#software vendors list

[coquelicoq]

SALES DEMO UPDATE omg i have contacted seven whole vendors!!! out of 14 but listen. i decided two of them i'm not contacting unless i'm desperate because their websites are so vague and buzzwordy that i can't actually tell if they have a product at all. two of them i'm putting on the back burner for now because i think their product that would be relevant to me is so incidental to their company that it might actually be a huge pain to get support for. one of them i might contact later but they gave me a demo three years ago and i remember enough of it to be getting along with for now (also i feel some residual embarrassment because the company founder was the one who demoed for me and after a few calls he offered me a job. lol). one of them i don't need a demo from because i understand their product so well that i myself have given demos of it to basically all of my clients. and one of them i went on their website to contact them and clicked on the little "do u want a demo?" link and it took me to a webpage that was just like here u go download our open-source software and go ham! so i should prolly do that first before i harass any of their employees who work for an organization putting free open-source software into the world because they believe so strongly in the cause (of science communication). anyway i definitely should have done this earlier in the week or even in the day because now it's closing time eastern on a friday so nobody is going to get back to me about scheduling until next week and i am on an insane deadline but OH WELL. i did the thing i can do and now i just wait for the desperate salespeople to descend upon me!

[phiedge]

Boost Business Efficiency with Catalyst PhiEdge's Powerful Performance Management System

The Performance Management System by Catalyst PhiEdge is designed to help businesses achieve optimal performance through data-driven insights and streamlined processes. This comprehensive solution allows organizations to set clear goals, monitor progress, and enhance employee productivity. With its user-friendly interface, the system promotes continuous feedback, ensuring alignment with business objectives and boosting overall efficiency. Whether you're looking to improve individual performance or foster team collaboration, this tool provides the flexibility and scalability to meet your unique business needs.

[connect-infosoft-technologies]

Integrating E-Commerce Solutions across Websites and Apps for Multi-Platform Selling

In digital age, e-commerce has become an integral part of the retail industry. With the rapid growth of online shopping, businesses are constantly seeking ways to expand their reach and maximize their sales potential. One effective strategy that has emerged is multi-platform selling, which involves integrating e-commerce solutions across websites and apps to create a seamless shopping experience for customers.

Without a doubt, selling across various platforms is a game changer in the realm of custom eCommerce development, with the potential to propel any organization to new heights. This blog will look at all aspects of multi-platform selling and how it affects the modern eCommerce business scene. Let us get started.

eCommerce Evolution: A New Era of Online Selling

Welcome to the new era of online selling! With the ever-growing popularity of e-commerce, businesses are constantly seeking ways to expand their reach and increase their sales. One such method that has gained significant traction is multi-platform selling, which involves integrating e-commerce solutions across websites and apps.

However, because consumer behaviours  and market demands change so quickly, an all-in-one or single eCommerce strategy is insufficient for long-term success. This is where multi-platform selling provides numerous chances for firms looking to increase engagement and diversify their reach.

What Does Multi-Platform Selling Mean?

Multi-platform selling refers to the practice of selling products or services through multiple online channels simultaneously. This approach allows businesses to reach a wider audience and cater to customers' preferences across various platforms, including websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, and marketplaces. By offering a consistent shopping experience across different channels, businesses can enhance customer engagement, increase brand visibility, and boost sales.

Whether you run a little business or a large corporation, if you carefully position your company on these platforms, you will meet all of your customers' expectations by providing a convenient purchasing experience. However, managing sales across several channels is not as simple as it appears; a custom eCommerce development solution is required to optimize the process.

Major Perks of Multi-Platform Selling

There are several significant perks associated with multi-platform selling. Let's take a closer look at some of the major advantages that businesses can enjoy:

1. Expanded Reach: By leveraging multiple platforms, businesses can tap into a larger customer base and target diverse demographics. This broadens their reach and increases the chances of attracting new customers.

2. Enhanced Customer Experience: Multi-platform selling enables businesses to provide a seamless and consistent shopping experience across various channels. Customers can browse products, make purchases, and access support services conveniently, regardless of the platform they prefer.

3. Increased Sales Opportunities: With multiple channels at their disposal, businesses have more opportunities to showcase their products and services and convert leads into sales. Each platform serves as an additional sales channel, increasing the chances of generating revenue.

4. Improved Brand Visibility: Businesses may increase brand awareness and familiarity by maintaining a presence across many media. Consistent branding across channels promotes client trust and loyalty.

5. Better Data Insights: Multi-platform selling allows businesses to gather data from different sources, providing valuable insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and trends. This data can be used to optimize marketing strategies, personalize customer experiences, and drive informed business decisions.

Other key benefits of multi-platform selling include:

Improved conversion rate

Better customer loyalty.

Improved inventory transparency.

Improved customer segmentation.

Mobile commerce trend capitalization

Best Platforms for Multi-Channel eCommerce Business

1. Shopify: Shopify offers a comprehensive e-commerce platform that allows businesses to create and manage online stores. It provides seamless integration with various sales channels, including websites, mobile apps, social media platforms, and marketplaces.

2. Magento: Magento is a highly flexible and scalable e-commerce platform that caters to businesses of all sizes. It supports multi-channel selling by integrating with multiple platforms, enabling businesses to sell across websites, mobile apps, and marketplaces.

3. Etsy: If you want to sell antique, handcrafted, craft supplies, or other one-of-a-kind things online, Etsy is a great place to start. Users may easily access a wide range of product categories on this marketplace, including clothing, jewellery, tools, home, living, kids & babies, and entertainment.

4. Amazon Marketplace: As one of the largest online marketplaces, Amazon provides businesses with a vast customer base and global reach. Selling on Amazon Marketplace can significantly expand the visibility and sales potential of products.

5. eBay: eBay is another popular online marketplace that allows businesses to sell products to a wide range of customers. With its auction-style listings and fixed-price options, eBay offers flexibility for multi-channel selling.

6.Walmart Marketplace: Walmart is a frequently used marketplace that provides excellent prospects for online enterprises. This is a curated e-commerce portal. As a seller, you must meet specified requirements for providing excellent customer service.

7. Facebook Marketplace: This is Facebook's integrated platform that provides fantastic online selling choices to local sellers and small enterprises. This platform is simple to use and helps you promote your goods to a social media-savvy customer audience.

How to Set Up a Successful Multi-Platform Selling Strategy:

1. Identify Target Platforms:

Research and analyse the platforms that align with your target audience and business objectives. Consider factors such as platform popularity, user demographics, and integration capabilities.

2. Seamless Integration:

Select e-commerce platforms that offer robust integration capabilities with various channels. Ensure that your chosen platforms can synchronize product listings, inventory, pricing, and order management across all channels.

3. Consistent Branding:

Maintain consistent branding elements, such as logo, colors, and messaging, across all platforms. This creates a cohesive brand identity and fosters customer recognition and trust.

4. Optimize User Experience:

Provide a user-friendly and intuitive shopping experience on every platform. Optimize website and app performance, ensure mobile responsiveness, and streamline the checkout process to minimize friction and maximize conversions.

5. Data-Driven Decision Making:

Leverage analytics and data insights to monitor and measure the performance of each platform. Identify trends, customer preferences, and areas for improvement, and use this information to refine your multi-platform selling strategy.

6. Customer Support:

Offer consistent and responsive customer support across all platforms. Provide multiple channels for customer inquiries, such as live chat, email, and phone, to ensure a seamless support experience.

7. Cross-promotion:

Cross-promotion is a marketing strategy where two or more parties promote each other's products or services to their respective audiences. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement that can help increase brand exposure, reach new customers, and drive sales.

8. Privacy and Data Security:

 - Manage all of your customers' data safely.

- Display all privacy policies to your customers to develop trust.

9. Focus on market trends.

- Keep up with the latest industry developments, platform updates, and client requests.

- Be prepared to change your business approach (if necessary) to stay ahead of the market.

Conclusion:

Multi-platform selling has become a crucial strategy for businesses aiming to thrive in the competitive e-commerce landscape. By integrating e-commerce solutions across websites and apps, businesses can expand their reach, enhance the customer experience, and boost sales. With the availability of various platforms, businesses can choose the ones that align with their target audience and business goals. By implementing a well-planned multi-platform selling strategy, businesses can establish a strong presence across multiple channels, drive customer engagement, increase brand visibility, and ultimately achieve success in the evolving world of e-commerce.

[stelotechnology]

🕵️‍♂️ Diving deep into the testing trenches! 🚀 Unmasking the Bug Brigade's Top 4 Most Common Intruders:

1️⃣ UI Issues – Where pixels tell tales of visual challenges. 2️⃣ Functionality Issues – Unraveling the labyrinth of feature hiccups. 3️⃣ Security Issues – Guarding the digital fortress against potential breaches. 4️⃣ Performance Issues – Navigating the speed bumps in the quest for seamless operation.

Join us on this bug-busting adventure as we shine a spotlight on the quirks and quarks of software testing! 🐛🔍

[gothamcityneedsme]

just spent 3 hours solving an open issue ive had since september.... this thing has been hounding me for 5 fucking months and the solution was so hard to fucking find

[communistkenobi]

I’m downloading shapefiles (basically geographic files, in this case the polygons of every country) for a mapping project I’m doing and while most countries have an ISO code column in their file (which is a 2 letter abbreviation of their country name), Canada, the UK, and the US do not. The US doesn’t even have a country column, it just listed the states. Now these are official shapefiles made by the vendor of the software I’m using (Esri, which is one of if not the dominant global distributor of mapping software) and are treated as the authoritative copies. Like if you wanted to download the outline of the US and all its states you would download Esri’s copy of it. And the reason I noticed this discrepancy is because I’m trying to combine individual country files to a global world file and I first had to edit the US & UK & Canada shapefiles and manually add in their ISO codes so they would join the world file properly. Notably countries like Argentina already have country & ISO code embedded in its shapefile.

And what I’m taking away from this is that there is an epistemic assumption happening where western countries can stand alone - they do not need to be combined or compared with other countries, they are complete units that constitute their own global file. Their data lack an “international character,” they are not set up for comparison or combination with other country data. The assumption being made by excluding these (extraordinarily trivial and easy to include) datapoints is that the only reason you would be downloading shapefiles for the US or Canada is to study these countries in isolation, while countries in the Global South are structured to accommodate the act of comparison

[doubledash7]

I always love more variety in my game, and I love the conversion of The Sims careers to The Sims 2 by LientebollemeiS2I. I wanted to make them more integrated though, so with the permission of LientebollemeiS2I, here are my amendment's to these careers to include:

Chance cards (for every level)

Different career levels (since some of the levels match other careers)

Connection to University Majors

LifeTime wants! The only things they don't have are specific career rewards and Wants that will roll in the Wants and Fears panel.

Please see below for a list of the career levels (the first three levels are matched for Teen/Elder) and also links if you need information such as job descriptions, wages, work days and skill requirements:

Animal Care (https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Animal_care)

SimFileShare or MediaFire

Level 1: Dog Walker Level 2: Obedience Trainer Level 3: Sheep Custodian Level 4: Aquarium Technician Level 5: Zoo Keeper Level 6: Dolphin TRainer Level 7: Animal Acting Coach Level 8: Alligator Relocator Level 9: Veterinarian Level 10: Pet Stylist

Circus (https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Circus)

SimFileShare or MediaFire Level 1: Popcorn Vendor Level 2: Ticket Taker Level 3: Midway Carnier Level 4: Sideshow Barker Level 5: Clown Level 6: Human Cannonball Level 7: Acrobat Level 8: Trapeze Artist Level 9: Lion Tamer Level 10: Ringmaster

Fashion (https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Fashion)

SimFileShare or MediaFire Level 1: Department Store Clerk Level 2: Tailor Level 3: Makeup Artist Level 4: Painter's Model Level 5: Fashion Photographer Level 6: Tradeshow Model Level 7: Runway Model Level 8: Supermodel Level 9: Fashion Columnist Level 10: Fashion Designer

Hacker (https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Hacker)

SimFileShare or MediaFire Level 1: Beta Tester Level 2: Support Tech Level 3: Web Master Level 4: Hacker Level 5: Security Consultant Level 6: Software Designer Level 7: Internet Entrepreneur Level 8: Software CEO Level 9: Venture Capitalist Level 10: Information Overlord

Xtreme (https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Xtreme)

SimFileShare or MediaFire Level 1: Daredevil Level 2: Bungee Jumper Instructor Level 3: Whitewater Rafting Guide Level 4: Extreme Circuit Recruit Level 5: Bush Pilot Level 6: Mountain Climber Level 7: Photo Journalist Level 8: Treasure Hunter Level 9: Grand Prix Driver Level 10: World Surfing Champion

There are four files per career (eg. AdultCareer_AnimalCare, AdultCareer_AnimalCare_Conditions, AdultCareer_AnimalCare_LTW and TeenElderCareer_AnimalCare).

All four files are required and can just be put straight into your downloads folder.

You will notice some of the above career levels do not match the original careers. Some of the levels are already represented in other careers in the game, so I decided to swap some around and include some new jobs.

These files have new GUID numbers, so they should not conflict with other downloads, even the original versions of these careers.

The Lifetime Wants are also compatible with @lamare-sims 50 New Lifetime Wants for Sims 2: https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=669675

I'd like to thank the following members of our community for their assistance in these updates:

@sims2idea-lientebollemeis2i for creating the converted careers to begin with and providing their permission to share my amendments. Their original careers can be found here: https://s2idownloads.blogspot.com/search/label/SFS%20-%201t2%20Maxis%27%20Careers

@lamare-sims for creating the 50 New Lifetime Wants for Sims 2 mod and providing me assistance in making the Lifetime Wants compatible with their mod.

@sharlasims for her assistance and support with creating the chance cards.

@teaaddictyt For her Photoshop skills and support with converting the career icons.

@episims for their assistance troubleshooting the career outfits.

@rio-sims & @palominocorn for creating a tutorial on how to create Lifetime Wants.

I hope you enjoy my version of these careers and please do not hesitate to contact me if you run into any trouble. 06/07/2023 - EDIT: Thank you to @lamare-sims who found some errors in the files. I have fixed the LTW and Conditions files to reflect some correct instance numbers and I have reuploaded the zip files to include up the amended files. Please replace these two files for each career if you have already downloaded it. 05/08/2023 - UPDATE: @bothersomecryptid has touched up the icons and been kind enough to share them! They made them with to work better with the Clean UI. You just need to replace the images in the career file through SimPE. You can download at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q5j3AniepLh_lE_kgWgOYOkZkq9EzHNJ/view 03/09/2023 - EDIT: Thank you to @equinoxts2 and @lamare-sims for their further edits to the conditions files. I have reuploaded all files as new links, so feel free to replace the ones in your game. Children should no longer roll LTW's and you shouldn't get any errors when choosing these LTW's. 06/09/2023 - @venomander has been kind enough to create alternative icons for the careers. You can download them at these links: MediaFile 1

MediaFile 2

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Heard this morning (27 March, 2023) A transcript for this piece is not yet up. They're usually up in a couple of days.

~3 minute listen.

This one right-to-repair law got through in just one state, because the lawmaker who introduced it narrowed its focus down from "The right of everybody to repair anything" (too many businesses to lobby against that) to "the right of wheelchair users to repair their own wheelchairs."

On the one hand it's great. On the other hand, it's a reminder of how marginalized we are in society.

Next thing to fight for: the right of farmers to repair their own farm equipment.

One state's gotten started. Forty-nine to go...

Transcript is now up. I've put the full thing under the cut.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Somewhere on your list of life's annoyances is probably this - manufacturers who won't let customers fix products themselves. Some states are pushing back with right-to-repair laws. Andrew Kenney from Colorado Public Radio visited with one of the first people to use a new right-to-repair law for powered wheelchairs.

(SOUNDBITE OF WHEELCHAIR WHIRRING)

ANDREW KENNEY, BYLINE: Bruce Goguen, who's 68, has used his powered wheelchair for so long that it feels like an extension of himself. He has multiple sclerosis, which affects his speech.

BRUCE GOGUEN: I just think of it as legs, as being my legs.

KENNEY: And that means when he got a new chair last year, every detail had to be right, like the speed of its different modes. His wife, Robin Bolduc, says each one of those adjustments required a visit from an authorized technician. It took weeks.

ROBIN BOLDUC: We would have to call someone, make an appointment, have them come out and say, gee, I'd like to change it so we're walking just a little bit faster.

KENNEY: On one of those visits, Robin realized that the technician wasn't using some specialized device to change the settings. It was a smartphone app. She even found it on the App Store, but it was only available for authorized users.

BOLDUC: Well, I want the app. And he was like, you can't have the app. But I want the app.

KENNEY: That would've been the end of the road, except that Robin and Bruce knew that Colorado's new wheelchair right-to-repair to repair law had just gone into effect. Representative Brianna Titone is the sponsor of the new law. Back in 2021, she originally proposed a much broader bill that would've applied to computers, cellphones and more. That meant an uphill fight against lobbyists for everything from hospitals to tech giants.

BRIANNA TITONE: So I did not win that fight. I lost that fight pretty bad. So that's why the following year, we pared it back to the people who really deserve to have this right. And that were the people who were in wheelchairs.

TITONE: The narrower, wheelchair-focused law passed the legislature last year with the help of advocates like Bruce and Robin. Once it went into effect on New Year's Day, Robin called the manufacturer to demand access to their app.

BOLDUC: They were not prepared. Right. Which - understandably, we're the only state. And it was day one, right? So they were not prepared.

KENNEY: In a committee hearing last year, Tonya Hammatt of National Seating and Mobility, a wheelchair vendor, warned state lawmakers that power wheelchairs are too complex for DIY jobs.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TONYA HAMMATT: This bill will allow anyone to perform complex repairs to power wheelchairs, which may lead to negative outcomes for the end user.

KENNEY: But after Robin showed Bruce's wheelchair's maker the text of the law, they agreed, sending out two staffers to get the family set up with the internal software.

BOLDUC: They gave me the code to get into the app. We played around. We programmed.

KENNEY: The couple have been tweaking the wheelchair's different modes, searching for the perfect speed for Robin to jog alongside Bruce or the right settings for a steep walking trail.

GOGUEN: It's wonderful. It's very wonderful.

KENNEY: And their success could have broader effects. They've been told the manufacturer is working on a public-facing app for everyone else who wants to use it. The company didn't respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, right-to-repair laws are gaining momentum around the country, says Kevin O'Reilly of the advocacy group PIRG.

KEVIN O'REILLY: We think that this first bill was the crack in the dam that we needed.

KENNEY: That includes a new bill from Representative Titone that guarantees similar rights for farmers to repair their increasingly high-tech tractors and other equipment. It's poised to clear the state legislature in a matter of weeks. For NPR News, I'm Andrew Kenney.

(SOUNDBITE OF EDAPOLLO'S "BY THE RIVER")

[lesbianchemicalplant]

On September 11th, 2023 Google released an emergency security fix for a critical vulnerability discovered, identified as CVE-2023-4863 affecting the Google Chrome for Windows, macOS, and Linux. CVE-2023-4863 is a zero day heap buffer overflow vulnerability in Google Chrome’s WebP with a HIGH 8.8 CVSS score. The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform an out-of-bounds memory write via a crafted HTML page. According to Google’s report and the CISA KEV Catalog, the vulnerability is known to be exploited in the wild, which highlights its urgency and affects any application or software that uses the libwebp package of WebP codec, which significantly increases the attack surface. Rezilion analysis of the vulnerability reveals that: • The scope of this vulnerability is much wider than initially assumed, affecting millions of different applications worldwide • Vulnerability scanners will not necessarily provide a reliable indication of the presence of this vulnerability, due to being wrongly scoped as a Chrome issue. • It is highly likely that the underlying issue in the libwebp library is the same issue resulting in CVE-2023-41064 used by threat actors as part of the BLASTPASS exploit chain to deploy the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware on target mobile devices. Rezilion analysis reveals that there are several common Linux applications that contain or use the vulnerable libwebp package as a dependency. Examples include: libtiff, python-pillow, libgd, gnuplot, libavcodec58, libmagickcor, libqt5webkit5, libgvc6, libimlib2, and others.  Rezilion has also identified the vulnerable library in several popular container images׳ latest versions, collectively downloaded and deployed billions of times, such as Nginx, Python, Joomla, WordPress, Node.js, and more.

(September 21st 2023)

(September 26th 2023)

A critical zero-day vulnerability Google reported on Wednesday in its Chrome browser is opening the Internet to a new chapter of Groundhog Day. Like a critical zero-day Google disclosed on September 11, the new exploited vulnerability doesn’t affect just Chrome. Already, Mozilla has said that its Firefox browser is vulnerable to the same bug, which is tracked as CVE-2023-5217. And just like CVE-2023-4863 from 17 days ago, the new one resides in a widely used code library for processing media files, specifically those in the VP8 format. Pages here and here list hundreds of packages for Ubuntu and Debian alone that rely on the library known as libvpx. Most browsers use it, and the list of software or vendors supporting it reads like a who’s who of the Internet, including Skype, Adobe, VLC, and Android. It’s unclear how many software packages that depend on libvpx will be vulnerable to CVE-2023-5217. Google’s disclosure says the zero-day applies to video encoding. By contrast, the zero-day exploited in libwebp, the code library vulnerable to the attacks earlier this month, worked for encoding and decoding. In other words, based on the wording in the disclosure, CVE-2023-5217 requires a targeted device to create media in the VP8 format. CVE-2023-4863 could be exploited when a targeted device simply displayed a booby-trapped image. “The fact that a package depends on libvpx does NOT necessarily mean that it'd be vulnerable,” Will Dorman, senior principal analyst at Analygence, wrote in an online interview. “The vuln is in VP8 encoding, so if something uses libvpx only for decoding, they have nothing to worry about.” Even with that important distinction, there are likely to be many more packages besides Chrome and Firefox that will require patching. “Firefox, Chrome (and Chromium-based) browsers, plus other things that expose VP8 encoding capabilities from libvpx to JavaScript (i.e. web browsers), seem to be at risk,” he said.

(September 28th, 2023)

[miasfoxxden]

I use Arch, BTW

I made the switch from Ubuntu 23.04 to Arch Linux. I embraced the meme. After over a decade since my last failed attempt at daily driving Arch, I'm gonna put this as bluntly as I can possibly make it:

Arch is a solid Linux distribution, but some assembly is required.

But why?

Hear me out here Debian and Fedora family enjoyers. I have long had the Debian family as my go-to distros and also swallowed the RHEL pill and switched my server over to Rocky Linux from Ubuntu LTS. on another machine. More on that in a later post when I'm more acclimated with that. But for my personal primary laptop, a Dell Latitude 5580, after being continually frustrated with Canonical's decision to move commonly used applications, particularly the web browsers, exclusively to Snap packages and the additional overhead and just weird issues that came with those being containerized instead of just running on the bare metal was ultimately my reason for switching. Now I understand the reason for this move from deb repo to Snap, but the way Snap implements these kinds of things just leaves a sour taste in my mouth, especially compared to its alternative from the Fedora family, Flatpak. So for what I needed and wanted, something up to date and with good support and documentation that I didn't have to deal with 1 particular vendors bullshit, I really only had 2 options: Arch and Gentoo (Fedora is currently dealing with some H264 licensing issues and quite honestly I didn't want to bother with that for 2 machines).

Arch and Gentoo are very much the same but different. And ultimately Arch won over the 4chan /g/ shitpost that has become Gentoo Linux. So why Arch?  Quite honestly, time. Arch has massive repositories of both Arch team maintained  and community software, the majority of what I need already packaged in binary form. Gentoo is much the same way, minus the precompiled binary aspect as the Portage package manager downloads source code packages and compiles things on the fly specifically for your hardware. While yes this can make things perform better than precompiled binaries, the reality is the difference is negligible at best and placebo at worst depending on your compiler settings. I can take a weekend to install everything and do the fine tuning but if half or more of that time is just waiting for packages to compile, no thanks. That plus the massive resource that is the Arch User Repository (AUR), Arch was a no-brainer, and Vanilla arch was probably the best way to go. It's a Lego set vs 3D printer files and a list of hardware to order from McMaster-Carr to screw it together, metaphorically speaking.

So what's the Arch experience like then?

As I said in the intro, some assembly is required. To start, the installer image you typically download is incredibly barebones. All you get is a simple bash shell as the root user in the live USB/CD environment. From there we need to do 2 things, 1) get the thing online, the nmcli command came in help here as this is on a laptop and I primarily use it wirelessly, and 2) run the archinstall script. At the time I downloaded my Arch installer, archinstall was broken on the base image but you can update it with a quick pacman -S archinstall once you have it online. Arch install does pretty much all the heavy lifting for you, all the primary options you can choose: Desktop environment/window manager, boot loader, audio system, language options, the whole works. I chose Gnome, GRUB bootloader, Pipewire audio system, and EN-US for just about everything. Even then, it's a minimal installation once you do have.

Post-install experience is straightforward, albeit just repetitive. Right off the archinstall script what you get is relatively barebones, a lot more barebones than I was used to with Ubuntu and Debian Linux. I seemingly constantly was missing one thing for another, checking the wiki, checking the AUR, asking friends who had been using arch for even longer than I ever have how to address dumb issues. Going back to the Lego set analogy, archinstall is just the first bag of a larger set. It is the foundation for which you can make it your own further. Everything after that point is the second and onward parts bags, all of the additional media codecs, supporting applications, visual tweaks like a boot animation instead of text mode verbose boot, and things that most distributions such as Ubuntu or Fedora have off the rip, you have to add on yourself. This isn't entirely a bad thing though, as at the end if you're left with what you need and at most very little of what you don't. Keep going through the motions, one application at a time, pulling from the standard pacman repos, AUR, and Flatpak, and eventually you'll have a full fledged desktop with all your usual odds and ends.

And at the end of all of that,  what you're left with is any other Linux distro. I admit previously I wrote Arch off as super unstable and only for the diehard masochists after my last attempt at running Arch when I was a teenager went sideways, but daily driving it on my personal Dell Latitude for the last few months has legitimately been far better than any recent experiences I've had with Ubuntu now. I get it. I get why people use this, why people daily drive this on their work or gaming machines, why people swear off other distros in favor of Arch as their go to Linux distribution. It is only what you want it to be. That said, I will not be switching to Arch any time soon on mission critical systems or devices that will have a high run time with very specific purposes in mind, things like servers or my Raspberry Pi's will get some flavor of RHEL or Debian stable still, and since Arch is one of the most bleeding edge distros, I know my chance of breakage is non zero. But so far the seas have been smooth sailing, and I hope to daily this for many more months to come.

[greggermeister]

Why OOP is a bad fit for custom software

Ever notice that custom OOP projects tend towards a flaming pile of spaghetti crap? Have you ever seen anti-patterns like the following:

Changing a line of code to fix screen A blows up screen B, which have no relation to each other

Many wrappers - a Service is wrapped by a Provider is wrapped by a Performer is wrapped by a ...

It is hard to track down where is the code that performs a certain operation

Playing whack a mole, where each bug fix just yields a new bug

Ever ask yourself why OOP has design patterns? I would argue that OOP assumes up front design before writing any code.

In particular, OOP shines when every important thing is known at the outset. Take a Java List or Map as an example. They have remained virtually the same since the roll out of Java 1.2 when the collections API was added, replacing older classes like Vector and Dictionary.

A List or Map is a simple beast - they are just ordered sets of data. A list orders items by index, a map by their keys. Once you have basic operations like add, change, iterate, and and delete, what more do you really need? This is why Java has really only added conveniences like Map.computeIfAbsent, ConcurrentHashMap, and so on. Nothing huge, just some nice things that people were already doing anyway with their own convenience functions and/or classes.

But custom software paid for by a customer who only knows what they want today is something altogether different. You literally don't know from one month to the next what feature the customer will ask for, or what bug they will report. Remember that OOP design pattern for random structural changes on a dime? Neither do I.

Why imperative is better

OOP intrinsically means some kind of entanglement - once you pick a design pattern for a set of classes, and write a bunch of code for it, you can't easily change to some other design pattern. You can use different patterns for different sets of code, composing them as needed into a larger system. But each part is kind of locked in to a chosen pattern, and it is a significant hassle to change the pattern later. It's like the coding equivalent of vendor lock-in.

Unfortunately, a set of code doesn't necessarily shout out "Hey this is the strategy pattern". You have to examine a set of code to reverse engineer the pattern of it, or ask someone. Have you worked on a team that stated up front what patterns were being used for different parts of the system? I don't recall getting very much of this in my career. Really, in a lot of cases, there simply isn't any real conscious choice of design patterns, just replication of whatever the devs saw before elsewhere, often without any real contextual information of why.

This entanglement easily leads to hard to deal with code if someone doesn't fully grok whatever pattern(s) are present. More often than not, using OOP for custom who-knows-what-the-customer-wants-next-week software is setting the system up for failure. Not failure as in it doesn't work, but failure as in it will virtually guaranteed become very hard to maintain.

Using a simple imperative pattern is much better, which you can do even if the language is a primarily OOP language like Java. In the case of Java, just use static methods, where each class corresponds to either a data structure, or a series of static methods that operate on data structures. By passing data structures as arguments and returning new data structures, effectively the code is working from the outside, which makes the code simpler to understand, and tends towards less entanglement.

You could organize packages like this:

Top level packages represent functional areas (eg, configuration, database access, REST API, validations, etc)

Sub packages for data structures and functions that operate on them

Some sub packages can represent a design pattern like model, view, and controller

For example, it might be organized like this, where app is the top level dir checked out of the repo:

app/db/util: some utility functions to make db access easier

app/db/dto: database transfer objects that represent data as stored/retrieved in the db

app/db/dao: database access objects that store/retrieve dtos

app/rest/util: some utility methods to make REST a bit easier

app/rest/view: objects that represent the data as sent/received over http

app/rest/translate: translate app/db/dto to/from app/rest/view

app/rest/model: make app/db/dao calls to store/retrieve data, uses /app/rest/{view, translate}

app/rest/controller: define endpoints and methods, use app/rest/model to do the work

app/html: SSR html generation

You'll notice I mention MVC above, which is an OOP pattern. However, this pattern can be simplified as a set of directories with one responsibility per directory, which can still be an imperative way of writing code. It can still be operating on the data objects from the outside. Just because we don't want to use OOP doesn't mean we can't apply some of what we've learned from it over the years in an imperative way.

The above looks like a monolithic design. It can be a hybrid if you want:

Make app/{service} dirs, which in turn contain db, rest, and html as shown above

Each service can be its own application

Services can be grouped into a smaller number of deployments, you don't have to deploy each service in its own container

The other most common mistake

One of the most important things to consider is (DO)RY versus (DONT)RY. The over usage of (DONT)RY is often a very big pain point in OOP. Like Lists and Maps, (DONT)RY works best in a limited area of code, such as reusing some common code across all Map implementations. Essentially, it is just another variation of what I said earlier about knowing the design in advance - (DONT)RY can be quite useful when you know the considerations up front, but just another factor in making spaghetti code when you don't.

(DO)RY is far more useful when you have a changes by the week application - the duplication isolates changes. For example, say you have a customer address and a business address. They seem kind of the same thing, with only minor differences:

Businesses have 3 lines, for doors and stops and other cupboard-under-the-stairs things individuals don't need

Businesses can have multiple addresses, so they need a type (physical, mailing, billing)

It sounds like you could use the same code for both. But over time, random requests are made for random changes, and some changes need to only apply to one or the other address type. (DONT)RY causes these increasing differences to get harder and harder to manage, which is exactly the bad form of entanglement I keep seeing. (DO)RY means copying code when a change needs to be done for both.

The improvement stems from the fact that when a particular change must be implemented quite differently due to their differing code bases, there is no tangled mess problem - instead, it is just more effort to do the change twice in different ways, without causing either code base to become any harder to read or modify.

In some cases, a data type that has its own logic for persistence and retrieval/display might also be contained inside another data type for another use case. When contained, there is no reason to believe in the face of random changes that it will necessarily always require the same validations, persistence, and display logic as when it is used as a top level object. As such, all the logic for the contained object should be a copy of the top level code, so the two use cases can be as different as they need to be.

Conclusion

Imperative programming combined with (DO)RY encourages making separate silos for each data type - separate queries, separate db reads/writes, separate REST endpoints, separate HTML generation. This separation expresses an important truth I alluded to earlier about your data - every top level data type is completely unrelated to any other data type, it is a thing unto itself. Any correlation or similarity in two separate data types should be viewed as both accidental and temporal: in other words, they just so happen to be similar at the moment - there is no reason to believe their similarity will continue in the face of random unknowable future changes.

Separating all your top-level data types with their own imperative code and using (DO)RY - copying code as necessary to maintain the separation - is the key to managing code that has to be dynamic in response to frequent unknowable future changes. The resulting code will be larger as a result of copying logic, but more maintainable.

In other words, everything in programming is a trade-off, and the combination of imperative and (DO)RY is the best trade-off that results in more total code, but more maintainable code.

[beingdiplomatic]

Fostering Partnerships of Amazon:

Third-Party Sellers: Amazon sells the goods and provides a list of independent vendors in the marketplace. Building a Collaboration in Which Amazon Offers. Platform operations and consumer outreach, while vendors supply goods and frequently take care of fulfillment.

Affiliate Program: Through its affiliate program, which pays bloggers and website owners commissions for promoting Amazon products, the company offers incentives to both people and companies to increase traffic to its platform.

AWS Partner Network (APN): We have a network of technology and consulting partners who provide free service solutions and highly skilled service delivery methods for our cloud service, Amazon Web Services.

Amazon Delivery Service Partners (DSP): Amazon Partners With Independence Contractors Through Its DSP Program To Deliver Packages Expanding Its Logistics Network And Capacity.

Amazon Associates Program: Publishers, influencers, and content producers like using Amazon’s Associate Program to promote Amazon products and earn referral credits.

Retail Partnerships: Amazon offers retailers and brands the opportunity to sell directly on its site through programs such as Vendor Central Seller Central.

Amazon Prime Partnerships: To enhance the value proposition for members, Amazon works with content providers, including publishers and film studios, to deliver content through its Prime membership program.

Technology Partnerships: To give customers more alternatives and capabilities, Amazon partners with tech firms to integrate their solutions with Amazon’s services.

AWS Marketplace: To promote collaborations with software developers and suppliers, AWS provides a marketplace where users may find, purchase, and utilize software and services that are hosted on AWS.

Acquisitions and Investments: To increase its capabilities or penetrate new markets, Amazon makes strategic investments in companies or acquires them outright. This might be considered a partnership or collaboration. Read more...

[random2908]

We have a new IT vendor at work, who are experienced in "compliance," and I keep having problems. First they deleted all the homemade executables off my computer, basically all the software I need to interface with my experiment. They gave it back, but getting them to set up a white list, rather than having them block the programs and call me on the phone every time I tried to run them, took a few tries. (Then two weeks later they did it to someone else and really freaked him out, because they label everything unknown as a "trojan".)

Today, though. Notepad wouldn't open. I opened a ticket. A technician said he'd get back to me. Their head of cybersecurity then wrote to me to say that it wasn't the antivirus causing the problem, it was some other program. Then he closed the ticket.

Does notepad open now? No, but the ticket is closed.

[govindhtech]

Decoding CISA Exploited Vulnerabilities

Integrating CISA Tools for Effective Vulnerability Management: Vulnerability management teams struggle to detect and update software with known vulnerabilities with over 20,000 CVEs reported annually. These teams must patch software across their firm to reduce risk and prevent a cybersecurity compromise, which is unachievable. Since it’s hard to patch all systems, most teams focus on fixing vulnerabilities that score high in the CVSS, a standardized and repeatable scoring methodology that rates reported vulnerabilities from most to least serious. 

However, how do these organizations know to prioritize software with the highest CVE scores? It’s wonderful to talk to executives about the number or percentage of critical severity CVEs fixed, but does that teach us anything about their organization’s resilience? Does decreasing critical CVEs greatly reduce breach risk? In principle, the organization is lowering breach risk, but in fact, it’s hard to know. 

To increase cybersecurity resilience, CISA identified exploited vulnerabilities

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) initiative was created to reduce breaches rather than theoretical risk. CISA strongly urges businesses to constantly evaluate and prioritize remediation of the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. By updating its list, CISA hopes to give a “authoritative source of vulnerabilities that have been exploited in the wild” and help firms mitigate risks to stay ahead of cyberattacks.

CISA has narrowed the list of CVEs security teams should remediate from tens-of-thousands to just over 1,000 by focusing on vulnerabilities that: 

Been assigned a CVE ID and actively exploited in the wild

Have a clear fix, like a vendor update.

This limitation in scope allows overworked vulnerability management teams to extensively investigate software in their environment that has been reported to contain actively exploitable vulnerabilities, which are the most likely breach origins. 

Rethinking vulnerability management to prioritize risk

With CISA KEV’s narrower list of vulnerabilities driving their workflows, security teams are spending less time patching software (a laborious and low-value task) and more time understanding their organization’s resiliency against these proven attack vectors. Many vulnerability management teams have replaced patching with testing to see if: 

Software in their surroundings can exploit CISA KEV vulnerabilities.

Their compensatory controls identify and prevent breaches. This helps teams analyze the genuine risk to their organization and the value of their security protection investments.

This shift toward testing CISA KEV catalog vulnerabilities shows that organizations are maturing from traditional vulnerability management programs to Gartner-defined Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) programs that “surface and actively prioritize whatever most threatens your business.” This focus on proven risk instead of theoretical risk helps teams learn new skills and solutions to execute exploits across their enterprise.  

ASM’s role in continuous vulnerability intelligence  

An attack surface management (ASM) solution helps you understand cyber risk with continuous asset discovery and risk prioritization.

Continuous testing, a CTEM pillar, requires programs to “validate how attacks might work and how systems might react” to ensure security resources are focused on the most pressing risks. According to Gartner, “organizations that prioritize based on a continuous threat exposure management program will be three times less likely to suffer a breach.”

CTEM solutions strengthen cybersecurity defenses above typical vulnerability management programs by focusing on the most likely breaches. Stopping breaches is important since their average cost is rising. IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach research shows a 15% increase to USD 4.45 million over three years. As competent resources become scarcer and security budgets tighten, consider giving your teams a narrower emphasis, such as CISA KEV vulnerabilities, and equipping them with tools to test exploitability and assess cybersecurity defense robustness.

Checking exploitable vulnerabilities using IBM Security Randori

IBM Security Randori, an attack surface management solution, finds your external vulnerabilities from an adversarial perspective. It continuously validates an organization’s external attack surface and reports exploitable flaws.

A sophisticated ransomware attack hit Armellini Logistics in December 2019. After the attack, the company recovered fast and decided to be more proactive in prevention. Armellini uses Randori Recon to monitor external risk and update asset and vulnerability management systems as new cloud and SaaS applications launch. Armellini is increasingly leveraging Randori Recon’s target temptation analysis to prioritize vulnerabilities to repair. This understanding has helped the Armellini team lower company risk without affecting business operations.

In addition to managing vulnerabilities, the vulnerability validation feature checks the exploitability of CVEs like CVE-2023-7992, a zero-day vulnerability in Zyxel NAS systems found and reported by IBM X-Force Applied Research. This verification reduces noise and lets clients act on genuine threats and retest to see if mitigation or remediation worked. 

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[tedallen123]

Streamlining HR Processes: The Tale of How TalentKompass Deutschland Unleashed the Power of Outsourcing

Introduction: The ‘Aha!’ Moment

Picture this: you're navigating a labyrinth of tasks—hiring, payroll, compliance, and whatnot, all while trying to keep your business running smoothly. If you're TalentKompass Deutschland, you take a moment to pause and think, "There has to be a better way." And so began their enlightening journey into the world of Human Capital Management (HCM) outsourcing—a step that wasn’t just smart, it was transformative.

The Winding Road: Those Pesky HR Challenges

Imagine juggling flaming torches while walking a tightrope—that's what handling HR at a growing company feels like. TalentKompass Deutschland knew that to succeed, something had to give. They had a sprawling list of HR tasks, each more intricate than the last, and as the team grew, so did the chaos.

The Lightbulb Moment: Hello, HCM Outsourcing!

So, they took the plunge and said, "Let's bring in the pros." And just like that, they handed over their HR tasks to HCM outsourcing specialists. Why? Because these folks have made it their life’s mission to conquer the HR chaos, armed with high-tech tools and years of wisdom.

The Juicy Benefits: What’s Not to Love?

Less Money Drama

Before outsourcing, just the thought of HR costs would make anyone’s wallet tremble in fear. But by outsourcing, TalentKompass Deutschland started saving big time—no more hefty salaries, no more pricey software, and sayonara, compliance risks!

Wisdom and Gizmos

We're talking about real HR wizards here, the kind who live and breathe payroll and benefits, and who know how to get things done right, the first time. Plus, the tech they bring into play? Absolutely top-notch.

Focus, Baby, Focus!

The most liberating part? The TalentKompass Deutschland team could finally stop sweating the small stuff and get back to doing what they love and do best—growing their business.

Keeping It Legal

No one wants to accidentally step over legal lines. Thankfully, the outsourcing crew came with their own team of legal eagles, making sure that TalentKompass Deutschland stayed on the right side of the law.

The Nitty-Gritty: Functions They Kissed Goodbye

Payroll: Numbers in Safe Hands

Payroll could be a brain-teaser. One wrong move and you could trigger a cascade of errors. Now, it's like clockwork, managed by their new expert partners.

The Right People: Hired!

You need great talent to build a great business. That's why TalentKompass Deutschland leaned on their HCM partner to find folks who fit not just the job description, but also the company vibe.

The Hellos and Goodbyes

The first and last impressions matter—a lot. TalentKompass Deutschland's outsourcing team made sure of that, greeting new hires with a warm welcome and bidding adieu to departing ones with grace.

Learning the Ropes

When it comes to training, one size never fits all. Custom-tailored training programs ensured that every team member felt valued and empowered.

The Cherry on Top: Benefits

Who wouldn’t want to work at a place that takes care of its employees? Benefits administration went from a puzzle to a piece of cake.

Picking the Dream Team: The Outsourcing Partner

Reputation, flexibility, data security—these were the non-negotiables. TalentKompass Deutschland wasn't just looking for a vendor; they wanted a true partner, and they found just that.

The Happy Ending: Transformation Achieved

So, what’s the takeaway? TalentKompass Deutschland’s move to HCM outsourcing wasn’t just a tactical shift; it was a full-blown game-changer. They became leaner, meaner, and ever-so-compliant, all while creating a more harmonious, efficient workplace.

FAQs for the Curious Minds

Is HCM outsourcing just for the big guys?

Nope, whether you're a startup or a multinational, there's an HCM solution that’s just right for you.

How does it actually save money?

Imagine slashing several lines from your expense sheet—that's HCM outsourcing for you.

Are there any pitfalls?

Sure, like with any big move, there are risks, such as data breaches or a potential culture clash. But pick the right partner, and you’re golden.

What about keeping our data safe?

Good question! Always, always check your partner’s security measures.

So, no more worrying about compliance?

Exactly, leave it to the experts and sleep easy.

And there you have it, folks! TalentKompass Deutschland found their North Star in HCM outsourcing and charted a course toward smoother waters. So, what's your compass telling you?

[fulfillplex]

Holiday Print on Demand Inventory Management Best Practices

As the saying goes, the holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year – especially for eCommerce businesses. With total sales during the holiday online shopping season exceeding $204 billion, this is a fantastic opportunity for your online business to get a piece of the pie. The holiday season has a way of sneaking up on you, and it frequently causes problems with print on demand inventory management. If you are not prepared for the holiday sales surge, you may encounter dissatisfied customers and lose potential revenue. Fortunately, there are many things you can do right now to better prepare for the holidays.

8 BEST PRACTICES FOR MANAGING HOLIDAY PRINT ON DEMAND INVENTORY

1. Mark your calendar.

Create calendar reminders to keep the holidays from sneaking up on you unannounced. Keep your organization informed, particularly your marketing and eCommerce holiday ad teams, so that they are ready to run campaigns. Here are some important holiday dates to remember in 2022:

• Thanksgiving: November 24

• Black Friday: November 29

• Small Business Saturday: November 30

• Cyber Monday: December 2

• Christmas: December 25

• New Year’s Day: January 1

• Valentine’s Day: February 14

To avoid overstretching, consider implementing a cutoff date for orders delivered by a specific holiday based on the carriers’ holiday shipping deadlines.

2. Contact your suppliers ahead of time.

Because demand will skyrocket during the holiday season, it is critical to notify your suppliers and vendors ahead of time. Share information on expected order volume to ensure that you order enough to avoid stockouts. Like you, they also require time to deliver orders successfully.

3. Make your orders in advance.

Using historical inventory data, such as SKU performance, you should have a good idea of what your top sellers will be, which will allow you to make more accurate estimates before ordering more inventory. However, if you are a newcomer, simply conducting some online research, including social media, can assist you in determining which items in your store are in high demand this season. You can then list what you need to stock up on.

4. Determine stock levels.

Carefully planning inventory puts your company in a much better position to deal with increased demand during peak shopping seasons. Once you’ve determined what you’ll require for the holiday season, there are simple ways to ensure that your inventory never falls below that level. Tracking stock levels and automatically setting reorder notification points is a valuable tool if you work with a tech-enabled print on demand service provider or use inventory management software. It is recommended that you increase reorder points and reorder quantity during the holiday season to cover a spike in sales.

5. Conduct inventory audits.

During this busy season, you may want to conduct inventory audits more frequently to maintain inventory accuracy and ensure you always have enough stock at all times. Inventory audits can be performed in-house or by a third party, such as a print on demand company, and they can be as simple as performing more frequent spot checks.

6. Implement inventory control.

Keeping track of your inventory is critical whether you run a single-channel or omnichannel business – especially during the holidays. Fortunately, there is inventory management software from your print on demand provider that can do the majority of the work for you: keep your business running as usual while saving you from having to deal with inventory stockouts or over-ordering.

7. Purchase holiday packaging.

The holidays are a thrilling and joyous time of year. Your packaging should be as well. Look for something that will make your customers happy when they receive their package, and if your packaging is recyclable, that’s even better. It will improve your customer’s unboxing experience and encourage their friends to buy as well. However, make certain that it will not impact your profits.

8. Monitor your inventory closely during holidays.

On Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas, keep an eye on your inventory numbers because these are the busiest days for your retail business. Take notes on how your inventory flows and make adjustments and improvements for next year. You can also seek assistance from your print on demand service provider. They are subject matter experts, and you can benefit from their knowledge and experience.

WHEN IN DOUBT, LET THE PROS HELP OUT!

While plans may not be carried out exactly as planned, they eliminate inefficiencies and errors during peak sales periods. You may not be able to predict everything. Still, by implementing some of the holiday best practices outlined above, you will likely generate more revenue this holiday season. We admire and applaud your desire to accomplish as much as possible on your own. However, there will come a time when reaching out is the best thing you can do for your company. Fulfillplex, a top eCommerce fulfillment company, can help your company reach its full potential. After all, even Santa requires assistance. Reach out to the pros now.