#culturejournals

[gideon]

The newest bugs are ready for you, just give me a couple of hours to go and clean up and I can come down and get you them. I wasn't sure what you wanted, so we can take a look at it when you get here.

[agnes]

I think we've run out of stock when it comes to these bugs. I mean, they're clearly putting things together, so switching tactics for a while might be a good idea. It's definitely time for a new approach. I mean, I know we have the portkeys but I think the trackers are the way to go for something new. But maybe a break first? Another market day, food, drink? After I've slept, I'm at the point where I'm not entirely sure what the day is. It's still a weekend, right?

[o/s]

Uhhh I hate to sound alarming but possible situation with Greengrass?

I checked the audio on the bug, just making sure everything was okay with it and we've got what sounds like unforgiveables being thrown around, I don't know who else is there but given his usual company, definitely could have a situation.

False alarm, everything is fine as of right now but, he's just...there's something shifty happening but it's not happening now. Maybe it was a real practice and this is how he channels it? I'm putting the latest stuff here and you can judge for yourselves. I [...] I really can't tell if he's serious or not.

These are the pertinent bits of conversation.

( cut for size )

[o/s]

Thanks to everyone who's posted the transcripts. I know it's just really grueling work but a lot of it is probably going to be helpful. [...] I'm not sure how helpful the bug for Asher Greengrass is, there is definitely kind of this vibe of a little bit shady but I had to include some of it because [...] look, I'm all for responsible bugging and not encroaching on peoples privacy but look, I think you'll understand when you see it. Anyway, transcripts are here.

They start pretty innocuously debating dating a half-vampire(?????) If I'm reading this right? But given Belinda Yaxley is really loud about her opinions...

( cut for size )

[Order & Support]

I wanted to say a really big thank you to everyone involved in helping me sort out the bugs and to Sirius, James, Remus, Emmeline, Dung, Ted, Gideon and Agnes for placing them. The current bugs are placed with R. Avery, B. Crouch, P. Avery & E. Rosier, S. Snape, D. Selwyn, U. Burke and A. Greengrass. They should be coming online now, so while I can deal with some of the transcriptions myself, I'd really appreciate it if some other people could keep an eye on some of them.

I don't think we'll have long before they're found unfortunately, especially once they decide to move around a little. I'm hoping the disillusionment charms stick (not to mention the sticking charms....sticking) but I don't want to rely too heavily on it cause it's a new design. I (and we probably if people can help out with the listening) will post up any relevant transcript material as soon as we I have it.

[O/S]

I know it's going to be a party tonight, so I thought maybe we'd like to play them at their own alibi game and maybe plant some bugs on a larger scale? I have a few ready, which is where I've been drowned the last couple of weeks so if people can take them then do a little breaking an entering. Some people would have party alibis anyways. We've been able to get a few addresses through the mailing lists and through the Ministry, so we have a list of people ready. If you can just say here and please be quick about being in and out because the idea is for it to go unnoticed. They're amped up with disillusionment charms which I really hope hold but better safe than well dead.

I know we've had trouble with Rowle so I think we should just do it now while we can. I know Benjy, you have your own thing going on.

We've got Crouch because we should probably know either way with him if he's complicit or not. U. Burke, which Agnes (and Dung I think if you're going with her?) has said she'll hit up because it's her wheelhouse. A. Greengrass is is on my route so I can take that plus I kind of am curious about what kind of place he lives in because I'm imagining. That leaves R. Avery, D. Selwyn, S. Snape, E. Rosier and Crouch himself. I can drop the bugs off with you in dormant state, just make sure you put them somewhere they're not easily going to be found while they're in that state.

Any questions or comments and you can just ask here, otherwise good luck.


S. Snape dibsed by James.

[Order]

There's a second functional bug, as per Benjy's request. [...] Is there anything special it needs to do? Wet weather or something? Maybe flying? Or climbing. I can figure something out with a sticking charm if I'm careful, but it's definitely something I need to know about in advance so I have time to beta test it.

Please let me know any other tech requests we're likely to want re: tracking, bugs or I don't know, like Marlene's wizbit idea.

[Marlene, Dorcas, Agnes]

I've got some free time blocks now, so I can work with with Wizbits if you can get hold them. The more testing we can do, the more we can try to get them working as soon as possible.

[Alastor, Anita]

I hope you've both had a chance to try out the port keys. Assuming they were okay and you're in one piece, I'd like to have any notes in the next day or two so we can move onto the next stage with these. Again, thank you both for trying them out and doing this. I do really appreciate it, Once again, I can come to you or you can come here at your earliest free moment.

[Fei]

Do you have any set location ideas yet?

[o/s]

This is your mechanical update. I know it's not a great time but I think it's important to get these things known and maybe move forward with the other.

I have another request for a bug and I'm getting to it, but I want to spread the places to get things around so that it's not obvious so if we need more the next couple of weeks, please tell me now and specify if it needs to be waterproof or whatever else. I'm trying to see about flying but it's still looking like hops are better because less noticeable, but I'll look into sticking charms for walls so we can hear better.

Fei, Agnes and I are working on the dual portkey mechanism. For people who weren't able to make the last meeting, this is a dual mechanism that seperates two existing portkeys (one for injured, one for not but maybe also one for civilians and not since they're often targets? something to think about?) and locks onto one of the other. Fei is currently scouting locations for it (thank you) and Agnes is getting her portkey skills ready when that's done. At the minute, they're in rings. Turn left and lock for injuries, right and lock for not injuries. It can also be used if one area if compromised but mostly it's to help with getting everyone out to the same point and it won't matter if something happens to your wand. [...] Given the inferi stuff, being able to activate it on a [...] person who can't for whatever reason has also been a priority.

Trackers have gone to one side while I worked on this and I think it's more important because it'll help more people? Anyway, if I could ask for a couple of people to take the prototypes in a few different areas and note any lags or issues, I'd really appreciate that? It would help a lot.

I really needed to do some custom work earlier this week and we got in some 3d printing works. To cut a really long story short, I'm very offended no one told me about 3d printing pens but it was a smart idea not to because I think I might be kind of addicted. I want to try making some of the more advanced things because I now have three watches, an extra toaster and a really grumpy time delay sprinkler that I think I charmed a little too much.

The snag being that doing custom made things means I need to work on a variety of things such as refilling charms and making sure the heat and reinforcement work okay. I can't really do it all by myself. So if testing out the machines, 'testing'* the models and drawing with these things sounds like fun, let me know and I'm going to set up a day. There will be food (I'm trying to make my way through 50 grilled cheeses to try before you die so probably a lot of those), drink and some open spaces to try things out and it should be a lot of fun. If you're into that sort of thing. I'll try to make it a day when most people have a few hours free.

( Example of using the pens is cut! )

*testing in this case is not to much testing as it is try to break it or melt it or generally destroy it so I can make it sturdier.

If we are to lay blame at the rightful door as suggested, it's probably going to be towards the person murdering people while utilising a muggle based platform to spout the evils of a muggle based platform. I don't think it's us that's in the shadows. I think it's the people going around in cloaks and masks murdering people on the say of someone we don't really know anything about but appears to think Dark Lord is an acceptable title, they're the ones in the dark. Literally, usually.

You can't really kill someone and say well, yes, i killed them but it was their fault for existing. You can't claim you're saving people by killing a person based on the idea that their existance and personal choices makes you feel threatened. If you don't like how the Ministry is run, there are better ways of bringing about change than murder. That's not preserving tradition? Traditions can be good. They can be amazing, actually. I'm proud to be magical. But this isn't about tradition. It's holding people hostage till they do what you want. I don't like to think that the legacy of the magical world anyone wants to pass onto the next generation of witches and wizards is be afraid, do as your told or you'll be killed.

[Arthur]

I'm so sorrry, Arthur. I don't know what I could do to help, but I wish I did.

Look, I know it's the first tomorrow. I appreciate that. But I really don't think getting a glowing reindeer that sings on top of your cars broom rack by then counts as an emergency job that needs to be done by then. Also, I don't particularly care if your patronus is a reindeer and neither does anyone else. Why would you want that as a sign?

This time of year makes people crazy.

Arthur.

I take it there's been no fiery implosions?

[order & support]

ministry computer heist which needed a better name is done, everything went mostly ok, we have our first working bug in the office. thsnk you arthur, emmeline, caradoc and agnes. we'll get full reports on them to you when we've eaten and slept.

[order (+ arthur because he needs his help)]

Hopefully Professor McGonagall will not mind me butting in but I've got a project list which I thought might be helpful? I feel like keeping busy and doing things that will help really help me when things go up creek without a paddle. If my notes in school were this good, I might have Staying alive is pretty motivat If people can take on any project without someone specified already, I think it would help a lot.

( Cut for ongoing ideas and projects )

Am I missing anything? Should things be added, like critter stuff?

There are people in Hyde Park lining up to hug someone. Sometimes, the world is a strange and confusing place.

[Order & Support]

Status updates for everything that is currently going on for me. Add things if you need them. Otherwise, I'll be doing my actual job.

• Working with Agnes and Elphias on production of the print outs. Replication charms on the paper tray going a little awry, but we'll have plenty to burn come bonfire night.

• The tagging system is going better, but it's overheating. The more I think about it, the more I'm wondering if it would be better to use a wireless signal and charm it to route through from muggle surveillance. There's enough of it. We'd just need a telly or a laptop or something. And a routing system. And a way for wifi to get through the wards. Two forward, one back.
  

• Maybe it'd be a good idea to try and get one of those computers soon? We could work on that soon. Test it against curses, charms, see what Death Eaters could do with it and see if we can find ways to stop it pre-emptively.
  

• Also. [...] Umm. Lightsabers might be fun but we could use something that absorb spells. It'd be hard to work with. Probably not the big ones, but smaller ones, like a lightening rod? It'd probably make it hot but I could work with it. It's a bit silly but it could be a fun sort of silly and most of the materials are scavenged. It's not a priority but [...] well, anything that helps, right?

The muggle world and magic world seem to crossover every October, because I've seen a million pumpkin drinks and cakes today.

[order]

Remus, Frank and I were on watch duty when the coordinates went up. Something is going on, but what the hell it is, I'm beginning to feel really out of my depth. Frank, when do you sleep? You have a baby-thing. You're a machine.

Um, anyway. We went looking to see if we could track it, but the coordinates got deleted so it has to have been something? Anyway, the only thing we really found was food garbage and signs of kiddie magic. I feel like I'm being led up the garden path but there's something here. I'm just running low on theories about what the point of any of this is. I don't even know if this is some kind of weird trap. What does everyone think about it?

If anyone would like to talk about some muggle technology, muggle and magical fusion technology without constantly talking it down, I wanted to say I was open. While I work largely with vehicles, fusion technology has been one of my favourite things since I was a kid. A lot of fusion goes into taking care of any real dangers that arise from use and looking at clean energy resources which are better for our shared planet. So if you want to have a discussion about that rather than the other side of the coin, I would be happy to do that.

In other news, charms are now ready on the auto-cheeseburger maker. Put in the ingredients, give it a single tap and there you go, cheeseburger. That was an excellent use of five nights.

[sirius, remus, elphias, minerva (and anyone else who wanted to beta test in the o/s)]

So what I really did was get some bare bones trackers and earspies ready for use for someone who is not me. Please either pick up at your earliest convenience or I can bring it to you. I'd really prefer not to owl it or anything. Just in case.

[order & support]

I've managed to keep both my eyebrows and not killed any small animals, so this is an update on what I'm doing at the moment. So what I'm going to do is describe what I have and what I want to work on and if someone can help, I would appreciate it. Also, now the Ministry is going technologically inclusive, I'd really appreciate a look at one of the computers when they get in. Even if it's photos. It might mean I can add something in without it being detected but I dunno yet. I'm not sure how ethical it is to do that. Is it ethical to do that? Ethics aside, there's other stuff like I have a few things that are at the testing stages:

The earspy is no longer giving me shocks to put it in so I think it's okay to test it. Place one part on the person or object. It should amplify noise from around it for about twenty feet from the object. However, it keeps running into feedback when there's silencing or muffling charms about and I'm not sure if I've managed to get it to the point it's not all just noise. So people who can test this in public would be great.

I've also put them in little cufflink sized things that I figured we could use as a tagging system to listen into things? I was starting to wonder if we could maybe tag places there's likely to be trouble so they can be monitored but thats a huge undertaking. Muggle surveillance is a lot more paranoid than ours. But if we maybe thought someone was going to be in trouble, it could be an early warning system if we could maybe get it working to identify a certain sound like dark magic but that would mean being around it so. Or if someone was going to be trouble, it could point us in the right direction. They're designed to fall off and disintegrate once it's done. I do have one with legs but I'm worried it could be tracked if I ask it to come back. I was wondering if we could put one in the the new magical tech because chances are no one will know enough about it to know an extra little bit shouldn't be there but that depends what it can be used for and whether I can figure out the innards. I don't know if I'm explaining this right but hopefully you're getting a gist. There's listening devices, we could use them temporarily or install them somewhere as needed, even in objects people wouldn't expect or new magitech. And I need to test them and report on them to work out some kinks because sound charms aren't really my area so it's been a bit hard going.

The trackers* are giving me more trouble. They're interacting with magic and the muggle technology is overloading and going nuts. What I could ideally use is people going to heavily magical areas and seeing at what point it cuts out, so I can isolate the problem and see if I can fix it. It's also kind of exploding a little bit when apparating so please don't apparate with it. I haven't seen what happens with portkeys but one problem at a time. I think the issue is lying with too much muggle technology but I need to go and get some new materials anyway for some printing materials so it'd be good to have an idea of what to get. So if someone can take a tracker and leave and then someone try and use it to find them as they go through those areas and note any or all issues, it'd help.

If there's any ideas or something you want mock up, please tell me otherwise if you can help I'm grateful and I promise no one will go on fire, lose their hearing and probably won't get caught if they're careful.

Also, if you were death eater, what would you keep close to your person?

* needs a cooler name

[mcgonagall]

Hopefully this is all okay, but I thought it might help with surveillance and things?

[agnes]

I'm probably gonna need you to clear my scavenges if you're not booked solid.

[order]

If I were a bad guy (part of a secret organisation and makes things explode, but all for Good Things so does not at all count), I probably wouldn't be posting tracking numbers so evil plans could be foiled. Unless I was a ficitional bad guy, I don't think they actually do that in real life. Aurors feel free to contradict and tell me people are that dumb.

Maybe they're not threats. Maybe they're just clues. Or coordinates to clues. Could those numbers be maybe something else like that? What if it's not a forewarning about something but maybe something else? If it were you, why would you post them? If it were me, I'd probably be saying 'I'm stuck here, could use a little help, here's where I am'. I mean, we could maybe use something like that. But people don't just know their GPS. Not unless they have something with it, like a car.

Anyone know the correct apology gift for I set your kneazle's tail on fire but what the hell was it doing there anyway? Asking for a friend.