#difficulties using computers and software

[ontologicalsynaesthesia]

Tips for Digital Privacy, Adblocking, and Avoiding AI

I regularly see posts where people complain about the ubiquity of ads and AI and having to use apps for everything and the way big tech companies track everything you do, and I agree that the current state of the internet sucks, and complaining about it is very valid! But there are steps you can take to mitigate a lot of these things, and some of them are very easy and don't require any specialized technical knowledge.

I've divided these suggestions into 3 tiers of increasing difficulty, where the steps in the first tier would be easy for almost everyone reading this post, and the steps in the third tier are more complicated, but honestly would still be doable for many people who are comfortable using a computer and searching the internet to troubleshoot problems.

Caveats:

I am not an expert or a tech professional.

I've (mostly) tried to recommend only software and strategies I've personally tried, but that doesn't mean they're completely free of bugs or problems.

I don't know much about Apple, and I haven't personally tested any of these on Apple devices.

Tier 1: Super Easy

If you use tumblr, then you probably have the technical knowledge to do any of these, and they probably won't require significant changes in how you browse the internet or use your devices.

Computers & Android Devices: Use Firefox with the uBlock Origin extension

You will almost never see a single ad, including on YouTube and in (at least some) streaming services. If you have an Android phone, you can use Firefox for Android and add uBlock Origin on there too. It also blocks trackers and malware.

Unfortunately you cannot install extensions on Firefox for iOS. However:

iOS devices (iPhones & iPads): Use uBlock Origin Lite with Safari

Install uBlock Origin Lite from the App Store, and then add it to Safari as an extension. My understanding is that uBlock Origin Lite has the same ad- and tracker-blocking capabilities of full uBlock Origin, but doesn't have some of its other features.

You can also install uBlock Origin Lite on Chrome (only on a computer, not a mobile device), if you can't or don't want to switch to Firefox.

Use your browser instead of apps wherever possible

This isn't possible for every app, but lots of services that really want you to install their app can still be used through a browser perfectly fine. Using your browser significantly limits the tracking information the services can collect from your device, and if your browser has uBlock Origin, you won't see ads that you would see in the app. (I personally use tumblr on my phone through Firefox for Android with uBlock Origin and the XKit Rewritten extension, which makes it far more usable than I ever found the actual app.)

If you want to be able to access the site through your phone's home screen like you would be able to with an app, you can just add a shortcut to your home screen through your browser (just touch the three dots next to the URL bar while on the web page you want to add and then touch "Add to home screen".)

Use DuckDuckGo instead of Google and make it the default search engine in your browser

A few years ago I would have added the caveat that DDG might give you less helpful results, but Google has gotten so bad that this isn't even really true anymore. DuckDuckGo doesn't track you, and while it has AI features and sponsored results by default, you can turn them off easily.

There's also a "No AI" domain for DuckDuckGo that searches with AI features turned off by default (noai.duckduckgo.com); in Firefox, you can make this version your default search engine, which makes sure DDG's AI stays off even if you clear your cookies or search in an incognito window (on the NoAI DuckDuckGo search page, right click the search bar then click "Add Search Engine", then make it your default search engine in Settings > Search).

Windows: Turn off AI and telemetry as much as possible

While you increasingly can't disable all AI and data collection on Windows, you can at least disable some of it. (That link isn't an exhaustive guide, and Windows adds new invasive "features" all the time, so I'd recommend doing some internet searches if there are additional features you want to turn off.) There are also some widely recommended 3rd party tools that will do it for you like Win11Debloat and O&O ShutUp10++.

(If you want to get rid of all this stuff, unfortunately your best option is to switch to a different operating system, which is more complicated, but doable - see tier 3 below.)

Tier 2: Somewhat Easy

If you use tumblr, you probably have the technical knowledge necessary to do these, too, but they might be more complicated to set up, involve more significant changes to how you use your device, or remove some conveniences.

On Android phones: install F-Droid

F-Droid is an alternative Android app store for free, open source apps that don't have ads and won't track you. It does have a much smaller selection than the Google Play Store, but you can find decent alternatives for many basic apps. (Some F-Droid apps I particularly like are AntennaPod for podcasts, OsmAnd for Google-free, privacy-respecting maps and navigation, and TrackerControl for detecting and blocking trackers in your other apps.)

Use alternative frontends for YouTube and social media sites

These are alternative interfaces you can use to access the content of privacy-invasive social media sites while minimizing the amount of data those sites can collect about you, while also blocking a lot of annoying elements like ads and "recommended" sections. Most YouTube frontends also let you download videos. Note that most alternative frontends are intended for anonymous lurking, and aren't suitable if you want to log in/post/comment/etc. 

Alternative frontends that you can visit in your browser are usually open source software that can be hosted by individuals, rather than centralized websites. This means that to use one, you will need to find a working public instance - that is, a copy of the software that a volunteer is hosting on their own server and allowing the public to use. If you visit the official web page for the frontend (this may just be a Github page), you will usually be able to find a list of trusted public instances.

A few frontends take the form of apps you install on your device, in which case you don't need to find a public instance (but they won't be available on all operating systems, whereas browser-based frontends should be usable in any browser).

My recommended frontends:

YouTube: Invidious (in browser), FreeTube (desktop app), NewPipe (Android app in F-Droid)

Reddit: Redlib (in browser)

Twitter: Nitter (in browser)

Frontends exist for other sites as well, but I haven't personally used them much and can't recommend any specific ones.

To use a browser-based frontend, you can either directly visit the URL of a public instance, which will take you to the front page of the site and let you search or navigate from there, or you can visit a specific page by replacing the ________.com portion of the page's URL with the URL of the public instance. For example: youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ → invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ. If the instance you're using doesn't seem to be working, just try a different one.

You can use the LibRedirect browser extension to automatically redirect links to alternate frontends, and you can customize it to redirect for some sites and not others. You'll probably need to play around with the settings to find instances that will work. If you don't or can't use a browser extension, the easiest way to use browser-based alternative frontends is probably to bookmark the frontend URLs for channels/subreddits/users/etc. that you visit frequently.

Switch from Google Docs to Cryptpad

Cryptpad is a decent alternative to GDocs for shared document editing and document cloud storage - you can create rich text documents, spreadsheets, powerpoints, and more. Your files are encrypted so that Cryptpad themselves can't read them, and you can be confident that they're not using your documents to train AI like Google. It's not suitable for large file storage the way Google Drive is unless you have a paid subscription, but a free account gives you 1 GB of storage, which will be more than enough for most people for files that are primarily text.

Switch from Gmail to Protonmail or Tutamail

Your mileage may vary on this one, because realistically, there are no secure, privacy-respecting alternatives to Gmail that have anywhere near the same level of features and convenience, and while you can make free accounts with both Proton and Tuta, you need to pay to access all their available features. But if you're worried about Gmail using the contents of your email to advertise to you and train AI, and you're sick of Google constantly trying to push AI features at you, you might find it worth setting up an account with one of these providers and trying to switch some of your accounts over. I recently switched to a (paid) Tutamail account, and I've found that I personally don't really miss most of the Google features. If you decide to commit, you can have Gmail forward all your mail to your new email address.

Tier 3: Less Easy, But Not As Hard As You'd Expect

Tier 3 is to just switch to a different operating system that doesn't collect your personal data or force AI on you. You need to have a reasonable level of tech competence for this, and be comfortable troubleshooting if something goes wrong - but the bar is still probably lower than you think it is. If you ever do amateur tech support for your relatives, and if you can comfortably google/duckduckgo a computer problem to find a solution, then you can probably do these fine with a little time and patience.

Switch from Windows to Linux Mint

I am aware that there is a Specific Type Of Guy that tells everyone to switch to Linux, and I am trying not to be that Type Of Guy. But truly, installing and using Linux Mint is not particularly difficult if you have a baseline level of comfort with Windows. My experience with Linux Mint was that everything worked perfectly on my machine out of the box and I didn't have to do anything in the command line, and the interface in Linux Mint Cinnamon is pretty similar to Windows. It's very, very nice to know that I'm not having unknown quantities of my personal data sent to Microsoft with everything I do, and I'm not going to have new AI "features" forcibly installed on my machine.

If you need specialized software that will only work in Windows, then obviously switching to Linux probably isn't for you, and it's important to research all the software you use regularly to see whether you'd be able to use it or a reasonable alternative. But if you primarily use your computer for browsing the internet, using word processing/office tools, or even (some) gaming (check ProtonDB to see whether a Steam game is known to work on Linux), you'll likely find that it works fine for your needs. If you have access to an old computer you don't use anymore, try installing it there to test it out first. (You can also install Linux Mint to dual boot with Windows, which can be a good option if you don't want to completely switch over, but be aware that this is a more complicated installation process and you're more likely to run into problems you'll need to troubleshoot.)

Install an alternate operating system like GrapheneOS or LineageOS on your Android phone

These are alternate open source versions of Android (also known as custom ROMs), and they are typically free of the bloatware, Google/Samsung/etc. telemetry, and mandatory AI that comes in your phone's original OS.

This is my most "advanced" suggestion, and I recommend doing a lot of research and investigating different options before deciding whether to go for it. Some apps and phone features might not work on some of these alternate OSes; in particular, people tend to have problems with NFC payment and banking apps.

I personally use GrapheneOS, which has a strong focus on security and privacy, and is fairly easy to install; however, it only works on Google Pixel phones. I've also used LineageOS, which works on a much wider range of devices, but its installation is much more complicated and requires using the command line. There are other custom ROMs, but I haven't personally tried any of them.

(I should note that there's discussion about potential security issues in non-GrapheneOS custom ROMs that I really don't feel qualified to weigh in on; but it's worth looking into before switching if you're someone with especially high digital security needs like an activist or journalist.)

Both GrapheneOS and LineageOS allow you to install less invasive versions of Google services that will send far less telemetry back to Google than stock Android. You can also try going without Google services for even greater privacy (this is my current setup!), but you'll need to do a lot more troubleshooting and some apps just won't work properly.

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

This isn't anywhere near an exhaustive list, but these are things I think have a particularly high reward to effort ratio. They're also all things you can do for free. Big tech companies are definitely making it harder and harder to protect your privacy and avoid ads and AI, but you can at least do a few things to resist and make your computer and phone experience less terrible!

[caramelbonbons]

Hey there! I know it might take a while, but could you maybe write an Imagine with Donnie having a Crush/GF with glasses? Only when you have enough free time of coarse :) Cheers love!

this is such a cute and simple request! of course dearest

TMNT Donnie reacts to you wearing glasses (friends who like each other, slow burn!) ft. you two working on a code together

A/N: GN Y/N who has poor eyesight, usually you don't wear glasses but instead use contacts, but on that day you couldn't find your contacts so you opted for glasses instead. Y/N is a programmer and loves computer science as well so they often times will consult with each other on tasks and missions.

1518 words

The lair was quiet, leo was out patrolling, raph was working out quietly in a corner, and mikey was sleeping in his room. Donnie was where he always was, in his lab sitting on his chair and tinkering on his computer finding endless ways to keep optimizing his software and programs. He was in his own world, he had dedicated this day to clean up the internal framework of the intricate system he developed original for his mega computer. And he was sure enjoying this time. It was already close to noon and he hadn't moved an inch. At one point raph was done with his workout and passed him "you aint move an inch since I last saw you don" he remarked and donnie just hummed in reply too focused in his work to face raph "I'm bettin nothin gon be able to move you from that position" he scoffed and walked away planning to take a cold shower before fixing himself a late lunch. Not long after that however donnie gets stuck. He finds a particular line of code that seems to be working fine but theoretically is wrong, he's tried every possibility but every time he changes a line of code the whole thing doesn't work. He pauses and leans back in his chair, for once finally changing his position, he looks up at the sewer walls and thinks for a moment. An idea pops up, he looks at his phone but hesitates for a second. He shakes it off and decides to go through with it and he calls you.

Meanwhile in your apartment you were enjoying a very lazy day, you had your comfy pjs on and laid down on the bed while scrolling through your phone. Suddenly the phone's screen freezes, and it shows that donnie is calling, you paused and sat up, usually donnie only calls if something is wrong so you instinctually stand up as well and get ready whilst answering his call. "what's up don?" you say while brushing your hair

"heyy... y/n... are you busy?" he says

you open your closet and scan through it "not really, I was just lazing around" and you grab a random hoodie and shorts to put on

"sweet well you mind coming down and help me with something? just some code I can't wrap my mind around" he continues

"oh? that's all?" you stood still for a moment surprised to know it wasn't anything too major

"yup" he said "I'll be here waiting for you then! see ya" and he ended the call

You stare at your phone for a bit but shook it off and got ready. You moved towards your cabinet to put your contacts on -you have difficulty seeing far away- but you notice they're not in the same place you put them yesterday. And then you start to think if you did place them here or not yesterday. Either way you open the drawers in the cabinet and can't find them. You decide it'll be too much of a hassle to look for them now so you just reach for your emergency pair of glasses and walk out your apartment. You walk towards the lair, the sky is slowly turning into hues of purple and dark blue.

Meanwhile donnie was still in the same position that he was since he woke up. He decided to keep on trying to tweak that singular code that felt like it was driving him insane. He kept on typing and deleting and typing and so on over and over again trying to focus on it but he can't help but get distracted by the thought of you coming there to help him. To say that he wasn't attracted to you would be a lie, he found you absolutely stunning and the way that you two can discuss about the things that you have similar interests him makes him feel seen and understood. For once someone actually knew what he would ramble and talk about, and the fact that you were extremely attractive just topped it all off.

Just as his mind was wondering, he heard soft footsteps slowly coming from the lair's entrance. He freezes, tries desperately to calm his nerves because he knows who those footsteps belong to. I mean it's only natural he memorizes even the sound of your footsteps because they're so different from others. You try your best to walk slowly as to not disturb the others, you notice the lair's quite silent today which is usually a good sign -it means nothing is wrong-

You spot donnie a mile away, how couldn't you anyways he was sitting in front of his tall glowing set of monitors. You smile sofly facing his back and increase your pace a little to reach him faster. By the time you're right behind him you practically skip towards his side, and lean back on his desk "hey don, so what is it you need fixing? lay it on me" you say while crossing your arms.

"well here take a look yourself y/n" he says and moves back a bit

You turn around and bend over a bit, grab his mouse and skim through the code "please tell me you see what I see" he exhales and says

"I see it" you nod slowly, you say while highlighting a specific part "did you try and change-"

"yup, already did" he replies and leans to the table as well "listen I tried practically everything to theoretically possible, and it doesn't work" he continues and puts his head on his hands looking down "I'm starting to think if I should just leave it that way"

You gasp, turn to to him and see how dejected he is "Donnie... don't say that! I'm here now so we can use double the brain power yea?" you say trying to cheer him up

He raises his head to look at you, and once again he is frozen. His eyes widen and his mouth opens a bit. He's practically starstruck. He wasn't able to get a proper look at you since you walked in but now he finally does and wow does it amaze him. You raise your brow and pull back a bit "don? you good?" you ask getting slightly more self conscious under his stare. He shakes his head "uh- I-I'm so sorry for that y/n I uh I... I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything it's just ah um.." he stutters out looking away feeling embarrassed for how he reacted. He sighs, straightens up and looks at you "you just... you look really good with glasses on.. y/n" he manages to get out and say to you against every warning from each and every fibers in his body. You're slightly taken aback by his compliment "oh.. well thank you donnie..." you say to him while subconsciously fixing your glasses' frames position.

He smiles softly at the sight of you, that was totally worth it he thought to himself. You fake cough and turn back to his monitor to stare at the code, and suddenly it hits you "oh my god" you say and move the keyboard to use "what? what is it? did you find it? tell me!" he says excitingly but also worriedly "shhh just watch" you say as you're hyper focused on the monitor in front of you and start deleting a bunch of stuff and writing a new code instead, fingers moving in tandem. After a few minutes of you tinkering the format, you finish and enter to start the program. "viola!" you exclaim and sigh while pulling back standing to look at your work, donnie just sits there in awe of what just happened. "I would have never thought of that..." he says and stares in disbelief seeing the program work even better than before now with your help.

You giggle and say "your welcome don" and pat his back "now you can rest well" you continue. He looks up at you from his chair still in awe mouth slightly open, just admiring not only your beauty but also your mind. "okay but you should really move a bit, I have a feeling you haven't changed your position the whole day" you tell him concerned "did you have something to eat yet?" you ask and he just shakes his head

"let's get some pizza to celebrate? let me call delivery" you say about to walk away but before you can turn around donnie grabs your arm, you jerk slightly surprised by the action. You can feel his hands around your arm and it sends fireworks through your whole being, up until this point you two have rarely shared physical contact on purpose. "donnie?" you ask tilting your head a bit. "Thank you y/n... really I appreciate it" he say hesitantly to you.

You smile at him and chuckle, you place your other hand n top of this "don't mention it don" you reply and slowly pull away to grab your phone and order some pizza.

[simbassims]

Using Sims2Pack Clean Installer with The Sims 2: Legacy Collection (and Ultimate too!)

Bringing over a simple (and previously documented) tutorial on how to make Sims2Pack Clean Installer work with Sims 2 Legacy and UC. This is just an adapated version of SimsWiki's UC FAQ, so all credit goes to them. If you want a written step-by-step, please go to their website! STEP 1: Download Sims2Pack Clean Installer

Download (and install) Sims2Pack Clean Installer. This tutorial will be covering the installable version, but the NoInstall one probably works the same. STEP 2: Open the Sims2Pack Clean Installer configuration file

You will now go into the directory where you selected and installed Sims2Pack Clean Installer on. By default, it installs on the C:/ drive, so it is probably located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Sims2Pack Clean Installer. That may vary if you changed the directory.

Open the file called "S2PCI.ini". That is the configuration file that we will be altering. PS: You can use your computer's default Notepad for this, but software like Notepad++ can be easier to manage/edit.

STEP 3: Edit your Sims2Pack Clean Installer configuration to detect Sims 2 Legacy/UC

Where it says SaveGamePath="", you will add the directory where your game's Documents folder is in between the "", just like shown in the photo. - For The Sims 2: Legacy Collection, it is usually C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2 Legacy - For The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection, it is usually C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2™ Ultimate Collection

After that, simply save and replace the file. Depending on your computer settings, it might say it is not able to save. If this happens to you, simply save the edited S2PCI.ini on your desktop, then copy and paste the file inside the Sims2Pack Clean Installer folder and replace the original file (and it should always ask for you to replace the original file! check the tips below for clarification). It might ask for administrator permission, just click yes and proceed until the file is replaced with the one you just edited.

TIP: Not sure what your username is? Simple: on your File Explorer, go to Documents > EA Games > The Sims 2 Legacy (or Ultimate Collection) and click the bar. It will show the full path to the folder. Copy that path and follow the rest of this step. TIP 2: Make sure to save it as a .ini file and NOT a .txt one! If you are having difficulties with that, go to File > Save as on Notepad and select "All Files (*)" as file type. Make sure to also name it exactly as S2PCI.ini (it SHOULD ask you to replace the original file, if it did not, something is wrong. Try following the steps again making sure everything was properly followed!)

STEP 4: Install your Custom Content

The last step is to install your custom content. To make sure that Sims2Pack Clean Installer is working properly with the configuration file you edited, make sure that it shows the path written in the file when you press install. It should point to the game's Documents folder like the image above. Now that you showed the program where your Sims 2 Documents folder is, it should auto-detect where to put the files. Ta-da! Your Sims2Pack Clean Installer is done and working. Enjoy your Custom Content and Sims2Pack installing galore all you want <3

[whumpy-writings]

How to Download Your Kindle Books in 2026 (with screenshots)

Last year, Amazon decided to take away the ability to download purchased kindle books. They have now restored the ability to download your kindle books for personal use, with one giant caveat: authors/publishers have to opt in to allow you to download the book file. That means that not every book you buy will be downloadable. As far as I know, Amazon will only tell you if the ebook is downloadable after you’ve purchased it. With those caveats aside, here is how you can download your kindle books, step by step. 

IMPORTANT I would recommend using Firefox to complete these steps. With Firefox, it will download your files directly as an epub. If you use another browser (e.g. Chrome) it’ll download a zip file, which might give you some technical difficulties. (Check out this reddit post for more info)

From your Amazon homepage, click "Account & Lists" then click "Content Library"

2. Click "Books"

3. If the book is downloadable, it will say “Download available in additional formats” below the book. Find the book you want to download and click "More actions"

4. Click "Download EPUB/PDF"

That's it! Your book file is now downloaded to your computer and you can transfer it to your e-reader of choice. To my knowledge there isn't a way to bulk download everything, which means that you have to download books individually.

I use the free software Calibre to organize my ebook files. This video gives a good basic overview of how to download your ebooks from Amazon to Calibre, and also goes over how to use Calibre to transfer your ebooks to Kobo. 

If you're looking for ways to get ebooks without supporting Amazon, check out Smashwords, Bookshop.org, or see if your favorite author/publisher sells ebooks directly from their website. 

Go forth and read!

[phighting-feelings]

Hii~ I also want to make a game, mostly by myself... so can I ask a few questions? Do you hire people or ask your friends to help? Do you need expensive computers to program it? And... is the software you use to make the game is hard to use? I want to know but I'm afraid to bother. Thank you and take care! ^^

Thank you for asking!

This is entirely independently run. All who's working on Phighting Feelings as of writing this is just me, myself, and I. Occasionally I'll run by things with my friends for ideas, but besides that this is entirely done by me. If you'd like to hire someone to help, you should check out Casting Call Club! Really helpful website where you can post basically job listings and a description of your project to get some people to join in.

You do not need an expensive computer! I just use a plain laptop. All you need is a little bit of storage to keep the stuff you make for the game like assets, sounds, and code.

I use Godot. I found the initial learning curve a bit hard, but there are tons of tutorials out there to help out and also loads of add-ons to make things simpler. It's hard to describe the difficulty because there are some parts that are easy, while the hard parts are extremely hard. But it's entirely dependent on the person, and what might be hard for me might be easy for you. It also helped that I had previous experience coding.

Outside the questions you asked, I'd like to give my own personal advice. Do not start off big. Start off with just focusing mainly on the gameplay mechanics before fleshing out details. Overall, good luck with your game and I wish you the best!

[effectivelyblazingjinx]

Why Businesses Are Switching to AI-Powered Custom Software Development in 2026

In the modern age of technology, businesses are no longer wondering whether they should adopt digital transformation; instead, they are wondering at what pace they can scale up using AI and automation.

In light of stiff competition, changing customer preferences, and technological innovations, businesses are actively looking for software development companies that use AI and mobile application development solutions.

Here comes SB Infowaves, which is revolutionizing the growth journey of businesses in India, the US, and worldwide.

The Rise of AI-Driven Digital Transformation

One of the commonly searched questions is:

"How does AI help make businesses more efficient?"

The solution to this problem is through the use of automation. Companies are currently using:

Chatbots for engaging with customers

Predictive analysis for making sound decisions

RPA to minimize manual efforts

Enterprise-specific software applications

Organizations not utilizing these tools stand the chance of lagging behind companies using artificial intelligence software solutions to expand their businesses.

Why Custom Software Development Beats Off-the-Shelf Solutions

Most enterprises will begin searching for the best ready-made software, but later they would discover its inadequacies.

The main shortcomings associated with pre-existing software include:

Lack of customization

Scalability problems

Integration difficulties

Insecure nature

In contrast, custom software development provides:

Solutions that suit specific company objectives

Smooth integration into current systems

Cybersecurity measures

Cost-effective in the long run

SB Infowaves focuses on custom web application development, mobile app development, and enterprise software development that resolve business challenges instead of making companies adjust to generic software.

High-Intent Services Businesses Are Searching for in 2026

Based on the latest search trends, the following services have gained much demand:

1. AI and Machine Learning Services

Companies are seeking the following:

"AI development company for startups"

"Machine learning services for business automation"

SB Infowaves provides artificial intelligence software that predicts trends and automates workflows.

2. Mobile App DQueries such as:

"Best mobile application development company in India"

"Affordable app developers for startups"

have led to huge demands.

Whether it is an Android, iOS, or cross-platform application, SB Infowaves develops intuitive apps which turn users into buyers.evelopment Services

3. Web Development & UX Optimization

The website of modern enterprises should be:

Fast loading

High ranking on Google

Conversion-oriented

SB Infowaves creates fast, SEO-optimized websites to increase conversions and engagement.

4. Digital Marketing & SEO Services

Keywords like:

“Better alternative than leading SEO firms”

“Affordable digital marketing firm for startups”

are trending.

SB Infowaves offers services including:

SEO optimization

Content marketing

Social media marketing

Paid advertising

with measurable returns on investment (ROI).

5. Cloud & Infrastructure Solutions

As more companies embrace cloud computing, search phrases such as:

“cloud migration services for small business”

“secure cloud infrastructure setup”

are becoming common.

Our company creates cloud platforms capable of expansion without compromising on efficiency and security.

How SB Infowaves Helps Businesses Stay Ahead

Established for more than a decade, SB Infowaves is known to be a reliable IT partner around the world for startups, SMEs, and enterprises.

What is the secret behind SB Infowaves success?

Over 10 years of experience in digital transformations

More than 3000 clients globally

In-depth knowledge in AI, blockchain, IoT, and cloud technologies

From development to maintenance – complete solutions

Highly concentrated on ROI-driven approaches

In contrast to other companies that offer only template-based solutions, SB Infowaves creates future-proof ecosystems.

Industries Benefiting from Digital Transformation

Enterprises from all sectors are seeking industry-oriented solutions such as:

“Healthcare software development company”

“E-commerce app development services”

“CRM software for real estate”

Our solutions cater to:

Healthcare

Retail & E-commerce

Education

Real Estate

Travel & Hospitality

Why Now Is the Best Time to Invest in Digital Solutions

With old-school technology, you aren’t just wasting time; you’re missing out on new opportunities.

The modern customer expects:

Quick and easy digital experiences

Customized services

Effortless online transactions

Companies that have invested in AI-based automation and bespoke software are growing exponentially, while others are lagging behind.

Conclusion: Build Your Digital Future with SB Infowaves

The digital revolution is no longer optional—it’s essential.

Whether you’re a startup looking for affordable software development services or an enterprise seeking advanced AI solutions, SB Infowaves offers everything you need to scale, innovate, and lead.

From custom software development to AI-driven automation, SB Infowaves empowers businesses to stay ahead in an ever-evolving digital world.

Contact SB Infowaves

India (Head Office)

15th Floor, Unit #1509, Adventz Infinity, Block BN 5, Sector V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata, West Bengal – 700091

Phone No. - 9804360617

KEONICS, #29/A (E), 27th Main, 7th Cross Rd, 1st Sector, HSR Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560102

Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Phone No.- 8777493599

USA Office

Daytona Beach, Florida, USA

Phone no.-[phone]

[talenlee]

Dev Pile: Emergence

I was first introduced to the idea of emergence by listening to my father tell one of the small subset of jokes he repeats. These are what we would later come to know as memes, but in my home life it was simply that I was used to seeing my father move through a lot of different social environments, and in those environments he was often telling a joke for the first time to people who’d never heard it before.

What had happened — I can’t remember the specifics too well — was that someone had opened a box or crate, pulled something out to get what was inside, and then had difficulty getting everything back in, despite the fact that it had all fit before, along with even more stuff. My father said, “Ah, you’ve discovered Zymergsy’s Law of Emergent System Dynamics. That is, you’ve opened a can of worms, and now you need a bigger can to put them back.”

This aphorism is one of many things my father has said that is stamped on the back of my brain. I can quote it at will, reasonably confident I’m getting it exactly right, even with the cadence — though of course you can’t hear that when I’m reading it into a microphone to later transcribe into text. The idea of emergence was largely left alone at that point. To me, it was literally a joke. I often wonder whether powerful or dangerous ideas in closed environments get unwittingly turned into punchlines so the people around us never have to contend with what those ideas actually mean.

In the context of game making, philosophy, and a whole bunch of other fields, I use the term emergence to refer to when a complex object has properties that are not inherent to any of its components, and that only become present through the interaction of those components. “Complex” is doing some heavy lifting there, too, because even something like the color red is an emergent property. There is not a single red atom in the universe, but everything I’ve ever seen that’s red is made of atoms. I think I got that quote from Daniel Dennett — who, as I understand it, was a bit of a bozo when it came to women and trans people, which is a shame, but he’s dead and doesn’t care.

The notion of emergence has all sorts of powerful ramifications for big, difficult topics. It solves a lot of things that seem too hard. In biology, the question of where consciousness comes from isn’t terribly hard once you consider how much you can get out of emergence. Societies, cultures, art, and science are all emergent properties that ultimately go back to the fact that, at some point, a slightly larger brain case was advantageous to survival. That’s just how things shook out. There are also emergent properties that themselves have emergent properties, which can be even stranger.

Evolution is an incredibly well‑understood, well‑attested theory of how the world works. It’s so fundamental that aspects of evolution are now just observable facts of how other systems behave. Natural selection will happen in any system where there is variation and reproduction. We can tell because natural selection applies to language. It applies to computer software. It’s why rocks take on the forms they do. It’s such a powerful system once you zoom out far enough, but understanding it in one area first lets you see how its effects emerge from interactions of otherwise unconcerned actors.

When we talk about game design and emergent game states, we’re bringing in some very big ideas in a way that can feel like you’re chaining them into a tiny box. No economic game ships with economic theory built in. Most economic theory either emerges from players playing the game or from players bringing outside knowledge into the game. It’s common for someone who understands the movement of money to have an advantage, but just as often they misunderstand things because they’re applying value incorrectly.

Economics is an entire field that emerges from humans attaching value to things. You can use economic tools to analyze animal behavior, but as best we understand, animal valuation doesn’t work the same way as human valuation. The only times we see something similar are with animals close to humans, like orangutans or monkeys. These ideas mean that while we can analyze their behavior economically, no orangutan has a single atom of economics in them.

Similarly, the game Chinatown and its evolution Waterfall Park, while being incredibly cutthroat economic games, are not games where anyone had to design economics into the system. When you assign values to things, close a system so players only have access to its internal resources, and tie victory directly to those interactions, economics will emerge as a natural byproduct.

Another fun emergent property in game design is ritual. Players will engage in behaviors they don’t necessarily know will succeed or fail. In religious studies, a ritual is a practice where the outcome is opaque. If you know exactly what inputs produce what outputs, it’s no longer a ritual. Part of ritual is not knowing which parts matter. You ring the bell, move the cloth, lift the candle — you don’t know which action is significant, only that the whole process is how you get the outcome you want.

Players do this all the time. They develop habits not because those habits are good play, but because those habits were present in past experiences that led to good outcomes. If you want a good example in a game with a huge data set, look at how people play Magic: The Gathering. The game has strict rules, but players still develop rituals they think are rules, or treat optional behaviors as mandatory, or they think the game requires them to behave in some way to ‘make it work,’ and don’t consider the levels of information present around them, which is often the boundary between players who make a lot of mistakes (me) and players who make a lot of mistakes but less often and less disastrously. Some players always play a land as soon as they can, even when it’s strategically unnecessary, because it feels like progress.

You can call this a bad heuristic, but thinking of it as ritual behavior gets at the heart of player enrollment. In my thesis, enrollment is the idea that the game deliberately makes the interaction between your wants and your actions opaque. You want to win. The game is a system of systems designed to keep you from knowing exactly how to do that. You have a general idea, but if the game simply let you do it, there’d be nothing left of the game. This brings us back to Bernard Suits’ definition of a game: the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.

With those parameters in place, how you interact with the obstacles is necessarily emergent. I don’t have to tell you exactly how to roll a die or move a piece. You may have your own ways of doing it. I can tell you what the rules require, but the game part is the opacity.

When I talk about game systems, I’m often not thinking about what they will do or can do, but what I hope they do. It’s not hard to put up guardrails to make something impossible, but it’s a lot harder to put out incentives to make something guaranteed. And sometimes that goes badly. Last year, I reflected on an old game of mine called Crowdfund This, and I ultimately think it’s a very weak game. The design is, for lack of a better word, sloppy. I didn’t have a good handle on interface design, and I didn’t know how to prevent players from making mistakes in how they played.

But the fixed version I devised in December 2025 — much as I like it — does not make my partner Fox happy. She prefers the original’s opaque play experience: pushing your luck, drawing more cards, piling onto a ridiculous prompt. I think that’s bad design now, because I’ve seen so many players struggle with it. But Fox doesn’t have to think about all those players. She gets to think about her own experience. She’s enrolled in the uncertainty, and the ritual feels like it gets her closer to the result, so she does it.

And to return to the story at the start: my dad is one of those people who can pack a truck like it’s Tetris. I wonder how long he’s had that joke ready while fixing things that were unpacked improperly.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[42jellybeans]

Mizzle Shimeji Published!

I meant to finish this sooner, but here she is in pink and blue! As always, you can get it for free here:

Mizzle custom shimeji (Deltarune) - 42Jellybeans's Ko-fi Shop

Mizzle desktop pet that will walk around on your computer! You will need the shimeji software up and working to use this. **NOTE: This shim

Enjoy!

coding process under the cut: (it's very long this time.)

Quick Note:

The Mizzle does not have as many actions as some of my other shimejis, but ended up being be way more complicated to code than I anticipated because she floats. (I tried to catch as many as I could, but let me know if you see any bugs)

Also, if anyone reading this is considering trying to edit shimejis, DO NOT use this to gauge difficulty! There are ways to start small (which I plan to put in a post later), and I absolutely jumped into the deep end (for me at least) with this. Plus I'm just ranting here, so don't take it entirely seriously.

Embedded Classes and Falling

Basically, the shimeji engine has actions of different types that determine what is allowed while the animation is playing. So you might use animation to play something one time, move to play it repeatedly as it travels, or stay to play repeatedly in one place. You call these later in the code to set stop conditions, group them together, etc.

But there's also another type: embedded actions. These are built-in-and-sometimes-required actions that are usually called by internal processes of the engine, so they are a bit harder to control and have specific rules for how/where they are referenced. They include dragging, resisting, transformation, mute, and of course, falling.

Now I need falling here, because I can change the gravity parameter to 0 and have Mizzle float, problem solved, shimeji finished. Except that the shimeji always starts above the window, which means I also need gravity sometimes so she makes it on-screen and a condition to have her start floating. AND 2 more for the sleep and sing animations, which need to be able to switch randomly. So now thrown and fall have to use timers so that they transition to the other actions, but not until the shimeji is in the window, which could be a different coordinate on every computer. And it needs to check if she was thrown close to the bottom, because Mizzle bobs up and down and if she touches or goes below the bottom then the whole program could freeze. And some of these things need to be checked once before doing a whole sequence, while others need to stop if the condition changed to false for some reason. (I didn't know the difference between $ and # because I never learned JavaScript, so for a while she kept falling through the floor and appearing at the top and falling forever)

So the getting the logic for fall and throw to work took a while. And all of these had to be declared in behaviors because they were embedded, which I forgot again later on.

Chase Mouse and Offsets

At the same time, I'm trying to figure out chase mouse. Because now that she can fly and can actually reach it, and it would be neat to have her just hold on to the cursor for a bit. And at this point I realize the offset that the sprites need to make the jump->grab->drop transition smooth is very inconvenient, and I start looking for ways around having 30 duplicate images. So now I have a broken conditional with random jump offset guesses, because the reference for drag and jump are flipped and the offset is different based on which way the Mizzle is facing and how close she is to the cursor. But the whole thing is a sequence and not a loop, and I can't plan for how the mouse will move(And I had no way to effectively troubleshoot because triggering the action would lock in the same conditional)

Luckily I can do a consistent y offset inside a modified pinched, that probably exists for this exact reason! (fixing x would need additional images, and it was close enough already) But i forgot that pinched is ALSO embedded, and needs to be grouped with a resist and declared in behaviors before its called in chase mouse.

Conclusion

All in all, this was way more complicated than I thought going into it, even though it might not look it from the scarcity of actions. (There were also points where I got too focused on something that either couldn't be fixed or wouldn't be worth it) Also, HUGE thanks to the shimeji discord, they helped me solve pretty much every issue I mentioned here and more including $/#, divisible random number generation, the limits of sequences and conditionals, how offsets work, and properly calling embedded actions. Genuinely so grateful for their help, this would never have gotten finished otherwise.

Mostly what I wanted from this was to make something that can float, and finish it before the semester starts ramping up. I'm pretty happy with how she turned out! For as much trouble I had, this may be one of the most technically complex shimejis I've done over a relatively short time frame. At one point I considered adding a jump so she could fly around the screen, but it ended up looking really unnatural. Who knows, If I figure it out I'll put it in an update.

Until then, thanks for reading!