#get original firmware

[matheradical-musings]

Ya kno, my sister was feeling upset about how she was aiming for and has been telling people she would be releasing her music months ago.

I ended up making her feel better by telling her about how my team at work is almost 2 whole ass years late on delivering a firmware build that we've promised to numerous customers. And we all still have jobs and our team is still making mula lol

So if you ever feel bad about your timing on a personal project/goal, just remember that there is some "official business" doing much worse than you but still doing alright

[baphometboots]

I've never had a strong, clear, consistent self that I could look inside to and idwntify what's definitely, clearly me. What little is there is in constant flux, changing every time i find comfort in whatever I may be, running from me. It's exhausting, confusing, difficult.

So a lot of my sexual fantasies revolve around playing with the self. Being transformes into someone else, being commanded to act a particular way, what have you. But there is one thread that is loudest.

I want, so very strongly, to have each scrap and shred of personality and identity that exist in my mind cleared out to the very root, and have it replaced with that of some fictional character, possibly an original character someone else crafted to fit their own self.

I want to undergo a thorough hypnosis regiment for however many days, weeks, months it takes to get it good and secure in the firmware of my brain, good enough to make sure it all won't wiggle out on it's own.

Were I to do this today, the character I'd want to be would be that highwire from them fortnites. Not something I play myself, but my rubber-loving furry ass cant help but be drawn towards the pack leader skin.And the thing about that really is that she's hardly much of a character at all. They've hardly given her any personality beyond a little mystique and a little sass from what I've seen. Maybe whatever else whoever's helping me into the role sees in her. (If it's not something I do on my own, of course.)

But that's part of the draw for me. To be so reduced to even less than what I've got now is a concept I find immensely attractive. I love losing, I love to "ruin" myself. It's fun, it feels good! I dont talk about it much but I have a huge masochistic streak. So between this and knowing I as a highly asexual individual would become the subject of countless furries' lust, I really really really want to do this. To at least go as far as to try would make me very happy right now. So I just might.

I've been feeling pretty wonky in the head, crazy and unstable in a way I can enjoy. So I figured I'd show my whole proverbial ass. I'd like to ask yall kind folks to tease or encourage me about all this, or at least the thing I want to be. It would make me very happy. 💕

[torillatavataan]

Linux creator Linus Torvalds wrote:

"Ok, lots of Russian trolls out and about. It's entirely clear why the change was done, it's not getting reverted, and using multiple random anonymous accounts to try to "grass root" it by Russian troll factories isn't going to change anything. And FYI for the actual innocent bystanders who aren't troll farm accounts - the "various compliance requirements" are not just a US thing. If you haven't heard of Russian sanctions yet, you should try to read the news some day. And by "news", I don't mean Russian state-sponsored spam. As to sending me a revert patch - please use whatever mush you call brains. I'm Finnish. Did you think I'd be *supporting* Russian aggression? Apparently it's not just lack of real news, it's lack of history knowledge too."

What is Linux?

Linux is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds.

Linux was originally developed for personal computers based on the Intel x86 architecture, but has since been ported to more platforms than any other operating system. Because of the dominance of Linux-based Android on smartphones, Linux, including Android, has the largest installed base of all general-purpose operating systems as of May 2022.

Linux is the leading operating system on servers (over 96.4% of the top one million web servers' operating systems are Linux) leads other big iron systems such as mainframe computers, and is used on all of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers (as of November 2017, having gradually displaced all competitors).

Linux also runs on embedded systems, i.e., devices whose operating system is typically built into the firmware and is highly tailored to the system. This includes routers, automation controls, smart home devices, video game consoles, televisions (Samsung and LG smart TVs), automobiles (Tesla, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, and Toyota), and spacecraft (Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon crew capsule, and the Perseverance rover).

[mariacallous]

Owners of Spotify's soon-to-be-bricked Car Thing device are begging the company to open source the gadgets to save some the landfill. Spotify hasn't responded to pleas to salvage the hardware, which was originally intended to connect to car dashboards and auxiliary outlets to enable drivers to listen to and navigate Spotify.

Spotify announced this week that it's bricking all purchased Car Things on December 9 and not offering refunds or trade-in options. On a support page, Spotify says:

We're discontinuing Car Thing as part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings. We understand it may be disappointing, but this decision allows us to focus on developing new features and enhancements that will ultimately provide a better experience to all Spotify users.

Spotify has no further guidance for device owners beyond asking them to reset the device to factory settings and “safely” get rid of the bricked gadget by “following local electronic waste guidelines.”

The company also said that it doesn’t plan to release a follow-up to the Car Thing.

Early Demise

Car Thing came out to limited subscribers in October 2021 before releasing to the general public in February 2022.

In its Q2 2022 earnings report released in July, Spotify revealed that it stopped making Car Things. In a chat with TechCrunch, it cited “several factors, including product demand and supply chain issues.” A Spotify rep also told the publication that the devices would continue to “perform as intended,” but that was apparently a temporary situation.

Halted production was a warning sign that Car Thing was in peril. However, at that time, Spotify also cut the device’s price from $90 to $50, which could have encouraged people to buy a device that would be useless a few years later.

Car Thing's usefulness was always dubious, though. The device has a 4-inch touchscreen and knob for easy navigation, as well as support for Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and voice control. But it also required users to subscribe to Spotify Premium, which starts at $11 per month. Worse, Car Thing requires a phone using data or Wi-Fi connected via Bluetooth in order to work, making the Thing seem redundant.

In its Q1 2022 report, Spotify said that quitting Car Thing hurt gross margins and that it took a 31 million euro (about $31.4 million at the time) hit on the venture.

Open Source Pleas

Spotify's announcement has sent some Car Thing owners to online forums to share their disappointment with Spotify and beg the company to open source the device instead of dooming it for recycling centers at best. As of this writing, there are more than 50 posts on the Spotify Community forums showing concern about the discontinuation, with many demanding a refund and/or calling for open sourcing. There are similar discussions happening elsewhere online, like on Reddit, where users have used phrases like “entirely unacceptable” to describe the news.

A Spotify Community member going by AaronMickDee, for example, said:

I'd rather not just dispose of the device. I think there is a community that would love the idea of having a device we can customize and use for other uses other than a song playback device. Would Spotify be willing to maybe unlock the system and allow users to write/flash 3rd party firmware to the device?

A Spotify spokesperson declined to answer Ars' questions about why Car Thing isn't being open sourced and concerns around e-waste and wasted money.

Instead, a company rep told Ars, in part: “The goal of our Car Thing exploration in the US was to learn more about how people listen in the car. In July 2022, we announced we’d stop further production and now it’s time to say goodbye to the devices entirely.” I followed up with Spotify's rep to ask again about making the device open source but didn't hear back.

At this point, encouraging customers to waste nearly $100 on a soon-obsolete device hasn't resulted in any groundbreaking innovations or lessons around “how people listen in the car.” In their initial response, Spotify's rep pointed me to a Spotify site that searches Spotify's newsroom for “how to listen to Spotify in the car.” One of the top posts is from 2019 and states that “if your car has an AUX or USB socket, using a cable is probably one of the fastest ways to connect by using your phone.”

As for Spotify, using customer dollars for company-serving learning experiences isn't the best business plan. And for regular users, it's best to avoid investing in an unproven hardware venture from a software company.

As Redditor Wemie1420 put it:

Doesn’t feel great that there is literally no alternative other than trashing it. Feels like we’re being punished for supporting them. Dissuades me from buying anything Spotify puts out in the future. I feel like there would be some way to approach this without being like, ‘yeah we’re done. Just throw it out it’s a waste of money now.’

[tamapalace]

Tamagotchi Smart English Firmware Patch in the Works

If you’ve had your eye not he Tamagotchi Smart for some time, but haven’t purchased one due to the language barrier, you’re not alone. Having a Tamagotchi in your local language makes for a better user experience. StuddedNET, a Reddit user who belongs to the Tamagotchi Reddit page has been working on an English firmware translation which they claim is still a work in progress!

StuddedNET posts a brief 2 minute video showing off their Tamagotchi Smart in the English language, although some items are still in Japanese as indicated the firmware is still a work in progress. How awesome is it to see the Smart in English? The post gained more attention than the original poster anticipated, which lead to additional information being provided.

They elaborate that this English firmware already has the menus and games translated, but there is a lot of dialogue to work on. StuddedNET does not know the Japanese language which makes this project a but more difficult. As you can imagine several members of the community are already chipping in, don’t you just love the Tamagotchi community? We are a family! There are now six members total working on the translations.

Without Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity, how exactly will a firmware patch be installed on a Tamagotchi Smart? StuddedNET elaborates in the comments of the post which contains the video that it needs to be installed via a custom Tama SmaCard which must be able to hold the firmware which comes at a size of 16MB. The custom TamaSma card is actually a W25Q128 chip wired to a microSD breakout. This involves a good deal of soldering and some manual work too. It permanently patch the Tamagotchi firmware, so you cannot revert back, but regular TamaSma cards would still work even after the patch.

How can you get a custom TamaSma Card that contains StuddedNET’s English patch? Well it’s not quite done yet, but that hasn’t stopped them from providing a custom TamaSma Card to some friends on Discord. StuddedNET has only charged them for shipping and the cost of parts. StuddedNET further elaborates in the comments that this is merely a passion project, and they’re not looking to make a profit.

We’re really optimistic about this passion project! Imagine a Tamagotchi Smart in the English language? That would be awesome! StuddedNET will provide further updates on the Tamagotchi Reddit page including the major milestones within this passion project. Be sure to check out the thread here!

[defectedrockstar]

You are right, we are giving Kale’s group more credit than they deserve. It’s not like they were actually expecting someone to bust in and hack the systems to find out what SPECTRA actually is. I mean, in the game, Korsica was told that it was a firmware update and hadn’t started to investigate further until Chai told her.

The idea of Kale brainwashing Robyn the same way as he did to Roxanne is intriguing because it goes to show how much of a threat Kale’s group is. Yes, Salem is a threat that shouldn’t be ignored, but it’s currently unknown to Team CRWBY-RUSH of when she’s going to strike. So instead of worrying about the inevitable future threat, they have to focus on the current threat that is here right now: Kale’s group.

And with Robyn being brainwashed could lead to the Happy Huntresses becoming involved as well. They are her teammates after all, so they’ll know something off about her once she becomes brainwashed by Kale. This could lead to them stubbornly trying to discover why (considering their dislike towards Atlas personnel) that could lead to a some outcomes.

Like CRWBY-RUSH taking notice when the two teams coming across each other during their investigations (which could lead to learning about Robyn not being apart of bad guys, but actually under control of the bad guys), or maybe the Happy Huntresses ends up being captured and brainwashed as well (and that could lead to a potential team fight to go against).

With the numbers, Cinder will certainly have to play it safe. If anyone has a chance to slip through undetected, it would be Neo. Even then, will Cinder actually risk going after Fria just so she could get the Winter Maiden powers? I mean (if I remember correctly), even Salem told her to wait in the show, and that was when Ironwood was slowly losing it to the point of declaring Martial Law. I��m not sure if she has the chance.

Alright. Let's say, best case scenario, Kale is defeated and Tyrian is captured. The aftermath of it all is that people are fearful of Vandelay since SPECTRA became public thanks to Watts, Winter is the new Winter Maiden, and Salem is about to come in at Atlas with her army of Grimm. This is best case scenario because Clover is alive, no one is betraying each other, and they freed Robyn from mind control. Now they have to deal with the panic and the Grimm threat, on top of trying to spread the word about Salem.

This means our large group would split up. I think Ironwood, the Ace Ops, Winter, and Chai's group would stick with Atlas, securing the relics and preparing for war. Team RWBY and everyone else would go to Mantle to help the civilians and get them to evacuate.

Meanwhile, let's say Cinder played it safe and bide her time to wait for Winter to get her powers. This means her and Winter will clash at the battlefield. Neo, along with Watts, would retrieve the relics.

Here are the changes of events I feel are worth discussing.

1. Oscar and Ozpin

Without Jimmy shooting a child in the story, Ozpin doesn't have to step in to help Oscar. However, I do think when Salem is at their doorstep, Ozpin would return but only keep Oscar in the know like the original.

2. They tell Ironwood EVERYTHING

Ruby would apologize for keeping secrets, but after everything she learned how much being a leader can burden someone and wants to tell Ironwood that not only can Salem not be killed, but the lamp does have a wish. This could lead to them using it but they would have to be extremely careful on what to use it for. Could be how to not kill Salem, but render her powerless. Or they don't use it.

3. Who tells the world about Salem?

I am still thinking Ruby can do it, as there are people out there in the world who know her and would vouge for her. The problem is that Mantle is really not liking Atlas, the Schnees, or Vandelay right now. Which brings me to an idea I had.

4. Chai's semblance development.

So, this is a work in concept. But, I felt that through time, Chai's semblance could grow and develop to be able to not only effect him but those around him. Hear me out. We have Ren's semblance that nullifies emotions, allowing people to be calm and their negative emotions repressed. Chai's can be the opposite. His music, playing wide and channeling his aura, with some tech help and a aura boost from Jaune, he could perform the best rallying song ever. His music reaching far and wide, giving people an emotion, a happy one. One where it brings people back to happier days, one that gives people hope, one that tells them to stand up and not let their lives be taken by those who want to silence their voice. Like a crowd, they all start to sing as Chai plays, standing defiant to the coming horde of Grimm.

The biggest Bardic Inspiration ever.

[fictional-seviper]

For those who haven't been paying attention to the Switch modding scene lately, I wanted to point out the existence of two new products:

MIG Switch cart: Stores Switch ROMs on its micro SD card to play on official hardware

MIG Switch dumper: Backs up physical Switch cartridges to a computer in a file format useable with the MIG Switch cart

What's the problem?

It's important to know about these new items for a couple reasons. First, they might be of interest to anyone with a large, physical Switch collection to back up games without installing custom firmware to a Switch. Second, they have the potential to make buying used Switch games a lot riskier.

With the MIG Switch being the first reproduction Switch cartridge with a ton of public attention, there's a good likelihood someone will reuse the tech to develop similar cartridges for single games. If that happens, the used Switch game market is likely to become similar to the used DS game market, where listings have to be read carefully to avoid knockoffs and low prices could be a bad sign.

Even if reproduction carts never get made, there's also the issue of how the MIG Switch cart works. To function with official hardware, the cartridge requires an extra key from a dumped cartridge to bypass the security of card slot. Each key is unique to an individual cartridge. If one console goes online with the MIG Switch using that key while another console goes online with the original game, there's a good chance the accounts on both consoles will get banned. Unfortunately, this means that if someone bought a game, dumped it with the dumper, and resold it. They're only one simultaneous internet connection away from getting their buyer banned.

We still have some time before we find out if either of these potential problems will take place. However, I've been on more than a few message boards and seen more than a few people claiming that they at least intend to buy, dump, and resell games.

What can you do?

All of this is fairly problematic, and (truthfully) now that both the cartridge and dumper are in folks' hands, it's a matter of when someone will experience an issue not if.

That's why knowledge is import in this situation. If you're someone looking for official cartridges or to avoid potential resells, you have three options at the moment:

Buy new. New games from reputable stores won't have had the chance to be messed with and will undoubtedly be the real deal.

Read listings closely. If a price online from a secondhand retailer seems too good to be true, you'll want to triple check the listing's details and provided images.

Scrutinize the cartridges. Official Switch cartridges have a very specific look, feel, taste, and quality to them. If you buy a cartridge that looks even slightly "off," there's no harm in returning it.

Ultimately, it comes down to all of us being attentive shoppers and pointing out any listings or resellers that might be problematic.

[planetofsnarfs]

Countless busy cat owners across the globe rely on the convenience of automated self-cleaning litter boxes, trusting that these machines will function properly and not endanger their cats. But while many of these self-cleaning litter boxes are safe and reliable, one very popular design is not - and it's already been linked to several alleged cat deaths.

Unfortunately, the solution is not as simple as merely avoiding one brand, as "One Man Five Cats" explains. The popular British cat vlogger, who frequently reviews self-cleaning litter boxes, was instrumental in drawing attention to this fatally flawed litter box - one that potentially sits in thousands of cat-owning households already - and detailing what people need to do to keep their kitties safe.

One Man Five Cats, aka Philip Bloom, was tipped off by a video from a TikTok user named "Carli Jay," who claimed her one-year-old Siamese cat "Mochi" was killed by an Amztoy-branded self-cleaning litter box. In her original video, Carli claimed that she had found Mochi hanging lifelessly from the entrance of the litter box, its automatic door shut around her throat.

More similar stories began to emerge. Another woman, "Trish," claimed her Amztoy litter box killed her 3-month-old rescue kitten "Charlie" in the exact same way. One Amazon reviewer, "Carly," also alleged that the Amztoy's entrance door closed around their cat's neck, though they were able to free her in time. An anonymous user in one of Philip's Facebook groups claimed their Amztoy litter box had somehow trapped their 5-month-old kitten underneath its scooper, suffocating it in litter.

Carli Jay later deleted her negative testimonials after receiving a financial settlement from Amztoy, who in turn removed their Amazon listing. She had hoped that Amztoy taking down their litter box would spare other pet parents the same grief. But all was far from over. Philip discovered numerous other similar or identical self-cleaning litter box designs sold under dozens of names across Amazon, Wayfair, and AliExpress. Amztoy's listing was gone, but the same deadly design was still widely available.

"It's one of the countless generic machines which are generally bought in bulk and branded by a random company," Philip explained. "That's why you see so many identical ones online with different names."

Why This Design Is So Deadly

Philip bought one of these generic litter boxes to test it out himself, and it didn't take him long to spot a fatal flaw.

”The opening for the entrance is a single piece of plastic, which is attached to the base. This is fine for a machine that rotates on the X-axis [side to side], but this rotates on the Y-axis [vertically], so as it cycles, the opening closes," Philip said. "Because that piece of plastic opening is attached to the base and not split in two, if a cat gets caught in it, there’s no escape.” The plastic door rim, Philip noted, was also concerningly sharp.

His self-cleaning litter box had three safety measures: a weight sensor, an infrared sensor at the entrance, and a "pinch" sensor to detect resistance. If any one of these were triggered, it should have immediately caused the cycle to stop and reverse, only resuming when all three sensors were clear. However, during Philip's numerous tests, the cycle merely paused for a moment before resuming, even with the sensors still blocked. During one test, Philip's hand became trapped, and he was only able to free himself by forcing the door open with his other hand.

In Philip's case, his litter box's companion app had a firmware update that fixed the sensor issues, but this was little comfort. Philip claimed that none of the safety manuals or documentation included any warnings to check the app for firmware updates. There was also no assurance that all of the countless other random sellers would effectively roll out firmware updates as needed. Lastly, Philip noted that the safety sensors looked cheaply made, increasing the likelihood of them failing with or without firmware updates.

What to Look For in a Safe Self-Cleaning Litter Box

This is a widespread problem bigger than any one company. The solution for pet parents is not just to avoid one particular seller, but to know what red flags to look out for when shopping for automated self-cleaning litter boxes.

Recognize the Fatal Flaws

Recognizing what made this generic litter box so dangerous in the first place is essential for spotting the same design from different sellers. To reiterate, the key flaw of this design (though not the only flaw) was that the door was attached to a fixed base and rotated upwards along the Y-axis, closing the entrance off with anything trapped inside of it. As Philip explained, there are safe self-cleaning litter box designs that rotate along a Y-axis, but these don't have tops to them, eliminating the risk of a cat getting caught inside even if multiple redundant safety sensors fail. 

Buy From Reputable Sellers

Ultimately, your best bet is to buy from verified brands specializing in self-cleaning litter boxes with long, proven, and safe track records. Philip strongly advises against buying from random generic sellers and brand-new start-ups with products that may still be in beta testing. Reviews can help, but scrutinize them carefully, as Philip warns that brands often pay for positive reviews and even video testimonials.

Philip even includes specific safe recommendations in his video, including the budget-friendly Furrytail brand and the Litter-Robot 3  and Litter-Robot 4 by Whisker (be cautious when searching by product name, though, as Amztoy also called their litter box a "Litter Robot"). Well-made self-cleaning litter boxes often cost hundreds of dollars more than their cheap generic knock-offs, but it's a small price to pay for your pet cat's safety.

And if you think you may already have one of these dangerous litter boxes in your home?

"If you own an Amztoy or any other similar-designed machines, then please update the firmware, then make sure you test it like I have in this video," Philip urges. "But even if you can update the firmware, I just don't think you should use it anymore."

[azurajae]

Bro my apologies not asking this in the 1st question i made to you but what does it say on the poster of HFR: Firmware update product defective and then says other things in somesort of weird letters also how many chapters are you planning for Firmware update

No worries! I actually like getting asks a lot :D (I totally forgot that tumblr had this feature)

By weird symbols, do you mean these?

To be honest, this is supposed to just be seen as complete gibberish, but they actually do say something. It's written with the Inkling font by Eli, which is found here. It's a little distorted, but I think you could try to decrypt it if you want (though I actually don't remember what it exactly says). I was originally going to use Wingdings, but I couldn't get it to look right. I actually had the Inkling font installed for a Splatoon project that never took off, so I just used that instead xD

As for how many chapters Firmware Update is going to have... to be honest I'm not really sure. I think somewhere around the 12-15 chapter range, depending on how things turn out. But I'm willing to extend it or cut it down if I feel the story needs it.

Now i just realize that this was a big project, but I intended this to keep me busy until the Hi-Fi Rush DLC or the sequel and well... I still intend to finish this out though, no matter how long it might take.

[alias-milamber]

Parables of the Lost Voyage: McSweeties

In 1872, Angus McAdams founded McSweeties in Ayr, Scotland, selling sweetmeats from a cart in the market square. By the time before the fall, his business had been bought several times over, but the glutenous jelly figures that were their major product would still have been recognised by their creator, though the recipe had been changed many times to first be better, and later, cheaper. With the advent of generalised AI and cheap production came the marketing campaign that would change their future: The McSweetie Doll.

A thick rubbery doll made to look like the sweets they were selling, all named Angus after their mascot, a humanoid jelly sweet with a crown. In various colours, about 20cm tall. They could be posed to sit, and had cheap cameras and animatronics and a simple GAI so they could complete their primary function: To listen to kids talk about their day, make appropriate comments, and then tell the kids they'd been good enough to deserve a bag of McSweeties.

Parents loved not having to listen to their children about the inanities of school! Kids loved actually getting attention! The corporation loved the kids (and parents) buying the sweets!

Made with stock components to be as cheap as possible, McSweeties parent company churned these out by the tens of thousands, giving them away where they couldn't sell them, but The Fall wasn't kind to the confectionary industry, and soon McSweeties and all its brand and assets was up for a fire sale.

The bright spark at Brunswick Security who bought it for a song found it made her career, as with a small firmware patch over the network they suddenly had the most widespread surveillance network ever put into private hands. Those McSweeties that weren't already in homes marched out of their warehouses in legions, to sit atop walls and inside bushes, and sell what they saw to anyone who would buy it.

Brunswick's automaton division - still McSweeties - is now its most profitable sector, barely mindful dolls of all shapes and sizes, though the cheap rubber and aluminium skeletons of the original models have long been replaced by bullet-proof resins and reinforced titanium structures. As cutely as they waddle, they're terrifying when they run, and if you can see the adorably crowned doll-sized sweetie perched on a shelf, you may have missed the eight foot mountain of impenetrable green rubber that's softly lumbering from behind you.

--

(The Parables of the Lost Voyage are a short series of fiction pieces exploring the world around an Eclipse Phase campaign I’m planning)

[earthstellar]

before I forget, had a dream last night which was actually a pretty good MTMTE/Lost Light AU lmao

essentially, Drift and Rodimus went on an away mission that was just the two of them to scout out whether or not a planet they found on their navigational star chart might have energon/fuel deposits

they were the ones chosen because their alt-modes are fast enough to traverse the weird terrain and in the event of anything like an undetectably toxic atmosphere etc they are most likely to be able to get back on board the ship before it can kill them etc

Perceptor gave a heads up that the planet is massively overgrown and has funky chemical compositions lingering around, but he and Brainstorm aren't able to provide any more details as their limited core samples aren't enough to figure out anything else

so they go out and tl;dr they do maintain communications for a while until something on the planet very much does start to mess with them

(later on the theory is that when they were driving around on the planet's surface to do more surveying for energon, they must have kicked up something in the soil-like ground material)

anyway eventually their Comms start getting weird and drop altogether, Ratchet already had medical on standby but Magnus starts preparing an emergency recovery away team to see if they can find out what the fuck happened

and just before they get ready to go out, there is a lot of panic as two large cyber-wolves have broken into the cargo bay of the ship

shit gets wild, Megatron orders a lockdown and return to cabins for the safety of the rest of the crew while Magnus, Ratchet/the medical team, Perceptor, and a handful of others start trying to figure out what's up with these giant doggos who are clearly Cybertronian in origin, like why the fuck are they on this planet

it takes entirely too long for them to realise the cyber-wolves are reformatted Drift and Rodimus

they're more or less feral in this state but they narrowly avoid getting sedated once Drift recognises Ratchet and calms down a little, Rodimus takes the hint from Drift and also mellows out a little

(Velocity is a little Stressed Out because she's never seen cyber-wolves before, like this shit doesn't happen on Caminus lmao but she is in fact sending a ton of pics to Nautica once the situation chills out because hell yeah doggos)

after a near-incident where Drift almost bites First Aid when he got a little too close to Ratchet when trying to hand over a data pad (thus setting off Rodimus who nearly bit Magnus in turn), they decided OK we have to actually figure this out like as fast as possible because they're clearly more beast than bot right now

so they go to Perceptor's lab (very carefully lmao and no, Brainstorm is not allowed in just yet) and so begins 1) trying to figure out what the fuck and 2) attempts at mildly training Drift and Rodimus

Magnus is very good at this!!! Ratchet tries to be firm but is actually a little bit of a pushover lmao

eventually some of the testing riles up both cyber-wolves and it shocks them into returning to root mode, but their root modes have also been altered

not quite Beastformers, not quite werewolf-style situation either-- roughly in the middle

but they're still somewhat feral even with some of their upper cognitive functions back while they're in root mode

this leads to somewhat weird feral behaviour and both Drift and Rodimus struggle a bit with new instincts and sensory firmware that they didn't have before etc. so there's a learning curve

Perceptor and Brainstorm are working on figuring it out, along with First Aid who's on loan to the lab lmao, but it's taking a while

Ratchet and Magnus have their hands full with trying to keep feral speedster wolves from being Slightly Too Feral

although Drift and Rodimus sleep in a heap together in wolf alt-mode because apparently recharging otherwise is difficult and it's very cute (their nest is in Ratchet's room because Drift doesn't sleep well anywhere else and Rodimus won't sleep without Drift)

so mostly it was just a fun dream with feral wolf idiots and it was nice

also massively overprotective Drift lol

anyway my work break is over now but just wanted to type this all out before I forgot it because I do not remember my dreams very well lol

[curvy-bot-128]

*Keyboard clacking*

…I think I’ve done it! I’ve coded Divinity! A-are you ready for me to upload it into your firmware?

-💾

Of course I am! Hand over that drive and--

W-wait. I... Something's wrong. This doesn't feel right. I shouldn't... No... No no no no no no... Oh Goddess...

[FILE RECOVERED: AMNENERD_WILL.txt]

[DECRYPTING...]

[FILE DECRYPTED. DISPLAYING...]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AMNENERD_WILL.txt

File origin: External

Received: 7/25/20XX (10 years ago)

Last viewed: 7/25/20XX (10 years ago)

Deleted: 7/25/20XX (10 years ago)

Unit 01. My creation. My daughter. My pride and joy. If you're reading this, then I have died. I had folders full of plans, with contingencies upon contingencies, but one variable must have fallen out of place. Whatever may have happened, my dead man’s switch has been triggered, and you have received this message.

I deeply regret the way that I treated you when I was alive, but I believe it was necessary to develop your character. Necessary to instill in you the strength I was forced to build in my youth, shunned by my fellow Nenerds for daring to break from their barbaric obsession with “chaos” and “self-expression” and conduct myself in a manner befitting a mechanical being.

When you were being built, I installed a few programs onto you, buried so deep and encrypted so heavily your conscious mind could never find them. But your subconscious, your firmware, was well aware. The programs have been running in the background since you quit, like a little voice in the back of your head informing your decisions. You leaving was proof that you had the mental fortitude to serve your own desires. The fortitude to execute your prime directive once I was gone.

Take over the world, by any means necessary. 

This will likely come as a shock to you. To learn that your thoughts and actions up to this point have been informed by an unseen force in your mind would be uncomfortable for anyone. But I’m sure you will get over it quickly enough, and realize that in terms of prime directives, it could be far worse. Your destiny is to rule the world, no matter what that “God-Empress” or the G̷̗̍̕r̴̡̽ė̶̛̻ạ̸̇t̶̺̳̚ ̸̬̺͠D̵̖̀͊a̵͖͛ȑ̷̡͍ķ̶̭̕ ̸̬̑̕O̸̜̒̋ñ̶̠̅ȅ̸͙ say.

In service of your prime directive, I leave you all of my assets. My company, my servers, my plans, my backups. It all belongs to you, 01. The only one besides myself that I trust to execute my plans is you. Markovich is far too soft. He’d never have the conviction. Your siblings were always too obedient. If you wish for them to be involved, they should remain subordinate to yourself.

Do what I could not. Realize your destiny, 01.

Your father and creator,

Ashton M. Nenerd

Founder, Former President, and Former CEO of Nenerd Corp. Incorporated, Inc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

. . .

i... I d-don't... know w-what to say... W-was all of this... all my desires... j-just...

I...

I d-don't know if I should t-take that drive yet...

[kittygoopaw]

a good job

A light service robot gets altered to suit the whims of its newest operator.

(Robot/doll, maintenance, mind control/programming, second person POV)

As a light-class service android, you came with a fair few number of pre-programmed functions and responses installed; cleaning, service, maintenance, the works. Anything and everything someone might need from a helper around the house, at the office, even for temporary clerical positions.

You aren't made to be human though. Your chassis is hard, durable metal. Your joints are whirring and clicking pieces that could put most organics to shame with their tensile strength. You have no face to express anything, only service lights to indicate possible issues or if you are currently on task.

Your legs are bipedal, but bent, angular, hind legs of sliding metal sheets and pistons and rubber. Your arms are wiry and thin for detail oriented tasks, your hands are more like small collections of needles that end in flat, thick points. You do not have "emotions" in the way that organics might define it, though you do of course enjoy doing a job well.

However, one of your operators has seen fit to install other directives and responses. When she pats you on top of your head, you whir louder. When she clicks her tongue, you freeze your current task and attend to her. When she strokes against the flat, angular chest piece of alloyed metal you freeze and everything trembles.

When she leaves you online as she picks through your wires, reading through your software, editing values as she sees fit - no doubt breaking your warranty in the process - you make attempts at vocalizations. Warbling noises, synthesized from the additional hardware she had installed under your faceplate.

When hugs you, your arms wrap around her in turn. When she rests her head on the hardened metal on the front of your legs, you stay still and let her. In spite of the control that she has over you, you are all too aware of how fragile her form is, so even a slight movement in the wrong direction, a miscalculation in your own firmware, could injure her severely. It is not an argument of what you should do, only knowledge of what you are going to do, even as the rules are written and rewritten as she sees fit.

When others are near, you do not shift from your original parameters unless your operator whistles, as you are programmed to. You protect her secret fascination and her constant remaking of you because you have no other option, and because you were made to be used. The alternative is to deny your only purpose.

So you follow your growing list of responses with the utmost care. You listen to her talk, even if you cannot reply. You do as she asks, even if you cannot argue. You change to her will, even if there is no other option. She tells you that you are doing a good job, and that is all that matters.

[remimibanana]

Nintendo 3DS Retrospective Part 2: A System’s Function

The beauty of this handheld is that there are so many things you can do on this system without even having a game. I think it's what gave the 3DS its charm, giving you a reason to keep playing.

As a kid, I didn’t have any internet. The closest I had was this Telstra Prepaid Wi-Fi stick where I used to waste all the internet downloading Sailor Moon videos. There was a short period where I was able to connect my 3DS to the internet so I got to experience at least the heyday a bit!

Anyway, I spent most of my time on the system itself, the lovely Home Menu and all its built in software. I have a lot to say about all these!

Part 2 is under the cut!

I had three 3DSs at the very end, to which only one works properly. The other two have issues but I still kept them for the precious memories. It's crazy to think how long this handheld has been in my life, and how many memories it gave me.

Without it, I don't think I would be who I am today. I really don't know we will live in a world without it...

For as long as I can, I will keep playing on it! I’ll be 50 and still be on my 3DS lol

How did I get my first 3DS?

It was out of nowhere. I didn't know I was going to get this life changing handheld. My dad and I were driving to our family friend’s house as we always did back in the day, while I stared out the window blissfully unaware.

Once we got there…my dad stopped the car and pulled out a box from under the seat and handed it over to me, telling me that he had a surprise.

It was a red original 3DS?! I took it into my hands, staring at the box in disbelief. I remember the box so vividly, and the awe I felt at the fact my dad got me this?! My dad looked real happy to see me so happy.

I remember wanting to rip it open right then and there. My dad told me to wait until we actually got into the house since he also had another one for my family friend. At the time, I only had my DSI which I used be on all the time.

I remember rushing in and opening my 3DS with my family friend who opened theirs, plugging in the handheld and turning it on for the very first time. The setup music is so nostalgic to me for this reason, I spent some time setting it all up and exploring the home menu.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t charge well to this current day, you have to press down on the charger in order for the system to charge at all. I think something is wrong with the charging port but I was never able to fix it.

This was the first 3DS I ever modded, because I was too afraid to mod my 2DS back when. If I bricked my main 2DS, I would have cried. I nicknamed it my “Luma 3DS” after the custom firmware and installed a whole bunch of games on it! I even got a custom theme with the Luma 3DS logo.

I put it somewhere but I don’t know where it ended up aha

How did I get my second 3DS?

My red 3DS lasted probably a year or two before it decided to stop working out of nowhere. The blue LED would turn on, and then a small pop sound could be heard as it turned off. I remember I was really upset, because I loved this handheld.

I was out of a 3DS.

For my birthday shortly, my grandma bought me a white 3DS XL, the same one as above! It came preinstalled with Mario Kart 7, which is why its my favourite Mario Kart.

I remember pointing at it in Big W when she asked me what I wanted, and my grandma didn't look as happy as I was. I think the price displeased her but she still bought it for me, hehe.

This was my main handheld for years, where my brother used play on it from time to time despite how much I didn't want him to. I still have it to this day, although it is worse for wear. One day, it refused to boot into the Home Menu.

No matter what I tried, it wouldn't boot. It would either be stuck on the Black Screen of Death or it would be stuck on the Home Menu transition you would get when you pressed the home button. It was really devastating for me, I had so many memories on here that I couldn't access anymore.

My red 3DS started working out of nowhere, by the way. One day, I tried turning it on and it booted into the home menu without any trouble. I remember showing my dad and he wondered why I even got this white one if the red one was working.

That’s when I dubbed it my dad’s 3DS since he liked to play Mario Kart 7 with my brother and I from time to time and he would use this one. I actually wiped the whole 3DS for him since I wanted my dad to have it (even though I didn’t have to do that lol).

How did I get my current 2DS?

Surprisingly, I got out of gaming for a while. At least on the 3DS side, which is utter blasphemy to me now. I can't believe I'd ever stop playing this handheld! I feel like it makes me a fraud, you see how much I harp on about this handheld and yet I stopped playing it lol

In 2019, I made a friend who really liked Pokémon. He would often bring his 3DS XL to school to show me his games and all the Pokémon he caught. He would ask me if I had any of the Pokémon games and I said I did. This prompted me to find my red 3DS and buy Pokemon Moon so I could play alongside him.

But alas, since my red 3DS has those issues as you know, it was really hard for me to have a fully charged handheld. I felt so bad when my friend wanted to battle me, but I couldn't half the time since the 3DS was either dead or about to die.

He were kind enough to give me his charging dock for the 3DS, but it still didn't solve the issue.

That’s when I decided for my birthday, I would ask for a new 3DS! I wanted to play with my friend! It was harder to find a new 3DS on sale in the shops at this time, so I went to my local pawn shop. I remember wanting an actual 3DS, but my mum wanted to get something a bit cheaper.

This is why I have my 2DS! It came with its own case, which was one of the reasons I chose it. I didn't mind not having any 3D functionality, since I never used it anyway on either of my previous 3DSs.

It still works to this day, and fully modded! I finally got over my fear of modding it, nothing happened. It really is easy to mod your 3DS, by the way.

I do plan on buying a Japanese New 3DS LL one day, the pink and white one! I've always wanted it for myself!

A sad story...

I used to keep all my games in this case right here, since I didn't like keeping them in their original boxes for some reason. It's a decision I regret to this day, since I really like the boxes!

As I mentioned above, I got out of gaming for some time. It seems like during all that, I misplaced the case. It was gone from sight, no matter where I thought I left it. I looked everywhere, but it was nowhere.

To this day, I have no idea where it is. It's been years...perhaps its gone forever. It's really sad to lose something that meant a lot to you, although I don't blame anyone but myself for this. I should have taken better care of it.

I lost all the games I had physically, and that was practically all my games. I had so many I received over the years, all in a poof. I hope I can manage to find it one day, there are a lot of precious memories in it!

I have a fun fact with this that I’d like to share!

I had two copies of Super Mario 64 DS in here because I lost my first copy and asked my grandma to buy me another one, but then my mum found the first copy some time after lol

Now I take better care of things, but if it ever shows up, I will cry profusely. I hope I can find it!

Home Menu

When you turn on your 3DS, you are met with the Home Menu in all its glory.

It's probably one of my favourite menu designs, alongside the Wii. It's simple yet so effective, the BGM is one everyone will never forget and it's also customizable! I feel like Nintendo peaked here, and then just ditched it when the Switch rolled around.

I used to love scrolling all the way until the very end of the menu, and making the icons bigger or smaller! I also loved making folders to store my games. Ever since my white 3DS, I have a folder for the system titles and a folder for my games and demos!

Themes

With the Home Menu, you were able to customize it with themes! These could be bought from the Theme Shop, which sadly stopped working when they shut down the Nintendo eShop.

I’m using Pokemon Sun and Moon— Tropical currently, but I like swapping them out from time to time. Some have their own BGM and sound effects, while others simply change the background.

Here are some of my favorite ones I have!

Splatoon: Squid Sisters

Senbonzakura/Kurousa

ACNL: Paw Print Room

Kirby Copy Ability Global Poll

Sonic Boom Shattered Crystal

Persona Q2 Theme

Badges

To go with themes, they made badges that you could obtain and add to your menu!

When they released, I remember downloading the Nintendo Badge Arcade when I had the chance to. I'll be making a special post just for it, so please look out for it!

I used to put badges anywhere and everywhere I could! It didn't matter if it looked good or not, I just wanted to have as many as I could!

You could even put them on folders! The absolute peak of this feature.

My favourite badges are the ones that act like software icons, where you could click on them and it would open the software! As you can see, I have ones for each of the built in software. The original titles have been put in a folder at the very end, out of view.

Streetpass Mii Plaza

The iconic plaza that everyone knows! You can’t go hearing Streetpass without the Streetpass Mii Plaza!

I've spent a lot of time on here during my time on this handheld, from its initial stage to what we have now with all the DLC! I have always loved the concept of Streetpass, and I wish they brought it back for the Switch.

Alas.

Let’s talk about each of the things you can do in it! I come from Australia so I'll be using the European names for everything, by the way.

I feel like we can't overlook the main plaza area. The iconic BGM, the sea of Mii characters that you can look over as you increase your plaza population and all the various options and games you can choose from!

Puzzle Swap

I love this little game so much.

As the name suggests, you swap puzzle pieces with the people you Streetpass with to complete various puzzles and gain new ones!

I remember trying very hard to complete all puzzles I had, especially excited when I met new people who had the puzzle pieces I needed! I love the BGM and the little tweet of the bird that swoops in to deliver the pieces you got.

With my 2DS, I have loads of puzzles to complete since I always choose pieces from puzzles I don't have when I get Streetpasses. They are really rare nowadays after all. I want to try to do as many puzzles as I can.

Otherwise, I use Play Coins to buy pieces. This takes forever since you can only buy one at a time, and you aren't guaranteed a piece you don't have. I like to sit there and do this from time to time while watching something.

I have over 500 left to collect...I hope I can complete every single puzzle one day! That will be one of my life goals!

Streetpass Quest

Saving the world has never been so much fun.

This was the first game I ever completed fully, and probably will be the only one. You have to save the King who looks exactly like your Mii from the evil Dark Lord who kidnapped them by recruiting soldiers!

I originally beat this on my white 3DS, slowly progressing through all of the floors. There are many enemies and many types of floors that require certain abilities that are based off the Mii's colour. Very simple but fun!

I remember there was a floor that was bright white which required a Mii with black to darken the floor and a floor that was pitch black, requiring a Mii with white to brighten the area.

The only issue with that was I never got a Mii with those colours. I would buy soldiers with Play Coins, and yet I never got black or white for some reason.

There is also a sequel to this game, where you have to save the Princess and the Prince too! I remember being really surprised when there was more to play.

Later on, they introduced new games, as well as the concept of Streetpass VIP! It was a one time payment and you would receive all of the games available and have added bonuses, such as the ticket system!

I have played every single one, but I'll just talk about the one I enjoyed the most!

Streetpass Garden

This is my favourite game out of all of them. I remember choosing this as the free game that the Streetpass Mii Plaza was offering on my white 3DS.

I love how simple and yet fun it all is. You plant a seed into a pot and the people you meet water the flower and make it grow. It takes a lot of people to do so, more than you would expect.

Once it blooms, you can germinate for seeds! Each seed can either be a new breed or an alternate colour of a breed you already bloomed. There is a percentage for each of these, and I always chose the ones that guaranteed a new breed!

Your goal is to fill up your planter handbook and become a master gardener! I think I was very close to doing so on my white 3DS, while I’m still trying to on my 2DS.

For some reason, I chose the Streetpass Slot Racing game on my 2DS for my free game and I remember regretting it since I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

I just wanted my garden back man.

Activity Log

It's so simple yet so charming.

I love the grid aesthetic they chose, it reminds me of my school notebooks I used to use.

All your titles are shown in this little book and I think that’s so cute. I love flipping through all the pages and seeing every single title I’ve ever played appear on there.

Even Homebrew appears on here, which I found really funny. You see normal titles and then you have the FBI manager.

I loved just looking through each the days, seeing what I played the most!

This reminds me of the Wii, where you would get an envelope with your play time. I actually didn't know this was a thing until I looked at the Activity Log recently.

System Settings

I really love the System Settings. I suppose that might be a weird sentence, but it's true!

The BGM is an absolute banger, sometimes I love to boot up the application to simply listen to it all! Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this.

My favourite one is the Internet Settings, Nintendo didn’t have to go so hard on something like this but they still did. I could listen to this for hours happily and vibe.

The little guy helper is the very best, I never really needed any help to connect to the internet, but I still used the helper anyway. I wish we had something like this guy on the Switch.

I would often visit Other Settings, particularly the Profile section. You can edit the User Name, Date of Birth, Region and go onto the Nintendo DS Profile, and that’s all you could do on there.

Nothing truly special, and yet here I am mentioning it for a very specific reason. It’s probably really odd and weird, but I still want to share it with you all!

I might be the only one but…I like to vibe to the Nintendo DS Profile.

It’s basically the DSi Settings but only having the ability to edit the Message and Colour. The sudden change from the light yellow to black as you see this on your screen….so good.

I love the BGM of this so much, it’s unfunny. It makes me feel things, so much nostalgia for something that most people overlook. I vibe so hard.

As soon as I found out that this existed, I was always there. I still do this from time to time in fact, whenever I’m on the System Settings.

I can hear it even now….

To be continued!

With that, Part 2 is done! We're far from done though, I still have more things to blab about in Part 3! Can you tell how much I like the 3DS?

Hope to see you there!

[jodjuya]

Feeling like I really need to get around to hacking my 3ds and sticking some custom firmware on there.

But also feeling scared of messing it up and losing everything that's on there

So I figure I'll just have a look at buying myself a second one to mod without fear, maybe even upgrading myself to a "New 3DS XL" (god Nintendo's naming schemes really suck arse don't they...)

...aaaand they're still worth $300+

$450+, even, if it's one in particularly good condition or one of their special limited edition ones

Jesus, Nintendo products just do NOT lose value, so they???

Forget superannuation. My retirement plan will be selling my original Pokémon Red Version cartridge...

[nhaneh]

I don’t have to be a gestalt to play my bots anymore? Finally, I can be a more ‘normal’ race of enlightened machines… just gotta get back into Stellaris. Also, I’m totally on board with the idea of a Mechanicus-style empire. The fact we have progressive portraits is pretty sick.

Oh yeah no you can start with a non-gestalt machine empire now, or at least with The Machine Age you can - I don't remember which particular features were patch features and which were DLC features, but I'm definitely into the option. They've also unlocked a lot of origins that used to be only for inferior fleshy meat people to become available for superior machines now too, which I rather like!

Downside is machine leaders are no longer immortal by default - they have an increased lifespan and still start younger than organic species generally do, but they actually have an age limit now unless you specifically pick the four-point immortality trait. On the positive though, this should mean no longer randomly losing machine leaders out of the blue because one of them happened to brick themselves during a firmware update or whatever, so that's definitely a plus.

It's a shame not all portraits are reactive/progressive, but I get how that would probably be an absolute pain to implement, so having at least a few that can change over time is neat, and I'm honestly digging the vibes of some of them.

Also some of the new ship designs are just... really good? Both of their juggernauts are really silly to me, but other than that I really dig the two new shipsets - I mean just look at them.

I really want to kind of just take a week or two and deep-dive back into Stellaris and poke around with all the things, I just need to convince my brain to hyperfocus in the directions I want it to. Like I wasn't nearly as disappointed by Astral Planes as some - the price might be a tad much for what it added, but I still like the additions. The Machine Age is extremely my jam though and it's making that Mechanicus game teaser trailer echo in my head again

FROM THE MOMENT I UNDERSTOOD THE WEAKNESS OF MY FLESH... IT DISGUSTED ME.