S. “as soon as possible.” That night, her plane departed the U.S. for her native Toronto, leaving any prospect of her becoming a veterinarian behind.

Filler, 24, was accused of an elaborate months-long scheme involving stealing and using university logins to break into the student records system, view answers, and alter her own and other students’ grades.

The case Tufts presented seems compelling, if not entirely believable.

There’s just one problem: In almost every instance that the school accused Filler of hacking, she was elsewhere with proof of her whereabouts or an eyewitness account and without the laptop she’s accused of using. She has alibis: fellow students who testified to her whereabouts; photos with metadata putting her miles away at the time of the alleged hacks; and a sleep tracker that showed she was asleep during others.

Tufts is either right or it expelled an innocent student on shoddy evidence four months before she was set to graduate.

– – –

Guilty until proven innocent

Tiffany Filler always wanted to be a vet.

Ever since she was a teenager, she set her sights on her future career. With almost four years under her belt at Tufts, which is regarded as one of the best schools for veterinary medicine in North America, she could have written her ticket to any practice. Her friends hold her in high regard, telling me that she is honest and hardworking. She kept her head down, earning cumulative grade point averages of 3.9 for her masters and 3.5 for her doctorate.

For a time, she was even featured on the homepage of Tufts’ vet school. She was a model final-year student.

Tufts didn’t see it that way.

Filler was called into a meeting on the main campus on August 22 where the university told her of an investigation. She had “no idea” about the specifics of the hacking allegations, she told me on a phone call, until October 18 when she was pulled out of her shift, still in her bloodied medical scrubs, to face the accusations from the ethics and grievance committee.

For three hours, she faced eight senior academics, including one who is said to be a victim of her alleged hacks. The allegations read like a court docket, but Filler said she went in knowing nothing that she could use to defend herself.

Tufts said she stole a librarian’s password to assign a mysteriously created user account, “Scott Shaw,” with a higher level of system and network access. Filler allegedly used it to look up faculty accounts and reset passwords by swapping out the email address to one she’s accused of controlling, or in some cases obtaining passwords and bypassing the school’s two-factor authentication system by exploiting a loophole that simply didn’t require a second security check, which the school has since fixed.

Tufts accused Filler of using this extensive system access to systematically log in as “Scott Shaw” to obtain answers for tests, taking the tests under her own account, said to be traced from either her computer — based off a unique identifier, known as a MAC address — and the network she allegedly used, either the campus’s wireless network or her off-campus residence. When her grades went up, sometimes other students’ grades went down, the school said.

In other cases, she’s alleged to have broken into the accounts of several assessors in order to alter existing grades or post entirely new ones.

Tiffany Filler, left, with her mother in a 2017 photo at Tufts University.

The bulk of the evidence came from Tufts’ IT department, which said each incident was “well supported” from log files and database records. The evidence pointed to her computer over a period of several months, the department told the committee.

“I thought due process was going to be followed,” said Filler, in a call. “I thought it was innocent until proven guilty until I was told ‘you’re guilty unless you can prove it.'”

Like any private university, Tufts can discipline — even expel — a student for almost any reason.

“Universities can operate like shadow criminal justice systems — without any of the protections or powers of a criminal court,” said Samantha Harris, vice president of policy research at FIRE, a rights group for America’s colleges and universities. “They’re without any of the due process protections for someone accused of something serious, and without any of the powers like subpoenas that you’d need to gather all of the technical evidence.”

Students face an uphill battle in defense of any charges of wrongdoing. As was the case with Filler, many students aren’t given time to prepare for hearings, have no right to an attorney, and are not given any or all of the evidence. Some of the broader charges, such as professional misconduct or ethical violations, are even harder to fight. Grade hacking is one such example — and one of the most serious offenses in academia. Where students have been expelled, many have also faced prosecution and the prospect of serving time in prison on federal computer hacking charges.

Harris reviewed documents we provided outlining the university’s allegations and Filler’s appeal.

“It’s troubling when I read her appeal,” said Harris. “It looks as though [the school has] a lot of information in their sole possession that she might try to use to prove her innocent, and she wasn’t given access to that evidence.”

Access to the university’s evidence, she said, was “critical” to due process protections that students should be given, especially when facing suspension or expulsion.

A month later, the committee served a unanimous vote that Filler was the hacker and recommended her expulsion.

– – –

A RAT in the room

What few facts Filler and Tufts could agree on is that there almost certainly was a hacker. They just disagreed on who the hacker was.

Struggling for answers and convinced her MacBook Air — the source of the alleged hacks — was itself compromised, she paid for someone through freelance marketplace Fiverr to scan her computer. Within minutes, several malicious files were found, chief among which were two remote access trojans — or RATs — commonly used by jilted or jealous lovers to spy on their exes’ webcams and remotely control their computers over the internet. The scan found two: Coldroot and CrossRAT. The former is easily deployed, and the other is highly advanced malware, said to be linked to the Lebanese government.

Evidence of a RAT might suggest someone had remote control of her computer without her knowledge. But existence of both on the same machine, experts say, is unlikely if not entirely implausible.

Thomas Reed, director of Mac and Mobile at Malwarebytes, the same software used to scan Filler’s computer, confirmed the detections but said there was no conclusive evidence to show the malware was functional.

“The Coldroot infection was just the app and was missing the launch daemon that would have been key to keeping it running,” said Reed.

Even if it were functional, how could the hacker have framed her? Could Filler have paid someone to hack her grades? If she paid someone to hack her grades, why implicate her — and potentially the hacker — by using her computer? Filler said she was not cautious about her own cybersecurity — insofar that she pinned her password to a corkboard in her room. Could this have been a stitch-up? Was someone in her house trying to frame her?

The landlord told me a staff resident at Tufts veterinary school, who has since left the house, “has bad feelings” and “anger” toward Filler. The former housemate may have motive but no discernible means. We reached out to the former housemate for comment but did not hear back, and therefore are not naming the person.

Filler took her computer to an Apple Store, claiming the “mouse was acting on its own and the green light for the camera started turning on,” she said. The support staff backed up her files but wiped her computer, along with any evidence of malicious software beyond a handful of screenshots she took as part of the dossier of evidence she submitted in her appeal.

It didn’t convince the grievance committee of possible malicious interference.

“Feedback from [IT] indicated that these issues with her computer were in no way related to the alleged allegations,” said Angie Warner, the committee’s acting chair, in an email we’ve seen, recommending Filler’s expulsion. Citing an unnamed IT staffer, the department claimed with “high degree of certainty” that it was “highly unlikely” that the grade changes were “performed by malicious software or persons without detailed and extensive hacking ability.”

Unable to prove who was behind the remote access malware — or even if it was active — she turned back to fighting her defense.

– – –

‘Why wait?’

It took more than a month before Filler would get the specific times of the alleged hacks, revealing down to the second when each breach happened

Filler thought she could convince the committee that she wasn’t the hacker, but later learned that the timings “did not factor” into the deliberations of the grievance committee, wrote Tufts’ veterinary school dean Joyce Knoll in an email dated December 21.

But Filler said she could in all but a handful of cases provide evidence showing that she was not at her computer.

In one of the first allegations of hacking, Filler was in a packed lecture room, with her laptop open, surrounded by her fellow vet school colleagues both besides and behind her. We spoke to several students who knew Filler — none wanted to be named for fear of retribution from Tufts — who wrote letters to testify in Filler’s defense.

All of the students we spoke to said they were never approached by Tufts to confirm or scrutinize their accounts. Two other classmates who saw Filler’s computer screen during the lecture told me they saw nothing suspicious — only her email or the lecture slides.

Another time Filler is accused of hacking, she was on rounds with other doctors, residents and students to discuss patients in their care. One student said Filler was “with the entire rotation group and the residents, without any access to a computer” for two hours.

For another accusation, Filler was out for dinner in a neighboring town. “She did not have her laptop with her,” said one of the fellow student who was with Filler at dinner. The other students sent letters to Tufts in her defense. Tufts said on that occasion, her computer — eight miles away from the restaurant — was allegedly used to access another staff member’s login and tried to bypass the two-factor authentication, using an iPhone 5S, a model Filler doesn’t own. Filler has an iPhone 6. (We asked an IT systems administrator at another company about Duo audit logs: They said if a device not enrolled with Duo tried to enter a valid username and password but couldn’t get past the two-factor prompt, the administrator would only see the device’s software version and not see the device type. A Duo spokesperson confirmed that the system does not collect device names.)

Filler, who wears a Xiaomi fitness and sleep tracker, said the tracker’s records showed she was asleep in most, but not all of the times she’s accused of hacking. She allowed TechCrunch to access the data in her cloud-stored account, which confirmed her accounts.

The list of accusations included a flurry of activity from her computer at her residence, Tufts said took place between 1am and 2am on June 27, 2018 — during which her fitness tracker shows she was asleep — and from 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on June 28, 2018.

But Filler was 70 miles away visiting the Mark Twain House in neighboring Hartford, Connecticut. She took two photos of her visit — one of her in the house, and another of her standing outside.

We asked Jake Williams, a former NSA hacker who founded cybersecurity and digital forensics firm Rendition Infosec, to examine the metadata embedded in the photos. The photos, taken from her iPhone, contained a matching date and time for the alleged hack, as well as a set of coordinates putting her at the Mark Twain House.

While photo metadata can be modified, Williams said the signs he expected to see for metadata modification weren’t there. “There is no evidence that these were modified,” he said.

Yet none of it was good enough to keep her enrolled at Tufts. In a letter on January 16 affirming her expulsion, Knoll rejected the evidence.

“Date stamps are easy to edit,” said Knoll. “In fact, the photos you shared with me clearly include an ‘edit’ button in the upper corner for this exact purpose,” she wrote, referring to the iPhone software’s native photo editing feature. “Why wait until after you’d been informed that you were going to be expelled to show me months’ old photos?” she said.

“My decision is final,” said her letter. Filler was expelled.

Filler’s final expulsion letter. (Image: supplied)

– – –

The little things

Filler is back home in Toronto. As her class is preparing to graduate without her in May, Tufts has already emailed her to begin reclaiming her loans.

News of Filler’s expulsion was not unexpected given the drawn-out length of the investigation, but many were stunned by the result, according to the students we spoke to. From the time of the initial investigation, many believed Filler would not escape the trap of “guilty until proven innocent.”

“I do not believe Tiffany received fair treatment,” said one student. “As a private institution, it seems like we have few protections [or] ways of recourse. If they could do this to Tiffany, they could do it to any of us.”

TechCrunch sent Tufts a list of 19 questions prior to publication — including if the university hired qualified forensics specialists to investigate, and if law enforcement was contacted and whether the school plans to press criminal charges for the alleged hacking.

“Due to student privacy concerns, we are not able to discuss disciplinary matters involving any current or former student of Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University,” said Tara Pettinato, a Tufts spokesperson. “We take seriously our responsibility to ensure our students’ privacy, to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity, and to adhere to our policies and processes, which are designed to be fair and equitable to all students.”

We asked if the university would answer our questions if Filler waived her right to privacy. The spokesperson said the school “is obligated to follow federal law and its own standards and practices relating to privacy,” and would not discuss disciplinary matters involving any current or former student.

The spokesperson declined to comment further.

But even the little things don’t add up.

Tufts never said how it obtained her IP address. Her landlord told me Tufts never asked for it, let alone confirmed it was accurate. Courts have thrown out cases that rely on them as evidence when others share the same network. MAC addresses can identify devices but can be easily spoofed. Filler owns an iPhone 6, not an iPhone 5S, as claimed by Tufts. And her computer name was different to what Tufts said.

And how did she allegedly get access to the “Scott Shaw” password in the first place?

Warner, the committee chair, said in a letter that the school “does not know” how the initial librarian’s account was compromised, and that it was “irrelevant” if Filler even created the “Scott Shaw” account.

Many accounts were breached as part of this apparent elaborate scheme to alter grades, but there is no evidence Tufts hired any forensics experts to investigate. Did the IT department investigate with an inherent confirmation bias to try to find evidence that connected Filler’s account with the suspicious activity, or were the allegations constructed after Filler was identified as a suspect? And why did the university take months from the first alleged hack to move to protect user accounts with two-factor authentication, and not sooner?

“The data they are looking at doesn’t support the conclusions they’ve drawn,” said Williams, following his analysis of the case. “It’s entirely possible that the data they’re relying on — is far from normal or necessary burdens of evidence that you would use for an adverse action like this.

“They did DIY forensics,” he continued. “And they opened themselves up to legal exposure by doing the investigation themselves.”

Not every story has a clear ending. This is one of them. As much as you would want answers reading this far into the story, we do, too.

But we know two things for certain. First, Tufts expelled a student months before she was set to graduate based on a broken system of academic-led, non-technical committees forced to rely on weak evidence from IT technicians who had no discernible qualifications in digital forensics. And second, it doesn’t have to say why.

Or as one student said: “We got her side of the story, and Tufts was not transparent.”

Extra Crunch members — join our conference call on Tuesday, March 12 at 11AM PST / 2PM EST with host Zack Whittaker. He’ll discuss the story’s developments and take your questions. Not a member yet? Learn more about Extra Crunch and try it free.

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ipadsadvise · 8 years ago

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The Repeat Political Madness Of Never-Ending Crypto Wars

What is it with politicians as well as file encryption? There are now two bills in different UNITED STATE states, one in California and also one in New York, suggesting that mobile phones offered in the state must be able to be decrypted on demand by either their manufacturer or OS provider.

Ergo the complete disk encryption attribute supplied by Google on Android or Apple on iOS would-- if these bills are signed into law-- be outlawed in both particular states. As, most likely, would sales of apples iphone and (plenty of) Androids.

The prospect of political leaders forbiding the iPhone does not have 'fantastic vote-winning strategy' created all over it. But politicians on both sides of the Atlantic obviously stick to the concept that file encryption could be magicked from presence on their say so.

You need to wish lawmakers go to the very least collectively not so foolish regarding wind up passing legislations that try to forbid mathematics-- also if individual political leaders continue in the sensational belief that the basic public's protection can be boosted by weakening, er, the public's protection ...

Over in the U.K., draft regulations presently before parliament, aiming to broaden knowledge and also regulation enforcement companies' surveillance abilities, contains some weasel words on security-- with a provision that comms service providers need to have the ability to "get rid of electronic protection" as well as supply understandable customer information in response to a legal intercept warrant.

While the UK federal government asserts it's not requesting gadget manufacturers and also provider to develop backdoors or hand over encryption keys, it has likewise explicitly said the regulation will certainly call for comms suppliers to supply data in a legible form when offered with a warrant. So the implication coincides: with a little legal sleight of hand, end-to-end security is made to stand outside the law.

Frankly this is a really tiresome dispute, given that it's indefatigably cyclical. We are apparently doomed to rehash the very same disagreements every few years as a brand-new swathe of political leaders show up as well as set to, at the urging of overstretched protection and also regulation enforcement agencies, to discover brand-new methods to prevent solid encryption.

The fact things had gone a little quiet on the crypto wars front, in the pre-Snowden period, was evidently not absolute victory however instead a creeping office workaround-- as the NSA et al taken advantage of poorly safeguarded but favored consumer solutions to acquire the chests of public information they had sought.

But considering that the Snowden discoveries technology titans have actually tightened up their act-- therefore we arrive, again, at political leaders attempting to tighten the legal thumb-screws on encryption.

Not a lot a crypto battle then, however a constant arms race between innovation solutions and an effective commercial security complicated that obviously still has a significant pull on the political strings in nations like the U.S.

There is a very lengthy history of UNITED STATE government agencies looking for to bore file encryption. The NSA also made a chipset with a backdoor-- the Clipper Chip-- in the 1990s and also attempted to obtain UNITED STATE phone manufacturers to utilize it. (Yep, you could presume exactly how well that went ... ) So it appears the conflict between technology and also national politics is a struggle of Sisyphean period, where useless activities are constantly required, regardless of being all too apparently and also hopelessly resisted to the legislations of physics. And we're meant to call this progress?

The disagreement that national protection is boosted by piercing safe and secure security has actually been roundly and also constantly condemned by the security market. You do not enhance the public's safety by making everyone's details much more quickly available to cyberpunks and other criminals. Period.

Yet here we are again.

In this circumstances the costs in California is specifically making the disagreement that damaging file encryption is a needed action to fight human trafficking. In the UNITED KINGDOM the instances routinely brandished to justify mass state penetration of safe and secure tracts are terrorism and/or pedophilia.

The issue with such arguments is they have no boundaries. Where do you attract the line? Should every house have government-installed security cam in every space on the off chance that an individual living there might one day do something criminal? Certain you may capture some criminals yet it's an enormously out of proportion response to invade the personal privacy as well as damage the safety and security of everybody in the nation in order to accomplish that outcome. Policing can not be absolute. It needs to be balanced versus other considerations.

And if we intend to stay in a totally free society, where constitutionals rights and also personal privacy are enshrined as fundamental values which aid to define who we can be as individuals (and also as a cumulative), after that we have to have some enduring red lines.

Yet mass monitoring rides harsh shod over tough won democratic borders in the name of an ill-defined and apparently infinite 'battle on horror'. If the objective is outright defeat of terrorism after that political leaders are visiting should do a whole lot greater than restriction iPhones. Most likely some sort of widely implanted mindreading chip would be needed. Yeah, good luck with that.

Returning to reality, tries to disallow security are doomed to fail on the grounds that it's not feasible to regulate people's access to encrypted modern technology. In one really recent example, the so-called Islamic State has developed its very own encrypted conversation application. So exactly what was the point of political leaders attempting to implement backdoors in mainstream apps and solutions? Bad stars will constantly locates methods to course around the damage. every person else's information security obtains screwed.

In all likelihood terrorists locate this situation entirely to their liking-- given they are triggering massive damages to public safety and security with minimal action on their component. They've contracted out mass hacking to government brokers whipped into the chaotic vortex of power national politics as well as the peculiar potency of terrorism to flip political bars. At the same time truly major threats to human civilization (e.g. climate adjustment) obviously take years to even register as a political problem, let alone make it into the legislative radar. Such is the strange reasoning of politics.

So if the states of California and New york city end up determining to ban sales of contemporary smartphones-- as well as you really have to wish that's rather darn not likely, provided how crazy the reasoning of this is (I informed TC's editor I would eat my typical hat if the NY legislation happens, so I admit to having some teeth in the game ...)-- you'll definitely soon see a whole great deal of UNITED STATE people daytripping to the following state to acquire their following Nexus or iPhone. As well as the question will certainly stay: exactly what will political leaders have achieved?

The overarching problem shows up to be that security services have become addicted to catch-all surveillance as their method operandi for intelligence celebration. As opposed to concentrating their resources in a more wisely targeted means. (If you require access to a suspicious individual's encrypted data you can consistently install malware on their tool. Instead the security services prefer to demand tech platforms do the intelligence help them by supplying backdoor accessibility to everyone's information. So maybe they have actually failed to remember ways to do core authorities job to figure out that are suspects in the first area. Perhaps due to the fact that they are sinking in information ...)

This structural problem appears to be compounded by some cosy relationships between political leaders who are proposing encryption-perforating legislation and the safety and security firms seeking it. Ars Technica notes that Jim Cooper, the California Setting up participant that is recommending one of the aforementioned costs, is a 30-year veteran with the Sacramento Area Sheriff's Department.

While, in the New York state example, the costs has actually been suggested by Assembly member Matthew Titone-- that public records reveal has taken project benefactor funding payments from cops unions as well as associations in current times.

So long as politicians stay most comfy outside the digital globe, as well as so long as they require to increase cash to fund their very own re-election campaigns, we'll get highly illiterate legislations being suggested, either from out-and-out stupidness. Or (more likely) to placate various other passion groups that are a lot more arranged when it pertains to oiling the right set of political wheels-- and the next round of crypto altercations will rat-tat-tat up again.

Is there any sort of means to stop the madness of repeat record? The most good indicator in this most recent crypto battle is the durable public protection of privacy and also file encryption being mounted by Apple. Such a high profile company is in a location to increase public awareness and apply sizable political stress. And loud enough objections could work as a weight to relocate to quietly slide new loopholes right into encrypted solutions via vaguely-worded legislature -- or attempts to work off intellectually dishonest debates as inarguable logic. State by claiming the "security of the population" depends upon banning iPhones.

Even so, the cycle continues to be extremely tedious. We can however hope that eventually, in some moment of blinding future revelation, there will certainly be a political tipping factor right into a basic understanding that the "security of the citizenry" actually relies on the sacredness of the population's data.

Perhaps the expansion of an Web of Points-- wherein significant quantities of intimate personal information are routinely streamed to the cloud, straight from individuals's homes and also from their bodies-- will be the catalyst for a much required shift of mainstream perspective.

So let's hope we don't need to wait too long before the crypto wars are lastly, ultimately won.

#iPhone #mobile #the iphone

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tweetadvise · 8 years ago

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5 Reasons Marketers Need Transformation

In September 2015, I participated in the Adobe Digital Marketing Seminar in Japan where electronic change was the motif. In his presentation, Dai Tamesue, Japan's record holder in the 400-meter difficulties, made the legitimate point that change is vital for individuals as well as businesses. I wish to introduce how his tale of makeover aids marketing professionals transform themselves in the electronic world.

Here are 5 factors makeover is important for marketers.

1. Having best purposes hones the best skills

One of the improvement choices that Tamesue made was to determine his purpose. In a meeting with the Japan Times, Tamesue described the great possibility the obstacles provided because there were fewer competitors than in the 100-meter sprint. He chose to change from a 100-meter racer to a 400-meter high hurdler to accomplish his goal of ending up being a globe champion.

In a current MIT Sloan study of 1,559 executives as well as supervisors on digital improvement, 78 percent of respondents predicted that makeover would certainly come to be important to their organizations within the following 2 years as well as 63 percent claimed that the rate of technology change in their organization was sluggish. Simply puts, makeover was required, but it wasn't coming quick sufficient. This hold-up in action is usually the result of seeing transformation as also difficult of a task.

The solution is to check out what you can transform directly. Are you adhering to your marketing strategies that achieved success in the past? As Tamesue's tale shows, it is most important to have a clear vision of your objective or you risk transforming your success factor as well as shed self-confidence after all.

After identifying just what the race required, Tamesue broke the 400-meter difficulties right into segments and also concentrated on grasping each section of the race.

2. A small method brings clear rewards

As with many modification efforts, the initial step is typically one of the most challenging. It is difficult to transform initially, specifically when most of the marketing activities you have actually done in the past functioned fine. Yet when checking out improvement as equal to a kind of self-adjustment, it becomes easier to make the ideal relocations, specifically when the benefits can be seen. As soon as success shows up at hand, those associated with the transformation come to be much more engaged.

When Tamesue started his transformation to the 400-meter obstacles, he understood that in this race, first you dash 45 meters, then you clear difficulties every 35 meters up until you obtain to the last 40-meter stretch when you run to the surface. He said, "There are 10 hurdles in complete and also I would certainly established out by covering the distance in between each in 13 strides. As I tired during the race, as well as my strides obtained shorter, I 'd switch to 14 up until, nearing the end, I 'd switch to 15 as I got also a lot more worn out. Some runners prefer to correspond as well as stay with 15 strides, and even 13, between difficulties."

Tamesue understood that to not only compete, yet also to win, he would certainly have to approach the race from a clinical point of view. Once he realized his objectives as well as broke them down right into workable tasks, he became more involved in the makeover. Each new as well as better strategy brought about more ideas, creating a snowball effect of uncovering ways to tweak his performance.

3. Adaptation becomes easier

Tamesue resigned from professional overcoming at age 34, authored three publications, came to be a capitalist, and is currently associated with realty. He was able to change from a 100-meter sprinter to an Olympic 400-meter hurdler, then from an athlete to a business owner. He savored the condition he remained in at his peak, but recognized he would never be in the very same problem once again. His trip of change has actually allowed him to better adjust to his environment on a constant basis.

The factor is that as soon as digital marketers devote to the idea of makeover, adaptation comes to be easier. Successful marketing experts have created the ability to adjust purposefully as well as continually to their competitive atmospheres. However delaying online marketers that fall short to discover the changes going on around them and also adjusting to them are required to play catch up when it is possibly too late.

4. Aids you prevent the previous successes trap

You might keep in mind the "boiling frog syndrome," that is, if you put a frog in a pot of water and slowly bring the water to a boil, the frog will stay there and also die. The exact same holds true with our successes. It is simple to enable past successes to lead us to believe that we will constantly hit residence runs. Naturally that is not true, yet any one of us can obtain captured because trap.

Just like BF Skinner's Operant Conditioning with rats, which ended that reinforced habits tend to be duplicated, for Tamesue, staying a 100-meter sprinter was a catch. "Several professional athlete friends said they didn't comprehend my choice, or the concept I would certainly switch over to hurdling due to the fact that I had not been successful at 100 meters. ... As well as to withdraw is considered evil. I understood my limitation as a 100-meter sprinter-- though I still had psychological add-ons to the race."

Think two times if you are conditioned to stick with past successes. When we maintain a finger on the pulse of our toughness, skills, weak points, and abilities, and examine our performances, we need to have the ability to prevent the catch and welcome transformation.

The chart above shows that waiting up until performance is already decreasing not only raises the magnitude of the required change yet also puts companies in a responsive position, creating them to miss chances for affordable advantage. Specifically in the electronic world, we might wallow in our cocoon of past success adhering to a conventional marketing design as well as fail with greater chances. Improvement avoids us from resting on our laurels, enabling us to adjust to the ever-changing electronic advertising world.

5. Leads to innovation

Transformation needs innovative thinking. Tamesue went via his improvement with many experimentation. He claimed the procedure resembled Zen practice where the Chinese character "禅" is composed of the signs for "index" as well as "easy." He concentrated on a solitary goal as well as located many methods to approach it. This led him to be innovative as well as expand. For us, change will develop a disruptor of sorts in the advertising world.

Digital marketing is an area of consistent change. Changing from exactly how points have always been done to a new and also much better method releases the imaginative juices, opening new opportunities of advertising and can catapult you to locations where you could scorching your own path.

You Can Shake Things Up

Change is difficult, however if we as marketing experts don't welcome change and also adjust to it, we will fall short. Sticking with an advertising and marketing approach that does not work is normally the result of forgeting our end goals.

Tamesue's encounter convinced me we ought to be open to adapting to an ever-changing advertising setting. We could just do this by transforming how we consider marketing and also how we think of our clients, products, and companies. Although you may have huge encounters in the advertising and marketing globe, the lessons from Tamesue show us that we require improvement will progress to survive.

#business #business owner #business plan #digital marketing #marketing #marketing companies

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