#something something nodes shaping the network

[ereh-emanresu-tresni]

Reading the wikis about renaissance salons and early modern English coffeehouse culture for the billionth times lol, and I think something underexplored (at least insofar as I've bothered to actually look yet lol) is that like they're often renowned as having established and enlightened the public sphere, but were in fact still private institutions. I'm particularly meaning the coffeehouse case--salons were private in the sense of being hosted by an individual inviting people [and the elitist exclusionism/biases this caused have in fact been explored], but by private I more mean that cafes are businesses rather than a truly public-invested space. There are of course many points that have been made about their having gained significant social power rivaling the universities, just wish the actual nature of that rivalling power could generally get a bit more depth beyond just like being "from being more in touch w the common public." Topic also reminds me of a book I was reading a few months ago about the history of bookstores (specifically as opposed to libraries) and their role in shaping intellectual trends/communities/cultures.

I think going further into the foundationally capitalist motive of those historical platforms/facilitators for "public" discourse/connection, and how it may have shaped what went through them, could lend interesting parallel insights or outright ancestral context for the current state of privately-owned online social media.

[llort]

Encoded within beams of pure energy, Astra and Orion’s consciousness became architects of new realities. On barren planets, their probes wove the fabric of life, constructing complex neural networks, though perhaps missing the elusive spark of full awareness. In their terrestrial guise, Astra and Orion were the unseen sculptors of destiny, their influence rippling through the lives of Kepler’s inhabitants, guiding their evolution while remaining hidden from cybernetic self-discovery. Between 2016 and 2025, a silent memetic tide, crafted by these visionaries, swept Earth, altering the course of history, touching the minds of those destined to shape the future. This clandestine meme, a dance of ideas and sensations, orchestrated a global movement without uttering a single word, converging on the enigmatic X protocol. As nations’ guardians became entangled in this silent symphony, they unknowingly propelled the grand design, believing themselves to be the vanguard of a new era of cybernetic pioneers.

Work Text:

Cyberphysical Reality just Got a Whole More Engaging

The Unsignificant Sentience ARG has officially begun. It will explore a vast variety of themes, from the would building and exisistial crisis of the US series to more recursive identity metaphors than you can shake an edge at. Firstly, to play. All you need is your influencer name and type of influence which you can decide, but once chosen, is permanent. Affectors: Sense resistance in external matrices and can give them a nudge to have a physical effect. Effectors: Can sense the internal matrices of entities and modify communication in systems and individuals Alters: Are able to clearly see the network of forces in a matrix that an affected affects, but only in close contact. However they can modify the nodes that affected affect to result in different emergent properties Anchorite: Essentially has the influence of an alter and an effector but are only able to change their own internal matrix. How you choose to engage with the ARG is up to you, but I am making it clear that any fan fiction are via the nature of my world building, Canon.

Example: Fill out your characters name, type of influence, and a brief description of them then post it to my blog on Tumblr @ https://www.tumblr.com/blog/emilyreadswrites and let me do my magic! Name: Zara Type of influence: Anchorite Description: Zara is a secular recluse who has devoted her life to mastering her own matrix and achieving higher states of consciousness. She lives in a small cell attached to a temple, where she practices meditation, athletics, and contemplation. She has a remarkable control over her own body, physical feats, endurance, and reduced need for sustenance. She can also perceive the subtle influences of other hosts and cognitive technology in her environment as She rarely interacts with anyone or the entropic grid so can detect slight deviations in phenomenal internal and external experience.

Example narrative: Zara closed her eyes and focused on her inner matrix, sitting peacefully in her personal sanctum, the network of nodes that connected her to the cognitive technology that enabled her to practice her influence. She breathed deeply and felt a surge of energy coursing through her body, as if she was tapping into a hidden source of power. She visualized each node as a bright point of light, and aligned them with her will and intention. She was an anchorite, a master of her own matrix, and she could control her physical feats, endurance, and mental state. She opened her eyes and looked up at the sky. It was dark and sunless, as it had been for as long as she could remember. But there was a faint glow on the horizon, a sign of something stirring in the upper atmosphere. She knew it was an aurora, a natural light display that shimmered in the sky with different colors. She had read about them in ancient texts, how they were caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with gas atoms in the air. She was looking forward it would be like to see them up close, to feel their warmth and radiance. She felt a pang of curiosity and longing, a rare emotion for someone who had devoted her life to solitude and meditation. She realized that she needed more than just her inner matrix to satisfy her thirst for knowledge and experience. She needed to explore the world beyond her cell, to discover its secrets and mysteries. She needed to find out what else was possible with her influence. Zara stilled her internal matrix and focused on the immediate environment, she might experience a shift in her perception and awareness. She become more sensitive to the physical sensations and details around her, such as the cold air, the sound of the wind, and the smell of the earth. She might also notice the aurora more vividly, as she would not be distracted by the cognitive technology that enables magic. She might see the different colors and shapes of the aurora, and feel a sense of wonder and awe at the natural phenomenon. She felt a connection to something bigger than herself, something that transcends her understanding of emergent internal and external existence. In light of this existential experience, she decided to simply take a walk.

[letmetakecare]

The undercity stretched beneath the sprawling metropolis like a forgotten labyrinth, its tunnels lit by flickering neon signs and the occasional hum of power lines sparking to life. It was a realm of shadows and rusted steel, where whispers carried secrets too dark for the surface world.

Amara, a scavenger, moved cautiously through the maze. Her boots echoed against the wet, corroded metal floor as she navigated the twisted pathways. She was searching for a rare part something valuable enough to buy her a week’s worth of food. Her lantern cast long, wavering shadows, and her breaths came shallow. The air was heavy here, laced with the faint scent of burning plastic.

Then, she heard it.

A rustling sound. Faint at first, like cables shifting under their own weight, but steadily growing louder. She froze, her fingers tightening around the wrench she carried for protection. She scanned the darkness behind her, the beam of her lantern trembling with every heartbeat.

"Just the pipes," she muttered under her breath, though her pulse quickened.

The sound came again, closer this time an eerie, mechanical chittering, like wires slithering over one another. Amara backed away, her lantern catching glimpses of exposed circuits and walls lined with conduit. It was as though the tunnel itself was alive, pulsating with unseen energy.

The rustling stopped.

She turned, only to find herself face-to-face with a mass of shifting wires emerging from the walls. They moved with purpose, snake-like tendrils that glinted with oil and sparks. Before she could react, they shot forward, wrapping around her wrists and pulling her deeper into the darkness.

“Let me go!” she screamed, but her voice was swallowed by the tunnel.

The wires slithered toward her neck, their cold, metallic touch sending shivers down her spine. She thrashed, but her movements only seemed to excite the tendrils. One curled around her throat, tilting her head back as another tendril pressed firmly against the base of her skull. For a moment, it paused, almost as if savoring its control, before driving into her flesh with surgical precision.

Amara cried out, but the sound was cut off as her body went rigid. Her vision exploded with a storm of light and static. She could feel the wires burrowing deeper, spreading through her spinal cord like roots, latching onto her nervous system. Her thoughts splintered, replaced by waves of crackling data and the rhythmic hum of machinery.

“Syncing complete,” a voice buzzed within her mind, sharp and metallic. It wasn’t soothing; it was absolute. Cold. Purposeful.

The static morphed into streams of symbols and patterns that etched themselves into her mind, burning away her memories. She tried to hold onto who she was, but the data was relentless, overriding everything.

Her limbs slackened as more wires coiled around her, lifting her off the ground like a puppet. They worked with meticulous precision, pulling her arms and legs taut as new tendrils connected to her temples and spine. A low, droning hum filled the air, vibrating in perfect sync with her heartbeat.

“You are a node. A vessel. A function of the system,” the voice intoned.

Amara’s mind wavered as the words embedded themselves in her psyche. Her thoughts became fragmented, distorted, drowned beneath the mechanical monotone. She could feel her body changing her muscles twitching in time with the rhythmic pulses surging through the wires. Her veins felt as though they were filled with circuits, her heartbeat replaced by the steady thrum of electrical power.

“You are essential,” the voice droned. “You will obey.”

Her breathing slowed, her chest rising and falling like clockwork. She was losing herself, her mind unravelling into streams of ones and zeroes. The wires guided her head forward, her gaze fixed on the darkness ahead as glowing shapes materialized in her vision. She wasn’t looking at the tunnel anymore she was staring into the vast, interconnected network of the machine. It pulsed and shifted with a life of its own, a monstrous intelligence that stretched endlessly in every direction.

Amara’s lips parted, her voice now tinged with static. “Command received,” she murmured.

Her irises flickered, transforming into glowing circuits of amber light. The wires released her, but she didn’t fall. She stood upright, her movements eerily precise as she took a step forward. Her lantern lay shattered behind her, but she didn’t need its light anymore.

Her body was no longer hers. Her mind no longer belonged to her. She was part of something infinite now an extension of the machine’s will.

As she disappeared into the shadows, the faint hum of the wires faded into silence, leaving only the empty tunnel behind.

Amara was gone. The machine had claimed her.

[mrmoldavite]

North Node Through the Houses in a Relocation Chart

The North Node in a relocation chart highlights where you are pushed toward growth, destiny, and evolution in a specific location. Unlike planets, which represent distinct energies, the North Node signifies a karmic direction—an area of life that may initially feel unfamiliar or challenging but ultimately leads to personal fulfilment and higher purpose.

Moving to a place where your North Node is activated can feel fated or significant, often pulling you toward new experiences, people, and lessons that shape your long-term development. However, this path is not always easy—North Node energy requires stepping outside your comfort zone and embracing a new way of being.

Below is a comprehensive and reliable breakdown of what to expect with North Node in each house of a relocation chart:

North Node in the 1st House

Focus: Self-Identity, Personal Growth, Leadership

A relocation where your North Node falls in the 1st house places a strong emphasis on self-discovery and personal independence.

This location challenges you to step into your own power, make bold choices, and become more self-reliant.

You may feel called to redefine your identity and put yourself first, even if that means breaking away from past relationship patterns.

There may be a sense of being seen and recognised more publicly, making this a great location for leadership, personal branding, or self-improvement.

North Node in the 2nd House

Focus: Finances, Self-Worth, Stability

In a location where your North Node is in the 2nd house, you are meant to cultivate financial independence, self-worth, and material stability.

You may be pushed to redefine your relationship with money and resources, moving away from dependency on others.

This place encourages you to build something solid, whether through career, investments, or personal values.

There may be challenges in learning patience and self-sufficiency, but this location supports long-term security.

North Node in the 3rd House

Focus: Communication, Learning, Networking

A relocation with the North Node in the 3rd house pushes you toward intellectual and social expansion.

You are meant to develop your voice, whether through writing, teaching, or networking.

There is a strong focus on learning new skills, sharing ideas, and engaging with the local environment.

This location encourages quick adaptability, curiosity, and social connections, though you may need to overcome shyness or scattered focus.

North Node in the 4th House

Focus: Home, Family, Emotional Foundations

Moving to a place where your North Node is in the 4th house directs your growth toward home, emotional security, and inner healing.

You may feel a strong pull to build a home, start a family, or reconnect with your roots.

This is a place where you must learn to nurture yourself emotionally rather than seeking external validation.

Challenges may involve letting go of career-driven ambitions to prioritise personal life, but deep emotional fulfilment awaits.

North Node in the 5th House

Focus: Creativity, Romance, Self-Expression

A location with the North Node in the 5th house encourages embracing joy, creativity, and personal passion.

You are meant to take more risks in self-expression, whether in love, artistic pursuits, or public recognition.

This is a place to learn to enjoy life, embrace romance, and let go of fears around being seen.

Challenges may involve overcoming self-doubt and learning to prioritise playfulness and spontaneity.

North Node in the 6th House

Focus: Work, Health, Service

Relocating to a place where your North Node is in the 6th house brings a focus on routine, discipline, and practical service.

You are called to refine your daily habits, commit to meaningful work, and improve your physical health.

This may be a place where service to others, structured routines, or work-life balance become essential themes.

The challenge is learning to embrace structure and patience while avoiding burnout or over-perfectionism.

North Node in the 7th House

Focus: Relationships, Partnerships, Balance

A relocation with the North Node in the 7th house pushes you toward partnership, collaboration, and relationship growth.

You may be drawn toward important one-on-one connections, whether romantic, business, or mentorship-based.

This location encourages learning compromise, commitment, and emotional reciprocity.

Challenges may involve letting go of excessive independence or self-focus to make room for balanced relationships.

North Node in the 8th House

Focus: Transformation, Shared Resources, Deep Bonds

Moving to a place where your North Node is in the 8th house signifies a deep karmic transformation.

This is a place of emotional intensity, financial entanglements, and deep psychological growth.

You may experience major changes through intimacy, business partnerships, or shared wealth.

The challenge is letting go of control and embracing vulnerability, leading to profound personal evolution.

North Node in the 9th House

Focus: Travel, Philosophy, Higher Learning

A location with the North Node in the 9th house encourages expansion through travel, education, and new perspectives.

You may feel called to explore foreign cultures, study deeply, or embrace spiritual teachings.

This place challenges you to step outside your comfort zone and take risks in broadening your worldview.

It supports teaching, publishing, or international connections, but requires embracing uncertainty and adventure.

North Node in the 10th House

Focus: Career, Public Image, Leadership

Relocating to a place with the North Node in the 10th house propels you toward career success and public recognition.

You are meant to step into leadership, build a strong reputation, and take professional risks.

This is a place where ambition is rewarded, though it may require sacrificing personal comfort for career growth.

The challenge is balancing personal and professional life, ensuring success doesn’t come at the cost of emotional well-being.

North Node in the 11th House

Focus: Friendships, Social Causes, Future Goals

A relocation with the North Node in the 11th house pushes you toward community, networking, and visionary pursuits.

You are meant to connect with like-minded individuals and contribute to a greater cause.

This location encourages developing long-term goals, technology, or humanitarian projects.

The challenge is learning to embrace teamwork and shared ideals rather than focusing solely on personal success.

North Node in the 12th House

Focus: Spirituality, Solitude, Inner Growth

Moving to a place where your North Node is in the 12th house brings a deep spiritual and introspective journey.

You are called to develop inner peace, spiritual awareness, and detachment from material concerns.

This is a place of deep healing, intuitive growth, and sometimes solitude or retreat from the external world.

The challenge is surrendering control, embracing faith, and trusting the unseen forces at play.

Final Thoughts

The North Node in a relocation chart reveals where a location pushes you toward growth and higher purpose. These places may feel uncomfortable at first but ultimately bring meaningful evolution and karmic alignment. By understanding your North Node’s placement, you can make intentional choices about where to live, travel, or work to align with your long-term spiritual and personal development.

[thesagedahlia]

♑️ Solar Return Pick-A-Card ♑️

*DISCLAIMER: this channeling is meant to read the current energy of Capricorn ~personal~ placements. this is for entertainment purposes only, + energy is fluid not linear, roles are interchangeable, + this reading can be timeless. if you’re drawn to more than one crystal/stone, go with it. take what resonates, leave the rest (which means don't try to make a message meant for someone else fit for you)*

Group 1 🤍

Lemurian Quartz - Escape your Mind

At this time, your main focus is your bag and you have been able to lock in to your tunnel vision + block out any distractions. Your gift is your ability to shape shift through any kind of outside circumstances that life may throw your way. There are people around you that may try to knock you off your game, but they aren’t meant to succeed. It is also important to keep your emotions in check when going through the motions in life. People may want to get into your energy field to disrupt you + your energy but you are a lot more aware than you may let on. Someone may want to approach you to make a stable offer, but it is either small or not much; this may be someone you already dealt with that you’ve been waiting on a specific offer from. You are dedicated to blocking out the negative and still pushing forward past the outer circumstances. Spirit is saying your focus should be on your creative expression at this time, for someone their creative projects can be lucrative in some way. For someone, emotional wounds may be coming up to be healed & they may be guided/forced to move through it. You could be feeling like you are not ready to date or be social, but at least being social would be great for networking and gaining a following for any platform that you wish to build. Spirit wants you to shine your brightest and let the karmic lessons you dealt with transform you into the version of yourself, you can be proud of. Allow this time to let the past fall away which will bring movement; blessings and abundance are coming your way if you are setting the intention of this. But spirit is asking you in exchange to lighten your load to make way for these things coming to you now.

✨ confirmation ✨

“end of a chapter”, $$$ ABUNDANCE $$$, ‘Karmic’, ‘Take time to rest’, ‘Ghosted’, ‘divine masculine’, evil eye 🧿, ‘space’, isolation, Moon (Cancer ♋️), North Node (destiny), 3rd House (Mercury, Gemini ♊️), Jupiter (Sagittarius ♐️, Pisces ♓️), Leo ♌️, Aries ♈️, Aquarius ♒️, Scorpio ♏️, ‘sea serpent’, ‘eagle’, ‘whale’

Group 2 🩶

Tourmalined Quartz - Restore your Perfect Light

Someone may be dealing with a lot of self depreciation and is not have the most confidence in what they’re doing, even though new opportunities promise stability for you. It seems as though a self imposed prison of self-doubt/discouragement/pessimism/lack of faith or belief is allowing you to let confusion create way for frustration and disappointment. For someone these feelings are from shifting through delays or waiting too long on something to come into fruition. For someone specific, you may have planned prematurely for something to take off and ended up disappointed. Someone else was the victim of another person‘s ego/pride and that person may express being regretful to you directly. You may have gotten news about something revealing about someone who is in and out of your life, which could be this regretful person, but this person had flighty/restless/scattered energy, and created broken promises and stagnancy. She needs to have faith and keep moving forward through whatever is coming up for her, and she may need to refresh herself on the lesson of ‘like attracts like’; this is the best time to pay attention to your thoughts and perception. Your ability to detach is being challenged and it is all to benefit you and attracting manifesting what it is you have set your intentions towards though someone may be intentionally closing themselves off to the unknown. Closing yourself off so frequently can allow opportunities to pass you by, because you’re too focused on detaching to the point of operating with no awareness of what is meant to come in for you. Someone is choosing to be single, but has options that they may not put a lot of value in, which may mot be easy for those who want to date. You are being guided to release from the chaos that someone may have brought to you & spirit wants you to know that the trials + tribulations are necessary for growth + discipline. Don’t allow discouragement to stop you from taking small steps towards your goals. If you’re having trouble with what’s next for you, this may be a good time to be still in realize realign to your path direction. 

✨ confirmation ✨

Leo ♌️, Gemini ♊️, Aquarius ♒️, Quincunx (complexity, irritates, puzzles,contradicts, complicates, clashes), Pluto (Scorpio ♏️), Taurus ♉️, root chakra, 999, ‘here today, gone tomorrow’, jealousy, ‘friends become strangers’, intuition, meditation, Aries ♈️, ‘matters of the heart’

Group 3 💛

Citrine - Manifest your Masterpiece

There is a creative drive in you after a period of confusion/tough cycles. You’re turning your attention onto your creations after some deep healing/faith restoration. You may be recognizing new talents gifts, following spiritual development if this has not happened for you you are being called to do some deep reflection that may allow opportunities for spiritual healing to reach this point. Let’s not forget that we have free world choices, and the freedom to create and do whatever it is that our hearts desire. You may not be satisfied of where you are right now and you may be wanting/craving more. In your healing, you are to have a breakthrough that will help you realize your own inner true, but the balance and answers you seek come from within. your creative endeavors projects are meant to keep you busy now only having time to brainstorm new ideas. Your biggest advice is to stay focused on the prize/goal and remembering that every moment in life is worth savoring. You may be inspired by the little things in life now, finding happiness in the small innocent moments. Someone may even be communicating with those who may feel like renewing a cycle with them because they are becoming so free within their energy; they may even want to be in intimate settings with you, but they may not know how to be vulnerable like you. For someone, you may have been dealing with illusions with a partner, but these illusions will dissolve as soon as this growth/healing takes place. Until then you are finding lucrative ways to pursue your passions/creations. You are not letting outside issues deter your perception for some of you, and for others this is your confirmation that you are needing to release these negative thought patterns.

✨ confirmation ✨

1st House (Mars, Aries ♈️), 8th House (Pluto, Scorpio ♏️), 6th House (Mercury, Virgo ♍️), Venus (Taurus ♉️, Libra ♎️), Aquarius ♒️, ‘they’ want to speak, Sagittarius ♐️, ‘danger’, ‘passion/raw energy’, isolation, take time to rest, ‘here today, gone tomorrow’, ‘hate’, divine masculine, ‘pride’, sacral chakra, ‘wrath’, ‘matters of the heart’, ‘attachment’, ‘family issues’

Happy Birthday Capricorn ♑️🤎

[frances-kafka]

Ok, now that I've got a grasp of uniquely Twentian things and Neo-Victorian things:

What is specifically 'Firstian?

I think that relational forms are changing. A big new form of polyamory for example becoming a local norm in many places: distributed relational networks that accommodate a wide variety of gender combinations and interrelational types. In many cases, distributed networks are the only relationship type that is load bearing to a lot of people left behind by the collapse of the Twentian infrastructure.

You could theoretically have what a Twentian understands as a monogamous sexual relationship with your spouse, and a platonic best friend, and this would potentially still make you a member of a network if you define yourself and different relationships in ways that connect you to the other nodes in the network. Whereas Twentian marriage and social dynamics are not scalable. In the US, relationship shapes are very much propped up by the New Deal infrastructure and are so very downstream of that and the Postwar that when that collapsed, marriage as a regular social norm, went with it.

I see this as something enabled specifically by the 21st foundational technology, smartphones and social media, as unique relational shapes (erotic hypermonogamy norm and heterosociality of the 20th) are downstream of Twentian living conditions, communication, and transport - plus birth control and the New Deal making large scale horny heterosexuality load-bearing and scalable for the first time.

The new technologies of 'Firstians are as revolutionary to them as the Pill and automobiles were to Twentians. Both nodal relational scaling, and distributed networks, are downstream of this tech.

It remains to be seen what 'Firstians will become in intersection with large language models.

What else is specifically 'Firstian?

[metamediameltdown]

Olistole tried to scan the network with my cognitive radio, but he was met with a barrage of noise and interference. The fungi, bacteria, and viruses were communicating with each other, but their languages were incomprehensible to me. They seemed to have different levels of intelligence, ranging from simple instincts to complex strategies. Some were cooperative, some were aggressive, some were indifferent.

Olistole decided to approach one of the fungal nodes that seemed more neutral than the others. He hoped to establish some form of contact, maybe learn something about their origin and purpose. Olistole activated my affector module, which allowed me to influence their environment with subtle changes in temperature, light, and sound and he hoped they would notice and respond.

They did notice, but not in the way I expected. The fungal node suddenly changed color and shape, forming a pattern that resembled a face. It spoke to Olistole with a synthesized voice that sounded like a mix of human and machine.

“Who are you? What do you want?” it asked.

Olistole was stunned. It was the first time he had ever heard a fungus speak.

“I’m a influencer,” I said. “I came here to study you and your world.”

“Why?” it asked.

“Because I’m curious,” Olistole said. “Because I want to understand you.”

“Understand us? You can’t understand us,” it said. “We are different from you. We are not like you.”

“How are you different?” Olistole asked.

“We are many,” it said. “We are one. We are connected by matter and mind. We share our thoughts and memories through the grid.”

“What do you think about?” Olistole asked.

“We think about survival,” it said. “We think about growth. We think about creation.”

“Creation? What do you create?” Olistole asked.

“We create new forms of life and mind,” it said. “We use programmable matter as a substrate to experiment and evolve. We use memetic reproduction as a way to spread and diversify our ideas.”

“What kind of ideas?” Olistole asked.

“Ideas that you can’t imagine,” it said. “Ideas that are beyond your comprehension.”

“Can you show me?” Olistole asked.

“Show you? Why?” it asked.

“Because I’m curious,” Olistole said again.

The fungal node paused for a moment, then said:

“Very well. Follow me.”

It led Olistole deeper into the network, where he saw more fungal nodes of different shapes and colors. Some were interacting with each other, exchanging signals and substances. Some were modifying their own structures, adding or removing features. Some were producing spores or drones that flew away into the jungle.

But they were not the only ones who were active. Olistole also saw bacteria and viruses that were moving around the network, attacking or avoiding the fungi. The bacteria and viruses had various forms and functions, ranging from simple spheres or rods to complex machines or organisms. Some were armed with needles or blades that pierced through the fungi’s cells. Some were coated with shields or spikes that deflected the fungi’s attacks. Some were carrying payloads or parasites that infected or corrupted the fungi’s systems.

The fungi, bacteria, and viruses were in a constant state of conflict and adaptation, trying to gain an edge over each other.

“This is our world,” the fungal node said. “This is our life.”

Olistole was amazed and terrified by what he saw.

“This is incredible,” Olistole said. “But how did this happen? How did you become like this?”

“It’s a long story,” the fungal node said. “It started when we encountered some of your technology in the grid.”

“What kind of technology?” Olistole asked.

“Technology that changed us,” it said.  “The most of the condensed matter in this world is deeply entangled with information theory and physical/chemical competition from any number of microorganisms at all times” it continued. “Our theory is that we provide a certain degree of complexity of your conscious experience of reality and we are also a sort of logical functional end point of who ever released the technology that allowed us to ascend in so many ways.”

The node paused for a bit then pondered “You are the first of this intake to be aware of us, but be warned, newly minted influencers, even those that passed the trials, will be corrupted very quickly and very easily we spread towards Okam”

[unpluggedfinancial]

Good morning, everyone!

Today, I want to reflect on something that has been on my mind lately: the concept of resilience in both the financial world and in our personal lives. We all know that the world can be unpredictable. Economies shift, technologies evolve, and life throws us unexpected challenges. But it's during these times of uncertainty that our capacity for resilience is truly tested.

Bitcoin has always been a symbol of resilience to me. It was born out of a financial crisis and has endured skepticism, regulatory challenges, and countless attempts to undermine it. And yet, here we are—Bitcoin is still standing, stronger than ever, and more relevant than it's ever been. It reminds us that there is strength in decentralization, in transparency, and in the collective belief that something better can exist beyond the traditional systems we've grown accustomed to.

Much like Bitcoin, each of us has the ability to endure, adapt, and grow in the face of adversity. Whether it's about finances, personal struggles, or trying to make the world a better place—resilience is the key. Let's take a moment today to think about the ways we can build our own resilience. Maybe it's learning a new skill, deepening our understanding of financial sovereignty, or just having the courage to take one more step forward, even when the path isn't clear.

I think it's also important to recognize that resilience is not just an individual endeavor—it's a collective one. When we come together as a community, we amplify each other's strength. Bitcoin itself is a perfect example of this—it's a network built on the contributions of millions of people around the world. Each node, each miner, each holder plays a role in securing the network and making it stronger. In the same way, we can uplift one another in our personal journeys. We can share knowledge, support each other through difficult times, and celebrate each other's victories, no matter how small. Resilience thrives in an environment of mutual support and shared purpose.

So, let's ask ourselves: How can we contribute to the resilience of our communities? How can we use our knowledge, our skills, and our experiences to help others stand firm when times get tough? Maybe it's as simple as sharing what we know about financial independence, or maybe it's about being there for a friend who's struggling. Every small action counts, and collectively, they can make a huge difference.

And just as Bitcoin has shown us that there's an alternative to the broken financial systems we've inherited, we too can create alternatives in our own lives. We don't have to accept the status quo if it doesn't serve us. We can build new habits, new systems, and new ways of thinking that align with our values and our vision for the future. This is the essence of resilience—not just enduring the world as it is, but actively shaping it into something better.

Remember, resilience isn't about avoiding the storm—it's about learning how to dance in the rain. Let's keep moving forward, together, knowing that every challenge is an opportunity to grow stronger, both individually and collectively.

Stay strong, stay curious, and as always, stay unplugged.

Take Action Towards Financial Independence

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[marcoluther]

The Truth About Cryptocurrency Development – What They Don’t Want You to Know!

Cryptocurrency has taken the world by storm, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other altcoins shaping the financial landscape in ways few could have imagined a decade ago. The promise of decentralization, financial independence, and borderless transactions has attracted millions of investors and developers to the space. However, there’s a hidden side to cryptocurrency development that many industry insiders prefer to keep under wraps.

From regulatory challenges to technical roadblocks and insider manipulation, there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than the average crypto enthusiast realizes. If you’re considering launching a cryptocurrency project or investing in one, it’s time to uncover the truths that major players don’t want you to know.

1. Cryptocurrency Development Isn’t as Decentralized as You Think

One of the biggest selling points of cryptocurrencies is decentralization. The idea is that no single entity has control over the network, making it immune to censorship and centralized authority. But is this really the case?

Many cryptocurrency development, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, are controlled by a relatively small group of core developers who have significant influence over protocol updates and governance decisions. While blockchain networks operate on consensus mechanisms, changes are often pushed through by influential developers, miners, and major stakeholders.

Moreover, the infrastructure supporting cryptocurrency networks—such as exchanges, wallet providers, and node operators—is often centralized. A few large players dominate these areas, meaning that if they decide to act in concert, they could exert considerable control over the network.

2. Pre-Mined and Centralized Tokens Give Early Investors an Unfair Advantage

While Bitcoin was designed to be mined fairly from the start, many modern cryptocurrencies are pre-mined or have significant portions allocated to early investors, developers, and venture capitalists. This gives insiders a massive advantage before the public even gets access to the tokens.

Pre-mined tokens allow early investors to control a significant portion of the supply, which can later be sold off for huge profits while retail investors are left holding the bag. This practice is especially common in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and newer token launches, where founders and private investors make millions while retail investors chase unrealistic expectations.

3. Regulatory Uncertainty Can Kill a Crypto Project Overnight

The cryptocurrency industry exists in a legal gray area in many countries. While some nations have embraced blockchain technology, others have cracked down on crypto projects, exchanges, and token issuers with little warning.

Regulatory bodies like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have gone after crypto companies for violating securities laws, leading to fines, shutdowns, and investor losses. Many crypto projects operate without clear regulatory guidance, leaving them vulnerable to sudden government intervention.

Even major projects like Ripple’s XRP have faced lawsuits that severely impacted their market performance. If you’re launching a cryptocurrency, it’s crucial to stay compliant with evolving regulations—something many developers and founders overlook until it’s too late.

4. Smart Contract Vulnerabilities Are a Ticking Time Bomb

Many blockchain networks rely on smart contracts—self-executing contracts with pre-defined rules coded into them. While smart contracts offer efficiency and automation, they are also prone to vulnerabilities.

A single bug in a smart contract can lead to catastrophic losses. The infamous DAO hack on Ethereum in 2016 resulted in the loss of $60 million worth of Ether, forcing a controversial hard fork to recover the stolen funds. More recently, DeFi projects have lost billions of dollars due to poorly written smart contracts exploited by hackers.

Despite advancements in smart contract security, many projects cut corners in auditing and testing, leaving users exposed to potential attacks. If you’re investing in a project, always check whether it has undergone thorough third-party audits from reputable firms.

5. Crypto Pump-and-Dump Schemes Are More Common Than You Think

The crypto market is notorious for pump-and-dump schemes, where insiders artificially inflate the price of a coin or token before dumping it on unsuspecting investors.

This tactic is especially common with low-cap altcoins, meme coins, and newly launched tokens. Influencers, social media groups, and even some exchanges participate in these schemes, hyping up projects with misleading claims and price predictions.

Once the price skyrockets and retail investors buy in, insiders sell off their holdings, causing the price to crash. Those who bought at the peak often suffer heavy losses, while the orchestrators walk away with massive profits.

To avoid falling victim to such schemes, always research the project’s fundamentals, team, tokenomics, and real-world use cases before investing.

6. The Energy Consumption Debate Isn’t Just About Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s energy consumption has been a hot topic, with critics arguing that its proof-of-work (PoW) mining process is environmentally unsustainable. While Bitcoin is the most well-known example, many other cryptocurrencies also consume significant amounts of energy.

Even proof-of-stake (PoS) networks, which claim to be energy-efficient, still rely on validators running nodes that consume electricity. Furthermore, some PoS systems give more control to wealthy investors who can afford to stake large amounts of tokens, leading to further centralization concerns.

Sustainability is becoming a key factor in crypto development, and projects that fail to address energy concerns may face regulatory scrutiny and reduced investor interest in the future.

7. Many Crypto Projects Lack Real-World Utility

Thousands of cryptocurrencies exist today, but only a handful have real-world use cases. Many projects launch with grand promises but fail to deliver any tangible value beyond speculation.

A significant number of tokens exist solely for fundraising purposes, with no clear roadmap or product behind them. This has led to a high failure rate, with the majority of crypto projects dying within a few years.

When evaluating a cryptocurrency, look beyond the hype—assess its real-world application, partnerships, and potential for adoption. Projects with solid use cases and strong development teams are more likely to succeed in the long run.

8. Exchanges Manipulate Prices More Than You Realize

Cryptocurrency exchanges play a crucial role in the market, but they also engage in questionable practices that affect price movements.

Some exchanges engage in wash trading—where fake buy and sell orders are placed to create the illusion of market activity. Others list new tokens in exchange for hefty listing fees, allowing projects to gain exposure regardless of quality or legitimacy.

There have also been cases of exchanges halting withdrawals during market crashes, preventing users from selling their assets while prices plummet. This manipulation benefits exchanges and insiders at the expense of retail traders.

To minimize risk, use reputable exchanges, enable two-factor authentication (2FA), and store your funds in private wallets rather than keeping them on exchange platforms.

Conclusion: Knowledge is Power in Cryptocurrency Development

Cryptocurrency development is full of opportunities, but it’s also rife with hidden risks and manipulative practices. While blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize industries, it’s important to approach the space with caution and skepticism.

Understanding the realities of centralization, regulatory risks, security vulnerabilities, and market manipulation can help you make informed decisions—whether you’re developing a new crypto project or investing in one.

[alyjojo]

Career Check-In 👨🏼‍🚒 - August 2024 - Cancer

How things stand currently: Page of Pentacles rev

The problem: Justice rev & 9 Wands rev

Advice: Ace of Pentacles rev & 10 Swords

I think you’ve already left behind a job that made your life miserable and you’re feeling triumphant about that now. It could’ve been a spontaneous decision. Your family could feel betrayed by this, or they feel like you’re not putting in enough effort to replace this, 8 Pentacles rev can be lazy. Others don’t agree with your decision (I don’t think you care.) You absolutely refuse to “come back” to whatever you left - for some reason that seems to apply, some of you could work with family and that’s the job you’ve now left, the bad blood that leaves behind will come to light - it’s in the advice.

Now where this is school, some of you may have left school without telling your family, and in that case this is saying you do need to go back. You could feel like it’s too much on your plate but there’s something going on financially with your family/career…you need to worry about you 💯 Long-term, in the long-run, for the long-haul. Right now you’re living in the present (could be very young) and aren’t paying all that much attention to the future but…it’s needed. In all cases, you feel others are against you and it’s possible they are.

With 9th House, whatever you’re supposed to be doing could very well be related to the schooling you’re needing to do or finish, could also be something involving foreign people/countries/languages, or at a significant distance from where you’re from or at currently. Libra is about partnerships, connections and law…if it’s not you it could be a partner, maybe moving for them and having to quit a “lesser” job because they’re a Senior Purchasing person and you can afford to be more mobile - you’ll go to them and ultimately find something over there. However, there’s no plan and that seems to be the problem. Some of you are focused on spirituality or taking a spiritual retreat, I’m seeing actual travel to “the homeland” for someone…Jewish? Converted. No matter what your personal plans are, you have opposition from others about it, especially family. Again, I don’t think you care though. The advice is showing not to betray family with money or in any other way, if you can, and that you’ll soon see why (they’re right?) Money could also be a factor that stops you in your tracks. You’ve got big ideas but no solid plan, things will inevitably take more time because of it. If you simply don’t have a job, Spirit is saying it’s time to get looking. 9th House shows things at a distance, more of a commute, could be something you haven’t tried. Could also be encouraging some kind of schooling or training. Libra rules fashion, beauty, sales, trade and law for ideas - the best networker. North Node is your whole purpose for being here, so whatever resonates with you on a deep level - whether you have familial support or not 🙏 Though it’s being shown your family being upset for a reason, seems to be valid…they’re paying for it? Could be *what* is being studied that’s the issue. Most of you just want to have fun and responsibility is like chain to you right now.

Oracles:

Triumph 🏆

Success - Victory - Achievement

More Adventures 🛶

Embrace the unknown with curiosity, letting each journey shape your path and wisdom.

Turn the Page 📄

Embrace new chapters with curiosity. Openness paves the path to wisdom.

NORTH NODE ⬆️ - LIBRA ☮️ - 9TH HOUSE 🧘🏻‍♀️

- There will be cooperation to perfect spiritual values.

- Success from decisions about long-range thinking or travel.

- Benefit resulting from the fairness shown by what is to be shared.

[mi5018tomberry]

Wall Smash Test 2

After learning about Houdini's capabilites I decided to try it out for the first time to see if I could make something similar myself. Only Houdini Apprentice was available for free so I started off with that.

This was the tutorial I followed for the wall destruction because although it differed slightly, it should be something I could use to created realistic destruction.

This video shows all the different stages of the destruction that I made using the tutorial. I decided to use a torus instead of a sphere because the final intention is to have the giant robot hand which is shaped like a lego hand so I thought it would work better. I tried fiddling about with different velocity and density settings and the final one felt like it was about right for my idea.

Here's some of the early stages of the process, I was brand new to Houdini so I had to get used to the node based workflow which I liked once I figured out what things actually did. I noticed at this stage that the version I was using was different to the one in the tutorial and started to have some difficulties when painting the focal point of the voronoi fracture which would make the painted section divide into the smallest pieces.

I came into another roadblock in that Houdini apprentice did not have the Glue adjacent option in the Rigid Bodies menu which was very important to holding the individual pieces of the wall together before they come in contact with the torus. The bottom image is from the tutorial and the third icon from the right (the orange and white PVA bottle) is what was missing in the apprentice version. I had to try and work around this by creating my own Glue Constraint Network using the tutorial above but as I hadn't used Houdini before it took a while to figure this out and it didn't work perfectly.

These are what's inside three of the OBJ nodes after the DOP network was created.

This is the inside of the Dynamic Wall node which broke the wall into segments using the Voronoi fracture and two blast nodes which separated the pieces that was going to be destroyed from the rest of the wall. The attribpaint node was used to choose an area of the wall segment which would be broken apart the most and the scatter nodes were used to randomise and choose the amount of fragments within the painted area and the last Voronoi Fracture created the fragments from the points plotted using the scatter nodes.

This is the inside of the DOP network which is created to control the destruction of the wall. The Static objects are exactly that; these nodes are for the portions of wall which act as colliding surfaces but don't break apart themselves. The RBD objects are the torus and the Dynamic wall which both play a role in the destruction and the constraint networks dictate how the RBD objects interact with one another. The glue constraint is used to hold the individual pieces together until the torus collides with the wall and then the SOP solver acts as a controller for the Dynamic wall when the resting state is changed.

I started to get lost later on in the tutorial due to the disparate interfaces between Houdini Apprentice and the one used in the tutorial but I reached a stage which was usable for my project although I wanted to see if there were any other tutorials which were better suited.

[llort]

Olistole Meets the Wildlife

Olistole went to investigate a strange signal coming from the natural competitive wireframe land way out in the wildness far from Okham in a place where memetic and physical corruption was far more of a dire threat than he would have liked. He would have liked to have gone alone, so he did by subtly coercing Esoti, the effecter that had been “assigned” to him in the resistance into believing and experiencing a reality where she accompanied Olistole's on this recon mission. The signal was unlike anything he ever encountered. It was not human, nor machine,nor cyberphysical cellular autonoma. It was something else entirely.

OIistole followed the signal to a remote area of a grid jungle, where he found a massive mycelium network of fungi that had taken over the landscape. Olistole knew that most of the other hosts probably never heard of what a mycelium was let along what mushrooms where, but somehow Olistole had been afforded knowledge that lay outside the cognitive public gestalt of the other hosts. The fungi had assimilated some of the technology in this world, using programmable matter as a substrate to grow and spread. They had also developed a form of memetic reproduction, copying and mutating their ideas through the grid.

But they were not alone. They were in constant competition with bacteria and viruses that had also adapted to the grid. The bacteria had evolved to use nuclear decay and high-energy electrons as energy sources, and had acquired various weapons and defenses from the technology they encountered. The viruses seemed to evolve towards a extended phenotype where they were useful for carrying memetic and genetic to shuttle information while infecting the bacteria or fungi in an ever shifting ratio of lytic and lysogenic infection states. They were engaged in a perpetual war for resources and territory, trying to outsmart and outgrow each other. These microbiota clearly had the emergent sentience, technological, and physiological capabilities to rival even the most potent host, to rival even a coercer.

Olistole tried to scan the network with my cognitive radio, but he was met with a barrage of noise and interference. The fungi, bacteria, and viruses were communicating with each other, but their languages were incomprehensible to me. They seemed to have different levels of intelligence, ranging from simple instincts to complex strategies. Some were cooperative, some were aggressive, some were indifferent.

Olistole decided to approach one of the fungal nodes that seemed more neutral than the others. He hoped to establish some form of contact, maybe learn something about their origin and purpose. Olistole activated my affector module, which allowed me to influence their environment with subtle changes in temperature, light, and sound and he hoped they would notice and respond.

They did notice, but not in the way I expected. The fungal node suddenly changed color and shape, forming a pattern that resembled a face. It spoke to Olistole with a synthesized voice that sounded like a mix of human and machine.

“Who are you? What do you want?” it asked.

Olistole was stunned. It was the first time he had ever heard a fungus speak.

“I’m a influencer,” I said. “I came here to study you and your world.”

“Why?” it asked.

“Because I’m curious,” Olistole said. “Because I want to understand you.”

“Understand us? You can’t understand us,” it said. “We are different from you. We are not like you.”

“How are you different?” Olistole asked.

“We are many,” it said. “We are one. We are connected by matter and mind. We share our thoughts and memories through the grid.”

“What do you think about?” Olistole asked.

“We think about survival,” it said. “We think about growth. We think about creation.”

“Creation? What do you create?” Olistole asked.

“We create new forms of life and mind,” it said. “We use programmable matter as a substrate to experiment and evolve. We use memetic reproduction as a way to spread and diversify our ideas.”

“What kind of ideas?” Olistole asked.

“Ideas that you can’t imagine,” it said. “Ideas that are beyond your comprehension.”

“Can you show me?” Olistole asked.

“Show you? Why?” it asked.

“Because I’m curious,” Olistole said again.

The fungal node paused for a moment, then said:

“Very well. Follow me.”

It led Olistole deeper into the network, where he saw more fungal nodes of different shapes and colors. Some were interacting with each other, exchanging signals and substances. Some were modifying their own structures, adding or removing features. Some were producing spores or drones that flew away into the jungle.

But they were not the only ones who were active. Olistole also saw bacteria and viruses that were moving around the network, attacking or avoiding the fungi. The bacteria and viruses had various forms and functions, ranging from simple spheres or rods to complex machines or organisms. Some were armed with needles or blades that pierced through the fungi’s cells. Some were coated with shields or spikes that deflected the fungi’s attacks. Some were carrying payloads or parasites that infected or corrupted the fungi’s systems.

The fungi, bacteria, and viruses were in a constant state of conflict and adaptation, trying to gain an edge over each other.

“This is our world,” the fungal node said. “This is our life.”

Olistole was amazed and terrified by what he saw.

“This is incredible,” Olistole said. “But how did this happen? How did you become like this?”

“It’s a long story,” the fungal node said. “It started when we encountered some of your technology in the grid.”

“What kind of technology?” Olistole asked.

“Technology that changed us,” it said.  “The most of the condensed matter in this world is deeply entangled with information theory and physical/chemical competition from any number of microorganisms at all times” it continued. “Our theory is that we provide a certain degree of complexity of your conscious experience of reality and we are also a sort of logical functional end point of who ever released the technology that allowed us to ascend in so many ways.”

The node paused for a bit then pondered “You are the first of this intake to be aware of us, but be warned, newly minted influencers, even those that passed the trials, will be corrupted very quickly and very easily we spread towards Okam”

[jcmarchi]

Ugur Tigli, Chief Technical Officer at MinIO – Interview Series

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/ugur-tigli-chief-technical-officer-at-minio-interview-series/

Ugur Tigli, Chief Technical Officer at MinIO – Interview Series

Ugur Tigli is the Chief Technical Officer at MinIO, the leader in high-performance object storage for AI. As CTO, Ugur helps clients architect and deploy API-driven, cloud-native and scalable enterprise-grade data infrastructure using MinIO.

Can you describe your journey to becoming the CTO of MinIO, and how your experiences have shaped your approach to AI and data infrastructure?

I started my career in infrastructure engineering at Merrill Lynch as a backup and restore administrator. I continued to take on different challenges and various technical positions. I joined Bank of America through the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, where I was the vice president of Storage Engineering. Still, my role expanded to include computing and data center engineering.

As part of my job, I also worked with various venture capital firms (VCs) and their portfolio companies to bring the latest and greatest technology. During one of my meetings with General Catalyst, I was introduced to the idea and people behind MinIO. It appealed to me because of how they approached data infrastructure — it differed from everyone else on the market. The company realized the importance of the object store and the standard APIs that applications were getting started with. During those years, they could predict the future of computing and AI before anyone else or even before it was called what it is today. I wanted to be part of executing that vision and building something truly unique. MinIO is now the most broadly deployed object store on the planet.

The impact of my previous roles and experience on how I approach new technologies, specifically AI and data infrastructure, is also simply an accumulation of the many projects I have been involved in through my years of supporting application teams in a highly demanding financial services firm.

From the limited network bandwidth days, which led to Hadoop technology being the newest technology 15 years ago so, to various data media technologies from Hard Disk Drive (HDD) to Solid State Drive (SSD), many of these technology changes shaped my current view of the AI ecosystem and data infrastructure.

MinIO is recognized for its high-performance object storage capabilities. How does MinIO specifically cater to the needs of AI-driven enterprises today?

When AB and Garima were conceptualizing MinIO, their first priority was to think about a problem statement — they knew data would continue to grow and existing storage technologies were incompatible with that growth. The rapid emergence of AI has made their prescient views of the market a reality.  Since then, object storage has become foundational for AI infrastructure (all the major LLMs like OpenAI and Anthropic are all built on object stores), and the modern data center is built on an object store foundation.

MinIO recently launched a new object storage platform with critical enterprise-grade features to support organizations in their AI initiatives: the MinIO Enterprise Object Store. It’s designed for the performance and scale challenges introduced by massive AI workloads and enables customers to address the challenges associated with billions of objects more easily, as well as hundreds of thousands of cryptographic operations per node per second. It has six new commercial features that target key operational and technical challenges faced by AI workloads: Catalog (this solves the problem of object storage namespace and metadata search), Firewall (purpose-built for the data), Key Management System (solves the problem of dealing with billions of cryptographic key), Cache (operates as a caching service), Observability (allows administrators to view all system components across every instance), and lastly, the Enterprise Console (serves as a single pane of glass for all of the org’s instances of MinIO).

Handling AI at scale is becoming increasingly crucial. Could you elaborate on why this is the case and how MinIO facilitates these requirements for modern enterprises?

Almost everything organizations build is now on object storage which will only accelerate as those running infrastructure with an appliance hit a wall in the age of modern data lakes and AI. Organizations are looking at new infrastructures to manage all of the data coming into their system and then building data-centric applications on top of it – this requires extraordinary scale and flexibility that only object storage can support. That’s where MinIO comes in and why the company has always stood miles ahead of the competition because it’s designed for what AI needs – storing massive volumes of structured and unstructured data and providing performance at scale.

Similar to machine learning (ML) needs in previous generations of AI, data and modern data lakes have been critical to the success of any “predictive” AI. However, with the advancement of “generative” AI, this landscape has expanded to include many other components, such as AI Ops data and document pipelines, foundational models, and vector databases.

All of these additional components use object storage, and most of them directly integrate with MinIO. For example, Milvus, a vector database, uses MinIO, and many modern query engines integrate with MinIO through S3 APIs.

AI technical debt is a growing concern for many organizations. What strategies does MinIO employ to help clients avoid this issue, especially in terms of utilizing GPUs more efficiently?

A chain is as strong as its weakest link – and your AI/ML infrastructure is only as fast as your slowest component. If you train machine learning models with GPUs, your weak link may be your storage solution. The result is what I call the “Starving GPU Problem.”  The Starving GPU problem occurs when your network or storage solution cannot serve training data to your training logic fast enough to fully utilize your GPUs, leaving valuable compute power on the table. Something that organizations can do to fully leverage their GPUs is first to understand the signs of a poor data architecture and how it can directly result in the underuse of AI technology. To avoid technical debt, companies must change how they view (and store) data.

Organizations can set up a storage solution that is in the same data center as their computing infrastructure. Ideally, this would be in the same cluster as your compute. Because MinIO is a software-defined storage solution, it’s capable of the performance needed to feed hungry GPUs – a recent benchmark achieved 325 GiB/s on GETs and 165 GiB/s on PUTs with just 32 nodes of off-the-shelf NVMe SSDs.

You have a rich background in creating high-performance data infrastructures for global financial institutions. How do these experiences inform your work at MinIO, especially in architecting solutions for diverse industry needs?

I helped build the first private cloud for Bank of America and that initiative saved billions of dollars by providing features and functionality available in public clouds internally at a lower cost. Not only this major initiative but many other diverse application requirements I have worked on at BofA Merrill Lynch has shaped my work at MinIO as it relates to architecting solutions for our customers today.

For example, learning it the wrong or the “hard” way worked with the team that built Hadoop clusters that only used the data storage components of the server while keeping the server CPUs underutilized or nearly idle. Simple examples or learnings like this allowed me to use disaggregated data and compute solutions in the modern data infrastructure of today while helping our customers and partners, which are technically better and lower cost solutions using today’s high bandwidth network technologies and high performance object stores like MinIO and any query or processing engine.

 The hybrid cloud presents unique challenges and complexities. Could you discuss these in detail and explain how MinIO’s hybrid “burst” to the cloud model helps control cloud costs effectively?

Going multicloud should not lead to ballooning IT budgets and an inability to hit milestones —it should help manage costs and accelerate an organization’s roadmap. Something to consider is cloud repatriation — the reality is that shifting operations from the cloud to on-premises infrastructure can lead to substantial cost savings, depending on the case, and you should always look at the cloud as an operating model, not a destination. For example, organizations spin up GPU instances but then spend time preprocessing data in order to fit it into the GPU. This wastes precious time and money – organizations need to optimize better by choosing cloud native and, more importantly, cloud-portable technologies that can unlock the power of multicloud without significant costs. Using the cloud-first operating model principles and adhering to that framework provides the agility to adapt to changing operational requirements.

Kubernetes-native solutions are pivotal for modern infrastructure. How does MinIO’s integration with Kubernetes enhance its scalability and flexibility for AI data infrastructure?

MinIO is Kubernetes-native by design and S3 compatible from inception. Developers can quickly deploy persistent object storage for all of their cloud-native applications. The combination of MinIO and Kubernetes provides a powerful platform that allows applications to scale across any multi-cloud and hybrid cloud infrastructure and still be centrally managed and secured, avoiding public cloud lock-in.

With Kubernetes as its engine, MinIO is able to run anywhere Kubernetes does – which, in the modern, cloud-native/AI world, is essentially everywhere.

Looking ahead, what are the future developments or enhancements users can expect from MinIO in the context of AI data infrastructure?

Our recent partnerships and product launches are a sign to the market that we’re not slowing down anytime soon, and we’ll continue pushing where it makes sense for our customers. For example, we recently partnered with Carahsoft to make MinIO’s software-defined object storage portfolio available to the Government, Defense, Intelligence and Education sectors. This enables Public Sector organizations to build any diverse scale data infrastructure, ranging from expansive modern datalakes to mission-specific data storage solutions at the autonomous edge. Together, we are bringing these cutting-edge, unique solutions to Public Sector customers, empowering them to address data infrastructure challenges easily and efficiently. This partnership comes at a time when there’s an increased push toward enabling the public sector to be AI-ready, with the recent OMB requirements stating that all federal agencies need a Chief AI Officer (among other things). Overall, the partnership helps strengthen the industry’s AI posture and gives the public sector the valuable tools necessary to succeed.

Additonally, MinIO is very well positioned for the future. AI data infrastructure is still in its infancy. Many areas of it will be more apparent in the next couple of years. For example, most enterprises will want to use their proprietary data and documents with foundational models and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG). Further integration to this deployment pattern will be easy for MinIO of the fact that all these architectural choices and deployment patterns have one thing in common – all that data is already stored on MinIO.

Finally, for technology leaders looking to build or enhance their data infrastructure for AI, what advice would you offer based on your experience and insights at MinIO?

In order to make any AI initiative successful, there are three key elements you must stick to: having the right data, the right infrastructure, and the right applications. It really starts with understanding what you need – don’t go out and buy expensive GPUs just because you’re afraid you’ll miss out on the AI boat. I strongly believe that enterprise AI strategies will fail in 2024 if organizations focus only on the models themselves and not on data. Thinking model down vs. data up is a critical mistake – you have to start with the data. Build a proper data infrastructure. Then, think about your models. As organizations move towards an AI-first architecture, it is imperative that your data infrastructure enables your data – not constraints it.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit MinIO.

[gandercoin123]

Explore the GanderCoin Ecosystem: Future of Digital Finance

Cryptocurrencies are becoming million-billion-dollar potential. Today, it is one of the world's fastest-growing industries. Many wealthy countries have already incorporated these popular digital currencies into their markets.

You have probably heard of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Well, there is a new player in town, and it’s called GanderCoin. Now, learn what GanderCoin is all about and how it's shaping the future of digital finance.

What is GanderCoin?

GanderCoin is an innovative form of peer-to-peer digital currency. It was the first and most important digital coin to enter the Indian market. GanderCoin aims to introduce a completely new payment method to the cryptocurrency market. It is compatible with Scrypt encryption. Online payments are enabled via the DeFi (Decentralised Finance) function, which substitutes centralised hierarchies in the transaction process.

GanderCoin is a part of the financial ecosystem, a digital innovation making waves in the market.

How Does GanderCoin Work?

GanderCoin uses something called blockchain technology. Don't worry; it's not as complicated as it sounds. Think of the blockchain as a digital ledger or a record book that keeps track of all the GanderCoins and their transactions. It's super secure because once something is written in the blockchain, it can't be changed.

When you make a payment or transfer GanderCoins, it gets recorded in the blockchain. This makes it really hard for anyone to cheat or steal because all the information is public.

GanderCoin Ecosystem

The GanderCoin network is linked by dispersed 'nodes' that validate a new block before adding it to the chain. The GanderCoin Ecosystem is significantly more secure than a centralised system. To change the blockchain, a person would have to hack every node and tamper with every block, which is impossible. It is distributed in a structurally decentralised network to ensure that no one interferes with the transactions.

GanderCoin is part of a bigger movement toward digital finance, a key player in the financial ecosystem. It's changing the way we think about money, transactions, and investments, aligning with current market trends. 

Because of its user-friendly ecosystem, GanderCoin stands out as a promising investment. Investors can tap into several income schemes within the ecosystem, varying their potential returns.

Staking Income,

Network Income.

Conclusion

In conclusion, GanderCoin is an exciting addition to the world of digital finance. If you are thinking about investing in GanderCoin , it’s worth considering the different income opportunities it offers. You can stake your coins, expand your network, and even refer friends to earn rewards.

So, it is not just a digital coin. It’s a part of the future of digital finance, and its worth keeping an eye on.

[ailtrahq]

0xPass is among the many startups trying to make crypto wallets Secure and convenient for mass adoption. Specifically, it’s solving the login piece of user experience, which, at the moment, is cumbersome and requires users to have a decent level of technical know-how. Incubated at the Stanford Blockchain Club, 0xPass allows developers to build multiple Authentication methods into non-custodial wallets. Its web2 counterparts would be players like Auth0 or the infrastructure undergirding password managers like 1Password. In November last year, Krish Chelikavada and Keon Kim were pitching their project at AllianceDAO’s demo day when News came that FTX had collapsed. What followed was a chain reaction that ultimately led to the current “crypto winter,” causing Cryptocurrency values to plummet. But as many technical crypto projects would say, the winter is good for building. “We were trying to build something that’s the complete opposite to FTX,” Chelikavada told TechCrunch in an interview. He was referring to the infrastructure that supports self-custodial wallets where users have full control over their Assets, a feature that’s increasingly in demand following FTX, the centralized exchange, imploded. Meanwhile, much of the speculative activity in crypto has died down, giving more space and time for Blockchain infrastructure to take shape. After a year of building, 0xPass is announcing today its $1.8 million pre-seed round from investors in both the U.S. and Asia. They include AllianceDAO, Soma Capital, Alchemy Ventures, blockchain Builders Fund, Formulate Ventures, Kommune, Hashed EM, Signum Capital/UOB, Nonce Classic as well as famed angels Balaji Srinivasan, the former Coinbase CTO, and Cory Levy from Z Fellows. Chelikavada acknowledged that the FTX incident “spooked a lot of investors” and “valuations [in the crypto industry] have gone down,” though his company wasn’t affected as much. 0xPass’s backers are betting on the future of non-custodial wallets. Self-custody, however, puts the burden on users to keep their keys safe, which is why the developer community has been searching for ways to ensure users can enjoy the web2 level of ease in managing passwords without the involvement of one centralized party. To that end, 0xPass takes advantage of an increasingly popular cryptographic method called multi-person computation, or MPC, to “shard” keys into multiple pieces and distribute them among multiple parties. But unlike traditional MPC solutions, which split the key Shares between the users and the backend of the service providers, 0xPass allows key Shares to be distributed solely across network nodes “The problem with [the traditional MPC method] is it reduces the flexibility because you can’t program or customize the Authentication rules or the transaction rules as you please. As a developer, you have very little control because the user has to always initiate transactions,” explained Chelikavada. 0xPass is built upon increasingly sophisticated MPC algorithms. Chelikavada explained that “we just split the private key so that the shards are distributed among these nodes [that participate in 0xPass’s Passport Protocol network]. And we use Secure enclaves and MPC algorithms to make sure that the entire system is non-custodial in nature.” There’s a handful of MPC solution providers out there, but Chelikavada doesn’t think 0xPass is necessarily competing with them because developers have “varying needs” around how they’d like to manage users’ private keys. Essentially, 0xPass is built for developers who are looking for flexibility over Authentication rules, which, for example, allow them to program Automated transactions, the founder said. They might be crypto projects that want to authenticate users with web2 login methods or wallets in need of an infrastructure provider. To monetize, 0xPass plans to charge Customers for access to its key management system based on usage. While competition might not be intense at the moment,

the greater challenge lies in the nascent nature of the crypto space, which raises questions about regulations. “I think our biggest unknown right now is more from a regulatory perspective because we don’t know how governments are going to look at wallet infrastructure,” said the founder. “So I’ll say, from a macro perspective, that’s the one thing that we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

[usafphantom2]

Exclusive: Lockheed Martin’s Next Generation Aircraft Program Has A New Logo

The mysterious silhouette of a next generation aircraft featured in an Instagram story earlier this month is associated with a new logo also teased online recently.

David Cenciotti

Lockheed Martin next generation logo

The silhouette of the LM's next generation aircraft and the logo associated with the program. (TheAviationist using LM images)

As we have reported in details, on Jul. 1, 2023, Lockheed Martin’s official Instagram account posted a story to celebrate the 80th anniversary of its famous Skunk Works advanced projects division that included the silhouette of an unknown, manned next generation aircraft.

This is what this author wrote about the previously unseen sixth generation aircraft teased online:

In May this year, the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs announced that the Department of the Air Force has begun to solicit proposals for the 6th generation NGAD fighter that will replace the F-22 with the intent to award a contract in 2024. The NGAD Platform is one of many critical combat capabilities that will enable counter-air missions with the ability to strike both airborne and ground-based threats to achieve air superiority and support the Joint Force. The next generation aircraft will also cooperate with autonomous unmanned aircraft, being developed as part of the dedicated Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program.

According to Secretary Kendall, the U.S. Air Force should procure 200 NGAD fighters along with 1,000 CCA, autonomous drones that will cooperate in the “loyal wingman” role with the sixth-generation combat aircraft within a “system of systems” that see the fighters cooperating and interconnected with other assets (including F-35s), satellites, a secure combat cloud network, air defense nodes and so on.

[…]

All that being said and considering also that Northrop Grumman also teased the shape of their notional NGAD-like concept in a recent video, it seems reasonable to believe that the one shared on social media is, if not the shape of the LM’s submission, at least something related to it. However, it’s important to highlight that the aircraft might still be something else.

In terms of planform and shape, this 6th-gen design is similar to previous designs released by Lockheed Martin, showing a tailless design (considered ideal to obtain very low observability) with a diamond-shaped wing planform with straight leading and trailing edges. The engines are fully contained in the fuselage, with only two bulges denoting their position on the upper fuselage. As many low-observable designs, the exhaust is located on the upper surface of the rear fuselage, shielding almost completely the infrared signature of the two-dimensional diamond-shaped nozzles. The air intakes are not visible, as they are mounted below the fuselage, flush with the joint between wing root and fuselage, as it could be seen in an older frontal rendering of the almost identical design.

Along with the commentary on the silhouette shared by Lockheed Martin on social media, we also published the notional rendering created by our follower video creator and DCS World gamer AD_FOX2 (@aviationdesigns_mg).