#Risk Based Audit

[danielstephanus]

Pengauditan 1: Mengomunikasikan Kelemahan SPI & Menyelesaikan Penilian Risiko Audit Akhir....

[synergy12345]

Expert internal audit services in UAE for risk control and process improvement

Synergy Auditing provides reliable internal audit services in the UAE, helping businesses strengthen internal controls, improve operational efficiency, and mitigate risks. Our team of skilled auditors offers customized internal audit frameworks aligned with your business goals and regulatory requirements. With a focus on risk management, process evaluation, and compliance, Synergy Auditing supports companies in identifying inefficiencies and safeguarding assets. Our internal audits go beyond compliance to provide strategic insights that enhance governance and performance.

[bmsaudit]

Beyond mere compliance, an independent audit is an essential instrument for risk mitigation, providing transparency and assurance to stakeholders. Since every company is different, BMS Saudi Arabia tailors all audit projects to fit each client’s strategic goals.

We uphold the highest quality standards in all areas of our operations, including personnel, leadership, technology, and Quality Control oversight. Recognizing the essential role of accurate financial reporting, we highlight its significance in risk assessment, goal-setting, and performance tracking. An independent auditor’s report not only aids in better decision-making but also fosters trust in your financial statements.

SOURCE : https://www.bmsauditing.com/services/corporate-auditing-services-saudi-arabia

[radiantresume]

🐢 The Turtle Diagram in IATF 16949: More Than a Drawing—It’s Process Intelligence

🔍 What is a Turtle Diagram? A Turtle Diagram is a visual tool used in process-based thinking, required under IATF 16949 and ISO 9001. It’s designed to help understand, control, and improve a process by analyzing: Inputs & outputs Responsibilities (who) Methods (how) Resources (with what) Performance (KPIs) Risks It’s called a “turtle” because the layout resembles a turtle shell, with the…

[auditwise]

Audit Management Software for BFSI: Simplify Compliance and Risk Management

In the rapidly evolving landscape of financial services, the audit management process is crucial for streamlining internal audits, ensuring regulatory compliance, and reducing risk. Traditional auditing methods that rely on spreadsheets and manual documentation often cause delays, lead to errors, and offer limited visibility into the audit process. Without automation, sometimes it becomes challenging to track changes, ensure data integrity, and respond swiftly to GRC or Governance Risk and Compliance audits or internal reviews.

This highlights the urgent need for a modern, technology-driven internal audit management system that can centralize audit activities, improve accuracy, and enhance transparency. By automating internal tasks such as audit planning, scheduling, execution, documentation, and reporting, internal audit software systems empower BFSI, SaaS, Fintech, and other industries to work more efficiently and make informed decisions.

GRC internal audit software systems offer real-time dashboards, risk assessment tools, and built-in compliance frameworks that enable organizations to stay ahead of regulatory compliance requirements while ensuring RBI, ISO, SOC 2, and HIPAA compliance. Choosing a cloud-based audit software not only saves time and resources but also strengthens governance and boosts overall organizational resilience in today’s complex banking and financial environment.

Why Choose Audit Management Software for BFSI?

Audit Workflow Automation: Audit software automates the entire audit process, from task management to findings tracking and audit scheduling. This automation not only saves time but also minimizes human error, ensuring a more reliable audit process. With a centralized platform, teams can manage all audit-related tasks efficiently, leading to improved productivity and faster audit cycles.

Regulatory Compliance Monitoring: Audit software helps financial institutions comply with various regulatory requirements, including those set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), and Basel III. Audit management software provides tools for ongoing compliance monitoring, ensuring that institutions remain audit-ready at all times.

Real-Time Reporting & Dashboards: The Audit tool offers real-time reporting capabilities that allow users to visualize audit progress, findings, and compliance gaps. This feature enables teams to make informed decisions quickly. Users can create dashboards tailored to their specific needs, providing insights that are crucial for effective audit management.

Risk & Issue Management: Internal audit software allows teams to flag issues and track remediation efforts, reducing regulatory exposure and enhancing overall risk management. The software integrates risk assessment tools that help identify potential compliance risks before they escalate.

Collaboration & Document Control: Audit Tools facilitates collaboration across various departments, ensuring that all stakeholders are involved in the audit process. Audit software provides role-based access to audit documents, ensuring that sensitive information is protected while still being accessible to authorized personnel.

Faster Audit Closure: By automating compliance tasks, internal audit management software can reduce the time spent on audits by up to 60%. This efficiency allows teams to focus on more strategic initiatives rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks.

Audit Management Software Free Demo

AuditWise audit software stands out as a leading governance risk and compliance or grc internal audit management software for various institutions. Its robust features, including workflow automation, compliance monitoring, real-time reporting, audit scheduling, and risk management, make it an invaluable tool for banks, NBFCs, fintechs, and insurance firms. By choosing AuditWise, organizations can streamline their audit processes, achieve compliance, and reduce risk, ultimately leading to more efficient and effective internal audit management.

Explore audit management software for banks and other financial institutions with a free trial. No credit card is required. Experience powerful features, transparent pricing, and enterprise-grade security — all in one platform.

[bitchesgetriches]

Everything You Need To Know About Taxes

How to pay your taxes

HERE IT IS: our official primer on how to file your tax return, updated annually as the laws change. If you’re just a wee baby taxpayer who has never gone through the process before, start here:

How to File Your Taxes FOR FREE in 2025: Simple Instructions for the Stressed-out Taxpayer 

And for those of you advanced enough to have fucked up your taxes at least once in your lifetime… congrats and welcome to the club! We’re all very cool here and also based—which my nieces tell me is a word I’m never allowed to use!

Here’s our advice on how to troubleshoot a tax fuck-up:

Go Ahead and File Your Taxes Right Freakin’ Now

Screw Up Your Taxes? Here’s How To Get Out of Paying Tax Penalties

My Taxes Are a Little, uh, Creative. What’s My Risk of Being Audited? 

Would You Rather Owe Taxes or Get a Tax Refund This April? The Answer Might Surprise You!

Taxes: Your Annual Fee for Membership in Civilization 

I got 1099 problems but this Bitch ain’t one

We know a large portion of our readership are not full-time salaried workers. So for all of our beloved freelancers, contractors, part-timers, and service industry professionals, we’ve got some supplemental reading for you:

11 Awful Mistakes I Made as a Self-employed Freelancer, and How You Can Avoid Them

“Independent Contractor” My Ass: How to Stop Wage Theft Through Worker Misclassification

Season 4, Episode 5: “401(k)s Aren’t Offered in My Industry. How Do I Save for Retirement if My Employer Won’t Help?”

Ask the Bitches: My Boss Won’t Give Me a Contract and I’m Freaking Out

Investing Deathmatch: Traditional IRA vs. Roth IRA

Barbara Sloan’s New Book Dares To Suggest Service Industry Professionals Deserve Financial Stability Too 

Taxes and relationships

No matter what your situationship, it will affect how you handle your taxes. Here’s what I mean:

How To Get Married: Bureaucracy, Finances, and Legal Paperwork To Do Before “I Do” 

Season 3, Episode 8: “Should I Get Married for Tax Purposes? My Boyfriend Swears We’d Save Money, but I’m Not So Sure…” 

Season 4, Episode 2: “We’re Moving in Together but Don’t Plan To Get Married. How Can We Split Finances Fairly?”

A Guide to Sharing Finances with Someone Other Than a Romantic Partner

Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by taxes

I know you’ll all be shocked by this, but… the Tax Man does not fuck over all of us equally! Sometimes He fucks over specific kinds of people particularly hard… with a pineapple! Read on to learn more.

How To Protect Yourself Against Project 2025 

The Social Safety Net for Disabled People Is Broken

Unmarried? In THIS Economy? 7 Ways Our Society Financially Punishes Single People

Season 4, Episode 8: “I’m Queer, and Want To Find an Affordable Place To Retire. How Do I Balance Safety With Cost of Living?”

Dafuq Is Unemployment Insurance and How Do I Apply for It?

Pay it forward

Everything I linked above is available to you for free. We worked long and hard to make it for you, and while we absolutely consider it a labor of love… it’s still labor. So if you’d like to show your appreciation for that labor, pay it (and by “it” I mean a tiny portion of your tax return) forward by donating to our Patreon or our PayPal to we can continue to do what we do here.

Join the Bitches on Patreon

Toss a coin to your Bitches on PayPal

[slut4celebs]

Angel Baby

Olivia Rodrigo x Reader, Jenna Ortega x BestFriend!Reader

Word Count: 1,702 words

Trigger Warnings: a lot of fluff

Synopsis: A songfic based on Angel Baby by Troye Sivan in which Olivia and the Reader see each other after their decision to never date anyone ever again.

“I just think… Putting yourself out there wouldn’t be the worst idea.” Jenna said, glancing up at her best friend, who was currently examining her ice latte as if it were the worst thing to ever exist. Though, Jenna had come to realize (Y/n)’s face wasn’t towards the latte, but rather a way to pretend she wasn’t horrified by her suggestion. “(Y/n), come on. You’re amazing and talented. You deserve love. I have this friend… I would really like to introduce you to her. And, I heard you call her pretty before when we were flipping through a magazine.”

(Y/n) chose to refrain from rolling her eyes. “Another girl in the industry… great.” (Y/n) said sarcastically, wincing a bit when the disappointed frown that graced Jenna’s face appeared. She hated when Jenna pulled out the frown, an involuntary expression that only showed around people who knew her well enough to notice it. “Look, I just don’t think dating is good for me. All it ever led to was me locking myself in my apartment, missing three auditions that would’ve been amazing and totally mine if I would have attended, and me almost drowning in my cereal bowl.” She reminded, getting a little snicker from Jenna at the mention of when (Y/n) cried in her Fruit Loops, and Jenna had to lift her head from the bowl. She had milk all over her face, and Jenna had to take five minutes to keep from laughing.

Jenna grew serious though as she tapped the table. (Y/n) could almost groan, knowing what her best friend had up her sleeve. Undeniably, it was the best friend pact. Jenna was calling in a favor. (Y/n) could read it so clearly on her freckled face as Jenna tried to pick her words carefully. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to deny a favor of this caliber since Jenna very rarely pulled out the Best Friend Pact Favor. This was something they created on set of a movie they starred in together at the age of twelve. Since the creation of this sacred pact, they have stuck to it, using it to call dibs on being each other’s dates to events, help them avoid awkward questions asked by paparazzi, fans, and interviewers, and more.

“I hate to do this but… I’m invoking the pact.” Jenna said, leaning back in her chair. (Y/n) sighed deeply but waited, wanting to hear Jenna out. This was obviously something that had brewing in her mind for awhile. “Honestly, I’m worried about you and her. I think you two would be good for each other. I just want you to give it a chance. A real chance, (Y/n).”

(Y/n) ran a hand down her face, risking her makeup’s safety when she did. “Fine, fine. Just tell me who it is. That way I can plan something.” She agreed, taking a sip of her coffee, debating chugging it to get out of the coffee shop faster. But instead, she remained calm and just panicked on the inside. She knew that Jenna was genuinely worried about her and the fact that she complained a little too frequently about being lonely. Plus, it had been a year since her breakup to the girl who always put down her dreams for her own. Maybe it was time to put herself out there. Besides, Jenna knew her taste quite well, saying as they were going on almost ten years strong in their friendship.

“Ha, as if I would tell you upfront and risk you leaving as soon as you saw her.” Jenna rose a brow. She tended to know her a little too well. Admittedly, she probably would run. But who’s to say that’s still not a possibility given that she could go to wherever Jenna would drop her off at… She could also just sneak off. “You’re also not allowed to sneak out as soon as I drop you off. This date is going to be on Saturday at six, I’ve decided. Dress nice but not overly nice. Basically, a pretty blouse and jeans. Oh! And that leather jacket that you look super fucking hot in.”

A snort escaped her at Jenna’s words and she allowed her gaze to meet Jenna’s deep brown ones. “I’m beginning to think you’re setting me up with you.” She teased, earning a playful shove. (Y/n) found herself to be grateful that the shove was officially the end to the conversation. Now, they’ve moved onto better topics like filming and dessert they’ve had recently. She finally felt the tension caused by the conversation leave her shoulders as she listen to Jenna talk about a special dessert Emma, her Wednesday co-star, had her try.

On Saturday, Jenna dropped (Y/n) at a pretty popular celebrity hangout, that way she wouldn’t know who she was setting her up with. (Y/n) drummed her fingers on the table, fist against her cheek as she waited for some kind of clue for who it might be when someone unexpected caught her eye at the bar. Olivia Rodrigo. A guilty pit fell in her stomach as she looked around, completely abandoning whoever Jenna might be dropping off soon now that she was settled. Instead, she approached the brunette who was ordering a glass of wine.

“Good choice. I’ll have the same.” She settled by the girl, who looked over and smiled a bit. “It’s been awhile, Liv,” (Y/n) greeted her friend. She has always had sort of a thing for Olivia, not that she would say it out loud. Only Jenna knew. “How has the music scene been going? Please tell me your third album is coming out soon. I’ve been craving a new vinyl with your name on it.” (Y/n), being a big supporter of her friends’ works, bought their movies and vinyl's. This included Olivia. She had her Sour album, her Guts album, and even her Guts Deluxe album.

A small smile fell on Olivia lips as she sipped her wine. “I didn’t expect to see you here, (Y/n).” She leaned in, closer to the girl. “The third album might come sooner than you think.” She said with a teasing smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. “What about you? What have you been working on as of late? Any movie I should be keeping my eyes out for?” Olivia winked, causing (Y/n)’s cheeks to heat up. She reminded herself, in that moment, that she swore off dating. She couldn’t flirt with Olivia. But Olivia seemed to be flirting, a little bit, with her. Was she being delusional?

Their conversation continued, and (Y/n) forgot about the fact that she was there for Jenna and whoever she would be bringing. She didn't know if there was anyone waiting for her, looking out for her. Her attention was just on Olivia. "Honestly, I wasn't excited to come out here tonight." (Y/n) swirled the wine around in her glass as more was poured. Their conversation had turned into something less of small talk. Now, they were going into deeper conversations, both agreeing that the dating scene has sucked. But there was an ease to their conversation that made them feel comfortable. That's how all of their conversations seemed to go.

Olivia frowned a bit, eyes searching (Y/n)'s for a moment. "Oh? Why is that?" She questioned the girl. (Y/n) found herself at a loss, not knowing how to explain that she had abandoned a potential date to join Olivia. Mostly because she knew that leaving whoever it was behind like that was wrong. However, she couldn't help herself to be so drawn in to the girl in front of her. She just had this way about her that always drew (Y/n) in. From their first conversation, Olivia had become someone (Y/n) deeply appreciated and welcome into her life. And that wasn't something she did often.

"Well, I don't want you to think I'm a bad person. It's just… Jenna was trying to set me up with someone, but I've just sworn off dating. Though, I'm starting to think that… you know, I shouldn't do that." She cleared her throat, cheeks burning at the insinuation that she would give up dating for Olivia. But she would. She would love to take Olivia on a date and not just sit in front of a bar, talking over a couple glasses of wine. "I just totally abandoned whoever she was trying to set me up with because I saw you. I couldn't help myself."

A smile fell on Olivia's lips. For a moment, she had turned away from (Y/n) before she let her brown eyes meet (Y/n)'s eyes again. "You didn't abandon your date. Jenna had me come meet you here because I swore it, dating, off, too. I'm also thinking that was a dumb idea, now, though. I just needed some wine before I walked over to you because… You make me nervous. Jenna asked me about you, and I said you were stunning and like the perfect person. That's how this whole thing got set up. I just was too nervous to tell you 'hi' when walking in." She admitted softly. The admission cause (Y/n) to lose that guilty feeling that was heavy on her chest before she leaned in. Olivia followed in the motion, their lips connecting gently.

They were both lost in the feeling before the bar tender told them they couldn't make-out there. So, (Y/n) pulled away, paid for both of their drinks, and left a big tip before leading Olivia out of the building. Olivia had taken her to her car, dropping (Y/n)'s assumptions that Jenna had dropped her off as well. This was a good thing because now, as two celebrities who were followed constantly by paparazzi, they had a sense of privacy. (Y/n) drew Olivia back in and the two kissed for long moments until they couldn't breath anymore.

"Just so you know… I'm going to take you out now. This time, without Jenna finding her way into the relationship." She joked, causing Olivia to grin widely. Their lips were reconnected, and the two knew that they about to be so lost in each other for what very well might be forever, with any luck.

[theskywithin]

TRANSITS - 🔥 SATURN CONJUNCT NEPTUNE IN ARIES (All Rising Signs)

Saturn and Neptune are joining forces in Aries and this is one of the most powerful transits for turning vision into action you’ve seen in years. Saturn will demand structure. Neptune will ask for vision. Together, they will expose where your self-image is built on fantasy and where it’s ready to become embodied truth. If you’ve been talking about starting the business, launching the project, becoming the artist/leader/coach/entrepreneur/whatever version of you calls from the future, this is the time to stop talking and build it. But if you’ve been clinging to a version of yourself that was never really yours? Saturn + Neptune will strip it away and free you to build something more aligned. Here’s where this conjunction is asking YOU to get real based on your rising sign

ps: my book on sale in pinned post :)

♈️ Aries Rising This is one of the most defining transits for your personal identity you’ll experience in years. Saturn and Neptune are meeting in your 1st house, this is about YOU: how you move through the world, what you project, what you believe about who you are. If you’ve been performing an image that doesn’t match your deeper truth, this is when it will start to crack. If you’ve been holding back from fully embodying a version of yourself you dream of becoming, this is when life will ask you to commit. Saturn brings the discipline to build your identity from the inside out, not just based on what looks good. Neptune brings vision but also the risk of self-delusion if you’re not honest. This is about building a self you can live in, not just sell. ✨ Advice: Stop waiting for permission to become the version of you you’re already dreaming about. Define who that is then take one aligned action toward it every single day.

♉️ Taurus Rising Your inner world is under reconstruction. Saturn and Neptune are meeting in your 12th house, this is about healing, subconscious patterns, and how you sabotage or support your future self. If you’ve been ignoring inner work, escaping through unhealthy coping, or clinging to old narratives about who you are, this is when it all comes to the surface. But this is not a punishment, it’s an opportunity. The version of you that succeeds next isn’t the one who hustles harder, it’s the one who feels safe enough to expand. Build a real support system around your mental and emotional health. Create boundaries around your time and energy. The more inner structure you create, the more outer success you’ll see. ✨ Advice: Treat healing like a non-negotiable project. Build it into your schedule, therapy, rest, boundaries, and honor it as the foundation for everything else.

♊️ Gemini Rising Your long-term dreams are about to be tested and potentially rebuilt stronger. Saturn and Neptune are moving through your 11th house of community, friendships, and future vision. This is the time to get real about the goals you’re chasing. Are they truly yours or inherited from someone else’s version of success? If you’ve been clinging to vague ideals without a real plan, this is when life will demand structure. Friendships and communities will also shift, those built on mutual vision will deepen, those built on fantasy will dissolve. You’re building a future now, the version of you that succeeds is the one who starts making it tangible. ✨ Advice: Audit your long-term goals. Pick one that truly matters and create a step-by-step action plan to start bringing it to life this year.

♋️ Cancer Rising Your career and public life are about to go through a deep transformation. Saturn and Neptune are meeting in your 10th house, this is about your ambitions, your public image, and how you define success. If you’ve been chasing an idealized version of success, what looks good on paper, what pleases others, this is the time when you’ll be asked to get real. Are you building something that matches who you truly are? If so, this can be a year of major progress but it will take consistency and clarity. If not, you may feel disillusioned with the path you’re on but that’s not failure, it’s freedom. You’re being asked to create a version of success that’s sustainable, not performative. ✨ Advice: Define success in your own terms and restructure your career moves around that. Stop building for other people’s applause.

♌️ Leo Rising Your beliefs, mindset, and worldview are ready for an upgrade but it will require facing illusions. Saturn and Neptune are moving through your 9th house, the part of your chart that governs philosophy, higher education, spiritual growth, and how you see the world. If you’ve been clinging to beliefs that no longer fit the life you’re living, this is when life will ask you to update them. It’s also a powerful time to take a dream (publishing, teaching, long-distance travel, building a platform) and commit to making it real. But fantasy thinking won’t cut it, Saturn demands a plan. The more grounded your vision, the more doors will open. ✨ Advice: Choose one belief, one course of study, or one big vision and start building a daily practice around it. Consistent action will move you further than more inspiration.

♍️ Virgo Rising Your relationship to trust, intimacy, and shared resources is about to be restructured. Saturn and Neptune are meeting in your 8th house, this is about how you merge your life with others emotionally, sexually, and financially. If you’ve been avoiding vulnerability or blurring boundaries in relationships, this transit will force clarity. If you’ve been clinging to financial or emotional fantasies, the truth will surface and you’ll be asked to rebuild on firmer ground. But this is also a beautiful opportunity to create intimacy and financial stability that truly supports your growth, as long as you approach it with honesty. ✨ Advice: Clean up any financial or emotional entanglements that feel murky. Practice radical honesty with yourself and with others about what you want and what you need.

♎️ Libra Rising Your relationships are being rebuilt from the ground up and this time, they have to be real. Saturn and Neptune are moving through your 7th house, which governs one-on-one partnerships, both romantic and professional. This isn’t about fantasy connection anymore, this is about doing the work. If you’ve been idealizing someone, avoiding commitment, or staying in a dynamic out of guilt, this transit will pull off the mask. But it’s not just about endings, it’s about choosing partnership with your eyes wide open. Real love, real collaboration, and real support are possible now but they require clarity, maturity, and boundaries. No more rescuing. No more being rescued. ✨ Advice: Don’t chase potential. Build relationships with people who are actually willing to meet you in reality not just in hope.

♏️ Scorpio Rising Your habits, routines, work, and physical well-being are about to shift and it’s not about doing more, it’s about doing it right. Saturn and Neptune are moving through your 6th house, this is your systems, your daily life, your body, and how you show up in service to others. If you’ve been idealizing productivity or avoiding structure, this is the time when burnout or health symptoms could force a change. But this is also a chance to build something sustainable, to refine your schedule, your workflow, your wellness practices, and to stop romanticizing chaos. A dream job or purpose can grow here but it has to fit into your actual life. ✨ Advice: Create a daily system that honors your body and your time. Don’t wait for burnout to make changes, structure is the new self-care.

♐️ Sagittarius Rising This is a reality check around your joy, your creative expression, and your relationship to love and fun. Saturn and Neptune are moving through your 5th house that rules romance, art, children, pleasure, and how you express yourself. You’re being asked: what lights you up and are you actually showing up for it? If you’ve been chasing emotionally unavailable people, creating only when “inspired,” or downplaying your desire for real joy, this transit will bring it all into focus. This is your time to build a creative practice, a relationship, or a lifestyle that brings real pleasure, not fantasy highs that disappear by morning. ✨ Advice: Make room for joy that lasts. Structure your creativity. Date people who actually show up. Stop settling for sparks, build something that warms you every day.

♑️ Capricorn Rising Your foundation, home, family, inner security, is ready for a rebuild. Saturn and Neptune are moving through your 4th house, and this is about getting radically honest about what makes you feel safe and rooted. If you’ve been clinging to an idealized version of home, a family role that no longer fits, or a physical living situation that doesn’t truly support you, this is the year you’ll be asked to face it. But the goal isn’t loss, it’s authenticity. You have the opportunity to build a home life that actually works for you, emotionally and practically. That may mean moving, setting boundaries with family, or finally choosing stability over the story you’ve been telling. ✨ Advice: Let go of the image of “perfect home.” Build a real one, in a way that honors who you are now, not who you used to be.

♒️ Aquarius Rising Your communication is about to deepen and so is your relationship with your own mind. Saturn and Neptune are moving through your 3rd house, this is about how you speak, write, think, and connect. If you’ve been speaking in abstractions or avoiding clarity, this is the time to ground your voice. You may also begin writing, teaching, or building something that shares your vision, but Saturn will demand structure. Scattered thinking won’t cut it anymore, your ideas need form. It’s also a time to upgrade your everyday conversations, are you connecting authentically, or performing? ✨ Advice: Choose a message that matters to you and start building it into something others can receive. Your voice is needed, but it must have structure.

♓️ Pisces Rising Your relationship with money, worth, and material stability is about to be tested and upgraded. Saturn and Neptune are moving through your 2nd house, this is about how you earn, spend, and value yourself. If you’ve been floating financially, undercharging, overspending to compensate for lack of self-worth, or avoiding building real stability, this is when it will all surface. But it’s also an opportunity to create a new relationship with abundance, one built on grounded self-worth and clear values. You can’t manifest what you won’t take responsibility for. Now’s the time to claim it. ✨ Advice: Get clear about what you want to build financially. Create a concrete plan and start aligning your money habits with the future version of you you want to become.

[loganslowdown4]

‘I thought I was your hero’

‘You are!’

Incoming Long Roman Theory…

❤️🤍❤️🤍❤️🤍

Rewatching POF and Roman’s struggle with questioning what cThomas really believes based on what Janus implied made me realize something about how we look at the word ‘HERO’ in Roman’s vocabulary. I don’t think Roman has ever meant ‘hero’ in the swashbuckling, saving people, fighting villains, heroic sense (even though he acts like it and I’m sure casts himself that way in the imagination). WHAT HE ACTUALLY MEANS when Roman asked if he is a HERO, is if he is still the FACE or embodiment of how Thomas presents himself as a ‘hero’ in real life: aka a morally upstanding person.

In POF, Patton and Roman discuss why we have morals and how we use them to do good in the world. It is important to note that this episode was mainly a discussion between Patton and Roman for a reason: because if Patton is the moral BRAIN behind all Thomas’ decisions, then Roman is the FACE of all the moral decisions Patton makes. He follows Patton’s lead and acts as the ‘hero’ (and this is what the ego really does). So as the ‘FACE’ of Thomas, any actions taken means Roman is the one getting all the praise first hand, but is also taking the brunt of the criticisms too. For example, when Thomas went to that musical audition and forgot the words to the music, Roman hid. He was a ‘bruised ego’, getting the brunt of the criticism (or what he thought was worse than actually was). Roman has called himself a knight, a warrior, and a big reason why is that he faces all ‘battles’ of Thomas’ head on. It’s not just for the charming fairytale fanciful aesthetic (maybe it started that way). But I believe Roman’s character has developed into this complexity.

Roman’s role is to protect Thomas not only from objective criticisms, but also from failures of a moral decision. It explains why it was Roman who ultimately made the call to go to the wedding and not the callback. Even though Patton lost that debate in the courtroom, Roman knew that the morally correct decision was always to go support Thomas’ friends. He stood up and was the hero Patton and Thomas needed, despite any other disagreements or backlash. He knew that there was risk in this decision either way and it took a lot of strength to make that choice.

Here, Roman, saying that it was his fault for making the decision difficult to go to the wedding or callback, shows his willingness to take the brunt of any criticism, ultimately being the hero. He’s a drama king for real, but Thomas knew it wasn’t Roman’s fault for making the decision hard or even making the decision in the first place, and said so. Still, Roman tries because if it helps makes Thomas feel better, he’s willing to do it.

Another thing I need to point out: Roman getting upset when Patton said when doing anything charitable or morally correct, you can’t take ANYTHING away from it, including self-satisfaction or PRIDE. Roman is literally Thomas’ PRIDE and EGO. Denying Roman his pride, when he is constantly working to keep all of them safe from criticism, means he’s not allowed to be at all satified by the GOOD MORAL WORK he does do. It’s no wonder it felt unfair to him.

Finally, when Janus criticized the moral standard that Patton and Roman are trying to have Thomas live up to, Roman was personally offended. He has been doing his best to show the world that Thomas is a good person (which he is).

Here, when Roman is questioning how selfish Thomas will be before he feels ‘satisfied’ he says ‘you’ll have us believe that that time will never come’ which means that doing ANYTHING morally good, even the bare minimum, will deserve a reward, self-satifaction and more selfish time spent. This change in moral trajectory goes against what Roman has worked so hard for, following Patton’s lead and making those sacrifices. At the end, Patton’s main goal was changed to keep Thomas happy, which looked like he basically gave up and switched allegiance to Janus’ new plan. Does this mean Janus is the new ‘face’ of how Thomas presents himself and not Roman? THIS is why Roman left like he did; it felt like a betrayal.

There’s a lot unresolved and a lot that Thomas has to work out with Roman. But ultimately, Roman will always be a hero. He’ll be Thomas’ hero. Because he’s the one that makes Thomas a hero to everyone else. Time will tell and we shall see!

[highonmarvel]

Control [prologue]

When an audition that could make your career is offered, you move back to New York and reconnect with your estranged father, and find out his old friend is the casting director, but you’ll have to do much more than wanted to get the role.

CONTENT WARNINGS! all my fics contain dark content including, but not limited to, noncon, dubcon, and explicit descriptions of violence and abuse. DEAD DOVE: DO NOT EAT. 18+, please!

Note; this is loosely based on Black Swan (2010). enjoy! hopefully. of course, love to @thehydraethereal.

You were 10 when you realised your father was selfish. No one else thought so—he was Captain America, for God’s sake! Always willing to risk his life for the nation and the world, but never for his only daughter, his only child. Maybe one could say you were the selfish one, but while you respected him as a hero, you resented him as a father. You had nightmares where he got hurt, and you pleaded with him to leave that life behind—he said he did this to protect you, but what use was your being alive if he never made time to see it? After the ordeal with the Sokovia Accords, his disappearance solidified your anger towards him. You weren’t even a teenager yet, and he did bother to even say goodbye.

Life with your mother wasn’t at all bad—she was wonderful, and supportive, and you understood why she left your father; just like you, she was always anxious about him, until she couldn’t take it anymore. You were young when your parents split, having just started grade one, but you refused to go with her, longing to look up to the superhero she left behind. You couldn’t understand why she would leave the bravest man on the planet, why she wanted him to stop saving the world, until you lived with him. There’s hardly anything worse than getting back from school to an empty house, staying up past midnight waiting for your father to come back, and then watching him limp in, battered and bruised, his suit dirty and ashen, and not being able to do anything to help him.

When you moved in with your mother, you still felt a part of you was just undiscovered. You had this nervous energy you needed to release, you felt the need to do something with your body like your father did, but running and boxing were too undisciplined for you, and made your life feel more out of control than it offered a respite, and that’s when you found dance. You could use your body to express yourself without fear of losing control: you never wanted to go back to not knowing what could happen. You were often told this was a detriment to your unmatched talent, your refusal to improvise and let go hindered your performance, but still you refused to let yourself fall victim to potential injury, you couldn’t bear to see your mother that stressed over someone’s health again.

There weren’t many ballerinas in the small town you lived in, and so your relative popularity didn’t mean too much to you, but when a New York instructor saw a small production of The Nutcracker, you, for the first time, really realised your true potential. Ballet was your life, but moving back to New York ten years after leaving made you nervous. How many times had The Avengers destroyed that city? And it wasn’t really fear of being a casualty that made you anxious, but rather the constant reminders you’d see of your father’s heroism, and that would undoubtedly bring back unpleasant memories.

You couldn’t pass up the opportunity to perform Swan Lake. Your mother said she couldn’t come with you to New York, and you understood why. Neither of you had much money—until you passed that audition and made a stable career out of it, you certainly weren’t going to make it in that big city.

Maybe this big step brought about a little recklessness, because despite your years of conditioning yourself to poise and composure, you felt compelled to try out for the Black Swan, and lose yourself this time, to a more bold and seductive style, possibly to show your father he had missed out on your transformation into a woman.

It wasn’t hard to track him down, and you were short with him on the phone.

“I’ve got an audition in NYC. I need a place to stay for a little. If it works out, I’ll be able to get a new place, if not, I move back home. It’ll be less than a month.”

“An… audition?” he started, and you could practically hear his brows furrow, but he seemed to think better than to ask too many questions, and he sounded almost desperate though he tried to keep his voice level. On the verge of begging, he continued, “That’ll be amazing— it— it’ll be alright, honeycakes.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to cringe at the nickname, instead overcome by a wave of nostalgia, somehow longing for a memory of fatherly love you never really had. You cleared your throat and gave a quick confirmation of the date you’d be arriving before hanging up, and deciding it would be best to hold your head in your hands for a little, taking deep breaths to process this.

You had packed very light—a single bag—to make sure he really got the message you didn’t plan on staying any longer than necessary. You're surprised that when get out the cab, he’s standing on the sidewalk, hesitantly waiting for you to step out. You nearly don’t recognise him: he has a full beard now, and even though it has been ten years, it seems his soul had been wearied beyond that, his demeanour close to flat until you step into view, and he stands straighter as he sucks in a deep breath and gives a tight-lipped smile.

“Hi,” he greets, slightly breathless.

“Hi, Dad.”

He sighs in relief when you say the word, and you know why: he had abandoned you, he was right to think you didn’t consider him your father anymore, but the word slipped out, and you couldn’t take it back if you wanted to.

He surprisingly pulls you into a hug, squeezing you tightly, but you can’t bring yourself to return his embrace. He awkwardly pulls away and takes a step back.

“You’re so grown up,” he whispers as he looks at you, something like regret in his eyes. And you want to make a snarky comment about how he missed out on it but bite your tongue and give a slight smile and a small nod, rocking back and forth on your heels.

“Welcome home.”

♬

[my beloved taglist: @cowboysnbugs, @keito-123, @vogueprincess, @cjand10, @mybabygirllove, @chinggay85-blog]

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Demon-haunted computers are back, baby

Catch me in Miami! I'll be at Books and Books in Coral Gables on Jan 22 at 8PM.

As a science fiction writer, I am professionally irritated by a lot of sf movies. Not only do those writers get paid a lot more than I do, they insist on including things like "self-destruct" buttons on the bridges of their starships.

Look, I get it. When the evil empire is closing in on your flagship with its secret transdimensional technology, it's important that you keep those secrets out of the emperor's hand. An irrevocable self-destruct switch there on the bridge gets the job done! (It has to be irrevocable, otherwise the baddies'll just swarm the bridge and toggle it off).

But c'mon. If there's a facility built into your spaceship that causes it to explode no matter what the people on the bridge do, that is also a pretty big security risk! What if the bad guy figures out how to hijack the measure that – by design – the people who depend on the spaceship as a matter of life and death can't detect or override?

I mean, sure, you can try to simplify that self-destruct system to make it easier to audit and assure yourself that it doesn't have any bugs in it, but remember Schneier's Law: anyone can design a security system that works so well that they themselves can't think of a flaw in it. That doesn't mean you've made a security system that works – only that you've made a security system that works on people stupider than you.

I know it's weird to be worried about realism in movies that pretend we will ever find a practical means to visit other star systems and shuttle back and forth between them (which we are very, very unlikely to do):

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/09/astrobezzle/#send-robots-instead

But this kind of foolishness galls me. It galls me even more when it happens in the real world of technology design, which is why I've spent the past quarter-century being very cross about Digital Rights Management in general, and trusted computing in particular.

It all starts in 2002, when a team from Microsoft visited our offices at EFF to tell us about this new thing they'd dreamed up called "trusted computing":

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/05/trusting-trust/#thompsons-devil

The big idea was to stick a second computer inside your computer, a very secure little co-processor, that you couldn't access directly, let alone reprogram or interfere with. As far as this "trusted platform module" was concerned, you were the enemy. The "trust" in trusted computing was about other people being able to trust your computer, even if they didn't trust you.

So that little TPM would do all kinds of cute tricks. It could observe and produce a cryptographically signed manifest of the entire boot-chain of your computer, which was meant to be an unforgeable certificate attesting to which kind of computer you were running and what software you were running on it. That meant that programs on other computers could decide whether to talk to your computer based on whether they agreed with your choices about which code to run.

This process, called "remote attestation," is generally billed as a way to identify and block computers that have been compromised by malware, or to identify gamers who are running cheats and refuse to play with them. But inevitably it turns into a way to refuse service to computers that have privacy blockers turned on, or are running stream-ripping software, or whose owners are blocking ads:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai

After all, a system that treats the device's owner as an adversary is a natural ally for the owner's other, human adversaries. The rubric for treating the owner as an adversary focuses on the way that users can be fooled by bad people with bad programs. If your computer gets taken over by malicious software, that malware might intercept queries from your antivirus program and send it false data that lulls it into thinking your computer is fine, even as your private data is being plundered and your system is being used to launch malware attacks on others.

These separate, non-user-accessible, non-updateable secure systems serve a nubs of certainty, a remote fortress that observes and faithfully reports on the interior workings of your computer. This separate system can't be user-modifiable or field-updateable, because then malicious software could impersonate the user and disable the security chip.

It's true that compromised computers are a real and terrifying problem. Your computer is privy to your most intimate secrets and an attacker who can turn it against you can harm you in untold ways. But the widespread redesign of out computers to treat us as their enemies gives rise to a range of completely predictable and – I would argue – even worse harms. Building computers that treat their owners as untrusted parties is a system that works well, but fails badly.

First of all, there are the ways that trusted computing is designed to hurt you. The most reliable way to enshittify something is to supply it over a computer that runs programs you can't alter, and that rats you out to third parties if you run counter-programs that disenshittify the service you're using. That's how we get inkjet printers that refuse to use perfectly good third-party ink and cars that refuse to accept perfectly good engine repairs if they are performed by third-party mechanics:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

It's how we get cursed devices and appliances, from the juicer that won't squeeze third-party juice to the insulin pump that won't connect to a third-party continuous glucose monitor:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

But trusted computing doesn't just create an opaque veil between your computer and the programs you use to inspect and control it. Trusted computing creates a no-go zone where programs can change their behavior based on whether they think they're being observed.

The most prominent example of this is Dieselgate, where auto manufacturers murdered hundreds of people by gimmicking their cars to emit illegal amount of NOX. Key to Dieselgate was a program that sought to determine whether it was being observed by regulators (it checked for the telltale signs of the standard test-suite) and changed its behavior to color within the lines.

Software that is seeking to harm the owner of the device that's running it must be able to detect when it is being run inside a simulation, a test-suite, a virtual machine, or any other hallucinatory virtual world. Just as Descartes couldn't know whether anything was real until he assured himself that he could trust his senses, malware is always questing to discover whether it is running in the real universe, or in a simulation created by a wicked god:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/28/descartes-was-an-optimist/#uh-oh

That's why mobile malware uses clever gambits like periodically checking for readings from your device's accelerometer, on the theory that a virtual mobile phone running on a security researcher's test bench won't have the fidelity to generate plausible jiggles to match the real data that comes from a phone in your pocket:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/01/google-play-malware-used-phones-motion-sensors-to-conceal-itself/

Sometimes this backfires in absolutely delightful ways. When the Wannacry ransomware was holding the world hostage, the security researcher Marcus Hutchins noticed that its code made reference to a very weird website: iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com. Hutchins stood up a website at that address and every Wannacry-infection in the world went instantly dormant:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/10/flintstone-delano-roosevelt/#the-matrix

It turns out that Wannacry's authors were using that ferkakte URL the same way that mobile malware authors were using accelerometer readings – to fulfill Descartes' imperative to distinguish the Matrix from reality. The malware authors knew that security researchers often ran malicious code inside sandboxes that answered every network query with fake data in hopes of eliciting responses that could be analyzed for weaknesses. So the Wannacry worm would periodically poll this nonexistent website and, if it got an answer, it would assume that it was being monitored by a security researcher and it would retreat to an encrypted blob, ceasing to operate lest it give intelligence to the enemy. When Hutchins put a webserver up at iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com, every Wannacry instance in the world was instantly convinced that it was running on an enemy's simulator and withdrew into sulky hibernation.

The arms race to distinguish simulation from reality is critical and the stakes only get higher by the day. Malware abounds, even as our devices grow more intimately woven through our lives. We put our bodies into computers – cars, buildings – and computers inside our bodies. We absolutely want our computers to be able to faithfully convey what's going on inside them.

But we keep running as hard as we can in the opposite direction, leaning harder into secure computing models built on subsystems in our computers that treat us as the threat. Take UEFI, the ubiquitous security system that observes your computer's boot process, halting it if it sees something it doesn't approve of. On the one hand, this has made installing GNU/Linux and other alternative OSes vastly harder across a wide variety of devices. This means that when a vendor end-of-lifes a gadget, no one can make an alternative OS for it, so off the landfill it goes.

It doesn't help that UEFI – and other trusted computing modules – are covered by Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it a felony to publish information that can bypass or weaken the system. The threat of a five-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine means that UEFI and other trusted computing systems are understudied, leaving them festering with longstanding bugs:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/09/free-sample/#que-viva

Here's where it gets really bad. If an attacker can get inside UEFI, they can run malicious software that – by design – no program running on our computers can detect or block. That badware is running in "Ring -1" – a zone of privilege that overrides the operating system itself.

Here's the bad news: UEFI malware has already been detected in the wild:

https://securelist.com/cosmicstrand-uefi-firmware-rootkit/106973/

And here's the worst news: researchers have just identified another exploitable UEFI bug, dubbed Pixiefail:

https://blog.quarkslab.com/pixiefail-nine-vulnerabilities-in-tianocores-edk-ii-ipv6-network-stack.html

Writing in Ars Technica, Dan Goodin breaks down Pixiefail, describing how anyone on the same LAN as a vulnerable computer can infect its firmware:

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/01/new-uefi-vulnerabilities-send-firmware-devs-across-an-entire-ecosystem-scrambling/

That vulnerability extends to computers in a data-center where the attacker has a cloud computing instance. PXE – the system that Pixiefail attacks – isn't widely used in home or office environments, but it's very common in data-centers.

Again, once a computer is exploited with Pixiefail, software running on that computer can't detect or delete the Pixiefail code. When the compromised computer is queried by the operating system, Pixiefail undetectably lies to the OS. "Hey, OS, does this drive have a file called 'pixiefail?'" "Nope." "Hey, OS, are you running a process called 'pixiefail?'" "Nope."

This is a self-destruct switch that's been compromised by the enemy, and which no one on the bridge can de-activate – by design. It's not the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last.

There are models for helping your computer bust out of the Matrix. Back in 2016, Edward Snowden and bunnie Huang prototyped and published source code and schematics for an "introspection engine":

https://assets.pubpub.org/aacpjrja/AgainstTheLaw-CounteringLawfulAbusesofDigitalSurveillance.pdf

This is a single-board computer that lives in an ultraslim shim that you slide between your iPhone's mainboard and its case, leaving a ribbon cable poking out of the SIM slot. This connects to a case that has its own OLED display. The board has leads that physically contact each of the network interfaces on the phone, conveying any data they transit to the screen so that you can observe the data your phone is sending without having to trust your phone.

(I liked this gadget so much that I included it as a major plot point in my 2020 novel Attack Surface, the third book in the Little Brother series):

https://craphound.com/attacksurface/

We don't have to cede control over our devices in order to secure them. Indeed, we can't ever secure them unless we can control them. Self-destruct switches don't belong on the bridge of your spaceship, and trusted computing modules don't belong in your devices.

I'm Kickstarting the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/17/descartes-delenda-est/#self-destruct-sequence-initiated

Image: Mike (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/stillwellmike/15676883261/

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

[chloejame]

[radiantresume]

Implementing Risk-Based Thinking in ISO 50001 – Strengthening Your Energy Management System

1️⃣ Introduction With rising energy costs and global environmental concerns, organizations are under pressure to manage energy efficiently. ISO 50001 provides a framework for developing an Energy Management System (EnMS), and Risk-Based Thinking (RBT) is a key component. It enables businesses to identify energy-related risks and opportunities, minimize waste, and improve energy performance while…