#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.

[echofromtheabyss]

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?

[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”

[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.

[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).

[blackwaxidol]

referring to the Light wiggles on Valin's skin as "superficial photophoric vessels" is almost too much even for me but autogenic bioluminescence in animals is a strange process and i just do not know what else to refer to it as. i realise the description means i consider them more like secondary veins or at least something with a physical presence rather than just. randomly being skin that pulses with Light.

i suppose the best idea of mine are long, delicate (thin to the point of translucency) extensions of neural tissue sitting under the skin, comprised of photocytes that are incredibly sensitive to the paracausal energies they arose from. i imagine it is either a vast network of photocytes (light-producing cells) /or/ the structures are simply the "branches" of photophores (light-producing glands).

i like the second idea a lot better: that there are set points along the Awoken body—like nymph nodes—where individual glands are rooted, only to have spread out beneath the skin with translucent veins that, because of their thin walls, are only really noticed when Light or Darkness pulses through them. photophores can be seen visibly, the suborbital photophore of the black dragonfish is an example of how they can appear.

imagine such things deeply rooted or entangled with neural tissue, for the thinnest point of their teardrop shape to be where large duct-like structures grow from in order to form the vast bioluminescent network of vein-like tissues that the Awoken is familiar with. i think having this honestly grotesque anatomical curiosity would be fitting, when considering the Deep and its propensity for favouring venous structures and patternations.

as reductive and boring as it is i am a fan of hard science fiction, i really like coming up with explanations for bullshit fantasy happenings.

[dr-smita-goel-homeopathy-clinic]

*Dr. Smita Goel Homeopathy Clinic*

Your immune system is your body’s defense against infections and other harmful invaders. Without it, you would constantly get sick from germs such as bacteria or viruses.

Your immune system is made up of special cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect you.

The lymphatic system is a major part of the immune system. It's a network of lymph nodes and vessels. Lymphatic vessels are thin tubes that spread, like blood vessels, all over the body. They carry a clear fluid called lymph. Lymph contains tissue fluid, waste products, and immune system cells. Lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped clumps of immune system cells. They are connected by lymphatic vessels. They contain white blood cells that trap viruses, bacteria, and other invaders, including cancer cells.

White blood cells are the cells of the immune system. They are made in one of your lymph organs such as the spleen or thymus, and in the bone marrow.

When your immune system doesn't work the way it should, it is called an immune system disorder. You may:

• Be born with a weak immune system. This is called primary immune deficiency.

• Get a disease that weakens your immune system. This is called acquired immune deficiency.

• Have an immune system that is too active. This may happen with an allergic reaction.

• Have an immune system that turns against you. This is called autoimmune disease.

Immune system disorders

Here are some common examples:

• Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). This is an example of an immune deficiency that is present at birth. Children are in constant danger of infections from bacteria, viruses, and fungi. This disorder is sometimes called “bubble boy disease.” In the 1970s, a boy had to live in a sterile environment inside a plastic bubble. Children with SCID are missing important white blood cells. This disease is deadly without treatment.

• Temporary acquired immune deficiencies. Your immune system can be weakened by certain medicines, for example. This can happen to people on chemotherapy or other medicines used to treat cancer. It can also happen to people after organ transplants who take medicine to prevent organ rejection. Also, infections such as the flu virus, mono (mononucleosis), and measles can weaken the immune system for a short time. Your immune system can also be weakened by smoking, alcohol, and poor nutrition.

• AIDS. HIV, which causes AIDS, is an acquired viral infection that destroys important white blood cells and weakens the immune system. People with HIV/AIDS can become seriously ill with infections that most people can fight off. These infections are called “opportunistic infections” because they take advantage of weak immune systems.

An overactive immune system

If you are born with certain genes, your immune system may react to substances in the environment that are normally harmless. These substances are called allergens. Having an allergic reaction is the most common example of an overactive immune system. Dust, mold, pollen, and foods are examples of allergens.

Some conditions caused by an overactive immune system are:

• Asthma. The response in your lungs can cause coughing, wheezing, and trouble breathing. Asthma can be triggered by common allergens like dust or pollen or by an irritant like tobacco smoke.

• Eczema. An allergen causes an itchy rash known as atopic dermatitis.

• Hay fever (allergic rhinitis). Sneezing, a runny nose, sniffling, and swelling of your nasal passages from indoor allergens such as dust and pets or outdoor allergens such as pollens or molds.

• Food allergy. Severe allergic reactions that are caused by foods.

Autoimmune disease

In autoimmune diseases, the body attacks normal, healthy tissues. Experts don't know why. It is likely a combination of a person’s genes and something in the environment that triggers those genes.

Three common autoimmune diseases are:

• Type 1 diabetes. The immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. Insulin removes sugar from the blood to use as energy.

• Rheumatoid arthritis. This type of arthritis causes swelling and deformities of the joints. An auto-antibody called rheumatoid factor is in the blood of some people with rheumatoid arthritis.

• Lupus. This disease attacks body tissues, including the lungs, kidneys, and skin. Many types of auto-antibodies are found in the blood of people with lupus.

Experts don't know what causes autoimmune diseases. But many factors seem to be involved. If you have an immune system disorder, learn as much as you can about it. And work closely with your healthcare providers to manage it.

[bluemoonmetaverse]

Web3 Metaverse: The Future Of The Internet

The Web3 metaverse is a virtual reality, or VR, enabled version of the internet that is built on blockchain technology. It is a digital realm that allows users to interact, communicate, and conduct business in a fully immersive and interactive environment.

The metaverse is decentralized and based on blockchain technology. This implies a distributed network of users and nodes; no single firm or organization runs it. Decentralization improves transparency, security, and accessibility by letting people interact directly.

The technologies behind the metaverse are diverse and complex, but some of the key technologies and protocols include the following:

Blockchain: Blockchain technology secures and transparently records transactions and data in the metaverse.

Smart contracts: Smart contracts automatically execute buyer-seller agreements defined in code. They automate and simplify metaverse transactions.

Decentralized protocols: Decentralized protocols are blockchain-based protocols that are not controlled by a single entity. They power metaverse peer-to-peer interactions and applications by enabling decentralization, which means that no single entity controls the network. This ensures that metaverse experiences are secure, transparent, and fair for all users.

The metaverse has the potential to create significant value within online communities by leveraging its decentralized structure and modern technologies like blockchain and smart contracts. Its decentralized nature can shape the internet's future and how we interact and conduct business online. With a vision of making the newest version of the web decentralized, the metaverse is an exciting and innovative development that has the potential to revolutionize the way we connect and engage with each other online.

The challenges facing the Web3 metaverse

Like any emerging technology, the metaverse faces several challenges and obstacles. Some of the main challenges and obstacles that are facing the metaverse include:

Technical limitations: VR technology's technological limitations are one of the metaverse's biggest challenges. Many people need more money to afford VR-ready equipment like headsets and audio tools, which are oftened powered by high-end computers. VR technology is still developing; thus, its capabilities are limited.

Adoption barriers: Adoption is another issue for the metaverse. VR technology is rare, so many people may be wary of using it. Users may also be turned off by the metaverse's lack of VR-compatible gadgets and apps.

Regulatory uncertainty: As further regulation into making cryptocurrency safer for retail investors gets proposed, governments' stands on the usage of  digital assets will further  complicate development. Innovation comes at a considerable cost, and companies would require assurances before committing millions, if not billions, of dollars to push the limits of technology.

This fear extends to retail participants as well, as people will only put their hard-earned money in places where they believe it will be safe.

A guide to participating in the Web3 metaverse

Here are some tips to help you get started in the metaverse if it is something you are interested in doing:

Find and evaluate different experiences: Research and compare the experiences available in the Bluemoon Metaverse, such as social networks, gaming, virtual markets, and virtual events, to find the best fit for you.

Get the right equipment: To fully explore the Bluemoon Metaverse, you'll need a VR headset and a compatible device. Consider price and demand when choosing a headset, and remember that some experiences may require a high-end computer or device.

Join the community: The Bluemoon Metaverse is home to a thriving community of users and creators. Participating in virtual gatherings and joining metaverse forums is a great way to meet and learn from other enthusiasts and share your thoughts and experiences.

Explore and enjoy the Bluemoon Metaverse: Once you have the necessary equipment and have connected with the community, you can start exploring the many exciting experiences the Bluemoon Metaverse has to offer. Whether you're interested in socializing, gaming, or just experiencing new and immersive worlds, the Bluemoon Metaverse has something for everyone.

Wrapping Up

An innovative step forward, the Bluemoon Metaverse will influence the internet's evolution in the years to come. The Bluemoon Metaverse is a novel platform for user interaction and online commerce since users can access it from any device and its approach to providing metaverse as a service to businesses, the Bluemoon Metaverse represents a new and exciting way for users to interact and conduct business online.

Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, join the Bluemoon Metaverse Discord server and waitlist, and be part of this amazing new universe. Join the waiting list to be one of the first to discover the Bluemoon Metaverse and be qualified to win a share of $55,000 in prizes. Take advantage of this fantastic chance to shape the internet!

[dioptre-hertz]

in jjba part 6, there's a recurring theme presented in the form of a question: "do you believe in gravity?"

it is exactly as stupid a line as it sounds, and the thing is, i feel it could just as easily have come from a kojima game. it's dio who says it in jojo's bizarre adventure, but be honest with me: you could absolutely imagine this line being delivered by a character from metal gear solid, right? don't tell me it wouldn't fit right in. kojima is the guy who gave us "we're like mario and princess beach", i don't think "do you believe in gravity" would be beneath him.

but while kojima and araki are aesthetically similar enough, in their unfettered boldness, to deliver something that sounds so fucking stupid, they're worlds apart in terms of what they would mean by it.

the theme araki is working with here is the idea that people are connected, that some force - destiny, you may call it - inexorably draws certain people together. dio uses this analogy to describe his relationship with pucchi, and towards the finale of stone ocean, gravity is literalized as an actual stand power - but even before that, this theme is present throughout the series. from the beginning there is this prevalent idea of fate tying the joestar bloodline to dio, and in later parts we're frequently told that stand users are drawn to each other like magnets, that destiny brings them together.

but this doesn't really have any deeper meaning. there isn't really anything that araki wants to tell you with all this. it's an intentional theme, sure, but it mostly exists as a vehicle for the story itself - it has an almost fairy-tale-esque quality to it, an explanation for why our heroes and villains crash into each other. characters will meet fortune tellers on the street who warn them of coming danger, or will monologue at length about "gravity" leading them where they need to be - but there's nothing more to it than that. some people are special, in this world of stories, and that's why they clash, why grand things happen around them. that's it.

contrast this with kojima's "strand" theme, which is actually a really similar idea, but is positively overflowing with all the things he wants to say. death stranding works with the same idea that people are connected, that invisible and intangible forces tie us all to each other - kojima talks of "strands" rather than "gravity", but the idea is the same, right? unseen connections that bind us all together, weaving a web that pulls us into events greater than ourselves.

but kojima writes his entire work in such a way as to develop his central idea. he devotes everything to it. the protagonist of death stranding works for the postal service, connecting people in remote locations to one another. he builds bridges, repairs the infrastructure that binds society's nodes together. his fucking name is Bridges. the organization he works for is also named Bridges. everything, from the visual metaphor of umbilical cords to the indirect cooperative multiplayer aspects, serves in one way or another to reinforce the idea that people are connected, depend on one another, whether or not we can see those connections. so while the game is full of completely unhinged stuff - like Die-Hardman, who earned his nickname by being really hard to kill, and who is also the president of the US operating from Capital Knot City - it ultimately does cohere into something it wants to say, right? this game really, really wants to tell you, show you, that all of us are woven together by an intricate network of connections whether we like it or not, and that we must be willing to maintain our bonds to one another even at times when we can't see the outcomes or benefit from them ourselves.

kojima is desperately, almost madly devoted to shaping his work around his philosophical and political ideas. araki is not. it's utterly fascinating to me that "do you believe in gravity" or "do you think love could ever bloom on a battlefield" are lines that could easily have come from either one of them.

presenting to you my Hideo Kojima vs Hirohiko Araki horseshoe theory.

these two guys are completely divergent in terms of how they approach politics and philosophy, but converge in that they both have a deeply honest, charmingly self-indulgent willingness to just create whatever seems Badass to them in a very teenage boy sort of way.

both of them will, with complete sincerity and not a hint of irony or doubt, present you with some absolutely batshit insane character design that a less confident writer would worry is "cringe". kojima will give you a character who wears the V for vendetta mask, takes it off and has Joker makeup underneath, and then starts blasting robots with lightning bolts from his electric guitar. araki will give you a guy named Vanilla Ice whose special power is that he can swallow his own entire body to become invisible. kojima will tell you that the guy who drinks blood and can walk on water, hypnotize people and survive being shot repeatedly is called Vamp not on account of his apparent vampirism, but because he's bisexual. araki will have his protagonist save the day by transforming a brick into a venomous snake that lived its whole life inside a poison cloud and thus contains a virus vaccine.

but kojima's work is deeply, profoundly political in intent. he has a Grand Theory of Everything and is so eager to tell you about war, society, life and death that he is almost incoherently earnest. araki, on the other hand, thinks about politics so little that he has barely stopped to ask himself what a "nazi" even is.

kojima has witnessed the grand truths of the universe, and needs to share them with you. araki has witnessed haute couture fashion magazines. but their shared sincerity and utter willingness to write outrageous things, simply because it strikes them as cool, somehow brings them close together.

[thatpiscesfish]

Hi , I really enjoy your content and would love to hear your thoughts on some of my placements especially when it comes to career:

Cancer Rising 28°

Gemini Sun 17° (11th H)

Libra Moon 10° (2nd H)

Gemini Mercury 12° retrograde (11th H)

Taurus Venus 27° (10th H)

Virgo Mars 6° (2nd H)

Sagittarius Jupiter 9° (5th H)

Pisces Saturn 24° (8th H)

Uranus Aquarius 0° retrograde (7th H)

Neptune Capricorn 25° retrograde (6th H)

Scorpio Pluto 28° retrograde (4th H)

Scorpio North Node 4° (3rd H)

Thank you in advance ✨️

Hey I’m so glad you enjoy my blog!! Ooh another career ask I love it!

Cancer rising is cardinal but also very reserved. I think we take a bit of time to grow into our cardinal/assertive energy but once we reach that, I think cancer risings can be great at a lot of things. I would mostly encourage something that offers stability, especially financially or emotionally. Ideally something helpful as well like maybe working with children, the elderly etc. could also be a doctor, therapist. Cancer risings could come off well in interviews too cause they can seem mature and serious.

28 degrees rising is Cancer energy as well. So I think that just reinforces the qualities above. Could work by the sea or at home. Could have a family business or work in an industry where heritage or culture is studied. Could even be a child psychologist.

Gemini suns are really good with communications. I know it’s cliche but I’ve seen it in real life. And that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to talk to others. You could work in a job that doesn’t involve talking to other people, but it could be communication in terms of media. Like being a tv editor, writer, journalist. Geminis are usually really good at absorbing information and remembering it so anything like that is great.

Sun in the 11th could show networking being integral to your identity. You might naturally meet people that work in important places or align with your views. Could also involve working in social causes or being passionate about working in an inclusive and diverse place.

17 degrees sun is Leo energy and could show you gaining popularity. Might work in an area that draws attention to you or you might be rewarded for your work. Could be naturally good at art or anything to do with self-expression. Determined and persistent and can usually work their way to the top. A natural leader so may be trusted with responsibility at work. Charismatic as well.

Libra moons are great at detaching themselves and being objective. Houses and aspects matter in this but at worst they try to understand from an empathetic pov and at best they try to understand from a purely logical standpoint. So, in general, they’re great at seeing both sides to a story. Could make great therapists, psychologists, researchers. Because for every positive they see a negative and they’re not easily influenced when developed. Also make great lawyers or negotiators. This placement can really shape you tho mainly because it’s where your chart ruler is.

Moon in the 2nd is great for keeping emotions grounded. Again, I feel like they would be great at working in a healing or emotional field. They’re underrated with how nurturing they can be. It’s earth energy so they’re naturally good at helping things grow and develop. I feel like similar to Cancer rising where they would feel much better and secure in a stable environment so maybe something that involves routine or knowledge of what will happen.

10 degrees moon is Capricorn energy which I think complements your other placements. Again, this points to someone that’s hardworking and ambitious. Very serious about their goals. May help working in a private environment. When under stress or as a way to avoid confronting emotions, you may throw yourself into work and try to be as productive as possible.

Gemini mercury really emphasises communication and being good at networking. Not just being good at learning but may also be great at teaching and spreading information. Might involve the internet or being a teacher. Having it in retrograde doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re any worse at communicating as other non retrograde mercuries. It could just mean that you’re more introspective with your thoughts. So maybe something where it’s more private and communicating at your own pace.

Mercury in the 11th is great for technology and networking again. Might also love spreading awareness about causes that they are passionate about. Could be great at communicating with coworkers.

12 degrees mercury is mutable and also adds an artistic and spiritual side because of Pisces energy. Might give a softness to the way you speak. Also great at relating to others and adapting speech and interests to who you’re talking to. Could be great at artistic subjects or could also love movies/theatre. Good with psychology and uncovering secrets.

Taurus venus could point to having artistic and nurturing hobbies. You might like to do things that involve patience and time or you might be good at paying attention to details. Things like gardening where you need to put effort and love in order for you to get anything out of it. Or stuff like painting, drawing, sculpting that involve a process and isn’t instantaneous. Anything that makes your surrounding look prettier and peaceful. Could love shopping and collecting things. These could obviously translate to your career if you choose to turn a hobby into that. Having an earth venus could point to a steady income and knowing how to save money and use it well.

Venus in the 10th is even more important to your career. You might be known for your hobbies: maybe friends have asked you to help out or make something for them. Maybe you can start off by selling things to the people you know, before your business gets bigger. Could also be very well-liked in the work place and be rewarded more. Again, this points to a feminine/artistic/harmonious career. Could work with a partner as well.

27 degrees venus is Gemini energy. Mutable, fluid and easygoing. May cause you to surround yourself with a wide variety of people. Could be great at socialising or being charismatic. People have fun with you. Again, points to a career where communication might be a part of it.

Virgo mars is practical and a thinker. You might like to plan things out instead of jumping into things. Prefer to sort your thoughts out and then take action. Very hardworking and sacrificial. Really great work ethic and have no problem helping coworkers out. Only issues could be being critical or others (and yourself) and also not knowing when to stop helping people that don’t deserve it.

Mars in the 2nd could point to being assertive/taking action when it comes to your self esteem or possessions or making money. Having mars in an earth house does show being proactive when wanting to make money so that wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Definitely a hard worker. Could also be impulsive with buying. But Virgo mars would diminish this.

6 degrees mars is even more Virgo energy. Very much an over-thinker when it comes to their wants and plans for action. Could be passive and toned down when they should have more confidence and speak up.

Sagittarius jupiter shows being naturally lucky since jupiter is in its natural sign. Maybe you could get away with more things or be forgiven easier. Points to being spiritual and attracted to different cultures so travel might be important for you.

Jupiter in the 5th shows having many hobbies and having luck with them. Again, this points to maybe finding success with hobbies. But I would also point out that 5th house energy is usually temporary unlike 10th house energy for example. So maybe what you do with that is short lived but joyful.

9 degrees jupiter is further Sagittarius energy. Great for jupiter and enhances luck and spirituality. Love for travelling and other cultures. Might be successful when working abroad or in these industries.

Pisces saturn could feel a sense of restriction when it comes to spirituality and artistic freedom. Maybe you have a natural affinity to these but feel like something is holding you back. Could have a tension between restriction and expression. Needs to learn how to surrender yourself to your emotions and feelings instead of always trying to seem put together and in control.

Saturn in the 8th shows restriction in terms of intimacy and being vulnerable. In terms of career, this may be you not trusting coworkers easily or being very private. Could have issues getting into deals because of a lack of trust or feeling like you’re not in control.

24 degrees saturn is Pisces energy. Shows a sense of control when it comes to creativity and freedom which can sometimes feel contradictory. It’s important to find the right balance because both are needed for success. Struggling with letting yourself go with the flow without any worries.

Aquarius uranus is generational so its house placement is more important for individuals. But it does show being technologically proficient and aware of societal issues. Could point to working in an industry that has sustainable measures or wanting to be diverse. In retrograde shows that tapping into your unique and innovative energy could be difficult for you and something that takes time. You should give yourself enough freedom and space to figure out what you really enjoy and feel comfortable doing.

Uranus in the 7th could show unexpected/random/interesting partners. And this could manifest in your career. Might have unexpected contracts or partnerships. Or things that are very innovative and focused on equality.

0 degrees uranus shows a very pure energy of Aquarius uranus. It is the beginning and hasn’t been corrupted or diluted. Very focused on justice and equality and being mindful of others. And also the environment.

Capricorn neptune is also generational but it could point to having empathy for others but also adhering to rules and regulations. Believing things can get better by creating order and organisation. In retrograde shows difficulty with spirituality and emotional freedom. Might take you time to figure out where you belong and what your purpose is.

Neptune in the 6th shows some confusion or vagueness to 6th house elements: daily routine, health etc. So this could point to working in an industry where your routine is different on a daily basis. No day is the same as the other. Also brings an artistic/empathetic element to it where you could help others daily or do something creative.

25 degrees neptune is Aries energy. Adds more assertive and masculine energy. Less confusing and more straightforward than neptune usually is. Could help out in daily life as neptune is in your 6th. You might still have exciting days but you might be more prepared for them or be better equipped to deal with them.

House placement is again very important for pluto and less so the sign. But Scorpio pluto is very powerful because it’s its natural home. Very transformative and intense. Brings about change through intimacy and being vulnerable. Has to go through tough times or even ugly times so that they come out the other side renewed and improved. In retrograde shows that you might be more fearful of the depths of your emotions or holding positions of power. You need to grow and gain confidence in these areas.

Pluto in the 4th shows family being important for your transformation. Or maybe just your childhood or heritage. In terms of career, could go through a major change through connections with family or working in a place where you grew up.

28 degrees pluto is Cancer energy. This points to family/childhood/heritage being vital to intense changes you go through. Could show maybe your family is involved in intense careers like medicine, psychology, insurance, funeral care or even the occult.

Scorpio north node points to you being naturally peaceful/harmonious because of Taurus south node and it being ruled by venus. Might be stable and grounded and not willing to get out of your comfort zone. With Scorpio north node you have to learn how to trust your emotions and go with your instincts. And also to try new things emotionally and let yourself be vulnerable. In terms of your career, this could mean looking deeper into things and questioning them instead of just going with the status quo.

North node in the 3rd could show that siblings may be important to your journey if you have them. Or even friends. Might do you well to travel (short distances) or use communication. Could gain a lot by writing down your thoughts and keeping a journal. Meant to gain information and learn from the people around you. Could spread this information through your career as a teacher or in the media for example.

4 degrees north node points to Cancer energy. May find help through talking to family/childhood friends or people from the same culture as you.

Anyway I feel like a lot of your placements point to information or the arts or even something healing. You’re welcome and hope this was what you were looking for!

[shadowron]

The Rise and Fall of Matrix 1.0 in Shadowrun

If you know what this is, then we are friends. Hoi chummer.

If you don’t then I’ll first start with what it’s not:

Matrix (mathematics)

John Matrix from Commando

Extracellular matrix

Like most cyberpunk elements within Shadowrun, the use of “matrix” as a virtual-reality driven computer environment derives from William Gibson’s Neuromancer, published in 1984. So yes, Shadowrun rips this off, though not to the infamy that…

…this franchise did.

The Matrix came out in 1999. It was revolutionary in its special effects, realizing Keanu Reeves had a greater range than being Ted, and getting a generation of sci-fi fans to read Baudrillard.

Baudrillard did not write this book.

I’m sure there’s been much written about the central tenet of the movie – that we are living in a simulation – so much so that I’m not bothering to do any research on that topic and get back to the main topic.

Matrix Topology

In college, a group of us Shadowrun nerds tried to recruit a computer-savvy friend to make a character and join our campaign. Naturally, we suggested a decker, and soon had him trying to infiltrate his first system, looking for some mcguffin.txt file that our team was hired to find.

Him:      “Well, can’t I just grep it or something?”

Us:          “Uhh… that’s not how computers work.”

Him:       *already out the door*

The thing to remember about all implementation of computing and hacking in games is that:

It is absolutely nothing like how it works in real life, yet…

…some people will believe it to be chip-truth anyway.

Which is true for every aspect of RPGs – especially combat systems. Sometimes this is amusing – like watching D&D players trying to swing a real sword, and sometimes this leads to the United States Secret Service raiding the offices of Steve Jackson Games over GURPS Cyberpunk.

How can you consider this a threat to the Nation when The World of Synnibarr exists?

The Matrix – in Neuromancer, in the film franchise, in Shadowrun – is built upon telephone networks. In order to connect to a Bulletin Board System (BBS), your computer’s modem (a telephone that speaks computer) had to dial an old-fashioned phone number. Which meant that you had to know what that number is beforehand – there was no equivalent to Google. This is why in the movie WarGames (1983), Ferris Bueller is wardialing – calling every number in an area code to search for the few that connect to computer systems. So much of the presentation in Shadowrun is based upon knowing the address to where you want to go:

Regional Telecommunications Grid (RTG) – this is analogous to country codes. These are letter codes abbreviating the area. The RTG that covers Seattle is NA/UCAS-SEA (North America, United Canadian & American States, Seattle).

Local Telecommunications Grid (LTG) – this is analogous to a local area code. Every system will have its own LTG, encoded by a number. The examples given all have four digits but presuming there to be more than 10,000 computer systems in Seattle, they could have any value necessary. From the book:

Players should not know what is in the gamemaster's phone book because system owners guard their LTG locations jealously. Player characters will have to hunt down an access code or acquire it during an adventure to know where an LTG system connects. Let them keep their own phone books.

Supposing your decker already has the number, they can try to access the system itself. If connecting from outside (the RTG), then the decker starts off trying to infiltrate the SAN: System Access Node.

Computer systems are constructed out of a network of connected nodes, each of which having a particular purpose, represented by a standard shape, and each actually corresponding to a real part of a computer:

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Sub-Processing Unit (SPU)

Datastore

Input/Output (I/O) Port

Slave Module

Because the decker (more specifically, the persona program running on their cyberdeck) is intrusive, there are dice rolls involved in gaining illicit access to every node, dice rolls involved in getting the node to execute your commands, dice rolls to deal with the Intrusion Countermeasures (IC, “ice”), and so on.

The Behind the Scenes chapter of the core book gives rules for randomly generating Matrix systems, populating them with ice, and determining the value of any paydata found in datastores.

Which is when you realize that Matrix 1.0 is just a reskinned one-PC dungeon crawl.

A dungeon with locked/stuck doors, monsters to protect them, and treasure to be found in them. It became cliché at our table that when it was time for the decker to do their thing, the rest of the party went to get snacks and shoot some hoops outside. Yes, it was thrilling for the decker, but at the end, they either got they needed from the system, or they didn’t. Unless you were running a campaign of all deckers (which would be AWESOME), you’re better off just having an NPC decker as a contact and contract out that work.

So, it was not surprising that, by the time the 2nd Edition version of Virtual Realities was released, it contained a completely different set of mechanics, dubbed Matrix 2.0, which became the standard when 3rd Edition was published, that greatly streamlined and sped up the gameplay.

[doberbutts]

I was looking at getting my dog a friend and…. Dog rescue adoption fees are through the roof? 300 dollars? There were flooded with a hoarder surrender with 70+ dogs and… I don’t get it? That feels wrong and prohibitive and kinda classist tbh? Am I off base?

If the adoption fee includes spay/neuter, vaccinations, and microchip I don’t really think it’s classist or prohibitive. Those things will cost the average person more than that if you just get a cheap/free dog from someone and bring your dog in to the vet. While I don’t think sterilization is a necessary surgery, due to the way most state animal rescue laws are written, they’re usually legally required in order for the rescue to be labeled, well, a rescue. Here in CT to sterilize my dogs it would cost anywhere from 600-900USD. Vaccination through the same vet is about $100 per visit and you’d need at least two different visits for rabies and parvo/distemper (and due to where I work I usually do bordetella as well, which can be done at the same time as the combo shot). I’m not sure what a microchip would cost since all of my dogs were chipped as babies before they left their breeder, but I know through the low cost vax clinics they’re about $20 so I’d probably just round up the combo parvo/distemper visit to something like $200 for everything. So that’s... minimum $900-1200 for the same service on each of my dogs, or paying $300 to pick a dog up from a rescue that does it for you prior to going home.

That’s also IF the dog did not require any sort of vet care going in. If Tater were to enter rescue, she would likely need a dental due to some staining and an MRI- that’s somewhere between $3000-$5000 at a regular vet. Depending on what the MRI revealed she would need either lifelong medication that she’s already on, or a medication adjustment which would possibly become fairly expensive. Fae and Tater both would require extra care during their spays due to their small size and their brachycephalic head shape. Creed has a recent cancer diagnosis and is a senior doberman so would need a chest x-ray, an abdominal ultrasound, and a check to the lymph nodes as well as some heart testing and bloodwork before he goes under (which is what made his surgery to remove the tumor so expensive!). Sushi, really, is the only one who would cost that minimum price I quoted, the rest would be far more.

Unfortunately, these things cost money. The days of rescues costing under $100 are almost dead and gone. These days those cheap rescue dogs are coming from flooded shelters who do not have the means or time to deal with literal hundreds of dogs coming in every day and they often don’t really do anything outside of house the dogs until someone picks them up, and they’re the ones that give the new owner a voucher for free/cheap vet care for the owner to use on their own time. However that means that no one really knows anything about that dog, whether it’s healthy, whether it’s safe, just that it was there for longer than the stray hold and hasn’t tried to kill anyone as of yet. True rescue lottery.

Also like... rescues need money to run. It costs money to keep the lights on. It costs money to feed the dogs. It costs money to make necessary repairs to the building. To have running water. To network and transport the dogs. To file the appropriate paperwork. To obtain permits for adoption events.

Lastly if you cannot afford a $300 adoption fee you also genuinely probably cannot afford the dog. I drop $300 on my dogs for vet care with regularity. Sushi broke her leg after accidentally getting stomped by Creed when she chomped his balls- that was $300 vet visits per week until it was healed. She also had a UTI, that was $300. I work at a pet store and even though I vaccinate for it, we get kennel cough burning through the house once a year when all those import dogs are brought in. I have four dogs, that’s about $300-500 each time this happens in medication and chest x-rays for those most at-risk. Tater suddenly developed a debilitating neurological condition that needed emergency care, that was $700 in a 24 hour period. Fae had a random wild allergic reaction and her whole face swelled up, that was $300. Creed had a lump appear and grow and become suspicious within a few weeks and that was $1300 to remove. My rescue chihuahua cost me $6000 over a five month period and died anyway. If you can’t afford $300 on the dog- which should only be that much with included vet care- how can you afford the rest? What will you do if something like this happens?