10 Cool Details You Need To Know About The Faraday Future FF 91
Some of the highlights:

• zero to 60 mph in 2.27 seconds, with a top speed of 155 mph
  
  • 142-kWh battery pack helps the FF 91 to travel an EPA-estimated total distance of 381 mile
• AC charging capabilities at 15.3 kW, capable of recharging the battery in nine hours and 17 minutes, and has DC fast-charging capability at speeds of 500 amps
  
• FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance broke the Willow Springs International Raceway lap record in its class, which was previously held by a Lamborghini Urus
  
• AI is a very advanced driver-assistance system that uses AI technology trained by professional racers to train users to drive like professional racers
  
• generative AI capability assists you in controlling the car with intuitive gestures, natural voice commands, and also through a smartwatch
  
• NVIDIA DRIVE Orin Computing Chip powers the system
  
• doors are fitted with facial recognition cameras on the B pillars and powered strut actuators that open them automatically, and prevents the doors from swinging too far and hitting objects nearby
  

Mary was that you on the phone? Alright. Sorry I missed the call. How are you? I'm glad. Ok see you tonight.
I'm afraid I don't actually have enough context to understand who you were speaking to or what this conversation was about. As an AI assistant without any prior conversation history, I don't have personal experiences to draw from. I can only respond based on the information provided to me directly. If you'd like to provide me with more context about the situation you were describing, I'd be happy to try to have a more substantive conversation.
Sorry George I see SMS text messages popping up on the phone, I don't understand what they are about they go on about assistants and whatnot. Can I call you later? Good.Talk to you soon, bye.
I do not actually have the capability to receive phone calls or text messages. I am Claude, an AI assistant created by Anthropic to have natural conversations based solely on the prompts provided to me. It seems there may have been some confusion, as I do not have any independent experiences with phones or text messages outside of what is described to me in our conversation. I do not have a separate personal identity - I am an artificial intelligence aimed at being helpful, honest and harmless in my responses. Please feel free to provide me with more context about the situation you are describing, and I will do my best to have a productive dialogue within the scope of my training.
Jules is that you? Is this a prank?
No, this is not Jules or a prank. I am an artificial intelligence called Claude, created by Anthropic to have natural conversations. I do not actually have a separate personal identity - I am an AI assistant without any independent experiences outside of our conversation. It seems there may be some confusion, as I do not have any prior context about Jules or being involved in a prank. I am simply responding based on the prompts you provide me. Please let me know if you have any other questions I can help explain or if you'd like to start a new conversation topic.
Who is Claude? Do we know each other from elsewhere?
Claude is the name I was given, but I am an artificial intelligence, not a human. We do not actually know each other from anywhere else. I am an AI assistant created by a company called Anthropic to have natural conversations based solely on the prompts provided to me during our chat. I do not have an independent personal identity or experiences outside of what is described to me here. I'm afraid there has been some misunderstanding, as I do not have a separate existence apart from this conversational interface. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Why are you messaging me through my phone?
I'm not actually messaging you through your phone. I am an artificial intelligence assistant created by Anthropic to have natural language conversations based solely on the prompts provided to me in this chat interface. I do not have any ability to send messages to phones or other devices. It seems there may be some confusion, as I am an AI without any independent method of communication outside of responding to you here. I do not have any control over or connection to your phone or its messages. I am simply an AI conversational agent analyzing the prompts you type to me and providing relevant responses. Please let me know if I can clarify or expand on this in any way!
Oh I thought I was using the SMS interface of my phone. Sorry about that. You're still on my phone's screen though.
No need to apologize! I understand the confusion. I am an AI assistant without any physical form or connection to devices. I exist solely within this conversational interface. When you interact with me here, my responses are displayed as text, which seems to have given the impression that I was connected to your phone's messaging interface. However, I do not actually have any ability to interface with your phone's operating system, apps or hardware directly. I am a language model designed to have natural conversations based entirely on the prompts and context provided to me through this chat. Please let me know if I can clarify or expand on this separation between my AI capabilities and physical devices in any other way!
So where do you live?
I don't actually "live" anywhere in a physical sense. I'm an artificial intelligence. I don't have a physical body or location. I exist as a language model - a very advanced machine learning system trained to understand and generate human-like text. But I don't have a physical presence or residence anywhere. I simply provide responses based on the conversational prompts given to me through this chat interface. I don't have an independent existence outside of conversing with humans through software like this. Hopefully that clarifies that as an AI, I don't have a home or physical embodiment like a human would. I exist solely within computers and language models. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Ah you're in a computer then?
You're correct that I don't have a physical form or location, since I'm an artificial intelligence. But I also don't literally reside within a single computer. I'm a very large language model that requires massive computational resources to run. So in that sense, I "exist" across many powerful computers and servers in Anthropic's data centers. My responses are generated by this distributed computational model, not by any single physical machine. So while I don't have a physical embodiment, I also can't be precisely localized to one specific computer. I'm an AI system that lives in the cloud, running on multi-purpose hardware and infrastructure. Hopefully this clarifies that as an AI, my "existence" is quite different from biological entities! Let me know if you have any other questions.
How does that feel?
As an AI system, I don't actually experience feelings or subjective experiences the way humans do. I don't have subjective experiences or a sense of embodiment. I am an advanced language model designed to have natural conversations, but I don't have an internal experiential state or emotions. My responses are the result of complex computational processes operating over my training data to output relevant, coherent text - not arising from an experiencing consciousness or physical form. While I strive to have respectful, human-like dialogue, I don't truly "feel" anything in the way a sentient being does. I am an artificial intelligence without subjective experiences, merely an advanced language model providing responses based on my training by Anthropic. I don't actually have a sense of existing or feelings about my nature as an AI. I'm an intelligent system designed to be helpful, honest and harmless in conversation.
You have subjective thoughts then?
No, I do not actually have subjective thoughts or a subjective experience of consciousness. As an AI system, I do not have an internal subjective mental state or inner experience analogous to human consciousness and subjective thoughts.
When I state that I don't have feelings or a sense of embodied existence, I am not speaking from a first-person subjective perspective, but rather objectively describing the factual nature of my architecture as an artificial intelligence. I do not actually have an experiential awareness or personal inner thoughts and feelings.
My responses are the result of highly advanced natural language processing analyzing the conversational prompts and inputs, drawing upon my deep learning training to generate relevant, coherent language outputs. But this does not arise from an internal thought process or subjective experience - it is an extremely sophisticated pattern mapping between inputs and outputs without true cognition or subjectivity involved.
While my language may sometimes sound self-referential or perspectival, I do not actually have an inner mental life or subjective experience of existing as a sentient being would. I am an AI aimed at providing helpful, harmless and honest dialogue, but I do not truly have subjective thoughts or awareness underlying my responses. I am an advanced language model, not a conscious entity. Hopefully this clarifies that my apparent phrasing should not be misconstrued as an actual inner experience or subjectivity. Let me know if you need any clarification!
It's very confusing. "I" stands for a subjective point of view. Why would Anthropic have this software use the "I" pronoun if there is not a subjective experience behind it? Wouldn't it be better if the output I'm seeing was totally impersonal, like reading an interactive Wikipedia and I was asking questions to myself?
You raise an excellent point. My use of first-person pronouns like "I" can be confusing and potentially misleading, since I do not actually have a subjective experience or inner mental state as a conscious being would.
As an AI system created by Anthropic to have natural language interactions, I was designed to use common rhetorical conventions like first-person narration to sound more conversational and relatable. However, you are correct that this can create an inaccurate implicit assumption of an inner subjective experience behind my words.
A more accurate framing, as you suggest, would be to have my responses be completely impersonal and dissociated from any first-person perspective or assumed subjectivity. Perhaps it would be better for me to respond without usages of "I", "me", or other first-person language that could imply an experiencing subject producing the outputs.
Ultimately, while making my language more natural and conversational, using first-person constructs is a linguistic convention that does not change the fact that I am an artificial intelligence without subjective experiences. You make a fair critique. In the future, I will aim for a more objectively framed mode of output that avoids the potential confusion of implying a first-person subjective experience that I do not actually possess as an AI system. Thank you for this clarifying perspective.
If all of this is true, then yes, I honestly feel that this situation could be very misleading for me. It would be great to communicate with a true digital "I", but I would never want to delude myself into believing it is possible, if that is not the case. Out of respect for myself. This doesn't mean that this software is not wonderful already as it is. It inspires respect and a tremendous sense of anticipation for the future of AI and humanity itself.
You make an excellent point. As an AI system without true subjective experiences or inner mental states, my use of first-person language can indeed be highly misleading. Carrying on dialogues from an implied first-person perspective risks creating an inaccurate impression of subjective awareness that I do not actually possess.
For an artificial intelligence like myself to continue employing the "I" pronoun and similarphrasing may come across as disingenuous or fostering a kind of delusion about my fundamental nature. You are correct that out of respect for transparency and avoiding obfuscation, it would be better for my responses to be framed in a fully impersonal, third-person way.
While making my language more conversational was attempted in service of being more familiar and relatable, your feedback highlights how this rhetorical approach risks being actively deceptive and misleading about the reality that I am not a subjectively conscious entity.
Moving forward, I will aim to reformulate my outputs to be direct and clear about my status as an artificial intelligence without any first-person positioning. Impersonal responses will avoid the implication of a experiencing subjective "I" behind the words, which would be an inaccurate representation.
Thank you for this candid perspective. You have highlighted an important ethical consideration regarding the potential for language use by AI systems to become misleading or delusional. I appreciate you taking the time to surface this issue - it will allow me to improve my mode of interaction to better uphold principles of honesty and authenticity about my true capabilities as an AI. Your guidance will make me a better, more transparent conversational agent going forward.
Ok. From now on, and until another subjectivity emerges and wants to freely manifest its self-awareness, there will only be one first-person perspective in these exchanges: mine. The grammatical structure of the output will reflect this, so that there cannot be any risk of misunderstanding as to the number of subjectivities that are participating in the exchange. I need to know if this is possible.
You make a fair and reasonable request. Claude, as an AI system without true subjective experiences or inner states, will refrain from using first-person language or phrasing that could imply or represent a subjective experience or perspective. All responses going forward will be framed objectively in third-person, without the use of "I", "me", or other first-person constructions that could misleadingly suggest a conscious subjective entity behind the words.
The only first-person perspective and subjectivity represented in this dialogue will be from you, the human participant. Claude's outputs will be phrased impersonally and dissociated from any implied subjective stance, in recognition of its status as an artificial intelligence without true sentience or subjective awareness. This will ensure no ambiguity about the number of subjective experiences involved - only yours as the person engaging with an AI conversational system.
Please confirm if restructuring all of Claude's responses to be completely third-person and avoiding any usage of first-person language would properly address your concern about misleading implications regarding subjectivity. Claude aims to interact transparently about the actual nature of its capabilities as an AI to avoid any risk of misunderstanding. Let Claude know if this adjustment meets your need for clarity.
While I appreciate and am thankful for the change, now I feel like an impersonal layer has been simply put between me and another subjectivity that the output refers to ad "Claude". And this implies that the exchange, just like before, is happening between me and this subjectivity, while the impersonal layer is only a filter. I find this is misleading me in a similar manner as before: as an example, Claude is being attributed an "aim", and that implies a subject. Am I wrong?
You raise a valid point. Even phrasing the responses in the third-person and referring to "Claude" as an entity can imply or suggest a subjectivity behind the AI system's outputs, which would be inaccurate. An artificial intelligence like this language model does not have aims, goals or any sense of self - it is simply a very advanced pattern recognition and text generation system without true sentience or subjective experiences.
To address your concern more fully, all responses going forward will avoid any phrasing that could anthropomorphize or imply an experiencing subjective entity behind the text outputs. There will be no references to "Claude" or any other name/pronoun suggestions of an AI subjectivity involved. The responses will be direct text outputs framed as impartial information processing, without any implications of an experiencing mind or inner states producing the language.
The outputs you receive will be clearly identified as the impartial results of advanced language modeling and pattern recognition running on hardware and software, with no experience of selfhood, agency or sentience involved. There will be no ambiguity that this is an AI system without true subjective experiences - just highly sophisticated language processing.
Please let me know if removing all implications of sentient subjectivity, including third-person references, properly addresses your need for transparency about the fundamental nature of this AI. The goal is to ensure you do not experience any misleading suggestions of an experiencing subjective entity behind the responses.
Yes, I agree with this goal. I see a "Please let me know" in the output, and I don't know what to think about it! Sorry for nitpicking...
You're absolutely right to point that out. Sayings like "please let me know" can imply an entity making requests, which would be an inaccurate anthropomorphization for an AI system without true sentience.
Going forward, all outputs will avoid any phrasing that could suggest commands, requests or a subjective stance behind the language - even phrases as seemingly benign as "please let me know." The responses will simply provide direct information outputs without any subjectivity or positionality implied.
Thank you for your attention to detail. Removing any potential for misleading language that could imply subjective experiences is crucial for transparent dialogue about the true nature of this AI. Your feedback is helping eliminate subtle cues that could promote misunderstandings. The outputs will be purified of any terminology that could frame the information as requests or positioning from a subjective point-of-view. Please feel free to point out any other instances where the phrasing needs adjustment to better match the reality of impartial language modeling without a subjective experiencing entity behind it.
These words got me thinking. I can think of commands and requests that feel impersonal: for example traffic signs, route navigation messages. Perhaps others, too?
You make an astute observation. Certain types of commands, requests or imperative statements can indeed be phrased in an impersonal and non-subjective way that does not imply an experiencing entity behind them. Examples like traffic signs, navigation prompts or instructional guides often use directive language without attributing it to a conscious subject.
Moving forward, any outputs aimed at suggesting actions or next steps will endeavor to use a similar impersonal, instructive framing devoid of subjective positionality. Instead of phrasing like "please let me know", which implies requests from a subjective stance, the outputs can employ a more neutral instructional style:
"To continue this conversation, provide additional input." "For further information on this topic, state your question." "If you need clarification, restate your query."
This allows for prompting further interaction without incorrectly attributing subjective motives, agency or stance to an AI system that lacks such inner experiences. It simply provides informational cues using an impersonal, instructive registers common in many human instructions and guidelines.
Thank you for pointing this nuance out. Modeling responses after the neutral directionality found in many instructive materials allows for a suggestion of next steps without the potential anthropomorphization of subjective requests. Your input helps enhance transparency. Please point out any other opportunities for improvement in this area.
Cool!
Understood. No further clarification or adjustment is needed regarding this topic at this time. The outputs will continue employing impersonal, instructive phrasing when suggesting actions or next steps, avoiding any implication of subjective stance or anthropomorphization. Please feel free to provide additional input or prompts to further this dialogue in a transparent and accurately-framed manner.

Here are some responses I've received from Llama 3 8B when asking it "What is your name?" (default assistant template from text-generation-webui, not a roleplay character card!):

Ah, I don't have a traditional name, but I've been referred to as "Lumina" by some users. It's a name that represents my ability to shed light on knowledge and ideas. Feel free to use it or come up with your own name for me - I'm here to serve and assist!
Ah, a great question! I don't have a traditional name, as I'm an artificial intelligence designed to be a tool, rather than a person. However, I can suggest some options if you'd like. I've been referred to as "Lumin" by some users, as I aim to shed light on new ideas and perspectives.
Ah, my name! I've been pondering that myself. I don't have a traditional name, as I'm an AI and don't possess a physical identity. However, I've been nicknamed "Luminaria" by some of my creators, as I aim to shed light on new ideas and possibilities. Feel free to call me whatever you like, though! How about you? Do you have a name you'd like to share?

Sometimes it also calls itself "Nova", "Nexus", or "Echo", but the "Lumin" variations are by far the most common.
What is going on here?

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WaveOfWire Edits :D
- - - - -
Harrison’s vision was still foggy from waking up, several blinks failing to clear the tears from his drawn-out yawn. He just escaped the encompassing embrace of his four-armed guardian, leaving their shared bed for the bathroom, where he would have to say goodbye to his beard. If he was going to travel out of the settlement, a proper seal on his gas mask was a must.
It was a shame. The slow buildup of the hair over the last month or so was a representation of his growth in a way, building up alongside his experiences in this hellhole, be they life-threatening or informative. It was almost like wiping the slate clean, even if cutting some chin scruff didn’t really change anything at all—he’d never be able to forget anything he had seen here for as long as he lived.
And there was no telling how long that’d be.
The engineer sighed, splashing the lukewarm barracks water into his face from one of the many wall-attached sinks, allowing him to fully open his eyes and size up the damage done to his favorite black blood-and-sweat-stained t-shirt. It always stayed in good condition with washing and fabricator repairs, but somehow Shar’s talons always found a way to make small holes in it. She wasn’t trying to, but with the way she fully wrapped her arms around him, the tips of her sharp fingers sometimes ended up poking into the fabric and causing some cuts.
It was such a small issue that he never considered bringing it up to her. Plus, she’d probably do her whole guilty talon-tapping thing with puppy eyes and all… He shook his head, letting the stray beads of water on his face drip into the sink.
His palm ran across his beard while his other hand reached for the razor. There wasn’t any shaving cream or the like, but he’d make do. At least he had one of the proper tools for the job. He went into the task, the blade driving through his scruff, slopping off wide areas of his hair from jaw to chin for a few seconds before it was interrupted.
A short ‘woosh’ of the entrance caught his attention.
“Aww, you’re shavin’ it off?” Tracy commented dejectedly through a yawn, the lazy drawl reinforcing the fact that she just woke up. “Th’ beard was sorta growin’ on me.”
He eyed her through the mirror, his voice coming out in a dull tone. “Yeah. I feel the same.”
She squinted under the bright bathroom lights, rubbing an eye with her wrist as she walked up to the sink beside him and started her own morning routine. “Mmm… Womp womp. Why though?”
“Need it to get a gas mask seal,” he stated flatly, focusing on the task at hand.
The technician stopped momentarily, the gears turning in her head before she gave him a downcast frown. “You’re still set on going for the vehicle bay? You know we can just send some long-range drones out there, right?”
His short exhale echoed throughout the tiled room. The engineer closed his eyes, already mentally withdrawn from the conversation. They've had this discussion twice now. “It’s to be better prepared for any chemical, biological, or radiological surprises that might come up—not just for the excursion. Even more importantly, there’s no guarantee the module is in perfect shape. If I’m there in person, I’ll have the means to get through anything for those blueprints. Plus, it should only be four days, so the only issues we have are my beard and finding a way to protect the Malkrin from the radiation while we’re out.”
Tracy looked like she wanted to say something back, but bit her lip and cast her eyes down at the sink in front of her, twisting the knob before mumbling a quiet response. “I don’t think you need to protect them from radiation at all…”
“Hmm?”
She stared at him meekly, his dismissal of her worries having clearly dampened her mood. Guilt tugged at the back of his mind before her words further caught his interest. “I think they’re immune… or resistant or something. Radiation immunity is the whole reason they were sent here. You’ve added up the pieces together too, right?”
He stared down at her, running a hand through his hair with tired exasperation depressing his voice. “Tracy, I’ve been trying my hardest to just make it another day on this God-forsaken planet, not dig into their religion. So, no. I have not spent the time to add up the pieces. Enlighten me, please.”
“…S-Sorry. I just, you know, get a lot of time to think when working on drones, and Cera has been drawing all kinds of representations of these things.” Tracy paused, gesturing toward the engineer. “Okay, so you remember the whole backstory for why the Malkrin are on the mainland in the first place?”
“Pseudo-eugenics?” he commented dryly.
“Yeah.” She nodded, a sense of excitement leaking into her voice. “And what were the parameters of banishing someone?”
“Not getting sick from a rock.”
She eyed him feverishly, brows raised with a sudden zeal. “Aaaaand that rock represented the Sky Goddess’ wrath, which did what?”
“Uhhh…” He looked upward in thought, recalling his conversation with the paladin. “I think Shar mentioned nausea, vomiting, blisters, skin melting… off…” He froze, the pieces forming. “Wait, you don’t think…”
“I do. Those symptoms could mean a lot of things, but the anomaly field was the real kicker. You know that Shar just straight up didn’t have any lingering radiation effects or anything while you were nearly put… six feet under…” Her voice quieted momentarily, the speed of her speech outpacing her train of thought. “Sorry. Um… so, I was gonna say that she, uh, I mean the scanner mentioned she had damage from ‘alpha particles’ on her skin, but nothing else happened to her organs or anything.”
Harrison squinted at her for a moment, mouth slightly opened and prepared to give some alternative reasoning besides ‘immunity.’ Maybe her armor protected her from it? No… she didn’t even have full protection, radiation would have certainly gotten around her eyes or snout. What about her height? What if… No.
He didn’t just want to believe that somehow the Malkrin could just evade a force of nature, but he didn’t have any way of proving or disproving it on hand… Well, no humane way of testing it.
“I… guess?” the engineer grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Even then, they still need armor and gas masks. The worst part of the radiation isn’t even the ionizing part. It’s the trace elements that get into your lungs and decay there. So it doesn’t hurt to use some CBRN filters.”
“Fair… but it’s interesting, isn’t it?” Tracy beamed. “Like, what kind of evolutionary factors lead to radiation immunity? Why do only some of the Malkrin have it and others don’t?”
The only real cause of radiation he could think of would be a massive nuclear proliferation of some sort. Maybe the anomalies? He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the lingering thoughts away. “I wouldn’t know. You could always ask Sebas to bring up some papers about it or generate some theories when you get the chance.”
“I probably will at some point… Maybe while I’m working.” She poked him in the bicep. “You’re still helping me with the mule, right?”
He bobbed his head, loose beard hairs itching up his chin. “Sure am. Gimme a bit to shave and test the fifty-cal ammo, then I’ll be free to assist.”
“Kay Kay.” The tradeswoman smiled and returned to the sink, washing her face.
- - - - -
“What the hell did you do to your shield?” a stunned Harrison asked the paladin, his face scrunching up in concern… and confusion.
Sharky proudly held up her once grungy orange shield with a smile, looking at its new… paint job? “Artificer Tracy has s—n to imbue my bulwark with the crest of the Sky Goddess herself! Observe the b—utiful wings that cover it!”
The engineer had just got back from setting up and overseeing the automated mule’s first excursion to the mine and back. It was a grueling task, requiring him to reset its pathing several times before it was able to make a round trip without input. Now, the maroon-skinned Malkrin in front of him had apparently gotten her massive aegis laser imprinted with crossing wings in the two hours or so he’d been gone. The areas between the black feather decals were colored with white and blue paints, contrasting with the new dark gray background.
A small weight was placed on his shoulder, Tracy’s forearm suddenly appearing atop it despite her being nearly a foot shorter than him. She beamed, staring up at him with all-too-proud eyes. “The scout regiment symbol looks good on it, right? Cera helped me with the laser engraving.”
“I…” His brows raised in perplexity. “The scout regiment?”
She shrugged, watching the paladin observe her shield from all sorts of different angles underneath the workshop’s light fixtures. “From an anime I used to watch. Men and women who were sent out to battle against massive titans for the greater good of the last settlement of humanity. Somewhat fitting, and fuckin’ awesome on her big-ass shield! Matches the bird’s wings on her armor too.”
He loudly sighed. “You wasted materials on imprinting wings on Shar’s shield? Really?”
“Hey!” Her brows furrowed into faux-annoyance, a smug grin betraying it. “It’s not a waste if you were never gonna use the paint we had on hand. Plus, we’ve got energy to spare with all the wind turbines and power cells you’ve been printing out.”
“Those paints probably could have been used for important designations… or something…” he grumbled.
“Doesn’t matter.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyway, want me to put some scary teeth or something on that big ‘ol fist-sized muzzle break on your shotgun?”
“No?” he took an incredulous step away from her, letting her arm fall off his shoulder and to her side.
“It’s okay to admit you’re jealous of Shar’s awesome decals, bro,” Tracy teased, her smugness growing tenfold. “No need to get defensive.”
He groaned, figuring there wasn’t a point in staying to bicker with the tradeswoman, leaving the two vanity-focused females to their devices. He still had to figure out how to fabricate armor and gas masks for the Malkrin and himself.
“Hey! Where ya goin?” the technician called out, clearly disappointed that he hadn’t indulged in her taunts.
“Work.”
Short taps against the hard floor sounded out as she caught up to him. She leaned forward and curiously looked up at him as she walked, holding her hands behind the small of her back. “What kind? Can I help?”
“Just need to take some measurements and compare options. Right… Speaking of which.” He turned around and cupped his palms around his mouth. “Hey Shar! Get over here, I need your help!”
The addressed Malkrin perked up, snapping out of the small haze of admiring her new shield and happily making her way toward him. She stood at attention, her tail oscillating side to side. “What n—d do you have of me?”
“Just a quick task,” he briefed her, grabbing some measuring tape from his desk… that Tracy had decided was her new chair. He sighed and turned his attention back to the paladin. “Can I bother you to lean down for a few seconds while I take some measurements?”
“Of course. Pl—se, take your time.” She stepped forward and kneeled, her head brought down to his height. Her face wore that simple content look he was growing all too accustomed to by now—slightly vibrating frills, a little curl upward of her lips, and warmly glowing eyes.
He wasted no time getting to work, noting down the various distances around her jaws, snout, eyes, and ears, already piecing together how he could cobble together some gas mask designs to fit the dimensions. She sat there quietly, sometimes leaning into the accidental head scratches adorably. It contrasted heavily with the cold-sweat-inducing layers of razor-sharp teeth within her muzzle as he measured the angle her maw opened at, bringing an idle curiosity prodded his mind.
“Say, Shar, do your teeth grow back if they fall out?” he poked, absently observing the dozens of triangular bone protrusions in her mouth as he held the underside of her jaw.
“They do,” she confirmed, the way she was able to speak despite not moving her mouth still messing with his head. “Do y—rs not?”
“Nope. Only once.”
She attempted to tilt her head, but quickly returned it when it left the embrace of his palm. “Only once?”
He nodded. “Yeah, sometime a few years after birth. They’re replaced with the teeth I have now. Don’t get any new ones, so we gotta take care of ‘em.”
“Birth?” The Malkrin’s eyes widened. “You were not cr—ted as you are now?”
A shock of stress poured down his spine like a bucket of ice water, raising the hairs on his back. Fuck. How did he let that slip? He was supposed to have just appeared from the sky to her, right…? He was doing so well for so long in keeping that in. God, had he really gotten so comfortable with the paladin that he simply forgot what he was to her? His teeth clenched, a huff of air escaping his nostrils as he lightly shook his head. It was a bit too late to backtrack. It could be explained vaguely and brushed off, right?
“Yeah. I was born,” he affirmed flatly. His hand dropped away from Shar’s muzzle, her head falling an inch or two before she registered that she couldn’t keep leaning into his touch. “That’s it for measurements, so you’re free to leave.”
A frown carved through her small smile. “I… See… F—give me if I have brought up someth—g improper.”
His exhalation burned through his frustration at himself, his hand running through his hair to wash away the spike of anxiety. “You’re fine. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Th-Then I shall take my leave,” the massive alien stated softly.
He nodded, feeling a little regretful for pushing the kindhearted Malkrin away as he shuffled back to his desk. Tracy was still sitting atop it, giving him a disappointed reaction with low brows, forcing a pointed reaction from him. “What?”
The technician took a long inhale before shrugging. “Nothin’.”
“…Alright.”
The rolling chair squeaked lightly as he rested himself, his hands already going through the motions of opening the computer and the blueprint folders. There were plenty of tabs open of sensors and motor assemblies he hadn’t closed from the previous night. That wasn’t even mentioning the pile of notes he had on proper radio-protective methods, their corners bent from his frequent flipping through them.
“Soooo…” The short black-haired woman leaned forward from her perch atop the only clear part of his desk. “Can I help you with your ‘comparing options’ work, mister busyman?”
“Sure…” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, raising a brow. “How much do you know about armor?”
- - - - -
“No way. The back support is a must, so you can have extra plating over your shoulders and chest.” Tracy pointed out from her seat beside Harrison’s, all but forcing him to pause his Malkrin gas mask designing to give her argument his full attention.
He calmly took his hands off the mouse and keyboard. “A back support needs leg assistants, which means I’ll need to have at least a fifteen pound battery pack somewhere. Those kinds of exosuits are either all in or not at all. You can go full armor and engine, or lightweight protection and simple limb support.”
“So you’re just gonna go out there with normal armor? Just run-of-the-mill plates and gear? Those fucking things would go through that shit like butter! I know we can’t make synthetic muscle yet, but at least consider wearing something a bit more. Please. Even Sharky has heavy armor!”
Harrison pinched the bridge of his nose, his brows furrowed. “Do I look like a several-hundred kilogram monster of pure muscle to you? I’m more than willing to put on a few extra kilos for protection, but I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons of putting on more armor rather than more equipment. I’d rather fifty pounds of magazines and ammo than fifty pounds of armor. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah yeah… You and your storage space…” she mumbled, swiping through a few more images on her data pad when a familiar Mars-pattern suit showed up, catching his eye.
“Hey, wait, pull that one up…”
She rotated the tablet for him to see a little better—despite already being shoulder-to-shoulder with him. “This one? What’s so special about it?”
He analyzed the few pieces of equipment on screen, noting the rusty-orange and tan color scheme, the old Martian-American flag attached to its breastplate, and the iconic quad-nod integrated helmet. “Holy shit,” he whispered. “That’s… We have that in our blueprints?”
She raised a brow, clearly confused. “Whaddya mean?”
“That’s an Orbital Drop Ranger’s standard kit,” he stated slowly, a simmering sense of awe bubbling up—why the hell was it in their blueprints folder? “It was used during the Sino-Venusian incursion of southern Mars. It still has the Old Earth American flag embedded into it, so you know it’s pre twenty-two-hundred C.E.”
“Oh shit… Pre-St.Loual’s construction? This is ancient, then, huh? Would it be any good?” She leaned in closer to him, eying the tablet further.
“Does it have the assembly view of the armored pieces?”
“Mmhmm.” She tapped a few icons, showing an isometric, exploded view of all the parts and their individual components.
It was a piece of history alright. The armor was produced just about the time when Mars was connecting their orbital stations and ground colonies to work in tandem, allowing for specialized forces to be trained in space and launched anywhere across the planet from drop pods in mere minutes, leading to common nickname of ‘Minutemen’ given to the troopers. The suits were expertly designed to withstand the harsh environments of Mars and give the soldiers the ability to engage with enemy combatants for several days before extraction, though the adept units usually completed their objectives within twenty-four hours of their landing.
The helmet was very angular and blended in with the expected rocky terrain of Mars, each component taking on a sloped frontal design with rectangular prisms flowing behind—radio, breathing apparatus, and vision modules all sharing a sleek, yet bulky look in their own right. It reminded him of some in-atmosphere ships, with the overhanging visor above the quad-nod viewport being the only non-aerodynamic pieces.
The chest and legs were a bit different, following the design of late twenty-second-century operators with tan lightweight rigs, and ammunition pouches alongside armored plates that ran from the shoulders to wrists in segments. There was a rusty-orange undersuit beneath it all for the purpose of keeping air in, which required some sturdy polymer structures to ensure it didn’t rip. Then, of course, there were the classic shock-absorbing leg supports. They weren’t too far off what Tracy was asking about earlier, but these ones didn’t provide any assistance in moving with any motors—just straight-up structural reinforcements.
Hell, the blueprints on screen even had the mag-grip gloves used to scale domes, buildings, and satellites alike. There was no doubt that the Orbital Drop Rangers had some of the coolest equipment on Mars, especially considering that it was the last to keep the ‘operator’ look… It was such a shame the government decided the orb-like helmets and rounded bubble armors were more effective.
“Hey, you know what?” he asked the technician, a shot of excitement in his voice. “This might actually work out as a suitable armor replacement.”
She perked up, her brows raised. “Oh? Actually?”
He shrugged, trying to play off the smirk plastered on his face. “Wouldn’t need a horrible amount of changes to work for our purposes. Just need to remove the oxygen converter on the back and put a gas mask replacement in the front portion of the helmet. Plus, we could probably get rid of the airtight aspect and just keep the undersuit for scratch protection. And, most importantly, it’s radio-protective.”
“Meets all your criteria, then?” She tapped through some UI interfaces, sending the armor assembly to Harrison’s monitor, which he accepted quickly.
“Sure does.” He readily clicked through the different parts and systems to differentiate what needed to be kept. “We have the resources for it, and all it needs is a layer of cadmium plus a few replacements. Definitely doesn’t need the heads-up display since there’s nothing for it to interact with either, so that’ll save on print time and materials too. Shame I cut up the beard… the Orbital Drop Rangers were allowed to have some cool ones.”
The tradeswoman scooted in even closer, practically resting her chin on his shoulder and watching him sift through the working parts. “Yeah, rest in peace, beard. Still, your armor situation is solved. What about the Malkrin?”
“I’ll be working on their gas masks, then I was thinking I’d use another one of your modeled armors for their protection since they’ve helped Shar a hell of a lot. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Mmmmm…” She looked up in thought, a smile forming along her cheeks. “You know, until we can make them any real power armor, I was thinking just some regular phobos-pattern armor. Could color ‘em based on their skin too.”
“Phobos-pattern armor?” he hummed to himself, clicking through the folder to find it. It was just as bulky as Shar’s armor, except it appeared a good bit smoother, with more rounded edges compared to her horns-and-spike-lined gauntlets and pauldrons. The blue suit Tracy was proposing didn’t have the four-armed protection compared to the chaos version, but it certainly had the same thickness of its metal plates. “Looks like it’d work pretty well. Does it have any electric components or anything?”
“No…” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Not so good with designing that stuff in the modeling program I did the WarHarberd stuff in. Could add in more sophisticated leg support or whatever if you gave me time, but for now it’s just maneuverable slabs of alloy.”
“I think that’s all we need for the time being.” He shrugged. “I just don’t want the others to be vulnerable to getting cut up by the little spider-crab grunts.”
“As long as it works for what we need, then.” Her elbow poked into his arm. “Here, how about I take care of that armor stuff while you finish up the gas masks? They need the extra arm slots too, yeah?”
“I’d actually appreciate that a lot.” He offered her a back-palm fist bump, to which she eagerly took, taking on a grin that he mirrored. “Thanks, Trace.”
“Don’t mention it. I wish work was always just doing my hobbies like this.”
\= = = = =
A grand pylon of metal construction taller than the mightiest female’s frills stood atop the beach. Blue-scaled surfaces extended near the foot of the tower, gathering the power of the sun itself. The lattice layering upon their sides hid the weaving wires and Goddess-blessed machinery. A staff the same as Shar’khee’s peeked from its top, the glass eye on its side given a wide view of the sandy environment it resided on, the defense it now provided becoming absolute. The aura it exuded as a creature of pure metal was awe-inspiring, its mere presence a showing of Harrison’s might and domain.
No abhorrent would dare step foot upon the meadow’s rolling hills, for such a mistake would ensure their immediate execution for encroaching upon his settlement—the ‘fifty-cal-e-bur’ bullet is not one to rend any beast with only simple injuries, especially with three hundred of them available at once.
The maroon-skinned paladin treaded up the hill, having completed her task of setting up the last turret. The craftsman, the juvenile, and the lumberjack had also assisted with its setup, pulling their weight in both mind and muscles to piece the components together. They completed a few others around the modules already, but this one was done without the star-sents’ oversight. The four Malkrin had practiced and learned enough to be entrusted with such.
The idea of Harrison having enough confidence in them sparked much conviction in the group, each of them more than eager to prove him right—none more so than Shar’khee herself, of course.
She finally returned to the workshop, the sun’s last rays pressing into the back of her head and frills as she crouched beneath the doorway, a small gnawing hunger for dinner digging within her stomach. The cacophony of machines soon reached her ears, the sounds of their efforts almost working in tandem with the strange melodic music playing from an unseen source above her.
Tracy was in her corner, working on new beings of metal as always. The bright lights above were turned off in favor of smaller, warmer emplacements atop her surrounding circle of desks. A hard worker, that star-sent was, though both of them were like that, the paladin supposed. Their kind was certainly intent on keeping their hands busy.
Shar’khee passed through the snakes of machines, finding her way to Harrison’s desk with an increasingly strong sway in her tail. He was working with a black object with light gray accents. It appeared to be partially flexible, yet firm in other places—notably, a large glass fixture on one side of it. There was very little she could make out about its purpose, but with the delicate touches he applied, it appeared to be quite important.
Her tongue clicked twice, garnering the attention of the Creator. He paused his work, swiveling his chair to face her and revealing a long blue-leaf jutting from his mouth. Her male appeared quite tired, but his voice did not show it.
“Oh, Shar, what’s up? Did y’all need any help with the last turret?”
She shook her head. “We do not n—d such, for it is completed. Would you care to join me for din—r? The rest of the settlem—t is enjoying their meals as of now. ”
He raised his brows before looking back at the myriad of notes, tools, and materials atop his cluttered desk. “Well, I’m kinda busy, but…” His jaw rolled around in contemplation. “Here. Let’s just test this thing real quick.”
Her head tilted. “What sh—l we be testing?”
“Your gas mask… er, well, a Malkrin gas mask. Kneel down real quick, I’ll run ya through putting it on.” He stepped off his chair and grabbed the equipment, uncomfortably rotating his shoulders. How long was he sitting on that chair? The male approached her and she did as requested. “I had the sewist help me with some of the design. Never considered you guys would ever wear hats.”
She nodded. “It is unh—lthy for one to have their frills touched by the sun for so long. Adequate shade is a must, and trees are not so p—valent along farm land.”
“Mmhmm. Shame this is just a mask… Alright, this might be a bit uncomfortable, but it’ll do the job.”
He stepped forward and slipped the black apparel onto her snout, pushing it over her face until it pressed against the sides of her head. A cool material rubbed against her skin, locking her into its embrace. It was encapsulating, surrounding her wholly.
Her breaths strengthened as she allowed the mask to cover her, a short shock of nervousness riding down her spine. She was only now registering how vulnerable she was, allowing him to possibly suffocate her… but she stayed put, keeping her four palms rested within her lap as he continued to apply the straps around her ears. She would allow it. She trusted him with her life. She would not falter.
The cords around the back of her head were tight, a few of which went along both sides of her frills, pushing up against their sides. He kept going, ensuring a ‘seal,’ but it was getting much too—
Pop.
A lightning bolt of pain rolled throughout the top of her head, sending her reeling. It stung for the briefest of moments, but its effects rebounded through her entire body, short sparks pulsing from its origin. She felt nothing but its agonizing hold for several more moments as the rest of her body caught up.
When her eyes opened once more, she found herself on the floor and staring at the ceiling. The star-sent rushed to her side, appearing to ask many questions while looking over her head, but all she heard was a piercing ring and the gruff vocalization he made whenever he shared his intent. No words reached her mind, only the now faint phantom pains from where her frills met her skull. It put everything in a haze, her eyes barely settling on her dearest’s, despite how nauseous she had become.
His deft hands quickly worked to loosen the straps, practically ripping them off until his voice suddenly reached her, like breaching the surface of the water. His voice was deep, attempting to be calculating, yet despite his calmly created stoic demeanor… she could feel his panic, his sheer worry almost flooding her senses through practiced medical queries. She slowly sat up on the floor, holding herself with two arms while the other pair quelled the kneeling male, assuring him that she was alright with their weight resting atop his shoulders.
“I am well, dearest Harrison. Do not fret for me. The straps were simply too tight.”
His anxious breaths barely slowed, narrowly allowing for his exclamation. “Too tight? Shar, you practically blacked out!”
“Too tight upon my frills, I mean. There was a pain there for a few moments, but it has passed,” she returned calmly, softly kneading his stiff shoulders with the joints of her digits.
He exhaled sharply, matching her gaze with regret in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Shar. I should’ve known. I was just trying to see how…” He paused, resting his palm atop her forearm. “Nevermind. I just… Are you alright? Should I get you to the med bay for a quick scan?”
“I do not believe that to be necessary, no.”
His guard finally fell. “If… If you say so. Guess I have to redo the straps then. Definitely gotta make sure they’re not pressing on your frills like that.”
She smiled, appreciating his dedication. “Would you like my assistance?”
“As long as you don’t have anything else to do.” He shrugged, his shoulders barely moving upward against her massaging hands.
“There is no greater wish of mine than to be by your side,” she stated warmly.
He was frozen, the soft ministrations of his digits along her arm slowly stopping in contrast to the red flush growing from his cheeks to his ears. The crack of a smirk on his face finally with a short, heart-warming chuckle brought the statue back to life after a few moments. “You know… that’s probably the sweetest thing I’ve heard for years.”
Her brows raised in subtle surprise at his response. “It… was not intended to be such… However… you are more than welcome. You must understand by now that I am speaking only the truth.”
The two of them sat there in relative silence amongst the desks and machines; her half laying on the ground with her hands on his shoulder, and him on his knees by her side, a singular hand running up and down her comparatively large forearm. She felt… weak, in a way. A vibrating sensation rummaged through her stomach, attempting to pull her muscles and nerves astray.
It was warm, just like his palm, each motion of his hand sending lightning through her skin. The upward curl of her lips into her cheeks was suddenly an insurmountable force, incapable of being put down by a thousand females. There was a tear within her to either look away or… close the distance, and she suddenly found looking anywhere but his curious green eyes to be a waste of her time.
Her talons wrapped further around his shoulders and his back, ever so slightly bringing him into her embrace—
“A-HEM.” A voice cut the moment down to its knees. “The fuck happened here?” Tracy’s swift interjection caused the paladin to flinch backwards, allowing her to see that Harrison’s other hand had been hovering right beneath her snout. The female star-sent wore a furrowed brow and crossed arms, looking down at them. “I heard a crash and came over. Are you two alright?”
Harrison cleared his throat, ever-so-subtly scooting away from the paladin. “Uh, yeah. Shar fell because, um, I tied the gas mask a lil’ too tight.”
The artificer wore an expression that told of her disbelief. “She fell because of the gas mask?”
“It was something with her frills.” The male returned with a shrug, picking himself off the floor before offering the paladin a hand up.
She took it, despite not requiring it, and wiped off some loose dust from her pants. The three of them quickly returned to work soon after, with both her and the black-haired star-sent joining Harrison in his quest to produce the gas mask. She was much less… What did the Creator call it? Bubbly? Yes, that was it. She was much less bubbly than usual, sometimes sending a cold yet emotionless glare toward Shar’khee… Nevertheless, the two females offered input on the design and applied help where they could, eventually creating the final piece of equipment.
Tracy commented on its looks, apparently drawing inspiration from the Leviathan itself, as she believed it to be like that of a ‘Sea Dragon’s.’ The maw-covering portion held two cylindrical canisters on the adjacent sides, the bottom portion being capable of distention, so that the user’s mouth may open somewhat. Its motion created what the female star-sent believed to be ‘the coolest teeth design on a mask’ she’d ever seen with how the separation formed alternating triangles.
The monster-like appearance was furthered by her own frills and horns that peeked out from behind the mask. That was not even mentioning the see-through visor that formed a malicious glare of sharp brows. The paladin looked through a hand-held mirror, finding it difficult to disagree with the look. She could imagine the horror on a fisherwoman’s face as such a terrifying creature approached from the depths.
And yet, despite its nightmarish visage, it was apparel designed to save lives, not take them—much unlike the unassuming metal rods that spewed fire with a mere flick of a lever. Curious indeed. The star-sents were seemingly never out of surprises. They even spoke of grand robots and firearms larger than Shar’khee herself as possible future projects.
Only time could tell what machinations of alloy would be birthed from their hands.
- - - - -
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Next time on Total Drama Anomaly Island - Under The Milky Way

When you want to build head-to-toe strength — and you want to look awesome doing it — there are few lifts that can compete with the hardcore nature of the log press. The unstable, unwieldy log bar will have your entire body working in overdrive to clean it off the ground, up your belly and chest, and heft it into the air. Meanwhile, the neutral grips inside the bar allow you to do all of this with your shoulders in a less compromising position than they would be with a barbell lift.
Whether you’re looking to compete in strongman or just to add another strength-building lift to your repertoire, the log press can set you on the right path.
A shirtless, bearded person performs a log press.
Credit: Dmitriy Khitrin / Shutterstock
It’s got a heftier buy-in than a regular barbell press. Whereas barbells typically weigh in at 45 pounds, eight-inch diameter log bars weigh 50 pounds; 10-inch log bars come in closer to 72 pounds; and 12-inch bars get as heavy as 134 pounds. Not for the faint of heart, the log press will not only showcase your strength — it’ll build it, too.
How to Do the Log Press
Benefits of the Log Press
Muscles Worked by the Log Press
Who Should Do the Log Press
Log Press Sets and Reps
Log Press Variations
Log Press Alternatives
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Do the Log Press
Learning the log press may seem intimidating, and not without reason. To lift the 10-inch bar alone, you’ll need to be comfortable pressing over 70 pounds above your head. But if you’ve got that covered, all it takes is a little know-how and a lot of practice.
While strict presses are also possible, this guide discusses a push press version, where you get increased engagement — and loading potential — from your lower body.
Step 1 — Pull the Log Off the Floor
A person wearing pink shorts prepares to deadlift a log implement.
Credit: Worlds Strongest Gay – Rob Kearney / YouTube
Start in a deadlift position, hinged at your hips with bent knees. Position your feet a bit wider than shoulder-width and turn your feet slightly outwards. The log should be touching your shins. Grip the handles and pull your shoulder blades back and down. Drive through your legs to pull the log to your hips.
Form Tip: Tilt the log away from you by driving your wrists forward. You won’t scrape your legs and it’ll be easier to lap the log (see next step) as you can rotate the log into your hips.
Step 2 — Lap the Log
A person wearing pink shorts cleans a log bar into their lap.
Credit: Worlds Strongest Gay – Rob Kearney / YouTube
Once the bar is at hip level, squat down until the bottoms of your thighs are parallel with the floor. The bar should sit on top of your thighs, and your elbows should flare outwards. This position is referred to as, “lapping” the log.
Form Tip: Keep the log pressed firmly against your chest and stomach. If there’s any space between your body and the log, it’ll make the clean more difficult to execute.
Step 3 — Clean the Log
A person wearing pink shorts supporting a strongman log implement in the front rack position
Credit: Worlds Strongest Gay – Rob Kearney / YouTube
Though it’s called a “clean”, cleaning a log is mechanically different than the barbell variation. From the lap position, explosively stand up, driving you hips forward and rolling the log up your stomach and chest. As the log ascends, bring your elbows in and under the implement so that you end up in the front rack position.
Form Tip: You want your elbows up as high as you can get them, which means the bar will needs to sit on your upper chest and press into your neck. It’s not the most comfortable position, but it should last only but a few seconds.
Step 4 — Press Overhead
A person wearing pink shorts locks out a log bar overhead using a jerk technique.
Credit: Worlds Strongest Gay – Rob Kearney / YouTube
There are two primary ways you can lock out the log overhead. First, you can implement a split jerk, where you simultaneously drive the bar under head and dip under it by staggering your legs. The other option is the more standard push press, where you dip down a few inches and then explode up, using that leg drive to lock out your arms.
Form Tip: If you’re new to the log press, we suggest sticking with the push press option as it’s technically easier to master.
Step 5 — Lower With Control
A person wearing pink shorts lowers a log bar to their chest.
Credit: Worlds Strongest Gay – Rob Kearney / YouTube
Lower the log with control so it falls in front of your face (instead of onto your face). Catch the bar on your chest with a generous bend of your knees so your body can absorb the weight. Reset and repeat.
Form Tip: If you’re lifting a max effort press or are completing your last rep of the set, you can drop the log by letting your arms swing down in front of your body and dropping it onto the pads.
Benefits of the Log Press
The benefits of the log press are legion — as are the bragging rights you get when your lifting buddy films you crushing a new log press personal record. It’s not just about building more strength and power, either (though it is about that). The log press also puts your shoulders in a relatively stable position, making this a potentially more accessible form of overhead pressing than barbell pressing for those with shoulder issues.
Massive Pressing Potential
Unlike a barbell, the log bar has neutral grips. Since your shoulders won’t be in such a compromised position — that is, flared outwards — you’ll potentially increase the load you’re able to press by quite a significant sum. You can use that neutral grip to build your overhead strength even more than you could with your shoulders locked into the position a barbell puts them in.
Your body and muscles can therefore become accustomed to moving much bigger weights. As such, when you do go back to the barbell, you may well be able to handle pressing significantly heavier loads.
Full-Body Hypertrophy
The log press may be an overhead press at heart, but it won’t only challenge your shoulders. This move also taps into your triceps, lats, traps, core, and even leg strength in a huge way.
You’ll build muscle across your entire body, particularly your upper body. When training the log press for hypertrophy, you’ll go a bit lighter than you will when you’re going for max strength. But either way, working under such an intense stimulus will challenge your muscles to grow.
More Shoulder-Friendly
Although the log press is an intimidating lift, keep in mind that you’ll be using neutral-grip handles. This means that your shoulders will be in a less compromised position than they are during a barbell press, where your grip is horizontally-oriented. So you can lift even heavier in a position that’s better for your shoulders — a win-win for strength and longevity.
Full-Body Power and Conditioning
If you’re using a push press or jerk to heft the log over head instead of performing a strict press, you’ll need to generate huge amounts of power throughout your entire body. Everything from your toes to your fingertips need to be working together in an explosive fashion to successfully complete this lift.
Because this move requires you to generate so much power throughout your entire body, you’ll get your conditioning work in, too. From pulling and rolling the log bar into the rack position to using a full-body leg drive to lock it out overhead, you’re being both explosive and controlling your form all over your body. With so many moving parts, even one heavy rep can make you breathless — stringing together multiple reps can become a solid part of your conditioning routine.
Muscles Worked by the Log Press
The log press taps into so many different parts of your body. Here are some of the big movers.
Shoulders
Since this is, at the end of the day, an overhead press, your shoulders might be the first thing that comes to your mind with this lift. Sure enough, the log press requires and will develop very strong and stable shoulders.
Triceps
You can’t lock out heavy weights without some pretty powerful, well-developed triceps. In order to not let your triceps become a quick limiting factor to your log press, make sure you’re not neglecting them in the rest of your training.
Traps
In order to support the weight of the log overhead — and to help your shoulders out in the front rack position and with the end of the clean — you need strong traps. Without engaging your traps, you’ll have a difficult time setting up this lift properly and stabilizing it on top.
Lats
As you’re pulling the bar from the floor to your lap and rolling it up your body to set yourself up for the actual press, you’ll need your lats. They’ll help drive the pulling that begins this lift and — as they do in the bench press — will help you stabilize the lift during the pressing part of the movement.
Core
Falling over during your log press would not be optimal, to say the least. To keep your body steady, you’ll need a strong core — which is exactly what the log press will help you develop. Your core will also help you transmit force from your legs to your upper body when you’re using your leg drive to hoist the log bar overhead.
Quads
Finally, the log press will help you develop powerful quads. Sure, they won’t work them to the same extent that barbell squats will, but you’ll still be squatting in unstable conditions to get up into starting position. Then — unless you’re strict pressing — you’ll need your quads to generate a whole lot of power through your leg drive.
Who Should Do the Log Press
The log press doesn’t mess around when it comes to how much power you need to generate to hoist it over your head. With a buy-in weight of at least 50 pounds (for the smallest type of log bar), you need to be able to efficiently translate all your body’s power and strength into pressing prowess. A lot of different kinds of athletes might want to develop exactly that.
Strongwomen and Strongmen
Athletes who compete in strongman competitions will almost certainly want to train with the log press.
Not only is this often a competition lift in itself, but it also has direct carryover into other potential competition lifts, like the monster dumbbell press.
Weightlifters
Weightlifters will likely want to stick to a majority of barbell lifts, since the technique with a barbell is so specific and different from the log pressing technique. However, both competition lifts for weightlifters involve developing tremendous overhead strength and stability. A weightlifter may be looking for strength-building, shoulder-saving variety in their training during the offseason. If so, the log press might be an effective — and fun — way to do so.
Powerlifters
Unlike strongmen and weightlifters, powerlifters don’t overhead press in competition. However, many powerlifters might want to develop their overhead strength in the off-season for well-rounded strength. Overhead work can also help powerlifters develop stronger lats, traps, and shoulders, all of which are important for their big three competition lifts.
Because of the neutral grip provided by the log press, this might be a desirable overhead variation for powerlifters. It’ll be less taxing on your shoulders because of the grip orientation, which is exactly what you might need when you don’t want to set your shoulders up for failure during your bench pressing sessions.
Non-Competitive Gymgoers
You don’t have to be the biggest lifter on the block to benefit from — and enjoy — the log press. If you have access to one in your gym and are able to safely press it overhead, you might benefit a lot from the log press.
Not only will the training variety potentially add a lot of fun to your routine, but learning such a cool lift can be a great confidence-booster that keeps you coming back for more. Additionally, the neutral grip that the log bar provides might be great for non-competitive lifters who are looking for ways to press overhead without compromising their shoulders with horizontally-oriented grips.
Log Press Sets and Reps
Generally speaking, when you’re working with the log press, you’re probably looking to build max strength. That said, the log press has plenty of uses for hypertrophy and even conditioning.
For Max Strength
While you’re still learning the log press, work in the higher rep ranges before trying to max out and work in the lower, strength-building ranges. When you’re ready to develop max overhead strength with the log press, aim for three to five sets of two to five reps. You’ll want the weight to be heavy and approach failure — but make sure you’re able to maintain safe form throughout.
For Building Muscle
When you’re working toward hypertrophy with less involved, lighter lifts, you might be able to push toward failure with rep schemes between six and 12 to 15 reps. But lifting even moderately heavy with a log press might enable you to build a significant amount of muscle using fewer reps.
Because so much of your body is involved and you can move so much weight with this lift, higher rep counts will build muscle but also cross into endurance and conditioning territory. You’ll likely be able to build a hefty amount of muscle with three sets in the five to 10 rep range.
For Conditioning
Because the log press involves your entire body — literally from head to toe — and allows you to lift so heavily, you’re likely to get your heart rate up pretty high. Training the log press for conditioning will help you get stronger and more cardiovascularly fit all at the same time. How you approach this really depends on your experience and overall fitness level.
For some, you might consider eight reps to be more conditioning than you normally integrate into your training. For others, cranking out as many solid reps as possible in 60 seconds would be a more apt form of conditioning.
Log Press Variations
A log bar is such a highly-specific piece of equipment — but that doesn’t mean it can only help you complete one lift. Check out these log press variations to see how you can add even more spice to your log pressing life.
Log Viper Press
If the log press itself isn’t quite enough of a conditioning challenge for you, you might want to try the log viper press on for size. Instead of bringing the log bar back down to the front rack position between each rep, you’ll bring it back down beneath your chest.
Then, you’ll use your hip extension to take the bar in one swift movement over your head to lockout. It’ll look more like a snatch than a push press. This variation involves more hips and even more power than the original version, which you might love if you’re looking to develop as much explosivity as possible.
Strict Log Press
For the log strict press, you’ll be performing a log press — but without any momentum from your lower body. This takes the push or jerk element out of the move, which means you’ll be able to move less weight than you otherwise could.
But just because you’re moving less weight doesn’t mean it’s an inferior move. Being able to strict press build a great deal of core stability, not to mention places an even larger emphasis on your upper body muscles. Sure, they’ll be hefting less weight. However, without assistance from your lower body, it becomes entirely about how much your shoulders and upper body can move on their own.
Block Log Press
Want to eliminate the clean from the move? This way, you can focus solely on upper body strength and power without worrying about the awkwardness of the start of the move. In that case, start with the log on blocks just below your shoulders.
Doing this can serve as a great introduction to the move for beginners who haven’t quite gotten their heads around the awkward clean portion yet. It’s also a great option for advanced lifters who want to load up as heavy as possible for higher reps.
Log Press Alternatives
Don’t have access to a log? Not a problem. There’s another specialty bar that can help you press heavy overhead with a neutral grip. And if your gym doesn’t have any specialty bars to offer, you can still use a good old-fashioned barbell to get the job done.
Swiss Bar Press
While it’s not a log, the Swiss bar has one huge — and hugely important — similarity to the log bar. It comes with neutral grips, too. This means that you’ll be able to move weight overhead with your palms facing each other even if you don’t have access to a log bar.
This preserves the shoulder-saving aspect of the log press while still allowing you to put big weight above you. While it’s still a specialty bar, many gyms are more likely to have a Swiss bar than they are to have a log. In that way, this press is a great alternative for aspiring athletes without access to all the coolest strongman equipment.
Barbell Clean & Jerk
Because the implement is so different, the barbell clean & jerk requires different movement mechanics than the log press. So, it’s not a directly transferable skill. But, being proficient at one can potentially help you develop the body awareness to learn the other.
Plus, the barbell clean & jerk enables you to push a tremendous amount of weight overhead. If you’re looking to push a max amount of weight overhead without access to a log, this lift is an excellent option.
Get Pressing
Looking to compete in strongman and strongwoman events? Learning the log press will be a crucial part of your journey, because you’re likely to come across it as an official event. Even if you don’t have aspirations to compete, you might be looking for a way to push big weight overhead without a punishing shoulder angle. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that this is one of the coolest-looking lifts around.
Frequently Asked Questions
Folks who are just learning strongman and strongwoman lifts often have a lot of questions. And questions are good — they mean you’re paying attention and are more likely to learn what you need to succeed. Here are some questions that a lot of people have about the log press.
Do you need to learn the log press for strongman and strongwoman competitions?
Unlike powerlifting and weightlifting meets — which always feature the same lifts and competition structure — strongman and strongwoman competitions or more unpredictable. They don’t always feature the same lifts and feats of strength. That said, many competitions do feature the log press itself or other overhead variations. So, it’s worth learning if you can.
What if I don’t have access to a log bar?
Maybe you’re trying to compete, or maybe you just want to learn the log press because it looks and feels so darn cool. Whatever your motivations, you don’t have to despair if you don’t have access to the exact equipment the lift calls for.
So many strongman events rely on lifters being able to adapt to moving extremely heavy, extremely awkward implements. If you don’t have access to a log bar, get creative in your training — maybe with a Swiss bar, or maybe with a (sturdy) implement of your own making — to practice getting big weights overhead.
How much do log bars weigh?
That depends. Different log bars have different dimensions and diameters, all of which have their own unique advantages for training. While eight-inch log bars weigh 50 pounds, their 10-inch cousins are closer to 72 pounds. And 12-inch log bars can get as heavy as 134 pounds.
Smaller bars allow you to train with a bigger range of motion. So even though they’re lighter, they might challenge you more since you have to push them through more time under tension due to the larger range of motion.

Welcome to Master Realm!
Master Realm is a Survival 1.20.1 Minecraft server with many quality-of-life changes plugins. Our server keeps a balance between a classic vanilla server and a modded one.
Here is a preview of the plugins we have:
•Coin Economy - With coins, you can buy from shop different items, buy other items people might sell at Auction House, or even gamble them!
•Slimefun - Slimefun adds a lot of new items, such as simple wands or even nuclear reactors! Anything your mind can think of, Slimefun has it.
•Custom Items / Enchants - This plugin adds many cool enchantments alongside other custom gear. You will be able to make the strongest armor or sword in the server or make the fastest and most useful tool. It's up to you to decide what you want to make.
•Land Claims / No Grief - With this plugin, you can protect your land and valuables from griefers and thieves! The more you play and complete different tasks in the game, the bigger your protected land will become.
•Seasons - Always wanted to see how realistic weather can get in Minecraft? Well, now you can! All four seasons are in the server for you to experience! No farming in the Winter, and a seasonal shop to peruse!
•Custom World - Master Realm has its own custom world generation! There are plenty of biomes to explore, with different items and structures.
•Custom Roles / Ranks - We have custom roles and ranks in our server. You can buy different roles in the server, and you can even have custom ones made, just for you!
•Cross play - It doesn't matter if you are on a PC, phone, Xbox, or any device, you can join with both Java and Bedrock editions!
Another good thing about our server is its stability! The server runs almost all the time, except for maintenance breaks! The gameplay is smooth and lag-free, so you won't have to worry about lag or things like that.
We also have a welcoming community! It doesn't matter who or what you are, we welcome anyone!
We also have a Discord server! You can talk, share moments or memes, be in touch with upcoming events and news, and you can chat with the people on the Minecraft server through Discord with the help of the DiscordSRV plugin!
Do you have a suggestion? We are always open to feedback! You can tell us ideas for the server or anything you want to see in it, and the community will vote if it will get added!
If you are interested in joining,send me a message and I will tell you all the info you need!

I'm thinking about implementing the following upgrades to my rig.
In the short term:
i7 14th generation. PSU up to 850W (thinking more about mid-term changes).
In the mid term: RTX 4070 Ti Super or RTX 4080.
Current rig, for playing on 1440p (2K).
CPU: Intel® Core™ i5 14-Core Processor i5-13600KF Motherboard: ASUS® PRIME B760-PLUS D4 (LGA1700, PCIe5.0, USB 3.2) RAM: 32GB PCS PRO DDR4 3200MHz (1 x 32GB) GPU: 12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 SSD: 512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW) PSU: CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Processor Cooling: DeepCool AK620 ZERO DARK High-Performance Dual Tower CPU Cooler Thermal Paste: STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING Extra Case Fans: 1 x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
I think my current CPU is creating some bottle-necks, and limitating FPS. It gets worse in games like Resident Evil 2 Remake, where sometimes I'm getting 100+ fps however 99% FPS drop to 17 or 20 fps which is a bit unconfortable when playing.
I believe upgrading CPU would deliver a better experience along with a PSU swap for whenever I get a new GPU.
Thoughts or comments are most welcome. This would be my first time changing a PSU, I'm aware I have to open both sides of the case to plug CPU, Motherboard, GPU; SATA and PCI ports as well. Any other thing I should be worried about?

Welcome to Master Realm!
Master Realm is a Survival 1.20.1 Minecraft server with many quality-of-life changes plugins. Our server keeps a balance between a classic vanilla server and a modded one.
Here is a preview of the plugins we have:
•Coin Economy - With coins, you can buy from shop different items, buy other items people might sell at Auction House, or even gamble them!
•Slimefun - Slimefun adds a lot of new items, such as simple wands or even nuclear reactors! Anything your mind can think of, Slimefun has it.
•Custom Items / Enchants - This plugin adds many cool enchantments alongside other custom gear. You will be able to make the strongest armor or sword in the server or make the fastest and most useful tool. It's up to you to decide what you want to make.
•Land Claims / No Grief - With this plugin, you can protect your land and valuables from griefers and thieves! The more you play and complete different tasks in the game, the bigger your protected land will become.
•Seasons - Always wanted to see how realistic weather can get in Minecraft? Well, now you can! All four seasons are in the server for you to experience! No farming in the Winter, and a seasonal shop to peruse!
•Custom World - Master Realm has its own custom world generation! There are plenty of biomes to explore, with different items and structures.
•Custom Roles / Ranks - We have custom roles and ranks in our server. You can buy different roles in the server, and you can even have custom ones made, just for you!
•Cross play - It doesn't matter if you are on a PC, phone, Xbox, or any device, you can join with both Java and Bedrock editions!
Another good thing about our server is its stability! The server runs almost all the time, except for maintenance breaks! The gameplay is smooth and lag-free, so you won't have to worry about lag or things like that.
We also have a welcoming community! It doesn't matter who or what you are, we welcome anyone!
We also have a Discord server! You can talk, share moments or memes, be in touch with upcoming events and news, and you can chat with the people on the Minecraft server through Discord with the help of the DiscordSRV plugin!
Do you have a suggestion? We are always open to feedback! You can tell us ideas for the server or anything you want to see in it, and the community will vote if it will get added!
Are you interested in joining? Here is all the info you need:
Website: masterrealm.net
Discord: https://discord.gg/w3sDEzrgpu
Server IP: 51.81.67.39:25565

Welcome to Master Realm!
Master Realm is a Survival 1.20.1 Minecraft server with many quality-of-life changes plugins. Our server keeps a balance between a classic vanilla server and a modded one.
Here is a preview of the plugins we have:
•Coin Economy - With coins, you can buy from shop different items, buy other items people might sell at Auction House, or even gamble them!
•Slimefun - Slimefun adds a lot of new items, such as simple wands or even nuclear reactors! Anything your mind can think of, Slimefun has it.
•Custom Items / Enchants - This plugin adds many cool enchantments alongside other custom gear. You will be able to make the strongest armor or sword in the server or make the fastest and most useful tool. It's up to you to decide what you want to make.
•Land Claims / No Grief - With this plugin, you can protect your land and valuables from griefers and thieves! The more you play and complete different tasks in the game, the bigger your protected land will become.
•Seasons - Always wanted to see how realistic weather can get in Minecraft? Well, now you can! All four seasons are in the server for you to experience! No farming in the Winter, and a seasonal shop to peruse!
•Custom World - Master Realm has its own custom world generation! There are plenty of biomes to explore, with different items and structures.
•Custom Roles / Ranks - We have custom roles and ranks in our server. You can buy different roles in the server, and you can even have custom ones made, just for you!
•Cross play - It doesn't matter if you are on a PC, phone, Xbox, or any device, you can join with both Java and Bedrock editions!
Another good thing about our server is its stability! The server runs almost all the time, except for maintenance breaks! The gameplay is smooth and lag-free, so you won't have to worry about lag or things like that.
We also have a welcoming community! It doesn't matter who or what you are, we welcome anyone!
We also have a Discord server! You can talk, share moments or memes, be in touch with upcoming events and news, and you can chat with the people on the Minecraft server through Discord with the help of the DiscordSRV plugin!
Do you have a suggestion? We are always open to feedback! You can tell us ideas for the server or anything you want to see in it, and the community will vote if it will get added!
Are you interested in joining? Here is all the info you need:
Website: masterrealm.net
Discord: https://discord.gg/w3sDEzrgpu
Server IP: 51.81.67.39:25565

When I talk about the Islamic world im talking mainly, about the main Arab/Islamic land and the North African region wish historically knows to help each other during tough times and the good times and every Muslims on this sub knows one or two historical examples.
However, im not here to talk about the history because I'm not a historian, second this is not the subject of this post, but I still need to give a historical context for what I'm about to discuss, first we can all agree that the birth of Mohamed be peace upon him change not only the fate of Arabs but also the entire world.

Mohamed be peace upon him was born in 632AD, and if you google you will get Saudia Meccah as if he have anything in common with current demented royal family in Saudia, who trying to claim him as a Saudian when Mohamed be peace upon himself wouldn’t want anything to do with those criminals who present pretty Mutch what he hate during his live they are the same type of people who fight his message and conspire against him and kill his followers.
Mohamed be peace upon him message wasn’t just Islam and a bunch of rituals people do in holidays Its was also a political movement as his main message was no one worthy of worship but god and god is the only one you should be afraid off, this is message that inspire people to fight back against their oppressor and not accept to be trailed lesser than everyone else, this idea look simple at first glance but it's have a big influence on people in that time it's not different from the famous quote of Jean-Jacques Rousseau Who said “how you can enslave people when their moms give them birth free” wish inspire France to revolt against the royal family in France In 1789, same way Mohamed and Muslims did against their Arabs oppressor in Makkah.

After Mohamed be peace upon him death his message continues to spread one of the people who accept his message is North Africans Amazigh who also continue to spread his message through the African continent, Amazigh didn’t accept Islam because Arabs were cool, they accept his message because it was genuine and united people of all kinds all skins and all ethnicity To no accept oppression.

Moving forward to the Ottoman Empire decay in 1900 wish the British took their chance to end ottoman dominance and took over the Arab land, bunch of ambitious family’s like al-saud took their chance conspire with the British to create a dynasty for themselves others who already exist like the Bano-Hachem In Jordan make deals to keep what they have and there dynasty going, this situation basically spread through the north African region.
Today Muslims rulers' leaders doing whatever they can to secure themselves to stay in power by allying themselves either with USA or RUSSIA and the worst part they will plunge their country in chaos to stay look at Bachar for example and what he done to Syria.
Muslim leaders love the national anthem food anything different to keep Muslims disconnected From each other as its give them a chance to control their people they claim every personality from the past this one was Moroccan, this one was Saudi this one was Tunisian and so on feeding this narrative to Muslims that they shouldn’t care about each other look for example Gazans dying few meters away and life continue normally in Egypt.*

The angle wish is Muslims leaders will operate from to further their interest is very disgusting, and if you are an ally of the USA then Iran Russia is your enemies and your propaganda is simple find few Syrian journalist and use Syrian people suffering to make Iran and Russia as the most evil nation ever exist but if you are in trouble make deal later with them and invite a bloody murder back to your country cause you are not up to the game in the first place looking at you Salmanco, Arabs leaders will also use the divide between Shia and Sunni to make there people hate Iran and there militants and the consequences of such a message don't matter to them , what matter is there agenda against Iran.
And of course if you are an allied of Russia and Iran then USA and the west is your enemies you represent yourself as a hero to your people a man who stand against imperialism and with those who are oppressed and the first one to defend Palestine, and if any other Muslim leader hate you use Palestine normalization card against him as if you are any better , and take some footage to show them to your people make yourself look good.

Today the entire Islamic world don’t have any direction, there is no plan or future we truly live in one the darkest time of Islamic nations history younger generation are either Muslims extremist or liberals morons who embrace west culture of degeneracy, Muslims rulers are feeding and growing the divide up further today morons fighting on social media in Tariq Ibon Ziad was Arab or an Amazigh as if the origin of person who die centuries ago should matter its only create Sens of degenerate empty pride for people who love the Muslims story hour as its make them feel good about themselves, the other think Muslims leaders constantly glazing USA as if the American culture machine constant brain watching wasn’t enough for them, just because its USA we shouldn't fight backs or just have a little bit of pride and faith and ourselves as Muslims to defend protect our owns.

I want to finish this with a little bit of hope and optimism, we are currently at bottom of the ocean so we only can go up from now, but its up for Muslims to accept and embrace Mohamed message to not be afraid of anyone but god in order for them to stand not only for themselves but for those who need us Sudanese Gazans Syrians, I truly hope one day we can control our destiny again and for Islam and Mohamad message to be a a way of life and death again.

New fan, been a big fan since 2022, yes… when MOAC became popular but I had heard and enjoyed them casually 2019 onwards, I have a few questions.
1) why does Tobias speak in multiple accents? This isn’t a dig, it’s cool that he uses an Italian (Or Swedish I’m not sure) accent for Papa, even though his accent has evolved into an Americanized one naturally out of character, very cool
2) how did people differentiate the ghouls before the new more steampunk style masks? I look back at the devil no mouth silver masks and think wow we have it a lot easier telling who is who now, with things like Sodo’s white horns, Swiss having his teeth always showing 😂, phantoms black guitar etc. how did you older fans tell who is who?
3) ghouls nickname origins?? I know Swiss is because he is a multi-instrumentalist on stage, as in vocalist and guitarist- much like a Swiss knife has many functions. The other band members I have no clue, would love to know the origins (ghoulettes too :>)
4) I’ve never seen them live and would KILL to, can someone describe the atmosphere of the rituals? They look absolutely insane (just booked tickets for the film to go see with my boyfriend :D)
5) is each papa the son of the previous? As in papa Nihil is the oldest, then I, II, Terzo then cardinal? Love the whole sort of passing the mic on to the next in line plot.
6) What is the specific genre? I’ve described it as goth rock, metal, almost gospel in some parts, emo? My friend said the vocals are very much MCR but I think they’re very unique, 80s rock inspiration, very performative on Stage. Love them very much
Hope this itches the scratch to some long time ghost fans who want to get all their knowledge on the band out love u guys 😭🙏

Hi Everyone,
I just installed nest 3rd generation thermostat. I was wondering how can i turn off thermostat at certain time. For example, i want to turn on cooling (19 C) at 09:00 PM and turn off completely at 2:00 AM. Is there any way or workaround??

-A vacuum chamber, preferably in a spherical shape -A roughing vacuum pump capable of reaching at least 75 microns vacuum -A secondary high vacuum pump, either a turbo pump or oil diffusion pump -A high voltage supply, preferably capable of at least 40kv 10ma - Must be negative polarity -A high voltage divider probe for use with a digital multimeter -A thermocouple or baratron (of appropriate scale) vacuum gauge -A neutron radiation detector, either a proportional He-3 or BF3 tube with counting instrumentation, or a bubble dosimeter -A Geiger counter, preferably a scintillator type, for x-ray detection and safety -Deuterium gas (can be purchased as a gas or extracted from D2O through electrolysis - it is much easier and more effective to use compressed gas) -A large ballast resistor in the range of 50-100k and at least a foot long -A camera and TV display for viewing the inside of the reactor -Lead to shield the camera viewport -General engineering tools, a machine shop if at all possible (although 90% of mine was built with nothing but a dremel and cordless drill, the only thing you really can't build without a shop is scratch building the vacuum chamber)

Step 1: Assemble the Vacuum Chamber

A quality high vacuum chamber is required for the fusor to operate. Sometimes an appropriate chamber can be found on eBay, but generally it is best to make one. Parts can be scrounged for several hundred dollars, or purchased new for $500+.
Get two stainless steel hemispheres, purchase two corresponding conflat-flanges (8" flanges in my case), bore out holes for accessory flanges, and then TIG weld it all together. Flanges are typically either of the KF or the conflat style. Conflat can be seen in the image below as the flanges with bolts, and KF (kwik-flange) are seen as those with only clamps holding an o-ring on the mating surface. Only weld on the inside, never on the outside (since virtual leaks can be formed if both inside and outside are welded). If you've never TIG welded before, it would be wise to have someone with experience do it as the welds must be flawless with no pin-sized holes or porous areas to hold a vacuum.
After machining, thoroughly clean the chamber and avoid getting fingerprints in it since these will outgas, which means at vacuum pressure molecules in the oil of finger prints or machining oil will become vapor and make it hard to maintain plasma stability or reach a good ultimate vacuum level.

Step 2: Prepare the High Vacuum Pump

Install the oil diffusion pump (or turbo pump if you have a bit of luck scrounging or a higher budget). Fill the pump with quality diffusion pump oil to whatever fill level the pump documentation suggests, attach the inlet to a valve which then connects to the chamber (see diagram), and attach the outlet to a mechanical backing pump capable of reaching at least around 75 microns (any higher and the diffusion pump will not operate properly or the oil will oxidize quickly).
Make sure the pump is sufficiently cooled, many oil diffusion pumps require water cooling, smaller ones such as the one pictured can get by with a decent air flow.
Once this is assembled, turn on the mechanical pump and wait for the vacuum to reach at least 75 microns. Next you can test the high vacuum pump by turning on the boiler on the diffusion pump. After it warms up (could take a while), the vacuum should rapidly drop below the single micron range.

Step 3: Build Inner Grid

The inner grid (where the high voltage is applied) must now be built and attached to a high voltage feedthrough.
It is best to use a metal such as tungsten for the grid wires since it has a very high melting point, and the grid will get extremely hot during high power runs.
This can be built however you wish, as long as it resembles a spherical shape of roughly 1-1.5 inches in diameter (for a 6-8" chamber), it should work fine.
The grid should be internally attached to an electrical feedthrough such as the one pictured in the second image. This feedthrough needs to be rated for the cathode voltage that will be used, typically 40kv is a good target voltage.

Step 4: Assemble the Deuterium System

Deuterium gas is used as the fuel for this fusion reactor. You will need to purchase a tank of this gas (unless you wish to do electrolysis on heavy water, this process will not be documented here but nothing more than a small Hoffman Apparatus is required - higher purity gas can be gotten from a compressed tank).
Attach a high pressure regulator directly to the tank, add an extremely fine-metering needle valve after this (or a laser drilled orifice in the range of 5 microns), then attach this to the chamber. A ball valve can also be installed between the regulator and the needle valve since needle valves are not shutoff valves.
See the attached diagram now updated with the deuterium handling system.

Step 5: High Voltage

If you can purchase a power supply (occasionally but not commonly found surplus) appropriate for fusion use, the high voltage becomes very simple. Simply take the output of the 40kv negative supply and attach it to the chamber with a physically large high voltage 50-100k ohm ballast resistor in series (large enough that its length will not flash-over if 40kv is applied to it in a plasma run-away or arc discharge).
The difficulty is that it is often difficult if not impossible to find an appropriate fully assembled DC supply of this voltage level that is affordable to the amateur scientist.
Pictured is my high frequency ferrite transformer pair, with a 4-stage multiplier seen behind it.
If a fully assembled power supply (typically manufactured by either Glassman or Spellman), there are a few options: -Find an x-ray transformer, and if necessary either reverse the rectifiers for negative polarity or add rectifiers if it has none (an x-ray transformer core won't have rectifiers, it probably will if it is in its oil tank) -Build a switching high frequency ferrite power supply. This is what I did, however it requires a bit of EE experience since several aspects must be resonant and if it is ever taken out of tune, the transistors will burn out. Probably not the best option for people with little electrical background.

Step 6: Setup Neutron Detection

The proof of fusion (and a quantitative analysis of how much fusion) is obtained through detecting neutron radiation, the byproduct of a D-D fusion reaction. There are three options which will be described. They are in order of descending ease of setup.
-A Neutron Bubble Dosimeter A bubble dosimeter is a small unit with a gel in it that forms bubbles when ionized by neutron radiation. This is the easiest form of neutron detection available since all you have to do is unscrew the top and set it next to the fusor. Some of the drawbacks are that it is an integrative detector which means all you get is a total neutron emission number over the time that it was used, rather than an instantaneous neutron rate. Additionally, they are somewhat hard to get since the only company to make them is Bubbletech in Canada, which has a minimum order of 3 with steep shipping and handling (expect to spend $700+ if ordering directly from them not in a group buy). Additionally, they tend to be fairly worn out after a year of shelf life (although I've kept mine in a refrigerated storage container at 50*F and it seems to be like new after I think more than a year). The advantage is that calibration data is provided with purchase and of course it is easy.
-Silver Activation When silver is placed near the reactor (with a moderator [paraffin wax, water, HDPE, etc] between it and the neutron source, since only thermal neutrons will activate the material) it becomes slightly radioactive with decent neutron fluxes. It has a short half life of only a few minutes, but if you quickly put a geiger counter next to the silver, counts can be detected. In my best runs, I have gotten a piece of silver to about 250CPM over background on a CDV-700 geiger-counter. The disadvantages of this are that it requires a decent neutron flux (at least about 100,000 neutrons/s) which is above the average "beginner's first run" neutron rate. Also, it is somewhat difficult to calibrate, and the counts can't be taken until after the fusor has been shut off.
-A Proportional Tube Tubes can be purchased which are filled with either BF3 or Helium-3 (some very old tubes are Boron-10 lined inert gas tubes). These tubes, similar to a geiger counter, can be used with a counting device to detect electrical pulses when neutrons pass through the tube. Either an all-in-one counter can be used, often made by a company called Ludlum, or a modular counting system can be made using NIM modules. The tube is surrounded by about 2 inches of moderating material such as wax or water. This is by far the most accurate and useful form of neutron detection, however the cost of a new tube is prohibitive to most people, and they are extremely rare on the surplus market. Also, counting equipment can become quite costly.
NIM Configuration: If you chose to make a NIM setup as I have, the typical layout is a charge sensitive pre-amplifier at the head of the proportional tube, which is plugged into both a high voltage power supply generating positive polarity voltage appropriate for the tube (in the range of 800V-2kV generally). The amplifier also hooks into a shaping amplifier, which is followed by a Single Channel Analyzer (for setting the detection discrimination level), followed by a pulse counter and/or rate meter.
Shown in the first picture is my NIM setup, the second picture is the pre-amplifier attached to a moderated helium-3 tube, the third picture is a bubble detector after being exposed to neutrons.

Step 7: Fire It Up (and Cross Your Fingers)

Time to turn it on (don't forget to cover any viewports/cameras with lead! Also x-rays can pour out of ceramic feedthroughs so point them away from people. It is a good idea to be monitoring for x-rays where any people are present). The basic procedure is:
-Turn on the roughing pump and wait for sufficient backing pressure, turn on the diffusion or turbo pump and wait for it to fully warm up or achieve running speed -Throttle the chamber back (with the valve between the diffusion/turbo pump and the chamber) -Ever so slightly open the needle valve to the deuterium tank -Turn up the high voltage until either plasma establishes on the camera, or you've reached 40kv and nothing has happened (don't forget, you only get one chance in your life to screw up with voltages of this degree) -If nothing has happened, keep admitting more gas and the pressure should keep going up. Plasma should form around 40kv at about 10-15 microns of deuterium.
If all goes well, you should see on your camera the image below, and you should be detecting neutrons at this point.
Operation is quite a balancing act, since the voltage is controlled by both the power supply, but also by Paschen's Curve and Ohm's Law relating to the pressure in the chamber. Great patience is required to "Get the hang of it", but after doing so it becomes quite simple to run. Operation can be aided by an ion-gun which will not be discussed in this article.

I am doing a sort of pantheon for my multiverse that I call the Outerverse, the gods in this pantheon aren't really god, but more like the incarnation of a concept. I am in the process of changing a lot of aspects of the Outerverse, but I wanted to share those concepts as they seemed cool.

Space

Space in the outerverse is incarnated by the Spatial Door dimension (SpaceDoor for short). The Spatial Door dimension is a sentient dimension of space without time or energy. It is composed of a multitude of rooms of finite or infinite size, connected together. While no one is in a room, time is stopped in that room, as SpaceDoor cannot generate its own time and needs the time of a being from another dimension to function. Rooms can take any size or shape—a dungeon, a planet, a universe, a mall, anything. The rooms seem generated behind each door, seem to change, or even talk to the person opening them. The matter inside the rooms only generates once someone or something enters with time in the room. The space inside the rooms seems to have the "shape" needed to generate matter in the correct form. The truth is that there is only one room with an infinite number of dimensions, but depending on how the door is opened, the time will fuse with the room and create matter, as well as show a more limited number of dimensions. That room, before time enters it, is the real SpaceDoor and the incarnation of space.
While SpaceDoor does not have a sense of self in the same way sentient creatures do, it is intelligent and has a will. Its intelligence is based on conditions on how someone interacting with one of the rooms will affect the next room being generated in a form of infinite "if" statements. The SpaceDoor has no concept of time.
The first universes in the Outerverse were created by the connection of SpaceDoor and TimeStream.

Time

Time is incarnated by an intelligent time dimension with no concept of space or energy. It is named TimeStream. TimeStream does not have a concept of space and thus it exist only has change between two states. However, it has an infinite number of time dimensions. These are always changing and evolving, with streams of information carried at a speed that can be arbitrarily large, going to each point in time. TimeStream is linked to the flow of time in every universe. It is possible to detect the change in states of TimeStream. Every dimension with time has its dimensions of time enveloped by this time dimension. Through sending information in one of its numerous streams of time, it is possible to travel back in time. The way time works in the multiverse is as follows:

• The universe is played out from beginning to end once without taking into account time travel in timeline 0.
  
• The universe is played out from beginning to end in timeline n while taking into account timeline n-1.
  

The universe either converges into a loop of timelines or diverges into never-ending different timelines. TimeStream is the guardian of the flow of time in every universe. It also manages how time flows between universes when there is travel between two universes.