#User feedback management system

[feedspace]

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[nanowrimo]

A Message from the NaNoWriMo Board of Directors

Dear NaNoWriMo Community Members,

Thank you for reaching out to us with your inquiries about the forums, your support, offers to volunteer, and your legitimate concerns.

Our inbox has been flooded, and we appreciate all of the thoughtful responses from participants and volunteers who genuinely care about NaNoWriMo, our fellow writers, and the community as we do. It is impossible to respond to each message individually, but we wanted to let you all know we are working with purpose and sincerity.

Please see below the breakdown of the work that has been done since we last shared an update with the community. Our intention is to keep you abreast of all we are doing to make NaNoWriMo a better, safer, place:

We’ve overseen a full-scale review of business practices led by former Board Member, Kilby Blades, who has stepped in to assist the organization on an interim basis.  

We’ve begun to implement new procedures around community safety, including:

Full revision and legal review of our employee handbook and codes of conduct.

Full revision and legal review of our Municipal Liaison(ML) agreement.

Development of a formal contract agreement for all (non-ML) Volunteers.

Development of a stricter vetting process for all volunteers (which includes identity verification and background checks, wherever necessary).

Licensing of a digital constituent management system that will enhance volunteer management capabilities.

Comprehensive background checks for all current employees.

Checks and balances to ensure that standards of conduct and ethics are adhered to (e.g., better leadership training, volunteer training, tech mechanisms, and active oversight).

We’ve made staffing changes and revised our staffing plan.

We have rescoped certain roles and initiated some staffing changes. (However, certain employees who left the organization voluntarily are in pursuit of their next opportunities.)

We believe that learning from this moment through addressing skill gaps in the organization is healthy and we will go through a hiring process to fill necessary gaps in open roles.

We’ve listened to other community feedback and are still in listening mode.

We’ve disabled the mechanism on the YWP website that allows users to self-identify as educators for the purpose of creating classrooms, and we are researching mechanisms that will allow us to verify adults as educators.

We’ve revised our technology roadmap to address usability issues and are hoping to introduce new features in 2024.

We are midway through a deep dive on forums and forum moderation; this has included benchmarking with other organizations with similar challenges.

In February, we will hold focus groups for continuing MLs. We are also thinking through the logistics of Town Hall meetings and other gatherings.

We’ve processed dozens of pages of community member feedback and are integrating it into our thinking.

With the staffing changes mentioned above, we are open to hearing from those of you who have reached out with offers to help and/or be a part of the organization’s future. Get notified about future job opportunities at NaNoWriMo.

We are excited about the future, and expect it to be brighter! We hope you feel seen and heard, and that you will stick with us as we continue supporting the writing community and our organization.

Kind regards,

NaNoWriMo Board of Directors

[mariacallous]

At the 2023 Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas, prominent AI tech companies partnered with algorithmic integrity and transparency groups to sic thousands of attendees on generative AI platforms and find weaknesses in these critical systems. This “red-teaming” exercise, which also had support from the US government, took a step in opening these increasingly influential yet opaque systems to scrutiny. Now, the ethical AI and algorithmic assessment nonprofit Humane Intelligence is taking this model one step further. On Wednesday, the group announced a call for participation with the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, inviting any US resident to participate in the qualifying round of a nationwide red-teaming effort to evaluate AI office productivity software.

The qualifier will take place online and is open to both developers and anyone in the general public as part of NIST's AI challenges, known as Assessing Risks and Impacts of AI, or ARIA. Participants who pass through the qualifying round will take part in an in-person red-teaming event at the end of October at the Conference on Applied Machine Learning in Information Security (CAMLIS) in Virginia. The goal is to expand capabilities for conducting rigorous testing of the security, resilience, and ethics of generative AI technologies.

“The average person utilizing one of these models doesn’t really have the ability to determine whether or not the model is fit for purpose,” says Theo Skeadas, chief of staff at Humane Intelligence. “So we want to democratize the ability to conduct evaluations and make sure everyone using these models can assess for themselves whether or not the model is meeting their needs.”

The final event at CAMLIS will split the participants into a red team trying to attack the AI systems and a blue team working on defense. Participants will use the AI 600-1 profile, part of NIST's AI risk management framework, as a rubric for measuring whether the red team is able to produce outcomes that violate the systems' expected behavior.

“NIST's ARIA is drawing on structured user feedback to understand real-world applications of AI models,” says Humane Intelligence founder Rumman Chowdhury, who is also a contractor in NIST's Office of Emerging Technologies and a member of the US Department of Homeland Security AI safety and security board. “The ARIA team is mostly experts on sociotechnical test and evaluation, and [is] using that background as a way of evolving the field toward rigorous scientific evaluation of generative AI.”

Chowdhury and Skeadas say the NIST partnership is just one of a series of AI red team collaborations that Humane Intelligence will announce in the coming weeks with US government agencies, international governments, and NGOs. The effort aims to make it much more common for the companies and organizations that develop what are now black-box algorithms to offer transparency and accountability through mechanisms like “bias bounty challenges,” where individuals can be rewarded for finding problems and inequities in AI models.

“The community should be broader than programmers,” Skeadas says. “Policymakers, journalists, civil society, and nontechnical people should all be involved in the process of testing and evaluating of these systems. And we need to make sure that less represented groups like individuals who speak minority languages or are from nonmajority cultures and perspectives are able to participate in this process.”

[lyssophobiaa]

Quick sketch for Piers’ bionic arm.

Design Features

•Aesthetics: Streamlined, ergonomic design with a minimalist look, often featuring a matte or metallic finish.

•Materials: Lightweight composites like carbon fiber and titanium, providing durability without sacrificing mobility.

•Color Options: Customizable colors or finishes, including options for skin-like textures or futuristic metallics.

Technology

•Actuation: Advanced motors and actuators that enable precise, fluid movement mimicking natural limb motion.

•Sensors: Integrated sensors (e.g., myoelectric sensors) to detect muscle signals for intuitive control and movement.

•Feedback Systems: Haptic feedback mechanisms to provide users with sensory information about grip strength and object texture.

Safety and Durability

•Water and Dust Resistance: High IP ratings to protect against environmental factors.

•Emergency Features: Manual override systems or fail-safes in case of technology malfunction.

Advanced Technological Interface

•Integrated Biosensors: Built-in biosensors that can analyze blood or interstitial fluid samples to measure viral load in real time.

•Data Analytics: Utilizes algorithms to process biosensor data, providing insights on viral dynamics and trends.

•Alerts and Notifications: Real-time alerts sent to the user or healthcare provider when viral load exceeds predetermined thresholds.

•Communication System: Integrated with a communicator on the wrist, the arm serves as a reliable device for maintaining contact with his team. This system includes encrypted channels for secure communication during high-stakes operations.

•Objective Management Display: The arm features a holographic display that provides a detailed version of the communicator’s data, allowing Piers to view mission objectives and tactical data in real-time. This feature minimizes the need for external devices and keeps critical information accessible.

Augmented Reality (AR) Compatibility

•Enhanced Visualization: The arm’s display projects augmented reality overlays, allowing Piers to see additional information, such as enemy positions, weapon stats, or tactical directions, directly in his line of sight.

•Environmental Scanning: The arm can analyze the surroundings for potential threats, detect biological or chemical hazards, and provide alerts for safer navigation through hostile environments.

Electricity Conduction and Control

•Energy Conduit Design: The bionic arm acts as a conductor for the constant electrical energy generated by Piers’ mutation. It includes specialized channels and circuits designed to manage this energy flow, allowing Piers to use his mutation’s electrical pulse without it spiraling out of control.

•Dielectric Structures: The arm’s design incorporates materials that mimic the dielectric properties of his mutated tissue, particularly in the finger joints and bones. These dielectric components help regulate and contain the high voltage his body produces, diffusing excess energy safely throughout the arm.

•Controlled Release Mechanism: To avoid overload, the arm features a controlled release system that allows Piers to release pulses of energy strategically, whether in combat or to alleviate the internal buildup. This system prevents the arm from overheating or sustaining damage from prolonged electrical activity.

Containment and Compression of the Mutation

•Compression Framework: The prosthetic was specially designed by UMBRELLA engineers to act as a containment “net” around his mutation. It includes a flexible, reinforced framework that compresses the mutated tissue, keeping it in check and preventing further growth or erratic shifts in form.

•Adaptive Pressure System: As the mutation strains against the arm, sensors detect any changes in size or energy output, triggering adaptive responses. The arm tightens or loosens as necessary to hold the mutation back, functioning almost like a high-tech brace that adjusts in real-time to maintain Piers’ arm in a stable form.

•Automatic Safety Lock: In the event of a significant spike in mutation activity or electrical output, the arm engages an emergency lock to keep the mutation from expanding. This feature is a safeguard against sudden bursts of energy that could cause the arm to revert to its mutated state.

Dependency and Risks of Removal

•Rapid Mutation Onset: Without the prosthetic in place, Piers’ arm begins to mutate almost immediately, returning to its original, unstable form. The electrical pulse that his body generates becomes unrestrained, emitting a continuous, breath-like rhythm that is both painful and dangerous, with energy leaking through protruding bones and exposed tissue.

•Uncontrollable Pulse: When uncontained, the electrical pulse from his mutation surges in intensity, lacking any natural “closure” or stopping point. This pulse causes rapid fluctuations in his vital signs and risks systemic overload, leading to loss of control over his mutation and putting him at severe physical risk.

Miscellaneous Details

•The arm has a unique serial code engraved on an inner plate, serving as an identifier for UMBRELLA technicians. This code also links to Piers’ personal health records, mutation data, and arm specifications for quick access during maintenance or in emergencies.

•Due to the intense electrical pulses generated by his mutation, the arm is equipped with an internal cooling system. Micro-fans and heat-dissipating channels prevent overheating during extended use, keeping the arm at a safe, comfortable temperature. If the arm overheats, an internal alarm alerts Piers to prevent any potential damage.

•The outer layer is treated with a UV-resistant coating to protect it from environmental damage and exposure. This ensures that prolonged exposure to sunlight or harsh conditions doesn’t wear down the arm’s exterior, making it more durable in diverse climates and situations.

•Designed for various operational environments, the arm is fully waterproof and corrosion-resistant. It functions normally underwater, which is crucial for aquatic missions or when exposed to rain, mud, or corrosive substances.

•The holographic display can be customized to show additional details, such as weather, GPS navigation, or tactical maps. Piers can also set personal preferences, like color schemes or alert tones, for a more intuitive user experience. This flexibility lets him prioritize the information he finds most critical during missions.

•The communicator has an onboard language translator, enabling Piers to communicate with individuals across different languages. The arm’s display shows translated text, and a subtle earpiece can even relay audio translations, making it easier for him to gather intel and negotiate in multilingual environments.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

do you have any posts already or if not would you be willing to share any information about what the process of getting the website up and running was like? i'm really interested in getting a site going for some other photo/record keeping projects and i know a decent amount about website design and basic html, but not that much about the process of actually getting it online;^;

Happy to share!

To be clear, my level of coding skill began with teaching myself html for neopets and ended with cobbling together vaguely custom css for my OG personal tumblr in 2011. So in terms of the physical backend of the website… it’s just Squarespace.

Getting it online is pretty simple if you’re not writing the code yourself, but there’s some stuff you’ve got to figure out first: what the name of your site will be, what url (domain) you want it to have, where to buy it, and where you want to host the site (like squarespace or Wordpress).

Once you’ve got the details sorted, you get an account on the hosting platform you want to use, and then set up the site and connect a domain. Squarespace lets you buy domains directly through their interface, but it tends to be more expensive than buying it directly from a registrar company like Namecheap or GoDaddy. If you’re comfortable teaching yourself to navigate basic internet stuff via Google, it isn’t too hard to learn how to tell a domain you bought elsewhere to point at your site. (Everything I’ve done to run all my websites has been self-taught via Google and Reddit, with the assistance of some very patient techie friends).

Once you’ve got the crunchy stuff set up, you build the site! I use Squarespace preferentially over Wordpress because a) I like the aesthetic of the templates and b) it’s what I know how to use. Wordpress is cheaper but trying to navigate the visual layout of the site annoyed me to the point it wasn’t fun anymore, so I personally will pay for ease of access on layout and design stuff.

To build the site, I thought through what I wanted the user experience to be, and how I wanted people to navigate, and I built with that in mind. For the photo repository, my goal was very clean visuals that really showcased the photos, and I wanted people to be able to navigate the taxonomy both visually and from a list. Honestly, just play with it, and try different things until you find a layout you like.

Then you try to break the site you’ve built. Because there will be errors and bugs and as much as I do appreciate it when y’all send me problems you encounter, I’d rather fix it first. I always check a new site on a desktop computer, tablet, and phone, and then ask a couple friends running different operating systems to do the same. That’s a good time to get feedback on things like layout and font size and readability, too.

The biggest time sink for the project has actually just been the photo management. I had to figure out how I needed things organized to build the site, and then taking the time to upload them all is the major rate-limiting factor.

You can launch the site so it’s “online” at any point during this process after you’ve paid for hosting and the domain and set it up, but I tend to wait until I’ve built the site and beta tested it sufficiently.

I’m happy to answer other questions, I’m just not sure what else would be helpful!

[alternativeeducation-10]

Here are seven ways to make programming more engaging for beginners.

Introduction

For newcomers, programming might be frightening. For many, the new material's syntax, logic, and sheer amount might be depressing. Nonetheless, programming doesn't have to be very difficult or tiresome. Programming can be made more engaging and fulfilling by incorporating innovative, enjoyable, and useful methods. This article will examine seven methods for improving novice programmers' engagement, which will make learning programming easier and more pleasurable.

1. Start With Visual Programming Tools

Start with visual programming tools like Scratch, Blockly, or Tynker before writing complex code. Using these platforms, novices can drag and drop code blocks to construct simple programs, games, and animations. Visual tools make learning more interactive and enjoyable by breaking down complicated programming concepts and provide instantaneous visual feedback.

Benefits:

Improves understanding of programming fundamentals.

Allows newcomers to see the effects of their efforts immediately.

Encourages creativity through cartoons and games.

2. Focus On Interactive Learning Platforms

Students can write code directly in their browsers and see the results in real time with interactive classes offered by platforms like Codecademy, Khan Academy, and freeCodeCamp. These platforms often provide assistance or instant feedback and break down programming into manageable tasks. Interactive learning helps users solve difficulties and keeps the learning process moving forward while lowering irritation.

Benefits:

Immediate feedback allows for easy error correction.

Lessons are organised into convenient parts.

Gamified learning systems can help to sustain engagement.

3. Work On Real-Life Projects Early

Learning programming through real-world applications increases its relevance and fun factor. Novices can concentrate on projects that pique their interest, such creating a simple app, automating a tedious task, or creating a personal website. Students get a feeling of purpose from real-world projects, which piques their interest in coding and makes them more enthusiastic about it.

Benefits:

Improves understanding of theoretical concepts.

Increases confidence as students create actual things.

Offers a clear purpose and a sense of accomplishment.

4. Learn Through Games

Learning programming can be facilitated by creating or playing games. Some examples of platforms and games designed specifically for teaching programming are CodeCombat, Robocode, and CheckiO. Through the resolution of code puzzles, students advance in these games that transform coding assignments into adventures.

Benefits:

Creates a fun and competitive learning atmosphere.

Encourages critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Engages students who may find standard lessons unappealing.

5. Incorporate Pair Programming

When two programmers work together on a single task, it's called pair programming. Real-time code reviews are performed by one person after it has been written. Through discussion and shared knowledge, this collaborative learning approach helps students acquire problem-solving methods while also making programming more socially engaging.

Benefits:

Promotes teamwork and communication skills.

Provides fast feedback and reduces errors.

Helps to overcome learning plateaus through shared expertise.

6. Celebrate Small Wins

Programming can occasionally seem like a laborious process with little payoff, especially when faced with challenging problems. It's crucial to acknowledge small accomplishments in order to stay motivated. Acknowledging successes, no matter how small, can give much-needed morale support.

Benefits:

Encourages an optimistic approach to learning.

Recognising progress helps to boost confidence.

Reinforces a growth mentality, increasing learners’ resilience.

7. Join Coding Communities

Learning to program could be more enjoyable if you're a part of a helpful group. Newcomers can participate in local coding meetings and online forums like Stack Overflow and GitHub. These websites offer opportunities for collaboration, mentoring, and inspiration from people who share similar interests.

Benefits:

Access to a plethora of common knowledge.

Promotes collaboration on open-source initiatives.

Creates a network of mentors and peers to share experiences and insights.

Conclusion

By using these suggestions, learning to program doesn't have to be a daunting task; instead, it can be interesting and fun. In order to keep beginners interested in programming and inspired, we at the School of Coding & AI employ a variety of strategies, including interactive tools, real-world projects, and community involvement.

[norbezjones]

Bez Reviews Independent Books 5: The Last Bread Mage

Hey everyone!  I wanna do little reviews/writeups for the independently-published books I find on itch.io, and so, here I am.  I want to review one book every month or two (or quicker, if I’m lucky); it’ll get me reading more, and get authors who often go without feedback some thoughts on their work!  I think it’ll be cool for everyone!

If you want your book reviewed, the only requirement I have is that it’s hosted on itch.io.  Even if itch is just one of many places you can get the book, I want to review books that have a home there at least.  Feel free to get in touch with me with your books—I’m @NorbezJones on Twitter (I refuse to call it X), Bluesky, Pillowfort, Threads, Instagram, and Tumblr; I’m norbez2.0 on Discord.

Looking forward to seeing your books! <3

__________

After I reviewed M. Kirin’s Memory Leak, Kirin ( @maxkirin ) contacted me and asked if I wanted a review copy of another one of their books, The Last Bread Mage!  I said yes, and here we are!  So to make it plain as possible: I was giving a free copy of this book in order to review it.  However, that does not sway my opinion of the book either way, and my opinions are 100% my own.

So, what’s The Last Bread Mage about?  Well, in a fantasy world, the end times have arrived.  A red mage named Fel manages to survive the destruction of his magic school, and he finds a saint named Amara, who insists they must go to The Pinnacle, the center of the world.  Along their journey, they find a knight named Virgen and a thief named Dormi.  The four journey to the center of the world using the help of Fel’s magic, and when they get there, they make a surprising discovery.

There are almost 30 chapters, and between each chapter is a mini-chapter that describes something that ended off the previous chapter and/or will start off the next chapter.  This “something” can be an object, a person, a piece of worldbuilding, anything really.  These mini-chapters are a cool idea and add a lot to making the world feel real.

So, I won’t bury the lead: I liked this book a whole lot.  I really, really love it.  And not because I got it for free—like I said, that does not affect my opinion, and I honestly wish I could go back in time and spend money on this.  I’m going to make this review as in-depth as possible to make up for the fact that barely anybody has read this fucking amazing book.  I have criticisms, obviously, but overall, this book is a 10/10 from me.

It reminded me of the thick sci-fi & fantasy epics I read to pass time in the hospital (to be clear, that is a compliment), immersing myself in deep worlds with rich characters between the pages.  I wish I’d had The Last Bread Mage during my last trip to inpatient.  I’m glad I have it now, at least.

Also, it’s one of those books that the more you read it, the more the meaning of the cover becomes clear & changes.  The last time that happened was with Still Life With Woodpecker, and it was pretty cool to see it happening here.

You might be asking, “Why is it called The Last Bread Mage?”  This is because Fel is the last red mage, and “bread mage” is another name for “red mage” due to the fact that red mages make bread for hungry people.  They basically use their magic to bend the rules of the universe using the three basic components all things are made of: texture, fiber, & substance.  By mixing & matching these basic materials, they can turn one thing into an entirely different thing, like when Fel renders the bars of a cell into bread.  They use up energy when they do that though, so they can’t do it forever—after all, even magic-users are only human.

The magic system in this book is very interesting, and makes for some very unique ways for Fel to get him & his friends out of the perils they end up facing.  It also soon leads to theological implications, because red mages’ magic changes the logic of the universe set by God.  However, God can only “see” the basic components all things are made of, so since a transmuted item retains the same basic materials, in God’s eyes, nothing has changed.  These theological implications are explored in various ways and go in many directions I didn’t expect, like when Fel uses his powers to make him & his friends not exist in the eyes of God.

There are also times where Fel’s powers go awry, though, through no fault of his own.  Basically, the apocalypse occurring in the world is causing the world’s logic to fall apart, drowning continents and making fantastical creatures appear that previously only existed in fiction.  This means that the logic behind Fel’s powers sometimes fails him, such as when he tries to make a doorway for him & Amara to escape down the block from a threat, but when they go through that doorway, they’ve been transported halfway across the world.

By making the story about the logic of the universe and how it can be exploited or make what should go right go wrong, the book carries a consistent throughline throughout the whole thing, even & especially when Fel does his most shocking action near the end of the story.  It’s a very admirable feat.

Speaking of the ending, I do want to talk about that.  If you don’t want to be spoiled, skip to the “SPOILERS END HERE” line.

**SPOILERS START HERE**

When Fel and his friends reach The Pinnacle, they meet a few other folks there—and they meet God.  I wasn’t sure if God was going to end up being real or not, but there it is, fretting as the world comes to an end.  It’s revealed that God made the world in an effort to make order out of chaos, but chaos keeps seeping through, no matter what it does.  It has ended & restarted the world many, many, many times, always bringing back The Chosen Four (Amara & three others named Lumbre, Huesos, & Frio) and The Fated Four (Fel [true name: Felicidad], Virgen [true name: Virtud], Dormi [true name: Domino (a name Dormi finds “fucking stupid”) & Beatrix [true name: Hambre])

Beatrix is a very interesting character.  In this lifetime, she was the butcher in the prison Dormi was locked up in, ruthlessly killing many of Dormi’s friends.  But she regrets being that person, thought she had to make herself into what she now realizes is a monster.  Her & Dormi’s reflection is shown in this passage:

“Dormi and Beatrix‌—‌who had been incredibly lost until this point‌—‌found themselves looking at one another. They thought about the life they’d led and wondered how different things would’ve been had they switched places. It humbled Beatrix, for she had been taught to hate the people of Gritlan, and it scared Dormi, for they were terrified of the butcher they might’ve become.”

The eight of them are always created when a new cycle begins.  Amara remembers every single cycle, every single timeline that has ever existed.  So does God, of course.  And now, it’s time for the world to end for a new cycle to begin.

The Chosen Four all carry pieces of The Worldly Egg, from which a new cycle of the world will hatch.  They take out their pieces, the egg forms—but God doesn’t hatch it.  Instead, God admits to them that it is tired of change, of chaos.  It longs for predictability, and wants this all to end.  It wants this to be the last cycle to ever exist.

Of course, everyone else protests.  So, God asks them all to vote whether this should be the last cycle of the world.  God votes Yea, as it is tired of doing this over & over again.  Everyone else votes, until finally, Fel has to be the tiebreaker. 

But instead of voting, Fel takes the The Worldly Egg and rends it, crunching it down to its most basic materials and absorbing them into himself.  In doing so, Fel absorbs everything existing into himself—the world, his friends, even God—and becomes the new creator of the universe.  The Prince of Absolute Chaos.

He creates a new cycle, brings his friends back.  God is reborn as a child, and as a being who has never had a name, it asks Fel to have his—to be named Felicidad.  Fel says yes, as long as, “[Y]ou must promise me to honor the name by living a life full of joy, laughter, and smiles.  Do you promise?”

The previous God thinks about it—after all, life could be full of “joy, laughter, and smiles” or it can be full of “misery and misfortune”.  In the end, it promises Fel it will uphold the name, and the book ends on that final exchange.

I teared up quite a bit as I read through the ending, and even going back to find quotes for this review made me tear up again.  Saving your friends, saving the world, and even saving God—there’s something very beautiful in that, I think.

I also love how Kirin was able to bring aspects of his Mexican culture into the book, by making all of the true names that of “the first language” within the book’s universe (Spanish).  It’s a nice little touch and I think it’s neat.

**SPOILERS END HERE**

Now for my criticisms.  Like Adrian in Memory Leak, Fel is referred to as “the young man” quite a lot.  Sometimes this happens multiple times in the same paragraph.  This seems to be in an effort to avoid using pronouns instead, but sometimes, it’s better to just say “he”, as someone who also has this problem in eir writing (thanks, OCD [literally, not a figure of speech]!).

That’s basically my only nitpick.  I wish I had more to criticize honestly, but I really don’t.  Good problems to have.

In conclusion, I’ve never been angrier that a book isn’t popular than when I finished this one.  Where are the Tumblr shitposts and multiple pieces of fanart for this book?  I’m so mad lmao!  Also, I imagine I will have that feeling quite a bit as I continue this book review series.

I want to leave off with these words that Amara says to Fel, because I think they’re beautiful:

“‘The only thing worth a damn in this world is being the best versions of ourselves. What does that look like to you, sweet Fel? What does the best version of you look like? It may seem far away, unreachable at the best of times, but you should reach out for this impossible ideal. Be the truest version of yourself. That’s the only thing we can do. Everything else? My dear, everything else is a gamble.’”

So true, bestie.  Amen.

[thelostbaystudio]

The Lost Bay comes to life!!!

Hey folks, in the next few weeks I'll be launching the crowdfunding campaign for The Lost Bay, a dark fantasy tabletop RPG set in 199X.

I've been working on it for years, and thanks to the feedback and support of the numerous folks who played the early access version, the game is now ripe to go to print.

But what is it exactly?

The Lost Bay is a dark fantasy tabletop RPG. It’s set in alternate 199X. The Lost Bay is also the name of the game setting, a small coastal suburb, both familiar and uncanny, where the mundane and the magical mix inextricably. Living Saints, rituals, blood curses are part of the characters’ daily life alongside console games, VHS tapes, and phone booths.

The Lost Bay is a set of three booklets. It contains everything you need to play: character creation, core rules, advanced tips and toolkits, detailed setting and bestiary.

The cool thing is that you get to play powerful characters, roaming in a weird and at times dark world.

The system in a nutshell

Three attributes, and a d6 dice pool for all your Action Rolls or Saves.

One resource to fuel your Powers.

Powers always succeed but can get you a Scar.

Scars can hurt you, make you more powerful, or change you. They are specific to each Vibe.

If you get all the Scars and you manage to survive them, you become a Living Saint, an immortal roaming the Bay. YOU become the Lore of the Bay.

What’s in the books?

User Guide: character creation and core rules, ten playable classes, three post-death special classes, custom character growth, Scar tables.

GM Guide: tips and toolkits, advanced rules, adventure building frameworks, examples and designer commentary.

Travel guide: extensive ready to use setting, exploration procedures, pre-gen point-crawls, six full-fledged districts featuring: locations, NPCs, Bosses, complications, rumors, treasures, adventure seeds.

If this sounds cool to you stay tuned for more updates about the game, or follow the Kickstarter page to be notified on launch

If you have any questions about the game feel free to fire them, I'd be happy to answer. And if you want to try it come and say hi on The Lost Bay server, we play the game regularly, and I even do 60minutes intro to it for folks who just want to give it a quick try https://discord.com/invite/37XBQVr7eP

Cheers

Iko

[blantef]

My Digital Circus theories so far

-The "Digital Circus" is a place for "Users" to Enjoy and Forget about problems. But everything starts to fall when a user confronts those problems, Creating a Program error represented in abstraction. But, if the Digital circus is trully a place to "Forget", its Caine's job that the users don't confront the problem, so his solution is not responding to negative or intrusive "feedback", So he makes coping places, Those being the adventures.

-Caine's is getting a memory leak or no more memory space, that would explained his forgetfulness, by deleting old "memories" or files, since in this episode is showed that he stores a lot of things from NPC's to program Behaviors. Other reason that Caine is glitching is because there are more users than expected, so its loading more information at once, once it decompresses all, by maybe resetting in the Digital Circus or the "Lobby"

-Gangles reason to Enter the Circus: They would be an easy target to enter, a person with high stress that doesnt have time for their own time, so they enter but that doesnt fullfill them, it's just a distraction that they can never leave from the nature of the circus -Ragatha reason to Enter the Circus: Ragatha may grew with a little money, since all the activies she named (dancing, Tea parties, package managing) could be side jobs, and maybe just maybe, she does this to take care of a ranch maybe family ranch, making that her problem and akwardness with people, since all her life and problems surround people. So her reason to enter was a place more casual, without being responsible for once, and finally talk to people. But all those people that she wants to pass 6the time with, have their own problems that she was avoiding for the goal of a place without worries.

-Zoobles reason to Enter the Circus: Zoobles represents something that people already do in the real world, they escape to games were they can perzonalize themselves and be another person "Online". But here in the circus, with time, They are forced to be themselves, theyre problem is the lack of control, from theyre body to theyre Scheduale.

-Before contiuing with the next characters heres my theory behind the corporation: This corporation doesnt know exactly what the program/ Digital circus is. since it can only truly be exprienced from inside and they cant get feedback. from people that somewhat are "teleported" inside (seen by the end of the Pilot Episode (A VR set without a person but with the program still running)) With that also is the reason why caine cant delete or poof off abstraction, since theyre real people and not simple programing.

-Kinger reason to Enter the Circus: Kinger's reason must be from his computer science background, he must had the opportunity to enter the circus as a "Bug" Tester and generally Admin type of people tend to give themselves a cheeky "powerful" name. in this case "Kinger", that's probably why he is the one of the first or oldest of the circus, because he had early access.

-Pomni reason to Enter the Circus: Its reasonable that she could be an intern in the company, since that's why she maybe has a "default skin", that being an intern, Now as an intern she maybe sneak into the System, since she doesn't seem to like or be forced to do things, so her form of doing this is to wander off, but in this place she needs to confront that she cant, but is open to learn and listen, since that is what she singed up for.

-Jax reason to Enter the Circus: Many people say he's an Npc or Hacker (since the name Jax or Hack), But maybe hes a freelancer, and was given the opportunity to Try the cirucs as a first time user since hes "User.001", But since he is the first, he has a whole new perpective to other character, he doesnt know if the others are NPCs and he's still "Testing", thats why maybe hes cruel to other People that he doesnt know the line between real person and fake person. Now his distaste for being controlled maybe is because of his freelancer background, and being under someone is the worst for him. him being in the longest would explain his knwoledge and the nature of the Circus. And my reason why he is the first and not kinger? He knows kinger was there the longest but since he lost his mind Jax is his own alliby.

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

Okay so here’s my thoughts on the staffcon thing.

I still think collapsing reblogs so posts look more like other social media isn’t gonna work as a feature but they will probably roll them back a little and at least add a toggle off for it if they try it and enough people submit feedback. Edit: this is actually less of an issue, most of the discussion is based on a misrepresentation of what’s happening. They’re just making it easier to scroll past long posts. EDIT AGAIN: actually some people already have the initial roll out of the feature and it. Is bad.

I think submitting feedback is a takeaway. There was a pretty clear effort to just remind the user base that there are real humans on the other side of a paycheck having to read and respond to the inputs of every feedback method on the site, which is fair. It’s easy to be an asshole online in any semi anonymous platform and that is something that tumblr culture takes a certain bloodthirsty pleasure in.

And yes, of course, user complaints about issues such as accessibility and the many ongoing glitches and bots and the search function, etc. are valid and do need to be addressed. But at the very least it would be cool if we as users maybe try to cultivate a slightly less pitchforky social norm when submitting feedback about changes to the site. The ceo is not reading every @ to his blog. One of his employees is. The people reading all of the feedback are just people doing their jobs. All jobs suck under capitalism, maybe we could try not to make their jobs actively worse.

Would you be rude to an overworked server in a restaurant? No? Cool also try to not be a dick to the person getting paid to answer customer or user complaints.

Related to that, funding. Many current and former members of staff have been pretty frank about funding in the past. The company is trying to at the very least breakeven, which not a single company who has owned tumblr has managed because the hosting fees for this site are insane due to all of the stuff on it.

If they don’t get it to breakeven they’ll hopefully best case just open source the website which is a method they’ve done in the past. And it would probably work, and then the website would to my understanding be being maintained by users. Now this is where my understanding gets fuzzy so anyone with more knowledge of how this would shake out feel free to chime in. But my understanding is that the source code for the site would be opened up and maintained by the community likely through mostly volunteer work. I would guess largely uncompensated.

So personally I think maybe the vitriolic response to every change they make going forward to try and monetize the site and pay even some of the cost of operation is perhaps a bit overblown, because they’re still trying to find a way to keep paying those people to work on tumblr, and I think people continuing to be paid for the work they do is better than volunteers doing unpaid labor.

I do also think there’s a secret third option for automattic and every other company finding themselves with a worse outlook now the Silicon Valley bubble has started to really burst, and that is for all existing staff members to unionize and then turn the whole thing into a worker coop. Much more stable organizational structures. Worker coops are also one of my favorite short term solutions to many other systemic problems we are currently experiencing.

I do hope this site continues to exist for many years, especially as it is one of the only places on the internet where the culture makes it safer to talk about some of the more permanent and long term solutions to various systemic issues that function within societies. Also funny text posts.

[feedspace]

Turning Customer Love into Sales: The Power of Testimonials

Learn how featuring heartfelt customer stories on a Wall of Love can increase sales and foster stronger relationships. Visit: FeedspaceWall of Love

[antrika]

How can Customer Analytics Software Help in Tracking Product’s Performance?

In addition, digging deeper into a product’s performance post-launch through user feedback analysis software with Customer Analytics Software benefits organizations with multiple benefits, such as supporting data-driven decisions, enhancing sales, identifying loopholes, and driving growth.

Not only that, but it can also boost customer satisfaction with customer analytics software, engagement, and the expansion of a loyal customer base as businesses can seamlessly recognize drawbacks in products and foster a culture of meeting customers’ needs through a centralized dashboard of feedback management software.

With diverse data extracted through varied channels, analyzing a product’s performance and deciding the feedback loop’s effectiveness may feel overwhelming and chaotic. Well, a seamless customer feedback system integrated with data-driven reports can solve your concern. To know how, read this blog, as we will explore more aspects of customer analytics software and product tracking.

An Overview on Customer Analytics Software Dashboard

Before exploring ways to analyze your products through a customer feedback system, let’s take a moment to appreciate the user-friendly nature of the centralized dashboard offered by Antrika’s customer analytics software. It effortlessly combines product data from various channels and your system into a seamless visual display. This intuitive design empowers businesses to view diverse aspects and track particular product metrics in real time, making data analysis a breeze.

Moreover, Antrika’s centralized dashboards are designed to be user-friendly, enabling product managers to make informed decisions with product analytics at the right time. This ease of use ensures that even those without extensive technical knowledge can benefit from the software.

For instance, determining data on product quality and overall usability while investigating customer engagement with the product can be time-consuming through traditional methods with customer analytics software. Conversely, user feedback analysis software allows organizations to gain a bird’ s-eye view through a centralized dashboard.

With access to the correct data and dashboard, understanding your product development strategy’s effectiveness and tracking its results becomes more effortless with customer analytics software. In other words, using a dashboard of customer analytics software simplifies tracking a product’s performance with features like:

1.It blends data from varied channels into one dashboard to present an appealing visual display as an overview of data.

2.Allows businesses to access diverse data and track the product’s progress with dedicated metrics.

3.Product managers can utilize these data to make informed decisions to make improvements or address potential issues that occurred in the previous feedback loop.

4.It offers an overview of data on product usability, overall performance, software engagement (SaaS product), product quality, and more.

How can Customer Analytics Software Impact Tracking Product Performance?

Having a robust strategy for analyzing the progress of your product development plan can help you gain a deeper understanding of your customers through customer analytics software. By utilizing customer analytics software, you can uncover how your customers interact with the product, what their needs are, and how well the product meets their expectations. This process can also aid in tracking overall sales and profit for businesses.

Let us delve deeper into a few benefits of user feedback analytics software to simplify your journey to measuring the effectiveness of your strategies.

1. Enhances Sales Rates

When your product meets customers’ needs and expectations, you are more likely to increase sales rates over time.

In addition, accessing the dashboard of feedback management software helps track consumer purchases, loopholes in decreased sales or failed transactions, and potential drawbacks, which the product team can utilize to develop better updates in another feedback loop with customer analytics software.

For instance, if you are an e-commerce business seeking to drive better web purchases, you can segregate analytics by overall click-through rates, newsletter sign-ups, and conversion rate by device.

Through data, suppose you realize that purchases through mobile devices are lower than through web browsers, and then it is the right time to improve design and payment gateways for users relying on mobile devices.

2. Validates Product Updates or New Features

Utilizing feedback management software or customer analytics software is not just about identifying where your product lacks, it’s about valuing your customers’ opinions and using them to drive improvements.

It helps in understanding why your previous product development did not achieve optimal results and how you can effectively meet customers’ needs. This process makes your customers feel valued and integral to the product development process.

For instance, tracking user flow, such as call to action (CTA) buttons, landing pages, and points of exit on websites or through customer analytics software, can seamlessly help you recognize what your customers are looking for through a customer feedback system and utilize the data to prioritize themes for the next product development roadmap.

3. Enables Delivering Customized Customer Experience

By utilizing user feedback analysis software and customer analytics software, businesses can uncover touchpoints in customer experience. This means that through valuable insights, you can determine how to improve customer experience and satisfaction or personalize interactions.

Though personalizing customer experience can be a challenging journey, businesses need to rely on accurate and insightful data to help them understand potential ways to boost customer engagement and satisfaction.

Integrating customer analytics into the decision-making process can enhance customer experience by achieving factors like:

1. Increased customer satisfaction

2.Customer lifetime value

3.Increases loyal customer base

Tap to Explore more: Customer Feedback | Product Development | All in one Centralized SaaS Services

Top Ways to Track Product’s Performance

Accessing a centralized dashboard of user feedback analysis software can simplify the process of tracking the performance of your product development initiatives after launch. To help you achieve your goals and strive for a culture of continuous improvement, we are listing below a few methods to perform seamless product evaluation.

1. Determine your Objectives

Before launching the product, you need to determine specific goals to simplify, setting specific, measurable metrics to define the effectiveness of your product development plan. Without a goal, managing varied data and analyzing results, even with customer analytics system, would become a complex journey.

For instance, let’s assume you want to increase overall conversion rates with newly launched products or features. Specifying specific numbers and time frames, such as if you aimed to acquire a conversion rate with a 10% rise within 6–8 months, this approach can aid in analyzing the results over time.

2. Focus on Accurate Data

Streamlining the process of extracting accurate data is essential, without which even a feedback management software won’t be able to prioritize accurate aspects. Hence, consider how data flows between varied channels and your current system.

Identify whether there are gaps in current data? Is your data management procedure verifiable? To achieve this, product teams need to verify varied data after extracting data from varied channels to ensure that they maintain reliable data. This approach will ensure outlining a seamless product analysis process through an overview on a centralized dashboard.

3. Pick your Ideal KPIs for Product Performance

Indicators for tracking Product Quality

1.Defect rate

2.Support requests per month

3.Uptime (Digital products)

4.Speed of development

Indicators for Product/ Customer Engagement

1.Duration for average session

2.Product adoption time

3.Metrics of product features

4.Active users (Monthly)

Indicators for Business Performance

1.Recurring revenue (Monthly)

2.Average Revenue (Per User)

4. Integrate your System with Antrika

Many product management software include multiple factors in the process, whereas other tools focus on specific aspects like revenue generated, user behavior, or customer satisfaction.

For instance, Antrika enables businesses to integrate various data points into a centralized platform or dashboard for easy analysis. You can consider pulling your data from CRM platforms, product development tools, notifications, and other software under one platform to evaluate various aspects hassle-free.

Using the streamlined overview from Antrika, you can generate data-driven detailed reports for every aspect that will clearly help you understand where your product wins, where improvements are still needed to satisfy customers’ expectations, and how to address certain essential concerns.

5. Track and Measure the Product’s Progress Consistently

Analyzing and tracking a product’s performance isn’t a one-time thing! Businesses need to continuously measure and track progress to acquire real-time data, collect feedback consistently from customers to identify patterns over time.

By implementing this approach, you can quickly identify issues with your product at the right time, and focus on solving concerns to enhance customer satisfaction. In addition, you can consider opting for specific audits before and after the product launch.

Enhance Product’s Effectiveness with Antrika’s customer analytics software

Evaluating multiple aspects of your product after launch does not have to be a complex and nerve-wracking journey. By accessing customer analytics software, you can strategically track progress in factors such as brand reputation, product quality, customer satisfaction, overall business growth, sales, and more.

Focusing on tracking and analyzing these aspects continuously makes it easier for organizations to identify loopholes and understand customers’ evolving needs and preferences in real-time. Want to explore Antrika’s analysis software pricing? Contact our experts today!

[hra-official]

The Antlion has been updated to verson 1.4 following customer feedback

Changelog:

Several customers have complained that the Core Active, while extremely powerful, was too cumbersome to use with Ordnance weapons such as those provided with the license. The new design is powered down compared to the previous version, but much easier and faster to use, allowing it to benefit Ordnance weapons.

The lighter load from the previous change has also allowed the frame to be much more evasive, to the relief of all those who felt too vulnerable in the previous iteration

The Linear LIDAR Autotrigger, while a success in and of itself, has been found to synergize poorly with the rest of the license. It's place has been taken by the newly finalized "Scorpion" Optics Upgrade Package, which enables pilots to make use of the frame's high Save Target against Locked On targets. The Linear LIDAR Autotrigger will be availeable for licensing as a standalone package

While those customers who managed to use of our Manual Fire Control mod gave it the highest praise, most users found its highly intrusive overrides would void the warranties on their weapons and mechs. To overcome this issue and allow the mod to be used on less customization-friendly machines, it has been updated to use a softer touch. The new Manual Fire Control mod no longer disconnects the modded weapon's systems from the parent frame, and nstead simply deactivates them, which also results in Seekign and Smart weapons losing those functionalities; furthermore, it will no longer be possible to install it on more thn one weapon at a time. However, it's efficacy against all forms of electronic warfare is undiminished, and those looking for a weapon reliable in the face of even paracausal interference need look no further.

[texasdreamer01]

Atlantis Expedition - Science Division: Chief Science Officer

So I've gone through all of my proposed headcanons on how the Science Division would break down into different departments, the roles of each departments, and the personnel composition (original post here, which contains links to posts on individual departments). But what is a division without its division leader? Thus, a post on the Chief Science Officer (AKA Rodney McKay).

Below is a brief list, in the same style as the department posts, which I will articulate further under the read-more:

> Head: Rodney McKay, Radek Zelenka (extra-canonical) > Contains: 1 person > Function: Implements department policies, decides upon division and department priorities, disseminates tasks according to expedition needs, reviews employee performances, manages employment of each department, secures and approves all procurement requirements for operations, reviews ethical and legal boundaries on research and resource requests, prepares documentation for review on research progress and results, estimates research project requirements and demands, gives/receives recommendations and feedback to expedition leader and military commander according to mission parameters > Examples of function: Hiring and firing of employees, dispute arbitration between employees, disciplinary measures, creating purchase orders for equipment and department supplies, reviewing research proposals and giving feedback on proposals > Personnel quantity: 1 person > A/N: Technically speaking, the department heads fall under this "department" as sub-administrators (and produce the paperwork that will give Rodney headaches)

Radek being the CSO is part of the Legacy book series, which is a pseduo season six (I don't listen to it, for various reasons), but he's mentioned here as a nod to the books.

As for that big block of text about a CSO's function, it helps to separate things into a few categories. Below is that, with commentary:

> IOA/SGC requirements  » Prepares documentation for review on research progress and results  » Reviews ethical and legal boundaries on research and resource requests  » Maintains documentation of projects for auditing purposes   ⇛ Such as project results, allocation and defense thereof of resources, pertinent stopping and starting points  » Maintains documentation of division personnel usage and other important events   ⇛ Such as field assignments, project assignments, etc  » Maintains documentation of field science research   ⇛ Such as first contact missions, cultural research, etc > Expedition administration  » Gives/receives recommendations and feedback to expedition leader according to mission parameters   ⇛ Such as resource allocation in terms of division personnel, technology, and physical resources (i.e. consumable lab resources, such as testing equipment, reagents, medical resources, etc) > Military relations  » Gives military commander feedback and advice on mixed-context situations   ⇛ Such as situations when expedition leader is unable to perform duties, or when needing to defend critical components, spaces, or personnel    ⟹ i.e. When personally in the field (AR-1, other field assignments), attacks on Atlantis, non-military critical situations on Atlantis  » Gives assessments on non-expedition personnel in regards to permissions on division resources   ⇛ i.e. lab access, database access, critical systems access, etc   ⇛ Functionally makes the CSO a super-user and systems administrator of the digital architecture that comprise the expedition    ⟹ The head administrator and military commander will have their own logins with similar, but not identical, privileges > Division administration  » Implements department policies   ⇛ Such as safety protocols, proposal formats, project documentation formats, etc  » Decides upon division and department priorities   ⇛ Based upon IOA/SGC, expedition leader, and military commander priorities (in that order, unless under a military context)  » Disseminates tasks according to expedition needs   ⇛ May contain separate categories of priorities, according to the needs of varying timelines (i.e. long term, short term, etc)  » Reviews employee performances   ⇛ Ideally according to a rubric of IOA/SGC requirements, department policies, and expedition needs   ⇛ Can mark an employee for a review period, limit access based on negative incidents, recommend merit-based pay increases and pay bonuses, etc  » Manages employment of each department   ⇛ Hiring, firing, inter-department reassignments  » Estimates research project requirements   ⇛ Based upon proposals submitted, expedition mission parameters, resources available for allocation, and IOA/SGC requirements  » Secures and approves all procurement requirements for operations   ⇛ Creates, reviews, and submits documentation to expedition head   ⇛ Items such as equipment (i.e. computers), consumable materials (i.e. pens, cotton swabs), and miscellaneous (i.e. lab coats, uniforms, chocolate for morale)

These main categories, as you can see, are IOA/SGC requirements of the CSO, expedition administration, military relations, and division administration. They are, to the best of my assumptions, listed in order of importance - division administration is necessarily at the bottom because the CSO, ideally, ought to be able to trust the department heads to make sure the division runs well. The main job of the CSO is to liase between the division and the overlords people who make the expedition run.

A lot of this ends up rather convoluted due to competing priorities. The IOA pays the expeditions bills and supports its somewhat dubious legality on the international stage, but the SGC does as well, and to boot is also the group that creates and maintains the supplies and supply lines (see: the Daedalus, primarily, and also the Apollo). As this is a civilian expedition, more weight will be put on the CSO than the Military Officer for a return on investment.

What this results in is a lot of paperwork. Every employee, petri dish, and scribble on a whiteboard must be recorded, accounted for, and justified. This would then be forwarded to the expedition leader, who collates it nicely and gives it to the SGC and IOA for a general accounting, but it's up to the CSO to prepare this documentation.

Accordingly, this means that if there's a request from either side (top-down or bottom-up), the CSO must process the paperwork for that. Requests to perform experiments, usage of employees on things like field assignments, requests for materials to perform the experiments within adequate parameters are the work du jour. And, crucially, it must be legal (as much as one can with something like a Stargate program, at any rate). There's a lot more wiggle room for the expedition, given its project background, but not very much with the introduction of international oversight.

In a practical, daily sense, department requests for experiment/research and expedition leader and military commander requests for the same or for personnel must be balanced by the CSO. If, say, Carson Beckett wants to work with the Life Sciences department to develop a hydrogel infused with Pegasus plant extracts for IFAK use that requires many iterations of testing but would then require less supplies procured from the SGC, and Elizabeth Weir wants Carson Beckett to join an away team to help some recently-culled village with their injuries or a persistent illness that had left them originally vulnerable to a culling, Rodney McKay will be the one to weigh in on priorities for the division and devise a compromise on his employee's time based upon what can be done and what ought to be done. (Elizabeth will likely already think of this conundrum, but as she was not the only expedition leader, the ability to say no is a critical tool in Rodney's arsenal for properly fulfilling his duties.)

Likewise, the CSO has obligations to the military contingent of the expedition. While the Wraith were not an expected enemy, the SGC probably assumed something of the Goa'uld caliber was statistically likely, and thus the CSO is there to also offer technical advice to the military commander.  This is important because nobody had any confirmation on what they would find regarding Atlantis, only that the Ancients had abandoned their city and didn't seem to pack much up with them. Mixed-context situations like a technical emergency on Atlantis, or field missions, will require CSO input on technological expertise and personnel assignments from the Science Division.

A working relationship with the military commander will also mean some back and forth, particularly for instances of assessing who ought to have access to critical systems, and whether such previously-given permissions ought to be revoked. Teyla, the Athosians, and Ronon are popular examples, but also situations like Doppelganger where members of the expedition might be compromised and require a change, however temporary or permanent, in security.

In order for the CSO to assist in maintaining expedition security, being a super-user and systems administrator is a pre-requisite of the position. This means such things as inherent back-door access to all expedition systems, ability to manage user login profiles for all systems, screening of technologies that are inputted as peripherals or adoptions of infrastructure, and the design of the infrastructure systems that make up the overall architecture. As the military commander would be in charge of the physical security of the expedition, the CSO would be in charge of its digital security.

Management of the division itself rests upon the above listed duties, and will influence how the division and its various departments are handled. This is very much a daily, intensive part of the job, but if things with the departments are set up well, typically they would be the least worrisome of the duties.

Based upon the various institutional and situational demands upon the expedition, personnel movement and research projects will be delegated accordingly, with the CSO creating the division policies on things like research parameters, experiment ethics, and the minutiae of funding and resource allocations.

Long-term projects, such as the inherent reasons why the expedition exists at all (figuring out Atlantis and developing technologies and knowledge bases from the information they prise from Atlantis), will generally receive priority outside of some form of emergency, and will get the most resources.  Short-term projects, which might run for a few months or a year at a time of active experimentation, are dependent upon spare resources, time, and personnel that aren't already assigned to work of a higher priority.

For example, documenting the plants of a particular planet in the Pegasus galaxy would rank lower than decoding and documenting extant examples of Wraith language, based upon the multiple variables of military commander demands on the safety of the expedition, diplomatic demands from the expedition leader for the safety of the expedition, and if there are similar plants already being studied that were cultivated from other planets.

An inherent part of the management of a division is the personnel, which includes performance reviews, hiring of employees, firing of employees, disciplining of employees (if the department head requires CSO assistance or it is the department head which requires disciplining), and re-assignment of employees based upon expedition or other needs. Part of the personnel is the work the personnel do, which wraps back around to paperwork - if someone wants to do research on attempting to duplicate a particular alloy, then those materials need to be purchased or otherwise required, which means the CSO must fill out all the purchase request forms and other pertinent documentation (even if it only amounts to "found on the ground because AR-1 crashed the Wraith Dart, put alloy samples into backpack").

I imagine a CSO in this sort of position would probably be running a rough calculation in the background of how many cups of coffee to substitute for hours of sleep, because there will not be a lot of sleep to be had, even without all the various emergencies happening because Atlantis is Atlantis. A little bit of stress-induced yelling from time to time is to be expected, I think.

Total Overall Science Division Personnel

> Chief Science Officer: 1 > Medical Department: 23 > Life Sciences: 13 > Field Sciences: 12 > Applied Sciences: 16 > Total total: 65

Due to the revisions made in some of the department headcanon posts, the personnel estimations rose from the original post's 58 to the current 65, a difference of 7 people and also a nice, easy to calculate number. If we keep to the assumption of 200 expedition members, this would make for 135 leftover for the rest of the expedition, and the Science Division at 32.5% of the expedition.

A CMO post will be written and posted at some point, as I forgot about it, and additionally canonical character headcanon posts will also be posted at some point in the future in an undetermined order. After this will be headcanons on the Military Division, Gate Teams, and the Expedition Leader/Civilian Division (currently undecided what that will be).

[republicsecurity]

Helmet Capabilities

The standard-issue helmet for the cadets in the Enforcer Academy is a multifunctional headgear designed to provide protection, communication, and situational awareness. The helmet is an integral component of the full-body armor system and offers the following capabilities:

Protection and Construction

Material: Constructed from a composite of high-strength polymers and lightweight alloys, the helmet offers excellent ballistic protection while remaining lightweight.

Ergonomics: The interior is padded with adjustable, high-density foam to ensure a secure and comfortable fit for extended wear.

Visor System

Retractable Visor: The helmet features a retractable, polycarbonate visor that can be deployed or retracted with a simple voice command or manual switch. The visor is impact-resistant and provides full facial protection.

Heads-Up Display (HUD): When the visor is deployed, it functions as a transparent display, overlaying critical information directly onto the user's field of vision. The HUD includes data such as ID overlays of other cadets, navigation aids, environmental readings, and communication messages.

Communication

Integrated Communications Suite: The helmet is equipped with a built-in communication system, allowing for helmet-to-helmet communication among cadets and instructors. This includes individual, group, and broadcast modes.

External Noise Control: The helmet can either fully block outside noise or allow selective sounds, such as authorized speech, to pass through. This feature ensures clear communication while maintaining situational awareness.

Sensory Input Management

Noise Dampening: Blocks out external noise when necessary, with adjustable settings to allow selective auditory input.

Visual Filters: Can dim, block or enhance visual input based on the cadet’s environment, reducing sensory overload.

AI Monitoring: The helmet’s integrated AI monitors conversations, filtering out unauthorized or harmful communications and providing real-time feedback.

Sensors and Monitoring

Environmental Sensors: The helmet includes sensors to monitor external conditions such as temperature, humidity, and air quality, providing real-time data to the wearer and the command center.

Biometric Monitoring: The helmet continuously monitors vital signs, including heart rate, respiration, and stress levels, transmitting this data to the central monitoring system.

Safety and Security

Neck Seal: The helmet features an airtight neck seal that integrates with the body armor, ensuring a complete protective barrier against hazardous environments.

Additional Features

Night Vision and Thermal Imaging: The helmet is equipped with night vision and thermal imaging capabilities, allowing for enhanced visibility in low-light or obscured conditions.

Custom Fit: The padding and internal structure can be adjusted to fit various head sizes and shapes, ensuring a custom fit for each cadet.

Usage and Maintenance

Battery Life: The helmet's power supply is integrated with the suit's main power system, providing continuous operation for up to five days without recharging.

Maintenance: Regular maintenance includes cleaning the visor, checking the seals, and ensuring the communication systems are functioning properly. Maintenance protocols are outlined in the standard operating procedure manual.

Remote Control and Safety Features

Instructor Control: Instructors can remotely control helmet functions, including visual and auditory inputs, to ensure cadet safety and compliance.

Emergency Lockdown: The helmet can immobilize the cadet’s head and control movements via the neural interface in critical situations.

Usage Parameters

Operational Duration: Designed for continuous use up to 7 days, with standard operational periods of 5 days.

Maintenance Cycle: Requires a maintenance check and recalibration after each operational cycle to ensure optimal performance.