#Mobile workstations

[buzzlift]

Workstation Laptops: Are They Worth it?

Discover the pros and cons of workstation laptops to determine if they are worth the investment. Explore their performance, portability, and suitability for various tasks in this comprehensive blog.

[dndtreasury]

Gyro's Mobile Workstation

[mobiblip]

Explore the Best ThinkPad Laptop Models: Ultimate Performance at Unbeatable Prices

In the realm of laptops, one brand has consistently stood out for its reliability, durability, and unparalleled performance – ThinkPad. Renowned for catering to professionals and tech enthusiasts alike, ThinkPad laptops have become synonymous with efficiency and productivity. Let's delve into some of the best models ThinkPad has to offer, ensuring you get the most bang for your buck.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9: Sporting a sleek design and weighing just over 2 pounds, the X1 Carbon Gen 9 is an epitome of portability and power. Boasting an Intel Core i7 processor and up to 32GB of RAM, this laptop ensures seamless multitasking and lightning-fast performance. Its vibrant display and impressive battery life make it a perfect companion for both work and entertainment.

ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6: Combining the versatility of a 2-in-1 design with robust performance, the X1 Yoga Gen 6 is a force to be reckoned with. Featuring a 360-degree hinge and optional 4K OLED display, this laptop offers stunning visuals and unparalleled flexibility. With powerful processors and ample storage options, it effortlessly handles intensive tasks with ease.

ThinkPad T14s Gen 2: Catering to the needs of business professionals, the T14s Gen 2 strikes the perfect balance between performance and portability. Equipped with AMD Ryzen or Intel Core processors and up to 32GB of RAM, it delivers exceptional computing power while remaining remarkably thin and lightweight. Its robust security features ensure peace of mind, making it an ideal choice for enterprise use.

ThinkPad P15v: Designed for professionals in creative fields such as design and engineering, the P15v packs a punch with its powerful graphics and processing capabilities. With NVIDIA Quadro graphics and up to 64GB of RAM, it effortlessly handles resource-intensive tasks like 3D rendering and video editing. Its durable build and comprehensive connectivity options make it a reliable workstation for demanding professionals.

ThinkPad E14 Gen 3: Offering impressive performance at an affordable price point, the E14 Gen 3 is perfect for small business owners and students alike. With AMD Ryzen processors and optional AMD Radeon graphics, it delivers reliable performance for everyday tasks and light gaming. Its robust security features and durable build ensure longevity, making it a cost-effective investment for budget-conscious buyers.

These are just a few highlights from the extensive lineup of ThinkPad laptops, each tailored to meet specific needs and preferences. Whether you're a business professional seeking unrivaled performance or a student in need of a reliable study companion, ThinkPad has you covered.

To explore the full range of ThinkPad laptops and find the perfect fit for your needs, visit mobiblip.com/thinkpad-laptop. Elevate your computing experience with ThinkPad – where performance meets reliability.

[metrocomputers]

[praveenroshmi-blog]

EUREKA ERGONOMIC Z2 Gaming Desk 50.6'' Z Shaped Office PC Computer Gaming Table with Retractable Cup Holder Headset Hook RGB Light for Men Boyfriend Female Gift(Wood, Black)

Price: (as of – Details) Ergonomics Comfortable, 5° Tilt Angle. Oversized Mouse Pad. Rgb Led Lights, Six Color Changeable. Multi-Function Tabletop, Cable Management System. ??RETRACTABLE GEAR HOLDERS?-Cup holder & Headset hook, save desktop space and easy to reach for drinking and listening. ??5° ERGONOMIC INCLINE? – Stay comfortable and ergonomic for hours with the inclined keyboard tray and…

[casescomau]

Mobile Workstations & Portable Office

Discover a wide selection of premium storage solutions including drawer cases, wardrobe cases, Mobile Workstations & Portable Office, and flight cases tailored for video editing and production. Our offerings come with the added advantage of budget-friendly shipping options to Australia and New Zealand. Whether you're seeking functional drawers or specialized flight cases, our collection ensures quality and caters to your preferences while keeping shipping costs reasonable. Embrace top-notch protection and convenience with our range of storage cases, all designed to meet your unique needs.

[samwiselastname]

The mechanisms by which computers (and household objects with computers tucked into them) are subsidized for consumer markets are fucking insane and thinking about it for more than a minute makes me start to Understand The Coat.

And you seem anticonsumption types skimming over the full weight of all the tragedy that puts the smart in your smart TV or churns out disposable cellphones to say, "it's a stupid wasteful luxury status symbol" when its the shape of the entire consumer market. Nobody's fucking buying a new iPhone every year, dude. They're trading in every 2-5 years to get a new one on credit for $30/month. It's hardware as a service. The hardware is necessary to cope with obscene memory bloat on the web & in software, and remain socially connected in a very photography-oriented culture.

Anyway, pretty hype for my pixel 7 to get here. (rimshot)

[ioceanebranding]

Top 5 Must-Have IT Products for Start-Ups

You can streamline your business operations and help your business grow by investing in the right IT products as a start-up. The market has plenty of options and it is challenging to choose the most appropriate one for your specific needs. Here, we highlight the top five must-have IT products for start-ups and why they might benefit your business.

HP 247 G8 Notebook PC

The HP 247 G8 Notebook PC is a powerful and efficient laptop designed for start-ups. It has a processor based on AMD's R3 5300, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD, which allows it to handle complex tasks and store large amounts of data. It comes with a 1-year warranty, providing peace of mind if problems arise. The 14" display is a good size for working on multiple projects without taking up too much space.

Efficient Performance

The system has an AMD Ryzen 3 5300 processor

8GB RAM to provide fast performance 

Large Storage Capacity

A 512GB SSD provides plenty of storage space

Portable & Lightweight

14-inch display and compact design

Ideal for start-ups that frequently travel or work remotely

Dell Optiplex 3000 Tower

The Dell Optiplex 3000 Tower desktop computer allows you to run your business more efficiently and effectively. This laptop is equipped with a Core i3-12100 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It runs Windows 10 Pro and has no DVD drive, so it's easy to use and maintain. It's perfect for businesses that need more processing power, and the 22" display is large enough to multitask comfortably.

High Performance

Core i3 processor and 

8GB RAM

More Storage Capacity

256GB SSD's ample storage space

Easy to Upgrade

Very  easy to upgrade 

Ideal for start-ups that anticipate scaling and need IT products that can adapt

Lenovo ThinkCentre Neo 30A All-In-One

For start-ups seeking power in a small package, the Lenovo ThinkCentre Neo 30A All-In-One is ideal. This machine has an Intel Core i5-1240P processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, making it a reliable and efficient machine. It's 24" display and all-in-one design make it perfect for working on multiple projects simultaneously. Windows 11 Pro is included, so it's easy to set up and use.

Built-in Webcam

For virtual meetings or require video conferencing

Efficient Performance

Intel Core i5 processor and 

8GB RAM

Space-Saving Design

24-inch display and an all-in-one design

ideal choice for start-ups with limited office space

Dell Precision 3560 Mobile Workstation

Start-ups that require more processing power and advanced graphics capabilities will find the Dell Precision 3560 Mobile Workstation ideal. This computer has an Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD, which makes it capable of handling complex tasks. You can work on multiple projects at once with the 15.6" display, and a 3-year warranty backs the workstation.

Lightweight & Portable

lightweight build and compact design

Better for start-ups that work remotely or travel frequently

Large Storage Capacity

512GB SSD is better for large businesses that need plenty of storage space

High-Performance Graphics

NVIDIA T500 graphics card

Ideal for start-ups that require high-performance graphics

Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 2

Designed for start-ups that require a lot of processing power, the Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 2 is an excellent laptop. A 512GB SSD, 8GB of RAM, and an Intel processor make this a powerful and efficient laptop. Work on multiple projects simultaneously on the laptop's 14" display, which is perfect for multitasking, and operate it efficiently with Windows 10 Pro.

Built-in Collaboration Features

Smart voice recognition software,

Dual noise-canceling microphone arrays, and 

Dolby Audio

Impressive Battery Life

battery lasts up to 11 hours

Powerful Performance

Intel Core i5 processors and 

8GB RAM

Bonus: T440 Server

Start-ups requiring sophisticated IT infrastructure should consider the T440 Server. This is the perfect solution for businesses that require more processing power and storage capacity. This server can be customised to meet your specific needs, and it comes with a 3-year warranty, ensuring your peace of mind. You can scale and grow your business with this powerful and reliable machine.

Efficient Performance

High-speed, efficient performance on the server

Storage Capacity

Storage capacity is ample

A great choice for large businesses

High Scalability

Designed to be scalable

Ideal for start-ups anticipating growth

Your choice of IT products can greatly impact your start-up's success. Our online store offers the HP 247 G8 Notebook PC, Dell Optiplex 3000 Tower, and Lenovo ThinkCentre Neo, which are some of the newest models.

Maximize your start-up's potential with top-quality IT products from NoteBuk.in

All-in-Ones, Dell Precision 3560 Mobile Workstations, and Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Generation 2 are excellent choices for start-ups looking to invest in powerful and reliable IT equipment. These machines aren't only efficient and come with warranties, making them a safe investment for your business.

What to look for in a business laptop 

Processor

Most Windows systems use Intel or AMD processors.

A small number of ARM-based CPUs used in ultralight systems.

Processor needs vary by task: Celeron/Pentium for receptionist, i3/i5 for sales, i7/M2 Pro for graphics.

RAM:

Comes in many sizes and speeds, with more translating into better performance.

4GB minimum for any business computer.

16GB is better for typical office workers.

Storage

Can have a traditional hard drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD).

SSDs are faster, more reliable, use less power, are costlier.

Look for at least a 128GB SSD or a 1TB HDD.

Battery

A 3,500 mAh capacity power pack will likely run for longer.

OS

Windows 10/11 Pro provides better security, BitLocker encryption, and management tools.

Organisations needing enterprise-class security and manageability can opt for Windows 10/11 Enterprise.

Form Factor & Screen

13.3- to 16-inch screens are standard for laptops, with some models up to 17.3 inches.

Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080) should be the minimum.

A touch screen benefits designers, marketers, and salespeople in various tasks.

So, where do you go when you need the best IT equipment at competitive rates? Choose the right product for your needs from the various options available. Additionally, the platform offers flexible payment and financing options, so start-ups can invest in the right IT products without straining their budget. This investment can be made without breaking the bank with NoteBuk.in, allowing you to focus on what matters most - growing your business.

[interiorergonomics]

The Cognac Kendal L-shaped Oak Office Desk

Embrace the latest L-shaped office desk design made of Cognac Kendal Oak ecofriendly Egger Wood Boards. For sure this Schon L-shaped office desk is a gamer changer for both home and corporate office setups. Reason being that,

it feature in custom desk dimensions to fit in corner spaces

It comes with a wooden mobile 3 drawer pedestal for personalized storage

Its top working surface is made of entirely cognac kendal oak wood boards with antibacterial property.

It has a stylish CNC design embedded on its front wood board panel

Underneath, its has enough legroom as well as extra working space

It can be used for both the left and right handed individuals

Check it out from the leading modern home and corporate office furniture manufacturer.

[agapi-kalyptei]

crowdstrike: hot take 1

It's too early in the news cycle to say anything truly smart, but to sum things up, what I know so far:

there was no "hack" or cyberattack or data breach*

a private IT security company called CrowdStrike released a faulty update which practically disabled all its desktop (?) Windows workstations (laptops too, but maybe not servers? not sure)

the cause has been found and a fix is on the way

as it stands now, the fix will have to be manually applied (in person) to each affected workstation (this could mean in practice maybe 5, maybe 30 minutes of work for each affected computer - the number is also unknown, but it very well could be tens (or hundreds) of thousands of computers across thousands of large, multinational enterprises.

(The fix can be applied manually if you have a-bit-more-than-basic knowledge of computers)

Things that are currently safe to assume:

this wasn't a fault of any single individual, but of a process (workflow on the side of CrowdStrike) that didn't detect the fault ahead of time

[most likely] it's not that someone was incompetent or stupid - but we don't have the root cause analysis available yet

deploying bugfixes on Fridays is a bad idea

*The obligatory warning part:

Just because this wasn't a cyberattack, doesn't mean there won't be related security breaches of all kinds in all industries. The chaos, panic, uncertainty, and very soon also exhaustion of people dealing with the fallout of the issue will create a perfect storm for actually malicious actors that will try to exploit any possible vulnerability in companies' vulnerable state.

The analysis / speculation part:

globalization bad lol

OK, more seriously: I have not even heard about CrowdStrike until today, and I'm not a security engineer. I'm a developer with mild to moderate (outsider) understanding of vulnerabilities.

OK some background / basics first

It's very common for companies of any size to have more to protect their digital assets than just an antivirus and a firewall. Large companies (Delta Airlines) can afford to pay other large companies to provide security solutions for them (CrowdStrike). These days, to avoid bad software of any kind - malware - you need a complex suite of software that protects you from all sides:

desktop/laptop: antivirus, firewall, secure DNS, avoiding insecure WiFi, browser exploits, system patches, email scanner, phishing on web, phishing via email, physical access, USB thumb drive, motherboard/BIOS/UEFI vulnerabilities or built-in exploits made by the manufacturers of the Chinese government,

person/phone: phishing via SMS, phishing via calls, iOS/Android OS vulnerabilities, mobile app vulnerabilities, mobile apps that masquerade as useful while harvesting your data, vulnerabilities in things like WhatsApp where a glitched JPG pictures sent to you can expose your data, ...

servers: mostly same as above except they servers have to often deal with millions of requests per day, most of them valid, and at least some of the servers need to be connected to the internet 24/7

CDN and cloud services: fundamentally, an average big company today relies on dozens or hundreds of other big internet companies (AWS / Azure / GCP / Apple / Google) which in turn rely on hundreds of other companies to outsource a lot of tasks (like harvesting your data and sending you marketing emails)

infrastructure - routers... modems... your Alexa is spying on you... i'm tired... etc.

Anyway if you drifted to sleep in the previous paragraph I don't blame you. I'm genuinely just scratching the surface. Cybersecurity is insanely important today, and it's insanely complex too.

The reason why the incident blue-screened the machines is that to avoid malware, a lot of the anti-malware has to run in a more "privileged" mode, meaning they exist very close to the "heart" of Windows (or any other OS - the heart is called kernel). However, on this level, a bug can crash the system a lot more easily. And it did.

OK OK the actual hot lukewarm take finally

I didn't expect to get hit by y2k bug in the middle of 2024, but here we are.

As bad as it was, this only affected a small portion of all computers - in the ballpark of ~0.001% or even 0.0001% - but already caused disruptions to flights and hospitals in a big chunk of the world.

maybe-FAQ:

"Oh but this would be avoided if they weren't using the Crowdwhatever software" - true. However, this kind of mistake is not exclusive to them.

"Haha windows sucks, Linux 4eva" - I mean. Yeah? But no. Conceptually there is nothing that would prevent this from happening on Linux, if only there was anyone actually using it (on desktop).

"But really, Windows should have a better protection" - yes? no? This is a very difficult, technical question, because for kernel drivers the whole point is that 1. you trust them, and 2. they need the super-powerful-unrestrained access to work as intended, and 3. you _need_ them to be blazing fast, so babysitting them from the Windows perspective is counterproductive. It's a technical issue with no easy answers on this level.

"But there was some issue with Microsoft stuff too." - yes, but it's unknown if they are related, and at this point I have not seen any solid info about it.

The point is, in a deeply interconnected world, it's sort of a miracle that this isn't happening more often, and on a wider scale. Both bugfixes and new bugs are deployed every minute to some software somewhere in the world, because we're all in a rush to make money and pay rent and meet deadlines.

Increased monoculture in IT is bad for everyone. Whichever OS, whichever brand, whichever security solution provider - the more popular they are, the better visible their mistakes will be.

As much as it would be fun to make jokes like "CrowdStroke", I'm not even particularly mad at the company (at this point - that might change when I hear about their QA process). And no, I'm not even mad at Windows, as explained in the pseudo-FAQ.

The ultimate hot take? If at all possible, don't rely on anything related to computers. Technical problems are caused by technical solutions.

[cevansbrat0007]

The Green Light

Summary: Full Story! Andy is over the moon when you finally get the green light to be intimate again after the birth of your babies. But how do you explain to him that you're not quite comfortable with your post-pregnancy body just yet? Check out the sequel: The Green Light Afterglow.

Warnings: Mature Themes, Light Smut, Daddy Kink, Insecure Reader, Discussions of Post-Pregnancy Body, Discussions of Intimacy, Slight Lactation Kink Reference, Cursing, Minors DNI

A/N: I know this took a while. Thank you all for your patience and I sincerely hope it's okay. Prompt courtesy of an anonymous reader. Part of my ongoing Growing Pains Series. Warnings subject to change. All mistakes are my own. Please let me know your thoughts!

___

“Well, I’ve gotta tell you, my dear, by all appearances you’ve healed just fine.” You let out a sigh as Dr. Wilson, your OBGYN, removes the speculum. God, how you hated that thing. “You can go ahead and sit up.” You watch as he removes his gloves to make some notes on his mobile workstation. “Everything looks good. How have you been feeling lately? Raising four kids is no easy feat, especially when half of them are newborns.”

“Andy and I try to split the shifts as best we can. If he’s helping with the twins then I’ve got the older girls, and vice versa.”

“That’s good. One thing I’ve always liked about the two of you is that you believe in teamwork. You’d be surprised at how many couples don’t.” He makes a few more notes. “And how many hours of sleep would you say you get a night? Ballpark it for me if you can.”

“Um…” You have to think about that one. “Maybe five. Yeah, I would say about five hours a night. And I can occasionally squeeze in a quick nap during the day when the twins are sleeping. It doesn’t happen all of the time, but it’s better than nothing.”

The older man nods his head. “And how are Bianca and Katrina adjusting to the new additions? And by the way, don’t forget that you promised to show me pictures, because I certainly haven’t.” Dr. Wilson looks up from his computer and offers you a warm smile.

“I haven’t forgotten, don’t worry.” You tell him with a chuckle. “And they’re okay. Bianca loves to hold them all the time. And Katrina is enjoying being a big sister – she’s very helpful. She wants to play with them so bad, but she doesn’t quite get that they’re still a little too young.”

“I see. And is she still threatening to put A.J. outside?” The corners of his eyes crinkle as he struggles not to laugh just like he had when you’d first relayed your three-year-old’s initial reaction to your pregnancy reveal. 

“Oh, God. She’s only made that threat twice I think since we’ve brought them home. Once when he wouldn’t stop crying. And then again when she wanted to cuddle with me while I was in the middle of a feeding. Other than that, she’s been fine. He’s growing on her.” 

“Glad to hear it.” He mutters. “That’s usually how it goes. Give it a few years, and I bet they’ll be the best of friends.”

God, you sure hoped so. Just last night you had a dream about finding your little boy out in the woods. Except he’d somehow grown a beard, making him look like a baby mountain man. And, of course, he had been clutching that damn blankie too! 

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I’m officially giving you the all-clear to resume any and all physical activity. If you have any concerns after we’re done here, you know I’m only a phone call away.”

Thank goodness! You couldn’t wait to start working out again. You were tired of rocking stretchy pants and maternity clothes. 

Your phone buzzes in your purse as Dr. Wilson finishes up whatever else he’s typing. It goes on for a while before it finally stops, only to resume buzzing seconds later. 

If you were a betting woman, and you were, you’d put your money on the person behind all the constant buzzing being none other than your husband, Andrew. You knew he’d been waiting for this day. Your man had been extra giddy this morning. So much in fact that you could’ve sworn he’d clicked his heels on his way out the door.

___

Twenty Minutes Later…

You wait to check your phone until after your appointment is over and you're safely back in your car. According to your phone, you have two missed calls from Andy Bear, along with three new texts.  

Andy Bear: Hey, baby girl. How’d the appointment go? Did we get the all clear?

Andy Bear: Can you answer your phone, please? I want to hear your sweet voice when you tell me the good news.

Andy Bear: C'mon! You’ve got me dancing on pins and needles right now. Call me.

You shake your head and then dial your man. He answers on the second ring. 

“There you are, sweetness! I was starting to get worried there for a moment.” The genuine concern in his voice has you playfully rolling your eyes. 

“Relax, Andy. Sometimes these appointments can take a while. It doesn’t mean anything is wrong, Dr. Wilson is just being thorough.” You check your appearance in the rearview mirror, noting that the bags under your eyes seem to look better than they have in days. “That’s part of the reason he’s been my OBGYN for so long, because he’s good at what he does.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. He’s great.” You know he's not being dismissive on purpose, it’s just that he’s chomping at the bit to hear one key piece of information. “How’s your little body? Did we get the green light?”

Ahh, and there it was. Sometimes Andrew Barber was like a dog with a fucking bone. And only your husband would refer to your body as being “little” when you were still walking around sporting maternity wear.  

“I’ve been cleared for all physical activity. Which means I can finally start working out again and –”

“Fuck, yeah we did!” He cheers into the receiver, loud enough to make you wince. “Alright, baby girl, that settles it. BiBi and KitCat are going to my sister’s for a sleepover and the twins will stay at grandma’s. Meanwhile, I’m gonna leave the office early to pick us up some dinner. How about we celebrate with some surf and turf?”

“Oh my god, Andrew! We are not leaving our two newborns at your mother’s house for the night. That’s too much!”

“What if she already said yes?” You have no doubt that your unrepentant husband is smiling hard enough to crack a tooth right about now. 

“You didn’t.” Your head drops to the steering wheel with a light thunk. 

“Oh, I did.” The sound of an eager chuckle spills across the other line. “Ma and Bill are happy to keep Rory and Junior. She said you left them with enough formula and diapers to get ‘em through and that she, and I quote, would be positively heartbroken if you deprived her of time with her precious new grandchildren.”  

“Andy…I don’t know…” As tempting as the thought of a night of uninterrupted slumber was, you were on the fence about being away from your precious babies for that long. 

RoRo needed to be rocked to sleep, while A.J. needed you to pat his little tush and bounce him just so. And they both needed approximately 1,375 kisses every five minutes, otherwise they got fussy. 

“You must really want a good night’s sleep, huh, Big Man?”

“Baby, when I get my hands on you, I promise that sleeping will be the last thing on both of our minds. Now, I’ve gotta run. But I’ll see you home around 4:00pm.”

“Andy…” 

How did you tell your husband that you weren’t really feeling your post-pregnancy body right now? You’d even taken to changing in the bathroom lately. Thankfully he hadn’t seemed to notice that increasingly bad habit of yours…

At least not yet. But it was only a matter of time.

“Hush, sweetness. You just let Daddy take care of everything, okay? I’ve been dreaming of this day for almost two months now, and I plan to take my time loving all over every inch of your delectable body. And what’s more, you’re going to let me.” You can practically feel your nipples pebbling beneath the fabric of your shirt. 

God, how did he always manage to sound so sexy when he was telling you what to do? Handsome ass buttface!

“I’ve gotta head into this meeting, but in the meantime, get some rest. You’re gonna need it.”

“Yeah, okay, sure.” You respond with a resigned sigh. “I…I guess I’ll see you when you get home then.”

“Damn right. Can’t wait to lose myself between those luscious thighs.” Andy rasps, with a slightly roughened edge to his tone. “It’s been way too long since I’ve had a taste…” 

Oh good God…and it had been way too long since you had to deal with beard burn. At this point, you’d almost forgotten about what it felt like.

“Bye, Andy Bear.”

"Goodbye, little love.”

The call ends, leaving you alone with your thoughts. Putting the car in drive, you pull out of the parking lot and start thinking of every argument you could possibly make to talk your sweet, although slightly ogreish, husband out of sexy times and into sleepy times. But there was also something that told you that might not work.

Which meant it was time to come up with a Plan B. And while you were at it, probably a Plan C too.

___

Later That Afternoon...

“This makes me look like an apple with legs.”

You stare at your reflection in the bathroom mirror trying your best not to give in to the overwhelming feeling of defeat. At this point, you’d tried on multiple sets of lingerie – all different styles, cuts, and colors. 

And this one had been the only thing that seemed to look halfway decent.

Well, the good news was that your ass was still there. But the bad news? So was your stomach. 

“Swear to God…I’m gonna find an ocean and throw myself in it.” You mutter as you stare at your reflection. You let out a resigned sigh as you do a little spin. “Knowing my ass can’t swim.” You gently smoosh your hand against your tummy in an attempt to flatten it. 

To be fair, you’d only given birth two months ago and the lingerie you’d purchased was kind of slimming so…

Maybe you were being too hard on yourself. Or, maybe it was still worth trying to convince your husband to settle for an evening filled with dinner and cuddles. You really weren’t in the mood to take your clothes off in front of him at the moment. 

Hell, who were you kidding? You could walk around wearing nothing but fishnets and tinfoil and the man would still find a reason to be into you. 

Sometimes your loving husband was a man of the hopeless variety. 

Plus, while Andrew Barber wouldn’t force you to do anything you didn’t want to do, he would definitely do everything in his power to persuade you. And he could be very persuasive when he put his mind to it. 

Yeah. You were probably fucked.

You take a deep breath and run your fingers through your thick hair, loosening and fluffing your curls. Although Andy would be home any minute, there was still time to throw on sweats and a t-shirt or something. 

“Fuck!” You hiss as your eyes well and your bottom lip begins to tremble. The other problem was that, while you were convinced that you needed more time, you also wanted to make your husband happy. But how could you when you could barely stomach the idea of taking off your clothes in front of him.

Just last week, some asshole at your favorite smoothie bar had the nerve to ask how far along you were – his intrusive gaze lingering on your post-baby body. His audacity had caught you so off guard that you were pretty sure that you’d given some unintelligible answer before snatching your drink and running towards the nearest exit. 

That one little interaction had practically eviscerated what little bit of self-confidence you had left. And while you hadn’t made specific mention of it to Andy, you might end up doing so – if only to plead your case. 

Which was that you were simply too large right now to be sexy, let alone feel attractive. Your skin was too loose, your stretch marks too prominent. And not only that, you were pretty sure that the only reason Andy wanted you right now was because he hadn’t gotten any in a couple of months. 

Once his itch had been sufficiently scratched, the haze would clear and then your husband would see your body for what it was. He would understand your need to undress behind closed doors, without an audience. And then he would give you however much time you needed to get yourself back into some semblance of shape. 

A lone tear slips down your cheek, which only serves to piss you off more. And although you’re quick to dash it away, another one is soon to follow. The last thing you needed for Andrew to notice you’d been crying. There was no need for both of you to feel bad about the state of things, you know?

With one last shake of your head you decide to throw on your robe and head downstairs to greet your man. 

“Let’s get this shit over with.”

___

Ten Minutes Later…

“Baby?” Your husband calls out as he enters the house from the garage. “Baby, I’m home! Where are you?”

“Kitchen!” You go back to busying yourself folding your brand new set of dish towels you’d purchased from Bed, Bath, & Beyond. That store was one of your happy places, second only to Target and Disney World. It also helped that there was one located almost directly across the street from the mall you’d stopped at as well.

Your pulse quickens as you hear him approach, his rapidly falling footsteps coming closer by the second.

“Ah, I found you.” Andy rounds the corner, grinning from ear to ear. “Hi, my gorgeous girl.” His smile somehow grows impossibly wider. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”  

“Well, here I am.” You cast him a demure glance over your shoulder. “Although, I’m afraid I’m probably not much to look at.” Noticing his hands are surprisingly empty, you attempt to change the subject. “I thought you were gonna stop and grab dinner on the way?” 

“I was.” He cocks his hip against the kitchen counter as loosens his tie. “But since you didn’t seem all that keen on the idea of surf and turf this morning I figured I’d hold off. Maybe see how we were feeling later this evening.”

“Oh.” 

“Oh? Is that all my baby has to say about that?” Andy tosses his tie onto the counter before unfastening the top three buttons of his light blue dress shirt. “Just oh?” 

“Uh, yeah. How was your day?” You were quickly running out of towels to unfold and refold. If you kept it up you were going to start looking like a lunatic.

“Too long for a man who’s been missing his wife the way I have.” His sensual purr is enough to make you weak in the knees. “It was fucking excruciating, Baby Girl.” 

Don’t make eye contact. Don’t make eye contact. Don’t make eye – fuck! Your dumbass just made fucking eye contact!

Your throat suddenly goes dry as the weight of his intense gaze threatens to overwhelm you. Andrew Barber always seemed to have this way about him. Only he had the power to unravel you in this manner. 

It was truly a skill that was his alone. But on days like today, it was also a major nuisance.   

“Come here.” The gentleness of his tone softens the command.

“Umm…” Instead of doing as you’re told you decide to shove those stupid towels you’ve been preoccupied with into a drawer. Which also happens to be the wrong drawer. Kitchen linens didn’t belong with the cutting boards. Anybody with some sense could see that!   

“Sweetheart…” Andy’s voice drops another octave. “Stop fussing with those and come here already. I’d really like to hold my wife.” His earnest plea has your eyes welling with tears.

“Yeah. Okay.” You sniffle out, before dropping the towel and making a headlong dash into his waiting embrace. He wraps his brawny arms around you then, tucking his chin into your thick mane of glossy curls.

The two of you stand there without moving. Holding each other close as your hearts beat in time with one another. Andy’s hand comes to rest on your lower back, his palm slowly rubbing in small, soothing circles. 

“What’s wrong, princess?” He hugs even tighter as you gently nuzzle your face against his chest, effectively wiping off what little bit of makeup you’d managed to apply earlier. “Tell me, please.”

Aww. Your sweet Ogre had even said “please”. 

“Nothing.” Which was also code for everything. 

Andy steps back to tenderly grip your chin, his thumb lightly smoothing across your bottom lip. “You know Daddy doesn’t like it when you lie.” And then he leans in to brush his mouth over your own. “Especially when you’re upset.”

“I know.” The words come out barely above a whisper. “And I’m fine. I just, um…” You go to pull away, surprised when he actually lets you. “I went and did a little shopping today. You know…cuz’ we got the green light. But – well, not the robe. Th–that isn’t new. But once I got it home and really looked at it, I um…” You throw up your hands as everything comes tumbling out in one jumbled mess.

“It just doesn’t fit right, okay? It probably didn’t even fit properly at the boutique when I tried it on and I just didn’t notice. Because the lighting was different and the mirrors are maybe a little more forgiving. Kind of like the ones you find in a funhouse. Except all of them were super flattering. Not like the one we’ve got in our bathroom here at home. Which…I mean that’s probably how they get ya, right?”

Your husband lifts a quizzical brow as you continue to ramble and slowly back away. You knew there was quite literally no possible chance you could manage to outrun your handsome attorney. But that didn’t mean you weren’t above giving it the old college try.   

“So, I’m just gonna go upstairs and peel this ugly thing off. That way neither one of us has to even bother looking at it.” You finish rather lamely.

“And why exactly do you think I wouldn’t want to look at you? How about you explain that one to me, please?” Andy growls, jamming his hands into the pockets of his trousers.                 

“Because I don’t like the way I look right now and I’m pretty sure that if I show you, then you won’t either.”

Andy stares you down, the muscle ticking in his jaw. But you were beyond caring at this point. Right now was about acknowledging the truth regarding your body and the level of comfort you had with it.  

“That’s bullshit, baby.” He rakes an impatient hand through his hair, moussing the auburn strands. “You know I love the way you look. I fucking adore you.”  

“And that last part may very well be true, Big Man.” You concede, toying with the material of your robe. “But I, um...” A lump forms in your throat, but you force yourself to press on. “I do believe you love the way I look when I’m pregnant, yes. So do I…mostly. And you also love the way I look when I’m not pregnant. As in, after I’ve lost a healthy chunk of the baby weight.”  

“What in the–? I mean, Jesus fucking Christ!” Your husband cuts himself off mid-sentence as he rocks back on his heels – as if stunned by your admission. 

“I’m saying this wrong.” Good lord, you needed to get a better handle on the direction of this conversation. “Fuck! I know I am. But I don’t feel very good about myself right now. I don’t want to take off my clothes. I don’t want you to see me in this lingerie. Because I am almost entirely convinced that once you do – once you see all that I’m currently working with – you will change your mind about wanting to sleep with me.”

“You don’t mean that.” Andy scoffs under his breath, which you ignore.

“And if I see that…if I see that switch flip behind your eyes when it finally clicks just how unattractive I truly am…I don’t think I could handle that.”  

As hard as this was, it was important for you to make him understand. And once you were finished, perhaps you could cook the two of you something for dinner.  After that you would simply settle in and enjoy an easy, child-free night.

“Meaning?” Andy grunts.

“Meaning, I’m not taking off this robe tonight.” You blow out a weary breath as your hands go rest on your hips. “In fact, I don’t even know why –”

“Are you finished yet, sweetheart?” Your husband finally interrupts, apparently having had enough of your tirade. “Or do you have more? Because I’ve gotta tell you, as nice as it is that you think you’ve decided all this shit for us, your Daddy has quite a bit to say. So, are you fucking finished?”

“Y–yes.” That strange lump in your throat is back. “But I –”

“Stop. If you’re going to be done, then be done.” Andy interrupts again, scrubbing a tired hand over his face. “Baby Girl…I know what you’re doing. Even if you don’t, even if you can’t see it. I do. And I’m going to put a stop to it right now.”

“I’m just telling us both the truth!” You cry before you can catch yourself. 

“No. You’re feeding us both lies. And I won’t stand for that shit. Not for another goddamned moment. I–I just won’t.”

The passion in his voice is enough to temporarily silence any forthcoming protests. 

“And what’s more,” Andy forges on, “you’re not giving me even a shred of credit here. Which, and I’ve gotta be real honest with you here, kinda pisses me the fuck off.” Now it’s his turn to sigh, although this one is filled with exasperation.

“I’m sorry.” You whisper, looking down at your toes.

“Look. At. Me.” The authority in his tone has your head snapping up immediately. 

“Have I ever, and I do mean ever, in all the years we’ve been together, given you any indication that you are anything but beautiful to me?” He takes a step towards you, even as you take one back. “I quite literally worship the ground you walk on, sweetness. Which means that I occasionally notice things, even when you think I don’t.”

Your husband takes another step towards you, and then another. He’s getting closer, purposely crowding you with his big body – essentially trapping you like the predator that he was.   

“There has never been a time, not once, when I have been less than hopelessly attracted to you. I want you all of the goddamned time. And, you know, maybe I should seek professional help for this shit, but I don’t want to. I don’t need to. Because I love my wife. I adore every single inch of you.”

You jump when your back collides with the refrigerator, the cool surface of the stainless steel appliance piercing your skin through the thin fabric of your robe.

“So what is it, Baby Girl? What is that you’ve got under there that’s got you so convinced I’m going to be disgusted by what I see.” Andy levels you with a pointed look as his hands go to gently grip your biceps, caging you in. “What is it you’re trying to hide from me?”

You close your eyes when it becomes too hard to look at the man you loved more than anything - the man who was surely about to become your undoing.     

“While I appreciate your so-called brand of honesty, sometimes it hurts me when you talk about yourself like this. When you doubt yourself in this way. When you doubt me. Doubt us.” Andy briefly rests his forehead against yours before continuing. 

“How am I supposed to help you battle these insecurities if you won’t even let me in the ring, sweetness? Sometimes you make it damn near impossible to – fuck!” He hisses, breaking the almost tender embrace before reminding himself to pause. “Okay.”

“I–I’m sorry, Andrew.” This time you don’t bother trying to fight back the tears when they come. Instead you decide to let them fall, realizing that it might finally be okay to let your husband catch you.

Before you broke completely and shattered into a hundred-million little pieces.   

“Why on earth are you apologizing to me right now?” He cups your face with his hands as he brushes your tears away. “I’m not shaming you. I’m just…” He takes another calming breath. “I’m just talking to you. I thought we were expressing how we felt about things, weren’t we?”

“Yeah.” You give him a quick nod as more tears make their way down your cheeks.  

“Okay.” He presses a sweet kiss to your nose. “Then will you trust me to show you something?” Again you nod before allowing him to lace his fingers through yours and pull you in the direction of the hall.

“Wh–where are we going?”

“Hush.” 

He leads you down the hallway in silence, not stopping until you’re both standing in front of the full-length mirror located in the foyer. And then he reaches around to undo the knot on your robe, sliding it off your shoulders and letting it pool on the floor at your feet. 

“Well, would you look at you? Is this pretty little thing what you bought for me today?”

“Mmhm.” You breathe, resting your head against his broad chest while your man looks his fill. Andy smooths his hands up and down your sides, lovingly kneading your ample curves. “It was the only thing that I felt, um…like it might be okay.”

“You’re fucking gorgeous, Baby Girl.” Andy playfully nips at your ear. “You still trust me? Okay, good. Then let’s take this off, too.” He reaches for the skirt of your lingerie.

“But why?” You whine, attempting to wiggle out of his hold. Unfortunately for you, your Big Man refuses to let you go. “Wait!”

“I think I’ve waited long enough.” Even though he’s pushing you, you can tell he’s also trying to keep a lid on his patience. “We both have. You got to make your case back there in the kitchen, young lady. Which means it’s now time for your Daddy to make his, don’t you think?”

While you weren’t quite sure where this was going, you also weren’t sure if you were ready to use your safe word yet. If that particular rule even applied right now.

“I – alright.” You concede before lifting your arms so that he can help remove the flimsy garment, leaving you naked and bare to his gaze. Goosebumps rise on your vulnerable flesh as you shiver, but it’s not from the cold.

Safe to say, catching a chill was the last thing on your mind. You just wanted to get this shit over with, whatever it was, and then move the fuck on already.

“Be a good girl and open your eyes for me, little love.” Andy purrs, lightly running his fingers through your curls. “I want to show you what I see every time I look at you.” 

It takes you a moment, but eventually you’re able to do as you’re told. But instead of focusing on your own reflection, you choose to look at your husband – taking comfort in the warmth radiating from him.

You wanted to trust him. You really did.     

“Thank you. Now, I want you to do your best to hear me.” Andy begins as his hands come up to rest themselves on your shoulders. “You are gorgeous no matter what size you are. And I am consistently awed by the fact that you, my darling wife, just gave birth to two healthy babies a little over eight weeks ago. My babies.” You receive a tender kiss to the back of your neck.

Your lower lip begins to tremble of its own accord. But this time you don’t look away, instead you follow the path of his fingers as they trail their way down your body.

“It’s because of you, and your magnificent little body, that I’m lucky enough to have four pieces of heaven running around this house, making noise and causing chaos. Giving me both a reason to live again along with a few new gray hairs at the same time.” 

You watch as he lifts your breasts, hefting the erotic weight of them in his palms. He gently massages them, completely unfazed by the light dribble of milk leaking from your left nipple. Instead you’re treated to another roguish grin as his tongue darts out to greedily lap up the stray drops from his knuckles. 

“Fucking delicious. But stop trying to distract me, baby.” He rasps, his tone just shy of teasing. “We both know you’re not quite ready for me to feast just yet.” And then he winks at you, which suddenly has your legs feeling like jelly. 

Although you flinch when his focus shifts to your belly, the pads of his fingers tracing along one of your more prominent stretch marks. He keeps his touch light - bordering on reverent - as he marvels at the angry stripes painted across your skin.

The ones formed out of a natural bond built between a mother and her children. 

“I love this part of you. This part right here where you – aw, no. Please don’t look away from me, honey.” Andy moves to kiss away a fresh wave of tears. “Let me see those eyes.”  

“I…I...” Your mouth clamps shut as you stifle a hiccup. You grant yourself a couple of seconds before opening your eyes again. This time when you do, you gently place your hands on top of his. “I’m sorry. I know, you love this part of me because of the kids. And I get it, I do. But…” You shake your head and give up.

Because something tells you that perhaps you’d be better off just listening for right now. 

“Yes, I absolutely love this part of you because of our rugrats, but that’s not the only reason. It’s because, as much as I adore your tight little pussy and that spankable ass of yours, your belly has always been it for me.”

“What?” Now that has your full attention.    

“I’m not kidding.” He asserts. “I don’t think I’ve ever shared this with you, probably because I thought I’d run the risk of sounding dumb. But your belly has always been my favorite feature because it’s…it’s my anchor.”

Your husband’s heartfelt admission actually has the nerve to throw you for a bit of a loop.   

“I’m serious.” Andy continues, leaning down to press a hard kiss to your cheek. “There’s something about whenever the world feels like it’s falling apart all around me and then I reach for you, because that’s what I do. And you’re always there for me, my love. Always.” He gives you a light squeeze. “And without fail, you just let me hold you like this, wherever we are. And I just…I feel better.”

“Swear to God, I’m a grown-ass man, but this part of you brings me so much comfort. I understand the fact that you struggle with accepting your body the way it is right now, especially after welcoming the twins. But please believe me when I tell you that where you only seem to see your flaws, I see strength. I see incomparable beauty.” 

Andy takes that moment to fully envelope you, wrapping his arms tightly around your middle and burying his face in your hair. You allow yourself to stand there for a little while, drinking in the sight of your devoted husband holding your nude body.

You’ve never felt more loved. More cherished than you did right now.  

“Andy Bear…” You whisper, your voice filled with emotion. “I…I don’t quite see what you see. Not yet. But I do think I feel it now. More than I did anyway.” 

You let out a surprised yip when he spins you around. His intoxicating blue eyes bore into your own as his hands move to tease the globes of your ass.

“You should know that I wasn’t finished yet, princess. I just spent the last several minutes composing a sonnet dedicated to that greedy pussy of yours. Then there’s those luscious thighs, and that ass. I also never really had a thing for feet until I met you, but I’m particularly fond of those too. I’m prepared to wax poetic about it all because I want you to see what I see.” 

A laugh bubbles up in your chest. And when you decide to let it loose, it’s quite literally the most wonderful feeling in the world. You feel lighter than you have in days.

It’s enough to make you start crying all over again.   

“I love you, Andrew Barber.” You murmur, rising on your tiptoes to take his lips in a brief kiss. “And I know you had what I’m sure was one hell of a speech planned, and while I really hate to cut it short, I’m thinking I might wanna take you to bed now.”

“Oh?” His tone is rife with cautious optimism. “Is that right?”

“Yeah.” Giving in to impulse, you proceed to tickle his ears. He makes a show of batting your hands away as he playfully dodges your advances – much to your delight. Although he eventually puts an end to things by picking you up and holding you close.

“But can we maybe take it slow?” You ask as you snuggle into his chest, basking in the safety and security of his familiar scent. 

“Of course.” Andy murmurs as he spins on his heel and heads towards the direction of the stairs. “We have all night, my precious girl.”  

That was the moment you knew without a doubt. The moment you finally believed that everything he’d said, every word he’d spoken to you, had been nothing but the truth.  

And later that night, when you collapsed on the bed feeling completely sated with one another, you thanked your lucky stars that fate had led you into the arms of the one and only Andrew Barber.

END

For more about Andy and Reader's first time making love after welcoming their twins, be sure to check out the sequel, The Green Light: Afterglow.

[pandorapromises]

every interesting fact and thought i've gathered from this page about ian garvin;

HE DISCOVERED AMRITA!! meaning he's literally responsible for the entire tulkun hunting enterprise bro wtf 😭

and from dissecting tulkun brains?? now i wonder how he got access to those.... 👀

but it brings up an interesting moral dilemma because we know earth is dying so was he in the type of situation where he felt like he had to choose between humanity and the tulkun? 🤔 hm....

he ORIGINALLY did solo research and was in contact with Tonowari and the reef people !! i like to imagine that's where he learned na'vi sign language

the RDA forces garvin to hunt tulkun by threatening to cut his research which i think even if garvin were to quit he'd probably be replaced by another marine biologist with no morals so it's like a no-win situation

that's all i've got for now!!

photo text under the read-more;

DR. IAN GARVIN

RDA MARINE BIOLOGIST Ian Garvin is regarded as the on-world scientific expert on Pandora's oceans, and the tulkun in particular. Though he would prefer to have nothing to do with tulkun hunting, the RDA uses the threat of shutting down his research to coerce the scientist into working with them. Upon his arrival on Pandora, Garvin led an existing oceanographic research team. This small team managed everything itself--and Garvin is well suited to the task. He knows his way around a lab, but he's a field researcher to the core, happily risking his life where others would dread to roam. A seasoned scuba diver, he regularly traverses the predator-infested Pandoran oceans taking samples, imaging specimens, and capturing data.

FIELD RESEARCHER Garvin originally conducted marine research in the same way that xenobotanist Dr. Grace Augustine once did in the jungle. He had a small, mobile, habitable, research lab vessel--a catamaran hull with a couple of trusses across it and two shacks built onto it. Garvin is able to set up a shack on a beach for a while. Then his mobile lab can dock with the landed setup and, if he needs it to interface with olo'eyktan (clan leader) Tonowari or the Reef People, his lab can drop anchor in their cove for easy access.

DATA FILE SUBJECT Ian Garvin SPECIES Human STATUS Marine Biologist AFFILIATION RDA HEIGHT 6 ft. (1.85 m)

FACT FILE > Garvin discovered the powerful, natural compound known as amrita while dissecting the brains of the tulkun. > A passionate oceanographic explorer, Dr. Garvin studied and fell in love with Pandora's oceans and the rich and exotic life found within.

[Small text pointing to an image of Garvin's datapad]

STOLEN DATA With the use of the knowledge stored on Garvin's datapad, including locator tags, the RDA can find and hunt down more tulkun than ever before.

Tablet can be used to extend a desktop workstation by docking into a stand

Touchscreen mobile workstation

[Small text pointing to an image of Dr. Ian Garvin]

Field vest [that Garvin wears]

Scanner [on vest pocket] collects data from environment and transforms it to chip card

Dive watch [on left wrist]

Dive knife [strapped to the left side of his shorts]

Wristband [on right wrist] contains chip-card processing information from scanner

[thetechrobot]

Spacetop G1, World’s first Laptop that uses AR Glasses instead of a Display

A laptop that employs augmented reality glasses as a display was called the Spacetop G1 system, and it was shown to a thousand productivity pioneers by the tech firm Sightful last year.

The upgraded Gen 1 device removes the requirement for the user to stoop over a tiny screen when working remotely on a laptop by placing a 100-inch virtual display directly in their eyes.

In this blog, The TechRobot will showcase the World’s first AR laptop: Spacetop G1. So let us begin.

What is Spacetop G1?

Sightful’s Screenless Laptop, the Spacetop G1, combines a computer with comfortable, lightweight augmented reality glasses. Running on the device is SpaceOS, a spatial operating system with an emphasis on online operations intended for productivity.

The weight of the AR glasses is 85 grams, but the Vision Pro, depending on the Light Seal, weighs between 600 and 650 grams. The keyboard is bulkier compared to a MacBook Air or iPad Pro, measuring less than 12 inches in width and weighing three pounds.

Cost of AR Laptop

The Screenless Laptop, Spacetop G1 charges $1,700 and is just a keyboard with spectacles attached.

Spacetop G1 Specs

Spacetop G1, features a Qualcomm Snapdragon QCS8550 CPU, Kryo GPU, Adreno 740 AI, dual eNPU V3, 48 INT8, 12 FP16 TOPs, 16 GB LPDDR5, 128 GB UFS3.1 storage, and 8-hour battery life.

They have two OLED display screens, a 50° field of vision, a 90Hz refresh rate, and very crisp text rendering.

The glasses enable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 5G, and a 5MP camera. They also contain a microphone for use in online meetings.

Benefits of AR Laptops

1. Endless View

With Spacetop’s Virtual Desktop, you may get amusement and information without having to navigate around, making it a convenient substitute for real screen space. Although it’s not the only solution with this functionality, this one could be the easiest to use.

A standard keyboard and touchpad, Spacetop’s AR glasses, and a perhaps lower price tag might allow customers to enjoy endless screen areas without sacrificing functionality. For individuals who would rather have a more ordered workstation, this would be a time-saving alternative.

2. Absolute privacy

Multi-monitor laptop attachments should not be used in public areas due to the increased danger of uninvited eyes peeping at private information caused by an excessive number of physical displays. Although privacy screens are available on certain computers and monitors, they are limited to one monitor.

To solve this, Spacetop is a Screenless Laptop, letting the user see their screen alone until it is shared with others. But it also means that those standing close to the user can’t see the screen without their glasses.

3. Improved posture

Laptops’ screens are firmly attached to the keyboard, making them portable yet uncomfortable. Some people find relief from this neck pain by attaching a desktop monitor.

The screenless laptop, Spacetop, provides a more comfortable height and does away with the need for arms or ergonomic monitor supports. Due to this, laptops are a better choice for use at home or in the workplace.

4. Laser Focus

Spacetop G1 is an Augmented Reality (AR) device that reduces visual distractions so users can work productively and enjoy their free time. The apps it may utilize, including Windows or macOS-based software and limited gaming, are restricted by its Android-based operating system and mobile hardware.

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, Spacetop provides a more practical experience than a typical computer since it places all of the necessary components in front of and surrounding users. Instead of letting others decide for them, users may choose whether to allow virtual distractions to affect them.

Highlight – Introducing Travel Mode For Meta Quest Headsets

Best AR Glasses for Laptops

1. Apple AR Glasses

Apple plans to develop AR glasses that look like conventional spectacles with a built-in display. A prototype of the glasses has a thick, attractive frame and resembles high-end luxury sunglasses. With references to Project Starboard and reports of a glassOS, the prototype is anticipated to function on iOS 14.

Though it could take a few more years for a public release, rumors indicate that Apple has already started the second phase of development. The glasses will have the ability to add prescription lenses, gesture-controlled instructions that connect with the Apple Watch, and a true vision display on both lenses.

Possible capabilities include the ability to use virtual things in real-world settings, do activities without using a phone, and enable immersive phone conversations and remote collaboration software.

2. Meta Glasses

Rebranding Facebook to Meta, Mark Zuckerberg is concentrating on augmented reality glasses and headsets. The business plans to deliver Meta spectacles, a prototype of their augmented reality spectacles, in late 2024. The Project Nazare and Project Aria prototypes provide a fully functional augmented reality experience, with 3D visuals and an elegant design. It is anticipated that the Meta Glasses will include an immersive experience with radio, speakers, and cameras, a holographic display with built-in projectors, batteries, and sensors, and a broad field of vision. In 2024, the prototype is anticipated to be released.

3. Xreal Air 2 Ultra

The Air 2 Ultra glasses from Xreal are an improvement over the Air 2 model and are aimed at competing with Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest 3 headsets. Complete positional tracking, a form factor akin to eyeglasses, and compatibility for immersive AR apps, TV viewing, and flat-screen gaming are all features of the Air 2 Ultra.

It has a 52-degree field of vision, 500 nits of brightness, two cameras for environmental mapping, hand tracking, and compatibility with Xreal’s Nebula AR environment.

Is AR safe for your eyes?

Prolonged use of AR might result in headaches, nausea, and straining of the eyes. This is a result of our eyes continually focusing on objects at different distances when using AR. This can cause pain and eye tiredness.

Conclusion

The future of laptops with AR like the Spacetop G1 marks a breakthrough in laptop technology by utilizing augmented reality to provide a 100-inch virtual display that improves user posture, productivity, and privacy.

The Spacetop G1 presents a new option for remote work by addressing typical ergonomic concerns associated with standard laptops by mixing AR glasses with a powerful computing machine and the SpaceOS operating system.

Despite several drawbacks associated with its Android-based operating system and the possibility of eye discomfort after extended usage, the Spacetop G1 breaks new ground in augmented reality technology by offering consumers a more useful and engaging experience.

[quicksilverster]

[😇] crashing ❈ yoon jeonghan

⋆⑅˚₊✎ prompt(s): crashing by illenium, bahari

⋆⑅˚₊✎ genres: a whole lotta fluff, a bit of angst, acquaintances-to-lovers!au, college!au, roommate!au.

⋆⑅˚₊✎ description: Five times Jeonghan crashes at Yejin’s apartment, and the one time she crashes at his.

⋆⑅˚₊✎ warning(s): mentions of alcohol

⋆⑅˚₊✎ pairing(s): yoon jeonghan x kang yejin

⋆⑅˚₊✎ word count: 3.4k words

⋆⑅˚₊✎ a/n: A fic I turned into a short story and into a fic again because I recently got back into SEVENTEEN. This is old, 2021-early 2022 writing, but I’m going to post it anyway because it wasn’t that bad (IMO) + I like this story. (i also apologize for the banner quality cuz it's been literal years since i made one for a kpop dude)

one.

The first time Jeonghan crashed at her place, Yejin was alone in her apartment, working on her essay.

Her roommate Aera wasn’t home; she was at a party or club somewhere, getting drunk and dancing her limbs off. Yejin could practically see her limping the next morning, the product of a crushed foot. She was alone in her room, sipping from a mug of warm tea as she added words in Times New Romans font onto her document. The only source of light in the room made its presence known through the glaring screen in front of her, illuminating her worn face. Melodies from her Spotify window and the clacking noise from her fingers drumming the keys were the only sounds in the room, accompanied by Yejin’s tired breathing. She leaned against the back of her chair with exhaustion, her brain fried like a skillet.

Yejin was jolted out of her reverie when the sharp rapping of knuckles against her front door resonated into her ears. Aera usually arrived home after 2 a.m. during one of these crazy social events, meaning the person at the door could not be her. The knocks were rather composed, too, given by one with a sober mind. Begrudgingly peeling her eyes away from the screen, Yejin slid her arctic feet into her fluffy slippers and headed to the front door. Gripping the door handle tightly, she swung it open to meet a familiar face, a smile frozen across his face as a result of the wintry atmosphere outside.

“It’s 11 p.m., why are you still awake?” Jeonghan bustled into the apartment chattering like a mother hen. He scrutinized her fluffy lavender pajamas and wide eyes behind her glinting spectacles. “I understand that you have work and stuff, but sleep is important as well.”

Yejin blinked blankly, watching Jeonghan tut over her apartment with a watchful eye, and dropped an overnight bag on her couch. “Um,” she managed after a few flummoxed seconds. “Uh, what are you doing here?”

“Aera sent me here,” he shrugged, carding his messy locks back. “She wanted me to make sure you’re doing your essay diligently instead of scrolling through Instagram or whatnot.”

“So you’re sleeping over?” Yejin raised a doubtful eyebrow.

Jeonghan scratched the back of his head. “Well, Aera said she might not be back until tomorrow morning, so she wants me to keep you company.”

Aera was currently dating Jeonghan’s best friend and roommate Seungcheol, so she was well acquainted with the young man in front of her. However, that didn’t mean she was entirely comfortable with the idea of him sleeping over in her apartment.

Jeonghan seemed to comprehend Yejin’s indecisive expression, for he placed his hands in the air. “I won’t do anything suspicious, I promise. Aera just doesn’t want you to be alone here.”

“Okay,” Yejin said, slipping her earbud into her ear as she continued her assignment. “Make yourself at home, I guess.”

Jeonghan grinned a broad, boyish smile, before plopping onto the couch and pulling his phone out to play a mobile game. Within a few minutes, he had fallen asleep. His snores accompanied the already existing sounds in the room.

Yejin eyed him from her workstation, her lips punctured as she wondered what her roommate was up to.

two.

“I’m perfectly fine being by myself,” Yejin said with as much patience (which isn’t much) as she could summon from the inner depths of her heart. However, her roommate was making it particularly difficult to be nice.

“I told you a hundred times, you need human interaction!” Aera said as she shoved her feet into a pair of heels, ready for yet another party.

“Easy for you to say, you social butterfly.”

Aera grinned proudly at the nickname she was bestowed with. “Thank you!” She said, bowing for extra effect.

Yejin fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Jeonghan hardly counts as human interaction.” She poked the yogurt cup in her hand with her spoon, denting the fragile base of the plastic. “Whenever he comes here, he only lounges over our couch, steals our snacks, and plays with his phone.”

“It’d be nice if you both become friends.”

“Doesn’t Jeonghan have a girlfriend? Are you sure it’s wise for him to be here?”

Aera fidgeted in the spot, her eyes ricocheting from the door and to her roommate. “If you put it like that, probably not.”

“You just want me to interact with him because he’s your boyfriend’s roommate.”

“And he’s a nice person, and you need his company,” Aera added hurriedly. “Now can I go? I’m going to be late.”

“Fine,” Yejin said. Aera bolted as soon as the words left her roommate’s mouth. Yejin shook her head almost endearingly as the front door slammed shut.

Half an hour later, Jeonghan materialized in her doorway with a messy hairdo and a plastic bag filled with boxes of food. The former was the result of the displeased weather outside, but Yejin couldn’t think of a special occasion that would warrant takeout.

“I heard you have an exam coming up,” Jeonghan placed the plastic bag down in front of her laptop, the smell of it tantalizing Yejin’s stomach to growl. “So I got you this.”

Yejin eyed the plastic bag, her fingers tingling to reach out and devour whatever was inside in a single gulp. She glanced upward and stared into Jeonghan’s eyes. It was difficult to maintain contact; his eyes were obsidian in color, as dark as black holes. If Yejin stared for too long, she’d get sucked in.

“What are you getting out of this?” Yejin asked as politely as she could, though a trained ear could detect the venom hiding within.

Jeonghan leaned in, his disorganized chestnut side-swept hair falling over his eyes. He fixed the navy blue backpack strap hanging from the side of his shoulder as he bent down to stare into her eyes. Yejin held her breath, intimidated by the sudden change of atmosphere.

“Your friendship,” Jeonghan ended cheekily, a boyish smile curling on the corners of his lips.

“Ha,” Yejin muttered weakly, running her hand through her long hair.

“You’re a very smart student, Yejin,” Jeonghan reached out to fidget with her laptop screen, pushing it close before pulling it up again before it could involuntarily shut down. “But it’s okay to take a break sometimes, you know. When you’re done with that assignment of yours, let’s play Monopoly.”

“Monopoly?” Yejin frowned. “We don’t have Monopoly here.”

“I noticed,” Jeonghan commented in a pained tone. “How can you not have a Monopoly board in this apartment? You and Aera are disappointments. Here,” he dropped his backpack on the floor and pulled out a Monopoly board.

Yejin raised a brow. “You brought a whole Monopoly board with you?”

“Yes, for this very special occasion,” Jeonghan said proudly. “Eat your food, and then tell me when you’re finished with your work. I’ll wait for you.”

Despite her protests, Yejin’s heart fluttered a little at his words.

“Okay,” she mumbled.

Jeonghan smiled and threw his body over the couch, unaware that he left a certain girl’s heart hammering violently against her sternum.

three.

A knock dragged Yejin’s attention away from her book and towards the door. Setting the paperback page down on the coffee table, Yejin stretched her sore back as her guest knocked on her door again.

“Coming,” she said, peeking through the eyehole to check. Her eyes widened a little when she recognized the mop of brown hair and swung the door wide open without hesitation. Jeonghan fell forward like a piece of domino, but luckily, Yejin caught his shoulders before he could collide with the ground.

“Get up, you’re heavy,” Yejin inhaled, catching a whiff of alcohol. She coughed, startled. “Oh, crap. Have you been drinking?”

“It was Aera,” he mumbled, his legs flailing behind him. He groaned as his palm flew to his temple. Yejin laid him gently on the couch and rummaged through her drawers for painkillers.

“What were you doing with Aera?” Yejin asked as she placed a glass of water and some tablets on the coffee table. She peered down at Jeonghan’s head from the side of the couch as his body took up the rest of the comfy furniture. From her vantage point, she could see the elegant curves and slopes that made up Jeonghan’s face. He was, indeed, handsome. She threw her gaze away in case he saw her staring, but he was too drunk to care.

“Some party,” Jeonghan said, his voice so soft that Yejin had to guess what he said through his closed lips. He had an arm over his eyes, and his voice sounded strained. Yejin raised an eyebrow.

“Okay,” she pulled at his arm to get him to sit up. “Come on, you need to drink this.”

“I don’t have a headache yet,” his words were slurred as Yejin attempted to yank him to his feet.

“You look like you have a headache. Trust me, Aera’s my roommate.”

“Can I confess something?” Jeonghan swiftly rolled over onto his stomach as he shot Yejin a smile. Or a smirk, more like, judging from the lopsided curve on the right side of his mouth.

“Okay?” Yejin gulped, feeling her cheeks pinking at the casual smile he offered.

“I actually like you,” he laughed, a bubbly note ringing through the silent air of the apartment.

Yejin froze. “What?”

“It was two years ago. I saw you at orientation and developed a crush on you. Surprising, eh? And I only saw you once but I fell deep. In love, I mean. I forgot about you, sort of, when I didn’t see you again for a very long time. And then a few months ago I saw you in the library and learned you were my roommate’s girlfriend’s roommate. You can imagine my shock.”

“Jeonghan, you have a girlfriend,” Yejin reminded him, feeling a stinging in her eye sockets.

“Yeah, I know,” Jeonghan laughed, his eyelids closing halfway through. “Funny. If only I went out more, socialized more, you know. Maybe I would’ve met you. Maybe I would’ve been dating you right now.”

“You sound so confident,” Yejin said, reaching out to press her palm against Jeonghan’s cheek. Just this once. One time, then I’m never going to do this again.

“I mean, maybe. I don’t know,” Jeonghan leaned into her hand and his lips brushed the heel of her palm. Her breath hitched and she swallowed. “Do you like me?”

Yejin grimaced, her lips embracing her teeth. “I don’t know.”

Jeonghan kept his firm gaze on her eyes, but she looked away within seconds. A sigh escaped his mouth and he leaned against the couch.

“Of course, you don’t.” He peeled Yejin’s hand from his cheek. “I’m sorry for coming here.”

“It’s alright,” Yejin said, running her fingers through his hair. “I don’t mind at all.”

“I really like you,” Jeonghan repeated, his voice fading into a soft laugh. “I just…”

A snore left his throat, and a tear escaped her eyelids.

four.

“I want you to be gentle with Jeonghan,” Aera said as she shoved her heels into her shoes.

“What do you mean?” Yejin asked as soon as she pulled the pen from between her teeth. Normally, she’d tuck the piece of stationary behind her ear, but that space was currently occupied by her black-rimmed glasses.

“Something happened,” Aera answered vaguely, averting her gaze from Yejin’s scrutiny.

“To him?”

“You’ll see for yourself.”

When Jeonghan came along, Yejin immediately understood what Aera meant. His fluffy swept hair was even more disgruntled than usual, vaguely reminding Yejin of a thornbush. There were dark circles under his eyes that were almost the shade of his onyx eyes and his lips were chapped and scarlet in some places, but Yejin glanced away before he could catch her staring. Despite how exhausted he looked, he still managed to smile at her.

“I’ve never seen you wear glasses before,” he said.

Yejin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, swallowing nervously. “Yeah, well, I usually prefer my lenses.”

Jeonghan exhaled, a rough, guttural sound that shattered Yejin’s glass heart into a thousand fragments. “I broke up with Stacey.”

“Oh,” Yejin closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jeonghan laughed, an empty sound that undulated as he flopped face-first onto the couch. “I’m sorry about last time and for… for being here. I don’t know who else to go to.”

Yejin pursed her lips, wondering if Jeonghan still remembered his confession. Did he remember that he told her he liked her? Did he remember how she placed her palm on his cheek? Did he remember the sound of her heartbeat and the warm emotions thumping in rhythm with her blood?

“Do you want a hug?” she asked, surprising herself.

Jeonghan watched her, a small smile materializing on his face. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

Yejin accompanied Jeonghan on the couch and allowed him to sink his head into the dip of her shoulder. They stayed that way for a while as Yejin allowed Jeonghan to take the warm comfort she offered him.

“I saw her,” he mumbled into the collar of Yejin’s sweater, “with another guy. It’s only been a week since we broke up and there she is. Dating again.”

“Maybe… that’s her way of recovering?” Yejin asked meekly.

“Maybe,” Jeonghan exhaled and Yejin could feel his breath on her neck. “But it still hurts so much, you know.”

“Yeah,” Yejin stared out at the dark sky. “I know.”

“Can I…” Jeonghan shifted to a more comfortable position, keeping his head on Yejin’s shoulder and his arms around her torso. “Can I stay here tonight?”

“Sure.” Yejin pulled away to grab a cushion on the floor and positioned it under Jeonghan’s head. “Not a problem at all.”

Jeonghan looped his fingers through Yejin’s hand, and she didn’t pull away. Instead, she rested her head against the couch and watched his chest rise and fall.

five.

“What’s he doing here?” Aera frowned.

“No, the question is, why are you still here?” Yejin responded.

“I live here!” Aera threw her hands into the air incredulously.

“She’s kicking you out,” Jeonghan snickered. “She wants full ownership of the apartment and the cat and the refrigerator full of your delicious food.”

“We don’t have a cat.”

“He’s the cat,” Yejin jabbed her finger in Jeonghan's direction.

“Ouch,” Jeonghan used his hand that wasn’t occupied with holding a yogurt cup to slam the right side of his chest. “That smarts, Yejin.”

Even the way he said her name made her stomach soar.

“It’s true!” She argued, hoping that her cheeks remained their normal hue. “All you do here is sleep and eat our food. Just like a cat.”

“I meant,” Aera began, flapping the air when Jeonghan opened his mouth to argue, “that I haven’t even left and yet you’re already here. You usually come after I’m gone.”

“We’re having a movie marathon today,” Yejin said. “We’re binging the Larry Hatter movies.”

“Ah, that’s a classic. Have fun, you two.”

“Do you have the popcorn?” Yejin asked as the front door slammed shut.

Jeonghan snorted. “Of course I brought the popcorn. And the candy. What’s a movie marathon without candy?” He grabbed the tubs of popcorn and the colorful plastic bag and plopped onto the couch next to Yejin with a huff.

Larry Hatter and the Thaumaturge’s Rock flashed across the screen in front of them, but Yejin could only focus on the side of Jeonghan’s face. She watched the colors dance over the soft angles of his cheeks, garnering a blush on Yejin’s cheeks. Suddenly, he was watching her, but she didn’t look away.

“Is my face much more interesting than the movie?” Jeonghan laughed, a smirk dancing over his lips. Yejin fought the urge to slap it off his face.

“Why do you like coming over here?” Yejin answered with a question, her head slightly tilted to the side.

Jeonghan paused, watching her as Persephone scolded Roland for pronouncing a spell wrong on screen. Yejin watched the emotions swirl behind his irises, unable to discern any of them.

“Because you’re here,” he said.

Yejin nodded, trying not to smile at the vague answer. “Mhm.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not making fun of you.”

“You’re smiling,” he poked her cheek and Yejin fought the urge to lean into his hand.

Remember, he just got out of a relationship. Don’t do this to him.

“So what, you’ve taken away my right to smile now?” Yejin huffed.

“No,” Jeonghan assured, throwing his head back in a laugh. “It’s just that I can’t control myself when you smile.”

Breathe.

“Okay,” Yejin shrugged. She tightened her grip on her bowl of popcorn and kept a steel gaze on the movie, making sure to ignore Jeonghan’s stares and his hands.

+ one.

One bad thing kept happening after the other.

Earlier that day, someone knocked into Yejin while she was going up the stairs and she fell, scraping her knees against the pavement. They burned like an inferno and Yejin had to bite her lip to prevent herself from crying. The person who shoved her didn’t even spare a second glance her way; she walked home limping. When she arrived home, she checked her phone and discovered that she attained a superbly low grade for one of her essays. She also received a message from one of her friends that his dog ripped apart a book that she lent him. To make matters worse, it was one of her favorite books; a book her mother had given her on her fifteenth birthday.

It was too much for Yejin to handle.

Aera wasn’t home—where was comfort when you needed it—and no one from her family was picking up. Yejin’s face was buried deep into her right palm as another hand pressed her phone against her ear.

Please, Yejin thought as the phone continued to ring in her ear.

“Hello?”

Yejin’s balloon heart sagged in relief.

“Hi,” she swallowed. “Can I come over?”

Jeonghan’s response was immediate. “Yes.”

That was how Yejin found herself in Jeonghan’s apartment, snuggled against him on the couch with a warm mug of hot chocolate. He was playing a game on his PS5, but his arms were around Yejin like a large, comfy teddy bear. She leaned against his chest, hearing his heartbeat in sync with hers.

“Thanks,” she mumbled to him, and she could feel his heart pump faster.

“Any time,” he answered, pulling her closer to his chest.

Yejin continued to watch the characters and graphics flash across the screen. She sipped her hot chocolate as she placed her hands on one of Jeonghan’s hands, momentarily distracting him from his game. He recovered quickly and twisted his thumb so that he was caressing her palm.

“Jeonghan?”

He hummed in response.

“I think I like you.”

Jeonghan froze and his character died. He turned to her, ignoring the flashing message on the screen that spelled GAME OVER in red capital letters.

“You think?” he asked, voice cracking at the end.

Yejin shook her head quickly. “No, no. Not think. I do like you.”

She squirmed nervously; he was still at a loss for words. She vaguely watched his throat gulp as he swallowed.

“Really?” he asked, his voice raw and vulnerable.

Yejin understood why he was so hesitant. He had recently gotten out of a relationship—he didn’t know if he was ready to give his heart to someone else after losing it not too long ago.

“You don’t have to give me an answer right now,” Yejin assured, squeezing his wrist. “I’ll wait—”

“Yejin.”

Yejin glanced at Jeonghan’s serious expression; his jawline is firm and stiff and his eyebrows are slightly wrinkled. He stared at her for a while, deep in thought, before he leaned in to kiss her.

Her eyes fluttered shut in response. Jeonghan’s lips were slightly chapped but soft and gentle. She was frozen for a while, her mind unable to process what was happening at first. Then Jeonghan pulled away, and she grabbed his collar to pull him into her.

“Yejin,” Jeonghan said breathlessly, his hair tousled as he held Yejin in his arms. “I don’t want you to think I’m only using you as a rebound; I like you, from the bottom of my heart. Can I be your boyfriend?”

Yejin laughed at the innocent question and reached up to tuck one of his curls behind his ear. She leaned up to peck him again.

“Yes.”

© silver newton┊ ༑ ࿐ྂ。

[govindhtech]

Entra ID Lateral Movement And Expanding Permission Usage

Abusing Intimate Permissions for Lateral Movement and Privilege Escalation in Entra ID Native Environments: (In)tune to Takeovers

Recently, a client received assistance from the Mandiant Red Team in visualizing the potential consequences of an advanced threat actor breach. In order to compromise the tenant’s installed Entra ID service principals, Mandiant migrated laterally from the customer’s on-premises environment to their Microsoft Entra ID tenant during the evaluation.

Using a popular security architecture that involves Intune-managed Privileged Access Workstations (PAWs), we will discuss in this blog post a new method by which adversaries can move laterally and elevate privileges within Microsoft Entra ID by abusing Intune permissions (DeviceManagementConfiguration.ReadWrite.All) granted to Entra ID service principals. We also offer suggestions and corrective actions to stop and identify this kind of attack.

A pretext

The client had a well-developed security architecture that adhered to the Enterprise Access model suggested by Microsoft, which included:

An Active Directory-based on-premises setting that adheres to the Tiered Model.

A Microsoft Entra Connect Sync-synchronized Entra ID environment that synchronizes on-premises identities and groups with Entra ID. PAWs, which were completely cloud-native and controlled by Intune Mobile Device Management (MDM), were used to administrate this environment. They were not connected to the on-premises Active Directory system. To access these systems, IT managers used a specific, cloud-native (non-synced) administrative account. These cloud-native administrative accounts were the only ones allocated Entra ID roles (Global Administrator, Privileged Role Administrator, etc.).

A robust security barrier was created by separating administrative accounts, devices, and privileges between the Entra ID environment and the on-premises environment:

Because Entra ID privileged roles are associated with unique, cloud-native identities, a compromise of the on-premises Active Directory cannot be utilized to compromise the Entra ID environment. This is an excellent practice for Microsoft.

An “air gap” between the administration planes of the two environments is successfully created by using distinct physical workstations for administrative access to cloud and on-premises resources. Attackers find it very challenging to get through air gaps.

Strong Conditional Access regulations imposed by Privileged Identity Management assigned roles to the administrative accounts in Entra ID, necessitating multi-factor authentication and a managed, compliant device. Additionally, Microsoft recommends these best practices.

Attack Path

One of the objectives of the evaluation was to assign the Mandiant Red Team the task of obtaining Global Administrator access to the Entra ID tenant. Mandiant was able to add credentials to Entra ID service principals (microsoft.directory/servicePrincipals/credentials/update) by using a variety of methods that are outside the purview of this blog post. This gave the Red Team the ability to compromise any preloaded service principal.

There are a number well-known methods for abusing service principal rights to get higher permissions, most notably through the usage of RoleManagement.See AppRoleAssignment and ReadWrite.Directory.Application and ReadWrite.All.ReadWrite.All rights for Microsoft Graph.

However, the Mandiant Red Team had to reconsider their approach because none of these rights were being used in the customer’s environment.

Mandiant found a service principle that was given the DeviceManagementConfiguration after using the superb ROADTools framework to learn more about the customer’s Entra ID system.Go ahead and write.Permission is granted.Image credit to Google Cloud

The service principal is able to “read and write Microsoft Intune device configuration and policies” with this authorization.

Clients running Windows 10 and later can execute the unique PowerShell scripts used by Intune for device management. Administrators have an alternative to configuring devices with settings not accessible through the configuration policies or the apps section of Intune by using the ability to run scripts on local devices. When the device boots up, management scripts with administrator rights (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM) are run.

The configuration of Device Management.Go ahead and write.To list, read, create, and update management scripts via the Microsoft Graph API, all permissions are required.

The Microsoft Graph API makes it simple to write or edit the management script. An example HTTP request to alter an existing script is displayed in the accompanying figure.PATCH https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/deviceManagement/ deviceManagementScripts/<script id> { "@odata.type": "#microsoft.graph.deviceManagementScript", "displayName": "<display name>", "description": "<description>", "scriptContent": "<PowerShell script in base64 encoding>", "runAsAccount": "system", "enforceSignatureCheck": false, "fileName": "<filename>", "roleScopeTagIds": [ "<existing role scope tags>" ], "runAs32Bit": false }

The caller can provide a display name, file name, and description in addition to the Base64-encoded value of the PowerShell script content using the Graph API. Depending on which principle the script should be run as, the runAsAccount parameter can be set to either user or system. RoleScopeTagIds references Intune’s Scope Tags, which associate people and devices. The DeviceManagementConfiguration can likewise be used to construct and manage them.Go ahead and write. Permission is granted.

The configuration of Device Management.Go ahead and write.By changing an existing device management script to run a PowerShell script under Mandiant’s control, Mandiant was able to go laterally to the PAWs used for Entra ID administration with full authorization. The malicious script is run by the Intune management script when the device reboots as part of the user’s regular workday.

By implanting a command-and-control device, Mandiant could give the PAWs any instructions. The Red Team obtained privileged access to Entra ID by waiting for the victim to activate their privileged role through Azure Privileged Identity Management and then impersonating the privileged account (for example, by stealing cookies or tokens). By taking these actions, Mandiant was able to fulfill the assessment’s goal and gain Global Administrator rights in Entra ID.

Remediation and Recommendations

To avoid the attack scenario, Mandiant suggests the following hardening measures:

Review your organization’s security principals for the DeviceManagementConfiguration.ReadWrite.All permission:  DeviceManagementConfiguration should be handled by organizations that use Microsoft Intune for device management.Go ahead and write.Since it grants the trustee authority over the Intune-managed devices and, consequently, any identities connected to the devices, all permissions are considered sensitive.

Mandiant advises businesses to routinely check the authorizations given to Azure service principals, with a focus on the DeviceManagementConfiguration.Along with other sensitive permissions (like RoleManagement), there is the ReadWrite.All permission.See AppRoleAssignment and ReadWrite.Directory.Application and ReadWrite.All.ReadWrite.All.

Businesses that manage PAWs with Intune should exercise extra caution when assigning Intune privileges (either via DeviceManagementConfiguration).Use Entra roles like Intune Role Administrator or ReadWrite.All.

Enable Intune’s multiple admin approval: Intune allows you to use Access Policies to demand a second administrator’s approval before applying any changes. By doing this, an attacker would be unable to use a single compromised account to create or alter management scripts.

Think about turning on activity logs for the Microsoft Graph API: Graph API Activity logs, which provide comprehensive details about Graph API HTTP requests made to Microsoft Graph resources, can be enabled to aid in detection and response efforts.

Make use of the features that Workload ID Premium licenses offer: With a Workload-ID Premium license, Mandiant suggests using these features to:

Limit the use of privileged service principals to known, reliable places only. By guaranteeing that only trustworthy places are used, this reduces the possibility of unwanted access and improves security.

Enable risk detections in Microsoft Identity Protection to improve service principal security. When risk factors or questionable activity are found, this can proactively prohibit access.

Keep an eye on service principal sign-ins proactively: Monitoring service principal sign-ins proactively can aid in identifying irregularities and possible dangers. Incorporate this information into security procedures to set off notifications and facilitate quick action in the event of unwanted access attempts.

Mandiant has a thorough grasp of the various ways attackers may compromise their target’s cloud estate with some hostile emulation engagements, Red Team Assessments, and Purple Team Assessments.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[teqful]

How-To IT

Topic: Core areas of IT

1. Hardware

• Computers (Desktops, Laptops, Workstations)

• Servers and Data Centers

• Networking Devices (Routers, Switches, Modems)

• Storage Devices (HDDs, SSDs, NAS)

• Peripheral Devices (Printers, Scanners, Monitors)

2. Software

• Operating Systems (Windows, Linux, macOS)

• Application Software (Office Suites, ERP, CRM)

• Development Software (IDEs, Code Libraries, APIs)

• Middleware (Integration Tools)

• Security Software (Antivirus, Firewalls, SIEM)

3. Networking and Telecommunications

• LAN/WAN Infrastructure

• Wireless Networking (Wi-Fi, 5G)

• VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)

• Communication Systems (VoIP, Email Servers)

• Internet Services

4. Data Management

• Databases (SQL, NoSQL)

• Data Warehousing

• Big Data Technologies (Hadoop, Spark)

• Backup and Recovery Systems

• Data Integration Tools

5. Cybersecurity

• Network Security

• Endpoint Protection

• Identity and Access Management (IAM)

• Threat Detection and Incident Response

• Encryption and Data Privacy

6. Software Development

• Front-End Development (UI/UX Design)

• Back-End Development

• DevOps and CI/CD Pipelines

• Mobile App Development

• Cloud-Native Development

7. Cloud Computing

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

• Platform as a Service (PaaS)

• Software as a Service (SaaS)

• Serverless Computing

• Cloud Storage and Management

8. IT Support and Services

• Help Desk Support

• IT Service Management (ITSM)

• System Administration

• Hardware and Software Troubleshooting

• End-User Training

9. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

• AI Algorithms and Frameworks

• Natural Language Processing (NLP)

• Computer Vision

• Robotics

• Predictive Analytics

10. Business Intelligence and Analytics

• Reporting Tools (Tableau, Power BI)

• Data Visualization

• Business Analytics Platforms

• Predictive Modeling

11. Internet of Things (IoT)

• IoT Devices and Sensors

• IoT Platforms

• Edge Computing

• Smart Systems (Homes, Cities, Vehicles)

12. Enterprise Systems

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS)

• Supply Chain Management Systems

13. IT Governance and Compliance

• ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)

• COBIT (Control Objectives for Information Technologies)

• ISO/IEC Standards

• Regulatory Compliance (GDPR, HIPAA, SOX)

14. Emerging Technologies

• Blockchain

• Quantum Computing

• Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)

• 3D Printing

• Digital Twins

15. IT Project Management

• Agile, Scrum, and Kanban

• Waterfall Methodology

• Resource Allocation

• Risk Management

16. IT Infrastructure

• Data Centers

• Virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V)

• Disaster Recovery Planning

• Load Balancing

17. IT Education and Certifications

• Vendor Certifications (Microsoft, Cisco, AWS)

• Training and Development Programs

• Online Learning Platforms

18. IT Operations and Monitoring

• Performance Monitoring (APM, Network Monitoring)

• IT Asset Management

• Event and Incident Management

19. Software Testing

• Manual Testing: Human testers evaluate software by executing test cases without using automation tools.

• Automated Testing: Use of testing tools (e.g., Selenium, JUnit) to run automated scripts and check software behavior.

• Functional Testing: Validating that the software performs its intended functions.

• Non-Functional Testing: Assessing non-functional aspects such as performance, usability, and security.

• Unit Testing: Testing individual components or units of code for correctness.

• Integration Testing: Ensuring that different modules or systems work together as expected.

• System Testing: Verifying the complete software system’s behavior against requirements.

• Acceptance Testing: Conducting tests to confirm that the software meets business requirements (including UAT - User Acceptance Testing).

• Regression Testing: Ensuring that new changes or features do not negatively affect existing functionalities.

• Performance Testing: Testing software performance under various conditions (load, stress, scalability).

• Security Testing: Identifying vulnerabilities and assessing the software’s ability to protect data.

• Compatibility Testing: Ensuring the software works on different operating systems, browsers, or devices.

• Continuous Testing: Integrating testing into the development lifecycle to provide quick feedback and minimize bugs.

• Test Automation Frameworks: Tools and structures used to automate testing processes (e.g., TestNG, Appium).

19. VoIP (Voice over IP)

VoIP Protocols & Standards

• SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)

• H.323

• RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol)

• MGCP (Media Gateway Control Protocol)

VoIP Hardware

• IP Phones (Desk Phones, Mobile Clients)

• VoIP Gateways

• Analog Telephone Adapters (ATAs)

• VoIP Servers

• Network Switches/ Routers for VoIP

VoIP Software

• Softphones (e.g., Zoiper, X-Lite)

• PBX (Private Branch Exchange) Systems

• VoIP Management Software

• Call Center Solutions (e.g., Asterisk, 3CX)

VoIP Network Infrastructure

• Quality of Service (QoS) Configuration

• VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) for VoIP

• VoIP Traffic Shaping & Bandwidth Management

• Firewall and Security Configurations for VoIP

• Network Monitoring & Optimization Tools

VoIP Security

• Encryption (SRTP, TLS)

• Authentication and Authorization

• Firewall & Intrusion Detection Systems

• VoIP Fraud DetectionVoIP Providers

• Hosted VoIP Services (e.g., RingCentral, Vonage)

• SIP Trunking Providers

• PBX Hosting & Managed Services

VoIP Quality and Testing

• Call Quality Monitoring

• Latency, Jitter, and Packet Loss Testing

• VoIP Performance Metrics and Reporting Tools

• User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for VoIP Systems

Integration with Other Systems

• CRM Integration (e.g., Salesforce with VoIP)

• Unified Communications (UC) Solutions

• Contact Center Integration

• Email, Chat, and Video Communication Integration