#explainer video company in Texas

[reasonsforhope]

When self-described “ocean custodian” Boyan Slat took the stage at TED 2025 in Vancouver this week, he showed viewers a reality many of us are already heartbreakingly familiar with: There is a lot of trash in the ocean.

“If we allow current trends to continue, the amount of plastic that’s entering the ocean is actually set to double by 2060,” Slat said in his TED Talk, which will be published online at a later date. 

Plus, once plastic is in the ocean, it accumulates in “giant circular currents” called gyres, which Slat said operate a lot like the drain of the bathtub, meaning that plastic can enter these currents but cannot leave.

That’s how we get enormous build-ups like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a giant collection of plastic pollution in the ocean that is roughly twice the size of Texas.

As the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, Slat’s goal is to return our oceans to their original, clean state before 2040. To accomplish this, two things must be done.

First: Stop more plastic from entering the ocean. Second: Clean up the “legacy” pollution that is already out there and doesn’t go away by itself.

And Slat is well on his way.

Pictured: Kingston Harbour in Jamaica. Photo courtesy of The Ocean Cleanup Project

When Slat’s first TEDx Talk went viral in 2012, he was able to organize research teams to create the first-ever map of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. From there, they created a technology to collect plastic from the most garbage-heavy areas in the ocean.

“We imagined a very long, u-shaped barrier … that would be pushed by wind and waves,” Slat explained in his Talk. 

This barrier would act as a funnel to collect garbage and be emptied out for recycling. 

But there was a problem.

“We took it out in the ocean, and deployed it, and it didn’t collect plastic,” Slat said, “which is a pretty important requirement for an ocean cleanup system.”

Soon after, this first system broke into two. But a few days later, his team was already back to the drawing board. 

From here, they added vessels that would tow the system forward, allowing it to sweep a larger area and move more methodically through the water. Mesh attached to the barrier would gather plastic and guide it to a retention area, where it would be extracted and loaded onto a ship for sorting, processing, and recycling. 

It worked. 

“For 60 years, humanity had been putting plastic into the ocean, but from that day onwards, we were also taking it back out again,” Slat said, with a video of the technology in action playing on screen behind him.

To applause, he said: “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, honestly.”

Over the years, Ocean Cleanup has scaled up this cleanup barrier, now measuring almost 2.5 kilometers — or about 1.5 miles — in length. And it cleans up an area of the ocean the size of a football field every five seconds.

Pictured: The Ocean Cleanup's System 002 deployed in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Photo courtesy of The Ocean Cleanup

The system is designed to be safe for marine life, and once plastic is brought to land, it is recycled into new products, like sunglasses, accessories for electric vehicles, and even Coldplay’s latest vinyl record, according to Slat. 

These products fund the continuation of the cleanup. The next step of the project is to use drones to target areas of the ocean that have the highest plastic concentration. 

In September 2024, Ocean Cleanup predicted the Patch would be cleaned up within 10 years. 

However, on April 8, Slat estimated “that this fleet of systems can clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in as little as five years’ time.”

With ongoing support from MCS, a Netherlands-based Nokia company, Ocean Cleanup can quickly scale its reliable, real-time data and video communication to best target the problem. 

It’s the largest ocean cleanup in history.

But what about the plastic pollution coming into the ocean through rivers across the world? Ocean Cleanup is working on that, too. 

To study plastic pollution in other waterways, Ocean Cleanup attached AI cameras to bridges, measuring the flow of trash in dozens of rivers around the world, creating the first global model to predict where plastic is entering oceans.

“We discovered: Just 1% of the world’s rivers are responsible for about 80% of the plastic entering our oceans,” Slat said.

His team found that coastal cities in middle-income countries were primarily responsible, as people living in these areas have enough wealth to buy things packaged in plastic, but governments can’t afford robust waste management infrastructure. 

Ocean Cleanup now tackles those 1% of rivers to capture the plastic before it reaches oceans.

Pictured: Interceptor 007 in Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of The Ocean Cleanup

“It’s not a replacement for the slow but important work that’s being done to fix a broken system upstream,” Slat said. “But we believe that tackling this 1% of rivers provides us with the only way to rapidly close the gap.”

To clean up plastic waste in rivers, Ocean Cleanup has implemented technology called “interceptors,” which include solar-powered trash collectors and mobile systems in eight countries worldwide.

In Guatemala, an interceptor captured 1.4 million kilograms (or over 3 million pounds) of trash in under two hours. Now, this kind of collection happens up to three times a week.

“All of that would have ended up in the sea,” Slat said.

Now, interceptors are being brought to 30 cities around the world, targeting waterways that bring the most trash into our oceans. GPS trackers also mimic the flow of the plastic to help strategically deploy the systems for the most impact.

“We can already stop up to one-third of all the plastic entering our oceans once these are deployed,” Slat said.

And as soon as he finished his Talk on the TED stage, Slat was told that TED’s Audacious Project would be funding the deployment of Ocean Cleanup’s efforts in those 30 cities as part of the organization’s next cohort of grantees. 

While it is unclear how much support Ocean Cleanup will receive from the Audacious Project, Head of TED Chris Anderson told Slat: “We’re inspired. We’re determined in this community to raise the money you need to make that 30-city project happen.”

And Slat himself is determined to clean the oceans for good.

“For humanity to thrive, we need to be optimistic about the future,” Slat said, closing out his Talk.

“Once the oceans are clean again, it can be this example of how, through hard work and ingenuity, we can solve the big problems of our time.”

-via GoodGoodGood, April 9, 2025

[austinvisualsblog]

Top Animation Studios in Texas for 2023 | Austin Visuals:-

Discover the top animation studios in Texas. From stunning CGI to classic hand-drawn artistry, these studios boast exceptional talent. Criteria for selection include strong portfolios, experienced animators, and proven success. Choose Austin Visuals for 2D and 3D animation, motion graphics, VFX, and more. Partner with them for quality, innovation, and competitive pricing.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Mark Zuckerberg announces mind-control ray (again)

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in PITTSBURGH on May 15 at WHITE WHALE BOOKS, and in PDX on Jun 20 at BARNES AND NOBLE with BUNNIE HUANG. More tour dates (London, Manchester) here.

Mark Zuckerberg has told investors how he plans to make back the tens of billions he's spending on AI: he's going to use it to make advertisements that can bypass our critical faculties and convince anyone to buy anything. In other words, Meta will make an AI mind-control ray and rent it out to grateful advertisers.

Here, Zuck is fulfilling the fundamental duty of every CEO of every high-growth tech company: explaining how his company will continue to grow. These growth stories are key, because growth stocks trade at a huge premium relative to the stocks of "mature" companies. Every dollar Meta brings in boosts their share price to a much greater degree than the dollars earned by companies with similar rates of profit, but slower rates of growth. This premium represents a bet by investors that Meta will continue to grow, which means that the instant Meta stops growing, the value of its shares will plummet, to reflect the fact that it is a "mature" company, not a "growth" company.

So Zuck needs to do everything he can to keep investors believing that Meta will continue to grow. After all, Zuck's key employees and top managers all take much (or even most!) of their compensation in Meta stock, which means that the instant the company stops growing, those workers' pay will plummet and they will seek employment elsewhere, depriving Meta of the workers it needs to successfully create or conquer a new market and once again become a growth stock.

This is why Zuck keeps telling stories. The most important story Zuck tells is about himself, the boy genius who converted a tool for nonconsensually rating the fuckability of Harvard undergrads into a social media monopoly with four billion users. Zuck's cult of personality isn't the product of mere narcissism – it's a tool for creating the material conditions for ongoing investor confidence:

https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-shirt-latin-what-does-it-say-explained-words-2024-9

If Zuck is a boy genius, then Zuck's pronouncements take on the character of prophesy. When Zuck announced the "pivot to video," investors poured tens of billions into Facebook stock and into video-first online news production, despite the fact that Zuck was obviously lying:

https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/facebook-online-video-pivot-metrics-false.html

The "boy genius" story is an example of Silicon Valley's storied "reality distortion field," pioneered by Steve Jobs. Like Jobs, Zuck is a Texas marksman, who fires a shotgun into the side of a barn and then draws a target around the holes. Jobs is remembered for his successes, and forgiven his (many, many) flops, and so is Zuck. The fact that pivot to video was well understood to have been a catastrophic scam didn't stop people from believing Zuck when he announced "metaverse."

Zuck lost more than $70b on metaverse, but, being a boy genius Texas marksman, he is still able to inspire confidence from credulous investors. Zuck's AI initiatives generated huge interest in Meta's stock, with investors betting that Zuck would find ways to keep Meta's growth going, despite the fact that AI has the worst unit economics of any tech venture in living memory. AI is a business that gets more expensive as time goes on, and where the market's willingness to pay goes down over time. This makes the old dotcom economics of "losing money on every sale, but making it up in volume" look positively rosy:

https://www.wheresyoured.at/reality-check/

Now, Zuck has finally described how he's going to turn AI's terrible economics around: he's going to ask AI to design his advertisers' campaigns, and these will be so devastatingly effective that advertisers will pay a huge premium to advertise on Meta:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-ai-revolution-is-an-advertising-revolution-morning-brief-100001467.html

This narrative is especially galling because it's literally the same story Zuck has been telling for decades: "Facebook has built a mind-control out of Big Data, and we can sell anything to anyone":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/30/dont-believe-the-criti-hype/#ordinary-mediocrities

This is a facially absurd proposition. After all, everyone who's ever claimed to have perfected mind-control – Rasputin, Mesmer, MK-ULTRA, neurolinguistic programming grifters and pathetic "pick up artists" – was a liar. Either they were lying to themselves, or to everyone else. Or both.

But many of tech's critics helped sell this narrative (and thus helped Meta sell ads). Many critics have fallen prey to the sin of "criti-hype," Lee Vinsel's term for critiquing the claims of your adversary without bothering to ask whether they are true:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/02/euthanize-rentiers/#dont-believe-the-hype

The project of convincing investors that tech's "dopamine hackers" had perfected mind-control with warmed over, non-replicable Skinnerian behavior-mod techniques and mass surveillance sold a hell of a lot of ads. After all, if there's one kind of person the advertising sector has always been able to sell to, it's advertising executives, who are the easiest of marks for a story about how easy it is to trick the public into buying whatever you're selling:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/05/florida-man/#wannamakers-ghost

Every ad-tech sales-bro who takes a meeting with an advertising executive finds himself pushing on an open door. Advertisers desperately wants to believe in mind-control rays. Think of the department store magnate John Wannamaker, who said, "half my advertising spending is wasted – I just don't know which half." Imagine: some advertising exec convinced John Wannamaker that he was only wasting half of his advertising spending!

I've long maintained that the threat from AI to workers isn't that AI can do your job – it's that an AI salesman can convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can't do your job:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/18/asbestos-in-the-walls/#government-by-spicy-autocomplete

The corollary here is that it doesn't matter if AI can design ads that work, not so long as an AI ad salesman can sell this proposition to an advertisers, and not so long as a tech CEO can sell it to investors.

AI keeps passing the worst kinds of Turing tests – for example, it's great at helping people who are prone to life-destroying hallucinations that they are talking to God:

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/

Zuck kept up his growth story with this mind control narrative for more than a decade, got caught committing a string of spectacular frauds, and then lured investors back into his stock offerings by telling the same story. This isn't just an indictment of Zuck, it's a stinging rebuke to the whole idea that markets are a kind of infallible computer for assessing and operationalizing information. The market's "thought process" demonstrably lacks the object permanence that most babies acquire by the time they are a year old. You can tell when your child has acquired object permanence by the fact that they cease to enjoy "peek-a-boo" (object permanence means they understand where you have gone when your face is hidden).

In claiming that AI will give him an infinite growth mind-control ray, Mark Zuckerberg is challenging the market to a game of peek-a-boo – and he's winning.

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/2025/05/07/rah-rah-rasputin/#credulous-dolts

Image:

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

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

[blackterrae]

Ideas for Black!Reader Fic

I am going to try my hand again at writing. And I wanted to share some people and fandoms that I love. If you don’t know these shows/actors/franchises/movies/streamers/games

I’m putting you on! For the following:

Princess Bride

Alice In Borderland

Johnny Depp- All his characters

Napoleon Dynamite

Cameron Monaghan- I know that there are fics out there but it’s only always his Jerome/Jeremiah roles never just him or Cal Kestis

Anthony Carrigan- I loved Anothy as Victor Zsasz

Paul Dano- There are Riddler fics but not as many for his other roles

Damsel

The Entire Cast of Hawaii Five-0 (2010) - Don’t even get me started on how good this show is! And the cast looks amazing!

Chicago Med/Fire/PD- These shows have so much potential for fanfic storylines!

The Game (2006)- Has great potential for slow burns and fluffs.

Star Wars franchise (1977-present) - I know I said Cal Kestis but there are also other characters like Anakin, Luke, Obi Wan,Boba Fett (etc.)

NCIS franchise- I honestly love this franchise and it’s characters!

Hamilton

Any/All Sports Men- Jude Bellingham,Lewis Hamilton,LaMelo Ball,Allen Iverson(etc.)

Berleezy - He’s handsome and he’s funny!

Coryxkenshin- I literally love him and his videos!

Albert Aretz (Flamingo)- Look … he may be the epitome of mediocre white man but I like what I like!

AMP- Duke Dennis, Kai Cenat, Agent 00, ChrisNxtDoor,Davis, and Fanum ( all I gotta say is love a black man from infinity to infinity🗣️)

Beta Squad- A British YouTube/ streamer group!

SOMEBROS- Berleezy, Rico, ,PG, Joe (etc.)

WWE- come on now, do I even need to explain!!!

Four Brothers- All the cast but Garrett Hedland in particular!

Peacemaker - Don’t get me wrong I love Adrian Chase but I want to see just as much Peacemaker x black!reader fics because 2 words… JOHN CENA

MAWS- New animated Superman show! Love!

Smallville - The entire cast is hot! Tbh I fell hard for Tom Welling when I was younger when he was in Cheaper By The Dozen. Plus they literally whitewashed Vixen. COME ON! Vixen is a black female hero btw. She was also with Jon (Green Lantern) at one point.

Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (2001 and 2004)- I mean I literally can’t find any Jon Stewart x black!reader fics and he was with a BLACK WOMAN!

Warner Bros Franchise (minus the looney tunes & space jam)- There are lots of popular franchises that this company has from Fast & Furious to The Matrix!

Peaky Blinders- Saw a Tommy shelby x arms dealer black!female reader fic on my previous account but even then I couldn’t find it again on that account. So it’s gone with the wind. And the cast (i.e the actors and other characters they’ve portrayed). Example: Cillian Murphy as Johnathan Crane.

The Bear

FBI (All)

The good doctor

Tiktokers: Vinnie hacker

Blue Bloods

Will Poulter- I haven’t really seen any Adam Warlock fics

Slashers

Stranger Things

Cruel Intentions

Burnt

Dave Lizewski

Eddie Redmayne

Macgyver (2016)

Fresh Prince of Belair

Guardians of the galaxy- Explanation? Do I really need one?

On My Block

Descendants (characters will be the actors age in real life.duh)- Love Boo-boo Stewart & Mitchell Hope!

Matt Rife

Joey Bragg (Liv &Maddie) - What can I say I love dorks!

The Boys- Haven’t seen that many fics about the characters and a black reader

Once Upon A Time- I love dark fairytales sometimes because they remind me that not every story has a happy ending and you have to learn from them. But this series is good for any theme really.

Walker Texas Ranger (1993)

Top Gun

Nicolas Galitzine

Magcon: Whether you saw their vines on YouTube or vine, you know who they are

Dolan Twins

Mission Impossible

Euphoria- Entire show has great storylines with the potential of drama in fics

Shameless- Especially Carl Gallagher and Lip Gallagher

Creed- Michael B Jordan need I say more

Keanu Reeves- There are very few fics about Keanu but I’ve seen a few of his John Wick x black!reader fics (chef’s kiss) but never see any of The Matrix Fics!Also Ted (Bill & Ted)

River Phoenix

Batman Beyond

Rider Strong

Danny Gonzalez

Timothée Chalamet

Past-Present Singers & Rappers/ Groups -Bow Wow, Tupac, Lil Baby, Nelly, Omarion, Prince, Michael Jackson, Jon B,Usher, Central Cee, Måneskin, New Edition, BTS, James, PRETTYMUCH Bay, Daniel Caesar, October London, Steve Lacey, Artemas, YUNGBLUD, Andy Biersack,Eduardo Vega(etc.)

Anime(Any kind!)- Would love to see other shows, I know hunterxhunter,aot,one piece (etc.)

Bridgerton- There is very little Bridgerton stories catered around a black reader.

Marvel- Now that’s not to say that there aren’t any in fact there are many but I never see (Tobey Maguire Spider-Man stories and it seems like everyone tends to focus on the famous Marvel characters like The Avengers but not on other aspects like X-men or better yet, heroes that haven’t even gotten their own movie but are just as amazing like Squadron Supreme , it’s equivalent to DCU’s Justice League.

Secret Invasion- Not gonna lie , I’m feening for Gravik.😳

DCEU- Another franchise that pushes its other characters to the side. For example, Hush (Thomas Elliot) is literally the epitome of Bruce Wayne gone bad!

Ross Lynch- There are so many roles that Ross did so well in Like Teen Beach Movie or Sabrina.

Highschool Musical Franchise (2006- present ) I’m not just talking about HSMTS (2019), I mean even further back than that. I don’t see any Troy Bolton x black!reader and that’s crazy. I also can’t find any Zac Efron x black!reader

Interview with a Vampire (1994) and (2022)

Austin Butler- He did well in his role as Elvis!

Vikings - There are a good amount but still!

Transformers

Suits

Saved By The Bell

The Goldbergs

Parks & Recreation

Leverage

The Outsiders

Heart of Stone

New York Undercover (1994)

Addams Family

Victorious

Matpat

ICarly

The Real Bros of Simi Valley (2017)

Think Like A Man (2012)

One on One (2001)

Scorpion (2014)

The King of Queens (1998)

G.I. Joe Franchise

Terminator

Beware the Batman (2013)

Any and all Asian Idols/Actors

Seal Team

Mortal Combat

Bill and Ted

Barbie

Detroit: Become Human

Will Trent

Bones

Tokyo Vice

Growing Pains

Graceful Family (Kdrama)[Any Asian Drama shows or movies would be great as well]

The Regime

Batman: The animated series

The Sympathizer

The Invitation

Jawbreaker

Hunger Games

Saved By the Bell

Eve (2003)

Yellowstone

Superstore

Rodrick Heffley

Tracker

Girlfriends

Grown-ish

CSI

Kingsman

Jury Duty

Scoot Pilgrim vs the world

21 Jump Street (The Show and Movies)

Sky High

The Outsiders

Left

Midsomer Murders

Wayne (perhaps college AU characters will be the actors age in real life)

Carrington Bornstein

Yakuza

He’s Harmless I swear ( Webtoon comic)

Kaleidoscope ( formerly Webtoon turned Tapas comic)

Legends of Tomorrow

You

Scrutinized

Dexter

Arcane

The Pitt

Hudson and Rex

If anyone needs ideas for these franchises/movies/shows/actors/webtoons , then holla at me! I got you!

Also add more to the list if anything that you would like to see comes to mind.

Also tag black writers who you want to see this!

@sheabuttahwrites @shinsouscatpisssmell @cocoamoonmalfoy @heathenarmyimagines @cinewhore @cocoamoonmalfoy @stxxllaaa @glitterjuju @lilvampirina @breanime @blackmissfrizzle @afro-hispwriter @stargirlfics @lavenderursa @clydesducktape @pettyprocrastination @theblvckvenus @plantvenuss @punani @n-slayaaaaa @infernalodie @halfofmysoulsblog @iridecsense @tomhardydallasstarsgirl @supremethunda @thekrazykeke @canumoveurseatup-no @hiatuswhore @avintagekiss24 @ohcaptains @iguessweallcrazyithinktho @xsapphirescrollsx @bakarilennox @batfamily14 @ramp-it-up @blackreaders-assemble @royallyprincesslilly @funnyexel @blackterrae @slashisms @shelbydelrey @toocriticalharlow @v-era-18 @vampsired @queenimmadolla @sinnerlillith @greengoblinswifey @apocalypse-shuffle

[blgger9]

"Why Xfinity Customers Are Switching Providers in 2025"

1. Rising Costs Push Customers Away

Many customers are leaving Xfinity due to high prices. While the company offers good service, the cost of its plans keeps rising. The monthly bills are becoming too much for some users. For instance, a family of four might see an increase of $20 every few months. This adds up fast and causes frustration. Several customers share that after the first year, Xfinity raises prices, which feels like a hidden fee. One user from California shared, "My bill went up by $50, and I had no warning." This lack of transparency makes many consider cheaper options.

In addition to price hikes, bundling can add to the confusion. Bundling services like internet, TV, and phone might seem like a good deal. However, many find that the savings are not as big as promised. When customers review their bills, they notice extra fees and charges that were not explained upfront. These "extras" include things like taxes, installation fees, and equipment rentals. All of this makes customers look for more affordable alternatives.

Xfinity's competitors are making things easier. With clear pricing, no hidden fees, and better customer support, other companies are winning over Xfinity's former customers. Providers like Spectrum, AT&T, and Verizon offer plans that seem simpler and cheaper. This shift towards simplicity is one of the reasons many are saying goodbye to Xfinity.

2. Customer Service Issues

Xfinity has been criticized for poor customer service. One common complaint is long wait times on the phone. Many customers report waiting over an hour just to speak to someone. This can be a major turn-off, especially when you need help with technical issues. For example, a user in Florida said, "I waited for 45 minutes, then got transferred three times. I gave up and switched." It’s not just wait times that bother customers. The lack of resolution is another issue. Even after finally speaking to an agent, many customers feel that their problems are not solved.

In fact, Xfinity’s customer service has received many low ratings over the years. According to a survey by Consumer Reports, Xfinity ranked near the bottom for customer satisfaction. Issues such as incorrect billing, service outages, and technicians not showing up are common reasons for customers to leave. A user from Chicago shared, "They promised a tech would come on Saturday. He never showed up." This lack of follow-through leads people to try other providers who offer better support.

Some customers even claim that agents often try to upsell instead of helping solve problems. This can make the situation even more frustrating. When faced with poor service and long waits, it’s no wonder customers look for a better experience elsewhere.

3. Limited Service Areas and Speed Issues

Xfinity’s coverage area is another factor causing customers to switch. Many customers living in rural areas are frustrated by slow speeds. While Xfinity advertises "high-speed internet," some users in less populated regions report poor service. A small business owner in Texas said, "I signed up for their 100 Mbps plan, but the speed was often less than 10 Mbps." Slow speeds affect everything from video calls to streaming. This is a major dealbreaker for many, especially in today’s work-from-home environment.

Xfinity’s data caps also play a role in pushing customers away. Some people find themselves hitting the data limit early in the month. This leads to extra charges for additional data or slower speeds. A college student from Arizona shared, "I hit the limit watching Netflix and got charged extra. It was frustrating." These data restrictions are less common with other providers. Many customers find companies like AT&T and Google Fiber offer unlimited data with no additional costs.

Additionally, Xfinity’s service often experiences more outages than its competitors. A customer in New York stated, "I lost service during a big storm, and it took three days to restore. I needed it for work, so I switched to Verizon." With unreliable service, many customers prefer to find providers that are more dependable, even if they have to pay a bit more.

Xfinity’s rising prices, poor customer service, and inconsistent service speeds are leading many customers to look elsewhere. These problems, combined with a lack of transparency, have made other providers more attractive. Whether it’s a simple price drop or better customer care, people are deciding to make the switch.

[applbottmjeens]

bellegraves couple bullshit

Anna likes to use Phillip's credit card. Not for the Gucci store, but to go to the Asian supermarket/Costco to buy groceries and stuff in bulk. He always insists on carrying the bags of rice in spite of his knee lmao. (Of course this doesn't mean she's above dragging him to Sephora)

Phillip likes old movies. They watched Roman Holiday and he swears that a young Audrey Hepburn resembled his mom when she was younger.

Phillip always complains about how he wished he would've recruited her before Laswell did when she was discharged for not acknowledging Farah Karim's ULF as a terrorist group, (thank God the CIA cleared her of that.) And how she would've thrived in the Shadow Company at the time. Anna argues she probably wouldn't be with him if she was working directly under him that way.

The two of them like to nap together. Alot. When they say they "sleep" together, they mean sleeping together. He's gotten so used to having her just lying ontop of him he struggles to sleep without some weight over him.

When Graves was trying to win her back while she was casually dating Tommy's father, he wrote her literal letters. Handwritten letters that were one way or another "Please take me back". She has them in a box.

Anna genuinely expected Graves to dip as soon as he learned she was pregnant with another man's baby. Him insisting on helping her was part of what convinced her to forgive him, and to eventually join the Shadow Company.

She will STILL annoy him with her random unfiltered questions and thoughts.

"How do you think dinosaurs have sex?"

"Let me finish my coffee before I even consider answering that, Annie."

Anna is amazing at karaoke but only sings when she's drunk. There's a video of her on his lap singing at a karaoke booth with friends where he's just smiling and watching her all smitten.

Anna has tried to explain "not too sweet" as an Asian compliment to Phillip thousands of times. He still doesn't get it.

Anna cannot wrap her mind around the amount of churches needed in one place in the entire state of Texas.

They had a legitimate argument over the Spurs or the Warriors (NBA Teams) being better. Graves was this close to banning blue and gold in the household.

There's an entire folder of photos in Anna's phone dedicated to Phillip's dog being cute. Her favorite is a clueless Graves using the dog as a pillow while he scrolls through his iPad.

They forget about the age gap sometimes. Well, she does. Sometimes he uses her "immaturity" as an excuse to take charge/be right.

Anna has taken Phillip to the Philippines before. She had to convince him not to adopt every street dog/feed every askal he saw on the road. He left a rose on the memorial of her grandmother Isabella.

[beardedmrbean]

The mother of an American influencer fears for her daughter who is facing jail time in Dubai after a public altercation that violated local morality laws.

Tierra Allen, who runs the “Sassy Trucker” brand of social media accounts was arrested after arguing with a car rental employee following a minor fender bender.

Ms Allen’s TikTok and YouTube channels showcase her life as a female truck driver. She was visiting Dubai on vacation at the end of May when the incident occurred.

Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is an extremely popular tourist destination known for luxury hotels and malls, skyscrapers, white sandy beaches and dramatic desert landscapes, making it extremely popular with social media influencers.

Ms Allen posted a YouTube video suggesting she was considering moving there from her current home in Houston, Texas.

Despite Dubai’s glittering image, many visitors do not realise that there are strict decency and morality laws and they can be arrested for swearing, making rude gestures, or being affectionate in public places.

Speaking to Fox 26 Houston, Ms Allen’s mom, Tina Baxter, said that after the fender bender, her daughter went to the car rental company to get her ID, credit card and some other personal items.

Ms Baxter said her daughter “found out she could only receive those items if she paid an undisclosed amount of money” and alleged that the employee dealing with her daughter was “very aggressive” and “screaming at her”.

Ms Allen allegedly screamed back at the employee who she claims then chased her out of the building. She called her mother when she got back to where she was staying and was “scared”, “afraid” and “very panicked”.

Worried that she might get Ms Allen in more trouble, Ms Baxter did not want to reveal the amount of money that was demanded. The car rental employee also allegedly doubled the amount owed to hand back the ID.

A police officer then allegedly showed up and arrested Ms Allen, though it is not known how soon after the altercation this occurred.

Ms Baxter has been in contact with Detained in Dubai, an organisation that offers legal consultation for clients who fall foul of the laws of the United Arab Emirates.

Radha Stirling, the CEO of Detained in Dubai, said they had reached out to Texas lawmakers — Senator Ted Cruz and Rep Sheila Jackson Lee — to work with the US consulate in Dubai to stop Ms Allen from being sent to prison.

“She’s being charged for shouting, which is actually a crime technically under the UAE laws,” Ms Stirling explained to Fox 26. “It’s offensive behaviour, and it can warrant up to two years in prison.”

“The agency actually said to her, they’d drop the police case if she paid money,” Ms Stirling continued. “So it’s a form of extortion and blackmail, and it’s extremely common with these rental car companies.”

Detained in Dubai has covered multiple cases where tourists are fleeced for sometimes tens of thousands of dollars by car rental agencies.

Senator Cruz’s office said in a statement: “We have spoken to the family of Tierra Young Allen and have contacted the Department of State about the case. Sen. Cruz will continue to gather details and engage on this case until Ms Allen is returned home to her family.”

The US embassy and consulate cannot comment on the case due to privacy laws.

[newengen]

To Ban, or Not to Ban: Our Take on How Marketers Should Be Thinking About TikTok

The Latest TikTok News

Tensions between TikTok and the U.S. government came to a head this month after the Biden administration threatened to ban the app should the company refuse to divest from its Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance. The escalation comes amidst warnings from U.S. lawmakers that China’s investment in TikTok poses a threat to national security and opens the door for the Chinese government to influence content moderation on the platform.

To top it all off, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced Congress last Thursday and attempted to reassure U.S. lawmakers that the company has implemented measures to address their concerns. Central to Chew’s defense was TikTok’s plan to roll out what it calls “Project Texas” - a $1.5 billion project to migrate American user data to Texas-based Oracle. In another key moment, Chew rebutted accusations that TikTok’s algorithm has adverse effects on kids by pointing to steps the company has taken to protect its younger users.

A Marketing Perspective

Apart from the political drama, TikTok also made headlines this month after its announcement that 150 million American users are on the platform. The app’s popularity and influence are undeniable, and marketers are uniquely aware of this: there’s an appetite for short-form video that won’t be curbed by a TikTok ban. An eMarketer survey from November 2022 found that 63% of TikTok users would move to another platform, with Instagram being the favored alternative. And these platforms are already evolving their video capabilities to meet consumer demand - Instagram introduced 90-second videos last year, and Meta recently followed suit.

So, What Does TikTok Have to Say About All of This?

In response to last Thursday’s hearing, TikTok circulated a Myth vs. Fact Sheet, which counters what the company calls inaccuracies surrounding its ownership, content moderation, and data security. A few notable examples, transcribed directly from the document, include:

“Myth: TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Ltd., is Chinese-owned.*

Fact: TikTok’s parent company ByteDance Ltd. was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, but today, roughly sixty percent of the company is beneficially owned by global institutional investors such as Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, and Susquehanna International Group. An additional twenty percent of the company is owned by ByteDance employees around the world, including nearly seven thousand Americans. The remaining twenty percent is owned by the company's founder, who is a private individual and is not part of any state or government entity.”

*Despite TikTok’s attempt at myth-busting ByteDance’s association with the Chinese government, it has been reported that "golden shares" give the Chinese government the ability to appoint a seat on the company's board.

“Myth: TikTok manipulates content in a way that benefits the Chinese government or harms American interests.

Fact: TikTok is an entertainment app. The content on TikTok is generated by our community. TikTok does not permit any government to influence or change its recommendation model.

Myth: TikTok collects a significant amount of sensitive data on its users.

Fact: TikTok's privacy policy fully describes the data the company collects. There have been many inaccurate claims about our policies and practices that have gone unaddressed by the media. To be clear, the current versions of the TikTok app do NOT:

*Monitor keystrokes or content of what people type when they use our in-app browser on third-party websites;

Collect precise or approximate GPS location in the U.S.;

Use face or voice prints to identify individuals.

In line with industry practices and as explained in our privacy policy, we collect information to help the app function, operate securely, and improve the user experience. We constantly update our app and encourage users to download the most current version of TikTok.”

*This talking point conveniently omits what happens off the app via TikTok browser trackers, or “pixels.” But more on that in a minute.

Formalities aside, TikTok knows that the best way to reach an audience is, well, through TikTok. Ahead of his testimony on March 23rd, Chew appeared on TikTok’s verified account to address his upcoming congressional hearing and remind users of what’s at stake - that a ban could “take TikTok away” from 150 million users, 5 million business accounts, and 7,000 U.S.-based TikTok employees.

Creators Sounding the Alarm

TikTok has found support from its creators, who have taken to the platform to sound the alarm about what a ban, in the form of the S. 686 RESTRICT Act, would mean. One example comes from creator @sayheyjames, who recently published a video that generated 12.2 million video views and 2 million likes in the span of a week. In this video, he calls out elements of the bill that he says will “fundamentally change” how we use the internet, like the proposed legal consequences of using VPNs to access banned apps and the ban on hardware manufactured by “foreign adversaries” (including China, Russia, and Iran).

There are countless examples of this type of content, with trending hashtags like #tiktokban accumulating 2 billion views. Given how much creators have to lose in this debate, it’s no surprise that they’re leveraging the platform to create a sense of urgency around the issue.

Making Sense of it All

It’s near impossible to predict what happens next because there’s no playbook on how to best navigate the aftermath of a ban on a platform like TikTok. Kevin Goodwin, VP of Performance Marketing at New Engen, offers some perspective:

“Precedent matters. We have zero precedent for a nationwide ban of such a popular technology and entertainment platform. Since we’ve never seen it happen before, all marketers are skeptical that TikTok will be the first to pay the price. Take Meta and Google for example - they consistently face legislative pressure for specific products and ways of working (albeit on a smaller scale), yet have never been materially impacted in their ability to provide products to users and advertisers.”

On top of the legal and political complexities of a theoretical TikTok ban, the cultural and economic implications are massive. New Engen VP of Performance Marketing, Adam Telian, puts it plainly,

TikTok has done an amazing job of creating demand for a specific type of content which, it seems, a good portion of the world can’t get enough of. Our position is that, even if TikTok gets banned, the format and the attention it demands isn’t going anywhere.

Another key piece of the equation is TikTok creators, who help differentiate the platform from other major social media players. This is why New Engen leaders are asking, “what will happen with creators?” Many creators are already operating cross-platform, but those with an outsized presence on TikTok are at risk of losing potency in their existing brand partnerships. It will be incumbent on brands to diversify their influencer partnerships and plan accordingly for a creator migration to Reels, Shorts, and Triller (or maybe a resurrected Vine) in the wake of a TikTok ban.

“Once we figure out where the creators are moving,” Adam Telian says, “it will be up to the platform to prove they can retain user attention, and deliver the same results and consistent innovation we've seen from TikTok.”

Actions for Marketers (Whether You’re on TikTok Yet or Not)

For the time being, there are several actions marketers can take to leverage TikTok as it exists today.

New Engen Clients Operating on TikTok

These clients are embracing a business-as-usual approach to their TikTok strategy, but they’re also prepared to be agile and flexible as the situation unfolds. Kevin Goodwin explains, “We continue to recommend brands take a diversified channel strategy and approach to short-form video to hedge any extreme risk. We want to avoid the rare scenario where the government bans TikTok and one of our clients suddenly has 50%+ of their revenue at risk.”

In practice, this means incorporating Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts into short-form video strategies, and, as mentioned above, ensuring that content creator programs aren’t over-dependent on the TikTok app and its toolset.

New Engen Clients Not Yet on TikTok

We are advising clients who are not yet on TikTok to move forward with their investment. “Even if TikTok does get banned,” Adam Telian explains, “clients can be using this time to refine their creative approach and learn how to unlock meaningful performance that should translate to whichever platform fills the vacuum created by a ban. And if it doesn’t get banned, then they’re ahead of where they would be if they chose to wait for the dust to settle."

New Engen Clients Concerned About Data Privacy

Anna Otieno, Head of Research & Insights at New Engen, reminds us, “Privacy and security are the top concerns right now, particularly for companies and government institutions. As we head into a world of cookie-less advertising and first-party data, control is key.” She notes that, regarding TikTok, “It’s been confirmed that the app - like Google and Meta - gathers information about people as they move around the internet. TikTok partners with companies that embed tiny website trackers “pixels” to better measure and target ads - usually without user notification.”

With this in mind, some New Engen clients have chosen to refrain from implementing TikTok’s tracking pixel. This allows brands to maintain their presence on the platform without compromising their first-party data.

It’s important to note, however, that creators tend to have a difference of opinion on this front. Anna Otieno tells us that, "While privacy and security are important to TikTok users, content creators are less concerned given the tradeoff. In fact, most social media users know that their data is tracked and shared to make sure ‘the algorithm is working.’ TikTok’s remixed creator fund, known as the Creativity Program Beta, aims to help creators ��generate higher revenue potential.” What’s the price of opportunity and revenue? Data."

[reasonsforhope]

Thanks for posting! More info below.

"The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has confirmed that over 500 employees at Blizzard Entertainment have formed a wall-to-wall union at the Microsoft-owned studio.

The new unit is called World of Warcraft Game Makers Guild (WoWGG-CWA) and comprises the entire World of Warcraft development team, including designers, engineers, artists, quality assurance testers, and more. Another 60-person unit of Blizzard QA testers called Texas Blizzard QA United-CWA has formed simultaneously in Austin, Texas. 

Staff were able to organize without interference thanks to a seismic Labor Neutrality Agreement that was struck in 2022. That agreement was subsequently extended to other Microsoft employees within ZeniMax, paving the way for almost 250 workers at Bethesda Game Studios to unionize earlier this week [July 2024].

The CWA said Blizzard's latest union represents a "significant milestone" in a journey that began when employees walked out and rallied at Blizzard Entertainment HQ in California in 2021 to protest Activision Blizzard's response to a California DFEH sexual harassment lawsuit.

"This victory underscores the growing momentum of worker organizing in the video game industry and will hopefully continue to inspire other video game workers to form unions and raise industry-wide expectations for pay, benefits and respect for workers’ rights," added the CWA.

Unionized Blizzard devs want to ensure "every voice matters"

Speaking to Game Developer about their decision to unionize, Blizzard senior software engineer Kevin Vigue said the unit hopes to make good on the company mantra "every voice matters."

"By forming a cross-disciplinary union, we seek to enshrine that value and ensure that the developers of World of Warcraft, QA included, will always have a voice in our own workplace," they said...

Vigue explained the World of Warcraft team was inspired by the unionization efforts at ZeniMax, Sega, and other studios that have made a collective push for better working conditions. Their resolve, he added, was only strengthened by the wave of the mass layoffs and studio closures that have carved through the game industry.

"We organized not just for ourselves, but also our fellow employees who make the game with us. By ensuring we're all treated fairly in our own workplace, we can focus ourselves on our shared passion: making great video games," they continued.

"Our union effort predates the recent layoffs, but witnessing them firsthand only served to solidify how important this effort is for the entire gaming industry. With our union contract, we can have a voice to minimize the impact of future layoffs and ensure we retain talent and knowledge whenever possible."

WoWGG-CWA will now elect a representative bargaining committee from the World of Warcraft team and survey its members to understand which issues need prioritizing. "While the team's voice will determine what we bargain for, we've also had numerous conversations with each other in the past few months," added Vigue. "We suspect our top bargaining items will include layoff protections, improved work from home policies, transparency around performance and promotions, and pay adjustments to align with the expensive areas we live."

Game industry unions building momentum in the United States

Workers have formed a number of unions within Activision Blizzard and Microsoft in recent years.

Prior to the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft maker being acquired by Microsoft, QA staff at Raven Software and Blizzard Albany succeeded in their attempts to organize–despite reports of interference. More than 300 QA workers at Bethesda also voted to unionize in January 2023, becoming the first union to form within Microsoft.

Those efforts have continued post-merger. In March 2024, roughly 600 QA workers at Activision Blizzard formed the largest certified union in U.S. video game history when they established AQAU-CWA. Bethesda Game Studios Montreal employees are also attempting to unionize and filed for certification with the Quebec Labor Board in June 2024. Now, almost 750 employees have unionized across Blizzard Entertainment and Bethesda in the past two days.

To learn more about the surge in unionization across the game industry, we sat down with union workers and insiders to discuss the power of collective action during a tumultuous period for studios and developers. Read the full story here.""

-via Game Developer, July 24, 2024

[hobbyspacer]

Space habitat reports – Apr.4.2025

Here is a new selection of videos, articles, and news items about space habitats (govt and commercial), living in space, and space settlement. === International Space Station & NASA ** Space to Ground: Preboarding for Spaceflight: April 04, 2025 | NASA Johnson ** Space to Ground: Transitional Period: March 28, 2025 | NASA Johnson ** NASA Astronaut Don Pettit Talks with Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Star Talk” – Thursday, April 3, 2025 | NASA Video Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 72 flight Don Pettit of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview April 3 with Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Star Talk” Program. Pettit is in the midst of a long-duration mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program. ** NASA’s Northrop Grumman Cargo Resupply Services-21 Departure – Friday, March 28, 2025  | NASA Video The unpiloted Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft for the company’s 22nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA was released from the nadir port of the Unity Module of the International Space Station March 28 by flight controllers on the ground in Houston, Texas. Cygnus launched on Aug. 4 from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Following a deorbit engine firing on March 30, Cygnus will begin a destructive re-entry in which the spacecraft, filled with trash, will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. See also: Cygnus Departs Station After Release from Robotic Arm | NASA - Mar.28.2025 ** NASA's Suni Williams hands over command of ISS to Russian crewmate in ceremony | VideoFromSpace NASA astronaut Suni Williams gave the key to the International Space Station to Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin during a change of command ceremony on March 7, 2025. ** Microbes and the Microbial "Situation on Station."  | ISS National Lab In this bonus clip from the 1st episode of “Between A Rocket & A Hard Space,” a podcast from the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory, host Patrick O'Neill and Dr. Michael Roberts, Chief Scientific Officer of the ISS National Lab, discuss Dr. Mike's passion: microbes in a closed environment. *About the Podcast*: Join your host, Patrick O’Neill, Public Affairs lead at the International Space Station National Laboratory, for “Between A Rocket and A Hard Space,” a podcast that explores space-based research with visionaries from academia, government, and private businesses who have launched their R&D to the ISS. People just like you are addressing those pesky hard spaces created by research limitations here on the ground and putting their research on a rocket to test what’s possible in space. Between a Rocket and a Hard Space is brought to you by the International Space Station National Laboratory, managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space. ** The ISS Cupola observation module: This is what the ISS observation dome looks like from the outside and inside This is a module of the International Space Station (ISS), which is a panoramic observation dome consisting of seven transparent windows. It is designed to observe the surface of the Earth, outer space,… pic.twitter.com/bmsemWAco5 — Black Hole (@konstructivizm) March 28, 2025 ** In Defense Of The Space Station | TMRO In this video, members of the TMRO crew explain why we shouldn't retire the ISS early in 2027, what benefits it serves, and a reminder that SpaceX might not exist without it. ** MISSION UPDATE - SpaceX Fram2 Human Polar Mission | The Launch Pad A glimpse into the activities of the SpaceX Fram 2 crew; the first human spaceflight to fly over Earth’s polar regions from low-Earth orbit. === Commercial space habitats ** Axiom Space --- Free floating station configuration now possible as early as 2028: We have coordinated with NASA to update the Axiom Station assembly sequence. The first module to launch will be the PPTM, which includes power and thermal systems. Instead of docking to Node 2, the PPTM is able to berth to one of the ports currently used by cargo spacecraft. The… pic.twitter.com/KdmNhYDg6Z — Koichi Wakata 若田光一 (@Astro_Wakata) March 11, 2025 During the #Ax4 mission, crew will be performing a wide range of experiments and demonstrations that leverage microgravity to enhance scientific research #ForEarth. With 60 research and science-related activities, this mission sets a record for Axiom Space missions. Find out more… pic.twitter.com/u790ZMiKCB — Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) April 3, 2025 ** Gravitics --- Gravitics wins grant from the US Space Force to demonstrate use of their orbital carrier modules for military applications: - Gravitics Selected by Space Force for $60M STRATFI to Demonstrate Revolutionary Orbital Carriers | Gravitics - Mar.26.2025 - Firm wins Space Force funding to provide an “aircraft carrier” in orbit | Ars Technica - Mar.26.2025 ** Starlab - Voyager Technologies --- Starlab aims for 2028 launch of the first station module: Private Starlab space station moves into 'full-scale development' ahead of 2028 launch | Space.com - Mar.18.2025 The completion of the PDR (see previous Habitat Report) raises the company's confidence in meeting the launch date goal. ** VAST --- Vast to use NASA vacuum facility: Vast Secures Agreement with NASA to test Haven-1 Flight Vehicle at Armstrong Test Facility | VAST - Apr.3.2025 Vast and NASA have signed an agreement to allow Vast to perform the final environmental test campaign of the Haven-1 flight-ready station at NASA’s Glenn Research Center at Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Haven-1 testing will occur at the Neil Armstrong Test Facility’s Space Environments Complex, home to some of the world's largest and most capable space simulation test facilities. Scheduled to begin in early 2026, Haven-1 will undergo rigorous testing to verify its performance and reliability when exposed to environments it will experience during launch and on-orbit operations, including acoustics, vibration, electromagnetic interference, and thermal vacuum. See also Vast signs agreement to test Haven-1 at NASA facility | SpaceNews - Apr.3.2025. Vast has signed an agreement with @NASAGlenn to perform final environmental testing of Haven-1 at the Neil Armstrong Test Facility in early 2026. This test campaign will validate the station’s performance in space-like conditions, including acoustics, vibration, electromagnetic… pic.twitter.com/YqXiQi6Y1m — Vast (@vast) April 3, 2025 --- Update on Haven-1 flight module construction: We're machining Haven-1's flight panels in-house, leveraging vertical integration for speed and efficiency. Full control enables rapid iterations and optimized manufacturing, accelerating our mission to make space accessible to all. pic.twitter.com/PwQ2mw5OIz — Vast (@vast) March 12, 2025 --- Solar panel deployment testing: We tested and deployed the solar array of Haven Demo in a flight-like configuration to ensure there were no motion restrictions or configuration issues during deployment. The test allowed us to identify and adopt additional minor adjustments to optimize our configuration and… pic.twitter.com/YhgQSDn8Px — Vast (@vast) March 13, 2025 === Chinese space habitats ** China's Shenzhou-19 Crew Completes Multiple Tasks in Third Spacewalk - CCTV Video News Agency Members of the Shenzhou-19 crew aboard China's orbiting space station Tiangong completed their mission's third series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) at 20:50 (Beijing Time) on Friday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). ** Riveting View of Earth Captured from China's Space Station - CCTV Video News Agency Video footages shot recently through a window of China's Tiangong space station in orbit offered breathtaking views of the Earth spinning in space like a shimmering blue gem. ** An in-space snapshot of the Chinese space station: New from orbit! We captured this image of the Chinese Space Station using a @BlackSky_Inc satellite. This NEI mission was captured from a distance of 83 km, with a resolution of 0.17 m/px. Can you identify the various modules of the space station? Photo: BlackSky pic.twitter.com/Sl9NVyBMfv — HEO (@heospace) March 27, 2025 === Space Settlement ** Broadcast 4352 John Jossy | The Space Show - David Livingston interviewed John Jossy who runs the Space Settlement Progress blog. John returned to The Space Show to discuss his having used four AI programs to look at the Musk-SpaceX plans for launching supply and humans to Mars between 2030-2050. John wanted to know how many launch sites would be required for the plans Musk has announced to date. During this program, John went through his questions for AI, his assumptions and he he evolved his model. We also disected each of the AI responses. With listener emails and phone calls, this was a thorough discussion but specific to the question John asked the AI with the assumptions he made. All of this was made very transparent on this program. https://thespaceshow.com/sites/default/files/shows/4352-BWB-2025-03-25.mp3 ** Relying on technology to sustain our lives in space is nothing unusual - Dr. Phil Metzger, director of the Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity Research & Education at Univ. of Central Florida: A major criticism of settling space (e.g., Mars) is that we will depend on technology for air and other basic needs and thus aways be in danger if the tech fails. People on Earth don't need technology for air so we are safer here (supposedly). This is completely wrong. First,… pic.twitter.com/bTK4km5gAQ — Dr. Phil Metzger (@DrPhiltill) March 31, 2025 ** Space Habitats Living in Space CTEEs Meeting...  |  Space Renaissance Participants: Jerry Stone, Thomas Matula, Werner Grandl, Marie-Luise Heuser, Mary Kuiper, Adriano V. Autino ** US Military Wants to Grow Biological Structures in Space | Sabine Hossenfelder Last month, DARPA published a call for proposals on how to “grow” massive biological structures in space. It’s not as crazy as it sounds: The space race is heating up outside of the weird space biology sector. Some startups are building self-assembling space habitats, others are working on spaceports, and the ISS’s successor is in development. Let’s take a look. The DARPA Call: https://sam.gov/opp/426e5868fcf74dd4a... === Lunar habitation ** Lunar resources: - A New Company Plans to Prospect the Moon | Universe Today - Mar.17.2025 - Lunar microwave to purify water frozen in Moon’s soil wins UK Space Agency’s Aqualunar Challenge | GOV.UK -Mar.27.2025 --- Open Space 68: Dangers and Rewards of Moon Mining with Dr. Phil Metzger | Fraser Cain Today I'm joined by Dr. Phil Metzger, a planetary physicist with the Planetary Science faculty at the University of Central Florida. Phil specializes in economic planetary science, helping humanity learn to prosper in space. --- Moon versus Mars or Moon and Mars: Is the Moon in America’s future? Unpacking the strategic debate | The Space Review - Mar.17.2025 Mars-direct advocates argue that modern technology has made lunar steppingstones unnecessary and potentially counterproductive. Why spend precious years and billions of dollars developing lunar infrastructure when we could invest those resources in reaching Mars sooner? The Red Planet, they contend, offers humanity’s best chance for a self-sustaining civilization beyond Earth. Moon-first proponents counter that skipping lunar development would be dangerously premature. They argue that establishing lunar operations would accelerate, not delay, humanity’s path to Mars. Beyond the Mars debate, they contend that the Moon presents compelling opportunities in its own right. Commercial interests see potential for profitable ventures from tourism to resource extraction. National security experts view lunar presence as essential for preventing strategic competitors from dominating space. The choice between these approaches will determine not just where humans next land, but how quickly and safely we can establish a permanent presence beyond Earth. === Mars habitation ** LIVING IN MARTIAN MUSHROOMS: An Alternative Building Material for Space Habitats | National Space Society on Youtube As humanity prepares for long-term habitation on Mars and the Moon, the need for sustainable and lightweight building materials has never been greater. Traditional construction methods rely on heavy payloads from Earth, but what if we could grow our habitats instead? In this episode, we explore the groundbreaking work of Dr. Lynne Rothschild and NASA’s research into fungal mycelium-based architecture. Discover how synthetic biology and mycotecture could revolutionize space habitation, offering self-growing, durable, and adaptive structures for off-world colonies. Could Martian mushrooms be the key to our interplanetary future? From Ad Astra Magazine Written & Read by Rod Pyle ** No City on Mars? | National Space Society on Youtube A review on the book "A City on Mars" by NSS COO Dale Skran https://nss.org/critique-of-a-city-on... No City On Mars A Review By Dale Skran From Ad Astra 2024Q2 Written & Read by Dale Skran Produced by Isaac Arthur / SFIA 2025 === Other space habitat and settlement news and articles: - Calendar: - Advancing In-Situ Resource Utilization Technologies Through Flight Tests | NASA Flight Opportunities - Wednesday, April 2, 2025,10–11 a.m. PST - International Space Development Conference 2025 | ISDC - Orlando, Florida, June 19 - 22, 2025 - The  National Space Society's 43rd annual conference. Read the full article

[siryouarebeingmocked]

I'm not actually defending the QR menus, I'm criticizing the made up narrative that says they must be because of some evil plot, instead of just plan stupidity.

And I do think the idea is stupid.

I don't like it when people make invalid criticisms of things I dislike. Partially because it makes valid criticism look worse by association.

Like "so you want people to use their data plan to look up your menu?"

I went to a local place once that just used a chalkboard. That's more practical than QR codes. Even hipsters would like it, probably.

Also, if you have the technical capability to rig up this QR code nonsense, you can probably also just use a video/JPG menu. Find a cheap 32", hook it up to a cheap Android box/media center, and you're in business.

>If their business requires them cutting the cost of printing menus, the company deserves to die, and to take the runners of the operation with it.

There's a scene in Hell or High Water where a waitress explains why the place doesn't actually need menus.

Also, restauraunts are generally run on thin margins, and using QR codes might be a general money saving measure, not because it's actually needed.

Which would fall under 'stupidity'.

Or "being fiscally responsible".

Or both.

> walk into a pizza place > there's no visible menu > "how do you get the menu?" > "you have to scan the QR code" > "is that the only way?" > "yes" > walk out of the pizza place

[moontyger]

Two months after the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson sent shockwaves through the much-reviled U.S. health insurance industry, the company’s parent, UnitedHealth Group, is making aggressive moves to protect its image.

Responding to a slew of attacks online, often coupled with the glorification of Luigi Mangione (who was charged with Thompson’s murder outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in December, and allegedly wrote a short manifesto calling health insurers “parasites”), the company has hired a law firm that specializes in defamation cases. Clare Locke, the Virginia-based practice, previously represented Dominion Voting Systems in a bombshell defamation suit that saw Fox News pay a settlement of $787.5 million for airing false allegations about the company’s supposed role in voter fraud during the 2020 election.

UnitedHealth appears eager to make a similar example of Elisabeth Potter, an Austin, Texas, plastic surgeon, and is accusing the doctor of “using her social media following to perpetuate inaccuracies, which is irresponsible, unethical and dangerous.” On Jan. 7, Potter posted a video on Instagram sharing her frustration with the U.S. insurance system, explaining in a text caption that during a procedure, “I was interrupted by a call from United Healthcare — while the patient was already asleep on the operating table. They demanded information about her diagnosis and inpatient stay justification. I had to scrub out mid-surgery to call United, only to find that the person on the line didn’t even have access to the patient’s full medical information, despite the procedure already being pre-approved.”

“It’s beyond frustrating and, frankly, unacceptable,” Potter continued. “We should be focused on care, not bureaucracy.” The comments were rife with fury at UniteHealthcare and for-profit health insurance more broadly. “Luigi for President,” wrote one person, while another put in, “One day these health insurance companies will be dead.”

Days later, according to reporting from Bloomberg, Potter’s attorney received a letter from Clare Locke instructing her to amend the post, apologize, and disavow threats of violence that UnitedHealth claimed had stemmed from the video. But Potter’s legal counsel, Jessica Underwood, has said that there is nothing inaccurate in the video that needs correcting. “Dr. Potter will not be silenced by UnitedHealthcare’s attempts to threaten and harass her,” Underwood has said. The company, meanwhile, has argued that “Dr. Potter’s claims that she was called out of surgery are false.” Potter’s Instagram video remains up on the platform, where it has received more than 350,000 likes.

Elsewhere, UnitedHealth took measures to prevent the dissemination of internal data about its denials of customer claims. (UnitedHealth Group’s individual market plans are known to have one of the highest denial rates among all U.S. insurers, a fact that received much media attention in the wake of Thompson’s death.) As The Lever reported, a day after President Donald Trump‘s inauguration in January, UnitedHealth submitted a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission asking for approval to block a shareholder proposal that it use a third-party auditor to assess “previous customer denial claims, particularly where a death was involved, to determine if denial letters included factually incorrect and insensitive information.” In cases where this outside analyst determined that a coverage claim should not have been denied, the proposal says, those individuals and family members affected are to be sent an apology letter hand-signed by both a UnitedHealth executive and a member of the company’s board of directors.

UnitedHealth’s rationale for refusing a vote on such a policy, as its legal team wrote in the letter, is that the proposal was not submitted before “the applicable deadline.”

Then, on Jan. 31, the insurer sent a second letter to the SEC, seeking to prevent a shareholder vote on another proposal related to its claim denials. This proposal, if passed by investors, would recommend that UnitedHealth “evaluate how company practices impact access to health care and patient outcomes, including analyses of how often prior authorization requirements or denials of coverage lead to delay or abandonment of medical treatment and serious adverse events for patients.” The report produced through this review is also intended to encompass “the public health-related costs and macroeconomic risks created by the company’s practices that limit or delay access to health care.”

In their letter, UniteHealth rejected the notion of putting this proposal to a shareholder vote because it is “vague and indefinite,” and, it argued, an attempt to “impermissibly micromanage” the company.

[ownsilentin]

Dashcam Chronicles: OwnSilent RN46 Exposes Road Rage Assault

Incident Overview

On July 9, 2025, David Ortiz, a 35-year-old delivery driver in Dallas, Texas, was on his usual route, transporting packages for a local logistics company. It was a hot summer afternoon, and traffic was heavy, but nothing out of the ordinary—until he found himself the target of an aggressive driver.

🚨 A black pickup truck began tailgating David, honking aggressively and flashing its lights.

David, keeping his cool, maintained his lane and avoided any sudden moves. But at the next intersection, things took a dangerous turn.

As they both stopped at a red light, the driver of the pickup—a middle-aged man visibly furious—got out of his truck and stormed toward David’s vehicle, yelling and pounding on his window.

Role of Dashcam Evidence

David, feeling threatened, didn’t engage and kept his doors locked.

🎥 His OwnSilent RN46 Dashcam recorded everything: 📌 The black pickup aggressively tailgating for miles. 📌 The driver cutting David off dangerously just before the red light. 📌 The moment the man got out and attempted to break David’s side mirror while shouting threats.

🚨 The situation escalated when the man attempted to open David’s door.

David immediately called 911, reporting the road rage attack while remaining in his vehicle. The aggressive driver sped off before police arrived—but he didn’t know that the entire encounter was captured in crystal-clear 4K dashcam footage.

Investigation and Aftermath

🔍 David submitted the dashcam footage to the police. 🔍 Within 48 hours, authorities identified the attacker using the truck’s license plate. 🔍 The suspect was arrested and charged with reckless driving and attempted assault.

Had David not installed his OwnSilent RN46 Dashcam, he could have: ❌ Struggled to prove the attack happened. ❌ Been blamed for causing the road rage incident. ❌ Been left without evidence to support his police report.

Instead, his dashcam provided undeniable proof, ensuring that the road rage driver faced justice.

Emotional Impact

David was relieved but shaken by the incident.

“If I didn’t have my dashcam, I might have been stuck trying to explain my side of the story with no proof. This could’ve been way worse.”

Now, he never drives without his OwnSilent RN46 Dashcam and urges all delivery drivers to do the same.

Lessons from the Incident

🚘 Road rage incidents can happen anywhere, anytime. 🚘 Staying calm and having video evidence is your best defense. 🚘 A dashcam protects you from false accusations and ensures justice.

With the OwnSilent RN46 Dashcam, David was able to:

✅ Expose a violent road rage attacker. ✅ Provide crucial evidence to law enforcement. ✅ Ensure the dangerous driver faced legal consequences.

Final Thoughts

Your safety on the road matters. Protect yourself with undeniable proof.

OwnSilent RN46 Dashcam – Your Witness in Every Situation

Buy Now: OwnSilent RN46 Dashcam

[adventuresinclientservice]

Has human interaction become a luxury?

I remember the last time I conducted an in-person workshop:  at the behest of agency CEO and founder George Popstefanov, I flew to Ft. Worth, Texas to meet with his colleagues at the digital agency PMG.  It was April 24, 2019.

If I recall correctly, my day of discussions began with the first of two presentations, Five Ways to Build Trust with Client and Colleagues.  Those who know me knowI am a vociferous and all-in supporter of why meeting face-to-face, not as an option, but instead as essential, which explains why one of those “five ways” is called “Stand Up.”  It extolls all the reasons why meeting in-person is hugely important of building and sustaining trust-based relationships, not just with colleagues, but most especially with clients.  

Leading the workshops that day, what I did not foresee was the looming advent of the worldwide Covid pandemic, which had an ongoing, profound impact not just on what I did, but on what everyone did.  No longer would I be able to meet in-person with clients.

I suspect I know what you’re thinking:  with hundreds of people tragically and often needlessly dying worldwide, the inability to meet is, in retrospect, seemingly trivial.   I get it; you’re right.

Trivial though it might be, many of us still needed to continue conducting business.  If not in-person, then how?

I shared my resulting hand-wringing confusion, in a series of posts, starting with this one, and this one, and finally by this one.

If you’ve read the last of these posts, you see I made peace with Zoom as my video platform, beginning to conduct my workshops from my office desk.

I also found myself rewriting the “Stand Up” section of my Five Ways presentation, now acknowledging the necessity of video platforms, continuing to insist on the preferred primacy of in-person meetings, asking, rhetorically,

…knowing that they do.

I make this claim knowing many clients, beleaguered by too much to do and too little time in which to do it, insist on meeting remotely, even with agency people willing to travel across town or across the country to see them, reaffirming the importance of meeting face-to face:

That’s why I was stopped dead in my tracks when I read the headline of the New York Times story, “Human Interaction Is Now a Luxury Good.”  A luxury?  Seriously??  You must be kidding!

The story’s author was not referring to meeting people in-person; she’s primarily concerned about religious caregivers in hospital settings, but when she says, “technology has accelerated and replaced or bowdlerized a lot of low-stakes human interaction….” I’m thinking of tools like Zoom.  Aren’t these among the types of technology to which she’s referring?

From my Ammirati & Puris days I recall a point made when we crafted advertising for what many would consider a long outdated, old-fashioned product, Philips Milk of Magnesia:  we should not give in to the forces of commoditization, remembering, “There are no boring products; there is only boring advertising.”  The television spots crafted by copywriter Tom Nelson and his art-director partner Tod Seisser were witty, funny, wholly human, and anything but boring.

In a similar vein, just because your agency doesn’t think you have the time or is unwilling to spend the money, or just because your clients say they are too harried to meet, doesn’t mean you have to give in.

Can’t meet at the office?  Everyone takes a lunch break sometime; why not try to have it with your client, even if it’s just for 30 minutes, and even it’s in the company cafeteria.  The client eats lunch at his or her desk?  No problem; brown-bag it.

If lunch doesn’t work, suggest you meet before or after hours, for breakfast, dinner, or a beer.  You don’t have to talk business.  In fact, it’s better if you don’t.

Your clients still resisting?  Are they fans of a particular sport or kind of music, or are fans of a particular artist?  For heaven’s sake get tickets and ask them to join you!

Finally let’s answer the question that began this post:  has human interaction become a luxury?

It never will be that way for me, and it never should be that way for you.

[roshmedia]

 When filing a fire claim in Texas

 When filing a fire claim in Texas, understanding the process and knowing what to expect from insurance representatives can significantly impact your claim's outcome. The process typically begins immediately after the fire, when property owners should contact their insurance company to initiate the claim.

Upon notification, your insurance company will assign both an insurance agent and an adjuster to your case. The insurance agent serves as your primary point of contact with the insurance company and helps guide you through the claims process. They can explain your policy coverage, answer questions about the process, and help ensure you're meeting all necessary requirements for your claim.

The insurance adjuster plays a different but equally crucial role. Their job is to investigate the fire, assess the damage, and determine the amount the insurance company should pay for the loss. In Texas, adjusters must complete their initial inspection within 15 days of receiving notice of the claim, though this deadline may be extended in cases of widespread disaster or catastrophe.

During the initial inspection, the adjuster will document all visible damage through photographs and detailed notes. They'll examine both the structure and its contents, looking at everything from structural damage to smoke and water damage from firefighting efforts. It's important for property owners to avoid cleaning up or making repairs before this inspection, except for emergency measures necessary to prevent further damage.

Texas law requires insurance companies to meet specific deadlines during the claims process. After receiving your claim, the insurer must acknowledge it within 15 days and begin their investigation. They must then accept or reject your claim within 15 days of receiving all necessary documentation. If they need more time, they must notify you in writing and explain why.

Property owners should expect to provide detailed documentation of their losses. This includes:

A complete inventory of damaged or destroyed property

Photographs or video of the damage

Any fire department or police reports

Receipts for emergency repairs or temporary housing

Documentation of valuable items lost in the fire

One unique aspect of Texas fire claims is the state's law regarding prompt payment of claims. Insurance companies must pay accepted claims within five business days of accepting them. If they fail to meet these deadlines without a valid reason, they may be subject to penalties and interest charges.

The adjuster will typically provide an initial estimate for repairs and replacements. This estimate should detail the scope of work needed and associated costs. Property owners have the right to get their own independent estimates and should consider doing so, especially for significant losses. If there's a substantial difference between the insurance company's estimate and independent estimates, you can negotiate with the adjuster.

Texas law also provides specific protections regarding contractor selection. Insurance companies cannot require you to use specific contractors for repairs, though they may make recommendations. You have the right to choose your own qualified contractors to complete the work.

During the claims process, you may encounter different types of adjusters. Besides the company adjuster, you might deal with:

Public adjusters (who work for you, not the insurance company)

Independent adjusters (contracted by insurance companies)

Specialty adjusters (for specific types of damage)

It's important to understand that the initial settlement offer isn't always final. If you discover additional damage after the initial inspection, you can file a supplemental claim. Texas law allows you to reopen claims if you find damage that wasn't initially visible or included in the original claim.

Throughout the process, maintain detailed records of all communications with insurance representatives. Document every phone call, email, and meeting, including dates, times, and what was discussed. This documentation can prove invaluable if disputes arise later.

Texas provides several avenues for resolution if disagreements occur during the claims process. You can file a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance, seek mediation, or consult with an attorney specializing in insurance claims. The state's insurance laws provide strong consumer protections, and understanding these rights helps ensure fair treatment during the claims process.

[electrasarchive]

Alexis Petridis - Thu 26 Apr 2012 15.29 BST

Marina Diamandis has a new alter ego to go with her new musical directon. Unfortunately, it's a rather familiar one

Last August, Marina Diamandis gave a confusing interview to the website Popjustice. She explained her change of direction, from the self-consciously arty singer-songwriterisms of her 2010 debut The Family Jewels – with its similarities to Sparks and Lene Lovich – to the more straightforward pop approach of Electra Heart, an album assembled by a selection of writers and producers for hire who have previously turned out hits for Ronan Keating, Dido, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. The shift was so radical, she said – "the antithesis of everything I've done so far" – that she had created a character to perform the new material, called Electra Heart, whose videos had a "Mulholland Drive/Paris, Texas vibe": cue footage of Diamandis in a blond wig and pastel-shaded 50s clothes, smoking insouciantly and trashing sleazy motel rooms with her bad-boy boyfriend. "She stands for the corrupt side of American ideology, and basically that's the corruption of yourself," she said, adding: "Everything I'm not, I'm becoming."

Those cursed with a suspicious nature might suggest this whole I'm-actually-making-a-mainstream-pop-record-as-a-metatextual-comment-on-both-mainstream-pop-music-and-the-ability-of-ambition-to-corrupt angle sounds not unlike the kind of thing a smart woman might come up with after her record company had examined the sales of her debut album and suggested she either stop making records that sound like Sparks and get in the studio with the bloke who wrote I Kissed a Girl or consider gainful employment elsewhere. But the real problem is that since that interview, another female singer-songwriter has emerged playing a character that portrays the corrupting, tragic side of the American dream with a distinct Mulholland Drive/Paris, Texas vibe – sleazy motels, insouciant smoking, pastel-shaded 50s clothes and bad-boy boyfriend all included. It would appear any similarity to the former Lizzie Grant is purely coincidental – certainly Electra Heart sounds nothing like Born to Die – so it's hard not to feel a bit sorry for Diamandis, who now finds herself promoting her new direction while apparently dressed as Lana del Ray.

The best tracks on Electra Heart are, in fact, not the ones involving the big-name songwriters. These range in quality from decent – the single Primadonna – to perfunctory to flatly appalling: the sub-Womanizer stomp of Homewrecker, which, alas, offers Diamandis an unmissable opportunity to rap in one of the patent funny accents that made The Family Jewels so trying. What they noticeably fail to do is what you presumably employ a big-name songwriter for: deliver the kind of melodic sucker-punch that allows them to transcend their generic musical backing.

In fact, the album's highlights are those Diamandis came up with in collaboration with the producer of The Family Jewels, Liam Howe. On Fear and Loathing and Teen Idle, they strip back most of that album's excesses to let the melodies breathe and focus attention on Diamandis's singing: coolly enunciated and slightly folky, her voice is much more appealing than you might have realised, overshadowed as it was on The Family Jewels by her apparently unquenchable desire to shriek, deploy a horrible vibrato and do animal impersonations. The former is a ballad that seems to address the artistic confusion arising from her debut album's relative failure; it does that in a more straightforward, affecting way than opener Bubblegum Bitch, a heavy-handed attempt at the kind of self-fulfilling I-will-be-huge prophecy that filled The Fame by Lady Gaga. Teen Idle, meanwhile, twists the cynicism of the whole Electra Heart concept into an intriguingly nasty lyric that subverts the message of a million Hollywood teen films by apparently suggesting adolescents would be better off trying to curry favour with the vacuous social elite in their school than expressing their individuality.

These two songs are good enough to make you wonder what might have happened if Diamandis had just got on with making a second album herself, not worrying too much about commerciality or alter-egos or becoming everything she isn't. Perversely, it's good enough to make you hope it does sufficiently well to grant her another shot. There's clearly an interesting pop star somewhere in there: last time she was submerged by her own zaniness, this time she's somewhere beneath some half-hearted songs, a confused concept and someone else's image. Perhaps next time – if there is a next time – she might come good.