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dickmedowndc · 2 years ago

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Little Menace - Jaime Reyes/Khaji Da x Villain!Reader

Word Count: 4,486

Summary: Blue Beetle has been handling you as a villain for ages. But what happens after he shows up expecting a fight, only to find you bloody on the ground. Against Khaji Da’s better judgment, Jaime suggests dragging you back to their apartment and getting you cleaned up – after all, they need to find out what happened, and they can’t leave you to die. Which leads to their current predicament of getting you into the bath without leaving you unsupervised.

Notes: Reader is not in a relationship with them (yet), but Khaji Da and Jaime are together. Khaji Da is still a little shit in this and Jaime is just trying to survive for the night. Translations are at the end under the dotted line. Based on the prompt by @gingerly-writing, prompt #3109:

“You know,” the supervillain rasped as they eased their battered body into the bath, “when you finally got me naked, I was imagining a much sexier situation.”

Part II here

…★…

“Any sign of life?”

“None yet, Jaime Reyes,” the voice echoed back in his head.

They had spent enough years together that it was white noise in his mind by now – the feeling of Khaji Da scanning the area for any sign of attack or threat. A constant source of vigilance that Jaime had long since learned to trust with his life. They were so regularly, deeply, integrated that when they were on the field it became hard to tell where one of them started and the other one ended.

Neither seemed to mind. It just made them a more formidable opponent in battle.

Outside of a fight, though Khaji Da was on regular alert, they were easier to tell apart. Jaime had grown, and Khaji Da had learned over the years what his personality was. It had been a long road for both, but they were better for it.

A clicking sound, just a small warning trill somewhere at the edges of his thoughts brought Jaime back to the present.

Khaji had caught him wandering and pulled him from his own head.

“The leak said that the meeting was supposed to be happening tonight, but this doesn’t seem like their normal drop-spot.” Jaime scanned the area, eyes darting along shadows and thick branches that swayed above crumbling stone walls.

The whole area was falling apart this far out of town. The only common residents among the decaying architecture tended to fall into a small demographic: bored teens looking to tag the old walls, get away and hang out to act a bit stupid, or just making out. It wasn’t the same secure locations that you would normally frequent.

Too many things could go wrong. A bystander could show up – not that you would be unable to handle something so small – or a drone could spot you and your newest client out in the open.

In all the time that he and Khaji Da had been facing you, attention to detail and a vicious fighting strategy had kept you just out of their reach. Nothing more than a taunt away always.

But this wasn’t right.

It felt more like the hero was waltzing open-armed into a trap.

Even Khaji Da seemed more on edge – locked on to each snap of a twig or sway of a branch that cast a shadows’ puppet play against the cold earth around them.

Their information had seemed pretty solid however. While you often worked alone – leaving less room for error when you handled things yourself – occasionally outsourcing was required. And unfortunately for you, not all your chain had as much of a backbone. The most recent investigation had lasted less than two minutes before the sniveling man had recounted every tid-bit of information he knew about you and your dealings.

Tonight was supposed to be a big one – a huge client for you and an even bigger payday if what they had learned was true.

It was just one more reason the feeling of unease prickled along Jaime’s spine. You wouldn’t be so careless with such an important meeting.

Just then Khaji Da pulled them both to a halt, taking control of Jaime’s body for a second and forcing their suited self to a stand-still. “Faint signs of life detected just ahead.”

“How many,” Jaime asked, eyes narrowed at the decrepit building his scarab had faced them directly towards.

There was a moment of silence as Khaji Da focused in on the area, trying to find anyone or anything that could be awaiting them. “Only one, it’s them, but their vital signs are low – from what I can currently determine. Proceed with caution, Jaime.”

“You read my mind.”

They changed tactics, moving in slowly from the side and scaling the building to come in from above – a section of the wall and roof was rotted away and caved in, but between the darkness and the walls that remained barely standing it provided them enough cover.

Khaji Da took over the suit visors once inside, illuminating the area in tints of yellows and oranges as they scanned – flashes of numbers, letters, and more complex measurements moving by in the blink of an eye to Jaime as the scarab ran through calculations and possibilities. “Our target has not moved from their spot since I located them. I need a visual to determine their current state.”

Jaime didn’t need to answer, nor would he risk it. While you were unable to hear the regular feed of information that echoed inside of his head, you would certainly hear any response that the host of the duo returned. Carefully, and following the path laid out on the suit monitor, Jaime made his way around the beams and to scan the ground floor.

The sight below gave him pause, and even Khaji Da’s calculations seemed to halt.

The inside of the building was destroyed. Far beyond the damage of nature and time alone.

Whatever had been left furniture wise in the house had been thoroughly demolished. Old wood that had once been the tops of tables and chairs was scattered and splintered around the room, buried under the rubble of drywall and crumbled stone. Metal bars and other rusted items were either bent or shoved deep into walls and the floorboards. Much of the flooring itself had been broken and dug up, as though something had been beaten against it until it gave way. Old fabric chairs were overturned and crushed against the far sides of walls. Cabinets hung on unsteady hinges. The toppled couch had long gashes along the pillows and back of it.

It was a warzone. Nothing inside the house had been spared. Graffiti was illegible, even that which looked new from the colors and designs.

But Jaime realized something as he unceremoniously dropped from the rafters and onto the creaking floor: he didn’t see you anywhere.

He shifted his arm to a blade, ready for you to leap from the shadows – amused that the hero had fallen so easily for a distraction. But no attack came as he scrounged through the wreckage.

A minute passed before Khaji Da audibly beeped, pulling the suit to the left and laying directions over the screen.

Jaime followed without argument, heart still pounding and nerves on fire as he prepared for a fight. If the house looked like this, he could only imagine what you had done to the assailant. Yet a part of his brain corrected him; Khaji Da had picked up your unique signature, so why would you still be in the old home? As he stepped closer, he could hear it, the labored rasp of breathing from under a thick beam and a large section of stone from the wall.

If it had been anyone else, he wouldn’t believe they had survived. But you were never that easy to get rid of.

A warning flashed before his eyes – Khaji Da could tell that vitals were dropping faster, and they got to work shoving away the debris. Piece by piece they moved stone and wood, slowly able to make out the tattered sight of your uniform, until finally your upper body was in sight. That left your legs trapped, but the stone was loose on you from the waist down and it took no time to dig you out, soon flipping you onto your back and shifting to a clear section of flooring.

Jaime didn’t need to ask, allowing Khaji Da to do a more in-depth scan of your condition.

“They’re lucky they can handle as much as they do or they would be dead,” Khaji’s voice chirped in Jaime’s mind as he finished scanning. There was plenty of damage, but nothing you would be unable to heal from given your abilities and experience. It seemed more likely that the debris had just knocked you out and your opponent had taken it as your final loss, leaving you for what likely would have been death, had you not been found and dug out.

“So what do we do with them?” Jaime asked, looking around to ensure they were still alone. For all he knew it could still be a trap.

“We need more information on what happened.”

“We need to take them into custody.”

There was silence before Khaji spoke, unease at the idea of handing you over to anyone. “Prior incidents prove that is unwise. They were taken into custody at the beginning of their career multiple times, when less of a threat, and injured many people during their escapes. A hospital will be unable to secure them properly.”

“And with how much more dangerous they’ve gotten it’s sure to get someone hurt or killed trying to hold them,” Jaime spoke, finishing khaji Da’s thought before his shoulders slumped in defeat. “We won't be able to get them to talk either – they never did in custody.”

“Correct, Jaime Reyes.”

Their conversation was cut short when you groaned, arms twitching before you moved them to cover your eyes, forcing a sharp breath when the pain hit you in waves.

The world was spinning and you tried to recall what had happened. Your new deal had gone wrong – had been a setup entirely. Someone had taken a hit out on you and you, though unaware of it, had let yourself get carried away. The supposed client was one that could normally be trusted, at least as far as black-market dealings went, and you had tried to accommodate their request, even if changing your location left a bitter taste in your mouth. That was the last time you listen to the possibility of money over your own gut, you thought.

It meant that now you had some blows to return when you could get up, and a new goal to hunt down whoever had been just stupid enough to put a price on your head.

You had a reputation to uphold, after all.

But then the realization hit you. The last thing you could remember was being slammed into the old wall, before the stone had finally given way in the fight and buried you. But there was no pressure, no dig of rock into flesh. Your limbs could move freely – though the pain begged you not to. And you were just aware enough to know that someone was standing beside you.

You dreaded opening your eyes and finding out who.

Regardless, you needed to know your situation. So, rubbing the dust from your eyes you opened them, squinting up at the figure that stood before you.

He was easy enough to figure out, even without your full ability to see for the moment. The distinct pattern of blue and black on his armor giving him away even as a fuzzy blob. You grimaced, spitting his name out with venom as though you could puff up and bluff your way out of a fight or capture. As though you weren’t laying on the ground at his mercy.

“You’ve seen better days,” he chimed, crouching down close enough for you to fully see him. “You’ll be fine, by the way.”

“Of course I will,” you snapped back, pushing up with unsteady arms as you got in his face, silently daring him to make one wrong move.

“But you’re not much of a threat right now.” His voice shifted as the scarab took over for a moment, thoroughly undeterred by your aggressive display. His mouth set in a thin line as he shifted to grab hold of you, pulling you up to your feet as he stood.

You didn’t have the strength to complain when you were finally moved, the process of standing enough to send the world around you spinning before your vision went black. He said something, you know that, but despite straining you were unable to make out the words, only giving a half-hearted grumble in response.

Blue Beetle stood and watched as your head lulled forward. You had slipped right back into unconsciousness, and Khaji made quick work of scanning you to further assess for additional damage he might have missed. “They’re fine, likely just overwhelmed from the fight. I am unsure how long they were stuck under the rocks as well, but we should keep an eye on them incase their condition worsens.”

“The best way to do that would be to take them back to our place then.” It wasn’t Jaime’s favorite thought, but there were few other options that would keep you from harming someone else and still allowed the hero to keep an eye on you.

“Other arrangements could be made with the league for a temporary holding cell and medical treatment.”

“Then we still have the issue of them refusing to speak to anyone,” Jaime reminded. “But I don’t like the idea of them knowing where we live.”

“Assessment, they already know.”

“What.”

“They are already aware of where we live.”

“Since when?” Jaime shot, alarmed at this information.

“Scans have indicated them far too close to our apartment on more than one occasion, though they always remain right on the edge of my range. The most likely explanation is that they believed they were too far out of range to be detected. But they are aware of where we live.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It would be more concerning for you to know, and I remained vigilant to their location. If they had come closer, I would have alerted you.”

“We could have moved!”

“We can’t afford that.”

That was true, Jaime sighed, shifting so you were resting more comfortably. Being a hero meant cut hours and unsure paychecks sometimes. They really couldn’t move, at least not without moving somewhere that put them more at risk of being found out. “We’re talking about this later though, mi media naranja.”

For now, that left the hero transferring their temporary guest from the abandon building to their apartment without drawing too much attention.

While carrying you did slow them down, being out cold and unable to argue with them was more of an aid than expected. Along with years of practicing quick arrivals and departures without being seen meant that in no time at all, you were inside the dark living room along with them.

“We should just set them on the couch for now, I guess, at least until they wake up.”

“Scans indicate they will be waking momentarily, Jaime Reyes.”

“Great,” he grumbles, setting you down on the cushions before standing, feeling his back pop as he straightened it back out.

True enough, after setting you down you began to stir, squinting at them in the darkness before taking in your surroundings. “Did you seriously bring me back to your place?”

“Did you seriously get your ass kicked tonight?”

You bit your tongue; not sure you had the energy or patience to joke about what was sure to become a personal sore subject. Instead, you folded your arms over your chest and let yourself sink back into the couch. “Dick.”

“Well, we couldn’t leave you there for dead, and you’ll attack some poor nurse if we try to take you to a hospital or jail.” They would need to contact the League later about a proper cell to hold you – but this development certainly hadn’t been expected.

You hummed, shrugging your shoulders with a proud smirk on your face. “I like my freedom.”

There was a tone switch, and you knew it was no longer the host that spoke. “Have you considered not being a mercenary then.”

“I’m not a gun for hire, and I’m a little hurt you think so lowly of me.”

“I wasn’t aware of where they sat on your hierarchy,” the scarab shot back.

“You wound me.”

“It looks like someone else beat us to it first, actually.”

You ignore that, though the grimace on your face would give you away if they had turned around to catch it in time – instead you watch them close the window and shut the curtains. “You say that like you haven’t been chasing me since we were teens.”

Jaime switches over this time with a deep sigh. “You guys are just gonna do this all night, aren’t you?”

“What can I say, you guys bring out the worst in me.”

He gives an unimpressed humming, fixing you with a steady gaze. “Somehow I doubt that.”

You hesitate, shrugging it off before changing the subject. “Are you gonna turn the lights on or not?”

It seems to click in his head that the room is tinted in yellow still from his visor, prompting the hero in blue to finally flip the switch, watching as you shut your eyes and flinch at the sudden onslaught of light.

“They need to clean up or they’ll bleed all over our home,” Khaji Da quips in Jaime’s head, a subtle clicking emanating from the scarab under the armor as he takes in the state of the upholstery.

“I’m sure if we just move everything out of the bathroom, we’ll be fine to let them use it,” he murmured under his breath – though he could see you turn your head to study him as he spoke.

“An oversight, Jaime, they are unable to stand without assistance and have limited mobility in their right arm and leg. Most of their injuries are located on the right side of their body. They will not be able to get clean and tend to their wounds without aid.”

Jaime didn’t need to ask what Khaji was clarifying, it was easy enough to figure out even if he was still tired. Instead, he turned to focus his attention on you. “We need to get you cleaned up and take a look at your injuries.”

“Just point the way,” you said, readying yourself to stand.

Jaime just raised a brow, unsure if you could even tell with the armor covering his face. “Try to stand and let me know how that goes.”

You did as he asked, seemingly ready to disprove him. It lasted until you attempted to take your first step, your leg giving out under you from the weight and pain. Only leaving you to find that you had grabbed onto Blue Beetle, who had moved to catch you as soon as he had seen you attempt to walk. “I see what the issue is now.”

“We’re going to move you to the bathroom and run a bath – we'll look at the worst of your wounds while it’s filling up, and handle the rest afterwards.”

“Aye-aye Captain.”

Jaime could only shake his head before pulling you along to the small bathroom – knocking the toilet seat and lid down before letting you sit on it and busying himself with the bath. He was less concerned with you reaching anything dangerous when Khaji Da was keeping a lock on you, and considering your current sorry state.

Once the water was started and at what he deemed an acceptable temperature, Jaime turned back to you. This was the part he wasn’t ready to handle. “Alright, we need to get you out of your suit.”

“So, I get to be naked and you get to stay in your armor?”

“They have a point, Jaime.”

He turned his head as he addressed the comment that had come from his partner. “Whose side are you on right now?”

Khaji Da gave no answer, instead peeling back the armor. It wasn’t the first time that you had seen him without – a particularly nasty battle in the past had caused enough damage to the armor that Khaji Da had been forced to recede.

Jaime still felt safer this time, knowing his scarab would be fast enough to help him if needed. “Better?”

You gave no answer, waving him off for the moment before turning to pull off your gloves. More than ready to have the suit off so you could begin to feel clean. As it stood now, it was an attack of grime and dust that sat in-between the tattered fabric and in the gashes on your body. Never had this outfit felt so suffocating than it did now.

Jaime motioned for you to stand, hooking his hands under the collar of your shirt, or what was left of it hanging off you now, and began to peel it away – focused more on trying to do so as gently as possible without looking directly at you. It wasn’t like there was a guide to handling aiding your injured and attractive nemesis out of their tattered suit. He wished there was. But even the scarab had gone silent, Jaime guessed because he felt just as awkward about the situation – though Khaji Da would likely detach from Jaime’s spine before he would ever admit that he found you attractive as well. The train of thoughts and repetitive mental chants not to look came to a screeching halt when Jaime pulled too hard, earning a pained whine as the threads pulled against the tender flesh of one of the worst open wounds. “Sorry,” he mumbled, lifting the fabric up directly before continuing to pull it down.

There was a half-hearted grumble in response and nothing more as you allowed him to continue.

Finally, after what felt like too long, the suit had been removed, leaving you standing in front of the hero undressed.

Jaime’s flustered expression must have been more obvious than he thought, because you seemed all too amused with by it. At least until he let go to stop the water and you began to sway in place.

Jaime remedied his mistake, sitting you on the edge of the tub this time before turning to reach under the sink and pulling out an emergency first-aid kit. “We’ll just clean around this one on your hip first that’s the worst, and we’ll deal with the rest after you’re clean.”

“I don’t think sitting in a bath is the best choice then.”

“I figured the hot water would help with the pain for a bit, and we can clean off most of them. The shower head detaches, so we can spray the rest off when the water drains. You’re not going to be able to stand long enough for this.” He didn’t wait for an answer, pulling you up once more after determining the water was hot enough, letting go of you reluctantly when you swatted at his hand.

“You know,” you rasped as you eased your battered body into the bath, “when you finally got me naked, I was imagining a much sexier situation.”

“Cierto, pequeña amenaza.”

It took you a moment after you were comfortably back in the tub to look up at him. “Did you just call me a menace?”

“A little menace,” he corrected, ignoring the way he felt flushed as he knelt beside the side of the bath.

You laughed at that before closing your eyes and leaning back against the wall of the tub. “Yeah, I can get with that.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t been more.... I don’t know, quippy.” Jaime admitted, reaching for a clean cloth and turning the faucet on once more to wet it.

“The closest thing you’ll get to a thank you.”

Khaji Da switched over, unable to pass up a chance to tease back, as had become tradition in their interactions.

“Careful, you make it sound as if you like us.”

“I do,” you responded, lazily turning to look at them.

Khaji Da retreated back, unable to handle the embarrassed emotions that came with taking center stage, leaving Jaime to handle the aftermath. Not that he was doing much better.

“I’ll try to be as careful as I can.” Gently he moved closer, leaning over the side before beginning to wipe away the blood and dirt that still covered your skin.

Despite keeping his word, the pressure still brought an increase in pain, leaving you to turn your head away, jaw clenched and eyes closed as you allowed him to work. And you had to admit, when you did finally look back over at him, he was completely focused on the wounds; the hero was meticulous as he cleaned them off, forgetting the situation for the time being. You turned away again, relaxing under his attention and letting the hot water chip away at the pain that clung to your sore body.

“Will you tell us what happened?”

His voice jolted you awake, catching you off guard that you had even let your defenses down enough to begin falling asleep. Lips pursed in a thin line, you glared daggers at the wall before you, gritting out a no before returning to silence once more.

“We can help,” Jaime began again, only to be cut off.

“I can handle this on my own.”

Jaime stopped, pulling the rag away before staring you down. He didn’t expect you to answer so quickly, or to spill out your plans, but given the situation, nor had he expected you to throw your walls up so fast – it was bound to turn hostile if it progressed. “Si quieres dejar de ser obstinado, elige un día para comprometerte a hacerlo para ver cómo se siente.”

You hesitated before turning to face him. “If it comes down to it then Blue Beetle will be the first I come find.”

“If whoever it was doesn't kill you first,” Khaji Da interjected, pushing forward enough to be a part of the conversation.

“I’m not easy to kill.”

It was true, they had to admit. Even after the fight earlier most of the damage came from however long you had been under the rubble and a lucky blow to the head knocking you unconscious. But you were not invulnerable. Though, it was not as if you could leave for the time being, so they backed off. It was always something they could confront you on later.

Assuming you didn’t make a half-baked escape attempt in the middle of the night.

Before they could continue however, or even change the subject, they realized your breathing had slowed. You had fallen back asleep. Between the constant ministrations that came with your wounds being tended to, and the warm water, it had been just enough after a long day.

Jaime stopped for a moment before relaxing back. “We didn’t just bring them here because it was safer for civilians, did we?”

Khaji Da returned his question with a series of clicking, almost reminding the other of a child caught in a lie. “Affirmative, Jaime.”

Jaime said nothing more, not that he needed to, before pushing himself forward again to continue cleaning out the wounds in silence. They would wake you later when it was time to drain the water. For now, though, both partners of Blue Beetle were content to let you rest as long as you needed – knowing the nap would likely also pacify you when you did finally return to the world of the waking.

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Translations... "Mi media naranja" = essentially "my other half" "Cierto, pequeña amenaza" = "Right, you little menace" "Si quieres dejar de ser obstinado, elige un día para comprometerte a hacerlo para ver cómo se siente." = "If you want to stop being stubborn, pick one day to commit to it to see how it feels."

#dc x reader #nicole writes #blue beetle x reader #jaime reyes x reader #khaji da x reader #jaime reyes/khaji da

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systango-technologies · 8 days ago

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How is AWS Graviton Redefining Cloud Performance and Cost Efficiency for Business Leaders?

With over 90% of businesses migrating to the cloud, the demand for cost-efficient and scalable cloud solutions has never been more critical to staying competitive. AWS Graviton, an ARM-based processor developed by AWS, is transforming cloud computing with its focus on delivering high performance at reduced costs. Designed to meet the demands of modern workloads, AWS Graviton empowers businesses to optimise resource usage without compromising efficiency.

This blog will explore the unique benefits of AWS Graviton, its role in transforming cloud strategies, and how AWS Cloud Services amplifies its impact on decision-makers and tech leaders.

I. What is AWS Graviton?

II. AWS Graviton: Features, Business Benefits, and Industry Use Cases

AWS Graviton processors combine cutting-edge technology with significant business advantages, making them a transformative tool for modern enterprises. Below is an overview of key features, the associated business benefits, and real-world examples showcasing their impact.

1. Strong Performance

Feature Details

Graviton processors, built on ARM architecture, deliver exceptional computational power across diverse workloads such as machine learning (ML), media processing, and microservices.

Business Benefits

Faster execution times for applications, improving user satisfaction.

Enhanced responsiveness during high-demand periods, ensuring business continuity.

Example

Lyft utilised Graviton2 instances to optimise the performance of its ride-hailing services. This resulted in reduced processing delays during peak hours, ensuring seamless ride-matching and better user experiences.

2. Cost Optimisation

Feature Details

Graviton-powered EC2 instances are priced 20–40% lower than traditional x86-based options, offering comparable or better performance.

Business Benefits

Reduced operational costs, enabling reinvestment in innovation.

Improved financial flexibility for startups and cost-sensitive businesses.

Example

Snap Inc. saved up to 40% in cloud expenses by migrating to Graviton2 instances while maintaining robust application performance for Snapchat’s millions of users.

3. Energy Efficiency

Feature Details

Graviton processors consume less energy due to their optimised ARM design, supporting businesses’ sustainability initiatives.

Business Benefits

Lower power consumption reduces utility costs.

Alignment with ESG goals, enhancing brand reputation and stakeholder trust.

Example

Netflix deployed Graviton instances for its video streaming workloads, cutting energy use and advancing its carbon-neutral goals without compromising streaming quality.

4. Flexibility and Scalability

Feature Details

Graviton integrates seamlessly with AWS services like Lambda, EC2, and Fargate, enabling efficient scaling for diverse workload demands.

Business Benefits

Easy adaptation to fluctuating workloads, reducing downtime risks.

Flexibility to innovate with serverless applications and global-scale platforms.

Example

Intuit scaled its QuickBooks platform during tax season using Graviton-based instances, handling increased traffic while maintaining smooth user experiences.

5. Advanced Security and Compatibility

Feature Details

Graviton processors include hardware-based protections against vulnerabilities and are compatible with widely used frameworks like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Apache Spark.

Business Benefits

Enhanced security ensures compliance with industry standards, particularly in regulated sectors.

Smooth migration paths for existing workloads without the need for extensive rewrites.

Example

Redis Labs leveraged Graviton instances to secure database queries while improving client analytics response times, benefiting industries with real-time data needs.

6. Optimised for ML Workloads

Feature Details

Graviton offers a better price-to-performance ratio for ML model training and inference, enabling faster development cycles.

Business Benefits

Cost-effective scaling of AI/ML applications.

Shorter time-to-market for AI-driven innovations.

Example

Pinterest used Graviton2 instances to boost its recommendation systems, resulting in improved user engagement and personalisation for its platform.

Here’s a quick summary for decision-makers:

Business Takeaway

AWS Graviton provides a compelling combination of performance, cost efficiency, and sustainability, making it a preferred choice for businesses across industries. By adopting Graviton, enterprises can achieve operational excellence, enhance customer satisfaction, and meet sustainability goals.

III. AWS Graviton vs Intel: A Quick Comparison

Comparing AWS Graviton with Intel-based instances provides a clearer perspective for decision-makers:

Cost Efficiency: AWS Graviton instances offer 20–40% cost savings, making them a preferred choice for cloud-native workloads.

Performance: Graviton delivers up to 40% better performance for compute-intensive tasks like machine learning, while Intel shines in legacy applications needing x86 architecture.

Compatibility: Intel processors have extensive software support, but Graviton’s ARM-based architecture is optimised for modern, scalable workloads.

Energy Efficiency: AWS Graviton outperforms Intel in power efficiency, aligning with businesses focused on sustainable practices.

This comparison highlights AWS Graviton as the future-ready option for businesses seeking cost and energy efficiency while modernising their infrastructure.

IV. AWS Graviton in the Bigger AWS Ecosystem

AWS Graviton is not just a processor; it’s a vital component of the larger AWS Cloud Services ecosystem, empowering businesses to achieve operational excellence across computing, storage, and networking. Its integration capabilities make it a cornerstone of modern cloud strategies.

To read full blog visit — https://www.systango.com/blog/how-is-aws-graviton-redefining-cloud-performance-and-cost-efficiency-for-business-leaders

#aws cloud services #aws managed services #aws services #aws cloud services provider

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dataterrain12 · 8 months ago

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ETL Migration - DataTerrain

Organisations looking to modernise their data architecture, improve data accessibility, and take advantage of sophisticated analytics must undertake the crucial process of ETL (Extract, Transform, Load). To preserve data integrity, boost performance, and cut operating expenses as organisations amass massive volumes of data from many sources, ETL Migration must be moved to a more effective and scalable environment.

1) Why ETL Migration Is Necessary

Legacy ETL solutions provide several obstacles for organisations, such as restricted scalability, expensive maintenance, and trouble connecting with contemporary data technology. These systems frequently find it difficult to manage the growing amount, diversity, and speed of data. In order to solve these problems, ETL migration transfers operations to a more stable setting, including cloud-based platforms, which provide improved performance, scalability, and flexibility.

2) Crucial Phases of ETL Migration

i) Evaluation and Planning: An extensive evaluation of the current ETL infrastructure is the first step in the migration process. This entails assessing the existing architecture, determining the migration's objectives, and locating any pain points. After that, a thorough strategy is created that specifies the parameters, schedule, materials, and techniques for reducing risk.

ii) Data Mapping and Inventory: All data sources, transformation rules, and data destinations are thoroughly inventoried. Understanding the connections between various datasets as well as how they will be loaded and altered into the new context are necessary for data mapping. This stage guarantees that the migration won't interfere with business activities and that all data dependencies are taken into account.

iii) Tool Selection: Selecting the appropriate tools is essential for ETL transfer. Advanced capabilities including automatic data purification, real-time data processing, and seamless connection with several data sources are offered by modern ETL solutions. Cloud-native solutions like AWS Glue, Google Cloud Dataflow, and Azure Data Factory are among the well-liked technologies, along with Apache NiFi, Talend, and Informatica.

iv) Testing and Data Transformation: Data transformation is the process of transforming data into the format that the target system needs. Data cleansing, normalisation, aggregation, and enrichment are possible steps in this process. Extensive testing is carried out to guarantee the integrity and correctness of the changed data. Validation against source data, performance benchmarking, and business logic verification are all included in testing.

v) Execution and Monitoring: To reduce risks, the migration is really carried out in stages. Moving from non-critical data to crucial data components progressively may be part of the first phases. Tracking progress, spotting problems, and making the required adjustments in real-time all depend on ongoing monitoring. Automated monitoring systems can assist in finding irregularities and guarantee a seamless transfer.

vi) Post-Migration Optimisation: To improve the ETL procedures, continuous optimisation is needed after the migration is finished. This include monitoring performance indicators, making the most use of available resources, and making sure the new system can accommodate the organization's changing data requirements. Maintaining the efficacy and efficiency of the system requires regular audits and modifications.

2) ETL Migration's Advantages

There are several advantages of moving ETL procedures to a contemporary data environment, such as greater data governance, increased performance, less operating expenses, and increased scalability. Organisations can use sophisticated analytics and machine learning skills, manage greater datasets, and combine different data sources thanks to it. In the end, ETL migration puts companies in a more competitive, data-driven, and nimble position in the digital market.

To sum up, ETL migration is a strategic endeavour that needs to be carefully planned and carried out. Organisations can unleash the full potential of their data and spur innovation and growth by transforming to a contemporary data environment.

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softweb-solutions · 2 years ago

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An Ultimate Guide to Migrating On-Premises Applications to AWS

Introduction 

Migrating your on-premises applications to the cloud has become increasingly popular as businesses seek scalability, flexibility, and cost savings. Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a comprehensive suite of AWS cloud migration services and a robust platform to host and manage your applications. This blog post will guide you through migrating your existing applications to the AWS cloud, sharing best practices.

I. Assessing Your On-Premises Applications 

Before embarking on the migration journey, assessing your on-premises applications is crucial to determine their suitability for migration. Identify applications that can be easily migrated to the cloud and those that may require additional modifications. Evaluate application dependencies, resource requirements, and performance goals to ensure a smooth transition to AWS.

II. Planning the Migration Strategy 

Choosing the right migration approach is vital for a successful migration. AWS offers various migration strategies, including lift and shift, re-platforming, and re-architecting. Assess each approach's benefits and cost implications to determine the most suitable one for your applications. Establish a migration timeline, milestones, and budget, and identify potential risks and mitigation strategies.

III. Preparing Your Applications for Migration 

To optimize the migration process:

Conduct a comprehensive application inventory to understand the scope of the migration.

Analyze application dependencies and data storage requirements to ensure seamless integration with AWS services.

Optimize your applications for the cloud environment, considering scalability, resource utilization, and elasticity.

Evaluate security and compliance needs to implement necessary measures during the migration.

IV. Setting Up the AWS Environment 

To begin the migration process, create an AWS account and familiarize yourself with the billing structure. Select the appropriate AWS services to host your applications based on their requirements. Design the network architecture and set up security groups to ensure a secure environment. Provision the necessary resources and infrastructure to support your applications.

V. Migrating Your Applications 

Implement the chosen migration approach based on your assessment and planning. Utilize AWS migration services like AWS Application Migration Service to facilitate migration. Transfer your data to AWS using secure and efficient methods. Configure networking and security settings to align with your requirements. Thoroughly test the migrated applications for functionality and performance.

VI. Post-Migration Tasks 

Optimize your applications ' performance in the cloud environment once your applications are migrated to AWS. Utilize AWS monitoring and management tools to keep track of application performance, scalability, and cost efficiency. Implement backup and disaster recovery solutions to safeguard your applications against potential disruptions. Ensure security and compliance measures are in place to protect your data and meet industry regulations.

VII. Lessons Learned and Best Practices 

Reflect on the migration process and identify any challenges faced during the transition. Share lessons learned and best practices with the readers to help them overcome common hurdles. Emphasize the importance of proper planning, testing, and optimization for a successful migration. Encourage readers to leverage AWS cloud migration services and resources for ongoing support and guidance.

Conclusion 

Migrating your on-premises applications to the AWS cloud offers numerous scalability, flexibility, and cost savings benefits. By following the step-by-step process outlined in this blog post and incorporating AWS cloud migration best practices, you can ensure a smooth and successful migration. Leverage the full AWS cloud services to unlock the full potential of your applications and accelerate your business growth.

Remember, the journey to the cloud requires careful planning, execution, and ongoing management. With AWS's robust cloud migration services and dedication to following best practices, you can confidently transition from on-premises to the AWS cloud, embracing the scalability and agility of cloud computing.

#Aws Cloud Migration Services #Aws Application Migration Service #aws cloud migration best practices #on prem to cloud migration aws

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dysenterry · 8 years ago

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#einstürzende neubauten #strategies against architecture II #may 21

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qqueenofhades · 2 years ago

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Going off that last Dracula ask, do you have any reading material suggestions for anyone who might want to find more historically accurate info about Vlad Tepes and even the love affair details b/w Radu and Mehmed II? To get a better idea also of Matthias's role in Vlad's lifetime?

The easiest place for an English-speaking layperson to start is probably with Marcus Tanner's The Raven King: Matthias Corvinus and the Fate of His Lost Library (Yale University Press, 2001). It's part biography, part travelogue, and part history, and it covers the figure of Matthias himself and his legendary lost library pretty well. If you ignore Tanner's weird Male Historian misogyny toward Matthias's wives and failure to transcribe Hungarian names correctly, which I will admit are boggingly obscure nitpicks mostly of concern to me, it will give you a good sense of the time period, major figures, and Matthias overall.

As for Vlad, Dracula: Essays on the Life and Times of Vlad the Impaler, recently reissued (2020) from its Columbia University Press first edition in 1991, is also a great place to start on understanding the context of the historical figure and his actions in his subsequently-vastly-mythologized lifetime. It covers his foreign and domestic policy, his family background, his attacks against the Ottomans and relations with/opposition to Mehmed II, his religious strategies, and analysis of the subsequent folklore, heroic Romanian historical tradition, and other stories that grew up in Dracula's wake.

Sources for Mehmed include John Freely's The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II - Conqueror of Constantinople and Master of an Empire, which came out in 2009 as the only significant biography of Mehmed since the 1970s. Nota bene that I have not personally read this book and am a little suspicious because it appears to have been written by guy whose academic specialty is physics, not history, even if he does live and teach in Istanbul. So yes, there is that, and more academic-history texts that focus on the broader geographical, cultural, and religious contacts and conflicts in the region during this time include Byzantines, Latins, and Turks in the Eastern Mediterranean World After 1150 and The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey From the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest.

I also have a list of more scholarly sources that focus on Matthias Corvinus, fifteenth-century Eastern Europe, geopolitics and religion, astrology and magic, and the subsequent folkloric tradition that surrounded him (as the Raven King) as well, including:

Darin Hayton, 'Expertise ex Stellis: Comets, Horoscopes, and Politics in Renaissance Hungary', Osiris: Expertise and the Early Modern State 25, No. 1, (2010), pp. 27-46.

Joseph Szövérffy, 'History and Folk Tradition in Eastern Europe: Matthias Corvinus in the Mirror of Hungarian and Slavic Folklore', Journal of the Folklore Institute, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Jun., 1968), pp. 68-77

Istvan Lukacs, 'King Matthias Corvinus in the Collective Memory of the Slovenian Nation', Studia Slavica Hung. 55/2 (2010) 371–379.

Pavel Kalina, 'European Diplomacy, Family Strategies, and the Origins of Renaissance Architecture in Central and Eastern Europe', Artibus et Historiae 30, No. 60 (2009), pp. 173-190

Scott E. Hendrix, 'Astrological Forecasting and the Turkish Menace in the Renaissance Balkans', Antropologija 13: 2 (2013)

Suzana Miljan and Hrvoje Kekez, 'The Memory of the Battle of Krbava (1493) and the Collective Identity of the Croats', The Hungarian Historical Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, Cultures of Christian–Islamic Wars in Europe (1450–1800) (2015), pp. 283-313.

#anonymous #ask #history #medieval history #eastern european history #dracula #matthias corvinus

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felassan · 4 years ago

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Article: ‘The Most Powerful Woman in Gaming Wants to Make EA Loved Again’

Laura Miele is helping direct the company toward a future where it’s more attuned with consumers.

One of the first things Laura Miele did when she became chief studios officer of Electronic Arts Inc. three years ago was to gather 19 video game influencers in a conference room. “What do you want me to hear? Lay it on me,” she recalls asking them. “One guy sitting at the corner of the table, he just said, ‘I don’t understand why you don’t give players what they’re asking for.’ ”

[rest of article under cut for length, pasted as Bloomberg has an article read limit]

It’s something many gamers have wondered about EA for years. The $40 billion company, one of the biggest in gaming, is responsible for Battlefield, Madden NFL, and other megahit franchises. But many gamers have long seen EA as a necessary evil, resenting the direction in which it took some games and bristling at its aggressive attempts to extract money by charging extra for digital items in games that cost as much as $70 upfront. This dissatisfaction was no secret in 2018: Gamers spent their days filling up Reddit and other message boards with free advice for EA—but many felt its decision-makers weren’t listening.

EA’s leadership knows it has to improve that relationship, and Miele is a key player in its efforts to do so. Her focus group asked for new content for Star Wars Battlefront II and requested new types of games. Miele quickly assigned 70 people to the Battlefront development project, which dramatically improved its net promoter score, a measure of how likely people are to recommend the game. She also prompted EA to create a skateboarding game and committed to reintroducing its college football franchise, the two genres at the top of the influencers’ list.

In a sense, the guy at the meeting became a stand-in for all of EA’s long-suffering customers in Miele’s eyes. “I wanted to do right by this player,” she says.

As chief studios officer, Miele manages 6,000 staffers and thousands of contractors globally. She oversees EA’s 24 studios, where she makes personnel decisions and sets strategy, and she’s reshaped how the company uses analytics to create and market its games.

In the process she may have become the most powerful woman in gaming. In a 2019 International Game Developers Association survey, fewer than 30% of the more than 1,100 respondents were women, and few if any hold a more central role at such an important company. “It’s a tough place for a woman,” says Peter Moore, who was Miele’s boss when he was EA’s chief operating officer. “It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but she battled her way through.”

Proving good intentions is more important for EA than ever, as the business model of gaming continues to shift in ways that have the potential to alienate customers. Like its rivals, the company is increasing its focus on free-to-play games, making money through sales of digital products such as outfits and weapons for characters.

There are signs it’s succeeding. Apex Legends, EA’s free-to-play hero shooter game, has posted more than $1 billion in sales since it was first published in 2019, and it continues to grow. “The way to succeed with free-to-play games like that is to listen to and engage your customer base and earn their loyalty through incremental purchases,” says Doug Clinton, managing partner of the venture capital firm Loup Ventures, who says Miele deserves much of the credit for Apex Legends. “It feels like a proof point for her that the company is adapting well beyond traditional disk sales.”

Miele, 51, was born in San Francisco but grew up on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. She got her start in games—the kind that require a board—during family nights, when she pitted herself against her brother in Monopoly, Clue, Yahtzee, and backgammon. While attending the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, she worked at architectural companies. By the time she dropped out she’d moved on from receptionist positions to more senior roles, while gaining a reputation for organizing lunch-hour card games with her co-workers.

Miele landed a job as a project manager at Westwood Studios, a video game developer best known for Command and Conquer, in 1996. She eventually took over all marketing for its parent company, Virgin Interactive.

It wasn’t always a hospitable atmosphere: Miele remembers her colleagues expecting her to take notes at meetings, then clean up afterward. “That is just not something I would do today,” she says. “I adapted a lot because I was so passionate about what I was doing. I found my voice along the way.”

When EA acquired Westwood in 1998, she stayed on. At the time, the company did revenue forecasting by looking at sales data once a month and putting together spreadsheets by hand. Miele was tasked with developing more advanced analytics. She hired a group of data analysts, nicknamed “the Jedi,” and had them build EA’s first statistical regression models to examine sales trends, seasonality, and preorders. It took almost two years to put the system in place, but it overhauled the company’s business processes, and executives were soon using it to determine how to invest in advertising and promotions. “I loved how data and analytics can inform your judgment and your gut instinct,” Miele says.

Miele also decided to make one major break with EA’s existing business practices. In 2011 about 80% of game advertising budgets were spent on TV ads. But she saw how much time gamers spent online and decided to spend the bulk of the ad budget for Battlefield 3 on digital, downplaying other types of ads and cutting the TV ad budget to only 30%.

Messing around with the plan for Battlefield 3 was a good way to make people nervous. Miele remembers two executives calling her in for a meeting and demanding to know why they weren’t seeing billboards for the game as they drove in to the office. “It was scary for me, too, and I don’t blame our executives questioning me on that,” she says. But the game ended up being EA’s fastest-selling, moving more than 5 million copies in its first week. From that point, Miele’s marketing strategy became the standard for the company.

When EA signed a 10-year deal with Walt Disney Co. in 2013, Miele became Star Wars general manager. In 2014 she took over publishing operations, marketing, and other key areas, first in the North American region, then globally in 2016. At the time, the game industry was moving from physical disks to digital downloads, transforming its relationship with retail partners such as Walmart Inc. and Best Buy Co.

Miele was in charge of smoothing things over, explaining that EA would start competing with them for customers even as the retailers accounted for the largest portion of the revenue. “I never said to them, ‘Hey, see you later, we are moving on,’ ” she says. “It was, ‘How can we move forward together?’ ” EA began making physical cards with digital credits that its retail partners could sell at their stores, allowing them to share in the revenue from digital sales.

EA’s studios are spread around the globe, and Covid-19 altered Miele’s routine radically. “It was a very difficult year, and I’m really proud about how our company showed up,” she says. “I considered myself a wartime leader last year. You had to get in a bunker with everybody.”

Days became an endless progression of Zoom calls. To keep up with gamers, Miele started spending evenings listening to Clubhouse chats while answering work emails. Because she hasn’t been on the road, she’s also had more time to dine at home and play board games or Apex Legends and The Sims with her 16-year-old twins. As the pandemic retreats in the U.S., her schedule might change, but she still envisions providing more flexibility to her employees to work from home and office. “I do think we’re going to have a different work environment as we go forward,” she says.

Miele is itching to get back to the studio visits. She’s helping steer EA further toward smartphones. The company plans to release mobile versions of Apex Legends globally this year and spent $2.1 billion in April for Glu Mobile Inc., a mobile game publisher, while also preparing the next releases in its existing franchises. “I think the next Battlefield and the mobile shooter games, along with how successful the M&As come out will be key litmus tests of her management this year,” says Matt Kanterman, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “Her scope is clearly rising.”

— With Dina Bass and Jason Schreier

[source]

#video games #interesting..#long post #longpost

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ourladyofomega · 4 years ago

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Strategies Against Architecture II.

#omega #our lady omega #Einsturzende Neubauten #industrial #Blixa Bargeld #N.U. Unruh #FM Einheit

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architectnews · 4 years ago

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Ten student architecture projects from the University of Westminster

A project that examines restoring damaged peatlands in Scotland and another that addresses the housing needs of income poor young people in Beijing are included in Dezeen's latest school show by students at the University of Westminster.

It also includes a mycelium product factory where a repurposed prison provides ideal conditions for growing sustainable products and a redesigned climbing wall highlighting the connection between sport and the natural world.

University of Westminster

School: University of Westminster, School of Architecture + Cities Course: Architecture BA (Hons), Architecture and Environmental Design BSc (Hons), Interior Architecture BA (Hons), Architectural Technology BSc (Hons), Designing Cities BA (Hons), Master of Architecture (MArch) (RIBA pt II) Tutors: Constance Lau, Stephen Harty John Zhang, David Porter, Paolo Cascone, Panagiota Adileniduo, Ro Spankie, Diony Kypraiou, Allan Sylvester, Ana Araujo, Tabatha Mills, Adam Thwaites, David Mathewson, Elisa Engel, Kester Rattenbury, Sean Griffiths, Anthony Boulanger, Stuart Piercy, Callum Perry John Cook, Laura Nica and Ben Pollock

School statement:

"The School of Architecture and Cities offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses as well as research degrees a few moments from Baker Street. Here, students can enjoy state-of-the-art facilities, including the extensive Fabrication Laboratory and dedicated open-plan design studios.

"Open 2021 is a rolling programme of events being created by the school's staff and students, which reflect the varied design approaches of the School of Architecture and Cities and their place at the heart of London.

"It will feature 750 student projects, drawing on the vast body of developmental and finished work imagined and realised over the course of the last academic year. The show will transform student work into digital assets, creating an extraordinary display of new architecture and a compelling visitor experience. The show opens on 17 June until 30 September."

The Bioengineering Experimental School of Architecture: Designing for the Prevention of Fires by Momchil Petrinski

"In this project, the notion of 'fire' from the laboratory experiments serves multiple purposes, from the 'gallery' for public knowledge, heat distribution to the surrounding buildings and the cultivation of the green spaces.

"The dense urban site of Little Britain and proposed Tower is approached as a Borgesian labyrinth where the ever-green public gardens extend across the horizontal and vertical landscapes, and resting places for the homeless community are embedded within the public realm."

Student: Momchil Petrinski Course: Architecture BA (Hons) Tutors: Constance Lau and Stephen Harty Email: [email protected]

Ideal Landscape from Luo Shen Fu Tu by Yunuo Zheng

"The proposal is a spatial narrative telling the ancient Chinese story of the painting Luo Shen Fu Tu created by the famous Eastern Jin painter Gu Kaizhi based on the plot of Cao Chi's work Luo Shen Fu.

"This is not just a love story – it is a story of frustration and anger caused by feudalism when people could only express thoughts and feelings through landscapes and myths. It is these landscapes and myths that give the form to an immersive exhibition situated in London."

Student: Yunuo Zheng Course: Interior Architecture BA (Hons) Tutors: Ro Spankie, Diony Kypraiou, Allan Sylvester, Ana Araujo Email: [email protected]

Intercultural communal living as a catalyst for refugee integration by Anne-Flore Smits

"Nature avoids monocultures and lives in diversity to feed its system. The harmonious living between living forms is known as symbiosis. Through intercultural communal living, symbiosis is regenerated, where the forgotten lives of refugees can integrate back into society.

"With local and foreign amalgamation, the most vulnerable group in society can write their futures. The design of social-communal connectivity incorporates multi-use courtyards, creating a unique spatial arrangement within the male and female quarter and central community compound.

"A common roof with various environmental qualities ensures the proposed and established buildings receive minimal solar radiation, that is experienced in its extreme within Cameroon's Far North capital of Maroua."

Student: Anne-Flore Smits Course: Architecture and Environmental Design BSc (Hons) Tutors: Paolo Cascone and Panagiota Adileniduo Email: [email protected]

Ark for an Ant Tribe by Yuen-Wah Williams

"This project addresses the acute housing needs of well educated but income poor young people who come to Beijing to seek their future – affectionately known as the 'Ant Tribe' in China.

"The project is a co-living mega-block with floating courtyards, rooftop running tracks, and community programmes open to the broader neighbourhood at the ground level. The novel tectonics draws inspiration from traditional low-rises, high-density Hutong courtyards and local experiments in soviet-era social condensers.

"The generous and intensely social outdoor spaces become rooms in themselves, responds to the changing patterns of life in a pandemic."

Student: Yuen-Wah Williams Course: Architecture BA (Hons) Tutors: John Zhang and David Porter Email: [email protected]

Climb Air Theatre by Zhiqing He

"The conditions of isolation and lack of physical interaction due to the pandemic gave birth to this project with the aim of evoking memories of intimate communication stemming from the past. Inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, London's historic musical production (forced to close during the lockdown), the proposal suggests an open interactive theatre, situated at St Dustan park in London.

"The audience gets invited to follow actors through the theatre's three main theatre stages and participate in distinct moments of the play while re-connecting them to each other through this musical, theatrical and spatial journey."

Student: Zhiqing He Course: Interior Architecture BA (Hons) Tutors: Ro Spankie, Diony Kypraiou, Allan Sylvester, Ana Araujo Email: [email protected]

The Arch Climbing Wall by Tom McGinnity

"The Arch Climbing Wall is located in Bermondsey, London. The redeveloped climbing centre uses all the existing building while also developing a new building adjacent to the existing one. The design aims to highlight the connection between climbing and nature.

"New climbing walls were positioned in the existing building to create an environment of valleys and mountains. The new building acts as the final challenge, with climbers able to scale the exterior of the building and the tall structure within. The new building is open-air with large use of open mesh, allowing climbers to connect with nature."

Student: Tom McGinnity Course: Architectural Technology BSc (Hons) Tutors: Tabatha Mills and Adam Thwaites Email: [email protected]

Old Kent Road: A New Precedent for Mixing Leisure, Manufacturing and Housing by Daniel Sefton

"By combining industrial, residential, and leisure spaces using innovative changes of level, land-use pressures in the inner city could be significantly alleviated.

"An undulating raised park set against the side of an existing recycling centre creates a pocket of urban rurality. Pavilions break through the park's surface for exhibition and retail space, with micro-manufacturing occurring on the submerged ground floor.

"HGV access to ground floors occurs through a road network beneath the park. The park removes both social and physical barriers that industrial land creates through controlled, increased public proximity to manufacturing and community-connecting active transport routes."

Student: Daniel Sefton Course: Designing Cities BA (Hons) Tutors: David Mathewson and Elisa Engel Email: [email protected]

The Mycology Institute by Gemma Mohajer

"The Mycology Institute re-purposes existing buildings at Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Former cells provide ideal conditions for growing mushrooms, used to make sustainable products. The project extends one of the cell blocks creating a mycelium product factory.

"It forms a route to the scrubs and a public square created by demolishing the prison wall. The building is constructed using sustainable products, including rope elements, developed from chance operations. These are used as part of the roof structure and as a screen that shades the building and takes rainwater off the roof. Columns and floors reuse the 916,000 prison wall bricks."

Student: Gemma Mohajer Course: Master of Architecture (MArch) (RIBA pt II) Tutors: Kester Rattenbury and Sean Griffiths Email: [email protected]

The Rotherhithe Cooperative Press by Rebecca Gardner

"Newspapers are dying, and with them, an integral part of London's civic life and tacit skillset is at risk of extinction. The Rotherhithe Cooperative Press reinvents newspaper production, turning away from mass media favouring temporal print that focuses on specific events and protests.

"Through exploiting the natural diurnal cycle of the printing industry and the Thames, the scheme acts as a production framework and distribution network for marginalised media outlets at night whilst a community print-work mobilises the community to engage in protest during the day."

Student: Rebecca Gardner Course: Master of Architecture (MArch) (RIBA pt II) Tutors: Anthony Boulanger, Stuart Piercy and Callum Perry Email: [email protected]

Peat Observation: Carbon Cycles through Plant Matter by Seni Agunpopo

"The project looks at preserving and accelerating the restoration of damaged peatlands in Scotland – one of the world's most effective carbon store/sinks.

"This project uses a wider parametric masterplan strategy of landscape probes and responsive blanket systems to alter and control the conditions of soil moisture, temperature and humidity, as well as the deployable modular research units that support the ongoing scheme."

Student: Seni Agunpopo Course: Master of Architecture (MArch) (RIBA pt II) Tutors: John Cook, Laura Nica and Ben Pollock Email: [email protected]

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and the University of Westminster. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Ten student architecture projects from the University of Westminster appeared first on Dezeen.

#Architecture – Dezeen

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irispublishersagriculture · 4 years ago

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Iris Publishers - World Journal of Agriculture and Soil Science (WJASS)

Biofertilizer Impacts on Cassava (Manihot Esculenta Crantz) Cultivation: Improved Soil Health and Quality, Igbariam, Nigeria

Authored by Ayodele A Otaiku

Introduction

Many diseases are caused by pathogens, whose damage symptoms appear on the leaves, stems and storage roots [1] during cassava cultivation. The common diseases of cassava are cassava mosaic disease, cassava bacterial blight, cassava anthracnose disease, cassava bud necrosis and root rot. Some of these diseases attack the leaves and stems of cassava plants while others attack the storage roots [2]. Cassava mosaic disease is caused by the African cassava mosaic virus which occurs inside the leaves and stems and causes yield reductions of up to 90 percent [3]. Economical damage by diseases, pests and weeds of cassava is relatively moderate, although white flies can be a menace in some regions, if the problem is not identified early, and remedial action not implemented in a timely manner (Figure 1). Correct identification of the pest and an understanding of its behaviour, including its most vulnerable stages would provide insights into its management affects crops yield and development. Care must be then taken if pesticide application is contemplated, since there is the likelihood of high residual levels remaining in the product after harvest if an inappropriate formulation is not used.

Biopesticides can exert fungicidal, insecticidal, or nematocidal action via the microbial inoculate in the biofertilizer, a combination of them and possibly other auxiliary functions such as bird and mammal repellents or herbicides. According to recent classifications [4,5]. Bio-control action is due to multiple synergic mechanisms, generally including: i) production of antibiotics and other secondary metabolites (e.g., phenazines by Pseudomonas spp., lipopeptides by Bacillus spp., and hydrocyanic acid by Rhizobia); and ii) secretion of lytic and defense enzymes (e.g., chitinases, glucanases, peroxidases, polyphenol oxidases, and phenylalanine ammonia lyases produced by Trichoderma, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, Serratia, Streptomyces and Bacillus strains) [6,7]. The drawback of using living microorganisms is that their efficacy is often unpredictable under changing field conditions, and their fitness is reduced by the presence of an indigenous microbiota difficult to displace by non-native microorganisms [7,8]. Additionally, the antagonistic interactions occurring in formulations containing more than one microbial species limit their potential in integrated pest management strategies [9,10].

Climate change and soil biological health

It is commonly observed that applying only N or N + P can lead to a decline in particulate organic matter (>53 m fraction) and soil biological activity (soil respiration, microbial biomass C and N). These however improved significantly by moving towards balanced application through the addition of NPK or NPK+ organics [19]. Also, actual field studies on microbial diversity and activity are few. Contrary to a hypothesis that leaf litter produced under elevated CO2 and having a high C: N ratio would be difficult to decompose, the microorganisms were found to adapt to changing soil carbon input under elevated CO2 and there was no effect on their turnover and behaviour [20]. Expectedly, under 15 elevated CO2, increased immobilization of fertilizer N by stimulation of mineralization (SMB) of soil organic matter (SOM) nitrogen was observed [21].

Thus, greater microbial demand for N (>27%) was observed under elevated CO2 [22]. As warmer temperatures are maintained, the less efficient use of carbon by the microbes causes them to decrease in number, eventually resulting in less carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere [23] via an agricultural soil vis-à-vis a desert soil (warmed in real world over time) attests this reality. Mycorrhizal and N2-fixing relationships are generally enhanced by CO2 enrichment, but effects of warming are highly variable [24]. There are reports proving that soil resistance and resilience is linked to soil biodiversity [25] and ‘higher’ soil diversity protects the soil against ecosystem malfunctions under stress or disturbance: an ‘insurance hypothesis’ linked to soil biodiversity [26].

Unfortunately, some African soils lack essential nutrients. In Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania low yield of crops was attributed mainly to poor soil fertility [27]. For instance, Zn is deficient in most West African soils, especially the lowland areas [28] while plant viable P is unavailable in the iron-rich tropical soils of Africa due to low pH and high level of iron and aluminum oxides [29]. The soil lacks Ca, Mg and K, and when acidic, has a high level of free Mn, which is toxic to crops. Buhmann, et al. [30], some South African soils are deficient in K and P, making it unsuitable for cultivation. Africa has lower fertilizer consumption when compared to other regions of the world. In 2002, sub-Saharan Africa had about 8 kg/ha of fertilizer consumption which increased to 12 kg/ ha in 2010 and 18 kg/ha in 2013 (Sommer et al., 2013). This is far below that of other regions of the world such as North America, South Asia, and East Asia and Pacific which were estimated at 127.9 kg/ha, 151.8 and 337.0 kg/ha respectively (World Bank Fertiliser Consumption, 2013).

Sub-Saharan Africa fertilizer market lacks basic infrastructure for sustainability, efficient pricing and competition (Sommer et al., 2013). Biofertilizers should not be misunderstood for organic fertilizers such as compost, animal manure and plant manure or extracts [31,32]. However, whether the beneficial microbes improve crop accessibility to nutrients [6,33] or replenish soil nutrients (Shridhar, 2012; Thamer et al., 2011), if the overall nutrient condition of crop and soil has been improved, such substances containing the beneficial microorganisms are considered as biofertilizers [32]. The objectives are:

• How biofertilizer functional architecture links system design (microbial inoculant) impacts on the cassava crops nutrient use efficiency.

• To use the outcome indicators (crop yield, soil organic matter) as a determinant of soil health and quality and soil nutrient facility management.

• How the microbial inoculant impacts on the integrated soil management?

• What are the indicators of soil quality?

Methodology

Biofertilizer functional models - soil health and quality

The environment-centric view (biofertilizer impacts) considers function as its effects (biofertilizer). The device-centric view considers function in term of internal parameters of the object (cassava crop physiology). The device-centric functions are the outcome (yield, soil health and quality) of the deployment of the environment centric functions. Eppinger and Browning, 2012 define. Underrating the biofertilizer system architecture of cassava crop cultivation within the agro-ecology, their relationships to crop development, evolution and outcome (yield, soil health and quality). Models are representations of the current understanding of a phenomenon or process of interest [34,35]. Functional models describe the relationship among variables using the simplest description of causal relations possible that still provides a useful description of the process or phenomenon [36]. A functional model would describe the components of the biofertilizer system and how they interact soils and crops cultivation. A mechanistic model would describe the properties of the biofertilizer contained in the components of the soil systems during cultivation. Information is also required on the driving forces that impact the variables controlling outcomes This driving force-outcome-response framework (or pressure-state- response framework) is widely used in environmental assessment [37].

Biofertilizer is dependent variable is the variable being tested and measured in the cassava (independent variable or manipulated variable) field experiment. The independent variable (cassava crop) effect on the dependent variable is observed and recorded. Indicators can be used to communicate information on driving forces, outcomes, or responses. Driving force indicators communicate information on the causes of a problem, which may provide incentives for appropriate responses or be used to monitor the efficacy of responses. Outcome indicators communicate information on the effects of a problem on a goal. Outcome indicators are often slow to respond but are directly related to the issue and are useful for assessment and planning. Response indicators communicate information on the extent to which remedial actions are implemented. Response indicators respond quickly, but their effects are not evident until much later. Indicators may communicate information on level, change or structure [38]. An indicator of structure provides information on industry or policy structures related to driving force (e.g., average farm size) or response (e.g., proportion of farms with an environmental farm plan). Water quality: watersheds with the greatest risk of non-point pollution are identified based on leaching and runoff vulnerability indices calculated for pesticides and nutrients (Figure 3).

For example, vulnerability indices for nutrients are obtained from estimates of excess nutrient levels (manure or commercial fertilizer sources) combined with estimates of leaching (based on precipitation and hydrologic factors) or estimates of run-off, Figure 2 reported by Kellogg et al. [39]. In the United States to develop soil ratings based on measured soil properties for the comparison of land management systems [40] and the approach, soil quality is considered an inherent property of the soil that can be determined from measurable soil attributes [41]. When a soil quality parameter declines below an acceptable limit, an appropriate response is required to increase soil quality. Acceptable limits depend on land use, soil characteristics, landform and climatic conditions. Many potential parameters of soil quality, measurable at various scales of assessment, have been proposed (Table 1). Wander & Bollero [42] concluded that particulate organic matter, mean wet weight diameter of aggregates, bulk density and penetration resistance may be good indicators of soil quality because they are sensitive to management and environmentally relevant.

Acton & Gregorich [43] defined soil quality as “the soil’s fitness to support crop growth without resulting in soil degradation or otherwise harming the environment”. Larson & Pierce [41] stated that “soil quality describes how effectively soils: 1) accept, hold, and release nutrients and other chemical constituents; 2) accept, hold, and release water to plants, streams and groundwater; 3) promote and sustain root growth; 4) maintain suitable biotic habitat; and 5) respond to management and resist degradation”. Karlen et al. [44] defined soil quality as “the capacity of a specific kind of soil to function, within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and habitation”.

Soil quality and health

Soil quality can be defined as the fitness of a specific kind of soil, to function within its capacity and within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and habitation [45]. Soil quality is related to soil functions and soil health concepts views soil as a finite and dynamic living resource [46]. Plant health is clearly a component of soil health but necessarily not of soil quality [47]. Baker & Cook [48] described the soils in which disease severity or incidence remains low, in spite of the presence of a pathogen, a susceptible host plant and climatic conditions favorable for disease development, as suppressive soils. Soil biota like arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi play a significant role in improving plant nutrition but also act as bioprotectants against pathogens and toxic substances [49]. Thus, there is a considerable degree of overlap in the meaning of soil quality and soil health (Doran, 2002), though soil health perceptions tend to focus more on biotic components of soil [50]. Soil degradation or deterioration in soil health or quality implies loss of the vital functions of soil: (i) providing physical support, water and essential nutrients required for growth of terrestrial plants; (ii) regulation of the flow of water in the environment and (iii) elimination of the harmful effects of contaminants by means of physical, chemical and biological processes, i.e., environmental buffer or filter [38,51]. The quality and health of soil determine agricultural sustainability and environmental quality, which jointly determine plant, animal and human health [21,52].

Results and Discussion

Biofertilizer - mechanism of action

The absence of a population of degrading microorganisms can be overcome by the inoculation of the plant rhizosphere with pollutant degrading strains and biosurfactants during crop cultivation via biofertilizer. This approach successful in reducing the levels of benzene, ethylene, toluene xylenes, hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and pesticides in polluted environments [50,53] especially in Africa poor soil profile. The rhizosphere is defined as the volume of the soil over which roots have influence, and which is shared with soil bacteria. Plants release exudates in the rhizosphere likely to serve as carbon source for microbes [54]. Consequently, rhizosphere microbes can promote plant health by stimulating root growth via production of plant growth regulators, enhance mineral and water uptake. Some bacteria, especially fluorescent pseudomonads, produce siderophores that have very high affinities for iron as compared to fungal siderophores [55] and can sequester this limited resource from other microflora thereby preventing their growth [56].

Earlier reports have demonstrated the importance of P. fluorescens siderophores in disease suppression [57,58], Figure 4. However, many endophytic bacteria are facultative plant colonizers and have to compete well in the rhizosphere before entering the plant [59] and might be therefore equipped with a rich arsenal of metabolites involved in defense as well as in interaction with the plant. Many bacteria with the capacity of colonizing plants utilize the nutrient niche of root surfaces in the rhizosphere and most of them might even actively switch from root surface to endophytic lifestyles [59,60]. These bacteria comprise several well characterized species of Bacillus and Pseudomonas and a number of metabolites, particularly lipopeptides synthesized by non-ribosomal peptide synthesases, have been described to be important for rhizosphere bacteria for antibiosis and for inducing plant defense mechanisms (Figure 5). Biofertilizer characteristics (Table 2) and biosurfactants (Table 3) applied in the filed cassava cultivation requires no chemical pesticide. This was as a result of might be cassava plant-associated lifestyle requires adaptation to several niches, in which different metabolites act as signals for interaction (communication) with the plant and host specific plants nutrient and crop protection.

To read more about this article: https://irispublishers.com/wjass/fulltext/biofertilizer-impacts-on-cassava-manihot-esculenta-crantz-cultivation-improved-soil health.ID.000578.php

Indexing List of Iris Publishers: https://medium.com/@irispublishers/what-is-the-indexing-list-of-iris-publishers-4ace353e4eee

Iris publishers google scholar citations: https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=irispublishers&btnG=

#Agriculture and Soil Science #soil science #Animal Sciences #Food science #Inter National Agriculture Science

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rastronomicals · 3 months ago

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5:53 PM EDT October 3, 2024:

Einstürzende Neubauten - "Abfackeln!" From the album Strategies Against Architecture II (1991)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

File under: Industrial (in the original sense)

#Einstürzende Neubauten #Strategies Against Architecture II #Abfackeln!

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tracingavantgardeinfluences · 4 years ago

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This is the sound of dancing architecture “I get to corner Ralf Hütter in a cluttered backwater of EMI house, for a conversational nexus in which we poke theories at each other through the language barrier… Frank Zappa said “writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” This is the sound of dancing architecture…“ An interview with Ralf Hütter by Andrew Darlington, 1981 (the taped conversation is written up later). Red man. Stop. Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier. Green man. Go. People respond, regulated by the mechanical switch of coloured lights. Crossing the Pelican towards EMI House it’s easy to submerge in a long droning procession of Kraftwerkian images, pavement thick with lumbering showroom dummies reacting to Pavlovian stimuli, parallel lines of thruways, multi-legged ferroconcrete skyways, gloss-front office-blocks waterfalling from heaven, individuality drowned, starved to extinction, etc, etc. This could get boring. This could be cliché. Ideas prompt unbidden, strategies of sending my cassette recorder on alone to talk to the Kraftwerk answering machine. That’s Kraftwerk, isn’t it? I got news for you. It ain’t. Ralf Hütter (electronics and voice) is neat, polite, talks quietly with Teutonic inflection, and totally lacks visible cybernetic attachments. He’s dressed in regulation black — as per stereotype — slightly shorter than me which makes him five-foot-eight-inches, or perhaps nine, hair razored sharp over temples not to allow traces of decadent side-burns. Shoes are black, but sufficiently scuffed to betray endearingly human imperfections. He walks up and down reading review stats thoughtfully provided by EMI’s press division. Seems it’s a good review in The Times? Strong on technical details… yes? "No. The writer says we play exactly as on the records, which is not so.” He is evidently chagrined by this particular line of criticism, which is an interesting reaction. I file it for reference. But then again he’s just got up and come direct from his hotel. He wants breakfast. Coffee and cakes. An hour or so to talk to me, then down to Oxford for the dauntingly exacting Kraftwerk sound check rituals. The other Kraftwerkers — Florian Schneider (voice and electronics), Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flür (both electronic percussion) are otherwise occupied. So every vowel must count. I extend a tentative theory. The image Kraftwerk project of modernity, it seems to me, is largely derived from twenties and thirties originals: the Futurist dedication to movement and kinetic energy; the Bauhaus emphasis on clean, strictly functional lines; the Fritz Lang humans-as-social-ciphers thing. Even an album ‘inspired’ by Soviet Constructivist El Lissitzky with all the machine-art connotations that implies. Doesn’t Hütter find this contradictory? “No. In the twenties there was Futurism in Italy, Germany, France. Then in the thirties it stopped, retrograded into Fascism, bourgeois reactionary tendencies, in Germany especially…” And time froze for forty years. Until the Kraftwerk generation merely picked up the discarded threads, carried on where they’d left off. After the war “Germany went through a period with our parents who were so obsessed with getting a little house, a little car, the Volkswagen or Mercedes in front, or both All these very materialistic orientations turning Germany into an American colony, no new idea were really happening. We were like the first generation born after the war, so when we grew up we saw that all around us, and we turned to other things.” Kissing to life a dormant culture asleep four decades? But computers only print out data they’re programmed with, so working on this already grossly over-extended mechanistic principle I aim to penetrate Kraftwerk motivations. The dominant influences on them then were — what? American Rock? “No.” In that case, do Kraftwerk fit into the Rock spectrum? “No. Anti - Rock'n'Roll.” So their music is a separate discipline? “Yes, in a way, even though we play in places like Hammersmith. We are more into environmental music.” So if not Rock, then what? — Berio? Stockhausen? “Yes and no. We listened to that on the radio, it was all around. Especially the older generation of electronic people, the more academic composers — although we are not like that. They seem to be in a category within themselves, and only circulating within their own musical family. They did institutional things — while we are out in the streets. But I think from the sound, yes. From the experimenting with electronics, definitely. The first thing for us was to find a sound of Germany that was of our generation, that was the first records we do. First going into sound, then voices. Then we went further into voices and words, being more and more precise. And for this we were heartily attacked.” He mimics the outrage of his contemporaries — “You can’t do that… Electronics? What are you doing? Kraftwerk? German group — German name? It’s stupid. Music is Anglo-American — it has to be, even when it is in Germany.” The incredulity remains: “Still today, you know. Can you imagine? — German books with English titles, German bands singing English songs. It’s ridiculous!” Of course it is. But didn’t the Beatles do some German-language records at one time? “Sure” shrugs Hütter, friendly beyond all reasonable expectations. “They were even more open than most of the Germans…” I’d anticipated some mutual incomprehensibility interface with his broken English and my David Hockney Yorkshire. You find the phrasing strange? I’ll tell you… when the possibility of doing this interview first cropped up I ransacked my archives and dug out everything on Kraftwerk I could find. Now it occurs to me that each previous press chat-piece, from Creem to Melody Maker, have transposed Herr Hütter’s every utterance into perfect English. Which is not the case. His eloquence is daunting, but it inevitably has very pronounced Germanic cadences. Sometimes he skates around searching for the correct word, other times he uses the right word in the wrong context. When he says “we worked on the next album and the next album, and just so on”, it really emerges as “ve vork on ze next album und ze next, und just zo on”. It might be interesting to write up the whole interview tape with that phonetic accuracy, but it would be difficult to compose and impossible to read. Nevertheless, I’m not going to bland out his individuality by disinfecting his speech peculiarities, or ethnically cleansing his phrases entirely… But now he’s in flight and I’m chasing, trying to nail down details. In my head it’s now turn of the decade — sixties bleeding into the seventies, and this thing is called Krautrock. Oh, wow! Hard metallic grating noises, harder, more metallic, more grating and noisier than Velvet Underground, nihilistic Germanic flirtations with the existential void. Amon Düül II laying down blueprints to be electro-galvanised into a second coming by PiL, Siouxsie & The Banshees and other noise terrorists. Cluster. Faust. Then there is the gratuitous language violence of Can, sound that spreads like virus infection from Floh de Cologne and Neu, and Ash Ra Temple who record an album with acid prophet and genetic outlaw Timothy Leary. Was there a feeling of movement among these bands? A kinship? “No.” One note on the threshold of audibility, shooting down fantasies. “In Germany we have no capital. After the war we don’t have a centre or capital anymore. So instead we have a selection of different regional cultures. We — Kraftwerk — come from industrial Düsseldorf. But Amon Düül II came from Munich, which has a different feeling. Munich is quite relaxed. There’s a lot of landscape around.” Now for me it’s not just some off-the-top-of-the-head peripheral observation, but the corner-stone of my entire musical philosophy that this affable German is effortlessly swotting, and I’m not letting him off lightly. I restate histories carefully. American Rock'n'Roll happened in 1954 — Memphis, Sun Studios. From there it spread in a series of shock waves, reaching and taking on the regional characteristics of each location it hit. By the mid-sixties a distinctive UK variant had come into being, identifiably evolving out of exposure to US vinyl artefacts, but incontrovertibly also home-grown. Surely Krautrock was evidence that Germany had also acquired its own highly individual Rock voice? It seems to me there is a common feeling, a shared voice among these diverse groups. But he’s not buying. You don’t think so? “No. At least not as far as we were concerned.” When they started out they recorded in German-language. „We always record in German” he corrects emphatically. „Then we do — like in films, synchronised versions for English. The original records are all German, but we also do French, and now Japanese versions. We are very into the internationalist part.” Continuing this trans-Europe theme he suddenly suggests „Britain is a very historical society. The Establishment. The hierarchy. We come here and we feel that immediately. On the one hand you have this very modern…” he tails off. Starts again, „it’s a schizophrenic country, a modern people, new music and everything, but on the other hand the… how can I say it, a theatrical establishment.” I retaliate, yes — but surely it could equally be argued that all Europe forms a common cultural unit attempting to survive between the historic power-block forces of the USA and the old Soviet Union? Indeed, to journalist Andy Gill, Kraftwerk’s music is „promoting the virtues of cybernetic cleanliness and European culture against the more sensual, body-orientated nature of most Afro-American derived music” (‘Mojo’s August 1987). Europe shares a common heritage uniting Britain, Germany and France, which are all being subtly subverted by a friendly invasion of American Economic and McCultural influences, movies, records, clothes? Witter himself once said „in Germany, Pop music is a cultural import”. „Yes, I know. Certainly when we came to Birmingham (England) we thought it was similar to Düsseldorf. There’s no question. But in Germany it happens even more though, because here in England at least you notice, you know the language and everything. In Germany they don’t notice, it was just taken over.” I’d always considered the German language to be a defence against foreign influence. It was far easier for mainstream British culture to be accessed, and infiltrated because of a common American-English language. In France, for example, the Government is actively resisting the 'Anglicisation’ of their language through 'Franglaise’, because they rightly see its corruption as the thin end of the wedge. “Maybe. That should be checked. But you, together with the Americans had another situation to start with. After the war, Germany was finished. I’m not saying why or whatever, that’s OK. But when I grew up we used to play around the bomb-fields and the destroyed houses. This was just part of our heritage, part of our software. It was our education and cultural background…” The spectre of Basil Fawlty springs unbidden. Earlier an entirely innocent question about Kraftwerk’s origins had dislodged similar sentiments. He’d spoken of Germany’s Fascist years — “in Germany especially, that’s what I mostly knew about, then all the (artistic / creative) people emigrated, Einstein had to leave, and everybody knows the reasons. And then only after the war — he came back. But I think Germany went through a period, with our parents, who had never had anything. They went through two wars…” Breakfast becomes manifest. Mushroom quiche — no meat — followed by a choice of apricot or apple flan, plus two coffees. I sit opposite him, tape machine on the floor between us picking up air, the windows of EMI House blanding out over the trees of Manchester Square. I’m marshalling scores. So for, not content with winning each verbal exchange hands down, Ralf Hütter has also squashed each of my most cherished illusions about Krautrock. But on the plus side, massive giga-jolts of respect are due here. Long before the world had heard of Bill Gates or William Gibson, when Silicon Valley was still just a valley and mail had yet to acquire its 'e’ pre-fix, Kraftwerk were literally inventing and assembling their own instruments, expanding the technosphere by rewiring the sonic neural net, and defining the luminous futures of what we now know as global electronica. So perhaps it’s time to probe more orthodox histories? It seems to me there are two distinct phases to Kraftwerk’s career. Or perhaps even three. The first five years devoted purely to experimental forays into synchromeshed avant-electronics, producing the batch of albums issued in Britain through Vertigo — Kraftwerk in 1972, Ralf Und Florian the following year, the seminal Autobahn in 1974, and the compilation Exceller 8 in 1975. Then they switch to EMI, settle on a more durable line-up and the subsequent move into more image-conscious material, a zone between song and tactile atmospherics. The third, and current phase, involves a long and lengthening silence. "No, it wasn’t like that” says Hütter. “It was…” his hand indicates a level plane. 'There was never a break. It was a continual evolution. We had our studios since 1970, so we always worked on the next album, and the next album, and so on. I think Düsseldorf therefore was very good because we brought in other people, painters, poets, so that we associated ourselves with…“ his sometimes faulty English — interfacing with my even more faulty German — breaks down. The words don’t come. So he switches direction. “Also we had some classical training before that [Ralf and Florian met at the Düsseldorf Conservatory], so we were very disciplined.” Others in this original extended family of neo-Expressionist electro-subversives included Conny Plank (who was later to produce stuff for Annie Lennox’ The Tourists, and Ultravox), Thomas Homann and Klaus Dinger (later of Neu), artist Karl Klefisch (responsible for the highly effective Man Machine sleeve), and Emil Schult (who co-composed Trans-Europe Express). In the subsequent personnel file, as well as Hütter, there is Florian Schneider who also operates electronics and sometimes robotic vocals. While across the years of their classic recordings they are set against Karl Bortos and Wolfgang Flür who both manipulate electronic percussion. I ask if they always operate as equal partners. “Everybody has their special function within the group, one which he is good at and likes to do the most.” It was never just Ralf und Florian plus a beatbox rhythm section? “No. It’s just that we started historically all that time ago and worked for four years with about twenty percussionists, and they would never go into electronics, so we had to step over, banging away and things like that. And then Wolfgang came in.” With that sorted out I ask if he enjoyed touring. „Yes, basically, because we don’t do it so often. But we also enjoy working in our studios in Düsseldorf, we shouldn’t tour too much otherwise… we get lost somewhere, maybe! We get too immunised. When you have too much you must shut down because you get too many sounds and visions from that tour. For the first five years we toured always in Germany on the Autobahns — that’s where that album came from. Since 1975 we do other countries as well.” They first toured the USA in March 1975, topping the bill over British Prog-Rockers Greenslade, then — leaving an American Top Thirty hit, they went on to play eight British dates in June set up for them by manager Ira Blacker. How much of that early music was improvised? Was the earlier material 'freer’? Kraftwerk numbered Karl Klaus Roeder on violin and guitar back then, so are the newer compositions more structured? „No. We are going more… now that we play longer, work longer than ten years, we know more and every afternoon when we are in the Concert Hall or somewhere in the studio we just start the machines playing and listen to this and that. Just yesterday we composed new things. Once in Edinburgh we composed a new piece which we even included in that evening’s show. New versions on old ideas. So we are always working because otherwise we should get bored just repeating. And it’s not correct what he (the hostile gig reviewer) was saying — that we play on stage exactly like we sound on the record. That’s complete rubbish. It means people don’t even notice and they don’t listen. They go instead over to the Bar for a drink! We, our music is very basic, the compositions are never complex or never complicated. More sounds — KLINK! KLUNK!! Metallic sound. We go for this sound composition more than music composition. Only now they are thematically more precise than they were before.” After so long within the genre don’t they find electronics restricting? „No, just the opposite.” Words precise with the sharp edge of Teutonic resonance. „We can play anything. The only restrictions we do find are, like in writing, as soon as you have a paper and pen — or a computer or a cassette recorder and a microphone, and you bring ideas, you find the limitation is in what you program rather than what is in the microphone or the cassette. You — as a writer, writing this interview, can’t say that the piece you are writing is not good because the word processor did not pick out the right words for you. It’s the same with us. If we make a bad record it’s because we are not in a good state of mind.” Change of tack. There’s a lot of Kraftwerkian influence around. Much of current electro-Dance seems to be plugged directly into the vaguely 'industrial’ neuro-system that Hütter initially delineated, while dedicated eighties survivalist cults Depeche Mode and Human League also have Kraftwerk DNA in their gene-code. He nods sagely. “There’s a very good feeling in England now. It was all getting so… historical.” Is the same thing happening in Germany now? Is there a good Rock scene there? “No. But New Music (Neu Musik).” Hütter’s opinions on machine technology have been known to inspire hacks of lesser literary integrity to sprees of wild Thesaurus-ransacking adjectival overkill, their vocabularies straining for greater bleakness, more clone-content, 'Bladerunner’ imagery grown bloated and boring through inept repetition. And sure, Kr-art-werk is all geometrical composition, diagonal emphasis, precision honed etc, but their imagery is not entirely without precedent. Deliberately so. Their 'Man-Machine’ album track “Metropolis” obviously references German Fritz Lang’s 1926 proto-SF Expressionist movie. The sleeve also acknowledges the 'inspiration’ of Bauhaus constructivist El Lissitzky. I went on to hazard the connections with German modern classical music bizorro Karlheinz Stockhausen — particularly on Kraftwerk’s Radio-Activity album, where they use the 'musique concrete’ technique of surgical-splicing different sounds together from random areas. Radioland uses drop-in short-wave blips, bursts and static twitterings, Transistor has sharp pre-sample edits, alongside the pure found-sound audio-collage The News. A technique that resurfaces as late as Electric Cafe, where The Telephone Song is made up of 'phone bleeps and telecommunication bloopery. He’s familiar with the input. Immediately snaps back the exact location of the ideas — Kurzwellen, from Stockhausen’s back-catalogue. And what about the aural applications of Brion Gysin/William Burroughs’ literary cut-up experiments? Is there any interaction there? “Maybe” he concedes. “'Soft Machine’, contact with machines. But we are more Germanic.” He pauses, then suggests “we take from everywhere. That’s how we find most of our music. Out of what we find in the street. The Pocket Calculator in the Department Stores.” The music is the message — 'the perfect Pop song for the tribes of the global village’ as Hütter once described it. The medium and the form? “If the music can’t speak for itself then why make music? Then we can be writers directly. If I could speak really everything I want with words then I should be working in literature, in words. But I can’t, I never can say anything really, I can’t even hardly talk to the audience. I don’t know what to say. But when we make music, everything keeps going, it’s just the field we are working in, or if we make videos we are more productive there.” I quote back from an interview he did with Q magazine in July 1991 where he suggests that traditional musical skills are becoming increasingly redundant. “With our computers, this is already taken care of,” he explains. “So we can now spend more time structuring the music. I can play faster than Rubenstein with the computer, so it [instrumental virtuosity] is no longer relevant. It’s getting closer to what music is all about: thinking and hearing.” So technology should be interpreted as a potentially liberating force? “Not necessarily. I don’t always find that. Dehumanising things have to be acknowledged. Maybe if you want to become human, first you have to be a showroom dummy, then a robot, and maybe one day…” An expressive wave. “People tend to overestimate themselves. I would never say I am very human. I still have doubts. I can project myself as a semi-god. I can do that. The tools exist for me to achieve that. But I’d rather be more modest about this, about our real function in this society, in these blocks here,” indicating out through the plate glass, across the square, to the city towers of finance and global commerce beyond. “People overestimate themselves. They think they are important. They think they are human.” I’m out of synchronisation again. Surely, if people have to extricate themselves from the machinery they have created, to become human, then it’s due to the imperfections of the technology — not the people. Machines are intended to serve, if they do otherwise, they malfunction. “Not so. They should not be the new slaves. We are going more for friendship and co-operation with machines. Because then, if we treat them nice, then they treat us nice. You know, there are so many people who go in for machines, who when you come to their homes their telephones are falling to pieces, their music centres don’t function, the television set is ruined. But if you take care of your machines then they will live longer. They have a life of their own. They have their own life-span. They have a certain hour of duration. There are certain micro-electronics which work a thousand hours. Then there is a cassette recorder battery which operates ten or twelve hours.” The mentality you oppose, then, is that of conspicuous consumption, planned obsolescence, the psychology of 'a spoilt child’? “The energy crisis, the whole thing is a result of thinking that everything is there, we just have to use it, take this, and — PTOOOOFFF! — throw it away. But make sure that the neighbours see! This whole attitude of disassociating oneself from machines — humans here and machines over there. When you work so much with machines — as we do — then you know that has to change.” Earlier he’d spoken of growing up 'playing around the bomb-fields and destroyed houses’ in the wake of WWII, so this respect for material possessions is perhaps understandable. But he sees beyond this. He sees machines having the potential to free people physically from unnecessary labour, and culturally to create whole new thinking. “I mean — where is my music without the synthesiser? Where is it?” The music, the intelligence, is in your head. Without that the synth is just….“ "Yes, bringing it about! The catalyst. We are partners. We two can together make good music, if we are attuned to each other.” But you could operate another instrument. The vehicle you use is incidental. You could walk out this building, buy a new synth here in London, and play it just as well as your own equipment in Düsseldorf. “Yes. That is because I have this relationship with this type of thing.” I’m reproducing this exactly as it happens, and still I’m not exactly sure what he’s getting at. Perhaps something is lost in the language gap. Like earlier, he’d said “I would never say I am very human” and I’d accepted it first as role playing — until he’d made it obvious that he equates 'becoming human’ with 'achieving freedom’. Humanity is something that has to be earned. You can’t be robot and human. But this is not a natural conversation. This is on interview. A marketing exercise designed to sell Kraftwerk records by projecting certain consumer-friendly imagery. He is playing games, and this cyber-spiel is what journalists expect from Kraftwerk? But to Ralf Hütter there seems to be more to it than that. He believes what he is saying. At least on one level. Some impenetrable levels of ambiguity are at work concerning this alleged relationship to technology. Baffled, I skate around it. What crafty work is afoot for the future? “For me? For Kraftwerk? Well, certain things that I had to remember and memorise and think about are now programmed and stored. So there’s no restriction that we have to rehearse manually. There’s no physical restriction. I can liberate myself and go into other areas. I function more now as software. I’m not so much into hardware. I’m being much more soft now since I have transferred certain thoughts into hardware. That is why we put those two words together Software/Hardware on the album. Because it is like a combination of the two — Man/ Machine — otherwise it would not be happening. We can play anything. Our type of set-up — and group, the studio, the computers and everything. Anything.” So what’s new in electronics, Ralf? “What we find now is like, a revolution in machines. They are bringing back all the garbage now that has been put into them for the last hundred years and we are facing a second, third and fourth Industrial Revolution. Computers. Nano-electronics. Maybe then we come back into Science Fiction? I don’t know.” Then, on inspiration, “there’s another thing coming out. 'Wet-Ware’, and we function also — in a way, as Wet-Ware.” I’m hit by a sudden techno-blur of off-the-wall ideas, imperfectly understood concepts of some electro-erotic wet ’T’-shirt ritual in the pale blue wash of sterile monitors. What is 'Wet-Ware’, Ralf? Spoken with bated breath. And he explains. Like hardware is machines. Software is the data that is fed into them. “Wet-Ware is anything biochemical. The biological element in the machine!” The programmer? I see. Fade into intimations of cybernetic übermensch conspiracies. So with these limitless vistas of techno-tomorrows, Kraftwerk will continue for some time yet? "Yoh. Yes.” Pause, then the laugh opens up, “… until we fall off the stage!” Auf Wiedersehen, Ralf… Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier…

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recordmaraca84 · 4 years ago

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ranger-report · 4 years ago

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Thoughts On: HEXEN II

After developing two fantastic games utilizing the id tech 1 engine -- also known as the DOOM engine -- Raven Software found themselves once again at the forefront of technological advancement when their neighbors id Software released a little game called Quake. Using a brand new, fully 3D rendered engine, Quake revolutionized first person shooters and PC gaming graphics. After the successes of Heretic and Hexen, Raven was deep in the throes of developing a third game in their dark fantasy series, this one titled Hecatomb. Sadly, this game never came to pass, as John Romero (who’d had heavily helped develop the previous two games) left id Software to found his own company, abandoning Hecatomb in the process. At this point, Activision Publishing acquired Raven and the rights to distribute future games they developed. Activision told Raven that they wanted to see the Heretic and Hexen games split into two separate franchises as both games were different in gameplay styles. So rather than a final third game to wrap up a trilogy, ideas from Hecatomb were then split between Hexen II and Heretic II. While this yielded mixed results, we’ll look first at Hexen II, a game that was highly anticipated upon release, and whose legacy is an uneven yield.

The story this time around is that the third and final Serpent Rider, Eidolon, has taken over the word of Thyrion. Separated into four lands, Thyrion is infested with Eidolon’s minions, and it’s up to one of four warriors to take him down: the Crusader, Assassin, Necromancer, and Paladin. What’s neat about this premise is that each of the warriors comes from one of the four lands -- Blackmarsh, Mazaera, Thysis, and Septimus, respectively. And each land has a different cultural theme -- Medieval European, Mesoamerican, Ancient Egyptian, and Greco-Roman, also respectively. Also very interesting about this setup is that each land is being ruled by one of the Four Fucking Horsemen of the Apocalypse -- Famine, Death, Pestilence, and War also also respectively. Off the jump there is a lot going on here, a lot more detail than the previous two games about the worlds and what is happening. This works to the game’s credit in attempting to set up a distinct world for this entry in the game series, but somehow, it falls a little flat. In previous games the player encounters a variety of monsters and enemies that all carry over from hub to hub, level to level, giving the player a chance to learn their attacks and be aware of how to defend themselves. There’s also overarching aesthetics that maintain a steady, immersive feel to the worlds presented. Hexen II’s decision to split the hubs into unique lands works against it, as each land as its own unique enemies and aesthetic and architecture. Just as the player has a chance to get used to enemy tactics and tricks (thanks to some stellar AI work), those strategies are abandoned as the next world is loaded up with new enemies and new look, throwing the player off and breaking the immersion. As much as I tried to get into it, what it ends up feeling like is the standard issue Water World, Fire World, Sand World, etc of old NES platformers. This is not to say that the worlds aren’t good looking, however -- Raven modified the shit out of id tech 2′s textures and polygonal aspects, crafting a still-gorgeous game which takes full advantage of the technology.

Progression here is also slightly different from the previous Hexen, but is a very welcome course change. Each character class has different skills and abilities, and as you play through the game, you’ll gain experience and level up. Returning from the previous game are the fact that each class has their own four weapons, using 1) no mana ammo 2) blue mana 3) green mana and 4) both mana. As usual, the fourth weapons need to be assembled from pieces in order to be used, but what overpowered destruction they bring. My favorite class is Crusader, whose skills and weapons focus on defensive measures, but his ultimate weapon is the Light bringer. It fires a steady stream of what can basically be called pure light, burning through any enemy in a matter of seconds, and the drain on Mana is negligible. It’s possible to reach the max level of 12 through the game, and each character receives a new passive ability at levels 3 and 6. It’s always nice to notice that you’ve gained a level during the adventure, but it usually happens well after the fact. I had a difficult time hearing the audio cue to let me know that I’d leveled up and now had extra health, or new ability. I had to go into the revamped inventory screen, which now shows key quest items as well as the current items in your pocket.

In fact, Hexen II’s biggest immediate suffering is that there seems to be a lack of feedback. There’s little in the way of gratifying sound or feel whenever your attacks land, which is doubly frustrating when most attacks are ranged and as far away from the very deadly monsters. Up close and personal melee attacks seem to have a weird range, sometimes being able to hit at different distances, but it’s hard to know exactly how and when that’s going to happen. The inventory system is fine, objects work they way they’re supposed to. Most of the problems come from the early usage of id tech 2. Quake is not a game designed around interactivity, despite Hexen II being the exact opposite. id tech 2 takes away the Action button, so you walk into panels or switches to operate them, no button mashing required. There’s also no minimap, so navigating become a trying issue. But projectiles in this game don’t seem to have an impact; there’s no oomph to it, similarly to Quake’s monster who rarely stagger when hit. This is a problem because multiple times will occur when you’re firing rapidly at damage-sponge enemies, wondering if you’ve hit them enough to count, counting each shot, watching your steadily diminishing mana fall away, waiting hoping praying that this isn’t another time where you’re going to be forced to use the melee weapon, and then they are suddenly dead and you didn’t know they were close to death. It’s not as frustrating in the early levels, where you’re Level 1 and Everything Hurts and Everything Takes A Lot To Kill. But by Level 9, there are bigger, badder, more horrifying enemies who soak up so much damage that it feels like a Thoroughly Epic Duel every single time. This, perhaps, is meant to make up for the fact that -- unlike Hexen which sent waves of hordes of squads of monsters at the player at once -- Hexen II lobbies much fewer enemies at a time. In fact, I’m hard pressed to remember any time I fought more than five at a time, and even that is a generous number. But since each of the enemies are so much more resilient, anything more than three becomes an exercise in dodging and weaving and running for cover in order to get in a few shots and quaff a drink from a healing elixir, because these fuckers hit, hit hard, and hurt harder. Especially the Four Horsemen, who are so intense and difficult that I was convinced for a moment that the game was building up to a boss run near the end that would have been insurmountable. Fortunately, thank fuck, there wasn’t. And yet, while the increased difficulty of the enemies comes with the bonus of impressive AI (most notable in the Were-Jaguar warriors, who leap and roll and attack like real human opponents), it also comes with the downside of empty stretches of pathfinding. Where in Hexen enemies would respawn with abandon in an effort to wear down the player, Hexen II seemingly keeps a limit on the number of enemies involved on a map. Once they’re dead, they’re dead, which then makes wandering around afterwards an exercise in frustrated boredom searching for clues and hints to the puzzles.

Speaking of which, while feedback and aesthetics are weak points, if there’s anything that the game truly bounces players out of the game, it’s the puzzles. Blackmarsh is host to one of the most infamous puzzle glitches in the series, possibly in all RPG gaming, the solution to which is based on how your character enters a particular courtyard. Depending on which turn the player takes, this will then spawn a clue in one of three locations based on your entry point, along with the necessary quest item in one of three locations after gathering the clue. However, the clue itself can be accidentally destroyed. It can also be missed entirely, and if you don’t find the clue you can’t go directly to the quest item location knowing the solution -- it can only be solved in the order of clue, location, item. So if you somehow miss or even destroy the clue itself -- and Hexen II is rife with destructible items holding hidden mana and health so chances are you’re breaking a lot of shit -- you’re out of luck. I discovered this far, far too late, and had to start the whole game over because I didn’t have a recent enough save file that I could utilize to go back to. Thankfully, this was fairly early on in the game, but it serves as a brutal low point that comes back to haunt the player in the Egyptian levels, where a maddeningly opaque puzzle involving time travel and astrology nearly drove me to a walkthrough and early onset baldness. Elsewhere, puzzles are item-based rather than key-based like in Hexen, which revolve around gathering items, transporting them to a location, and then receiving either a new item or a key. Sometimes these items need to be altered or transmutated; the game is questionably vague about what is necessary sometimes. Fortunately, despite the veiled hints, most fetch quests are simple enough to solve. But the lack of enemies giving way to empty hallways and corridors makes those fetch quests empty and tedious, moreso than they ought to be.

Hexen II isn’t a bad game by any means. It’s very much a product of 1997. New technology, advancements in PC gaming, experimentation with new control schemes and movements, a lot of games at the time featured both innovation and frustration in equal measure. Hexen II is a solid game at its core, with great direction from the returning team, a great soundtrack, fantastic graphics and sound design, and RPG progression. But all of these upgrades come at the cost of a more simplistic version of Hexen that is somehow trying to have the straightforward run-n-gun gameplay of Heretic and the brutal dungeon crawl of Hexen. Puzzles suffer, shooting mechanics suffer, and immersion suffers. What it ends up being is Hexen Lite, not as good as the original, but fine on its own. Would I go back and play it? Sure, at some point I’d love to, but it didn’t draw me in the same way that Hexen did, not even as much as Heretic. But it’s a Quake engine game (which I’m a sucker for) and a 1997 game (which I’m a sucker for, goddammit), and despite its flaws it represents a moment in gaming which I can’t help but be nostalgic for. Your mileage may vary, but be advised that there are other, bigger, bolder versions of this experience that Hexen II has inspired, and while this may have inspired quite a few, it hasn’t aged as well as its predecessors.

Next up: we close off the Thoughts On series of Heretic/Hexen games with Heretic II. And if Hexen II was a different experience in order to differentiate itself as a unique series, Heretic II goes above and beyond to set itself apart....for better and for worse.

#hexen ii #hexen #heretic #raven software #id software #activision #rubyranger #ck burch #thoughts on #long post #ranger report

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arcanalogue · 5 years ago

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ON TYRANNY - An Unsolicited Tarot Tour, pt. II

In my initial post groping for symbolic parallels between the Major Arcana and Timothy Snyder’s ON TYRANNY, we covered The Fool and The Magician.

In the few days then (just to show how fast time seems to move during a budding oligarchy), video has surfaced of the President speaking to rich donors at one of his own hotels, in which he says: “The European Union is a group of countries that got together to screw the United States, it’s as simple as that.” He goes on to explain why this is surprising: “We’re all sort of from there, right?”

He also tweeted a thinly-veiled threat suggesting that Adam Schiff, the US rep who gave a rousing speech in the impeachment trial the other day, “has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country!”

There’s also video of his pick for Special Advisor to the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative, Paula White, working this bit into a sermon: “We command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now.”

And just for fun, a case of the Wuhan coronavirus was detected near Los Angeles, and today officials are reporting that, as feared, the disease is contagious before the appearance of symptoms. There are still plenty of good folks left at the CDC, right? The lights are on, at least?

But if we let paroxysms of fear induced by bad headlines stop us from going about our day, pretty much none of us would have made it through 2017 — and yet here we are, two full years beyond that point, still rallying, still cracking jokes, still helping each other get things back on track. And sure, my beard and chest hair are suddenly growing in all white, but that’s fine! The sharper contrast will be dazzling against all of my goth attire. How’s that for a silver lining?

Anyway, on to the cards.

The High Priestess represents everything we take for granted about our own awareness. She’s the source of our inspiration, the dream we awaken from that colors our perception of the day; she’s the vapors sighing from a crack in the earth, and she’s also the Pythia who hears and interprets those whispers.

Most of us realize we’re more than just our cognition, or our memories, but it’s still quite easy to lose track of the various pillars our interior world is formed around... until one of them is suddenly swept away.

And it’s the same with our exterior life, because “interior” and “exterior” are only matters of scale, baby. Your mind is your own (for now), but how did it become what it became? What unseen protections was it afforded?

Most people probably think of libraries, or organizations, or certain publications when they hear the word “institutions.” But so many different things fall under this category, it’s actually mind-boggling! It really makes you ponder about the particular framework of your community. Some are more fragile or less corporeal than others; to LGBTQ people, a bar can serve as an institution. Hell, in Brooklyn a taco restaurant can be described as a “mainstay” if it manages to last 15 years.

Some institutions are really only useful to those who created them, and others or who are well-adapted to them, and are bound to crumble naturally with time. A lot of what history has thought to provide will be useless to people in the coming century and beyond; their needs are evolving drastically, right in front of our eyes. This is why we also need to create safe and fertile territory for new institutions to be formed, and try not to take it too personally when the world just moves on. Memento mori, and all that.

But this entropy is not what Snyder’s talking about: he says DEFEND institutions, implying they are under attack. And some of this is very easy to watch for, because we think we know what an attack looks like. But as Snyder’s chapter points out:

“Sometimes institutions are deprived of vitality and function, turned into a simulacrum of what they once were, so that they gird the new order, instead of resisting it. This is what the Nazis called Gleichschaltung.”

You know, like appointing industrial tycoons to manage the EPA and the Department of Education, or leaving countless government positions unfilled so that none of the departments can function quite as they used to.

No one can look after all of them, and none of us knows which we’ll depend on most in a key moment. That means we all have to fan out and each claim a different piece of the puzzle. But which one? And how?

Reflect on the mental architecture that contributed to the formation of your own mind, and then let the Priestess guide you.

The tarot-ticklers of antiquity may have determined that The Emperor’s power trumps that of The Empress (as the cards are ordered so that each one “triumphs” over the one that preceded it), but he can’t exist without her, and everyone in the kingdom knows it.

In this chapter Snyder invokes the popular saying “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” adding:

“When we think of this saying today, we imagine our own righteous vigilance directed outward, against misguided and hostile others... But the sense of the saying was entirely different: that human nature is such that American democracy must be defended from Americans who would exploit its freedoms to bring about its end.”

In readings I often explain to people that The Emperor represents the outward-looking ruler, the conqueror, the prospector, the warlord. The Empress is the inward looking ruler, tending to the needs of the people, governing, presiding over everything that gives life meaning.

I mentioned above that the very concept of interior/exterior is only a matter of scale. Those terms are used very flexibly, aren’t they? There’s the interior of my body, and the interior of my home, and the interior of my apartment complex, and so on. At some point it stops being “my” anything. Suddenly we’re looking beyond my town, or my state, or my country. Sometimes others draw those lines for us, and other times we have to be The Emperor, pushing back against that line, drawing one of our own, defending what’s rightfully ours.

Regarding our own interior as a nation: in case you hadn’t heard (HAHA!) we’re about to stagger through a series of important elections. The one thing we know for sure is that the results of these elections will be disputed, no matter what they happen to be. If we can no longer trust the outcome of an election — due to internal fiddling, not just foreign — then what’s the point of having them at all? You can already sense everyone’s fatigue, ripe to be exploited.

The GOP is already slavering for it, canceling primaries left and right so that Trump will run unopposed for reelection. A “one-party” election suits them just fine. Debates only raise questions, and give a platform to challengers. In order for Trump 2020 to seem like an inevitable choice, he has to be the only choice.

Ruining the public’s faith in American democracy is part of the strategy, because of course it is. Later in Chapter III, Snyder offers yet another popular saying: “Where annual elections end, tyranny begins.”

The work required to protect the upcoming election, and make sure people still care about the outcome, can only be done by Americans organizing and working together on every level: personal, local, national. The fatalism and cynicism everyone’s feeling is understandable, but it ought to drive one toward active participation in preserving what little democracy we have left.

Otherwise, what’s the point? If it’s more important to have your worst fears confirmed, to be able to say “I told you so,” to bargain with the inevitability of fascism, then you’re rooting against The Empress and the rest of us. You’re part of the rot in your own kingdom.

If you’re someone who does Empress-related work, this is your new practice: she is calling you to serve as guardian and minister of the interior. Whatever inspiration you manage to muster, your role is to imbue others with it, and resist whatever negativity you may encounter as you do so.

Are your friends and family registered to vote? Are they sure? Do your representatives in Congress have a plan in place for when Trump refuses to concede? What communities near you could use a leg up in terms of outreach? Ask questions. Get creative. Be a constructive part of the pressure.

What you manage to accomplish on your own may seem meager, but pouring energy into these concerns will remind others why this fight still matters, and it will encourage those who never forgot. We need everyone in this fight.

Our last “real” election can’t already be behind us. The Empress is counting on us to make sure of it.

This is Part II in a series of posts about Timothy Snyder’s ON TYRANNY, which can be purchased via your local bookstore, and also here.

#the empress #the high priestess #major arcana #timothy snyder #on tyranny #tarot cards

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