#There's only post from automated news sources

[kmfdmvrc]

Colt infodump, random facts n stuff.

Trigger/Content Warnings: Shootings, suicide, self-harm, child neglect/abuse, homophobia, and antisemitism

-The gun used at Appalache was a SIG Sauer M400 rifle with a red laser sight. It was obtained from a shop called Mike’s Gun Room on November 17th, 2023.

-Colt planned to wear a hat and a vest during the shooting, similar to Adam, but did not.

-Colt was called nicknames by his family; his mom called him ‘Coltie’, his dad called him ‘Bubba’. He called his grandma ‘Mamoo’.

-Colt did plan to kill himself after killing 21-26 people.

-Colts siblings names are Coley and Jenni. Jenni is a year younger than him and enrolled in a middle school that went into lockdown during the shooting. You can see baby announcement photos for Coley in my archive.

-Colt often asked his grandmother if she thought he mom would ever kill him. She threated to before and often ignored Colt when talking about her children, referring to them as “her 2 babies”. She only had custody of Coley and Jenni.

-I rarely see it mentioned, but Colt wasn’t solely transphobic. He also sent antisemetic messages and was encouraged by a user to shoot up a synagogue instead. His originial reasoning for the shooting was to target “lgbtq” people.

-Colt put on a pair of yellow plastic gloves before taking out his gun. They may be in the video from after the attack but its too pixelated to tell.

-Employees at Appalache had wireless panic buttons in their ID badges. Multiple were pressed during the shooting.

-In addition, there were so many 911 calls made during the shooting that they began going to an automated voice message saying they were overwhelmed with calls.

-Colt started resisting arrest only after he was handcuffed. One of the officers, Boyd, said he started panicking and swearing.

-Colin admitted he knew Colt was cutting himself during his hearing. There were “injuries” on his left arm observed on the day of the shooting consistent with self harm. There was a photo taken of them but it has not been released.

-In a short recording from the shooting you can hear the officers yell at him to get on his stomach and “Stop fucking moving”. You can not hear Colt speak during it because students are whispering too loud.

-Colt attended school for 11 days before the shooting. He enrolled on August 14th and missed 9 days before the 4th of September.

-Colt had a guitar he kept next to his rifle in his bedroom.

His Belongings:

-The posters seen on his walls are of a gaming YouTuber and streamer Dellor and Korn member Brian Welch.

-The gray camo bucket hat he’s seen wearing is by the brand ‘Mission’. They no longer sell them but you can find them on Ebay brand new.

-His mouse is a Razer DeathAdder, though I can’t pinpoint which version. His monitor looks like an Acer SH242Y. I lost my mind trying to find his keyboard so don’t do it to yourself.

-His jacket in the hunting video seems to be this jacket by Mossy Oak. I couldn’t find his hat.

Most sources on this are Washington Post and CBS News. They covered it in detail. Other sources are the court hearing and other articles I found.

[destinywillowleaf]

alright, this is one HELL of a shot in the dark, but...

I'm trying to find the origin fic of this song. "Too Big For Us" was a song that was included at the end of a Voltron Legendary Defender fic and I cannot for the life of me find the story.

There is every chance that this fic was deleted.

From what I remember, it was a Lance-centric 5+1 about him being the one to act as support for the others (and then the team supporting him in turn). I'm 99% sure it was on FFN since I didn't really start reading fics on AO3 until 2019-ish. The song might've been something put in an author's note as a broken up YouTube link thanks to no outside links allowed on FFN. (It... COULD have been Hunk as the focus character? but I'm pretty sure it was Lance. I've been telling myself it was Lance as the focus at least. god if it ends up being hunk and ) There weren't any ships as far as I remember either.

The file says it was modified on February 19th, 2017, which I assume is the day I downloaded it or the day it was published, seeing as the listed "creation" date is in March 2022 and I know I've had it for longer than that. If I'm remembering things right, it was posted as part of the last chapter of the fic, because it was a multichapter (I'm... slightly less confident in the multichapter status but I'm pretty sure it was?)

The order characters are referenced in the song was also the order they were in each chapter... but I have no idea which section Pidge is supposed to be @~@ part of me says I was annoyed/confused about the lack of a Pidge section the first time around too but it's been like 6 years so idk how much of that thought I actually believe. Otherwise, I think the order is Hunk, Keith, Allura & Coran, Shiro, Lance, and Pidge was somewhere in the middle.

The lyrics, as best I can make them out, are under the cut. A few lines are covered up in just the wrong way by the piano chords so I'm sort of guessing with the words in the brackets. (The mixing really isn't the best but I have no room to complain since I'm not a musician of any variety)

Together we sit, as he relearns how to breathe His heart races with panic, deep set anxiety And demons fill his head as he fights off another's Ignore what still hurts as the light of hope is smothered

A boy in a bubble made of experience and fears A knife in hand and heart to protect him from tears Because bonds only seem to lead to pain Until someone can teach him to connect again

And in the end they'll come to me Cause everybody does And we'll fight together Cry together Wipe each other's eyes together In a war too big for us A war too big for us

A family in all but name, they say [stare??] comes in pairs A gentle touch is calming as a [??? braiding] hair When there is too much to do [without?] doing too much Go to him for support, drown their sorrow with a laugh

He's a fellow protector, with secrets to hide Whose fears and insecurities surface in the dead of night He's in need of help but doesn't want to burden That finds a companion, someone to confide in

And in the end they'll come to me Cause everybody does And we'll fight together Cry together Wipe each other's eyes together In a war too big for us A war too big for us

But sometimes your strength Could use some strength of their own, before it's too late Cause even the strongest of pillars Can crumble under the weight

But in the end they'll come to me Cause they know I need some love And we'll fight together Cry together Wipe each other's eyes together In a war too big for us A war too big for us

[ziotithe]

got inspired by this @puppygirllaika post to make a story about a girl who's a weapon and wrote one up in an incredible frenzy, so here y'all go ^^

ANALOG SENSORY APPARATUS

“can you feel this?” a disembodied voice. familiar yet far. the Wolf can smell it in the tone of their voice, the recognition. she can taste the affirmative movements of their pupils in the air from wherever they are. the wolf gropes blank space for the body, for the feeling. it hears the body’s invisible movements despite the steel spikes railed into its eardrums, catches its sweat  on its tongue despite having no tongue. does the body know it's there? it can feel the wall ahead of its hands. cold emanating like the frozen blood sticking to her skin. her shell? she cannot feel what she is made of. porcelain that feels like skin that feels like metal.

☢

wires stretch from the wolf where its hands – designated paws – split open. fingers wielding claws of freezing metal shards splay in opposite directions. it feels its wounds by the blaring red in its absent vision. every twinge rocking pain through every inch of its sensory wiring. though the wolf is thankful for the red, for it silhouettes the edges of the bifurcated body. it reaches down and wraps the feet of fleshy ropes around its neck. she cannot smell for the seams of her nostrils blocking out any air, and so the stench of death wraps around the wolf like the feeling of warmth and cold. a blanket of tainted air. it feels the wall again, and passes through holding the end of its trophy with the perfectly-bored socket now in its hand.

☢

the wolf doesn’t need to know what it's looking for. it can taste her. her tears smell of REDs and citrine sulfur. or that could be the taste of the scorched earth beneath it’s jagged bird-like walking apparatuses, but the wolf has never been wrong on an assumption. if she can sense it it is all but confirmed to be true. if it is true it can be all but confirmed to be sensed to her. the synesthetic buzzing red in its eyes burnt to a solid yellow. a backdrop ever-present, like she. the smell of rotten filth of the miles ahead left to walk subsumes her sensation capacitors.

☢

ANALOG SENSORY APPARATUS. 

Asa, the wolf corrects.

ANALOG SENSORY APPARATUS.

the wolf tries to ignore it, even while it rocks its entire frame.

ANALOG SENSORY APPARATUS. ANALOG SENSORY APPARATUS. ANA-

the wolf screams. this it can truly do.

DO NOT PROCEED.

she clenches eyes that are not there. the pain of eyes stuck in cold storage 100+ kilometres underground takes over, and it can see the robotic voice ahead of it, alongside 236 cameras and 8 Automated Experiment Apparatuses all watching the wolf. all different angles covering all of its path. it can smell the burning electricity before it comes. it gladly gives up its vision to it.

STOP is all that blares now. slowly, lagged. the orange blackness returns and the wolf is captured back into hooded feeling.

☢

death has followed it. the intestines have molted to one remaining string of gutfly bait. the smell can only hide the rest for so long. especially when there’s 5.9 billion biological sources exuding the same rot. it tears a line through the middle, and is flooded with new tastes. things fermented that had never been prior, brand new scents, rotten organics brought back to vile edibility and parasitoid denizens dead from lack of a host, cooked to perfection in the boxed heat of the body. the wolf’s first taste of uncalibrated-for senses. it can almost hide the death ahead.

☢

chalk walls built on the corpses of previous foundations. now to be splattered with corpses of their own. she can taste the vibrato of their screams, accompanying the clean, delicious flavour of metal slashing through air, and then flesh. superheated splitting oxygen and biological atomic structures. feasting on the corpses of those who once felt, taking for her own. they probably think it is for fun, for its own pleasure. but they are wrong like everything else.

ARE THEY, ASA?

the wolf loves her.

THE ASA ONLY CONSUMES.

it doesn’t have to.

IT IS WHAT IT WAS BUILT FOR.

the smell of the dead doesn't add, it only fills. a hundred corpses is no more sensable than one, except by its continued consumption of the oxygen surrounding. it could be any amount of flesh at her feet, the body ahead is all that matters. 

☢

the wolf lied. it can taste every corpse touching the bottom of it’s ‘legs’. the way out is a buffet of trauma, consuming pain she cannot take.

you are not the Safety Apparatus.

THE SENSORY APPARATUS ONLY TAKES.

i know.

THE SENSORY APPARATUS WAS MADE SOLELY TO CARRY ON.

it knows.

the wolf opens a pocket in its ‘heart’, the sensory memory hole, where everything it was ever calibrated to feel is stored, every Base Assumption burnt into its genetic makeup. there it stores the feeling of its love. the smell of her blood, the taste of her pain, the sight and avoided-sight of the holes boring through her face, the temperature of the grief, and the 36 other senses carrying every memory they’ve ever been part of. it shoves it deep, until the feelings cracks through the space of the heart, permanently indenting the apparatus with its presence. 

and then, it walks.

☢

ruby’s feet dig into the sand with each step. it’s warm. not hot, not burning, not caustic, warm. emily walks alongside her. her face glows in the saccharine rain of the golden hour. their hands clasp together. ruby holds emily’s so tight that surely nothing could separate them but a knife. 

“there’s so much i want to show you” it eventually spouts. “so much i want to feel together.”

“as long as you’re by my side through it all.”

[not-terezi-pyrope]

Ok. It's pretty clear you are more welcoming of AI, and it does have enough merits to not be given a knee jerk reaction outright.

And how the current anti-ai stealing programs could be misused.

But isn't so much of the models built on stolen art? That is one of the big thing keeping me from freely enjoying it.

The stolen art is a thing that needs to be addressed.

Though i agree that the ways that such addressing are being done in are not ideal. Counterproductive even.

I could make a quip here and be like "stolen art??? But the art is all still there, and it looks fine to me!" And that would be a salient point about the silliness of digital theft as a concept, but I know that wouldn't actually address your point because what you're actually talking about is art appropriation by generative AI models.

But the thing is that generative AI models don't really do that, either. They train on publicly posted images and derive a sort of metadata - more specifically, they build a feature space mapping out different visual concepts together with text that refers to them. This is then used at the generative stage in order to produce new images based on the denoising predictions of that abstract feature model. No output is created that hasn't gone through that multi-stage level of abstraction from the training data, and none of the original training images are directly used at all.

Due to various flaws in the process, you can sometimes get a model to output images extremely similar to particular training images, and it is also possible to get a model to pastiche a particular artist's work or style, but this is something that humans can also do and is a problem with the individual image that has been created, rather than the process in general.

Training an AI model is pretty clearly fair use, because you're not even really re-using the training images - you're deriving metadata that describes them, and using them to build new images. This is far more comparable to the process by which human artists learn concepts than the weird sort of "theft collage" that people seem to be convinced is going on. In many cases, the much larger training corpus of generative AI models means that an output will be far more abstracted from any identifiable source data (source data in fact is usually not identifiable) than a human being drawing from a reference, something we all agree is perfectly fine!

The only difference is that the AI process is happening in a computer with tangible data, and is therefore quantifiable. This seems to convince people that it is in some way more ontologically derivative than any other artistic process, because computers are assumed to be copying whereas the human brain can impart its own mystical juju of originality.

I'm a materialist and think this is very silly. The valid concerns around AI are to do with how society is unprepared for increased automation, but that's an entirely different conversation from the art theft one, and the latter actively distracts from the former. The complete refusal from some people to even engage with AI's existence out of disgust also makes it harder to solve the real problem around its implementation.

This sucks, because for a lot of people it's not really about copyright or intellectual property anyway. It's about that automation threat, and a sort of human condition anxiety about being supplanted and replaced by automation. That's a whole mess of emotions and genuine labour concerns that we need to work through and break down and resolve, but reactionary egg-throwing at all things related to machine learning is counterproductive to that, as is reading out legal mantras paraphrasing megacorps looking to expand copyright law to over shit like "art style".

I've spoken about this more elsewhere if you look at my blog's AI tag.

[copperbadge]

Amateur Translation Programs

So I had a lot of imaginative and informative responses to my post about looking for an amateur translation program -- something where I could load in a foreign language and it would insert a box where I could add a translation every-other-line. The idea was that this way I could practice translation with more advanced texts, and texts I chose, and thus move away from Duolingo, which at this point is good for drilling and daily practice but not for more advanced learning.

I didn't find precisely what was needed but I did get some inspiration for further explanation, and I also learned that adding the term "glossing" (thank you @thewalrus-said) into my searches helped a great deal in terms of weeding out programs that were either "Let this AI translate for you" or just endless promotional links for Babbel and Duolingo and such. I thought I'd collect up the suggestions and post them here; at the end I'm including my best swing at designing what I wanted, and why it doesn't work yet.

Suggestion one, from many people, was various ways to generate a page that is simply fixed Italian text with space underneath each line to add in a translation. This is pretty simple as a process and there are sites that will do it for you, such as this one that @ame-kage suggested. However, most of these don't allow for movement in the Italian text, and many produce a PDF which you would need to print out in order to write on unless you're willing to open it in Acrobat (and deal with Acrobat). A good solution for some but not what I'm looking for purely because I'm trying to make this super frictionless so that (knowing myself as I do) I will actually do it.

I did find this version interesting, suggested by @drivemetogeek: Have one word doc saved as your "template" doc and set the line spacing as 2.0 or higher. Select your text from source and paste it into the template doc as text-only. Ctrl a, ctrl c to select all and copy, then open a new document and "paste special" as picture. Right click and set the "wrap text" as behind text. Now you have a document where you can, basically, type over the existing text because it's the background of the page. This seems like the most frictionless version, because you could set up a bunch of them ahead of time. If you wanted to move between desktop and mobile, however, you'd need to ensure that the pasted image was fairly narrow so that you don't have to sideways-scroll.

Relatedly, people suggested generating a document that is simply the Italian text with empty space beneath it for typing in of the translation. This can be done either semi-automated, using a macro or a language like Python, or find-and-replace on, say, the stops at the ends of sentences. It basically outputs the same as above but with a more digitally accessible format, without any more effort than above. If you were to do this in Google Sheets you could also fix the column width so that it didn't do anything weird when you opened it on your phone. But it is still very friction-y, and does not allow for easy shifting of the Italian as needed. There's high probability of the translation breaking weirdly across the page. Still a top option in terms of simplicity and access.

@smokeandholograms suggested another variation illustrated here where essentially you're converting the text to a series of tables, with each paragraph a row, and an empty cell next to it for the translation. I might play around more with this one eventually, since I think I could possibly make it a three-column and put the Italian in one, the translation in the next, and the auto-translate to let me know where I might be slipping in the third. (Not that I trust auto-translate but comparing a hand translation to an auto translation can be useful in terms of working out when I've messed up the way a tense or mood is read. I tend to read indirect verbs as automatically imperative because I'm a weirdo.)

@wynjara linked to an add-in for Word specifically designed for translators, known as TransTools; this appears to employ a macro to do the same thing, though it does have a format where you can place the translation next to each sentence directly rather than in a separate cell. The full suite of tools is only $45 which is reasonable for my budget, but for what I need I think I could also just create the macro.

Using LaTeX as a tool specially designed for glossing was an option on offer, but I don't know enough about LaTeX to figure out the pros of this one, which is in itself the major con -- there's a learning curve that I think varies widely by person but for me is unfortunately a wall. It came out of a discussion on Reddit about trying to find something like what I want; also in that discussion is a link to a code generator that allows you to…do something…to the initial language, but it's not entirely clear to me (I'm sure it's clear to people who understand coding) what you would then do with it that would allow it to be output in the way I'm hoping for. Like, I could turn a paragraph of text into HTML, I understand that far, but any Italian I find is already on a website.

Moving more into apps that might work, Redditors on the LaTeX discussion suggested SIL Fieldworks, which is a professional language tech tool. Fieldworks isn't a program I'd previously encountered but much as with the ones I had, it looks like the learning curve is fairly steep and it is definitely overkill generally for what I need, though it might also harbor within it the thing I want. It is free, so I may download and play around with it.

@brightwanderer suggested using note-taking or "whiteboard" apps such as Freeform or Nebo; these are generally a kind of "infinite canvas" in which you can drop objects, text boxes, or handwriting. I don't know that Freeform would be measurably different to just using Word and a macro, since I'd still have to input/format all the text and then be stuck with the same "fixed text" setup -- and it's also iOS only -- but for some folks it might be more helpful. Nebo is a similar infinite-canvas with unfortunately the same issues, though on the plus it's available for Android, which is where most of my mobile property resides.

@bloodbright suggested that I was looking for a CAT tool, a professional translation tool mainly used by translators working in the field. This was a concept I'd encountered, but I hadn't found a good starting place. They suggested Smartcat and OmegaT. Smartcat bills itself as an AI translation platform and is HARD pushing the "don't translate it yourself, hire a translator or let AI do it" angle, so it's difficult to tell what it offers in terms of actual tools for translators, and it's also cagey about pricing, so I can't really evaluate it. OmegaT is free and gives off big "some weirdo homebrewed this in their basement" vibe (which I am here for) but I also recognized it from screengrabs that were the reason I veered away from professional-grade software: it looked too complex. Realistically, the major downside of OmegaT is that I don't think I can put it on my phone. One thing I did find interesting is that once you translate a portion of the text, the original language goes away, though I assume you can turn that off if needed. I do kind of like that because it means my distractable brain is looking at Less Stuff.

So where did I end up?

Well, it looked like I was going to have to try a homebrew myself. I had the idea of trying some of the initial suggestions but in reverse -- designing a document where every other line was a single-cell table fixed to the page. You could paste in the Italian, which would wrap around the cells, and then enter the English in the cells.

You can fix a table in place in Google Docs -- you click on the table, then under Table > Style select Wrap Text, Both Sides, and Fix On Page. Getting the whole page set up is a little labor intensive but once you did that, you could just save it as a template and make a duplicate of it each time. And this actually works….on desktop.

Unfortunately, if you open it in the mobile Docs app, the app can't handle the fixed tables and automatically moves them all to after the text that's been pasted in. I tried redesigning it so that it's a table within a table -- one for the Italian, then within that a series of them for the English -- but when you nest a table in Google Docs, it doesn't let you fix the second table in place. And you are also still dealing with the wrap issue, although you can resize the page and add a large right-hand margin as a kludge of a fix for that.

You can build this same kind of document in Word, so I tried building one in Word and then uploading it to Drive, but when you open the Word file in Docs (or in Microsoft Word for Android), it still strips the fixed positioning -- there's just some functionality missing from both apps that doesn't allow them to handle fixed-position tables.

So, the design is sound, just not the final execution. If I could program an app, I could probably remedy the issues with it -- it's simply a series of text boxes nested inside one another with different formatting. I would imagine that's relatively basic to set up, although given that neither Docs nor Word can handle fixed tables in mobile, perhaps I've stumbled on a much bigger problem that everyone is ignoring because nobody actually needs or wants fixed tables in mobile. :D

Experimentation is ongoing, anyway. I might simply have to resign myself to the fact that my translation study is going to have to be in front of a computer, which might be for the best anyway when I inevitably want to compare my translation to an auto-translate to see where I might have read something wrong.

[learnfromkarl]

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[metalgear-f-15e-tfr]

Something that mod packs like better than wolves or games like vintage story don't seem to understand is that suffering in video games is fine, but there needs to be SOME kind of pay off to getting through the suffering.

Progression is an important part of survival/open world games, there needs to be some level of "you've passed B milestone so now the A tasks are considerably easier but you've also unlocked C tasks which match A tasks original difficulty but allow you to work towards D milestone which unlocks E tasks etc etc etc"

Minecraft does an ok enough job of this even though BTWtards will pretend otherwise for reddit updoots. But, as can be said about any topic around video games, factorio does it best. Start off hand crafting, move to hand feeding, then basic automation, oil processing, alternative power sources, logic circuits, trains, scaling up, beacons and modules, robots, artillery, spidertrons.

Each of these paths are not only unlocked through the overall progression but are made easier by embracing the other paths. Scaling up is easier once you start using bots, trains or move to nuclear power. Which are all easier once you embrace advanced oil processing. Beacons and modules can make pretty much anything easier but require sizable automation to use at bigger scales. Robots are such a huge milestone they essentially divide the game into pre and post bot but you can also go the entire game without crafting a single one.

At the start of the game realizing you need another belt of iron plates when your current iron latch can't support another belt is a big task. You need to locate a new patch, manually take out the biters with a tank or turrent creep. Manually build a new mining post on the ore patch, bring all the ore back somehow (trains or belts, which both bring their own time to build). And then you need to actually smelt the iron which means a building a new furnace stack by hand which means either more power drain or more load on your coal patch which it might not be able to support which starts this whole process over again.

By the end or even late game it's a whole new scenario, noticing you need a new belt of iron is never more than three blueprints and a spidertron away from a solution. You can have everything building and running in the background while you work on more stuff that takes more thought than basic copy and pasting. By the end game you spend more time designing than actively building.

Minecraft does ok at this even though some milestones are laughibly easy. Making a mob farm makes collecting stuff like gunpowder easy. Making an iron farm makes building anything big that uses hoppers actually viable. Villager trading halls turn good enchantments into something you can work toward rather than rolling the dice at the enchantment table 400 times.

Trash like better than wolves fails at this. You will be scrounging and toiling away for food every single in game day until you beat it, there's never a point in progression where some core part of the game becomes a non-issue, if you're lucky it just gets 0.5% easier. What once was a task you had to sit and hold right click for five minutes while holding an item can now be accomplished by right clicking a block once and waiting four minutes. Whoop dee fucking doo.

[lillianaaaaaaaa]

BLOG POST #2

What can be some risks in technology when using facial recognition and how does it connect to surveillance? - In the video “Race and Technology” by Nicole Brown she mentioned the importance of facial recognition when using technology. Facial recognition is something now that is normal and its as if most apps ask you to use it when either opening it or wanting to unlock something on your phone. Almost seen as the new “norm” and even save you time from putting in your password. Nicole Brown mentioned that it's not just facial recognition but it's also connected to algorithms and surveillance as there are harmful impacts of the roles for racial justice. Some other risks can be such as violations through facial recognition along with privacy surveillance meaning that although it may be on your phone you're being “monitored” and this can lead to tracking. Connecting all to these risks as well as being “tracked” which is why it seems as if everything we talk about somehow ends up on our feed or as an ad, which is strange. 

2. In the reading of Daniel’s rethinking Cyberfeminism, how does he focus on sort of critical  ethical connections of technology to connect and reflect on gender variation. - In the reading, Daniel emphasizes how technology plays a big role on gender and ties it to technology. As technology can be a form of connection for some people, it can also not always be a safe place for nearly everyone as some may not feel as connected to it as others. Daniel highlights, “For still others, the Internet offers a “safe space” and a way to not just survive, but also resist repressive sex/gender regimes”(Daniel, p.118). Referring to how these critical ethics play a role in technology. This can seem that although in the end social media isn't always as it seems and can be a “safe” space for everyone, those who may struggle with gender oppressions may repel against any gender regimes as there can be challenges they come across on social media. Some may use technology as a form of empowerment and go to social media to express who they are and rely on it for any support.

3. how does Eubanks highlight the use of technology and social inequality and tie it to social class? - In the reading “automating inequality” Eubanks analyzes how systems have a connection to inequality when referring to class and race. “Automated decision making shatters the social safety net, criminalizes the poor, intensifies discrimination, and compares our deepest national values. It reframes shared social decisions about who we are and who we want to be as systems engineering problems” (Eubanks, p. 27). Stating that automated decision making socially divies people up and giving them this sort of “name” to certain races and classes, along with reflecting on how some decisions are reflected on how people live and make these people and communities feel like they are being violated or going against. Not only is this framing race and class groups but it gives humankind a certain approach to these kinds of people. For example as in connection to a worldwide issue referring to the protest for immigrants as this is also referring to inequality. This ties to the question and quote as it is focusing on certain race groups and based on their class and profiling them into people who they may be such as an example highlighting certain stereotypes. Showing how decision making and technology can justify something that it is not and ignore the real human social  issue. 4. In the reading, "Rethinking Cyberfeminsim" how does Daniel express and navigate through dialectical reasoning thorough gender and technology. - Both gender and technology reflect upon one another as they connect in a way for women to feel a connection and feel as they can be themselves through technology in ways which they can be influenced. Giving them something as a source to feel connected as Daniel highlights,  “..the lived experience and actual Internet practices of girls and self-identified women reveals ways that they use the Internet to transform their material, corporeal lives in a number of complex ways that both resist and reinforce hierarchies of gender and race” (Daniel, p.101) As stated, not only does the reading focus of cyberfeminism and tech but as well as race but as well as social order and where these women may see themselves through their experiences. Technology on how women use it can be in many different ways such as finding a positive outcome and using it as a empowerful way rather than the lack of it. Not only does technology highlight gender and the positives for women but can also reflect on how technology can be used as a form to keep up with race and gender and the social norms.   

references: Nicole Brown. (2020, September 18). Race and Technology. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8uiAjigKy8

‌Eubanks, V. (2018). Automating Inequality: how high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor. St. Martin’s Press. Daniels, J. (2009). Rethinking Cyberfeminism(s): Race, Gender, and Embodiment. WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly, 37, 101 - 124.

[8seotrendsfor2025]

What's Happening to SEO? 8 SEO Trends for 2025

Let’s call it what it is —SEO isn’t some clever marketing hack anymore; it’s now a battlefield where the rules change faster than your morning coffee order. And if you’ve been patting yourself on the back for nailing your SEO strategy, look, those same strategies might already be obsolete. Yeah, that’s how fast the game is flipping.

For years, we’ve been told that backlinks and keywords were the golden tickets. And now?

Gen Z is asking TikTok instead of Google, search engines are reading context like a nosy detective, and over half of all searches don’t even bother clicking on anything.

Welcome to SEO trends for 2025—a world where your next competitor might be an AI tool, a 3-second video, or even Google itself deciding to hoard its users.

1. Optimize for E-E-A-T Signals

There’s no nice way to say this: if your content isn’t radiating credibility, Google probably isn’t interested.

Now comes E-E-A-T—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. While it sounds like a mouthful, it’s the compass guiding Google's ranking algorithm in 2025. If your content strategy ignores these signals, you're handing over your traffic to someone else—no questions asked.

How to Nail E-E-A-T (and Stay Ahead of the Latest SEO Trends)

Experience

Share specific, actionable knowledge. Generic advice doesn’t cut it anymore.

Example: A blog about SEO trends shouldn’t vaguely define "SEO"—it should delve into zero-click searches or multimodal search backed by real-world data.

2. Expertise

Feature qualified authors or contributors. Link their credentials to their content. Google actually checks authorship, so anonymous content only screams "spam."

3. Authoritativeness

Earn backlinks from reputable sites. Don’t fake authority—Google sees through it.

4. Trustworthiness

Secure your site (HTTPS), include proper sourcing, and avoid clickbait titles that don’t deliver.

The Hard Truth about E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T is the foundation for content optimization in a post-2024 world. The latest SEO trends show Google’s focus isn’t just on keywords but on the credibility of your entire digital presence.

It’s no longer enough to rank; you need to deserve to rank.

2. AI Overview and SEO

Artificial Intelligence is practically running the show. In 2025, AI isn’t a gimmick; it’s the brains behind search engines, content creation, and the unspoken secrets of what ranks. If you’re still crafting strategies without factoring in AI, here’s the harsh truth: you’re optimizing for a version of the internet that’s already irrelevant.

How AI Is Reshaping SEO

AI has transcended its “future of marketing” tagline. Today, it’s the present, and every search marketer worth their salt knows it.

Let’s break it down:

AI-Driven Search Engines

Google’s RankBrain and Multitask Unified Model (MUM) are redefining how search intent optimization works. They analyze context, intent, and semantics better than ever. Gone are the days when sprinkling keywords like fairy dust could boost rankings. AI demands relevance, intent, and, let’s be honest, better content.

Automated Content Creation

Tools like ChatGPT and Jasper are churning out content faster than most humans can proofread. The catch is, Google’s Helpful Content Update is watching—and penalizing—low-quality AI spam. Automated content might save time, but without a human layer of expertise, it’s a one-way ticket to obscurity.

Smart Search Predictions

AI isn’t just predicting what users type—it’s analyzing how they think. From location-based recommendations to real-time search trends, AI is shaping results before users finish typing their queries. This makes AI SEO tools like Clearscope and Surfer SEO essential for staying competitive.

Google AI Overview SERP: The New Front Door of Search

Artificial Intelligence is practically running the show. In 2025, AI isn’t a gimmick; it’s the brains behind search engines, content creation, and the unspoken secrets of what ranks. If you’re still crafting strategies without factoring in AI, here’s the harsh truth: you’re optimizing for a version of the internet that’s already irrelevant.

How AI Is Reshaping SEO

AI has transcended its “future of marketing” tagline. Today, it’s the present, and every search marketer worth their salt knows it.

Let’s break it down:

AI-Driven Search Engines

Google’s RankBrain and Multitask Unified Model (MUM) are redefining how search intent optimization works. They analyze context, intent, and semantics better than ever. Gone are the days when sprinkling keywords like fairy dust could boost rankings. AI demands relevance, intent, and, let’s be honest, better content.

Automated Content Creation

Tools like ChatGPT and Jasper are churning out content faster than most humans can proofread. The catch is, Google’s Helpful Content Update is watching—and penalizing—low-quality AI spam. Automated content might save time, but without a human layer of expertise, it’s a one-way ticket to obscurity.

Smart Search Predictions

AI isn’t just predicting what users type—it’s analyzing how they think. From location-based recommendations to real-time search trends, AI is shaping results before users finish typing their queries. This makes AI SEO tools like Clearscope and Surfer SEO essential for staying competitive.

Google AI Overview SERP: The New Front Door of Search

Welcome to the AI-driven age of Google Search. The Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is no longer just a list of links; it’s a dynamic experience powered by Google’s ever-evolving AI. Features like AI-generated summaries, featured snippets, and People Also Ask (PAA) boxes are transforming how users interact with search. If you're not optimizing for these elements, you're missing out on massive traffic opportunities.

What Makes Google AI Overview SERPs Stand Out?

Generative AI Summaries In late 2023, Google started rolling out generative AI summaries at the top of certain searches. These provide quick, digestible answers pulled from the web, cutting through the noise of lengthy pages. It’s fast, convenient, and often the first (and only) thing users see. Pro Tip: Structure your content to directly answer questions concisely while retaining depth. Think FAQ sections, bullet points, and clear headers.

Visual Enhancements Google AI Overview SERPs now integrate rich visuals, including images, charts, and interactive elements powered by AI. These upgrades aren’t just eye-catching; they drive engagement. Pro Tip: Optimize images with alt text, compress them for speed, and ensure visual assets are relevant and high-quality.

Personalization on Steroids Google’s AI doesn’t just know what users want—it predicts it. From personalized recommendations to local search enhancements, SERPs are more targeted than ever. Pro Tip: Leverage local SEO strategies and schema markup to cater to these hyper-personalized results.

Adapting to Google AI SERPs

Aim for Snippet Domination: Featured snippets are now more important than ever, with AI summaries pulling directly from them. Answer questions directly and succinctly in your content.

Invest in Topic Clusters: AI thrives on context. Interlinking detailed, related content helps your site signal authority and relevance.

Optimize for Real Intent: With AI interpreting user queries more deeply, addressing surface-level keywords won’t cut it. Focus on intent-driven long-tail keywords and nuanced subtopics.

The Bottom Line

Google’s AI Overview SERP is the digital gateway to visibility in 2025. If your strategy isn’t aligned with these changes, you risk becoming invisible. Adapt your content to meet the demands of AI-driven features, and you’ll not just survive—you’ll thrive in this new SEO frontier.

What This Means for Your Strategy

AI-Assisted Content: Use AI for efficiency, but let humans handle creativity and trust-building.

Search Intent Optimization: Focus on answering deeper, adjacent questions. AI rewards nuanced, contextual relevance.

Invest in Tools: Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs now integrate AI-powered insights, helping you stay ahead.

Look, artificial Intelligence in SEO isn’t an edge—it’s the standard. By 2025, marketers who don’t adapt will find their strategies in a digital graveyard. AI doesn’t replace your expertise; it amplifies it. Use it wisely—or get left behind.

3. Forum Marketing and SERP Updates

Platforms like Reddit, Quora, and niche communities are silently reshaping SEO and slipping into prime real estate on search engine results pages (SERPs). For marketers obsessed with the usual Google ranking factors, ignoring community-driven content could be the blind spot that costs you big.

The Role of Forums in SEO

Let’s break this down: search engines have realized something marketers often overlook—people trust people. Threads packed with first-hand experiences, debates, and candid opinions are becoming authoritative sources in their own right. When Google features forum content as a rich snippet or directs users to a Quora answer, it’s validating what audiences already know: real conversations drive engagement better than polished sales pitches.

The Role of Forums in SEO

Let’s break this down: search engines have realized something marketers often overlook—people trust people. Threads packed with first-hand experiences, debates, and candid opinions are becoming authoritative sources in their own right. When Google features forum content as a rich snippet or directs users to a Quora answer, it’s validating what audiences already know: real conversations drive engagement better than polished sales pitches.

Why Forums Are Influencing SERPs

Content Depth

Community-driven content is often nuanced, answering long-tail questions that traditional blogs barely skim. For instance, a Quora thread titled “Best local SEO strategies for small businesses in 2025” isn’t just generic advice—it’s specific, diverse, and sometimes brutally honest.

2. Searcher Intent Alignment

Forums directly address search intent optimization by catering to niche queries. Whether it’s “How to rank for hyper-local searches” or “Why my Google Business profile isn’t showing up,” forums deliver precise, user-generated insights.

3. Fresh Perspectives

Unlike stale, regurgitated SEO articles, forums thrive on updated discussions. A Reddit thread on “latest SEO trends” could become the top result simply because it offers real-time relevance.

What Marketers Need to Do

Engage, Don’t Spam

Build credibility by genuinely contributing to forums. Overly promotional comments are a fast track to being ignored—or worse, banned.

2. Monitor Trends

Tools like AnswerThePublic and BuzzSumo can identify trending community topics. Use these to create content that aligns with user discussions.

3. Optimize for SERP Features

Structure blog content to mimic forum-style Q&As. Google loves direct, conversational formats.

Ignoring the surge of forum content is no longer an option. So, don’t get left behind watching Quora outrank your site—adapt now.

4. Is Traditional SEO Still Relevant?

The debate is as old as Google itself: does traditional SEO still matter in a world where AI is taking over and search engines are rewriting the rules of engagement?

Here’s the answer marketers need to hear (but probably won’t love): yes—but not in the way you’re doing it.

Traditional SEO isn’t obsolete—it’s just overdue for an upgrade. Those age-old techniques like link building, on-page optimization, and keyword stuffing are still around, but their relevance now hinges on how well you adapt them to 2025’s priorities.

Traditional SEO Techniques That Still Work

Link Building (Reimagined)

Backlinks still matter, but Google has become savvier about quality over quantity. A link from an authoritative site in your niche outweighs ten random backlinks from irrelevant sources. Focus on building relationships with industry leaders, writing guest blogs, or getting cited in high-quality articles.

2. On-Page Optimization (Evolved)

Forget sprinkling keywords mindlessly. Google now prioritizes user experience SEO, meaning your headings, meta descriptions, and URLs need to align with search intent.

Want to rank?

Structure content logically, use descriptive titles, and, for goodness’ sake, stop overloading every tag with keywords.

3. Local SEO Strategies

Hyper-local searches like "coffee shops near me" are driving significant traffic. Traditional techniques like Google Business Profile optimization and consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) info still dominate here.

What’s changed?

You need to engage actively with reviews and ensure your profile reflects real-time updates.

5. Zero-Click Searches

Now, let’s address the elephant on the search results page: zero-click searches. They’re not a trend anymore—they’re the new standard. With over 65% of Google searches ending without a click, it’s clear search engines are keeping users on their turf. They’re not just gatekeepers of information; they’re now the landlords, decorators, and sometimes the dinner hosts, offering all the answers up front. And for businesses, this means rethinking how success in SEO is measured.

What Are Zero-Click Searches?

Zero-click searches occur when users get their answers directly on the search results page (SERP) without clicking through to any website. Think of featured snippets, Knowledge Panels, and People Also Ask boxes. Search engines use these to satisfy user queries immediately—great for users, but not so much for traffic-hungry websites.

The Impact on SEO

Shift in Metrics

Forget obsessing over click-through rates. The latest SEO trends demand focusing on visibility within the SERP itself. If your business isn’t occupying rich result spaces, you’re effectively invisible.

2. Search Intent Optimization

Google isn’t just guessing user intent anymore—it’s anticipating it with precision. To stay relevant, businesses need to answer why users are searching, not just what they’re searching for.

3. Authority Consolidation

Zero-click features favor high-authority domains. If your brand isn’t seen as a credible source, you’re not making it into that snippet box.

How to Optimize for Zero-Click Searches

1. Target Featured Snippets

Structure your content with clear, concise answers at the top of your pages. Use lists, tables, and bullet points to cater to snippet formats.

2. Utilize Schema Markup

Help search engines understand your content by adding structured data. This boosts your chances of landing in rich results.

3.Focus on Hyper-Specific Queries

Zero-click searches thrive on niche, long-tail questions. Create content that directly addresses these to increase visibility.

What It Means for Businesses

In the world of zero-click searches, SEO success is about dominating the SERP real estate. Businesses that fail to adapt will find themselves in a no-click graveyard, while those who master rich results will cement their place as authority figures. Either way, the clicks aren’t coming back.

So, are you ready to play Google’s game—or be played?

6. Map Pack and Local Heat Maps

The truth is, if your business isn’t showing up in Google’s Map Pack, you might as well not exist for local customers. The Map Pack is literally the throne room of local SEO, and in 2025, it’s more competitive than ever. Pair that with Local Heat Maps—Google’s not-so-subtle way of telling businesses where they rank spatially—and you’ve got the ultimate battleground for visibility.

What Are the Map Pack and Local Heat Maps?

The Map Pack is that prime real estate at the top of local search results showing the top three businesses near a user. It’s concise, visual, and, let’s be honest, the first (and often only) thing users check. Local Heat Maps complement this by analyzing searcher behavior within a geographic radius, showing which businesses dominate specific zones.

Why It Matters

Visibility Drives Foot Traffic

According to recent studies, 78% of local mobile searches result in an offline purchase. If you’re not in the Map Pack, those sales are walking straight into your competitor’s doors.

2. User Proximity Bias

Google prioritizes businesses not just based on relevance but on proximity. If your listing isn’t optimized for precise local searches, you’re leaving money on the table.

3. Direct Influence on SERP Performance

Appearing in the Map Pack boosts Google ranking factors for local search queries, feeding visibility into both online and offline spaces.

How to Maximize Visibility in Local SEO

Optimize Your Google Business Profile (GBP):

Ensure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) is accurate and consistent.

Add high-quality images, respond to reviews, and frequently update operating hours.

Focus on Reviews:

Encourage happy customers to leave reviews.

Respond to every review (yes, even the bad ones). Engagement signals trustworthiness.

Leverage Local Keywords:

Target queries like "best [your service] near me" or "[service] in [city]" to rank for location-based searches.

Tools like BrightLocal and Whitespark can help you track local performance.

Use SEO Automation Tools:

Tools like SEMrush and Moz Local can audit your listings, track rankings, and streamline updates. Automating repetitive tasks frees up time for deeper optimizations.

7. Voice and Mobile Search Optimization

Let’s get one thing straight: if your SEO strategy isn’t optimized for voice and mobile searches, you’re catering to an audience that doesn’t exist anymore. By 2025, voice-driven queries and mobile-first indexing are the baseline. If your website can’t keep up, neither will your rankings.

Why Voice and Mobile Search Dominate SEO

Voice Search is Redefining Queries Voice search isn’t just “spoken Google.” It’s transforming how users ask questions. Searches are longer, more conversational, and often hyper-specific. For example, instead of typing “best SEO tools,” users now say, “What’s the best SEO automation tool for small businesses?” If your content doesn’t align with this natural language, you’re invisible.

Mobile is Non-Negotiable Google’s mobile-first indexing means it now ranks websites based on their mobile versions. If your site is clunky on a smartphone, your desktop masterpiece won’t save you. And with nearly 60% of all searches happening on mobile, responsive design isn’t optional—it’s critical.

How to Optimize for Voice and Mobile

Create Conversational Content:

Use natural language that matches how people talk. Think FAQs and “how-to” guides tailored for voice queries.

Focus on long-tail keywords like “how to optimize for mobile-first indexing” rather than rigid phrases.

Mobile-First Design:

Prioritize responsive design that adapts seamlessly to smaller screens.

Optimize loading speed; anything over 3 seconds is SEO suicide.

Leverage Local SEO:

Most voice searches are local. Queries like “nearest coffee shop open now” thrive on accurate local listings.

Ensure your Google Business Profile is up-to-date and features consistent NAP info.

Use Structured Data:

Schema markup helps search engines interpret your content, increasing the likelihood of appearing in voice search results.

The future of SEO is voice-driven and mobile-first, and both require you to rethink how you structure your content and your site. Optimizing SEO for voice search and mobile-first indexing future-proofs your business. And if you’re not ready to adapt, don’t worry—your competitors already have.

8. What's Better for AI: BOFU or TOFU Content?

Let’s start with the obvious: not all content is the same, especially when AI gets involved. The age-old debate between Top of Funnel (TOFU) and Bottom of Funnel (BOFU) content just got a modern twist, thanks to the rise of AI-driven SEO. The real question isn’t which one is better—it’s how to use AI to optimize both.

Look, if you’re focusing on one and neglecting the other, you’re leaving money—and rankings—on the table.

TOFU Content: Casting the Wide Net

Top of Funnel content is designed to attract and inform. Think of blog posts, educational guides, or those “What is [your product]?” articles. In the AI era, TOFU content isn’t just about driving traffic; it’s about structured data examples and search intent optimization. AI tools like ChatGPT help create scalable, topic-driven content tailored for discovery.

Why TOFU Matters:

It builds brand awareness and visibility.

Optimized TOFU content aligns with broad search intent, capturing users who aren’t ready to buy but are hungry for knowledge.

TOFU shines in industries with complex products that need explanation before consideration.

BOFU Content: Sealing the Deal

On the other hand, Bottom of Funnel content focuses on converting leads into customers. This includes case studies, product comparisons, and detailed how-to content. AI isn’t just speeding up content creation here; it’s enabling hyper-personalized, decision-driven assets.

Why BOFU Matters:

It answers purchase-ready queries like “best SEO automation tools for small businesses.”

BOFU works wonders for products or services with shorter sales cycles or high competition.

The content can include dynamic features like interactive product demos or AI-generated testimonials to push users over the edge.

The Verdict: Which One Wins?

Neither. TOFU and BOFU content work best as part of a balanced strategy. AI thrives when it’s used to create and optimize both stages of the buyer’s journey.

For example:

Use AI to analyze trends and structure TOFU content for long-tail keywords.

Deploy AI for data-driven BOFU personalization, ensuring the content resonates with users’ specific needs.

AI isn’t here to settle the TOFU vs. BOFU debate—it’s here to make sure you never have to choose. A well-rounded strategy, powered by AI, ensures you attract the right audience and convert them when the time is right. If you’re doing one without the other, you’re playing half the game.

Staying Ahead of SEO Trends in 2025

SEO isn’t static, and 2025 won’t give you time to rest on outdated strategies. From zero-click searches hijacking clicks to AI redefining the content game, keeping up isn’t just a choice—it’s survival. Businesses that ignore these SEO trends risk fading into irrelevance faster than you can say “algorithm update.”

The solution? Adapt now!

Use AI SEO tools to fine-tune your strategy, optimize for human intent (not just search engines), and rethink how you create TOFU and BOFU content. It’s not about doing everything—it’s about doing the right things smarter and faster.

Start applying these insights today. Your competitors already are.

READ THE FULL BLOG: 8 SEO Trends for 2025 — Rathcore I/O

[matan4il]

Just sending some love your way again, and thanks so much for the book and music recs!! I've been loving working my way through them 💖💖

Hi darling! I'm so glad you're enjoying those! :D Any bit of joy counts, always, but especially now. I hope you're doing well, and I am sending you so much love right back! xoxox

So glad to hear that you are safe, and that the attack was mostly intercepted. Thank you for all the work you do in giving us news from the Israeli perspective- I'm working on my Hebrew, but it's slow, and I always worry that automated translations miss nuance and context.

Thank you so much! I think a lot of us, knowing that Iran has employed its generals to help its terrorist proxies, and that those generals have been eliminated by Israel repeatedly over the years, we didn't expect an attack of this magnitude from Iran, and that even we were surprised at how well our defences held against it. I'll try to post a bit more about this later. Thank YOU so much for the kind words, and awwww, you're learning Hebrew! :D I have to say, I'm so in love with this language, I'm very happy for anyone who does. I hope you're enjoying it! ^u^ And it's my pleasure to be able to add a few translations. I def do try to bring across the nuance and context that automated traslations can't recognize even exists. Be well, and I'm sending you lots of hugs! xoxox

@missviolethunter asked:

Thank you for posting updates even in the aftermath of the attack. Your blog and a few other Jesiwh blogs are the only places with unbiased information here. I hope you and your family are safe. The terrorist supporters make a lot of noise on tumblr, but they're just a bunch of idiots. My country had issues with terrorism for many years, and I know how it feels to fear for your family members who are in the military. I know it's not much, but I'm sending you hugs. 😘

I really do my best to get everything from fact checked journalistic sources, although obviously it's not perfect (because neither are they, some are expressly biased, while others simply get duped once in a while, same as everyone else. They are run by humans, after all). I'm really glad if I can help in any way, even the smallest!

I am so sorry that your country also had to deal with terrorism. I will never understand how people can think that terrorism, the intentional targeting of innocent people, is EVER justified. It's not about whether a specific cause is just or not. It's about whether we value human life or not. Anyone who can justify terrorism, is saying they're comfortable with being the arbiter of who gets to live and who doesn't, and that is so wrong on so many levels... I am sending you lots of hugs, and I hope you, your people, us and everyone else who has suffered or is suffering from terrorism, never have to fear for their life or that of their loved ones ever again.

It's actually so much, I appreciate the hugs, the message, the kindness, and I am sending you lots of hugs right back! xoxox

[arbitrarygreay]

Audacity for Debian-based Linux

So, some time around 2020/2021, Audacity for Linux from the repositories of Debian-based distros (including Ubuntu, Mint, etc.) no longer had access to high quality stretch (change tempo, change pitch, shifting slider). This appears to be due to a combination of Debian no longer updating Audacity at all past 2.4.2 (as Audacity's new owners from 3.0.0 on have had...issues, to put it lightly), but also the fact that 2.4.2 specifically was requiring a version of the SBSMS library past what Debian had. It's still the case that the apt version of Audacity on Linux Mint still lacks the high quality stretch functions.

The workaround for this is to compile from source. HOWEVER. Be apprised that if you specifically go for version 2.4.2, there is still a bug around SBSMS, which causes Audacity to crash when attempting high quality stretching. Apparently, if you go for versions afterwards (3.0+, new Audacity owners), or the version before (2.3.3), you will not run into this issue.

I am stubborn, so I have verified that I can now open Audacity 2.4.2 and do a high quality pitch change without crashing. Here are the solution options. Know that both are still compiling from source.

Option 1: Do it manually command by command on the terminal

You will, however, notice that the important download link for the patch is broken. You must get it from here.

Note that you should preface all of the commands listed in that post with "sudo", or they will likely throw an error. (Or do whatever you need to for terminal to continuously recognize root access.) In addition, note that the "pre-installation test" section is not optional. Audacity will not run if the "Portable Settings" folder is not created, and furthermore, the "Portable Settings" folder and all containing files need to have write permissions enabled to the relevant non-root group/owner.

Whether you installed manually or used the script, you will need to go to "/usr/local/share/audacity/audacity-minsrc-2.4.2/build/bin/Release" to launch Audacity. In the file explorer window, you can click the button to the left of the magnifying glass to switch to text input where you can copy and paste the above path. Or, from /home, go up one level, and then navigate through manually.

Change the launcher's icon and add it to the start menu/desktop, per your specific distro and desktop environment.

Option 2: Modify and run a bash script

I found a helpful Youtube video stepping through the process, before they link to a bash script automating the whole thing. However, the script does not include the 2.4.2 patch. There are also a few modifications that need to be done to the script.

Modifications to make (right click the .sh file, open with, pick some text editor):

Line 35: change the dl_directory to match your own system. (Specifically, you probably need to replace "piuser" with your own account name.)

This change also needs be done on lines 115, 116, and 120 (or replace the hard coded parts with "${DL_DIRECTORY}").

Line 77 (optional): add "patch" as a dependent package to check. Like Python, it's mostly likely already installed, so you could leave this commented out.

Lines 139-142: Not a modification, but a note that I didn't end up using this (left it commented out), so I did have to download the 2.4.2 source code from fosshub manually and put it in the location specified by dl_directory. I also put the patch there. If you do want to try to automate the download, you'll not only have to add another line to also download the patch file, but both the source code for 2.4.2 and the patch have hyphens in their urls, so you need to either add backslashes to escape them, or enclose the entire url in quotation marks. But I also can't guarantee that either of those things will work, since I ended up doing the downloads manually.

Line 150: Per the manual installation above, the patch needs to be applied before the build. Add this code block at line 150 (after the script checks to see if the "Build" folder exists):

#SBSMS patch required for 2.4.2 if [ -f "${DL_DIRECTORY}/changepitch.patch" ]; then sudo cp "${DL_DIRECTORY}/changepitch.patch" "${DIRECTORY}/${VERSION}" fi sudo patch -p 1 < changepitch.patch

That's it for changing the script. Save it, close out of the text editor. (If you decided not to try letting the script do the downloads, then make sure you download the source code and the patch and put them in the dl_directory location at this point.)

Enable the script to be executable. (Right click the .sh file, Properties. On the Permissions tab, check that "Allow executing file as a program" is checked.)

Double click the .sh file. I suggest doing the "Run In Terminal" option so you can see the progress. (And if it's really short, probably something went wrong. The build section takes 20 minutes.)

This script does not include installing the offline manual for Audacity. That is covered in the guide posted in Option 1. Sorry, you'll have to do some terminal typing after all.

Whether you installed manually or used the script, you will need to go to "/usr/local/share/audacity/audacity-minsrc-2.4.2/build/bin/Release" to launch Audacity. In the file explorer window, you can click the button to the left of the magnifying glass to switch to text input where you can copy and paste the above path. Or, from /home, go up one level, and then navigate through manually.

Change the launcher's icon and add it to the start menu/desktop, per your specific distro and desktop environment.

[govindhtech]

Extractive AI vs. Generative AI: Data Extraction & Precision

What Is Extractive AI?

The goal of the natural language processing (NLP) area of extractive AI is to locate and extract important information from pre-existing data sources. Extractive AI is superior at locating and condensing pertinent information from papers, databases, and other structured or unstructured data formats, in contrast to its generative AI cousin, which produces original material.

Consider it a superpowered search engine that can identify the precise lines or sections that address your question in addition to bringing up webpages. Extractive AI is perfect for applications demanding precision, transparency, and control over the extracted information because of its focused approach.

How Does Extractive AI Work?

A variety of NLP approaches are used by extractive AI, including:

Tokenization breaks text into words or phrases.

Named entity recognition (NER) categorizes people, places, and organizations.

Grammatical functions are assigned to phrase words by part-of-speech tagging.

Semantic analysis examines word meaning and relationships.

By using these methods, extractive AI algorithms examine the data, looking for trends and pinpointing the sections that most closely correspond to the user’s request or needed data.

Rise of Extractive AI in the Enterprise

The growing use of extractive AI across a variety of sectors is expected to propel the worldwide market for this technology to $26.8 billion by 2027. Companies are realizing how useful extractive AI is for improving decision-making, expediting procedures, and deriving more profound insights from their data.

The following are some of the main applications of extractive AI that are propelling its use:

Understanding and summarizing papers: Taking important details out of financial data, legal documents, contracts, and customer evaluations.

Enhancing the precision and effectiveness of search queries in business databases and repositories is known as information retrieval and search.

Collecting and evaluating news stories, social media posts, and market data in order to learn about rival tactics is known as competitive intelligence.

Customer care and support: increasing agent productivity, automating frequently asked questions, and evaluating customer feedback.

Finding suspicious behavior and trends in financial transactions and other data sources is the first step in fraud detection and risk management.

Benefits of Extractive AI

Precision Point Extraction

From unstructured data, such as papers, reports, and even social media, extractive AI is excellent at identifying important facts and statistics. Imagine it as a super-powered highlighter that uses laser concentration to find pertinent bits. This guarantees you never overlook an important element and saves you hours of laborious research.

Knowledge Unlocking

Information that has been extracted is knowledge that has yet to be unlocked; it is not only raw data. These fragments may then be analyzed by AI, which will uncover trends, patterns, and insights that were before obscured by the chaos. This gives companies the ability to improve procedures, make data-driven choices, and get a competitive advantage.

Efficiency Unleashed

Time-consuming and monotonous repetitive jobs include data input and document analysis. By automating these procedures, extractive AI frees up human resources for more complex and imaginative thought. Imagine a workplace where your staff members spend more time utilizing information to create and perform well rather of collecting it.

Transparency Triumphs

The logic of extractive AI is transparent and traceable, in contrast to some AI models. You can examine the precise source of the data and the extraction process. This openness fosters confidence and facilitates confirming the veracity of the learned lessons.

Cost Savings Soar

Extractive AI significantly reduces costs by automating processes and using data. A healthy bottom line is a result of simpler procedures, better decision-making, and lower personnel expenses.

Thus, keep in mind the potential of extractive AI the next time you’re overwhelmed with data. obtaining value, efficiency, and insights that may advance your company is more important than just obtaining information.

The Future Of Extractive AI

Extractive AI has made a name for itself in jobs like summarization and search, but it has much more potential. The following are some fascinating areas where extractive AI has the potential to have a big influence:

Answering questions: Creating intelligent assistants that are able to use context awareness and reasoning to provide complicated answers.

Customizing information and suggestions for each user according to their requirements and preferences is known as personalization.

Fact-checking and verification: Automatically detecting and confirming factual assertions in order to combat misinformation and deception.

Constructing and managing linked information bases to aid in thinking and decision-making is known as knowledge graph creation.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[splatoonna]

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[saadiq12]

HRMS System: 7 Powerful Ways It Can Transform Your Business Operations

In today's fast-paced business environment, efficiency and productivity are paramount. One way businesses are achieving these goals is by leveraging Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS). These systems have evolved from simple employee databases to comprehensive tools that can revolutionize how businesses operate. In this blog, we'll explore seven ways an HRMS system can transform your business operations.

1. Streamlined Recruitment Process

Recruiting top talent is a critical function of any HR department. An HRMS system can significantly streamline the recruitment process by automating many of the tasks involved. From posting job ads to tracking applications and scheduling interviews, an HRMS can handle it all.

Automation of Administrative Tasks

HRMS systems can automate repetitive administrative tasks, freeing up HR professionals to focus on more strategic activities. For example, an HRMS can automatically screen resumes based on predefined criteria, schedule interviews, and send out automated emails to candidates.

Enhanced Candidate Experience

A streamlined recruitment process not only benefits HR but also improves the candidate experience. An HRMS system provides a seamless application process, timely communication, and easy access to information, enhancing the overall candidate experience.

Data-Driven Decision Making

HRMS systems provide detailed analytics and reporting capabilities that can help HR professionals make data-driven decisions. For example, an HRMS can track the source of the most successful hires, helping HR to focus their recruitment efforts on the most effective channels.

2. Improved Employee Onboarding

Employee onboarding is a crucial step in the employee lifecycle. A well-structured onboarding process can lead to higher employee satisfaction and retention rates. An HRMS system can revolutionize the onboarding process by automating and streamlining it.

Personalized Onboarding Plans

An HRMS system can create personalized onboarding plans for new hires, ensuring that they receive the training and resources they need to succeed in their roles. This can include automated workflows, task lists, and access to relevant documents and training materials.

Seamless Integration

An HRMS system can integrate with other systems used by the company, such as payroll and benefits administration, ensuring that new hires are set up in all necessary systems from day one. This reduces the administrative burden on HR and ensures a smooth onboarding process.

Ongoing Support

An HRMS system can provide ongoing support to new hires through self-service portals and access to training materials. This helps new employees quickly get up to speed and feel supported as they transition into their new roles.

3. Enhanced Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is a key driver of productivity and retention. An HRMS system can help improve employee engagement in several ways.

Performance Management

An HRMS system can provide tools for continuous performance management, including goal setting, performance reviews, and feedback. This helps employees stay aligned with company objectives and receive regular feedback on their performance.

Employee Recognition

An HRMS system can include employee recognition programs, allowing employees to recognize and reward their peers for their contributions. This can boost morale and create a positive work environment.

Employee Surveys

An HRMS system can facilitate regular employee surveys to gather feedback on various aspects of the workplace. This feedback can be used to identify areas for improvement and take action to address employee concerns.

4. Efficient Payroll and Benefits Administration

Payroll and benefits administration can be time-consuming and complex. An HRMS system can streamline these processes and ensure accuracy and compliance.

Automated Payroll Processing

An HRMS system can automate payroll processing, ensuring that employees are paid accurately and on time. This includes calculating wages, taxes, and deductions, and generating pay stubs.

Benefits Administration

An HRMS system can simplify benefits administration by providing a self-service portal where employees can enroll in and manage their benefits. This reduces the administrative burden on HR and ensures that employees have easy access to their benefits information.

Compliance

An HRMS system can help ensure compliance with various labor laws and regulations by automating compliance-related tasks and providing regular updates on changes in legislation. This reduces the risk of non-compliance and associated penalties.

5. Data Management and Analytics

Data is a valuable asset for any business. An HRMS system can help manage and analyze HR data to provide valuable insights.

Centralized Data Management

An HRMS system provides a centralized repository for all HR data, making it easy to access and manage. This includes employee records, payroll information, benefits data, and more.

Advanced Analytics

An HRMS system can provide advanced analytics capabilities, allowing HR professionals to analyze data and identify trends. For example, an HRMS can track employee turnover rates, identify the causes of turnover, and develop strategies to improve retention.

Data Security

An HRMS system ensures the security and confidentiality of HR data by implementing robust security measures. This includes data encryption, access controls, and regular security audits.

6. Regulatory Compliance

Compliance with labor laws and regulations is a critical aspect of HR management. An HRMS system can help ensure compliance and reduce the risk of non-compliance.

Automated Compliance Reporting

An HRMS system can automate compliance reporting, ensuring that all necessary reports are generated accurately and on time. This includes reports related to payroll, benefits, and employee records.

Regular Updates

An HRMS system provides regular updates on changes in labor laws and regulations, ensuring that HR professionals are always informed about the latest requirements. This helps to ensure that the company remains compliant with all relevant laws and regulations.

Audit Trails

An HRMS system provides audit trails for all HR activities, making it easy to track and verify compliance-related tasks. This can be especially useful during audits or investigations.

7. Scalability and Flexibility

As businesses grow and evolve, their HR needs change. An HRMS system can provide the scalability and flexibility needed to support this growth.

Scalable Solutions

An HRMS system can scale to accommodate the growing needs of a business. This includes adding new users, expanding functionality, and integrating with other systems.

Customizable Workflows

An HRMS system can provide customizable workflows to meet the unique needs of the business. This includes creating custom workflows for recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and more.

Adaptability

An HRMS system can adapt to changes in the business environment, such as changes in labor laws or shifts in business strategy. This ensures that the HRMS system remains relevant and effective over time.

Conclusion

Implementing an HRMS system can revolutionize your business operations by streamlining processes, improving efficiency, and providing valuable insights. From recruitment and onboarding to payroll and compliance, an HRMS system can transform how your business manages its human resources. By leveraging the power of an HRMS system, businesses can create a more productive, engaged, and compliant workforce, driving long-term success.

[rise2research]

Future-Proofing Industry Insights: AI as the Key to Market Evolution

One tool that is becoming essential for this is Artificial Intelligence (AI). By integrating AI into market analysis, businesses are transforming how they understand their industries and plan for the future. But how does AI help with this, and why is it such a game-changer?

What is AI in Market Insights?

Artificial Intelligence refers to computer systems designed to mimic human intelligence. In market analysis, AI can analyze large sets of data much faster and more accurately than any human ever could. It helps businesses uncover patterns, predict future trends, and make informed decisions based on real-time data.

Instead of relying on gut feelings or traditional methods, AI can process huge amounts of information from various sources—everything from social media posts to financial reports. This makes it easier to understand customer behavior, identify new opportunities, and respond to changes in the market.

The Benefits of AI in Market Evolution

Faster Decision Making: Traditional market analysis can take weeks or even months. With AI, businesses can receive insights in real-time. For example, if a new competitor enters the market, AI can quickly analyze their impact and suggest strategies to stay competitive.

Better Accuracy: Humans are prone to errors, but AI can process data with incredible precision. It reduces the chances of missing important trends or making decisions based on inaccurate information. This level of accuracy ensures businesses make the right moves at the right time.

Predictive Power: One of AI's most powerful features is its ability to predict future trends. Using historical data, AI can forecast market shifts, customer behavior changes, or even potential economic downturns. This predictive capability allows companies to plan ahead, mitigate risks, and take advantage of emerging opportunities.

Personalized Insights: Every business is unique, and AI can deliver insights tailored to specific industries or company needs. For example, a fashion retailer might use AI to track seasonal trends, while a tech company could use it to monitor the latest innovations. AI helps businesses focus on what matters most to them.

Improved Efficiency: AI can automate routine tasks like data collection and reporting. This frees up time for employees to focus on more strategic work, such as creative problem-solving or developing new products. By enhancing efficiency, AI allows businesses to do more with less effort.

How AI is Changing Market Analysis

The impact of AI on market analysis is revolutionary. In the past, businesses relied heavily on historical data and general trends to make decisions. Today, AI provides a much deeper understanding of the market.

For instance, AI can analyze customer reviews, social media conversations, and online searches to give businesses real-time feedback on how their products are perceived. This allows companies to quickly adjust their marketing strategies or make product improvements.

In addition, AI is helping businesses identify new markets and customer segments. By analyzing global data, AI can pinpoint areas with growing demand or untapped opportunities. This gives companies a head start in entering new markets or developing products for emerging customer needs.

The Future of Market Insights with AI

As AI technology continues to evolve, its role in market analysis will only grow. Businesses that invest in AI now will be better positioned to adapt to future changes in their industries.

The future will likely see even more advanced AI systems capable of understanding complex market dynamics and providing insights that were previously unimaginable. For example, AI could help predict consumer behavior changes before they happen or identify entirely new business models.

Conclusion

In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, businesses must find ways to stay ahead. AI is proving to be a vital tool in this quest. By offering faster, more accurate, and personalized insights, AI is helping companies not only survive but thrive in evolving markets.

The key to future-proofing industry insights lies in AI's ability to transform raw data into actionable strategies. As this technology continues to develop, its impact on market evolution will only become more profound. Embracing AI today means being ready for tomorrow’s challenges—and opportunities.

Also read: b2b market research services

healthcare market research services

[wumblr]

let's have a hard talk. these insufferable takes on AI are not advancing the discussion. the discussion was miles beyond this "takes work from artist" "consumer boycott must be the answer" dead on arrival poor substitute for an analysis, years ago, when timnit gebru got fired from google, for making what is now, because of her, the trivially obvious observation that large datasets may be too large to manually analyse for bias.

like congratulations. you have hit upon the point of capek's RUR, origin of the word robot, from a hundred years ago. were you going to take another point from back before the dust bowl or was that it? it's not just automation that takes surplus value from labor, it's any increase in efficiency. this is the first textbook feature of the economic model we're living under. luddites genuinely had more sense for nuance when the loom threatened to extract value from their labor at a pace never before seen. this is not that. luddites were producing textiles that people actually bought. you aren't.

aside from that, the implication that this is on par with like, a museum heist, or art forgery (both of which are, by the way, through a lens that includes class analysis, badass) is laughable. you are not selected for exhibition by making posts online, you are participating in a social medium where your continued pageviews are the source of advertising revenue. you are not bourgeoise, you are proletarian. your deviantart was search engine optimized to the point that it was trivial to pull five billion carbon copies of you off google images with like a two-line API call. you are not unique, you are one drop in a lost generation's renaissance. maybe if you don't want your work "stolen" you shouldn't be posting an endlessly reproducible digital copy to the world wide web? it's been seven years since twitter killed vine for trying to set the precedent that collective action can produce wage, can we bring back that level of foresight yet? or are you happy settling for tiktok because they deign to curate a ""creators fund"" for white heterosexuals? go buy a lottery ticket

i've said it before but this is a structured argument, presented to you with two neatly-collimated "sides," one that says every possible piece of data should be available for free for capitalist class to build automation out of it, and one that says pirating endlessly reproducible goods belonging the capitalist class should have harsher punishment. this is intentional, not unique, not new. it's the perverse dialectic of capital. you can only argue a side that benefits it.

the absence of nuanced intersectional perspective here is embarrassing. beyond that it's painfully obvious people are taking it personally, as if you had any chance to make rent as an artist, regardless of what procedural generation or neural networks might do. it's a selfish, blindly individualistic, mass manufactured wholesale bargain basement opinion, one that does not serve to advance any collective good, because it's based in the pipe dream of suddenly jumping three tax brackets to become bourgeoise. beyond that, doesn't it cheapen your art to only ever make saleable products? beyond that, it's painfully obvious none of you have ever tried using a neural network. from computer science or statistical perspectives, these constructs are novel and fascinating (or, the advent of cheap processing power sufficient to allow decades-old theory to flourish, which let's be honest, this power relies on an exploitative global network of rare mineral resource extraction and high precision manufacturing, which is yet one more topic i haven't once seen broached in the months this stultifyingly dull conversation has been ongoing.)

blaming a novelty for the ills of capitalism is nonsense, and it's not why luddites opposed the loom.

and let me just tell you, working with a code construct also does not improve your chances as an artist, which is the main point i wish i could get across. aside from the absence of intersectionality there's also an absence of class analysis, in which context it's, again, painfully obvious that no capitalist has ever cared one whit about art. even when they deign to take on a patronage it's as a backhanded PR stunt, like the unpaid notre dame roof pledges, to offset the ill repute they've accrued from extracting value for personal gain, while contributing nothing except the directive power their birthright of wealth gave them. this is the main critique i had about age of surveillance capitalism -- zuboff seems to think a return to ford-era capitalism, where the rich bothered to endow museums (to curate what they exclude) or pay a livable wage (in order to recapture it as sales), would solve the fundamental problem of value extraction from labor and natural resources for the barefaced sake of the profit motive. unremarkable and unsurprising for tenured faculty of harvard, how else would she sell books? but for some foolhardy reason i expected better from my peers.

your aspirations of small business aren't going to flourish if you suddenly got everything you claim to want and they banned every code construct from competing with you. you are not in competition with capital. you are nothing to it, it will kill you in total indifference without blinking, surely you ought to know this by now, it will bus in scab slave labor from prison to ramp up production despite a boycott in solidarity with a strike, and it's going to remain this way as long as capital survives. whether or not an algorithm or a network or an artifice is involved is irrelevant to the fundamental problem that it's a winner-takes-all game that ended before you were born. unless and until you want to start challenging the police that uphold the state or the insurance trust that pays to replace its points of failure, you're doing surface level armchair analysis on a problem that only the extremely online care about. arguing over what color of icing is on the cake you're never going to be eating while you starve for lack of bread.

and like... i get it. after the pandemic that we're still going through, you want to refocus on the things that really make you happy. but i've got to say, refocusing on art until you starve because you didn't manage to figure out self-sufficience during a recession is a sad way to die. perhaps you should consider the necessity of survival as a precursor to contentment. and to be clear i am saying this specifically because i care whether you survive and because i am interested in the artworks you are making or in your future potential. but you can't focus on that to the exclusion of all else, dog eat dog world and that means every day i have to see someone get ate. now for the last time, for god's sake can you stop yelling "this is because of code constructs" every time a dog eats your purported art commission revenue because it's really hurting MY purported small business revenue, selling products of code constructs,