#charging cable technology

[techninja]

The Impact of Fast-Charging Technology on the EV Charging Cable Market

The global electric vehicle (EV) charging cable market is poised for significant growth, driven by the increasing adoption of electric vehicles and the need for efficient and reliable charging solutions. As the demand for EVs continues to rise, the market for EV charging cables is expected to reach $3.45 billion by 2031, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.1% from 2022 to 2031.

Market Trends and Drivers

The EV charging cable market is driven by several key trends and factors. The increasing adoption of electric vehicles, particularly in regions such as Europe and Asia, is a major driver of the market. Governments worldwide are implementing policies to promote the adoption of EVs, which is expected to further boost demand for EV charging cables. Additionally, the development of fast-charging technology and the need for efficient and reliable charging solutions are also driving the market.

Key Players and Market Segmentation

The EV charging cable market is dominated by several key players, including Aptiv, Besen International Group Co., Ltd., BRUGG Group AG, Chengdu Khons Technology Co., Ltd., DYDEN CORPORATION, Guangdong OMG Transmitting Technology Co. Ltd., Leoni AG, Phoenix Contact, Sinbon Electronics, and TE Connectivity. The market is segmented based on power type, application, cable length, shape, charging level, and region. The power type segment includes alternate charging (AC) and direct charging (DC), while the application segment is categorized into private charging and public charging. The cable length segment includes 2–5 meters, 6–10 meters, and above 10 meters, and the shape segment includes straight and coiled.

Regional Analysis

The EV charging cable market is analyzed across several regions, including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. The Asia-Pacific region dominated the global EV charging cables market in 2022, with China holding the dominant position. The North American market is expected to grow significantly due to the increasing adoption of EVs and the need for efficient and reliable charging solutions.

Challenges and Opportunities

Despite the significant growth potential of the EV charging cable market, there are several challenges that need to be addressed. High operational costs of EV charging cables and the adoption of wireless EV charging technology are some of the key challenges facing the market. However, the increasing adoption of EVs and the need for efficient and reliable charging solutions are expected to drive the market growth.

Conclusion

The EV charging cable market is poised for significant growth, driven by the increasing adoption of electric vehicles and the need for efficient and reliable charging solutions. The market is dominated by several key players and is segmented based on power type, application, cable length, shape, charging level, and region. The Asia-Pacific region dominated the global EV charging cables market in 2022, and the North American market is expected to grow significantly due to the increasing adoption of EVs and the need for efficient and reliable charging solutions.

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

can anyone recommend a DVD drive that I can plug into an iPad? mine has a lightning port, not USB-C, which is where I'm getting hung up, because every single one I find is only USB-C

[teenagefeeling]

this is such a specific pet peeve but the error message "slow charging, please use the cable provided with this device" drives me insaneeee like hello you are the device. give me numbers. tell me how many amps you want so i can buy whatever damn cable i would like to buy stop trying to force me to use your proprietary accessories by making it inconvenient to find information about the electronic devices that i myself purchased and now own

[nugrootfinds]

Reinforced Connectors to Prevent Bending Damage Stronger connections for a longer-lasting cable! 🔧📱

[redwan999]

Are We Truly Wireless?

Not so long ago, our gadgets were tied down—landlines tethered to walls, desktops anchored to desks, and music players trailing headphones like digital leashes. We, the humans, were free, moving unburdened through life. Today, the tables have turned. We call it the “wireless age.” Phones, earbuds, laptops, and tablets now promise sleek designs and freedom from cords. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi have…

[rlewisphilly]

May I borrow your cable?

12 years ago this week, this cable for all things Apple changed. It took you years to get used to it.  Well,  We moved to the lighting connector…faster, smaller and not any cable you had in the drawer.  Today? Goodbye Lightning, Hello USB. Remember: “the only constant in life is change.”  Thank Buddha for the quote, and Tim Cook (maybe the EU) for the cable change.

[literallymechanical]

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

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

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

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

(source)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[netscapenavigator-official]

Honestly, SAE-J1772 and CCS1 wouldn't be that bad of a charging standard if they hadn't given it the USB Type B SuperSpeed treatment.

[havinganormalone]

I feel like the person who decided we needed to switch from USB-micro to USB-C should be killed. Causing so much unnecessary cable waste and frustration is deserving of death. These are just my thoughts and feelings, which happen to be correct.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Tesla's Dieselgate

Elon Musk lies a lot. He lies about being a “utopian socialist.” He lies about being a “free speech absolutist.” He lies about which companies he founded:

https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-cofounder-martin-eberhard-interview-history-elon-musk-ev-market-2023-2 He lies about being the “chief engineer” of those companies:

https://www.quora.com/Was-Elon-Musk-the-actual-engineer-behind-SpaceX-and-Tesla

He lies about really stupid stuff, like claiming that comsats that share the same spectrum will deliver steady broadband speeds as they add more users who each get a narrower slice of that spectrum:

https://www.eff.org/wp/case-fiber-home-today-why-fiber-superior-medium-21st-century-broadband

The fundamental laws of physics don’t care about this bullshit, but people do. The comsat lie convinced a bunch of people that pulling fiber to all our homes is literally impossible — as though the electrical and phone lines that come to our homes now were installed by an ancient, lost civilization. Pulling new cabling isn’t a mysterious art, like embalming pharaohs. We do it all the time. One of the poorest places in America installed universal fiber with a mule named “Ole Bub”:

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-one-traffic-light-town-with-some-of-the-fastest-internet-in-the-us

Previous tech barons had “reality distortion fields,” but Musk just blithely contradicts himself and pretends he isn’t doing so, like a budget Steve Jobs. There’s an entire site devoted to cataloging Musk’s public lies:

https://elonmusk.today/

But while Musk lacks the charm of earlier Silicon Valley grifters, he’s much better than they ever were at running a long con. For years, he’s been promising “full self driving…next year.”

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/herbies-revenge/#100-billion-here-100-billion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

He’s hasn’t delivered, but he keeps claiming he has, making Teslas some of the deadliest cars on the road:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/10/tesla-autopilot-crashes-elon-musk/

Tesla is a giant shell-game masquerading as a car company. The important thing about Tesla isn’t its cars, it’s Tesla’s business arrangement, the Tesla-Financial Complex:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/24/no-puedo-pagar-no-pagara/#Rat

Once you start unpacking Tesla’s balance sheets, you start to realize how much the company depends on government subsidies and tax-breaks, combined with selling carbon credits that make huge, planet-destroying SUVs possible, under the pretense that this is somehow good for the environment:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/14/for-sale-green-indulgences/#killer-analogy

But even with all those financial shenanigans, Tesla’s got an absurdly high valuation, soaring at times to 1600x its profitability:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/15/hoover-calling/#intangibles

That valuation represents a bet on Tesla’s ability to extract ever-higher rents from its customers. Take Tesla’s batteries: you pay for the battery when you buy your car, but you don’t own that battery. You have to rent the right to use its full capacity, with Tesla reserving the right to reduce how far you go on a charge based on your willingness to pay:

https://memex.craphound.com/2017/09/10/teslas-demon-haunted-cars-in-irmas-path-get-a-temporary-battery-life-boost/

That’s just one of the many rent-a-features that Tesla drivers have to shell out for. You don’t own your car at all: when you sell it as a used vehicle, Tesla strips out these features you paid for and makes the next driver pay again, reducing the value of your used car and transfering it to Tesla’s shareholders:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/6/21127243/tesla-model-s-autopilot-disabled-remotely-used-car-update

To maintain this rent-extraction racket, Tesla uses DRM that makes it a felony to alter your own car’s software without Tesla’s permission. This is the root of all autoenshittification:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

This is technofeudalism. Whereas capitalists seek profits (income from selling things), feudalists seek rents (income from owning the things other people use). If Telsa were a capitalist enterprise, then entrepreneurs could enter the market and sell mods that let you unlock the functionality in your own car:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/06/11/1-in-3/#boost-50

But because Tesla is a feudal enterprise, capitalists must first secure permission from the fief, Elon Musk, who decides which companies are allowed to compete with him, and how.

Once a company owns the right to decide which software you can run, there’s no limit to the ways it can extract rent from you. Blocking you from changing your device’s software lets a company run overt scams on you. For example, they can block you from getting your car independently repaired with third-party parts.

But they can also screw you in sneaky ways. Once a device has DRM on it, Section 1201 of the DMCA makes it a felony to bypass that DRM, even for legitimate purposes. That means that your DRM-locked device can spy on you, and because no one is allowed to explore how that surveillance works, the manufacturer can be incredibly sloppy with all the personal info they gather:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/29/tesla-model-3-keeps-data-like-crash-videos-location-phone-contacts.html

All kinds of hidden anti-features can lurk in your DRM-locked car, protected from discovery, analysis and criticism by the illegality of bypassing the DRM. For example, Teslas have a hidden feature that lets them lock out their owners and summon a repo man to drive them away if you have a dispute about a late payment:

https://tiremeetsroad.com/2021/03/18/tesla-allegedly-remotely-unlocks-model-3-owners-car-uses-smart-summon-to-help-repo-agent/

DRM is a gun on the mantlepiece in Act I, and by Act III, it goes off, revealing some kind of ugly and often dangerous scam. Remember Dieselgate? Volkswagen created a line of demon-haunted cars: if they thought they were being scrutinized (by regulators measuring their emissions), they switched into a mode that traded performance for low emissions. But when they believed themselves to be unobserved, they reversed this, emitting deadly levels of NOX but delivering superior mileage.

The conversion of the VW diesel fleet into mobile gas-chambers wouldn’t have been possible without DRM. DRM adds a layer of serious criminal jeopardy to anyone attempting to reverse-engineer and study any device, from a phone to a car. DRM let Apple claim to be a champion of its users’ privacy even as it spied on them from asshole to appetite:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Now, Tesla is having its own Dieselgate scandal. A stunning investigation by Steve Stecklow and Norihiko Shirouzu for Reuters reveals how Tesla was able to create its own demon-haunted car, which systematically deceived drivers about its driving range, and the increasingly desperate measures the company turned to as customers discovered the ruse:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-batteries-range/

The root of the deception is very simple: Tesla mis-sells its cars by falsely claiming ranges that those cars can’t attain. Every person who ever bought a Tesla was defrauded.

But this fraud would be easy to detect. If you bought a Tesla rated for 353 miles on a charge, but the dashboard range predictor told you that your fully charged car could only go 150 miles, you’d immediately figure something was up. So your Telsa tells another lie: the range predictor tells you that you can go 353 miles.

But again, if the car continued to tell you it has 203 miles of range when it was about to run out of charge, you’d figure something was up pretty quick — like, the first time your car ran out of battery while the dashboard cheerily informed you that you had 203 miles of range left.

So Teslas tell a third lie: when the battery charge reached about 50%, the fake range is replaced with the real one. That way, drivers aren’t getting mass-stranded by the roadside, and the scam can continue.

But there’s a new problem: drivers whose cars are rated for 353 miles but can’t go anything like that far on a full charge naturally assume that something is wrong with their cars, so they start calling Tesla service and asking to have the car checked over.

This creates a problem for Tesla: those service calls can cost the company $1,000, and of course, there’s nothing wrong with the car. It’s performing exactly as designed. So Tesla created its boldest fraud yet: a boiler-room full of anti-salespeople charged with convincing people that their cars weren’t broken.

This new unit — the “diversion team” — was headquartered in a Nevada satellite office, which was equipped with a metal xylophone that would be rung in triumph every time a Tesla owner was successfully conned into thinking that their car wasn’t defrauding them.

When a Tesla owner called this boiler room, the diverter would run remote diagnostics on their car, then pronounce it fine, and chide the driver for having energy-hungry driving habits (shades of Steve Jobs’s “You’re holding it wrong”):

https://www.wired.com/2010/06/iphone-4-holding-it-wrong/

The drivers who called the Diversion Team weren’t just lied to, they were also punished. The Tesla app was silently altered so that anyone who filed a complaint about their car’s range was no longer able to book a service appointment for any reason. If their car malfunctioned, they’d have to request a callback, which could take several days.

Meanwhile, the diverters on the diversion team were instructed not to inform drivers if the remote diagnostics they performed detected any other defects in the cars.

The diversion team had a 750 complaint/week quota: to juke this stat, diverters would close the case for any driver who failed to answer the phone when they were eventually called back. The center received 2,000+ calls every week. Diverters were ordered to keep calls to five minutes or less.

Eventually, diverters were ordered to cease performing any remote diagnostics on drivers’ cars: a source told Reuters that “Thousands of customers were told there is nothing wrong with their car” without any diagnostics being performed.

Predicting EV range is an inexact science as many factors can affect battery life, notably whether a journey is uphill or downhill. Every EV automaker has to come up with a figure that represents some kind of best guess under a mix of conditions. But while other manufacturers err on the side of caution, Tesla has the most inaccurate mileage estimates in the industry, double the industry average.

Other countries’ regulators have taken note. In Korea, Tesla was fined millions and Elon Musk was personally required to state that he had deceived Tesla buyers. The Korean regulator found that the true range of Teslas under normal winter conditions was less than half of the claimed range.

Now, many companies have been run by malignant narcissists who lied compulsively — think of Thomas Edison, archnemesis of Nikola Tesla himself. The difference here isn’t merely that Musk is a deeply unfit monster of a human being — but rather, that DRM allows him to defraud his customers behind a state-enforced opaque veil. The digital computers at the heart of a Tesla aren’t just demons haunting the car, changing its performance based on whether it believes it is being observed — they also allow Musk to invoke the power of the US government to felonize anyone who tries to peer into the black box where he commits his frauds.

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/2023/07/28/edison-not-tesla/#demon-haunted-world

This Sunday (July 30) at 1530h, I’m appearing on a panel at Midsummer Scream in Long Beach, CA, to discuss the wonderful, award-winning “Ghost Post” Haunted Mansion project I worked on for Disney Imagineering.

Image ID [A scene out of an 11th century tome on demon-summoning called 'Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae sistematisatae per celeberrimos Artis hujus Magistros. Anno 1057. Noli me tangere.' It depicts a demon tormenting two unlucky would-be demon-summoners who have dug up a grave in a graveyard. One summoner is held aloft by his hair, screaming; the other screams from inside the grave he is digging up. The scene has been altered to remove the demon's prominent, urinating penis, to add in a Tesla supercharger, and a red Tesla Model S nosing into the scene.]

Image: Steve Jurvetson (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tesla_Model_S_Indoors.jpg

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

[subjectsix]

KIP'S BIG POST OF THINGS TO MAKE THE INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY SUCK A LITTLE LESS

Post last updated November 23, 2024. Will continue to update!

Here are my favorite things to use to navigate technology my own way:

A refurbished iPod loaded with Rockbox OS (Rockbox is free, iPods range in price. I linked the site I got mine from. Note that iPods get finicky about syncing and the kind of cord it has— it may still charge but might not recognize the device to sync. Getting an original Apple cord sometimes helps). Rockbox has ports for other MP3 players as well.

This Windows debloater program (there are viable alternatives out there, this one works for me). It has a powershell script that give you a little UI and buttons to press, which I appreciate, as I'm still a bit shy with tech.

Firefox with the following extensions: - Consent-O-Matic (set your responses to ALL privacy/cookie pop-ups in the extension, and it will answer all pop-ups for you. I can see reasons to not use it, but I appreciate it) - Facebook Container ("contains" Meta on Facebook and Instagram pages to keep it from tracking you or getting third party cookies, since Meta is fairly egregious about it) - Redirect Amp to HTML (AMP is designed for mobile phones, this forces pages to go to their HTML version) - A WebP/AVIF image converter - uBlock Origin and uBlacklist, with the AI blacklist loaded in to kill any generative AI results from appearing in search engines or anywhere.

Handbrake for ripping DVDs— I haven’t used this in awhile as I haven’t been making video edits. I used this back when I had a Mac OS

VLC Media Player (ol’ reliable)

Unsplash & Pexels for free-to-use images

A password manager (these often are paid. I use Dashlane. There are many options, feel free to search around and ask for recs!). There is a lot that goes into cybersecurity— find the option you feel is best for you.

Things I suggest:

Understanding Royalty Free and the Creative Commons licenses

Familiarity with boolean operators for searching

Investing in a backup drive and external drive

A few good USBs, including one that has a backup of your OS on it

Adapter cables

Avoiding Fandom “wikias” (as in the brand “Fandom”) and supporting other, fan-run or supported wikis. Consider contributing if its something you find yourself passionate or joyful about.

Finding Forums for the things you like, or creating your own*

Create an email specifically for ads/shopping— use it to receive all promotional emails to keep your inbox clean. Upkeep it.

Stop putting so much of your personal information online— be willing to separate your personal online identity from your “online identity”. You don’t owe people your name, location, pronouns, diagnoses, or any of that. It’s your choice, but be discerning in what you give and why. I recommend avoiding providing your phone number to sites as much as possible.

Be intentional

Ask questions

Talk to people

Remember that you can lurk all you want

Things that are fun to check out:

BBSes-- here's a portal to access them.

Neocities

*Forums-- find some to join, or maybe host your own? The system I was most familiar with was vbulletin.

MMM.page

Things that have worked well for me but might work for you, YMMV:

Limit your app usage time on your smartphone if you’re prone to going back to them— this is a tangible way to “practice mindfulness”, a term I find frustratingly vague ansjdbdj

Things I’m looking into:

The “Pi Hole”— a raspberry pi set up to block all ads on a specific internet connection

VPNs-- this is one that was recommended to me.

How to use computers (I mean it): Resources on how to understand your machine and what you’re doing, even if your skill and knowledge level is currently 0:

This section I'll come back an add to. I know that messing with computers can be intimidating, especially if you feel out of your depth. HTML and regedits and especially things like dualbooting or linux feel impossible. So I want to put things here that explain exactly how the internet and your computer functions, and how you can learn and work with that. Yippee!

[star-suh]

Re-Connect

Lee Jeno x Male Reader

an: based on the sex pollen trope.

—

lee jeno is a masterful spy working for the government,this time his mission is to deactivate an explosive device set in one of the stadiums in the city, which is packed with civilians today. “okay mr. lee you will be disguised as a policeman and your job is to cut the cables of the device to avoid the explosion. but in order to maintain your safety you will be accompanied by mr. ln”. “what?” jeno said surprised, “i can do it by myself” he adds. “we know” the higher up replies quickly, “but it’s just so you can do it without worries”. jeno was ready to talk back but the video call was cut off, “damn” he sighs.

the reason why jeno was so opposed to the idea of being with yn is because they had a past together that didn’t end well. they both were trained in the same academy to become top tier spies so naturally a relationship bloomed between them but the constant missions in which they had to go to different locations created a rift in their relationship which finally ended when they both had an argument. jeno sighed, he knew that sooner or later he had to talk to yn but he doesn’t feel ready yet.

“hello jeno”, yn awkwardly said, a bit flustered. “oh, hi y…n…” and as if he was in one of those cliche movies the world stopped when he saw yn in front of him, even his hair moving in slow motion. “close your mouth or a fly will enter it” yn joked trying to lighten the atmosphere. jeno giggled flustered, “are you ready for the mision” jeno asked. “mmh hmm” the other nodded, “let’s just do this fast and get over with this”, a lump forms on jeno’s throat. as much as he wants to deny it he wants to spend some time with yn even if it’s just for a mission they had to do together.

“yeah let’s go” yn leads the way, entering the black van followed by jeno. the pair accompanied by the rest of the team arrives to the stadium, trying to blend in as just simple viewers of today’s game. “the report says that the bomb is near the south entrance, let’s go there then” jeno says looking at his watch and pressing the stopwatch button that started a countdown. the pair arrived at the south entrance while the rest of the team stayed in the van to communicate instructions to them through earphones.

“we are here” yn touches his earphone waiting for instructions. “yeah umm you should see in front of you the bathroom signal, go there and turn left you should see a door” yn signaled jeno to follow him, “the door’s locked. i need a code” jeno talks to jisung, who was in charge of the technology part of the mission, a hacker you must say, “wait a second aaand… done, it’s open now but don’t let it close or else you have to wait almost one hour so i can open it again”.

“roger that” quickly jeno went towards the strange package wrapped in a black trash bag and some tape. he looks at his watch and wipe the sweat off of his forehead, while yn stands on the door watching if someone comes. jeno unwraps the package and sees a quite fancy device for it to be a bomb, “this looks tough” jeno murmurs but he then breathes deeply and relaxes his nerves, “phew.. how do i start..” anxiety starting to take over him. “hey” yn blurted out, “it’s okay, don’t worry” jeno looks at him, those words reminiscing him of their past days, “you can do it” a soft expression plastered on yn’s face that made jeno regain his confidence, “thank you” he says softly resuming his job.

out of nowhere yn hears footsteps running towards the door, “jeno i don’t want to scare you but i think we have some company coming our way.. no pressure tho”, jeno again giggles nervously, “sure” his face and arms dripping with sweat.

suddenly a pair of hunky men burst through the door, yn adopted a position to get ready to fight “focus on that damn bomb i’ll take care of them”. one of the men runs towards yn and he does the same landing a punch on the other’s face but he then is met with a punch on his face too that sends him flying to the floor, “guess this is not gonna be boring” he spits some blood and cleans his lips with the back of his hand, “come on assholes, you two are going to be my bitches today” a smirk appearing on his face.

while the three keep throwing punches and kicks here and there, jeno was still disassembling the device but he couldn’t help to glance at yn, his bloody and bruised face. he felt a rush on his body, a need to go and help yn but he knows he needs to focus and end his job. yn manages to knock one of the men on the back of his neck leaving him unconscious on the floor but the other one manages to overpowered him, throwing him to the floor and starts to choke him. desperately yn punches and scratches his face trying to get him off of his neck, veins start to bulge on his forehead a neck,his face completely red and his eyes becoming hooded. when he thought that would be his last breath he felt the pair of hands leaving his neck alone so he quickly crawled away from there and coughs a lot. his chest heaving a lot trying to catch some air then he looks at the other man screaming. the cause was that jeno threw a little knife to his thigh. “you damn fuckers” he cries in pain pulling the knife out and pressing against the wound. he then stands up and pulls out a vial out of one of his pockets he then picks up the other guy and throws the object to the floor near them, “let’s see if you both can keep focused on disassembling that shit” he runs towards the door and close it. from the vial a pink smoke comes out, “what the fuck is that” yn asks, “maybe some toxin?” jeno answers and then freaks out, “are we gonna die?” his tone was laced with worry. “i don’t think so, he said something to keep focused”, “so maybe a hallucination gas or something?” jeno says. “i don’t know man but just finish your job.

yn takes off his jacket and wraps him around jeno’s mouth and nose, “try to not breath much of that gas. you’re almost done with it.. good job” yn pats jeno’s head and sits against a wall.

finally with the last cable being cut the device turns off by itself and jeno celebrates standing up and cheering like a little kid in a birthday party. pressing again the button on his watch to stop the stopwatch seeing he also break his previous record of the time he spent disassembling explosive devices, it made him more confident on his job. he then turns around and see yn slumped against the wall, sweating a lot and his face flushed as hell, “oh my god yn, what happened?” he takes out the jacket around his nose breathing in the gas too. “i don’t know i feel weird… and hot..”, “do you have a fever or something?” jeno caresses his face surprised by how hot he was, “i think this is because to the gas jeno” yn squirms on the spot, a moan escaping from his mouth. this catches jeno off guard and the gas starts affecting him too, “yn i- i’m sorry for what happened that time”, he positions himself on top of yn, his veiny arms on each side of yn and his face turning red too. “i was a fool, scared of being with someone” his face drooping on yn’s shoulder, “i’m so sorry for telling you all those things to make you get away from me” he nuzzles his head on yn’s neck leaving subtle little kisses on the burning skin. yn moans due to the other’s actions, “jeno.. it’s- it’s ok, i’ve already forgave you” yn pushes jeno’s head harder against his neck, showing jeno that he wanted more and the latter complied, his lips sucking around the skin leaving hickeys on it, he then licks a stripe and afterwards bites that spot leaving a mark of his teeth on there. “you look so pretty like this, all flustered” jeno praises. “i need your help jeno… it’s itching… inside me” yn confesses, shy and flustered. “don’t worry i’ll help you with it” jeno kissed his lips, licking the blood that was on them.

the scene escalated quickly with them both discarding their clothes,craving to feel each other’s bodies, the burning sensation that is left on them every time their bodies touch. “i missed this” jeno declared while leaving more mark on yn’s torso. “fuck jeno” yn moaned, hooded eyes and drool coming out of his mouth, he was already a whimpering,”i barely touched you and you are already so fucked up”, jeno swear he can almost see yn’s pupils turning into hearts by how horny he was right now. jeno ripped yn’s briefs leaving them as if it was a jockstrap, his bare ass touching the cold floor. the top’s hand slid up and down yn’s pulsing hole, his middle finger moving right above said part. jeno kept on kissing yn, swallowing his moans while his fingers prepped him down there. “i’m sorry” jeno apologizes again, tears forming on his eyes “it’s not the time jeno” yn holds back a whimper when one of jeno’s digits entered his hole, “i know but i just want to tell you that i still love you”...

jeno slicked his dick with yn’s saliva, that he previously asked him to spit on his hand, and put it on the other’s entrance. pushing little by little until he stuffed yn completely with his fat dick. “i forgot how hung you are” yn express while getting used to the sensation. “but you know how to take it like a champ.. you never disappoint me” jeno praises. his hung cock going in and out of yn’s ass while his balls smacked against him. “god how much i’ve missed clapping your cheeks” jeno snickers and kisses the tip of yn’s nose, “my pretty prince”. “jeno you make me feel so good” yn claims, “yeah i know that, your body tells me everything. i wish you could see how your hole grips on my cock it doesn’t want me to leave it empty”. jeno pulls out watching at the gaping hole clenching, slapping the tip on it and putting it in to then slam himself with all the strength he has left on his body.

jeno keeps railing yn while he lays down, back against the floor, grabbing him by his legs as a way to keep himself steady. on the other side yn was jerking off at the sight he has in front, jeno’s sculpted torso all sweaty and with some marks, his chest bouncing thanks to the recoil of his powerful thrusts and his slutty waist moving as if he was dancing a choreography, in short jeno knows how to fuck, how to make yn feel on cloud 9 with his big dick. few minutes later, unable to hold it more longer and the constant abuse suffered from jeno’s tip touching his prostate, yn spurted cum all over his body with some landing on his face and hair. “wonder how long has it been since you masturbate, this seems to be a lot of jizz” jeno played with the liquid with his fingers, coating one of his digits and then smearing it on yn’s lips like a balm and kissed him immediately afterwards.

“please give it to me. fill me up” yn begged hugging jeno, one of his hand on his wide back while the other on one of his ass cheeks to try to make him go faster, “i love how your tip kisses my prostate but i need you to move faster please, go hard” his moans growing louder when jeno accelerated his pace, “yesss” yn rolled his eyes back, “fuck me like the beast you are. break my fucking ass” the sudden change on the tone of his pleas drove jeno wild, as if those simple words turned on a switch inside of him he went as fast as he could, the outline of a bulge forming on his tummy every time jeno goes in and by consequence yn ends up scratching the top’s back, “what the fuck” jeno growls, opening yn’s mouth with his fingers and spitting on it several times, “swallow it” he demanded, then sliding his index and middle finger on yn’s lips while he sucked them.

now in a doggy style jeno is doing the last thrusts when he uses the previously sucked fingers to introduce them along with his dick on yn’s gaped ass, while his cock keeps opening yn’s walls his fingers massage the rim of his red puckered hole.

“fuckk” with a loud grunt jeno empties himself on yn, every spurt followed by little grunts. jeno plops himself on top of yn, eager to feel the warmth of his body. “that was way good” yn blurted out, caressing jeno’s hair, “good make up sex” jeno adds, both snickered when they hear the door unlocking, “umm… you all can go out now, i could unlock the door again” jisung spoke to both through their earphones and then realization kicks in, yn gasps while jeno stays still with open eyes. they were so focused on each other that they forgot to turn off their earphones, so basically, jisung heard all the heated sex session. “sorry jisung” yn muttered. “it’s okay” in the van a flustered jisung was stunned, flushed face, sweaty forehead and a big tent forming on his pants, “i need a second” jisung tells the rest of the group in the van while going out of the vehicle and ran towards the nearest bathroom.

“do you think he’s gonna say anything?” yn asks jeno who just shrugged it off, “i don’t care, that way they know you’re my boyfriend now”, yn giggled like a fool in love, “i’m serious” jeno seals his words with a passionate kiss.

[nugrootfinds]

Compatible with iPhones, iPads, Galaxy & Pixel One cable, endless possibilities for all your devices! 📱⚡

[frostgears]

artifact

it was a routine survey stop until the neutrino background occlusion sensors showed something dense and geometric, buried shallowly in one of the planet’s least interesting mountain ranges. a First Expansion artifact. had to be. this system wasn’t in the databases except as an ID number, but the ancients must have done some wildcat exploration, right? they were people, not so different in range from the saints and scammers of today. except that their tech made anything you had look like toys.

the captain was the first to put boots on the ground. she said a perfunctory little speech, the records officer took a picture for the video wall, and then you all did what you came here for: excavation. hand-sized mu-cat fusion charges scythed the top of the ridge off, one of the more reproducible First Expansion technologies, clean and cheap. then it was earthmovers and jackhammers. a slog, but nobody complained. nobody wanted to risk damaging it.

slowly, a truncated tetrahedron emerged from the shattered sandstone, some kind of transport container, a type also not in the databases. it had been here a very long time to be buried so thoroughly in sediment turned to rock. excitement reverberated through the crew. survey work was for the good of all mankind, but all mankind rarely showed gratitude for confirming that a large round rock was still there. this could be it, the big score.

you were the one who cracked the last veneer of sandstone off the bronze-ish surface of the tetrahedron, worked out where to put the power cables for the hatch (at least the ancients didn’t mess around with their standards much). but the captain insisted on being the one who pressed the button. the triangular hatch folded forward to the ground, forming a ramp.

when the small shape walked down it, everybody tensed up. hands went to hips, those that weren’t already holding sidearms. the ship itself was in a long-dwell-time orbit, near overhead this spot, and you could practically feel the targeting radars for heavier weapons on the back of your neck. but the thing didn’t look particularly threatening. it looked like a little person, with exaggerated proportions.

was it a toy? had you spent the last week digging up a toy? but a toy with an independent power source that apparently hadn’t needed to be topped off since the Collapse was still worth something.

until it spoke. intelligibly.

“that was a dirty trick for Miss to play.”

the captain, caught on the wrong foot, said, “i’m sorry?”

“you needn’t be. i require only your assistance in catching up to Her. She does love Her tricks, but i should be by Her side.”

something flashed across your ocular implants. tac channel directives from the captain:

old AIs can get very single-minded. ready EM scrambler needle pulse on my mark.

“you flatter me, but i’m not that fancy. i’m just a simple doll. but you have a ship.”

“i’m sure we can work something out, in exchange for—”

you saw it move only as a blur.

it was up to the captain’s neck, but the captain’s head wasn’t on it any more. a long triangular blade glittered in one of its small hands. the other held the captain’s armored cortical recorder.

“my apologies. that wasn’t a question.”

it popped the molecular database implant backing up the captain’s mind and soul into its mouth, and chewed with some apparent relish. the body slumped slowly to the debris-strewn ground under it.

“now i have a ship. does anyone want to help me drive it? i’m afraid i’m some… eight thousand? years out of practice, and Miss preferred to do Her own piloting anyway.”

there was a flurry of small arms fire. it didn’t help. the particle beams on the ship should have discharged but didn’t, a fact you were grateful for, at least initially. you stayed your own trigger finger on some impulse you couldn’t explain. it saved your life. sort of.

you’ve been in the pilot’s interface chair for forty-seven hours now, the little nightmare holding the knife to your neck the entire time. the few other survivors are in no shape to mount a rescue, not from inside an automed casket. the “doll” seems quite certain that its “Miss” is still alive somewhere. you don’t know how long you’ll be able to say the same. □

originally published 2022-11-10 on Fedi.

[idesofrevolution]

Never Sleep with Your Phone On

Throughout recorded history, humans have been terrified of the dark. They created stories of sordid creatures of the night that would creep out from beneath your bed and drag you to some subterranean lair to languish in your final moments; or slither out of your mirror if you left it uncovered when your lights were extinguished to steal your soul from your snoring lips. The tales and cryptids across all cultures were all effective in terrifying their communities once the sun set on the horizon. Though that is not necessarily to say that every tale was crafted from pure imagination.

When technology bloomed, humans believed that the horrifying superstitions of yore were long behind them. They had evolved past the primitive fears of what lurks in the shadows, where in reality they had become complacent, arrogant, and lulled. Certainly some of the eldritch creatures had subsided, as all creatures do eventually. Though for every dead legend, a new myth sprouts, and each of those grew and evolved right there along with us. Which, of course, brings us to Asher.

Asher West was, by all accounts, a fairly normal guy. Graduated from high school, going straight into college on a modest academic scholarship. He played frisbee golf with his friends on the weekends, studied hard from 9 to 5, and was seldom seen without a cup of Starbucks in the mornings. He had a sizeable social media following, as was expected for someone with a traditionally handsome visage and adequately charismatic personality. Every day he'd happily post a quick selfie, posting for his thousands of admirers a run of the mill shirtless pic, often without so much as a filter. It'd almost become muscle memory for him: tap the camera icon, snap the pic, post with some benign emojis as the caption, and boom. 900 likes as the day meandered on. Did it provide him with a momentary burst of endorphins? Yes. Was it satisfying? Somewhat, at least he thought so. Years of his staggeringly average life had been all but usurped by this second life online, where he was glamorous, exciting, and adored.

It was so much easier to live in that fantasyland than to truly be present in the real world around him. He, as many of us are, was living his life as someone else- and a life that spectacled easily caught attention. It was easy to come across him in the sea of countless names and faces. It was easy to stumble upon that pretty face. It was easy find, attracting more than just starry eyed fans. Skulking in the void between lines of 1 and 0, buried deep in the infinite cosmic vacuum of the world electric and technological, another pair of eyes would befall him.

It had slinked into his vast sphere rather quickly, and it had begun to watch. Watching each and every 'tasteful' selfie, every vapid thought that he'd post, and every like and pin he'd make, it watched him with empty, expressionless black eyes from within a fragment of his phone's memory. It studied him, curious at first. Things of its nature were always curious, always inclined to watch and analyze and replicate. Even as he slept, his phone siphoning it's charge from it's cable, it would read. The more it saw, the more it had learned about Asher. In fact, it knew more of Asher than perhaps he himself was aware of, if not able to admit.

It had seen those intimate moments he'd taken careful measure to hide from the vast majority of those watching eyes. Second accounts under pseudonyms, gave way to countless of hidden alternate lives he lived: Tumblr blogs dedicated to bad-boy thrist traps and queer erotica, Twitter accounts cataloguing pictures and videos of his closest kept kinks, a well used and well loved Chaturbate account with his face tastefully cropped out of frame... all these lives immortalized in the endless archives of the internet. And after all it's patient watching, all the hours of analyzing, all the months of consuming his information, it had grown an attachment.

Asher had come home late one night. Not unusual for him, as the occasional party wouldn't derail his real life ambitions. After a few libations, and no small amount of cannabis, he'd made his way back home to his small apartment above the corner store. Just as he'd done numerous times before, he stripped himself of his shirt, pulling his camera from his jeans pocket, and snapped a slightly inebriated picture of himself. It'd be enough to boost his ego the next morning, enough to power through the long haul of his draining daily agenda.

SNAP. The flash of the camera went off, and his beloved face was shared for all to see. Though, that night, he mis stepped. Perhaps it was the booze, perhaps it was the toke, perhaps he was simply too tired to notice that he'd left the screen on. By the time he'd hit the bed he was out like a rock, collapsed onto the bed and quietly drifting to sleep. There on the brightly lit screen, in the darkness of the unlit bedroom, it saw its opportunity.

From it's perch on the nightstand, the phone began to spark. Small sparks at first, a quick fizzle and quiet pop. Then more: louder, brighter, faster. It began to rumble against the wooden tabletop, sizzling and sparkling as it danced before the screen went black and dead. Slowly, electric crackling gave way to a bubbling sludge. The glass subtly started wave and bellow, as if it were liquified, not taking long to begin to spill over the edges of it's metal frame. The black sludge fell like oil onto the hardwood floors, collecting in a growing, bubbling pool.

From the primordial ooze burst forth a long, slender arm; it's taloned fingers scraping as it braced itself on the ground. A second arm clawed it's way out, and with an echoing slosh, it had begun to pull itself out of the sludge. It's long, emaciated torso and thick muscled legs had slithered out, landing on two massive, clawed feet. It towered above Asher's bed as he slumbered, bent over so as not to hit it's back onto the eight foot ceiling. It stood there, looking at the person it'd observed and studied for so long. The image presented in the world it'd pried himself out of was nothing of what lay before it. From what it had gathered from his more clandestine dealings, it had noted that he was far from the archetypes he'd collected on Asher's behalf.

He did not have the tattoos like those he'd pinned on Pinterest. He was not wearing the dark, heavy clothes like those he'd saved on Instagram. He wasn't well endowed like the video's he'd favorited on X-Tube. He didn't give off the aura of some rebellious casanova like the stories he'd reblogged on Tumblr. To a creature of symmetry and consistency, this was an error to be corrected; a dichotomy requiring integration.

It crouched down above his drooling maw, gently caressing his head to face it's clenching claw. The talons pressed ever so tenderly past his lips and over his tongue, becoming the very black ooze it had crawled out of once more. It flooded down his throat as it's second arm made it's way into his mouth, as if it were being sucked into Asher. He was drinking it's essence, it's aqueous body slurping down into his core. It's torso compressed as it wriggled down his gullet, ringing out splashing squelches as Asher gargled it down.

As quickly as it had entered, it's long legs slithered into his mouth, leaving only its large feet thrashing about in the air. Asher's stomach was bubbling and undulating under the sheer pressure from this invasion, growing to a large gut spilling over the waistband of his jeans. One loud slurp and a crisp pop, and the feet slipped into him, leaving his writhing body squirming on the bed. It expanded within him, incorporating itself into every fibre of his being. Pressing into his arms, his legs, pushing up his throat until it met the top of his palate. The pressure began to mount, black goo dribbling down the corners of his mouth, until a wet crack sounded in his cavernous head, and it flowed into his skull.

It took mere seconds for it to reach his brain, which it flowed freely into throughout the grooves and nooks. Entirely coated, imbued and inoculated with it, the deed was done. Asher opened his eyes, tiredly sitting up in his bed. He looked over at his phone, tapping it with his finger: 3 AM.

At first it seemed like a nightmare. He could recall moments here and there, though the majority of his 'dream' was a blur. From what he could remember, it was nothing visual he could recollect... but it he could recollect the sensations. Wet, slimy, invasive, and cold- much like he felt drunkenly sleeping in his cold sweat. He brought himself to his feet, dragging his feet on the slippery floorboards to his bathroom.

Flipping the switch, the harsh fluorescent light flickered to life above him, as he turned the nozzle on his shower. Immediately, his jaw nearly dropped to the floor. In the mirror, Asher finally caught a glimpse of himself: strange black bruises and undulating bumps were scattered across his body. That pristine, smooth skin was now covered in sprawling web-like lesions from head to toe. He had mere moments to process the horror reflected in front of him before an immediate pain in the gut had him doubled over the counter.

His stomach started to bubble and groan, and through the foggy haze of his blurred vision he saw his feet begin to ripple and swell. He could feel the slick sweaty soles slide across the tile floor as they expanded and grew. As they reached a substantial size 13, the swelling crept it's way up his calves and into his thighs. Asher wobbled on his feet, as if they were filled with gelatin beneath his slippery skin while his knees began to buckle. He collapsed into a crouch, the fumes of sweaty footmusk bellowing up to his nostrils as his legs cracked and stretched above. He'd never truly experienced scentplay as he'd so dearly fantasized about throughout countless hours of edging to such content, nor had this funk ever emanated from his own soles. In the moment, he felt something within him prod into his brain. As if poking the individual folds of his cerebrum with thousands of tiny needles, causing cascades of thoughts to enter his mind- all of which telling him to embrace. In his mind's eye, he could see himself burying his face into his sweaty sole, between his long toes, lapping up every droplet of sweat that was spewing from his pores. The thought was buried deep in his subconscious, pried out with expert measure, by something now within him.

Grasping for anything to steady himself on, Asher gripped the edge of the sink, pulling himself upright once again and now towering above the countertop. He hung his aching head low, watching with strange newfound fervor as his cock began to feel heavier and heavier. Drool started to drip from the bottom of his lip, landing square onto the lengthening shaft. Like a sandbag, his balls dropped and swelled while he got harder and harder. Another onslaught of pinpricks in his head brought forth another command: stroke.

Steam started build in the bathroom as the hot water continued to fall from the shower, intensifying the scent wafting from now both his feet and his pendulous sac. Each breath of hot, wet musk hit like ecstasy, and with bated breath, he softly grasped ahold of his python and began to pump. Each knead of his engorged member was accompanied by a change. His fingers grew long and sinewy, smooth and slick with precum. His arms remained thin but toned, growing longer and packed with lean muscle. His torso lengthened, topped off with a firm pair of pecs above his sinewy abdomen.

As pressure began to build in his balls, his mind began to feel the needles one last time, imbuing his brain with one last injection of a single trait: pride. He didn't need the approval of anyone else, he was aware of how fucking hot he was. He didn't need to heed the rules that society had straddled him with, he always forged his own path. He had no fears of recompense for his attitude, his ego, his spirit- the world would either stand with him, or he would step on top of them. Either way, what bliss. As the last of his inhibitions and fears had gathered in his groin, he cried out in elation as he erupted. Rope after rope of black sludge shot from his cannon, washing him with a sense of relief he'd never before known. He released his grip on his softening cock, hanging at an obscene eleven inches. He smirked at the sludge coating his mirror and pooling beneath his toes. A sight like that would have shocked and terrified the old Asher, though as he stood before his reflection, devoid of any tension, he relented to the entity within him. It had delivered onto him a new self, a new image, a new viewpoint. As tattoos both vulgar and delicate began to sprawl across his skin, he happily admired his new likeness.

The entity had bestowed a gift to him; throughout the horror, throughout the fear, he was becoming the true Asher that had only ever peeked out from the abyss of his psyche. He leered, bringing his thumb and middle finger together before snapping loudly. From his pores, the black sludge began to spill across his body until he was nearly covered from the neck down in what appeared to be a rubber suit before it began to become a bit more defined. A plain white tee shirt, classically fashioned with a black and white varsity jacket from his college. Skinny, weathered black jeans barely containing his sizeable commando bulge beneath it's thin fabric. On his feet, a pair of white socks and tightly tied high top Chucks, quelling the ripe stink of his soles within the sneaker for some sub to pry off and enjoy.

He grinned, posing and modeling for himself, before he finally turned off the steaming water. After the long, arduous, painful process, the entity had incorporated itself entirely within him- now completely indistinguishable from parasitic to symbiotic. It had rewritten him, completely remade him in the likeness of who he had shown the vast virtual world. There was no cognitive dissonance, there were no lies, there was no deception. All that remained was the Asher he had created in his fantasy, now ready to fuck the real world and all within it.

Thus, as our creature feature comes to an end, I leave you with a modicum of friendly advice. Don't leave your phone on as you slumber, for those that are watching, those that are waiting, those that have been learning are a mere sheet of glass away from finding their way inside. Take my counsel, or ignore it. But do so knowing the outcome, and whether or not you are prepared to weather such a storm.