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pico-digital-studios · 6 months ago

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💛 Introductory Post 💚

Greetings, all! I'm Pico, though you're also welcome to address me as Pico DS.

Multifandom guy, enjoying a lot of stuff, especially Sonic the Hedgehog.

Favourite Movies:

Star Wars (yes, all 9 of the main ones plus Rogue One)

Madagascar and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Favourite Bands / Musical Artists:

Tears for Fears

New Order

Pet Shop Boys

Clean Bandit

Olly Murs

Carly Rae Jepsen

Years & Years

ABBA

JLS

Favourite Video Games and Video Game Franchises:

Sonic the Hedgehog

Super Mario Bros.

Freedom Planet

Mega Man

Undertale / Deltarune

Friday Night Funkin’

Pokémon

Animal Crossing

Kirby

The Stanley Parable

A Hat in Time

Sonic.exe

Ninjala

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Doki Doki Literature Club!

Kinoko and the Cult of Galaxy (by @cultofgalaxy)

Favourite Content from Other Media (e.g. Cartoons and Comics):

The Loud House / The Casagrandes

The Little Mermaid

Spider-Man

Looney Tunes

Mickey Mouse

DC Super Heroes

Ben 10

Roald Dahl

I'm open to be making friends, and I'll aim to answer whatever questions come up. I also have other accounts on YouTube, Bluesky and DeviantArt, so feel free to check out my stuff there, too!

Some of my favourite characters are Sonic himself, Tails, Amy Rose, Cream, the Mario Bros., Sash Lilac, Roll, Boyfriend & Girlfriend, Eevee, Cookie (AC), Kirby, the Stanley Parable Narrator, Hat Kid, Monika and Rarity.

I am proudly bisexual and use he/him pronouns.

OC References: HERE

DO NOT INTERACT IF YOU'RE A:

Proshipper

Bitcoin-obsessed user

NFT creator

Person who claims to be "transage"

AI supporter (that isn't actually making GOOD of their work)

Supporter of Israel's atrocities against Palestine

Supporter of Donald Trump, an active American criminal

Person who likes incest

Racist

Anti-LGBT

Manipulative freak

Denier of trans rights

Denier of women's rights

Paedophile/Zoophile (or anyone who supports/defends them)

Child porn viewer

Ableist

I will not hesitate to block you if you're under that criteria.

Current projects:

Sonic: Into, Across and Beyond! (+ Funkinverse crossover)

IAB! Q&A

Friday Night Funkin' - Childhood Memories

Friday Night Funkin': ErroRhythmic Beats (my FNF take)

Just Dance - My Version (ideas only)

Blank EX (Sonic: Fill in the Blanks)

NULLNULLNULLNULLNULLNULL

Personal ships:

OC x OC (my own):

Chriselia/Nitrelia (Chris/Nitro x Amelia)

Chrisuzi/Nitruzi (Chris/Nitro x Kyuzi (character by @mcgamejolter))

EvAshley (Evo x Ashley (character by @mcgamejolter))

Evade/WadEvo (Evo x Wade)

Rosley/Tinsie (Rosie x Tinsley)

KariLucia (Karilvatch x Lucia)

Alicegan / Finnecia (Alicia x Finnegan)

Matthelia / Ameliatthew (Matthew x Amelia)

Keycity / Felicyan (Keyan x Felicia)

Felicine / Jasmicia (Felicia x Jasmine)

Adeo / Thedam (Theo x Adam)

Emerick / Maversyn (Emersyn x Maverick)

Platinumeadow (Nitro Platinumheart x Petal Meadow/MLP Amelia)

Blujamin/BenBuni (Benjamin Miku (my Boyfriend) x BluBuni (by Leideri))

OC x OC (other characters):

Kaeduna (Kaede x Luna; ApocalypseTitan)

Maxlivia (Max x Olivia; ApocalypseTitan)

Pikebula (Pikachu Flareny x Nebula)

Skynta (Skyler x Kenta; LuckyClau)

Berip / Cheryl (Chip x Beryl; LuckyClau)

BECLE / Brindy (BEC x CLE; @becdoesthings)

Brucadie (Dark BEC x SEM; @becdoesthings)

Sadindy (SEM x CLE; @becdoesthings)

OC x Canon (my guys):

NitrAmy / Chrimy (Nitro/Chris x Amy Rose)

Nitrina (Nitro x Mina Mongoose)

Evaisy (Evo x Wrath Soul Daisy)

Christonika (Christina/Twilight x Monika) (Sayonika is still valid!)

Karizuki (Karilvatch x Himeji Mizuki)

Alicails (Alicia x Tails)

??? (MLP ships; haven't decided on which ones yet)

OC x Canon (other peeps):

Sonova (Sonic x Nova)

SonAlli (Sonic x Alli the Cat @piink-rose)

SonAmethyst (Sonic x Amethyst)

Sonachu (Sonic x Pikachu Flareny)

Canon x Canon:

Sonamy and Sonally

Tailsmo, Tailream and Tailooey

Tailina (Tails x Mina; depending on the universe)

Amoney / Honemy (Amy Rose x Honey the Cat)

Mareach and Luigaisy

LilaCarol (Lilac x Carol) / Carorque (Carol x Torque)

Boyfriend X Girlfriend

Kitty Trio (Bob x Rosie x Kid Cat; Animal Crossing)

Sashira (Sasha x Mira; Animal Crossing)

Burtecca (Burton x Berecca; Ninjala)

Sayonika (Sayori x Monika) and Player x Monika

Linconnie (Lincoln x Ronnie-Anne) / Lincella (Lincoln x Stella) / Sidonnie (Sid x Ronnie-Anne) (Loud House/Casagrandes)

Saluna (Sam Sharp x Luna Loud) (TLH)

(All #userbox usage belongs to their original owners.)

Help Support Lines

Some of my absolute favourite posts here:

#intro post #blog intro #pinned post #pinned intro #free gaza #free palestine #free ukraine #from the river to the sea palestine will be free

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kennak · 1 year ago

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日本の時計メーカーであるセイコーは、今年初めにBlack Catランサムウェア攻撃を受けたことを認め、この事件がデータ侵害につながり、機密の顧客、パートナー、人事情報が漏洩したと警告した。セイコーは、調査の結果、同社の「グループ」（SGC）、「時計」（SWC）、「機器」（SII）部門が保有する合計6万件の「個人データ」が攻撃者によって侵害されたことが確認されたと発表した。同社は2023年8月10日、警告した。 2023年7月28日に何者かが同社のサーバーの少なくとも1つに不正アクセスを取得したと 2023 年 8 月 21 日、BlackCat/ALPHV ランサムウェアギャングは、セイコーを恐喝サイトに追加し、生産計画、従業員のパスポートスキャン、新モデルのリリース計画、特殊なラボテストの結果、および既存および今後発売予定のセイコー時計の機密技術図を盗んだと主張しました。。当時明らかになったさらなる情報は、BlackCatが侵入を特定する前日に初期アクセスブローカー（IAB）からセイコーのネットワークへのアクセスを購入したことを示唆していた。セイコーは 8月22日にフォローアップ声明を発表し、ビジネスパートナーと従業員に関する特定の情報が漏洩したことを認め、調査が完了次第、状況をより正確に評価することを約束した。データ盗難が確認されたセイコーは侵害を調査し、ランサムウェア集団によって流出したすべてのアイテムを特定しました。同社は以下の情報が流出したと発表している。 SWC（セイコーウオッチ株式会社）の氏名、住所、電話番号、電子メールアドレスなどの顧客情報。 SGC、SWC、および/またはSIIとの取引に関与する取引先の連絡先情報。個人の名前、所属会社、役職、会社住所、会社電話番号、および/または会社電子メールアドレスが含まれます。 SGC および/または SWC への雇用のために応募者によって提供された情報。名前、住所、電話番号、電子メールアドレス、および/または学歴情報が含まれます。 SGCおよびそのグループ会社の現従業員および元従業員の氏名および/または電子メールアドレスを含む個人情報。最新の発表では、サイバー犯罪者がセイコーウオッチの顧客のクレジットカード情報にアクセスしなかったことが明らかになった。セイコーは、同社のネットワーク内のすべてのITシステムと運用を強化し、侵害の原因を評価し、将来同様の事件が発生しないように対象を絞ったセキュリティ強化を実行するために、サイバーセキュリティの専門家と引き続き連携すると述べ��。また、影響を受ける顧客、担当者、ビジネスパートナーには、セキュリティ侵害について個別に通知されます。

セイコー、ランサムウェア攻撃により顧客の機密データが流出したと発表

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homogrimoire · 5 years ago

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Ego Ollor od Esiasch Coronzon

Fair Game Week 2020: Day 7 - AU / Free Day (Priest/Demon AU)

Read it on AO3 here.

Qrow Branwen, priest of a small chapel in the middle of nowhere, was content with his life as it was. Bad luck followed him all his life, as he was born cursed by an ancient magic that not even Oz could undo. The only things he could say were good in his life were his nieces, but even then, he felt that he had to be careful. He didn’t want them to be victims of his existence. They would visit every once and a while, which was perfect in his opinion. They would stay long enough to have fun together, but not long enough to where anything seriously bad could happen. He supposes that getting the opportunity to stay at the chapel was also nice. He was given the opportunity to stay there by an old friend, headmaster of a prestigious academy. Needless to say, he agreed without a second thought. Read to some people from a book and answer their questions two days out of the week? Easy. Be away from people so he couldn’t harm anyone? Help the headmaster with some occult mystery now and then so he could finally feel useful? It was practically a dream come true.

As the years went by, he grew closer to the few people that would show up, especially a young farmhand named Oscar. He reminded him of his nieces. He grew to understand the hope the gods could give and inspire, even if he himself believed them to be cruel and uncaring. His nieces visited less frequently, but called much more often, which he was alright with. Some of his hair began to grey, which he quickly grew to like. It made him look more mature. His experiments, while they were almost always met with some complication, always helped Oz with something. He was as content as he could be, save for one minor thing.

Qrow was lonely. Sure, people came to the chapel on a regular basis, but it was hardly personal, save Oscar. He always made sure to save him some extra sweets, even if he was a teenager now. Ruby and Yang called nearly every other day, bar when they were on a mission, but made sure to visit their favorite uncle at least once a month. Tai called every now and then and would also sometimes visit. However, Qrow realized just how lonely he was when his sister showed up out of the blue. Instead of immediately throwing blessed water at her and muttering a prayer from the book, he actually considered inviting her in. He settled for chatting outside, so that there could at least be witnesses. It went better than expected, but that wasn’t saying too much.

Oz, of course, called frequently, chatting about the magical experiments or sharing the latest gossip with each other. One call proved to be pivotal in Qrow’s life. The day was already eventful. Oscar confessed that he had a crush on one of the other farmhands, hired from a nearby city, he heard, which wasn’t a sin in any book, but Qrow didn’t really care too much about that. As an honorary uncle and father figure, he was mostly just curious about the crush and proud that Oscar was growing up. … Even if it meant Oscar would leave. It was making Qrow feel lonely again. The last time he had a crush, the kid wasn’t even born. Needless to say, he was feeling a bit down when Ozpin called. The moment Qrow answered the call, he knew something big happened, but by his tone, it wasn’t anything bad.

“So, Qrow, I believe that I may have found something that may be of interest to you.” Oz began.

“Mhmm.” Qrow responded, slouched in a chair.

“I’ve found what I believe to be the instructions for a ritual that may help your bad luck problem.” Qrow couldn’t see it, but he knew Oz was smiling.

“You’ve got my attention.” He said, quickly sitting up. “Tell me more about it.”

“From what I have learned, it may have some relation to the brother gods. Its incantations are certainly very old as well. It’s all a straight forward. It just has some… unique ingredients. I’ve procured some of the rarer ones for you, They should be there in a week’s time. Until then, I’ll leave you to find the more common ingredients. I’ll send you the instructions and list of ingredients right now.”

“Wow, Oz, I─ I don't know what to say.” Qrow was dumbfounded. To believe that his curse could be cured...

“You don’t need to say anything. You’ve done a lot more for me than I’ve done for you. But if you want to thank me, do it when the ritual is a success. You know how fickle magic can be.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”Qrow knew that he shouldn’t get his hopes up. Who knew if some ancient ritual would hold up in the modern era. Steps could have been lost as time passed, the magic that powers it may not even exist any more, hell, it could even just end up making things worse. But, Qrow trusted Oz, and there was still the off chance that things did go as expected. At the very least, he could debunk the ritual and let Oz know.

“Although, I should tell you… no. Just, be careful with this one.”

“Alright, I will.” Qrow said suspiciously. In all fairness, Oz always was mysterious.

“Good night Qrow.”

“Good night Oz.” Once the call ended, Qrow received the information, as promised. After reading through it, he could see that it was simple. It just required a lot. There were a few ingredients he had never heard of, but imagined that those would be the things Oz sent him. A few strands of hair from a calico cat were easy to get, only having to deal with a sneezing fit, as well as a horseshoe. He just paid a visit to Oscar and gathered a few hairs from a random calico cat there and bought a horseshoe. Oscar might have tripped face first onto his crush while Qrow was there, but he didn’t feel too bad once he saw them holding hands as he left. All that was left was a shamrock and a fishing pole made by the one invoking the ritual. The shamrock, while it would probably take a day of searching in a clover field to find, made sense with the ritual’s theme. The fishing pole made no sense. If anything, it made him doubt the ritual’s authenticity a little. But, regardless, he made a cheap one out of a stick and some string with a toy lure. It was sad, but it would do.

By the time Qrow had everything he needed, it was still four days until the stuff Ozpin sent would arrive. Qrow could have continued memorizing the incantation, but he had already been doing that. So, he decided to make a more respectable fishing pole. He didn’t take woodworking in school for nothing, even though he would have to do most of the work by hand. In the end, he just looked up how to make a bamboo fishing pole online. It was a nice change of pace from his daily routine. There was still another day until the supplies arrived by the time Qrow found the rod satisfactory. He decided to spend the day carving out a bird from a piece of wood to use as a bobber. He decided on a kingfisher, for their fishing prowess. Once he finished, he decided to go to bed. He had a big day ahead of him.

The supplies he needed arrived late in the afternoon. The mailman almost tripped while holding all the supplies, but Qrow caught him just in time. He was really hoping the ritual would work. Ozpin sent him some jars of a black goop. Qrow didn’t know what it was, but he wasn’t going to question it. Along with the goop, came an odd looking rug, a faded green, that was easily centuries years old, and perhaps even millennia if he were being generous. With no time to waste, he got to work. First, he laid down the rug that he would make the sigil on. Next, using the black goop, he carefully and slowly drew out the sigil, intricate with its many lines. At the tips of the center triangle, he placed the four-leaf clover, the horseshoe, and the strands of calico cat hair. In the center where an ominous vertical eye rested, he placed the fishing pole. With that done, he closed his eyes and clasped his hands together, reminiscent of a prayer. He began to utter the incantation, grateful that Oz knew the pronunciations.

Torzu od adrpan, [n] ascleh k iabes

Cruscanse [xitha] siatris

Amma bab argedco ils

Bien k hoxmarch ivmd ils

Pir ooaona ors

Ollor teloch olpirt dorpha

Ol argedco ego bab

Qrow opened his eyes to see that the black goop had been swirling upwards, the ancient rug and the items he gathered caught in the vortex, until it suddenly paused mid-air, and then fell onto the floor with an anti-climatic splat. He looked at his arms to see if he was any different. He didn’t feel any different. For a moment, he thought that the ritual failed, resulting in nothing. It evidently resulted in something, as a hand shot out of the puddle. Qrow wasn’t a believer, but he grabbed a nearby holy book. It would be better than nothing. It pulled itself up and out of the puddle, the goop dripping off the figure as it emerged. Soon, he could make out slicked back brown hair with graying sides, and deathly pale skin marked with red and black veins. He was clad in a green vest similar to the ancient rug and light colored pants. He opened his eyes to reveal that the sclera were pure black, and his pupils were an unnatural and piercing red. He grinned, showing sharp canines, which was very hot, and very scary.

“So,” it spoke, “you’re the one who summoned me?” Qrow nodded his head, unable to drawl out any words. Then, it looked him up and down. “What’s your name, handsome?” Did he just… flirt, with me?

“Qrow. Qrow Branwen.” was all he could muster out.

“Hm. Handsome name for a handsome guy. I suppose you're wondering what my name is then?” Qrow didn't respond, so the entity continued. “Well, like any respectable demon, I go by many names, but you can call me yours. ” The demon winked at him. He really is flirting with me. He didn’t know how to respond to a demon flirting with him, and a rather hot one at that. “Still shocked, I see. You weren’t exactly expecting me, were you?” Qrow noticed that he held the fishing pole he made slung across a shoulder, and wore a shamrock pin.

“Nope.”

“Well, I hate to intrude, but I think it’s best that talk in the morning, you know, so you can sleep on all this. Oh, and it looks like you only got one bed. Lucky me.” Yeah, lucky. That snapped Qrow out of his stupor.

“Hold on, I am not falling asleep when some random demon is here!” Even if those arms are very tempting. He noticed that one arm had a red armband wrapped around it.

“Like what you see?” the demon teased, flexing his arms. Qrow realized that he had been staring, and began to blush.

“I’m calling Oz.”

“Her ex-husband?” the demon asked.

“Who’s what?” Ozpin picked up the call.

“So, how did it go?” he asked calmly as he took a sip of his drink.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were making me summon a demon?!” Qrow exclaimed.

“The dollar store knock-off goddess says fuck you, and that she wants the kids.” the demon interjected

“Tell her I said to pay the child support.”

“Will do.” the demon saluted. Ozpin turned his attention back to Qrow.

“He’s an alright demon. You can trust him.”

“That doesn’t answer the Question! Oz!”

“Well, if everything went as planned, you should have been able to make a deal with him by offering the fishing rod.”

“And a pretty nice one at that. I like the little kingfisher.” the demon interrupted, holding up the rod for all to admire.

“But evidently, something went wrong.”

“Yeah, you used female calico cat hair. You should have used male calico cat hair.” he corrected. “Lucky for me, it looks like I’m stuck in a pretty nice place,” he said as he looked around the room, “with an even prettier person.” The demon winked at Qrow, again.

“Stuck here? What do you mean stuck here ?” Qrow asked, flustered.

“Well, since the ritual went awry, we’ll have to make another portal to send me back.”

“And that involves going back to hell to get some of that sludge. Trips to hell aren’t easy, you know.” Well shit.

“You went to hell? For me?” Qrow asked. He was touched.

“Yes, but think nothing of it. I owe you a lot.” Oz took another sip “Besides, you’re stuck with a demon now.” Qrow looked behind him to find The demon lying down on his bed, patting the empty space beside him as if offering it to him. Qrow turned away to hide a light blush. “Well, have fun with your new roommate, good night.”

“Wait! Ozpin you little─” with a click, the line was cut. Qrow groaned. He fell back into a chair to stare up at the ceiling, tired and stressed. He looked at the demon, who was just smiling at him. “So, what should I actually call you.”

“Hmm,” the demon thought for a moment, “Clover.” he said as he flicked the shamrock on his vest with his thumb.

“Alright then, Clover . What kind of demon are you anyways?” Qrow was still a little bit suspicious, but he didn’t sense any malicious intent, so there was that.

“Well, let’s just say I have the devil’s own luck.” he grinned. Despite the smile seeming slightly sinister, Qrow felt a bit of hope.

“So what you’re saying is, that you're a demon who brings good luck?”

“Good luck for a fee, and I’d say you’ve paid yours rather nicely.” He pulled the rod out of nowhere to admire it. “I really do like the kingfisher you’ve made. It must have taken a lot of time, and a lot of skill to make. I think this one’s my new favorite.” With a quick movement of his hand, it disappeared back into nothing. “I consider myself pretty lucky, but I have a feeling I’m going to get even more lucky with you here.”

“Pfft.” Qrow scoffed. “You haven’t dealt with someone like me.”

“And why’s that?” Clover sat up, genuinely interested in Qrow’s response.

“I… was born cursed with bad luck. It affects me and everyone around me.” This wasn’t information he gave so freely, but, for some reason, he felt that the demon could understand him, so he told him.

“I see.” The demon appeared to be thinking hard. “When I was human, I was born blessed with good luck, if you can call it blessed. I’m not gonna deny it, it had its benefits. But, as I grew older the more and more people thought that all I was, was my good luck. Everyone wanted to be around me for my good luck, and never for me. You get it, don’t you.” Qrow notic ed that there was something in his eyes: sadness, loneliness, a plea for someone to understand.

“I do.” he told him.

“I thought you would.” Clover smiled and laid back down, patting the empty spot beside him once more. Qrow gave into temptation, and laid next to the hunk of a demon in the small bed. He could have forced the demon onto the floor, but he didn’t want to be rude, and he certainly wasn’t going to sleep on the floor himself. Qrow had the best night of sleep he ever had in a long time, cuddled up in those muscular arms. Yeah, things will be fine. he though as he drifted to sleep.

#Fair Game #fairgameweek2020 #clover ebi #qrow branwen

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dearophelia · 5 years ago

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it’s that time of year where I unearth banshee!verse and try to knock some plot into it. so have an excerpt I wrote last year, which I found while trying to figure out where, precisely, the fuck I’d left this story.

[context: Kat has just “woken up” after “sleepwalking” and she and her partner and investigating the creepy-ass alley next to the creepy-ass building Kat “woke up in”]

“They’re in trouble,” the voice says, “you need to help them.”

“Shut up,” she hisses.

One of the lumps moves, drawing her attention, and a pair of green eyes stare back at her. The eyes almost glow, like animal eyes reflecting the light. Only there isn’t any light.

“You need to help them, Katherine. You’re running out of time.”

She blinks. An actual voice, from an actual person. Maybe. The voices in her head sound real, too. Just because this one comes with eyes doesn’t mean it’s real.

The eyes pulse with an inner light, sparkling like an emerald. “Hurry.”

Her breath catches in her throat and she abruptly yanks the blankets away. She jumps as the scrawny orange cat hisses at her before running deeper into the alley.

Metal clangs against metal, echoing loudly against the narrow walls. Katherine shrieks, though thankfully most of it is lost in the awful noise. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

“Found another door!” Deck calls. “Locked like the other one. Same spray paint though.” She tugs on the chain. Clenching her jaw, she glares at the chain and yanks hard. The chain easily breaks, falling away.

“Way to Hulk out,” she says.

“Must’ve rusted through.” Despite Deck’s yanking, the door doesn’t open. With a deep breath, Deck braces one foot on the wall, grasps the handle with both hands, and pulls. She lands ungracefully on her ass amidst dead leaves and old newspapers, but the door stands open before them.

Katherine offers her a hand and then turns on her phone’s flashlight again. The light barely penetrates three feet into the dark hallway, but it’s enough to light up the eyes of a family of rats, startled during their meal. They look up at her, eyes glowing red, and then all scatter, claws scrabbling on the concrete floor. She makes the mistake of squinting into the hallway to see their meal: whatever it was, it’s mostly bone and gore now.

Every survival instinct she has, not to mention every horror movie she’s ever seen, screams for her to step back out into the alley, and then back out into the sun, get in the car and forget this ever happened. But the faint buzzing in her fingertips she hasn’t felt since Mark Stanley, and that she had written off as a fluke, returns, drawing her – leading her – inside.

But going inside a condemned building she inexplicably woke up in, that was locked at every entrance, that looks like the set of several horror movies her high school girlfriend dragged her to, where she saw a cop who wasn’t at all who he said he was, where a cat told her to help someone, after screaming in her sleep for two weeks and hearing voices and feeling dead bodies, seems like a tremendously bad idea. And if she’s going to lean into the bad idea – she’s already taken three steps toward the door without noticing – she’s not quite so stupid as to do it without telling her partner about, at the very least, the general weirdness plaguing her life recently.

“Before we go in,” she turns to Deck, “swear on whatever deity or force you believe in this week that you won’t repeat what I’m about to say to anyone, especially Morgan.”

Deck’s brow furrows, but she draws a little x over her heart. “Sworn.”

“This is gonna sound nuts.”

“You took the subway across town in the middle of the night, walked into an abandoned and, frankly, horrifying building I’m pretty sure you’ve never seen before, and woke up talking to a dude who claimed to be someone who’s been dead for ten years.” Deck gestures with her hands open as if to say please top that.

Katherine bobbles her head a bit. Deck has a point, and she’s pretty sure she’s about to knock this morning down to kinda strange. “Weird shit has been happening since that night David died. I’ve been,” she pauses, “hearing things. Voices. And waking up screaming. And now sleepwalking, apparently.”

Deck stares at her in the alley’s gloomy light and Katherine gets the distinct feeling that her partner is looking for something specific. Shadows settle around them, casting Deck into even dimmer light than before. The wind picks up, blowing papers and a crumpled beer can down the alley. Despite the heat, Katherine shivers.

The wind settles and the shadows pass, leaving them again in the grey half-light as the sun creeps across the sky.

“You’re working a serial case without any leads, and IAB’s down your throat about the kid,” Deck says, after what feels like an hour. “Your stress responses have always trended toward psychosis,” she reminds her. From anyone else, it’d sound like a dismissal. From Deck, it sounds kind.

Katherine nods and takes a shaky breath. “Yeah,” she agrees. It’s what she’s been trying to tell herself for two weeks, and hearing it from someone else makes it sound rational. Oh, and the voices have been asking for my help and I’m pretty sure I flashed back in time by two hours to see Mark Stanley’s heart ripped out by a monster.

“Let’s go check this out,” Deck says, gesturing to the door Katherine’s now standing just inside, “see if we can find any reason your subconscious decided you needed to be here, then get the hell out of this creepy-ass area and I’ll take you home.”

Nodding, Katherine takes a few steps further inside as Deck props a series of stones by the door to keep it from shutting on them. Sidestepping the rats’ meal, she heads deeper into the dark, dank hallway.

If she were just exploring, if she weren’t looking for something specific, Katherine suspects she’d be a lot more terrified than she is. They pass rooms sealed by metal doors, tiny windows just at eye height showing pitch black interiors. Hallways branch off, filled with rusty pipes, broken furniture, and small rodent bones cluttered in the corners. Water stains cover the walls and almost every step is through a puddle.

Find me.

“All this place needs is some flickering lights,” Deck says as she ducks underneath a broken section of ceiling and exposed tangled wiring.

Katherine flicks the flashlight on and off a few times with a grin.

“I hate you.”

The buzzing grows steadily stronger until they make it to a door pulled off its hinges and the staircase it’s blocking. As she reaches the flashlight around the door, checking the integrity of the stairs, the buzzing starts to pull upward. Katherine sticks her phone in her pocket and motions at Deck. “Help me with this.”

Deck hands her a pair of latex gloves and snaps on her own pair before touching the rusted metal. Katherine does the same: god only knows what’s been down here, and for how long. With a little tugging, the two pull the door the rest of the way off its hinges. They push it aside, but it slides out of their grasp and crashes down to the floor with a loud bang, startling both of them and splashing stagnant water up over their shoes.

The two women look at each other and then back down the hallway, hands on their sidearms.

“Good thing we weren’t trying for stealth,” Katherine says after a few minutes of silence and no movement from the shadows.

“Anything living here noticed the minute we walked in,” Deck murmurs, following Katherine up the rickety stairs.

Katherine pauses and looks over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. Deck’s looking away, shining her own flashlight down toward the stairs behind them. Clouds drift over the sun and what little light shone through the broken stairwell window diffuses into grey. Deck momentarily blends into the empty darkness below. Katherine blinks, the clouds clear, and Deck gestures for her to keep going.

The buzzing keeps pulling her upward until the third floor, and to the room she was standing in this morning.

“This is where I woke up,” Katherine says absently. The buzzing shifts into a strong vibration, climbing up her arm to her shoulder, pulling her toward the wall by the upturned chair. She distantly registers Deck standing by the window, looking outside and talking through how someone might have seen her from the street, but Katherine reaches up for the peeling wallpaper.

Find me!

“Hang on,” she mutters in irritation as she starts pulling the faded floral wallpaper back, revealing crumbling plaster walls.

Deck’s phone rings. “Deckard,” she answers.

Katherine’s fingertips brush over the plaster, tracing the spiderweb cracks emanating from a small hole just above her head. Little pieces crumble to dust and fall to the floor. Curiously, the vibration falls silent. She peers at the wall and picks at the wall. Larger pieces come away along with the dust and she closes her eyes against a small shower of plaster.

“Kat!” Deck says, shoving her phone back into her pocket.

Katherine holds up a finger and then sneezes. “Yeah?” She steps away from the wall, the cracks, and the hole now the size of her hand.

“Morgan wants us back. Full coroner reports just came in.”

Katherine doesn’t look back as she follows Deck down the stairs and out the way they came.

Found me, a voice echoes behind her.

#critics everywhere: the main character seems very detached and rational for what's happening to her #me: it's called dissociation sweetie. look it up.#verse:voidwalkers #ten fake dollars to whoever can point out the sanctuary episode i had in the background while writing this #tarysande

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brooklynislandgirl · 6 years ago

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Beth & Riggs!

All Hands || -

who wakes up first in the morning

Martin doesn’t wake up in the morning.In fact the only way Beth can properly describe it is…from an article she read, wherein researchers from the University of Glasgow observed four groups of loops inside a solar flare. It was said by one Doctor that the event was a great example of a simultaneous implosion and explosion. The energy transferred from the magnetic field to power the flare left a pocket of reduced support that caused the implosion. After a series of scientific ballet steps, the flare loops oscillated until they found a new equilibrium in its plasma.Yeah, that sounds about right. Bolt upright. Legs and arms akimbo, stretching outward. His hair trying to drag him back down or strangle him for the impertinence. That space and time where he’s not sure which way was up and what was dream and reality and the inevitable shock and disappointment when he finally grasps where he is. She throws a leg over his table, a flesh and blood barrier reef between him and the weapons stashed around that she could find. Spoons another mouthful of Fruity Pebbles and chews slowly, quietly as she can. “Mornin’ Texas.”

That malicious glare thrown her way. If looks could maim….“I’m going to assume there’s no bacon to go with that sugar infested monstrosity you’re grazing?”“Of course. Ya jus’ goddah wan come get it.”Finger guns. “I knew I kept you around for a reason, Hawaii.”

who’s the first to fall asleep at night

She doesn’t really sleep.At least, not the way normal people do, and that suits him just fine. He’s not normal by any stretch, and almost welcomes the fact that she isn’t either. He did notice however that she had a habit of drifting off round her third beer, her fourth glass of wine. He’s half into his own bottle when she slumps down at the table. Few minutes later, even and deep breaths. She’d have made a good SEAL he thinks, because that is a survival skill. He gives up his blanket. Tucks her in. Settles down on his couch, arm across his eyes, nursing the bourbon. Maybe an hour goes by, maybe longer and it starts. The fidgeting. The puppy kicks. Sometimes there’s one sided conversation. Sometimes she’s just running ~swimming~ away from something.The first time he witnesses a night terror, he think she is having a cataleptic fit. Every muscle petrifying as he watches, helpless. A strangled breath that is soundless. Eyes open, staring into the dark of the trailer. Wherever she’s gone, whatever is happening, it’ss somewhere he can’t reach her. He’ll never admit it out loud, but that…that scared the shit out of him.

It was shortly after that when he buys the air mattress. Another blanket. Spare pillows. You know, Hawaii, contrary to popular opinion, I am civilised. She doesn’t make a fuss about it. Most of the time, he waits until she is asleep. Sometimes, he doesn’t. But he ends up joining her more nights than is seemly. Spends hours awake on his back, staring up at the ceiling, carding fingers through her hair. That’s just what friends do.

what they playfully tease each other over

“Chea'ah!”“Did you just call me ‘Chia’ as in Chia pet? Or as in the spotted fast running cat, cheetah?”“No. Chea-ah. CHE-AH. Li'dat one who cheat.”When her face gets red like that, her freckles come out. The ones that cup the left side of her mouth. The ones that dot her nose. Her eyes glitter and she snarls. He kind of likes her teeth. Sharp. A little crooked. Not often seen unless she’s smiling or…fixing to rip his throat out.“Do you have photographic evidence of the alleged cheating, Hawai’i?”“No?”“Then your skating on thin ice. Filing a false report is a violation of Section-”She lunges across the table, cutting him off at the best part.By the time they’ve hit the floor and ended up feet away, multi-coloured fake money and little hotels that will later be found in very uncomfortable places {boots, hair, under the stove}, they’re laughing and have forgotten why.And maybe, just maybe, Riggs admits to himself, he does it on purpose.

what they do when the other’s having a bad day

She knew the second her call went to voice-mail that something was wrong.Martin doesn’t ignore her calls. Mr Murtaugh doesn’t answer his either.It’s weeks before she hears from either of them, and by then she’s canvased the usual suspects: the morgues, the hospitals, central processing, everywhere she can think of. Because of course she would assume the worst.By the time he drags himself into the trailer, she’s torn between wanting to strangle him and…oh.Oh.The look on his face says it all and she can’t find the moral fibre to ask him where he’s been. Instead she reaches for the bottle just above the stove. He drops his bag at his feet, barely has the energy to close the door behind him. His arms find her waist, and he buries his face into her neck. Bends him a bit, she’s so much smaller than he is, and yet she holds up mountains.

how they say ‘i’m sorry’ after arguments

“So, lemme get dis straight. Mexico. Tito. Dead in ya trunk. IAB investigation. Suspension. Uhm. Dere any kine else I should know?!”

Though soft, her voice is awed. Not in pride. There’s too much fear and worry, tinged with an anger at the situation and maybe a little bit at him. Because she knows, she knows without a shadow of doubt, that Martin had done all these things without the intention of ever coming back from it. Which is why he looks so lost now. Why she can practically taste the whiskey on his breath. The way he shakes in her arms. Because even after all of this? She hasn’t managed to let go.

He murmurs under his breath and she can’t make any of it out, except it’s rough timbre. The vibrations of his voice against the lower part of her shoulder.

“...Said ‘M sorry, Hawai’i.”

She believes him. Not because of the words. It’s in the way his fingers twist in the back of her shirt. The way he shakes even if it’s so subtle no one else would notice. It takes all the fight right out of her.

Fingers lose themselves in his hair. And she hugs him closer.

“I know. An’ if ya evah do dat again, Martin, I’ma find ya an’ break every bone in ya body.”

which one’s more ticklish

She shrieks like something dying.

Squirms, kicks. Digs nails in wherever they can find purchase and tries to drag herself away.

It’s no good. Martin has a hold of her ankle and refuses to let go. He also has a feather though that becomes fingers against the delicate arch. The devil’s in his eyes. That very foot gets set up on his shoulder, because he’s a stupidly brave man. Goes for her knees. A new scream of laughter that could deafen someone at twenty yards and peel paint right off the walls.

By the time he’s gotten to her waist, they’re dishevelled. She’s got both legs wrapped around his middle and is putting every ounce of her strength to prevent his forward progress. His hair and shirt will never be the same, they’re both red and breathless from exhaustion.

And of course, OF COURSE, Andrew Riley misunderstands the situation.

“The Fuck’re you doing?”

Neither can be sure which one he’s addressing but they answer in unison.

“Unnawaddah basket weaving.”

“Sky-diving into a vat of marshmallow fluff and whiskey.”

their favourite rainy day activities

It starts by waking up on the beach, the pounding surf whisper-screaming a warning and the gulls aren’t numerous and loud. Or maybe it’s the cold that gets them, unseasonable compared to the night before. By the time he’s fully aware of his surroundings and brushing sand off his skin, she’s sitting with her back to him, knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. The wind picks up her hair, flies it behind her like a tattered, dark banner.

“Storm comin’ in.”

There’s something wistful in her tone that has nothing to do with the surf conditions. He drops down behind her, palms smoothing their way up from elbow to shoulder in the slowest meander he can manage. She gets a little lost like that sometimes, and for the life of him, he can’t figure out why, or where she really goes inside her head. But he gives her the same courtesy and comfort that she offers when he does the same. They stay that way until the rain comes slashing in, cutting like knives, and the lightning starts.

The rest of the day is spent cooped up inside his trailer. He doesn’t mind the feel of her nestled between his legs and draped across his chest. When she curls up, she doesn’t take up much room. And the blankets are piled up too, making a warm cocoon around them.

They listen to the rain. To the radio. Drowsing in and out of consciousness with nowhere to be and nothing that needs to be said. Sure they shift around for the sake of comfort and it never fails that they have to take turns moving so the other can hit the head, after drinking coffee and cocoa.

“Hey, Texas?”

“Yeah?”

“Y’evah....”

“Nope.”

“Me, eiddah.”

how they surprise each other

It’s nothing cinematic. Little notes left in a desk drawer in purple sparkly pen encouraging him day by day. A hot cup of coffee waiting for her in the morgue before she slips in to work. A picked up dinner because the other knows no one thought about it over the long hours. Fingers laced together when least expected. A drive down to Mexico because why not?

And that’s what makes them so solid. It’s nothing like those tv-show dramatic revelations or soap-opera twists. And honestly, it’s better this way because neither one of them handle big things well.

Okay, so maybe it was the salsa dancing lessons that really got her, and how she kept smiling at him all night. {{Nevah knew ya had dose kine moves, Texas.}}

Or the way he was mesmerised by watching her field strip and clean his M-16, shaving a good forty seconds off his personal best {{next time, blindfolded, Bethany.}}

their most sickening shows of public affection

“So, I come out of the john and I’m looking around and looking around, because I was only gone like a minute tops. It’s like you gotta put an RIFD tag in them ~do you think they’d notice if I did?~ But anyway, so I’m searching through the typical Saturday crowd and then what do I see?

“Riggs, strolling down the boardwalk carnival fuckin’ thing, as if it’s goddamn Coney Island, and he’s wearing my sister like a backpack! A BACKPACK! Legs wrapped around his hips, one arm across his shoulders. And the other hand, she’s feeding him tufts of cotton candy. And this asshole, occasionally holding up his Coke next to his head so she can lean in and take sips! Who does that, Gamble?!”

Brian isn’t sure what’s funnier, the red in his partner’s face, the vein throbbing in his temple, or the outrage at something that while, yes, not exactly normal, is not the worst he’s personally seen with years on the Job.

“Sounds...horrifying.” This is accompanied by an eye roll in Riley’s direction in the most sarcastic way Gamble can manage. “Still. Could be worse. There’s this one picnic table at the pier that’s just out of sight from the Boardwalk and from the beach and if you spread a blanket on it, you can spread other th-”

He’s cut off by having to duck the stapler launched across at him. Which only makes the former Ranger laugh harder. Practically chokes on his coffee when there’s a particular drawl behind him.

“Y’all are just highly envious that A....She likes me better, maybe because crazy as I am I actually respect her...and B....no cotton candy for either of you.”

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un-enfant-immature · 5 years ago

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Andrew Mason’s Descript snags $15M, acquires Lyrebird to let users type text to create audio in their own voices

The boom in popularity for podcasting has given a new voice to the world of spoken word content that had been largely left for dead with the decline of broadcast radio. Now riding the wave of that growth, a startup called Descript that’s building tools to make the art of creating podcasts — or any other content that involves working with audio — a little easier with audio transcription and editing tools, has a trio of news announcements: funding, an acquisition, and the launch of a new tool that brings some of the magic of natural language processing and AI to the medium by letting people create audio of their own voices based on text that they type.

Descript, the latest startup from Groupon founder Andrew Mason, created as a spinoff of his audio-guide business Detour (which got acquired by Bose last year), is today announcing $15 million in funding, a Series A for expanding the business (including hiring more people) that’s coming from Andreessen Horowitz (it also funded the startup’s seed round in 2017) and Redpoint.

Along with that, the company has acquired a Canadian startup, Lyrebird — which had, like Descript, also built audio editing tools. Together, the two are rolling out a new feature for Descript called Overdub: people will now be able to create ��templates” of their voices that they can in turn use to create audio based on words that they type, part of a bigger production suite that will also let users edit multiple voices on multiple tracks. The audio can be standalone, or the audio track for a video. (The video transcription works a little differently: when you add in words, or take them out, the video makes jumps to account for the changes in timing.)

Overdub is the latest addition to a product that lets users create instant transcriptions of audio text, which is then has already established a following among podcasters and others that use transcription software as part of their audio production suites. The product is priced in a freemium format: no charge for up to four hours of voice content, and $10 per month after that.

[gallery ids="1883020,1883019,1883018,1883017"]

In the age of fake news aided and abetted by technology, you’d be forgiven for wondering if Overdub might not be a highway to deep fake city, where you could use the technology to create any manner of “statements” by famous voices.

Mason tells me that the company has built a way to keep that from being able to happen. To activate the editing feature, users have to first record a number of repeated-back, created on the fly and in real time, which are then used to shape your digital voice profile. This means that you can’t, for example, feed an audio of Donald Trump into the system to create a version of the President saying that he is awfully sorry for suggesting that building walls between the US and Mexico was a good idea, and that this would not, in fact, make America Great Again. (Too bad.)

But if you subscribe to the idea that tech advances in NLP and AI overall are something of a Pandora’s Box, the cat’s already out of the bag, and even if Descript doesn’t allow for it, someone else will likely hack this kind of technology for more nefarious ends. The answer, Mason says, is to keep talking about this and making sure people understand the potentials and pitfalls.

“People have already have created the ability to make deep fakes,” Mason said. “We should expect that not everybody is going to follow the same constrants that we have followed. But part of our role is to create awareness of the possibilities. Your voice is your identity, and you need to own that voice. It’s an issue of privacy, basically.”

The developments underscore the new opportunity that has opened up in tapping some of the developments in artificial intelligence to address what is a growing market. On one hand, it’s a big market: based just on ad revenues alone, podcasting is expected to bring in some $679 million this year, and $1 billion by 2021, according to the IAB — one reason why companies like Spotify and Apple are betting big on it as a complement to their music streaming businesses.

On the other, the area of production tools for podcasters is a very crowded market, with a number of startups and others putting out a lot of tools that all work quite well in identifying what people are saying and transcribing it accurately.

On the front of transcription and the area where Descript is working, rivals include the likes of Trint, Wreally and Otter, among many others. Decript itself doesn’t even create its basic NLP software; it uses Google’s, since basic NLP is now an area that has essentially become “commoditized,” said Mason in an interview.

That makes creating new features, tapping into AI and other advances, all the more essential, as we look to see if one tool emerges as a clear leader in this particular area of SaaS.

“In live multiuser collaboration, there is still no other tool out there that has done what we have done with large uncompressed audio files. That is no small feat, and it has taken time to get it right,” said Mason. “I have seen this transition manifest from documents to spreadsheets to product design. No one would have thought of something like product design to be huge space but just by taking these tools for collaboration and successfully porting them to the cloud, companies like Figma have emerged. And that’s how we got involved here.”

#TechCrunch

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rudra0143 · 5 years ago

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IAB Tech Lab Unveils Comment Common Ad Transport Standard (CATS) for Direct Buying and Selling of Digital Media

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SAN FRANCISCO: IAB Tech Lab recently released CATS (Common Ad Transport Standard) for public comment for a 30-day period until April 24.

Marketing Technology News: Blueshift Introduces New Features, Expands Its AI Predictive Studio

Designed to complement OpenRTB (Real-Time Bidding), CATS is a new standard to execute ad requests in non-biddable ad transactions, and aims to:

Stan…

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expomahal-blog · 5 years ago

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IAB Forum 2019 at Italy(Milano) 2019-November

land animals contact list, agriculture Exhibitors, care of dogs and cats directory, small rodents of pets Exhibitors, pet breeding business opportunities, fodder events, animal services contact info, literature business contacts, pedigree cat and pedigree poultry breeders. events 2019, November, Japan, Tokyo

Light Laser Application Sensor Fair 2019 at Japan(Tokyo) 2019-November

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related products/services/industry/business. This trade show opens top business opportunities to exhibit products and services from land animals Shows, agriculture info, care of dogs and cats Exhibitors Directory, small rodents of pets B2B ideas, pet breeding B2C opportunities, fodder Exhibitors Directory, animal services companies contacts, literature contacts list, pedigree cat and pedigree poultry breeders. Exhibitions industry.

Find More Details about Light Laser Application Sensor Fair 2019 event...

We help you to grow your business by providing the required contact details of all companies participating in this event and you can download the same data in excel format using the above links. Location of the Event:Japan(Tokyo) Year-Month:2019-November Official Website:Event Website source https://www.expomahal.com/2019/11/iab-forum-2019-at-italymilano-2019.html

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posmake-blog · 5 years ago

Text

Along with that, the company has acquired a small Canadian startup, Lyrebird — which had, like Descript,also built audio editing tools. Together, the two are rolling out a new feature for Descript called Overdub: people will now be able to create “templates” of their voices that they can in turn use to create audio based on words that they type, part of a bigger production suite that will also let users edit multiple voices on multiple tracks. The audio can be standalone, or the audio track for a video.

(The video transcription works a little differently: when you add in words, or take them out, the video makes jumps to account for the changes in timing.)

Overdub is the latest addition to a product that lets users create instant transcriptions of audio text that can then be cut and potentially augmented with music other audio using drag-and-drop tools that take away the need for podcasters to learn sound engineering and editing software. The non-technical emphasis of the product has given Descript a following among podcasters and others that use transcription software as part of their audio production suites. The product is priced in a freemium format: no charge for up to four hours of voice content, and $10 per month after that.

In the age of market-defining, election-winning fake news aided and abetted by technology, you’d be forgiven for wondering if Overdub might not be a highway to Deep Fake City, where you could use the technology to create any manner of “statements” by famous voices.

Mason tells me that the company has built a way to keep that from being able to happen.

The demo on the company’s home page is created with a special proprietary voice just for illustrative purposes, but to actually activate the editing and augmenting feature for a piece of their own audio, users have to first record a number of statements that repeated-back, based on text created on the fly and in real time. These audio clips are then used to shape your digital voice profile.

This means that you can’t, for example, feed audio of Donald Trump into the system to create a version of the President saying that he is awfully sorry for suggesting that building walls between the US and Mexico was a good idea, and that this would not, in fact, make America Great Again. (Too bad.)

That makes creating new features, tapping into AI and other advances, all the more essential, as we look to see if one tool emerges as a clear leader in this particular area of SaaS.

Andrew Mason’s Descript snags $15M, acquires Lyrebird to let users type text to create audio in their own voices The boom in popularity for podcasting has given a new voice to the world of spoken word content that had been largely left for dead with the decline of broadcast radio.

#Andrew #Entertainment #Mason&039;s

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petnews2day · 2 years ago

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Cat and dog meat: Hong Kong shop raided, 70 years after trade was banned

New Post has been published on https://petn.ws/OHpsi

Cat and dog meat: Hong Kong shop raided, 70 years after trade was banned

CNN — Authorities in Hong Kong have raided a shop suspected of selling dog and cat meat as food – more than 70 years after the trade was outlawed. Officers seized “suspected samples of dog or cat flesh” at a shop in the Yau Ma Tei district during a “joint blitz operation” by the city’s […]

See full article at https://petn.ws/OHpsi #DogNews #Animals, #Asia, #Business, #BusinessAndIndustrySectors, #Cats, #China, #ConsumerProducts, #ContinentsAndRegions, #Dogs, #DomesticAlerts, #DomesticInternationalNews, #EastAsia, #EconomyAndTrade, #FoodAndDrink, #FoodProducts, #HongKong, #IabCats, #IabDogs, #IabFoodDrink, #IabPets, #KindsOfFoodsAndBeverages, #LifeForms, #Mammals, #MeatProducts

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loganspace · 5 years ago

Text

The command in reputation for podcasting has given a new verbalize to the arena of spoken word scream material that had been largely left for ineffective with the decline of broadcast radio. Now utilizing the wave of that command, a startup known asDescriptthat’s building instruments to construct the art work of developing podcasts — or any other scream material that involves working with audio — a chunk of more straightforward with audio transcription and modifying instruments, has a trio of news bulletins: funding, an acquisition, and the open of a new instrument that brings most definitely the most magic of pure language processing and AI to the medium by letting of us function audio of their very own voices per textual scream material that they form.

Descript, the most recent startup from Groupon founder Andrew Mason, created as a derivative of his audio-manual industry Detour (which gotobtained by Bose final 12 months), is at the recent time pronouncing $15 million in funding, a Sequence A for increasing the industry (including hiring extra of us) that’s coming from Andreessen Horowitz (it also funded thestartup’s seed spherical in 2017) and Redpoint.

Alongside with that, the firm has obtained a miniature Canadian startup, Lyrebird — which had, adoreDescript,also built audio modifying instruments. Together, the two are rolling out a new characteristic for Descript known as Overdub: of us will now be in a space to function “templates” of their voices that they are going to in flip utilize to function audio per words that they form, share of an even bigger manufacturing suite that can presumably also let users edit extra than one voices on extra than one tracks. The audio could presumably well be standalone, or the audio discover for a video.

(The video transcription works a chunk of differently: whereas you happen to add in words, or obtain them out, the video makes jumps to account for the modifications in timing.)

Overdub is the most recent addition to a product that lets users function instantaneous transcriptions of audio textual scream material that can presumably then be lower and potentially augmented with tune other audio utilizing dash-and-drop instruments that obtain away the necessity for podcasters to learn sound engineering and modifying tool. The non-technical emphasis of the product has given Descript a following amongst podcasters and others that utilize transcription tool as share of their audio manufacturing suites. The product is priced in a freemium layout: no payment for up to four hours of verbalize scream material, and $10 month-to-month after that.

In the age of market-defining, election-a success counterfeit news aided and abetted by technology, you’d be forgiven for wondering if Overdub could presumably well no longer be a motorway to Deep Unfounded Metropolis, the set you may presumably well utilize the technology to function any formulation of “statements” by notorious voices.

Mason tells me that the firm has built a approach to preserve that from being in a space to happen.

The demo on the firm’s residence net page is created with a clear proprietary verbalize staunch for illustrative suggestions, nonetheless to essentially set off the modifying and augmenting characteristic for a section of their very own audio, users want to first file an excessive amount of statements that repeated-support, per textual scream material created on the waft and in real time. These audio clips are then at chance of shape your digital verbalize profile.

This methodology that you just may presumably well’t, to illustrate, feed audio of Donald Trump into the machine to function a version of the President pronouncing that he’s awfully sorry for suggesting that building partitions between the US and Mexico was once a correct recommendation, and that this could no longer, essentially, build The United States Huge Again. (Too incorrect.)

Nonetheless whereas you happen to subscribe to the foundation that tech advances in NLP and AI total are something of a Pandora’s Box, the cat’s already out of the get, and despite the indisputable truth that Descript doesn’t enable for it, any individual else will seemingly hack this form of technology for additional rotten ends. The reply, Mason says, is to preserve talking about this and guaranteeing of us realize the potentials and pitfalls.

“Other folks own already own created the ability to construct deep fakes,” Mason stated. “We could presumably well peaceable rely upon that no longer all americans is going to apply the identical constrants that now we own followed. Nonetheless share of our characteristic is to function awareness of the possibilities. Your verbalize is your id, and you like to own that verbalize. It’s an mission of privateness, in total.”

The developments underscore the new substitute that has spread out in tapping most definitely the most developments in artificial intelligence to tackle what’s a rising market. On one hand, it’s a massive market: based utterly mostly staunch on advert revenues by myself, podcasting is expected to herald some $679 million this 12 months, and $1 billion by 2021, per the IAB — one reason companies adore Spotify and Apple are making a wager enormous on it as a complement to their tune streaming companies.

On the opposite, the location of manufacturing instruments for podcasters is a really crowded market, with an excessive amount of startups and others inserting out an excessive amount of instruments that every person work moderately well in figuring out what of us are pronouncing and transcribing it precisely.

On the front of transcription and the location the set Descript is working, competitors consist of the likes of Trint, Wreally and Otter, amongst many others. Decript itself doesn’t even function its usual NLP tool; it makes utilize of Google’s, since usual NLP is now an situation that has essentially develop into “commoditized,” stated Mason in an interview.

That makes developing new ingredients, tapping into AI and other advances, all of the extra very main, as we glance to glimpse if one instrument emerges as a clear chief on this dispute situation of SaaS.

“In are dwelling multiuser collaboration, there is peaceable no other instrument accessible that has done what now we own done with mountainous uncompressed audio info. That isn’t any miniature feat, and it has taken time to gain it correct,” stated Mason. “I own seen this transition manifest from paperwork to spreadsheets to product function. No one would own opinion to be something adore product function to be enormous situation nonetheless staunch by taking these instruments for collaboration and successfully porting them to the cloud, companies adore Figma own emerged. And that’s how we got eager right here.”

[NEWS] Andrew Mason’s Descript snags $15M, acquires Lyrebird to let users type text to create audio in their own voices – Loganspace The command in reputation for podcasting has given a new verbalize to the arena of spoken word scream material that had been largely left for ineffective with the decline of broadcast radio.

#Cool #News

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abetheone · 5 years ago

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Along with that, the company has acquired a small Canadian startup, Lyrebird — which had, like Descript, also built audio editing tools. Together, the two are rolling out a new feature for Descript called Overdub: people will now be able to create “templates” of their voices that they can in turn use to create audio based on words that they type, part of a bigger production suite that will also let users edit multiple voices on multiple tracks. The audio can be standalone, or the audio track for a video.

(The video transcription works a little differently: when you add in words, or take them out, the video makes jumps to account for the changes in timing.)

Mason tells me that the company has built a way to keep that from being able to happen.

That makes creating new features, tapping into AI and other advances, all the more essential, as we look to see if one tool emerges as a clear leader in this particular area of SaaS.

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Andrew Mason’s Descript snags $15M, acquires Lyrebird to let users type text to create audio in their own voices – TechCrunch The boom in popularity for podcasting has given a new voice to the world of spoken word content that had been largely left for dead with the decline of broadcast radio.

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dizzedcom · 5 years ago

Text

Along with that, the company has acquired a Canadian startup, Lyrebird — which had, like Descript, also built audio editing tools. Together, the two are rolling out a new feature for Descript called Overdub: people will now be able to create “templates” of their voices that they can in turn use to create audio based on words that they type, part of a bigger production suite that will also let users edit multiple voices on multiple tracks. The audio can be standalone, or the audio track for a video. (The video transcription works a little differently: when you add in words, or take them out, the video makes jumps to account for the changes in timing.)

That makes creating new features, tapping into AI and other advances, all the more essential, as we look to see if one tool emerges as a clear leader in this particular area of SaaS.

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cyberblogin · 5 years ago

Text

Along with that, the company has acquired a Canadian startup, Lyrebird — which had, like Descript, also built audio editing tools. Together, the two are rolling out a new feature for Descript called Overdub: people will now be able to create “templates” of their voices that they can in turn use to create audio based on words that they type, part of a bigger production suite that will also let users edit multiple voices on multiple tracks. The audio can be standalone, or the audio track for a video. (The video transcription works a little differently: when you add in words, or take them out, the video makes jumps to account for the changes in timing.)

That makes creating new features, tapping into AI and other advances, all the more essential, as we look to see if one tool emerges as a clear leader in this particular area of SaaS.

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martechadvisor-blog · 6 years ago

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Privacy Is a Good Thing, But the Unintended Consequences of GDPR Could Be Ruinous

GDPR and a proposed California consumer protection law are causing a massive shift in our industry. That’s good news for privacy, but the unintended consequences of new regulations further consolidates power in the hands of tech giants, putting all other stakeholders at a disadvantage writes, Ray Kingman, CEO, Semcasting

New privacy laws like GDPR and the California Consumer Rights Privacy Act have good intentions, but in practice, they dramatically limit user choice and consolidate more power into the hands of tech giants. The consequence of these regulatory actions could create a broad cross-section of losers that run the gamut from brand marketers to consumers, to startups.

With any legislation, the devil is in the details, but broadly speaking GDPR does three things. First, the law dramatically restricts access and the use of first-party data in a way that preemptively blinds an advertiser to consumer preferences. It also establishes strict guidelines for securing a user’s consent before advertisers are allowed to target anyone. The proposed California legislation does something very similar but also gives consumers the right to sue without standing (meaning they don’t actually have to be harmed in order to sue for damages). As you might imagine, GDPR and whatever California’s voters do in November is already creating a compliance nightmare and a field day for lobbyists.

The third thing GDPR does is effectively gut the capabilities of the third-party data industry. According to IAB data, U.S. firms spent more than $10 billion on third-party audience data in 2017 and even more than that on the third-party solutions that process that data. That spending won’t go away, but the shift to a privacy-centric regulatory model will put enormous pressure on firms that rely on third-party data. More broadly, however, that shift represents an enormous gift to the tech giants.

Power to the tech giants

Even before GDPR, there was a serious concern that Facebook and Google had become a duopoly, and that the only real challenge to that concentration of power was the even bigger behemoth of Amazon. Unfortunately, these new privacy regulations only reinforce the advantages of these giants.

For starters, Facebook, Google and Amazon have the resources to throw at the compliance problem that other firms don’t. Moreover, while penalties for non-compliance look severe on paper, the reality is that only the giants of tech could survive a 4 percent hit to global revenue. For everyone else in the space, that large of a fine is a true killer. But the real advantage GDPR bestows on the tech giants is a tighter hold on consumers.

As GDPR began to take effect, consumers found their inboxes flooded with emails about updates to their privacy policy. But in reality, how many of us actually open – much less read – consumer privacy emails that show up from our banks, insurance companies or anyone else? Early research from two advertising agencies suggests most consumers are ignoring the notices, or simply taking the opportunity to unsubscribe from vendors they had likely never heard of. But the same can’t be said for communications from Google, Facebook and Amazon; each has the absolute leverage to require the consumer’s consent or risk losing all their promo coupons and cat photos. There is virtually no chance that a consumer is going to unsubscribe. This only reduces consumer choice and tightens the grip these tech giants already have on consumers.

This also puts third-party audience vendors at a tremendous disadvantage. Already, we’re seeing a glimpse of the future with the exit of key vendors (Drawbridge) from Europe and the possible sale of LiveRamp, which may end up being an in-house data onboarding tool for one of the tech giants. Once the EU begins enforcing the GDPR’s often-vague mandate, third-party data firms will likely be even more cautious, which may mean that the only access available to the EU consumer lies in partnering with Google, Facebook and Amazon.

Who else loses?

As third-party audience and data firms take a hit, one of the obvious losers will be the brand advertiser. They will be first on the list for economic exposure of any non-compliance. Not willing to let this happen, advertisers will defer to the “safer” walled gardens for any media and attribution services they still choose to invest in.

More importantly, however, brand advertisers will quickly begin to lose marketplace leverage. Brands will not be able to expand their digital footprint to find new customers on their own. As a result, they will become more dependent on the walled gardens – who will quickly realize that they are now in a position to pick winners and losers based on the value of each account.

Another group of losers will be the consumer-facing startups. Out to disrupt everything from meal delivery to transportation, these firms rely heavily on third-party data to build and improve their products. But by strangling the application of third-party data by these startups, these regulations will make it harder and harder to identify qualified prospects. In turn, as it becomes expensive to market these new products (or even gain enough traction to fund a proof of concept), the pace of innovation will stall and the breakthroughs we’ve become accustom to in the past decade will slow to a crawl.

Finally, consumer loss is unavoidable. First, ads lacking critical relevance (and going through less pipes from fewer advertisers) will be made up for in volume. Like political ads during election season, more ads up the annoyance factor and degrade the efficacy of the message. Second, consumers will begin to lose meaningful access to the long tail of internet innovation; at the same time, reduced competition will cause the walled gardens to slow their own innovation to maximize profit. Consumers will no longer have that killer new app, which was the very promise of the internet in the first place.

But in a way, the unintended consequences of GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act transcend individual winners and losers. We may be falling into the trap of trading abstract concerns about a loss of privacy for voluntarily limiting consumer choice and embracing economic protectionism. That would be a terrible outcome because to do so would be to buy into the false notion that increased privacy requires restricting opportunity. If we accept an internet where only a handful of tech giants can comply with privacy regulations, then privacy and consumer choice eventually become whatever Google, Facebook, and Amazon say it is.

This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor

#martech #marketing #technology #business #cmo

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