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mostlysignssomeportents · 7 months

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Microsoft put their tax-evasion in writing and now they owe $29 billion

I'm coming to Minneapolis! Oct 15: Presenting The Internet Con at Moon Palace Books. Oct 16: Keynoting the 26th ACM Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing.

If there's one thing I took away from Propublica's explosive IRS Files, it's that "tax avoidance" (which is legal) isn't a separate phenomenon from "tax evasion" (which is not), but rather a thinly veiled euphemism for it:

https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files

That realization sits behind my series of noir novels about the two-fisted forensic accountant Martin Hench, which started with last April's Red Team Blues and continues with The Bezzle, this coming February:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865847/red-team-blues

A typical noir hero is an unlicensed cop, who goes places the cops can't go and asks questions the cops can't ask. The noir part comes in at the end, when the hero is forced to admit that he's being going places the cops didn't want to go and asking questions the cops didn't want to ask. Marty Hench is a noir hero, but he's not an unlicensed cop, he's an unlicensed IRS inspector, and like other noir heroes, his capers are forever resulting in his realization that the questions and places the IRS won't investigate are down to their choice not to investigate, not an inability to investigate.

The IRS Files are a testimony to this proposition: that Leona Hemsley wasn't wrong when she said, "Taxes are for the little people." Helmsley's crime wasn't believing that proposition – it was stating it aloud, repeatedly, to the press. The tax-avoidance strategies revealed in the IRS Files are obviously tax evasion, and the IRS simply let it slide, focusing their auditing firepower on working people who couldn't afford to defend themselves, looking for things like minor compliance errors committed by people receiving public benefits.

Or at least, that's how it used to be. But the Biden administration poured billions into the IRS, greenlighting 30,000 new employees whose mission would be to investigate the kinds of 0.1%ers and giant multinational corporations who'd Helmsleyed their way into tax-free fortunes. The fact that these elite monsters paid no tax was hardly a secret, and the impunity with which they functioned was a constant, corrosive force that delegitimized American society as a place where the rules only applied to everyday people and not the rich and powerful who preyed on them.

The poster-child for the IRS's new anti-impunity campaign is Microsoft, who, decades ago, "sold its IP to to an 85-person factory it owned in a small Puerto Rican city," brokered a deal with the corporate friendly Puerto Rican government to pay almost no taxes, and channeled all its profits through the tiny facility:

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-decided-to-get-tough-against-microsoft-microsoft-got-tougher

That was in 2005. Now, the IRS has come after Microsoft for all the taxes it evaded through the gambit, demanding that the company pay it $29 billion. What's more, the courts are taking the IRS's side in this case, consistently ruling against Microsoft as it seeks to keep its ill-gotten billions:

https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-microsoft-audit-back-taxes-puerto-rico-billions

Now, no one expects that Microsoft is going to write a check to the IRS tomorrow. The company's made it clear that they intend to tie this up in the courts for a decade if they can, claiming, for example, that Trump's amnesty for corporate tax-cheats means the company doesn't have to give up a dime.

This gambit has worked for Microsoft before. After seven years in antitrust hell in the 1990s, the company was eventually convicted of violating the Sherman Act, America's bedrock competition law. But they kept the case in court until 2001, running out the clock until GW Bush was elected and let them go free. Bush had a very selective version of being "tough on crime."

But for all that Microsoft escaped being broken up, the seven years of depositions, investigations, subpoenas and negative publicity took a toll on the company. Bill Gates was personally humiliated when he became the star of the first viral video, as grainy VHS tapes of his disastrous and belligerent deposition spread far and wide:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/12/whats-a-murder/#miros-tilde-1

If you really want to know who Bill Gates is beneath that sweater-vested savior persona, check out the antitrust deposition – it's still a banger, 25 years on:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/09/revisiting-the-spectacular-failure-that-was-the-bill-gates-deposition/

In cases like these, the process is the punishment: Microsoft's dirty laundry was aired far and wide, its swaggering founder was brought low, and the company's conduct changed for years afterwards. Gates once told Kara Swisher that Microsoft missed its chance to buy Android because they were "distracted by the antitrust trial." But the Android acquisition came four years after the antitrust case ended. What Gates meant was that four years after he wriggled off the DoJ's hook, he was still so wounded and gunshy that he lacked the nerve to risk the regulatory scrutiny that such an anticompetitive merger would entail.

What's more, other companies got the message too. Large companies watched what happened to Microsoft and traded their reckless disregard for antitrust law for a timid respect. The effect eventually wore off, but the Microsoft antitrust case created a brief window where real competition was possible without the constant threat of being crushed by lawless monopolists. Sometimes you have to execute an admiral to encourage the others.

A decade in IRS hell will be even more painful for Microsoft than the antitrust years were. For one thing, the Puerto Rico scam was mainly a product of ex-CEO Steve Ballmer, a man possessed of so little executive function that it's a supreme irony that he was ever a corporate executive. Ballmer is a refreshingly plain-spoken corporate criminal who is so florid in his blatant admissions of guilt and shouted torrents of self-incriminating abuse that the exhibits in the Microsoft-IRS cases to come are sure to be viral sensations beyond even the Gates deposition's high-water mark.

It's not just Ballmer, either. In theory, corporate crime should be hard to prosecute because it's so hard to prove criminal intent. But tech executives can't help telling on themselves, and are very prone indeed to putting all their nefarious plans in writing (think of the FTC conspirators who hung out in a group-chat called "Wirefraud"):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/

Ballmer's colleagues at Microsoft were far from circumspect on the illegitimacy of the Puerto Rico gambit. One Microsoft executive gloated – in writing – that it was a "pure tax play." That is, it was untainted by any legitimate corporate purpose other than to create a nonsensical gambit that effectively relocated Microsoft's corporate headquarters to a tiny CD-pressing plant in the Caribbean.

But if other Microsoft execs were calling this a "pure tax play," one can only imagine what Ballmer called it. Ballmer, after all, is a serial tax-cheat, the star of multiple editions of the IRS Files. For example, there's the wheeze whereby he has turned his NBA team into a bottomless sinkhole for the taxes on his vast fortune:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/08/tuyul-apps/#economic-substance-doctrine

Or his "tax-loss harvesting" – a ploy whereby rich people do a "wash trade," buying and selling the same asset at the same time, not so much circumventing the IRS rules against this as violating those rules while expecting the IRS to turn a blind eye:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/24/tax-loss-harvesting/#mego

Ballmer needs all those scams. After all, he was one of the pandemic's most successful profiteers. He was one of eight billionaires who added at least a billion more to his net worth during lockdown:

https://inequality.org/great-divide/billionaire-bonanza-2020/

Like all forms of rot, corruption spreads. Microsoft turned Washington State into a corporate tax-haven and starved the state of funds, paving the way for other tax-cheats like Amazon to establish themselves in the area. But the same anti-corruption movement that revitalized the IRS has also taken root in Washington, where reformers instituted a new capital gains tax aimed at the ultra-wealthy that has funded a renaissance in infrastructure and social spending:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/03/when-the-tide-goes-out/#passive-income

If the IRS does manage to drag Microsoft through the courts for the next decade, it's going to do more than air the company's dirty laundry. It'll expose more of Ballmer's habitual sleaze, and the ways that Microsoft dragged a whole state into a pit of austerity. And even more importantly, it'll expose the Puertopia conspiracy, a neocolonial project that transformed Puerto Rico into an onshore-offshore tax-haven that saw the island strip-mined and then placed under corporate management:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/27/boricua/#que-viva-albizu

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/2023/10/13/pour-encoragez-les-autres/#micros-tilde-one

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

#pluralistic #irs #puerto rico #puertopia #microsoft #micros~1 #tax avoidance #tax evasion #pure tax play #big tech can't stop telling on itself #corporate crime #rough ride #the procedure is the punishment #steve ballmer #pour encouragez les autres

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the-typing-dragon · 8 months

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Cave Johnson is not like Elon Musk for the sole reason that his company DID successfully: -Transfer human consciousness into a metallic frame -Create fully sentient AI -Create STABLE quantum tunneling technology -Access the Multiverse -Successfully splice human and insect DNA -and many other inexplicable crime-against-humanity ACME type advances in technology Not to mention the fact that he DID actually start the company from the ground up Don't get me wrong Cave is an unethical evil idiot with some money literacy that has literal thousands of people's blood on his hands. he just isnt Musk. Also neither is Wheatley poor guy just got stuck doing the Aperture Science Tango and was physically unable to stop it.

#the dragon types #the dragon rants #portal #portal 2 #cave johnson #wheatley

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ducktoonsfanart · 16 days

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Foghoron Leghorn with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner - Pepe Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat - Looney Tunes - Cartoons

In order not to draw only ducks and only related to Disney, I drew related to one of my favorite cartoons, Looney Tunes, and two drawings.

The first drawing is related to sadness by Wile E. Coyote and Road Roadrunner, the famous non-speaking duo that Coyote wants to capture and eat Roadrunner but succeeds and becomes one of the most unlucky characters overall. Yes, it is confirmed by the fact that the company that created Looney Tunes canceled the broadcast of the movie Coyote vs Acme, which is really a big stupid thing in my opinion. And that's why Coyote is very sad and is comforted by his rival Roadrunner. And because of the current meme and the fact that he likes to talk all the time, I added Foghorn Leghorn, the famous rooster from Looney Tunes who advises and criticizes his people with his accent from the American South and for his speeches he has become famous. Yes, here Foghorn is pitying Coyote and criticizing owner Warner Bros for treating them badly, so Disney isn't the only one who treats their characters badly. And they are all together in the area of the Grand Canyon.

For those who can't see what my drawing says, here's what Foghorn says: "Boy, I say boy, what did I tell you? Y'see, that the main director won't let you make your movie at any price because he is an big asshole and we are just like mascots for children. Can you dig it?"

The second drawing I drew is one of my favorite couples, Pepe Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat. And before anyone even attacks me that it's not true that they love each other, look at the last cartoons before they banned Pepe for stupid reasons, where the two really love each other. Yes, in the old cartoons, Penelope avoided Pepe, because Pepe is a skunk and stinks, but there are times when Penelope wanted to hug Pepe. However, one approach is to old cartoons, and the other is more recent. They certainly don't do that anymore, and I love them together no matter what and I'm very sad that they banned Pepe from appearing anymore. I wish he could come back. That's why I drew the usual them in my own way in my own style, the two of them who are really underrated characters. Also this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APH4kmx-sAI

Pepe, Penelope, Wile and Road were invented by Chuck Jones, while Foghorn Leghorn was invented by Robert McKimson.

I hope you like these drawings and I hope these Looney Tunes characters get their justice. Feel free to like and reblog this if you're a fan of these characters!

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cloudaintfair-archive · 2 months

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I have finally settled on an emotion concerning the fate of RWBY. While I am sad that the people at Rooster Teeth, the ones who were at the bottom of the totem pole would be greatly affected by this blatant cash grab, I can't say that I feel sorry for Rooster Teeth closing as a company.

Yes, many people have now become jobless as a result but the mere fact that it's a Black Company makes me a bit relieved that there is one less Black Company in the world.

For the uninitiated, Black Company is a term used in Japan to describe companies who exploit their workers from making them stay so late in the evening to finish up work, Karoshi as some have called it.

And from what we've heard from various people, I can safely label Rooster Teeth as a Black Company.

Another relevant topic is RWBY and all of the properties that Rooster Teeth is handling. Even if other companies were interested in acquiring it, Zaslav would not sell it.

Zaslav will make a show of selling it but he won't as it was the same thing that happened for the Coyote vs. Acme movie, WBD stated that the movie was for sale but it ended up getting deleted.

No matter my feelings about RWBY as a franchise, it's doomed the moment Zaslav closed Rooster Teeth's doors.

#rwby #rooster teeth

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pattysplaceofplaces · 2 years

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CARMEN X FEM READE PLS OLS PLS PLS THANKS BYE

-anonysnuts

The Red in Blue Star Cafe

Classic Carmen Sandiego x Fem Reader

[Author’s Note: You decided not to be specific and I’m using that to my advantage. Enjoy! 💗]

“Alright gumshoes!” Both the siblings took a moment to steady themselves from the sudden teleportation to ACME headquarters from their comfortable homes. “We have a big problem!” Ivy sighed, shaking her head with a hand on her forehead. “Oh no…What did Carmen steal this time?”

“That’s the problem!” Chief screamed causing Zack to lightly flinch. “She hasn’t stolen anything in weeks! She could be planning something big! There’s been a change in her routine for the last three weeks she’s stopped at a cafe in New York without fail every morning.”

“It could be a Trojan Horse.” Ivy suggested. “Player, C-five us to that cafe!” A bluish glow filled the room as the Zack and Ivy ran through the portal.

You peaked into the dining room from the kitchen, scan the area for someone specific.

…

There she was!

The mysterious woman became the best part of your shifts. She enjoyed a black coffee with little sugar and preferred the booth near the table close to the top left corner. She usually read a love story along with her coffee yet not any love stories. Sapphic ones. You couldn’t help but admire her boldness, you rarely told others your sexuality in fear of how you would be treated. Maybe things would be better in the future, to see people like yourself on tv without being the butt of any jokes.

Shaking off your thoughts you go up to the woman in red who patiently resided in the waiting area. Another reason why you enjoyed her company so much. You had to deal with crying babies, flirtatious old men, and that one woman who always wanted to speak to the manager. You got yelled at for the smallest mistakes yet this woman was a breath of fresh air.

“Welcome back Carmen!” You don’t have to put on your customer service smile, this one is real. “The usual?” She nodded and followed you to the table. Yet before you could leave to get her coffee brewed she spoke up. “Actually…Could I get another coffee? Whatever you would recommend for a date please.”

Ouch…It hurt yet you weren’t surprised. Carmen was the perfect woman. You were just some waitress, you couldn’t sweep the girl in red off her feet. In fact you should be happy for her! It was selfish for you to be acting like this. “Right away!” You rushed to the kitchen where you could show your true expression. Even if it was for a moment.

“I hope this one is okay, I chose my personal favorite.” A smile graced those red lips as she nodded. “It’s perfect,” Carmen said softly. “Now please, sit down.” You froze looking at her with a questioning glance. “But ah…your date?” God she was making this so hard on you! “You are my date, if you will kindly accept my feelings.” How could you say no to that?

“I guess criminals need love to.” Ivy commented as she hid in a booth with her brother behind a comically large newspaper with an eyehole cut out of it. She pushed by her brother. “Let me see! Let me see!“ Ivy elbowed him. “She’ll hear us and you’ll ruin their date!”

Zack had ended up tuning her out, being more distracted by the sniffling. “Umm…Chief?” Who knew a hologram could cry. “She grew up so fast!”

#Peanut anon #Carmen Sandiego #Classic Carmen Sandiego #where on earth is carmen sandiego #Carmen Sandiego x reader #Carmen Sandiego x Fem reader #Classic Carmen Sandiego x reader #Classic Carmen Sandiego x Fem reader #Wlw x reader

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pyramidsoul · 1 year

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The most bizzarre incident with Dahmer according to Backderf

“The 1978 Revere variety show, Acts from Our Attic, ran for three performances, March 9–11, 1978. The comedy troupe, the Acme Ash Company, named after the local garbage hauling company that picked up the trash in Bath, was essentially the members of the Dahmer Fan Club. All the bits were written by us. The Hitler skit was the hit of the show (CAL, The Reverie 1978).”

-My Friend Dahmer, Derf Backderf

Derf Backderf (real name John Backderf) is an American cartoonist whom most famous work is “My Friend Dahmer”, an international bestseller. Backderf grew up in Richfield, Ohio, and he attended Revere High School. He was a classmate of Jeffrey Dahmer, and one of the founders of the “Dahmer’s Fanclub”. My Friend Dahmer is the culmination of a comic book project first started in 1994, and it tells various facts and stories of a shy kid, a teenage alcoholic, and a goofball pre-murderers Jeffrey Dahmer.

If you’re interested to know more support the author and get the book!

#jd #jeff dahmer #jeffrey lionel dahmer #facts #derf backderf #my friend dahmer #comic books

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kaffykathy · 9 months

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Columbo if he was in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'

Judge Doom? Lietenent Columbo, LA PD. I hope you don't mind Judge, but this is my first homicide case I have ever taken that was related to the cartoon industry.

I don't know much about toons sir, but you know my wife loves them. Well she doesn't really watch them no, but, any time the kids are getting a little to rowdy at home, she can just turn on the TV set it to Bugs Bunny and...

Oh you're entirely right Mr.Doom I'm getting ahead of myself, I apologize sir. But I do believe you got the wrong person as your perpetrator.

As a matter of fact, I don't think Roger could have killed Acme. I believe he was set up and framed.

You see sir. While it's true that Roger did see Acme and his wife the day before the murder, the fact of the matter is that there is no way he could have possibly murdered him, it just doesn't add up. When I was watching one of those cartoons they were making in Maroon Studios, it hit me - oh no pun intended- it hit me that Roger Rabbit's character was in fact - well Roger Rabbit. And Roger , as much of a cartoon he his, always has the slapstick aiming towards him - and no one else. Now how could a guy like that drop an anvil one a man like Acne? That rabbit is way too clumsy to pull off a stunt like this.

Why yes, I believe the safe was calculated sir. No doubt about it. It looked like something right out of the show. But I guess I should have also added that Roger had an allebi on the night of the murder. You see he was writing his letter to Misses Rabbit. I guess the poor guy just couldn't bare knowing the truth that she has been about, that he got home and-

Yes, I agree Mr.Doom. It's very much circumstansal evidence. I understand you very much don't like toons. I'm sure you're very busy man your honor. Being Judge of Toon Town and all. Heck with a town like that, I tell ya, you better watch where you get your chilli. Mine came out frozen in a block of ice. Well I could only just laugh.

Oh one more thing.

So I asked the boys down at the department for any records of unsolved homicides done in a similar manner. They only had one. A couple years ago this circus performer and private investigator - Teddy I think was his name. Poor fella had a piano drop down on his head. What struck me was two things about this case. One, that the murderer was never found, and two, they suspect that it was indeed a toon. The the way of the murder was so identical that-

Yes you're right, that's a very good point Mr.Doom. I'm sure it's just an old case. Maybe the suspect just vanished in the paper trail. I'll be on my way now.

Oh, uh, come to think of it. There is something else that I came here to talk to you about.

I hope you don't mind sir, but when I was snooping into Maroon Studios, I found out that they were recently bought out by some company named Cloverleaf Industries a couple days before the murder. I was little curious about Clover leaf - and I learned recently they also bought out the Pacific Electric Railway Company. That seemed a little strange to me, why would a company interested in the transit line buy a cartoon studio?

Now the funny thing is Mr.Doom, through that lead I learned there's only one person that actually owns Clover Leaf. Something like, Baron Von Rotton. Now that name sounded very much like a toon's. One that, and I don't wanna profile too hard, one that would definitely be horrible frighting villain in any film.

Oh and uh, one more thing sir. I'll get out of your hair soon. I was just curious, how do you get your cape to always flap like that?

#columbo #who framed roger rabbit #judge doom #this is silly #fanfic

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jknerd · 11 months

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DISNEY STUDIO AU OC: Jolly Wings

Full Name: Jolly Wings

Other Names: Jolly Roger (stage name), Aunt Jolly

Schools: Acme Middle School (graduated), S. Symphony High School (graduated)

Occuaption(s): Sub-vocalist of Wings’ Wink (retired), Solo Singer (former), talent manager

Residence: Spoonerville, Ohio

Family: Bliss Wings (oldest sister), Glory Wings-Goof (older sister), George G “Goofy” Goof (brother-in-law), Debbie (niece), George Jr Goof (nephew), Maxine Goof (niece), Gloria Goof (great niece)

Relationships: George G “Goofy” Goof (first and longtime unrequited love->friend), Clarabelle Heifer (acquaintance), Sylvia Marpole (one-sided rival->acquaintance), Peg Pete (acquaintance), Big Time (boyfriend)

Likes: Goofy, singing, dancing, her job as talent manager, guys with black hair and “cute laughter”

Dislikes: Being bossed around, Bliss’ nagging, fear of being hated by Goofy or Maxine

Jolly Wings was a sub-vocalist of Wings' Wink consisted with her and her two older sisters; Bliss and Glory B. Sister-in-law of Goofy, aunt of Debbie, George Jr, and Maxine. She is currently a talent manager where Maxine later joins to work. Not many have known but only FEW knows Jolly's longtime unrequited crush on Goofy (especially Clarabelle).

With her two older sisters, they formed a girl band “Wings’ Wink” and received a status as sub-vocalist of the group. Being the youngest of the group, she was forced to maintain the image of “cute and innocent” one by the recording company. At some point, she encountered Goofy who was working as talent and also a student of college. Goofy has become her first friend and companion she could talk to when feeling stressed. Through this, Jolly developed romantic feelings for him. However, when hearing Glory B becoming pregnant with Goofy’s child, she felt betrayed and upset she refused to contact with her older sister. While Bliss became a songwriter, Jolly debuted as solo singer under the stage name “Jolly Roger” in a concept of rebellious girl, receiving more popularity. When Glory B passed away, Jolly did not attend her funeral as it could mean she would see her and Goofy’s children. When the tabloids made a false article about Goofy and Clarabelle’s scandal, Jolly was immediately hostile towards Clarabelle but relieved to learn the scandal was not true.

At some point, Jolly Wings retired as a singer and worked as talent manager. There were few occasions she have noticed Maxine’s talent; one is where she and her father danced with Powerline on stage at Los Angeles, California during the girl’s summer vacation. The second was College X-Game where Maxine won the competition against Bradley Uppercrust III. When the Disney Studio wish to have Maxine debuted, they hired Jolly as her manager. When meeting Maxine in person for the time as she was introduced as her aunt, Maxine happily hugged her, much to her surprise. Though, when seeing Maxine performing or displaying her talents, Jolly felt the bitterness as she views Maxine as perfect combination of Goofy and Glory B. Later, it is revealed that Jolly has been giving Maxine’s informations to the Beagle Boys, the hip-hop-rap-pop group who was envious of Maxine’s growing popularity. As Jolly interact with Maxine more, the less she felt bitter and grew to genuinely care for her niece. But, the conflict rise when Maxine received her first award in music as Beagle Boys sold Maxine’s informations of current house she stays, her private accounts, and her love life before telling Maxine that Jolly has been working for them by gaining her informations and secrets. However, Maxine surprised the Beagle Boys and Jolly by saying she already knew everything (including Jolly’s feelings for Goofy), because she asked Bradley to spy on them as she, in fact, has not entirely trusted Jolly who has not been in her family life until now. Maxine also added that nothing would ever distract her from what she enjoys as she won’t tell the entire thing to her father Goofy.

Since then, Maxine has not calling Jolly “aunt” as she referred her by a name as the only time she would talk to her aunt is during work outside college. Interpreting this as renouncing her, Jolly has grown immense remorse of her actions and starts to put efforts to reconcile with Maxine. Finally turning to Goofy for help and told him everything that happened, Goofy was not angry but still upset. However, he advised her to talk to Maxine and see whether his daughter could forgive or not. Jolly tearfully apologized, confessing her actions were because of her obsession with him, finally able to tell him what she have felt. Goofy apologized for unable to see through her clearly and is glad that she is willing to be close to Maxine as a family. Eventually, she and Maxine finally able to talk as Maxine told her that while the betrayal still hurts, she never hate her aunt as the reason why she avoided her was because knowing her feelings for Goofy and her resentment of Glory, Maxine thought that keeping the distance or renouncing her would make Jolly feel better. Though, Maxine added that Jolly might have to avoid Pete or Peg for a while because he snitched on his wife about Jolly’s betrayal to Maxine and Peg was absolutely UPSET.

Later, Jolly also reconnected with her older sister Bliss and encountered her daughter Debbie. In some occasions, Jolly is seen stopping her sister from trying to break Debbie and Duke apart. Finally able to move on from her first love, Jolly awkwardly but genuinely bonds with Sylvia who eventually married Goofy. At some point, Jolly properly meets two boys who have feelings for Maxine; Rox and Bradley. When asking the latter how did he find out about her, Bradley explained of his sharp profiling and analysis of her, the Beagle Boys, deducting her lifestyle and her feelings for Goofy, which greatly scared her as she replied she “doesn’t want to be his enemy”. Fortunately, she is currently in a healthy relationship with the leader of Beagle boys, Big Time, who has let go of his obsession in success.

#Disney Studio AU #OCs #Goof Troop #A Goofy Movie #An Extremely Goofy Movie #Goof Troop AU #A Goofy Movie AU #An Extremely Goofy Movie AU #Jolly Wings

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titleknown · 7 months

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HELLOWEEN #23: FANTOMISE!

-Fantomise is a Bard-Poet of Hell, with 144 platinum records to his name and 112 bands signed to his service. He may be summoned to grant skill and success at all endeavors musical, sway the hearts of others towards the summoner and to make invisible truths visible.

He appears as a knight with great claws and the head of a metallic bird and speaks in the voice of an angel. Do not challenge him to a duel of musical prowess, you will lose.-

This entry was from one of my sources that wasn't the Last Testament, though it did seem to be trying to pastiche its style and plagarized several of its entries, known as The Black Book of Don Juan.

Fantomise did not appear in the Last Testament because, to put it simply, he is a very new addition to the hosts of Hell. And it appears it is rapidly ascendant, amassing what appears to be by all testaments a hybrid of entertainment complex and a personal army, unusually large and organized compared to the common personal armies of hell. His statuses, for example, have at least doubled since the writing of that entry, dependant on the metrics one utilizes.

Multiple individuals from Trixoin to Gentiflaccio spoke in fear about him, which seems a testament to the power of his rise and thusly the importance of my interview with him. But, it was very difficult to get information about him due to the fact that he would not interview me directly.

I was able to enter his palace, a lavish stylized record studio office, where he sat upon a high platform on a velvet couch being fed grapes by attendants in scant rainiment, but he simply commanded me to "fight" two attendants of his, in a sort of singing-duel.

This was apparently quite common, given that he had an entire backup band behind a curtain for this purpose. I thought I had done quite well, but the fact that I ended up on the streets afterwards said otherwise. So I had to do some digging, both within the archives of Hell and, oddly enough, inside the archives of the world of humans.

This was because, to my surprise, I had found out that he was originally a human, an extremely talented musician by the name of Griffin DePalma in fact, who had lead a cult of personality in our world. Superficially, it appeared to be a rags-to-riches story, building himself up from nothing as a major rock singer and songwriter; even starting his own recording company, attracting marginalized voices from all around to build up a parallel small army there.

He was described as like a "Prince of Rock," and superficially kind and compassionate and beautiful to behold, thought some even then said that there were glimpses of darkness within. That his pursuit towards the acme of rock and desire for adoration was a brittle shell concealing nothing but darkness.

His popularity was his downfall, as the record business in many worlds is a cutthroat hellscape (And yes, from my own experience I would compare it to Hell, but that is its own digression), and so he was indicted on false charges for drug possession and murder and sent into prison, ironically put to work in the fields of manufacturing records, an incident with a record press destroying his beautiful face.

There was a massive protest for his release when he disappeared from the human world, and the data appears to match up to the time when Fantomise appeared in Hell after making an unspecified "deal" under his original name. I say "he" disappeared, but the entire prison, even those protesting in his favor, were gone as well.

There was nothing but a crater left on the date he came. The way the first few floors of his studio resemble the blueprints of the prison I was able to look up, along with some... indications in the walls have ominous implications.

Harkharold is a name that appears in the original contract, so it was likely he was the one who struck what was most likely a deal, an exchange of his service and his audience for power to ascend far beyond as a true Prince of Rock

It would appear at first that the student has yet again surpassed the master, and I presumed at first Harkharold would be consumed with jealousy, but when I asked Harkharold about it, he spoke not with bitterness, but with an odd pride.

Granted, that pride was mostly mocking Amduscias, but it was still a form of pride that seemed dissonant from his frustrated ambition. Well, it may be a cognitive dissonance of political position I suppose, one can be proud of a peer for the same lofty heights you despise in a rival.

Regardless, the willingness to sacrifice those who loved them most is chilling, perhaps the sort of attitude that ascendancy in Hell requires but also the sort of attitude that makes Hell miserable for both demons and souls.

I fear his ambitions may stretch even further beyond Hellish politics than even others, in a way that may impact even you dear reader. I would advise vigilance...

-Xavier X. Xolomon , Monsterologist and Understudy to The Librarian Of Babel

--------------------

Show of hands, who can guess which characters I'm ripping off with this guy, both design and story-wise?

It's probably very obvious to a lot of y'all, but I'm curious whether there's anyone who doesn't know!

Also, I am sad that I cannot compose music, so I cannot show what was certainly a spectacular rock duel between Xavier and Fantomise's two chronies.

Tho I will note, I imagine Xavier being voiced by either John Hodgman or friend of the blog @radicalhelmet, so there's that at least.

As per usual the whole descriptions, designs, ectcetera from this project are free to use as you see fit under a CC-BY 4.0 license so long as I; Thomas F. Johnson, am credited as their creator!

#my art #my writing #helloween #demon #demons #creature design #character design #phantom #prince #kingdom #rock opera

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govindhtech · 1 month

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Dominate the Battlefield: Intel Battlemage GPUs Revealed

Intel Arc GPU

After releasing its first-generation Arc Alchemist GPUs in 2022, Intel now seems to be on a two-year cadence, as seen by the appearance of the Battlemage in a shipping manifest. This suggests that Battlemage GPUs are being supplied to Intel’s partners for testing, as it’s the first time they’ve seen any proof of them existing in the real world. Intel is probably getting ready for a launch later this year given the timing of this.

Two Battlemage GPUs are being shipped by Intel to its partners, per a recently discovered shipment manifest that was published on X. The GPUs’ designations, G10 and G21, suggest Intel is taking a similar approach as Alchemist, offering one SKU that is more or less high-end for “mainstream” gamers and one that is less expensive.

Intel Arc Graphics Cards

As you may remember, Intel had previously announced plans to launch four GPUs in the Alchemist family:

Intel Arc A380

The A380, A580, A750, and A770. However, only the latter two were officially announced. They anticipate that the A750 and A770, which Intel most likely delivers at launch for midrange gamers, will be replaced by the G10.

They’ve never heard of cards being “in the wild,” but two Battlemage GPUs have shown up in the Si Soft benchmark database before. The fact that both of those cards have 12GB of VRAM stood out as particularly noteworthy. This suggests that Intel increased their base-level allowance from 8GB, which is a wise decision in 2024. As stated by Intel’s CEO earlier this year, Battlemage was “in the labs” in January.

Intel Arc A770

A previously released roadmap from Intel indicates that the G10 is a 150W component and the G21 is 225W. It is anticipated that Intel will reveal notable improvements in Battlemage’s AI capabilities, greater upscaling performance, and ray tracing performance. As 225W GPUs were the previous A750 and A770, it seems Battlemage will follow the script when it comes to its efficiency goals. The business has previously declared that it wishes to aim for this “sweet spot” in terms of power consumption, wherein one PCIe power cable is needed rather than two (or three).

While the industry as a whole is anxious to see how competitive Intel will be with its second bite at the apple, gamers aren’t exactly waiting impatiently for Intel to introduce its GPUs like they do with Nvidia or AMD’s next-gen. Even if the company’s Alchemist GPUs were hard to suggest when they first came out, significant performance advancements have been made possible by the company’s drivers.

The Intel Battlemage G10 and G21 next-generation discrete GPUs, which have been observed in shipment manifests, are anticipated to tackle entry into the mid-range market. They already know from the horse’s mouth that Intel is working on its next generation of discrete graphics processors, which it has revealed are being code-named Battlemage. The company is developing at least two graphics processing units, according to shipping excerpts.

Intel Battlemage GPUs

The shipping manifest fragments reveal that Intel is working on several GPUs specifically for the Battlemage G10 and G21 versions. The newest versions in Intel’s graphics processor lineup include the ACM-G11, an entry-level graphics processor, and the ACM-G10, a midrange market positioning and higher-end silicon graphics processor. As a result, the names Battlemage-G10 and Battlemage-G21, which are aimed at entry-level PCs and bigger chips, respectively, match the present names for Intel’s Arc graphics processors. Both stand a strong chance of making their list of the best graphics cards if they deliver acceptable levels of performance.

The Battlemage-G10 and Battlemage-G21 are being shipped for research and development, as stated in the shipping manifest (which makes sense considering these devices’ current status). The G21 GPU is currently in the pre-qualification (pre-QS) stage of semiconductor development; the G10’s current status is unknown.

Pre-qualification silicon is used to assess a chip’s performance, reliability, and functionality. Pre-QS silicon is typically not suitable for mass production. However, if the silicon device is functional and meets the necessary performance, power, and yield requirements, mass production of the device could be feasible. For example, AMD’s Navi 31 GPU, if it meets the developer’s objectives, is mass-produced in its A0 silicon phase.

They rarely get to cover Intel’s developments with its next-generation graphics cards, but they frequently cover Nvidia’s, as they did recently with the GeForce RTX 50-series graphics processors, which should appear on their list of the best graphics cards based on industry leaks.

This generation, Nvidia seems to be leading the laptop discrete GPU market, but Battlemage, with Intel’s ties to OEMs and PC manufacturers, might give the green team some serious competition in the next round. According to the cargo manifest, there will be intense competition among AMD’s RDNA 4, Intel’s Battlemage, and Nvidia’s Blackwell in the forthcoming desktop discrete GPU market.

Qualities:

Targeting Entry-Level and Mid-Range: The ACM-G11 and ACM-G10, the successors to the existing Intel Arc Alchemist series, are probably meant for gamers on a tight budget or seeking good performance in games that aren’t AAA.

Better Architecture: Compared to the Xe-HPG architecture found in Intel’s existing Arc GPUs, readers can anticipate an upgrade in this next-generation design. Better performance per watt and even new features could result from this.

Emphasis on Power Efficiency: These GPUs may place equal emphasis on efficiency and performance because power consumption is a significant element in laptops and tiny form factor PCs.

Potential specifications (derived from the existing Intel Arc lineup and leaks):

Production Process: TSMC 6nm (or, if research continues, a more sophisticated node) Unknown is the core configuration. Possibly less cores than Battlemage models at higher levels (should any exist).

Memory: GDDR6 is most likely used, yet its bandwidth and capacity are unclear. Power Consumption: Designed to use less power than GPUs with higher specifications.

FAQS

What are the Battlemage G10 and G21 GPUs?

Intel is developing the Battlemage G10 and G21, next-generation GPUs that should provide notable gains in capabilities and performance over their predecessors.

What markets or segments are these GPUs targeting?

Targeting a wide range of industries, including professional graphics, gaming, and data centres, the Battlemage G10 and G21 GPUs are expected to meet the demands of both consumers and businesses.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

#Intel #IntelArc #intelarcgpu #govindhtech #INTELARCA380 #intelarca770 #battlemagegpu #G10 #G21 #news #technologynews #technology #technologytrends

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keyofjetwolf · 2 years

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DID YOU PAY WARNER BROTHERS ROYALTIES FOR THAT GIANT WILE E COYOTE PLUSH

I hadn’t thought about it before, but Usagi being huge on Wile E Coyote actually works for me. All she can ever see is the poor guy getting repeatedly kicked in the nuts by life and/or hubris and/or the ACME company. She’d feel so sorry for him! He tries so hard! That mean old Road Runner never stops to help!

That the coyote is attempting to, you know, EAT HIM would never occur to Usagi, and in fact whenever someone attempts to explain it to her, she outright denies it (”Maybe he just wants to be friends! You don’t know!”), and basically what I’m saying is the entire end of Stars is just Usagi forgiving Wile E Coyote for finally getting dinner except in this case dinner equals EVERY LIFE FORCE IN THE ENTIRE GALAXY.

#jet wolf watches saban moon #i'm not still pissed about the stars ending no ma'am

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junos-office-drama · 1 year

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Have you ever been in one of those nightmare customer service scenarios where you just keep getting shuffled around without ever getting your issue resolved, and you wish you could just escalate it to someone who can actually do something?

Yeah.

Anyway, I might have been having an issue with a reservation I made at a resort chain, and for the past month have been in the eighth circle of customer service hell trying to get it resolved.

Anyway, tonight I had just had enough, and decided to escalate things -- really, really escalate things.

Like reverse-engineer the email address for their Global President and email him directly... which I know worked, because I just got his out-of-office auto responder with is personal assistant's email address and phone number. So now I know who I'm calling on Monday to hopefully, finally get this problem solved.

HERE'S HOW!

Step 1: Find out what corporate entity has the power to solve your problem.

In my case, we'd booked a reservation on the resort's website, but their reservations are actually handled through a third-party vendor. It's this vendor that I actually need to track down, not the resort itself (my issue is with the reservation, not the resort property).

However, none of my paperwork actually had that vendor's actual company name on it, just a vague "Resort Reservation" reference and generic ([email protected]) type email.

So the first thing to do is to start hunting down press releases. Most press releases are not written for the general public; they're for other business and investors. But they are very, very public.

Search "press release" + "company name" -- whatever company name you have, even if it might not be the right company. For me, I entered the resort's name, because I didn't yet know their corporate structure (who owned the resort, who managed the resort, etc.)

At the bottom of the press release, there will be several blurbs about all the corporate entities involved. Read those closely and you can start untangling the threads.

In my case, one of those blurbs contained a line mentioning that the resort I was having the issue with was managed by a specific resort management company.

Ah-ha.

Step 2: Stalk people on the internet!

My favorite tool for this is LinkedIn, but Google will work just fine too. Now that you know the company you want, start trying to hunt down their executive team.

Search "target company name" + one of the following titles: president, director, VP, office, CEO, COO, CFO.

If you can't find those, sales and marketing managers can also work. You want someone who is concerned with the company's customers and reputations; a director of IT is going to be less helpful (but if that's all you can find, go with it).

Take note of any names you uncover in your search.

Step 3: Find an email within the company.

Okay, now that you know who you want to contact, you need to know the company's email structure.

Press releases are really helpful for this. Search "press release" + "target company name."

Usually, at the very bottom of the press release, there's a "for media inquiries" or similar, and a name and an email address.

This is not the person you're going to email, but you should analyze how their email address is written:

[email protected] ?

Fun fact: Enter this into your Google search:

*"@company.com"

This will return all the public email addresses for that company, allowing you to further examine their email structure. (You must write it exactly as shown, with the asterisk and quotation marks.)

Step 4: Reverse-engineer that email address!

Now you have all the pieces you need. You know the President's name is John Smith, the company's name is Acme, and the email format is [email protected]

It is very, very likely that his email address is going to be [email protected]

In my case, what I do is email the most probable email address ([email protected]), and then BCC all the other likely email combos ([email protected], [email protected], etc.).

In my case, I actually came up with 18 potential emails for 1 person because the company used three different email domains (e.g., acme.com, acmeco.com, acmecorp.com + all the potential name combinations). So I emailed 1 and BCC'ed the other 17.

Step 5: Write a really, really polite email.

Okay, now that you likely have the real email address for a specific person, write a polite email explaining the issue and your desired outcome. In my case, I want a partial refund that's owed to me.

Try to keep it as short and straight to the point as possible.

So I wrote a very polite email explaining that I'd repeatedly called and emailed the customer service center without resolution, and I was hoping I could be put in touch with a customer service manager or director who could resolve my problem and issue my refund.

Most of the time, the person you're emailing will not be the person who solves your issue. They will delegate it, but usually requests from a higher-up (like a Prez or Director) get the VIP treatment.

This above process has worked well for me in the past, and I'm crossing my fingers that it'll work this time, too.

Hopefully it works for you as well!

#customer service #customer service hacks #bad customer service #life hacks #life tips #good to know #adulting #adulting tips

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galactic-glamour-girl-posts · 2 years

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Animaniacs : Wish Upon a Warner AU

I don't have a fully written out story for it yet (and I'm not sure if I ever will to be honest), but I thought this was a fun idea.

What is the "Wish Upon a Warner" AU? It's an AU where the world of "Wakko's Wish" and the world of "Animaniacs" are alternate dimensions. The main idea of this AU is that the Toon!Warners end up stuck in Warnerstock and eventually meet their older, royal counterparts. (I'm not gonna say how they get there yet, I have something in mind but I wanna see if people are actually interested in this AU first). Hijinks (and angst) ensue.

Some notes:

-Wakko's Wish, the movie, doesn't exist in this AU. Everything that happened in that movie (minus any fourth wall jokes where they reference the fact that it is a movie) happened in an alternate dimension.

-For the Royal!Warners, it's set 3 years after the events of Wakko's Wish; but for the Toon!Warners it's set in 1998, same year the original show ended. I chose for it to be set in 1998 because, without going into too much detail, the show's cancellation is the catalyst for the Toon!Warners ending up in Warnerstock.

-I made the Royal!Warners fae so that anything that the Warners do that could be explained with cartoon logic, for them they instead use magic (for example, they don't have hammer spaces, but they CAN summon objects, and they aren't squash and stretch characters, but they can transform their bodies, etc). They still look about the same as they do in Wakko's Wish, just older and in different outfits.

-The Royal!Warners can age and have the same lifespan as any human, whilst the Toon!Warners are...well, still toons. No adulthood for them-they're still (physically) 14, 11 and 9.

-Everyone else in Warnerstock is either a human or a talking animal-no toons here!

-Despite the AU taking place before the reboot, I do intend to have some characters from it be in the AU. Nils Neidhardt is a Wish Fulfilment Facilitator like Pip, Julia is a villager who moved to Acme Falls after Salazar was dethroned, Nora Rita Norita is the CEO of an elixir company (and rival to Hello Nurse), etc.

-Royal!Yakko is 17 years old and is trying to grow up a bit too fast, attempting to reject his family's signature zany and childlike nature. Now that he has a kingdom to rule over and that he's almost 18, he feels the pressure to stop goofing around and act like an adult, for the sake of the kingdom (his anxiety isn't exactly helping either). Meanwhile, Toon!Yakko is disappointed his older self is such a "stick in the mud" now, and cranks up his zaniness around him. Royal!Yakko thinks he's doing it to annoy him, but really Toon!Yakko just wants him to loosen up, and not fully lose his "inner" child.

-Royal!Wakko, and like his toon counterpart, always had the tendency to mimic others' mannerisms. Now that he's 14-as old as Yakko was when they searched for the Wishing Star-he's taken that to the extreme by trying to act just like his older brother. He does this mostly out of admiration, but also partly because he struggles with things Yakko, both his siblings really, are good at (reading, communication skills, etc) and he feels shame over this. Eventually he expresses his desire to be more like them to Toon!Wakko, who responds in confusion. Why would his older self want to act like Yakko? He's not Yakko-he's Wakko! Did he forget? They go back and forth on this a lot, although over time, with Toon Wakko's help, Royal!Wakko learns to not be ashamed for what he may lack, and to celebrate his own strengths by being his true self.

-Royal!Dot, or "Angelina" as she insists everyone call her now, is 12 years old and has fully recovered from her sickness. She wants to make up for the years she spent suffering from her illness and having to rely on her brothers to take care of her. Now that she's older, she's tired of being seen as the "cute, helpless little girl" of the family-she wants to prove that she's mature, independent, tough, reliable...and definitely not a burden. First order of business to show off her maturity was to she insist that everyone to call her "Princess Angelina", which she thought was a more mature sounding name than "Dot". Toon!Dot is surprised to learn that her older self was sick, then expresses delight at the idea of her brothers taking care of her whilst she lays in bed all day. Angelina accidently lets it slip she feels guilty over being a burden to her brothers when she was younger, even though Wakko's never said so and Yakko keeps insisting otherwise, that she isn't, and never was, a burden, that her brothers took care of her because they love her, and don't regret a second of it. Toon!Dot reminds her that if Royal!Yakko was anything like her Yakko, then he's not one to sugar coat things, so if he says he feels that way, he means it. Besides, “We already know that we’re strong, but sometimes it pays to be seen as the cute, helpless little girl.”

-The Royal!Warners let the Toon!Warners stay at the castle with them (they are technically family) whilst they figure out a way to use their magic to reach Burbank.

This is the second Animaniacs AU I've made, the first being a "The Looney Tunes Show" AU. However, unlike that one, I might develop this one into a fanfic, since I have more ideas for it (a Pinky and the Brain subplot, which characters the Toon!Warners meet before meeting the Royal!Warners, etc). But no promises! (I am NOT a writer 😅)

#animaniacs #wakko's wish #animaniacs reboot #animaniacs 2020 #animaniacs 1993 #au idea #royal au #yakko warner #wakko warner #dot warner #yakko wakko and dot #the warner siblings #pinky and the brain #wish upon a warner #wish upon a warner au #princess angelina contessa louisa francesca banana fanna bo besca iii

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scattered-winter · 2 years

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I agree with you on the El Topo and Le Cherve depiction in the show. I agree that their relationship shouldnt be made a big thing. I want their relationship to be treated as normal. When I say I wanted them to kiss, I mean a casual peck. Similar to the kiss Benson and Troy from Kipo briefly shared in the timeskip. Its not a big deal, just a bit of irrefutable confirmation that they are in a relationship.

Love the rant about the difference of family in VILE and Team Red! However, I’m not sure how much I agree that the Faculty isn’t exactly family. Brunt certainly believes they are. Maelstrom certainly doesn’t. I get the impression that Bellum and Cleo do genuinely care for each other, but not the other faculty members as much. I also think they did somewhat enjoy each other’s company at their Halloween party, though its definitely not in the same way Team Red does.

What do you think of Brunt’s perception of Family in VILE?

-Anon 1

fair enough!!!!! I think that definitely would've been a cute addition <33

I also agree that vile isn't necessarily not a family; in the last post I was mostly focusing on how they were different from team red so some things got lost in translation. I agree that brunt is the strongest believer in the "family," and maelstrom is probably on the opposite end of the spectrum, with bellum and cleo somewhere in between. I think the biggest thing is that each faculty member has a different idea of what they all are to each other. to coach brunt, they're a family that has each other's backs through the thick and thin. to bellum and cleo, they're allies who collaborate together and are working toward a common goal. with maelstrom, I get the vibe that he's only really part of the faculty because he can accomplish more with all the resources of vile at his disposal; but the second it gets dangerous/inconvenient for him, he dips. and the way brunt and maelstrom were captured at the end just really highlights this. coach brunt fought and punched her way through entire squads of acme agents before eventually being brought down. meanwhile, professor maelstrom snuck out through a secret tunnel that probably only he knew about. brunt was fighting to protect her home and fellow faculty, but maelstrom just cut his losses and ran.

which brings me to my next point!!! coach brunt!!!!

she's actually one of my favorite faculty members because this is so interesting!! to her, the "family" of vile was more important than anything. so important, in fact, that she was willing to crush her adopted daughter to death because she'd betrayed that family. but as we saw at the end, maelstrom and the other vile operatives (not even just the faculty, but everyone) either tried to escape on their own or simply resigned themselves to capture, leaving brunt alone to try and fight for them. you could write this up to brunt's more aggressive and confrontational nature, but I like to overcomplicate things so to me that was brunt trying to protect her family...even if they never extended the same courtesy to her. and this is where I really like to play in the mud pit, because somehow coach brunt was raised in vile believing that they were all a family. which, to me, means that at some point they must have been. maybe when they were all students together, or during some of the heists they worked together on. maybe not with those specific faculty members, but with vile as a whole. sometime during brunt's life in vile, she grew to love her fellow operatives like family. and then they all slowly fracture apart and leave her alone to try and defend them.

I just....I want to play with that concept a bit. we can see some members of vile being ride-or-die for each other (le chevre and el topo, and even just most of the group in carmen's graduating class) so I'd imagine they weren't the only ones. but in the end, when acme was coming down on them and their entire world was crumbling, family didn't matter when it came to survival. no honor among thieves and all that

#this ask just made me remember how much i'm DYING to explore vile more #the interpersonal relationships and the overall structure and EVERYTHING #and also some introspection on brunt's part because after having ur entire family leave you to fight alone?? i wanna get into some of that #asks #anon 1 #u are FEEDING ME <3333 #carmen sandiego meta #carmen sandiego

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