#and affiliated nerds

[kivrin]

This is the gospel book that was carried in procession at the coronation of Charles III. Special Collections Library Twitter has been, well, atwitter.

[frozenhi-chews]

Sooner or later, any romantic relationship with Pancake will turn downright religious. Where sappy puppy-love turns into genuine devotion, where both parties go from light flustering to dedicated laughter and commitment. Where they both worship each other. It becomes sacred.

Anyways developing new Starcake lore, imagine what comes up next

[illogarithmil]

This week in "VERY SERIOUS paramilitaries who you should take seriously"

[wizardteampod]

Need to buy and read Bloodmarked before our spoiler-heavy season?

Head over to our list on Black Nerds Create's Bookshop where you can not only get Bloodmarked but also the other books we've covered on the podcast!

Buying from Bookshop supports both us AND indie bookstores with no extra cost to you!

[reloaderror]

all my colleagues are nerds, possibly also weebs

[sammyscloset]

Join Our Groups!

Hello you absolutely beautiful souls! I wanted to thank everyone who has stumbled upon my page and interacted with my posts, it means a lot to me. I really love sharing the things I am interested in with the world through shopping and its great finding people who have the same interests as me. So thank you for all the kindness and I would love for everyone to join our Facebook group and add our other socials so we can get this family growing. This is a fun, expressive safe place for everyone. If you love shopping, anime, art, nerdy stuff and all around randomness, then you've most certainly come to the right place. Please feel free to stick around for a while and enjoy your shopping adventure here at Sammy's Closet. :) <3

*thank you for your patience through all of this. I am still new to setting up and running a blog and multiple pages. If you have any advice or suggestions please feel free to tell me. As a content creator, your opinions/voices mean the word to me.*

Facebook Group Online Deal Lovers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1154516535957369/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/samuel29911992/

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[doctor-meaty]

Hallows End 0.4% Mount Drop

Hallows End 0.4% Mount Drop

[HTTPS://LINKTR.EE/DOCTORMEATY]

[jazikatxox]

✨SCHEDULE✨

Trying out posting this on Tumblr since nobody even sees my content on Twitter anymore lol

Wed: Star Trek Online: hopefully not getting my traits reset

Thurs: Seeing if I can finally beat that one mission in Bridge Commander!!! AAAAAAAAAAA

Fri: A SURPRISE that will be fun & interactive. Doctor Who fans who share my sense of humor may enjoy this one. 😏

MY TWITCH CHANNEL: https://twitch.tv/jazikatxox

[cauterisen]

contemplating where i should put kimiko in an hsr/hsr adjacent verse...

[mostlysignssomeportents]

China hacked Verizon, AT&T and Lumen using the FBI’s backdoor

On OCTOBER 23 at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

State-affiliated Chinese hackers penetrated AT&T, Verizon, Lumen and others; they entered their networks and spent months intercepting US traffic – from individuals, firms, government officials, etc – and they did it all without having to exploit any code vulnerabilities. Instead, they used the back door that the FBI requires every carrier to furnish:

https://www.wsj.com/tech/cybersecurity/u-s-wiretap-systems-targeted-in-china-linked-hack-327fc63b?st=C5ywbp&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

In 1994, Bill Clinton signed CALEA into law. The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act requires every US telecommunications network to be designed around facilitating access to law-enforcement wiretaps. Prior to CALEA, telecoms operators were often at pains to design their networks to resist infiltration and interception. Even if a telco didn't go that far, they were at the very least indifferent to the needs of law enforcement, and attuned instead to building efficient, robust networks.

Predictably, CALEA met stiff opposition from powerful telecoms companies as it worked its way through Congress, but the Clinton administration bought them off with hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to acquire wiretap-facilitation technologies. Immediately, a new industry sprang into being; companies that promised to help the carriers hack themselves, punching back doors into their networks. The pioneers of this dirty business were overwhelmingly founded by ex-Israeli signals intelligence personnel, though they often poached senior American military and intelligence officials to serve as the face of their operations and liase with their former colleagues in law enforcement and intelligence.

Telcos weren't the only opponents of CALEA, of course. Security experts – those who weren't hoping to cash in on government pork, anyways – warned that there was no way to make a back door that was only useful to the "good guys" but would keep the "bad guys" out.

These experts were – then as now – dismissed as neurotic worriers who simultaneously failed to understand the need to facilitate mass surveillance in order to keep the nation safe, and who lacked appropriate faith in American ingenuity. If we can put a man on the moon, surely we can build a security system that selectively fails when a cop needs it to, but stands up to every crook, bully, corporate snoop and foreign government. In other words: "We have faith in you! NERD HARDER!"

NERD HARDER! has been the answer ever since CALEA – and related Clinton-era initiatives, like the failed Clipper Chip program, which would have put a spy chip in every computer, and, eventually, every phone and gadget:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip

America may have invented NERD HARDER! but plenty of other countries have taken up the cause. The all-time champion is former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who, when informed that the laws of mathematics dictate that it is impossible to make an encryption scheme that only protects good secrets and not bad ones, replied, "The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia":

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-laws-of-australia-will-trump-the-laws-of-mathematics-turnbull/

CALEA forced a redesign of the foundational, physical layer of the internet. Thankfully, encryption at the protocol layer – in the programs we use – partially counters this deliberately introduced brittleness in the security of all our communications. CALEA can be used to intercept your communications, but mostly what an attacker gets is "metadata" ("so-and-so sent a message of X bytes to such and such") because the data is scrambled and they can't unscramble it, because cryptography actually works, unlike back doors. Of course, that's why governments in the EU, the US, the UK and all over the world are still trying to ban working encryption, insisting that the back doors they'll install will only let the good guys in:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/05/theyre-still-trying-to-ban-cryptography/

Any back door can be exploited by your adversaries. The Chinese sponsored hacking group know as Salt Typhoon intercepted the communications of hundreds of millions of American residents, businesses, and institutions. From that position, they could do NSA-style metadata-analysis, malware injection, and interception of unencrypted traffic. And they didn't have to hack anything, because the US government insists that all networking gear ship pre-hacked so that cops can get into it.

This isn't even the first time that CALEA back doors have been exploited by a hostile foreign power as a matter of geopolitical skullduggery. In 2004-2005, Greece's telecommunications were under mass surveillance by US spy agencies who wiretapped Greek officials, all the way up to the Prime Minister, in order to mess with the Greek Olympic bid:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_wiretapping_case_2004%E2%80%9305

This is a wild story in so many ways. For one thing, CALEA isn't law in Greece! You can totally sell working, secure networking gear in Greece, and in many other countries around the world where they have not passed a stupid CALEA-style law. However the US telecoms market is so fucking huge that all the manufacturers build CALEA back doors into their gear, no matter where it's destined for. So the US has effectively exported this deliberate insecurity to the whole planet – and used it to screw around with Olympic bids, the most penny-ante bullshit imaginable.

Now Chinese-sponsored hackers with cool names like "Salt Typhoon" are traipsing around inside US telecoms infrastructure, using the back doors the FBI insisted would be safe.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/07/foreseeable-outcomes/#calea

Image: Kris Duda, modified https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahorcado/5433669707/

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[keeksandgigz]

okay okay hear me out-

modern eddie and his witchy gf. crystals, incense, tarot, palm readings, the whole shabang.

he lets her give him a reading.

“Look, Ed! the empress means that you have a significant female figure in your life” and he’s loving this because he’s a nerd and it ties perfectly with his DnD affiliations, but he’s also a man.

“What card is gonna tell me i’m gonna get some sick pussy in like five minutes?”

And then you whack him in the head.

[ham1lton]

sebastian’s angel.

pairings: sebastian vettel x actress!reader

faceclaim: lucy liu.

summary: when you start attending sebastian’s races, people speculate that perhaps you’re friends or it’s a pr deal for the company you’re both affiliated to. that’s until your instagram post sets the internet aflame.

— part six of my 500 followers celebration ♡ —

liked by ynswifey, yourbffname and 1,383,829 others.

yourusername: newest covergirl of elle magazine. not too shabby right? we talked about my newest movie, my essentials, my f1 obsession and if i could keep that furry jacket.

view all comments

user8: did u keep the jacket?

-> yourusername: yes! 😁

user1: omg queen of looking stunning from every angle.

-> user2: her JAWLINE 😩

user6: watched charlie’s angels and i think i had my gay awakening.

-> user7: real omg.

yourbffname: thats my gf y’all 😘😏

-> yourusername: love you more than heaven and earth <33

user9: girlie since when were you an f1 fan?

-> user12: worlds colliding. can’t believe my favourite actress is an f1 fan!!

-> hater2: i bet she only thirsts over the drivers 😒

-> user8: boy stfu. look at HER. if anything, they’d be thirsting over her. stay mad bitch!

————————————————————————

————————————————————————

liked by messyuser1, messyuser2 and 134,728 others.

ham1ltonshaderoom: charlie’s angels’ actress y/n l/n has been photographed attending many f1 races recently. meeting fans in silverstone and now currently being in italy. rumours are swirling about a potential romance with an f1 driver, what are your thoughts ham1ltons?

view all comments

user1: she could get a billionaire. i doubt it.

user7: i am hoping for it to be a contract thing because i want her to date cillian murphy. the chemistry in that movie was insane!!

user8: guys… she stated herself she’s just a big fan? why is everyone jumping to the conclusion that she has to be there for a guy??

-> user67: because why not.

user98: she was seen there with her charlie’s angel’s coworkers so maybe it’s for promo for the next instalment?

user72: JENSONY/N SUPREMACY 😩

-> user2: NANDOY/N SUPREMACY 😩

-> user94: USER94Y/N SUPREMACY 😩

————————————————————————

liked by jensonbutton, okmagazine and 1,272,938 others

yourusername: sometimes, the nerd gets the girl.

view all comments

user7: AHHHHHHHHH

user6: OMG? POWER COUPLE ??

user56: hard launch of the century my god.

-> user8: she said no posting until i get that ring on my finger and she kinda ate…

jensonbutton: gorgeous wedding! would have been better if i was the groom 😉.

-> user5: babe i’ll be ur bride 😍

-> user80: MESSY ASF 😭

yourbffname: seb rocking the stache. gotta respect it.

-> yourusername: begged him to shave but it grew on me.

user2: are u sure this isn’t a soft launch for nico? 🤨

-> user56: love seeing delusional people roaming social media. makes my day to know i’m not alone thanks 👍🏻

————————————————————————

author’s note: just wanted to let you know, in preparation for this smau, i watched a shit ton of sebastian edits on tiktok. i did that purely for this and not at ALL for my own personal interest…. anyways shout out to the girlies editing seb to sexyy red because that’s absolutely my niche. also shout out to the anon that wanted this fic, posted it just for u babe <3333

[crowtwink]

This is Curt Leviant's translation! I highly recommend picking up the full volume if you can - it's only about $20 new and includes a series of incredibly interesting and well written essays discussing the historical and specifically Jewish context of the text.

I was thin on reading material here until I realized I had saved this online document to my phone after coming across the link on tumblr a while ago. It's an English translation of part of the Arthur story written in Hebrew in 1279 ad and it's fascinating. Comments to follow! (Please note that I am not very familiar with Jewish or rabbinical literature; I hope to be respectful, and welcome any correction or clarification.)

[echoingspectrum]

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑃𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑡

☆ pairing : gamer!streamer!dan heng・character!reader

☆ synopsis : how does it feel to be in dan heng's shoes and vice versa?

☆ word count : 1.1k words

☆ cw : ooc!dan heng・that's all~ here's the headcanon!

⌗ Oh, how the tables have turned~ Instead of the usual gamer you and character Dan Heng, this time it's the other way around, with Dan Heng behind the screen and you as the newest character that developers have introduced to the game in the early version. 

⌗ I imagine Dan Heng plays Honkai Star Rail 24/7, so he knows every lore like the back of his hand. He must have a deeper understanding of the game mechanics and its attributes, creating a sense of career for this game. Like a cute nerd he is~

⌗ Not only is he a gamer, he's also a streamer. He streams moderately, sharing tips and tricks with his fellow gamers, but he is known to stream Honkai Star Rail contents. He enjoys engaging with his audience and discussing strategies, making him a valuable resource for the gaming community. 

⌗ He even streams with his fellow streamers, especially with Caelus. They often get labeled by the viewers as the chaotic duo due to their dynamic and entertaining banter during gameplay. 

⌗ Now, let's proceed to you~

⌗ With version 2.4 approaching, there was a leak of your character saying that you'd be one of the important figures of one of the Xianzhou Alliance, and everyone was suspecting that you'd either be one of the swordsmen or the arbiter-general, similarly to Jingyuan or Jingliu. 

⌗ Do you know the Silhouttes marketing drip that the HSR developers posted? There were eight of them⏤including you. Ever since the new March 7th drip marketing, everyone has been hyped for the following characters that are soon to be released. 

⌗ There are four characters hailing from the Yaoqing, others from the Zhuming, and March categorize in Luofu. One in particular that caught their attention is your silhouette banner, which illustrates your figure with your desired weapon in your grasp, bird crane origami surrounding you, and a subtle winged dragon shadow hovering in the background.

⌗ Meanwhile, Dan Heng, being one of the lore fanatics, has speculated that you may be one of the Vidyadhara species like Bailu⏤Correction. He's not just speculating; he's certain of his theory. Despite the lack of the draconic features in your character, you're somehow linked to the Vidyadhara race.

⌗ The developers dropped an animation where the five high elders of Vidyadhara are shown, and one of them bears a striking resemblance to your silhouetted character. This has sparked even more speculation from Dan Heng about your true identity and affiliation to the Vidyadhara race. 

⌗ Despite you're in a cameo, Dan Heng is captivated by your character design; it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The developers must increase their efforts to include more details about your character in future updates to satisfy the demands of players. 

⌗ Although he notices that you lack the draconic features present in the other high elders, this would mean that your hidden role must be disclosed in later updates. 

⌗ While streaming, Dan Heng nonchalantly talks about you and the design itself, even theorizing what unit you will be in the future and the most effective relics that would give you massive damage. 

⌗ Do you guys know those informative videos where content creators break down every aspect of a character's abilities, potential damage, which lightcone suits them, or what pieces of relics would give them a buff? Dan Heng is one of those, except he's quite immersive when it comes to you.

⌗ The audience quickly notices how passionate Dan Heng is, and they labeled him as a SIMP for you. He himself hasn't noticed how well absorbed he is into you, which is terrifying to say the least.

⌗ Imagine the day when the new patch was released and Xianzhou had added a recent interlude story mission, which somehow ties to you and other characters, and Dan Heng immediately logged in to the game with breakneck speed. 

⌗ Do you guys know that every time a new story is added to the game, there's the main cover of the chapter? Where are all the major characters going to be included in the story? Yeah⏤that's basically what Den Heng is seeing right now! There's a midnight-isque backdrop, and the characters are having a smile on their faces, enjoying whatever the heck they are doing. But that's not what Den Heng is focused on.

⌗ In the corner of the cover, there's a suspicious figure in a clay blue colored cloak that seems to be hanging around with several children who are all circling around the figure. Squinting his eyes, he sees a tuff of your hair out of the cloak. He's now certain that you'll be part of the story somehow. 

⌗ During the story, Dan Heng ( he's streaming the walkthrough ) secretly basks at every moment of your screen time; he screamed internally at your first appearance⏤or every time of your appearances; he would take a minute or so to glance at your expression and design every chance he gets. His fangirl moment. 

⌗ Your voice was pleasant to hear. The audience started to spam him with SIMP texts in the chats or even memes due to his not-so-subtle, flustered reactions. Overall, he enjoyed the mission story. Because you were in it.

⌗ Now, he's waiting for anyone who leaks your gameplay.⏤Who am I kidding…HE'S THE ONE WHO LEAKS YOUR GAMEPLAY AND IDLE ANIMATION. He may seem to be a reserved guy, but mentally, he's zealous. He enjoys and approves your gameplay and animation because they are appropriate to your character and your aesthetic. 

⌗ One of your idle animations consists of creating a bird crane origami and letting it fly away, watching it with awe. A unique feature of this is that for each bird crane origami you've created, different colors and patterns are displayed.

⌗ Another idle animation of yours is⏤since in your default form, you appeared to be human. Then clouds materialize and envelope your figure. With a burst of wind, it showed your Vidyadhara form. 

⌗ In your gameplay, however, before entering the battle, you were still in your default form. Following entering a battle, you've changed into your Vidyadhara form, draconic features and all. Similar mechanics with Firefly/SAM. Your author is biased when it comes to dragon-based characters. I'll let you imagine your basic attack, skills, and ult. 

⌗ Once your banner is dropped, oh boy…Dan Heng is going to E6 and S5 of you and your signature lightcone. AND HE FRICKING DID! Giving you the best relic and maximizing your talents. Every battle he encounters, he always wins, and hearing your triumphant voice line, he's proud of himself. This guy is fucking devoted y'all. If only I had money, then I could E6 Imbibitor Lunae. 

⌗ He subtly boasts you and your build to his viewers and his fellow streamers. Caelus lost his 50/50 in your banner and got Bailu instead, but at least it's also a Vidyadhara. Overall, Dan Heng adores your character and loves to see more of you in the future patches. 

[sinful-lanterns]

Ok, so I saw the Chelsea pearl cum thirst and for obvious reasons my mind went to oviposition, and then I got the best idea ever.

I present to you...

✨Path to Nowhere Monster AU!✨

Reader a regular, everyday citizen somehow finds herself in the middle of many monsters getting infatuated with her then they proceed to try court reader and make her their mate.

I got a good list of what type of monsters I think the sinners would be, I also wanted to keep a variety of monsters so there aren't any doubles.

Cheif - Witch

Nightingale - Cheif's apprentice or familiar

Uni - Frankenstein Monster

Cinnabar - Centaur

Ninety-Nine - Hellhound

Rahu - Werewolf

Oak Casket - Litch or something else undead/ that affiliates with dead things

Hamel - Puppet or Kraken

NOX - Grim Reapper

Bai Yi - Jinn (I looked it up and jinns move super fast and can phase through solid matter.)

Serpent - Naga

Shalom - Fallen Angel

Lamia - Siren

Chealse - Gorgon (She turns people into gems instaed of stone, she can turn things into gems with physical contact too, oh and her hair can shift between human hair and snake hair.)

Cassia - Vampire

Eirene - Dragon

Stargazer - Geinie

Conquelic - Succubus

Garofano - Drider(Half human, half spider)

Deren - Reality Bending Eldritch Horror (I don't have a name for her monster specifically but she'd be some kind of godly horror.)

This is all I have right now, but feel free to use and change whatever you wish!

This is an old thirst but I’ve been saving it for when I was ready to share my thoughts on it 😌

ANYWAYS HHHHHHH. Monster girls are my obsession rn. Rather than an ordinary citizen though, I imagine Reader could be like a curious researcher who likes to document and explore different territories in which monsters inhabit. As she is wandering aimlessly for her research though, she stumbles upon various different monster women (many of which want to claim Reader for themselves) and it leads to interesting scenarios with them and the poor Researcher.

Researcher! Reader who oftentimes finds herself in the coils of a lamia, trapped in the web of a drider/arachne, or stuck in the middle of a vampire orgy while on her expeditions. Multiple times has she been the object of these monsters’ affection, yet all she wants to do is finish her guidebook on monsters and biology 😅

Oh, poor Reader… unfortunately for her, monster girls are attracted to cute oblivious nerds 😭😭

[trashpandacraft]

hey, fellow fibre nerds, if you've always wanted to take classes about fibre stuff but hate going places (or learning in front of people or whatever), here's your chance.

abby franquemont runs an online school called franquemont university. there are real-time classes (usually at 5pm gmt), but there's also a ton of recorded classes about spinning and andean backstrap weaving, and the real-time classes are recorded and posted so those of us who can't make that can watch them. there's also a discord with channels for every class where you can talk about it and get help.

we signed up the other day and y'all, it's so fucking great. i'm a pretty adequate spinner, but we started watching spinning one, which is... you know, spinning for beginners, and i'm incredibly annoyed but also pleased to report that i've already learned things that are making me a better spinner. i also started watching the spinning for socks class, which is four hours of discussion about spinning for socks!

they have a whole learn to spin series, several levels of andean weaving classes that teach you both how to do the weaving and also present it in the appropriate cultural context, a course about drafting styles, one on yarn design, on ply structures, on using bast fibres...

there's a *ton* of stuff, and i can already tell i'm gonna learn so much. it's $45 usd a month, which is a lot if you think of it as a streaming service, but is an incredible deal if you think if it as unlimited access to classes, which is really what it is. there are even office hours, where you can drop in and ask about specific stuff.

it's all on discord, zoom, and youtube, so it's pretty easy to use, and i'm really, really liking it.

i'm not affiliated with them or anything, i just think it's cool and thought some of you might be into it.