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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 month

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Algorithmic feeds are a twiddler’s playground

Next TUESDAY (May 14), I'm on a livecast about AI AND ENSHITTIFICATION with TIM O'REILLY; on WEDNESDAY (May 15), I'm in NORTH HOLLYWOOD with HARRY SHEARER for a screening of STEPHANIE KELTON'S FINDING THE MONEY; FRIDAY (May 17), I'm at the INTERNET ARCHIVE in SAN FRANCISCO to keynote the 10th anniversary of the AUTHORS ALLIANCE.

Like Oscar Wilde, "I can resist anything except temptation," and my slow and halting journey to adulthood is really just me grappling with this fact, getting temptation out of my way before I can yield to it.

Behavioral economists have a name for the steps we take to guard against temptation: a "Ulysses pact." That's when you take some possibility off the table during a moment of strength in recognition of some coming moment of weakness:

https://archive.org/details/decentralizedwebsummit2016-corydoctorow

Famously, Ulysses did this before he sailed into the Sea of Sirens. Rather than stopping his ears with wax to prevent his hearing the sirens' song, which would lure him to his drowning, Ulysses has his sailors tie him to the mast, leaving his ears unplugged. Ulysses became the first person to hear the sirens' song and live to tell the tale.

Ulysses was strong enough to know that he would someday be weak. He expressed his strength by guarding against his weakness. Our modern lives are filled with less epic versions of the Ulysses pact: the day you go on a diet, it's a good idea to throw away all your Oreos. That way, when your blood sugar sings its siren song at 2AM, it will be drowned out by the rest of your body's unwillingness to get dressed, find your keys and drive half an hour to the all-night grocery store.

Note that this Ulysses pact isn't perfect. You might drive to the grocery store. It's rare that a Ulysses pact is unbreakable – we bind ourselves to the mast, but we don't chain ourselves to it and slap on a pair of handcuffs for good measure.

People who run institutions can – and should – create Ulysses pacts, too. A company that holds the kind of sensitive data that might be subjected to "sneak-and-peek" warrants by cops or spies can set up a "warrant canary":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_canary

This isn't perfect. A company that stops publishing regular transparency reports might have been compromised by the NSA, but it's also possible that they've had a change in management and the new boss just doesn't give a shit about his users' privacy:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90853794/twitters-transparency-reporting-has-tanked-under-elon-musk

Likewise, a company making software it wants users to trust can release that code under an irrevocable free/open software license, thus guaranteeing that each release under that license will be free and open forever. This is good, but not perfect: the new boss can take that free/open code down a proprietary fork and try to orphan the free version:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39772562

A company can structure itself as a public benefit corporation and make a binding promise to elevate its stakeholders' interests over its shareholders' – but the CEO can still take a secret $100m bribe from cryptocurrency creeps and try to lure those stakeholders into a shitcoin Ponzi scheme:

https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/03/11/kickstarter-blockchain-a16z-crypto-secret-investment-chris-dixon/

A key resource can be entrusted to a nonprofit with a board of directors who are charged with stewarding it for the benefit of a broad community, but when a private equity fund dangles billions before that board, they can talk themselves into a belief that selling out is the right thing to do:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/12/how-we-saved-org-2020-review

Ulysses pacts aren't perfect, but they are very important. At the very least, creating a Ulysses pact starts with acknowledging that you are fallible. That you can be tempted, and rationalize your way into taking bad action, even when you know better. Becoming an adult is a process of learning that your strength comes from seeing your weaknesses and protecting yourself and the people who trust you from them.

Which brings me to enshittification. Enshittification is the process by which platforms betray their users and their customers by siphoning value away from each until the platform is a pile of shit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification

Enshittification is a spectrum that can be applied to many companies' decay, but in its purest form, enshittification requires:

a) A platform: a two-sided market with business customers and end users who can be played off against each other; b) A digital back-end: a market that can be easily, rapidly and undetectably manipulated by its owners, who can alter search-rankings, prices and costs on a per-user, per-query basis; and c) A lack of constraint: the platform's owners must not fear a consequence for this cheating, be it from competitors, regulators, workforce resignations or rival technologists who use mods, alternative clients, blockers or other "adversarial interoperability" tools to disenshittify your product and sever your relationship with your users.

he founders of tech platforms don't generally set out to enshittify them. Rather, they are constantly seeking some equilibrium between delivering value to their shareholders and turning value over to end users, business customers, and their own workers. Founders are consummate rationalizers; like parenting, founding a company requires continuous, low-grade self-deception about the amount of work involved and the chances of success. A founder, confronted with the likelihood of failure, is absolutely capable of talking themselves into believing that nearly any compromise is superior to shuttering the business: "I'm one of the good guys, so the most important thing is for me to live to fight another day. Thus I can do any number of immoral things to my users, business customers or workers, because I can make it up to them when we survive this crisis. It's for their own good, even if they don't know it. Indeed, I'm doubly moral here, because I'm volunteering to look like the bad guy, just so I can save this business, which will make the world over for the better":

https://locusmag.com/2024/05/cory-doctorow-no-one-is-the-enshittifier-of-their-own-story/

(En)shit(tification) flows downhill, so tech workers grapple with their own version of this dilemma. Faced with constant pressure to increase the value flowing from their division to the company, they have to balance different, conflicting tactics, like "increasing the number of users or business customers, possibly by shifting value from the company to these stakeholders in the hopes of making it up in volume"; or "locking in my existing stakeholders and squeezing them harder, safe in the knowledge that they can't easily leave the service provided the abuse is subtle enough." The bigger a company gets, the harder it is for it to grow, so the biggest companies realize their gains by locking in and squeezing their users, not by improving their service::

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

That's where "twiddling" comes in. Digital platforms are extremely flexible, which comes with the territory: computers are the most flexible tools we have. This means that companies can automate high-speed, deceptive changes to the "business logic" of their platforms – what end users pay, how much of that goes to business customers, and how offers are presented to both:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/

This kind of fraud isn't particularly sophisticated, but it doesn't have to be – it just has to be fast. In any shell-game, the quickness of the hand deceives the eye:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/26/glitchbread/#electronic-shelf-tags

Under normal circumstances, this twiddling would be constrained by counterforces in society. Changing the business rules like this is fraud, so you'd hope that a regulator would step in and extinguish the conduct, fining the company that engaged in it so hard that they saw a net loss from the conduct. But when a sector gets very concentrated, its mega-firms capture their regulators, becoming "too big to jail":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/05/regulatory-capture/

Thus the tendency among the giant tech companies to practice the one lesson of the Darth Vader MBA: dismissing your stakeholders' outrage by saying, "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/26/hit-with-a-brick/#graceful-failure

Where regulators fail, technology can step in. The flexibility of digital platforms cuts both ways: when the company enshittifies its products, you can disenshittify it with your own countertwiddling: third-party ink-cartridges, alternative app stores and clients, scrapers, browser automation and other forms of high-tech guerrilla warfare:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

But tech giants' regulatory capture have allowed them to expand "IP rights" to prevent this self-help. By carefully layering overlapping IP rights around their products, they can criminalize the technology that lets you wrestle back the value they've claimed for themselves, creating a new offense of "felony contempt of business model":

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

A world where users must defer to platforms' moment-to-moment decisions about how the service operates, without the protection of rival technology or regulatory oversight is a world where companies face a powerful temptation to enshittify.

That's why we've seen so much enshittification in platforms that algorithmically rank their feeds, from Google and Amazon search to Facebook and Twitter feeds. A search engine is always going to be making a judgment call about what the best result for your search should be. If a search engine is generally good at predicting which results will please you best, you'll return to it, automatically clicking the first result ("I'm feeling lucky").

This means that if a search engine slips in the odd paid result at the top of the results, they can exploit your trusting habits to shift value from you to their investors. The congifurability of a digital service means that they can sprinkle these frauds into their services on a random schedule, making them hard to detect and easy to dismiss as lapses. Gradually, this acquires its own momentum, and the platform becomes addicted to lowering its own quality to raise its profits, and you get modern Google, which cynically lowered search quality to increase search volume:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/24/naming-names/#prabhakar-raghavan

And you get Amazon, which makes $38 billion every year, accepting bribes to replace its best search results with paid results for products that cost more and are of lower quality:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

Social media's enshittification followed a different path. In the beginning, social media presented a deterministic feed: after you told the platform who you wanted to follow, the platform simply gathered up the posts those users made and presented them to you, in reverse-chronological order.

This presented few opportunities for enshittification, but it wasn't perfect. For users who were well-established on a platform, a reverse-chrono feed was an ungovernable torrent, where high-frequency trivialities drowned out the important posts from people whose missives were buried ten screens down in the updates since your last login.

For new users who didn't yet follow many people, this presented the opposite problem: an empty feed, and the sense that you were all alone while everyone else was having a rollicking conversation down the hall, in a room you could never find.

The answer was the algorithmic feed: a feed of recommendations drawn from both the accounts you followed and strangers alike. Theoretically, this could solve both problems, by surfacing the most important materials from your friends while keeping you abreast of the most important and interesting activity beyond your filter bubble. For many of us, this promise was realized, and algorithmic feeds became a source of novelty and relevance.

But these feeds are a profoundly tempting enshittification target. The critique of these algorithms has largely focused on "addictiveness" and the idea that platforms would twiddle the knobs to increase the relevance of material in your feed to "hack your engagement":

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/04/has-dopamine-got-us-hooked-on-tech-facebook-apps-addiction

Less noticed – and more important – was how platforms did the opposite: twiddling the knobs to remove things from your feed that you'd asked to see or that the algorithm predicted you'd enjoy, to make room for "boosted" content and advertisements:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Instagram/comments/z9j7uy/what_happened_to_instagram_only_ads_and_accounts/

Users were helpless before this kind of twiddling. On the one hand, they were locked into the platform – not because their dopamine had been hacked by evil tech-bro wizards – but because they loved the friends they had there more than they hated the way the service was run:

https://locusmag.com/2023/01/commentary-cory-doctorow-social-quitting/

On the other hand, the platforms had such an iron grip on their technology, and had deployed IP so cleverly, that any countertwiddling technology was instantaneously incinerated by legal death-rays:

https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/10/google-removes-the-og-app-from-the-play-store-as-founders-think-about-next-steps/

Newer social media platforms, notably Tiktok, dispensed entirely with deterministic feeds, defaulting every user into a feed that consisted entirely of algorithmic picks; the people you follow on these platforms are treated as mere suggestions by their algorithms. This is a perfect breeding-ground for enshittification: different parts of the business can twiddle the knobs to override the algorithm for their own parochial purposes, shifting the quality:shit ratio by unnoticeable increments, temporarily toggling the quality knob when your engagement drops off:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2023/01/20/tiktoks-secret-heating-button-can-make-anyone-go-viral/

All social platforms want to be Tiktok: nominally, that's because Tiktok's algorithmic feed is so good at hooking new users and keeping established users hooked. But tech bosses also understand that a purely algorithmic feed is the kind of black box that can be plausibly and subtly enshittified without sparking user revolts:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

Back in 2004, when Mark Zuckerberg was coming to grips with Facebook's success, he boasted to a friend that he was sitting on a trove of emails, pictures and Social Security numbers for his fellow Harvard students, offering this up for his friend's idle snooping. The friend, surprised, asked "What? How'd you manage that one?"

Infamously, Zuck replied, "People just submitted it. I don't know why. They 'trust me.' Dumb fucks."

https://www.esquire.com/uk/latest-news/a19490586/mark-zuckerberg-called-people-who-handed-over-their-data-dumb-f/

This was a remarkable (and uncharacteristic) self-aware moment from the then-nineteen-year-old Zuck. Of course Zuck couldn't be trusted with that data. Whatever Jiminy Cricket voice told him to safeguard that trust was drowned out by his need to boast to pals, or participate in the creepy nonconsensual rating of the fuckability of their female classmates. Over and over again, Zuckerberg would promise to use his power wisely, then break that promise as soon as he could do so without consequence:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3247362

Zuckerberg is a cautionary tale. Aware from the earliest moments that he was amassing power that he couldn't be trusted with, he nevertheless operated with only the weakest of Ulysses pacts, like a nonbinding promise never to spy on his users:

https://web.archive.org/web/20050107221705/http://www.thefacebook.com/policy.php

But the platforms have learned the wrong lesson from Zuckerberg. Rather than treating Facebook's enshittification as a cautionary tale, they've turned it into a roadmap. The Darth Vader MBA rules high-tech boardrooms.

Algorithmic feeds and other forms of "paternalistic" content presentation are necessary and even desirable in an information-rich environment. In many instances, decisions about what you see must be largely controlled by a third party whom you trust. The audience in a comedy club doesn't get to insist on knowing the punchline before the joke is told, just as RPG players don't get to order the Dungeon Master to present their preferred challenges during a campaign.

But this power is balanced against the ease of the players replacing the Dungeon Master or the audience walking out on the comic. When you've got more than a hundred dollars sunk into a video game and an online-only friend-group you raid with, the games company can do a lot of enshittification without losing your business, and they know it:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/10/24153809/ea-in-game-ads-redux

Even if they sometimes overreach and have to retreat:

https://www.eurogamer.net/sony-overturns-helldivers-2-psn-requirement-following-backlash

A tech company that seeks your trust for an algorithmic feed needs Ulysses pacts, or it will inevitably yield to the temptation to enshittify. From strongest to weakest, these are:

Not showing you an algorithmic feed at all;

https://joinmastodon.org/

"Composable moderation" that lets multiple parties provide feeds:

https://bsky.social/about/blog/4-13-2023-moderation

Offering an algorithmic "For You" feed alongside of a reverse-chrono "Friends" feed, defaulting to friends;

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen

As above, but defaulting to "For You"

Maturity lies in being strong enough to know your weaknesses. Never trust someone who tells you that they will never yield to temptation! Instead, seek out people – and service providers – with the maturity and honesty to know how tempting temptation is, and who act before temptation strikes to make it easier to resist.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/11/for-you/#the-algorithm-tm

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

djhughman https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Modular_synthesizer_-_%22Control_Voltage%22_electronic_music_shop_in_Portland_OR_-_School_Photos_PCC_%282015-05-23_12.43.01_by_djhughman%29.jpg

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

#pluralistic #twiddling #for you #enshittification #intermediation #the algorithm tm #moral hazard #end to end

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gothhabiba · 6 months

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Because I've seen people talking about BDS boycotts and differentiating between consumer boycotts and applying institutional pressure, I think it's worth mentioning that pressuring tactics can just as easily be used against the targets of consumer boycotts. Look at what you're poised to do in your own life (what systems do you engage in? What groups of people do you meet or work with?) and apply some creativity.

Do you work in a grocery store? Talk to your union about refusing to handle Israeli produce.

Do you work in a restaurant, or know anyone who runs one? Talk to management about finding out who supplies your produce.

Do you work anywhere that uses computers that are regularly upgraded? Talk to your union about demanding computers from companies that don't provide demographics software to Israel (i.e. HP).

Do you or anyone in your family or church plan to go on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem (thus giving money to Israel, who controls the borders and hires the tour guides)? Don't go, and convince everyone you can not to either; get everyone you can to sign an open letter to your church; &c.

Are you in a fan group for an artist who plans to tour (or otherwise profit from showing material) in Israel? Don't go to any of the shows on that tour, or stream the video from the tour, or buy the album. Get everyone you can to sign an open letter to the artist and also pledge to boycott their related work.

These are examples based on fields I don't know anything about; you will be the best judge of what is possible and helpful to do in your own life. Consult union and activist advocacy lawyers, &c.

#bds #palestine #action

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feeshies · 6 months

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An assortment of cases I studied this semester which I will never forget (they're all for torts)

Guy sees some boys on one of his many sheds so he throws a stick at one of the boys to get him off his shed but he accidentally hits the wrong boy who was sitting on his shed

Guy is upset that a bar is closed for the night so he reacts reasonably by attacking the front door with a hatchet

A woman in a cult finally convinces the cult leader to let her leave, so they sail back to America on his yacht and when they arrive he keeps the yacht in the harbor and doesn't let her sail to shore

A grocery store employee told an old lady “if you want to know the price, you’ll have to find out the best way you can…you stink to me.” Personally, I find this statement incomprehensible. But apparently she found it offensive enough that she sued for emotional distress.

Internet service provider can't get this spam email company to stop harassing its customers with unwanted emails. People are unsubscribing because of them. ISP creates a software to filter through spam. Spam email company makes another software to get around new software. 50K enemies to lovers slow burn.

Guy broke into what he thought was an abandoned house, only to discover that the owner had a spring-loaded shotgun trap set up

Women went to doctor for ear surgery. While under anesthesia, the doctor realized that her other ear was a bigger concern, so he operated on the other ear.

Woman and husband discover that the doctor's assistant they let into their home was "just some guy." (Actual wording was "an unmarried, young unprofessional man." Which is going in my Tinder bio.)

It was the Great Fire of 1853 and this dude's house had to be demolished to prevent the fire from getting worse.

Taxi driver was held at gunpoint but he managed to jump out of the cab but the cab sped off without a driver and hit someone. Also the judge decided to write about it in the weirdest possible way.

Guy went to get a urethral swab done and they had him stand the entire time?

Someone slips on banana

Someone slips on milk

Someone slips on pizza

Someone slips on grapes

Barrel of flour falls from top story window and onto guy's head

Guy carrying package is running through train station and trips, but the package is full of fireworks and the package explodes and the explosion causes a giant clock to fall onto a woman.

A plank falls off of a loading dock and creates a spark that causes an explosion

Oil spills onto the water, but some cotton got onto the oil and that was enough for the oil to go up in flames and burn an entire ship and wharf

Vibrations from an explosion cause a minx to eat her babies

Woman goes to use her outhouse and falls through the floor. Landlord tries to say that she assumed the risk because "she could clearly see the outhouse was in bad condition!"

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hokokon · 1 year

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SpinnerXF!Reader "The beginning of romance"

This is what I have previously written and uploaded to ao3.

This story is told from the Reader's point of view.

Spinner and I were appointed to the task of shopping, with the pressing, other members were pressed into service because they were away on other business or simply did not want to go. Kurogiri, who had asked us to help, seemed a little apologetic. He must be having a hard time too.

"How's it going?　No one coming through?" "It's going to be okay. Let's get going."

I put on my hat and Spinner puts on the deep hood of his jumper, and we slowly open the door to the back door of the bar we are using as our hideout, being extremely careful not to make a sound so that no one will see us.

I looked around in the night darkness with only dark streetlights before continuing on, the wind was already cold even though we had only stepped outside, and the spinner and I shivered and shoved our hands into our pockets.

"Ha... we're out of luck" "Even if you say that, someone has to do it. It can't be helped." ”But look at this shopping list. You have added a lot more than just what you need for the bar.”

Cigarettes (brand name specified), candy (also brand name specified, and more than one of those), juice (Omitted below), cosmetics, shoe polish, mobile batteries, earphones, game software, cell phone chargers ...... etc.

The email from Kurogiri included a list of those miscellaneous items as well as bar items, food, and household items. I can almost guess who asked for those items.

"Those guys ......" "It is not good for all of us to go out and be found by the police or heroes, so we have no choice." "…Oh, I'm going to have to look around for a few stores for this one ......" "Let's go to the supermarket in front of the station for now." "Yeah, let's go."

With such conversation, we both set out for a supermarket in front of the station that sold both groceries and sundries. That is when the incident occurred.

"y/n, wait a minute." "What?" "It's the ...... cops." "What are you going to do?……Can you use my quirk?" "No, that might give away your location."

As villains, the two of us who have engaged professional heroes and UA High School students may have a split face. I was concerned about this and thought about killing the police officer, but I didn't want to cause trouble for my friends. I was backed into a corner, so I asked Spinner.

"Then what should I do...?" "Watch out! y/n, please be patient!" "what……!?"

At that moment, my feet were in the air. It felt as if my torso had been caught by someone and was being held up strongly in someone's arms.

"What? Wow.......?" "Shh, quiet!"

I heard Spinner whispering from just behind me. It was apparently the spinner who had picked me up, and with me in his arms, he fled into the alleyway, climbed up the outside of the building, using the piping along the wall as a scaffold to stick to using his quirk, and hid in the darkness where the city light did not shine. I was puzzled by the suddenness of the situation, but I followed the spinner's instructions to be quiet and waited for the policeman to pass by.

"Okay, looks like the cops are gone." "I see......."

I remained quiet with the spinner holding me, and the police had apparently left in the other direction. I managed to avoid any serious consequences. As the tension dissipated, I suddenly became aware of the present situation. The spinner's arms holding me were harder and stronger than I had expected, more muscular. I was afraid of my feet floating in the air, so I clung to the spinner's shoulders, which were also firm and muscular, and my face suddenly became hot.

"Okay, let's take it down." "Yeah. ......" "Uh, ...... it's more dangerous coming down than going up, so we're gonna be careful, coming down." "Okay. ....."

Even though he has the quirk to stick the wall, a strong torso must be essential to keep body attached to the wall against gravity. Furthermore, to hold me up and lift me up with him, the spinner is stronger than I imagined.

I am somewhat embarrassed when I am aware that his hard arms are now supporting me, not just because he admired Stain and trained his muscles, or wielded a super knife knife sword and a weapon that is just loud and big, but because you have the power to lift someone up.

While I was thinking about that in my head, Spinner seemed to have climbed down from the outside wall of the building and landed on the ground, and my feet finally reached the ground as well. Was it because he was carrying me that he descended so slowly? I tried my best not to think about it because it would be even more embarrassing to think about ......, so I tried my best to keep my mind clear.

"Well, I'm glad the police didn't find you, right ......?" "Oh, yeah. ......" "I'm sorry about ......". "Oh, why are you apologizing?" "y/n, could it be,...... It was uncomfortable, wasn't it?" "Why would you say that? ...... , that's not true at all. I am very grateful to you for saving me with your quirk."

Spinner seems to be unsure of himself and concerned about his less-than-combative quirk, but that doesn't matter! I wanted to tell him. because this time the spinner saved my life. Thanks to Spinner, I didn't get caught by the police or get into trouble.

I've been thinking about ......, but the Spinner's body holding me up is more muscular than I expected, and I'm in a state of surprise, being strangely conscious of it, and taking an unnatural attitude. I have a lot to say, but my heart is so full right now that it's hard to open my mouth and say it. Spinner acted to save his friends, but I, the one who was saved, was filled with this kind of thing. What an rude person I am.

"Then why is it so unnatural?"

Perhaps I was trying too hard to keep my mind blank as if it were nothing, but the Spinner seemed to have noticed my unnatural behavior.

"It's nothing, I'm just............ surprised, I just had something else on my mind......." "I knew it. I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know how to hold someone.　I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know how to hold a person, let alone a woman..." "Wasn't I too heavy? My weight."

"Is my weight heavy?" was the question that came out of my mouth as quickly as I could.it is true that I was concerned about my weight. The Spinner knew how heavy I was because I had been held up and entrusted my entire weight to him, even if unexpectedly, and of course I felt ashamed and apologetic about that. However, it was not the most important thing for me right now. If I had to say, I would say second.

I think I probably made the comment unconsciously to hide the unexpected upset of being suddenly held by Spinner, and the shame of being strangely aware of Spinner's muscular body and strength, which I was unexpectedly made aware of.

"What? Heavy ......?" "Was it heavy after all. Sorry. ....." "Oh, you mean the weight! No, no, no, no, it's not heavy at all! I think it's lighter than a super knife knife sword!" "Why is your comparison a super knife knife sword?" "I couldn't think of anything else! I just thought it was lighter and more slender than I imagined..." "Oh, you were thinking that......?"

I don't know what to do. I can't believe Spinner was aware of the size difference between me and him. I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed, but I wasn't the only one. Spinner felt the same way.

"Oh, I don't mean that in a weird way!" "I know......., I was also surprised that the spinner was more muscular and stronger ...... than I expected, but I was also amazed at his physical ability to stick to the wall with me in his arms. Again, thank you...... for saving me." "Oh..., you're welcome......"

Apparently, I was not the only one who was strangely aware of this. I was a little relieved, and before I knew it, I had said this embarrassing thing. But I was able to say thank you, so it's okay. The atmosphere was very strange and somewhat awkward. And we were silent for a while, the two of us in the alleyway at night. The night breeze outside was definitely blowing, but my face was too hot at that moment to feel cold at all. Spinner's face, illuminated slightly by the streetlight, also looked a little reddish, so perhaps he was in the same state as I was.

"Okay, let's switch gears and go shopping! There's so much to buy, it's going to take a while!" "Yeah, right! let's go! Let's go shopping!"

I was the one who broke the silence. I raised my voice just enough to not be too loud and acted as best I could as if nothing had happened.

Spinner must have noticed my intention, because he took me up on it. But when I glanced at the spinner, my gaze swam with his. My gaze swam with it, and I couldn't bear the embarrassment, so I turned my head away.

Even if we only mended the surface, neither Spinner nor I could act as naturally as before anymore. We had already become so aware of each other that we tried not to look directly at each other.

#spinner x reader #spinner x you #f!reader

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mourning-again-in-america · 4 months

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this surely has been written about but idk where

one of the big things software does at my grocery store job is it allows a delocalization of policy controls

if I need to clear an item off the current order so I can start afresh, because it doesn't end in a purchase, I need to call for a manager, who has a key card to permit this

I assume back in the day receipts had a notation for these sorts of things that you needed to store in your register likely with a stamp or initialization of approval, but a manager could shout an adhoc override of the override and you would note it and all could proceed

but these ad hoc policy changes based on the needs of the moment are incredibly important and so much of the infrastructure has been baked into an always correct, always networked computer

the computer cannot be trusted to always be correct and its errors are sharp and irrecoverable without drastic action that often takes hours, if not days.

on the one hand, private equity hollowing out enterprise software (of which POSs are an epitome) is a great fear of mine and I think there's good arguments that this should be treated as a national security crisis for CISSA to issue legally binding guidance on but that might just be that "national security" is the best way to get the govt involved where it shouldn't be

on the other hand, one of the few good results of the FAANG layoffs is the making more likely of greater diffusion of proper software architecture and testing, such as how to build a system that lets you mock the terminals as state machines & experiment with worst-case scenarios. but will it happen?

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canonsinthehead · 1 year

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RGG/Yakuza/Judgement at the Grocery Store

UPPER MANAGEMENT = UP WORKING CLASS = WC CHAIRMAN AND HIS ENTOURAGE = CE CLIENTS= C

Yakuza:

Kiryu (WC): Initially a Stock clerk was eventually Promoted to IT (responsible for price accuracy for the printed price shelf tags, maintaining the computers, point of sale software the cash registers use, and any electronic scales that weigh and print prices).

Akiyama (CE): Investor. Due to his generous “donations” to the company, he is part of the chairman’s entourage (due to his wallet’s size, his opinion matters). Thanks to him (and Tachibana), they were able to raise the salaries of the employees not part of upper management, so all of them love him and get along well when he is there. Akiyama can admit that he grew quite fond of many employees, especially Hana who will become his personal secretary. As expected, many members of upper management can’t stand him, wondering why he is even allowed to be around (they are jealous)

Haruka (WC): Cashier

Nishiki (WC): Online order clerk. Spends a lot of time chatting with Kiryu but likes his position since he is away from the upper management most of the day (he thinks they are scary and wants none of it)

Yumi (WC): Cashier

Daigo (CE): Chairman. A big picture of him is in the store saying he is the boss but you can rarely see him in the building. But for the few times, he visits the place, the upper management wake up out of their coma and pull up an act as if issues where not part of their daily lifes (they basically threaded MAjima to not blow the whistle about who is not doing their jobs. Saejima (WC):. He prefers something more simple and since he listens to Majima’s endless rants about his position everytime. he would better be left alone away from customer service but ended up as a Loss prevention associate (helps a grocery store combat and apprehend shoplifters and unlawful employees. They often monitor security cameras for suspicious activity, and some dress as shoppers to monitor activity covertly. Loss prevention associates often contact local law enforcement to alert them of problems.). Lee, who is a security guard works along him.

Ryuji (C): Rude customer

Yuya (WC): shopping cart attendant. While he was proposed higher level position many times, he declined them

Nishida (UP): Previously a stock clerk who graduated from his position to become Majima’s right man. They separate Majima’s workload between them.

Majima (UP): Customer Service Representative. Held to higher regard because of more experience, knowledge, and skills. Since nobody in this company wants to do their job, he has to do a lot people’s tasks. Is the main person dealing with issues with customers (that’s the person we send when they say “I wanna talk to the manager”). Stressed.

Date: (highest working class) Pharmacist.

Rikiya (WC): Floor Clerk

Hana: (upper working class) HR Secretary. She will likely interview new employees. Nishitani (UP): Supervisor. Regardless his personality, he actually does his job. He knows how to make the daily life spicy (Kashiwagi hates but since he knows how to manage rude clients to fuck off so gracefully and he can shut down arguments easily). Since he does his job so well, you can find do all type of random stuff in the store like taking hold of the AUX cord to blast Japanese 80s hits in the radion (play Namidawo Misenaide -Boys Don't Cry- by WINK) or buying items just to annoy Majima. His favorite activity is to announce employees birthdays on the store’s microphone before slapping a cake in their faces (Kiryu couldn’t escape it, Nishiki ran for his life). Nishitani succeeded to slap a cake in daigo’s face to everyone’s excitement (covertly or invertly expressed). He is just appointed himself to Mine’s burning anger, not now but one day. Always to take home what they are supposed get rid of (past date item and damaged food products) Mine (CE): Chairman Assistant/Secretary.

Kashiwagi (UP): Inventory Control Specialist. Give this man a break. He is at the clock at 6AM everyday. Mr. Black Coffee. He spends most of his time making calls to suppliers (and often arguing with them) and check the inventory (IF PEOPLE WERE ENTERING THE DATA CORRECTLY SMH.)

Shinida (WC): Grocery clerk, who graduated from his position to become (kinda off) Majima assistant to help with everyday tasks. To take charge when Majima is too tired or angry. If not, they kinda work as duo for Majima’s work load.

Tachibana (CE): Financial Advisor. He is basically the one over the upper management of the store. If it was not for him being so good at problem-solving and calm regardless of the situation, Daigo will penalize him for how poorly the upper management are doing their job (that’s not on him lol). Always wanted to give Kiryu a promotion so he could join the upper management team and put things back in order.

Baba (WC): shopping cart attendant. Just wants to put his earphones on be left alone.

Hamura, Kuze & Sagawa (UP): Head supervisior, but nobody is sure what is role is since they can’t answer nobody’s questions about anything. More the corporate type, since they send another head supervisor (lower than them) to do all the work (a.k.a answering clients complaints). they spend all their day laughing, chatting and smoking and discussing everything but work-related things. But if there’s financial losses or their quota are not met, you will sure hear one of them raging anger ready to crack the whip on any subordinates. Shimano (CE): Store Manager. He represents the Chairman when he is not there. So he kinda acts like he owns the place (in a way he does owns the building). He is the one watching over a lot of things in the store and especially keeping an eye over the employees. He picks Majima apart and sends Sagawa to scold him about what he is supposedly doing wrong. He is behind most (if not all) employees discharges. Keeps the business afloat. Mirei (UP): HR Yakuza 7/Like A Dragon

Ichiban (WC): Started as a custodian but (after Jo’s training) was upgraded to stock clerk for general merchandise and non-perishable food items. They are always calling him to go check prices and exchange articles since he is so fast and his store clerk colleagues are nowhere to be found.

Adachi (upper working class): Butcher Nanba: (upper working class) Works in the pharmacy.

Han Joongi (WC): Food Preparation: Bread.

Zhao (WC): Food Preparation: Pastry/bakery. Decorates the cakes and makes pastries sold in the grocery store. Saeko (WC): Beauty & Health Department Staff. Masato Arakawa/Ryo Aoki & Kume (C): KAREN Jo Sawashiro (UP): Hourly Supervisor & Training. Technically has the same job as Nishitani but he doesn’t even want to associate with this brown hair clown. But recently he has been upgraded to pay management and was more than willing to cut Ichiban’s pay off when he accidently spilled his coffee on him. (Chill, Jo! Is it even legal?!? Apparently, it is…) Taka The Striker (WC): Auto Care Center Main Manager Yumeno (C): Karen Reina (WC): Cashier Hamako (WC): Senior Cashier

Judgement/Lost Judgement/Judge Eyes

Yagami and Sugiura (C): they came only to buy a bag of chips and move on with their life but they are stuck waiting to checkout and it takes forever. For some reason, everyone that day filled their cart to feed the entire population of china.

Minami, Akutsu, Kaito (WC): Stock Clerk who is always late (or don’t even come) when someone call his department. Spends most his time chatting and smoking. Get to work when the boss or supervisor is near.

Tsukumo (WC): Data Entry Clerk

Higashi (WC): Electronic Department Staff

Mafuyu (WC): Beauty & Health Department Staff

Saori-San (WC): Cashier that covertly hate her job

Awabe (WC): Overnight Stock Clerk

Kengo (WC): shopping cart attendant

Sawa-Sensei (WC): Cashier

Kazuki Soma (CE): Investor. While nobody really knows where he stands or where his interested for the company comes. Rumors says he is an old supervisor but nobody ready really knows. Gets along well with Shimano and was able to conclude all types of deals with him like in exchange of generous “donations’” they could redirect some of the employees to work in his company. Some believe, him and Shimano use the grocery store for money laundering.

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actualbird · 2 months

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Hi there! I saw your post on using discord as a tracker for things and I want to say a couple of things.

I use it for ocs and it works somewhat well (I rarely update it, but at least I can remember about those ocs that I have not toyed with in a while), along with some other things. But for day to day tasks I'm not sure of how useful it can be? I can't keep track of things on a physical diary/calendar/whatever the word is for the thing in English and I don't know how a digital version of it might be better? I mean, I tried in the past via phone notes and after a while (a week tops) I just stopped? I suppose it's more of a me issue?

Another thing, as someone who uses a different pw for everything and has the list written on a sheet of paper, wouldn't it be dangerous to have them on discord? Idk leaks, havkers, that jazz, or is the risk so small that it's trascurable?

hi hi!! im glad that little lifehack post works well enough for your OC purposes!!

i'll be honest first though and say that that post DEFINITELY breached containment and i was not expecting it to get that big, i was wholly just talking to myself HAHA. that being said, it's usefulness really depends on if it works well for you and your own brain purposes!!

i also struggle with keeping diaries/journals, so i simply dont use my personal server for it. the only thing i use my personal server for really, is for sending files to myself across devices so i dont have to bother with bluetooth or cloud or stuff like that. and i use channels as categories of What type of thing im sending to myself. for reference, heres some of my channels in my personal server

so as u can see i rlly dont use it as a personal diary. at most, i use it as a to do list or a to read list for when im switching between my laptop and my phone

i hope that makes sense? kblskjfbsjdffds

now on the matter of passwords: NEVER USE DISCORD TO STORE YOUR PASSWORDS OR ANY SENSITIVE INFORMATION. im like you, i go old school pen and paper style, but yeah really, not on discord. the threat of hacks or leaks or other stuff is too high.

in summary:

i rlly didnt expect that post to go big so im unfamiliar with a lot of the issues that are cropping up for many many people

i find the personal server most useful for storing and sending NON-SENSITIVE INFORMATION, like fanfic ideas or my grocery shopping list or links to stuff i wanna read while im stuck in traffic

in general i dont trust any online-connected-to-the-internet method of storing passwords. pen and paper is the way to go, or if youre more tech savvy than i am, maybe you can look into dedicated password manager softwares.

i hope this can help!!

#me when my little talking to myself post that i made in college went viral ;-;#asks #fernflowerss

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ireviewuread · 11 months

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How to Teach Children About Business and Finance Through Free Online Browser Games

Financial education is often overlooked in the education system, much like other crucial life skills such as home maintenance and tax filing.

This oversight poses a significant problem as children grow up to become financially illiterate adults. As a result, they face ongoing financial struggles, limited opportunities for economic growth, and vulnerability to scams and predatory practices.

Ted Beck, the president and CEO of the National Endowment for Financial Education, emphasizes the importance of financial literacy for children, as it is a skill that will serve them throughout their lives.

"We all need to know how to manage our money," asserts Beck, noting that while some fortunate students learn about it in schools, it is essential to ensure that all children are equipped to handle their financial futures.

Beck even suggests that parents should begin teaching financial literacy to their toddlers, as this skill should be progressively nurtured throughout childhood. An effective way for children to grasp the concept of money as a "medium of exchange" is through educational games and activities.

How to Teach Children About Business and Finance Through Free Online Browser Games

It's a well-known fact that children are drawn to video games because they find them exciting and rewarding. Building on this, you can motivate your child to learn while having fun by introducing them to free online finance and business browser games available on Mortgage Calculator.

These games provide an entertaining and interactive platform through which your child can develop essential financial literacy skills.

Free Money Games on Mortgage Calculator

Mortgage Calculator is a versatile website that caters to both adults and children. While adults can use it to budget for their mortgage, children can engage in educational play.

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I highly recommend children give Grocery Cashier a try, as it is an engaging finance game that immerses players in the role of a cashier at a grocery store. In this game, players are responsible for processing payments from customers, allowing them to practice and improve their basic mathematics skills, such as addition and subtraction while using a virtual cash register that doubles as a calculator to input the correct amounts.

To add an element of challenge, each customer has a time limit, which progressively decreases as the game progresses. This feature encourages players to think quickly and make accurate calculations within a limited timeframe.

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Software Development Game - Code Panda

Mortgage Calculator goes beyond financial games. It also features block coding games, a prominent part of modern school curricula. These games help children understand basic concepts of coding and improve their cognitive functions.

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STEM Game – We Bare Bears Develobears

We Bare Bears Develobears is one of my top picks from the game list. It's an engaging STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) game designed to educate children about the various elements involved in creating a video game.

What I particularly enjoy about this game is the inclusion of a diverse range of mini-games that enable players to progress through different stages. As you play, you'll witness the bears' environment gradually improving, which adds to the overall experience. Moreover, the fact that it revolves around my favourite cartoon characters makes it even more appealing.

I strongly believe that this game has immense value for children as it helps enhance their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. By immersing themselves in the game, they'll acquire valuable skills that can be applied beyond the virtual world.

How to Teach Children About Business and Finance Through Free Online Browser Games

The education system often overlooks financial education, resulting in many adults lacking financial literacy. It is vital to expose children to money management at an early age.

Mortgage Calculator addresses this issue by providing free online finance and business browser games that combine learning with enjoyment.

The games on Mortage Calculator empower children to acquire practical knowledge and develop valuable skills beyond the virtual realm. Ultimately, they equip children for a financially secure future by enabling them to make informed financial decisions.

Start your child's financial education journey today by exploring the games on Mortgage Calculator and helping them build a strong foundation for a lifetime of financial literacy.

#Mortgage Calculator #money games #games #online games #tech #game #short games #finance games #coding game #block coding

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prameethsd · 8 months

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Streamline Your Grocery Business with Multi-Store Management Software in 2023

Do you operate a grocery business with multiple stores and seek an efficient way to manage them all from a single location? If so, Multi-Store Management Software is the solution you’ve been looking for. In 2023, these innovative software solutions offer an intuitive user interface, unique features, and top-notch service to simplify the setup and management of multiple stores.

Before delving into the specifics, let’s explore why Multi-Store Management is a game-changer for your grocery business.

Why Choose Multi-Store Management for Your Grocery Business?

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Multi-store management is a time-saving and efficiency-boosting tool, becoming indispensable in the evolving grocery industry landscape. By the end of 2023, it’s projected that Multi-Store Management will be a fundamental necessity for grocery delivery businesses. As the demand for grocery stores grows, optimizing store management becomes paramount. Multi-store management software solutions are the key to saving time and energy while expanding your grocery business.

Key Benefits of Managing Multiple Grocery Stores with Multi-Store Management

In 2023, operating multiple grocery stores is a significant asset for businesses, offering a multitude of benefits, from increased profits to enhanced customer engagement. Here are some key advantages of managing multiple grocery stores with Multi-Store Management:

1. Better Market Reach

Running multiple grocery stores with grocery delivery solutions allows businesses to reach a vast audience, especially beneficial for international customers unfamiliar with the main store. Multi-store management software enables targeting specific countries or regions, offering tailored services and products in their preferred language or currency.

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Multi-store management fosters customer loyalty by providing the best shopping experience possible, catering to diverse needs and preferences. Grocery delivery apps show customers that your business cares about their unique requirements.

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With multi-store management, you can offer customers the choice of store pick-up or home delivery, enhancing convenience and expanding your store’s reputation beyond its immediate vicinity.

4. Increased Sales Opportunities

Multiple grocery stores allow businesses to tap into various markets and customer segments, increasing sales opportunities by exposing customers to a wider product range. Custom-built Grocery Delivery Software broadens your audience and revenue potential.

5. Efficient Communication

Effective communication is vital for managing a multi-store grocery business, and a robust multi-store management system streamlines this crucial aspect.

6. Detailed Reporting and Analytics

Multi-Store Management Systems provide comprehensive reports, offering insights into customer behavior, loyalty programs, and inventory management. These detailed reports empower grocery businesses with valuable information for informed decision-making.

Conclusion

In today’s fast-paced world, people have limited time for grocery shopping, making a top-tier grocery delivery service the most efficient way to attract more customers.

Are you seeking an all-in-one solution to manage your multi-grocery store efficiently?

Unlock the Future of Grocery Management with Our Grocery Delivery App called ShopUrGrocery.

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