#still kind of a ramble

[anheliotrope]

It's always "funny" to remember that software development as field often operates on the implicit and completely unsupported assumption that security bugs are fixed faster than they are introduced, adjusting for security bug severity.

This assumption is baked into security policies that are enforced at the organizational level regardless of whether they are locally good ideas or not. So you have all sorts of software updating basically automatically and this is supposedly proof that you deserve that SOC2 certification.

Different companies have different incentives. There are two main incentives:

Limiting legal liability

Improving security outcomes for users

Most companies have an overwhelming proportion of the first incentive.

This would be closer to OK if people were more honest about it, but even within a company they often start developing The Emperor's New Clothes types of behaviour.

---

I also suspect that security has generally been a convenient scapegoat to justify annoying, intrusive and outright abusive auto-updating practices in consumer software. "Nevermind when we introduced that critical security bug and just update every day for us, alright??"

Product managers almost always want every user to be on the latest version, for many reasons of varying coherence. For example, it enables A/B testing (provided your software doesn't just silently hotpatch it without your consent anyway).

---

I bring this up because (1) I felt like it, (2) there are a lot of not-so-well-supported assumptions in this field, which are mainly propagated for unrelated reasons. Companies will try to select assumptions that suit them.

Yes, if someone does software development right, the software should converge towards being more secure as it gets more updates. But the reality is that libraries and applications are heavily heterogenous -- they have different risk profiles, different development practices, different development velocities, and different tooling. The correct policy is more complicated and contextual.

Corporate incentives taint the field epistemologically. There's a general desire to confuse what is good for the corporation with what is good for users with what is good for the field.

The way this happens isn't by proposing obviously insane practices, but by taking things that sound maybe-reasonable and artificially amplifying confidence levels. There are aspects of the distortion that are obvious and aspects of the distortion that are most subtle. If you're on the inside and never talked to weird FOSS people, it's easy to find it normal.

One of the eternal joys and frustrations of being a software developer is trying to have effective knowledge about software development. And generally a pre-requisite to that is not believing false things.

For all the bullshit that goes on in the field, I feel _good_ about being able to form my own opinions. The situation, roughly speaking, is not rosy, but learning to derive some enjoyment from countering harmful and incorrect beliefs is a good adaptation. If everyone with a clue becomes miserable and frustrated then computing is doomed. So my first duty is to myself -- to talk about such things without being miserable. I tend to do a pretty okay job at that.

[noodles-and-tea]

Just some more thoughts on that jayvik dbh au

[ofcowardiceandkings]

LINKTOBER 2024: MIRROR biro & white gel on brown paper

WELL finally getting a chance to post !!

i loved this years' prompts and was all set to do them, but life stuff happened so i only managed to get this one finished LOL i'll finish the ones i started sketching sometime i hope

1) there were a loooot of parallels in the story of this game 2) Rauru and Sonia are adorable i want more of them and their interactions with Zelda were so sweet 3) ANY time i can adventure with my cool smart gf is a great time 💙 so give me more of that Nintendo i'll sell a kidney 💙💙💙

[tanatola]

pathologic 3 announcement made me return to the classic game and finally play it properly! i think my favorite part of the bachelor's route is when he talks to maria kaina (or whoever's in her body at the time) and they explain that their planned Utopia isn’t even supposed to be a 'perfect' place but instead 'the mystical manifestation of a world inscrutable and inaccessible to men' going back to the original meaning of the word irl and instead of despairing Daniil fervently agrees that this kind of unimaginable leap is worth it, no matter where it actually leads

[just-null]

Do you ever do requests? If so, do you ever plan on drawing some Yandere with the Hantengu clones? :D hope you have a good day/night!!!

Mentioning an unfamiliar name

yes!! I love yanderes.. and these guys.. these guys are such good material...... nods nods..

I'm not sure about requests..I assume you mean drawing requests? I suppose if it REALLY catches my interest enough, I'd do it, but it'd probably just be line art/sketches.

[densewentz]

just say I was the top listener spotify smh

[polite--cat]

heart-wrenching & beautiful excerpts from the article on esteban ocon

[urxmommy]

Okay but can we talk about how attractive it is when someone shamelessly simps for you?? Like yes buy me flowers, send me love letters, tell me how pretty I am every chance you get, make me things, find new ways to make me happy, find ways to spend more time with me. I love it all. Don’t hide how much you want me, angel

[bluerosefox]

Bittersweet and Sweetheart Exes

12 am brain rot

Can...

Can I get an AU where Talia, Danny and Bruce dated each other and later break up? Maybe have them meet when Bruce is in Batman training years and its a whirlwind romance between the three. Like we know how Bruce and Talia are together as exes (both a little toxic to each other, a love hate kinda thing and yet still have something) BUT Danny is the ex they always are sweet for, like he is the one they love flirting with when they see him (Talia more so regardless where and when, Bruce can only openly flirt as Bruce/Brucie, he has to be sneaky when Batman)

I want Talia and Bruce both trying to one up each other for Danny's attention. They know he's Phantom btw, and his human side as well. They however don't know he's also the Ghost King (in training at the time) Danny keeps forgetting to mention it.

Oh, oh. Let's have the Batfam find out due to a cult summoning, like someone in the League is trying to usurp Talia's rule (I want LOA leader Talia) and Damian is taken by them (which means Talia, Bruce, and the Batfam are coming to save him) and they try summoning the Ghost King to try to offer Damian as a sacrifice for power in order to take over the League.

Both Bruce and Talia weren't expecting to see their ex appear in a swirl of stars, aurora lights, and galaxies with a crown to match, a cape that looked like it had a cosmos swirling, and a Kingly outfit though.

(Or if we wanna make it extra funny, why not have them both had dated Danny at different times, and didn't know they are all exes to each other until Danny goes "DANNY!" "Talia? Bruce? What are you both doing here?" "Wait you know him/her? How?" "....Yes? And well...I dated them...")

[lucabyte]

So does anybody else ever think about how Loop felt the need to demonstrate that the party's deaths wouldn't have any effect on the loops. I know I do but that's besides the point. Anyway I don't think Loop actually needs to bathe, they just like to feel included.

[reineyday]

every time i get on the revalink train, i end up thinking about the way revali says, "feel free to thank me now," and when link doesnt reply and the golden motes start to take link away for teleportation, he says, "or... never mind, just go." and he tells him to go way softer than his usual pompous tone. turns his back so he doesn't have to watch link leave as he says link's job isn't finished and then, "the princess," and revali PAUSES before he continues, "has been waiting an awful long time."

like, here is a haughty bird who got sooooo riled up bc he felt like link never acknowledged him, and then even after giving link the gift of his gale, revali doesn't get the thanks he wants, and instead of needling link about it like he might when they were all still alive and together, he just says never mind.

never mind, you never replied to me anyways (no matter how much i showed off or showed you up).

never mind, there are more important things to do (save the castle like you saved vah medoh--to avenge me?--and succeed where i failed).

never mind, the princess is waiting (and you were always too busy following after her to acknowledge me).

never mind, i'm already dead anyways. (what can i even do about any of this now?)

just go.

(you're already leaving. like always, she's already taking you.)

and then he reminds link of the princess in such a pointed manner that it's so easy to read into it. the princess... has been kept waiting--the princess is who you've always waited on, the princess is who we all died for, the princess might still be alive where i'm not. the princess tried her best, is still trying her best, and you have to go and meet her there because we cannot, and that has always been bigger than any feelings i might have ever held, any feelings i wanted to draw from you, any accolades i might have lauded or spurned, any reaction i might have gotten.

it's been 100 years, i can wait a little longer to help you (both of you) finish the job before going. guess i was wrong about... how lucky he would be.

revali's dead and he's still thinking about how much he thinks about link and feels the need to admit to himself (and to medoh) that he was wrong like aaahhhHHH i rotate his cutscenes over and over in my head like rotisserie chicken (lol).

[lazylittledragon]

the thing that i love so much about my relationship is that i feel absolutely zero pressure for us to be in eachother's pockets constantly. not just in the way that we like to have our own space sometimes but that i don't feel guilty for getting fixated on a project and not texting him or leaving him on read for a few hours. we have a system where i just say "i'm so sorry, i fell down the Art Hole again" and he says "that's ok, was the art hole fun, can i see what you did in there?". or if i have a feeling i'm going to draw until late at night i'll be like "pre warning, i might be in the art hole this evening" and when i'm done he's texted me goodnight anyway.

tldr: find someone who doesn't get mad at you for crawling into a hole and instead helps you out of the hole and asks what you saw down there

[scarapanna]

I liked your art, you won🎉🎉🎉

WE WON NO REDEMPTION WAHOOOOO/silly

I'm still terrified of the redemption route for this clown though hdhghfg, I want his silly self to stay evil and wimsy and goofy and with redemption uhhh

We're like

I dunno I'm sooo scared devsis is gonna take away that aspect which is what makes him just so funnn. Please pretty please let him be god awful and rotten and rude and goofy if you take that route Devisis I want him to keep his funny wimsy qualities. Please please pleaseeee write him well y'all are doing sooo good with him don't fumble by taking the redemption route (And if they do it better be good and he better stay chaotic and goofy and sassy and condescending and all his "rotten rabid thing" qualities)

If they do him (And his fun aspects justice in this dreaded hypotetical) then I may be cool with it. Though the mean ass possum has grown on me so much I'd 100% miss that evil and unhinged part of him TONS, devsis have mercy pretty please/silly

[Longer more insane ramblings are in the tags hsfhfhhv]

[upsidedownsmore]

Huh

Interesting

I was watching Kengineer's 3rd solo playthrough episode last night when this quote from the Lotus popped up during the Once Awake quest, and it got me thinking about 1999.

1999 is when the Infestation pretty much shows up for the first time (at least as far as we know), which places the Radiation Wars after 1999 (of course).

...but how long after?

Now idk how old this Lotus quote is and whether it's in the devs' minds at all, but imagine that the Radiation Wars are directly after 1999, sparked by this recent apocolyptic infestation spreading all of a sudden.

Imagine the 1999 quest ends with nuclear armageddon, perhaps even on New Year's. We make that final New Year's kiss (or not), knowing that the people here are doomed to die (though they were probably doomed to die to the helminth strain inside them at some point anyways).

I imagine in this scenario that for the sake of replayable 1999 gameplay (and maybe even the opportunity to change romance routes) that this time fragment of 1999 we find ourselves in repeats indefinitely, always ending in the beginning of the Radiation Wars.

would be pretty funny i think

[vic-does-battlecats]

Ik that the Erins will not handle her well at all but I’m so interested in Moonpaw’s sister as a character actually (Maybe more so than actual Moonpaw tbh…).

The writing of the book and even the warriors website treats her as if she’s Completely Evil (going so far as to literally name a character trait of hers as ‘malevolent’ on the website) but like… This isn’t just an evil spooky spirit cat being evil just Because. This is the ghost of a kid who never got to grow up properly, never was properly parented, who had to live vicariously through watching and interacting with Moonpaw when she was a kitten. She had nobody else who could hear her, no other contact with anyone else. And Thunderclan refused to even acknowledge she EXISTED whatsoever, even hiding it from Moonpaw herself. So when Moonpaw suddenly needs to focus without someone chatting to her all the time, and begins to treat her sister like a nuisance and literally begins ignoring her… it would make sense that said sister, who basically has the mindset of a jealous, hurt, abandoned kid, would be mad about it. This is her ONE CONNECTION WITH ANYONE. So her being all ‘if I can’t be with you in your world, you’ll be with me in mine’ makes sense. Moonpaw is all she has. I’m on your side voicepaw….

[mollysunder]

I know Heimerdinger's Christian Linke's favorite character, and I sort of tolerated it in s1, but now it feels like things are a little too indulgent. Heimerdinger gets to team up with Ekko to launder his reputation through Ekko and the Firelights. Heimerdinger gets the first narrative game and second character teaser in the promotional cycl. Heimerdinger gets to SING A SONG that's included on the s2 Arcane soundtrack (Spin the Wheel).

Maybe I'd be less annoyed if the show at least did more to acknowledge Heimerdinger's failings as a leader, but his character description can't even do that. This is how the official Arcane website describes Heimerdinger:

"Heimerdinger warned the Piltover Council about the dangers of using magic without tangible solutions for safeguarding its use. Learning from his mistakes with Jayce, Heimerdinger inspires Ekko to keep looking for a solution and works with him to solve the problem, instead of just offering advice."

That's not Heimerdinger's main problem! The problem is the fact he's the person most singularly responsible for the state of Zaun and Piltover. It feels like the show and the cast are just dancing around the fact that Heimerdinger technically has the highest body count in the show (Day of Ash, pollution, extreme poverty, etc). The one time someone puts him to task (Jayce), the show makes it seem like Jayce is wrong or overstepped, and yeah he did do it for Viktor's sake, but Jayce was right! Heimerdinger's bad at his job, he shouldn't be in a leadership position if he's a bad leader.