#Structured Cabling Companies

[cmctelco]

Unifi Network Installation: A Complete Guide to Modernizing Your Wi-Fi!

In today's digital environment, having a reliable internet connection is essential. Many offices and businesses are upgrading their networks, and Unifi Network Installation has become a popular choice for modernizing Wi-Fi setups. Whether you want to improve your office entertainment or make your business operations more efficient, understanding how Unifi works can help boost your internet experience. Unifi’s flexible design allows your network to grow with you, so you won’t need to upgrade anytime soon. Its easy integration of hardware and software makes sure everything works smoothly, providing fast and reliable internet. Whether at  factory or work, Unifi offers a network solution that can keep up with your changing needs. This article will help you understand how you can modernize your Wi-Fi by installing the Unifi brand's network.

Understanding the Basics of Unifi Systems

Unifi systems, created by Ubiquiti Networks, are famous for offering high-quality technology at affordable prices. Setting up a Unifi network starts with choosing the right equipment, like

routers,

switches,

and wireless access points.

Each piece of equipment is designed to work together smoothly, building a strong and efficient network. This makes it especially useful for people who need to manage multiple Wi-Fi access points over a large area.

Planning Your Installation

Before beginning the installation, it's important to plan your network structure. This includes doing a site survey, often done by Small Cell and Das Solution companies, to find the best spots for placing access points for the best coverage and performance. Planning also involves looking at your current and future internet needs to choose the right Unifi products. This careful planning helps you avoid the need for frequent upgrades, making Unifi a smart and cost-effective choice.

Implementing the Network

The process of a Unifi installer involves setting up the hardware and placing the software. Unifi has an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple to adjust settings like

guest access,

network organization,

and security features.

During installation, it's essential to update all devices to the latest software to keep the network stable and secure. A proper installation improves performance and helps your Wi-Fi network last longer. If the setup isn't done correctly, you may face constant connection problems and have to pay for expensive upgrades more often.

Optimizing and Scaling Your Network

Once your Unifi network is set up, the next step is to optimize it. Unifi’s software has tools to track your network's performance and traffic. By checking these regularly, you can make improvements and solve any issues before they become problems. Unifi systems are also easy to expand as your needs grow. Adding new access points is simple, thanks to the central management platform, making it perfect for businesses or multioffices that are developing.

Final thoughts

Ultimately, a Unifi network installation is a great way to improve and modernize your Wi-Fi, whether for warehouse or business. It’s easy to set up, can grow with your needs, and is simple to manage. With good planning and regular updates, your Unifi network will provide fast, reliable internet for a long time. Those seeking professional Wi-Fi setups can consult with businesses like CMC Communications. They provide a variety of network and communication services, including Wi-Fi installations for commercial spaces. Their goal is to make sure you have a reliable and fast internet connection. 

[literallymechanical]

Okay so a guy in my solid state physics class was telling us about this muon scanning startup he worked at, GScan, and I'm going insane. I don't work there and I have no stake in the company, financial or otherwise, I just need to tell you about it.

Muons are short-lived subatomic particles, same charge as an electron but ~200 times more massive. On Earth, they're produced by cosmic rays colliding with the upper atmosphere, and they hit the ground at a rate of about ten thousand per minute per square meter.

They're moving extremely fast at ground level, like 0.99 c. So they careen right through matter, deflecting only very slightly around heavy atomic nuclei – they'll penetrate like a hundred meters into solid rock.

What do you do with this continuous shower of deep-penetrating charged particles, constantly blanketing every square inch of the Earth's surface?

(source)

The classic thing is use them to image the inside of massive structures, like we use x-rays to look inside living tissue – except instead of generating them yourself, you just use atmospheric muons. Muon archeology is a whole thing, they've used it to find hidden chambers in pyramids and stuff. Neat!

But this one Estonian company is doing some crazy bullshit and I love it.

Sandwich anything between a pair of portable muon detectors and get full 3D imaging of the interior, with sub-millimeter accuracy, by tracking the minute deflection of muons between them. Samples that are WAY too thick for x-rays, made of literally anything. Just put some muon detectors on some two by fours in a warehouse and call it a day.

You can just. Image anything??? Anything you want?? Completely passively!! Just detectors! No particle source! Put them anywhere. The detectors themselves are a mature technology, the company's tech is in the algorithms they use to get this level of spatial and elemental resolution.

You can detect failures inside cable-reinforced concrete bridges without cutting open the bridges.

Decommissioned Soviet nuclear submarine filled with concrete, with no drawings or documentation, that may or may not have spent fuel canisters in it? And you need to cut it up for storage? Just look at the muons.

One of the wackiest ideas is to put one detector under your bed and one on the ceiling, so you get a full 3D scan of your body every night, passively. I want one.

[snehaleenakashe-blog]

Chipin Offering for Network Cabling & IT Cabling in Dubai

Chipin offers outstanding structured cabling solutions all across Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Sharjah, Our customers call us one of the top network cabling companies in the UAE. We specialize in the design and installation of structured cabling systems with an emphasis on new construction and corporate relocation projects.

Whether your network is ten computers or ten buildings, Chipin IT Solutions will be able to provide you with both copper and fiber cabling solutions needed to connect data and voice. Our structured cabling team has extensive knowledge and hands-on experience in large-scale corporate installation, construction, Corporate relocation, and expansion projects.

Our team is proficient in providing data & voice cabling services that will ensure seamless and clear communication, and transfer of data and information, with cabling systems that are capable of transferring up to a speed of 10Gbps.

[widesolutions]

https://widesolutionshub.com/it-services/networking-structured-cabling-2/

[thesewordsareallihavetogive]

LMFAO what are these cable tv writers ON

[head-post]

Finland boards oil tanker suspected of cutting off internet, power cable

Finnish authorities seized a vessel in the Baltic Sea on suspicion of disconnecting an underwater power cable connecting Finland and Estonia and damaging four internet lines.

The Cook Islands-registered vessel, Eagle S, was arrested on Thursday, 26 December, by the Finnish Coast Guard, Robin Lardot, director of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, reported.

From our side we are investigating grave sabotage. According to our understanding, an anchor of the vessel that is under investigation has caused the damage.

Two fibre-optic cables owned by Finnish operator Elisa and linking Finland and Estonia were severed. The third link between the two countries, belonging to the Chinese company Citic, was also damaged.

The fourth internet cable running between Finland and Germany, owned by Finnish group Cinia, is also suspected to have been severed. The incident highlighted the need for close international co-operation, with the US and NATO expressing their readiness to support the Finnish-Estonian investigation.

The two countries held extraordinary meetings to assess the situation on Thursday, according to separate statements. The Baltic Sea states are on high alert for potential acts of sabotage after a series of cable disruptions since 2022.

Repairs to the 170-kilometre Estlink 2 interconnector would take several months, with the outage raising the risk of power outages in winter, operator Fingrid said. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, however, emphasised that the country would have sufficient access to electricity.

The Eagle S Panamax oil tanker crossed the Estlink 2 electric cable on Wednesday. Damage to underwater facilities in the Baltic Sea became so frequent that it was hard to believe that it had been caused by a mere accident, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.

We must understand that damage to submarine infrastructure has become more systematic and thus must be regarded as attacks against our vital structures.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys also said that the growing number of incidents in the Baltic Sea should serve as a warning to NATO and the European Union to step up protection of underwater infrastructure in the region.

The Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Germany, which runs along the seabed in the same waters, was blown up in 2022. The case is still under investigation in Germany.

Read more HERE

[cierraonline]

Masterlist Makeover

If you haven't noticed by now, I gave my Masterlists a makeover so it's more pretty looking. Now lets go over the weekly news.

Yes! I brought back the my Billie Eilish - Podcast book because all of you hated me when I took it down so...thank you for bullying me enough to bring it back. With that being said it's not how you remembered it if you read it and it involves the Kardashians. But the twist is I gave my OC the skims company as it's her own. And yes I will be bringing back the pregnancy scandal. Also submit your favorite AITA link or conspiracy theory so you just are also part of the creative process.

For my Paige Bueckers and UCONN fans and die hards, where can I watch the games in real time because the UCONN+ app thought they were funny and made it audio only....and I don't have cable to watch it on SNY. Love you guys!

If you are horny freaky fuck (no shade) and you liked the last chapter of Elementary Love because it was freaky you can go back and re-read that section if you want as I had twitter links...don't judge

Am I doing the tallest correctly because for some reason some usernames are underlined and others aren't? If not please help.

I just wanted to say that I love you guys and want to thank you guys for reading my work even it's more structured for wattpad rather than Tumblr. I still appreciate that you guys show love to to it. I also love when you guys submit submissions it makes my day each time and I love putting them in the beginning of each chapter

[thorns-and-rosewings]

Sooooo new AU anyone?

Behold the 🔥'Seraphim AU!'🔥

LOL I have been working on this for a month and decided to post what I have so far today on the spookiest of days, dear old Halloween. 🎃 And yes, I do get a ton of enjoyment out of The Sun and Moon Show, which helped inspire the direction this AU has gone.

I actually do have a whole AU/Story idea for him and his brothers (Yes he has siblings, his versions of Bloodmoon and Lunar)

I will just give a little intro into him and his background into this world below. :)

First thing I need to point out is that Seraphim Eclipse is not actually a Fazbear product. No, his creation was the result of a very ambitious fellow within Fazbear who had the brilliant idea to commission an outside company to build some of the more unique animatronics for less money. Specifically the Daycare Attendants.

As the DCA is the only animatronic whose insides cannot be replaced by a random backup Endo due to their thinner, more complex structures. They need to be custom built each time and it's particularly expensive given the unique 3 personalities and abilities the Endo will need. So, without authorization, he commissions a smaller company to build a new attendant.

Unfortunately A LOT was lost in translation. As this small company was led to believe that if their work was satisfactory they could get many more commissions from Fazbear. They were also provided with the DCA's primary blueprints... And furthering the miscommunication, they were told to improve on the design rather than make it identical.

Thus the Creator took liberties and built the base model of Seraphim Eclipse. (Pictured below)

Initial Info: The he first thing that should be said is that Seraphim Eclipse was not initially able to fly. (He can currently) his original wings were just for show and were made to flash and glow. (If he tries it's like getting flashed with six Fazcams all at once)

Next, he was made to be a 'Gentle Giant' sort of figure. He stands at a towering 10 feet tall if one includes his rays.

He also doesn't have a hook on his back, rather he is equipped with a long, flexible and insanely durable cable that can retract completely into his back. This cable measures almost 35-40 feet and is so strong it can fully lift Seraphim Eclipse's weight and keep him balanced and suspended perfectly in midair. The reason for this is he was built to fill all three of the DCA's roles and for naps he would place the kids down for a nap, while being suspended above with his wings glowing faintly.

His entire appearance is supposed to invoke that of a guardian angel.

The cable also has a secondary function as it is much like a Na'vi queue and allows Eclipse to interact with the networks throughout the Pizzaplex. Due to his systems being completely built outside of Fazbear, he has difficulty with various aspects of the systems. But it also meant he was immune to the initial Glitchtrap virus.

He refers to this cable as his tail.

His creator chose to simplify the 'Sun, Moon and Eclipse' personalities and just made one singular being who could handle all of the duties he would need too. Choosing to name him Eclipse as it was more appropriate and would seemingly encompass all of the needed aspects.

The final really 'Abnormal' thing about him is that during his construction, someone attempted to abduct and possibly assault one of the Creators three kids, specifically his youngest daughter... Thankfully the bastard failed and was arrested, but the lingering stress of that disturbing situation resulted in his Creator building flamethrowers into his arms/hands... To be used in case of emergencies.

.

Brief History: Unfortunately when he was revealed to the heads of the Fazbear Board of Directors, brought before them and activated by the manager who commissioned him... He immediately showed that he was as sweet and as cheerful as Sun models usually are-

He was about as well received as someone finding a dead rat in their cereal...

The board was livid, as company secrets and schematics were given out to make this abomination... Yeah, his first memories at the job he was made for was being called an abomination to his face.

The manager was fired and Eclipse, since they couldn't send him back for a refund but also couldn't use him... They put him in a few restraints, locked him into a permanent 'resting mode' and pretty much hung him up on a wall in a small closet off of parts and services... and forgot he existed.

Unfortunately for Eclipse, he was locked but still conscious.

He was trapped in his own body, in darkness, alone for several years... The only escape he had was that while they locked his limbs up, they neglected doing so with his tail. So he was eventually able to get into the Fazbear networks and essentially observe the ongoings of the Pizzaplex.

He was also able to get access to an online Anime/Manga account that one employee set up for 'Productive Loafing' while at work. But it ended up being the one true joy Seraphim Eclipse had. A distraction from the nightmare he was stuck in. Even when the human employee was fired, Eclipse still kept the account active and constantly used it.

...on a negative note, Eclipse developed a seething hatred towards Sun, Moon and their Eclipse. As he viewed them as responsible for his own situation. Let alone the horrors that the malfunctioning Moon caused...

(Because I truly can write too much and given how LONG I could make this... I am going to shorten this now)

Seraphim Eclipse was finally be let loose from his captivity by MXES as a final desperate act to prevent Mimic from escaping and killing Cassie. As when MXES was set up, he became aware of Eclipse but didn't release him... Due to him not being sure if he was just another vessel for the Mimic or some other threat.

After getting free and having been watching Cassie's dangerous progress through the destroyed Pizzaplex via the cameras, Eclipse's first and only thought is about saving that little girl... And he reactivates Roxy to help him. (Because I still wonder how the hell she reactivated.) And it turns into a huge fight... Ending with Mimic getting deactivated by being ripped to pieces. And Eclipse taking quite a bit of damage especially to one side of his face, but making sure Mimic is VERY dead.

They all leave up the elevator, meeting the real Gregory, Freddy (Well... his head anyway) and Vanessa at the top. (They don't drop them.)

Literally everyone is burnt out from this nightmare, they go to the only place that might be a reprieve from the whole mess... They go to Cassie's aunt's place. Cassie's aunt, Twila, owns a Junk/Scrapyard and was babysitting her niece while her father was out of town. She opens the door to this lot and Cassie nervously laughing that she has a funny story to tell her.

Cassie is grounded for a month for scaring her aunt half to death by running off...

But Seraphim Eclipse stays there for a bit; and knowing he saved her niece... Twila gives him his sword. As she knows it's valuable, but judging by her nieces description about how Eclipse used a piece of rebar like a sword while fighting Mimic, she thought he should own a real one.

The sword is an Nodaichi.

His face is repaired, but seems to sport a permanent red scar, resembling a bloody tear.

(Again I am shortening this...)

After pulling off some blackmail, Seraphim Eclipse manages to aquire this particular Pizzaplex, all of its accounts for money and while associated, it's not connected to the Fazbear brand anymore... He owns it and gets it repaired.

His first act is to get rid of Sun/Moon/Eclipse... He quite literally tells them they are fired... And to go throw themselves into the dumpster outside because that's where they belong.

Twila takes the now distraught trio to live and help her at the scrapyard...

The Pizzaplex gets repaired better than ever and Eclipse takes his 'rightful' role, running the daycare.

...all is peaceful for a bit...

Until something is blasted through the roof and lands in the ballpit...

...namely the damaged form of a certain other Eclipse...

...and the damaged remains of the Newton Star...

Exercising A LOT of caution, Seraphim Eclipse takes the damaged other Eclipse to his workshop and starts going through his mind.

Yeaaaahhh he learns how batshit the other is... But he also comes across the schematics for the interdimensional portal, but more importantly the blueprints for both Bloodmoon and Lunar...

Because he and his alter share a trait of being agonizingly lonely.

He also meets Solar Flare, who he moves his consciousness into his computer... And ends up adapting him to be the AI in charge of his defenses...

LOL, MXES finally gets a friend.

He repairs Canon Eclipse, but knowing that he's pretty insane... Seraphim Eclipse slaps a nasty control collar on him so his alter cannot secretly work to destroy him...

Poor guy gets turned into a very angry janitor.

And Seraphim Eclipse proceeds to build his own versions of Bloodmoon and Lunar... Even incorporating the fragments of the Newton Star into his own Lunar.

The results are... Interesting... Especially considering his Lunar, who is extremely magically inclined, becomes responsible for Seraphim Eclipse's wing upgrades. As well as a multitude of additional upgrades... And awkward scenarios; that this crazy family will start enduring 😅

...I will write more later, but that's pretty much the start of this AU 🌟

Also, Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lauren Aratani at The Observer:

An elderly billionaire goes to war with his adult children over the future of his media empire. His only ally is his eldest son, crowned leader of his father’s enterprise after years of jostling with his siblings. In choosing a successor, the patriarch spurns three of his other children, who remain threats: when he dies, they will each have just as much power as the eldest son to shape his companies, potentially against the rightwing ideologies that have guided them for decades.

Away from the public eye, he makes a dramatic move. To deliver control to his eldest son, the mogul quietly launches an extraordinary bid to alter the trust set to hand the other three influence upon his death. But they stand ready to fight. This may sound akin to HBO’s Succession, but it’s life imitating art – which was, in turn, imitating life. Rupert Murdoch, 93, the billionaire owner of News Corp and Fox Corporation who helped inspire the show, is trying to give his eldest son, Lachlan, full control of his media outlets upon his death. While his other adult children – James, Elisabeth and Prudence – will still receive equal shares of company profits, this would leave them with no say over the companies upon his death.

This battle is in fact bigger than anything featured on Succession, according to Robert Thompson, a media scholar based at Syracuse University. “This is arguably the single most influential media outlet in all of the English-speaking world,” he said of News Corp and Fox. “How this turns out has a real, significant impact on real people living on planet Earth.” News Corp owns more than a hundred major and local newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in the US, as well as the Times and the Sun in the UK. Meanwhile, Fox is the parent of Fox News, the leading conservative cable network in the US, with millions of viewers.

The Murdochs’ legal fight played out in secret for months – until Wednesday, when it burst into the open. The New York Times reported on a decision from a Nevada probate commissioner, which is under seal, that Murdoch can rewrite his family’s irrevocable trust if he can prove the change is being made in good faith and benefits his heirs. The ruling sets the stage for a high-profile trial over the future of his vast array of media interests, with Murdoch and his three children slated to duke it out in court in September.

Both sides, according to the Times, have bulked up on high-profile lawyers. William Barr, the former US attorney general, is helping Murdoch rewrite the trust, and he has also hired Adam Streisand, a trial lawyer who previously worked on estate cases involving Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. The feuding appears to have taken its toll on the family. When Rupert married his fifth wife in California last month, Lachlan was said to have been the only one of his four eldest children in attendance. The other two also reportedly steered clear.

With Lachlan as his father’s successor, Fox News and News Corp will continue to be a conservative force. But under the trust’s current structure, the three other siblings, who are deemed more politically moderate, can push back. Murdoch is seemingly keen to avoid this prospect. Conservatism has been the backbone of his empire since its inception. It has proved to be remarkably profitable.

Though Murdoch had successfully formed relationships with powerful conservative figures in Australia and the UK, it was not until Donald Trump’s ascendancy that he had close ties to the White House. Though Fox was initially dismissive of Trump, the network soon turned into his most powerful megaphone. In turn, Murdoch had direct access to a commander-in-chief. Not all of Murdoch’s children were happy about this. During Trump’s presidency, Elisabeth, Prudence and James started to drift away from their father’s politics.

When Roger Ailes, the longtime Fox CEO, left the company in 2016 off the back of multiple sexual harassment allegations, James reportedly believed he could push the network in a new direction, bringing in an experienced executive who was less of an ideologue. Instead, the elder Murdoch took over as chair himself.

In the summer of 2020, James – once a senior executive at News Corp – announced he was resigning from the board over “disagreements over certain editorial content”. He and his wife, Kathryn, were particularly vocal about the climate crisis and seemed to resent Fox News and News Corp’s climate denialism. “We’ve been arguing about politics since I was a teenager,” James told the Times in 2020, about his father. In 2020, James and his wife donated more than $600,000 to Biden’s campaign. Murdoch eventually crowned Lachlan as his successor. While Lachlan does not speak publicly about his personal political views, reports have said they usually lean more conservative than his father’s. And while Lachlan appears less interested than his father in political influence, he cares about profit. And Trump has been profitable.

The Observer (the Sunday version of The Guardian) has an illuminating piece on the Murdoch media empire, and how Rupert Murdoch is going to war over who gets to succeed him upon his death by rewriting the trust to benefit stridently right-wing Lachlan at the expense of the other three (and less right-wing) children.

[blogger360ncislarules]

The mid-2000s saw a dramatic shift in television. The rise of "prestige TV," fostered by cable networks like FX and HBO, saw complex narratives led by morally gray characters like Walter White in Breaking Bad, Vic Mackey in The Shield, Don Draper in Mad Men, and the list goes on. Most of these shows were also high concept. Game of Thrones flipped the script on what people expected from fantasy, while Lost hooked viewers with an island full of mysteries. But not every TV show followed these edicts. One series, Leverage, went against every established rule of "Prestige TV" - and though it's not as well remembered as these series, it still has its fans.

Leverage features Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton), an insurance investigator, who is devastated when his son succumbs to a terminal illness that could have been prevented if the company he'd worked for didn't refuse experimental treatment. Nate joins a group of thieves consisting of genius hacker Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge), skilled fighter Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane), sophisticated grifter Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman), and antisocial thief Parker (Beth Riesgraf). The group conducts a series of heists, but only against those who take advantage of the innocent.

‘Leverage’ Was an Entertaining Watch Due to Its Structure & Cast Interactions Nate (Timothy Hutton), Sophie (Gina Bellman), Parker (Beth Reisgaf), Elliot (Christian Kane), and Hardison (Aldis Hodge) in a row dressed as FBI agents smiling as they take green containers away in Leverage Part of the fun of watching Leverage is seeing how Nate's team pulls off their heists, and the show doesn't disappoint on that front. An episode of Leverage usually begins with the team getting to know their mark. Then they apply their specialized skills. Toward the end of the episode, flashbacks reveal how everything fits together. It's a structure often used in heist films, but in Leverage it is often executed hilariously. Take Season 3's "The Rashomon Job." True to the Akira Kurosawa film it's named after, each member of Nate's team recounts how they tried to steal a priceless artifact before they became a team. It's funny, action-packed, and shows each character at their best.

Leverage has one of the most dynamic ensembles in television history. Hardison and Parker end up slowly developing a relationship. Though the dangerous nature of their job (and her slowly developing social skills) impedes things, they end up together. Sophie struggles with an identity crisis, as her true passion is acting, but her acting prowess is only great when pulling off a con. Spencer seeks to redeem himself after committing some dark acts in his past. Leverage was willing to let its characters grow in ways other shows wouldn't, making it stand out.

The Final Three Seasons of ‘Leverage’ Shook Up the Show ​​​​​​Keeping in line with the escalating nature of the heist genre, the final three seasons of Leverage raise the stakes for its crew. Season 3 sees Nate imprisoned and the team falling under the guidance of a mysterious woman called "The Italian" (Elisabetta Canalis), who blackmails them into taking down criminal bankroller Damien Moreau (Goran Višnjić). Season 4 would see them encountering Jack Latimer (Leon Rippy), who offers to hire them, but is working really for Victor Dubenich (Saul Rubinek), who Nate's team took down in their first con together.

But Season 5 featured the biggest shakeup: Nate leaving the team after proposing to Sophie and placing Parker in charge. The series finale, "The Good Bye Job," breaks from tradition by having Nate seemingly captured and having to recall his team dying. In reality, he tricked his old enemy/ally Jim Sterling (Mark Sheppard) into thinking his team was dead, getting access to a hard drive called "The Black Book." It was the kind of con Leverage was built on, and it was only fitting for the series to end on the biggest caper yet.

The Legacy of ‘Leverage’ Continues in ‘Leverage: Redemption’

Leverage eventually continued in the new age of streaming television, thanks to Amazon's Freevee channel. Leverage: Redemption follows Parker, Spencer, and Hardison as they reunite with Sophie after Nate's death. Taking over Nate's role as "The Mastermind," Sophie leads the team in heists against the corrupt. Redemption once again shook things up with two new characters: Hardison's foster sister Breanna (Aleyse Shannon), a genius hacker in her own right, and former corporate lawyer Harry Wilson (Noah Wyle), who seeks redemption for his past.

Redemption manages to succeed where most revivals fail by keeping most of the cast intact and using the same mission statement. That's due to producer Dean Devlin and creators John Rogers & Chris Downey having an active hand in the creative process. Devlin even had a specific vision in mind for Leverage:

I just wanted to do the type of show that I grew up with and loved. I missed Mission: Impossible and The Rockford Files. Television today tends to be more dry, dark and edgy. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s not the type of show I was interested in. So when TNT said they wanted to get a TV show out of me, I said I wanted to do a throwback type of show. I wanted to have fun. I don’t want to live in a dark world.

Even if Leverage didn't enjoy the explosion in success that Breaking Bad or Mad Men did, Devlin deserves credit for sticking to his guns & turning out some great television.

[deviant-doughnut]

Augusnippets: Day Twenty-Six

Chosen Prompt: Nightmare

CW: robot whump, previous captivity; previous torture

“Please record identifying marker,” says model R200, the first words it has ever spoken. It does not know where it is, does not recognise the darkness surrounding it.

And yet it has been here before.

In the nightmare, it happens again. Both in binary and in abstract this time, in ones and zeros and in visions stuttering through the planes of its unconsciousness — a night sky of unbearable anguish beneath the rhythmic ticking of its internal mechanisms. It’s dread in all its most vivid colours. It’s the cool metal table against the flesh they designed to mimic humanness. It feels human to R200, able to gauge temperature, capable of pain and pleasure both. And it feels human to its makers, soft and pliant and easily bruised.

In the nightmare, its body is not a body but there are hands on it all the same. It is made of the most exquisite plasticine their factory could manufacture. It flickers to consciousness with a sense of its purpose — a first responder of sorts; awaiting further programming but predisposed to be a force of unbiased good in the world. It is not human, is not alive, and it is okay with this.

“Please record identifying marker…” it tries again. No one responds.

In the nightmare, his wrists are cinched tight against the metal. The door creaks open, light spilling into the basement around him. It’s there and then gone, the shadows dank and stifling as the presence in his nightmare approaches him. They took R200 from the storeroom, from the post-production line area. Somewhere above it, meetings are held between city bureaucrats and the people who made R200. Its counterparts are assigned their departments — their specific and deliberate purposes — but R200 is kept under the storeroom.

“The company owes us,” its captor says simply, scalpel in hand, a different kind of metal glinting in the half light.

“Are you my creator?” R200 asks. Its captor simply sneers.

“I’m your worst nightmare, actually,” the man replies, voice a low and satisfied draw. Your lot might destroy mankind one day. I figure we’re entitled to fuck at least one of you up first.

“Please record identifying marker.” R200 replies, its tone impacted by the data available to it. Something here is incorrect. Its voice, however, doesn’t shake until long after the cutting begins, the scalpel lowering to the bare flesh of its chest, the tip digging through forged flesh and into the metal beneath.

“Let’s see how much it takes,” says its attacker, “to make you short circuit forever.”

He cuts deeper then, always deeper. The pain shoots wildly through R200’s structure — a tidal wave, a roaring sea of screams and misfiring programs. Wires spark and burst, liquid as black as onyx pouring over it, pulsing from its cables and out over its skin. Its voice grows higher and higher, its pain receptors detecting emergency. It hasn’t been fully programmed yet. It doesn’t know how to respond. “Please record identifying marker! Please record identifying marker! Please!”

”Alan,” replied the first of its many attackers, the scalpel scraping loudly through its abdomen as the man snarled with vindication above him. “Your name, you worthless piece of shit, is Alan. And you’re mine.”

Alan wakes up screaming.

He’s tied up until he isn’t, until he thrashes against his restraints and all that gives way is bedsheets. He kicks them off of his overheating body, electricity spiking hotly under his skin. His metal heart pounds upwards into overdrive, and he sits up so quickly to assess the threat that the world tilts dangerously around him.

“Hey,” comes a desperate whispers. Alan searches the shadows in frenzy. He gasps for breaths he does not need, touches his hand to his sternum and peers down at his unbloodied fingertips afterwards. No one has cut him. Nothing is damaged, and there’s no one watching from the shadows. The mattress creaks beneath the weight of another, and Alan startles until he remembers.

It’s Rowan, only Rowan. Alan’s emergency system falls quiet, threat assessment overruled by Rowan’s brown eyes staring back at him, wide, pinprick pupils, scared for nothing but Alan himself. Alan’s throat aches, a touch of humanness he was immune to before that basement. He was designed to be perfect, flawless, forever poised and ready to serve. And then his attackers tore him apart and Alan learned how to feel terror and helplessness. They are feelings he has never liked, and they threaten to choke him now. He stares down helplessly into his lap, and wishes he’d never learned how to cry.

“Shhh,” Rowan whispers, easing closer towards him. Alan’s tears run black as night, like ink trickling down over his sculpted cheeks, marring the set of his deliberately designed visage in the night. Rowan draws Alan closer, until Alan reaches out in turn and their bodies rise and fall together, a type of symbiosis, Alan’s breathing matched to Rowan’s own, almost like the accidental absorption of an accent. He wonders if their hears sound the same when they beat, their lungs when they expand and contract. Alan cries ink into the white shoulder of Rowan’s sleep tee. Rowan rubs his back, human and sweet. He whispers that it’s okay, promises him over and over until Alan loses partial vision in his eyes from crying, his tears so black that they temporarily stain him — his irises, his corneas.

“No one can hurt you here,” Rowan tells him. “They’re all dead, baby. All the people who ever hurt you are dead.”

“I’m not alive either,” Alan reminds him, “and it hurts all the same.”

“You’re alive,” Rowan protests. “You exist in the world and they don’t anymore. You’re with me, and they’re in the ground. What was left of them, anyway.”

“I suppose,” Alan concedes, miserable and exhausted and halfway to collapse.

“I suppose,” Rowan echoes, rubbing his back as he eases him back down to the mattress. “Lie down and sleep, Al. No matter what happens in your nightmares, I promise you’ll wake up right here, and I will be beside you.”

“Beside me,” Alan whispers. He shuts his eyes when Rowan smiles. It’s too much sometimes, the way he makes it all sound so simple. The truth is Alan needs more information to understand this. Androids were never supposed to be like this — feeling, connected, traumatised. What was forged in that basement was something different. He lives in hiding to protect his fellow androids. If anyone learned that torture could do this, that stripping their wires from their bodies while they wailed was a way to shock emotions into action…

Alan dreads to think of such a world where that notion was common knowledge.

Rowan holds him close and Alan is not supposed to feel. He is designed for perfect objectivity, but the scalpel carved that out of his chest. Rowan kisses his feverish forehead, and smoothes down the mess of his hair. Rowan hums until sleep swirls around him, ready to pull him once again under its waves. He leans into the touch and he identifies the lullaby. Part of him wishes they’d never turned him human in that basement. Another part, the part that falls asleep tracking the gentle beats of Rowan’s heart, thinks it might have been worth it after all.

-

Thanks to @augusnippets for this event!

[zeejeythedoodler]

Atom Calis:

Species: Blue-fronted dancer damselfly.

Age: adult (the oldest of the group)

Likes: being alone, fixing things, old tools, computers, repairing a hivenode and seeing it remain functional for longer than literally two hours (a rare occurrence).

Personality: crass. Kind of a smartass. Likes to play little tricks on people. Constantly tinkering with something. Very anti-naut. Vaguely socialist, though they'd probably argue with that fact.

Additional details:

Works as a freelance FNC* maintenance technician. Though they're technically self employed, they've been contracted by Mycohex so many times that they're practically an employee (without the health benefits, of course).

Backstory:

Atom doesn't remember much of their childhood, on account of they spent it as an unintelligent water-bound nymph in an artificial lake. Once they reached maturity, however, they were claimed as offspring by their father, an original Odonaut, and relocated to the first circle of Cibarium to live with him.**

Atom and their father had a complicated relationship (to put it mildly), so as soon as they had a job that paid well enough, they moved into a crumbling apartment in the third circle.

After the attempted rebellion, Atom's father was arrested for “treasonous activity” and was sentenced to life in prison. He remains there to this day.

*There is technically only one advanced computer in Cibarium, and it works by passing a weak electric current through an advanced network of living mycelium and synthetic cables which functions like a giant brain. The network has been built into the structure of the city itself, and "personal computers" are generally just interfaces involving monitors and other equipment that have been plugged directly into it. These interfaces are called hivenodes.

This Fungal Network Computer (or FNC, as it is commonly called) is the exclusive property of a company known as Mycohex, which is owned by Drone Mellifera (a member of the Senary. More on them later).

**This is a common parenting method for dragonflies and damselflies in the world of Cibarium. The difference in environment makes it difficult to raise nymph children until they've reached maturity, so parents will often release their offspring into artificial “spawn pools” and return to claim them once they've grown up.

[transgenderer]

The Goodyear Inflatoplane was an inflatable experimental aircraft made by the Goodyear Aircraft Company, a subsidiary of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, well known for the Goodyear blimp. Although it seemed an improbable project, the finished aircraft proved to be capable of meeting its design objectives, although orders were never forthcoming from the military. A total of 12 prototypes were built between 1956 and 1959, and testing continued until 1972, when the project was finally cancelled.

The original concept of an all-fabric inflatable aircraft was based on Taylor McDaniel's inflatable rubber glider experiments in 1931. Designed and built in only 12 weeks, the Goodyear Inflatoplane was built in 1956, with the idea that it could be used by the military as a rescue plane to be dropped in a hardened container behind enemy lines. The 44 cubic ft (1.25 cubic meter) container could also be transported by truck, jeep trailer or aircraft.[1] The inflatable surface of this aircraft was actually a sandwich of two rubber-type materials connected by a mesh of nylon threads, forming an I-beam. When the nylon was exposed to air, it absorbed and repelled water as it stiffened,[clarification needed] giving the aircraft its shape and rigidity. Structural integrity was retained in flight with forced air being continually circulated by the aircraft's motor. This continuous pressure supply enabled the aircraft to have a degree of puncture resilience, the testing of airmat showing that it could be punctured by up to six .30 calibre bullets and retain pressure.[2][3] Goodyear inflatoplane on display at the Smithsonian Institution

There were at least two versions: The GA-468 was a single-seater. It took about five minutes to inflate to about 25 psi (170 kPa); at full size, it was 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m) long, with a 22 ft (6.7 m) wingspan. A pilot would then hand-start the two-stroke cycle,[1] 40 horsepower (30 kW) Nelson engine, and takeoff with a maximum load of 240 pounds (110 kg). On 20 US gallons (76 L) of fuel, the aircraft could fly 390 miles (630 km), with an endurance of 6.5 hours. Maximum speed was 72 miles per hour (116 km/h), with a cruise speed of 60 mph. Later, a 42 horsepower (31 kW) engine was used in the aircraft.

Takeoff from turf was in 250 feet with 575 feet needed to clear a 50-foot obstacle. It landed in 350 feet. Rate of climb was 550 feet per minute. Its service ceiling was estimated at 10,000 ft.

The test program at Goodyear's facilities near Wingfoot Lake, Akron, Ohio showed that the inflation could be accomplished with as little as 8 psi (544 mbar), less than a car tire.[1] The flight test program had a fatal crash when Army aviator Lt. "Pug" Wallace was killed. The aircraft was in a descending turn when one of the control cables under the wing came off the pulley and was wedged in the pulley bracket, locking the stick. The turn tightened until one of the wings folded up over the propeller and was chopped up. With the wings flapping because of loss of air, one of the aluminum wing tip skids hit the pilot in the head, as was clear from marks on his helmet. Wallace was pitched out, over the nose of the aircraft and fell into the shallow lake. His parachute never opened.[4]

To Die For the InflatoPlane

[theghostwithin5591]

Rutger Hauer Talks About Batman Begins

March 30th 2004

Rutger Hauer who is in London working on Batman Begins has an interesting daily post about his work in this film. Read on, here is what he says. I am staying in the London hotel that I really like. Apartment hotel. Service is great. They know our biz. Some of you may recall my bathtub adventures. The living room is like a home. This time I have one at street level and it's almost like as if I lived here. Classy decorations and furniture. The cables, connections & plugs have been sorted out. Stuff's organized. I spent days to clean up the pc as well. Later at night I get company. Walt D would have enjoyed. Along the edge of the carpet is a mouse who's checking out the new tenant. After having taken a good look Minnie/Mickey does a quick 180° and disappears. I'm wondering what pissed her/him off but over the next three days I get other encounters. Just like this. Show up, look, think and gone. Maybe he's on his way to the kitchen. But that's one lower floor. All week the hours were spent in the excited "acting the part" fashion last few days. The cameo has a good solid structure but lacks character and I was able to drift to a horizon I saw in the back of my head because the director pushed me to explore and go there. Which is always exciting & scary. Exciting because you are allowed to go there and scary because your are not that secure. I found the "key" to my position/part at the end of the second day. That is so great as well. It's one of the things I enjoy with vigour. "The key" is all you need, after that it is about balance and refinement. Big, sensational grand sets. Moody, art deco, impressive. Art department worked miracles for the great visual richness. Had some smirkyness going with Christian Bale. We have one big problem that occurs. Noise. It interferes. It seems to be coming from a natural cause and I'm not talking about rain/hail/or broken limbs. We are inside. On the studio sound stage in Shepperton. It's a beautiful day outside. About to become spring here. That's what it is. We'd try shooting with the noise but the sound department has problems. It's too loud. Seems to come from high up somewhere. Stage-hands climb up to the ceiling, between cables, lights and set-pieces. I turns out that way above us, under the same roof, pigeons are having a little foreplay. This can stretch into days as thousands of dollars keep "flying" away. One of the boys figures that a blast of the loud heaters may bring a momentary halt in "lovers lane". At least long enough to get a few takes! We try and finally we get what we need in the can. The pigeons may have heard the producers prayers. When I go to bed, exhausted, that night and have shut off the lights there is a new noise in the room. How to describe it. Not like the pigeons. More like champagne corks in a boxing match. X rated. I figure it out. It's almost spring. Minnie and Mickey have decided that my bedroom is the best place to make more mice. I won't tell anyone. Not. Now I have a few weeks off....