#ITT Tech

[felidaekitty01]

Tfw there is student loan borrowers defense forgiveness for your school... and you don't qualify for it because the loans were private... and you consolidated them back in 2013, which fucked you over.

[eightiesfan]

ITT HiFi center 1978

[wordfromoursponsor]

"He's never out of touch" (1965)

[yourfavvgal]

i hate the fact i have one life like there is so much i want to do but i cant do it

[rapidhighway]

omg guys tech noir by gunship has a sequel and its a happy ending :)

[erinfern0]

cutting the cord

spencer reid x explosives specialist!gn!reader

— gender-neutral nicknames, gender-neutral anatomy, only pronouns used are you, they, etc.

summary: the team struggles with a group who planned to plant a bomb in a town hall to spread awareness of their cause. as the only technicians available in the area are busy with another emergency, Spencer finds himself calling you, the closest off-duty technician he knew, despite how much he hates the idea.

warnings: emotional, angst(?), some swearing, love confession, and obviously stress, anxiety and fear for your life, etc. cliffhanger

a/n: this was highly inspired by episode 'hero worship' from season 10 of Criminal Minds. I haven't written anything besides smut for such a long time I wanted to give something like this a try. Itt's also over like 2,5k words long--- (I'm so sorry i don't even know how i wrote it)

Doomsday Prophets - The group they were tracking started off small, with a bunch of troubled, unsupervised teenagers led by their online guru, who believed the system was too flawed to even try to repair it. They spent their first months spreading their agenda with countless flayers and graffiti murals all over the most popular places in the city. No one knew his real name, just the internet alias of doomsking130. Even the great Garcia couldn't track him in time before one of his sidekicks got brutally beaten for trying to leave.

Countless informants, and hours spent in interrogation rooms with lower-ranked members and the injured boy, lead them to the leader struggling with psychosis and an overwhelming god complex. He believed the only way to get people's attention was to set a bomb in a nearby town hall in the early morning hours, showing even the government can't protect people from the truth, at least that's what the team thought.

He never even thought there might be security guards waiting for him, informed about his plans by the FBI. As soon as they saw him entering the building via security cameras, they called no other than SSA Hotchner, who had warned them earlier that something like this might happen soon. His team quickly moved into action, hoping they could stop him before he set up the bomb, just to avoid getting help from Bomb Techs.

“Dave, you and I go from the staff-only entry on the left, Morgan and Jareau take the right window, the security guard who called left it open,” said Agent Hotchner, pointing the right directions to his team, watching them split. “Reid and Callahan, you enter the front and look for any worker left in the building.”

Everyone nodded in understanding, splitting and running to their destinations with their guns in their hands. Dr. Reid could feel a tiny drop of sweat running down his brow as he pointed another person toward the front door. People ran away in fear but kept their mouths closed not to alarm the criminals' leader.

Some time passed, leading the team to the building's basement, where the leader set up his life's biggest achievement. A small-looking detonator, connected to two canisters of gasoline, was set next to the power outlet. The arrest was quick, he didn't try any games or to run away, he simply allowed Agent Rossi to cuff him, because the damage was done.

Or was about to be done.

The bomb was already set, giving the team one and a half hours to deal with it as the unsub refused to help. He screamed about how the government tries to control the youngest of all to be their mindless little soldiers. How the system was set to manipulate the youth into dying for the country that didn't care about them. He laughed as Agent Morgan inspected the bomb from a distance.

“Y'all are a part of their games, agents,” he spat as agent Rossi guided him to the door. “All I spread is the truth, you're just too blind to see them using you. My kids won't stop opening people's eyes, even when you take me away! The Doomsday will come as they realize they'd been lied to...”

“Aren't you even worse?” Asked Morgan, crossing his arms with a displeased look on his face.

"How so?" Asked the man, suspiciously calm and smug as he raised his head proudly.

"Well, technically speaking even if what you're saying is true, the government uses us to help other people who can't protect themselves from people like you," said Reid, staring at the man as if he were trying to look at his soul. "You on the other hand pressure troubled teens into doing your dirty work to feed your ever-growing god complex, which almost led one of them to death."

The unsub seemed to be confused, that little frown on his brows, mindlessly staring into the wall behind Dr. Reid as he parted his lips as if he was about to speak.

"Seems like you used up your limit," taunted Callahan, smirking at him as he opened his mouth again.

He started trashing his arms around in Rossi's grip, spitting something out in some Slavic language they couldn't understand.

“That's enough,” murmured Rossi, tightening his grip and taking the criminal outside, leading him to the car parked in front of the building alongside Callahan.

“I'll call the Techs,” said Hotchner, heading outside to get his phone.

Some minutes later he came back with his arms crossed and that strange, disappointed look.

"And?" Asked Morgan, looking around the room, kneeling beside the bomb, and inspecting it closer.

"They might or may not be here in an hour, there was another emergency, supposedly done by the Dooms Prophets," said Agent Hotchner, looking at all of his people who stayed inside.

"He planned this better than we thought," whispered Jennifer, looking at him with concern. "The kids must have lied..."

"Or he didn't trust all of them, the ones we got to speak with were younger, less devoted. He wouldn't trust them with that information," added Reid, standing beside Morgan.

"Yeah, but if he really treated them like prophets for the close-minded folks, he wouldn't change his mind from a long-lasting plan to something so quick," murmured Derek, looking up at his teammates.

"This was his plan all along, he knew he'd be caught. He just hoped his Prophets would continue his work without him," Reid chimed in, looking around to only see his teammates confused faces. "His nickname was 'doomsking130'… The bomb was set to an hour and a half," he added, looking at his watch, then the device. "I think the attack and the emergency wasn't his idea, it's his followers who tried to continue his work on their own."

They all stared at one another, nodding in agreement while processing his words, following up on the idea of their Boy Genius.

Morgan turned his head slightly to look at the messy-haired doctor. "This shit is too complicated, nothin' I've seen yet, this guy is a smart one," he whispered, shaking his head softly. "I can't deal with this... I'm sorry."

"Not your fault, Derek. We'll wait for the Techs," assured Hotchner, patting his agent's back as he stood up away from the bomb.

"There is no time," said Jareau, turning her head to her team. "You said they 'may or may not' be here in an hour, and we already lost a few minutes, they might be too late."

The atmosphere in the room felt heavier as Agent Rossi came back to the room, saying he got the local police to drag the leader to the station, while Kate called her family to inform them she'd be late. He felt as disappointed and worried as everyone, making sure to keep the pregnant agent safe, away from the building as the rest searched for a solution for a few more minutes.

"Reid," started Morgan, turning to face his friend. "Doesn't your lovebird know how to deal with those?"

"Um, yeah, they worked in the bomb disposal department, but decided to take a break from this a while back," he answered, already frowning his brows at the dreadful idea.

"Would they be able to disarm it?" joined Hotchner, crossing his arms as he listened.

"I think so..." he said unsurely, his hands shaking slightly at scenarios running through his head. "It wouldn't be exactly legal to bring them here, just for your information."

"Would be quicker than the actual technicians," noticed Jareau, looking at Spencer with a soft, understanding look on her face. She knew exactly how much it had to scare him, but like everyone else — she couldn't see another way.

"If they don't feel like doing it, we'll just have to wait for the Bomb Techs, as a civilian now, they shouldn't feel pressured into risking so much," reminded Hotchner, looking at Dr. Reid with a glimpse of sympathy.

"But saving some time would be nice," said Morgan unapologetically, moving closer to Reid. "They live only a few blocks away, local police could escort them and secure the area."

Jennifer came up to Spencer, slowly wrapping an arm around him, soothing his tense muscles. She saw the distress in his eyes, but just like the doctor, she didn't like the idea.

"I'll call," decided Spencer, closing his eyes to calm down. "They live around eight minutes away from here, but-"

"It's up to them," assured Hotchner, nodding his head in understanding. "I'll make some calls, to make sure they won't get into any trouble if they decide to come."

Getting a call from Spencer so early in the morning was usual, so you left your book on the side of the couch, paying your full attention to his words. He spoke quickly, almost too quickly as he tried to summarize everything in the shortest amount of time possible, making it hard for you to interrupt him. Just the tiredness and distress in his voice made you melt, gathering your kit before he could even finish his ramble.

You didn't hesitate, jumping into the police car he talked about that escorted you right to the town hall, passing the barrier blocks and reporters who tried to talk to you. You covered your face with your hood, knowing too well not to talk to them, especially that you weren't there exactly legally. Passing agents Rossi and Callahan, you waved at them, getting polite nods as they watched you disappear into the building.

You walked as quickly as possible, guided by the deputy that drove you there. Something felt different, deep inside of you as you ran downstairs to the basement. It wasn't the first time you got an urgent call to help disarm a bomb, that was your entire life for the past few years, but just reminding yourself of Spencer's voice made your heart beat a little faster.

"SSA Aaron Hotchner," said the tall man who stood in the middle of the room, nodding his head as he shook your hand. He was the only member of the team you didn't have the chance to meet. You introduced yourself. Just hearing your own specialist title fall from your lips felt so distant as you were on a break for the past few months.

You nodded to everyone, only locking eyes with Spencer, who got closer as if just his presence was meant to protect you. "Agent Hotchner," you started, looking away from your boyfriend to kneel beside the device, opening your kit of tools in a hurry. "Evacuate the building and the area, I'll do my best but with devices like this..."

"I understand," he assured, letting Morgan and Jareau leave the room. There was only one more person who didn't budge beside him. "Reid?"

You looked to your side, watching Spencer shake his head and roll his sleeves up. "I'd like to stay," he said as if it was nothing, not even looking at his superior.

"It's your call," said Hotchner, looking at him with worry, but he left the basement. You knew if you weren't so important to Spencer he'd never allow this kind of behavior, but you could feel your blood boil at just the idea of him staying.

"Leave," you said simply, knowing how dangerous it was for him. At that moment, you didn't even care for yourself, you've done this a million times, but risking his life...

"Not a chance," he replied, reaching for your flashlight to help you. You could see the way his hands started shaking then he lifted it and it started to break your heart.

"You can't do this, Spence," you whispered breathlessly, focusing your eyes on the device. Two detachable components connected only by a few wires, a wide panel to control the bomb was already turned off the moment the time was set and two big canisters of gasoline beside just to make the explosion more dangerous.

"I can and I will," he said firmly, watching your skilled fingers run over the bomb to carefully detach the two parts.

"For fucks sake, Spencer," you sighed, already feeling the way your lip quivered with every word. "I can't promise you anything, I can't do this to you..."

"I'm not leaving," he repeated through gritted teeth, looking up at you from under his messy hair, covering most of his face as he spoke. "And stop trying to convince me otherwise."

You wiped the tears that spilled from your eyes as they followed one wire after another, watching the way they split and connected to find the one to cut. There were way more than in a usual device and just from the look of it, you knew some of them were just decoys, not really connected to any part, not activating anything, just being there to fuck with the mind of the person who dared to try defusing it.

"I can't focus when all I can think of is this killing you," you whispered, your voice breaking with every passing second. "Leave me here, I need to do this alone... I can't risk your life like this. You mean too much not only to me but to your team, your mom, the people who will need the help of an actual genius, so please, just spare me the talking and get out when you still have the chance. It's so selfish to even think..."

His calm and soft voice stopped you in the middle of your monologue. Tears kept falling down your face as you recognized the words he spoke. The stubborn bastard couldn't even fathom the idea of leaving you to this by yourself. Despite how scared he was inside, he kept his cool, reciting one of your favorite books from memory.

You inhaled deeply, feeling yourself growing more steady and calm, your muscles relaxing with every paragraph. Despite biting into your lip harshly, you didn't feel the pain, the tears were gone and the annoyingly fast heartbeat eased.

Spencer kept his eyes glued to your fingers as he took breaths in between each sentence, only glimpsing up a you for a second every time you cut another decoy wire to clear your way to the actual ones.

The time seemed to stop despite the timer showing you almost an hour passed already, leaving you with only a few minutes to neutralize the threat. You wiped your face in your hoodie, getting rid of sweat and tears as you cut through the last decoy, leading you to analyze the actual device.

You caught the cord you thought was the right one with your scissors, swallowing harshly at just the idea of you being wrong. You reached your free hand to the side, mindlessly searching for his. Doing this was not only risking the lives of you and Spencer but potentially unaware people who happened to be close by. Your heart sped up drastically as you made the decision.

Looking up, you saw Spencer who stopped mid-sentence. A look of worry passed through his face as he intertwined your fingers, his other hand resting on the back of your head, soothing you by slowly moving his fingers through your hair.

"Spencer," you whispered breathlessly, a stray tear running down your cheek, leaving him to quickly wipe it off with a soft smile."I love you..."

His smile only grew bigger as looked at you, that familiar sparkle in his eye shining brightly at you. His eyes were teary, but he didn't let any tears spill as he nodded. Those puppy eyes stared at you with the most love you've ever seen.

"I know," he whispered back, his voice cracking as he looked down at your hands.

You felt like the whole world crushed over you as he didn't say those words back, unlike he did a million times before. Your heart sank but you just looked down, brows frowned as you focused not to lose all composure you had left.

For a split second, the basement was filled with eerie silence as you pushed down on the scissors, cutting the cord in half.

masterlist | request info

[biggesttmntfanintheworld]

short and sweet mutant mayhem x gn! reader headcanons!!

raph

bullies you(in a nice way i swear)

playfully wrestles you a lot

you guys walk to school together every. singe. DAY.

and he walks you home everyday too

you go to all his wrestling matches(ALL OF THEM)

he slaps your butt a lot(but if you want him to stop he will)

he calls you baby babe boo bae and meat pizza(IN A NICE WAY)

leo

biggest. simp. EVER.

he'll order pizza for you whenever you're hungry(since he can't cook), and if you pay him $1.05 and a kiss on the cheek he'll clean your entire living space

he talks about Tom Brady a lot(im sorry)

he talks about football a lot(im sorry again)

he gets jealous when he sees you talking to any human male(red flag)

you guys go on a date at the outdoor movie place every Saturday

he calls you sweetie honey love my love sweetheart and beautiful

donnie

( i LOVE this goofy goober)

shy asf

would do anything Tech wise for you

you guys listen to Kpop a lot(im sorry if you don't like it)

he tells you really bad jokes(please laugh)

let's you try on his glasses

you guys cuddle and hug a lot

he calls you baby babe honey and bae

mikey

SUPER SWEETHEART<33

HUGS AND CUDDLES ALL DAY EVERY DAY

he calls you cutie more than your own name

can and will kiss you all day(Forget homework bro)

likes when you scratch his shell

says i love you 478 times a day

if you guys sit across each other in class EVERY TIME you look at him he ALWAYS blows you a kiss

he tells you cheesy jokes

he calls you baby babe honey cutie boo bae and pizza bite

IM FINALLY DONEEEEE I REALLY HOPED YOU LIKED ITT

BYE BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[kiforditom-szetszedem]

Tipikus példa rosszul megírt cikkre, aminek semmi keresnivalója nem lenne tudományos rovatban. Indoklás:

A címben szereplő NASA-nak semmi kòze a dologhoz. Az illető valamikor ott dolgozott, ez most a szólóprojektje. Ez hasonló ahhoz, amikor Scaramuccit szólaltatják meg a tévében politikai kommentátorként, pedig csak 10 napig volt a Fehér Ház szóvivője, azt is úgy, hogy még munkába sem állt ez alatt

Azt írják, áttörést értek el, találtak egybúj jelensrget. Nem részletezik, hogy ez mi. Bocs, de amig ez nincs megnevezve, addig ez nem tech, még csak nem is tudomány, hanem bulvár rovat. Én is mondhatok hasonlót

A cikk szerint majd ha a jelenlegi 10 millinewton hajtóerőt fel sikerül skálázni, el lehet majd vele jutni a Holdra. Ezzel csak az a baj, hogy ők maguk írják le, hogy alkalmatlan még egy alma levegőben tartására is - bármi is legyen az. Jelenleg is léteznek pl ionhajtóművek, működnek is, 20-250 mN hajtóerővel, mégsem mondja azt senki, hogy majd ezzel érjük el a szökési sebességet. Illetve van aki mondja, de azoknak hideg vizes borogatást szoktak a fejére tenni ilyenkor nyáron.

A cikk megemlíti, hogy egyszer az Artemis-program űrhajóit is ez hajthatja, ami elég merész, tekintve, hogy semmi konkrétat nem tudunk a 10mN mellett, viszont megint itt egy NASA hivatkozás annak ellenére, hogy ez egy magáncég.

Végén egy naív idiotizmussal zárul: "több tonna üzemanyagra lenne szükség indításonként, hogy elérje az ember a világűrt" - ügyes próbálkozás, technikailag igaz, hogy több tonna, gyakorlatilag ez jelenleg kb 750 tonna az Artemis, valamint 395.7 tonna a SpaceX Falcon 9 esetében

A hivatkozott cikk sokkal több részletet elárul, s a kettőből egyetlen következtetést lehet csak levonni, semmi többet: hogy a hvg cikk írója olvasott egy cikket amiből nem értett semmit, majd leírta, hogy olvasott egy cikket. Semmi baj, HVG, a New Scientist is ezt csinálja, csak nagyban

[inbarfink]

You are now a villain in a fictional story!

[deramin2]

Please make sure you know how to use speech to text on your phone and what app you're going to use in case you suddenly lose your hearing and have to communicate to a doctor about it.

And make sure your aging parents (or other friends and family) know this. This is not something you want to be figuring out while you or they are sick and or disoriented. And you definitely don't want to be trying to do tech support over text while someone's in the hospital and if you can't this very soon they'll get inadequate or slow care.

It's possible to write on paper or a white board but my experience is it's much slower and people use confusing shorthand to speed it up.

I really encourage people to experiment with and learn all the adaptive technology in your pocket even at a basic level because really big disability impairments—temporary or permanent—can happen way faster then you imagine and it's much scarier and more frustrating if you don't know what to do to compensate.

There is so much adaptive technology already in your pocket that was science fiction even 20 years ago, or wildly expensive and harder to set up. What we have today is truely incredible for aiding disabled people.

Learn when it's easier, less stressful, you can take it in more slowly, and get used to it off and on. Not while you're having an emergency. And itt will also teach you how you can take small daily actions to ensure access for disabled people (like writing alt text and captions and video transcripts).

[eightiesfan]

ITT 1980

[kaminokatie]

Valentines Day || Crosshair

Synopsis - You have no Valentines for this years Valentines Day.

Warnings - SFW.

Notes - Cross divider by the talented @stars-n-spice

Word Count - 750.

{Caffeinate Me}

Valentines Day was fast approaching and you had yet to secure yourself a date for the evening. It was hard, afterall. Being in the middle of war didn’t give you many opportunities to find a suitor, especially not when you had your boys to protect. You were currently sitting on the Havoc Marauder, on your way back to Kamino with your squad after the completion of your most recent mission. Hunter looked you up and down, eyebrows knitting together as he sensed your frustration. “What’s wrong Y/N?” He asked, sitting across from you in the cockpit. 

You looked up at him, playing with your fingers and smiling softly before responding, “oh it’s nothing.” 

“It must be something,” Hunter replied, his hand reaching out to touch your shoulder gently. 

“I suppose I’m just feeling down,” you responded with a sigh, feeling his gloved hand rest against armour. “Valentine's Day is coming up and I have no date!”

“You celebrate it?” Echo’s voice came from the opposite side of the cockpit. You looked at him with genuine confusion. 

“Yes! You don’t?” 

“We’re soldiers Y/N,” Echo reminded you as he sat in the co-pilot’s chair. “We don’t do Valentine’s Day.” 

You frowned. “That sucks.” The men just shrugged in response, Crosshair's gaze lingering on your form a little longer than usual as he chewed on his toothpick. “You’ve never had a Valentines?”

“It goes against our purpose,” Tech replied, not bothering to look your way. 

“Well,” you said standing up. “This is my first year in a while without a Valentines and I’m upset about itt!”  

“You have more important things to think and worry about now Y/N,” Hunter said sternly forcing you to roll your eyes at him. 

“Yeah yeah,” you waved him off as you continued to roll your eyes. 

“I’m being serious,” Hunter said. 

“I get it,” you said. “Am I not allowed to be sad about it?” You challenged him, standing up and wrapping your arms across your chest. 

“I don’t think that’s what Hunter means Y/N,” Tech interjected, looking away from what he was doing at the controls to notice your furrowed brows. “I think he simply means we have to focus on our missions instead of courting someone.”

“Besides, why would you need a Valentines when you have us!” Wrecker grins as he wraps an arm around your shoulder. 

“Ew you’re like my brothers,” you groan, shaking Wrecker’s arm off your shoulder and storming out of the cockpit frustratedly.  

You sat on your bunk kicking your feet and thinking when you were suddenly interrupted. “Brother’s huh?” It was Crosshair. He had his signature toothpick between his lips as he spoke to you, a singular eyebrow raised as he walked towards your bunk. 

“What?” You asked softly, heart beat racing at the sudden intrusion. 

“We’re like your brothers?” 

“Well, yeah,” you mumbled, pulling your knees up to your chest. 

“Then you won’t want me to ask you to be my Valentine then?” Crosshair asked, a smirk playing on his lips as he removed his toothpick. You swear your heart skipped several beats as soon as the words left his lips. 

“Huh?” You asked, eyes wide. 

“I think you heard me,” Crosshair pressed as he sat down next to you on your bunk. He placed a hand on your thigh after flicking his toothpick carelessly across the ship, leaning his face closer to yours just to whisper “do you want to be my Valentine?” You gulped slightly, fearing this was some sort of prank, but when you searched his eyes for any deceit and found none, you nodded quickly. “Hah, that’s what I thought.”

He pressed a soft kiss to your temple before pulling away and walking back into the cockpit, taking another toothpick out of his pocket and placing it between his teeth. It was only as Crosshair left did Hunter walk in, a knowing smile on his face. “Did you get your date then?” He asked, looking you up and down. 

“I suppose I did,” you mumbled, eyes wide as you watched the door of the cockpit. 

“About time he asked you,” Hunter said, sitting down next to you. 

“What do you mean?” You asked, tearing your eyes away from the door to look at your Sargeant. 

“He’s been pining after you for months,” Hunter chuckled lightly. Your heart began to beat rapidly against your ribcage as Hunter placed a hand on your shoulder, squeezing tightly. “Have fun, soldier. You both deserve it.” 

[fovarosiblog]

Van Gogh kiállítás Budapesten

Magyarországra érkezett a világ egyik legnépszerűbb multimédiás művészeti élménye, a Van Gogh -The Immersive Experience. A kiállítást a földkerekségen már több, mint 20 millióan látták: New Yorkban, Londonban, Berlinben, Szöulban és más metropoliszokban is százezreket nyűgözött le van Gogh különleges posztimpresszionista látványvilága. A produkció a budapesti BOK csarnokban nyílik meg február 2-án és szeptember 1-ig várja a látogatókat.

Ezer négyzetméternyi kivetítőn elevenedik meg Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), a posztimpresszionizmus legnagyobb alakjának művészete február 2-tól a BOK csarnokban. A minden érzékszervre ható, XXI. századi tech-kulturális élmény a festőzseni legismertebb, leglátványosabb műveinek vizuális megjelenítésével nyűgözi le a közönséget. A látogatók a kiállításon nemcsak a műveket ismerhetik meg egy soha nem látott formában, hanem bepillantást nyerhetnek az alkotó életébe is.

A Van Gogh - The Immersive Experience nem egy hagyományos értelemben vett kiállítás. Nincsenek eredeti festmények a falakon, azonban a több teremből álló, kétezer négyzetméteres, hatalmas audiovizuális kiállítótér egyedülálló, innovatív lehetőséget kínál arra, hogy a látogatók elmerülhessenek a holland mester semmihez sem fogható világában.

A tárlat azok számára is izgalmas időtöltést nyújt, akik nem tartoznak a klasszikus képzőművészeti kiállítások törzsközönségéhez, ugyanakkor felejthetetlen élményt ígér a vérbeli van Gogh rajongóknak is.

A produkcióban megelevenednek a festő napraforgómezői, csillagos égboltjai, sőt a mester hálószobájának ajtaja is kitárul. A látogatókat várja egy speciális VR-szoba, valamint a stúdió is, ahol a kiállítás megtekintése után bárki belebújhat van Gogh bőrébe és elkészítheti saját alkotását, amelyet akár a falra is kivetíthet.

„Kilépünk a hagyományos keretek közül és forradalmi módon jelenítjük meg van Gogh világát. A holland festőművész legismertebb alkotásait technológiai eszközök segítségével keltjük életre, ezáltal a látogatók egy minden ízében 21. századi multimédiás élményben részesülhetnek. Ismerjük és értjük a mai generáció preferenciáit, tudjuk, hogy a felgyorsult világ új szokásokat alakított ki a kultúrafogyasztás területén is. Bízunk abban, hogy a Van Gogh – The Immersive Experience a fiatalokat is közelebb hozza a művészethez” - mondta el Dudi Bercovici, a Hadran Events ügyvezetője és a kiállítás szervezője.

A kiállítás nemzetközi sikerét jól mutatja, hogy Londonban az eredetileg eltervezett három hónapos nyitvatartás helyett immáron két éve fogadja folyamatosan a látogatókat a produkció. Az Egyesült Államokban, Atlantában pedig tavaly nyár óta 600 ezren váltottak jegyet a látványosságra, amely így történelme során már több, mint 20 millió látogatót vonzott.

A BOK csarnokban a Van Gogh - The Immersive Experience február 2-tól előreláthatóan szeptember 1-ig várja a látogatókat. További tudnivalók és jegyek itt: https://vangoghbudapest.hu/

(sajtóközlemény)

[ms-demeanor]

if you were actually worried about people sending harassment or whatever why even put someone on the spot about what/where they study? that’s a low blow even if it’s a for profit

Ah, yes, let me clarify: medical grifters get no passes. If you paid to take introductory homeopathy so that you could get your degree in alternative medicine, you are using your "knowledge" to bilk someone out of money that they could be using to actually treat whatever disorder they're hoping you can help them with.

That blogger's patreon specifically lists their alternative medicine "degree" and education with Chestnut as reasons that you should give them money.

Saying "I have studied homeopathy and chiropractic, which is why you should pay me for recipes for herbal menstruation remedies and sound meditations" is specifically worth putting them on the spot.

I actually don't have an issue with someone running sound meditations or putting up ASMR videos. I don't think it's a problem for a layperson to put up a post saying "this is the tea that I drink when I'm feeling gross during my period." But someone who is saying "I have studied [alternative] medicine, and here are recipes for hair growth tea and a skin-clarifying salad" deserves to get called out on their bullshit.

And when I'm calling someone a bullshit medical grifter, I like to cite evidence, because I believe that it's important to combat misinformation and I believe that it's important to verify facts before you share them on the internet. That's why I specifically linked to and screenshotted the institutions they named. I want people reading that to understand that it's not *just* that someone went to a for-profit school, it's that they went to a for-profit school known as a diploma mill that has extremely low standards for degree granting, does not have specific accreditation for many of their programs, and that is engaged in fucking over their students, which is a decent indicator that the school does not care about the quality of education they are providing.

You probably don't know this, but I'm actually very sympathetic to students who have gotten fucked over by predatory schools. I think that the US does a bad job of educating people about what kinds of education are available to them. I think it's messed up that long before ITT tech lost its accreditation it was more of a warning than an asset when you saw it on an application because the IT field had known for a long time that people who went to ITT tech had gotten a shit education and weren't reliable tech workers without significant retraining.

The way that Everglades College is treating its students is bullshit.

But, even though the school itself was predatory, practicing 'alternative medicine' is also predatory, and people who can sit through "Introductory Homeopathy" and still choose to practice alternative medicine (or advertise their education in alternative medicine as a reason to support them financially) are either aware that their practice is full of shit or so dangerously credulous that it is actively harmful for them to give people advice about what they are putting in their bodies.

[asryakino]

FULL STORY OF THE SAGA OF THE EXPLOSIVE PHONE AND THE ELECTRONICS STORE THAT TRIED TO GET ME TO COMMIT DOMESTIC TERRORISM! -

This is going to take a hot minute to type, so be patient

on June 18th 2024 I was out running errands, and picked up dinner, in doing so I overdrew the credit union account, I THOUGHT I had zeroed it out, but it had actually overdrawn.

I didn't find out until after the bank had closed, and since the 19th was Juneteenth (a federal holiday in the states) the CU was closed.

I THOUGHT I could sign the account up through Zelle and/or cashapp and just transfer money directly into the account, but Zelle continually failed, and cash app let me enroll it, but not transfer the money to the account.

Continually they said the issue was with the DEBIT CARD, not the account and told me to call the bank. I couldn't.

On the 20th, I woke up early enough to call the bank, and began the arduous process of verifying over the phone with my dad just so I could talk to them, and Zelle, and try to figure out why the everloving hell the zelle system said there was something wrong with the card and not letting me even sign up so I could transfer money into the account.

I spent four hours on this. Calling one, calling the other, being on hold. and NO ONE could fix the problem.

I repeated myself so many times I was tired of hearing myself. I got one person who said it was the carrier, so I had to call t-mobile, except it wasn't tmobile it was mint, and tmobile transferred me to aura and not mint, and finally to mint who said 'oh that feature is already unlocked on the account you need to call the banking institution or zelle.

On the final call to zelle, the new tech was refusing to accept the verification. and starts going through her little trapper keeper script of why she was refusing to accept the verification when we had all the answers all the info and had ACTIVELY BEEN VERIFYING FOR FOUR HOURS until this point when she says, off handedly during her script read (she was literally just reading the fucking bullet points, I could HEAR the pauses as she shifted line down) "Your account must have more than a dollar in it to enroll"

I spin, looking at the phone only to realize that the phone my dad is holding has expanded, and popped the back of itself off. And immediately begin internally panicking but externally I'm just being frustrated because THAT was the problem for the past four hours, not me entering info wrong, not the information being incorrect with the bank, not the debit card being mislinked, not a system error THE ACCOUNT WAS ALREADY OVER DRAWN AND IT TOOK FOUR HOURS AND WIGHT TECHS TO TELL ME THIS CONDITION?!

I tell dad to immediately hang up the phone and give it to me, I'm ready to rip my hair out and he thinks I'm going to throw the phone and kind of clings to it. I say, firmer. "Give me that timebomb NOW" and he goes 'what is the pro- what the fuck is that?"

I saiod "That is a spicy pillow and you need to give itt to me -now-. I'm taking it to best buy it should still be under warranty." "Yeah, yeah.." and he handed me the phone "When did that happen?" "When you took the phone out of the case to talk to zelle a second ago. It's blowing out, and It doesn't need to be here." "Yeah you go handle... this..."

I explain the zelle issue why it wouldn't enroll, and go get dressed, grab the spicy ravioli and run out the door with the idea that I'll go to the credit union two cities over, fix the overdraft and then take care of the phone return. While driving it's still expanding so I reprioritize and decide to return the phone first.

In my mind, this is a simple thing. I know the phone is under warranty, it has become a safety issue, their standard practice of "keep this and send it off" is not a viable option so it will HAVE to be a refund/in store exchange.

I know this because I've had to do this once before in the past. I know how their policies work, I know the standard returns but more importantly I know the severity of a bloated li-ion battery and how fucking important it is to get it into a safe disposal unit to be picked up by hazardous waste techs with a fireproof vehicle

I go in, at this point I am forwardly professional, I am not panicked, excitable or anything I have my mask of professionalism on and I'm all fucking business. I go to customer service and say 'I need to make a return but before that, do you have a fire blanket or fire suppressant for this fire hazard" and I gently set the phone on the counter. My only thought is to safely contain this ACTIVELY EXPANDING lithium battery.

She looks down, eye go wide and goes "I don't know let me check" and runs to the back, I hear from the back "We have a bucket of sand" and I retort "That will do, this needs to be contained immediately please"

They come get it, and take the potential fire hazard to be buried in the sand bucket. NOW we may commence the return process. I immediately put on the customer service interaction mask, and give them the information for the account, I joke that my receipt for the purchase had bleached out in the car (It had, I keep it in the sunglasses holder and it had legitimated denatured) and we agree that is why they have everything digital.

The CS says it's a rapid exchange in store for this, I said yay, that's actually really nice, because 'express' is not great. She agrees, and sends me to the mobile department, I say take all the time they need, I'll pick a new phone and confirm it's what my dad wants, and I know the paperwork is going to take a hot minute.

I confirm dad doesn't care as long as it's functional, so I pick out the same type, but updated model of phone (Moto G Stylus 2023 model to replace the 2021 model that is buried in sand in the back)

I talk to mobile, connecting with the associate over customer horror stories and the like while the new phone that he, customer service, geek squad techs, and two other associates and a manager have seen, agreed this is going to be an instore exchange because of the circumstances.

We begin setting up the phone and I realize the sim card is still in the bomb. I roll back over in my wheelchair to ask if it's safe to get the sim card. And they say they have to check the IMEI anyway and I bawk. We've already confirmed it's probably not safe to turn the phone on right now, and they say it's okay, it's on the sim tray. I didn't know that, good information. And I ask, cautiously, if it'd be okay to turn it on BRIEFLY so I can get only the login email on it to know which email my dad used for logging into google so I can get his contacts and account synched

the tech says "I don't recommend it" I asked if it would be okay to do so knowingly against advice to turn it on, get the info, turn it off and rebury the thing?

By now, it's been confirmed the battery is no longer expanding, and it's not actively leaking, smoking or heating up. We all agree it's a compromised cell within the battery but it hasn't been breeched, so it's safe-ISH to handle, briefly, but it shouldn't be agitated too much just in case.

I suggest removing the back fully so there's no pressure points. I'm ignored.

I get the info, turn off the fire bomb and hand it back, where it's taken back to what I assume is the sand bucket.

after a little while, the replacement phone is ready for login, I begin setting up the phone for my dad and logging in his information so it'll be set up and ready to go. They begin the return paperwork for the other phone.

At this point it's been about 45 minutes. It's been a smooth process where everyone was on the same side of 'we do not want to agitate the bomb, and Asrya should be leaving with a functional phone and NOT a fire hazard."

when they try to do the return, the SKU (sales identification number) comes up as dead meaning that the store chain doesn't carry that model any more, and the system won't accept the item as a return for cash, credit, or refund. It just -won't- . Initially, I tell them I've had to do this only twice before (I didn't mention it was spread out over like twelve years that I've been using this specific protection plan with Best Buy) and that they may have to store manager override it.

I've had to utilize this process before with laptops I had to exchange due to manufacture defects... so I actually do know how the policy works, the former general manager of the store had explained it to me YEARS ago.

So I tell them that it happens, and to take their time, I know it's a pain in the ass and I'm sorry I'm taking up so much resources, but it's really okay and as long as the end result is good, I don't mind waiting.

At this point it's 1 in the afternoon.

I've been at the best buy for an hour.

The manager comes up after a while, telling me that it's physically impossible. And I'm going to have to use the 'express return' system, it's the only solution that their system is allowing them to process.

I start getting frustrated, which means I start crying because I am fighting the urge to begin yelling. I've now been here for over an hour, I was in the middle of handling the situation and I NEED the phone in order to process the banking issue this all started with so my dad doesn't get charged overdraft fees.

I explain I can't wait a week for a new phone and what am I supposed to do with the bloated phone?

they explain this process, and get snippy telling me "It's 2-3 days not a week" I tell them it's 2-3 BUSINESS days "well... yeah" "This is THURSDAY, at the earliest it'll process Friday then ship out on Monday, if I'm LUCKY it'll arrive on TUESDAY at the earliest, and maybe not until Thursday of next week! During that whole time my dad's account will have overdraft fees being applied to it for each day! We can't afford that! On top of that you want me to pay a 70$ deposit just to do this! We do not have that money right now"

I was told I could apply for and use the best buy credit card.

I asked for a phone number to call, that there HAD to be an alternative solution, I said I didn't want to take the fire hazard home with me.

By now they had REMOVED THE PHONE FROM THE BUCKET and were walking around with it after me, trying to get me to take the fucking compromised battery.

I tell them to put that thing back in the sand bucket. And they give me 'corporate's number' a 1877 number. I ask if that's the number to call to talk to a supervisor or manager because this is an exception to the policy if ever there was one. If anyone would have the directions for overriding this dead sku problem, it should be the store manager's area or district manager

I am told there is no area or district manager.

I am FLOORED, I realize I've not been around this system for a couple of years but that information just... baffles me. I ask who THEY call when they have a situation come up that can't be handled in store.

They tell me they call the 1877 number.

I am BAFFLED by this, but I call the 1877 number, the call id comes up as 'best buy express kiosk" and I groan because I recognize this as the trunk line call center. I brace for and prepare to handle this for an hour. I am still trying to be as professional as possible.

I have now been here for going on two hours.

I roll out into the entry way, they CHASE ME with the fucking firebomb of a phone and ask if I'm leaving. I look back at them holding this fucking bloated phone and say no I'm just trying to get out of everyone's way so I can call the number and would they PLEASE put that thing back again and leave it in the safe bucket!

I spend the better part of hour three struggling to get through these customer service techs, explaining the situation and begging for them to transfer me to a manager or supervisor. I'm being denied this at every turn until I get to "returns" and am told to ask THEM for a manager by a tech who seemed to understand the situation and why I was calling.

I'm transferred, the tech listens, agrees that I should NOT be handed a firebomb to go home with, and should not be expected to ship a bloated li-ion battery in the mail and that it should be an in store return with store credit. I ask her to please explain this to the manager and go to remove my headset and put her on speaker so the manager can hear it from corporate

the call disconnected

I break

I begin crying, as quietly as I can, and the manager goes 'well' and I explain the call disconnected... I have to get back to that point.. and roll back into the entry way to begin the process again.

I'm crying, I just need this to work.

I've been here for nearly three hours.

The new tech that answers refuses to confirm the account and begins insisting I give my personal number and email to him. Refusing to accept the account information.

He puts me on hold. I call the corporate number again, merge the calls, and he has me on a mute hold. I get another tech that sound like the same guy, who also eventually puts me on hold, and then disconnects the call.

I'm sobbing and breaking down at this point, I'm having a panic attack, and struggling to maintain any type of composure at this point. I tell them I'm going out to my car so I'm not causing a scene in their store and is the manager positive there is no other option. I need to be leaving with a working phone, or at least I do NOT need to be leaving with a fucking FIRE HAZARD that they are expecting me to ship in the mail it is ILLEGAL to ship compromised batteries in the mail.

this fucking manager looks me dead in the face and says I can purchase a new phone to use, and just bring it back after the 'express return' is finished, or I can just do the express return, but there is NO WAY at all physically for her to do the return, in any shape, form or fashion, that I will have to take the fire hazard phone with me and ship it to their facility when the new phone comes in the mail in five days or so

I say I do not feel comfortable holding onto a FIRE HAZARD for a week, much less being without the ability to do the banking and is best buy going to cover the overdraft fees I'll be incurring and what am I supposed to do with a fucking bloated phone that could explode?!

Her solution? "You can go to walmart and buy a bucket and sand and put it in there if you don't feel safe with it, I hear that sand is good for batteries like this"

I snap... I just.. break down and begin crying because at this point I've been here for three hours, I know what she's suggesting is absolutely wrong, she's lied to me about not having an area/district manager, and she's standing over me like some fucking goon while telling me to take a BOMB home and then send it in the federal post in a week!

I break down, I take the stupid fucking bomb, they make me factory reset the phone I had been working on previously, I take the sim card, and I ask again if there is ANYONE I can call to talk to that will help. Who do THEY call when there's a situation because there HAS to be SOMEONE. They insist that nope, there's ONLY the 1877 number to the call centre.

I'm bawling, I'm broken, and crying I'm having heart issues, my head is screaming, my face feels burnt, and I roll out to the car and put the chair away. While unpacking the chair I realize I had actually put a pack of switch thumbsticks in the cart because I had been hoping to buy them with the leftover store credit I'd have when they all thought it was going to be a store credit exchange.

With my legs SCREAMING in pain, and barely able to walk, I limp back in on my crutches, unintelligibly sobbing and return the nearly-pilfered item, then go back to the truck. St this point I've set the phone on my driver's seat, I begin working on possibly loading the chair back on the truck when there's a loud, gunshot-like POP noise

and for a brief, horrifying moment, I think the battery has just exploded in my truck. Only to realize the heat had actually boiled a bottle of soda, and THAT was what had just exploded.

I'm determined, angry, frustrated, pissed, and petty... I don't want this fucking bomb in my possession, I know for a goddamn fact I am not supposed to have this bomb in my possession, I know that if it goes off and causes damages that best buy will be liable for it, and frankly, while the payout might be nice the inconvenience of having to deal with the damage, replacement, insurance, lawyers, and court costs and investigation are too much for me to handle. I don't want to go through it I JUST want a phone that works, the bank situation to be fixed and to NOT HAVE A FUCKING BOMB IN MY POSSISSION

I begin calling the useless as fuck call centre again, and for the next three and a half hours (totaling seven now) I continually try to explain, repeat, get transferred, sobbing, crying and getting hung up on by asshole techs. and I'm losing more and more composure as it goes on.

I FINALLY get a tech who says 'it should be store credit' I said I need the instructions on how to do that because the manager is claiming to not know how to do it. and I beg her to talk to the manager. Success. I go back in side, clinging to this tiny spider thread of hope that they'll fix it.

the manager takes my phone, asks if she can step tot he side, I say yes, and she comes back and they're both just repeating that the only solution is for me to send this bomb in the mail

I tell them it's ILLEGAL to send it, it's literally a federal crime. It CANNOT be policy to do this. None of them will budge. None will do the override, they're INSISTING I have to wait for a phone to come in, and then send a BOMB in the mail. I tell them this is probably why we've had mail trucks catch fire if they're telling people to do this it's ILLEGAL

The fucking manager says 'it's not actively leaking, it's not smoking or how it SHOULD be legal to send it in the mail' I ask for the salary person she mentioned. I go tot the mobile guy I'd been talking to six hours ago. I ask HIM to get me the salary person. This woman comes over and stands over me, arms crossed, with them angrily standing in front of me, arms crossed, like they're trying to intimidate me out of the store for trying to run a scam.

they continue to tell me there's no other option that they wouldn't spend six hours to tell me know they'd help if they could that I'm going to have to use the mail system.

I ask the salary manager who they call. She says corporate. I say that is horseshit. She gets offended and I clarify. That if their new policies is to call the call center number they gave me that is a horse shit policy and THEY are in danger of running into DANGEROUS situations like this without a way of getting out or around it. Who do I call to complain about that policy then?

"You can complain but it won't do anything to change the answer"

"Who do I call?!"

They give me no answer.

I leave

after seven hours of fighting with them. I leave, in possession of a fire hazard, my head pounding, feeling sick, having now gone through MULTIPLE break downs, melt downs, and panic attacks over the past seven hours of being on site trying to get them to do the right things.

I go home and explain to my parents what happened, I unload the tiny amount of groceries I'd picked up (twenty bucks of emergency cash) and realize how much bullshit it is what had happened. So I begin calling the local investigative news stations to see if they want to look into this.

One of the news stations is VERY interested in the fact this store told me to buy a bucket of sand to put a dangerous fire/explosive into. They're interested that the store can't be called with inbound calls, that there's apparently no area or district manager to call, that the store sent me home with an explosive and told me to send it in the mail.

I send the store to the news station. I call other stations, they're not as interested. That's fine. I'm advised to call the attorney general of commerce and leave them the story. I do.

June 21 2024 - I still need to correct the banking situation so I determine to drive to the bank, make a physical deposit with some change I have on hand to bring the account high enough to accept the cash app deposit I tried to withdraw two days before. And while I am in the area of the credit union, I'll go to a different best buy, explain what happened, and see if they give me the same answer.

The bank was thankfully open two hours later than I though, giving me plenty of time. They accepted the deposit, and I was on my way, I get to the other Best Buy.

The battery has expanded again by this point. But still no leaks, smoke, or active heat but I don't trust it, and moving it is a bad idea. I take it inside, I explain what happened and this store is absolutely horrified of my story.

I show them receipts of what happened. I explain their responses, their 'solutions' and their suggestions. This store's crew is just locked in abject horror that this happened. I explain why the other store wouldn't do the store credit and they say 'let me call my manager' and I tell them about how the other store told me there was NO area or district manager.

They look confused "Well he's kind of a roaming district manager, but... yeah... we have... I have a lot to tell Abby."

I breathe a sigh of relief. I was right, there's an area manager, and a roaming district manager... I wasn't crazy I did remember correctly how their policies worked... I tell them about the 'we call corporate' situation and how I was on the phone for 7 hours thereabouts, being hung up on.. they all continue to look horrified... at this point they hit the same dead sku issue, and I lament a possible repeat. They said they were NOT going to let me have that bomb back, we were NOT going to be sending it through the mail (one even said 'Isn't that considered like.. terrorism?!" and I agreed I was pretty sure it was. ) they said I was leaving with a phone they just had to get 'Abby' to tell them how to bypass this... and she did. In like.. five minutes.

"Is store credit okay? It'll probably have to be store credit" "YES! That's perfect, it means I can just get the phone and a new plan..." They help me find a phone they have (Moto G 5g 2024 model) and even with a new plan, I had 33% of store credit left over!

They tell me that phone is NOT leaving the sand bucket, and there's a brief funny moment of one associate holding up the sim tray (they'd used it to confirm the IMEI and confirm it was the phone under warranty) and the tech laughing and holding this tiny piece of plastic "This is probably the least problematic part of the phone"

I agree... the situation was handled, and I tell them I DID report them to the AG, and the news stations, and one of the associates goes "I'm REALLY surprised that store did that... that's the main hub store of the district, and he's on vacation right now but Roy, the district manager... that's his HOME store... I don't know what they were thinking" and I go "Roy.... Roy.... Mister Roy? Kinda tall, brown/black hair? Used to be the General manager of that store? THAT Mister Roy is the district manager?" "Yeah! He was the general manager there for a while." "Yeah about three0four years ago, I've met him! He's the one who told me about the way the protection plans work"

They all agreed he was not going to be happy, and any new friends that store makes from my reports were justified, they were glad I raised hell about the battery because it would have been a disaster if it'd gone off, and "didn't they know how dangerous these batteries are" and "why the hell did they send you home with that?" and me agreeing it was insane and wrong and just... feeling better to know I wasn't crazy in the way I knew the world was SUPPOSED to work.

So in the end - the banking situation was handled, I was able to get a new working phone for my dad, that did indeed transfer all information, contacts, images and everything over (for as evil as it's become, google synching system and account connections are INCREDIBLE for this exact situation) and I had enough money left over to get the switch thumbsticks I'd wanted to get from the other store... I still have some money left over. and they were cheaper than my local store.

the news station hasn't gotten back to me yet, but they may not until Monday at the earliest, but the situation is done at least, (largely) and the end was a good one.

and that concludes the epic saga of "Asrya and the exploding battery - and the store manager that wanted her to commit an act of domestic terrorism"