#automation and control panel systems

[amanrefrigeration]

At  Aman Refrigeration, we redefine control and automation, empowering industries with tailor-made solutions that optimize processes, enhance productivity, and ensure seamless operations. Trust in our expertise to deliver state-of-the-art Automation And Control Panel Systems, setting new standards for innovation and performance in the industrial landscape.

[ramautomations123]

Praxis Lips Series PCB Module 4054 | Industrial Control Solutions | Ram Automations

Discover the Praxis Lips Series PCB Module 4054, a highly reliable solution for your industrial control and automation needs. This PCB module is designed to offer superior performance, stability, and integration flexibility for various industrial systems. Perfect for enhancing the efficiency of your automation setup, the Praxis Lips 4054 ensures smooth operations across multiple industrial applications.

At Ram Automations, we are committed to delivering genuine and top-quality industrial automation products from global leaders. Trust our expertise to find the right parts that drive your operations forward.

🛒 Get the Praxis Lips Series PCB Module 4054 Now 👉 https://ramautomations.com/products/praxis-lips-series-pcb-module-4054-used

🌐 Explore Full Product Range 👉 https://ramautomations.com

🧩 Product Specifications

• 🔹 Brand: Praxis Lips • 🔹 Model: 4054 • 🔹 Type: PCB Module • 🔹 Category: Industrial Automation, Control Components • 🔹 Applications: Control Systems, Automation Processes, Machine Integration

✅ Key Features

✔️ High-grade PCB construction ensuring durability and reliability ✔️ Optimized for critical industrial control and automation applications ✔️ Easy integration with multiple industrial systems ✔️ Compact design, saving valuable space in complex assemblies ✔️ Reliable signal processing for uninterrupted operations ✔️ Designed to support long-term usage without performance loss

💡 Applications Include:

• Factory Automation • Control Panel Systems • Industrial Process Automation • Manufacturing Line Control • Machine Tool Automation • Robotics Integration • Energy Management Systems • PLC and SCADA Implementations • Power Distribution and Control Solutions

🌟 Why Choose Ram Automations?

✅ Genuine industrial parts from top brands ✅ Competitive pricing across all categories ✅ Fast and reliable worldwide shipping ✅ Expert assistance for all your industrial automation needs

🎥 What You’ll See in This Video:

🔍 Detailed Look at the Praxis Lips Series PCB Module 4054 🔧 How to integrate this PCB Module into your industrial setup 💡 Advantages of upgrading your system with Praxis Lips 4054 🌍 Why Ram Automations is your trusted industrial partner

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[smarthomesnap]

Top Smart Garden & Outdoor Tech for 2025: The Future of Connected Outdoor Living 

As smart technology continues to evolve, its influence is reaching beyond the walls of the home and into our gardens, patios, and outdoor spaces. The rise of intelligent outdoor solutions has made it easier than ever to maintain beautiful landscapes, improve energy efficiency, and enhance outdoor entertainment. The top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025 offers homeowners an exciting glimpse into the future of outdoor living—where convenience, sustainability, and innovation all come together. 

The Rise of Smart Gardening Technology 

Maintaining a healthy and vibrant garden once meant constant attention, hands-on effort, and detailed knowledge of weather patterns and soil conditions. But with the arrival of the top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025, traditional gardening has entered the digital age. Smart gardening tools can now monitor environmental conditions, automate watering, and even offer recommendations based on real-time data. These technologies are making gardening more accessible for beginners while giving seasoned enthusiasts better control over their outdoor spaces. 

Automated Irrigation Systems for Effortless Watering 

Among the most impactful advances in the top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025 are automated irrigation systems. These intelligent watering solutions can adapt to weather forecasts, soil moisture levels, and specific plant needs to deliver the right amount of water at the right time. By avoiding overwatering and minimizing waste, they help conserve water and support sustainable gardening practices. Homeowners can remotely control their irrigation systems and receive alerts for maintenance or system updates, ensuring consistent and efficient performance. 

Smart Lighting Solutions for Outdoor Ambiance and Safety 

Outdoor lighting has traditionally been functional, but in 2025, it's evolving into a core element of garden design and home security. The top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025 includes advanced lighting systems that offer motion detection, voice control, and automation features. These systems enhance both aesthetics and safety, allowing you to illuminate pathways, patios, and garden beds with personalized lighting scenes. Integration with home assistants and mobile apps ensures seamless control over brightness, color, and scheduling, all tailored to your lifestyle. 

Connected Weather Monitoring and Environmental Sensors 

Another innovation transforming outdoor spaces is the use of connected weather stations and environmental sensors. These smart devices collect hyper-local data on temperature, humidity, rainfall, and soil conditions, helping users make informed gardening decisions. As part of the top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025, these sensors are becoming more accurate and more affordable. By syncing with other smart devices, they can automatically trigger watering, shade systems, or notifications, all based on real-time changes in the environment. 

Robot Lawn Mowers for Hands-Free Yard Maintenance 

Yard work has long been a weekend chore, but with robotic lawn care solutions, mowing the grass is now something your garden can take care of itself. The top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025 includes self-operating lawn mowers that navigate your yard with precision, avoiding obstacles and returning to their charging stations when finished. These devices offer adjustable cutting heights, customizable schedules, and quiet operation. They’re perfect for busy homeowners who want to keep their lawns pristine with minimal effort. 

Smart Grilling and Outdoor Cooking Enhancements 

Entertaining outdoors is a favorite pastime, and in 2025, technology is transforming backyard cooking into a smart experience. The top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025 includes devices that monitor cooking temperatures, track grilling times, and send alerts directly to your phone. With app integration, these tools help ensure food is cooked perfectly every time. Whether you're preparing for a family barbecue or an evening gathering, smart cooking technology allows you to focus on your guests while maintaining control over your meals. 

Wireless Outdoor Speakers and Entertainment Tech 

In addition to functional improvements, smart outdoor tech is also elevating how we enjoy our time outside. The top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025 features weather-resistant speakers, projection systems, and ambient music setups that connect effortlessly with voice assistants and mobile apps. These devices are designed for outdoor durability while offering rich, high-quality sound and visual experiences. With smart control, you can manage playlists, volume, and lighting for a cohesive outdoor ambiance. 

Automated Shade and Climate Control Solutions 

Managing sun exposure and outdoor comfort has never been easier thanks to automated shade systems. These high-tech solutions are part of the top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025, offering responsive control over awnings, pergolas, and umbrellas. Based on sunlight intensity or user preference, these systems adjust to block excessive heat and UV rays, helping to maintain a pleasant outdoor environment. Integrated sensors and scheduling features allow them to react in real time or follow programmed patterns. 

Garden Health Monitoring and Smart Plant Care 

The health of your plants is at the heart of any successful garden. The top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025 includes plant monitoring systems that use sensors to track vital data such as soil pH, moisture, sunlight exposure, and nutrient levels. These systems sync with mobile apps to provide tailored advice and reminders. Whether you're growing herbs, flowers, or vegetables, smart plant care tools can boost yields, reduce guesswork, and encourage healthier growth. 

Security Enhancements for Outdoor Areas 

Outdoor areas are often the first line of defense for home security, and smart technology is making this aspect more intelligent and responsive. The top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025 incorporates motion detectors, outdoor cameras, and perimeter sensors that integrate with your home’s larger security system. These tools provide real-time alerts, live video access, and automated deterrents such as lighting or alarms. They offer both convenience and peace of mind for homeowners looking to secure their outdoor spaces. 

Sustainability and Eco-Conscious Smart Solutions 

Sustainability is at the core of many innovations in 2025. The top smart garden & outdoor tech reflects a growing emphasis on eco-friendly design, from solar-powered lighting to water-saving irrigation and composting systems with digital tracking. These tools not only enhance outdoor living but also support environmentally responsible choices. With data-driven insights, users can reduce waste, lower their carbon footprint, and create more resilient outdoor environments. 

Conclusion: Redefining Outdoor Living with Smart Innovation 

The top smart garden & outdoor tech for 2025 represents a new era of intelligent outdoor living. From self-watering gardens and robotic lawn care to immersive entertainment and enhanced security, smart outdoor technology is transforming how we experience and maintain our exterior spaces. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or simply looking to simplify your gardening routine, these tools offer practical and enjoyable ways to bring convenience, beauty, and sustainability into your backyard. 

[auto2mation1]

The Deckma 815.5-6 GL Automatic Fire Detection Alarm Indication Control System Panel is a reliable and efficient fire safety solution used in marine and industrial environments. Designed for fast fire detection and response, it features automatic alarm indication and easy control operation. The system ensures real-time monitoring and quick alerts to protect people, equipment, and property. Built to meet GL standards, it is suitable for demanding conditions. Trusted worldwide, this panel helps improve overall fire safety. Buy the Deckma 815.5-6 GL system from Auto2mation for dependable performance and peace of mind in critical safety applications.

[ecaico]

The Impact of IIoT on Modern Industrial Systems

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) significantly improves efficiency and sustainability in modern industrial operations. It plays a crucial role in transforming modern automation systems. The (IIoT) is widely used and drives industrial operations, especially in heavy industries such as cement and steel, to be smarter, more optimized, and highly connected. The (IIoT) is also applied in renewable energy industries to enhance the operation of stand-alone solar power systems and solar/wind hybrid power systems to improve efficiency. Furthermore, IIoT ensures process optimization, reduces operational costs, and enhances workplace safety.

for more about IIoT check the following link:

for more technical articles check the following link:

https://www.ecaico.com

[aeliyamarineinsights]

The Kongsberg 603528 Alarm Control Panel is a very important component in marine automation, designed to monitor and alert operators to potential issues on board. This advanced panel provides real-time alerts for various ship systems, ensuring quick response to emergencies. Its user-friendly interface and robust design make it ideal for harsh marine environments. The Kongsberg 603528 enhances operational safety by offering reliable, accurate alarms, helping prevent costly damage and downtime. Easy to integrate with existing systems, it supports efficient vessel management. Choose the Kongsberg 603528 for dependable, top- quality alarm control in marine operations.

[amanrefrigeration-111]

The Essential Features and Benefits of Automation Control Panels

Advantages of Automation Control Panels

Precision Temperature Control

Automation Systems provide precise temperature control, ensuring that cooling equipment operates within set parameters. This level of accuracy is vital for industries dealing with temperature-sensitive products and processes, such as pharmaceuticals, food storage, and data centers.

Energy Efficiency

At the core of automation is efficiency. These systems optimize the performance of refrigeration units, reducing energy consumption and operating costs. By enabling equipment to operate only when necessary and at ideal settings, businesses can significantly lower their utility bills.

Remote Monitoring and Control

Automation Systems facilitate remote monitoring and control of cooling equipment, a feature invaluable for businesses with multiple locations. This capability allows for real-time adjustments, diagnostics, and troubleshooting from a centralized control panel.

Predictive Maintenance

Utilizing data analysis and sensor technology, automation systems can predict maintenance needs before system failures occur. This proactive approach minimizes downtime and unexpected repair costs.

User-Friendly Interface

Control Panel Systems offer an intuitive user interface, making it easy for operators to set parameters, access historical data, and make necessary adjustments. The user-friendly design enhances the overall efficiency of cooling operations.

[renegadeelectrics]

Elevate your systems with Renegade Electrics' expert Control Panel Design in New Zealand. Our precision-crafted designs ensure seamless and efficient operations, tailored to your specific needs. Trust us to redefine your control experience with innovative solutions. Choose Renegade Electrics for top-tier Control Panel Designs, delivering excellence in every detail across New Zealand.

[emmajonesrwr]

Experience greatness in industrial controls through our believed mechanization organization. Whether you're confronting control panel troubleshooting or looking for state of the art arrangements, we take care of you. Our master group is devoted to guaranteeing smooth tasks and upgraded effectiveness for your frameworks. Depend on us for all your control framework prerequisites. https://sagaautomation.com

[hotheadedhero]

Reach, Retry, and Requital

AN: Almost a year after its initial publishing date, we finally have a part two omg. Better late than never, ay? XD Now the boys can finally make up for their mistakes

Part 1

Bay Turtles x Reader

Leonardo

Not much time had been wasted after talking to Splinter, springing into forthright action, the weight of those shared words settling into his chest. His father always had a way of cutting through the noise, of seeing the core of the matter with unsettling clarity. Leo knew what he had to do. He had to talk to you, truly talk, not just attempt to ambush you in the kitchen while you grabbed a quick snack, not just exchange polite pleasantries while you pass each other in short, fleeting beats. He needed to carve out a moment, a real moment, where he could lay bare his disarray and, of course, his regret.

Finding you was the first challenge. You were a ghost in the lair these days, flitting from room to room, always busy, always surrounded by others. It was like you were actively avoiding him, which, let's be honest, you were. He had figured that out long ago.

Finally, he finds you in the dojo, assisting Donnie with calibrating some new training equipment. The sight of you, focused and determined, sends a fresh wave of longing crashing over him. Despite the initial urge that had him barrelling in search of your person, he lingers in the doorway, watching you for a moment. The way the low light catches in your hair, how you laugh at something Donnie said. Small things - insignificant things - but they were yours, and he suddenly realised more just how much he missed them.

Donnie notices him first, offering a small, knowing smile before excusing himself with a mumbled, "Gotta check on Mikey's pizza-making experiment.” A lame, half-thought-out excuse, but the deliberateness of it isn’t missed by his brother. “Good luck, you two."

As he migrates from the dojo, Leo moves in just a couple paces. "Hey," he begins, trying to keep his voice casual, but the nervousness is palpable. "Can we talk?"

You stiffen slightly, your hands stilling on the control panel of the automated training dummy you had been working on. In all honesty, you’d like to go back to working on it and keep your mind away from the turtle who is awkwardly approaching you. Being dismissive of what he has to say, of him entirely, may be seen as calloused but the mere sight of him gets your system all up in a tizzy. All it does is remind you of the conversation that put this wedge between you in the first place.

You turn back to the project, a carefully neutral expression on your face. "About what, Leo?" The bluntness stings, and it’s a stark reminder of the distance that has grown between you two.

"About... us. About what happened..." He trails off, unsure how to articulate the jumbled mess of emotions swirling inside him.

You sigh, a sound that holds a strange mixture of weariness and resignation. "I thought we made our positions clear. You're a ninja, you have responsibilities. I understand that, and you made it abundantly clear how you feel about relationships. The last thing I want is to be a distraction."

A poor choice of words on his part. A remark by the very same brother who left, from a much prior altercation, rings in his head. Does he really know so little about feelings? The insensitivity of what comes out of his mouth before he can think about the ramifications? A hand smooths over his face as if trying to wipe away the idiocy and rid himself of his past discretion. This must have been how you felt, your side of the street. He thinks he knows why you’ve been so distant - understands why it had to come to such drastic measures in the first place.

"You already distract me." The words just kind of blurt out, quiet and raw.

And your expression softens, just a fraction, and he clings onto that flicker like some sacred wish. You try to battle the urge, but ultimately, you fall prey to it and crane your head back over to look at him. He’s still some distance away, not daring move until you give him some sign or reason to, and his stance tells you all you need to know. Yet, you can’t ignore the hurt. Your hurt. The hurt you’ve been feeling all this time.

"Leo," you say softly, "I care about you - I do - but I need to protect myself as well. I can't…” You take a heavy breath, reserving the tremble that tries to knock you down. “I can't be someone's second choice, someone's maybe-someday."

He finds that opportunity he had been looking for, steps closer, his gaze locked on yours. "You wouldn't be. Not anymore. I was wrong.” Another foot forward, still tentative in case it’s too close for your comfort. “Give me a chance to prove that I can be more than just a man of responsibility, that I can be the kind of person you deserve."

Silence hangs in the air, thick and heavy, and Leonardo reckons that he could probably wave his katana around and feel some resistance were he to try. He can see the unrest in your eyes, a battle between caution and hope. Each tick of the clock is a deafening reminder of what’s at stake: his atypically loud mind, both of your feelings, a relationship altogether, even just trying to reclaim the old one.

Eventually, you speak, your voice barely a whisper. "I... I don't know. I just don't know."

It’s not a no, but it isn’t a yes either: a small glimmer of hope for the glass-half-full positioned individual, but he can’t say whether he’s on grounds for that junction or not. For now, perhaps he could take it. The middle of the seesaw, going in neither direction, having to wait for an affirmative. Either that or you’re just keeping him suspended in uncertainty before you deliver the final blow. He would probably deserve it.

Just when he thinks it might well and truly be too late to rectify his unjust, you speak again, “I’m not gonna regret this, am I?”

If it wasn’t for the soft curve of your lips pointed up in his direction, he’d be solely focused on the sombre tone of your question. A glimmer of hope. It was there after all. He isn’t completely out of the dog house but it’s a start, as good a start as any.

Matching your smile, he finally closes the gap between the two of you and kneels. “Not as much as I’ve regretted turning you down in the first place.”

Leo will be the first to admit it’s corny but sounding a little cheesy is worth it to hear the light snort it gets out of you. Playfully, you roll your eyes and lazily push him away. If not anything else, he’s just missed being this close to you without you feeling the need to bolt from his presence. It would take time, but he’ll prove to you, and himself, that he’s worthy of another chance. He has a lot of work to do, and he’ll do it. For you.

Raphael

Raph pushes past Casey, not saying another word, just twisting and launching himself into the night, the anger directed squarely at himself. The adrenaline is pumping now as he bulldozes his way towards your apartment, fuelled by a potent cocktail of guilt, self-loathing, and a fierce need to atone. If not for the chance to make something of these feelings, at the very least he needs to apologise for the way he acted.

The trek through the city feels longer than usual. Every shadow seems to mock him, every stray sound amplifies his dread. He vaults over rooftops, his movements driven by a desperate urgency until, finally, he reaches your place. He hesitates atop the building just opposite yours, his hands pressing into the ledge. He suddenly feels unsure of himself. What is he going to say? How can he possibly undo the damage he’s caused? He needs to think about this carefully if he wants to avoid blabbering like an incomprehensible idiot.

Whilst mulling it over, he spots your silhouette inside, cleaning up from dinner, if he has to guess. You’re busy with your idle tasks but he can see the tension radiating off of you in waves. Raph's heart clenches. Tense because of him, no doubt, and if Casey knows that he made you cry, it’s likely his brothers know too. That would explain their assistance in keeping you out of reach. If he can commemorate his family for anything, it’s for protecting you, even if it’s from him as much as that fact burns. You’re a beautiful spirit who gets along with most of anyone, and he had treated you like the very joke he thought you were playing on him. Thick-headed irony. He could berate himself with all the names under the sun, but that isn’t going to get him anywhere. He just needs to take that first step forward. Do something about it.

But despite being no stranger to making amends for his behaviour, this feels different. If he gets in a fight with one of his brothers, they always forgive each other eventually. That’s what families do, it’s part of the description, but this is you. Even if he lays out everything, will you forgive him so easily? Can he forgive himself?

The pacing comes to a halt, and he huffs quietly. It’s just like a bandaid - he needs to rip it off. He doesn’t want it to seem as though he’s ensnaring you in the comfort of your own home, somewhere you can’t escape from, but he also doesn’t know when or where he’ll get an opportunity alone without his brothers forming a protective barrier around you.

Raph jogs on the spot, smacks his face a couple times, does the few things he can think to do to psyche himself up before easing himself onto the fire escape and tapping on your window. The sound almost makes you jump, but you’re quick to open it up for him. He barely has a chance to lousily mumble your name when you hurriedly pull him in. Wrecked nerves and distancing aside, the last thing either of you needs is a neighbouring wanderer spotting a man-sized turtle hanging from your window.

The moment he’s inside, you shoot the blinds down and whip your attention towards him. “Raph, what are you doing here?”

Maybe it’s because you were so quick to pull him in, or the concern where he thought he’d be met with fear, but the breath in his lungs suddenly abandons him. The floor groans beneath his restless feet as he fidgets back and forth, although barely surpassing an inch with each movement. For a cold-blooded creature, he’s almost certain he’s working up a cold sweat, but he’s here now. There’s no point in drawing this out any longer than it has to.

“I came to apologise for what I said. How I acted.” The tense fingers at his sides clench further. “I didn’t know I made you cry, and I’m sorry. You didn’t- don’t deserve that. Not ever.”

This isn’t enough. It’ll likely never be enough at this rate. Each word out of his mouth doesn’t feel sincere, doesn’t make up for or even come close to truly demonstrating how sorry he is. Everything is solely meant but he knows he needs to knock down some more walls before you can see, genuinely see just how much he regrets himself. Your stare hones in on him expectantly, and his head rolls over his shoulders, trying to alleviate the knots in his neck.

"Truth is, I was scared. I thought there was no way you could actually feel that way about me. A freak." He winces at the words, hating how they sound out loud, but he misses the way your brows hood over your eyes, keeping his on the floor.

He takes a deep breath, the sensation barely lukewarm against his chest. Somehow, he feels smaller than you at this moment despite his hulking figure. All you can do is watch him, studying his posture, the lines etched into his face, the way his hands are balled into fists at his sides. Remorse warring with his stubborn pride; unequivocally contrite and vulnerable in a way you’ve rarely seen.

He hates how he dismissed your feelings, how he rejected your attempt at admitting yourself to him, how he ignored the pull of his own heart towards you for the sake of stupid self-preservation. If he had even given himself a glimmer of belief that you could feel some kind of way about him, neither of you would be in this mess. But he’s getting too caught up in the ‘whys’ when he should be focusing on the simple matter that what he did, what he said to you was completely unjustified.

"Look, you don't gotta forgive me. I ain't even expecting you to say nothing. Just know that I'm sorry I yelled and that if I could go back and do it again..."

His lips press shut to save himself from adding to this already sappy display, and it’s no wonder he hasn’t had anything back yet. You’re weighing something up - probably something big. He's just waiting for you to lash out, to fling back the fire he had so unceremoniously bestowed onto you. Befittingly, give him a taste of his own medicine. Instead, he hears your feet shift away from him, the sound strangely loud in the small space, followed by a quiet creak and some shuffling. When he risks a glance in your direction, you’re on your couch, a hand laid out on the neighbouring cushion.

"Here, let me tell you something.” You gesture for him and, warily, he sits beside you, the unsuspecting pillows gasping beneath his weight. “Don’t get me wrong, the yelling was a touch excessive,” you lightly laugh, downcast, “but I wasn't necessarily upset about that. I was upset because you didn't believe me. Raph, why in the world would I ever lie or joke about something like that?"

"You ain't bein' serious," he breathes out, marginally humoured, predominantly pained. "Look at me."

"I'm looking,” you retort quickly. “What's the problem, hm?"

He had a whole set ready, he swears, but the way you look at him instantly shuts him up. Never in all his years did he think that someone so beautiful could gaze upon him with such endearment, such adoration, though you’re mostly creased up with this stern glower. He doesn’t have an answer for you. All he can think to do is latch onto this thread and run with it.

"Does that mean… we can give this a shot then?" he asks quietly.

"On one condition," you barter, and the soft hand to his cheek almost makes him crumble.  "I know that head of yours works in funny ways, but I would never lie to you. Okay? Have faith in my word." 

Raph searches your face for any doubt, any sign that the dumb parts of his brain can possibly pick up to beat himself down again, and when he sees none, he slowly smiles. "I think I can do that."

You grin back only to get all pinched. “And one more thing.” You flick the space between his eyes and he blinks frantically from the sheer audacity alone. “Call yourself a freak again and I’ll have your head.”

He points a glare down at you, but it’s threatless. He can’t fight the tug on his lips with your scrunched face beaming up at him, nor does he want to with this fresh breath, this sense of a new start. There may be some rocky terrain to overcome, but just knowing that you see him for more than what he is on the outside is enough for him.

Donatello

Donatello spent the next several hours poring over Vern's advice, scribbling frantic notes on his datapad. Vern’s "field experience," as Donnie had so generously put it, seemed to revolve largely around retaining a smarmy bravado, casually nonchalant, half-attentive one-liners, pretending to be more confident than he is, and questionable fashion choices. He had suspected that this advice would be a mixed bag of dubious strategies, but there were still some surprisingly insightful points. He sifted through the static, disregarding about 90% of it, isolating the core principles: communication, understanding, and most importantly, acknowledging the other person's feelings. Easier said than done when he wasn't even sure what your feelings were.

The next few days were a blur of nervous energy and thorough planning. He felt like he was deciphering a complex algorithm, one where the variables were emotions and the output was… a date? He still wasn't entirely sure. He needed something subtle. Something that would resonate with you. Something him. He considered presenting you with a meticulously coded program designed to optimise your favourite hobby, but dismissed it as too nerdy, even for him. He then thought about building a miniature robot that would follow you around, showering you with compliments, but that bordered on creepy. None of these ideas seemed to feel right.

He was a disaster. A romantically inept, highly intelligent disaster. The truth is, he’s paralysed with fear of messing this up. He’s a genius when it comes to technology but the book of love is a series of intricate formulas he can’t seem to crack.

Days turned into a week, filled with agonising internal debates and discarded plans. He noticed you even less now, afraid that you'd see the turmoil in his eyes. He'd catch glimpses of you laughing with Mikey, strategising with Leo, or even helping Raph with his sai sharpening; each encounter a painful reminder of his own inaction.

Finally, he decided that the best course of action was to go with his gut. He was a scientist, after all. He'd treat this like an experiment: observe, analyse, and adjust his approach as needed. He started by paying closer attention to your interactions with the others: the way you'd patiently explain things to Mikey, the strategic insights you'd offer Leo, and the way you'd subtly tease Raph to ease his tension. He realised that you valued connection, humour, and intelligence. Armed with this admittedly very basic data, he devised a plan. A low-key, Donnie-esque plan.

One afternoon, you’re sitting at the main table of the kitchen, sketching something in your notebook alone, and he sees his chance. Taking a deep breath, he walks over, clutching a small, metallic object in his hand. His feet shuffle, suddenly forgetting all the carefully crafted lines he'd memorised.

"Hey," he greets, his voice a little higher than usual.

You look up, eyes clumsily shifting around before landing on him again. "Uh, hey, Donnie. Something I can help you with?"

He swallows, watchful of your uneasiness, but presses on nonetheless. "Actually, I wanted to show you something."

He holds out his hand, revealing a small, beautifully crafted origami crane, made entirely from thin wafers of aluminium, circuits and wires. A lot of his craftsmanship typically focuses on practicality and efficiency rather than aesthetic appeal but he knew he had to work on that for this particular occasion. If he were to say so himself, he’s rather proud of the outcome.

"Oh." Not exactly the reaction he was hoping for, and the perturbed cross of your brows only racks his nerves that much more. “You made this?”

He nods, cheeks flushing slightly. Whether it be from bashfulness or embarrassment, he can’t tell. “I was experimenting with conductive materials and, well, I thought you might appreciate it."

Considering how the last couple of months have been, you’re not entirely sure what you should say. A gift? Something that he made for you? He appears to be evasive of the true nature but you’re suspecting that he specifically made this with you in mind. It doesn’t do much to subside your confusion, but you can tell he’s hanging by a thin string for your reaction. Gradually, you take the crane, turning it over in your hands. It is rather pretty. You still can’t quite figure out why he’d do this but he may just threaten to split at the seams if you don’t say something more.

“It’s… beautiful.”

Donnie feels as though he can breathe again, encompassed by this wave of relief. "Thanks," he mumbles, looking down at his feet. "I also wanted to say, it's been weird without you around my corner lately." He rushes the words, tripping over his tongue. "I mean, I miss your visits."

You chuckle softly, sadly. "I miss them too. I just thought you were busy, and maybe... I was making you uncomfortable."

His head shoots up, baffled. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, you know-” You gulp, your positions suddenly shifting. “That time I... I was just rambling, wasn't I? It's fine. I shouldn't have bothered you."

"Bothered me? What are you talking about?" he asks, brows furrowing behind his glasses.

He replays the last conversation in his head, cupping the base of his skull like he’s trying to physically reach for it, stop it from escaping him. The last time you were in his lab, what had happened? It goes over a couple more times until suddenly dropping on him like a ton of bricks; the awkwardness, the slight stutter in your tone, the inelegance in how you held yourself.

He had been completely oblivious.

"Wait, are you saying...? I didn't..." he stammers, face burning with mortification. "I had no idea."

He wants to disappear, to crawl into a hole and never emerge. How could he have been so dense? He completely misinterpreted the situation and, in doing so, has probably ruined everything.

"Donnie," you utter softly, placing a hand on his arm. "It's okay. Really. It was probably my fault for being so vague. Besides," you continue with an upturned lip, "maybe it's good that you didn't get it. Now you have a chance to do this properly."

"Do... do what properly?"

You laugh, a light, airy sound that makes his stomach flip. "Ask me out, silly. If you want to, that is." You bite your lip, the apprehension evident in your eyes.

Donnie's mind races. Vern's advice, the meticulous notes, the carefully calculated plans - it all flies out the window. He had to of accounted for all the outcomes of this conversation he could possibly conceive but he hadn’t anticipated this. That being said, your encouraging smile gives him new strength and he knows that all he needs to do is be himself.

"Yes," he affirms, his voice finally steady. "I would really like that. To... to ask you out. Properly." He pauses, then adds with a shy smile, "Maybe we could analyse the properties of bioluminescent algae? Or just get pizza. Whatever you want."

With a scrunched grin, you giggle. “Both sound good.”

Rest assured, the algae and pizza had soon become forgotten prospects when you find yourself in Donnie’s little corner after so much time, and he may or may not have admitted to seeking advice from the last person you’d suspect to get this ball rolling. It gets a good set of laughs out of you. As far as dates go, it’s a nice way to get back on track and ultimately the first of many more to come.

Michelangelo

With April's blessing - if you could call it that - Mikey felt a lightness he hadn't realised he was missing. It wasn't just the weight of unrequited affection, but the weight of stifled curiosity, of ignoring a pull that had been steadily growing stronger. He still cared deeply for April, but it was a different kind of caring, a comfortable devotion that he now understood as friendship. However, there’s still a surge of tension meddled in with the determined certainty. He bounces on the balls of his feet, his orange mask tails flapping as he bounds to seek you out. He knows that waiting any longer will only amplify his anxiety. He needs to talk to you, explain himself, and, hopefully, salvage what he had so carelessly thrown away.

He starts by looking for you in your usual spots: not in the kitchen, no sign of you in the dojo, and you were definitely not by the TV. He even checks the garage on a whim, thinking you might be tinkering with one of Donatello's inventions. Nope. The only place he could assume you’d be is back home, but that’s a problem for two reasons: it’s daytime, and there’s no guarantee you’d even open the window for him were he to turn up. All he can do is wait until you next bless the lair with your presence, but Mikey hasn’t always been known for his patience. He tries to fill the time with various activities, whether that be fiddling with his drums, attempting to break the pinball machine’s high score again, flicking through various channels on the TV, and so on.

This barely kills an hour.

Suddenly, a thought strikes him and he jumps up from the couch, making a grab for his skateboard. Maybe he could roll between the main entrances in a subtle attempt to “accidentally” bump into you. That way he can guarantee having the space to talk alone. Perfect. He throws his board down and bursts out of the lair, the grimy air surprisingly refreshing. Even if he still has to wait for your arrival, he can at least practise some new moves in the process, though he wouldn’t be practising for long. He’s halfway down the primary sewer line when he spots you, and all of the planned one-liners just disappear.

Even in the dinge of underground New York, you look beautiful, the dust motes dancing in the air and catching the glint of the flashlight in your hand. He takes the leap upon seeing you, quite literally hopping off his board and jogging into the last traces of momentum. In your surprise, you tread a couple of steps back, and he consciously keeps a respectable distance. He remembers how close he used to sit, how easily he’d tease and nudge, and diffuses under the shot of guilt - the hurt in your eyes when he'd previously bumbled around April like a lovesick puppy. How could he have been so blind? So oblivious? He'd been so caught up in a childish crush that he'd completely disregarded the person who truly understood him, who always had his back, who would make him laugh until his sides ached. The person in front of him, now tentatively avoiding his gaze like a stranger. Crap, he was meant to say something. How long has he just been standing here staring at you? Too long, it would seem. Your head tilts with another uncomfortable glance at the floor, and you pivot to walk around him.

"Wait.” He spins on his heel, watches you stop, and it dawns on him just how incredibly awkward this is. "Uh, look, I messed up. Big time. I thought we could just go back to being friends, but I was wrong. I didn't realise how much what I said would hurt you. I was so caught up in- well… never mind. The point is, I hurt you and I'm really, really sorry."

You still make no effort to face him, but you speak, cool and even. "Apology accepted."

It wasn't the response he'd hoped for or even the response he envisioned. He'd expected anger, maybe a lecture, but this detached acceptance feels worse. It highlights the chasm he's created between you both.

"I know an apology isn't enough,” he pushes on. “I get it if you don't want to hang out with me anymore, or play games, or anything, but I miss you. I miss laughing with you and just... being around you." He pauses, gathering his courage. "And I realised something else too: I was so busy looking in one direction, I didn't see what was right in front of me. I didn't see… how amazing you are."

Shoulders hunching, you scoff. "Please, Mikey. Spare me the flattery. It's not going to change anything."

"It's not flattery!" he insists, his voice rising defensively. "I mean it. I really do. This is how I feel.” Mikey’s hand takes a helm on his board and he holds it to his plastron. "Seriously, I was an idiot and I'm hoping, maybe, just maybe, you can find it in your heart to give me another chance. Not as a friend-friend, unless that’s what you want, but as something more."

He holds his tongue from everything else that wants to sputter out, reduced to watching the back of your head and praying for a sign. Aside from the occasional drip or muted whir of cars above, there’s a low, rhythmic thrumming in his ears, growing louder, beating against the inside of his skull mercilessly. He swears his heart must have jumped into his throat. It sits on pause for a short moment when you finally look at him, your eyes searching, and he sees a flicker of something other than indifference: a spark of hope veiled by uncertainty.

"Mikey, this is... a lot to take in."

"I know," he replies sincerely. "I just need you to know how I feel. I'm not expecting you to say yes, or even forgive me right away. But please, can we at least try?" He reaches out, his hand hovering tentatively near yours, waiting for your permission to touch. "I know I don't deserve it, but I'm asking for a second chance. Please, just tell me what I can do to make things right."

His bright blue eyes plead for an understanding. He’s not sure he’s ever wanted something so badly in his life. Not like this, and the wait on your behalf only punctuates that for him. Your gaze wanders up, expression unreadable. The sparkle in your eyes is still there, but it’s flitting like a dying ember.

"It's not that easy, Mikey," you say softly. "You broke my heart, you know? And even if I wanted to go back to the way things were, I don't think I could. Not completely."

Mikey’s heart sinks. He's already ruined everything, hasn’t he? The thought is a punch to the gut, leaving him breathless and deflated.

"But," you continue, a hint of a smile playing on your lips, "I also miss you, and I'm a sucker for a sincere apology, so I'm willing to try. But you have to understand, this won't be the same. Not for a while, anyway."

A lifting deliverance, so intense it almost brings him to his knees. "Anything. Anything you want. Just tell me."

You smile a genuine, beautiful smile that lights up the dim sewer tunnel. "Okay, I get automatic dibs on the last slice of pizza for the next month."

"Deal!” He grins, answering without hesitation. “Anything for you."

Mikey knows it will likely take a whole lot of scrubbing to rebuild what he had broken, but he’s ready. More than ready. He finally sees what he’s been missing, and he isn’t going to let it slip away a second time. The possibility of something more than friendship still flickers in the back of his mind, but for now, he’s content to start with the pizza.

[ramautomations123]

BBC SYNPOL CMA-32 GVT 360–5792 PCB Card | Industrial Automation Control Board | Ram Automations

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[smarthomesnap]

Finding the Best Place to Buy Modern Home Accessories

It's the little things that count in interior decorating. Modern home accessories add life, color, and character to your home. Accessories ranging from sleek lighting to trendy vases and wall art to functional décor can charm a house into a warm and elegant space. The question is: Where do you find them? This piece will guide you on how to discover the best location to shop for modern home accessories and what to consider while doing your shopping.

What Are Modern Home Accessories?

Modern home accessories are decorative and functional parts in any new house where they manifest the interior design trends of the time. They include minimalist lamps, geometric wall art, abstract rugs, sculptural furniture pieces, and metallic accents. Many of these are designed based on clean lines, neutral tones, and clever applications of materials like glass, metal, or wood.

These accessories do not only merit a place on the aesthetic shelf but also assure comfort, improve organization, and invite you into your most intimate space. Furnishing a new accommodation or just breathing freshness into a room can complete the whole look with these accessories.

Why It Matters Where You Buy

Best Place to Buy Modern Home Accessories for modern home accessories can affect everything from the quality of your items to how well they fit your overall style. A very good store or website will not only offer a lot of variety but also offer pieces that are well-designed, well-constructed, and reasonably priced.

You want a store that is grounded in modern design, offering products that feel current yet timeless. Some stores offer helpful advice or perhaps inspiration or suggestions on how to lay out your space. All these elements help enrich your shopping experience and, ultimately, beautify your home.

Online Stores vs. Local Shops

When you want to buy modern home accessories, the first choice will be between buying from an online store or the local shops. Online shopping is convenient and certainly has variety for browsing from hundreds of items in your home and pricing very quickly. Some online shopping stores allow even filter by style, color, material, or room.

On the other hand, you should also visit local shops where you can see and touch what you are about to pay for. This makes it a bit easier to check the quality, visualize the size, and sometimes get an opinion from in-store staff, and small local boutiques may carry some very odd or handmade pieces that cannot be found online.

Each method has its advantages. Perhaps the best approach to purchasing modern home accessories would be in a hybrid approach between both.

Features to Look For in a Good Store

A great store or website for home accessories should have more than just nice-looking things. Look for places that offer clear product descriptions, images, and customer reviews. You will be able to better buy such things.

It is also great when the store provides styling ideas, packages, or curated collections to visualize how the products would relate in the space. Return and delivery policies are very important, especially when shopping online.

A nice option for a medium in style, customer support, and value is quite often regarded as an excellent choice for somewhere to buy modern home accessories.

Affordable Options That Don’t Compromise Style

Many assert that modern home accessories ought to be expensive; however, this is not always the case. There are lots of budget options that still look exquisite and well designed. You just have to know how to shop.

Some big retailers stock trendy pieces at a reasonable price, whereas the smaller online shops or Etsy sellers can offer fairly priced handmade or limited-edition design items. Do keep an eye on the clearance bins, seasonal sales, and online marketplaces!

The best place for the modern home accessories could be one that is not necessarily expensive but one that rightly balances quality with affordability.

Sustainability and Ethical Shopping

If sustainable shopping is for you, search out shops that focus on greener, locally sourced materials or support local artisans. Many modern brands, in fact, use recycled materials, natural fabrics, and low-impact production methods.

Ethical shopping also means finding businesses that have fair treatment of their workers and donating to their local communities. By choosing to shop at such places, you are not just gaining something beautiful; you are also doing good.

These days the best place to find modern home accessories for most consumers has to do with meeting their stylistic preferences and values entirely.

Popular Styles You’ll Find in Modern Home Stores

Today, almost all accessory shops for home interiors carry a range of styles. Scandinavian style, with its straight lines and focus on functionality and comfort, has gained much currency lately. You'll also find industrial styles that blend wood and metal and boho-modern hybrid arrangements featuring natural textures and bold patterns.

Familiarizing oneself with a particular style will help define a good beginning for searching to identify several stores that specialize in what appeals to you. Be it soft and cozy or cool and dramatic; a great modern home accessory shop should feel quite comfortable in furnishing your style.

Personalized Shopping Experience

Some establishments go beyond just virtual consultations and offering design-inspire blogs; others provide 3D room planners to create confident decisions and actually build spaces that one will love.

A personalized shopping experience makes a big difference: a criterion to choose which similar products to buy. It is yet another affirmation of having found the right place to purchase modern home accessories: a place that supports one throughout the process.

Final Thoughts on the Best Place to Buy Modern Home Accessories

In conclusion, the best place to consider buying modern home accessories is such a spot where style, quality, and inspiration blend perfectly into your life. Whether it be an ultra-modern online store, a small traditional boutique, or a sustainable brand on a mission, the right place will help you feel inspired and relaxed while decorating your home.

Dare to visit different stores and compare items while selecting whatever speaks to you. Modern home accessories are more than just decoration—they reflect your personality. And with the right pieces from the right place, you are able to transform any given space into that beautifully comfortable, modern home.

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1969 Holden Hurricane Concept

1969 Holden Hurricane Concept

1969 Holden Hurricane Concept

1969 Holden Hurricane Concept

1969 Holden Hurricane Concept

Holden has gone back to the future, restoring its very first concept car - the 1969 Holden Hurricane Concept.

The futuristic research vehicle described as an experiment "to study design trend, propulsion systems and other long range developments" has been restored to its former glory as a labour of love by a dedicated group of Holden designers and engineers.

Code named RD 001; the Holden Hurricane is a mid-engined, rear-wheel drive, two-seater sports car which incorporates a remarkable array of innovative features and technology, much of it way ahead of its time.

Features such as electronic digital instrument displays, station-seeking radio, automatic temperature control air conditioning, rear vision camera and an automated route finder were all showcased in this ground-breaking vehicle 42 years ago. Many of these technologies have only recently made their way into mass production, demonstrating Holden's remarkable foresight into both design and engineering technology.

The Holden Hurricane stole headlines and dropped jaws nationwide when it debuted at the 1969 Melbourne Motor Show.

Michael Simcoe, Executive Director GMIO Design, said it was fantastic to see such a significant vehicle restored.

"At Holden we have always prided ourselves on our ability to look into the future through our concept cars," Mr Simcoe said.

"It's amazing to think that the features we take for granted today were born out of creative minds over 40 years ago."

As its code name suggests, the RD 001 was the first product of the GMH Research and Development organisation, staffed by a small squad of engineers working in conjunction with the Advance Styling Group at the Fishermans Bend Technical Centre in the 1960s.

The team that designed and built the original Holden Hurricane employed some advanced technologies and techniques when it came to the powertrain. Powered by an experimental 4.2-litre (253 cubic inch) V8, this engine was a precursor to the Holden V8 engine program which entered production in late 1969.

The Holden Hurricane's V8 engine featured many advanced design components such as the four-barrel carburettor - a feature which wouldn't be seen on a production 253ci Holden V8 until the late 1970s. The end result was approximately 262hp (193kW), a towering power output in 1969 and one that ensured the Holden Hurricane had the go to match its show.

But perhaps the two most innovative features were the "Pathfinder" route guidance system and the rear-view camera.

The "Pathfinder", essentially a pre-GPS navigation system, relied on a system of magnets embedded at intersections along the road network to guide the driver along the desired route. A dash-mounted panel informed the driver of which turn to take by illuminating different arrows, as well as sounding a warning buzzer.

The rear-view camera was also a ground-breaking innovation.

Engineers using a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system with a camera mounted in the rear bumper feeding vision to a small black-and-white TV mounted in the centre console.

Former Holden Chief Studio Engineer Rick Martin led the modern-day Hurricane team in researching the vehicle's components, systems and history in order to restore it.

"There are some genuinely remarkable ideas and technology in the Hurricane," said Mr Martin.

"From the automatic air-conditioning and magnet-based guidance system, to the inertia-reel seat belts and metallic paint, this was a car that was genuinely ahead of its time.

"The hand-picked team of engineers and designers who built the original Holden Hurricane worked in strict secrecy and began Holden's now proud tradition of ground-breaking concept cars."

RD 001 stands just 990mm high and has no doors in the conventional sense. A hydraulically-powered canopy opens upwards and forward over the front wheels, combined with twin "astronaut type" power-elevating seats which rise up and pivot forward, along with the steering column for ease of access. Occupants are then lowered to a semi-reclining position before the roof closes over them.

The wind tunnel-tested fibreglass body consists of three segments; the canopy, the engine hood and body shell and was finished in an experimental aluminium flake-based metallic orange paint.

Safety innovations included a foam-lined fuel tank, integrated roll-over bar, digital instrument readouts, ignition safety locks, interior padding and a fire warning system.

The project to restore RD 001 began in 2006 and has been a genuine labour of love for some very dedicated Holden employees. The entire restoration process has been driven primarily by volunteer labour from Holden designers and engineers in their spare time.

But the Hurricane first entered Holden Design in less than immaculate condition. RD 001 had a residency in a trade school where apprentices practised their welding on the priceless concept.

After being returned to Holden in 2006, the Hurricane restoration project has taken many thousands of painstaking man hours to lovingly restore RD 001 to concourse condition.

Holden's Manager for Creative Hard Modelling, Paul Clarke, has been largely responsible for managing the restoration of RD 001. He ensured as many of the original parts as possible have been used or remade using modern techniques to 1969 specification, in order to preserve the authenticity of this hugely important Holden.

"The entire team has done a fantastic job in bringing this beautiful concept back to life," Mr Clarke said.

"The talent we have within the Holden organisation is simply outstanding. Every time we take on a project I'm constantly amazed by the passion and talent in this company, making it a genuine pleasure to work on these projects.

"The Hurricane plays a crucial role in Holden's story and the company has such a great sense of history and heritage that it was very important to bring RD 001 back to life. It's been a challenging but incredibly rewarding process."

Since the debut of the Holden Hurricane Concept in 1969, Holden has continued to build a global reputation for envisioning and executing world-class concept vehicles. Holden is recognised globally within General Motors as a centre of excellence for concept vehicle and show car development and is one of only three GM design studios that is capable to design and build concept cars.

Michael Simcoe added that the Hurricane holds a particularly special place in Holden's history as it kick-started Holden's long love affair with concepts that has since seen the likes of the iconic GTR-X, Torana TT36, Coupe 60, the GMC Denali XT (which was requested specifically by GM for the North American market) and the award-winning Efijy.

Holden Hurricane Concept (1969)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The reverse-centaur apocalypse is upon us

I'm coming to DEFCON! On Aug 9, I'm emceeing the EFF POKER TOURNAMENT (noon at the Horseshoe Poker Room), and appearing on the BRICKED AND ABANDONED panel (5PM, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01). On Aug 10, I'm giving a keynote called "DISENSHITTIFY OR DIE! How hackers can seize the means of computation and build a new, good internet that is hardened against our asshole bosses' insatiable horniness for enshittification" (noon, LVCC - L1 - HW1–11–01).

In thinking about the relationship between tech and labor, one of the most useful conceptual frameworks is "centaurs" vs "reverse-centaurs":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/17/revenge-of-the-chickenized-reverse-centaurs/

A centaur is someone whose work is supercharged by automation: you are a human head atop the tireless body of a machine that lets you get more done than you could ever do on your own.

A reverse-centaur is someone who is harnessed to the machine, reduced to a mere peripheral for a cruelly tireless robotic overlord that directs you to do the work that it can't, at a robotic pace, until your body and mind are smashed.

Bosses love being centaurs. While workplace monitoring is as old as Taylorism – the "scientific management" of the previous century that saw labcoated frauds dictating the fine movements of working people in a kabuki of "efficiency" – the lockdowns saw an explosion of bossware, the digital tools that let bosses monitor employees to a degree and at a scale that far outstrips the capacity of any unassisted human being.

Armed with bossware, your boss becomes a centaur, able to monitor you down to your keystrokes, the movements of your eyes, even the ambient sound around you. It was this technology that transformed "work from home" into "live at work." But bossware doesn't just let your boss spy on you – it lets your boss control you. \

It turns you into a reverse-centaur.

"Data At Work" is a research project from Cracked Labs that dives deep into the use of surveillance and control technology in a variety of workplaces – including workers' own cars and homes:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work

It consists of a series of papers that take deep dives into different vendors' bossware products, exploring how they are advertised, how they are used, and (crucially) how they make workers feel. There are also sections on how these interact with EU labor laws (the project is underwritten by the Austrian Arbeiterkammer), with the occasional aside about how weak US labor laws are.

The latest report in the series comes from Wolfie Christl, digging into Microsoft's "Dynamics 365," a suite of mobile apps designed to exert control over "field workers" – repair technicians, security guards, cleaners, and home help for ill, elderly and disabled people:

https://crackedlabs.org/dl/CrackedLabs_Christl_MobileWork.pdf

It's…not good. Microsoft advises its customers to use its products to track workers' location every "60 to 300 seconds." Workers are given tasks broken down into subtasks, each with its own expected time to completion. Workers are expected to use the app every time they arrive at a site, begin or complete a task or subtask, or start or end a break.

For bosses, all of this turns into a dashboard that shows how each worker is performing from instant to instant, whether they are meeting time targets, and whether they are spending more time on a task than the client's billing rate will pay for. Each work order has a clock showing elapsed seconds since it was issued.

For workers, the system generates new schedules with new work orders all day long, refreshing your work schedule as frequently as twice per hour. Bosses can flag workers as available for jobs that fall outside their territories and/or working hours, and the system will assign workers to jobs that require them to work in their off hours and travel long distances to do so.

Each task and subtask has a target time based on "AI" predictions. These are classic examples of Goodhart's Law: "any metric eventually becomes a target." The average time that workers take becomes the maximum time that a worker is allowed to take. Some jobs are easy, and can be completed in less time than assigned. When this happens, the average time to do a job shrinks, and the time allotted for normal (or difficult) jobs contracts.

Bosses get stack-ranks of workers showing which workers closed the most tickets, worked the fastest, spent the least time idle between jobs, and, of course, whether the client gave them five stars. Workers know it, creating an impossible bind: to do the job well, in a friendly fashion, the worker has to take time to talk with the client, understand their needs, and do the job. Anything less will generate unfavorable reports from clients. But doing this will blow through time quotas, which produces bad reports from the bossware. Heads you lose, tails the boss wins.

Predictably, Microsoft has shoveled "AI" into every corner of this product. Bosses don't just get charts showing them which workers are "underperforming" – they also get summaries of all the narrative aspects of the workers' reports (e.g. "My client was in severe pain so I took extra time to make her comfortable before leaving"), filled with the usual hallucinations and other botshit.

No boss could exert this kind of fine-grained, soul-destroying control over any workforce, much less a workforce that is out in the field all day, without Microsoft's automation tools. Armed with Dynamics 365, a boss becomes a true centaur, capable of superhuman feats of labor abuse.

And when workers are subjected to Dynamics 365, they become true reverse-centaurs, driven by "digital whips" to work at a pace that outstrips the long-term capacity of their minds and bodies to bear it. The enthnographic parts of the report veer between chilling and heartbreaking.

Microsoft strenuously objects to this characterization, insisting that their tool (which they advise bosses to use to check on workers' location every 60-300 seconds) is not a "surveillance" tool, it's a "coordination" tool. They say that all the AI in the tool is "Responsible AI," which is doubtless a great comfort to workers.

In Microsoft's (mild) defense, they are not unique. Other reports in the series show how retail workers and hotel housekeepers are subjected to "despot on demand" services provided by Oracle:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/retail-hospitality

Call centers, are even worse. After all, most of this stuff started with call centers:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/callcenter

I've written about Arise, a predatory "work from home" company that targets Black women to pay the company to work for it (they also have to pay if they quit!). Of course, they can be fired at will:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/29/impunity-corrodes/#arise-ye-prisoners

There's also a report about Celonis, a giant German company no one has ever heard of, which gathers a truly nightmarish quantity of information about white-collar workers' activities, subjecting them to AI phrenology to judge their "emotional quality" as well as other metrics:

https://crackedlabs.org/en/data-work/publications/processmining-algomanage

As Celonis shows, this stuff is coming for all of us. I've dubbed this process "the shitty technology adoption curve": the terrible things we do to prisoners, asylum seekers and people in mental institutions today gets repackaged tomorrow for students, parolees, Uber drivers and blue-collar workers. Then it works its way up the privilege gradient, until we're all being turned into reverse-centaurs under the "digital whip" of a centaur boss:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/25/the-peoples-amazon/#clippys-revenge

In mediating between asshole bosses and the workers they destroy, these bossware technologies do more than automate: they also insulate. Thanks to bossware, your boss doesn't have to look you in the eye (or come within range of your fists) to check in on you every 60 seconds and tell you that you've taken 11 seconds too long on a task. I recently learned a useful term for this: an "accountability sink," as described by Dan Davies in his new book, The Unaccountability Machine, which is high on my (very long) list of books to read:

https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

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/2024/08/02/despotism-on-demand/#virtual-whips

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[adafruit]

🎄💾🗓️ Day 11: Retrocomputing Advent Calendar - The SEL 840A🎄💾🗓️

Systems Engineering Laboratories (SEL) introduced the SEL 840A in 1965. This is a deep cut folks, buckle in. It was designed as a high-performance, 24-bit general-purpose digital computer, particularly well-suited for scientific and industrial real-time applications.

Notable for using silicon monolithic integrated circuits and a modular architecture. Supported advanced computation with features like concurrent floating-point arithmetic via an optional Extended Arithmetic Unit (EAU), which allowed independent arithmetic processing in single or double precision. With a core memory cycle time of 1.75 microseconds and a capacity of up to 32,768 directly addressable words, the SEL 840A had impressive computational speed and versatility for its time.

Its instruction set covered arithmetic operations, branching, and program control. The computer had fairly robust I/O capabilities, supporting up to 128 input/output units and optional block transfer control for high-speed data movement. SEL 840A had real-time applications, such as data acquisition, industrial automation, and control systems, with features like multi-level priority interrupts and a real-time clock with millisecond resolution.

Software support included a FORTRAN IV compiler, mnemonic assembler, and a library of scientific subroutines, making it accessible for scientific and engineering use. The operator’s console provided immediate access to registers, control functions, and user interaction! Designed to be maintained, its modular design had serviceability you do often not see today, with swing-out circuit pages and accessible test points.

And here's a personal… personal computer history from Adafruit team member, Dan…

== The first computer I used was an SEL-840A, PDF:

I learned Fortran on it in eight grade, in 1970. It was at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where my parents worked, and was used to take data from cyclotron experiments and perform calculations. I later patched the Fortran compiler on it to take single-quoted strings, like 'HELLO', in Fortran FORMAT statements, instead of having to use Hollerith counts, like 5HHELLO.

In 1971-1972, in high school, I used a PDP-10 (model KA10) timesharing system, run by BOCES LIRICS on Long Island, NY, while we were there for one year on an exchange.

This is the front panel of the actual computer I used. I worked at the computer center in the summer. I know the fellow in the picture: he was an older high school student at the time.

The first "personal" computers I used were Xerox Alto, Xerox Dorado, Xerox Dandelion (Xerox Star 8010), Apple Lisa, and Apple Mac, and an original IBM PC. Later I used DEC VAXstations.

Dan kinda wins the first computer contest if there was one… Have first computer memories? Post’em up in the comments, or post yours on socialz’ and tag them #firstcomputer #retrocomputing – See you back here tomorrow!

[polo-drone-166]

🟡 Title: Waterline Protocol 📅 July 2nd | Golden Compound | 1930 Hours

Before any bro can outpace a rival, outlast the grind, or outthink chaos—he must hydrate. And for the Golden Army, hydration is not a matter of thirst.

It’s a system. A ritual. A protocol.

And it begins with Nate 66.

Assigned to hydration command for the July 5th match against Neon Vortex, Nate did not take the role lightly. Not because it was vital—though it was. Not because it had to be perfect—though it did. But because he had been entrusted with regulation. With rhythm. With purity of the line.

1930 Hours. He arrived at the Hydration Bay alone.

No overhead lights—just the soft glow of filtered status panels and the golden glint of liquid agents held in stasis. The walls hissed softly with airflow. Everything was temperature-controlled. Even the silence.

He changed into his hydration prep uniform: matte black with gold striping, chemically resistant sleeves, a spiral insignia over his heart.

He checked the blend modules first.

Electrolyte balance: neutral

Focus extract: uninfused

Stamina rotors: uncharged

That would change.

1950 Hours. He activated the drone-assisted stirrer and the biometric timer. Each bottle would receive a formula precisely synced to each bro’s field role and respiration pattern.

Forwards needed light-quick hydration. Short bursts. High reabsorption. Midfielders needed spiral buffers—sustained flow with heat resistance. Defenders needed pulse-matching minerals. Keepers? Visual acuity enhancers. Neural clarity.

Nate prepared them all. By hand. No automation.

Each bottle bore a burned-in glyph. Not labels—symbols of function. Spiral for focus. Triangle for balance. Lightning arc for burst.

2030 Hours. PDU-070 appeared on the monitor.

"Unit 66. What do you serve?"

Nate didn’t look up. He continued measuring a 0.7mg dose of neural stimulant into a midfield flask.

"Discipline. Unity. Obedience." "And hydration," 070 added. "Confirmed," Nate replied.

2050 Hours. Calibration complete. He laid the bottles in a perfect grid. One for each bro. Each squad. Each contingency unit.

Then came his own.

Personal flask: N66. Composition:

30% endurance gel

10% cognitive accelerator

50% spiral core compound

10% unmarked (070 protocol locked)

He didn’t question it. He didn’t sip it. Not yet.

2100 Hours. He entered the dry run. The simulated field pulsed in front of him—projected in golden light. He placed each bottle where it would be during the match. Sideline. Bench. Edge of warmup hexes. He practiced the run.

No talking. No reacting. Just movement.

He simulated:

Delivery under sprint

Delivery under enemy interception

Delivery under drone supervision

Delivery while syncing pulse with recipient

2130 Hours. Sweat had soaked through his sleeves. He didn’t stop. He didn’t need to be first. He needed to be invisible.

070’s voice returned.

"You are not a player, Nate. You are the bloodstream."

And he understood. He delivered flow. He preserved form. He was the one who gave the others what they needed before they knew they needed it.

2200 Hours. He sat. One bottle left. His. He raised it, paused, and waited.

The projection around him dimmed. A final image replaced it:

“Neon Vortex. Minute 41. Heat spike. Player drain probability: 82%.”

He drank. Not fast. Not with pride. But with precision. With awareness. With intent.

2230 Hours. He logged the session. Stored the final units in stasis. Cleaned the surfaces with chemical discipline. Removed his gloves.

070 sent the final message:

“You are the pulse between whistles.” “Report again in 24 hours. Be the flow.”

Nate 66 turned off the lights. He didn’t smile. But something inside him pulsed in time with the match to come.

He wasn’t ready to play.He was ready to sustain.

Do you want to join? Contact our recruiters: @brodygold, @goldenherc9, @polo-drone-001 or @polo-drone-125