Hi All,
We have some shared mailboxes (created as office 365 mailboxes, disabled on AD, then converted to shared) within active directory. We'd like to move the OU of these as they're currently being placed in 'Disabled Users' and we would like to use an OU dedicated for these called 'Generic Mailboxes'. Am I OK to right click and move these without issues?
Thanks
https://preview.redd.it/e1t7tk16a50d1.png?width=1541&format=png&auto=webp&s=d64431a56ab0383d4c1d3e61108c06d241fba6dc

Resume Section Order

In general,

• Once you've graduated from school and have started a full-time job:
  • Work Experience > Skills > Education, or
  • Skills > Work Experience > Education
• If you're a student/new grad without much work experience:
  • Education > Work Experience > Skills, or
  • Education > Work Experience > Projects (if you don't have sufficient work experience) > Skills
• If you don't have any technical work experience:
  • Education > Projects > Work Experience > Skills
• If you don't have any work experience at all:
  • Education > Projects > Volunteer Experience/Extracurriculars > Skills
• Do not include a summary/profile unless you're a seniostaff engineer or above, making a career change, or addressing an unemployment gap/returning to the workforce
• Do not include a references section

Things to remember while writing resume

Use a modern, easy-to-read font like Calibri, Charter, Arial, Lato, or Helvetica.

• Don't use grey-colored fonts since they're hard to read. Stick to black. Make sure to use a color that is printable in grey-scale. Be careful about using fonts that are too thin. Verify there is sufficient contrast with a white background.
• Don't justify text since it causes inconsistent spacing between words. https://imgur.com/6eKsENw
• Don't italicize text since it can decrease the readability of your resume.
• Don't bold keywords within your bullet points, it's distracting.
• Italicization and bolding are only to be used if used sparingly. Excessive italicization and bolding decrease readability and ultimately contradict their purpose: emphasis.
• Italicization, ALL-CAPS, and bolding, if used, should be used independently of each other.
• Don't indent sections and bullet points. There's already indentation since the bullets themselves create an indent.
• Separate your sections clearly for optimal readability and visual clarity
  • Ensure there is sufficient and consistent white space between sections/subsections
  • Ensure there is sufficient and consistent white space between each job/project
  • Ensure there are sufficient vertical and horizontal margins (minimum 0.5 inches) https://imgur.com/LC6AS8r

Free Tools to add cherry on top

• Free Resume templates (it also has latex resume builder if you know how to use latex)
• Free resume builder (simple resume builder if don't know latex)
• Resume-judge (Checking ATS resume review and score)
• Linkedin.com/ twitter.com - to get refferals for job
• Resume Selection Predictor (check how good your resume is for the job you are applying)
• Resume Points rewriter (shorten bullet points and make them sound impactful)

This is third version of an FAQ first posted several years ago by u/watts52 . The second version, posted by u/brassage is here. The primary changes have been to update links that have changed or are no longer active, and to add a few more resources and recent threads on the existing topics. Primary credit goes to u/watts52, the original poster.
This FAQ covers many common topics discussed on foreignservice . All answers have been pulled from public sources and without any information covered by NDA. Error reports, additions, and clarifications welcome in the comments. (Last update 11 May 2024)

Foreign Service Super FAQ

1. How do I become a diplomat? How do I work in the foreign service? The best place to learn about this is in the Careers Section of the State Department website. Start here.
2. What are the differences among FSO, FSS, LNA, CF, CS, and EFM?

• Here is an excellent general overview. {HT: zzonkmiles}
• FSO - Foreign service officers are generalists who serve, usually abroad, in one of five different "cones" (career tracks). Learn more.
• FSS - Foreign service specialists "provide important technical, management, healthcare, or administrative services" at overseas posts Learn more.
• LNA - Limited Non-Career Appointments are opportunities ranging from 15 to 60 months in a handful of specialized areas. Learn more.
• CF - Consular fellows (a subset of LNAs) work alongside FSOs and primarily "adjudicate visas for foreign nationals." Learn more.
• CS - The civil service is a part of the State Department, but is not considered part of the foreign service. Most civil service jobs are based in DC, and this sub typically does not deal with issues related to the civil service. Learn more.
• EFM - Eligible Family members - these are family members (typically spouses) of FSOs or FSSs who work for the State Department at the same post as the FSO or FSS. EFM jobs are not always available and sometimes subject to hiring freezes.

1. Is the Foreign Service the same thing as the State Department? No, the State Department consists of the foreign service (employees who are typically overseas) and the civil service (all other employees who are typically serving in DC). In addition, the term "foreign service" may also include:

• the US Foreign Commercial Service in the Commerce department.
• the US Foreign Agricultural Service
• the US Agency for Global Media (formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors)
• the US Agency for International Development (USAID)

1. Where can I find answers to nearly any question I might have about getting in to the foreign service?

• This foreignservice sub (search archives)
• The FSOT Yahoo Group (search archives)
• The FSOA Yahoo Group (search archives) No longer in service. If anyone has an updated option, please comment, and I'll edit the post.
• Read the selection process brochure.
• The official State Department FAQ
• For FSS Applicants, the Foreign Service Specialist Careers Yahoo Group {HT: kaiserjoeicem}

1. Why should I consider the foreign service? Why not?

• Various reasons for joining.
• Here is a thread mostly involving reasons against joining.
• An FSO's reasons for leaving the foreign service. A more recent thread on why some former FS personnel resigned.
• Pros and Cons of the Foreign Service lifestyle.
• Pleasant surprises and biggest disappointments about life in the Foreign Service.
• Misconceptions about life in the Foreign Service.

FSO Career Tracks / Cones

1. Which cone is the best fit for me? Take the Career Track Quiz to find out. It's really important for you to pick a track that you have a passion for.
2. What are the differences among the cones? How do I choose a cone?

• Read summaries & detailed job descriptions of all the cones.
• Watch employee video interviews covering all different parts of the State Department, including all different FSO cones.
• Read these threads about job duties in each of the cones: Consular, Economic, Management, Political, Public Diplomacy
• A Day in the Life Series - Some of these are pretty tongue-in-cheek, but still insightful in their own ways.
  • Political Officer
  • Consular Officer
  • CONS - American Citizen Services
  • Economic Officer
  • ECON - Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer
  • Management Officer
  • Management - General Services Officer
  • Public Diplomacy - Press Officer
  • Diplomatic Security Special Agent
  • Diplomatic Security - Security Engineering Officer
  • Office Management Specialist

1. Which cone gives me the best chance of getting in? Which cones are hiring the most people right now? It depends on your background and your own desires and motivations, and it depends on the needs of the service. Even if we could tell you which cones are hiring the most people now, the hiring process can take one to three years and things may be different by the time you are eligible to receive a job offer. Do not make the mistake of choosing a cone based on what you think your "chances" are. Too many people make this mistake. If you choose a cone this way, you will probably find yourself in a job you dislike, and you'll have wasted a lot of time and energy "getting in" and you'll be looking for a way to be "getting out." Further discussion here...
2. Can I change cones? Would it be a good idea to come in as a Consular Officer and later switch to a Political Officer? In theory it's possible to change cones. In practice, it's difficult to do so, and you shouldn't plan on it. Some discussion here.
3. Can I choose one cone and then simply do out-of-cone work? Maybe, but that's a silly game to play and it's likely counterproductive to your other career and non-career goals. If you are really interested in one cone, choose that one when you apply. Too many applicants attempt to game the system by choosing an "easy" cone with some scheme to actually end up switching to or working in a different cone, but experienced FSOs on this sub have stated repeatedly that such schemes never really work out. That said, there is a lot of variety in foreign service work. Pick a cone that is of interest to you, and you will have plenty of opportunities to serve in different roles. More thoughts here and here.
4. I have a terrific idea for how to game the cone system that is not listed here. No, you don't. Somebody has already tried it and ended up being sad. Please don't try to game the system - it won't work the way you're hoping it will. Instead, just choose a cone based on your interests, talents, abilities, and passions, and work from there. You'll be happier and more successful in the long run.

Posts, Assignments, and Worldwide Availability

1. How do post assignments work?

• A great overview of 1st and 2nd tour bidding, post assignments, and language training
• First tour assignment thoughts
• First & Second tour bidding and More information, and more here.
• Second tour bidding
• Entry Level Office Management Specialist Bidding
• Bidding for third tour and beyond
• More mid-level bidding

1. I have an interest in working in country X or at least in a certain region of the world. How can I do that in the foreign service? During your first two tours, you're "directed" meaning you have a restricted list of places you might end up. Beyond that, you'll be responsible for finding your own assignments. It would not be uncommon for someone to develop regional expertise over time, but regional expertise doesn't mean you'd be bouncing between Paris and Geneva for the rest of your career. It's also easier to specialize in bigger countries or regions like the PRC or former Soviet Union than it is to specialize in smaller countries or niche sub-regions like Austria or the Gulf. Further discussion
2. I have a terrific idea for how to game the assignment system that is not listed here. No, you don't. Somebody has already tried it and ended up being sad. Please don't try to game the system - it won't work the way you're hoping it will. Instead, just be prepared to be "worldwide available" and understand that might mean Paris or Bangui, Caracas or Tashkent, Wellington or Bamako, Tijuana or Toronto. If you are not comfortable with that type of availability, this is not the career for you.
3. What are the popular or unpopular posts? It depends on the person, on the people you work with at a given post, and on environmental factors, among other things. A lot of people come in imagining they'd love working in a western European capital city only to find the cost of living, culture of the post, personality of their direct supervisor, commute to the office, or some other factor makes life less fun than it would've been if they'd simply visited that same city on vacation. Posts in other parts of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa or central Asia may have tighter-knit expat communities or post culture or better housing options or other benefits that make them more desirable for some people. One person's best post might be another person's worst. Many people on this sub have indicated that they've hated posts they expected to love and loved posts they expected to hate. One frequently mentioned bit of advice on this sub is not to think of Foreign Service posts as you would think of vacation destinations. Here is a good discussion of this topic. And here is a longer discussion of various posts that current or aspiring FSOs either like or don't like for various reasons.
4. Where can I learn about what life is like at different posts? Try reading these real post reports.

Hiring process

1. Why does the hiring process seem so opaque/confusing/mysterious/complicated? It's not really opaque, as State tells you exactly what they're looking for in candidates and provides study materials and resources for preparing for each stage. That said, a lot of candidates seem to feel frustrated or confused by the process for a variety of reasons. These may include:

• The process is long and does not offer immediate gratification. You should plan to move forward with life as usual and work through the foreign service hiring process in the background. There is simply a lot of waiting involved.
• Many candidates, surprisingly, seem not to follow directions and are then confused when they don't pass a certain stage of the process. By way of example, the instructions from the QEP about how to write personal narratives include the instruction, "Simple lists of accomplishments, recaps of candidates' resumes...are not effective." But one person did exactly this in the Leadership Skills essay and did not pass. This is not to say there are no other problems with this candidate's PNs, but if you make sure to follow each stage's instructions exactly, the process (and your results) won't seem so confusing.
• Many candidates, young and old, mistakenly assume that their work/life/school experience makes them more than qualified for an entry-level FSO role. In actuality, successful candidates translate that experience into the six precepts and thirteen dimensions during the QEP and FSOA stages, respectively.

1. How can I improve my chances of passing?

• FSOT - Be well-read on a diverse set of subjects, take the State Department reading list seriously, practice good test taking skills, know your English grammar perfectly, and be able to write in a clear and concise manner.
• QEP - Follow the directions exactly. Answer the questions exactly as written. Do not list your resume in bullet points. Do tell relevant (and verifiably true) stories. Have diverse life and work experiences that map easily to the job description of the cone you've selected and to the precept described in the essay prompt.
• FSOA - Practice, practice, practice ahead of time. Use the former Yahoo Group Files. Be relaxed and composed. Make every action and every word you use roll up into one or more of the 11 dimensions. Come across as someone that other people would want to work with. Smile. Oh, and practice.
• Security clearance - Before you get to the security clearance stage, make sure you've buttoned up everything you can think of, from past stupid behavior to credit reports to tax filings. Consider running a cheap background check on yourself. When filling out your SF-86, disclose everything. Don't make anything a surprise. When you meet with your investigator, disclose everything relevant to the questions and the time frames included. Make sure you understand what they're looking for and be proactive about bringing troublesome/questionable points to the investigator's attention.
• For all stages - read the instructions and do exactly what they are asking you to do, no more and no less. Do not try to guess what the examiners want to hear. They are telling you exactly what they want each time - whether it's demonstration of general knowledge and English expertise, clear and concise writing, demonstration of the six precepts, or demonstration of the thirteen dimensions. Whichever stage you're working through, assume that you're being graded according to a rubric that matches exactly to the instructions you're given.

1. Approximately what percentage of people pass each of the stages? No one outside State really knows exactly, and numbers can vary from year to year, depending on hiring projections, but based on various reports (example) and conjecture here are some approximate guesses. Feel free to disagree.

• Total number of people who take the FSOT in a given year: 17000, give or take. (Although in 2017, State reportedthe number had dropped to just 9519. This lower number, though, does not mean one's "chances" are any better or any worse this year.) Note that while these numbers are expressed as numerical percentages, they should not be interpreted as probabilities.
• FSOT - No longer pass/fail
• QEP - This can vary greatly based on the needs of the service by cone, the total number of applicants, and various other factors.
• FSOA - Approximately 40-50% pass
• Clearances, suitability & receiving an offer before timing off the register: 60-80%. Very few people are denied a security clearance (though getting the clearance may take a long time). More commonly, the people that pass the FSOA but do not become FSOs are those with low FSOA scores who time off the register after 18 months or those who choose to cancel their candidacy for one reason or another. Historically, about 2-3% of FSOT takers ended up as FSOs eventually.

1. How long will it take me to get through the process? Assuming everything goes perfectly, at least a year but possibly much longer. For example: if you take the FSOT today, it will be a couple of months before you get your results. You'll have three weeks to submit your essays to the QEP and then another couple months of waiting. You'll then have to schedule your oral assessment (another 2-4 month wait) and if you pass that, you'll enter the medical and security clearance stage which will take at least 6 months in most cases, but possibly much longer. (Yes, there are anectodal exceptions to all of the above.) You'll then go through final suitability review, which will take anywhere from a week to several months and only at that point will you be on the register. You will then have to wait for hiring to be authorized and to receive an offer. You'll be on the register for 18 months, and if you don't get an offer during that window of time, your candidacy will end. If an offer doesn't come through (or if you fail any of the steps of the process), you'll have to start over by taking the FSOT again the next time you're eligible. So if you take the FSOT today, the best case scenario would be for you to be joining the foreign service a little over a year from now, but a more likely scenario is that you'll be working through this process and doing a lot of waiting for a couple of years or more. Use the time productively - there's no benefit to sitting around and stressing over the what-ifs of State Department hiring.
2. How can I use my time productively?

• Learn a language to improve your register position
• Engage in meaningful work to improve your demonstration of the 11 dimensions.
• Start another candidacy in parallel. In most cases, you are allowed to take the FSOT once per year, so take it every time you have the opportunity.
• Take this advice.

1. What if I fail one of the stages? Then you are human and you've had an experience not unlike ~98% of applicants each year. If you're interested in the foreign service, try again. Some people have taken the test more than ten times and many of today's FSO's were hired on subsequent tries because they persisted and improved themselves each time.
2. Is there a hiring freeze? Should I wait to apply until after things return to normal? Whether there is a hiring freeze in effect or not doesn't matter. As one person said, "It'll take a long time from test to diplomat, so I don't think the temporal minutia will really matter by the time we're on the register." If you're interested in the Foreign Service, go take the test and get the process started. It's free. Worst case, you fail and you'll take the test another time (which is what you would've done if you had tried to wait out the hiring freeze). But it might be that you succeed and find yourself well-positioned on the register in time for the next big round of hiring.
3. Is there going to be an A-100 soon? Will [cone] spots be available? How should I interpret the remarks of [important person]? Are they really only going to hire [number] of people this year? I can't deal with the stress! Why are they making me put my life on hold? Why won't they extend my time on the register? How many people will retire/resign/take an early buyout this year? How many Rangel/Pickering fellows are there and what percentage of the jobs will they take? What is the status of [funding legislation in congress]? Does [random thing I read in the news] mean we should expect to see a new A-100 now? Why does FSI have training classes on their schedule if no invites have gone out yet? etc. As an exasperated someone humorously posted on another forum, "Seriously chill. Even if you were provided this information, which isn’t likely, it has no effect on whether there are spots left for you. Enough with trying to predict what happens this year. Wait it out like any job interview."

FSOT - The Foreign Service officer Test

1. What is the difference between the FSWE and the FSOT? The FSOT is the Foreign Service Officer Test. Its predecessor was the FSWE, the Foreign Service Written Exam, and is no longer administered. You can sign up to take the FSOT here.
2. What are my chances of passing? There is no way to know without trying. If you're interested, take the test and see how you do. People on this sub won't be able to tell you how you're likely to do, and if you try and fail and then try again, you may find that you perform better and pass the second (or third or fourth) time around. Remember: taking the test is free. (You only have to pay if you sign up and then fail to take the test.) So you have nothing to lose - get out there and give it a go.
3. How can I prepare?

• Take the practice test.
• Read the Suggested Reading List.
• Set your expectations that this process will take a long time. If you are just now getting ready to take the FSOT, chances are you will not be a new FSO next year at this time. Most people will not successfully become FSO's on their first try. But that doesn't mean you should give up! You will try, you will try again. You will need to maintain a positive attitude. You will need to be patient. Don't make Foreign Service your Plan A. Move on with life while you are working your way through the foreign service hiring process.

1. Where can I find more information about the FSOT? Try the FSOT Frequently Asked Questions on the Pearson site. (Pearson is currently the company that administers the FSOT and some of the subsequent steps of the hiring process.)

QEP - The Qualifications Evaluation Panel

1. What is the difference between the QEP and the PN's or the PNQ's? People use these acronyms to talk about the same part of the process, even though they mean different things. The QEP is the Qualifications Evaluation Panel, and its job is to evaluate, based on a set of short essays, the likelihood that someone who passed the FSOT will also pass the FSOA. FSOT passers write one essay (a "personal narrative" or "PN") for each of six prompts (each a "personal narrative question" or "PNQ").
2. When will I know if I made it to the QEP? You will get an email from Pearson a few weeks after the close of the FSOT testing window. Your results will also appear in your online account with Pearson. When you are notified that you made it to the QEP, you will have approximately three weeks to write your essays and submit them through the Pearson interface.

FSOA - The Foreign Service Oral Assessment

1. Where is the FSOA held? As of May 2024, it is now held virtually, over the course of two days.
2. When will I know if I made it to the FSOA? You will get an email from Pearson a few weeks after you submit your personal narratives to the QEP. Your results will also appear in your online account with Pearson. When you are notified that you made it to the FSOA, you will have the opportunity to schedule your FSOA date through the Pearson interface.
3. How can I prepare?

• The FSOA evaluates your demonstration of the 11 dimensions. Know them inside and out.
• Take advantage of the old Yahoo Group FSOA files.
• Contact your Diplomat in Residence, as many of them hold FSOA info sessions.

Clearances

1. What is the process for getting my security clearance?
   1. After you pass the FSOA, you will receive a packet of information describing how this process works. Basically, within 30 days you will fill out a lengthy questionnaire electronically on the e-QIP system. (Read e-QIP FAQs here.)
   2. The e-QIP is the electronic version of the "SF-86," a standard PDF/printable form with essentially the same questions. Although not necessary, some have recommended using a printed SF-86 form to collect all of your responses to the e-QIP and then transcribe them into the electronic system when you are ready. (The e-QIP system does allow you to save and return to work again later.) Start early: many have reported that tracking down all their foreign contacts or previous addresses has taken a long time.
   3. You will wait for a period of time (say between a few days and a few months) and then you will be contacted by an investigator from Diplomatic Security. You will set up an interview with him or her. The investigator will let you know if additional information is required; you can speed up the process by disclosing everything up front. Don't try to hide the negatives; be up front and transparent.
2. Will X affect my ability to get a clearance? It depends. Here are the guidelines.
3. What percentage of applicants are denied a security clearance? Only about 0.1% of initial cases, per the 2015 ODNI report. However the report notes State may discontinue security processing due to automatic disqualifiers found during a suitability review before the case reaches the security clearance adjudication phase. These cases are cancelled by Human Resources before security clearance determinations are rendered and are not, therefore, categorized as security clearance denials. {HT: Christabel34}

Register

1. Where can I find the shadow registers? How can I be added? What is my position on the register? Contact the volunteer maintaining the shadow register for your career track or specialty

Languages

1. Do I have to know a foreign language to be in the foreign service? No, but if you do know a language well, you will receive bonus points and may be hired before a similarly-qualified candidate without language ability. Also, every new FSO must learn a language within the first few years of service. You are on so-called "language probation" until you have passed the appropriate language exam. FSI will provide the language training for any language-designated position in which you are to serve.
2. How do language bonus points work? When you pass the FSOA, you will have a score, usually between about 5.3 and 6, though scores can be as high as 7. You will be ranked by score against other people in your cone, and the higher scores will be hired first. So if you have the highest score for your cone. The only way to improve your score (unless you are a veteran) is to pass a language test. Most languages will get you an additional .17 points if you can demonstrate a "general professional proficiency" on the Interagency Language Roundtable Scale. For examples of the level of proficiency you would need, watch these videos. Harder languages that are in higher demand by the State Department can get you either .25 or .38 points. A list of languages for which State offers bonus points is here. And this thread has some excellent advice on languages.
3. If I speak language X, will I get sent to a post where that language is needed? Not necessarily, unless you received language bonus points for a super critical needs language. In that latter case, you can expect to serve in a position designated for that language at least twice in your career. The super critical needs languages are listed in the bottom table on this page. But if you come in with a fluency in, say, Spanish (which is not a super critical needs language), there is no guarantee that you'll be sent to a Spanish-speaking post.

Life & Work in the Foreign Service

1. What is it like to find out what your next post will be? Read many flag day stories here.
2. How does pay work? How is my salary calculated? What allowances do I get? Read this excellent Foreign Service Officer Salary Guide. You can also look up information about various posts, but be advised that the data on this site is not necessarily official and may be out of date.
3. Will I be required to serve in an unaccompanied post? You are "worldwide available," so in theory it can happen. In practice, there are a lot of people who volunteer to serve in unaccompanied posts for various reasons, and it would be unlikely that you would be forced to serve in one if you didn't want to.
4. What is it like to be LGBT in the foreign service? Review GLIFAA's website and resources, read read real post reports, which have a specific section for LGBT info, by post and these threads - LGBT, Foreign Commercial Service LGBT, same sex marriage, Robyn McCutcheon's book about her career Foreign Service, including as the first trans FSO.

Will it help/hurt my chances if...

1. ...I have a graduate degree from a really good school with a high GPA or I have no degree at all? No, it really doesn't matter.
2. ...I did drugs or committed a crime or did something stupid a long time ago? It could hurt you, but it really depends on what you did, how you dealt with the problem, and what you've been doing since then. Go ahead and apply.
3. ...I did drugs or committed a crime or did something stupid recently? It could hurt you, and if you're continuing to show poor judgment in life, it's going to be next to impossible for you to join the foreign service. However, no one on this sub will be able to tell you definitively what your outcome is likely to be. Fix whatever it is and try again. You won't know if or how this will affect your candidacy unless you try.
4. ...I have dual citizenship? Your clearances will take longer, but it's not a deal breaker. Read details here.
5. **...I have a foreign-born spouse or I have many contacts overseas or I have lived overseas for a long time?**Same answer: your clearances will take longer, but it's not a deal breaker. Read details here and here.

Miscellaneous

1. What happens after I receive my Orientation offer? Orientation 101 is the initial training class you take when you officially start work in the foreign service. Congratulations! It is a time of a lot of changes. Here is a description of what happens.
2. How can I become an Ambassador? You probably won't become an ambassador, and it's not worth the brain cycles to try to plan for it. But even if you have the right set of skills, knowledge, and luck through a career spanning many decades and you end up as an ambassador, you will still have spent far more time as a rank-and-file career employee than as an ambassador. So make sure you are interested, first and foremost, in the job and lifestyle of a foreign service officer, which is where you will spend the entirety of your career.
3. I am outraged over what the President / Secretary / someone else in power just said / did! Nothing wrong with feeling outrage, but what you do with that feeling may matter. And while you may dissent through the appropriate (private) channel, no matter who is in power and no matter who you voted for, your duty as a foreign service officer is to publicly advance the interests of the U.S. As a simplistic example, take a look at who came in first or second in the presidential elections going back ~20 years. Any of them could've been your boss (with small differences in electoral returns for the runners-up, of course): B. Clinton, Dole, Bush, Gore, Kerry, McCain, Obama, Romney, H. Clinton, Trump. Those individuals hold a pretty diverse set of policy views, and the next twenty years of presidential elections will probably result in a similarly diverse list. So if you want to be in the foreign service, think of your job as representing the U.S. regardless of who is in power. If you can see yourself representing the U.S. when person A is in power but not when person B is in power, this may not be the best career for you in the long run.

Additional Resources

• Department of State Careers
• Global Community Liaison Office
• American Foreign Service Association (AFSA)
  • Foreign Service Journal
  • AFSA's Foreign Service Statistics page
  • Foreign Service by the Numbers
• Tales from a Small Planet
• Path to Foreign Service
• American Diplomat podcast
• Modern American Diplomacy podcast

In March on the VERY last day that admin has to notify teachers of not renewing their contracts, my principal called me into his office and informed me he wouldn’t be rehiring me. I LOVED working with this school, so I was really disappointed.
Then I found out my mom had advanced stage cancer, and this really helped me focus on what is important these days, and I’d like to share some of my tips (and welcome yours).

1. PRIORITIZE (like REALLY investinage what is essential) what will have lasting importance and is important for you).

In public school there are tons of “essential” tasks dumped on us, and some of them have more impact than others. In my school, all 3 fourth grade teachers are supposed to write individualized comments for all 70 students 3x/year on report cards. After reflecting, I don’t think 4th grade report cards comments are that significant, so I plan to copy paste mine with just their test scores so I can complete that task with minimum effort.
Being prepared for IEPs and SST meetings for struggling students is more impactful, especially since I won’t be here next year, so I take the time to organize my data for those conferences, even though I could possibly go to them less prepared.
The other day I put down my foot when they almost rescheduled state testing for my grade because my 2 colleagues were absent and had subs who aren’t certified to give the state tests. I said I was going to go ahead with state testing for my students because I was not able to last minute come up with 2 hours of lesson plans for the allotted state testing time.
Guess what? They figured out how to have our various teachers and admin who are certified to do the testing swap out with the substitutes for testing block, so we could get testing out of the way and not mess up our schedule.

1. Plan fun treats for you and the students

In my case I started using some team builder printables I found on Instagram (Monica Genta) to have a fun start of the period do nows instead of doing a grammar do now. What are they going to do? Fire me ;)
I added an art component to the end of year writing task (nope, not going to grade it and sure they can work with their friends, bend the rules etc.)

1. Learn what your rights are.

I have a strong union and a strong school teacher and parent community, so I had resources to reach out and find out what my “Non renewal of contract” meant. An important question I asked my union rep was “Can my principal change my status from ‘Temp Release’ (doesn’t put a bad mark on your record for the district) to a ‘Non Reeelect’ (looks worse)?” For me the answer was NO, so I no longer warmly greet my principal in the hallway and I often skip professional developments.

1. Ask more experienced teachers for insight about priorities in your school community

Some questions I asked were:
Can I use my letter of rec from last year’s principal instead of this year’s principal and look like a good applicant? In my case yes.
Can I use a letter of rec from a teacher I worked with closely? Yes.
(To your colleagues) These kids you taught last year are having some serious conflicts and issues. What did you do last year to keep the peace?

1. Delegate to willing (or socially obligated) parties

I’m so sorry for all the folks who work in the many schools where there aren’t that many people to delegate to, so you might have to get creative. Here are some examples:
-my classroom volunteer often marks the homework and assignments but I enter the final grades
-I had already volunteered to go on the class camping trip before I got this bad news and we had a lot of adult chaperones. I later found out that another teacher at my school goes for the daytime part of the camping trip, then takes the school bus/drives home. I should have done this since I had family visiting my ill mom in town…but I was in the dedicated school teacher mode.
-I started reaching out to friends to help me clean out my classroom for the last few days of the school year

1. Be kind and positive when it matters, and authentically pissed off when appropriate

-To combat the sadness and anger I feel, I push myself to give positive behavior incentisves and shout out to students each period
-I message parents of struggling kids when they have a medium to good day (and said parents don’t have a reputation of trying to get extra meetings each time you message them)
-If colleagues ask, I plainly tell them that my principal forwarded me an email chain in which he told HR he didn’t want to rehire me, but wanted to wait as long as possible to tell me. They are usually horrified and say they have heard of similar behavior from him. It’s not fun to talk about, but it helps them to better understand the way their leader works so they can watch their back
-a parent invited me to see her kid perform on Friday night. I responded by saying I was so proud of her daughter and that I put her announcement on our announcement board, but I spent my Friday night with a friend instead.
What are your end of the year tips?

What is this?

This is a weekly crowdfunding roundup of new projects launched last week and projects that end the coming week.

Google Docs

As an alternative format, the lists are now also available as a Google Docs found here: Weekly Crowdfunding Roundup

Updates

Expect new lists every Sunday between 00:00 and 23:59 CEST on the following platforms:
Mastodon: @danielpervan@mastodon.social
Discord: https://discord.gg/dN4P4PZcU9
Reddit: /boardgames

Selection criteria

The criteria for the lists are as follows:

Ending soon

• Sorted by number of backers
  
• Kickstarter projects ending in the next 7 days, that have at least 100 backers (or marked as "Project we love" by Kickstarter), will have reached more than estimated 95% of their goal by their deadline and passed the filters:
  
  • No DnD books
  • No zines
  • No 3D printing
  • No dice sets
  • No magazines
  • No shirts
  • No playmats
  • No furniture
  • No events
• Gamefound projects ending in the next 7 days, that will have reached more than estimated 95% of their goal by their deadline and passed the above filters.
  
• (beta) Backerkit Crowdfunding projects ending in the next 7 days, that will have reached more than estimated 95% of their goal by their deadline and have a matching BGG page.
  

Newly launched

• Sorted by number of backers
  
• Kickstarter projects launched in the last 7 days, that have had at least average 15 backers per day, have at least 100 backers or is marked as "Project we love" by Kickstarter and passed the filters (see above).
  
• Gamefound projects launched in the last 7 days and passed the filters (see above).
  
• (beta) Backerkit Crowdfunding projects launched in the last 7 days and have a matching BGG page.
  

Notable filtered projects

• Filtered projects from above lists that have more than 1000 backers.

Tags

🎉: Staff pick/featured
💰: Funded
🔥: More than average 200 backers/day
🌱: Creator's first project
🌳: Creator's >5th project
🔄: Money back guarantee (Read more)

FAQ

I live in Guatemala/Canada/Costa Rica/USA, why are you posting on a Saturday?!
Because I'm writing this from Europe in the future where it's already Sunday. Timezones be crazy.
Why are there a bunch of non-board games in the board game list?
Because the Tabletop games category on Kickstarter includes anything remotely related to board games and sometimes things slip through my filters.
Why is this future award winning board game and literal saviour of humanity missing from your list?
Sometimes my filters get a bit overzealous and discard actually valid projects. If you feel something is missing for this reason, leave a comment and I'll add it (maybe).
Can I donate all my money to you?
No
Can you help me promote my game?
Please no. I make lists. Nothing more.
Your list is full of errors and now Chrome is eating all my RAM!
Indeed, this fine piece of code runs purely on second-tier magic, so anything can happen. Leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.

Ending soon (13)

Name	Description	Backers	Pledged	Ends	Information	Tags	BGG
Earth: Abundance Expansion	Enhance the rich gameplay of the award-winning board game Earth with new player interactions and opportunities to curate your hand.	11534	CA$1,145,041.00 (4018%) in 13 days	2024-05-08	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰🔥🌳
Bloomchasers: Delightful 3D Tree Game of Flowers and Wits	30-min light strategy game for adults! Grow your flowers and outwit opponents on a stunning 3D tree, either as a team or competitively	5112	$234,968.00 (2350%) in 25 days	2024-05-11	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑6 players 👶 12+ ⏱️ 20-45 min.	🎉💰🔥🌳	BGG
GAMELIB POCKET: a real boardgame library in your pocket!	PAY WHAT YOU WANT and receive GAMELIB POCKET! Every week, for a full year, get a new game rule compatible with its components! 🤩	1986	€23,800.00 (793%) in 19 days	2024-05-09	💸 Kickstarter	💰🌳
KeyForge: Æmber Skies	The strange domain of the Skyrealm is the focus of KeyForge: Æmber Skies, the eighth KeyForge set. Keep your eyes peeled toward the sky this April '24, for that is when the launch of the Gamefound campaign for KeyForge: Æmber Skies will set high sail.	1289	$353,329.96 (707%) in 17 days	2024-05-07	💸 Gamefound 👥 2 players ⏱️ 30 min. Card Game Deck Building	💰
Cyber Pet Quest | A Thrilling Solo/Co-op Campaign Board Game	Guide cybernetic pets on a mission to rescue their missing owner in this riveting solo/cooperative adventure game for 1-4 players!	690	$37,831.00 (378%) in 19 days	2024-05-10	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑4 players 👶 8+ ⏱️ 30-45 min.	🎉💰🌳	BGG
Money Maker: The Goldsmiths Tale | Build your Banking Empire	What if… you could print your own money? 💰 Build your Money Empire. Screw over your friends. Create the most profitable bank! 🏦	519	€26,663.00 (267%) in 26 days	2024-05-09	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰🌱
Snowcrest	Discover ancient knowledge and appease mystical beasts to bring peace to your village.	432	A$26,044.69 (347%) in 19 days	2024-05-07	💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 15-60 min. Card Game	💰🌱	BGG
Hexopolis: A Geometric Landscape of Possibilities	Build walls. Find the right path. Expand your territory.	233	$18,036.00 (361%) in 26 days	2024-05-09	💸 Kickstarter	💰🌱
SIMULATOR SOCCER | The Freedom of hand-controlled Soccer	Over 100 players | 2-minute setup | Score goals, Control your entire Team, and outsmart your Rivals strategically!	147	€8,567.00 (343%) in 26 days	2024-05-09	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰🌱
New Kingdom: Sowers	A strategic card game for 1-2 players inspired by the Parable of the Sower, designed by Scott Kabel, illustrated by Melissa Murakami.	140	$3,933.00 (164%) in 12 days	2024-05-11	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑2 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 15-30 min.	💰	BGG
Smacked Down 1st Edition	A miniature agnostic 1v1 tabletop skirmish game set in the world of independent professional wrestling.	127	$3,067.00 (383%) in 27 days	2024-05-09	💸 Kickstarter	💰🌱
Crisis in Korea	2 mini boardgames that look at conflict in near-future North Korea: Loose Nukes and Korean Theater of Operations Crisis	115	$3,530.00 (706%) in 19 days	2024-05-06	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 30 min.	💰🌳	BGG
Alimentarya	Print and Play board game full of unique characters, simple and fun mechanics and a magical fantasy atmosphere.	112	MX$9,801.00 (653%) in 37 days	2024-05-11	💸 Kickstarter	💰🌱

New this week (38)

Name	Description	Backers	Pledged	Ends	Information	Tags	BGG
Canvas Big Box	Chest of drawers to store Canvas and all its expansions + New Cards + Canvas reprint	6101	$379,987.00 (1267%) in 5 days	2024-05-29	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰🔥🌳
Enemies and Lovers: The Crown of Elfhame	Based on The Cruel Prince series, a fast-paced, lushly illustrated card game of strategy, deception, and betrayal for 2-4 players.	3745	$302,320.00 (504%) in 4 days	2024-05-31	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 13+ ⏱️ 15-40 min.	🎉💰🔥🌱	BGG
Fractured Sky: Rift	A kickstarter-exclusive reprint and expansion campaign for Fractured Sky. Painted minis, magnets, and more 🚀	3300	$237,007.00 (474%) in 5 days	2024-05-16	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑5 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 45-75 min.	💰🔥🌳	BGG
Euthia: Cruel Frost	The highly-rated and Kickstarter exclusive fantasy board game, Euthia, returns with its chilling climax, Cruel Frost!	2805	£434,459.00 (869%) in 3 days	2024-05-16	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 60-480 min.	🎉💰🔥🌳	BGG
LA FLEUR: Extravagant Gardens in Rococo France	Host the fanciest French Rococo parties in the ultimate garden building, flower collecting and guest stealing game for 1 to 4 players.	2686	$240,414.00 (4808%) in 5 days	2024-05-30	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 30-60 min.	🎉💰🔥	BGG
Wonders of The First CCG	400+ card Alpha set. Battle in 7 realms as a Stoneseeker. Get Kickstarter exclusive Stretch Box cards that will never appear again.	2308	$1,408,172.00 (5633%) in 5 days	2024-05-30	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 13+ ⏱️ 20-45 min.	🎉💰🔥🌱	BGG
Dark Cities | Deluxe Editions	Five games of social deduction & light strategy for up to 9 players. Deluxe book boxes include upgraded components & mini expansions.	1830	$195,877.00 (784%) in 5 days	2024-05-23	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰🔥🌳
Kinfire Council	A competitive game of strategy and politics for 2-6 players set in the Kinfire universe, designed by Kevin Wilson.	1504	$177,725.00 (444%) in 6 days	2024-05-28	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑6 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 90-120 min.	🎉💰🔥	BGG
House of Fado by Vital Lacerda & João Quintela Martins	Manage your Fado restaurant, promote musicians, and send them to the starlight in this medium-weight worker placement game.	1328	$62,062.00 (296%) in 3 days	2024-05-17	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 30-60 min.	💰🔥🌳	BGG
Keystone: North America 2nd Edition + Coastal Expansion	Keystone: North America is back with a stunning Second Edition and New Coastal Expansion!	930	$74,241.00 (247%) in 5 days	2024-05-28	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑2 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 30-60 min.	🎉💰	BGG
Epochs: Course of Cultures - A 4X Civ. Game Spans the Ages	From Antiquity to Modernity: Forge Your Civilization's Legendary Journey Through The Sands of Time	720	HK$741,771.00 (473%) in 6 days	2024-06-03	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 12+ ⏱️ 120-180 min.	💰🌳	BGG
LONG DARK SEA	Long Dark Sea is a cooperative adventure card game for 1-4 players focused on exploration and combat where deckbuilding and resource management are their main mechanics. Venture into the unknown with your pirate crew in search of ancient relics in a Sci-fi universe.	714	€97,219.44 (162%) in 5 days	2024-05-21	💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑4 players 👶 12+ ⏱️ 40-60 min. Card Game Dice Game Deck Building Cooperative	💰🌱	BGG
Neon Reign	Neon Reign is a fast-paced card game that combines the excitement of arcade-style fighting games with strategic dueling!	647	$22,458.00 (150%) in 5 days	2024-05-14	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑2 players 👶 8+ ⏱️ 10-15 min.	🎉💰🌳	BGG
HârnWorld: Kingdom of Kanday	Continuing a series of Hardcover editions of the Kingdoms of Hârn.	637	$55,487.00 (555%) in 6 days	2024-05-30	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰🌳
The Adventures of Conan	Join Conan and his allies as they battle across the Hyborian Age, where darkness plagues the land. In this asymmetrical dice game, the legendary barbarian will battle monsters sent by his foes, whilst his allies battle by his side. Can Conan ascend to become King, or will he fall to his enemies foul…	479	$103,438.81 (207%) in 5 days	2024-05-16	💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 90-120 min. Dice Game	💰	BGG
The Brothers Murph Season 8! Table Fables and Unmatched!	We are The Brothers Murph and we are raising money for Season 8 of our YouTube channel! And we're selling some awesome games to boot!	416	$20,196.00 (58%) in 4 days	2024-05-31	💸 Kickstarter
One Card Maze Season 2	Wallets, Boss Mazes for more of a challenge, Fledgling Mazes for players who need a little help, and more Exclusive Mazes!	412	CA$16,054.00 (134%) in 5 days	2024-06-01	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰🌱
Tenby	An action drafting, street building, feature matching card game for 1 - 5 players, set in the beautiful Welsh seaside town of Tenby.	360	£8,383.00 (152%) in 7 days	2024-05-28	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑5 players 👶 8+ ⏱️ 30-60 min.	💰🌱	BGG
Micro Midgard	Travel the 9 realms, and become the champion that fulfils the Norn's prophecies before Ragnarok.	354	£10,820.00 (433%) in 5 days	2024-05-28	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑2 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 15-30 min.	🎉💰🌳	BGG
Formosa Tea	Experience the early years of the Taiwanese tea industry through this innovative 2-4 player worker placement board game.	339	$16,145.00 (108%) in 5 days	2024-05-30	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰
AI 100% Human - Boardgame	Innovative drafting game with a reserve and immediate scoring, all structured around building a tableau.	307	€20,095.00 (201%) in 5 days	2024-05-24	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑6 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 30-45 min.	💰🌳	BGG
Long Live Backyardia!	A modular expansion for the award-nominated Trick-Taking and Mancala board game Bug Council of Backyardia!	306	¥1,544,009 (309%) in 5 days	2024-05-21	💸 Kickstarter 👥 3‑5 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 30-40 min.	💰	BGG
Franklin 1864	Refight the Battle of Spring Hill and Franklin in Hood's Tennesse Campaign in 1864. Playing time 2 hours. 1 to 2 players.	246	$21,526.00 (1155%) in 1 days	2024-05-18	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑2 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 120-180 min.	💰🔥🌳	BGG
Cosmic Chains	A tactical dueling card game of cats and robots. Build the longest satellite chain to provide the best network coverage!	233	$7,210.00 (144%) in 5 days	2024-05-26	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 30-40 min.	💰🌱	BGG
Falcons: The US Air Force Academy Board Game	Play as an Air Force Academy Cadet in this cheerful game based on the real academy!	215	$18,677.00 (27%) in 5 days	2024-06-01	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 30-60 min.		BGG
Glim	A dice game played by the fairies of a forgotten world — from the creators of 'The Blair Witch Project' and Twogether Studios.	210	$11,601.00 (47%) in 5 days	2024-06-01	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2 players 👶 12+ ⏱️ 60-90 min.	🌱	BGG
Mich in the Downgeon	Explore the Downgeon, defeat monsters, find loot and escape with the golden fishes 📝🐉🏆. A ready-to-print game.	197	MX$49,008.00 (1225%) in 5 days	2024-05-28	💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑5 players 👶 12+ ⏱️ 20-40 min.	💰🌳	BGG
Napoleon's Campagne de Russie - Russian campaign	Manage Napoleon’s forces invading Western Russia, or play as the defenders of the northern nation. Both armies are yours to command!	185	MX$239,586.00 (4679%) in 4 days	2024-05-31	💸 Kickstarter	💰
Peep Spotting	Spot the Peep in this competitive "Where's Waldo" Style card game. Pay what you want for a unique set of Peeps in each copy. 🙋	132	A$1,236.00 (123600%) in 5 days	2024-05-31	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 5-15 min.	🎉💰	BGG
Der Tag - Broadside: Empires of Steel - Digital Edition	Tabletop gaming in the era of the Great War Dreadnought	116	A$12,591.00 (252%) in 6 days	2024-05-30	💸 Kickstarter	💰🌳
Full Sauna	A board game about the struggle to relax.	114	£4,225.00 (85%) in 3 days	2024-06-01	💸 Kickstarter	🎉🌱
Dreamspace: Mission to Marsylvania	Explore Marsylvania with our hunters in this dungeon crawler, competitive and thematic, 8-bit style board game set in the multiverse!	109	€4,801.00 (24%) in 5 days	2024-05-30	💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑5 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 90-120 min.	🌱	BGG
WordWeaver Adventures	WordWeaver Adventures is a family friendly, co-op word building game where adventurers travel to beautifully depicted regions around the world. In each of these regions, they will be challenged by teachers to channel their energy through spelling words. Meet the goal and move to the next challenge w…	97	$7,103.00 (71%) in 4 days	2024-06-08	💸 Gamefound 👥 2‑4 players 👶 5+ ⏱️ 20-60 min. Cooperative	🌱	BGG
Roll Initiative | The Elimination Party Game!	Roll your die and survive round-based turns against your friends in this tabletop party game where your drinks represent your lives!	88	$8,796.00 (35%) in 4 days	2024-06-01	💸 Kickstarter 👥 3‑6 players 👶 18+ ⏱️ 15-45 min.	🌱	BGG
Die dunklen Fälle des Harry Dresden – Turbo-Fate-Rollenspiel	Die deutsche Übersetzung von Dresden Files Accelerated als Die dunklen Fälle des Harry Dresden – Ein Turbo-Fate-Rollenspiel.	88	€7,202.00 (131%) in 5 days	2024-05-30	💸 Kickstarter	💰🌱
Fun Guys	The card game that will (legally) hook you on mushrooms	62	€7,357.00 (74%) in 2 days	2024-06-03	💸 Kickstarter	🌱
Conclave - A Strategy Card Game	Dive into the medieval fray of 'Conclave', the tabletop game where strategy, deceit, and alliances forge legends!	58	€4,025.00 (45%) in 1 days	2024-06-03	💸 Kickstarter	🌱
RAPID DUNGEON | ラピッドダンジョン	High-speed dungeon attack! Action & Set Collection Board Game from Japan. Co-op card game. ハイスピードでダンジョン攻略！アクション＆アイテム収集ボードゲーム	23	¥135,189 (39%) in 5 days	2024-05-30	💸 Kickstarter	🎉

Notable filtered projects (8)

Name	Description	Backers	Pledged	Ends	Information	Tags
Delve – a Guide to Dungeons for 5E & Shadowdark RPG	How to build and survive deadly dungeons – 200+ pages of dungeons, monsters, traps, magic items, player options, and more!	2910	$184,375.00 (1844%) in 5 days	2024-05-31	💸 Kickstarter	💰🔥🌱
The Modular Table by Wyrmwood	A solid wood, beautifully crafted table, designed for a dynamic lifestyle. Coming in an array of sizes and wood options.	2812	$896,498.00 (8965%) in 25 days	2024-05-10	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰🌳
Book of Spirits: An Ethereal Supplement for 5E	Explore the spirit realm in D&D 5E. Cross the Veil, defeat dark manifestations, and reshape the world with your heroic spark.	2266	$177,413.00 (1183%) in 26 days	2024-05-10	💸 Kickstarter	💰🌱
The Halfbeards' Daughter: A Lewd Dungeon Adventures Module	An adult tabletop RPG requiring real-life intimate actions to move the story along. Can be fully converted into a drinking game.	2020	$32,534.00 (1084%) in 23 days	2024-05-12	💸 Kickstarter	💰
ULTIMO - 3D Printable Modular Case Building System	Multi-functional design + quick assembly. A case building system like no other for your miniatures, cards, dice, games + more!	1160	A$83,588.00 (836%) in 30 days	2024-05-06	💸 Kickstarter	💰🌱
The Wandering Tavern	A GRUNGY Studio Ghibli-inspired TTRPG setting (DnD 5e stats included)	1105	£71,163.00 (1017%) in 33 days	2024-05-10	💸 Kickstarter	💰
Worlds at a Glance: 5E tools to describe towns, shops & NPCs	One look, zero delays. Tools for worldbuilding towns, shops & NPCs that won't slow down your session!	1092	€100,342.00 (1003%) in 5 days	2024-05-30	💸 Kickstarter	🎉💰🔥🌱
Swords & Wizardry: Expansions, Monsters, and More!	Optional supplemental rules for S&W (and other OSR games), a book of new monsters, an adventure, and much more!	1045	$104,608.00 (1046%) in 26 days	2024-05-07	💸 Kickstarter	💰

Hi everyone,
I am looking for the easiest/best way to put together a score with lyrics in a layout like you might see in a church hymnal (example: https://hymnary.org/hymn/UMH/378). I am actually wanting to use an existing score in MIDI format that is in the public domain, and just add new lyrics that I have written.
I am currently a Linux user, but have access to both Mac and Windows as needed. I thought I could do this in MuseScore but my Googling has given me results that make me think I will never be able to make it look correctly, especially for printing purposes. I know of Finale and used it once upon a time (20+ years ago probably), the cost is a challenge but if it is the easiest way to do this I can try to scrounge up the money. I also just discovered Dorico which from my Googling makes me think it would make what I am trying to accomplish fairly easy, and the cost is less prohibitive.
But before I jump into Dorico or anything else I might stumble upon, I wanted to check in this group because you all probably have WAY more experience with this stuff than I do, and definitely know a great deal more about all of it. I am hoping to find something easy to use that will help me to produce (visually) good quality printables of hymns. Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions. Please let me know if there is other information I need to provide to help in working though this.
LinuxAndCoffee

I stole it back from that charlatan who asked me to steal it from the other guy in Sasau. I have been playing Farkle MUCH better since having it in my inventory. Coincidence? I don't think so. I just won in 2 rounds. With 1250 in the first round...and 4050 in the second round (five 1's and one 5). Can't be am accident right? Usually I lose because the opposition will score like 1500 out of nowhere but I've not lost since having this cat's paw.

I found a workaround to this but I still think it's a problem that's interesting enough to post.
So I have a work of fiction typeset in LaTeX as a PDF, and I was working on some code to also export the book into DAISY format for blind readers. One of the features of DAISY format is, you can embed data that tells the DAISY software where all the page-turns are in the printed book, so that the blind reader has the option of navigating to a particular print page number if they're working in a group with sighted people who have the normal print copy. Therefore, I wanted LaTeX to tell me the current page number at regular points in the text (I went for "once per sentence" for this), which I did by having my code add \label{Sentence1}, \label{Sentence2} etc to the TeX source and reading the resulting .aux file to find out which page number each sentence starts on.
So that's a lot of labels, but here's the thing: adding all those labels changed the page count of the resulting PDF. Which really surprised me, because I was under the impression that adding a \label will never change the appearance of the document. But apparently, it can. (Oh, and I had already published the print PDF, so it seemed I was up against either putting some “off by one” page numbers into the DAISY or else pushing out a new version of the PDF to go with it, neither of which were ideal.)
I tracked it down to a “widow” (paragraph starting on the last line of a page) which, when \label was added before it, was pushed onto the next page. And the workaround turned out to be to have my code add \label after the first word of the sentence, instead of before the first word of the sentence: when I did that, the labels left the PDF's appearance unchanged as expected. So adding a \label just before a paragraph starts can sometimes push the scoring of widows and orphans just enough to push it over the edge and change LaTeX's typesetting decision.
(Further details: I am using \raggedbottom with \clubpenalty1000\widowpenalty1000; I tried to make a small sample document to demonstrate the problem, but no matter what I did I couldn't come up with anything smaller than one chapter of my novel with the actual text of the novel; I don't know if I'm allowed to link here but for reference you can see the finished product if you look up "The M3GAN Files", go to the AO3 version and download the "Nice PDF" which is formatted to a compromise geometry so it should be printable on both A4 and Letter, and the paragraph that caused all the trouble starts at the bottom of page 156 "The president was hesitant". I can supply the LaTeX source on request but given that I was unable to cut it down much without making the problem disappear I'm not sure how useful that will be.)

Farkle Directions in English an Spanish and Printable Score Sheet
https://preview.redd.it/kpcxqj2mjnwc1.jpg?width=1302&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=27fcaf63863c24cb7d678c4c78c60a864f5d67f9
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I haven't found any meaningful test results for max volumetric flow rates (specifically of A1 hotends / nozzles) - although this being one of THE limiting factors for "in as little time as possible" prints.
Therefore I'd like to create a place where people can compile their test results or where you can search for what others have found during their tests.
Any findings you can briefly contribute will be helpful - but for the results to be meaningful, let me suggest a format:
-) Using the well known "max flow test tower". Found here:

• Auto generated in the topmost tab "calibration" in Orca Slicer (give it a try :)
• Makerworld
• Printables

-) Scoring mm/s³ values in two stages:

1. where you see the first defect
2. where you say: "at this point the print would be useless or fail.

-) Listing the results like this:
Nozzle size and material, filament type, brand, color, temperature, extrusion width, 1st defect at, fail at
Here a text-example (it's not an actual test result):
A1 0.4 Hardened, PLA Basic, Bambu Lab, Bambu Green (10501), 230°C, 0.45, 1st defect at 18mm/s³, fail at 25mm/s³
Allright, what you got? :D

Hello everyone,
I’m about to migrate to 1Password from Apple iCloud Keychain for some security concerns. First of all is the eggs and basket approach.
I would like you to review and critique my setup for security level, redundancy, convenience and also reliability. I know everybody has a different threat model but as a general approach, I would like to read your comments and contribution. I want to see if I can do something better or if I’m missing out an important part of the setup.
I really appreciate every comment and contribution.

My devices and related components:

Mac mini (M1, with a Apple Touch ID keyboard for passkey usage)
Mac Book Pro (M2 Max has its own Touch ID for passkey usage)
iPad Pro (6th Gen with Face ID for passkey usage and Type-C port for the YubiKey Security Keys)
iPhone 15 Pro Max (Face ID for passkey usage and Type-C port for the YubiKey Security Keys)
3 YubiKey Security Keys (1 YubiKey Bio as my primary/daily usage, 2 YubiKey Security Keys as spares)
1 USB Flash Drive
3 Proton E-Mail/Drive Account (1 for my main Cloud Mgmt Account as Apple ID, 2nd one is recovery e-mail for the 1st one, 3rd one is recovery of the 2nd one.)

Defined Users and Usage of the Devices;

Apple ID and iCloud
I use my primary Proton Account as Apple ID and I use same Apple ID for all of the devices with a 32 characters Apple ID password. Advanced Data Protection has been enabled with 3 YubiKey hardware security keys. Since that there is no way to disable the recovery with SMS for Apple ID and getting a virtual number has several drawbacks overhear where I live, then I bought a new phone with eSIM which is strictly secret and unknown for any party (only me and my wife know the existence of this number) as trusted phone number which is used only for Apple ID. That phone is in a locked secret drawer in my house.
Me and my family use almost everything including Apple E-Mail with custom domains, Apple Notes, iCloud Drive, iCloud Photos etc in my iCloud+ subscription.
Macs:
I have two local users in each Macs; 1st one is My Restricted Standard User (for daily usage) and the 2nd one is My Admin User (I use the admin user for only installing something or giving permission for something)
All 4 users for 2 Macs have unique 24 characters passwords each and Biometrics have been enabled for all of them. So I cannot install any software foreground or background with my daily (restricted standard) user. Whenever I need to install something or give some permissions for anything, I have to login with my admin user or enter admin user password. In that way, I thought that I can prevent "some" parts of the phishing attacks or some attacks when my computer (and/or active user login session) is compromised. I have also hardened the security settings of the Macs such as enabling firewall, blocking all incoming connections, enabling stealth mode, disabling ICMP etc… I maintain all my devices regularly to keep them up to date for the operating systems and the applications. I have also some habits to prevent some minor part of the attacks, such as that I log out from each and every session after I use it on the WEB, I never choose remember me option on the pages, never use public Wi-Fi internet connections, shut down Wi-Fi completely when I'm out of home etc... etc… I backup everything on locally to an encrypted external drive (Time Machine) hourly and end-to-end encrypted Cloud Storage daily (iDrive. The encryption keys have 64 characters each and iDrive account password has 20 characters)
iOS/iPadOS Devices:
Each one has unique 24 characters passcodes (number, symbol, upper-lower cases) which are considered as Fantastic Level passwords by 1Password. I enabled biometrics for every transaction or application which has ability to use the biometrics of the device.
I have also hardened the settings of those devices; such as enabling the Stolen Device Protection, disabling all control centre permissions while device is locked etc…I also hardened my home router at the highest level. Additionally, I configured Wireguard VPN Client on the hardened router. I use paid Proton account for that VPN. So, each and every device at my home including iOS/iPadOS,MacOS,IoT devices etc connecting to the internet through that VPN. I also separated the VLANs on my home network, so no one of the IoT device can access to the 1Password installed devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
1Password:
I use my primary Proton Account as my 1Password username. I’ve a 100 characters master password and 2FA enabled with only YubiKey security keys. So it’s impossible to login to a new device without YubiKey security keys even if both of my Secret Key and Password are compromised. So, my username (Proton Account) + Secret Key + Master Password + YubiKey Security Key combination is needed to login to a new device. I have set my 1Password up on all of my devices above mentioned including all of my users (restricted and admin users) for redundancy. I also use my YubiKey security keys each and every account where possible and I defined at least one passkey on all of my digital accounts in the internet where possible to login to them with the passkeys. I tend to use only YubiKey security keys as 2FA and never use phone number and/or Authentication App 2FA “if possible” in any account. If not possible, I define 1Password 2FA built-in app, e-mail 2FA respectively where possible.
Every secret I have for my digital life is being recorded into the 1Password including Passwords, Pass phrases, Passkeys, PINs, Encryption Keys (without the Secret Key of the 1Password account), credit cards, bank accounts, digital banking keys, 2FA Authentication App Codes of the accounts, Backup Recovery Codes of the accounts etc. I know that keeping the 2FA Auth Codes, Backup Recovery Codes and passwords together is not the best approach but in that point for the sake of convenience, I had to accept the tradeoff between the convenience and security level. By the way, I thought I increased the security level of 1Password enough for my threat level. Anyway, it is what it is.
By the way, my watchtower score is 1194 in each of my devices.
Proton Accounts:
3 accounts exist as above mentioned. 1 is primary cloud management account, 2nd is for recovery e-mail, 3rd is the recovery of the recovery (2nd) e-mail. Each has unique 48 and more characters passwords and phone recovery has been disabled for all of them. I use them with YubiKey security keys and 2FA Authentication App (built-in 1Password). Those are the isolated and separated accounts. For example, I use a separate e-mail address for this Reddit account and it's impossible to find out that those accounts belong to the same person. I never use those Proton accounts in anywhere but only important cloud management purposes.
YubiKey Security Keys:
3 YubiKey Security Keys exist. All of them are Type-C keys. I use YubiKey Bio as my primary daily usage. It doesn’t have NFC (I chose that one doesn't have NFC on purpose) and only works with my fingers as biometric authentication. If it’s stolen with my iPhone or iPad, it never works with those mobile devices. So it needs my finger prints to authenticate. By the way, it works with iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPad Pro 6th Gen through their Type-C ports seamlessly.
2nd and 3rd ones are regular YubiKey Security Keys as spares and they are Type-C as well. They have NFC. Additionally, they work with iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad Pro 6th Gen, Mac Book Pro M2 Max and Mac mini M1 through Type-C ports of them. As they're known, they work with a tap, not biometric control and authentication.
All of them have been PIN protected with unique 3 different 48 characters PINs. 1st one doesn’t request the PIN if I put my finger on it as biometric verification while I use it for 2FA or as passkey.

Backup, Restore and Recovery Basic Plan;

I export 1PUX JSON package (for being a full offline backup) and CSV (for urgent Excel readability and printability) files. I also prepared the Emergency Kit PDF file of 1Password. I added my 100 characters master password of 1Password on that PDF file on the computer environment as well. I put all of those files in a folder and I encrypt them with MacOS built-in folder encryption in AES-256 with a 64 characters key.
I also encrypt the USB Flash Drive with built-in MacOS encryption with a 128 characters key.
I copied that encrypted folder (actually it's an encrypted DMG image file) to my encrypted USB Flash Drive and also copied that encrypted image file to the Proton Cloud Drive which is the sub-service of my main Proton Account.
I have also printed a hardcopy of the CSV and Emergency Kit files. I put those papers in an envelope. I sealed it (with the wax) with my traditional stamp to ensure it has never been opened. I put that envelope into a Fire and Water proof bag.
I gave that bag to one of my friends to keep it in his house. (Friend A, who I mostly trust and lives very close to my house.) I thought that if that bag is stolen, it’s useless for my 1Password, Proton, Apple and other important accounts without YubiKey Security Keys even the thief see the passwords on the hardcopy papers.
I carry the encrypted USB Drive in my daily keychain with my 1st YubiKey Security Key (YubiKey Bio). If both of them are stolen together, they’re useless because of that YubiKey Bio needs my fingerprint to authenticate and the USB Drive is encrypted and also contained folder is encrypted with another secret key. If they’re stolen with my iPhone or iPad, they are useless again because the YubiKey Bio doesn’t work with NFC. And I assume that cracking the 24 Character passcode of the iPhone/iPad nearly impossible.
I put my second YubiKey in a wax sealed envelope and a Fire and Water proof bag and gave it to another of my friends to keep it in his house. (Friend B)
I put my third YubiKey in a wax sealed envelope and a Fire and Water proof bag and put it in my bank deposit box.
I forgot to add; I put the AirTags on each of those bags.
I’m sorry , it’s been kind of long.
I really appreciate each and every contribution to critique the setup.
Thank you so much in advance.

Hello engineeringstudents, I just transferred to a 4 year uni to pursue my bachelors after obtaining an associates in MET with mechatronics specialization.
It's been about 10 years since high school level math. I took the uni's math placement test and was placed in an algebra class.
I am now in the week before the final of the algebra class & I'm worried that won't pass the course. The school utilizes the ALEKS online math software. I am also in a lecture portion of the class, as well as a course recitation. The recitation is meant to be a refresher of the previously covered material.
The recitation, since it's inception, has been taught by a grad student. This entire semester, the grad student has attempted to tech new(frankly more drawn-out and confusing) methods than both ALEKS and our lecture.
The issue had been brought up to the professor on numerous occasions. The professor even sat-in on one recitation session.
For each lecture session, the professor (instead of actually teaching) has provided us with printable versions of a follow-along sheet. This sheet is meant for us to print and follow along in-class and just copy down what he writes in blanks.
I have personally spent 116 hours in ALEKS this semester, in a foundational course. ALEKS does not provide a full explanation of certain problems, so teaching myself from ALEKS has been a hugely difficult situation.
I have reached out to other students in the course. Many are having the same issue. Test 2 had a mean score of 32.98 and a median score of 31.5. The highest score was 84.
We have obviously spoken to the recitation grad student, but he got visibly upset and denied any difference in methods of teaching pertaining to "his way" and "the professor's way".
This, on top of other classes has been a HUGE time sink. I have been very stressed about the combination
If you've made it this far reading, thanks for taking the time. I have a couple questions for you. They are as follows:
Is this a fluke? Did I just get a bad instructor combo?
Should I contact someone in the math department about this?
Is this normal?
Is 116 hour a normal amount of time to be spent on ALEKS during a semester?
Thanks again.

I've got an assignment to implement a server-client application which will implement a trivia contest.
The assignment:
Introduction Your objective is to write a client-server application which will implement a trivia contest. The players in this game get a random fact, which is either true or false, and are supposed to answer correctly as fast as possible. Each team will write both a client application and a server application. Everybody’s clients and servers are expected to work together with full compatibility.
Example Run

1. Team Mystic starts their server. The server prints out “Server started, listening on IP address 172.1.0.4” and starts automatically sending out “offer” announcements via UDP broadcast once every second.
2. Players Alice, Bob and Charlie start their clients. The clients all print out “Client started, listening for offer requests...”. All of the clients get the offer announcement, extract the server name, and print out “Received offer from server “Mystic” at address 172.1.0.4, attempting to connect...”
3. Each client connects to the Team Mystic server over TCP using the port specified in the ann. After the connection succeeds, each client sends the player name over the TCP connection, followed by a line break (‘\n’)
4. After 10 seconds pass during which no additional player joins, the game begins - the server sends a welcome message to all of the clients with the names of the teams, followed by a statement which is either true or false. The answer to the question should be either Y,T,1 for true statements, or N,F,0 for false statements: Welcome to the Mystic server, where we are answering trivia questions about Aston Villa FC. Player 1: Alice Player 2: Bob Player 3: Charlie == True or false: Aston Villa's current manager is Pep Guardiola
5. Every time the server sends the client a message over TCP, the client immediately prints it to the screen. The server also prints out this message to its own display. Every time the player types in a key, the client sends it to the server over TCP
6. Each time the server receives a key over TCP, it checks the correctness of the answer: ● If the answer is correct, the player wins immediately ● If the answer is incorrect, the player is disqualified ● If nobody answers after 10 seconds, or if all players answered incorrectly and were disqualified, the server chooses another random trivia question. The game finishes after 1 round, and the user who answers the correct answer first wins. Example output: Alice is correct! Alice wins!
7. After the game is decided, the server sends a summary message to all players, for example: Game over! Congratulations to the winner: Charlie
8. The server closes the TCP connection, prints on its own screen “Game over, sending out offer requests...” and goes back to sending offer messages once a second
9. The clients print “Server disconnected, listening for offer requests...” and go back to waiting for offer messages

Suggested Architecture The client is a single-threaded app, which has three states: ● Looking for a server. You leave this state when you get an offer message. ● Connecting to a server. You leave this state when you successfully connect using TCP ● Game mode - collect characters from the keyboard and send them over TCP. collect data from the network and print it on screen. Note that in game mode the client responds to two events - both keyboard presses and data coming in over TCP. Think about how you can do this.
The server is multi-threaded since it has to manage multiple clients. It has two states: ● Waiting for clients - sending out offer messages and responding to request messages and new TCP connections. You leave this state after 10 seconds pass from the last time a user joined the game. ● Game mode - collect characters from the network and decide the winner. You leave this state after somebody wins the game.
Packet Formats ● Servers broadcast their announcements with destination port 13117 using UDP. There is one packet format used for all UDP communications: ○ Magic cookie (4 bytes): 0xabcddcba. The message is rejected if it doesn’t start with this cookie ○ Message type (1 byte): 0x2 for offer. No other message types are supported. ○ Server name (32 character string, Unicode encoded): Think of a creative name. Make sure this field is always 32 characters long even if your server name is shorter. ○ Server port (2 bytes): The port on the server that the client is supposed to connect to over TCP (the IP address of the server is the same for the UDP and TCP connections, so it doesn't need to be sent). ● The data over TCP has no packet format. After connecting, the client sends the predefined team name to the server, followed by a line break (‘\n’). After that, the client simply prints anything it gets from the server onscreen, and sends anything it gets from the keyboard to the server. . Tips and Guidelines ● Please pick a creative name for your players. The player name should be hard-coded into the program so it will start up quickly. ● Both server and client applications are supposed to run forever, until you quit them manually. You will not get full points if your program quits or crashes, even if it’s because of some network-related problems. ● The server does not have to listen on any particular port over TCP, since this is part of the offer message. Think of how your code should respond if the first port you try to listen on is already used by somebody else ● Do not use busy-waiting (e.g. while-continue loops). As a general guideline, if your program consumes more than 1% CPU, you’re probably doing something wrong. ● Think about what you should do if things fail - messages are corrupted, the server does not respond, the clients hang up, etc. Your error handling code will be tested. ● If you try to run two clients on the same computer, they won’t be able to listen for broadcasts on the same UDP port unless you set the SO_REUSEPORT option when you open the socket, like this:

My implementation so far:
Server:

import queue import struct import psutil import time import random import socket import threading from colorama import Fore, Style import sys class Server: def __init__(self, ip_address="127.0.0.1"): self.statistics = {'total_rounds': 0, 'total_games': 0, 'total_players': 0, 'best_player': None} self.players_score = {} self.questions = [ ("Alice falls down a rabbit hole to enter Wonderland.", "True"), ("The Cheshire Cat's smile disappears first.", "False"), ("The Queen of Hearts' favorite word is 'off with their heads!'", "True"), ("The White Rabbit is always late.", "True"), ("Alice's sister's name is Lily.", "False"), ("The caterpillar smokes a hookah.", "True"), ("The Mad Hatter hosts a tea party in the afternoon.", "False"), ("The Dormouse sleeps at the tea party.", "True"), ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was written by J.K. Rowling.", "False"), ("The Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen's tarts.", "True"), ("Alice eats a mushroom to shrink.", "True"), ("The Mock Turtle sings 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat.'", "False"), ("The Duchess has a baby who turns into a pig.", "True"), ("The White Rabbit's pocket watch tells the time accurately.", "False"), ("Alice's adventure in Wonderland begins at a picnic.", "False"), ("The Queen of Hearts loves playing croquet.", "True"), ("The Gryphon is a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle.", "True"), ("Alice meets the Jabberwocky in Wonderland.", "False"), ("The Queen of Hearts is often angry.", "True"), ("Alice wakes up and realizes it was all a dream.", "True") ] self.IP_ADDRESS = ip_address self.states = {"WAITING_FOR_CLIENTS": 0, "GAME_MODE": 1} self.MAGIC_COOKIE = b"\xab\xcd\xdc\xba" self.MESSAGE_TYPE_OFFER = 0x2 self.server_is_running = False self.incorrect_clients = 0 def configure_server(self): self.DEBUG = False self.SERVER_NAME = "Alice in Wonderland" self.SERVER_NAME += "\0" * (32 - len(self.SERVER_NAME)) self.UDP_PORT = 13117 self.SERVER_PORT = 7490 self.server_state = self.states["WAITING_FOR_CLIENTS"] random.shuffle(self.questions) self.NUMBER_OF_CLIENTS = 2 self.clients = [] self.round_over = False def start_server(self): self.server_is_running = True # Create the UDP self.udp_socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM) self.udp_socket.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_BROADCAST, 1) self.udp_socket.bind((self.IP_ADDRESS, self.UDP_PORT)) print(f"Server started, listening on IP address {self.IP_ADDRESS}") self.run_server() def run_server(self): # new thread for the broadcast_offer function broadcast_offer_thread = threading.Thread(target=self.broadcast_offer) broadcast_offer_thread.start() self.time_counter = time.time() # thread waiting for exit input to close the server exit_thread = threading.Thread(target=self.exit_server) exit_thread.start() # Start the server loop while self.server_is_running: # Check CPU usage cpu_usage = psutil.cpu_percent() if cpu_usage > 1: print(f"Warning: CPU usage is {cpu_usage}%") if self.DEBUG: print(f"Server state: {self.server_state}") self.run_tcp() while self.server_state == self.states["WAITING_FOR_CLIENTS"]: # Accept incoming connections through TCP self.accept_clients() if self.server_is_running == False: break if self.server_state == self.states["GAME_MODE"]: # check if clients arent disconnected and update accordingly self.clients = [client for client in self.clients if client[0].fileno() != -1] if len(self.clients) < self.NUMBER_OF_CLIENTS: print("Not enough clients connected, sending out offer requests...") self.server_state = self.states["WAITING_FOR_CLIENTS"] self.tcp_socket.close() continue else: self.game_mode() def exit_server(self): while True: exit_input = input() if exit_input == "exit": self.server_is_running = False break def run_tcp(self): self.tcp_socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) while True: try: self.tcp_socket.bind((self.IP_ADDRESS, self.SERVER_PORT)) self.tcp_socket.listen() break except OSError: print("Port already in use, trying next port...") self.SERVER_PORT += 1 def broadcast_offer(self): # Create the offer message server_port_bytes = struct.pack('!H', self.SERVER_PORT) offer_message = self.MAGIC_COOKIE + bytes([self.MESSAGE_TYPE_OFFER]) offer_message += self.SERVER_NAME.encode() + server_port_bytes # Broadcast the offer message while self.server_is_running: if self.server_state == self.states["WAITING_FOR_CLIENTS"]: self.udp_socket.sendto(offer_message, ('', self.UDP_PORT)) if self.DEBUG: print("Offer message sent!") time.sleep(1) def accept_clients(self): # Accept incoming connections through TCP self.tcp_socket.settimeout(10) if self.DEBUG: print("Waiting for clients to connect...") while True: try: client_socket, client_address = self.tcp_socket.accept() player_name = client_socket.recv(1024).decode() self.clients.append((client_socket, client_address, player_name)) if self.DEBUG: print(f"Client {player_name} connected!") if len(self.clients) >= 2: # Start a timer that waits for 10 seconds before starting the game if hasattr(self, 'game_start_timer'): self.game_start_timer.cancel() self.game_start_timer = threading.Timer(10, self.start_game) self.game_start_timer.start() except socket.timeout: if self.DEBUG: print("No more clients connected in 10 seconds, starting the game...") if len(self.clients) == 0: print("No clients connected at all") else: self.start_game() break def start_game(self): self.server_state = self.states["GAME_MODE"] self.tcp_socket.settimeout(None) if self.DEBUG: print("State changed to GAME_MODE...") def game_mode(self): self.game_over = False # Send welcome to all clients print("Starting the game...") printable_server_name = self.SERVER_NAME.rstrip('\0') # Send the game message to all clients game_message = f"Welcome to the {printable_server_name} server, where we are answering trivia questions about Alice in Wonderland.\n" # add the names of the players i = 1 for client in self.clients: game_message += f"Player {i}: {client[2]}" i += 1 game_message += "============================================================================\n" if self.DEBUG: print("Sending game message to all clients...") for client in self.clients: client_socket = client[0] client_socket.send(game_message.encode()) questions_copy = self.questions.copy() # start rounds of games until I have a winner or the questions are over while questions_copy and not self.game_over: current_question = questions_copy.pop(0) self.round_started_event = threading.Event() # create an Event object # open a new thread for client to answer the question for client in self.clients: client_thread = threading.Thread(target=self.start_round, args=(client, current_question)) client_thread.start() self.statistics['total_rounds'] += 1 self.round_started_event.set() if self.DEBUG: print("Round started!") print(f"Current question: {current_question[0]}") time_counter = time.time() # round is over = client answered the question correctly, # or time is up or all clients answered the question incorrectly while time.time() - time_counter < 10: if self.game_over: self.annonce_winner() return elif self.incorrect_clients == len(self.clients): if self.DEBUG: print("All clients answered the question incorrectly!") # move to next question break if self.DEBUG and time.time() - time_counter >= 10: print("No answer was received in time!") self.incorrect_clients = 0 # all questions are over, end the game with no winner self.end_game() def annonce_winner(self): winner_name = self.winner[2] self.statistics['total_games'] += 1 self.statistics['total_players'] += len(self.clients) self.players_score[winner_name] = self.players_score.get(winner_name, 0) + 1 self.statistics['best_player'] = max(self.players_score, key=self.players_score.get) print(f"{Fore.GREEN}The winner is {winner_name}!{Style.RESET_ALL}") for client in self.clients: client_socket = client[0] if client == self.winner: client_socket.send("Game over! Congratulations! You are the winner!".encode()) else: client_socket.send(f"Game over!\nCongratulations to the winner: {winner_name}!".encode()) self.end_game() def end_game(self): print(f"{Fore.BLUE}Game statistics: {self.statistics}{Style.RESET_ALL}") print(f"{Fore.RED}Game over, sending out offer requests...{Style.RESET_ALL}") # close the tcp socket self.tcp_socket.close() self.clients = [] self.game_over = False self.winner = None self.incorrect_clients = 0 self.server_state = self.states["WAITING_FOR_CLIENTS"] def start_round(self, client, current_question): client_socket = client[0] # wait for round to start self.round_started_event.wait() # use an Event object instead of busy-waiting if self.game_over: client_socket.send(f"Game over!\nCongratulations to the winner: {self.winner[2]}!".encode()) return # send the question to the client in the thread question = current_question[0] client_socket.send(("True or false: " + question).encode()) # create a queue to hold the client's responses response_queue = queue.Queue() # start a new thread to listen for the client's response threading.Thread(target=self.listen_for_response, args=(client_socket, response_queue)).start() try: # wait for 10 seconds for a response to appear in the queue answer = response_queue.get(timeout=10) if answer == current_question[1] and not self.game_over: # stop the game and announce the winner self.winner = client self.game_over = True if self.DEBUG: print(f"{client[2]} answered correctly!") else: # keep track of the incorrect clients self.incorrect_clients += 1 except queue.Empty: # no response was received within 10 seconds if self.DEBUG: print("No answer was received in time!") self.incorrect_clients += 1 finally: # wait for the client to answer before sending the next question self.round_started_event.clear() def listen_for_response(self, client_socket, response_queue): try: answer = client_socket.recv(1024).decode().strip() if answer in ["True", "Y", "T", "1", 1]: answer = "True" elif answer in ["False", "N", "F", "0", 0]: answer = "False" else: if self.DEBUG: print("Invalid answer received!") client_socket.send("Invalid answer. Please try again.".encode()) return # put the answer into the queue response_queue.put(answer) except Exception as e: print(f"Error in listen_for_response: {e}") self.incorrect_clients += 1 if __name__ == "__main__": # if there is argument, use it as the ip address if len(sys.argv) > 1: server = Server(sys.argv[1]) else: server = Server() server.configure_server() server.start_server() 

Client:

import msvcrt import sys import time import keyboard import select import socket import threading from colorama import Fore, Style import struct class Client: def __init__(self, name): self.states = {"Looking for a server": 0, "Connecting to a server": 1, "GAME_MODE": 2} self.player_name = name self.last_question = None self.DEBUG = True def udp_client(self): udp_socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM) udp_socket.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1) udp_socket.settimeout(10) udp_socket.bind(("", 13117)) print(f"Client started, listening for offer requests...") while True: try: data, address = udp_socket.recvfrom(1024) if self.DEBUG: # print the first 10 characters of the message print(f"Received message: {data[:10]}") print(f"From address: {address}") self.server_name = data[5:37].decode() self.SERVER_IP = address[0] self.SERVER_PORT = struct.unpack('!H', data[37:39])[0] printable_server_name = self.server_name.rstrip('\0') print(f"Server name: {printable_server_name}") print(f"Server port: {self.SERVER_PORT}") print(f"Server IP: {self.SERVER_IP}") print( f"{Fore.YELLOW}Received offer from server: {printable_server_name}, at address {self.SERVER_IP}, attempting to connect...{Style.RESET_ALL}") self.client_state = self.states["Connecting to a server"] self.tcp_client() except socket.timeout: if self.DEBUG: print("UDP client timeout") break def get_answer_from_keyboard(self): while True: if keyboard.is_pressed('\n'): # if the 'Enter' key is pressed line = sys.stdin.readline() if line: self.client_socket.send((line.strip() + "\n").encode()) else: time.sleep(0.1) def tcp_client(self): self.client_socket = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) self.client_socket.connect((self.SERVER_IP, self.SERVER_PORT)) # Ask for the client's name self.player_name = input("Enter your name: ") self.client_socket.send((self.player_name + "\n").encode()) # start thread for answer from keyboard threading.Thread(target=self.get_answer_from_keyboard, daemon=True).start() # GET THE FIRST MESSAGE FROM THE SERVER server_welcome = self.client_socket.recv(1024).decode().strip() print(f"{Fore.GREEN}{server_welcome}{Style.RESET_ALL}") while self.client_socket.fileno() != -1: self.client_state = self.states["GAME_MODE"] try: question = self.client_socket.recv(1024).decode().strip() print(question) # check if received msg starts with game over if question.startswith("Game over"): self.client_socket.close() return except: print(f"{Fore.RED}Server disconnected, listening for offer requests...{Style.RESET_ALL}") self.client_socket.close() return def start_client(self): self.client_state = self.states["Looking for a server"] if self.DEBUG: print("state: ", self.client_state) self.udp_client() if __name__ == "__main__": client = Client("Name") client.start_client() 

Can anybody help me figure out what's wrong here so far?
I've got few problems:

1. whenever a game ends and the clients get another offer to join the server, and a new game starts, it doesn't print the game on the clients' terminal until an input is entered.
2. I need the server to send a new question every 10 seconds that nobody answers. It sends the questions but when the client answers it doesn't answer on the last question sent, he needs to send the answer couple of times (the number of questions sent) before it answers the last one
3. when a new question is being sent every 10 seconds it sends 2 questions together

Thanks for the help :)

Your friendly neighborhood mod here, but I just wanted to take a second to tell you about another project I'm involved with: the Marvel Champions Homebrew Discord's Community Spotlight.
We've just had our second round of nominations for heroes and scenarios to be featured as among the best the Homebrew community has to offer, and sets including Cloak and Dagger, Spider-Punk, and Doc Ock are currently being tested by interested Marvel Champions players. If you'd like to get involved or see what heroes and villains already made the grade, here are a few ways you can get involved:

1. Join the MC4 discord server, the hub for all Marvel Champions homebrew content: https://discord.gg/eYBGKQFYAq. The server has all kinds of heroes on it, and tutorials and templates for printing cards and designing your own.
   
2. Test out the current crop of nominees! This thread on the Homebrew discord server discusses the process and scoring in more depth, but you can also access the designs and scorecards using this helpful spreadsheet. All of the nominees are available in the three major Tabletop Simulator tables used to play Marvel Champions: Hitch's Table, DC Comics Champions, and Marvel Champions Video Game Table, as well as in DragnCards and printable formats. We are currently raffling off Amazon and Steam gift cards for people who score sets and give their email address, but you are also free to score sets anonymously.
   
3. Find a Homebrew hero you might enjoy in the Community Library. These are heroes that have been vetted and approved as part of this process, and that spreadsheet will be updated with each new cycle.
   

Thanks for considering being part of this project. I hope to see you on the server.

Tldr: Here are 16 prepared competitions with rules and illustrations to use in any festival or carnival situation
Without me planning for it, my players have suddenly decided to throw a Harvest Festival in the local town. As a good DM I of course said "yes and", this will be fun! Most of all I wanted to create a variety of activities and competitions that the characters and other towns folk could engage in. Here is the result, hopefully it can be of use for other DMs as well!
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UGnTRYUSqTKTqXzXKKXXFT2Yd_4aCe-BgMZWfFrwSlQ/edit?usp=drive_link
Content: 1 instruction sheet 16 printable double sided index cards with rules for competitions and illustrations 32 printable double sided trivia questions in the 4 categories Nature, History, Religion & Arcana (many of them are specific for my home brew setting so some tweaking is needed) 2 printable racetracks for use in the barrel race, dragon race and sheep shearing competitions 2 printable score boards for dart trick shot and archery range Printable token images for sheep, lizards and barrels

Tldr: Here are 16 prepared competitions with rules and illustrations to use in any festival or carnival situation
Without me planning for it, my players have suddenly decided to throw a Harvest Festival in the local town. As a good DM I of course said "yes and", this will be fun! Most of all I wanted to create a variety of activities and competitions that the characters and other towns folk could engage in. Here is the result, hopefully it can be of use for other DMs as well!
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UGnTRYUSqTKTqXzXKKXXFT2Yd_4aCe-BgMZWfFrwSlQ/edit?usp=drive_link
Content: 1 instruction sheet 16 printable double sided index cards with rules for competitions and AI generated illustrations 32 printable double sided trivia questions in the 4 categories Nature, History, Religion & Arcana (many of them are specific for my home brew setting so some tweaking might be needed) 2 printable racetracks for use in the barrel race, dragon race and sheep shearing competitions 2 printable score boards for dart trick shot and archery range Printable token images for sheep, lizards and barrels